Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Blinken Returns to the Middle East for Possible Ceasefire- Hostage Negotiation Talks; BRICS Summit Kicks Off in Kazan, Russia; Moldova Backs E.U. Accession By a Thinnest Margin; Hyundai Motors Debuts in the Indian Stock Market, a First Public Listing Outside South Korea; A Closer Look at the Blue Collar Voters in Michigan. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired October 22, 2024 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead. America's top diplomat returns to the Middle East hoping to de-escalate the conflict in Lebanon and Gaza.
A potential last chance for peace before Americans choose their next president. With the election just two weeks away, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris try to win over undecided voters with appearances in battleground states.
Plus India's largest IPO, Hyundai Motors India, makes its public trading debut.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: It is 10 a.m. in Tel Aviv where U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is due to arrive soon on his 11th trip to the Middle East since the October 7th terror attacks. The top U.S. diplomat is hoping to revive Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks between Israel and Hamas. But there seems to be little clarity on who heads the group after Israeli forces killed Yahya Sinwar last week.
In Gaza, huge crowds of Palestinians have left the Jabalia refugee camp amid a renewed Israeli military offensive. The U.N. says the people are being forcibly evacuated. Residents in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza say they've received new orders from Israel to leave the area or their lives will be in danger.
Meanwhile, another U.S. envoy is in Lebanon working for a ceasefire there. Amos Hoxstein says the key to peace is stronger enforcement of the U.N. resolution that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006. Lebanese officials say at least four people were killed by an Israeli strike near the largest public hospital in the country. A CNN analysis shows the area was not under Israeli evacuation orders. Israel says a barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon toward Tel Aviv and a military base earlier today did not cause any injuries. Other Israeli strikes targeted a Lebanese financial institution which Israel claims is managing Hezbollah finances.
Well, let's bring in CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, who is covering all of this live from London. Good morning to you, Salma. So what more are you learning about Secretary Blinken's trip to Israel, and what's expected to come out of his meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and he is landing in a very active situation, just in the early hours of this morning, Rosemary. Hezbollah claiming that it targeted with its rockets, it targeted two military bases near Tel Aviv as well as a naval base near Haifa.
Israel is not reporting any injuries or any casualties at this time, but this is coming just, of course, again, hours before Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu that's supposed to take place or expected to take place rather midday in Jerusalem and there's going to be three items really that are top of his agenda.
First is going to be restarting those negotiations. You talked about that. These have been stalled in recent weeks. There was hope last week that the assassination of Yahya Sinwar by Israel could ease tensions, could allow Israel and Hamas to return to the negotiating table.
There is no indication of that at this time. In fact, Prime Minister Netanyahu has only doubled down on his efforts in both Gaza and Lebanon. Mentioning Lebanon, that's the second item, of course, on Secretary of State Antony Blinken's agenda. He wants to defuse that conflict as much as possible.
It was only a couple of days ago that the Secretary of Defense, Israel's Secretary of Defense, Yoav Gallant, was speaking to Israeli soldiers on the border with Lebanon, saying that the goal was not just to defeat Hamas but to destroy it and clear parts of southern Lebanon. So Blinken will be trying to tone down the temperature there as well.
And then finally, of course, Iran. You can't forget that Israel is right now weighing its response, its retaliation to Iran's latest ballistic missile strike. There is fear that too heavy of retaliation could affect oil markets right before November elections in the U.S.
[03:04:54]
Blinken may be pushing for some red lines there, but again, Prime Minister Netanyahu has not shown any willingness to back down on that retaliation. The U.S. has said, of course, that Israel should defend itself, but it wants to see a response that would not escalate or aggravate tensions and just trigger further this all-out war in the Middle East.
A final issue, of course, is going to be the humanitarian aid in Gaza. It was just last week that Blinken and the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a letter to Israeli officials calling on them to either immediately allow humanitarian aid into Gaza or potentially face restrictions when it comes to the U.S. sale of weapons potentially.
So a lot on the agenda there, but I have to emphasize when it comes to reviving these negotiations right now, Rosemary, there is very little hope of any breakthrough on the ground, especially with that deadline looming of the U.S. elections.
CHURCH: Alright. Our thanks to Salma Abdelaziz joining us live with that report from London.
CHURCH: Election day in the U.S. is now just two weeks away and both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are spending their time focusing on the handful of battleground states experts agree will likely decide the outcome of this race.
Donald Trump kicked off his week in North Carolina where he visited with Hurricane Helene relief workers and criticized the White House response to the devastating storm, falsely illegal migrants that it was unable to help those in need.
Asked about the arrest earlier this month of an armed man who allegedly threatened to attack FEMA employees, Trump replied, quote, "You have to be able to speak." Trump also continued his efforts to sow doubt about the upcoming election, accusing Democrats with no evidence of trying to cheat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They send millions and millions of ballots out there, don't know what the hell's happening. And no matter what happens, they say, well, California is not available. You ever hear the expression that the vote counter is far more important than the candidate? And unfortunately, we can't let that happen. We've got to take it back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Kamala Harris is also hoping to attract new support from people disillusioned by Donald Trump. And on the campaign trail Monday, she brought along some backup. Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney joined Harris in Michigan, urging Republicans and others who might not normally vote Democrat to vote their conscience on November 5th. Priscilla Alvarez has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vice President Kamala Harris targeting a small but potentially decisive group of voters Republicans turned off by former President Donald Trump. Harris is focused on vote-rich counties in the key swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, making an aggressive bid to win over independents and moderate Republicans, with Liz Cheney by her side.
Harris started her day in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester County with a warning about the danger Trump poses.
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS (D), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are things that he says that will be the subject of skits and laughter and jokes. But words have meaning coming from someone who aspires to stand behind the seal of the President of the United States.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): The Vice President's swing includes populous suburban areas like Waukesha County outside of Milwaukee, a long-time GOP stronghold where the Harris team believes they can make inroads.
Biden lost the county in 2020, but performed better than any Democrat in decades. Harris is trying to appeal to those undecided and persuadable voters in places like Oakland County, Michigan, outside of Detroit, including those who backed Nikki Haley in the Republican primary.
HARRIS: I hope and I pray that we the American people understand not only what is at stake for us in this election. But how much we mean to the rest of the world.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): Monday's moderated conversations centered on a second Trump term, serving as a warning to voters. Harris has been sharpening her attacks on Trump, frequently casting him as quote "unstable and unhinged", including taking aim at what she described as Trump's off-script moments.
HARRIS: Generally for the life of him, cannot finish a thought. And he has called it the weave. But I think we here will call it nonsense.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): She's also resorted to near rapid response of her Republican rival, including his profane criticism of her time as vice president.
TRUMP: So you have to tell Kamala Harris that you've had enough, that you just can't take it anymore. We can't stand you. You're a shit vice president. The worst.
[03:10:10]
ALVAREZ (voice-over): Harris responding on MSNBC.
HARRIS: It demeans the office. And I have said, and I'm very clear about this, Donald Trump should never again stand behind the seal of the president of the United States. He has not earned the right.
ALVAREZ: Now the vice president and her team are hoping that this message resonates, especially with white college-educated voters. That is where they want to make more inroads and try to peel off votes from former president Donald Trump, especially in these suburban areas, in the key swing states.
Now, the vice president also indicating that reproductive freedom will also feature prominently in the following days, as that is another issue that they think that they can capitalize on as they try to shore up support going into election day.
Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Brookfield, Wisconsin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Larry Sabato is the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and editor of "A Return to Normalcy? The 2020 Election That (Almost) Broke America." And he joins me now from Charlottesville. Always good to have you with us.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA-CENTER FOR POLITICS: So thank you so much, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So just two weeks from Election Day in America, and it's a sprint to the finish line. Both presidential candidates are in a dead heat, campaigning hard in critical battleground states. Kamala Harris hitting Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, with conservative Liz Cheney by her side Monday. So how significant is that and can Cheney persuade disillusioned Republicans to support Harris, do you think?
SABATO: Well I think she's already convinced some to support her, and I think she has a lot of power left in her endorsement. You know, she's widely respected among Republicans, and not just the establishment Republicans, you can think.
She's been a prominent figure in the GOP for so long, and she really started out as a kid with Gerald Ford when her father, Dick Cheney, was the chief of staff to President Ford. So she has many friends at many levels, and I think she's having an impact.
Now whether that's enough, I don't know. The key element there is whether she can get those Nikki Haley voters, the voters who voted for the former South Carolina governor during the Republican primaries, they wanted an alternative to Trump, and they continued to vote for Haley even after she had dropped out of the race, which tells you how strongly they felt about opposing Donald Trump. Those are the voters that Liz Cheney is attracting to Vice President Harris.
CHURCH: Donald Trump's profanities and vulgarity were on full display over the weekend with his comments about Golf Pro Arnold Palmer and his criticism of the Vice President. And he continues to push his message about the enemy within, focusing that comment now on Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff.
So no doubt this plays very well, of course, to Trump's male-dominated base. But what about many female voters who aren't sure about Trump as it is?
SABATO: He's losing women by at least as much as he's winning men. And women are a majority of the electorate in every state. So it's a bad calculus on Trump's part, but I really don't even think it's a calculus. This is him. This is Donald Trump. It's the way he's always been. It's the Trump that we know. It's the reason why his base dismisses it and says, oh, that's just the way he is. That's just what he says.
But there are still two or three percent who are undecided, who are deciding whether even to show up. And this can't attract them. This is not the kind of behavior people expect in a president. There is a certain level of civility and dignity in the presidency. At least there always has been, and I think there still is.
CHURCH: And in these closing days, Harris' message is focusing on an unhinged and unstable Trump. But while that message might resonate, of course, with many women, how are men likely to respond to that who were already in his camp?
SABATO: You have to divide them into two College-educated men, graduate school-educated men, they're turned off by this side of Trump. That's not a side they ever show off themselves. They certainly don't want a president doing it.
But blue collars, non-college-educated men who are really his base, they love it. They love it. You can watch them at rallies behind Trump. And they burst into cheers, and they laugh and joke. You can tell it really connects with them. But again, Trump has to expand what he already has. He doesn't have to expand it much. But this is an extremely close contest. And whoever can get that last little sliver of vote will be the next president.
[03:15:01]
CHURCH: And we are seeing record numbers of early voters and that traditionally means it's a good sign for Democrats. But Trump is also calling on his supporters now to get out and vote early. So what's your reading of the political preferences of those early voters, particularly in Georgia, which is seeing voter turnout records?
SABATO: Yes, you have to again divide this into two is heavily Democratic. That's true pretty much across the board, because Democrats believe in mail voting. Donald Trump and Republicans have criticized mail voting so intensively for so many years that many Republicans really haven't listened to the change in tone that we've heard from Trump about mail voting.
They still prefer to turn up on election day or to vote in person. That's the half of the early voting that will be more Republican. They're turning up and voting in person at their local registrar's office or at some of the remote locations where there are voting booths set up. And that's all right. But you know, the truth is, after COVID, we're not seeing anything that is especially different.
What we're seeing is that people who are committed voters, people who always vote, are going to vote, whether they vote by mail or they vote in person early or they turn up on election day reliable voters. So I don't know that anything dramatic is really happening. Maybe a change in the mode of their voting. But they voted before, they're going to vote this time.
CHURCH: Two weeks to go. We'll see what happens. Larry Sabato, always a pleasure to chat with you. Thanks for joining us.
SABATO: Thank you, Rosemary. CHURCH: World leaders are arriving for a major economic summit in
Russia. It's meant to be a counterweight to the West and we'll talk about who's attending.
Plus, Cubans have faced days of power outages on top of getting hit by Hurricane Oscar. We'll update the situation just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. The U.S. Defense Secretary makes a surprise trip to Ukraine and offers another $400 million in American military aid, which will include munitions, armored vehicles, and anti-tank weapons. The visit comes about two weeks before the U.S. presidential election, the results of which could have a sharp impact on the war with growing fears that future U.S. funding could dry up if Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump wins in November.
The BRICS Summit is set to be getting underway right now in Russia. This year's gathering is being held in the city of Kazan. It's a very public way for President Vladimir Putin to prove Russia still has global allies despite Western attempts to isolate it.
[03:20:06]
The summit of leading emerging economies is drawing prominent world leaders like China's President Xi Jinping, as well as the Indian Prime Minister and the Turkish, Iranian and Egyptian presidents.
CNN's Clare Sebastian is following this for us live from London. She joins us now. Good morning to you, Clare. So what's expected to come out of the BRICS summit against the backdrop of Russia's war in Ukraine, of course, and the bloc expanding to welcome its newest members?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rosemary. I think on the one hand, we have the optics, right? This timing really couldn't be more favorable for Russia. It offers very powerful counter-programming to recent E.U.-NATO gatherings centered around Ukraine. And as you say, two weeks out from the U.S. election, it is very stark proof, and something that Putin can exploit at home, that the West's efforts to isolate Russia have failed.
Now, look, Putin says this is not an anti-Western grouping. He says this is just not Western. But I think it's very clear that he wants to exploit this sort of lingering anti-Western, anti-U.S. sentiment among some of the members in particular to sort of grow the coalition and very significant, of course, that the major growth in this coalition has happened this year, obviously, since the start of the war in Ukraine.
It started as sort of, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa eventually joined. And we saw another group of countries join at the beginning of this year with Iran, the UAE, Ethiopia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia is also considering an invitation and there are others attending the summit who may consider joining in the future even including Turkey, which is of course a NATO member. So it's all very significant, of course.
In terms of deliverables, traditionally the BRICS does not bring very much in terms of concrete action, but this year they are looking particularly at sort of financial plumbing, ways to -- to erode the dominance of the U.S. dollar payment systems. Russia is pitching one called BRICS Pay that could potentially be an alternative to the SWIFT network, which of course many of its banks have been disconnected from as a result of Western sanctions. Take a listen to how Putin presented that idea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We never refused the dollar as a universal currency. We were blocked from using it. Now 95 percent of all external trade of Russia, it is carried out with our partners and national currencies. They did all this with their own hands. They thought everything would collapse. But no, nothing collapsed. It's developing on a new basis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: This is a confident Putin, right? Last year for the BRICS Summit he had to attend virtually because it was in South Africa and he was worried that South Africa is a signatory to the Rome Statute and of course there is an international arrest warrant out for him for alleged war crimes.
In Ukraine, this year of course he is the host and his army has the advantage in Ukraine, buoyed in part by some of the alliances you see on display here, China and Iran case in point. And then on the other hand we have other invitees like the Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, a sign I think that the conflict in the Middle East also offers Russia another opportunity to grow this coalition around the idea of reducing Western dominance. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Clare Sebastian, many thanks.
Now to Odessa in Ukraine and Michael Bociurkiw, who is a former spokesperson for the Organizations for Security and Cooperation in Europe and a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council. Appreciate you being with us.
MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, FORMER SPOKESPERSON, ORGANIZATIONS FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE AND SR. FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: So with the U.S. election just two weeks away, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made that surprise visit to the war-torn nation and not only announced a $400 million aid package but also delivered a speech that appeared to counter Republican criticism of Europe not contributing enough aid compared to the U.S., making the point that a dozen U.S. allies and partners now provide more security assistance to Ukraine than America. What impact could all this have in the end, do you think?
BOCIURKIW: Good to be with you again, Rosemary. Well of course this 400 million is welcome. Ukraine needs especially more munitions but you know I'll quote what the Lithuanian foreign ministers said the other day, Mr. Landsberg, is that you know while the West struggles to come up with tens of billions of dollars, Mr. Putin in Russia comes up with 140 billion at the stab of his fingers.
A bit of exaggeration, but that's what's happening. And if you consider that, he's also got the backing of Iran, North Korea, on the sidelines, China and other bad guys. That's quite the advantage.
[03:24:50]
I can tell you, Rosemary, that, you know, Ukrainians have got used to these visits. They've got used to Western leaders coming, taking selfies, slapping themselves on the back and gratitude, but I think the growing feeling here is that if Mr. Trump gets in, that they will pretty much be further and further along on their own.
They'll have to, as I've long been saying, rely more on their neighbors, the Baltic States, Poland and other European partners. But the mood here is very dark at the moment with the expectation that it could be another Trump presidency, hence aid from its biggest -- biggest backer could be cut off or reduced substantially.
CHURCH: Yeah, let's talk more about that because of course, you know, as we've mentioned, the US. .election just 14 days away, Ukraine very much focused on what the outcome could mean in terms of this continued U.S. military support. Let's talk about just how worried Ukraine is about a possible win for Donald Trump and what he would do because he has said that he will end the war in Ukraine. Let's look at the plan he has to do that.
BOCIURKIW: Yeah, well, the words coming out of the mouths of the Trump and his vice presidential candidate are basically Kremlin talking points, Rosemary, where they're talking about Russia holding on to the territory it already has, possibly to more oblasts.
It talks about some vague demilitarized zone. And it also refers to Ukraine dropping its bid for NATO and other Western alliances. This would be absolutely disastrous for Ukraine. And there's no way as we saw in Zelenskyy's victory plan that Ukraine could go for something like that.
You know, and the other thing, of course, happening in the background and the wider perspective is with Trump, like he did during his disastrous presidency, due to kind of take the boxing gloves off when it comes to people like Mr. Putin, the North Korean leader and others, it will empower them, it will empower them to go even further.
So I don't think it's only the Ukrainians feel this way. Imagine, for example, how the Filipinos feel with China trampling all over their territories and the South China Sea. Imagine how the Taiwanese feel right now, if Trump gets in and he doesn't push back China when it comes to Taiwan, where there's no deterrent.
So I don't mean to depress everybody, but the big, big scenario is very, very stark at the moment, very dark. And I think Ukrainians are saying to the world, look, it's very, very important to push back Mr. Putin now because if not, it sends a bad signal to other dictators. And in addition to that, he will also go further and hence defense spending boots on the ground will all go up.
CHURCH: Michael Bociurkiw, joining us from Odessa. Many thanks and stay safe there. I Appreciate it.
BOCIURKIW: Thank you.
CHURCH: Moldova has decided to pursue becoming a member of the European Union by a razor thin margin. Results of the referendum show a deep divide remains in the former Soviet Republic. Just 50.4 percent voted in favor of joining the E.U. And the Moldovan president is accusing Russia of trying to interfere with not just the E.U. vote, but also her bid for re-election. CNN's Anna Stewart has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Moldova voted yes to the E.U., but by a wafer-thin margin. It certainly wasn't the strong mandate that the incumbent President Maia Sandu had hoped for. She also didn't win an outright majority in the presidential election, which means she'll go for a second vote now on November 3rd. Speaking after results came in, the incumbent president spoke about the controversy around a Kremlin- backed organization buying votes.
MAIA SANDU, MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Their target of buying 300,000 votes, documented by state institutions and paying 150,000 people to vote shows we must look closely at where mistakes were made and learn from this miserable attack on our sovereignty.
STEWART: Moldova has long been torn between Russian and Western influence. Russia's invasion of Ukraine really galvanized the E.U. movement and accession talks began in June of 2022. Now these talks will continue, but the country appears divided, mired in corruption, which won't make the process any easier.
Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Hyundai Motors India makes its public trading debut. Coming up, a look at how its stock is performing after the country's largest IPO ever.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom". I'm Rosemary Church. Want to check today's top stories for you.
America's top diplomat arrived in Israel just moments ago. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is on a mission to the Middle East, hoping to revive Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks. He's expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It's unclear who represents Hamas after the death of Yaya Sinwar last week.
With 14 days to go until the U.S. presidential election, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are taking their messages to the swing states, each trying to pick up new support that will give them a win on November 5th. Polls continue to show no clear leader in the race for the White House.
And the BRICS Summit of leading emerging economies is set to be starting in Russia. President Vladimir Putin is welcoming more than a dozen world leaders. This will be the largest international gathering he's hosted since the start of the war against Ukraine more than two years ago.
Hyundai Motor India made its public trade debut just a short time ago after a record-setting IPO but shares fell 2 percent after a tepid response from retail investors. This was India's largest ever initial public offering of $3.3 billion worth of shares but demand had been so great they received $5.5 Billion in bids.
CNN's Mike Valerio is following the story for us from Seoul. He joins us now. Good to see you again, Mike. So what more can you tell us about the stock's debut and of course how it's performing?
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're following its trajectory and the numbers have been very rocky for this blockbuster IPO, Rosemary, the largest in India's history, the largest for Asia this year. So let's go to the chart, go to the numbers. Look at that drop that you see in the first couple minutes of trading down in the neighborhood of around 6 percent.
Now, we did expect something to that effect, Rosemary, because retail investors, investors like you or myself, were signaling to analysts that perhaps this stock was a little overvalued.
Inflation is pretty persistent in India and the car market is kind of slowing down, is what the most recent data tell us, but institutional investors, the big dogs like BlackRock, Government of Singapore, Fidelity, Vanguard are all behind this stock and the future of India's economy in the automotive sector.
So let's talk about that and why this story is still a big deal no matter what happens to this stock today. So India and its economy have transformed into the third largest market for cars across the planet. So that puts it up with China, the United States overtaking Japan, Japan falling into the number four position.
And Hyundai India, what they're trying to do, and the parent company here in Seoul, what they're trying to do is make a bastion of their India position, make it much stronger. They're trying to make a lot of money with this IPO and make its India operation a much bigger exporter of E.V.s and SUVs to Southeast Asia and the region writ large.
[03:35:08] They're also trying to close the gap with their number one competitor in India, which is Suzuki's iteration of their business in India. So why not China? Why not expand to China?
A lot of analysis published in the pages of the "Financial Times", people here in Seoul who are involved in the markets talking about this is an alternative expanding in India for Hyundai because when we look at all of the government subsidies given to automotive companies, domestic automotive companies in Beijing, it's really crowding out the market.
A lot of these international automakers are leaving. So when you have a country like India, where it's still pretty inexpensive to manufacture things and you have a burgeoning consumer class, a burgeoning population that lives in urban areas, it makes sense from Hyundai's point of view and their business model to expand in India.
So we're going to watch this stock. It has been a little bit of a rocky road, but still one to watch a blockbuster move on the stay here in Seoul and in Mumbai where the stock is trading. Rosemary.
CHURCH: Alright, Mike Valerio, I appreciate it.
Well, officials in Havana say power has now been restored to most of the capital, but it's believed service is still down in much of the rest of Cuba. The island nation first lost power Friday when one of the country's major power plants failed. Since then, Cuba's power grid has collapsed four times.
CNN's Patrick Oppmann has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Near empty streets in Havana devoid of light and life. On the third night and of an island- wide blackout in Cuba, residents of this neighborhood played dominoes to pass the time and distract them from the worsening situation.
Children are sleeping in the street, she says, because there's no food, no water, no electricity in this country.
Tensions are running high as Cubans increasingly are taking to the streets to beat pots and pans and protest the government's failure to keep the lights on for more than a few hours.
OPPMANN: Already four times the Cuban government has been in the process of restoring power and had it all come crashing down, a complete loss of power on this island. So that is what worries people is that the longer this goes on, we already know that school is going to be canceled here for several days. Life really can't return to normal until the power gets on.
OPPMANN (voice-over): The Cuban government blames U.S. economic sanctions for the crisis, but has made little investment in the aging (inaudible) power grid that has been fading for years. Officials say more than 52,000 workers are on the job 24/7 trying to restore power and that they understand the growing anger.
Without electricity there's no water, he says. No medicine production, no food distribution affects everything and it frustrates everyone.
In 2021, pyro outages sparked the largest ever protests against Cuba's communist-run government. Hundreds of people were arrested and given lengthy prison sentences following mass trials.
Cuba's president on Sunday warned people not to take to the streets. We are not going to allow acts of vandalism and much less alter the tranquility of our people, he says. That's a conviction, a principle of our revolution. A stern warning but one that likely falls on deaf ears for the millions of Cubans still in the dark.
Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Political ads are overtaking every screen, airwave and web banner you see in the U.S. as it draws closer to the presidential election. But which ones are the most effective?
CNN's Danny Freeman asked voters in Pennsylvania.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The question was simple. How would you describe the onslaught of political ads so far this year?
ALFRED HAGAN, PENNSYLVANIA REPUBLICAN: Chaos. Complete chaos.
UNKNOWN: They're ridiculous.
MEGHAN FINNEY, PENNSYLVANIA HARRIS SUPPORTER: It's so overkill. We're all sick of it.
I think it's overwhelming.
DREW NIELSEN, PENNSYLVANIA REPUBLICAN: And all of a sudden it's nothing but like, oh, illegal immigrants. She's the border czar. She's not the border czar. And we're just trying to get into the false spirit. You know what I mean?
FREEMAN (voice-over): We know battleground states get flooded with political ads in the home stretch of every presidential race. But this year, Pennsylvania is getting hit more than any other.
Since President Biden dropped out of the race and Vice President Harris took over as the Democratic nominee, the campaigns and outside groups have spent more than $350 million on ads in the Keystone state. That's over $100 million more than the next battleground of Michigan. And voters in Pennsylvania are set to see over $80 million more worth of campaign ads over the final two weeks of the race.
[03:39:58] UNKNOWN (voice-over): He murdered a father of three.
FREEMAN (voice-over): This is one of the ads former President Trump's campaign has spent the most on here in recent weeks, attacking Harris over her past support of certain rights for transgender people, including detained immigrants and federal prisoners.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Kamala was the first to help pay for a prisoner's sex change.
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS (D), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The power that I had, I used it in a way that was about pushing for the movement, frankly, and the agenda.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Kamala's agenda is they, them.
FREEMAN (voice-over): Trump supporter Drew Nielsen thought the ad was effective.
NIELSEN: It's inflammatory, but I think the majority of people aren't affected by that. All they're hearing is, oh, she's just wasting tax dollars.
FREEMAN (voice-over): But not all Republicans we spoke with liked the ad.
FREEMAN: Do you think that ad focused on this trans issue, that is effective to persuade voters here?
No, because it's a side issue, and it's not what most people care about.
FREEMAN (voice-over): Republican Alfred Hagan said language in ads like this make it impossible for him to vote for Trump.
HAGAN: Is that really the biggest issue confronting America today? We've got climate change issues. We've got hurricane issues, we've got relief issues. These are fundamentally difficult, challenging questions that should be dealt with on the federal level. That's bull (expletive) and it's just nonsense.
FREEMAN (voice-over): Bucks County mom, Meghan Finney, said all of the ads have been hard to watch, especially when her young children ask questions.
FINNEY: You want to explain what's going on, who's running for presidency, but you don't really want to feel like you have to explain what rape is and incest and all these things that they're putting out there.
ALFRED HAGAN, PENNSYLVANIA REPUBLICAN: This is one of the ads the Harris campaign has spent the most on here in recent weeks. Finney finds this one appealing.
HARRIS: Look, everyone is tired of the petty destructive politics. Let's turn the page and chart a new way forward. FINNEY: That's positive. That's, to me, what it should be about. It
shouldn't be about all those other things that, you know, are negative.
FREEMAN: Do you think messages like these can help sway voters?
JOAN JENNERJAHN, PENNSYLVANIA HARRIS SUPPORTER: I think some people are just already predetermined. They're going to vote Trump or they're going to vote Harris. I think those people that are not decided, I think if you compare the two ads side by side, do you want kind of crazy hateful speech or do you want something that's much more hopeful and how do we work together as people to bring the country together?
FREEMAN (voice-over): Danny Freeman, CNN, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: When we come back, we'll hear from blue collar voters in Michigan, the center of the Democrats' blue wall. Back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Election day in the U.S. is just two weeks from today, and Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are focusing on key battleground states. Vice President Harris held three events with former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Donald Trump will return to North Carolina today after a town hall in Florida.
[03:45:00]
A new Washington Post-Schar School poll shows the two candidates locked in a dead heat in Michigan., Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. And those are all within the margin of error.
CNN's Harry Enton spoke to CNN's Erin Burnett on the path to victory in the electoral college.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SR. DATA REPORTER: The race to 270, the path to 270 for Kamala Harris is very clear right now. You know you talk about Wisconsin. Let's turn that blue, all right? That gets Harris to 236 electoral votes. How about Michigan? We'll give her blue there. 251 electoral votes. How about Pennsylvania? Look at this. To 270 electoral votes if those Washington Post polls are in fact correct. And so she has a very clear path to 270 electoral votes.
Of course, Erin, I don't just like looking at one poll. I like to look at an aggregate of polling recent aggregate of polls in these blue wall states. Now what do we see? We see very close contests. It's actually closer than the Washington Post polls.
But again, less than a point lead for Harris in Wisconsin, less than a point lead in Michigan, less than a point lead in Pennsylvania. But the bottom line is Kamala Harris, based upon these polling data, both from the Washington Post and in the averages, has a very clear path at this particular point, just based upon those states, to 270 electoral votes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Harry Enten there. Well, a closer look now at where the center of that blue wall will hold for the Democrats. CNN's John King went to Michigan to talk to voters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Signs of the season. Macomb County, Michigan. These suburbs just north of Detroit are a blue-collar bellwether. Joseph Knowles about to send a message, about to defy his union leadership, about to vote Republican for president for the first time, about to vote for Donald Trump.
JOSEPH KNOWLES, MICHIGAN VOTER: At this point now, I'm desperate. So I'm willing to try anything right now to make sure that I can fulfill my responsibility and to take care of my wife and kids. That's all I care about.
KING (voice-over): Knowles is a union auto worker, one of 1,100 just laid off by Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler Jeep. He blames corporate greed the most, but doesn't stop there.
KNOWLES: The second blame, I would put it on Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. Why? Because of the E.B.s mandates. I thought the Democratic Party was for the working class, people that average Joe like me. That's what I thought.
KING (voice-over): There are more American auto jobs now than at any point of the Trump presidency. But auto workers supporting Trump here echo his attacks on Biden's clean energy incentives and his claim illegal immigrants are to blame for lost jobs.
KNOWLES: But if you do it the wrong way, I think you should get roundup and just throw it out. I have no problem with that because it jeopardized my way up above for my kids if they take jobs.
KING (voice-over): Knowles waves off friends who call Trump racist, says he doesn't believe Vice President Harris is up to the job. And he spars with family members who say he should stay a Democrat.
KNOWLES: Oh man, I took it from my mom, from my auntie, cousins, my sister. They came at me.
KING (voice-over): Will Govier is a 30-plus year union worker at Ford, and he has this side business cleaning car underbodies. When we first visited four months ago, he was a fan of Robert Kennedy Jr. Now he will cast his third ballot for Trump.
WILLIAM GOVIER, MICHIGAN VOTER: RFK joining Trump effectively, I couldn't script it any better the way I would like it to be. I love the idea of Donald Trump being the commander in chief. I love the idea of how Donald Trump handles the nefarious characters in the world.
KING (voice-over): Govier believes more than half of UAW members at his Ford plant will vote Trump. He says Harris laughs too much and he can't take her seriously.
GOVIER: So what is it? You're the incumbent who wouldn't do anything different? Or are you the underdog that wants change?
KING (voice-over): And he says critics take Trump too literally.
GOVIER: You know, he does it for effect. I don't believe that Trump really believes someone's eating cats and dogs. I don't believe that he's going to call the National Guard out and at gunpoint, round up every migrant and force them across the border. I don't believe that for a second.
KING (voice-over): Count this early vote in Wayne County for Harris. And count Tonya Rincon as a Democrat who long ago lost patience with Ford co-workers who shrug off Trump attacks on immigrants, on judges, on vote counts, on critics.
TONYA RINCON, MICHIGAN VOTER: There's a lot of people that they just take the crazy with Trump as it's baked in the cake and we're just willing to ignore it. Whereas if we heard that out of our loved ones, we'd be like, okay, Grandpa, it's time to take your keys.
KING (voice-over): Rincon just retired from the Wayne Assembly plant and is helping the UAW register and turn out voters. She says her June bet that her local would split 50-50 in a Trump-Biden race is still about right, with Harris now atop the Democratic ticket.
RINCON: There's a little bit more enthusiasm among some of my female coworkers. Couple of my male coworkers are pretty ambivalent about Harris. We may have lost a tiny margin of support because sexism is a real thing, you know? They're just like, you know, I'm not sure she can do it. I don't think the country's ready for a female president.
[03:50:07]
KING (voice-over): Walter Robinson, Jr. says there's more energy since the switch to Harris, but also more offensive chatter on the assembly line.
WALTER ROBINSON JR., MICHIGAN VOTER: They have been saying some very disparaging things about the vice president, things about how she rolls up through the ranks and some of the things that she might have done. They only had to say that to me once before they understood they can't say that to me again. You know, so they period what he -- what he puts out there.
KING (voice-over): Robinson has a side job as a D.J. And trusts he knows how to read the room.
ROBINSON JR.: Before I told you it was about even, right now I would probably say it's about 60-40. I believe that it is a very good chance that we, the Harris Wants ticket will come out on the winning end. KING (voice-over): Time to knock on doors and Lobby co-workers is
running short. Labor leaders are for Harris, but the rank and file are split. Michigan's blue collar battle competitive to the end.
John King, CNN, Wayne, Michigan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Sean Diddy Combs' legal troubles take another turn for the worse? When we come back, details on the music mogul's latest round of lawsuits. You're watching "CNN Newsroom".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: The latest development in the tragic death of musician and former One Direction member Liam Payne. Buenos Aires police tells CNN a preliminary toxicology report has been delivered to the prosecutor's office but the final results have not yet been released.
Payne died Wednesday after falling from the third floor of his hotel in the Argentine capital. He was 31 years old. The prosecutor's office suspects Payne was potentially experiencing some kind of episode due to substance abuse at the time.
Music mogul Sean Diddy Combs has been hit with serious new allegations as he sits in jail awaiting trial on federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges. He denies any wrongdoing.
But as CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister reports, the latest lawsuits he's facing allege that other celebrities were also involved.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Disturbing details emerging in seven new lawsuits filed against Sean Diddy Combs, including allegations that the music mogul assaulted minors and that other unnamed celebrities took part. One plaintiff identified only as Jane Doe alleges she was drugged and raped by Combs at a party after the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000, when she claims she was just 13 years old.
The accuser says that a limo driver who allegedly worked for Combs invited her to an after party telling her Combs like younger girls and she fit what Diddy was looking for. She says she was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement when she arrived at the party and after having one drink, she felt woozy and lightheaded and needed to lie down in a bedroom. It wasn't long until she claims Combs along with the male and female celebrity entered the room.
Plaintiff was held down by Celebrity A, who vaginally raped her while Combs and Celebrity B, a female, watched. According to the lawsuit, Combs then vaginally raped Plaintiff while Celebrity A and Celebrity B watched.
[03:55:08] The mention of unnamed celebrities marks the first time since the indictment that claims against Combs have accused other stars of engaging in alleged assault. Combs' parties were known to attract world-famous celebrities. Another suit filed by a John Doe says at 17 years old, he was invited to a party in 2022 in Manhattan with Combs.
After one drink, he says he felt dizzy, weak and confused and witnessed multiple people engaging in group sex, including Combs and another artist he recognized. Doe alleges that Combs later sexually assaulted him on a bed while others laid next to them engaging in sexual activities.
Attorneys for Combs did not respond to specific allegations in the new lawsuits, but referred CNN to a previous blanket denial, stating, Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone, adult or minor, man or woman.
Over the weekend, Combs' team requested that the judge overseeing his criminal case block prospective witnesses and their lawyers from speaking out about their allegations outside of court, arguing that the public accusations will interfere with Mr. Combs' right to a fair trial.
The latest lawsuits add to a growing web of legal troubles surrounding the music mogul, who now faces more than 25 civil suits. Combs remains in custody in New York as he awaits trial in May.
WAGMEISTER: Now, it's not just the sheer volume of lawsuits that is noteworthy. As the investigation continues into Combs' criminal case, legal experts that I spoke with say that this continuum of lawsuits and these new accusers coming out every week can actually serve as a roadmap of sorts to prosecutors.
Recently, a court prosecutor said that it is possible that more charges or more defendants are added to this indictment and it's possible that these lawsuits can provide some information to those prosecutors.
Again, Combs denies all of these allegations, not just in these seven new suits, but in any lawsuit that he has faced and he is fighting to be released from jail as he awaits his trial in May. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Rosemary Church. "CNN Newsroom" continues next with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
