Return to Transcripts main page

Erin Burnett Outfront

Soon: Harris & Waltz Take The Stage In Battleground Arizona; Video Shows Terrifying Freefall Of Plane Carrying 61 People; Surprise Ukraine Assault Spreads 30+ Miles Across Russia. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired August 09, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:48]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Vice President Kamala Harris about to take the stage in a crucial battleground state of Arizona, as Donald Trump heads to Montana for his first rally in a week.

Plus, a horrifying plane crash caught on camera. A passenger plane with more than 60 people on board dropping out of the sky, crashing into a neighborhood. No survivors tonight. What went wrong?

And Ukraine on the move inside Russia, advancing further and claimed to take control of a town tonight. So how will Vladimir Putin respond?

Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good Friday evening to you. I'm Erica Hill, in for Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, moving west. Just moments ago, vice president Harris and Governor Tim Walz stopping by their campaign office in Phoenix to greet staffers, shake some hands, before heading to a rally in Glendale.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I thank you from the bottom of my heart. We're heading to the rally. We're going to have lots of fun this afternoon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: We got a live picture for you coming up of the venue. There you see it on the left of your screen. Harris will be taking the stage there within the hour.

On the right, those are pictures from Bozeman, Montana. That's where Donald Trump will make his first appearance on the campaign trail since Harris officially became the Democratic nominee. And yes, that's Montana where he is tonight. And if you're thinking, hey, that's a solidly red state, you're right. He won it by 16 points in 2020 and it's frankly in no danger of losing Montana this time around.

So why then be in Montana, especially in the face of shifting poll numbers? Well, here's what Trump posted on social media when he left.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have a very high rating in Montana. We have a lot of popularity. I like them. They like me. But I'm here to do some fundraisers and most importantly, to support Tim Sheehy, who's running for the U.S. Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: There you go.

The Harris campaign, meantime, is looking to capitalize on that choice, putting out a statement today which reads, quote, Donald Trump has not visited a swing state this week and apparently isn't visiting any next week either, saying he's too lazy to fight for anything but himself or leave his country club, fine by us.

Trump for his part, did note in his new video tomorrow he will be doing, quote, different stops, different states, but didn't elaborate. So it's not clear as of now where he'll be.

As for Harris, as I noted, she is in that battleground state of Arizona tonight, a state that Donald Trump won in 2016 and which Biden turned blue in 2020.

Our reporters are covering all of this for us tonight. Let's begin with Eva McKend, who is in Glendale, Arizona, at that Harris rally.

So the crowd is -- is waiting at this point. What are you seeing and hearing there, getting a little loud behind you there, Eva.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It sure is, Erica. Every inch of this arena fills, packed to the brim, and it's a diverse crowd here. You had a leader earlier speak from Indian country, but there are a lot of Latino voters, Black voters here, young voters, all key parts of the Democratic coalition.

Now, we are expecting the vice president tonight to talk about reproductive rights, but also address this issue of immigration in this border state. But how she does it is what we're really watching. She had an ad out today and it really tries to characterize her as tough on the border.

She calls herself a border state prosecutor, referencing her previous career. But at the same time, you have immigrants rights activists, lots of them here in this audience. Some of them standing behind her, will be standing behind her when she speaks.

And they, of course, advocate for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. So how she strikes his balance is something, Erica, that we're all watching. And then I'll end with this. She's making a big show of showing the border state mayors that support her as well as the Republicans. So, really trying to emphasize that she's trying to leave no part of the electorate on the table -- Erica.

HILL: Eva McKend with the latest for us from Glendale -- Eva, thank you.

Kristen Holmes, who has been, of course, talking to her sources within the Trump campaign, joining us as well.

So what more are we hearing about this decision to be in Montana to not be in a battleground state?

[19:05:01]

What could some of these other stops be? Any more information?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in terms of other stops, we know he has several stops in the West Coast, but they're all in red states and they are all fundraisers. He's going to be in Wyoming as well. And I asked Donald Trump why he was going to Montana instead of one of the many swing states, particularly now that Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket, and these seem much more up in the air than they did when he was running against President Joe Biden. And he said that he was leading by a lot and then he elaborated on the fact that he had to be in these states to help these Senate candidates.

Now it is true, Montana is a very critical race, that is actually now one of the most expensive races in the country. And if you look at it, it is one of the only races in which the Democratic incumbent in this case, Senator Jon Tester, is running for reelection in a state where Donald Trump won by an enormous amount, as you said, 16 points. So he's there to boost up Tim Sheehy, but there are a lot of questions still from the allies of his campaign, if not his campaign directly, as to why exactly he is not out on the road and we still haven't gotten any kind of update for next week as to what his travel might be.

I am told by advisers he will be on the road. He will do at least one event, but we still haven't gotten any insight into what that event looks like. Is that id also in a swing state?

Donald Trump himself had told me that he was going to ramp up his traveling after the DNC. It sounds like hell at least do one or two events beforehand, but right now, there are a lot of questions, particularly among Republicans as to why he's not out there courting voters directly.

And just to give you one example of what his its campaign is telling me is that they are reaching out to voters, but they're just not doing it in the traditional way. That's why he's sitting down for these various interviews with streamers, doing podcasts. He's been taping videos that he's going to put out on social media.

That's how they're reaching certain people. But that's certainly an orthodox particularly at this point in a campaign to not be out there in those battleground states, those states that are going to decide this election.

HILL: An interesting too for a person who really does thrive off of that energy of a crowd and get so much out of those rallies. HOLMES: Yeah.

HILL: Kristen, appreciate it as always. Thank you.

OUTFRONT now, former Democratic Congressman Max Rose, who's now a senior adviser to Vote Vets, also "New York Times" podcast host Lulu Garcia-Navarro, and David Urban, former senior adviser to the Trump campaign.

Nice to see all of you tonight.

Congressman, we have some live pictures here from this event in Arizona for the vice president at this new ad that she released today, which Eva mentioned focuses on the border and on immigration. Let's take a look at it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AD NARRATOR: This president, she will hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking. Fixing the border is tough, so is Kamala Harris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So Donald Trump continues to dominate in the polls when it comes to immigration, they need to get out in front of this issue. But this ad is this really enough to start the pushback?

MAX ROSE (D), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Oh, it absolutely is. Because what it does first and foremost is established the fact rightfully so that Donald Trump is the biggest opponent in the United States of America, of a strong border policy. He was the one that stopped a bipartisan and actually extraordinarily conservative bill that was advancing in the Senate to completely beef up border security, and he is so distraught that the numbers of undocumented immigrants moving across the border has gone down precipitously.

Overall, he's rooting against the United States of America. He wants this country to be in disarray. He does not want things going well because all he cares about his -- his electoral outcomes. To me, that's the opposite of patriotism.

HILL: So you think this is a good first start as they're trying to push back on that criticism.

David, as Kristen was just reporting when we look at where Donald Trump is, the campaign telling her, they're doing things a little differently. They're reaching out to people in different ways. No plans right now for swing states in the coming days, at least four events in swing states. He's in Montana and as we know tonight, trying to help. She said it did.

Why not though, get out there a little bit, counter those stops? Again, as I noted to Kristen, Donald Trump, we know -- he thrives on the energy of those rallies. What's the reason? DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Erica, Donald

Trumps -- he'll do plenty rallies. I'm not worried he's not going to do enough rallies. Look, Max Rose is a good foot soldier for the Democrats, is a good messenger.

The problem is that ad that you just ran, Kamala Harris is the vice president. She's currently part of the administration that let over 10 million illegal immigrants crossed through a porous border. She's -- she's acting like she's not a part of the administration. Like somehow, she's elected, things are going to change.

Do it right now, Madam Vice President, fix the problem don't let it happen. I don't understand how she's tried to divorce herself from the Biden-Harris administration that she's a part of. Her name is a part of it. I mean, she can't do it.

So the ad is a first step, but it's -- I mean, it's laughable that she thinks that she's going to win over voters with ads saying that I'm somehow now going to be tough on the border. She has to answer a lot of questions, Erica, about fracking, about taking away people's guns, about the single-payer health care systems.

[19:10:08]

And until the media starts, ask her these questions, she's going to skate and get favorable reviews and quite frankly, no one's laying the glove on her. She's had a phenomenal few weeks, the rallies are going great, great roll out on her behalf. But at some point, she's going to have to answer tough questions and I don't think she has the answers for them.

HILL: While we wait for those questions as we know, there have been plenty of requests.

Lulu, when we look at --

(CROSSTALK)

URBAN: Well, I'm not blaming you, Erica. I'm not blaming you. I'm blaming the Harris campaign.

HILL: No, David, I know you're not. I didn't take it that way. Trust me.

You know us, we're -- listen, we're journalists. We like to talk to everybody all the time.

Lulu, when we look at other movement that we've seen today, I was struck by this. The League of United Latin American Citizens today endorsing the Harris-Walz ticket. So, this organization that's almost 100-years-old. This is the first ever time that they have made a presidential endorsement. And also vowed to intensify efforts in key battleground states, among them, Arizona and Nevada, where we know the Democratic ticket will be both today and over the weekend.

Put this in perspective for us of how big a deal, if it is this endorsement.

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I mean, it's certainly a vote of confidence in Kamala Harris and in the Democrats. The fact that they have done this for the first time is no small thing. Of course, on the other side of this, Republicans will say that organizations like this are in the tank for the Democrats. And frankly, don't have a lot of sway with the Latino electorate.

You know, what really works with Latinos. And I've seen this myself. I've gone door-knocking, covering groups in Nevada and elsewhere is really the face-to-face contact. You know, Latinos often are hard to reach. They, you know, really thrive on people coming to them and talking to them about the issues, trying to convince them.

And this is where these organizations have really been strong in the past. And so, the fact that LULAC has done this, I think, is a really good sign for Democrats. And I think they should be very pleased because this will be one in through handshakes and through conversations.

HILL: David, as we look at where things stand, "Puck's" Tara Palmeri reporting that Donald Trump is so unhappy with his campaign, he's actually considering bringing Kellyanne Conway back. Do you think that's what the campaign needs?

URBAN: No. Listen, listen -- I think -- Kellyanne's great. She's smart. But so are Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles. A campaign has plenty of smart people. What the campaign needs to do, what the President Trump needs to do is start talking about the issues that voters care about, starts talking about the border against, start talking about inflation, start talking about things that matter, crime, what he's going to do to make Americans lives better.

That's what people want to hear about. And so, I think that he's got plenty of smart people around them. He just needs to get back to the issues that people care about.

Talk about foreign policy, talk about fracking, energy independents, all those things that Trump did when he was president that made his administration very successful. What he's going to do to help ameliorate the problem on the border. He's got very good ideas. They've got plans to move forward, not Project 2025, mind you. But he's got good plans and he needs to talk about those things.

Let's not have -- if we're talking about issues, we win. If we're talking about personalities, we lose. So I implore the president, I know those around him, get back to the issues. Let's talk about the things that matter people around their kitchen table.

HILL: And we've talked a lot for months about how they have been able to keep him on message far better than the last time around, but just really quickly, David, really yes or no, do you think Kellyanne Conway would be more helpful in that regard at keeping him on message because to your point, it's not happening?

URBAN: Listen, I think the more voices he hears from, the better. Kellyanne I know talks to him now. So the more voices, the better.

Listen, I have great admiration for Susie and for Chris, Jason Miller, the people that are around him, the candidate has -- the candidate has to listen though at times.

And so, I implore the president get back to the message that won the presidency and 16 and let's talk about -- let's talk to people about the things they care about.

HILL: President Biden, we're hearing a little bit more from him shedding light on his decision not to seek reelection. This is part of a new interview with CBS that was just released. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I ran the first time, I thought to myself as being a transition president. I can't even say how old I am. It's hard to really get out of my mouth.

It's a great honor of being president. I think I have an obligation to the country to do what I am -- most important thing you can do, and that is we must, we must, we must defeat Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: He has made that his message, Congressman, from the very beginning. He's about to make his first campaign appearance with Kamala Harris. Is Joe Biden, given the enthusiasm that we have seen since this shift, is Joe Biden the best messenger for this ticket?

ROSE: Joe Biden is a messenger for this ticket and he's the president of the United States. But what I would say right there, first of all, I feel bad for my friend David because one day the Republicans will have a candidate disciplined enough to listen to him, but certainly right now with this reckless extremist candidate, they do have, there's no chance that they actually focus on a policy whatsoever, at least a sane policy.

[19:15:03]

But what you see from President Biden is the exact opposite of Donald Trump, is someone who does not care about himself. That is putting the country first and is putting the Constitution first, and all Donald Trump has done for a decade now is act with dangerous, extremist, recklessness, and we course saw that on January 6 when he sought to utterly overturn an election, destroy the Constitution, all in pursuit of his own gain, and that's the opposite of Joe Biden.

HILL: Lulu, what do you think the impact is of Joe Biden on the campaign trail when it comes to some of these down-ballot races?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean, I will say that, you know, you had the answer there that he is a messenger, not the messenger. I mean, Joe Biden has not been particularly popular. He had to step down and not go for reelection, which I think is indicative of the fact that he is someone who reminds Americans who might be dissatisfied with the state of the economy and other things, that indeed, Kamala Harris says is vice president.

So, you know, I think where Joe Biden is effective is that he does hold the most powerful megaphone in the country. He is still a -- he does have plans for these last few months of his administration tend to do some things that I think will help the Democratic ticket.

So, you know, it remains to be seen, but I think there'll be using him sparingly.

HILL: We're going to have to leave it there. I appreciate you all joining me tonight.

URBAN: Erica, just quickly, quickly --

HILL: David, so out in time, my friend. You're killing me. You're going to get me in big trouble.

ROSE: Poor guy, poor guy.

HILL: I promise you'll be back. You know, you'll be back. You're here all the time.

URBAN: Okay.

HILL: Thank you all.

URBAN: Thanks for having me.

HILL: A programming note -- programming note as we said, Donald Trump in his press conference yesterday, you may have heard it. He talked about being in a helicopter that made an emergency landing, saying he was in that chopper with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. Well, the former mayor says that never happened. He is joining "AC360" tonight. Stay tuned for that coming your way at 8:00.

OUTFRONT here next, stunning video of a plane falling out of the sky, killing everyone on board. A pilot who has flown that plane model joins me next his take on what may have happened.

Plus, exclusive access inside a facility deep underground in North Dakota. Facility that is critical to the safety of the United States for the control is for some of Americas most powerful missiles.

And Senator J.D. Vance about to visit the border for the first time -- I'm sorry, for the second time in two weeks. Just ahead, I'll speak with the mayor of one border town who says he as no plans to meet with Vance. He'll tell us why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:22:00]

HILL: Tonight, disturbing video captures a large passenger plane carrying at least 61 people as it crashes, killing everyone on board. That flight was VOEPASS flight 2283, rapidly descending in a flat spin in its final seconds, I know that can be tough watch.

I want to show you where the plane landed in a highly populated area. This is, of course, right outside of peoples homes.

My colleague Isa Soares is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the final moments of Brazilian vote past flight to 2283, as the plane and 61 souls on board spiral to the fiery end, crashing into a residential area in the outskirts of Sao Paulo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When I heard the sound of the plane falling, I look out my window at home, and saw the moment it crashed. The way it fell, I ran out of the house and went to see where he had fallen and so he had fallen into the house for a couple of elderly people.

NATHALIE CICARI, WITNESSED PLANE CRASH (through translator): I heard a very loud noise, very close to me. I thought it was a drone. I looked up to the sky and saw the plains spinning in my head in a matter of seconds, I didn't realize that it wasn't the normal movement of a plane, and I just had time to duck.

SOARES: Flight 2283, a twin engine turboprop departed from the city of Cascavel, bound for what will use international airport in Sao Paulo, when it signal was lost shortly before 1:30 p.m. local time. According to FlightRadar24 data, the plane dropped around 17,000 feet in the space of a minute.

One man who missed the flight told Brazilian news outlet "Global" that at least ten people were waiting at the wrong gate and missed the flight before it took off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They said to me, mister, you're not getting on this plane because we're already passed the boarding limits. I even pressured them a little.

My legs are shaking. Only God knows how I'm feeling.

SOARES: In a statement, the airline VOEPASS said it had no confirmation of how the accident occurred, saying it was supporting those involved.

While ATR, the plane's manufacturer, said it was fully engaged to support both the investigation and the customer.

Authorities have located the black box flight recorder and hoping it will provide some much needed answers. Brazil's president, who was attending a naval event when hearing the news, held a moment of silence.

LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL (through translator): I would like everyone to stand up so we can observe a minute of silence because the plane has just crashed in the city of Vinhedo, in Sao Paulo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES (on camera): And, Erica, in the last 20 minutes or so, President Lula has announced, declared three days of national mourning in memory of those 61 victims really that lost their lives in the most terrifying of ways as you can see, as we have shown our viewers.

[19:25:12]

We've also heard from authorities in the state of Sao Paulo on the ground. We understand the medical teams are on the ground. And then the last few minutes, authorities have been able to move three bodies from the wreckage to this state of Sao Paulo, but identifying them has been particularly hard -- Erica.

HILL: And so tough. Isa, appreciate it. Thank you.

Joining us now, CNN transportation analyst Mary Schiavo, former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation, and former ATR pilot, Stephen Fredrick. He's also the author of "Unheeded Warning: The Inside Story of American Eagle Flight 4184". That flight involved the same type of plane that was involved in this crash in Brazil.

So, Steve, I want to begin with you here. You flew this type of plane, this ATR plane for a number of years. Based on what we know in terms of information at this hour and what you know about this aircraft, do you have any thoughts what you think may have happened.

STEPHEN FREDRICK, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: Well, the investigation, Erica, is going to give us a lot more data once we get the cockpit voice recorder in a digital flight data recorder, back to D.C. and downloaded.

However, there was reported severe icing in the area, the aircraft wing obviously was in his full stall condition, the flight spin occurred and the pilots had probably very little if any chance of recovering the aircraft. The ATR has long been problematic in icing conditions and had this crew entered severe icing conditions are seen icing conditions on it, that they judged as severe, the procedure would have been to turn off the autopilot exit the area as fast as possible.

The biggest problem is, you become a test pilot once you enter severe icing conditions. And these folks may not have even had an instant to react before the airplane went out of control.

HILL: Wow. When we look at the flight, was at, Mary, around 17,000 feet. As we understand it, when something went wrong, there were about eight minutes from that moment to landing. They were so low to the ground there we saw it in that flat spin. I know there was some variation in the flight pattern.

As you're looking at that, as you're looking at the video, Mary, what are you looking for in both the information? We have in the pictures that we have in this moment?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Well, actually, there awful lot of clues that come out just from that video and from the information that we know, of course, you mentioned the segment, the weather warning, but you can see that it is falling dramatically. I also looked at the radar tracings and there wasn't -- there was one small porpoise meeting aircraft went down and up and then it went straight down.

So it was a significant aerodynamic stall event. I agree that there was no or little chance to recover this aircraft once this happened because the aerodynamic stall means that you don't have some significant are sufficient airflow over your wings to continue to fly. It can be due to a lot of things.

There's also a sound associated with that and we don't know if its this aircraft or others in the vicinity, but it appears both engines were still running and that would give us a clue that maybe it was it was something other than engine failure.

There's also another crash like as I always look at prior accidents and other the things that are similar cases that I've worked on. And there was one in Nepal where the pilot, instead of putting on the flaps -- a copilot actually, instead of putting on the flaps, feathered the propeller, and that means change the way the blades orient towards the flight and that caused the engines not to produce enough power and the pilots actually thought they had an engine failure, which they did not.

So there are a couple things that you could look at that are very, very similar to this on that crash that was in Nepal in January 23. The stall pattern and how the plane fell from the sky looked very similar. But if you look at pure old statistics and what caused the prior crash, as I've looked at about 18 or so of them, usually it's weather, and often the stall is related to icing, including a significant one in the U.S. where the United States said these aircraft need much better, a more robust de-icing equipment.

HILL: So to that point, Steve, as I mentioned in your introduction, you right, you wrote about a flight that went down in 1994, same type of plane. I believe there were 68 people on board that flight. And you were suspended for questioning the safety of that plane. Thirty years later, those planes are still being flown in other areas.

Do you think it's a problem?

FREDRICK: I do think it's a problem. ATR never really fixed the situation that developed and there has been 19 losses of life on ATR crashes, 19 crashes in -- since 2000 to today's crash. We all knew 4184 was coming back in October of 1994. And we just knew that it was going to be an ice related situation.

[19:30:04]

The problem was they didn't fix the problem with the airplane. The aerodynamics still remain the same. They made a couple of minor changes to the deicing system, but in my opinion, it wasn't enough, and there's just been too many crashes, too many loss of controls where the airplane is eventually recovered by the crew.

In fact, I had one prior to 4184, and nobody would listen to me until people died. So, unfortunately, that's how things get fixed, people die and it's just another tragedy.

HILL: Yeah, Steve, Mary, really appreciate both of you joining me tonight. Your insight, your expertise are invaluable here. Thank you.

SCHIAVO: Thanks.

FREDRICK: Thank you.

HILL: OUTFRONT next, Ukrainian forces pushing further into Russia, now claiming control of a town across the border and lodging massive drone strikes. What could Putin do next?

Plus, CNN has exclusive rare access inside a site where the U.S. controls its nuclear weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Down here inside the missile alert facility were very limited what we can show you, it's because the heart of what the facility is all about, the controls and consoles that manage the launch sites, all of that is classified.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:35:10]

HILL: Breaking news, Ukraine claiming full control over a Russian town amid reports that its soldiers are rapidly advancing even further into Russian territory. Now, this is all part of a surprise, and frankly, unprecedented incursion that Russian military bloggers pay has now spread about 30 miles beyond that initial site of Ukraine's attack.

Some of the video we have here shows what appears to be a column of burned out Russian military vehicles littered with bodies. Russia now declaring a state of emergency in the region where the fighting is taking place.

OUTFRONT now, investigative journalist Christo Grozev.

It's great to have you back with us tonight.

So this is a highly fluid situation, really surprising in a lot of ways. I do want to talk about the timing and the moment. But first, can you just bring us up to speed on what you're learning? I mean, this has been a very active few days. So where do things stand right now? CHRISTO GROZEV, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Well, Russian bloggers call

it a fog of war situation. They cannot confirm exactly what number of villages and towns are under Ukrainian control.

But there's a sort of a fledgling consensus that about 100 square miles already are under Ukrainian -- that's not nothing. That's more than the territory that Ukraine was able to recapture during their surge, the counter attack, counteroffensive. They did. That's a lot of territory.

But it doesn't even matter because if they managed to stay there, even if they don't take any additional territory. And we see evidence they're entrenching, they're bringing overnight new equipment, engineering equipment to make sure that they are in defensive position, which is always harder to attack, if they retain this for even a month, there causing serious damage to the reputation of the Kremlin.

And this is really what they're trying to achieve. One of the things they're trying to achieve is to cause sort of a feeling of fallibility at the Kremlin or near the Kremlin, because -- I mean, I've talked to a lot of the Kremlin insiders who are saying, well, were sitting on the fence and waiting to see if there is clear evidence were going to win this war, we'll continue supporting Putin. If there's no evidence were going to win this war, we can't wait 25 years to get off sanctions. So we might do something about it.

HILL: Do something? Meaning some sort of a coup?

GROZEV: Well, yeah, I mean, it's always been sort of in the cards.

HILL: Right.

GROZEV: The collective Putin around him has all the inventory to organize a coup.

HILL: Which would be, I mean, in and of itself a huge deal. So, that's from the Russian side, right? But when we look at this from the Ukrainian side I'm still curious about the timing. Why now?

GROZEV: Well, first of all, it was a surprise, so why now could have been a question we can ask any time, but now, they're at least two reasons that I can see. And I've talked to Ukrainian military officials who never shared this with anyone. They didn't share it with intelligence services, not even the United States, for fear of this being actually asked not to do it, maybe.

But there are two reasons. One is that they have now the equipment and in particular the drones that were extremely important for this, for covering the advance of this position that they've had a whole new generation of drones that are A.I. driven and they are supported. And they only got those in the last two months in June and July. A lot of them are home drone, home developed them in Ukraine.

But the second reason is that actually, they want to make it impossible for them to be pushed into unfavorable negotiations in case there's a change of a cabinet in the United States, in case Trump comes to power, there have been very fearful that Trump may force them into forced negotiation, which will end up settling the border at the current positions of the front frontline, which will be very unfavorable to Ukraine. But we such an advance even with small territory on Russian territory, was smaller than sun Russian territory during the position addition to bargain, a complete swap of territories, not limited to the number of kilometers or miles they've taken, but in general.

HILL: So it gives them a little bargaining power, or a lot of bargaining pattern depending on the way you look at it. I know were a little tight on time, but the way this fighting has been raging, what you told me about inside Russia, what you're hearing, what do you think the response from Putin is going to be, especially if they're able to hold onto this territory?

GROZEV: Well, again, he's scrambling to find an appropriate response and you have to understand that his reputation within the population has suffered because he hasn't been able to provide even the logistical humanitarian support for the people to be moved out on those territories. And even today, after two days of inactivity, their offered $100 a family for all of their cost of allocation, which is obviously not sufficient.

What their fears that he might lash out and decide to finally try to use the nuclear tactical option. But again, something that a high ranking official told me at the start of the war, a Russian official that Putin can only use the nuclear option if you share that people will follow his command. And he can only use it if he's in a strong position, if he's winning the war, because if he's not winning the war, somebody is not going to press a button and then he is -- that's the end of Putin.

HILL: Wow, I mean it is, there is so much going on in that region that moment. It's really good to have you here and I appreciate it.

[19:40:02]

GROZEV: Thanks very much.

HILL: And thanks for sharing inside reporting, too.

All this, of course, coming just a week after that historic prisoner swap, where Russia released 16 people, one of them was Vladimir Kara- Murza, who story we have been following on OUTFRONT. I just want to know what that both he and his wife Evgenia will be joining Erin right here Monday night at 7:00.

Ahead tonight, as global tensions rise and America's rivals build up their arsenals, CNN is gained exclusive access to the site where the U.S. controls many of its most powerful nuclear weapons. Here's Oren Liebermann. He's OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LIEBERMANN (voice-over): America's most powerful weapons must always be ready, hopefully, never to be used.

At this training facility in Minot, North Dakota, U.S. airmen mount and inert nuclear warhead, top of Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile.

More than 50-years-old, the aging missiles, or a strategic deterrent able to hit anywhere in the world within minutes especially as Americas adversaries build their own advanced weapons.

Russia just began the next stage of its ongoing nuclear weapons exercise, Russian president Vladimir Putin has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons since invading Ukraine. Meanwhile, U.S. officials believe Iran's breakout time to a bomb is one or two weeks.

ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: Where we are our now is not in a good place. What we've seen in the last weeks and months is Iran is actually moving forward with this program.

LIEBERMANN: All while North Korea tests its own array of ballistic missiles, as concern remains about another nuclear test from Pyongyang.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we get other nations develop more and more capabilities, it increases their ability to look at us and potentially say, maybe today its worth it.

LIEBERMANN: CNN traveled to the northern edge the continental U.S. to get an exclusive look id missile alert facilities that control the ICBMs.

The missile alert facilities aren't located at Minot Air Force base. They're spread around the countryside as you can see here. That's where were headed right now.

After multiple ID and equipment checks, an elevator ride deep into the ground and through too massive vault doors, we finally enter the control capsule itself. Down here inside the missile alert facility, we're very limited in what we can show you that's because the heart of what the facility is all about, the controls and consoles that manage the launch sites, all of that is classified.

We are the first ever allowed to spend a night of the facility. Here, officers stay alert during 24-hour shifts, monitoring nearby missile sites, ready for launch orders. They hope never come.

2ND LT. EVELYN MCCOY, MISSILEER: Every action that we do, every alarm that we get, we have to do it correctly. We have to get it right because our country's lives are at stake, and we're trained to complete the mission.

LIEBERMANN: There's a mental aspect of his job as well. Each airman knowing the responsibility they bear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The potential destructive power of these weapons is so massive, the public at large needs us to be sharpened and on our game with this in all aspects of it. LIEBERMANN: The Minuteman III is scheduled to be replaced by the Sentinel missile, part of the Air Force's effort to modernize U.S. nuclear capabilities.

But the new ICBM is already 81 percent over-budget and years away from deployment.

How do you convince the American taxpayer that yes, this missile is needed, this missile was worth it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ability for us to continue to provide this leg of the nuclear triad absolutely critical, and so, we need to figure out a way to do that smartly, and economically as possible.

LIEBERMANN: But until the sun sets on the Minuteman III, they quietly sit below the North Dakota landscape, a loud deterrent to the worst of wars.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, in North Dakota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: OUTFRONT next, J.D. Vance heading to the Texas border as the Trump team attacks Kamala Harris over border security. One Texas mayor wants her to come see his towel. He wants to see what's happening firsthand. He's my guest.

Plus, China and Taiwan meeting on the Olympic stage, Taiwan came away with gold. But in China, that's not what they saw.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:48:26]

HILL: Tonight, quote, criminals for Kamala. Donald Trump ramping up his attacks on what he calls Harris's, quote, radical immigration policies, hosting this new video on social media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AD NARRATOR: Alexander Izaguirre, an illegal immigrant convicted of multiple crimes, was released, given job training by the city and later robbed a woman in an assault that left her with a fractured skull.

What do these criminals all have in common?

Each of them was put back on the street by Kamala Harris.

These are dangerously liberal policies that benefited illegal immigrants and criminals, not us.

These are criminals for Kamala.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Harris, of course, is in Arizona tonight.

Trump's running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, is headed to Texas this weekend for what will be his second visit to the border just this month.

OUTFRONT now is Victor Trevino. He's the mayor of Laredo, Texas, which is home to one of largest border crossing points in the U.S.

Mr. Mayor, good to have you with us tonight.

I know Senator Vance has actually reached out to your office, hoping for a meeting with you when he's there in Laredo this weekend.

But as I understand it, you have no plans to sit down with him. Why not?

MAYOR VICTOR TREVINO, LAREDO, TEXAS: Well, first of all, thank you for having me and having an understanding of the situation the border takes just a lot more than a photo-op. It takes border mayors and people who live and work here that understand the challenges that exist.

So, with due respect, Senator Vance is showing he's getting the wrong information, maybe because large percentage of migrants are not from Mexico. They're from South America and other parts of the world, and the dynamics that happened along here -- it takes somebody to come here.

[19:50:03]

I met with the White House and the border mayors several times. We share our thoughts and changes made by President Biden for the asylum rule for practical and directly reduce the daily encounters here on the border. So these are things that we see that dynamics that we live and work here, we -- you have to live and work. You just can't get a photo op.

HILL: So it can't just be a photo op, but the opportunity to sit down with him and to maybe walk him through all that. Do you think it would have been at the very least instructive for him?

TREVINO: Well, I welcome anybody that comes as a candidate, to speak with me. It's similar to my meeting at the White House, any leader in my community would we willing to meet with him and to discuss real solutions about the border, but not to entertain the divisive rhetoric. And I think inappropriate situation that they say, and to meet with Senator Vance unless he wanted to talk about solutions in our community at the border, that is where it would be. That's where would we be at? I think that would be beneficial.

HILL: And it was your sense that that was that is not the purpose of his visit?

TREVINO: Well, based on the rhetoric that he says, I think he has wrong information, but it would benefit him to really come down here and have a good dialogue so he can see what reality is like. HILL: You mentioned that, you know, you spoken with the White House

along with another of other border mayors. I know you were with the vice president just days after she actually became the presumptive Democratic nominee. And you told us then that you had invited her to visit Laredo.

Has responded to that invitation?

TREVINO: Yes, yes. We're waiting for that that invitation to take -- to take hold, but I think it would be beneficial and her policy the way she speaks, I think she -- she had made efforts to come here to the border and we're wanting to greet her and have her come around and see what happens here.

HILL: I think this is a good idea, a good way for her to see exactly also, what -- what the dynamics are here on the border and that any candidate running for federal position should come to the border.

TREVINO: So to that point, would you ever consider extending an invitation to Senator Vance or to Donald Trump in more of that vain, a hey, come here, let me show you how things work, but we don't necessarily have to do it with the cameras.

We would do that when they are focused on solutions and I think we they have to understand that here in Laredo, we have been the number one port in the United States and one of the safest cities and without the need of a border wall.

So this is a functional model. We do this by good bi-national relationship collaboration, and supporting our various law enforcement agencies. So they need to be on board with that focus in that mentality rather than the ridicule that they're pursuing.

HILL: Mayor Victor Trevino, really appreciate taking the time to join us tonight. Thank you.

TREVINO: Thank you. Appreciate it.

HILL: OUTFRONT next, China's censorship, going to new lengths, actually cutting away from the Olympics.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:57:08]

HILL: Tonight, China is censoring the Olympics, at least the parts where China is losing.

Will Ripley is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On one side of the Taiwan Strait, celebration. On the other side, silence. China and Taiwan's epic badminton battle, ending with the island's

first Paris Olympics gold in Taiwan had millions glued to their screens.

In China, state TV cut the live broadcast, only showing parts where its team played well. No medal ceremony, no celebration. Just a sudden switch to gymnastics.

Taiwanese fans in the stands say they were forcibly silenced.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I made a poster cheering on Taiwan in the shape of the islands before the match, it was snatched away. Although this was a very sad incident, it exposed to the world what Taiwan faces all the time.

RIPLEY: Taiwan's foreign ministry calls the incident a violation of Olympic values. The IOC says banners with political messages are not allowed.

Taiwan is one of three flags banned by the Olympics, along with Russia and Belarus.

Taiwan can only compete as Chinese Taipei, largely due to pressure by Beijing.

China's communist leaders lay claim on the island democracy despite having never controlled it.

MIKE CHINOY, AUTHOR, "ASSIGNMENT CHINA: AN ORAL HISTORY OF AMERICNA JOURNALISTS": Taiwan is a small island of 23 million people. So you can certainly understand the IOC's logic that if somebody has to be offended, Taiwan's going to be the one that has to be offended because they don't want to offend Beijing.

RIPLEY: Long time CNN Beijing correspondent Mike Chinoy says Olympic tensions between Taiwan and China go back to the 1960 Rome Games when Taiwan's government agreed not to use the island's official name, just so its athletes could compete.

CHINOY: It's one of the many uncomfortable compromises that Taiwan has had to make in order to carve out what little international space it has.

RIPLEY: With the Olympics underway, China's Peoples Liberation Army really seeing this propaganda video, illustrating a full scale attack on Taiwan.

Taiwan's military releasing its own video in response, underscoring, escalating cross strait tensions on and off the court.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: And speaking of on the court, Will, what are we seeing in terms of what we see between the players, between the athletes? There is there any tension between the Taiwanese and the Chinese athletes? RIPLEY: That's the interesting thing here, not at all. They speak the

same language. They seem to have a very friendly rapport, was actually kind of a heartwarming moment to see them chit-chatting and interacting and showing good sportsmanship.

This extreme sensitivity, Erica, seems to come from a much higher level. The fact that China with its dozens of gold metals cannot stand to broadcast tiny Taiwan's winning just one gold medal in these Paris Games.

This is the second time in a row that Taiwan has beat China in the badminton men's doubles. They also won in Tokyo. So that might have something to do with all of this, Erica. But certainly, those two players got a hero's welcome when they came back here to Taipei.

HILL: I mean, it is -- it is really something. Great story.

Will, appreciate it as always. Thank you.

And thanks to all of you for joining us tonight.

"AC360" starts right now.