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Israeli Settlers Devastate Palestinian Village In West Bank; Ceasefire Talks End With New Proposal Considered Next Week; Today: Harris Pitches Her Economic Vision To The Nation. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired August 16, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news. We're reporting live from Tel Aviv. We begin this hour with the breaking news here in the Middle East, the ceasefire talks in the Israeli-Hamas war have ended for this day and will resume next week. The parties will consider a new proposal pitched by the U.S. and fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar. In just a moment, the U.S. National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby will join us live from the White House. We'll discuss what's going on. Meanwhile, tensions right now are boiling over in the Israel occupied West Bank.

Dozens of Israeli settlers have devastated a Palestinian village, setting homes and cars on fire and firing bullets and tear gas at residents. A 23-year-old Palestinian man was killed. And top Israeli officials from the Defense Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office have issued blistering condemnations of this Israeli settler attack. CNN's Nic Robertson scrambled to the West Bank and the village where this happened. He has spoken to people there and filed this report.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Wolf, this is one of the vehicles that was set on fire by the settlers. I talked to the man who owns the vehicle. His face was smashed up. He said he tried to defend his house from the settlers. He said he'd never seen violence like this by settlers here before, using firing live rounds, using tear gas. They went to a lot of different villages in this town. A young man, 23 years old, Rashid Sedda, was shot and killed. We arrived in the town here just as his funeral cortege was passing along the streets, incredibly emotional. He was wrapped in a Palestinian flag being carried shoulder high by the young man of this small hilltop town here, and the older men lining the sides of the street as this cortege went by.

And the father of -- of Rashid Sedda, he was barely able to walk almost, sort of carried by friends and neighbors up the street. And the oration at the grave site incredibly strong and passionate, a lot of people here telling us that they feel that the Israeli government is responsible for this. Now we've heard condemnations by U.S. Ambassador Jack Lew calling this appalling, saying it absolutely must not happen. Yoav Gallant, the defense minister in Israel, has called this violent, radical riots. The interior minister has called it serious nationalist crime.

So government officials in Israel are calling this out, are saying that they will investigate it. Indeed, in the later hours of the night, the IDF did prevent a second settler attack on the village. But that isn't changing the perception here, Wolf, people don't believe that. They don't buy it, that they think the settlers get protection from the IDF. They think that the settlers are put up to this by the Israeli government. And of course, this coming at a very, very sensitive time with these peace talks about Gaza going on in Doha. Wolf?

BLITZER: Nic Robertson, thanks very much. Nic is on the scene for us in the West Bank. I want to go to the White House right now. John Kirby is the spokesman for the White House National Security Council. He's joining us right now. John, thanks very much for joining us. We've got lots to discuss. But first off, what's your reaction to this Israeli settler attack on this Palestinian village in the West Bank?

JOHN KIRBY, WH NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESMAN: It is absolutely appalling. As our Ambassador Jack Lew mentioned in his statement earlier today, we have been exceedingly strident and clear about the need for settler violence to stop. It has to end. It is counterproductive to peace and security. It's obviously extremely dangerous, and it needs to stop. We're glad to see that some of the some government officials have come out publicly as well and condemn this violence. It needs to be condemned, and, more importantly, Wolf, it -- it needs to stop. And we are going to stay in touch with our Israeli counterparts, as you would expect, we would. We're going to watch this very, very closely.

BLITZER: Is the Biden administration going to issue sanctions against some of these settlers who have been behind or supporting these kinds of attacks?

KIRBY: Well, you know, Wolf, we've done that in the past. I won't get ahead of decisions that haven't been made here. We're watching this unfold in near real time, but we certainly will reserve judgment based on -- on how things are going here and what we're seeing. But I -- I certainly wouldn't rule out any action at this particular point in time.

BLITZER: As you heard in Nic Robertson's report, many people in that village on the west bank told him that they blame Israel's government for the attack. In your opinion, is the Israeli government doing enough right now, the Israeli military, the Israeli political leadership, to protect all of these communities from this kind of settler violence.

[11:05:01]

KIRBY: We believe more needs to be done, Wolf, to prevent this kind of violence from happening. I mean, one of the first things the President talked about after the October 7th attacks was his deep concern about this spilling over into the West Bank. And sadly, we've seen that now happen yet again, this kind of violence, it has to stop. So again, I -- we -- we've been very, very clear about condemning this kind of violence, and it -- it needs to stop, and we need to see the Israeli government work towards that end. BLITZER: A short time ago, as you know, John, the Israel-Hamas, peace talks in Doha wrapped up, ceasefire talks, I should say, hostage release talks, they've wrapped up at least until next week. Are you concerned that this type of violence that has occurred now in the West Bank, Israelis attacking Palestinians, could hurt further prospects for a cease fire in Gaza and the release of hostages?

KIRBY: Well, it's certainly not helping, Wolf. Difficult to say at this point in time when, you know, what kind of effect it's going to have on the -- on the bridging proposal that was now leached today in Doha. And that's a positive sign, a very promising sign. We -- we are glad that now the teams will begin to work some more, to work out some of the more finer details of how this deal was going to be implemented. But this bridging proposal is a positive sign. A lot of more work ahead of us. And -- in -- incidents like this in the West Bank certainly aren't going to help with -- with easing the tensions.

BLITZER: Can you share with us some of the proposals, some of the details of this so called bridging proposal that's now being considered?

KIRBY: I think I'd rather not, if you don't mind, I don't want to put too much of this into the public space, as we are now sitting down or preparing to sit down in Cairo in coming days with teams to work out the -- the final technical arrangements. I think the less said in public about the details probably the better. But I -- I think I would just leave you with this, the central framework of the proposal that the President laid out on May 31st is, in fact, in -- intact, the architecture there. And -- and what we were talking about in Doha the last couple of nights, and what we anticipate talking about further in Cairo in coming days are the actual now details of fleshing out the -- the way in which that framework is going to get executed.

And, you know, those are the -- those sometimes are the toughest -- toughest parts of negotiations when you're getting down to the -- to the finer details of how each side is going to meet their commitments, that's -- that's where you really need to -- to -- to compromise and to show some leadership. Again, we -- we believe coming out of Doha, this is a positive step forward, but it is just a step forward, Wolf. There's an awful lot of work that still needs to be done.

BLITZER: Are you more or less confident right now, following the talks in Doha, Qatar that just wrapped up, that the Israelis and Hamas will reach a ceasefire deal that will result in the release of the hostages, will result in more humanitarian assistance coming into Gaza and the release by Israel of various Palestinian prisoners?

KIRBY: If we didn't believe that was possible, if we didn't have hope and -- and a sense of optimism that we can get there, we wouldn't be involved like we are. We got Director Burns was in the region. Brett McGurk was in the region, our coordinator for the Middle East. We wouldn't have devoted the time and energy the President's personal engagement. And you'll see more of that today, in coming hours, personal engagement with leaders in the region. If we didn't believe that there was a chance that this wasn't really achievable, we certainly wouldn't be devoting this much energy to it, and the President wouldn't be so personally involved.

Yes, we believe that we can get there. But it is going to require some additional leadership and some additional compromise. And it's going to require the teams on both sides to be willing to come together and to flesh out these final details.

BLITZER: So important, so many lives are at stake right now. Let's hope you guys do work out a deal, work out a ceasefire hostage release agreement in the coming days in Cairo. Before I let you go, John, I want to shift gears to Russia's war in Ukraine.

KIRBY: Yes.

BLITZER: We now have some new video that just came in this morning. It's aerial footage from Ukraine's military showing Russian troops surrendering to Ukraine on Russian soil. This really would have been unimaginable even a few weeks ago. And this has to be really humiliating for President Putin himself. Does that increase the odds of this ending very badly for Ukraine, or does it in -- increase the odds of Ukraine winning?

KIRBY: I think it's really too soon to tell. And I know that sounds like I'm giving you a spokesman's dodge, but I'm not. It -- it's the -- it's the truth. We just don't know enough about what's going on there in Kursk and -- and what the Ukrainians are -- are really trying to achieve, to be able to say with certainty what the outcomes are going to be and how it's going to end. We're watching this closely. Obviously, we're in touch with our Ukrainian counterparts, as you might expect we would be.

But I think any one battlefield tactical maneuver or -- or success or failure in this operation, it's -- it's hard to draw a line from that to some final outcome, but be it good or bad, but we're in touch with our Ukrainian friends and partners and -- and trying to learn more.

[11:10:16]

BLITZER: Ukraine -- Ukraine's lightning assault is the largest foreign incursion into Russia since World War II. Does that create various problems for President Biden and Ukraine's other allies? Does it flirt with so called red lines over western involvement?

KIRBY: Well, we're still going to be involved with supporting Ukraine in their defensive capabilities, and I suspect in coming days, you'll see us announce yet more security assistance for Ukraine. They -- they obviously needed to defend themselves and defend their territory. I'll let them speak to their military operations, particularly what we're seeing in Kursk, and let them describe it and characterize it. But they need to know that in the aggregate, they're going to continue to have American support for the defense of their territory, for defeating Russian aggression.

As the President said the other day, it certainly does present a dilemma of -- of Vladimir Putin, and so we're obviously watching closely how the Russians are responding and reacting to this. BLITZER: In May, as you probably remember, President Biden authorized Ukraine -- Ukraine to use us made weapons to conduct what were described as limited strikes inside Russia. Is the White House still OK with this, given the changing dynamics on the ground?

KIRBY: Well, again, we're in touch with our Ukrainian counterparts to -- to try to glean more information here in context about what they're doing. I -- I think I'll probably just need to leave it at that. I will also just add that certainly they still have U.S. permission to use U.S. weapons in to face imminent threats right across the border. That policy hasn't changed. And they're going to still continue to get U.S. support to defend their territory and their sovereignty. But again, in -- in terms of what they're doing in Kursk, we're in touch with them. And I -- I think I really just will leave it there.

BLITZER: John Kirby, thanks so much for joining us from the White House.

KIRBY: You bet. Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, coming up, Vice President Kamala Harris is set to lay out her economic vision to the nation today. This will be her first major policy speech of the 2024 campaign. We have details about her plan, and we'll bring them to you when we come back.

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[11:17:02]

BLITZER: A critical day for Vice President Kamala Harris's 2024 campaign. In just a few hours, she will unveil her vision for the U.S. economy. And CNN has learned that cutting costs on everything from groceries to housing is a key component of that plan. Joining us now, CNN senior reporter, Isaac Dovere. Isaac, walk us through what the Vice President is proposing, is it that different from President Biden's policies?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Look, Wolf, it's -- we can forget that we're only three and a half weeks into the Kamala Harris campaign here. But this is the first time that we're starting to get an idea of what she says she would actually do if she's elected. She started with the economy, talking about these proposals in very different terms from what Joe Biden did. Joe Biden would talk about the -- all the economic numbers that show that things are improved, and he is correct, they have improved, but not really addressing in a way that most people felt was enough, the pain that they feeling, the -- the result of inflation, their dollars being stretched thinner than ever.

And Harris' plan includes a lot of things that are meant to speak to that, $25,000 credit for homeowners, a federal price gouging ban, restoring the child tax credit for middle class families, the -- the $6,000 tax credit for families with newborns. It goes on, expanding the $35 insulin cap, extending Obamacare premium subsidies. So it's things like this that build on some of what Joe Biden did. A lot of those things were parts of bills that he either had in place or tried to get in place in his time. But going past it, as Americans feel the pain of the economy still and talk about it as number one issue. And of course, Donald Trump talking about prices and inflation as a top issue for him as he continues to press his own campaign.

BLITZER: This will be a major speech by the Vice President, indeed. We'll of course, have live coverage. Isaac Dovere, thanks very much for that report.

DOVERE: Thank you.

BLITZER: And let's discuss all of this with CNN political commentator Maria Cardona and former senior advisor to Senator Tim Scott's presidential campaign, Matt Gorman. Matt, I'll start with you. The Vice President is proposing tax cuts for lower and middle class Americans, and she's cracking down on price gouging. Meantime, Trump is proposing more tax cuts for the rich and the very, very rich, and praising Elon Musk for firing workers who are on strike. Are you concerned about that split screen?

MATT GORMAN, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER, TIM SCOTT PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: No, because frank -- frankly, that's not what Trump is doing. He wants to extend the Trump tax cuts, which -- which gives tax cuts to everyone. But also, I mean, look, I -- I got C's and B's in math. And even I know what Kamala Harris is doing, it's bad policy. I mean, look, a $25 subsidy, all that does is increase the price of housing by 25, I mean, if -- 25k if you know that, you're going to tack it on to everything.

And look, even "The Washington Post" is calling out her price controls. The same could lead to rationing, shortages, even black markets. It's absolutely ridiculous policy. So we've been waiting all this time for any sort of policy, new policy from her, and this is it. It's pretty lackluster.

[11:20:10]

BLITZER: Well, let me bring Maria into this. Maria, how do you think Kamala Harris should contrast her economic message with what we heard from Trump yesterday?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think that the contrast is exactly what you laid out at the very beginning, Wolf, which every American, I think understands, and that is that the Kamala Harris, Tim Walz ticket and administration will be on the side of middle class families, working class voters will be on the side of helping them reduce costs, helping them manage their everyday economic lives, helping them understand that, that she and Tim Walz are going to help them not just get by, but to get ahead.

And meanwhile, you have Trump talking for two hours to Elon Musk about how he's going to give him another billionaires tax giveaways the same way that he did when he was in office the last four years, which economists say was a huge boon to millionaires and billionaires and the middle class got absolutely nothing, and in fact, their taxes went up. So I love this contrast, Wolf, because it really shows, frankly, what the Biden-Harris administration have been doing for so long in terms of cutting those costs.

She's going to go further, and she's going to talk about it, not just in macroeconomic terms, but she's going to focus on the micro economies of every family. And she's going to tell them exactly how she's going to help them lower the cost at the grocery store, making sure that they can own a home, making sure that they can send their kids to school, making sure that they can get additional prescription drugs. And that has already been something that American families absolutely love about what they have been doing. And so the contrast is terrific going into this election.

BLITZER: And we'll see how she lays all of that out when she speaks on the economy later today, and we'll have coverage of that, of course. Matt, Trump is attempting to brand Kamala Harris as a far left radical when it comes to the economy, but he's struggling to stay on message, as you and I know, drifting between attacking her policies and her personality and her looks and her name and all of that. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R) AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Socialist or somebody that's going to destroy our country. I think I'm entitled to personal attacks. She's considered far more radical than Bernie Sanders. I'm very angry at her. She's a very strong communist lean. She actually called me weird. He's weird. You're all going to be thrown into a communist system. I don't have a lot of respect for her intelligence. You're going to be thrown into a system where everybody gets healthcare. She's not smart. I don't believe she loves our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So Matt, you -- first of all, you think she's a communist, and you think it's damaging to Trump's campaign these personal insult -- insults that he's launching?

GORMAN: I don't think her political parties are communist, but even as "The Washington Post" in their headline today says, if you don't want to be called a communist, don't promote communist policies. Catherine Rampell in "The Washington Post" wrote that today, as you saw with some of the price gouging things. But number two, look, I think he -- that's a difference between personal attacks and puffery. And the personal attacks, whether it's Kevin McCarthy said it Nikki Haley kind of different swaths the party and says, stay focused on that.

Look, the fact is, the reason she needs to come on price gouging policies and housing policies because of the policies of last four years. They weren't there when Trump was in office, that she's addressing things that her own administration's done. Focus on that. Focus on her flip flops from, gosh, over the last six years doing that, I think we'll get a lot further. But I think what he has said on these particular policies she's running out today has been spot on.

BLITZER: Maria, Kamala Harris, we're told, will tout her support for price controls on groceries later this afternoon in her big speech on the economy. And although that may be a popular message, price controls haven't always worked as you and I know, how should she balance her message of economic populism with sound economic policy?

CARDONA: Sure. Well, I think she'll do it in a way that focuses on helping middle class and helping working class voters, and the -- the details will come, Wolf. But I think what is important to note is that economists themselves have said that part of the reason why there the -- the grocery store costs have been so high is because companies have been taking advantage of the environment and they have been price gouging. And so I don't think she's going to go into price controls, but she is going to talk about how we need to do a much better job of ensuring that the companies that own the massive grocery store chains are not lining up against their own customers, and that it has to be working class voters and middle class families, the ones that the government is there to ensure that they can afford the groceries that they go to buy.

[11:25:06]

So again, I think that the contrast with her talking about lowering costs for families versus Donald Trump in giving billionaires and -- and -- and rich corporations, the tax cuts that he already has given them, and then focus on Project 2025. That economists have said is going to blow up inflation, massively increase taxes on middle class families, hurt workers. That is a contrast that will absolutely help Kamala Harris going into this election.

BLITZER: And as almost all of the polls show, dealing with the U.S. economy is clearly the number one issue for these two campaigns who can de -- deal with it better. And the American people are closely looking at both of these campaigns when it comes to the economy. Maria Cardona, Matt Gorman, to both of you, thank you very much for joining us.

CARDONA: Thank you Wolf.

BLITZER: Coming up, Ukraine's offensive going deeper and deeper into Russia right now. We have new video showing Russian troops surrendering on their own soil. Stay with us. You're in the CNN Newsroom.

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