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The Lead with Jake Tapper

White House: Iran Launched Nearly 200 Ballistic Missiles At Israel; Soon: Walz & Vance Face Off In High-Stakes VP Debate; President Jimmy Carter Celebrates 100th Birthday. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired October 01, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:01]

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: You know, one of the things that Prime Minister Netanyahu has to decide is whether or not he's going to go along that hard line route that you pointed out or whether he's going to send a message as we've been talking about just a few minutes ago.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: And obviously, the Israeli cabinet has been meeting, discussing this into the night. We'll obviously learn more in the coming hours.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Yeah, it's going to be a dangerous situation and I suspect it's going to escalate.

COOPER: Yeah, thank you all for joining us. It's been CNN special coverage of the Iranian strikes on Israel.

BLITZER: And here in the United States, the vice presidential debate is only five hours from now. I'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern for special coverage leading up to that event. Anderson will join the coverage at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

But, first, right now, THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper and we are following two major breaking stories.

I am right now inside the spin room at CBS studios in New York, hours away from tonight's first and only 2024 vice presidential debate. But the world's attention might be elsewhere. At roughly 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Iran launched a major attack on Israel, firing nearly 200 ballistic missiles, according to U.S. officials.

CNN's Jim Sciutto and his crew were live on an air in Israel at the time as air raid sirens sounded and missiles began to rain down overhead

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Okay, guys, we got to get off the roof. These are coming down right next to us here.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Please do, Jim, please do.

SCIUTTO: They're coming down one just about -- we got to go inside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Jim Sciutto and his team are thankfully safe.

We are waiting for reports as to the damage done by the Iranian missiles. The Israel Defense Forces reports that most of Iran's missiles were intercepted by Israel's air defenses. But the IDF also says a few did make impact in central and southern Israel. They are assessing the situation. We will let you know if they hit any thing or any one of note.

Iran's attack one day before the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, follows Israel's launch of a ground operation in southern Lebanon, targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah. That's a group that the U.S. considers to be a terrorist group and a strike Friday, of course, which killed Hezbollah's longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

This intense escalation raises the stakes perhaps for tonight's vice presidential debate here in New York. The showdown between Democratic Governor Tim Walz and Republican Senator J.D. Vance was already arguably more critical than your average VP showdown, given that this presidential race is a nail-biter, or perhaps the closest in modern history. Any slam dunk, any slip-up tonight could have implications for Election Day.

We're going to have much more on what we expect in that debate just ahead, but we're going to start in the Middle East with CNN's Jim Sciutto live in Tel Aviv.

And, Jim, you obviously were on that balcony in Tel Aviv when the attack started. You have reported for many conflict zones throughout your reporting life. How does today's attack compare?

SCIUTTO: Listen, I haven't seen anything like this, and the concern at the peak of it was not just that an Iranian missile might get through those defenses, but that one of the interceptors, after striking one of those missiles, that a fragment of it or the missile that it struck would fall to the ground. And in fact, that did happen. There were multiple impacts in and around Tel Aviv. We saw some of them just to the north and south of the hotel where we are and at the peak of it as the interceptors and the missiles were meeting over the center of the city. Several of them were over our heads and of course, the concern is that one of them is going falls down.

Thankfully, the Israeli military has said no deaths reported inside Israel. We did hear from Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security advisor, that there is a report of a death of a Palestinian in the West Bank. But some combination of the missile defenses, folks obeying orders to go into shelters and perhaps good fortune there were not more casualties. They're still assessing damage and I can tell just by seeing some of the explosions that we witnessed on some of those impacts, one in particular, just to the north of us, which seemed quite large. I'd be surprised if there wasn't at least some noticeable damage given the size of those blasts.

Listen, a significant attack. We now know 180 missiles. We also now know that the U.S. in addition to Israel took actions to shoot down some of those missiles two U.S. destroyers in particular firing interceptors, we're told.

A major escalation, the damage, the casualties certainly could have been far worse.

TAPPER: Israel says it will respond to what the Iranians just did. What kind of response do you think the Israelis are contemplating?

[16:05:01]

SCIUTTO: There's no question there will be a military response. The IDF has been quite public about that. There's going to be a cabinet meeting this evening. The only question becomes target. And will that target include Iran?

And the thinking is very likely, yes, then the question becomes, what exactly in Iran and how extensively. You remember in April following Iran's previous missile, in that case, it was also a drone attack. Israel did respond, though with only one missile strike on one installation near Isfahan, which is the site of one of the nuclear facilities, but on a missile defense battery there.

This response, given the size of this attack, is likely to be larger. The question really is, where, how extensively and the biggest burning question I would say, Jake, would be, do Israel's targets include Iran's nuclear facilities, because that would be quite an escalation ad one that you, well, listen, in the cycle that we've been locked in for some time, one that you would expect Iran to then retaliate in kind.

TAPPER: Yeah. I also think a big question out there is what is the U.S. going to do? The U.S. government warned before the attack that the attack would carry -- carry, quote, severe consequences for Iran if they actually carried it out. What are you hearing about a possible United States response?

SCIUTTO: So the U.S. response to the April attack was sanctions, a favorite tool of this administration, both for Iran, for Russia, for China. The Pentagon spokesperson was asked repeatedly, would there be a U.S. military response? Personally, I find that unlikely that the U.S. would militarily respond. The U.S. footing has been, defend Israel, certainly in missile attacks, back in most circumstances, Israel's right certainly to defend itself and all circumstances. But -- but back Israel's ability to strike back with some caveats and some encouragement not to escalate. But I think a U.S. participation in an Israeli strike on Iran in particular is highly unlikely because the U.S. goal, throughout the last almost 12 months now since October 7th has been to try to keep this war from expanding and cajoling all the sides and not just Israel, cajoling Iran, sometimes via intermediaries, to prevent a further escalation. So, you know, is it further sanctions? Possible. A military strike on

Iran seems farfetched.

TAPPER: All right. Jim Sciutto in Tel Aviv, Israel, thank you so much.

Let's bring in Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani. He's a spokesperson for the Israeli military.

Thank you so much for joining us.

What can you tell us about the scope of Iran's attack today? Do you expect more strikes and do you have any reports on casualties?

LT. COL. NADAV SHOSHANI, IDF INTERNATIONAL SPOKESMAN: Well, Jake, thanks for having me.

Approximately at 7:30 local time, Iran carried out an attack of 180 ballistic missiles from Iranian soil towards Israel basically sending the whole of Israel to bomb shelters, talking about almost 10 million people running to bomb shelters to find, I am currently in the scene of one of the places where shrapnel from these huge ballistic missiles hit. And I can tell you, our aerial defense system alongside with our partners, the U.S. and other allies were able to thwart most of those missiles, but not all of them. There have been some hits in central Israel and some hits in southern Israel.

And this is one of the largest and most outrageous attacks by this Iranian terror regime, dragging the region into wider escalation, trying to push us into a wider escalation with this unprecedented attack against Israel.

TAPPER: What can you tell us about how Israel is going to respond?

SHOSHANI: Well, we -- Israel is a sovereign country. We have a right to defend ourselves. We have the right to protect ourselves against these kinds of attacks. And there will be consequences to this attack.

And we showed just a few days our ability to strike precisely and fiercefully 1,500 miles from -- when we attack the Houthis in Yemen, and we have the abilities to, and we will choose the time in place and the way we will response to this outrageous attack against Israeli civilians, sending basically all of it Israel to bomb shelters.

TAPPER: Lieutenant Colonel, what can you tell us about any casualties? Jim Sciutto mentioned that the U.S. had referred to a Palestinian-American in the West Bank being killed possibly.

Do you know anything about that or any other -- any other casualties?

SHOSHANI: Well, this large scale attack happened just recently. We're still assessing the situation.

[16:10:02]

I can tell you in the moment, we know of multiple people injured and we know of a Palestinian who was killed by this attack in the area of Jericho and we are still assessing the situation because this scale of attack is one of the largest attacks we've seen definitely in the history of Israel, maybe in the history of ballistic missiles attacks and this outrageous attack, I think the number of casualties is so slow, not because this wasn't one of the most largest attacks, but because one our civilians and listening to the home-front guidance and basically, most of Israel hiding in bomb shelters for over an hour.

We're talking about 10 million people hiding bomb shelters from this attack in over an hour. And we're also talking about a very impressive presentation of aerial defense, also by Israel, also by the U.S. action and also by other countries supporting us against this Iranian terror regime.

TAPPER: Will the Israeli response include Israel striking inside of Iran?

SHOSHANI: Well, this attack has been carried out toward Israel from Iranian soil. There are multiple options on the table. We will act according to what the political echelon decides. And there will be consequences to this outrageous attack by Iran.

This escalatory historic move by Iran, there will be escalation that we will respond and we will choose the time and place to respond precisely, but fiercely.

TAPPER: I have -- I have heard analysts say that Iran does not -- does not actually want to escalate matters. And the proof of that, according to this argument, which I am not making is that casualties are so low and so few of these missiles hit.

Respond to that analysis, if you would.

SHOSHANI: Well, Jake, the amount of ballistic -- I'm talking one ballistic missiles can take down a skyscraper. We're talking about 180 ballistic missiles shot simultaneously towards Israeli communities, hitting schools, you know, schools where children were just a few hours for this attack. And the only reason the results of it are not tragic and catastrophic is one the people of Israel hiding in shelters for over an hour into this presentation of aerial defense by Israel and the U.S., I think one of the most advanced aerial defense operations in the world and still, filled there were hits in Israel, we are still assessing the situation.

Still, people were injured, people were killed by this attack. And you do not do an attack that is not an escalatory move with 180 ballistic missiles, I'll tell you this. No other country in the world would accept ten ballistic missiles, and I can't imagine anyone taking 180 ballistic missiles to our country, our country has a right to defend itself.

And I think the U.S. has also made it clear that they stood next to us today by our sides, protecting ourselves from this outrageous attack for the Iranian terror regime, and we will not accept this. And this is definitely an escalatory move, definitely a move to try and hurt in harm and kill civilians. TAPPER: IDF international spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Nadav

Shoshani, thank you so much, sir. Appreciate it.

SHOSHANI: Thanks for having me, Jake.

TAPPER: Joining us now, former secretary of defense here in the United States, former senator from Maine, William Cohen.

Secretary Cohen, once we know the full scale of the damage in Israel how involved? How do you expect the United States to be in whatever comes next?

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, CLINTON ADMINISTRATION: Well, it all depends on how the Israelis bring us into their planning. The Biden administration apparently was caught by surprise in terms of the attack, okay, and the elimination of Nasrallah. I think the president probably expressed his concern about that not being involved in some way, being alerted to it.

But I think that the Israelis, they have a number of options. My -- my guess is and I'm only speculating here. But I think that they will take this opportunity to inflict far more serious penalties upon the uranium that they have to date.

I think this is an opportunity they see as they've been waiting for, they've got Nasrallah who's been eliminated. The leadership in Hezbollah eliminated. They've got Hamas hiding out in underground bunkers in Gaza. And now they have the Iranians who would have looked weak if they hadn't responded and now look weak, that they have think --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Okay. Before I begin, I wanted to say a few words about Iran's missile attack on Israel today.

At my direction, United States military actively supported the defense of Israel and we're still assessing the impact.

[16:15:04]

But based on what we know now, the attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective. And this is testament to Israeli military capability and U.S. military.

I'm also -- it's also a testament to intensive planning between the United States and Israel, not to anticipate and defend against the brazen attack we expected.

Make no mistake: the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel and I just got been -- spent the morning in part of the afternoon in the Situation Room and meeting with my whole national security team and consulting with the Israelis indirectly, because -- in terms of their impact on us, and the national security team has been, as I said, constant contact with Israeli officials and their counterparts as going to continue to be brought to me throughout the day.

We still love to share updates and when we get them, we will do that and now I want to turn it over going to talk much the damage done by this, this horrible hurricane.

My top priorities, I mean, sincerely because --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: All right. President Biden there talking about what happened there in Israel today.

Is Secretary Cohen still with us? If so, we can bring him back to get him to -- Secretary Cohen. I'm so sorry. We got preempted there by rolling tape from the White House. But there you have President Biden commenting on what happened.

U.S. officials, as you know, have been pushing a ceasefire but it does not seem like those efforts have come to fruition in any way. You alluded to the fact that planes were in the air before for the Israeli killing of Hassan Nasrallah, before President Biden was told about the attack and these ceasefire talks have largely failed, or at least efforts to get them to the table, fears of a regional war only growing.

What comes next do you think? Is -- is there any chance that things can be -- that there can be a de-escalation?

COHEN: Well, there's a chance, but I don't think it's realistic. I think the Israelis feel that they've got the upper hand now that Iran, its proxies are on their heels, and now is the time to really take it to the source of their problems, that's Iran. So I would expect that they would level a very serious attack in Iran against a number of facilities, possibly their oil industry, which conceivably, their nuclear facilities.

This has been a prime objective of the Israelis at some point in time to prevent Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon, Iran seem to be getting closer but to that possibility and I think the Israelis are going to at least think seriously about whether now it was the time to launch a military attack against the Iranians.

We'll have to wait and see. I think that's why President Biden is right. Please have him interrupt me anytime in the future.

TAPPER: OK.

COHEN: But I think he's absolutely right to say that we need to be in very close lets touch with the Israelis at this point. No more surprises. We need to be in full consultation and part of any operation that might involve the United States being attacked, either our soldiers and airmen over in the region, or possibly if Iran should strike here in the United States through asymmetric means, through acts of terror in soft targets in Europe, in the United States and elsewhere. So we have to be very concerned about that.

TAPPER: Former defense secretary and Maine senator, William Cohen, always an honor to have you on the show, sir. Thank you so much.

COHEN: Thank you, Jake.

TAPPER: Much more ahead on the breaking news, Iran attacking Israel with a barrage of roughly 180 missiles. What might this mean for any diplomatic efforts in the Middle East by the U.S. or others? I'm going to talk with a key member of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committee.

Plus, tonight's vice presidential debate, who has more at stake, Senator J.D. Vance or Governor Tim Walz? We'll examine that and much more, live from New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:23:04]

TAPPER: We're back here live in New York, at the site of tonight's vice presidential debate, where J.D. Vance and Tim Walz face off in just a few hours.

I want to bring in Republican Congressman Mike Waltz of Florida, combat decorated Green Beret, who has served in both the U.S. Army and the National Guard. He's made multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Africa. He's also a member of the House Armed Services and the House Foreign Affairs Committees.

Congressman, thanks for joining us, and we'll get to the debate in a second. But I do want to ask you about this major missile attack by Iran against Israel today, a blaring sign that the Middle East conflict has moved closer to an all-out war.

What is your assessment about where it all stands right now and how oh, if at all, matters can be de-escalated?

REP. MIKE WALTZ (R-FL): Yeah, Jake, this is spinning completely out of control and I think it stems from a failed Middle East policy from this administration. At some point, they've got to look at the mirror and say that they're de-escalation approach, that their focus on Gaza and a ceasefire and pressuring Israel hasn't worked and is not going to work. And what does work is maximum pressure on Iran and just a few years ago, their currency was tanking, their foreign reserves were tanking, they were exporting almost zero oil and most importantly, Jake, this was a metric it paid attention to, Hezbollah and Hamas and their proxies were all complaining that they were out of cash.

This was in 2019. They were literally out of funds to continue their attacks. So until the administration pivots on Iran and we saw Jake Sullivan get -- just get asked what consequences has Iran suffered from the last attack and he couldn't answer the question and I found it just amazing, inexplicable that the Pentagon spokesman wouldn't at least say all options are on the table in terms of a U.S. response and that we are prepared to assist Israel and their response.

At least put the threat on the table in hopes of deterring Iran from future attacks. [16:25:05]

But this administration is unwilling to pivot. And as long as Iran is flush with cash, no matter what tactical successes Israel is having, which have been significant, it's going to continue. They are going to help Hezbollah and Hamas rebuild.

TAPPER: Two U.S. officials did tell CNN that dozens of U.S. service members have been sent to Cyprus should a full-blown war erupt. I do wonder if Iran continues to get involved with more attacks such as the one we saw today, do you anticipate more U.S. troops will be sent to the Middle East? And do you think the United States should play a kinetic, an armed role in retaliating or responding to Iran's attack on a U.S. ally?

WALTZ: The thing is, Jake, that a kinetic response was really unnecessary. What should we be doing? The House passed secondary sanctions on Chinese buyers of Iranian oil, 90 percent of Iran's oil is going to China. We put sanctions on their refiners. The Senate won't take it up. The administration won't support it. Why?

We could put sanctions back on their missile program that this administration allowed to flounder. Our hostages, which unfortunately are now 360 days, how about an approach of every week that goes by, we're going to turn up the consequences on Iran until Iran you tell Hamas to release them. But instead -- I mean, this is the definition of insanity. I mean, they're -- they're just banging their head against a policy that's not working. So until they pivot on Iran and he could do offensive cyber. There's a lot you could put on the table without -- without going to war, but yet they just refused to do it, and it's inexplicable.

TAPPER: Let me turn to the debate which is happening here in just a few hours. The vice presidential debate, Senator J.D. Vance possibly going to face questions about the Springfield, Ohio, matter. In Springfield, Ohio, as you know, the Republican mayor and the Republican congressmen, the Republican governor, are all denouncing the false allegations that Vance has made about Haitian migrants to Springfield eating people's cats and dogs.

When and if that comes up, how do you think Senator Vance should respond?

WALTZ: Well, first, I think that would be incredibly unfortunate if that's what the moderators raised. Jake, we had a hurricane that's devastated four states. We have 40 percent of our ports that are going on strike right now, that the administration did not get ahead of, that can devastate our economy, $5 billion a day that we stand to lose.

And, of course, we already have one war in Europe, and another war exploding in the Middle East. There are so many other things that we should be talking about.

But look, if that does come up, I expect it to lead to a conversation about immigration and the effects of immigration facts of the parole policy that this administration has fostered, and what are the effects of defend -- debate the number. But anywhere from 10 to 20 million illegal immigrants that are stressing our health care system, stressing our schools, stressing communities like Springfield and we see no end in sight, and we haven't even started talking deaths from fentanyl.

There have been policy prescriptions on the table light going after the cartels, using military assets to support law enforcement, putting sanctions on Chinese manufacturers of fentanyl. I think there's a lot to debate and discuss. I expect Senator Vance to talk a lot about what worked under President Trump, what hasn't worked under Biden and any policy prescriptions of how to move forward.

And then I expect Walz to try to make it about -- to make it about Vance and his personality or his character. But I hope this sticks to policy.

TAPPER: Just for the record, I didn't mean Norah and Margaret bringing up both Springfield. I thought Governor Walz might do it.

Congressman Mike Waltz of Florida, not Tim Walz of Minnesota, thanks so much for joining us. Really --

WALTZ: With a T. Thank you.

TAPPER: Yes, with a T. Exactly. Thanks for joining us today. Appreciate.

Governor Walz has faced criticism for embellishing parts of his personal and military record. How will he handle that tonight on the biggest stage of his career? Stay right here. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:33:27]

TAPPER: Back here live in New York.

Tonight's showdown between Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, a Republican, is just hours away. So what exactly will their debates styles look like? We have some idea, given their past debates for governor and center, senator respectively.

Let's watch a moment from Vance's 2022 Ohio Senate debate with his Democratic opponent, then-Congressman Tim Ryan, called Vance out for raising money for the legal defense funds of January 6 rioters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THEN-REP. TIM RYAN (D-OH): The one guy tried to raise money got four years in prison. This is ridiculous. I'm not taking a backseat to you. I brought $500 million back to fund police in Ohio.

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So, you know, I've got -- I've got three little kids including a two-year-old and one of the things that's true of toddlers and is also apparently true of career politicians, is that they accuse you of doing the very thing that they do themselves all the time, at the height, at the height, Tim, of the BLM riots, I've condemned political violence, whether it comes from the left or the right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now you might notice there, Senator Vance completely ignored the January 6 attack line and conveniently moved on to more friendly terrain, the BLM protests.

Now as far as Governor Walz's past debates, here is Walz getting animated during an exchange with his Republican opponent in a 2018 Minnesota gubernatorial debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are the greatest feel-good candidate I've ever seen, and you're good at it. But I think, go ahead -- go ahead, Jeff.

JEFF JOHNSON (R), MINNESOTA GUBERNATORIAL NOMINEE: I believe politicians should actually be honest about what they're going to do rather than just trying to make you feel good.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: First of all, the feel-good canopies, this -- no, this is about leadership. This is about building coalitions.

JOHNSON: And you don't understand budgeting. I understand the federal government is a big mess, but we actually have to balance our budget in Minnesota, unlike the federal government.

WALZ: The Republicans are in charge of the federal government.

JOHNSON: And the Democrats used to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: We will see how these different debates styles play out to this evening between Walz and Vance.

The debate is being hosted by a CBS. You can watch the entire debate, however, and our full special coverage right here on CNN. No need to change the channel.

Let's bring in Democratic congressman from Florida, Jared Moskowitz.

Congressman, it's highly likely that some of the shall we call them embellishments, Governor Walz has -- has made will come up tonight.

His claim that he handled assault weapons, quote, in war even though he's never actually been in war, even though he did serve honorably in the National Guard for 24, 25 years. He said that he and his wife used IVF for fertility treatment. They didn't actually use IVF. They used a different treatment. He's exaggerated his trips to China, made false accounts that the time about a -- when what he's running for Congress about 1995 DUI arrest, et cetera, et cetera. I don't know if the moderators are going to bring it up, but, I'm

guessing Senator Vance will. How should Governor Walz respond when called out on some of the embellishments, mistruths, lies, whatever you want to call them in front of millions of people watching tonight?

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): Thanks, Jake. I mean, look, some of those distinction without a difference. J.D. Vance is a good debater. Governor Walz is a good communicator.

I think Governor Walz will explain those and then pivot to the lies that Donald Trump has been telling the American people, and the lies that J.D. Vance has been telling especially the whole eating the cats and eating the dogs out of Springfield, Ohio.

TAPPER: I expect Vance will be aggressive and quite personal in his attacks against Governor Walz tonight and probably vice versa. How do you think Walz should match in terms of energy? Obviously, you suggesting that he'll pivot and talk about Trump, which I'm guessing is the plan.

But in terms of energy, Vance can be rather pointed. What do you think Walz should be like?

MOSKOWITZ: Okay. Governor Walz is a happy guy, right? And he's a good communicator. So I think he should show his personality and yes, he should go on the offense. You know, he should ask J.D. Vance, you know, why to defend some of the things that Donald Trump said. He should ask J.D. Vance, hey, why is the vice presidential position even open what happened to the last guy, J.D.?

TAPPER: Given how tight the race is, do you think this debate is important?

MOSKOWITZ: No, I don't think. I really don't think this debate is going to matter. I mean, just ask the debate with Admiral Stockdale, you know, who remembers that.

And so, vice presidential debates don't really matter. I think Governor Walz will hold his own tonight. I think J.D. Vance will try to go on the offensive to make up from the disastrous debate that Donald Trump had over a month ago.

TAPPER: I remember this guy, this guy, I remember Admiral Stockdale. That was -- that was an important debate.

A source tells CNN --

(CROSSTALK)

MOSKOWITZ: Who am I? Why am I here?

TAPPER: It didn't -- the performance was not as good as -- yeah. I mean, it could have been better, but moving on from the 1996 vice presidential debate, a source tells CNN that after tonight's debate, Senator Vance is going to come here where I am right now. It's the spin room. I think it's actually John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" room.

Normally, it's his studio normally, but it's a spin room tonight. And J.D. Vance, we're told, is going to show up in the spin room. Do you think Governor Walz should?

MOSKOWITZ: Look, I think that's great. Again, Governor Walz is a great communicator. He does great in interviews. And so, yeah, look, if I'm the -- if I'm the, you know, the Harris-Walz campaign, I don't see any of that to J.D. Vance. But, you know, J.D. Vance might have to be in the spin room to continue to spin whether or not he lost the debate.

TAPPER: All right. Florida Democratic Congressman Jared Moskowitz, good to see you. Thanks so much for joining us today.

Could tonight's debate do anything to change the trajectory of this very tight race exactly five weeks out from Election Day? My political panel joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:43:28]

TAPPER: We're back with our 2024 lead. We're live from New York. We're inside the spin room.

Normally, this is John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" studio, just so you know, so it's kind of cool to be here. Even if tonight it's going to be a spin room, womp, womp.

So, just hours from now, we're going to see the one and only vice presidential debate between Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Republican Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.

Let's go straight to our political panel for their insights.

So, oh, here we go. Here's Vice President Harris. So let's listen to this.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- unequivocally and clear-eyed. Iran is a de-stabilizing, dangerous force in the Middle East. And today's attack on Israel only further demonstrates that fact.

Earlier today, I was in the Situation Room with President Biden and our national security team as we monitored the attack in real time and ensured that the protection of U.S. personnel in the region is paramount.

I fully support President Biden's order for the U.S. military to shoot down Iranian missile targeting Israel, just as we did in April. We are still assessing the impact, but initial indications are that is Israel with our assistance, was able to defeat this attack.

Our joint defenses have been effective. And this operation and successful cooperation saved many innocent lives. As I've said, I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist militias.

My commitment to the security of Israel is unwavering.

[16:45:05]

And let us be clear, Iran is not only a threat to him Israel, Iran is also a threat to American personnel in the region American interests and innocent civilians across the region who suffer at the hands of Iran-based and backed terrorist proxies.

We will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend U.S. forces and interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists. And we will continue to work with our allies and partners to disrupt Iran's aggressive behavior and hold them accountable.

Thank you.

TAPPER: Vice President Harris giving a statement saying that she fully supports President Biden's order for U.S. aircraft carriers to fire interceptors at the Iranian missiles that were fired into Israel earlier today.

We're going to have more on that story in just one second, but I am inside the spin room and I was so rudely interrupted by Vice President Harris before coming to you guys. That's a joke. Put down your iPhones.

Let's talk about this. So we are getting some mixed messages from the Trump team about the setting of expectations when it comes to how good a debater Governor Walz is, usually one talks up how good your opponent is so as to set expectations high for them.

But anyway, we're getting some mixed messages. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON MILLER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: Do not underestimate Tim Walz. He can be much better than people think.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's going up against a moron, a total moron. How she picked him is unbelievable. And I think it's a big factor. There's something wrong with that guy. He's sick.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, which is it?

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER: Is he -- is he -- is it going to be much better than people think? Or is he a moron? Something wrong with him? He's sick?

ERIN PERRINE, FORMER DIRECTOR OF PRESS COMMUNICATIONS, TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN: The expectation should be very high for Governor Walz.

TAPPER: Yeah.

PERRINE: He ran six congressional races, two gubernatorial races. The man has done debates before on the national stage. This is not new for him.

And the expectation should be high for J.D. Vance as well. He has done this. He's got a strong background. He's got a very strong ability to remember and recall facts in real time, to be able to push on this.

And listen, this is a game of inches, right now in this national election is going to be a matter of who can move this even an inch because it's so close across the country.

TAPPER: Yeah.

PERRINE: So, can Tim Walz move at the inch that Kamala needs, it may be on policy positions? Can J.D. Vance maybe move it a little bit more for independent voters who are maybe saying, I don't want anything to do with either of these candidates in this election?

But tonight, everybody will say it over and over again. It is do no harm. You don't want a big mistake, you don't want an unforced error because that will be the headline coming out of this for weeks to come.

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But I think it's also an important opportunity to talk more in specific details about each of their plans. I mean, I am sure that -- and I'm saying this tongue in cheek, that J.D. Vance will be able to give us all sorts of details about how this mass deportation is going to work, how they will be ripping children out of their homes and how this tariff regime is going to work. I'm being, you know --

TAPPER: You're being facetious.

FINNEY: I'm being facetious there obviously in part because -- I mean, J.D. Vance and admitted to our own Dana Bash that he made up the story about Springfield. So who knows what he's going to --

TAPPER: He kind of backed off what you're referring to there in terms of the creating a story, but I understand.

FINNEY: One thing -- you know, look, but I do think for both of them, given that we may not, hopefully they will come to CNN and do a debate. But if they don't this is the last opportunity people will have to hear from both of them about their plans and about their vision for the country.

TAPPER: Quickly, do you think Trump, if you were advising Trump, do you think he should do another debate? He has said no. CNN extended an invitation to both of them. Vice President Harris did accept it. Noting that Trump said that he liked the format and everything last time.

Do you think he should do one? PERRINE: At this point, I would actually argue, yes. And it's because

of a critical swing state of North Carolina, the flooding there has shut down a lot of the postal system, so the early vote and people and voters are having more time in that state, even if they decided to early vote as a terrible side of the -- of the hurricane damage there. He's got another chance to win over for more on voters. Take it when you get it.

TAPPER: All right. Thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it.

A reminder. CNN is going to simulcast tonight's vice presidential debate hosted by CBS. The debate starts at 9:00 p.m. Eastern this evening. It is a CNN special event.

You don't have to change the channel to that other place. Coverage starts in just a few minutes, actually.

A few of Iran's missiles did break through. Israel's iron dome defense system. And CNN is arriving on the scene to assess the damage. We're going to go to Israel live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:53:43]

TAPPER: We're back with a major breaking news from the Middle East, a massive Iranian attack on Israel tonight, nearly 200 missiles fired at Israel.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond just got to Gedera, which is south of Tel Aviv.

Jeremy, tell us what you're seeing there.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, we are on the grounds of an elementary school where you can see right behind me the enormous crater left by a missile that struck these very school grounds. Workers right now are still picking through the crater to try and find pieces of shrapnel. You can see some of them laid out right over here.

The Israeli military hasn't actually been able to confirm yet whether this was indeed an Iranian missile or perhaps an interceptor. But certainly it came as Iran fired some 180 ballistic missiles in a pretty significant attack on central and southern Israel. And right behind me, you can see the walls of this elementary school.

Right here is a second grade classroom, Jake, and the walls and some of the windows here have been entirely blown off as this community picks up the pieces, the Israeli military itself is vowing that there will be consequences for this attack.

When those consequences come, how severe they will be will, of course, have enormous impacts across this region -- Jake.

TAPPER: All alright. Jeremy Diamond in Gedera, thank you so much for that report. Appreciate it. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:59:15]

TAPPER: Before we go, I want to shine a light on an extraordinary American, former President Jimmy Carter, who celebrates his 100th birthday today. What is perhaps most extraordinary is that former President Carter made a far bigger impact on the world after he held the most powerful office on the globe.

Carter devoted his life to democracy, creating a vast network deployed around the world to try to ensure that elections were free and fair. And he would call it out when and how they were not.

Carter became a champion along with his late wife, Rosalynn, of a group called Habitat for Humanity. That's a non-profit that's helped more than 59 million people find the freedom that comes with having a home.

Carter himself kept physically constructing, working on houses, well into his 90s. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work protecting democracy and combating diseases.

Nine years ago, Carter announced that he had brain cancer. He had this to say:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I've had a wonderful life. I'm ready for anything. I'm looking forward to a new adventure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Happy birthday, Mr. President.

I'll see you back here in two hours for CNN's coverage of the vice presidential debate.

The news continues on CNN next.