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Tensions Rise In Middle East As Israel Carries Out Massive Airstrikes In Lebanon; Zelenskyy Arrives In U.S. To Discuss Victory Plan With Biden; Floods, Landslides Hit Central Japan Months After Major Quake; Evacuated Israeli Town on Border with Lebanon; Biden: U.S. Doing Everything We Can to Prevent Wider War; Harris to Lay Out Economic Vision in Coming Days; Sri Lankan Voters Elect Marxist- Leaning President in a Landslide; Police Believe Deadly Alabama Shooting Was a Targeted "Hit"; Three-Mile Island to Reopen and Sell Power to Microsoft; Shohei Ohtani Becomes Baseball's First 50-50 Player. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired September 23, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Ahead here on CNN Newsroom, Hezbollah's warning of a battle without limits, as Israel's Prime Minister says, If Hezbollah didn't get the message, he'll make sure they do.
Ukrainian President arrives in the U.S. as world leaders gather in New York ahead of the U.N. General Assembly this week and record rainfall hammering parts of Japan, leading to a deadly flooding in an area already recovering from a devastating earthquake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with Lynda Kinkade.
KINKADE: The Israeli military says it's preparing to take the next steps in its fight against Hezbollah in the coming days, it's currently conducting what it calls extensive strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon as we speak, these latest strikes come after attacks across the Israeli-Lebanese border intensified over the weekend.
The Iranian-backed militant group has fired over 8,000 rockets towards Israel since October 7. That's according to the Israeli ambassador to the UN. He says about 70,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in northern Israel, becoming refugees in their own land.
The IDF warned Hezbollah that it would be dealt another blow after killing 16 militants on Friday, including senior leaders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERZI HALEVI, CHIEF OF STAFF, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES (through translator): IDF strike against Hezbollah's chain of command is a clear message to Hezbollah. It has hurted badly, and it is also a message to the entire Middle East and beyond. We will reach anyone who threatens the citizens of Israel. We have many more capabilities that we have not yet used. We are at very high readiness in offense and defense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Hezbollah held a funeral on Sunday for one of the group's most senior figures, Ibrahim Aqil. He was one of the members killed in Friday's strike. Hezbollah's second in command spoke at the funeral, claiming Israel has committed war crimes and warning of a battle without limits.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NAIM QASSIM, DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL OF HEZBOLLAH (through translator): We don't need to make threats, and we won't specify how we will respond to aggression. We've entered a new phase titled open ended battle of reckoning, where we monitor the support and confrontation front while every now and then we kill them and fight them from where they expect and beyond.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Beirut with the latest developments.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It has been six days of skyrocketing tensions between Israel and Lebanon, and there aren't any signs either side Israel or Hezbollah is prepared to back down.
Early Sunday, Hezbollah launched the first of three volleys of rockets deeper inside Israel than any time since the beginning of hostilities last October. Hezbollah claimed the targets included the Ramat David air base and a defense factory outside Haifa. But it appears those rockets that weren't intercepted hit other areas, causing a few injuries and some damage to property, while Israel continues to strike targets in southern Lebanon, more than 300 between Saturday and Sunday.
In Beirut, Hezbollah held a funeral for Ibrahim Aqil, one of the group's senior commanders killed, along with more than a dozen other militants in an Israeli air strike on Southern Beirut Friday. The strike also killed more than 30 civilians, including women and children.
At the funeral, Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassim vowed that Hezbollah's strikes deep inside Israel were an installment in what he called a battle without limits, and said, despite the pager in walkie talkie attacks and Friday's strike on Beirut, the group will continue to fire into Israel.
Israeli officials are making equally dire threats towards Hezbollah, with Israeli Army Chief of Staff, HERTZI HALEVI, saying, our strikes will intensify. Ben Wedeman, CNN, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Nabih Bulos is the Middle East Bureau Chief for the Los Angeles Times. He joins us now from Beirut. Good to have you with us.
NABIH BULOS, MIDDLE EAST BUREAU CHIEF, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES: Hello. Thank you for having me.
KINKADE: So it's almost a year since the Hamas terror attack. The war in Gaza continues. There's still no word on when hostages will come home. We're now seeing most intense exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah.
[01:05:03]
How would you describe the tension right now in the region?
BULOS: Well, it's worth saying that over the last 11 months, we've, I mean, I don't want to say that we've gotten used to the battles in the South of Lebanon, between the South of Lebanon and the north of Israel, these cross border exchanges.
I mean, in many ways, those had followed in the background for many of us, and now we're seeing them, of course, intensify and expand and become more and more violent. And it really does feel that at this point we are at an inflection point where we are almost on the verge of a reach war.
It should be said that the whole point of this campaign by Hezbollah was to compel Israel into a ceasefire, or perhaps to increase the cost of continuing to wage war and not go for a ceasefire. And so now that seems to have led to where more and more approaching this notion of a full on regional conflagration.
KINKADE: And of course, up until this month, Israel was assassinating Hezbollah commanders one by one, but the more recent attacks, the exploiting pages and walkie talkies, killed dozens of people, thousands injured, according to the Lebanese health minister. What impact did that have on Hezbollah?
BULOS: Well, I think it's important to note that in the long term, the impact would probably be less than we expect. The fact of the matter is that Hezbollah does have, supposedly about 100,000 cadres, and it should be able to plug in people into these situations and replace whoever was lost in the long run.
In the short term, of course, it's expected that you're going to have an effect on its administrative apparatus, on its military apparatus, at least at the mid-level commander level, et cetera. But I think again, in the long term, this is something it can sustain.
KINKADE: So the President of Israel said Israel is not interested in a war with Lebanon. But we're hearing from Hezbollah saying that this is now a battle without limits. So it's really hard to see. What needs to happen to deescalate this situation right now?
BULOS: Yes, and the fact is that for all the talk about the 8,000 rockets that have hit Israel from South Lebanon, the rate of fire between Israel and Lebanon has been four to one, which is to say that for every strike from Hezbollah you've had, I think four times the strikes from Israel over these last 11 months.
And the fact is that we are indeed continuing in that trend. It's been escalating over the last 11 months. And now the problem is that for Hezbollah (INAUDIBLE) is a red line. And so the expectation is that this will now be an open account with Israel as well.
KINKADE: And we know from the Israeli leaders that they want people who have evacuated from Northern Israel to return. They want to reopen the schools that are currently closed there. But Hezbollah, as you mentioned earlier, like other Iranian-backed militant groups, are trying to approach Israel to end this war in Gaza. How long do you think Netanyahu can continue to withstand this pressure?
BULOS: Back the matter is right now he seems quite able to do so, and I think we'll be able to do so for the coming year as well. Yes, we are already in September. Yes, the school year has started. But you know that deadline was always one that was, I think, very shaky to begin with, and now there's no building to adhere to it.
A lot of people have already made alternative arrangements when it comes to their children's schooling, whether it's South Lebanon or the north of Israel, and so perhaps the pressure is actually lower on Netanyahu at this point.
KINKADE: That is an interesting point you make. Nabih Bulos, appreciate your time as always. Thanks for joining us live from Beirut.
BULOS: Thank you.
KINKADE: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a busy day here in the U.S. leading up to an appearance at the U.N. General Assembly later this week, and on Sunday, Zelenskyy began his visit at a Pennsylvania manufacturing plant that makes munitions for his country.
The Ukrainian president says he's reached an agreement to expand cooperation on that front. Zelenskyy is also set to visit New York and Washington, where he plans to unveil his victory plan against Russia to the U.S. president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This fall will determine what comes next in this war, together with our partners, we can strengthen our positions as needed for our victory, our shared victory for a truly just peace. In the United States, Ukraine will present its plan for victory, and the US president will be the first to see it in full.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well. Monday, world leaders will gather at the U.N. General Assembly for discussions focused on our world's future and how the U.N. will help develop. That's part of a two-day summit of the future centered around a document called the Pact for the Future, which world leaders adopted Sunday.
It's seen as a blueprint on how to address critical issues in the world like conflicts and climate change. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said this type of Summit was needed, given the current state of the world.
[01:10:04]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: I called for this summit because our world is ebbing off the rails, and we need tough decisions to get back on track. Conflicts are raging and multiplying, from the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan with no end in sight, our collective security system is threatened by geopolitical divides, nuclear posturing and the development of new weapons and theaters of war. Resources that could bring opportunities and hope are invested in death and destruction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Maya Ungar is a United Nations analyst for the International Crisis Group, and she joins us now from New York. Good to have you with us.
MAYA UNGAR, ANALYST, U.N. ADVOCACY AND RESEARCH, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Thanks for having me on.
KINKADE: So the annual UN General Assembly kicks off Tuesday. The theme this year is leaving no one behind acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations.
It all sounds very hopeful, ambitious, but also quite vague. What can be achieved?
UNGAR: I think that this U.N. General Assembly is going had a focus on bringing together unity and consensus of the international community. Something quite unique about this year is that you had a summit of the future, which was the Secretary General's kind of goal, to bring together member states to agree on how to deal with the emerging challenges that are facing the international system.
And the summit of the future was meant to bring a sense of consensus and really a roadmap for the future. I think that this General Assembly was focused and will be focused on, you know, how do we actualize this roadmap now that we have it forth, it was adopted on Sunday.
Now that we have this in place, how are we going to move forward to make sure it applies to the various issues and concerns that are facing the U.N. system. You know, there is a real sense of, I think, disillusion and disunity that many member states are feeling about the U.N. right now, and the Secretary General and the U.N. system at large are hoping to use the General Assembly as a moment to bring people together back into a sense of unity, although I'm pessimistic about how effective that might be.
KINKADE: You have to wonder where we will see unity on some of these issues. The humanitarian situation in Gaza, of course, is deteriorating. There's no ceasefire. There's still no agreed upon plan to bring hostages home, and the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel is ratcheting up. We will hear from world leaders calling for peace. I just want to roll some sound of what we've heard from Israel so far.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANNY DANON, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: As we gather here today to speak about the future, hundreds of rockets are being fired at our civilian population. Let me be clear, we are a peaceful nation. We do not seek war, nor do we desire it. However, we will not stand by as our people are attacked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: It's just a couple of weeks from the one year anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7. Will we see any real progress on this issue this coming week?
UNGAR: I think during the U.N. General Assembly, you're going to hear a lot of rhetoric about the war in Gaza. You know, it is going to be the top issue that diplomats are discussing. Now are we going to see a ceasefire negotiated on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly? Unfortunately, that is very unlikely.
We are going to continue to see world leaders call for a ceasefire, call for peace to be had. But you're also going to see, I'm anticipating, some pretty harsh rhetoric from Israel, from Iran, from many of the parties who are most closely implicated in this conflict.
I think that much of the discussion will actually also center around UNRWA, the U.N. agency responsible for dealing with Palestinian refugees, where the U.N. and many Palestinian allies are going to be hoping to use this moment to ratchet up both political support as well as financial support for the beleaguered institution.
KINKADE: We know Ukraine's President will meet with the U.S., President Joe Biden, he's also apparently set to meet with both presidential candidates Harris and Trump. Zelenskyy wants less restrictions on how it can use us weaponry. Will we get that?
UNGAR: I mean, I think that many of the discussions, for example, on restrictions for how usage of us weaponry will go forth are going to happen in bilateral and private conversations that many of us are not going to see.
I think that Zelenskyy is focus at the General Assembly is instead going to be rallying global support, especially that of the so called global south, towards Ukraine and specifically towards his plan for peace.
KINKADE: And of course, with so much focus on these conflicts in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza and of course, the civil war in Sudan.
[01:15:03]
There is less time to focus on other issues, from artificial intelligence to climate change, and every year we are reporting on these more frequent, intense, deadly weather events. Which nations will really push that issue?
UNGAR: The Pacific Island nations have long been champions of ensuring that climate change and climate security issues are heard at the UN. There's been a lot of frustration over the way in which climate and specifically climate security has been discussed during the summit of the future, and I imagine that many of these nations that are specifically climate vulnerable will take the opportunity of their leadership speeches before the General Assembly to raise it and to remind member states that this is an existential threat for them and for the entirety of the international community.
KINKADE: We will be following it very closely here at CNN. Maya Ungar, good to have you with us. United Nations analyst for the International Crisis Group. Thanks for your time.
UNGAR: Thank you so much.
KINKADE: Record rains, a hammering, calls to Japan, causing widespread flooding and devastation. We'll have the details on that after the break.
Plus, ghost towns dot Israel's northern border with Lebanon, after months of cross border fighting, residents desperate to return, we'll have their stories next.
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KINKADE: Welcome back. A coastal area in Japan has been drenched with record rains while still recovering from a devastating New Year's Eve day earthquake. Deadly flooding and landslides hit Ishikawa prefecture on Saturday. At least six people are dead, thousands evacuated after 16 area rivers burst their banks.
The storm has caused widespread flooding and cut power to 1000s of households. CNN's Hanako Montgomery joins us now live from Tokyo. Good to have you with us. So this is a region already recovering from that catastrophic earthquake, now dealing with these deadly floods. What are the details?
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Lynda, you said, this region was hit by a devastating and very powerful earthquake on January 1, a horrible way to start the new year, and now it's reeling after experiencing the worst rainfall that it's ever seen.
If you take a look at some of the footage, Lynda, you can see entire roads and rivers completely flooded with rainwater. You also see people wading through their stores, their businesses and their homes waist deep in this floodwater. Now, Lynda, also some of these flooded homes are actually temporary
shelters that people were evacuated to after that very powerful earthquake on January 1 that killed hundreds of people. We were actually in the Noto region after that earthquake, and we saw entire homes collapsed and flattened by the powerful earthquake. We also saw roofs cave in and people trapped underneath this rubble.
[01:20:00]
Now, some of those survivors were sent to these temporary evacuation shelters, and when we spoke to them, they said they didn't know when they'd get to go home, because they actually had no home to return to. Now, months later, they have to deal with a second disaster. Here's what one resident had to say about the double disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AKEMI YAMASHITA, RESIDENT (through translator): Three the earthquake occurred on January 1, and again, the city became like a scene out of a movie in September. I cannot help thinking the Noto region might be cursed or something. I'm shocked that so many unbelievable things happened in one year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MONTGOMERY: Lynda, these people are exhausted. They've spent months trying to recover and reconstruct this region, only to have to start all over again. And according to local government officials, some of the devastation we're seeing from these floods could have been exacerbated by the earthquake we saw on January 1, particularly because of the damage we saw to flood banks and revetments.
Now the government has said Self Defense Forces and members of the police force also firefighters to help recover any remaining survivors, and also simply to assess the damage we're seeing. But really the mental toll that this is taking on these residents because of this double disaster cannot be measured. They are really suffering through this very difficult and crippling time. Lynda.
KINKADE: Yes, absolutely devastating. And do you know what the forecast looks like for the days and weeks ahead?
MONTGOMERY: Yes, Lynda, we can expect to see the rain, of course, stopping, and now this is really a time to focus on recovering and again, getting to those remaining survivors. We're expected to see the area see some sunshine, really, and not as much rain, which will, of course, help, but in terms of the flooding that we're seeing in these temporary shelters or in these businesses, these homes, this is going to be really difficult to recover from, because, of course, just the amount of rainwater that is affecting these neighborhoods, these small towns.
Now the Japanese government has, of course, sent these emergency evacuation volunteers and Self Defense Force members who will try to help, of course, the remaining survivors. But again, Lynda, it's a very difficult time, and, of course, a very massively devastating time because of these two consecutive disasters.
KINKADE: Yes, it really is. Hanako Montgomery, good to have you with us on the story. Thanks so much.
Well, parts of Europe is still reeling from deadly flooding after record rainfall in the region. Floodwaters have receded in Poland, showing extensive damage in a mountain town, a dam burst, ripping the walls of some buildings and leaving the streets covered in mud and debris.
Residents in one Hungarian town have resorted to using boats to get around the flood waters. Residents say they'll stay around to protect their homes as long as conditions remain safe.
Well, this is how the swollen Danube River on Sunday in Budapest Lodge, the river was expected to hit record levels, but fell short of the 2013 record.
Returning to Iran now, where at least 51 people are dead, 20 injured after a gas explosion in a coal mine on Saturday, according to state media. Iran's interior minister says search and rescue operations are still underway and could last until Monday.
The blast marks one of Iran's deadliest work accidents in years. Iran's supreme leader and President both expressed their condolences to the victims' families.
Still to come, the Middle East is on edge amid fears of a wider war as Israel and Hezbollah escalate their bitter conflict. How the U.S. is responding next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:26:06]
KINKADE: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Lynda Kinkade. The Israeli military says it's preparing to take the next steps in its fight against Hezbollah in the coming days, it's currently conducting what it calls extensive strives on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. These latest strikes come after attacks across the Israeli-Lebanese border intensified over the weekend.
The Iranian-backed militant group has fired over 8,000 rockets towards Israel since October 7, according to the Israeli ambassador to the UN. In n Lebanon, schools have been shut down in areas affected by heavy fighting. Lebanese University announced that its campuses in three cities will also be closed on Monday over security concerns.
Thousands of civilians in both Israel and Lebanon have had to flee their homes due to those cross border attacks, a new daily occurrence since October. CNN's Nic Robertson went to one Israeli border town where the few remaining residents, desperate for a return to normalcy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDIDOT (voice-over): A ghost town close to the Lebanese border, Kiryat Shimona, a shadow of its former self, most of its 25,000 residents evacuated Last October, silence and weeds where once there were people.
ROBERTSON: Almost all of the stores here are shuttered frozen in time now for close to a year, and it feels as forlorn as some of the few people who stay behind sound.
NISAN ZEEVI, JVP IMPACT DIRECTOR INVESTMENT: So now everything is empty after empty of empty offices, empty labs. Before October 7, we have had here in the upper Galilee, 72 startups.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): From fungal plastics to fake eggs. The EV sourced hundreds of millions of investment dollars for Israel's up and coming high tech hub in the north.
ZEEVI: It's a very sad feeling, because in each one of these offices, there were people, entrepreneurs from all over Israel that came here to build the next big thing in agritech, in food tech, in climate tech.
Welcome to my humble house, humble place.
ROBERTSON: So on this side a beautiful view of Mount Hermon, and on this side, Hezbollah.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): When we last met Zeevi nine months ago, he was hopeful his evacuated family and his old life would be back soon. Fast forward to now. It's a distant memory.
ZEEVI: We thought that we're living the dream, building startups not in Tel Aviv and living in a small shoe box, but living here in the Galilee -- at the Galilee.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): A new reality is setting in getting his family back the dream and the startups.
ZEEVI: It's going to be a challenge -- challenging time. I think we went back like 30 years.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): So too. David Azuli, mayor of nearby frontline town, Matula, much more optimistic when we met him in January. Now ground down by Hezbollah's incessant attacks and the government's failure to stop them.
DAVID AZULI, MAYOR OF METULA (through translator): Things got a lot worse. Almost half the houses in Matula are damaged. The government has forgotten about us. The Prime Minister only cares about his own political survival.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Not helping the mood Hezbollah's attacks have been spiking lately, and despite the Minister of Defense promise to get families home by the beginning of September, the IDF's response falling short of everyone's expectations here.
ROBERTSON: Was it burning when you arrived? RON MOISESKO, ARMY RESERVIST: Yes, it was already burning the trees.
There's a school over there, right over there, that got some Okto as well.
ROBERTSON: The school was hit as well.
MOISESKO: Yes, and the school was hit as well.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Even soldiers like Moisesko, who is from Kiryat Shmona, there is frustration.
[01:30:06]
MOISESKO: It's tiring to wait that long. The war is endless. We need to do something, maybe in a more aggressive way or in a peaceful way, just need to do something.
NISAN ZEEVI, JVP IMPACT DIRECTOR INVESTMENT: Eventually we are the ones that's paying the price. We're like -- just like a player on a chess. No, we want to come back home.
ROBERTSON: Not down, not out but flagging.
Nic Robertson, CNN -- Kiryat Shmona, Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. President Joe Biden says Washington is doing everything it can to prevent a wider war from breaking out in the Middle East.
His comments come as U.S. officials continue to urge Israel to de- escalate tensions with Hezbollah.
CNN's Julia Benbrook has more from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a series of interviews, White House Security Council spokesperson John Kirby is stressing that it's the White House's view that military escalation does not help Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government reach its goal of returning to a sense of normality.
He also said that the U.S. is not giving up on trying to secure a hostage and ceasefire agreement, that he acknowledges that the Hamas leader is a big obstacle when it comes to those talks.
When President Joe Biden arrived back at the White House on Sunday, he told reporters that he is concerned about the ongoing tensions in the Middle East.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you worried about rising tensions in the Middle East?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, I am. But we're going to do everything we can to keep a wider war from breaking out.
And we're still pushing hard. Thank you.
BENBROOK: This as Biden prepares for a week focused on foreign relations.
Both he and Vice President Kamala Harris are expected to meet with the president of the United Arab Emirates here in Washington on Monday. They're expected to talk about the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, the crisis in Sudan, and a number of other bilateral and regional topics.
Biden will then travel to New York where he will participate in the United Nations General Assembly. He's expected to address the group on Tuesday, meet with various leaders and discuss a wide range of topics, including international peace efforts.
Now, even as Biden is keeping this busy schedule, some world leaders are already looking to Harris and/or former President Donald Trump as they plan for the future and trying to hold meetings there.
Now, as of right now, only one leader is meeting with both Harris and Trump, and that's Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he makes an urgent appeal to both candidates along with Biden for sustained help in combatting Russia's invasion.
At the White House -- Julia Benbrook, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris says she will lay out her economic vision in the coming days. Harris will push what she refers to as an opportunity economy. Here's how she says she plans to help the middle-class.
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In short form it's about what we can do more to invest in the aspiration, the ambitions and the dreams of the American people while addressing the challenges that they face. Whether it be the high price of groceries or the difficulty in being able to acquire homeownership because for a number of reasons, including we don't have enough housing supply.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: The U.S. vice president is also challenging Donald Trump to a second debate after she accepted CNN's invitation to participate in another face off.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Meet (ph) me on the debate stage. Let's have another debate. There's more to talk about and the voters of America deserve to hear the conversations that I think we should be having on substance, on issues, on policies. What's your plan. What's my plan.
And we should have another one before election day. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well Trump has said, it's quote, "too late" to have another presidential debate because early voting would have already begun.
There's just over six weeks left in the race for the White House but Donald Trump is already fielding questions on what he would do if he doesn't win the U.S. presidential election in November.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you're not successful this time, do you see yourself running again in four years?
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: No, I don't.
I don't. I think that that will be -- that will be it. I don't see that at all. I think that hopefully were going to be successful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: The Republican nominee also says no deals have been made of positions in his next administration, if elected.
Sabrina Siddiqui is a national politics reporter for "The Wall Street Journal" and joins us now from Washington, D.C.
Good to have you with us.
SABRINA SIDDIQUI, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Thanks for having me.
[01:34:48]
KINKADE: So 44 days until the election, Harris is gaining on Trump ever so slightly in these new polls from NBC and CBS. The NBC poll showing Harris leading by about 5 percent. But overall, it's still really close, right?
SIDDIQUI: Absolutely. And I think what you've seen the Harris campaign do is reinforce that they believe that they are the underdogs in this race. Even if you see her having this polling advantage over former President Trump.
And here's why. You know, national polls, she could do as well as she is perhaps doing in those polls but its ultimately going to come down to the electoral college and a handful of key battleground states that in recent elections have been determined by tens of thousands of votes, so truly razor-thin margins.
And I think, you know, if you're Vice President Harris, you're in a fairly good position. But what you don't want is complacency.
You still have to turn out your base. You still have to make sure that Democrats were animated to vote for her, show up at the polls. And then also try and get those persuadable voters, independent suburban voters, moderate Republicans, the kind of coalition that helped elect President Biden four years ago.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly as you say, razor-thin margins and really it is going to come down to this key battleground states.
But interestingly the way the voters view Harris in these latest poll have, has certainly improved since she became the presidential candidate.
In July, just 32 percent had a positive view of her. Now that's up to 48 percent. What does that mean in real terms at the ballot box?
SIDDIQUI: I think it's a good position to be in. And one thing that we saw with Vice President Harris' poll numbers before is that they were very much tied to President Biden's approval ratings, which of course, have been at a low point for many, many months now. And it's not unusual for a vice president's approval ratings to mirror that of the president that they serve.
But now that Harris is out there as the nominee of the Democratic Party, you know, voters are looking at her in a different light. They're getting to know more about her.
And most importantly, I think when you step back and think about where we were in this election just a few months ago, poll after poll show that voters were extremely dissatisfied with their choices when it was a rematch between President Biden and former President Trump.
They wanted to vote for -- well there are many voters who wanted to vote for anyone else, really, other than Trump or Biden. And Harris is actually giving voters that opportunity.
And then, of course, she's performed pretty well in the debate, as well as on the national stage. She hasn't had a lot of missteps so that I think is also helping bolster her approval ratings in this crucial final stretch.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly. That debate, of course, between Harris and Trump widely-watched around the world. Republicans as well as Democrats can say that Trump had lost.
Harris, we know has accepted another invitation for a second presidential debate here on CNN later next month. Trump says it's too late for another one. Is there anyone that would convince him otherwise. Or are his advisers, his team also worried that it could further derail his campaign.
SIDDIQUI: I don't think that if you're former President Trump or you're his advisors, you want him to get back out there on a debate stage given what happened when he faced off against Vice President Harris just a couple of weeks ago.
And just to remind people, it is not unusual to hold presidential debates well into October. In fact, when then-candidate Trump debated Hillary Clinton in 2016 two out of their three debates were held in October. So it's not too late. It's just that, you know, doesn't want to I
think remind a lot of voters, which is what happened during the debate, what it is that they don't like about him, you know, when he's abrasive, you know obviously going after Harris in very personal ways.
You know, a lot of the rhetoric and conspiracy theories around immigration, even though he's still pushing those from the campaign trail. Just failing to stay on message and coming back to points like the economy or inflation, or those points that are driving voters at the polls.
So I think a debate can only likely do Trump even more harm than he's already in a fairly precarious position. So I don't anticipate that we would see another Trump Harris debate.
KINKADE: This week, the UNGA is happening. Foreign leaders trying to jockey for some time with both Harris and Trump. At this stage, it seems like only Ukraine's president will have a one-on-one with both.
How do these leaders differ on their approach to Russia's invasion of Ukraine?
SIDDIQUI: Well I think that there's a very stark contrast between how Vice President Harris and former President Trump view Ukraine and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
You know, under Vice President Harris, you're going to see a continuation of the approach that we've seen under the Biden administration which is to continue and provide Ukraine with military and financial support in its war with Russia.
[01:39:48]
SIDDIQUI: You know, continuing to approve the transfer of U.S. weapons and just trying to lead an international coalition in support of Ukraine.
Whereas with former President Trump, he has refused to explicitly condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
He, of course, has a very favorable view of Russian President Vladimir Putin. And he talks about how he would bring an end to the war.
But when you get within -- when you get behind the curtain a little bit and go into the details, Trump's version of ending this war oftentimes what he and his advisers say is it would entail Russia essentially holding on to a fair amount of Ukrainian territory, which is of course a non-starter for President Zelenskyy and Ukrainians.
So, you know, I think the concern is that Trump would not support Ukraine or continue to providing U.S. aid to Ukraine if he were back in the White House. And that there would be -- that he would put a lot of pressure on the Ukrainians to accept some kind of deal with Russia that effectively would be a victory for Vladimir Putin.
KINKADE: Yes. Exactly. All right. Sabrina Siddiqui, good to have you with us. National
politics reporter for "The Wall Street Journal". Thanks so much.
SIDDIQUI: Thank you so much.
KINKADE: The U.S. Speaker of the House is laying out plans to avert a government shutdown, but it involves cutting an election security proposal Donald Trump wanted included in the measure.
Mike Johnson has unveiled a short-term spending bill that would fund the government until December 20. It includes $230 million in Secret Service funding.
In a letter to Republican lawmakers, Johnson wrote "Our legislation will be a very narrow, bare-bones CR including only extensions that are absolutely necessary."
He said while it's not the preferred solution, it's what he called the most prudent path forward under the present circumstances.
The trimmed down bill excludes any mention of the Save Act, a Trump- backed proposal that would require people to show proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote despite the fact that that already happens because its illegal for non-citizens to cast a ballot.
That measure was included in the previous spending bill, which House Democrats rejected last week. Top Democrats say they're ready to pass this stripped-down, stop-gap bill.
In Germany the Social Democrats of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, won an election in the eastern state of Brandenburg, but just barely. The SPD narrowly-defeated the far-right Alternative for Germany Party.
Projections give Social Democrats 30.7 percent of the vote with the AFD, getting 29.4 percent. AFD leaders told cheering supporters, it is the party of the future. The party is strongly anti-immigrant and pro- Russia.
This narrow loss comes just three weeks after AFD became the first far-right party to win a German state election since World War II.
Sri Lanka's new president has been sworn in a day after his landslide victory. The self-described Marxist won with more than 42 percent of the vote. This comes after the incumbent led the nation to an economic meltdown by imposing austerity measures that left voters angry.
At its peak, inflation in the South Asian nation, was at 70 percent.
Turnout was strong in the election with 75 percent of eligible voters casting a ballot. Crowds took to the streets to celebrate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUMITH JAYATILAKE, RETIRED GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE: I have believed in this victory since 1994. I got it today. I'm very happy. I will never be this happy again in my life. SANJEEWA KURUWITAGE, GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE: What we told our comrades is
to work as a team, lift this country from the crisis and develop it. We will do any sacrifice for this new president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: The new president represents the People's Liberation Front. He beat his nearest rival by more than a million votes.
Four people are dead in Alabama in a violent armed attack. Just ahead, what police are saying about the targeted hits in a crowded part of the southern city.
[01:43:45]
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KINKADE: Four people are dead, 17 others hurt after multiple shooters opened fire on a crowd in Birmingham, Alabama. It was a chaotic scene Saturday night at a crowded entertainment district in the city.
Police believe one victim was the focus of a targeted hit. And that other victims were caught in the crossfire.
CNN's Rafael Romo reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: CNN has obtained video showing what the scene was like here Saturday night, just moments after the shooting.
Before we go to the video, we need to warn our viewers that it may be disturbing for some people.
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ROMO: As you can see, the video captures a scene of panic and shows at least three people lying on the ground as police lights flash in the background.
There are several key details that officials have revealed so far.
First, Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond says several individuals showed up in a car shortly 11 on Saturday night, got out of the car and opened fire, leaving three dead here at the scene. Those victims were two men and one woman. A fourth victim was pronounced dead later at the University of Alabama Hospital.
Another key detail is that police believe this was a targeted hit on one person and the other victims were caught in the crossfire.
Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond said his officers found around 100 shell casings here at the site of the shooting.
And this has been a very violent year for the city of Birmingham. In February, four men were shot and killed outside a public library. And then in July, a shooting at a nightclub left four people dead and 10 others injured.
We spoke with a resident of this area of downtown Birmingham who was part of a group of people who stopped by to lay flowers at the site of the shooting to honor the memory of the victims.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This I really personal to me. I care about Birmingham. Jesus called us to love each other and to love our city. We want to be known as the city for love around the world, not the hate.
ROMO: We've also learned the White House is coordinating with federal, state, and local officials here in Alabama as authorities advance in the investigation into the shooting.
In a statement, the director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, Stef Feldman said, quote, "Americans should not have to live like this. And we can't let it become normal.
Rafael Romo, CNN -- Birmingham, Alabama.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well it's believed that the shooters used what are quote "conversion devices" which can override the trigger mechanism of a firearm so that it functions like a machine gun.
Birmingham's mayor is calling for tougher gun laws and more resources to help rid his city streets of those devices.
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MAYOR RANDALL WOODFIN, BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA: I want to make this very, very clear related to these conversions. It is federally outlawed. They are illegal federally. But not at the state level.
But at the exact same time where the federal government have outlawed them, they also decreased ATF budget. ATF is the agency we need to investigate those who are making these conversion devices, who are selling these conversion devices.
But if you strip their budget, you tie their hands behind their back and prevent them from taking these types of devices off the streets that are in people's hands, who only want to hurt and kill people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: We'll have much more on that story in the coming hours. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
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KINKADE: Well, Three-Mile Island, the Pennsylvania power plant that was the scene of a terrible nuclear accident is reopening to power Microsoft's datacenters.
CNN's Bill Weir has more on this and the scientists' grim report and what has been dubbed "The Doomsday Glacier".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: A couple of major climate stories this week showing the power of nature and the power of the markets.
The first one being that Three-Mile Island/Microsoft story. Rather stunning for this generation to realize that the most notorious meltdown site is being brought back to life, thanks largely to the voracious energy demands A.I. computing.
A lot of folks thought, you know, bitcoins took a lot of juice, but A.I. is off the charts. So even amazon has secured nuclear energy from another plant in Pennsylvania. Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan, behind a plan to revive nuclear there.
A real renaissance for this energy source that was demonized by environmentalists but now who realize that the damage to the folks, to life and health was minimal in places like Three-Mile Island and Fukushima.
And meanwhile fossil fuels are having a much harder effect on earth and life on it. As a result there, there is such a race to find clean, abundant energy to meet this new demand.
A lot of questions about this deal with Three-Mile Island. it used to serve 800,000 homes, now they're getting huge tax incentives to serve one customer. Lot of regulation problems, would take about four years and over $1 billion to bring it back.
But a huge statement about human energy demands at this moment in time.
And it is a time to test because meanwhile, we've got this new report out of the Antarctic Ice Survey. These are scientists in the U.K., U.S., all around the world taking torpedo-like robots to the bottom of the biggest glacier in the world, the Thwaites Glacier.
This thing is the size of Florida, a mile thick; size of the United Kingdom, a mile thick; and it has been melting for last 80 years, accelerated in the last 30, but now they say it could all be gone by the 23rd century.
That glacier alone would raise sea levels by two feet. But if that part of Antarctic goes and it releases like a cork (ph), the inland ice could raise sea levels by ten feet.
This may be baked in, it is physics, it's hard to stop this. The best humanity can hope for, the scientists say, is prepare.
Bill Weir, CNN -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Shoppers in California will soon have to bring their own bags if they want to use plastic. Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law Sunday banning all plastic shopping bag starting in 2026.
California had already banned thin shopping bags so customers could buy thicker ones as they were billed as recyclable. When the law takes effect, shoppers will only be asked if they want a paper bag.
A state study found the average person throws away five kilograms or about 11 pounds of plastic shopping bags in 2021.
Well, days after becoming the inaugural member of the 50-50 club Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani's record setting ways are far from over. On Sunday, he broke his own record against the Colorado Rockies, scoring his 53rd home run, and 55th steal of the season.
CNN's Natasha Chen reports on the impact Ohtani has had Los Angeles and America's favorite pastime.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a new 50-50 club and it's got one member. Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is the first to ever hit more than 50 home runs and steal more than 50 bases in one season. It's a rare feat of power and speed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I always wanted to see something special again with the Dodgers. And what we're witnessing right now is the Babe Ruth of this era.
CHEN: And like Babe Ruth, Ohtani is a two-way talent who can both pitch and hit.
[01:54:48]
CHEN: Kazuo Imai is a local tour guide witnessing the incredible wave of Japanese tourists who have flooded Los Angeles holding tickets to Dodger Stadium.
KAZUO IMAI, TOUR GUIDE: Maybe 80 percent Japanese tourists coming to see Ohtani.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have always been supportive of us, but nothing like this.
CHEN: The team has a dozen new Japanese sponsors this year, Japanese language tours four days a week, stadium food now goes beyond the Dodger dog to the Kurobuta pork sausage dogs, sushi, chicken katsu and Takoyaki which are round fritters filled with octopus.
It's America's pastime and there's nothing more American than bringing together a melting pot of people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a global game now. It is super important. And it's super important that we recognize a foreign-born player who does his interviews in Japanese and we are humbled by it.
We take it in and we say, you know what, this is, the way baseball should we played.
CHEN: The Ohtani effect has energized L.A.'s Little Tokyo. At Far Bar, customers get a free Shohei shot every time Ohtani hits a home run.
Did you ever think you had to buy this much sake for this season?
GARY LEE, OWNER, DODGERS NATION: No, not at all.
CHEN: Gary Lee is the owner of Dodgers Nation, an online fan and new site with a YouTube show.
Just looking at clicks he's getting from Japan --
LEE: I know our traffic increased 1,250 percent from Japan.
CHEN: But he says the most gratifying part is not the number of followers.
LEE: I'm so proud because growing up, I didn't have an Asian-American or an Asian person to really look up to and that's my initial reaction.
It's just like I'm so happy for this generation of Asian-American kids. They're allowed to dream like he broke that barrier to dream.
CHEN: The larger-than-life role model is now depicted in a 150-foot painting that moves with augmented reality when fans scan a QR code on their phones and raised them to the wall.
Artist Robert Varga says he painted this mural to bring everyone together in the city's crossroads of Asian and Latin American communities.
ROBERT VARGA, ARTIST: I definitely had a premonition that he was going to do something amazing. To see him actually, not only meet those expectations, but exceed them is just incredible.
Natasha Chen, CNN -- Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, that does for this show.
I'm Lynda Kinkade.
CNN NEWSROOM continues with Anna Coren in just a moment. Stay with us.
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