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Fears of Escalating Violence Grow in Lebanon After Exploding Pager and Walkie-Talkie Attacks; Tonight, Oprah and Harris Hold Virtual Rally in Michigan; New Trump Ad in Michigan Appeals to Autoworkers. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired September 19, 2024 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Today, Oprah hits the campaign trail for Kamala Harris in Michigan.

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OPRAH WINFREY, T.V. HOST: Let us choose honor, and let us choose joy.

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ACOSTA: 47 days out until Election Day. Will the queen of talk and joy help the vice president seal the deal?

And a new message this morning from the Trump campaign.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attention autoworkers, Kamala Harris wants to end all gas powered cars. Crazy but true.

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ACOSTA: What Team Harris is saying about that claim.

Plus, Trump's running mate spreading a new falsehood about Springfield, Ohio. Senator J.D. Vance is now saying Haitian migrants who are in Springfield legally are, quote, illegal aliens. That is not true. We'll fact-check that and I'll speak to a pastor there about the fear in his community.

Good morning. You are live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

We begin this morning with those devices detonating in the Middle East. Fears of escalating violence are growing after back to back attacks of exploding pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon.

That was the moment one device exploded during a funeral. Right now, the leader of Hezbollah is speaking out about the attacks. The militant group is already vowing retribution. Lebanese officials claim at least 37 people were killed and thousands were injured and they blame Israel for the attacks.

The Israeli defense minister saying a new era of war is beginning. And one doctor explained some of the wounds she saw.

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DR. DANIE EL HALLAK, INTERNAL MEDICINE SPECIALIST: He was screaming, he was with a family member, he was screaming that he picked something from the ground and it bombed into his face. We saw his hands, they were bandaged, they were all blood, his face was all bloody.

There were ruptured eyeballs, there were fractured mandibles, fractured bones, bones out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Beirut. Ben, are people walking around with a lot of anxiety after these explosions? Are they fearing war? What's the latest?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There is real anxiety. These -- excuse me, I'll pick up my microphone. Yes, there is real anxiety here in Beirut. People, after two straight days of hundreds of explosives, explosions around the country, certainly people are feeling very uneasy and worried that there could be more to come. What we've seen so far is 37 people were killed over those two days as a result of these explosions. Almost 3,000 people injured as a result.

Now, many of those who were injured and killed were members of Hezbollah, some way affiliated with the group. In fact, what we've seen is that the death toll over the last two days for Hezbollah has been 38. That's the largest death toll over a 48-hour period since the beginning of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah last October. Now, five of them were killed on the front in the south, but that means 33 of them were killed as a result of these exploding pagers and walke-talkies.

And as a result of the uneasiness caused by these explosions, the army has had to carry out a variety of controlled explosions of suspicious devices. And, in fact, the airport here in Beirut has put out a notice that all pagers and walkie-talkies are banned from any flight out of Beirut.

Now, as you mentioned, Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of Hezbollah, is about to speak, if he hasn't already begun to speak, and I think, Jim, that will give us an idea whether we're going to -- maybe he's going to possibly put forth an olive branch or probably, as we expect, vow revenge against Israel for these attacks. Jim?

ACOSTA: Yes, could be more cycles of retribution coming. Ben Wedeman, thanks, as always, we appreciate it.

Coming up in our next hour, we'll talk with the former CIA officer about these walkie-talkies involved in these attacks.

[10:05:04]

But let's discuss now with Democratic Congressman Ami Bera of California. He serves on the Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees. Congressman, thanks so much for being here.

What are you hearing about these attacks and, as Ben Wedeman was just saying a few moments ago, the potential for reprisals in the coming days?

REP. AMI BERA (D-CA): Yes, I think our concern is the potential of escalation opening a northern front. Obviously, things are still very tense. The questions we're starting to ask are why at this particular moment in time. Again, Secretary Blinken's in the region. We're doing everything we can to try to minimize escalation, get to a ceasefire, get to a release of hostages, and, unfortunately, I think this makes it that much harder.

ACOSTA: And what is your sense as to why these attacks were initiated? Do you have that information?

BERA: Yes, I think we don't at this moment in time. I think the question really is, okay, why at this moment in time. Again, if the goal is to minimize an escalation of the conflict, to minimize the possibility of a regional conflict, it seems like we're headed in the opposite direction. And I think those are questions that we would have for the Israeli government.

I would hope that the Biden administration, I'm sure they are having those conversations. We're seeing the violence escalate in the West Bank. And I think this is moving in the opposite direction than what we'd like to see. We'd like to get to a ceasefire. We'd like to get to a release of the hostages and then hopefully chart a path forward.

ACOSTA: And, Congressman, a source tells CNN that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not meet with President Biden during next week's U.N. General Assembly in New York. Do you think that's a mistake?

BERA: I think it's a mistake from Prime Minister Netanyahu's perspective. But, again, he's been less than cooperative. I don't think there's a better ceasefire deal that is going to be on the table. I know Secretary Blinken, Director Burns, everyone's been working overtime. I know you're talking to the families of the hostages, they're very concerned. You know, my perspective from the Israeli population is that they would like to get the hostages released as well.

And, you know, I think the only ones that are benefiting from an escalation of the conflict really is around in their proxy groups. And, you know, I'm very worried about what comes next for Israel.

ACOSTA: Indeed. And, Congressman, I do want to switch gears, talk to you a little bit about the campaign. I want to talk about those baseless claims about Haitian migrants eating pets and so on in Springfield, Ohio. Of course, we've noted, we'll note again, they are here legally but former President Donald Trump's running mate, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, is calling them illegal aliens, quote, illegal aliens. Let's listen to this.

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SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Kamala Harris used two separate programs, mass parole and temporary protective status. She used two programs to wave a wand and to say, we're not going to deport those people here. Well, if Kamala Harris waves the wand illegally and says these people are now here legally, I'm still going to call him an illegal alien. An illegal action from Kamala Harris does not make an alien legal.

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ACOSTA: Congressman, what's your response to that?

BERA: I think that rhetoric, the racist tropes that Senator Vance is using, are very dangerous. You know, TPS is a legal process. These folks have legal status. I listened to the mayor of Springfield. I listened to folks in Springfield. They don't want anything to do with this. Those are folks that are there legally, helping out with their workforce, and now they're being targeted. And, again, I think it is despicable what Senator Vance is doing.

ACOSTA: And, apparently, Trump has said he may be going to Springfield, that he said he will be going to Springfield in the next couple of weeks. What do you think about that?

BERA: I think it's a bad idea. I think you're just stoking and fanning the flames here in a really tense situation. These are innocent individuals who are legally in the country and to target them based on their race, the color of their skin, I think that is really despicable.

ACOSTA: And, Congressman, finally, I do want to ask you about this prospect of a government shutdown right before the election. House Republicans are apparently at square one after the speaker's proposal failed yesterday. Are you optimistic a deal will get done before funding runs out at the end of the month, or is it possible that former President Trump will be guiding those House Republicans toward a government shutdown?

BERA: You know, I think it would be foolish to have a government shutdown. I think we will get a deal. I think, you know, talking to plenty of my Republican friends, there's a deal to be had, a clean continuing resolution that takes us to December. I think that's where we'll land and get that done probably next week.

[10:10:00]

ACOSTA: All right. Congressman Ami Bera of California, thank you very much for your time this morning, I really appreciate it.

BERA: Thank you. Be well. ACOSTA: All right, you as well.

Coming up, Oprah hits the road for Harris, taking the stage with the vice president in Michigan to rally voters. We'll speak with a Harris surrogate in just a few moments, Keisha Lance Bottoms. There she is right there. We'll talk about that next. Stay with us.

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[10:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WINFREY: Let us choose honor and let us choose joy.

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ACOSTA: Oprah Winfrey is taking her show of support for Kamala Harris to the battleground state of Michigan.

[10:15:02]

They will share the stage tonight in a virtual rally. It is a collaboration with an organization called Win with Black Women.

Meanwhile, the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, will give a speech this evening here in Washington on fighting anti-Semitism in the U.S. Both candidates are hitting the campaign trail hard these days for good reason. Just look at this brand new pull out this morning. It shows Harris and the former president locked in a dead heat nationally with 47 percent each.

Joining me now, Priscilla Alvarez and Steve Contorno. Guys, good morning. Steve, let me start with you first. The Trump campaign is going after auto workers in Michigan this morning. What can you tell us?

Oh, we lost Steve. Okay, well, we'll get back to Steve. Priscilla, you're here. Tell us a bit more about this virtual reality, Oprah Winfrey out on the campaign trail. I mean, that was a big moment at the Democratic National Convention when she was on stage there. Tell us a little bit more about this event.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, look, the campaign is capitalizing on the power of celebrity. They're bringing in Oprah Winfrey, who we saw just then at the Democratic National Convention with her endorsement. This is an opportunity for the vice president along with galvanize black women. These were and they are a key part of the Democratic coalition, and they overwhelmingly voted for President Joe Biden in 2020.

And the idea here is to mobilize those voters. They know that black women hold an influential voice in their community. So, having people go out and register to vote and having this support is key for the campaign, especially in a state like Michigan, and more many of these battleground states. In Michigan, for example, the vice president holds a slight edge over former President Donald Trump among likely voters, and they want to keep that. And they know that this is going to be an important moment to continue that momentum.

It is also an example of the types of ways that the campaign sees to keep the energy, to keep the momentum that they were very happy to have in the beginning of the campaign and continue that rhythm moving forward, so a bit of an unconventional way of doing that.

We should also note because you mentioned it there at the top that this is an outgrowth of the Zoom that was held with the Win with Black Women organization just after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.

ACOSTA: Right, you saw a bunch of those.

ALVAREZ: Yes, exactly. And that had thousands, tens of thousands of women join that Zoom call. So, this is an outgrowth of that and they'll be part of this live stream tonight, but yet again, an example of the campaign just trying to find these other ways of keeping the energy and the good vibes, as they say, of this campaign and using the power of celebrity to do it. And part of that broader push that has been true over the course of the last week of working on getting people to register to vote earlier this week. Their focus was on young voters, black women today.

ACOSTA: Yes. When I talk to folks associated with the Kamala Harris campaign, they want to shift from vibes to votes. That is very much where they want to be right now because it's getting so very close to Election Day.

Priscilla, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Joining me now is former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance bottom. She's a surrogate for the Harris campaign. Keisha, great to see it. We lost Steve Contorno, so maybe we'll get back to him in a little bit, but I do want to go to you. Your thoughts tonight on what Priscilla was just saying a few moments ago about this event featuring Oprah Winfrey and Kamala Harris and this, you know, this very concerted effort to drive turnout among black women. How important is this?

KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS, HARRIS CAMPAIGN SURROGATE: Well, this is not just about reaching black women because we know black women alone can't help Kamala or can't win this election for the vice president.

But there will be 140 different grassroots organizations, including White Dudes for Kamala Harris, Latinas for Harris out for Harris in addition to win with black women and organizations across the country. And what we know is that when we have grassroots organizations involved, they are speaking for communities, they're speaking for their neighbors. So, it's about touching people where they are.

We'd love to have endorsements in campaigns, but at the end of the day, it's about counting votes one by one. And the most trusted voices during election season are the people with are the grassroots both in the communities who are speaking for communities. So, this is a really big deal, one, it's with Oprah Winfrey. But, secondly, Oprah Winfrey identifies as an independent voter. So, this is about reaching a cross section across America.

ACOSTA: Yes, and she made that clear at the convention. And that was a big one of the big messages coming out of that convention, how Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are trying to appeal to independents, Republicans who are persuadable at this point.

And I guess, you know, we were just showing the poll number a few moments ago, Keisha, with regards to Michigan, Kamala Harris is starting to put some distance between herself and Donald Trump. Still could be a tight race there, but it does look like she's starting to gain some ground on the former president.

[10:20:01]

And one of the country's top labor unions, the Teamsters, announced yesterday that they're not going to endorse either candidate in this race. Is that a concern to the Harris campaign? What do you think?

BOTTOMS: I mean, you'd love to have every endorsement available. But at the end of the day again, that's about individuals going out to vote. We know that the vice president has received endorsements from other major unions, including United Auto Workers and American Federation of Teachers. So, that's really important.

But also we know that there have been local chapters of Teamsters, local leaders who have endorsed the vice president, and the vice president has been very pro-union. So, obviously, it's at their discretion whether or not to make an endorsement, but the vice president has said from the beginning that she is running as an underdog. Even when we see these polls closing, these tight polls, it's still within the margin of error. So, she's going to go out and continue to work to earn every single vote.

ACOSTA: I mean, does it concern you a little bit? I mean, not to go on about the polls for too long, but does it concern you a little bit that most of the polls showed Kamala Harris -- I mean, I think all of the polls show that Kamala Harris won that debate against Donald Trump last week, and yet basically tied nationally, if you look at that New York Times poll. Should she have a larger lead over Donald Trump considering what took place at that debate last week?

BOTTOMS: Well, you know, Jim, it's hard to get people's attention for. As many people who watched the debate, we know that we are still very divided in many ways. And the vice president is doing everything that she can to make the case to be president of the United States.

President Biden said when he spoke from the Oval Office, it's in the hands of the American people. She's doing her part. She is showing up as a great candidate, she won that debate hands down. And now we have to remind people what's at stake during this election. Reproductive freedom is at stake. We just saw two articles this week in Pro Publica talk about two women, African-American women in Georgia, who died from complications of abortions. And what people have to remember, this is not just about terminating a pregnancy. This is about women who are suffering miscarriages, attempting to access IVF treatment, so, so many things are on the table. But Kamala Harris is doing her part. Now we have to show up and do our part.

ACOSTA: All right. Keisha Lance Bottoms thank you very much. Always appreciate your time.

BOTTOMS: Thank you.

ACOSTA: All right. Coming up, quote, no obvious failures, end quote, that's what Secret Service officials claimed about the apparent attempt on Donald Trump's life last Sunday. After the break, the state attorney for Palm Beach County joins me with more on Florida's own investigation. The latest on that probe, next.

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ACOSTA: Today, former President Donald Trump is rolling out a new ad in Michigan appealing to autoworkers.

Joining me now is CNN's Steve Contorno. Steve, what's this, new message?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Jim, Donald Trump has spent months trying to convince Michigan voters that Joe Biden and now Vice President Harris, their policies would decimate the auto industry there. And he is now backing that up with advertisements on the air. Take a look at this clip from this new ad that is going to air in Michigan starting today.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attention autoworkers, Kamala Harris wants to end all gas-powered cars. Crazy but true.

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CONTORNO: That is a message that should be very familiar to Michigan voters by now, because an oil and gas industry group has spent about $18 million on ads already in this race attacking Democrats with very similar language.

Now, just to reality check what Vice President Harris has put out there in the past, she has proposed a bill when she was a senator that would help the U.S. transition to 0 percent emission vehicles by 2040. And, certainly, it wouldn't be a change overnight, nor is there anything that says that those vehicles couldn't be made in Michigan. And, in fact, the mission -- the Teamsters, excuse me, the autoworker union that represents many workers in that state has endorsed her over, the former president.

Now, the former president claims that he has the support of many union households and rank and file members. He got about 37 percent of their vote last go-around, and he is optimistic that he can do even better in Michigan there going forward.

ACOSTA: All right. Yes, Michigan is going to be critical in all this. Steve Contorno, thank you very much.

Tomorrow here in Washington, the House will vote on requiring the Secret Service to provide major political candidates with the same level of protection as the sitting president and vice president. The move comes a day after the agency briefed the bipartisan congressional task force investigating the assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump. Here's what the top Democrat on that panel had to say afterwards.

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REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): So, what we learned today are a couple of key things. One is it does not appear at this point is that there were any obvious failures of security and protocol. So, unlike the Butler situation, which very obviously had some failures, it does appear as though the security processes and protocols were followed and the system worked as designed.

It appeared to be the same security package that was provided to former President Trump at that site, doing that activity as he actually received when he was the president.

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[10:30:00]

ACOSTA: Joining me now is Dave Aronberg. He's the state attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida, where Sunday's apparent attempt on Trump's life occurred.