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Harris and Trump Preparing for First Presidential Debate; Crossings Through Jordan Reopened After Killings; Manhunt Still Ongoing in Kentucky for I-75 Shooter; Edmundo Gonzalez Seeks Asylum in Spain; Record Heat in Southern California and Wildfire; Brewing Storm in the Gulf of Mexico; U.S. Economy Concerns; Unemployment Rate Dropped From 4.3 Percent To 4.2 Percent Last Week; Pope Francis Arrives In East Timor, Set To Meet President; Harris Says She's "Ready" For First Presidential Debate. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired September 09, 2024 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNA COREN, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and around the world and streaming on CNN Max. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. Just ahead, we are one day away from the high stakes presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, a make or break moment for both campaigns as they look to win over undecided voters.

A manhunt underway this hour in Kentucky where authorities are searching for the suspect accused of opening fire on highway drivers.

And Pope Francis lands in East Timor, kicking off the next leg of his tour throughout Southeast Asia.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are just one day away from meeting face to face for the first time on a debate stage. Well, that showdown in the first presidential debate with 57 days to go until the November election. It will come just before early voting begins in several key states and as new polling shows that the race for the White House remains tight.

A "New York Times-Sienna College" poll shows no clear leader with a similar theme found in a new CNN poll of polls which shows Harris at 49 percent and Trump at 47. The two candidates spent the weekend in battleground states. Harris meeting with voters in Pittsburgh while preparing for the debate as Trump held a campaign rally in Wisconsin.

Well, Harris is set to travel to Philadelphia in the hours ahead. On Sunday, she told reporters she's ready for the debate. CNN's Eva McKend has more from Pittsburgh.

EVA MCKEND, CNN U.S. NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: It is perhaps no surprise the vice president, a former prosecutor, has a reputation for intensely preparing for these big moments. She has likely been pouring over briefing books, anticipating what the moderators might ask her, anticipating what former President Donald Trump might say. We know one thing is for sure though, her campaign, not so worried about these polls.

Brian Fallon, a spokesperson for the campaign, tweeting that they have always viewed themselves as the underdog in this contest and they still have that mentality. They recognize that they have a lot of work to do in the 50 plus days until the election. Meanwhile, they're already telegraphing what they're going to do after the debate, a battleground blitz they're calling it, with the vice president campaigning in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, Governor Walz taking to Michigan and Wisconsin, and their respective spouses fanning out across the country as well. The campaign will have a presence in every battleground state. Eva McKend, CNN, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

COREN: Earlier I spoke with Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, and asked him what he is expecting to see at Tuesday's debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: I think it will be more substantive than people are believing at the moment, especially on the Democratic side because one of Kamala Harris's objectives and needs is to define her positions further and to give people more insight into where she stands as opposed to where President Biden has stood during his administration.

But any debate involving Donald Trump will have some unexpected moments, and it's going to get at points highly negative. I think that Harris will sidestep some of the insults and the nastiness. She's been studying Trump's past debates, so she's going to know how he operates. But you can't avoid that. And this is Trump's opportunity to go after Kamala Harris in a way that he had been doing for months with President Biden.

COREN: Muted mics will again feature like they did in the first debate. Do you think that will be to Donald Trump's advantage because Harris, you know, won't be able to showcase her prosecutorial skills?

SABATO: It's possible it will work out that way. But from what I understand, the ABC network has agreed to leave the microphones on when there is a real exchange between the candidates.

[02:04:59]

In other words, if one of the candidates continues talking and turning to the other candidate and insisting that candidate has told a falsehood, I understand that they will, at least in some cases, keep the microphones on. So there are going to be some unexpected moments in this debate.

COREN: Larry, is this make or break for either candidate?

SABATO: Not unless one of the candidates falls apart the way President Biden did in the June 27th debate on CNN. That was the greatest disaster in the 37 presidential general election debates we've had since 1960. I don't think we'll see another circumstance like that, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a major mistake certainly factual. But even more than that, if somebody goes over the line with an insult, for example, or an attack, then that could have repercussions for that particular campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: You can see my full interview with Larry Sabato ahead in our next hour. Please stay with us for that. 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 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time in the U.S. That's 2:00 a.m. Wednesday in London, 5:00 a.m. in Abu Dhabi and 9:00 in the morning here in Hong Kong.

Israel says it will reopen three border crossings into Jordan in the coming hours. They were closed after a Jordanian gunman shot and killed three Israeli civilians at the LNB crossing on Sunday. The suspected gunman's brother says anger over violence in Gaza could have been a motive for the attack.

The crossing, also known as the King Hussein Bridge border crossing, allows traffic to pass between Jordan and the West Bank. And CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now from Abu Dhabi with more. Paula, tell us what are you learning?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anna, we understand that this morning it'll be the passenger path of these crossings that could be open, so suggesting that they're not going to be allowing trucks through at this point at least. This is what happened on Sunday. There was a Jordanian individual who drove a commercial goods truck through the crossing. It was to be taken to the West Bank, something that this individual had done a number of times in the past according to his family, according to his brother.

He then stopped the vehicle, he exited the vehicle, and killed three border crossing guards before he himself was killed by another guard. Now, we've heard from his brother, who has said that he believes his anger about what was happening in Gaza, about the war there, could have motivated, or at least been a motivating factor, in what he has done. But the family said that they are surprised that he carried this out.

Now, it's been condemned by Jordan, it's been condemned by Israel, the Israeli Prime Minister speaking on Sunday. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translation): We are surrounded by a murderous ideology led by Iran's axis of evil. In recent days, lonesome terrorists have murdered six of our hostages in cold blood and three Israeli police officers. The killers do not distinguish between us. They want to murder us all until the last one. Right and left, secular and religious, Jews and non-Jews. What prevents the elimination of our people as in the past is the strength of the State of Israel and the strength of the Israel Defense Forces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: So Jordan's Ministry of Interior at this point says it has launched an investigation to find out exactly how this was able to happen, but also says that they believe the gunman acted alone, so there was no collaboration with anybody else. Now, they've also said that, as I mentioned, they do condemn what has happened, but they talk about calling for moves to, quote, "address the root causes and de- escalate tensions."

So, a veiled suggestion there that there was a reason behind this. This did not happen in a vacuum as we've heard from the family. They believe the Gaza war was a motivating factor. We have heard from Jordan -- the Jordanian government in recent weeks and months being very critical of what Israel is doing in Gaza. So that particular statement there really pushing back to that saying that they condemn quote "violence and targeting civilians for any reason."

So at this point, all three of those land crossings, there are three between Jordan and Israel, are expected throughout the morning to be opened as I say for passengers, not necessarily for trucks at this point.

[02:10:00]

We would imagine that there would be more checks and balances and security put in place by Israel. There were a number of Jordanian truck drivers who were questioned after this incident. They have now all been released. And we understand that more than 100 trucks have been returned back to Jordan as well. This is the way that the commercial goods are taken from Jordan into the West Bank. Anna?

COREN: Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi. We appreciate the reporting. Thank you.

Well, Israel's defense minister says the military is ready as needed to shift its focus Israel's northern border. Yoav Gallant spoke with Israeli troops in Gaza on Sunday. He told them the Israeli military could be quickly moved to the fight against Hezbollah if needed. But he also said they would cripple Hamas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOAV GALLANT, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER (through translation): In Gaza, we need to achieve our two goals, both to eliminate Hamas and to return the hostages, and we are on this matter with all our might. At the same time, we are looking at the entire war fronts. And this means that while you are fighting here in Gaza, we are preparing for anything that can happen in the north, and moving the center of gravity can be quick.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Well, meanwhile, the United Nations started the third phase of its polio vaccination campaign in Gaza. The U.N. plans to vaccinate 150,000 Palestinian children in northern Gaza. Health workers vaccinated more than 400,000 children in the south over the past week. Syria's state-run news agency says Israeli airstrikes killed five

people and wounded at least 19 others on Sunday. The agency says there were several explosions and air defense engagements in central Syria. When CNN asked the Israeli military about the incident, the IDF said it does not comment on reports in foreign media.

Well schools will be closed Monday in Laurel County, Kentucky, as authorities try to track down a gunman. They believe the suspect, accused of firing into several cars along Interstate 75 on Saturday is still hiding in the densely wooded area near where his car and a rifle were found. Well, CNN's Gloria Pazmino has the latest on the manhunt.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, several law enforcement agencies fanned out throughout the day in Laurel County, Kentucky. That's a day after a man opened fire onto the interstate highway, critically injuring five people. Now, the Laurel County Sheriff's Office says that Joseph Couch is their suspect. He is believed to be armed and dangerous.

Now, police have located a vehicle registered to Joseph Couch as well as a gun that was inside the vehicle and they also recovered an AR-15 style weapon which they believe was used in this shooting. Now, law enforcement has been focused on one specific area near where the shooting took place, but this is very rugged wooded terrain.

Police have said that there are a lot of trees, it is difficult to get around and that is making it very challenging for them to continue the search into the night. Once the sun comes down, they said they were going to pull back their officers out of an abundance of caution.

Now, the White House has been in touch with law enforcement in Kentucky, which has been using several resources, including at least one helicopter, canine units, as well as a drone in order to search the area. For now, authorities have not determined a motive behind the shooting, but they do believe that the shooting was planned.

And while there were no fatalities, at least five people were critically injured, some of them suffering gunshot wounds to the face and across the chest. In the meantime, schools are expected to be closed on Monday. Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.

COREN: The principal of Apalachee High School in Georgia says officials are still figuring out the next steps for students and staff after last week's deadly mass shooting. In a letter to parents, the principal said they're making plans for people to start picking up their belongings from the school on Monday, but no word yet on when classes will resume. Other schools in the district will be back in session on Tuesday.

Two 14-year-old students and two teachers were killed in Wednesday's shooting. The suspect, also 14, is in custody and so is his father, who is accused of buying his son the AR-15 style rifle used in the attack.

Coming up here on CNN Newsroom, the man who challenged Venezuela's president in July's election is seeking safety in Europe, citing credible fears for his life. That's ahead.

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[02:15:00]

COREN: Venezuela's opposition presidential candidate has landed safely in Spain where he is seeking asylum. Edmundo Gonzalez had been in hiding since the day after the July 28 presidential election where he ran against longtime leader Nicolas Maduro. Maduro claimed victory despite overwhelming evidence he had lost, sparking massive deadly protests.

Since the disputed election, the Venezuelan government had charged Gonzalez with terrorism, conspiracy and other crimes. Gonzalez's lawyer says the decision to leave Venezuela came last minute after threats to his safety.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE VICENTE HARO, EDMUNDO GONZALEZ (through translation): Put yourself in his skin, in his mindset, in the situation he was facing with real fears for his life and that of his family. At that moment, the bare survival instinct prevailed over everything else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: The Organization of American States says Edmundo Gonzalez was forced into exile by Venezuela's government.

[02:19:58]

Gonzalez himself says he will continue the fight for his country's freedom from abroad. CNN correspondent Pau Mosquera brings us the latest.

PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Venezuela opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia has finally arrived in Madrid after fleeing his home country and asking for asylum in Spain. He has landed in the military airbase of Torrejon de Ardoz, located to the east of Madrid, around 4:00 p.m. local time, 10:00 a.m. eastern time.

He has completed all the way from Venezuela on board of a Spanish military airplane, accompanied by his wife and some Spanish officials. Also, he has been received on the ground by Spanish State Secretary for Ibero-America, Susana Sumelzo.

Now we have been all day here in front of this military airbase to be the first to take the image of Gonzalez Urrutia in Madrid, but it has been impossible because no one has seen him leaving this place. The only familiar face that we have seen so far was his daughter, Carolina, that has been living in Madrid for over a decade.

After his arrival, Gonzalez will now start the process to make his asylum effective. For sure it will take a time, but the Spanish government has already confirmed that he will have it granted. Also, some Venezuelan opposition leaders in Madrid told CNN that he's expected to offer a presser over the next days and that is going to be the chance to know a little bit more about this personal decision of flying to Madrid and also knowing what are his future plans? Pau Mosquera, CNN, Madrid.

COREN: Thousands of people are fleeing a massive wildfire in southern California as forecasters warn of record heat over the next few days. The couple who took this video went to the mountains to escape the heat, but instead ended up near the raging Line Fire. It has more than quadrupled in size since Saturday morning, threatening more than 36,000 homes and buildings.

The fire is so intense it's creating thunderstorms that are causing very erratic behavior. Officials say more than 1,800 firefighters are struggling to get control of the fire, which was not contained at all as of Sunday morning. At least three people have been injured and California's governor has declared a state of emergency.

Well, meantime, excessive heat warnings are in effect for parts of the state over the next few days with temperatures ranging from 95 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit, that's around 35 to 40 degrees Celsius.

We're keeping our eyes on a potential tropical storm forming in the Gulf of Mexico. Parts of Mexico and southern Texas are under a tropical storm watch right now, with the disturbance expected to turn into a full-fledged storm in the coming days. The U.S. National Hurricane Center warns cities on the coast of Louisiana and Texas could also see storm surge and hurricane watches as a result. CNN Meteorologist Elisa Raffa has more details on a potential severe weather.

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We're watching a tropical disturbance that could soon gain the name Francine in the next 48 hours or so. Right now the center is kind of disorganized, but if you look at where it's sitting in parts of the Gulf of Mexico, you've got ocean temperatures there that are incredibly warm, nearing the low 90s.

And if you look at its path that it could take as it heads towards the U.S. Gulf coast, it's going to take this ride through some very warm ocean temperatures in the middle 80s, even in some upper 80s. So what that's going to do is help it organize and strengthen pretty quickly, especially as we head into the work week.

We could be looking at some tropical storm force conditions along the Texas coastline as early as late Tuesday, and then this thing could ride the coastline towards Louisiana as we go into Wednesday, bringing with it the threat for some heavy rain, some storm surge, and rough surf as well.

When we look at recent named storms that have made landfall in this part of the country, I mean, we had a barrel make landfall over the Texas coastline just a couple of months ago, this season, and it brought some power problems to parts of Houston. We also had Ida in 2021, Beta and Hannah in 2020. But when you look at hurricanes, the last time that Texas had two hurricanes make landfall in one season was 2008, 16 years ago, Ike and Dali. So if this does in fact become Hurricane Francine and make landfall on

the Texas coastline. This will be the first time in 16 years that Texas has seen two hurricanes in one season. Whether it's a hurricane, a tropical storm, no matter what it's called, it will bring some heavy rain to parts of the Texas and Louisiana coastline. Forecasters are already worried about four to eight inches of rain that could grow to 12 inches in some localized areas. So flash flooding is going to be a great concern as we go into the work week.

[02:25:00]

COREN: Elisa Raffa, thank you. Well, investors around the world are watching Wall Street looking for any clues as to what the Federal Reserve might do with interest rates. A check in on the U.S. economy next on CNN.

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COREN: Welcome back. Returning to our top story, the first presidential debate between U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump set to take place on Tuesday. This will mark the first time the two candidates meet face to face as they hope to sway still undecided voters in a very tight race. The two spent the weekend in battleground states. Trump held a campaign rally in Wisconsin while Harris met with voters in Pittsburgh while preparing for the debate.

The state of the U.S. economy will undoubtedly be a big focus at the debate. Wall Street is looking ahead to the latest Consumer Price Index report due out this week for any clues about what the Federal Reserve will do next with interest rates. September is off to a rough start for the U.S. markets with all three indexes posting their worst week of losses for the year.

It came on the heels of a somewhat disappointing jobs report which showed a slight drop in the unemployment rate, but also fewer jobs added than economists had expected. Well, here's a look at the U.S. futures right now ahead of Monday's trading. And as you can see, everything is up. The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 Futures, all up slightly.

Well, joining me now from Los Angeles is Ryan Patel, senior fellow at the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.

[02:29:58]

Ryan, as always, great to see you.

Let's start with the Friday's job report and the unemployment rate, August hiring weaker than expected and jobs growth for June and July was revised down significantly. Is this an indication the U.S. economy is more fragile than then many realize?

RYAN PATEL, SENIOR FELLOW, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT: I think we already know it is fragile. I think people just coming to it. I also think that, you know, this is part of what Jerome Powell wanted to see, right? You know, you have kind of no choice and September on 17th when the Fed meets to cut rates.

And what I mean by that is that when you start to see the slowdown in jobs, you start to see even the unemployment and the wage growth actually only increased by 0.4 percent. And let me dive even a little bit deeper on that jobs report. Why it is what you were mentioning fragile a little bit. It was the growth was largely concentrated in two areas, construction which added close to 34,000 jobs in health care.

So, then we are seeing this kind of slowdown and we started to see that pressure are starting to go into and guess what, right into in a couple of weeks, the big decision on will the Fed start decreasing the rate and what rate?

COREN: Well, let's talk about that upcoming rate cut than many anticipated. I mean, Jerome Powell has signaled as much to Fed governors over the weekend, made a case for cutting interest rates, but only incrementally. I think the general consensus out there that the fed will cut by 25 basis points. Will that be enough in your opinion?

PATEL: What, I mean, as of today and the way were seeing what you just saw on a jobs report, that continues to go by the time, you know, we starting to see other indicators with the CPI not meet expectations it won't be enough now, I think that we'll see this week the CPI index kind of come close to, I think the 25 basis points is a market also saying its almost a slam dunk, but highly likely.

I think if Jerome Powell chooses to 50 basis points, it'll signal to the market if they like it or not that is a lot worse than it can be and this would be the jump they're looking for. So you know, so I also thank the flip side of this and I have to mention the GDP of the third quarter is also still growing. The Atlanta Fed came out an increased its outlook. So we have this kind of weird place to the economy is fragile but still growing. But where is it growing in the right spot?

COREN: So how will this all affect the U.S. election considering the economy obviously is one of the major issues at the ballot box? And if we listen to the polls, Trump is still ahead when it comes to the economy.

PATEL: I mean, you're 100 percent right? It is, it's going to be, economy is going to be the hottest topic for both candidates to talk about. And the reason why is that each of them will point to the strengths and weaknesses meaning in some sector is not doing well and some working class not doing well.

So, you know, I also saw some statements from the fed this past week about so we may not see big tech layoffs or just bigger layoffs, but we won't see growth. So I think the candidates, both of them should be focusing on economic growth. How are they going to do that? And what sectors and how to grow the sectors faster in certain the wage growth and even the living and the consumer price index.

I mean, I can keep going because I think it's really important for these candidates to talk about these things and how to solve for them versus what, what is current situation and the kind of going back and forth of not moving forward together as a bipartisan approach.

COREN: Ryan on that issue, why have Democrats really failed to communicate their wins with the economy? You look at the re- industrialization that is happening in the United States and reducing its reliance on China. This is all happened under the Biden administration and were not really hearing this from Kamala Harris.

PATEL: Very part of it, too, is for her to say something like this doesn't really -- the voter right now, what are they, what are they feeling in their pockets right now is neither of those two issues, unfortunately. It's about what's in their savings and high debt that they currently have in accounts, you know, things are more expensive, the grocery store haven't been feeling that. We also see the wage both not catch job to somebody who's opportunities when you either travel or go.

So I think when you think of what's top of mind in the short term, you see the price sticker shock is still there. We still see big stock, you know, we still see big items, ticket items people are choosing not to purchase them and holding back. So people's lifestyles are also changing, too.

And so, again, these are wins that are not affecting the things that people are feeling right now and they're going to vote with, what they feel right now. And I think that's why may be the Democratic Party's not addressing those things and having to focus on how to change what they need to do to address these issues going ahead, which Trump will continue to focus on.

COREN: Ryan Patel, it is always a pleasure, great to get your insights.

[02:35:02]

Thank you so much for joining us.

PATEL: Thanks for having me.

COREN: Well, still to come, Pope Francis is on the next leg of his tour of Southeast Asia.

What's planned for the pontiff's stop in East Timor? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: Just a short time ago, Pope Francis arrived in East Timor, the latest stop of his tour of Southeast Asia and Oceana. The pontiff was greeted by loud crowd when he arrives. He'll be welcomed by the country's president, Jose Ramos-Horta, in the coming hours. It is his third leg of the pope's journey after leaving Papua New Guinea early Monday.

The pontiff's trip marks a significant shift for the Vatican as it places renewed focus on its congregations across Asia.

Well, Kristie Lu Stout joins us with all the details. And, Kristie, what is on the agenda for his visit to East Timor, one of the world's youngest nations and overwhelmingly Catholic.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anna, Pope Francis is continuing his ambitious tour across Asia with this stop in East Timor, a deeply Catholic nations, so much so 97 percent of the population identify as Catholic.

The mood on the ground inside and across East Timor is very festive with billboards, banners welcoming the pope, with throngs of well- wishers greeting him on the tarmac at Dili Airport there, the capital of East Timor, where he arrived just a few hours ago.

Now, in a couple of hours from now, he'll be attending a welcoming ceremony outside the presidential palace. Pope Francis will also be meeting with the president of East Timor, as well as other leaders, and the turnout is expected to be huge especially given the very deep links between the Catholic Church and the history of East Timor and the role that the church played in its struggle for independence, which are earned in 2002, so much so that the prime minister of East Timor, the former freedom fighter and independence hero, Xanana Gusmao, called the Catholic Church, quote, the backbone of the resistance.

[02:40:09]

Now, East Timor has had a very eventful and traumatic history with decades of bloody and brutal occupation up until its independence in 2002, as well as a number of clerical sex abuse scandals, including one involving a bishop from East Timor, who had won the Nobel Peace prize in the mid 1990s. And it's not clear whether or not Pope Francis will address these scandals.

Also hanging over this leg of the papal visit is the price tag East Timor had earmarked and paid US$12 million to host Pope Francis. East Timor is one of the poorest countries in Asia, with many of its residents living below the poverty line.

Now, on Sunday, Pope Francis was early in Papua New Guinea. He visited a very remote village there where he was greeted by thousands of well- wishers. He delivered medicine, aid and assistance and he also delivered a critical message. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS, CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): Peace -- peace for the nations and also for creation. No to rearmament and exploitation of our common home. Yes to the encounter between peoples and cultures. Yes to the harmony of men and women with creatures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: The 87-year-old pope has been on a 12-day four-nation tour across Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. A trip that ends this Friday when he returns back to Rome.

Back to you, Anna.

COREN: Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, many thanks.

And thank you for joining us. I'm Anna Coren. For our international viewers, "WORLD SPORT" is next. For our viewers in the United States and Canada, I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:42]

COREN: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is set to travel to Philadelphia in the coming hours ahead of Tuesday's presidential debate, where she'll go head-to-head with former President Donald Trump. Harris was seen out for a walk with the second gentleman on Sunday. She gave a thumbs-up and told reporters, she's ready for the debate.

Well, Pennsylvania is a key swing state in this year's presidential race, and it may prove even more important for its hotly contested Senate seat.

Well, Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania is being challenged by Republican David McCormick and you CNN polling out this week shows it is neck and neck. Republicans believe they can make inroads there, and they're spending a lot of money to make that happen. CNN's Manu Raju reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. BOB CASEY (D-PA): Hello, Pittsburgh.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator Bob Casey is sounding the alarm.

CASEY: I need your help in this race.

RAJU: As a three-term Democrat campaigns with Vice President Kamala Harris, Casey is locked in a dead heat against Republican David McCormick, and about to get swamped by a GOP bombardment on the airways.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the border was secure, chances are my son would be alive today.

AD NARRATOR: Harris and Casey, dangerous radicals.

RAJU: McCormick and his allies are preparing to spend more than $100 million on air in just the final two months of the campaign. More than half from an outside group designed solely to help the Republicans. All giving Republicans a roughly $40 million on-air advantage over Democrats, an edge bigger than any other Senate race.

CASEY: I think I'm the underdog. I don't have a personal super PAC funded by Wall Street billionaire. I don't care what they spend. I'm going to going to win this race, but it's going to be a really difficult race.

RAJU: With the West Virginia seat almost certain to turn red, Democrats must hang on to Pennsylvania and seven other seats simply to keep the Senate at 50-50.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bob Casey will help us do that.

RAJU: But a new CNN/SSRS poll finds that Casey-McCormick race at age 46-46 tie. And since 2016, the GOP has cut into Democrat voter registration advantage in the state.

DAVE MCCORMICK (R-PA), SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm the underdog, there's no doubt about that. But the reason the race is closing is that Senator Casey is just out of touch with Pennsylvanians. He's been a weak senator.

RAJU: As he stumped in rural Pennsylvania last week, McCormick aligned himself with Donald Trump up to a point.

Trump had said that he'd won Pennsylvania in 2020, that it was stolen from him. Do you agree with him?

MCCORMICK: I don't believe the election was stolen. So President Trump and I don't agree on everything but we agree on a lot of things.

RAJU: Do you consider yourself a MAGA Republican?

MCCORMICK: You know, I consider myself a Dave McCormick Republican. My positions are very much in line with what President Trump has said on policies. I'm a guy that's put America first his whole life.

RAJU: After serving in the military and then working in the Bush administration, McCormick ran a major hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates.

Now fodder for Democratic attack ads like this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dave McCormick got rich --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really rich.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By investing in China.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: China.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: China.

RAJU: McCormick defended his tenure.

MCCORMICK: When you're the -- one of the biggest global investors in the world, 3 percent of its holdings were in China.

RAJU: That's a lot of money though.

MCCORMICK: That's what we're talking about. There's no global firm in the world that doesn't have exposure to China.

RAJU: As Casey attacks McCormick's character, the Republican turning his attention to Casey's ties to Harris.

MCCORMICK: He's voted 98 percent of the time for Biden-Harris.

RAJU: Why are you aligning yourself with her?

CASEY: Look, in this state, her campaign already has brought a real lift to the turnout dynamics.

RAJU: Would you consider yourself a Biden-Harris Democrat?

CASEY: Oh, I don't -- I don't put a label on it.

RAJU: Well, what issues do you break from her on?

CASEY: Oh, I'm not going to try to itemize issues that we might have not a total agreement.

RAJU: In 2022, McCormick lost the senate primary to a Trump-backed opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Dr. Oz is running against the liberal Wall Street Republican named David McCormick, who I've known.

RAJU: But now McCormick has been stumping with Trump and was about to go on stage at the July rally where Trump was nearly killed.

Did you ever think back to that day, think that could have been you?

[02:50:00]

MCCORMICK: Yeah. I didn't think that at the time then I got home that night and talk to all six of my daughters, and they were freaked out.

RAJU: But McCormick's positions in 2022 are inviting fresh scrutiny, including comments at a debate when he did not mention his support of abortion exceptions for rape or incest.

MCCORMICK: I believe in the very rare instances, there should be exceptions for life of the mother.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dave McCormick praised the Supreme Court.

RAJU: Now, turned into a series of attack ads.

You only talked about life of the mother. Why did you always talk about that?

MCCORMICK: I said before the debate, after the debate, over and over again that I support all three exceptions. In the debate I didn't say I was against the other exceptions. I simply said that I was for that exception.

RAJU: You wouldn't codify Roe v. Wade if you had a chance to vote for it, would you?

MCCORMICK: My position is very clear. I think the state should decide, voters should decide.

RAJU: Casey had previously harbored anti-abortion views, including saying this in 2002.

CASEY: My position has always been a pro-life position. Well, my position has always been the favoring the one exception for the life of the mother.

RAJU: Now, Casey says the Dobbs decision overturning Roe has changed the dynamic.

Do you still consider yourself pro-life?

CASEY: I don't think those terms mean much anymore. I really think that the choice now before -- before the American people is if you support a ban, which means you support the overturning of Roe and all that comes with it. Or you support this right? And I do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: CNN's Manu Raju reporting there.

Well, the U.S. Congress will return to session in the coming hours to a familiar standoff over funding the government. Lawmakers will have just three weeks to figure out how to keep the governments doors open before funding expires at the end of the month.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: After a long summer recess, Congress is back and they're facing a big task right off the bat. How to keep the government open and funded. Sources on both sides tell CNN that there is no desire on anybody's part two pushed the government into a shutdown, especially so close to the election. But they certainly have some real work to do to avoid this.

Still not settled is how long a stop gap bill, known as a continuing resolution should go. Democrats, they prefer a short-term spending bill into December. They want to kick the negotiations until after the election. And many Republicans, they want to fund the government into spring, pushing the fight until after the leadership races and the House, which would help Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.

They will, of course, need to settle on spending levels, and there's a separate battle brewing over whether to include a non non-citizen voting measure. Now, this is a controversial so bill that Republicans are pushing to include. It is already illegal, of course, for noncitizens to vote. But the legislation would require proof of citizenship to vote.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a statement on Sunday said, quote, they will not let poison pills or Republican extremism put funding for critical programs at risk, and the deadline to get this completed, its September 30th. So the government does not shut down on October 1st. That leaves just 13 days in session to find a path forward.

Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: The wait is over for world number one, Jannik Sinner, who took home his first U.S. Open singles title on Sunday. He defeated American Taylor Fritz in three straight sets to nab his second grand slam title. The Italian won his first ever grand slam singles title at the Australian open back in January.

Its latest win is also a historic. Sinner is the first Italian men's singles champion in U.S. Open history.

Well, our Andy Scholes caught up with the newly crowned champ.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Jannik, congratulations on an amazing tournament. You're the first Italian man ever to win the U.S. Open. How's that feel?

JANNIK SINNER, U.S OPEN MEN'S FINAL WINNER: Yeah, it feels amazing. Obviously, it's a huge achievement for me and my team. Just happy to hold this trophy. I think the final today was a very high level final. I'm very lucky or happy that I won the third set because potentially could change a little bit the balance of the match. But overall, I think me and my team, we can be very, very pleased about our performance for these two weeks.

SCHOLES: You had a challenging season. After being cleared of any wrongdoing, after testing positive for a banned substance, how were you able to play so well with that hanging over you?

SINNER: Well, it was -- first of all, I -- my mind I knew that I haven't done anything wrong. So that's -- that's already there. The biggest part for me mentally that I am okay. Now, another way, it's me and my team. We know oh, what we went through for months, who we know what we what we are feeling like in the last months and this is even more of a positive sign for me and my team because we put a lot of extra work in trying to be as ready as possible mentally.

[02:55:06]

SCHOLES: The first year since 2002 that none of the big three, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, or Rafael Nadal won a grand slam. You and Carlos Alcaraz won them all.

You feel like this is the changing of the guard in men's tennis?

SINNER: Yeah. It's so -- it's tough to predict the future this year. That's about -- I think it's nice for tennis to see some new champions, some new favorites of tournaments and I'm happy to be -- to be part of this at least this year. So let's see what's coming next year. Obviously, it's -- they're all big, big challenges coming up, but I'm just looking -- looking forward to, to improve because up layer and I will see what I can do.

SCHOLES: Just 23-years-old, first man in 50 years to win your first two grand slams in the same year. How many more -- how many are you going to win? How do you got?

SINNER: No, this is -- the question I could never answer, I'm -- for sure, we are aiming to be to become a better tennis player and a person daily, and that would see what we can catch in the future. I mean, me and my team, we still always in the present moment trying to be as ready as possible for every challenge and done them obviously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Musician Kendrick Lamar will headline the halftime show at Super Bowl LIX in February. Here's how he made the big reveal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENDRICK LAMAR, MUSICIAN: But the deal everybody. My name is Kendrick Lamar and I'll be performing at Super Bowl LIX. Will you be pulling up? I hope so. Meet me in New Orleans, February 9, 2025. Wear your best dress, too, even if you watch it from home. Let's go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: The NFL made the announcement on Sunday with the head of music adding the rapper has proven he's ability to create moments that, quote, resonates redefine and ultimately shake the very foundation of hip hop. It will be a return to the Super Bowl stage for Lamar. He first performed in the 2022 halftime show alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and Mary J. Blige.

Well, thank you so much for your company this hour. I'm Anna Coren. I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM after this short break.