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Intercepted Missile First Ever to Reach Tel Aviv from Lebanon; Man Executed Despite Objection of Prosecutors and Victim's Family; China Fires ICBM in First Public Test in Decades; Statue of Johnny Cash Unveiled at U.S. Capitol. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired September 25, 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 some of today's top stories.
The Israeli military says it's intercepted a missile near Tel Aviv. This marks the first time a missile fired by Hezbollah got this close to the city. Hezbollah says it was targeting the headquarters of Israel's intelligence agency Mossad. There are no reports of damage or casualties.
Tropical storm Helene is expected to become a hurricane in the coming hours. Thousands of Florida residents have been told to evacuate their homes. And a flash or a flood watch rather has been issued for more than 20 million people in the region.
And a massive wildfire is raging on the outskirts of Ecuador's capital. Authorities are trying to get the flames under control. But an historic drought isn't helping. No deaths or injuries have been reported.
What's thought to be the first time ever Hezbollah has fired a missile from Lebanon towards the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. Israel intercepted the missile as it approached.
Hezbollah says it was targeting the headquarters of Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency. The IDF described the ballistic missile as heavy and long range. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is delaying his trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly due to the ongoing fighting. His office says he'll fly to New York on Thursday and is expected to speak at the U.N. on Friday.
Let's bring in CNN senior international correspondent Ivan Watson.
We're going to talk about the situation on the ground for people in just a moment. But first of all, what did you make of that image of that interception near Tel Aviv, which is the commercial capital, isn't it, of Israel?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure. I mean, this appears to be as the first time that a ballistic missile has been fired in the direction of the commercial capital. A single missile being fired.
Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for it, which seems, according to some analysts we've been talking to, more symbolic than actually an attempt to hurt anybody, as in a warning in this deadly game of real chicken that is being performed by these two enemies -- the Israeli military and Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, Max, we're learning more about the aftermath of the Israeli aerial bombardment of Lebanon on Monday. The Lebanese health ministry has updated the number of casualties from that single day of bombardment to some 558 people killed, among them 50 children and 94 women. Among this, more than 100 women and children killed. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees say two of the UNHCR employees were killed in that aerial bombardment.
And to put some images and to humanize some of these kind of just grim statistics. One of those people is a woman named Dina Darwiche, who's been filmed previously in UNHCR videos. The UNHCR says she and her youngest son were killed by an Israeli missile that hit their home on Monday. And their husband and another child were rescued, but they're in the hospital being treated for very severe injuries.
Also, we've learned that there were two sisters who were math teachers who were killed, Zainab and Fatima Haribi. So those are just a few of the people who died in Monday's aerial bombardment.
[04:35:03]
Here is what one Lebanese doctor in the south of the country had to say about what he witnessed in the hospital.
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DR. MOUSA YOUSSEF, HOSPITAL DOCTOR (through translator): Those are massacres against civilians and not military attacks, as they are claiming. Ninety percent of the injured are kids. Their injuries range from burns to fractures, open fractures. It's a scary situation, and it shows the savagery that exists.
There are many martyrs, kids, women and elderly people. These are people whose bodies were dismembered, whose skulls were broken, who lost their nose or their arm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Now, the bombardment also triggered a mass exodus. So there are estimates of more than 16,000 people who have fled the south of the country in a single day, some of them making 15-hour trips on clogged coastal highway trying to get out of the danger zone. The Lebanese government says it has opened 150 schools to be used as shelters.
I'm hearing from residents in Beirut that they're seeing some of these displaced people just sleeping on roadsides since having to leave on such short notice.
The CNN team in Beirut witnessed a military cargo plane landing at the airport in Beirut, and that is believed to be a Turkish cargo plane delivering aid supplies to Lebanon -- Max.
FOSTER: Ivan, thank you for the update.
The suspected gunman in the second attempt on Donald Trump's life is facing new criminal charges. Federal prosecutors on Tuesday filed the charge of attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate against Ryan Routh.
Prosecutors say Routh stalked Trump for more than a month with cell phone data, placing him outside Trump's Florida residence and golf club. Authorities say on September 15th, Routh, armed with a rifle, waited for hours with a view of the Trump International Golf Club, where the Republican presidential nominee was golfing at the time. Routh is set to be arraigned on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign says there are threats from Iran to assassinate the former president. And that U.S. intelligence officials briefed him about those real and specific threats on Tuesday. The Trump campaign said Iran's goal is to, quote, destabilize and sow chaos in the United States.
Trump posted on social media about the threats, saying, quote: Our moves were already made by Iran that didn't work out, but they'll try again, end quote.
When asked for comment, a spokesperson for the director of national intelligence acknowledged the briefing but declined to address any specifics.
Amid the rising threats, the U.S. Congress unanimously passed a new bill this week, guaranteeing Trump and Kamala Harris the same level of Secret Service protection as a sitting U.S. president. The measure sailed through both the House and the Senate, though Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said he believes the extra funds won't change the way the agency assesses threats. Senate Republican Rick Scott praised the bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): Passing the Enhanced Presidential Security Act today with unanimous consent of the Senate sends an important message to the American public and the world that we will not ignore these threats, which are truly an attack on our democratic process and have rightly shocked the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: The Secret Service is under scrutiny after two assassination attempts on Trump in recent weeks. The legislation now goes to President Joe Biden to sign into law.
The U.S. state of Missouri has executed a man convicted of murder two decades ago despite objections from prosecutors and the victim's family. Fifty-five-year-old Marcellus Williams has consistently claimed he was innocent. He died by lethal injection Tuesday in a state prison after the U.S. Supreme Court, the Missouri Supreme Court and the governor refused a stay of execution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TREVOR FOLEY, DIRECTOR, MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: We hope this gives finality to a case that has languished for decades, re- victimizing Ms. Gayle's family over and over again. No juror nor judge has ever found Williams' innocence claim to be credible. Two decades of judicial proceedings and more than 15 judicial hearings upheld his guilty conviction. Thus, the execution -- the order of execution has been carried out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Williams was a devout Muslim. His last statement on Saturday was, quote, all praise be to Allah in every situation.
CNN's Whitney Wild has more.
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WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A more than two-decade-long fight by his family and supporters to stop the execution of Marcellus Williams in the state of Missouri ends tonight, despite pleas from St. Louis prosecutors and his defense attorney for clemency. Missouri Governor Michael Parson has refused in the final hours to let Williams live.
GOV. MIKE PARSON (R-MO): Every process always comes back to where it all began, and he was issued a death sentence many years ago, and our job is to execute that when the time comes.
WILD (voice-over): Williams has been on death row since 2001, when he was convicted of the 1998 stabbing murder of Felicia Gayle. Prosecutors said at the time Williams told two people he killed Gayle during a burglary, but Williams has adamantly maintained his innocence.
[04:40:03]
In 2017, then-Governor Eric Greitens launched a commission to review his case. But in 2023, current Missouri Governor Michael Parson disbanded the effort.
Over the weekend, St. Louis prosecutor Wesley Bell and Williams attorney Jonathan Potts filed a rare joint motion asking the Missouri Supreme Court to halt Williams' execution and send the case back to a lower court. At Monday's hearing, attorneys argued Williams' rights were violated during the trial.
JONATHAN POTTS, FORMER PROSECUTOR IN WILLIAMS' CASE: The trial prosecutor in Marcellus Williams' case has admitted under oath that he struck a juror in part because of his race. That is the under feuded admission.
WILD (voice-over): But an attorney from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's office disagreed.
MICHAEL SPILLANE, MISSOURI ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: He said they look like brothers, and they say, ah, that is an admission that the strike is race-based. No, it's not.
WILD (voice-over): Attorneys for Williams also argued DNA evidence that might have exonerated Williams was contaminated when law enforcement mishandled the murder weapon, a point the attorney general's office denies.
SPILLANE: On those two claims that they've mentioned, there's no clear and convincing evidence. There's no evidence at all.
WILD (voice-over): Williams' family now speaking out, saying they will watch his final moments.
MARCELLUS WILLIAMS, JR., SON OF MARCELLUS WILLIAMS: I'm standing firm and showing my dad he's not alone if this is what it comes to, and I'm ready for it. My mindset, my spirit, strong.
WILD (voice-over): Whitney Wild, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre has revealed that he was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. The 54-year-old quarterback, known for playing for the Green Bay Packers, disclosed that he had the progressive brain disease on Tuesday at a committee hearing on reforming temporary assistance for needy families.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRETT FAVRE, HALL OF FAME NFL QUARTERBACK: Sadly, I also lost an investment in a company that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others. And I'm sure you'll understand why it's too late for me because I've recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Favre has previously said he could have experienced thousands of concussions across his 20-season NFL career. Studies have found a link between playing football, concussions, and the risk of developing Parkinson's.
Evacuation orders remain in place for an Ohio community where authorities are cleaning up a chemical that was leaking from a rail car. Styrene, a chemical used to make plastic and rubber, came spraying from the top of a rail car yesterday. People in more than 200 homes within a half-mile radius of the tracks were told to evacuate. It's unclear what caused the leak, but the rail car has been isolated and the leak contained. Officials warn, however, there is the potential of this becoming a long-term issue. Exposure to styrene can cause headaches, nausea, and respiratory issues, and extended exposure can lead to organ damage even.
China says it's fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. What this means for the growing tensions in the region just ahead.
[04:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: China says it successfully fired an intercontinental ballistic missile with a dummy warhead into the Pacific Ocean. The defense ministry says the launch is part of its annual training as China and Russia conduct joint naval exercises. It's Beijing's first public announcement about a missile test in more than four decades, so it's notable.
CNN's Mike Valerio joins us from Seoul, South Korea. But we're trying to figure out, Mike, aren't we, what they're trying to say with this, why it's been publicized?
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Max, I think that could be the understatement of the evening here in Asia. You know, the real question, Max, is what message China is trying to deliver with its first announced ICBM launch since 1980. And you know, Max, we could pose that question a different way and pose it like this.
You know, China does launch a lot of missiles, but it doesn't announce them. It doesn't talk about them. So when we're thinking about what has happened here, we could ask, why has China announced this launch and why is it talking about it now?
So to think about the greater context, to try to answer that question, let's look at what has been going on in the past couple days and months. As you mentioned at the top of this segment, Max, Russia and China are engaging in naval military exercises in seas very close to Japan, certainly drawing Japan's ire.
But the flip side of the diplomatic and military coin, you know, of course, as we've reported here extensively, the United States just wrapped up its latest meeting of the Quad security partnership between the U.S., India, Australia, and Japan a few days ago in Wilmington, Delaware, President Biden hosting it to try to shore up that security partnership. Of course, China is no fan of that partnership. So could this be a message to the Quad trying to discourage further cooperation? Unclear.
And of course, Max, when we're looking to try to decode the message from China, tone and specifics matter. And at this hour, we don't have a lot of either. Listen to the latest comments that have come in from Beijing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ZHANG XIAOGANG, SPOKESPERSON, CHINESE MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE (through translator): At 8:44 on September 25th, the rocket force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile carrying a dummy warhead into the high seas of the Pacific Ocean, which accurately fell into the expected sea area. This missile launch is a routine arrangement of the annual military training plan in line with international law and international practice and is not directed at any specific country or target.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALERIO: So just the facts there. And again, the spokesperson trying to say that this is routine. But of course, this is very notable, Max.
We have to go back all the way to the rule of Deng Xiaoping in 1980, May of 1980, to look at the last time that an ICBM launch was announced by China. That missile, notably, it was a huge leap for China at the time, launching from the western desert regions all the way into the South Pacific.
So bringing us back to this morning, we do not have any kind of flight path for where this missile went other than Beijing saying that it fell into the open seas of the Pacific Ocean, which essentially means when you're talking in diplo or military speak, open seas, it's ocean that's not in any country's territory. It's not controlled by anybody.
Beijing, though, Max, did notably say that relevant countries were notified of this launch. We don't know what those relevant countries were, but as the rest of the world, aside from Europe, as we're looking at the United States, begins to wake up, we'll be acutely paying attention to the Pentagon to see what, if any, message they received, how they are interpreting this, as well as U.S. allies in the region -- Max.
FOSTER: OK, Mike Valero, thank you so much for joining us from there.
[04:50:00]
Now, a zoo in Finland is saying bye-bye to its pandas years ahead of schedule. Coming up, why the animals are heading back to China,
Plus, how can costumers at one London pub feel -- it'll be customers, won't it, I think -- feel about having a pint in high tide, in fact.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNNY CASH, COUNTRY MUSIC LEGEND: -- into a burning ring of fire, I went down, down, down and the flames went higher. And it burned, burned --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: The man in black now being honored in bronze, a statue depicting music icon Johnny Cash unveiled at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. He's the first musician to get a bronze likeness at the National Statuary Hall where he's representing the state of Arkansas. Cash's music appears to be one thing uniting Democrats and Republicans alike -- a rare thing -- as congressional leaders praised his contributions to American culture.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: Johnny Cash gave a voice to the struggles of the people who were downtrodden and marginalized and who were too often forgotten and hopeless.
[04:55:00]
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), U.S. HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Johnny Cash was a man of resilience and American exceptionalism. He was a true American patriot. Johnny Cash's story is an American story. And this statue will forever cement his incredible, consequential place in the American journey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Having sold some 90 million records, Cash is amongst the few artists to be inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
A zoo in Finland will return two giant pandas to China more than eight years ahead of schedule. The pandas have been in Finland since January 2018. Zoo officials say fewer tourists following the pandemic and inflation led to mounting debts and they can't afford the pandas' 1.5 million euro annual upkeep.
Last year, the zoo asked Finland's government for state funding, but those requests were rejected. Since 1949, China has loaned pandas to zoos to help international relations.
Beer isn't the only thing flowing at a pub in London. The White Cross pub sits on the River Thames. It's become a social media sensation because visitors are often knee-deep in water.
Often flooding during high tide, the pub gives customers free wellies to wear whilst water washes over their feet. Some people prefer, though, to go barefoot. One man even rode his rubber dinghy to grab a pint or two.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've had one pint. I'm liable to have one more.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's part of living in Richmond to come to the White Cross and have the tide come in. It's part of it. It's part of summer. It's a rite of passage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: The mood there, as high as the tide. According to its website, the White Cross was built in 1740 and then rebuilt in 1838, but not quite high enough.
Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. CNN "THIS MORNING" is up next after a quick break.
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