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CNN International: No Known Connection Between Suspect, Victims; Zelenskyy Nominates New Ukrainian Foreign Minister; Netanyahu Defends His Handling of Hostage Negotiations; Harris Campaign Agrees to Debate Rules; Pope Francis Praises People Having Big Families Over Pets; Chipotle Launching Halloween Costume Collection. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired September 05, 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]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, and this is the CNN Newsroom. Just ahead new details about the tools Georgia law enforcement officials used as they responded to Wednesday's deadly mass shooting, we'll have that new reporting.
Plus, a high stakes court hearing in Washington D.C. could decide the fate of Donald Trump's federal election subversion case, that hearing set to start in about two hours. And then Super Typhoon Yagi batters the Philippines and Hong Kong and heads toward China. We'll have a live update from Hong Kong straight ahead.
One day after the deadliest school shooting in the U.S. so far this year, a community is grieving. Police have a 14-year-old suspect in custody, accused of killing two teachers and two students at Apalachee High in Winder, Georgia, just north of Atlanta. Authorities expect to charge Colt Gray as an adult for those murders. They add the gunman used an AR style rifle in the shooting. Investigators have not yet revealed a motive.
We're also now learning the suspect was questioned by law enforcement last year in connection with online threats, but no charges were filed. Several students who lived through the terrifying experience on Wednesday spoke with CNN about what they saw, including the girl who sat next to the suspect in algebra class.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He turns to the classroom, to what would have been my right, and he just starts to shoot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard gunshots. Sounded like someone was just banging on a door. And then there's a red alert popped up on the screen, and then a light went off. And it sorts of hit me what was happening.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Another teacher was watching us, and so she was like, oh my god, oh my gosh. She's like, go into the class. Everyone goes in the class, and we heard, like, really loud shots and stuff. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a place where I'm supposed to feel safe,
like, this is honestly a place I did honestly feel safe. Every time I walked in the school, I never thought anything would happen to me. Like, that's honestly a place I've honestly felt protected. Now I don't even want to be in the hallways alone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was scared. I was going to die, to be honest. And when I heard hard lockdown, I knew it wasn't a drill, I immediately texted my dad, and I was just like, I don't know if this is a drill, I'm really scared. And I just kept my feet up and I prayed, and I closed my eyes and tried to stay calm and shaking. I was worried that they would hear me, but when I heard gunshots, I was just I knew.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Mark Morales joining me now live from New York. Mark it is good to see you. So, bring us up to speed what's the latest that you're hearing?
MARK MORALES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTER: Well Fredricka, there's a lot of information that came out last night, but at the same time, there's still a lot of questions about where we go from here. So, let's start with what we know first. So, as you mentioned, the shooter was questioned by law enforcement almost a year before this shooting took place.
He was with his father. Law enforcement asked him about these threats that were posted online. He said that wasn't him, and that's significant because it indicates that he was on law enforcement's radar, that to some degree, they suspected him, or they saw these online threats, and that he was kind of in this universe of possibly being something that this could -- that this could eventually happen to.
Now, it's also interesting to note that he used an AR-15 style weapon. It's always very interesting to find out what type of weapon is used in these types of shootings. In this one it's an AR-15 style, which is what we've seen in a lot of other types of shootings, and we also found out that he's going to be charged as an adult.
It's really important to know that he's 14-years-old, and that creates a whole list of jurisdictions and rules and regulations that happen for minors, but they've already said that he's going to be charged as an adult, which would also indicate there's going to be some murder charges.
Now to what we don't know yet that we're hoping to find out today. We still have to find out word as to what happens from the legal process, because, as we know, since he's still alive, there has to be an arraignment, there has to be a whole court procedure that leads up to what we eventually find out, which would be answers to hopefully lead us to the motive of why it was that he did this.
So, we still don't yet know that, but hopefully through the investigative process and through other information and investigate and interviews that he's done with other investigators that we might actually learn what that is? We also don't know how he actually got a hold of this rifle, so we're still looking to follow that.
[08:05:00]
And all this really leads to questions that we still need answers to. The key being that we still need to find out the motive, and we're waiting to find out more Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, let us know when you learn that. Mark Morales in New York, thank you so much. All right, on the campaign trail, some tense moments for Donald Trump today, not exactly on the trail, but instead, in the courtroom. With just 60 days until America chooses its next president, it's trouble. It's Trump's legal troubles rather, that are taking center stage.
Less than two hours from now, a federal judge in Washington D.C. could decide next steps for Trump's election interference case. It's the first hearing since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump has some immunity for official acts while he was president. Trump will try to keep the focus on the race for the White House.
He is set to lay out his economic plan for the country at an event in New York later on today. CNN's Steve Contorno is joining us now from St. Petersburg, Florida. Good to see you, Steve. So, what are you expecting to hear from Trump today when he wants to be on the campaign trail and is but then also has this courtroom activity? He won't be present, but it is happening.
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well Fred, as you said, this is a speech that is geared toward the economy. It's one of those issues where his campaign feels most comfortable talking about and feels like they have the most solid ground going into these last nine weeks of this race.
You talk about some of the issues. We expect him to talk about some of the issues on the economy that he has put forward for his second term, including an expansion of broad tariffs across the economy. He would also -- he also has proposed cutting corporate taxes and eliminating taxes on tipped wages.
And this, of course, comes sort of in response a rebuttal I guess you could call it to Vice President Harris delivering some of her economic priorities yesterday. And it's really no wonder that both candidates are focusing on this issue, because when CNN went out to poll registered voters in across the seven most important battlegrounds, an average of 39 percent of them said the economy was their top issue, by far and away, the largest choice.
But it's also an area where Harris appears to be catching up to Trump. Trump, over the spring, had a 20-point lead over Biden in these swing states on the issue -- when it came to the issue of the economy. Harris, though, according to our most recent polling, only trails Trump by about eight percentage points.
So, as we get closer to November, as this race tightens, Democrats, Republicans, moderate voters, independents, they seem to be really focusing in on this particular issue is the one where they want to hear from the candidates and understand their plans. Of course, they're going to be delivering that this week, and then we're hoping to get even more of that next week at this first debate, which is now only five days away Fred.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, hard to believe, right around the corner. All right, Steve Contorno in St. Petersburg, Florida. Thank you so much. So as Donald Trump prepares to focus on his vision for America's economic future, his legal team will be hundreds of miles away where a judge will consider the future of Trump's election interference case. Areva Martin is joining us now to discuss. She's a Civil Rights Attorney and Legal Affairs Commentator, great to see you Areva.
AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY & LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Good.
WHITFIELD: All right, so Trump is just five days away from this presidential debate with Harris, and he has asked his attorneys to enter a new not guilty plea on his behalf in today's hearing. Besides that, plea, what happened today with Special Prosecutor Jack Smith's effort to prosecute the former president.
MARTIN: Well, one thing we know, Fred, is that this judge asked them, them being Jack Smith, as well as the attorneys for Donald Trump, to submit a joint statement about how both sides saw this case proceeding. And that joint statement has a dramatically different view depending on which side you're looking at.
Jack Smith basically saying, your honor, we're ready to go. We're ready to file immunity briefs whenever the court sets the schedule. Trump's team on the other side has said, look, we want to file and plan to file a series of motions. And we don't see those motions being -- those filings being concluded until the end of this year, 2024 and even going into 2025.
They also have indicated, not only are they going to be challenging the indictment on the grounds of immunity, based on that Supreme Court decision, but they also are going to challenge the constitutionality of Jack Smith even serving as Special Counsel.
So, the Judge, Judge, Tanya Chuck has a big task today, and that is sorting through these various positions by both sides and making the determination about how this case moves forward.
WHITFIELD: Wow. So, this is going to be a pretty busy day. So overall, you know, Smith has made -- you know key shifts in this case following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling protecting the former president with limited immunity.
[08:10:00]
Smith is focusing the superseding indictment on actions Trump took as a private citizen or a candidate for office. So, the filing accuses Trump of using his campaign to spread lies about the election, and notes that all court challenges to the election were filed in his capacity as a candidate. So how does this better support Smith's efforts to get a conviction?
MARTIN: Well, what we know about that Supreme Court's case on immunity basically? Well, essentially, the Supreme Court said it is a presumptive immunity that can be overcome with evidence. And we know with this superseding indictment, as you stated, the Special Counsel made great efforts to distinguish those acts that would be considered official and give Trump immunity from those acts that would be his private actions, for which he would not enjoy any immunity.
And in doing so, all of the references, there were over 30 or 40 references to Trump's interaction with the Department of Justice, with the Interim Attorney General, Jeffrey Clark, all of those references were removed from the superseding indictment, and even some of the references to Mike Pence and interactions with Mike Pence were changed in the superseding indictment, because those actions, like the actions involving the district -- the Department of Justice, would be considered immune from prosecution.
But one thing Fred this judge is going to have to decide, will there be a mini trial of sorts? Will there be evidence presented to the judge before this election that will be used for the judge's ultimate decision?
WHITFIELD: Right. That's why it's made it much more complicated, right? Because Judge Tanya Chutkan's role, her role becomes complicated, since the Supreme Court calls for the lower court to sort of disentangle many of the open questions left by the High Court ruling.
MARTIN: Oh, absolutely. And again, the judge could decide to make her determination about which actions were private which were official, just by having the party submit briefs to the court. Or she could go the route of saying, I want witnesses to come into this courtroom.
I want to hear live testimony from those witnesses, which we know could be disastrous for Donald Trump, to have all of that evidence played out in terms of his role with respect to the January 6th insurrection played out before this November election could have a negative impact on his chances of winning in November.
WHITFIELD: Those things potentially could happen within 60 days.
MARTIN: Well possibly. We know there will be no trial within 60 days. But we know this judge has a history of moving her cases through her courtroom pretty efficiently and pretty quickly. So, it is not inconceivable that there could be some evidentiary hearings held in the next 60 days.
We know Trump's team wants to delay, delay, delay. Wants to see this case delayed into 2025, whereas Jack Smith is saying, your honor, we're going to defer to the court in terms of setting the schedule for how this case proceeds.
WHITFIELD: All right. Areva Martin we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much.
MARTIN: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: And as we've seen in the Trump case, things can turn around at any time, and you can trust that CNN will be there every step of the way. All right, Vice President Kamala Harris will head to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania later on today, where she is expected to stay for a week preparing for the presidential debate in Philadelphia.
The economy will likely be a top issue up for debate between Harris and Donald Trump during her campaign stop in New Hampshire on Wednesday, she unveiled more details of her economic plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you earn a million dollars a year or more, the tax rate on your long-term capital gains will be 28 percent under my plan, because we know when the government encourages investment, it leads to broad based economic growth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. Still to come, it's all change -- it's all changing in the top ranks of the Ukrainian government, as President Zelenskyy names his choice for the country's top diplomat, details straight ahead. Plus, the Israeli Prime Minister doubles down, Benjamin Netanyahu stands firm on his demands for a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas. We'll have that and other developments from Tel Aviv next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:15:00]
WHITFIELD: All right, Ukraine is pressing on with its sweeping government changes. Reports say the country's parliament has approved the resignation of Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba a short time ago. And President Zelenskyy is wasting no time nominating a new top diplomat as he pushes ahead with his cabinet overhaul.
This all comes in the same week that Russia intensified its air attacks on Ukraine. The death toll from Moscow's assault on a military college in the central city of Poltava has risen to 54. Rescue crews say more people are still trapped under the rubble. At the same time, Russia's President says Moscow is making gains in Ukraine as Kyiv pushes on with its incursion into the Kursk region.
Let's go live now to Kyiv and CNN's Fred Pleitgen. Fred, let's start with this cabinet reshuffle. What's the latest that you're hearing?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka. Well, it is indeed in full swing, and I think you're absolutely right. There are some pretty big decisions that have been made by the Parliament here in Kyiv.
On the one hand, they did confirm, actually the dismissal of one of the Deputy Prime Ministers, Irina Vereshchuk, a little earlier. But I think the really big news out of Ukraine right now is that nominee that you were just talking about, that President Zelenskyy put forward for the foreign ministry position has now been confirmed by the Parliament here in Kyiv.
His name is Andrii Sybiha. He is the Former Deputy Foreign Minister of this country, but was also for a very long time, the Deputy Head of the President's Office. So, this is someone who is very close to the Ukrainian President, to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, someone, clearly, who Volodymyr Zelenskyy trusts very much, and also someone who is very close to Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Chief of Staff, Andriy Yermak.
And if we look at some of the things that the Ukrainian President has been saying over the past couple of days, Fredricka. He said he believes the next coming months are going to be absolutely decisive for the Ukrainians, because, of course, in the next couple of weeks, he is going to travel to the United States to possibly meet, or probably meet, President Biden, to then present a plan the Ukrainians say, to try and win the war.
And he has said that in order to do that, he wants to have the strongest team around him, and clearly this is the new man that he wants to run the foreign ministry, which, of course, is so key in trying to drum up support for Ukraine internationally. So that certainly is the big news, as far as the politics is concerned here in Kyiv, is the fact that Ukraine now has a new parliamentary approved Foreign Minister, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: OK. And then Russia's Vladimir Putin is claiming that Russia is making significant territorial gains. Is that accurate?
PLEITGEN: It is accurate to a certain extent, in some places. One of the things that we've seen is that obviously the Ukrainians started their incursion into Russian territory a couple of weeks ago, and Vladimir Putin today was at an economic forum where he said, look, that incursion has essentially failed.
He said that the Russians are starting to push the Ukrainians back, and that essentially, Russia's offensive in the east of the country has not slowed down. Now, some of the things that we're garnering from the battlefield is that the Russians have actually slowed down a little bit.
The Ukrainians have managed to stabilize some of the fronts, but even more importantly, the Ukrainians are actually able to make gains in some other areas. This is one of those areas and one of the units that's doing that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Elite soldiers from Ukraine's Third Assault Brigade, get out of their armored vehicle and right into a massive firefight. One of the soldiers is wounded, the others scream for a tourniquet.
[08:20:00] But the unit keeps moving. While Ukraine's army has been losing ground in many areas in this part of the Kharkiv region, they've turned the tide. Later taking several Russian dugouts the deputy commander says. The enemy has no results he says. Moreover, we have positive results. We've pushed the enemy back and captured a battalion line of enemy defense.
While the Third Assault Brigade says they'll keep pushing forward Ukraine remains badly outmanned by the Russians. And the Third Assault Brigade wants ever more combat drones to be their great equalizer. This is their drone school they call the kill house.
Drone technology is developing extremely fast on the battlefields in Ukraine, and the Third Assault Brigade believes in the future they will need even more drone pilots, so they training as many as possible, as fast as possible, to get them combat ready.
They've already trained more than 1500 prospective drone aviators here, not just to fly the FPV drones effectively, but to use them as lethal weapons capable of destroying even tanks and armored vehicles. The greatest effectiveness of a pilot is his or her desire the school's boss tells me. FPV pilots are people of a special mindset. They know how to hit the target, what ammunition to use. The ammo is becoming more lethal as well.
A different Ukrainian unit now acknowledging they're using a trial version of a fire spewing drone that drops an incendiary substance on Russian positions. But the Russians keep hitting Ukraine with much bigger munitions, missile strikes killing several people in Lviv in western Ukraine. Search and rescue crews recovering the bodies for hours.
Kyiv's leadership has vowed revenge for Russia's aerial attacks against Ukrainian cities, a driving factor also for the soldiers attacking Russian positions on the northeastern front.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (on camera): So, as you can see, there are a variety of things going on, on the battlefield Fredricka. The Ukrainians are saying, though, that they continue to hope that the fact that they have their incursion into Russian territory will force the Russians to move some of the units that they currently have fighting in the east towards Russia's own territory and then help relieve some of those front lines in eastern Ukraine Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much. The Israeli Prime Minister is doubling down on his handling of the war in Gaza and ceasefire negotiations just days after the bodies of six hostages were recovered from the enclave.
On Wednesday, Benjamin Netanyahu said he is not going to change his policies to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza. He blamed Hamas for the lack of a ceasefire for hostages deal and insisted that Israel had to retain control of the Philadelphi Corridor. Meanwhile, the Israeli military is continuing its offensive in the
occupied West Bank. CNN's Nic Robertson is joining us now live from Tel Aviv, Israel. Nic, Netanyahu is again defending his approach to the war in Gaza, demanding that Israel must control the border between Egypt and Gaza. How is that message being received?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, it's being received in the West Bank, which of course, is an entirely separate area where that military operation is being expanded that you were talking about. It was focused on Janine over the past couple of days. It had been to the west of there in Tulkarem and to the east of there, around a refugee camp -- refugee camp and the town of Tubas.
Those operations have sort of slowed down and disappeared over the past few days. But today, the IDF saying that they strike and killed in an air strike in the area of Tubas, a senior and significant militant commander, a terrorist commander, Mohammed Zakaria Zubeidi, who they say that they killed in an air strike, as well as his son and some other fighters and another unit of the IDF forces.
They say, in the around the area of Farah, which is not far away, east of Janine, again, they targeted a group of people they call terrorists, who were throwing explosives and engaging in a gunfight with the IDF. They engaged with them.
Now the Ministry of Health in the West Bank is saying 20 people are dead. Many of them are understood to be militants, but there are civilians among them. One of them, at least, we understand to be a child. Another one an 85-year-old man also, according to his son, was killed.
[08:25:00]
The operations the IDF says have sort of expanded. It's not clear how long they'll go on, but when it began a week ago, it was the biggest military operation in the West Bank since October 7th that we've seen. And it appears still to be continuing without end in sight. Roads are being turned up. Equipment at the electricity company in Janine was ran and destroyed.
The people are describing the situation there as if their area in the West Bank entirely separate to Gaza, their area in the West Bank is being now -- if you will, that the IDF feels that it can act with impunity and use air strikes and engage in firefights with militants and destroy civilian property and dig up roads and all these things. They feel that their situation is worsening at the moment, inside of Gaza, of course, the IDF military operations do still continue.
WHITFIELD: All right. Nic Robertson, in Israel, thank you so much. Police in Munich have shot dead a man suspected of carrying a gun near the Israeli Consulate. It came as the consulate commemorated the anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympic terror attack in which a Palestinian militant group entered the quarters of the Israeli Olympic Team.
During the standoff, 11 Israeli athletes in 1972 were killed. It is not yet clear if this morning's incident is connected to the commemoration. Police say he was an 18-year-old Austrian citizen.
All right, still to come, a surprising announcement from Russia's President as Vladimir Putin trying to play mind games with the U.S. presidential election. Find out what he's saying straight ahead. And just days away now from the U.S. Presidential Debate and the rules have finally been set, we'll look at who gets the last word up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A surprising endorsement from Russian President Vladimir Putin. He says he supports Kamala Harris for U.S. President. The Russian President has long been considered friendlier with Republican Nominee Donald Trump.
[08:30:00]
But has that changed, or is Putin playing games? Have a listen to this remarkable comment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: As for the favorites there is no need to define that as a choice by the people of America in the end, I've said that our so to say favorite was the Acting President, Mr. Biden. He's been taken out of the race, but he advised all his supporters to support Mrs. Harris. That's what we'll do. We'll support her as well. That's the first thing. Secondly, her laugh is so expressive and infectious, that means that she's doing well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: With two months ago until the U.S. election the U.S. Justice Department is accusing Russian state media company RT of funding a Tennessee company to push Russian propaganda. It was meant to influence the U.S. presidential election. Prosecutors say another goal was to weaken opposition to Russian interests, especially its ongoing war in Ukraine.
CNN's Clare Sebastian has been monitoring the story, and she's joining us now live. So, Clare, let's talk about Vladimir Putin first, and what he's saying that he's supporting Kamala Harris. He's notoriously one who plays mind games. Is that what this is?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think you got to look Fredricka, the body language, the sort of wry smile when he made those comments, and also the laughter from the audience. I think they interpreted it just as that as essentially trolling.
Vladimir Putin never misses an opportunity, really, to mock, to sort of throw shade at the U.S., and especially its democratic processes. So, I think that is mostly what we should read into this. He -- you know talked about Biden being removed from the race, which is obviously not completely true when you look at the facts.
And -- you know he said, oh -- you know if everyone is being told by Biden to follow Kamala Harris, then we all of course, do the same. He has been a little inconsistent. He said back in February -- you know we prefer Biden. He's more predictable. He's more experienced. But then over the summer, we had comments from him, for example, criticizing the U.S. justice system as political after Trump's criminal conviction.
He then said that he supports Trump's detail free plan to quickly end the war in Ukraine. So, it really isn't clear at this point -- you know who exactly Russia supports? Traditionally, of course, we have seen support edging towards the Republican side, certainly when it comes to the war in Ukraine. But this, I think, was simply trolling and an attempt to sort of in front of the domestic audience there to sort of mock the U.S. political system Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: OK. And now, how does all of this fit in with those new findings from the DOJ and FBI on Russian election interference?
SEBASTIAN: Well, I think both of them show just how keenly Russia is watching the U.S. political process, right? Obviously, it was interesting that these comments from Putin came just a day after the sort of broad, sweeping evidence and crackdown from the U.S. on Russian disinformation.
But look, it's never as clear cut. I think that's the other thing we learn as Russia is pro-Trump and anti-whoever the Democratic Candidate is Biden or Harris. This has been since 2016 really about sowing division as well. They've traditionally amplified both extremes on the right and the left.
But I will say right now for Putin, his overarching goal is, of course, to win the war in Ukraine, and so anything he can do to weaken Western support for Ukraine does further that aim. And we've seen this with all sorts of sort of hybrid attacks by Russia in various different ways, not just disinformation.
The other thing to note, though, is that Russia seems to be growing in sophistication when it comes to these disinformation efforts. If you look at the evidence presented by the DOJ and the FBI, this company that CNN has named as Tenant Media, operating out of Tennessee that the Department of Justice alleges that two employees at RT, the Russian State TV channel, set up and funnelled almost $10 million into to try to sort of build up this bank of online videos.
They seem to be, if you look at them broadly, in support of Trump, but that is a more sophisticated campaign than we've seen in the past. And secondly, the FBI, evidence that they've put forward shows that a number of companies that they believe were run directly from the Kremlin have even used AI generated content to try to sow this information online, all of it trying to bolster pro-Russian policies and, of course, influence U.S. voters.
WHITFIELD: All right. Clare Sebastian, thanks so much. All right meantime, we're just five days away now from the first Presidential Debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, both sides have finally agreed to the debate rules. The Harris campaign has accepted the candidate's microphones will be
muted when they are not speaking, that despite the Harris team arguing that they thought she would be disadvantaged by that format. The debate will take place on the ABC Network on Tuesday. Let's bring in Natasha Lindstaedt, did I say that right? Lindstaedt? OK, good.
[08:35:00]
Professor of Government at the University of Essex. Good to see your professor. All right, so the format will be exactly the same as the last Trump Biden debate. What do you believe Harris and Trump would be should be studying or extracting from that last debate to be best prepped for this upcoming showdown?
NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: I mean, that's a really good question. I think the big problem for the Democrats when Biden was debating was, he just performed so poorly that Trump didn't even really have to prepare much. He didn't really have to do much.
He just sort of allowed Biden to go deeper into a hole. Harris is going to want to look really sharp to the American public here. There are still people who are undecided. She's going to try to lay out very clearly her economic policies, her policies on reproductive rights and on the border.
And then she's going to try to draw a really strong contrast between who she is as a prosecutor, as someone who wants to uphold the rule of law, and Trump as essentially a convicted criminal, and someone who only cares about himself.
Where she does the strongest in terms of polling is in answering the question, who cares more about people like me? And I think that's what she's going to be trying to do, appealing broadly to the middle class, to independents, to moderates. This is sort of at the end here. She's already really energized her base, and that's what she's going to be trying to do.
I mean, based on what Trump said in the town hall, he might not even prepare. He tends to not prepare that much because he doesn't need to know that much about policy. And he's already hedging about the debate. He's already saying that it's not going to be fair, that because it's being run by ABC, she's going to get the questions ahead of time, which is not true.
And he's already casting doubts on the legitimacy of the debate and on ABC as a news organization, something that autocratic leaders tend to do. So, it's hard to predict what he will do, but he is best if he can shy away from engaging in too many personal attacks that will make him look obnoxious and really won't grow his support base, which is what he needs to do at the moment.
WHITFIELD: Oh, boy, but that is kind of his forte. OK, so -- you know the mics will be off. I mentioned that when a candidate is not speaking, and also in the last debate, it was up to the candidate to both answer a question and or fact check you know the other. That format didn't serve the sitting president well. Do you think Harris will be in a better position to do that?
LINDSTAEDT: So that's where I think she can really shine. I mean, Trump will spout out lie after lie. There were many lies in the last debate as well, but Biden wasn't quick enough on his feet to check these lies as they were happening and to interject and to basically state the facts, that's where she should really shine and be much stronger.
I mean, she has all this, of course, experience as a prosecutor, asking question after question, really cornering people, and he then might go rogue and then start engaging in really wild personal attacks. And I think that's why she wanted the mics to be free. Having the mics off while she is talking means he's not going to interrupt her much. But that doesn't mean that he's going to be able to control himself. I mean, thus far, that's been his playbook.
I mean, it's been so bad he's even comparing their appearance that he is better looking than she is. I mean, all these kinds of things, showing no discipline is not going to win him more voters. And of course, I'm sure he's being trained and told by his advisors to really focus on economic policy, inflation and immigration issues, and not to engage in these personal attacks.
WHITFIELD: And you underscored you know this that Trump isn't known to prep for a debate. Harris will be in Pittsburgh for the next week, leading up to the Philadelphia debate on Tuesday. Do you think Trump will, in this case, prep, or perhaps position himself differently because he is taking on Harris, the prosecutor?
LINDSTAEDT: Well, I definitely think people are going to try to prep him. I mean, the Republicans understand that this debate is incredibly important, because we haven't seen huge movement in just in the last few weeks in the polls, and this could really be the moment that moves things.
There's going to be millions and millions of people watching. So, I'm sure Trump and his team knows that this is incredibly important, but he doesn't care that much about policy, and I think he knows he can just fall back on overpowering and try to bully his opponent, and then just coming up with ever is on the top of his head, and he can just sort of lie very effectively.
So, it's almost difficult to catch him in a gotcha moment, because he just doesn't flinch, and then just sort of pivots, talks about something else, or just talks circles and spouse out a bunch of lies.
[08:40:00]
So, in some ways, he doesn't need to prepare, if that's what his plan and execution is going to be. But I'm sure there will be plenty of people trying to get him to preparing to be disciplined.
WHITFIELD: All right. Professor Natasha Lindstaedt, thank you so much.
LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me. WHITFIELD: All right. Still to come, Pope Francis tackles the debate
over people having pets instead of children. Hear his new remarks straight ahead. Also, Super Typhoon Yagi barrels toward China after drenching the Philippines with heavy rains, a live report from Hong Kong straight ahead.
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WHITFIELD: All right, Pope Francis continues his whirlwind tour of Southeast Asia on Thursday. The Pontiff celebrated mass at a stadium in Jakarta before and massive crowd during yesterday's visit to the Presidential Palace. Pope Francis weighed in on the public debate in the U.S. over so-called childless cat ladies praising Indonesians for having big families.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPE FRANCIS, SOVEREIGN OF THE VATICAN CITY STATE: What triggers acute conflicts, and how is this resolved? With a law of death, that is by limiting births. Limiting is the greatest wealth a country has, which is births. And your country, on the other hand, has families with three, four or five children that keep moving forward. And this is reflected in the age levels of the country.
Keep it up, you're an example for everyone, for all the countries that maybe, and this might sound funny, these families prefer to have a cat or a little dog instead of a child. This is not right, is it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Vatican Correspondent, Christopher Lamb joining us now with Jakarta. So, Chris you're traveling with the Pope. How were those comments received?
CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well Fredricka, Pope Francis made those remarks to the Presidential Palace in an almost offhand and slightly jokey way. And he got a laugh from the president that he also said to the president, this is true, isn't it.
He really was trying to contrast the large families that he's seen in Indonesia, with the low birth rates that he sees at home on his doorstep in Italy, and something that Francis has been concerned about for some time, low birth rates across Europe.
He's been involved in initiatives with the Italian government to try and reverse this trend. And he's talked in the past lamenting couples who don't have children. He's even told the story of seeing a woman pushing a pram in St. Peter's Square and looking in to see that it wasn't a child, a baby, but a pet dog.
So, it is something that he has talked about a number of times. But the main focus of his trip to Indonesia has been interreligious dialog. He was at the Istiqlal Mosque here in Jakarta earlier today for a meeting with faith leaders.
[08:45:00] And he was, as you said, celebrating a mass in the National Stadium in Jakarta for tens of thousands of people. It's been a whirlwind tour so far. This is the last full day of his time in Indonesia. Next up is Papua New Guinea. Then it's East Timor and then Singapore. For an 87- year-old Pontiff, it's a gruelling schedule. But so far, he seems to be handling it well Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, the Pope on a roll. All right Christopher Lamb, thanks so much. All right, China is bracing for Typhoon Yagi, which has rapidly intensified into a super typhoon. Yagi, packing winds of up to 240, kilometers per hour, is expected to make landfall in this -- in southern China on Friday.
The storm has left destruction in its wake, killing at least 13 people while passing through the Philippines. Some areas received nearly 16 inches of rain, around 400 millimeters. All right, CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joining us now from Hong Kong. All right, this Super Typhoon Kristie is sweeping through Hong Kong. Are you feeling any impacts there?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah Fredricka, here in Hong Kong, we are starting to feel some of the effects of Super Typhoon Yagi as it sweeps by the territory. You know the wind has picked up just a little bit. No rain, really, but some waves, choppy waves have been whipped up by the storm in nearby Victoria Harbor.
But authorities here are taking this storm very seriously. Before it intensified into a super typhoon as a tropical storm, it left a trail of destruction in the Philippines, where it took the lives of over a dozen people. And here in Hong Kong, the T8 signal has been raised as the third highest typhoon signal here in the first time that has been raised this year, and that effectively shuts down the city.
Many businesses here have been shuttered. Flights have been suspended. In fact, 38 flights today were canceled, according to the Hong Kong International Airport. And looking forward to tomorrow, schools will be closed. Ferry service has been suspended as well. And Hong Kong's influential stock exchange that's worth trillions of dollars will be suspended under the T8 level alert.
I'll give you some context about where I am right now. I'm in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay, which is one of the densest shopping districts in the world. Usually on a Thursday night, you would see throngs of people behind me going out for a late dinner, going out shopping, very few people out and about. Today, the government has issued a warning to stay indoors despite these very mild conditions, and a number of people here are heeding that warning back to you.
WHITFIELD: OK. And then after Hong Kong, Yagi will be heading towards Southwest China. How are they getting ready?
STOUT: Yeah, so super typhoon is sweeping past Hong Kong, but it is heading towards and will make landfall at Southwest China Coast and the Island of Hainan on Friday evening. Now Hainan Island is known as the Hawaii of China. It's known for its tropical resorts it's sandy beaches. And authorities there have been on alert this day. In fact, earlier today, they suspended rail lines, they suspended flights as well as ferry services. And authorities there urging residents as well as tourists, because, again, it's a tourist destination to stay indoors Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Great advice. All right, Kristie Lu Stout thank you so much there in Hong Kong, be careful. All right, it's taken months of negotiations, but France finally has a new prime minister. Find out why it took so long after the break?
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[08:50:00]
WHITFIELD: After two months without a fully functioning government, France has just named its next Prime Minister, Michel Barnier. Inconclusive parliamentary elections earlier in the summer sparked months of political wrangling. Barnier comes from the right wing the Republicans Party, and is a 40-year veteran of French and EU politics.
Let's bring in now our Saskya Vandorne in Paris. Saskya, great to see you. So, this appointment comes after months of negotiations. How did we get here?
SASKYA VANDORNE, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well Fredricka, as you said, it was three months ago that French President Emmanuel Macron plunged this country into chaos when he called that snap election, and now, after much deliberation, he has finally come up with a new prime minister in the shape of Michel Barnier.
So, who is he? Well, he's a conservative grandee, but you'll remember him best as the Brexit negotiator for the EU. Now he's considered here by many as a safe pair of hands. But Fredricka, I want you to cast your mind back to that snap election and the hung parliament that was a result of that election.
You remember that the left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front, did actually win the highest number of seats in that election, so they had that highest number of MPs. And historically, French presidents usually pick the prime minister from the party or coalition that has the highest number of MPs.
But this time, Emmanuel Macron rejected the candidate put forward by that left wing coalition and went with Michel Barnier. As you can imagine, this has angered the left. They are now calling for Emmanuel Macron to resign. They're saying that this is a denial of democracy, and they're saying that they are going to start protesting on Saturday Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh. So, this doesn't end a real period of political uncertainty. It seems like it may be sparking it further.
VANDRONE: Exactly Fredricka. I think we're going to see a greater period of instability. Because, you know, we're now going to see Michel Barnier whether or not he may even face a vote of no confidence in this very fractured National Assembly, or whether he'll be able to start getting to work on, for example, the budget legislation that is so desperately needed because of France's growing budget deficit.
And of course, Fredricka, if Michel Barnier does face a vote of no confidence and he doesn't survive it, then Emmanuel Macron will be back to square one. So, I think more paralysis and more instability to come Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. All right, Saskya Vandorne in Paris, thank you. All right, Boeing's troubled Starliner Spacecraft is expected to be back on Earth soon. NASA is moving forward with plans to bring the spacecraft back on Friday, but without its crew. If all goes according to plan, the Starliner will land in White Sands New Mexico, early Saturday.
NASA says it's too risky to fly the astronauts' home in a spacecraft with malfunctioning thrusters which will be needed to undock the Starliner from the space station. Meanwhile, the two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams, will return on a SpaceX Crew Dragon Spacecraft in February of next year.
An asteroid about a meter wide, struck the Earth's atmosphere above the Philippines overnight, creating a spectacular fireball as it burned up during entry. Kind of scary, though, for a lot of viewers, there asteroids this size is harmless and pretty common, but with one hitting Earth about every two weeks, according to European Space Agency. But they are rarely seen before they strike. Experts say it's just the ninth asteroid which has been spotted before impact.
New Zealand's Indigenous Polynesian Community has a new Queen. The country's Maori crowned the 27-year-old monarch earlier today. It comes at a time of growing tension between the Maori and New Zealand's conservative government. The new Queen's ascension to the throne follows the funeral of her father, the King, who died at the age of 69 last week, following surgery. Thousands gathered in the streets to bid him farewell.
Halloween is closer than you think, and its fast-food chain Chipotle with costumes, store, spirit Halloween it wants to make sure that you're ready for the season. It's releasing a line of body suits designed to look like items that you'd see at Chipotle, including the brown napkins, burritos and their instantly recognizable to go bag.
[08:55:00]
The idea started as a joke years ago, but the costumes will be available now online and in limited supply in the stores this Friday. It comes at a key time for the company, which just lost its CEO to Starbucks, after revenue surged more than 800 percent under his watch. A little creepy. Thank you so much for joining me here in this CNN Newsroom. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. "Connect the World" with Eleni Giokos is up next.
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