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Walz And Vance To Square Off In Only VP Debate Of 2024; Israel Begins Ground Operations In Southern Lebanon; Historic Devastation. Israel Begins Ground Operations in Lebanon; At Least 130 People Dead in Six States from Catastrophic Helene, Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired October 01, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

ELLIOT ACKERMAN, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: --- but ultimately, it doesn't serve the United States well and it causes these conflicts to perpetuate and not be won.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And, general, we've got about 30 seconds left. You were talking about the missile range trying to cut off Hezbollah's ability to strike inside Israel. This map shows the various ranges of the weapons that Hezbollah seems to have now. I mean, can you cut off their ability to launch at this point if you only go into the south of Lebanon?

STEVE ANDERSON, RETIRED US ARMY BRIGADIER GENERAL: Well, what they need to do is they need to take out the ballistic missile capability that got the extended range throughout Israel. Now last week, they fired a ballistic missile, so that's one of the immediate operational intents of this attack into Southern Lebanon. They got to take out that ballistic missile firing capability.

Now, we know there's about 120,000 other type rockets and missiles that they've been using to essentially harass the people in Israel, and that's why some 60,000 people have had to dislocate. But they got to take out all the ballistic missile capability in Southern Lebanon, and they need to do it now.

BERMAN: All right. Brigadier General Steve Anderson, Elliot Ackerman, thanks to both of you. A brand new hour of CNN News Central starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: In just hours, they are live from New York. No, not SNL, but still must see political TV. The vice presidential candidates getting ready to face off for their first and only debate and, possibly, the final debate of the entire election cycle.

And the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene has left thousands of people in Western North Carolina stranded and growing desperate for supplies. New details on the rush now to get to them and get supplies to them. I'm Kate Bolduan with Sara Sidner and John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: This morning, I sense something, I feel something.

BOLDUAN: It's debate day in America.

BERMAN: Thank you very much, Kate. Another way to look at it is a day to celebrate number two, the vice presidential debate. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance here in New York, what does it all mean? What is the potential impact?

No one better on earth to help us understand it all, CNN Political Director and sometimes CNN News Central Anchor David Chalian here with us. Great to see you.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Thank you. It says that in the prompter.

BERMAN: I wrote it. I wrote it. Sometimes CNN News Central anchor, I don't want to forget. So I wrote it in there. So it is the vice presidential --

CHALIAN: Correct.

BERMAN: -- debate. Will it be about the vice presidential candidates or will it be about the people at the top of the ticket?

CHALIAN: I mean, it's a good question because it is critical mission for those running in the undercard, the number two slot, to make sure they are bolstering the top of the ticket. And so, one of the things to watch for tonight, John, is how much of this debate is Vance versus Walz and how much of it is really Trump versus Harris, which is obviously where voters are.

I mean, voters are not deciding on Walz or Vance. So it's -- I would be looking for how do these candidates turn questions about their record or their biography into larger thematics that the top of the ticket's running on.

BERMAN: Both candidates have strengths and weaknesses here that are at play and maybe in some ways cross currents here. What do you see in that front?

CHALIAN: Well, I kind of look at the narratives that each side has constructed for the vice presidential running mate. And I wonder, are we -- is this -- will voters walk away tonight being like folksy coach Walz versus America first warrior J.D. Vance? Or are they going to walk away with sort of a caricature of way lefty liberal (inaudible), who isn't always familiar with the truth about his biography, versus anti-woman race baiting candidate on the other side who could be a chaos agent in a Trump administration.

Those are the negative frames that the opponents want to build. I think we have to see which one emerges tonight.

BERMAN: And both of them have to prosecute the case on the other. So if J.D. Vance is going to try to make Tim Walz look like the, again, the words, you know, the lefty far liberal, sometimes, you know, fabulous candidate that he is, how can he do it without seeming like the negative caricature that Americans seem to think he is sometimes, which, of course -- CHALIAN: You know his favorability numbers, they're way upside down. So is the goal here to improve your positives, or is it to really bring up the negatives of your opponent? Because that can, of course, rebound on you.

BERMAN: And you should be able to tell that. We should be able to tell that fairly quickly. And are they going for the positives or negatives? All right.

Doug Nigh (ph) was on before and quoted from the famous movie "Meatballs." You know, it just doesn't matter. It just doesn't matter. Sometimes VP debates, when I say sometimes, I mean maybe always.

CHALIAN: Maybe always.

BERMAN: It just doesn't matter. What do we think about tonight?

[08:05:04]

CHALIAN: Listen, in a race this close, anything could matter. And so here's what I would argue. If somebody has a major gaffe, a major mistake that drives days of coverage, that could matter in this very close race. Barring that, I think it disappears into the ether pretty quickly.

BERMAN: An excellent roadmap to approach the evening. David Chalian, great to see you in person.

CHALIAN: You too. Thank you.

BERMAN: Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, hello, John. Hello, Mr. Chalian, which I'm about to quote you, by the way, it was quite good. Thank you.

Late last night, we are going to be seeing, actually tonight we are going to be seeing a huge debate, as you just heard there, between David Chalian and John Berman. The DNC, by the way, last night used Trump Tower to troll the former president and his running mate ahead of tonight's VP showdown.

One of the messages they projected on the building, "Go, Coach Walz." Trump, for his part, had this to say about the debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER US PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're so rigged and so stacked. You'll see it tomorrow with J.D., it'll be stacked. He's going up against a moron, a total moron. How she picked him is unbelievable. And I think it's a big factor. There's something wrong with that guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: All right. With me now is Democratic Strategist Antjuan Seawright and May Mailman, former Trump White House Associate Counsel. Thank you both for joining us this morning.

First to you. You heard the comments that Donald Trump just said about his competition, if you will, in the vice presidential race. But we're not hearing that from Republicans generally. They're actually saying the opposite, that he could be very strong in this debate.

ANTJUAN SEAWRIGHT, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think tonight you're going to see a true contrast between the two candidates and their causes. Quite frankly, Governor Walz still goes into this debate as the underdog, in spite of J.D. Vance having, what, a 35 percent approval rating, 46 percent, not approval -- unapproval rating, essentially, in spite of him being an evangelist for Trump's Project 2025, in spite of his war on women, in spite of the fact that he simply has been an extremist, election denying, insurrection support. In spite of all that, Governor Walz still goes into this as the underdog.

So I think it's important for the coach to take off the headset and put on the jersey. He must block and tackle tonight. Part of the blocking is making the American people understand that the past three plus years have been a down payment on the progress we have to make. And so, we have to protect that. That's what this election is all about.

But he has to tackle. He has to tackle the extremism that comes along with J.D. Vance and Donald Trump, but also tackle the issues that Kamala Harris has laid out so eloquently that she and he will tackle together, whether it's housing, whether it's healthcare, whether it's child affordability, whether it's the climate crisis, all those things. And I think tonight you will see that contrast come through in real time.

SIDNER: You're not a football fan, are you?

SEAWRIGHT: Politics and sports go hand in hand.

SIDNER: I see that. May, your thoughts on this strategy. Donald Trump calling him a moron, while at the same time some of the folks that are surrounding him are saying, hey, you need to watch out because J.D. Vance has a real formative debater that is on his hand. Which way do you think that this should go?

MAY MAILMAN, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE ASSOCIATE COUNSEL: Yes. This is classic table setting. I don't think you want to set debate expectations so high, even with Joe Biden. A lot of Republicans were coming out and saying Joe Biden might make it. And sure enough, he did not. So, you know, sometimes they don't meet even the lowest expectations.

But here, I think the biggest table setting that we're seeing is from the Democratic side, right? So they're painting J.D. Vance as a seasoned, Yale law graduate, smart guy. And it's true, J.D. Vance goes on the Sunday shows. He goes on networks that are not friendly to his positions every single week.

And so, he is really skilled at addressing people who disagree with him. And I don't think that Tim Walz has had that similar strategy. So I hate to set expectations like that, but I really do think that Tim Walz should be nervous.

SIDNER: Let me ask you both, I want to go to something that's happened right now. North Carolina is in play, obviously, and both candidates know that it is a very important state, but it has just gone through one of the biggest tragedies that it has ever seen. Hurricane Helene brought misery and destruction like we have never seen in North Carolina.

But then you have these comments, North Carolina and Georgia both dealing with this. You have these comments from former President Donald Trump. Here's what he said, bringing politics into this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: 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.

BRIAN KEMP (R), GEORGIA GOVERNOR: The president just called me yesterday afternoon. I missed him and called him right back.

[08:10:03]

And he just said, hey, what do you need? And I told him, you know, we got what we need. We'll work through the federal process. He offered that if there's other things we need, just to call him directly, which I appreciate that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: May, why is Trump a liar when it comes to this issue that there are still people that are missing, people are dying, and there's a huge response that has to happen. Why did he do this? And you have Kemp coming right after they're saying, hey, look, Georgia, yes. We got a call from the President. Why did he do this?

MAILMAN: Well, I think a couple of things. One, I think it was noteworthy that he is trying to support Brian Kemp. Hey, the governor is doing a good job and then minimizing any amount that it might not be Brian Kemp's fault that it's the federal government. So I think it was intended to support Brian Kemp, which is notable coming from Trump.

But I think the other piece is that there is a scandal in America right now, which is that Americans don't know who's in charge. You see President Biden at the beach and, yes, he's been on the phone. But there are real questions about who's running the country. Biden does not seem mentally or physically capable of handling himself in standard situations. So what happens during a disaster?

And I think Trump is capturing that question that many people should be asking, which is who is in charge? Kamala Harris --

SIDNER: Yes, but that's not the question that he asked. That's not what he said. He lied and then was caught in the lie by the person he was trying to support. But this is about the people, right, of Georgia and North Carolina that are trying to deal with this. And, you know, authorities there, you know, and people that I've spoken with who are on the ground there say this is not helping.

What is your sense of what you just heard from May?

SEAWRIGHT: Well, this consistent misrepresentation of the facts in my community, we call it lies, continue to happen from the other side. Quite frankly, this election is about their records. When there has been a disaster, we've seen Democrats, particularly President Biden and Vice President Harris, step up and rescue the American people.

When she was a United States senator, she continuously voted to give the American people relief when needed. Quite frankly, President Biden has been on the scene. That's why his FEMA director is planted in North Carolina until further notice. That's why he immediately called governor of South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, all impacted by the storm before the storm even hit, signed the emergency declaration so there would be no delay.

And you compare that to when Donald Trump was in office. We had storms in Puerto Rico, disasters in Puerto Rico, disasters in North Carolina, both delayed response in North Carolina. In the 2017 hurricane, they received less than 1 percent of the necessary aid needed to heal those people.

People remember that. People remember the lies. They remember the contrast. And quite frankly, Donald Trump is a person searching for relevancy in Georgia because he puts a strain on the ground with all the things that come along with a former president having to go to an area. And that's a different approach than Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have had while they wait to get instructions from the governors on the ground and the people who are actually doing the work.

SIDNER: Yes. I mean, officials on the ground have said, please do not come here. I know that President Biden is expected to see it from the sky, but they have asked officials not to come there as they're dealing with this right now, but to help send aid.

May Mailman and Antjuan Seawright, thank you both so much for this heated discussion. Appreciate it. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Breaking news overnight, Israel launches a ground incursion into Lebanon. What the White House is now saying about the -- about Israel's latest move against Iran-backed Hezbollah. We've got the very latest from the region.

And some areas of North Carolina are so cut off by hurricane damage still that they are now using mules to get supplies to communities. We have the very latest on storm recovery efforts from some of those communities stranded by the storm.

And happy birthday, former President Jimmy Carter, 100 years old. The celebration plans in place to mark this historic occasion.

[08:14:10]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:18:23]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, an important escalation in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Israel says it launched a ground incursion into Southern Lebanon overnight, the first such moved by Israel in 18 years.

Hezbollah says Israel is lying claiming no Israeli troops have entered Lebanon, but video shows Israeli trucks carrying tanks near the border. The IDF says the footage shows their troops preparing for the new operation.

CNN chief national security analyst, Jim Sciutto is in Tel Aviv this morning. What is Israel's goal here, Jim? With an operation by the way, they announced to the world as it was happening overnight.

JIM SCIUTTO CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's right, and we just got an update, in fact, from the spokesman for the IDF, Daniel Hagari, saying that they have already conducted dozens of raids, in his terms, across the border inside Lebanon including targeting tunnels there, various firing positions for Hezbollah and so on.

Now, it is interesting, he says raids, because raids imply that you go in and then come out again. It is not clear how long Israeli troops well stay inside those areas in Southern Lebanon.

But here is a point that I think is worth making, because the goal is, and this has been stated publicly repeatedly going back really to October 7th last year, is to push Hezbollah back to the Litani River that is close to 20 miles inside Lebanon and that's an important border because it pushes back the range, in effect, the firing range of Hezbollah fighters inside Northern Israel.

And it is also important because the Israelis judge that Hezbollah would not be able to tunnel under that river, and therefore, it is an important barrier.

To get Hezbollah to move back some 20 miles, you're not going to accomplish that with just a few raids here and there, that implies a longer-term presence, not defined yet, but also, of course, forces going deeper in, deeper into territory than they've described so far.

[08:20:24]

BERMAN: Is it clear, Jim, what's next? Not just for Israel on the ground, but what is next in terms of how the US is approaching all of this? Because President Biden has said he doesn't want to see an escalation, this appears to be an escalation. So where does it go?

SCIUTTO: Yes, you know, how many times have we heard that? President Biden and Secretary Blinken saying they don't want to see an escalation and yet, this war expands and I think one can reasonably say Israel, while striking targets and you could understand, they want to strike Hezbollah leaders, et cetera, that Israel has escalated.

The pager attack which struck thousands of Hezbollah fighters, the decapitation strikes, which has dismantled, having killed multiple levels of Hezbollah leadership, and now this ground incursion across the border there with the intention of pushing Hezbollah fighters back far further.

So it is really not clear, John, what level of influence President Biden, the White House, Secretary Blinken have now on the Israeli prime minister because at each stage, he has done what he and his advisers have judged to be in Israel's national security interests and has not paid a price for that for any time that he has gotten on the opposite side of issues or positions with the United States.

I mean, keep in mind, this is the second ceasefire effort led by the US, one in Gaza and one in Lebanon. It really doesn't appear to be going anywhere.

BERMAN: All right, Jim Sciutto for us in Tel Aviv. Keep us posted. Obviously, these developments are coming very quickly -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, the struggle continues to get supplies and resources to survivors of Hurricane Helene in the mountain towns of Western North Carolina. We will have more on that.

Also new information from the American Cancer Society about breast cancer cases in women under the age of 50. It is news that you can use. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is now six days after Hurricane Helene, some communities in Western North Carolina remain basically completely cut off. At least 130 people are confirmed dead across six states that were hit by Helene and officials fear that that number could still rise. Several hundred people are also still unaccounted for today.

In North Carolina alone, the death toll is now at 56 people killed, four of those deaths were in Haywood County, which is where our next guest is from.

Cabell Tice is the owner of Orchard Coffee in Waynesville, North Carolina. His photos that we are showing you some of here were some of the first images really to come out of Waynesville, showing how bad and extensive the damage was there.

And Cabell Tice joins us now.

Cabell, thank you very much for taking the time. As I was saying in the break, I am just glad that we have connection that we can actually speak.

What I've read is that flooding -- maybe there it went -- let's try and see if it holds. What I read Cabell is that flooding effectively cut the town in half. Can you describe what you've seen and experienced in terms of what the community has been hit with?

CABELL TICE, OWNER OF ORCHARD COFFEE IN WAYNESVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA: Well, it is hard to put into words because this is an area we drive through every day. It is kind of a main artery from the Highway 40 into downtown Waynesville.

And so, we have a creek called Richland Creek that rests on a lot of low-lying neighborhoods. Beautiful places to live, folks with the creek in their backyard, a number of feet, but it rose and covered the roads. It made the neighborhoods into a river with spotted homes and really, it did cut the main stretch of town off from our Highway 40, which is the artery from Waynesville to Asheville, Waynesville to Silva.

It was really tragic to see. I've never seen the water that high.

BOLDUAN: How is your home? Your family? Your business?

TICE: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Your employees? How are the people nearest to you been impacted?

TICE: Well, my staff is all doing well. Everyone kept their houses. I've got one employee who lives a little bit far out and his house (INAUDIBLE) there.

So getting supplies brought into them by a truck and -- but their families are safe. They are safe.

I have one girl who we just hired last week who actually lives out in Crusoe and -- we know she is safe, but we don't know how her -- how her family farm is, and last flood, her family farm was actually really affected. So I am imagining that this time it is much worse.

Personally, we have the cafe and we live upstairs, so my family, my wife, my kids, and I and my mom and my siblings, we are safe and thankfully, water doesn't flow uphill as quickly as it flows down.

And yes, our building is fine. The cafe is fine.

One thing that we are, you know, looking at moving forward, the concern for us -- immediately was, well, if the roads are closed, how can we get deliveries? We had a big delivery. You know, we get two a week and we had the Friday one, obviously, it was canceled because that was mid storm.

So we've still just got some things to patch us up until today, and we are hoping that within the next two hours, we see a truck and that is really the thing that worries us.

[08:30:18]