Return to Transcripts main page
Erin Burnett Outfront
Soon: Harris Speaks Live From Arizona's Border With Mexico; At Least 45 Killed By Hurricane Helene Across Five States; Explosions Rocking Beirut, Israel: Hezbollah Chief Targeted. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired September 27, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:38]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
The breaking news, Kamala Harris at the border and about to speak live any moment, taking the fight to Trump on the border, as polls show her gaining on him on this crucial issue.
Plus, the death toll tonight rising from Hurricane Helene as the Coast Guard pulls off a miraculous rescue of a Florida man and his dog. The officer who pulled off that rescue is OUTFRONT with new video of what happened.
And more breaking news this hour, new strikes in Beirut as Israel says as it targeted the head of Hezbollah. Iran warning Israel and claiming the U.S. is complicit.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, Kamala Harris at the border. The vice president about to give a major speech on an issue that she's trying to take head-on. Harris is gaining on Trump in multiple national polls when it comes to the border and immigration. The polls, the trip, the optics today all have Trump clearly worried.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She didn't go there for four years. Now, today, she shows up.
I don't know. Maybe she's already gotten, I doubt it, but she's -- went to the border today. She wants to see if she could salvage -- make up some lies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: This is an issue Trump has been hammering Harris on since she entered the race.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: She never went to the border and she was a horrible border czar.
Her only job was the border and she'd never went there.
She never went there once.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK. She did go there once, he could give her that because it's not much more than zero, but it is the second trip that is clearly irking Trump, although it was not the only thing on his mind today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm proud to say. I think I'm the only politician that's lost -- I've lost billions on. I don't give a damn. I knew id lose a lot. I didn't know I was going to lose that much. I wanted to lose -- I could have made a fortunate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, of course, Trump is on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in legal penalties as a convicted felon.
And he has lost a lot of money on his businesses, but he is making a fortune by any normal human standard right now. He is in fact now selling watches at $100,000 each.
Now, just to be clear, in case this distinction matters, these watches are being sold for personal profit, not for his campaign. We looked up the disclaimer on the brand new Trump watches website and it says, quote, these watches are not political and have nothing to do with any political campaign.
And for those who can afford $100,000 for an 18 carat gold diamond encrusted watch that says it is Suisse made, there are other options. Trump is also selling less expensive watches for $799 or at the lowest price, $499.
I guess what? This is not the first thing he has sold during his campaign. He has sold $499 gold sneakers. He sold $99 digital trading cards.
Now the digital trading cards or interesting because they've been up there for a while. So we know from his disclosures that he made $7.2 million off of those digital trading cards alone.
Now, we do not know how much he made from the bibles he sold because yes, he did sell bibles for $59.99 which come emblazoned with the words "God bless the USA". And, of course, that picture of Trump on the website.
All of those items sold just to be clear, we check the disclaimers, were sold to benefit Trump, not to raise money for the campaign. And it's something he's not shy about.
This is the Trump brand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Trump watches.
Trump coins.
Trump at the digital trading cards.
Trump steaks.
Trump university.
Trump, the game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Well, Priscilla Alvarez is OUTFRONT in Douglas, Arizona.
That is what Trump will be watching and everyone will be watching extremely closely right now because the Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to speak where you are, Priscilla, in just a few moments. And I know you're learning new information about what she is expected to say tonight. This is a very important address.
What is she going to say?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, notably, Erin, she plans to go further than President Joe Biden on the issue of border security. I'm told by a senior campaign official that she plans to embrace President Joe Biden's asylum crackdown from earlier this summer. But then also go further. And by the further, I mean, she wants to set the threshold for when these restrictions lift higher and harder to lift. So, essentially, this restriction that's been in place she would make it tougher for that to be lifted in the future.
[19:05:01]
So these are the types proposals that we anticipate to hear more of from the vice president as she makes her pitch the key is tougher on border security, and not only compared to former President Donald Trump, but also compared to President Biden. Of course, this has been an administration and that has wrestled with multiple border crises and record numbers of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
But over recent months, that number has plummeted after that crackdown that I mentioned that happened over the summer. Now advisers to the vice president are still concerned about the gap that they see an immigration polling, but they tell me they see an opportunity here to sort to close the gap. The reason for that is because recent polling has shown that the former president's lead has started to erode on the issue, going up against the vice president compared to President Joe Biden. And so this is what they are trying to close further. Now, the vice president today is also going to needle former President
Donald Trump over the bipartisan border measure that was tanked by him and Republicans, saying that no one wants a president, quote, playing political games.
Now, the vice president, in addition today has been on the U.S.-Mexico border. She's receiving a briefing from border authorities and we'll bring that message also here later this evening as again, she tries to get an edge on this issue also, in a battleground state of Arizona.
BURNETT: All right. Priscilla, thank you very much.
And as we are awaiting the vice president's remarks, which will take live. Obviously, this is an important policy moment in the campaign.
Everyone's here with me now.
And, Astead, Kamala Harris just before, so she's about to speak here and we do expect that in a few moments, but she did just speak to the cameras. Let me play what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To do their job and they work long hours. They're very dedicated and so, I'm here to talk to them about what we can continue to do to support them and to also thank them for the hard work they do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, Astead, that fits with what Priscilla said, that she is going to -- she's, you know, supportive of the Customs and Border Patrol, that she's going to be tougher on asylum, than the policies. And here's where -- this is the twist. The policies of the administration of which she is the vice president.
ASTEAD HERNDON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right.
BURNETT: Does that work?
HERNDON: I think this is what obviously Democrats play is if we think about the kind of three main issues in this race, the economy, abortion, and immigration, Democrats understand that immigration is the one they are weakest on as Donald Trump's most offensive issue, is what he wants this election to be about.
And so, you have Kamala Harris on the defensive coming into this, but they see us as increasingly an opportunity where they can basically play to a draw after the debate, where she really able to needle Donald Trump specifically from what she outlined earlier, Priscilla outlined, that Trump was the one who blew up that bipartisan border bill.
You have Kamala Harris who was leaning more and more into it and I find it very interesting that this is the place where she decides to break with the administration and say, I will be even tougher. I think that's a recognition of some of the -- of where immigration is for a lot of undecided voters. And I think this is her going back to the law enforcement brand we saw before, the presidential run in 2019.
I think this is somewhat interesting though, because when we think back to where Democrats were four years ago, they weren't really saying what they wanted to do on immigration and the border. They were basically just saying what Donald Trump is doing is discriminatory, what Donald Trump is doing is wrong.
Now, we have them kind of emitting a little bit that there is an issue that needs to be solved even if they're saying that our solutions are better than his. I think the only question here is, as they elevate the border as an issue, as an issue for this race, does that really entice voters to go to them over Trump? If you're a voter who thinks that immigration is the most important issue, isn't Donald Trump the one who's made that most central? That's the kind of game that they're playing.
They want to acknowledge the problem. They're simply just trying to offer themselves as the solution.
BURNETT: So, all right, so, Ashley, Donald Trump tonight meanwhile is repeating as he often has when he attacks Harris on immigration and migrants who have entered the country. He is talking about some of the worst things that have happened. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They come up, they grab young girls and they slice them up right in front of their parents. To let our American sons and daughters be raped and murdered that the hands of vicious monsters, she let American communities be conquered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Ashley, look, I mean, you know, at best, brutal words, despite how Trump phrases it though, there are horrible stories that we have all heard about. Laken Riley in Georgia, of course, is one of them.
Does Trump talking like that resonate with voters, specifically anyone undecided?
ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR VP HARRIS: Yeah. I mean -- I mean, the voters that matter most at this stage of the game is definitely those 1 to 2 percent undecided voters, those disaffected Republicans that don't want to go back to Donald Trump. So they matter most.
I don't think that those types of messages really resonated with them. I think they fall on deaf ear.
You know, I would like to take a step back if you don't mind, that what the vice president -- I was on your show when she did the Georgia rally. [19:10:02]
And I remember pointing out to you the first topic she leaned into was immigration.
BURNETT: Yes.
ETIENNE: She has consistently been leaning into both immigration and the economy and it's -- and it's having positive correlations with the polls. She's closing the gaps with Donald Trump on each one of these issues. She's really defying what Democrats typically do on these issues.
We typically don't lean in as she is and it's actually working -- the strategies working. There's -- it's not without risk her going down to the border is not without risk because it does give them the opportunity to make this point that she's only been one other time.
But the point is, you've got to run that risk to just peel off some of these voters. And I think she's actually doing that. She's demonstrating not just that she's presidential, she's also reinforcing her credentials as a former AG on a border state.
She's also really spotlighting the point -- hopefully, she does is later today -- spotlighting the point that Donald Trump is the problem. There was a bill -- Democrats and Republicans came together on a bill which hardly ever happens in Washington. He stood in the way of it.
I would also add though, if you don't mind, Erin, that he's been a total disaster on the border. I mean, the wall that he said he built is not even erected. Mexico, I still haven't seen any receipts for them paying for it. So, I think she's also going to lean into the point that he has no credibility on the issue of the border.
BURNETT: Right. I mean, while some of the wall was erected, part of it using Harris ad as KFILE had found.
David, let me ask you though about the point that Ashley just made about how she doesn't need to win on the issue, she needs to just close the margin on some people and we've seen that in the polling, Ashley has a point. In Arizona, where Harris is tonight, Trump -- against Trump, I mean, I'm sorry, against Biden. Trump was up 20 points on immigration. Against Harris, he's up by 15.
In an election this close, you know, all you got to do is you don't have to win it. You just got to narrow that gap and it appears that she is doing that.
DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, I don't -- listen. I'm not going to live or die over polls are a snapshot poll. So the trend has been terrible on immigration and who do you trust in the border for the current vice president.
Listen, you know when the last time she was with the border was, Erin, nobody can remember. It was over three years ago. If she really cared about the border --
BURNETT: What trend? I mean, she's doing a little better in the polling is what I just pointed out.
URBAN: Erin, NBC -- the latest, NBC poll has, which is about a week old hazard down 21 points to Trump on the border and immigration. Her going to the border just reminds people that she entered -- run for president in 2020, took the position on having immigrants who crossed the border illegally, not prosecuted legally. She said, I want to criminalize that. I want to lessen the money for border agents, CBP.
So when she's going there and saying, I want to get tougher for just get on a plane and go back to Washington, go into your office and the EOB where you're the current vice president and get tougher today. She doesn't need to wait for -- until January 20th. She's in the job as you pointed out. It's hard to -- it's hard to run against the administration that you're a part of. And that's what she's trying to do. And it 40 days out, voters aren't buying it.
BURNETT: Okay. Astead?
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Go ahead, Astead, and Ashley, jump in.
HERNDON: I was going to say, what he's pointing out is a true transition for Democrats where they were four years ago on this is not where the party is now there. So, my point, there has been a concession of the importance of the issue and what Harris is trying to do is again, to slow down that margin.
But I would say that they had not created a vision of what immigration system would look like. And Harris hasn't done so even again now. And so I don't think it's -- I don't think they're trying to really get it to a 50/50 place, even if we take a thing like Arizona, there's an abortion referendum on the ballot in November, too.
Some of what Democrats are going to do trying to defend on this issue, but some of what they're going to try to do is deflect and make sure other issues become more of a priority for voters.
BURNETT: Ashley?
ETIENNE: I mean, I don't know that I agree with any of that, but I appreciate the effort.
But I want to get back to the point that was made earlier is she actually has gotten tougher. The administration has gotten over from where they were when they came into the administration. The first proposal that they offered to Congress was a comprehensive proposal on immigration. Since then, they've gotten tough.
The Republicans walked away from the bill. They implemented increased security at the border. Border crossings are down 40 percent. They're lower than they were under Donald Trump.
So there is signs that she went back into the White House and got tougher on the issue and it's actually working.
URBAN: Yeah.
BURNETT: David?
URBAN: Erin, I just real quickly I just add with this, this administration created this crisis. If they would have just left the Trump border policies in place, which were working, immigration was down, right, illegal immigration was down, we wouldn't be here today. We wouldn't have 10 million illegal immigrants in this time.
BURNETT: Seven-point-five.
URBAN: You know, the chyron on my little box of your says Nantucket on the island to smile and etiquette 15,000 year on residents, four gotaways, ICE came over and got four gotaways who committed violent sexual assaults, two child rapes, two sexual assaults on other residents here, an the immigrant community.
[19:15:06]
Your point is well-taken, Erin. It is affecting communities all across the nation, not just border communities, not just big cities, small cities all across America. And it's a crisis that was created by this administration just left to go. The Trump administration did a good job.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you all very much. I appreciate it. We are awaiting Kamala Harris's remarks which are going to be coming any moment, as he said, its a crucial policy issue. We're going to bring you that live. And she is on-site and Arizona right now.
Next, incredible new video of a man and his dog rescued from Hurricane Helene's rising floodwaters. The coast guard officer who rescued them is OUTFRONT tonight.
And Georgia's death toll rising from the hurricane, the governor, Brian Kemp, will be OUTFRONT.
Plus, breaking news this Friday, live pictures from Beirut in these early hours of Saturday morning, Israel continuing its bombardment of the Lebanese capital. It comes as we're hearing from an Israeli official, that Hezbollah's leader was the intended target of a major strike. Today, these live pictures of burning over Beirut.
We'll be back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:20:30]
BURNETT: Breaking news on the death toll from Hurricane Helene rising at this moment, at least 45, we understand now have died in five states, that number is likely to go up. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper calling it one of the worst storms in modern history. Right now, the images on your screen or of more than 50 people
stranded on a roof and Tennessee. It's a hospital. The floodwaters there, people now at the highest point they can be and they are stranded there, as millions and millions are without power tonight. The warnings of storm surges of up to ten feet are still in place on the west coast of Florida, from Indian Pass up to Tampa Bay.
And the heartbreaking scenes across Florida from Helene just terrible, completely crushing buildings there, debris littering the streets, homes, livelihoods totally destroyed and this is what those 15-foot storm surges looked like on this, you see on a bridge, a winds reached 140 miles an hour.
Derek Van Dam was there through all of it. He's OUTFRONT tonight in Keaton Beach, Florida, where so much of the destruction has happened, a place that looks so very different, 24 hours ago, Derek, what are you seeing there tonight?
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. Erin, here in the big bend of Florida, it took a direct hit by Hurricane Helene with stormy surge over 15 feet and winds of over 140 miles per hour leaving the destruction that you see behind me. But as the storm raised inland, it sold over an area well over 700 miles from where I stand right now, leaving its own set of dangerous in its wake, listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We narrowly escaped a landslide. It was -- I can't imagine what the roof looks like.
VAN DAM (voice-over): A couple escapes a landslide triggered by Helene, shattered glass rocks, and mud covered their car going through Black Mountain, North Carolina. The state facing historic flooding, a once in a thousand-year rain event followed by landfalling hurricane.
GOV. ROY COOPER (D), NORTH CAROLINA: This is one of the worst dorms in modern history for parts of western North Carolina. The priority now is saving lives.
VAN DAM: Asheville's ground soaked before Helene approached, two months worth of rainfall fell in just 24 hours, propane tanks floating around.
COOPER: The end of the rain is not the end of the threat. This fear storm will move out of our state in the next 24 hours but the danger will not be over.
VAN DAM: For this milk business owner with no electricity, time is running out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As it stands, we're probably going to lose what we have an inventory, and the building. It's going to be devastating for a lot of people around here.
VAN DAM: Widespread devastation in Florida, Hurricane Helene destroyed homes in Cedar Key. The mayor of Tampa posting this video showing waterfront neighborhoods
in shambles and in Pinellas County, the sheriff reported at least five storm-related deaths Friday morning.
SHERIFF BOB GUALTIERI, PINELLAS COUNTY, FLORIDA: Not everybody evacuated and unfortunately, they called for help and we couldn't help. A lot of the people who called as those conditions got very bad last night. And it was -- it was inaccessible.
VAN DAM: First responders head into hard hit areas of Florida's Big Bend. We talked to this Keaton Beach resident who lost his home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man, I lost my house. I have nothing else to go. My house was (INAUDIBLE). It was sitting right over there just fillers on the ground. I've got a wife and two dogs here with me. What am I supposed to do?
VAN DAM: And off the coast of Florida, the Coast Guard rescues a man and his dog stranded on their sailboat off Sanibel Island.
Boats washed ashore in Gulfport, many communities hit by the hurricane, rebuilding in the days ahead. Even though Helene downgraded to a tropical storm, as it made its way through Georgia, at least 11 people died there and its intensity flooded the streets of Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAN DAM (on camera): Here in Keaton Beach, this gas station, the local gas station was only three days away from celebrating its five-year anniversary of being open. Instead, here the owners are left with cleaning up the debris that's left behind. This is just a small taste of what is being experienced here across Florida's Big Bend -- Erin.
BURNETT: So many, many, many millions. Derek, thank you very much.
And the dramatic new video that you just saw on Derek's report of the man and his dog being rescued, will this video is from the helmet cam of a Coast Guard rescue swimmer who saved them both.
[19:25:07]
And he's our guest tonight. We have his exclusive full video of the rescue. So lets watch how it unfolded.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, Petty Officer Second Class Ted Hudson, first interview since that daring rescue took place.
Officer Hudson, it's terrifying to look at that, the wind and the waves and going down from the helicopter hoisting him up to rescue him. The man and dog were still on their boat. You arrived, then what happened?
PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS TED HUDSON, U.S. COAST GUARD SWIMMER: Yeah, so we showed up on scene and we assessed the situation. We immediately got me ready to go out the door, that flight mechanic, pad it on edge and helicopter for me to come out and get ready to go down. So they put me on the hoist and hosted me down in a way I went away.
BURNETT: And the way you went. I mean, it's just -- it's terrifying and it's incredible to see. I mean, you go down, your -- your shot by your helmet cam. You see how high the waves are. You're literally looking down and then suddenly just going into those waves and then immediately start swimming to rescue.
What was that like?
HUDSON: It was -- it was a pretty I think my adrenaline kicked in and I was just going. I don't have to think about it too much. I've been in situations and training situations in Oregon where I've been in big waves like that. And -- so I just -- didn't think about it, kicked in. So I'm over the boat and started telling them to get in the water so we can get this done as soon as possible because helicopter was in 60 mile an hour winds, the pilots have to control that the whole time. It's a dangerous situation to be in, and I was just trying to get out of there as fast as possible.
BURNETT: It's incredible, 60 mile-an-hour winds and you went down.
The dog obviously was terrified. How difficult is it to save an animal in that situation? I mean, which just an animal who's in complete terror.
HUDSON: Honestly, I was super happy to be able to save a dog. Ive always seen people do it and finally got to do it. The dog was a little skeptical at first to jump in and then he finally decided that he had to jump in and explain right to me. It wasn't really that bad, he swam right to me. And I just held onto his little life vests in he seemed to do good from there.
BURNETT: So then there's a moment later in the video, let me just show this, where the man reaches over to you to thank you. I mean, you saved this man's life in that moment of just, you know, complete stress and shock. What did he say?
HUDSON: He just said thank you for saving his life. Later he got on our -- he put a headset on, starts talking to us through the helicopter, and he said when he called the Coast Guard, that's when he decided to live.
BURNETT: And then you were able to give him that incredible gift. I mean, he had to abandon his home to save his life. Where did he go after you landed in? And he went on his way?
HUDSON: Yes. We totally understood the seriousness of that situation that he left his home. So immediately sector St. Pete, which is our calls, or a call people and they organize the fire department to come and pick him up and make sure he was safe.
BURNETT: And, you know, we have a second rescue. When you went right back out, so you save this person's life, 60 mile an hour wind, you dive into the ocean, the massive waves, and then you go back out. You rescued two more people who were trapped on their boat. What happened then?
HUDSON: Yes, so this was actually a to rescue swimmer is on board. The other one is not here on out. Ben Barton was the other guy. You see him on the other video. He actually went down first and there's two people on the train bridge, I guess it was, and he went down and he called back on the radio and said it probably help if Teddy came down, we can carry this lady along the truck tracks together. So I went down to help.
[19:30:00]
BURNETT: Officer, how does it feel to save a life?
HUDSON: I said it feels pretty good. It's what -- it's what I joined the do. And that's what we all want to do. Some people don't get to do it and I say it's a privilege.
BURNETT: Well, thank you so much for sharing that video with us in those moments. Really appreciate it, Officer. Thank you.
HUDSON: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, Israel launching more strikes on Beirut. CNN is told that the IDF did target Hezbollah's leader. Fears of an all-out war rising as Iran says the U.S. is complicit in Israel's attack.
And Kamala Harris about to speak at the southern border. Is she taking Trump head on? We're going to bring it to you live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: The breaking news, President Biden ordering the Pentagon to assess, quote, force posture in the Middle East as Israel continues to bombard Lebanon with strikes. These are live pictures from Beirut moments ago there was a red haze of explosions in several locations patients this is also what we saw earlier, comes as an Israeli official tells CNN that the leader of Hezbollah was the intended target of an earlier massive strike, one that Israel is calling very precise.
[19:35:04]
And at this hour, it is unclear if Hassan Nasrallah, the Muslim cleric who leads Hezbollah, is dead or alive. His death, of course, would be a massive blow to the Iranian blacked backed militant group, which is already reeling from thousands of exploding pagers and two-way radios killing some of its senior leadership, thousands of them. Tensions boiling over tonight as all eyes are on Iran, and if when it will react.
Iran's president calling the attack a flagrant war crime. We are covering this from all angles.
Jim Sciutto is OUTFRONT in Tel Aviv. Jomana Karadsheh is in Beirut.
Jim, let me begin with you. Obviously, an incredibly tense situation right now, what more can you tell us about, you know, these coming hours? I mean, you know, all of a sudden you see an explosion lighting the sky over Beirut. We don't get a warning -- there you go right now on our live camera, we just saw one.
So what do you anticipate over these next hours?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, the first question is what will Israel say? And when about whether they killed or injured Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah. I was told by a former senior Israeli official that they struck this site with a, quote, very high degree of certainty that Nasrallah was there when those bombs dropped on this site. The official said the Israel would not have attacked with such scope and power if it was not sure with a very high degree of certainty that the ultra terrorist was there. Ultra terrorist, there the description for Hassan Nasrallah.
So that's the first question. Will they be able to confirm that he was killed? But then you have these ongoing strikes that we're watching play out right now that we were told earlier were because Israeli intelligence is that a number of anti-ship missiles were stored under buildings there in southern Beirut. That's what they're going after now.
And the question, Erin, really, it's not just how does Iran react, how does Hezbollah react, how does it, if and when does it retaliate? But also what is Israel's next step because we're seeing a series of airstrikes continuing there -- does Israel take the next step of sending in ground forces?
And we reported but earlier how they've already called up reservists. There had been some positioning of troops on the northern border to prepare for such a step and discussion that would mean really not just an escalation of this war, but an all out war between Israel and Hezbollah on the ground as well.
BURNETT: Right. And, of course, if the leadership is too taken out, that is the big question. Great irony if Nasrallah is killed by Israel before Yahya Sinwar, just to -- just to state the incredibly obvious there.
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
BURNETT: Jim Sciutto in Tel Aviv.
I want to go to Jomana, she's in Beirut.
And, Jomana, you -- so you've been there as these explosions have happened, you've heard that felt them just in these recent minutes. What else are you seeing now?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Erin, in the last 90 minutes or so, our team here has lost count really of how many strikes we have seen on southern Beirut, we have -- we've been hearing the fighter jets in the skies and then you would see these flashes and the distant thud of impact.
The count -- according to some of our team members here -- by their count at least, 15 strikes that we have seen and then you also have strikes taking place in southern Lebanon as well.
Now when it comes to Beirut, the Israeli military earlier this evening issued a warning or evacuation orders that were posted on X for the residents of three neighborhoods in Beirut's southern suburbs, telling them that they will be conducting strikes on what they say are Hezbollah weapons missile facilities, asking people within a 500 meter radius around these buildings and these neighborhoods to evacuate immediately.
And what we have seen since Erin is we are getting these reports that hundreds of people are on the streets, families with children and parks on the streets not knowing where to go.
This is truly a terrifying night for the civilians. In this city and certainly after that massive strike that we saw earlier this evening, a very dangerous moment right now that were witnessing, not just for Lebanon, but for this entire region, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Jomana, thank you very much in Beirut, these early hours of Saturday morning.
And the breaking news here continues of our other major story tonight, the death toll rising from Hurricane Helene. Now in Georgia, at least 15 people we know have been killed. That is one of the highest death tolls of any state hit by the hurricane. Major flooding making it landed neighborhoods impact passable, torrential rain, dangerous winds battered the state. State's governor saying earlier that multiple people were still trapped in heavily damaged buildings. Rescuers desperately trying to reach them.
[19:40:02]
And he joins me now, the Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp.
Governor Kemp, I really appreciate your time. Are you even able at this moment to say how bad it is in Georgia?
GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): Well, Erin, it's so bad, we are continuing to, you know, really get a handle on how much damage it was. I just got a report from our Georgia Department of Transportation. I mean, they have an even in finished assessing everything because it's so hard to get to some of the roads.
We've got interstates that have limited access obviously communities completely devastated that were in the path of the eye are on the east or right side of the storm, really from Valdosta all the way to Augusta, Georgia, 15 fatalities. We know one of those was a heroic first responder, which, you know, just breaks your heart and our thoughts and prayers are with all of those folks, but we still had people that we're trying to get to. It is a lot of devastation in the state of Georgia, but also obviously in Big Bend in Florida.
And I talked to Governor McMaster in South Carolina. I know they got a lot of power out.
BURNETT: Yes.
KEMP: A lot of loss of life there, too.
BURNETT: I mean, Atlanta, you know, hit with such rain. I mean, many have not seen in their lifetimes, floodwaters stranding people at their homes people have been rescued by boat in Atlanta, inland and the center of your state. Now you said that multiple people had been trapped in those heavily damaged buildings. I mentioned that just before you came on.
Do you -- have you an update on that? Have they've been safely accounted for at this time or not? No, we're still trying to get some of those folks. I mean, there was 115 different buildings we were told, that we had suspected people in there that couldn't be reached, and we're still trying to cut our way in there so bad. We hadn't gotten to all of them yet.
The issue to speak into the Metro Atlanta area, they are in as we dealt with two storms, you know, we had a storm in the state before Helene ever hit that came in from the north west that created a vortex and then Atlanta, we said a 48 hour rain record over 11 inches of rain the previous record was around nine inches. So that created a lot of havoc before the hurricane even got into Georgia and very unusual for us to have a cat two hurricane, really unprecedented to even hit our state. Most of the time, it downgrades to a cat one or a tropical storm.
So that's what really is created the devastation, the loss of life and we have a lot -- a lot of work ahead of us to get power back on and to get roads clear.
BURNETT: I mean, you've got nearly 1 million people or so --
(CROSSTALK)
KEMP: -- in medical emergencies.
BURNETT: Nearly a million people who still don't have power?
KEMP: Yeah, we got a million people without -- we do and then, you know, we've been working to try to make sure we got hospitals, nursing homes have power, get to medical emergencies, and just clear the roadway there is so much devastation. The thing is with Georgia, I mean, this was a 400 or 500 mile wide storm and it basically hit our entire state.
So we're not dealing with one area like you do in a traditional storm, it is essentially a statewide event that our emergency management folks are dealing with.
BURNETT: I mean, it is -- it is just horrible and I know an exhausting time and all out time. It happens in the middle of the election. I do want to ask you, Governor, I know that the foreign President Trump was in Georgia this week ahead of the storm. He's going to be back very soon.
Obviously, we all know your relationship has been fraught. You know, he called you disloyal when you didn't overturn the 2020 loss in Georgia for him. He's insulted, you know, your wife, it's been personal.
But you have risen above it and you've been gracious about that. What makes you governor still back him and are you going to campaign with him when he comes back to your state soon?
KEMP: Well, with all due respect, Erin, this is not a day for politics. This is a day to get power back on and help people with medical emergencies and get roads clear. And that's where my focus is. I'm glad to come back on later and talk about the campaign, but that is not the focus of myself or all the thousands and thousands of people that we have responded right now.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Governor, I appreciate your time and we will have you back to have a further conversation. Thank you, sir.
KEMP: Thank you.
BURNETT: All right. And next the breaking news continues. Kamala Harris is about to speak any minute should start here in the next couple of minutes along the Arizona-Mexico border. Polls show she is gaining on Trump on this very important issue. Tonight's speech, obviously, central to her campaign. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:48:47]
BURNETT: All right, this is live picture of the podium and Arizona where Kamala Harris will be speaking in just a few moments. You see obviously Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona. He has been the tough on immigration, a Democrat tough on immigration in a border swing-state, obviously backing Harris on this issue now, and he is speaking ahead of her. She is going to be on that podium and podium in just a couple of moments.
Sources are telling our reporters covering her, Priscilla Alvarez, that she will be going on offense against Donald Trump on this issue of immigration an issue that has put her on defense in the past.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LESTER HOLT, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: But do you have any plans to visit the border?
HARRIS: I'm here in Guatemala today. I -- at some point we are going to the border. We've been to the border. So, this whole -- this whole -- this whole thing about the border, we've been to the border. We've been to the border.
HOLT: You haven't been to the border?
HARRIS: And I haven't been to Europe and I mean, I don't -- I don't understand the point that you're making.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Okay. Everyone's back with me and she is going to be on that podium in a moment. We are going to take it live because this is important policy.
So, Astead, you've covered Harris extensively. You just have been in El Paso, so you've been spending time in border swing communities -- obviously, El Paso. I'm distinguishing it from the entire state of Texas.
[19:50:08]
How significant is this moment for her?
HERNDON: I do think it's a significant moment because this issue has risen to the top for a lot of people when we were in El Paso, we heard a kind of consistent story from the folks there, which was one of neglect not only on the policy issue because they feel as it both parties have not prioritized the border and immigration when it comes to governing just more so when campaign season, but also in the politics.
But we were talking to folks there overwhelmingly Mexican Americans who have experienced both sides of the border. They say that they feel like the parties talking in the kind of black and white language. And for folks who don't exist kind of in that demographic spectrum, they feel as if they haven't really gotten a clear answer about why of the parties have really not prioritized this issue and they don't really feel heard on it.
And so, I think this is really what Democrats have come around to in the last couple of years is saying, not only are we are we going to not shame Trump for what he's doing, we're going to try to actually beat him on the solution about border immigration rather than just trying to craft everything he says as discriminatory or as a problem.
BURNETT: Maybe --
HERNDON: They've shifted on it.
BURNETT: Maybe, David, this is her version and I don't mean to make light of something that I don't take lightly at all, but I bring up the Kursk invasion only in that she is doing something that people would not expect, right?
An issue of incredible weakness. She's only been to the border. It's easy to slam her over it, but she went there, and she's giving this speech tonight in prime time, knowing that it will be taken live, you got to say there is some courage in that, David.
URBAN: Yeah, Erin, I think she's doing it because she's realizing that she's losing on this issue. If you look at the numbers in Arizona in the Senate race, Gallego is up. Trump is up. There's a disconnect. People believe that the Biden-Harris administration rightly has failed them. I don't know if your viewers are familiar. The letter that ICE -- acting ICE director said in a letter to Tony Gonzalez that says, I want to get it straight here, there of the 7 million illegal migrants in this country, 663,000 of them have criminal histories, 13,000 have been convicted of homicides, 16,000 of sexual assault, 1,800 still face criminal charges for homicide.
These are people that ICE has detained but had to let go because of the current system. It is a huge issue in this country. Americans have had enough of it, and that's why she's there tonight. She's realized that they'd broken the system and they need to do something to try to fix it in the last 40 days.
Get on the plane, Madam Vice President. Go back to Washington and do your job.
BURNETT: Ashley, is that what's at stake tonight?
ETIENNE: I mean, the fear mongering is on 1,000 tonight. I mean, there's -- there's not much at stake here. I mean --
BURNETT: But those numbers, Ashley, are real numbers.
(CROSSTALK)
URBAN: Ashley, that's not fearmongering. What do you say to the people who've been murdered -- raped, murdered? Are you joking me?
ETIENNE: No, no.
BURNETT: Okay. Go ahead, Ashley.
ETIENNE: So, as I was saying, nevertheless, the vice president is down at the border to drive this point that she is demonstrating new leadership on this particular issue. But -- and the fact that she's been leaning into the issue is really working to her advantage. It's working.
Now, whether or not she's going to persuade everyone, the answer is no. But she's persuading some and that actually matters when it comes down to the fact that this race will be probably decided by hundreds of thousands of votes.
BURNETT: All right. I'm going to just hit pause. The attorney general of Arizona is speaking right now. After that, we do expect the vice president to speak. We're going to take that live. We'll sneak in a very quick break here and we'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:50]
BURNETT: And the breaking news, that is the podium and Arizona where the Vice President Kamala Harris will be momentarily. She will be speaking live, laying out her border security plan, just along U.S.- Mexico border, just after a day visiting the U.S. border with Mexico for the second time since she took office.
All right. Let me start with you, Astead, here in the where she is. She's in Arizona, right? She could have gone to several border states, including the one where she was attorney general, right?
She is in Arizona. The Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, who spoke just a moment. Go ahead of the vice president, told me recently he's confident that she can and will win Arizona. He has a pragmatic, current Democratic Party center, right, a member of the Democratic Party. Is he right?
HERNDON: He's right that she can. And I mean, not so speakers with Joe Biden to the four years ago. But because increasingly Democrats are putting together a coalition albeit Republicans are letting them do so, nominating folks like Kari Lake, that they think can really win there.
I mean, four years ago and eight years ago, Donald Trump was saying there was a problem on the border while Democrats are really saying not so much, that's different now, there's no agreement that there is an issue that needs to be solved. The question for November will be who do you blame on that issue? And Trumps telling will be the fault of the Biden administration for reversing the policies that were in place. And then a Harris telling it will be Trumps fought for -- for vetoing the border bill and nixing the Republican support over at six months ago.
The question will be, can they get enough people to either agree with them that Trump were derelict, the duty of them to solve the issue, or can they make other issues matter of justice much if not more as immigration? Donald Trump wants this election to be a referendum on immigration. He thinks that helps him win Arizona. Efforts like this tonight are the Democrats' chance to respond to that?
BUIRNETT: Ashley, what do you make of her choice to be in Arizona tonight for this important speech?
ETIENNE: Well, it continues to drive the point that Arizona is in play. I was my intern was just snatched up from me and is now hired and it is on the ground and Arizona, there's still staffing up in Arizona, so it just really indicates that its really in play and they think that they could actually went in. And I actually believe the numbers are there to pull it off.
BURNETT: Very quick final word, David.
URBAN: Listen, again. I think there's -- this problem doesn't have to be where it is today if the Biden-Harris administration would just left in place, Donald Trumps policies. We wouldn't have the seven plus million folks in here, wouldn't have those horrible numbers that I just read, that the ICE director said that Congressman Gonzalez, that none of that would have happened if they were just left they'd go. So they're trying to fix the problem with their own making.
BURNETT: As you made the exact point that Astead said Republicans would make. All right. Well, she is going to be speaking in just a couple of moments, but our time here on this Friday is finished. You will hear the live address in just a few moments with Anderson on "360".
