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Netanyahu Vows To Keep Fighting On Oct. 7 Anniversary; IDF: About 190 Hezbollah Projectiles Fired Into Israel; Israel: 120 Hezbollah Targets Hit Within An Hour; U.S. Not Pushing to Revive Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire, Trying to Limit Israeli Ops in Lebanon, Iran; Israel Marks October 7 Anniversary of Hamas Terror Attacks; Mass Exodus in Parts of Florida Ahead of Category 4 Storm; Conspiracy Theories Circulating Ahead of Hurricane Milton; No Negotiations With Putin Without Ukraine, Says Kamala Harris; Ukraine Strikes Oil Depot in Russian-occupied Crimea; Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun Win Nobel Prize for Medicine for Discovering MicroRNA; World's Largest Hot Air Balloon Festival Underway in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired October 08, 2024 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:29]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemarie Church. Just ahead. A somber anniversary marked under the long shadow of war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to continue fighting as the country marked one year since the deadly October 7th attacks.

Hurricane Milton bears down on Florida, where state officials are urging anyone in the storm's path to get out while they still can.

And U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris kicks off a media blitz. But will it be enough to quiet critics who say she hasn't done enough?

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Appreciate you joining us. And we begin with an especially active day of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and more deadly attacks in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces say Hezbollah fired approximately 190 projectiles from Lebanon into Israel. Video from Tel Aviv shows Israeli interceptors taking out some of those rockets. The IDF says others fell in open areas.

The Israeli air force reports it struck more than 120 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon within an hour on Monday. The IDF says the extensive strikes were aimed at degrading the Iran-backed militant group's capabilities. One explosion lit up the Beirut night sky late Monday. The IDF warned residents it was planning to target two suburbs about 30 minutes earlier. And video from Israeli strikes on Gaza is especially disturbing. Palestinian officials report at least 10 people were killed in the Jabalia Refugee Camp. At least 11 more were killed in strikes elsewhere in northern and central Gaza. And CNN's Paula Hancock joins us now live from Abu Dhabi. Good to see you, Paula. So, what more are you learning about the impact of these strikes from Hezbollah and Israel on Monday into Tuesday?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, we certainly saw the strikes going both ways intensify over the past 24 hours. As you say, 120 strikes from the IDF within one hour, just shows the sheer intensity of their efforts. At this point, they say that they have issued overnight and in the early hours more evacuation orders in southern Beirut. We saw the impacts of some of those airstrikes, which came shortly after the evacuation orders.

They say that they are targeting Hezbollah infrastructure. They also said it was the intelligence headquarters, something they said they were targeting the day before as well. But they asked residents to move about 500 meters away from the area that they're going to target. So, half a kilometer. Now CNN analysis did actually see that within these evacuation zones, there's about seven hospitals that are within the areas that are deemed and called unsafe by the IDF.

Clearly, it is impractical for these hospitals to be evacuated. Now we're seeing the other side as well. We saw some 190 projectiles hitting in Israel. Many were intercepted, but not all. Hezbollah saying in a number of statements throughout Monday that they were targeting Israeli soldiers, gatherings of soldiers. They say they were also targeting military installations. But what we have seen is really an intensification of what many were hoping would be a -- an easing down of hostilities between the two sides.

We did hear, though, from the Israeli prime minister, really making it clear that this wasn't going to end soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): In every meeting between me and my wife, with our fighters, with our wounded, with the bereaved families, we hear the same message again and again. The campaign must not be stopped prematurely. As long as the enemy threatens our existence and the peace of our country, we will continue fighting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:05:01]

HANCOCKS: We're also hearing from U.S. officials that the Biden administration is no longer trying to revive the plan of a 21-day ceasefire. This had been pitched by the Biden administration just a matter of weeks ago, and they believe they had the tacit approval of both sides. But then we did see the Israeli targeting Hezbollah, and then a ground offensive starting. So, at this point, U.S. officials saying they're just trying to limit the damage and Israel's scope when it comes to what is happening in Israel at this point. But we know that just a few weeks after this has started, there's more than 1400 people killed in Lebanon, no distinction between militants and civilians, and there's also some 1.2 million people who have been displaced from those evacuation orders. Many of them in southern Lebanon. Rosemary?

CHURCH: And Paula, what's the latest on how and when Israel might respond to Iran's ballistic missile attack from last week?

HANCOCKS: Well, the one thing everybody seems sure of is that there will be some kind of response, but that is where the agreement ends. That really no public indication from Israel about what they will do and when and understandably. We did hear from one member of the IDF spokesperson saying that they have -- and are giving out options to the government, the government will then decide and then they will carry out what they wanted to push forward.

But pointing out that any ballistic missiles being fired towards Israel are unacceptable. Tehran says that some 200 ballistic missiles were fired in that particular attack. We've also heard from the CIA Chief William Burns saying that he doesn't believe Israel's necessarily decided on the exact course of action at this point, but saying that the risk of an unintended escalation is a very real danger.

Still insisting, though, that he believes neither Israel nor Iran wants an all-out war. This really is a line we have heard repeatedly and something that the Biden administration in particular and those in the region are really hoping is true. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi. Many thanks for that report.

Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling is a CNN military analyst and former commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army. He joins me now from Florida. Good to have you with us, General.

MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Great to be with you again, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, on the day, Israel was marking a year since the horror of the October 7th Hamas attacks. The country was hit with nearly 200 missiles from Hamas Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen. And in the early hours of Tuesday, an IDF spokesperson told CNN its forces are ready to retaliate against Iran at any time, whenever they get the order. What do you think Israel will do?

HERTLING: It's going to be a tough couple of days or weeks, Rosemary. I actually think that Israel is probably already in the midst of some covert operations. They've already done some things within Iran, but they continue to fight against Hezbollah and Hamas, and in a much more reduced way against the Houthis who are firing arbitrarily into their country. But they're now staging a three front, some might say, a forefront or a five-front war and that's going to be very challenging for the Israeli Defense Forces.

CHURCH: And general what would be the likely repercussions if Israel decides to strike at Iran's nuclear sites or its oil given Israel is saying that everything is still on the table?

HERTLING: Yes. Well, a lot of people are talking about this being deterrence, Rosemary. And I'm going to introduce another phrase called escalation dominance, and it's a fact of warfare when you're fighting against -- within these kind of conflicts where you're trying to neck things down a little bit. But at the same time, have a reaction to an action by your enemy that is sufficient to help them stop, that hasn't happened so far.

We've seen that against Hezbollah, against Hamas, they continue to fire weapons into the country of Israel, even though Israeli Defense Forces has conducted multi-phased operations in both Gaza and southern Lebanon. So it's going to be very difficult, but that escalation dominance is a concern right now, because it's just both sides ticking things up time after time to see how they can counter what their enemies' actions are and at the same time not go over the edge to start a regional or even a global war.

CHURCH: And while this goes on, of course, the families of the 101 hostages still being held in Gaza, they're angry with Prime Minister Netanyahu for not bringing their loved ones home.

[02:10:06]

Do you think he's doing enough to get them released with his focus so firmly on the military mission here?

HERTLING: Yes. It's been very difficult from that standpoint. And first of all, I wouldn't say that I agree with most of the things that Mr. Netanyahu has done, but in fact, it's very difficult to do ceasefires and even peace actions with an enemy that continues to fire in. And each one of the attempts at a cessation of hostilities that's been brokered by not only Israel but United States and others, there have been an immediate -- almost an immediate reaction by the terrorist organizations of Hamas and Hezbollah to continue to fire into Israel.

And that's problematic because when you have one side that won't back down, Mr. Netanyahu feels that he has to continue to defend his territorial sovereignty as well as the welfare of the Israeli people. So, he's not going to back down. And even though there's a lot of people and all of us hoping for the return of the hostages, it takes a second seat to continuing to try and tamp down the actions of these terrorist organizations against the Israeli population.

CHURCH: And as you mentioned, Israel is raging war on multiple fronts. How necessary is this? Or instead of eliminating terrorists, does it end up creating more when diplomatic efforts to resolve conflict and find solutions to Gaza's future governance are ignored in favor of relentless war?

HERTLING: Well, there have been multiple attempts to try and find some type of governance for the area, which is the Gaza Strip. There's also been an attempt to tamp down the kind of terrorist action that's coming from Hezbollah inside of Lebanon with a government that doesn't much care for what they're doing against the State of Israel. But you got to remember that both of those terrorist organizations, both Hamas and Hezbollah, have a charter that says their primary effort is to kill Jews and to destroy the State of Israel.

So, when you have that kind of an enemy within your territory and within range of firing rockets as you stated earlier, it's very difficult to find some kind of complex peace situation and live peacefully together. There's no government inside of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Authority has not stepped up. Hamas has only continued to live by their charter and attacking Israel. So it's very difficult to say, hey, we've got to make some kind of deal with these people to help them stop.

It's, you know, this is a millennial long war that's been going on between the Palestinians and the Jews, and it's going to be very difficult to tamp down the hatred that exists between these two people. And it's so very sad because the people who are caught in the middle, as we've seen over the last year, have been the ones that have suffered the most, by design of these terrorist organizations that are using this thing called a victim's doctrine.

They really don't care what happens to the Palestinians or the citizens within their country.

CHURCH: Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your military analysis with us. We appreciate it.

HERTLING: Always a pleasure. Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: The strongest storm the world has seen this year is headed right for Florida's Gulf Coast. In just 24 hours, Hurricane Milton exploded in both size and strength, growing from a category one to a category five storm in near record time. The latest update just a short time ago now, has it at category four strength, and the wind should weaken a bit more with Milton expected to make landfall late Wednesday as a category three.

But for a state already crippled by hurricane Helene, less than two weeks ago, officials are warning Milton's impact will be catastrophic. Here's a look at the storm from space. Milton's unpredictability comes from its small pinhole eye, a hallmark sign that the storm can fluctuate in its intensity. Florida's highways have been jammed with traffic. Here's a live look at some of the traffic headed north along Interstate 75.

This part of the highway is nearly 100 kilometers outside of Tampa. Officials are urging everyone in the storm's path to leave as quickly as they can, and the mayor of Tampa did not mince words ominously warning, "if you choose to stay, you're going to die."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JANE CASTOR, TAMPA, FLORIDA: This is a storm of the century. Everybody in Tampa Bay has been warned over and over again. You need to evacuate. This is a life and death situation.

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[02:15:08]

CHURCH: CNN's Brian Todd has more on the urgent preparations being made as the hurricane approaches.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORESPONDENT (voice-over): In Pinellas Park, Florida, just across the bay from Tampa, residents use large pails to fill as many sandbags as they can. Hurricane Milton, which has already exploded into a category five storm, could hit the Tampa Bay area directly. It would be the first major hurricane to strike within 50 miles of Tampa in more than 100 years. Some residents in at least six counties told to evacuate.

In Hillsborough County, the evacuation order is mandatory in some places. That means authorities cannot force people from their homes, but --

CHIEF JASON DOUGHERTY, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: If you remain there, you could die. My men and women could die trying to rescue you.

TODD (voice-over): What makes this especially dangerous in places like Tampa and Fort Myers is that those cities are still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which has killed more than 230 people in six states, with the death toll still rising. For those in the mandatory evacuation zones who decide to stay put, Florida officials have a dire warning.

ASHLEY MOODY, FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: You probably need to write your name and permanent marker on your arm so that people know who you are when they get to you afterwards. And we are still seeing as we're uncovering folks on the beach who thought they could stay there and the storms surge got them.

TODD (voice-over): With Milton forecast to make landfall late Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis warns the window for evacuation is closing fast.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): You have time to execute your plan, but you got to do it now. Time is going to start running out very, very soon.

TODD (voice-over): Helene made landfall as a category four hurricane that caused widespread damage, leaving tons of debris that still hasn't been cleared. Debris that residents worry could still harm people if it starts flying around when Milton hits.

KARMEN FORRESTER, FORT MYERS BEACH RESIDENT: The debris on the beach, and whatever is going on is a little cause for concern because there is not enough time and not enough manpower to take everything and put it where it needs to be off the island.

TODD (voice-over): The international airports in Tampa and Orlando closing ahead of the storm. Tolls are being suspended on major highways throughout Western and Central Florida to help those evacuating. Governor DeSantis says the assets that Florida lent to North Carolina for Hurricane Helene have had to be brought back to Florida, but North Carolina is still dealing with the horrific aftermath of Helene.

More than 100,000 customers are still without power there, and around Asheville, dozens of people are still missing a week and a half after Helene tore through the area.

GOV. ROY COOPER (D-NC): We're still working to reach communities. We still have search and rescue occurring as we speak.

TODD (voice-over): And even as Florida braces for Hurricane Milton, we're getting daunting numbers on the property damage from Hurricane Helene. According to the data analytics firm Core Logic, Helene caused up to $47.5 billion in losses for property owners, much of that flood damage to residents who don't have flood insurance.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Kamala Harris goes on 60 Minutes and Donald Trump does not. We will talk about her remarks and her performance just one month before election day.

Plus, relief efforts for Hurricane Helene are being complicated by misinformation fueled by Donald Trump. We'll have more on that on the other side of the break. Stay with us.

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[02:20:39]

CHURCH: It is a long-standing tradition for the main US presidential nominees to appear on the T.V. news magazine program 60 Minutes during the October before an election. Donald Trump agreed to an interview but backed out last week. His opponent, Kamala Harris did not. The Democratic nominee was questioned about everything from the war in Ukraine to immigration to the economy, as well as Trump's absence from the program.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL WHITAKER, CBS CORRESPONDENT: You are sitting here with us, the Trump campaign canceled an interview that they had agreed to to participate in this broadcast. What do you make of that?

KAMALA HARRIS (D) UNITED STATES DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: If he is not going to give your viewers the ability to have a meaningful, thoughtful conversation, question and answer with you, then watch his rallies. You're going to hear conversations that are about himself and all of his personal grievances, and what you will not hear is anything about you, the listener.

You will not hear about how he is going to try to bring the country together find common ground and, Bill, that is why I believe in my soul and heart the American people are ready to turn the page.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Larry Sabato is the founder and director of the University of Virginia Center for politics and editor of a Return to Normalcy: The 2020 Election That Almost Broke America. And he joins me now from Charlottesville. Always good to have you with us.

LARRY SABATO, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLICY: Thank you, Rosemary. Always good to be here.

CHURCH: So, just 28 days to election day in America and the race is historically tighter than ever before. Where do you see the path to victory for each of the presidential candidates right now?

SABATO: Well, it's pretty clear that for Kamala Harris winning the blue wall, as Joe Biden did in 2020 and as Hillary Clinton failed to do in 2016 is the key for her. I mean, there are other combinations of states that would put her over 270 which is the minimum needed in the Electoral College for victory. But the easiest and the most logical is just to carry the blue wall and the other normally democratic states and all the other ones seem to be in line already.

For Donald Trump, it's really to stop Kamala Harris from winning at least one of the big states in the blue wall, probably Pennsylvania, maybe Wisconsin, but probably Pennsylvania. And then picking up his southern tier, which you would expect him to have some edge in, despite Biden's winning Georgia and Arizona the last time around. And that's credible too. Right now, it is a very close race.

Doesn't mean it has to end up that way and I doubt that all the swing states will move in one direction or that they'll be almost evenly split. So, the election is yet to be won, Rosemary. I think that's the key conclusion that anybody would reach in going through all these polls every day and watching the headlines for the two candidates.

CHURCH: And Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has been campaigning in battleground states, spreading falsehoods about America not having any more elections if he loses, also suggesting his opponents tried to kill him and that the federal government isn't doing enough to help those hit by Hurricane Helene. And now he's making disparaging comments about migrants having bad genes.

What is the impact of falsehoods like this? And are media outlets doing sufficient fact checking on all this?

SABATO: Some media outlets are and I salute them for making sure every time they mention one of Trump's ridiculous, irresponsible claims, they do point out that it's unsubstantiated. The problem is that so many people, first of all, swallow everything that Trump says and don't even have indigestion. And others will believe the first part of whatever is said in the news report and not focus on the word unsubstantiated.

[02:25:01]

So, there's no way to do it precisely right. It's important to blame the person who's being irresponsible and his name is Donald Trump.

CHURCH: Meantime, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is on a media blitz. She spoke to the high-rating Call Her Daddy podcast on Sunday, 60 minutes on Monday, and has upcoming appearances on The View, the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Howard Stern Show and Univision. It is a packed schedule and her V.P. pick Tim Walz is on a similar media blitz. What did you think of her 60 Minutes interview?

And what impact does a flood of media appearances like this have in this sprint to the finish line? And will it counter critics who suggest she hasn't done enough media?

SABATO: It ought to counter the critics, but of course, it won't. But I do think the 60 Minutes interview was very revealing and also important, because 60 minutes is still the gold standard for these interview programs that the networks have. They've been doing this with presidential candidates since 1968. I remember very clearly watching the one in September 1968 with first a segment on Nixon and then a segment on Hubert Humphrey, his Democratic opponent.

So, there's a tradition here. I think older Americans, who also vote more heavily than any other age group are used to watching these. I think Trump missed a big opportunity. He looks bad compared to Harris who's been accused of not taking tough interviews. Well, I think this kind of answers that criticism and Trump was made to look kind of small by the set up to the piece, which revealed his excuses to be pretty transparent.

So, this is one to work to watch. People should take a look at this if they didn't see it live. Harris was impressive, and she looked and acted presidential.

CHURCH: And Larry, Kamala Harris has been trying to differentiate herself from the Biden administration on some issues, including immigration in the Middle East, but that's a very difficult balancing act with President Biden going before the media in a surprise appearance Friday saying Harris was a major part of everything achieved during his administration. So how does Harris walk this tightrope?

SABATO: Well, she really can't. You can't have it both ways on something like that, and the Republicans know that. And that's why they practically dismissed Biden from the scene. They don't even refer to the Biden administration anymore. Some outright call it the Harris administration which is ridiculous or the Biden-Harris administration. Here's the one thing that saves Kamala Harris.

The vast majority of Americans know the Vice President does not make the decisions. Never has a vice president done that, except maybe when Woodward Wilson was suffering from a stroke, and the Vice President never will. So that gives her an out.

CHURCH: Larry Sabato, always good to talk with you. Many thanks for joining us.

SABATO: Thank you, Rosemary. CHURCH: Nothing will bring us back what we lost. Survivors and families mourn the victims of the Nova Music Festival massacre one year after the October 7 attacks in Israel. Their stories just ahead.

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[02:30:37]

CHURCH: The U.S. State Department says it still believes Israel's ground operation in Lebanon is limited, but the spokesperson refused to say the same about Israeli airstrikes in Beirut. Officials tell CNN the U.S. is no longer pushing for an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, but is resigned to trying to shape and limit Israeli operations in Lebanon and against Iran. U.S. National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan had this advice for Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, UNITED STATES NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The challenge going forward is to turn tactical wins in battle into a strategy that secures Israel's people and its future. That takes real discipline. It takes courage; it takes foresight to match the conduct of war to a clear and sustainable set of objectives and to turn tactical advantage into enduring strategic gains.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue to fight in a speech marking one year since the Hamas attacks on October 7th, as the families of the victims gathered at ceremonies and memorials to honor the 1,200 killed, including more than 300 at the nova music festival.

CNN's Nic Robertson spoke with those still grappling with the horrors of that day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Before dawn, a day of pain about to break. A minute's silence, commemoration where 347 were brutally killed, 40 taken hostage. A year ago, these fields filled with fear, Hamas overrunning the Nova Music Festival. Raz Grofi survived, missing her friends, riven by guilt.

RAZ GROFI, SURVIVOR (through translator): Unequivocally crazy guilt feelings. I have friends who came here because of me and they are not with us. It's something you live with every day, probably forever.

ROEY DERY, SURVIVOR: Nothing will give us back what we lost. We came back here with other friends that we were together, some didn't come back.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Roey Dery trembles as he talks, here for his friends who didn't make it.

DERY: Yeah, it brings (ph) memories every time we remember another peace (ph).

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Nova today a sea of sorrow, sadness, tears and suffering, a rawness that knows no easing.

RINAT LIOR, AUNT OF VICTIM AMIT LAHAV: It feels like yesterday and we still -- we still haven't accepted that she's gone.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Aunt of Amit, 23, when she was murdered.

LIOR: She was murdered with her best friend, Shira (ph). And that's -- very difficult to be here.

ROBERTSON: (Inaudible) what are your thoughts on that?

LIOR: We didn't anticipate that it is going to be one year. We thought it is going to one week, we are going bring all the hostages back, and that's it.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): That war still close, helicopters overhead deterring attack. Remembrance punctured by explosions. Suffering not limited to these families and these fields.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Re'im, Israel

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Major preparations are underway in Florida as the state braces for the dangerous Category 4 Hurricane Milton, which is headed straight for the Gulf Coast. Mass evacuations are happening in cities like Tampa with drivers facing hours' long delays on the highways as they flee to the north and east.

[02:35:00]

Tampa's mayor delivered a dire warning for those in the evacuation areas, "If you choose to stay, you're going to die." Well, misinformation about Hurricane Helene is complicating recovery efforts. It has become such a problem that officials in North Carolina are urging people to be beware of AI-generated images and to question where they are getting their information from.

FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency overseas disaster relief. It has launched a 'Rumor Response' page on its website to refute conspiracy theories circulating online, including those from Former President Donald Trump. CNN's Brian Stelter explains.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: The online rumors are out of control. That is the main takeaway about the myths and disinformation in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Emergency responders and elected officials in hard-hit areas of North Carolina say that the online disinformation about the storm and the aftermath has actually hindered the relief and recovery efforts there, because public officials having to spent time debunking the lies that are being spread both on social media and in some cases, by Former President Donald Trump.

Trump has been on the campaign trail claiming that money for FEMA, for the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been diverted to support migrants at the southern border. FEMA officials have pushed back on this, saying it's absolutely untruthful that any money has been diverted from the Disaster Relief Fund and sent to the migrant program. Furthermore, Trump is claiming that survivors are only receiving $750. In fact, that is a short-term immediate payment that is made to survivors. FEMA also comes in over the long term with a lot more money for survivors of hurricanes.

On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris addressed this head on, saying that Donald Trump is lying about what is available to survivors. She called it extraordinarily irresponsible. We've also heard from Republican elected officials who are complaining and criticizing the lies that are spreading on sites like Elon Musk's X. I've also been seeing AI-generated images on Facebook from the storm, and this is something that is not happening in a vacuum because as another hurricane now heads toward Florida, there already lies and rumors spreading about Milton and about whether it's somehow possible to create a weather system and target it towards certain regions.

These are ideas that used to exist only in the darkest fringes -- the darkest, deepest corners of the internet. But now, they percolate up through social media and windup confusing lots of people. The response, of course, has to be united from local officials, from federal officials to try to get the truth out and that is a challenge in this evermore fragmented media environment. Back to you.

CHURCH: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris says her support for Ukraine is unwavering and that Former President Donald Trump would all but surrender to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine's behalf. In an interview with "60 Minutes," the Democratic presidential nominee reaffirmed her support for Ukraine's autonomy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There will be no success in ending that war without Ukraine and the U.N. Charter participating in what that success looks like.

Would you meet with President Vladimir Putin to negotiate a solution to the war in Ukraine?

HARRIS: Not bilaterally without Ukraine, no. Ukraine must have a say in the future of Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And Ukraine says Russia is targeting civilian cargo ships in the Port of Odesa for the second time in two days. A Ukrainian minister says one person was killed and five foreign crew members were wounded in the latest attack. Kyiv is denouncing the strikes as acts of intimidation and obstruction, part of Moscow's efforts to block the export of grain and other goods.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces say they successfully targeted an offshore oil terminal in Russian-occupied Crimea. Video on social media shows the fire and huge plumes of black smoke. Russian officials say they blocked other Ukrainian drones from attacking in both Crimea and in southern Russia.

And we'll be right back.

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[02:41:37]

CHURCH: Two Americans have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work on the discovery of microRNA. Scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun's research reveals how genes give rise to different cells in the human body, a process known as gene regulation. The Nobel Prize Committee called their work a groundbreaking discovery.

Well, it's a vibrant time of year in the U.S. state of New Mexico where colorful hot air balloons are punctuating the sky. The 52nd Annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is well underway and brilliantly colored balloons are flying high. It's the world's largest hot air balloon festival with more than 500 balloons, according to organizers. Some pilots are competing with their racer (ph) balloons; others have created intricate balloon designs up to 160-feet tall and shaped like characters such as Darth Vader and Yoda from 'Star Wars'.

I want to thank you joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is coming up next. Then I'll be back in 15 minutes with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stick around.

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[02:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)