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Israel and Hezbollah Exchange Attacks; Harris and Trump Campaigns Battle Over Debate Details. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 26, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:50]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Debating the debates. The two presidential campaigns can't agree on the rules, putting their September showdown in jeopardy, as Donald Trump ramps up his campaigning and Kamala Harris gets ready to look for voters in a reliably Republican area.

Plus: a wall of water, catastrophic flooding hitting the area around the Grand Canyon, one hiker killed in rising waters as over 100 are evacuated. Some of those rescued say they didn't even know they were in danger until it was almost too late.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And weather or negligence? The sinking of a super yacht was initially blamed on a freak storm, but now police say, not so fast, and suggests that mistakes by the crew may have contributed to last week's deadly disaster off of Sicily.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: We start this afternoon with a mute dispute, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump clashing over the next presidential debate.

With just over two weeks until their first face-off, the two campaigns are suddenly at a stalemate over specifics, including whether microphones are going to be muted. And Trump is now putting the whole ABC event in doubt, questioning on TRUTH Social why he should go through with it.

The drama comes as both campaigns begin a sprint to November, blitzing battleground states, the Trump team now promising a campaign on steroids, as his team shifts strategy, scrambling to cut off Harris' post-DNC momentum.

In the next hour, Donald Trump is going to hold a campaign event in the critical swing state of Michigan.

Let's take you there now to Detroit with CNN's Kristen Holmes, who's there covering the event live.

Kristen, this mute issue is quite notable because his campaign was calling for the mics to be muted, but we heard from Trump today, who says that he doesn't care. KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think a couple

things are going on here.

One, Boris, they believe that last debate, the CNN debate, went well for them and they want to replicate that, they being the Trump campaign, Donald Trump as well, but he also doesn't want it to seem as though he can't do the debate if the mics aren't muted. We know that Donald Trump always wants to appear as though he's willing to do anything.

So they do appear to be somewhat undercutting each other. Take a listen to what Trump said when asked about this debate issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R) AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're thinking about it. We're thinking about it. They also want to change the rules. The deal was we keep the same rules.

Now, all of a sudden, they want to make a change in the rules. We agreed to the same rules. I don't know. Doesn't matter to me. I'd rather have it probably on. But the agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time. In that case, it was muted.

I didn't like it the last time, but it worked out fine. Ask Biden how it worked out. It was fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: A lot of this is just jockeying, going back and forth to see what's best for each campaign's candidate.

I will remind you, just a few weeks ago, Kamala Harris was moved to the top of the ticket. Donald Trump dropped out of the ticket, saying it was different, that he hadn't agreed to this debate with Kamala Harris.

Kamala Harris' team saying, no, no, no, everything's the same. You already said yes. Now the teams have switched, with Trump's team saying, wait, wait, wait, everything's the same, that's what we agreed to, and Harris' team saying, no, no, no, it's different now that I'm at the top of the ticket.

They're clearly all trying to get what they want, what they think is best for their candidate on that debate stage on September 10.

SANCHEZ: And, Kristen, what should we expect to hear from the former president on stage where you are today?

HOLMES: Well, we know that he was invited here to speak at this event to talk about what the future of the National Guard is if he were to be elected.

Now, obviously it's Donald Trump, so I'm sure we're going to hear quite a bit of things. But one piece of news and notable event that we're going to see here today is that I am told that former Democratic candidate and Representative from Hawaii Tulsi Gabbard is going to endorse Donald Trump on the stage.

This will be an official endorsement. Now, it's not that surprising given the fact that she has been helping him with debate prep. She is now an independent. We have heard her on various conservative media talk shows essentially sounding like she was going to back Donald Trump.

[13:05:06]

But this is notable given the timing. They clearly want us to come on the heels of the RFK Jr. endorsement last week, so they can say, look at these Democrats who are now coming out for Donald Trump. Of course, though, again, that, note that Gabbard is an independent now and has seemed more conservative since that run for president.

SANCHEZ: And also is known for her moments with Kamala Harris on the debate stage, hence the prep that she's aiding Trump with.

Kristen Holmes live for us from Detroit, thank you so much -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Vice President Harris and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz, will head south this week with a bus tour in the critical swing state of Georgia.

But before Harris hits the campaign trail, she's also prepping for her September 10 debate with Trump, a debate that appears to be a little bit up in the air right now.

We have CNN's Eva McKend joining us right now.

So, Eva, the issue is whether the mics are muted when the other candidate is talking. And I'm not sure if the Harris campaign has responded to what Trump just said about it not really mattering, matter -- it doesn't matter if they're muted or not, but I'm sure they will be looking at this carefully.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: They will. They haven't responded just yet.

But, listen, the vice president's team, they want those mics hot and live for the duration of the debate, capturing everything. Former President Donald Trump's team says, listen, we already agreed to certain rules presumably when President Biden was the nominee, and let's stick to the plan.

They had a successful debate previously, in their view. And so they want to stick with the game plan. But, listen, Brianna, this back-and- forth just underscores how much is on the line here. We have seen this entire political cycle how much can change over the course of these debates? Nikki Haley had a breakout moment in the Republican primary, and that changed the course of the primary.

President Biden suffered mightily during his debate, and he's no longer in this contest. We're hearing from Brian Fallon, a senior communications official with the Harris campaign, and this is what he is telling us.

He says: "Our understanding is that Trump's handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don't think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own. We suspect Trump's team has not even told their boss about this dispute because it would be too embarrassing to admit they don't think he can handle himself against Vice President Harris without the benefit of a mute button."

So, Brianna, we will have to see how this issue resolves itself, but, listen, both campaigns jockeying in the days ahead to get the best conditions possible their respective candidates.

KEILAR: Yes, I guess Brian Fallon trying to make sure that Trump does indeed know about this back-and-forth over this.

Eva, thank you for that -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: We just noted the former president is trying to stem the tide in Harris' post-DNC momentum by multiplying his appearances on the campaign trail.

His focus is on recreating some of the magic that he captured back in 2016. That is when he was able to break through the blue wall, these three states, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. He flipped them red on his way to surpassing 270 electoral votes. But it's going to be tough.

The margin for victory or defeat here in the blue wall is quite thin, as we're going to show you. We just noted the former president is going to be in the state of Michigan today and again on Thursday, when his team says that he's going to focus on the economy.

He's later in the week going to visit the other two states as well. In order to win, Donald Trump is going to spend a lot of time here between now and November.

Let's zoom in on Michigan. Eight years ago, Donald Trump won that state by only about 11,000 votes. But four years later, he lost to Joe Biden by a larger margin, which is why he's prioritizing that state and also making those overtures to union voters.

Then, on Thursday, Trump pivots to Wisconsin. Now, here, Democratic presidential nominees had won seven times in a row, before Trump squeaked out a win against Hillary Clinton. Last cycle against Joe Biden, the margin even closer, only 20,000 votes, helped Joe get to the White House.

Then, on Friday, Trump is planning a rally in the biggest electoral prize of the blue wall states, Pennsylvania. Biden secured those 19 Electoral College votes by just over a single percentage point, what amounts to some 80,000 votes.

So, in polling, who has the advantage in the Midwest right now? Between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, there is no clear leader. Despite this appearance of an advantage for Harris, they are well within the margin of error. So prepare for another nail-biter on election night.

As for the vice president, she's looking to recapture some of President Biden's success in the Peach State. Remember, Georgia was critical to Biden's win in 2020. And you might recall this is one of the most infamous margins of victory in political history, because Donald Trump was captured on tape calling the secretary of state in Georgia at the time, Brad Raffensperger, asking him to find 11, 780 votes.

[13:10:09]

As where this race stands right now, another toss-up, well within the margin of error. There is no clear leader, which potentially means a long night on November 5 -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, it is a squeaker right now.

And let's talk about it with CNN political director David Chalian.

Trump, David, really ratcheting up his campaign presence in battleground states this week, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin -- Michigan, twice actually. What does that tell you about where he's at following the DNC?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: It's the famous line about robbing banks, right? That's where the money is.

(LAUGHTER)

CHALIAN: So, like, that's why we're going to see the candidates campaign in these states, because the entire election is going to be decided in these seven states.

And so, obviously, Boris just walked you through the history of those so-called blue wall states in the Rust Belt, Upper Midwest here. I would also note those three states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin that that Trump is going to be campaigning in this week, they have all behaved together since 1988.

So that is another thing to watch as we go into this fall. It's like, is there something about the -- one of these three states that all of a sudden is going to break that 30-plus-year sort of tradition in pattern and operate on its own, if you will.

KEILAR: Yes, that would be incredibly interesting and distressing, I would say, to some folks as they're watching this.

Harris is in Georgia, and her campaign is clearly thinking that they can really keep this in play this cycle.

CHALIAN: Well, Georgia was one of those states that, when Joe Biden was atop the ticket, Brianna, it was basically falling off the battleground state map. It was leaning in Donald Trump's direction.

And this is true with a bunch of those Sun Belt states, where Harris replacing Biden atop the ticket just scrambled the political math, right? So she immediately energized some key components of the Democratic coalition, young voters, voters of color. They came back to life when she took the top of the ticket.

And that plays significantly in a place like Georgia. And so that is why they see opportunity there. That is why the Harris campaign does not believe they are only locked into Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin as the only path to a potential victory here.

It's still -- this is going to be a very closely fought race. And it still may be true that the Midwest states, the Rust Belt states, are the ones that provide Democrats their sort of cleanest, easiest opportunity. Nothing here is easy. It's going to be a toss-up race, but their most straightforward path.

But Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada, you are going to see Harris competing as hard in those states as you're going to see her competing in those blue wall states.

KEILAR: Yes, building up some contingencies.

On this debate over debate rules, it is interesting because the rules were established before Harris obviously took the helm. And she wants the microphones on. She doesn't want them off. Trump's campaign at least wants them off. What does this say to you about how she is looking at the debate as an opportunity?

CHALIAN: First of all, just to note what you just separated out in your language, Trump's campaign versus what you just heard from Donald Trump himself this morning, those two entities are not always singing from the same song sheet as they were not this morning.

And I don't read into this that there is likely to be sort of a whole new debate negotiation and that the ABC debate on the 10th is not likely to happen. We're two weeks away. Both candidates see it in their interest for what they're trying to communicate to voters that they should be on that debate stage.

So I don't envision this being much more than we see in every debate. There are these little opportunities that the campaigns take to try and dominate a news cycle in advance of the debate, see if they can press advantage a little bit, see if they can work the refs who are hosting and moderating the debate a little bit.

This happens every single time. We will see where they land. I will just note that, in 2020, in the final Biden-Trump debate that our colleague at NBC Kristen Welker moderated back when the Commission on Presidential Debates was still hosting these debates, that was sort of a mixed bag.

It was the mics were muted for the initial opening statement and answer, the opening answer in a given topic. But then all mics were on for some back-and-forth on debate. Maybe that's a modification that we might see take place here and appease both sides.

But I see this more as an opportunity to just create a storm, rather than actual negotiations of the rules. KEILAR: The Harris campaign says, as there have been questions about

when is she doing an interview, that she's going to do one before the end of August. That, of course, means she doesn't have that much longer before.

CHALIAN: Ticktock, right?

KEILAR: Right, exactly, end of the week to do this. How much hangs on this? And what does it tell you when -- we don't know yet, but when she chooses who she's going to do it with, the platform she's going to do, what is that going to tell you?

[13:15:03]

CHALIAN: Wow, we will learn a lot from that, no doubt.

Of course, I hope she does it on CNN.

KEILAR: That's right.

CHALIAN: But you're right. If she decides to go sort of with a nontraditional outlet or something or somebody who is perceived as like a friendly interviewer in a way and not sort of a tough mainstream media kind of interview, no doubt there will be assessments on that.

What I think is really interesting, Brianna, here, is that Kamala Harris is about -- has had about the best five weeks in presidential politics for any candidate that I can remember. But most of it of the five weeks were scripted.

So I'm not taking anything away about the success she had at coalescing the Democratic Party around her candidacy, a shortened vet and selection of a vice presidential running mate, a largely successful rollout through the battleground states of that running mate, and then a roll into what is deemed a successful convention, all the while raising $540 million.

So, like, that is a very successful first five weeks. But there are these new hurdles and new tests. And this interview is going to be one of them. The debate will be one of them. These are unscripted formats and an opportunity for the country to see how she thinks on her feet as a potential president.

And that, I think, are important. These are important yardsticks for the country to have to measure their presidential candidates by.

KEILAR: Yes, I think things are about to get very interesting.

David Chalian, thank you so much. We do appreciate it.

CHALIAN: Sure.

KEILAR: Happening now, a crucial hearing in Arizona, one that could determine whether several of former President Trump's allies could face prison sentences if they're convicted of charges to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.

Plus, Hezbollah says even more strikes possible after launching a barrage of drones and rockets at Israel over the weekend. What this means for the ongoing cease-fire and hostage talks.

And the captain of a luxury super yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily is now officially under investigation, the charges he could face.

We have that ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[13:21:28]

KEILAR: The Middle East remains on high alert after a major escalation in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah over the weekend, Israel launching preemptive strikes at strategic Hezbollah military assets in Lebanon, while the Iran-backed group launched a barrage of more than 300 rockets.

Those attacks seem to have subsided for now, and despite these strikes, cease-fire negotiations have endured in Cairo and continue even today.

We have seen an international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson with us now live from Tel Aviv.

Nic, what more are you learning about these strikes and where it leaves to cease-fire and hostage talks?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, it's interesting and not without surprise that both Israel and Hezbollah claimed it was a success and both have said that they're ready to strike again if they need to.

It does seem, though, that Israel's claim is more credible. They had the intelligence and the preemptive strikes that targeted Hezbollah's launch sites, and Hezbollah claims that they fired those more than 300 missiles at 11 military sites in the north of Israel and two others in the center of Israel.

But despite the fact that the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said that they succeeded, there's no evidence to support that. And Israel says that it shot down 90 of those missiles and the vast majority that did get through landed without impact, and for the vast majority without injury.

So it does seem that this moment of high tension passed. And what was quite remarkable, if you will, that happened in the early hours of the morning. But, by afternoon in Cairo, both Israel and Hamas had their negotiators there for the next round of negotiations at the senior level.

The delegations left at the end of the day. U.S. officials are sounding positive about the outcome. It's not the message that we're hearing from Hamas. They are criticizing the deal that's on the table, saying they want to go back to the one that President Biden spoke about back in May that they agreed to in early July.

Israel is being very quiet about how the talks have gone for them. But I think the thing that we can take away here is that there is some momentum in the talks, in that the talks are continuing at a technical level to work out the specifics of how you can bridge some of the gaps on whether or not Israel has troops along the border between Gaza and Egypt, how many prisoners -- Palestinian prisoners should be released for how many Israeli hostages that are held.

All those niggly details that are absolutely stymying this getting this going anywhere at a technical level, we're told, they are getting discussion. But I think don't expect a result soon. The positivity is positive. But what we're hearing from both sides is not enough to be convincing that we're close to a breakthrough -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Nic Robertson, thank you for that update -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss all of these developments further with retired U.S. Army Colonel Peter Mansoor.

Colonel, thank you so much for being with us.

On the strikes between Israel and Hezbollah, Hezbollah said that they would retaliate to any Israeli strike in Beirut with a major attack on urban centers in Israel. It's yet to carry that out, despite that Israeli operation that killed a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon's capital.

Do you think on Hezbollah's part that's strategic or more an issue of capacity?

COL. PETER MANSOOR (RET.), U.S. ARMY: I think it's absolutely strategically calculated. I think Hezbollah and Iran have gotten together and have decided they don't want a Middle East-wide war.

[13:25:07]

And so Hezbollah's retaliation was very calculated to aim just at military targets. Now, it wasn't very successful. I think Hezbollah wishes it were more successful. But had it hit those targets, it would not have killed a lot of noncombatants, which would have widened the war.

So I think this shows that Hezbollah and Iran actually think that there are some legs to these ongoing negotiations in Cairo, and that we may be seeing a cease-fire deal coming up.

SANCHEZ: Well, I'm curious about that, in part because the head of Hezbollah says that they waited until Sunday, in part to give some room to these talks.

But given the fact that we have heard sort of dim signs from folks involved, from sources involved in these talks or close to them about whether it's actually going to solidify in the form of a cease-fire and hostage release deal, do you think that means that we're likely to see more attacks soon?

MANSOOR: Not from Hezbollah. I think this was their strike to say, we don't like you striking our operatives in Beirut or anywhere else, and we're going to retaliate.

So they have sort of made that gesture. But I think now they're going to sit back and see where these cease-fire negotiations go. If they collapse, then you will see more attacks probably. But if they continue and make inching progress towards a deal, then I think they will hold off.

SANCHEZ: Well, it's fascinating, Colonel, in part because we're still waiting to see what Iran is going to do in response to the killing of that Hamas commander in Tehran.

They have said that they are going to exercise patience. But given that the backdrop of this is these ongoing talks, what do you envision that response looking like and how much further down the road could it go?

MANSOOR: Well, actually, Iran can exercise strategic patience here. It wasn't an Iranian that was killed in that attack. It was a Hamas leader, even though it was on Iranian soil.

So they can wait to take their revenge against Israel, if indeed they do. I think more important to Israel -- or to Iran is getting a deal that allows Hamas to survive. If there's a big loser in any of this, it's Hamas. Hamas wanted a wider war. It wanted to cause more chaos in the Middle East.

It wanted its maximalist demands met, and none of those are going to happen now.

SANCHEZ: And from a military perspective, sir, could you help us understand the importance of Israel demanding that Israeli troops, IDF troops remain in that Philadelphi Corridor between Israel -- or, rather, between Gaza and Egypt?

MANSOOR: Well, absolutely.

So Hamas has taken great damage in this war. Many of its battalions and brigades have been rendered combat-ineffective. A few of them have been totally annihilated, and it needs to rearm. Its arms come through Egypt, through these tunnel systems that it created, and eventually their supplier is Iran, which ships them.

But without control over the corridors between Egypt and Gaza, Hamas cannot rearm and will remain relatively weak and ineffective. And so this is why there's so much attention being focused on this very small area and this very small corridor, the Philadelphi Corridor.

SANCHEZ: Colonel Peter Mansoor, thank you so much for the expertise. Appreciate it.

MANSOOR: Thanks, Boris. SANCHEZ: So, right now, it's all up to a judge in Arizona. A hearing

is under way there on whether Trump allies could face a prison sentence if convicted for their alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in that state.

Plus, flash flooding turning deadly inside Grand Canyon National Park, hikers forced to cross rivers, others having to be airlifted out, as you're looking at this video. We will have the latest on evacuation efforts when we come back.

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