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Israel Will Keep Striking Hezbollah Across Lebanon; Canada Expels Top India Diplomats, Links Them To Murder Of Sikh Leader; Harris Courts Black And Latino Votes As Polls Suggest Trump Gains; 6 People Accuse Diddy Of Sexual Assault In New Lawsuits, Including Man Who Was 16 At The Time. Sources: Israel Requested Missile Defense System Weeks Ago; Taiwan Condemns China War Games as "Unreasonable Provocation"; NASA Spacecraft Heading to One of Jupiter's Moon; Nearly 45M Under Freeze and Frost Alerts Through Wednesday; Exclusive Look at Preparations for Pandas' Move to U.S. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired October 15, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers watching around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Ahead on CNN Newsroom, Israel's Prime Minister is vowing to target Hezbollah without mercy, as an airstrike kills multiple people in Lebanon.
The enemy within, Donald Trump suggests he'd send the U.S. military after everyday Americans. His comments slammed by Kamala Harris.
And his life on Jupiter a possibility in the distant future. That's what NASA's latest mission is, determined to find out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with Lynda Kinkade.
KINKADE: Israel's Prime Minister is warning against Hezbollah in Lebanon and saying the attacks will continue without mercy, even in Beirut. Benjamin Netanyahu visited a training base where four Israeli soldiers were killed on Sunday by a Hezbollah drone attack. 60 others were injured. Mr. Netanyahu says he's praying for their recovery and vowing revenge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I want to clarify. We will continue to strike Hezbollah without mercy everywhere in Lebanon, including Beirut, everything is according to operational considerations. We have proven this recently, and we will continue to prove it in the coming days as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Lebanon's health ministry says 21 people have been killed in an Israeli air strike in the northern part of the country, where displaced people had fled the bombardment of the South, this one hit a Christian majority village. Red Cross officials says teams are searching the site for victims and survivors buried under the rubble. CNN has reached out to the Israeli Defense Forces for comment.
Iran's foreign minister says indirect talks with the U.S. are on pause over rising tensions in the Middle East. Tehran is bracing for a military response from Israel to its missile attack on Tel Aviv and Israeli military bases earlier this month. CNN Frederik Pleitgen reports.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (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. Nargis 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 hearing the 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 1. 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. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, joining me now from Tel Aviv is Alon Pinkas, the former Israeli consul general in New York, good to have you with us.
ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL IN NEW YORK: Good morning, Lynda. Good to be with you as always. KINKADE: So Alon, Hezbollah was able to strike and kill at an army base deep inside Israel territory. This was the deadliest attack for IDF soldiers since Israel began the war a year ago since this war began a year ago, rather.
[01:05:00]
What has been the reaction there?
PINKAS: Well, as it seems, Lynda, there was some kind of a malfunction of the aerial defense systems. Because apparently the drone, although fired from Lebanon by Hezbollah, the routes that he had taken was from West i.e. from the Mediterranean Sea east across the shoreline and into that base, which is roughly halfway between the port city of Haifa in the north and Tel Aviv in the center.
And about a half hour into his flight, they lost track of him. So there was a malfunction in that respect that should not have happened. And many cases before that, these drones were shot down. So you know, every once in a while, I know it's tragic to say, I know it's bad to say, every once in a while, one's going to slip by. And so the reaction was, OK, this is a war. This is sad. This was, you know, right in the middle of Israel. But this could happen every once in a while.
KINKADE: And I have to ask you about this piece you wrote. You wrote a great piece of analysis Alon in Haaretz. You said U.S. President Joe Biden has 99 days left in office. That's, of course, until the inauguration in January, more than enough time to present a plan for deescalation in the Middle East and a regional ceasefire. Take us through your proposal. What is it going to take?
PINKAS: Well, it begins with the fact, well, stating the obvious, obviously, Lynda, that there's a war on three fronts. Now, there's still a war in Gaza, although it's somewhat subdued, but nonetheless, just the other day, Israel conducted a ferocious attack In Jabalya refugee camp. There's a war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which we just discussed, and there's a war or a confrontation or another theater that's going on between Israel and Iran, where Israel is expected to strike Iran in the next few days in retaliation for an Iranian strike a few days ago.
You take -- you combine all three, and the one thing they have in common that they actually are three fronts of the same war, and the three fronts of the same war threatened to even expand and escalate beyond those three. The West Bank, you have the Houthis in South Yemen and southwest Yemen and so on.
Now the second common denominator that they have is that in none of these wars however just, however justified they may be, however justifiable anyone can make the case without fighting them. Israel has no coherent and clear political goals. It's not clear what Israel wants to do with Gaza. It's not clear exactly what Israel seeks to do with Lebanon, and it's not at all clear what's this tit for tat or ping pong of missile salvo between Israel and Iran is going to achieve. Enter the US. The U.S. is policy in the last year was all about averting or preventing escalation that failed. It wasn't America's fault 100 percent but nonetheless, if that was the paramount interest that was defined the Americans did not succeed in achieving it.
Now I think that you know, you have 22 days before the election in the U.S., and then the 99 days, as you mentioned, between today and the 20th of January 2025. Biden has a chance to put forth a plan to offer an immediate ceasefire, simultaneous on all three fronts, and not play games anyone not interested, take it or leave it.
That plan is not going to be a piece of paper that's going to be sent to someone's email and forgot that's going to be submitted to the U.N. Security Council, and everyone should, should heed the advice to accept it. Anyone has reservations, stipulations, conditions, changes that it wants to introduce, that's fine. That's what the negotiation process is about. But before negotiating -- negotiations, I'm sorry, you need to accept the plan. That's the gist of it.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly. And you also pointed out in this piece, the way that this is unraveling, it is gradually but steadily pulling the Americans into the vortex. The U.S. is now sending a new defense system known as the THAAD and 100 troops to operate it. What's your perspective on that deployment?
PINKAS: Well, you know, on the one hand, the U.S. is saying we're assisting Israel, but what we're trying to do here is to help Israel defends itself. It defends itself. So it's not to allow or not to enable you further escalation.
[01:10:00]
Because if this layer of defense that THAAD offers, yes, it's called the terminal, Terminal High Altitude Defense. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, that's the acronym they have all these acronyms in the Pentagon, if we add this layer then that that makes Israel less vulnerable. So it's less vulnerable, maybe the incentive to strike Iran is going to diminish somewhat. If Iran sees that Israel is well defended, maybe it will have a disincentive to further attack Israel after Israel retaliate.
KINKADE: Alon Pinkas in Tel Aviv. Great to have you on for your analysis. Thanks so much.
PINKAS: Always. Thank you, Lynda.
KINKADE: The two Commonwealth countries locked in a full blown diplomatic crisis over an assassination on Canadian soil. Canada expelled six Indian diplomats on Monday, including the High Commissioner, after police linked them to the murder of six separatist leader Hardeep Sngih Nijjar in June last year, as well as other acts of violence against Sikh separatists in Canada.
India has called Nijjar a terrorist. Canada had asked India to revoke the diplomatic immunity of the half dozen diplomats so they could be questioned in the murder investigation. Not only did India refuse, it retaliated by swiftly expelling six high
ranking Canadian diplomats. Canada's Prime Minister is defending the need for a police investigation.
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JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: The evidence brought to light by the RCMP cannot be ignored. It leads to one conclusion, it is necessary to disrupt the criminal activities that continue to pose a threat to public safety in Canada. That is why we acted, because we will always, first and foremost, stand for the rights of Canadians to feel safe and secure in their own country.
We will never tolerate the involvement of a foreign government threatening and killing Canadian citizens on Canadian soil, a deeply unacceptable violation of Canada's sovereignty and of international law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: The Indian government released a statement accusing Canada of smearing India for political gain, and said the aspersions cast on the High Commissioner are ludicrous and deserve to be treated with contempt. Canada is home to the largest population of Sikhs outside the home state of Punjab, India.
We are now just three weeks away from the U.S. presidential election and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is slamming Donald Trump for his comments about how to handle what he calls the enemy from within, saying a second term with a Republican opponent could be dangerous to the country.
Her warning comes after Trump told Fox News the U.S. military should be caught upon to handle threats from quoting here radical left lunatics on election day.
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they're the -- and it should be very easily handled by if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary by the military, because they can't let that happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: In an unusual move for her, Harris played that Trump clip during a rally Monday in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, offering this response.
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KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He's talking about the enemy within our country, Pennsylvania. He's talking about that he considers anyone who doesn't support him or who will not bend to his will, an enemy of our country.
This is among the reasons I believe so strongly that a second Trump term would be a huge risk for America and dangerous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, both campaigns now in the final sprint, Harris is reaching out for voter support in some unexpected places and hoping to get the message across to some who might normally hear it. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez reports.
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PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on a sprint to election day with both candidates beginning a week long stretch crisscrossing swing states, first in Pennsylvania, where the race remains deadlocked. Harris trying to lock in her coalition, unveiled new economic proposals appealing to black voters.
That plan includes forgivable loans to black entrepreneurs of up to $20,000 promoting apprenticeships and legalizing recreational marijuana. Taken together, it's a sweeping proposal aimed at trying to persuade black voters, in particular black men, amid signs of lagging enthusiasm. Harris recognizing the ground her campaign still needs to cover in an interview with The Shade Room.
[01:15:00]
HARRIS: Black men are no different from anybody else. They expect that you have to earn their vote, and that's why I'm out here doing the work that I'm doing, about talking with folks, listening with folks, because I'm running for president United States, and it is incumbent on me to earn the support.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): Monday's stop is the first in a travel blitz for Harris that will include the blue wall states of Michigan and Wisconsin, in addition to Pennsylvania, as the Harris campaign tries to secure a path to 270 electoral votes. Harris and Trump are also taking to the airwaves to reach voters, including in new ads in the key battlegrounds.
HAARIS: When the middle class is strong, America is strong, and we can build a stronger middle class.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): The Vice President confirming she will sit down for her first ever interview with Fox News. The same day, the former president participates in a Fox Town Hall with an all-female audience, this after he refused to do another debate with Harris.
TRUMP: So because we've done two debates and because they were successful, there will be no third debate.
ALVAREZ: Trump also focusing on his base, going after men with a potential sit down with podcaster Joe Rogan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Joe Rogan has to have you on. Yes.
TRUMP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you do that?
TRUMP: Oh, sure, I would.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Joe like, besides us --
TRUMP: I think doing it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): In Pennsylvania, both sides also set to pour millions of dollars into ad spending, underscoring how critical the state is for both campaigns.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Sabrina Rodriguez joins us now. She's a national politics reporter with The Washington Post. Good to have you with us, Sabrina.
SABRINA RODRIGUEZ, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Thanks for having me.
KINKADE: So the latest polls show that Trump is doing better with black and Hispanic voters combined than any other Republican presidential nominee before him since the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The question is, why?
RODRIGUEZ: The reality is that Donald Trump has really made an impression on a lot of black and Latino voters, and specifically men. I mean, we've seen, by and large in poll after poll that this is something that is very gendered. We see more men really finding an appeal in Donald Trump, and part of it is them really buying into this message on the economy that he is putting out. Him talking a lot about, you know, his focus on businesses, his focus on, you know, building wealth in America, and really calling out that the Democratic Party has not delivered on its promises that it has made to these communities in years past.
So part of that has really helped, you know, build a coalition. At the end of the day, we're still seeing, you know, the vast majority of black voters and a majority of Latino voters are supporting Kamala Harris. Still identify with the Democratic Party and will be coming out to vote for her.
But even a small increase in Donald Trump's support among these groups of people can really prove to be key in helping him in a path to victory and some of the key battleground states across the country.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly. I mean, you do rightly point out that Harris is winning the majority of black and Hispanic voters in the latest polls, but certainly not as well as previous Democrat -- Democratic nominees did. Do you think it could be because she's a woman? RODRIGUEZ: Absolutely. I mean, that is a something that comes up repeatedly. I've been across battleground states talking to both men and women. I mean, it comes up more with men, but you still hear some conversations where it's sort of masked in a question around, is she strong enough to be the leader of the country? Or, you know, how would she be with foreign leaders, how she represent the US?
A lot of people won't come out right and say that they are not going to support her for a woman, but just having covered these issues of sexism and racism in the past, those are two factors that continue to be part of it. But it's not just as simple as that.
I mean, for some people, it's -- they just don't know a lot about her. Just given how fast everything has evolved this year, with President Biden stepping aside from the race and Harris then becoming the nominee. There's still a lot of questions around people wanting to know more about her policy proposals, wanting to know more about you know, what she represents? What are her values? What does she really want to get done if she's elected?
KINKADE: And of course, Harris was criticized for not doing enough media interviews, and in recent weeks, she has sat down with CNN and CBS, and this week she'll sit down with Fox News. What can she gain from that interview? And what's the risk?
RODRIGUEZ: The number one thing for her right now is showing that she's not scared of doing these interviews. She's been repeatedly attacked by Republicans that are saying that, you know, she's hiding, that she's not being forthright, that there's a reason that she's not doing these interviews, and it's because she can't answer questions.
I mean, Donald Trump has repeatedly questioned her intelligence on the campaign trail. So this is an opportunity for her to show there is nothing for her to hide. She has a lot of proposals to really introduce the American people to.
[01:20:04]
Of course, the risk is, you know, that that viral moment that we might see on TikTok of if she slips up on a question or something, you know, something is not perfectly answered or anything like that, but the campaign is at the point that they realize that the benefits outweigh the risk.
KINKADE: We did also hear Donald Trump threatened to deploy the military to take down what he caused the enemy from within. He said left lunatics more of a danger than adversaries like Russia. Can you explain those comments in the sort of reaction we see?
RODRIGUEZ: There has been a swift backlash to this. You know, just with Harris on the campaign trail in Erie, Pennsylvania, we saw her talking about it. They've already put out ads related to it. You know, even at this, at her campaign rally, this is highly unusual for her, she put a clip of him saying it, and they're really using this Democrats to try and drive home this point of him being a threat to democracy, and kind of riling up this outrage around those comments, and seeing, you know, he's talking about Americans, he's talking about people within this country.
So it's certainly prompting some outreach. We're seeing Republicans try to, you know, downplay the comments we saw his running mate, J.D. Vance, saying, you know, he's also talking about foreign nationals. He's not just talking about Democrats as enemies from within, but it's really hard for Republicans to navigate toning down comments like that when he is referring to, at the end of the day, Americans who he would be responsible for representing if he is elected.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly. Sabrina Rodriguez, great to have you on the show. Thanks so much for your time.
RODRIGUEZ: Thank you.
KINKADE: Well, still to come, new allegations of sexual assault (INAUDIBLE) again Sean did he comes to have more on his deepening legal troubles just ahead.
Plus, increased reports of threats and misinformation continue to obstruct recovery efforts in some of the most devastated areas of the U.S., following Hurricane Helene. Stay with us.
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KINKADE: A new round of serious allegations against musician Sean "Diddy" Combs, the rapper and record label executive, has been accused of sexual assault in at least six new lawsuits with alleged victims, including men, women and even a teenage boy. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister has more.
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ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: In battle of music mogul Shawn Jenny combs has been hit with six new lawsuits from six separate accusers, all of whom are represented by the same attorney. Now all of these accusers filed anonymously, either as a John Doe or a Jane Doe. There are four male accusers and two female accusers. These alleged incidents spanned over the course of decades, the first allegedly occurring in 1995 and the most recent occurring in 2021 that most recent alleged incident comes from a male accuser.
[01:25:00]
Now, another male accuser says that he was 16 years old at the time, which, of course, would have made him a minor. He alleges that back in 1998, he was at one of combs infamous white party, which was held at his mansion in the Hamptons in New York. He says that shortly after meeting him and telling him about his aspirations to make it in show business, that is when combs allegedly sexually assaulted him.
Now I have reached out to Combs' team, and he is denying this. He says that the attorney who is representing these new accusers is simply looking for media, and here is part of their statement that they sent to me, quote, Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts their legal defenses and the integrity of the judicial process. In court, the truth will prevail, that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone, adult or minor, man or woman.
Now this denial comes after combs is nearly a year of repeated denials, ever since he was hit with his first lawsuit back in November 2023 which came from his ex-girlfriend, Cassie. Now that lawsuit quickly settled, but he is still facing 17 other civil suits. Of course, this comes as Combs is currently incarcerated in New York, where he awaits his criminal trial, which is set to begin in May of next year. Back to you.
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KINKADE: Thanks to Elizabeth. Well, Florida's recovery efforts from back to back, major hurricanes continue to be hampered by fuel shortages and a damaged seaport. On Monday, Governor Ron DeSantis announced $9.5 million in additional funding to help expedite the repairs of one of the region's most important cargo ports.
More than 200,000 customers in Florida still without power days after Milton made landfall. Floridians are growing frustrated, in some instances, turning violent at the pump, as hundreds of gas stations are still without fuel, including roughly half of the stations in the hard hit Tampa Bay Area.
In parts of North Carolina, aid for victims of Hurricane Helene was temporarily paused because of reports that federal workers were being threatened. Those threats come amid a backdrop of dangerous misinformation about how the government is responding to the recent storms. Our Gabe Cohen reports.
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GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: FEMA officials tell me they have never before dealt with this much misinformation. Claims that the agency has spent all of its relief money on undocumented immigrants, or that they aren't helping victims in Republican areas, even as local Republican officials in these hard hit towns are telling constituents that is not true, and they are begging for these rumors to stop.
And now we have the arrest of 44-year-old William Parsons. To be clear, we do not have a specific motive at this point. We do not know if he was influenced by misinformation, but the sheriff's office in Rutherford County, North Carolina, says they got a call on Saturday alerting them that Parsons was armed and had made comments about potentially harming FEMA workers, and when they located him a little while later, he was in a vehicle just outside of a relief site where people had been getting donations, and he had a rifle and multiple handguns on him.
Now he's charged with going armed to the terror of the public. That is a misdemeanor charge, and when FEMA, over the weekend, learned about that threat, the agency quickly pulled its response crews out of the field. The goal was to keep them safe in that part of North Carolina.
I asked a captain at the sheriff's office there for his message to the FEMA workers who are scared for their safety. CAPTAIN JAMIE KEEVER, SPOKESMAN, RUTHERFORD COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: We want them to be rest assured that we will keep them safe in -- to come back and do their job and help us in the citizens of Rutherford County, especially the citizens of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock.
COHEN: FEMA has now resumed its normal door to door operation, though they have added some additional safety measures as they continue to battle this flood of misinformation. Gabe Cohen, CNN, Washington.
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KINKADE: Well ahead on CNN Newsroom, new details are emerging about the U.S. plans to send a prized missile defense system to Israel. Plus, Chinese military drills around Taiwan draw criticism from the U.S. and fears of a bigger conflict. What residents of Taiwan and experts think after the break.
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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Israel insists it is not targeting United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. Instead, [overtalking]Benjamin Netanyahu is accusing Hezbollah of using peacekeeper bases as cover from which to attack Israeli cities.
Over the past week, the U.N. says, Israel fired on its peacekeepers, forcibly entered a base and injured more than a dozen of its troops. Netanyahu says Israel regrets those injuries, but says his troops are trying to bring (ph) calm.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: The charge that Israel deliberately attacked UNIFIL personnel is completely false. It's exactly the opposite. Israel repeatedly asked UNIFIL to get out of harm's way. It repeatedly asked them to temporarily leave the combat zone, which is right next to Israel's border with Lebanon.
In fact, on the day that Israel began its ground operation next to our border with Lebanon we asked them specifically, please leave these areas so you're not harmed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: The European Union is asking Israel to stop attacking the peacekeepers and keep them safe. UNIFIL, which is the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, has been there for more than 45 years. The unit includes more than 10,000 people from 50 countries. And they operate along Lebanon's effective border with Israel.
Well, sources tell CNN the prized American anti-ballistic missile defense system bound for Israel was requested several weeks ago. That was around the time Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader and Iranian ally Hassan Nasrallah.
The so-called THAAD system could help Israel better defend itself against any future attack by Iran or its proxies.
CNN's Oren Liebermann picks up the story.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The Pentagon won't be specific on how soon this advanced U.S. anti-ballistic missile system will arrive in Israel. But Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin did tell his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, that it would be there in quote, "the coming days".
The THAAD system, as it's called, Terminal High-Altitude Aerial Defense system is one of the most advanced U.S. systems for intercepting ballistic missiles -- short, medium and long-range. It shoots them down in their final dive towards their target so about 100 or slightly more miles out, but it can detect them more than ten times as far based on its radar.
And crucially, it can work with not only the navy destroyers that are operating in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and intercepted ballistic missiles of their own on October 1st and April 13. But it could also work with Israel's own complex and layered air defense system. There is the shorter Iron Dome, the medium-range David's Sling, and then the longer-range Arrow.
So the THAAD system, when it's deployed, when it's set up in Israel with 100 U.S. troops about 100 so operating it, it will add not only a quality system, but crucially, it will add quantity, simply more interceptor missiles that are capable of intercepting an Iranian barrage. And that of course, is what the U.S. is watching for here.
[01:34:53]
LIEBERMANN: Israel has vowed that it would respond to that Iranian barrage of more than 180 ballistic missiles on October 1. Iran has in turn said that it too would retaliate for any attack.
So it's into this situation that the U.S. has deployed this advanced anti-ballistic missile system to Israel, preparing for the possibility of an Iranian attack. It also adds more defenses in Israel should Hezbollah continue to launch rockets, missiles, perhaps even drones.
So again, it adds a quality system to Israel's layered defense. And it also shows the U.S. commitment to Israel's defense. And that -- that message of support for Israel and a message of deterrence to Iran and its proxies is just as important as the military capabilities itself.
Oren Liebermann, CNN -- at the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Ukraine's president says North Korea is sending its citizens to fight alongside Russian forces on the battlefield. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukrainian intelligence shows a quote
"increasing alliance" between Russia and North Korea involving more than the transfer of weapons.
Last week, a Ukrainian intelligence source told CNN that a small number of North Koreans have been working with Russia's military. And that some were recently killed in Ukraine's eastern front. The Kremlin calls those allegations, quote, "another hoax".
President Zelenskyy disagrees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I held a meeting of the staff, several issues. Among the most important was the report of the intelligence services, the foreign intelligence service, and the defense intelligence of Ukraine on the intentions of the Russians for the fall and winter.
Everything was quite detailed. The actual involvement of North Korea in the war. Also Russia's relations with some other countries that unfortunately are in investing in prolonging the war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, Taiwan's defense ministry says more than 150 Chinese military aircraft had been detected operating around the island as part of a new round of war games started by Beijing.
China says it's a response to what it calls Taiwan's separatist acts. Taiwan says it's unreasonable provocation.
CNN's Will Ripley explains how the military exercises could cause international waves.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here in the Taiwanese capital, there is certainly no palpable sense of panic. Most people just going about their daily lives, even as leaders condemn this latest round of People's Liberation Army drills.
China pointing to last week's speech by Taiwan President Lai Ching-Te as the reason for launching these drills, although experts say they were probably just combing through his speech, looking for any line that they could use as an excuse, frankly, to launch yet another round of military exercises.
They did the same thing after Taiwan's presidential inauguration back in May of this year. Those drills, by Taiwanese estimates, cost China millions of dollars. They say China spent billions of dollars during the whole year of 2023 staging military drills near Taiwan.
So people around here are certainly used to this. In the scheme of things, these drills are not as large or intense as of yet as previous drills that we've seen, even though China did dispatch one of their aircraft carriers off the East Coast of Taiwan.
But analysts say these exercises are still very dangerous and problematic, and a reason for Taiwan and the world to be concerned.
CHEN MING-CHI, CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY CHINA, NATIONAL TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY: I think they want to impose a new normal. They are approaching closer and closer, so it's highly dangerous that it will leave us very short response time.
WEN-TI SUNG, GLOBAL CHINA HUB, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Beijing definitely wants to show force, but it doesn't want to show force to increase so much intensity or quality so as to almost force the hand of American presidential candidates to come up with much more tougher line posture against Beijing.
RIPLEY: For its part, the U.S. is warning that these military drills have the potential to ratchet up tensions in this region. China's Coast Guard also involved. They put out a map on Chinese state media showing those red blocks, the different locations around Taiwan where the drills are taking place, also at Taiwan's outlying Matsu Islands.
And what experts say is that this is intended to show Taiwan what a blockade could look like. Of course, a blockade, analysts say, could be a precursor to an invasion. Taiwan relies very heavily on imports of among other things, coal to generate energy, so a blockade could very quickly turn the lights off here for a lot of people.
And yet, regular folks who are aware of these drills say this has been happening. They're used to it, and they're going on with their daily lives.
TANG WEI-CHENG, TAIPEI RESIDENT: If they actually attack, we'll just have to deal with it. Hopefully they won't.
HSU PENG-SHENG, TAIPEI RESIDENT: I think no matter what happens, peace is the most important thing.
RIPLEY: Keeping the peace is certainly a priority of a lot of folks around here and these drills while provocative experts say aren't really moving the needle any closer towards an actual armed confrontation.
Will Ripley, CNN -- Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:39:45]
KINKADE: Well NASA just launched a long-awaited admission to one of Jupiter's moons. The Europa Clipper will study one of the solar system's most promising environments for supporting life. We'll have more on that after the break.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 3, 2, 1. Ignition. And lift-off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: That was NASA's Europa Clipper's spacecraft launching on a SpaceX rocket Monday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It's now on a long-awaited mission to investigate the potential for life on Jupiter's moon Europa which boasts a vast ice-covered ocean. Scientists believe Europe may contain the ingredients needed for life.
The massive spacecraft is longer than a basketball court. The mission costs over $5 billion in a journey that would take about 5.5 years.
Adam Frank, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Rochester and joins us live. He is also the author of "A Little Book of Aliens".
Good to have you with us from Florence, Italy.
ADAM FRANK, PROFESSOR OF ASTROPHYSICS, UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: Thank you. My pleasure.
KINKADE: So Europa won't get there to the moon for about six years. That's a really long journey and a huge investment. What's your take on this.
FRANK: Well, this is a really important mission because we're really interested in whether there's life anywhere else in the universe. As far as we know right now, the earth is the only place where life has occurred.
And while everybody, you know, focuses on Mars, these moons that orbit Jupiter and Saturn that have subsurface oceans, not just Europa, there's other ones as well. They have so much water in them, there's more water in the oceans of Europa, than there are in all of the oceans of earth.
And since we think water is essential for life, these are remarkable places where life not only may have formed, there may be thriving ecosystems, hidden underneath the ice of Europa.
KINKADE: It certainly is exciting prospect.
Just explain for us though the slingshot effect to get it there.
FRANK: Yes. The solar system is pretty big, you know, it's like the earth was when we only had sailing ships. It takes, you know, months or years to get from one place to the other.
Jupiter is so far away that we can -- you know, rocket fuel's really expensive and so you have to carry it with you that we can't just blast our way to there. We actually have to get the ship out of earth's orbit and then we use the what we call "gravity assists". It will sling it around Mars and then it'll come back to earth again and back to Mars using the motion of those planets to sort of speed up and eventually get them -- get the probe out to Jupiter.
KINKADE: Amazing. And so it won't actually land on the moon, right? It would do a series of flybys. How will it determine if there's life especially under what is a frozen ocean? [01:44:46]
FRANK: Yes. That's a great question. That ice is ten miles thick, right? The ice is thicker than the entire -- the deepest parts of the earth's ocean. Earth's oceans only go down about seven miles. The ice is ten miles. And then the ocean below it is 100 miles.
So the reason that they also can't land now because the radiation environment is so dangerous and so powerful that they have the orbiter actually slinging around Europa and then heading out into space again.
But each time it comes close in an orbit, it's going to take pictures of the ice. And what we see are cracks in the ice, like there's sort of places where the ice is folding over itself and there's water we think, ocean water, that is coming up and making its way through the ice and then re-freezing.
And you can actually see these cracked lines that have different colors in them because of material that's come up from the ocean. And we're hoping to be able to -- by analyzing from space the material on that ice we might be able to get some clue about what's below the oceans including the possibility of elements needed for life.
KINKADE: Wow. So in terms of how soon we'll get some of those answers, given that it's going to take about six years to get to Jupiter's moon, I mean how soon will we start to have an understanding of what might be under that frozen -- under that ice?
FRANK: Yes. Well, you know, once the data -- once it gets there, within a year we'll start getting the data and the analysis of the data.
So I think, you know, we've got to wait five years to do the trip out there. But once it gets there, we're going to start getting incredible images.
I mean, the images already, people should just look up Europa and Google it and look at the pictures we already have. But the resolution -- we're going to get stunning images. And I think within a year or so, we'll start having, you know, some pretty spectacular results.
KINKADE: So what are the risks that something could go wrong with the spacecraft considering that it's going to be six years before it gets there.
FRANK: Yes. There's a lot of risks. I mean, this is -- you know, you've got to really give NASA and the European Space Agency and you know, the space agencies credit for like how impossible the engineering task is. With those gravity assists, every one of those gravity assists, you get -- you know, you have to fire your rockets if you're off by a tenth of a second, its heading off, you know, towards Pluto or something.
The radiation environment, once it gets to, as I talked about, once it gets to Europa, the radiation environment is 20,000 times more dangerous than earth's radiation environment. So they literally have to put all their instruments in a vault inside the spaceship.
So there are so many ways for this to go wrong, you know. And the mission is happening a zillion miles out in space, you can't fix anything.
So it's pretty incredible that these things work, and mostly they do work. It's a real testament to the engineering capacity of the United States with NASA, the other agencies that are involved.
KINKADE: Yes, for a $5 billion investment, hopefully we get some of those magical images that you speak of.
I also want to ask you about the launch again (ph), the world's first reusable rocket, twice as powerful as anything built before. I mean it really seems like SpaceX is leading the world here.
FRANK: SpaceX is -- SpaceX is, you know, is quite remarkable in the -- how fast they have transformed space -- the space industry. Used to be, you know, one of -- only governments doing this. It was very expensive to get stuff into space and we were doing it in the same old way, you know.
And SpaceX actually is part of an entire new economy. There's lots of other companies that are doing really innovative kinds of things. There's companies that are actually flinging. They're not even using rockets, they're flinging stuff into space.
There are companies that are testing entirely new kinds of rockets. So people should really understand that SpaceX, you know, got in the game first and is doing amazing things.
But there's actually a whole bunch of other young companies coming up that are just going to transform our access to space. And then really, you know, within 50, 100 years, everybody could be going to space. People are going to have jobs in space. It's really, there's a revolution going on right now.
KINKADE: Amazing. Exciting times.
Adam Frank, good to have you with us. Thanks so much.
FRANK: Thank you. My pleasure.
KINKADE: Right now, nearly 45 million Americans are under freeze and frost alerts with cold arctic air moving in from southern Canada.
Meanwhile in the Atlantic, another tropical storm could be brewing in the coming days.
Our meteorologist Chad Myers has the forecast.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Some places in the U.S. going straight to winter. Snow in Saranac Lake on Monday. Cold air all the way down to the Gulf Coast, cooling things off for sure. And there still will be some very cold rain and a little bit of snow across parts of Quebec over the next couple of hours.
Other than that -- very, very chilly air across the upper Midwest. Western planes, we will see temperatures below 32 for a few hours. And in some spots in the north for many hours.
[01:49:44]
MYERS: That will certainly put a damper on your tomatoes, but it will also take the pollen out of the air from all of the ragweed that's out there. Once you get your big first frost, that begins to die off and it's all done.
Nashville, by Thursday morning, temperatures in the middle 30s. Mount Juliet, you could be colder than that.
Even the highest in Atlanta will not be above 60, 65 -- there you go, almost 68 today but that's it. That's the bit for the rest of the year.
And then here, we went on 84 degrees on Saturday in Atlanta and by tomorrow morning, it will be 43 -- a difference of 41. And yet down to the south where the water is still very warm, we have a 60 percent chance of a storm developing over the next five or so days.
That could move very close to either Hispaniola or maybe Puerto Rico, don't know yet. Models don't love it just yet, but we'll see.
Hurricane Center says yes, there is more than a 50-50 chance of something happening there. And then some 20 percent chance of rain coming in here. Some of the heavier rain showers coming into probably Belize, Honduras and the like.
But taking a look at the storm out in the middle of the Atlantic, where does it go? Models have pretty good agreement this far out, still saying south here of many of the threats up the East Coast, but certainly any of these islands you're going to have to watch for some very heavy rain, gusty winds, and that potential tropical development.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Our thanks to Chad Myers.
Well, still ahead, panda diplomacy is back between the U.S. and China. Why this pair (ph) is such an important symbol of international relations. That story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back.
In the coming hours, two Chinese pandas are set to arrive at the Washington National Zoo. Bao li and Qing Bao will spend the next ten years here in the U.S. on loan from China, a renewal of the panda diplomacy, which dates back decades but comes amid recent tensions between the two nations.
CNN's David Culver got an exclusive look at the preparations for the pandas' long overseas journey.
(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 his 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 has stood out to you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here, the sheer number of pandas.
CULVER: It's crazy, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it is crazy.
[01:54:50]
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)
KINKADE: Now, to a hero's welcome in Nepal for a record-breaking teenage mountain climber. Nima Rinji Sherpa last week became the youngest person to reach the summit of all 14 of the world's 8,000- meter peaks. The Sherpa community in Kathmandu welcomed him with music and dancing and Nepali police then marched through the streets.
Sherpa began his high-altitude climbs when he was just 16 and he hasn't stopped. He says the achievement isn't just for him, but for the entire Sherpa community.
NIMA RINJI SHERPA, NEPALI: MOUNTAIN CLIMBER: This is a very big kind of advantage for the Sherpa community and even for me and for everyone. It was like before this, you cannot -- you can't imagine the --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: -- 50 people worldwide have accomplished this climbing feat.
Well, changes are brewing at Starbucks for mobile app users. "The Wall Street Journal" first reported on Monday that the chain is scaling back its promotional office through the app and don't expect as many discounts during the holiday season.
The move is part of the new CEO's strategy to revamped Starbucks as a premium brand, while also easing strain on employees who get slammed with orders when promotions are high.
Brian Niccol says he wants to return the chain to its roots as a community coffee house. Starbucks' sales have fallen for two straight quarters.
Well, thanks so much for joining me. I'm Lynda Kinkade.
Stay with us. CNN NEWSROOM with the lovely Rosemary Church is next.
[01:57:00]
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