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Growing Anger Over Israeli Fire At U.N. Peacekeepers; WFP: No Food Has Entered Northern Gaza Since October 1; Iran & Russia Bolster Ties Amid Wars in Mideast, Ukraine; Biden To Tour Storm Damage In Florida On Sunday; Today: Trump Rallies In Colorado After Playing Up Aurora Gang Fears. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired October 11, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:33]

ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST: All right. It is 8:00 in the evening if you're watching this from London, 10:30 in Tehran, 1:00 in the afternoon in Aurora, Colorado, 3:00 p.m. where I am here in New York. I'm Zain Asher, in for my colleague, Jim Aciutto. Appreciate you joining me today on CNN NEWSROOM.

Let us get right to the news here.

We begin in the Middle East, where concerns are growing for the safety of humanitarian agencies in the region. For the second time, in two days, Israeli forces attacked UNIFIL, the U.N.'s peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, seriously injuring one peacekeeper and leaving three more wounded. The IDF says they told the staff to enter into protected spaces hours before identifying and responding to a threat.

Meantime, in Gaza, the U.N. says that no food, no food at all has entered northern Gaza since October 1st, putting 1 million people at risk of starvation there. Two of central Gaza's main bakeries have been forced to close down, a new independent U.N. inquiry accused Israel of carrying out a concerted policy of destroying the health care system, saying its actions constitute war crimes.

CNN international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, is in Tel Aviv for us.

So, Nic, as we mentioned, nothing -- pretty much nothing has gone into northern Gaza since October 1st. Just walk us through what that means as it pertains to the situation when it comes to hunger on the ground there.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah. Just before I get to that I ought to mention that just in the last couple of minutes, the sirens have gone off. The air, warning sirens have gone off about ten miles up the coast from here. And we heard from here a couple of dull explosions way off in the distance and the IDF is saying that the alarms -- in the sirens, the alerts have been activated in some parts of central Israel because hostile aircraft were detected.

Normally, that would seem to imply that UAVs or drones, but to your question about what's happening in Gaza, the humanitarian situation there, which are in northern Gaza has really taken a turn for the worst over the past ten days, U.N. agencies are saying that no humanitarian aid has been able to get into northern Gaza since the first of October. And if you just look at them numbers from the past couple of months, in August, 700 aid trucks got into the north. In September, about 400 aid trucks got in. So it's really dwindled down to nothing.

And U.N. officials say that that people are hungry. Hunger is rampant and the risk of -- the risk of starvation is becoming very real, again. Of course, a north of Gaza was the part of Gaza that really suffered most at the beginning of the war that suffered worst in terms of the humanitarian situation, the IDF for started up military operations in the north over the past few days that they've also put in evacuation orders for about 400,000 people there, hospitals in the north are running out of fuel.

Three of them, their face complete shutdown according to doctors and that would mean their life support centers, the ICUs. They would have no power. So they say people in there would perish, that they've -- the hospitals have been told to evacuate. This say it's not safe to evacuate in many cases, because they're fighting is too close some.

So the picture -- the humanitarian picture in the north of Gaza is absolutely stark. And, you know, in the past couple of days, U.S. officials have told the Israeli counterparts that they must uphold the international laws -- humanitarian laws, which mean that Israel needs to make sure that enough food, enough water, enough other humanitarian goods like fuel, is getting through, and it's not just in the north.

Bakeries in the center of Israel, in central Gaza, rather, were being told, have also had to stop production. They were getting their fuel and flour supplies from the U.N. The U.N. can't get those supplies in. So the bread -- that is an absolute staple for people in Gaza at the moment, that many tens of thousands would have depended on there, that's not getting delivered now either.

ASHER: And, Nic, just in terms of other news that we got, Israeli forces are essentially again targeting U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. What more do we know about that?

[15:05:00]

ROBERTSON: Yeah. A call was made from the U.S. secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, to Yoav Gallant, the defense minister here, reminding him of the importance of keeping the U.N. peacekeepers safe. They've been hit twice in the past two days.

Two peacekeepers were lightly injured yesterday when they wrote an observation tower, and that was hit by an Israeli tank -- rather tank fire, and two other incidents were reported by the U.N. yesterday, and as well today, a more serious incident that again has resulted in two U.N. peacekeepers in one of their very southern large headquarter basis being struck while they were inside that base. One of them has serious shrapnel injuries to her stomach and has been evacuated the hospital. So this is what is causing a lot of international concern. The Spanish

prime minister has taught to Israelis officials about his concerns. The U.N. has spoken about their concerns about this. It seems to be the U.N. peacekeepers now, UNIFIL, a really finding themselves caught in the middle of the IDF said that the two that were injured today, there had been a warning that had requested they had gotten in a safe space.

ASHER: All right. Nic Robertson live for us there. Thank you so much.

All right. As Israel is at war with Ukrainian proxies, Iran is cementing its ties with Russia. In their first meeting, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian and Vladimir Putin touted their very close worldviews.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MASOUD PEZESHKIAN, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We have many opportunities now. We should help each other in many areas. Our viewpoints and positions in the world are much closer to each other than to those of others. The situation in the region is in turmoil now and the United States and the European countries do not want the situation to return to calm which would allow us to continue ties in a calm environmental.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: The meeting comes as Tehran braces for Israel's response to Iran's recent missile attacks. But an official tells CNN, the Israeli security cabinet has not yet reached a decision in terms of how to respond.

CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran.

So, obviously, Fred, it is impossible -- it's impossible to know when exactly Israel is going to respond and issue some kind of retaliatory attack against Iran. Obviously, there does have to be an element of surprise, but it has almost been two weeks. Are we surprised that it's taken this long?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, I think for the point of view of some folks here on the ground, did they certainly are surprised that it has taken so long so far, but there is really the sense also here on the ground, Zain, that the clock really is running and despite some of the things that, of course, we've been hearing from the Israeli government that apparently that to cabinets didn't manage to reach some sort of conclusion, no doubt Iranian air defenses are on high alert tonight as they are every night.

At the same time today, we went to the Friday prayers, the main Friday prayers here in Tehran, and we found a lot of people who are extremely angry, not just at Israel, but at the U.S. as well. Here's what we saw.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) (CHANTING)

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Death to America and death to Israel chants at the main Friday prayers in Tehran, as Iran awaits possible Israeli retaliation for their recent missile strike against military installations inside Israel.

Iran's hardliners are trying to send a very clear message to both the U.S. and Israel, Iran doesn't want escalation, but if escalation happens, they're ready for a big fight.

Hezbollah flags in the crowd and a giant poster of the slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, recently killed in an Israeli airstrike, overlooking the prayers.

Many here warning Israel to back off.

They will see a very harsh response from the IRGC, the army, and the people of Iran, this man says, be sure that this will happen.

And he says, Israel has experienced this before. And if they repeat this experience, they will definitely be destroyed.

Iran hit Israel with around 200 ballistic missiles last week after Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah using several bunker busting bombs and wounded thousands of Hezbollah members by making their pagers explode. Iran has vowed to stand by their longtime allies, Hezbollah, providing medical help to many of those wounded in the pager attacks and even bringing some to one of Iran's holiest sites, the Imam Reza shrine in the city of Mashhad.

As a major military confrontation with Israel looms, Iran's new president on a diplomatic mission, trying to drum up support among Tehran's allies, meeting Russian leader Vladimir Putin as ties between the two U.S. adversaries are increasingly growing stronger.

[15:10:09]

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We are actively working together on the international arena and our views of events in the world are often very close.

PEZESHKIAN: The situation in the region's difficult now, and the U.S. and Europe do not want the situation here to subside. A situation that could soon escalate even more as Iran has vowed a crushing response to any attacks by Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN: And, Zain, that really is something that, of course, could escalate the situation anymore. One of the things that the Iranians have said is if, for instance, the Israelis attack Iran's energy infrastructure like, for instance, oil and gas installations. The Iranians might do exactly the same thing and also attack Israel's energy infrastructure as well -- Zain.

ASHER: And the last thing anyone wants is a widening war.

Fred Pleitgen live for us there, thank you so much.

As the conflict in Lebanon deepens, migrant workers predominantly women, are at serious risk, when Israel began intensively bombing Beirut's southern suburbs. A lot of people fled, leaving their domestic workers to fend for themselves.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh reports on the situation as part of CNN's "As Equals Series", which aims to reveal what systematic gender inequality looks like.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bibi Abdul's (ph) life has barely begun and yet what he hears bombs, he points to the sky.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He may mean the night. When the night, it just hope led the sound.

KARADSHEH: His mother, (INAUDIBLE), are one of hundreds if migrant families left with nowhere to go in Lebanon. They say they'd been abandoned by their employers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They go. All of them go. I don't know. I don't know where to go.

KARADSHEH: Night after night, day after day, Israel's missiles are raining down on the Lebanese capital of Beirut. They're hitting the southern suburbs hardest, that's where Hezbollah has a strong presence. But it's also where many migrant workers live.

Migrant workers, CNN spoke to describe how their employers fled for safety while they were left behind to fend for themselves without the means or paperwork to leave.

U.N.'s international organization for migration estimates that there are around 170,000 migrant workers in Lebanon and they're predominantly women. The Kafala or sponsorship system used in Lebanon, Jordan, and many Gulf countries gives employers almost total control over their freedom of movement.

Some workers told CNN they were refused entry to official government shelters because they're not Lebanese. Many resorted to sleeping on the streets. The Lebanese governments rejected any accusations of discrimination between displaced people.

LEA GHORAYEB, VOLUNTEER: As you can see, some of them have all their stuff with them, and some have literally nothing. Hey, mama. Hi, hi.

KARADSHEH: Volunteers like Lea Ghorayeb have stepped in, where consulates and embassies have failed to respond, identifying buildings to use as makeshift shelters in a country where so you called safe places are shrinking by the day.

This is the area where we're going to call it the communal bedroom where everybody is sleeping.

This group of volunteers say they're now helping almost 150 women and six babies from Sierra Leone, providing basic things like mattresses in place to cook, and electricity to charge their phones, but supplies are running out. Resources overwhelmed.

This family from northern Syria are one of many who sought shelter in a garden close to Martyrs Square in downtown Beirut after their neighborhood into southern suburbs known as Dahieh came under fire. They're one of many data from migrant workers action is seeking to help.

DARA FOI'ELLE, MIGRANT WORKERS ACTION: A lot of the migrant workers that are now stranded are undocumented and have expired papers for in some cases, up to a decade. So even if there are attempts from the sending countries' governments to evacuate their citizens, most migrant workers have expired residency papers that need penalty fees paid. People don't have work anymore, so they can't afford paying these penalty fees that can go up to several hundred dollars.

KARADSHEH: Across the city, in the mountains of thousands meters above Beirut, a convent has been turned into a temporary shelter that these migrant workers, many from Ethiopia, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Three year old Sahara's mother Indrani is only too aware how war has dominated her daughter's short life.

INDRANI MANIKI, MIGRANT WORKER: Our building was bombed during this war. and the whole building was reduced to the ground. We had noting left. Just the clothes we had on.

KARADSHEH: Meanwhile, in the corner of a first four room, Aisha from Ethiopia and her husband Khalid hold their four-month-old twins Amir and Amira. The family were forced to flee their home in south Lebanon as Israeli bombing increased. The convent is only a temporary shelter.

ASHA MOHAMMAD YASIN, MIGRANT WORKER: Everything happened suddenly. And if we want to go back to your home, there is no way to get back there. We are suffocating in life here.

KARADSHEH: The scale of the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon is growing. Authorities say over 1.2 million people have already been displaced since fighting escalated last month, living rooms now reduced to makeshift tents by the side of busy roads, many of those who came to Lebanon in search of a better life, now want nothing but to leave.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: Now, here to discuss the widening wars in the Middle East is retired General Wesley Clark, former NATO supreme allied commander and founder of Renew America.

Together, General, thank you so much for being with us. I guess my first question is, how does Lebanon avoid falling into the abyss of a long war with a lot of destruction and suffering, like what we're seeing in Gaza.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I don't think Lebanon really avoids it. Unfortunately, I just think we've reached a point where Israel, which has military power, which is insecure about its future, which she's threats from every direction, has decided that it can wait no longer, despite the entreaties of the Biden administration has decided to use its military force to strike at Hezbollah, and the sad part is Hezbollah has anticipated this for years. They have dispersed their sites all over Lebanon as far as we can tell.

And apparently, the Israelis continue to have a targetable intelligence and go after these sites. Maybe these sites are not as prominent or as important as the early sites, but as Hezbollah struggles and tries to put together a defense and a resistance and uses more and more of Lebanon for this, the Israelis are coming after them in those spots. That's the sad truth I think that we're facing.

ASHER: Just in terms of civilians -- I mean, obviously, you know, the civilian toll in Lebanon is rising. You know, we got word that two U.N. peacekeepers was struck via Israel as well, just in terms of, you know, walk us through what sort of consideration Israel is likely giving to civilians as it can continues to carry out some of these strikes in Beirut, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, specifically.

CLARK: I think, you know, from the Israeli perspective, they see this is an existential crisis for Israel. I think from the American perspective, we would certainly like to see the fighting stopped. We'd like to see some way to get a ceasefire and an agreement.

But we have a fundamental problem in this region, which is that there's a nation Iran, which simply it is determined to try to erase another nation, Israel, by any means that it can and it's on the verge of getting nuclear weapons, and I think the Israeli view is it's now or never and I think that's a horrible position to be in, but I think, you know, that the world community needs to look at the real source of what the conflict has been over 40 years, and that is the government of Iran.

ASHER: So, how much -- how these wars against Iranian proxies, specifically, Hezbollah creating some kind of vacuum in the Middle East, that's going to really allow Iran and Russia to strengthen their relationship.

CLARK: Yeah, and that's the problem. You know, you do have these proxies out there but there are numbers of proxies. And Israel has actually taken this thus far. Sort of step-by-step measuring how its effective its military strikes were looking at the feedback, drawing not to take too big a bite out of the enemy. But at some point, they will go after Iran, and we don't know what targets are on the table and we don't know what the consequences will be.

But -- but the truth is it in a circumstance like this, history shows that it's very difficult to head off conflict because the two sides are both see as existential and Israel, we believe, has the military really dominant position. And they've talked for years about going to the source and if they go to the source -- they will cut off, if they are effective, they'll cut off the supplies to the Houthis are cut off supplies to the other members of the axis of resistance and the situation could clear up.

[15:20:02]

The problem is though, after they do their military strikes, then what? That's the question and that's the question everybody is answering -- asking.

ASHER: Yeah. I mean, we're still waiting for Israel to retaliate against Iran for that attack. We saw on October 1st, it's been almost two weeks and so that surprise attack likely coming any moment now, but the big question is, of course, when you play the game of chess, how will Iran respond to that.

General Wesley Clark, live for us there, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

All right. Still ahead, President Biden is now planning to travel to Florida to visit the storm torn areas. What we're learning about his visit as the death toll there reaches at least 16.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:23:48]

ASHER: Welcome back.

President Biden is going to be traveling to Florida on Sunday to visit communities that were hit hard by Hurricane Milton. Right now, 16 people are confirmed dead and while the storm is long gone from Florida shores, its impact will remain for long time as those in the state are just beginning to now pick up the pieces.

CNN's Brian Todd is live for us outside a tornado hit home in St. Lucie County, a county where at least six people were killed.

So, Brian, as people really come to terms with the reality of losing everything, the destruction of this hurricane is really being laid bare. Just -- you know, just looking at the scenes like the one behind you, but this home completely destroyed. I mean, it seems like that now all too familiar, take us through it.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Zain. We're in Holiday Pines neighborhood, just near Fort Pierce, Florida. And you talked about, you know, what it's like to lose everything. I'm going to show you what it's like to lose everything.

Take a look at this house. This is Shane Ostrander's (ph) house. He just spoke to us. It looks like this is unsurvivable and -- by just the visuals here, it would seem so, but believe it or not, two people and a dog actually survived a tornado hitting this house.

[15:25:00]

Shane Ostrander told us a short time ago that he and his wife, Nicole, and their dog were here when the tornado hit on Wednesday. They scrambled into a closet. He heard several crushing kind of boom sounds around his house. He says what he opened his closet door after it had passed, he realized that he had lost everything. I mean, just take a look at the scope of that devastation. You can kind of understand that, but it's hard to imagine that anyone could survive this. And yet two people and a dog did.

Here's what Shane had to say to me a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANE OSTRANDER, HURRICANE SURVIVOR: It's devastating. I haven't really processed it totally. I'm hoping to rebuild here, something stronger.

Yeah, it hits me. I walk -- I walk the dog this morning and that's when it hits me like I see the neighbors with terrible damage. This whole neighborhood has been devastated and I haven't even left the street yet. I know Portofino Shores, I know Spanish Lakes really need.

There's a lot of people hurting right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Yeah, a lot of people hurting in this neighborhood and elsewhere. Now, so far, we don't have word of any fatalities in this neighborhood. But another neighborhood not far from here, it's called the Spanish Lakes Country Club Village neighborhood. It's a neighborhood of modular mobile homes not far from here at least six people were killed in that neighborhood, according to sheriff Keith Pearson, who talked to me this morning.

They are still efforting rescues in that neighborhood. They're not letting them media in there because it is so devastated and because they're still trying to find victims and maybe save some victims who could be trapped. It is still believe it or not almost 48 hours later, an ongoing rescue effort in that Spanish Lakes Country Club neighborhood. Again, six people there died, at least 50 were hurt and they're still trying to rescue some others there, Zain.

It is just absolute carnage in this area and people are still just trying to come to grips with it.

ASHER: And it's heartbreaking, but I will say that I really do admire Shane's resilience, you know, despite everything that he has been through. And thank god that he and his family survived.

Brian Todd live for us there, thank you so much.

All right. Still to come, former President Donald Trump trashes Detroit while speaking in Detroit. How Vice President Harris is responding to him comparing the largest city in the battleground state of Michigan to a developing country. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:50]

ASHER: A federal gang member removal program, that is a new proposal from former President Donald Trump. And he's expected to announce right now in Aurora, Colorado. Why is he visiting the suburb of a solidly blue state?

For week, Donald Trump has pushed misinformation about Venezuelan gangs, taking over Aurora, claims that local officials have loudly and repeatedly denied. But this, of course, is a pattern to center immigration as a voting issue.

For more on that, CNN's Kristen Holmes is live now from the trail. She covers Trump.

Kristen, just break this down for us a bit. What will Trump claim at this event and what do we know as fact right now?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, really, this is the epicenter, Aurora, Colorado, of much of the disinformation campaign we have seen from Donald Trump when it comes to migrants, to immigration as a whole, he has been claiming for months now the city of Aurora has been overturned taken by Venezuelan gangs. In fact, here today, one of the slides that they had playing for the audience before he got on stage was the picture that appeared to be A.I., with people in hoods holding giant guns that said, your apartment complexes under Kamala Harris's presidency and then the next slide said, you're better off under Donald Trump.

They are going to continue this fear-based narrative and that's what we expect to hear from him today. He's going to announce when they are exceptionally are calling Project Aurora, which would be a rounding up of Venezuelan gang members, migrants, if he were to be elected in November. But the thing to remember here is that we have heard from governor of Colorado. We have heard from the mayor of Aurora.

We have heard from local officials, state officials, who have all said that this has been exaggerated, that they are, the city is not overrun by these Venezuelan gang members.

But when it comes to that fear-based messaging, whether or not it's on immigration or the economy, Donald Trump and his team believed that it is working, that it resonates with voters. And if you look at the most recent polling, we just saw with new polling out today, "Wall Street Journal", that shows that this race is neck and neck, razor-thin margins, too close to call, in most of these battleground states, and you're getting close to that November day, which means that Donald Trump and his team believe that this message is working for them.

So any idea, despite this law enforcement pushed back, despite these local officials saying, this isn't true, that he would tone down his rhetoric seems to be a moot point because they believe that this, the kind of rhetoric, particularly when it comes to immigration, that could help propel him to the White House in November. ASHER: Our Kristen Holmes live for us there, thank you so much.

All right. Turning to the Harris campaign, getting some star power help on the trail. Former President Barack Obama campaigned yesterday in Pittsburgh, part of the final sprint really energized Democrats and he had a particular message for one group Donald Trump has been working to win over, that is young Black men. I want you to listen to what Obama had to say here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Speaking to men directly, part of it makes me think that -- well, you just aren't feeling the idea of having a woman as president. You're thinking about sitting out or even supporting somebody who has a history of denigrating you, because you think that's a sign of strength because that's what real men is, putting women down? That's not acceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Let's bring in CNN's Priscilla Alvarez for more on this.

I mean, listen, he didn't mince his words, right? I mean, Obama is a huge star Democratic Party. He's pretty much now an elder statesman, but it has been over a decade since he's left office. Does he still have that kind of sway and is his sway enough to get young Black men to the polls and to vote for Harris.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's certainly the hope by the Harris campaign. It was, as you mentioned, a sobering message from the former president and remarkable coming from the first black man who became a U.S. president years ago.

[15:35:02]

Now the former president, trying to target his message yesterday, two men and Black men knowing, of course but their has been waning enthusiasm among this part of the electorate for the Harris campaign. But even before that, and for President Joe Biden, in fact, Vice President Kamala Harris has been quite focused on this over the last year before she was the top of the party's ticket.

Now, privately, campaign operatives and allies are having similar conversations and other settings. Again, trying to find ways to appeal to Black voters and Black men and try to convey their message again in hopes of shoring up that support and its not only black men, the same can be said about Hispanic men. In fact, when you look at the polling, the vice president and former President Donald Trump are pretty evenly split when it comes to Hispanic men, even if she has an advantage over Latino voters.

So it is certainly a weak spot for the Harris campaign, one that they have been aware of, and that they are trying to tackle through surrogates like former President Barack Obama, but also actively the vice president next week will be in Michigan, a battleground state where she's going to produce be in a radio town hall with Charlamagne Tha God, and he has multiple, I mean, multiple millions of listeners. Most and many of whom are black.

So clearly, they're trying multiple platforms here to try to reach those voters and to try to explain her agenda and try to peel away those voters were former president Donald Trump, but it is again, it tall order given of course, that this is something that the campaign has been working on for some time. But polling suggests that they still haven't made the inroads that they want to see just yet, Zain.

ASHER: All right. Priscilla Alvarez live for us, thank you.

All right. In Detroit, Harris's running mate, Tim Walz, shot back at Trump after he denigrated the city while speaking that yesterday, we need to play you what Trump said and what will said in response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, we're a developing nation, too. Just take a look at Detroit. Detroit's a developing -- Detroit's a developing area. Hell of a lot more than most places in China.

The whole country is going to be like you want to know the truth? There'll be like Detroit, our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she's your president.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Just yesterday, Donald Trump was in Detroit and he said, our whole country will end up being Detroit. You're going to have a mess on your hands.

(BOOS)

WALZ: Well, look, I know you don't -- that's not unexpected for him. That's exactly what he's going to do, tear-down America. But if the guy would have ever spent any time in the Midwest, like all of us know, wed know Detroit's experience in American comeback and renaissance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: All right. The Harris campaign already cut an ad with Trump's comment, set to air during the Detroit Lions game this weekend, and part of $370 million ad buy. Will it work?

Here to talk through all of that, two fantastic reporters. You've got Jackie Kucinich for "The Boston Globe", and Toluse Olorunnipa of "The Washington Post".

Jackie, let me start with you. So, Donald Trump, he's gotten away with a lot, right, over the past eight to ten years that he's been in politics, but can he get away with insulting Detroit while in Detroit?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The Harris campaign is certainly trying to not let him get away with it and you kind of heard that in the room, the kind of like light applause, like where he was going with this. But I think, if any -- if your campaign and you're subtracting voters at this point, you're not winning. And so, and as much as Trump's campaign tries to control where -- when

he goes off script, this is something they've been dealing with the entire time. I think, you know, the -- keeping him on message has been a struggle this entire time. And this is no -- and that comment, and frankly, what we might I see in aurora might also be part of that pattern because even though, yes, this has been as immigration message has been something they've been pushing the entire -- this entire campaign.

When you talk and when you listen to officials actually in that town, in Aurora, and in Colorado, they're saying a lot of things he's saying aren't true and it's making problems sir, him just like in Springfield, Ohio. He's actually hurting Republicans there with this rhetoric.

ASHER: Toluse, let me bring you in because we heard from President Obama, essentially, calling out young black men for sexism. But the thing about sexism is that it is deeply ingrained among certain communities in this country, not just among Black men, but a variety of communities in America. Is the former president telling you not to be sexist enough to actually change your perspective?

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It may work for some voters. We have to find out, figure out how much cache former President Obama has with young black men.

[15:40:05]

He's had a long experience, long relationship over the course of his presidency. He started an initiative, My Brothers Keeper, specifically for young Black men, but he's been out of office for the better part of eight years. It's been more than 12 years since he last won an election. And the country has changed significantly.

And so, whether or not a lot of young people who are 18, 20 to 24, whether they even remember the Obama presidency, whether they remember Obama as sort of this folk hero in the Black community that he was when he won in 2008 and 2012, that remains to be seen. I do think that his tough message will land with certain voters who are going to see it as an elder statesman, is talking truth to them and speaking in a frank way with them, in a way that they don't use -- they don't usually hear from people who have been president in the past, but for some people who may be turned off by that, by an older Democrats saying, you know, the only reason why you're considering voting for Donald Trump is because you're sexist.

That could turn off a number of voters and the kinds of voters that the Kamala Harris campaign are trying to reach aren't necessarily people who are deciding at the last minute between Trump and Harris. There are people who have been checked out of the political system and who are not even thinking about voting at all at some of those people live in Detroit.

And so they need people to turn out. They need people to be motivated. And I'm not sure messages -- the motivating message for people who are considering sitting this election out. ASHER: Right, because, Jackie, one of the things that Obama essentially saying how could you vote for somebody that has denigrated people that looked like you? Why would you see that as a sign of strength? But the fact is, Trump has managed to make inroads with the black community over the past eight years. How has he managed to do that?

KUCINICH: Well, so he was making even more in-roads when Biden was at the top of the ticket and that -- the reason for that was largely the economy because of inflation, because of the cost of goods. And the cost of living and the cost of housing, everything going up. There potentially, your voters were looking for another alternative.

Now, Harris he says began, has been able to claw some of that back, but there's still is that uncertainty and Toluse is absolutely right. This isn't about people -- most -- most undecided voters at this point, it's a decision between voting are not voting, not between the two candidates and getting and giving people a reason tweet or mail in their ballot or to go to the polls and wait in line. You really have to want to do that. And that's their challenge right now.

ASHER: And, Toluse, you know, obviously we all learn from 2016 not to really trust the polls too much, or at least to take them with a grain of salt. You know, the polls now, neck and neck between Harris and Trump, but there has to be, I imagine, a small but maybe significant contingent among Democrats, even among independents who might say that they're voting for Harris, but who might not, because she is a black woman.

How will that factor into things?

OLORUNNIPA: You haven't heard the Kamala Harris campaign talk a lot about her identity in part because they realize that that is a challenge that some people aren't yet comfortable with the idea of not only a woman, but a woman of color being the commander in chief, being the top politician, and the entire country. And so they haven't leaned in on that message the way that maybe Hillary Clinton and some of the people around her did back in 2016.

But that does remain a big challenge that even if it's a small slice of voters who are publicly saying they support Kamala Harris publicly saying they support the idea of breaking the glass ceiling for the first time in history are not privately comfortable with it and are either going to sit at home and not vote or are going to vote for Trump secretly.

And so that is a big challenge that is something that could sway the election in a very close race where we could be talking about states decided by thousands of votes, not even tens or hundreds of thousands of votes.

And so, that is a big challenge for the Harris campaign. They are trying to close the gender gap that has existed between Trump and Harris, Biden speaking to men. She's going to be talking to Charlamagne Tha God on next week in Detroit, trying to reach some of his male listeners and so they're trying to close that gap. Tim Walz is doing it as well.

But they do have that risk that some people may publicly say that they're supporting her, but privately vote for Trump or stay home.

ASHER: And, Jackie, you know, just quickly, is it a smart strategy for Harris not to talk about race or gender? I mean, listen, Obama became president. He absolutely leaned into his race and it worked.

KUCINICH: Whether or not it's a smart strategy, it's what -- it's the strategy that they're pursuing and that -- and, you know, we'll see how it ends up. And I hate to say it like that, but her -- her decision to really, not lean into it is actually the opposite of what we saw from Hillary Clinton. And they really, they really stuck to it and how that shakes out in the end that he wants yes.

[15:45:04]

ASHER: Yeah, well, I guess we'll see, right? We'll find out -- and I don't know, was it, three weeks, three weeks, right?

Toluse, Jackie, guys, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

All right. After the break, we're going to go live to Hillsborough County, Florida, where our Isabel Rosales has been riding along with rescue crews today, surveying the damage left behind by Hurricane Milton.

Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: All right. Back now to the destruction left behind by Hurricane Milton. Sixteen people are dead and many parts of Florida's east and west coast look very different from how they did a few days ago.

In Hillsborough County, water rescues are still underway. That is where we find CNN's Isabel Rosales.

Isabel, just talk to us about what you're seeing, where you are.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This took people by surprise in Valrico, all of this flash-flooding from the Alafia River.

Now, they're accustomed to seeing flooding by the river, especially during heavy afternoon storms, all of that and hurricanes. But the Alafia River's a mile away from here. So this really took people by surprise to see their community. I mean, look at this, this is a gas station underwater. So many cars flooded.

I saw deeper into the neighborhood, the water reaching up to mailboxes and up to the homes as well, so many people that have lost it all. We've been following around with the Hillsborough County sheriffs office by air boat as they've been checking in on people rescuing people, allowing people to even go back inside of their homes, filling up trash bags with their belongings, clothes, shoes, necessary, things, pictures, memories.

I followed a couple and their names are Ralph and Tina as they were doing that.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RALPH, HURRICANE SURVIVOR: We have our help in my family. So I feel I've been through the same thing. Really do. I do anybody expected to happen to meet.

[15:50:01]

Nobody expects it to happen to them. So you just get through it, get through it, you know? It's everybody said these material things. Okay, it is. It still doesn't make it any better -- doesn't make any better

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: Right. They never expected this. They never thought that they would need a post-storm evacuation plan because all of this happened after Milton barreled through Florida already from all of this heavy torrential rainfall causing the rivers and the reservoirs to overflow Zain.

So, now, a lot of people have figure out what are the next steps here.

ASHER: Gosh. You know, I really feel for Ralph and obviously really emotional during that interview that you had with him briefly.

You know, CNN covered the rescue of 135 people at an assisted living facility yesterday. What would we know about how those individuals are doing, Isabel?

ROSALES: Yeah. And so many of them when I spoke to them, Zain were shivering. A lot of them without any shoes. That's how quickly, you know, they had to roll out once a deputy has got to them, a lot of them on medication or using walkers, using wheelchairs on oxygen tanks.

So a very precarious situation I did check in with the fire their chief of Hillsborough County today, and he told me that some of those individuals have been picked up by family members out of a temporary shelter at an elementary school. So, some of them are away and into warmer, better conditions. But a lot of them are still using that elementary school. So, now, the county is in contact with the state to find them a more permanent shelter that can give them the medical needs that they're going to have here -- Zain.

ASHER: All right. Isabel Rosales, live for us, thank you so much.

We'll be right back after the short break with more. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: All right. Welcome back.

A group of survivors from the World War II atomic bomb attacks on Japan have been honored with this year's Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has given this year's award to the organization called Nihon Hidankyo. Video from Japan shows one of the group's members breaking down, becoming really emotional when the prize was announced. Many of today's survivors were just children. When the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

Now, their grassroots organizations, works to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons the, head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee joined CNN earlier and explained why the group was given the honor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERGEN WETNE FRYDNES, CHAIR, NORWEGIAN NOBEL COMMITTEE: So in this particular year, we find it appropriate, and important to highlight the important role of the Hibakusha, the survivors of the atomic attacks in 1945, because they have through seven decades, but not least this -- to this day highlighted their testimonies, highlighted their pain and suffering, and by doing so, creating an maintaining this nuclear taboo.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:55:05]

ASHER: All right. That's it for us. Appreciate you joining me today. I'm Zain Asher.

I'll be back in about five minutes from now with "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS". Do stay with us.