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CNN This Morning
Biden Faces New Wave Of Democratic Defections; Harris Holds Call With Donors To Discuss "Urgent Needs"; Nearly All Of Democratic Party's 3900-Plus Delegates Currently Pledge Support To Biden; Secret Service Bolsters Security For First Trump-Vance Rally; Flawed Update Crashes Services Around The World; Cybercriminals Promoting Fake Recovery Web Sites In Wake Of Outage; Blinken: "We're Inside The 10- Yard Line" On Ceasefire Deal. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired July 20, 2024 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[07:01:09]
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Saturday, July 20th. I'm Amara Walker.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: It was just me. I mean, it's July 20th already?
WALKER: Skip over June. It was just June.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to have you. Thanks for joining us. Here's what we're working for, working on for you this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very concerned that the data does not show a path to victory with President Biden.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: More than 30 congressional Democrats are now calling on the president to leave the 2024 race. What the campaign is pointing to as the reason he should stay, plus why the president is reportedly seething at former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
WALKER: And today, Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance will hold their first joint rally exactly one week after Trump's survived an assassination attempt that changes the campaign and Secret Service officials are making ahead of today's rally.
BLACKWELL: Businesses, hospitals and airlines are trying to get back on track today after a cyber outage led to gridlock across the globe. What sparked it and how scammers are already trying to take advantage of the confusion.
WALKER: Plus, get ready for pandemonium. Yes, see, there's a reason why I'm reading this.
BLACKWELL: Yes, because I was --
WALKER: He would never say pandemonium.
BLACKWELL: Nope.
WALKER: Of a different kind, of course. When and where the newest panda pair will make their public debut.
President Biden is plotting his return to the campaign despite calls for him to end his re-election bid. More than 30 Democratic lawmakers are now publicly urging him to step aside, including a dozen new names that were added on Friday alone.
A source says, the president is seething at former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi since some of her close allies are joining those calls. But President Biden insists that he is staying in the race. He issued a statement yesterday saying he looks forward to hitting the campaign trail next week after recovering from COVID. And at least one House member says Biden has not proven he is able to shift the conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. SEAN CASTEN (D-IL): The narrative since the debate has been how is President Biden going to shift the focus onto his record, and away from the slips of the tongue, and people are nervous about that. And the polls that folks are doing that they're seeing that we've seen, and I've not seen anything different from the White House suggested if we're going to put our best foot forward, we need to make a change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Former President Trump returns to campaigning today. He and his running mate, J.D. Vance, are holding their first joint rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It'll be the former president's first rally since last weekend, when he was injured in an attempted assassination. And unlike the rally, today will be indoors.
CNN's Camila DeChalus is joining us now. Let's focus on the president and his team says he is staying in the race. Tell us about it.
CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden's campaign team is really doubling down and saying that the president has no intention of stepping aside from this race. Now, campaign officials, both publicly and privately, have acknowledged that the last past weeks have been a bit rough, but they have continued to express confidence that Biden has a real chance at winning this upcoming reelection. Take a quick listen to what Biden's campaign chair, Jen O'Malley Dillon, had to say.
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JEN O'MALLEY DILLON, BIDEN CAMPAIGN CHAIR: I'm not here to say that this hasn't been a tough several weeks for the campaign. There's no doubt that it has been. And we've definitely seen some slippage in support, but it has been a small movement. And you know this. The reason is because so much of this race is hardened already. The American people know that the president is older, they see that, they knew that before the debate. Yes, of course, we have a lot of work to do to make sure that we are reassuring the American people that yes he's old but he can do the job and he can win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DECHALUS: Now, President Biden himself put out a statement yesterday saying that he's looking forward to hitting the campaign trail next week and really having that opportunity to really sell his message to the voters about what he's done in the past and what he will Set out to do if he's reelected for a second term.
And Victor, it's also worth noting that Biden's campaign chair has also said in a call to campaign staffers internally, saying having really one big message, and that was do not pay attention to what people are saying. Do not pay attention to the polls. Really just stay focused and stay focused on really talking to the American people and the voters, because that is what matters here.
WALKER: Yes, but it must be increasingly difficult to not pay attention to these growing calls. We also have new reporting, Camila, about the process to replace Biden if he does step aside. What are you hearing?
DECHALUS: According to our latest reporting, what we are hearing from Democratic officials and elected members is that if Biden does step aside, then the likely candidate would be his vice president, Kamala Harris.
Now, when talking to people, a lot of them said pointed to her portfolio, saying that she has a track record, she has served her time in Congress, and she has really great relationships and a great rapport with the American people as being someone that really serves and has the best interests of the American people at heart.
And it's really notable that in the last few weeks, she has, even since the first presidential debate performance, she has gone on the campaign trail really touting the accomplishments of the Biden administration and really making the case of what the administration has done and what they will set out to do. And so, she has really remained this fierce advocate for Biden. And people really do believe that she will be the likely nominee if Biden does step down.
[07:06:54]
BLACKWELL: Camila DeChalus for us in Washington, thank you so much. Max Cohen is joining us now, Congressional Reporter for Punchbowl News. Max, good morning to you. All right, let's talk about some of the latest Democrat in congress to call for the president to step aside. You had Vermont Senator Peter Welch, a little more than a week ago call for the president to step aside. Now I've got two more senators: Montana's Tester on Thursday, Sherrod Brown of out of, Friday. The special significance of the most recent two versus Welch, what's the value? Are they any more persuasive?
MAX COHEN, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, PUNCHBOWL NEWS: Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester are two of the most endangered Senate Democrats. They're both running in deep red states in November. And when they came out and said they want Biden to not run again, that shows just how worried the most vulnerable Democrats are that President Joe Biden on the top of the ticket
could really sink their chances. And you also saw some corresponding Democrats in the House who are running really tough races, just like Tester and Brown are also calling on Biden to step down yesterday. One who comes to mind is Gabe Vasquez from New Mexico.
That's a swing seat in the House in New Mexico. So, the Democrats who are really on the line here, the Democrats who are at risk of losing their jobs are speaking with a loud, clear message. They don't want Biden on top of the ticket.
BLACKWELL: Our John King is reporting that the new statements calling for the president to drop out have a lot to do with Nancy Pelosi, and wanting the president to understand just how serious the situation is for some of those vulnerable Democrats you mentioned. If the president knows that much, right, and he is still saying, I'm in, does it matter if there are 34 members of Congress or 54-75. If he knows that Nancy Pelosi's already sending him the message, does the number mean much?
COHEN: Yes. I, I, think when you when your campaign official and look at the Republicans and you see the unity they just came out of that convention in walkie with and you flip over your own side the Democratic side and see dozens, and dozens saying their own party's nomination not run, I think the number does matter, frankly.
The more that come out publicly, the more the unity of the Democratic side is breaking. But it's a good point, right? Some of these members might not be household names, but when the big party leaders like Pelosi, Schumer, Jeffries, Jim Clyburn is a key member here, too, if they start to come out publicly, I think that's when this position becomes truly unsustainable.
Because as you mentioned, Pelosi currently is working behind the scenes. But if she comes out publicly, puts a statement to her name and says, this is no longer the path we can go down as Democrats, that's when I think Biden really has to make a decision and perhaps exit this race, but we're not quite there yet.
BLACKWELL: Most of these Democrats qualify their call for the president to withdraw by saying, if he stays at the top of the ticket, they will work hard to get him elected. But there was something about this op-ed from Congressman Seth Moulton, published in the Boston Globe yesterday, that I think is really important we need to discuss.
He mentioned that he saw him in a small group at Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day, He writes, "For the first time, he didn't seem to recognize me." I mean, I imagine that that is, if the president stays at the top of the ticket, that's hard to walk back to say that the president didn't recognize me, but I think that he should have this job until he's 86, until 2029.
COHEN: Yes, I think that's a great point. And you already see Republicans hammering home Democrats who have called for Biden not to run again by saying, you don't think he can run again? Are you really sure he can be president right now in this moment in time? Shouldn't he resign? The Seth Moulton point, I think, is a really good one.
I appreciate you brought that up because some people at home might say Seth Moulton. I never heard of that guy. Fair enough. He's not a household name. But remember, he ran for president in the 2020 Democratic primary. Joe Biden knew that. And Seth Moulton in that op- ed writes how Joe Biden was a key mentor for Moulton when he first got elected to the House in the 2010s.
So, they had an existing relationship, even though viewers at home might not know Seth Moulton as a Hakeem Jeffries or an Anthony Pelosi type name. So when you hear these personal stories of Democrats coming publicly with their serious misgivings about Democrat, combing publicly with their serious misgiving about Biden, den's viability.
It really does make you wonder, how long can this go on? I think we're entering a very crucial trajectory from now until the end of the month on whether Biden might exit this race.
[07:11:28]
BLACKWELL: Yes, and if he stays in, how does Seth Moulton or others who say that he is diminished say that, to the voters, vote for him anyway? How do they make that turn? We'll see. Max Cohen, thanks so much.
WALKER: The growing discontent within the Democratic Party over Biden at the top of the ticket is triggering questions over what would happen next if Biden stepped aside. CNN's Brian Todd takes a look at why an open convention process could be chaotic.
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BRIAN TODD, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: The president's team digging in, vowing to stay in the race, despite dozens of Democratic lawmakers and party leaders suggesting otherwise. But if Joe Biden, in the days or weeks ahead, were to decide to quit the race before the Democratic convention in late August, the process for replacing him is uncertain and somewhat messy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The primaries are over, the caucuses are over. You can't redo the primaries or caucuses. You can't elect new delegates.
TODD: If Biden steps aside before the convention, it could turn the convention itself into a free-for-all, or at least make it full of intrigue. Names of replacements could be put forward, and the roughly 3,900 Democratic delegates from across the country could decide who to vote for as the nominee.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it's up to the delegates. In the end, it's up to them.
TODD: President Biden won almost all of those 3,900 delegates in the primaries, but does he have control over who they support if he's out of the race?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not like joe B I'm stepping down. All of signed on for me have to candidate. That's not how would essentially be free they want. Like the days and lobbying could prevail as potential nominees try to get behind them. In the end, how many of the 3,900 delegates would a candidate have to win at the convention to get the nomination?
ELAINE KAMAROK, DLC RULES AND BYLAWS COMMITTEE MEMBER: Ultimately, they would have to convince somewhat, somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 plus Democratic delegates to vote for them on a roll call vote.
TODD: There are also additional so-called superdelegates, about 700 of them, comprised of party insiders and elected officials, who could also be allowed to join in the voting. It would all mean a late start for any candidate, including in the money race. If Vice President Kamala Harris won the nomination, she would presumably be able to use Biden's campaign war chest because her name is on all the filings. But any other candidate may have to raise their own money.
What happens if the president leaves the race after the Democratic Convention? Experts say in that unlikely event, then the Democratic National Committee would convene and select the Democratic nominee for president on its own, after consulting with Democratic lawmakers in Congress and Democratic governors. Victor, Amara.
WALKER: Brian Todd, thank you for that.
BLACKWELL: All right, still to come, the Secret Service is working to ramp up security ahead of Donald Trump's first rally since the attempted assassination last week. More on those plans.
WALKER: Plus, chaos and confusion after a massive global tech outage. How it is continuing to impact airports and passengers this morning.
BLACKWELL: And Sheila Jackson Lee, a prominent Democrat and outspoken voice on African American and women's rights has died. We'll have more on her inspiring life ahead.
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[07:19:25]
WALKER: Former President Trump will be returning to the campaign trail today for his first rally since the shooting last week. He, and his vice presidential pick, J.D. Vance, will hold a joint rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Now, the U.S. Secret Service has increased security for the event, as current security measures around Trump's rallies are being rethought. CNN's Holmes Lybrand has more.
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HOLMES LYBRAND, CNN REPORTER: The best Secret Service is increasing security for former President Donald Trump's rally in Michigan on Saturday, the first rally since the assassination attempt last weekend. Since last week's shooting, law enforcement is rethinking Trump's security in part because of new concerns about potential copycats. In recent days, the Secret Service asked local law enforcement officials to assign more officers to secure the rally. Trump and running mate J.D. Vance are set to greet supporters at an indoor rally in Grand Rapids, the type of venue that the Secret Service has long preferred because they are
considered less risky and easier to secure. People involved in his security planning are also rethinking how Trump should campaign and whether he should continue to hold outdoor rallies going forward. The increased security for this weekend's event are part of an ongoing assessment by federal agencies as the presidential campaign ramps up.
BLACKWELL: All right, Holmes Lybrand, thank you very much. Joining me is CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Good morning to you. Let's start here with these searches that have been discovered, searching not just for former President Trump, but President Biden, both conventions and rallies. Does that, and it's still early days, does that give you any indication, any information about a potential motive here?
[07:21:11]
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Victor, we still lack absolutely unassailable proof of motive. There's no manifesto. There's no message that he left explaining his actions. But I think what we're finding, what little we're finding from the searches and what we're not finding when you combine those, I think, raises some interesting issues.
So, as you mentioned, we know that he searched both rallies, the Trump rally, and he searched for information about the date and location of the DNC. He also searched for information about both Biden and Trump. What they haven't found is any evidence of strong political beliefs in either direction.
The only thing we have is his registration as a Republican and a possible donation to a Democratic or progressive entity. So, the fact that he was looking at searches essentially in both political directions and there are no statements or really solid evidence of a strong political belief.
I think is causing investigators to think more about the fact that this young man likely wanted to commit an act of violence on a very big stage in a way that would garner a lot of attention, but maybe didn't do it in pursuit of a specific political belief.
BLACKWELL: And he also searched, according to sources, for Ethan Crumbley, the shooter in Oxford, Michigan, who killed four of his classmates. I mean, is that common to search for, if you're looking for notoriety, if you're looking for infamy, to kind of start down the path of one-upsmanship?
MCCABE: It's very common, Victor. We see it among mass shooters very frequently that it's a typical what they call pre-attack behavior. They conduct research of other mass shooters to see how they did what they did, to figure out what worked from what they did and what ultimately didn't work.
So, the fact that he was looking at information about Ethan Crumbley I think is very significant. And as I said, it's something that we often see, you know, mass shooters will go back and read the manifestos or watch the videos produced by other mass shooters in an effort to prepare for what they're going to do.
BLACKWELL: Secret Service Director will, has been subpoenaed and is expected to testify before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Monday, I should say. It's just a little more than a week into this investigation. How much do you think will be disclosed publicly during that hearing?
MCCABE: Well, I can tell you from many experiences having been summoned up to the Hill to talk about FBI operations, Congress doesn't usually wait to let the agencies kind of conduct their business before coming up to talk about it. So, I'm not surprised she's been invited to speak.
I think we'll probably hear more detail than we would typically hear in an investigation where you have somebody who's going to be charged criminally. If it's a criminal investigation, it's much more sensitive about not sharing evidence in such a forum. But right now, really what she's going up to talk about is what is apparently a series of failures around the security of this event.
I think it's essential that the service, their actions in leading up to and conducting themselves during the event are evaluated very closely. And it's certainly within Congress's role of oversight over the agencies to get down to the bottom of what happened here.
BLACKWELL: All right. Andrew McCabe, always good to have you, thank you.
WALKER: The massive global tech outage impacted hospitals, businesses, and government agencies.
[07:55:00]
How this might have put people's data at risk, that's next.
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WALKER: Thousands of flights are still delayed or canceled this morning as airports, businesses, hospitals and beyond are still reeling from this global tech outage.
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike says a bug in a software update is so deeply embedded, it'll have to be deleted by hand.
BLACKWELL: Businesses are slowly getting back online. A full recovery could take days, maybe weeks. CNN's Tom Foreman explains the glitch that knocked out technology for millions of people.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like I'm being completely screwed over. This is bullcrap.
[07:30:00]
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As airports and trains, hospitals and emergency services, media, retailers, delivery companies and even the U.S. space program grappled with the global cyber outage, a stunning admission, a single glitch in a software update from the cyber security company, CrowdStrike, triggered the whole mess.
GEORGE KURTZ, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CROWDSTRIKE: We identified this very quickly and remediated the issue. And as systems come back online as they are rebooted, they are coming up and they are working.
FOREMAN (voice over): This is how it happened. CrowdStrike is a multibillion-dollar cyber security firm which helps many Fortune 500 companies protect their Microsoft operating systems from hackers and viruses.
That requires constant updates, and normally, when one is deployed --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will be tested extensively, and they will work widely with the providers like Microsoft and other organizations that run these platforms to make sure it is compatible with these networks.
FOREMAN (voice over): But this update was faulty, causing affected computers around the planet to shut down.
Dave DeWalt is a top expert in the field. He was up all night, helping get them back online.
DAVE DEWALT, FOUNDER, NIGHTDRAGON: CrowdStrike was doing everything in its power to stop threats from occurring by doing the updates. But at the same time, you know, the quality control broke down, and we ended up with what we had happen.
FOREMAN (voice over): Government services far and wide were affected by the outage, including in the U.S., Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, social security, and even some state 911 systems.
At the White House, the fact they could all be affected by one mistake is raising caution flags.
PETE BUTTIGIEG, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: This digitization in technology has brought massive benefits, but every technology has its downsides.
FOREMAN: As it is. In New York, one of the famous billboards of Times Square was blanked by the problem.
In Paris, final preparation for the Olympics were rattled. And all over --
DEWALT: The banking industry and everything else, couple more hours, you know, maybe the rest of the day, and we'll be returned.
FOREMAN: Disputes about how long it will take to get back to normal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are estimates that this is going to take some days, perhaps, even weeks, to fully recover from the impact.
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FOREMAN (on camera): Analysts say it is a testament to CrowdStrike that so many governments and corporations rely on the company, but they say this could all be also a warning that perhaps we need some more options if one mistake can lead to such problems. Amara, Victor?
WALKER: Yes, more options. Sounds like that is the key. Tom Foreman, thank you.
Let's get more now with Amit Yoran, who used to work with the Department of Homeland Security and is now the CEO of Tenable.
Amit, good to see you this morning. I mean, that is a good point there, from our Tom Foreman. This worldwide tech crash happened from a single software update from a single cyber security company, and it just highlights so much how vulnerable we all are.
Do you think something will change as a result, in terms of how we diversify the tech ecosystem, as you call it?
AMIT YORAN, CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, TENABLE: Hopefully, something will change. I mean, that would be incredibly disappointed, and we would be incredibly remiss if we continue to operate as though we never learned a lesson from this.
If we learn one lesson, it's that if we need resiliency, we have to have diversity on -- in our environment. Diversity and operating systems, not just rely on any one vendor, be it Microsoft or CrowdStrike from a security perspective.
WALKER: Why has it been like this, though? I mean, for so long, right? And we're just figuring this out now, after, you know, such a massive crash. I mean, just investors, or if you have a 401(k), you're told, you know, by advisers, to diversify your stocks just to minimize risk, you would think that, that would apply in the tech world.
YORAN: Well, it should apply in the tech world. We've known about these problems for a long time, for probably almost 20 years. This issue of diversity in the environment to increase resiliency has been known.
But the bottom line is it's requires investment, requires effort, it requires work to diversify your environment and make sure that you're not susceptible to this. In this instance, we are looking at a mistake. You can bet that miscreants takers are looking through this software, looking for problems, which they can then deploy globally.
So, this issue, while a mistake this time, I think, highlights a very serious flaw in how we do computing.
WALKER: Before I get to how hackers are taking advantage of the situation, there are still -- there are still -- this hasn't fully been resolved. It's going to take time, because, as I understand it, the computers will have to be manually, I guess, rebooted.
How long is this going to take?
YORAN: Well, it depends on people's staffing level. Depends how remote some of these systems are. For vast majority of infrastructure, it's going to take several hours, or could take a matter of days.
[07:35:00]
For very complex, large and distributed environments where there are people near their machines, it could literally take weeks and could cost tremendous amounts of money and effort to bring their systems online.
WALKER: What about airlines and health systems?
YORAN: Well, each environment is different. But we know yesterday, they were almost 7,000 canceled flights. We know today already there are almost 2,000 canceled flights.
So, this is not an issue that's going to be with us forever, but it's not an issue that's going away in 10 hours or even two days.
WALKER: So, several days.
YORAN: It will be several days.
WALKER: Got you.
So, when we talk about risk to consumers, I mean, as our reporting has been from our Brian Fung, hackers are already taking advantage of the situation. They are sending out phony URLs, and hopes you know that some will click on them and they can reach their devices. Tell us what we as consumers need to be aware of right now.
YORAN: Yes, I think the best thing to do is rely on the I.T. staffs or the companies that you deal with, and those staffs need to go to CrowdStrike, need to go to credible vendors to understand what's going on and how to restore their environments.
Don't rely on inbound calls. Don't rely on e-mails and all the things which are known by scam artists to falsify information and gain advantage.
WALKER: All right. We're going to leave it there. Thank you so much for your time, Amit Yoran.
YORAN: OK, thank you.
BLACKWELL: All right. At least one business took the outage in stride. Krispy Kreme responded by offering a sweet-ware update, A.K.A. a free glaze donut. On Friday evening.
They said on Instagram, our windows are working great, and so is our hotline. The company frequently gives away its donuts or offers discounts to grab attention during major holidays or events.
WALKER: I haven't had a Krispy Kreme in such a long time.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKWELL: Not like that.
WALKER: I love me, a glazed doughnut though.
BLACKWELL: Yes, I've not had a Krispy Kreme in a while, but now that I'm sitting here, thinking about it --
(CROSSTALK)
WALKER: And it's warm, and crisp when -- like that.
BLACKWELL: Looking at that hot light, might find my way there after the show.
All right, still to come. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says the Israel-Hamas cease fire and hostage release details -- deal rather is inside the 10-yard line. We'll have the latest on that.
And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visit to Washington next week.
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[07:42:06]
WALKER: All right. Breaking news overnight, Democratic Congresswoman from Texas, Sheila Jackson Lee, has died. Congresswoman Jackson Lee spent decades advocating for women and black Americans. She played a major role in the establishment of Juneteenth as a national holiday, frequently spoke out against police brutality, and advocated to prosecute police misconduct.
The Congressional Black Caucus released a joint statement overnight, calling Jackson Lee, "a patriot and a fighter to the very end."
They got on to say -- they go on to say, words cannot express the sense of loss our caucus feels for our beloved friend.
BLACKWELL: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries remembered her as an accomplished legislator, passionate public servant, loving mentor and wonderful friend.
On CNN last night, a colleague and fellow Texan, Representative Al Green told this to our Laura Coates.
REP. AL GREEN (D-TX): She had a work ethic that all who knew her admired, you could not help but admire her work ethic.
BLACKWELL: Congresswoman Jackson Lee announced in June that she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She was 74 years old. This morning, U.S. officials say Israel and Hamas are in the closing stages of a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to travel to Washington on Monday.
WALKER: And he will address a joint meeting of Congress this week. The prime minister was scheduled to meet with President Biden in person. However, that is now up in the air after the president's COVID-19 diagnosis. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Israel, with the latest.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, offering a very optimistic assessment of the hostage and ceasefire negotiations. Saying that he believes that we're, "inside the 10-yard line and driving toward the goal line in terms of getting an agreement.
He noted the fact that Hamas has effectively agreed to a framework proposal, the one President Biden laid out in a speech several weeks ago.
We know that for the last couple of weeks, it does appear that Israel and Hamas effectively have a framework agreement to try and build out a final deal for a cease fire here.
But over the course of those last two weeks, we've seen officials shuttling between Doha, Qatar and Cairo, Egypt, without actually a clear sense of how close they are actually getting to a deal. So, very notable to hear the Secretary of State now offering this assessment.
At the same time, he did note that he doesn't want to be, "naive", saying that sometimes it is those last 10 yards that are often the hardest.
The secretary of state and President Biden may have an opportunity next week to convince the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to get across those final 10 yards, as the Israeli prime minister is set to travel to Washington this weekend for a series of meetings, including with President Biden, as well as a -- an address to a joint meeting of Congress.
[07:45:01]
Now, as all of this is happening, the International Court of Justice, issuing a very significant ruling, a nonbinding ruling, but one that is unprecedented in its kind, as it relates to this situation.
The International Court of Justice ruling that Israel's presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is illegal. They offer that in an advisory opinion that stems from a request by the U.N. General Assembly in 2022 to assess the legality and the consequences of Israel's ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories captured in the 1967 war.
The International Court of Justice ruling on this separate from its ongoing case regarding South Africa's allegations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, but even this ruling from the International Court of Justice, an advisory ruling that is not legally binding, receiving harsh recriminations in Israel.
The Israeli prime minister saying that the Jewish people are not conquerors in their own land, saying that no false decision in The Hague will distort what he calls a historical truth.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
WALKER: All right. This is no fairy tale to talk about thousands of Disneyland workers have voted to authorize a potential strike. Why they say they are prepared to take action.
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[07:50:49]
WALKER: U.S. and Western officials are reacting with sharp criticism after American journalist Evan Gershkovich was found guilty of spying for the CIA by a Russian court.
The U.S. and Gershkovich's employer, The Wall Street Journal, are calling it a sham trial and strongly deny the accusations.
The 32-year-old reporter was arrested in March of last year, while on assignment. He has 15 days to appeal the verdict.
BLACKWELL: Disneyland's unionized cast members will return to the bargaining table early next week to meet with Disney officials after the union voted to authorize a strike.
The cast members say they want better wages and working conditions. The union says the vote does not mean they will strike, but it gives them that option if the two parties cannot agree on a contract.
Another heat wave is expected to bake the west coast this weekend, as floods threaten New Mexico and the Southeast.
WALKER: CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is here. And if you just look at her earrings, we know what is about to happen. Lots of rain on the way.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right, we do. Especially the south. And that shouldn't be a surprise, because if you live in the south, it's been raining for the last few days.
The inherent problem is it's going to keep raining. And when you end up getting too much rain, we know that causes problems. So, yes, we've got two big stories to cover for today. We've got the heat out in the west after a very, very, very brief reprieve from that, and we also have a lot of rain headed to the southern tier, and that's essentially going to be from Arizona, basically all the way over into the Carolina separate systems, but still, nonetheless a flooding concern.
Right now, some of the heaviest rain just moved through Atlanta, starting to make its way up towards Greenville, Spartanburg, Columbia, and eventually into Charlotte, Birmingham, also starting to see some heavy rain, as well as some lightning moving into that area. But it's all from this stationary front, and it's not going to move much, hence the name, which means more rain today, more rain again on Sunday, more rain again on Monday. And a lot of these areas are only expected to get about an inch to two inches, maybe tops each day, but it's on top of the two to four inches they've had to last 48 hours.
And when you keep adding that, the cumulative effect leads to ponding on the roadways, maybe some water in your basement, into businesses and roads. So that's going to be a concern.
Couple of different areas we talked about, the southwest monsoon. That area is going to see some rain. Also, the southern tier of the U.S., this is the focus for today. But a lot of these same areas likely to see some flooding potential on Sunday and even Monday as well.
The other story again, covering out to the West, not always necessarily the same places, even areas of inland Washington and Oregon, going to see those temperatures spiking back up well into the triple digits.
BLACKWELL: All right. Allison Chinchar, thanks.
WALKER: All right. Still to come, two new furry faces will be making their debut at the San Diego Zoo soon. We'll tell you more about these pandas, newly arrived from China.
And the U.S. has a long and bloody history when it comes to political violence. This week, on "THE WHOLE STORY, WITH ANDERSON COOPER". CNN's Sara Sidner examines the history of these attacks and the motivations behind them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Kennedy was involved in a shooting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last report was hit twice in the head, once in the hip.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Losing King and Robert Kennedy in the same season was bad enough, but it reminded Americans of JFK's assassination less than five years before.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was just a baby when my Uncle Bobby was killed. But I just know what a loss it was, not only for their children, my cousins, but a loss for everybody that knew them and knew how much they wanted to change the world.
They had so much promise and so much inspiration and hope as part of their whole message,
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[07:54:42]
WALKER: An all-new episode of "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER" airs tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only on CNN. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
All right, if you're in the mood for something cute and cuddly this morning, here it is. We're getting our first look at two giant pandas in their brand-new habitat at the San Diego Zoo. They arrived from China earlier this summer.
And the pandas will be available for the public to visit starting on August 8th. China loaned the pair to the United States as "envoys of friendship" between the two countries.
BLACKWELL: Cute and cuddly, I've been here all morning. I've been here the whole time.
WALKER: (INAUDIBLE). You are cute and cuddly, sometimes.
All right. "FIRST OF ALL," Victor Blackwell is up next. What do you have coming up?
BLACKWELL: All right. Thank you for that. There is a new letter from a growing group of black female leaders. It says the push for President Biden to step aside is unjust and undemocratic.
[08:00:00]
I'll speak to one of those leaders who signed the letter.
Also, Martin Luther King III is here. Of course, he knows the personal loss of political violence. We're going to talk with him about the push for unity after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, and those mass deportation now, signs at the RNC.
