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Fight for Final Votes with Three Days Left in 2024 Presidential Race; Trump Doubles Down on Cheney Attacks; SCOTUS Allows Pennsylvania to Count Backup Votes; Floods Claim 205 in Spain's Deadliest Disaster in Decades; Storms, Strikes Impact U.S. Job Creation in October; Projectiles Strike Israel, Injuring At Least 19; Presidential Election Affects Middle East's Future; Paris Fashion Week Makeover; Dodgers Celebrate Eighth Title. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired November 02, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
With three days until the election, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are hitting battleground states hard in a race that is still as tight as ever.
Israeli strikes reportedly causing massive destruction in Beirut. We'll have details.
Plus a look at how the U.S. Presidential election could impact regional peace efforts.
And more than 200 people are now dead after devastating floods in Spain. We'll have a live report from the region hit hardest.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: It is a sprint to the finish line for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, with only three days left in the U.S. Presidential campaign. And the race is still as tight as ever. In the coming day, Trump is set to stop in North Carolina and Virginia while Harris is expected to hit North Carolina and Georgia.
On Friday, Wisconsin was the center of attention, with the candidates holding dueling rallies there. Polling shows, as it has for weeks now, no clear leader in the battleground state.
According to CNN's Poll of Polls for Wisconsin, Harris is holding onto a slim 3pt advantage over Trump, with likely voters. Now the former president told a crowd in Wisconsin that Harris is not equipped to handle foreign leaders like Chinese president Xi and Russian president Vladimir Putin.
He said she'll get overwhelmed and, quote, "millions of people will die."
Trump also targeted his Republican critic, Liz Cheney, in Michigan Friday. And you'll remember, she said she is endorsing Harris. Here's Trump.
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TRUMP: I think that Liz Cheney is a disaster. All she wants to do is blow people up. She's a war hawk and a dumb one at that. And if you ever put her into the field of battle, she'd be the first one to chicken out. She wouldn't fight.
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BRUNHUBER: And Trump repeated those same attacks later in the day at a rally in Warren, Michigan.
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TRUMP: And if you gave Liz Cheney a gun and put her into battle, facing the other side with guns pointing at her, she wouldn't have the courage or the strength or the stamina to even look the enemy in the eye.
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BRUNHUBER: Now, Liz Cheney reacted to similar comments that Trump made on Thursday right on X.
Quote, "This is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten those who speak against them with death."
But Kamala Harris says Trump's comments about Liz Cheney disqualify him from running the country. MJ Lee has more on her pitch to voters in Wisconsin.
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MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Kamala Harris capping off a multi-stop visit through Wisconsin the final Friday before Election Day with a rally here in the Milwaukee area, featuring celebrities like Cardi B.
The vice president telling voters here that she sees next week's election as the most consequential election of our lifetime. She also said that it is time for the country to turn the page on Donald Trump.
Earlier in the day we had heard the vice president strongly rebuking the incendiary comments from Donald Trump, where he said that he would like to see guns pointed at Liz Cheney's face. This is what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KAMALA HARRIS (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This must be disqualifying. Anyone who wants to be President of the United States who uses that kind of violent rhetoric is clearly disqualified and unqualified to be president.
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LEE: Now the Harris campaign certainly continues to see this as a very close race that is likely going to be determined by the margins in a number of the most competitive states.
But we have been seeing a little bit of bullishness coming from the Harris campaign recently as well as they have pointed to their own data related to early voting and also some of the voters who recently decided who exactly to vote for in the last week or so.
And the campaign has been pointing to some of the offensive and incendiary rhetoric coming out of the Trump campaign as having the effect of turning some voters off.
We should also note this is the second time that the vice president has come to Wisconsin in as many days. It just goes to show you how important this battleground state is, this blue wall state is for the Harris campaign in these final days -- MJ Lee, CNN, in the Milwaukee area.
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BRUNHUBER: In a blow to Republicans, the U.S. Supreme Court says it will allow Pennsylvania to count backup votes if mail-in ballots are rejected. That leaves a state court ruling in place that helps voters who made a technical mistake when sending in their mail in ballots.
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Republicans had filed an emergency appeal this week, trying to get that ruling blocked. Not every county in Pennsylvania notifies voters if their ballots are defective. So it's not clear how many people this will impact. But both sides in the appeal indicated it could affect thousands of votes at a minimum.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. I want to bring in Leslie Vinjamuri, who heads the U.S. and the America's Programme at Chatham House and she joins us now from London.
Thank you so much for being here with us again. So I want to go back and start with Trump's comments about Liz Cheney.
Now Republicans, of course, are trying to downplay them. I don't imagine they're helpful for his campaign. But then again, he's been saying things like this since the beginning. They really haven't hurt him that much.
Will this be any different do you think? LESLIE VINJAMURI, CHATHAM HOUSE: Yes, I think what Donald Trump has been doing with that comment and over the last several rallies has really been very much about enthusing his base, that sort of 40 percent of voters, really getting them passion -- passionate about him, whipping them up and ensuring that they turn out and vote.
This is clearly a set of remarks that will damage how people beyond that base feel about him. I think it's very likely to generate some more silent Kamala Harris voters, even in those very red areas of those swing states.
That's a number that that everybody's very curious about. It's very hard to predict exactly what it will look like but it's a new thing. You know, we used to talk about silent Trump voters, people who didn't want to confess to their communities that they were supporting Donald Trump.
Now it's on the Harris side. And part of it is about a concern by women that, you know, that this is a presidential candidate, the former president, who stokes violence, division, who's very macho, very, you know, much of the language is racist and sexist.
And so there's -- I think that is not helping. But again, he is focused on those swing states, on the non-college educated white men and women who have supported him. And with this language, there's a real question of what happens.
And we are seeing that the white women who didn't go to university, didn't go to college, that, even though they have supported Trump in the past, some of that support seems to be dropping.
But again, it's -- at this point, do people turn out?
Do they turn out in the states where it matters?
Registrations are largely over, so it really is about the president's language, about Kamala Harris' ability to enthuse people. And it's very much about, you know, what we hear of the ground game.
And Pennsylvania has become a real focus and, you know, the word on the street is that the ground game for the Democrats is at just -- at a purely operational day to day level proving to be much stronger. But we know how tight that race is.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely.
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VINJAMURI: -- matters a huge amount. But across -- but across the state.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Let's drill into that. New polling on the blue wall states gives Harris a slight edge in several of them.
What do you make of the latest numbers and sort of where things stand overall? VINJAMURI: You know, at this point, the polls aren't telling us very
much because they've continued to tell us for quite some time that this is an incredibly close race.
Nate Silver said -- and I think it's a very interesting comment -- that the one thing about the polls is that they're so close in so many states that it's highly unlikely that we won't see any surprises coming out of the swing states in this election.
In other words, it isn't just going to be about the polls. It's going to be about what voters do. And that might differ. You know, it's hard to get to all these people in the polls. Some people perhaps don't tell pollsters what they're actually going to do.
So there are a lot of, you know, unknowns, known unknowns about this election. The biggest one is who turns out to vote. And this is, you know, as we know, it's a very practical thing. We're hearing about people standing in lines for hours.
For others, it's quite, quite a lot easier. We hear about all manner of difficulties and certain, you know, just the process of voting. But people are working the state. They're working all the swing states. And so it's -- and it may take some time but we're going to have to wait and see.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. And on that, I mean, we likely won't know who wins, you know, on Election Night. But regardless of the results, many people expect Donald Trump to declare victory early.
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We don't have a lot of time. Maybe a minute. But if you could lay out what impact you think that might have in terms of stoking claims of fraud, of another steal, for example.
VINJAMURI: Look, there -- if this election is close, there will undoubtedly be calls for recounts, probably on either side.
But we expect that the Harris campaign, to do this, if its very close, you know, through legal mechanisms, through the courts, through standard procedures.
The concern on the Trump side, given the level of violent rhetoric that already kind of sowing division and seeding doubt about the veracity, the credibility, the fairness of the election in ways that are not grounded in evidence, it foments the ability, that it stokes the possibility for violence.
People know that the possibility of electoral related violence is real. And what we're hoping is that there is preparation for that at the local level and that we see -- saw in 2022 was we didn't see the violence that many people anticipated. We have to hope that that's the case. But the rhetoric is very, very unstabilizing (sic).
BRUNHUBER: Yes, certainly it is. We'll have to leave it there. Leslie Vinjamuri, thank you so much for being here with us again. Appreciate it.
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BRUNHUBER: The death toll from the devastating flash floods in southeastern Spain has surpassed 200 people. Authorities warn that number, tragically, is likely to rise. Meanwhile, rescue operations are ongoing. Spanish armed forces have already rescued more than 4,000 people, according to one official.
But authorities say collapsed roads are impeding search and rescue efforts and train tracks in the area are so badly damaged that service isn't likely to resume for weeks. That's according to Spain's rail authority. I want to go live now to Atika Shubert in Valencia.
Atika, Valencia, which has been so hard hit by this, what's the latest there?
ATIKA SHUBERT, JOURNALIST: Yes.
Well, the government put out a call for anybody who wanted to volunteer to show up at 7 am. And look at what's happened. This huge line here, I'm going to spin the camera around just so that you can see the magnitude.
We've got thousands of people lined up, trying to get on buses to affected areas and help with the cleanup. Now that's very heartwarming but it's also an indication that people here are frustrated at the slow response of the government. Take a look.
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SHUBERT (voice-over): (voice-over): In a dystopian scene of Spain's deadliest floods in decades, dozens of cars and debris are piled on top of what was a railroad in Eastern Spain.
With a year's worth of rainfall plummeting down in just hours on Tuesday, hundreds of people have been killed, according to authorities. And the death toll is only expected to rise. The extreme weather has caused a surge of water to break bridges, damaging homes and cars along the way, with the floods turning gray roads into a muddy brown.
These satellite images taken less than two weeks apart show the sheer level of destruction the floods have left behind.
But now, armed with broomsticks and shovels, locals have been coming in droves to clean up the streets. Some tell us how they turned up just to help.
TANIA, LOCAL VOLUNTEER: We wanted to help because we know there's a lot of people suffering. So we told to our friends and we decided to buy food, bring clothes and everything and water.
SHUBERT (voice-over): There have been widespread concerns about official warning systems, many residents saying they were alerted too late. VALENTIN MANZANEQUE FERNANDEZ, LOCAL VOLUNTEER (through translator): The storm hit in the morning but the water didn't get toward until 8:00 in the evening, yet nobody warned us, nothing. Nobody cared. At 70 years old, I had to go with these old clothes to change but I haven't even been able to take a shower.
SHUBERT (voice-over): This children's school was also affected by the tragedy, its interior severely damaged.
SHUBERT: You can see just how high the waters were, more than chest high, higher than a child. And this is a school, all of this equipment we are told is brand new and it's been completely destroyed by the mud and the flooding from the river.
SHUBERT (voice-over): Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called this Spain's worst natural disaster in a century. And E.U. officials warned of the flood's wider implication.
FLORIKA FINK-HOOIJER, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, EUROPEAN COMMISSION ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT: A tragedy like this one is not just a Spanish one, it really
affects all of us in Europe.
SHUBERT (voice-over): In the wake of the destruction, the Spanish government says it has deployed more than a thousand soldiers to help the cleanup and rescue efforts. But as more rainfall is expected in the coming days meteorologists say this human made crisis is only going to get worse.
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SHUBERT: You've seen such an outpouring from the community here.
But the fact that you've got people waiting here in line for hours to get on a bus to the affected areas when they could easily walk to some of these affected areas, it seems that the local government at any way has underestimated the magnitude, not just of the crisis but also of the response.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. It's interesting to see so many people wanting to help there behind you. Atika Shubert in Valencia, Spain, thank you so much.
Mourners lit hundreds of candles for the victims of a roof collapse in Serbia. At least 14 people were killed in the city of Nova Sad on Friday. It happened around midday at a rail station about 70km northwest of Belgrade.
Bodies were pulled from the rubble throughout the afternoon and evening. Cranes and bulldozers helped rescue workers comb through the wreckage as medical staff and ambulances waited nearby.
All right. Here in the U.S., job growth took a hit in October. Expected gains were held back by labor strikes and hurricanes. But that story when we come back. Please stay with us.
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TRUMP: Normally you're 250,000, 300,000, 400,000.
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They did 12.
Think of it 12,000 jobs. The only thing good about the numbers I'm going to give you now are that it's great to run against the people that created those numbers.
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BRUNHUBER: So that was Donald Trump on the campaign trail in Michigan, criticizing the Democrats for Friday's lackluster jobs report. The 12,000 jobs created in October were well below what was originally predicted. But that came as hurricanes and labor strikes dealt a blow to the economy. CNN's Julia Chatterley looks behind the numbers.
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JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR: It was certainly a jarring jobs report. Strikes, storms and some degree of slowing in the jobs market. The challenge we've got is it's tough to pinpoint precisely how much of each.
And that was the forefront of what the Bureau of Labor Statistics told us Friday and that was, look, we know there was a severe impact of the storms. We couldn't quantify quite how much.
And that leaves us just looking at the numbers. So as you said, just 12,000 jobs added for the month of October, just a fraction of what was expected.
And even if we add back what was estimated to be deducted as a result of those challenges, which was somewhere between 60,000 and 100,000 jobs, it still looks like it's a slowing jobs market. It's a weaker than anticipated number.
Now come the revisions. We also saw 112,000 jobs less added for the months of August and September. So again, we're building this picture of a cooling, not collapsing -- and I'll be very clear about that -- jobs market.
What's interesting to me, too, is the unemployment rate, 4.1 percent. Exactly what we got in September. So perhaps that's the number that you need to look at to read through some of the noise that we got this month.
Just a quick flavor of the sectors, too. As you would expect, manufacturing took a hit this month. Temporary help and services also took a hit. On the plus side, we saw job gains in the government sector, in health care, too.
Where does this leave us three days out now from a presidential election?
Well, it leaves us plenty of room to politicize. The Trump campaign called this catastrophic. It's not but it is a curve ball. Of course, for the White House, they would have preferred a less messy and a stronger number heading into the presidential election.
Take a step back. This is a solid economy. We're still adding jobs. Prices have been painful. The silver lining here is that the expectation is the Federal Reserve will cut rates next week by a quarter of a percentage point. So borrowers, fingers crossed, something to look forward to there. Back to you.
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BRUNHUBER: All right.
We're joined now by Ryan Patel. He's a senior fellow at the Drucker School of Management of Claremont Graduate University.
Good to see you again, my friend. So let's just build on what we just heard there.
Clearly, for Democrats, the headline on the jobs numbers, they're not great but plenty of asterisks.
RYAN PATEL, GLOBAL BUSINESS EXECUTIVE: Yes.
I mean, the asterisks were, it could have been worse. Right?
We think about the hurricanes and you think about that. I also think some of the numbers that came out of it for the Democrats, which I didn't hear too much, the positive news was that wages continue to grow faster than inflation from the past year.
What does that mean?
That means there's still real buying power for consumers that has been increasing. So they've been resilient even as hiring softens. Right? And I think that is a strong positive note.
And when you think of the job market -- and that's what, you know, former president Trump continues to focus on for against the Democrats in this race -- that it's still not as strong as it used to be and should be right now.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. It's interesting when the jobs numbers come out. When they're positive, then the Republicans say they're made up and, when they're bad, then they're keen to trumpet them.
But anyway, the bottom line, it seems as though the economy is fairly solid, which should be good news for Harris. But in polls, Trump outperforms Harris on the economy. The gap has closed on that issue throughout the campaign here.
Inflation has cooled, the cost of gas has gone down.
But are people still pessimistic about the economy now, as they had a couple of days to the polls?
PATEL: So I mean, I've seen the recent polls.
I think CNN poll had Harris kind of closing the gap on Trump but still not enough to where obviously Trump leans to the economy more and his promises on the campaign is that growth will be higher, prices will be lower.
And I think for Harris, she's just recently came out and made a message to the business community and to the leaders, that you need more structure, you need more, you know, not say the word sanity but obviously more of a legal aspect to it so that people can actually build their businesses to it.
So it's going to get, Kim, it's going to get a little bit dirty here the next couple of days because the economy is top of mind when people are voting. And they're voting not just with what the potential growth is right now but for the future and with their wallet.
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So you know, I have a feeling this conversation is not going away in the next two days. And we're going to see a lot more going on in people's plans and policies.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. And economy top of mind, I'll tell you specifically, according to a recent Gallup poll, economic issues are more important for voters than in any presidential election since the Great Recession.
So Republicans arguing it's a mess. The general perception is that people were better off during the Trump presidency.
So economically is that actually true?
PATEL: Well, I mean if you look at it from an overall perspective, we have evolved and we've gotten better.
I think where this contention occurs, Kim, is this focus on, right now with both parties, taxes, you know, about where Harris wants to raise the taxes on big businesses, changing that number.
And, you know, she's broken some of the Biden and Biden's over capital gains tax, where Trump's on the other side, talking about higher growth and more tariffs on imports, which then obviously then leads to, you know, cheaper prices, more growth. And that's where it leads to inflation. And also Trump's policy and
Harris' policy on the argument around what they're going to do when it comes to tariffs on China and other places and imports. So not to go too much in that detail. But I have a feeling this is going to come up more.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. And on the -- on the tariffs, you know we're looking at the difference between sort of the Trump's strength on the economy, as perceived by voters. And then it contrasts with what so many experts say we saw last week, nearly 2 dozen Nobel prize winning economists say Harris will be better for the economy.
So many others that have come out against Trump's plan on tariffs. So economically speaking, there seems to be a huge schism between the public perception of Trump and what the experts say.
PATEL: No, I think this is important. This is a global community as well. So I think countries that are dealing with the U.S. want stability, want to know what that percentage looks like so they can plan accordingly.
That includes the companies. The Biden-Harris administration has important (INAUDIBLE) imposed some tariffs on some of the Chinese imports like electric vehicles and some other minerals, where Trump's -- I mean, Trump's been really clear about his vowing to impose another 10 percent tariff on all goods imported.
You know, corporate rate tax of 15 percent for companies who make their goods in the U.S.. So he's actually laid out what he's going to do, which then cause, you know, what is the trickle down effect, should that occur?
What does that mean for the rest of the U.S. economy and the rest of the world, should the rest of the world not play ball with Trump's policies?
BRUNHUBER: So much on the line. Always great to speak with you. Ryan Patel, thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate it.
PATEL: Thanks, Kim.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: All right.
Well, new Israeli strikes in Beirut are said to have caused massive destruction. We'll have an update from the region ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM.
Plus, a closer look at the impact a Harris or Trump administration might have on the Middle East crisis. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us around the world.
I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
We're only three days away from the U.S. election with Kamala Harris and Donald Trump hitting the trail in battleground states. They held dueling rallies in Wisconsin on Friday and later today both candidates are headed to North Carolina.
CNN's latest Poll of Polls still shows no clear leader in the final days of the race among likely voters across the U.S. The average stands at 48 percent for Kamala Harris and 47 percent for Donald Trump.
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BRUNHUBER: Lebanon's state news agency says Israeli airstrikes caused massive destruction and leveled dozens of buildings. Have a look.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): This is what the scene looked like after the Friday strikes. The Israeli military says it struck Hezbollah targets in Beirut.
In Israel, dashcam video captured an explosion in the city of Tira. Officials say at least 19 people were injured by three projectiles fired from Lebanon. CNN's Paula Hancocks is live in Abu Dhabi.
So, Paula, what's the latest on those most recent attacks?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we certainly, toward the end of this week, saw an uptick in the Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, as you mentioned there. In the southern suburbs of Beirut, that was overnight Thursday into Friday.
And the first time in almost a week that we had seen the Hezbollah stronghold of the southern suburbs being targeted. And we have understood from local officials that there was massive destruction following those strikes.
Now it follows on Thursday launches of rockets from Hezbollah, which killed seven civilians in Israel on Thursday. And we are also seeing increased activity this week in the eastern part of Lebanon in the Baalbek area.
Certainly, the city itself was targeted and there was an unprecedented call for the entire city to be evacuated by the Israeli military. And we did see tens of thousands moving out of that area.
Now we had a moment of optimism this week from the caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati in Lebanon, saying that he was optimistic that a ceasefire may be imminent. At the time, he said, in the hours or days ahead.
This is after U.S. envoys have been pushing for a ceasefire. We have seen a flurry of diplomatic activity in recent days from the Biden administration, trying to push for a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.
But then by the end of the week, as these airstrikes continued in their intensity, the prime minister said that it was clear that Israel was not interested in a ceasefire at this point. We also know those U.S. envoys were in Israel trying to persuade the Israeli prime minister to sign up to a ceasefire.
We understand, though, at this point, that they have now returned to Washington and it does not appear that the hopes for an imminent ceasefire on either side are about to be recognized.
So that's the latest that we are seeing in Lebanon at this point, this the continuation of what really started on September 23rd, this intensification of the attacks on both sides. The IDF saying that they are targeting Hezbollah command and control centers.
[04:35:00]
Saying that they are trying to mitigate the casualties, civilian casualties, when they are carrying out their attacks.
Now according to a CNN tally, the death toll is rising in Lebanon. More than 2,200 have been killed since the increase in the -- in the strikes since mid-September. And more than 11,000 have been injured. Now there is no definition between civilians and militants.
So at this point, we just know that 2,200 have been killed -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Appreciate that. Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi, thanks so much.
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BRUNHUBER: I want to bring in Sanam Vakil, who's the director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House and she joins us now from London.
Thank you so much for being here with us. So I want to start with the latest efforts to get a ceasefire. Antony Blinken has made, I think, 11 visits to the region last year, throughout the year. They're hoping for a deal but it sounds as though Netanyahu is saying that there won't be any deal before the election.
Does the likelihood of a deal at all go up or down, depending on who wins the election?
SANAM VAKIL, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: Well, good morning and thank you for having me. I think certainly it does.
Right now we're in this vacuum, where the Biden administration is certainly trying to press all parties to sign a ceasefire agreement.
But the reality is that this window before the election also leaves the Biden administration with perhaps not enough leverage or the ability to pressure both sides because of the sensitivities around the wars in the Middle East, the continued U.S. unilateral commitment to Israel as a long standing U.S. priority.
So I would imagine that if Vice President Kamala Harris wins, there will be much more of a double down on calling time on the war in Lebanon but also the war in Gaza.
Donald Trump's approach is a bit more ambiguous. He is not someone that is generally supportive of war. But he and his team could see this as a historic opportunity to continue to degrade these terrorists and Iran backed groups around the region.
But at the same time, there could be a longer tail and blowback for the United States through those efforts.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, widening it out to look at sort of their different regional approaches when we're looking at the a two state solution, Iran human rights in the region, not all that different, I suppose, between the two candidates.
Iran is a flashpoint but, in terms of enforcing regime change, as you said, Donald Trump's trying to paint himself as an isolationist. He was attacking Liz Cheney for being a hawk, for example. So he's trying to portray himself as the man to end wars, not to start them.
What difference do you see between their regional approaches?
VAKIL: You know, you're quite right. There's not too much daylight between the candidates. I think they've both been relatively vague on Iran. They have both clearly indicated that Iran is a national security challenge with Kamala Harris also elevating that reasoning.
But the reality is that the Iran portfolios are really serious and alarming. Its nuclear program is very advanced. Iran has been a long standing supporter of Hezbollah and Hamas and plays a destabilizing role in the region.
And let's not forget that Iran also sent missiles to Russia this year. So the next U.S. president can continue the strategy of sanctioning and containing Iran. But it does look like some diplomatic engagement is going to be on the cards.
And both candidates want to keep those options on the table alongside the tough talk. The same applies to the other issues for their so- called two state solution that we talk about in the West. But there currently really isn't too much constituency for that horizon in Israel.
Both candidates are vague. They do see a need to end the war. I think Kamala Harris has called for more support for Palestinians on the ground, obviously also for Lebanese. But how you get there is the big question mark. And it's unclear if the United States has the influence, let alone the patience, for such a process.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, that is the big question. Donald Trump strengthened ties with Gulf states. The Abraham Accords could be considered successes of his administration.
So for the Gulf states, are they rooting for a Trump presidency because he's perceived as transactional?
Could they see that as a way to bolster their own regional ambitions?
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VAKIL: Well, first of all, I think it's just important to remember that there are six Gulf states and they have different national interests, Saudi Arabia and the UAE being the most well known and prominent and very keen to strengthen ties with the United States through security relationships and defense pacts.
The Gulf states perhaps do see Trump as a better president for them. Trump went to Riyadh in his last round in office. But, at the same time, it's important to remember that president Trump supported the Muslim ban. Probably didn't go far enough in supporting Gulf security interests when Saudi oil infrastructure was attacked by Iran in 2019.
I think the Gulf approach, if there is a Gulf approach, is to be pragmatic and to work with either candidate. It's not clear that Donald Trump will actually prioritize ending the wars in the region.
And for the Gulf states and particularly for Saudi Arabia, regional security is paramount. It cannot really deliver Vision 2030, attract FDI with all of this conflict metastasizing across the Middle East. So that is on the forefront of their minds.
BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll have to leave it there. But appreciate getting your expertise on all of this. Sanam Vakil, thank you so much, really appreciate it.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll have much more here on CNN NEWSROOM when we come back. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: You can see the scenes behind me there from this year's Paris Fashion Week and the trends on the runway are just a starting point for fashionistas.
It's also about translating haute couture looks into their own wardrobes. CNN's correspondent Eleni Giokos went to the annual event.
[04:45:00] "Eleni in Paris" got some lessons and even a bit of a dressing down from experts in the world's most stylish city.
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ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Have I failed on this outfit?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You didn't fail. It's just that --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out of turn. I'll give you five.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The minute I saw you. I said that girl needs more edge.
GIOKOS (voice-over): I'm Eleni Giokos. In my correspondent Korea. I've covered wars, natural disasters and financial crises but I've now been sent to cover Paris Fashion Week. Entering the epicenter of haute couture can be slightly intimidating but pushing forwards like I belong. I'm here to find out how my style holds up at Paris Fashion Week.
GIOKOS: Would you be walking with me at Paris Fashion Week?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not distress.
GIOKOS: What did I do wrong?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're making yourself look older. Well, let's bring some edge, yeah.
GIOKOS: Yeah. Let's do it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A best-selling necklace, yeah.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Imagine if you wear that. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can see it on you.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would introduce masculine pieces in your closet, because you clearly have a lot of feminine pieces, look at that.
GIOKOS: It's the contrast, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.
GIOKOS: It's always the contrast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll put you in this Black dress quickly, very shaky.
GIOKOS: This outfit that I'm wearing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You would completely rock it.
GIOKOS: Do you think so?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You would.
GIOKOS: -- try it on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There we go.
GIOKOS: There --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Accessorize with the right edgy items. My choice of sunglasses so fashionable.
GIOKOS: Yeah but I mean, no -- ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't.
GIOKOS: I do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The boots are like, stick with those. The shoes are the ones that are contrasting, yeah. Heels would be like, oh, we cannot be friends. Sneakers are always edgy, by the way, so when in doubt, you can put on some sneakers but these are my go-to when in doubt, you go for something like this.
GIOKOS: Isn't it difficult to balance what you need to wear for work versus actually showing your personality and bringing that edge without it being inappropriate?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is difficult but you need to get it to a place where you are content and you know yourself. So I could easily be a news anchor and I'm dressed like this.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, I don't look inappropriate to be reading the news but I feel edgy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got a working style, my dear, never have an off day. Never.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So this is your new style?
GIOKOS: Yes, my new style. Got it. I would dress you like this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are edgy. This is it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My job is done here. Now you can conquer Paris.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fashion is about how you feel and that's the most important. And if you made that choice, it means that you were feeling well in doing that choice, you know? And that's definitely what is important.
GIOKOS (voice-over): Fashion is a feeling, not about conforming your style, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are an amazing girl. I could totally be your friend.
GIOKOS: My outfit didn't make if it didn't do me initially.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Initially no.
GIOKOS (voice-over): Eleni Giokos, CNN.
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BRUNHUBER: Gosh, I'd hate to hear what they said about me.
Well, the L.A. Dodgers simply couldn't contain themselves. There they were, drinking in their World Series victory at a big party in the City of Angels. Ahead, the celebrations as fans cheered their baseball heroes. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): You see it there, the highflying action of Lucha Libre or Mexican masked wrestling has landed in London for the first time of two nights of action, complete with body slams and trick acrobatic moves that got the crowd cheering.
And among those in the ring was El Hijo del Santo, who, at 61, is competing with his son on his retirement tour. The spectacle coincides with Mexico's Day of the Dead celebrations, which commemorates people's ancestors.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, it was party time in Los Angeles on Friday as Dodgers fans went wild, jamming downtown to celebrate the team's eighth World Series win. And they beat the New York Yankees on Wednesday to secure the title in one of the greatest comeback games in baseball history.
The Dodger Stadium fans heard from their hero, L.A. superstar slugger Shohei Ohtani.
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SHOHEI OHTANI, DODGERS SLUGGER: This is so special for (INAUDIBLE). I'm so honored to be here and to be part of a team. Congratulations, Los Angeles. Thank you, fans.
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BRUNHUBER: CNN's Natasha Chen has more from the celebrations.
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NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mookie Betts and the other Dodgers World Series champion players are addressing the crowd right now at this home stadium party that all of these fans, close to 50,000 of them, have been waiting for.
Now some of them were prepared to possibly have to buy a ticket to game six, which would have been played here on the same night. But they didn't have to do that. They wrapped up the series in New York.
And these fans are so just overjoyed. We met so many families, multiple generations of Dodgers fans, telling me why they are so connected to this team. Here's one man who says he's been coming every Friday and Saturday for years.
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ART ORTIZ, LIFELONG DODGERS FAN: I've actually gone to the World Series. I was at the Houston one, game six-seven and I went to the last championship when we won it in Texas against the Rays. I was there for the final game. And I had tickets for tonight but we're here instead. It's OK because it's a party. We're still celebrating.
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CHEN: This is the stadium celebration after the parade ended in downtown Los Angeles, a really special event because, the last time the Dodgers won a World Series was 2020. And they did not get to gather like this. They did not get to cheer with each other. Everyone was stuck at home.
And so everyone is really feeling the spirit of getting to be in this moment together in person.
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Natasha Chen, CNN, Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
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BRUNHUBER: Two NBA teams are in Mexico for their regular season game later today. The Miami Heat will take on the Washington Wizards in one of the few matchups to be played outside the U.S. or Canada this season.
It's part of the league's attempt to increase its global audience, which could potentially lead to a franchise in Mexico City in the future. The game will coincide with Mexico's traditional Day of the Dead celebrations and that theme will be incorporated into the design of the court and activities around the game.
Now in Guatemala, the Day of the Dead was marked with giant kites flown outside cemeteries. The tradition dates back over a century. The kites are handmade and take months to complete. People believe the kites are guided by the winds and spirits of departed loved ones.
Later in the afternoon, families return home to wait for the spirits to arrive.
All right, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more news in just a moment. Please do stay with us.
