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CNN This Morning

Kamala Harris And Donald Trump Both Slated To Campaign In Pennsylvania; Hurricane Ernesto Makes Landfall On Bermuda As A Category 1 Storm; Gaza Rescuers Say Israeli Strike Kills 15 From Same Family; "Closer Than We've Ever Been" To Ceasefire Deal, Says Biden. Ex-New York Rep. George Santos to Plead Guilty to Campaign Fraud Charges; Florida Jury Finds Woman Who Killed Neighbor Guilty of Manslaughter; Investigation Underway Following Escape of North Carolina Convicted Murderer Ramone Alston. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired August 17, 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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[06:00:30]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to CNN This Morning. It is Saturday, August 17. I'm Victor Blackwell.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Amara Walker. Thank you so much for joining us this morning, and here's what we are working on for you.

Vice President Kamala Harris rolled out her economic plan Friday in what was her first major policy proposal as the Democratic nominee, the proposal she's laying out and how her Republican rivals are responding.

BLACKWELL: Just in Hurricane Ernesto has made landfall in Bermuda. It's battering the island with heavy rains and high wind gusts, and the East Coast is feeling Ernesto impacts to. Allison Chichar is standing by with the forecast.

WALKER: Secretary of State, Antony Blinken is headed to Israel today as negotiators work to finalize a cease fire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, the role he's expected to play, and the warning from President Biden to those looking to disrupt progress in the talks.

BLACKWELL: Plus, five people have been charged in connection with the death of actor Matthew Perry. The charges they're facing and what we're hearing from Perry's family that's coming up.

Former President Trump returns to the campaign trail today while Vice President Harris courts voters ahead of the Democratic National Convention. The Republican presidential nominee set to hold a rally this afternoon in Pennsylvania, critical of course, battleground state. It marks his second visit to the Commonwealth since surviving a July 13 assassination attempt in Butler.

WALKER: And on Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will roll through Western Pennsylvania on a bus tour. The tour will be the first time that Harris, Walz and their spouses, the four of them will appear on the campaign trail together since they shared the stage in Philadelphia. They will make four stops before traveling to Chicago to be in place for the Democratic National Convention. The bus tour will give Harris the opportunity to sell the economic proposal she laid out yesterday.

BLACKWELL: The plan calls for the creation of an opportunity economy focused on lowering costs for middle class Americans. CNN's Eva McKend reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vice President Kamala Harris unveiling a populist economic agenda in her first major policy speech since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: As President, I will be laser focused on creating opportunities for the middle class. Together, we will build what I call an opportunity economy.

MCKEND (voice-over): Speaking Friday in battleground, North Carolina, Harris outlined a series of proposals, including expanding the child tax credit to as much as $3,600 up from $2,000, adding a new child tax credit of up to $6,000 for families with newborns, expanding the earned income tax credit for lower income workers without children, and help lowering housing costs, including an offer of $25,000 in down payment assistance for first time home buyers.

HARRIS: As President, I will work in partnership with industry to build the housing we need, both to rent and to buy. By the end of my first term, we will end America's housing shortage by building 3 million new homes and rentals.

MCKEND (voice-over): As polls show the vice president narrowing Donald Trump's advantage on the economy. Harris drawing a contrast with the vision put forward by her Republican rival.

HARRIS: Compare my plan with what Donald Trump intends to do. He plans to give billionaires massive tax cuts year after year, and he plans to cut corporate taxes by over a trillion dollars, even as they pull in record profits.

MCKEND (voice-over): Another element of Harris' agenda a federal ban on price gouging to lower grocery prices and other everyday costs.

HARRIS: My plan will include new penalties for opportunistic companies that exploit crises and break the rules.

MCKEND (voice-over): Trump criticizing that approach during an event Thursday in New Jersey.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Kamala is reportedly proposing communist price controls, the Maduro plan like something straight out of Venezuela. You're all going to be thrown into a communist system. MCKEND (voice-over): But Harris supporters say her plans make sense.

ROB HENEHAN, NORTH CAROLINA VOTER: People may call it overstepping, but at the end of the day, the government's role is to protect its citizens, and if companies are overcharging and price gouging, then something that should be taken out.

MCKEND: And CNN learning that the Vice President engaged in her first debate prep session earlier this week at Howard University in Washington with advisers. That is, of course, where she attended college nearly four decades ago. Eva McKend, CNN, Raleigh, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: All right. Eva, thank you for that. Joining us now, for some political analysis is Bloomberg News reporter, Stephanie Lai. Good morning, Stephanie. Good to see you.

You know, ultimately, Trump and Harris have different visions on how they will deal with the economy, but it was notable to see that there is some agreement on a few things, including increasing the child tax credits and eliminating the federal tax on tips. Walk us through the similarities and I guess, differences between Trump and Harris.

STEPHANIE LAI, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, BLOOMBERG NEWS: Thanks for having me. Well, to start, as you noted, you know, when Kamala Harris had announced her plan to not tax tipped wages that raised eyebrows among people in former President Donald Trump's orbit, because this is something that he's been campaigning on for weeks and weeks, and he sort of seems to say that this is Vice President Harris being a copycat, trying to appeal to the same voter base that he's appealing to.

And so that's one of the biggest similarities that we see here. They do both sort of suggest that they have more populist economic policies like wanting to build more housing, lowering the cost of groceries, and living more middle class and working class voters.

And I think particularly the reason why they're doing this is because this is the slice of the electorate that they must win, and so the both of them appealing to not taxing tipped wages and also expanding child tax credits really does say something about what they're appealing to.

On the other hand, you know, former President Donald Trump has been really focused on using tariffs and trade as one of the biggest drivers of economic growth for the economy. He also seems to suggest that energy development will boost the economy, and that's not something that we've heard Vice President Harris talk about in much depth.

WALKER: Yes, and the next hour will -- we will talk about those tariffs and whether they will really help the American economy or backfire. But poll after poll, Stephanie, has shown that the economy is the top issue for how voters will vote. And Trump this week, on Wednesday, when he was in North Carolina, actually downplayed these economic concerns. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Now, this is a little bit different day, because this isn't around. This is what talking about a thing called the economy. They wanted to do a speech on the economy, so they say it's the most important subject. I'm not sure it is, but they say it's the most important. Inflation is the most important, but that's part of economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: The economy maybe not the most important topic?

LAI: It was an interesting side note to hear from the former president. Of course, the rest of the speech was very focused on economic policy, and it is a topic that he does speak about quite frequently. We've also seen that in the last few days, he's done several events that do focus on the economy, but in that particular moment, he did seem to suggest that the economy might not be the most important topic, and he's alluding to other topics like immigration and crime that are also top of mind for voters.

But as you note, the economy time and time again, seems to be the issue that most voters care about, and so the candidate who can coalesce voters behind a strong economic policy really does seem to benefit going into November.

WALKER: You know, over the last several days, as Trump has been campaigning, he's been veering off script, focusing fixated on crowd size and, of course, really personal attacks on Kamala Harris. And we've been hearing, I guess, the chorus growing louder from Republicans and also just allies of Trump pleading with him to pivot, to stay on message, pivot away from these personal attacks and grievances and to talk more about policy.

On Friday J.D. Vance said, no, there's no need for Trump to pivot. This is what endears his base to him. Sure, but what about the swing voters in these battleground states?

LAI: Yes, that is something that Republican operatives and strategists have been warning about for weeks now, but the growing consensus among people in Trump's orbit is to just let Trump be Trump. And obviously, at his press conference last Thursday, he seemed to say that he's entitled to making these sorts of remarks, and that he made unsubstantiated claims that he should be able to given the fact that. Democrats have waged law fare against him and even attempted to kill him.

[06:10:03]

So he's alluding to the legal battles that he's facing and also the assassination attempt. So it does seem like he has some upset still about these the events in the last couple of months, but at the same time, when he does focus on policy, we do see that it does resonate with some voters. And so while the personal text might appeal to the base, it does seem

like that policy discussions are what really draws in swing voters who just want to know, what would the former president do if given a second term.

WALKER: And hopefully we will hear more of these policy discussions during that presidential debate on September 10, as we understand that both campaigns are preparing. Harris is pulling in the big guns to help her prepare, as is Trump.

How do you think this debate will differ from the CNN debate that dramatically shifted the presidential campaign and dynamics?

LAI: I think what we often forget is that when you put former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden together, there is a quite a contrast in the way that they present themselves, the way that they speak. And so having Vice President Harris on the stage with Donald Trump will be different, because she has clearly articulated her vision, her ideas, and she is quite a great orator on that regard.

At the same time, she is a female, woman of color, and that's not necessarily opponent that Trump is used to going up against.

Now, he did participate in debates with Hillary Clinton back, you know, when they were campaigning together, but this could be a very different dynamic, and it could lead to gaffes and other moments that might not reflect well on Trump, should he decide to take a very personal attack as his strategy.

WALKER: Stephanie Lai, it's great to talk to you. Thank you.

And for a preview of the Democratic National Convention, tune in to CNN tomorrow for our special live coverage. It will kick off at 7:00 p.m. eastern.

BLACKWELL: New this morning, Hurricane Ernesto has made landfall in Bermuda. Here's what it looked like as Ernesto moved close to the island. You can see the heavy rain and the strong waves there in the background. Category one storm expected to bring dangerous rip current threats from Florida to Maine, and it's already affecting parts of the East Coast.

This is the moment house, I should say, in Rodanthe, North Carolina, completely collapsed into the water due to swells from the storm. Now, officials warn that other homes in that area are at risk of collapsing over the next few days, and as Ernesto moves up the East Coast, officials in New York are preparing and warning swimmers about the dangers ahead.

CNN's Allison Chinchar is here with this with us now. How bad is it right now? Or was it when it made landfall in Bermuda?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right, we know there's significant power outages across the island. They've already had a significant amount of rainfall come down. And here's the thing, it's right over it as we speak, but it doesn't just end as soon as it makes landfall. So they're likely going to have several more hours of some pretty significant impacts.

So let's take a look at the storm right now. Sustained winds of 85 miles per hour, that has come down a little bit since yesterday, but that was anticipated. In fact, it may even go down a little bit more before it finally gets back out over open water, where it will re intensify.

Now, some wind gusts at the airport. They've already had a wind gust of 84 miles per hour in Bermuda, rainfall amounts already picking up about six and a half inches. The forecast was for about six to nine they're already within that window, but they may end up on the high end of that, as they're still expected to get about one to three inches more.

From here, again, it's going to go back out over open water, but notice, it's expected to get back up to 90 miles per hour, and once it gets back out over that warmer, wide ocean, from there, it continues its trek up towards Atlantic. Canada, likely either hitting or very close to Newfoundland and Labrador by the time we get to late Monday or early Tuesday.

Now here's one of the bigger concerns we've talked about, that significant wave height. Obviously, the highest ones are going to be in and around Bermuda. But notice all of that green, how close it gets to pretty much up and down the East Coast of the US. You've got a high rip current risk essentially stretching from Stewart, Florida all the way up into portions of Massachusetts and even Maine. And this isn't just for today. The threat continues Sunday and Monday, especially the farther north you are.

Looking at some of these high surf advisories. Look at these areas of South Carolina, looking at those breaking wave heights of four to six feet. Portions of North Carolina could get as high as five to eight feet. Again, the concern here for a lot of these areas that are there is, yes, it's a lot of schools say in South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, they go back this week. So a lot of folks, they like to head to the beach that last weekend before school starts. You have to be very careful if you plan to head out to the water.

BLACKWELL: Allison, thank you. Still to come, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is heading to Israel to push for a cease fire and hostage release deal as negotiators gear up to meet again next week

[06:15:00]

WALKER: Plus, Romania's Ana Barbosu is awarded the Olympic bronze medal for individual four-exercise after a U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles was stripped of the medal following a legal battle. What Team USA plans to do about it, next.

BLACKWELL: And my team knows I love an animal story.

WALKER: You love.

BLACKWELL: Love animal stories. Giant -- giant panda. Not so giant right here. Cape Verde twins became the oldest known first time panda mother. You couldn't have had a Saturday without knowing that. We'll have details on how mom and babies are doing. That's ahead.

WALKER: Come on. That's so cute.

BLACKWELL: Is it?

WALKER: Yeah.

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[06:20:20]

WALKER: Breaking news out of Gaza, an Israeli air strike has killed at least 15 people from one family, including nine children. This is according to a Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson. New video shows civilians digging through the rubble to try to free those trapped underneath. A Palestinian man told CNN, the strike took place a little before one in the morning, with three rockets hitting the building without prior warning.

The Israeli military says they are reviewing reports that civilians were injured due to the strike, and later in a -- and later said in a statement they had killed several militants in central Gaza, including one who had launched rockets towards Israeli troops.

Now, President Biden says a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is closer than it has ever been. The initial round of high level negotiations wrapped up in Doha on Friday, and the Israeli delegation returned to Israel feeling cautiously optimistic about the new agreement.

BLACKWELL: One Israeli official said that they are narrowing the gaps, but the proposal is yet to be sent to the leader of Hamas, which is expected to happen this weekend. A senior Hamas source tells CNN that Hamas leadership sees the new U.S. proposal as conforming to Israel's conditions, and accused Israel of adding new conditions in order to stall the agreement. All of this is happening while tensions across the Middle East continue to escalate. CNN Camila DeChalus joins us now.

So Secretary Blinken is expected to head to Israel today, tell us about his visit.

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: The ultimate goal of Blinken visit is to really reaffirm the president's continued support of the Israeli security and really continue these diplomatic efforts to secure a cease fire deal that would ultimately lead to the release of hostages and detainees.

Now, Blinken is expected U.S. officials tell us, Victor, that he's expected to meet with key Israeli government officials during his visit, and as Biden talked about to reporters yesterday, they believe that they are very close to securing this deal, so it's very pivotal that they just continue applying this pressure to secure a ceasefire deal at this moment.

WALKER: And Camila, President Biden also said he had this warning for those looking to disrupt progress in the talks. What did he say about that?

DECHALUS: That's right. Biden gave a very stark warning talk calling to Iran and Iran-backed proxies that they just saying that they should stay out of these talks and to not disrupt them because they are so close to securing a deal. And this has been something that Biden since this war has broke out between Israel and Hamas, that he has really strive, strive to really secure the ceasefire deal and this framework that would ultimately release, like add to the release of more hostages.

So this is something that he has continued to work towards, and he believes that the U.S. and these diplomatic efforts are very close to securing this deal. So this warning is just saying to for them to not lead to any disruptions for them to kind of stall or even stop these talks from progressing.

BLACKWELL: Camila DeChalus in Washington forest. Thank you so much. Joining me now is CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger. David, good morning to you, and let's start with Secretary of State, Blinken, who is heading over to Israel to, of course, speak with Prime Minister Netanyahu.

I have lost count of his trips there to Israel as part of these negotiations. What does he go with now? Any additional influence, any variable that makes this more likely than it was a month ago when they couldn't get to a deal.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, good morning. Victor, really good question, and I bet Secretary Blinken has lost count as well here. Here's what's changed. I think in the past month, the pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu has grown considerably at home, meaning the domestic pressure to get the hostages back to sign this deal.

I think there is a perception among American officials that you're seeing Prime Minister, Netanyahu, at least in the past, walk up to the edge of a deal, then always push to see if he can get a bit more and use that as the moment to pull back.

Now he's been aided in this by the fact that Hamas has been even more recalcitrant on a deal, and I think that could continue now that the sole negotiator is also the Hamas leader, Sinwar, who obviously is not in Doha, they were having to communicate to him, remotely, to whatever tunnel he is living in, presumably in Gaza.

[06:25:10]

The wording of the U.S., Egyptian, Qatar statement the other day suggested that when they come back next week, it is for the final agreement. One would hope that would be the case, but it also puts them out a little bit on that -- on a ledge if there is no agreement.

BLACKWELL: There is this expected, I should even say promised, retaliation from Iran for the killing of top Hamas leader in Tehran last month. Iran is not party to these negotiations, but certainly has some influence. How does that influence the talks, the potential reaching of a deal?

SANGER: Well, we spent all week trying to understand this, because if a retaliatory strike came from Iran, we've been expecting one now for three weeks, since the killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran, it could obviously end up delaying or disassembling these talks.

There's now every indication that the Iranians are waiting, that they've heard the message that they and Hamas would not gain from this, and I think they've also heard the message that if it's a major attack, the Israeli response is going to be quite overwhelming. We don't know what that means, but presumably it means that, unlike in April, they would actually aim for key sites in Iran. We don't know whether that means leadership sites or nuclear sites or significant military sites, but the Israelis have made it clear it would be an overwhelming response, and the Americans have backed them up.

One would hope that the Iranian delay here would allow these thoughts to go through, but we don't know how long it lasts.

BLACKWELL: David, let's turn toward Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine is continuing their offensive into Russia, having some early success. The U.S. is watching, in large part because they're doing this with weapons and hardware supplied by the U.S. and the president, the administration gave a warning not to go too far. We don't know these particulars of the warning that the U.S. gave to Ukraine about using those weapons in Russia.

What is the White House perspective on what they're seeing? Because, on one hand, I'm sure they cheering on that they're having some success, but on the other hand, what does it trigger from Russia?

SANGER: Yes, this is truly the Department of mixed emotions, Victor, right? First of all, they were taken by surprise by this attack. Second, they thought it would be a few miles in. And now, of course, the Ukrainians are still going and the Russian forces so far seem to have largely fallen apart. I think everybody was surprised that the Ukrainians took as much territory as they did.

But there's no question that there is a flouting here of at least the spirit, if not the letter of the U.S. ruling that you can't use American weapons inside Russia. Now, it's conceivable that maybe they're just using transport and so forth and weapons elsewhere, but most American officials I've spoken to think that the Ukrainians are right on the edge here, and don't think that the U.S. is going to get in their way.

There is a risk element here. There's a risk element that Putin gets so embarrassed by this that the response becomes an overwhelming one. But so far, it has not been.

BLACKWELL: All right, we'll see how far the Ukrainians get into Russian territory as they continue. David Sanger, thank you.

WALKER: Coming up, New York Mayor Eric Adams has been subpoenaed as part of a campaign donation corruption probe. We'll have more on the investigation when we come back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:00]

WALKER: In the redlines this morning, George Santos, the disgraced former Republican congressman from New York is set to plead guilty on Monday to federal charges related to fraud committed during his 2022 Midterm campaign.

Santos who was expelled from the house last year had initially pleaded not guilty to 23 federal charges, including campaign fund misuse and falsifying personal financial information. Susan Lorincz, a 60-year- old white woman was found guilty of manslaughter yesterday for the fatal shooting of AJ Owens; an unarmed 35-year-old black mother.

The incident happened during an ongoing dispute over children playing near her home in Florida. Lorincz claims she shot through her front door in fear for her life. The case tested Florida's controversial stand-your-ground self-defense law, which allows individuals to use deadly force in certain situations.

Lorincz faces up to 30 years in prison, sentencing has not yet been scheduled. The North Carolina Department of Adult Correction has launched an internal investigation to how a convicted murderer managed to escape. Ramone Alston escaped custody during a medical transport Tuesday allegedly with the help of a female acquaintance.

[06:35:00]

Now, the 30-year-old was recaptured over 100 miles away at a hotel yesterday, he's back in custody, serving his life sentence and possibly facing new charges. His acquaintance is also facing felony charges, she is expected in court on Monday. Victor?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CO-ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND: A federal grand jury has issued a subpoena to New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Now, the subpoena is part of an ongoing probe into potential corruption and foreign influence in Adam's campaign. CNN's Mark Morales has more.

MARK MORALES, CNN REPORTER: Well, Victor, Amara, this is a pretty significant development in this investigation. New York City Mayor Eric Adams received a subpoena as well as the 2021 campaign and City Hall. And what this signals is that investigators are looking for more information to bolster their case.

Now, from what I am told, these subpoenas are said to be casting a wider net. They're looking for text messages, documents, basically anything that either points to foreign influence or some other sort of corruption. Now, Mayor Eric Adams has been asked about this. He's maintained that the administration has been complying with investigators.

In his most recent public comments, he said that he would turn over every document. It's important to note that he hasn't been charged with the crime, but he has said this entire time that he has not done anything wrong. And where this investigation ultimately leads is still anyone's guess. Victor, Amara?

BLACKWELL: All right, Mark, thank you. Five people have been charged in connection with the death of actor Matthew Perry. What we know about the defendants and the person known as "The Ketamine Queen". That's next.

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[06:40:00]

BLACKWELL: There's a major development into actor Matthew Perry's death. Five people are now charged with supplying or distributing the drug, ultimately, that killed him. Investigators reveal the beloved "Friends" star fell back into addiction last Fall and died from the acute effects of ketamine and drowning in October.

WALKER: He was 54-years-old. Camila Bernal reports on how Perry's personal assistant, multiple doctors, and others are now implicated in his death.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Victor, prosecutors say that five people took advantage of Matthew Perry, who had been very public about his struggles with addiction. And according to authorities, Perry fell back into that addiction last Fall, and they say that between September and October of 2023, he was given about 20 vials of ketamine that cost him about $55,000.

Prosecutors saying that these people cared more about making money than they did about his well-being. And among them is Eric Fleming, who supplied the drugs, he has entered a guilty plea, and he told authorities that he got the drugs from Jasveen Sangha.

Now, that's the woman known as "The Ketamine Queen" that authorities say ran a drug-selling emporium in her home. Prosecutors believe that the doses that ended Perry's life actually came from her. She entered a not-guilty plea, and is one of the lead defendants in this case, along with Dr. Salvador Plasencia.

Prosecutors say they have a text message from Plasencia that says something along the lines of, "I wonder how much this moron will pay." He has entered a not-guilty plea, and this is what his attorney is saying. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEFAN SACKS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR SALVADOR PLASENCIA: Mr. Perry was on ketamine treatment, medically-supervised, medically prescribed. And while the U.S. attorney may disagree with Dr. Plasencia's medical judgment, there was nothing criminal at the time, and more importantly, the ketamine that was involved in Mr. Perry's passing was not related to Mister -- Dr. Plasencia, that was provided by another party sometime later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: The other doctor Mark Chavez entered a guilty plea. And then there's Perry's live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, according to the court documents, during the final week of Perry's life, Iwamasa injected him with at least 21 shots of ketamine, and this is a man who was not medically trained for this.

On the day that Perry died, he'd given him multiple shots and injected him after Perry asked for a big one, he entered a guilty plea. And finally, Keith Morrison, Perry's stepfather, he released a statement from the family, saying that they were and still are heartbroken, but say it has helped to know that law enforcement has taken his case very seriously. They're hoping for justice, and they're hoping for suppliers to get the message. Amara, Victor.

WALKER: All right, Camila Bernal, thank you. Still to come, American gymnast Jordan Chiles says the decision to have her bronze medal taken away feels unjust. We'll discuss what could be next in the ongoing medal controversy.

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[06:45:00]

BLACKWELL: After controversy and appeals, the International Olympic Committee officially awarded Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu, the bronze medal in the women's floor exercise, instead of American gymnast Jordan Chiles. Now, at the ceremony where the medal was given over, Barbosu thanked her colleagues, coaches and law firm that represented her, and she called the moment emotional.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANA BARBOSU, AWARDED BRONZE MEDAL (through translator): I'm very happy to have this medal, and I hope to continue to represent Romania at the highest level and bring back as many medals as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Jordan Chiles who appealed the original decision won and then lost on another appeal, thanked her supporters, but called the International Olympic Committee's decision unfair. Let's discuss with CNN's sports analyst Christine Brennan. Christine, so, Jordan Chiles physically has a bronze medal, right?

And now, Ana Barbosu physically also has a bronze medal. Is there any precedent considering that this was the judge's fault to honor and acknowledge both as the bronze medal finishers in this competition?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Victor, the only precedent is a little bit apples to oranges, because it's in the official books that there were -- in this case, double gold medals, going back to the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

[06:50:00]

You might remember the French judge figure-skating controversy with the Russians and the Canadians, the pairs-figure skating. And after about a week of worldwide controversy over the cheating of the French judge, they decided, the International -- the committee decided, hey, we're just going to give the Canadians gold medal, so that the Russians have theirs, Canadians have theirs.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

BRENNAN: The difference here is what they did with Jordan Chiles and Ana Barbosu, is they took away the bronze, at least they -- you know, in the record books, right? They took away the bronze from Jordan Chiles and have given it to the Romanian, Barbosu. So, that's where it differs.

And that's what I've asked the IOC several times in e-mails, why did you do one thing in 2002, double gold. Why not just do double bronze? In other words, don't tell -- don't take someone's name out of the official books, put the other person in, and the answer is -- oh, I've ever gotten a good answer about that because I don't think that they'd even thought about the precedent that was set and is in the history books from 2002.

BLACKWELL: You know what? I just -- it frustrates me watching this story is that, this is the judges' fault. Jordan Chiles didn't do anything wrong, Ana Barbosu didn't do anything wrong. The judges erroneously scored the difficulty, but because they suggest that the timing of calling them out on their mistake was 4 seconds late, that they can't be changed. I just -- explain why that isn't the prevailing factor here that the judges were wrong.

BRENNAN: Absolutely. This is a disaster -- a PR nightmare, and it's also a really difficult situation for two young athletes who are just twisting in the wind. And let's look at that, right? We are talking about Jordan Chiles, she's talked about how difficult this is. Of course, she was getting slammed on social media for all things that are not her fault and then Barbosu as well, being caught in all of this, and all of the criticism controversy, et cetera, for a week-and- a-half for their dreams.

This is all about having the performance of their lives and leaving Paris with a medal, and in Jordan Chiles case, of course, she's got the gold from the team competition. But this would have been -- and is her first individual medal. And you're right, it's a mistake by the officials, it is not a mistake by the athletes.

Most times as you know, Victor, we've talked about this, when an athlete is stripped of a medal or when there is controversy like this, it involves doping.

BLACKWELL: Yes --

BRENNAN: It involves cheating by the athlete or by the coaches or the federation of that athlete in terms of using illegal substances. That's not what this is. And to your point, it's a great point, and I think it's a black mark, a dark stain on the International Olympic Committee, on the International Gymnastics Federation, that they couldn't figure it out. The adults in the room, you know, failed the athletes, absolutely failed these two young women.

BLACKWELL: Has Chiles exhausted all appeals now? What's next for her fight?

BRENNAN: She has not exhausted all appeals. When you -- after the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the only place left to appeal is the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. A Swiss tribunal. They do hear cases from the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

And USA Gymnastics say they will appeal on behalf of Jordan Chiles to that court. That court looks at technical issues, procedural issues. And oh, my, are there procedural problems here? Including the fact that the Americans were able to put a time-stamp video as it's been reported over the last week, a time-stamp video showing that they put the appeal at a 47 seconds, not a minute and 4 seconds.

So, the whole thing is wrong. It's all based on mistakes as well as the USOPC and USA Gymnastics not being alerted in time, because the Court of Arbitration for Sport was sending e-mails to the wrong e-mail address --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

BRENNAN: And so, that's what this Swiss court will look at, Victor, and I think the U.S. and Jordan Chiles have a pretty good case in that court.

BLACKWELL: All right, Christine Brennan, always good to have you with us, to sort it all out. Thank you.

WALKER: Coming up, we're going to find out how a giant panda in Hong Kong and her twins are doing after Ying-Ying became the oldest first- time panda mom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:00]

WALKER: In an -- why am I reading this? In an exciting surprise to panda fans because Victor is just too excited about this --

BLACKWELL: I love the name.

WALKER: Hong Kong's beloved giant panda, Ying-Ying gave --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

WALKER: Birth to twins. Ying-Ying is the oldest first-time panda mom giving birth at 19-years-old, the equivalent of, oh, 57 in human years.

BLACKWELL: It's the Ying-Ying twins --

(VICTOR BLACKWELL WHISPERING)

BLACKWELL: Hey, I don't know let me whisper in your ears. The rare panda twin cubs came out weighing just 4 ounces and are currently in fragile condition receiving round-the-clock intensive care. CNN's Marc Stewart is in Beijing with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARC STEWART, CNN REPORTER (on camera): The birth of these two panda twins is described as rare because giant pandas have a tough time reproducing as they age. Let me show you some pictures of the cubs, a male and a female. They are pink and palm-sized, and are said to be fragile, receiving round-the-clock intensive care.

The female in particular needs time to stabilize because she has a lower body temperature, weaker cries and is eating less food, according to a statement from Hong Kong's Ocean Park. As far as the mother of these cubs, Ying-Ying, she delivered the cubs early Thursday morning, the eve of her 19th birthday.

But consider this, in human years, that's equivalent to 57 years old. She's the oldest known first-time panda mother --