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CNN This Morning

Kamala Harris Officially Secures Democratic Nomination For President; DeSantis Declares State Of Emergency Across Florida Counties As Storm Approaches; New Details On Security Failures Before Trump Assassination Attempt; U.S. Economy Added Just 114,000 Jobs Last Month And Unemployment Rose To 4.3 Percent. U.S. Economy Added 114k Jobs Last Month; U.S. Sending Naval Strike Group to Mid-East Amid Escalation Fears in the Region; Released Americans from Russian Prison Getting Therapy for Emotional Trauma. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired August 03, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

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[06:00:33]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CNN This Morning. I literally just checked my phone to make sure it really is August 3. August 3rd, Saturday morning. I'm Amara Walker. Good to be with you.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Danny Freeman in for Victor Blackwell. Here's what we are working on for you this morning.

Presidential debate drama overnight for President Trump says he'll debate vice president Kamala Harris in September but only if his very specific terms are met. His debate demands coming up.

WALKER: And who is it going to be vice president Harris is in the final stages of choosing her running mate. We're going to break down the leading candidates next.

FREEMAN: Plus, Florida on alert this morning. Tropical Storm watches and warnings are expanding for Florida's west coast as what's expected to be Tropical Storm Debby closes in. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is here to track it all.

WALKER: And it may be the largest movement of U.S. forces to the Middle East since the early days of the Gaza war the growing fears of Iran retaliation to the killing of senior Hamas leader in Tehran a little later on CNN This Morning.

Well, Vice President Kamala Harris has won enough votes from Democratic delegates to win the party's nomination for president. She will officially accept the nomination next week and become the first black woman and Asian American to lead a major party ticket.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: We are excited about the future but we also know that we got a lot of work to get there and we have a lot of work to do. It's good work. We like hard work. I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

FREEMAN: This weekend interviewing half a dozen potential V.P. picks before she announced her running mate early next week. Now, the candidates on her shortlist include governor's Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Tim Walz of Minnesota, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and JB Pritzker of Illinois, as well as Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

And former President Trump returns to Georgia today with his running mate J.D. Vance, they will be holding a campaign event in Atlanta just days after Kamala Harris rally thousands in the same exact arena at Georgia State University.

WALKER: CNN's Isaac Dovere joining us now from Washington, DC. Isaac, good morning to you.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Good morning.

WALKER: So tell us more about these interviews that Harris is holding this weekend.

DOVERE: Well, look, this is the final stage of a very rushed process here for the vice president. Two weeks ago, right now she did not know she was running for president, she was expected to be the running mate. Right now she is getting ready for a weekend and making decision on who her running mate is going to be.

As you said, those six people seem to be the most contention here. And there's some speculation about some of them who are getting more serious consideration. But the Vice President is going through a lot of things about them, trying to find who she has a rapport with, who she can trust, she doesn't know any of the men on that list very well at all.

And so it's that plus obviously thinking about policy issues and how they're going to be on the stump. A lot of what she's trying to do is to look for, of course, first of all, who can help her win, but also who can help her fill out this idea of a future oriented ticket, which is what she wants this campaign to be about.

I've covered the vice president for a long time, she likes to take her time with decisions go through a lot of data. She is not able to do that in the same way on this. And so she's going to have to take at least a little bit of a leap of faith.

FREEMAN: Isaac, I want to switch gears for a second, if that's all right to talk about the ongoing debate of debates from President Trump agreed to do a Fox News debate with Harris after backing out of the previously agreed ABC debate as we understand. What more can you tell us about this? DOVERE: Well, look, this is something that it seems like we're going to do weeks and weeks up here, obviously, go back a couple years and Donald Trump had said that he was not going to participate in debates really at all when he if he ran for president again, least not with the Presidential Debate Commission. Then Joe Biden blew up the Presidential Debate Commission agreement in the spring when he tried to get their own situation set up. Obviously Trump agreed to that. They had their debate. We all know how that went.

But then, Harris has been saying, well, you should stick to the plan that you made with Biden. Trump has been saying that was a plan I made with Biden. You guys made some changes. Now we're going to make some changes.

The biggest thing that seems to be the difference here is that that CNN debate in June had no audience to it. That was the agreement that they had expect it for the Fall debate.

[06:05:00]

Trump now saying that he wants to have basically in a debate in an arena, and that would change the dynamics of things in a big way. We don't know fully yet how the Harris campaign is going to respond to this. I don't think that we're likely to see her them say yes to all Donald Trump's conditions.

But we'll see. She said earlier in the week, say it to my face. She's trying to be very aggressive in and in Trump's face. We'll see if that's how they approach it this way.

WALKER: All right. Isaac Dovere, good to have you this morning. Thanks so much. Let's talk more about all of this with national politics reporter for the Associated Press, Meg Kinnard. Meg, good to see you this morning.

Let's talk about what's happening this weekend, as vice president Kamala Harris's in the final stretch of choosing her running mate, I would love to be a fly on the wall. You know, she's interviewing some of these potentials. How well does she know some of these candidates and is a lot of this about how much chemistry and trust she can have with them?

MEG KINNARD, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Hey, good morning, it's really great to be with you. A lot of it is going to be about chemistry, this rapport is important between the top of the ticket contender and his or her running mate. These are not people, however, that Harris has served with much or has had a whole lot of exposure to aside, obviously, from the last three and a half years where she's been the vice president.

These are high level Democrats. These are people who have been -- within the White House's circle during the Biden administration. And so these are people that she's encountered, but not necessarily somebody that she's been in the trenches with, so to speak, to be working with a possible exception to that could be Pete Buttigieg, who obviously is part of the Biden administration, and also was one of her contenders when Harris herself ran in 2020.

But it's that chemistry that really is going to, as was noted earlier, define this relationship, the New Democratic Party leadership that Harris is really trying to put forward this future of the party. And so, no doubt that is something that's really tops on her mind when she comes down to making this choice. But it is also incredibly important to think about what kind of heft that running mate can bring to the rest of the ticket, especially in these battleground states in November.

WALKER: Well, what are your thoughts on what Isaac was just reporting about Trump posting onto social last night saying that, you know, he has agreed to a debate with the Vice President, moderated by Fox News. He said it would happen in a battleground state of Pennsylvania, although the exact location hasn't been disclosed, if it does indeed happen.

And that there would be a live audience, obviously, doesn't come as a surprise to anyone, right? Because he's been attacking ABC News for quite some time. And, you know, being non-committal about that debate that he had agreed to with Biden for September 10. But what are your thoughts on that?

KINNARD: When I saw this message pop up late last night, admittedly, I was up past my bedtime. But it honestly wasn't a big surprise to me.

WALKER: Yes.

KINNARD: This is something that we've seen Trump and heard him say over and over that I don't want to agree to this debate. This is not what I want. And of course, he does want a live audience who would much rather have all kinds of people there to cheer on. That was something that was notable in that June debate, where we didn't hear a lot about audience reaction, because there wasn't one. And that's something that, you know, we come to here as reporters and kind of try to gauge how something is landing when a candidate says it.

But I think for the candidates themselves, that can be a good way to kind of crowd test what they're saying. And so it's not a big surprise that Trump is out with this. But as was noted earlier, this is really going to be, I think, a back and forth that we continue to see until if there is an agreement for the September 4 situation that he's put forward.

But Trump said in that same line of messages last night, that if Kamala Harris doesn't agree to this debate, then he'll just hold the Fox News townhall himself and probably get across a lot of the same messaging that he would try to do in a debate.

WALKER: Are you confident that there will be a debate between Harris and Trump?

KINNARD: I'm really not confident of anything in this campaign. Let's be upfront, it's been a topsy turvy couple of weeks, not to mention the months and years that have come before that. It would be great, of course, to see these two candidates go head to head but I think that in saying over and over Trump saying I've made this agreement with Biden, and you're not Biden, and so I'm not bound to it.

WALKER: Yes.

KINNARD: I really just wouldn't -- I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see it happen.

WALKER: J.D. Vance and Trump they're returning with Trump is returning to Georgia today. And of course, he will be there with his running mate, Ohio senator J.D. Vance. As we all know, Trump lost Georgia to Biden in 2020 by less than 12,000, nearly 12,000 votes.

When Harris was here, you know, her campaign had said that this was an opportunity for her to capture new voters, the under 30 voters. You know, those who are disproportionately black and Latino. What is Trump's opportunity here to find new voters?

KINNARD: Well, that finding votes is that quote just sticks in my head from 2020. Of course, that was that infamous phone call between Trump and the Georgia Secretary of State, but I think that Trump and now by coming back to Georgia is in part noting he understands that this state is up for grabs.

[06:10:04]

It was one that Democrats had not written off, but kind of assumed they wouldn't have as much success when Biden was topping the ticket, and with Harris being there recently, she's going to be back there at the end of this coming week. Democrats are clearly putting a fine focus on Georgia and showing that they believe it is really somewhere that they can have success this fall.

And so that is something that Trump is hoping to land as well. And I think we're seeing his campaign show their intent by exactly where he's moving around the map. It's not just those three Midwestern Rust Belt states that we've talked about as the battlegrounds that Democrats were previously focusing on.

Now, there may be more states that fall into that category. The Harris campaign has said to themselves, they're planning to play in Georgia and so Trump is hoping that he can come out strong and show OK, this was the scene of my closest loss in 2020. He probably still doesn't see it as a loss. But the math shows us that was a very razor thin margin between himself and Joe Biden. And so they're hoping to do better this time.

WALKER: Yes. Underscoring the very important sunbelt states as well. Meg Kinnard, good to have you. Thanks.

A state of emergency has been declared across parts of Florida as a tropical depression strengthens into Tropical Storm Debby.

FREEMAN: Parts of the Florida Keys and Central Florida including Tampa and Fort Myers are already under a tropical storm watch with officials urging residents to prepare now for what's to come in the next 48 hours. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar joins us now. Allison, I mean, just a little while ago, we learned there was a hurricane watch note.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Yes. So we don't have Tropical Storm Debby yet. It's expected to become that today. It's tropical depression for still. But in anticipation of that happening, they've started to issue a lot of those warnings and watches out ahead to give people as much time as they possibly can to prepare because people don't think I don't need to prepare for a tropical depression. But they do if they think it's going to be a tropical storm or even a hurricane.

So yes, we have brand new just issued within the last hour some of those new hurricane watches. But here's where the storm is located. You can see just on the southern side there of Cuba, still tropical depression for the sustained winds at 30 miles per hour, it needs to get up to 40 miles per hour before we start to see that transition over to tropical storm strength.

Here's a look at all of the watches and warnings. This pink color right here that does include Cedar Key and much of the Big Bend of Florida. That's where we have that hurricane watch. Now you've still got a tropical storm warning along much of the west coast. So that includes Tampa, St. Pete down through Naples. And pretty much all the way down to that Southwestern point.

You still have some tropical storm watches in effect for the Keys. And I know that may not sound kind of like it should make sense because it would clearly hit this area first. But that's because we just simply don't know if it will make it to tropical storm strength before it continues to pass over that area. Because here's a look at the track, it's going to be awfully close as it crosses over the Keys whether or not it's still going to be a tropical depression or a tropical storm, but it is expected to become a tropical storm, especially once it gets out over those nice warm open waters.

The thing here is right before landfall gets up to about 70 miles per hour. Remember, 75 is a hurricane, so it's going to be awfully close. And the key thing here too, is even when it continues on, notice how it really slows down. So flooding is going to be the biggest component with this particular storm.

Now we talked about it getting awfully close to hurricane strength. A lot of that is going to have to do with the water temperature and look at how warm it is in this particular area. You're talking those low 90s right in there. That is fuel for the storms. That's why the National Hurricane Center is saying it's not out of the question that this could become a low end category one hurricane before it finally makes landfall in Florida.

You've also got storm surge that's a factor. So flooding from two different ways. You've got flooding from all the rain that's going to come down and all of that water that's going to be pushed back in so two to four feet pretty much up and down most of the west coast of Florida.

Look at some of this widespread rainfall of six to 10 inches, because there will be some spots that could pick up well over a foot of rain before this system finally exits well out into the Atlanta.

WALKER: Wow, that is a lot of water.

FREEMAN: Can leave someone out. Thank you, Allison. Appreciate it.

WALKER: Thank you.

FREEMAN: All right. Coming up. The Acting Director of the Secret Service reveals a critical communications breakdown during the attempted assassination of former President Trump. We'll tell you what we're now learning about the seconds before the lone gunman opened fire on the former president at a Pennsylvania crowd.

WALKER: Plus, a July jobs report jolts. The unemployment rate is at the highest rate since October 2021 after the latest job numbers really missed the mark. Why this is triggering new recession fears and if the Fed waited too long to roll out interest rate cuts.

FREEMAN: And safe at home, what one of the three Americans just freed and one of the biggest global prisoner swaps in history is telling CNN. Stay with us.

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FREEMAN: And now some other headlines we're following this morning. In Central Florida, sheriff's deputy is shot and killed and two others wounded in Lake County last night. The sheriff says it was an ambush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF PEYTON GRINNELL, LAKE COUNTY: When the deputies entered the home, there was a lot of gunfire where one of the deputies was struck. The backup deputy that was there with him was able to retreat out of the home. The first deputy was trapped inside of the home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:20:00]

FREEMAN: The sheriff says deputies responded to a disturbance call to find a kicked hidden door and a commotion inside of the home. The officers had shots fired at them as they were trying to rescue the trapped deputy which is how the two other deputies were wounded. The trap deputy died along with two people inside of the home. Another person was taken to the hospital. Now the sheriff says this is the first death of a deputy in this community since 2005.

The autopsy report for D'Vontaye Mitchell says he died from asphyxiation and a drug overdose. Mitchell was pinned to the ground by security guards outside the Milwaukee hotel back in June. I remember the official autopsy report ruled his death a homicide. Mitchell's mother believes he was having a mental health crisis when witnesses saw guards kneeling on his neck and back and hitting him in the head.

The family's attorney says the guards involved should face charges. But the district attorney's office would not comment on the case.

And the Department of Justice is suing TikTok for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. The lawsuit accuses the app of letting children create accounts without their parents' knowledge or consent. It also accuses the app of collecting personal data like location and phone numbers.

And when parents asked to have their child's information deleted, the filing says TikTok did not comply. Now the app is already facing and fighting legislation that could lead to a total ban in the United States.

WALKER: There are new revelations about security lapses related to the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. In a press conference Friday the acting Secret Service Director placed the blame squarely on his agency and said local law enforcement should not be blamed. CNN's Whitney Wild has more on what the agency says went wrong as demands for accountability are growing.

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WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Danny, there were several major revelations that came to light. And the first is that this was the first time that the Secret Service put its own counter snipers on one of the former president's rallies.

The second thing that we learned was that there was a very major communications breakdown. And what we learned was that there was a lot of radio traffic, there were text messages, there were phone calls, but that information was pretty scattered.

And the reason for that in part was because there were two command centers, there was a unified command post where the local agencies had stationed and then there was a second security room. That's where the Secret Service and the Pennsylvania State Police were station.

This is all critical because what we know is that local law enforcement had been tracking this shooter for quite some time. They were passing information around about it. 30 seconds before the shooting, there was a local radio call that went out but that information apparently didn't make it out of that unified command post where the local law enforcement agencies were stationed. It did not make it over to where the Secret Service was. And that was a very critical breakdown.

Here's what Director Rowe said about how that all happened.

RONALD ROWE, ACTING SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: On the day in bother we had a Pennsylvania state trooper in our security room. They also had a unified command post that had some of the other agencies that were on site that day. It is plainly obvious to me that we were not -- we didn't have access to certain information, not by anybody's fault. It just so happened that there was a sense of urgency that there might have been radio traffic that we missed.

WILD: The other major question here is about accountability and Director Rowe made clear that he is not going to put anybody on administrative leave or discipline them until the results of the investigation are complete.

And you know, he is made very clear that that's not information we're going to be getting in real time, that at some point, he may be prepared to make sort of a high level statement about it. But still very major questions about who is going to be held accountable and how although Director Rowe said he's waiting for the results of the investigation. Amara, Danny.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: Whitney, thank you for that. A disappointing jobs report is causing ripple effects across the U.S. economy. Still ahead the growing fears that the U.S. could be headed into an economic downturn.

FREEMAN: Plus, a group of freed Americans are at a military base in Texas. Still ahead. How are we doctors are helping them return to a normal life.

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[06:28:27]

FREEMAN: All eyes now on the Federal Reserve after a disappointing July jobs report. The U.S. economy added just 114,000 jobs in July significantly fewer than predicted. Now, there are fears that the job market is slowing too quickly and could trigger a recession.

Stocks tumbled Friday, adding to the fears of the economy is weakening. The Dow closing down 612 points after falling more than 900 points earlier in the session. The Federal Reserve hoping to combat inflation has kept interest rates high but on Wednesday, Reserve chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the central bank is watching these labor markets and was prepared to cut rates if necessary.

Joining me now for more and this is Jeanna Smialek, Federal Reserve and Economy Reporter for the New York Times. Good morning, Jeanna. Thank you for being with us today.

Listen, I'm trying to make sense of this because before this week's jobs report, before Friday morning, there was widespread optimism that the Fed had achieved this soft landing that we've been talking about easing inflation, but not triggering a recession. Does Friday's number -- did they put that in doubt?

JEANNA SMIALEK, FEDERAL RESERVE AND ECONOMY REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: That's a great question. Before Friday's number, there was widespread optimism but with a little bit of weariness lining it. We had seen the unemployment rate ticking up slowly. And it was very clear that Fed officials, economists, everybody had been keeping an eye on that. So a little bit of nervousness.

And I think the reason that Friday's number is so sort of shocking, and the reason that it really does put that soft landing narrative in doubt is that we saw a big jump in the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate went up to 4.3 percent. That was up 4.1 percent previously and those kinds of moves generally don't happen outside of recessions.

[06:30:05]

You know, just a year ago, we were closer to 3.5 percent on the unemployment rate. And so, it's moved up quite a bit, and I think that's why everybody is so concerned.

DANNY FREEMAN, CO-ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND: Well, also the Fed has been cautious, right? About cutting interest rates. And on Wednesday, they said they needed a little bit more data before making that crucial decision that so many people have been waiting for. I guess after the news on Friday, do you see a rate cut at the next meeting, pretty much a foregone conclusion now?

SMIALEK: Yes, I think the Fed was pretty clear in signaling on Wednesday when they met, that they were, you know, and sort of gearing up to potentially cut rates at that September meeting, which is about as much pre-commitment as they ever get. It sounded like they were pretty much headed for September as of that meeting.

And I think this just really cements that, and actually makes the question, you know, not just, are they going to cut in September, but how much are they going to cut in September? We're now talking about them doing a jumbo-sized rate-cut instead of just a normal-sized rate cut.

And whether they do that, whether they go for the bigger rate-cut is a really good hinge on what happens with the August jobs report. We get one more jobs data point before they meet in September.

FREEMAN: Jeanna, is there any concerns talking about that September meeting and that potential cut, are there any concerns that this could be a little too little, too late, like was the window for doing this at the correct time, did it just pass?

SMIALEK: That is the big concern. Yes, I think the little too late is something we're going to hear about endlessly between now and September 18th when the Fed next meets. Because with the unemployment rate, there is a real concern that, once it starts going up, it is really hard to arrest that.

You know, it's really hard to sort of stop it from stocks, labor market from deteriorating. Which makes a lot of sense if you think about it logically. You know, if you lose your job, you're going to spend less, which means that the restaurant you would have been eating at is going to end up laying off people.

And so, it tends to feed on itself. And so, that's the real concern here, is maybe the Fed waited a little bit too long to start lowering interest rates and sort of cushioning the economy.

FREEMAN: Jeanna, before I talk about politics, I want to talk about policy quickly, because the Biden administration, they said, listen, this is one report yesterday with regard to unemployment and with regard to that jobs report. Do you --do you take stock in that? No pun intended. Do you take stock that this is just one snapshot right now, or is this actually a sign of bigger problems to come?

SMIALEK: I think that is absolutely the most important caveat about this report. One report, one day to the point. It happened in a weird month, you know, there was -- there was a hurricane, there was a lot of heat in the south that we saw a lot of impact on sort of construction jobs which are pretty weather-related.

And so, it's entirely possible that this was a one-off cork, that's it. We have been seeing this drift up in the unemployment rate. And I think that's why people are taking this pretty seriously. I don't think that this is a moment to let like your hair on fire and start panicking, but it's definitely a moment to pay attention and watch that next report and try and see if this sort of nerve-wracking trends that we saw evolving in this report actually last into the August numbers.

FREEMAN: I'll keep my hair free from flames just yet. But I want to shift though to politics, right? It's an election year. Any decision of the Fed makes next month will be seen, of course, through a political lens. Does politics -- I know it's supposed to not, but does politics play into this decision coming up?

SMIALEK: You know, I have been covering the Fed for a long time, and I talk to former officials about this all the time, because they think that it's the big -- it's the bank playing quick nod-nod(ph) question, right? People are like, of course, politics are supposed to matter, but they must, right?

And the thing that former officials will pretty consistently tell you is, of course, we were aware of politics, you know, we're human beings setting policy in a very politicized environment, but we really tried to not pay attention to them when we were setting policy, because if you go down that road, if you start setting policy with an eye, either beat to helping the President or to sort of resisting calls for interest rate-cuts the President is making now.

It's a really slippery slope. When do you stop and where do you lose your independence along that road? And so, I think -- I think it's pretty clear talking to them that politics aren't a huge factor and how they're setting interest rates. They really do try and extract from them.

FREEMAN: Jeanna Smialek, thank you so much for breaking all of that down this Saturday morning. Appreciate it.

AMARA WALKER, CO-HOST, CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND: The Middle East is bracing for a possible retaliatory attack from Iran against Israel. Still to come, the latest on heightened fears of a wider scale war.

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[06:35:00]

FREEMAN: Tensions are high today across the Middle East as Iran vows retaliation against Israel. This comes after the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran this week. He was buried in Qatar Friday. Now, Israel at this point still will not confirm or deny involvement in the assassination.

WALKER: But U.S. officials say Iran's response could be just days away. The White House is sending a U.S. Naval strike group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln to the region and multiple international airlines have canceled flights in and out of Israel due to security concerns.

Joining us now is CNN senior correspondent Ben Wedeman in Beirut, and CNN's Salma Abdelaziz in London. Ben, let's start with you, and of course, you know, the concern is what Iran's response might look like. Could it be different than what we've seen in the past considering what we've been hearing from them that they're vowing harsh punishment.

[06:40:00]

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly, the signals, Amara, are different this time. You remember that the Iranians struck on the 13th of April this year after on the 1st of April, Israel struck a diplomatic and Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus.

Now, on that 13th of April strike in which they fired more than 300 missiles and drones. That they really telegraphed exactly what they were going to do. So, it wasn't a surprise, Israelis, the Americans and others were prepared for it. One has to wonder how able the Israelis would have been to sort of shoot down most of those projectiles if it were not for the help of the United States and others.

And that strike was seen as something of a flop. It really didn't cause any damage or much damage in Israel. And this time around, however, what we're seeing is that I think the Iranians are much more angry over the target, Ismail Haniyeh who was killed in the early hours of Wednesday in the heart of Tehran.

Now, I mean, symbolically, that is a real slap in the face to the Iranians, and certainly, the messages the Iranians are sending is that the response will be harsher and quicker. Last time it was 12 days, perhaps, the Americans, particularly, I seem to think it's going to be a much quicker response.

But what kind of response is difficult to say. keep in mind that on the 13th of April, it was just the Iranians who were firing on Israel. But the Iranians have developed what they call the ring of fire concept, where it's not just Iran against the Israelis. You have Hezbollah here in Lebanon that has been firing on an almost daily basis into Israel, and of course, Israel firing back.

You have the Houthis in Yemen. You have various militias in Syria and Iraq, and don't forget, there are U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq, who until January were a fairly regular target of those militia. So, all of those groups taken together, certainly could work in coordination to target Israel and also American targets. We heard Hassan Nasrallah; the Secretary-General of Hezbollah the

other day, saying that they would strike back for the killing of the Hezbollah commander, not only on Israel, but who stands behind Israel, which of course, is the United States. Amara?

FREEMAN: Well, continue on that, Salma. I want to bring into this conversation, the United States is now sending more forces to the region. What more can you tell us about that?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Yes, and this is particularly important when you're hearing my colleague Ben, of course, speak to you about the potential retaliation from Iran, one, where Tehran could activate its tentacles in the region, push its militias, its proxy groups from Iraq to Syria, to Yemen.

And what that would mean is that the United States would potentially have to step in to support Israel in that case, that means potentially blocking ballistic missiles and rockets from the sea as we've seen in April. Ben mentioned that barrage and how crucial U.S. forces were in blocking that.

You also have U.S. forces may potentially have to evacuate Americans. Think of Americans in Lebanon, how would they get out? Maybe that would be through U.S. warships, maybe that would be through U.S. help. You have to also remember, there are very important trade routes that are along this area, that is a hot zone right now, including the Strait of Hormuz in the past, the Houthi militia, that's a militia, of course, again, backed by Iran in Yemen that has been able to cause chaos along the route.

Again, U.S. forces could be involved in unblocking that. But what is most crucial to U.S. forces right now is to try to find a way to turn down the temperature because you're absolutely in a tinderbox conflict right now with very little way out. And that is because mediation efforts that were led by the United States' hopes of a ceasefire that the U.S. had said was just on the doorstep.

All of that, of course, now, under question, put to one side when you have a Prime Minister Netanyahu, who seems to be barreling on through with these assassinations of key figures across the region, and no hopes of a ceasefire when the negotiator, the mediator for the Palestinian side, Ismail Haniyeh, his assassination is what's triggered this crisis.

WALKER: Yes, the temperature just going up as we see. Salma Abdelaziz in London and Ben Wedeman in Beirut. Thank you both. The Americans freed from Russian prisons have a long path to recovery, still to come, how an army of doctors are helping them adjust to their new freedom.

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[06:45:00]

WALKER: The Americans freed from Russia in Thursday's historic prisoner swap are trying to recover from the trauma now that they're back on U.S. soil. Now, the treatment focuses on psychological help and reintegration with family.

FREEMAN: CNN's Rosa Flores has more from Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, that's where the former hostages are getting help to re-adjust to life after captivity.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Danny, we've all seen the beautiful and emotional videos of the freed Americans reuniting with their families, the joy. But what we don't see is the trauma, the emotional scars from the detention and the isolation.

[06:50:00]

Well, that's one of the reasons why they're here in San Antonio. And we saw -- we witnessed how their treatment started almost immediately after they landed here in Kelly Field in San Antonio. Our cameras were rolling. We were there, members of the State Department and the White House told the freed Americans that they were being handed over now to a U.S. Army colonel, who explained that they would be brought to the facility that you see behind me.

This is Brooke Army Medical Center, and then a team of psychologists let them know that their priority was going to be their well-being. Now, take that moment and digest it with me because again, these freed Americans had been detained in some cases for years in Russia, and the priority of those authorities was not their well-being.

But this is the welcome that they received in the United States on American soil. And they were also told that they would be maximizing their family time. And what does that mean? Well, the freed Americans are going to -- have an ongoing medical evaluation in the facility that you see behind me.

But these professionals, medical professionals will also be incorporating family time again, to try to re-integrate them with their families and with society. Now, we asked Paul Whelan about that family time, and here's what he had to say.

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PAUL WHELAN, U.S. MARINE VETERAN FREED IN PRISONER SWAP WITH RUSSIA: So, looking forward to seeing my family down here and just recuperating from five years, seven months and five days of just absolute nonsense by the Russian government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Take a look at this video. This was also an important moment as these freed Americans and their families held a hostage and wrongful detainee flag, and then Paul Whelan pointed to the last three bars and said that those were the three freed Americans that had just made it back to American soil. Amara, Danny?

WALKER: It's just still incredible to hear them speak, right?

FREEMAN: Yes, truly.

WALKER: Summer break, it's winding down, but some special kids are getting a little extra fun. Coming up, a Summer camp for children of fallen and wounded service members.

FREEMAN: And the four-part CNN original series, "1968" looks back on another year marked by seismic shifts in American politics, social movements and global relations using archival footage and contemporary interviews with journalists, historians and notable figures. The series maps the tumultuous events of the entire year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN RATHER, FORMER CBS ANCHOR: Might be early Summer of 1968. There was this ache(ph) in the American spirit -- what the hell is happening to us? Is the country coming apart, the scenes.

EUGENE MCCARTHY, FORMER LATE U.S. SENATOR: No words can really, fully convey the feeling that I have towards the Kennedy family in this time of their particular tragedy or the bidding that one must have for the nation in the face of this tragedy, this new tragedy.

CHARLES KAISER, AUTHOR: I really think McCarthy felt a sense of guilt and some weird psychological way for this outcome, because he has been a very nasty campaigner.

LANCE MORROW, AMERICAN ESSAYIST & WRITER: This is one trauma to manage, and McCarthy sort of gave up after Bobby died. Instead of pressing on, he drifted away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's one guy that offers an opportunity to -- please, try to find a way to end the war and that's General McCarthy, and that's why I'm here.

SAM BROWN JR., YOUTH COORDINATOR, SEN. MCCARTHY CAMPAIGN: McCarthy didn't want to leap in with a bitter campaign, so soon after Senator Kennedy had died -- but it felt deserting like just when we need it most, gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: And you can go back to one of the most tumultuous years in American history, and see the surprising parallels to our current political climate. The CNN original series, "1968" airs tomorrow night at 9:00, right here on CNN.

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[06:55:00]

WALKER: It is the first week of August, and while some kids are gearing up to go back to school, others still have month left to have Summer fun in camps. Camp Corral in Raleigh, North Carolina isn't just any ordinary Summer camp. It serves a special group of kids, children of fallen and wounded service members. Ivan Rodriguez takes us inside this completely free camp. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): Swimming, archery, it seems like a typical Summer camp. But this camp is anything, but typical. Here at Camp Corral, every camper is connected through a similar loss. They're children of wounded and fallen U.S. service members.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is great that I've seen people that have same situation as me. And each time, I come, I know that I won't be alone.

RODRIGUEZ: A.J. Mitchell was only 18 months old when his dad died of a heart condition while serving in the Marines.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is able to connect with other kids that lost their dad and maybe they lost their dad when they were very little and they don't have a whole bunch of memories. So, it's something that they can kind of connect over and bond over.

RODRIGUEZ: Camp Corral has locations in 17 states since 2011, it has hosted thousands of campers between the ages of 8 and 15, core, dealing with the traumatic loss of a parent.

PHIL KOWALCZYK, CEO, CAMP CORRAL: I think the most important thing that we learned is, they learned that they're not alone.

RODRIGUEZ: And counselors are on-site to help navigate challenges these kids face with losing a parent at such an early age.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want AJ to be a certain kind of guy, just like my husband was, and to be upstanding and brave just like my Marine was. So, it's really helpful to kind of have those other mentors and other -- the counselors here, and people like that, they kind of pour into him --