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CNN This Morning
Israel Launches "Limited" Ground Invasion Into Lebanon; Tonight: Walz And Vance Square Off In VP Debate; Recovery Efforts Underway In Asheville Following Helene. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired October 01, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:41]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Tuesday, October 1st.
Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:
A new phase of war. Breaking overnight, Israel moving troops into Lebanon, defying pressure from the U.S. to stop the escalation.
Plus, debate day. Tim Walz and J.D. Vance ready for their face off. What each candidate needs to do on stage tonight.
And later --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything that -- that you sort of take for granted has been washed away literally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Utter devastation. Communities ravaged by Helene rapidly with near total destruction.
(MUSIC)
HUNT: All right, 5:00 a.m. here on the East Coast. A live look at Capitol Hill on this Tuesday morning.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
We have breaking news out of the Middle East. Overnight, Israeli troops crossed into Lebanon to begin with what they're following the next phase of war, Israel launching a limited ground invasion into southern Lebanon, despite weeks of requests from the U.S. to use restraint and deescalate their conflict with Hezbollah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REAR ADMIRAL DANIEL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESPERSON: If the state of Lebanon and the world can push Hezbollah away from our border, we have no choice but to do it ourselves. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Israel hitting Beirut with a fresh round of airstrikes overnight while insisting there will be no long-term occupation of Lebanon. The White House clearly unable to stop Israel -- the Israeli prime minister from widening the war with Hezbollah, the ground invasion launching just hours after President Biden called for a halt to the conflict.
(BEGIN VDIEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Israel may be now launching a limited operation into Lebanon. Are you aware of that? Are you comfortable with their plans?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm more aware than you right now and I'm comfortable with them stopping it. We should have a ceasefire now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: A ceasefire doesn't seem to be in Netanyahu's plans. Listen to what the prime minister sending a message to the Iranian people, suggesting a regime change in Iran is Israel's ultimate goal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Iran's tyrants don't care about your future. But you do. What Iran is finally free and that moment will come a lot sooner than people think, everything will be different. Our two ancient peoples, the Jewish people and the Persian people, will finally be at peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: We're joined now by CNN global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier.
Kim, good morning. Thank you so much for being here.
That quote from Netanyahu, a very interesting one. Let's circle back to it. First, let's talk about this breaking news overnight. What we've learned from the Israelis and what they extent of this conflict may look like.
We've been talking so much about the war in Gaza. What's different here?
KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: The size and scale of what they're going after. When you look at the Hezbollah structure, you've got at least 50,000 fighters, possibly more, but more importantly, the infrastructure that Hezbollah has built along that border with Israel, it is mountainous territory, hard rock.
Hezbollah has dug in hundreds of miles of tunnels in which they've hidden rockets, most importantly, the ballistic missiles that they have smuggled in and are built with Iran's help, and basically, Israel has to go in and ferret all of that out. So if you look at their operation in Gaza, which was tunnels and sandstone, that has taken almost a year.
They're doing the same thing here. They've got a first raid to find the openings of these things. And then they're going to have to bring in I believe tanks, engineers, those infrastructure to protect the engineers while they do the work of mapping out, and blowing up those tunnels and digging out anything that's inside. Because those ballistic missiles can go 340 miles, it can reach much of Israel's populated area and the Israeli military wants to take them out.
HUNT: So when you look at how Benjamin Netanyahu's political situation plays into this.
[05:05:05]
We've obviously seen it impacts some of their strategic and even tactical military decisions making.
DOZIER: Yeah.
HUNT: What are the current pressures on him and what does it tell us about how long this conflict may last, for example?
DOZIER: Well, he is facing pressure from the hostage families that he's diverted the operation from Gaza to now, take on the new goal of making it safe for Israelis to return to northern Israel.
But his popularity in the polls, especially among conservatives, the people he relies on to put him back in power, has been rising. Since all of the stepped-up operations against Hezbollah, and especially after the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader. So I expect this operation to go on for some time, especially as we approach the anniversary of the October attacks.
It shows Israel fighting back and especially among Israel's right wing. That is a plus for Netanyahu.
HUNT: It's really interesting.
So, we heard Netanyahu say just there in English, I'm always fascinated by what he decides to say in English versus Hebrew. It seems like a very strategic set of choices. But he says here, when Iran is finally free, and that moment will come a lot sooner than people think.
What's he saying there?
DOZIER: I would -- I would put that under the heading of psy ops. He's trying to get in the Iranian leaders heads, saying you don't know what we've got planted and where to take you out, because they've managed to conduct so many assassination operations already inside Iranian territory.
And that's also a signal to the Iranian people who have demonstrated unrest in the past that we see you. And we know that you might do the job for the rest of the world.
HUNT: All right. Kim Dozier, very grateful to have you, to start us off this morning with this breaking news. Thank you very much.
All right. Coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, stories of survival and recovery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When the water was about to my to my shoulder level, I realized I needed to get out of here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: The people of western North Carolina picking up the pieces. Its something that can take years.
Plus, closing the gender gap? What Donald Trump would need to do to get more female voters on his side.
And it's the VP showdown. J.D. Vance and Tim Walz on the big stage in the Big Apple. Will either be able to find a standout moment?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LLOYD BENTSEN (D-TX): Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORMER REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI): Jack Kennedy lowered tax rates, increased growth. Ronald Reagan --
JOE BIDEN, THEN-U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Oh, now, you're Jack Kennedy.
KAMALA HARRIS, THEN-U.S. SENATOR: Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking.
MIKE PENCE, THEN-U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I have to weigh in.
HARRIS: I'm speaking. If you don't mind letting me finish, we can have a conversation, okay?
PENCE: Please.
HARRIS: Okay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: The 2020 vice presidential debate tonight, Tim Walz and J.D. Vance will stack up some of their own moments in vice presidential debate history when they square off in the first and only VP debate of this campaign. Tim Walz is preparing in Michigan. You seen only briefly in a few public appearances in recent days around town, I have to say I love Petoskey, Michigan. It's a great place. The governor also reportedly battling nerves, according to CNN's Isaac
Dovere, ahead of his showdown with J.D. Vance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Governor, what do you want voters to learn about you tomorrow?
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Just doing our best for folks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: J.D. Vance finishing up his preparations in New York. He arrived in the Big Apple Monday afternoon ahead of the debate with no public events scheduled.
His running mate, though, has plenty to say about his ally and his opponent in the debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think J.D.'s going to do great. He's a very smart guy. He's done a great job. People like him a lot.
He's going up against a moron, a total moron. How she picked him is unbelievable. And I think it's a big factor. There's something wrong with that guy. He's sick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. Joining us now to help preview tonight's showdown, Mychael Schnell. She's congressional reporter for "The Hill".
Mychael, good morning.
MYCHAEL SCHNELL, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE HILL: Thanks.
HUNT: Nice to see you.
This is entirely an expectations game, right?
SCHNELL: Yeah.
HUNT: The Harris camp, putting out, telling our Isaac Dovere, well, he's nervous.
SCHNELL: Of course.
HUNT: We, of course heard that Walz had warned Harris and the selection process, well, I'm bad, I'm bad at debating. This isn't my thing, and now, of course, you've got Trump, who doesn't really do the traditional expectations game setting, basically saying, well, J.D. Vance is going to be going up against a moron.
What do you make of how they're talking about this leading up to the debate? And what do you expect to see tonight?
SCHNELL: It's always funny how the candidates and they size up their opponents in such a different manner when you're right before the debate. I think that this is typically what we see -- candidates trying to lower the bar. Their close allies trying to lower the bar. So any performance that's decent clears that bar and could actually maybe be a resounding performance.
So this is sort of what were, so we typically see Donald Trump taking his own unconventional approach to it, not completely surprising, but what have you.
Tonight will be fascinating because it's, A, I think arguably the biggest stage that either of them had been challenged on. You could say that the convention stage was a big stage, but this is where there please give me pushed on their views. Both of them have had some controversies.
Tim Walz is going to talk about his military record. He had some controversy there, him saying he carried weapon of war. That was something that was pushed back on and J.D. Vance has had a number of these controversial comments, whether it be the childless cat ladies, more recently, what's going on in Springfield.
[05:15:02]
I expect to see them be pushed on both of those matters, then particularly some current events be pulled into this. There's the hurricane that just came through and that is -- that cuts states are reeling from that damage. There's what's going on in the Middle East right now. I suspect we'll see some -- some foreign policy and current events as well. So it's going to be fascinating evening tonight.
HUNT: Yeah, for sure.
And, Mychael, in terms of the expectations setting in what Trump is doing versus what his campaign is doing, let's watch what Jason Miller had to say about -- this was on a press call on Monday, so I guess we're going to listen to it. This is the official line from the campaign.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
JASON MILLER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISOR: Walz was very good in debates. I want to repeat that. Tim Walz is very good in debates, really good.
He's been a politician for nearly 20 years. He'll be very well prepared for tomorrow night. He's not going to be the wildly gesticulating effeminate caricature we see at rallies pointing to accomplish Harris and dancing about on the stage.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HUNT: Interesting to me that he used the word effeminate to describe Tim Walz. It seems very telling. SCHNELL: Yes. And also saying that he's a good debater, trying to size up his performance at its -- you know, he's going to come prepared. So that way, if folks say that J.D. Vance did well or beat him, it would again, this resounding performance.
It's the expectations game that we're once again seeing play out. I also think tonight is going to be interesting. Well, it's potentially going to be the last time that we see these two campaigns face-off, head-to-head on the debate stage, CNN has obviously extended the invitation to Vice President Kamala Harris debate on October 23rd, Harris has accepted that. Trump has declined that invitation.
Now, you know, that goes to say he's declining at right now. We typically see this debate about the debates go on, changed paths, change trajectories, a number of times before that date comes around.
But as of right now, this could be the final showdown between the two campaigns. So, really, we're getting into the final stretch here.
HUNT: No, no, we are 30 -- 30 some odd days to go. It is -- it's October as of today.
SCHNELL: Happy October.
HUNT: Mychael Schnell, thanks very much for being here.
SCHNELL: Thanks, Kasie.
HUNT: All right. Don't forget. You can watch Tim Walz and J.D. Vance's first and only face off in that VP debate. It's hosted by CBS News, but it will be tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. You can watch it right here on CNN.
And coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, rescue and recovery operations continuing in Appalachia as the region reels from the impact of Hurricane Helene. The official number of people unaccounted for still unknown.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: We'll be there as I said before, and I mean it, as long as it takes to finish this job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: President Biden setting the record straight yesterday on the federal government's response to Helene as his former political rival claims he's refusing to help red states.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:22:16]
HUNT: Welcome back. At least 130 people are dead after Hurricane Helene made landfall, slamming into the Southeast. In Asheville, heavy trees and downed power lines are blocking main roads, making it difficult to provide residents with supplies. Many more people remain missing. The governor says there is no official number for how many people are unaccounted for across the state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE TIMKO, ASHEVILLE RESIDENT: I asked my daughter, are you okay? We've just texted her and she sent me back these horrifying pictures. I mean, it looked like Armageddon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: CNN's Isabel Rosales was on the scene in Asheville, North Carolina as recovery efforts began.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With devastation this widespread, a view from the air brings into focus the full scope of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene.
Heavy trees, and downed power lines are blocking major roadways, hampering the delivery of badly-needed supplies, and overturn semi- truck laying upside down in the river and numerous landslides, all spotted from above.
CNN flew by helicopter with a non-profit serving inaccessible towns, badly in need of aid.
On the ground in Black Mountain, outside of Asheville, City Manager Josh Harrold says it could take years to get over this devastation.
JOSH JARROLD, BLACK MOUNTAIN CITY MANAGER: It is catastrophic. Black Mountain may never look the same again. It's just total destruction.
ROSALES: But just getting buying for now, the focus for so many. It's hours of waiting for gas at the few pumps that are still running.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here's your first car.
ROSALES: In Asheville, lines of cars waiting for basic supplies.
LEXI LINDSEY, ASHEVILLE RESIDENT: It's just rough. It's hard to seeing the city like this.
ROSALES: Some families tell CNN, they've run out of drinking water and without electricity, their food is rotting.
Gary O'Dell is sharing everything he's got. He's home with his daughter who lost it all to the catastrophic floods.
And even life-saving oxygen tanks with his neighbor. GARY O'DELL, SHARING OXYGEN TANKS WITH NEIGHBOR: My next-door
neighbor ran out of oxygen. He's worse shape than I am. That's my problem. I've got lung cancer now, too.
And you don't -- you know, you don't realize oxygen is -- is very important.
ROSALES: Non-profits teaming up to serve 2,000 residents in the first four hours.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you guys doing?
ROSALES: This is one of the first semi-trucks full of desperately needed supplies to arrive in Asheville.
MICHELLE COLEMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ASHEVILLE DREAM CENTER: This is the most devastating thing I've ever seen her whole city. I think that the loss of life, the fact that if you don't have cash, you can't get anything. We've gone to stores, waters out, light is out. People slept overnight at gas stations like I feel like we've never seen this before.
ROSALES: And three days into this disaster, North Carolinians praying that more help is on the way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[05:25:05]
HUNT: All right. Isabel Rosales this morning.
All right. What's left of Hurricane Helene will finally move off shore today as more rain is expected along the East Coast.
Lets get to our meteorologist Derek Van Dam with more.
Derek, good morning.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Kasie, you know, my team and I were actually located along the Florida Big Bend region when Hurricane Helene moved inland, the devastation there was catastrophic from the storm surge, but 500 miles inland, now, people are starting to get a glimpse of how catastrophic this storm actually was for places outside of the coast of Florida where it made landfall, originally.
And coming home to something like this -- what do you even do? How do you even comprehend that? How do you compartmentalize all the damage that is on the ground?
Well, it's even amazing to me that we're talking about kind of the remnant energy of what was Hurricane Helene. This is indirectly related to it, but there are still a tropical showers that are inundating, kind of like the spot the rock, our spine of the Appalachian Mountains here.
So anywhere from the nations capital into portions of western North Carolina. And now, they're light, but I don't want to reiterate that this isn't a another round of heavy rainfall, but the point being is that the ground is so saturated, and any additional rainfall according to the national weather service coming not of the western North Carolina region, talking about landslides, because the ground is unstable.
So, additional rainfall could cause some of that loose dirt and rock to slide quite easily.
So isolated showers here through the course of the day today, some of the hardest hit areas, western North Carolina, into Virginia. We're still talking about over for 1 million-and-a-half customers without power. I mean, it could basically see and track the exact path of where the storm made its way inland.
And this is just concurrent with our warming world, Kasie, we talk about this so often, but when we have a warming planet, that allows the atmosphere to hold more moisture and that brings the potential for more frequent and more heavy rain events like we saw unfold in western North Carolina -- Kasie.
HUNT: All right. Derek Van Dam for us this morning, Derek, thanks very much. We'll see you next hour.
Straight ahead here on CNN this morning, Donald Trump trying to close the gender gap. Can he make up ground against Kamala Harris by telling women he's their protector?
Plus, President Carter becoming the first American president to celebrate his 100th birthday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense, it's the other way around. Human rights invented America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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