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Cabell Tice is Interviewed about his NC Business; Walz and Vance in Polls; Jamie Harrison is Interviewed about the VP Debate; Breast Cancer Awareness Month; Israel Launches Ground Operation. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 01, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

CABELL TICE, OWNER OF ORCHARD COFFEE IN WAYNESVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA: Big deliver. You know, we get two a week. And we had the Friday one, obviously, was canceled because that was mid-storm. So, we went to the grocery store, got some things to patch us up until today. And we're hoping that within the next two hours we see a truck. And that - that's really the thing that worries us. So, we're super fortunate, super blessed (INAUDIBLE) this situation (INAUDIBLE).

Well, everything you know, materially for us is fine. And how do we move forward. How can we assist (INAUDIBLE) help. But right now the first things first is figuring out if we can actually, in fact, get deliveries to our shop, which it sounds like the roads are opening up and it sounds like it will happen.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, the big news, and it's a huge development, is that I-40 East, out of Buncombe County, is now reopen. And that could be a huge source of help for everyone. Kind of your - what's your reaction when you hear that?

TICE: Well, our trucks that deliver the - the food orders to our shop come out of Fort Mill. So, that is a highway that's very important to us. You know, it's a highway that's super important to a lot of people I know. Even, you know, as much as I've been thinking about my job and everything, I'm so much more - and my heart goes to everybody who's along that corridor and everybody who needs help.

So, knowing that - I could get a little emotional thinking about it - but knowing that there's not a way for the people that are without, you know, there's such - people on without water. So, having a road to get to go in and potentially deliver things to folks who are in need is huge. So, it's not us, it's - it's - it's the larger us that really needs it. So that 40 corridor is huge.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

Look, Orchard Coffee is known as being super - super popular in your town. A big part of the community there. And I know that you've been spending your time kind of giving out free coffee to first responders and trying to help any way you can. You can be sure, a hot cup of coffee can go a long way in the long hours that these - these people are pulling to try to get you guys all back online. So, thanks for coming on, thanks for what you're doing. It's really

nice to meet you under truly horrible circumstances. Cabell, thank you very much.

TICE: Yes. Thank you. I appreciate you.

BOLDUAN: Of course.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Look, the communications are tough there, but it's so important to hear those voices.

BOLDUAN: I know.

BERMAN: We've got new reporting this morning on how and why Democrats are trying to set low expectations for Tim Walz for tonight's debate. And breaking overnight, tens of thousands of workers at ports across the east walking off the job. The potentially huge in devastating impact on the economy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:37:21]

BOLDUAN: So, tonight is the night for Tim Walz and J.D. Vance. Their first and only vice presidential debate. And potentially the final debate of the entire 2024 cycle. We shall see on that last bit.

But regardless, for tonight, who has more to gain or lose as they get onto the debate stage. The numbers have been crunched by Harry Enten, and he is here.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Crunching.

BOLDUAN: Let the crunch - let the crunching occur.

Let's start with kind of where they stand as they walk on the debate stage tonight. Where do they stand with voters?

BOLDUAN: Yes, let's take a look. And I think you can see here, oy vey when it comes to J.D. Vance. Oy vey. This is the net favorable ratings.

Look at that, minus 11 points for J.D. Vance. No bueno.

Let's jump to the other side of the screen. Tim Walz, look at that, a plus four net favorability rating. The highest of any of these four folks on the screen right now. The Democrats better liked than the Republicans. But Walz slightly better liked than Kamala Harris.

J.D. Vance has actually, if anything, been a drag on the Republican side of the ticket, while Tim Walz has actually, if anything, helped Kamala Harris up a little bit.

But the bottom line is here, this negative 11 points, no good. This plus four points, pretty good in todays polarized environment, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Well, OK, so polarized environment is the thing I want to hit on here. One, J.D. Vance is giving you the stink eye over your shoulder for your assessment here.

ENTEN: Yes. Oh.

BOLDUAN: Two, his - in his - in terms of historical perspective, where does that favorability rating stand?

ENTEN: Again, not good. This is something I've been harping on throughout this entire cycle. So, this is VP nominees with a net negative favorable rating going into their first vice presidential debate. J.D. Vance here at minus 11 points. The worst all time going into their first VP debate.

The only other person in negative net favorability territory is Dan Quayle back in 1988 with a minus three point net favorability rating. If you know anything about VPs and the way that folks view them, you do not want to be in the company of Dan Quayle. J.D. Vance is in the company, is actually in a worst position going into his first debate, then, of course, Dan Quayle was going into his first debate in 1988. And, of course, that debate did not go very well as he ran into the buzzsaw known as Lloyd Bentsen.

BOLDUAN: Yes, the buzzsaw Lloyd Bentsen.

If favorability is the bad news for J.D. Vance, is there good news for J.D. Vance?

ENTEN: Yes, expectations. I think the expectations game. I know there's some folks who think that J.D. Vance is a good debater. Obviously, a very smart guy coming into this debate. And Tim Walz, and perhaps you know the country guy coming from the great state of Minnesota. But who do bettors think will win the first debate?

[08:40:02]

In fact, they believe that Tim Walz is the favorite going into this first debate. J.D. Vance is actually the underdog, at least who the bettors think will win in those post-debate polls that we'll obviously get later on. So, the bottom line is, J.D. Vance, not very well liked going into this first debate, but he really has nothing to lose because he's already the least liked VP nominee going into his first debate. I mean you can't get worse than last. So, let's see if he can come out tonight, maybe show the voters something that they haven't seen before or aren't expecting.

BOLDUAN: If everything, when it comes to debate, is managing expectations, this is one way to set some expectations.

WALZ: It's true.

BOLDUAN: There you go.

Harry Enten, good to see you. Thank you. ENTEN: Nice to see you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, with us now is the Chair of the Democratic National Committee, Jaime Harrison.

Chairman, thank you so much for being with us.

JAIME HARRISON, CHAIR, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Thank you.

BERMAN: I always learn something when Harry comes on TV.

HARRISON: Always, always.

BERMAN: Number one, the buzzsaw known as Lloyd Bentsen. I mean, that was his nickname, Lloyd "Buzzsaw" Bentsen.

But I was genuinely shocked that the betting markets are favoring Tim Walz in this debate right now, because every political insider I talk to has been talking about the strength that J.D. Vance has as a debater, and Democrats are talking about their fears about Tim Walz as a debater.

"Politico's" got a great expectations article this morning where they have quotes from people of known Tim Walz that say in debate situations, he can get, quote, "a bit manic," "overly defensive," "shuts down conversations when he's most stressed," "gruff and brash." Where do you see the expectations for tonight?

HARRISON: Well, listen, I'm a Yalie, J.D. Vance is a Yalie. You can't get out of Yale without knowing and picking up some skills in terms of debating. But the one thing you can't fake is genuineness. You can't fake authenticity. And that's the problem that J.D. Vance has. He's not authentic. He's not genuine. He lies a lot.

Look, he's just lying on the people who he's representing right now. That -- I think you can't even get lower than that, to lie about the people that you represent.

The one thing that I love about Tim Walz, who I've known almost 20 years now, this guy is genuine. He's authentic. It sort of oozes out of his pores. People like him. And part of what you're seeing with the betting is that it's not so much about debate skills, just a likability.

Nobody likes J.D. Vance. I don't even know if Donald Trump likes him. And it's just sad because this is a guy who is so talented, but has not used those talents in order to help people.

BERMAN: You talk about J.D. Vance and his issues with the facts, and certainly when you're talking about Springfield, Ohio, certainly you're talking about some of the claims he's made about insulin, those come into play.

Well, Governor Walz is, you know, loose with the facts and his own record, whether it be the service in the National Guard, what rank he retired in, whether it be, you know, carrying the gun in combat, whether it be being in Hong Kong, apparently, during Tiananmen Square. There are reports about that this morning. So how much do you think he needs to clean that up tonight?

HARRISON: Well, I think what the governor needs to do is to continue to talk about what he, the vision that he and Kamala Harris have for the American people. You got J.D. Vance and Trump who want to take us back, who believe that America's best days are in her past. But we know America's greatness is in her future, not in her past.

Let's talk about the opportunity economy, where we give people, help people get a leg up to get ahead in this economy. We see the policies that they have. They're talking about child care and addressing that, which is a big issue. As a father, too, it's a huge issue.

We see that they're talking about helping first-time homebuyers, $25,000 down payment. Huge for so many of our young people trying to start up, $50,000 to start a small business.

And at the same time, you ask Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, they have Project 2025, which wants to decimate our safety net, even though they're trying to distance themselves from it. They have tariffs, you know, more and more tariffs. Yeah, that's going to put more money in people's pockets. These people are not focused on helping the American people.

BERMAN: J.D. Vance, you can almost bet, will come out and say, you know, Governor Tim Walz, you know, liberal, lefty, you know, Gavin Newsom in flannel is one thing people have said. Didn't call out the National Guard early enough when there was rioting after the killing of George Floyd. What does Walz say to that?

HARRISON: Well, Walz can say, well, you know, Donald Trump said I actually did a good job handling this situation after George Floyd, which is a direct quote. You know, he can also talk about the fact that feeding kids should not be a progressive or conservative thing. That should be an American thing. We want to feed kids in our school. No kid should go to school feeling hungry.

As a kid who grew up on welfare and food stamps, who was on free and reduced lunch, I know the importance of that. Would not be here but for that assistance. I hope J.D. Vance and Donald Trump understand that.

BERMAN: Very quickly, there is a port strike, Longshoremen's unions on the east and in the Gulf. You're the Chair of the Democratic Party. Union issues obviously very important to you.

HARRISON: Yeah.

BERMAN: How do you feel about whether President Biden should get involved to push for an end to this strike?

[08:45:00] HARRISON: Well, listen, very close to the Longshoremen, we have some great guys who work down in the Charleston port, the Port of Charleston. And you know, the president is going to work and will always stand with organized labor. Those are the working people who have built the backbone of this country. And so I'm sure we will find a path forward to move forward.

But before we go, John, I just want to continue to send my heartfelt condolences and prayers to those impacted from Helene. Some of my very close friends, areas that we travel to, Asheville, it's just devastating.

And hopefully, and we see the leadership from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, we're going to get the resources to those communities.

BERMAN: I know there have been lives lost even in South Carolina --

HARRISON: Exactly.

BERMAN: -- where you're from there. Jaime Harrison, Chair of the Democratic National Committee. Thanks so much for being here, appreciate it.

HARRISON: Thank you for having me.

BERMAN: Sara.

SIDNER: All right, today is the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And the American Cancer Society has a new study out this morning which shows the rate of women dying from breast cancer continues to decline. However, there have been increases in the disease being diagnosed at younger ages.

CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard is joining me now.

Can you give us a sense of sort of, you know, how and why there is this increase in younger women? It's great to hear that the numbers of people dying from breast cancer are declining, but you have this other part of this, and this is a life-long battle.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: That's right, Sara. And you're right, this new report gives us good news and concerning news. You know, the good news being that we have seen this decline in the breast cancer death rate here in the United States. It's declined by about 44 percent since 1989. And that's largely due to advances in treatment and detecting cases early through screening.

But then there is this other concerning news, which is the upward trend of the incidents rate. And we know, based on this report, that the incidence of breast cancer has gone up by about 1 percent each year since 2012. That's the upward trend that we're looking at.

And the American Cancer Society's CEO, Dr. Knudsen, here she is talking about this rising incidence rate and what it means particular for young women.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. KAREN KNUDSEN, CEO, AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: The steepness (ph) of that increase does not affect all women in this case equally, in that there is a slightly higher increase in the rate of breast cancer diagnosis for women who are under age 50, versus those that are above age 50. So, these are things that we are watching to try to understand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: And, Sara, I will say, that upward trend in the incidence rate, particularly among women younger than the age 50, this trend is not unique to breast cancer. It's something that we're also seeing with other cancer types too, like colon cancer.

And as to why we're seeing this rise in cancer cases among younger adults, younger than 50, that's an area of research that we know is actively being looked into right now, Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, we all want to know the answer to that so they can be stopped, or at least prevented.

Here's a statistic that I know well, and I know that you are well familiar with as I battle breast cancer. Black women. Although they are less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, they are far more likely to die.

What does the study say about this?

HOWARD: Yes. And you're right, Sara, this is a trend that we've talked about for some time. It's been known within medicine for some time, but yet we continue to see it. And this new report shows us that the breast cancer death rate among black women is 38 percent higher compared with white women. But the actual incidence of the disease is 5 percent lower.

So, we are seeing a lower incidence. But once the disease is diagnosed, we're seeing a higher death rate. And that racial disparity is something that we know has been ongoing. We know it's concerning. It's yet another example of racial disparities that we see within medicine in general. And it's something that we continue to call upon the medical community to address.

SIDNER: Yes, and it's not just people not going to get screened. There is also the kinds of cancer that black women get as well.

HOWARD: Exactly.

SIDNER: So, there's a lot of factors here.

HOWARD: Yes.

SIDNER: Jacqueline Howard, thank you so much for bringing us this on this first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Really appreciate it. Kate.

BOLDUAN: And an important month to mark with my dear Sara on this important month ahead marking Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Ahead for us, landmark day in presidential history. Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer, turned commander in chief is the first former American president to celebrate this 100th birthday.

And Israel launches a ground incursion into Lebanon. A new phase in Israel's fight against Iran-backed Hezbollah.

And President Biden says he's comfortable with them stopping and saying he wants to see a ceasefire now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:54:23]

SIDNER: All right, breaking news this morning, the Israeli military defending its ground incursion into southern Lebanon, saying it aims to stop attempts by Hezbollah to infiltrate Israel. Also saying Israeli forces have been carrying out raids into southern Lebanon for months now. An IDF spokesman releasing new video footage this morning saying it shows Hezbollah's underground tunnels in Lebanon. Israel says it has destroyed many of them.

These details coming just hours after Israel announced it launched a ground operation inside Lebanon.

CNN military analyst, retired Army Major General James "Spider" Marks is joining us this morning.

Thank you so much for being here.

[08:55:00]

We're hearing about this ground incursion. Israel saying it as a limited ground incursion. What does that allow Israel to do as it's going in and out, trying not to keep troops on the ground for very long?

MAJOR GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: To define an invasion as limited is a priority before, you know, the bulk of this operation gets underway is - it's a definition that's very imprecise.

Look, Hezbollah has a vote in how this thing unravels, right? So to describe it as limited is great, which means Israel hopes to be very precise in its targeting. They want to go after the infrastructure of Hezbollah. They want to go after storage locations. Look, they're looking for evidence that they can go to the International Criminal Court and say, Hezbollah routinely positions its weapons systems in houses. They use that for storage. Not that anybody is going to care, but at least that gives them some - at least it gives the world an understanding of what Hezbollah is all about, if it's not already sufficiently clear.

But I think it's important that what Israel is trying to do is they're trying to put - push Hezbollah north of the Litani, which we understand. However, having - if they can do that, and the - and the U.N. Security Council resolution indicates that it should be done, hasn't been enforced, still a large percentage of Israel is still under the range of those ballistic missiles. So, it's a good start.

But Israel would really like to push - I think would like to push beyond the Litani. You know, like they're - they're flush with victory from Gaza. They've got the capacity to do it. The challenges is, is they don't want to get stuck. And that's why they're describing this thing up front as a limited incursion. They want to hit some very precise locations, push as many as the Hezbollah fighters beyond the Litani and then see what happens from there. But I don't anticipate that they want to occupy ground. They don't want to own that ground.

SIDNER: Yes.

MARKS: They want to push Hezbollah back. And they want to get (INAUDIBLE) Israel.

SIDNER: And they have said that. They don't want to, you know, sort of be there occupying for months and months and months.

I do want to sort of go into this regional map and just look at some of the places that Israel has struck because it's not just Lebanon. You have Lebanon, you have Syria, you have Yemen. When you look at this - this map, there is that big fear of a regional war. And, of course, you have had the Houthis firing on Israel as well. What do you make of all this? As the Biden administration has said, we have to get a ceasefire. Now they're talking about a ceasefire with Hezbollah, with, you know, trying to stop this incursion into Lebanon. What is your takeaway on all of this as to where this goes from here?

MARKS: Yes, you know, Sara, make a little green checkmark up on Tehran. Israel has been very successful going after and they killed the political leader - there you go - the political leader of Gaza. So, what we're seeing is Israel's got an immense capacity to reach and operate on these what we call multiple lines of effort. I mean you've just described is so very well on the map.

The challenge of a much larger Mideast conflict rests with the leadership in Tehran. What are they going to do next? We haven't seen that directly, right? We've seen it through the proxies. Proxies now have been damaged. All three of those big ones have been damaged.

However, if you look at the Shia (ph) arc from Tehran all the way down into Damascus, you've got terrorist organizations that are linked to Tehran of different sorts that have the ability to strike at targets in the region. And the United States is one of those. We still have a presence in the region. The United States is wise to say, look, we've got to - we've got to chill this thing down a little bit. It's way too hot.

However, Israel has a capacity to meet interjective (ph) that they've never been able to meet before. And the world has acquiesced to this form of terrorism. Something has to be done now.

SIDNER: Well, we will see how this goes in the coming days.

Major General James "Spider" Marks, thank you so much for your great analysis this morning. I really appreciate you coming on.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Former President Jimmy Carter celebrating his 100th birthday today, making him the first American president to hit this huge milestone.

CNN's Nick Valencia is live for us outside the Carter Center in Atlanta.

So, Nick, what are the plans to celebrate the former president on what is a huge day?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's a big day here, Kate. And there's a slew of private events planned, but no public events. An auspicious time anytime somebody turns 100-years-old, but especially when that someone is a former president.

And the family's been clear, there were some concerns as to whether or not Jimmy Carter would make it to today, especially after last year when his wife passed away, Rosalynn Carter, the love of his life. Many wondered out loud how much longer Jimmy Carter would hold on.

But he is here today, turning 100, becoming the first U.S. president to turn 100-years-old.

[08:59:58]

And it was recently that his grandson, Jason Carter, says that he's seen a renewed determination of, you know, in his grandfather's spirit to make it to October 15th to early vote.

Now, his