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CNN International: Woman Accuses Sean Combs of Drugging, Assaulting Her and Filming It; Israel Strikes Back After Hezbollah Targets Tel Aviv; U.S. All but Paused Push for Gaza Ceasefire Deal; Zelenskyy to Address UNGA, Says Russia Can Only Be Forced Into Peace; FAA Finds Boeing Workers Pressured to Put Speed Over Quality; Tropical Storm Helene Strengthens, Florida Braces for Hurricane. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired September 25, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:10]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Hi, everyone. Welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Amara Walker. And this is "CNN Newsroom." Just ahead, Israel launches new airstrikes in southern Lebanon after Hezbollah targets Tel Aviv. We are live in Lebanon and Israel. Plus, shocking new revelations, what we are learning about the security failures that led to the first assassination attempt on Donald Trump. And pushing speed over quality, that is one conclusion of a U.S. government report into Boeing. We are live with more on the damning conclusions.

We begin with yet another dangerous escalation in the Middle East as Israel and Hezbollah intensify their attacks on each other. And the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq accused Israel of pushing the region towards an all-out war. Officials say at least 23 people were killed in southern and eastern Lebanon during Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday, while the IDF reports around 40 projectiles crossed over into Israel.

It follows a rare rocket attack deep inside of Israel, the first time a Hezbollah missile has come so close to Tel Aviv. The IDF says it intercepted the missile and struck the launcher that had fired it. It comes while tens of thousands of civilians are fleeing their homes in Lebanon as these cross-border attacks continue. Israel's prime minister has delayed his trip to New York for the U.N. General Assembly due to the ongoing fighting. Benjamin Netanyahu once again reiterated this warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): 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)

WALKER: The U.N. Secretary General meanwhile had his warning -- this warning of his own.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL: Gaza is a non- stop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it. Look no further than Lebanon. 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is in Beirut, and Nic Robertson joining us from Tel Aviv.

Nic, let's start with you and talk more about this intercepted missing near Tel Aviv. This is the first time as we are saying, that Hezbollah has come so close to the city. What has the reaction been? Has this rattled Israeli officials?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It hasn't rattled them. This was something that they thought might happen. In fact, they thought that it could be worse than this. What Hezbollah did, they say, is fired a ballistic missile targeted at the Mossad, the intelligence headquarters just outside of Tel Aviv. About a million people this morning, 6:30 a.m. woke in central Israel to the sound of sirens, as that was -- that ballistic missile was intercepted.

It does represent an escalation in some ways because until now, Hezbollah has been firing short-range missiles across the border and other medium-range missiles, maybe 30 miles or so into Israel. This as a quantifiably larger, longer-range, heavier explosive payload, hundreds of kilograms of explosives onboard this missile. And it was taken down not by the Iron Dome, which everyone here is very used to now taking down the shorter-range missiles. It was taken down by David's Sling, which is a more sophisticated, more complex, higher- altitude interceptor missile that Israel has.

No surprise on the Israeli side that the David's Sling interceptor missile system worked; no surprise in some ways that Hezbollah did choose to fire this. But clearly, they make a calculation here that Hezbollah had the potential to fire a barrage of missiles like this to try to overwhelm the defensive mechanisms in Israel, and they didn't.

[08:05:00]

So, this is seen as perhaps a moment for the leadership in Hezbollah to decide which direction it goes in. Certainly, a signal that it could have been a much more serious signal. The shorter-range missiles today though, we understand that two people were injured, one seriously, one moderately injured when shrapnel landed on a house much further north up the coast here towards the Lebanese border.

WALKER: And Jomana, in the meantime, we are hearing about these extensive Israeli strikes inside Lebanon where several people were killed today. What do we know about that? JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Amara, as you were hearing there from Nic, as Hezbollah is continuing to target Israel with these missile and rocket attacks where you have, here is what seems to be this constant and continuous air campaign by the Israeli military. What they are describing as extensive airstrikes that are mainly focused on southern Lebanon and the eastern Beqaa region. According to the Israeli military, they say that they hit 100 Hezbollah targets, and that was earlier in the day.

We have since received more reports of airstrikes. The Israeli military saying that they have begun more airstrikes on the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon. And we are also getting these reports confirmed as well from Lebanese authorities, saying that there have been many devastating strikes in the southern part of the country, as well as the eastern Beqaa region, but also reporting a rare airstrike in the Mount Lebanon region. This is a predominantly Christian area, but you also have some Shia villages there.

And you know, Amara over the past few hours, I have really struggled to keep track of the number of casualties that keep coming in, updates coming in from the Lebanese ministry of health. Right now, they say at least 23 people have been killed in these airstrikes, with dozens more injured. It is unclear how many of those who were killed are civilians and how many of them are Hezbollah fighters. But as we have seen over the past week, with these Israeli attacks and strikes, many of the casualties are women and children as well, as we saw on Monday, Lebanon's deadliest day in decades, with more than 500 people who were killed in the airstrikes, many of them were women and children as well.

And we have to emphasize, Amara, this is a country that is really struggling to deal with these sort of mass casualty events, that their hospitals, the health sector that was already on its knees is having to deal with right now, when we talk about thousands of injured over the past week or so. And then, you also have the mass displacement that they are having to deal with, which literally this country cannot afford. According to the country's foreign minister, he says that they are approaching 500,000 people displaced across the country.

These are people who have had to flee their homes. These are people who have had to heed the warnings from the Israeli military to leave their homes mostly in the south, but as well in the southern suburbs as well of Beirut, and other parts of the country as well. And you know, people have nowhere to go, many of them. We have even seen thousands of people crossing the border, those are Lebanese and Syrians crossing the border to neighboring war-torn Syria. It is a really desperate and devastating situation for this country that has gone through so much over recent years especially, and with both sides still not really calling this a war, but when you speak to the people here, they tell you it certainly is starting to feel like one, and people are absolutely terrified and bracing themselves for what might be coming next.

WALKER: Yeah. And people around the world watching this going to what end? And Nic, that brings me to ask you, you know, what is Israel's goal in all this? ROBERTSON: Well, Israel says that it is doing its best to get civilians out of the way. Warning them to get out of the way, telling them to stay out of their houses if Hezbollah is close. They are trying to frame this, they are really trying to frame this that Israel's attacks are not against the people of Lebanon, but against Hezbollah. Now of course, the reality on the ground in Lebanon is far different from that because there are so many civilian casualties, high civilian casualties going into a health care system that is already decrepit and on its knees.

But what Israel is intending to do here and it really feels that it began this last week, when the pagers belonging to Hezbollah commanders began exploding, their intercoms started exploding. There were targeted attacks on serious and senior Hezbollah commanders which have been kept (ph), they are trying to de-stabilize Hezbollah and trying to push Hezbollah and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, on the backfoot.

[08:10:00]

And when we hear from Israeli officials as they continue to say that they're going to speed up operations and that there's more pressure coming, they're trying to keep that what they think is de-stabilizing pressure on Hezbollah. They're trying to keep that up. So, what Lebanon as a lot of (ph) writ large and the civilians are experiencing is the effects of exactly that, trying to de-stabilize Hezbollah. This is the logic, the military logic of what is happening and this is something that, again from here, the IDF say that they're committed to doing.

And we just heard from IDF commander along the border today, the northern border commander saying, we need to be prepared for maneuver and action, which again raises the specter as we saw yesterday, with the visit of the defense minister to the northern border, the possibility of ground troops going across the border. So, this prep -- the IDF just seems intent on keeping up this type and level of pressure.

WALKER: Nic Robertson in Israel and Jomana Karadsheh in Lebanon, thank you both. Meanwhile, sources tell CNN that the Biden Administration has all but paused its attempts to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire and hostage release deal. They say the U.S. is recognizing that reaching a deal in the near term is almost impossible due to the lack of political will from either side.

Arlette Saenz is at the White House with more. Arlette, what are you hearing from administration officials and do they still think President Biden could play a role in this, in defusing this conflict?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Amara, Israel's fresh assault on Hezbollah in Lebanon are certainly adding another complicated layer to these efforts to try to reach a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, really making it all the more difficult to do so in the near term. Now, sources tell CNN that senior U.S. officials in recent days have not really been vigorously pushing in those ceasefire negotiations, determining at this point that they don't see there being any political will between each side to try to get this across the finish line.

Now, President Biden and his top advisers, senior U.S. officials really have not abandoned efforts to reach a ceasefire deal entirely, but they are acknowledging the complicated dynamics at play. A senior Democrat in close touch with the White House said that the sentiment among some of those officials who are involved in the discussions is essentially, "We can't want this more than they want it." So the big question is -- here, is whether the U.S. can get any political buy-in from Israel or Hamas to reach a ceasefire deal.

Now, ending the conflict in Gaza really is the president's top foreign policy goal as his time in office winds down. But it is increasingly becoming unclear whether he will actually be able to achieve that before he leaves the White House. Of course, there are other issues in the Middle East that the president had been working towards. Before this conflict between Israel and Hamas, he had been working towards trying to strike some type of normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel. That entirely remains on the backburner.

So, a lot of questions about what the approach will be to the Middle East in these coming months and when President Biden leaves office, if either Vice President Harris takes over or Former President Donald Trump. Now, in his speech at the U.N. General Assembly yesterday, President Biden really just made a perfunctory call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. He was expected to meet with foreign leaders over the course of the week to try to game out the next steps.

But at the same time, the Administration is also watching this conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon incredibly, incredibly closely as was just being discussed, the U.S. is still trying to assess the increasingly volatile situation, trying to assess what exactly Israel's end goals will be with this war. So at this time, the U.S. is really facing these two dynamics that they really don't see as being all that separate. So for President Biden, it is really the key challenge for him going forward, trying to reach some type of diplomatic solution to end the fighting between Israel and Hamas, but also prevent this conflict between Israel and Hezbollah from spreading into a wider regional war.

WALKER: All right. Arlette Saenz at the White House, thank you. And all eyes are on the United Nations in the next hour, that is when the Ukrainian president is set to give his big address at the General Assembly. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also expected to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the U.N. gathering. On Tuesday, Ukraine's wartime leader told the U.N.'s most powerful body, the Security Council, any diplomatic approach to Russia's president must come from a position of strength.

[08:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Putin has broken so many international norms and rules that he won't stop on his own. Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what's needed, forcing Russia into peace, the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the U.N. Charter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: All right, let's get right to CNN's Clare Sebastian for more questions. How do you force Russia into peace? As we were saying Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is set to address the UNGA today and possibly meet with President Biden, what kind of message are we expecting to hear from Zelenskyy during that address?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, Amara, so far the overarching theme of his comments during this trip to the U.S. has been that if Ukraine is to end the war on its terms, which it is now actively looking for ways to do with this so-called 'victory plan', it needs to be as strong as possible both militarily and diplomatically. So we may hear some specifics concerning weapons, particularly that elusive permissions to use Western provided long-range missiles on Russian territory. We may hear specifics on the diplomatic side as it relates to a concrete invitation perhaps to join NATO.

And obviously, both of those things are red lines for Russia. But Zelenskyy has been arguing over the past weeks and months that those red lines are looking increasingly fragile for Russia, particularly after the Kursk incursion, Ukraine having actually invaded Russian soil and Ukraine using its own drones to hit critical military targets, ammunition stores and the like inside Russia already. So, I think we'll hear that. We'll also potentially hear a global picture -- this is, of course, a global audience -- and Zelenskyy argued on Tuesday in front of the Security Council that if all of these countries back the U.N. Charter and Russia is violating the U.N. Charter, then they should all get behind a peace for Ukraine on its terms. So, those could be some of the themes that come up today.

WALKER: I wonder if Zelenskyy fields sense of urgency, knowing that where America is about to go to the polls electing a new president. Will this be Mr. Zelenskyy's last chance to secure American support. And obviously, that I'm sure will be playing on his mind as he speaks today.

SEBASTIAN: Yeah. This is -- I think for two reasons, right, he's on a clock. He -- the battlefield situation is one of them and the U.S. electoral calendar is another. One of the key purposes of this trip is not just the United Nations General Assembly, but also to present this 'victory plan' he had hoped not only to President Biden, but to both presidential candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Now, we have heard that there is no meeting currently scheduled with Trump and Zelenskyy, while in the U.S., is up against increasingly skeptical cool rhetoric coming from Former President Trump about helping Ukraine. Take a listen to this from Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Every time Zelenskyy comes to the United States, Host^ walks away with $100 billion. I think he is the greatest salesman on earth, but we are stuck in that war unless I'm president. I'll get it done. I'll get it negotiated. I'll get out -- we got to get out.

(CROWD CHEERING)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: We are stuck in that war -- very significant because, right now, it is only the Kremlin that argues that the U.S. is actually in this war in any capacity. So, Trump echoing Kremlin rhetoric there. That's obviously in addition to the fact that his running mate, J.D. Vance has put forward his own peace plan which is very similar to the Kremlin's peace plan, that would involve Russia keeping the territory it currently occupies and setting up a demilitarization zone along the current frontline. That's in addition to Ukraine promising not to join NATO.

So, this is obviously very concerning to Ukraine, puts pressure on this moment and of course, on increasing its global support ahead of what happens in November, Amara.

WALKER: Clare Sebastian, thank you very much.

Still to come, a brand new report on security at the rally were Donald Trump got shot, says secret service agents on the scene had no idea who was in charge that day. We'll have more details in a moment. And the southeastern U.S. braces for the arrival of what is expected to be a major hurricane, we will get an update on Helene next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:21:40]

WALKER: The assassination attempt on Donald Trump, where the former president was shot in the ear, was both foreseeable and preventable. That is the damning conclusion of a U.S. Senate report looking into security at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Among the many problems, it notes secret service agents on the scene could not identify which agency was responsible for key aspects of the day's security arrangements. There's a lot more criticism of the secret service in this report.

Let's bring in CNN's National Security Reporter, Zach Cohen, with more. Zach, so walk us through what we are learning about what went wrong that day.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Amara, bipartisan consensus is that the details about the security failures outlined in this report were caused by incompetence on the part of the U.S. secret service. And specifically, as you mentioned, this report really hones in on the fact that a number of secret service agents that were responsible for the planning and security of that July 13th rally were not able to actually identify a single person who was in charge of the decision-making process. And that led to lapses on a number of fronts, including a failure to prevent a clear line of sight from that building, the shooter ultimately was personally on top of and had a clear line of sight at the rally stage, at Donald Trump himself, not blocking that line of sight despite concerns ahead of time that that was going to be a potential problem. The report also says that there was no plan on how to secure that building despite, again, conversations between local law enforcement and secret service prior to the rally about the need to do so.

And ultimately, this boils down to the fact that the U.S. secret service is ultimately responsible for the security at Donald Trump's rallies and at various other events that he requires protection for. And the ball was frankly dropped on multiple fronts according to lawmakers, who are conducting this investigation. And I want to point too that this also adds new details about the various communication failures that contributed to the assassination attempt that day.

It puts in very stark terms the critical moments leading up to the shooting when local law enforcement saw the shooter and were trying to radio that warning to law enforcement and to the secret service agents on the ground. But secret service never received that warning, in fact, the lead sniper for the secret service team there only realized something was wrong when he saw local law enforcement rushing toward the building with guns drawn and even then did not think to warn somebody to keep Trump from taking the stage.

So again, really detailing in very stark terms the failures and the secret service's ultimate responsibility for them.

WALKER: Really a disturbing picture there, Zach Cohen, thank you for your reporting.

Well, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are both back on the campaign trail today in some very familiar locations. Harris will be in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is her fourth trip to the area since launching her campaign in July. She is expected to outline plans for protecting and expanding the middle class. Trump is headed back to North Carolina, a state he visited over the weekend. It'll be interesting to see if he makes any public comments about Mark Robinson, the Republican running for governor of the state.

Robinson's campaign has collapsed since CNN's Question^ -File reported last week on a slew of controversial incendiary comments he posted years earlier to pornographic websites. Well, Georgia is another battleground state this election season, with the candidates focusing plenty of money and energy on wooing the state's large population of black voters.

[08:25:00]

But, is it working? CNN's John King came here to Atlanta to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Ponce City Market, Atlanta's historic Old Fourth Ward, once an old Sears warehouse near the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

LAKEYSHA HALLMON, GEORGIA VOTER: Everything started here.

KING (voice-over): Now, a community anchor that includes village retail, a showcase for black entrepreneurs. Its motto a message.

HALLMON: "Support is a verb" tells people to do something that if you love something, there should be action behind it. "Support is a verb" has told people the way that they can be a part of change.

KING (voice-over): Lakeysha Hallmon started the village in 2016 as a pop-up market. The retail shop opened in 2020, more proof Atlanta is a beacon of black economic and political power. And now a crucial test of whether Kamala Harris can build a coalition to keep Georgia blue.

HALLMON: We need to feel that things can change in our lifetime, that we are not always waiting on this fictional place where things get better in America. How about we start to do that now?

KING (voice-over): Loyalty to President Biden runs deep in the black community, but the switch to Harris flipped the 2024 vibe hear.

HALLMON: It doesn't feel so doomsday anymore. It actually feels hopeful and there's excitement.

KING (voice-over): Four in ten Georgia voters in 2020 were people of color and Biden won 80 percent of them enroute to his razor-thin win here. Harris needs to match that, maybe more, beginning with giant black turnout.

HALLMON: "Support is a verb." It really takes us to do something. That means if it rains, get out and vote. That means if you have a car and your neighbor doesn't have a car, take them to the polls with you.

KING (voice-over): Chanta Villano-Willis isn't sold, isn't sure the vice president is up to the top job.

CHANTA VILLANO-WILLIS, GEORGIA VOTER: I've been a democrat my entire adult life. This has actually been the first year where I was considering voting Republican.

KING (voice-over): Her mother isn't happy.

VILLANO-WILLIS: Never thought she'll see a black person, president in her life. She did. Now, Kamala Harris is for president. My mother says she don't care what she does, let's just get her in there. And I simply don't feel the same.

KING (voice-over): Villano-Willis works a mix of gig jobs, so she can care for her mother and her son with special needs. She likes when Donald Trump promises more oil drilling and to promote crypto currencies, but she sides with Harris on abortion rights and says Trump often talks down to blacks.

VILLANO-WILLIS: Oh and his favorite color is black, (inaudible) -- I don't know. We don't have good choices. KING (voice-over): Will you vote or are there circumstances where you might skip it?

VILLANO-WILLIS: I'm going to vote because that's my civic American duty. Too many people fought for me to vote.

KING (voice-over): Suresh Sharma worked at NASA and GE before starting his own business to support manufacturing start-ups.

SURESH SHARMA, GEORGIA VOTER: Strategically and long-term economy is in a very good shape.

KING (voice-over): Sharma lives in suburban Cobb County, calls himself a textbook independent, has a three-step test to pick a president. Ability to govern is step one. Sharma says Harris is a blank slate and he calls Trump a failure because he didn't keep big promises like replacing Obamacare and shrinking the debt. Ability to manage large projects is test two and Sharma says neither candidate has done that. He leans Harris because of test three.

SHARMA: Remember, president is a role model, therefore, morals matter. And what you see and what you do has a real-life implication. I can't tell my son that, hey, would you like to be president like him?

KING (voice-over): Rebel Teahouse is in Decatur, part of DeKalb County in the critical Atlanta suburbs. The Harris literature here is proof of a big change. Owner Christine Nguyen was undecided and unhappy when we first met in April. She sat out 2020 because she had no interest in Biden or Trump and dreaded the idea of a rematch.

KING: Where are you now?

CHRISTINE NGUYEN, GEORGIA VOTER: Knowing the background that she came from, knowing the culture that she has to bring as well as her values and beliefs, I'm proud to say that there is somebody who is able to, like, voice the things that we as a people have been shouting for like, the past four years.

KING (voice-over): Nguyen says the Harris small business plan meshes with her goal of opening a second location, and she lists reproductive rights and climate change as top issues.

NGUYEN: We deserve more than the two candidates that were there before who didn't understand us.

KING (voice-over): Debates about whether Trump or Harris are better for business are common and close to home.

NGUYEN: That comes up very often. I hear a lot, like even in my family of entrepreneurs, it comes up every now and done, right? That Trump just knows business better. I think at the end of the day, it is what you value and like, what your beliefs are in terms of your ethics.

KING (voice-over): Four years after sitting out, Nguyen is excited to vote early, plus she is hosting a voter registration event at the Teahouse just before the Georgia deadline.

NGUYEN: My fingers are crossed and I will make sure to do my best to get my whole community to the polls.

[08:30:00]

KING (voice-over): Excited for the big event, well aware of the numbers, and organization are critical.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: CNN's John King reporting, always fascinating to hear from the voters themselves.

Still to come, Israel intercepts a ballistic missile fired by Hezbollah that comes close to Tel Aviv. We'll have more on the escalating conflict when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Israel unleashes more airstrikes on Lebanon as Hezbollah carries out an unprecedented attack. More now on our top story. Lebanon's health ministry says at least 23 people were killed in the latest round of Israeli strikes Wednesday. Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, people were rattled by the sounds of sirens. Israel says it intercepted a ballistic missile near Tel Aviv. The Israeli military says it is the first time a Hezbollah missile has reached so close to the city. Hezbollah says it was targeting the headquarters of Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad.

Meanwhile, civilians are continuing to flee. Lebanon's foreign minister says about half a million people have been displaced. The White House says it has been working hard from the beginning to prevent an escalation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR: Well, it is certainly deeply concerning, obviously to the Israelis of course, but also to us because as Secretary Blinken just said a little bit ago, we really have been working hard since the beginning of this conflict to prevent it from escalating and deepening and broadening. And one of the key areas that we've been trying to prevent escalation is between Israel and Hezbollah up along that border with Lebanon.

So obviously, we woke up this morning to these reports deeply concerning, evidence still, again as Secretary Blinken noted, that Israel faces a legitimate threat from a terrorist group backed by Iran right across the border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Let's take you now to Tel Aviv where the Israeli government is offering an update. Here is Israeli Spokesperson, David Mencer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVID MENCER, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON: -- aerial defense system. Immediately following the missile attack, the launcher in southern Lebanon was struck and destroyed. This was a Hezbollah long- range advanced missile fired indiscriminately towards millions of our people. In the past day, Israel has received over 300 rockets and missiles fired into this country, six people have been injured. No country would put up with that.

Let me share with you some more figures, latest figures from here in Israel. We have 63,500 Israelis who have been evacuated from their homes in our north.

[08:35:00]

Israelis refugees in their own country, evicted from their homes by a terrorist organization who have fired, as I said, 9,360 rockets on our homes. 49 of our people have been murdered by this Hezbollah fire. We've had 372 Israelis wounded and 200,000 dunams of our land, the land of Israel, burnt by this rocket, drone and missile fire. Just yesterday, 19 fires were started by Hezbollah with this rocket fire, with firefighters having been called to 900 fires since October 8th.

In terms of an operational update from the IDF, we are targeting Hezbollah's senior chain of command and their arms and weapons. Just yesterday, in Beirut, a targeted precise strike eliminated Ibrahim Muhammad Qabisi, the head of Hezbollah's missiles and rockets unit, and other senior Hezbollah commanders. He was responsible for the rocket fire towards Haifa in recent days.

So by phone calls, radio broadcasts, websites, and text messages, the IDF has been urging Lebanese civilians to move out of harm's way. The images have proven that Hezbollah are hiding arms caches inside civilian homes. We see secondary explosions of Hezbollah weapon stockpiles, munitions, long-range cruise missiles, drones, rocket launchers, thousands of them, all located in the heart of civilian populations inside Lebanon. All of them prepared for immediate launch against our people.

I remind you, Lebanon has no territorial claims against Israel. The border between our two countries is precisely where the U.N. asked for it to be. Now, the State of Lebanon and Hezbollah, the terror organization, which operates under the guidance of Iran, are responsible for this escalation, of the security situation in the north of Israel in violation of international law and U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1701.

Next, an update from COGAT and their work coordinating aid into Gaza. Since the beginning of this war, 53,000 truckloads have delivered 1,038,000 tons of aid into Gaza. That is 795 tons of food, 51,000 tons of water, 26,000 tons of medical supplies, 76,000 tons --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: All right. We've been listening to an Israeli government spokesperson, David Mencer, giving an update on the latest back and forth between Israel and Hezbollah. Let's bring in CNN Global Affairs Analyst, Kim Dozier. Hi there, Kim. I know you are listening into this as well and the spokesperson also talked about the IDF targeting the senior chain of command in Hezbollah. What was your -- what were your takeaways here from what Mencer was saying?

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: That they are feeling the need to make a case to the world that they've been constantly attacked by Hezbollah and that their response is, in Israel's terms, legitimate, doesn't break any rules and international law. And they're basically saying, you know, what would you do as a nation faced by this many attacks over almost a year from a recognized terrorist entity north of your country.

So, they're also trying to say, look, we have legitimate targets that we are hitting. They are offering video that purports to show missiles hidden inside homes, possibly civilian homes. So, this is basically trying to answer the world's outrage over the fleeing that we are seeing of civilians from the southern Lebanon area to Beirut, explaining the civilian casualties that have happened and basically, justifying a continuation of this heating-up war for some time to come. Possibly making a pretext for a ground invasion, which is what everyone in the U.N., right now, hopes to avoid.

WALKER: Yes. I was just about to ask you about that and I first wanted to clarify that it was Hezbollah that began launching drone and rocket attacks on October 8th, the day after the October 7th attacks and it has escalated to this point, especially since the simultaneous pager and walkie-talkie explosions that Israel was behind. But, what kind of indications are you seeing that the IDF could send ground troops into Lebanon?

[08:40:00]

DOZIER: Well, they have moved some of their top units from Gaza to bases near the north and in the past couple of days, senior Israeli commanders have been talking to brigades, have been doing -- that have been doing exercises near the border and basically, signaling that they could do some sort of a ground action without confirming that that's in the Israeli military plans. The problem that they face are that a lot of the Hezbollah munitions are buried underground.

And whereas in Gaza, those underground tunnels are largely in sandy soil; the tunnels in Lebanon are largely in mountainous hard rock. This is harder to find, harder to penetrate and -- whereas, they could use some of the bunker busters to completely collapse entire systems down in Gaza, those missiles and rockets that Israel could launch or drop won't have the same effect on a labyrinthine system buried within mountains.

And so, that's why many military analysts and, I believe as well, we are at least going to see some sort of limited ground invasion to strike some of those networks.

WALKER: To what end? DOZIER: What Israel has said is that it needs the Hezbollah rocket fire and missile fire on the north to stop, so that something like 60,000 displaced Israelis can return to their homes. They've been evacuated all this time, living in refugee centers. And it is the time when everyone goes back to school in Israel, there's been a lot of domestic pressure on the Netanyahu Administration to get those people back to their homes, their farms, et cetera.

But, the problem is where does it stop? Once you start trading this level of fire, you've got Hezbollah now attempting to hit the Mossad headquarters near Tel Aviv. They've never tried to strike a target so close to heavily populated areas in recent times. And that's where you get on what's called the escalation spiral, where things can get worse and worse, and one errant missile like what Hezbollah says was an errant aerial attack that killed seven or eight Israeli children in the north. That's the kind of thing that can lead to an all-out war and pull Iran in, which is what U.S. officials are furiously negotiating and hoping to avoid.

WALKER: Yeah, that is a concern, right? Is, you know, at what point -- what will be the threshold for Iran to get involved? Kim Dozier, it is good to see you this morning. Thank you for the conversation.

Well, Boeing has had a rough couple of years and a new government report is not likely to help matters for the aerospace giant. Government investigators found factory workers felt pressured to put production speed over quality. Some workers said they did not receive enough training. And back in January, a door plug blew off a 737 Max plane, remember those images. Though no one was killed, the incident sparked numerous federal investigations.

CNN Aviation Correspondent, Pete Muntean, joining us now from Washington. Hello, Pete. So, what are you learning about the details in this report and how the company is reacting?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, some pretty egregious findings here in this (inaudible) published audit of Boeing's plant in Renton, Washington. The same plant where that brand new 737 Max-9 rolled off the line without the critical door plug bolts installed, leading that terrifying door plug blow out that you saw on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.

The findings include the results of an FAA survey of 2,100 Boeing workers on the 737 line and about half said that schedule pressure is still significant, essentially putting speed over quality, which is huge since it was a quality control failure that led to the door plug incident. One more big finding here, workers said they felt inadequately trained by Boeing to do their jobs. Some said that Boeing was not providing them with the proper tools.

The FAA audit found that one worker was using a tool he made himself to check the gaps between certain parts of the plane and the report says this. This tool is a mechanic-made, unauthorized, uncalibrated, unmarked. And when asked how other mechanics take this same measurement, he said they all do the same thing. These findings were released by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and in just a few hours, it will grill the FAA Administrator, Mike Whitaker, saying that the agency has not stayed on top of Boeing.

[08:45:00]

Yesterday, during a different hearing on Capitol Hill, FAA Chief Whitaker insisted that the FAA has ramped up oversight of Boeing and that Boeing has made some strides. But I want you to listen to now to what he said about a turnaround of Boeing's culture when it comes to safety.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE WHITAKER, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: I think the safety culture change is going to be a long-term project. I think it is going to take years of delivering that safety message and the employees actually seeing that safety is more important than production before that culture change. So it is going to take a very long-term sustained commitment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Bit of a different tone between yesterday's hearing and the one we were likely to hear today, maybe the FAA administrator walking into a bit of a buzzsaw now. Boeing underscores to me that it has taken steps to empower its workers, but it is a bit of a journey. Remember, Boeing workers are still on strike, now in its 13th day. And interestingly, the FAA chief said yesterday, that Boeing had a new safety plan to roll out to employees, but that rollout has been delayed by that strike.

WALKER: Wow, really incredible details there. And it is going to be journey as well to regain all that credibility from some of those skeptical passengers. Pete Muntean, thanks so much. Good to see you.

Still to come, the southeastern U.S. is bracing for the arrival of what is expected to be a major hurricane. We'll have a live update on the path of Helene next.

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WALKER: Any moment now, Tropical Storm Helene could be upgraded to a hurricane. At last check, Helene was off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and heading north towards the Florida Panhandle. It could be the strongest storm to make landfall in the U.S. in more than a year when it roars ashore Thursday night. Thousands have been forced to evacuate in Florida ahead of the storm.

Patrick Oppmann joining us live from Havana with the conditions there. What's the latest, Patrick? You're a bit wet.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, conditions, yes, are deteriorating. It was a beautiful sunrise this morning. In just last hour, some more of these outer bands of (inaudible) since last night started to come in and you've seen this (inaudible) absolutely clear of people and it is not hurricane conditions, it is not even tropical storm conditions, but it is nasty. You don't want to be out in this. And the concern is throughout the day, it will get worse and worse, even as Tropical Storm Helene continues north, continues in between Mexico and Cuba.

Essentially, it is missing a direct hit on Cuba is what we expect. It will still continue to push lots of wind, lots of rain ashore here. And the concern with that is, in a city which has infrastructure as old as Havana does, it doesn't take a direct hit for buildings to fall, for flooding to take place since we are, of course, on the coast here.

[08:50:00]

And so for many people, even though the storm -- the worst of it may miss us, it can still have a big impact on their lives. It can still lead to loss of homes and possessions, and causes dangerous situations. So, the government here has warned people to take care. They have canceled schools in the province in the west of me. Very likely, they should cancel school here in Havana because the roads are getting flooded, conditions are getting worse and worse, and that will continue throughout the day into tomorrow.

Of course, the storm is going to be much, much, much more powerful as it travels into the Gulf of Mexico, into waters that are very, very warm, historically warm. That is the fuel for hurricanes and by the time it gets to the Florida, it is predicted to become a major hurricane, a Category 3 or above. And that is a very, very dangerous kind of hurricane as the name suggests, because it means it can cause structural damage. It is not just down power lines, down trees; it can actually impact houses. It can destroy buildings. So, people really need to think very carefully but where are they going to ride out this storm if they are in Helene's path.

WALKER: Patrick Oppmann, good to see you. Thanks so much, in Havana for us there.

Still to come, you don't need to be in Europe to get your hands on some classic Portuguese dishes. We'll take a look at Macau's thriving Portuguese food scene. That's after the break.

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WALKER: For Asia-based fans of Portuguese food, you don't need to fly to Europe to get a taste, you can get it in Macau where European influence is still everywhere 25 years after Portugal handed the territory over to China. Marc Stewart has more.

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MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pedro Almeida moved to Macau from Portugal in 2015.

PEDRO ALMEIDA, EXECUTIVE CHEF, PORTUGUESE RESTAURANTS & RETAIL CONCEPTS: I love cooking since I was a kid. Macau seems a bit Portuguese, so I decided to come to Macau and started to cook Portuguese traditional food.

STEWART (voice-over): The 31-year-old is the Executive Chef of Albergue 1601, one of a number of Portuguese restaurants in Macau. Founded in 2010, his menu features an extensive list of traditional Portuguese classics, including the seafood rice. The secret to Albergue's appeal, authenticity, he says.

ALMEIDA: The way we can be creative is to bring new dishes that have never been in Macau.

STEWART (voice-over): There's no shortage of good Michelin-star restaurants here. But, some restaurant tours here are doubling down on Macau's Portuguese past. Observers like David Wong, a former food and beverage manager at a major hotel chain in Macau, says this helps them to stand out in a crowded competitive space.

DAVID WONG, CEO, F&B MATTERS: Some have been open 40 years, 30 years. So, they've stand the test of time. Not many restaurants last that long, right? And what is real in Macau, I guess, is with history of Portugal been there for 450 years and you should (ph) really try Portuguese cuisine there.

STEWART (voice-over): Albergue 1601 is owned by a restaurant group in Macau that champions Portuguese gastronomy.

[08:55:00]

Its newest venture, Casa Maquista, pays homage to its Asian home, serving Macanese cuisine, an authentically local cuisine that blends Chinese and Portuguese with influences from across Southeast Asia, India, and Africa.

ALMEIDA: The Macanese cuisine is a very old cuisine. What. We have now is new equipments, new techniques that can made better textures. We can keep meats more juicy. We can control the temperature, it is something that they couldn't do 500 years ago when Portuguese arrived to Macau.

STEWART (voice-over): And while most visitors to Macau don't come just to eat, according to Wong, he hopes that changes soon. Those who do will find unique flavors from east and west., and no shortage of good local food.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: It all looks so delicious. Marc Stewart, thank you.

Thanks for joining me here on "CNN Newsroom." I'm Amara Walker. "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is up next.

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