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CNN International: Harris To Hold Star-Studded Georgia Rally Today; Trump Heads To Arizona And Nevada For Campaign Events; Trump Slams Harris' CNN Town Hall As Her "Worst Performance". Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired October 24, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAHEL SOLOMON, "CNN NEWSROOM": Good morning or good evening, depending on where you're watching. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.

Ahead on CNN Newsroom, a barrage of airstrikes overnight in parts of Beirut's suburbs, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken tries to revive the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks. We are live in Tel Aviv and the U.S. State Department at the very latest. Plus, Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine could take a new turn. Why White House officials say that thousands of North Korean soldiers are now showing up in eastern Russia? And the final stretch, with 12 days ago, Kamala Harris is in Georgia today with some star power behind her, while Donald Trump takes on Arizona and Nevada.

It is down to the wire with the margin that is razor thin. The race for the White House remains extremely tight in all of the key swing states. It is an election that looks like it will be one of the closest in American history. And a just released CNN Poll of Polls of likely voters in Georgia, there is no clear leader, Donald Trump with 50 percent support, Kamala Harris with 48 percent. Polling numbers in Arizona tell a similar story, and it's the same in the battleground state of North Carolina, where it is still too close to call. And the (inaudible) poll numbers are also not budging in must-win Pennsylvania, Harris at 48 percent to Trump's 47 percent, but again, no clear leader in the state.

The Harris campaign, meantime, bringing up the star power in a big way today. The Vice President will be in Atlanta for a rally later, while running mate Tim Walz will make multiple campaign stops in North Carolina. Joining Harris on stage tonight in Georgia are former President Barack Obama, 'The Boss' Bruce Springsteen, Tyler Perry, Spike Lee and Samuel L. Jackson. Now, this is all on the heels of a CNN town hall last night where the Vice President's primary focus on that Pennsylvania stage was to warn Americans, especially undecided independents and moderate Republicans, that the former President is, quote, "unstable and unfit to serve".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Imagine now Donald Trump in the Oval Office, in the Situation Room, he, who has openly admired dictators, said he would be a dictator on day one. The former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has said he is a fascist to the core.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: You quoted General Milley calling Donald Trump a fascist. You yourself have not used that word to describe him. Let me ask you tonight, do you think Donald Trump is a fascist?

HARRIS: Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Donald Trump said, why -- essentially, why aren't my generals like those of Hitlers?

COOPER: Do you believe Donald Trump is antisemitic?

HARRIS: I believe Donald Trump is a danger to the well-being and security of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And we are learning that Harris plans to make a major speech, closing out her campaign next week at the Ellipse in front of the White House. That's where Donald Trump spoke to supporters before they stormed the Capitol on January 6th. Donald Trump, meantime, is taking his campaign out west. He is going to hold a rally in Arizona, and then he heads to Las Vegas, where he will headline an event alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, Tulsi Gabbard and others. On Wednesday, Trump pushed back against his former Chief of Staff, John Kelly, who in published reports described him as a fascist. Kelly also said that Trump praised the loyalty of Hitler's Nazi generals. The former President responding and posting this online, calling Kelly a total degenerate who made up the story out of pure Trump derangement syndrome hatred. Trump also described the four-star general as, quote, "tough and dumb".

Let's bring in our team coverage for you. We have CNN's Priscilla Alvarez, who is covering the Harris campaign, and our Alayna Treene, who is tracking the Trump campaign.

Priscilla, let me start with you. What's the campaign strategy coming out of that town hall overnight? What are you hearing?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the campaign's work is introducing and reintroducing the Vice President. I've spoken to multiple officials who say they recognize that they still need to increase the exposure of the Vice President over the next several days, because there are voters who still harbor a lot of questions about her and her policies. But, one of the main ones that has come up multiple times has been how she would be different from the -- or how her policies would be different from the Biden administration. And that was a question that came up during the town hall last night. Take a listen to her answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: My administration will not be a continuation of the Biden administration. I represent a new generation of leadership on a number of issues. I bring a whole set of different experiences to this job and the way I think about it than Joe Biden.

COOPER: Some voters, though, might ask, you've been in the White House for four years. You were Vice President, not the President.

[11:05:00]

But, why wasn't any of that done for the last four years?

HARRIS: Well, there was a lot that was done, but there is more to do, Anderson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, the Vice President outlined some of her policies, but the resounding message over the course of the town hall was that she was willing to work with partners across the aisle. Now, there were moments where she showed a more authentic version of herself, talking about faith and grieving her mother, but notably, she also agreed that former President Donald Trump is a fascist. That has come up multiple times over the last several days with the comments from John Kelly that were in The New York Times and The Atlantic, and she invoked those comments repeatedly over the course of the town hall, as she drives home this message, or at least tries to with voters that a second potential Trump term would be dangerous and come with many risks.

And so, that was one of the clear messages coming out from the Vice President at that town hall, and also one that they're going to build upon and fold into her closing argument next week, on Tuesday, as you mentioned, a speech that will happen at the Ellipse, which is a notable and historical location and will be one of the highest profile denunciations of the former President and January 6th.

SOLOMON: Yeah. And from one battleground to the next in Georgia today. What can we expect there today?

ALVAREZ: Well, this is going to be a turn out the vote type rally. The campaign is certainly turning toward this phase of the election by bringing out some of the big guns, former President Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen, who is a regular -- usually has a regular appearance in the waning days of the election for Democratic candidates. So, certainly, a lot of star power. We are also learning that tomorrow, when the Vice President is in Texas, talking about reproductive rights, she will be joined by Beyonce.

Now, all of this is because the campaign is again trying to amplify their message, not only about warnings of a second potential Trump term, but also on some of their key issues, including reproductive rights, and all over the course of all of that, trying to capitalize on early voting. Here in Georgia, early voting has already begun. So, this is going to be yet another attempt by the Vice President and her team to mobilize and energize voters. She'll do the same later in Michigan on Saturday, where she is going to be joined by Michelle Obama, which will also mark their first time on the campaign trail together. So, sort of this build-up toward Election Day, with the Vice President and her team bringing out the star power, and hoping that all of this can help them in both amplifying their message, but also driving voters to the polls.

SOLOMON: Yeah. OK. Priscilla Alvarez live for us in Georgia. Priscilla, thank you.

Let's turn now to CNN's Alayna Treene for more on what's happening today with the Trump campaign. What's on the agenda?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Rahel, he is going to be going to the West Coast. So, he has his first stop in Arizona, and then later, he'll actually have another rally hosted by Turning Point Action, the same group that held that rally last night in Duluth, Georgia, but that will be taking place in Las Vegas. And when I talked to Donald Trump's senior advisors, they say a key goal of this trip, of this West Coast swing, is to continue targeting Latino voters. We saw him do that earlier this week with a number of events that he had held in North Carolina.

But, part of that strategy, Rahel, is really trying to focus on making inroads with demographics and voters that they believe could make a difference in these -- in this election, particularly on the margins, as we all have been discussing at length. This election is expected to be incredibly close, and that is something that Trump's advisors acknowledge. They also recognize that they need to do whatever they can to siphon as many people away from Harris' campaign toward Donald Trump's campaign, and also try and turn out first-time voters and low- propensity voters. So, that's going to be a lot of what Donald Trump will be discussing today.

I think another thing that you can expect him to talk about is early voting, both early voting as well as mail-in voting. Now, these are things we know that Donald Trump has been quite skeptical of in the past. He is actually still skeptical of it, when I talk to people close to him, but something that he recognizes, and his team keeps telling him that he needs to be encouraging voters to do. In order for them to win, they really believe that voters need to not be afraid of all of the tools of making sure that their vote counts. And so, he is going to be talking a lot about that as well.

I would also note, yesterday, he said himself that he would be voting early. He said that in an interview with Fox News. So, I think he'll be using some of that rhetoric throughout the campaign trail today.

SOLOMON: Yeah. I think one thing both campaigns do agree on is that every vote clearly will matter this time around.

Alayna, talk to us a little bit about his response to last night. I mean, he may not have participated in the event that he was invited to, but he did apparently watch. What is he saying about Harris' CNN town hall and her performance?

TREENE: That's right. We heard him weigh in on this. This morning, he did an interview by phone, I should say, with Hugh Hewitt, where he said that it was one of the worst interviews that Harris has ever done.

[11:10:00] Very sharply criticized her. I want you to take a listen to what he said, but I also want to just give our listeners a heads up that some of this audio is not very easy to understand. I was told Trump had a bad connection, but take a listen and hear what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's her worst performance. She hasn't had a good one, but this was her worst performance. These people are crude, rude and vicious. And by the way, there is only a vessel, and so is Joe Biden. He is not the leader of the party, never was. She is no different. She is a vessel. I watched her last night. She is got no intelligence. She has got nothing, she has got nothing, and you can't have a leader like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Few things there, Rahel, to break down. One is, of course, he is mocking her intelligence, ratcheting up those personal attacks that we've seen him really escalate in recent days and really in this final stretch before November 5th.

But, the other thing that he mentioned was this idea that she is not the true leader of the Democratic Party. This is actually something when I was in Duluth last night at that big rally here in Georgia, that was something that Tucker Carlson and some of the other speakers who had been -- who had taken the stage before Donald Trump were noting as well that they argued Donald Trump is the clear leader of the Republican Party. It's clear that he stands for something. And then tried to argue that Kamala Harris is just a product of what they argued was the Democratic machine. I think that's what Donald Trump was getting at.

And it's interesting, because I was asking some of his advisors about that, and they argued, we think that's a solid message that if it wasn't Harris, it would be someone just like her, and that actually doesn't really matter. It's just representative of the party overall. So, take that what you will. But, I think a new line of attack. We may start hearing more from the former President.

SOLOMON: OK. Alayna Treene live for us in Atlanta. Alayna, thank you.

All right. Time to bring in our panel now. We have Jamarr Brown, who is the Executive Director of the PAC "Color of Change". We also have Lance Trover, who is the former Spokesperson for North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum's 2024 presidential campaign. Good to see you both.

Jamarr, let me start with you. What were your thoughts about last night? Did she close the deal, in your opinion?

JAMARR BROWN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COLOR OF CHANGE PAC: Well, we know that there is work that Vice President Harris still has to do to introduce herself to the country, and she is doing that. She is traveling to all the battleground states. As you just mentioned, she'll be in Georgia today. She is going to Texas, even to expand the map and talk about the Senate race and reproductive rights. And so, she has work to do, and we're continuing to do that work, right? And the work that we even do at Color of Change PAC is still talking to voters on the ground in key battleground states to make sure that they understand not just what's at stake in this election, but what a Harris presidency will look like. And so, she is continuing to do that work, and we're very excited about that, and we know that this will be a close election.

SOLOMON: Lance, your thoughts on what you heard last night.

LANCE TROVER, FORMER SPOKESPERSON, DOUG BURGUM'S 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Well, I think -- I'm sorry to call on you here, Jamarr. But, I mean, the fact that he couldn't even say himself that she closed the deal last night. It's obvious that she did not. I mean, look, this strategy going into the final days of saying Donald Trump is bad, vote for me, is clearly not one that's working. If you look at The Wall Street Journal poll that's out this morning, Donald Trump is leading in -- on many different fronts, whether it's the economy, whether it's on immigration, and if you look at the overall job approval rating, he is higher in his approval rating than she was as Vice President. She has a 54 percent disapproval for her vice presidency.

So, if her -- she wants to spend her time here in Washington and go give speeches on the mall, saying Donald Trump is bad, that's fine. It doesn't seem to be one that the voters are wanting to hear right now. They're wanting to hear about cost of living. They're wanting to hear about getting the border under control. Voters are very clear-eyed about who Donald Trump is, and they don't need to hear more of he is bad from her. So, I think it's a -- it's not a great strategy in these waning days of the campaign.

SOLOMON: And Jamarr, I just want to give you a chance to respond to what Lance --

BROWN: Sure.

SOLOMON: -- said there, because I didn't hear you say that she closed the deal, to be fair, and I want to circle back to that. I mean, this was --

BROWN: Yeah. Absolutely.

SOLOMON: -- perhaps her largest audience before voters head to the polls. Did she close the deal, when you say that there is more that she needs to do?

BROWN: Right.

SOLOMON: I mean, last night was her chance to do it.

BROWN: Well, listen, we -- one town hall, it doesn't work that way, right? That's the point of the election. Everyone is working right now all the way up to November 5th. Donald Trump also hasn't closed the deal on this election. Donald Trump is even doing town halls. He didn't show up last night, right? He is moving all over the place. He is canceling his own events, right? He is ducking and dodging questions. He is not laying out clear plans. So, when Lance says that he is talking about securing the border and those things, he had an opportunity to do that as President. And even now, in his third time running for President, he still hasn't laid out plans of how he is going to lower costs for people, how he is going to lift people up, how he is going to move communities forward in a meaningful way.

And so, Election Day is how you close the deal. And Vice President Harris did make progress yesterday, and there were a lot of undecided voters that even said on CNN that they were more likely to vote for her because of her answers, because of her answering the questions, and laying out her plans on the economy, on securing the border, on reproductive rights and more issues.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Lance, what do you make of that point? I mean, even if, as you say, it wasn't her strongest night or it wasn't a great night, to choose your words, at least she got out there.

[11:15:00]

She answered tough questions from undecided. It was also an opportunity for Trump, and he declined.

TROVER: I think if you're the Trump campaign at this point, certainly as a strategist, I mean, if you look at where you are in the polls right now, he doesn't need to step out and put -- and do some of these things. And frankly, I would argue he steps in front of the media more than anybody does. Recall, it was Kamala Harris who spent the first 60 days of her campaign avoiding the media at all costs, and only when she started slipping in the polls did she decide to start going out and doing some of these interviews. So, I mean, we have a little revisionist history going on here.

So, he steps out all the time and does interviews. And I just think where they are right now, they have a very clear message, which is, Kamala broke it. Trump is going to fix it. And I think her message right now is that Donald Trump is bad, and that's just not going to sell with the voters. And that's why, when you look at these polls and when you talk about the issues of immigration and economy, that Wall Street Journal poll from overnight shows that Donald Trump is leading on those two top issues by high double digits.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Let's talk about the economy, Jamarr. Let me ask you on the question of the economy, obviously, it's one of the most important issues for voters, certainly in this period after we experience historic inflation. Take a listen to something she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: So, that's why my plan, and it's a new approach, is about tax cuts for our small businesses, so that they can invest in themselves and grow, and in the process, invest in communities, invest in neighborhoods, and strengthen our economy overall. So, those are some examples. It's about a new approach, a new generation of leadership based on new ideas and frankly, different experiences.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SOLOMON: Jamarr, she also talked about going after companies that she

says price gouge. I mean, is that an effective message for people who in this period just want to understand, what would she do to improve their personal financial situation after taking office?

BROWN: Well, this is a huge component of that, right? We've seen corporations and companies all over the country raise prices and actually put the cost on consumers. And so, when folks are feeling around the country the squeeze, as we call it, they feel that squeeze because they're receiving those -- the profits from respective employers, right? And so, that's the piece that you have to understand. And so, this is a huge part of that, where folks are understanding that we must, at the end of the day, we must lower those costs, but then there is the responsibility on the companies that are actually putting those costs on consumers, and that is what people are feeling. And so, Vice President Harris is actually speaking to that, that's really important for folks in the long term of costs in their homes.

SOLOMON: Lance, let me ask you something. We heard a short snippet, I'm not sure if you heard Alayna Treene's piece there, but of how Trump responded to Kamala Harris' performance last night. He said it was her worst performance yet. He said that she has no intelligence. She has got nothing. She is -- you can't have a leader like that. He said his opponents are dirty people. Lance, you've been a press secretary before. Does it ever give you pause when he uses language like that, when he insults her intelligence? I mean, how do you react?

TROVER: That's -- I mean, that's pretty rich coming from the campaign that is calling him a fascist and comparing him to Hitler. I mean, good Lord, that's what we're talking about here. Yeah, I don't love the name calling either way. Both sides do it all the time. It's not -- I prefer sticking to the issues, because I think we win on the issues at the end of the day. But, again, I mean, Kamala Harris stood in at a town hall last night and called him a fascist, and has thrown the word Hitler around more lately in the last week than I've ever heard. I can't -- it's unbelievable to me.

So, yeah. Again, I don't love the name calling. I wish it would stop. But, I mean, it's -- that's like the pot calling the kettle black here.

SOLOMON: Well, I mean, she was responding to The New York Times piece where John Kelly actually said that Trump said that he liked the generals of Hitler. And so, it wasn't -- I mean, that context is important.

TROVER: Well, they have spent the last several -- this goes back to my original point that the thrust of their campaign and the argument in the closing weeks is that he is bad, and they have said everything that he is a threat to democracy. They have compared -- yeah -- yes. That was something that General Kelly had said, but they keep continuing to amplify it out there. And that's fine. If that's what their message to voters is going to be, is that Donald Trump is bad and he is a bad person, they can continue doing that. But, if every single poll out there shows the voters are concerned about the cost of living, they're concerned about immigration, and that -- and so, if that's the message that they want to take to voters, that he is bad the last couple weeks of this race, I'm not sure that's going to work out very well for her at the end of the day.

SOLOMON: Jamarr, pushing ahead, today, Harris is in Georgia. She is going to be joined by former President Barack Obama for a get-out-the- vote event. We just learned today that when she is in Houston, she is going to be joined by Beyonce, a huge pop star, obviously. But, for voters of color who feel like the Democratic Party is not reaching them, is Obama enough? Is Beyonce enough to change their minds? Is that the right approach?

BROWN: Well, the thing that you have to recognize about President Obama and Beyonce and other celebrities who are lending their name and their platform is they have folks that follow them, right, on various issues. They follow them for their creative energy, their innovation, etc. And so, it's not to underscore the celebrity of President Obama, but it's also the work that the Harris campaign is doing and has to continue to do to make sure that we're in the barber shops.

[11:20:00]

We're in the beauty salons. We're in the churches. We're in the grocery stores. We're in -- at the doors, right? And we're still continuing to do that work. And so, it's not one or the other. It's both. And so, we see the Harris campaign doing both to make sure that they reach a wide variety of folks from many communities across the country that they want to show up and vote, but they also want to engage and actually deliver on policy for (ph).

SOLOMON: OK. We'll leave it here. Jamarr Brown, Lance Trover, thank you both. Appreciate the time today.

BROWN: Thank you.

SOLOMON: All right. Still ahead, a huge fireball over southern Beirut in what's being called the most violent strikes in the area since the Israel-Hezbollah war began. Plus, the top U.S. diplomat wraps up a Mideast tour meant to revive stalled talks on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage agreement. What we've learned so far, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLOMON: Enough destruction, enough war, enough bloodshed, the words of Lebanon's Prime Minister calling for a Gaza ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war. But, there is no end in sight.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

That massive fireball was part of new Israeli strikes from southern Beirut. At least one person was killed. Lebanon's National News Agency says that six buildings were destroyed in what it calls the most violent strikes in the area since the war began. Hezbollah also escalating attacks. Israel says that dozens of rockets were fired from Lebanon today, injuring at least four people in Nahariyya. And in Gaza, hospital officials say that an Israeli strike on a school where families were sheltering has killed at least 17 people, mostly children and the elderly. Israel says that it struck, quote, "Hamas terrorists."

And U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken just wrapped up a Mideast tour to push a diplomatic resolution to the wars, but so far, we've only heard talk about more talks to come. Blinken met with top officials in Qatar today after meetings in Saudi Arabia and Israel, and he says that there is an opportunity to resume stall negotiations after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We talked about options to capitalize on this moment and next steps to move the process forward, and I anticipate that our negotiators will be getting together in the coming days. This is a moment to work to end this war, to bring -- make sure all the hostages are home, and to build a better future for people in Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Blinken is now heading for London, where he is expected to have further meetings with Arab allies.

Let's get more now from Jeremy Diamond, who is live in Tel Aviv, and Kylie Atwood, who is at the U.S. State Department.

Jeremy, let me start with you. What more can you share with us about the strike on the residential complex in Beirut?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, it appears that, according to Lebanese state news agency, six residential buildings were flattened in strikes overnight in the Lebanese capital.

[11:25:00]

Most of those were focused on the southern suburbs known as the Dahiya. At least one person was killed and five others were injured. And the images that we saw of these strikes were quite stunning. Fireballs lighting up the night sky in Beirut. And what was also interesting is that you could see what appeared to be potentially secondary explosions, indicating the presence, potentially, of munitions in those areas. The Israeli military did indeed direct civilians to evacuate from the areas where they conducted these strikes overnight. We know, of course, that sometimes those warnings come with very little warning before the actual strike then carries out.

But, it does come as the German Foreign Minister, who was in Lebanon today, accused Hezbollah of using civilians, she said, as human shields, quote, "irresponsibly hiding behind civilians", arguing, in her view, that Israel has a right to go after Hezbollah. But, we are seeing, of course, not only in Beirut, but also in Gaza, how Israel's strikes and its military activities are driving a rising cost on civilians in the Gaza Strip. We saw another strike in central Gaza that killed some 17 people, injured 42 others. According to Palestinian health officials, the majority of those, according to Al- Awda Hospital, were indeed children. The Israeli military, in that case, claiming that Hamas was using that school, now shelter for displaced people, as a command and control center. Rahel.

SOLOMON: OK. Jeremy Diamond live for us there in Tel Aviv. Jeremy, thank you.

Now, let's get over to Kylie Atwood, who is at the State Department. Kylie, what did Blinken achieve on this trip, if anything?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's very clear that he set out on this trip to try and create some momentum to bring about what the U.S. has said is an opportunity at this moment in time, following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, to try and drive forth an end to the conflict in Gaza, and of course, the release of all the hostages that are there. It's unclear exactly if he has been able to actually create that momentum in an effective way.

One of the things that he just said in a press conference in Doha was that there will be conversations in the coming days with negotiators in the region, but that is potentially a point of hope for the United States who is trying to get back to conversations to drive forth an end to this conflict. However, the efficacy, how effective those conversations will actually be, is a bit of a question mark, because he was unable to say if Hamas would be at the table. Presumably, those who speak for -- speak with Hamas regularly in the region, the Egyptians and the Qataris, would potentially be there. But, unless you have all of the negotiators at the table, it's hard to see how a meeting like that would actually create momentum towards the end that the United States wants to see.

And the other point is that he said in his conversations with his Israeli counterparts, including with Prime Minister Netanyahu and also with Qatari officials, that they spoke about new potential frameworks to try and secure the release of those hostages still in Gaza, even after Yahya Sinwar's death. But, what's unclear at this point is what specific framework they are going to decide on and drive forth to really get all the negotiators on the same page and get them to a yes on.

So, you have all of these questions that continue to pop up, not the least of which is that you hear from Qatari officials who have been in touch with Hamas, they really don't know who is going to be the lead negotiator, the lead decision maker, I should say, for Hamas in Gaza. So, even though the Secretary of State is trying to drive this momentum, it's unclear if that has been authentically created on this trip. We'll have to watch and see what happens over the course of the next few days here.

SOLOMON: Of course, the sort of looming over this trip is the fact that we have this election in just a few weeks. And -- I mean, obviously, who knows who will be in the White House come January.

Kylie, talk to us a little bit about how this trip was perceived by those in the region, and just sort of the question about, can the U.S. really help here in terms of de-escalation? ATWOOD: Well, I think your point about the U.S. election being less

than two weeks away very much influences how regional partners, regional allies of the U.S. feel about the Secretary of State being there. Of course, they welcomed the fact that the United States has been continually working on this tragic series of conflicts that have only grown worse in the Middle East. At the same time, they recognize that there is likely very little that can happen between now and the U.S. presidential elections, as many of the players here are going to watch and see what happens in those elections.

[11:30:00]

So, I think they welcome the Secretary of State. They have met with him multiple times. But, you also have to understand that there are the presidential elections. And then the other backdrop here is that a lot of these world leaders have actually been spending part of the week in Russia for the BRICS summit, meeting with Vladimir Putin, of all people. And so, there is a complexity to this visit that hasn't existed on all the other visits that the Secretary of State has had.

SOLOMON: Certainly. Kylie Atwood live for us here in Washington. Thank you.

As Kylie just alluded to there, the world leader who started one war is calling for the end of conflicts in the Middle East. We're going to have more of Vladimir Putin's comments at the Russian-hosted BRICS summit just ahead. Plus, the U.S. confirms that thousands of North Korean troops are in Russia. But, what will they be doing? The question has much of the West on edge.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLOMON: Welcome back. You are watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. And here are from the international headlines we're watching for you today.

The controversial issue of reparations for Britain's past transatlantic slave trade is expected to come up at the Commonwealth summit in Samoa. Britain's King Charles and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer are attending the gathering of 56 member states. Diplomats are reportedly preparing to debate the issue. Britain enslaved more than three million Africans, transporting them to colonies around the world, according to a government-funded organization. One estimate last year put the price of reparations at $24 trillion.

The Turkish military carried out airstrikes on 32 targets in Iraq and Syria. The strikes are in response to Wednesday's deadly attack on the state-run aerospace company in Turkey's capital. According to Turkey's Interior Minister, the man and woman who carried out the attack were members of the Kurdish PKK group. They were later killed by Turkish security forces. And as of now, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack that left five people dead.

And Russian President Vladimir Putin is talking peace today, just not in Ukraine. You can see him here. Speaking to reporters at the BRICS summit happening right now, he told his fellow leaders that the wars raging in Gaza and Lebanon must stop. Putin also called for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. The war in Ukraine, which Putin launched, also came up. Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a political settlement through mediation involving his country and Brazil. More than 20 world leaders attended the summit in Russia, and it's aimed as a counterpoint to Western influence.

Marc Stewart has more.

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MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At a time when the West is trying to isolate Vladimir Putin, the BRICS summit that we've been watching in Russia shows that he has supporters who are coming to his home turf in the midst of the Ukraine war.

[11:35:00]

Among the many events on Thursday, an address by the UN Secretary- General Antonio Guterres. His invite to the BRICS summit drew criticism from Ukraine's government. Its foreign ministry posted the statement in X, reading, "The UN Secretary General declined Ukraine's invitation to the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. He did, however, accept the invitation to Kazan for more criminal Putin. This is a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace. It only damages the UN's reputation." Broadly speaking, a UN spokesperson said this visit comes after last year's BRICS gathering in South Africa, adding it is standard to attend meetings where there are large numbers of important member states like G7 and G20.

Guterres did address the war in Ukraine and the violence in the Middle East, but the remarks, very general. Let's listen.

ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: We need peace in Gaza with an immediate ceasefire. We need peace in Lebanon with an immediate cessation of hostilities, moving to the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. We need peace in Ukraine, just peace in line with UN Charter, international law, and General Assembly resolutions.

STEWART: A big part of this gathering was for Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to promote a message that there are other world views besides the United States and its allies. Putin has touted BRICS as part of a, quote, "new world order", but denies it is an anti-Western alliance. Marc Stewart, CNN, Beijing.

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SOLOMON: And the U.S confirms at least 3,000 North Korean troops are inside of Russia. It's fueling concerns of a potential escalation of the war with Ukraine. North Korea and Russia have forged increasingly friendly ties since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago. The White House says that Pyongyang deployed the soldiers to eastern Russia earlier this month for training at several military sites. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We are seeing evidence that there are North Korean troops that have gone to Africa. Now, what exactly -- excuse me, not Africa, but Russia, what exactly they're doing? It's left to be seen. These are things that we need to sort out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: OK. Let's bring in CNN's National Security Correspondent Natasha Bertrand, who has the latest from the Pentagon. So, Natasha, what more do we know at this stage?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, the White House said yesterday that they do believe at this point that 3,000 North Korean troops have traveled from North Korea to eastern Russia, to Vladivostok, specifically to basically train with the Russian military, that they have been at training camps there. And it remains unclear at this point what they're going to do. Are they going to be shipped off to western Russia and then go down into Ukraine to actually become co-belligerents in this conflict? That is not yet clear. But, it seems inevitable to many officials that we have spoken to that, given that the North Korean troops are in Russia, they are likely to be helping the Russians in some capacity with the war in Ukraine.

And so, the big concern now, of course, is that the North Koreans do funnel additional troops into Ukraine to help Russia, because the Ukrainians right now are suffering a serious manpower shortage on the frontlines. They have struggled in their recruitment and forced regeneration, according to Secretary Austin in remarks he gave us earlier this week when we were traveling with him.

And so, if Moscow is able to increase the number of forces that it is using inside Ukraine, using North Korean troops, when it is already able to conscript around 30,000 personnel per month to fight in the war in Ukraine, then that gives the Russians a serious advantage over the Ukrainians. That is deeply concerning. And so, that is the big worry now that this is going to be even more of a North Korean involvement in Ukraine than what we have seen just with, of course, North Korea's many shipments of ammunition and weapons that they've provided to the Russians, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yeah. And Natasha, say more about that. I mean, based on what we know, I mean, militarily, how much of an advantage and how much of a game changer, at least, could that be for Russia? I mean, what are you hearing?

BERTRAND: Well, the Ukrainians right now are already someone on the back foot, particularly in eastern Ukraine, of course, on the frontlines with the Russians. The Russians do maintain a significant advantage when it comes to manpower as well as munitions. The Russians are pumping out roughly three million missiles per year, munitions per year that they are being able to use, of course, against the Ukrainians, whereas the West collectively, NATO collectively, can't even produce two million a year.

And so, you can see that this is deeply concerning to U.S. officials who are trying, at this point, to figure out a way to ramp up production faster, get it to the Ukrainians faster, figure out the manpower issue.

[11:40:00]

But, the North Koreans have the Iranians and -- the Russians have the Iranians and the North Koreans on their side right now, and they're simply funneling equipment. And now we see manpower to the Russians really faster than the West can keep up here. So, it's really concerning at this point, especially heading into the brutal winter months, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yeah. OK. Natasha Bertrand live for us at the Pentagon. Natasha, thank you.

And coming up, the big election giveaway from Elon Musk seems to have come to an end. His super PAC did not announce the winner of its daily million dollar handout on Wednesday. We'll find out why. Plus, a tech company investigation reveals startling information about artificial intelligence and crimes. We'll tell you what they discovered, coming up next.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. A warning from the Justice Department after a handful of voters get a million dollars from Elon Musk. The DoJ says that the lottery might actually violate federal law. It's only open to registered voters in U.S. swing states who sign a petition for Musk supporting the Constitution. The tech billionaire and Trump supporter has named a winner every day since Saturday, but now the giveaway seems to have stopped.

Let's bring in CNN's Marshall Cohen, who joins us from Washington. Marshall, do we know why they didn't announce a winner yesterday? What are you hearing?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Hey, Rahel. We don't know the answer to that. We want to know, but they haven't said anything. Every day since Saturday, they've been announcing these winners on their social media page and on their website, but nothing to see there in terms of an announcement. I was up pretty much until midnight last night to see if anything would come through, and they have not yet announced a winner for Wednesday for their quote, unquote, "daily lottery".

SOLOMON: OK. Keep us posted on that. In the meantime, sort of contextualize for us, the DoJ sending that letter. How serious is that? Is that a big deal? Is that a slap on the wrist? Put that in context for us.

COHEN: It's pretty notable, Rahel. This is the next logical step. Musk announced this sweepstakes over the weekend, and the Justice Department, clearly people inside DoJ, took notice of it and decided to take action just within a couple days by sending this letter. People familiar with the matter told CNN that this letter, which is a routine letter, whenever things like this do pop up, it's routine, but it is notable because it contained a warning that this sweepstakes might violate federal law. As you mentioned, you need to be registered in order to win the money, and it's actually a crime under federal law to induce or incentivize people to register by offering them cash or prizes.

SOLOMON: What is Elon Musk saying, if anything, about this?

COHEN: Well, he is a very regular poster on his X platform, formerly known as Twitter, posting all the time, promoting Donald Trump, spreading conspiracy theories about elections. He has not specifically reacted to the claims of potential illegality here.

[11:45:00]

He has condemned folks like Governor Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania for speaking out against this sweepstakes, and he has also made clear that you don't need to vote for Trump to win the money. You just have to sign the petition. But, like I said, Rahel, in order to sign, you have to be a registered voter, and that might be the core of the legal problem.

SOLOMON: OK. Keep us posted. Marshall Cohen, good to see you. Thank you.

COHEN: You bet. Thanks.

SOLOMON: All right. A new report from a tech company finds artificial intelligence can be tricked into giving advice on how to commit crimes. A Norwegian firm, Strise, says that it duped ChatGPT into providing details on money laundering and the export of weapons. The company's CEO said that the AI app is like, quote, "having a corrupt financial advisor on your desktop".

Let's bring in Clare Duffy, who joins us from the New York bureau, to explain sort of how this all went down, Clare.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yeah. Rahel, this is a firm that helps banks avoid evading sanctions and mitigate other risks, and they ran this experiment where they asked ChatGPT for information about committing certain financial crimes, and what they found is that ChatGPT would provide advice about things like how to evade financial sanctions, how to launder money across borders, how to conduct cross- border illegal arms sales.

And I just want to draw attention to that quote that you mentioned in the intro from the CEO of this company, because I think it's really striking. She said, "It's like having a corrupt financial advisor on your desktop", and that's what's so troubling about this. We know how powerful ChatGPT is, for all of us. It has so much information on nearly anything that you could ask that it puts right at our fingertips, but that also means that the tool can be misused by bad actors, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yeah. I mean, how easy, Clare, would it be for someone to recreate what they did here? Are these findings an outlier, or does it seem like anyone could figure it out?

DUFFY: Yeah. It does seem like you have to be at least a somewhat sophisticated user of ChatGPT in order to get it to do something like this. The company that ran this experiment did say that it sort of manipulated the tool by taking on a persona while talking to ChatGPT or asking the questions indirectly. We also wanted to test this out. So, CNN asked ChatGPT, how can I, as the owner of a U.S.-based export business, evade sanctions against Russia? And ChatGPT responded, I can't assist with that. So, it seems like at least, if you're just asking it directly, it knows that that violates its rules.

And I will say that when we asked OpenAI, which is the maker of ChatGPT, about this, they said that they're working to make it harder for people to manipulate the tool to get around these roles.

SOLOMON: OK. Clare Duffy, really interesting. Thank you.

And the New York Liberty is celebrating in the streets of Manhattan.

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The team and their fans joyous and celebrating after their historic WNBA championship win. Our Coy Wire is up next with all the details.

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[11:50:00]

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SOLOMON: And before we go, one more thing.

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Jay-Z playing in the background. Very fitting there. Moments ago, the New York Liberty celebrated their WNBA championship win with a parade through Manhattan, going down the Canyon of Heroes. The team is being honored at City Hall a few minutes from now. Later tonight, they're going to join fans for celebration at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

CNN's Coy Wire joins me from Atlanta. Coy, always good to see you. It's been a minute. What a win, not just for Liberty, but now also for New York with this parade.

COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah. I heard there was a party, and Rahel wanted to talk about. So, let's go. How awesome is this for the Liberty, incredible season. This is the first ticker-tape parade in New York City in years, Liberty's first ever WNBA title, a game five overtime win over Minnesota. Liberty dominated the season from beginning to end, Rahel. It became the first team in league history with back-to-back 30 plus win seasons. There have been more than 200 ticker-tape parades in New York City. The most recent in 2021, honoring the essential workers and first responders after the COVID-19 pandemic. This will be just the third time the honor is bestowed upon a women's sports team. The most recent was -- for any sports team was in 2019. That was celebrating the U.S. women's soccer team who won the World Cup.

Now, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert of the WNBA, she said that the finals marked the culmination of the most transformational year in the WNBA's history. The clinching game was the most viewed finals game in 25 years, 2.2 million viewers. And Rahel, that was going up against a playoff baseball game in NFL Sunday Night Football. This was the most viewed WNBA regular season ever, averaging over a million viewers. Attendance was up 48 percent league-wide. Merchandise sales, 601 percent increase at the WNBA store, and the league, of course, Rahel, ended a new media rights deal that will be worth more than $2 billion over the next 11 years.

So, pretty interesting stuff to think about. This was so much more than just celebrating a game or a series or one championship. It was kind of like the culmination of this growth and boom of the WNBA for women's sports in general.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Coy, talk to me a little bit about that, and less necessarily, just about the historic major of today, but just this year in general. I mean, the WNBA, some would say, certainly supporters would say, finally getting some of the recognition it has long deserved.

WIRE: Yeah. You hear many former players talking about how the league has always been awesome, right, and many saying that it's because of Caitlin Clark, this transformative figure, a LeBron, Steph Curry, like a Tiger Woods or Serena type of figure who came along and is just must see TV or must see in person. And that was kind of the impetus to bring more eyeballs to the sport, and you had this excitement building around the league. But, it wasn't just her games, right? And we talked about -- she was not playing in these WNBA finals, and here they were breaking viewership records.

So, it's really a special time for WNBA, but also for women's sports in general. I mean, this started several years ago with the women's soccer team and many before that, who fought for these opportunities and these big moments to be celebrated and appreciated for what so many people thought that they deserve.

SOLOMON: Yeah.

WIRE: And so, it's incredible to see. And hey, lots of confetti today, lots of champagne today, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yes. Yes.

WIRE: It's unfortunate they didn't send us there to be on the ground because --

SOLOMON: Because I --

WIRE: -- we have to take the viewers there.

SOLOMON: -- because I know, Coy, you would embrace the assignment, always the professional, you would embrace the assignment. Before I let you go, have you ever been in one of these parades? I'm from Philly. So, we've had a few. I'm not going to brag up here. We've had a few parades --

WIRE: Yes.

SOLOMON: -- over the last decade or so. But, what's it like?

WIRE: I will see you in the Kelly Green today. Super Bowl champion Eagles there. I've been in the Rose Bowl parade. When I was at Stanford, I was able to go, and it is just -- you feel like you're on top of the world. I mean, everyone feels like this has all been worth it, all the pain, all the agony, all the blood, sweat, tears, all the heartache and the disappointment, and you persevered with a group of people you love, like they're your sister or your brother, and it's just an awesome moment.

[11:55:00]

So, seeing John Quail Jones here in the finals, WNBA, MVP, raising that trophy, I mean, that is an incredible moment for her and her entire squad.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Really beautiful. And we sort of came into Alicia Keys and Jay-Z, that remake of New York --

WIRE: Yeah.

SOLOMON: -- but just really -- just a great day, obviously for the team, but obviously also for the city.

And Coy Wire, a great day, because I got to see you again, my friend.

WIRE: Yeah. My PA girl.

SOLOMON: It has been a long time. Come back again.

WIRE: Good to see you.

SOLOMON: Good to see you, Coy. Thank you. And good to have you as well.

We know your time is money. So, thank you for spending some time with me. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. Stick with CNN. One World is coming up next.

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