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CNN International: Arctic Air Brings Frost and Freeze Alerts Across 20 States; Funeral in Tehran for Senior Iranian Commander Killed in Israeli Strike; U.N. Warns Israel May Be Committing War Crime in Gaza; Harris, Trump Looking to Pick Up Support in Razor-thin Race; North Korea Blows Up Roads Linking It With South Korea; Taiwan Says 153 Chinese Military Aircraft Operating Around Island; Two Giant Pandas From China on Their Way to Washington; Early Voting in Battleground Georgia; Sean 'Diddy' Combs Accused of Sexual Assault in New Lawsuits; Yellow Iguanas Are Defying Extinction; NASA Spacecraft Heading to One of Jupiter's Moons. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired October 15, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
AMARA WALKER, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM: Hi, everyone. Welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Amara Walker. This is "CNN Newsroom'. Coming up, CNN is on the streets of Tehran, along with thousands of mourners, for
the funeral of an Iranian commander killed in an Israeli strike. We are live in the Iranian capital in just moments. And with only three weeks until American voters go to the polls, the Harris and Trump campaigns ramp up their events and their rhetoric. Plus, North Korea blows up two roads linking it to the South. Why Pyongyang is making this provocative move now?
As the death toll from an Israeli attack on a Christian-majority village in Lebanon rises, to the South, there are also a growing number of casualties. At least 40 Palestinians were killed across Gaza overnight, that is according to officials, with some believed to be still trapped under the rubble. Israel meanwhile claims it struck a Hezbollah target in Northern Lebanon on Monday and says the incident is under review. Lebanon's health ministry says 21 people were killed. Still, Israel's prime minister is vowing not to back down and he warns against -- attacks against Hezbollah will continue everywhere in Lebanon without mercy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I want to clarify, we will continue to strike Hezbollah without mercy everywhere in Lebanon, including Beirut. Everything is according to operational considerations. We have proven this recently and we will continue to prove it in the coming days as well. (END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people poured into the streets of Tehran earlier for funeral services held for a top Iranian commander killed in a strike in Beirut. It is the same strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. CNN's Fred Pleitgen was there. He's joining us now live from Tehran.
Fred, as we said, you were in attendance at this massive funeral earlier today. Just walk us through what that was like.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it certainly was a huge procession that went through central Tehran, Amara. I would say tens of thousands of people were on the ground. They were gathering really before the procession even started. There were a lot of prayers going on, a lot of people who were on the ground there, and what you could feel, there is obviously a lot of mourning for Abbas Nilforoushan, who is that Revolutionary Guard commander who was killed in the same airstrike that also killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
That of course, happened on September 27th in Beirut and a lot of people obviously displaying their anger. But of course, all of that also led to some pretty strong reactions from the Iranians as well. The Iranians afterward then hit Israel with their own ballistic missile, around 200 ballistic missiles. And now, we are in the situation where the escalation continues. The Israelis, of course, pondering their own response and the Iranians saying that if Israel targets Iranian territory, then they will certainly strike back.
On the ground, people there were actually calling for a strong response from Iran. I want to listen to some of what people told us on the ground there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We are one. These geographical distances do not mean that we are separated from Hezbollah, from Lebanon. We are all one and we are all enemies of Israel.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Can Iran destroy Israel? Of course it can. Iran is stronger, stronger than Israel can even imagine. Israel thinks it has brought these martyrs close to death, but it has just brought them closer to their wishes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We will always be against the ruthless Zionists and Americans and any country that wants to come against us. From the lives of our martyrs to the last drop of blood, we will continue to stand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: So, that's some of the folks that we spoke to on the ground there, Amara. And again, the message coming from the Iranians also is that their support for Hezbollah is not something that's up for debate. They say that they are going to stand by Hezbollah for as long as it takes, and in fact increase their support for that organization, Amara.
WALKER: And in the meantime, Fred, of course, the world along with Iran is bracing for how Israel may respond to Iran's missile barrage several days ago. [08:05:00]
Netanyahu has reassured the U.S. that when they do indeed retaliate, they will not be targeting oil or nuclear facilities. Tell me more about what you're learning about a potential response.
PLEITGEN: Well, yeah, that's certainly something that the U.S. has been pushing for, for the Israelis to not to target that critical infrastructure here in Iran, obviously the nuclear infrastructure first and foremost, but also those oil and gas installations, which not only of course would be very detrimental for Iran, but most probably environmentally detrimental and economically detrimental to the entire world with the aftermath of what that could bring. And of course, the Iranians themselves have said that if the Israelis target that kind of infrastructure, especially the oil and gas installations, then the Iranians could in turn also target Israel's energy sector as well.
The message that we're getting here from the Iranians has been quite clear and certainly, has escalated over the past couple of days. (Inaudible) minister has been traveling around the region. The Iranians are saying, no matter what Israel does, if Israel strikes Iranian territory, the Iranians will retaliate. Now, how that retaliation will look like is not something that we know at this point in time. However, the Iranians are saying that there will be a strong response from their side. They're also now warning the countries here of this region of the Middle East, not to allow Israel to use their airspace for potential strikes on Iran, saying that would have detrimental effects to those countries.
So certainly, right now, the Iranians are saying they have a very clear position. They say they don't want all of this to escalate, but they also say that they are ready for a larger conflict, if one does emerge, Amara.
Fred Pleitgen in Tehran. Fred, thank you for your reporting. Now, the U.N. Human Rights Office warns that Israel may be carrying out a war crime in Northern Gaza. It says, if Israel -- Israel is effectively sealing off North Gaza and may be carrying out a large scale forced transfer of civilians. Now, the Israeli military has ordered all civilians north of Gaza City to leave and has blocked all food from entering Northern Gaza since the beginning of the month. This is according to the 'World Food Programme'.
The IDF tells CNN, however, it is committed to abiding by international law. CNN's Nada Bashir joining us now live from London with more. Nada, let's start first with these 40 deaths -- at least 40 deaths overnight from those strikes in Gaza. What do we know?
NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We've seen continued airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, south, north, and of course, in Central Gaza where we have seen an intensification of Israeli airstrikes. At least 40 people killed just overnight, so you can imagine the scale there. We're seeing these airstrikes continuing on a daily, basis and we've seen these airstrikes targeting civilian areas, residential buildings, airstrikes taking place near mosques. In the last few days, we've seen airstrikes targeting U.N. run schools, and of course, the Al-Aqsa Hospital compound where thousands of people had been sheltering.
And of course, the Israeli military maintains that it is targeting Hamas militants, that it is targeting Hamas infrastructure in Gaza, and has ordered in many areas, civilians to evacuate. But what we have been hearing repeatedly from many aid organizations, from humanitarian organizations, is that civilians are still coming under attack. Civilian areas are becoming targets, that humanitarian zones are also potential targets as well. So, there is a real feeling that there is simply nowhere safe left in Gaza as we continue to see that death toll rising as a result of these airstrikes. And of course, Israel's continued ground operation in the Strip as well.
WALKER: And Nada, tell us more about what's happening in North Gaza and why the U.N. is coming out with some stark language warning that Israel may be carrying out a war crime there.
BASHIR: Well, this is now the 11th day of Israel's ground operation, siege on Northern Gaza, but we've been seeing now for a month, there's essentially no aid getting in to this part of Northern Gaza as a result of Israel's intense military operations. There again, the expressed intention of this military operation is to target Hamas militants operating in the area. But this is an area that is still densely populated with civilians, and they've been issued with an evacuation order by the Israeli military.
But what we've heard from many on the ground, civilians on the ground, but also now hearing from the U.N. is that there have been reports of civilians coming under Israeli fire, if they do attempt to evacuate. They've been told to move to the Al-Mawasi coastal area. This is a humanitarian zone which, frankly, has been shrinking now, for months getting smaller and smaller according to our analysis. But also, this is an area that has also been targeted in the past. It has come under attack by Israeli airstrikes. So for many civilians who have been told to evacuate yet again, there is a fear that they will either be targeted while they're trying to flee or that they will be targeted at whatever place they then take shelter.
So for many, they are choosing to stay in Northern Gaza. Now, as you mentioned, this warning from the U.N. is starkly worded.
[08:10:00]
They have said that they essentially believe Israel is sealing off Northern Gaza, and may be carrying out, in their words, a large-scale forced transfer of the civilian population, which they have said may amount to a war crime. We've been hearing from aid organizations, the 'World Food Programme' of course as well, saying that they have been struggling to get food and humanitarian aid. Many analysts have been warning that this resembles a surrender-or-starve strategy put forward by a retired Israeli general earlier this year, which essentially wants to see all civilians evacuate, leaving just Hamas militants there to essentially starve as a result of this Israeli siege. But clearly, there are still many, many civilians in this area who are feeling the impact directly of Israel's military operation there.
WALKER: All right. Nada Bashir in London, thank you.
Well, the final sprint has begun in the U.S. presidential race with just three weeks left until Election Day. Kamala Harris is set to do a radio town hall event later with 'Charlamagne tha God' to appeal to black voters, and then she'll meet with black entrepreneurs in Detroit. It's part of her push to get black voters out to the polls, particularly black men. Her running mate, Tim Walz is campaigning across the key battleground state of Pennsylvania today. At a rally on Monday, Harris outlined why she says a second Trump term would be a disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He considers anyone who doesn't support him or who will not bend to his will an enemy of our country. He wants to send the military after American citizens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: On the Republican side, Donald Trump 'Talks Money' with Bloomberg News and the Economic Club of Chicago, and then he'll spend the evening in Atlanta. At a town hall in Pennsylvania, Monday night, he again planted the seeds of election fraud.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: If everything works out, if everybody gets out and votes on January 5th or before, it used to be -- you'd have a date. Today, you can vote two months before, probably three months after. They don't know what the hell they're doing. But we're going to straighten it all out. We're going to straighten that out too. We're going to straighten our election process out too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: OK. To be clear, Election Day is November 5th, not January 5th, as you just heard. Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance spends the day hopping from Iowa to Ohio to Pennsylvania. Now, part of the final sprint is reaching voters who might not normally hear a candidate's message. And to that end, Kamala Harris is looking for support in some unexpected places. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on a sprint to Election Day with both candidates beginning a week-long stretch crisscrossing swing states. First in Pennsylvania, where the race remains deadlocked, Harris trying to lock in her coalition, unveiled new economic proposals appealing to black voters. That plan includes forgivable loans to black entrepreneurs of up to $20,000, promoting apprenticeships and legalizing recreational marijuana. Taken together, it's a sweeping proposal aimed at trying to persuade black voters, in particular black men, amid signs of lagging enthusiasm. Harris, recognizing the ground her campaign still needs to cover, in an interview with 'The Shade Room.'
HARRIS: Black men are no different from anybody else. They expect that you have to earn their vote, and that's why I'm out here doing the work that I'm doing about talking with folks, listening with folks, because I'm running for president of the United States, and it is incumbent on me to earn the support.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): Monday stop is the first in a travel blitz for Harris that will include the blue wall states of Michigan and Wisconsin, in addition to Pennsylvania, as the Harris campaign tries to secure a path to 270 electoral votes. Harris and Trump are also taking to the airwaves to reach voters, including in new ads in the key battlegrounds.
HARRIS: When the middle class is strong, America is strong, and we can build a stronger middle class.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): The vice president confirming she will sit down for her first-ever interview with Fox News. The same day, the former president participates in a Fox Town Hall with an all-female audience, this after he refused to do another debate with Harris.
TRUMP: So because we've done two debates and because they were successful, there will be no third debate.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): Trump also focusing on his base, going after men with a potential sit down with podcaster Joe Rogan.
KYLE FORGEARD, NELK BOYS, YOUTUBER: I think Joe Rogan has to have you on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
TRUMP: Yeah.
FORGEARD: Would you do that?
TRUMP: Oh, sure. I would.
FORGEARD: I think Joe, like, besides us, Joe --
TRUMP: I mean, I think I'm doing it actually.
FORGEARD: Yeah?
ALVAREZ (voice-over): In Pennsylvania, both sides also set to pour millions of dollars into ad spending, underscoring how critical the state is for both campaigns.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[08:15:00]
WALKER: All right. That was Priscilla Alvarez reporting. We have coverage of both campaigns. Steve Contorno was with the Trump camp in Chicago, but let's begin with Isaac Dovere in Washington.
Hi there, Isaac, good morning. That'll be interesting, to see Vice President Harris sit down with Fox News knowing that she's been pretty reticent about having these unscripted events. Tell us more about what we expect to see this week, and what her team's priorities are.
EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, we've actually seen a bunch of interviews from Kamala Harris in the last week and a half. She's doing the Fox News interview. She's also doing this session today with Charlamagne tha God, the radio host, to talk about what she wants to do for black men specifically, but overall make the push here. And she is trying to get the focus on the things that she has been talking about policy wise and in these interviews, she's talked about a bunch of proposals that she's rolled out, but she's also trying to focus people on the idea that she says Donald Trump back in the White House would be really dangerous for America, would be going after Americans in ways that people in this country, she says, should not be OK with
And to really make sure that people are thinking about the stakes are -- understanding what this choice is ahead of them, so that in these final three weeks and as voting begins today in Georgia, as it has already in a bunch of other states, that they are going toward her and not either going toward Trump or deciding not to vote. It will be, from everything that we can see here, a very close election where thousands of votes in a couple of states could really decide who the next president of the United States is.
WALKER: Yeah, it's just extraordinary how there is just no clear leader whatsoever three weeks out. Steve, to you now, before we talk about what Donald Trump has planned for the rest of the week, could you just talk us through this odd, unusual moment at a rally in Pennsylvania last night where, for what was it, half an hour we saw Trump swaying and dancing to music?
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, I'll certainly try to explain. There was a point in the program where an individual had a medical episode, which caused Trump to stop the event and ask them to play music while this person received medical attention. And then there was another person who actually needed medical attention as well. And I can tell you, having covered Trump many times over the years, these episodes among his audience are fairly common occurrences.
People wait in hours, in the elements to see Donald Trump. They're often elderly and they have issues with heat exhaustion. They need medical attention during his events. But instead of continuing the program after this point, he just decided to stop taking questions in this town hall and instead, was swaying on stage, requesting certain songs to be played and didn't take any more questions. Take a listen to what transpired.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Let's make it into our music.
(LAUGH) TRUMP: Who the hell wants to hear questions, right? Let me hear that music please. Let me hear that music loud.
GOV. KRISTI NOEM, (R-SD): Everyone, let's thank President Trump.
TRUMP: Nice and loud.
NOEM: God bless you.
TRUMP: Play YMCA. Go ahead. Let's go, nice and loud.
NOEM: Here we go. Everybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CONTORNO: Trump's events are often unwieldy. He decides the program. I was at one in Wisconsin a couple weeks ago where it lasted for -- he spoke for almost two hours. He was bringing people on stage left and right, but this was certainly one of the stranger turns I have seen at a Trump event, and his unconventional approach continues today. He is speaking in Chicago, which is an interesting place to bring your campaign to just three weeks out, given that this is not necessarily a swing area by any stretch, but it continues a pattern of Trump visiting these blue areas of the country.
He was in California just a few days ago, and he'll be at Madison Square Garden in the coming days as well. So just a look at his calendar there and how he is approaching the final weeks of this home stretch.
WALKER: All right, Steve Contorno and Isaac Dovere, appreciate you both. Thanks for your reporting.
All right, still ahead, China flies a record number of war planes in a fresh round of military drills around Taiwan to warn against independence. We'll have more on that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:21:30]
WALKER: North Korea has blown up parts of two major roads connected to the southern part of the peninsula, even though the roads were not in use. This marks an escalation of hostility at a time when tensions between the two Koreas are at their highest point in years. Mike Valerio has more on this symbolic move from Pyongyang.
MIKE VALERIO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, dramatic video shows the moment that North Korea demolished two road and railways routes that used to link the two Koreas. So, let's go to the video. And on the right-hand side of the screen, you can see a blue sign that says goodbye to drivers from South Korea and then, we see the explosion, a cloud of debris blown into the sky. North Korea demolished this roadway and another one on the other side of the country, two of the last remaining road and railways linking the two countries. This video is certainly compelling, but what does it all mean? Well, it's certainly a physical reminder that a policy of peaceful reunification may be a thing of the past. In January, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said peaceful reunification should no longer be pursued. And monuments like this one, the Arch of Reunification in North Korea's capital have presumably been blown up.
Kim Jong-un said he was going to do it and it no longer appears in satellite imagery. So, this is also a movie we've seen before. In 2010, North Korea was upset about leaflets sent by balloon from South Korea, balloons like these, and the leaflets describe what life is like in the free world. A version of that balloon drama is still happening today. So back in 2020, to retaliate, North Korea blew up this building near the border, which was supposed to be a cooperation office between North and South Korea. So bottom line, tensions have been much worse.
Before, South Korea has actually had islands shelled by North Korea and a battleship also sunk by North Korea, that happened back in 2010. Tensions now are nowhere near that point. The two roadways that were demolished in this most recent episode, well, they haven't been used for years. And when South Korea retaliated, its gunfire stayed in South Korean territory, it did not reach the north.
Mike Valerio, CNN, Seoul.
WALKER: OK, Mike, thank you. Taiwan's defense ministry says more than 150 Chinese military aircraft have been detected operating around the island as part of a new round of war games started by Beijing. This record number of war planes around the self-ruled island is a warning from China against what it calls Taiwan's independence forces. China sees Taiwan as one of its breakaway provinces. CNN's Will Ripley reports from Taipei.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Even though these drills were widely seen as less provocative than some previous drills in the years since Nancy Pelosi's controversial visit to Taiwan triggered massive military exercises encircling Taiwan, including a ballistic missile flying over this island. We didn't have a missile this time around, but what Taiwan's defense ministry is saying is that there is a new record for the number of Chinese war planes recorded near Taiwan in a about 24-hour period, 25 hours actually if we're being technical here. 153 military aircraft around Taiwan in 25 hours with 111 of them crossing into Taiwan's self-declared air defense identification zone. No Chinese planes enter Taiwan's sovereign airspace. That's technically 12 nautical miles from shore.
[08:25:00]
So, that is good news, one might say. But, this does surpass the previous record of 103 103 aircraft detected near Taiwan. That was in September of last year.
And what this shows is that essentially, Beijing continues to push the envelope in terms of the number of aircraft, the regularity of these military drills. Some of these planes that were recorded were actually after China announced the end of operation 'Joint Sword-2024B'. Remember, they held another round of exercises near Taiwan earlier this year in May, right after Taiwan's presidential inauguration.
This time around, they held them a few days after Taiwan's National Day celebrations where the president of Taiwan, Lai Ching-te gave a speech where he predictably and some might say in relatively muted language, rejected Beijing's longstanding territorial claims over Taiwan. But even though analysts feel he really did try to walk a fine line, taking a cue from his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, in trying to deliberately not provoke Beijing with his rhetoric, nonetheless, the military drills commenced as was expected.
Taiwan predictably also responded with air patrols, navy vessels and missile systems. There were also 14 Chinese naval ships detected, but none of those actually entered Taiwan's contiguous zone, which is 24 nautical miles from shore. That would've been a major escalation in and of itself. So, the Joint Sword-2024B drills are now in the history books with a new record for the number of war planes, and China not ruling out future military activity near Taiwan as they see fit, again, they've been accused by a lot of analysts of trying to make this the new normal of engaging in so much military activity around Taiwan that people become de-sensitized to it and forget the fact that these are real-life maneuvers being practiced today, but they could be put into real use tomorrow.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALKER: Well, a rare spot, a bright spot in relations between the U.S. and China for the first time in 24 years, two giant pandas are on their way from southern China to Washington's national zoo, after boarding the Panda Express. It's a cargo jet specifically adapted for the two bears, which you can see here, making a layover in Alaska. The three-year-old pandas are on loan to the Smithsonian's National Zoo for 10 years with an annual fee of $1 million to support conservation efforts.
While the so-called panda diplomacy between the U.S. and China can be viewed as a success, many in China have protested online against sending the country's national treasures away.
Still to come, three weeks until Election Day in the U.S., but early voting begins in the battleground state of Georgia. We are live from Atlanta next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:30:10]
WALKER: All right. With just three weeks to go until Election Day in the U.S., Kamala Harris is making a last-minute push to strengthen support among black voters. The vice president earlier appeared on a morning radio show hosted by 'Charlamagne tha God'. She'll also meet with black entrepreneurs in Detroit. Donald Trump, meanwhile, is set to field questions from an all-women audience. He will appear at a town hall in Georgia, hosted by Fox News. The former president is trying to pick up support from female voters.
At the same time, early in-person voting has begun in the crucial battleground state of Georgia, and that is where we find Nick Valencia in Atlanta. Good morning to you, Nick. Yeah, walk us through what you're seeing. What are voters telling you?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, good morning, Amara. A lot of excitement this morning. About an hour before the doors opened up, there was already a line around the corner. We're having some mic issues here. I'm not sure which mic to use, but we'll go with this one here. A lot of enthusiasm this morning -- at about an hour before the doors opened up, there was already a line around the corner. We're joined by one of the voters here. Thanks for dealing with this technical issues with us, Rob (ph). So, tell me about the process. What was it like in there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was easy. Yeah, it was easy. Me and my wife, we do our prep at home. We go down an example ballot and check off everything that we need to check off. And then I came in, I was probably not even there longer than five minutes.
VALENCIA: So, you know --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we got here after the line. I've been here before when the line has been wrapped all the way -- you all can't see that corner, but imagine the depth.
VALENCIA: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's even deeper than this corner over here. And then it loops all the way around, and then all the way back down that line. Yeah. It's pretty intense. And so, today was super smooth.
VALENCIA: Was there any concerns that you had, heading into voting this time around? There's been some changes between 2020 and 2024.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they can just get these election machines done right, yeah. I mean, we got all this money we paying taxes and to pay to vote, just go and fix the machines. You know, my wife is from a different country and they don't have this problem, man. When it's time to vote, you just vote and just keep it moving. That's it. Right now, we got to fight over counting machines or not having enough machines in urban areas, which is important. It's frightening when you think about that, but to make sure the machines work, yeah.
VALENCIA: So one of the changes that we saw also is absentee ballot drop boxes. They were available 24/7 in 2020. Now, they're more available during business hours. They're going to be inside elections offices, early voting locations. Did that give you pause at all? I know you voted absentee in the past.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did. I voted absentee in the past, during the Obama Administration or when he was becoming president. And I found it very frustrating. I don't even know how to track it, to see if my absentee ballot was actually checked. You know what I mean? And, it was a crazy process and I probably won't do that again.
VALENCIA: So, it gives you a reason why you showed up here in person to vote early.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
VALENCIA: You know, one of the things there is sort of a cloud of uncertainty around the post-election process, given what's been happening at the state election board, three Trump allies pushing through rules changes. Have you been following any of that? Has that created some pause for you at all?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not closely, but anytime someone wants to change something, they're trying to do things in their own favor.
VALENCIA: At the last minute.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the last minute to confuse -- bring more confusion. Just make it simple, yeah. If we're going to vote, vote, and I think everybody should have the right to vote, everyone. Yeah, including the incarcerated, give them a chance. Give them -- they have a voice as well.
VALENCIA: Any predictions here that we have? Last question here. Predictions for 2024
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kamala.
VALENCIA: Kamala?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kamala Harris (inaudible).
VALENCIA: We've seen a lot of -- we're seeing a lot of enthusiasm throughout Fulton County. Thank you so much. Remember -- you remember, go out and vote -- the message here from Rob Stevenson (ph). You'd remember how consequential Fulton County was in 2020. Perhaps it will have a similar fate here in 2024.
And just one quick note here with early voting, you can vote at any precinct in the county that you're in. It doesn't have to be the precinct where you'd vote on Election Day. That opportunity expanded here, early voting expanded here in Georgia. We'll see if it makes a difference here in 2024. Amara?
WALKER: I'm always listening carefully when you're at these polling places in Atlanta. So now, I will make sure to go and vote. You said any polling precinct will do. Nick Valencia, thank you so much, and always interesting to hear from voters themselves.
Well, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are locked in a tight race, a very tight race, as we have been saying. As they enter the final sprint of their presidential campaigns, both sides are ramping up their events as well as their rhetoric.
CNN's Stephen Collinson joining me now to talk more. Hi, Stephen. You wrote a piece about this. So, you had both Harris and Trump in the important battleground state of Pennsylvania on Monday.
[08:35:00]
Harris took aim at Trump's enemy within comments that he made on Fox News Sunday. He basically suggested that he would use the military to fight the enemy within, basically political opponents. Let's listen to what Trump said on Sunday and then what Harris said at this rally, just warning how dangerous a second term would be. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics, and I think they're the -- and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary by National Guard, or if really necessary by the military, because they can't let that happen.
HARRIS: Donald Trump is increasingly unstable and unhinged.
(CROWD CHEERING)
HARRIS: And he is out for unchecked power, that's what he is looking for. He wants to send the military after American citizens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: So Kamala Harris is among this chorus of warnings, Stephen, that we've heard from, former Trump Administration officials who've used words like unhinged, threat to democracy, and national security threat. Are American voters listening?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Well, it's an interesting one because the whole idea of Trump and his threat to democracy had receded somewhat during this campaign. The Kamala Harris campaign had stressed it less, I think, than the former campaign of President Joe Biden, who also made that a centerpiece of his midterm election campaign two years ago. So, you might think that Trump reintroducing it into the race at this late stage is a bit of a mistake.
It has certainly given Kamala Harris something to seize upon to try to inject some fresh momentum and some urgency into her campaign at a time when many Democrats are fretting that she's not ahead in the polls three weeks out of the election. At the same time, however, what Trump is trying to do is not just get a massive turnout from his base voters, he's trying to activate people who generally agree with him in conservative areas of the country, but who don't generally vote.
So in some ways, this rhetoric, although it seems very damaging and dangerous, it could actually be a reasonable strategy for Trump in an election where tens of thousands of votes perhaps could decide who wins the White House.
WALKER: Talk to me about this concern amongst the Democratic Party regarding Kamala Harris' stalled momentum, especially when it comes to black male voters. I mean, it was, I guess concerning for a lot of people when they heard President Obama. He spoke to black male voters saying that he had a problem with them coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses not to vote for Harris. Why this disconnect?
COLLINSON: It does seem very odd that it has taken Democrats this long to address this problem. We're three weeks away, as I said, from the election. It's long been known that blackmail voters have been a target for former President Trump. The polls have long shown that he's made some inroads in what is usually a Democratic voting community. So, the fact that they're coming out so strongly -- you mentioned former President Obama speaking about this last week. Harris has a new plan to help black voters get on the business ladder, for example, help them launch small businesses, some health programs for black male voters.
It seems strange that they're only now addressing it, and that is leading to some speculation that Harris is actually doing less well (ph) than it appears in polls which have the race neck and neck. So it's a little bit odd. On the other hand, I think the biggest question is not whether black male voters will vote for Trump, it's whether they will show up to vote for Harris. That's a separate question, and I think it does worry the Harris campaign quite a lot.
WALKER: Before we go, I do want to ask you about this Fox News interview that Kamala Harris has agreed to. What is the strategy there, you think? I mean, if she's trying to reach moderates or undecideds, I mean, are they watching Fox News?
COLLINSON: Some of them do. Fox News obviously is a conservative network. It's been very strong in support of Republican candidates and Trump in particular. I think by going on Fox News, Harris points out that Trump, who has long complained that she's been dodging media interviews, actually is doing the same himself. He rarely comes out of the conservative bubble.
What she's also trying to do, and we've seen this in her endorsement from former Representative Liz Cheney, is she's trying to peel away Republican voters who disdain Trump's behavior, but have yet to cross the Rubicon of voting for a Democrat. She has to try to give some of those voters a reason to vote for her.
[08:40:00]
We saw in the primaries, about 20 percent of Republican voters were voting for Nikki Haley, who was running an anti-Trump campaign. So the theory is that there are substantial number of those Americans out there who might not want to vote for Trump in an election. And as in the case with black voters and every other segment of the Democratic coalition, a few voters can make a difference. We could be looking at four or five states won by perhaps 10,000 votes among the millions cast that decide this election. So, we're at the point where Democrats really are going after every single voter.
WALKER: They sure are. All right, Stephen Colson, we'll leave the conversation there. Thank you.
In rural southwest Georgia, Brantley County might just be the most pro-Trump county in all of the battleground states. Finding a Democrat there is not easy, but CNN's Elle Reeve was up for the challenge.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ms. Barbara, I promise you this is not a trick question. Where are you at? Gosh. All right, I have the CNN reporters here and they want to talk to a Democrat. I'm serious as a heart attack, who's here in town that would talk to them? That's sad when you have to hunt a Democrat.
(LAUGH)
ELLE REEVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's hard to find an open Democrat in Brantley County, Georgia, where Trump won more than 90 percent of votes in 2020. Of all the counties in all the 2024 swing states, it's the most pro-Trump, and we wanted to know why.
RONALD HAM, BRANTLEY COUNTY, GEORGIA GOP CHAIR: We vote 92 percent Republican, not because anything wrong with Ham does. OK, let's get that on the board. This ain't about me. We're a small rural county. A lot of folks here live paycheck to paycheck and when there's too much month at the end of the money, people vote with their wallet. At one point in time, the Democratic Party was for the working man and the Republican Party was for all the elites. And somewhere that got switched around.
KATHY HENDRIX, BRANTLEY COUNTY, GEORGIA RESIDENT: This is some of that stuff. Everybody here calls him President Trump. As far as the people around here is concerned, he's still the president.
REEVE (voice-over): Democrats didn't used to be rare here. Almost everyone we spoke to said their grandfather had been one. But those days are gone.
HENDRIX: Numbers do not lie. Watching people five and six years ago, they had successful businesses, they were thriving, they were doing well. Every time somebody comes and says, Kathy, I'm going to have to close. It honestly hurts.
REEVE (voice-over): Hendrix has got a heat press to make custom T- shirts and it turned out that one kind of design really helps pay the bills.
HENDRIX: I've learned how to put it on my computer and kind of change things. And as long as we can still sell to Donald Trump stuff, we are doing good. They're just $5. REEVE (voice-over): One of her customers was Sherri Rowell. We met her while she was buying a Trump sign and she said we could come see her put it up. Her grandson Talon (ph) died in an accident this summer before he could vote in his first election.
SHERRI ROWELL, BRANTLEY COUNTY, GEORGIA RESIDENT: He did love (inaudible) wait to get 18, so he could vote.
MICHAEL TANNER, BRANTLEY COUNTY, GEORGIA RESIDENT: Yep.
ROWELL: He wanted to vote for Trump. TANNER: Now, he had just got his first job and he was like, I make $9 an hour and I work this many hours. Why do I only make this much money? And I told him, I said, son, it's politics. You got to pay taxes. Talon (ph) became really intrigued with it and started doing some more research and he said, you know dad, looking at what me and you talked about, we need Donald Trump in office. And he just became a huge Trump supporter.
REEVE (voice-over): His parents said he would want people to know he was for Trump. And so, they put the sign up because he's not here to say it himself.
ROWELL: Things changed pretty fast when we went from Trump to Biden. Even they could see the difference.
REEVE: Even the kids?
ROWELL: Yeah, I could take you to the Piggly Wiggly and they, hon, you just look at the prices. I don't know where you all come from, but compared to what we've had four years ago, it's triple.
REEVE: There's some statistics that show that younger women are more likely to be for Harris. Do you see any evidence of that here in this county?
ROWELL: I don't really in this county, but I do know some younger females that are very much a Harris person. And I'm -- I mean, I'm not against her. If I thought she was going to do different than what was already in there. You know what I'm saying? Like, she should have come out and run independent, then I might have listened to her a little more.
REEVE (voice-over): Ron Ham invited us to breakfast the next day at a diner where regulars talked politics.
BUTTON LEE, BRANTLEY COUNTY, GEORGIA RESIDENT: When Biden claims that he had more jobs and created more jobs, that's only because of Corona, because everything shut down. That was not Trump's fault.
REEVE: Now, the Jobs Report numbers weren't really good for September. That just came out this week.
DAVID HERRIN, BRANTLEY COUNTY, GEORGIA RESIDENT: The American people --
(CROSSTALK)
HERRIN: Hold on. No, you can't take that and give credit to Washington, D.C. You'd give credit to that to the American people that go to work every day even when they are down, even when it's against them, even when it's been -- when it's going uphill, we get up and we can continue to work. We continue to fight and we've made this country better. Ain't nobody in Washington got a right to take credit for what the American people have done.
REEVE (voice-over): But we didn't want to leave town without hearing a different point of view. So they called some old friends to come by.
[08:45:00]
HERRIN: I'm chilling at (ph) breakfast.
CORBET WILSON, BRANTLEY COUNTY, GEORGIA RESIDENT: Yeah.
HERRIN: There are some folks up here who want to talk to you.
LEE: Tell him to hurry up, I want to go fishing.
WILSON: (Inaudible).
HERRIN: Yeah.
(LAUGH)
HERRIN: She made me do it. This is a real CNN reporter and she wants to meet a Democrat in (inaudible).
(LAUGH)
WILSON: There were few (inaudible).
HERRIN: We called you and Donald (ph).
WILSON: Hey, I ain't a Democrat but I'm (inaudible).
REEVE OK. What are your views on the election?
WILSON: Well, I ain't going to vote for a criminal. Well, what he did in January 6th (inaudible) and the way he could have did something, man, they were beating on them (inaudible) down there.
HERRIN: Where's the others? They are the other Democrats.
REEVE: Hi, come join us.
HERRIN: She's a CNN reporter and she wants some Democrats in Brantley County, said can't find one. I told her I knew a couple. She said, please call them, please. She wouldn't quit until I --
REEVE: Thank you.
WILSON: I have voted Republican, you know? Yeah. I vote for the man. I don't vote for the party.
REEVE: So, what are your thoughts on the election?
DONALD LEWIS, BRANTLEY COUNTY, GEORGIA RESIDENT: What are my thoughts on the what?
REEVE: On the election.
LEWIS: Ain't much to think about it.
REEVE: Well, who are you going to vote for?
LEWIS: The right person.
REEVE: Well, who do you think the right person is?
LEWIS: It won't be Donald Trump.
REEVE: OK. Tell me why.
LEWIS: Last time you saw him talking, did you watch his lips? (Inaudible)? He's lying.
(LAUGH)
REEVE: All right. Well, so Mr. Wilson here was telling us that January 6th was a big disqualifier for him.
LEWIS: It should have been.
REEVE: What -- how do you feel about that?
LEWIS: I feel about it like he's anti-American. He's trying to overthrow our government.
REEVE: And so, are you thinking about voting for Harris?
LEWIS: Yeah, I have to, or not vote.
WILSON: She's the only choice we have other than Trump.
LEWIS: Yeah. If (inaudible) run, I'd vote for him.
REEVE (voice-over): Elle Reeve, CNN, Nahunta, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALKER: Leave it to Elle Reeve to find the few Democrats there in that heavily Republican town. Thanks to her for that report. Still to come, new allegations against rapper and producer, Sean 'Diddy' Combs. The details are after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALKER: Sean 'Diddy' Combs is facing a fresh round of lawsuits. At least six new claims have been filed, accusing the musician and producer of sexual assault against men, women, and a 16-year-old boy. Combs' attorney denies the allegations telling CNN, "Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone." The latest civil cases were filed anonymously in New York, where Combs is currently in federal custody.
He is awaiting trial on charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. Elizabeth Wagmeister has been following this story. She is live in Los Angeles. What more do we know about these new allegations, Elizabeth?
[08:50:00] ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: These six new lawsuits come from anonymous accusers, as you said, Amara -- four are men and two are women who filed as either John Does or Jane Does. As you mentioned, one of these accusers alleges that he was 16 years old at the time, back in 1998, when he claims that he met Combs at one of his infamous white parties in the Hamptons in New York. And he says that after briefly having a pleasant conversation with Combs about how he had aspirations to enter show business and Combs allegedly, according to this complaint, seemed to be giving him advice and seemed to be interested, telling him that he had "the look" to enter the business.
That accuser says that pleasant conversation shortly turned into a nightmare when he was allegedly sexually assaulted by Combs. Now, another male accuser says that they were hired as security to work at another white party in 2006. This male, John Does, says that he was drugged and then sexually assaulted by Combs. There's also a 19-year- old woman, an anonymous accuser again, who says that she was a college student in 2004 when she was raped by Combs at a party.
So the details are very, very graphic, and as you mentioned, Combs has denied these allegations. Now, I do want to note that when I obtained this statement from his team, I did not get any response to the specific allegations, but they are denying this. They are saying that the attorney who is representing these six accusers, you may remember Amara, earlier this month, a Houston-based attorney came forward in a very public press conference. He said that he was representing 120 new alleged victims of Combs and Combs' team tells me that this is essentially all for publicity.
WALKER: Sean 'Diddy' Combs, he is set to stand trial in May, right? Will he be staying in prison until then?
WAGMEISTER: He will. So his trial has been set for early May 2025. Of course, that can move, but as of last week, that is the date that the judge has set, and he has been denied bail numerous times. His team is appealing that decision, but two separate judges have denied bail, have said that he has to stay in detention. And his team made a great effort and continues to make this effort for him to be released from custody while he awaits trial.
They said that if he were on home detention, that he would've 24/7 security. He would have no access to the internet, no access to his phone, no female visitors. So they've gone to great lengths, but he will remain in jail at least as of now, until his criminal trial.
WALKER: All right, Elizabeth Wagmeister, thank you. And we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALKER: An animal once on the brink of extinction is making a comeback. Experts say they are seeing more yellow land iguanas in the Galapagos Islands. Almost 50 years ago, the iguana population was dwindling as animals like dogs and goats were introduced to the island. The goats damaged their habitat and the dogs, well, they preyed on the iguanas. But with conservation and recovery efforts, the population has continued to grow.
[08:55:00]
Besides the yellow land iguana, there are two other species of land iguanas in the Galapagos, all of which are found nowhere else on Earth. And finally this hour --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one, ignition. And lift off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: And exciting start to an ambitious journey. This is NASA's Europa Clipper launching on a SpaceX Rocket Monday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Clipper is on its way to an ice-covered moon known as Europa orbiting Jupiter. Scientists believe an ocean could exist under the ice, potentially providing the ingredients to sustain life. NASA says the journey to Europa will take about six years, wow.
Well, that's our time. Thank you so much for being with me here on "CNN Newsroom." I am Amara Walker. "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
