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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Iran's Missile Attack on Israel Fuels Fears of Wider War; Biden Doesn't Support Attack on Iran Nuclear Sites; Smoke Rises Over Central Beirut Following Loud Explosions; U.S. Judge Unseals New Evidence in Trump Election Case; Biden Visits Storm-Hit North Carolina; Helene Death Toll Rises to at Least 189; Taiwan Braces for Typhoon Krathon; G7 Leaders Considering New Sanctions Against Iran; Vance and Walz Face Off in VP Debate; No Clear Winner in Walz-Vance Debate. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired October 02, 2024 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: -- what you think. I want to make sure that you all know Fat Bear Week is back. In case you've been hibernating this past
few years, Fat Bear Week is when a National Park and Preserve in Alaska asks the simple question, which bear fattened up best? The once friendly
competition turned a little bloody this year when bear 469 killed bear 402 in a violent clash on Monday, delaying voting until today, which brings up
an important reminder that no matter how big and fluffy they may look, even fat bears are dangerous. I'm sorry to anybody who had money riding on fat
bear 402.
The news continues on CNN with Wolf Blitzer right next door in The Situation Room.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: -- and wherever you are in the world, this is your "First Move."
A warm welcome to "First Move." And here is today's need to know. Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is in a war against Iran's axis of evil following
Tuesday's missile strikes. The federal judge unseals never before seen evidence in Donald Trump's election subversion case. And flights are
grounded, schools, offices and financial markets are closed in Taiwan as it braces for a typhoon. And Tesla's slips on disappointing deliveries amid
tougher competition from China. All that and plenty more coming up.
But first, you begin with a tense watch and wait for signs of Israel's retaliation for Tuesday's missile attacks by Iran. Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu says that his country is in the midst of a war with Iran's, quote, "axis of evil." And his military chief of staff is
threatening to strike anywhere in the Middle East.
Iran told the U.N. Security Council Wednesday its barrage of about 200 ballistic missiles was necessary after the killings of Hezbollah chief
Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas political leaders Ismail Haniyeh. While U.S. President Joe Biden is urging Israel not to strike nuclear sites in Iran,
U.S. officials say they recognize Israel's right to respond after an attack.
Nic Robertson is in Tel Aviv for us. So, the big question, Nic, is how exactly does Israel respond in a way that really sends a strong and clear
message but does not lead to a broader war, which is the last thing, of course, anyone wants at this point.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's not clear how they're going to thread that needle. There has -- there have been no hints
through the day from the government here. The prime minister has made very clear that there's going to be a deterrence style strike. The military has
said all their capabilities following Iran strikes are still available to them. And that includes the long-range F-35 bombing runs, those are still
possible. And those could be at the sort of front, if you will, of the way that is Israel would respond to Iran.
But what would be those targets? And that is absolutely critical. And while the prime minister and his cabinet are trying to figure that out, what
matches their needs, what scales against what their biggest ally of the United States can support going forward, on the front lines, in their
newest front, in their latest war, the one with Hezbollah, troops going across the border 47 hours ago, it was a very, very bloody day for those
Israeli troops.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Israel's long slog into Lebanon, turning deadly for the IDF on its second day. The limited, localized, targeted raids, as
the IDF characterizes them, triggering fierce resistance.
Helicopters inside Israel, picking up the casualties. A nearby trauma hospital declaring a mass casualty event. The IDF confirming eight dead and
several others injured in attacks Hezbollah claims took place in three villages.
Hours earlier, overlooking the area of at least one of the attacks --
AURA HATAN, ISRAELI BORDER RESIDENT (PH): Double black and behind it -- welcome.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): -- Israeli border resident Aura Hatan, already worrying about the troops.
HATAN (PH): I think that it's very dangerous to the army to go to Lebanon because many, many traps waiting for them.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): She refused to evacuate last year, was busy preparing the troops' holiday dinner for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New
Year. And hopeful their raids would bring her respite from Hezbollah attacks.
HATAN (PH): I feel more safe, I feel more protected because the army inside.
[18:05:00]
ROBERTSON (voice-over): The whole country, however, entering a new era of uncertainty, following Iran's ballistic missile attack Tuesday. The United
States and other allies blunting the impact, intercepting the majority of the fast, long-range, high explosive ballistic missiles.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Iran made a big mistake tonight and it will pay for it. We will stand by the rule
established, whoever attacks us, we will attack them.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Israeli officials say all the bases targeted are fully operational, including their long-range combat mission airfield. The
scale of Israel's response likely determining the pace of escalation.
Israel's combat operations on other fronts continuing uninterrupted. Palestinian health officials claiming Israeli strikes killed more than 90
Palestinians in Gaza Wednesday as a new operation against Hamas opened up in Khan Younis.
In Syria, smoke rising after a strike near Damascus. Unclaimed by Israel, but blamed on them by Syrian state media. Airstrikes continuing deeper into
Lebanon too, targets in Beirut and beyond. Civilians in parts of the capital warned by the IDF to evacuate their homes as the country's death
toll passes 1,300 and a million people displaced.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON (on camera): So, not just eight soldiers killed at the border there between Lebanon and Israel, but 47 injured. There is, if you will,
for the prime minister as he weighs up what to do, a clear political cost here because this is a very high casualty toll to have at the beginning of
potentially what could be a long operation. And to sustain that and to sustain the public support for continuing on that track while still
fighting in Gaza, while still targeting in Syria, while still perhaps in an escalatory situation with Iran, all of that will factor in and weigh on the
prime minister's mind as he tries to figure out what the country is going to do in terms of response.
But it seems to be absolutely assured that response is coming. How big it is and precisely when, we still don't know.
ASHER: Yes, we're going to have to wait and see for that. Nic Robertson, live for us there, thank you so much. And CNN visited Beirut's southern
suburbs after the latest Israeli incursion. Airstrikes have killed hundreds of people, destroyed homes, displaced about a million people in Lebanon.
And moments ago, a CNN crew heard loud explosions over Central Beirut and smoke was seen in the night sky. Early explosions were heard over the
southern suburbs as well. Ben Wedeman is in Beirut for us. So, Ben, just based on what we're hearing, Beirut's southern suburbs, at this point in
time, have basically been reduced to a ghost town.
Just in terms of the ground incursion into Southern Lebanon, Israel is saying that it's going to be a limited incursion, but what can we learn
from? 2006 and obviously that was not an easy war for Israel just in terms of the number of losses they incurred, especially early on. Walk us through
that.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Zain, I'm listening to CNN domestic at the moment, but I'm just going to talk anyway.
ASHER: Go ahead. Go ahead, Ben.
WEDEMAN: To give you an idea, the strikes that just happened were in Central Beirut, as you just mentioned, and we understand that it was in an
area that, to which many people had come from the southern part of the country, and we're hearing that there were fatalities in that very crowded
neighborhood. Before that, of course, that we heard three very large strikes on the southern suburbs where we were today, and we went on a tour
with Hezbollah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Smoke rises from the ruins after another night of Israeli airstrikes. Atop the rubble, a man first salutes, then embraces a
photograph of the assassinated Hezbollah leader.
WEDEMAN: This is just one of the latest buildings struck by Israel in the southern suburbs of Beirut for the last 10 days. The southern suburbs, as
well as South Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley, have been pummeled by Israeli airstrikes. And now, according to news from Israel, an additional division
is being deployed to the northern border in anticipation of what could be a full-scale Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
[18:10:00]
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Wednesday, Hezbollah organized a mob of media for a tour around the southern suburbs to show perhaps they're still in control.
I asked Spokesman Mohammad Afif how Hezbollah will deal with Israel's repeated blows, a question he didn't like.
I won't allow for that expression, he replied. Your Arabic language is not correct.
His aides chant loyalty to their assassinated leader.
We haven't taken blows. I completely reject that, he says. The resistance has recovered. The leadership is well. The command control is well. The
arsenal of rockets is well. Thousands of the heroic men of the resistance on the fronts are well.
Most inhabitants of the southern suburbs have fled elsewhere, yet some, like Mohsen Abbas (ph), insist on staying put.
My family left, but I'm staying here, he says. They're bombing. Normal. What else could happen?
Wednesday, Hezbollah, fighting on its own rugged turf in South Lebanon, inflicted heavy casualties on Israeli forces that crossed the border. Hours
after, its ally, Iran, rained down missiles on Israel.
A war that started in Gaza has spread to Lebanon. In the last week, Israel has bombed Yemen and Syria. If this isn't a regional war, what is?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (on camera): And just to go back to those bombings I was mentioning before that report, what's significant is that last night there
were similar strikes on Beirut, not the central part, but rather the southern suburbs. But before that, the Arabic spokesman for the Israeli
military put out tweets specifying buildings that would be hit warning people to leave. Oftentimes the warning isn't much, sometimes just as
little as 20 minutes.
However, this evening, for all the strikes we've seen, there have been no warnings. And I stress, the last one on Central Beirut is in a very
crowded, working class neighborhood, where, as I said before, I'm going to stress it again, that some of those more than a million people who have
fled their homes elsewhere thought they were in a safe place. Zain.
ASHER: Ben Wedeman, live for us there. Thank you so much. All right. Let's bring in military analyst and retired U.S. Air Force colonel Cedric
Leighton. Cedric, thank you so much for being with us. As Ben was just reporting there, you know, parts of Southern Beirut, especially the
suburbs, are just pretty much a ghost town at this point, a lot of areas decimated, Central Beirut as well.
When you think about the ground incursion into Southern Lebanon and what the Israelis would have learned from 2006, 2006 wasn't -- it wasn't a walk
in the park for the Israelis. They incurred a lot of losses, especially early on. I posed this very question to our Ben Wedeman, but he had trouble
hearing me. So, I was wondering if you could answer that as well.
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Zain, I think one of the key things is that the lessons of 2006 are critically important for the
Israelis to follow if they want to avoid the quagmire that they basically ended up in, in 2006. And you had an effort back then to go in and, in
essence, try to cleanse the area, if you will, to use a kind of a clinical term of a Hezbollah type forces. Going into Beirut is -- adds another
dimension to this.
And what you see by going into Beirut, in those southern suburbs, which are primarily Shia-based ethnically-based suburbs, they present a real problem
because there's a lot of Hezbollah support for -- you know, in those areas, and that presents a huge problem for the IDF. They had this problem, you
know, several times, and especially most recently in 2006, where they tried to go in, try to, in essence, create this sanitary in this area.
And in this particular case, they are trying to recreate that, but do it with, I think, a more permanent presence, not necessarily military presence
there, but what they want to do is they want to move Hezbollah out of the Southern Lebanon areas, basically the area south of the Litani River and
do, you know, something where they can create a buffer zone that prevents the northern areas of Israel from being attacked.
ASHER: And it's interesting, you point out that, obviously, they are trying to -- or they have perhaps learned some lessons from 2006, but 2006
ended in not only a stalemate, but Hezbollah came back that much stronger. Israel, at this point, is saying that this is only going to be a limited
incursion into Southern Lebanon.
[18:15:00]
At what point will or might a limited incursion become a full-blown incursion? Give us your thoughts on that.
LEIGHTON: You know, that's a turning point could be reached very quickly. And this is where this particular operation gets into a very dangerous
phase because you may intend, as a force like the IDF, to go into an area and try to, you know, go after certain specific targets and then leave.
Those are great intentions from a military standpoint, but the problem is, is that the enemy gets to respond.
And in this particular case, Hezbollah is going to come in and they're going to create the kinds of attacks that we saw today with those eight IDF
soldiers killed, that is going to be a situation where Hezbollah is going to take advantage of any type of troop concentration. On the part of the
Israelis, they're going to try to ambush them. They're going to try to, you know, do things like lay mines, do all kinds of things that really impede
the forward flow of the Israeli troops.
And one thing that Hezbollah and other forces like it have learned is they've adapted to guerrilla tactics when they need to, and they can do it
quite effectively. And once the enemy adapts, you know, the adversary force adapts to guerrilla tactics, what then happens is the quagmire starts to be
formed, starts to be created.
And when that happens, then there's almost no way of extricating yourself unless you have a plan for that kind of an environment. And anybody who's
engaged in this kind of combat needs to understand that once you get into a situation where they start ambushing, you start doing things like picking
off certain small units, things like that, then it becomes a matter of time -- unless you know how to do a counterinsurgency operation, it becomes a
matter of time before you get into a quagmire situation.
ASHER: Yes, all of that really important to note. Cedric Leighton, live for us there. Thank you so much.
All right. Still to come, President Biden visits storm hit North Carolina and Kamala Harris tours Georgia as the scope of the damage from Hurricane
Helene comes further into view.
Plus, Taiwan watches and waits as a powerful typhoon approaches. The very latest on what's in store for residents just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:20:00]
ASHER: Welcome back to "First Move." A U.S. federal judge has just released the most comprehensive narrative yet on the 2020 election case
against Donald Trump. In the filing, prosecutors alleged Trump said he would declare victory before all the votes were counted. Special Counsel
Jack Smith arguing Trump was acting as a private citizen, not as president. It's a bid to get around the presidential immunity rules outlined by the
Supreme Court earlier this year. Trump responding, calling the filing a, quote, "hit job."
Our Evan Perez joins us live now from Washington. So, essentially, Jack Smith once again trying to prove that Donald Trump should not be immune
from prosecution. Just walk us through some of the new details and some of the new evidence outlined here, Evan.
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, I think the work that is inside these 165 pages is really to try to persuade the judge
that that this case can go forward despite that immunity ruling that you pointed out from the Supreme Court this past summer.
Now, one of the hurdles that they have to go through is perhaps -- is, for example, using evidence related to Mike Pence, who, of course, was the vice
president of the United States back at the time. Although, here, they refer to -- in this document, they refer to Mike Pence as the president of the
Senate, because remember, on January 6th, he was acting in a ceremonial capacity as the president of the Senate in order to certify the election
results.
One of the things that they opened this document with here, I'll read you just a part of what they -- the prosecutors write, they say, when the
defendant lost a 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office and that he acted with his co-conspirators, again,
repeatedly pointing out that it was in their private capacity, not in his capacity as the president of the United States.
Now, one of the things that emerges here is they go state by state, Zain, of Donald Trump's efforts to try to persuade state officials to essentially
support his claim that there was fraud. And one of them I homed in on is the State of Georgia, where you see that the prosecutors say that they have
text messages from Mark Meadows, who is Donald -- who, at the time, was Donald Trump's chief of staff. And they're telling him, and they're
discussing how there is nothing to support this idea that there were 10,000 dead voters who had cast ballots, and that there was not enough here to
change the determination of the outcome of the election.
And that -- those claims persisted, including from Donald Trump, that is some of the evidence that prosecutors say they want to be able to bring at
trial. There is also evidence that -- from a witness who is inside Marine One, the helicopter, with the former president of the United States, with
his family members, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, all of them, Melania Trump, and he says, it doesn't matter whether you win or lose, you still
have to fight. Again, trying to drive home the point that Donald Trump knew he had lost the election, but persisted in essentially floating these lies
as a way to stay in office. Zain.
ASHER: Right. Evan Flores, live for us there, thank you. All right. I'm joined live now by Hofstra University law professor James Sample. James,
thank you so much for being with us.
So, essentially, Jack Smith emphasized throughout the document that Donald Trump was acting in this capacity as a private citizen, not -- and as a
candidate, rather, not as president, detailing some of Trump's private interactions with, of course, Mike Pence and the likes of Rudy Giuliani.
Just walk us through what you make of some of the new evidence that we're seeing being revealed in this filing.
JAMES SAMPLE, PROFESSOR OF LAW, HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY: Well, it's great to be with you, Zain. And I think Evan's report there hit on some of the key
points. I think what is clearly the focus of Jack Smith's effort here is to indicate to Judge Chutkan, who has an extraordinarily difficult task on her
hands because the Supreme Court in its July 1 ruling indicating that presidents have a heretofore unprecedented level of immunity at the
president -- by virtue of being president.
The district court now has to face -- sift through all of the facts, and Jack Smith's filing lays out those facts. And even some of the members of
the January 6th Committee, including Congressman Raskin, already today are commenting on this -- the level of detail that Jack Smith's filing has.
I mean, there's 165 pages for a reason. And that reason is that these -- that there are, facts, facts, facts. And all of those facts are aimed at
indicating just how much Donald Trump was acting, not as the president and therefore, not acting in his official capacity where he's either entitled
to complete immunity or at least a rebuttable presumption of immunity, but rather acting as a private criminal actor, that's how Jack Smith puts it.
[18:25:00]
He says, although the defendant was the incumbent president at the time during the charged conspiracies, just reading here, his scheme was
fundamentally a private one. He worked with a team of private co- conspirators and pursued multiple criminal means to disrupt, in essence, the certification of the election.
So, certainly, the conversations with Vice President Pence are at the outer edge of what the Supreme Court's ruling in July indicates might be
allowable, and Evan's report highlighted that, the conversations with Vice President Pence indicate that Donald Trump was told repeatedly, by his vice
president, that Vice President Pence had no ability to not certify the election, that Donald Trump had lost the election fairly, and it. And the
allegations in today's filing indicate that President Trump, in his personal capacity, wanting to be president, seeking to be president again,
as opposed to acting as president then, just ignored all of those indications.
ASHER: So, just in terms of where things go from here, I mean, obviously, Jack Smith is attempting to prove that Donald Trump should still face trial
despite what the Supreme Court ruled. I mean, your thoughts on whether there is enough evidence for him to face trial here?
SAMPLE: There's absolutely enough evidence. I mean, there was supposed to be a trial back in March of this year, and it's only because the Supreme
Court took up this broad immunity ruling that that was delayed until now, and that now, the process gets delayed yet further by virtue of having to
sift through all of these actions and facts to determine what counts as official and what counts as non-official private conduct in order to
determine compliance with the Supreme Court's rather sweeping immunity ruling.
Clearly, this case is not going to be resolved before the election. If Donald Trump wins in November, he is clearly going to order the Justice
Department to dismiss this case, to drop the case. He won't even have to pardon himself because he won't be convicted and the case won't go forward.
If Kamala Harris wins, this case will go forward, I suspect, and we will at least have the opportunity to determine in a court of law, the way it would
occur with any other actor, including many of the actors who were those co- conspirators in this scheme, but somehow Donald Trump, by virtue of a combination of delay tactics and innovative unprecedented legal rulings,
has managed to avoid even that specter of accountability, and that's not a conviction, just an opportunity to be tried.
ASHER: Yes. So, in terms of what happens next, though, I mean, obviously, you point out the differences of Donald Trump loses versus wins. But if he
does lose, and if Kamala Harris becomes president, just long-term, does this case just simply end up back at the Supreme Court again?
SAMPLE: Well, there's a good chance it ends up back in the Supreme Court because the court's ruling on immunity is so complicated, so mushy. Justice
Sotomayor said in dissent that it basically, that the court majority written by John Roberts, Chief Justice Roberts, creates these three
categories of activity, but really, there's no precedent and it's -- they're so undefined and ambiguous that there's almost no chance that there
won't be another round of Supreme Court consideration of what Judge Chutkan or an appellate court in D.C. rules counts within the various categories
and doesn't count within the various categories.
So, we're a long way from this case being resolved, even in a scenario where it does eventually get resolved. But the reality of this filing is it
fills in a lot of the blanks of the January 6th Committee, it provides a narrative for historical purposes, and it is as close as we are going to
get to an official documenting of what happened in -- not just on January 6th, but leading up to January 6th in terms of the attempt to overturn a
free and fair election.
It's important legally, and it's important in terms of Judge Chutkan, who has an incredible Sisyphean task ahead of her, but it's also important in
terms of the historical narrative.
ASHER: All right. Law Professor James Sample, live for us. Thank you so much. We'll be right back with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:30:00]
ASHER: Welcome back to "First Move" with a look at international headlines this hour. Russia has gained control of a pivotal town in eastern -- in the
east of Ukraine. Vuhledar is a largely abandoned coal mining town. It sits at the intersection of the eastern and southern fronts. Ukraine's military
says it withdrew its forces from the village to avoid being encircled there.
And a doctor involved in the overdose death of her son, "Friends" actor Matthew Perry is pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Dr.
Mark Chavez is one of five people charged in relation to Perry's death almost one year ago. Chavez is set to be sentenced in April.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams could face more charges in his federal corruption case. A prosecutor says it's evidence that Adams tried to tamper
with an investigation witness. Adams is facing charges that include bribery, wire fraud, and accepting donations from foreign nationals. He
pleaded not guilty at his arraignment this week.
And U.S. President Joe Biden has been touring the damage from Helene, making stops in the Carolinas on Wednesday and directing troops to help
with response efforts. He's expected to travel to Florida and Georgia Thursday.
At least 189 people have died because of the storm, making it the deadliest since Hurricane Katrina. Vice President Kamala Harris is also expected to
visit affected areas.
Isabel Rosales was able to follow a search and rescue team heading into one of the most remote locations in North Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Rare and exclusive access.
ROSALES: Look at that. It just falls apart.
ROSALES (voice-over): CNN guided up the Blue Ridge Mountains by one of FEMA's 24 deployed urban search and rescue teams. We're deep in hard-hit
Avery County, North Carolina.
ROSALES: It just collapsed on the sidewalk.
ROSALES (voice-over): Portions of Beech Mountain, a remote ski resort town, left unrecognizable by Helene's wrath.
ROSALES: Signs of the road just like washed off.
ROSALES (voice-over): These winding mountain roads made further difficult to navigate by obstacles.
ROSALES: We are entering an area that's closed off to regular people. Only first responders are allowed. And it is because it's so treacherous. We're
seeing it for ourselves like thick mud all over the place, trees that are down, portions of the road has crumbled down. So, I'm really concentrating
here. This is difficult to drive.
ROSALES (voice-over): And even when debris and fallen trees are cleared by chainsaw and manpower to make way for rescuers, another major barrier.
ROSALES: FEMA supervisor who's been on his cell phone trying to get in touch with his team to figure out where they're at.
ROSALES (voice-over): Division Group Supervisor Colin Burress pulls us over.
ROSALES: Can't get a signal? We're seeing for ourselves everything that the governor has been talking about, officials have been talking about. But
how big of a challenge communication is, not just for civilians, but you guys trying to do these rescue operations?
[18:35:00]
COLIN BURRESS, FEMA, DIVISION GROUP SUPERVISOR: It is. You know, when you don't have cell service, e-mail, text, all of that becomes a challenge and
it kind of slows things down.
ROSALES: Tremendous (INAUDIBLE). How frustrating is that?
BURRESS: I don't know. You get used to it. You know, you get out on enough of these, but you just kind of adapt and overcome.
ROSALES (voice-over): Then, by pure luck, a few of his men spot us.
ROSALES: They found him just out of the blue. So, this is great. We're being reunited. And here's the command post right here.
ROSALES (voice-over): This 80-member FEMA team assisting the North Carolina National Guard now on day six of rescuing survivors stranded and
cut off from help.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, he's just trying to find live people and trying to find human remains.
ROSALES (voice-over): They huddle over maps.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beech Mountain and Seven Devils is kind of a priority.
ROSALES (voice-over): Working out the next day's urgent search.
ROSALES: How does this work? You guys are doing grids. I see this black line right here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it's just easier for us to keep up. So, we'll send squads. We'll say, you know, get grid one or grid two or grid three.
ROSALES (voice-over): Before sunset, we roll out.
ROSALES: We came up about three miles, but honestly, it feels like 10.
ROSALES (voice-over): Back down the mountain, a second look at what Helene laid to waste. Before we can make it down, another danger getting through
these torn and treacherous roads.
JASON STUART, TASK FORCE LEADER, TENNESSEE TASK FORCE 1: This is a special case. Typically, the roads washed out in a mountain atmosphere like this,
you know, hurricanes usually happen, you know, towards the coast. But this is definitely more challenges for us that we haven't faced before.
ROSALES (voice-over): Regardless, first responders across the state push on. More than 400 people rescued so far, says the governor's office, but
the work nowhere near done until all the missing or found.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: While the U.S. reels from Helene another storm is making its way through the Pacific. Typhoon Krathon is making its way towards Taiwan. It
is a slow-moving storm, meaning get even more time to dump rain. Krathon has already torn through the Philippines causing severe flooding.
I'm joined for more on this with Chad Myers. So, Chad, I mean, Taiwan is basically pretty much shut down because the typhoon is heading its way.
We're talking about schools and offices completely closed. What can they expect?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: They can expect another 250 to 500 millimeters of rain, and that may not sound like a lot when you talk about
a tropical storm or typhoon. The problem is they've already had -- spots have already had 1,200 millimeters of rainfall. 50 inches on the ground has
fallen already and it's still raining.
Here's the radar, just showing you all of the rain up and down the east coast. Now, Taipei has really been spared with this, and it's going to take
a left-hand turn and move away from Taipei. There's been very little rainfall, very little wind in the most populated areas, but in these remote
areas here, very likely flooding, landslides pretty much everywhere. And you see that, what is that, 1,232 millimeters and another 10 inches on top
of that. So, you're talking 50 inches plus another 10. That's more than you were looking at on the pictures there from Isabel in parts of North
Carolina. This will be a devastating area, but the population density is a little bit less.
Something else that's going on here, in a place that had a big storm, Hurricane John, just last week, now will be visited by the next tropical
storm, not likely going to be a hurricane, but we didn't think John would be either, thought it would stay as a tropical storm, and it didn't, but
more rainfall in places like the State of Oaxaca. It just does not need any more rainfall.
From Puerto Escondido all the way back over to Acapulco, some of those pictures, all of that, mudslide activity, the house is falling down the
cliffs, and I think they were going to possibly see more of that because the ground is so saturated.
Watching a hurricane out in the Atlantic, but also watching a little area of tropical disturbance for the Gulf. Right now, computer models are not
impressed. So, let's not get our hopes down or up, depending on how you think about this. So, far, so good. This is just maybe just a rain event,
not a tropical system so far. Zain.
ASHER: Well, thank you so much, Chad, for keeping an eye on it for us. Chad Myers live for us, thank you.
Back to our top story this hour, Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is at war against Iran's axis of evil. He's vowing to make Iran pay for launching a
barrage of some 200 missiles on Tuesday. Tehran says it was responding to an Israeli strike that killed the leader of Hezbollah. And it says any
retaliation will be met with even stronger force.
[18:40:00]
Israel is now on the ground in Southern Lebanon fighting Hezbollah. The Israeli military says eight soldiers were killed in combat on Wednesday.
U.S. officials say Israel has the right to respond to Tuesday's missile attack, but President Biden says he does not support a strike on Iran's
nuclear sites.
Kayla Tausche joins us live now from Washington. So, Kayla, just walk us through this. How might the U.S. respond or get involved if the Israeli
retaliation against Iran triggers an even larger response from Iran?
KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, all of that has been the subject of days of in-depth discussions, both between President
Biden and his top national security advisers, as well as between the U.S. and Israel and the U.S. and the rest of the G7 allies.
Earlier today, President Biden spoke to reporters on the tarmac before leaving on a trip to survey storm damage in North Carolina, and he was
asked about what he would and wouldn't support, and he put a marker down. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you support an attack on Iran's nuclear sites by Israel?
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: The answer is no., and I think there's things - - we'll be discussing with the Israelis what they're going to do. But they -- all seven of us agree that they have a right to respond.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAUSCHE: The seven in reference there is the group of seven industrialized democracies, which convened an emergency call today to address the
escalating situation in the Middle East and to discuss potential new sanctions coordinated among the block that they would levy on Iran as a
consequence for the barrage of missiles fired in Israel on Tuesday.
Now, I'm told by sources that the G7 has not yet reached a consensus on exactly what that sanctions package could look like and when it could be
unveiled, that is still under discussion. In a station released by the G7, simply condemned the attack by Iran and urged a diplomatic solution and de-
escalation. So, to be continued there.
As for how the U.S. is urging Israel to respond, well, unlike a similar but smaller scale attack that Iran launched on Israel in April, the U.S., this
time around, is not urging Israel to take the win and to pursue a more limited retaliation. U.S. officials telling CNN this evening that they are
not telling them to exercise restraint and urging them to respond proportionally. Zain.
ASHER: Right. Kayla Tausche, live for us there, thank you so much.
All right. Still to come, a debate that wasn't irate. The day after, the most civil vice presidential face off. We'll discuss which candidate came
out on top. And of course, the big question, whether or not it actually makes any difference for November.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:45:00]
ASHER: All right. The crisis in the Middle East was the first question given to the candidates at Tuesday's vice presidential debate between
Republican J. D. Vance and Democrat Tim Walz. The contest being characterized as pretty much the most civil and policy-oriented affair, a
rarity of course in the current political climate, but there were some fireworks over Donald Trump's continued refusal to concede the 2020
election. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), DEMOCRATIC VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He is still saying he didn't lose the election. I would just ask that, did he lose the
2020 election?
SEN. JD VANCE (R-OH), REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Tim, I'm focused on the future. Did Kamala Harris censor Americans from speaking
their mind in the wake of the 2020 COVID situation?
WALZ: That is the damning -- that is a damning non answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: A CNN poll conducted right after the debate showing voters split over who won, with Vance ahead by a whisker. That said, vice presidential
debates rarely have a big impact on the outcome of a U.S. presidential race.
Ron Brownstein joins us live now. So, Ron, that was really getting to my question, especially for our international viewers, why have a vice
presidential debate if it really virtually makes absolutely no difference to the outcome? Talk us through that.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST AND SENIOR EDITOR, THE ATLANTIC: Yes. Well, you know, I've said I kind of view the vice
presidential debate to the U.S. presidential campaign as the bronze medal game is to the Olympics. It's occasionally fun, but it's always pretty
peripheral and forgettable. People are voting for the top of the ticket primarily.
And, you know, there have been some pretty decisive vice presidential debate wins. In 1988, Lloyd Bentsen, the Democratic vice presidential
nominee, pretty much flattened Dan Quayle of the Republican with the, I know John Kennedy, John Kennedy was a friend of mine, you know John
Kennedy. We weren't talking about President Dukakis after that.
So, you know, the impact is pretty small. I do think it was striking for most of the evening. J. D. Vance was more fluent, more comfortable. He is a
senator as opposed to a governor, and a senator does deal with the kind of issues you discuss in a debate like this more on a daily basis.
But I'll tell you, Tim Walz finished strong. And that final exchange, I think, really kind of turned around the night on the question of whether
Trump won in 2020, January 6th, and whether Vance would certify a Democratic win.
ASHER: Yes. I mean, that point at the very end was key. But just in terms of Vance being more polished, yes, you know, he is much more of a smooth
talker, but polished doesn't always necessarily mean more likable. Was he more likable, given that he was so polished?
BROWNSTEIN: He's more likable than he's been, right? I mean, it's interesting, the polling shows that the favorable ratings of both of them
improved during the debate. I think there were Democrats who felt that Walz maybe had a little too much of Joe Lieberman 2000 in him, trying to show
himself as reasonable in a way that let Vance off the hook on some things.
I mean, Vance really did rewrite his history on a number of issues and rewrite Trump's history, abortion, for example, where Vance denied that he
supported a national abortion ban. You know, Walz didn't really hold into account for spreading these baseless lies about Haitian migrants in
Springfield.
But both of them were pretty amiable. You know, compared to -- particularly for Vance compared to someone who was kind of introduced to the country
complaining about childless cat ladies, and I think they both did themselves some good in the sense that people kind of saw a more reasonable
softer side of each. But again, I'm not sure how much it changes the needle for the top of the ticket.
ASHER: And speaking of childless cat ladies, I mean, he wasn't asked about that. Why not?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Yes, I don't know. I mean, they covered a lot of policy ground and they let out -- you know, left out some of the more outrageous
comments. Plus, you know, it's interesting that Vance complain that they -- you know, we weren't supposed to be fact check, which was kind of an
amazing thing to say in public.
They let him get away with a lot of stuff. I mean, you know, he said a lot of things that weren't quite true and, you know, without much pushback. I'm
not really sure that serves the viewers to allow him to say that he was for -- what he's saying that standards on abortion, not a ban?
ASHER: Right.
BROWNSTEIN: He was for a ban on abortion, a national ban on abortion. But, you know, what he was clearly trying to do, Zain, was, you know, make
Trumpism more palatable to swing -- I think to voters, the female voters above all.
I mean, if Harris wins this race, it's going to be around probably the biggest lead we have seen among female voters for a Democratic candidate
since Bill Clinton in 1996.
ASHER: So, did he succeed, just in terms of his goal, of making Trumpism more acceptable, more palatable for female voters and independents? Did he
succeed at that?
[18:50:00]
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think -- as I said, they both succeeded at making themselves more palatable to swing voters, I think. And it was striking.
It's very unusual to have a debate where the favorable ratings of both candidates go up, but that's what we saw in polling after. I mean, I kind
of think of another example of that. That's pretty unusual.
I'm not sure how much it changes the dynamic for Trump. I mean, the way I look at this, you know, Trump is putting more chips on one number than any
other, which is convincing women in the critical swing states, particularly in the Rust Belt of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, that he will
keep them safe and Harris won't, that they are under siege from undocumented immigrants and from crime. He literally said migrants will
come into your kitchen and cut your throat the other day. That is, I think, what they are betting on above all, trying to convince enough, particularly
blue collar, white women who are now oriented toward Harris, both because of abortion and because they're kind of exhausted by Trump, that she will
not keep you safe.
It's kind of a textbook campaign, almost really, you know, by the numbers that Republicans run against Democrats in those states, coastal liberal,
weak on crime, weak on immigration. And her comeback is abortion and turn the page, and I think that's where the battle is being fought out. I think
you saw that reflected in what Vance was trying to do last night. You saw it in the way that Walz talked about democracy and abortion, which are big
hurdles for Trump with those voters who might trust him more on the economy, might trust him more on keeping them safe.
But I -- you know, I don't know how much Tuesday changed that dynamic, but that really to me is the dynamic that will decide this race. Can Harris
hold as much support as she now has among white women in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin? If she can, she will be the president. If she
can't, Trump has a chance to win this thing.
ASHER: Well, we've got about a month left, so we shall see. Ron Brownstein, live for us there, thank you so much.
Stay with "First Move." We'll be right back with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: Welcome back in today's Money Move. Another cautious day of trade on Wall Street with Middle East fears weighing on sentiment. U.S. stocks
trying to bounce back from Tuesday's losses and finishing pretty much flat. Investors also worried about the economic effects of the now two-day old
U.S. port strike. Analysts estimate the shutdown will cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars a day. President Biden now saying the strike could
become a man-made disaster. He's urging the two sides to reach an agreement.
Meantime, in Asia, another strong day of trade in Hong Kong, stocks there rising more than 6 percent for the sixth straight session gains. China's
stimulus continuing to help drive positive sentiment there. The Shanghai Composite remains closed for a holiday. Japanese stocks fell more than 2
percent.
[18:55:00]
And in other business news, Tesla electric vehicle sales rebounds, but X's worth is losing ground. Lots of disgust in the world of Elon Musk, of
course.
First to Tesla, the company reporting its first deliveries increase this year, thanks in part to improving picture in China. Sales, however, missed
estimates, triggering a Wednesday stock slide. As for X, investment firm Fidelity saying the value of the platform has dropped at an astonishingly
large rate since Musk bought it two years ago.
And finally, on "First Move," a junk dealer uncovered this painting in the depths of a cellar in Capri, some 60 years ago, the artwork lived in a
cheap frame in the dealer's Italian home for decades, with his wife denouncing it as a scribble. But experts say the portrait is actually an
original by none other than Pablo Picasso himself. The distorted image is believed to depict Picasso's muse and mistress, Dora Maar. While the U.S.
estimate the painting is worth a whopping $6.6 million.
All right. That just about wraps up the show. Thanks for joining us. I'm Zain Asher in New York. We'll see you tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:00:00]
END
