Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Harris Prepares for Debate, Trump Insults His Accusers; Sentencing in Trump Hush Money Trial Delayed until after Election; Georgia School Shooter, Father Appear in Court; Boeing's Starliner Lands Successfully without Crew on Board; Typhoon Yagi Makes Landfall in Northern Vietnam; Pennsylvania Voters React to Harris on Fracking; Pakistani Charged in Plotting Terrorist Attack; China Silent on Charges against Ex-Aide to New York Governors; Veterans Win Major Legal Victory in Fight over Land for Housing; Husband and Wife Each Claim Gold at Paris Games. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired September 07, 2024 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Anna Coren live from Hong Kong.
Ahead on the show just days before a crucial debate, the former president unleashing on his accusers, despite a legal ruling that could benefit him.
Father and son appear in court on charges in the Georgia school shooting. CNN speaks to a student who came face to face with the suspect.
And after a flawed flight into orbit, a successful touchdown. Boeing's Starliner makes it safely back to Earth.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Hong Kong, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Anna Coren.
COREN: We begin with the race for the White House. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris face off in their first debate in Philadelphia three days from now. And with just under 60 days to go until Election Day, the two campaigns could not be more different.
The former president spent much of Friday in a courtroom, trying to overturn his sexual assault and defamation verdict and lashing out afterwards at his accusers.
Well, Harris is in Pittsburgh this weekend. preparing for the debate. A source tells CNN's MJ Lee, a big mission for the vice president is to find ways to remedy the muted mics rule during the debate. Her campaign want to showcase her skills as a prosecutor, despite not being able to respond to Trump in real time. And her team hopes it won't make Trump look disciplined and obscure
what they call his unhinged nature. While Harris focuses on the debate, she is pulling in some top endorsements.
Former Republican vice president, Defense Secretary, chief of staff and congressman Dick Cheney is now joining his daughter, Liz Cheney, in supporting Harris.
In a statement, Cheney said, "In our nation's 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump."
Cheney added that Trump, "tried to steal the last election using lies and violence. He can never be trusted with power again."
Dozens of business leaders are also throwing their weight behind Harris, including James Murdoch, the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch; "Shark Tank" host Mark Cuban and the former chairman of Walt Disney Studios, Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Well, meantime Trump was in New York for oral arguments on his motion for a new trial in the E. Jean Carroll's sex abuse defamation case. Trump said he was disappointed in his legal team.
He lashed out at Carroll and several other women who have accused him of sexual assault, repeating some of the same defamatory comments he was found liable for. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I never met her. I have never touched her. I would have no interest in meeting her in any shape or form.
She made up a story. It's fabricated 100 percent. She would not have been the chosen one. She would not have been the chosen one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Trump has also repeated a familiar accusation about his antagonists and their motives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Every one of these cases, it's political interference, it's a witch hunt, just like the fake Russia. It's a hoax. It's a scam. It's a political witch hunt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Well, meantime, in his hush money trial, Trump is praising the judge's decision to delay sentencing until November 26, well after the election. CNN's Katelyn Polantz has more on both cases.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: A judge in the state of New York says he is not going to sentence Donald Trump 41 days before the presidential election.
Instead, Donald Trump will be sentenced on November 26, a couple weeks later, for the 34 criminal counts that a jury has found him guilty of for sending hush money payments to the porn star Stormy Daniels because of an alleged affair he was trying to keep quiet during the last time or two times ago that Trump ran for President.
This situation is one that has never been handled in any court before and Judge Juan Merchan in New York acknowledged this.
In a four-page letter on Friday moving the sentencing date, he wrote that this is a matter that stands alone and one of the most critical and difficult decisions a trial court judge faces that the proceeding should be so protected.
[03:05:03]
The justice here should have so much integrity, the jury verdict should be protected and the independence of the judiciary should be acknowledged to the point where this sentencing cannot take place before the election.
Judge Merchan does not want to advantage or disadvantage any political party or candidate and thus is moving the sentencing date of Donald Trump.
So there is the possibility now that Trump either could be a criminal defendant with no special powers whatsoever at his disposal come November if he loses the election.
Or he could be the president-elect of the United States, a man with pardon power over federal protections -- federal convictions but not somebody who would have any pardon power in a state case like this, this hush money criminal conviction. So a lot is going to be happening over the next couple of weeks there.
We also are very aware that his team is going to continue to fight, not just the fact that he is going to be sentenced here in this case in November but all of the cases. And to that point, on Friday, his team was in court on Friday, in an appeals court.
Trump attended a hearing that last about a half an hour before three judges, where they're trying to overturn a $5 million defamation verdict that a jury awarded to the columnist E. Jean Carroll for sexual abuse and defamation.
No decision was made on Friday but we will await that decision from the appeals court and whether the trial is conducted appropriately in the coming weeks or months -- Katelyn Polantz, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: One legal analyst we spoke to said Judge Merchan should not have let the election influence his decision on the timing of the hush money sentencing. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF SWARTZ, LAW PROFESSOR AND FORMER JUDGE: I don't agree with the decision, to be very honest with you. A judge only has one constituency and that's the law. He does not represent people. It doesn't have a part, they don't have parties.
They're there to enforce the law and the rules against everybody the same. And my feeling is that his position should have been -- the delays in this sentencing, the delays in this case are by you, sir. They haven't been by the government.
They haven't been by the state and you put yourself in this position. And now you're going to have to listen to the sentence. And if there are consequences, they are consequences that you created.
I have no sympathy for him.
And I think that he should have called Trump out, not because he's Trump but because he can't let anybody tell him how to run his courtroom, because there's politics involved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Students at Georgia's Apalachee High School will not return to classes on Tuesday with the rest of the school system. They will take more time to grieve and recovered from Wednesday's shooting that left four people dead and nine injured.
Suspected shooter Colt Gray has been charged with four counts of felony murder and could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted. The 14-year old's father also faces charges and they appeared separately in court on Friday. CNN's Ryan Young has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDGE CURRIE MINGLEDORFF, JACKSON COUNTY: Good morning, sir.
Are you Mr. Colt Gray?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a green T-shirt, handcuffed with unkept hair, the teenager suspected in the Georgia school shooting on Wednesday, made his first court appearance today.
MINGLEDORFF: The penalty for the crimes for which you are charged does not include death. It includes life without the possibility of parole or life with the possibility of parole.
YOUNG: The 14-year-old is charged with four counts of felony murder and will be tried as an adult but he's not eligible for the death penalty in Georgia because he is under 18.
Colt Gray did not enter a plea in court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this time, Your Honor, there is not a request for ban. YOUNG: The teen is accused of opening fire with an AR-15 style rifle at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought I was going to die.
YOUNG: -- killing math teachers Christina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall, along with 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo.
Angulo's mother said the emotional pain feels like she and her family were killed.
EMMA ANGULO, MOTHER OF CHRISTIAN ANGULO (through translator): He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve to die like this. And I miss him. I miss him.
For me, I wish this was just a dream.
YOUNG: Back in court today, devastated families of the victims embraced and cried. The suspect's father Colin Gray, also made his first court appearance, arrest warrant says the 54-year-old allegedly gave his son a gun, quote, "with knowledge that he was a threat to himself and others."
BRAD SMITH, DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF THE PIEDMONT JUDICIAL CIRCUIT: You don't have to have been physically injured in this to be a victim. Everyone in this community is a victim. Every child in that school was a victim.
YOUNG (voice-over): The FBI says in May of 2023, law enforcement interviewed the father and son after receiving several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting. That interview was recorded by the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (from captions): Do you have any weapons in the house?
COLIN GRAY, COLT'S FATHER: I do.
[03:10:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (from captions): Are they acceptable to him?
GRAY (from captions): They are. I mean, there's nothing loaded but they are now. But we actually -- we do a lot of shooting, we do a lot of deer hunting.
YOUNG (voice-over): And Colt's father even told police he'd been trying to teach his son about gun safety.
GRAY (from captions): Yes, I want you to talk to him and just to -- just tell him like I don't know. I don't know anything about him saying (INAUDIBLE) like that and I'm going to be mad as hell if he did and then all the guns will go away. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
GRAY (from captions): And they won't be accessible to him. You know, we -- I'm trying to be honest with you. I'm trying to teach him about firearms and safety and how to do it all and get him interested in the outdoors.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
YOUNG (voice-over): In December of 2023, two law enforcement sources say Colin Gray purchased the gun, allegedly used the shooting as a holiday gift for his son. Colin Gray did not enter a plea and faces a maximum penalty of 180 years in prison.
The charges against him are the most serious filed against the parent of an alleged school shooter. This is only the second time a parent has been charged in connection with a minor carrying out a mass shooting.
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Purchasing a weapon in December of 2023 under conditions where potentially your son should not have one is troubling. But I do think we are in a world where prosecutors are looking to use all the tools available to them.
YOUNG (voice-over): The mother and father of Ethan Crumbley, the Oxford, Michigan, school shooter, who killed four students in 2021, were both convicted of involuntary manslaughter earlier this year.
Of the charges filed against Colin Gray in Georgia, the Barrow County district attorney says --
BARROW COUNTY DA: I'm not trying to send a message. I'm just trying to use the tools in my arsenal to prosecute people for the crimes they commit.
YOUNG: So many small kids have shown up today to the vigil outside the high school. They want to pay their respects. We've also talked to kids who've lost their friends, people they consider buddies. And that's hard for them. They don't know how they're going to return back to school, how a memorial is going to be set up.
These are all questions that people in this community want answered. We do know the DA may plan to put more charges out there and something that we'll continue to watch -- reporting from Winder, Ryan Young, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Officials are working to account for dozens of grade school children who are unaccounted for after a deadly dormitory fire in Kenya. Authorities say at least 17 students were killed and 14 injured after the fire broke out in the male dormitory at an academy in the central part of the country.
The cause of the fire is still unclear; 70 children are unaccounted for. It's unclear if the death toll could grow. Officials say some parents did not inform school officials when they picked up their children.
The family of an American woman who was shot dead in the Israeli occupied West Bank is demanding an independent investigation into her death. The family of 26-year-old Aysenur Eygi says an investigation conducted by Israel would not be adequate.
The Turkish American activist was participating in a weekly protest against an nearby Israeli settlement on Friday. Well, that's when witnesses say Israeli forces responded by firing live rounds and tear gas at peaceful protesters. The White House is also calling for an investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I just want to extend my deepest condolences, the deepest condolences of the United States government to the family of Aysenur Eygi. We deplore this tragic loss. Now the most important thing to do is to gather the facts. And that's exactly what we're in the process of doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: The Israeli military has admitted to firing at the demonstrators and claims the protesters were throwing rocks.
The activist group says that's not true, that none of its members were throwing rocks and they were far away from the troops and did not pose a threat, as Israel has alleged.
Typhoon Yagi continues its tear through Northern Vietnam. When we come back, the storm's latest landfall and what's in store for the region.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:15:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Touchdown. Starliner is back on Earth. That landing coming at 11:01:35 --
(CROSSTALK)
COREN: (INAUDIBLE) questions about safety, Boeing's Stellantis spacecraft successfully returned to Earth with what officials called a bull's-eye landing.
But Boeing's troubles with the program may not be over. NASA says Boeing still needs to determine how to fix the capsule's issues. Starliner had helium leaks and thruster problems along the way to the space station that prompted NASA to delay the return. Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were supposed to return on Starliner. But they are staying on the space station for now and will return to
Earth on a SpaceX flight in February. And a short time ago, the manager of NASA's commercial crew program says they learned a lot from this test mission.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE STICH, MANAGER, NASA COMMERCIAL CREW PROGRAM: It was a great day today to return Starliner. It was great to have a successful undock the orbit and landing of the vehicle. We're really excited to have Calypso back on the ground.
You know, Suni told the ground team, you've got this. Bring Calypso back. And that's what they did tonight. I am thrilled for our Boeing team and all of our colleagues have worked this mission across the country on the NASA team and the Boeing team.
They've put a lot of heart and soul into this mission over many years. And it's a testament to those people that we got the vehicle back safely today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Janet Ivey is founder and CEO of Janet's Planet Inc., a group that encourages young people to study science. She's in Krakow, Poland, and joins us now.
Janet, great to have you with us. Safety obviously is paramount and the lives of the astronauts mission critical.
But did NASA make the right call?
[03:20:00]
Leaving Butch and Suni on the International Space Station.
JANET IVEY, FOUNDER AND CEO, JANET'S PLANET INC.: I think so because, again, it's the most important resource in human spaceflight are humans.
And I don't think anyone wants to see a repeat of Apollo I or Challenger disaster, Columbia. And remember these are career astronauts. And I think sometimes we've, you know, we've considered it stranded in space.
But I like to think of it more like an extended time on the International Space Station. Every astronaut I've ever spoken to, as soon as they returned to Earth, they're ready to go back to space.
And it's one of the things that we look for in astronauts is agility, adaptability. And they will continue to do great resource research on the International Space Station until they can return in February of 2025.
I'm sure there are moments where they were watching and everything went well and they were wondering if perchance we could have traveled back home. But I think human lives are so very important.
And I think no one wanted to risk them in light of trying to prove that this particular Starliner could get them back home. Luckily, it looked like everything was nominal as it landed in New Mexico. But Boeing has some really critical things to figure out on the ground.
COREN: Obviously the data will be studied. We know there were thruster problems and helium leaks with the capsule.
I mean, what lessons will be learned here?
IVEY: Well, I think it's -- I heard one of the Boeing representatives, a speech in one of their kind of announcement. There seemed to have been this problem between a bit of software and how it was giving messages to those thrusters. And some kind of glitch happened.
So those thrusters kept kind of like staying warm and lit. You need time in between those kinds of prompts for that particular thruster to cool down and then fire again. So that's part of that, why that Teflon extruded and they weren't sure if that kind of extrusion would harm coming back home.
So there are some considerations and probably some really quality control issues there. But there're very smart people on the ground, trying to figure this out. And unfortunately, you can test all you want here on planet Earth. But you can't also beam somebody up there to take a look at what actually is going on.
But I feel -- I feel confident that great engineers have -- will figure this out. What Boeing's future with NASA looks like, I'm unsure. But I think for people watching, again, this is -- it was a test flight. It was the first time they had -- humans were aboard the Starliner.
And spaceflight is hard. It takes time to figure these issues out. But seeing it safely land and deploy well and the service module fall away just like it was supposed to, I mean, again, let's remember that, in Apollo 13, those astronauts had a 10 percent chance of survival as they were reentering the Earth's atmosphere.
And as they, as the Apollo 13 astronauts watched that service module slip away, they realized half of it was missing. And the moon gets further and their dream of ever walking on it slips away. But NASA called that a successful failure.
So I think Boeing's got a lot to think about and do. But we'll see what happens.
COREN: Yes. Just very quickly, Boeing's reputation has obviously taken a hit.
How does it rebuild from here?
What are the next steps? IVEY: You know, I think it's hard work, quality control and a commitment to making sure that, whatever product they produce or put out there, is sound. I mean, they've had issues with their planes and other things.
So I am quite confident that their whole team is really going, we've got to do better. And I think that's -- for any students out there, it's one of the things that my company does, is like this is a thing, guys. It's like we've got to critically think, we've got to problem- solve.
We've got to make sure that things work properly when we are doing things. And you know, great lessons for us all, that -- and you know, it's like Suni and Butch --
COREN: Absolutely.
IVEY: -- aren't the only ones kind of like being impacted. Zina Cartman and Stephanie Wilson won't get to go to the space station in February. So sometimes we have to do things because it's the right thing for the larger idea.
COREN: Janet Ivey, we're going to have to leave it there but great to get your insights. Thanks so much for joining us.
IVEY: Thanks for having me.
[03:25:00]
Typhoon Yagi has made landfall yet again, this time in northern Vietnam. The storm also reintensified to the equivalent of a category four Atlantic hurricane. Well, let's bring in journalist Manisha Tank in Singapore with the latest.
Manisha, how is it faring?
MANISHA TANK, JOURNALIST: Well, the latest pictures we're getting from there are --
(AUDIO GAP)
TANK: It's an intense storm, it's massive and it's been barreling across the region all the way from the Philippines. It went over Hong Kong, it hit southern China. Now it's coming into the northeast of Hanoi.
What we do know is it's sustaining winds of about 215 kilometers per hour. That's 130 miles per hour. Some people may feel that, on their cars, they don't have a dial that goes that high, just to give you a sense of how fast that is.
That's bending trees over. It means people have tied down their boats. You can barely see anything on the horizon because the rainfall is just so heavy, it's so intense. Definitely nobody wanting to be flying in that. And you yourself, you will probably know that, over in Hong Kong
earlier in the week, lots of flights were grounded for the same reason, just because there was just an intensity of this kind of stormy weather. The winds but, in particular, all the moisture, all the rain in the skies.
What we do know is its supposed to get downgraded from here. No news on that yet but this is normally what happens when these sorts of storms come in off the sea and then hit landfall.
They tend to get downgraded in terms of their intensity but it will continue with all of that heavy rain and we'll keep you updated in the hours ahead.
COREN: OK. Manisha Tank, great to see you. Thanks so much for the update.
Well, Pope Francis is in Papua New Guinea as he continues his tour of the Pacific and Southeast Asia. The island nation is at the forefront of places feeling the effects of climate change. The pope is expected to address the issue.
He's also spoken about women's rights and tribal violence and addressed the idea of community in what is a hugely diverse country of more than 800 languages. After Papua New Guinea, the 87-year-old pope will travel to East Timor and Singapore.
Well, I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. For our international viewers, "HIDDEN TREASURES" is next. For those in North America, stay tuned for more ahead here on CNN.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
COREN: Vice President Kamala Harris' position on the issue of fracking has taken center stage in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. But what president Trump has repeatedly said, she will ban it.
But this is what Harris said in an exclusive interview last week with our Dana Bash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you still want to ban fracking?
KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, and I made that clear on the debate stage in 2020, that I would not ban fracking. As vice president, I did not ban fracking. As president, I will not ban fracking. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Back in 2019 when she first ran for president, Harris vocally opposed fracking during a CNN climate crisis town hall. But she moved away from that stance when she became Biden's running mate. He won Pennsylvania in 2020.
But can Vice President Harris?
Well, Bill Weir went there to talk to voters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the southwest corner of Pennsylvania, thousands of fracking wells snake into the hillsides, squirting water and chemicals down, catching the methane gas coming up and making record profits for the corporations that own them.
But while fracking provides only a fraction of the state's six million jobs, here in Appalachia, it is easy to find folks devoted to fossil fuels and Donald Trump.
WEIR: When Kamala Harris says she has no intention of banning fracking, what do you make of that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't believe her. I don't believe her because you can't change your mind just because you want to be the president.
WILLIAM H. KLEIN, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: Fracking is an issue, whether it's Pennsylvania or any place else in the country. I believe it's good not only for the economy. I believe it's good for us to get money. Money is part of fracking.
WEIR: At the same time, there are millions of Pennsylvanians opposed to fracking and not just big city voters who know this invisible gas helps overheat the planet but families here in Appalachia forced to live with fracking literally in their backyard and the host of health concerns that comes with that.
HEAVEN SENSKIKURSH (PH), LOCAL RESIDENT: Young families don't want to stay here. They're frightened about the health of their children and their futures that they're providing for their families.
WEIR (voice-over): Heaven Senskikursh (ph) grew up here. And points to a University of Pittsburgh study which found that children living within a mile of a fracking site at higher risk of lymphoma.
According to state records, fracking fluid has fouled or poisoned over 400 private wells and water supplies and when it began spraying like this outside Jody Borello's (ph) house three times a day for years, her children broke out and rashes and she joined the nonprofit, Center for Coal Field Justice.
JODY BORELLO (PH), LOCAL RESIDENT: If you would've asked me 15 years ago about the environment or my opinion on the environment I probably would not have had one but I was unfortunately given a gas well, it was placed about 1,200 feet from my home.
WEIR (voice-over):They explain that, talk about a fracking ban only helps the gas industry but what they really want is sensible regulation and enforcement.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Neither candidate is coming here and talking to people about, does this hurt you?
Are you OK?
How are your kids doing?
WEIR: Is there any chance that you'll be able to get your natural water back?
LIZ PEBBLY (PH), LOCAL RESIDENT: Never.
WEIR: Never.
WEIR (voice-over): Liz Pebbly (ph), says that after her well was fouled by the fracking pad next door, the company bought her a water tank and offered to install a filter but with a catch.
WEIR: And I understand that if you were to accept their offer to put in a water filter, you would have had to sign away all your rights?
PEBBLY (PH): Correct.
WEIR: To talk about this --
PEBBLY (PH): We talked about it, health, any health problems could arise in the future, they wouldn't be responsible.
WEIR (voice-over): Her neighbor, Tammie Yoder (ph), shares her frustration and lends support.
WEIR: Did you think at the beginning when they came that the community would get richer as a result?
[03:35:00]
TAMMIE YODER (PH), LOCAL RESIDENT: We're just such a small community. It's like -- we feel like we don't matter.
WEIR: Yes. That's got to be frustrating?
YODER (PH): It is. And we do matter, we're people, we matter.
WEIR: Will you vote on the presidential elections?
YODER (PH): Yes.
PEBBLY (PH): Yes.
WEIR: Can I ask who you'll vote for?
YODER (PH): Harris.
PEBBLY (PH): Kamala Harris.
WEIR: Were you Democrats before or -- life long?
Yes.
YODER (PH): Yes. I'm a Republican.
WEIR: You're Republican and you're going the other way?
YODER (PH): Yes.
WEIR: Why?
YODER (PH): Because she behaves more like a human.
WEIR: Aside from the fracking issue?
YODER (PH): Yes.
PEBBLY (PH): Yes.
WEIR: Hillary Clinton wrote that her biggest regret of the 2016 campaign was promising to put coal mines and miners out of business.
Well, Kamala Harris is actually in Pittsburgh preparing for the debate this weekend. She's supposed to actually visit the surrounding communities.
So we'll see if she can thread the needle with empathy, maybe a promise of more regulation for those folks who are consider frackers bad neighbors here but of course, they're running against -- she is running against a man who's promising fossil fuel whatever they want -- Bill Weir, CNN, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Pennsylvania could end up being the most crucial battleground in the election. CNN's John King explains why both candidates are pouring money and time into the state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The stakes heading into this debate are just so enormous because the race is just so close.
Look, we had six battleground state polls out yesterday. This is our map right now to 270. The yellow states are the toss-up states. There are seven of them plus the second congressional district in Nebraska.
Where are our polling tell us?
Harris leads outside the margin in Michigan, outside the margin in Wisconsin. Doesn't mean she's going to win them. They're still competitive but let's give them to her for now right there. Trump led outside the margin in Arizona.
Again, doesn't mean he's going to win it but let's give him that. That gets you to 252 to 230. I'm going to lean North Carolina red. Democrats are getting mad at me right now because there is some polling showing Harris maybe slightly ahead there.
Until I want to see more data, I'm just going to lean it right because that's where it's been in every election since 2008 and in many before that. If you do that here's where you are.
So let's say for the sake of argument, Donald Trump gets Georgia back and Kamala Harris can hold on to Nevada, which has been mostly a Democratic state, even though it's tough right now. What that gets you, 262-256. Nebraska would get whoever gets at one more. It would all come down to Pennsylvania.
Let's flip the scenario for the sake of argument. Harris does well in the suburbs like Joe Biden. She holds Georgia. But the economic hardships after COVID in Nevada cause it to go back to Donald Trump. Same idea, 266, 252. Somebody gets that one, it still comes down to Pennsylvania.
That's where we are. I can give you other scenarios where Pennsylvania doesn't matter. But as this plays out, the reason both campaigns are spending way more money there than anywhere else is because they think it is what's going to tip the scales.
This is the most remarkable thing I find about Donald Trump. For all the volatility in our politics and all the volatility in him that you played in that segment at the top of the program, which was breathtaking.
By the way, look at Donald Trump. In these volatile times, in all the tumult we've had in our American politics, he's a straight line. He's at 49 percent in Arizona in our new poll. He was at 49 percent in Arizona. That's the result in 2020. That was the result in 2016.
In Georgia, this is the one slight aberration, 47, 49, 51. If you look at these six battleground states, two elections that have been settled, these are the final results and in our polling here, Donald Trump has never gotten the majority, except for in Georgia, once, once. He's the 47, 48, occasionally 49 guy.
Now that's significant. It's going to get you close to 50. But if you're Kamala Harris, you're thinking, I need to get to 49 point what, right?
You want to get to 50.
But what is it?
And how strong?
In 2016, the third party candidates made the difference. When Joe Biden got out of the race, one of the reasons Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. left the race is because support for third-party candidates plummeted. So if you look at Donald Trump for all the tumult in our politics, in the battleground states, he's essentially a flat line. So Harris knows what she needs to be. Now in some cases, it's 47 percent, 49 percent. That's hard to beat but at least you know what the target is.
Here's one thing I want to show you just to watch. Out in the west, she has some troubles with Latino voters. In the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Georgia where Black votes matters, in our polling, she's running a little bit behind where Biden was in 2020 right now.
I want to point this out. It's a smaller subset of voters, so the margin of error is large. So I'm not saying this is -- these numbers could be a little bit better.
Polling should not answer your questions. You should raise your questions. So when I read our polling, I said, OK, let's watch this to see if in other polls these numbers are a little bit higher. It might not be a problem but it's something the Harris campaign, they need this turnout so they're going to keep an eye on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: And be sure to tune in for our special coverage of the ABC News Presidential Debate, simulcast here on CNN. It will air this Tuesday, 9:00 pm Eastern time.
After the break, a former aide to two New York governors is being accused of spying for China.
But what do the Chinese have to say about it?
Not much. We'll have the details.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:40:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
COREN: A Pakistani man who lives in Canada has been arrested and charged with plotting to attack Jews in New York on the anniversary of the October 7 terror attacks in Israel.
The U.S. Justice Department alleges that 20-year-old Muhammad Shahzeb Khan was going to carry out the attack in the name of ISIS. Officials say Khan discussed his plans on an encrypted messaging app.
But unknown to him, he was speaking to undercover law enforcement officers. He was arrested in Canada on Wednesday while making his way toward the U.S. border. He also faces charges in Canada and is expected to appear in court there next week.
An alleged case of international spying and intrigue playing out in the highest levels of New York state government. A former aide to New York governor Kathy Hochul and former governor Andrew Cuomo is accused of being a Chinese spy. CNN's Will Ripley reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The dramatic downfall of Linda Sun, once a top aide to New York's current and former governors, now accused of secretly working for China, making headlines around the world.
But on Beijing's tightly controlled state media and heavily censored social media, silence. China's foreign ministry refusing to even comment on what they described as a domestic U.S. case.
Prosecutors say Sun was working overtime, pushing Beijing's agenda for years. She's accused of forging documents to help Chinese officials illegally enter the U.S., quietly removing references to China's human rights record from a Lunar New Year greeting in 2021 by former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
In July 2019, attending this pro-China rally in New York, coinciding with this visit to New York by Tsai Ing-wen, then president of Beijing's arch rival, Taiwan.
Prosecutors say, behind closed doors, Sun was coordinating with Chinese diplomats, blocking Taiwanese officials from key meetings and securing favors for China.
WEN-TI SUNG, TAIWANESE POLITICAL ANALYST: I'm not surprised at all.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Taiwanese political analyst, Wen-Ti Sung, says it's all part of Beijing's bigger strategy.
[03:45:00]
SUNG: So China is really pursuing a full court press against Taiwan to be able to be anywhere at any level.
RIPLEY (voice-over): This is just the latest high-stakes scandal involving Beijing's covert influence. Last month, this New York man, Shujun Wang, convicted of spying for the Chinese Communist Party, posing as a pro-democracy activist.
Also last year, the Justice Department says it uncovered a secret Chinese police station operating in Manhattan, accused of intimidating Chinese dissidents living in the U.S.
Reports at the time claimed more than 100 secret Chinese police stations in more than 50 countries and territories. China dismissed the claims as completely false, calling the locations "service centers," to help citizens abroad with renewing official documents, like their Chinese driver licenses.
This new 64-page indictment from U.S. federal prosecutors in New York reads like a spy novel, accusing Linda Sun of acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government, conspiring with her husband, Chris Hu, to commit bank fraud, accusing both of money laundering millions of dollars from China. Bankrolling the couple's luxurious lifestyle, paying cash for their
nearly $4 million Long Island mansion and $2 million condo in Hawaii; buying brand new cars, like a 2024 Ferrari and Range Rover; funneling millions to her husband's businesses, even sending her parents dozens of salted ducks, a Chinese delicacy.
The couple is pleading not guilty. Sun's attorney calls the investigation overly aggressive and the indictment inflammatory.
JARROD SCHAEFFER, COUNSEL FOR LINDA SUN: We are looking for exercising her right to a speedy trial and addressing these accusations in the forum which is most appropriate, which is a court of law.
RIPLEY (voice-over): U.S. prosecutors say cases like this reveal just how far China will go to infiltrate and influence the U.S. government -- Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: U.S. gas prices are falling. As of Friday, AAA reported the price of a gallon of regular unleaded was $3.29.
Well, that's cheaper than the $3.31 a gallon. That was the price on Thursday. And Thursday was already at a six-month low. Drivers in 10 U.S. states are currently paying on average less than $3 a gallon.
Experts believe that, by the Thanksgiving holiday, drivers in most states could also be paying less than $3 a gallon.
Much more still to come this hour, including this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COREN (voice-over): NFL fans descend on Brazil for the league's first ever game played in South America. That's next.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:50:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
COREN: A private school, an oil driller and a parking lot operator had then kicked off some of the most valuable real estate in America. A federal judge has ruled their leases with the Department of Veteran Affairs are legal and the land should be used to help homeless veterans. CNN's Nick Watt reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): UCLA's beautiful baseball field, a private school's manicured playing fields, parking lot, an oil drilling company, a federal judge just ruled all must go to make way for veterans who need a place to live.
ROB REYNOLDS, IRAQ WAR VETERAN AND ADVOCATE: And today marks the first step toward a long road in getting that land back to its intended purpose as a soldier's home for disabled veterans.
WATT (voice-over): Brentwood School has spent millions building a football field, tennis courts, a swimming pool on this land and around a million more lobbying to keep it. In today's ruling, this, the Brentwood school lease is void. The court will determine an exit strategy for the Brentwood School's 22 acres. The same applies to UCLA's baseball field.
MARK ROSENBAUM, PUBLIC COUNSEL: Today is the first real Veterans Day in America in a long, long time.
WATT (voice-over): Today's ruling comes after decades of activism, legal wrangling and media coverage from CNN and others. The plaintiffs, veterans who fought for their country, then fought their own government over this land given to the nation in the late 1800s as a home for disabled soldiers.
CHRISTINE BARRIE, FAMILY DONATED VA LAND: And it was a thriving community of 4,000 veterans at one point.
WATT (voice-over): There are currently just 233 permanent housing units in VA buildings here. More are under construction.
Today's ruling requires the VA develop around 2,500 units of temporary and permanent housing here and give the neediest easy access to medical facilities on the campus. During the trial, Judge David Carter, a Vietnam veteran, took lawyers and others on a 10-mile hike all over this land.
DAVID CARTER, JUDGE: So this is VA.
WATT (voice-over): And in his ruling lambasted Presidents Obama, Trump and Biden. Each promised that they would act swiftly to eradicate veteran homelessness in America. Yet today, approximately 3,000 homeless veterans live in the Los Angeles area alone. And the judge lambasted the VA.
Over the past five decades, the west L.A. VA has been infected by bribery, corruption and the influence of the powerful, he wrote. And the cost of the VA's inaction is veterans' lives.
WATT: Now the VA tell us they are carefully reviewing the judge's decision and will continue to do everything in our power to end veteran homelessness. They are doing better but as the judge points out, they're only doing better since this legal action began.
We're still waiting to hear from UCLA. Brentwood School tell us that they believe, they still believe that their lease complies with federal law. In a couple of weeks, the judge is going to meet to talk nuts and bolts of how to get UCLA and Brentwood School off this land -- Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: U.S. sprinter Hunter Woodhall won gold in the men's 400 meter T62 in the Paris Olympics on Friday. After his win, he ran to his wife in the crowd at the Stade de France. Tara Davis-Woodhall could certainly appreciate his achievement since she had also won gold in the long jump at the Paris games last month.
When asked how it felt to win gold along with his wife, Hunter joked that he was waiting to wake up.
[03:55:00]
The couple shared a long embrace after his victory and, of course, the right to be called gold medalists from now on.
The first NFL game in South America delivered a thrilling night for fans in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The landmark game featured two of the league's storied franchises. The Philadelphia Eagles hanging on to defeat the Green Bay Packers, 34-29.
While it was a unique backdrop, some noted the field conditions at these soccer stadium were slippery and less than ideal for rough and tumble American football. In the final moments, Packers' starting quarterback Jordan Love got twisted up during a hard tackle and had to be helped off the field.
American Jessica Pegula will play her first-ever grand slam final against two-time champion world number two Aryna Sabalenka in the highly anticipated U.S. Open women's singles final later today.
Meanwhile Taylor Fritz's thrilling comeback against fellow American Frances Tiafoe on Friday secured his first-ever grand slam finals appearance on Sunday. Fritz now has a chance to become the first American man to win a grand slam singles title in more than two decades. He faces world number one Jannik Sinner.
Well, she started as a child actress, became a pop star. Now Selena Gomez is a billionaire. Bloomberg has valued the 32 year-old's net worth at one $1.3 billion, making her one of the youngest self-made billionaires in the U.S.
The bulk of her wealth is tied to her five-year-old makeup line, Rare Beauty, which is popular with influencers and teens.
She also has her interest in the mental health platform, Wondermind. On top of that, her earnings from her music, acting and social media partnerships.
Thanks so much for joining us here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. The news continues with my colleague Kim Brunhuber in Atlanta.
Stay with CNN.
