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IDF Targets Iran's Military Sites As Response To Oct. 1 Attacks; Biden Reacts To Israeli Strikes On Iran: "My Hope Is That This Is The End"; Trump Tells Joe Rogan He's Committed To Working With RFK Jr.; Michelle Obama Joins Harris In MI For Get-Out-The-Vote Rally Today. Israel Strikes Iran In High-Stakes Retaliation; Polling Shows No Clear Leader Between Harris And Trump; Dodgers Beat Yankees In Epic Opening Game. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired October 26, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:00:38]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and thanks for joining me. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York in today for Fredricka Whitfield.

It's 10 days until Election Day here in the U.S. and battleground Michigan begins voting today. We're going to have full coverage in just a moment, but first let me start with Jim Sciutto in Jerusalem following that breaking news on Israel's strike against Iran. Jim

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: I don't hear program.

SOLOMON: OK, we'll get to Jim in just a moment. Obviously, we're having some technical difficulties there. But right now, Iran is assessing damage after Israel launched waves of retaliatory strikes overnight. Iran says that its air defenses successfully countered the barrage with damage described as limited.

But the extent of that damage is still unclear at this hour. The Iranian army is saying that two of its soldiers were killed, but it is not giving details on those deaths. I do believe we have Jim Sciutto back, so let me toss it over to my colleague. Jim?

SCIUTTO: Rahel, President Biden just spoke a short time ago about the U.S. reaction to this Israeli -- these Israeli strikes overnight against Iran. He said that the U.S. was given a heads up by Israeli military officials prior to the strike. He noted that the strike struck purely military targets in Iran.

And he ended by saying, and I'm quoting here, "My hope is that this is the end," indicating the U.S. President. Hopes that this is the end of this cycle we've seen in recent days and weeks between Israel and Iran of attack and retaliation followed by retaliation.

We should note that Iran is describing the strikes overnight the damage from them as limited. It says two of its soldiers were killed. It does say that it reserves the right to respond saying it is entitled to defend itself and called Israel strikes a violation of international law.

Israel, unusually commenting on military action inside Iran, whereas in the past, it has refused to comment, says that it struck purely military targets, that this operation is now over and they call it a success. It also described the strikes as precise in nature.

I'm joined now here in Jerusalem by Matthew Chance. Matthew, this is something that has been an enormous amount of anticipation inside this country and around the region. When Israel would strike, how far it would go when it struck in retaliation? How are these operations, these attacks being received here in Israel tonight?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, politically at least, I think they've been received -- it's been mixed, it's been mixed. There's been opposition figures out there saying, look, these strikes against Iran, they didn't go far enough. They didn't restore the deterrence that Israel needs with Iran.

And there's been others that are like, well, this is great. You know, military logic has prevailed. It means that Israel has retaliated without dragging the country into an all-out war with Iran. Look, I mean, the fact that Israel focused narrowly on military targets, perhaps under U.S. pressure, because the Biden administration wanted to rein them back from the brink, and they didn't expand to hit nuclear facilities, energy infrastructure facilities, you know, it could be interpreted as a good sign that, you know, this may be an end to the current round of tit for tat, you know, strikes between these two countries. And that's not bad for the region.

SCIUTTO: And we're also getting a sense of how Iran is portraying these strikes as well, which might be an indicator as to what Iran's potential response might be. Because if you look at state media, they seem to be deliberately downplaying the extent of these strikes.

CHANCE: Yes, they're downplaying it. I mean, to some extent, it may be face saving. We don't really know what actual damage was caused. We haven't had a battle damage assessment yet. We'll probably get one in the next few hours from the Israelis.

You know, but it is also a sense that the Israelis do also do not want to be sucked into a -- an all-out war that could bring in the United States remember, and it could actually threaten the regime in Tehran. They're very, you know, conscious that they may not come off very well at the end of a war like that. And so it's in their interest, I think, at this stage to try and play this down, to try and draw a line under these tit for tat attacks that both countries have been carried out -- carrying out against each other.

SCIUTTO: And we should note that the attacks by Iran's proxies on Israel continue via Hamas and also Hezbollah from Lebanon, as do Israel's strikes against both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

[12:05:13] CHANCE: That's right. I mean, even last night, as the Israeli military was carrying out these strikes against Iran, there were also strikes in Gaza, there were strikes in Lebanon.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

CHANCE: There were explosions in Baghdad and Damascus, and the Israeli military hasn't confirmed to us that they were behind that. But, you know, they've done stuff like that in the past. And so, look, this isn't just a sort of one dimensional conflict. You know, this is a conflict that's being fought out on multiple battlefronts. One of them may have been, you know, come to a conclusion, but the other ones are still very active and there's plenty of scope for escalation.

SCIUTTO: Before we go, those strikes against -- that took place in Iraq and Syria, were they simultaneous to the strikes as we know them in Iran? Can they be seen as part of the same operation or were they separate?

CHANCE: Well, I specifically asked that --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

CHANCE: -- to the Israeli military officials that I've been speaking to, and they're saying, look, we're not going to include it in this same retaliatory operation that we undertook against Iran. But the fact is that these are taking place, you know, in parallel the attacks against these targets, whatever they were. The ones in Gaza, the ones in Lebanon, perhaps in Syria and in Iraq as well.

This is all taking place in parallel. And, you know, there's still, as I say, plenty of opportunity and potential in this region for things to get out of hand.

SCIUTTO: And I suppose given where we're standing tonight in Jerusalem, there are still time and time again is Israeli military operations inside the occupied West Bank as well can reasonably be seen as another, certainly not the same scale as the fronts in Gaza and Lebanon, but another front in the ongoing conflict.

CHANCE: Yes. And I think it's important to remember as well that, you know, Israel regards Hamas. It regards Hezbollah in Lebanon. It regards the Houthis in Yemen as proxies of Iran.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

CHANCE: And so even though the direct, you know, attacks between the two countries may have reached some sort of logical conclusion -- we don't know, actually, it may not have-- you know, there's still bags of opportunity in the future. Perhaps when the U.S. administration, new administration has been elected in perhaps, you know, after election process after in the U.S., perhaps Israel will feel that it wants to return to this battle in a more concerted way.

But, you know, let's see.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

CHANCE: But certainly, yes, you know, it's ongoing. It's not an end to the violence in the region.

SCIUTTO: Multiple fronts at the same time.

CHANCE: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Matthew Chance, thanks so much.

Our Arlette Saenz is at the White House and as I mentioned earlier, President Biden reacted a short time ago saying that my hope is that this is the end, describing Israel strikes inside Iran, his hope that the conflict or at least the conflict between Iran and Israel doesn't expand further. He is expected to speak again in the coming hours.

Arlette, I wonder what you're hearing from White House officials about what they expect him to say.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Biden expressed his hope that these strikes from Israel against Iran would be the end in this back and forth that we've seen between the two countries. That is something that senior administration officials were quite keen to try to highlight and stress last night as well, as they believe that they -- this could potentially be an end.

They don't want to see any further escalation between the two countries in this region at this moment. But I want to play for you the President's assessment of the situation that he offered just in the last hour.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was on with the intelligence community for the last half hour, I think half hour. It looks like they didn't hit anything other than military targets. My hope is this is the end.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

SAENZ: Now, a senior administration official described Israel's response as proportionate and a self-defense driven response. Officials have been keen to really try to point to Israel's moves as targeted and precise. It comes after the U.S. has spent the past few weeks, since Iran had launched its barrage of missiles against Israel on October 1st, really working behind the scenes with the Israelis, trying to ensure that there is a measured response.

President Biden himself had said that he was opposed to Israel targeting any nuclear or oil and gas facilities in Iran. And a senior administration official yesterday said that President Biden in a recent call with Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu really stressed to him that he -- what -- any type of response needed to be one that's just simply focused on deterrence.

Now, even as the U.S. is working the Israeli side, they are all see -- also putting the onus on Iran moving forward, saying that Iran needs to stop its attacks against Israel in order to stop this cycle of fighting between the two countries.

And the senior administration official yesterday said that the U.S. -- that Iran would face consequences if they decided to respond in any way. But right now, the focus for the U.S. is trying to prevent this regional conflict from escalating even further. That is something President Biden hopes can happen after this latest back and forth that occurred last night.

[12:10:13]

SCIUTTO: Yes. And there was an enormous amount of trepidation I think we could safely say inside the administration about any potential effect on the upcoming election from a widening war -- widening even further than it's already of course widen in this region. And this attack seems to be smaller than some expected.

Arlette Saenz at the White House, thanks so much.

I want to bring in now Trita Parsi, Middle East expert with the Quincy group for his -- Quincy Institute for his thoughts. Trita, good to have you on again. I wonder given the anticipation of this strike sense that massive Iranian missile barrage some three weeks ago, and I was here along with my team to witness that.

In terms of the scale from perhaps one end of the scale potential Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities or energy facilities this far short of that. Do you consider this a significant strike? Or in your view, is it less than many expected?

TRITA PARSI, EXEC. VICE PRESIDENT, QUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT: Well, I think in many ways it's both. On the one hand, it is quite significant for the Israelis to have more than 100 airplanes. Most of them probably entering Iranian airspace and targeting 20 different sites, which goes way beyond what the Iranians did.

You also have at least four casualties, and according to the Israelis, there were zero casualties with the Iranian strikes. In that sense, it is significant. But it is also at the same time, much smaller than many had anticipated, particularly mindful of the rhetoric on the Israeli side in which one former prime minister said that after the Iranian attack, Israel had the best opportunity in 50 years to enlarge the war and take on what they believe is their core enemy in the region.

And I think it begs the question as to why this ended up being smaller. And I think it has partly to do with a couple of things. One is the Iranians did show that despite the fact that they clearly are the weaker party here, they can still inflict significant damage on Israel and its air defenses are not sufficient to be able to handle the hypersonic missiles that rained down on Israel while you were there, Jim.

On the other hand, I think the Israelis are also a little bit spooked by the leak from the Pentagon that reveals some of their earlier plans, and I think interpreted that the U.S. is not going to be fully behind Israel if Israel goes on for a full scale escalation.

SCIUTTO: Well, it's not clear that that, I mean, there's no evidence that that leak was deliberate by the administration. In fact, the administration -- there's an FBI investigation of the source of that leak. From Iran's perspective, it's been notable today to watch the coverage of this strike in Israel -- in Iranian state media downplaying it.

In fact, the morning newscasts were talking more it seemed about commuter traffic than they were about a massive Israeli airstrike on the country overnight. Do you read that as the Iranian leadership messaging that it wants to end this cycle of retaliatory strikes as well?

PARSI: Absolutely. And I think we should take a look at what the Iranians said back in April when the Israelis also struck Iran. Back then as well, they were downplaying it immediately, in fact, almost mocking it. And we've seen that pattern be repeated here, which I think is a clear indication.

They don't want this escalation. They know that they're not going to be in the best position to fight a direct war with Israel. But the question is, why does this then keep on escalating despite of the fact that the Iranians are toning down these attacks. They don't want to take any action at this point.

And I think it comes down to the fact that as long as there is a continued warfare and slaughter in Gaza and now in Lebanon, this is just going to be the end of another phase of exchange of fire between Israel and Iran. If we truly want to deescalate the situation, we need to have a cease fire in Gaza and Lebanon.

Otherwise, unfortunately, it will continue to spill over into other arenas. And some of those arenas are far more dangerous and destabilizing than the other ones.

SCIUTTO: Remains to be seen how this latest strike impacts that renewed effort for the ceasefire hostage exchange proposal that the U.S. and others have been working on, well, for months now. But we'll be watching closely.

Trita Parsi from the Quincy Institute, thanks so much.

Of course, we'll continue to monitor events here in the Middle East following this Israeli strike on Iran from here in Jerusalem. Back in the U.S., today, early voting begins in the key battleground state of Michigan.

Right after this break, we'll have an update from there.

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[12:19:22]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. Today voters in Michigan get their first chance to cast ballots and no surprise, both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are there. In fact, any moment now, former President Trump is set to take the stage in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. This will be his second rally in that state and as many days.

Last night, he was almost three hours late for his rally in Traverse City after taping a podcast in Texas with Joe Rogan. And as voters in Michigan head to the polls today, it's worth noting that nationwide, more than 30 million people have already voted.

New CNN polling released Friday shows that the two candidates are tied with each getting support from 47 percent of likely voters.

[12:20:01]

CNN's Alayna Treene is with the Trump campaign at that Michigan rally. Alayna, talk to us a little bit about what the former president is expected to focus on today.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Rahel, I think you'll hear a lot of the same themes that he's been talking about in his most recent Michigan visits, which is saying that he is going to reinvigorate the U.S. auto industry. Of course, an issue that is very important, particularly to a place like where I am now, Novi, which is a suburb of Detroit.

But I think he'll also focus a lot of his attention on the economy, specifically inflation, and of course, the border, all things he's been really trying to hone in on in this final -- in these final days before November 5th.

It's also what I'm told, he'll likely begin delivering some of that closing argument that his team has been previewing, which they say is actually going to really culminate in that appearance tomorrow at Madison Square Garden. And I apologize, Rahel, it's getting very loud behind me. We have Stephen Miller, atop Trump adviser's talking on stage now before the former president comes on stage.

But, look, you mentioned Joe Rogan's podcast. I do want to get into a little bit of that because, first of all, it was three hours. That is a very long interview. Trump himself said he thought it was the longest interview he's ever done. And it also made him severely late to that rally last night in Traverse City.

I had a lot of people of the crowd waiting for him in the freezing weather. I was one of those people, but he ultimately came and went on with his speech.

Now, one thing that I found very interesting that Donald Trump and Joe Rogan discussed during that interview was RFK Jr. Now, we know that Joe Rogan has been an RFK Jr. in the past, fan in the past. He had said that he was his preferred candidate over the summer, which actually received a lot of sharp criticism from Donald Trump in response to that.

But then it seems that Joe had made up. But I want you to take a listen to this exchange because Joe Rogan asked Donald Trump, do you really think you'll have RFK in your administration? Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: But RFK is going to be very -- you know, I think he's a great guy. I think he's correct.

JOE ROGAN, AMERICAN PODCASTER: I'd love the fact that you guys teamed up.

TRUMP: Yes.

ROGAN: And are you guys -- are you completely committed to have him a part of your administration?

TRUMP: Oh, I am, but the only thing I want to be a little careful about with him is the environmental, because, you know, he doesn't like oil. I love oil, I guess. I think, you know, I think --

ROGAN: Just keep him out of that.

TRUMP: -- to fire. So I'm going to sort of keep him out of a little. I said, focus on health.

ROGAN: Yes.

TRUMP: Focus -- you can do whatever you want, but got to be a little bit careful with the liquid gold, you know?

(END VIDEOCLIP)

TREENE: So as you can hear there, he said he's happy to have him take over healthcare, but doesn't want him to touch the environment. But one reason I bring that up is because that interview with Joe Rogan has been something that Trump's campaign had been working on for several weeks. That was a top priority for them.

And really what they viewed as the crowning achievement of an overall strategy that they have had. This cycle to try and reach low propensity voters, voters who may not, you know, typically be super into politics and also specifically, I should say, young men.

So, that was a big part of this. And I know from my conversations with Trump's advisers that RFK Jr. had actually helped in securing that interview. In addition to UFC CEO Dana White, also a big Trump supporter. Rahel?

SOLOMON: Yes, that interview posted some 14 hours ago and already has about 13 million views so far.

Alayna Treene live for us there in Michigan. Alayna, thank you.

And Vice President Kamala Harris is also heading to Michigan right now for a major campaign event. In the next few hours, she will hold a get-out-the-vote rally in Kalamazoo. She's going to be joined by former First Lady Michelle Obama. Harris held a rally in Texas last night alongside superstar Beyonce, where they both focused on the importance of reproductive rights.

Let's bring in CNN's Eva McKend who joins us now from Kalamazoo. So Eva, talk to us a little bit about what the Vice President and former First Lady are expected to focus on during this rally later today in Michigan.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, as you can see behind me, people already getting lined up here for the big event. I can tell you the last time the Vice President was here in Kalamazoo, it was in July, we were with her. This was before she became the Democratic nominee. And she was joined by a former Trump administration official.

And it was a message to Republican and conservative women on this issue of reproductive rights. So they are confident in the strength of that argument, and it is going to be a key feature at this event today. But different now is that she will be joined by former First Lady Michelle Obama for the first time on the campaign trail.

And I can't help remember Michelle Obama's comments at the DNC when she told Democrats that this was not the time to be delicate if you didn't hear from the campaign directly, that this contest is just too urgent. You cannot sit on the sidelines.

So we're very much expecting to hear that today, as well as the Vice President, again, call into question the former president's fitness for office. Now, here in Kalamazoo County, President Biden won by about 20 points.

[12:25:04]

And so the Harris-Walz campaign is trying to replicate that success with suburban women but also with young voters as well. You've got Kalamazoo College here as well as Western Michigan University that is actually having their homecoming this weekend. So those are the voters that they are trying to message to in this critical battleground state. Rahel?

SOLOMON: And Eva, with just about a week and a half until Election Day, the Vice President has a full week ahead on the campaign trail. What's ahead for her?

MCKEND: She sure does. So after leaving Michigan, she heads to Pennsylvania. She'll be in Philadelphia tomorrow, worshipping at a black church. And then she comes back here to Michigan on Monday for an event in Ann Arbor. Rahel?

SOLOMON: OK. Eva McKend live for us in Kalamazoo. Eva, thank you.

And coming up after Israel's retaliatory strikes on Iran, world leaders are urging restraint in hopes that the period of escalation will end. So what happens next? Jim is joined by CNN's Christiane Amanpour, coming up.

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[12:30:35]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Welcome back. I'm Jim Sciutto live in Jerusalem, where we continue to cover the fallout from Israel's military strikes on Iran overnight, joined now by our Christiane Amanpour from London. And -- and Christiane, it's good to have you. I wonder first, if you could give your sense of Iran's response to this, because it's notable to see the coverage of these strikes in Iranian state media that played down their effectiveness, and also seemed to be focused as much this morning on the traffic commute as -- as these strikes by Israel inside Iranian territory overnight. Do -- do you read that as a deliberate signal that -- that Iran is ready to deescalate?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, I think it's a deliberate framing. State media does what the government regime tells it to do. And even before the suspected and expected and highly anticipated Israeli retaliation, there was a sense in Iran, if you talked as it was reported to various officials, that some, including the President, the Foreign Minister and others, wanted to make sure that this did not, you know, spin out of control.

Obviously, there was some in the Revolutionary Guard who have much more extremist and loud views, and who gave the, you know, the normal sort of, you know, Sterman drawing (ph) about how we're going to retaliate, and this, that and the other. But I think the regime is absolutely focused on regime survival. And that it was reported that if it wasn't a huge, you know, Iran wide attack, if it wasn't on nuclear sites, even on their economic lifeline, the -- the oil sides, if it wasn't against regime targets or populated parts of the country, then it would be assumed that this, in fact, was the retaliation, and that this was going to be it, potentially they wouldn't retaliate.

And so I think the United States also has been making sure that this whole issue has been managed in a way that it doesn't become a regional war.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Let me ask you, then about your read of Israel -- Israel's action here. Because, as you know, prior to this, in -- in recent days and weeks since the Iranian missile attack on Israel, there had been, you know, quite -- quite a lot of speculation about Israel going so far as to attack Iran's nuclear facilities or its oil facilities, an enormous amount of pushback from U.S. officials to try to prevent them from happening. Do -- do you see, from the Israeli perspective that this signals it's done as well, for now that it sent the signal and -- and carried out the retaliation it wants, but -- but is satisfied at this point?

AMANPOUR: Well, certainly General Hagari, the IDF spokesperson, said this morning from Israel that this is it. This is done for the moment. We have taken, as he says, legitimate self-defense action. And we have targeted military targets. So they were very specific on actually what they did and specific on, they hoped that this would put a line under it.

And -- and Jim, as you know, this is all about establishing deterrence from both sides. You know, everything sort of went up in a sort of a big mess, starting in April. Because, remember, Israel attacked in -- in -- in Damascus and killed some IRGC Iranians, some Hezbollah types there. Then Iran did the first of its big and first ever missile attack on Israel, which was completely protected and defended by Israel itself and by its allies, the United States and others.

Then you had the assassination in Tehran of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas, and that was by Israel, although it hasn't admitted it. And then the killing of -- of -- of -- of Iran's major ally, Hezbollah's chief, Nasrallah. And after that, Iran did a retaliation. So this has been attack, retaliation, attack retaliation. And the objective is to draw a line under it. No side wants a major war. Iran certainly doesn't want a major war because it won't be able to win a major war against Israel or the United States. And also, they're really interested in regime survival most of all.

SCIUTTO: Yes. no -- no question. Finally, before we go, I wonder, can you give a sense of the U.S. influence in this because, of course, the U.S. has invested an enormous amount of diplomatic capital in this region on a number of fronts that just hasn't seemed to go anywhere, certainly with a ceasefire hostage release deal in Gaza, attempted ceasefire in Lebanon. But do you see U.S. pressure in this case on Israel as perhaps working in terms of holding Israel back from a broader retaliation that -- that U.S. officials clearly, clearly had no interest in.

[12:35:29]

AMANPOUR: Yes. And of course, the U.S. and President Biden himself really signaled early on, you know, this is taking some three weeks plus to organize, and he signaled very clearly early on that he did not want to see a massive targeted escalation that would -- would really spin this whole -- whole episode out of control. So they've been working very hard.

And as you know, because you're there, the State Department, Secretary of State was there this week. He went on to Qatar. He was speaking to the Jordanian and the UAE foreign ministers here in Europe. And so it's designed to manage the Iran piece of this, which has happened now overnight, we'll see if there's any response.

But also to get a ceasefire in Lebanon, because the Americans seem to believe, and they've been signaling publicly that Israel has essentially achieve a lot of its goal by decapitating the leadership of -- of Hezbollah and also disrupting its weapons and ammunition supplies in southern Lebanon. So there, they have to get a ceasefire, empower the Lebanese government, empower the Lebanese army, so that it's not beholden to the Hezbollah militia, and maybe, maybe get some kind of international peace force in there, maybe not U.N. but international to -- to monitor that border there between Northern Israel and Southern Lebanon. So that's for that.

And then, of course, the huge, huge unfinished business, as you said, is Gaza, where scores and scores of people are still being killed, even after Yahya Sinwar was assa -- was killed there. So that also is part of what Antony Blinken was doing in the region, trying to restart these ceasefires. And as you know, there's going to be a meeting, I believe, with Israel's participation, and Bill Burns, the CIA, and -- and the, you know, the responsible interlocutors for the parties, and that's apparently meant to start on Monday.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

AMANPOUR: So there are three pieces. And, yes, they're -- they're putting maximum pressure, as you can imagine, the Americans before their administration is over.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Listen, when I speak to folks in this country, some of them losing hope about the fate of the Israeli hostages in Gaza, given we're more than a year out from October 7th. Christiane Amanpour, thanks so much for joining and for giving us your sense of all this.

[12:37:52]

Right after the break, we're going to go back to the U.S., where President Trump will be rallying his supporters in the key swing state of Michigan in the next several hours. We're going to go there live right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN HOST: Welcome back. It is a race to the finish line in battleground states today. And the focus especially today is on Michigan. That's after a headline event in Houston with Beyonce. Kamala Harris is due to campaign this hour in Kalamazoo with former First Lady Michelle Obama. But Donald Trump is heading to a rally -- rally in Novi after a late night in Traverse City. His arrival was delayed by a three-hour interview with podcaster, Joe Rogan.

On the 2020 presidential election, these swing states were each won by less than three slim percentage points. The blue states, there went for Biden, North Carolina. And red there went for Trump. But right now, it's a virtual horse race. Trump and Harris are tied at 47 percent each. Let's bring in CNN political analysts and historian, Julian Zelizer, who joins us with more. Julian, good to see you again. So you say at this point, it's all about the ground game. Tell us more.

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Look, you have 50-50 map. You have very little movement. It goes back and forth a little bit. So really, this isn't simply about ads and podcast appearances. It's going to be about the party infrastructure. Who can make sure that people vote, who can make sure that people know where to vote. That's really essential old fashioned party politics.

SOLOMON: Let's look at some of the battleground polling, and let's start with the so called blue wall states, usually a Democratic stronghold, so the latest polling showing Harris is up three points in Michigan, down a point in Pennsylvania, and tied in Wisconsin. Julian, when you see that with just a week and a half left, what -- what are your thoughts? What are you thinking? ZELIZER: Well, Pennsylvania is a big concern. If -- if former president wins in Pennsylvania, she's going to need to pick up some western states, and the whole map gets a lot more difficult. So this comes back to the same place, and she is worried about Michigan, not so much because of Trump's numbers, but also because of the potential for third party candidates to capitalize on some of the divisions in the party. So she's not -- she's feeling good about where she is, I'm sure. But there's a lot to be worried about in those blue states.

SOLOMON: Yes, talk to us a little bit about Trump and sort of his attempts to sort of claw back in states like Georgia and North Carolina. Right now, in Georgia, the latest poll shows it's a tie. North Carolina he has two point edge. What's your sense there, Julian?

[12:45:04]

ZELIZER: Well, if he can win in North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania, it's going to be very difficult for the Democrats to be victorious. And so he is sensing momentum there. He's making gains with black male and Latino voters. And she's put a lot of effort into Georgia. So -- so we'll see if the polls are accurate and if they're missing anything either way. But those are valuable states for him.

SOLOMON: Our data expert, Julian, Harry Enten, he says that forecast models show there is a 70 percent chance that one candidate will sweep all of the battleground states which would put that candidate over 300 electoral votes. Julian, how likely of that? I mean, how -- how likely of that do you see that being is? Is -- is that a possibility?

ZELIZER: Well, I'm in the history business so I look backwards. But it's a possibility. I don't think at this point, when you have numbers like this, you can discount the idea that one candidate comes out on top in all those battleground states. And that's the point of 50-50, it can literally go anyway, and that's why this next week plus is going to be extraordinarily intense.

SOLOMON: Yes. And talk to us a little bit about sort of the -- the interview with Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan obviously one of the most famous, if not the most popular podcaster, millions of followers on Spotify, millions of followers on YouTube, the fact that he spent so much time there, even at the expense of being so late for his rally in Michigan. What does that signal to you about how important the listeners and the -- the -- the audience base that Joe Rogan has is to the Trump campaign right now?

ZELIZER: Look it signals, A, new media, especially this podcasting space is becoming extraordinarily important to campaigns as much if not more than traditional media. B, it's micro targeting constituencies. This is a campaign built around the male vote, especially the white male vote. And I think the Trump campaign believes that by going on Rogan was a huge reach there, they can get enough of that vote excited and energized and reminding them to vote than almost any other kind of appearance that he could make, in person or on air.

SOLOMON: OK. Julian Zelizer, good to see you. Thank you. ZELIZER: Thanks for having me.

SOLOMON: And from the first votes to the critical count, no one covers election night like CNN. Join us for special live coverage, starting Tuesday, November 5th, at 4:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN. We'll be right back.

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[12:52:12]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in game one of the World Se -- Series, an electrifying Grand Slam in the 10th inning ensure the most anticipated World Series in years, but live up to the hype. Andy Schultz has more now on the dramatic opening game.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, Rahel, late October is when stars become legends. And Freddie Freeman now has one of the best moments in baseball history, the Yankees and Dodgers going into extra innings in their first World Series game against one another since 1981. New York went ahead three to two in the 10th but then in the bottom of the inning, with two outs, bases loaded, Freeman was at the plate after the Yankees decided to intentionally walk the rookie back.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First pitch swinging high fly ball, hit deep back and gone. Freddie Freeman channeling his inner Kirk Gibson a walk off homerun in game one of the World Series.

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SCHOLES: And Freeman the first player ever to hit a walk off Grand Slam in the World Series. And he knew it right away. It's one of the greatest walk off moments in baseball history. Dodgers win game one, six to three. Freeman was, of course, mobbed by his teammates at home plate in the Dodgers first baseman calling the moment dream come true.

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FREDDIE FREEMAN, LOS ANGELES DODGERS 1ST BASEMAN: Those are the kind of things when you're five years old with your two older brothers and you're playing baseball in the backyard. And those are the scenarios of -- scenarios you kind of dream about, base loaded two out in a World Series game. And for it to actually happen and hit a homerun and walk it off, to give us a one nothing lead, that's -- that's as good as it gets, right there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And Freeman also ran over to celebrate with his dad after hitting that epic homerun. And he said this moment was his dad's moment, not his. And Rahel, I can tell you, that is every baseball dad's dream, right there. What an epic game one of the World Series. Who knows what's in store for game two? It's in L.A. again, first pitch just after 8:00 Eastern.

SOLOMON: Yes. Definitely a sweet moment there. Andy Scholes, thank you. And next week, we will be announcing this year's top five CNN Heroes, one of whom will be named the next CNN Hero of the -- of the year. Last year, you chose veterinarian, Dr. Kwane Stewart for that top honor, and here's what he's been up to since his big win.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 2023 CNN Hero of the Year is --

DR. KWANE STEWART, CNN HERO: A psyche Oscar moment where they opened the card, I think I had a little bit of a blackout moment when they said my name. I saw my 26 years as a vet, sort of flash before me. And to feel the recognition from everybody, it was really special. The other side effect of the award is that I just had veterinarians from all around the country reach out and say, can I do that in my city?

[12:55:06]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I saw what he was doing, it's -- I said, wow, this is great. This is exactly what we need here in New York.

STEWART: It was always on my dream board to come to New York, and it just timed out perfectly with the CNN event. I made contact with some good people here. And it was go time.

This little mission is now in seven cities. I'm building a team, more people, more pets, served, more cities, and then the dream will just keep rolling on.

We're good man. I'll see you, man. All right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And to see the full story and also find out which famous animal lovers have teamed up with Kwane to help pets in need, go to CNNHeroes.com. We'll be right back.

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