Return to Transcripts main page
CNN This Morning
Harris, Campaign Official Discuss Next 100-Plus Days; Trump Booed While Advocating For Exceptions To Abortion Ban; Trump, Netanyahu Meet For First Time Since Trump Presidency; Israel Athletes Under Police Protection For Olympics; Fox News Poll: No Clear Leader In Harris/Trump Matchup in MI, PA, and WI; Fed To Meet Next Week, Experts Expect No Interest Rate Change; Top Official Responds To Killing Of Sonya Massey. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired July 27, 2024 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:00:43]
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Saturday, July 27th. I'm Amara Walker.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Here's what we're working on for you this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, 45TH U.S. PRESIDENT: She was a bum three weeks ago. She was a bum.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: That's former President Donald Trump testing out new attacks on new Republican rival, vice or Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, as he sees his once commanding lead in swing state polls shrinking within just a matter of days. How the Trump campaign is struggling to define Harris.
WALKER: Plus, there are new developments in the investigation into the assassination attempt on former President Trump. What the FBI is now saying about the shooting.
BLACKWELL: Massive 300,000-acre wildfire has already burned an area the size of Los Angeles, and it's on the move in Northern California. The weather conditions, fire crews are working through the tamed flames.
WALKER: And the city of light in the spotlight. The sights and sounds of an epic Olympic opening ceremony in Paris.
Well, the Harris campaign is charting a course for the next 100 days leading up to Election Day. Harris will campaign in Massachusetts today, holding a fundraiser. It will add an already impressive fundraising hall. It will add to an already impressive fundraising hall. The campaign says Harris and affiliated groups raised $126 million between Sunday afternoon and Tuesday evening.
BLACKWELL: The campaign is looking to build out operations across the country. It says more than 100,000 people signed up to volunteer for her campaign and more than 2,000 applied for campaign jobs. Meanwhile, a raft of new polling shows a tightening race. According to a new Fox News poll, Vice President Kamala Harris is erasing Donald Trump's lead.
The presidential race is now a statistical dead heat in the three swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Trump heads to Nashville today as he sharpens his attacks on the vice president.
WALKER: CNN's Kristen Holmes is there as he tried out new lines of attack with a very receptive audience in Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Amra, the race to define Kamala Harris, this campaign cycle is on, and Donald Trump is clearly trying to hone his messaging when it comes to attacks on the vice president. We had heard him speak in North Carolina earlier this week. It's a lot of riffing, ranting and seemed all over the place. It was much different on Friday night.
Yes, there was still a Donald Trump traditional speech where he is ranting, he goes off message, but it was clear that within that whirl a lot of attacks on her record, not just as vice president, but her record when she was in California, when she was a senator. They are trying to paint her as a radical liberal. Take a listen to just some of what he said.
TRUMP: She was a bum three weeks ago. She was a bum. A failed vice president and a failed administration, with millions of people crossing, and she was the border czar. Now, they're trying to say she never was the border czar. She had nothing to do with the border, she was the border czar.
So, now, we have a new candidate to defeat, the most incompetent, unpopular, and far-left Vice President in American history. That's what she is. The most incompetent, but certainly the most far-left. They were explaining to me, you can say Kamala, you can say Kamala. I said, don't worry about it, it doesn't matter what I say. I couldn't care less if I mispronounce it or not. I couldn't care less.
Some people think I mispronounce it on purpose, but actually I've heard it said about seven different ways.
HOLMES: Now, one other notable moment came when Donald Trump was speaking to this group, a Christian conservative group, and he started talking about abortion, his stance on abortion and the fact that he supported exceptions when it came to health of the mother, incest and rape. And you could hear during him talking about this a scattered amount of boos from the crowd.
It was the only time that the crowd disagreed with anything that he had said. Now, he did not react openly to this, but instead he said, of course, you have to follow your heart, but you also have to win elections, something that he has said before.
But it was notable, again, given that in this very friendly crowd, he still faced attacks, or at least boos, on the topic of abortion. A topic that has been very sensitive for Donald Trump as he has tried to navigate both being the modern-day architect of overturning Roe v. Wade and also trying to steer clear of an issue that he thinks is a political liability. Victor and Amara.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: All right, Kristen Holmes, thank you for that.
[07:05:07]
BLACKWELL: Now, with the recent change-up on the Democratic ticket, some Republicans are suggesting that there will be lawsuits. House Speaker Mike Johnson said that there would be, and these are his words, legal impediments in some states to a party switching presidential candidates.
WALKER: Though CNN dug into those claims and CNN's Paula Reid gives this exclusive report on why election law experts say it's not true.
PAULA REID, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Amara and Victor. So, after the House Speaker made those comments to our colleague Manu Raju about possibly filing lawsuits and litigating this issue of who can appear on the ballot, we reached out to all 50 states, reached out to election officials to ask if there was any possibility that she could be prevented from appearing on the ballot.
We heard back from 48 states that all said conclusively there's no issue here. I'm going to give an example of some of the things that we heard back from, for example, in Georgia. They said, "Biden dropping out will not impact Georgia ballots." In Kentucky, they said there's no issue. West Virginia said, the candidate that will appear on that state's ballot will be the candidate that is nominated by the DNC.
And Alabama said, that major parties have until late August to tell the state who should appear on the ballot. Now, the two states that did not respond to CNN, Florida and Montana, we looked at their rules and regulations and found no indication that she would have a problem in those states either. We've reached out to the Speaker's office to ask for clarification on exactly what he meant when he suggested there could be legal impediments, they have not responded.
But I will note that even though these lawsuits are unlikely to be successful, it doesn't mean that we won't see any over the next few months, because just by filing a lawsuit, you can sow chaos and confusion, potentially even raise money off of some of these questions. We've seen that in the past, and I expect here again, even though they won't be successful legally, politically, this still could be a strategy that we see employed by some Republican allies. Victor, Amara. WALKER: All right, Paula Reid, thank you for that report. Let's bring in Juliegrace Brufke, she's a congressional reporter with Axios. Julie Grace, good to see you. Let's start with --
JULIEGRACE BRUFKE, AXIOS CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Good morning.
WALKER: Good morning. Another one of Trump's attack lines against Harris last night in West Palm Beach. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Tariffs will appoint hundreds of extreme far left judges to forcibly impose crazy San Francisco liberal values on Americans nationwide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Obviously, Trump is trying to recalibrate his attacks on Harris. Could those lines, though, that Harris is a liberal, a radical, have some influence on independents and undecided voters?
BRUFKE: Yes, Republicans are spending a ton of money down to the end from the NRCC, to the NRSC, to the RNC dumping money to kind of paint Harris as a liberal now. Now, we've kind of seen it pivot from her kind of moderate herself in language a little bit, kind of lean into this prosecutor image and paint Donald Trump as a criminal, which may have been a liability for her last election cycle. But that's definitely going to be the line of attack from Republicans moving forward.
WALKER: Hours before that speech, Trump had a meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Mar-a-Lago, who had just met with President Biden and the Vice President the day before. The messaging in those two separate meetings were obviously very different. It also underscored just perhaps how emboldened Prime Minister Netanyahu might be under a potential Trump presidency to drag on this war in Gaza. Tell us more about these two meetings and how different they were.
BRUFKE: Well, we heard Netanyahu come out and kind of come out against Harris and say that her commentary there, calling for a swift ceasefire deal and a hostage deal, could potentially hurt their negotiations there, while he seemed to be kind of more positive on Trump. So, Trump emerged from that meeting, arguing that there could be a World War III if he's not elected. And while he had some tensions with Netanyahu in the past, it seems like they've kind of buried the hatchet there. And he's kind of really leaning into that rhetoric, kind of trying to create a contrast there with Democrats on Israel.
WALKER: Juliegrace, if you look at some recent polling after Biden ended his re-election bid, you'll see that it's a very close contest between Harris and Trump. If you look at some of the Fox News polls, these were actually released on Friday in key battleground states. It shows that there really is no clear leader. You can see there Harris, 49 percent; and Michigan, 49 percent for Trump. The fact that the race is much closer now, you know, for the Democrats, I mean that's obviously a good sign, but I mean these are early days. BRUFKE: Yes, and I think Republicans are worried. I mean, I think initially when it looked like Biden might be dropping out, we were hearing from Republicans saying that they thought Harris, the polling would kind of remain in their favor, that they thought that it would kind of remain steady for them there. And we've seen a lot of the Democratic base kind of energized and we've seen a ton of money raised recently.
[07:10:09]
And I mean, the polling in key states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, it's - she's really kind of closing the gap there. And whether that's kind of early energy after she looks like she's officially going to become the nominee, whether that will kind of remain there remains to be seen. But I think it's definitely a major concern right now on the GOP side.
WALKER: Who are the top picks, would you say, right now for Vice President Kamala Harris and for, you know, the potential vice- presidential pick for her? Who's at the top of the list?
BRUFKE: Now that they're going through the vetting process, and I've heard names including Senator Mark Kelly, Governor Josh Shapiro, Andy Beshear. So, Democrats I've talked to said that they would really like to kind of see her pick somebody that can help her in swing state. So, I think that with moderates, it seems like she's kind of managed to energize some of the younger voters, but she's kind of going to need somebody to kind of pull in moderates there. So, I think that's kind of what a lot of Democratic lawmakers I've spoken with are kind of pushing her toward.
WALKER: And we're also hearing, you know, the Trump campaign now saying that he won't commit to debating Harris despite him committing when Biden was running for a debate on ABC in September. What do you think triggered that change of attitude and what Harris is calling backpedaling?
BRUFKE: Now, I mean, we'll see. He said that until she's officially the nominee, he won't commit to anything. Now, we saw with the last debate, there's a lot to lose. We saw what happened with Biden there. She's a younger, more energized candidate right now, so we'll see if he ultimately commits to that. But I mean, I think right now we're going to see a lot of Democrats kind of hitting him as being scared to go up against her there. So, I know ABC is still kind of looking to push forward and prepare for that, but we'll see if it happens.
WALKER: Juliegrace Brufke, good to have you this morning. Thanks.
BLACKWELL: All right, still to come, France's high-speed train lines were targeted ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony, the latest on the investigation into the disruption. And California's biggest wildfire of the year has burned an area larger than the city of Los Angeles. It tells on how close firefighters are coming to containing it.
Plus, good news on the economy, price hikes are slowing, the inflation threat appears to be mostly over. I say that with a question mark inflection, what this means for you?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:17:17]
BLACKWELL: The Paris Olympic Games have begun, but France's high-speed rail network continues to experience delays. It was targeted by what officials describe as a coordinated attack and it's impacting thousands of people on their way to the game.
WALKER: Well, the good news today is that French officials are saying that 80 percent of trains are operational with one to two-hour delays. The delays are expected tomorrow as well with regular service back up and running by Monday. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. French authorities say they are working to make sure everyone is safe at the Olympic Games and this includes extra security for Israeli athletes.
BLACKWELL: Israel's foreign minister says intel suggests that there could be a potential threat from Iran and other terror groups during the Olympics. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As Israeli athletes arrived in France making their way to the Olympic Village under heavy French police protection, protests against Israel's participation in the 2024 games had already erupted in Paris. France's government acknowledging the threat level for Israeli athletes is extremely high.
"I proposed to the President of the Republic that the Israeli delegation be fully protected by the French police 24 hours a day," the Interior Minister said. Security forces are on high alert. French and international police patrolling the area around the Olympics, trying to prevent mistakes made in the past.
"We took this decision because the Israeli athletes, and we've known this since the Munich games, of course, but more recently again are particularly targeted by attacks."
Munich, West Germany at the Summer Games 1972. Palestinians from a militant group named Black September stormed the dormitory housing the Israeli team. They immediately shoot and kill two athletes and take nine more team members hostage. The games continue as the hostage crisis drags on, the gunman often seen on the balcony of the Olympic dormitory.
German police finally attempt and completely botch a rescue mission, leaving all of the Israeli hostages, a German cop and five of the terrorists dead.
Esther Roth-Shahamorov was on Israel's 1972 track and field team.
ESTHER ROTH-SHAHAMOROV, ISRAELI ATHLETE (through translation): I was sitting in the plane transporting the coffins of my coach and comrades I had trained with. They return with you in coffins. That was the thing I couldn't understand, and I kept thinking, what's going on here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this moment, eight or nine athletes of the Israeli time are being held prisoners.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These guerrillas are a group called Black September.
PLEITGEN: Israel's intelligence service Mossad soon launched a campaign of assassinations targeting those connected to the Munich massacre. Depicted in the 2005 Steven Spielberg film "Munich," which also depicts the botched German rescue attempt. And while 1972 isn't 2024, the trauma remains and so do the lessons learned.
Israel's sports minister recently met with the country's domestic security service, Shin Bet. Since October 7th of last year, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing more than 1,100 people and taking roughly 250 others hostage, Israel has launched a punishing military campaign in Gaza, killing many Hamas fighters, but also scores of civilians. Israeli athletes say they're well aware of the anger they face.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's something that we're used to, and I'm feeling really safe. My part is to connect everyone by sport.
PLEITGEN: French authorities say they will do their part to try and make sure violence doesn't disrupt the games that are supposed to be above politics. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: All right, Fred, thank you for that. Still to come, how Democratic voters in Pennsylvania are responding to Kamala Harris replacing President Joe Biden in the 2024 race.
[07:21:50]
And now, to Amanda Davis in Paris.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS COMMENTATOR: Good morning. Yes, barely time to draw a breath after last night's epic opening ceremony. But the first medals have already been awarded here in Paris. And there's some big names from Team USA hoping to make a splash in the pool later. Stay with us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[07:26:36]
WALKER: Here's some headlines we are following this morning. A massive wildfire in California is growing and now roughly spans the size of Los Angeles. The Park Fire started Wednesday and has already destroyed more than 100 structures just north of Sacramento in Butte County. It is zero percent contained and fire crews say it is burning so fast because it's in an area with brush, mixed timber and dead vegetation.
The FBI says former President Donald Trump was hit by a bullet in an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally earlier this month. Investigators concluded that either a whole or fragmented bullet struck Trump in the ear and that it came from the gunman's rifle. The department's confirmation is the most direct yet about the injury, which has stoked political backlash about what exactly hit the presidential candidate.
An elementary school in New Jersey is removing Senator Bob Menendez's name from the institution. It comes in the aftermath of the senator's conviction of federal bribery and fraud charges. Robert Menendez Elementary in West New York will revert back to its old name, P.S. No. 3. Menendez plans to resign his seat next month.
BLACKWELL: All right, the race for the White House now, and we're going to focus in on the battleground states. A Fox News state poll shows no clear leader in the Harris-Trump matchup in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Now, Pennsylvania Governor John Shapiro will join the Harris campaign to mark 100 days until the general election in November. CNN's Danny Freeman is talking to voters in Pennsylvania about their reaction to Harris' launch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The past few days have felt like whiplash to Pennsylvania voter, Becky Eckberg.
How have you been feeling about this election so far?
BECKY ECKBURG, DEMOCRAT VOTER: I'm a little anxious excited now though.
FREEMAN: Excited because she feels Vice President Kamala Harris has jump-started Democrats in the presidential race.
ECKBURG: I think she has more of a chance to win, and then I do just like her mentality her mindset and that she is a woman, and yes, she stands for what I stand for.
LINDSAY TROYER, DEMOCRAT VOTER: I think I'm feeling a little bit more hopeful than I have in a while.
FREEMAN: Lindsay Troyer is a progressive who is thrilled for the new Harris hype among Democrats, but worries Republican talking points are sticking.
TROYER: She has been villainized really well. I think the messaging, negative messaging against her has been successful. But I also think that she hasn't done enough publicly to work against some of those negative narratives. I think there are some things that were really valid concerns or maybe criticisms of her even from the beginning. I think they're valid.
FREEMAN: Pennsylvania is one of the crucial battleground states that could determine the election in November. Joe Biden won the Commonwealth in 2020 by about 80,000 votes, flipping a state former President Trump won in 2016.
GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): You excited about the news? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am excited. I'm very excited. I'm ready to get out there.
FREEMAN: Popular Governor Josh Shapiro, a potential Harris running mate, this week working to boost enthusiasm and vouch for the brand- new candidate.
SHAPIRO: I think there's a real excitement and energy. And listen, to be able to pit the prosecutor against a guy with 34 felonies, I like that matchup. I feel pretty good about that.
[07:29:58]
FREEMAN: But Pennsylvania Republicans we spoke with Tuesday were not deterred.
BETTY DOTY, REPUBLICAN VOTER, PENNSYLVANIA: I'm glad that Biden stepped to him. I think it was elder abuse, putting him up there and shaming him like that.
FREEMAN (voice over): Betty Doty voted for Trump in 2020 and plans to do so again in November.
FREEMAN: Are you concerned that Harris is a stronger candidate against Trump?
DOTY: No.
FREEMAN: Why not?
DOTY: I don't want to be unkind, but I don't -- I don't think she's got it.
FREEMAN (voice over): Ron Butka feels the race is a tossup, but still thinks Trump can win.
FREEMAN: Are you concerned that Harris is a better opponent than Biden?
RON BUTKA, REPUBLICAN VOTER, PENNSYLVANIA: No, no. I don't think she is the better. If Biden had his faculty that these -- of her opponent then -- now, Harris. I think she's just younger.
FREEMAN: Danny Freeman, CNN, Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
BLACKWELL: Danny, thank you very much.
New piece of economic data here. Inflation is inching closer to the Fed's two percent target. How this could help this long battle to lower interest rates? Will they make a cut next week? or maybe September. We'll talk about it next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:35:47] BLACKWELL: New economic data this week shows the economy is muscling forward, defying historical expectations. Second quarter growth jumped close to three percent.
Prices last month rose at the slowest clip in more than three years. But how are Americans feeling about their personal finances, particularly, as we head into the election?
Let's discuss now with CNN's economics and political commentator, and Washington Post opinion columnist Catherine Rampell, good morning to you.
So -- we just got the PCE index.
CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.
BLACKWELL: The Personal Consumption Expenditures Index, which is the Fed's preferred metric, strips out energy, strips out food, 2.5 percent in June, year over year, at the peak a bit above seven percent.
Before we start talking about what that means for interest rates, the goal here is two percent. Is that realistic this year? If we're at 2.5 right now?
RAMPELL: I think it's possible. I think realistically, we have a little ways to go. We are obviously heading in the right direction. But I wouldn't count our chickens before they hatch. I think it may be until early next year before we hit the Fed's actual target, which, as you point out, is two percent.
BLACKWELL: And Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said that he -- may not wait until inflation is at two percent to make an interest rate cut. There is a meeting next week before we talk about September. Is there any likelihood, from your perspective, that there will be a cut in July, at this meeting?
RAMPELL: if you look at where markets are placing the odds of a cut next week, because you can kind of back that out from the price of different trades that are going on in the treasury market, it looks unlikely.
There is a small chance, but it looks unlikely. Most traders seem to be betting on the idea that September will be the next rate cut. And, you know, maybe something will change between now and next week, but the main indicators that the Fed will be looking at have already rolled in.
So, September seems a much more probable occasion for the next cut, and markets feel pretty confident that it will come by then.
BLACKWELL: You know, the -- I guess, most telling for me, is not exactly what comes out of the meeting, of course, that's important. But the statement, the news conference from the chairman afterward.
How many tea leaves you think he is going to give us to read? Is he going to tip his hand for us about what's coming in September?
RAMPELL: Oh, I'm sure market participants will be -- will be calibrating every syllable, every consonant and vowel that chair Powell utters at that news conference. He tries to be very careful and make as little news as possible. That's basically the job of every fed official, every Fed Chair in particular.
But there have been some clues. So, I think you mentioned that Powell has indicated that he doesn't necessarily need to wait until we are down to two percent inflation before the next cut.
If they do wait, if the Federal Reserve at the FOMC does wait until then, it might be too late.
Fed actions, interest rate changes tend to work with the phrases long and variable lags.
So, if they wait until they're at their target, it may be too late. It may mean that we overshoot and that we do tip into a recession.
So, you know, everybody will be watching what Powell says to get a sense of where he thinks we are on that trajectory. But, you know, he is -- he is made a bunch of public comments recently, as have other Fed officials. I think they have been -- they have tried to be relatively transparent about where they stand, but there is just so much uncertainty in this economy. That even if they are fully transparent, that doesn't necessarily mean even they know we know exactly when they will next move.
BLACKWELL: You know, Catherine, it's been -- it's been a while since I've heard you use the R-word, and about a year ago, maybe 18 months, every time you were on, we would ask about the coming recession.
[07:40:00]
And how long would it last? How deep would it be? We'd analyze what Larry Summers had said or Jamie Dimon had said about the recession that's coming.
It looks like there likely will not be one, considering good GDP, inflation is coming down, unemployment still relatively low. Just give us the historical context of how rare a soft landing, if it's pulled off, is?
RAMPELL: It's extraordinarily rare. Depending on how you measure it, we've maybe had one instance in the last, I don't know, 50 years, where the Fed was able to get inflation down without tipping the economy into a recession.
And you are right. A year ago, I looked it up, the consensus forecast among Wall Street economists was that we would have a recession within the 12 months. The next 12 months, lo and behold, we're 12 months later, no recession, thankfully.
And I remember at the time that there was this suspicion that this was like a -- I don't know, a conspiracy against Biden and the Democrats to make the economy look bad, to pretend that a recession was coming, you know, to kind of convince everyone that it was coming, and it would become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
No, that's not what happened here. These Wall Street economists are paid to get their forecasts right. The reason why they were predicting a recession is because that's what usually happens.
It is extraordinarily rare that the Fed is able to navigate us out of a really hot economic period with high inflation without causing a downturn. And look, if we make it, and, you know, knock on wood, we will. I think we should be very grateful, in fact, to the Federal Reserve and other economic policymakers for being able to navigate us through this.
You know, some of that luck, of course, some of that skill.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
RAMPELL: But certainly, it would be great if we defy the historical record and make it out on the other end with minimal damage.
Catherine Rampell, good to have your insight into all this, helping us understand it. Thanks so much.
RAMPELL: Thanks.
WALKER: In the summer of 1996 all eyes were on the centennial Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. On July 27th, in Centennial Olympic Park, an explosion occurred, killing two people and injuring more than 100.
Over the next 18 months, several more bombings occurred, leading investigators to suspect there was a serial bomber at work. The two-- hour special of how it really happened, the Atlanta Olympic bombing, takes a deeper look at these events. Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was making my last pass through the park, and as I was walking up the sidewalk right there by the NBC tower. I was approached by a young man named Richard Jewell. Richard was assigned as a security guard for that tower.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Richard Jewell had spotted this backpack -- military model backpack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I called it in to our command post and told them that we had a suspicious bag, and they dispatched our bomb diagnostic team, and then, they backed up from the bag and told me at that time that it did look suspicious, and that they had called for a bomb squad.
So, in the meantime, we were in the process of trying to set up a perimeter to evacuate the immediate area. Right as we're moving people from that area, there was an explosion behind me. I was only standing about 18 yards from it.
It was a very forceful blast, a lot of heat, and it just completely forced me to the ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Tune in to the two-hour special of "HOW IT REALLY HAPPENED: THE ATLANTA OLYMPIC BOMBING" tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
The 2024 Summer Olympics are officially underway in Paris. The city of lights putting on a show to remember, and it was headlined by the return of one of the world's greatest musicians.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:48:30]
WALKER: The West Coast is expected to get relief this weekend from triple digit temperatures and dry conditions that have fueled some massive fires.
BLACKWELL: Nearly 100 wildfires are burning along the West Coast, during this really active fire season. Firefighters are tackling the largest one, the Park Fire is grown to the size of Los Angeles. So, they are especially looking for the weather to help slow the flames spread.
And in the southeast, it will be another washout. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar joining us with more on how these huge wildfires are first, affecting air quality.
WALKER: Right? Because that's the thing. You know, you have to understand where that smoke blows. It's going to blow into communities that are so far away from where the fires are, but that could have some big impacts, especially with people with respiratory problems. And again, we talk about the park fire, but it's one of many, roughly 100 fires across all of the western states. So, you've got a lot of them.
But a lot of attention on that park fire, not just because of how big it is, but how quickly it has grown. Right now, over 300,000 acres, but it just started a few days ago. So, when you break that down, it's been burning roughly 50 -- more than 50 football fields per minute.
So, again, just to kind of show you some perspective there of how quickly that fire has spread.
We've got the red flag warnings in effect, mostly interior today, but these are the areas where we're talking those wind gusts, 30 to 35 miles per hour that can cause a lot of issues there, but also the smoke.
This is where you have all of these air quality alerts, not just here in the U.S., but even into portions of Canada, where they also have some fire.
Again, the concern here is not just today, but really through the entire weekend of that wind kind of spreading all of that smoke into a lot of communities.
[07:50:08]
Now, one bit of good news is that we are going to see the temperatures coming back down, at least temporarily.
Look at Sacramento going from 102 yesterday down into the 80s today. Redding, Reno, Fresno, also seeing their temperatures drop back. This is good news for any of the firefighters in any of these areas. It will help at least improve conditions for them, and hopefully, they can get some of those containment numbers up, especially before we head into next week, as those temperatures jump right back up again.
Sacramento going right back into the upper 90s, perhaps, even hitting that triple digit mark by the back half of next week.
We're also keeping an eye on a lot of rain, once again, across the southern tier. If you live in this region, it feels like a broken record. It's just been rain chance after rain chance. And a lot of these areas have already had four to eight inches of rain just over the last week or so. Now, we're going to be adding an extra one to three inches.
So, the forecast for today, this is the area of greatest concern, and it's essentially from Texas all the way over through Georgia and down into Florida, where some of the heaviest rain is expected to be, guys, and also the potential for flooding.
BLACKWELL: Allison Chinchar, thank you.
The 2024 Summer Olympic Games have begun, and it started with this dazzling, although wet opening ceremony.
WALKER: It was really, really spectacular, though. Despite the raid, there were plenty of smiling faces. This was the first time the event has been held outside an arena, not inside a stadium, with athletes riding on boats down the Seine River. Coco Gauff and LeBron James leading Team USA, holding up that flag.
BLACKWELL: The crescendo came from the one and only Celine Dion, singing in front of the Eiffel Tower.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CELINE DION, CANADIAN SINGER: (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Oh.
BLACKWELL: We could play more of this, and I could just shut up and listen to Celine. That's hard to top.
WALKER: Yes.
BLACKWELL: But Amanda Davis is here up for the challenge. Good morning. I should say good afternoon to you in Paris.
WALKER: That voice was just so breathtaking and emotional to watch her.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORT ANCHOR: It was incredible. Bonjour from Paris.
BLACKWELL: Bonjour.
DAVIES: Yes, we reached the afternoon. I certainly cannot top Celine Dion in the voice days, after I've watched those clips over and over again this morning, and you can't help but get emotional. It was one of those iconic moments that will very much be the standout image of the opening ceremony from here.
I mean, she'd said, in the midst of her struggles with dealing with the Stiff Person Syndrome that she is been dealing with. She just wanted to see the Eiffel Tower again.
And last night, not only did she see it, she stood on it, performed and smashed it. And of course, did it in style, wearing Dior as well. And they promised an opening ceremony with a difference. It certainly was that. The scale of it, the pouring rain, the emergency ponchos, and if social media is to be believed, the athletes absolutely loved it.
Coco Gauff and LeBron and the team very much, embracing their flag bearing moment, even with the pouring rain.
But today, it is down to business. Katie Ledecky begins her fourth Olympics so with what is being billed as the Race of Champions against Ariarne Titmus and Summer McIntosh, three world record holders, three swimming superstars, going head-to-head in the 400-freestyle.
Caeleb Dressel makes what is expected to be an emotional return after his time away in the 100-freestyle relay. Idaho's Chloe Dygert, looking to add Olympic gold to her World Time Trial medal.
And what a moment it is said to be to -- for Giannis Antetokounmpo. He takes to the court for the first time at an Olympic Games. The one honor missing from his resume, having led Greece to their first games since 2008.
But I have to say, in the style of saving the best until last, Team USA have already won their first medal, Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook, taking silver in the women's synchronized three meters springboard.
Behind China, the USA's first medal in the event since London 2012. So, that celebrations have already started.
WALKER: Awesome. Congratulations to them. Amanda, thank you. Have a great time there.
BLACKWELL: We'll be right back after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:58:59]
WALKER: All right. "FIRST OF ALL," with Victor is coming up next. What do you have, Victor?
BLACKWELL: Well, we're talking about building the coalition for Kamala Harris. I'll speak to a democratic organizer who says that white women need to step up; and the leader of a zoom call featuring black women that set off this wave of fundraising this week.
Plus, alarming details coming out about the sheriff deputy in Illinois, accused of killing Sonya Massey. She was shot in her own home after calling 911. The top law enforcement official in Illinois, Attorney General Kwame Raoul will join us.
Also, there is a man in Missouri still in prison this morning, despite his conviction being overturned.
Christopher Dunn's release was blocked by the state's Supreme Court just as his attorney and his wife were on their way to pick him up after 30 years behind bars.
I'll speak with the both of them.
WALKER: Wow. Very interesting. All right, have a good show, Victor.
BLACKWELL: Thank you very much. Let's start right now.
[08:00:03]
Well, FIRST OF ALL, who is surprised, really? Who is surprised, by the way, that some Republicans are attacking and attempting to otherized Vice President Kamala Harris.
