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Israel Says Retaliatory Strike against Iran Is Complete; Harris to Give Campaign Speech at The Ellipse on Tuesday; Harris Focuses on Reproductive Rights in Houston; Trump Tries to Reach Young Male Voters; Pennsylvania Nuns Falsely Accused of Voter Fraud; Chinese Hackers Targeting Trump, Vance Phones. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired October 26, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Paula Newton in New York.

Israel has carried out a major, long-awaited series of airstrikes against Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON (voice-over): The skies over Tehran looked and sounded like this early Saturday. Now you could see and hear what happened to be anti-aircraft fire. Now, Israel's military its strikes against Iran are indeed over.

Two sources tell CNN there were three waves of strikes in retaliation for Iran's missile barrage against Israel on October 1st. There's no word yet on damage or casualties but Israel says it struck military targets, including missile manufacturing facilities and surface to air missile arrays.

The U.S. asked Israeli officials to avoid strikes on Iran's nuclear or oil facilities for fear of escalating the conflict and affecting the global economy.

Earlier, a senior U.S. administration official said this should be the end of this direct exchange of fire between Israel and Iran. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense minister Yoav Gallant monitored the strikes from a command post, you see them there.

The Israeli military says if Iran does respond to the strikes, it will be ready.

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REAR ADMIRAL DANIEL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESPERSON: I can now confirm that we have concluded the Israeli response to Iran's attack against Israel. We conducted targeted and precise strikes on military targets in Iran, thwarting immediate threats to the State of Israel. The Israel Defense Forces has fulfilled its mission.

If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Ivan Watson is live for us in Hong Kong and has been following developments.

OK. So a measured, some would say restrained response here and a few tense hours for people in Tehran and beyond.

I mean, what more are you learning about exactly what happened in Iran over the last few hours and Israel's response to it?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, reading between the lines, Israel says it completed its mission, that all of its warplanes made it back safely to Israel and that it had targeted military facilities, described as factories that produce missiles, surface to air missile systems, and things with air capabilities.

Presumably radar or something like that, that could have restricted Israel's air force from operating, presumably in skies over Iran or near Iran. For Iran's part, we've had confirmation from state media that there were attacks against what it describes as military centers in three Iranian provinces.

That's Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam provinces. No reports of any casualties yet, neither from the Israeli side nor from the Iranian side. It's around 11:30 in the morning in Tehran right now.

We haven't seen any of the imagery that is so prevalent in Gaza and in Lebanon from other Israeli airstrikes in densely populated areas. So we haven't gotten any indication from the Iranian government that civilians were impacted in this.

In fact, we've gotten reports from residents on the ground speaking to CNN and from state media that life in Tehran right now feels very much like normal, that traffic is moving around and that stores are open right now.

Let's take a listen to what one Tehran resident has to say about what it was like being in the city as anti aircraft fire lit up the skies in the predawn hours.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Yes, we were so worried. The truth is, I thought the institute wouldn't be directing us right now. I was working a night shift and in the workplace, you heard the sound of cannon fire and explosion.

In fact, the sound echoed across the sky, a terrible and horrifying sound.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now the message coming out of the Israeli government right now and that of its close ally, the U.S. government is, OK.

[04:05:00]

Finished, done; there should not be any further retaliation. This was Israel's response to Iran firing scores of missiles at Israel on October 1st.

The big looming question now, what will Iran potentially do in response?

It doesn't look like it was able to stop the Israeli warplanes from bombing Iran. But of course, Iran has its armed proxies in the region, such as Hezbollah, which is fighting a deadly war or conflict against Israel, which has killed close to 30 soldiers in southern Lebanon alone.

The Houthis in Yemen, who have fired long range projectiles at Israel and have been targeted by Israeli warplanes; Iraqi militias that have also fired projectiles at Israel.

So while Iran may or may not take direct action, as we've seen twice over the course of the past year, it is possible that some of its other allies could potentially take action in retaliation at Israel. So watch this space.

NEWTON: Yes, absolutely. Ivan Watson for us, thanks so much, appreciated.

Journalist Abas Aslani is a senior research fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies. And he comes to us now, live from the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Good for you to be with us. I just want to open with what was it like overnight in Tehran.

And what has been the reaction there?

ABAS ASLANI, JOURNALIST AND SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, CENTER FOR MIDDLE EAST STRATEGIC STUDIES: Paula, when the operation happened, many Iranian people, they're sleeping. And I was in fact the only person to wake up early in the morning at home.

And the others, I think, woke up to the news in the morning. So it quite seems very normal in the country. And we have been -- the reaction seen from the Ukrainian side have been downplaying this attack as well as mocking, get on the social media as well as the state media.

But on the other side, the narrative we are hearing from the Israeli side, they want portray it as a success. And this could in some ways indicate that maybe we should be or we can be moving toward a deescalation.

And you know, this was expected to be a massive strike against Iran, to be inclusive of, in the first days, of Iranian nuclear facilities or energy infrastructure. But it ended up to be limited to some number of military sites.

And the Iranian side is also, is questioning the efficiency of those attacks. And maybe for some short time, we might be able to avoid a full-scale war in the region. However, the trajectory somehow remains escalatory.

And yet there is the risk of an exchange of fire in future, specifically that we are approaching the presidential election in the United States and by the time that I think we have an official president in White House, I think there are the chances of a renewed conflict between the two sides.

However, I think for the time being, maybe we might be able to avoid that escalation.

NEWTON: So I hear you. For now, things may be on pause, especially as you let us know about what the reaction has been from, as you say, official outlets. I want to ask you though, in the past few months, Iran has certainly suffered in terms of its proxies being diminished, both in Lebanon and in Gaza and of course, also in Yemen.

Is there any discussion here that, given what the Iranian economy has been through and with more sanctions coming, that Iran might be happy at this point in time to actually see a ceasefire take hold?

ASLANI: From day one, Iran has been demanding for a ceasefire.

However, the tensions from day-to-day has been increasing and now we are at a time that Israel for the first time officially has conducted a strike against Iran, admitting to it. And Iran also for the past few months, conducting some attacks against Israel.

So Iran's economy in the past few days was reacting to this. And we are expecting that the real to be back to somehow relatively to normal, comparing to the past few days because I think the economy was waiting to see a response from the Israeli side.

And now that if the economy or the market feels that it's over, they might be having a sigh at the moment. And this has been part of a process and a long battle where Israel thinks that, through the assassination of the senior leaders in the axis of resistance, they have had tactical gains. But Iran thinks that strategically it's not over.

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And Israel has not been able to achieve its declared goals that was announced on day one. And this will continue until the day that the war ends and stops in Gaza as well as --

(CROSSTALK) NEWTON: This is -- does this not feed into Benjamin Netanyahu's argument, though, right?

He is saying that he and his government cannot afford to embolden Iran further.

So isn't that just inviting more escalation?

ASLANI: You know, Paula, there were two arguments in Tehran a couple of weeks ago. One argument would say that Iran's response to Israel would be falling into the trap of Benjamin Netanyahu because he wants to drag in the United States in a regional war.

And the other argument was that no response would in fact be falling in another trap that would invite present Israeli facts against Iran. In the course of the past few weeks, we have been seeing that a kind of consensus or a unity iman (ph), elites in the country they need to do something against Israel if they want to stop that process.

And if they want to end this cycle of actions or reactions of that violence between the two sides, the have to somehow revive that deterrence against Israel.

And that's why we saw Iran attacking against Israel in self-defense in October 1st. And but with the attack and operation happening this early morning, which seemed to be weaker than expected or more limited than they expected in Iran, maybe this could be a way out of this escalation, at least for a short time, to see that.

How that deterrence line will be moving toward. And I think Iran will react to this. But according to the quality of the Israeli operation and the discussions may being made today in Tehran, maybe that reaction could be direct or indirect in order to avoid that full scale war.

And no direct reaction will not mean any reaction from the (INAUDIBLE) side, meaning that it could end up to be an indirect one.

NEWTON: All right.

Abas Aslani, we will leave it there. We appreciate your perspective from Tehran.

And we will have much more coverage of today's breaking news of Israel's strike on Iran and what could come next in the region, along with a closer look at the White House reaction.

With 10 days and counting, new CNN polling shows no daylight between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. We'll look at the numbers and what's ahead on the campaign trail.

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NEWTON: In just 10 days, voters in the United States will head to the polls to choose their next president. So far, more than 34 million ballots have already been cast with early voting underway in most states.

The final CNN nationwide poll before Election Day shows the race has -- I mean, look at that razor's edge -- 47 percent of likely voters supporting Kamala Harris and an equal 47 percent supporting Donald Trump.

Now in the coming now hours, Harris will be joined by former first lady Michelle Obama at a rally in Michigan. Trump will also be campaigning in Michigan before moving on to Pennsylvania.

Right now, the candidates are spending most of their time focusing, of course, on those handful of very important swing states that are widely expected to decide the election. On Friday, they both campaigned in Texas.

Kamala Harris got some star power when she was joined on stage by Houston native and global phenomenon, Beyonce. The rally was part of an effort to motivate people to get out and vote to protect reproductive freedoms. Harris told the gathering that Texas is ground zero in the fight to protect a woman's right to choose.

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KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Reproductive freedom is on the ballot in this presidential election.

And with the work of everyone here, freedom will win.

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NEWTON: Now Queen Bey told the crowd the country is on the brink of history, saying it's time to, quote, "sing a course of unity."

BEYONCE, SUPERSTAR PERFORMER: I'm not here as a celebrity. I'm not here as a politician. I'm here as a mother. A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we're not divided.

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NEWTON: Friday's rally was also part of a push to control the U.S. Senate, with Democratic Senate hopeful Colin Allred appearing onstage at the event. Allred is challenging longtime incumbent Republican senator Ted Cruz.

Donald Trump, meantime, appeared with Cruz at a rally in Austin, Texas, before heading to the battleground state of Michigan. There he criticized Vice President Harris of having what he called a dance party.

Beyonce in the midst of domestic and international turmoil. He accused the vice president of leading a hate campaign against him as she continues to hammer Trump on his character and fitness for office.

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And he used false claims to blast the Biden administration for not protecting the nation's border, the message he seems most focused on as this campaign winds down.

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TRUMP: I think the biggest thing is the border because they've allowed millions of people to come in from prisons and from mental institutions and destroy our country.

And we're not going to let that happen.

But I really believe -- does anybody agree with that?

Because (INAUDIBLE).

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NEWTON: The Harris campaign is using a new media buy meantime to capitalize on a troubling warning from Donald Trump's former chief of staff, John Kelly. On Friday, they released an ad using the audio of an interview that Kelly did with "The New York Times." Take a listen.

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JOHN KELLY, FORMER TRUMP CHIEF OF STAFF (from captions): He certainly falls into the general definition of a fascist, using the military to go after American citizens. He's commented more than once that "Hitler did some good things, too."

HARRIS (voice-over): I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now a senior Harris campaign official tells CNN, the vice president plans to close up the campaign with a major speech next Tuesday, just one week before Election Day.

And it is expected to take place at The Ellipse, a park near the White House where Trump delivered a fiery speech on January 6, 2021, before some of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol.

Harris' advisers say her speech will focus on turning the page on that period of American history.

In a major break from recent tradition, "The Washington Post" says it will not endorse a candidate in this year's U.S. presidential election or any in the future, for that matter. Its publisher says the decision is consistent with its values and a

return to the newspaper's roots. It has made an endorsement in every election since the 1980s. A person with knowledge of the matter told CNN "The Post's" editorial page staffers had already drafted an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris.

But "The Post" said owner Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, made the decision not to endorse. Robert Kagan, an opinion editor at large at the newspaper, says he resigned over the move.

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ROBERT KAGAN, FORMER EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "THE WASHINGTON POST": It was a pretty easy decision. This is obviously an effort by Jeff Bezos to curry favor with Donald Trump in anticipation of his possible victory. Trump has threatened to go after Bezos' business.

Bezos runs one of the largest companies in America. They have tremendously intricate relations with the federal government. They depend on the federal government and Trump has made it clear that he will oppose it, will attack media organizations that are critical of him.

"The Post" has had no trouble endorsing presidential candidates up until now. And by the way, this argument that they're making that somehow, they want to become above it all on this thing, they've endorsed all kinds of candidates in this election season.

They endorsed a Democratic nominee in Maryland. They endorsed other Democratic nominees. So is it just only in the race that Donald Trump happens to be running in that they've decided not to endorse. It's absurd.

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NEWTON: Earlier this week, the owner of "Los Angeles Times" spiked the paper's planned endorsement of Kamala Harris. Several editorial board members quit in protest.

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NEWTON: Thomas Gift is the director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at the University College London. He joins us now.

I'm just going to get to that tight race.

Is this surprising you?

Because this race has narrowed historically so right now.

THOMAS GIFT, DIRECTOR, CENTRE ON U.S. POLITICS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: No, absolutely. I don't think that we have seen anything like this in my generation, the race is just so close. That's true nationally. And it's true in almost every swing state -- Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona. All of them are within the margin of error. It's historic and it just shows exactly how divided this country is

and also how few swing voters there are out there. The number are kind of small and vanishing. Both candidates are trying to court them. But I think most Americans have made up their minds at this point.

NEWTON: Yes and the polls bear you out with that. There is a surprising number of undecided voters out there. Nonetheless, Kamala Harris was in Texas, which is not a swing state. It will likely go for Trump.

But she was there to really press her point on what she calls the Trump abortion ban. Take a listen to her.

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HARRIS: One in three American women live in a state with a Trump abortion ban. Many of these band are causing care to be denied until a woman is at death's door. And let us agree. One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do with her body.

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NEWTON: This is something we've heard from Kamala Harris for months, obviously.

[04:25:00]

Pretty much since she started her campaign and yet she is repeating it.

Is that really an effort to make sure that the base turns out, that that is what is going to decide this election right now?

GIFT: Absolutely. I think we're in this era of post persuasion politics, where the goal isn't necessarily to convince the middle of the road centrist voters of particular policies.

It's to ensure that the base comes out. Kamala Harris needs to have energized progressives. And the abortion issue is probably the best way to do it. We saw in 2022 midterms Democrats significantly outperformed, particularly in the House in large part, due to the abortion issue.

Democrats have won a number of state-level referenda on abortion over the last couple of years. This is obviously an issue that appeals both to her constituency but also, to an extent, swing voters. So I think she's absolutely right to focus on this issue just from a sheer tactical standpoint.

NEWTON: Yes. Even though as you said she isn't in Texas, it was not a swing state but she took the time to do that.

Also in Texas, Donald Trump really doing a three-hour interview.

Can you believe that? Thomas, with one of the most popular podcasters on the planet, Joe

Rogan. I want you to listen to Trump now and what he says he's actually considering, abolishing income taxes in the United States. Listen.

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JOE ROGAN, PODCAST HOST: You just float out the idea of getting rid of income taxes and replacing it with tariffs.

TRUMP: Well, OK.

ROGAN: We serious about that?

TRUMP: I want to, yes, sure.

But why not?

Because we -- ready?

Our country was the richest in the -- relatively -- in the 1880s and 1890s. A president who was assassinated named McKinley, he was the tariff king. He spoke beautifully of tariffs as -- the language was really beautiful. 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.

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NEWTON: I'm not going to get into the distortion of economics there, although I am qualified to do so.

But what I will say is that he was on that podcast to continue to try and get what the campaign calls low propensity voters to the ballot box.

Do you think he has a good chance there?

I mean, listen, it was three hours. They talked about a lot of things.

GIFT: Well, I think if voters haven't made up their minds by now, it's a very high likelihood that they won't come out to the polls at all.

But I do think, from a strategic standpoint, going on Joe Rogan, which is probably the most listened to podcast in the world, makes sense. And probably a relatively friendly audience.

It's a way to reach voters who maybe aren't watching CNN, maybe aren't watching legacy media but get a lot of their news online. That's particularly true of young voters and particularly young men.

And that's a demographic that Donald Trump has been doing really well with and wants to ensure that they come out to the polls on Election Day.

NEWTON: Again, as you say, perhaps that is about turnout as well.

Before I let you go, I have to ask you about international reaction. I have had the feeling from my European friends that they've really been just hiding under the covers and waiting until all this is over.

Given we are 10 days out, is there more -- a more palpable curiosity right now about the outcome of this event?

GIFT: Well, I'm always amazed here in London how much interest there is in U.S. politics. And striking to me how much citizens here are following every twist and turn.

They know what's going on. When you come to the United States and we would ask them who the prime minister of the U.K. is, most would not know. So there's a lot of interest. I think there's a collective holding of breaths right now as we get into this final stretch of the election season.

I think to a degree, everyone's just ready for it to be over. I think that's true of me and I think it's true of a lot of those in my social network.

NEWTON: Yes, it's incredible that there can be election fatigue among those who don't even get a vote. Thomas Gift for us from London, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

GIFT: Thanks, Paula.

NEWTON: Now we will have more continuing coverage of Israel's strikes in Iran, including reaction from the White House. We will have much more after a quick break

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NEWTON: We want to go right back to our top story this hour. Israel carried out retaliatory strikes on Iran overnight. Israelis say the attack is now over. Tracer fire and explosions rang out in the skies above the capital, Tehran, in the predawn hours, early Saturday morning.

Israel's military says it targeted Iran's air defense systems and missile production sites in several locations. Iran said the attack on military centers in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam caused limited damage. The strikes come in response to an Iranian missile barrage launched against Israel on October 1st. A senior U.S. official says Israel's retaliatory strikes on Iran were, quote, "very carefully prepared."

The White House is calling for calm and de-escalation now that Israel has finished its operations. CNN's Kayla Tausche has more U.S. reaction from Washington.

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KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: In the aftermath of these strikes, U.S. officials are describing them as the type of proportional response that President Biden and his top aides have been urging the Israelis to carry out in these recent weeks, specifically to limit civilian casualties and to be targeted and precise.

U.S. officials this evening describing that wave of strikes as carefully prepared.

[04:35:00]

Limiting civilian casualties and designed to be effective, with the effect being the degradation of Iran's capabilities of carrying out a future ballistic missile attack and deterrence against any future action.

Senior administration officials with a warning for Iran not to respond, suggesting very forcefully that this should be the end of the direct fire exchanged between Israel and Iran.

But also saying this, saying if Iran chooses to respond, once again, we will be ready and there will be consequences for Iran. Once again, we do not want to see this happen. This should be the end of the direct exchange of fire.

The senior administration official suggesting that there have been multiple channels of communication through which Iran has been made very aware of the U.S.' position and its belief that Israel has a right to defend itself.

Especially when Iran launches a barrage of ballistic missiles toward densely populated areas, including areas where tens of thousands of Americans live.

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NEWTON: Gideon Levy is a columnist for "Ha'aretz" newspaper and was an adviser to former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres. He joins us now from Tel Aviv.

And I thank you for joining us this morning. The Israeli response was weeks in coming. It is narrow, defined.

Does this surprise you in any way?

GIDEON LEVY, COLUMNIST, "HA'ARETZ": In a way it surprised me but it is good news for a change. I mean, finally, for a moment, please, logic prevails and also the American influence finally had some effect.

Because Israel really went to the most measured operation that one can expect. There are no information about casualties. It's only military targets. I mean, Israel paid its fare in retaliation.

And I hope by this, it will be over it now. It depends on the Iranian but the Iranian also seem to open a new page.

NEWTON: Yes. And you're right about that. So far, they've gone out of their way. In fact, Iran state media saying that so far they're not really trying to point out any damage or anything that's actually gone on there.

Of course, they will be very opaque if there was any damage done to those military installations. So we'll wait in the next few hours. You mentioned something there about the U.S. pressure working.

Do you believe they were persuasive here so that they could avoid a larger conflict?

Because, you know, I've been reading in the Israeli media, as I'm sure you have as well, that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu was tempted to go further in Iran.

LEVY: Absolutely.

And maybe even some political, domestic American calculation were there because we all know that Netanyahu's preference is the election, so the election of Donald Trump. And still in a surprising way, in a clever way, I must say Netanyahu went for a limited operation.

He was asked to wait until after the elections. This was too much for him. But at least he went to a very limited operation. And this time he listened to the American administration, which is a very rare phenomenon in the last year, I must say.

I don't remember one case in which he listened to American advisors or warnings. That's maybe the first time he does so.

NEWTON: And you could tell by the American response that they were ready for this, that they weren't expecting any surprises and that they didn't get any. It seemed that even the press releases from this were basically drafted before the strike and the U.S. said they expected this to end now in terms of this cycle of escalation.

I want to ask you though, Gideon, and when we think of the families of the hostages watching all of this unfold, does this now clear the decks for even a possible ceasefire?

We had Blinken in the area, in the Middle East again for the last few days. There are negotiations on this weekend.

If you're the families of the hostages, do you dare to hope? LEVY: Yesterday I would have answered, you know. Today, when I see signs of logical behavior and rational behavior and some kind of responsibility from the Israeli government, I have some hope because that's really their moment.

Maybe the last moment to go for a ceasefire, to go for a deal for releasing the hostages. So those who are still alive obviously. But knowing the Israeli government, I'm very afraid that the right wing is within the coalition.

It's now Shabbat in Israel, Saturday. They are disconnected. When the Shabbat will be over, you will hear from them condemnation for the limited operation in Iran and calling for continuous the war in Gaza and in Lebanon.

[04:40:08]

And I just hope that Netanyahu will be devoted enough to continue now because that's exactly the best timing to go for a ceasefire. Anything which will come now after those achievements both in Gaza and in Lebanon will make things much worse.

NEWTON: And we will certainly watch for that response in the next 24 hours. And of course, everyone thinking as well as the civilians in Gaza, who have really been waiting for some measure of hope in all this. Gideon Levy, thanks. We appreciate it.

And we do turn to Gaza now, where emergency response officials say at least 26 Palestinians were killed in strikes early Friday in the southern part of the enclave and in northern Gaza. Health authorities claim Israeli forces opened fire in a hospital compound after days of laying siege to the facility.

The hospital's director describes the situation as, quote, "truly terrifying." Sources say the facility is in desperate need of aid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUSSAM ABU SAFIYA, DIRECTOR, KAMAL ADWAN HOSPITAL (through translator): We will be facing a humanitarian catastrophe if there is no solution to the situation in the next few coming hours. The hospital will turn into a mass grave.

There is a huge number of wounded people and, approximately every hour, we lose one of them as a martyr.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: As Palestinians continue to flee the nonstop violence, local organizations have set up dozens of tents in a stadium in Gaza City to shelter displaced people from northern Gaza.

The United Nations human rights chief is raising concerns about the crisis, warning that it could amount to crimes against humanity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLKER TURK, U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER OF HUMAN RIGHTS: Today one of the darkest moments of the Gaza conflict is unfolding in the north of the Strip.

As we speak, the Israeli military is subjecting an entire population to bombing, siege and starvation as well as being forced to choose between mass displacement and being trapped in an active conflict zone.

There is extremely limited access to this part of Gaza. Next to no aid has reached the area in weeks with unlawful restrictions remaining. And many are now facing starvation. The Israeli government's policies and practices risk emptying the area of all Palestinians.

We are facing what could amount to atrocity crimes, including potentially extending to crimes against humanity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken held talks with Arab leaders in London on Friday and it comes after his tour of the Middle East this week. Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, told Blinken can that ethnic cleansing is taking place in northern Gaza.

He also called for a permanent ceasefire in Lebanon as cross-border attacks between Israel and Hezbollah continue to ramp up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AYMAN SAFADI, JORDAN FOREIGN MINISTER: As we mentioned, the humanitarian situation is really difficult. We look at Northern Gaza and where we do see ethnic cleansing taking place and that has got to stop.

In Lebanon, I think the Lebanese government is clear now it wants to implement Resolution 1701, so that should be implemented and save, again, hundreds, thousands of lives that are being killed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Blinken says there's a, quote, "sense of real urgency" in getting to a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon.

Billionaire Elon Musk reportedly has been in contact with Russian president Vladimir Putin on a regular basis since 2022. "The Wall Street Journal" reports that the richest man on Earth and the owner of X, Tesla and SpaceX has discussed personal topics, business and global tensions with the Russian leader.

It's raising national well security concerns since Musk has had access to sensitive government information through SpaceX. NASA's chief Bill Nelson is calling for an investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: I don't know that that story is true. I think it should be investigated, if the story is true that there have been multiple conversations between Elon Musk and the president of Russia, then I think that would be concerning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

NELSON: Particularly for NASA, for the Department of Defense, for some of the intelligence agencies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Several White House officials told "The Journal" they weren't aware of the contacts between Musk and Putin. Musk did not respond to "The Journal's" requests for comment.

When we come back, a bogus voter fraud conspiracy theory about nuns. The claim seen nearly 3 million times and boosted by Elon Musk's super PAC. We get to the facts.

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NEWTON: U.S. presidential candidates are working hard to pick up last-minute support in a race that polls show too close to call. Donald Trump looked to reach young men who might not normally vote in a three-hour interview with podcaster Joe Rogan Friday.

Trump talked about the possibility of eliminating income taxes, speculated there may indeed be life on Mars and rehashed his claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

[04:50:00]

Kamala Harris, meantime, highlighted her desire to protect reproductive freedoms in a star-studded rally featuring Beyonce and singer Willie Nelson. Harris described Texas as ground zero for the issue of reproductive rights. In fact, she says it's severely -- it has a severely restrictive abortion ban.

So a recent viral post by a Republican operative claimed that 53 people were registered to vote at one address in Pennsylvania where no one was actually living. The post was boosted by Elon Musk's super PAC. It turns out the address is actually a Catholic monastery filled with nuns and they're not happy. Danny Freeman has our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just off the cold waters of Lake Erie tucked into the crisp fall foliage of Western Pennsylvania, the Benedictine sisters of Erie live a peaceful life in a modest monastery.

SISTER STEPHANIE SCHMIDT, PRIORESS, BENEDICTINE SISTER OF ERIE: This is my favorite window.

FREEMAN: Sister Stephanie Schmidt is the prioress, the leader of the 50-plus nuns who have called this place home for decades.

SCHMIDT: When you make your vows here, you're committed to this monastery in Erie for the rest of your life.

FREEMAN: Did it come to you as a bit of a surprise when all of a sudden on social media, someone was saying that no one lives here?

SCHMIDT: More of a shock than a surprise. Where is this coming from?

What planet are you living on?

FREEMAN: On Tuesday, an X account claiming to be the head of a canvassing operation in Pennsylvania posted, breaking, a member of the PA CHASE discovered an address in Erie, Pennsylvania, today where voters are registered. Turns out it's the Benedictine Sisters of Erie and no one lives there. We will not let Dems count on illegal votes.

The claim is a canvas walked in right into the lobby and was told by someone no one lived there.

SCHMIDT: It's misinformation. No one here had that interaction with whomever supposedly came by canvassed, no one here would say no one lives here.

FREEMAN: The post seen more than 2.7 million times and reposted by Elon Musk's America PAC, included a long list of names all women implying they supposedly don't live here and aren't real voters at all.

You know most of the sisters who live here, correct?

SCHMIDT: I know all of them.

FREEMAN: So you know Sister Rita?

SCHMIDT: Yes.

FREEMAN: Sister Ann?

SCHMIDT: Yes.

FREEMAN: There are four Sister Anns, right?

SCHMIDT: Used to be seven but now, we're down to four.

FREEMAN: Sister Annette?

SCHMIDT: Yes.

FREEMAN: Sister Audrey?

SCHMIDT: Yes.

FREEMAN: Sister Barbara?

SCHMIDT: Yes.

FREEMAN: Sister Dolores?

SCHMIDT: Yes. FREEMAN: Sister Placida?

SCHMIDT: A 1seven.

FREEMAN: OK, just turned 107.

SCHMIDT: Just turned 107.

FREEMAN: At lunch, we saw the sisters of Erie firsthand.

Can each of you tell me how long you've lived here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sixty-three years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been in the community 54 years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I entered in '59.

FREEMAN: We reached out to the canvassing operation and poster for comment but did not hear back.

SISTER ANNETTE MARSHALL, BENEDICTINE SISTER OF ERIE: We're used to being accused of things like being too active and you know being -- we've always been very vocal about peace and justice but I've never heard us accused of fraud.

FREEMAN: Or not existing.

MARSHALL: Or not existing, right.

FREEMAN: After the nuns publicly pushed back on the claims, the original poster tweeted in part: right now, we've got our team continuing to analyze the situation. Once we have proof, we will be content.

The nuns acknowledge they're in a swing county, in a swing state and misinformation is bound to flow in these final days of the presidential election.

Do you think this whole incident is going to galvanize more sisters here to vote?

MARSHALL: You don't need to galvanize the sisters here to vote. They will vote. They all vote.

FREEMAN: Now I should say not only do all of these nuns vote but they're not afraid of a fight, either.

They tell me that they've reached out to their attorneys to discuss the possibility of legal action after this incident, they are saying they're looking at a violation of privacy since many of their nuns' full names and, of course, their address was posted online.

But also they're calling accusations of fraud public defamation -- Danny Freeman, CNN, State College, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: On Friday, a federal judge halted a Virginia program that purged the state's voter rolls, based on indications that a person may not be -- maybe a night -- a noncitizen -- pardon me. The judge ruled that the program violated a federal law, forbidding systemic voter removal within 90 days of a federal election.

The ruling ordered state officials to restore the registrations of roughly 1,600 people removed from the rolls. State officials have appeal the decision and asked for an emergency order pausing the judge's ruling. They want the appeals court to make a decision by Monday.

[04:55:00]

Hackers linked to the Chinese government have sought phone communications made by both members of the Republican presidential ticket. Sources tell CNN both Donald Trump and JD Vance were targeted, along with members of the Harris-Walz campaign and the Biden administration.

It's not clear what data, if any, was accessed. But multiple U.S. telecommunications firms have been infiltrated in recent months by Chinese hackers. China's government denies those allegations.

And that wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Of course, we will continue to bring you the breaking news out of Israel. I'm Paula Newton. Bianna Golodryga picks up our coverage after a quick break.