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IDF Says It Struck "Terrorist Infrastructure Sites" In Lebanon; Officials: Iranian Hackers Sent Stolen Trump Campaign Details To People Near Biden Team; Interpol Warns World Is Losing Fight Against Organized Crime; Michigan Poll: Harris Leads Trump By 5 Points; Sean Combs To Remain In Custody After Bail Denied Again. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired September 19, 2024 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:36]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: It's 8:00 p.m. in London, 9:00 p.m. in Lyon, France, 10:00 p.m. in Beirut, Lebanon, 3:00 p.m. here in New York.
I'm Jim Sciutto. Thanks so much for joining me today on CNN NEWSROOM. Let's get right to the news.
We begin in the Middle East, once again, on a knife's edge as the U.S. and allies urge de-escalation and restraint between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel today launched airstrikes into southern Lebanon that Israeli forces say hit terrorist infrastructure sites after the IDF says its top military commander has, quote, completed approval plans for the northern arena.
Hezbollah in Lebanon says it launched at least 17 attacks into northern Israel. The group said it struck Israeli military targets with drones and rockets and they are also now making threats. Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, asserted today that Israel, quote, quote, crossed all red lines in a series of walkie-talkie and pager explosions that killed dozens and injured thousands. Nasrallah hinted that Hezbollah would retaliate, saying the fight would not stop until the war ends in Gaza.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASSAN NASRALLAH, HEZBOLLAH LEADER (through translator): We say to Netanyahu and Gallant, I say, clearly, no matter the sacrifices, consequences, or future possibilities, the resistance in Lebanon will not stop supporting Gaza.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv for us.
Jeremy, the IDF statement today that it has now completed plans for the northern arena, it follows Israeli defense ministers statement yesterday that they're entering a new era of war. From your reporting there, is this an expanded aerial campaign or is it something bigger, a ground invasion into southern Lebanon?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that they are certainly preparing for all scenarios. We have heard this language of preparing for offense and defense. We have heard the language of reading the plans for the northern arena this is not the first time that we have heard comments like this from Herzi Halevi, that chief of staff of the Israeli military. What is new is this rhetoric of a new phase of the war, for example, which we heard from the Defense Minister Yoav Gallant a couple of times over the last couple of days as he talked about the center of gravity of this war in Gaza, moving north, away from the Gaza Strip towards the northern front.
And in addition to that, we've seen the movement of some troops, the 98th division moving north. We're now learning of training exercises slated for this weekend in the northern part of Israel, warning civilians to stay away from those areas. So that is interesting as well.
But I think we also have to inject some caution here because it is clear that the preparations are being made for war. It is clear that we are at a state of heightened tensions and Hezbollah is vowing retaliation, but it is also possible that as we have seen in the past, that these two sides could ultimately step back from the brink of war. And that's because we know that as tensions have escalated several times over the course of the last year, most notably in late July, we have ultimately seen those two sides choose to step back.
And if you listen to Hassan Nasrallah today, he was talking about retaliation, talking about the unprecedented nature of this Israeli attack, but he was also downplaying how successful that attack was talking about the fact that Israel tried in his view, to kill thousands but only killed several dozen people.
And so that was notable as well. The question though is, once that retaliation happens anytime you see retaliation, anytime you see kinetic action on the ground, there is always the possibility of miscalculating those actions. And so certainly that is very much in the air and also the Israeli -- Israeli governments leadership, they have been holding security consultations tonight. There is also the possibility that Israel could make additional moves before that retaliation comes from Hezbollah.
So it's just very uncertain. I think we need to keep people lot of different possibilities open in our minds at this moment.
SCIUTTO: Goodness. It's been that way for some time, one might argue so many different possibilities, including for a broader war.
Jeremy Diamond, thanks so much.
So let's speak more about this attack, the tactics, the strategy with CNN military analyst, retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling.
Sir, always good to have you on.
LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Jim, good to see you.
[15:05:01] SCIUTTO: So, first, I want to talk about your view of where this conflict in the north is going. As you heard there, Israel military, the Israeli military commanders said they've now completed approval for plans for the northern arena. We're hearing about this new era description of the state of the war.
Do you see Israel having laid the groundwork now, including massing the forces necessary for a significant ground action in southern Lebanon, or do you see an expanded version of what we've seen so far, which is not just the pager and walkie-talkie attacks but significant airstrikes but then you were in northern Israel for a long time, the last time you were in the nation, you know, what the situation is like there tens of thousands of Israelis have been moved out of that area.
There's an average of about 30 to 50 rockets and missiles coming across from southern Lebanon into Israel when the first mobilization was announced back in October after the horrible situation, October 7, you know that the mobilization of forces was more than what they needed for Gaza. So the Israeli forces had been preparing for a multi- front war for a very long time.
One of the ominous things that happened today was I heard and got feedback, I follow the Israeli Defense Forces, the chief of the general staff of the northern command, General Halevi said, quote, every time we work on a certain stage, and I'm assuming mean he's talking about what's been happening with electronic devices over the last few days. He said the next two stages are right, are already ready to advance.
So that tells me that they had been planning some type of operation to contribute to a disruption of Hezbollah in the north. And I think what we've seen in this preparation stage over the last two days with the electronic warfare that they've conducted, is probably an indicator.
SCIUTTO: When you look at this attack, listen, no one is contesting that this was not devastating for Hezbollah in terms of just the scale of it, right? But also the technological jump here, being able, it seems to get inside the supply chain for electronic devices, communication devices for Hezbollah, and striking simultaneously a tactical win in your view or a strategic one connected to Israel's broader strategy here of defending itself and weakening Hezbollah, pushing it back from the northern border?
HERTLING: Yeah, I think it's both. And I said yesterday, Jim, that certainly it was just an unbelievably coordinated and effective tactical strike, but it certainly has strategic implications. And what I mean by that is having been in a terrorist fight myself, you know, so that one of the main things you have to do is eliminate or at least destroyed part of a terrorist organization's ability to communicate with other terrorists.
If you can do that, half the battle is won because if they're not talking, things aren't going well. In fact, I had a -- I had a guy once tell me in a very Arkansas drawl that if they ain't talking, they're just out there camping. And that's what Israel wanted to do to Hezbollah. They wanted to
disrupt their communication system not only at the high level, but even at the lower level, their ability to launch rockets.
But the second thing I'd say is that disruption of communication systems probably caused a lot of other actions on the ground. And if Israel's intelligence is good as I know it to be, they were waiting for the after effects of those strikes on the pagers, on the walkie- talkies, on the computers to see what would happen because -- I say that because that's what I would have done as a commander. And in fact, that's what I did do as a commander.
You wanted to cause a turn in your terrorist organization to see where people were going, what was happening next? And I think that may have contributed to some of the airstrikes that we saw today as another phase.
SCIUTTO: I want to ask you about civilian casualties. There were a number of civilians, including children killed in this attack, nine- year-old girl died because the pagers went off without Israel knowing who was in the vicinity.
And was there sufficient -- was there any consideration that you can discern by the Israeli intelligence, services and the military here to make an assessment of that? I mean, this is thousands of electronic devices going off at once, often as the video showed in crowded areas, I don't see how you could make any possible judgment as to whether there were civilians presence -- present and therefore make a calculation as to what the -- I always hate to use this phrase -- collateral damage was, but that's part of the calculation as based by the law of war, as part of the law of war.
HERTLING: Yeah, it's a great question, Jim.
And what I would say in response, two things, number one, from what I understand in hearing reports, the amount of capability in each one of the devices that allow them to blow up was not significant enough to say, hey, there's going to be a lot of collateral damage. You know, there may have been a child standing right next to an individual who had a beeper on his hip or a walkie-talkie in their pocket and it caused collateral damage.
But when you're talking about going after terrorists who were swimming in the sea of the population, you have to understand that there is going to always be collateral damage and that leads me to my second thing. As part of the reports that Israel saying, there were 36 individuals killed by these explosions a which 34 are indicative of Hezbollah terrorist.
The Hezbollah is making a great deal of propaganda and press videos about the two small children that were also killed. That is unfortunate but if you can disrupt an entire terrorist network and you can kill a lot of terrorists in this kind of synchronized attack, you know, as a military guy, that's part of the calculation.
It is unfortunate and it sounds like I'm being just devilish in my approach, but when you're talking about individuals who are controlling the launch of 30 to 50 rockets the day into Israel territory attempting to kill Israeli citizens, I think it may have been part of the calculus, but truthfully, it's a small part. And that sounds horrible, but I have to say it from a military perspective.
SCIUTTO: Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, always good to have you on. Thank you.
HERTLING: Thank you, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Well, story back here at home, U.S. federal officials believed that Iranian hackers stole information from Donald Trump's presidential campaign then sent it to people associated with the then- Biden campaign. Those federal officials say there is no indication that Biden's team ever replied to those emails, and we should note the Harris campaign has said, quote, the material was not used.
Iran denies the allegations of this hacking, saying it neither has any motive nor intent to interfere in the U.S. election.
CNN cyber security reporter Sean Lyngaas joins me now.
Sean, this is in addition to previous reports that Iranian hackers sent Trump campaign documents to news organizations. How are these authorities assessing these operations and what is CNN's reporting on what then happened to this stolen information?
SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY REPORTER: Jim, this is kind of the next piece of information that we're learning about from the FBI investigation. We knew already that the Iranian government link attackers had tried to hack both the Harris and the Trump campaigns and in the case of the Trump campaign, they were successful.
CNN has reported in breaching the email account of Roger Stone the long time GOP operative, who is still close to the Trump campaign, and then using his account to try to target other members of the campaign in the Biden-Harris case, the Iranian hackers, we don't have any evidence that they were able to successfully breach them. However, what's new here is that the Iranian hackers apparently taking information, stolen from the Trump campaign and then sending it to people affiliated with then-Biden campaign to try to apparently based on our information, try to get the Biden campaign to use that information somehow to perhaps still up some more divisions between the campaigns finger-pointing, and the like.
That didn't happen as far as we know. It got treated as almost like a spam emails, some weird email you get from somebody don't know and it wasn't opened. However, the former President Donald Trump last night was pointing the finger at the Harris campaign, baselessly claiming that they had somehow been involved in this and that's a false allegation.
But according to intelligence experts and people who track these groups, that's exactly what the Iranians might -- might be wanting the reaction to be, to stir up divisions, to have the campaign blaming each other for this. So we think this is still like an 11th hour attempt by Iran to try to disrupt the campaign, disrupt the election and sow divisions.
Whether or not it's working is still to be seen, but we've seen from 2016 until now a maturation of the way that the media and others process this information, Jim.
SCIUTTO: That's a big difference, right? Because in 2016, hacked Clinton campaign emails were widely reported, right? Not to mention spoken about by then candidate Donald Trump. And in this case, no, those materials have not been shared publicly.
[15:15:02]
Sean Lyngaas, thanks so much.
And we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: Welcome back.
A dire warning from the International Criminal Police Organization known as Interpol, that the world is losing the fight against organized crime and transnational gangs. Their violence and chaos were seen in the collapse of the government systems in Haiti, migrant crises in South and Central America, opioids flowing into the U.S. by way of both China and Mexico, and the destruction of forests and wildlife at times via exploitation and slave labor in Asia and Africa.
These gangs were making many, many millions of dollars and Interpol says we must do more to stop them.
Joining me now to discuss is Jurgen Stock. He is Interpol's secretary general.
Thanks so much for joining us this afternoon.
JURGEN STOCK, SECRETARY GENERAL, INTERPOL: Thank you for having me. Hello.
SCIUTTO: I want to begin by talking about scale because, of course, international criminal gangs have been around for some time. But Interpol says the scale and sophistication of these gangs is new.
Tell us how. What are you seeing?
STOCK: We can see it, Jim, that definitely the globalization of criminal activity, particularly activities of organized crime groups all around the world, is continued being and going on that. The reason why Interpol last year, our centenary general assembly sounded the alarm on the rise of transnational organized crime. What we clearly can see is that despite all the effort and success stories of international police cooperation, the most dangerous criminal groups all around the world are only getting more dangerous, they're getting more influential, let's say, but they are getting more violent. Corruption is playing a very important role and they are operating actually as global criminal enterprises. [15:20:03]
And that puts a lot of challenges to law enforcement because investigations by nature are international and that makes global organization like Interpol, bringing 196 member countries to the table, more important than ever. And we have to increase international police cooperation.
SCIUTTO: What do you do given that we should note some of those more than 190 countries take advantage of these criminal gangs?
There's evidence of North Korea using them to earn foreign currency reserves. There have been frequent allegations from U.S. authorities of Russia using cyber criminal gangs to carry out -- to help carry out disinformation campaigns.
How does the Interpol stand in the way of these groups, try to deter them when nation states seem to be working hand-in-hand with them?
STOCK: Yeah, Jim, since 1923 when Interpol was created in Vienna, back then, our mandate has not been changing. Interpol is focusing on what we call ordinary law crime. So that means whenever crime is having a politically motivation, Interpol is out. We are focusing on criminal activity, where simply money might matter and we have a lot to do because we increasingly see, again, that those criminal groups are spanning the globe. They are really operating on a global scale.
And they are diversifying their criminal business. So they are entering into net territory, child (ph) trafficking is still the major source of income, but they are also more and more involved in trafficking migrants, people smuggling, environmental crime and other commodities that are being trafficked use the same routes of trafficking.
We can see more than ever cooperation between criminal groups all around the world, and they are carefully monitor perhaps weak spots and international risk operations and Interpol is closing these gaps. We bring countries together to be more effective in the fight against these -- against these transnational organized crime groups.
SCIUTTO: One way that the U.S. experiences these games most devastatingly is via the smuggling in of opioids, particularly fentanyl and fentanyl laced opioids to the tune of many, many thousands of deaths a year, in this country. And as you've noted, criminal gangs, drug gangs, cartels are very much involved in that trade. Is anything working to stem that flow of drugs?
STOCK: I mean, there is no other way then at a global scale sharing all the information we have about these criminal gangs while operating across continents. Threats are increasingly for law enforcement coming from outside your own borders, from abroad. And again, that makes Interpol so important.
So, communication, collaboration, and coordination of our activities is more important than ever. That exactly is the role of Interpol, setting up platforms where intelligence can be shared, too, in a targeted way attack those criminal gangs, using our crown jewels like the red notice that helps arresting every year, thousands dozens of high level criminals around the world and coordinating through task forces that are supported by Interpol to tackle these groups.
This is the way forward. This needs to be seen as the main port, a part of investments that we can increase that type of work.
SCIUTTO: Well, Jurgen Stock, we appreciate the work you're doing, and we appreciate you joining us this afternoon.
STOCK: Thank you very much for having me.
SCIUTTO: Coming up next, politic. New polling shows Kamala Harris narrowly leading Trump in Michigan, a key battleground state. The chair of the state's Democratic Party joins me on what the vice president needs to do to keep and perhaps widen that gap.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:27:20]
SCIUTTO: With 47 days until the election, and frankly, some early voting underway already, both candidates are battling across the country, in particular for battleground states such as Michigan's 15 Electoral College votes. Two days ago, it was Trump hosting a town hall in Flint, Michigan. Tonight, it's Harris in suburban Detroit, headlining a Unite for America livestream with one of her most influential surrogates, Oprah Winfrey.
Two new polls found Harris up five points in the Wolverine State, outside margin of error but still a very tight race.
Lavora Barnes is the chair of the Michigan Democratic Party and she joins us now.
Thanks so much for taking the time.
LAVORA BARNES, CHAIR OF THE MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Great to be here, Jim. Thank you.
SCIUTTO: So I want to ask just a general question first, if I can. Not a lot of folks have a lot of confidence in polling these days and you know why that is. A lot of polling misses last several cycles, not just in this country, but in other countries as well.
That said, polling in recent weeks particularly since the debate and the convention has shown Kamala Harris making progress in battleground states including Michigan. And I'm wondering, do you see the same progress based on what you're seeing there on the ground?
BARNES: Yeah. I will say, I will go on record saying I also don't trust polls, pay very little attention to them. I focus on what's happening in real life, on the ground, every day here in Michigan. And of course, the final poll that happens on Election Day.
But I can tell you that the momentum here is strong. Folks on the ground are excited about Kamala Harris's campaign, about Governor Walz joining that campaign. We've got extremely large numbers of folks reaching out asking how they can help, whether it'd be volunteer or donate a little bit of money, or even just take a yard sign, there's a lot of excitement on the ground, a lot of energy and into turning that energy into action.
We're knocking doors. We're making phone calls, and we're talking to every voter about the importance of this election.
SCIUTTO: Organized labor, of course, has a big presence in Michigan, particularly the UAW, but others as well.
I wonder, how does the Teamsters lack of making a doors and endorsement this cycle after many cycles of supporting the Democratic nominee, affect the race there? Do you view that as impactful?
BARNES: You know, I think what's going to happen is that Teamsters members are going to continue to be active in their support of the vice president. We've seen folks who are members of the Teamsters Union participating in our door knocks and making phone calls and asking how they can help as well. And I think that work is going to continue.
I think it's important to note that there's not an endorsement for the other side here. There was no endorsement, and that leaves the Teamsters members free to choose the right candidate for them. And that obviously is going to be Kamala Harris because Donald Trump will do absolutely nothing support the Teamsters and the jobs that they have and got here in Michigan because of the Biden-Harris administration.
[15:30:08]
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
BARNES: Donald Trump will make those jobs go away.
SCIUTTO: The state with one of the biggest, if not the biggest Uncommitted National Movement members announced the day it will not be endorsing Harris in a statement, it said, quote, we must block Donald Trump, which is why we urge uncommitted voters to vote against him and avoid third party candidates could inadvertently boost his chances.
So, not endorsing Harris. I'm not quite sure what they're saying there that if they're -- if they're saying, we're not endorsing Harris, but don't vote for Trump, don't vote for third party candidates.
I just wonder, is that a weak point for Harris in Michigan, particularly as the war in Gaza continues to rage on?
BARNES: Here's the thing I know: I know that the conversations that Vice President Harris and her team have had with the community here in Michigan, have been very different from the conversations that were had previously under the Biden campaign. That leaves a lot of room for hope and understanding and conversation and moving forward. And that's what's happening. And what you heard in that non-endorsement is the very words that
we've been saying to folks in this community. We cannot let Donald Trump win. We cannot give any window to Donald Trump's campaign by supporting third-party candidates. We must support the Democrats, and that Democrat is Kamala Harris.
I feel confident that the Democrats who voted in our presidential primary uncommitted, will come home and vote for the Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris in November.
SCIUTTO: Lavora Barnes, we look forward to welcoming you back as we get closer to the big day. Thanks so much for joining.
BARNES: My pleasure. I'd love to come back. Thank you.
SCIUTTO: Well, nationally, new polling from "The New York Times" and Siena College found the race tied at 47 percent nationally. That mirrors some other recent national polls suggest very little change since last week's debate.
Here to discuss the state of the race, Republican strategist and CNN political commentator Shermichael Singleton, and Taryn Rosenkranz, CEO and founder of New Blue Interactive.
I want to begin if I can, with some news, right? And you're aware of this, there's been a lot of talk about a story coming out and now it is out regarding the GOP nominee for governor in the state of North Carolina, Mark Robinson. This reporting coming from CNN's KFILE, that is Andrew Kaczynski, in which the GOP nominee said: I am a black Nazi. That among dozens of disturbing comments on porn forum.
In advance of that story, Robinson came out to insist he's staying in the race.
Shermichael, if I could begin with you: does this kill his chances of -- he's already behind in most of the polling. Does this kill his chances of being the governor of North Carolina?
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah.
SCIUTTO: And how does it weaken -- how does it weaken Trump, I should say as well, in North Carolina?
SINGLETON: Yeah, look, I was just skimming through the article and its definitely going to be problematic for a lot of evangelical voters in North Carolina. His campaign stated that he's not getting out. I believe he has until 11:59 p.m. to get out. I was texting with some folks on the former president's campaign. I think they are likely going to try to potentially push for him to get out of this race.
North Carolina is now competitive now, Jim. We've reported on that fact on our very network. The last thing you want with all of Donald Trump's interesting prognostications, if you will, proclamations (ph), if you will, the last thing you want is another candidate further dragging down the ticket when you already have a candidate and who can be a little difficult sometimes. So, I think the best thing here for Republicans and for the GOP is to push him out and try to find someone else who's more palatable, who can potentially increase turnout, particularly with suburban voters where Republicans are absolutely struggling.
SCIUTTO: Taryn, Robinson has already been polling behind Trump in North Carolina and has put North Carolina in play in a way that it really hasn't been since Obama won it in 2008. One, do you think North Carolina actually is in play for Harris? And what effect do you think Robinson, well, the story about Robinson would have not just on him, but on Trump's chances in the state?
TARYN ROSENKRANZ, FOUNDER & CEO, NEW BLUE INTERACTIVE: Well, it's interesting because Mark Robinson has been a continued disgrace throughout this campaign. This is not the first nor the last of disgraceful and just horrific behavior by him over and over again.
So, this is just a continual drag on the ticket for Trump, but it just also is a theme. I mean, it's really hard. You talked about evangelical voters here and people of faith, right? And just people who are just sort of sick and tired of this rhetoric and this extremism in this so far from families of faith and families who just don't want this, right? We want to -- we want something that is just calm and just a return to sanity.
[15:35:01]
And this is just so far from that, right? And this is just not going to be what families are looking for. And so, I just think this is going to be really hard for Trump is separate himself from, and you've got Kamala talking in a way that is relatable to families who are looking to find ways to lower cost at the grocery store and to find ways to keep their kids safe at school.
And this is just not that. "I'm a black Nazi" is not that and I think its going to be really hard for folks to not see that.
SCIUTTO: And we should note, Trump himself not only endorse Robinson, he used the phrase to describe him, MLK on steroids. Those were Trump's words.
ROSENKRANZ: Right.
SCIUTTO: I want -- I want to talk about other polling because in beyond the national polling, there's been some good battleground state public polling for Kamala Harris in recent weeks, including in the blue wall, where Quinnipiac, it found that Harris was gaining ground on two of Trump's best issues with voters, immigration and the economy.
Shermichael, do you see this race moving in Harris's direction in key battleground states?
SINGLETON: I see the race having improved substantially from where it was when vice president or when President Biden rather was a top of the ticket. And I understand why. I mean, a lot of Democratic voters writ large are really didn't have the confidence, Jim, that the president could win again.
So, here comes Vice President Harris. She is a woman of color. She is younger. She brings a lot of enthusiasm and you're seeing that in the a massive amount of money she's raised and the massive number of volunteers that have signed up across the country to support her candidacy.
However, when you begin to look down beneath those top line numbers, you do see some potential vulnerabilities for the vice president, particularly with men. I'm seeing vulnerabilities with African Americans generally speaking.
I think one poll that just came out from Howard University today suggest that she's around 82 percent. She needs to be around 90 to 92 percent. So she has a lot of room that she needs to make up for there.
Though she has increased her margins on the economy and immigration and voters appear to sort of be given her an interesting pass, unlike the pass they were willing to give President Biden, she's still is marginally behind Donald Trump.
Now the question, Jim, for Trump is, can he become disciplined enough to not only bring his critique of immigration and the economy of the Biden-Harris White House rather, can he turn that critique to a more palatable, forward-looking vision for how he would address those issues.
So far, I don't think he's figured that out, which is why I do think the vice president still has more room to grow.
But look, I want to withhold judgment and give the foreign president than an opportunity to see if he can sort of change things around a bit.
SCIUTTO: Shermichael, I have to smile and on my head a little bit more disciplined -- disciplined exhortation, just because I've been hearing that for decade, right? And as you're saying that Trump is still talking about a lie of Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield. I just -- I just -- before I got it back to your, Taryn, do you think that's realistic? Basic question.
SINGLETON: So, look, Jim, I'm a strategist, right? And I'm looking at this race and I'm looking at the numbers and I'm saying if this were my candidate or a different candidate, this is the outcome or this is the playbook that I would advise that I think would give that Republican advantage.
Now, whether or not the former president would heed my advice or the advice of those individuals who he's paying to run his campaign, that's a separate conversation.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
SINGLETON: And I think history suggests that, you know, he doesn't always take that advice.
(LAUGHTER)
SCIUTTO: Taryn, I want to ask you because to Shermichael's earlier point -- Harris, again, based on the polling and polling is not entirely predictive, losing some ground, certainly with white men, losing some ground in some polling with Black men and Hispanic men, gaining a lot of ground with women, Blacks, and also what appears to Hispanics, but certainly young people.
Based on your read of the race right now, do the areas where she's gaining outweigh the areas where she's losing in terms of rebuilding -- well, if you want to call it the Biden coalition that won in 2020?
ROSENKRANZ: I think so. I mean, I think the debate was so interesting. I mean, I know debates don't win campaigns, but I do know just even the buzz in the street here, that the mainstream ability for him to appeal to people to your point about eating dogs and cats, right? Like there was just some point where I think that many moderate and independents were like, wait, what did he just say? You know, he seemed a little bit unhinged and I think that that just it took a lot of people to take a step back.
And I know that many independents and folks were like, wait, I'm not sure I can do this, this time and I think that where she gained a little I want to say a little bit more momentum for folks with there, right?
[15:40:01]
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
ROSENKRANZ: Like because those coalitions for folks who felt maybe a little bit more comfortable voting for him last time, they just couldn't see themselves doing it in the same way because he just seemed a lot more unhinged, quite honestly and they were having more troubles seem themselves doing it again and he brought age into this debate. He brought age really as a core focus.
And when Biden was off the table, this has now become an issue that is at the forefront and he made himself appear quite not in the same way that he was, and he's -- he's really brought this issue which at the table and when you see him unhinged and you're not seeming in the same way, I think its really going to be a little bit more of an issue for him.
SINGLETON: That's good --
SCIUTTO: We'll see if he listened to Shermichael.
SINGLETON: Jim, I was going to say really quickly, I just think that's a great observation by Taryn, right? Like some of those moderate voters, those moderate Republicans maybe they were thinking like, okay, if Trump just gives a good performance here, maybe I don't agree with some of his pronouncements. But if it's just enough, I'm willing to vote for him.
SCIUTTO: Right. SINGLETON: That's where I think the real vulnerability for the former president is. He has a slight advantage on the issues, but it's the question of the chaos that turns off a lot of voters that he has to figure out a way to address.
SCIUTTO: All right. Shermichael Singleton, Taryn Rosenkranz, thanks so much to both of you.
SINGLETON: Thanks, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Just after the break, we will be live on the ground in Beirut where Israel and Hezbollah are exchanging strikes across that northern Israeli border following the explosions of thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah fighters earlier this week.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: Back now to our top story, Israel and Hezbollah trading rocket fire once again across the border of northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Israel says it is targeting terrorist infrastructure and weapon storage. Those strikes after Hezbollah's leader warned his group would not back down until the war in Gaza ends, despite damage done to his beloved by those pager and walkie-talkie explosions, thousands of them earlier this week.
[15:45:01]
And we just learned at least two Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat in northern Israel. The Israeli military did not elaborate on the circumstances surrounding the soldier's death.
CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is live in Beirut.
Ben, the Hezbollah leader is promising retaliation. There's been a lot of questions, speculation about how much or how little I should say has below wants it expanded war here. Is it your sense that now given the scale of these recent attacks presumably by Israel, that has blocked as poised for something bigger?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think Hezbollah, Jim, is poised for an Israeli invasion, but it's not interested in escalating itself. But what we've seen certainly this week starting with Tuesday's pager blasts, followed by yesterdays walkie-talkie blast. And this evening were seeing in this space of about 20 minutes, 50 Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon.
We're seeing definitely the Israelis are escalating the fight that's been going on along the border going back to last October, what we heard from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah this evening was an admission that the pager and walkie-talkie blasts were real blow to not only its personnel, but its security as well.
And as far as his desire to retaliate, I -- having listened to many of his speeches over the years in this one, it was somewhat subdued. He said we would respond to the Israeli attacks, but at a time of our choosing. And during that speech, what we heard a -- rather what we saw from here was two Israeli planes flying over Beirut, dropping flares and then about 20 minutes later, more Israeli planes dropping, breaking the sound barrier.
So they're certainly sending a message that they're prepared for a serious escalation against his Hezbollah -- Jim.
SCIUTTO: Our Ben Wedeman in Beirut, thanks so much.
Back here in this country, it's been seven years since the hashtag #metoo movement rattled Hollywood and beyond, as women came forward with their stories of sexual abuse and assault. Hollywood is still facing repercussions today.
Media mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs now sitting in federal custody, his appeal for bail denied Wednesday as he faces sex trafficking, racketeering, and conspiracy charges that prosecutors called a criminal enterprise.
They say for decades, Combs engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse towards women, at times verbal, emotional, and sexual.
Diddy's legal battle began in November 2023 when his longtime partner, Cassie Ventura, filed a lawsuit alleging her own experience of his sexual assault and physical abuse. That indictment recalled one incident that mirrors video CNN obtained. We should note that video is disturbing.
This is exclusive footage from 2016, hotel security tape that appears to show Combs kicking and hitting Ventura multiple times, just difficult to watch. There you go again.
Well, for more on how this case fits into the larger #metoo movement, the impact of Cassie's decision to come forward is Caroline Heldman. She's a professor of critical theory and social justice at Occidental College.
Thanks so much for taking the time this afternoon.
CAROLINE HELDMAN, PROFESSOR OF CRITICAL THEORY & SOCIAL JUSTICE, OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE: Good to see you, Jim.
SCIUTTO: You follow the #metoo movement, its impact for some time. What is your reaction to seeing Diddy not just charged, but now being denied bail?
HELDMAN: Well, Jim, you brought up the #metoo movement and I think what's interesting about what's happening with Diddy and R. Kelly and a lot of folks in the music industry is it really wasn't held accountable in the same way that Hollywood was, not that everything's fixed. But they're kind of late to the game.
And, you know, we did a report that sound off coalition of 70 years of abuse in the industry. There's a lot of systemic institutional ways in which a lot of musical artists have been protected. So my initial reaction was, well, finally, the floodgates are now
opening in the music industry and we're finally starting to see some of these serial predators being held accountable.
SCIUTTO: So many stories of similar abuse go untold. People are just simply afraid of the repercussions of speaking out. This trial might not be happening if it wasn't for Cassie Ventura speaking out in her own lawsuit in 2023. Describe how important that is that she spoke out when she did?
HELDMAN: So important, Jim, the courage that it took for her to do that, and I don't know if you recall when she first came out, she wasn't believed by a lot of folks and fans were targeting her as they do all of these high profile survivors. And then CNN put out that video and finally we have video evidence. I really think it speaks volumes to how we generally don't believe survivors, which is probably why only 1 percent of rape is will ever see a day inside a jail cell because oftentimes, these crimes are not reported, and then when a few brave individuals come forward, others survivors watch how they're treated, right?
And so, they're watching how Cassie is treated. They're watching how other courageous women and some men who are coming forward to report sexual violence are getting abused in the press, or getting, you know, were harassed by fans, and it really discourages them from reporting. But the #metoo movement was at that time we all came together and Cassie did that on our own. So, kudos to her, wow.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. There's been some talk at times commentary about a backlash to the #metoo movement. Have you seen that, and have you seen any repercussions of that leading, for instance, women to be less likely than Cassie Ventura was in terms of coming public with her allegations.
HELDMAN: I think you're absolutely right that we're in a backlash. You know, folks have a lot of fatigue. We have surveys showing that a majority of men right after the #metoo movement said that they were worried about being alone in meetings with women, which, of course, is not the right response. The right response is, hey, let's make a workplace and work environment that's better.
I think what's remarkable, you know, about Cassie, as you noted, she's coming forward after the #metoo movement and I would like to say that we put in a lot of laws and practices that are better. The problem is not fixed, but she's coming forward at least where survivors aren't dismissed out of hand, whereas, a decade ago it would have been.
And I thought it was amazing what the #metoo movement did with suddenly starting to believe survivors, but also acknowledging when they come forward, they're still going to face so much antagonism. I would think like Marilyn Manson survivors are just being targeted right now, and my heart goes out to them because they're on the frontlines of keeping this very vital issue alive.
SCIUTTO: Yeah, and listen, the cases -- you look at Harvey Weinstein, they can last years, right? They don't go away quickly. Caroline Heldman, thanks so much.
HELDMAN: Thank you, Jim.
SCIUTTO: If you or someone you know is struggling with intimate partner violence, there are resources available, including the national domestic violence hotline. That number, it's easy to remember, 800-799-SAFE.
After the break, what's behind the big drop in deadly drug overdoses in the U.S. They have fallen remarkably to a three-year low.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: The number of fatal drug overdoses in the U.S. dropped a remarkable 10 percent in the last year, falling now to a three-year low.
[15:55:07]
CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell joins us now.
Meg, a serious decline on a story that is only brought bad news. Let's be frank for a number of years. Walk us through the numbers. Can you tell us why experts think this is happening?
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That is the key question. Experts don't really know why. And so, they're really digging through the data and trying to ensure, is this a real drop? Is this going to continue? Is this sustainable? And what are we doing that as helping with this that we can keep doing?
So, as you said, this is a 10 percent decline in the last years' worth of data which ended in April of 2024. That's down to the lowest level in three years. But of course we are still seeing more than 100,000 deaths from drug overdose in the U.S. every year. And that is just unacceptably high.
This has come down from where it was in the pandemic, but it is not quite down to where it was before the pandemic when we start drug overdose deaths soar. One thing that experts are looking at though is there are there other indicators that indicate that this trend is real and continuing, and they see that there are indicators suggesting that. One is that none not just fatal overdoses are down. That's about 10 percent decline, but also nonfatal overdoses. They say look like they're down about 15 to 20 percent across the board.
And if you look at the state level, researchers at the University of North Carolina say they're seeing even bigger magnitude decreases. So there is a lot of optimism here, but still trying to sort through and figure out what's driving it. One thing that really is a noticeable trend is that deaths from fentanyl and other synthetic opioids dropped 20 percent according to CDC data.
So they are looking into interventions, things like the increased availability of naloxone, for example, that became available over-the- counter recently, you can buy Narcan in the pharmacy without a prescription they want to make sure that medication for opioid use disorder is more widely available. Things like fentanyl strips, but they're really looking across the board to things like fentanyl shipments, seizures, and things like that. Could that be driving this?
They want to make sure whatever it is, we keep doing it.
SCIUTTO: No question. One in five fentanyl deaths, that's remarkable.
Meg Tirrell, thanks so much.
And thanks so much to all of you for joining me today. I'm Jim Sciutto in New York today.
"QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up next.
