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At Least 51 Killed, 200 Plus Wounded In Russian Attack On Ukraine; Protests Rage As Angry Israelis Demand Hostage Deal; Harris Launches New Campaign Ad Focusing On Economy And Inflation. Aired 2- 2:30p ET

Aired September 03, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: There's no other way to put it. People there mourning after one of the deadliest single attacks since Russia launched its full scale invasion more than two years ago. At least 51 people killed, more than 200 injured after Russia struck a military educational facility in central Ukraine this morning. President Zelenskyy says, preliminary information indicates two ballistic missiles were involved.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: At this hour, rescue and recovery operations are underway after 10 residential buildings and a nearby hospital were damaged. Officials worry more than a dozen people may still be trapped underneath rubble, the assault sparking new calls from President Zelenskyy for allies to supply more weapons and critical air defense systems.

CNN Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen is live in Kyiv. Fred, what more are you learning about the strike?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Brianni. Yeah, definitely devastating blow for the Ukrainians. And one of the things that we have to say is it could actually still get a lot worse. You know, I heard Sir Boris there saying that more than a dozen people, the authorities are saying, are still trapped or could still be trapped underneath the debris of where those ballistic missiles impacted.

And of course, the Ukrainians are saying that because of that, the death toll could still further arise. You guys were mentioning that right now, it stands at 51 with over 200 people having been injured in that. And the Ukrainians are saying that one of the reasons why the toll is as bad as it is, is that when those ballistic missiles struck that military educational facility, there was actually an air raid alert that had gone into effect.

However, they are saying that because the time between the first alert going off and the missiles landing was so short, that a lot of the people were actually still heading for the shelters when the missiles impacted. Therefore, of course, had no chance to get to safety. And that is why the toll is as bad as it is.

And one of the things that we've been saying is that it could get even worse. This, of course, is one of the worst single mass casualty incidents since the beginning of Russia's full on invasion of Ukraine. That was one about almost a year ago, actually, in a town in the east of Ukraine that killed 59 people.

And right now, the death toll that we're seeing here is quickly approaching that number as we go into the evening hours. And of course, those rescue crews are still very much at work. And the President of this country, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he's obviously absolutely angry about the fact that this could happen.

And he is calling for further long-range air defense systems, specifically, of course, those patriots, those U.S. supplied Patriot surface to air missile systems. One of the things the Foreign Minister of Ukraine said today on CNN was he said that ballistic missiles are extremely difficult to take down, but the patriots are one of the few systems that can actually do that, guys.

SANCHEZ: Fred Pleitgen, live for us in Kyiv. Thank you so much for the update. We want to talk about what this strike means for the war with retired U.S. Army Major Mike Lyons. Sir, thank you so much for being with us.

One detail from this story, sir, struck out to me, it was the limited time between the air alarms going off and the Russian strike hitting. I wonder what that tells you about Ukraine's air defense systems.

MIKE LYONS, RETIRED U.S. ARMY: Well, Boris, thanks for having me. What it does tell me is that unfortunately, Ukraine has had to have an economy of force with regards to its air defense systems and is likely protecting other areas. And it's not saying this wasn't protected here. Those systems are well far out from where these locations are. However, in this case of having too many false positives, too many times where they have an alarm go off and nothing happens, then the population becomes somewhat immune to them. So in this case, it looks like they're going to have to go back and take a look at what that distance is. Perhaps, these ones were more inside the system and they were not able, you know, to respond with air defense systems back.

But again, in some ways, the population has got to recognize there's probably going to be more false positives and next time, to get to those shelters if they can possibly do that.

SANCHEZ: Major, Kyiv is arguing that it needs more weapons to limit these strikes. The U.S., though, has provided air defense in nearly every single aid package it sent over. It's also diverted some $2 billion meant for other countries to Ukraine. Do you think what Kyiv has is insufficient?

LYONS: It's not enough, no question about that that they've provided air defense systems in all different venues. For example, air defense systems have come ballistic missiles from, you know, from Russia, that come from the sky, from airplanes, and the like. Air defense systems have to exist in depth, you know, kind of long, medium, and short range. And a lot of things that they're focused on right now is more closer to the front. They have to protect these assets back in Ukraine. This was a target that, again, likely was low on Ukraine's list, as they have to decide who they have to protect and who they don't have to protect, that it's important for them to protect in critical infrastructure as well as the capital in Kyiv.

[14:05:01]

So they could always use more, especially the patriot missiles that would be effective against these kind of bliss ballistic missile systems.

SANCHEZ: I'm curious to get your thoughts on this plan that President Zelenskyy says he's going to share with U.S. President Joe Biden at the U.N. General Assembly next week. It's a plan for victory in this war. What do you imagine that would look like?

LYONS: It has to be about leverage that Ukraine has gained over Russia when it comes to their recent incursion into Kursk, into that region there. And in a way, perhaps it means they'll be willing to give up land in the south, in the Donbas region, an area that Russia has controlled for the past seven or eight years. But if they're going to negotiate, this is kind of the one last chance that the Biden administration can do something in order to try to get something done before the U.S. election. Because I think Zelenskyy knows that Donald Trump is going to come in and likely put a chokehold on some of the supplies he's been getting. He knows that the Republicans themselves are not necessarily for what's going on there. So they're going to do what they can to stop it. And that means cutting down those supplies. So I think this is kind of his one last shot with this administration to try to gain leverage and get this negotiation over with.

SANCHEZ: On the note of what the Biden administration is allowing the Ukrainians to do, I'm curious what you think about the list of targets that Ukraine provided the Biden administration. These are targets inside Russia that they want to hit with U.S. weapons. What do you think the Ukrainians need to prove for the U.S. to lift restrictions on those kinds of attacks?

LYONS: Well, they've got to be military targets. And they have to be in response to what's been coming from Russia towards Ukraine. And I do think that the administration should allow Ukraine to use those assets to that. This administration, as we -- they look over the horizon, is trying to say, look, at some point, we're -- United States is going to have to have a relationship with Russia when this is over. And I think that's what's holding them back here. But in the same token, we've given Ukraine the kind of capability that could force Russia to the negotiation table.

So I do think that the Administration should let them hit those military targets. They're doing it with drones that they're creating anyway. We saw them hit infrastructure sites to the north of Russia. But as long as they're military targets within the laws of land warfare, I don't see why not we wouldn't let them to do that.

SANCHEZ: Major Mike Lyons, appreciate the analysis. Thanks for being with us.

LYONS: Thanks. KEILAR: All right. We're paying close attention as well to the Middle

East. These are live pictures coming to us from Tel Aviv. Protests ramping up again for the third straight night in Israel. This is from frustration that has just spilled over after the IDF recovered the bodies of six hostages from Gaza over the weekend. People that they say were killed shortly before the IDF was able to get to them. That's according to Israeli officials. Much of the anger is aimed squarely at Prime Minister Netanyahu for failing to strike a deal that could bring the remaining hostages home.

For its part, Hamas is now seizing on the public anguish with some brutal new tactics that one hostages' family describes as psychological terror.

SANCHEZ: All righ.t The latest developments prompting these comments from the White House just a short time ago. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESPERSON: President himself is personally involved in working with our team and in working with leaders around the world to secure this deal. And that's what we're focused on. And the killing over the weekend just underscores the sense of urgency that we have to have in order to get it to closure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN's Nic Robertson is live for us in Tel Aviv on the ground there. Nic, Netanyahu has remained defiant about certain key elements in these negotiations. Is there any sign as we look at these live images that these demonstrations might be swaying him in any particular direction?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN'S INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You know, I talked to a lot of people here this evening. This protest here outside the main defense institutions, (inaudible) in the center of Tel Aviv has been going on for a couple of hours. And I've talked to a lot of different people, none of them believe what Prime Minister Netanyahu is saying. A lot of people question, why is he introducing this issue of the Philadelphi Corridor along the border with Gaza and Egypt? Why is he introducing it now? Why wasn't it a priority before? Why didn't we hear about it before? They think it's a distraction. They think is lying to them. They don't think that they're going to change things overnight. But they do think that by continuing these protests that they will eventually build a momentum that changes his mind. They think it will help encourage other politicians to come out and speak. And that's what we've heard this evening from Benny Gantz, who was the former Defense Minister who is in the National Unity Party, the sort of main opposition party.

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Until a few months ago, he was in the war cabinet with Prime Minister Netanyahu who was on television here this evening, telling the country everything you heard from the Prime Minister yesterday in his address was a lie. The Philadelphi Corridor isn't true. He says, yes, it's a problem, but we've got other ways of dealing with it. He said the Prime Minister was offered alternate ways by the military to deal with the Philadelphi Corridor other than just having troops on it.

So what he's saying is the Prime Minister is using this, the Philadelphi Corridor, as a tactic. So I don't think anyone certainly in the two-thirds of the country that opposes the Prime Minister, believes him about the Philadelphi Corridor. And of course, the crowd here is all about getting the other hostages home safely.

KEILAR: In these pictures as we're seeing, a lot of pushing and shoving going on there in the crowd. It's hard to tell exactly what's going on, but we can see there they're encountering law enforcement in these protests. This is getting quite heated, Nic Robertson, on this third day, I think there was a question of, is this going to persist sort of the tenor of this. And you're seeing these altercations between law enforcement and protesters there. It seems law enforcement was trying to make their way through some of the protesters and there was an altercation between them.

ROBERTSON: Yeah. And this is what's happening on the protest -- at the end of the protest. So we've been here for two hours. It was -- it is very peaceful. A lot of the sort of -- a lot of people have left already. Then you get left at the end with the younger element. Some of the older folks were leaving. Not everyone. It's a mixed crowd, but some of the younger folks then, they light fires and then the police move in on them. And that's what we're seeing. And I think that's going to be the nature of the protest.

But I was speaking to a protest organizer earlier on, and I said, look, the protests aren't shifting the Prime Minister's opinion. He doubled down on his position. He's rejecting you. He's saying if we do what the protesters do, Hamas will take that as a sign of weakness. So I said, what else can you do? And he said, look, there are other things that we could do. And I asked him what? And he said, look, I'm not going to say, but we know, for example, and I pressed him on this, that the unions tried to go on strike. That was overruled by the government in the law courts. But the unions were trying to close down the ports, the airports. It would have an effect on hospitals. It would have an effect on buses around the country. And the unions are considering alternate ways to try to legally call all the big powerful unions here out on strike. And that's really the mechanism to bring about change in this country. It's tried and tested in Israel. It's happened before.

So when I think we hear people protest organizers saying they have other tactics, I think it's the running and the governing of the country that they will talk about, finding a way to try to shut down, not just coming out on the streets, confronting the police late in the evenings, but finding a legal way to try to bring the country to a halt, shake the country to its roots is what they say, bringing the country to a halt, stopping it working as a country. I think that's the direction this is all headed in. And they know until they do that, this Prime Minister is not going to listen to them.

KEILAR: We do saw fire set there. These are live pictures that you're looking at coming out of Tel Aviv. We just saw fire set in between the crowd. As Nic says, this is sort of the end of -- this was the -- getting towards the end of the protests. A lot of people have actually left, and yet, you're starting to see some altercations with police. You're seeing a fire set here. We're going to continue to monitor this. Nic Robertson, thank you so much for that report for us from the protest there in Tel Aviv. We will keep an eye on this and bring you the latest.

Still to come this hour, Vice President Harris's reproductive rights bus tour is on the road. It's starting actually in Donald Trump's backyard. In the meantime, despite warnings from his allies, the former President is going full steam ahead on his old playbook, launching a barrage of insults at Harris in the hopes of disrupting her momentum in the polls.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:19:09] KEILAR: It is crunch time for Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump as they are preparing for their debate showdown. It's just a week away, if you can believe it. And while both candidates are taking a break from the trail today, Harris's team remains focused on key issues at the top of voter's minds. Today, the Harris campaign released a new ad on the economy and inflation, an area that Trump continues to pull well on. And tomorrow, several of her advisors say, she plans to release new details on her economic plan.

SANCHEZ: And Harris's team is also putting the spotlight on abortion rights with a bus tour that kicked off today in Donald Trump's own backyard of Palm Beach, Florida. Let's discuss with CNN Political Director David Chalian and CNN National Politics Correspondent Eva McKend, along with CNN Reporter Alayna Treene. Thank you all for being with us.

Eva, talk to us about this bus tour. How many stops and where's it going?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENTS: So I kicked off today in Palm Beach county, notable because that is the former President's backyard.

[14:20:03]

And what that illustrates is that Democrats are feeling particularly bullish on this issue to begin it in Florida, which has been a red state for a long time where Democrats have suffered a lot of political heartbreak cycle after cycle. I was listening to Debbie Mucarsel Powell. She's a former congresswoman who's running for Senate down there. And she told a crowd today on the bus tour, Florida is very much still in play. There's also a lot of momentum around Amendment IV that would end restrictions to abortion access prior to viability. We saw the former President sort of get caught up in this and how to answer for this. But what we're seeing that become is a really galvanizing issue for Democrats in that state and why they started the tour there. In total, they're going to do 50 stops. They're going to deploy celebrities and surrogates all across the country on this tour as they try to advance this message.

KEILAR: David, can you talk to us a little bit about this strategy in Florida, what they're trying to do there and beyond with obviously the backdrop that Eva has laid out, which is there is this vote on this referendum. It's a six-week ban. A lot of Americans think that that is just too strict. It would move it well beyond 20 weeks instead. As you mentioned, Trump got caught up in that. What is the appeal there and beyond Florida?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, certainly the backdrop because of the six-week ban, one of the most extreme in the country. There's no doubt about that. But listen, Democrats want to go rev up their base on this issue, anywhere that base exists. Is Florida a battleground state in this election? It is not. Just look at how the candidates are being deployed to spend their time. One of the most important resources on a campaign, and their money in dollars and advertising on television. Florida is not where we're seeing that, right? There are seven battleground states where this election is going to be decided. Florida is not one of them. But because of the message backdrop of the law, the referendum, the home of Donald Trump and the like, it made it an opportunity to kick this off.

I have no doubt Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will be in Florida to at least raise some money throughout the course of this election. But I don't think the electoral votes are going to be something we're hanging on election night.

SANCHEZ: One of those Americans who seems to think that the six-week abortion ban in Florida is too strict. At least last week seemed to be former President Donald Trump. He said that he would be voting for more than six weeks in an interview before his campaign sort of turned around and said that he wasn't saying how he's going to vote on that. And we're learning this week that he's actually going to vote to keep that in place, Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Yeah. Essentially, I mean, Donald Trump was a little bit all over the place with that, with his answer on the abortion referendum, which is interesting because I know behind the scenes, I've been talking to Donald Trump's campaign about this. They have been talking behind the scenes about how Donald Trump would address the issue, how he would vote for the Florida abortion referendum. So they knew it was coming. And still, Donald Trump kind of went back and forth on this issue. At first, he did say that he thought the six-week abortion ban was too strict. He later said that he would actually be voting against the referendum, which would remove and change Florida's laws as they currently stand.

But look, I think the big picture here to take a step back is that this is an issue that Donald Trump continues to struggle with. And I think the timing of it is really interesting and honestly helpful to the Harris campaign for when they hit the debate stage next week in Pennsylvania, because this is, of course, an issue, as Eva pointed out, that has been really strong for Democrats. They want to make it a priority in this election. Donald Trump, for his part, has really tried to kind of straddle the line on it, to say, you know, take credit for stacking the Supreme Court with three conservative justices that overturned Roe versus Wade while also telling people, you need to think about elections, you need to win elections. And he knows the politics is not necessarily on his side with so much of America very much being in favor of more abortion rights.

And so this is an issue we're going to keep seeing. And one other thing to keep in mind, and I know this is a key concern for the Trump campaign as well, is that this plays into the widening gender gap that we're seeing right now, particularly with Harris now at the top of the ticket. We're seeing more female voters say that, you know, they want to go with Harris. And so that's also playing out behind the scenes on all of this.

KEILAR: I mean, abortion is a really animating issue, certainly for the base. A lot of Americans care about it, Eva. But it's not the issue that they care the most about. Polls show that they're really concerned about the economy. They have major concerns about immigration.

Harris is now trying to turn into that and address that with an economic message.

MCKEND: She's very focused on the economy. Part of her election argument is that there needs to be an economy accessible to everyone as she tries to frame herself as a champion for the middle class. And I think that this is landing in some corners. I was just in Detroit yesterday at her rally there. I spoke to a union carpenter, and he told me, listen, I don't make enough money to support Republicans. So you see that that connection is being made, at least in some places. And then she also has a new ad out that speaks to this. Let's watch.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAN #1: We all know costs are too high. But while corporations are gouging families, Trump is focused. on giving them tax cuts. But Kamala Harris is focused on you.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: So her -- the first part of her economic rollout focused on going after corporations, price gouging. It also included $25,000 for first time homebuyers. Tomorrow in New Hampshire, she is going to roll out the next pillar of that economic plan, which is expected to focus on small businesses.

CHALIAN: And we are seeing her make some progress on the issue of the economy against Donald Trump. She's not losing that issue by the margins that Joe Biden was losing that issue. It's still a Donald Trump strong suit and it is issue number one. So Harris needs to continue to close that gap on the economy. But it's so interesting to watch that paid advertising, that new ad and where her message is right now. It is aimed squarely at the middle of this electorate. That is where -- and she was focused on that in Dana's interview last week as well. You don't see her sort of picking up some wedge issues or some just real base motivating issues. She'll do some of that. You see her squarely trying to aim at trying to chip away at Trump's advantage on the economy and with independent voters.

SANCHEZ: One week out from the debate, David, you imagine that these two issues are going to be central to what we watch on ABC that night. Who stands to gain more on next Tuesday?

CHALIAN: Well, I think they both stand to gain. Listen, this is a tossup race right now. So they both stand to gain. They both stand to lose. That's why the stakes are so high for this debate. It is the only one that is officially scheduled, although both have said they're kind of open to another debate. But that won't get really discussed until we see how this debate goes or they see how this debate goes. But I can't -- we've already seen one massively consequential debate this cycle, but I don't think that should lessen our expectations for what a big moment this is.

If you look at the calendar over the next 63 days, 9 weeks until election day, circle next Tuesday, because this is the big moment that could be really potentially race altering.

KEILAR: Yeah. It's a good reminder. We could see another one. Who knows? Everyone, thank you so much. Really appreciate the conversation. Hitting the road for the launch of the Harris campaign's reproductive rights bus tour. We have CNN Senior Political Commentator Ana Navarro with us. She's been along on it. And Ana, abortion rights, a key issue in the upcoming election. I do want to focus on a personal story that you told. I just want to paraphrase a little bit about it so that our viewers can understand and you can tell us more. But basically, you revealed that you had been diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy and that it was something very scary for you because it was something that your mother had once been diagnosed with and nearly died from.

Ultimately, you had some treatment, and it turned out that it was not ectopic, but it was nonviable, and you did have to proceed with a DNC. And you talked a little bit more about this. This was -- that's a big decision for you to come forward and talk about such a personal moment. Tell us why you decided it was really important to share that story with people.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I've never talked about that story publicly until very recently, until after Dobbs. And it's because if you're watching me today, the possibility -- I assure you, you are either a woman who has had a pregnancy emergency or, you know, a woman who has had a pregnancy emergency and may not have spoken about it. It's a very private thing. It's a very painful thing.

The reason I speak about it now is because I want to make sure that the girls I love in Florida, that girls across this nation have the same access to treatment that I did back then. I am not sure that in Florida -- this all happened after six weeks. I am not sure that in Florida today a doctor would be willing to treat me. I'm not sure the doctor would not be afraid of being penalized or prosecuted. I'm not sure that I could get the same treatment. And I don't want women to have to flee their state, or flee their country, or wait until they're almost dying in order to get treated.

So I speak about it because I think we have got to destigmatize this and because I'm also so touched by all the women who have shared the horror stories that they've had to endure as a resulting consequence of jobs. The women who've had to carry unviable children to term only to hold them and watch them die as they gasp for their last breaths, the women who've had to carry the pregnancies that are result of incest or rape, the women who've had to leave their states, the women who -- whose reproductive systems are threatened because they couldn't get the treatment.