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Israel Declares Closed Military Zone Around Three Towns Near The Border With Lebanon; Helene Among Deadliest U.S. Hurricane In Last 50 Years; Trump Escalates Extreme Rhetoric, Attacks On Harris; Hopes In Gaza Fading As Attention Shifts To Lebanon. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired September 30, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:40]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: It is 8:00 p.m. in London, 3:00 p.m. in Asheville, North Carolina, 10:00 p.m. here in Tel Aviv.

I'm Jim Sciutto. Thanks so much for joining me today on CNN NEWSROOM. And let's get right to the news.

Israeli ground forces may soon be moving into Lebanon. The IDF has now closed three Israeli towns on its northern border, declaring a closed military zone there. According to U.S. officials, Israeli Special Forces have already carried out what they describe as very small raids inside Lebanese territory, as the Israeli air force keeps up relentless airstrikes.

The defense minister, Yoav Gallant, told troops in northern Israel today. This next stage will begin soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOAV GALLANT, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: The next stage in the war against Hezbollah will begin soon. It will be a significant factor in changing the security situation, and will allow us to complete the important part of the war's goals, returning the residents to their homes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: And further north, for the first time since October 7th, Israeli airstrikes hit within the central part of Beirut. Israel's military campaign into Lebanon has now displaced an estimated one million people or more.

CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is in Beirut. Chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt is in Washington.

Ben, I want to begin with you.

First, Hezbollah and it sounds like, oh, no, I thought that was going to be an air siren, might just be a motorcycle in the background, Hezbollah says it will name a leader soon, a new leader soon given that so many of their senior leaders have been killed in recent airstrikes. Do we know -- will they announce that new leader? BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I wouldn't hold

my breath, Jim, waiting for that announcement. Keep in mind, not only have they not yet announced a successor to Hassan Nasrallah, we still don't even know where, when, if Hassan Nasrallah will have a public funeral. Clearly, the organization is in a state of flux to say the least.

I mean, if you'd go back to 1992 when the best Abbas al-Musawi, the predecessor of Hassan Nasrallah, was killed, immediately, Nasrallah was appointed. There was no delay, but clearly given that if you look at all the names of senior people, particularly on the military side, who have been killed in the last two weeks, there aren't a lot of people left.

One is obviously Naim Qassim who came out and made his speech today, saying that they would assign -- they would appoint somebody as soon as possible. The other is Hashem Safieddine, another individual in the leadership council. But at this point I think given the situation they're in, and now were looking at it possible Israeli incursion or perhaps invasion into southern Lebanon, their priority might be simply just to deal with things as they happen as opposed to go through the formalities and appointing a successor, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Alex, President Biden seemed to make quite clear today in his public comments that he wants this war to de-escalate, not escalate, I wonder is the White House exerting any pressure on Israel at this point, not to further expand the war?

ALEXANDER MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jim, he was asked about whether he was comfortable with those raids and he's said, quote, I'm comfortable with them stopping so clearly this is not something that the Biden ministration wants to see the administration is exerting pressure they claim and as a result of discussions over the weekend, they say that Israel is expected to perhaps imminently undertake what they're calling a more limited incursion into Lebanon. But it is its clear that the White House is either unable or unwilling to stop Israel from growing going in.

We heard just moments ago from the State Department who say that they have been informed about a number of planned Israeli operations, including ground operations and in speaking with sources, Jim, that the understanding of that the U.S. has is that Israeli troops will expand on the smaller rate that we've seen already into a broader campaign, albeit a limited one. They say, going after Hezbollah infrastructure just on the other side of the border, the troops would take care of whatever their mission is and then come back into Israel.

[15:05:08]

There is one U.S. official called it a mutual understanding between the Israeli and American sides, falling discussions over the past few days that this would be a limited series of incursions or incursion in general, the U.S. is very worried that this could grow into something like what we saw back in 2006, which lasted more than a month. They believe they have assurances that that will not happen, but the U.S. is somewhat clear-eyed about this knowing that this does fully have the possibility of expanding both in terms of the timeline and of the scope that is something they continue, they say, to discuss with the Israelis, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Ben, as you know, until recently, the U.S. was attempting to put its diplomatic muscle behind a ceasefire effort between Israel and Lebanon. I wonder from where you're standing in Beirut, do Lebanese officials there believe there's any credible pathway now to a diplomatic solution to this?

WEDEMAN: No, I mean, we've heard these fairly weak comments coming out of President Biden about not being comfortable with an Israeli ground incursion and of course, all of that talk in the previous days about a ceasefire, an attempt to get a ceasefire. But in reality nothing could be farther from the truth. It doesn't seem that the Americans are willing to use their diplomatic muscle to try to bring the situation under control in a sense, sort of throughout the region. There's a general impression that the United States just hasn't tried very hard to stop the war in Gaza, let alone to prevent the war from spreading into Lebanon, which it now has.

At this point, the Americans have been very good at providing Israel with weapons. They've been very good at reassuring the Israelis time and time again about their support for Israel's right to self-defense but they've done very little terms of actual concrete action to bring the situation under control.

Secretary Antony Blinken has come to the region, I believe 10 times, perhaps 11, but has nothing to show for it. And therefore, there's very little faith in the Americans, the French foreign minister is in Beirut today. But we're not seeing any American diplomats going anywhere at this point.

So, the feeling is the Americans are either uninterested or unwilling, or unable to actually do something to and these wars, the war in Lebanon and the war in Gaza.

SCIUTTO: Yeah, the two failed ceasefire efforts led by the U.S.

Ben Wedeman, Alex Marquardt, thanks so much.

Joining me now is Major Doron Spielman. He is an IDF spokesperson.

I don't want to ask you any questions that might relate to current operations or imminent operations. But let me at least ask you this because the Israeli prime minister said one of the main war goals here is to allow residents of northern Israel to return to their homes where they've been evacuated from since virtually the days after October 7.

What does Israel believe it needs to accomplish to allow them to do so safely?

MAJOR DORON SPIELMAN, IDF SPOKESMAN: So, Jim, thank you for having me.

I can tell you, look, if we have children that are playing on border and we want our children to be able to go a mile from our home or ride their bicycle to a friend and not worry about being kidnapped by a ground incursion like occurred on October 7 from Hezbollah terrorists. And that's in fact exactly what they're doing, they're planning a ground incursion. We saw that Nasrallah and many of the people who were eliminated were in fact planning exactly take over the Galilee, which was the exact same game book as what happened on October 7 in the south.

So, one thing is to eliminate the Hezbollah operations, their missile and silos that are pointed at Israel. In fact, were fired not that long ago and had been firing maybe not to the capacity they were before, but are firing towards Israel, along with their command leadership so they can not just rebuild this terror entity and resurface and threatened the people of Israel.

SCIUTTO: The trouble is, Israel's track record including when it goes into Lebanon on the ground from 1980 to 2000, of course the years years-long occupation, but also in the 2006 war is such that after Israel leaves or even while it's there, Hezbollah has not been eliminated, has gotten its survived another day, as you know. And at times has gotten stronger.

I just wonder what lessons has the IDF learned from those previous experiences that it might attempt to apply today?

SPIELMAN: Well, I tell you, first of all, the IDF, the military is saying very, very clearly Hezbollah has got to move beyond Litani River.

[15:10:04]

We have to understand, there's no natural border between Israel and Lebanon. There's a border that was drawn with a marked on the map.

The Litani River is a natural border, is a way for Israel to track exactly where Hezbollah is if they cross the river, you clearly, clearly see it. It's not feasible to dig underneath the river. And so therefore, they have got to withdraw beyond that area so that they cannot target Israeli civilians.

Now, what is going to keep them there, I think is what you're asking.

SCIUTTO: Yeah.

SPIELMAN: And there are a series of options. In the past, Israel's relied on the international community, on UNIFIL, which essentially is United Nations body that at the end of the day is soon as Hezbollah, within a year of making an agreement to withdraw, they simply move forward and UNIFIL, raised up their hands, and ran away as fast as they could.

And so, Israel is not going to be willing to reach any type of deal, Jim, that does not guarantee that whoever's watching that area is going to enforce it. Otherwise, our people are simply open to further attack. SCIUTTO: Would you -- can you envision trusting the Lebanese military

to occupy that space and therefore enforce that limited force, pushing Hezbollah back?

SPIELMAN: Look, I'm not on the political level, but I can tell you as a military and there's a military spokesperson, we have been calling on the Lebanese government for years and years and years to stop Hezbollah. As matter of fact, you know, I got phone calls, I have friends in Lebanon that are Sunni.

Right now, the Sunni people in Lebanon, there's a celebration amongst the Sunni people in Lebanon. They hope Ben, I know he's over there right now, can show your viewers that in fact, they're celebrating. Why? Because Nasrallah was a horrible terrorist mostly to other Muslims. Israel is kind of a side factor.

And so therefore, we call the Lebanese government once again and the international community, this is not something we want to be doing. We never want to go into Lebanon. I don't want to send our people into Lebanon. However, we just want to move back to our border and have his Hezbollah withdraw, move out of the way.

SCIUTTO: There's been a great deal of speculation as to how when and if Hezbollah retaliates for the killing of Nasrallah and these other strikes.

Does the IDF believe that Hezbollah is currently capable of retaliating militarily in any sort of convincing way?

SPIELMAN: So, I'll tell you this. First of all, I wouldn't put it past them. We know that they've stockpiled enough weapons, Jim, that make the Houthis almost looked like child's play, the Houthis are sending thousand pound down, thousand kilogram rockets. We know that Hezbollah itself fired thousand kilogram weapons towards visible but can wipe out 13 square blocks. We're not going to get pass them.

On the other hand, there's no question that their capabilities have been severely diminished and there's a likelihood that they would like right now to carry out attacks in Israel, as we're speaking of a larger, of a larger severity, but they don't have a command and control structure to do so.

So, therefore, this is a time as I hear Ben and your other colleagues speak about the U.S. support, we're calling in the international community. You see what the Israel has done. We've cut off the head of the snake. Now, demand for Hezbollah to adhere to international guidelines and move beyond the Litani River.

SCIUTTO: Of course, the U.S., military works quite closely with the IDF on a number of operations, but not all of them. U.S. officials made quite clear they were not involved in the strike on Nasrallah. Are U.S. -- is U.S. military at all working with the IDF on its operations, potentially the south airstrikes, choosing other targets against Hezbollah and military position or is this something the IDF is doing on its own? SPIELMAN: Look, there's always a certain type of relationship here. The Israel's relationship with the United States is amongst the closest relationships, the two different states out probably in the entire world. Our intelligence coordination as at an all-time high, and there's a phenomenal working relationship with the U.S. We share similar values with the U.S., both in terms of our enemies, which are terror operations and trying to live democratically free states.

Having said that, Israel is an independent country, and we will do whatever it takes on behalf of Israel and we hit yesterday in Yemen, 1,500 miles away, which was the longest flight attack that usual has ever taken and say 1,500 mile distance to hit incredibly specific locations of Houthi terrorists that fired the rocket that blew just over our heads yesterday.

And therefore, we're saying very clearly, we have our friends around the world, the U.S. being the best. However, we are not going to tolerate risk to our people, whether it's far away where the Houthis are on, whether it's nearby.

SCIUTTO: Major Doron Spielman, thanks so much for joining.

SPIELMAN: Thank you so much.

SCIUTTO: Appreciate it.

SPIELMAN: Well, here to discuss the state of this war from a diplomatic perspective and more broadly, Firas Maksad, senior fellow and senior director for strategic outreach at the Middle East Institute.

Thanks so much for joining.

FIRAS MAKSAD, SENIOR FELLOW & SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR STRATEGIC OUTREACH MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: You heard there from the IDF, what Israel's goal is, in effect. They want to make its safe for residents to return to their homes in northern Israel and that requires pushing Hezbollah further back as far as the Litani River, many miles back.

[15:15:01]

Does that require, in your view, a large-scale ground offensive inside Lebanese territory and the possibility of staying there for some time?

MAKSAD: Well, Jim, lets be clear, there's some daylight between what the stated objective of this war has been from the Israeli side and the rally events playing out on the ground.

The stated objective is to return some 60,000 Israelis to their homes in the north. However, what we're witnessing is something much broader than that. It is an attempt to perhaps redraw the balance of power, not only in Lebanon, but more broadly in the Levant and even perhaps in the region as it relates to Iran. And we've heard time and again that this might now very much include a

ground component. And in the Lebanese psyche in particular, but others have been region to they remember that past Israeli land incursion and invasions into Lebanon were also dubbed as being limited before. In 1982, it ended being all the way to Beirut. So, there's a lot of question marks and certainly a lack of trust as to how far this operation will go.

Is it in fact something that is meant to be limited and that unlocks a diplomatic process that allows a return to ceasefire and then 1701, a new security arrangements for south Lebanon? By the way, the Lebanese government has already signed up for that. And now a much weakened Hezbollah might allow for it, or is this something much broader to redraw the balance of power in the region?

SCIUTTO: Yeah. It's -- listen, I personally, I don't use the phrase limited ground incursion because limited to what extent, right? And who defines those limits?

As you know, Israel's experience on the ground in Lebanon has been bloody in 2006. And going back to the longer occupation, '82 to 2000, often ineffectual, Hezbollah has survived to live another day and sometimes gotten stronger.

In your view, has Israel learned lessons from that history?

MAKSAD: Well, I mean, I can't speak for Israel, Jim, but I can tell you that there is an opportunity today, very clearly, just listening into the stated Lebanese official position, but not only the Lebanese government position, the public sentiment where the communal leaders are, including speaker of parliament, Nabih Berri, who happens to be Shia, they are supportive of a ceasefire and an implementation U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 with strong enforcement and monitoring mechanisms.

That is not where Hezbollah is. I mean, we heard today for the first time since Nasrallah's assassination from his deputy, from Naim Qassem. And he again insisted on Lebanon front and the Gaza front being united and continuing to fire from Lebanon, as long as there is no ceasefire in Gaza.

That is a very unpopular proposition right now in Lebanon. I would dare I even say even amongst Hezbollah support is. So, there's a diplomatic opportunity there for a political breakthrough to capitalize on it.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. It's a good, it's a good point because too often folks imagine there's some sort of monolithic support for a groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon or even among the Shias in Lebanon, or Hamas in Gaza. Decapitation, killings when it comes to terror groups by themselves often don't make much of a difference in defeating a resistance.

That said, this has been across the board, right? I mean, the whole depth chart of Hezbollah leadership eliminated. And in addition to that, the communications network dismantled and Israel making quite clear to thousands of Hezbollah fighters with the pager attack that they could find them and attack them and injure them and now you have airstrikes taking out many firing positions, et cetera.

Has Israel for now effectively defanged Hezbollah as a clear and present danger on its northern border?

MAKSAD: There's only so much that we know at this point, Jim, but very clearly, decisive powerful blows. But this is essentially opening round of a 12th round match between Hezbollah backed by Iran on one hand, that Israel. And if we know anything from history is that Israel is pretty effective and landing these strong opening blows. But Iran tends to play the long game.

Hezbollah tends to regenerate and so making sure that Hezbollah and Iran do not resupply and that these lines is logistical supply lines through Syria to Iran are interdicted are key and the enforcement of that aspect of 1701, once we get to it, would be a very important thing.

SCIUTTO: Iran -- you mentioned Iran playing the long game. They certainly haven't struck yet, struck back at Israel either for the Haniyeh killing or now the Nasrallah killing.

[15:20:00]

They seem to be contracting it out, saying that this is in effect Hezbollah's job here. I wonder, do you see Iran responding?

MAKSAD: Listen, I can tell you this, the lack of response from Iran is contributing to a lot of misgrievances amongst its Arab allies, particularly in Lebanon, even within the Hezbollah support base in the Shia community, essentially asking and wondering whether they've been left out to dry by themselves with Iran not coming to their aid. I don't think Iran will be coming to their aid. They understand that in any direct confrontation with Israel they are at a disadvantage.

And so what we've been hearing time and again from Iranian officials is this commitment to support Hezbollah, to support the Lebanese and the various proxies in their fight against Israel, but not to be dragged into it themselves. They see that as a trap that they very much want to avoid.

SCIUTTO: Yeah, I mean, listen, you could even say, not just a humiliating blow for Hezbollah, but today, for Iran as well, given how central Hezbollah is to its projection of power regionally.

Firas Maksad, thanks so much for joining.

MAKSAD: My pleasure.

SCIUTTO: And we will have much more on the deadly war between Israel and Hezbollah, and its possible expansion on the other side of this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

As the region prepares for a possible Israeli ground invasion into Lebanon, the Lebanese army has evacuated its observation posts at the country's southern border with Israel and move to barracks in the border villages, a Lebanese security source tells CNN.

Joining me now to discuss exactly how an Israeli ground invasion into Lebanon might unfold is Colonel Peter Mansoor.

Thanks so much for joining us.

COL. PETER MANSOOR, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Oh, my pleasure.

SCIUTTO: I often think when the phrase limited ground incursion is thrown around, did it's, of course, limited is in the eyes of the beholder in your -- in your view, what does a even limited Israeli ground invasion, incursion into Lebanon look like?

MANSOOR: Yeah, I think what the Israelis are signaling here is limited won't refer to force size. This will be a full-blown invasion of southern Lebanon. They're already beginning it with special forces incursions into the region.

What they mean is this will be limited in terms of time. They're not in it for an 18 year occupation like the last time around. They will be there to destroy ammunition caches, destroy the logistical infrastructure of Hezbollah, try to get a some sort of a peacekeeping force maybe on the Litani River, set up and then they're going to withdraw. I really don't see a long-term occupation of Lebanon in the immediate future.

SCIUTTO: Israel's experience of attempting just that. I was here -- I was on the northern border in 2006. What you just described sounds quite similar to Israeli intentions then. It stayed for a month. It had greater losses than it expected.

It pulled back in 18 years later, has below a stronger, not weaker. So I wonder how Israel prevents that outcome from repeating itself.

MANSOON: Yeah, the only way they can prevent that outcome is to shut off the supply lines to Iran and I think Iran is key to the future of the region.

Iran knows that. I think Israel knows that as well. And this is where the long game is going. How does Israel deal with Iranian support for these proxy forces around the region? And the United States, of course, has a huge role in that as well. So the initial a stage of this fight will be in southern Lebanon, but the longer term is going to be shutting off Iranian supplies to Hezbollah and Hamas and these other groups.

SCIUTTO: How do you do that, though? Because, I mean, there are many ways to get border with Syria, right? I mean, Syria is, is Iran's friend. There are a lot of ways to get weapons into Hezbollah.

MANSOOR: Yeah, it's going to be tough and it may incur, it may mean striking directly at Iran and making it painful for Iran to continue what it's doing.

Look, there's no easy solutions to this conflict. If there were, they already would have been tried. But Israel sees what Hezbollah is doing is an existential threat. It wants to return its citizens to their homes in northern Israel and this is the path that they've chosen.

SCIUTTO: In Gaza, for months, as the Israeli military operation continued there, we talked about, and by the way right up to the U.S. president, talked about the lack of attention to civilian casualties. Is the IDF -- for based on what you've seen so far in these airstrikes, making any sufficient effort to avoid civilian casualties? And do you expect anything similar if they go in on the ground?

MANSOOR: I think they're making the same degree of effort that they're making in Gaza, which means that they're targeting what they want to target, and the civilian casualties that occur, while that's just too bad. You know, it's difficult when groups like Hezbollah and Hamas embed themselves in the population.

There is no way to strike them cleanly and so it really comes down to, do you think the military advantage gained with these strikes is commensurate with the noncombatant casualties incurred. And I'd say so far, in the northern front, yes. That they've dealt Hezbollah some severe blows, decapitated its leadership, and we'll see how it -- how it goes when they try to winkle out the rank and file in the south now.

SCIUTTO: Before we go, this is the second U.S.-led ceasefire effort first in Gaza, the second in Lebanon that's going nowhere.

I wonder, is the Israeli prime minister listening to the U.S. right now? Or is he freelancing in effect and saying Israel is making its own choices here, we're forging ahead regardless of any hesitation, you might express?

MANSOOR: Absolutely the latter. Benjamin Netanyahu sees President Biden as a lame duck. He's going to do what he wants to do all the way up until the next president is sworn into office. I think Israel sees it has a period of time here of several months to do what it wants to do before it gets another president in who may change the terms of reference in the relationship.

[15:30:15]

SCIUTTO: A lot of time there, a lot of room to maneuver.

Colonel Peter Mansoor, thanks so much for sharing your insight.

MANSOOR: Thanks, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Coming up next, we are live in Asheville, North Carolina, where were seeing scenes of just absolute devastation in the wake of Hurricane Helene. At least one 115 people now confirmed dead from the storm, and hundreds remain missing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

The long road of recovery and reconstruction begins after Hurricane Helene raged through the American Southeast with at least 119 people now confirmed dead. A number officials sadly, fear will rise. Helene is one of the deadliest storms to hit the U.S. in the past 50 years, half a century, just look at those scenes there that damage breathtaking.

Lake Lure in western North Carolina filled now with debris that looks like the debris from homes. Asheville's historic river arts district, just destroyed. The surrounding community says it is now in desperate need of supplies, including water for displaced residents.

At the White House, President Biden promised a robust federal response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not leaving until the job is done. I just want you to know, I'm committed to traveling in the impacted areas as soon as possible.

[15:35:02]

But I've been told that it'd be disruptive if it did right now. We will not do that at the risk of diverting or delaying any, any response access needed to deal with this crisis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: CNN's Marybel Gonzalez is in Asheville for us.

And, you know, when you look at these pictures, Marybel, it looks like entire towns were just washed away. Give us a view from the ground where you are.

MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jim. Good afternoon.

The towns definitely devastated. And, you know, in here, the residents are feeling it in so many different ways. Let's start with a death toll, you know, the loss of human life. We know that, that death toll is increasing and is expected affected to increase. Over a third of those deaths are right here in the state of North Carolina.

We also know that on a level of just destruction of their communities, it's evidenced as you can see around me, the roads of this historic town are now turned into sludge, mud, making them impassable. Not only to people, residents trying to get out, but also for those emergency and urgent supplies to get in.

People here this morning where we are in Asheville waking up to the devastation workers coming into their jobs, to their employers, walking into these buildings and just seeing the devastation that happen happened overnight. One specific places this dairy production company that you see behind me, its a small business and we spoke to some of those workers who went in this morning and said, we don't know if this is going to take weeks or even years to rebuild adding that they don't even know if they have a job to go back to.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL CUATT, ASHEVILLE RESIDENT: Him, and me are both from Florida, so we've seen a lot of hurricanes, but I've never seen anything like this. I mean, that -- just from the Swannanoa River right here, that tiny little river just turned into this massive, I mean, disaster.

JESUS CAMPOS, ASHEVILLE RESIDENT: Seeing this place like this breaks everybody's heart. You know, there's people out here missing and stuff, like you don't know if were going to be walking and seeing somebody, you know, somebody's loved one. So that's pretty shocking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GONZALEZ: You know, we know that over 400,000 customers here in North Carolina are still grappling with those power outages, but there's also no running water spotty cell phone service, and no Internet access.

We talked about the desperation people are feeling here. It's because some of them can't get in touch with their loved ones. Here in this county alone, 600 reports of missing persons, but authorities are urging people to stay calm because if and when those services are resumed, they expect four people to be able to contact the people they've been missing.

SCIUTTO: Marybel Gonzalez, our heart certainly goes out to the families affected there. Thanks so much.

Well, former President Donald Trump visited Valdosta, Georgia, today for a briefing on hurricane damage there, saying that his campaign brought truckloads of aid to distribute, that visit after a weekend of escalating personal attacks against Kamala Harris and a new proposal of what he described as one rough hour of policing to combat shoplifting seeming to endorse police brutality. Have a listen to his words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kamala is mentally impaired.

Joe Biden became mentally impaired said, but lying, Kamala Harris honestly, I believe she was born that way.

The people walk in, they just take everything they want. They walk out of the store. What the hell is going on? She -- we have to let the police do their job. And if they have to be extraordinarily rough.

One rough hour and I mean real rough, the word will get out and it will end immediately. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: CNN's Alayna Treene joins me now, covers the campaign.

So, two things to ask you for specifically. First, he's describing Kamala Harris, the vice president, as mentally impaired. He's questioned her intelligence.

How does his campaign justify those kinds of attacks?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: I mean, Jim, and we've talked about this now for months. This is exactly the opposite of what Donald Trumps team and those who are rooting for him to win in November, people like Lindsey Graham and Tom Emmer, both of whom are Republicans, but were also on the Sunday shows yesterday saying this is not the right path forward that you need to do away with the personal attacks and yet Donald Trump continues to make them.

I think the comments over the weekend are particularly notable because it -- they were very harsh and strong against Kamala Harris arguing or claiming, I should say, that she is mentally impaired. We know that he is questioned Joe Biden's mental capabilities repeatedly but now he's trying to do the same to Harris.

[15:40:06]

I will say something that I found interesting was the timing of some of these comments because he really escalated those attacks on Harris following her visit to the border on Friday, something I know from my conversations with people close to the former president that he has been fixated on even before she made that visit, you could hear him complaining about it, all of last week.

And that is turf that Donald Trump believes is his own. And the key argument that he tries to make against Harris and the Biden administration overall. So that's where some of this was coming from I'm told. But again, this is not something that his campaign and his advisers are pushing him to do. Those were not prepared remarks, that was Donald Trump speaking off script, veering off script.

And look, I think the entire speech and really all the speeches he gave over the weekend, both in Wisconsin as well as an Erie, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, really painted a dark picture of America. We know Donald Trump consistently tries to use dark rhetoric and fear mongering to bring voters to try and bring voters to his side.

But that is not the strategy that people think will be a winning one. And yet Donald Trump is Donald Trump. He's a 78-year-old man and I think he's going to continue to use that type of rhetoric as we look forward to election day.

SCIUTTO: Yeah, I mean, the thing is something that the track record shows it's him. I mean, its central to his message. It's not an aberration.

Alayna Treene, thanks so much. Well, tomorrow is debate night for the two men vying to be vice president, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Vance with his kids in tow, left Cincinnati for New York today, ahead of debate night as the Trump campaign seeks to raise expectations for their opponent. This is typical gamesmanship, framing Walz as a wildly political veteran season debater on a call with reporters. That comes amid reports that Walz deep into debate prep. He's fighting some pre- debate jitters.

CNN's Eva McKend brings us behind the curtain on that prep.

So, tell us how is Walz preparing to face Vance here I wonder.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Jim, our colleague, Isaac Dovere, learning the governor, warned the vice president when he was essentially in the audition process to be her running mate, that he didn't view himself to be a strong on debater.

So we know he had some jitters here. The pressure is high this week for the campaign, this is likely the last marquee event before election day. He's worried about letting Harris down. He so badly, doesn't want Trump to become president again. And he doesn't want Harris to think that she made the wrong choice in selecting him.

He's also clear-eyed that Senator Vance holds an advantage is someone who is Ivy League law school trained. But we do know that like Harris, Governor Walz has engaged in these long prep sessions with Secretary Buttigieg, for instance, standing in for Vance, we know that Harris prepared very strenuously and it appears that Walz is doing so as well.

And the campaign views this as a platform to appeal to undecided voters. He's going to continue to be his relatable self and maintain that sense of hope and optimism and joy that has been so central to his posture on the campaign trail.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. It's funny. So Vance's team say Walz is a great debater. Walz, his team says Walz is not a great debater. You begin to wonder maybe both are doing a little expectations management here.

Eva McKend, thanks so much for covering.

Coming up, with the focus of Middle East tensions now shifting towards the northern border of Israel between Israel and Lebanon, CNN spoke to residents of Gaza fear that their war, their suffering may soon be forgotten.

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[15:46:52]

SCIUTTO: The war goes on in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes, they are killed at least 12 people on Monday, this according to Palestinian officials. In recent days, Israeli shells hit residential buildings across the territory as well as a school compound in northern Gaza, Palestinians in the enclave fear that their plight will now be ignored as Israel in the world turn their attention to the north, to Lebanon.

Paula Hancocks has the details, a warning this report contains some disturbing video.

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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another week of hell in Gaza, a mother and her four children were killed when their home in al-Barij was hit by an Israeli airstrike.

Their uncle said it happened at 3:00 a.m. They were killed while they slept.

Another strike at a school sheltering displaced in Nuseirat camp killed a couple in their five-year-old child. Israel said it was a precise strike targeting Hamas operatives, a man staying nearby says, these are the remains of the missile. They were innocent and displaced, sleeping in this little room.

The next day, a drone strike in al-Barij killed two children and 20- year-old twin men. Their father says they were sitting by the front door looking at their phones. They were born together and killed together.

He says children playing in the street were rushed into hospital we have asked the IDF what the target of this strike was. One little boy is treated on the hospital floor next to the body of a deceased man no dignity allowed in life or death for the residents of Gaza.

Dozens lost their lives last week, while thousands of miles away at the United Nations headquarters in New York. World leader after world leader called for the war in Gaza to end.

A U.S.-led proposal for a 21-day ceasefire on the Israel/Lebanon border is also intended to jolt a Gaza ceasefire if it happens but it's a big if. Families of hostages still held in Gaza worry the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is overshadowing their cause. Residents of Gaza fear they're being forgotten by a world that has failed to end their suffering.

This man says, when the war on Beirut happened, we lost all hope. There is no focus on Gaza. Its barely mentioned.

This woman adds: Lebanon is full of our brothers and sisters. We stand in solidarity with but at the same time, we do not want the world to forget us.

This man says, I don't think Gaza is forgotten because of the war in Lebanon, because the two are connected. Hopefully, there'll be resolved together.

Since Hezbollah pagers started exploding in Lebanon two weeks ago, more than 360 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the ministry of health. No breakdown of militants versus civilians, but hospitals filled with women and children tell its own story.

[15:50:05]

Israel's shift in focus to its northern border feels no different on the ground in Gaza.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Our thanks to Paula Hancocks for that important story from Gaza.

Coming up, the Middle East, the border crime or major topics in this election cycle.

But next, the subject two thirds of Americans says it's not getting the attention it deserves.

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SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

Vice President Kamala Harris is targeting former President Donald Trump's self described, quote, concept of a plan when it comes to health care. A Harris senior campaign official tells CNN its 43-page analysis out today called concept is an attempt to force the Trump campaign to address their proposals.

CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell joins me now.

And, Meg, this report comes at a time, a new poll shows that most Americans believe health care is not getting the attention it deserves this cycle. Well, no plan yet from Trump, it seems.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. You know, Americans would like to hear more it seems from possibly both candidates on health care. Sixty-seven percent of respondents in this Gallup and West Health poll that was conducted in September said that they don't think that health care is getting enough attention in this 2024 presidential election cycle, just 6 percent of people who responded here said that they thought it was getting too much attention than 27 percent said just right. And this really breaks down across all party lines.

Democrats were most likely to say that they don't think health care is getting enough attention at about 78 percent. But independence, where its 67 percent, and Republicans were at 53 percent who said that this is not getting enough attention.

Now on the key issues, perhaps unsurprisingly, Republicans and Democrats were each most likely to trust their own candidate on things like access to care, increasing the quality of health care, lowering the cost of prescription drugs. But among independents, a third said that they don't trust either candidate on the key issues. So there is some wiggle room there, perhaps some opportunities to win some folks over in the coming weeks as we head toward the election. Independents, overall, despite that a third were slightly more likely to say they trust Harris over Trump on these issues. But as you can see, Jim, still a lot of folks there perhaps who might be able to be persuaded.

[15:55:01]

SCIUTTO: So what specific health care issues did they identify as most important?

TIRRELL: Yeah, the absolute top of the list is preserving access to Medicare and Social Security and unsurprisingly that was particularly important to older respondents in this poll, people over the age of 65.

But other really important issues they said were lowering the cost of health care, lowering drug costs and mental health care access. And while that one wasn't the absolute top issue for everybody in this poll, increasing access to mental health care was something that people responded and said, is something that's really important for candidates to focus on to improve health in the country.

SCIUTTO: Meg Tirrell, certainly an important campaign issue. Thanks so much.

And thanks so much to all of you for joining me today. I'm Jim Sciutto in Tel Aviv.

"QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up next.