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CNN This Morning

Trump-Vance Rally in Michigan; John Deere dials back D.E.I. Policies; Millions Bracing from Stormy and Steamy Weather. Secret Service Says It Previously Denied Trump More Resources; Trump, Vance Hold First Joint Rally Together In Michigan; Pelosi Stresses Importance Of Election At Unity Dinner; Biden Plans To Hit Campaign Trail This Week, Still Recovering From COVID; Some Republicans Calling On Secret Service Director To Resign; Houthi Rebels Says Israeli Strike In Yemen Killed 3, Injured 87. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired July 21, 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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[07:00:57]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Good morning and welcome to CNN This Morning. It is Sunday, July 21st. I'm Victor Blackwell.

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: I'm Amara Walker alongside Allison Chinchar and Andy Scholes. I don't know if anyone else senses it, but you seem a little tense, a little worried.

BLACKWELL: Look at my hand.

WALKER: Like (INAUDIBLE).

BLACKWELL: Like this.

WALKER: And that's because you're concerned about the tech outages --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WALKER: -- that impact your flight tomorrow.

BLACKWELL: I'm --

WALKER: And that is a concern.

BLACKWELL: I'm supposed to be on a tiny Caribbean island soon, and I'm supposed to fly out tomorrow.

WALKER: It's got a countdown clock right underneath.

BLACKWELL: Oh, and I look at the airports and people are still there from Friday. I mean it.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I me to blame.

BLACKWELL: No.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: At least your flight -- at least your flight wasn't Friday, didn't it?

WALKER: I know.

SCHOLES: What a nightmare those people to deal with.

WALKER: No. I hope you get out. I really do.

BLACKWELL: I need it.

WALKER: Yes.

BLACKWELL: I need it.

WALKER: I know. Can imagine you don't get out and then I have to see you on Saturday.

BLACKWELL: Oh, well, yes.

WALKER: Not good.

BLACKWELL: Now just thinking about she has to see me on Saturday, I got it. I need it.

WALKER: All right. Well, here's what we are working on for you this morning. The Secret Service now says it did deny former President Trump certain resources in the month leading up to last week's assassination attempt. Why the agency says it made that decision and what to expect when the head of the Secret Service faces lawmakers tomorrow.

BLACKWELL: Donald Trump and J.D. Vance hit the stage for their first joint rally since the Republican Convention. The priorities the two pledged to tackle if elected and what Trump had to say about Project 2025.

CHINCHAR: And records continue to fall in the relentless western heat wave. But now a growing wildfire threat is also making a concern for several folks out west. We'll take a look at that coming up.

SCHOLES: And the U.S. Men needing a furious rally and some heroics from LeBron to avoid an embarrassing loss to South Sudan. While LeBron said, it was good for the team. We'll have that coming up in sports.

BLACKWELL: All right, new this morning, the Secret Service confirmed that it has previously denied requests from the Trump team for additional resources and staffing over the past two years. A spokesperson for the Secret Service said the agency did not provide certain resources to the former president in the past, but instead provided other security measures that included local law enforcement.

WALKER: It's another question. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle will have to face this week as she testifies before several congressional committees over the security failures that led to the assassination attempt. House Homeland Security Chair Mark Green will visit the rally site tomorrow to understand, quote, "how this near assassination took place."

And Mar-a-Lago, the Secret Service is increasing security measures through Election Day, which includes road closures around Trump's Palm Beach residence.

BLACKWELL: Last hour, I spoke with former Secret Service Agent Jonathan Wackrow about why the Secret Service would deny Trump additional resources. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I find it hard to believe that, you know, since the former president left office, there have been multiple, you know, threats that have been made towards him. And most recently we've been reporting this threat from Iranian proxies. Operating in that persistent threat environment for the former president, every resource that is potentially available that the Secret Service has should have been applied to the former president.

You know, we knew that, you know, all along that he would be running for election again, you know, he is very vocal. He draws large crowds wherever he goes. So he's constantly operating in this threat environment. So I'm a little bit stunned to hear that on not one occasion, but multiple occasions, these requests have been denied. And that needs to be a focus of this upcoming hearing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now, the former president is taking this attempt in stride, making some few jokes on Saturday. He held his first campaign rally since the attack. The Michigan rally was also his first alongside his VP choice J.D. Vance.

WALKER: CNN's Kristen Holmes was there as they promised to help auto workers and pushed back on links to the controversial Project 2025.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Amara, Donald Trump on the stage here, this first rally sunset assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, spoke for nearly two hours and really seemed to be thriving in this environment. There were thousands of people in this arena.

[07:05:10]

Now he gave a speech that meandered quite a bit, but it was clear he was trying to get to the message that does appeal to people here in Michigan talking about bringing back auto workers job, talking about bringing manufacturing back to the United States, talking about getting rid of electric vehicle, quote unquote, "mandates," something he has said often.

He also, interestingly, appeared for the first time on the campaign trail with his vice presidential nominee, J.D. Vance. The reason to point that out is the fact that part of the appeal of J.D. Vance is his working class background. They believe that he could help with voters in certain states, like Michigan, like Wisconsin. like Pennsylvania, all of which are critical battleground states, all of which Donald Trump won in 2016 but then went on to lose in 2020.

Now, one of the most notable moments was Donald Trump again pushing back on the concept of Project 2025. That being the transition plan that was created by the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank, really umbrellas a lot of conservative groups that has had a lot of controversy around some of these plans that are considered very radical, far right.

Donald Trump has tried to push back before. Here's what he said tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Like some on the right, severe right, came up with this Project 25, and I don't even know. I mean, some of them, I know who they are, but they're very, very conservative, just like you have -- they're sort of the opposite of the radical left, OK? You have the radical left, and you have the radical right, and they come up with this -- I don't know what the hell it is, it's Project 25.

He's involved in Project and then they read some of the things, and they are extreme. I mean, they're seriously extreme, but I don't know anything about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: One thing to note, clearly Donald Trump's team thinks that this is a vulnerability for the former president, but he's not the only one, or they're not the only one. So does President Joe Biden's team. They have put out ads trying to link Donald Trump to Project 25. They have attacked him over it. So clearly this is a sensitive issue for Trump and for the campaign.

Victor and Amara?

WALKER: All right, Kristen Holmes, thank you for that.

Now, while Biden did not hit the campaign trail on Saturday, prominent Democrats hosted a unity dinner in North Carolina.

BLACKWELL: Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi served as the keynote speaker and she did stress the importance of unity within the party. She did not address the future of Biden's campaign. Here's CNN's Dianne Gallagher.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, Amara, though she took the stage to Bonnie Raitt's let's give them something to talk about, former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not really touch on the topic that's had everyone talking about her the past couple weeks, heavy on party policy and the down ballot races in North Carolina. She addressed about 900 Democrats in Raleigh, North Carolina on Saturday night at the state party's biggest fundraiser, long dubbed the unity dinner. Even though the intra party has been anything, but when we're talking about the presidential race, Pelosi's keynote address ticked off plenty of accomplishments for the Biden-Harris administration.

Sources tell CNN that Biden himself is seething at Pelosi after sources did tell CNN that she was closely linked to a fresh round of statements from lawmakers on Friday that encouraged President Biden to step aside from his campaign. But instead, when addressing this room, she focused on party unity and democratic values while referring to former U.S. President Donald Trump as, what's his name throughout her speech.

She compared the Democratic and Republican platforms and values, and she focused on how Democrats can not only, she says, win North Carolina, a key battleground state that the Biden campaign has invested not only money, but staffing and already, but also the entire country in the election in 2024.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY PELOSI (D), SPEAKER EMERITA: I have three nos. No wasted time, no underutilized resources, and no regrets the day after the election that we could have done more.

(APPLAUSE)

PELOSI: Are you ready for a great democratic victory? I thought so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, Pelosi was the keynote, but also speaking several down ballot candidates in North Carolina, including the nation's most closely watched governor's race the Attorney General, the Democrat Josh Stein, who is running for governor against the Republican, the Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, closely aligned with Trump.

As well as the current governor, Roy Cooper, who has made headlines in the past couple days as some prominent Democrats, as well as pundits, has tossed his name around as a possible running mate for vice president Kamala Harris if President Joe Biden were to step aside. Cooper did not address again any of the uncertainty at the top of the ticket instead focusing on the theme of the night unity here in North Carolina and across the country for Democrats.

Victor, Amara?

[07:10:08]

BLACKWELL: Dianne Gallagher in North Carolina for us, thank you so much.

There's still a lot of questions about the future of the Biden campaign. But what is clear is a heavy burn rate going through the money that the campaign has raised. Look at this. New campaign reports show the Biden campaign burned through almost $60 million in June with nearly $96 million still in the bank. Contrast that with Donald Trump's campaign, spent barely $10 million, leaving $128 million in its war chest.

WALKER: Yes, the Trump campaign saw a huge influx of cash after his conviction in the New York hush money trial. However, that was all last month. The Biden campaign is now stuck in a much more difficult spot. Some donors are withholding contributions or putting fundraising events on hold amid fears that Trump could win if Biden stays on the ticket and, of course, amidst all this uncertainty and the effect of the attempted assassination on the Trump campaign fundraising is not yet known.

Now, Biden faces a busy week ahead with high profile events amid intense scrutiny. He expects to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington. That is scheduled for Tuesday, according to the Israeli Prime Minister's office. And Biden is planning to get back on the campaign trail.

BLACKWELL: And more Democrats are joining the effort to get the president to step aside ahead of the Democratic National Convention. CNN's Camila DeChalus joins us now. So, what should we expect over the next few days?

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President Biden is expected to have a very busy week, as you mentioned. Now, of course, all of this is tentative, just considering that he's still in Rehoboth recovering from COVID. But he has said he put out a statement this past Friday saying that he looks forward to hitting the campaign trail, and he's expected to meet with the Israeli Prime Minister early next week.

Now, his campaign has also doubled down, saying that there is no intention for Biden to step inside. And, in fact, his schedule is supposed to be more robust when he comes back. They said, they put out a statement saying that they are going to host more than 20 press events and thousands of grassroots organizing events across key battleground states.

And this is very critical, just considering that Biden is expected to hit the campaign trail amid all this outreach and all this concerns that Democratic officials have really put out there publicly, just calling on him to step down. And really this effort for him to go back on the campaign trail is really to quail those concerns and really make it clear that he has no intention of stepping down and that he is fit to keep running for office and that he's better served to be reelected for a second term.

Victor, Amara, back to you.

BLACKWELL: Camila DeChalus, thank you so much.

Despite the growing calls for the President to step aside, he is, he says, committed to staying in this race. WALKER: And we're joined now by CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent and host of Inside Politics Sunday, Manu Raju. Good morning, Manu, good to see you.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

WALKER: So we were saying Biden continues to grapple with members of his own party, calling him to withdraw from the race. What are you hearing?

RAJU: Yes, look, and the calls are going to almost certainly grow, especially as we get into next week. That is going to be when Congress returns after its recess from the past week. And members of the House and the Senate will have been hearing a number of concerns from their own constituents, many of them flatly worried about keeping their own seats and what it means for the top of the ticket.

There is just so much to be panic right now within the Democratic Party about the next steps here. One of which is that if Joe Biden continues on as a party's nominee, of course, what does that mean for his chances in November? Could he take down Congress with him?

But if he decides to step aside -- and there's a little bit of time before the Democratic National Committee formally begins that roll call vote process to make him the nominee in this interim party or period, if he decides to step aside in which would be really an unprecedented move, there would be a such a scramble to figure out who would be the nominee. Would be Kamala Harris? How do they get the party behind them? How do they decide to move forward?

So many big questions, which is why there's so much unease within the Democratic Party as they wait for Joe Biden, ultimately to make it clear, even more so, I suppose that he's running and for the Democratic leadership to fall in line. It was notable that Nancy Pelosi yesterday did not explicitly endorse Joe Biden or say that he should absolutely be their candidate, largely because there are still so many concerns. I'm in top order, the Democratic Party about Biden carrying on.

BLACKWELL: Yes. So we'll see if there are more names added to that list, calling for the President to step aside this week. Also, we'll be watching the Secret Service director who will be testifying before the House. I wonder what are the latest details on that investigation into how they handled the attempted assassination on President Trump.

[07:15:02]

RAJU: Yes. Look, there's so many questions still about exactly what happened in the run up to the assassination attempt, why the shooter was able to get access clear at plain of sight to the former president. Why they didn't act on warning signs that were very clear early on?

And one of the big questions that I'm talking to a number of members is about why the Secret Service did not Prevent Donald Trump from going on stage as there were some red flags raised about 20 minutes or so before Donald Trump took the stage and after -- and as a shooter tried to kill the former president and barely missed him. Why did they allow him on the stage? And that was one of the questions that a number of Republican senators tried to post to Kimberly Cheatle, the U.S. Secret Service director.

At the Republican Convention last week, you'll recall that several of them confronted her at the convention and then chased her up an escalator. One of those senators was Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, who I asked about all of this and that episode with the Secret Service director.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KEVIN CRAMER (R), NORTH DAKOTA: All she had to do was talk to us. She didn't want to talk to us. How do you explain that for 20 minutes, the counter sniper team was aware of a threat on the rooftop, 150 yards from the stage, and then you still let the president get on the stage? You let Donald Trump get on the stage.

And she just doesn't want to seem to answer that question, which only leads us, by the way, to the obvious conclusion that she's hiding something.

RAJU: That's why you chased her up the escalator?

CRAMER: That's why we followed her up the escalator. And then the fact that she was just going to go and lock herself away, rather than invite us in to have a conversation, unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And now there are bipartisan calls for Kimberly Cheatle to resign as the top -- as the head of the Secret Service, including from Congressman Brendan Boyle, who is a Pennsylvania Democrat who came out last night and said it is time for her to resign.

And when she comes before the House Oversight Committee tomorrow, that is going to be a very contentious affair. Let's see how she answers those questions, or if she offers an apology, or if she provides any more details. Or if she decides to dig in, fight for her job, and decides to stay in that position. Guys?

WALKER: No doubt she'll face some very difficult questions. Manu Raju, thank you.

And be sure to tune in to Inside Politics Sunday at the top of the hour right here on CNN.

Well, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Washington this week for a high stakes visit as Israeli forces unleash retaliatory strikes on Houthi rebels inside Yemen. The latest on the escalating tensions in the Middle East.

BLACKWELL: Plus, the latest U.S. company distancing itself from diversity equity and inclusion programs after conservative backlash.

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[07:22:24]

BLACKWELL: We're following new details in the Israel-Hamas war. The Israeli military says it shot down a missile fired from Yemen.

WALKER: The latest attack by Houthi rebels was in retaliation for Israeli airstrikes on Houthi targets at a port in Yemen last night. Here's Elliott Gotkine with more now on the escalation there. Elliott?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Amara, yes, things certainly seem to be heating up between Israel and the Houthis. Of course, this latest escalation, if you like, started on Friday night when a drone, which Israel says was an Iran-made drone, was fired by the Houthis and somehow evaded Israel's missile defense system slammed into an apartment building, killing a 50-year-old Israeli man and injuring a number of others. And this was just about 100 yards from the Israeli -- from the U.S. Consulate in Tel Aviv.

Now (technical difficulty) it says on Houthi targets (technical difficulty) --

WALKER: We've got a bad signal there. Yes, we're going to have to get out of this live hit with our Elliott Gotkine. Unfortunately, the signal is not so strong, but thank you to Elliott for that.

Donald Trump and J.D. Vance were in Michigan yesterday that followed a visit by Vice President Kamala Harris earlier in the week. The major role Michigan could play in this election and what both parties are going to do to win it coming up. Andy?

SCHOLES: Yes. And Amara, we have the WNBA all-stars taking on the U.S. National team last night in the all-star game. And one player just completely taken this one over. We'll have the highlights of that coming up in sports.

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[07:28:24]

BLACKWELL: Welcome back to CNN This Morning. Here's what to watch this week. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle will face tough questions on Capitol Hill this week about how a gunman was able to get a clear line of sight and fire at former President Trump during his rally in Pennsylvania last Saturday.

Cheatle will testify before several congressional committees about the security failures. Several lawmakers have called for her to resign.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be in Washington this week. Netanyahu's office says he'll meet with President Biden on Tuesday before delivering remarks to Congress on Wednesday. Several Democratic lawmakers have said that they will not attend Netanyahu's speech. They cite their objections to Israel's actions in Gaza.

Leaders from CenterPoint Energy in Texas could face a grilling on Thursday. The State Public Utility Commission wants CenterPoint to appear at its meeting this week as it looks into the state's response to Hurricane Beryl. The storm hit the Gulf earlier this month and left more than 2 million customers in the dark, most of them serviced by CenterPoint. The company was able to restore power to almost all of its customers this past week.

And the opening ceremonies, you know, the -- of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, that's Friday. And according to the Olympics website, for the first time ever, the opening ceremonies will not be held inside a stadium instead, they'll take place in the heart of the city and aren't the Seine River.

WALKER: As President Biden is sidelined with COVID, the Trump-Vance campaign zeroed in on the battleground state of Michigan. The campaign stop in Grand Rapids was former President Trump's first rally following the assassination attempt last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Less than four months from now, we are going to win Michigan. We are going to take back the White House in a monumental landslide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: All right. Let's discuss with the political director of Michigan Public Radio, Zoe Clark. Hi there, Zoe. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. Michigan is one of the Democrats blue wall states. It is a battleground state that Trump actually won back in 2016 only to lose it to Biden in 2020 by only, what, 150,000 votes, as we recall.

Let's talk about the rally yesterday because Trump spoke for nearly two hours. He reverted back to the name calling and the dark messaging that we've heard in the past. Despite his calls for unity at the RNC. J. D. Vance was also warmly received. Let's listen to some of what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They have a couple of problems. Number one, they have no idea who their candidate is, and neither do we. That's a problem. But we'll see. Hopefully, they get it worked out.

SEN. J. D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kamala Harris said something to the effect that I have no loyalty to this country. Well, I don't know, Kamala. I did serve in the United States Marine Corps and build a business. What the hell have you done other than collect the check?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Well, Trump and Vance are obviously seizing on the uncertainty surrounding President Biden's campaign right now. How is all of this playing with Michiganders? ZOE CLARK, POLITICAL DIRECTOR, MICHIGAN RADIO: Well, I'll tell you, Amara, I think Michiganders are a little tired. If you look at what -- and we should say the whole nation, right? But President Biden was here a week ago, Friday. And then, of course, there was the attempted assassination in, you know, neighboring Pennsylvania on Saturday. We had the J. D. Vance announcement from neighboring Ohio. We had Kamala Harris, the vice president, here on Wednesday. And then, as we've been watching, we had Former President Donald Trump and J. D. Vance back here on Saturday. It is a lot, and it all feels historic to some extent.

But what I'm hearing from a lot of voters is they're just sort of checking out for the time being, realizing that we still have more than three months to go until actual election day.

WALKER: The fact that J. D. Vance, though, is the vice-presidential nominee with Trump, is that getting Michiganders to check back in and have conversations? I mean, the Trump campaign is obviously trying to lean in to his, you know, very interesting background growing up in Appalachia. You know, his mother being addicted to drugs, having been raised by his grandmother in extreme poverty.

Although, you know, let's not forget that he is now quite a wealthy man who's got the backing of billionaires, including Silicon Valley investors. What are the conversation sounding like? I mean, is that appeal to the working class working?

CLARK: You know, I'll tell you what I actually find much more fascinating necessarily than J. D. Vance's story, but actually his age, that he is going to be the first millennial, right, who is on a possible presidential ticket. And one thing that we've been hearing a lot from voters, and this is not just in Michigan, of course, this is throughout the country, is concern about both of these presidential candidates' ages.

You know, I speak to a lot of young voters because I'm in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which has a big university, the University of Michigan, and students just feel like they are not being heard. They want a younger generation. I'm really interested in the fact that you have now a 39- year-old J. D. Vance to be 40 next month, and whether or not that does something in terms of the way that he can communicate a message looking forward instead of just looking back, which I think has been the concern for a lot of voters, not even just young voters that we're talking a lot about what has been instead of what should be or can be into the future.

WALKER: Let's look at some recent poll numbers in Michigan. This is from the YouGov Times of London, Say 24 Poll. And as we all know, President Biden has been losing ground in many battleground states like Michigan, although the numbers haven't shifted dramatically since the first debate. But this shows, you know, Biden with 40 percent support, 42 percent for Donald Trump. You can see Robert F. Kennedy with 4 percent and 10 percent saying that they are unsure. What do these numbers tell you in terms of where Michigan is right now?

CLARK: Right. Well, they tell us what we've sort of known since the debate, right, which is that the president, Joe Biden, who, as you mentioned, won Michigan by more than 150,000 votes four years ago, is in trouble here in Michigan.

[07:35:00]

I don't think that it is unwinnable at this point. As I mentioned earlier, we still have more than three months to go. As anyone will tell you, that is a lifetime in electoral politics. But I think what you have to look at is the trend, right? And so, actually a New Detroit free press poll just came out this weekend. A poll that was done weeks ago, had Former President Trump up by three points. He's now up in the state by seven points.

You know, so what you have to look at, as we know, with polling is the trend, not one number. But what is the trend look like? And that is not a trend that the Biden campaign wants to see right now. The folks that are supporting him or the folks who, you know, as we've been discussing too, are calling for him to step aside.

WALKER: All right. Zoe Clark, appreciate you joining us this morning. Thanks so much.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: One of the biggest companies in the U.S. dialing back its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives after conservative criticism. Why John Deere is reconsidering those policies, ahead.

And do not miss an all-new episode of "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper" right here on CNN tonight. Sara Sidner goes in depth on political violence. Catch it starting at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

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[07:40:00]

BLACKWELL: John Deere is the latest major company to distance itself from diversity, equity, and inclusion measures. The company did reaffirm that it stands against diversity quotas and pronoun identification. It also says it will continue to track and advance the diversity of the company. Just weeks ago, Tractor Supplies said it would eliminate all its DEI roles while stopping efforts to reach its goals.

Both companies were the target of conservative activists opposed to diversity efforts, sponsorship of pride events, and climate advocacy. Pressure campaigns against companies DEI efforts have picked up since the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling ending affirmative action in college admissions.

Joining me now to discuss is CNN's Global Economic Analyst Rana Foroohar. Rana, good morning to you. So, let me read here from the new commitment as John Deere tweeted out, we will no longer participate in or support external social or cultural awareness parades, festivals, or events.

Now, there's this conservative filmmaker and activist, Robby Starbuck, who's taking credit, but explain really the influence here beyond an individual who's tweeting.

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST AND GLOBAL BUSINESS COLUMNIST AND ASSOCIATE EDITOR, FINANCIAL TIMES: Yes, great question, Victor. So, this movement against diversity, equity inclusion measures has been building for some time. It's not just limited to companies. Really, I would say that the serious activism has grown since the Supreme Court overturned equity inclusion measures, affirmative action. This happened many months ago. We've seen, since then, universities under pressure. You're now seeing companies under pressure.

And there are a couple reasons for it. One, companies are actually worried that these activists are going to bring legal suits against them and that thanks to the Supreme Court's actions, they're actually going to have a case to do that now. So, some of the companies are backing away from equity inclusion measures in advance of what they feel may be a legal battle, similar to what you've seen on the part of conservative activists around universities.

Now, there's another part to this though. I think that companies quite rightfully have given equity inclusion a lot of airtime in recent years, but there's also been on the part of some companies, I would say, a kind of a lack of deep awareness about why they're doing these programs, how they're measuring things, what ends they're really trying for, and that there has been, I think, a little bit of corporate performatism, I would say, around equity inclusion.

I think companies are aware and that certainly the statistics show that more diversity actually helps the bottom line. You see that, you know, there's a lot of studies showing that Fortune 500 companies that have more diversity, racially, ethnically in terms of gender do much better. But they're not great at measuring it and they're not great at thinking about it. So, all of this is part of a big reset that I expect will be going on for some time.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it's not just the right thing to do, it's good business.

FOROOHAR: Yes.

BLACKWELL: And we're seeing that it is measurable. Let me ask you here about something I've read that really just kind of caused me to smirk. Human resources, lobbying advocacy group SHRM. 340,000 members is dropping the E from its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. It will now be known as I and D. The CEO told A.P. And let's put this up. The E triggered like all sorts of emotions and responses. So, they dropped the E from DEI. Talk about being performative here. They're going to do the same work, but we got to drop the E because that really is setting the people off.

FOROOHAR: Wow. I love that. They said they were triggered by this. Well, you know, listen, there are so many reasons. It's hard to, in some ways, know where the hearts of corporate leaders, many corporate leaders are on this.

[07:45:00] You know, I've worked in any number of companies. I've covered companies. There are companies that don't publicize what they're doing, that are doing really great things and are thinking deeply about diversity inclusion. There are others, frankly, that do a lot of publicizing of say, you know, we're supporting this or that event. But maybe they don't actually have that much diversity within their companies.

I think to the extent that this conversation pushes people to think more deeply about, hey, there is a business case for this. This isn't really about a cultural or social practice, this is about, frankly, getting closer to your customer. No, I mean, we have a country here in the U.S. that is going to be majority minority by estimated 2045. Smart business people are looking around and saying, hey, if our customers are diverse, if our workers are diverse, maybe we should be thinking about diversity and just embracing that as something that is part of our business paradigm.

That said, I do think and I see in a lot of companies that there is a kind of a performative, hey, let's have another, you know, ice cream day for this or that. You know, diversity inclusion effort, rather than saying, hey, here are our metrics. Here are our goals. And here are how we're going to implement them.

So, you know, I think that while the push on the part of conservative activists may be for social and cultural reason, there's a business conversation that needs to deepen and happen around this topic as well.

BLACKWELL: Yes, instead of decorated cookies on Juneteenth, who's actually making decisions and who has influence in the direction of a company. Last thing here for you. How much does the outcome of the November election influence the trend of DEI?

FOROOHAR: Good question. I mean, in some ways, the Supreme Court ruling stands regardless of who's in charge in November, and that's been, frankly, the genius of conservative strategists in getting this court to where it is and having these decisions pushed through. Those are going to last. That's the point.

That said, there's certainly going to be a tailwind if Donald Trump and J. D. Vance are in office after November for companies to say, hey, maybe we don't need to think about this. Maybe we don't need to do this. That worries me a little bit because I think that if you see Trump in office, you may see more reasons for companies to say, pull back, without really having that deeper thought and conversation about the topic.

BLACKWELL: Rana Foroohar, thanks so much. Enjoy the Sunday.

WALKER: It is going to be a stormy and steamy Sunday for millions of Americans. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking the temperatures topping 100 degrees and a flash flood threat.

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[07:50:00]

WALKER: It was a sweltering Saturday on Spain's east coast. The National Weather Agency issued a red heat alert, the country's highest for the region of Valencia. Temperatures climbed beyond a stifling 104 degrees Fahrenheit. So, people flock to the beaches to try to cool off. Last year, Spain had almost 11,000 deaths attributed to extreme heat.

And here in the U.S., the West Coast is bracing for another round of blistering heat, and it is bringing an increased threat of wildfires.

BLACKWELL: Did they have those people's permission to record them at the beach before they just walked up and started recording them?

WALKER: They're on a public beach.

BLACKWELL: But -- yes, but if somebody brings a camera and it's just like this at you, would you just say, oh, well, I'm on a public beach now they've recorded?

WALKER: I think it's fair game.

BLACKWELL: All right. Heat alerts remain in place for more than 30 million people.

WALKER: I disagree.

BLACKWELL: CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar joins us. Allison, I was just watching the video thinking --

WALKER: They were in the face.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm with you, Victor. I'm with you on this.

WALKER: It was a wild shot.

CHINCHAR: I'm with you on this. There were a couple of those moments where I was like, I don't want somebody watching me putting sunscreen.

BLACKWELL: Right. I'm lathering up and you got the close shot on my back.

WALKER: It's one thing if you want it. It's another thing if -- you know, you don't have to give permission.

CHINCHAR: Fair. Although, again, going to the beach may be a good option for some of these areas because you're definitely going to need to cool down. Look at some of these records we've had just from Saturday alone. States like California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, even places you wouldn't normally think you would see triple digit temperatures and more records possible again today because we've got those heat alerts in effect from Washington all the way down into Southern California.

Keep in mind, some of these areas of north, you're talking temperatures above 105. That's a normal high temperature for a desert city like Phoenix, not Boise and Spokane. But that's exactly where some of these areas are going to be. 107 for the high today -- on Monday in Boise. We do finally start to see things cool down in the north by the middle of the week. It takes a few more days before we start to see some relief on the southern end of the western half of the country.

Another growing concern is also wildfires. Do we have those extremely hot temperatures? But you've also got very gusty winds and the potential for some dry thunderstorms, which could lead to lightning and igniting some additional wildfires, specifically in that area. We already have 58 active wildfires in the west coast. We don't want to see that number tick up anymore in the coming days.

Also, some thunderstorms, but of a different variety across much of the southwest. We've got that monsoon flow here across New Mexico in Arizona. But the concern here is in especially in the areas of burn scars could have some potential flooding.

Also flooding potential across the southeastern tier of the U.S. But for a different reason, a lot of these areas have had so much rain the last few days, that ground is saturated. So, even adding an extra one or two inches on top of what they've already had likely just going to uptick some of that flooding potential.

But you can see flooding is a concern stretching from Arizona all the way over to the Carolinas. And this is just for the day today. There's also the concern to have additional flooding concerns Monday and even Tuesday of the upcoming week.

BLACKWELL: All right. Allison, thanks.

[07:55:00]

WALKER: Hold on. If you're on a beach this week -- all right, sorry. I got to ask Victor this.

BLACKWELL: We're taking up sports time.

WALKER: Well, if you're on a beach this week and you're in your Speedo or your shorts or whatever you wear, and you see a media camera out there, what are you going to do?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Run.

BLACKWELL: I'm just going to say, no pictures, please.

WALKER: And they'll have that airing on the local news station.

BLACKWELL: Sports. WNBA All-Stars taking down the U.S. Women's Olympic team as they prepare for the Paris Games.

WALKER: Andy Scholes is here.

SCHOLES: Yes, guys. So, it's an Olympic year. So, that means that WNBA All-Star game this year was the U.S. national team taking on the WNBA All-Stars. Now, rookie sensation Caitlin Clark, she was left off the national team. So, she was teaming up with Angel Reese to take on Team USA, and it was a rough shooting night for Clark last night, 0 for 7 from 3, but she did dish out 10 assists, including this one to Reese right here in the fourth quarter. Reese finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds in this game.

Second half of this one, though, it belonged to Arike Ogunbowale. She exploded for an All-Star record, 34 points. All of them coming in the final two quarters. Arike leading the WNBA to the win, beating Team USA 117 to 109. She was named the game's MVP for a second time in her career and she credited Coach Cheryl Miller for getting her going.

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ARIKE OGUNBOWALE, 2024 WNBA ALL-STAR MVP: Coach actually called me out in -- at halftime in front of everybody was like, just take a deep breath and play your game. And then, I guess you guys saw what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes. It worked. The U.S. meanwhile, playing a tune up against South Sudan and London yesterday. Team USA was favored by 43 and a half points in this one. But South Sudan with no NBA players giving them all they could handle leading by 16 at one point. LeBron though, he'd lead a furious rally in the third quarter to bring the U.S. back, then down one under 20 seconds left. LeBron gets the ball, drives it here, gets the layup to go to put the U.S. up by one. Team USA would then survive two game winning attempts by South Sudan to win 101 to 100, narrowly avoiding an embarrassing loss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEBRON JAMES, USA BASKETBALL FORWARD: To be honest, I like those ones better than the blowouts, at least we get tested. I like getting tested, baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: It certainly was a test. All right. American Billy Horschel meanwhile overcoming the wet, windy, and wet conditions yesterday to take a one stroke lead in today's final round of the Open Championship. Horschel looking for that first major. And he said he always pictures himself being in this position every night when he closes his eyes.

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BILLY HORSCHEL, SEEKING FIRST MAJOR TITLE: Something I've done this year, I've done a better job this week of it or try to do a better job is sort of manifest seeing myself holding the trophy before I go to sleep every night and envisioning myself holding a trophy on 18, walking out to the crowd, and being congratulated as open champion. You know, and that's what I'm going to do again tonight, and hopefully, that comes true tomorrow. If it doesn't, then I'll get back on the grind and work harder to get back in a position like this again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: We'll see if it works. PGA Champ Xander Schauffele, he's just one stroke back. World number one, Scottie Scheffler is two strokes back. Leaders tee off at 9:25 Eastern this morning. So, it could be a fun afternoon with that crowded leaderboard.

All right. Finally, check this out. Si Woo Kim yesterday on the 238- yard 17th called one of the more difficult short holes on Royal Troon's website. It turns out wasn't too difficult for the South Korean. He gets it. It's rolling. That would be a hole in one. And it was one for the record books. The first hole in one during the 10 editions of the open at Royal Troon dating all the way back to 1923, guys. A little history there.

WALKER: Pretty amazing. Thanks so much, Andy.

BLACKWELL: Thank you.

SCHOLES: All right.

BLACKWELL: Thank you for watching.

WALKER: "Inside Politics" is next with Manu Raju. I'm going to take that.

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