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CNN This Morning

President Joe Biden Defiantly Says He's "Not Going Anywhere" During Michigan Trip; Alec Baldwin's Rust Manslaughter Case Dismissed; Jury Begins Deliberating In New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez's Corruption Trial; More Than 600,000 Still Without Power In Houston, Texas; Western U.S. Cools Off As The East Braces For High Temperatures; Rescued Hostage Speaks Out On Abuse He Endured In The Hands Of Hamas; Bad Blood Boils Over In Yankees-Orioles Game. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired July 13, 2024 - 06:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:00:34]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to CNN This Morning. Saturday, July 13. Look who's back.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Look at that big smile. I think it is good to be.

BLACKWELL: I'm so excited.

WALKER: He's genuine.

BLACKWELL: You've been gone for couple of weeks. For real. For real.

WALKER: No, it is good to be back. Thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Welcome back.

WALKER: I'm Admiral Walker. Here's what we're working on for you this morning.

President Biden meeting an enthusiastic crowd. He is charging forward with his embattled campaign and got a big show of support during a rally in the must win state of Michigan. The President's new message to leery voters and stepped up attacks on Republican rival Donald Trump.

BLACKWELL: Did you hear about this in the Alec Baldwin case the New Mexico judge abruptly throws out the actor's involuntary manslaughter trial for the "Rust" movie set shooting. How this opens up the door for the convicted armor to be set free. That's coming up.

WALKER: Temperatures and frustrations are rising in Houston, hundreds of thousands of people are spending another day without power as potentially deadly heat sets in. We're going to talk to one expert about what it will take to protect power grids from extreme weather.

BLACKWELL: And a man taken hostage by a monster and the October 7 attack on Israel talks about his eight months in captivity and the harrowing rescue to free him. These stories and so much more coming up on CNN This Morning.

We start with President Biden who will not be on the campaign trail today. But he will be working behind the scenes to try to shore up his reelection bid. And that's coming even as the number of Democratic lawmakers publicly calling on him to resign is growing.

As take you to this rally in Michigan last night, the President was defiant as ever and vowing to stay in the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm the nominee of this party because 14 million Democrats like you voted for in the primary. You may be the nominee no one else, not the press, not the punters, not the insiders, not donors, you the voters, you decided no one else and I'm not going anywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And then the President pivoted to Donald Trump sometimes in explicit terms, he called on him to call him a loser, a convicted criminal among other things. President Biden is back in Delaware today where he'll be holding virtual calls with the groups of congressional Democrats. This is an effort the Democrats have been calling for a long time.

WALKER: Now the calls with current lawmakers to garner support come a day after a group of two dozen former Democratic lawmakers published an open letter calling for Biden to release his convention delegates and for the Democratic National Committee to hold an open convention.

The letter said while his integrity is intact, quote, the energy and stamina the President needs for a campaign and a next term are diminished. CNN's Camila DeChalus joining us now from Rehoboth Beach this morning. Camila, what else did the President say last night at his rally?

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President Biden was met with a very enthusiastic crowd in Michigan and he made two things clear. One is that he's not going anywhere. He's not going to step down from the campaign. And two is that he firmly believes that former President Donald Trump is unfit for office.

Now Amara, during the rally, he acknowledged that he's had some memory slip ups and the last few days, but he made the argument that Trump has had the same issue. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I sometimes confused names I say that's Charlie's, got a Bill. But guess what? Donald Trump has gotten a free pass. He hadn't done a damn thing to like a couple of days ago. He would ride around his golf course, golf cart in his course filling out a scorecard before it picks up his club. Rambling about, this is what he's been talking about, Hannibal Lecter, he says he's a nice guy. Trump would rather be electrocuted than be eaten by a shark.

And the whole thing remember that. Poor Donald, he can't even watch TV this week because a Shark Week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DECHALUS: Now, one really interesting thing to note is that -- that Biden also took the time during the rally to lay out what he would like to do and the first 100 days in office if he gets reelected.

[06:05:07]

And some of those things include codifying Roe v. Wade, making child tax cuts permanent, raising minimum wage and banning assault weapons. So Amara, Victor, he really took the time to tell voters not only why he should stay in the race, but what he plans to do if he gets reelected.

BLACKWELL: All right, talk to us about these conversations that are happening today, these virtual meetings.

DECHALUS: That's right, Victor, President Biden is doing a lot of outreach efforts to Democratic lawmakers. And part of that is an attempt to really quell some of the concerns that they are having about whether he should still run for office. And this will really be served as an opportunity for him to listen and hear their concerns, while also making the argument about what he wants to do, if he gets reelected, and reminding them what he has done since he's being in the Oval Office.

So you're going to see this happen this weekend, and then the upcoming days, where he's really going to be talking to Democratic lawmakers who are going to go back to the constituents, and also make the case of why Biden should continue to run for office, and why he should stay in this race.

WALKER: All right. Camila DeChalus. Thank you very much. Let's bring in CNN political commentator, Errol Louis, for his take on all that's been going on. Good morning to you, Errol, always good to see you.

Let's play another soundbite from President Biden in that battleground state of Michigan last night where he's vowing to stay in the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: You probably noticed, there's been a lot of speculation lately. What's Joe Biden going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? He's going to drop out. So much my narrative, my campaign is falling apart, they say. I'm the nominee of the Democratic Party, the only Democrat or Republican has beaten Donald Trump ever. I'm going to beat him again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: I'm going to beat him again, he says. I mean, we're about five weeks from the Democratic National Convention less than four months away from the presidential election. I guess anything can happen between now and then.

But, you know, as you saw there, President Biden remains defiant, despite the escalating pressure on him from congressional Democrats, and, of course, from some major donors. Errol, how much longer can this go on for?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning Amara. It's unclear what is going to happen. There's a lot of panic at the base of the Democratic Party, it's important to distinguish that from the people, you know, the Hollywood types, and some of the pundits and so forth. The people I've talked to who are on the ground, who know this stuff, who understand what's happening after people go and knock on a bunch of doors that they thought were going to be provided only to have people basically slam the door in their face or tell them over and over again, age and fitness, age and fitness. They're in a very, very tough spot.

The Biden campaign is running up against a reality that they cannot change. They've got to have an impressive economic record. They've got some successes on foreign policy. They've got a lot of money that they've raised. They've done all of the things and checked all the boxes that a campaign normally does. It just does not seem to be resonating. And the sense of panic that CNN and others have been reporting on this, because there it's not clear what happens now.

WALKER: Yes, what more are you hearing, you know, about what voters are saying, you said age and fitness. But you know, I guess it depends on who you talk to, right. Because I know that, you know, some of our CNN correspondents, Rene Marsh and Eva McKend they've been traveling the country talking to black voters. And they've been reporting that many of them are saying, you know, we want President Biden to stay on the ticket. We don't want Kamala Harris at the top. It's more about practicality at this point.

LOUIS: Well, that's right. I mean, look, there's certainly an argument for that. And, in fact, those who are recommending some kind of a magical switch here at the last minute, I think the burden is on them to explain exactly how that's supposed to happen and how that's supposed to be an improvement.

But no, the reality is, you'll if you go to base voters, I was in New Orleans last weekend at the Essence Fest. And there's a lot of support for Biden. And there's a lot of anger, in fact that the idea that you should suddenly wipe out the primary votes and somehow find a replacement. At the same time that's not a majority, though, you know, when you when you're looking at all of the numbers in a state, like say Michigan, yes, Detroit is really important, but it's a much bigger state than that. Philadelphia is very important. But Pennsylvania is much bigger than that.

And trying to put it together in a way that Biden actually wins is the puzzle they're trying to solve. And all of those defections you're seeing the elected officials who are saying this isn't working for us. Those are people who are basically trying to reflect back to the campaign, what they're hearing on the ground in their particular district. WALKER: I wonder what you think about these conversations that are taking place behind closed doors. You know, we were mentioning that that President Biden he finally lost punch this outreach campaign to key groups of lawmakers you know which Democrats have been calling him to do so after the debate.

[06:10:08]

He made a series of calls, you know, to the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on that call, as you know, got quite tense. And you had Democratic Representative Mike Levin calling -- telling President Biden to step aside. But we also know he had that meeting with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who did not explicitly endorse Biden. We know he's a supporter of Biden.

But, I mean, are these conversations having any kind of impact on Biden?

LOUIS: They don't seem to be Amara. And that's because he's the most powerful person in the world. And he does have a lot more delegates than anybody else. And he doesn't have to make any changes. In other words, all of those different groups that have come to him and said to him, look, we're hearing some really crazy stuff out in the field at us. Looks like we could be heading for a landslide defeat, Mr. President.

And if he says, I don't believe you are I choose not to believe you or I had a great rally last night or I can turn this around. There's really not a lot of leverage that anybody else has to persuade him to act otherwise.

WALKER: Errol Louis, we'll leave it there. Thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: Well, both President Biden and former President Donald Trump will likely need to win Michigan to win in November. Now Trump won Michigan in 2016 and the presidency. Biden turned it back blue in 2020, and won the White House.

Now, with some calling on President Biden to get out of the race, including the former chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, there are Democrats who are anxious about whether he can win the state again. Here's CNN's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For President Biden, Michigan is part of an urgent dash for the so called blue wall, traditional Democratic must win states which are likely to be tightly contested this year.

AMY WALTER, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, COOK POLITICAL REPORT: The only real viable pathway to 270 electoral votes for Biden goes through the Midwest. It goes through Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, those states that Biden carried narrowly in 2020, Arizona, Georgia, those states seem to be slipping away. TODD (voice-over): It's why the President was in Michigan Friday, and why he spent a lot of time in the Wolverine State during this campaign cycle. But Michigan is precarious for Biden right now. Some top Democrats in the state like Senator Gary Peters, and Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, who's running for an open Senate seat in Michigan and hasn't said whether she supports Biden this year or not. We're absent from Friday's event.

CNN just spoke with some older voters in Michigan, who supported Biden before but who are wavering on him now.

JANICE WERBINSKI, VOTED FOR BIDEN IN 2020: I think he was wonderful as our president, but I really think he's failing.

MAX HARDY, VOTED FOR BIDEN IN 2020: Deep down I would like to see some of the younger stars in the Democratic Party and have Joe gracefully hand over the baton to them.

TODD (voice-over): After Donald Trump narrowly defeated Hillary Clinton in Michigan in 2016, a crucial loss for Clinton, Biden flipped the state back to the Democrats in 2020. But analysts say during his presidency, Biden's support among traditionally Democratic voters in Michigan has been eroding.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: He was facing a problem of declining black enthusiasm, which squeezes margins out of Detroit, potentially blue collar white union members.

ALEX THOMPSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, AXIOS: The other important constituency here is the Arab American constituency, which has really protested Joe Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

TODD (voice-over): In the February Michigan primary, there was a campaign to protest Biden's support for Israel in the Gaza war, more than 100,000 voters cast their ballots as uncommitted. As a result, two of Michigan's 117 delegates to the Democratic Convention in August will go into the convention as uncommitted.

BROWNSTEIN: The real issue is whether that uncommitted vote ultimately is a non-vote for Biden in November, if all 100,000 of those voters were for RFK. Vote for Trump or stay home. That is a real problem for Biden.

TODD: Just how much of a must win is Michigan for Joe Biden this fall analyst Ron Brownstein says if he can't win Michigan, he would have to win either North Carolina or Georgia, or both Arizona and Nevada to make up for it. And all of that he says is a tall order for the President. Victor, Amara.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Brian Todd, thanks so much. The RNC is just days away what CNN special coverage of the Republican National Convention. It starts tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. This, I don't know if you saw this. It was stunning. The judge has now thrown out the case of involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin. We've got the reaction from the courtroom. That's next.

WALKER: Plus, Houston is sweltering in the punishing summer heat with no sign of the electricity being restored anytime soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNDIENTIFIED MALE: The 100 degrees is like a desert. You know what I mean? And we don't -- we can't afford to lose power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:15:00]

BLACKWELL: And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reversal on a key Israeli concession is threatening to derail the progress and ceasefire and hostage release negotiations. We have those details for you ahead.

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WALKER: In our headlines this morning, a judge has dismissed the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin the ruling came after the judge overseeing the case determined that prosecutors had failed to properly turn over evidence to the defense.

[05:20:10]

Here's one special prosecutors reaction to the judge's decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARI MORISSEY, SPECIAL PROSECUTOR: To Halyna and to her family and we're proud of the work that we did. Again, we disagree with the court's decision, but we have to respect it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Back in March, the film's armorer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and received an 18 month prison sentence following the dismissal of Baldwin's case the armors attorney spoke to CNN saying quote, we have also experienced the same failures by the state in Hannah's case, we will be moving for dismissal of Hannah's case.

AT and T says it is reaching out to customers directly affected by a major data breach. The 2022 incident exposed phone numbers for nearly all mobile customers and some landline customers who interacted with the exposed cell numbers. While names were not directly compromised, there was concern about malicious tools identifying customers, certain cell site data was also exposed potentially revealing individual locations.

Now AT and T assures customers that no sensitive personal information was accessed. The company is working with law enforcement and has already made an arrest. A New York Federal judge dismissed Rudy Giuliani's bankruptcy case

clearing the way for creditors to seize his assets. Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss who won a $140 million defamation verdict against him can now pursue his properties in Palm Beach and New York City. The judge cited Giuliani's lack of transparency about his finances.

The former Trump advisor lost his New York law license last week for pushing false election information. He's also facing criminal charges in Arizona and Georgia related to Trump's election challenges. He's pleading not guilty in both cases.

BLACKWELL: The jury is scheduled to resume deliberations Monday morning in the federal corruption trial of democratic New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez. Menendez left the courthouse Friday after jurors deliberated for about three hours before being dismissed for the weekend. They're going to decide if Menendez is guilty of 16 counts including extortion, wire fraud, fraud and bribery. CNN's Kara Scannell has more. Kara.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Morning Victor, Amara. The jury deliberated for three hours on Friday, the only note they said was asking for a cable to connect a laptop to a TV screen so they could look at some of the evidence in this case.

There's a lot for the jury to consider nine weeks of this trial so far, and Senator Bob Menendez sweeping corruption case. Prosecutors allege he sold the power of his office and in exchange he received gold bars, Mercedes Benz convertible, and nearly half a million dollars in cash at the FBI found in his home.

Now, prosecutors say that the senator did this. And in exchange for the bribes, he took steps to try to interfere in criminal investigations involving two of his co-defendants. And he also took steps to help the government of Egypt. He's facing one charge of acting as a foreign agent.

Now the senator's lawyers have urged the jury to acquit him saying that what he did was business as usual. They said that his meetings were routine. It was normal. He was doing his job and he was doing it well.

And now the Senator is facing a number of serious charges including bribery, extortion, obstruction of justice, and if convicted of the most serious charges he could face as much as 20 years in prison. Leaving court on Friday, the senator said to reporters I have faith in God and the jury. Back to you guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right, Kara. Thanks so much. Another day of brutal heat is adding insult to injury in Houston. After the break, when power could, could be restored to hundreds of thousands of people still in the dark. Almost a week after Hurricane Beryl. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:15]

BLACKWELL: Hundreds of thousands of Texans are entering their sixth day of suffering through brutal heat without power, without the air conditioning. The people there are frustrated and a lot of people are scrambling to find some cooling, some shelters, food, safe drinking water, health care resources.

WALKER: Texas officials are criticizing the slow response from CenterPoint Energy which is Houston's main energy provider to get the power back up and running. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he wants the Public Utility Commission of Texas to do a study on why these outages are lasting so long. CNN Lucy Kafanov is in Houston with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Much needed help for desperate Houston area residents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Water. Yes.

KAFANOV (voice-over): Facing a fifth day of sweltering heat, more severe weather and temperatures soaring this weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's like 100 degrees is like a desert. You know what I mean? And we don't -- we can't afford to lose power.

KAFANOV (voice-over): The heat advisories compounding problems for a city already pushed to the brink.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But we still don't have electric.

KAFANOV (voice-over): Almost a million people here are still without power. Cars began lining up at 3:00 a.m. at his donation center. Some families helping and others hoping to get supplies donated by the Houston Rockets and relief agencies.

GRETCHEN SHEIRR, BUSINESS OPERATIONS/HOUSTON ROCKETS: Most of the people that are having the most amount of trouble are folks that were struggling before this storm.

KAFANOV (voice-over): No electricity and no gas also means no lights, no air conditioning and no power for medical devices. The frustration is rising here along with the temperatures.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It hurts. We don't know what we're going through.

KAFANOV (voice-over): This desperate mother is struggling to provide for her children.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But I want help. That's what I need it.

KAFANOV: It's hard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very hard.

KAFANOV (voice-over): Houston's primary utility company CenterPoint Energy is now facing intense scrutiny.

[06:30:02]

MAYOR JOHN WHITMIRE (D) HOUSTON, TEXAS: We're holding CenterPoint accountable we have nine fire stations closed, had to relocate, because when the power went out, they didn't have generators. Great cities should not operate like that. It's neglect, it's severe neglect, and we're going to fix it as we go forward.

KAFANOV: CNN's Houston affiliate, "KHLU" spoke with the utility Thursday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know we are out of power, and we are going to get to you.

KAFANOV: Texas state leaders are also promising to get to the bottom of the outages.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The governor said there will be an investigation, and I'm sure we will find that there are things they could have done better.

KAFANOV: Anger is mounting towards both the power company and government leaders.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are they doing with our money? I just don't understand, and I get really frustrated.

KAFANOV (on camera): Do you feel like the city and CenterPoint Energy did enough to prepare for the storm?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, they did not, no, they did not, because it's going to happen again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAFANOV: CenterPoint expects 80 percent of their customers to get power back by the end of the day on Sunday, but that still leaves half a million Texans to face the sweltering heat without power into early next week. Victor, Amara, back to you.

WALKER: Just an awful situation. Lucy Kafanov, thank you. And the scorching heat is not just in Houston, extreme heat is hitting other parts of the country as well. Many cities are on track to experience their hottest Summer on record.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Elisa Raffa is here with us now. So, where else are we expecting this extreme heat? I'm looking -- I'm looking at your map that everybody else can't see it --

ELISA RAFFA, METEOROLOGIST: Yes --

BLACKWELL: And this is -- this is -- WALKER: Lots all right --

BLACKWELL: Intense.

WALKER: Yes --

RAFFA: That's the Summer to date, but yes, we've got the heat that will build over the West this weekend, and then that spreads east, the plains, the east coast. Everyone is going to feel some of these sweltering temperatures and what's already been an incredibly hot Summer, think about it.

What are we in? Mid July? And we've already finding records for Summer, the west coast has had some unprecedented heat. These -- all these dots are top five, top ten hottest Summers on record. Look up and down the east coast as well. Some of this extreme heat again has just been sweltering.

These are the heat alerts for today. You can see a lot of the warnings here still over the west coast, over parts of California, parts of Nevada, and then we're starting to find the advisories spread into the plains as that heat starts to shimmy its way east as we go into the work week.

But as we go into the weekend, we're looking at more than a 100 records possible -- again, for both daytime highs and overnight lows, Las Vegas' streak has been just incredible. They have now had seven consecutive days with that temperature of 115 or hotter, that breaks records. It's unprecedented.

They've had three days over 118 degrees, again unprecedented heat. Look at these temperatures in the triple digits, continuing in Palm Springs, Phoenix, Las Vegas up near 110 through the next couple of days, Fresno as well, Sacramento temperatures in the low and middle 90s.

Now, this heat risk like I said, continues to move east as we get into the work week. You could see Monday and Tuesday, all the red and purple is the extreme heat risk for heat sickness spreading to places like Atlanta and Charlotte, as that high continues to move east, we'll find temperatures getting up towards 100 degrees again for places like D.C., again, a place we don't really think about hitting a 100, but they already --

WALKER: Yes --

RAFFA: Did it this Summer.

WALKER: Yes --

BLACKWELL: Wow, Elisa Raffa, thanks so much. With me now is Michael Webber, he's a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Texas, Austin, and focuses on energy issues. Michael, good morning to you. Let's start with Texas and then we'll talk about the rest of the country. Is Texas going to be on this cycle? But -- because we've seen it with

the Derecho, we saw it with the intense cold several years ago that every time there's intense weather, there's going to be this challenge to the grid or this breakdown in some way.

MICHAEL WEBBER, PROFESSOR OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN: I think that's basically the preview of the future, is that we built our grid for the weather in the past, and now we're going to have this weather for the future, which means more frequent and more intense storms, and that means heat waves and cold snaps and wind storms and hurricanes.

And each of those storms takes a big toll on the grid and knocks the power out during a freeze or heat wave, it goes from uncomfortable to dangerous pretty quickly. And that's what we're seeing right now in Houston.

BLACKWELL: All right, so let's expand this beyond Texas. So, first, are other cities, grids across the country, the larger national grid as vulnerable as Texas, not because of -- you know, the isolation obviously that we talk about with Texas, but because of other challenges.

WEBBER: Basically, you think yes, all the grids are vulnerable. I think we're in this situation where we need to expand the grid quickly because there are new electric loads, our computers and smartphones and data centers and things like that. So, there's more demand on the grid.

But we built the grid up mostly decades or a century ago. So, it's kind of a creaking old grid and we need to update and modernize it. And if you take Texas where heat waves or freezes, or you take California or heat waves as for wildfires -- I was just in New York City a couple of days ago, and they had what's called a demand response event, because of every wave, they're truly happening everywhere.

[06:35:00]

There's a big freeze less than a year ago, they hit the southeast, so, it's happening in many places, Texas is really, I think relevant because it's the energy capital. So, in the energy capital runs out of energy, that's notable, but it's really happening everywhere, I think that's a sign we need to invest to modernize.

BLACKWELL: Yes, Elisa just talked about Vegas seven consecutive days at 115 degrees or above. Running the AC is not just for comfort, it's for safety there. So, is there -- is there a relevant conservation conversation that can be applied to this? Because I don't know if you can ask people to turn off or turn down the AC when it's 115 for a week.

WEBBER: One-fifteen is hot, even with a dry heat that's really hot, and it's deadly and dangerous. So, you need cooling to keep people safe. So, it's not that people need to go without cooling, but we can think about more efficient air conditioners and more efficient buildings with triple-pane windows or more installations or different materials inside that will keep the buildings cool for longer.

We can do things with conservation efficiency that will reduce the strain on the grid when it's hot. And that's really an important thing to do, because not only does the air condition become less efficient when it's hot out, the power plants are less efficient when it's hot out.

The whole system is less efficient. Just like you and I, if we go run a marathon when it's hot out, it's harder to do them when it's cool out. So, we need to make everything more efficient. Think about building codes, and that will be critical to keep people safe.

BLACKWELL: Yes, and we also have to remember we're plugging a lot more things in, our cars, our laptops, our phones. The Biden administration tallies --

WEBBER: That's right --

BLACKWELL: Thirty billion dollar investment in the electric grid infrastructure from the infrastructure law. They call it the largest investment of its kind. Is that enough to meet the moment, to meet the need?

WEBBER: I think $30 billion is a great start, and I'm glad to see government stepping in to help. I think Houston will need a few billion alone, just one major city. So, we're going to need hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade or so just to update and modernize.

But then, probably another trillion dollars to expand the grid to meet all these new loads. So, there's a lot of investment opportunity which means there's a lot of money to be made and a lot of ways we can improve the grid to make a cleaner and more reliable, so, that's pretty exciting. But I think there are 30 billion great step forward is just the start.

BLACKWELL: Just the start. Michael Webber, thanks so much.

WALKER: Tied up with ropes and chains. A rescued hostage speaks out on the physical and psychological abuse he had to endure during his eight months in Hamas captivity. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:00]

WALKER: At least, 20 Palestinians are dead and dozens more injured after a strike in the Khan Younis area of Gaza today. Gaza's Ministry of Health says a strike hit an area where displaced people were sheltering. Video shows locals and rescue teams trying to rescue people trapped under the rubble.

An Israeli security official tells CNN, the IDF carried out an airstrike targeting a top Hamas military official this morning. It's unclear though if they are related. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reversed course on a key Israeli concession in ceasefire negotiations.

Now, Netanyahu had previously agreed to allow Palestinians full unrestricted access to northern Gaza as part of any future ceasefire.

BLACKWELL: But a source close to the talks tells CNN that Netanyahu has now changed course and he's demanding that any armed men be banned from northern Gaza as part of any ceasefire hostage deal. It's a development that could upend recent progress in the talks.

We're learning new details now from a rescued Russian-Israeli hostage about his eight months in captivity in Gaza. Andrey Kozlov is speaking out about the horrors inflicted by the terrorist group Hamas, which he says included intense psychological abuse. Kozlov sat down with CNN's Bianna Golodryga about a month after he and three other hostages were rescued by Israeli soldiers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREY KOZLOV, RESCUED ISRAELI HOSTAGE: Every day, I feel much better than the last time, and I appreciate all that I have right now, and I don't forget nothing. But someday, even I feel good, and some moment, suddenly, I can start to cry. And if I hear some song that I remember, if I see some photos from my previous life before Gaza, that I remember, of course, when I was in Gaza.

It's like main reasons of my tears.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Once you got into Gaza, what happened?

KOZLOV: When we went through the wall, like through the gate, we saw big field, this field was full of people, civilian people probably, I don't know. They were really happy. They had savage energy, and they were really like -- I was like -- I hold handle of the car, somebody started to --

(CROWD CHANTING)

GOLODRYGA: Were you scared?

[06:45:00]

KOZLOV: It was condition of shock, I was not scared. I didn't realize like what's going on? And they took us, they tied our hands like this, put us on the floor, and I started to explain to them like, 'Ya russkiy", "Ya russkiy" --

GOLODRYGA: I am Russian.

KOZLOV: I am Russian. (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE), I don't speak Hebrew, I speak only Russian and English, to explain to them. What can we do? Some guy was from the left side of me, and he has like gun. I tried to let -- touch him and ask him like, you ask, kill us.

GOLODRYGA: You asked him if they were planning to kill you?

KOZLOV: Yes, I asked him, it's only one thought that I had like, what are they going to do with us? In a couple of hours, they brought Almog like the same day, and in some moment, one guy, he was like -- I was really scared about him, I was really afraid.

And he took fabric from my eyes and showed me with signs like, I, tomorrow, you, I will film you, and they will kill you. It was on a Thursday of our being in Gaza.

GOLODRYGA: Your mom said that you were tied up like that for two months.

KOZLOV: The first three days was ropes until middle of December, we were in chains.

GOLODRYGA: You were tied to -- with chains?

KOZLOV: With chains. They were afraid that we will ran away, like maybe, I don't know.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Our thanks to Bianna Golodryga for that interview. Let me take you to my hometown, Baltimore known as Charm City, but don't push us. Benches cleared at the end of last night's Orioles-Yankees game. We'll show you what caused it next.

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[06:50:00]

WALKER: Major League Baseball's All-Star break starts on Monday, but it didn't come soon enough for the Yankees in Orioles.

BLACKWELL: Already some bad blood between the two teams boiled over last night. Carolyn Manno joins us for more. Clear the benches.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes --

BLACKWELL: Hey, guys, well, these two teams had a history of hitting one another, and the latest installment created quite the scene at Camden Yards. New York leading in the ninth-inning here, closer Clay Holmes facing Heston Kjerstad at the plate, but this 0-2 pitch ends up going awry, drilling him in the head.

He left the game, he was OK, Orioles' Manager Brandon Hyde took exception to this, he ended up coming out of the dugout, seemed to make a couple of comments to Holmes, and that's really when everything breaks loose, Hyde, he starts charging to the Yankees dug out, both benches clear for a little bit of context here, six players were beamed over three games. T

The last time these two teams played. So, Hyde, maybe thinking it's just more bad blood, he was looking for an injection, he ended up getting one, sent straight to the showers. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRANDON HYDE, MANAGER, BALTIMORE ORIOLES: It's an emotional time at that time, my guy just got hit right in the -- right in the ear -- you know, I'm upset, and then I see their dugout and they're waving at me and doing -- yelling at me. So, I just didn't appreciate it at the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: In the W, Las Vegas' Aces' superstar A'Ja Wilson with one of the greatest games in league history. The two-time MVP dominant last night against the Atlanta Dream, scoring 33 points, grabbing 18 boards and blocking 5 shots. She is just the fourth player ever to put up that stat line, as the Aces win it 84 to 70.

Fever's phenom Caitlin Clark making some history too, becoming the first rookie in WNBA history, and just the third player overall with back-to-back games of at least, 20 points and 10 assists, Indiana led the mercury by as many as 31 on the way to a 9-point win.

And in this morning's difference makers, Alex Fourie is a shining example of what it means to overcome adversity. He was born with physical limitations in a Ukrainian orphanage, his life changed forever when he was adopted in 1999 and brought to the United States, and of course, introduced to the game of golf. Now, he's 31 years old, he's a PGA Pro, but his dreams go far beyond the golf course.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX FOURIE, PGA PROFESSIONAL, FOUNDER OF SINGLE HAND GOLF: I was born in Ukraine in 1992, south of Chernobyl, and due to the radiation from the Chernobyl disaster, I was born with a cleft lip and palate and then one arm. And in 1999, I got really lucky and got adopted.

The first day my dad took me fishing, and then the second day, my dad took me to a golf course, had no idea what he was doing, he handed me a golf club and told me to figure it out. Ever since then, I've been trying to drive my dad. I remember growing up in middle school and kind of being bullied and take that and do that, I really wanted to be good at something.

Thankfully, I was pretty good at sports. And so, I used that as a channel to kind of prove to the world that just because I had a disability, doesn't mean that I can't do anything. Now, I have an organization called Single Hand Golf that helps kids with disabilities play golf. Whether it's golf clubs, arranging memberships, lessons, anything to help them get involved in the game of golf.

[06:55:00]

Look at that, good shot. I really want to help kids master a craft that they can build confidence in themselves, and hopefully that carries throughout their life. If we can get the younger generation of kids with disabilities into the game of golf sooner, I think the level of excellence will definitely be great. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!

FOURIE: I see a lot of people make excuses for themselves, even that aren't acceptable. And there's a lot of the things where you wake up in the morning and you either choose to put a smile on your face or you let the day ruin yourself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: Just an incredible story, he actually started a charity guys, called Single Hand Golf to help adaptive kids get into sport. But I just love the positive outlook and the attitude. Just a remarkable person and athlete.

WALKER: No boundaries for him, just really incredible story, beautiful. Carolyn Manno, thank you so much. All right, next hour, we will have more on the mood in the Biden campaign as they attempt to fend off the growing calls for President Joe Biden to step aside.

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