Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Lebanon Pagers Explosions; Israel Expands War Objectives To Northern Border With Lebanon; Blinken In Egypt To Discuss Ceasefire, Hostage Release Deal; Ceramic Artist Depicts Devastation of Gun Violence; President Jimmy Carter Turns 100 on October 1st; Pierre Cardin Designs New Space Suits for European Astronauts; Harvest Supermoon Shines Bright After Partial Eclipse. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired September 18, 2024 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:32]

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong.

Just ahead. Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah militants simultaneously explode in Lebanon, killing several and injuring thousands more. We'll look at how the explosives got into those devices and who is behind the attack.

Plus, parts of Europe grapple with some of the worst flooding in decades. We'll speak with an expert about the role of climate change in these deadly weather events.

And the impacts of gun violence expressed throughout. How one man is using pottery to bring awareness to a tragic epidemic.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Hong Kong. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Anna Coren.

COREN: Well, the Middle East is on edge, after hundreds of pagers carried by Hezbollah members in Lebanon simultaneously exploded, killing at least nine people, including an eight-year-old girl and injuring about 2800 other people, many of them innocent civilians.

Well, CNN has learned that Israel is behind the attack, which was a joint operation between Israel's intelligence service, the Mossad, and the Israeli military targeting Hezbollah militants. A warning the images you are about to see may be disturbing.

Well, the pagers exploded simultaneously across the country on Tuesday afternoon. A Lebanese security source tells CNN the devices were new and had been purchased by Hezbollah in recent months. The Taiwanese company that manufactures the devices says they were made by a European distributor that had rights to use their brand name. The Lebanese government blames Israel, calling it a, "serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This is an earthquake that must be met with response from the resistance. A decisive, destructive and shattering response. Even if it leads to war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It has to escalate. That's how the situation seems. I don't know. Action and reaction. No one really knows honestly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Israeli military officials held a situational assessment meeting on Tuesday evening following the blast. Israel has refused to comment publicly on the explosions, though it has engaged in cross border strikes with Hezbollah since the start of the war in Gaza.

Well, Schools in Lebanon will be closed on Wednesday in the wake of the explosions. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has more on the attack. Again, a warning the images in his report are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: At the fruit display. At the checkout. In the street. Hard to overstate the psychological impact of hundreds of blasts across Lebanon. Mostly in Hezbollah areas, pagers exploding at about 3:30 according to the group.

Security forces asking Lebanese to stay off the road so the sheer volume of emergency vehicles could get to hospital. Nearly 3,000 patients, at least 170 critical.

Easily the most widespread moment of violence to hit across Lebanon since the 2006 war with Israel, who Hezbollah is now firmly blaming for these new attacks on their T.V. channel.

We blame the Israeli enemy with full responsibility, the T.V. anchor said, for this criminal attack that also harmed civilians.

Israel themselves declined to claim the attack. To blame, perhaps these tiny devices, according to posts on social media, CNN can't verify. The race now, to work out how. Was it just one type of device? A cyber-attack? A battery bomb? Did they just hit Hezbollah areas?

It comes at yet another critical time. Monday, Israel's defense minister hinted, meeting the U.S. envoy, that the time for a diplomatic solution of how to get tens of thousands of Israelis home to the war plagued north had mostly passed. That a military option is all that remains.

The hope had been for calm after the death of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, also killed in a violation of Hezbollah's stronghold in Southern Beirut, led to great fury but minimal fire.

[02:05:04]

With Hezbollah's retaliation restrained, perhaps by pre-emptive Israeli strikes, many felt the moment of conflagration had passed. Now, it seems back again, with Hezbollah once more under pressure to hit back hard. But only because another sophisticated attack has made them look weak.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is in Egypt to discuss the ceasefire and hostage release talks between Israel and Hamas. Blinken is expected to meet with Egypt's president and Foreign Minister, but for the first time since the October 7th attacks, the top U.S. diplomat is visiting the Middle East without a stop in Israel. Blinken strip comes amid doubts that a deal will be reached before President Joe Biden leaves office.

Elliott Gotkine joins us now from London. He's following developments. Elliott, let's start with Lebanon. What more are you learning about these pager attacks?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anna, the scale and the sophistication and she audacity of these attacks, as Nick was alluding to in his report, Israeli, you know, just shocked Hezbollah for the carnage that it has -- that it is -- that it has caused. In terms of what we've been learning, we now know that it was a joint operation between the IDF, the Israeli army and the Mossad, the country's foreign intelligence services and that, according to The New York Times, what they managed to do is to somehow get small amounts of explosive inside these pagers, next to the battery, along with a switch which would enable these pagers to be detonated remotely, as we've seen in those images.

Now what we don't know, of course, is at what point it managed to do so. Now we caught up with the chairman of Gold Apollo. This is the Taiwanese company whose name appears to be on the pagers that exploded. And he says that these pagers were not, in fact, manufactured by his company, but were manufactured by their distributor in Europe. Now he wouldn't say who this distributor was, and their relationship began about three years ago when, as the name would suggest, the distributor was just distributing these pagers and other wares from Gold Apollo.

And then it signed a deal in order to manufacture these devices, these pagers using the Gold Apollo brand name. And these are the pagers that seem to have found their way to Hezbollah fighters. But of course, the question is, was this European distributor some grand front for the IDF and or Mossad? Were agents able to get into this factory and insert the explosives there. Or did they intercept, perhaps, the shipment on its way to Hezbollah in Lebanon and insert the explosives?

Then we don't know the answers to those questions just yet, but no doubt those aspects of this attack which will no doubt go down in the annals of Mossad successes. We will learn more in the coming days no doubt, Anna.

COREN: Yes. Elliott, you speak of this widespread carnage, we know the death toll at the moment stands at nine, but 170 are in critical condition. Thousands have been injured, but many experts believe that this is perhaps just a warning from Israel. What are you hearing?

GOTKINE: I mean, that could certainly be the case and forgive, you know, no pun intended, but you know, the question is this a message to Hezbollah or is this the attack in itself? And certainly, what this does show to Hezbollah is that its fighters can be reached pretty much wherever they are, that they are not safe, and that Israel's vaunted intelligence services, whose reputation was shattered due to the failures of October the 7th allowing it to take place.

You know, they still able to carry out, you know, innovative attacks on a massive scale that were not to be expected. But, of course, what we don't know is if this was the attack in itself, or if it was supposed to be part and parcel of a broader military assault on Hezbollah in Lebanon, as Israel's defense minister, you have Gallant alluded to on Monday when he met with the U.S. Special Envoy, Amos Hochstein, when he said that the time for diplomacy appears to be part have passed.

And that's something that Israel has been talking about for a while. And it's also worth noting that just the other day, Israel made returning the tens of thousands of Israelis who've been displaced from their homes in the northern part of the country since Hezbollah started firing on Israel in support of the Hamas terrorist attacks the day after them, with Israel responding that if though, if that is, you know, something that is going to play out in a broader, you know, military attack but Israel has been saying for months that this situation cannot continue because those people have to return to their homes. Anna?

COREN: Elliott Gotkine in London. We appreciate the update. Thank you.

An entire village in northern Hungary has been submerged amid flooding caused by torrential rainfall.

[02:10:04]

With no streets or other means of travel available, residents have to use boats to get around until the water recedes. It's the latest example of extreme weather events brought on by climate change across the continent. CNN's Melissa Bill has the details.

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Death tolls are continuing to rise in several parts of Europe as a result of extreme weather conditions. First of all, as a result of some of the havoc that's been caused by Storm Boris in parts of eastern and central Europe. Some of the worst hit areas along Poland's border with the Czech Republic where towns have been evacuated, bridges have collapsed and there are fears that there could be more damage to come in some parts of Central Europe.

It was a month worth of rain that fell in a matter of just days, with many of those parts of Europe simply unprepared for the amount of water that fell from the sky. We've seen dams burst, bridges collapse, and tens of thousands have to be evacuated already, with much of that chaos now spreading southwards to parts of Europe along the Danube. There are also fears about the wildfires that have gripped parts of Portugal, in the center and the north of the country.

Portugal and Spain, that have been for many years now subject to forest fires over the course of ever heating summers. This summer, not so bad for those parts of southern Europe, but it is the late surge in temperatures over the course of the weekend that appears to have caused several of those wildfires to start. Many thousands of firefighters involved in several parts of Portugal and trying to put them out. But fears still that they could continue to spread.

Melissa Bell, CNN Paris.

COREN: Let's discuss this further with Eric Fisher, a lecturer at the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zurich. Eric, lovely to see you. Perhaps explain to us why we are seeing such extreme flooding in Central Europe right now.

ERIC FISHER, LECTURER, THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS SCIENCE, ETH ZURICH: We had a well-known weather situation where very warm air from the Mediterranean met -- very cold air from the Arctic, exactly over the area where we had the biggest devastation, and a cold -- caused a low-pressure system. Actually, it was a very similar situation to the devastating floods back in 2002.

And these systems transport very large amounts of moisture from the Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean towards the region, and then caused this large amounts of rain.

COREN: You talk about this low-pressure system that has been crossing the region and unleashing this record-high rain, I guess, for days. But the intensity of the rainfall and the flooding, does it surprise you?

FISHER: Well, it doesn't really come as a surprise, right? We've been pointing out the fact that climate change can make these events more intense for decades, in fact. And so, the same weather system has happened in the past, but nowadays they happen in a warmer and moisture atmosphere. That means for every degree of warming we've observed, we actually see more moisture being transported from the very warm sea, in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean towards that region. So, what we can say is, if the same event happened in the past, it would have been less intense.

COREN: And I guess Eric, we're focusing on Central Europe, but there's also been extensive flooding in places like Myanmar and Nigeria. I mean, you put this down to climate change as well?

FISHER: Yes, in fact, this is the global picture that we're currently seeing. Right? We see not only very intense event, often also record- breaking events across the planet. And this is exactly what we've been pointing out. This is -- first of all, back in the 1990s climate scientists with their models, have been suggesting that this is going to happen. Warmer air can carry more moisture, can actually transport more moisture, and if it hits the region of heavy rainfall, it actually can actually then produce larger rains, again, six to seven percent per degree warming.

So, in the meantime, we have the observational evidence that we have observations, we also have very good theoretical understanding why this is happening and we expect that this is going to continue into the future.

COREN: Yes. Let's talk about that, Eric, because from what I'm hearing and from obviously, what all the experts are saying is that climate change is here to say -- stay, and if anything, we are going to be seeing more extreme weather patterns in the near future.

FISHER: That's correct. So, we expect, because the, you know, two concentration and the other greenhouse gasses are still continue to rise, that the warming is going to continue into the future, and this will further bring up these weather extremes. So we're going to -- we expect to see more intense heavy rainfall, more intense temperature records. More fire weather, et cetera.

[02:15:04]

So this continuation will go on. I mean, the only way to stop it is basically to limit the warming, and to do so, we need to bring down their greenhouse gas emissions.

COREN: So, Eric, what can we be doing? You know, how can we, as individuals, our audience watching, what can we be doing to try and make a difference?

FISHER: I mean, to reduce the emissions, we have different options, right? We -- so depending a bit on where we live, we can try to exchange or reduce our mobility, right? Drive less cars, fly less -- to burn less fossil fluid -- fuel. In other places, we also need to replace our heating. That is an important factor where we can make a difference and obviously also our diet to reduce eating less meat can make a difference for the carbon emissions and the methane emissions.

So, these are clearly things that we can do. Then on a -- other level, obviously we also can try to adapt a little bit, but that has limitations and large costs. But what we've seen is that in some places, people were -- thanks to flood protection for instance, in Austria, we had less damage in some places. Also, flood preparedness helped that due to very well -- very good forecast of these events.

Some water dams have been lowered before the event actually happened. So, we can reduce some of these consequences but this comes at high costs.

COREN: Now, but we all need to do our bit to save this beautiful planet. Eric Fisher from Zurich, we appreciate your time. Thank you.

FISHER: Thanks. A pleasure.

COREN: Ahead. An expanding investigation into the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump. What the governor of Florida is saying about his state's efforts to get justice. Plus, Sean Diddy Combs faces a three-count indictment alleging he ran a sex trafficking criminal enterprise. More on those charges and the reaction from his accusers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: With less than 50 days until the U.S. presidential election, the nominees were back on the campaign trail in states that could be key to the November vote. Vice President Kamala Harris attended an event hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists in Pennsylvania, on Tuesday. She answered questions on a wide range of issues and commented on the threats against schools and other facilities in Springfield, Ohio, calling it a crying shame.

She denounced his hateful rhetoric the false claim spread by Donald Trump and his running mate about Haitian immigrants (INAUDIBLE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS (D) UNITED STATES DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's got to stop, and we've got to say that you cannot be entrusted with standing behind the seal of the President of the United States of America, engaging in that hateful rhetoric that as usual is designed to divide us as a country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:20:17]

COREN: Meantime, Donald Trump was in Michigan for his first campaign event since the second apparent attempt on his life. The Republican presidential nominee walked through the crowd of supporters shaking hands. Usually at his rallies, Trump walks onto the stage and waves at the crowd without getting close to them. Trump spoke about the incident in Florida and even commented on the calls he received from the U.S. president and vice president after the Florida incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A little while ago, I got a very nice call from Kamala. It was very nice. President Biden, I want to be nice. He was so nice to me yesterday. But, you know, in one way, I sort of wish I -- the call wasn't made, because I do feel he's so nice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: The apparent assassination attempt has prompted swift reaction on Capitol Hill and a call for more protection for both presidential nominees. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise says minor changes are being made to a bill that would mandate that both Harris and Trump received the same level of Secret Service protection as President Joe Biden. He said the goal is to put the measure on the floor this week.

CNN's Randi Kaye has more now from Palm Beach County, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Next time Donald Trump hits the links, there may be substantially more security around him. That's what Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe told Trump this week, according to three people familiar with the meeting. Rowe told Trump there were concerns about securing his private courses, given the large amounts of space and proximity to public roads, sources said.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): The State of Florida has jurisdiction over the most serious straightforward offense, which is attempted murder.

KAYE (voice-over): This as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis adds his name to the dueling investigations into the apparent attempt on Former President Donald Trump's life. A staunch Trump ally, the Republican governor announced a state probe and injected politics into the investigation, repeating his often-used attack line against the federal government.

DESANTIS: In my judgment, it's not in the best interest of our state or our nation that the same federal agencies that are seeking to prosecute Donald Trump leading this investigation.

KAYE (voice-over): DeSantis also revealed the investigation into Ryan Routh is expanding in the State of Florida, where he says the suspect is believed to have broken state laws in three counties. And as authorities work to track the stolen license plate found on his black Nissan. And that could really speak to his whereabouts.

SHERIFF WILLIAM SNYDER, MARTIN COUNTY FLORIDA: They'll go back now to the scene of the crime where the tags were stolen, and they'll look at video camera. I think they're going to find his digital fingerprints all over the place. They'll go back to the registered owner, say, where was the last time you saw your tag on there?

KAYE (voice-over): The investigation is also heating up in Hawaii. The FBI searched Routh's home in Hawaii on the east side of the island of O'ahu. Agents executed a court authorized search warrant. Ryan Routh's mugshots are a roadmap of sorts to his criminal past.

Court documents obtained by CNN show in 2002 Routh was charged in Greensboro, North Carolina with possessing a weapon of mass death and destruction. A binary explosive device with a detonation cord, and a blasting cap. He pleaded guilty.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Picking up on the Secret Service's concerns about Donald Trump's safety on Trump's golf courses because they're so expansive and so close to the road. Even Ron DeSantis talked about that at the press briefing. He recalled how he played golf with Donald Trump here at Trump International Golf Club, and he remembered being at that fifth and sixth hole where the suspect is believed to been laying in wait.

He remembers being there and you recall just how exposed he felt at that time during their game. Randi Kaye, CNN Palm Beach County, Florida.

COREN: Music mogul Sean Diddy Combs is being held in a federal Detention Center in New York until his next court appearance on Wednesday. Combs pleaded not guilty Tuesday. Response to a scathing three-court indictment alleging he ran a "criminal enterprise" built on sex trafficking and prostitution, among other crimes. CNN Elizabeth Wagmeister has more details on the indictment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER (voice-over): Tonight, Sean Diddy Combs, one of music's biggest stars, ordered behind bars after pleading not guilty to a sweeping federal indictment, charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. The grand jury indictment accuses the music mogul of running a criminal enterprise over decades.

DAMIAN WILLIAMS, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Between at least 2008 and the present, Combs abused, threatened, and coerced victims to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.

[02:25:05]

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Combs was seen dining out in Manhattan Friday before his arrest on Monday night in New York. According to the U.S. attorney prosecuting the case --

WILLIAMS: Combs allegedly planned and controlled the sex performances, which he called freak offs. And he often electronically recorded them.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Hotel surveillance footage obtained exclusively by CNN back in May appears to corroborate some of the allegations of abuse against the rapper, now cited in the new indictment. The video, captured on multiple cameras, shows Combs wearing only a towel, assaulting his then girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, at a Los Angeles hotel in March 2016.

Combs has repeatedly denied multiple allegations against him, saying that his accusers are looking for money, but he issued an apology for his conduct on the video only after it came to light.

SEAN "DIDDY" COMBS, RAPPER: My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. Disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it, I'm disgusted now.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): His attorney responding today.

MARC AGNIFILO, ATTORNEY FOR SEAN "DIDDY" COMBS: He's going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might and the full confidence of his lawyers.

We're appealing the decision to hold him without bail.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Combs faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years imprisonment and could face life in prison if convicted.

WILLIAMS: In addition to the violence, the indictment alleges that Combs threatened and coerced victims to get them to participate in the freak offs. He used the embarrassing and sensitive recordings he made of the freak offs as collateral against the victims.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): The criminal charges come as homes faces 10 civil suits, all filed over the last year, nine of which accused him of sexual assault. He has previously denied the accusations of abuse, saying I did not do any of the awful things being alleged.

In March, authorities searched Combs' homes in Los Angeles and Miami as part of a months' long federal investigation by a team that specializes in human trafficking crime that led to today's indictment. Among the items seized, firearms, including three A.R.-15s, ammunition, more than 1,000 bottles of personal lubricant, such as baby oil, and video evidence of freak offs, according to the indictment.

WAGMEISTER: Now, Cassie, who is Diddy's ex-girlfriend, who was shown in that disturbing hotel surveillance footage, declined to comment on these new charges against Diddy. I reached out to her attorney, who says that they will not have anything to say about this indictment, but we have heard from some of the accusers and their attorneys. Aubrey O'Day, who is a singer from the band Danity Cain, which is a band that did he formed on his MTV show, making the band.

Here's what she had to say. "I feel validated. Today is a win for women all over the world, not just me. Things are finally changing." And Tyrone Blackburn, who is an attorney who represents three Diddy accusers who have filed civil suits against him, said that this was the first step for justice. "We knew this was coming. The evidence is very clear, and it was only a matter of time." Back to you.

COREN: A critical witness in Harvey Weinstein's original New York trial says she will testify in his upcoming retrial in November. In 2020 the disgraced media mogul was convicted of sex crimes based on the testimony of Mimi Haley and Jessica Mann after the conviction was overturned. In April, Mann agreed to testify again, but Haley had said she was not sure if she wanted to relive it. Her lawyer now says Hayley believes it is the right thing to do.

Still ahead, how much damage does gun violence really cause? One ceramic artist has set out to answer that question creatively. We'll hear from him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:31:17]

COREN: The scale of the damage caused by gun violence in the U.S. can be hard to comprehend. But one ceramic artist wants to make it easier. In his powerful "Thoughts and Prayers" series, Stanley Tong uses real guns and bullets to shoot his sculpted pots and vases while they are still wet. His sculptures then dry with soberingly illustrative entrance and exit wounds. Last year, his work raised more than $1,400 for non-profit, Sandy Hook Promise.

Joining me now to discuss his work is artist Stanley Tong. Stanley, great to have you with us. With all the gun violence in America at the moment, was there a specific event that was the genesis for this series?

STANLEY TONG, CERAMIC ARTIST: Yes. Yeah. So, there was a shooting that happened in Allen, Texas and this was the shooting that to me really hit home. For context, I grew up in Texas. I have lived in the Dallas, Fort Worth area, which is where Allen is at and my mom lives close by to there. And so, this was coincidentally in a similar time when I had started my residency, my artisan residency program last summer. So, the timing of it really kind of hit home for me and it was something I wanted to use this platform, I had to do something about.

COREN: So talk us through your work. We are just looking at pictures of it now. You know, how did you come up with the concept? Talk us through the process.

TONG: Yeah, sure. So I mean the process in itself is a little, a little strange, right? So, I work with clay. I do ceramics. So, clay is a pretty malleable form but once it's fired, it freezes and it retains its shape, right? So for me, what I wanted to do was I wanted to capture the impact of a bullet and kind of freeze it in time, right? So growing up, right, I watched MythBusters and all those -- all those shows, right? I was a huge fan as a kid. But one of the things they always did was they shot ballistics gel, and I think I saw it somewhere in there, they shot some clay. So for me, I wanted to see what happened if I used my vases and the clay to capture the energy of a bullet.

So essentially, what happened was I threw a bunch of pieces, I threw 15 total vases and kept them wet. I loaded them in my car, drove over to one of my friend's houses, and then we drove somewhere else to one of his friend's house, and then these pieces, the clay while they were wet in the bases, I shot them with real firearms, real bullets, such that the clay would expand, reveal the impact of the round, but also capture that -- that moment, like frozen in time, right?

So, the intent was to show how much energy the round has and freeze that impact and time. And so after that, we had to take the pieces. I got them fired, so that way it would solidify, be sculptured exactly as it is, so none of them have been modified in any way. And then they were also pit fired. So we dug a big hole in the ground, buried all these pieces, lit them on fire with a number of combustibles. In this case, I used wire and gunpowder, saw dust, exotic woods. So, a lot of help from a lot of great friends to make this project happen.

COREN: And is the clay supposed to sort of resemble human flesh? You know, this is what guns do to a human body, is that the idea?

TONG: So, not exactly, right. I mean, clay, of course, is different than flesh, right? But what I wanted to do is kind of use this opportunity to send a metaphor, right?

[02:35:00] It's like, you know, there are pieces that have been directly shot with rounds and there are pieces that -- there is one piece that actually wasn't hit by any bullets, but it still contained a significant amount of damage on the surface, right? So, there is this -- so, there is a couple of layers here in terms of the metaphor I was looking to paint. It's like I wanted to show -- and I have a piece here, right? It is like this clay captures the damage, right? And another piece that is nearby experienced collateral damage, right? So even though they weren't hit directly by the bullets like this one was, they've still got damaged, they still carry those wounds with them and the clay is just a barely -- is my way of showing a visual representation of that, of that metaphor.

COREN: Is there a message with your work that you were trying to send?

TONG: Certainly. I think for myself, it's that -- I almost wanted to ground things back to reality, right? I think gun violence is something that's very common in our culture, right? In video games and movies, right, and I think at times, sometimes we forget that these devices in the wrong hands, used for the wrong reasons can be truly destructive, right?

COREN: Stanley, you have raised money for charities including Sandy Hook Promise. Tell me would have the families of the victims said about your work?

TONG: Yeah. I mean, it's great to see all of the different ways that people have connected with my work. I mean, whether that is online, in the comments, right. I've seen thousands of comments and many of them have been from people who have been personally impacted. But to me, it is like a solemn reminder that for me, this work is artistic, but to someone else, it could be very grounded in reality.

COREN: Stanley Tong, we certainly appreciate you joining us and thank you for sharing your work with us.

TONG: Awesome. Thanks so much for the time.

COREN: Astronauts are getting a glow up. French Fashion House has designed new space suits. Now, European crew members can step into outer space in style (ph).

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: Former President Jimmy Carter is getting close to a major milestone, Carter turns 100 on October 1st. It will mark his first birthday without his wife, Rosalynn. She passed away last November. President Joe Biden and three former presidents shed tributes to Carter during a celebration in Atlanta on Tuesday. Jason Carter led the event honoring his grandfather.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON CARTER, GRANDSON OF PRESIDENT CARTER: He's doing well. I mean, he's been in hospice for 19 months, which we are all thinking is just an incredible, incredible thing to have happened, right? I mean, he's been given the gift of a lot of time and it has given us a lot of time to be with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Family members say Carter is still interested in the news of the day.

[02:40:00]

He is being cared for at home in the South Georgia town of Plains.

Well, astronaut fashion is getting a serious facelift. Earlier this month, SpaceX debuted new suits during the first commercial spacewalk. The EVA suits are designed for spacewalks. Not to be outdone, a French designer is unveiling a new look for European astronauts. CNN's Saskya Vandoorne shows us the look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER (voice-over): A French fashion house is getting involved in space suits of the future. Designer label Pierre Cardin has designed a training suit for European astronauts.

MATTHIAS MAURER, GERMAN ASTRONAUT: So, my name is Matthias Maurer. I'm a European astronaut, working at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, the only place where European astronauts train for space missions.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): The space suit's prototype has been unveiled in Paris at the Pierre Cardin workshop. The goal was to create a suit for the European Space Agency's new training ground for lunar missions, minus all the high-tech engineering needed in space.

MAURER: A space suit is like a small spaceship. It has air system, it has cooling system, it has radio system, it has navigation system. It has a lot of different equipment. This is just for training. This is only to be used in Cologne on the ground. But we can learn a lot just training with this suit.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): Pierre Cardin's grandnephew Rodrigo, who took over the company after the founder's death in 2020, developed comfortable, movable fabrics that could withstand the extreme temperatures on the lunar surface.

RODRIGO BASILICATI-CARDIN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PIERRE CARDIN: Everybody's so happy finally because, you know, after one year and a half, two of this work to arrive here and it's not finished but it is a big step here.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): After additional tweaks, the suits will be used in LUNA, which is the moon surface simulation building at the European Space Agency base in Cologne, Germany. The simulations will continue ahead of their planned mission to the moon in 2028.

Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: September's full Harvest supermoon shone brightly on Tuesday night. It reached its fullest at 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time, but will appear full through until Thursday morning. Sky gazers around the world might have noticed in an apparent bite taken out of the moon Tuesday evening; that was due to a partial lunar eclipse. Next on the night sky's agenda is October's full Hunter's supermoon.

Well, thank you so much for your company. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. "World Sport" is next. Then, I'll be back in 15 minutes time with more of "CNN Newsroom." See you then.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

[03:00:00]