Return to Transcripts main page

Connect the World

Harris, Walz Sit Down for Exclusive Join Interview with CNN; Humanitarian Pauses for Polio Vaccinations to Begin Sunday; Death Toll Rises as Israeli Offensive Enters Third Day; Ukraine Seeks U.S. Go-Ahead for Strikes Deeper Inside Russia. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired August 30, 2024 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:34]

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos, and you've just been listening to U.S. presidential nominee

Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, in their first big interview since they became the Democratic ticket. They spoke to our Dana Bash while

they were on a campaign visit to the state of Georgia. Dana asked them what the first day of a Harris administration would look like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Day one, it's going to be about, one, implementing my plan for what I call an opportunity economy.

I've already laid out a number of proposals in that regard, which include what we're going to do to bring down the cost of everyday goods, what we're

going to do to invest in America's small businesses. What we're going to do to invest in families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right. Dana also pressed them on her policy shift on fracking, on her approach to people crossing the U.S. border. Let's hear what she

said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you still want to ban fracking?

HARRIS: No, and I made that clear on the debate stage in 2020, that I would not ban fracking. As vice president, I did not ban fracking. As president,

I will not ban fracking.

BASH: In 2019, I believe in a town hall you said, you were asked, "Would you commit to implementing a federal ban on fracking on your first day in

office?" and you said there's no question I'm in favor of banning fracking. So yes. So it changed in that campaign?

HARRIS: In 2020 I made very clear where I stand. We are in 2024, and I have not changed that position nor will I going forward. I kept my word, and I

will keep my word.

BASH: In 2019, when you first ran, there was a debate. You raised your hand when asked whether or not the borders should be decriminalized. Do you

still believe that?

HARRIS: I believe there should be consequence. We have laws that have to be followed and enforced that address and deal with people who cross our

border illegally. And there should be consequences. I would enforce our laws as president going forward, I recognize the problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump lost no time responding to the Harris-Walz interview on Thursday. He tried to make

the case that Harris is not ready to lead the country, and he criticized her for avoiding in-depth conversations with journalists until that

exclusive CNN interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People just want to see if she can get through the interview. Nobody knows what's going on. I've done so

many interviews in the last couple of months. Every time I go out, I have an interview. I have people, reporters, we talk to them, and they ask every

question in the book and we answer them, and you don't see any scandals brewing, nothing, we answered them properly.

You have to, as president, you have to be able to deal, you're dealing with the toughest, smartest, most ruthless people in the world. If you can't do

an interview we get the wrong person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right. Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, is also hitting back hard at some of the remarks by Harris and Walz on Thursday. Listen as Vance

slams their policy positions and highlights the positive aspects of the Republican ticket.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our party is the party of common sense. We don't agree on everything. We may disagree about tax

policy or environmental policy, but we think we should have a closed border. We think American families should be able to afford housing and

food. And we want calm and peace all over the world, not the world in constant conflict that Kamala Harris has delivered.

So we've got a great big ticket with Democrats, Republicans, and independents on the Donald Trump team. And we're going to keep on running

that way. And then we're going to govern that way when we win.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So Vice President Harris in the interview last night said she'd like to see a culture shift, not based on you beating

people down, a politics where you beat people down, but a politics where you lift people up. How do you feel about that? How do you feel about the

idea of lifting people up in politics?

VANCE: Look, I think it's a great idea, John, the problem is that Kamala Harris hasn't governed like that during her three and a half years as vice

president. If she wants to tackle the affordability crisis, if she wants to lift people up and inspire this country why hasn't she done it for the last

three and a half years? I think most Americans think that we're on the wrong track.

I think what Donald Trump has really believes is the way to lift people up is to open the country to all voices, to not try to censor people that you

disagree with, to have a conversation with somebody, rather than try to shut them up. We have to remember back in 2019 Kamala Harris wanted to kick

Donald Trump off of all social media.

[10:05:03]

We believe in debating and having a conversation with our fellow Americans, agree or disagree. That's how you lift this country up, not by shutting

people down, making life unaffordable for their families.

BERMAN: You're talking about Donald Trump's social media. Would you describe his posts over the last 48 hours as lifting people up, voting re-

posting QAnon statements, re-posting these misogynistic memes about Vice President Harris and Hillary Clinton. That's the kind of open discussion

that you think is lifting people up?

VANCE: Oh, John, I think if you look at Donald Trump's full campaign appearances and yes, his social media appearances, what you see is two

things. A guy with an agenda to lower prices and bring back American prosperity and a political candidate who isn't stodgy, who likes to have

some fun, and likes to tell some jokes. I'd much rather have a candidate who's willing to go off script, who's willing to give every interview and

is willing to tell some jokes.

I do think that's how you lift people up. Politics of boring scolds telling people they can't laugh. That is not lifting Americans out. That's how to

tear us down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right, so a lot to talk about and to give more insights on those interviews, I'm joined by Brad Woodhouse. He's a senior adviser with

the Democratic National Committee. And Republican strategist and former RNC communications director Doug Heye. They both join us now from Washington.

A very good morning to both of you. Thank you so much for joining us. I want to start off with the question to both of you. How would you rate the

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz interview?

And Brad, I want to start off with you.

BRAD WOODHOUSE, SENIOR DNC ADVISER: Well, I think she knocked it out of the park. I mean, just think about what Donald Trump and J.D. -- we don't know

how she doing an interview. I mean, they set the ball -- here and she went here. I mean, it was a tremendously good interview. She answered all the

questions. She was confident, collected, cool, and she was calm. The four C's that are vital in these interviews. She took the tough questions. She

responded, she laid out a policy agenda.

The difference is, Donald Trump says he does all these interviews, then he goes into sharks and batteries and windmills and birds. I mean, he can't do

an interview that connects to the American people or that has any message at all. And so she knocked it out of the park. This was a mistake for them

to set the expectations the way they did. It was a mistake for them to expect that she was going to do anything but do this well, and this is

behind her now and the focus is on Donald Trump.

GIOKOS: Yes. OK. Doug, I want you to weigh in here because as it seems that Republicans miscalculated what Kamala Harris was capable of in an

interview. So what's your take? How would you rate this?

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes. Well, first, I'm not surprised at all that Brad thinks that his candidate knocked it out of the park. He was

going to say that anyways, and I love Brad. We're dear friends. He thought Joe Biden knocked it out of the park when he had his debate that was a

disaster.

The reality was, I think it was pretty mixed for Harris, and part of that is, yes, Republicans play the expectations game very wrongly here, just as

they did in the previous midterm elections when they were promising a red wave and a red tsunami. That's not what do you do. And some of that is

political malpractice.

But as I watched her first answer, it was one of these word soups, word salads that doesn't really say anything, doesn't connect with voters

because they can't figure out what she's saying, and it was reminiscent to me of 1980 when Ted Kennedy was asked the very basic question, why are you

running for president? And he took two minutes not answering that question.

She did fine on some things. She explained that, oh, no, I've totally flip- flopped. It was two years ago. You just didn't pay attention to me. Not a strong statement. She did fine. She should do more of these. I think it

would benefit her to do more of these. And then we'll see how that moves moving forward. But if she knocked it out of the park, the polling is going

to show that Harris is up five points everywhere now. And the reality is that's not going to happen.

GIOKOS: Well, I mean, this is an interesting question on the polls. Yes.

WOODHOUSE: She is up everywhere right now.

GIOKOS: So that actually I want to refer to the poll.

HEYE: Everything is within the margin of error, and not everywhere, Brad.

(CROSSTALK)

GIOKOS: Yes. I want to refer to the poll.

HEYE: Coming out of a convention that was a coronation. Yes, she should be up 10, 15, given the Democratic rhetoric right now.

GIOKOS: OK. So I want to refer to the poll.

WOODHOUSE: No one does that 10, 15 points --

GIOKOS: Brad, I want to head to the poll that you're basically referring to as well, where we are actually seeing, and by the way, this is a poll that

was conducted before the interview, Kamala Harris had already gained on average, by the way, seven points against Trump on all issues, and I want

to take a look at the economy in specific because that was one question that has come up time and time again, where Trump is leading.

Take a listen to what Harris had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: The steps that you're talking about now, why haven't you done them already?

[10:10:01]

HARRIS: Well, first of all, we had to recover as an economy and we have done that. I'm very proud of the work that we have done that has brought

inflation down to less than 3 percent. The work that we have done to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for seniors, Donald Trump said he was

going to do a number of things including allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices never happened. We did it.

So now, as I travel in the state of Georgia and around our country, the number of seniors that have benefited I've met. I was in Nevada recently, a

grandmother who showed me her receipts, and before we cap the cost of insulin for seniors at $35 a month, she was playing hundreds of dollars up

to thousands of dollars a month for her insulin. She's not doing that anymore.

BASH: So you maintain Bidenomics is a success?

HARRIS: I maintain that when we do the work of bringing down prescription medication for the American people, including capping the cost of the

annual cost of prescription medication for seniors at $2,000. When we do what we did in the first year of being in office to extend the child tax

credits so that we cut child poverty in America by over 50 percent, when we do what we have done to invest in the American people and bringing

manufacturing back to the United States so that we created over 800,000 new manufacturing jobs, bringing business back to America.

What we have done to improve the supply chain so we're not relying on foreign governments to supply American families with their basic needs,

I'll say that that's good work. There's more to do, but that's good work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: OK, so, Brad, Kamala Harris is eight points behind Donald Trump on the economy. Is this answer strong enough to get a lead against Donald

Trump?

WOODHOUSE: Well, a couple of points. One, she doesn't need a lead. She has already substantially closed the gap, but Joe Biden was behind Donald Trump

on the question of the economy in 2020 and he won the race by seven million votes. So she needs to close the gap. Republicans for whatever reason --

it's not just Trump, Republicans traditionally have a lead, but there's been at least one poll that she got in the race that showed her ahead. So I

think the jury is still out on what the polling will show, but I mean, if you -- go ahead.

GIOKOS: So I want to get Doug in this. You know, are Republicans concerned or feeling nervous about Kamala Harris closing that gap?

HEYE: I'm sure they are.

GIOKOS: On this big issue, on the economy?

HEYE: Well, I think they're nervous overall because she has closed the gap and done so very quickly with unceasingly positive media coverage, which is

why tonight was important -- last night was important, and one of the reasons was a lot of the questioning from Dana Bash was about the Biden-

Harris administration, the Biden-Harris record, and that's what Republicans are going to hammer home.

They're still underwater on a lot of those issues. Joe Biden is, certainly. And that is still the administration in charge. And on the issue of the

economy and on the issue of costs, voters are feeling that very directly. I'll give you one example. On Sunday, I was in Brad Woodhouse's hometown of

Raleigh, North Carolina, and I went to a place that he knows well, Sam Jones Barbecue, and a small chopped plated barbecue with one side,

cornbread, cheer wine, and a bottle of water, all-in, $21.75.

So for all of the joy we hear about, you know, Kamala Harris right now, people were making very real decisions that aren't based in joy because if

you're a family of four $85 for a barbecue lunch is something you're not doing and families are making that decisions about ice cream and movies

every day.

GIOKOS: Yes, inflation is simply -- yes. I know it's the inflationary impact.

So, Doug, while I have you, I want to talk about abortion, which has become a really big issue and Harris has the biggest lead. I want to bring up that

poll again and remind everyone that this was done before the interview. At least on these numbers, what we see right now, I mean, you're talking about

being concerned on certain issues for Donald Trump.

But I want you to take a listen to what Donald Trump and J.D. Vance said in the last 24 hours regarding abortion. And again, I refer to what we're

seeing on the polls here, where Kamala Harris is leading by 13 points.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think the six week is too short. It has to be more time and so that's -- and I've told them that I

want more weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So you'll vote in favor of the amendment?

TRUMP: I'm voting that -- I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks.

VANCE; I think all the president is saying and of course, he's going to make his own announcement on how he's going to vote on the Florida bill, is

that he thinks that there should be more than six weeks and he's been very consistent in that. He says he doesn't like just six weeks. He obviously

doesn't like late-term abortion.

I think like a lot of Americans, the president is sort of somewhere else on this issue and he's also said that he wants abortion policy to be made by

the states themselves individually.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right. So, I mean, has the Republican ticket become a lot less clear? Are they potentially going to alienate their base?

Brad, I can see you reacting. We'll come to you, Brad, in a moment, but Doug.

[10:15:02]

HEYE: Well, I think potentially so. And what Trump is trying to do, Trump gets that the Dobbs decision has been a disaster politically for

Republicans. We certainly saw that in the midterm elections, and it's where Harris has a lot of enthusiasm and can drive messaging. So Trump is trying

to be nuanced here. I think the challenge for Trump are internal Republican politics and also Trump doesn't do nuanced often.

GIOKOS: Brad, tell me, I can see you reacting. Yes, Brad, let's get you into this. Tell me.

WOODHOUSE: Well, I don't actually disagree with everything that Doug said. I mean, this is an Anvil around the necks of Republicans, but let's

remember this on this question of IVF or six weeks, let's start with the basics. Donald Trump is a liar. He lies about everything. Just in the

Republican primary he said with respect to this issue of weeks, he says, you wouldn't have six-week ban or 10-week ban or 12-week ban, if I hadn't

overturned Roe v. Wade.

IVF is threatened because Donald Trump overturned Roe v Wade by putting -- have a litmus test for who he put on the court to overturn Roe v Wade, and

the Dobbs decision. So Donald Trump is a liar. He won't protect IVF. He will sign a national abortion ban if it gets to his desk. No one should

listen to him and J.D. Vance.

GIOKOS: So question to both of you very quickly because -- yes, very quickly because the countdown to the debate starts now as well. These are

going to be the top issues, right? Very quickly. Doug, what can we expect in terms of preparation?

HEYE: Look, they both have to be prepared on all of these issues where they have leads and where they're behind. This is why this debate is so

important and the debate about the debate and the rules sort of meaningless.

GIOKOS: Yes, Brad, very quickly.

WOODHOUSE: Well, look, I think I'm looking forward to the debate, you know, Donald Trump is again setting, you know, setting terrible expectations. He

says she can't debate that. That she can't speak, that she's not smart, so, you know, I'm looking forward to it and I think it will be quite a night.

GIOKOS: All right. Brad, Doug, good to have you on both gentlemen. Much appreciated for your insights.

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD live today from Dubai. Ahead on the show plans are announced for the desperately needed polio vaccination program in

Gaza. When and where the vaccinations will happen, that's coming up.

And Israel has killed a high profile member of Hamas in the West Bank. But its operation there is facing some backlash from the international

community.

And in the United States a family's personal and totally unexpected tragedy that has also rocked the National Hockey League. That story is ahead in

"WORLD SPORT," which begins in around 30 minutes from now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: Israel and Hamas have agreed to a series of temporary pauses in fighting to allow for a mass vaccination campaign against polio.

[10:20:02]

The Palestinian Health Ministry says it will start on Sunday and take place in three phases over 12 days. Each -- one each in central, southern and

northern Gaza. Second doses will need to be administered four weeks later. The campaign aims to vaccinate 640,000 children. Vaccines are urgently

needed after Gaza logged its first confirmed case of polio in 25 years last month.

Now there are varying accounts of deadly incidents in the meantime involving a humanitarian convoy in Gaza. The aid group INARA says several

transport workers were killed in an Israeli strike on the convoy in South Rafah. Israel's military says it fired after armed men took over the lead

vehicle, removing the threat to the convoy which reached its destination as planned. Now it is unclear exactly how many people were killed. The charity

says it will release more details later.

Meantime, a World Food Programme vehicle in Gaza was struck by Israeli gunfire Tuesday in what a U.S. official calls a communication error. No one

was hurt.

Nic Robertson is connecting us from Jerusalem, and specifically, Nic, to talk about this ambitious polio vaccination plans. Over 600,000 children

are going to be vaccinated from what we understand is seven-hour period a day. Could you give me a sense of the logistics, how they plan to pull this

off? Importantly, what was agreed upon?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Sure. It's really ambitious. I mean, what the U.N. was originally pushing for was a whole

seven-day complete ceasefire across all of Gaza. What they've got, what the Israeli government and Hamas have agreed to, are these three-day separate

port, three phase. And in each of those phases, three days of seven hours a day.

So if you just kind of do the math, right, you've got three times seven, that's 21. Put that into, you know, 640,000 children they want to

vaccinate, you're looking at trying to vaccinate as many as 10,000 children an hour. And you're not just trying to vaccinate them as well. You're

trying to keep account of who you've done and who you haven't done in a chaotic situation where people are coming in from camps where there are big

families, where there are families without parents.

It's a very, very chaotic situation and they're aiming to vaccinate 90 percent of that 640,000. That's all the children below the age of 10. So

the phases are going to work like this. The center phase comes first, first to September to the 4th of September. Then it goes to the south, 5th of

September to the 8th of September. Then it goes to the north, the 9th of September to the 12th of September.

About 2000 U.N. volunteers are being trained up to try to get that massive number of vaccinations in that short space of time. So, OK, even outside of

a war, even outside of a situation where you've got this, you know, movable population who had difficulty getting to the, getting to the vaccination

centers, all of that, then you have the chaos of the fact there's actually outside of those seven-hour periods there's a war going on and the war can

easily spread over. No, this is not what's hoped for, but it can happen into those seven-hour periods on those nine different days.

This is very tough, but it's what the -- it's the window that the U.N. has. And with one child in Gaza already suffering paralysis from polio, it's a

clear imperative. The U.N. has made that extremely clear that this affects not just the children in Gaza, but potentially the whole region. And that

is why in part, the IDF is vaccinating its troops against polio because they're right in the same area as children who could be infected.

GIOKOS: Yes. Yes. Nic, I mean, really important analysis there. I mean, the logistical element of this, I'm thinking about what will happen four weeks

after requiring a booster shot for all the children that were vaccinated. It's a story that we'll be on top of.

I want to shift gears a little and I want to talk about Kamala Harris. And during the CNN interview, frankly, isn't deviating from Biden policy on

Israel. I want you to take a listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Let me be very clear. I'm unequivocal and unwavering in my commitment to Israel's defense and its ability to defend itself. And that's

not going to change. But let's take a step back. October 7th, 1200 people were massacred. Many young people who are simply attending a music

festival, women were horribly raped. As I said then I say today, Israel had a right, has a right to defend itself. We would. And how it does so

matters.

[10:25:02]

Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed and we have got to get a deal done. We were in Doha. We have to get a deal done. This war must

end, and we must get a deal that is about getting the hostages out. I've met with the families of the American hostages. Let's get the hostages out.

Let's get the ceasefire done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: So, Nic, I want to refer to a YouGov poll which was conducted last month, showing that 61 percent of Americans believe that the U.S. shouldn't

arm Israel and 77 percent of people under 30 say the same.

Could you -- I mean, I want you to put on your diplomatic hat here. How does this sentiment impact U.S. Israel relations?

ROBERTSON: Well, I think clearly what Kamala Harris there is doing is setting out -- is sending out a very clear message internally, as you say

61 percent of the population don't want the United States to arm Israel. And then when you look at the under 30, that it goes up to 77 percent. What

she appears to be doing is targeting those younger progressive Democrats who may not come out to vote in some of those critical states, and send

them a message and the message in her message there was it's how Israel does that, it's how it asserts the right to defend itself.

And incumbent on part of that will be how the United States follows through with its continued and committed iron clad support to the defense of

Israel. And that comes down to weapons. So the question then becomes for Prime Minister Netanyahu is still in office if Kamala Harris wins the

election, how she would interpret that as president?

But this is really an issue to the domestic audience in the U.S. But there is something of a signaling in there that she could try to put more

pressure than President Biden has on the Israeli government to bring an end to the war in Gaza. She said she's -- the United States is committed to a

two-state solution so I think the interpretation here would have to be if she wins there could be a shift. Diplomatically Israel will absolutely rise

to meet that shift with the same point they've probably been putting to President Biden over the past almost year.

GIOKOS: Nic Robertson, always good to speak to you. Thank you so much.

Well, the armed wing of Hamas has confirmed that one of its local leaders in the occupied West Bank has been killed. The IDF saying earlier today

that Hamas commander had been targeted along with two other militants as the Israeli military's West Bank offensive entered a third day. Now the

U.K. is expressing deep concern about the methods used in this offensive and the reports of civilian casualties.

Earlier, Jordan accused Israel of committing war crimes. Meanwhile, the United Nations is suspending services in several refugee camps due to the

ongoing military activity.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond filed this report from Jenin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the second day in a row, bursts of gunfire cut through the city of Jenin in the

occupied West Bank. Israeli soldiers and border police are raiding the northern West Bank in one of the largest operations in years, triggering

clashes with Palestinian militants who are deeply embedded here.

Israeli forces have killed at least 16 people in 48 hours, according to health officials. Israel says 16 were militants. Palestinian militant

groups said just eight of their fighters had been killed. In Jenin, Israeli forces have surrounded several hospitals. Ambulances must stop and be

inspected before taking patients in for treatment. Markets and bustling downtown streets have been turned into a ghost town. One where street's

water and electrical lines will need to be repaired.

This is the aftermath of an Israeli military operation in the city of Jenin. Streets torn up by those D9 bulldozers. And we've seen scenes like

this across this city. Those bulldozers, as well as armored Israeli military vehicles, came rolling down this street. Clashes with gunmen,

we're told, ensued.

(Voice-over): Suzanne Jalad (PH) and her grandchildren were woken by the sound of bulldozers and gunfire at 7:00 in the morning.

It was loud, very loud. Everybody was terrified. She says this Israeli operation is different from the regular raids this city has grown used to.

They want to take revenge, she says. From who, I ask? From the resistance. We stand with the resistance and hopefully we will stay standing and

steadfast.

[10:30:02]

Israel says it is targeting militant groups who have mounted dozens of attacks against its soldiers and civilians. In the Palestinian city of

Tulkarm, Israel killed one man, it says, was behind those attacks. Mohammed Jabber, an Islamic Jihad commander. But at Al-Razi Hospital in Jenin, the

victims of Israel's raids are also children, like 15-year-old Usama (PH) who tried to leave his home to buy bread.

I took two steps and they started firing at me, Usama (PH) says, two rounds of gunfire, one bullet came here and one bullet came here.

And did you see any soldiers before you got shot?

(Voice-over): No, he says.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sniper.

DIAMOND: He now faces a long recovery, and a life trapped in this seemingly endless cycle of violence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DIAMOND (on-camera): In a statement, the Israeli military confirmed that they shot Usama claiming that he posed a serious threat to security forces.

They also said that they coordinated his evacuation to a hospital with a local Palestinian ambulance service, despite making such a serious

allegation against him. Israeli authorities have not arrested him.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

GIOKOS: Well, still to come as Kyiv mourns the loss of a star fighter pilots, a top Ukrainian official has a big request for the Biden

administration. We'll explain next. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos.

Now Ukraine is making a new bid to be allowed to launch attacks deeper inside Russia using American made weapons. Face-to-face talks on that issue

taking place in the United States in the past hour. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart at the

Pentagon.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more on that high level security meeting and what it could mean to Ukraine. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For these top level Ukrainian officials who have traveled to the U.S. the meetings that

they're having are absolutely key, especially the one with Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umarov, and the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd

Austin.

[10:35:01]

the Ukrainians are saying, essentially they want to present the U.S. with a list of targets inside Russia that they want permission from the U.S. to be

able to hit with some of the weapons that the United States has given to the Ukrainians.

Now of course the U.S. has given the Ukrainians some weapons that can travel a considerable distance but so far the Ukrainians are only allowed

to use those weapons to strike Ukrainian territory that is occupied by the Russians and some territories very close to the border between Ukraine and

Russia.

The Ukrainians clearly want to open that up. They believe that is key to their effort to try and stop Russia's advances in certain places, but also

for their own troops to be able to advance further into Russian territory.

Right now, we have a situation here in Ukraine where the Ukrainian military is still advancing further into Russian territory in the Kursk Region.

There have been some gains that the Ukrainians say that they have made overnight. On the one hand, it's also still remarkable that the Ukrainians

are able to advance even more than three weeks into the beginning of that incursion into Russian territory.

On the other hand, the Ukrainians are having serious problems in the east of Ukraine, in the eastern front, as they call it, especially in the region

around the key town of Pokrovsk. The Russians in that area are not making huge gains, but they're definitely making steady gains. And the Ukrainians

say the biggest problem that they have down in that area is that their forces are simply outmanned.

The Ukrainian general command has said that they want to beef up their forces in that area to try and at least spot stop the Russians and maybe

even push them back.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right, we're live now at the Pentagon where the U.S. and Ukrainian defense chiefs have been meeting. We've got CNN's Oren Liebermann

live there and of course, following very closely what the messaging and discussions are. You know, one of their requests from the Ukrainians has

always been, and in fact, ratcheting up the question of whether they can use American made weapons deeper inside of Russia.

Give me a sense of how important this conversation is going to be. And if you've got a sense of what the potential outcome will be.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's unlikely it seems that the U.S. will change its policy on easing with the restrictions for

the use of long-range weapons inside of Russia. Those weapons specifically made by the U.S. and there are few reasons for that. First, in terms of

U.S. long-range weapons, the key one here is the ATACMS, army tactical missiles.

Ukraine has used those very successfully to strike occupied Crimea. And that's where the U.S. sees the value in these, being able to hit air

defenses, airfields, ammo depots in Crimea. Part of the bigger problem is that one of Ukraine's biggest threats right now is the glide bombs that

Russia is launching. But they're launching them from air bases that are outside the range of U.S. long-range weapons so from the U.S. perspective

there isn't much the long-range weapons can do against that.

Instead, their focus there is that Ukraine using its own long-range drones to be able to hit targets like that. So from the U.S. perspective, although

there might be some tactical gains from easing restrictions they kind of want to pull out and see a bigger picture where that's not the key issue

here. For the U.S. the key issues remain, air defenses and they've made sure that Ukraine is very high in the list for a priority of air defenses,

as well as how to still make gains in Crimea, seeing that that campaign is going well to slow down Russia's advance in eastern Ukraine.

So these are the bigger, more important issues. Yes, certainly the Ukrainians have made very clear they're going to bring up those

restrictions. But for the U.S. that's not the focus of those conversations. Even if Ukraine wants to make a point about that, there are much bigger and

broader issues here. Even as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy keeps sort of hammering that drum and hoping the restrictions or eased to keep up

the political pressure.

It's not the only issue on the agenda. And part of that, Elenie, is why these meetings are so important and it's also worth noting that, although

today is the formal meeting as they left the Pentagon last night, I saw Defense Minister Umerov here. So perhaps a bit of a smaller informal visit

here with what looked like some senior Ukrainian military officials. So making this a bigger event, perhaps more time for conversations because of

the critical stage, the fight is in right now.

GIOKOS: Absolutely. One would expect many behind closed doors conversations occurring as well in tandem to what we've been hearing.

Oren Liebermann, always good to speak to you. Thank you. sir.

Well, ahead in sports, it's being called an unimaginable tragedy. The NHL player known as Johnny Hockey Gaudreau is killed while bicycling. We'll

bring you an update on this story, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:41:39]

GIOKOS: Welcome back now. The third round of the U.S. Open tennis championship is about to get underway in New York. But Spanish superstar

Carlos Alcaraz won't be part of it. He suffered a shock defeat last night, very shocking stuff indeed.

We've got Andy Scholes joining us now. Take us through what happened. I'm just seeing these images of devastation, holding his head. Tell me.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Well, Eleni,, this was a complete shocker. You know, we've seen Alcaraz, you know, he had already won, you know, the

French Open, Wimbledon, Silverman, the Olympics. You know, you can pretty much book him into the semifinals there at the U.S. Open in New York. But

he ended up going out losing to both -- van de Zandschulp and it was a shocker.

If you had bet $100 odd Alcaraz to win this match, he would only won $1. That's how big of an upset this was, you know, he said he was pretty tired

after the match. Well, coming up on "WORLD SPORT' we'll hear exactly what he had to say, but this had people in New York just shocked watching this,

Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yes, I'm sure. Anyway, this is what sports is about. It's all about keeping you on your toes.

Andy Scholes, we'll see you right after the break. And I'll be back at the top of the hour to close out the show. Thank you so much for joining us on

CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:45:30]

(WORLD SPORT)

END