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Harris And Trump Rally In Michigan On First Day Of Early In- Person Voting; Israel Strikes Iran In High-Stakes Retaliation; Biden Reacts To Israeli Strikes On Iran; Campaigns Try To Reach Young Voters; L.A. County DA Asks For Resentencing On Menendez Brothers Case. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired October 26, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:20]

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

We begin this hour in the all-important battleground of Michigan. That swing state the focus of both presidential campaigns today as we now enter the final days of the race for the White House.

Just moments ago, former president Donald Trump wrapped up a rally in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. This was his second major campaign event in the state in the last two days. He's now headed for a rally in Pennsylvania. Meantime, Vice President Kamala Harris is also campaigning in Michigan today. In the next couple of hours, she will hold a rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan. That's where she will be joined by former first lady Michelle Obama for their first joint campaign appearance.

And today is a significant day in Michigan. Right now voters are heading to the polls for the very first day of statewide early voting.

We have a team of correspondents covering today's race for the White House. We have Alayna Treene. She's at that Trump rally that just ended, but let's begin with Eva McKend, who is at the Harris campaign in Kalamazoo.

And Eva, that rally, it hasn't started yet but we have already heard from the vice president after she lands in Michigan. What did she say?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, you should know that Vice President Harris, the last time that she was here in Kalamazoo just a few months ago before becoming the Democratic nominee in an appeal to conservative Republican women. She had an event with a former Trump official where they centered this issue of reproductive rights.

And now that issue still top of mind for the vice president. It is where she is the strongest. She has become an ambassador for that issue for the administration. And she's telling health care providers in this state that she understands the hard work ahead for them, but that it is vitally important work. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You all are on the ground doing this very, very critical and important work, and since the Dobbs decision came down two years ago, I do believe that we as a country have faced a health care crisis. And yes, it includes the concern that we have about people's access to abortion care and --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: So it is a mix of this, Rahel, as well as characterizing the former president as unfit and unhinged. That is so core to her closing argument. But this rally will be different because it is the first time that the vice president is going to be joined on stage with former first lady Michelle Obama. And she released the video just a short time ago where she said that now is the time to do something. Even if you haven't heard from the campaign directly in an appeal to vote, vote, you need get out and vote because this election is just too urgent -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: And Eva, talk to us about the rally last night in Houston where we also saw Beyonce appear with the vice president. What did she say?

MCKEND: Yes. That was a really interesting rally because it was in Texas, not a battleground state. I think her largest. I certainly have never been to one that large, 30,000 people. And what we heard from Beyonce was that, you know, don't look at me as just a celebrity. I am a mom just like you and I am supporting Vice President Harris because I care about the future for my children, and think that Harris will be best for that future.

Listen to what she had to tell the crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEYONCE KNOWLES-CARTER, SINGER: Imagine our daughters growing up, seeing what's possible with no ceilings, no limitations. Imagine our grandmothers, imagine what they feel right now. Those who have lived to see this historic day. Even those who are no longer physically with us. Imagine all of their sacrifice. The sacrifices made so we can witness the strength of a woman. Standing in her power. Reimagining what leadership is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: Now Beyonce's comments, Rahel, stuck out to me because it's very rare that the vice president talks about her identity all that much on the campaign trail. But listen, she is going to have to put up a patchwork of coalitions here together in Michigan to be successful in this state. President Biden won Kalamazoo County by about 20 points. The vice president hoping to replicate that success -- Rahel.

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

Now, let's go to Alayna Treene, who's at that Trump rally that just wrapped up. And Alayna, we heard the former president talk about that Beyonce

rally. What else did we hear him say?

[15:05:01]

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He did. He tried to mock Kamala Harris, arguing, falsely I should say, that they were busing people in for that event and that people were booing both her and Beyonce because Beyonce didn't perform, things that we know just aren't true. We would have heard Eva talk about that if they were. But I'll go to what Donald Trump said today, which was really trying to focus specifically on issues that matter to this area, Novi, Detroit, or excuse me, Novi, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.

He's really been ramping up in his remarks in these different battleground states over the last several weeks, things that he knows are specific to the audience he is talking, and I note this, Rahel, that we know Donald Trump has often dangled promises as he has sought new audiences. We saw that when he promised no tax on tips and he rolled that out in Nevada, recently in Detroit when he was speaking for the economic club, he talked about having no interest on car loan payments. And today he kind of used that strategy again. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You've been hearing about promises for 40 years on Detroit. We're going to make the promise. You can have those car companies come roaring back through intelligent uses of tariffs, taxes, and incentives. They're all coming back. If they don't come back, they're not going to be selling any cars in this country, let me tell you right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now. Rahel, part of this is, I think, you know, really underscores one of Donald Trump's key themes of this race, which is he's trying to paint himself as a savior. And here in Michigan, he's trying to paint himself as a savior of the auto industry, and we did see as well, he called up some union workers to the stage and touted that, you know, he doesn't have the support of the UAW's union leader. He does have the support, he argued, of many of the rank-and-file. So he made that pitch.

One thing that I also found very interesting, Rahel, is that he actually called up a group of Muslim imams, Muslim -- local Muslim leaders to the stage. He said he had met with them earlier today, but that he was overwhelmingly getting their support in this state. Unclear if that's actually true, but I think it's notable given that we know that Kamala Harris has struggled with Muslim and Arab- Americans in Michigan. So something that he's also been definitely courting here.

He also even noted himself, Donald Trump, and said this publicly that he believes that their vote, these Muslim and Arab-Americans in Michigan could really make a difference in this election. But all to say, Donald Trump is running head first at all these different demographics, these key demographics that he believes will make a difference on election day particularly on the margins. And that's where his campaign as well as I think Harris's campaign as well believe this election will be won.

SOLOMON: Yes, it's interesting, Alayna, you mentioned sort of Trump talking about the no tax on tips. One thing he said in that Joe Rogan podcast that I think raised a lot of eyebrows is he talked about eliminating the income tax. This is what he said. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE ROGAN, PODCASTER: Did you just float out the idea of getting rid of income taxes and replacing it with tariffs?

TRUMP: Well, OK.

ROGAN: Are we serious about that?

TRUMP: Yes, sure. Why not? Because we -- ready? Our country was the richest in the -- relatively, in the 1880s and 1890s. A president who was assassinated name McKinley. He was the tariff king, and then around in the early 1900s, they switched over stupidly to frankly an income tax. And you know why? Because countries were putting a lot of pressure on America. We don't want to pay tariffs. Please don't -- you know, they -- believe me. They control our politicians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Now, Alayna, his campaign is now walking that back. What are they saying?

TREENE: That's right. And also, I just have to say that answer from Donald Trump, are you actually serious about that, and Donald, yes, sure. Why not? I mean, unclear if he's actually taking it that seriously. I will tell you from my conversations with Trump's senior advisers, they argue that this would be something more aspirational. Actually our own Kate Sullivan got a quote, or excuse me, Jason Miller, one of Donald Trump's senior advisers told our own Kate Sullivan as well as other reporters who are traveling with the pool today, that this was an aspirational goal, but not necessarily totally realistic.

He added, I'm going to read some of the -- what he told these reporters. He said, in addition to re-upping the Trump tax cuts, obviously no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, those are the priorities. He went on to argue that'd be hard for them to do something like that in Congress and that the other policies that he laid out were actually the number one things that they thought they could get done and they want to get done.

But again, I think this speaks to the point I was making earlier that all of this is -- are things that Donald Trump has been doing to really try and sway voters and bring them over to his side. And again, he's doing this in the leadup to election day of course. He's making more of these promises, but it's also being geared toward very specific demographics.

[15:10:05]

So it was interesting that Joe Rogan had asked him that. He said, yes, sure. Why not? But when you talk to his campaign, they argue, let's not promise something like no income tax. We can try to vow to do some of these other things, but they're not necessarily trying to lean to heavily into that one proposal, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Aspirational being the operative word there. Alayna Treene, thank you.

All right. Still to come for U.S. President Biden says that he hopes that this is the end of the escalation in the Middle East after Israel launched a wave of retaliatory strikes against Iran. We're going to have a live report from the region, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:19]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Jim Sciutto, live in East Jerusalem.

A short time ago the Israeli ambassador to the U.N. told me that Israel has no desire for a conflict with the Iranian regime. But Ambassador Danny Danon said that last night's strikes on Iran are, quote, "small test" of Israeli capabilities.

Joining me now our Arlette Saenz in Washington and Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv.

Jeremy, as we hear from Israeli officials, they seem to be saying two things. One, that the retaliatory strike on Iran that we saw overnight, that that's the end of it, that that particular strike is done. But in effect, they are showing that they could strike again if need be. Is that your read as you speak to Israeli officials about their capabilities against Iran?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Jim. And I've been told that there were kind of two main aims with these strikes. And the first of which was to demonstrate that Israel's intelligence and military capabilities could strike deep inside of Iran, showing the Iranians directly that they were able to disable key missile defense systems and also go after their ballistic missile production facilities.

The second aim, though, is related to what we're seeing right now. And that is the relatively muted public posture from the Israeli government about the details of the strike and how successful the strike actually was. And that is to say that they were able to demonstrate to the Iranians directly with these strikes that they could carry out attacks deep inside the country and disable key facilities.

But now they are giving an opportunity to the Iranians through the lack of details that are being provided by the Israeli government about the exact nature of the strikes, the exact damage that was caused by these strikes. They're giving the Iranians the ability to downplay it. And that is indeed what we are hearing from Iran so far, downplaying the extent of the damage of these strikes, even as they acknowledged that four Iranian soldiers were indeed killed in this attack.

The question is whether or not that Iranian posture will actually hold because, on the one hand, Iran does seem to want to avoid further escalation in particular if it causes an all-out war with Israel, a war that Iran perhaps cannot win. But secondly, it is also -- there is also the risk in not responding that they appear weak to the internal Iranian public but also of course to their proxies and their allies in the region who we should note have also been significantly weakened by Israeli attacks in recent months.

SCIUTTO: No question. It is notable that in terms of Israeli expectations, they have not raised the security threat level here domestically so it does not appear that they expect an Iranian response to the Israeli response at least in the short term.

I want to go to our Arlette Saenz in Washington now.

Arlette, over the last several months there have certainly been times when the U.S. -- when U.S. and Israeli officials have been at odds over Israeli military action, whether that'd be in Gaza or in Lebanon, or elsewhere. But it appears that this strike, at least in how it was carried out, shows perhaps a meeting of the mind of U.S. and Israeli officials. U.S. officials did not want a broader strike, for instance, on nuclear or oil facilities. They wanted one focused on military targets. That appears to be what Israel delivered.

Is that your sense as you speak to officials in the White House?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it certainly is, Jim. And the U.S. have been working behind the scenes, consulting and counseling Israel as it was preparing for this response against Iran with the hopes that Israel would take a measured approach. President Biden was out there publicly saying that he did not think they should target nuclear facilities or oil facilities either.

And in the aftermath of this, these airstrikes by Israel against Iran overnight, senior administration officials have been very quick to note that this was a targeted precise strike, that it took a lot of planning and that ultimately they believe it was proportionate and done in self-defense after Iran had launched that barrage of missiles at Israel at the beginning of the month.

Now President Biden this morning told reporters that he hopes that this latest round of military action will be the end of the back-and- forth that we've seen between Israel and Iran. The U.S. is really focused right now in trying to prevent this from escalating any further. And one thing that administration officials have really been doing in the past 24 hours is putting the onus on Iran, saying that it is up to them to stop its attacks against Israel, to end this cycle of violence and not do anything that could further escalate the tensions in the region. [15:20:16]

That is something President Biden, when he met with his national security team today, said. He told them to take the steps to ensure that American forces are protected and that the U.S. would stand ready to help Israel if Iran were to respond.

Now, Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke to that today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: I feel very strongly, we as the United States feel very strongly that Iran must stop what it is doing in terms of the threat that it presents to the region. And we will always defend Israel against any attacks by Iran in that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So for the time being, it does appear that the president's worst-case scenario, fearing that there would be an all-out war between Israel and Iran, is not happening. But of course, it does come as they're trying to prevent that anything doesn't potentially spill out into a wider conflict just 10 days before the election when this issue of the Middle East has been a key concern for many young voters and Arab-American voters, especially in a critical battleground state like Michigan, where the vice president is today.

SCIUTTO: And broader concerns in the Democratic Party about what a wider war in the Middle East would mean for that election as well.

Arlette Saenz, thanks so much. Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv as well. Thank you.

I'm joined now by Aaron David Miller, longtime diplomat in this region, knows it very well.

Good to have you. Thanks so much for taking time this afternoon. You know, I hesitate when one major Middle Eastern power, Israel, is firing at another major Middle Eastern power, Iran, soon after Iran fired at Israel, to say that the conflict is calming down. But based on expectations at least at the outside end as to how big Israel's retaliatory strike could be, this one, I think we can safely say was at the lower end of that spectrum? Is that your view?

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: I mean, I think that's right, Jim, in terms of the next proverbial shoe to drop, which would be Iranian consideration of a response. Everything that's coming out of Iranian media suggests they're downplaying this, and the Israelis frankly are not briefing in great detail about how or what they did it, nor do they appear to be croning about it.

So I think that's right, that we dodged another bullet, but I must say this. This is the second time that each side, first the Iranians struck Israel directly, April 13, 14. The Israelis then responded with a one-off strike against, in its 300 radar in -- near Isfahan protecting a nuclear site. Then again, October 1, the Iranians come back with 180 plus ballistic missile barrage and we saw what the Israeli did last night.

I think the paradox here is worth paying attention to because what these strikes demonstrate to me unprecedented is that both sides I think may come away with this believing that the risk tolerance is much greater than it's ever been. After all, they've now both managed to hit one another twice without escalating into a major conflict.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MILLER: And given the fact that the strategic problem that separates these two is not resolved, this may be one and done for now but there's certainly over time going to be further tensions.

SCIUTTO: It's a great point because the threshold has clearly been raised as to what, I hate to use the phrase, normal, but well, what each side is willing to do in terms of striking the other. That, I mean, that raises the stakes down the line. I'm curious your view of the U.S. role in this. There was quite a full-court press, you might want to call it, both behind the scenes and is seen in public from U.S. officials right up to the president, discouraging Israel from a broader strike, in particular, on nuclear or oil facilities.

In a span of time when U.S. influence didn't seem to -- hasn't seemed to be worth that much in this country, in Gaza, Lebanon, and elsewhere, can you see this as a win for U.S. influence?

MILLER: I mean, I think maybe that's right. Whether the Israelis had any intention of striking nuclear sites or oil infrastructure is an arguable proposition. We really don't know. I'm sure the case was being made to the prime minister by someone who said, look, boss, you're two weeks away from an American election, you have maximum influence. You were attacked. Now is the time to strike hard. But you still have a relatively risk averse prime minister, relatively risk averse.

[15:25:03]

So I think the Biden administration made a virtue out of necessity. Yes, I'd only point out to you that if in fact there were retaliation, whatever -- by Iran, whatever assurances the Israelis had passed to the administration, those assurances would not convey to a second strike and the target set would clearly expand. And again, it's not so much luck, I think it's self-interest and I think good diplomacy on the part of the administration that capitalized on Israel's own risk aversion to see the way things came out.

SCIUTTO: Aaron David Miller, thanks so much for helping us break it all down.

We'll continue to follow developments here in the region in the wake of this significant Israeli attack on Iran in response to Iran's quite significant missile attack on Israel a few weeks ago. Much more news to come here and back in the U.S. as we get close to

the election in less than two weeks' time. Please do stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:31]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. I'm Rahel Solomon in New York.

A vibes based election. Both presidential campaigns are trying to reach young voters where they're at online, leveraging viral moments and trends to break through users' eerily accurate algorithms. So is it working?

The latest CNN polling shows that Harris holds the advantage over Trump among younger voters, 51 percent for Harris to 41 percent for Trump, among likely voters younger than 35.

Joining me now with more perspective are "Teen Vogue" correspondents, Jane Houseal and Tori Ganz.

You guys are both following the youth vote.

Jane, let me start with you. What are they telling you when you speak to young voters about the issues that are really driving them and that are really important to them?

JANE HOUSEAL, TEEN VOGUE CORRESPONDENT IN WISCONSIN: Yes. Well, first of all, thank you so much for having us on to speak today. Election after election in Wisconsin has determined by such razor-thin margins in just 2020 when Joe Biden won by around 20,000 votes. So it's no secret that the youth vote could really determine this election. You know, the Madison campus is, you know, double the margin that Joe Biden won in 2020.

So something that I think is really important when I'm talking to youth voters that I'm hearing a lot is the 48,000 Wisconsinites that decided to vote uninstructed in the presidential primary in April in order to send a message to the Democratic Party that they want an arms embargo on all weapons to Israel and an immediate ceasefire in Palestine. 48,000 voters, that's double the margin that Joe Biden won by in 2020.

And the policy hasn't really changed since Harris has stepped up. And so I think that is a really pressing issue and something that really matters to young people in Wisconsin, even though Madison and Milwaukee do have the potential to turn the state blue.

SOLOMON: And Tori, what are you hearing?

TORI GANZ, TEEN VOGUE CORRESPONDENT IN ARIZONA: Yes. Thank you so much for having us on, Rahel. I'm in Arizona and so recently I've been hearing from a lot of young organizers with United We dream Action, for example, that the Harris campaign has expressed its support for things like the border bill of 2024 that active young activists are fervently against. They want to have conversations about immigration related issues that humanely discussed the conditions of people they care about, not simply the militarization of the border.

Climate organizers who've spoken to me with Sunrise Movement want a climate plan and in many ways, they've said that Harris's new economic proposal puts forth some energy-related issues. That is a significant step forward and they will be there to hold her accountable after election day just as they are now.

I'm also hearing from trans people in the United States. We just had a wonderful op-ed from a high school student come out on TeenVogue.com yesterday, who wants the Harris-Walz campaign to talk about trans rights just as much as they're talking about abortion with young women in the United States. And so I think there are significant amount of policy priorities that the sometimes pandering feel of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz memes or flooding the feeds with celebrity endorsements does not directly address.

SOLOMON: Well, I mean to that point, Jane, I mean, we've seen so much celebrity support, Beyonce, Elon Musk for his part for Trump. I mean, do these have any true impact on the Gen Z vote? Are they relevant? Do they matter? What do you hear?

HOUSEAL: I mean, I think that's a great question, especially with celebrities coming to Wisconsin just this week and that being a major conversation online, but ultimately I think that celebrity endorsements are more likely to cause young people to make a judgment whether positive or negative on that celebrity than they are to change a young person's voting plan.

It's definitely important to pay attention to what celebrities and influential figures are saying as they're stepping up across the board. But I think the young people I see on Wisconsin campus that I've interviewed through my reporting are doing so much advocacy work and working so tirelessly on things that they have steadfast beliefs about. And I don't think a celebrity endorsement is going to change that. Yes.

SOLOMON: Yes. Tori, what about where young people are getting their news?

[15:35:05]

So both candidates we've seen really make this concerted push to go through nontraditional routes to get their message out, whether it's the podcast circuit which has been really sort of popular this last week or so, Joe rogan, Brene Brown, TikTok. What have you heard about how voters are getting their information?

GANZ: Yes. Thank you so much. You know, our Georgia correspondent of this "Teen Vogue" 2024 election program wrote a great piece talking with young voters about how they're getting information. As you noted on TikTok, on social media, I think the Harris-Walz campaign has, you know, recognized that they need to meet young people where they're at, notably in a forthcoming piece I have and as well as one of my "Teen Vogue" co-reporters wrote about Harris going on the interview style, comedic podcast, "Call Her Daddy," which typically talks about sex and dating advice hosted by Alex Cooper.

Now it's also true that I think Donald Trump has gone on a few more alternative podcasts in the last few weeks. However, you know, reaching them digitally is one thing and actively listening to and adapting the policy proposals of your campaign is separate effort that young people and organizers I'm hearing from would like to see more strong support for those progressive policies. And so talking at them versus listening, and acting on the things that are very clear to them.

SOLOMON: A real seat at the table.

GANZ: It's critical in this election.

SOLOMON: Yes. Really interesting. Great to have both of your insights. Thank you so much for the time today. We have Jane Houseal and Tori Ganz from "Teen Vogue." Thank you.

GANZ: Appreciate it.

HOUSEAL: Thank you.

SOLOMON: All right. Coming up for us, Tehran is accusing Israel of breaking international law after the Jewish state launched a wave of strikes in a retaliatory attack. We're going to have the latest when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:41:52]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. I'm Jim Sciutto live in Jerusalem.

The Israeli ambassador to the U.N. told me a short time ago Israel does not want a war, a larger conflict with the Iranian regime, but sent a message with those attacks on Iran overnight.

Joining me now for a military look at those attacks, Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Cedric, good to have you back as always.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Thanks, Jim. Good to be with you.

SCIUTTO: We don't have yet a public damage assessment from the strikes so far but from your view, given that Iran was able to attack, Israel, rather, was able to attack inside Iran, more than 100 fighter jets involved in this attack and strike multiple targets. What does that tell you, one, about Israel's capabilities, but two, about Iran's defensive capabilities?

LEIGHTON: Yes, that was a great question. So on the Israeli side of the ledger, it tells me that the Israelis did a fantastic job from an air campaign perspective to actually put together a real strong air campaign. It's very complicated to put together a, you know, series of movements that involve over 100 aircraft. Those aircraft will need to be refueled. You need to have intelligence assets. You need to get that intelligence to the fighter pilots.

You need to get the fighter pilots to coordinate with other members in their formation and you need to make all of that happen. It's kind of like a really intricate ballet. So the Israelis did a fantastic job with that when it came to targeting and doing all of those things.

On the Iranian side, it really shows the weaknesses in their air defense systems because it seems as if based on what we know so far that the Israelis were able to penetrate those defense systems almost at will. We knew that the Israelis attacked areas to the west of Tehran, but also know that they attacked installations in the western part of Iran along the Iraq border and just the Persian Gulf.

So those areas, you know, proved to be vulnerable. Those were also, at least in the western side, launch sites for the Iranians that they use to attack Israel back on October 1st? So this is, you know, something where the Israelis knew what they were doing. They knew how to prepare the intelligence for this, and they knew how to execute the operation. The Iranians had ample warning that something like this was going to happen, but yet they weren't able to integrate all of their air defense in one coherent whole so that they would have a better chance of, in essence, protecting their targets.

SCIUTTO: There was a time when you would hear that Israel was not capable of a massive attack on Iran, whether by missiles or air, or a combination without significant U.S. help. And yet this attack took place without U.S. military involvement. And just a number of weeks ago, Israel was able to carry out an attack against Houthi targets in Yemen, an attack that required refueling in the air.

[15:45:06]

Again, something you we need to carry out attacks at range. Is that old assumption no longer true? And can we now glean from this that Israel could carry out an attack right up to striking Iran's nuclear facilities without U.S. military involvement?

LEIGHTON: Well, from a range and, you know, ability to fly the airplane to that particular location, to any of those locations, the answer is yes. Where the answer gets to -- turn into a probable no is that the Israelis would need bunker buster bombs to actually penetrate the hardened bunkers that the Iranian nuclear program actually is in.

The Iranians have developed hardened concrete that is among the hardest types of construction materials in the world and it becomes really difficult to penetrate with standard munitions, not completely impossible in certain areas but very, very difficult to do, and that makes it, you know, kind of a mixed answer there. But generally speaking, the Israelis can attack almost any target in the Middle East because of the aerial refueling capabilities that you've talked, capability that they've developed over the last few years.

The other thing, though, is that they need the right kind of penetrating munition in order to get that capability for those specific nuclear targets. And they don't have those munitions as far as we know yet.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Yet. It's a good point. Colonel Cedric Leighton, retired, thanks so much for giving us a broader military sense as always.

We continue to follow developments here in the Middle East as well as political developments back in the U.S. as the race gets even hotter.

Please do stay with us. We'll be back after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:51:33]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon is seeking a new sentence for Erik and Lyle Menendez, petitioning a judge to throw out their life without parole sentences for murdering their parents 35 years ago.

Let's bring in CNN's Julia Vargas Jones, who's in Los Angeles.

So, Julia, what happens next now for the Menendez brothers?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we should know, Rahel, in the next 30 to 45 days if this superior court judge will take this on. But a lot still needs to happen. They need to set an initial hearing. They need to admit evidence. They will need to listen to those arguments, and that could take some time, even though the attorneys for the brothers are telling CNN they are very optimistic, that they will be home by Thanksgiving.

Now, if you remember, this petition is coming after a lot of new attention or renewed attention, I should say, on the case after documentaries, a Netflix series, but also two key pieces of evidence that have come up in the last year. One of them is the accusation from a former member of the boy band Menudo that Jose Menendez himself raped him when he was still a child.

Another piece of evidence that is being brought to light is a letter from Erik Menendez to a family member where he describes some of the abuse by his father before the killings. At the time they were convicted during, that trial, none of this evidence was actually entered into the trial. The jury couldn't hear much about their experience of sexual abuse.

And this week when the D.A. came out with the announcement that they would recommend this case for re-sentencing, they actually acknowledged that since then the L.A. district attorney's office has gained a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding sexual violence and that they recognize the lasting impact that it has on victims.

Now, what's interesting, Rahel, is that none of that is particularly relevant for this recommendation. What they're saying is that it's neither about the facts of the case in the '90s nor about this new piece of evidence. But instead it's about whether or not they have behaved well in prison and that is what we should be looking for as they bring this to court is their behavior is what will be noted by the judge -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: And then, Julia, just really quickly, I mean, give us a sense of where the family stands? Because it seems like some are sort of in support of this new recommendation. But I think the brother of Kitty Menendez is not. Where does the family stand on those?

VARGAS JONES: Yes, I mean, this is a very divisive case, right, Rahel. I mean, people even inside the D.A.'s attorney -- the D.A.'s office were divided into where to bring this. But the family as well, there are some family members that are actually very much welcoming them and hoping they'll be home by Thanksgiving.

SOLOMON: OK. Julia Vargas Jones, thank you.

And a quick programming note before we go, you can watch a brand new episode of "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU" with host Roy Wood Jr. and team captains Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Guests this week will be comedian Larry Wilmore and former congressman Adam Kinzinger. Here's a preview of what to expect from tonight's show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY WOOD JUNIOR, CNN HOST, HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU: Have you ever, like, been in, like, any type of like look-alike contests or anything?

ADAM KINZINGER, FORMER ILLINOIS CONGRESSMAN: No.

WOOD: Since we're talking about -- there's anybody else? You never liked --

KINZINGER: No. None mistaken. Tom Cruise kind of but that's --

(LAUGHTER)

AMBER RUFFIN, COMEDIAN: Yes.

KINZINGER: I'm not doing the one that says it.

WOOD: I don't know.

[15:55:01]

KINZINGER: I'm not the one that says it.

MICHAEL IAN BLACK, COMEDIAN: You just said you're not the one who says it?

KINZINGER: I'm not the one who says it.

BLACK: You just said it, bro. RUFFIN: Can you just look at what you look like when it happened? Yes,

some people -- it's not, I mean. Yes, some people say I look like Tom Cruise.

LARRY WHITMORE, COMEDIAN: Yes. I keep playing volleyball with my shirt off.

WOOD: I did one time, though, I did win a Isaiah Whitlock Junior look- alike contests from "The Wire."

WHITMORE: That's right. Yes.

BLACK: Oh, yes.

WHITMORE; Oh, yes.

RUFFIN: Oh, damn.

WHITMORE: Very good. It's good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Be sure to tune in for a new episode of "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU" which airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.

All right. Thanks for joining me today. I'm Rahel Solomon alongside Jim Sciutto in Jerusalem. CNN NEWSROOM with Jessica Dean starts after a quick break.

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