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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Walz Fighting Nerves Ahead Of Debating Vance; Flares Explosions Seen Near Israel Border With Lebanon; WNBPA Blasts USA Today's Journalist Over Controversial Caitlin Clark Question; Biden to Visit North Carolina To Survey Hurricane Helene Damage; Man Accused Of Trump Assassination Bid Pleads Not Guilty. Hard-hit North Carolina Towns Waiting for Assistance After Catastrophe; Hurricane Helene's Death Toll at 128; Georgia Judge Overturns State's Six-Week Abortion Law; Tim Walz and J.D. Vance Preparing for the Vice Presidential Debate Tomorrow. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired September 30, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to "The Lead." I'm Jake Tepper. This hour breaking news out of Georgia, where a judge has just struck down that state's six week abortion ban. We're going to go live in Atlanta with details on the ruling and early reaction to this decision.

Plus, the union for the WNBA tells a renowned journalist that she went too far by daring to ask an uncomfortable question of a player, which is of course her job. Does this suggest that the WNBA players' union is turning a blind eye to serious issues facing its sport? Well, that journalist, Christine Brennan, joins the lead this hour to discuss.

And leading this hour, post-apocalyptic, unprecedented, like a 250- mile-wide tornado has hit. Those are some of the descriptions used to talk about this heartbreaking toll of Hurricane Helene across the southeastern United States. Today we learned that the storm has killed at least 128 people. That number has increased since an hour ago when I reported on this. Hundreds of others have been reported missing. Towns reduced to debris.

We begin our coverage this hour with CNN's Rafael Romo. He's in Western North Carolina with a close up look at this horrific destruction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Sarah Timko, this freshly brewed coffee is a luxury made possible by the love of her father.

DAVE TIMKO, STORM VICTIM'S FATHER: I asked my daughter are you okay? I just texted her and she sent me back these horrifying pictures. I mean, it looked like Armageddon. ROMO (voice-over): That's when Dave Timko decided to travel hundreds

of miles to come to the rescue of his daughter and her family bringing food, water, gas and supplies.

D. TIMKO: Buildings down, houses washed away. I'm like, oh my God, my daughter is in the middle of this and she's seven and a half months pregnant.

SARAH TIMKO, STORM VICTIM, ASHEVILLE RESIDENT: The baby's gonna be here in about eight weeks. And it's my first, so it's exciting. I also don't want him to come early because we are not prepared.

ROMO (voice-over): The Asheville, North Carolina resident and her family were among the hundreds of thousands of people left without power here in devastated Western North Carolina. Emergency crews say they're overwhelmed not only by the amount of people in need of help but also because they're unable to reach many of them.

(On camera): Cut-off communities, destroyed roads, and broken bridges like this one here in Swannanoa are making the job of first responders and search and rescue teams very difficult here in western North Carolina.

UNKNOWN: I didn't really know my neighbors that well actually until like two days ago.

ROMO (voice-over): In this Asheville neighborhood, people decided they couldn't wait for help to arrive.

UNKNOWN: They've given us water, fuel, food. They organized themselves to clear their street that was covered in mud and debris.

UNKNOWN: And we've all chipped in, we've all worked together.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: And our thanks to Rafael Romo for that report. Let's listen in on Vice President Harris at FEMA headquarters.

(LIVE VIDEO)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I know what you each do. And you are so selfless in the way that you serve our country. And in particular, at times like this, people who are just so desperately in need of help, support, and just knowing that the resources are going to be expedited to them as they need it in their most vulnerable situation when their families have been at risk, where their homes may have been destroyed, where they lack just basic essential needs.

You all do that work around the clock as though these are your family members. I know how you work and I know how hard you work. So I am here mostly to thank you all for all that you do, everyone who is here and everyone who is on the ground in the region at the moment. And I am here to also talk about where we are based on the briefings I have been receiving over the last couple of days. I have received regular briefings on the impact of Hurricane Helene, including from Administrator Criswell.

And over the past 24 hours, I have spoken with Governor Kemp of Georgia, Governor Cooper of North Carolina and many local officials. I have shared with them that we will do everything in our power to help communities respond and recover and I've shared with them that I plan to be on the ground as soon as possible, but as soon as possible without disrupting any emergency response operations because that must be the highest priority in the first order of business.

The devastation from Hurricane Helene is immense. Millions of Americans are without power. Thousands of families have lost their homes. Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed. Major roads have been blocked or damaged, leaving entire towns inaccessible at this very moment. Already, nearly 100 people have been confirmed dead, and hundreds more are missing.

The destruction we have seen in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia is heartbreaking.

[17:05:04]

In coordination with state and local officials, President Biden and I will continue to make sure that communities have the support and the resources that they need not only to respond to this storm and its immediate aftermath, but also the resources they will need to recover. So far, more than 3,300 federal personnel are on the ground to assist with recovery efforts. They are deploying food, water, and generators. And we continue to work with teams on the ground to restore water and power as quickly as possible.

To everyone who has been impacted by this storm, and to all of those of you who are rightly feeling overwhelmed by the destruction and the loss, our nation is with you. And President Biden and I, and all of the folks behind me, are with you. We will continue to do everything we can to help you recover and to help you rebuild, no matter how long it takes. And I do believe the true character of a nation is revealed in moments of hardship.

Over the past few days, our nation has endured some of the worst destruction and devastation that we have seen in quite some time. And we have responded with our best, with the best folks who are on the ground and here doing the kind of work that is about rising to a moment of crisis, to do everything we can to lift up folks who deserve to be seen and heard.

Communities have been coming together. People are checking in on their neighbors. Families are opening their doors to strangers in need. And as they always do, our first responders are working around the clock, putting their own lives at risk to keep our communities safe. Moments like this remind us we have so much more in common than what separates us. And the true measure of our leadership, each one of us, is based on lifting other folks up, knowing how we can make a difference.

So I thank everyone for rising to this moment, and I thank you all here for the work that you each do. May God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America. Thank you all very much. Thank you.

(END VIDEO)

TAPPER: Vice President Kamala Harris speaking at FEMA headquarters as she gets an update on the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene to so many states, hitting so many people so hard in the United States. Let's go to one of the hardest hit areas right now and Swannanoa Fire Chief Anthony Penland from a town east of Asheville, North Carolina. Chief, thanks so much for joining us. What's it like where you are right now?

ANTHONY PENLAND, SCHIEF, WANNANOA, NORTH CAROLINA FIRE DEPARTMENT: Total destruction, devastation, and I don't even know if that would even be the right word to say. This will not be a repair. This will be a rebuild of our community.

TAPPER: Do people in your region have basic necessities like electricity or water?

PENLAND: No, the water and the power is both out currently in our area.

TAPPER: What do you --

PENLAND: We're talking about some of the main transmission lines that come through our area, holes are gonna have to be reset.

TAPPER: What do you need most quickly and, I mean, I don't even understand -- can you even contemplate how long it will take for things to reopen and for people to return?

TAPPER: Well, the business is through our main part of our community that they're going to have to be tore down and rebuilt. So I don't know how long that will take. The parking lots, they'll have to be re -- firmed up and been re-asphalted. The road that they were on, it's got damage. The main bridge through our community is damaged. That bridge goes over to a secondary road. That secondary road is not there on the east side of the bridge. It's not even there. It's been washed away.

TAPPER: Was there enough time to prepare before the flood? Were the warnings to the people of Swannanoa strong enough, clear enough?

TAPPER: We have been around 34 years in the fire service here in Swannanoa and in 2004 we had Hurricane Ivan and Hurricane Frances who came on back to back weekends and we know where our flood prone areas are. So what we did with this storm, we went to those flood prone areas way before the storm hit and told the folks that you know the storm was coming.

[17:09:57]

But we were getting rain prior to that storm arriving I believe the totals was like 9 inches of rain fell before the actual storm brought its rain with it. So we went to those areas to tell them, hey, the storm is coming and this area is prone to flooding. About -- on Thursday morning, about 5:00, we went back to these areas where we realized that it's gonna be kind of worse than they predicted in our area. And so we're back to these areas on a loud speaker with sirens telling them this is a flood emergency, please go to higher ground.

And we had a lady as we were doing some rescue efforts on Friday, a lady came up to me and said I'm glad you guys came to give us a warning because I did get out.

TAPPER: Swannanoa Fire Chief Anthony Penland thank you so much please stay in touch with our team about anything, anything we can do to bring attention to what you need. Volunteer organizations are on the ground in some of the areas battered by Hurricane Helene. The leader of one of those groups is going to join us live next on details -- with details on how you can help communities in need.

Plus, as the hours tick down until tomorrow's vice presidential debate, we've got some new details on how both Governor Tim Walz and Senator J.D. Vance are preparing and how they might respond to some of the most pressing issues.

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TAPPER: We're back with more in our "National Lead," the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. Joining us now from Asheville, North Carolina is Jessica Thompson, the Chief Executive Officer of All Hands and Heart. That's a volunteer organization that provides disaster relief. Thanks so much for joining us. So your organization, All Hands and Heart, has mobilized teams to both North Carolina and to Florida. Tell us about that, starting with where you are in North Carolina and what you're seeing.

JESSICA THOMPSON, CEO, ALL HANDS & HEART: Thanks Jake, and obviously our hearts go out to the millions of people who are affected by this devastating hurricane. Here in North Carolina we're seeing devastation like some of the worst storms that we've seen affect the United States. All Hands and Hearts has responded over the last 12 years to events like Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Harvey and we're really just seeing catastrophic impacts here in North Carolina.

TAPPER: How about Florida? What's your organization doing there?

THOMPSON: Jake, we actually already had a team in Florida last week who were literally packing up to head home after two years of supporting hundreds of families with recovery from Hurricane Ian. And instead they sheltered in place in Orlando, headed back the very next day and are already helping homeowners who have been re-impacted by this storm. We've heard from the same people that we helped previously that they have been re-inundated. So the impacts in Florida are also incredible.

But here in North Carolina this is new and so people sadly in Florida have some experience of evacuating and preparing and really here we're seeing because of the mountainous geography such severe impacts. I have never seen in 15 years in this sector the number of helicopters flying over to deliver supplies because communities remain cut off. We won't know the full impact of this storm for days and weeks because the landslides have closed the roads and the cell reception is still out.

TAPPER: I'm sure you're meeting and hearing about so many people with so many moving stories, tragic stories. If there's any one that really sticks out right now, please tell us.

THOMPSON: We were hearing from a homeowner that we helped in Florida previously who was texting us through the storm giving us live updates on the fact that her house was flooding over again. And so we are proud to be able to stand alongside communities that we've served before and also to bring our dedicated teams to help new communities recover from this dreadful disaster.

TAPPER: What are the biggest needs right now? It seems to me from the comfort of my studio, but talking to all these people that they don't even have electricity or water.

THOMPSON: Yeah, we're really seeing a disaster after a disaster with no drinking water, no power, no cell reception. So obviously we need to let emergency services, law enforcement, search and rescue do what they need to do before the volunteer crews are able to come in and stand alongside those homeowners as they start the process of recovering their own homes.

TAPPER: How long will your teams be in place?

THOMPSON: We've launched an immediate and emergency appeal for -- to raise $2 million to allow us to stay well beyond the first year because the impacts of this will be felt for a long, long time.

TAPPER: All right, Jessica Thompson, the Chief Executive Officer of All Hands and Heart, a volunteer organization that provides disaster relief. Thank you so much and best of luck with what you're doing.

THOMPSON: Thank you, Jake.

TAPPER: If you are looking for more ways to help, head to cnn.com/impact. We've got a list of vetted organizations working on the ground in some of the hardest hit areas. That's cnn.com/impact. The group that we were just talking to again, is All Hands and Heart.

Breaking news out of Georgia, a judge has just struck down that state's abortion ban, six weeks' abortion ban. That's next.

Plus, what exactly should we expect tomorrow during the first and only vice presidential debate this season. Our teams have been digging through hours and hours of old debate footage of both candidates trying to answer that exact question. Stay with us.

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TAPPER: We do have some breaking news for you right now out of Georgia. A judge there has struck down that state's six-week abortion ban. Let's go straight to CNN's Nick Valencia who's in Atlanta. Nick, walk us through this ruling.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. A Georgia judge, Jake, saying today that abortions must now be regulated as they were in 2019 prior to the passage of the then controversial Heartbeat bill. You remember, in 2019, the so-called Heartbeat Bill was seen as one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country, effectively banning abortions at about six weeks prior to the time most women realize they're pregnant.

Judge McBurney, about five years ago, blocked that from taking effect, saying it was unconstitutional. But then in 2022, SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade, which sent the case back to McBurney's courtrooms because states now could decide on their own what they wanted to do about the abortion law. So, about five years after he struck down the law in 2019, Judge McBurney again saying that this law is unconstitutional, meaning that abortions can now take effect in Georgia, effectively up to about 22 weeks of pregnancy.

Abortion rights groups are touting this as a major victory and they're sending us a statement. SisterSong was a plaintiff in this case against the state of Georgia.

[17:25:00]

Here's what they're saying, "Today's win was hard fought and is a significant step in the right direction towards achieving reproductive justice in Georgia. We are encouraged that a Georgia court has ruled for bodily autonomy."

They go on to say, "we will never back down until we achieve reproductive justice. The human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, the human right to have children or not and raise them in safe and sustainable communities."

This legal fight is not over nor should we expect it to be. It is very likely that the attorney general here in the state of Georgia will get this case to the Supreme Court in Georgia and that legal fight will continue. Jake?

TAPPER: All right, Nick Valencia, thanks so much. Turning to our "2024 Lead," tomorrow night, Senator J.D. Vance and Governor Tim Walz will face off in their very first and perhaps only vice presidential debate. This might also be the very last time that the Harris and Trump campaigns will get to make their pitches to voters before a large audience on national TV.

Trump has rejected calls for a second presidential debate against Vice President Harris, who accepted an invitation to do one right here on CNN. CNN's Daniel Strauss has been rewatching the tapes of Vance's and Walz's past debates so he can give us an idea of what maybe we can expect to see tomorrow. Daniel, thanks for joining us. So one issue that is sure to come up is abortion.

DANIEL STRAUSS, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Yeah. TAPPER: In the past, J.D. Vance said he supported a nationwide abortion ban. He since backed away from that position because obviously Trump has said he's not in favor of it. Trump also says there has to be exceptions for the life of the mother and for rape and incest, an issue left to the states to decide. Here's how J.D. Vance responded in 2022 when he was not running as Trump's running mate, but as his own man. When he was asked whether he would support a 10-year- old rape victim being able to get an abortion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: My basic view here is that we need to protect life in this country, and it is a very different view from where Tim Ryan stands. Now, the particular case of that young girl, what I've said is that she should be able to get an abortion in the state but I think one obvious exception that applies there is that it's very dangerous for a young girl to bring a baby to term like that. That little girl was raped by an illegal immigrant and both the media and Tim Ryan need to be honest about the fact that she would never have been raped in the first place if Tim Ryan had done his job on border security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, tell us what you think that shows about Vance as a debater.

STRAUSS: Well, a few things. Number one, he does in -- on topics that are incredibly difficult or incredibly sensitive, he seeks wiggle room almost immediately. You would have noticed in that clip that he did say he's very pro-life, but he does support exceptions without specifying those exceptions.

And then he went on to one of his safe zones. That's immigration and border security. Something that throughout the debates I watched of Vance, both as a primary candidate in the Republican primary for Senate and in the one-on-one debates between him and Tim Ryan, he leaned on at moments when he really wanted to land a hit or move away from a topic that was perilous for him. And that is something that I strongly suspect we will see in Vance tomorrow night.

TAPPER: Another topic that's likely to come up is how Governor Walz, the Minnesota governor, handled the riots and the unrest after the murder of George Floyd in his city of Minneapolis. Walz was criticized for not sending the National Guard in quickly enough and for allowing a police station to be burned down. Here's Governor Walz defending how he responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM WALZ, DEMOCRATIC VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm proud of Minnesota's response. I'm proud of Minnesota's first responders who are out there from firefighters to police to the National Guard, to citizens that were out there. What I can tell you came out of that was his there have been several occasions from Derek Chauvin's trial to the murder of Donte Wright where the potential for this to happen again was there. It did not because of the lessons learned in the ability to mobilize --

UNKNOWN: Thank you Governor Walz.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, he hasn't spent a ton of time defending his record on this. He hasn't actually sat down for a lot of interviews I might note. How do you expect him to respond if J.D. Vance or the moderators bring this up?

STRAUSS: I mean, it's almost certain that they're going to bring it up because Vance really likes to hit Democrats on law and order and immigration. And here, what we saw in that clip is probably how the governor will respond. He seeks to argue that overall the ultimate result was positive without dwelling too much on how difficult and the delay that his critics have argued really problematic in his response as a new governor to these riots.

TAPPER: All right, Daniel Strauss, fascinating stuff. Thank you so much.

Let's bring in our panel of political experts, or bring them back, I should say. Machalagh, let me start with you. How high are the stakes for both of these guys?

MACHALAGH CARR, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF, HOUSE SPEAKER MCCARTHY: I think the stakes are pretty high. Vance has a real opportunity here, and I think he should focus on two things. One, some of the ridiculous nonsense that Governor Walz has said. I think most importantly, his own misstatements and his relationship with the truth, but more importantly some of the more egregious things like his claim that the first amendment does not protect what he deems as misinformation where there's no guarantee to first amendment protections for hate speech which is of course antithetical to the U.S. Constitution.

[17:30:03]

TAPPER: That's not the first amendment. That's not what it says, right.

CARR: Well, yeah, that's exactly right, and I think the second thing he should do is really try to get from the governor some defense on some of the questions that Vice President Harris just refuses to answer her. Some of the defense of what they intend to do, but in specifics, in details, including, you know, decriminalizing border crossings, which I think now she's opposed to, but it's hard to keep track of or price controls or this helping first time homebuyers, which of course will only lead to additional devastation in the economy and really try to get Governor Walz to nail down what exactly it is that she plans to do.

TAPPER: So, Maria, CNN's reporting that Governor Walz is nervous ahead of the debate, that his team is concerned that Senator Vance will, quote, eviscerate the governor's hand to his heart dad joke Persona and make walls come across as either a moron or a raging bull or even an out of whack liberal vouching for another out of whack liberal, unquote. That's not my language. I should note. That's their language. What do you think?

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STATEGIST: I don't necessarily think that's true. As you know, Jake, so many times the sources who claim to know the most are the ones who actually know the least. But I will say that there is an expectation that Governor Walz is a plain spoken, everyday leader and he is not as polished. He hasn't done debates before.

And J.D. Vance fancies himself a very qualified and other people have said he's a very qualified, good debater. So I think on that end, we are going to see a contrast between somebody who does speak very plainly is going to talk about what the Harris-Walz administration is going to do for the American people. I do believe they will go into specifics.

And I think he's also going to pivot to talking about ridiculous statements, the things that J.D. Vance has made up out of whole cloth that have put even his own constituents in danger. The whole ridiculous issue of migrants in Springfield, I think that is something that the modern hopefully will bring up.

TAPPER: Migrants in Springfield isn't a ridiculous issue. Them eating dogs and cats is a ridiculous issue.

CARDONA: That is a very ridiculous issue.

TAPPER: So let me ask you, obviously, Tim Walz is going to bring this up and say to J.D. Vance what Maria just said, you put your own citizens at risk. This is a lie. There's no -- if you're J.D. Vance. How do you respond?

CARR: Well, I don't think J.D. Vance put his own constituents at risk. There were ultimately some bomb threats, which turned out to be from an entirely different country, and election interference from other countries. So I think he will dismiss that quickly, but pivot, as he should, to the horrific Biden-Harris record on immigration and the border, which has absolutely devastated large portions of our country.

And it's a problem that they are now willing to talk about because she's 36 days away from the election and she knows that she is behind in the polls on this issue by, I think the latest was 11 percent behind Trump on being able to deal with immigration.

TAPPER: I do want to challenge something you said.

CARDONA: Yes. Yes, please.

TAPPER: So you said that you thought that walls should go at J.D. Vance for some of the things he said. I have heard other folks in previous, I'm not talking about this election, but previous elections. It's actually smarter to go after the vice president for what the president or the presidential nominee thinks because no one really cares what the vice president's positions are. And you're really going after, like, so Walz should go after Trump --

CARDONA: Yes.

TAPPER: -- and Vance should go after Harris? You don't agree with that?

CARDONA: Oh, no, I do. But the beautiful thing about the whole debacle, about what they have made up is that J.D. Vance came up with it and Donald Trump repeated it at the presidential debate. That's what he led with. So Tim Walz can do both. He can hold J.D. Vance accountable and then say, and the most dangerous part is, Senator Vance, is that your running mate, who wants to be president of the United States, believes that what you said is true and is spreading these conspiracy theories and these lies that are absolutely putting the target on the backs of vulnerable communities. And I think he can do it all.

TAPPER: Last one for you, which is people don't really know these guys, either one of them all that well. But Walz does enjoy a slight likability chasm over Vance. He's liked by more people. Neither of them are really knocking balls out of the parks.

But is there a risk for Vance, who comes, who does come across, and this is not an insult as polished and Ivey educated, et cetera. Is there a risk if he goes too hard at a guy who's kind of like a goofy dad type at all, or no?

CARR: I don't think there's a risk there.

TAPPER: No.

CARR: No. He's polished because he has an Ivey education, but he knows exactly where he came from and he stays close to his rope.

TAPPER: Believe me, it's not an insult.

CARR: Right.

TAPPER: I'm not insulting him by saying he got an Ivey education. I'm just saying, like, I mean, is there a risk at all? Like. No, you don't think so?

CARR: No, I don't think there is a lot of at stake, to be honest with you, in a vice presidential debate. But I do think there are opportunities that can be gathered by fans.

[17:35:00]

TAPPER: Don't tell anyone else, but I think you're right. Thanks to both of you. And be sure to watch this incredibly high stakes event. So tune into CNN tomorrow for special coverage of the CBS Vice Presidential Debate tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

Smoke rising above Lebanon tonight as Israeli officials prepare for what they say is the next phase of the war against Hezbollah. We're live in both Lebanon and Israel. Next.

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TAPPER: Back with our world lead. The United States believes that the Israel Defense Forces might launch a ground offensive in Lebanon literally at any moment. This after the IDF blew up multiple buildings and assassinated Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Lebanon, on Friday.

And now CNN's teams on the ground are hearing loud explosions as Israel continues to fire into Lebanon. The Lebanese health ministry says at least 95 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli strikes in the last 24 hours.

[17:40:03]

The ministry, we should note, does not distinguish between civilians and fighters. Let's get right to CNN's Jim Sciutto in Tel Aviv and Ben Wedeman in Lebanon's capital of Beirut. Ben, let's start with you. What are you seeing and hearing?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, within the last 45 minutes or so, we've seen a series of Israeli airstrikes on the suburbs, southern suburbs of Beirut, one, particularly a large one, perhaps a kilometer and a half south of Beirut International Airport. We're hearing from the Ministry of health that there are already fatalities from those strikes.

Now what's interesting is that about an hour and 40 minutes ago, the Arabic spokesman for the Israeli Military put out on Twitter a warning for three neighborhoods, big neighborhoods, in the southern suburbs of Beirut without specifying exactly what about a bit after that.

About an hour ago, he put out a second tweet specifying buildings and telling people to get away from those buildings and any buildings around them that would be hit. But 20 minutes later the first strike happened.

So that's not an awful lot of time if you have people who can't move quickly to get away from some of those buildings. So certainly this is the most intense series of strikes we've seen, certainly in Beirut within the last 24 hours.

This as, of course, anticipation is growing for some sort of Israeli ground incursion in the south of Lebanon. What we're hearing, Jake, from residents down there is that there is an intense presence of Israeli drones and warplanes in the sky.

Earlier Lebanese media was reporting that there was tank and artillery fire on the eastern sector of the border between the two countries. There's no indication just yet if this ground incursion the Israelis are talking about has occurred, but certainly expectations are high that something could be happening within the next hours or. Jake.

TAPPER: All right, then. Jim, this would not be Israel's first incursion into Lebanon in recent memory. You and I are old enough to remember the disaster of 2006.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, I was here for that war on the northern border. It's 18 years ago and its record there. Remember, Jake, it was a month long. It was bloodier for Israeli forces than Israel expected. And by the way, after they left, Hezbollah lived another day and in

fact grew in power during that time period. Then you could go back to 1982 to 2000 when Israel had a longer occupation of Lebanon, and again during that time period, Hezbollah grew in power. The question is what has Israel learned from those experiences?

I mean, you can certainly say, Jake, that the shaping operations, or the operations in preparation for any ground incursion, have been far more extensive than we saw in 2006, for instance, to completely decapitate the entire Hezbollah leadership from top to bottom and signal quite clearly to Hezbollah fighters and operatives, thousands of them, that it could reach out and touch them via exploding pagers and walkie talkies. Plus all these airstrikes we've been seeing.

I should note, Jake, that, as I was just speaking there, heard a jet fly overhead, and we often do hear the jets fly overhead when they head towards Lebanon. They've certainly taken more steps prior, but that does not guarantee that when Israeli forces go in, if they do that, they will solve this problem definitively and for a length of time.

Then, of course, the question is, how long do they stay? Because their goal, as stated, Jake, is to move Hezbollah back many tens of kilometers to the Litani River. That would take time, and that would take numerous ground forces.

TAPPER: All right, Jim Sciutto, Ben Wedeman, thanks to both of you. Please stay safe. The WNBA players union is going after a renowned journalist because she asked the player an uncomfortable question. That journalist Christine Brennan joins us live next to react to this criticism.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:48:17]

TAPPER: Back with our sports lead. And the players union for the WNBA is lashing out at a widely respected veteran journalist named Christine Brennan. Brennan asked this perfectly legitimate question of Connecticut Suns player DiJonai Carrington after Carrington poked WNBA sensation Caitlin Clark in the eye during a play.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE BRENNAN; COLUMNIST, USA TODAY: When you went and kind of swatted at Caitlin, did you intend to hit her in the eye? And if so, could you just. Or if not, either way, could you talk about what happened on that play?

DIJONAI CARRINGTON, CONNECTICUT SUNS PLAYER: I just -- I don't even know why I would intend to hit anybody in the eye. That doesn't even make sense to me. But, no, I didn't. I didn't know I hit her, actually. I was trying to make a play on the ball, and I guess I followed through and I hit her. So, obviously, it's never intentional. That's not even, like, the type of player that I am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: All right, so reporter asked a question. Adult responds, gives the answer. You'd think that was the end of it, but no. The WNBA Players Union became infuriated with Brennan for doing her job and posted a statement on Twitter saying, in part, quote, two unprofessional members of the media, like Christine Brennan, you are not fooling anyone. That so called interview in the name of journalism, was a blatant attempt to bait a professional athlete into participating in a narrative that is false and designed to fuel racist, homophobic, and misogynistic vitriol on social media, unquote.

The statement went on to say, quote, instead demonstrating the cornerstones of journalism ethics, like integrity, objectivity, and a fundamental commitment to truth. You have chosen to be indecent and downright insincere, unquote.

OK, first of all, preposterous. But beyond that, let's talk to you, Christine, about this. Christine Brennan.

[17:50:00]

Give us the background, because a lot of people not necessarily familiar with why you asked that question. Give us the context as to why.

BRENNAN: So, Jake, this was game one of what ended up being a two game series between the Connecticut Sun and Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever. The first 90 seconds of that game, Caitlin was down holding her eye. And when we looked at the replays, we saw that DiJonai Carrington had been guarding her.

And as she was guarding her and Caitlin, you know, got the ball, something happens. We're not quite sure what, but Caitlin's down and holding her eye, and she did end up with a black eye. So that's what happened.

Looking at replays that were all over the internet. And this is what hit me. This is Sunday afternoon. The game happens now, it's Tuesday when I ask that question. So 48 hours later, basically. But replays were just running rampant on the internet with all kinds of pictures of DiJonai Carrington guarding Caitlin Clark, and then what's happening with her hand. And they're even, like, her fingers are going in Caitlin's eye. And I thought, you know what? The best thing I can do as a journalist is to try to give the athlete an opportunity, which I've done tens of thousands of times, to answer the question and tell us what she believes happens.

That was literally it. And as you know, first of all, I'd ask that question 100 times out of 100, I'd ask it today. The athlete has every opportunity to then take that question and go with it any way she wants. And obviously she did. And so that's the opportunity that I think any journalist gives an athlete when you're covering a story, to give them an opportunity to tell you their side of it.

TAPPER: You did your job perfectly and objectively and perfectly decently. I guess the context here that the WNBA Players Union is driving at is that Caitlin Clark is, has -- there been a number of physical plays in which she has been hurt? And there is a, and you didn't say this, and there was no suggestion that you were believing this. But there are people out there who think that there is resentment towards Caitlin Clark for any number of reasons.

BRENNAN: Exactly.

TAPPER: Right.

BRENNAN: And that has run rampant, Jake, on the internet, as shockingly, the Internet, the cesspool that it is, Twitter, there have been absolutely horrible things said about DiJonai Carrington, obviously a black woman. There have been terrible things said about Caitlin Clark. There are terrible things said about me. Terrible things said about you. But this --

TAPPER: No, not about me. No one's knowing --

BRENNAN: This has been -- but this has been, but no joking.

TAPPER: Yes.

BRENNAN: You and I, as white people, we have no idea what it's like to be a --

TAPPER: Oh, no, of course.

BRENNAN: And deal with that on the Internet.

TAPPER: Horrible.

BRENNAN: That's in my brain 24/7.

TAPPER: But you're a sports journalist. What is your reaction to the players union statement accusing you of being indecent, insincere, unprofessional? I mean, how do you even --

BRENNAN: Well, how do you, yes, first of all, they never called me. We've heard nothing from them. What is it, 72 hours later. I have no answer from them.

TAPPER: Carrington was fine. She handled the question perfectly.

BRENNAN: She sure did. Yes. I think this is a window. And I'm working on a book on Caitlin Clark and this entire year in women's sports, the revolution in women's sports.

TAPPER: Yes.

BRENNAN: Your daughter is a part of it. You know, what we've seen with our daughters and our nieces, this is all going to be part of a book for Scrivener that's coming out in conjunction with next year's WNBA season.

And I think what we're seeing is that, you know, once we take a look at this league, you know, and there's a national scrutiny, spotlight on this league because of Caitlin Clark. Other rookies as well, certainly Angel Reese. But Caitlin Clark's the one with the sellouts. And, of course, the TV ratings that have just gone through the roof.

What are we seeing? And maybe, you know, is the league ready to handle some of this scrutiny? That's a question I would ask and say, yes, they are, because these are wonderful women who have been in the spotlight for a long time.

But for some reason, this is touched a nerve. And I would say the other question I would ask, Jake, is that I would ask that question of a man and have for thousands of times in my career, ask tough questions of Tiger Woods and Michael Phelps, and you name it. Are they saying we cannot ask tough questions? Or in this case, not even a tough question, just a fair question of female athletes?

TAPPER: Yes. It's bizarre. And I will just say that the WN, whoever wrote that statement for the WNBA Players Union should really probably read a little bit more about Christine Brennan before accusing her of buying into anything having to do with homophobia or racism or sexism, because those are horrible blights on our culture that you have been fighting against for decades.

So, anyway, Christina Brennan, thank you so much for being here. President Biden moments ago, speaking in the Oval Office about the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene and how the federal government is helping those in need. His remarks next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:59:03]

TAPPER: President Joe Biden moments ago spoke about the federal response to the disaster caused by Hurricane Helene. He was asked about Donald Trump's claim that both Biden and North Carolina democratic governor Roy Cooper have ignored the crisis in Republican areas. Here's his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump has accused both of you of ignoring the --

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: He's lying. Let me get this straight. He's lying and the governor told him he was lying. The governor told him he was lying. I've spoken to the governor spending time with him and he told me he's lying. I don't know why he does this and the reason I get so angry about it. I don't care about what he says about me. I care what he communicates to the people that are in need. He implies that we're not doing everything possible. We are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: President Biden also saying that he will travel to North Carolina on Wednesday to survey the damage.

In our law and justice lead, Ryan Routh, the suspect in the second assassination attempt on former President Trump's life, pleaded not guilty in a Florida courtroom today. Routh faces five charges, including gun charges and assaulting an officer.

[18:00:06]

Prosecutors say Routh stalked the former president.