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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
IDF Says it has Begun a Limited Ground Operation in Southern Lebanon; At least 128 Deaths Across Six States Due to Helene; NC Governor: Communities "Wiped Off The Map" After Helene; New Explosions Heard In Beirut; IDF: "Limited Ground Operation" In South Lebanon; Trump Calls Harris "Disabled Person" In Self-Described "Dark Speech"; Trump Attacks Biden And Harris On Helene Response During Visit To Georgia City Hit Hard By The Hurricane. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired September 30, 2024 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SONJUL KUMAR, SOUTH ASIANS FOR HARRIS: ... honestly, I mean, everyone's familiar with the famous 11,000 whatever votes. You could not make a better point for every vote counts than in Georgia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That is certainly true. I mean, Erin, that margin hangs over this race, 11,779 votes. That's why, with one week left to go for voter registration, it's really fascinating what's happening in the Atlanta suburbs.
We spent some time there this week and last week, the languages are so different for voter registration cards.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Every one of those cards, you've got Korean, Mandarin, Arabic vote.
ZELENY: For sure. So it is showing you really the changing face of Georgia here. So, all eyes are on Georgia for the next five weeks.
BURNETT: It's 11,779. Thank you very much, Jeff Zeleny.
And thanks to all of you as always, AC360 starts now.
[20:00:52]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Tonight on 360, mile after mile of destruction, heartbreak, and needs. we have live reports in where Helene hit the hardest and people from near and far who are answering the call for help.
North Carolinas governor joins us. So does Chef Jose Andres.
Also, both presidential candidates address the disaster with one, the former president playing politics with the relief effort by claiming the Biden administration is playing politics with the relief effort.
Plus, Israel ramps up airstrikes on Lebanon and launches what they call a limited ground operation. Good evening. Thanks for joining us. What began with exploding pagers and walkie-talkies then the Israeli Air Force killing Hezbollah's leadership is now entering a new phase.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond is on the ground in Northern Israel right now. So, what are you learning tonight as that Israel begins this ground operation?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, for months now, we have wondered whether or not Israel would expand this conflict against Hezbollah, whether it might send ground troops into the sovereign country of Lebanon to go after Hezbollah.
And tonight, Anderson, for the first time, the Israeli military is confirming that they have indeed started a ground operation inside Southern Lebanon to go after Hezbollah positions near the Israel- Lebanon border.
Now, the Israeli military is taking pains to try and describe this as a limited ground operation. In a statement, they said that this is limited localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence to go after Hezbollah targets.
But make no mistake, Anderson, what we are seeing tonight is Israeli troops in a very official capacity for the first time since the 2006 war with Lebanon, sending ground troops into Lebanon and going after Hezbollah targets.
And that is of course, a very significant escalation following several weeks of escalatory actions by the Israeli military, a slew of very heavy airstrikes in Southern Eastern Lebanon, as well as in the Lebanese capital of Beirut. And of course, the killing of Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
But Israeli officials who I've spoken to, Anderson, say that they see this as the moment to go after Hezbollah at a time when they are in disarray, when they have been significantly weakened by those airstrikes.
And so tonight, Anderson all around us, we are hearing that ground operation in action.
We have been hearing the helicopters overhead. We have been hearing outgoing artillery fire from very near our position, just a couple of miles away from the Israeli border.
And then over the hill, in Lebanon, we have been and seeing some of those explosions happening, plumes of smoke, flares as Israeli ground forces under cover of night advance into Lebanon.
COOPER: Do you know how large a force Israel has amassed to conduct this operation?
DIAMOND: Well, we know that over the course of the last several weeks, the Israeli military has increased its force along the border relatively significantly. They've redirected the 98th Division, which was a key fighting force throughout much of this war in Gaza to the northern border. They also activated two reserve brigades. That's thousands of troops being moved to the northern border.
As we were driving here today, we saw about a hundred tanks and armored personnel carriers parade along a highway headed for Northern Israel. And of course, there are forces that we are not seeing in this area as well. We don't know exactly how large the forces that is actually going into Lebanon right now.
Israeli officials who I've spoken to declined to get into exactly how many forces there are, but they are trying to emphasize that this is limited. They say that it is targeted to take out immediate threats along the border, including the threat of Hezbollah carrying out some kind of incursion into Northern Israel.
One senior Israeli official also telling me that they do not intend to carry out any kind of long-term occupation of Southern Lebanon, but they're also not saying, Anderson, exactly how long those Israeli troops are going to be remaining inside Lebanon, how long this operation will last or how deep into Lebanon they intend to operate.
COOPER: Jeremy Diamond, thanks, we'll check back with you later this hour. Also, we'll talk to Tom Friedman of "The New York Times".
Now, back home, the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, not so long ago, the foothills and mountains of Western North Carolina are considered a place to flee from dangerous storms like Helene.
Today, the evidence that it's no longer a storm haven is everywhere you look, including this vacations spot, these pictures from Sunday, was left -- this is what was left of it on Sunday all across the southeast in Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas, the destruction, much of it from so much rain falling on already rain-soaked ground would be almost unimaginable if not from the video coming in from Asheville and Chimney Rock, North Carolina where everything from all allies to highways have been destroyed. And parts of the area cut off from help.
[20:05:28]
So far the death toll across the area hit by Helene stands at 128 and climbing, many more are unaccounted for right now.
President Biden will travel to North Carolina on Wednesday. And as we mentioned, both presidential candidates weighed in today. Before dealing with that though, the latest and what is like in some of the hardest hit places, CNN's Isabel Rosales begins our coverage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE{E)
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With devastation this widespread, a view from the air brings into focus the full scope of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene.
Heavy trees and downed power lines are blocking major roadways, hampering the delivery of badly-needed supplies. An overturned semi-truck laying upside down in the river and numerous landslides all spotted from above. CNN flew by helicopter with a non- profit serving inaccessible towns badly in need of aid.
On the ground, in Black Mountain outside of Asheville, City Manager Josh Harrold says, it could take years to get over this devastation.
JOSH HARROLD, BLACK MOUNTAIN CITY MANAGER: It is catastrophic. Black Mountain may never look the same again. It's just total destruction.
ROSALES (voice over): But just getting by for now, the focus for so many. It's hours of waiting for gas at the few pumps that are still running.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here's your first car.
ROSALES (voice over): In Asheville, lines of cars waiting for basic supplies.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just rough. It's hard seeing the city like this.
ROSALES (voice over): Some families tell CNN, they've run out of drinking water and without electricity their food is rotting.
Gary O'Dell is sharing everything he's got. His home with his daughter who lost it all to the catastrophic floods and even lifesaving oxygen tanks with his neighbor.
GARY O'DELL, SHARING OXYGEN TANK WITH NEIGHBOR: My next-door neighbor ran out of oxygen. He's worse shape than I am. That's my problem. I've got lung cancer now too. And you don't, you know, you don't realize oxygen is very important.
ROSALES (voice over): Non-profits teaming up to serve 2,000 residents in the first four hours.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you guys doing?
ROSALES (voice over): This is one of the first semi-trucks full of desperately needed supplies to arrive in Asheville.
MICHELLE COLEMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ASHVILLE DREAM CENTER: This is the most devastating thing I've ever seen here in the whole city. I think that the loss of life, the fact that if you don't have cash, you can't get anything. We've gone to stores, water's out, ice is out, people slept overnight at gas stations like I feel like we've never seen this before.
ROSALES (voice over): And three days into this disaster, North Carolinians praying that more help is on the way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Isabel Rosales joins us now, from Asheville. Just talk a little bit more about what you've been seeing on the ground there. ROSALES: Anderson, this is Biltmore Village, a place so loved and known by tourists. They would have been entering their busiest season right now in October, instead they're dealing with this.
I mean, this is a gas station. It would've been so busy, right, around this time and now it's just this muddy mess and random debris like this.
This right here reads, steel tank for oil burner fuels and other combustible liquids. So a bunch of gas tanks, fuel tanks all over the place, downed power lines, tree limbs, all sort of stuff.
But Anderson, what caught my attention today was a desperate need of so many that I spoke with, things that are -- we need for everyday life -- water, food, baby formula, diapers.
The need is tremendous. Neighbors are helping one another, but they're taking this day by day, and as they are trying to do that, there are still people stuck in these mountain towns.
I've seen helicopters just filling up the sky all day long. That's the only way that they can get to them, attempting to get them out, or at least help them go day by day by giving them those items just so they can figure things out -- Anderson.
COOPER: Isabel Rosales, thanks very much.
Joining us right now is Asheville Assistant Fire Chief Jeremy Knighton. Appreciate you being with us. What is -- and I am just so sorry for what you and the community is going through.
Can you just talk about what you have been seeing about ongoing rescue operations? What's the situation on the ground now?
JEREMY KNIGHTON, ASHVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT ASSISTANT CHIEF: Absolutely.
We've got our hasty searches done. Now, we're doing more targeted searches as the water recedes. We're having a really coordinated response with our county and state partners. Also, the federal government and the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Teams are here on the ground working with us, integrating with us, and we're doing a systematic search from the some of the worst hit areas to our east all the way through.
We're moving, but we are having to move at the speed that safe. And where we can get into these places -- the topography is already working against us with the steep terrain and you add on the mud the rain, the water, it's a mess.
[20:10:19]
COOPER: Do you do like grid searches? I mean is that in an area where the topography as you said is really steep and mountainous. That's got to be really difficult.
KNIGHTON: It is, luckily we're -- we have some -- our drones are integrated with the urban search and rescue teams as well as the locals for that local situational awareness and so, we've lived in this community for a long time. We worked here, however, it looks way different than it did four days ago.
And so, even though we've lived here, the changes that water and the speed of that that water has created in our city, it is almost unrecognizable.
COOPER: And am I right in believing that the has largely -- I mean, has the water mostly receded back to normal, you know, back to the streams and the rivers that normally is?
KNIGHTON: Yes, however, in many cases, the river traveled -- is traveling a different way than it did last Tuesday, where the river was on the right side of the road, in many cases, now the river is through the road and completely on the left.
We're also dealing with mudslides and then just the mud. We are having to cut several trees that are intertwined with power lines just to get access so that we can get in there and get a full picture of what's going on.
COOPER: And just in terms of resources that you need, I mean, I know you said you're working with a lot of different partner and people from local, state, and federal governments. Do have what you need?
KNIGHTON: We are in need of resources obviously water, food, fuel, power, connectivity and we are ma0king plans now, the local communities all through the mountains are banding together and we're working in a coordinated manner to get that stuff. They are pumping resources and beginning to pump resources every day more and more into our community.
We have help from other places that are here, organizing what that help looks like, and making it so we are organized and efficient and we can really speed the service delivery up.
But our folks have been at this now for four days. So, a lot of the locals here -- we've got firefighters here that haven't seen their families. We've got some firefighters, their families have gone to different locations and where they can just come here and work.
There's a lot of responders, public works, our water resources that are all standing on the front lines that are -- there are personal sacrifices that are making this happen along with those partners.
COOPER: Assistant Chief Knighton, you must be exhausted and everybody there must be. But I appreciate taking the time to talk to us and I wish you the best.
KNIGHTON: All right, thanks for having me.
COOPER: Thank you.
While neither our Chef Jose Andres nor his organization, World Central Kitchen probably needs much in the way of an introduction by now, they're remarkably quick to arrive on scene where human need is greatest, feeding hungry people ,trying to help bring local communities back to life.
This time no difference, his teams are in Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Chef Andres joins us now from Asheville.
Jose, what are you seeing on the ground? How are you deployed?
CHEF JOSE ANDRES, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: Well, Anderson, everything -- everybody has spoken before me very much describes what's going on, but they want to say that obviously the best is that I always say in the worst moments of humanity, the best of humanity comes up.
I only see communities coming together. I see obviously the work that FEMA is doing, the work that the National Guard is doing. The operation I see in the airport here in Ashville is something quite frankly, I've never seen in many operations in the last few 15 years that I have been dedicated to this.
And we are talking about many helicopters, big ones, Chinooks, VC10s bringing a lot of goods into Asheville, delivering to the communities.
This is World Central Kitchen what we've been doing. We have already, I'm here speaking from one of our restaurant partners, one of the chefs that is being with us in many other operations around the world, who was going to say that this chef, Jamie McDonald, here in his restaurant, was going to open his restaurant not only to feed the few, but to feed the people in need in Ashville.
We are reaching communities that are almost impossible to reach by car. This is where the biggest need is. Obviously, the destruction of the roads is real.
[20:15:05]
The bridges that are broken makes very difficult to get by car and that's why it's very smart to be in this moment reaching those communities by helicopter arriving with food, arriving with water, arriving with baby formula.
There's so much more need, but overall, we need to remember that this, very much, we are, in Ashville itself on day three-day four only.
I do believe that the aid is going to be reaching everybody. Obviously, when somebody loses their home, when somebody loses their lifestyles, when you see the destruction around, it's very hard.
But I do believe because the people of North Carolina, the people of Ashville are so, so amazing, they come together so well. Day by day, things will get better, we always need to be thinking that tomorrow things will be better.
That's why everybody comes together, to look at the future where hope is what wins the day.
COOPER: So, the model of the organization really was -- what you created was mobilizing local restaurants that might be shut down, but the kitchen might still work to make food that can then feed and you can bring to surrounding populations.
Does that model work in Asheville right now? I mean, you said you're in a restaurant right now, you're using that same model here?
ANDRES: Obviously, it is the only way.
Listen, we began responding in Florida more than 30 food trucks. Kitchens that we are opening, that we are able to be doing ten, twenty, thirty thousand meals a day.
At the same time, remember, Acapulco was hit by a Category Three hurricane. We are also in Acapulco where we are simply recreating the same model of the same hurricane that hit Acapulco a year ago.
These models work. They're simple, they're efficient. They allow the local community to come together as one. And this is probably the biggest power of what World Central Kitchen brings is not World Central Kitchen helping the people of North Carolina or the people of Tennessee, or the people of your area, it is actually the people of those communities coming together and us simply empowering to bring to their citizens what they need.
The feeling that we care, the feeling that we are here. Again, yes, these moments are hard for everybody, but every day I believe will get better, every day will be a little bit better than yesterday. And hopefully before we know, this beautiful city that I know so well, I've been here in vacation before, some people that used to work with me opened a restaurant here called Pura de Felix (ph), it's been unbelievable what they've done.
That restaurant that I came to help them open many years ago, 14 years ago, right now is one of the restaurants we're using to provide meals to the people of Asheville and the people in the surrounding areas.
But again, this is massive. We are going to places that by car will take us four and five and six hours, we're using helicopters because we can get there in 10 or 20 minutes. This is the type of response that's happening in Ashville and I do believe day by day, things will be little bit better.
Tomorrow, we're bringing five water trucks, we are going to be able to bring close to 100,000 gallons of water to put it in the communities in places we know is necessary.
You see, every day you come up with a better solution to solve the problems of yesterday. This is what humanitarian aid should always be.
COOPER: Yes, Chef Jose Andres, thank you, as always, appreciate it.
Coming up next, our Gary Tuchman on the ground. We will be joined also by North Carolina's governor.
Later, campaign politics and the former president calling his opponent mentally disabled and advocating for police violence against crime. One rough hour, Trump says, and I mean real rough.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:21:58]
COOPER: As bad at many of the images from the state today our North Carolina state health officials today say that 22 acute care hospitals there are now reconnected to the power grid after being on generator power for several days. They also say they're maintaining close contact with the facilities and keeping them supplied with food, water, and other supplies that they need to stay operational.
That is certainly welcome news. But only as our Gary Tuchman reports, a glimmer in what our for so many right now, some very dark days.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This area is known as Green River Cove. It's right near Hendersonville, North Carolina, southeast of Asheville.
This road is treacherous even in the best of times, when it rains, it's even more treacherous. But now it has been devastated from the remnants of the storm.
You could see the guard rail is gone. The drop here off the side of the road, which has been so heavily damaged about a hundred feet down. Cars are not supposed to be on here anymore. There are also houses below.
We've talked to some people who live in the area. They said they were trying to get down to the house to see if people they know are still there because they haven't been able to find out what happened to those people, but they weren't able to hike down and neither are we.
We have been told that there had been helicopter rescues of people who live in the homes below. But there's absolutely no way to know for sure if there are still people who are in those homes that have been damaged below us.
We decided to go down the hill farther and what we saw is the literal and figurative end of the road. The devastation of the storm, look what it led to. This is the street right here and you can see that the street just comes to an end before plunging down here.
These boulders that are right here, the locals here say these boulders actually moved from the force of the storm.
BRAD MCMILLAN, GREEN RIVER COVE, NC RESIDENT: All the houses in front of mine on the river side of the road are gone.
TUCHMAN: Brad McMillan and Nick Wolf both live in this area. Their homes are okay. But the experience has been traumatic.
NICK WOLFE, GREEN RIVER COVE, NC RESIDENT: We moved here because the green river narrows is an iconic piece of classified whitewater and we are whitewater kayakers. So we moved our whole lives down here for this area in these riverbeds and they've all been completely destroyed and rearranged, so it's extremely emotional on a lot of different levels.
TUCHMAN: Near Green Water Cove is the small town of Saluda, North Carolina, population of only about 800 people. We don't know if anyone was killed or injured in this town, but there's lots of damages to the businesses and the homes.
Right over here, this is the Green River Barbecue, local restaurant known for its ribs. This business is more than 40 years old, but the people who own it right now only bought it eight months ago.
You can see all over the floor, this mud, it keeps getting deeper and deeper as you walk in, because there was a mudslide in this part of the building. You could see how deep the mud has gotten right here.
The mud came in through a crevice inside this wall.
Bri and Tom Haas, are the restaurant owners.
TOM HAAS, SALUDA, NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENT: It's overwhelming. It's really taunting trying to think of what our next steps are. Insurance doesn't cover mudslides, so that's no help. We've talked to people about getting the tree off the building and it's going to be weeks before they can get to us.
[20:25:17]
TUCHMAN: How is this going to be financially for you?
TOM AND BRI HAAS: Devastating.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Gary, were there emergency personnel on the scene when you were in Green River Cove?
TUCHMAN: So while we were there, Anderson, we didn't see any emergency personnel, but it doesn't mean the men and the women who are doing the emergency work are heroes. There's just so many neighborhoods throughout Western North Carolina where they have to be, they can't be everywhere all the time. We did mention there were helicopter rescues over the weekend.
One thing I think is very important to mention because we cover so many hurricanes and tropical storms and tornadoes, I think a lot of drivers believe there will always be a gate or a sign telling you not to use a certain road.
And so many roads are destroyed, you can't have gates or signs everywhere. That road we are on today, while we were driving, there was no gate or sign and at one point, we hit a mud patch and we kind of slid over way closer to the cliff then I wanted to be.
So, I think it's important to warn people about that, please be careful when you're driving after the storms.
COOPER: Gary, you too. Gary, thanks very much.
As we mentioned, President Biden will visit the area on Wednesday. Vice President Harris cut short a West Coast trip, returned to Washington and visited FEMA headquarters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Over the past few days, our nation has endured some of the worst destruction and devastation that we have seen in quite some time and we have responded with our best with the best folks who are on the ground and here, doing the kind of work that is about rising to a moment of crisis to do everything we can to lift up folks who deserve to be seen and heard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: The former president also weighed in from Georgia with a lie about the Republican governor in Georgia not getting the help he needs from Washington. It's a lie made all the more brazen because of what the governor himself had already said just a couple of hours earlier. Here's what both men said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The governor is doing a very good job. He's having a hard time getting the president on the phone. I guess they're not being responsive. The federal government is not being responsive.
GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): The president just called me yesterday afternoon. I missed him and called him right back. And he just said, hey, what do you need? And I told him, we got what we need. We'll work through the federal process. He offered that if there's other things that we need just to call him directly, which I appreciate that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, late today, President Biden was asked about this. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's lying and the governor told him he was lying. The governor told me he's lying. I've spoken to the governor, spent time with him, and he told me he's lying. I don't know why he does this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, needless to say, with all the real problems on the ground right now, it says a lot that someone is adding a made-up problem to the list.
Joining us now to talk first and foremost about these very real problems North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper.
So, Governor Cooper, where do things stand tonight in terms of getting food, water, people who are stranded in Western North Carolina and getting power and phone service?
GOV. ROY COOPER (D-NC): Still the number one priority is making sure that we are saving lives. There are 92 search and rescue teams who are active right now and who are still bringing people to safety. I was in Asheville today at the landing zone where we are bringing in food and water.
I was also there with Administrator Criswell of the FEMA. She's going to be with us the next few days. She was with me all day today. They've delivered a million liters of water, 600,000 meals.
We have sent out hundreds of pallets to 20 different locations throughout Western North Carolina. We have beautiful, beautiful mountains in North Carolina, but they are rugged sometimes to get through even on a beautiful day.
After this catastrophic storm, it is very difficult to get to all of those places. That's why we are relying on airpower.
I also talked to a lot of people. I went to a hospital, spoke with nurses who are working hard, spending the night in the hospital.
I went and talked with restaurant owners who are opening their restaurants and serving free food to people. I talked with people who are running some hotels who have just opened their hotels and they're letting first responders come to spend the night who have come from other states to help us.
This is a strong community pulling together to help each other. There's a lot to do in the short term. There's going to be a monumental task to recover in the long term.
COOPER: Do you have a sense right now of how many people are still missing or unaccounted for?
R. COOPER: So, we've had 2,900 calls over the entire time to our 211 to say that we can't get in touch with somebody. I know that a lot of people have gotten in touch with their people as our cell phone service is gradually coming back up.
I talked with several people today. One this morning when I was there saying that they hadn't heard from their brother, by this afternoon they had.
So, there's not a real tally of that to my understanding, but what I do know is that when we get these calls, there are teams that are going out and doing welfare checks and knocking on doors to see if people are there.
In addition to continuing to rescue people from these waters. We still have some rising rivers and the potential for more damage. But I'll tell you this catastrophic event is one that North Carolinians can overcome. We've just got all have to work together. And this is an unprecedented massive effort that is being coordinated among local, state, federal, non-profits.
It's been amazing to see the work that's going on. We've just got to make sure that it reaches every corner of Western North Carolina and that is going to be a large task.
I'll be going back in the morning. I'll be going to Jackson County in addition to Buncombe County and we are going to continue to work to help people.
COOPER: I know politics is the last thing on your mind. I do want to give you the opportunity to respond to something that the former president has said about North Carolina and you. He said, "I'll be there shortly, but don't like the reports I'm getting about the federal government and the Democrat governor of the state going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas," end quote.
Do you have any response to that?
R. COOPER: You know, it makes no difference who you are. If you need help, we are going to provide it. And if there is ever a time where we all need to come together and put politics aside, it is now.
A. COOPER: North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, thank you so much. Wish you the best.
Coming up --
R. COOPER: Thank you, sir.
A. COOPER: -- more on the breaking news out of Lebanon, where Israel says it has begun what it calls a limited ground operation. Details ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:35:29]
A. COOPER: Morning breaking news. Israel launching what it calls a limited ground operation in southern Lebanon just days after the Israeli Air Force killed the leader of Hezbollah. Let's go back to Jeremy Diamond in northern Israel. So, talk about what you have been seeing over the last several hours.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, over the last several hours, we have been hearing the constant thud of artillery booming out from very close to our position into southern Lebanon, which earlier we thought was perhaps preparations for a ground offensive.
Now we've learned that it's actually a part of that ground offensive as Israeli troops have poured across the border from Israel into southern Lebanon and what the Israeli military has been describing as targeted raids, limited operations. But make no mistake, this is the first time that the Israeli military is confirming that Israeli troops have now crossed into Lebanon since the 2006 war. And this does indeed take this war between Israel and Hezbollah to a very new level. We are still hearing the whir of helicopters in the distance, even as that artillery has kind of started to quiet down for the moment at least.
Earlier today, we were seeing across this hill in southern Lebanon. We were seeing some of those explosions happening as Israeli troops moved in. Flares overhead to give them light as they moved in overhead. One of the major questions now, how long is this operation actually going to last?
And on that point, Israeli officials aren't giving me any firm answers. What they are saying though is that they do not intend to occupy southern Lebanon, no long-term occupation, as Israeli officials seek to emphasize that this is a limited operation, which is also what we are told they conveyed to the White House so the U.S. administration in recent days.
A. COOPER: Have there been any alerts from Israeli authorities to Israeli citizens just in terms of restricting movement or seeking shelter?
DIAMOND: There have been some restrictions on Israeli civilian life, particularly in northern Israel. No large gatherings. Beaches have been closed. People are told to remain relatively close to shelters, but there haven't been the kind of massive preparations being made or restrictions on civilian life that you might expect in a moment like this.
And that actually really speaks as I'm just hearing once again, some more artillery overhead, Anderson. That speaks to the fact that Israel is carrying out this ground operation at a moment when Hezbollah has been significantly weakened by these airstrikes over the course of the last couple of weeks, those pager attacks, and of course, that airstrike that took out Hezbollah's longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
This is a moment where Hezbollah's organization is in disarray, but also where Israeli officials believe that their operational capabilities have been significantly dismantled to the point where Hezbollah has not been able to carry out the kind of overwhelming response that you might expect.
Hundreds of rockets fired simultaneously. Thousands of rockets a day intended to overwhelm Israel's air defenses. It seems like Hezbollah, at least for this moment, doesn't seem capable of carrying out that kind of response. Anderson?
A. COOPER: Jeremy Diamond, thank you very much.
Our Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman joins us now from Beirut. What have you been seeing and hearing tonight?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we saw a few hours ago, Anderson, were a series of Israeli airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, one of them a very large explosion about a mile east of Beirut International Airport, but the city has been quiet since then.
But, of course, there is concern about what the Israelis are calling a limited, localized and targeted raids in South Lebanon, given that Israel has a long history of invading and occupying Lebanon. So there is a concern that this operation could expand beyond limited raids to an incursion, perhaps to an invasion, which has happened in the past.
So the concern is that this is perhaps just the first opening round of what could become something much larger. Anderson?
A. COOPER: Is it clear how badly damaged Hezbollah is? I mean, obviously, their, you know, their leader has been assassinated. Many others in the leadership and also the rank and file have been wounded or killed.
WEDEMAN: Well, we heard today from the deputy of Nasrallah today, who made a speech in which he said, We have not collapsed despite the pain and sacrifices. Clearly, they have been severely damaged by recent events, starting with the pager attacks and the walkie talkies and what followed.
[20:40:09]
But what's significant is that along the southern front, from where the rockets have been firing almost daily into Israel, those rockets continue to be fired. It doesn't seem to have been affected either by Israeli strikes, intense strikes going back a week and the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah.
So they keep on doing that. And it's important to keep in mind that Hezbollah's strength beyond rockets has always been its guerrilla fighters who successfully fought the Israelis to a standstill in the 2006 war and going back from the mid-80s until the year 2000, actually waged a guerrilla war that forced the Israelis unilaterally to withdraw from Lebanon.
So once Israeli troops are on the ground in the very rugged mountainous terrain of southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah has spent years preparing for this exact eventuality, we may see that they still have strength enough to pose quite a challenge to Israeli forces in that area.
A. COOPER: Yes. Ben Wedeman, thank you very much. Be careful.
Joining us now is New York Times Columnist and Pulitzer Prize winning author Thomas Friedman, who's previously served as both Beirut and later Jerusalem Bureau Chief for the Times, experiences which formed the foundation of one of his most famous works, "From Beirut to Jerusalem," which is out with a new edition tomorrow.
First of all, Tom, what's your reaction as Israel begins to push ground troops into Lebanon tonight?
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, NEW YORK TIMES AFFAIRS COLUMNIST: Well, it's clear, Anderson. I think they're out to do three things. One is to destroy whatever Hezbollah infrastructure was near the border. So Hezbollah cannot amount a kind of surprise attack like Hamas did. That's number one, because they've done a quite a network of tunnels and preposition armaments as well.
I think the second thing is to really restore Israel's deterrence. I think there's a widespread feeling in Israel that the Hamas attack on October 7th, a year ago now was done because the neighborhood had lost respect for Israel's deterrence. I think that's going on.
I think the third thing is that, basically, Iran had Israel and a kind of ring of fire of its proxies, the Houthis, Shia militias in Iraq, Hamas, and Hezbollah. And Israel seems to be out to destroy the Hezbollah ring in that ring of fire in hopes that it will collapse the whole thing, give everybody else real pause and really brush the Iranians back. So it's a hybrid strategy but I think that's what's laying out right now.
A. COOPER: How -- I mean, the killing of Nasrallah obviously is a seismic event for Hezbollah. How do you see that impacting things?
FRIEDMAN: It's really the biggest geopolitical event in this region, I would say, since October 7th and The Abraham Accords. Because Nasrallah was not only a charismatic figure but he was a feared leader. There were -- feared by Israelis and respected by Israelis.
The fact that he was taken out and the fact that the entire leadership of Hezbollah has been decapitated. And your reporter, Mr. Diamond, you know, I thought I was very struck by his report that so far you have not seen this barrage of Hezbollah rockets that you'd expect right now on the border suggests that their command and control a structure has been severely damaged.
Now, can it be resurrected quickly? I don't know. I don't think I'd be -- I'd like to be that the new head of Hezbollah is stepping into that job right now, given the fact that Israel's clearly penetrated the whole organization and it almost pick off these leaders one at a time. So we just got to watch for this to play out. But it's really -- it's going to be a game changer. Iran is now on its back foot in a way it hasn't been, Anderson, since the start of this war.
A. COOPER: Well, that was my next question about Iran. I mean, sort of the big picture of this goes beyond just Lebanon.
FRIEDMAN: You know, Iran's philosophy since the start of the war is to fight till the last Lebanese, the last Yemeni, the last Gazan and the last Palestinian. Everyone dies for Iran and Iran just stays above the fray. And if Hezbollah is broken here, that's going to -- and we're so far from that, I don't want to begin to predict it.
But, you know, if it's military capacity is severely diminished, well the Houthis are going to be thinking about that. I think that it'll create a lot of fat in the fire in Tehran between hardliners there and those who, including maybe the new president, who want to take a more conciliatory line in the world -- with the world.
[20:45:08]
But most of all, at the core of this thing, Anderson, is the fact that Iran and Hezbollah have been completely penetrated by Israeli intelligence so much that they could pick off leaders one at a time. And what that tells me is not only that the Mossad is good and Israeli intelligence is good, it's how many people in Lebanon and Iran hate these organization. Because the only way you get that good of intelligence is, if you have a lot of people inside who want to rat these people out.
A. COOPER: Tom Friedman, it's always good to talk to you. Thank you, Tom.
FRIEDMAN: Thanks.
A. COOPER: Coming up, back to the campaign trail and the former president's personal attacks on Vice President Harris, which this time have drawn criticism from a disability rights organization.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
A. COOPER: ?The former president's unfounded attack on the federal government's response to Hurricane Helene comes after a week in a personal attacks against Vice President Harris. Here he is in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
[20:50:10]
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Crooked Joe Biden became mentally impaired, sad. But lying Kamala Harris, honestly, I believe she was born that way.
And if you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
A. COOPER: Now, those remarks follow previous personal attacks on the Vice President as stupid and, quote, "dumb as a rock." He's also mocked her laugh and questioned her race. These latest remarks provoked a response from the American Association of People with Disabilities.
Quote, "Donald Trump's ableist comments yesterday say far more about him and his inaccurate, hateful biases against disabled people than it does about Vice President Harris or any person with a disability."
His remarks Saturday came during what he said would be a dark speech and that tone continued Sunday with his suggestion about how to battle crime.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
TRUMP: See, we have to let the police do their job. And if they have to be extraordinarily wrong, one rough hour, and I mean real rough, the word will get out and it will end immediately.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
A. COOPER: Now, as often as the former president repeats the claim that crime is rising, the facts say it is not. New preliminary crime statistics released by the FBI today back up a more comprehensive report which was released last week, and that stated violent crime declined last year, including a dramatic drop in the number of murders.
Perspective now from Matt Mowers, a former Trump administration official, Ashley Allison, former National Coalition's director for the 2020 Biden-Harris campaign, and David Axelrod, former senior adviser to President Obama.
David, I mean, it's certainly not a surprise that he would be, you know, talking about disabled people in a derogatory way. He had made fun of disabled reporter years ago during the first campaign, I think it was -- what do you make of this?
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: And paid no price for it.
A. COOPER: Yes, and paid no price for it.
AXELROD: Yes. Look, I think when you put the sum total of what he's been up to lately, I think he's in final stretch mode. I think he thinks this is a turnout election and he is just shoveling red meat to the base. I will say, I'm not sure anybody would have said, you know, there's a real advantage in, you know, throwing juvenile taunts at the other side that are deeply offensive to a lot of people, including people, I'm sure there are families who are in his camp who have people with disabilities among their children or siblings.
So I don't know what he gains from that, but the crime stuff, the immigration stuff, the made up stories about this town in Ohio, Springfield, Ohio, I think it's all his notion of where this race is at, which it's close. And he's trying to gin up the base.
A. COOPER: Ashely, you wrote in a New York Times op-ed that Vice President Harris needs to go big and take more calculated risks and cut back on the incessant focus on Mr. Trump. Can you explain what you mean and why?
ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR VP HARRIS: Yes, I mean, I think, you know, there's most recent New York Times polls show that 31 percent of the public still are unsure about her, still have outstanding questions. So my point is, she needs to speak directly to those folks. I mean, Trump is like a fire.
What do you do with a fire when you're trying to put it out? You suffocate it. You give it no more oxygen. Ignore it. At this point, I think she should be hyper focused on telling her own story, answering the question I open up by saying that the question she's not yet answered is why, why Kamala Harris? Why at this moment is she the right leader? That's what people I think want to hear from her. And so I just suggest she takes bigger risk and telling that story. Do more town halls, more intimate settings that they launch a first ever for the Democratic Party, an influencer strategy campaign that will go directly to where voters are. That she bypasses national media, sorry, Anderson, and go right into local media and do more specially media.
If all politics is local, she needs to get immersed and intimate with voters. So that's really my perspective on it. I think she's done a spectacular job. I mean, there's no doubt her ascent has been remarkable to say the least. But I think at this stage now, I want to see a second gear and I think she needs to go bigger and take greater risk and really tell people why and ignore Donald Trump.
A. COOPER: And Ashley, I'm sorry, I thought, I think I used the wrong last name, Ashley Etienne.
ETIENNE: That's OK, we're the A teams.
A. COOPER: Yes, I know, sorry.
Hey Matt, so I want to play some of what GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, obviously, a key Trump ally, seems, said yesterday in response to Trump's attacks on Harris.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Vice President Kamala Harris is not mentally impaired.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: No, I just think she's crazy liberal. I'm not saying she's crazy, I'm saying your party -- your policies are (INAUDIBLE). And here's what I would tell President Trump. When people look at the state of play, they trust you on the economy, the border, inflation, and foreign policy by wide margins. Focus on those issues.
TAPPER: Focus on those things.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
[20:55:15]
COOPER: He certainly doesn't seem to be inclined to do that. I mean, to David Axelrod's point, do you believe that he's just going for red meat to turn out the base?
MATT MOWERS, FORMER TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I think largely. I mean, I understand. I think when we were all talking a few days ago new CNN poll had come out, showed undecided voters at something like 2 percent of the electorate. I mean, we are looking at an ever- decreasing number of people who haven't made up their mind at this point.
Most folks have a team jersey on, and it's all about just getting as many of those folks to the polls as they can. And so, you know, what Donald Trump's going to do over the next 35 or so days is go out there, largely try to gin up enthusiasm from his base, make sure -- and in part because if you look at polling, he's actually doing better with registered voters than even some of the likely voter samples, which is actually the inverse of traditionally what happens with Republican candidates.
Usually a Democrat candidate needs higher turnout in order to win. Donald Trump's support actually comes from a lot of voters who are less engaged in the political process. Folks who don't prioritize politics every single day. A lot of them are actually young men. And so, he's doing everything he can to kind of cut through that filter, energize them and get them to show up.
And I think as far as, you know, the stuff he says that a lot of folks obviously find offensive, so much of that is baked in the cake form at this point. Eight or nine years really now at this point of campaigning and essentially being unapologetic for who he is. And I think for those who that offends, they've made their decision on him long ago.
A. COOPER: To that point, I mean, I guess, David, the idea of, you know, police roughing up people or being ultraviolent for one hour or a day or whatever in a sort of purge style event, it obviously, you know, offends a lot of people, but for people, I mean, there are plenty of people applauding in that crowd.
AXELROD: Yes, we'll see if it's enough. Look, this -- Donald Trump effectively caps his own support. He's never gotten, you know, above 46 percent, 47 percent because there are a lot of people who find what he says objectionable. They find what he does objectionable. So he's gambling.
I agree very much with actually what both Matt and Ashley said. I think that he's looking at these disengaged voters and he knows he has to get him out. He doesn't have a great as great a field organization as he should, I think, and I think this is his means of getting them out.
But I agree with Ashley that a more engaged media strategy on the part of the vice president to give people a sense of her own motivation, not just why they should be for her, but why she is doing what she's doing.
A. COOPER: Do you agree with Ashley that Harris shouldn't be talking about Trump as much?
AXELROD: I don't think you need to do that. I think there are plenty of people who will be. I think the question that is on it, I think the majority of people are ready to vote against Donald Trump. And the question is, can they be comfortable with Kamala Harris? Can they believe in her sufficiently to take that leap? And so I think that's where the work really needs to be done. And I think Ashley's right on point.
A. COOPER: Ashley, to that point, does she need another debate?
ETIENNE: No, I don't think she actually does. I think what she needs is really put herself in a different format. I mean, I am pro-town halls. I mean, I know Kamala Harris. I've been in those rooms with her. She's very compassionate. She's funny. She's warm. She sees people people. She understands their circumstances.
So I think putting her in an environment where she can demonstrate those dimensions to people where they can see sort of the texture of who she actually is, I think that's where she's going to shine. And let's not forget in 2019, her town halls said viewership records. I mean, they were the highest rated of all the candidates then.
So I think that's a untapped lane for her. I think it's where she's going to probably do her best and shine -- I'd love to see her in those types of environments.
A. COOPER: Matt, I mean, we've seen in the past natural disasters that can factor into a presidential race or other races. We saw it, you know, in the attitudes toward the Bush White House during Hurricane Katrina. There were Republicans who didn't like when Governor Chris Christie praised President Obama after Superstorm Sandy in the fall of 2012. Do you see any possible impact from Helene?
MOWERS: I do. And look, I worked for Governor Christie in New Jersey in the governor's office during Hurricane Sandy. Obviously, that was just a couple weeks before the election and certainly played a role because you did have Barack Obama, President Obama on the ground very quickly responding to the situation, walking with Chris Christie along to see toward the site damage.
And I think that's why what Donald Trump did today by going immediately to Georgia the way he did, does show a level of ability to connect with people when they're really looking for leadership. I mean, you know, there's so much of this is symbolism. There's the symbolism of politics and there's going to be the actual impact on the votes.
A. COOPER: Yes.
MOWERS: And I think it's almost two different things. Donald Trump to this point is winning the symbolism. The impact is going to be pretty dramatic --
A. COOPER: Yes.
MOWERS: -- for a number of those folks and whether they can even show up to vote, that's going to be a big challenge for them in a few weeks. They're going to have to figure out power and the rest of it.
A. COOPER: Matt Mowers, Ashley Etienne, David Axelrod, thanks very much.
Programming note, join us for a CNN special event, the Vice Presidential Debate Simulcast, hosted by CBS News, airing live tomorrow night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern --
ETIENNE: Thank you.
A. COOPER: -- right here on CNN.
ETIENNE: No problem.
A. COOPER: The news continues. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now.
ETIENNE: Talk to you soon. Bye.
