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Isa Soares Tonight
Hezbollah Attack Hits Israeli Military Base; Israel Strikes Gaza Hospital Complex; Kamala Harris Set To Appear For Her First-Ever Fox News Interview; Misinformation Hampering Aid Efforts; 19 Killed In Israeli Strike In Village North Of Beirut; Hezbollah Drone Attack Kills Israeli Soldiers; U.S. To Deploy About 100 Troops To Operate Advanced Anti-Missile System In Israel; Nobel Economics Prize Goes To Trio For Inequality Research; NASA' Mission to Europa; Two Giant Pandas Set To Move To Washington. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired October 14, 2024 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ERICA HILL, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: Hello, and thanks so much for joining me tonight, I'm Erica Hill in for Isa Soares. Tonight, a deadly drone
attack by Hezbollah hits an Israeli military base. And the U.S. announces it is sending one of its most powerful anti-missile systems to the country.
Plus, Israeli strikes at a Gaza hospital complex engulfing tents in flames as the U.N. warns the IDF appears to be cutting off within Gaza. And a new
CNN poll of polls shows the U.S. presidential race too close to call as Kamala Harris prepares to sit down for her first interview with "Fox News".
We begin this hour with the deadly violence across the Israel-Lebanon border as both the IDF and Hezbollah strike new targets in their escalating
war. The Lebanese Red Cross says an Israeli strike killed at least 19 people in northern Lebanon today, destroying an entire residential building
in a Christian majority village far from Hezbollah strongholds in the south.
This was the scene as you see here earlier in Tel Aviv, people running -- some even abandoning their cars to take shelter as the sirens blared. The
IDF says three projectiles fired from Lebanon towards central Israel were intercepted. Those interceptions coming just one day after a Hezbollah
drone hit an Israeli army base near Haifa killing four soldiers.
The IDF, it says it is now investigating just how that drone managed to fly undetected. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the base
today and has vowed to continue striking Hezbollah across Lebanon, including in Beirut. Joining me now from Lebanon, Nic Robertson.
Nic, as we look at this escalating conflict, we have not only between Israel and Lebanon, but of course, these additional strikes in Gaza, there
is no sign any of this is letting up.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: No, no sign at all, and I think every sign that it's going to be protracted, that this is going to
play out over a long period of time, particularly if you look to that northern border, the IDF has been increasing the areas where they're having
their military operations.
They were discussing before all this began, sort of creating a buffer zone where there were essentially or potentially no buildings where Hezbollah
could be inside of them digging tunnels or firing anti-tank missiles and other rockets across the border into Israeli homes.
To achieve that, if you look at some of the video that's emerging from the conflict so far, it appears as if that sort of process really has begun,
but it's going to take a lot longer to achieve it. And in Gaza, what the IDF is saying that they're doing is going back after Hamas, where they
believe that they're reconstituting particularly in the north of Gaza, and those strikes, one of them landing in the compound of a hospital there,
killing three people who were -- and sort of tent-sheltering in the hospital compound because they thought it was safe.
And last night, another location in Gaza, 14 people killed, many of them children, similar sort of situation -- these all are looking as if they're
going to be protracted at the moment. And I think we get a sense of that from the tone that the Prime Minister struck when he was at the base, he
was in the canteen there.
I think this is also a question of not just how did Hezbollah managed to get the missiles all the way to that base? But how did they know where to
target in that base, assuming they were trying to target the canteen at a time when troops would have been in there, eating supper time, 7:00 p.m. in
the evening.
So, when the Prime Minister says he's going to continue attacking in Beirut, I think that puts the one side the suggestions that there was a
level of diplomacy where Israel had agreed not to target Beirut. This -- everything today points at this being continuing to be a long campaign both
north and south.
[14:05:00]
HILL: Absolutely. And also just the significance too, the fact that in southern Lebanon, right and focusing only on these Hezbollah strongholds,
what has changed, right? Was with that strike, I believe it's 100 kilometers from Beirut, and that Christian majority town where we also saw
a number of issues there.
Moving into that territory, is Israel being any more transparent about what the planning is behind that, and just how much further this campaign could
in fact reach?
ROBERTSON: Specifically, on that strike, no, generally and generically, they say that they've been going after Hezbollah weapons storage -- you
know, when -- before this operation began, talking to IDF officials, they talked about the long planning for this, almost 20 years of planning for
this. And they spoke about what they called a target factory.
A group of officers and soldiers dedicated to watching Lebanon, figuring out where Hezbollah was storing weapons, figuring out their movements,
figuring out where their leadership was, planning long lead-time operations such as the walkie-talkies, such as the pagers, all of that.
So, if we take them at what they said previously in this village, these villages that are in a Christian majority neighborhood who are no friends
to Hezbollah at all, Hezbollah being Shia Muslim, it is odd that the IDF would strike there, however, it would be in keeping if they believe that
targets are there that pertain to Hezbollah weapons storage or whatever it is.
It's -- but specifically know, we don't know why this village has been targeted. But this, I think undermines partially when Israeli officials
like the Prime Minister tell the Lebanese people as they have done. We're not targeting you, we're targeting Hezbollah, those Christian villagers in
that village and thereabout, who will not be Hezbollah would find that washing a bit thin.
HILL: Yes --
ROBERTSON: It's not a narrative that they can -- that they will believe in, I think.
HILL: Nic Robertson, really appreciate it, thank you. As the conflict in the Middle East escalates, the U.S. is now deepening its involvement, the
Pentagon says it's sending one of its most powerful anti-missile systems to Israel along with about 100 troops who will be there to help operate that
system.
The THAAD defense system can intercept ballistic missiles at a range of up to 200 kilometers. The Pentagon says it will help to bolster Israel's
security following these two unprecedented attacks by Iran. My colleague Oren Liebermann joining us now from the Pentagon with more details.
So, as both the system, a lot of focus on this system and just what it can do in terms of capabilities. Also, what's the timeline for this, Oren?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, depending on, won't be specific on how soon the THAAD system will get there. THAAD stands for
terminal high-altitude area defense, and as you pointed out, it's one of the most capable interception systems, specifically built for intercepting
short, medium and long-range ballistic missiles.
Although, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin did tell his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant that it should be there quote, "in the coming days". So, it's
a system that can be moved quickly, that's part of its design here, and it looks like it will be moved quickly. That being said, the U.S. doesn't have
many of them.
So, every time you see one of the THAAD systems deployed, it is a significant statement on where the U.S. sees the threat and where the
Pentagon sees its own priorities. Right now, that priority is the defense of Israel against a potential Iranian ballistic missile-launch.
And to some extent, that is what's expected here, Israel has vowed to retaliate against Iran for the October 1st barrage that was fired at
Israel, and Iran has vowed to respond to any attack on its territory. So, that raises the possibility of more ballistic missiles launched at Israel,
which is where you see the U.S. deploying this THAAD system there, in case it's needed to intercept Iranian launches.
It is worth noting that Israel has its own very capable aerial defense system, although we have seen it fail just like it did with this drone
launch. The THAAD system adds not only quality to that system, it is a very capable platform, but also quantity. At some point, Iran can simply fire
enough missiles, ballistic missiles to overwhelm Israel's air defenses, and that's when THAAD can play a critical role there, and simply having more
interceptor missiles there that are capable at being launched at these attacks.
So, that's also the military capability, but also a statement in where the U.S. prioritizes its own valuable systems, and that's in Israel's air
defense. So, we expect it to be set up soon, and then it's purely a question of the timing on when and how does Israel carry out its attack on
Iran? How does Iran respond?
The U.S. watching all of that closely and making sure the THAAD system is there on the ground and Israel to participate in that defense.
HILL: Oren Liebermann, appreciate it, thank you. The U.N. Human Rights office says it is appalled by Israel's relentless bombing of northern Gaza,
accusing it of having absolute disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians. It says the IDF appears to be cutting off the area from the rest
of the Gaza Strip.
[14:10:00]
Israel also keeping up attacks on central Gaza. A strike overnight hit the grounds of a hospital sheltering Palestinian families. The blasts triggered
a fire that engulfed tents as people slept, killing at least four. Nada Bashir has more now on what the U.N. agency for Palestinian Refugees calls
Gaza's never ending hell. I do want to warn you, her report contains disturbing images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): What once was a shelter for the displaced, now a blaze after a deadly airstrike by the Israeli military
targeting a hospital complex in central Gaza. Desperate attempts to quell the fire seemingly hopeless. Some of the footage from this devastating
night is simply too harrowing to show.
Displaced civilians still alive, engulfed in flames. These smoldering structures are all that remain of the tents which have occupied the grounds
of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital throughout this past year of relentless war. Several people were killed and dozens more badly injured. As dawn
breaks, the severity of this latest nightmare becomes clear.
Little has been left untouched by the blaze, many of those who survived the night were spared only by a matter of meters. "It was extremely difficult.
The fire consumed people before it consumed anything else", Abu Yousef(ph) says. "There were people in the midst of the fire that we couldn't pull
out."
Nearby, Omar Hamed(ph) gathers whatever belongings were not destroyed in the fire. The shoes of her daughter and granddaughter both injured
overnight, she says. "I quickly woke my daughters up. I kept shouting, wake up, wake up, the fire is above us", she says. "We ran to the hospital, I
saw people injured with shrapnel wounds, people who are completely burned. My neighbors were killed, all burnt alive while they were sleeping."
The Israeli military has acknowledged responsibility for the strike, saying its forces were targeting a Hamas command and control center they say was
embedded within the hospital complex, adding that steps were taken to limit civilian harm. But no evidence has been provided by the Israeli military to
support these claims.
It was, however, known to the military that civilians had been sheltering on the grounds of the hospital complex for months, at least, 5,000 people
according to hospital officials. Inside the hospital, another gut-wrenching scene. These other victims of a different strike, which targeted the al-
Mufti school in Nuseirat on Sunday.
Among the bodies, little Liman(ph), his grandmother overcome with grief as she cradles her grandchild. Yaman(ph) is one of at least 22 people who were
killed after Israeli forces struck the U.N.-run school, which had become a shelter for many. Another sanctuary targeted in a war which has shown no
mercy for so-called safe zones.
Another name added to the growing list or more than 42,000 killed in just over a year. Another reminder that it is civilians who continue to pay the
highest price in Gaza. Nada Bashir, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Still to come here, the final sprint to the finish as we look at the U.S. presidential race in the United States, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump,
zeroing in on those battleground states with just three weeks to go now until election day. Plus, the latest in the clean-up and recovery efforts
following Hurricanes Milton and Helene in the southeastern U.S.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:15:00]
HILL: With just 22 days left, both candidates rallying the state of Pennsylvania today, which very likely may hold the keys to winning the
White House in 2024. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump taking swipes at each other during their campaign stops over
the weekend.
Harris warning that Trump would weaponize the Justice Department against his political enemies, while Trump made a baseless claim that the entire
country would be turned into a migrant camp if Harris is elected. Later this week, the Vice President will sit down with "Fox News" for her first
interview with the network.
The race itself, it is tight. There is no clear leader at this point. A new CNN poll of polls shows that very clearly, an average of 50 percent of
likely voters supporting Kamala Harris, 47 percent backing Donald Trump. There are even smaller margins though separating the two when it comes to
battleground states, as you can see here, like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
So, what does this all mean for the next 22 days? I'm joined now by CNN's senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak. Kevin, as we look at this,
perhaps not surprising that the race is still so tight. It's tight in a number of those key states as well, and the percentage of movable voters
remains also very small.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and it's interesting because this is the point of the race when campaigns usually look at the
battleground state map and say, you know, we're not winning the state. We can cut our losses there and move on to somewhere else or, you know, this
is a state where we really do have a chance.
We're going to invest in this state. I don't think either campaign is looking at the battleground map right now and writing off any of these
states, and it does show you how much resources they're going to have to be spending in the final stretch of this campaign, both in money but also in
the candidates time.
This is going to be a race right up to the very end, and there is no state that they can necessarily afford to ignore in the run-up to the election.
And so, that makes this a very intensive, very expensive, final stretch of the campaign. The fact that both of these candidates are in Pennsylvania
today gives you a sense of how critical that state's 19 electoral votes will be to the outcome in November.
What Harris is doing in Erie, Pennsylvania today is really focusing on the issue of black men. That's a voting bloc that Democrats have been worried
about for the last several weeks. There are polls that show her underperforming among that demographic compared to previous Democratic
nominees.
The fear is not necessarily that she's going to lose that group, in fact, polls show her winning by quite a large margin. But the real concern is
that even if she loses, you know, 10 points to what Joe Biden won among black men, that, that could have an effect on the overall result in
November.
So, you'll see here today unveiling these new economic proposals that she says would help black men build wealth, smart -- start businesses, really
focusing very intently on trying to win back these aspects, these slivers of the Democratic coalition that seemed to have been eroding during her
candidacy.
What Donald Trump is doing is trying to focus on the economy. He'll have a town hall outside of Philadelphia, but what you have seen Donald Trump
doing over the last several days is really going back to this dark rhetoric, you've heard him talking about the quote, "enemy from within"
when talking about what he says is the radical left.
He raised the prospect of the National Guard or even the military having to go after what he says is the enemy from within. So, really quite a dark
perspective from that candidate in the final stretch of the campaign. But it just goes to show as these polls continue to show a very close race, he
thinks that kind of rhetoric is working, and it seems to be what we will continue hearing from him as this race concludes.
[14:20:00]
HILL: Yes, absolutely, Kevin, really appreciate it, thank you. Let's dig a little deeper, shall we? For all things politics. Larry Sabato joining me
now, the director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. Larry, always good to see you. You know, it's such a great point that Kevin
made there in terms of you get to this point in the campaign.
And in years past, candidates will get to the point where the campaigns could say, OK, we might have to let that state go. We're not going to take
that state. The fact that things are so close in these key battleground states, this all makes it a little bit more difficult too, in terms of
resources for these candidates and their campaigns moving forward.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: It does, and actually that's an advantage for Kamala Harris because the
Democrats have done a much better job amazingly, of raising money than Republicans have. Yes, Republicans have a lot of really big donors, but
Democrats had been doing better with the medium size and small donors.
But you know, I don't have a lot of sympathy for the campaigns because they are only seven states, 43 states are essentially off the board. I'm a
little old enough to remember when there were 15 to 20 states that the candidates had to focus on and hop around to and spend money in. So, this
isn't that bad to maintain the campaign structure in those seven.
HILL: It just may take away from some of the other 43 in case anybody actually wanted to see them in those states as they focus on these seven.
SABATO: Correct --
HILL: I know it's not -- I know it's not really that surprising to you that we were -- we are in this place for the CNN poll of polls, which of course
is all of the polls coming out, continues to show that there is no clear leader in this race. Is there anything that you see that either campaign
could do three weeks out to really move the needle?
SABATO: Well, there are -- there are always October surprises. That's something that --
HILL: Yes --
SABATO: We have had them pretty regularly, you know, not every campaign, but most campaigns. But of course, there are surprises. So, it's very
difficult for me to tell you, oh, it's going to be X, it's going to be Y. Beyond the October surprises, though, let's take Kamala Harris, if I could
criticize one thing about her campaign, which after all, it's only been two months long.
You know, people keep saying, I want more information about those. I want more information about that. Donald Trump has had nine years and he still
has fuzzy positions on many issues. So, the point is, for Kamala Harris, she has been if anything -- I hate to say this, too positive.
She has had too many positive ads about her and Oprah's joy and -- I understand why they took that approach at first. But the euphoria is gone.
She has stalled out. She's not losing altitude, but she isn't gaining anymore either. So, what do you do? You do what Donald Trump is doing.
Three-quarters of his ads have been incredibly negative, vicious even. It's tough to fight that with joy.
HILL: So, does she need to go after him more directly? We saw a little bit of that over the weekend, but go in a little bit more?
SABATO: Oh, absolutely. Think of the number of controversies, Erica, that Donald Trump has had for the things he said and the things he's done and
the things he says he's going to do, think of the number. You could run 24 hours a day of commercials between now and November 5th, and you wouldn't
cover all of them. So, there's plenty to choose from, and they've got to be choosing more.
HILL: It's interesting too, to see that she has agreed to sit down with "Fox". She will be speaking with Bret Baier in an interview later this
week, Wednesday, I believe. There has been criticism, as we know, that she isn't doing enough sort of mainstream, more established media.
She has been trying to connect, her campaign is putting her in front of different audiences, right? Which some could make the case that perhaps
that's more effective. The fact that she's going on "Fox", how do you expect that to go? Number one. And is it a smart move? Is this the right
time for it?
SABATO: Bret Baier, who is going to be interviewing her is a civil guy, and I have no doubt he wouldn't go after her the way say, a Sean Hannity
would. But you can be sure because Bret wants to keep his job, that it will be tough and it will be negative. I understand why she's doing it. I think
once is plenty, but it proves that she's willing to go anywhere and talk to anyone, even if it looks like it's going to be unpleasant.
HILL: In terms of the -- looking at the Donald Trump camp now, as we see from him, as Kevin was laying out, and as anyone who has lot watched even
part of his rallies has seen this increasingly dark rhetoric that this seems to be where his head is at.
[14:25:00]
Immigration is an issue for many Americans, right? Economy is still number one, but immigration is high up there. This does seem to be helpful in some
ways for him -- to your point about maybe the Vice President needs to lay off so much of the joy, he is going all in on the fear and the darkness. Is
that ultimately more effective?
SABATO: I am sorry to say this, Erica, but yes, it is. Yes, it is. Fear and hate move a lot more people than love and hope. And so, I'm not saying that
Kamala Harris has to go as hard in that direction as Trump has. But what's he doing? He knows it is hopeless after nine years that he's going to win
moderate voters or the tiny group of people who are actually undecided.
He's trying to maximize the turnout among his true believers. Some of them, believe it or not, are for him, but don't necessarily vote. This is his
opportunity to get them motivated and angry, and anger carries a lot of the votes when you're only 22 days out.
HILL: Look, what do you make of -- there is a gender gap with these two candidates, right? More women breaking for Kamala Harris, more men across
the board, white men, black men, Latino men, breaking for in many ways, showing broader support for Donald Trump. It doesn't seem -- women tend to
turn out often in higher numbers, right? For elections. Is there enough wiggle room there though within this gender gap for either candidate?
SABATO: Oh, there is. It's funny how it's balancing out. Normally, Kamala Harris has about the same edge among women than Donald Trump has among men.
But as you note, women have a higher turnout and they're a larger portion of the population, it's 52 percent, 53 percent of the voting population.
So, even if the gender gap is pegged even in terms of the number of women and men voting for the candidates, you would expect Kamala Harris to win
the popular vote, but that doesn't get her the election. She's got that electoral college to worry about.
HILL: Yes, the old electoral college rearing its ugly head as it does every four years and ignite again separate debate. Larry, always good to see you,
my friend, thank you.
SABATO: Thanks, Erica.
HILL: We're going to take a closer look at this clean-up across Florida and other parts of the south United States. Millions still facing this daunting
task of cleaning up following those two major hurricanes in just as many weeks. There are still fuel shortages, power outages hampering those
recovery efforts.
At this point, more than 422,000 customers in the state are still without power. Half of the gas stations in Tampa alone don't have any fuel, and
part of the issue here too are the swollen rivers. You see some of the flooding pictures there which continue to pose a flooding threat and are
also continuing to need rescue efforts.
In North Carolina meantime, FEMA has been forced to pause aid in some parts of the state because of threats against its disaster response workers.
Authorities say, now that this man, 44-year-old, William Jacob Parsons, has been arrested on related charges. Isabel Rosales is joining me now with
more on what these hurricane victims are facing, and also that interesting arrest. Where do things stand? The cleanup has really been hampered in a
number of ways.
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, back to North Carolina and this whole FEMA situation, Erica, is certainly a serious situation where threats
have been received in Rutherford and Ashe Counties hard-hitting areas from Helene, to the point where FEMA actually had to switch up how they were
running operations.
Instead of going door-to-door, where, you know, FEMA responders can take pictures of all the damage, something that's critical and necessary to get
the full aid -- well, they're now working out of secure locations. So, at some point, this is slowing down the aid because an inspector will need to
go into these homes that have been devastated by this.
Now, the "Washington Post" was the first to report about National Guard troops seeing a quote, "armed militia" threatening FEMA workers to the
point where the sheriff in Ashe County told people, hey, please, calm down, don't stir the pot. And now, we have this man, William Parsons, 44,
arrested in Rutherford County, he was arrested at a grocery store that was serving as a storm relief site.
I mean, on him, they found a handgun and a rifle. He is now free on bond, $10,000, and we've made attempts to reach out to anybody who might be
representing him, but have not been successful in getting in touch with someone. And listen, Erica, this frankly just comes amid a backdrop of
misinformation that is really frustrating and angering so many local officials I spoke with in North Carolina and in Florida.
Information that really can slow down their abilities to render aid. Instead, a lot of these officials are having to spend the time going on
social media and busting these myths. So, you can understand why they're upset about this. And we saw this from FEMA too, putting a section of their
website as a hurricane rumor response section, having no other choice because of how, you know, insane these things have gotten and spun out of
control. Erica.
HILL: Yes, it really is a lot. As they're dealing with all of that, taking a look specifically at some of the -- some of the recovery efforts, pardon
me, in Florida. I know you continue to stay in touch with your sources there as well, having spent so much time there during the storm and
afterwards. The fact that these rescues are still being needed in some areas, this water rescues, the rivers are not receding as quickly as had
been hoped. Just walk us through how that is hindering efforts.
[14:30:20]
ROSALES: Right. So, we saw over in Hillsborough County that Milton dumped 16 inches of rain and Sheriff Chad Chronister over there saying that the
waters unfortunately are not receding as quickly as they would like to. So, there are still active river flood warnings in areas like the Withlacoochee
River, that's in Pasco County, you also have the Hillsborough River and the -- also the Alafia River, which you're seeing images right here in Valrico.
We were there on the ground, and it was just surreal seeing houses, mailboxes, underwater, airboats being used to take people out of these
homes, essentially just floating on islands and then people being taken back inside to stuff clothing, memories, food items into trash bags, not
knowing where they would sleep that night. So, this is a community that until these waters recede, they're just not going to be able to move on
from this.
And then you mentioned fuel. That's important as well. We know that in the Tampa area, you mentioned that 50 percent of gas pumps are out of fuel. The
good news there is that is down significantly. On Sunday, that was 87 percent of gas stations in Tampa. So, a lot of fuel is coming into the
state and they're trying to get them into the right locations. Erica.
HILL: Isabel, really appreciate it. Appreciate all the reporting. Thank you. Still to come tonight, a deadly Hezbollah drone attack hitting an army
base deep inside Israel. Those details just ahead, as we return with our live coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: Welcome back. We return now to our top story, the Lebanese Red Crossing, at least 19 people are dead following an Israeli strike on a
Christian-majority village north of Beirut. You see the rescue teams here on the ground there, trying to clear the rubble, working against the clock.
There are more people who are believed to be trapped underneath. The Red Cross says at least nine people have been injured from that strike on
Monday.
[14:35:00]
A Hezbollah drone, meantime, penetrated Israel's defenses on Sunday, striking an Israeli army base. At least four soldiers were killed in that
attack, more than 60 injured.
Meantime, the U.S., we're learning, is planning to send an advanced anti- missile system along with about a hundred U.S. troops who will be there to operate that system, sending all of that to Israel to support the country's
air defenses.
The Middle East, of course, is bracing for a potential Israeli attack on Iran, with the Iranian foreign minister now saying indirect talks between
his country and the United States have been paused. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is live in Tehran for us at this hour. Fred, bring us up to speed on where
things stand.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Erica. Yes, then the foreign minister actually made those remarks in Oman because
those indirect talks were actually mediated by the Omanis in Muscat. They're called the Muscat format. And he also says that the Iranians
currently see no reason to revive those talks until the current crisis in the Middle East is solved.
And, of course, right now, the signs are actually pointing more towards escalation than de-escalation. The Iranians actually saying that if there's
a strike by Israel, they are definitely going to strike back. The Iranians are also saying that their support for Hezbollah will continue and is not
up for debate. That's something that we're also seeing on the ground here inside Iran. Here's what we witnessed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (voice-over): We will rise up like a storm, the children's choir sings at a Tehran donation drive for Lebanon and for Iran's ally,
Hezbollah.
Narges Tekia (ph) gave several pieces of jewelry to support what she calls an existential battle. This is the duty of a human being in this critical
situation, she says, in the fight of truth versus falsehood. And this is the command of my supreme leader.
Death to Israel chants transcending the event, named Golden Empathy. Aimed at raising funds to help civilians in Lebanon, but also, the organizer
says, to beat Israel.
Women love their gold jewelry, he says, but they are here to donate their necklaces to break the neck of the enemy.
As Israel continues to pound Lebanon with missile strikes, going after Hezbollah fighters and leaders, Iran is vowing not to back down. The
speaker of Iran's parliament, even piloting an Iranian government jet into Beirut before touring areas heavily damaged by Israeli strikes.
I'm carrying a message from the supreme leader to the Lebanese people, he said, with assurances that, in these difficult conditions, the Islamic
Republic of Iran shall stand with Lebanon's nation and the resistance in all areas.
This as Iran braces for Israel's possible retaliation for Tehran's massive ballistic missile attack on October 1st, Iran's foreign minister warning
the U.S. against deploying missile interceptor systems to Israel and the threat of a major regional war.
We're prepared for any kind of circumstances, he said. We're ready for war, but we're also ready for peace. This is the definitive stance of the
Islamic Republic.
A stance they want to show that also involves mobilizing resources from Iran's population.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (on camera): So, as you can see the area, Erica, a lot going on here on the ground in Iran, showing some of that support for Hezbollah and
for Lebanon. At the same time, that speaker of parliament that we saw in our report just there, he not only pledged support for the Lebanese
population, he also warned the countries of the Middle East not to allow Israel to use their airspace for a potential strike against Iran. He said
that that would have detrimental effects for those countries. So, certainly, the Iranians continuing their very tough language ahead of those
possible retaliatory strikes, Erica.
HILL: Yes, certainly, continuing that language. And some of what we saw too, even in that event where you were, where women were bringing their
gold, clearly a very intense feeling in that room.
PLEITGEN: Yes, absolutely. It's certainly a very intense feeling. And you know, one of the interesting things that we heard that there were a lot of
prayer sermons that were going on there. There were a lot of people who were attending who really felt like quite emotional about the situation
that's currently unfolding in the Middle East and certainly the situation that's currently unfolding in Lebanon.
And when you were on the ground there, there were a lot of people with Palestinian flags, there were a lot of people with Hezbollah flags, with
Lebanese flags, sort of pledging their support. It's something that's very well organized, but clearly, there's something also where the Iranians are
trying to bring out people to donate for those causes to make sure that they can continue to fund their operations, as they say, they are not going
to stop their support for Lebanon and for Hezbollah, for the Hezbollah organization, which they call the resistance as well. Erica.
HILL: All right, Frederik Pleitgen live for us in Tehran, appreciate it. Thank you.
[14:40:00]
The Nobel Prize in Economics goes to a trio of researchers for explaining why global inequality persists, Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James
Robinson were commended for their work detailing the gaps in prosperity between nations and explaining how the nature of institutions helps to
determine why some countries become rich and others remain poor. The three economists will share the Nobel Prize, which is announced today and is
worth a million dollars.
Still to come tonight, NASA launching a mission to one of Jupiter's moons, what the space agency is hoping to find.
Plus, two giant pandas from China set to make a transcontinental move as part of some new panda diplomacy. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: Welcome back. NASA is on a mission to one of Jupiter's moons. The space agency successfully launching the Europa Clipper on board a SpaceX
Falcon heavy rocket earlier today. The Clipper is set to explore Jupiter's Europa moon, hence the name there. The goal here is to determine whether
Europa has an ocean under its icy surface and if that could be a place for life outside of Earth. Today's launch follows a successful launch and
landing of the SpaceX's Starship spacecraft on Sunday.
Joining me now with more, retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who's also the author of the bestselling thriller, "The Defector." Chris, always
great to talk to and to pick your brain on how all of these things really work.
So, when we look at this this Europa Clipper, it took off today at 12:06 p.m. Eastern time from Florida. It has a little bit of a journey ahead of
it. 1.8 billion miles, it's going to take seven years to get there?
CHRIS HADFIELD, RETIRED CANADIAN ASTRONAUT AND AUTHOR, "THE DEFECTOR": I think it's a little under six years, but still, it's not until the 2030s
that it gets there. But part of the problem is we just can't quite make it go fast enough to go direct. We don't have engines that are good enough.
So, we had kind of the biggest rocket that was available right now, the fourth biggest rocket in history, one of the SpaceX Falcon heavies, even it
had to use every ounce of push it had, all three of the rockets, got used up on it, but we still have to slingshot around the Earth and slingshot
around Mars.
It's sort of like if you're ice skating and someone grabs you and whips you around and throws you faster the other way, it's going to do that with
Earth and Mars. And even with that, it'll still take five, five and a half years to get there. But it's worth it.
[14:45:00]
HILL: It's worth it.
HADFIELD: Because we might find life.
HILL: So, in terms of might find life, I was fascinated in reading about this, that it's not going to land on Europa, on that moon, because it
can't, but it's going to do a series of flybys. I believe it's 49 of them. How will it be able to tell from those flybys what is actually on that moon
and what's beneath that frozen surface, just how much water is there and what it could do?
HADFIELD: Well, you know, how do you tell if something is alive on Earth, especially if it's like a little tiny microbe, you need certain types of
scientific instruments. And this one has a whole bunch of them on board. It's looking at the cameras. It's got things that are better than cameras
that are looking beyond what the human eye can see. But it's also got a couple sensors that are sticking out.
And as it flies right by this icy moon of Jupiter, it's actually going to be picking up the little pieces that get shed off of it. It's like licking
and smelling them. You know, it's going to actually get in and analyze them. The gases that come off of them to see if maybe that's indications of
life. And it's going to look back at the stuff that squirts out of this planet. It's like little like puffs of water, almost like steam that come
off of it.
And by looking back through those puffs at the sun, you can use the light to analyze what's in them. So, even though, you know, it's going to go by
at least 49 times, maybe more if the life lasts longer, then with all of those things, we'll have a lot better understanding of Europa then. And
maybe, if we get lucky, we'll find some pretty alluring indications that there's life somewhere besides Earth.
HILL: What do you think there might be in terms of life? Are we talking plants? Are we talking some sort of a mammal? Are we talking bugs?
HADFIELD: Well, the oldest fossils that we found on Earth are on the order of 4 billion years old, and they're really primitive, just stuff that was
formed deep underwater without light, you know, using just the energy that comes out of the bottom of the ocean where that where there's lava fissures
and things coming up, and we think that's the same environment that is on Europa. That's why it's such an interesting destination.
But it'll be very primitive, early single celled or basic microbial kind of life. Nothing -- you know, not little green men or anything like that. But
if we can find life, some even primitive life somewhere besides Earth, that means there's life everywhere, and we just need to find better ways to
look. So, it's a really significant thing to try and find out. We just don't know yet.
HILL: How quickly will some of this information get back to the scientists here on Earth?
HADFIELD: Well, it has a really good relay antenna on it to be able to beam the information back. It takes, you know, hours because Jupiter is so far
away for the -- at the speed of light to get here. But we'll know, you know, almost real-time what we've seen every single pass, and it's going to
go by at a distance, and then it's going to get closer and closer and closer. So, we'll get some real extreme close ups.
And it was ones that skim past the surface, just, you know, tens of miles above the surface. Those are the ones that can maybe fly through the plumes
and pick up the little bits of Europa. That's really, we're going to learn some stuff. It's -- you know, exploration and discovery takes some
patience. But people have been working on this for a long time. And I'm super happy that SpaceX did a great job of launching it and aiming it
precisely where it needs to go this morning.
HILL: Yes, SpaceX actually had kind of a busy weekend, right? So, this happened this morning, but then, there was also the launch over the
weekend, what was fascinating. I mean, maybe you can walk us through it better, but the way that these two chopsticks, I believe they're called,
were then able to capture, right, so that they can reuse parts of this rocket. That was part of the whole plan.
HADFIELD: Well, this will be the world's first 100 percent reusable rocket. And not only that, it is twice as powerful as any rocket we've ever built
before. So, not only can it take like 150 tons up to Earth orbit, but it can then come back. And both pieces land or get caught out of midair, like
the one yesterday, for the very first time, and then you just sort of plunk them back down on the launch pad, check, make sure everything's healthy,
fill it up with fuel and launch it again.
It's something you might conceive of, it sounds crazy, but do in a couple or three hours where you can launch a rocket, bring it back, fill it up,
put it back together and launch it again same afternoon and nobody's ever figured out how to do that before. SpaceX is leading the world in that. And
the very first time they tried to grab this enormous rocket out of the air so that they didn't have to throw away a rocket every time, amazingly
enough, yesterday they were successful. It's like a whole new door opening of access for people and Earth to outer space.
[14:50:00]
So, a really important weekend, really important day yesterday for SpaceX.
HILL: Yes, absolutely. Chris, always great to have you with us. Thank you.
HADFIELD: Thanks very much. Nice to talk to you, Erica.
HILL: Still to come here, a bit of a long journey, not as far as space, certainly not as far as Europa's moon of Jupiter, but two giant pandas set
to make a major move from Southwestern China, relocating to Washington, D.C. More on those details just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: Well, just about a year after it seemed like maybe the panda diplomacy was ending, two giant pandas are now set to move from
Southwestern China to the U.S. capital. A team from the Smithsonian's National Zoo traveling to Sichuan Province to help with that transition for
the pandas. David Culver has an exclusive look now at the bilateral effort to keep this panda diplomacy alive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We've traveled here to Sichuan, China for a rare look at preparing these pandas for their very
long journey.
We're in and around the city of Chengdu. It's known for spicy hot pot, its mountainous landscape, and giant pandas.
We're actually going to go meet now with some of the folks from the Smithsonian National Zoo from D.C. who have flown here and are part of the
transition team to bring Bao Li and Qing Bao back to the U.S.
We can't go back there, but that's where Bao Li and Qing Bao are. They're in quarantine. And those you saw there were the zookeepers from the
National Zoo, as well as some caretakers from China.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, they both have pretty different personalities. Bao Li has a huge personality. So, he's very vocal, he's very energetic, and
he's always kind of like up doing something. Qing Bao is the polar opposite. She can be almost always found in a tree or sleeping on her
climbing structure.
CULVER: The panda pair will fill a void at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C. For the past 11 months, the panda exhibit has sat
empty. Now, as part of the terms of the Smithsonian's exchange program with China, late last year, the zoo's three pandas were sent back here to
Chengdu.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think people realize how attached you get.
CULVER: When you're here, I mean, in this setting, what stood out to you?
[14:55:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here are the sheer number of pandas.
CULVER: It's crazy, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it is crazy.
CULVER: You turn here and you're like, oh, wait, you can go there. You can go there. Nowhere else do we have something like this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nowhere else. And the scenery is obviously beautiful and the commitment.
CULVER: Pandas were on the brink of extinction, but in recent years they've moved from endangered to vulnerable. But there's still more work to go. The
Panda Exchange, also called Panda Diplomacy, dates back more than 50 years now, when China gifted two pandas to the U.S. following President Nixon's
historic visit.
Today, they're given on loan. And they are a strategic, diplomatic tool, serving as ambassadors of hope and spreading global goodwill. Somehow,
pandas were able to unite nations. Something we could use about right now.
David Culver, CNN, Chengdu, China.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Well, from pandas to pumpkins. It turns out a Belgian is taking home this year's award for Europe's heaviest pumpkin. Mario Miguel's gourd
tipping the scales at a whopping 1,152 kilograms. That's more than 2,500 pounds. 12 growers from across Europe competed in the annual championship
in Germany. As you could imagine, some of these pumpkins are so large that the transportation alone, getting that gourd there in one piece is pretty
much a challenge in itself. Congrats.
Thanks so much for joining me tonight. Be sure to stay with CNN. I'm Erica Hill. Newsroom with Jim Sciutto is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:00]
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