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Harris Agrees To Second Debate On CNN, Trump Campaign Rejects Invite; Israel And Hezbollah Trade Attacks; Georgia Election Board Passes Controversial New Rule; Arizona Supreme Court Rules On Voters Caught In Citizenship Glitch; FBI Investigates Suspicious Packages Sent To Election Officials; Police Dispatch Call Reveals Shots Fired Inside KY Courthouse; Biden Looks To Put Final Stamp On Alliance Of Quad Partnership; Zelenskyy Says Long-Range Weapons Approval Key Part Of His "Victory Plan" As U.S. Visit Nears. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired September 21, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York, and we begin today with Vice President Kamala Harris agreeing to a second debate with former president Donald Trump right here on CNN on October 23rd. Of course, just days before the election. Harris is now challenging her political rival to another face-to-face showdown. But is Trump up for more? We're going to have more on that just a moment.

Also today Trump is campaigning in the key battleground state of North Carolina as the Republican candidate for governor in that state faces a major scandal with just 45 days to go until election day.

CNN's Steve Contorno is live in Wilmington, North Carolina, where Trump just wrapped up that rally.

Steve, first off, what did Trump say about the possibility of this second debate with Vice President Harris?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, Donald Trump wasted little time telling this crowd what he thinks of our offer for another debate. He said no, thank you. He said it's way too close to the election. And while Vice President Harris is eager to debate because she's, quote, "losing badly," he sees no reason to do it.

Take a listen to what he told this crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Although good entertainment value, a lot of people said, do it, it's great entertainment. I've already done two. The problem with another debate is that it's just too late. Voting has already started. She's had her chance to do it with FOX. You know, FOX invited us on and I waited and waited. And they turned it down. They turned it down. But now she wants to do a debate right before the election with CNN because she's losing badly. It's too late to do another. I'd love to in many ways, but it's too late. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now I will point out that Trump has participated in October debates in both of his previous elections. He did one against Joe Biden on October 22nd of 2020, and he had two October debates against Hillary Clinton in 2016, Jessica, so we're not sure exactly what's different this go around, but it looks like we're not going to have any more debates.

DEAN: Very interesting. Also, Steve, Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson was notably not at the rally in North Carolina today. Did Trump say anything about this man who he's endorsed for governor?

CONTORNO: He did not. And as you said, he was not here. He also wasn't invited, which was interesting because he has made several appearances with Donald Trump in the Tar Heel State in the past. What I found really compelling, though, is not only was he not here, but he wasn't talked about not just by Trump, but by all the other Republicans who spoke ahead of Trump. We had several state leaders here talking about the need to elect Trump and to elect Republicans up and down the ballot. But notably, Mark Robinson's name was not mentioned by any of them.

DEAN: And Steve, Trump did appear to be worried about this gender gap we keep seeing in the polls when it comes to female voters.

CONTORNO: That's right, Jessica.

DEAN: What did he say about that?

CONTORNO: Coming in to today, he posted this long message on Truth Social speaking directly to women voters telling them that they were, quote, "poor, less healthy, less safe, more depressed, and less optimistic than they were four years." It was quite a lengthy post and he actually read it almost word for word during today's speech.

And he continued to insist that the issue of abortion should no longer be on the table because this is now being handled by the states. Of course, some states have restricted abortion to the point that women are concerned about getting access to health care and whether they can get treatment if they are in dire need of health. That's something that Vice President Harris has made a central part of her campaign.

But, look, it's clear that the women's vote is something that Trump is really worried about at this stage of the race, and take a look at these numbers in North Carolina, 60 percent of women telling Quinnipiac in a recent poll that they would support Harris over Donald Trump, and that margin between Trump and the Democratic ticket is larger than it was four years ago when it was Trump versus Biden.

So clearly, he has some ground to make up there in a state that is growing quickly, changing fast and has many new women voters, especially in those suburban parts of the state.

DEAN: Yes. North Carolina is certainly going to be one to watch. All right. Steve Contorno for us there in Wilmington on the trail,

thanks so much.

Joining us now is former Democratic congressman of Ohio, Tim Ryan.

Congressman, thanks so much for being here with us. We appreciate it.

TIM RYAN (D), FORMER OHIO REPRESENTATIVE: Thank you.

DEAN: I want to start first in North Carolina and the controversy surrounding the Trump endorsed Republican candidate for governor there. We've seen the Harris campaign seized on this. They've released an ad tying Trump to Mark Robinson.

What kind of an impact do you think this could all have on the presidential race there in North Carolina?

[16:05:07]

RYAN: I think it's going to have a big impact. I mean, I think it shows and it reaffirms a lot of this extremism, you know, the holier than thou kind of attitude that you're getting from the Trump campaign and really embed with the weirdos. And I think that's what you saw coming from the gubernatorial candidate there. All of the great things that Trump said about him, he was greater than Martin Luther King and all of that.

I think that's going to hurt him badly in North Carolina and may just be enough to tip it in the favor of the Democrats when we were already running a really good campaign there.

DEAN: Yes, it is going to be such -- likely such a tight race there. I also want to broaden it out and talk a little bit more about this potential upcoming debate in October 23rd. We heard my colleague Steve Contorno reporting there saying that the former president says he thinks it's too late to do another debate with Vice President Harris on October 23rd.

What do you make of that response from Trump?

RYAN: I think it plays into the fact that he's scared. I mean, he realized -- I think him and J.D. Vance both, you know, behind the beard and the tan and the, you know, hair dye and all that stuff like they're two scared little boys, and he does not want to do that again. Just remember, you know, the first debate against Joe Biden, Trump won that debate significantly and now the debate against Kamala Harris, even Republicans were saying he got his clock cleaned.

He wasn't prepared on and on. And for him to now say he's not going to debate again, I think plays into this narrative, look, these guys are scared. They're scared about everything. They want you to be scared. They want you to be scared of immigrants. They want you to be scared of women making their own choices. They want you to be scared of another political party. That's how they are. And so for him to be afraid to debate, I think plays right along with that kind of theory of the case. DEAN: And I also want to talk about the rhetoric that's being used by

the Trump campaign in your state of Ohio. Obviously, we have seen so much fallout from that debate and what was said on the debates stage about pets in Springfield, and now to where we are today. The mayor of Springfield this week granting himself temporary emergency powers to address bomb threats that schools and public buildings have been receiving.

What in your mind is the bottom line fallout here within your -- you're there in Ohio. What are people saying and how are they responding to all of this?

RYAN: I think the response really is J.D. Vance and Donald Trump, they don't care. They don't care what they say. Everyone is just a pawn in their game. And literally like bomb threats at schools, they don't care. Bomb threats at universities. They don't care. Bomb threats at city halls. They don't care. It just shows that they're in -- even and almost admitting that they made the story up and they just use this beautiful town of Springfield, Ohio, as a pawn in their little game and that they still don't care.

And I think, you know, behind the kind of immigration thing, of course it's important, and how that happened, and behind all of that is people are coming to the realization that they just don't give a damn about average people. They will use them. Trump did that in all his business dealings. J.D. Vance did that when he started a fake opiate charity in Ohio and said he was going to take care of people overdosing, and didn't spend a nickel on them, spent all the money on his own political operation and a campaign consultant and a poll that he ran out of his opiate charity for himself. Like they don't care.

And I think it's all in line with past behavior, and I think those are the kinds of issues that, especially women and we're starting to see that resonate in the poll, but men, too, are like these guys are, you know, BS artists and we need to move on. And as for Republicans, what I'm hearing a lot is we are voting for Kamala Harris, so we could begin the rebuilding of the Republican Party, which as a Democrat I'd say hallelujah, thank God, let's move in that direction. Let's have two sane political parties here.

DEAN: Ten days from now we're going to have the vice presidential debate. You of course debated J.D. Vance during your Senate race. What should Tim Walz be expecting? Are you helping them at all? Are you advising him at all since you have debated J.D. Vance in the past?

RYAN: Yes, and I'm not going to comment on whether or not I'm helping, but I will say this. You will hear J.D. Vance try to probably pin Governor Walz and Harris as extreme, because that's been their go-to move. I think it's going to be very hard for people to believe that Tim Walz is some, you know, raging lunatic on political issues and so down-home that's such a great demeanor and a sense of humor.

[16:10:09]

But I think he's going to try to do that to Tim Walz. And again, he's going to try to incite fear. He's going to want everybody to be afraid of each other and all of these other issues. The thing that I think really has to happen from the Walz side is, he can't let J.D. Vance get away with anything. He will try to lie. He will try to obfuscate. He will try to muddy the waters. And he has to pin them down on those issues in real time.

He will say things that I never said that which he was famous for in our debates, when there were videos or podcasts or whatever of him actually saying those things. So he's got to hold him to account in real time. And I think Governor Walz will do that in stage and he's going to do it with a very nice touch and a nice demeanor, and a nice sense of humor. So I'm very much looking forward to the debate.

DEAN: All right. Well, we will all watch it. Former Congressman Tim Ryan, thanks so much for your time.

RYAN: Thank you.

DEAN: Still to come, election officials in the battleground state of Georgia making a controversial rule change despite objections from people in both parties. Plus the man responsible for keeping a Kentucky judge safe is now charged with killing him. What we know about the sheriff who's sitting in a jail cell tonight.

But first breaking news from the Middle East, where Israel is warning civilians of a new attack from Hezbollah as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continues to escalate. We're going to be talking with a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. That's next.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Israeli forces say their fighter jets bombed dozens of targets today in Lebanon, including thousands of rocket launcher barrels that were aiming at Israel.

Hezbollah, the Iranian backed terror group, has suffered several major roads this week, which Lebanese officials roundly blamed on Israel. On Friday, Israel said it killed one of Hezbollah's top military commanders in an air strike that leveled an apartment building, killing at least 37 people. Again, that's according to Lebanese officials.

Ben Wedeman joining us now live from Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

Ben, what are you hearing there? And is this a level of conflict that people you're talking to just have come to expect to continue?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well definitely, ever since Tuesday, the level of escalation is reaching unprecedented levels. This evening what we're seeing is a renewal of intense Israeli airstrikes mostly on southern Lebanon. Earlier in the afternoon, according to the Lebanese official news agency within a one-hour period between 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. there were 111 Israeli airstrikes. Now the Israeli military says that they struck 180 targets. What we

have seen so far today is that Hezbollah is claiming 11 strikes on targets within Israel. Now, today we were at the funeral for three of the Hezbollah fighters who were killed yesterday in that Israeli airstrike on southern Beirut. That's the third Israeli airstrike on Beirut since January. Now the official death toll at this point is 37, although we are seeing reports that another body has been pulled from the ruins.

Now among those 37 are women and children. Now, when we were at that funeral today, we spoke to people who conceded that this has been a very painful and difficult week for Hezbollah but they insisted that they continue to support the organization in what's known as its support front for Gaza.

Now, yesterday, among the dead, of course, was Ibrahim Aqil, who was one of the senior commanders of Hezbollah who was killed in that strike along with about 15 other Hezbollah fighters and commanders as well. We expect his funeral to be held tomorrow -- Jessica.

DEAN: And Ben, what has been the fallout from this week's stunning attacks using pagers and walkie-talkies as bombs. Lebanese officials say they're still treating thousands of people affected in that.

WEDEMAN: Yes. Well, the Lebanese health system was briefly overwhelmed by these thousands of injuries and in addition to sort of the physical damage caused by these unprecedented wave of electronic device attacks, there's the psychological effect that it has had on people, because by and large the war has been restricted to the border area with notable exceptions.

But really these attacks, and certainly yesterday's strike on Beirut have really brought the war to the entire country basically, where you had these exploding pagers and walkie-talkies. And of course now there is a growing sense that since October we've seen, you know, periods of intense attention followed by a somewhat relaxation of tensions.

[16:20:07]

But at this point, I think we are at the most intense period of worry that what we are on the brink of is perhaps a full scale war between Lebanon and Israel -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Ben Wedeman for us live in Beirut tonight. Thank you very much for that reporting.

And with us now is Michael Oren, the former Israeli ambassador to the United States.

Ambassador, thanks so much for being here with us this afternoon. We really appreciate it.

MICHAEL OREN, FORMER ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Good to be with you, Jessica. Hi.

DEAN: And so we just heard that reporting from my colleague, Ben Wedeman, who's live in Beirut. To call this an escalation that we've seen over the last several days might even be an understatement. In your opinion, is this -- at what point does this become full scale war?

OREN: Well, I think what's missing from all this discussion is context. Beginning on October 8th, Hezbollah opened fire on northern Israel, totally unprovoked. An attempt to show some type of solidarity with Hamas' murderous attack on Israel the previous day. Since that time, the entire northern part of Israel has been under daily rocket and drone attacks, 100,000 Israelis have been rendered homeless, thousands of homes destroyed, about 70,000 acres of farmland gone up in smoke, and dozens of people killed and wounded.

So it's not really an escalation. It is a response to an unprovoked, unbridled assault on the population of northern Israel. And those rockets are falling with greater intensity and further south every day, the Israeli government has to respond. The United States is trying to undertake diplomacy. We hope it works. If it doesn't, Israel have to continue to take all possible measures to defend its northern population.

DEAN: Do you think at this point diplomacy is a realistic answer?

OREN: Well, I've been led a delegation of displaced Israelis to Washington. I'm here in Washington with them. We've been at both Houses of Congress, both parties for the last few days and yesterday we're in the White House with senior security advisers to the president and to the vice president. And they assured me that they are very serious about proceeding with diplomacy. They couldn't tell us whether the chances are great or not, but we assure them that Israel would of course prefer a diplomatic outcome.

But minus that, we will actually have no choice. We are under relentless attack and we can't sacrifice northern Galilee, an area that's precious not to Israelis, but to a great many people around the planet, including this country. We can't do that. And this is not -- it's a very black and white situation, Jessica. We've been attacked by a vicious terrorist organization that has killed not only great numbers of Israelis, but as we now know killed great numbers of Americans as well.

DEAN: And so walk me through Israel's strategy fighting Hezbollah in the north and how that is differing or will differ from how they're fighting Hamas mainly in Gaza? Because they have now several fronts and to your point, have for many months now.

OREN: Well, Hamas is in Gaza. It's underground. under hundreds of miles of tunnels in Gaza. And the goal in Gaza is to degrade Hamas to a degree they can no longer threaten the state of Israel. I think there's no illusion that we can defeat Hezbollah. Hezbollah is as a massive organization. It's one of the biggest military forces in the world. It has upwards of 170,000 rockets there, they are longer range, more accurate than anything in Hamas' arsenal.

And they're a direct wing of Iran. I think the goal in Lebanon for Israel is to push Hezbollah back beyond what's called the Litani River. It's about 13 miles from our border in accordance with U.N. Resolution 1701, which was passed back in 2006 and Hezbollah flagrantly violated that by moving right up to the Israeli border. Israeli citizens of that border areas will not go back to their homes. If this terrorist organization is on the immediate side of the fence. And now we know what terrorists can do to families if they're on the other side of the fence.

So I think that's going to be the goal, to deter Hezbollah, to stop the rocket, and the drone fire. And push Hezbollah north of the Litani River.

DEAN: And I also just want to get your take on the attack this week on Hezbollah using the pagers and walkie-talkies that they then exploded and injured and killed a number of Hezbollah members. Some rights groups have been quick to point out that might have not been OK under international law.

But what is your take on all of it, and how do you view both the intent of the operation and then how it was executed?

OREN: Well, Israel has taken no credit for this. We're not going to take credit for it. I'm not an official in the Israeli government. I still will not take credit for it. But I scratch my head when people say that this is a violation of international law, somehow this is not in accordance with the rules of law. By the same token, then taking out bin Laden by SEAL Team 6 was a violation of international law.

This is an organization that's dedicated to our destruction. It is not in favor of a two-state solution, is not in favor of peace. It's a branch of Iran. It aspires to annihilate us.

[16:25:01]

And you can't get a more pinpointed operation than this. The big claim would be that, you know, we are, say, would bomb a building that has a lot of civilians in it in order to get one terrorist. This was pretty much one operation for every terrorist. And these are our terrorists, and that I think even under American law and Hezbollah is recognized by the United States as a terrorist organization. This was not just a legitimate operation. It was a super legitimate operation.

DEAN: Former ambassador Michael Oren, thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.

OREN: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: Still to come, close to 100,000 Arizona voters will now get full ballots in November after computer glitch threatened their eligibility. We're going to have more on that.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:31:07] DEAN: With just 45 days left until Election Day, the Georgia State Election Board has just passed a controversial new rule requiring counties to hand count the number of ballots cast at polling locations on Election Day.

This is to make sure the number matches the tally from voting machines. But critics say this could potentially delay results as well as be against the law.

CNN's Sara Murray has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Three people are all pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory. They're fighting.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Those three Republicans on the Georgia State Election Board, who Donald Trump praised at a campaign rally last month, charging ahead with a controversial new rule about hand counting ballots.

JANELLE KING, (R), GEORGIA STATE ELECTION BOARD MEMBER: So, this leaves us in a very difficult position. Do we maintain the status quo because it's easier, or do we make a few adjustments so that we can be better?

MURRAY: But it's not better for many bipartisan election officials across the state who begged the board to pause on new rules ahead of November.

MILTON KIDD, ELECTIONS DIRECTOR, DOUGLAS COUNTY, GEORGIA: The idea that you're not going to listen to the individuals that are charged with conducting elections is absurd to me.

MURRAY: State officials, from Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to Attorney General Chris Carr, issued sharp warnings, saying several of the dozen rules the board is considering may run afoul of the law.

BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, (R), GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: We're too close to the election. In fact, we're really just three weeks before we start early voting. And it's just too late in the cycle.

MURRAY: The new rule doesn't help determine a winner. Rather, it requires a hand count of the number of ballots at polling places on Election Day, and then comparing the number of ballots cast with the number recorded by voting machines.

Critics say it's a recipe for chaos.

KRISTIN NABERS, GEORGIA STATE DIRECTOR, ALL VOTING IS LOCAL: If I were to hand this stack of paper to three random people in this room, especially at the end of a long voting day, and ask them to arrive at the same total number, do we think that's feasible?

People doing a hand count are going to make mistakes, which can then be exploited to spread lies.

MURRAY: Raffensperger says the change could delay reporting results on Election Day.

RAFFENSPERGER: You start breaking up the ballot boxes after you close the precinct, you won't be getting those Election Day votes until maybe 1:00, 2:00 or 4:00 in the morning.

And we just don't believe that's healthy for, you know, the republic and we don't think it's healthy for people of Georgia.

MURRAY: The three Trump-backed Republicans passed the rule anyway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The motion passes three to two.

(APPLAUSE)

MURRAY: Even steamrolling the Independent chairman of the five-member board.

JOHN FERVIER, (I), CHAIRMAN, GEORGIA STATE ELECTION BOARD: If this board votes to implement this rule, I think that we put ourselves in legal jeopardy.

MURRAY (on camera): And this new rule is almost certainly going to face legal challenges.

And to that end, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger put out a statement after the board meeting today saying:

"Attorney General Chris Carr has stated that these rules would not withstand a legal challenge. And I have worked every day to strengthen Georgia's election law to ensure our elections remain safe, secure and free."

So, it's just a question at this point of where these legal challenges are going to come from.

Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Sara, thank you.

And coming up next hour, I'm going to speak to the lone Democrat on that Georgia election board about yesterday's vote and where they go from here. That is in our next hour.

In the meantime, Arizona's Supreme Court ruled on Friday, nearly 100,000 residents may still vote for the full ballot, even though their voter registration status was in doubt because of a clerical glitch.

Arizona uses separate ballots because it's voters must prove their citizenship before voting in state and local races. But they don't have to prove it for federal races. Joining us now, CNN's Marshall Cohen.

And, Marshall, walk us through the implications this might have for the presidential race in that battleground state?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Hey, Jess, the Arizona Supreme Court last night handed down this decision that does impact almost 100,000 voters, 98,000 to be exact.

The question on the table was, will they be able to participate in the full election of federal races, state races and local races or would they have to get the federal only ballot?

This was in question because of a clerical error on the state, nothing nefarious, but just an accident, a glitch in the system that mistakenly marked down that they had already proven their citizenship.

Which would enable them to get a full ballot, when, in fact, they had -- there was no record of them actually providing those documents to the officials.

The decision from the Arizona Supreme Court was that this is going to just -- everything will be left in place for this election. So these people will get the full ballot.

Which means, in addition to voting on the presidential race, they will also be able to vote on state and local races, including the all- important statewide referendum on abortion rights in Arizona.

So this was a victory for the Democratic secretary of state in Arizona, Adrian Fontes. He was arguing that the justices should come down with this decision, so they gave him what he was looking for.

Here's what he said to celebrate the ruling, Jessica, quote, "Today marks his significant victory for those whose fundamental right to vote was under scrutiny.

[16:35:02]

"The court faced a stark choice, to just -- to allow voters to participate in just a few federal races on a limited ballot or to make their voices heard across hundreds of decisions on the full ballot that includes a variety of state and local offices."

So he was happy about the specific outcome. But everybody was happy, Jessica, that decision was reached quickly.

This glitch was discovered about a week ago. They quickly went to court, asked the justices to clarify, and they handed down their decision yesterday.

And now all the election officials are going to try to implement it. So nobody who wants to vote gets left out this here -- Jessica?

DEAN: And, Marshall, also give us the latest on the suspicious packages that have been sent to election offices almost half the -- across almost half the country.

COHEN: Yes, the number has been ticking up all week. When we talk about the threats and the dangers to election officials, this is what we're referring to.

It became real this week when election offices in almost 25 states reported that they had received or had intercepted packages in the mail that were suspicious that caused, in some cases, evacuations to some of these offices.

Which couldn't come at a worse time, Jessica, because this is gearing up now. Voting is underway in some of these states. They can't be wasting their time standing outside while Hazmat teams try to make sure that they're not facing potentially poisonous materials in these envelopes.

The FBI is investigating. The initial indications are that these packages did not contain anything deadly or poisonous. But, in some respects, the damage has already been done.

Listen to this, Jessica. This is Karen Brinson Bell. She is the executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, a critical battleground state.

Here's how this saga impacted her team this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN BRINSON BELL, VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE ELECTION DIRECTORS: And it's things like wearing gloves now when we process the mail, having an isolated area in case something's contaminated, things that I really do add to the labor intensiveness of the volume of mail that's coming in.

There's a lot to be processing, and when we have to take these extra measures, it really adds to the workload. And, you know, it really adds to the anxiety that we have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Those anxieties could not be higher. But the good news is nobody got hurt, Jessica, and everybody is moving full speed ahead on running a fair and clean election -- Jessica?

DEAN: Yes, public servants just trying to make sure that we can have free and fair elections.

Marshall Cohen, thank you so much for that reporting.

A small, tight-knit town is shaken to its core after investigators say the local sheriff shot and killed a judge in his own chambers following a heated argument between the two of them.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [16:42:36]

DEAN: So more questions than answers in Letcher County, Kentucky, where 54-year-old District Judge Kevin Mullins was gunned down in his own chambers Thursday.

Authorities have released a police dispatch recording, reporting shots fired inside.

(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)

DISPATCHER: 382 needs to be en route to the Letcher County courthouse. Got shots fired on the second floor.

(END AUDIO FEED)

DEAN: The county sheriff, 43-year-old Shawn Stines, now facing murder charges. Police say the two men may have argued before that shooting.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino is following the story for us.

And, Gloria, at this point, the motive remains unclear?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN REPORTER: Yes, Jessica. In fact, part of what we know is only that that argument you just mentioned took place before the shooting.

Authorities say that the sheriff walked into the judge's chamber, the two men appeared to have an argument, and then the sheriff pulled his weapon and fired multiple shots and ended up killing District Judge Court Kevin Mullins.

Now, we don't know what the nature of the argument was. But we do know that, at the very least, these two men were known to each other. In fact, Jessica in Kentucky, sheriffs are in charge of protecting and making sure that judges are safe.

Here's what else we know about the sheriff. His name is Sheriff Stines. We know that he allegedly shot Mullins following that argument inside the judge's chambers.

He turned himself in afterwards and was arrested at the scene. And no one else was injured in that shooting. And that he has been charged with one count of first-degree murder.

Now, Jessica, this is a very small town, Letcher County, about 1,700 residents live there. And that means that these two men we're very prominent figures in the community. They were known to the law enforcement community as well as other people in the town.

In fact, many of them are left wondering how this could have happened and the why.

Even the commonwealth attorney for Letcher County has said that he will have to recuse himself from the case, citing the fact that he worked and knew both men and that he has family ties to Judge Mullins. I want you to take a listen to one of the court employees just

describing how all of this has affected them.

Take a listen to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[16:44:55]

MIKE WATTS, LETCHER COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT CLERK: It's just unimaginable. I don't know what happened or what the reason was. I know that the police are investigating it. And I feel confident that they will hopefully provide some answers on why and maybe that'll be able to get this all dealt with.

This community is just in shock. And both were well likes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Now Sheriff Stines is expected to appear in court next week. It will be his first court appearance for his arraignment.

And he's been transferred to another county about 100 miles away from Letcher County because the courthouse where he would have been arraigned is the courthouse where the shooting took place.

And the judge that would have presided over this hearing is Judge Mullins, of course, who was the victim killed in the shooting.

In the meantime, this court has been paralyzed, this court in Letcher County. There's a retired judge that will be serving in his position until Kentucky state officials can convene a judicial nominating committee that will name a new judge for that seat.

But in the meantime, Jessica, again, this town just trying to understand how all of this could have happened. And still learning to learn more about what was behind the motive and what was that argument about that took place in the chambers before gunfire rang out -- Jessica?

DEAN: There's a lot of questions here still.

All right, Gloria Pazmino for us. Thanks so much for that.

Still ahead, President Biden hosting the leaders of Australia, Japan and India in Delaware today as he looks to strengthen the Quad Alliance before leaving office.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:51:18]

DEAN: President Biden is meeting with leaders from the Quad countries this weekend in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. He's aiming to put his final stamp on an international alliance he hopes will endure beyond his time in office.

Biden and the leaders of Australia, India and Japan are expected to talk about the issues of key importance in the Indo-Pacific, including China and its aggressive moves in the South China Sea.

Arlette Saenz joining us now from Claymont, Delaware.

So, Arlette, what are we expecting out of these meetings?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, President Biden right now is in a private meeting with the leaders of Australia, India and Japan as he is looking to the further boost the Quad Alliance before he leaves office.

So this is a partnership that the president, just moments ago, said he does believe will endure beyond his presidency.

The Quad Alliance has been at the center of his strategy in the Indo- Pacific as the U.S. is trying to look for ways to counter China's growing influence in the region.

Now, as the president was heading into that private meeting, China was at the top of the agenda. The leaders were expected to discuss Beijing's moves, including its aggression in -- aggressive posture in the South China Sea.

The leaders are also announcing a number of deliverables from this summit that will include launching their first ever joint Coast Guard mission between the four countries.

They are also looking to pre-position more resources in the Indo- Pacific to try to prepare for humanitarian and disaster relief operations.

There's also efforts to ramp up and provide more sophisticated technology to countries in the Endo-Pacific trying to monitor illegal activities in their waters, including illegal fishing.

And then there's very personal component to all of this for President Biden relating to the Cancer Moon Shot. That's his domestic initiative trying to eradicate cancer.

The Quad leaders will actually be announcing a new collaboration between all of their countries, a Quad Cancer Moon Shot specifically aimed at trying to reduce cervical cancer rates in the Indo-Pacific.

Cervical cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers for women in that area. So these countries want to try to boost up testing, screening, treatment and also vaccinations.

The president himself is also putting some personal touches on the summit as he has invited everyone here to his home state of Delaware.

He's hosted each of the leaders at his private home for personal meetings between yesterday and this morning. And now the summit is taking place at his high school Archmere Academy. But all of this comes as the president really is trying to cement his foreign policy legacy heading into these final months that he has an office.

His team has insisted that he wants to really engaged in this full, complete sprint in these final months to get as much as he can -- can get done on the foreign policy front.

And chief among those is continuing to find ways to address and counter China's influence in the Indo-Pacific. Of course, President Biden himself also trying to engage in some potential diplomacy with China.

We do expect to see he and President Xi Jinping will be speaking on the phone in the coming weeks. That's something their teams have been working towards.

But the White House has been insistent that the president continues to have his eye on the ball on foreign policy, even as his administration is winding down and he's preparing for the next president to take over once they're elected in November.

DEAN: And, Arlette, I also want to ask you about this meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that's expected next week for President Biden to meet with him.

And Zelenskyy tells CNN he wants to get approval to use these long- range weapons on targets inside of Russia. What more do you know about that?

[16:54:57]

SAENZ: Yes, that's something that Zelenskyy has been asking Western allies to allow him to do for quite some time. He has been seeking this approval to use these long-range weapons, long-range missiles, and not just within Ukraine, but into -- further into Russia.

Now, the president, just a few weeks ago, said that they were still working through whether that is something that they would be willing to allow. Because these weapons are provided by the U.S. and other Western countries, there would need to be some us sign-off.

So at least by saying that they're working through that, it shows that there could be some openness on the president's part relating to that.

Now, President Biden will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Thursday. Vice President Kamala Harris is also expected to meet with him.

So we believe that will be a key focus as Zelenskyy is insisting that the use of these long-range weapons deep into Russia will be key to their victory plan as they've been fighting this war now for years.

DEAN: All right, Arlette Saenz, with president, with the president there in Delaware, thank you so much for that reporting. And when we come back, we're taking you live to Beirut as Israel and

Lebanon trade intensifying attacks, including one that leveled this apartment building, killing dozens of people.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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