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Harris & Trump To Face Off For First Time In Presidential Debate; Gaza Officials: Dozens Dead, Injured After Israel Strikes "Safe Zone"; Ukraine Carries Out Largest Drone Attack To Date Near Moscow; Polaris Dawn Mission Begins Trek To Record Altitude. Aired 3- 4p ET

Aired September 10, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:36]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: It's 8:00 p.m. in London, 10:00 p.m. in Tel Aviv, 3:00 p.m. here in Washington. I'm Jim Sciutto. Thanks so much for joining me today on CNN NEWSROOM and let's get right to the news.

Stage is set in Philadelphia for a debate with potentially the major consequences for both candidates. This will be the first time Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have debated and remarkably, the first time the two candidates have ever met.

Polls showed them tied in a dead heat nationally and by and large in battleground states as well, or at least within the margin of polling error. In primetime starting at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, they will shake hands, deliver their visions for the country, attempt to define themselves and define their opponent.

Where this debate happens is also key. It is Pennsylvania a must win state for both campaigns. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has a preview from Philadelphia on what voters want to hear tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have spent months talking about one another.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If comrade Kamala Harris gets four more years, you will be living a full blown banana republic.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you got something to say, say it to my face.

ZELENY: On Tuesday night, they will talk to one another in a duel seen around the world. But what's one of the most important audiences here in Pennsylvania.

GINA OLD, UNDECIDED PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: And I don't know if all really know until it's time to actually vote.

ZELENY: This will be Trump's seventh debate, more than any nominee in history. Harris and her team have studied all of the previous six, three with Hillary Clinton.

TRUMP: No puppet, no puppet.

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: It's pretty clear --

TRUMP: You're the puppet.

ZELENY: And three with Joe Biden.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Would you shut up, man?

ZELENY: Which offer lessons for both sides.

For Harris, it's a marquee moment to show Americans she is ready to assume the presidency, a question very much on the minds of voters in pivotal Bucks County, just outside Philadelphia, where signs of support for all sides are inescapable.

OLD: By nature. I am a Republican, always voted Republican. Not sure this year.

JOHN BILLIE, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER FOR TRUMP: I'm going to go with Trump regardless. I don't know enough about Kamala and big deals with the border and inflation is my main thing.

MARY SUE FRANK, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: My hope is that they're going to tell us what they're going to do, not what the other person has done wrong.

ZELENY: Pennsylvania is at the center of the presidential race with Harris, Trump and their allies spending more than any other battleground, $82 million from Democrats, $74 million from Republicans, as a fight to define them vice president dominates the airwaves.

HARRIS: It's a very different vision than Donald Trump's.

AD NARRATOR: Dangerously liberal. Kamala Harris is no laughing matter.

ZELENY: Harris has spent the last five days in Pittsburgh preparing for the debate.

HARRIS: Look, it's time to turn the page on the divisiveness. It's time to bring our country together. Chart a new way forward.

ZELENY: In a weekend rally in Wisconsin, Trump argued, he is the true candidate of change.

TRUMP: Kamala Harris and the communist left have unleashed a brutal plague of bloodshed crime, chaos, misery, and death upon our land and it's only going to get worse.

ZELENY: That rhetoric raises the question of what tone Trump intends to strike and whether it will be sexist, as he often was against Clinton in 2016. TRUMP: She doesn't have the look. She doesn't have the stamina.

ZELENY: Or seize upon policies of the Biden/Harris administration as he did in June.

TRUMP: We had the safest border in history. Now we have the worst border in history.

ZELENY: Trump has been familiarizing himself with old Harris debates, too.

HARRIS: Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking.

BIDEN: Well --

HARRIS: I'm speaking. If you don't mind letting me finish, we can then have a conversation. Okay?

BIDEN: Please.

HARRIS: Okay.

ZELENY: Those stinging moments from a former prosecutor now trying to make the case that she can turn the page to the presidency.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY (on camera): So just a few hours remaining until that debate tonight for all of those previous examples. Of course, Donald Trump has had six general election debates. Vice President Harris has had only one vice presidential debate. This is a new moment, a new time.

The showdown will take place right behind me here in the National Constitution center certainly history three of this campaign, but also in a larger sense of the country is hanging over this as well, perhaps it's apt that it is here in Philadelphia. There is no doubt there are 55 days until Election Day, tonight could certainly shape the tone for that to come -- Jim.

[15:05:04]

SCIUTTO: Yeah, it's such different debate than when we saw just a couple of months ago between Trump and Biden.

Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much.

So let's look at some of the numbers on how this debate could matter and with whom specifically among voters.

CNN's senior data reporter Harry Enten is here for that.

All right, Harry. So as we saw in June, debates can certainly make an impact, though not all the time. So where are we going into tonight?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yeah. I mean, look, most of the times debates don't have an impact because the bottom line is that the candidates are so far apart in the polls that even a good debate performance by the trailing candidate can't overcome the lead that the leading candidate had before the debate. In fact, if you look back through history which you see is the average candidate who leads at this point going into the first debate, has about a six point advantage on average.

You look at the polls now between Kamala Harris and down Trump, you see it in my average of polls, it's just a two-point race, right? I mean, some averages might have one, somebody have two, but the bottom line is, it is close.

And because the race is so close, any small movement that we have coming out of this debate could make all the difference in the world, which is very much unlike the average year where one candidate usually so far ahead that the debates might make for good television, but ultimately they don't matter in the outcome of the election.

SCIUTTO: This race, like so many recently, likely to be won and lost on the margins. There may not be at this point that many undecided voters left, but they are crucial and some of the polls seem to show that some folks have their minds open, particularly about Harris. So what are the polls telling us about what those voters are thinking right now?

ENTEN: Yeah, you mentioned that those undecided voters. Look, they are a very small portion of the electorate. But when the race is so close, even a small portion of the electorate could make all the difference in the world. And what's so important to note about undecided voters is, look, they've already made up their minds about Donald Trump. They don't like the guy, right? If we can take a look at the recent "New York Times"/Sienna college poll and what we see is that Donald Trumps favorable rating among those undecided voters is just 8 percent.

Now, Kamala Harris's favorable rating isn't much higher at 13 percent, but look at that second column, need to learn more about, look at that a near majority of undecided voters feel that but they need to learn more about Kamala Harris at 48 percent, just 18 percent of undecided voters feel they need to learn more about Donald Trump.

So the real question going into tonight isn't how Donald Trump necessarily does. It's how Kamala Harris does and whether or not you can convince those voters who are already against Trump, but aren't sold on her to be sold on her. And that's what we're just going to have to wait and see what happens.

SCIUTTO: All right. We are well into the land of expectations management, which is traditional, going into typically, they will talk down their own candidate and up the other one, the famous one was Bush's campaign calling Kerry better than Cicero in 2004.

ENTEN: I thought they said that about you.

SCIUTTO: Somewhat obscure historical reference. But what about Harris and Trump? I mean, who's winning the expectations game with voters? ENTEN: Yeah. What a difference from where we were in June, right?

Going into June, most voters thought that Donald Trump was going to win that debate against Joe Biden. They were absolutely right. Of course, but now we go into this debate. Kamala Harris versus Donald Trump. And now in fact, what we see as the plurality of Americans believe that Kamala Harris is going to defeat Donald Trump in this debate, you could see at a six point margin.

So to me, when you put it all together, Mr. Sciutto, there is a lot riding on this debate, particularly for the vice president, because the simply put her positions aren't as well known as Donald Trump, and more voters think that she's going so when this debate than Donald Trump, and the question, question ultimately is, can she meet those expectations? Because if she can, then in my opinion, the sky's the limit. We saw her jump out to a clear advantage going into that DNC. We've seen that advantage shrink somewhat. Can she regained the momentum and tonight is going to be that last -- last best chance because it could be the only debate. And of course, early voting in a lot of these states starts very, very soon.

SCIUTTO: Yeah, should have started one state except for a court challenge.

ENTEN: Exactly.

SCIUTTO: Harry Enten, thanks so much.

ENTEN: Thanks, buddy.

SCIUTTO: Let's talk to our political experts, Meghan Hays, former Biden aid, Democratic strategist, Scott Jennings, CNN senior political commentator, conservative columnist.

Good to have you both on.

I'm going to start somewhere different here. I'm going to ask you to not questions maybe you are expecting. So, Meghan what could Trump do to change your view of him positively tonight, then I'll go to Scott on the other side.

MEGHAN HAYS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm not sure, but there's a lot that can happen there for me, but I do think that if he explained some of his policy explanations that he's made recently about tactic and maybe it gets more specific on the childcare tax, not the word out from last week. And then, you explain some of his mass deportation comments and explain some of his pardoning of January 6 people who participated in that. I think that those could change some people's minds and I think that that could impact people who are undecided, and also, I think if he could make a clearer stance on his reproductive rights. I think that those are things that are independent voters are looking for a more clear, objective there.

[15:10:02]

SCIUTTO: Okay. Scott, so what could Harris do tonight to change your view of her to the positive side? SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Actually, this

advice might apply to both of them, but show an ounce of humility. I think something we don't have enough in our politics is when politicians show a little humility, I think there are people would say, you know what, I actually liked that added two for Kamala Harris. How about a little humility about the vote she cast that led to part of the inflationary crisis. How about a little humility on the failures at the border, a little bit of humility.

And this would also serve her to help separate her from Biden, which he has to do at some point to say, look, we made some mistakes, some things we did that didn't work, but this is called experience. You learn from it. And then you make better decisions in the future.

It's humility and it's showing that, hey, I'm not a perfect person, but I am able to learn from mistakes that something like that would actually be one of the most refreshing things we can see on television cam -- television set tonight. I'm not holding my breath, but if either of them did that, it'd be great.

SCIUTTO: You might not want to hold your breath, yeah. I'll leave that there.

All right. So, Meghan, experience can matter and we should be clear here. Trump has more experience in these kinds of debates. His seventh presidential debate, going back to 2016.

That said, Kamala Harris, long time as a prosecutor, she's done debates as well at different levels. Would you say she goes in and if you could avoid expectations, management, would you say she goes in with an experience deficit here?

HAYS: Look, I think he goes in with an experienced upset because people already know who Donald Trump is and he doesn't have to lay that out. He has to walk this line of calling him out on lies that he's telling also, making sure she is telling her story and who she is, and then also explaining more in depth about her policies.

So, she has a bar that's almost too high to meet here because people already know who Donald Trump is. They know what he believed, then they know what they're going to get with him and what to expect.

So I think that yes, she's an experienced prosecutor and yes, she can come to a debate and have those conversations. But I think that the substance of what she has to convey tonight and the person she needs to portray to these undecided voters, I think the bar is really high for her.

SCIUTTO: There will certainly be a question tonight for Trump, Scott, on abortion, and you've seen him try to give mushy answers to a question which is fundamentally not mushy, right? It's quite clear and does he need to be clearer tonight?

He thinks that he struck a sort of middle ground here by saying, let the states decide. But even on that is opposition for instance, to the Florida - the Florida referendum has muddied those waters. Does he need a clear answer on where he stands tonight?

JENNINGS: Yeah. Clear, concise, and I think it starts with -- look, the die is cast in Washington. The Supreme Court made its decision. Nothing is going to pass the United States Congress. Nobody is signing any national abortion bans because nothing is going to pass the Senate.

So if you care about this issue, the action is in the states and by personal position in my advice to Republicans is something like we need some reasonable limits. I believe in the three exceptions of rape, incest, and life of the mother, just like Ronald Reagan, and oh, by the way, I'm a strong supporter of IVF technology, so much so that I'd like to pay for some of it to help people start families that need that assistance.

If he could concisely lay that out and not get dragged down a rabbit hole on this issue, it would be beneficial to him tonight.

SCIUTTO: So, Meghan, what is Kamala Harris's response if that is the position that Trump takes?

HAYS: I mean, I think you just have to poke holes in it, right? You have to say that you took credit for overturning the Roe v. Wade. You are actively thing that you want to take away peoples freedom. But I also think instead of maybe criticizing him, she should play for some of her plans on the economic side and lay out some of the strategies she has for lowering costs because I think that's really the issue decide the election more so than even immigration or reproductive rights.

Those are great issues for each side to sort of lamb on to and get their base going. But I think that the economy is where it's going to be decided. And if I were her, I'd focus all of my efforts on explaining those issues.

SCIUTTO: Very quickly. Scott, first, and Meghan. Who's going to win tonight?

JENNINGS: Well, Donald Trump has been in six debates. The snap polls and five of them showed him to be the loser. The onetime he did win was earlier in June on our CNN debate when he ran Joe Biden out of the race.

So my anticipation is the snap polls will probably judge Harris to be the victor, but I don't know that it will impact Trump positively or negatively to win or lose the debate because there's -- we all three know his images basically immovable over the last several years.

SCIUTTO: OK. Meghan, your prediction?

HAYS: Yeah, I agree with Scott, but I also think that the American people are the big winners here because they are getting to see these two people and they're getting to see them face off and see their ideas side-by-side. And I think that is important in elections. And I think it's something that's underrated and, you know, in the last decade, it was unfortunate that we did not see that. So I think that that's the big winner here.

SCIUTTO: Look at that. It was a good conversation.

Meghan and Scott, good to have you. We'll have you on tomorrow and see where it all ends up. Thanks so much.

Please remember tune in for special coverage of the ABC News presidential debates simulcast here on CNN. It will air today, Tuesday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern time.

[15:15:02]

We will replay the debate on Wednesday at 2:00 a.m. Eastern, 7:00 a.m. London, again 2:00 p.m. Eastern. That's 7:00 p.m. in London, 10:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi. That's tomorrow.

Still ahead, what we know about an Israeli airstrike on what was meant to be a safe zone in Gaza. It killed dozens. Look at the size of that crater. Israel says it struck Hamas terrorists. Hamas denies its fighters were there at all.

Please do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

Israeli forces have once again struck a dedicated safe zone in Gaza overnight, killing 19 people with many more feared buried under the rubble. The IDF says it was targeting Hamas military units operating a command center embedded inside that humanitarian zone. Two weapons experts told CNN, the visual evidence from the scene of the al Mawasi strikes suggests the IDF used 2,000-pound bombs in the strike and enormous munitions with a huge blast range.

Tens of thousands of people are sheltering in the coastal town following evacuation orders from the IDF. They'd been displaced numerous times in Gaza.

CNN chief global affairs correspondent Matthew Chance is in Israel.

Matthew, you and I've talked about this multiple times. It's not the first time Israeli forces have struck inside a dedicated humanitarian or safe zone. Two months ago, similar attack killed 89 people Israel will say in these circumstances, there were militants inside that group.

Here's a question, because this was described by the IDF as a safe zone. Did it provide any warning for civilians there?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, I mean, the Israeli military statements been issued since this attack took place, doesn't talk about warning the civilians directly before the airstrikes took place.

[15:20:03] It does say the Israeli military took immense care, they say, to focus and target the strikes as surgically as they possibly could. They said they took measures like monitor during the situation from the air to ensure the ones, you know, the actual Hamas militants they were targeting in that location. And they said they did everything they can to mitigate against the killing of civilians in that humanitarian zone when they struck.

But I mean, you mentioned the extent into the damage caused by the enormous munitions that were used meant that in that built-up area, civilian casualties were almost inevitable.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (voice-over): There's rescue workers scrambled for survivors like witnesses say these Israeli strikes targeted what was meant to be a safe zone in the southern Gaza Strip ripping through tents and makeshift shelters, leaving deep craters. Dozens killed and injured.

They told us this area was safe, says this man. I swear the people here would just normal, he says, not fighters.

By daylight, you can see the extent of the destruction. Israel's military says it conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists operating at command and control center inside this humanitarian zone.

An IDF statement says: Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians.

This was a heavily populated area and civilians were caught up in the powerful blast.

This man says his two daughters were completely buried under the sand and leave one survived, he says. He says he found the body parts of his neighbors strewn around.

This 12-year-old girl this nursing a broken shoulder suffered when had tent collapsed, she says, trapping her and her mother inside. I was scared because the strikes were so close, she says.

Israel accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields and insists the Israeli military takes extensive measures to enable civilians in Gaza to avoid combat zones but there's little real security in this brutal war.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (on camera): Jim, the residents of this humanitarian area know full well just out insecure the whole place is. It was just in July when Israel launched other airstrikes, as you mentioned are on this area, too, killing I think it was 90 people according to the Palestinian health officials.

SCIUTTO: So, of course, there's Israeli military action in Gaza. There's now increasing Israeli military action in the West Bank. And last week, Israeli forces shot an American citizen in the head.

While that citizen who is taking part in a protest there. Today, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called her killing, quote, both unprovoked and unjustified and called on the IDF to change its rules of engagement in the West Bank.

I want to have a listen to have comment and get your thoughts on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: No one -- no one should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have to put their life at risk just for freely expressing their views. In our judgment, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Matthew, is there any evidence indication that Israel will heed that call from the U.S. secretary of state?

CHANCE: Well, I think that what were seeing is a definitely a sharp in tone from Antony Blinken and the Biden administration in general, when it comes to criticizing Israel's actions, whether it's in Gaza on this occasion in the West Bank.

The Israeli Defense Force say that they've launched an investigation into the circumstances around the killing of this Turkish American activist who was -- who was shot. But they've said their preliminary findings suggest it was an indirect gunshot and inadvertent. They said the actual target of the gunfire with the organizers of the Palestinian protests that have been throwing stones that Israeli forces and lightning tires and things like that.

And so, the Israeli defense force is trying to put some distance away from the suggestion that it's going to purposely targeted at this Turkish American activist.

SCIUTTO: Yeah, the U.S. still raising questions about the use of live fire in circumstances like this.

The IDF also today showed footage inside the tunnel where those six Israeli hostages were murdered.

[15:25:07]

This was pre-recorded as we understand it. What did we learn from this video as it's released today and why released today?

CHANCE: Well, I mean, the Israeli military had to wait until they showed the hostage families in this video and explain to them what the circumstances were of them finding in the bodies of the six individuals who has now been determined what were killed at the end of August by Hamas militants in those extremely deep tunnels. I mean, the Israeli defense force spokesperson, you can see on camera

climbing down into the tunnel, said it's 20 meters deep and like over 120 meters long. And look how dark and imagine how sort of hot and humid that are down there.

That's the sort of location. It is the actual location where those six hostages, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the American hostages in Gaza, again killed last month happening have been kept for months on end absolutely appalling situation, circumstances that have been held in.

The real horror I think moving forward is that there are still 101 hostages, some of them dead, some of them alive, still being held probably in similar circumstances in Gaza.

SCIUTTO: No apparent near prospect of earning their freedom.

Matthew Chance, thanks so much.

Well, Ukraine launched its largest drone strike on Russian territory overnight. The Kremlin says it and Russian forces destroyed more than 144 Ukrainian drones, 20 of which targeted Moscow. The attack forced three airports in Russia to close and divert dozens of flights.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby says the U.S. is not enabling or encouraging Ukrainian forces to strike on Russian territory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY SPOKESMAN: Nothing's changed about our view. We're not enabling or encouraging attacks inside Russia, certainly not with U.S.-made weapons. That's still our policy and our approach. But what we are trying to do is make sure that they have what they need to defend themselves, certainly within their own territory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Kyiv.

I mean, listening to Kirby's words there, I mean, the fact is Ukrainian officials say repeatedly they don't have what they need to defend Ukrainian skies, that they're constantly asking for more missile defense, et cetera.

I mean, has there been any response to those demands? Recent response?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It doesn't seem as though there'd been very much in the way of the response, but I think one of the things that the Ukrainians are trying to do is they are trying to build up a bigger fleet of strike drones over their own, at least be able to fight back and punch back against the Russians with this aerial campaign that's been going on.

And it's obviously very important question that you asked him because it is really goes to the heart of what the Ukrainians have been saying for a very long time, that the Russians have drastically escalated their own aerial campaign against Ukrainian cities, against Ukrainian critical infrastructure. Of course, also against Ukrainian military installations as well.

And for the Ukrainians, they are able to fend off some of those weapons with the missile defense systems that they've gotten. But, of course, that's something that's very expensive that they don't have enough of, that they need more of.

Essentially what the Ukrainians have been saying is that they need longer distance strike capabilities. And of course, the lifting of some of those restrictions that John Kirby was just talking about there to be able to strike deep into Russian territory, to hit some of the airfields that Russian planes are taking off from. Of course, glide bombs have become a real issue for the Ukrainians, but then also to strike back and to make sure that there's higher costs for the Russians, for attacking Ukrainian cities and tracking Ukrainian infrastructure and certainly drone attacks like the ones that we've seen overnight do show that the Ukrainians now have a substantial long distance strike force of unmanned aerial vehicles that they are willing to use.

This is, by the way, already the second large scale strikes that the Ukrainians have launched against Russian territory in the course of about eight days. And it does show that they'd have some pretty good capabilities as far as going deep into Russian territory, being able to reach the Russian capital Moscow, which is very far away from any Ukrainian controlled territory. But also even further than that, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. I mean, it shows weaknesses in Russia's own air defenses. As we know, added to the mix now, Iran on is going to be supplying ballistic missiles to Russia.

Blinken said there will be new sanctions as a result of that, but does Ukraine -- is it preparing to defend against these missiles? Can it do so?

PLEITGEN: Well, I think they certainly are, and I think to a certain extent they believe it's very difficult to defend against those missiles. One of the things that Ukrainians have said for a very long time.

[15:30:01]

And that is general knowledge is that it's very difficult to defend against ballistic missiles. They're very difficult to fend off for any air defense system. The U.S. made patriot is one of the few you air defense system that is capable in some cases of intercepting ballistic missiles.

Of course, the main one that the Russians usually uses, the Iskander, which has a very heavy warhead and does a lot of damage. And one of the things that Secretary of State Blinken himself said is that he believes that when the Iranian weapons that have come in, the Iranians, of course, have not confirmed that they've given any ballistic missiles to Russia, but the U.S. says that they've done that, that when they start hitting the battlefield, that the Russians not only are going to hit targets, that are at a fairly short distance, about 70, 80 miles away, but also going to be able to use the longer distance weapons like the Iskanders that they have for other targets, making it even more difficult for the Ukrainians defend all that off to try and defend against those strikes.

So, certainly, a big boost for the Russians and the U.S. also believes that it's also technology transfer that the Russians might get, and then other technologies that they might give to the Iranians, you know, that military technical cooperation between Iran and Russia also increasing dramatically.

SCIUTTO: There's always a quid pro quo with Russia, with North Korea for the weapons it's supplied.

Fred Pleitgen, thanks so much.

After the break, the newly released body camera video, and it's shocking to watch of the traffic stop involving the Miami Dolphins player Tyreek Hill getting thrown to the ground as you could see here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: We're getting new details about the police encounter that saw police throwing NFL star Tyreek Hill to the ground, putting him in handcuffs.

[15:35:03]

Newly -- newly released body camera video shows what led up to that moment. It shows police arguing with Hill over the fact that he had raised his car window after giving officers whose license police then dragged him out of the car by his head forced him to the ground.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

SCIUTTO: I mean, that's just difficult to watch.

Joining us now from Miami is CNN's Carlos Suarez.

So, Carlos, as I understand it one officer is on administrative duties. That's not leave, I guess he's in the office now.

Have Miami police acknowledged any excessive use of force in this encounter or are they saying from their point of view, it was all justified?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, all we know from the Miami-Dade Police Department is that what happens next really could be determined, Jim, by what this internal affairs investigation ends up finding out about whether excessive force was used by some of these officers. The Miami-Dade Police Department, they released in nearly two hours of body camera video showing this encounter between officers and Hill near the players entrance at Hard Rock Stadium where the Miami Dolphins play. Now a second Dolphins player who stopped to see what was going on. He

was also detained and later let go. The police union rep out here in South Florida said that Hill really was only detained because in their words, he was not cooperative. And that Hill was allowed to leave after he was issued two traffic tickets.

Here now is Hill on how things could have ended very differently for him if not for his celebrity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYREEK HILL, MIAMI DOLPHINS WIDE RECEIVER: The reality of it is, it's the truth. If I wasn't Tyreek Hill, worst-case scenario, we would have had a different article. You know, Tyreek Hill, you know, got shot in front of Hard Rock Stadium. It's crazy that, you know, I -- you know, me and my family had to go through this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUAREZ: All right, so the Miami Dolphins who pay for off-duty Miami- Dade police officers to provide security at the stadium, well, they are backing Hill. In a statement, the team said in part, quote: While we commend the Miami-Dade Police Department for taking the right and necessary action to quickly release this footage, we also urge them to equally -- to take equally swift and strong action against the officers who engaged in such in their words, despicable behavior.

Hill said that the whole thing, Jim, has left him shocked and embarrassed but it does seem that the Miami-Dade Police Department is trying to get ahead of things. They've already put out this body camera video. They've already placed that one officer on administrative duties. And so we could expect some sort of action this quickest that this internal affairs investigation can take place and be wrapped up -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: I mean, the question is, if ultimately citations for speeding were all that was issued, it was released, what was the justification for the use of force? That's the question.

Carlos Suarez, thanks so much.

Well, authorities have issued mandatory evacuation orders across the coast of Louisiana, other parts of the Gulf Coast as tropical storm Francine is expected to strengthen into a hurricane later today. The storm is expected to make landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday. Experts predict upwards of 12 inches of rain across most of Louisiana and Mississippi by Friday. Multiple storms, storm surge warnings, hurricane warnings as well issued across the Gulf Coast.

CNN meteorologist Elisa Raffa is tracking all this for us.

Is this a big one?

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We're still watching it strength in here in the water. We could definitely see some big rainfall totals and some of the storm surge impacts as well. We've had some of the outer bands kind of lashing the Gulf Coast here all day. Some of that heavy rain along the Texas coastline, you can see all of that rain getting into New Orleans right now.

Still got an eye that's organizing itself a little bit better, 65 mile per hour winds still sitting south and west, there of Morgan City, Louisiana. We have hurricane warnings in effect right now along the Louisiana coast. We are looking at possibly a category one landfall may be a category two, and that will bring some intense winds and these winds keep creeping eastward towards New Orleans.

So you could see we already start with the wind gusts getting over 30 miles per hour in some spots as we go into tomorrow morning, all the rain bands coming in, as that eyewall comes on shore, we're looking at gusts up to 94 miles per hour possibly, even greater than that, even in New Orleans. Again, you're looking at some 60-mile-per-hour gusts there.

Look at the wind again, up to 110 miles per hour where that eye wall could hit the central Louisiana coastline. And then you take those tropical-storm-force winds inland. When it comes to the storm surge, that push of the ocean water inland five to ten feet. The footprint of rain could be up to 12 inches -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Elisa Raffa, thanks so much.

Coming up, a bold and risky mission in space. What to expect from the journey of SpaceX's Polaris Dawn.

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SCIUTTO: Four astronauts are newly in space and could find themselves in the record books.

SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission is underway after launch this morning in Florida.

[15:45:02]

During the five-day mission, the civilian crew plans to conduct the first privately funded spacewalk.

Joining me now is former NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao.

Leroy, I want to begin. It's -- listen, spacewalks are among the most difficult, most dangerous things to do in space. That's typically been a NASA job. Now you've got the first private company doing so. Nervous?

LEROY CHIAO, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: I do have to admit, it raised my eyebrows a bit and the first time I heard that we're going to have a non-professional crew, if you will, go out and not only do a spacewalk, but it also do one in new suits that have never been tested in the actual environment before and also having to depressurize the whole cabinet of the spacecraft in order to do that, because there is no separate airlock. And -- but, you know, after I considered it a little bit, I do know

several senior folks, at SpaceX, I know that they're -- take safety very seriously. They're technically excellent. And so I have confidence that it's going to go okay. But it's still, as you say, it's risky to put a suit on and go outside and even more so with a brand new one while your crewmates, fellow crewmates are in a deep pressurized capsule.

SCIUTTO: Yes. So that's a lot of firsts, as you listen there, not just the first privately funded crew, but new suit as were seeing there, and new method to basically turn the whole capsule as it were into the airlock?

CHIAO: Right, and basically, you know, of course, we did this in their early days in the Gemini program and also an Apollo when we had a few EVAs after we were coming back from the moon to retrieve packages left outside of the command service module to bring in the cabin before entry.

But, yeah, it's kind of, you know, going back a little bit in that we don't have a separate airlock for this vehicle because it was not originally designed to do EVA out of.

SCIUTTO: Now, as you know, and you've been through it, NASA has a rigorous selection and training process. I mean, it's like the gold standard, right? You want to be an astronaut? I don't want to be an astronaut, but I know -- I'm not like you.

So how is, how is SpaceX's training and selection process? How does it compare to NASA's?

CHIAO: Right. So, you know, of course, NASA has been doing this for a long time, and there's a rigorous selection, not just for getting to become an astronaut candidates and you have to go through the training, and then to be selected to do spacewalks are what we call EVA, extra vehicular activity. You have to show an aptitude for it during the training and then be able to take handle that extra responsibility, if you will, going outside and performing work, you've got to be physically fit. You're out there for 6.5 hours, typically on a NASA EVA.

This is going to be a relatively short EVA. These folks, two of them are going to go outside and they're going to move around a little bit on handholds and then basically evaluate the performance of the suits. So as EVAs go, this is a very simple one.

But, you know, you're right, this was not -- these people didn't go through a selection per say, is as the NASA astronauts do and basically Jared Isaacson as, you know, he's very a young man with a lot of resources. So he's able to fund this kind of thing and then select who wants to go with him?

But they've, you know, I think I think we can rest assured that SpaceX has put them through the training, and I'm sure they've consulted with some NASA folks to make sure that they're going to cover everything. And I think it'll go okay because it's going to be relatively simple. SCIUTTO: All right. We'll be watching. Leroy Chiao, thanks so much,

as always.

CHIAO: My pleasure. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Coming up next, with the first meeting of Vice President Harris and former President Trump, just hours away. How previous U.S. presidential debate shape the final stretches of the campaign cycles that followed.

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[15:50:34]

SCIUTTO: Recapping our top story, it is debate night in America, and we have new video showing you what ABC debate stage is going to look like in Philadelphia. There it is. That's where Harris and Trump face off in their first presidential debate first time. They've ever met, actually.

So the rules for tonight's matchup: no audience, candidates' microphones will be muted when it is not their turn to speak. That was a point of contention for the Harris campaign. And they will not be allowed to have notes on stage. So how's it all going to play out?

Joining me now to break it down is Alan Schroeder, author of "Presidential Debates: 40 Years of High Risk TV".

Thanks so much for being here. Look forward to getting your thoughts on this.

And listen, debates have been a big deal in presidential cycles. I know that there were times when they don't move the needle much, but there are certainly times and they made a difference and we only have to look back to June, certainly made a difference for Joe Biden's campaign.

So tell us about tonight, particularly one that's their first meeting and so close to the election. What does history tell us?

ALAN SCHROEDER, AUTHOR, "PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES": And potentially the only debate between the two which is kind of unusual.

SCIUTTO: Yeah.

SCHROEDER: Well, you know, I think Kamala Harris is in a similar position to John F. Kennedy back before the original first debate in 1960, when that debate really gave people what permission structure to accept him as president. He was the lesser known candidate. He had. He was going up against a sitting vice president.

And I think you've sort of flip through the pages of history here, Reagan in 1980, similar situation, Bill Clinton in '92 and Barack Obama in 2008. All of them were not that well known yet to the general public and had to come across as someone who could actually do the job. That's her challenge, I think tonight. SCIUTTO: Well, it's easily all the ones you noted there. They went on to win right? I mean in effect that they took that opportunity and it made a difference. I suppose one could argue despite they're quite strong opinions about Trumps performance in 2016, he did go on to win that election as well, introducing himself to some, although he was better known certainly at that point, but introducing himself to some voters there does that tell you as a historian that more often than not candidates in this position tend to do okay?

SCHROEDER: Well, no, I think it's a very individual process. You know, some people are just good at this and others not so good. But I think even the ones who maybe don't have the natural talent for it, if they go into it with the right, sort of, you know, training and the right attitude, and if they show that they're actually eager to be there and talk to the American people. I think that's what tends to work.

SCIUTTO: One difference from this moment to pass moments right? Is that over time, the electorate has gotten so much more divided and firmly divided that it seems that every year, there's a shrinking number of undecided are persuadable voters. Does that change from a historical perspective, how much it debate might be able to change things? Or does it actually raise the stakes because there are fewer voters to change their minds and maybe a debate can do that?

SCHROEDER: Yeah, I think it probably does raise the stakes. It certainly challenges the candidates to think about who that audience is, you know, to think about the undecideds, the persuadables, and really target those folks, you know? Because your own supporters are going to stick with you no matter what although you could also use debates to mobilize your voters, get to make sure they do get out and vote for you.

But certainly the focus here is on those that little sliver of 5 percent or whatever that are still out to be persuaded.

SCIUTTO: Final question, from a historical perspective, are candidates more likely to help or hurt their chances? Right? I mean, have debates proven to be more decisive in one direction or the other, or is it a mixed bag?

SCHROEDER: I think it's a mixed bag. I mean, I think you can safely say that it's easier to lose it of eighth than it is to win a debate. But there are very few instances like what we saw back in June with Joe Biden, where a debate literally destroys a candidacy. But nonetheless, it's live TV, anything can happen in these very risky, very dangerous moments for even these practiced candidates.

[15:55:06]

SCIUTTO: Yeah, a lot of eyeballs, too.

Alan Schroeder, thanks so much for joining.

SCHROEDER: Thank you. SCIUTTO: And before we go, one more reminder, please do tune in for special coverage of the ABC News presidential debates simulcast here on CNN, airs Tuesday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time tonight. We will replay it Wednesday, 2:00 a.m. Eastern 7:00 a.m. London, again, 2:00 p.m. eastern on Wednesday, 7:00 p.m. in London, 10:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi.

Thanks so much for joining me today. I'm Jim Sciutto.

"QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up next.