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Presidential Debate Drama; VP Harris In Final Stages Of Picking Running Mate; Florida On Alert For Tropical Trouble; Acting Director Rowe: No Real-Time Updates On Accountability; Inflation Worries Spark Economic Anxiety Among Americans; Memorial For Victims Of El Paso Massacre Unveiled Today. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired August 03, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

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[08:00:56]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Good morning to you and welcome to this special hour of CNN this morning. I'm Amara Walker.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Danny Freeman in for Victor Blackwell. First of All will be back next Saturday. But for now here's what we're working on for you this morning.

Presidential Debate drama overnight. Former President Trump says he will debate Vice President Kamala Harris in September but on his very specific terms. 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 will break down the leading candidates in the veepstakes.

FREEMAN: And Florida on alert this morning. A hurricane watch is up for part of the state as a tropical system closes in. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar tracking it all.

WALKER: And it's perhaps the largest movement of U.S. forces to the Middle East since the early days of the Gaza war. The growing fears of Iran's retaliation to the killing of a senior Hamas leader in Tehran. That's a little later on CNN this morning.

Well, Vice President Kamala Harris pressed the threshold of delegates needed, past I should say, the threshold of delegates needed to win the Democratic 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. Harris will spend this weekend conducting the final interviews of half a dozen potential VP picks before she announces her running mate early next week.

FREEMAN: But Harris does not have the luxury of time and must pick a running mate that will shape her campaign and the Democratic Party strategy. Outside advisors to Harris are already chiming in on how they should introduce her VP to help continue the excitement and enthusiasm her campaign has seen over the past few weeks. Meanwhile, 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 rallied thousands in the same arena at Georgia State University. CNN's Isaac Dovere joins us now from Washington, D.C. Isaac, tell us what do we know about how Kamala Harris is making her VP decision.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Hey, good morning, Danny. Look, let's remember that two weeks ago right now, Joe Biden was still running for president and Kamala Harris was the running mate. Now she has in this rushed process having to pick a running mate. I've covered the vice president for a long time, as I write in a piece, it's up on our site right now. She is not known for taking leaps of faith, but she is going to have to take one, at least to a certain extent in this decision.

She is interviewing the finalists over this weekend. She has been reviewing a lot of material that's been collected very quickly polling data, focus groups, other things like that. But she is not having in front of her as much data and information, as presidential candidates usually have in making a decision like this. She also importantly, does not have very extensive relationships with almost anyone on the list. And even the ones that she's known for a while, those aren't deep relationships.

So she's got to make a decision all at once about whom she thinks can help her win this race, who can fit into the future-oriented ticket that she wants to have in this campaign. And who could be a governing partner with her in all the ways that could be if she's elected, not just on policy issues, but of course, having the report that is an important factor for a lot of presidents and vice presidents.

WALKER: And on social media last night, of course, Trump is making this announcement that he has he will do a debate with Harris if she agrees to it, but it will have to be on his terms. It won't be that ABC debate. Tell us more.

DOVERE: Well, look in the spring, Joe Biden put out his terms for what he wanted the debate to be. And he got Donald Trump to agree to them. Obviously, Joe Biden no longer a candidate at this point. And Donald Trump has said that the agreement that he made about the debates which would have included a second debate in September, does not hold because he's running against someone else now.

Kamala Harris has said, Look, I say it to my face. If you've got something to say to me. Don't duck debating with me, Donald Trump. But Trump has now come back with a very different set of demands for what he wants us debate to be.

Number one, it would be on Fox News rather than the scheduled debate on ABC News. Fox News Donald Trump fields is a more receptive place to his politics and number two importantly the debate the terms that they had agreed to with Biden had no audience in the room. That's the way it was for the CNN debate in June.

[08:05:16] That's the way it was going to be again. Donald Trump now is saying he wants to have an arena full of an audience.

WALKER: Isaac Dovere, thank you so much. Good to see you this morning.

DOVERE: Thank you.

WALKER: And joining me now is the director of the Center of politics at the University of Virginia, Larry Sabato. Larry, it's always good to see you. I feel like you and I have talked several times this past week about a potential VP pick for Kamala Harris. We're in the final stretch, and she you know, will be campaigning with her new VP pick on Tuesday in Philadelphia, where did the -- where do things stand in terms of the political calculus? And do you think that this top list of choices has changed?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER OF POLITICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Well, you never know whether there's some secret possible nominee that they've been vetting and meeting with Harris this weekend, it's possible. I think it's much more likely that it's going to be one of those finalists. And you can't measure chemistry, body chemistry, which everybody talks about. Yes, Harris has to be able to get along with whichever one she chooses. But I kind of think that all of them would do their very best to be congenial.

To me from the beginning, and now and forever, it's always about the Electoral College, as much as we may hate it. It is about winning 270 electoral votes. Shapiro, Governor Shapiro, Pennsylvania has the most to offer there at 19. Senator Kelly, from Arizona has 11 potentially to offer. I'm not saying they automatically carry their states, but I tell you, you do have a better chance, maybe a much better chance to win that state if they're on the ticket. And there are others you can make an argument for several others, though, I think it's kind of strange.

You know, Minnesota, for example, if a Democrat cannot carry Minnesota, then he or she is in deep trouble. So I don't that makes that much difference.

WALKER: Right. Obviously, it makes sense that you know that Harris would be prioritizing a candidate who would help with a critical swing state. But I guess the question is, how much does the VP choice matter? And I asked this, because as you know, last week, Trump was saying that, you know, they don't matter at all virtually.

SABATO: Well, of course, he chose J.D. Vance from Ohio.

WALKER: Definitely.

SABATO: And he was going to win Ohio again with a landslide just like he did the first two times. So of course, he has to say that now. But in fact, the research shows that a vice presidential candidate can have two effects, that one is in the home state where it can make a fraction of 1% difference, up to maybe two or two and a half percent difference. Well look at the swing states, there decided the -- by less than 1%, or a little more than 1%, at least in most of the cases. So yeah, they matter. And the second effect is that nominee may appeal to certain segments of the country sectionally or ethnically or who knows what it really is.

But there could be an addition in a whole wide range of states, depending on who the nominee is and what the nominee's background is. So it does make a difference. And it shapes a candidate's image, particularly someone like Vice President Harris, people don't really understand how little Americans know about almost all vice presidents. They don't follow them. They don't know what they're doing. Because they know the President makes the decision. Well, now she has to define herself, preferably before the Trump people define her.

WALKER: How do you think that this debate over the debate, as you've been saying this morning is going to play out now that Trump is saying that he will agree to a debate on Fox? You know, according to his terms with a large arena, a live audience? Do you think Kamala Harris would agree to that?

SABATO: Well, I hope not. And arena? Oh my god. Don't -- this isn't this whole process a big circus anyway, you want to make it more of a circus, having a giant arena. Also, half the time would be eaten up by people cheering and booing and all the things that even a small audience can do to interrupt the process. What a dumb idea. So hopefully, that's off the table quickly.

But the other elements of the traditional debate about debates, which I think is one of the most boring parts of every presidential campaign, I guess we'll just have to go through it. Whichever one falls behind if in fact one ever does fall out of this tie. That'll be the one who pushes for the debate. As long as they're close, they'll probably go ahead and risk it.

WALKER: Larry Sabato who never mince his words, good to see you this morning. Thank you.

SABATO: Thank you.

[08:10:05]

WALKER: All right. A hurricane watch is in effect across parts of Florida as a tropical depression intensifies while heading towards the state.

FREEMAN: Tropical storm conditions may hit southwest Florida as early as this evening, prompting some communities to prepare early from our oldest we have seen in meteorologist Allison Chinchar. I mean, Alison, it's scary to think that we're back in the late summer months. And now we're going to have to be dealing with this.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is but it's also that's the time of the year. This is when we now start to head towards any statistical peak is September 10th. So we haven't even really hit that point. But usually the couple of weeks leading up to it and a couple of weeks on the backside, this is when you have the bulk of your activity. So yes, we're getting into it now. In this next storm, this is going to be where all the eyes are. So right now still tropical depression for sustained winds of 30 miles

per hour. It needs to get up to 40 miles per hour before we get that next name. And that is expected as we go into the latter portion of the date today. So we do anticipate this will become Tropical Storm Debby, at some point today, the question really becomes where does it go.

It is expected to move out back over open water and very, very warm water. That's what's going to help this storm intensify and intensify enough that it may actually end up getting to a very low end hurricane category, one hurricane. That's why you have this pink color here indicating some hurricane watches and are in effect. The vast majority of the western coast of Florida, including places like Tampa, Naples, all of those are still under tropical storm warnings as we go through the rest of the day. From there, the storm then comes back out over the open Atlantic, but it is essentially just going to ride right there along the Atlantic coast. Because of that, it's going to take all of that incredibly heavy rain along with it, then you may be asked to this kind of a weird track where it just kind of sits. So there's a lot of components at play here.

So here's where the storm is now it's going to continue to move north, all storms want to move poleward regardless of their strength, that's what they do. So it's naturally inclined to move off to the north. You have this high-pressure system here that's trying to push it a little bit farther to the east. But it can't go too far north and east because of this front. That's right here. It also can't go too far east because this high-pressure system is blocking it. And that's what's effectively going to give you a very narrow path right there along the Atlantic coast of the southeast.

Two big components here. This really isn't going to be known as a windstorm. It's the flooding component. That's the biggest concern. You've got storm surge of two to four feet expected all pretty much all of this yellow area here, which is most of the western coast of Florida. But also rainfall is a component you're talking widespread six to 10 inches of rain, some spots could get as much as a foot of rain, especially if this starts to slow down at any point. Because of that, you do have the component of the excessive rainfall here, not just today, but also going into the next couple of days where flooding is certainly going to be a big issue for the state of Florida.

FREEMAN: Wow. Thank you for keeping an eye on that, Allison. Appreciate it.

WALKER: Thanks, Allison.

FREEMAN: All right. Coming up in a moment. Israel is bracing for retaliation from Iran after the killing of a senior Hamas leader in Tehran earlier this week. Coming up with the U.S. military is doing to prepare in case of an escalation in this conflict.

WALKER: Plus from Wall Street to Main Street, a weaker than expected jobs report is having an impact still ahead why there is so much concern. FREEMAN: And at long last, it is her time to shine but can track and

field star Sha'Carri Richardson win gold. We'll have a live report on her amazing Olympic debut.

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[08:18:09]

WALKER: New CNN reporting has discovered that late last month Russia was preparing to deliver missiles and other military equipment to the Houthi rebels in Yemen. But sources say they pulled back at the last minute after a flurry of behind-the-scenes efforts from the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

FREEMAN: Now sources tell us the Saudis who were at war with the Houthis until 2020 pressured the Russians to stand down. The Houthis have been behind a barrage of attacks against commercial ships in the Red Sea, and Russia has viewed army liberties as a way to retaliate against the U.S.

Also, tensions are high across the Middle East this weekend as Iran vows revenge against Israel for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. Israel has neither confirmed or denied involvement but U.S. officials are warning Iran's retaliation could be just days away.

WALKER: In preparation, the White House has now sent a carrier strike group to the region led by the USS Abraham Lincoln. They also warned that the retaliation could be more complex than what Tehran has done before. Multiple international airlines have also canceled flights in and out of Israel due to security concerns. Joining us now is CNN Senior Correspondent Ben Wedeman in Beirut and CNN Salma Abdelaziz in London.

Ben, let's start with you. And again U.S. officials are saying Iran's response could be different than what we've seen in the past. What are you hearing and what should we expect?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, let's talk about what happened on April 13th with Iran's response to the April 1 Israeli strike on its diplomatic complex in Damascus. In that case, the Iranians fired 300 missiles and drones in the direction of Israel, but it was very orchestrated, they telegraphed messages to the Americans who obviously passed them on to the Israelis. So most of those projectiles were shot down largely thanks to the United States which was actively involved in protecting Israel in that case.

[08:20:10]

Now, the assumption perhaps this time, is that Iran is going to also be expecting its allies in the region like Hezbollah, like the Houthis, like militias in Iraq and Syria to also take part in some sort of retaliation. Hezbollah, for instance, on Tuesday evening, lost one of its senior commanders in a strike in Beirut that Israel did acknowledge, and obviously, they want some revenge as well. And we heard that from Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah. So perhaps this, as the American said, this could be a more complex attack on Israel in this case, and obviously, the United States is sending significant forces to the region and it's also through its friends in the region is also trying to urge Hezbollah and Iran to exercise restraint, restraint and has not called upon Israel to exercise, as can be seen by the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh earlier this week, in the heart of Tehran, the Iranian capital.

So there is an expectation that this Iranian retaliation and perhaps the retaliation of its allies in the region could come quicker than it did in April and could come from multiple directions. And of course, this is making people here very concerned. There have been more cancellations of flights. Kuwait Airlines said that its last flight to from Beirut is going to leave tomorrow. The U.S. Embassy has told Americans in Lebanon to basically catch a flight, find a ticket, find a flight out of Beirut as quickly as possible, even if it's not going to somewhere you want to go because flights are being canceled on a fairly regular basis, and other airlines have simply stopped flying to and from Beirut home together.

FREEMAN: Well, Ben, thank you for providing that information. Salma, you heard Ben note that the United States is sending more forces to the region. I was wondering if you could tell us a little more about that.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. More warships, more aircraft carriers, more U.S. resources on the ground in the Middle East. Just to give you an indication of where this stands. This is the largest movement of U.S. assets in the Middle East since the beginning of the October 7 war. That gives you an understanding of just how concerned U.S. officials are not only that they'll have to defend us assets in the Middle East, U.S. personnel in the Middle East, but also that they might have to step in and help Israel as an ally.

Of course, you heard Ben describing the potential for U.S. warships, to block ballistic missiles, to block rockets. That is very key. There is also as you're hearing of these flight cancellations, as you're hearing of people struggling to get out of Lebanon. Could U.S. assets there be available to evacuate people if necessary? That's one of the potential scenarios on the table.

You also have to consider the possibility of U.S. personnel that could be caught in the crossfire. And then there's very important trade routes in this area to consider as well. You mentioned the Yemen -- you mentioned Yemen and the Houthi militia. Well, that Red Sea route is absolutely crucial to the global economy. Could the United States need to step in there in clear those shipping routes? That's another scenario that's on the table.

But what U.S. forces need most and I'm sure you can understand this is for the temperature to cool down is for people to step back from the brink. But it's very difficult to imagine that taking place when you have on the one hand a Prime Minister Netanyahu who seems steadfast in these continued assassination attempts across various groups Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad that are only aggravating tensions in the region. And then for those mediation efforts, which had been led by the United States, well, those are basically falling on deaf ears right now because you have the key mediator for the Palestinian side Ismail Haniyeh. It is his assassination that's led to this quandary in the first place.

WALKER: All right, Salma Abdelaziz in London and Ben Wedeman in Beirut, thanks to both.

The Acting Director of the Secret Service is revealing a critical communications breakdown during the attempted assassination of former President Trump. What we're learning now about the seconds before the lone gunman opened fire on the former president and the Pennsylvania crowd.

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WALKER: Other headlines we are following this morning. A central Florida sheriff's deputy was shot and killed and two others were wounded in Lake County last night. The sheriff says it was an ambush.

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SHERIFF PEYTON GRINELL, 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 VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: The sheriff says deputies responded to a disturbance call to find a kicked in door and commotion inside 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 trapped deputy died along with two people inside the home another person was taken to the hospital now the sheriff says this is the first death of a deputy in the 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 of Milwaukee hotel back in June. 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. 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. The app is already facing and fighting legislation that could lead to a total ban in the U.S.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: There are new revelations about security lapses related to the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. At a press conference, Friday, the acting Secret Service director placed the blame squarely on his agency, reversing course 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 grow.

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 stationed. 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.

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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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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?

FREEMAN: Whitney Wild, thank you.

[08:33:36]

All right, coming up in a moment, a July jobs report jolt. The unemployment rate is now at the highest rate since October 2021. We'll dive into why this is triggering new recession fears.

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WALKER: A week jobs report is fueling fears of a recession. The U.S. economy added just 114,000 jobs last month which was far below economists estimates of 175,000 new jobs.

FREEMAN: Now these disappointing jobs report sent stocks tumbling, the Dow fell to 1.5 percent. The S&P 500 lost nearly 2 percent. And the NASDAQ fell 2.4 percent. CNN's Brian Todd reports on why this -- these worries are concerning to many Americans.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dave Flannery runs an apple orchard in Wisconsin and like many Americans has anxiety about how the economy is trending.

DAVE FLANNERY, RUNS APPLE ORCHARD IN WISCONSIN: Things are -- are really uncertain not knowing what's going to happen with interest rates and what's going to happen with the whole economy.

TODD (voice-over): And the uncertainty has only grown. The U.S. government out with its jobs report saying the economy added about 114,000 jobs last month, less than expected. And the unemployment rate is now the highest it's been since October of 2021.

DAVID WILCOX, PETERSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: It's another element of evidence on top of a long string of evidence that we've had that the labor market is softening. Consumers have been telling us for quite a while now that the job market isn't as hospitable for job seekers as it was a year ago, two years ago.

TODD (voice-over): The job news sent the stock market tumbling on Friday, but the market had already taken some serious hits in the few days prior to this report. Why?

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMY AND POLITICS COMMENTATOR: The alarm that you see in the stock market and -- and potentially among consumers is about worries that things could potentially get worse.

[08:40:06]

TODD (voice-over): Inflation has fueled American psychological fears about the economy. A Gallup poll taken last month found seven in 10 Americans believe it's getting worse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got adult children now who are starting out, and how -- how can they be able to survive of what it cost in today's world?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Inflation is really hitting a lot of people in a hard, hard way.

WILCOX: American households are still understandably unhappy about the economic situation. A key reason for that is because that cart of groceries that used to cost them $100 now cost them $130.

TODD (voice-over): And new questions are being raised about whether the Federal Reserve has waited too long to lower interest rates.

RAMPELL: This puts even more pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut rates in September. Markets widely expect that the Fed will cut rates by at least a quarter point at its next meeting.

TODD (voice-over): But analysts also say we shouldn't overreact that the U.S. economy is still very strong.

WILCOX: The fundamentals of the economy actually are quite solid today. Inflation has been high, but it's come way down and it's now close to the Feds 2 percent objective. This is a good labor market for people who want to work and are willing to seek those opportunities even if that may mean for example, moving locations.

TODD (voice-over): In the meantime, analysts offer some practical advice for us as we ride out this uncertain period.

RAMPELL: It's always good to have a nest egg. It's always good to make sure your job prospects are strong. I wouldn't do anything hasty, you know, don't -- don't sell all your stocks.

TODD: The analysts we spoke to say as far as other practical advice for the average American during this period. Try to curb your spending a little for the next couple of months. Reevaluate big expenditures like trips or appliances, and especially try to avoid spending with your credit card until interest rates come down again.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: A somber ceremony is expected in El Paso, Texas today to mark five years since nearly two dozen people were killed in a shooting spree at a Walmart. The new memorial making sure the legacy of the victims live on.

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[08:46:39]

FREEMAN: New this morning, the city of El Paso will unveil a memorial to remember the 23 victims who died in a mass shooting at one of the local Walmart's five years ago today. The hate crime shooting spree also injured 22 others. Now take a look this right here. These are some of the murals that the City Commission to pay tribute to the victims at a local park. There will also be a series of events to bring the community together on this somber anniversary.

Joining me now for more on this is Ben Fyffe. He's the managing director of Quality of Life for the city of El Paso. Ben, first, thank you so much for joining us on this somber anniversary. But I want to start here, tell me why was it so important for this city to build this memorial? BEN FYFFE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, QUALITY OF LIFE, CITY OF EL PASO: And I think we had a number of conversations with the community about what this day meant and -- and how it affected all of us in El Paso and around the country. There already were two other memorials throughout the community. But we really felt that this was going to be important for the fifth anniversary to have the city step up and make a statement.

FREEMAN: But I want to ask you two things about the artists specifically here. We're talking about Tino Ortega. First of all, tell me why was it important specifically to choose Mr. Ortega to make this memorial?

FYFFE: You know, when we go through the public art process, typically we work with an artist selection committee, we go to a public art committee, there's a number of steps we take. On this one staff really had a lot of discussions about why it was going to be so important that our -- our response was going to be by local artists, and that they needed to be Latino or Latina, given the motivations of the shooter.

FREEMAN: Well, according to the El Paso, let me actually ask you specifically on that idea of the motivations of the shooter, because for people who might not remember the shooter was sentenced to serve 90 consecutive life sentences specifically because this was a hate crime. The DOJ said he wrote a manifesto where he admitted to being a white nationalist, and targeted Latinos. Talk about how today's events and specifically this memorial, how both are intended to address this hate crime aspect of this horrific shooting.

FYFFE: You know, I think it was an incredibly jarring experience in our community. We're typically within the rankings of the top two, safest large cities in the United States where Hispanic majority community with 83 percent of our population being Hispanic. It's a relatively peaceful community. And so to have somebody drive eight hours into the city, selecting that specifically about our demographics, to make this kind of statement was just really horrific.

And in the aftermath of the event as we started to learn more and more about those motivations, it was just really disheartening. And I think those -- those motivations are really fueled by a lot of national rhetoric that tends to resurface every presidential election cycle over the last few years related to shifting Hispanic demographics in this country, as well as surge of immigration.

FREEMAN: Ben can I trouble you tell me about the structure of the memorial itself. My understanding is that it's intended to symbolize a crown. Can you talk about that?

[08:50:08]

FYFFE: That's correct. And so this creates a plaza in a park that is very special, because this park is just located a few blocks away from the tragedy itself. In the immediate aftermath of the event, this became a gathering place for survivors, for families, for people to just come and get more information. So the siding is really important. And one of the things the artists really felt was top of mind was empowering the memory of those victims, bringing back their agency, bringing back their own power. And so the symbol of a crown became something that came into discussion over and over again, in the history of art crowns are not just about royalty, they're about dignity. They're about empowerment.

Oftentimes, you see them use in -- in images of saints from the Renaissance. So it's a really powerful symbol. And for me, it's not just about the victims, but it's also about reclaiming our community's identity and the dignity that we have going forward.

FREEMAN: Ben, the last thing I want to ask you touching on something you said earlier, what should people not just in El Paso, but around the country take from this memorial and the remembrance events that I know will be happening today commemorating this horrific shooting?

FYFFE: You know, I think for me, a good memorial is really about finding a way to pay homage to victims, but also allowing space for community to come together and think about what those events meant. I think what we've learned from a lot of our colleagues from around the country who've had, unfortunately, similar incidents is that that outpouring of emotion of grief results in a sense of unity. And community is not always permanent.

But I think for us, that was something that we really hope people remember was that strong sense of unity, putting difference in society in our community, putting differences aside in our country to think about what we stand for.

FREEMAN: Ben Fyffe, thank you so much for sharing on this important anniversary. We'll be right back.

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[08:56:44]

FREEMAN: Listen, it's the kind of day that if you're a sports fan, just put on some sweats, shorts, curl up and enjoy a totally full day of Olympics day.

WALKER: Yes. And it's also a big day for team USA. You have Simone Biles going for another gold. Women's soccer has a quarterfinal game against Japan. And the men's basketball team wraps up group play.

FREEMAN: And it's not to mention the last laps of swimming and some of the first in track and field. From on all this, we have CNN international sports anchor, Amanda Davies, she's joining us live now from Paris. Hey Amanda.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ANCHOR: Hey, it is one of those days. It's just not going to stop the action, Noah Lyles, Fred Kerley and Kenny Bednarek have all made it through to the man's 100 meters semifinals already this morning. But Sha'Carri Richardson is a step ahead in the women's event and very much hoping it is the day she gets her hands on Olympic gold.

At last the reigning 100 meter World Champion ran the fastest time of the year over the distance at the U.S. trials back in June. The defending champion, Elaine Thompson-Herah from Jamaica is missing through injury and Sha'Carri posted a pretty decent 10.94 to ease through her heat into the semis which takes place at a few hours from now it was Marie Josee Ta Lou-Smith, who lay down a marker with the fastest time the great Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce did to the final set for 9:20 p.m. in Paris, that is 3:20 Eastern in the States.

Simone Biles already has two goals at this game. She can add another on Saturday as well after winning the all-around individual on Thursday. She said this is where she can now have some fun which surely can only be a good thing for those of us watching on as she takes part in the vault, if our performances so far are anything to go by, we're going to be in for a treat, aren't we? As she looks for an incredible 10-Olympic medal in all. She could have 12 by the end of the games.

Katie Ledecky is looking for gold number nine over all, this time in the women's 800 freestyle. It's the event she's the world record holder in. She's taken gold in it in the last three games, dating back to London in 2012. And she knows victory would see her join Michael Phelps as the only swimmers of any gender from any country to win four gold medals in the same events.

But it's been a really tough week in the pool for the U.S. men's swimmers. They are yet to win a gold. We saw Caeleb Dressel in action last night having failed to successfully defend either of his gold medals from Tokyo in the 50 freestyle and 100 Butterfly. The tears were flowing as you can see. And whilst Bobby Finke was left frustrated with silver in the men's 800 freestyle on Tuesday. He has been in action today and the 1,500 heat. The other events where he won gold in Tokyo. He eased his way through to the final.

The U.S. men in danger of not claiming any individual swimming goals for the first time since all the way back in 1900s. Can you believe that? It's a long time ago.

WALKER: I'm excited about today, but I'll definitely be tuning in to Simone Biles. My little six-year-old --

[09:00:01]

FREEMAN: Yes.

WALKER: -- I mean she's just fascinated by what this woman can do.

FREEMAN: Yes.

WALKER: Incredible stuff Amanda. Amanda Davies, thank you.

And thanks for being with us this morning. Are you back tomorrow?

FREEMAN: Yes, you bet.

WALKER: That's sounds good. Thank you for joining us this morning. Smerconish starts now.