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New Israeli Airstrikes In Southern And Eastern Lebanon; At Least 61 Dead, Nearly 3 Million Still Without Power In Five States; Harris, Trump To Hit Battleground States In The Coming Hours. Aired 3- 4a ET

Aired September 29, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

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[03:00:00]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. This is CNN Newsroom. I'm Paula Newton in New.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Becky Anderson in Tel Aviv in Israel. We are following the latest developments in the Middle East following the Israeli airstrike in Lebanon that killed Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah, concerns about a wider war in this region and a possible Israeli incursion into Lebanon.

In recent hours, Israel conducted new airstrikes in southern and northern Israel and Eastern Lebanon killing at least 10 people, according to the Lebanese state news agency. That's on the heels of a series of strikes that reportedly killed more than a thousand others over the past week.

But the U.S. says Israel is also moving troops to the border with Lebanon, a possible sign of preparations for a limited cross border incursion. Israel says that ground operation is only one option that it is considering. Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an airstrike on Friday. But the group says it will not stop fighting while Iran is threatening to deliver what it says will be a crushing blow against Israel.

A former Israeli prime minister told CNN earlier, he believes this is an opportunity for Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAFTALI BENNETT, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Hezbollah has been badly, badly damaged. You know, 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 bottoms 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. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Paula Hancocks has been monitoring developments and she joins us now from Abu Dhabi. We've seen more airstrikes over Lebanon and overnight. It's 10:00 in the morning here, 24 hours after it was confirmed that the Hezbollah chief had been killed. Paula, what do we know about what Israel has been targeting overnight and whether or not we should expect a ground incursion in the south of Lebanon anytime soon?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, what we're hearing from the Israeli military themselves is that what they are targeting are Hezbollah targets, so infrastructure. They say they have targeted a number of launchers that were pointing in the direction of Israel ready to launch missiles. They also say that they have taken out a number of weapons caches that Hezbollah, they say, has been hiding in civilian infrastructure, in houses.

So, these are the targets that we have been seeing really over recent days from the IDF. The aerial bombardment, according to the military, is really to try and take out as much of their capabilities as possible. At the same time, they are cautioning that there could be a ground incursion.

We're certainly hearing the IDF being very vocal about the ground invasion being an option, but also pointing out that it is just one option at this point. Now, one senior Israeli official tells CNN that it is not their chosen and preferred option to have to go into carry out this ground invasion in Southern Lebanon. Certainly, they've done it back in 2006, and it was an extremely difficult and damaging campaign for the Israelis. It was extremely damaging on the Lebanese side as well.

But what we've heard so far is that this assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah chief, is being seen as a great victory certainly in Israel. Let's listen to the prime minister.

[03:05:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: The elimination of Nasrallah is a necessary condition for achieving the goals we have set, returning the residents of the north safely to their homes, and changing the balance of power in the region over the years. Because as long as Nasrallah lived, he would quickly restore the capabilities we took away from Hezbollah. That's why I gave the directive and Nasrallah is no longer with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now, assassinating a leader certainly doesn't eradicate a movement. Israel knows that very well, having assassinated previous leaders of Hezbollah, of Hamas, over the many decades. But what Israel has done at this point is it has also taken out a number of the specific commanders of different units within this group. And, of course, we know just recently with the Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies exploding in Lebanon, that also caused chaos within the group. That is what could change the day-to-day operation of Hezbollah. Becky?

ANDERSON: Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks is in Abu Dhabi.

H.A. Hellyer is a good friend of this show, is a Middle East Studies scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a senior associate fellow at the University Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies. His analysis and insight is extremely important, and he joins us today out of Athens, Greece, just 24 hours then after the world learned that the head of Hezbollah is dead.

Assess where things stand in the short term, both from the Israeli perspective, if you will, and indeed from the Lebanese. And we can talk further about Hezbollah specifically after that.

H.A. HELLYER, MIDDLE EAST SCHOLAR, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: Thank you so much, Becky, always a pleasure to be on your show. So, I think what we see at present, there are a number of questions that need to be answered. First, what happens in terms of any further Israeli action vis-a-vis Lebanon? You already mentioned further Israeli strikes, but these are airstrikes. They're not ground forces. And I think we have to expect the very high likelihood of Israeli forces actually invading with ground troops in the south of Lebanon over the coming hours or a few days.

Certainly, when it comes to statements out of the United States, I think we haven't seen at least in the last two or three statements a continued emphasis on calling for a ceasefire. Rather, the emphasis has been on we stand by Israel, we stand ready to protect Israel and defend it and so on. So, I think that we have to read into that, unfortunately, that there would be a further escalation involving ground troops.

When it comes to the wider configuration of power in terms of retaliations and so forth, I'm not terribly enthusiastic about the prospect of further escalation as a result of Iranian reprisals. But I also don't think that they're highly likely at this present moment in time. On the contrary, what we've seen over the past couple of days is an expression of exasperation, of frustration.

And I think of, you know, a feeling of betrayal from within Hezbollah rank and file that Iran hasn't actually come to its aid and defense. And I think that that's likely to continue going forward. I don't think that they have the capacity to engage in a widespread reprisal without causing huge damage themselves. And I don't think that the regime is interested in doing so.

ANDERSON: Yes. And while you're right to point out, while we have heard from Iran on threats to answer the assassination of the Hezbollah chief, we have seen nothing to date, much speculation around this region as to just how much ambition there is from Tehran at this point. The Israelis, of course, have said, and you rightly point out, that they reserve the right to invade in the north -- sorry, into the south of Lebanon with a view to securing that part of Lebanon from Hezbollah's ability to hit these Northern Israeli towns and villages, some 60,000, in the north of Israel, of course, have been displaced, and that it isn't now a stated goal of Israel. If that were to happen, and there is, you know, much speculation about whether or not that ground invasion is likely any time soon, what's its scope?

[03:10:02]

Is it clear at this point? And how long might that last?

HELLYER: So, the scope, I think, changes because I think what you also have to keep in mind is that, over the past year, some things have been planned well, well ahead of in advance. Other things get planned much later in the game, when, for example, Israel went into Gaza a year ago. I don't think the plan was immediately at the very outset of the ground invasion was to separate the north from the south and put in settlements in the north of Gaza and retake Rafah completely and so on. Whereas today, if you ask me about the likelihood of reinstalling Jewish settlements in the north of Gaza, I'd say it's quite likely in the short to medium term. I wouldn't have said that a year ago.

When it comes to the south of Lebanon, there is no way to, quote/unquote, secure the south of Lebanon for the north of Israel without a permanent occupation in the south of Lebanon. And that's simply not sustainable. But it doesn't mean that the Israeli forces won't move in and won't do that because, again, the level of escalation, the type of recklessness that we've seen over recent weeks and months is a direct consequence of Israel being able to prosecute these military campaigns without accountability and without consequence.

Joe Biden and his administration have said many times over the past 9, 10, 11 months, red lines about ceasefires, about de-escalation, about the importance of this and that, but they haven't actually used the leverage that is necessary in order to force that change in Israeli behavior. Israel knows that. Israel is aware of, and as a result continues in this direction.

ANDERSON: And as well has stated that it is determined to escalate in order to de-escalate that term, de-escalation, echoed around this region, as there is a real concern about an escalation in what is going on at present and its spillage into the wider region.

And there is also, you know, a growing narrative around this region about the impact of the assassination of a significant and influential man and the Hezbollah chief, who was so important in Iran's axis of resistance as it's known by these Iranian-backed groups. What do you believe the wider story is here?

HELLYER: So, Hassan Nasrallah, was certainly significant. And one should be able to say that he was significant without expressing endorsement. I think that there's a lot of hard feeling in the region about particularly the role that Hezbollah played in Syria in backing the Bashar al Assad regime against Syrian civilians.

But the effect and impact that the personality, the actual individual of Hassan Nasrallah had on the axis of resistance, as it's called, quote/unquote, is significant. I think that's why you see these official statements coming out of Iran, but even out of Iraq, the Houthis and so on. He had a very strong influence on other movements in terms of, again, just the symbolism of who he was.

I don't think that the blow to Hezbollah should be overestimated though in this regard. Certainly, the personality of Nasrallah was deeply significant, but Hezbollah is an old movement now. We're talking several decades. It wasn't a ragtag sort of militia group that falls to pieces because of its senior leadership being assassinated. I think that you'll see other people move up. And I suspect that we will see images of new leaders going forward probably in the coming weeks.

The question then becomes, okay, you've got new leadership, but what can you actually do? The calculus of Hezbollah over the past year was that their continued campaign vis-a-vis Israel would eventually force Israel to change its behavior with regards to Gaza, and it did not.

[03:15:00]

You mentioned the 60,000 or so Israelis that were unable to go to their homes in the north of Israel, more than 100,000, and I suspect quite a lot more than that in the south of Lebanon have been forced to flee Southern Lebanon and seek refuge in Beirut and other parts of the country. Hezbollah was not able to affect any change with the rest of that.

So, I think there'll be serious questions within the group itself about the way forward.

ANDERSON: Right. H.A. Hellyer in Athens, in Greece, with your perspective, thank you.

And as to just further progress what H.A. was saying there, the latest numbers as far as we can tell are as many as a million people in Iran currently displaced in some way as a result of this current uptick in an escalation in the attacks there.

Well, U.S. leaders say they did not know about the strike in advance on the Hezbollah chief, but President Joe Biden is hailing the death of Nasrallah as a welcome development, stating, quote, his death from an Israeli airstrike is a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis and Lebanese civilians. Ultimately, your aim is to de-escalate the ongoing conflicts in both Gaza and Lebanon through diplomatic means.

Here is Mr. Biden earlier in Delaware.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Mr. President, is a ground incursion in Lebanon inevitable.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Time for a ceasefire. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: While Vice President Kamala Harris is echoing Biden's sentiments regarding de-escalation, more coming up.

Well, the storm once known as Hurricane Helene is still wreaking havoc in the southeastern U.S. residents of inland areas far from Florida are enduring catastrophic conditions. The latest on that is after this.

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NEWTON: Days after she slammed into Florida, Helene is still causing chaos far from the U.S. Gulf Coast. At least 61 people have been killed and nearly 3 million remain without power in five states at this hour. Officials say a Tennessee dam that was in danger of collapsing is holding, thankfully, but many roads and bridges right across the region are closed due to flooding or landslides. And if you can believe this, more rain is expected this weekend.

In Western North Carolina, emergency services are overwhelmed by the catastrophic damage, with many residents isolated or stranded by conditions. Dozens of search and rescue operations have been conducted in and around Asheville. Authorities in one county say they performed more than 20 air rescues Saturday from places that just couldn't be reached any other way. An official described the situation. Listen.

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LILLIAN GOVUS, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, BUNCOMBE COUNTY: We still have massive flooding as you showed earlier that we are trying to rescue through. We have been doing swift water boat rescues now for multiple days. We have folks who are trapped. I had a phone call earlier today from a woman who was trapped at a church with 30 other people, and some of those people were not able to make it.

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NEWTON: Wow. Two thirds of Asheville residents meantime are without power. The city is under a boil water advisory and an overnight court curfew is in place. One local business owner spoke to CNN about the ordeal.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have any sense of just the monetary loss that is here?

PATRICK MCNAMARA, OWNER, FARM TO HOME MILK: I don't even want to think about that right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Understood.

MCNAMARA: You know, we, I mean, the bright side is we've salvaged our, all of our fleet, which is nice. And nobody's hurt. So, it's just how quickly you can rebound from this.

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NEWTON: Yes, they're dealing with a lot there. Meantime, more than a dozen Florida counties in the Big Bend and Tampa regions are under boil water notices in the wake of Helene. Officials say they're working to get water facilities operational.

CNN's Ivan Rodriguez has more now on the storm's aftermath.

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IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Helene made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region Thursday night as a monstrous Category 4 hurricanes, leaving coastal communities like Keaton Beach, Florida, nearly unrecognizable.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Clearly, you saw a storm surge in excess of 15 feet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, there was just houses everywhere and now there's nothing.

RODRIGUEZ: Most of the communities in Big Bend still don't have power. Recovery from this historic storm will be long, especially for people still waiting on insurance claims from the last hurricane.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're still fighting with our insurance for my store and my house down here that were damaged in Idalia last year. So, I'm still -- I mean, we're months away from an end in that situation.

RODRIGUEZ: In North Carolina, more than 400 roads in the western part of the state were closed as of Saturday morning. Since Thursday, Buncombe County received over 5,500 911 calls and conducted more than 130 swift water rescues. Parts of Asheville, North Carolina have been left under several feet of water.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of the businesses are absolutely wrecked. I've never seen anything like that since I've lived here.

RODRIGUEZ: Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell is on the ground in Florida Saturday surveying the destruction. The agency says it deployed more than 800 staff to support states affected by Helene and their distribution centers are fully stocked.

In Keaton Beach, Florida, I'm Ivan Rodriguez reporting.

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NEWTON: Now, many residents of Southwestern Mexico had to be evacuated from their homes on Saturday as the remnants of Hurricane John continued to pound the region. The storm, originally a Category 3 hurricane, weakened but then returned as a Category 1. It's no longer considered an active storm, but its effects are still being felt. Flooding and landslides have killed at least 22 people.

[03:25:00]

Responders in Acapulco are carrying out rescues by boat, jet ski and helicopter.

And at least 100 people have been killed and 67 others missing after two days of heavy rain triggered landslides and floods in Nepal. That's according to local officials who say schools have been shut for three days now. Authorities say students and their parents have faced difficulties as rain has damaged university and school buildings. 37 of the deaths have been in the Kathmandu Valley, where Nepal's capital is located.

Now, flooding has brought traffic and normal activity to a standstill in the region, which is home to some 4 million people.

The head of the United Nations is issuing a plea to the powers in the Middle East. His warning and the impact it may or may not have, that's just ahead on CNN Newsroom.

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ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson in Tel Aviv in Israel. A quick update on the breaking news out of the Middle East, Israel says it carried out new airstrikes in Lebanon today, hitting targets in the east and south of the country. Lebanon's state news agency says at least ten people were killed. That is happening amid fears of a wider war in the region following Israel's killing of Hezbollah's leader in Beirut.

[03:30:00]

Now, the U.S. now says Israel is moving troops to the border with Lebanon, a possible sign of preparations for a limited cross border incursion. Israel says a ground operation is only one option that it is considering.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. PETER LERNER, SPOKESPERSON, IDF: We need to understand there's a huge amount of different tools that we have in our toolbox. Ground operations is one of them. We are preparing for that if it is required, if we receive the instructions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Hezbollah's Leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an airstrike on Friday. Hezbollah says it will keep fighting, while Iran, which backs the group, is threatening to deliver what it says will be a crushing blow against Israel.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres says he's deeply alarmed by the significant escalation. Over the past 24 hours, he called for a ceasefire and the release of all hostages in Gaza and said, this cycle of violence must stop now and all sides must step back from the brink. The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel, as well as the people of the wider region cannot afford an all-out war.

Well, Mairav Zonszein is the senior Israel analyst for the International Crisis Group, joining me from Tel Aviv, fellow, and good morning, thank you, and Paul Salem, vice president for the international engagement at the Middle East Institute, joining me from Beirut. It's good to have you both this morning.

Mairav, let me start with you with a very simple question. Will the Israelis press their advantage at this point on Hezbollah by undertaking a ground offensive?

MAIRAV ZONSZEIN, SENIOR ISRAEL ANALYST, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Hi, good morning. I obviously don't have an answer to that question, but what I can say is that in Israel right now, there is political consensus across the spectrum that the recent attacks on Hezbollah's command and the killing of an Nasrallah is an excellent achievement. This is something Israel's been preparing for many years. And that as long as this paradigm continues in which they don't see much retaliation, in which the U.S. and other world powers are not pushing enough or hard enough for a ceasefire, and as long as they can keep the home front going, they're going to keep going. And so I would not be surprised if we see an incursion, whether limited or not into Lebanon coming days.

ANDERSON: Well, Mairav, Paul talks there about the calculus being based on what happens next and how both Hezbollah and indeed Iran on a wider lens responds to this. Let's start with a very specific question. How does Nasrallah's death affect the ability of Hezbollah to operate against Israel?

PAUL SALEM, VICE PRESIDENT FOR INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Well, thank you, Becky. Good to be on your show. Definitely, the killing of Hezbollah as well as the killing of much of the senior leadership, the pager attacks, the aerial assaults that have been going on intensively for two weeks have greatly, greatly diminished Hezbollah's capacity to make decisions, to communicate those decisions, to operate.

I would say Hezbollah has lost almost all of its deterrent power against Israel. It has no defensive abilities against Israeli attacks. It has made no provision for civilians and all the civilian displacement and suffering that's happening because of the Israeli attacks. And I think both Hezbollah and Iran have limited offensive options against Israel.

So, I do think what happens next is largely going to be determined by what Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government feels that they want to do. They do have Hezbollah on the ropes, which means they have Iran on the ropes. I imagine they will press their advantage, whether that includes a ground invasion or not. They do have, I think, as the Israeli spokesman said, they do have several options.

ANDERSON: Mairav, does Israel, to your mind, have the support of the United States? Let's just step back for 72 hours and the proposal for a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, between Hezbollah and Israel, which might have opened the aperture for a ceasefire potentially in Gaza as well. And many people say you can't, you know, you can't decouple the two, and these are two stated war aims, of course, of Israel, to get their people back to the north of Israel and to degrade Hamas in Gaza and get the hostages released.

It did seem as though the Biden administration the wider Washington contingent, and much of the rest of the world, supported that ceasefire proposal, knocked back by Benjamin Netanyahu towards the end of last week.

[03:35:14]

And then, of course, we saw his calling for this strike against the Hezbollah chief on Friday night in New York. I just wonder how you perceive the very short-term relationship between the U.S. and Israel at the moment. We have seen supportive statements from Joe Biden and indeed the defense minister about having Israel's back at this point and basically backing its stated goals.

ZONSZEIN: The U.S. has given carte blanche to Israel in this war in Gaza and in Lebanon and for years in terms of its settlement project and military occupation. It has not been a sincere actor and mediator in the Israel-Palestine conflict. And I believe much of the U.S. complicity and inaction on Israel is what led in many ways to October 7th and to the notion that Israel is invincible and can do as it pleases and not pay any price. And so, unfortunately, that approach continues now.

And even though the U.S. in rhetoric, you know, has called for a ceasefire, the Biden administration has not put leverage and its tools. It has tools to make the ceasefire in Gaza hold. And if it had done so, then we wouldn't be in this position today.

Now, Israel has legitimate security concerns on its border. But at this point, even after the killing of Nasrallah, even with a year worth of war, none of its residents are closer to getting home. The hostages are not being taken out of Gaza. And Israel's home front, an economy, cannot go on like this forever. So, Israel doesn't have a strategy or endgame beyond endless war at this moment and the U.S. is allowing it to do that.

ANDERSON: Let's just have a listen both of you to what Netanyahu said just in the past 24 hours ago with regard what is happening in Lebanon and indeed in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETANYAHU: His elimination advances the return of our residents to their homes in the north. It also advances the return of our hostages in the south. The more that Yahya Sinwar sees that Nasrallah will not be coming to his rescue, the greater the chances are for returning our hostages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Paul, what do you make of what was said there? And what's the wider picture here? SALEM: Well, I do not think the case that the killing of Nasrallah and the weakening of Hezbollah will affect Sinwar's calculations. I mean, despite everything Hezbollah did in Northern Israel, that really had no visible effect on Israel's actions in Gaza. Israel completely devastated Gaza. And I don't think Sinwar's calculations will be changed. I think the bigger variable is Prime Minister Netanyahu's calculations. And while Hezbollah definitely is on the ropes between it and its allies around the region, they can certainly keep Northern Israel unsafe for an indeterminate future.

So, in a way, I've said in the recent past that while Israel seems to be winning at the same point, in the sense that it does not have a long-term sustainable strategy for Israel itself, other than open ended occupation or reoccupation in Gaza, further occupation in the West Bank and potential new occupation in Lebanon. Yes, that might look like victory, but that's not a sustainable future for Israel.

I think there is a historic opportunity here and a gathering of Arab and Muslim foreign ministers just reiterated it today in New York that there is a historic opportunity. It's up to maybe alternative Israeli leadership, especially when Hezbollah and Iran are on the back foot to seize the moment and move towards a wide agreement with the Arab Muslim world for a two-state solution.

ANDERSON: Yes. And I think there are many in this region who agree with you. There is the potential for a new era here in this region. The concern is, is that preface, as it were, preceded by, you know, significant escalation and a wider conflict at this point.

Mairav Zonszein and Paul Salem, thank you very much indeed for joining us.

Well, Iran is requesting an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to, quote, take immediate and decisive action to stop Israel's ongoing aggression and to keep Israel from pushing the entire region into an all-out catastrophe.

[03:40:04]

Well, more is coming up. We'll take a look at how Hassan Nasrallah shaped Hezbollah into one of the most powerful paramilitary groups in the Middle East with influence around the world. That is ahead.

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ANDERSON: Well, back to our breaking news coverage in the Middle East, where Israel is carrying out new airstrikes in Lebanon. Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has declared five days of national mourning following the death of Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah killed in that Israeli attack in Southern Beirut on Friday. Lebanon announced a three-day period of public mourning, as have Yemen's Iran backed militias. Houthis. Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, issued a statement expressing his deep sorrow over the killing of Nasrallah, calling Friday's attack a horrific massacre.

Well, Ben Wedeman shows us how Hassan Nasrallah gained power in the group he co-founded and steered Hezbollah and its influence into what it is today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Hassan Nasrallah was hailed as a resistance fighter by his admirers and a terrorist by his adversaries.

[03:45:00]

He became secretary general of Hezbollah in 1992 after Israel assassinated his predecessor. In his early 30s at the time, he went on to lead his group to become a formidable military force and a major player in Lebanese and regional politics.

A decade earlier, Nasrallah attended a theological seminary in Najaf, Iraq and returned to his native Lebanon, where, during the 1982 Israeli invasion, he urged his supporters to take up arms against the invaders, the beginnings of what became Hezbollah.

Literally meaning the party of God, the group was backed by Iran and led by local clerics to harass the Israeli occupiers. The group is believed to have been behind a series of terrorist attacks in Lebanon and abroad, and during the 1980s, took dozens of westerners in Lebanon hostage.

The growth of Hezbollah coincided with the emergence of the previously downtrodden and neglected Shia community in Lebanon as a major force in the country.

Nasrallah emerged as an adept guerrilla commander leading an unrelenting campaign against Israeli forces during which his eldest son was killed in action.

The United States designated the group a terrorist organization in 1997.

Hezbollah's struggle against Israeli forces on Lebanese soil continued until 2000, when, in perhaps his proudest moment, Israeli troops withdrew unconditionally from Southern Lebanon.

Israel, which has nuclear weapons and the best air force in the region, I swear to God, he said, it is weaker than a spider's web.

But in 2006, Israel and Lebanon were again at war. The month-long conflict left at least 1,000 Lebanese civilians dead and devastated much of the country's infrastructure. Israel tried and failed to destroy Hezbollah, which came out stronger than ever before.

After the war, his focus turned inward on his homeland, Lebanon, where Hezbollah increasingly became a key player in the country's complicated politics and expanded its network of social services.

When war broke out in neighboring Syria in 2011, Nasrallah deployed Hezbollah fighters to shore up President Bashar al-Assad's regime and also provided support to Iraq during its war against ISIS. Iran was quick to reward Nasrallah with money, weapons, and logistical support. But critics say his alliance with Tehran inflamed sectarian tensions and weakened his credibility as a self-styled defender of the Palestinian people.

When the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Hezbollah's ally, attacked Israel on the 7th of October, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and abducting more than 250 others, Hezbollah began firing into Israel, opening what it called a support front for Gaza.

For more than 11 months, Israel and Hezbollah exchanged fire across the border. Nasrallah said this would only stop once the war in Gaza came to an end. Instead, more fighting and death followed in the form of covert operations by Israel, which detonated Hezbollah's wireless communications devices in broad daylight for two days in a row.

A week in, Nasrallah called it an unprecedented blow. Then Israel's bombing campaign killed hundreds across Lebanon. Yet until the very end, Hassan Nasrallah remained defiant.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, I'll be back at the top of the hour with more on our breaking news coverage. Coming up, Donald Trump attacked his rival, Kamala Harris, over immigration, calling her mentally impaired, and I quote him there at a rally in Wisconsin. We'll have the very latest from the campaign trail just ahead.

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[03:50:00]

NEWTON: The race for the White House is heading into the homestretch with only 37 days left until Election Day. And in the coming hours, both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will be campaigning, of course, in battleground states. The former president will hold a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Harris is expected to speak to supporters in Las Vegas.

Now, Donald Trump hit the campaign trail on Saturday, making a stop in the battleground state of Wisconsin. Now, he focused on immigration and border security. His inflammatory rhetoric was on full display once more, referring to undocumented immigrants who commit crimes as, quote, animals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You remember when they say no, these are migrants and these migrants, they don't commit crimes like us. No. They make our criminals look like babies. These are stone cold killers. They'll walk into your kitchen, they'll cut your throat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Former president went on to attack Kamala Harris's record on immigration after her visit to the border. He told the crowd that every town in America would be, quote, transformed into a third world hell hole if Harris is elected,

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Joe Biden became mentally impaired. Kamala was born that way. She was born that way.

And if you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country. Anybody would know this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, with only weeks left in the race, Kamala Harris is stressing the magnitude of the moment. During a California fundraiser, Harris told donors that this is likely the most important election of their lives.

The vice president said she considers herself the underdog in the race and, again, called for a second debate.

Now, a reminder to watch CNN's special coverage of this week's vice presidential debate between Tim Walz and J. D. Vance.

[03:55:01]

Jake Tapper and Erin Burnett will get things started at 7:00 P.M. Tuesday in New York. That's 7:00 A.M. Wednesday in Hong Kong.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft successfully launched from Florida's Cape Canaveral Saturday.

A two-man team is now on the way to bring two NASA astronauts home from the International Space Station. Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have been stranded on the ISS since June after their Boeing Starliner capsule was deemed too risky for the flight back to Earth.

The Dragon is due to link up with the ISS at about 5:30 P.M. Eastern Sunday. A NASA astronaut and Russian cosmonaut will join Williams and Wilmore for five months, yes, five more months of work aboard that floating lab. All are due, thankfully, to head home in February.

We go to college football now. It was one for the ages, but Alabama held off a fierce comeback attempt by Georgia to win 41 to 34. After leading by 28 points earlier in the game, the Crimson Tide found themselves down by one with just 2 minutes and 31 seconds left after a 67-yard Bulldog touchdown pass. But seconds later, Bama struck back with a 75-yard pass of their own for a touchdown.

Now, after a two-point conversion, that's important, they led by seven and sealed the win with a game-saving, can you get this, interception in the end zone with only seconds left. Wow, that did look like an epic game.

I want to thank you for joining us. I'm Paula Newton. Becky Anderson will be back with Kim Brunhuber at the top of the hour. They'll have the latest from the Middle East.

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