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Biden to Speak to Netanyahu: 'Wider War Must Be Avoided'; Hundreds Missing as Helene Devastates Southeast; Vance and Walz to Face Off in V.P. Debate Tomorrow. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired September 30, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR/CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's Monday, September 30, 2024. And right now, on CNN THIS MORNING.

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RAJU: War in the Middle East. More air strikes in Lebanon's capital city, days after the assassination of Hezbollah's leader.

Plus, Helene's destruction. Hundreds reported missing, millions without power as communities across six Southeastern states are left devastated.

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GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And I've got to tell you, I can't wait to debate the guy.

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: For 90 minutes, Governor Walz and I are going to debate the issues that matter to the American people.

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RAJU: One day away. How Tim Walz and J.D. Vance are readying for tomorrow night's vice-presidential debate.

And --

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DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Joe Biden became mentally impaired. Kamala was born that way.

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RAJU: Personal attacks. Donald Trump doubling down on insults, leaving some GOP allies urging him to stay on message.

Six a.m. here in Washington, and here's a live look at the Capitol.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Manu Raju in for Kasie Hunt. It's so great to be with you.

Now, just days after taking out the leader of Hezbollah, Israel strikes -- Israel strikes more targets in Lebanon. And earlier this morning, an airstrike hitting the center of Beirut for the first time in nearly a year. The Lebanese government blaming Israel.

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment.

Now, Hezbollah vowing to keep fighting, still firing missiles into Northern Israel, where more than 60,000 residents have been forced to evacuate.

This morning, a Hezbollah official saying that the group will appoint a new leader as soon as possible.

President Biden, wary of a wider regional war breaking out, saying that this must be avoided at all costs.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It has to be. We really have to avoid it. We've already taken precautions relative to our embassies and personnel who wanted to leave. And -- but we're not there yet, but we're working like hell with the French and many others.

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RAJU: Now with five weeks to go before the election, Israel's war with Hezbollah also becoming a focus of pointed debate in Washington, with some Republicans urging Israel to, quote, "go for the kill."

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SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): Now is not the time for a ceasefire or to de- escalate, as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want. Hezbollah is on its knees. The United States should help Israel drive Hezbollah to the mat and choke it out, and finish it off once and for all.

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RAJU: All right. Let's bring in David Frum, staff writer with "The Atlantic"; CNN senior political analyst, Mark Preston; Meghan Hays, former Biden White House director of message planning; and Scott Jennings, former special assistant to George W. Bush.

Thank you guys all for being here this early morning.

Meghan, since you worked at the White House, I'm going to start with you. How President Biden navigates this moment. He's calling for a ceasefire, but he's not on the same page with Netanyahu on this. How's he going to deal with this? MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: I

think that they're looking to de-escalate through diplomatic channels, obviously. I think they are walking a fine line here.

Also, the vice president has to walk a fine line here. She has to support the president while still running. So, I think they're going to continue with their diplomatic efforts.

But they're -- we're going to be having this conversation in 20 years probably, because we -- there needs to be stability, but I just don't know that we're going to find it before the election. So --

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I think well be having the same conversation if we try to stop Israel from finishing the job here. I totally agree with Tom Cotton.

I mean, Netanyahu is doing something extraordinary. He's wiping out all the worst people on the world, systematically. They're taking it to these terrorists who have done terrible, terrible things to Israel, Israelis and American citizens, by the way, for a very long period of time.

And I think the U.S. government ought to rhetorically be as supportive as we can possibly be and not try to slow walk this the way we did Ukraine in the beginning.

We won't give them the long-term missiles they want now, too.

It's like we're constantly pulling back on our allies who are trying to defeat the people who hate our way of life and hate Western civilization. I don't understand it.

RAJU: But -- but, but what's the risk in the U.S. getting deeper involved in this conflict?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I mean, obviously, the risk is that we're going to see that war come over here to the streets in the United States. We're going to see Hezbollah trying to operate here in the U.S.

Look, I agree with Scott that Israel has to do what it has to do to protect itself. But to not think that there's got to be some kind of two-state solution at some point, it means that we're going to be fighting this forever.

And I would say this. And honestly, I do agree with Scott on a few things, but anyway.

JENNINGS: You're cooked now, Preston.

PRESTON: No. I would say this is kind of like "Reading Rainbow" this morning. If you look around, everyone grabbed a newspaper except for me, you know.

But Scott, I would say this, you are wiping out people, and you are killing their leadership. You can't wipe out an ideology, though. And I think that's where the U.S. and Israel has got to figure out how to walk that fine line.

DAVID FRUM, STAFF WRITER, "THE ATLANTIC": Overnight, Hamas confirmed that Israel killed the head of Hamas in Lebanon. That man's day job was he was principal of a UN school and head of the UN teachers' union.

Now, in a very short time -- to this point, the UN had completely denied this man's involvement in Hamas, but Hamas itself confirmed it.

In a very little while American taxpayers are going to be asked to pay billions and billions of dollars to reconstruct Gaza. And that money is going to flow through the same UN that had been an employment agency for Hamas, a front group for Hamas.

And one of the questions as we look forward, one of the questions, whoever is going to be the next president, is what guarantees are you going to give Americans, when they are asked to rebuild Gaza from the war Hamas started, that you're not simply paying the UN to employ Hamas people in the future?

RAJU: And you know, speaking as this is during, obviously, a consequential presidential campaign, which is, of course, five weeks away.

What is Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza? Has he laid it out yet? Has he specified that?

JENNINGS: I don't know what his plan is to end the war there. My hope is that his plan is to do everything we can do to support Israel. And what they're doing right now, wiping out systematically all these people who are committing terrorism, have committed terrorism against the United States.

And not constantly be pulling on our enemies [SIC], trying to pull them down. I just fundamentally -- this two-state solution idea. I mean, that's what Biden says.

How do you have two states when one of the states wants the other state to cease to exist, to wipe them off the mat, to murder them? I don't understand.

You have people living side-by-side in this sort of, you know, fantasy where one side lays down its ideology that the other side cannot exist.

And so, I just -- I think the plan ought to be let the Israelis do what they need to do to be secure. Let them kill the terrorists who, by the way, have done fundamentally terrible things to people in the United States and American citizens.

And as he just said, fundamentally kind of rigged the international system in their favor in a way that has allowed all kinds of money to flow to people who do very, very bad things. RAJU: Does Harris need to speak out more? I mean, she did make a

statement over the weekend over the killing of the Hezbollah leader. But does she need to do more to speak out, respond to some of these Republican congressmen? On wiping away Hezbollah?

HAYS: I don't know what -- I don't know what more she can respond. Right? I don't know what we're not doing to be supportive of Israel. There's one -- we held back a couple -- one shipment of -- U.S. munitions.

So, I'm not sure what the -- what you're saying that the U.S. isn't doing to be supportive. So, I'm just -- I'm not sure what more she can be saying.

It's also she's the vice president to the president's making the decision. So, I just -- I feel like she's in a little bit of a hard bind here.

But I don't think -- her support of Israel has been unwavering. She has made that very clear. She continues to make that clear. So, I'm not -- what more are we looking for her to say here?

RAJU: All right, OK. We'll see if they decide to weigh in more as the campaign continues to unfold.

And up ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, the latest on recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene. The wake of the storm's devastation and destruction across the Southeast.

Plus, GOP allies urging Donald Trump to stick to the issues -- heard that before -- after he repeats more personal insults aimed at the vice president.

And, ahead of tomorrow night's vice-presidential debate, Kamala Harris is challenging her opponent to another debate of their own.

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KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Listen also, their debate should not be the last word. I'm trying to debate Donald Trump again. And I think he should debate again.

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RAJU: At least 95 people are dead following Hurricane Helene's deadly path through the Southeast. Western North Carolina is dealing with catastrophic and historic damage where at least 30 people were killed when record flooding overwhelmed areas in and around Asheville.

Now, officials say they also have reports of hundreds of people unaccounted for there, but they hope those numbers will go down as communications knocked out by the storms slowly get back online.

Now, more than 200 people have been rescued from floodwaters across North Carolina, with teams from 19 states coming into assist. But North Carolina is just beginning to tackle what will be a long road to recovery.

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GOV. ROY COOPER (D-NC): This is a devastating catastrophe of historic proportions. People that I've talked to in Western North Carolina say they have never seen anything like this.

This is just truly unprecedented in the devastation that we have seen here.

The good thing is that we are prepared for disasters. We have 24 shelters that are up now, providing assistance to people. The biggest issue we're finding now is getting the food and the water to people, because we're having to do so much that by air.

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RAJU: CNN's Marybel Gonzalez is in Asheville, North Carolina. The sight of all that devastation.

So, Marybel, what are you seeing?

MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN NEWSOURCE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Manu.

That's exactly correct. And this is a dire situation here in Asheville. It's eerily quiet except for the sound of those bulldozers working through the debris, trying to clear out those streets.

Now, people here are -- thousands are without power, but they're also without water, Internet, electricity, including right here where we're standing. Roads remain closed, hundreds of them. This one right behind me, as well.

Where we're standing just days ago was covered in water. And you can see this by just looking down at the ground. All of the debris was pushed over, from the street onto the hill where we're now standing.

And of course, this is yet to be over. This is just starting, as you mentioned. This is now a --

GONZALEZ (voice-over): -- also a public health emergency. As we know, people have been now for several days without water.

And that also means, you know, they cannot clean their -- their areas. The trash is not being taken out. We know the food in their fridge is now beginning to rot, so people are in desperate need.

We know that here also in Asheville, so many people evacuated their homes. Three shelters opened here in the area, one of which we're now learning this morning is completely full. So, the need is definitely there. [06:15:11]

We know oh, federal aid is coming in. But as we mentioned earlier, the biggest challenge is trying to access those homes.

You mentioned those power and those Internet, cell phone outages. Over the weekend, we know there were at least 600 reports and counting of people calling desperately, trying to find their missing loved ones.

But authorities are saying, please remain calm, because when those Internet and cell phone services are restored, that's hopefully when you can begin to be in touch with your loved ones.

We also know that across several states, there's been millions of power outages here in North Carolina alone. Four hundred and fifty thousand people remain without power.

So, the situation is a desperate one, but we can hear it in the very early morning hours. There are emergency crews out right now at this hour --

GONZALEZ: -- trying to get to those folks, trying to clear out those hundreds of road closures to hopefully not only get people out, but also get emergency supplies in.

RAJU: Yes, as the governor said, a tragedy of historic proportions. Just unbelievable pictures there on your screen. Marybel Gonzalez, thank you for that live report from on the ground in Asheville.

And coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, an airstrike in the heart of Beirut. What will more than one million (ph) people in Lebanon, now displaced, find ways of Israeli airstrikes (ph).

Plus, the running mates are set to take the stage just one day away from the V.P. debate. We'll discuss how both camps are readying themselves for debate night.

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WALZ: And I got to tell you, I can't wait to debate the guy. That is if he's willing to get off the couch and show up. So --

VANCE: I'd love to have a second debate. We've actually offered Tim Walz a second debate, and they've totally rejected it. But look, I think -- I actually think that you should have to earn this job.

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RAJU: All right. Expect some fireworks tomorrow night when V.P. candidates Tim Walz and J.D. Vance face off in their first and only debate, just over a month before election day. And now with new polling showing a tightening race in the key

battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin, both tickets are looking for any opportunity to edge ahead.

Walz preparing with mock debate sessions with his team in Northern Michigan and fighting off nerves. That's according to our reporting from our colleague, CNN's Isaac Dovere.

Vance also engaging in intense prep sessions, but he downplayed them in recent rallies.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, how are you feeling about debate prep? Going well?

WALZ: Going great, this is the fun part right here. Thank you, guys, for coming out.

VANCE: You get out there, you talk to people. You talk about the issues that matter.

We don't need -- we don't need to prepare for a debate with Tim Walz.

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RAJU: All right. My panel is back.

So, David, you write in "The Atlantic," you say -- the headline is "J.D. Vance's Thin Skin Makes Him Vulnerable."

FRUM: Yes.

RAJU: Why?

FRUM: Well, a presidential or vice-presidential debate is not like a spelling bee. You're not asked to name all of the 50 state capitals.

What it is, is it's a contest where each tries to reveal the inner character of the other. That's what Vice President Harris successfully did to Donald Trump, that she put the mirror up to him and showed America what is inside this man. And it's horrible.

And so, that is the tactic that each of them are going to try to do. And with Vance, you've got someone -- I mean, I've known him for a long time. You've got someone who's very brittle. You've got someone whose public persona is a fake.

That's the reason he keeps attacking Tim Walz as a phony. Tim Walz, whatever you think of Tim Walz, he is what he is. But Vance is a phony.

And that is -- and that is the -- I mean, it's the -- and he's someone who, when that is exposed, becomes very petulant, very peevish, very angry, and very controlling. And that's going to be the task at this debate is can Walz successfully hold the mirror up, keep it there, and let America see what its choice is.

RAJU: Will Vance take the bait the way Trump did?

JENNINGS: I think it'll be a much different kind of debate.

And I agree with you about Walz, actually, he is what he is. And he is probably the person who is most in over their head in American politics right now.

There's a reason they don't let him talk to the press. There's a reason he doesn't have any extended interactions where he's answering complicated questions, like what he should face at this debate.

And so, I think there's a lot of pressure on him here, honestly, to prove that he is up to this.

Now, being up to the job of vice president, it's a lower bar for most people who will be watching it. And I don't expect this to move numbers or, you know, to have a huge impact on the flow of the water in this race.

But I think Vance is far more schooled at the issues at the core of this campaign than Walz is. And he has an opportunity to show that Walz was a fundamentally weak pick by Harris. And I think that's -- that would be his goal for Tuesday night.

RAJU: Let's show viewers about what they have debated and what they looked like in the past, in their past debates, Walz and Vance.

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WALZ: I'm proud of Minnesota's response. I'm proud of Minnesota's first responders, who were out there from firefighters to police, to the National Guard, to citizens that were out there.

SCOTT JENSEN (R), 2022 MINNESOTA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: You heard it here governor Walz just told you, I am proud of Minnesota's response referring to the riots in May and June of 2020. Wow.

TIM RYAN (D), 2022 OHIO SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: In Youngstown, on the stage, Donald Trump said to J.D. Vance, All you do is kiss my ass to get my support. He said that. That's bad.

VANCE: I'm not going to take lectures on dignity and self-respect from a guy caught on video kissing up to Chuck Schumer and begging him for promotion to his next job.

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RAJU: I mean, is it -- is it just setting low expectations when the Walz people -- people close to Walz are saying, Well, he's not a good debater. He's not -- he's nervous about it?

Or is there a concern that he's not a good debater? HAYS: I mean, I think he would own that he was not a good debater. But I also think that that's what we do, right? Everyone setting the expectation low; this doesn't matter, that it's not going to move the numbers, which is true.

But a lot of this campaign cycle has been dictated by some comments that J.D. Vance has made in the past. And so, I think, you know, this could drive a news cycle for a couple of days, just like his childless cat lady comments, and he keeps doubling down.

So, I don't think it matters to move numbers. I do think that they have the opportunity to drive a news cycle. And with 35 or 37 days left, I just -- I don't think that's a good place for them to be. So, I think if they can stick to the issues, and we can move on, I think that they will do no harm.

RAJU: And do no harm is really the ultimate goal here?

FRUM: It is the ultimate goal. And look, I do think Walz is probably nervous.

I do think that -- that J.D. Vance is not nervous and is pretty confident. And --

PRESTON: Whether or not he does what David says he does or predicts what he does, we'll see what happens tomorrow night. But I do think that he has the most to lose.

FRUM: Yes. The rule is do harm and do it on the other guy.

The clip that people need to see is the moment where -- it was in Detroit, and the local FOX News affiliate gave J.D. Vance a total softball question: what makes you smile?

And as that report revealed, he was -- he was a friendly reporter. He just -- he was looking for a soft angle. And -- and Vance suddenly turned angry, accused, called the man names, and then emitted this kind of cackling, self-congratulatory laugh afterwards.

And you think, that is a troubled soul. And that's the thing, what would America has to see, is the oldest president ever, the man who would be the oldest president ever has a 40-year-old vice president, and there's something wrong with him.

RAJU: We'll see how voters ultimately react. Do they agree with you or disagree with you? We shall see.

All right. Still to come on CNN THIS MORNING, strikes in Lebanon overnight as tensions in the region reach a boiling point. CNN's Ben Wedeman is live from Beirut.

Plus, Donald Trump's latest attacks against Kamala Harris get personal again, despite warnings from his political allies.

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