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Zelenskyy in U.S. to Attend UNGA, Present Victory Plan; Suspect to be Charged with Trying to Assassinate Trump; Israel and Hezbollah Trade More Fire; Afghan Activists Call for Global Pressure on Taliban. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired September 24, 2024 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, here are today's top stories.

Israel's military says it struck dozens of targets in Lebanon after Hezbollah launched multiple barrages overnight. An Israeli official says the security cabinet has agreed to continue to raise the level of military operations in Lebanon every day. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Hezbollah is the target, not the Lebanese people.

French President Emmanuel Macron has unveiled his new coalition government at the Elysee Palace. The newly appointed ministers met with Mr. Macron and Prime Minister Michel Barnier. The country's new cabinet marks a turn to the right, even though a left-wing alliance won the most parliamentary seats.

A NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts are safely back on Earth after a stay on the International Space Station. They touched down in Kazakhstan in a Soyuz capsule on Monday after a parachute-assisted landing.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to address a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on day one of the U.N. General Assembly. He'll also visit Washington later this week to meet with President Joe Biden.

Speaking to leaders on Monday, he vowed to do everything in his power to stand against nations who undermine global unity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: The world needs a peaceful future and sustainable development. And I say this as a president of Ukraine, a country resisting Russia's brutal colonial aggression. Putin has stolen much already, but he will never steal the world's future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Clare Sebastian joins us for more details. He does have a plan to deal with Russia, doesn't he? And we're hoping to get some more detail on exactly what is in that plan.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this seems to be the sort of central tenet of his visit. He's been to the last U.N. General Assembly last year. He was virtually at the previous one. So this is his third as a wartime president, but he really wants to differentiate this one.

He said on the plane over here, you know, this fall will determine what comes next in the war. And he's bringing this peace plan, which he intends to present not only to President Biden, but we understand to both presidential candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, though he seemed to intimate in a meeting with congressional leaders on Monday that there wasn't a sort of a date set for that as of yet.

As for what is in the plan, we don't know concretely yet. The hints that he's dropping is that this will be about strengthening Ukraine so that it has a stronger hand in negotiations, be it with specific weapons. And we do believe that it will include a request for permission to use long range missiles on Russian soil or with things like security guarantees and potentially a nod to a future NATO membership, which is, of course, a pretty big thing for Russia. So that is what we think that he will present.

But clearly, this is a moment for Ukraine when they feel they're running out of time, not just because of the situation on the battlefield, but because of the upcoming U.S. election. And I think it was very significant that just hours after we heard from President Zelenskyy on Monday, we had this from Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Ukraine now, I see Zelenskyy is here. I think Zelenskyy is the greatest salesman in history. Every time he comes into the country, he walks away with $60 billion -- billion. Walks in with $60 billion. He wants them to -- he wants them to win this election so badly.

But I would do differently. I will work at peace before I'm even before. As president elect, if I win this election, the first thing I'm going to do is call up Zelenskyy and call up President Putin. And I'm going to say, you got to make a deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: We don't know what that deal looks like. President Trump -- former President Trump, has not offered any details of that. But this comes, you know, just barely a week since we heard his vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance, talk about how he thinks the conflict could be ended by sort of freezing the line where the current front lines are and creating a demilitarized zone. He has openly opposed Ukraine aid.

So Ukraine is clearly very concerned about -- at this point. And that's why I think this peace plan is so urgent. They want to try to put these systems in place to rally international support ahead of November.

FOSTER: But he's got most of Europe on side, hasn't he? Because they've been pressuring Biden to allow at least the longer range missiles to go into Russia. So he's got quite a lobby over there in New York.

SEBASTIAN: Yes, I think -- look, that is true. Certainly, there seems to be more willingness on the side of Europe when it comes to those permissions to use long range missiles inside of Russia. And there's really two countries that are supplying them. There's the Franco- British Scalp, Storm Shadows, and then there's the U.S. ATACMS.

But I think certainly Europe will be looking to the U.S. for political cover. There's some suggestions, certainly from experts that I spoke to that with those missiles, there's some U.S. involvement potentially in the sort of GPS targeting that involves. So there may be technical reasons why they need the U.S. on side here. So it's a critical moment for this war. I think this is not sort of hyperbole that we're hearing.

Zelenskyy, he really needs this week to go his way. And certainly, I think Russia, certainly from the media coverage that we see there, is watching extremely closely.

FOSTER: Clare, thank you.

[04:35:00]

Messaging platform Telegram has updated its terms of service and privacy policy after founder and CEO Pavel Durov's arrest. Durov posted Monday that Telegram will now disclose to authorities with valid legal requests the IP addresses and phone numbers of users who violate its rules. It's also removed problematic content from its public search feature. The move is meant to reduce criminal activity on the platform.

Durov was arrested in France last month and interviewed about suspected criminal activity on Telegram.

The man suspected of trying to assassinate Donald Trump earlier this month has written a letter -- or rather had written a letter declaring his intentions and laying out his plans.

That's according to a new filing by federal prosecutors who say they will now charge Ryan Routh with attempting to assassinate the former U.S. president. CNN's Randi Kaye has details from Monday's hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In court, we learned more about a letter that was provided from a witness who said Ryan Routh dropped a box at his home a while ago and that box was passed on to federal investigators. In it was a handwritten letter according to investigators that they believe Ryan Routh wrote.

And that letter says in part: 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.

And then he went on to offer $150,000 to whomever could complete the job. We also learned from the agents in court that the defendant, Ryan Routh, they believe was in a position that provided a clear line of fire to the sixth hole putting green.

Now remember Donald Trump was on the fifth hole putting green at the time this all occurred. That would have put him about 12 to 15 minutes away from the sixth hole putting green. Also, if he had gotten to the sixth hole putting green, he would have been about 100 feet, investigators say, from who they believe is Ryan Routh in that position in the bushes.

Also, new information regarding the scope that was attached to the weapon that was discovered at the scene that we are told was attached to the weapon by electrical tape and investigators in court said that they -- there was a fingerprint that they believe belongs to Ryan Routh on that electrical tape. That is a preliminary finding. They are still looking into that.

We also know there was a letter now addressed to The New York Times that was found at the scene. They did test that letter for fingerprints and DNA. They have not found Ryan Routh's fingerprints or DNA on it just yet, but they did find a fingerprint belonging to someone else.

The FBI agent who was testifying did not say who that person is, who that fingerprint belongs to, or what was in the letter.

Also, they did search Routh's car. They found a Hawaii driver's license and a passport in his name along with 12 pairs of gloves and six cell phones. One of the cell prosecutors say included a search, a Google search from how to get from Palm Beach County where this all happened to Mexico. Also, they found cell phone data that would have placed Ryan Routh in this area for about a month before this incident occurred. They said that he arrived here as of August 14th. That's according to cell phone data hanging off the cell phone towers in the area.

And finally, there was a handwritten list of dates and venues, prosecutors say, that was found in his car. Those include dates where Donald Trump was expected to appear before Election Day. They believe that that handwritten list was written by Ryan Routh.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Palm Beach County, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Boeing is sweetening the deal with its machinists union in an effort to end the strike that's now in its 11th day. The strike has brought Boeing's production of commercial jets to a near halt. The company's latest proposal now offers union members a 30 percent raise over four years and increased benefits.

Earlier this month, union members voted almost unanimously against an offer of 25 percent in overall raises. The union said in a statement Monday it's reviewing the new offer, but they stopped short of saying it would be submitted to members for a vote.

Kmart is closing its last full-size store in the mainland U.S. next month. The Long Island location will shut its doors on October the 20th, marking the end of an era for the once-dominant retailer. At the peak of its success, Kmart had more than 1,400 stores, but competition from big box chains like Walmart and Target, along with the rise of online shopping, has contributed to its decline. Kmart still has locations in Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and a small convenience store in Miami, if you still need one.

Israel and Hezbollah stage more cross-border attacks as fears grow that the conflict will engulf the region. Details on that coming up.

[04:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: The Israeli military is launching another round of airstrikes inside Lebanon following a night of cross-border exchanges between Hezbollah and the IDF. Hezbollah said it fired a barrage of rockets at the city of Kiryat Shmona. Several fires broke out from the rocket attacks, but Israeli police say no injuries have been reported.

This after Israel launched a wave of airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon on Monday, killing nearly 500 people, including women and children. A source tells CNN the Israeli cabinet has agreed to raise the level of military operations every single day.

The IDF says it struck 1,600 targets in southern Lebanon on Monday. The onslaught is prompting thousands of people to flee their homes in southern Lebanon, as Israel says it will continue to escalate its attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): To those who didn't understand, I would like to clarify Israel's policy. We are not waiting for a threat. We are ahead of it, everywhere, in every arena, any time.

We're eliminating seniors, eliminating commanders, eliminating rockets, and counting. Those who try to hurt us, we will hurt them gravely. I promise to change the security balance, the balance of power in the north. This is exactly what we're doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Shocking video from Lebanon, where an Israeli airstrike reportedly smashed the window of a Lebanese journalist as he was getting ready to do a live television interview.

Ivan Watson watching that. I mean, really hard to watch, isn't it? And then that is away from all of the imagery that we haven't got of some of these attacks. I mean, how would you sum up where we are in this conflict? IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Israeli government announced last week that it was entering a new phase, a new era, in what has been a year of a border war, effectively, with Hezbollah. And you heard from the Israeli prime minister.

[04:45:00]

He says that his goal is to try to get Hezbollah to back down, to stop with its cross-border rocket attacks that are supporting Hamas militants in Gaza, also bearing the brunt of a year-long conflict since October 7th.

So, on Monday, what we saw was a ferocious aerial bombardment carried out by Israeli warplanes. As Israel has pointed out, at least 1,600 targets that it hit.

It is a dramatic escalation going even further than the explosion of the Hezbollah pagers and the Hezbollah walkie-talkies that wounded and killed hundreds of people last week.

In the course of this, there is a massive death toll, Max. We're talking about close to 500 people. According to Lebanon's Ministry of Health, at least 492 people killed in a single day in Lebanon on Monday by the Israeli aerial bombardment. And among those killed are 35 children and 58 women. So, nearly 100 women and children killed in a single day, and an absolute exodus of humanity, of people fleeing from the targeted areas in the south and the east of Lebanon.

Take a listen to what one of those women fleeing had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They struck right next to our house, and our building was shaking. We got very stressed. This is why we had to leave, and we came here. We were told it's safe here. The situation is very tragic. The strikes were right next to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: We have a NASA heat map that we can show you, Max, that will show you kind of some of the areas, the heat points across Lebanon over a 24-hour period of this aerial bombardment, to just give you a sense of where the fires were burning as the munitions were dropping and being fired from the sky.

Now, the cross-border attacks have continued. Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for attacks on a number of Israeli military targets, as well as that border community of Kiryat Shmona.

The Israeli military is saying it has started another round of attacks, aerial attacks, on Lebanon. So far, we have only really gotten one report of a casualty on the Israeli side of the border, a woman in her 50s who was slightly injured with some shrapnel in the face.

By all accounts, according to the rhetoric of the Israeli government, the assault, the aerial assault, will only increase in the days ahead.

FOSTER: Obviously, this isn't a one-sided conflict. A barrage is also coming from the north into Israel. But at what point does Iran say enough is enough, and we see a really significant response?

WATSON: That's a big question here. And Iran has been brought into the conflict. There have been direct attacks from Iran using long-range missiles and drones, where the U.S. military and other allies in the region helped protect Israel from those attacks.

We also have seen Israel's direct attacks into Iran with the purported assassination of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital.

The pattern that we have seen throughout nearly a year of conflict is Iran and its axis of allies have talked a big game, but they have seemed to withdraw from full conflict, the regional war that everybody is afraid of. And it is unclear.

Hezbollah has definitely been badly hurt over the course of the last week. Its communications have been compromised. Israel has succeeded in killing Hezbollah commander after Hezbollah commander.

So Hezbollah does appear to be on the back foot, but also, in its own rhetoric, it has said it will not back down. In fact, the number two official in Hezbollah, after a high-ranked official was assassinated last week at the funeral, he pledged a new chapter in the confrontation, a battle without limits.

FOSTER: Ivan, thank you for your insights today on that escalating story.

Afghan activists are calling on the global community to support their efforts to protect women's rights. Inclusion of women in the future event was held during the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Monday.

Activists want the international community to pressure the Taliban over what they call ignorant policies. It comes after Taliban leaders instituted harsh new morality laws that restrict women's dress and conduct in the public even further than before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAWZIA KOOFI, AFGHAN WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST: When the peace process started, the Taliban already felt that they are victorious. There was a Taliban that were different from the time we met with them in dialogue to the time that we met with them in the peace process after they signed the agreement.

[04:50:04]

They did not even kept their own promise. They publicly said that they have changed, that they will respect women and human rights.

And some of their supporters, including some diplomats from the Washington, echoed them. They said Taliban 2.0. And we tend to believe them. We were all trapped into this narrative that was created for us. And that's why I think it's time for the world to let us have our own narrative.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Actor Meryl Streep also spoke at the United Nations on Monday. She added her voice to the call for world leaders to address the treatment of women under Taliban rule.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERYL STREEP, ACTOR: The way that this culture and this society has been upended is a cautionary tale for the rest of the world. In the 70s, most of the civil servants were women. Over half the teachers, doctors.

A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not and a woman may not in public. This is extraordinary. This is a suppression of the natural law. This is odd.

I feel that the Taliban, since they've issued over 100 edicts in Afghanistan, stripping women and girls of their education and employment, their freedom of expression and movement, they have effectively incarcerated half their population.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Last year, he was at the center of one of the most frightening scenes in NFL history. Now, Damar Hamlin is bringing the crowd to his feet with a career burst. That's next.

[04:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Well, the Buffalo Bills remain undefeated after a blowout victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Bill's safety Tamar Hamlin made his first start in a Monday night football game since he went into cardiac arrest on the field and had to be resuscitated last year.

Last night, Hamlin sent Bill's fans into a frenzy as he made his first career interception late in the second quarter. The final score, Bills 47, Jaguars 10.

U.S. President Joe Biden honoring the National Women's Soccer League champions. He welcomed the New Jersey, New York, Gotham to the White House on Monday where they presented the 46th president with a number 46 jersey. Mr. Biden praised the women for keeping the faith. The team went from last in the league to champions in one season. Amazing.

Now, if you rely on emojis to get your message across, it's a big day for you. Eight new ones are coming to your smartphone next year.

The most anticipated is an exhausted face with bags under its eyes. We should see now if I did have makeup. Others, including a fingerprint, a splat, a root vegetable, a harp and a shovel. The leafless tree is meant to raise awareness apparently about climate change. New emojis don't just happen every day. It is a formal process led by the Unicode Consortium, which is a non-profit overseeing global emoji standards. Everything's regulated.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. CNN "THIS MORNING" is up after a short break.

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