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Harris, Trump Clash Over Key Issues In Fiery Debate; U.N. Condemns Israeli Strike On Gaza Safe Zone As 19 Killed; Protesters Storm Mexico's Senate, Pausing Judicial Reform Debate; IDF Airstrike Kills Senior Hezbollah Commander In Lebanon; IDF Shows Tunnel where 6 Slain Hostages Were Held; Hardest Part to Come for Historic Civilian SpaceX Mission; Protesters Rally in Spain in Support of Edmundo Gonzalez; Francine Now Cat 1 Hurricane, Landfall Expected in Louisiana; Wildfires in California, Nevada Force Thousands to Flee. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired September 11, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:40]
ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. Welcome to all our viewers around the world. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. Ahead on CNN Newsroom, a dramatic showdown between U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on the debate stage. We'll have the highlights as our experts weigh in on how they performed.
The war in Ukraine was also a hot topic. We'll break down what both presidential candidates had to say, and the United Nations is expressing outrage over Israeli airstrikes on a humanitarian zone in Gaza.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Hong Kong. This is CNN Newsroom with Anna Coren.
COREN: The first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is now in the books, and the Harris campaign is apparently so pleased with her performance, it's calling for a second debate next month.
Well, the Vice President surprised her Republican rival by walking over to shake his hand at the outset. Harris repeatedly baited Trump on issues like crowd size, the January 6 insurrection and world leaders laughing at him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people. So let's be clear about that, and clearly he is having a very difficult time processing that. I have traveled the world as vice president of United States and world leaders are laughing at Donald Trump. I have talked with military leaders, some of whom worked with you, and they say you're a disgrace.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Let me just say about world leaders, Victor Orban, one of the most respected men. They call him a strong man. He's a tough person, smart, Prime Minister of Hungary. They said, why is the whole world blowing up? Three years ago it wasn't. Why is it blowing up? He said, because you need Trump back as president. They were afraid of him. China was afraid. And I don't like to use the word afraid, but I'm just quoting him. China was afraid of him. North Korea was afraid of him. He said the most respected, most feared person is Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: CNN instant poll of debate watches shows 63 percent think Kamala Harris won, compared to 37 percent for Trump. Well, Harris insisted she would move the country forward, while Trump would wallow in the grievances of the past.
Trump, for his part, tried to score points on the economy and immigration, but he made some outrageous claims in the process.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: What they have done to our country by allowing these millions and millions of people to come into our country and look at what's happening to the towns all over the United States. In Springfield, they're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what's happening in our country, and it's a shame.
HARRIS: Talk about extreme. His former chief of staff of four star general has said he is contempt for the Constitution of the United States. His former national security adviser has said he is dangerous and unfit. His former Secretary of Defense has said, the nation, the Republic, would never survive another Trump term. And when we listen to this kind of rhetoric, when the issues that affect the American people are not being addressed, I think the choice is clear in this election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: The choice is certainly clear for probably the biggest celebrity in the world, pop star Taylor Swift says she will vote for Kamala Harris. In a post on Instagram shortly after the debate ended, Swift said Harris fights for the causes she believes in, including LGBTQ plus rights and a woman's right to her own body. Swift also blasted Trump for reposting AI images of her falsely endorsing him. She signed the post. Taylor Swift, childless cat lady.
Joining me now, Democratic strategist Caroline Heldman and co-founder of the Lincoln Project, Mike Madrid who will be joining us a little bit later.
[01:05:00]
Caroline, I want to obviously discuss Taylor Swift's endorsement in a moment. But firstly, I mean, Democrats must be thrilled with Harris's performance tonight. CAROLINE HELDMAN, PROFESSOR, CRITICAL THEORY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: Yes,
she showed up. She did what she needed to do. You can put a check next to every major thing she needed to do. The first was to be presidential, she strode across the stage, she shook Donald Trump's hand. It was a power move. She was confident and poised throughout.
She also, you know, according to a recent poll, 28 percent of Americans, likely voters needed to know more about her, and she provided that. She also did a great job of kind of framing herself as middle class and then going into, for example, some of the specifics on $50,000 tax breaks for small businesses, childcare subsidies. But she didn't bore anyone with policy details, which sometimes candidates are known to do.
So yes, I think she delivered. And I think Donald Trump delivered up until the point where he kind of lost it around crowd size, and then he was puddle blown the rest of his money.
COREN: yes, Mike, tell me, how did you rate Trump's performance, and did he miss, you know, valuable opportunities?
MIKE MADRID, CO-FOUNDER, THE LINCOLN PROJECT: Yes, I don't think there's any question. I mean, I think this was a devastating debate for Donald Trump. I don't think anybody was surprised by his inability and his incapacity to actually deliver on policy. It's usually the style where he tries to score some points.
But this was an old tired, as she said more than half a dozen times. This was an old tired performance from a feeble old man who suffered from mental decline. That was apparent, and I think the contrast could not have been more stark. And I think it was an extraordinary vision for the American people to see stunning in its contrast. And I think that Kamala Harris, like most of the flashholders showing, overwhelmingly won this debate.
COREN: Caroline, what were the standout moments for you? And did Kamala Harris really fill in the blanks for voters who, up until now, feel that they don't know enough about her and her policies?
HELDMAN: Well, she certainly could have had more time on policies, but I think she did a decent job providing the specifics. I'll say the standout moments for me were these self-inflicted wounds for Donald Trump and he really if he had done well in this debate, I would absolutely say he did. He just didn't, he didn't prepare. It's almost as though he didn't think that maybe that he needed to.
But his comments about, you know, cats and dogs being stolen and eaten by immigrants was so wild and zany. And, you know, Kamala Harris didn't even have to call him weird. He was being weird on stage. And also he couldn't, you know, address whether or not he would pass a national abortion ban. And she really hammered him on that, and he refused to answer it. And so I think that'll stick out for anyone for whom that is an issue. Donald Trump lost them on that stage tonight.
COREN: Mike, Harris looked like she was in control from the very beginning, the get go, and she walked across and shook Trump's hand. She was authoritative, but she also seemed to be enjoying herself. You know, she was smiling and laughing at some of Trump's remarks. Trump, on the other hand, he was scowling. He looked angry for the majority of the time. How will that play with voters?
MADRID: Well, speaking to Kamala Harris, the Vice President, I think it's really important that people understand just how tall of a task she had to accomplish tonight. And again, did it masterfully. She needed to be not only presidential. She needed to be somewhat endearing. She needed to meet people where they were. There's a wide swath of voters that historically this late in the race, felt that they were undecided or did not know who she was.
She had to introduce herself. She had to be presidential. She had to be reasonable. She had to be aggressive, appropriately aggressive. She also had to be defensive. She had to do all of this stuff while also being a very non-traditional candidate in the eyes of American voters, and she did it masterfully. It was just a remarkable political performance.
Now, she was also aided and assisted by her opponent. I mean, Donald Trump did a very good job of continually lowering the bar, but I don't want to take anything away from the vice president. She did a really good job, and he did come off, as I mentioned, there's a Trump fatigue that is setting in with the voters on especially independent voters, where she did remarkably well tonight. And I think that we're going to see this reflected in the polls.
And we're getting so late in the cycle now that a lot of this opinion is being, you know, dried into cement now, and the few undecided, few swing voters that exist, I think, are probably going to be breaking decidedly towards Kamala Harris after tonight.
COREN: Caroline, Kamala Harris has come out of the debate saying it was a great day, but she still maintains she is the underdog. Obviously, she's going to have a lot of momentum going forward, but clearly those words are designed to motivate the electorate.
[01:10:04]
HELDMAN: I think that the Democratic Party learned a lot from 2016 in this era of inevitability with Hillary Clinton. She should absolutely continue to use that frame, even if it weren't true. But it is true the -- you look at the polling all seven swing states. It's within the margin of error in our weird Electoral College system here in the U.S., but also in national polls. She is neck and neck with Donald Trump, so this is going to be one of the closest races in history.
It'll look maybe as close as a 2000 race, and so she needs to hammer if she's smart about this, this idea that people need to go to the polls, turnout matters an awful lot in this election.
COREN: Mike, Donald Trump, he continued to take the bait. It was like she was continuously egging him on. And when Harris spoke of the foreign and military leaders who she said, called him a disgrace, Trump turned around and named Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban as his supporter. It felt like in that moment he was very isolated, certainly on the global stage. Would you agree with that?
MADRID: Well, there's no question. And I don't think that Victor Orban is probably the person you want to hold up as, you know, your best testimonial, your third party validator should not be Victor Orban, but I think that escapes him.
Look this again, was a masterclass in Kamala Harrison's ability to bait Donald Trump. But as we proved with the Lincoln Project in 2020, Donald Trump is not capable of not taking the baits. And the key is, not only can you set the trap for him, but can you execute it when he when he does start going down that road. And she did it in so many ways. Again, she used the terms old and dated six times.
She really got it when she started talking about his rallies like that's the most important thing to him, not foreign policy, not domestic policy, it's the size of the rallies that he's got, and there's just so many things. When you speak to his ego, it is so fragile that he's not able to respond normally.
And I think people are the more they're reminded of why they rejected him in 2020 the more we're going to start seeing that vote solidifying in the opposite direction. So as masterful, again, as Kamala Harris's performance was she was absolutely aided by the fact that Donald Trump, his normal mental decline has been accelerated clearly by age. She alluded to that more than subtly. She also provided a very passionate defense about the issues that she believes in.
And I think we're going to see a historic gender gap this election cycle that will all come down to which base is the most motivated, where her base is by double digits, polling far more enthusiastic about their candidate. And I think that this debate probably widened that gap even more.
COREN: Well, as we say that CNN instant poll shows that she won the debate 63 to 37 we'll see how this translates in further polling. But Caroline Heldman and Mike Madrid, great to get your insights. Thanks so much for joining us.
HELDMAN: Thank you.
MADRID: Thank you.
COREN: Well, let's get reaction now to some of the international topics that Trump and Harris discussed during the debate. Our Paula Hancocks is in Abu Dhabi and Kristie Lu Stout t here in Hong Kong.
Paula, let's start with you. During the debate, Donald Trump made a startling accusation to Kamala Harris about Israel. Let's take a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: She hates Israel. She wouldn't even meet with Netanyahu when he went to Congress to make a very important speech. She refused to be there because she was at a sorority party of hers. She wanted to go to the sorority party. She hates Israel. If she's president, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Paula, help us fact check that. What does Harris say about her Israel policy?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, another first fact check, the Vice President did actually meet with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu when he went to the U.S., but she didn't attend his speech to Congress.
So first of all, what we heard from the Vice President, it was very similar, a consistent message with what we have heard over recent weeks. She said she went over the horrors of Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel, and said that Israel has the right to self-defense, saying, quote, we would. She then went on to say that it matters how they go about that, saying that too many innocent Palestinian civilians have been killed. She then said that the way to get a ceasefire in Gaza is through this ceasefire hostage deal.
So there's very little light between her and the US President, Joe Biden. But those within the Biden administration have had to admit recently that that deal appears to be further away than previously hoped for.
[01:15:03]
She also then said that they must chart the course for a two-state solution. So this is the policy that she has stated throughout. It's also the policy that the U.S. president has.
Now when it comes to Donald Trump, the former president, we don't know if you are just listening to this debate, what his policy would be for a ceasefire in Gaza, because what he did is he went on the attack saying that she hates Israel. Israel wouldn't exist, even pointing out that she hates the Arab population.
Now the microphones were muted. But you could see Kamala Harris saying, oh, come on, you could lip read her saying that. And then when she was allowed to speak afterwards, she defended the fact that throughout her career, she has been supporting Israel.
The former president gave no evidence for those attacks. Anna.
COREN: Her facial expression certainly said a lot. Kristie, China obviously came up a number of times throughout the debate. Talk us through the clashes both Trump and Harris had over China.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Anna the two candidates, they sparred over a variety of topics, including China with Kamala Harris criticizing her political rival Donald Trump for failing to protect U.S. interests from China and for praising the Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Within 15 minutes of this live presidential debate, Kamala Harris went after Donald Trump and accused him of selling us out to China. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Under Donald Trump's presidency, he ended up selling American chips to China to help them improve and modernize their military. Basically sold us out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: OK, let's fact check this. Donald Trump did launch the tech and trade war with China during his presidency. Donald Trump banned China's top chip maker SMIC from accessing U.S. technology, and before that, his administration put dozens of Chinese tech companies, including DJI and Huawei, onto an Entity List, effectively cutting them off from us suppliers as well as us technology.
Look, what's happening here is slamming China has become an exercise in bipartisan unity, so you got both sides trying to prove that they're the ones who are tough on China, the world's second largest economy.
Now, Donald Trump may have launched the trade war with China, but he has heaped huge amounts of praise on Chinese leader Xi Jinping. You may recall that red carpet welcome he received when he visited Beijing a few years ago. He called Xi Jinping the king of China. He praised the fact that Xi Jinping is present for life in the way that he consolidated power. And this was an issue that Kamala Harris brought up. She slammed his affinity for Xi. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Let's talk about this with COVID. Is he actually thanked President Xi for what he did during COVID? Look at his tweet. Thank you, President Xi, exclamation point, when we know that she was responsible for lacking and not giving us transparency about the origins of COVID.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: OK, this is true. In fact, in the early weeks of the pandemic, Donald Trump wrote this in a tweet. Let's bring it up for you. Quote, China has been working very hard to contain the coronavirus. The U.S. greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well, in particular, on behalf of the American people, I want to thank President Xi, unquote.
The debate has been a powerful platform for both candidates to put forward their policies, especially for Kamala Harris, who only recently stepped forward as a Democratic candidate. Back to you, Anna.
COREN: Kristie Lu Stout here in Hong Kong and Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi, we thank you both.
LU STOUT: You got it.
COREN: A quick programming note for you. If you miss any part of the debate, we will replay it at the top of the hour, that's 7:00 a.m. in London, and again at 2:00 p.m. eastern on Wednesday, that's 7:00 p.m. in London, 10:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi.
In Mexico, debate on a controversial reform plan to change the way judges are selected was put on hold after protesters banged on the doors of the Senate chamber as lawmakers were meeting.
Lawmakers were forced to evacuate as protesters broke down the doors and pushed their way into the upper houses session hall.
If it approved the judicial reform plan would allow Mexicans to elect judges by popular vote at all levels, instead of being nominated by the President or selected by a judicial commission. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says the overhaul is necessary to end judicial corruption, but critics say it could undermine Mexico's democracy and the investment community.
[01:20:00]
The U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy are expected to visit Kyiv today. Blinken says they'll be listening intently to their Ukrainian partners about using Western long range weapons to strike military targets inside Russia. Ukraine has been urging Western allies to lift their restrictions on donated weapons systems to more effectively target the heart of Russia's war machine.
Blinken says he expects the topic to come up when President Biden meets with the British prime minister in Washington on Friday. Mr. Biden was asked about it at the White House on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you leave restrictions on the use of long range weapons by Ukraine?
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: We're working that out right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Meanwhile, the U.S. is imposing new sanctions on Iran's main airline after Tehran transferred a supply of ballistic missiles to Moscow. Secretary Blinken called it a dramatic escalation in Russia's war on Ukraine. The U.K., France and Germany also condemned the transfer as a direct threat to European security.
Iran has already given Russia hundreds of drones to use on the battlefield, and is helping Moscow build a drone manufacturing facility. And the U.S. says the new missile delivery will allow Russia to extend its deadly reach inside Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Dozens of Russian military personnel have been trained in Iran to use the Fatah 360 close range ballistic missile system, which has a maximum range of 75 miles. Russia has now received shipments of these ballistic missiles, and will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine, against Ukrainians. Russia has an array of its own ballistic missiles, but the supply of
Iranian missiles enables Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets that are further from the front line, while dedicating the new missiles it's receiving from Iran for closer range targets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Blinken also warns that Russia will be providing Iran with nuclear information in exchange for the missiles, in his words, sowing even greater insecurity around the world.
Well still to come, the U.N. has strong words for Israel following a deadly Israeli strike on a humanitarian zone in Gaza. We'll have those details ahead.
And later, after a successful launch, the hard work begins for the crew of Polaris Dawn mission. Have the latest on what they hope to accomplish.
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VAUSE: Israeli forces have killed a senior Hezbollah commander in an airstrike on a village in Lebanon. Hezbollah has confirmed the death of Mohammad Qassem al Sha'a, and responded to Tuesday's strike by launching dozens of rockets and drones toward two locations in northern Israel this.
[01:25:00]
This comes weeks after Israel said it had killed Hezbollah's most senior military official in a drone strike in southern Beirut.
The United Nations is condemning an Israeli air strike on a designated safe zone for displaced people in southern Gaza, which killed and injured dozens of people. A U.N. spokesperson says the Secretary General strongly condemns Tuesday's Israeli airstrikes in a densely populated Israeli designated zone in Khan Younis, and the killing of civilians, including women and children. The use of heavy weapons in densely populated areas is unconscionable.
Well, Gaza officials say at least 19 people were killed and 60 others injured in the strike. The IDF says it was targeting a number of senior Hamas terrorists in the area.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID MENCER, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON: Following IDF intelligence, the Israeli Air Force conducted a precise strike on senior Hamas terrorists. Now these terrorists were operating within a command and control center embedded inside the humanitarian area in Khan Younis.All three were targeted, and all three were hit during this operation.
The government can confirm these terrorists were directly involved, directly involved in the October 7 massacre, not indirectly connected. They were directly involved. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Gaza officials say many of the victims were buried under sand and debris, making recovery operations difficult for emergency crews. CNN's Matthew Chance has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As rescue workers scrambled for survivors, eyewitnesses say the 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 and dozens have killed and injured.
They told us this area was safe, says this man, I swear the people here were 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 a 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 blasts. This man says his two daughters were completely buried under the sand. Only one survived, he says. He says he found the body parts of his neighbors strewn around.
This 12-year-old girl is nursing a broken shoulder suffered when her 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. Matthew Chance CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: The U.N. says the Israeli military detained one of its convoys involved in polio vaccinations for several hours. The U.N. Secretary General's spokesperson says Israeli soldiers demanded to take two of its 12 passengers for questioning, and they pointed their weapons at U.N. personnel, and shots were fired during the incident.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANE DJUARRIC, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL'S SPOKESPERSON: This incident and the conduct of Israeli forces on the ground put the lives of our staff in danger. It is critical that Israeli forces take measures to protect humanitarian staff and assets and to facilitate their work. This is what international humanitarian law requires.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: The convoy was later released. The IDF says it had intelligence that a number of Palestinian suspects were present in the convoy. They also claim the convoy was not involved in the transport of polio vaccines into Gaza. The U.N. has denied the allegation.
The IDF is giving the world a glimpse inside the tunnels where they say six hostages were held and then murdered by Hamas. An IDF spokesperson showed a pre-recorded video Tuesday of himself exploring the tunnel where the bodies of six hostages were retrieved by Israeli forces.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESPERSON: The tunnel shaft was in a children's room in a house. Those are the walls of this children room. We are gathering all the stuff here for forensics, for intelligence. We can see magazines, an AK 47 magazine chargers, all by the -- used by the terrorists, Quran books, a hairbrush, but they were here in this tunnel, in horrific conditions where there is no air to breathe, where you cannot stand and they survived. But they were murdered by terrorists.
[01:29:39]
And there are still hostages, 101 -- some of them are alive in the same conditions in tunnels like this in Gaza. And we need to do everything we can in all means. In all the means we can to bring them back home alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: The IDF says its forces did not get the intelligence needed to launch a rescue mission for the hostages, and Hamas murdered them shortly before the IDF was able to pinpoint their location.
Well, still to come, more coverage of the contentious presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Key moments from their first meeting, next.
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COREN: Welcome back.
Well, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is challenging Donald Trump to a second debate just moments after their first meeting on Tuesday night. Former President Trump was noncommittal when asked if he'd agree to another debate.
CNN's Julia Benbrook has some of the highlights from their first face off.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A highly-anticipated moment.
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Kamala Harris. Let's have the debate.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Good to see you. Have fun.
HARRIS: Thank you.
BENBROOK: Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris meeting on the debate stage. It was an evening full of tense back and forth as the two strived to present themselves as the best option for voters taking on topics like border security.
TRUMP: Why are we allowing these millions of people to come through on the southern border?
HARRIS: He'd prefer to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.
BENBROOK: Abortion rights.
TRUMP: They've been trying to get Roe v Wade into the states. And through the genius and heart and strength of six Supreme Court justices we were able to do that --
HARRIS: In over 20 states, there are Trump abortion bans which make it criminal for a doctor or nurse to provide health care. In one state, it provides prison for life.
BENBROOK: And the economy, the top issue for voters right now.
[01:34:50]
HARRIS: I am actually the only person on this stage who has a plan that is about lifting up the middle class and working people of America. I believe in the ambitions, the aspirations, the dreams of the American people.
TRUMP: We're doing tariffs on other countries. Other countries are going to finally after 75 years, pay us back for all that we've done for the world.
BENBROOK: Reporting in Philadelphia, I'm Julia Benbrook.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Joining us now from Washington is Ron Brownstein. He's a CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic".
Ron, great to see you. I think it's fair to say that Kamala Harris certainly rose to the occasion. She spoke to the American public and seemed to put Donald Trump in his place.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, that was about as strong a debate performance as I think I've ever witnessed. And I've watched them since 1976 and written about them since 1980.
Really, the only way that could have gone better for Harris and the Democrats would have been if it happened on October 20th and not September 10th. If this is the last debate, it is by far the earliest last debate we would have had in the -- in the period since we -- since they became part of our presidential campaigns. And obviously there's a lot of time for things to happen. But that was everything Democrats could have possibly hoped for. And maybe exactly what they did hope for when they pressured Joe Biden to leave the race.
Harris was able to prosecute the case against Trump and make the case for kind of a Democratic agenda in a way that Biden simply wasn't able to do anymore.
COREN: And of course, Harris really took charge at the very beginning. You know, she walked up to Donald Trump, shook his hand, introduced herself.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
COREN: And then she seemed to bait him. You know, it grew and grew. And then she brought up his rallies and that really seemed to strike a nerve. And that's when we saw that angry, unhinged, undisciplined Donald Trump.
BROWNSTEIN: I think what we saw tonight was the challenge you get into when you limit yourself to speaking almost entirely to fox type programing and media. you know he just was wallowing in these far- right causes defending the January 6th rioters, insisting again that he won the election using Viktor Orban as a character reference, claiming that everyone wanted the right to abortion to be overturned, and of course, kind of the pinnacle of this particular mountain, claiming that immigrants in Ohio are eating their neighbors cats and dogs.
He looked like someone who was -- who was caught in a bubble and was having trouble addressing an audience beyond his true believers. Now, look there is an audience of true believers who want to hear all that stuff, and it may be difficult for Harris to pull away given the underlying partisan divisions in the country.
And Trump had a couple of good moments talking about elements of the Biden record that people are unhappy with.
But in terms of the personal contrast, this was everything Democrats could have hoped for as I said, when they pushed for this exact change to happen for this exact reason.
COREN: I mean, Ron, you bring up a very valid point. It's those undecided voters. Sure, Democrats must be just thrilled with her performance. You would have to think that Republicans are looking at Trump's performance, you know, wondering where they go from here.
But it is those undecided voters. They are the people who are going to decide this election.
When Trump brought up immigrants eating cats and dogs, what are undecided voters going to think about that?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Right. Well, I mean, I think so -- I mean if we kind of think about this debate, the only good moments for Trump was when he was able to highlight elements of the Biden record that voters -- most voters are discontented with, right.
When he was able to talk about inflation or the border and maybe I thought his best moment of the whole night was said, well, you've had 3.5 years. Why haven't you done any of these things?
But those were completely eclipsed by her success at basically allowing Trump to be Trump and baiting Trump into being Trump, and behaving in a way that was both kind of strange and conspiratorial and angry and diminishing and, you know at the end when she kind of upbraided him for his history of racially inflammatory actions and, you know, at times open racism and argued, do we have to live this way.
There's a reason why this has been at best for Trump, a neck and neck race even though 60 percent of the country will say that they are not better off because of Biden's policies.
COREN: Did this expose Donald Trump, this debate performance, and perhaps remind the audience, the voters out there of his true character.
BROWNSTEIN: What tonight did was remind voters of everything else that comes with the package of Donald Trump.
[01:39:50]
BROWNSTEIN: And it was partially Harris' success, and it was partially Trump's own contribution to that. He reminded them about the anger, the division, the conspiracy theories, the strange tangents, the chaos.
And that is, as I said, you know, the reality is there is a certain gravity -- not a gravity kind of, you know, pull of gravity on this race in the sense that most Americans are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country. And we are a closely divided nation in terms of our partisan balance. All of that argues against Harris being able to decisively pull away for two months.
But in terms of what she had to do tonight of establishing a personal contrast of her as a younger, energetic, stable, sane, you know, kind of leader, and Trump is really the opposite on all of those counts. She did that.
I don't think -- you know, it doesn't repeal the laws of gravity but it certainly gives her an enormous opportunity to prevail in a race whose underlying public attitudes would argue against the incumbent party being able to hold the White House.
COREN: Ron Brownstein always great to get your perspective. Thanks so much for talking to us.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
COREN: CNN's preliminary fact check of the debate found that Donald Trump made more than 30 false claims. And by contrast, Kamala Harris made just one false claim and some misleading ones.
Here's the breakdown from CNN's Daniel Dale.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DANIEL DALE, CNN REPORTER: I think a lot of Americans say, well, all politicians lie. No major presidential candidate before Donald Trump has ever lied with this kind of frequency.
A remarkably large chunk of what he said tonight was just not true. And this wasn't like little exaggeration, political spin. A lot of his false claims were untethered to reality.
On abortion, saying every Democrat wanted Roe v. Wade overturned though actually more than 80 percent of Democrats supported Roe.
On crime, saying it's through the roof, though it's actually sharply down since early 2023. It's now lower than it was since Trump left office.
On health care saying he's the one who saved Obamacare, the law he actually repeatedly tried to overturn.
On Kamala Harris herself, saying that a Howard University grad black law student association president had claimed that she wasn't black at one point.
Frankly I don't have enough time here to run through each specific Trump false claim. I urge people to go to our CNN Web site or our app to read our teams detailed fact checks on this and a whole bunch more.
For now, though, let's dive into one false claim Trump made. An egregious claim about migrants supposedly eating people's pets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: In Springfield. They're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating -- they're eating the pets of the people that live there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DALE: This is not only false. I think it's fair to call this odious. This -- for people who have not been online in the last couple of days, this claim about migrants -- Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio eating people's pets originated with a Facebook post that attributed the claim to a neighbor's friend's daughter.
So, you know, a third hand, broken telephone kind of thing. The city of Springfield and the Springfield police say there are no credible reports of this happening.
And even J.D. Vance, the vice-presidential candidate who himself had promoted these claims, acknowledged this morning that the, quote, "rumors might turn out false", although he still encouraged people to spread these cat memes.
Now I note that Trump himself added dogs to the equation. They had not even been part of these viral nonsense rumors before.
Now let's look at one false claim that Vice President Harris did make about the economic situation that the Biden-Harris administration was left by Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Let's talk about what Donald Trump left us. Donald Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression. And what we have done is clean up Donald Trump's mess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DALE: So the Biden-Harris administration was not actually left the worst unemployment since the Great Depression.
They were left at 6.4 percent unemployment rate in January 2021. That was certainly elevated by recent standards, pretty high, but it was significantly down from the 14.8 percent level it reached early in the pandemic so it was already improving at the time the Biden-Harris administration took office.
And that 6.4 percent level was the highest since the Great Recession, so in the last 20 years, not going back decades further.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Daniel Dale reporting there.
Well, still to come, a show of support in Spain for Venezuela's newly- exiled opposition leader as the calls grow louder to recognize him as the true winner of his country's election.
[01:44:25]
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COREN: Well, less than a day after the launch, the civilian crew of the SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission has already made history, reaching the highest-ever orbit around earth, surpassing a record set during the earliest days of NASA in 1966.
The crew hit a peak altitude of just over 1,400 kilometers above earth a few hours ago. But there's much more to do on their list, including the first commercial spacewalk which is set for Thursday.
A retired NASA astronaut told CNN about the dangers of this mission.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEROY CHIAO, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: I do have to admit, it raised my eyebrows a bit the first time I heard that we were going to have a nonprofessional crew, if you will, go out and not only do a spacewalk, but also to do one in new suits that have never been tested in the actual environment before and also having to depressurize the whole cabin 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 of the 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 ok, 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 depressurized capsule.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Well the only thing protecting the four-person crew are these new spacesuits developed in less than three years specifically for this mission.
Polaris Dawn also marks the farthest any woman has ever ventured into space.
Pope Francis is set to arrive in Singapore soon for the last stop of his marathon tour of South East Asia and Oceania. The pontiff left East Timor earlier in the day after celebrating mass attended by massive crowds, with some of the attendees waiting in line since before dawn.
His trip included a call to action for government leaders to protect children and young people from sexual abuse. The country has a population of 1.3 million people, nearly all of whom identify as Catholic.
The Spanish parliament is debating a symbolic motion to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez as the true winner of that country's presidential election.
This comes days after Gonzalez fled Venezuela to seek asylum in Spain. Venezuelan exiles gathered in Madrid to show their support.
Well, CNN's Pau Mosquera is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hundreds of people gathered this Tuesday afternoon in front of the Spanish parliament in Madrid in order to ask both Spain and the European Union to recognize Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the legitimate and elected president of Venezuela.
During the demonstration organized by the Venezuelan community in Spain, we have heard chants calling for freedom and democracy, but also slogans claiming Gonzalez Urrutia to be the winner of the presidential elections that took place back in July.
Now, having in mind that Gonzalez arrived in Madrid 48 hours ago, we have asked many of them that were present in this demonstration what are their thoughts about it. And if they think that this will have any impact on the work that the Venezuelan opposition has led over the last weeks.
[01:49:53]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the beginning, we questioned why he was here, but we know there is a reason behind it. Something good is on the way and I know that Venezuela will be free soon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were surprised. We couldn't imagine. But we think it's for the better. Our president is safer here than there.
MOSQUERA: Do you believe that the fact that he left Venezuela will hurt the efforts of the opposition to have the international community recognize their electoral results?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Particularly, I think it is a smart decision for him to seek shelter here in Spain. He will definitely be more able to do more from here than under threats in Venezuela.
MOSQUERA: This rally took place while the parliament was debating a non-legislative motion registered by Spain's main opposition party in order to recognize Edmundo as the winner of the elections.
The voting of this motion will happen on Wednesday, but the result will not be binding on the government.
Pau Mosquera, CNN -- Madrid.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Stay with CNN, we'll be right back.
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COREN: The death toll continues to climb in Vietnam after Typhoon Yagi, the worst storm to hit Asia so far this year.
At least 141 people have been killed, according to Vietnam's disaster management agency, and dozens more are missing. Well, thousands of soldiers have been deployed to help evacuate residents from the flood waters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANG DUC THUC, HANOI RESIDENT: After the storm, the sky is clear and beautiful. However, it reveals the aftermath of the storm with fallen trees and destruction. This deeply saddens me.
This is a historic storm, the strongest since the one in 1971. While it hasn't reached the intensity of 1971, this is the second time such a storm has reappeared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: We're also getting a firsthand look at the devastation caused by Yagi from those caught in the middle of the storm.
Wow. You see that truck disappear in an instant. Well, this dash cam video shows the moment a bridge collapsed Monday in northern Vietnam, killing at least eight people according to state media.
Terrifying video there.
Well, police say several homes were buried in this landslide, which left at least two people missing.
Francine has strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane and could be near Category 2 strength when it makes its expected landfall in Louisiana in the coming hours.
Top sustained winds right now are around 85 mph, or almost 140 km/h. More than 2 million people are under hurricane warnings in coastal areas of Louisiana. Some communities are evacuating and closing their floodgates ahead of landfall.
Federal emergency officials say the storm poses a serious threat and they're urging people to be prepared.
[01:54:45]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have about 7,500 additional crewmen, including linemen and vegetation management personnel, ready and waiting to assess the storm damage and then respond as soon as they are safely able to do so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Along with powerful wind gusts, Francine is expected to bring flooding rainfall and dangerous storm surge to coastal areas.
Wildfires in California and Nevada are driving thousands from their homes as firefighters work on the ground and in the air to contain them.
The Airport Fire in Orange County, California exploded in size on Monday, prompting evacuation orders for roughly 1,400 homes.
CNN affiliate KCAL's Jasmine Viel has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASMINE VIEL, KCAL REPORTER: The attack from above Tuesday as the Airport Fire burned up the hills from Trabuco Canyon toward Santiago Peak.
JOE NOWOCINSKI, RESIDENT: It's an all-out assault.
VIEL: Lori and Joe Nowocinski didn't get much sleep overnight.
LAURIE NOWOCINSKI, RESIDENT: Chaos.
VIEL: They chose not to evacuate from their Robinson (ph) Ranch community Monday when the fire broke out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an emergency evacuation.
L. NOWOCINSKI: 40-foot flames. It's moving and changing every ten minutes. VIEL: On Tuesday, the fire was moving away from these homes above
Rancho Santa Margarita, much to the relief of Lindsay Reilly, who also chose to stay.
LINDSAY REILLY, RESIDENT: It's looking like it's moving out of the way and yes, were just hanging tight.
VIEL: But it meant new evacuations for other communities in the path of the flames.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It has crested the north main divide into Riverside County, and it's burned towards Ortega Highway.
L. NOWOCINSKI: It's going someplace else. Somebody else is going to go through this.
VIEL: For another (ph) day firefighters facing rugged, mostly inaccessible terrain and extremely hot temperatures.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The heat -- this is -- we never get this kind of heat.
CAPT. STEVE CONCIALDI, ORANGE COUNTY FIRE AUTHORITY: Fortunately, this fire wasn't in Santa Ana wind conditions where the northeast winds will blow it right towards these communities.
VIEL: Steve Concialdi (ph) with the Orange County Fire Authority says public works crews moving large boulders in the Trabuco Creek Canyon area, attempting to block access to off road vehicles accidentally sparked the fire Monday. They had to make some rescues.
CONCIALDI: Mother, father, their 3-year-old son hiking the Joplin Trail, and they got trapped.
VIEL: But with them safe, now the focus is on protecting homes.
L. NOWOCINSKI: You got to go, you got to go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Thank you to Jasmine Viel for that report.
And thank you for watching. I'm Anna Coren.
CNN NEWSROOM will return at 4:00 a.m. Eastern time.
Up next, a replay of CNN's coverage of Tuesday night's historic debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
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