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Racing To The Finish Line; Former First Lady On The Trail; Iran Mulls Its Response. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired October 27, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

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[03:00:00]

ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: And a very warm welcome to our viewers watching from all around the world. I'm Paula Newton in New York.

Ahead right here on CNN Newsroom, racing to the finish line, neck-and- neck. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris hit battleground states with their closing arguments.

More star power on the Harris side. Former First Lady Michelle Obama gives a fiery speech for Harris on the trail.

And Iran promises a response to Israel's retaliatory strikes. But the question remains, just what will that look like?

So, with nine days to go until the U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are making their final pitches to American voters. Early voting already in full swing. More than 36 million voters in the United States have cast their ballots in the race so far.

Meantime, Michelle Obama brought star power to the campaign trail in Michigan Saturday when the former first lady rallied for Harris.

And before heading to Pennsylvania, Trump too was in Michigan. He tried to woo Arab and Muslim voters and invited several Muslim leaders on stage during his rally.

Our reporters are covering the battleground states with CNN's Danny Freeman, following Donald Trump. But first world leader, we go to Eva McKend, who is in Michigan, with the latest on Kamala Harris.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Harris focused on the pillars of her closing argument, asking Michigan voters to take advantage of early in-person voting that started in the state this weekend. She talked about the former president's enemies list, contrasting that with her to-do list for the American people. She argued that Trump, in a second term, would operate with no guardrails and reminded voters about his calls to terminate the Constitution. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This is going to be a tight race until the very end, so we have a lot of work to do.

But we like hard work. Hard work is good work. Hard work is joyful work. And make no mistake, we will win. We will win. We will win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: It was the first time that we saw Vice President Harris on stage with former First Lady Michelle Obama, who argued that this race should not even be close, and asked supporters to do something, not look at the polls, but instead do all that they could to support the vice president.

She also asked women to lean on the men in their lives on this issue of reproductive rights, arguing that they have every right to be angry at people that, in her words, assault their sense of safety.

Eva McKend, CNN, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think the best way to characterize the early part of this weekend is that the campaign of former president Donald Trump is all about reaching out to young male voters, specifically perhaps young men who might not be as plugged into the news or who might not otherwise be as likely to vote.

This event here on Saturday evening was in State College Pennsylvania on the campus of Penn State. The former president spoke for about an hour and 20 minutes, and there was much of his normal Pennsylvania type speech. He spoke about fracking. He bashed Vice President Harris and the Biden administration on their handling of immigration. He also actually at one point made fun of Vice President Kamala Harris and her rally with Beyonce on Friday night, saying that Harris can't draw a crowd on her own and making fun of Beyonce, the superstar, because she did not sing.

But when I mean that the campaign has been reaching out specifically to young men, part of the theme of this particular event at State College was all about focusing on the Penn State wrestling team. The former president admiring the members of the wrestling team's muscles, at one point bringing them up on stage. Take a listen to what he had to say.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Just like your wrestling team dreams big, you know, where the hell are they? Where are they? I hear that team is brutal out there, I can tell. It's easy to tell, I could pick every one of them.

Jim Jordan told me about you guys, you know. Jim Jordan, he told me about, look at the muscles all over the place. You better get ready, because they're going to bring you up here in a little while. So, you guys better get ready. You guys better get ready. Maybe I'll wrestle one of them or two of them. (END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:05:00]

FREEMAN: Now I should say the crowd loved this part, even if the crowd did start to winnow out towards the end of his speech.

Now, I also mentioned that this is really the through line of the early part of the weekend, because this comes on the heels of his three-hour interview with podcaster Joe Rogan that took place on Friday in Texas. That interview was meandering, it was freewheeling, but, again, it speaks to the to the campaign's effort to try and reach out to these younger male voters who perhaps wouldn't be encouraged to vote otherwise.

Now, on Sunday, former President Trump is not going to be in any of these battleground states. Instead, he's going to be in New York City in the evening for a rally at Madison Square Garden.

Danny Freeman, CNN, State College, Pennsylvania.

NEWTON: Joining us now from Colchester, England, is Natasha Lindstaedt. She is a professor of government at the University of Essex. It's really good to see you.

As we try and figure out this campaign in the waning days, you know, Trump, we just saw him there, he's looking confident and continues to bank on the fact that people who don't normally vote will cast a vote this time for him. We just saw him there at Penn State. He's really spending a lot of time on those college campuses. And yet you and I both know young voters notoriously difficult to motivate them to go to the polls. What do you think of his latest strategy here?

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Well, I think the campaign is realizing that one of the groups that Trump is doing the best with is actually young white males and just young males in general. These are young men under the age of 30. In fact, The New York Times had reported that the group of people that had voted for Biden were the most likely to defect and vote for Trump were young men under 30, who also happened to be people that listened to Joe Rogan.

And so he has a 21-point lead with young men under 30. On the other side, Harris has room for optimism because there's a huge divide, a huge gender divide, and that she has a 39-point lead with young women under 30. Young women are probably the most progressive group, and women are more likely to vote than men, generally speaking, by about three to four points if we look at the last 30 years or so.

But Trump's team is sensing that this is an opportunity here, that young men are disgruntled. They've been struggling more. They're less likely to be employed than young women are. They have higher rates of suicide and they're trying to target this particular demographic with, you know, the recent campaign stop focusing on things that, you know, these young men might find attractive and appealing. NEWTON: Yes. And given the fact it was in Pennsylvania, as we keep talking about, it doesn't take many votes there to swing it in one candidate's favor or the other.

I do want to talk about this gender gap in a moment, but before I get there, I'm just curious, we haven't spoken about this much, but the election is close now. The possibility of a second Trump term, how is that being received in Britain and Europe?

LINDSTAEDT: I think, generally speaking, a second Trump term is something that absolutely terrifies European allies the U.K. across Europe. And, of course, there is the concerns about what Trump could do to NATO. I know that Congress has, of course, tried to Trump-proof NATO to ensure that the U.S. can't just leave NATO, but the U.S. provides a lot of funding for NATO. It is a guarantor of European security. And there are concerns what will happen if Trump is in power. Will he basically just give Vladimir Putin free rein to do whatever he wants to, to NATO countries that don't pay up?

There are also concerns about his policies on -- his economic policies that he's going to employ all these tariffs that are going to deteriorate some of these economic relationships. And, of course, there's concerns about what he could do to other international organizations, like the World Health Organization. He's threatened to leave last time. He notably left the Paris Climate Accords, over 100 environmental regulations were rolled back under Trump. We'll see more of that with a Trump term, and this is really important for there to be collaborative action fighting climate change. So, there are great fears about a Trump term.

NEWTON: Yes. I just thought it was important to ask at this point given the attention that some of his policies pronouncements, as you just pointed out, are getting.

Michelle Obama, a singular and resonant voice in the Democratic Party, we just saw her there rallying with Harris on Saturday. She bluntly and urgently took on the apparent male rage you and I were just discussing that is fueling the Trump campaign. Listen.

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MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER U.S. FIRST LADY: It is reasonable to be frustrated. We all know we have a lot more work to do in this country. But to anyone out there thinking about sitting out this election or voting for Donald Trump or a third party candidate in protest because you're fed up, let me warn you, your rage does not exist in a vacuum. If we don't get this election right, your wife, your daughter, your mother, we as women will become collateral damage to your rage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Collateral damage to your rage. I mean, she did not mince words there And yet, do you believe that will convince any man who does not believe a woman president will act in his best interest right now? LINDSTAEDT: That is a great question and we've been trying to tackle and try to figure out what is the role of gender in this particular election. Why are so many white men, in particular, but males in general gravitating towards Trump while more women are gravitating towards Harris? In fact, Harris is actually doing better with white women. White women was one of the big groups that supported Trump in 2016 and 2020. He won over white women by seven points. Right now, he's winning by only one point.

So, I think a lot of these messages are really resonating with women and the extent to which they can resonate with men. It's going to be difficult to see. We do know that actually about two-thirds of men support the right for a woman to have an abortion, support the right to choose, support reproductive rights. So, I think it is an important issue for both genders that the question is, how important is it? Is it more important than the economy? Many people that want to vote for Trump are saying, well, I'm voting for Trump because my groceries were cheaper when he was in power, I was doing a little bit better when he was in power.

And they are putting this top of their agenda over other issues that actually are more key to our just fundamental human rights. We're going to see maternal death rates continue to rise in a country as developed as the U.S. And this is unheard of, but these are important issues that the Democrats need to strike home.

NEWTON: They really are and they aren't issues that only affect women, as you rightly point out. Natasha Lindstaedt, we will leave it there for now. Thanks so much.

LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.

NEWTON: Now, turmoil at The Washington Post after the paper announced it would not endorse a presidential candidate. Owner Jeff Bezos is not commenting on reports that he squashed an endorsement for Kamala Harris, which had already been drafted by the editorial board.

CNN Media Correspondent Hadas Gold has the latest.

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Washington Post Owner Jeff Bezos has so far remained silent on the drama that's caused turmoil within the newspaper after The Washington Post chose not to endorse any presidential candidate just days before the 2024 election. A source told close to the matter telling CNN that there had been endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris in the works, but The Washington Post itself reporting that it was ultimately spiked by owner Jeff Bezos.

Now, some of the biggest names, both current and former, in The Washington Post are speaking out about this. Former Editor Marty Baron, who led the paper under Bezos during the first Trump administration, coming out swinging against his former boss, calling the decision not to run and an endorsement cowardly. He also said that the explanation given that readers should make their own choice laughable given the timing. Take a listen to what he had to say to CNN's Michael Smerconish.

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MARTY BARON, FORMER EXECUTIVE EDITOR, THE WASHINGTON POST: Look the fact is, is that Bezos has other commercial interests, as we know. He obviously founded Amazon, has a huge, big stake in Amazon. He has a space company called Blue Origin. Trump has threatened to pursue his political enemies and he rewards his friends and he punishes his perceived political enemies. And I think there's no other explanation for what's happening right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLD: Washington Post Publisher Will Lewis pushing back on the idea that Jeff Bezos was intimately involved in nixing the endorsement, saying Jeff Bezos was not sent, did not read, did not opine on any draft. As Publisher Lewis says, I do not believe in presidential endorsements. We're an independent newspaper and to support our readers' ability to make up their own minds.

But Washington Post journalist who I have spoken to said that while not all of them mind with the idea of not endorsing any candidate, they do question the timing of all this, saying that it landed like a bomb in the newsroom and saying that it puts them in a very uncomfortable position.

They pointed out that the Trump campaign has already pounced on this non-endorsement and they also pointed to the awkward timing of the fact that on Friday, the same day that The Washington Post announced that they would not be endorsing any candidate, executives is from Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, a space company, met with former President Donald Trump. And, in fact, a Donald Trump's spokesperson reposted a picture of that meeting with heart emojis, as The Washington Post staffer commented on the timing of all of that happened.

[03:15:00]

Another Trump adviser writing on X saying, you know, that's all you need to know is the fact that even The Washington Post won't endorse Vice President Kamala Harris. Other really major, big stars from the Washington Post, including Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame, coming out against this, questioning the timing, saying that it's a problem for American democracy if The Washington Post cannot come out and endorse a candidate, especially with the specter of what former President Donald Trump has said he will do to the press.

And then within The Washington Post itself, columnists, a group of columnists, also put out their own letter condemning this decision. And then there is the business side of this. And that's the fact that The Washington Post is losing subscribers as a result of this. A source telling our colleague, Brian Stelter, that thousands of subscribers have now canceled their subscription to The Washington Post as a result of this non-endorsement.

Hadas Gold, CNN, New York.

NEWTON: Now, meantime, the daughter of the Los Angeles Times owner says she and her father decided that the paper would not endorse Harris. Nika Soon-Shiong said the decision was motivated by Harris support for Israel in its conflict with Hamas in Gaza. But she has no official role at the paper and has been accused before of meddling in its coverage.

Billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong later said his daughter was not involved in the decision. Three members of the Times editorial board resigned amid the controversy and away, but outraged readers have now canceled their subscriptions.

Harris and President Joe Biden are hoping that Israel's strike on Iran Saturday will not escalate the crisis in the Middle East.

CNN's Julia Benbrook has the story from Washington.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The White House is calling for calm and de escalation following Israel's retaliatory strikes against Iran. Officials have made it clear that the United States was not directly involved in the strikes, but had been consulting closely with Israel. A senior administration official said that President Joe Biden had encouraged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to design an attack that would deter future attacks against Israel.

And for weeks now, the United States had been urging Netanyahu to exercise restraint and avoid striking Iran's nuclear and oil assets by refraining from attacking those nuclear and oil sites. Israel potentially left open an opportunity for de-escalation.

On Saturday, both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were on a call with their national security team and expressed hope as they called on Iran to cease attacks and end this cycle of fighting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: I was on with the intelligence community for the last half hour, I think half hour. It looks like they didn't hit anything other than military targets. My hope is this is the end.

HARRIS: We maintain the importance of supporting Israel's right to defend itself. And we are also very adamant that we must see de- escalation in the region going forward. And that will be our focus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: In a statement after that security call, the White House said that Biden directed that every effort be taken to protect our forces and help defend Israel against any potential responses from Iran and its proxies. Biden has been intensely focused on foreign relations and peace in the Middle East in these final months of his presidency. And this conflict has loomed large over Harris on the campaign trail with just over a week until Election Day. Both the White House team and the campaign team would no doubt be relieved to avoid further escalation.

Julia Benbrook, CNN, Washington. NEWTON: Israel is keeping a tight lid on detailed results from its airstrikes on Iran. Meanwhile, Iranian officials say they are ready to respond. The big question is how.

CNN Jerusalem Correspondent Jeremy Diamond has that part of the story.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, over the course of about four hours early Saturday morning, dozens of Israeli military aircraft carried out strikes inside of Iran. The Israeli military saying that these were purely military targets, no oil or nuclear energy sites were targeted, something that had previously been considered by the Israeli government.

Instead, I'm told that these were missile manufacturing facilities, as well as air defense systems that were the primary targets of these three waves, I'm told, of Israeli strikes inside of Iran, including around the Iranian capital of Tehran. One Israeli official telling me that multiple S-300 air defense batteries that were located in strategic locations inside of Iran were struck by the Israeli military, and this Israeli official told me they believe this will directly translate into giving the Israeli Air Force more freedom to maneuver over Iranian skies should they choose to carry out additional strikes.

[03:20:05]

For the time being, there is no indication that there will be additional strikes unless Iran retaliates, and unless, in particular, if Iran retaliates in an escalatory manner.

That is not the indication as of now. Iran appears inclined, for the time being at least, to downplay the nature of these Israeli strikes, insisting that there was little damage that was actually caused, even as they acknowledged that four Iranian military personnel were killed in these strikes.

And from the Israeli government's perspective, there also seems to be, at least from a public posture standpoint, a desire to provide limited information about exactly the extent of the damage that was caused by these strikes. And that's an intentional strategy, I'm told, by a source familiar with the Israeli government's thinking to give Iran a little bit of leeway here, an ability to manage the fallout of this in a way that they don't feel cornered into retaliating. And that's because the Israeli government believes they were able to demonstrate through these strikes directly to Iran, the capabilities of their military and their intelligence system to hit significant targets deep inside of their country. But now, the public posture is a different one.

The question, of course, becomes what will Iran actually choose to do? On the one hand, they risk looking weak to hardliners inside of Iran, to their proxies and allies in the region, if they don't retaliate for this strike. But on the other hand, Iran is already economically facing difficulties and certainly has indicated in the past that it doesn't want to be drawn into an all-out war with Israel. And so it may choose to avoid any kind of retaliation that could escalate the situation further.

But, certainly, it doesn't seem like Iran has yet made a final decision on that. But for the time being, we have seen them kind of play down these strikes so far.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

NEWTON: Meantime, Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks are scheduled to take place today. Negotiators are meeting for the first time in more than two months. CIA Director Bill Burns and Mossad Chief David Barnea will be among them. U.S. officials have pressed for renewed momentum in the talks after the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Officials tell CNN that there is little expectation of a breakthrough before the U.S. presidential election.

Gaza officials say an Israeli strike on a residential block in the north of the strip Saturday has killed and wounded dozens of people. Israel's military claims the numbers published by the media are exaggerated, saying its Air Force carried out a, quote, precision strike on Hamas in the area of Beit Lahiya. Now, Israel still prevents western media from working in Gaza, and so CNN is unable to independently verify the claim.

Okay, a pivotal election in a former Soviet republic. Still ahead, the controversial and early results from an election in Georgia, we will tell you what the opposition parties are doing.

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[03:25:00]

NEWTON: And welcome back. Controversy in the Republic of Georgia after Saturday's parliamentary elections, the ruling Dream Party and its billionaire founder have claimed victory. The country's pro-European opposition rejected the results, calling it, quote, a constitutional coup. 70 percent of precincts have been counted in early results of that.

The ruling party won 53 percent of the vote. The election is seen as a choice for Georgia between a future link to the West and further alignment with Russia.

Japanese voters are casting ballots right now in an important test for the new prime minister. Shigeru Ishiba called the snap election immediately after winning the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party. Voters will decide who fills the 465 seat House of Representatives, Japan's lower house of parliament.

The 67-year-old Prime Minister wants a public mandate after one of the country's biggest political scandals. Some lawmakers have been accused of taking kickbacks or failing to properly declare income.

Russian forces have targeted residential buildings in a major hospital in South Central Ukraine, killing at least five people. One of the victims is a child. Russian missiles slammed into the city of Dnipro overnight, Saturday, leading to a terrifying and sleepless night, according to the city's mayor. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the hospital hit one of the country's most important, and it's being used to treat injured soldiers. At least 21 people were wounded in that attack.

We go now to a tragedy in the United States. One family escaped Russia's full scale war in Ukraine to live with relatives in the state of North Carolina. They thought they had found safety and security in their new home until Hurricane Helene wiped it all away.

Gary Tuchman has the story from Asheville, North Carolina.

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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Hurricane Helene demolished the North Carolina home of Anna Wiebe, her husband and two sons. But it's what happened here about a mile away on this now empty lot that has shattered her.

ANNA WIEBE, RELATIVE OF HURRICANE VICTIMS: I'm trying to stay strong for my family because I have to.

TUCHMAN: Anna moved to the United States from Ukraine 25 years ago, seeking better opportunities. But two years ago, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, her mother, Tatiana (ph), her sister, Anastasia (ph), Anastasia's husband, Dimitro (ph), and their 13 year old son, Yevheny (ph), all fled war torn Ukraine and settled here in what was peaceful and quiet Yancey County, North Carolina. In this home, a ten- minute walk away from Anna and her family, a home which no longer exists on the empty lot.

All four were home as Hurricane Helene ravaged Western North Carolina. They were swept away. The bodies, a wife and husband, found about two weeks later, miles away from where the house was. Son and grandmother are still missing to this day.

For Anna, her husband, Ryan, and their sons, it doesn't feel real.

A. WIEBE: I'm just still in disbelief and heartbroken.

[03:30:01]

I'm still thinking maybe I will wake up from this dream and everything will be back how it was.

TUCHMAN: This video was shot by Anna's husband as the nearby river started rapidly rising. They realized they needed to evacuate, but by then cell phones and electricity were no longer working. All four of them frantically trying to get to the home of the relatives.

RYAN WIEBE, RELATIVE OF HURRICANE VICTIMS: Trees are down and we had to walk halfway to get through. I have no shoes on going through the woods. And we get down to the location of, we think, where it was and it was just hundreds of yards wide of water.

TUCHMAN: Their house was gone?

R. WIEBE: Gone.

TUCHMAN: Anna knows her missing mother and nephew are presumed dead, but --

A. WIEBE: I still have hope, just because unless I've been proven wrong, I will be still hoping the miracle could happen. Maybe my nephew still survives somewhere and we just don't know where he is.

TUCHMAN: The South Toe River is now its tranquil self. But for this family, its fury on September 27th was impossible to comprehend. And is now impossible to ever forget.

Anna and Ryan hope to build a new home close by but on higher ground.

Please tell me what you would tell your sister and your mother right now, if you could talk to them.

A. WIEBE: I would tell them how much I love them, and that if I would go back, I would change it, so none of this we would go through. We would be still all together.

TUCHMAN: But they know how much you love them?

A. WIEBE: I think they do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN (on camera): Anna and her family are now staying at the home of Ryan's mother about a half mile away. It's not an optimal situation. The house is very small. And the power has been out ever since the hurricane arrived.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Asheville, North Carolina.

NEWTON: There are hopes the direct conflict between Israel and Iran will cool off in the wake of Israel's Saturday strike on Iran. But will it? I'll ask a Middle East expert, next.

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[03:35:00]

NEWTON: There are hopes in the Middle East and the United States that Israel's strike on Iran on Saturday was limited enough in its targeting that it might not further increase tensions. This is what it looked like over the skies of Tehran Saturday. Israel is keeping a tight lid on detailed assessment from the strikes, possibly to give Iran more flexibility in its own response.

Meanwhile, Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks are scheduled to take place today. CIA Director Bill Burns and Mossad Chief David Barnea will be among the negotiators. This will be the first meeting, in fact, in more than two months.

Aaron David Miller is a former State Department Middle East negotiator and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and he joins us from Washington. Good to see you again.

Look, Iran and Israel finally agree on something, right, both countries downplaying Israel's retaliation, for lack of a better term, wanting, it seems, for now, both countries to take a step back from the brink. So, in your opinion, what now?

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: I mean, I think this will resolve in a sort of, I would say, temporary, but probably more permanent balance of deterrence in which neither Israel nor Iran has a stake in escalating. I think that was that's clear, as you pointed out, Paula, from the messaging.

It's also clear from the reality that their closest point, they're 750 miles apart. So, we're not talking about two nations that share contiguous borders that can fight a land war. The Israelis clearly can do a great deal of damage, should they choose, and perhaps Iran can cause the Israelis some pain.

But I don't think right now, based on what we've seen and particularly the messaging that that's the direction we're going. But it's important to point out, I think, that what we witness is something quite extraordinary, twice now in several months, Iran has attacked Israel directly with ballistic missiles and the Israelis have retaliated once with a standoff missile strike, the other with a more comprehensive intense set of airstrikes over the last 24 hours. This is extraordinary.

And while this didn't escalate into a major regional war, it's very disconcerting that the Iranians and the Israelis may well draw the conclusion that attacking one another is, in fact, possible without going to a major war. And that expands the risk -- the tolerance risk on both their sides. And since there's no peace treaty coming and there's no way to diffuse the core issues that divide Israel and the Islamic Republic, we're going to be in a state of control tension and I suspect controlled escalation. That's the pathway forward.

NEWTON: It's fascinating what you're explaining there just in terms of having that kinetic activity and that both countries are probing and that we've entered kind of new uncharted territory on that. I do want to ask you, though, the Biden administration seemed pretty pleased with itself that this was as restrained as it could be given the circumstances. How much persuasion do you think President Biden himself entered into here in terms of convincing Netanyahu?

MILLER: You know, I don't want to take any influence away from administration that has had a fairly difficult track record over the course of the last year influencing Israeli policy, although they have done it on certain issues.

Look, I think the reality is had the Israelis made a judgment that, in fact, they wanted to do something different, and it was critically important to their national interests, that is to say, to strike Iranian nuclear sites or economic infrastructure, I don't think that the Biden administration would have been able to dissuade them. And, frankly, had there been casualties on the October 1st attack, serious civilian casualties, I'm not sure the administration would have been able to have much influence.

I think, in part, yes, the president deserves credit for pressing this issue but I think he was also playing to a certain degree of risk aversion on the part of the Netanyahu government. I think Netanyahu's estate does have a stake in keeping these conflicts going, but I don't think he had an interest, frankly, despite some of its staunchest critics in sort of escalating this into a major war in which the U.S. would then be trapped and forced to respond against Iran directly in defense of Israel.

[03:40:12]

So, again, yes, (INAUDIBLE) credit.

But I think in some respect, they may have been pushing on an open door.

NEWTON: I hear you. And yet now is this some kind of temporary truce, though, as well until we have the -- we understand who the next president is going to be in the United States, and then things could change again?

MILLER: Yes, I think that's probably right. And remember, there are any number of core issues sources of tension. You've got Israel still doing battle with Hamas. You've got an expanding, escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. And then, of course, you have the nuclear issue. A lot of analysts believe that since Iran's two deterrent legs have proven to be so unstable, number one, Hezbollah, and, number two, their ballistic missile attacks. And the Israelis apparently did serious damage to ballistic missile production as a consequence of these latest strikes. The argument goes, well, if the two legs of the, of a three-leg table are now not available to Iran, well then how about the third leg, which is, of course, weaponization?

But, again, that's a critically important decision. I think we would probably know if and when the Iranians were actually pushing to weaponization. And then there would presumably be consequences. I think for now, the Iranians are not going to push the envelope. They want to restore Hezbollah, do anything they can to support Hamas. It's going to be difficult. And they'll talk tough with respect to the Israelis backing their proxies. I don't think they're going to push to weaponization. I think the Iranians are waiting as Benjamin Netanyahu is waiting to see what happens on November 5th or however long it's going to take us to determine who the next president is.

NEWTON: And it could take a bit longer, as you point out.

Aaron David Miller, we'll leave it there for now. Thanks so much.

MILLER: Paula, thanks for having me.

NEWTON: Hotels and restaurants in Spain may be celebrating record tourism, but local residents aren't quite so happy about it. Just ahead, what it means for the quality of life at home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [03:45:00]

NEWTON: So, locals in many parts of Spain say tourism there has just gotten out of control, that they can no longer afford to live in their own cities and towns because of the crush of visitors.

CNN's Pau Mosquera reports from Madrid.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Many look surprised, while others didn't know how to react. Little the visitors knew about what was going on last Sunday when they came across one of the many marches held in the Canary Islands against what locals consider the excesses of tourism.

SARA LOPEZ, CANARY ISLANDS RESIDENT: I think that the Canary Islands needs a change on its tourism model, so it creates wealth for locals, highlights the value of this land that is so beautiful.

MOSQUERA: Like Sara, many protested on the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria against the consequences of over-tourism on the region. They consider that the greater the number of visitors, the greater the impact on the island natural resources, such as the availability of drinking water.

Local residents are also complaining that having many tourists around is damaging natural spaces, and it's getting more difficult for their access to housing due to the growing interest in rental homes during holiday seasons.

Now, this situation is not exclusive to the Canary Islands. And that's why these complaints have been echoed in previous months in cities such as Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, or Barcelona.

JEFF, AMERICAN TOURIST: Well, I understand they don't want the place to be overridden. This is very crowded. But there's some beautiful things to see here. So, it's great for us tourists to be able to come and see them.

RITA, FRENCH TOURIST: It is a good way to make clear the fact that it is necessary to change the tourism model throughout the world.

MALIKA, IRISH TOURIST: Tourism, it's what makes the city Madrid, let's say. So, it helps with their economy, obviously, but everything in moderation.

MOSQUERA: Complaints against over-tourism are being heard often in many different cities in Europe. That is why the Spanish government claims to be working alongside the sector to promote a more sustainable tourism model.

JORDI HEREU, MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND TOURISM OF SPAIN: By diversifying products, decentralizing destinations, diversifying all types of interest to be able to attract, de-seasonalizing, and, finally, digitalizing all destinations, companies and workers. (END VIDEOTAPE)

MOSQUERA (on camera): If a balance is not achieved, the fear of many is that the feeling of rejection against tourists can spread in many of Spain's most famous destinations.

Pau Mosquera, CNN, Madrid.

NEWTON: Still to come for us, the L.A. Dodgers lose their star player in the middle of the World Series game. We'll have an update on how Shohei Ohtani is doing.

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NEWTON: Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani was injured during Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday with his team leading the New York Yankees in the bottom of the seventh inning. Ohtani tried to steal second base. As you can see there, it was painful and eventually he was helped off the field by trainers.

The Dodgers manager says he hurt his shoulder and will undergo some tests, but he added that the team is encouraged because his shoulder appears strong with a good range of motion.

Now, despite Ohtani's exit, the Dodgers took down the Yankees 4-2 and lead the series two games tonight (ph).

Now, there's a toddler in Bavaria who loves painting like most kids do, but unlike other children, many art buyers think he's so good, they're shelling out lots of money for his works, and his parents say they can't keep up with the demand. Michael Holmes introduces us.

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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Smearing color on canvas. He's been called the German Mini Picasso, when three-year-old wunderkind, Laurent Schwarz, isn't playing with his dinosaurs, he's painting in his studio at home with his parents.

But this toddler's artwork won't just be hung on a refrigerator, like most other children's drawings, Laurent's parents say some of his pieces have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Paint, paint, paint all the time. We thought it might slow down, but, unfortunately, that wasn't the case at all.

HOLMES: Laurent's passion for painting started during a family holiday last year in Italy. At first, it was just family and friends who were impressed, but that grew into an Instagram page, which now has more than 90,000 followers, and the young prodigy even had his first exhibition in September.

PHILIPP SCHWARZ, LAURENT'S FATHER: Almost everything is sold at the moment. There are pictures that we are not selling, such as his first work, or his favorite pictures, or the pictures that we particularly like. They are not sold. Most of the others are sold, but there are still a few because he is constantly producing or painting new ones.

HOLMES: Some visitors to Laurent's show say they were surprised how much the young artist's paintings resonated with them.

MASCHELA BAUMANN, ART SHOW VISITOR: Picasso once said that everyone is an artist as a child, and it's difficult to be an artist as an adult, and I hope that he continues to paint great pictures.

THOMAS BAUMANN, ART SHOW VISITOR: I thought at first that you can't really take it seriously, but somehow you can. Yes, so I'm very curious to see how it continues.

[03:55:00]

HOLMES: Laurent's parents say they have put the proceeds from his paintings into an account for him to spend on whatever he enjoys when he becomes an adult. And they say the most important thing is that he's happy, even if that means an early bath time for this budding artist who occasionally immerses himself perhaps a little too much in his art.

Michael Holmes, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: It's like it's bath time for someone there.

Okay, the streets of Bolivia's capital city were alive with the walking dead, zombies, of course. See them there, fake and festive. Hundreds of people in La Paz took part in the annual zombie walk dressed up as zombie versions of werewolves, brides, and yes, even Donald Trump, you see him there. I'm not sure that's a zombie look alike, but okay.

The event started in California in 2001. It's now so popular, it has spread to several countries, from Singapore to Germany. And I think even on the streets of New York, I saw some people attempting this in the last few hours.

I'm Paula Newton in New York. I want to thank you for your company.

Kim Brunhuber picks things up in just a moment from Atlanta. We'll have more stories and more news here on CNN Newsroom.

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