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Israeli Airstrikes Hit Beirut's Cola intersection; North Carolina Devastated with Widespread Flooding Brought by Hurricane Helene; Trump Blasts Harris' Mental Health State Again; Port Workers Threatening to Strike, U.S. Economy May Impact Even Before the Holiday Season. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 30, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church in Atlanta.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Becky Anderson, in Tel Aviv in Israel. It is 11:00 a.m. here on Monday. Ahead on "CNN Newsroom."

Israel strikes inside the city limits of Beirut for the first time in this war. We are live in the region with the latest on the growing conflict with Hezbollah.

CHURCH: North Carolina is still reeling from Hurricane Helene, days after it swept through the southeastern U.S. A look at the devastation and the dire situation on the ground right now.

And Donald Trump repeats a very personal attack against his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris. We have the latest from the campaign trail.

ANDERSON: Well, we begin in the Middle East where Israel says it has launched new airstrikes in eastern and southern Lebanon today. The Israeli military says it targeted Hezbollah strongholds. Meanwhile Israel has also conducted airstrikes in the city of Beirut, the first since the start of Israel's war with Hezbollah.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

Well, this video shows the damage from an attack near Beirut's Cola Bridge, a major intersection. CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment. Now, this follows an intense barrage of strikes in Lebanon that began a week ago. Lebanon's health ministry says the attacks on Sunday alone killed more than 100 people and wounded more than 350 others.

And Israel confirms that it also carried out airstrikes more than 2,000 kilometers away in Yemen on Sunday. Video shot after a strike on a power station shows an inferno with emergency crews on the scene. Now Houthi-run television says at least four people were killed at this location and 45 others were wounded. Well Israel's defense minister says the strikes in Yemen show that for Israel, quote, "no place is too far."

Well, CNN's Paula Hancocks, live in Abu Dhabi with more on what is happening in the region. And Paula, Israeli strikes both on Lebanon and within the city confines of Beirut for the first time since this assault began and on Houthis thousands of miles away in Yemen. What further detail do we have on what is happening now?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, it really shows that Israel is widening its reach when it comes to this conflict at this point. The fact that this strike was within the inner suburbs of Beirut is certainly going to have people in the Lebanese capital on edge. Up until this point, we have seen a number of strikes in the southern suburbs, which is where the Hezbollah strongholds are.

But certainly in this, more in the area is going to be a concern. Now this particular one we saw in the early hours of this morning, Monday morning, you saw firefighters trying to put out the fire in one particular apartment in a multi-storey apartment block.

Now we heard also from a Palestinian militant group that they had three members of their group killed in that particular strike. This is the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Now, at the same time, as you say, we are seeing further afield the strike against Houthi rebels in Yemen. It's not the first time that we have seen that.

But in retaliation for the Houthis saying that they are firing missiles on Israel itself, Israel has repeatedly said to that particular Iranian proxy that if you fire against us, we will fire even harder against you. This has been a consistent message and we have seen these strikes in Yemen in the past.

Now what we have seen back to Lebanon, we've seen a number of strikes in southern Lebanon and in the eastern part in the Beqaa Valley Hezbollah strongholds, but we're also hearing more about the Hezbollah commanders who have been killed in recent days. The Israeli military now says that on Friday when they carried out that assassination on the Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

[03:05:04]

They believe that there were some 20 Hezbollah members of varying ranks present at the underground headquarters at the time of Nasrallah's death.

So Israel is continuing with its strategy of trying to take out the top layer and the command and control layer of Hezbollah to make it more difficult for them to be able to retaliate. We've also heard from Hamas -- the Hamas also has a presence in Lebanon.

The Hamas leader in Lebanon, Fatah Sharif, has also been killed in an area just outside the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon, along with his family. So we are continuing to see these strikes, targeted strikes, as Israel puts them. But certainly, we're seeing civilians being caught up in this point. Well over 1,000 Lebanese have been killed. At this point, as you say, Becky, it is significant. We're seeing it moving inwards to a more central part of Beirut.

ANDERSON: Paula, thank you.

Well, U.S. President Joe Biden says he will speak with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel soon. Biden says a wider war must be avoided and the U.S. is taking precautions, he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Can an all-out war in the Middle East be avoided?

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: It has to be. We really have to avoid it. We've already taken precautions relative to our embassies and personnel who want to leave. But we're not there yet, but we're working like hell with the French and many others to do the real work. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, meantime, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says, although the U.S. is not mourning the Hezbollah leader's death, they are mourning, quote, "any loss of civilian life." The Pentagon says the U.S. will reinforce defensive air support capabilities in the region in the coming days. Kirby emphasizes it's important to stay ready for a potential response from Hezbollah or from their backers, Iran.

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JOHN KIRBY, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER: Well, their rhetoric certainly suggests they're going to try to do something. I mean, just coming out of Tehran, but we don't really know. We're watching this very, very closely to see how, if and how, Hezbollah and or Iran may react, as well as the militia groups in Iraq and Syria.

We have to be prepared for some sort of response. We have to make sure that we are ready, and we are. We believe we have the force capability we need in the region, but it's not clear right now. Too soon to know how Iran's going to react to this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, meantime, hostage families are raising concerns that the fate of their loved ones is being overshadowed by Israel's current conflict with Hezbollah. Protesters gathered here in Tel Aviv over the weekend, demanding the Israeli government refocus their attention on releasing the hostages still held in Gaza. They shared a statement online, writing, quote, "And now to the most important mission after a year's delay, returning all the hostages home."

Well joining us now is Sharone Lifshitz. Both of her parents, both of them were abducted from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October the 7th. Her mother has since been released but her father remains in captivity. Sharon it's good to have you this morning.

I remember seeing the images of your mother being released and that must have been a huge relief back in October of last year. How is the family coping knowing that your 83 year old father is still being held and this is not an easy question to answer? I realize that how will he be coping?

SHARONE LIFSHITZ, 80-YEAR OLD PARENTS WERE KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS: My father is a strong man mentally. I believe he would cope mentally. I believe physically he's 84, he turned 84. And it's hard to imagine, how do you survive a year in your 80s without the love of your family?

ANDERSON: The prime minister's position here in Israel is that only the destruction of both Hezbollah and Hamas will restore security for Israel and Israelis. I know that you believe that security will only be restored when both Israelis and Palestinians reject violence.

You've said that a number of times, not least in the U.K. just last week. But when you listen to the Prime Minister's position, much supported, I have to say, by many Israelis in his quest for restoring security on the northern border. Do you understand, at least in principle, why the focus has turned to Hezbollah at this point?

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LIFSHITZ: Absolutely. The problem is not that the focus has turned to the North. Israel has a problem in the North. Neither is the problem that Nasrallah is gone. The problem is that for a year Israel didn't take the opportunity it had and the leverages it had in order to bring back the hostages. And so now we are not sorted either side. We haven't finished in Gaza. We have not returned the hostages.

But the problem in the North is continuing and becoming acute. By the way, Hezbollah has said all along that as soon as there is a ceasefire in Gaza, they will ceasefire too. So the two have been interconnected the whole along.

ANDERSON: You must have been somewhat encouraged by the proposal, the ceasefire proposal, U.S. and French backed, announced last week in New York for a ceasefire for Israel with Hezbollah and the wider sort of prism there, aperture as it were, for the opportunity for a ceasefire in Gaza as well. That of course with an effort to try and get these hostages released, that is clearly on the back burner I think at this point as far as a reality is concerned. What's your message?

LIFSHITZ: To the hostages, please stay strong. We are doing what we can against increasingly back -- worsening backdrop. I think that the hostages, I don't know what they feel when they see what is happening in Lebanon. I don't know what the captor is torturing them and tormenting them with what knowledge, but it will be hard for them being there to understand that we have an abandoned and I think that Israel must do what it takes to bring back these hostages. They are all humanitarian cases now.

A year of torture, of no food and water. We know that Eden Yoh Shalmi came back weighing 36 kilos, which is about 74 pounds. This is impossible. And every day the chances that they will come back in coffins grow and for us the families and all the people that love these hostages whether they knew them before or not. This is the key to a ceasefire.

This is the key to moving forward to a more sustainable future for the Middle East. And we have to remember that this government has built Hamas for 15 years. My father was terribly against building Hamas. He did not think that you play with the devil.

And the prime minister of Israel has thought that they would not attack, and they have. And so there's been a misconception. And since then, he has abandoned them. The world has abandoned them. Everybody can do more. Everybody -- It's an inconvenient problem. It muddies the war. It does not allow you to be so clear-cut about whose side is right or wrong. We need them back home.

ANDERSON: Let me just ask you very briefly, you say both the Israeli government and the world can do more. When you use that term, can do more, very specifically, what do you think needs to be done at this point?

LIFSHITZ: I think that there are other alternatives. They should be exhausted. I do not think that they involve starving the children of Gaza even more, but they give us the surety for the safety of the people of Israel while making the government take the right course of action. The government is reluctant for reasons that have nothing to do with the hostages, and they have to be coaxed into doing the right thing now.

AMDERSON: It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed. And I know how painful it must be as we approach the dreadful anniversary of October the 7th for you and your family. Sharone Lifshitz, thank you.

Well, I'll have more coverage from Tel Aviv later this hour, including a surprise cabinet appointment in Israel and what that could mean for Benjamin Netanyahu's grip on power.

Plus the latest on the challenges faced across the southeastern United States is the region tries to recover from the unprecedented damage of Hurricane Helene.

[03:14:57]

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CHURCH: U.S. President Joe Biden plans to visit communities devastated by Hurricane Helene later this week. At least 95 people have died after high winds, torrential rain and flash flooding ripped through the southeastern U.S. The federal government has declared a public health emergency in North Carolina, Georgia and in Florida and will deploy disaster and medical teams to assist states in their recovery. One Florida business owner says the amount of loss in his community is staggering.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DYLAN HUBBARD, CO-OWNER, HUBBARD'S MARINA: It's hard to put into words. It's unimaginable what's happened to so many people in our area. So many folks have lost their car, lost their home, lost their boats. Some people have lost everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Catastrophic flooding is still an issue in places like North Carolina, where much of the city of Asheville has been completely swamped. Millions are without power across the region and it's unclear when it could be restored. North Carolina's governor says the damage is unprecedented.

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GOV. ROY COOPER (D-NC): This is a devastating catastrophe of historic proportions. People that I talked to in Western North Carolina say they have never seen anything like this.

[03:20:02]

This is just truly unprecedented in the devastation that we have seen here. The good thing is that we are prepared for disasters. We have 24 shelters that are up now providing assistance to people. The biggest issue we're finding now is getting the food and the water to people because we're having to do so much of that by air.

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CHURCH: Earlier I spoke with Jeremy Knighton, the Assistant Chief with the Asheville Fire Department, about the situation on the ground right now.

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JEREMY KNIGHTON, ASSISTANT CHIEF, ASHEVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT: It's devastation. That's the best way I can put it. We are, we're disconnected. We've suffered our community's suffering. We have suffered impacts that we've never seen.

The rate of rise of water, the amount of debris, everything that we're experiencing here is, for instance, our rain gauges couldn't even measure the amount of water that flowed by in our rivers and streams. So our infrastructure has taken severe impacts. Our roadways are full of mud and debris. But we are out there trying to service our community that is absolute devastation.

CHURCH: And there are still a number of people missing, aren't there? So how difficult will it be to locate them and what additional resources do you need to get that job done?

KNIGHTON: Yeah. It's going to be extremely difficult. We're still kind of in that life safety mode now where we went through there and did our hasty searches and now we're doing targeted searches. We're also, we're waiting for the water to recede more. It's still very, very dangerous in lots of spots. The ground is still very unstable. So we're having to be methodical

and making sure that we're covering all of our bases. The resources, we're obviously in collaboration with our county and state partners and federal partners. They've all been here, they're all here, they're on the ground working. We're partnering up with them, sharing resources.

We're giving the institutional knowledge of our area. It looks way different than it did six days ago, but we're out here trying to serve our community and trying to find people and reconnect folks to those resources that are needed so desperately.

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CHURCH: Knighton says his biggest concern is getting to those in need of emergency services with enough time to help them.

Well another major hurricane could be forming in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Tropical Depression 12 isn't a threat to land just yet but the National Hurricane Center is monitoring the storm and it could strengthen significantly later this week.

It's currently located a little more than 2,000 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands. As it moves northwest, the storm is expected to become a tropical storm on Monday when it will take the name Kirk. Now it could reach hurricane strength by Wednesday.

At least 20 people have been killed as the remnants of Hurricane John continue to affect southwest Mexico. 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 around Acapulco. Flooding and landslides have destroyed homes and sent about a thousand people to shelters in the region.

Floods and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 192 people in Nepal. And as rescue workers reach more remote areas, officials warn the death toll will likely rise. 96 people have been injured since Friday and dozens more are missing. Images show floodwaters sweeping over parts of the capital city, Kathmandu. Meanwhile rescue workers are searching for survivors and are digging them out by hand, including this two-year-old boy who was saved after two hours of grueling work.

A rooftop fire at a chemical plant here in Georgia has forced evacuations and road closures. Officials say water from a faulty sprinkler head came in contact with a water reactive chemical causing a massive plume of smoke. Crews managed to get the fire under control but the smoke could remain visible for several more days. The exact cause of the fire and the chemicals involved remain unknown.

Well still to come, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris hit battleground states as polling shows both U.S. presidential candidates in a dead heat. We will bring you more on the race for the White House.

[03:25:06] And we'll go back to Becky Anderson in Tel Aviv next for more on the growing attacks on multiple fronts by Israel which have left the Middle East on edge.

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ANDERSON: Well Israel continues to escalate its attacks against Hezbollah, saying it has launched new airstrikes in eastern and southern Lebanon today. This comes after Israeli airstrikes hit within the city limits of Beirut for the first time since the war with Hamas in Gaza, of course, began last year. Video shows the chaos and fear unfolding for Lebanese civilians in the capital following the attack on Monday morning.

A U.S. official says the White House is now worried that Iran is planning an attack after Israel killed the Iran-backed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Meanwhile, the Israeli military says it also struck power plants and a seaport used by the Houthis in Yemen on Sunday. At least four people were killed and dozens were wounded, according to Houthi-run television.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is adding a former rival to his cabinet. Gideon Sa'ar will become a minister without appointment, analysts say. Netanyahu is bringing on the veteran right-wing politician to shore up his base and to protect his government from ultra-orthodox opposition before Israel's escalation in Lebanon. Netanyahu had intended to replace Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and give Sa'ar that position.

[03:30:00]

Sa'ar insists he would have been qualified for it despite his lack of national security experience, but now says he will not take the post.

Well Netanyahu explained why he chose to appoint a former adversary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Now, it's no secret that there were differences between us in the past, but since October 7, we both put behind us all that has happened. That's what happened when Gideon Sa'ar joined the government in October, and that's how it is going to be when Gideon is returning to the government and the Security Cabinet today. We will work together shoulder to shoulder, and I intend to use his help in the forums that influenced the conduct of the war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: It's important after almost a year now of war in Gaza, of course, to understand how Israel's war in Lebanon is playing out for Israelis. And my next guest is an expert in Israeli politics and writes, and I quote, "While the Gaza war drags the Israeli government down, the second front with Hezbollah and the wider Middle East picks it up. All Netanyahu's recovery seems tied to regional escalation - why?" Dahlia Scheindlin posed that question. She is a political analyst and

fellow at the Century Foundation and she joins us live from Tel Aviv. I was really interested in the conceit of your opinion piece. Can you just explain a little further where you were going with that?

DAHLIA SCHEINDLIN, POLITICAL ANALYST AND FELLOW, CENTURY FOUNDATION: Yeah, where I was going with that is where I see the polls going over the year of this war. For the first six months immediately after October 7th through April, Netanyahu and his government were suffering in public opinion. People blamed them for the failures to detect and prevent and cope with October 7th and everything that happened afterwards, and their polling numbers were very poor.

But from around early April, beginning with the assassination of Senior Al-Quds commander in Damascus. And the fact that there was an exchange of fire with Iran that did not escalate out of control, there began an incremental recovery of polling. We saw another inflection point in August after the double assassination of Fu'ad Shukr, senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut, and assassination attributed to Israel of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

And that also did not fully escalate into a regional war. It looked like Netanyahu had some sort of strategic control over the events in the regional dimension, and the polling got better for the government. Now, the government has regained, at this point, all of what it lost in those first six months of the war.

And I can, you know, my assessment is that it's because of the regional dimension there's no evidence that Gaza is playing out well in the Israeli public. People are still devastated by the fact that there hasn't been a hostage release deal.

They consistently prefer a hostage release deal, including the concessions that would mean on Israel's part to the government's position, but everybody feels like the regional threat is kind of above politics, and that does play well for the government. However, it should be said, the government has not been able to regain the majority that it had in the November 2022 elections in surveys.

So if elections were held today, they still wouldn't win, but elections will not be held today, they haven't even been called yet, and the government could also last the full term.

ANDERSON: Yeah, and unless Benjamin Netanyahu collapses this government and were to get rid of the very right wing of this coalition, election is not expected anytime soon. I just want our viewers to get a further sense of the conceit of your opinion piece for Haaretz. Quote, "Israel and Hezbollah have turned the corner into full scale war.

No one can say how it will end or how much rubble and how many bodies will be left in its wake. But one modest prediction is credible. Based on recent experience, thanks to the war in Lebanon, Benjamin Netanyahu and his government will probably strengthen his political hand." And I think you've just spoken to that. What's your assessment of the appointment of Gideon Sa'ar? SCHEINDLIN: Well, it's interesting because in a way, it strengthens

the government. The government had 64 out of 120 seats beforehand, so it already had a majority, but there was always a threat that some of the coalition partners could bolt. So now it has 68 seats with the four seats that Sa'ar, Gideon Sa'ar's party brings to it.

So Netanyahu is in a stronger position. What's interesting is that when we see Likud doing a little bit, tiny bit better in surveys following the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah on Friday, which is very new, of course, we don't know if these trends will last.

[03:35:05]

But there hasn't been any change in the position of the overall coalition in surveys. They're still only getting between 49 and 53 seats. And as a result, bringing Sa'ar in could also be perceived as an effort to reach outside the core supporters of the government. It's as if nothing moves. Those were in the anti-Netanyahu bloc.

Now, Sa'ar doesn't have a great deal of credibility in the Israeli public. He only commands a small number of seats. Many people already sees this as a betrayal of the voters because he ran with a party that was opposed to Netanyahu.

But on the other hand, the Israeli public is also absolutely kind of demoralized by the political levels right now. They are deeply distrustful. All surveys are showing a sort of crisis of faith in the leadership. And there is a great call for unity.

So maybe Gidon Sa'ar is hoping that he gets some credit for putting the unity of politicians first in order to reassure the public. And Netanyahu may be hoping to reach a little bit outside of the core of supporters for the government, which remember this government represents a very extreme ultra nationalist, you know militant and militarist and even conquest oriented position and their voters represent that too. And that's why they haven't been able to reach beyond the core supporters of the government. Surely Netanyahu is hoping for a little more of that credibility.

ANDERSON: And Dahlia, that-- Yeah, and that government has really damaged the legitimacy of this and Israeli government in the eyes of many outside of Israel as well as those inside. There is a, you know, Benjamin Netanyahu in a position at the moment, threading a needle between security on the one hand and legitimacy on the other. Going forward, how is he going to work that through?

SCHEINDLIN: You know, the current war has brought Israel to its most severe situation of, sort of on the, I would say on the threshold of international isolation that it has really not faced since. Now, I don't want to overstate the case, but there is, you know, there are numerous ways in which Israel faces significant, you know, ramifications, even among its allies, even among its democratic allies, and he has been playing fire with the relationship with the U.S.

Having said that, I think what he's trying to do is, you know, from his perspective, he has long sought a greater conflagration in the Middle East that even draws the U.S. in. And, you know, it's hard to say for sure what's going on inside his head, but just reading the actions of the last number of days, it looks very much like he is pushing the U.S. to a situation where there could very well be a severe escalation in the Middle East, including possibly attacks on U.S. forces that would drag the U.S. in.

And so it's almost as if he's not really going to give his allies a choice about international isolation or not. He's trying to pull them in and create the kind of binary divide that he described in his U.N. speech. The good guys and the bad guys, it's how he sees the world, or at least it's how he wants the world to see Israel.

The problem is that Israel behaves like the bad guys in many ways with its undemocratic and conquest-oriented positions of this government. And yet feels like it legitimately can expect the support of what it calls the good guys who advance peace and democracy. And I think there's a lot of uncertainty around how those democratic allies will see Israel in the coming years.

ANDERSON: Right. Dahlia, always good to have you. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.

SCHIENDLIN: Thank you for having me.

ANDERSON: Dahlia, chime in then.

Well I'll be back at the top of the hour with more of our live coverage. Coming up next, Donald Trump is questioning Kamala Harris' mental state again. We'll have the very latest on the US presidential race for you after this.

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[03:40:00]

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. Vice Presidential debate hosted by CBS News is set for Tuesday. And it could be the final debate before election night. That's if Donald Trump doesn't agree to join Kamala Harris on the debate stage for a second time. The Republican presidential nominee will be returning to the battleground state of Wisconsin the same day his running mate J.D. Vance takes on Democratic V.P. nominee Tim Walz.

Well immediately after the debate, the Democratic ticket will launch a bus tour through central Pennsylvania. The tour will mark the first joint public appearance for Harris and Walz since their joint interview with CNN.

Donald Trump appears to be endorsing a harsh policy on how U.S. police handle retail theft. At his Pennsylvania rally on Sunday, the former president implied that authorities should be allowed to unleash a physical crackdown on shoplifters. Trump claims without evidence the progressive policies are preventing law enforcement from fighting crime. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The liberal left won't let them do it. The liberal left wants to destroy them and they want to destroy our country. You know, if you had one day, like one real rough nasty day with the drug stores as an example, all these stores go out of business, right? They don't pay rent, the city doesn't have money. The whole, it's a chain of events, it's so bad. One rough hour, and I mean real rough. The word will get out and it will end immediately. End immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meanwhile, Trump launched into his political opponent over the Biden administration's immigration policies. He also repeated insults about Kamala Harris' mental state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Crooked Joe Biden became mentally impaired, sad. But Lion Kamala Harris, honestly, I believe she was born that way. There's something wrong with Kamala.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Republican Senator and Trump ally Lindsey Graham was asked about Trump's rhetoric on Harris' mental state. Here's his response to CNN's Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I just think she's crazy liberal. I don't question her.

JAKE TAPPER, "STATE OF THE UNION" ANCHOR: But what do you think about that rhetoric?

GRAHAM: I just think the better course to take is to prosecute the case that her policies are destroying the country. They're crazy liberal.

TAPPER: But let's focus on Trump's rhetoric because that's what I'm actually asking you about because --

GRAHAM: The problems with the world are not Trump's rhetoric. They call him crazy. Pelosi wanted to invoke the 25th Amendment. Why don't you ever talk about that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Kamala Harris concluded her West Coast swing with a rally in Nevada, a state the Democratic nominee believes is part of her many paths to 270 electoral votes.

[03:45:02] Harris used the event to strengthen her support among Latino voters. And she took a swing at Donald Trump when talking healthcare. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS (D), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump intends to end the Affordable Care Act. And he has no plan to replace it. He has, quote, "concepts of a plan". Concepts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meanwhile, the Harris campaign says it raised $55 million from two fundraisers in California this weekend.

Larry Sabato is director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia and editor of "A Return to Normalcy, The 2020 Election That (almost) Broke America." He joins us now from Charlottesville in Virginia. Always good to have you with us.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA-CENTER FOR POLITICS: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So new battleground polls show Kamala Harris and Donald Trump still neck and neck in a very tight race. The economy remains the top issue, but also immigration, democracy, and reproductive rights. What is your reading of battleground state polls with the presidential election just over a month away, five weeks, in fact?

SABATO: The only thing these battleground polls are telling us, Rosemary, is that it's very close in all of them. Closer in some that others absolutely dead tide in a couple of them but it's close everywhere, and I think something is going to happen, I wish I knew what that will end up adding a couple points to one side or the other, and that will push maybe five or six of the seven swing states into one candidates column. What that is as I say I don't know exactly when it happens I don't know but it better be soon since we only have five weeks to go.

CHURCH: And the big problem too is that Pennsylvania, Georgia, and some other battleground states, they won't know the results on the night of the election. This is going to drag on. And what could happen in that time? What worries you?

SABATO: It's very worrisome, it's very worrisome. I call 2020 the election that almost broke America. I think all of us are nervous that potentially, if things aren't done right, This could be the election that does break this republic, or at least break the system that we've had for elections.

It will drag on, as you said. There are almost 90 lawsuits that have been filed mainly by the Trump people in one variety or another, sometimes state parties, sometimes national, prior to the election. I mean, we're not even at the election, but they're preparing the way for challenges if Trump should lose a close election. CHURCH: And Larry, we mentioned that immigration is one of the top

issues for likely voters. And that, of course, is one of the reasons we just saw Harris visit the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump claims he can end the trouble there at the border. But of course, a bipartisan bill could have done that, right? And he torpedoed that this year because he wanted to run on the issue. Why don't most voters know about that? They don't appear to understand that particular detail. Why is that?

SABATO: Well, because they don't pay attention. And fortunately, we do have five weeks. And maybe people will learn a bit more as the election approaches or as the day that they're going to vote approaches. They do tend to do a little research. They pay attention a little bit more carefully. I don't know whether this can be solved on Trump's first day, should he get back in, because as you know, he can end the war in Ukraine in one day. So I just don't know which comes first.

There are a lot of days early in the term, and he talked about one day of chaos, one day of domineering leadership, dictatorship. So there are a lot of things coming in the beginning of the Trump term, if there is a second Trump term.

CHURCH: Indeed, and of course, while attacking illegal immigration over the weekend, Trump called his opponent, Kamala Harris, mentally impaired. Now, how does that play with the electorate, do you think?

SABATO: Well, it's outrageous. It's absolutely outrageous. And he also added, well, this is not an insult. It's just a fact. You know, we're all used to Donald Trump popping off about this or that. We're all used to his negative attacks on people. But to me, this is just pure projection. He's the one who's 78. He's the one who some people suspect of having some mental deterioration of one sort or another. And so he frequently does this. He attacks the opponent for things he believes he can be legitimately attacked for.

[03:50:00]

CHURCH: And what impact do you think the vice presidential debate on Tuesday will have on the outcome of this election? Anything, or does it not count for much?

SABATO: It usually doesn't count for much. You can always have a terrible gaffe committed by one candidate or the other. But that actually doesn't sway things either. People vote for president, not vice president. I still think people should tune in. And here's the reason why. Vice presidents have a way of turning into presidents. We've had approximately 14 vice presidents get elected or succeed to the office.

So people should pay attention and it should if you're really undecided, as I said, I don't think there are many, but if you're really undecided, this could be the tiebreaker.

CHURCH: Larry Sabato, always a pleasure to chat with you on things political. I Appreciate it.

SABATO: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And just this reminder to watch CNN's special coverage of this week's vice presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance. Jake Tapper and Erin Burnett will get things started at 7 p.m. Tuesday in New York, that's 7 a.m. Wednesday in Hong Kong.

American port workers from Maine to Texas are threatening to strike. Just ahead, what that could mean for the U.S. economy and the global marketplace. We're back in just a moment.

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[03:55:06]

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. American port workers from Maine to Texas are set to strike on Tuesday. Fruit like bananas will be affected as well as clothing, toys, cars and European goods. Depending on how long the strike lasts, the U.S. economy could be seriously disrupted, especially if it lingers into the holiday season.

The Longshore Workers Union reportedly wants raises of $5 an hour per year. The union negotiates with the U.S. Maritime Association. It represents the major shipping lines, which are owned by entities outside of the United States. In a statement, the association called the demands unreasonable. It's been nearly 50 years since the Longshore Union's workers last walked off the job.

Two Boeing Starliner astronauts stranded on the International Space Station are one step closer to coming home. The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft arrived at the station on Sunday and will bring Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore back to Earth next year.

It launched from Florida on Saturday carrying a NASA astronaut and Russian cosmonaut, but not without a hitch. SpaceX revealed that the upper portion of the Falcon 9 rocket ran into some trouble after it broke away from the capsule, prompting the company to pause flights until it can figure out what went wrong.

In the NFL, the Buffalo Bills picked up their first loss of the season Sunday night. Taking on the Ravens in Baltimore, the Bills had no answers for Ravens running back Derrick Henry, who ran for 199 yards and scored two touchdowns. The Ravens won easily 35-10. They also ended Buffalo's run of eight consecutive regular season wins.

And thanks so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues next with Becky Anderson in Tel Aviv, and Max Foster in London.

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