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Hezbollah Missile Reached Tel Aviv; Biden Calls for Peace in Final U.N. Address as President; Zelenskyy to Address U.N. General Assembly Today; Florida and Georgia Prepare for Major Hurricane Hit. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired September 25, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You could see the intercept in the sky. You could see that puff of white smoke. It does appear to be just a single missile that was fired.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: But we're stuck in that war unless I'm president. I'll get it done. I'll get it negotiated. I'll get out.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Some in the world want to talk to Putin. But what could they possibly hear from him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has a potential to be a really, really significant storm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be a statewide wind event.

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

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm Max Foster. It is Wednesday, September 25th. It's 9 a.m. here in London, 11 a.m. in Tel Aviv, where the Israeli military says it's intercepted a single surface-to-surface missile launched by Hezbollah, marking the first time ever a missile fired by the militant group has reached as close to the city.

Hezbollah says it was targeting the headquarters of Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad. There are no reports of damage or casualties.

The IDF released this footage, which it claims shows a strike destroying the missile launcher that targeted Tel Aviv. More now from CNN's international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Hezbollah say that they fired a ballistic missile at what they say was the Mossad headquarters in central Israel. This does appear to be an escalation by Hezbollah of their tactics. It is believed to be the first ballistic missile that's been fired into central Israel.

From our location here, you can see the interceptor, the David Sling, this is a higher altitude, faster, more capable interceptor than the Iron Dome that people are used to seeing in the skies over Israel, take off into the sky and intercept with that ballistic missile, this surface-to-surface missile, as it was on its way into central Israel.

This is a very, very unusual situation for Tel Aviv to wake up in the morning to incoming missiles from Lebanon. So that's why I say it does appear at this stage to be an escalation in Hezbollah's tactics, because over the past couple of days, since the spike, massive spike in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, Hezbollah has only been firing its missiles either just over the border into Israel's northern border or about 30 miles south of the border at military targets there.

But by firing it at central Israel, as Hezbollah claims to have launched it at Mossad headquarters, this does seem to represent a step change in what's happening here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: CNN's Nic Robertson reporting from Tel Aviv there.

Another dramatic video shows an Israeli airstrike on a town along the Lebanese coast. Cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has increased over the past few days.

Lebanese officials put the death toll in the country at well over 500. Meanwhile, Hezbollah confirms one of its senior commanders has been killed in an airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut. Lebanon's health ministry reports at least six people were killed and 15 injured in that attack.

Israeli military says more than 200 rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel and the Golan Heights on Tuesday. Most were intercepted or fell in open areas. The Israeli prime minister visited an intelligence base on Tuesday before meeting with his cabinet and security officials.

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I say to the people of Lebanon, our war is not with you. Our war is with Hezbollah. Nasrallah is leading you to the brink of abyss.

I told you yesterday to evacuate the houses where he put a missile in the living room and a rocket in the garage. He who has a missile in his living room and a rocket in his garage will not have a home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:35:10] FOSTER: The British government is urging its citizens to leave Lebanon as the fighting with Israel intensifies. It's also moving 700 troops to Cyprus to bolster its military presence in the region. The Royal Air Force and Navy already have assets in Cyprus with two ships stationed in the Mediterranean over the summer.

British Defense Secretary John Healey is urging all sides in the Middle East to step back from conflict and prevent further loss of life. Sydney's Paula Hancocks joins me now from Abu Dhabi. This, as Nic was describing, does feel like a step change.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does, Max. It's certainly a step up from what we have seen from Hezbollah over recent days. The fact that they have, for the first time, been able to try and target Tel Aviv, the Israeli military saying that they were close to Tel Aviv with that surface-to-surface missile, it, of course, does feel like things are escalating.

Now, we did hear from the Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant. He went to visit troops along the border just yesterday and he was talking to those troops, saying that Hezbollah has been badly affected, saying that Hezbollah is different today from the organization that we knew just a week ago. Referring there to the fact that there were those attacks on the pagers and the walkie-talkies of Hezbollah just last week.

He also said they have suffered a sequence of blows to their command and center, and command and control, the fighters, the means to fight, and they are all severe blows, but also pointing out that they are still intent on destroying the Israeli military and they have to act accordingly.

Now, he wouldn't be pushed, understandably, on whether there would be a ground invasion, but we certainly did hear him saying to the troops that you may be needed to go in as well. And that, of course, is of great concern to many in the region. That really would be considered to be a significant escalation if ground troops were to go in as well.

We have already seen tens of thousands, according to humanitarian aid groups on the ground, of civilians leaving the areas of southern Lebanon. In fact, Lebanon's Foreign Minister said he believed that there was something like half a million people that had been displaced.

The Israeli Prime Minister and the military have told civilians to stay out of areas where Hezbollah is operating, to move if Hezbollah is storing weapons within their area or within their houses even.

But as one of those residents that did make that long journey from southern Lebanon to the capital in Beirut just yesterday they told our team in CNN that they don't know where the Hezbollah fighters is. So it is a very difficult situation for civilians on the ground.

And we know that schools and other facilities in Beirut are currently being held and used as shelters. There are no schools being used as schools at this point. So it is a very difficult situation for civilians. We've heard from

UNICEF saying that at least 50 children have been killed so far.

But of course there are many concerns from those in the region as to whether this could escalate further. We've heard from U.S. officials that they are working feverishly behind the scenes to try and make sure that this doesn't escalate further, specifically to try and convince Israel that there should not be a ground invasion. So far it has been an aerial bombardment -- Max.

FOSTER: Paula Hancocks, thank you.

The U.N. Security Council discussed the Israeli strikes in Lebanon today. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is delaying his trip to New York due to the ongoing fighting. His office says he will fly to New York on Thursday and is expected to speak at the U.N. on Friday.

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres addressed the situation in Lebanon during the General Assembly on Tuesday. He noted the conflict is just one of multiple current events driving the world towards the unimaginable, but maintains there is still time to de-escalate if diplomacy stops dragging its feet.

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ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL: We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.

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FOSTER: CNN's Kayla Tausche recapped the events of the day, day one of the Assembly for us, including U.S. President Joe Biden's final address to the group.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today is the fourth time I've had the great honor of speaking to this Assembly as President of the United States. It will be my last.

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KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After five decades in foreign policy, a final farewell on the world's biggest stage, drawing on conflicts of the past to outline optimism for the future.

BIDEN: Things can get better. We should never forget that. I know many look at the world today and see difficulties and react with despair, but I do not.

When we stand behind the principles that unite us, we stand firm against aggression. When we end the conflicts that are raging today. TAUSCHE (voice-over): A new war is raging in the Middle East since Biden's last United Nations address, 18 days before Hamas launched an assault on Israel that sent the region spiraling into a wider fight with Hezbollah. Biden calling for a ceasefire deal, two-state solution, and detente in the region.

BIDEN: A full-scale war is not in anyone's interest. Even if the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible.

TAUSCHE (voice-over): In discussions at the U.N., Biden and his top aides working to stabilize that and other conflicts around the world. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling for a new peace summit before another winter at war.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: They are preparing to target our nuclear power plants, three of them. We have this information. If Russia is ready to go that far, it means nothing. Your value matters to Moscow.

TAUSCHE (voice-over): Outgoing NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says the West will keep arming Ukraine to convince Putin he can't win.

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: When he realizes that he will not get what he wants on the battlefield, the total control of Ukraine, then he may be willing to accept a solution which is acceptable for Ukraine.

TAUSCHE (voice-over): That outcome, no guarantee, but Biden crediting Vice President Harris for standing up to Russia and offering this parting shot to autocrats.

BIDEN: I decided after 50 years of public service, it's time for a new generation of leadership to take my nation forward. My fellow leaders, let us never forget, some things are more important than staying in power. We are here to serve the people, not the other way around.

TAUSCHE: As President Biden works to burnish his legacy, four leaders are now jockeying for their own meetings with Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, either of whom could be representing the U.S. here at the General Assembly next year. So far, the only meeting that has materialized is one between Zelenskyy and Harris, and that's set for the White House on Thursday.

Kayla Tausche, CNN, at the United Nations.

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FOSTER: A new CNN poll shows the U.S. presidential race between Republican nominee Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Kamala Harris remains extremely close. There's no clear leader amongst likely voters, with Harris holding the slight edge, 48 to 47 percent, well within the poll's margin of error.

About four in ten likely voters consider the economy the most important issue for them. That's a positive for Trump. Half of those surveyed said they'd trust him over Harris to handle the economy. Protecting democracy and reproductive rights were further down the list of priorities for voters.

Now, Trump returns to the battleground state of North Carolina, today, after laying out a series of economic proposals in Georgia. Trump announced he would work with Georgia's governor to deepen the port of Savannah. He also proposed higher tariffs and tax cuts to encourage companies to manufacture products in the U.S. The former president made a lot of promises that he says would bring about a, quote, new American industrialism.

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TRUMP: With the vision I'm outlining today, not only will we stop our businesses from leaving for foreign lands, but under my leadership, we're going to take other countries' jobs. Did you ever hear that expression before? Have you ever heard? That we're going to take other countries' jobs has never been stated before. We're going to take their factories, and we had it really rocking four years ago. We're going to bring thousands and thousands of businesses and trillions of dollars in wealth back to the good old USA.

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FOSTER: But economists have warned that raising tariffs will lead to higher prices for American consumers.

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris is heading to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania today to lay out how she plans to handle the U.S. economy. On Tuesday, the Democratic presidential nominee promised that if she wins, she would get rid of the filibuster delay tactic in the Senate in order to pass a bill codifying abortion rights. And that stance has cost her a potential endorsement from a key moderate senator. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez, explains.

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PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Kamala Harris reiterating her call to eliminate the filibuster to restore Roe v. Wade, a position that she also held in 2022, again, in her argument to support reproductive rights and voting rights.

Now, of course, reproductive rights has been a galvanizing issue for Democrats, one that the vice president has talked about extensively on the campaign trail.

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And on Tuesday, doubling down on that message in a radio station in Wisconsin, a crucial state for her come November. Now, that statement did also lose her the endorsement of Sen. Joe Manchin, who had this to say.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV) Shame on you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I know that you've been considering endorsing her. Does this change your view?

MANCHIN: Oh, no. that ain't going to happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not going to endorse her?

MANCHIN: I'm not endorsing her. Never. I think that's basically something that can destroy our country, and my country's more important to me than any one person or any one person's ideology.

ALVAREZ: Now, defenders of the tool say that it forces consensus in the upper chamber, so some division over her statement, but certainly the bottom line from the vice president is that she will support the end of a filibuster to again sign legislation codifying Roe v. Wade.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.

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FOSTER: Tropical storm Helene is gaining strength as it barrels towards Florida. It's expected to become a hurricane soon. On Tuesday, some residents in coastal areas began evacuating. Others are preparing for a hurricane expected to bring torrential rain, strong winds, power outages, even tornadoes. Officials in both Florida and Georgia have declared a state of emergency.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a situation where it's going to be a statewide wind event.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I always draw up lots of water ahead of time, make sure I got food in the house, all that.

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FOSTER: Helene could hit as the strongest storm to make landfall in the U.S. in over a year. Residents in parts of Florida should start feeling tropical storm-force winds in just a few hours. CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has the latest on that.

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CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Helene's still a tropical storm and it's going to become a hurricane and then make a swipe at Cancun. Temperatures are in the upper 80s when it comes to the water temperatures, so this could rapidly intensify. And it's forecast to do so all the way up to 120 miles per hour at landfall.

We're still going to have to see if this is going to be on the left side or the right side of the cone because that makes a significant difference here with the amount of damage that could possibly occur along the west coast of Florida for sure. And if we start to push some of that surge into Tampa, we could start to see that coastal saltwater flooding there.

Your hurricane warnings are in effect there from Anclote River all the way over to about Mexico Beach and this is the area that's going to see most of the surge. 10 to 15 feet of saltwater surge pushing back into the rivers, into the estuaries, and into the marshes here. By the time overnight Wednesday night and into early Thursday, that's when the first tropical storm-force winds will hit the U.S.

But then by later on in the evening we will start to see those hurricane-force winds as well. Probably 110 plus, certainly. Forecast is for 120. But that 110 plus goes all the way almost to Tallahassee. Can't imagine what that town will look like with all of those beautiful trees getting pushed around by 100 mile per hour wind.

Also the threat of a tornado or two. That always happens with a land- falling hurricane. We have a front across parts of the southeast. All of that moisture is going to bump into the front and make significant rainfall. So yes, we have flood watches in effect. And this area in purple, that's 10 inches of rainfall or more over the next few days. And look how wide of an area that is. From Asheville almost over towards Charlotte and toward Atlanta. So much rainfall in the hills.

Southern Appalachian Hills could see significant flash flooding. Fresh water flooding, not the saltwater, simply because of all the heavy, heavy rainfall that's going to be coming down for days on end. Be careful out there.

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FOSTER: Another house has collapsed into the water off the coast of North Carolina. Watch this. That's the third house that has fallen into the water of the Outer Banks since Friday. This area has dealt with erosion since 2020. A total of 10 unoccupied homes have been destroyed. Park officials have temporarily closed parts of the beach due to dangerous debris now in the water.

Still to come, Ukraine's president prepares to present a plan to U.S. President Joe Biden to defeat Russia. But will it be approved?

Plus, toxic chemicals are shooting from a train in Ohio. Residents are being told to stay away from their homes in the area.

And U.S. lawmakers unveil a new statue honoring late country music legend Johnny Cash, a national tribute to the man in black. Still to come.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY: Some in the world want to talk to Putin. We know it, to meet, to talk, to speak. But what could they possibly hear from him?

Russia can only be forced into peace. And that is exactly what's needed, forcing Russia into peace as the sole aggressor in this war.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FOSTER: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy there claiming the only way to achieve peace with Russia is for U.N. member states to force Moscow. Zelenskyy set to address the U.N. General Assembly in the coming hours. He's also expected to meet US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the U.N. today.

Meanwhile, the U.S. plans to announce billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine in the coming days. There's nearly $6 billion left in a specific fund that will expire on Monday after Congress failed to include an extension for it in the stopgap measure to keep the government open. Clare Sebastian joins us with more.

One of the key things Zelenskyy needs to do is to flesh out this plan he's got to beat Russia.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this peace plan, which we expect that we won't hear necessarily today in his address to the U.N. General Assembly, but that he will first and foremost present to President Biden when he meets him, we expect, in Washington on Thursday.

And this is sort of the central tenet of this trip. He is really someone who believes now that he is at a crossroads in this war, that the next few months will be crucial, and so he needs to rally international support and also sort of, more importantly, the U.S. at its own political crossroads behind this plan to end the war on Kyiv's terms.

[04:25:00]

And he was pretty stark in his speech to the Security Council. He said, look, Russia is the sole aggressor. It is the only one violating the U.N. Charter. So sort of the basic line there.

He then sort of renewed attempts to isolate Russia on the world stage by presenting his vision as a sort of inclusive peace. He said, just like the U.N. Charter, this is a peace that everyone should get behind.

He even, you know, had specific warnings about how he claims that Russia is planning to target Ukraine's three nuclear plants that it's not currently occupying, obviously. One of them it's occupying this winter as part of its sort of sustained assault on Ukraine's energy grid. So all of that, you know, is an effort, I think, to sort of rally support in a variety of different ways.

But meanwhile, of course, he faces in the U.S. a Congress that is too divided for them to extend the authority that you just talked about, that presidential drawdown authority on the Pentagon stocks of weapons to deliver to Ukraine, and a presidential candidate, former President Trump, who continues to essentially echo the Kremlin lines on Ukraine. Take a listen.

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TRUMP: Every time Zelenskyy comes to the United States, he walks away with $100 billion. I think he's the greatest salesman on Earth. But we're stuck in that war unless I'm president. I'll get it done. I'll get it negotiated. I'll get out. We've got to get out.

Biden says, we will not leave until we win. What happens if they win?

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SEBASTIAN: I mean, I think the salesman line at this point is part of the stump speech yesterday. It was $60 billion, today it's $100 billion, but it's a way to appeal to a Republican faction that is highly skeptical of aid to Ukraine. We're stuck in that war, I think is significant right now. It's only the Kremlin that's claiming that the U.S. is actually in this war. So these comments will be extremely worrying to Ukraine.

FOSTER: Zelenskyy, I think, wants to meet Trump, but there isn't a meeting diarized, as it were, and it's pretty clear there's some deadlock there, because Zelenskyy's saying there should be no deal done with Russia, and we just heard Trump there talking about a deal.

SEBASTIAN: Yes, this is clearly a problem that Ukraine is very conscious of, and again, why it feels that the next few months will be urgent, not just because of the battlefield, but because of the U.S. electoral calendar as well. He had hoped Zelenskyy to meet with both presidential candidates. Right now, we're told that there's nothing on the schedule for Trump as of yet.

And there's inconsistencies, right? We know from Zelenskyy speaking to CNN's Fareed Zakaria a few weeks ago that he has had a phone call with Trump in the last couple of months. He said Trump was supportive.

Then, on the other hand, you have these comments, and you have J.D. Vance, his running mate, putting forward a peace plan that essentially echoes Putin's own peace plan. They will get to keep the territory they currently occupy.

FOSTER: Clare, thank you.

Despite his claim of innocence, and despite objections from the victim's family, the state of Missouri has carried out the execution of a man convicted of the murder -- of a murderer decades ago. Details after the break.

And the U.N. refugee agency says an Israeli airstrike in eastern Lebanon killed two of its staffers. Details just ahead.

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