Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Israel and Iran Vow Not to Back Down; Harris Slams Trump "Enemy Within" Comments; North Carolina Hurricane Aid Paused Amid Reports of Threats; New Allegations Against Sean Diddy Combs. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired October 15, 2024 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[04:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We will continue to strike Hezbollah without mercy everywhere in Lebanon, including Beirut.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As Israel continues to pound Lebanon with missile strikes, going after Hezbollah fighters and leaders, Iran is vowing not to back down.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's the enemy from within, all the scum that we have to deal with.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He's talking about the enemy within Pennsylvania. He is saying that he would use the military to go after them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In Battle of Music Mogul, Sean Diddy Combs has been hit with six new lawsuits from six separate accusers. These alleged incidents spanned over the course of decades.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Max Foster.

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christina Macfarlane. It's Tuesday, October 15th, 9 a.m. here in London and 11.30 a.m. in Tehran, where Iran is holding funeral services for a slain commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, the same one that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

FOSTER: Meanwhile, Lebanon reports at least 21 people have been killed in the latest Israeli airstrike. A Christian majority village in the northern part of the country, where displaced people had fled the bombardment in the south. CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment. MACFARLANE: Israel's prime minister is warning attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon will continue even in Beirut. Benjamin Netanyahu visited a training base where four Israeli soldiers were killed on Sunday by Hezbollah drone attack.

(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)

FOSTER: CNN's Fred Pleitgen live for us this hour in Tehran -- Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Max. We're actually in that funeral procession for the slain Islamic Revolutionary Guard Commander Abbas Nilforoushan. You can see this is actually the casket rolling down the streets of Tehran, Max, and I would say that there's tens of thousands of people who have come out here to pay their respects.

And one of the other things, of course, that you hear a lot of here is anger towards the United States and anger towards Israel. He was, of course, killed in the same airstrike that killed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah. There's a lot of anger here on the streets and a lot of mourning as well.

The Iranians, Max, for their part, have said that they are going to continue to support Hezbollah as they had before, but they also say that if Israel strikes Iran, that Iran will retaliate. And we're seeing that mood on the streets here as well. Here's what we found.

MACFARLANE: A busy scene there. But can you tell us a bit more about what the mood is like there as Iran braces for those attacks you're mentioning and what Iran's leadership is saying about any potential attack?

PLEITGEN: Yes, I mean -- so essentially what the Iranian leadership is saying, Christina, is that they say that any strike by Israel will be met by a strike from Iran. They say no matter where that strike is, whether or not that's Iran's critical infrastructure, whether it's nuclear installations, you can see the people here around me chanting once again as this funeral procession goes on.

The Iranians are saying there will be a strong response from their side. I think one of the things that's been quite troubling to the U.S. and its allies over the past couple of days is really an escalation on the rhetoric that we've heard from Iran, where the foreign minister has said that Iran has tried to prevent a larger war here in this region. But Iran is also saying that they are ready for a larger war if a larger war comes. So that's a vow that we're hearing from Tehran. One of the other things that the Iranians have also said is they've warned countries in the region here that if they allow Israel to use their airspace for a strike against Iran, that there will be a repercussion. (INAUDIBLE) very volatile situation here in the region. At the same time here on the streets of Tehran, you can really see this outpouring of warning, of support.

[04:05:00]

But at the same time, I do have to say you can see some of the posters that are being held up here. This one down with the U.S.A. There is also a lot of anger towards the U.S. and towards Israel as well.

FOSTER: Fred, thank you so much joining us from Tehran. I mean, I think the message you get there is defiance in the face of these threats from Israel.

MACFARLANE: Very much so.

FOSTER: Israel insisting, meanwhile, it's not targeting United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. Instead, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accusing Hezbollah of using the peacekeeper bases as cover from which to attack Israeli cities.

MACFARLANE: Well, 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 these injuries, but says his troops are trying to prevent harm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETANYAHU: 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 this area so you're not harmed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, the European Union is asking Israel to stop attacking the peacekeepers and keep them safe.

FOSTER: Yes, UNIFIL, the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, have been there for more than 45 years. The unit includes more than 10,000 people from 50 countries, and they operate along Lebanon's de facto border with Israel.

MACFARLANE: Now, with just three weeks to go until Election Day in the U.S., Kamala Harris and Donald Trump both found themselves campaigning in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Monday. Harris slammed Trump for his comments, describing his left-wing critics as the enemy from within, saying a second term with her Republican opponent would be dangerous for the country.

FOSTER: A warning comes after Fox News asked Trump whether he thought there would be chaos on Election Day. He said, not from his side. But suggested strong measures be taken against those on the left.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 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 big -- 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)

MACFARLANE: Well, in an unusual move, Harris played the Trump clip during her rally Monday in the swing city of Erie, using it to warn of the danger she believes would come with another Trump presidency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He's talking about the enemy within Pennsylvania, that he considers anyone who doesn't support him, or who will not bend to his will, an enemy of our country. He is saying that he would use the military to go after them.

We know who he would target. And we know who he would target because he has attacked them before. Journalists whose stories he doesn't like. Election officials who refuse to cheat by filling extra votes and finding extra votes for him. Judges who insist on following the law instead of bending to his will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, both campaigns now in the final sprint. Harris is reaching out for voter support in some unexpected places and hoping to get her message across to some who might not normally hear it. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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.

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 of the United States. And it is incumbent on me to earn this 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.

[04:10:00]

Harris and Trump are also taking to the air 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.

HARRIS: 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, Joe --

TRUMP: I think I'm doing it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ALVAREZ: 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)

FOSTER: Well, Florida's recovery efforts from back to back major hurricanes continue to be hampered by fuel shortages and damaged seaport as well.

MACFARLANE: On Monday, Governor Ron DeSantis announced $9.5 million in additional funding to help repair one of the region's most important cargo ports. Nearly 200,000 customers in Florida are still without power five days after Milton made landfall.

FOSTER: Floridians are growing frustrated and in some instances turning violent as hundreds of gas stations are still without fuel. That includes roughly half the stations in the Tampa area.

MACFARLANE: In parts of North Carolina, aid for victims of Hurricane Helene was 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 recent storms. Our Gabe Cohen has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, 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.

JAMIE KEEVER, SPOKESMAN, RUTHERFORD COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: We want them to be reassured that we will keep them safe. And come back and do their job. And help us and the citizens of Rutherford County. Especially the citizens of Lake Lord 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Still to come, new allegations of sexual assault leveled against Sean Diddy Combs. The latest on his deepening legal troubles just ahead.

MACFARLANE: And ahead, relations between Canada and India sharply deteriorate. Why both countries are kicking out one another's top diplomats.

FOSTER: And Chinese military drills around Taiwan draw criticism from the U.S. and fears of a bigger conflict. We'll have the latest after the break.

[04:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: We're back with 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.

FOSTER: The alleged victims include men, women and a teenage boy. Their attorney says they represent only a handful of the victims who have not yet spoken out against Diddy.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister has more details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Embattled music mogul, Sean Diddy 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.

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 parties. 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' 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Two Commonwealth countries are locked in a diplomatic crisis over an assassination on Canadian soil.

MACFARLANE: Now Canada expelled six Indian diplomats on Monday, including the High Commissioner after police linked them to the murder of Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh 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 half a dozen diplomats so they could be questioned in the murder investigation.

FOSTER: Not only did India refuse it, it retaliated by swiftly expelling six high-ranking Canadian diplomats. Canada's Prime Minister is defending the need for a police investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:20:05]

MACFARLANE: Well 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 their home state of Punjab, India.

FOSTER: Taiwan's defense ministry says more than 150 Chinese military aircraft have 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. MACFARLANE: Well Taiwan says it's unreasonable provocation. CNN's Will Ripley explains how the military exercises could cause international waves.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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-SHI, CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY CHINA, NATIONAL TSING HUA UNIVERSITY: I think they want to impose a new normal. They are approaching closer and closer. So it's highly dangerous and 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 in 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.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): If they actually attack, we'll just have to deal with it. Hopefully they won't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): 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)

MACFARLANE: 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.

FOSTER: Last week, a Ukrainian intelligence source told CNN that a small number of North Koreans have been working with the Russian military and that some were recently killed in Ukraine's Eastern Front. The Kremlin calls those allegations, quote, another hoax. But 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 investing in prolonging the war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Now, an inquiry continues this hour into the 2018 death of a British woman who died after being exposed to the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok.

MACFARLANE: The U.K.'s inquest was told Dawn Sturgess was unwittingly caught up in an international assassination attempt when she sprayed herself with what she thought was a discarded bottle of perfume. The flask actually contained the deadly chemical weapon. U.K. authorities believe it was thrown away by agents targeting former Russian agent Sergei Skripal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:25:00] ANDREW O'CONNOR, LAWYER: She was entirely unaware of the mortal danger she faced because the highly toxic liquid had been concealed, carefully and deliberately concealed, inside a perfume bottle.

Moreover, the evidence will suggest that this bottle, which we shall hear contained enough poison to kill thousands of people, must earlier have been left somewhere in a public place, creating the obvious risk that someone would find it and take it home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The U.K. government says the mission was highly likely to have been authorized by the Kremlin. Skripal and his adult daughter were found unconscious on a public bench in southern England after Novichok was applied to the front door handle of his home. The pair was left critically ill from the effects of the poison but they did recover.

Now ahead, flames tear through the grounds of a major Gaza hospital. We'll have a closer look at the deadly strike.

MACFARLANE: And later, CNN's Elle Reeve talks to voters in what could be the Trumpiest county in all the battleground states. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. Here are some of today's top stories.

MACFARLANE: Now in the U.S. early voting begins this week in two key battleground states. In Georgia voters can head to the polls starting today and in North Carolina where officials have been scrambling to make sure residents can still cast a ballot in the wake of Hurricane Helene, early voting will kick off on Thursday.

FOSTER: Lawyers for former President Donald Trump have asked for another chance to move his hush money case to federal court. They argue that an earlier ruling rejecting the request was improperly decided and ignored key evidence.

MACFARLANE: North Korea has blown up two major roads that once connected it with South Korea. The explosions happened on the north side of the military demarcation line that separates the two Koreas. This was mainly a symbolic gesture since they're is one of the world's most highly fortified and the roads had not been used for years.

FOSTER: According to Doctors Without Borders, the death toll from an Israeli strike outside Gaza's Al-Aqsa Hospital has now risen to five.

MACFARLANE: Medicine Sans Frontieres says this is the seventh time the hospital compound have been hit since March. Thousands of people have been sheltering on its grounds.

FOSTER: Meanwhile, several Palestinians were rushed to a separate hospital in Gaza City after a strike in Jabalia. MACFARLANE: CNN's Nada Bashir has closely been following the strikes joins me now. Nada I think so many people watched in horror yesterday as these videos emerged from that courtyard outside the Al-Aqsa hospital literally seeing Palestinians burning alive.

The IDF said they were targeting Hamas militants in that area. Is there any evidence to back that up?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At this stage we've reached out to the Israeli military. No evidence has been provided to support those claims from the military.

They have said that they used precise weapons.

[04:30:00]