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CNN This Morning
Simone Biles Wins First Competitive Gymnastics Event Since 2021; GOP Presidential Hopefuls Take Aim At Vice President Harris; Bear Wanted In 20+ Break-Ins Captured In California. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired August 07, 2023 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:30:00]
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: One person was taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion. The show did go on. Beyonce's tour covered the $100,000 that it costs to keep D.C. Metro stations open -- running for an extra hour. That was nice of her.
The storm was one example of severe weather sweeping the nation. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is with us with more.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS CERTIFIED METEOROLOGIST: Wow.
HARLOW: It just doesn't -- it doesn't stop.
VAN DAM: No. She also has a song called "Cuff It" that has the lyrics "Baby, make it rain" and I guess, apparently, she did. So pretty impressive to see that she extended that favor to her fans as well, keeping the Metro open that long.
But this is all part of a larger storm system that has brought several tornadoes but, more or less, a wind threat across the eastern half of the country. And today, this is what we're really concerned with. We have 120 million Americans under the threat of severe weather. So, D.C., once again, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City, all the way to Atlanta. Damaging winds, very large hail. Can't rule out a tornado.
But let's focus in on that wind threat because the Storm Prediction Center has highlighted the mid-Atlantic as our greatest threat. This is a 45 percent likelihood that anywhere within this particular location you could pick a dot, and within a 25-mile radius you would have a wind damage event taking place within the next 12 hours. So that is what we're focusing in on -- D.C. all the way to Philadelphia.
Look at these storms just erupt on our forecast radar. This is really that timeframe when you're driving home this evening, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
And then, again, the chance of tornadoes definitely in the pipeline here. We look towards the Southeast as our greatest probability for that.
HARLOW: Yes.
VAN DAM: Poppy. HARLOW: All right, Derek, thank you. It's been such a wild summer in terms of this dangerous --
VAN DAM: It really has.
HARLOW: -- stormy weather. Appreciate it.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: A triumphant return for seven-time Olympic medalist gymnast Simone Biles, winning her first competitive event since 2021 in front of a packed house at the Core Hydration Classic this weekend. She is now also qualified for the U.S. National Championships.
HARLOW: Wow.
BLACKWELL: CNN's Isabel Rosales joins us now live from Hoffman Estates in Illinois. It was amazing to watch, especially with the context that this is the first competition since Tokyo.
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Her performance is just mind- blowing, Victor. And it's clear that this is such a big moment not only for Biles but also for the world of gymnastics and her fans that are so inspired by her. I spoke with so many of them over the weekend just in awe of her performance, saying it looks like she hadn't missed a day. And as you mentioned, Victor, she hasn't competed in two years.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILES FANS: Simone "freaking" Biles.
ROSALES (voice-over): In front of a sold-out crowd, the GOAT making a dominating return to elite competitive gymnastics. Biles winning first place in the all-around, crushing on vault, floor, and balance beam --
ANNOUNCER: I'm not sure she could have done that any better, Terry.
ROSALES (voice-over): -- and nabbing third place on the uneven bars.
SIMONE BILES, 7-TIME OLYMPIC MEDALIST: It feels really good, especially after everything that's happened over the past year.
ROSALES (voice-over): On floor, performing this skill known as the "Biles." And on vault, nailing the Yurchenko double pike, something no female athlete has ever done before in competition. Biles reacting with a fist bump and her signature smile.
BILES: Everyone that was cheering, made posters, and all of that in the crowd -- like, it just made my heart melt that they still believe in me. And I got back out here and I did what I was training, so I'm very happy with the results.
ROSALES (voice-over): Biles hasn't competed since the Tokyo Games two years ago, shocking the world when she withdrew from events after suffering from the twisties -- a spatial and mental block where athletes are unable to keep track of their position in mid-air.
BILES: I say put mental health first because if you don't, then you're not going to enjoy your sport.
ROSALES (voice-over): Fellow competitors describe it to CNN as debilitating.
CELIA FRITH CARVALHO, COMPETITIVE GYMNAST, U.S. NATIONAL TEAM: Once you get it, it's just really hard, like to get over, and it takes a really huge mental toll.
AMIA PUGH BANKS, COMPETITIVE GYMNAST, U.S. NATIONAL TEAM: You need to really know who you are so you can land and not get hurt.
ROSALES (voice-over): Biles then ultimately watering down her routine and still earning bronze on the balance beam.
BILES: This time I'm doing it for me. I worked a lot on myself and I believe in myself a little bit more. It's just coming back out here and starting those first steps again.
ROSALES (voice-over): The athlete also revealing she'd been abused by Dr. Larry Nassar, testifying with fellow members of Team USA to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
BILES: My name is Simon Biles and I'm a gymnast. I am also a survivor of sexual abuse.
ROSALES (voice-over): Biles blooming as a role model for athlete mental health.
From littlest fans --
ROSALES (on camera): What does your sign say?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome back, Simone. Stick it, girls.
ROSALES (voice-over): -- nothing but pure support for the Olympian's big return.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just never give up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And keep being a great gymnast.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[07:35:00]
ROSALES: And with this win, Biles is now qualified to go to San Jose for the U.S. Nationals and then, in the fall, are the World Championships.
But the big question is what about the Olympics -- 2024 in Paris? Simone says she is not ready to talk about that yet but, rather, she's taking one step at a time -- Poppy, Victor.
BLACKWELL: We're all looking forward to it, though.
HARLOW: One amazing step -- BLACKWELL: Yes.
HARLOW: -- at a time. What a joy to watch her shine.
BLACKWELL: Isabel Rosales, thank you so much for that. Simone "freaking" Biles.
HARLOW: I love those.
BLACKWELL: In our next hour we'll speak to three-time Olympian gymnast Dominique Dawes, so be with us for that.
HARLOW: Well, Vice President Kamala Harris stepping up her role in the 2024 presidential campaign, and Republican candidates taking notice as well. That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL)
BLACKWELL: Republicans are zeroing in on a 2024 target and she's not even running for president -- Vice President Kamala Harris.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON DESANTIS, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we muff this one and Biden gets in again -- heck, you may end up with Kamala as president.
[07:40:00]
NIKKI HALEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you vote for Joe Biden, you really are counting on a president Harris because the idea that he would make it until 86 years old is not -- is not something that I think is likely.
CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you think his act looks bad now wait until he hits 83, and 84, and 85, and 86. And by the way, in case he doesn't, you get Kamala Harris.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: The 2024 hopefuls arguing a vote for President Biden is a vote for Vice President Harris, suggesting the 80-year-old president might not survive an entire second term.
The strategy has the numbers to back it. Harris' approval rating trails behind. Forty-two percent of people approve of how she's handling her job as vice president.
Maura Gillespie and Jamal Simmons are back. Also with us, CNN political reporter Daniel Strauss.
Daniel, let me start with you because this is your reporting. And I wonder, though, why this, why now? I mean, it suggests that maybe an argument against the president may not be working so they have to shift toward the vice president.
DANIEL STRAUSS, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, but it also does other things. Number one, it highlights Biden's age; and number two, it does something that at a very base level voters respond to, and that's the unknown.
We know what a Biden presidency would be like in a Republican primary. The idea or what we don't know about a potential Harris presidency is a pretty ominous idea. And that's why those are the two reasons that multiple candidates are attacking Harris in this way.
HARLOW: Well, remind people what you did with the vice president.
JAMAL SIMMONS, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: It's amazing that you come to me first. I was --
HARLOW: Well, Mr. former comms director.
SIMMONS: Yes, I was the communications director until January.
HARLOW: Yes.
SIMMONS: Listen, I think this is a really complicated argument for Republicans to make and it's a little bit silly. It's a bank shot, right? You've got to hit Kamala Harris in order to go after Joe Biden, and that means you've got to ask voters to do two things at the same time.
And it just seems to me like there's a simpler argument. Either you think Joe Biden should be president or you don't think Joe Biden should be president. To go after the vice president I think is a little bit more complicated and voters don't usually make strategic voting decisions.
HARLOW: Sure.
SIMMONS: They vote for the person they want in the top job.
HARLOW: Fair. But I think Daniel's reporting is great. The New York Times piece this weekend is really fascinating where it calls her a one-woman -- this is quoting -- "a one-woman rapid response operation."
BLACKWELL: Yes.
HARLOW: And it says that her going on the offense -- like we've seen in Florida on abortion, a number of times on the curriculum change -- is a notable shift.
Does she -- is this where she is really in her comfort zone? Does she want this?
SIMMONS: Listen, when voters -- people first came nationally to know Kamala Harris when she was prosecuting people on the Judiciary Committee --
HARLOW: Yes.
SIMMONS: -- going after folks. When she went after Joe Biden on the debate stage in those early primary debates.
And so, I think her prosecuting her opponents and prosecuting the case against her opponents is her sweet spot in terms of her public presentation, so they should keep doing it.
This is a woman who has got the intellect, she's got the stamina, toughness, and also the instinct to make sure all Americans are included in the American enterprise.
The question on the other side is are they only going to talk about Donald Trump in 2020? And if you're having a conversation between President Biden and Vice President Harris about the economy improving, inflation going down, protecting a woman's right to reproductive choice, and making slavery -- talking about the perils of slavery are in unison around that -- if you're having that conversation you're actually in a much better place than people who are arguing about whether or not Donald Trump committed crimes in 2020.
BLACKWELL: Maura, I want to get you on this and then I want to move on to something that just -- we're learning about.
Do people really vote, you think, on the vice president -- the sitting vice president, and this is a potent argument? Maybe in 2008, Sarah Palin as a candidate shifted some votes. But --
HARLOW: They used that same wording.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
HARLOW: If not him, then you get her.
BLACKWELL: Yes, then you get her -- a heartbeat away, as we know.
But do you think this is a potent argument?
MAURA GILLESPIE, FOUNDER AND PRINCIPAL, BLUESTACK STRATEGIES, DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR FORMER REP. ADAM KINZINGER: I don't think that the GOP is wrong for doing it because, again, age is a factor here. We've been talking about it both for President Biden and for former President Trump. And Kamala Harris is going to be a deterrent for Republican voters, moderate voters, and possibly Independents. So it's not a bad strategy for the GOP to be going after her in that way, quite frankly.
HARLOW: Ron DeSantis -- let's listen. He just did this interview with NBC. The interviewer, Dasha Burns, did a great job of getting him to directly answer a key question about who won the election. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DASHA BURNS, NBC NEWS NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes or no, did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?
DESANTIS: Whoever puts their hand on the Bible on January 20 every four years is the winner.
BURNS: OK, but respectfully, you did not --
DESANTIS: For --
BURNS: -- clearly answer that question. And if you can't give a yes or no --
DESANTIS: Because --
BURNS: -- on whether or not Trump lost, then how can --
DESANTIS: Of course. No -- of course, he lost.
BURNS: Trump lost the 2020 election.
DESANTIS: Of course.
BURNS: OK.
DESANTIS: Joe Biden's the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Ron DeSantis is changing his tune. He's changing who he does interviews with and he's changing how he answers questions. What's going on?
[07:45:00]
GILLESPIE: Well, his campaign is struggling so he has to do something different, right? But this is also a good sign. I'm for this -- seeing Pence speak out about -- the former vice president speaking out against the former president and what happened on January 6, setting his record straight. And again, just having Ron DeSantis speak out against what Donald Trump has been doing -- his childish attacks.
They all -- the GOP candidates that are vying for the 2024 spot need to be going after what Trump has done because they can't run in his lane. They have to separate themselves.
BLACKWELL: So, Daniel, he has now acknowledged the truth that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. What does this get him? I mean, he's far behind the former president in state and national polls. What does he earn now with this acknowledgment?
STRAUSS: I mean, likely, it keeps him in the hunt for some of these Trump voters. Notice how he responded to that question. He did not give a yes or no answer. He gave a very sort of opaque hand on the Bible on the 20th -- that's who the president is. So if you clip that it's not him saying Trump lost the election, which could enrage both the former president himself and his voters.
It really shows in the end that DeSantis' bet is that he can win over the most hardcore Trump voters, which pollsters have told me in the past are just unlikely to move from Trump under any circumstances.
BLACKWELL: He eventually got to the 'of course, the former president lost.' We'll see where he goes after that.
Daniel, Jamal --
SIMMONS: Can I get in here real quick here?
HARLOW: Yes.
BLACKWELL: Real quick.
SIMMONS: Real quick before we go.
I just want to know why Ron DeSantis is going to debate the governor of California, Gavin Newsom. Gavin Newsom is not running for president. This is a silly campaign tactic -- what the kids might call thirsty online, right? He's just trying to get some attention.
Gavin Newsom is a very distinguished person. He's a governor.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SIMMONS: He's also kind of a political heckler in this particular environment. He should be fighting the guy on the stage, not fighting somebody in the stands.
BLACKWELL: We'll see if it actually happens. I know they've been going back and forth over parameters and rules, but we'll see if it actually happens.
SIMMONS: It's silly.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
Daniel, Jamal, Maura --
HARLOW: Tell us how you really feel.
BLACKWELL: -- thank you all.
HARLOW: One of Lake Tahoe's biggest thieves in custody, and it's not a human. It's a bear blamed for more than 20 home break-ins. Where she and her cubs are now heading.
BLACKWELL: Plus, a rare walrus calf, rescued after wandering alone, is now under -- doesn't this sound good -- 24/7 cuddle care. That story ahead.
(COMMERCIAL)
[07:51:42]
HARLOW: So, someone is wanted for breaking into more than 20 homes in California and they've been captured -- but here's the twist. It's a 500-pound black mama bear known as "Hank the Tank." California Fish and Wildlife biologists say they are relocating her from the Lake Tahoe area to a sanctuary in Colorado because they say she poses significant risks to the area -- obviously, after all these break-ins. There are several bears in the area known as "Hank the Tank," but the
wildlife officials have linked her specific DNA to at least 21 break- ins. They say she has even brought her cubs -- her kids -- alongside on some of these escapades. So now they're planning to relocate her and three of her cubs to this California (sic) rescue center where they hope eventually she'll be able to be rehabilitated and return to the wild.
Jeff Corwin joins us now. He's a wildlife and conservation expert and host of "WILDLIFE NATION." Jeff, good morning.
Obviously, that can be super dangerous if there are people inside of wherever she's breaking into. Are you surprised that after 21 break- ins they think she can be rehabilitated and put back in the wild?
JEFF CORWIN, WILDLIFE AND CONSERVATION EXPERT, HOST, "WILDLIFE NATION": (via Webex by Cisco): She clearly knows what she's doing. I can almost imagine her lowering from a ceiling with, like, all these lasers around her to try to negotiate where the food is.
But seriously, this is basically an animal taking advantage of an opportunity. Bears are incredibly intelligent, emotional, adaptive animals.
So why is this bear doing this? There's usually one big reason and that is because the bear is displaced. It could be displaced because of a loss of habitat. It can be displaced because it's no longer dominant and it's being -- it's experiencing a little competition from other bears in the environment. But also, it's taking advantage of low-hanging fruit resources.
So clearly, this bear has learned that on the other side of this obstacle -- your screen porch, your door, your window -- is a nice, fresh blueberry pie cooling on the windowsill, or the refrigerator has a -- has some sandwiches in there. And it's learned that and it goes in there to get that resource to sustain itself and to sustain its cubs.
Unfortunately, by doing this with -- learning this behavior, it puts itself in an incredibly vulnerable situation because the saying goes eventually, for an animal like this, a fed bear becomes a dead bear. Thankfully, they've moved in, they've rescued her and her cubs. Hopefully, they stay together and they get relocated. But it's very likely she will go right back to that same resource again unless she finds a different opportunity.
BLACKWELL: Yes. I want to -- on that, we just saw the video of Hank with her cubs. You expect that they will relocate all of them to Colorado, not just the mama bear? I mean, it would be kind of sad if they left the cubs behind.
HARLOW: Yes.
CORWIN: Well, I've heard -- I've heard different things. I'm just hearing that from you. I had heard -- I had thought they had separated the babies from the -- BLACKWELL: Yes.
CORWIN: -- mom and she got relocated.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
CORWIN: And so, already, if that is the case, you can see already there's been a disastrous result.
[07:55:00]
We had a bear in Massachusetts that was on the tip -- wandered on the tip of P-town at the very end of Cape Cod. It somehow went through the Cape Cod Canal. They took that bear. They relocated it hundreds of miles away to western Massachusetts. The next day it was back at P- town Cape Cod.
HARLOW: Oh, wow.
CORWIN: So that's how adaptive and resourceful they are.
The truth is this is all preventable. If you lock up and secure your food -- most importantly, your garbage --
BLACKWELL: Yes.
CORWIN: -- you will -- you will deter this bear and hopefully, it will find other resources for survival -- and protect habitat.
HARLOW: Yes.
CORWIN: Places for them to live.
HARLOW: We've got to talk about this baby walrus because apparently, it was found alone on the coast of Alaska. And the way that you rehabilitate walruses is to around-the-clock cuddle care, which is what they're going through at the Alaska Sealife Center. Is that right? What is that?
CORWIN: So, Poppy and Victor, this really warms my heart. And I was -- my wife and I were talking about it last night and she says oh my gosh, look at you with that little baby walrus and look at you as a brunette, you know? It was -- I've had such incredible memories there. This is at the Alaska Sealife Center.
HARLOW: Ahh.
CORWIN: This is one of my favorite places in Alaska. These folks -- they're the only place in that whole part of the world that can do this.
So, walruses, unlike sea lions and unlike -- and unlike seals -- they have a very quick adolescence -- a quick childhood.
(Dogs barking)
My dogs are coming. Quiet!
HARLOW: It's OK. They're welcome.
CORWIN: And --
HARLOW: They're welcome to join.
CORWIN: Yes.
So they have to be constantly bottle-fed but within a couple of weeks they're released into the wild.
Walruses are a completely different animal altogether. They rely on mama's love -- that maternal hands-on tactile nurturing.
And it's not something that will take a month or two months as you would with the seal or sea lion. This could take upwards of two years. It's intensive care. It's TLC. It's science. It's veterinary medicine.
Only these folks -- the Alaska Sealife Center in Alaska -- Seward -- such a special place. Guys, this place came out of the Valdez oil spill because they to respond to all those animals that were orphaned --
HARLOW: Wow.
CORWIN: -- or injured. And this has been a lifesaving resource.
Hopefully, this beautiful little walrus will thrive and survive. Unfortunately, it's unlikely to be returned to the wild because it's so intensively hand-raised they become conditioned to human beings. And that will be the challenge is to find a home for a creature that will weigh thousands of pounds.
BLACKWELL: Oh.
HARLOW: Jeff Corwin, thank you for warming our hearts a little bit this morning.
BLACKWELL: Thank you, Jeff.
CORWIN: My pleasure.
BLACKWELL: This morning, street closures are set to begin outside the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta as security measures are put in place for a possible Trump indictment.
(COMMERCIAL)
[08:00:00]
