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CNN International: IDF: "Conduction Extensive Strikes" on Hezbollah Targets; Trump Heads to Battleground State of Pennsylvania; Two Russians, One American Arrive Home from Space Station; IDF: Tasking "Next Steps" Against Hezbollah in Comings Days; CNN Analysis: Closest Presidential Race Since 1960; Four Dead After Gunfire Erupts in Birmingham, Alabama. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired September 23, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: And welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Amra Walker. This is CNN Newsroom. Just ahead civilians told to flee as Israel strikes what it says are Hezbollah targets inside Lebanon. We are live in Jerusalem and Beirut for the very latest.

Plus, new polls show signs of strength for Donald Trump in the race for the White House as a campaign spar over the next presidential debate. And deadly floods strike Japan, in a region already struggling to recover from earthquakes, we're going to have a live report from Tokyo.

We begin this hour in Kazakhstan, where a Russian Soyuz Spacecraft has just touched down just moments ago. You're looking at the craft touching down now with the parachute deployed about three and a half hours ago, the capsule left separated from the International Space Station. Two Russian cosmonauts and one American astronaut are on board.

You heard them say, touchdown right on the money. NASA's Tracy Dyson has been in space for 184 days and traveled 78 million miles. It was her fourth mission aboard the ISS serving as flight engineer this time. We have a live report on the Soyuz mission and its spectacular return home. We'll have that coming up a bit later in the show.

Meantime, Lebanon's caretaker -- Caretaker Prime Minister is urging the United Nations and what he called influential countries to deter Israel as it dramatically steps up its air campaign against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon moving the region closer to an all-out war.

At least 100 people have been killed Monday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, this follows the weekend that saw Israel and Hezbollah exchange their most intense fire since the war in Gaza began nearly a year ago. Residents of southern Lebanon are fleeing after getting phone messages from Israel telling them to evacuate immediately.

You can see all the traffic backed up on the roads. This is the first time Israel has issued such warnings. The Lebanese Minister of Information calls it psychological warfare. Israel's Prime Minister says no country can tolerate rocket attacks on its citizens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Over the past few days, we have struck Hezbollah with a series of blows. It didn't imagine if Hezbollah didn't get the message, I assure you they will get the message. We are determined to return our citizens in the north to their homes safely. No country can tolerate incoming fire against the citizens, incoming fire against its citizens, and we too the State of Israel, won't tolerate it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: We began our coverage with CNN's Nic Robertson standing by in Jerusalem. Nic what is Israel saying about today's strikes and why these calls for evacuations to the Lebanese citizens?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: They're describing these strikes as extensive, and that was a briefing given by the IDF spokesman very early this morning after the first wave of strikes where there were about 150 strikes the IDF set inside of Lebanon by lunchtime today, there was a second wave of strikes, taking that total to over 300 now.

The Ministry of Health in Lebanon saying that more than 100 people have been killed, more than 400 injured. This is by far the biggest toll, and it appears to be, certainly the most widespread geographically, strikes by Israel into Lebanon since the 8th of October. Indeed, you could pretty much say since the last round of huge hostilities between the two countries, back in 2006 so compared to what we saw over the weekend.

This is an escalation again. There have been rockets and missiles that have come from Lebanon today and landed in Israel, some close to the northern border, sometimes some as many as 20 miles deep into Israel. In the lower Galilee, the police in Israel reporting that. At least one house took a direct hit from one of these Hezbollah missiles that the people inside the house were in the safe room and were unharmed.

[08:05:00]

That we have heard that there is, there has been, so far at least announced one minor casualty. And I think you get an understanding of this one. We heard from the defense minister this morning Yoav Gallant saying that the success going forward was for the civilian population in Israel to adhere by the home front instructions, and they are very clear in those -- in those areas close to the border with Lebanon, those areas that are not evacuated, that are now within Hezbollah missile range, that is to stay close to your shelters.

And when the sirens go off, get in your shelters, don't gather in large numbers outside. And when that -- and when you are in your shelters, wait for at least 10 minutes after the signal clears so that you can leave. But for the Lebanese citizens now, this is a first that they are being warned by these phone calls from Israel, telling them to leave their homes if there are Hezbollah operatives nearby or there are weapons stored nearby.

And that is a message that is getting through, although the ministry of information in Beirut did take a call like that themselves today. They said they'd be continuing to work. But the context you were asking for there, this is the first time that Israel has done this in Lebanon, but when they've issued these warnings to residents in Gaza before, that means there are more missile and rocket strikes coming by the Israeli air force. This is very clearly why some citizens inside Lebanon, seeking to move to safer areas.

WALKER: Yeah, so clearly, these calls for evacuations by Israel is an indication that there are more strikes to come. Do we expect perhaps any kind of ground operation in Lebanon?

ROBERTSON: It's not clear. The IDF is not answering that specific question when asked. They say that they have a lot of plans available. Look, we know for a fact that the IDF has talked about the possibility of this for some time. That means they have had plenty of time to be prepared and get ready.

We know that their forces have been used extensively in Gaza, and much of the equipment needed repair, rest and recuperation for the troops involved. But at the moment, whatever the IDF's next move is, they're not making that public. They certainly have a lot of capability in their air force to continue these strikes.

But what they want to see is for Hezbollah to pull back from the border area, and they said that if there isn't a diplomatic solution, then they'll use a military solution, and the only way to achieve that would be through ground forces. I think if we study the pattern of strikes and look for those that are close to the border, that might be indicative that they could be a ground operation shaping up, but at the moment, there's nothing official from his from the IDF about that.

WALKER: Nic Robertson, appreciate your reporting there from Jerusalem. Thank you. Let's go now to CNN's Ben Wedeman, who's joining us from Beirut, Lebanon. Ben, we were saying more than 100 people killed across Lebanon today, and a huge number of strikes. What more do we know? What's the view from there.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: According to the Ministry of Health, it's at least 100 people killed so far today, basically within the space of about 45 minutes. They came out with two communiques, one saying, at least 50 dead, then half a 45 minutes later, 100 dead, and those numbers are certain to rise.

Among the dead are women, children and paramedics. What we've seen the kind of bombardment that is ongoing in southern Lebanon, with more than 300 strikes. Many of them appear to be in the middle of towns and villages down there.

Now what we're seeing is that A, as a result of the strikes themselves, and B, as a result of these messages that as many as 80,000 that have been sent by Israel onto the Lebanese cell phone system, as well as messages that were broke into the broadcast of the voice of Lebanon people being told to leave, that there is a mass exodus of people from South Lebanon, the roads coming out of the South.

All the roads, whether they're southbound or northbound, they're full of people going north, trying to leave as soon as possible from those areas. I was in touch with somebody who was down there and said, it's utter chaos as it appears, towns and villages are being utterly emptied as a result of these Israeli air strikes.

Now the Lebanese Prime Minister, Caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati has come out and said that he's urged the UN and what he called influential countries to deter Israel from pursuing this current course of action. He said the fear is that Israel is going to destroy towns and villages in Lebanon. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any diplomatic initiative underway from any corridor to try to restrain Israel in its current military operation.

[08:10:00]

In addition to this, classes in many of the areas where Hezbollah has a presence, where there's a large Shia population, have been canceled for fear of people being hurt. And the real fear at this point Amara is the Gazification of parts of Lebanon, the utter destruction and depopulation of those areas as airy as Israel intensifies its strikes.

These are -- and I was here in 2006 for that war. These are the most intense Israeli air strikes since then. And the fear is that really, we are not in a period of escalation. This is a war, another war between Lebanon and Israel Amara.

It's quite a descriptive term Ben, when you say Gazification. Let me ask you then on Hezbollah's side, because we saw Hezbollah retaliate with one of its most forceful attacks on Israel, deep inside Israel since the October 7th attacks and the war began.

How do you expect that Hezbollah, especially now, after those simultaneous pager and walkie talkie attacks that disabled their communication system and really damaged the military structure? How might this campaign -- you know I guess, impact Hezbollah's response and ability to do so.

WEDEMAN: Well, clearly, Israel has handicapped Hezbollah's ability. But nonetheless, what we saw in the aftermath of those pager and walkie talkie attacks and the strike on South Beirut that killed a senior Hezbollah military commander. They are still able to fire their rockets and drones inside Israel, so they still have a capability despite the intense strikes we've seen over the last few days and particularly today.

And it's important to point out that Hezbollah until now, since October 8, when it started firing on Israel, has yet to use its heaviest missiles, its long-range missiles, which are precise, and they have held those in reserve. Now the question is, if Hezbollah, after the crippling attacks that Israel conducted on the group over the last six days.

If it really feels it's in a corner, it will unleash those heavier weapons, which have the ability, some of them, to reach the furthest south point of Israel, which is the city of Elat. Now, I'm not saying that that's going to happen, but they have that capability, and they always hold that in reserve in the event they feel that they are facing an existential threat. I think at the moment, they are probably pondering that that's the situation that they are in Amara.

WALKER: All right. Ben Wiedemann, appreciate your analysis. Thank you so much. And we're going to have much more on this developing story later this hour. All right, but first here in the U.S., Kamala Harris is pressing Donald Trump to agree to another debate. Harris was in New York Sunday for a big dollar fundraiser. Her campaign brought in $27 million which is the most it has raised at a single event. She said Trump is looking for excuses to avoid facing her again on the debate stage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Join me on the debate stage. Let's have another debate. There's more to talk about, and that 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)

WALKER: Over the weekend, Trump said he thinks it's too late to have another debate, because early voting is already happening in some states, although we have seen several presidential debates happen in late October. He will be campaigning today in Pennsylvania, which some analysts have pegged as perhaps the most important state in the race.

We're going to hear from CNN reporters covering both campaigns today. But first, let's start with Alayna Trenee tracking the Trump campaign. Good to see you, Alayna. So, talk to us about where Donald Trump is focusing his energy this week. Clearly, he's trying to look at ways of campaigning that don't involve getting on another debate stage.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: That's right, we'll see him today as actually, as two stops in Pennsylvania today. And I totally agree with your assessment, Amara. I know that the Trump campaign does as well, that they see Pennsylvania as vital to his chances in November.

We're going to see a lot of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania between now and Election Day. Later this week, he goes to Georgia as well as Michigan. Really trying to hit the states that they recognize they need to shore support up.

Now I will actually note that talking with campaign advisers today, they are feeling very confident about the recent polling that came out from "The New York Times" and Siena College Poll, which showed that Donald Trump is doing really well in the Sun Belt State. It showed that he has a lead in Arizona and Georgia, two states he won in 2016 but lost to Joe Biden in 2020 as well as slim lead in North Carolina.

[08:15:00] But again, it's a confidence boosting poll for the Trump campaign, because right now -- you know they are still trying to make that push for the blue wall states in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. But as always, the South -- the Sun Belt states are -- you know an insurance policy. And so, they're feeling good about that today.

But look, I think one thing to keep in mind with Donald Trump right now, and as we have this discussion around whether he will debate or not debate. You never really know. I know that as of now, Donald Trump himself and his team does not want to have another debate. They do not want him to get back up there, particularly just days before election day.

But that can always change. I know there's a lot of people in Donald Trump's ear as well, particularly his allies, people like Senator Lindsey Graham, who are saying you should give it another chance. This is a good opportunity to really make the case and contrast your vision for America with that of Kamala Harris.

However, obviously we saw how the that first debate went with Kamala Harris with ABC News earlier this month. There are some reasons to believe that that is why he is not agreeing to get back on the debate stage with her.

WALKER: Yeah, like you said, not the final word. So, we shall see how this plays out into the very last minute. Alayna Treene in Washington. Thank you. Let's turn now to the Harris camp and CNN's Eva McKend is on that story for us. Hi, Eva. The Harris camp -- they must be feeling pretty good after that fundraising haul. What are campaign officials saying about her priorities this week?

EVA MCKEND, CNN U.S. NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Amara, key to the strategy this week is continuing to talk about how restrictive abortion bans are impacting women. This is part of a larger push of having women really tell their own stories.

We've seen this a little bit on the reproductive rights bus tour that the campaign has employed, and new this morning, the campaign rolling out an ad across the country that features a woman by the name of Yesina of Tucson, who details her fear of the implications of a military move and what that could mean for her ability to grow their family.

They're putting this fight over IVF front and center, but the Harris team recognizes that while she's gaining in national polls, the former president holds a slight advantage in some of these key states that will decide the election. So that's why she's returning to Pennsylvania and campaigning out west in the coming days.

And then needling the former president, goading him essentially into participating in an additional debate, because the campaign feels as though that was one of the strongest moments of her brief campaign, showing that contrast, that seriousness and message discipline, and they're eager for the opportunity to do it again.

WALKER: All right, Eve McKend in Washington. Thank you. Now, world leaders are gathering in New York as the United Nations General Assembly gets underway. U.S. President Joe Biden will travel to New York later today to take part in the annual meeting Tuesday. This will be his last speech to the body as president.

He has a full slate of diplomatic meetings, and held this roundtable on Saturday in Delaware. Many of the visiting dignitaries are hoping to get some time with one or both of the candidates for president, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. They hope to get a sense of where U.S. foreign policy might be headed in the next administration.

Now, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with President Biden and Vice President Harris during this trip to the U.S. he also plans to meet with Donald Trump. But first he will be in New York, where he will speak at the UNGA on Wednesday, and ahead of that, he's been spending time in President Biden's hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, touring a plant that makes munitions used by his country in its battle against Russia.

But the key moments of Mr. Zelenskyy's U.S. trip are expected to be when he presents what he's calling his victory plan. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is looking at what's shaping up to be a busy and really pivotal week, perhaps for the Ukrainian President. Nick, tell us more -- remind us of what is in Zelenskyy's victory plan and the pressure that he's facing.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, a lot of it is purposefully vague, but there are three major strands. The first very publicized one where we're lacking key details, but no, the general thrust is that he wants approval from President Joe Biden to use longer range U.S. supplied weapons to strike a specific list of targets deep inside Russia.

Now that's something the Biden Administration appears to be very reticent to do. We've seen them fold in the past as pressures mounted, their allies are certainly pushing them towards that. But bear in mind, too, we've seen extraordinary Ukrainian attacks deep inside Russia hitting large ammunition plants and other targets, quite often very deep inside Russia in just the past days, two significant ammunition depots detonating in just the last 72 hours, according to some social media reporting.

So certainly, Ukraine forging ahead, regardless of elements of that plan, but perhaps keen to have the accuracy and the political will of a U.S. accession to that particular idea on board.

[08:20:00]

Also, they're talking about trying to force Russia into some kind of diplomatic solution. Intense weariness amongst Western allies, whether negotiating with Russia has any point to it at all, coupled with the Ukrainian belief that essentially freezing the conflict now would be a victory for Vladimir Putin.

And then finally, the need to put some kind of economic cost upon Russia too. That's probably more sanctions. That might be more attacks against oil depots and the oil infrastructure, but Volodymyr Zelenskyy clearly on the clock there. You saw that photo opportunity at a Scranton ammunitions factory.

He's really facing a challenge now that he has October to try and impact some kind of meaningful change on the battlefield before he may face what he will face, a new U.S. President, Donald Trump, or Kamala Harris. He's meeting both of those in this same trip.

Kamala Harris likely to maintain the same kind of support the Biden Administration, which his part has, but Donald Trump a large question mark. He's claimed he'd end the war in 24 hours, and Viktor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister, has apparently suggested that when they met, he said he wouldn't be giving any more money to Ukraine for the Russia war.

Not clear if that's exactly his policy, but it's a huge question mark, and it means, really, that Zelenskyy wants to find himself in a much cleaner position by November, with some kind of progress on the battlefield that he can potentially sit upon as he may be forced into some kind of negotiating strategy, Amara.

WALKER: Nick Paton Walsh, thanks so much for breaking that down for us live there from London. All right, still to come, after months in space two Russian Cosmonauts and a U.S. Astronaut have returned home on board a Soyuz Spacecraft, as you saw at the top of the hour. We will have more on the mission that's all part of preparing for humankind next steps into the universe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: As we saw at the top of this hour, Russia's Soyuz SMS-25 Spacecraft has touched down in Kazakhstan. And here are the cosmonauts coming out of the capsule having landed safely back on Earth. The capsule separated from the International Space Station a few hours ago, with two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut on board. Good wave there, and two thumbs up from one of the cosmonauts.

NASA's Tracy Dyson has been in space for 184 days orbiting the earth 2944 times and traveling get this, 78 million miles. It was her fourth mission aboard the ISS serving as flight engineer this time. In a little while, she will board NASA's plane to complete the homeward journey to Houston, Texas.

Let's bring in CNN's Tom Foreman in Washington, D.C. It's always fascinating to watch this, right? I mean, the way that they come out, obviously, they have to be carried out because of all the gravity that -- the zero gravity that they dealt with for so long.

[08:25:00]

So, tell us more Tom about the aim of American Tracy Dyson's mission and that of her two Russian cosmonauts with her.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I'll mention the one you saw coming out there at the beginning was Ole Konaninko, who actually was in space a little over a year and who now has the record for combined days in space of 1,111. So yeah, big impact on these people. There she is. Look, there's Tracy Dyson. Quite a story here, PhD in Chemistry. She's been up there. She was a sprinter and a long jumper in college. Really a great dream of hers to go up here and work in space. She's done it several times now. As you mentioned, the number of times she was up there, the distance she traveled, pretty remarkable.

What she was doing while she was there. She did some research into stem cell studies. She did some 3D printing of tissue that would be used, for example, in heart repairs, things like that. Operated robots on Earth from space, did experiments in fire safety in microgravity. The thing is, they have to do all sorts of things.

And very, very experienced in handling of tools. It's been kind of a lifelong passion, mechanical things, tools, and also very handy person to have on board. But really, I must say, Amara, when they do things like Tracy Dyson has done here, they really do have to be sort of a jack of all trades.

They have to be able to do medical work on each other, if necessary. They have to do medical tests on themselves. And, of course, dealing with space flight itself really quiet an accomplishment. And I guess it'll be a little while before she feels like she can walk around.

WALKER: Yeah, exactly. I wonder how long that, I guess, physical recuperation is going to take for her and for the other cosmonauts. Do we know Tom -- I'm sure it's too soon to ask maybe any future space missions for Tracy Dyson?

FOREMAN: I don't think I've ever known an astronaut who doesn't want to do.

WALKER: Right of course.

FOREMAN: But now that said, she is in her 50s. Typically, astronauts sort of time out in their late 40s. So, if she were to get another mission, she would be working a little bit against the odds here. But as I said, she's been several times. She has an interest in teaching. She has an interest in all sorts of research here on land.

She also has been a singer in the, what they call the Max Q band. So, she has plenty of other interests back here on Earth, despite all of her very pronounced interest out in space.

WALKER: She truly is a Jill of all trades, right? And also, a singer, wow. Well, welcome back to Earth, everybody. Good to see you, Tom Foreman --

FOREMAN: A lot going on in space.

WALKER: -- in Washington, D.C., good to see you. Thanks Tom.

FOREMAN: Good seeing you Amara.

WALKER: All right. Still to come, back to one of our top stories, attacks on Southern Lebanon are ramping up. Now Israel is warning people in the area to leave. We're going to look at what might come next for the troubled region.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]

WALKER: Israel is conducting what it is calling extensive strikes across Lebanon after urging civilians to leave areas where Hezbollah operates. The strikes appear to be the widest in geographic range since the war began nearly one year ago, and they come after Israel and Hezbollah exchanged their most intensive fire of the conflict over the weekend.

Lebanon's Health Ministry says at least 100 people were killed and more than 400 others wounded in Monday's air strikes. That includes women and children according to local media. Civilians there are now fleeing areas of Southern Lebanon, while others are leaving Beirut's southern suburbs and classes in public and private schools have been suspended in several regions.

The Lebanese Caretaker Prime Minister, meanwhile, is urging the United Nations to pressure Israel into stopping what he's calling the aggression on his country. Let's bring in H.A. Hellyar, a Middle East Study Scholar from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Excuse me, good to see you H.A. So first off, tell me what your thoughts on this. I mean, the fact that Israel is calling for immediate evacuations for civilians and Lebanon indicates that there are more -- there are more attacks to come.

H.A. HELLYAR, MIDDLE EAST STUDIES SCHOLAR, CAMEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: Thank you for having me on your program. So, the quote, unquote evacuation orders are part of Israel's strategy to psychologically engage with the people of Lebanon in quite a mass fashion.

So, the entirety of that southern part of the country has already been defined by Israel as a war zone, and the framing of Southern Lebanon as such is meant to give Israel the opportunity to then strike it without any regard for Lebanese sovereignty.

So, they're not -- they're not evacuation orders. They're framing Southern Lebanon, in totality, as a quote, unquote legitimate target. Of course, it's not a legitimate target, but that's the point behind these sorts of messages and displacing the people of Southern Lebanon, further to the north, as leverage, frankly, vis a vis Hezbollah.

WALKER: Should we be describing this as an escalation or a new phase or a beginning of a war?

HELLYAR: I don't think that we can describe it as an as anything but a huge escalation, and one that the United States urged Israel not to embark upon, but was unwilling to actually do anything to stop Israel from going forward. This is an incredibly reckless and dangerous move.

It risks sending the entirety of the region into a spiral of incredibly destructive war, even more than what we've seen already vis a vis Gaza and Southern Lebanon. So, I do think that this is a very dangerous time, and I think that there's huge responsibility in Washington D.C. to intervene. Unfortunately, I don't expect them to do so.

WALKER: You know, this major escalation began last week between Hezbollah and Israel with those pager and walkie talkie attacks against the Hezbollah militants. And there was, of course, a lot of speculation about what Israel's strategy was at the time. Is Israel's strategy clearer now?

HELLYAR: I think the strategy, as far as the Israelis are concerned, goes something like this. We know that the Americans have told us that they don't want us to escalate, but we also know that they set red lines when it came to Gaza, which we've crossed, and there hasn't been much in the way of repercussions.

So, we essentially have a free hand to do as we see fit, without having to worry about much in terms of consequences. We want to return our residents to the north of the country, where they no longer are because of threats from Hezbollah rocket fire. So, we're going to do what we need to do in order to return them to the north.

And what we've decided is that negotiations and diplomacy is not the way forward, because that would involve ceasefire in Gaza as well. We're going to instead put pressure on the south of Lebanon, push people to leave, create a buffer zone there. And I wouldn't frankly be surprised if there were --

[08:35:00]

-- there is no military solution to any of this. And the Israelis have at some point come back to the negotiation table.

WALKER: So, you think that this is a prelude to a ground invasion by Israel into Lebanon?

HELLYAR: It's entirely possible. And I don't say that on the basis of my own assessments, but rather what we've seen in Israeli press and from Israeli figures over not just the past week, but months, where you know the redefinition of the calculations on the ground has to take place, and it's difficult to see how that could be accomplished without some form of ground force going into the south.

Keeping in mind, Israel's done this already, and it didn't work out very well for the Israelis. History is a good teacher in this regard, but that doesn't obviate the possibility that they might try to do something like that going forward. On the contrary, quite a few numbers of troops have been freed up from the campaign in Gaza.

They are freed up, I think, for heading towards the north. So, it would not surprise me if we saw more ground activity, even though the military establishment Israel, I think, is somewhat split on this point. But not split in terms of like 10 to 90, but something far more 50, 50 in terms of how much further they want to go.

In the meantime, I think we're likely a lot of strikes, a huge displacement of Lebanese, even more, by the way, than what we've seen in the past. Keeping in mind, people have been talking a lot about how the north of Israel citizens aren't able to live there. There have been scores thousands of Lebanese that have also not been able to go back to their homes in the south as a result of the unending Israeli fire on the south of Lebanon. So, there's a lot going on here. There is no military solution.

WALKER: It doesn't seem -- yeah, it seems like all of that's been elusive. H.A. Hellyar, thank you for your time. Iran's President is expected to speak at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, and ahead of that, an American who spent eight years wrongfully detained in Iran sat down with CNN's Christiane Amanpour in a world exclusive. This is Siamak Namazi's first TV interview since his release from Tehran's notorious prison last year. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: As you know, people have said, oh, you should never deal with the regime in any way, formal fashion. What is your answer to that?

SIAMAK NAMAZI, AMERICAN FREED FROM IRANIAN DETENTION: Christian, I will answer that as a former hostage and tell you, we have a duty to get out our people from foreign dungeons. When they have done nothing, and the only reason they're in there is because they carry a blue passport, and their only way out is through a deal.

Unfortunately, we have to make distasteful deals to get out our people. But I'll tell you something, no one is as angry. No one is as disgusted as the fact -- at the fact that the Islamic Republic, that these -- this horrible regime, profited from blighting my life than me and the other hostages in our families.

I spent 2989 days in their dungeon. They took my father. They have done things that I'm not able to tell my therapist yet, and I still I can't even speak about it. I am upset that they profited from this. But what other choice is there? Are you just going to let an American rot.

But we have two obligations, get our people out, even if it means holding our nose and doing these distasteful deals. The second part is we have to deter hostage taking to begin with. And I think as grateful as I am and I can't. I would really love to shake President Biden's hand one day. I really would.

As grateful as I am for this. I have a polarity of emotions going on. We have to do something to stop this, and we don't. There is zero. There is absolutely zero deterrence for hostage taking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: You can hear the full interview on Amanpour a little later, at 01:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and at 06:00 p.m. in London. In a few hours, Ryan Wesley Routh will be back in court. He is a suspect in the apparent assassination attempt against Former President Donald Trump at his golf club in Florida. CNN's Zach Cohen, joining me now from Washington, D.C. Zach, you have new information about the suspect that the government hasn't covered in their investigation. What do we know?

[08:40:00]

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Amara ahead of today's hearing prosecutors did file a pretrial memo that revealed new details about what they're learning about Ryan Routh as they've continued to try to build this case -- attempted assassination case against him.

And one of the new details is that investigators say that they've obtained handwritten letters from Ruth that says, among other things, in one that's addressed to quote the world, it states, this was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job.

This letter, according to prosecutors, was delivered by Routh to a civilian witness who only opened a box of other evidence that contained this letter after the September incident at Donald Trump's golf course, and then subsequently contacted law enforcement.

This is a really interesting new piece of evidence that we did not know about before, because it speaks to Ryan Routh's intent, right? And as of now, Ryan Routh only faces those two, gun charges. One's possession of a firearm while being a convicted felon, and the other is possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

They've still not brought any charges related to an attempted assassination, and that's the case that investigators have continued to try to build, as Ryan Routh has remained behind bars since his arrest at Donald Trump's golf course about a week ago now.

And so, this is really an indicator that they have gained some traction in trying to build that case to make those more complicated and more severe charges potentially stick. Now we're going to wait and see if they ultimately do bring any additional charges that something we know prosecutors are actively weighing even ahead of today's attention hearing.

But today they will just simply probably argue that Ryan Routh needs to remain behind bars because he's both a flight risk and a danger to the community, but this memo does give us some insight into the broader case they're trying to build.

WALKER: Yeah, it sure does. Zach Cohen appreciate your reporting. Thank you. Still to come, an historically close presidential race, the new polls that show Donald Trump perhaps might be on the rise. We'll see stay with us.

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WALKER: So, we have been hearing for a while that the presidential race is very close. Well, over the weekend, CNN's number crunchers went even further, and they see the data right now points to this being the closest presidential contest since 1960 when John F Kennedy narrowly beat Richard Nixon. But a brand-new poll shows a bit of momentum for Donald Trump, at least in one state.

[08:45:00]

The New York Times Siena College survey finds Donald Trump has surged to a small but significant lead in three key swing states. The sunbelt states of Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina, have been seen as Kamala Harris's backup plan in case she does not win the battleground states in the upper Midwest.

This poll makes that scenario seem less likely. Seem being the key word here for his analysis let's bring in Larry Sabato, the Director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. So, you know, give us a gut check here, because in at least two of those states, Georgia and North Carolina, there really is no clear leader. It's all within the margin of error.

But when you look at Arizona, you have Trump with likely voters having 50 percent support to Harris's 45 percent. Compare that to in August, the same poll had Harris leading by five points. Should this be concerning for the Harris camp?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Well, the Harris camp should be concerned, because they're in a very tight election with Donald Trump. But people overreact to every new poll. There's tunnel vision. You know this.

Whatever the new poll is people say, oh, this must be the one. This must be the best. Just yesterday, yesterday, two well respected networks, NBC and CBS, released separate polls, both showing Kamala Harris nationally leading by four to five percentage points.

I guarantee you she's not behind that much in Arizona, if she's leading nationally anywhere close to what they have. The Arizona case, I'm glad you pointed it out, because it is particularly unbelievable. They had Harris up by five before the debate, and then the debate which Harris won overwhelmingly, and even the Trump campaign admits Harris won the debate overwhelmingly.

Supposedly, Trump is now up five. That's a 10-point shift for no particular reason. Now, who believes that when a poll strikes at the essence of reason, disregard it. There'll be another poll tomorrow. There'll be another 10 polls by next weekend.

WALKER: You are such a great voice of reason, and you did tell our producer, polls are not votes, right? I mean, it's just a glimpse, and it's into that moment. Let's talk about this second debate that Kamala Harris has publicly agreed to for October 23rd here in Atlanta, again, same format with CNN. This is what Trump said about why he wouldn't participate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The problem with another debate is that it's just too late. Voting is already started. She's done one debate. I've done two. It's too late to do another. I'd love to, in many ways, but it's too late. The voting is cast. The voters are out there immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: It's not too late. I write you tweeted about this. There have been many presidential debates that happen in late October your reaction.

SABOTO: That's precisely right. And the irony is, Trump himself participated in late October debates in both 2016 and 2020 suddenly, it's become too late. Look, 2020 had essentially the same rules with plenty of early voting. That's not why he doesn't want to participate. He doesn't because he fears he will do as badly as he did in the first debate with Kamala Harris.

WALKER: Would it behove both campaigns not to have a second debate? I mean, for Kamala Harris, let it be end on that high note from the first debate.

SABOTO: It's just that the public doesn't remember things for very long. Those of us who focus on the news maybe remember things too long. But the average voter really doesn't. And people who vote later won't remember the subjects discussed and how the debate went in early October, -- early September.

The good reason for doing it is that people have been criticizing both candidates for not being very substantive about what they would do over the next four years. Why not cover some of that in a second debate? I think it's a good idea. I doubt it happens, but it might.

WALKER: Then, what about giving the vice-presidential candidates the last word? I mean, they're slated Tim Walz and J.D. Vance to debate on October 1st. Will their debate matter at all?

SABOTO: It will matter if there is a big gaffe by one of the candidates, and occasionally that does happen in vice presidential debates. But it doesn't change many votes. People don't vote for vice president; they vote for president. So, for those who watch, and the percentage watching will be lower, obviously, than for the presidential debates. It might color in some blank spaces they've had about this campaign.

[08:50:00]

But I doubt it does much more than that, unless there's a big gap.

WALKER: You know, at the sound bite you saw of Trump saying that it's too late to have a debate in October. Mark Robinson, we have to mention him because he was in North Carolina. He was conspicuously absent from Trump's rally, although Trump shouted out to a lot of prominent North Carolina Republicans.

He didn't mention Mark Robinson and also J.D. Vance, over the weekend, gave this interview when he was asked about, excuse me, whether or not he believed Mark Robinson's denials about his incendiary comments on this porn site listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You believe him that those were not his posts.

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), 2024 VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't -- not believe him. I don't believe him. I just think that you have to let these things sometimes play out in the court of public opinion. I just think that fundamentally, it's Mark Robinson and the people of North Carolina that get to decide whether he's their governor, and that's what we're going to focus on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: What do you make of this strategy of I mean, that answer was extremely confusing. Didn't really say much, and Trump basically ignoring this gubernatorial candidate, is that the right strategy?

SABOTO: Well, they can hardly do anything else, because he's a disaster. Mark Robinson is a disaster. Virtually his entire campaign staff resigned this weekend. I don't know who's running his campaign. Maybe he's doing it personally, but he's losing. He's losing badly.

And the Trump campaign rightly worries about Republicans being disillusioned and depressed by the Robinson campaign shenanigans and the scandal that was uncovered by CNN, and that may very well affect Trump in North Carolina. Notice, even "The New York Times" poll showed North Carolina essentially tied. North Carolina's normally a Republican state.

WALKER: Quick. What's your gut feeling? We got to go, but I want to know on election night. I mean, are we going to know the results?

SABOTO: On election night? I doubt it, because there'll be too many challenges.

WALKER: Yeah.

SABOTO: There are challenges already in some of the key states that will drag out the voting, which will increase the number of conspiracy theories.

WALKER: That will be a problem that we'll have to watch. Larry Sabato, it's always great to speak with you. Thank you.

SABOTO: Thank you.

WALKER: We'll be right back.

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WALKER: Four people are dead, 17 others injured after multiple shooters opened fire on a crowd in Birmingham, Alabama. This was the chaotic scene Saturday night at a crowded entertainment district in the city. Police believe one victim was the focus of a targeted hit, and the other victims were caught in the crossfire.

The Birmingham Police Department is partnering with the FBI and other agencies to investigate. The Mayor of Birmingham says gun violence is at an epidemic level in his city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDALL WOODFIN, BIRMINGHAM MAYOR: I think this requires support of federal partners and a change in laws at the state level. City of Birmingham and all municipalities in the State of Alabama don't have home rule, so it takes partnership, collaboration and down in the state House in Montgomery to change laws that are stricter and tougher, to give Birmingham police the tools to take shooters off the streets prior to an incident like this.

But our focus and our priority are literally on capturing the shooter or shooters who committed this heinous crime to make sure we can take them off the street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: No suspects have been taken into custody so far.

[08:55:00]

Tuesday will likely be a really tough day for students at Apalachee High School in Georgia. That is when the school will reopen for the first time since the September 4th shooting there. Two teachers and two students were killed when authorities say fellow student, Colt Gray opened fire with an assault style rifle.

The school is holding an open house this morning for students and parents. Some students will be bused to remote classes since the hall where the shooting happened is still closed. Thank you for your time and joining me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Amara Walker. "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is next.

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