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Connect the World

Official: 12 Killed as IDF Strikes School in Gaza City; One Dead, Six Missing after Tornado Hits Luxury Yacht; Ukraine Claims to Hold 1,250 SQ. KM in Russia's Kursk Region; Trump Visits Swing States During Democrats' Convention; Sinner, Sabalenka Get Big Wins as US Open Nears. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired August 20, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: This is the scene in Italy, where it is 03:00 p.m. rescuers still searching for six people missing aboard a

sunken yacht. It is 09:00 a.m. here in New York City. I'm Erica Hill. Thanks for joining us on joining us on "Connect the World".

Also happening over these next two hours. U S, Secretary of State, Antony Blinken continues his efforts to broker a hostage and ceasefire deal as the

bodies of six Israeli hostages are recovered from Gaza. And day two of the DNC kicking off in Chicago, where police are bracing for more protesters

following arrests on day one. Meantime, the U.S. government says Iran was behind the hacking attempts targeting both the Trump and Harris campaigns.

Stock market here in New York set to open in just about 30 minutes. Take a quick look at futures down, sort of flatish down, we can call that if we're

trying to be positive. We'll keep an eye on that. Again, the markets set to open here in just about 30 minutes.

We begin with these developments out of the Middle East, where the bodies of six Israeli hostages were retrieved from Gaza during an overnight

military operation in Khan Yunis. That's according to the Israeli military. Those hostages, you see their pictures there on your screen.

The Israeli military had announced the deaths of all but one of the men in recent months. There are currently 109 Israeli hostages being held in Gaza.

Now of those, the Israeli government believes 73 are still alive.

Meantime, the Gaza Civil Defense Ministry says at least 12 people have now been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza City. CNN

International Diplomatic Editor, Nic Robertson is live in Tel Aviv at this hour. So, Nic, first of all, in terms of these bodies of the hostages that

were retrieved by the IDF, what more do we know about that operation frankly?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, as far as we're aware, this is the largest number of hostage bodies that have been

recovered from one location so far, six all in a tunnel in the town of Khan Yunis. It was an intelligence led operation the IDF says that they had

information about where the bodies were, and they were able to recover them all but one of them had were already understood to be dead.

And they were Yoram Metzger, Alex Dancyg, Nadav Popplewell, Chaim Peri and Avraham Munder. Avraham Munder was the one who his family wasn't aware that

he was dead. His wife, daughter and grandson have been kidnapped with him back on October 7th, they were released in a hostage release deal back in

November last year.

And the last on that list, 51-year-old Yagev Buchshtab. He and most of the others, rather, were elderly, and most came from a couple of Kibbutz's very

close to the border with Gaza near us (ph). Four of them came from near us. But this an intelligence led operation.

And we've heard from Ben Gvir, the sort of hard right member of Prime Minister Netanyahu's government. And he said that this is the way to

continue to recover hostages through military operations, of course, for the families, they really hope a deal can be achieved and they can be

recovered.

But meanwhile, in Gaza today, as you say, 12 people killed in an air strike on a school where the Palestinian authorities say those people and a number

of others were sheltering the IDF saying they're attacking targets where they believe Hamas is hiding out. But the building, according to local

officials, hit on the second floor completely pancaked flat. And indeed, authorities believe that there are still some people held under that

rubble.

And we know as well today, just more than 20 Palestinian prisoners who have been picked up in Gaza, held by the IDF outside of Gaza in detention

facilities in Israel, and held there for five months, more than 20 of them released back into Gaza today. There were some very emotional reunions, and

also accounts from some of those prisoners describing how they were kept blindfolded for long periods of time and how they were beaten.

[09:05:00]

A number of those returned prisoners getting checkups at hospital in Gaza today.

HILL: Nic I also want to ask you about you mentioned, of course, this ceasefire deal. There's so much focus on where things stand. President

Biden, after making his speech at the DNC in Chicago last night, was asked briefly about that. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Israel says they can work it out, they're prepared, but I was told Hamas was now backing off. It

remains to be seen; we're going to keep pushing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So, President Biden saying there, he was told Hamas is now backing off, as I understand it, Hamas is responding to those comments. Where do

things stand?

ROBERTSON: Yeah, Hamas is saying that that's been a mischaracterization by President Biden. So, what Secretary Blinken did here yesterday was gut

agreement from Israel's Prime Minister to this bridging proposal the United States has put forward, along with its partners in the region, Qatar and

Egypt to bridge across the remaining differences between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas has said that this is all one sided that this sides with Israel. What Hamas is saying is they agreed to what President Biden said back in July,

and they want pressure to be put on Israel to return back to that deal. They say Israel has added things on to that deal.

So right now, the pressure is being applied to Hamas. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, meeting today with the President of Egypt, Foreign

Minister of Egypt, and going on later to meet with the Emir of Qatar. For those countries to put pressure on Hamas.

But as things stand, we're at -- we're at another impasse. It was an incremental step forward yesterday. The idea is, if Hamas signs up and

agrees to this bridging proposal, then the parties would start talking about what it is? They would have to do within to meet the terms of that

bridging proposal. This is a long, long, long way right now from any kind of a deal coming together whatsoever.

HILL: Yeah, certainly sounds happening. Nic, appreciate the updates as always. Thank you. Former President Barack Obama and Former First Lady

Michelle Obama set to headline night two of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and they're building on a pretty busy lineup from

night one, which, of course, is capped off by a lengthy speech from the sitting president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I love you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Joe Biden taking the stage for that bittersweet moment touting his record, appealing to the American people, before handing the torch to Vice

President Kamala Harris. Outside the convention security perimeter, protests continuing against U.S. support of Israel's war against Hamas in

Gaza, police arresting four people after they breached a security fence.

Stephen Collison and Whitney Wild joining us now from Chicago, this hour. Good to see you both of you. Stephen first of all, let's bring us up to

speed, if you would, on in terms of takeaways from night one, beyond the length of everything, which was a little longer, I think, than most people

anticipated. How did they set the scene for this week of the DNC?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Well, what we saw Erica was a significant American historical figure Joe Biden, handing over the

leadership of his party and his own legacy, and in his words, American democracy, to a younger successor, because he -- because of concerns about

his age and his performance in that CNN debate in Atlanta, disqualified himself almost politically, from being able to seek that second term.

I think when generations to come look back on this convention, they will see a president who will be remembered as much for the way he left power as

what he did when he was president, even though he had a significant legislative record.

Now Democrats have to make that pivot from the past and Biden's initial spin for history and what he did in the Oval Office and look to the future.

It's always interesting at a convention to see who the parties are talking to. Last night, it was female voters Hillary Clinton was here. Black women

voters who are the key to the Democratic Party base.

But they do have to reach out beyond that. Vice President Kamala Harris has to win these swing states with voters that may not necessarily always vote

Democrat, so they're calling on Former President Barack Obama, who had a record in his two election triumphs in '08 and '12 of reaching other voters

outside the Democratic vote base.

And that's going to be important. And of course, it's going to be a hugely symbolic moment when the first black president seeks to anoint and elevate

the woman who could be America's first black female president.

HIL: Yeah, absolutely. You know, Stephen, as you mentioned, the groups that were clearly being targeted, that people were reaching out to on night one.

I want to bring in our colleague, Whitney Wild, who has been covering these protests and covering what we're seeing and hearing outside of the DNC.

What was interesting Whitney is there was very little mention of what is happening right now in Gaza?

[09:10:00]

A small mention from President Biden. But and from, I should say, and from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but that clearly was not the focus. Protesters

would like to hear a lot more on that. They're not getting it Whitney.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: And they want to hear something specific Erica, and that's an immediate ceasefire right now. And

anything less than that is not acceptable. There was quite a bit of anger in the protest group.

What we saw were thousands of people taking to the streets. The anticipation was that there would be tens of thousands of people that came

to the coalition to march on the DNC. This is a pro-Palestinian protest. But in the end, it was only a few 1000 people that showed up. They were

loud. They were angry, but it was only a handful of people that were the major agitators here.

And now police are trying to fortify this area. So, if you walk with me, I'll show you the fence area. This is the fence that surrounds the United

Center Erica. This is at the McCormick Place as well. This isn't the exact location, but it was around the corner from here where protesters were able

to just kind of lift this fence up, and then they went up and over.

And so now what law enforcement is doing is fortifying this fence. So, you see there's a few extra bolts here. And then if you walk over this way

Erica, what you see is law enforcement putting up more layers. So, this top layer here was not here the first few days that we were out here. So that's

another example of how they're fortifying this area.

And then finally, Erica. You can see -- it's probably hard to see with the camera, but through here, there's a third layer of fencing. And what

security has stressed over the last few days is that there are multiple redundancies, and part of the redundancy yesterday was having law

enforcement just a few yards behind that fence.

So once protesters were able to reach the fence, law enforcement jumped in immediately, four people were arrested. So that layer of redundancy worked,

but law enforcement out here, not taking any chances and fortifying the physical security as well. That was not a great start Erica, that was just

day one of a multi-day DNC and so law enforcement hyper aware of protests as they continue throughout the week Erica.

HILL: And I know you'll be covering it all for us. Whitney Wild and Stephen Collinson, appreciate it. Thank you both. In Italy, specialized divers back

at work for a second day searching the waters off Sicily, where six people are still missing. This after a violent storm capsized the luxury yacht

that they were on early Monday.

CNN's Barbie Nadeau is joining us now from Rome with the very latest here. So, the search teams out there again today. Do we know where they stand in

terms of progress?

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, you know they had to stop yesterday. These -- see, these divers are specialized divers that usually

work in caves underwater for recovery and rescue of people. Now they went to the yacht the under about 50 meters under the surface.

Yesterday, they were only able to get inside to the command room of the yacht, and they found electric wires there, so they had to go back up. But

we took a closer look at the whole tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADEAU (voice-over): A dream Mediterranean holiday turned deadly when a luxury yacht carrying VIPs was hit by a water spout early Monday morning

off the coast of Sicily. Of the 22 passengers and crew on board, at least 15 people survived. Divers searched through the night to recover those

trapped in the sunken vessel.

On board Tech Titan Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah. Morgan Stanley, Chairman Jonathan Blumer and Prominent Attorney Chris Morcillo and

their wives, an official told CNN. Lynch's wife, whose company owned the 56-meter yacht, survived.

All the passengers were guests of Lynch, who was acquitted of fraud charges in the U.S. over the sale of his company. A local fisherman who was waiting

out the storm saw the ill-fated yacht.

FABIO CEFALU, FISHERMAN: We waited about 10 minutes to see the intensity of the tornado, and we went out to sea. We were first to give rescue, but we

found no one at sea. We only found cushions and the remains of the boat.

NADEAU (voice-over): The luxury yacht's 72-meter, 236-foot aluminium mast snapped in the storm, sending 15 people into the sea, including a one-year-

old girl whose mother carried her above her head in the waves, she told reporters. The survivors, including all 10 crew members, were rescued by a

nearby sailboat who found them in a lifeboat.

KARSTEN BORNER, SAILOR: 15 people inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 15 people inside.

BORNER: 15 people inside. Four people injured, three heavy injured and we brought them to our ship, and then we communicated with the Coast Guard.

And after some time, the Coast Guard came, and later they picked injured people, and when we went, two hours later, they picked up the other people.

NADEAU (voice-over): The local prosecutor has opened an investigation to determine whether the tragedy could have been averted or if circumstances

were beyond anyone's control.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[09:15:00]

NADEAU (on camera): Yeah, and you know it really is just a tragic situation, because they presume that the six missing people -- you know

will be found in these luxury suites and what should have been a dream vacation, Erica.

HILL: Yeah, it's just -- it is a terrible tragedy, as you note. There is also, in a very odd turn of circumstances, a co-defendant, as I understand

it, of Mike Lynch's also meeting some tragic circumstances on the same day. What happened there?

NADEAU: Yeah. You know, this is a very bizarre situation. The man, Stephen Chamberlain, who was a co-defendant in that fraud case, they were acquitted

in June, facing 25 years in prison in a San Francisco court over the weekend, he was hit by a 49-year-old woman in a car in an accident while he

was running, and he died on Monday, the very same day this boat went down.

Obviously, there can be no connection, because the water spout tornado that hit the boat has nothing to do with the 49-year-old driver, we assume. But

it is a strange set of circumstances that is notable, but not at all related.

HILL: Yeah, certainly. Barbie, appreciate it. Thank you. Just ahead here on "Connect the World", the U.S. now pointing a finger squarely at Iran over

hacking attempts aimed at the presidential race here in the United States, Tehran responding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: There are new findings from American intelligence which conclude Tehran is behind a hack and leak operation. Now, for its part, Iran rejects

what it has called unsubstantiated claims of hacking attempts. Iran is making other headlines as well as we look at more. CNN Zachary Cohen,

following all of this for us, joining us now live from D.C. So, what more do we know about these hacking attempts?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Erica. U.S. officials are accusing Iran of trying to shape the outcome of the 2024

presidential election, and doing so through various means, but including cyber operations targeting both Donald Trump's presidential campaign and

Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign.

Look, they're putting out a joint statement. The FBI, various U.S. intelligence agencies putting out a joint statement yesterday, saying,

quote, the IC is confident that the Iranians have, through social engineering and other efforts, sought access to individuals with direct

access to the presidential campaigns of both political parties, such activity, including thefts and disclosures, are intended to influence the

U.S. election process.

Now, Vice President Harris's campaign has said that they don't believe hackers were successful in infiltrating any of their campaign accounts. And

we do know that Donald Trump was briefed, though, by the FBI about the preliminary findings of their investigation into the hack and leak

operation targeting his campaign, and that includes the way that the FBI believes Iranian hackers were ultimately able to obtain what appeared to be

Trump campaign documents.

[09:20:00]

You know, documents that were not intended for public disclosure, but did make their way to various news outlets. And the point of -- the first point

of entry in the first breach, actually, according the FBI, occurred when the Iranian hackers were able to infiltrate an account belonging to Trump's

longtime ally Roger Stone.

You remember, Roger Stone has been a prominent Republican figure in politics for decades now. He was very big in the Trump, very big pro-Trump

supporter back in 2020. But the FBI says that Iranian hackers were able to breach his personal email account then use his account to access the

account of a senior Trump campaign official, ultimately obtaining these campaign documents and attempting to leak them publicly in an effort to

really undermine the democratic process, faith in the democratic process, to sow discord.

Those have been sort of the broader objectives of the Iranian regime, according to U.S. intelligence officials. And then they're also trying to

exploit the societal divides that already exist in American society, and that includes by using cyber operations like this in an attempt to access

sensitive campaign documents.

So again, this is really a prominent warning from the FBI and the intelligence community together coming forward and saying, yes, Iran, we

believe you were trying to interfere in the 2024, presidential election. And it really is a marker as we enter this home stretch in the campaign

cycle, when the intelligence community is really watching to see not just if Iran, but if Russia and other foreign nation states try to interfere

further in American politics.

HILL: Yeah, you bring up -- as you bring up Russia, I think that's probably where most people's mind goes when they think about this, especially as we

think back to 2020. I noted that Iran said these were unsubstantiated claims. Any further response there? I mean, I wouldn't expect Iran to say,

oh, yeah, hey, it was us. You were right FBI, still?

COHEN: Well, Iran is actually kind of daring the U.S. government to put its money where its mouth is. It says in a statement that should the U.S.

government genuinely believe in the validity of its claims, it should furnish us with the pertinent evidence, if any, to which we will respond

accordingly.

Now, obviously some messaging and strategic messaging on Iran's part there. It is well documented, though, by U.S. intelligence officials, that Iran

has sought to increasingly interfere in American politics, and just to show this discord amongst Americans in general as part of its strategic

objectives, to really try to prevent any U.S. administration, any American administration, from pursuing a foreign policy that runs counter to its own

national security and foreign policy interests.

So, it remains to be seen if this verbal warning, this from the U.S., from the U.S. intelligence community, will have any sort of an effect on whether

or not Iran continues to pursue this sort of cyber oriented election interference effort. But you know, Iran obviously playing a little bit dumb

here and saying there's no evidence to support what you're saying, and no, we did not try to interfere in your election.

HILL: Yeah. All right appreciate the updates. Thank you. Well, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his military forces now control more

than 1200 square kilometers and 92 settlements in Russia's Kursk Region. That's just since the incursion there began two weeks ago. And Zelenskyy is

now urging his allies to lift some of the military restrictions so Ukraine can use foreign supplied weapons inside Russia.

CNN's Clare Sebastian joining me now from London with more on this. So, in terms of Ukraine's military operation in this region, and this appeal to

lift this -- these restrictions. What more do we know about where things stand today? Yesterday, we were talking about 1000 square kilometers now

we're up to 1200?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, they -- as of last Thursday, Erica, they claimed about 1150 square kilometers. So, we're about 100

square kilometers more than that. So, I think it's very clear at this point that they are slowing down. Obviously, if they -- they've managed to take

quite a bit in the first week when they still had that element of surprise, and before Russia could sort of step up its resistance in there.

And but I think look, if you look at what's happening in Pokrovsk, Russia is pushing harder there. So, if the task here, the goal of this incursion

in Kursk was to stretch Russia so thin they could no longer advance in Ukraine, that hasn't worked.

On the other side, there is another goal that Zelenskyy has talked quite specifically about, which is creating a buffer zone. And we do see that the

Ukrainians, as well as trying to advance, are trying to consolidate the land they already have, blowing up bridges and a key Russian supply route,

setting up a military commandant's office in the town of Sudzha to handle law and order there.

So, it seems that they would like at least temporarily to hold on to some of that territory to prevent the cross-border shelling that they saw such a

big increase in the months before this. But there is also a messaging strategy here, and one that President Zelenskyy has made particularly clear

on Monday is directed in part at the west.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: We are now witnessing a significant ideological shift, namely the whole naive, illusory concept of

so-called red lines regarding Russia, which dominated the assessment of the war by some partners, has crumbled these days somewhere near Sudzha.

[09:25:00]

If partners removed all existing restrictions on the use of weapons on Russian territory, we would not need physical entry, particularly into the

Kursk Region, to protect our Ukrainian citizens in the border area and destroy Russia's potential for aggression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: Pretty strong words there, naive and illusory is how he describes Western fears of Russian escalation, essentially making the point

that Ukraine has now essentially invaded Russia, and we don't see any actions from Russia that go outside of the normal course of this war.

Whether or not this strategy will work and the West will start providing more long-range capabilities and will lift restrictions on using them

inside Russia. Well, there's no sign of that as of yet Erica.

HILL: Yeah, we'll continue to watch for those developments. Clare, appreciate bringing us up to speed. Thank you. Well, the long-delayed

launch of Boeing's 777X aircraft is facing a new problem. Boeing is now pausing testing of that plane after discovering some structural problems.

It says there's a component between the engine and the plane's wings that just didn't perform as designed in a test flight. That jet, of course, was

supposed to enter service back in 2020 it has been plagued by delays and cost overruns. This latest setback yet another blow to Boeing's reputation,

amid a host of safety and quality concerns.

Still to come here on "Connect the World" Donald Trump says he can bring down high prices in America. Why that makes some economists nervous?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Welcome back. I'm Erica Hill in New York. You're watching "Connect the World". For the first time in history, a bar of gold is worth a million

dollars. It's a significant economic milestone. The precious metal soaring prices could be a sign that investors expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to

cut its benchmark interest rate soon.

That is because when interest rates fall, gold prices rise as bullying becomes more appealing than bonds. And it also underscores gold's growing

appeal as a safe, reliable store of value amidst economic uncertainty.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, meantime, says he's going to slash prices, and he'll do it fast if he returns to the White House. A

declaration that some economists say is not only unrealistic, but scary, and they say elements of his agenda would, in fact, do the exact opposite.

[09:30:00]

Donald Trump has been describing his economic vision to American voters. Joining me now CNN's Matt Egan to help break this down a little bit. So,

Matt Donald Trump is promising that he will make prices plunge again if he is re-elected, that sounds great, of course, to voters, not to economists

why? What are they concerned about?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well Erica, it would be one thing for Former President Trump to promise to lower the rate of inflation, right? That

would mean prices are still going up, just at a more gradual pace. That's actually what we've been seeing the last two years. But he's going much

further than that, and he is promising price drops across the economy. Take a listen to how he described it during a campaign speech last week in North

Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But prices will come down. You just watch. They'll come down, and they'll

come down fast, not only with insurance, with everything. As president, I will seal the border. I will send them all back to their countries where

they belong. Prices will come down and come down dramatically, and come down fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EGAN: Now dramatically lower prices. Of course, that sounds great. I mean, who doesn't miss pre-COVID prices at the grocery store or for car

insurance? And in some cases, yes, we can see price drops for certain goods and services. For example, over the last 12 months, we've seen price drops

for everything from appliances to used cars to men's suits.

So, you can see that, but not across the economy, right? If you saw that across the economy, that would really be deflation. That is something that

is not just improbable, it's kind of scary. University of Michigan Economist Justin Wolfers, he told me that the best way to get deflation

would be to have a massive recession.

And he said this is, quote, extremely dangerous, and feeds on itself. The Fed would be terrified, terrified, because it's really hard to get out of a

deflationary spiral, right? Deflation freaks out the Fed because it can really stall the economy. I mean, if you think about it, Erica, if you knew

that the price of something was going to be dramatically lower in a month, then obviously you wouldn't buy it now, you would delay it.

But if that happens across the economy, that would cause prices to go even lower, which would cause people to delay their purchases, and it can really

become a doom loop that is very hard to get out of. The real goal here should be for the economy to kind of grow into these higher price levels,

meaning everyone pay checks go up steadily. And they're able to catch up with these higher prices. But outright price drops across the economy it

doesn't really make sense Erica.

HILL: And it's so important to break it down like that. Matt, appreciate it. Thank you. Just ahead here in sports, the world's top ranked men's

tennis player heading into the U.S. Open after a winning weekend in Cincinnati. Plus, Great Britain's King Charles is showing support to

community shaken by tragedy and violence, his visit to Southport just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:35:00]

HILL: We've been talking so much about the Democrats, of course, rallying in Chicago this week while they do that, Donald Trump taking his campaign

on the road to key swing states, including Pennsylvania.

The Republican Presidential Nominee strongly endorsed nuclear energy, telling workers in a manufacturing plant that Vice President Kamala Harris

will end fracking if elected, and also repeatedly called her a communist. Here's CNN's Phil Mattingly with a closer look at Trump's strategy this

week.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF U.S. DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: The political spotlight may be very firmly on Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris

throughout the course of this week, but the Trump campaign has made very clear they are going to try and still get their message out.

Counter programming in swing state after swing state after swing state throughout a five-day blitz. The Former President and his Vice-Presidential

Nominee J.D. Vance, hitting every single major battleground state, all seven of them over the course of the next five days, starting here in

Pennsylvania.

J.D. Vance was out in Philadelphia, the former president here in York at a speech that was rather different than what we normally see from him. It was

not a big rally. It was not a raucous affair. Instead, it was at a manufacturer. It was policy based for the most part, and Trump mostly stuck

to the script. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: To every policy and the Trump agenda is designed to bring the jobs and wealth back home to America, where it belongs and where it's going to

stay. Kamala puts America last. I put America first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Now this format kind of very tightly coordinated. Small crowds, maybe 150 to 200 people max is actually we're going to see throughout the

course of the course of the week. And if that sounds like something you may have heard of before, it actually tracks very closely with what Republicans

have been saying for the last several weeks.

They want the former president to do, stop with the personal attacks, stop with the rambling press conferences and rallies. Instead focus on policy

contrast issues like the economy, like immigration, where for months now, Trump has had a fairly significant advantage over Democrats.

On Monday, it was the economy, it was energy here in the critical battleground Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He'll be heading over to

Michigan, then North Carolina, then Arizona, then Nevada, all states the Trump campaign wants to win, some of which it absolutely needs to win,

whether or not the former president can continue to stay on message in those smaller events. Well, that is part of the counter program, and we

have to watch in the days ahead. Phil Mattingly, CNN, York, Pennsylvania,

HILL: And as we take a look at other happenings overseas, King Charles in Northern England today, where he is paying tribute to the victims of a

stabbing attack that killed three young girls last month. He was met with cheers walking toward Southport's Town Hall, the King meeting with

survivors, with family members, and also the greater Southport community.

CNN's Anna Stewart joining me now from London with more the attacks, of course, happened at a Taylor Swift themed dance class. Just a horrific,

tragic event.

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this attack happened on the 29th of July, and you see there King Charles in Southport today, meeting with all

sorts of people, really, at this stage. So, we seeing him there with local officials, government officials and the community.

He did arrive to some cheers. He will also be meeting those who survived that attack and their families and very sadly, the bereaved families of

those who did not survive those three girls, six-year-old, Bebe King, seven-year-old, Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old, Alice Dasilva

Aguiar.

So, he will be meeting with them. He'll be meeting with emergency staff services who were there on the day to thank them for everything that they

did. And this is really coming several weeks after this attack, it's one that King Charles has been almost personally involved following this

attack, and largely due to misinformation actually about the attacker.

There was lots of unrest throughout the UK. King Charles actually asked to be kept updated daily on the situation. So, I think he'll be pleased that

that unrest has now really subsided and he's able to go there to pay tribute to those who died and to thank those who helped the situation,

particularly the frontline emergency staff.

HILL: Absolutely. Anna, I appreciate it. Thank you. Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories on our radar at this hour. A rare cosmic

combination of a Supermoon and Blue Moon spotted in Australia on Monday, partially obscured, as you see there in that image by the clouds as it

appeared over Sydney's Opera House, the next Super Blue Moon by the way, mark your calendars, although you've got some time not until 2037.

American motorcycle manufacturer Harley Davidson is dropping diversity initiatives after a right-wing campaign accused the company of going quote

woke. Harley says it's saddened by the negativity in the past few weeks, and that has been designed to divide the Harley Davidson family. Harley

Davidson is the last major American brand to ditch diversity, equity and inclusion policies just the latest, we should say.

Sports and politics coming together in Chicago with a patriotic speech from basketball coach Steve Kerr who won, of course, three NBA Championships as

a player in Chicago. He took to the stage to speak on Monday night at the Democratic National Convention.

[09:40:00]

Of course, less than two weeks ago, he coached the U.S. Men's Basketball team to Olympic gold medal in Paris. Here's some of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE KERR, U.S. OLYMPICS MEN'S BASKETBALL COACH: I cannot think of a better metaphor for what this country is all about than the way Team USA

came together at the Olympics. We had players from across our wonderful country. Players who have trained and fought relentlessly, shed tears,

trying to beat one another throughout their careers, joining forces to wear the red, white and blue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Also, Kerr supported the Biden Administration and been outspoken on a number of democratic issues, including curbing gun violence. We are now

less than one week away from the US Open Tennis Championship right here in New York, one of my favorite times of year. Two of the game's biggest stars

heading into this year's final major, with a lot of momentum. Patrick Snell joins me now. It's going to be another great open I feel.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: It certainly is. I want to head right where you are, Eric, that's the place to be when it comes to the final tennis

slam of the calendar year. There is much to look forward to, no question about that. And morale boosting victories for two key players in the build

up to it all in Ohio.

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus getting really important victory under her belt. She was the losing finalist last year in the Big Apple to Coco Golf, the

American player. So, she will feel she definitely has some unfinished business over there in New York.

And on the men's side of things in Cincinnati, Jannik Sinner the reigning Australian Open Champion, the 23-year-old Italian player with a big win in

terms of importance. Remember, yet to not have the Olympics. He couldn't go to the Olympics, in terms of being there, he was battling illness, and he

was battling injury as well. So, he'll be looking to get back on track and a really important victory for him over Frances Tiafoe, another American

player. Back to you.

HILL: All right, Patrick, we'll be looking that a lot more. Stay with us, and much more to come here on the other side of this break.

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[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

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