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Killing Of Hezbollah Leader Deepens Fears Of A Wider Conflict; Limited Ground Incursion Into Lebanon A Possibility; Harris Visits Border In Arizona, Takes Harsher Stance On Illegal Crossings; Officials: At Least 60 Unaccounted For In Buncombe County, NC; Jessica Dean Interview With Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett; Hezbollah Weighs Response After Its Leader Killed In Israeli Strike. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired September 28, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:03]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Tonight's siren going off in Israel after Hezbollah announced it had launched long-range missiles towards Jerusalem. This after vowing to fight the death of its top leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut yesterday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the killing of Nasrallah was, quote, "necessary," and Israel will keep fighting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We settled account with this responsible for the murder of countless Israelis and many citizens of other countries, including hundreds of Americans and dozens of Frenchmen. Israel is on the move. We win. We are determined to continue to strike at our enemies, return our residents to their homes and return all of our hostages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Our Nic Robertson has the latest now from Tel Aviv.

Let's talk about Hezbollah's response so far, Nic, and what you're seeing from where you are.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. The response from Hezbollah not as expected. One of their rockets was either intercepted or came down in the West Bank. That's the one that triggered the alarms in Jerusalem a couple of hours ago. It came down in Mitze Hagit. Now the medical services that went there after the impacts on the ground, they found no casualties, but at three different locations they found evidence that either shrapnel of the interceptor missile had impacted buildings. There were some fires on the ground.

But it's odd that the missiles came there or were fired towards Jerusalem because it was expected that it will be central Israel, that densely populated cities like Tel Aviv that could bear the brunt of Hezbollah rockets, not areas that have a large Arab population. And again, as something not expected tonight, a missile fired from Lebanon by Hezbollah has landed in neighboring Jordan, not far from the capital.

That's what the Jordanian military are saying, which begins to create the impression that Hezbollah is not fully in control of the weapons systems that they're using, perhaps these longer range ballistic missiles. So far this night at least not as bad as was feared. It could have been. The IDF talking at the moment about the potential for increasing their ground operations along the northern border. The defense minister has had a consultation with other defense and security officials. And they're looking at increasing they say the activities of the IDF along the border which could imply there is a ground incursion coming.

But there's nothing official about that, although the IDF says they will do whatever the politicians instruct them to do. But I think by and large tonight, although people in Israel are bracing for a Hezbollah response, it hasn't come. It's not like the country is on edge, but there's a certain expectancy and a real understanding and feeling that because Nasrallah has been killed then that does change the dynamic of the conflict at the moment.

DEAN: All right, Nic Robertson, for us in Tel Aviv, thank you so much for that reporting. I know it's been a long day for you all there. We really appreciate it.

U.S. officials tonight telling CNN the U.S. sees the possibility of a limited ground incursion into Lebanon, but it appears Israel hasn't made a decision yet.

CNN's Oren Liebermann is live in Washington.

Oren, what else are officials saying about this?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, part of that U.S. assessment officials say is based on what the U.S. is able to see. That is a mobilization of a greater number of forces in a movement of those forces north, the clearing of areas that would be required for a ground incursion. But crucially, it obviously hasn't happened yet. And the official say it doesn't appear as if Israel has made a decision.

Now for several days now, Israeli officials, including their top general, Herzi Halevi, have made clear that a ground incursion is very much a possibility and they're preparing for the possibility of a ground incursion. But it is worth noting that a senior Israeli official said earlier this week, said on Friday, that is, that a ground incursion is not what Israel intends to do. That's not what Israel hopes to do. And that's a very important statement here as Israel tries to accomplish its goal in the north, its goal that is with Hezbollah.

Worth noting here, the goal isn't the elimination or the destruction of Hezbollah, that very much would require a very large ground incursion. It is the returning of the residents of Israel's north to their homes. More than 60,000 Israeli residents along the border with Lebanon displaced. What does that take and when does Israel feel comfortable doing that? That of course is the key question. The U.S. trying to figure that out, Israel trying to figure out what it would take to make that happen.

[19:05:02]

Meanwhile, of course, the U.S.'s ceasefire efforts are ongoing even as Israel makes clear it's going to press the very large advantage it has over Hezbollah at least for the time being.

DEAN: And Oren, both Israeli and U.S. officials say that the U.S. was notified just moments ahead of the strike that killed Nasrallah, that the U.S. did not play a role in that operation. What does that tell you and what more are you learning about the relationship currently between the U.S. government and the Israeli government?

LIEBERMANN: Well, Jessica, it's worth noting it's not the first time that this has happened. Just 11 or 12 days ago right before Israel started blowing up Hezbollah's pagers in Lebanon and then walkie- talkies a day later, Israel gave the U.S. only the vaguest of heads- ups, basically saying something is going to happen in Lebanon without offering any details. So once again, we see this either barebones notification or complete lack of advanced notification of what Israel intended to do in Lebanon.

In the case of the strike that killed Hassan Nasrallah, it was Yoav Galant, the Israeli defense minister, who told Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin basically as the planes were in the air going to carry out that strike that Israel was going to carry out a major operation in Lebanon. There is clearly some tension here and I think you can get a sense of the frustration on the U.S. side including to, at least some extent, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Why was just a barebones notification given moments before or minutes before the strike happened, that in and of itself is an excellent question, but given the U.S. efforts to get to a ceasefire, I think it's very simple to conclude that if Israel gave a much larger heads up the U.S. would have pushed back and tried to consult on it and tried to steer them away from that and it doesn't seem like Israel wanted that to happen. So they gave just a little bit of notification.

Again, Israel very clearly I think has the advantage. Israel for years, decades even, had prepared for the possibility of a war with Hezbollah. So they had the plans, they had the intel and they're pushing that advantage.

DEAN: All right. Oren Liebermann for us in Washington, D.C. Thank you for that reporting.

Joining me now, former senior U.S. intelligence official, Norman Roule, and also with us former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, Dana Stroul.

Great to have both of you here with us.

Norman, I want to start with you as Nic Robertson and Oren just laid out, there are fears that this could turn into a wider regional war. And there are big questions tonight about what Iran might do. How do you see things?

NORMAN ROULE, FORMER SENIOR U.S. INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL: Good evening to you and to my good friend Dana. It's already a regional war. The question is, how might it expand. The United States has generally contained Houthi missile firing. Firing will continue, but it's unlikely to be a strategic impact. Hamas is not a strategic factor. Hezbollah is on its back heels. The Iraqis have a limited capability which is not a strategic capability.

In the end, this comes down to Iranian missiles and drones, which are likely contained by the massive U.S. military presence in the region and the defensive umbrella that is put in place. Now that's not guarantee, but it's likely. This does mean that there may be cyberattacks, terrorism is likely. But we're already in a regional conflict.

DEAN: And Dana, just looking at Hezbollah and the organization, in your view, how damaged is it, not just as a result of the killing of Nasrallah, but everything that you kind of cumulatively add up over the past couple of weeks including the pagers and the walkie-talkies going off, and the follow-on strikes?

DANA STROUL, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR THE MIDDLE EAST: It appears that Israel has delivered -- excuse me -- a once in a generation blow to Hezbollah. It has decimated its senior leadership. It has eliminated significant amounts of its weapons caches across southern Lebanon. And it is now targeting Hezbollah's strategic weapons arsenal. Those ballistic missiles that can reach deeper into Israel and precisely target civilian areas right now.

Unbelievable, incredible damage, which really calls into question whether or not this organization will have effective command and control going forward in order to launch any kind of counterresponse.

DEAN: And Norman, Dana mentions those ballistic missiles that they also want to go after. We've heard from the IDF that their objective here is to get those 60,000 Israelis back to where they live and then safely and allow them to live there on the northern border safely. Do you do see a ground incursion being a part of that in achieving that objective?

ROULE: I shared Dana's views as to Israel's activities, but it remains too early to see how this campaign, and it is a campaign, will achieve Israel's goals, which are not the destruction of Hezbollah, but the return of its people to northern Israel and the end of Hezbollah attacks. Hezbollah remains alive, it remains kicking. It's certainly not the organization it was in the past.

[19:10:02]

But Israel has yet to achieve the deterrence that it requires. Again, we're too early in the campaign.

DEAN: And Dana, then there's the U.S. piece of all of this, and there are several layers here, but I want to ask you specifically about U.S. deterrence and the presence in the region if this is working. The Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin says that the presence will remain there in the region.

What do you make of that and how effective do you think that deterrence is when it comes to Iran?

STROUL: Well, what we've seen, first of all, is the Biden administration has said as early as -- excuse me -- after October 7th, that they were seeking to prevent an all-out regional war. They've repeatedly sent aircraft carriers, additional destroyers, air defense and forces. All on alert. They've authorized as Norm spoke about multilateral strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. Unilateral strikes, excuse me, against those militias in Iraq and Syria.

And even though Iran is undeterred in its long-term strategy of pressuring the United States to leave the region the lesson the Iranians have taken away at this point in time is there's more U.S. forces in the region, more U.S. determination to stay in the region, and pretty impressive regional and international cooperation with Europeans, Arab partners and Israelis, all working together in mid- April to defeat that Iranian direct attacks.

So I think it's very plausible that leaders in Tehran are looking around tonight at the region, at the hits they've taken, that their direct attacks have been defeated, and they've lost their insurance policy, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and they're really thinking through what's a viable next step.

DEAN: Norman, I would like to get your thoughts on that as well.

ROULE: I agree. If you're in Tehran, you are unable to resupply or coordinate operations with the Houthis, with Hezbollah or Hamas because your logistics and communications chains have been severely damaged and your personnel in Lebanon and Syria are often killed. The Iranian options are few. It's possible that it could conduct a missile or drone attack, but you're likely to see a similar result as in April and a potential Israeli counterstrike, which would be embarrassing to the regime.

I do worry about terrorism. I do worry that Iran's primary goal will remain the survival of these groups, not necessarily their short-term victory and replenishing them in. Do we have a plan to deal with that? But for now the Iranians are probably waiting for -- waiting to see how the coming days play out as well.

DEAN: And Dana, then there is the relationship between the United States and Israel. And we know that President Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have butted heads, that there has been some frustration within the Biden administration when it comes to the Israeli government, even as they continue to send, you know, all of this military might there and to support the American ally Israel.

But what do you make of the current relationship and the status of the relationship between the U.S. government and the Israeli government right now?

STROUL: There has been no change in U.S. policy when it comes to the longstanding objective of ensuring that Israel has what it needs to defend itself, and ensuring that Israel can survive as a Jewish Democratic state in the Middle East despite Iran arming, funding, supplying and directing all of these non-state groups to pressure Israel.

I do think that there have been disagreements about tactics and operational electives, specifically the level of civilian casualties and collateral damage in Gaza. And now we're seeing those concerns play out in Lebanon as well. But the statement from President Biden and the statement from Vice President Harris today were very clear. There was no love loss for the elimination of Hassan Nasrallah, who has projected terror across Lebanon at Israel, and frankly worked right alongside the Iranians to cultivate this whole network of terror across the region.

DEAN: All right, Norman Roule and Dana Stroul, our thanks to both of you. We really appreciate it.

Battling over border policy, Donald Trump attacks Kamala Harris on immigration one day after she visited the U.S.-Mexico border, as she looks to blunt Trump's advantage on that issue.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:19:09]

DEAN: The race for the White House is headed into its home stretch with just 38 days left until election day. Both candidates on the campaign trail this weekend. Former president Donald Trump hosting a campaign event in Wisconsin that was centered around border security and immigration. And for most of his speech, the former president criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for her recent trip to the southern border.

She met with border officials in Arizona Friday, where she outlined some of her policy proposals to help reduce illegal border crossings. And today, she's hosting a fundraiser in her home state of California.

Joining me now to discuss the latest on the state of the race, Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright and Republican strategist Pete Seat.

Good to have both of you here with us. Thanks so much for being here.

Antjuan, let's start first with you and Vice President Harris's trip to the border. Trump continues to poll better with Americans. They think he has a better handle on the border. How does she convince Americans that she is the right person for an issue that many of them say is one of their most important issues that they're voting on?

[19:20:11]

ANTJUAN SEAWRIGHT, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think what the Republican Party has done, led by Donald Trump, is somehow another hoodwink to the American people that are immigration issues or border issue somehow just started because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the White House in 2020. That's simply not true. If you leave it to the Trump camp and some Republicans were going to build a wall, Mexico is going to pay for it, and that was going to end all of our border immigration issues.

But her visit yesterday, very consequential visit was important. One, it showed the depth, whip, and reins of her ability to deal with a catalog of complex issues in this country. But two, I think she laid out a plan and a vision for how we deal with this when she becomes president, quite frankly, and from a priority perspective. And then second, I think she reminded the American people she is not new to this issue. She's truth to it being the former attorney general from a border state.

And then last but not least, I think she reminded everyone that she was willing to lead along with President Biden from a bipartisan manner on a very comprehensive immigration legislation that Donald Trump tanked. So that meant, that means she's willing to be a consensus builder, find higher ground where they may not be common ground to deal with complex issues in this country.

DEAN: And Pete, Antjuan mentions that bipartisan border bill that just to remind everyone they did have both Republican, very conservative Republicans and Democrats negotiate in the Senate and the former president wanted it as an election issue and it died in the Senate before it ever got out.

Trump, though, does have an edge when it comes to immigration, but it is interesting to see Harris, especially when you compare things she has said in the past, take this tougher stance, this more centrist stance on immigration. What do you make of those moves?

PETE SEAT, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, more American voters trust Donald Trump 49 percent in the latest CNN poll compared to 35 percent for Kamala Harris because Democrats, despite what has been said, Democrats have not taken border security seriously, they absolutely have. We have to ask ourselves, what has Kamala Harris done in the last almost four years as vice president of the United States.

Democrats like to highlight her time as the attorney general of California, but there's no mention of when she was a U.S. senator from California. And there's no mention of her time as vice president. Would she have even gone to the border if she wasn't running for president, if it wasn't a swing state? I think the answer to that is absolutely not. She's only been there once as vice president. And that was in 2021.

Democrats have not been taking this issue seriously. And in fact, when they do take action, like the 94 executive actions that the Biden- Harris administration took in their first 100 days in office it was to dismantle Trump-era immigration and border policies that were working. So she has a very tall hill to climb on this to convince the American people and voters that she's, quote, "tough" on this, but I don't think they're going to believe it.

DEAN: So polling has -- go ahead. SEAWRIGHT: If I could just respond, in fact remind my friend Pete that

migration, the border crossings are down to historic levels, even to the levels of lower than when Donald Trump was the president. She's the vice president of the United States, the same position that Mike Pence held when we had border immigration issue then Donald Trump was president for four years and he did not do one thing to solve, quote- unquote, "border issues" in this country.

So again, making the immigration and border challenges in his country a political football, using right-wing, red meat, radical rhetoric to gin up a base response from some in this country does not mean you have a plan for the issue. Quite frankly, she showed up with a plan and I challenge you, Pete, to articulate what former president Trump's plan is to deal with the border in a real way, and not concepts of a plan.

DEAN: Pete, do you want to respond?

SEAT: Sure. If I gained 10 pounds a month for a year, and then in the following year gained only five pounds a month, I can't just say, well, the rate of my weight gain is going down. That's a failure. That is an absolute failure. You need to lose the weight, not just gain less weight. So saying, oh, border crossings have gone down, they're still happening. What are we doing about those that occurred years ago and those individuals who are already in this country illegally?

There's no action tool answer to that. So I don't think saying, oh, it's going down is what people want to hear.

SEAWRIGHT: But, Pete, you never told me what former president Trump is going to do about the border challenges we face in this country? Because he doesn't have a plan, whereas she showed up yesterday with a full fledge plan of how she would deal with these on day one, including building off what she and President Biden did by a way of executive order and she talked about what she would do from a future forward-leaning as president of the United States.

[19:25:20]

DEAN: Pete, we got to go, but I'll give you a quick, quick last word.

SEAT: Sure. Yes. Again, as I said, 94 executive actions to dismantle what was working. That's the plan. The Biden-Harris administration scrapped it off the table.

DEAN: All right. Antjuan Seawright and Pete Seat, we have to leave it there, but I do appreciate both of you being here to talk about an issue that matters to a lot of Americans. Thanks so much.

And still to come, closed roads, a lack of power and spotty cell service, as part of North Carolina essentially cut off after Helene's deadly flooding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:30:22] DEAN: Tonight, officials say at least 60 people are unaccounted for in Buncombe County, North Carolina after massive flooding caused by Helene.

Officials there -- wow, look at that -- describing it as Biblical devastation in the Asheville regions.

CNN's Rafael Romo is on the ground in Ashville and has more.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People here in Buncombe County in Asheville are already devastated and overwhelmed based on the destruction that Mother Nature wrought here in this part of the country.

And now, we are getting very sad news from Buncombe County officials who said that they are confident at this point to say that there are multiple fatalities here. That's what we heard from a Ryan Coal. He's the county's assistant Emergency Services director.

He said and here I quote, "I would be comfortable at this point in time to say that we have multiple fatalities."

Officials at a press conference also said that they believe there are over 60 people who are unaccounted for.

They also said that tonight, they're looking at about 150 rescue operations going around Asheville. And also, we have heard from the University of North Carolina in Asheville, Chancellor Kimberly van Noort said that given the situation, they're canceling classes until October 9th.

There are many fallen trees, she said. There are areas around campus that are inaccessible for different reasons, and also mobile service and internet services are down. So it'd be very difficult to do what they do.

And officials have a lot on their hands right now because as they tried to get to those people affected by the storm, there are as many as 400 roads and highways here around the county that are impassable for a number of reasons, debris, they were destroyed, there is still water in them and that's making their task very, very difficult.

We also heard from officials who said that since Thursday they have received as many as 5,500 emergency calls through the 911 service. We have also heard from many residents here who are very worried about their water service because for a large number of the population, they are not getting any water in their homes and businesses right now.

And what officials say is that, they are going around town, assessing the situation, trying to make sure that they identify some of the water main breaks that they have to fix first before they can get the entire system back up and running.

Also, around town, we have seen many people who gathered at particular spots that have wireless services. There are very few of these and people are just gathering at those spots, trying to send messages to their loved ones to let them know that they are okay.

But again, it is a very difficult situation here for officials and the population.

Jessica, back to you.

DEAN: All right, Rafael Romo, thank you so much.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is showing no signs of letting up in his fight against Hezbollah, this after killing the terror group's leader in an airstrike.

Next we're talking with the man who preceded Netanyahu as Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, about the intensifying conflict.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:38:33]

DEAN: Back to our breaking news now, it appears Israel has not made a decision about a possible ground operation in Lebanon. That's according to two US officials, but those officials say a limited incursion is still possible. It all comes a day after an Israeli strike killed Hezbollah's top leader.

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is joining us now to discuss.

Thanks so much for being here with us. We really appreciate you making time tonight.

NAFTALI BENNETT, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Thank you.

DEAN: I just want to start first with this possibility of a ground incursion and what comes next? Do you see that as necessary to achieve this objective which the IDF has said, is getting some 60,000 Israelis back to living in the north safely.

BENNETT: Well the objective is to actually to remove the threat of Hezbollah once and for all. Hezbollah has been terrorizing Israeli people for about 35 years now.

They've shot tens of thousands of rockets on Israelis throughout the year. In the years, murdered hundreds of Israelis, they killed my own best friend and it's time to remove this whole threat from Israel and this is an opportunity.

How to achieve it? You could do it with or without an incursion. I'm not going to give the government advice, but this is what we need to do because this is a watershed event and a huge opportunity.

DEAN: It is interesting to hear you -- to hear you say it is to get rid of Hezbollah once and for all, because that's a much more broader objective than just making sure that those Israelis can go back to living safely there in the north. BENNETT: Yes, but because we don't want to bring them back north and then have Hezbollah recover in a few years.

[19:40:11]

Look, Hezbollah has been badly, badly damaged. We killed the CEO, Nasrallah, we killed most of the board of directors of Hezbollah. We killed most of the executive management of Hezbollah, the senior management.

Whoever did the beeper attack took off the hands, faces, and bodies of thousands of middle-management in Hezbollah. So, Hezbollah right now is temporarily badly harmed and injured.

But if we let go of them now, they'll just recover and hit us back in two or three or five years, that's something none of us want to do.

DEAN: And I want to ask you too about some reporting from one of our colleagues who was saying that Israeli officials, they were talking to anticipated that this could be a huge response from Hezbollah, but that we've thus far not seen anywhere close to that kind of response they thought they might have, but then added that, to your point, think it is possible that they could regroup and strike again. Where do you see this going in the next 72 hours?

BENNETT: Well, this is a watershed moment in the history of the Middle East, the history of Lebanon, the history of Israel because in terms of Israel, as I said, we've had this ring of fire closing on us, an Iranian ring of fire for the past 20 years or so and now, it's time to remove this threat from Israel, from Hamas, from Hezbollah.

In terms of the people of Lebanon, Israel has provided you a once in a lifetime opportunity. I'd like to address the people of Lebanon, rise up, take your country back.

Hezbollah which is backed by Iran, hijacked your nation 30 years ago and it's made everyone's life miserable. Now is your time to kick them out. Don't let them come back.

And in terms of Iran itself, I think this regional octopus of terror, whose head is in Tehran and two of its arms have been badly hurt, I think the United States and Israel and the leading western countries have to set an objective of toppling the Iranian regime in the near future.

DEAN: And what does that look like?

BENNETT: It looks like what America did to the Soviet Union in the 80's. I'm not talking only about kinetic action and bombing and stuff like that. Not necessarily that, I'm talking about devastating economic and diplomatic sanctions. I'm talking about overt and covert operations. I'm talking about cyber.

I'm talking about empowering the Iranian people, which are an amazing nation and they despise their own leadership, yet every time they apprise in protest, their regime turns off the internet. We can turn it back on.

The regime kills them. We can empower the people of Iran to fight back with rifles. This is a terrible regime that oppresses its own people, kills gays, kills women for not wearing those scarves. And it's time for the whole region to kick out the Iranian Regime.

It's not going to happen tomorrow, but it can happen over the next few years with these soft power actions that I just described.

DEAN: And it's interesting because I'm hearing when you were talking to the people of Lebanon and just now, when you're talking about the Iranian people you're really trying to send a message to them to rise up in their country, it sounds like.

BENNETT: That's exactly right, because Hezbollah is not a natural development in Lebanon, it's a tentacle of the terror octopus from Iran.

You see, Iran takes advantage of all these countries, it embeds itself, it sends its tentacles in and it builds proxies, and it destroys those countries.

It's like the Midas touch, an opposite. Every country they touch goes bad -- Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and it's time to throw them away.

And for the first time in decades, this is actually possible, it is achievable, but we have to be determined about it. We have to know that Iran is nearing a nuclear weapon. We cannot allow that to happen. America cannot allow that to happen.

And I want to remind you one last point, America has taken huge hits from Hezbollah. In 1983, Hezbollah murdered 241 American servicemen in Beirut. In 1984, they killed 24 Americans and untold numbers.

Today is a day of reckoning and America and Israel 'A' should be happy about it. And 'B', we need to double down and decimate Hezbollah, Hamas and all the Iranian proxies and topple the Iranian Regime.

[19:45:11]

DEAN: And listen, there was certainly no tears being shed over Nasrallah being killed at the White House, however, we did hear from President Biden just a short time ago, he was asked while he was walking out of church about a possible ground incursion and he said, once again, it's time for a ceasefire, is what he said.

What do you believe? Where are you on that? Do you believe there is a diplomatic option that is viable right now? He wants a ceasefire now, he says, do you think that's possible?

BENNETT: Well, if Hezbollah disarms itself and lays down its arms and moves 20, 30 kilometers away from Israel, that would bring peace to the area.

We need Hamas to release the hostages. We've got a hundred Israelis being held by Hamas at this very moment. So, my point is, Jessica, you can't be hitting Israel and killing Israelis for years and decades and then the moment that Israel hits back, suddenly you have to stop everything.

I mean, for 11 months, everyone's been begging Hezbollah to cease the fire and they didn't. And now, when they're on the defensive, this is the time to double down and take care of them.

I also want to say one last point. You know, terrorists have been killing Israelis for many years. Nasrallah is soaked with blood of Israelis and Americans. And the message tonight is loud and clear, the state of Israel never forgets, the Jews never forget. If you hit us, we'll hit you back.

DEAN: All right, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, thank you so much for your time.

BENNETT: Thank you.

DEAN: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:51:36]

DEAN: Embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams, headed back to court next week. Adams pleaded not guilty to five federal corruption charges Friday and he says he has no plans to resign.

But the decision could be out of his hands. CNN's Gloria Pazmino has more. Gloria, tell us what you're hearing.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, the mayor kept a pretty low profile here in New York City on this Saturday. He went to church this morning.

When he was entering church, he was asked whether or not he would resign. The mayor did not answer the question. But we know from his comments in the past few days that he has no intention of stepping down, and that he is going to fight these charges. At least, he has said that he has every intention to do so.

And we got a chance to listen and learn a little bit about what the defense in this case might look like. The mayor was arraigned on Friday. He declared himself not guilty and his lawyer spoke to a reporter outside of the federal courthouse saying that the gifts and luxury travel, and the airline upgrades that are outlined in the indictment were nothing more than that, just gifts and free upgrades.

He said that the political donations that the mayor received were secured by staffers who did not tell the mayor that they were taking donations from foreign nationals.

So, we're starting to see just how the mayor may potentially be defending himself in this case.

I want you to take a listen to Alex Spiro, who is representing Eric Adams shortly after during the arraignment on Friday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX SPIRO, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This case isn't even a real case. This is the airline upgrade corruption case.

There are no e-mails, text messages, or any corroboration whatsoever that the mayor knew about anything having to do with these campaign donations.

The entire body of evidence is one staffer. One staffer that says there was a conversation. What you have not learned is that, that staffer has lied and the government is in possession of that lie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Now, Spiro is referencing a former Eric Adams' staffer who we now know is cooperating with the government.

Now, the question in all of this beyond the indictment and beyond the charges is how the mayor is going to survive the political fallout that has resulted from all of this.

We know that he does not plan on stepping down, but Governor Kathy Hochul is the only person who has the legal authority to remove him. And our sources close to the mayor had told us that she was looking at the legal language just to make sure that she was keeping her options open.

This weekend, we are also hearing from the Reverend Al Sharpton, he called on Hochul not to use that power saying that the mayor deserves the right to due process and that there is no political precedent here in the city for removing a sitting mayor.

That of course would be a very politically fraught choice for Governor Hochul to make. So, we will see just how this plays out over the next several days.

Of course, in the meantime, the mayor has to get back to the work of running the city and the question is whether or not he's going to be able to do that successfully while he also defends himself from these very serious charges --Jessica.

DEAN: Gloria Pazmino, thanks so much.

Tonight, catch a brand-new episode of "Have I Got News For You." Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY WOOD JR., AMERICAN STAND-UP COMEDIAN, ACTOR: Here's your next headline: New Footage Suggests There May Be Two--

MICHAEL IAN BLACK, AMERICAN ACTOR, WRITER: Olsen twins.

WOOD: There may be two -- blank. BLACK: This requires footage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Footage -- Big Foot.

WOOD: You're in the ballpark, Big Foot, give me a different --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Loch Ness.

WOOD: Partial points. The answer is Loch Ness Monsters. A new video captured from a web cam at a Loch Ness bed and breakfast showed a large ripple moving across the lake's water. Look at this creepy thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a painted dog, come on. Anybody can tell that's a dog.

WOOD: I think we're missing the biggest story here. Why is there a bed and breakfast next to the Loch Ness monster?

NEGIN FARSAD, AMERICAN COMEDIAN, ACTRESS: It's sounds so romantic.

WOOD: It's not comfortable in the least. And with all the technology we have with sonar and like depth charge, like have we not --

FARSAD: -- and swimming.

WOOD: And swimming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Be sure to tune in a new episode of "Have I Got News For You" airs tonight at 9:00 PM right here on CNN.

Thanks so much for joining me this evening. I'm Jessica Dean. I'm going to see you again tomorrow.

An encore presentation of HBO's "Real Time" with Bill Maher is up next. Have a great night.

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