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CNN International: Harris Takes Questions at CNN Town Hall; Israeli Airstrikes Hit Historic Lebanese Port City of Tyre; Blinken in Saudi Arabia to Push for Halt to Fighting, Met Pm Netanyahu; Trump, Harris Look for Support From Latino Voters; Obama Raps Eminem's "Lose Yourself" in Detroit; Trump Team Accuses U.K. Labour Party of Interference; Guiliani Told to Give Up Assets to Election Workers He Defamed; Putin Hosts the BRICS Summit in Russia, Says Multipolar World Order is Being Formed; Northern Gaza in Dire Need of Air Amid Israeli Offensive; Election Officials Battling Election Misinformation; American Airlines Fined for Poor Treatment of People With Disabilities; King Charles & Queen Camilla on Three-day Visit to Samoa; LeBron and Bronny Make History in NBA Games. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired October 23, 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 ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Hi, everyone, and welcome to our viewers from around the world. I'm Amara Walker. This is "CNN Newsroom." Just ahead, Israel strikes a major tourist destination in Southern Lebanon, as the United Nation warns Israel's military actions in Gaza could wipe away decades of progress there. We are live with the latest. And with less than two weeks to go until Election Day, Kamala Harris is preparing to make her pitch to undecided voters in a Town Hall tonight hosted by CNN. And Russian President Vladimir Putin shows the world he's not alone as he hosts world leaders at the BRICS Summit.
Israel is pounding a historic port city in Lebanon, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Five Israeli airstrikes struck the southern city of Tyre, and that is according to Lebanon's state-run news agency. Now earlier, Israel had warned residents there to evacuate, and as we said, Tyre is a major tourist destination. The U.N. Human Rights Chief says he is appalled by an airstrike by Israel on Monday near Beirut's largest public hospital, at least 18 people were killed. And the IDF says it hit a Hezbollah terrorist target there.
Israel is also intensifying its assault on Northern Gaza. The U.N. warns in a new report that the impact of the war there could erase over 69 years of progress in the crowded Palestinian enclave. This as the U.S. Secretary of State tries again to push for a halt to the fighting. Antony Blinken is right now in Saudi Arabia after a visit in Israel. CNN's Matthew Chance joining us now from Jerusalem with the latest.
Yeah, give us the latest, Matthew, if you will, regarding what's coming out of Lebanon today.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Well, the situation in Lebanon is dire when it comes to what's been happening with Israel pursuing its military operations there, it says, against the Hezbollah militia. It's been pounding the city of Tia in Southern Lebanon with multiple airstrikes over the course of the day as it pursues, what it says again, is that operation against Hezbollah outposts and various installations connected with the militia.
Previously -- earlier, the Israeli military had warned residents of that Lebanese city to evacuate, giving them notice that airstrikes were on their way. And so, that caused scenes of panic as well as people tried to flee the areas that they anticipated the airstrikes would come in on. That of course, as Israel continues to strike Hezbollah targets elsewhere in Beirut and Southern and Eastern Lebanon as well.
They say, the Israeli military, they've killed at least three Hezbollah commanders over the course of the past 24 hours, plus a figure they say is responsible for Hezbollah's drone attacks, or is sort of an expert in drone warfare with Hezbollah, as part of those military operations. The point is, Amara, there's very little sign of that military operation, which has targeted hospitals and financial institutions as well, and is having a terrible impact on the people of Lebanon, is coming to a close anytime soon.
WALKER: You know, the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is on his 11th and likely final trip to the Mid East since the October 7th attack, there trying to find some end or pause in this war. He's right now in Saudi Arabia, as we said, after leaving Israel. What is the message that he is carrying with him?
CHANCE: Well, I think this trip was set up or organized in the immediate aftermath of the killing of the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week, when it was believed and hoped that this could present a window of opportunity for a ceasefire to be agreed for all sides to sort of pull back and for the hostages, of course. There are more than 100 -- there were 101 Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, for them to be released as some part of a deal. But the truth is that at the moment, there's very little chance and the Americans acknowledge this, very little chance of a ceasefire.
Hamas has not appointed a new leader, so there's no one that they can directly negotiate with right now. And even when there is a new leader, it's not clear what that person's negotiating position will be when it comes to the hostages. And so, what has happened is that the hostages are still being held and the military campaign by Israel is continuing to escalate. In fact, it's being expanded to involve Lebanon as well, as we've just been talking about, but also, the country is poised at Iran as well after Iranian airstrikes that took place, missile attacks that took place in Israel a few weeks ago, Israel has been promising to strike back.
[08:05:00]
It hasn't done that yet, but the expectation is it will. And so, I think what Antony Blinken was trying to do is to get Israel to pull back from the brink, and to see if he could encourage the Israeli state to do what it can to bring in more aid to Gaza, of course, which is suffering humanitarian shortages as a result of the military operations there, and to discuss what might happen after the conflict in Gaza eventually comes to an end. Unfortunately, there aren't any good answers to that at the moment, but I think that was the thrust of what Antony Blinken was trying to do here on his 11th trip to the region since the October 7th attacks.
WALKER: I appreciate your reporting as always, Matthew Chance. Thank you very much. Live for us there in Jerusalem.
Turning to U.S. politics now, and Kamala Harris is hoping to get the last few undecided voters on her side. Tonight, she will answer some of their questions in a CNN Town Hall moderated by our Anderson Cooper. It is being held in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania. Now, it was initially intended to be a debate, but Donald Trump turned down the invitation. The audience will be Democrats, Republicans and Independents who remain undecided. We're going to have more on tonight's CNN Town Hall, but first, polls show the race for the White House in a dead heat. Trump and Harris are each looking to pick up new support in swing states and they're both working to win the votes of Latinos. CNN's Kristen Holmes has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's an honor to be with everybody, and especially this great Hispanic community.
(APPLAUSE)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris making a full court press for Latino voters in the final sprint to Election Day. The former president holding a roundtable with Latino leaders at his Miami area golf resort.
TRUMP: It really is an honor to have you at Doral, especially it has been a very special place for me.
HOLMES (voice-over): The appeals by the nominees highlighting the role the key voting bloc could play in determining who wins the White House in November. Trump centering his pitch around the economy.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I think the economy is bad, but I think the -- and it's made really bad by the horrible inflation that was caused. The inflation is really the biggest problem.
HOLMES (voice-over): And his hard line, immigration policies.
TRUMP: I really think that the biggest problem this country has is what they've allowed to happen to us on the border.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
TRUMP: They've allowed our country to be destroyed. HOLMES (voice-over): Polls show Trump trails Harris among Latino voters, but the vice president's support lags behind recent Democratic nominees. A recent survey from "The New York Times" and Siena College found Harris leading 54 percent to 36 percent among Latino likely voters, with a significant gender gap, running roughly even among men but more than 30 points ahead with women.
KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I come from the working class; I'm never going to forget where I come from. And part of what we have to do is build, what I call, an opportunity economy to do it all.
HOLMES (voice-over): The Harris campaign focusing her pitch Tuesday on the economy, unveiling new economic proposals, including more investments in Latino small businesses, expanded job training programs, and a push to increase the number of first-time Latino home buyers.
Kristen Holmes, CNN, Greensboro, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALKER: All right, let's bring in CNN's Eva McKend with a preview of tonight's Town Hall with Kamala Harris. Hi there, Eva. So tell us more about the setup. There will be live questions taken from the audience. It will be made up of Democrats, Republicans, and independents. So, what else should we know?
EVA MCKEND, CNN U.S. NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, these are undecided voters. Our colleague, Anderson Cooper moderating this Town Hall. But listen, Amara, this comes at a time when the vice president's closing argument here is coming into focus. She's leaning heavily into her personal biography as a way to connect on a human level with some of the undecided voters that will be here in the audience this evening. We also see her talking about her policy vision for America, what she characterizes as an opportunity economy and then, going after the former president, warning against, in her view, what a second Trump presidency would pose for this country.
All that being said though, the campaign recognizes that it can't just be about Trump, raising the alarm about Trump, that she also has to make an affirmative case for how she would govern. So, we very much expect to hear that as well.
WALKER: And tell us more then, how you expect Harris to try to connect with these undecided voters tonight.
MCKEND: So, something that she has done with increasing frequency over the last several days is raising doubts about the former president's basic mental competency, arguing that he is unfit, that he lacks the temperament and the discipline for the highest office of the land.
[08:10:00]
And that seems to be a very explicit pitch to voters that may not necessarily agree with her on every single policy issue. They might not agree with her on tax policy or economic policy, for instance. But on this existential question about the health and the future of our democracy, the campaign is hoping that they can get those 'Never Trumpers', for instance, in her camp. So, I very much expect her to play up that aspect and to also elevate the issue of reproductive rights. She constantly characterizes the former president's policies as cruel. And so, we have seen to great effect Democrats lean heavily into that issue. It's not an issue that falls neatly along party lines, and I suspect she's very much going to raise that today, her conversations that she has had with impacted women across America.
WALKER: Eva McKend in Aston, Pennsylvania. Thank you very much, Eva. Well, former President Barack Obama is known for his speaking skills, of course. So it's only appropriate that in Michigan, a man known for his rapping skills would introduce him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMINEM, AMERICAN RAPPER AND SONGWRITER: Isn't it Barack Obama?
(CROWD CHEERING)
WALKER (voice-over): He doesn't need an introduction, but hey, that's Detroit's own Eminem. It's interesting to note that the rapper and the politician, of course, they shared the stage, but it was only one of them that actually rapped and it wasn't Eminem.
BARACK OBAMA, (D) FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: I have done a lot of rallies, so I don't usually get nervous. But I was feeling some kind of way following Eminem. My palms are sweaty.
(LAUGH)
OBAMA: Knees weak, arms are heavy.
(CROWD CHEERING)
OBAMA: Vomit on my sweater already, mind spaghetti.
(CROWD CHEERING)
OBAMA: I'm nervous, but on the surface, I look calm and ready to drop bombs. But I keep forgetting.
(CROWD CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: The crowd was loving it. Once he was done showing off his musical ability, the former president wasted little time attacking Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: If your grandpa was acting like this, you'd be worried.
(CROWD CHEERING)
OBAMA: You'd call up -- you'd call up your sister, your brother, your cousin. You be all like, let me holler at you. Have you noticed grandpa? He acted a little funny. But this is somebody who wants unchecked power.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Meanwhile, Donald Trump took aim at Barack Obama, calling into question his value on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think he's a real jerk because I've watched him campaign over the last couple of -- over the last couple of days, I watched him campaign. What a divider he is, right? What a divider he is. They're bringing out Obama. I say, oh, they did that with Hillary Clinton. Good. I'm glad they're bringing him out. The reason they're bringing him out, because he doesn't even want to do it, I think he's -- I think he's exhausted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: All right, let's go back live to Aston, Pennsylvania and CNN Political Director, David Chalian. David, it's good to see you. I guess it's expected, right, to hear such insults from Donald Trump aimed at Barack Obama. Just curious to hear your take on what Barack Obama brings to the Harris campaign that other surrogates don't. I mean, it seems like he does bring a lot more levity to the campaign trail, which we've heard so much, in contrast, dark and aggressive rhetoric and he is the most popular Democrat in the party.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yeah, I think that last point, Amara, is the key one. He could command attention. So a day like yesterday when Kamala Harris was not out campaigning, where she was doing a couple of television interviews, he is able to go out there in two battleground states, Wisconsin and Michigan, in one day, and sort of consume the attention on the Harris-Walz campaign and command that attention. And that's the stage that you're in, right? So somebody who is so popular in the party, but who as a former president is just going to get a ton of local news coverage that he's there, all those things in the battleground states, getting voters amped up and keying in on getting voters to participate early vote now and get them to bank their vote early, all of that is mission critical for the Harris campaign, and Obama is a huge help to that.
WALKER: Let's turn now to what we're hearing from John Kelly, who is Trump's former Chief of Staff, in a series of published interviews, and he's issuing some stern warnings about what a Trump presidency would look like.
[08:15:00]
David, my question to you is, what is he saying?
CHALIAN: Oh, so I, what John Kelly did at these three on-the-record interviews with "The New York Times" -- I'm sorry, Amara, I thought you were going to play some of the audio from it. It seems that he obviously, is calling Donald Trump a fascist. We've heard John Kelly in the past say that Trump, during the time that he served as Chief of Staff, would inquire about Hitler or express praise for Hitler and for Hitler's generals and the like. What I think is so damning about this is that your White House Chief of Staff, longest serving of your tenure, your Homeland Security Secretary, and a well-decorated military general in this country, is saying that you, Donald Trump are the only president in his lifetime or through history that he can think of who is against the grain of what America actually stands for.
Now, that's just an unprecedented kind of assessment of somebody serving a president. Now, the question of does it matter politically, we don't know the answer to that. But history shows us that learning these outlandish and totally against the grain, anti-democratic, authoritarian leaning comments that Donald Trump makes doesn't seem to move the needle. Donald Trump is as popular today as he has been at any point in his nine years on the public stage. So, I don't think this will upend this presidential race, these comments, but I do think it -- they are damning comments from a very reliable source. WALKER: Right. I mean, it may not upend the presidential contest, but
of course, as you say, does it matter politically? Do you expect tonight in the Town Hall -- the CNN Town Hall, Kamala Harris will play up these comments?
CHALIAN: I don't know -- I don't have a preview of her remarks. Her campaign didn't tell me what they plan. But, obviously Kamala Harris, day in and day out on the campaign, trail is trying to draw a sharp contrast with Trump. I did talk to her campaign about what her goals are for this Town Hall, and, they do want her to get in front of millions of Americans. This is sort of the last tune-in opportunity to watch her interact with voters. And that -- understanding their concerns, hearing them directly, and then addressing them in her responses is critical.
But that affirmative case for her is one piece of it. The other piece that they want every day for these next 13 days is the contrast to Trump. She's been seizing on what he says in the news and what the headlines about him have been every day. I would be surprised if she didn't tonight.
WALKER: All right, we'll watch it closely with you, David Chalian, appreciate you. Thanks so much, David.
And you can watch the Presidential Town Hall moderated by Anderson Cooper, right here on CNN. It airs live tonight, 9:00 P.M. Eastern or 2:00 A.M. in London.
All right. Meanwhile, the Trump campaign is taking aim at an unusual target, the British Labour Party. The Trump team filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Election Commission Tuesday, accusing the U.K. governing party of election interference. Now, the claim arose from a plan by nearly 100 British Labour Party volunteers to come to the U.S. to campaign for Kamala Harris. Prime Minister and Labour Leader -- Labour Party Leader, Kier Starmer says the volunteers are campaigning in their personal capacity. That is the message his deputy echoed in the U.K. parliament today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA RAYNER, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: But I say to the honorable gentleman is that people in their own time often go and campaign, and that's what we've seen. It happens in all political parties, people go and campaign, and they do what they want to do in their own time with their own money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: All right, ahead on "CNN Newsroom", flanked by fellow world leaders at a summit in Russia, Vladimir Putin has a message for the West. We'll have that next. Also, Rudy Giuliani is losing his Manhattan penthouse, why a judge has ruled the former Trump attorney and New York mayor must give up his assets?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:21:20]
WALKER: Russian President Vladimir Putin has a declaration for the West, a new multi-polar world order is being formed. Today is the centerpiece of his three-day BRICS Summit, and some global heavyweights have come to Kazan in southwestern Russia to sit at Mr. Putin's table. They include the president of China and the Prime Minister of India. Now, Kremlin watchers say the Russian leader is using the summit to show that he is far from isolated despite Western sanctions over his invasion of Ukraine. CNN's Marc Stewart is joining us now live from Beijing with more. I mean, the list of attendees, it's drawing a lot of attention.
MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And very eclectic, Amara. We have China, we have India, we have Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates. We have Iran. This is a summit where, for the moment, the symbolism is proving to be the substance. We have a number of relationships, personal relationships between many of these nations, including China and Russia. And once again, for the third time this year, we saw Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping meet face-to-face.
Part of this no limits relationship, which we have heard so much about over the last few months. Xi did talk to delegates throughout the last 24 hours or so. At one time -- at one point at a big board table, which is also very symbolic to see all of these world leaders, world dignitaries, delegates gathered around a conference room table, and he too, again -- Xi again reiterated this idea of an alternative worldview, where many of these global south nations could have a voice.
Let's take a listen to some of his remarks from earlier in Russia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT (through translator): The world today is facing momentous transformations unseen in a century, resulting in a fast-changing and turbulent international landscape. Yet, I am confident that the profound and lasting friendship between China and Russia will not change, nor will our sense of responsibility as major countries for the world and for the people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: This is a summit being hosted by Vladimir Putin, but President Xi is also having a very big voice. In fact, just a few hours ago, he gave a broader address at this summit, talking about the future of BRICS, talking about the need for peace in Ukraine, in the Middle East, as well as a big push for initiatives, looking at technology and the environment. In addition, Amara, we have now just received a report from state media here in China that President Xi and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi actually had a meeting of their own on the sidelines.
This comes after an agreement was reached between India and China about a conflict over some of the border territory between the two nations. So, these are perhaps some of the headlines we're going to be looking for in the days ahead, not just what happens with BRICS, but some of these one-on-one relationships with these various world leaders, Amara.
WALKER: All right. Thanks for watching this for us. Marc Stewart in Beijing, appreciate it.
Well, lawyers for two U.S. election workers defamed by Rudy Giuliani say Donald Trump's former attorney is paying the price for intentionally spreading disinformation. A judge has ordered Giuliani to turn over his New York penthouse and other assets. CNN's Brian Todd has more.
[08:25:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: I know crimes. I can smell them.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A federal judge has ordered Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's former lawyer and the former mayor of New York City to turn over several of his valuable possessions to the control of Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, two Georgia election workers who Giuliani defamed.
RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: He's going to essentially, ruinous liability that he can't ever hope to meet.
TODD (voice-over): Giuliani owes Freeman and Moss about $150 million from the defamation judgment against him. The judge has ordered him to turn over his luxury Manhattan apartment, which he recently tried to sell for around $5 million to a receivership that Freeman and Moss will control. They could then potentially sell it. The judge has also ordered Giuliani to turn over a collection of watches, a signed Joe DiMaggio jersey, and other sports memorabilia. A 1980 Mercedes once owned by Hollywood star Lauren Bacall, and he's been ordered to forfeit his television, items of furniture and jewelry. The judge has not yet decided if Giuliani will be able to keep his condominium in Palm Beach, Florida, or the four New York Yankees World Series rings he owns. Giuliani's son says his father gave those rings to him. In the days after the 2020 election, Giuliani falsely accused Freeman and Moss of corrupting the vote count in Georgia.
GIULIANI: They surreptitiously passing around USB ports as if they're vials of heroin or cocaine.
TODD (voice-over): Giuliani has conceded that he did make defamatory statements about Freeman and Moss, but when he was approached at this year's Republican National Convention by CNN's Kaitlan Collins and asked if he regretted that --
GIULIANI: I have no regrets at all. I'm on the side of justice, right, and truth.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR OF "THE SOURCE": Are you worried about them being able to seize your New York apartment, your Florida condo?
GIULIANI: Did I explain to you that I'm not afraid of anything because I'm on the side of justice and right. And when history writes about this era, I'm going to be a hero.
TODD (voice-over): But in 2022, during testimony before the House January 6th Committee, Freeman and her daughter Moss spoke about the emotional stress they endured due to Giuliani's characterizations of them.
SHAYE MOSS, GEORGIA ELECTION WORKER: Don't want anyone knowing my name. I don't go to the grocery store at all. I haven't been anywhere at all.
RUBY FREEMAN, GEORGIA ELECTION WORKER: I've lost my name and I've lost my reputation. I've lost my sense of security.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (on camera): Rudy Giuliani's spokesman has not immediately responded to request for comment on the judge's latest order. A lawyer for Moss and Freeman sent CNN a statement saying they're proud that their clients are finally receiving compensation in this case, and that this should send a message that there's a price to pay for those who intentionally spread disinformation. The judge has scheduled a hearing for next week on the fate of Giuliani's condominium in Florida.
Brian Todd, CNN Washington.
WALKER: Brian, thank you. Still to come, Israel strikes a major tourist destination in Southern Lebanon, the latest on the spiraling situation in the Mid East, and yet another humanitarian crisis that is quickly deteriorating. And as millions of people vote early across the country, we will show you how election officials are fighting a flood of misinformation and fraud accusations.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:30:30]
WALKER: More than three weeks after Iran's unprecedented missile attack on Israel, the world is still watching and waiting to see how Israel will respond. The Israeli military meanwhile is continuing to its daily bombardment of Lebanon. Lebanese media report airstrikes hit the historic city of Tyre earlier, and it came after the IDF warned people in the area to evacuate due to its ongoing military operations against Hezbollah. The IDF says three Hezbollah commanders have been killed in the past 48 hours.
Now, the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon continues to deteriorate. According to the head of a doctor syndicate, five hospitals countrywide are completely out of operation and nearly two dozen others damaged. Let's talk more about this with CNN's Salma Abdelaziz. She's joining me now live from London. Salma, what does Israel say is the target of these attacks in South Lebanon?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Israel says that it is targeting Hezbollah infrastructure. It says that its aim is not just to defeat Hezbollah, but to destroy it and to ensure that it can no longer launch any further attacks on Israel. And the Israeli military is claiming gains in its fight. It says that three Hezbollah commanders were killed in just a 48-hour period. It says the organization's drone operator, its drone expert was also killed. It says that a potential successor to Hassan Nasrallah was also killed.
But the impact on the ground of this is absolutely devastating. To illustrate this, I just want to bring you back those images, from the Rafik Hariri Hospital. This is the largest public hospital in Lebanon. It was struck two days ago, but still rescue operations continue. Look at people there gathered around, trying to find the bodies of those killed under the rubble. That man specifically are looking at with the red jacket being hugged, he has lost five children and his wife. The body of three of those children have been recovered. At the time this was filmed, he was still waiting and looking to find the body of his wife and two of his other children.
We're also hearing from medical workers on the ground who say they feel that they are the targets of Israel's air campaign. They have denied any allegations that Israel has made, that Hezbollah has any infrastructure in and around these hospitals. And these medical workers believe that Israel's goal is to dismantle Lebanon's medical system. Again, according to a Lebanese medical official, some 150 healthcare workers have been killed, including four doctors. And I want to reiterate that information you had earlier as well, five hospitals completely out of operation and 22 partially destroyed.
It shows that this offensive on Lebanon is expanding. It's now targeting banks. It's now hitting near hospitals. And the fear for those Lebanese families is that Lebanon could start to look like parts of Gaza.
WALKER: Wow. And Salma, turning our attention to Gaza, the United Nations is warning Israel's war there could erase almost 70 years of progress. I mean, this is a stark message.
ABDELAZIZ: I believe we also have images to show you from Gaza. You can begin to understand when you look at the decimation on the ground, at those apocalyptic scenes that literally look like the surface of the moon. And you see those people coming out, many of them saying that they were essentially forced to flee at the barrel of a gun, that they had to leave their homes under these evacuation orders because it was either starve, die, or run.
But where is safe in Gaza? Well, the United Nations says absolutely nowhere. And specifically that situation in Northern Gaza, I mean, I'm running out of words to describe just how dire it is. People are running out of food, running out of water, death, violence is part of their daily reality. A huge part of the push for Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, was to get more humanitarian aid, specifically into that part of Northern Gaza, a place where aid workers say that essentially there's been no help that has arrived in weeks. He has received no guarantees so far from Prime Minister Netanyahu that help is coming to those still trapped in that part of the enclave.
WALKER: Salma Abdelaziz, thank you for your reporting. Let's dig a little deeper now into the humanitarian crisis that we heard Salma talking about.
[08:35:00]
It's unfolding now in Lebanon. Dr. Thaer Ahmad spent time in Gaza earlier this year. He is currently in Lebanon as a volunteer for MedGlobal. He is joining me now. Doctor, really appreciate you joining us. I'm sure you have very important things to do. Can you just tell me what you have been seeing on the ground there in terms of the humanitarian needs?
DR. THAER AHMAD, VOLUNTEER, MEDGLOBAL LEBANON: Yeah, I mean, I think with every single escalation that we're seeing and the Israeli military diving deeper and deeper into Lebanon, we're seeing a massive displacement of many people from the south. There's been more than a million people who have left their homes in the south of Lebanon, and many of them are on the street. I am in Sidon right now -- Sidon in Lebanon, which is full of displaced people, many of whom are sleeping in their cars or are out on the streets.
We -- every single day, we're hearing an escalation with respect to the areas that are being forced to evacuate, the areas that are being bombed, and there's only a fifth of the aid that is needed to help with the more than one million people who've been displaced. So, it's woefully inadequate and many of the people on the streets have nowhere else to go and have no idea where their next meals will come from, if they'll be able to get the medications that they need. I mean, it's really a tragic situation to see that the escalation continues to sort of deepen here in Lebanon.
WALKER: Dr. Ahmad, are you treating some of these patients, some of these victims who've been injured in these attacks?
AHMAD: Yeah, we've seen -- we've visited many of the hospitals and we've been there and we've seen some of these patients -- many patients, even though there've been evacuation orders, it's important for people to realize, when you drop a 2,000-pound bomb, that there is shrapnel going to be flying everywhere. So, we see victims who are affected by these shrapnel injuries. In fact, there was a patient at Sibline Hospital, which is not too far from where I'm at right now. She was 28 weeks pregnant, affected by a bombing that had taken place, had her leg broken. And in the process, she lost that pregnancy because of the trauma that she sustained.
I mean, we're talking about horrifying stories that are in place here. Just because you give an evacuation order does not mean that you're going to prevent any sort of civilian casualties in the process, especially when you're dropping massive bombs that are leveling eight- , nine-storey buildings. So, you're seeing the victims of these bombs, even if you hear that there's some sort of evacuation order.
And the other thing I'd say is that there was that hospital that was evacuated recently because there was suspicion that there was something underneath there. All of the patients in that hospital were evacuated by the staff. All of the patients that were there getting treated got evacuated out of that hospital. That has serious health implications. That's dangerous. You can't just move patients who are in the hospital and take them somewhere else. So this is very concerning, and I'm -- again, I heard you guys mention that we're worried about what happened in Gaza may be repeated in Lebanon.
If you look at the South now, it's repeated. Many of the villages are leveled, hospitals have been evacuated, totally empty and rendered defunct. It's very concerning.
WALKER: I'd imagine you're referring to the Rafik Hariri Hospital where -- the university hospital, so when the patients were evacuated by the staff, where are they being taken to?
AHMAD: Yeah, I mean, that's a great question. I'm referring to Sahel Hospital, the one where there was -- where many of them have evacuated their patients. These people had to go to other government hospitals. That's where they get transferred throughout different parts of Beirut. The problem is this system already is being stretched very thin, and so you're burdening -- you're overburdening it when you take a hospital out of commission and you're forcing patients to be transferred to other areas.
I mean, remember, just because that -- just because people are doctors or nurses doesn't mean that they're not also going to be displaced, that they're not also on the run. And so, that's something that's important to consider with respect to the healthcare system being brought to its knees. The pager incident used a lot of resources. The walkie-talkie incident used a lot of resources, and that's very -- again, that's something that we all have to consider moving forward.
WALKER: You mentioned, doctor, that what you're seeing is similar to what you believe is happening in Gaza. Is that the concern that is also being expressed by some of the patients or even colleagues there in Lebanon? It looks like Dr. Ahmad's picture just froze there, unfortunately, but obviously that's what happens when you talk live in war zones. Dr. Ahmad, thank you so much for your time.
Well, before the first votes of this election were cast, many right- wing groups were already sowing the seeds of doubt about the process. We're going to look at what is being done to combat all the misinformation. And India presents itself as the next economic superpower, but the current reality of high unemployment is pushing some young Indians to make a risky journey to the U.S. We'll have that story next.
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[08:42:10]
WALKER: There are just 13 days until Election Day and early voting is well underway in many states. And even before the first vote was even cast, misinformation about the election was spread far and wide on social media, mostly in the form of unsubstantiated claims like voting machines are switching votes or that election officials are undermining the electoral process if it takes multiple days to count the ballots. With the results -- with that, state and local officials are having to try to squash the lies in real-time.
Sara Murray joining us now from Washington, D.C. with this story. And Sara, I mean it is concerning because chances are we may not know the results of the election, election night, and you have all this misinformation and disinformation. I mean, how are state and local officials dealing with this all?
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, we should just say off the bat that if we don't know the results on election night, that doesn't mean there's fraud. It just means that it's probably close and that election officials are still counting. But they're already election officials trying to do two jobs at once, which is run these elections and also try to hit back at this misinformation, disinformation that's coming out in real-time.
And again, the storylines you're talking about, these are all familiar from 2020, right? The idea that machines are flipping votes, the idea that there's this widespread mail voter fraud, things that just are not true, but it's all coming back up again. And I want to show you one example that we've seen happening in Georgia with the Republican Secretary of State there. He was on CBS over the weekend and he was actually debunking a claim that machines in Georgia were flipping votes, which is not happening and he was talking about how the vote counting is going to go in Georgia, an important question. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, (R-GA) SECRETARY OF STATE: All early votes and all early accepted ballots, they all will have to have their results reported by 8:00 P.M. That's 70 -- maybe even 75 percent of all the vote totals will be reported no later than 8:00 P.M. on election night.
MARGARET BRENNAN, CHIEF FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, CBS NEWS: Won't take seven days to tabulate votes, as he said?
RAFFENSPERGER: Absolutely not. What we will be waiting for is the overseas ballots that come in no later than Friday and so, those will then be the final numbers. And we'll just see if that makes a difference in the total vote totals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: So, what he's explaining here is that at 8:00 P.M. in Georgia, we should know about 75 percent of the vote total because we'll know all the early vote. Then they're going to tally the Election Day totals. But then, it takes a couple of days for all these overseas and military ballots to come in. And if it's a razor-thin race, those ballots could matter.
But conservatives on social media whipped this up and extrapolated it to, oh, Brad Raffensperger is saying that there's no way we're going to know the results in Georgia for three days. There must be some fraud going on. That's not what he said. They're also saying, oh, Raffensperger is saying a quarter of the votes that are going to be coming in, in Georgia, are overseas in military. That's so much higher. There must be some fraud going on.
[08:45:00]
Again, that's not what he said, but it gives you an idea of how, especially on social media, people are taking a little nugget of something and really whipping it up and spinning it all of these different ways to convince people that there is some kind of bad actor. There's some kind of fraud playing out. And again, this is just not what we've seen. Even in a handful of counties where people have said, oh, we're concerned, machines are flipping votes. The election officials there have said, there was someone who hit a button on a screen, they saw the printout of their ballot. They didn't think it was the button that they hit on the screen. We spoiled their old one. We gave them a new ballot. They were able to vote. We have resolved this process.
And in most of these cases, this is a situation where somebody hits the wrong button on the screen and election officials want to be really careful to not blame voters for making a mistake. They say, we are here to help you vote safely and securely. If you think there's a problem with your ballot, bring it to an election official and we'll help you solve the problem. Don't go on TikTok, don't go on Instagram, don't go on X, and spin this up into a conspiracy.
WALKER: It doesn't help though, right? When you have elected officials like a Marjorie Taylor Greene also perpetuating these conspiracy theories?
MURRAY: Absolutely.
WALKER: Sara Murray, thank you for clearing that up for us. Well, India is the world's fastest growing major economy, but unemployment is very high in some areas. Some young Indians who dream of a better life, are paying thousands of dollars to smugglers to get them to the United States. CNN's Ivan Watson has their stories.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hiking through jungles and crossing rivers, a video blogger from India showing his trip through Central America to the U.S.-Mexico border. Nearly 100,000 Indians crossed the border illegally into the U.S. last year, a journey many Indians call the Donkey Way.
ANKIT CHAUDHARY, LAW STUDENT: Donkey Way is an illegal route which is not allowed by the USA government. It's a route which is going through many of the countries. And then, we will jump the wall of USA.
WATSON (voice-over): Ankit Chaudhary is a 24-year-old law student who dreams of migrating to the U.S. to escape joblessness in India.
CHAUDHARY: I have no other option due to unemployment.
WATSON (voice-over): And he's not the only young Indian desperate to leave. Many Indian cities have districts like this.
WATSON: This is one of the consequences of India's high youth unemployment. Entire neighborhoods of businesses dedicated to helping young Indians move overseas.
WATSON (voice-over): Amid consultants who help Indians get visas to study abroad, Chaudhary says you can also find smugglers who specialize in the donkey route.
WATSON: We can go here and find someone and pay money to be smuggled to the U.S. here.
CHAUDHARY: Yes, they will smuggle the person illegally in U.S.
WATSON: How many people have you sent on this Donkey Route journey to the U.S.?
WATSON (voice-over): At least 150 to 200 people, he says. For around $48,000, this agent will fly you to El Salvador and smuggle you over land to the U.S.-Mexico border. He shows me this video of some of his clients squeezing through the border fence.
WATSON: These are your customers?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both. Two of them.
WATSON (voice-over): The number of Indian migrants crossing the border into the U.S. surged over the last five years. But two Indian smuggling agents now tell CNN they've all but stopped sending migrants to the U.S. in the last couple of months after a Biden Administration Executive Order cracked down on asylum applications. In September, Customs and Border Protection reported the lowest number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexican border since 2020.
RAJEEV KUMAR, MALKEET'S BROTHER: Yeah. This is the --
WATSON (voice-over): That's little comfort to Rajeev Kumar. Last year, his brother left the family farm for the Donkey Way to the U.S. Kumar says Indian authorities returned Malkeet's body nearly five months later after he was shot dead by criminals on a riverbank on the El Salvador-Guatemala border. The family's-lone surviving son now farms these fields alone.
KUMAR (through translator): People here know they will die from unemployment, so they think it is better to go and take the risk. For people here, it has become do or die.
WATSON (voice-over): A vicious cycle of poverty and illegal migration that's emptying out communities in this part of India.
Ivan Watson, CNN, in Haryana State, India.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALKER: Still to come, complaints against airlines by passengers with disabilities have been growing louder. And now, one of the biggest carriers in the U.S. is paying the price for years of lousy treatment. The details are ahead.
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[08:51:40]
WALKER: American Airlines slapped with a $50 million fine after a U.S. investigation found multiple failures to treat passengers in wheelchairs with due care and respect. Now, the airline says it has already spent $175 million this year to improving the experience for passengers with disabilities through training and new technology, but also admitted that despite its efforts, there were cases where the service some passengers received had fallen short.
CNN Aviation Correspondent, Pete Muntean joining us now from Washington, D.C. Pete, you're hearing a lot more about what's in this investigation, really concerning reports. What can you tell us?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a really big win, Amara, for disability rights advocates, because the sad truth here is that incidents of wheelchair mishandling on airlines were not being taken all that seriously for years. Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg says this new fine really shows that that era is now over. It's really this TikTok that thrust this issue back into the limelight. This is from last November, and it shows American Airlines baggage handlers there essentially tossing a wheelchair down the chute of a jet way.
The Department of Transportation says this is just one of thousands of cases where American Airlines mishandled wheelchairs between 2019 and 2023. This investigation also found that the airline failed to provide adequate assistance to disabled passengers. One passenger in a wheelchair told investigators that she felt like the airline treated her like cargo. So now, she just simply doesn't fly anymore. The punishment here is the largest ever of its type, and the federal government is fining American Airlines a total of $50 million. That fine also includes a mandate that American spend half that money, $25 million to reduce cases of damaged wheelchairs and make significant infrastructure upgrades.
Now, you mentioned this in the lead and American Airlines insists it is already doing that a bit, having spent $175 million this year on disability services, new training, new technology. The airline also insists wheelchair and scooter handling, its rating has gone up 20 percent since 2022. But even still, a pretty big apology here from American Airlines, this is what it says. Despite these improvements, there are instances where the service the airline provides is disrupted, untimely, or results in harm to the passenger or their equipment. American takes all these complaints and claims seriously and works hard to remediate them.
The message here, the big message, is that this is only just the start. And I want you to read now the statement from the federal government. It says these problems are not unique to American Airlines and allegations of wheelchair mishandling and inadequate wheelchair assistance are far too common. The Department of Transportation has active investigations into similar violations at other U.S. airlines, so other airlines have been put on notice here. But Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg says American was by far the worst offender, so that is where it had to start, Amara.
WALKER: I'll say this is not the end of the story then. Pete Muntean, we'll watch this closely with you. Thank you so much.
Well, Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla are now in Samoa on a three-day visit. Here you see them leaving Sydney, Australia after a six-day tour. King Charles will attend a Commonwealth leaders meeting in Samoa, and many of the Commonwealth countries are island nations now struggling with rising sea levels caused by climate change.
[08:55:00]
The crisis is set to be a key topic of discussion, and the leaders are expected to issue a declaration on protecting the ocean.
And finally, my favorite story this week, Superstar LeBron James and his son Bronny made basketball history by becoming the first father- son duo to play together in a regular season NBA game. There they are. The Lakers hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves in Los Angeles Tuesday, which was the league's opening night. 39-year-old LeBron appeared in the starting lineup, as expected, and 20-year-old Bronny, his son, made his debut in the second quarter. Look at that slam dunk, the final score. Lakers 110; Timberwolves 103. Not bad for their joint debut.
All right, that's my time. Thank you so much for being with me here on "CNN Newsroom." I'm Amara Walker. "Connect the World" with Eleni Giokos is next.
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