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Trump On Familiar Turf As He Attacks On Harris, Makes False Claims; Harris Seeks To Build On Momentum One Week Before Democratic Convention; Israeli Military On High Alert For Potentially Imminent Attack By Iran; USA Gymnastics Says Court Has Rejected Appeal For Jordan Chiles To Keep Her Bronze Medal; Study: Global Cancer Deaths Among Me to Surge 93 Percent By 2050. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 12, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, Donald Trump is going back to familiar territory to unleash new attacks and false claims against Kamala Harris.

[18:00:02]

That includes a return to the site formerly known as Twitter and a hyper focus on crowd size.

This, as Harris is riding a wave of momentum right now exactly one week before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. But the vice president is also facing some growing pressure to answer questions about her agenda.

And here in Israel, the Israeli military is now on high alert as the threat of an attack by Iran could become a reality very soon. We'll have the latest on the timing and the preparations, including a U.S. submarine now ordered to the region.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Tel Aviv, and you're in The Situation Room.

Tonight, the one week countdown is on to Kamala Harris' star turn at the Democratic National Convention. And Donald Trump is lobbying new attacks at the vice president, hoping something sticks.

Our political correspondents are covering all of this for us. First, let's go to CNN's Kristen Holmes to tell us what's new tonight in the race for the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As momentum around Kamala Harris continues to build --

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Hey, Nevada.

HOLMES: -- Donald Trump promoting far right conspiracy theories around his Democratic challenger, falsely claiming on social media that the crowd size at Harris Detroit rally was A.I. generated, writing, quote, this is the way Democrats win elections, by cheating, and they're even worse at the ballot box, adding that anyone who is willing to fake their crowd size, quote, will cheat at anything.

Recent polling showing Harris improving on President Joe Biden's standing in several battlegrounds, with a close race in the critical states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Trump's allies imploring the former president to focus on policy, not personal attacks.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): You've got to make this race not on personalities. Stop questioning the size of her crowds and start questioning her position when it comes to what did she do as attorney general on crime.

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And I will never, ever let you down.

HOLMES: Trump trying to get back on message, releasing a series of videos on X, including one painting Harris as a, quote, San Francisco radical.

The postmark has returned to the platform ahead of an interview Monday night with its owner, Elon Musk. The interview comes as Trump's campaign is working to reach potential first time voters who are less likely to engage in politics, through non-traditional media avenues. The former president also expected to hit the campaign trail Wednesday with what's being billed as an economy-focused speech in the crucial state of North Carolina.

Paris has promised to put out details about her economic policies this week, as Republicans hammer away at the lack of details around her policy plan. Over the weekend, Republican V.P. Nominee J. D. Vance, taking on the role of a tack dog, sitting for interviews as Trump campaign aims to highlight Harris' decision so far not to take a lot of questions from the press.

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think that what it is two people, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, who aren't comfortable in their own skin, because they aren't comfortable with their policy positions for the American people. And so they're name-calling instead of actually telling the American people how they're going to make their lives better.

I think that's weird, Dana, but like, they can call me whatever they want to.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (on camera): And, of course, there are a lot of questions as to why Donald Trump is sitting down for this interview with Elon Musk. I am told by sources on the campaign that this is part of their effort to reach out to those first time voters. They say that these kind of rallies, this kind of typical political engagement, is not something that the voters they want to reach might necessarily be tuned into. Instead, those voters are going to be focused on something like an interview with Elon Musk, or an interview with Aiden Ross, the streamer that he met with last week. That is why you're seeing Donald Trump do these kind of out-of-the-box interviews instead of being on the campaign trail.

Now, a lot of allies say they'd rather see him out there on the campaign trail. We'll obviously see if this pays off as we get closer to November. Wolf?

BLITZER: We shall see you fairly soon, I'm sure.

Kristen, stand by for us. I want CNN's Eva McKend right now as well. Eva, what can we expect from Vice President Harris this week leading up to the Democratic Convention in Chicago next week?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Vice President Harris, she slated to outline her economic policy vision this week. And she previewed these policies at a Las Vegas rally over the weekend.

And what I can glean from listening to her out on the campaign trail, this is going to be a plan that aims to tackle high prices. You know, on the trail, she says our economy is the strongest in the world, inflation is down, wages are up, but she acknowledges that prices are still too high. She'll pledge to take on price gouging and ban hidden fees and surprise late charges that she argues banks and other companies use to pad their profits.

[18:05:01]

And she'll pledge to take on corporate landlords and cap unfair rent increases.

But it's her position on eliminating taxes on tips for hospitality workers that's getting the most attention, because it's a policy first offered by former President Donald Trump. What she's also doing is leaning into the most popular aspects of the Biden-Harris agenda. The speakers at her rallies are often everyday Americans who have benefited from some Democratic policy, like an educator in Vegas whose student loans were forgiven, and this all will culminate in an economic themed event with President Biden Thursday. That's the first time that they will appear together at this type of event since she became the nominee. Wolf?

BLITZER: Evan McKend and Kristen Holmes, to both of you, thank you very much for your report.

We have more political experts joining us right now for some analysis of what's going on. And, Isaac Dovere, there's another part of this new poll I want to get your reaction to. There's no clear leader on the question of who would better handle the issue you think is most important between Harris and Trump. And that's a pretty dramatic change from where Biden was on this very sensitive question just over a month ago. How significant is this?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, it's significant, Wolf, and like, at this point, it really speaks to the vibes and the energy that is coming off of the Harris campaign more than anything specific that she has proposed. And it's a difference that is apparent at her rallies, it's apparent in the way people are responding to her online. This is a very different campaign than it was three weeks ago, or three weeks in a day when Joe Biden was still the nominee. We'll see if it holds, not just over the course of the campaign, but as she gets into actual proposals for what she would do and how much they will differ from what Joe Biden has been doing the last three and a half years as she's been part of the administration. It is the kind of thing that the Harris campaign hopes can carry through over the next 80-plus days here.

BLITZER: Important. Scott Jennings, how concerned should Republicans be that Harris has closed the gap in at least three of the key battleground states? We're showing our viewers Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. And they're both effectively tied with Trump on who best can handle the most important issue out there right now. What's your analysis?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, the analysis is definition. And the Trump campaign had defined Joe Biden in a way that I don't think he was going to be able to come back from, and that was people had lost total confidence in his ability to control the number one problem everybody has, which is the economy/inflation. They've not done that to Harris yet. They're not sticking Biden's policies or his record to Harris just yet.

So, the opportunity for Trump is to do that. They've not gotten there, but they're going to have to, because it's by far and away the most important issue in the election. And if the Republicans can't win on the economy, it's going to make it hard to win the election.

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting, Isaac, that Kamala Harris has largely avoided taking questions from reporters. The Washington Post Editorial Board has just written this, and let me quote from The Washington Post. Since replacing President Joe Biden at the top of the 2024 Democratic ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris has neither given a sit-down interview nor held a news conference. Her campaign's website lacks an issues page. The media and the public have legitimate questions, and she should face them. This is a political necessity.

So, what do you think? Should Democrats be concerned this will become potentially a political liability for her if she continues to not take questions, for example, from reporters?

DOVERE: Well, we'll see how much of an issue it is for people who are outside of our business. Look, Wolf, obviously you and I both would like every politician to take more questions all the time and sit for interviews. I think it's important. So far, Harris has not suffered for not doing it. But it is hard to see how she will go much longer without doing it. She said last week that she would be talking to her team and hopefully scheduling an interview by the end of the month.

There are a lot of days left in August still, even days after she said that. I don't think it seems likely that she'll do one before the convention. Then all of next week is the convention. Would she do one in the middle of that? Maybe. And then there is still another week in August left and many more days after that to lay out what she is doing in this campaign, why she is running beyond what she's saying in the speeches there. These are scripted events, obviously, and a lot of people do often want to see from their president what -- or their potential president, how the person thinks, how they respond to questions that they don't know in advance.

Of course, there's also the debate now that we'll have on September 10th between her and Trump and maybe others. So, it is unclear how much Harris will be committed to doing more interviews, but the pressure is certainly mounting.

[18:10:10]

BLITZER: Yes, it is. Ashley Allison is with us as well. Ashley, I want to turn to Trump's adoption of this rather bizarre right wing conspiracy about an A.I.-generated crowd at a Kamala Harris rally. Do you see this as a sign that he's actually rattled by the momentum we're seeing from the Harris campaign?

ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. You know, Donald Trump just can't help himself. Nobody is asking him to care about crowd size. He started this back when it was his inauguration and he wanted to compare himself to Barack Obama. And so he kind of lost it on how many people were there. And he's doing the same thing with the vice president's campaign now.

And it is very clear that thousands of people are coming out of excitement to see a history-maker, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. And so Donald Trump can't help himself rather than -- I know Scott probably feels this way, rather than sticking to the campaign agenda of talking about issues.

But it goes to something deeper that I don't actually think Donald Trump is campaigning because he's focused on the American public. He is, his campaign has a lot of ego in it, and that is why you see him losing it, literally losing it, making up false claims about A.I.- generated people.

I will say though, I believe the Trump campaign has A.I-generated some photos of him and black voters to-date, but folks can fact-check me on that.

BLITZER: Scott, do you think that the constant talk about crowd size, including this A.I. conspiracy theory advanced by Trump is harming his campaign?

JENNINGS: Well, at a minimum, it's not helping because every day --- and there aren't that many days left -- every day he's not talking about inflation, which Kamala Harris had a hand in, or the crisis at the border, which Kamala Harris had a hand in, and the issues that people actually care about. Every day he's off of that track is a lost day. And so I'm sure Harris is more than happy to have a back and forth about crowd size. I'm sure they would love for him to keep doing this.

But to win the election, he's got to speak to what people actually care about. He had this down against Biden. This is not a foreign concept to him. They had it down against Biden. They've got to re-find it against Harris or people are going to get the idea that he's lost focus on what the top concerns for the voters are.

So, is it hurting him? I don't know but I don't need to -- that's no way to run a campaign, Wolf. What you have to do is try to find things that help you. And what would help him is prosecuting the case against her. She's got a record. She's got a lot of public statements. It's there to be run. He's got to run it.

BLITZER: These candidates should talk about the issues. You're absolutely right.

Isaac, the former House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, today urged Donald Trump to stop talking about crowd size. Any sign you think that Trump is actually listening?

DOVERE: Wolf, you and I and everybody else has gotten used to Republicans going on T.V., Republican leaders trying to send a message to Donald Trump, get him off of the thing that he's been talking about. But Donald Trump keeps his own counsel here. He was talking about crowd size not just over the weekend with these A.I.-generated photos. He talked about it in that press conference that he did last week in Mar-a-Lago. He made that claim that he had a bigger crowd on January 6th than Martin Luther King had for the march on Washington, also not true, by the way.

This is -- Donald Trump is running the campaign the way he wants to run the campaign. One of the things that seems to be apparent at this point is that this campaign already now in these last three weeks has a very different dynamic than the 2020 campaign or the 2016 campaign. We'll see if Trump adjust to that and changes the way that he's going about any of this.

BLITZER: We'll see what happens. Everyone stand by. We have a lot more to discuss and I'll see you guys a little bit later this hour.

Still ahead, more on Trump's team up -- his team up with Elon Musk later tonight and what they both hope to get out of it.

And next, an up-to-the-minute assessment of how and when Iran or Hezbollah may actually attack Israel.

We're live here in Tel Aviv, and you're in The Situation Room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

BLITZER: We are back live here in Tel Aviv as the Israeli military is now on a high state of alert, bracing for what's being described as a revenge attack by Iran. U.S. forces also taking new defensive action, major action, tonight.

Oren Liebermann is over at the Pentagon for us, but, first, I want to go to CNN's Jeremy Diamond. He's up in Northern Israel, in Haifa, for us. Jeremy, what's the latest on the timing and the nature of a possible Iranian retaliation?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, U.S. and Israeli officials believe that an Iranian attack is likely to come within the coming days. We still don't know the exact timing of such an attack. And most importantly, we don't know exactly what the size and scope of that Iranian attack will be. Will it be one that will be aimed to be symbolic to try and avoid further escalation, or could it be a significant attack, one that carries the risk of civilian casualties that could really plunge this region into a deeper conflict. That is one of the main questions.

But certainly, there is concern about that possibility of a wider regional conflict. As all of this is happening, the Israeli military is that what they describe as peak readiness, preparing not only defensive scenarios, but also offensive ones, being able to quickly react with a counterstrike, if that is deemed necessary They're also carrying out flights over Lebanon where the key Iranian proxy of Hezbollah is based.

But even as these military preparations are underway, there is still a lot of diplomacy aimed to try and get Iran to reconsider, to recalculate, to reconsider its decision-making.

[18:20:06]

And that's what we saw today. The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as well as the British prime minister, both speaking with the Iranian president, urging restraint and urging de escalation.

BLITZER: Oren, you're there at the Pentagon for us, and as you know, the defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, publicly announced he ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East, where we are right now. They usually don't announce where submarines are heading. Is this more than a deterrent? What's your understanding?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it is the threat of more than a deterrent. The Pentagon has described its movement of U.S. forces to the region as, quote, defensive in nature, and there has been a significant movement of U.S. forces to the region, including a carrier strike group, destroyers, other warships, fighter squadrons as well, over the course of the past several weeks. But there's nothing defensive about a guided missile submarine armed with Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles. Those are purely offensive weapons meant to carry out an offensive strike.

Now, for the U.S., this is a deterrent. It's a message to Iran and its proxies in the region that the U.S. has these sorts of capabilities, has these sorts of weapons in the region, and, of course, then, the ability to use them.

The message is one of deterrence, but the U.S. and Israel are closely watching how and what Iran and its proxies choose to do with that warning from the submarine and the other forces the U.S. has in the region, that should Iran make that decision to escalate, should it choose to carry out a larger, wider scale attack, the U.S. has the ability to hit back and to hit back hard. BLITZER: The U.S. has been moving U.S. aircraft carrier strike forces to this region as well.

Jeremy, the ceasefire and hostage talks, as you know, are still slated to begin Thursday in Doha, Qatar. What more are we learning about those negotiations and where they stand?

DIAMOND: Well, you know, late last week, Wolf, there was a lot of hope, a lot of optimism in the air as the United States, Egypt and Qatar sought to pressure Israel and Hamas to get back to the negotiating table to finalize a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

But then we saw Hamas casting doubt on whether or not they would actually attend in a statement just yesterday, and now, of course, there are these fears that an Iranian attack, perhaps one joined by Hezbollah as well to Israel's north, could happen in a matter of days, could happen before these negotiators actually get to the negotiating table in either Cairo, Egypt or in Doha, Qatar.

And so if that Iranian attack actually materializes, it could put into question this whole effort to try and really lobby a lot of international pressure to bring that pressure to bear, not only on Hamas, but also very squarely on the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

So, we will see whether that attack materializes, if it turns off the negotiators from actually meeting in Qatar or in Egypt on Thursday. But certainly, there are a lot of diplomatic efforts aimed at trying to get Iran to think about that ceasefire as a way of getting what it wanted out of this. Instead of carrying out that retaliatory strike, if they can claim responsibility in part at least for getting a ceasefire deal, then they could take that as a win.

I think those are some of the conversations that are certainly happening in this region. But there's no question that if a significant Iranian attack happens, one that causes casualties, in particular in Israel. I think that will completely derail this hostage release and ceasefire negotiations. And certainly that will spell very bad news for this region, for the people of Gaza, and for the hostages who remain captive in Gaza. Wolf?

BLITZER: Lots going on here in the Middle East right now. Jeremy Diamond and Oren Liebermann, to both of you, thanks very much for your reporting.

Coming up Why Donald Trump is returning to the social media platform now known as X after nearly a year, the former president posting multiple times today, just ahead of a conversation with the social networks owner, Elon Musk.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

BLITZER: About an hour and a half from now, billionaire Elon Musk will host Donald Trump on his social media platform X, the app once known as Twitter, and once a favorite outlet for Trump before he was banned in the aftermath of the January 6th insurrection.

CNN's Brian Todd has more for us. Brian, what can we expect from this conversation?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, media analysts expect this to be a friendly and freewheeling conversation where Elon Musk is likely to let Donald Trump go in whatever direction he wants. It comes as both men are trying to shape new narratives about themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: Thank you very much.

TODD (voice over): Donald Trump seemingly amped up tonight for his live conversation on X with Elon Musk, the former president posting several times on X today, the first time he's posted on the platform in nearly a year. Among his posts, a 2.5 minute video highlighting coverage of the FBI's search of his Mar-a-Lago home in 2022.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The FBI has executed an unprecedented search warrant at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.

TRUMP: I never thought anything like this could happen in America.

TODD: Trump also reposted a message from his campaign's official X account, promoting the conversation with Musk, quote, it will be the interview of the century.

MARIO PARKER, NATIONAL POLITICS TEAM LEADER, BLOOMBERG: For Trump, you want to generate the buzz right now because he's losing the narrative of the 2024 presidential election, right? He's trying to wrestle back some of the momentum, wrestle back some of the news cycle from Kamala Harris. What better way to do that than to put Trump, Musk in the headlines on X.

TODD: What can we expect from this enormously hyped conversation between the world's richest man and the former president?

[18:30:01]

SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST: Because Elon Musk has come out and endorsed Donald Trump, I expect this to be like a bromance type of an interview where they're supporting each other. I think that Elon Musk will let Donald Trump speak all the falsehoods and misinformation that he wants.

TODD: Both men have heavily trafficked in misinformation and conspiracy theories in recent years. Trump just yesterday making the false claim on social media that there were fake crowd pictures of Kamala Harris' Michigan rally last week. Musk has similarly, repeatedly embraced false conspiracies, spread misinformation, and one of his first acts since buying Twitter in 2022 was to reinstate Trump's account, which was banned after January 6th for the risk of further inciting violence.

It was just a couple of years ago that Trump and Musk were on the outs, Musk tweeting, quote, it's time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset. Trump saying this about Musk.

TRUMP: Elon, is not going to buy Twitter. No, he's got himself a mess. You know, he said the other day, oh, I've never voted for a Republican. I said, I didn't know that. He told me he voted for me. So, he's another (BLEEP) on us, but he's not going to be buying it.

TODD: But just after the assassination attempt against Trump, Musk endorsed the former president, and Trump now has a different tune.

TRUMP: I respect Elon a lot. He respects me.

TODD: And Musk is backing up his endorsement with cash, though the figures have been in dispute.

PARKER: Elon Musk has started a super PAC for Donald Trump. The figures have been thrown out. He's refuted a figure of $45 million a month that he's thrown out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): Donald Trump's interview with Elon Musk and the recent inroads that Trump has made with the tech industry come at an important time. Kamala Harris has just returned to San Francisco for the first time since clinching the Democratic nomination, and she held a successful fundraiser there over the weekend, giving the Democrats real hope that Silicon Valley will support Harris more than it supported President Biden. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Brian, thank you very much, Brian Todd reporting.

Our Political Commentators Ashley Allison and Scott Jennings are back with us for some more analysis.

Scott, when Trump has been promoting a right wing conspiracy theory about Harris' crowds, is it a good idea for him to do an interview with someone known to traffic in misinformation?

JENNINGS: Well, he's got to reach as many people as he can. And at this point of the campaign, you can't leave any stone unturned. So, I am -- before this thing happens, cautiously going to say this is a good idea, but I'll reserve judgment on the final analysis until I hear the content tonight.

But Donald Trump obviously built a name for himself in politics on this platform. He's returning to the platform and he's currying favor with someone with a ton of money. Elon Musk could, you know, financially change this campaign in a major way, if he decided to do it.Maybe he already is to some degree.

So, I think he's got to reach folks, Wolf, and, ultimately, he's got to prosecute the case that will work with voters. And, you know, he's going to reach more people tonight on Twitter than he would do at any individual rally out there.

BLITZER: Ashley, Trump used his X account, formerly known as Twitter, today for the first time in almost a year. As we've been reporting, he was banned from the platform after the January 6th insurrection. What concerns do you have about this return?

ALLISON: Yes. So, this interview -- I wouldn't even call it an interview. It's a conversation with a strong ally of Donald Trump. So, it's basically a campaign event hosted by the owner of X on X, the platform. I'm concerned every time Donald Trump is platformed, will he be fact-checked? Will lies that are absolutely untrue be stopped? Will Elon Musk, because he owns the platform, be able to promote Trump content over other content? Will it be a fair platform? To-date, it doesn't seem like that is how Elon Musk is actually curating the content on his site.

And so I think that we are in this new age of campaigning where every candidate is allowed to go and, you know, turn over every stone. But Elon Musk tries to present himself as an arbiter of the First Amendment, but that's not what this event tonight is going to be.

And the final thing I'll just say on this is, it's interesting Donald Trump is going back to X because, you know, Ron DeSantis launched his campaign on X in a chat with Elon Musk, and it was quite disastrous. The technology didn't work. And so it's funny that Donald Trump is, you know, doubling one of his opponent's strategies and using Elon Musk's platform to hopefully not perpetuate more lies, but mostly, highly probable he will.

BLITZER: We'll see if that technology works tonight.

Ashley, on another topic, I'm curious to get your thoughts. CNN is just now learning that Hillary Clinton will speak at next week's Democratic National Convention Monday night in Chicago, while former President Bill Clinton will speak on Wednesday night. What's your reaction to that?

[18:35:00]

ALLISON: A couple of things. I think, one, having -- I'm sure, former President Obama having the Clintons be there shows that the Democratic Party is unified. I don't know how many Republican presidents were at the Republican National Convention. Oh, I know there weren't any because they don't support Donald Trump. His vice president wasn't there to support Donald Trump, because he has alienated so many people in the Republican Party.

But on next week, what the Clintons will be able to show is that across generations, across ideologies, we really are the big tent coalition and big tick (ph) campaign. I also think it's historical to have Hillary Clinton present at the National Convention. She was the last woman to be at the top of the ticket. And it really is an ode to female leadership and the possibilities of this country. And I'm sure her remarks will talk about how she put many cracks in the glass ceiling, but this is the time that Kamala Harris could really break that toughest glass ceiling, become the first female president of the United States. So, I'm excited to see both of their remarks.

BLITZER: And, Scott, Hillary Clinton will join President Biden in speaking on Monday night in Chicago at the convention. Does that choice suggest anything to you? JENNINGS: I mean, they're putting two of the most disliked politicians in America on Monday, far away from Kamala Harris as they can. The one that puzzles me the most is Bill Clinton. I look forward to hearing all the Democrats bash Donald Trump all week for his treatment of women, and then turning around and clapping like seals for a noted female advocate Bill Clinton on Wednesday night. I don't know what it takes to get canceled in America anymore, but if we haven't reached the threshold of Bill Clinton, I don't know that we ever will.

And for all of the attacks on Donald Trump for his conduct with women over the years, to put Bill Clinton on Wednesday night, beyond the pale, massive hypocrisy, huge double standard, whatever you want to call it, but it seems strange to me.

BLITZER: I'm sure he will be very well received. Scott Jennings, Ashley Allison, to both of you, thank you very, very much for your analysis.

And just ahead, a new decision just coming in on whether a U.S. gymnast can keep her bronze medal from the Paris Olympics following a challenge to one of her scores.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

BLITZER: And this just in to CNN, the FBI is now confirming an investigation into an apparent hacking incident the Trump campaign is blaming on Iran.

CNN Cybersecurity Reporter Sean Lyngaas is joining us, along with CNN National Security Analyst Beth Sanner.

Sean, tell us what you're learning.

SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY REPORTER: Wolf, what we're learning is that the suspected Iranian hackers targeted a personal email account of a Trump campaign associate and then used that access to try to go further at the campaign and gain further access to campaign networks.

This is a very fluid situation, ongoing investigation, but we're also reporting at this hour that the then-Biden campaign, now Harris campaign, was targeted in June by the suspected Iranian hackers and that the FBI briefed that campaign on that as well.

So, we're seeing today evidence come forth of an aggressive effort apparently by Iran to try to influence the election or at least gain information about the candidates. And so this is kind of a wakeup call and all-hands-on-deck in terms of election security for the election officials and the national security folks within the Biden administration right now, Wolf.

BLITZER: It seems to me the Iranians are trying to embarrass the United States as much as possible. Beth, what do you make of this stunning, apparent hacking incident?

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, to me, it's pretty consistent. I mean, I think people need to be reminded that in 2020, Iran was actually the most aggressive in terms of the types of operations they were doing. They didn't have the blanket attacks that we saw Russia in 2016, but, you know, they sent letters to voters pretending that they were Proud Boys members and threatening them to vote in a different way. And so they've done things, they've gotten into systems.

So, to me, this is very consistent, number one, and, number two, it's consistent also with Iran's focus on trying to undermine the U.S. electoral system and make voters question our election integrity.

BLITZER: Sean, talk to us a little bit about the ways foreign adversaries are trying to meddle in the U.S. election. It seems to be ramping up right now.

LYNGAAS: That's right, Wolf. I mean, a lot of this is about perceptions, right? This isn't aimed at voting machines or the way that voters cast their ballot. It's about the information environment around that, and trying to sow doubt in what you trust in consuming either on the news or other platforms in terms of what the election is about. So, there's a lot of that in terms of amplifying discord.

Microsoft came out with a report last week indicating that Iranian actors had set up literally fake news sites, one conservative-leaning, one progressive-leaning, to try to convince Americans that there are actual news outlets that they're commenting on this.

So, it's a lot about kind of trying to muddy the waters about what we know about our democracy and distract us from the actual voting and campaigning of it.

BLITZER: Beth, how does the U.S. combat this?

SANNER: Well, it's really hard. And I just want to add one thing that Sean said. I mean, they also have set up A.I.-enabled targeting of voters. And so that has the capability of doing things, like sending out messages to voters and telling them to show up at a different poll.

[18:45:02]

And so the solution to this, I think, is very much having voters understand that their systems are secure and they should only believe official commentary about where to vote, what time to vote, all of those things.

So I think that the messaging that the FBI and others working with local election officials to make sure that that our civic systems are working and where they can go for proper information. Other than that, you know, we are just kind of dependent on good common sense.

BLITZER: Yeah, keywords, good common sense.

So, Beth, what other adversaries should the U.S. be concerned about when it comes to this kind of hacking?

SANNER: Yeah. Well, we -- you know, we always see Russia in terms of election influence efforts. They haven't been as aggressive this year at this point in time. They weren't as aggressive in 2020 as they were in 2016, when we saw the DNC hack and leak.

China's behind the scenes, but we're not seeing them very active this year.

BLITZER: Interesting.

Beth Sanner, thank you. Sean Lyngaas, thanks to you as well. We'll continue to stay on top of this story.

Also, coming up, a big decision regarding a decorated U.S. Olympian in her quest to keep a bronze medal she was awarded in the Paris Olympics.

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[18:50:38]

BLITZER: USA Gymnastics says a court has denied its appeal for USA gymnast, Jordan Chiles, to keep her bronze medal. This comes after the IOC ruled yesterday today that Chiles had to give up her medal after the inquiry made over her score was filed after the one-minute deadline.

CNN's Don Riddell is joining us right now.

Don, this all just developed, what, over the last hour or so. What's the latest?

DON RIDDELL, CNN HOST, WORLD SPORT: Hey, Wolf, while this might not be the end of it. The joy of the Paris Olympics might be over, but sadly, the controversy is not.

Let's just remind you of how we got here because if you've not been following it, it is a bit complicated. Remember this, it was arguably the most iconic shot at the games for the first time ever, an all- Black podium in the sport of gymnastics, Brazil's gold medalist Rebecca Andrade being praised by the American athletes, Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles.

But everything has changed a lot since then. Charles is no longer the bronze medalist. Instead, its Romania's Ana Barbosu, who initially thought she had won the bronze medal until the Americans appeal to the judges, a successful appeal resulted in Chiles score being adjusted and being promoted up into third place, hence, that iconic podium seen.

Romania, that were furious and it sparked something of a diplomatic incident. The remaining prime minister promising to boycott the closing ceremony. But then the Romanians launched an appeal of their own, taking the case to the court of arbitration for sport and they won the medal back for Barbosu. The reason they were successful because apparently, the Americans had taken too long with their initial appeal.

So, now, Jordan Chiles is devastated. She has removed herself safe from social media as she tries to cope with a crushing disappointment, but it's not the end of it. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee say they are going to appeal the appeal of the appeal, saying they firmly believe that their original appeal was done within the allocated amount of time and they now have the video evidence prove it.

But it's not going to be easy. On Monday afternoon, USA Gymnastics said that the court of arbitration for sport told them that their rules don't allow for any reconsideration, even when new evidence is presented. So they are now considering another appeal to the Swiss federal tribunal.

For now, the gymnastics floor routine bronze medal is in limbo. But everybody of course is hoping this can be resolved soon, but I'll leave you with this scene from Paris last week, American figure skaters finally being handed their disputed gold medals from the Winter Olympics two 2.5 years ago, Chiles and Barbosu can only hope that it doesn't take that long to sort it out.

Wolf, we'll just have to wait and see. It's just hard to say right now whether a resolution is going to come in the next few days or the next few years.

BLITZER: As you say, very complicated. Don Riddell, thanks very much for that update.

And coming up the details on a new health study out today that reveals a very troubling prediction for cancer deaths in men around the world.

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[18:58:09]

BLITZER: A very concerning new study projects, global cancer deaths among men will surge 93 percent by the year 2050 with the biggest increases affecting men age 65 and older.

CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell is joining us now.

Meg, do we know why we might see such increases?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, this is mainly based on population growth in particularly as you pointed out, population growth among older men.

So this study takes the current rates as of 2022 and uses demographic projections to look out to 2050. And as you said, deaths from cancer among men worldwide are expected to nearly double by 2052, more than 10 million. You can see that's the red line here in this graph. Cases are expected to go up by 84 percent to 19 million among men worldwide.

Now there are few reasons for this. They are also expected to increase more in lower-income countries. We also know they looked at men because men already have a higher rate of getting cancer and dying from cancer than women do. And that's for a few reasons.

One is men are more likely to smoke and they drink alcohol. Also, they have jobs that expose them to carcinogens or cancer causing substances. They're also less likely to get cancer screenings. So, that's a reminder to remember to do that.

Now in terms of the kinds of cancer they're looking at here, lung cancer is expected to continue to be the most common cancer both in terms of incidents and deaths. The largest increase in cases by 2050 is expected to be seen in mesothelioma, which is a cancer that's mainly associated with asbestos exposure. And then largest increase in cancer deaths is expected to be from prostate cancer.

Now, the researchers are advocating that societies need to prepare for this by increasing their health care infrastructure and increasing access to health care. They also advocate for a universal health care coverage, so that people can access the care that they need.

Then on a personal basis, Wolf, there are few things we can all do to reduce our cancer risk. Don't smoke, limit your alcohol intake, eat healthy, get exercise and protect yourself from the sun -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Very good advice indeed. Meg Tirrell, thank you very much.

A very disturbing report indeed.

I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. I'll see you tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. Eastern for CNN NEWSROOM. We're here live in Tel Aviv.

Until then, thanks very much for watching.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.