Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

IDF Warns it Has Means to Strike any Target in Middle East; Biden Seeing Damage from Hurricane Helene; Walz Kicks Off Bus Tour in Swing State Pennsylvania; Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 02, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:01:07]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Vowing payback. The world waiting to see how Israel will respond after Iran's massive attack. All of this happening as Israel sends more troops to support its ground offensive in Lebanon.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And soon, President Biden will be flying over the Carolinas to survey firsthand the destruction brought by Hurricane Helene. He is now deploying 1,000 active duty soldiers to help deliver food, water and aid to hard hit communities. And that help cannot come soon enough, especially as we learn from energy officials, the major portions of the power grid in the Carolinas have been wiped away.

And from the debate stage to the campaign trail, vice presidential candidates J.D. Vance and Tim Walz heading to battleground states after a debate that featured get this policy over personal attacks. I know what is the world coming to? But did they sway enough undecided voters in a razor thin race?

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

SANCHEZ: We begin this hour with a stark new message from Israel. Its military chief is warning that it has the capacity to strike any target in the region. This as the world is waiting to see what Israel's next move is going to be after Iran's missile strike.

Right now, Israel is ramping up its ground war in Lebanon with plans to deploy more troops to take part in that fight. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vowing that Iran will pay for the aerial assault.

Now, earlier, President Biden weighed in on how Israel might retaliate. He says, he does not support an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites, saying the U.S. will be discussing with Israel what it plans to do.

CNN Chief National Security Analyst Jim Sciutto is live for us in Tel Aviv right now. And Jim, we've just learned that a permanent U.S. resident was killed in Lebanon. Tell us more about that. JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Listen, it shows just how easily the expanding war here can touch the interests of so many countries, right? I mean, you already have Americans who were killed or captured still held in Gaza in the first front of this war. And as the war expands, it's likely that not just more Americans, but other countries citizens are affected as well, of course, including the people of Lebanon, the people of Israel, the people of all the countries involved.

I think as the country, as people here in Israel, but also the region awaits Israel's promised response to the missile attacks last night. Those words from President Biden that you mentioned, Boris, are quite telling because he was asked, does the U.S. support an Israeli attack, a potential Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites? And he said quite clearly the answer is no.

So when Israel says they can strike any target in Iran, while that may be true, to do so without the support of the U.S. President would be notable. And there are also open questions as to whether Israel could militarily carry out at least decisive strikes on Iran's nuclear program without U.S. military support, including things such as air refuelers, given the distance between Israel and Iran.

So that split, again, if Israel were to go that path, would be just the latest instances of daylight between U.S. leaders on the conduct of this war and the current Israeli government.

SANCHEZ: You gave one example, Jim, of Israel's options going after the air refuelers. What else is on the table potentially?

SCIUTTO: Yeah. You hear of the possibility of striking Iranian surface to air missile sites, missile defense or air defense sites, as a way to really open up further targets in Iran.

[14:05:01]

It's interesting, Boris, because in April, following that Iranian missile barrage, Israel's response was to strike just one, but a key one, an air defense site inside Iran close to one of its nuclear sites. And the read of that strike was that Israel was showing Iran, listen, we could take out your defenses. Your defenses aren't as good as you imagine. That's one possibility, though, likely, given the size of last night's Iranian attack. You could imagine striking more such sites. The other possibility mentioned is going after Iranian oil sites, refineries, ports, etcetera, to give a economic blow to the Iranian regime, which, of course, depends on that oil money. The trouble is, you know, that would have global consequences because you could imagine where oil prices would go if that were to happen, you know, to impact the iranian oil supply on world markets. And we already saw oil prices go up somewhat due to the tensions here. So, you know, each option has its consequences. And those are all the things that Iranian -- the Israeli officials rather have to weigh right now.

SANCHEZ: Jim Sciutto, live force in Tel Aviv. Thank you so much, Jim. Brianna? KEILAR: Here in just minutes, President Biden will be taking an aerial tour over the Carolinas to see for himself how the hurricane has devastated the region. North Carolina, of course, suffering the highest number of deaths from Helene, which made landfall on Friday as a catalyst Category 4 storm. At least 180 people across six states died in the storm and many more remain missing at this point. The countless who survived are now living without power. They have limited food and water. They have no way to leave the area after Helene ripped up roads, power grids, and knocked out water plants. CNN's Miguel Marquez is in Raleigh, North Carolina for us following the President's visit.

And Miguel, the President approved some major manpower today to help in these relief efforts. Tell us about it.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it's a us military manpower, active duty military and lots of gear from helicopters to heavy trucks to try to move water, to get the electricity up, to get some of the cell phones restored to areas that are very hard. Remember, this is in the Appalachians. It's the blue mountains. It is very, very rough up in there in many areas. So you just want to get as many active duty soldiers starting today to the hardest hit areas. We were in Asheville, North Carolina. This is a thriving city. We saw one part, one little piece of the devastation that is hitting this entire area of the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: This is it. This is your first time seeing this?

DENISE MARKBREIT (SP?): Yeah, this is my first time.

MARQUEZ: Denise Markbreit (sp?) peers into her print shop studio.

MARKBREIT (SP?): I don't think I can recover from this.

MARQUEZ: Her sales table, enormous, hangs from the rafters.

How hard is it to look at this stuff?

MARKBREIT (SP?): It looks like a war happened.

MARQUEZ: Asheville's River Arts District devastated the waterline two feet of more above the second floor of many buildings near the French broad river. Will you and your business survive this one?

PATTIY TORNO, FOUNDING MEMBER OF ASHEVILLE ARTS DISTRICT: I'm choosing to not survive this one. I will not continue here. I do not think it is right ethical for me as a landlady to rent these spaces. I will not put myself or anyone else through this kind of trauma again.

MARQUEZ: Pattiy Torno, a founding member of Asheville's world renowned arts district, has seen floods before, nothing like this.

TORNO: In terms of putting water inside the studios here, the only other one that had happened was 20 years ago, in 2004, Hurricane Francis.

MARQUEZ: And this is just one area inundated by Helene that left a path of destruction for hundreds of miles.

PETER O'LEARY, MAYOR OF CHIMNEY ROCK, NORTH CAROLINA: Saw the pictures before I got here. I see the damage when I'm here and I just -- it's just hard to comprehend it.

MARQUEZ: Getting help to everyone here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. So many roads and bridges washed out, going old school, pack mules, sometimes the best way in.

ROY COOPER, GOVERNOR OF NORTH CAROLINA: We have a 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.

The losses, unimaginable. The immediate need, everything from water, food, gas, diapers, and medicine as overwhelming as the rain and the flood itself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: So look, one little example. They're trying to get the electricity going back up in Asheville.

[14:10:03]

And they're very -- they're getting a lot of it going back. The problem is, a lot of the water pipes are now washed out. The water plants don't have water. So water is a problem as well. So the electricity may come on, but that doesn't mean the faucets will go on, the toilets are going to flush, you're going to be able to take a shower. That's just one place. It is a massive amount of need. You know, the I-40 is now open between here in Raleigh and Asheville. It was washed out by a mudslide. So there is progress in certain areas. But the President's going to take that tour, see it from the sky, because that's really the only way you can take it all in, then come here to Raleigh and try to coordinate everything that they're going to need going forward.

It is going to take years. And people are still unaccounted for and they're trying to get immediate needs met, but it is going to take years for this area to recover. Brianna?

KEILAR: Yeah. And you can see it in those pictures. Miguel, thank you for the report for us from Raleigh. Right now, Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Ohio Senator J.D. Vance is in the critical battleground state of Michigan, set to deliver remarks at a campaign stop in Auburn Hills after last night's vice presidential debate where he faced off against Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, their first and only debate. And it was, can you believe it, mostly cordial, policy- focused. Say what? It's true. But the two men did have a significant exchange over former President Trump's 2020 election loss. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TIM WALZ, GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA AND CURRENT VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is still saying he didn't lose the election. I would just ask that, did he lose the 2020 election.

J.D. VANCE, UNITED STATES SENATOR AND CURRENT VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tim, I'm focused on the future. Did Kamala Harris Censor Americans from speaking their mind in the wake of the 2020 COVID situation that she's trying to --

WALZ: That is a damning non-answer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Joining us now to discuss is Tim Hogan, a Democratic strategist and former spokesperson for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, and Lance Trover, Republican Strategist and former Spokesperson for Doug Burgum's presidential campaign.

Before we get to the questions, I just want to point our viewers to Governor Walz arriving at a stop in Pennsylvania. These are live images coming in to CNN now.

We see him there apparently being surrounded by a crowd of folks greeting people. And you see Senator John Fetterman there in the background. The all-important state of Pennsylvania, where many believe that this election will be decided. We'll, of course, monitor his remarks and get them to you live.

Lance, what did you think of J.D. Vance's response to that question about whether Trump won or lost the 2020 election? He seemed to deflect entirely and say, I'm focused on other things.

LANCE TROVER, FORMER SPOKESPERSON, DOUGH BURGUM, PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: This is an issue -- I go back, I know you talked about it last hour. I mean, this is an issue that not a lot of voters care about at this juncture. If you look at the polling economy, cost of living, immigration are top of mind for everybody. I'm guessing anybody who was really moved by that probably already knew how they were going to vote anyway going into it. But I think overall, J.D. Vance had a very good night last night. He accomplished two big things, which was he reintroduced himself to the American public and obviously did very well if you look at the CNN polling on it. But he also made Donald Trump look like he made a really good decision in terms of being a vice president and someone who could step into the role of being president.

And I think in an election where increasingly people are looking back at Donald Trump's policies and saying they like them, he did a great job of telling, -- reminding voters that they like Donald Trump's policies and also reminding voters that Kamala Harris is part of the Biden administration.

KEILAR: Protecting democracy, also on the list for people.

SANCHEZ: Very important. I'm not arguing that. KEILAR: Yeah. To your point, though, people may be baked in. They may

have already decided. Tim, I wonder what you think, because to Lance's point, I mean, I think that in a lot of the moments that have kind of percolated to the top for J.D. Vance, he hasn't come off as very likable. And we see that in his favorability ratings.

He definitely out punted his coverage, I would say, on how likable he was last night. What did you think?

TROVER: Yeah, I think we saw both of the candidates improve their likability. I will say, I think in the CNN post-debate polling, we saw that Walz actually improved his favorability by four points more than J.D. Vance. But on this point that the January 6th exchange was not substantial. Look, you all had a focus group right after the debate in Michigan, two voters saying that J.D. Vance lost their vote because of that comment. Walz is in Pennsylvania today. NBC had a focus group. Five out of six people thought that Walls won the debate. Politico had a snap poll of independence afterwards. They thought Walz won 58 to 42. And the Harris campaign, signaling that this is important, said that on their dials, this was the worst moment for J.D. Vance, one of the best for Walz.

And now they're cutting an ad about it. So for those folks, for the sliver of Americans who are still undecided, I think it's a mistake to say that this was not a substantial exchange or that they can't win voters over. J.D. Vance tried to play pundit all night, tried to come off as very slick, but you can't sugarcoat something like this. And he was caught in a non-answer as well, said.

[14:15:03]

SANCHEZ: Tim, there was an answer from the governor that I think even some Democrats have acknowledged was not his best. He was asked about a statement he'd made previously about being there in Tiananmen Square or being in China during the Tiananmen Square protest that we found out yesterday, according to new reporting, was inaccurate.

It's only the latest time, the latest incident, where the governor has had to clarify statements about his biography that were less than accurate. What did you make of his response and his approach generally when it comes to questions about these incidents being essentially, I'm a knucklehead and my grammar isn't the best?

TIM HOGAN, FORMER SPOKESPERSON, HILARY CLINTON 2016 CAMPAIGN: Yeah. Look, he said he misspoke. He said that on stage. I think what Americans saw last night was someone who is plain spoken in Governor Walz and someone who likes to play pundit as J.D. Vance.

What these two candidates had to do last night, they had to answer some questions about their record. Yes, because they are the two on the stage. But at the end of the day, they are explaining the policies at the top of the ticket from Donald Trump and from Kamala Harris. And I think Walz did really well on the January 6th question. He did extremely well on the abortion question where J.D. Vance said, you know, we got to try to regain the trust of American voters. When Vance himself on his website has said he was for a national

abortion ban, has said it on podcast, Donald Trump won't say that he won't sign a national abortion ban. He touts that he put those three judges in place that struck down Roe. Walz hammered the point that maternal mortality in those states with abortion bans is significantly worse. And I think that's what voters really care about.

So I think on the issues where undecideds or independents or even Republican-leading voters, where we saw Walz improve his standing and his favorability, Walz did a great job.

KEILAR: Let's listen to Vance and his answer on abortion last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: We've got to do so much better of a job at earning the American people's trust back on this issue where they frankly just don't trust us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: How did he handle that, considering his record on a national abortion ban?

TROVER: Well, I'm a big proponent of candidates stating where they are on this issue. I think it's very important whether you're running for Congress or whether you're running for president of the United States. I thought this was actually a very good moment for him because I think he's right. I mean, voters need to be truthful or, excuse me, a candidates need to be truthful about where they stand on this issue. And I think he's also right. The polling shows Republicans do have a lot of work to do.

But one of the things he did I think really well, and I disagree with Tim, is he was very transparent. Whereas we know Tim Walz was not transparent about his connections with China. We know he's not been truthful on many things that he said. But in terms of that, that was a level of honesty and transparency that we saw out of J.D. Vance that I think a lot of voters were expecting. And I think that, again, goes to him moving the ball down the court for Donald Trump saying, I made a really good decision in my vice presidential nominee.

SANCHEZ: Lance Trover, Tim Hogan, we have to leave the conversation there. Look forward to having you back on sometime.

Still to come, we're talking with a former CIA officer about Israel's potential options for responding to Iran's massive missile attack and what U.S. involvement could look like.

Plus, flooded grocery stores, no power and spotty cell service. The major barriers still standing between people in the North Carolina mountains and the first steps of recovery from Helene's devastation.

SANCHEZ: And why federal prosecutors say, it's possible that New York Mayor Eric Adams could face additional charges in his corruption case.

(BREAKING NEWS)

[14:23:09]

SANCHEZ: Now to new developments in the Middle East as Israel is vowing to retaliate after Iran's unprecedented ballistic missile attack yesterday. But major questions remain now, like what that Israeli response will look like? When it could come? And what role the United States could play in all of this. Here's what President Biden said earlier today about whether he supports an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: The answer is no. And I think there's things -- we'll be discussing with the Israelis what they're going to do. But all seven of us agree that they have a right to respond, but they should respond in proportion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Joining us now with more perspective on all of this is former CIA Officer Bob Baer. Bob, thank you so much for being with us. I'm curious what you make of this push among some officials in Israel to go after the nuclear sites in Iran. Is that feasible? Is it the right approach?

BOB BAER, FORMER CIA OFFICER: Well, first of all, I think that Israel will retaliate, those 180, 190 missiles. We don't even know what the damage was yet. Some of them may have been military. So that makes the Israelis come up with a decision that they have to respond in a big way, an equivalent way.

The nuclear sites, maybe not. But there's a lot of the target set in Iran is very large. For instance, they could attempt to decapitate the regime. Remember that it's Ayatollah Khamenei who's ultimately behind Hezbollah and the spiritual leader. So he's not out. The Iranian President is a possibility. But what concerns me most are the oil facilities.

[14:25:01]

Israel has hit the oil facilities in Yemen in a big way, in Hodeidah, as we saw. And they could easily take out Iran's oil facilities. You know, I can speculate what's going to happen at that point. But I've studied Iran for a long time. And it's tit for tat for them. And they may just go after the oil facilities in the Gulf. Of course, this would cause economic chaos around the world.

But as this conflict in the Middle East spreads, you just can't count it out.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. I'm wondering also what you made of the response from Iran itself because this was in large part due to Israel eliminating Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, along with a slew of other Hezbollah officials and their broader incursion into Lebanon. So what did you make of Iran going this route? Did you see this as sort of a measured middle of the road approach from Iran or the harshest that they could carry out?

BAER: No, not at all. I believe you're right, it was measured. Because if they were to -- for instance, they have 3,000 ballistic missiles. If they were fired a thousand of them at a time, I understand that they could overwhelm Israeli air defenses and cause major civilian casualties if they wanted to. And they still could. I mean, it's very difficult to take out those missile sites in Iran.

Now, it's going to cause us if this is escalating to move more aircraft carriers in and participate in this war. And of course, what this administration does not want election is getting drawn into an all-out war with Iran and certainly never putting troops on the ground in Lebanon.

But we don't know which way it's going to go. On the other hand, this administration can't back off Israel, so it's in a tight spot. This is going to play a big part of the election if it worsens.

SANCHEZ: How do you think the U.S. can accomplish the goal of deterring Iran and its proxies while balancing what you noted, the dilemma of not only an upcoming election but its promises to defend Israel?

BAER: Well, I mean, I don't know if at this point Iran can be intimidated by the fifth fleet by moving major forces in if a threat to Iran itself. It's not suicidal that regime. But on the other, there's nothing we can do really to stop those missiles from barreling into Israel. And don't forget, we have troops in Iraq which are vulnerable. There's not many of them. I mean, Iranian proxies there could hit our bases. I'm giving you the worst case scenario. I'm not saying any of this is going to happen, but these are the calculations going on inside the administration.

SANCHEZ: It is a delicate balance. Bob Baer, appreciate the analysis. Thanks for joining us.

BAER: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Up next, Hurricane Helene's destruction will be felt for months and years to come. Ahead, we're going to hear from an official in the North Carolina Mountains about what the recovery process is going to look like.

Also, it's been two years since Elon Musk bought what used to be known as Twitter for $44 billion. A new survey says that value is quite diminished, a lot smaller now. How much money exactly did he lose? We'll break it down in just moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

End