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Hurricane Helene Aftermath; Some North Carolina Town Erased by Helene; Israel Could Imminently Launch Limited Ground Incursion into Lebanon; Some GOP Says Israel Should Finish Hezbollah; Vice Presidential Debate Tomorrow; Trump Attacks Harris as Mentally Impaired. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired September 30, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Our top story this morning, Helene's large path of destruction across the southeast, impacting everyone from the Gulf Coast to Florida all the way to the mountains of Western North Carolina and Tennessee, Georgia as well, dealing with unimaginable devastation on this Monday morning.

Basic necessities are scarce. You can see the lines already building. This was the scene in Fletcher, North Carolina, near Asheville, as people lined up for a chance to get just a tank of gas, that along with water, electricity, cell service, all in short supply this morning. In just a moment from now, President Biden will deliver updates on the response efforts.

CNN's Arlette Saenz joins us now from the White House with the latest. Arlette, this is a massive disaster that federal and state officials are going to have to get their arms around. People are starting to lose patience very quickly and they're running out of those basic necessities.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim. And President Biden, any minute now, is expected to lay out the exact federal response that his team has been taking to try to address the devastation that has spread across so many states in the southeast in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

Now, President Biden over the weekend was briefed multiple times by his FEMA administrator, Deanne Criswell. And a key priority for the Biden administration in this moment is trying to identify and determine how exactly they can ramp up support for those communities, especially individuals who are having a difficult time accessing some of these resources in those isolated communities.

Yesterday, President Biden spoke by phone with Georgia's governor, Brian Kemp, as well as North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. He's also been in touch with other local officials to hear about what they are seeing on the ground and what exactly they need to help these communities recover.

Now, the president has already approved disaster declarations in Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina. And what those do is it gives survivors an ability to access food and funds much more quickly to try to obtain items like food, also a baby formula, and other key essential items for so many families in the southeast. You also have seen more than 3,300 federal government personnel deployed to this area to help with rescue and recovery efforts, that includes urban search and rescue teams, using number of people in these high-water areas. There are also more than 50,000 personnel working on trying to establish power for the so many communities that have lost power in the wake of these storms.

Now, President Biden has said he plans to travel there as soon as he would not distract from any of the recovery efforts. Vice President Kamala Harris also has said that she plans to do so at some point. And I'll also note, Former President Donald Trump is down in Georgia today, all of them trying to show that they are trying to get their hands around this issue that's affecting so many Americans at this moment.

ACOSTA: All right. Arlette Saenz at the White House, thank you very much. Communities across Helene's 500-mile path of destruction are in need of basic necessities, for ways you can help, go to cnn.com/impact.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:35:00]

ACOSTA: We are still waiting President Biden to speak on relief efforts for Hurricane Helene. That could happen at any moment now. We're also following other breaking news this hour. The U.S. believes Israel could immediately launch a more limited ground incursion that had been previously planned. This comes after airstrikes slammed into the heart of Lebanon's capital, Beirut, overnight.

Let's dig deeper into this. Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman of California. He's a senior member of the Foreign Services Committee. And, Congressman, please forgive me if I've got to break away to the president, but that may happen.

[10:40:00]

Your reaction to some of the news that we're hearing this morning that Israel could launch a limited ground incursion into Lebanon here in the coming days.

REP. BRAD SHERMAN (D-CA): Over 70,000 Israelis have been displaced from their home, and for that -- for almost a year because Hezbollah launched a missile war of aggression, and they continue it. U.N. Resolutions, and usually, the U.N. doesn't take a pro-Israel position on anything, but U.N. Resolutions require Hezbollah to have -- not to have military forces south of Litani River.

So, they have -- they're required to withdraw six miles to the north. They've refused to do so. They refuse to stop shelling and rocketing Northern Israel. And while Israel can accomplish a lot from the air, it appears necessary to go in on the ground. Otherwise, Israelis will not be able to return to their homes by the tens of thousands.

ACOSTA: And, Congressman, are you concerned about Israel's ability to wage a war on two different fronts, both in Gaza against Hamas and in Lebanon?

SHERMAN: I'm concerned because war is such a terrible thing and we will see casualties on both sides. But I think the IDF, the Israeli Defense Forces, are large enough to be able to handle all the different threats, including the one posed by Hezbollah in the north.

ACOSTA: And the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says killing Hezbollah's leader was a step toward changing the balance of power in the Middle East for years. Do you agree with that? What's your assessment of that?

SHERMAN: I think Hezbollah is in disarray and it's good if you have to take military action and Hezbollah has kind of forced that to have your enemy in disarray, whether they will ever regain the political support in Lebanon, whether they'll have the cohesiveness inside the organization that they have joined under Nasrallah for the last 30 years, I don't know, but it's quite possible that with his death, Hezbollah will become a shadow of itself over the next few years. We can only hope.

ACOSTA: And President Biden says he will soon speak with the Israeli prime minister in the hopes of de-escalating this conflict. As you know, some prominent lawmakers have been saying de-escalation would be a mistake. Obviously, you're hearing others who are saying escalation would be a mistake, but let's listen to one of your colleagues talk about it on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): Now, is not the time for a ceasefire or to de-escalate as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want. Hezbollah is on its knees. The United States should help Israel drive Hezbollah to the mat and choke it out and finish it off once and for all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Is that something you agree with, Congressman?

SHERMAN: I don't think that Hezbollah can be completely expunged. But as long as Hezbollah continues to rocket Northern Israel, as long as they refuse to withdraw north of the Litani River, I don't think Israel can go much longer without taking a greater action. So, I'm not a real fan of escalation, but it's hard to see that there's any other way to go.

ACOSTA: All right. Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman, thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it.

SHERMAN: Good to be with you.

ACOSTA: All right. And we are still awaiting President Biden. He is scheduled to speak at any moment now on relief efforts for Hurricane Helene. As we've been showing you all morning long, the devastation across the Southeast, from Florida to Georgia to North Carolina. In particular at this hour, Western North Carolina is in a desperate state at this moment. We'll bring it live to you when it happens. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:45:00]

ACOSTA: We're still waiting President Biden to speak on relief efforts for Hurricane Helene. We'll bring that to you live when it happens. But we're, in the meantime, counting down to vice presidential debate night in New York. It's the only scheduled faceoff between J. D. Vance and Tim Walz. It's supposed to happen tomorrow night. In a race that is too close to call, even the vice presidential candidate could have a crucial impact.

And here with me now to talk about this is Robert Barnett. He served as a debate advisor for multiple Democratic presidential and vice presidential campaigns. He's now partner at Williams & Connolly. I should note, full disclosure, you're also my attorney.

ROBERT BARNETT, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST AND PARTNER, WILLIAMS & CONNOLLY LLP: I'm proud of it.

ACOSTA: So, I've got to behave myself here. But what do you think about this? I mean, we heard over the last day or two that Tim Walz is saying he's nervous about his debate performance. Should he be? What do you think?

BARNETT: I think you'll do just fine. I think that there's always the setting of expectations games and that's sort of irrelevant, with all of a sudden done. I think they both will be very good. They will be very different. Seldom what have we had a situation where the styles are so different and the audiences are so different. J. D. Vance has an audience of one, Donald J. Trump. Governor Walz has an audience of millions because he's still got to introduce himself to a degree.

ACOSTA: In particular those middle of the country battleground states, that's supposed to be his stock and trade for the next six weeks. And let me ask you this, there's a new line of attack from Trump from over the weekend against Vice President Kamala Harris. Let's listen to this real quick

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kamala is mentally impaired. Joe Biden became mentally impaired, sad, but lying Kamala Harris, Honestly, I believe she was born that way. There's something wrong with Kamala. And I just don't know what it is, but there is definitely something missing.

[10:50:00]

ACOSTA: Bob, what do you think? I mean, should Tim Walz engage on this? Should -- BARNETT: It's disgraceful for two reasons. First of all, there are

people in this country who do have mental health issues, and he's insulting every one of them by doing that. And second, to use an attack like that against an opponent who obviously has no impairments is the lowest of the low.

ACOSTA: Well, and according to all the polls, she won the last debate. So, there's that as well. But I mean, if you were Tim Walz's debate prep coach, would you tell him to engage on this, to call J. D. Vance out on this?

BARNETT: There are two simple rules for VP debates. One, be sure that you defend your ticket topper. Two, attack the other person's ticket topper. And to the extent he gets the opportunity, there's so many things he can attack Donald Trump for, and that certainly is one.

ACOSTA: And I mean, there's a lot riding on J. D. Vance's performance. I mean, a lot of the assessments of some of the polls show he's not popular. And there've been some assessments inside Trump world that maybe the former president isn't exactly thrilled that he picked J. D. Vance. I mean, this is a big moment for him. There's a lot riding on this.

BARNETT: Vance is underwater by a lot. Walz is above water by a lot. So, I think people will come into this with some degree of mindset and it certainly won't be in favor of J. D. Vance. And I think Walz will have a lot of things to raise if they discuss each other as opposed to the top of the ticket. He's going to obviously raise childless cat women and he's going to raise IVF. He's going to raise all kinds of things that Vance used, including probably this Trump statement.

ACOSTA: Yes. And I do want to ask you this because, you know, I mean, going into these debates, there was a lot of talk that maybe President Biden was overprepared going into his debate and that was maybe part of the reason why he didn't do well against Donald Trump. But Kamala Harris did not have a problem with that. She seemed to be overprepared and handled it well.

Do you like the idea of overpreparing these candidates for these debates? Does it depend on the candidate?

BARNETT: Having done 10 cycles since 1976, that stamps me as very old. I don't think there's such a thing as overpreparing. I think you have to set the system of preparation to fit the candidate. So, if you have a candidate who's been through multiple primary debates, who's incumbent president, it's one thing. If you have a candidate like we had with Geraldine Ferraro in '84 or John Edwards, who hadn't been through the primaries in the same way and wasn't as familiar with the issues, you set up a different way.

I think that Vance being a senator and having done the senate debates, if you will, will be well prepared on the issues. Walz has been in Congress for multiple terms, but lately he's been governor. So, he'll study up, I'm sure, on the national issues.

ACOSTA: All right. Well, Bob Barnett, great to see you as always. Thanks for joining us. We appreciate it. I know you'll be watching this tomorrow night.

BARNETT: I will be watching it.

ACOSTA: Yes. You'll have notes for us after this is over. Thanks a lot. Really appreciate it.

BARNETT: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: And you can catch Tim Walz and J. D. Vance face off tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern in a CNN. Special Event simulcast with CBS News.

Coming up, as we've been talking about all morning long communities across Western North Carolina just left unrecognizable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the place that I have lived for the last 21 years and have owned for 31 years before too long. The neighborhood will never be the same.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: We've been focusing on this all morning long. This is what one Asheville business owner. Was describing. She joins us in just a short while from now. What the city needs.

Plus, after not hearing from his parents for 48 hours, a man hikes 11 miles through storm damage to reach them. He'll detail his experience coming up in just a few moments. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:55:00]

ACOSTA: Thank you all for joining me this morning. I want to bring in my good friend, Pamela Brown. And Pamela, I know you're going to be talking about this. We've been talking about this. The death toll is now up to 115. From Hurricane Helene, and the devastation is unreal. These pictures of Lake Lure, just staggering.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: It's just staggering. And, you know, as you talk to folks there on the ground, this is so much worse than they could have anticipated, Jim. And there are so many people suffering right now. They don't have water. They don't have electricity. Of course, there's concern about water contamination now. A lot of people still can't get in touch with their loved ones. I mean, this is an urgent situation right now that's unfolding.

And, you know, Jim, unfortunately, we keep seeing devastation from storms. In my home State of Kentucky, we saw this -- you know, that historic flooding and it just decimated towns that haven't been able to rebuild. And your heart goes out to these small towns that you wonder if they'll survive.

ACOSTA: Yes. And I was talking to the mayor of Asheville at the top of the hour and she was talking about cell phone service, fuel, power, water, food, everything is in short supply right now. They're waiting for federal and state help to come in. And so, it's just a waiting game at this point, but it's just absolutely cruel because of just the level of devastation. I just can't imagine what these folks are going through right now.

BROWN: No, I can't either. We're actually going to be speaking to a top FEMA official about this and -- because a lot of people on the ground there are saying, where's the help that I need, right?

ACOSTA: That's right. Yes.

BROWN: I know everyone's trying to pull their resources together, but people aren't feeling that help that they think they should be getting right now, as you point out what the mayor said. So, we're going to be speaking to this FEMA official and other people on the ground who are just trying to assess where their lives are now in the wake of this storm. They don't have a home. They don't have a business. They don't know where to turn to next. So, a lot more ahead.

ACOSTA: No. Yes. So, it's so right. And for all the folks out there were saying, hey, why aren't you guys covering this? We were covering it extensively. I know you're covering it extensively. So, hoping to get the word out there. So, help us on the way.

BROWN: Certainly. That's our job, is to shine a spotlight on what's going on and all of the --

[11:00:00]