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Isa Soares Tonight

Benjamin Netanyahu: Security Of Israel Hinges On Controlling Philadelphi Corridor; Fourth Day Of Protests In Israel Demanding Ceasefire- Hostage Deal; Ukraine's Foreign Minister Resigns After Reshuffle; At Least Four Killed In Georgia High School Shooting; Deadly Mass Shooting At Apalachee High School; U.S. Service Member Detained In Venezuela; Harris And Trump Tied In Three Key Swing States; Harris Unveils New Proposals To Improve U.S. Economy. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired September 04, 2024 - 14:00:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: Hello, and a very warm welcome, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. We'll begin this hour in Jerusalem where Prime

Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has addressed the foreign press just in the last hour, so striking a pretty defiant tone and doubling down yet again on

the Philadelphi Corridor.

This of course, off the back of new reporting that Israeli Prime Minister derailed the draft hostage and ceasefire deal in late July. A document

obtained by the Israeli newspaper shows the Israeli Prime Minister introduce new 11th hour demands. The document confirms what CNN has

reported that those demands include Israeli control of that Philadelphi Corridor.

It is as we have been telling you on the show, as you can see there on your map, right at the end of that screen, it is a sticking point in the

negotiations with Hamas. Here's what the Prime Minister said just a short- while ago. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL: Once we left the Philadelphi Corridor, Iran could carry out its plan to turn Gaza into a base, a

terrorist enclave that would endanger not only the communities around it, but would endanger Tel Aviv, Jerusalem Beersheba, the entire country of

Israel.

[14:05:00]

It became a huge terrorist base because we left that corridor. So, we vowed -- well, I would say all this, you have to understand that the centrality,

the centrality of the Philadelphi Corridor to the arming of Gaza, to the arming of Hamas, and this all led to the October 7th massacre.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Meantime, protests resumed for a fourth day as some Israeli hostage families accused the Prime Minister of prolonging the war for his

own political survival. We heard from the family of one of the hostages on the show yesterday. I want to bring in our Jeremy Diamond, who is in

Jerusalem for us.

And Jeremy, you were inside that room, you pressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on two occasions, but he seemed to me at least watching, pretty

defiant, doubling down and saying he won't make any concessions on the Philadelphi Corridor. What more did he say? And who was that message

directed at?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no question about it. The Israeli Prime Minister was certainly defiant tonight and sticking to

his guns in particular on this issue of the Philadelphi Corridor as he sought to come up with one argument after the next to try and justify his

position, which we need to be very clear what that position is.

And that is to say that the Prime Minister is saying that the Philadelphi Corridor is all important. He painted it almost as existential to the state

of Israel, even though Israel hadn't captured that corridor for the first seven months of the war, even though the hostage families and a majority of

the Israeli population wants to see a deal now, rather than remaining along the Philadelphi Corridor.

And he is making clear that ultimately his demand regarding the Philadelphi corridor is firm, and it will not move even if that means that the hostages

cannot come out alive in a ceasefire deal. But he also painted this as international pressure, but the reality is that so much of that pressure is

coming from inside Israel, including from the families of those hostages.

One of those is Aviva Siegel, a former hostage who I spoke with this evening, and I conveyed her message to the Prime Minister tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: Prime Minister, Jeremy Diamond, CNN. I spoke to Aviva Siegel tonight, a former hostage whose husband is still being held in Gaza. She

told me that she believes that you are sentencing her husband, Keith to die by prioritizing the Philadelphi Corridor over a deal. And she has this

question for you, is Keith going to come home alive or dead?

NETANYAHU: I'll do everything to make sure that Keith and all the other hostages come back. I'm telling you that if we relieve the pressure, if we

get out of the Philadelphi Corridor, we're not going to get the hostages back. Certainly, we're going to condemn a lot of them to stay there.

We could get a few out, they'll give us that, but they'll leave a lot with them. We won't have the pressure point and something else will happen, we

will not be able to come back. So, we want released all the hostages, and we want to achieve the defenses that we must have to prevent more October

7th again and again and again.

That is my responsibility. I can understand the torment of families. They don't -- you know, none of them believe that we'll get the hostages in the

first batch either, many -- none of them, few of them, quite a few of them didn't believe it. And they came and they said you have to get them out,

you have to get them out.

You're not going to give them out. You have to make this concession or that concession, I didn't make those concessions and we got them out. So, it's

very hard, you know, I don't stand in judgment of these tormented souls, because they're undergoing an agony that is hard to -- hard to fathom. And

I understand that.

But the responsibility of leaders is not merely to share the sentiment, the emotion, but also to exercise judgment, the correct judgment, to make sure

that these horrors do not happen again. I believe that our strategy is the best way to achieve both goals. Both releasing, freeing the hostages and

ensuring that Gaza never poses a threat to Israel again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And you will note, Isa, that at the very beginning of his answer, the Prime Minister said that he will do everything to make sure that Keith

and the other hostages come back. He did not say that they would come back alive, and that was the specific nature of the question that Aviva Siegel

shared with me and that I asked the Prime Minister.

I also pressed the Prime Minister on the mounting death toll in Gaza where we have now seen more than 40,000 Palestinians be killed. The majority of

whom are civilians. And I asked him, how much is too much, at what point is the cost, the civilian, the human cost of this war too high that it must

end.

And on that point, the Prime Minister was clearly defiant, accusing me of not reporting honestly and effectively saying that there is going to be no

change in posture from the Israeli government, insisting that Israel does everything that it can to minimize civilian casualties, pointing to a

statistics many of which are either not true or cannot be verified.

[14:10:00]

SOARES: Yes --

DIAMOND: And certainly trying to make a point that the Israeli military acts in a way that no other military in the world would. When we have seen

one military expert after the next, including a number of retired U.S. Generals say that it is clear that Israel is not taking sufficient

precautions as it relates to civilians in Gaza.

And on that point though, the Israeli Prime Minister making very clear that nothing about the way Israel conducts this war in Gaza is going to change.

SOARES: Yes, and on --

DIAMOND: Isa --

SOARES: That, he said actually, wrote it down, I'm not going to change my policies to minimize civilian casualties when it comes to Gaza on that

question. Let me go back to the Philadelphi Corridor because I spoke to a hostage family member on this show yesterday, we're seeing the 4th day of

protests across Israel today.

Much smaller of course, in comparison to what we saw at the weekend. But just to explain this idea that the Philadelphi Corridor is an existential

threat in Netanyahu's eyes, because it wasn't, Jeremy, just several months ago -- five months ago, six months ago. How do families make sense of this?

DIAMOND: I mean, most families that I have talked to, and most protesters that I have talked to in the streets of Tel Aviv believe that it is just an

excuse that he is coming up with, because the reality is that if he agrees to a ceasefire deal, he faces the very real threat of his governing

coalition collapsing, and as a result of him no longer being the Prime Minister of the state of Israel.

And that is ultimately where we have seen in multiple surveys, a majority of Israelis were at least 50 percent, I believe, believe that the Prime

Minister is acting more out of political interests in the conduct of the war rather than in the interests of the country. That is certainly the

belief of many of the hostage families of many of these protesters that we have seen out there.

The Prime Minister pushed back on that notion tonight, insisting that it is a real security threat. And look, there is a reality here that, there is an

understanding within the Israeli military, within the security establishment that the Philadelphi Corridor was being used by Hamas to

smuggle weapons in.

And that it is a security issue that Israel needs to deal with. But many in his security establishment, most notably, the Defense Minister Yoav

Gallant, they do not believe it is more important than a hostage deal, and they also believe that contrary to what the Prime Minister said, that

Israel could go back and recapture that Philadelphi Corridor, should a first phase -- should a ceasefire deal fall apart after the first phase,

for example.

Which the Israeli Prime Minister has very clearly signaled in the past, that he intended to resume the war until all of the goals are achieved,

even if they are in the middle of a ceasefire agreement. And so, this notion that it is somehow now an existential threat when Israel didn't

capture that corridor for the first seven months of the war.

And he even suggested tonight that the hostages would be at risk because they could potentially be smuggled out of Gaza. We have seen no evidence to

suggest that any hostages have been smuggled out of Gaza into Egypt. That is not a notion that has been raised before until this very moment as the

Prime Minister is looking for pieces of information to try and make his case. Isa.

SOARES: Yes, trying to make the case, speaking in Hebrew just a few days ago, speaking in English, of course, a message to the international world,

to international leaders as pressure continues to mount. Important and crucial analysis there from our Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem. Jeremy,

appreciate it, thank you very much indeed.

I want to turn our attention to Ukraine because the government in Kyiv is facing major changes as Russia ramps up its attacks across the country, at

least seven people are now confirmed dead after Moscow launched strikes on the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Ukrainian officials say four of the

victims were in the same family, and that the father is the lone survivor.

And this comes as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy moves to reshuffle his cabinet. Ukraine's Foreign Minister has handed in his resignation, but

parliament has yet to vote on the offer. Well, joining us now, during this very tumultuous week, of course, in Ukraine, as the head of the Ukrainian

Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee Oleksandr Merezhko.

Oleksandr, welcome back to the show. Good to see you. Let me start then with the politics with those big changes for the government in Kyiv. What

more can you tell us about this reshuffle and the timing of this critically?

OLEKSANDR MEREZHKO, PARLIAMENT'S FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE, UKRAINE: Well, we have this reshuffle. It continuous for example, today, with

committee. We took decision to dismiss the Minister of Foreign Affairs, tomorrow, the voting will take place in the parliament regarding a number

of positions on the cabinet of ministers.

But, it's a natural process. Some ministers have been in their position for five years. And of course, if you take into consideration the sort of

fatigue because you know, it's very difficult job to perform, to be a minister. Additionally, we don't have elections, we cannot have elections

during Martial law, but we can strengthen the government.

[14:15:00]

We can make changes in the government in order to add as our President has put today, to energize, to add more energy to the government.

SOARES: Yes, and on that Oleksandr, I just want to play what President Zelenskyy has said on the reshuffle, we can talk after this. Let's have a

listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT, UKRAINE (through translator): Will be extremely important for Ukraine and our state institutions must be set up

so that Ukraine achieves all the results we need. All of us. To do this, we need to strengthen some areas of the government. And we have prepared

personnel decisions.

There will also be changes in the office. I am also counting on a slightly different weight for certain areas of our foreign and domestic policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: So, Oleksandr, just explain why is Autumn going to be so important for this war?

MEREZHKO: Well, for military reasons because, you know, the battles, the fighting mostly takes place when there is a greenery during the Summer, but

deep into the Autumn, it's more and more difficult for military, for example, armored personnel carriers, for tanks to move.

That's where the most heavy fighting takes place, in the beginning of Autumn. And Russia is desperately trying to put on to control -- to occupy

most of the territory of Donbas. That's why the spirit is going to be crucial. And we see also what's going on with our offensive in the Kursk

region. So, it's a very responsible and very difficult period for our army.

SOARES: And we'll talk about the frontlines in the attacks that Ukraine has been seeing in just a moment. But just on the reshuffle very quickly,

Oleksandr, we mentioned it briefly. Obviously, he's one of the most recognized men here in the West, Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's Foreign Minister.

He was among those who's handing in his resignation, and part of this cabinet reshuffle, I should say. Do you expect he will get a different

position? What is your -- what is your view on this, on his -- on his role here?

MEREZHKO: Well, first of all, we are grateful to him for his role after the full-scale invasion, and to me, he is one of the best Foreign Ministers

in the whole history of Ukraine. We are grateful to him for that, and we hope that his talent, his experience will find new place, and maybe he will

be dealing with Ukraine, joining NATO or maybe with the process of Ukraine joining the European Union.

There are different options, but I'm sure that he's experienced and his talent and he's still a very young person. That his experience and talent

will find a place.

SOARES: So, you're thinking he's probably going to be around Europe working with -- pushing for Ukrainian -- Ukraine to join the EU. Is that

what you think, but not related currently to military -- to Foreign Ministry Affairs in Ukraine. Is that what you're saying?

MEREZHKO: Well, to us, joining the European Union and joining NATO is a top priority, because --

SOARES: Deception, yes --

MEREZHKO: This is about -- and it's related issue to our defense. That's why I'm sure that any diplomat who will contribute to this process, he will

do everything he can to guarantee in this way our security and our defense.

SOARES: I appreciate you giving us more details on that. Let's turn to the bleak events that we have been seeing. We saw today in Lviv, Russia has

been launching air attacks in Lviv. We're now seeing a stepping up of attacks on Ukraine. In your view, is the Kremlin trying to send a message

after Ukraine's incursion into the Kursk region. How do you -- how do you see this latest barrage of air attacks?

MEREZHKO: We already in Ukraine get used to such barrages and to such destroying of our critical civilian infrastructure. And to -- because, you

know, Russia is waging genocidal war against Ukraine. And its final goal is to eliminate Ukraine as a state and Ukrainian nation, to deprive us of our

identity, cultural and national identity.

And each day, Russia is bombarding shelling, killing civilians. It happens on a daily basis. Each day, we have several times, day and night, sirens of

air raids going off. So, we already got used to this. And we got used to live in this nightmare.

SOARES: Oleksandr Merezhko, really appreciate you taking the time to speak to us once more, Oleksandr, thank you very much indeed.

[14:20:00]

I want to stay in Ukraine. I want to turn back to Russia's deadly attack on Lviv that I was just mentioning there with Oleksandr, the western city

supposed to, of course, to be a safe haven. I know it well, I've been reporting for there -- from there. But now at least, seven people have been

killed.

Our Frederik Pleitgen is tracking the aftermath of that attack and the fighting of course, in Ukraine's eastern front.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(GUNFIRE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Elite soldiers from Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade get out of their armored

vehicle and right into a massive firefight. One of the soldiers is wounded, the other scream for a tourniquet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(GUNFIRE)

PLEITGEN: But the unit keeps moving while Ukraine's army has been losing ground in many areas in this part of the Kharkiv region, they've turned the

tide. Later, taking several Russian dugouts, the deputy commander says. "The enemy has no results", he says, "moreover, we have positive results.

We've pushed the enemy back and captured a battalion line of enemy defense."

While the 3rd Assault Brigade says they'll keep pushing forward, Ukraine remains badly outmanned by the Russians. And a 3rd Assault Brigade wants

ever more combat drones to be their great equalizer. This is their drone school they call, The Kill House.

(on camera): Drone technology is developing extremely fast on the battlefields in Ukraine. And the 3rd Assault Brigade believes in the

future, they will need even more drone pilots, so, they're training as many as possible, as fast as possible to get them combat ready.

(voice-over): They've already trained more than 1,500 perspective drone aviators here, not just to fly the FPV drones effectively, but to use them

as lethal weapons capable of destroying even tanks and armored vehicles. "The greatest effectiveness of a pilot is his or her desire", the school's

boss tells me.

"FPV pilots are people of a special mindset, they know how to hit the target, what ammunition to use." The ammo is becoming more lethal as well.

A different Ukrainian unit now acknowledging they're using a trial version of a fire spewing drone that drops an incendiary substance on Russian

positions.

But the Russians keep hitting Ukraine with much bigger ammunitions, missile strikes, killing several people in Lviv in western Ukraine overnight.

Search and rescue crews recovering the bodies for hours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(ARTILLERY FIRE)

PLEITGEN: Keith's leadership has vowed revenge for Russia's aerial attacks against Ukrainian cities, a driving factor also for the soldiers attacking

Russian positions on the northeastern front. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: And our thanks to Fred for that report. And just ahead, breaking news from the United States, a deadly school shooting just days after the

start of the school year. We'll have much more next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:25:00]

SOARES: We are tracking a heartbreaking as well as chaotic scene at a high school in the U.S. state of Georgia. Officials say at least four people

have been killed and about 30 people injured after a shooting at a high school in Winder, just outside Atlanta. The sheriff's office says a suspect

is in custody, they are of student age, we're being told.

But it's not clear whether they attend the school. All of the schools in the district were placed on lockdown as a precaution. Now, some students

gathered on the football field, as you can see there in a prayer circle, just a short time after the shooting, Apalachee High School.

Ivan Rodriguez is on the ground and joins us for more. So, Ivan, just bring us up to date with the very latest. What more can you tell us? What are you

learning this hour?

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Isa, still, a very chaotic scene from parents, from law enforcement directing people any direction they really

need to go. A lot of these roads are blocked off, but right behind me is that high school where the shooting took place.

We've seen a medevac helicopters landing there, taking off from there as well. Again, the biggest news, four people we know now, at least four dead,

30 injured and we're beginning to know a little bit more as well of what happened inside. Those are the stories right now that we're hearing plenty

of them from parents, students as well.

I want to bring in mom and a daughter, Natalia(ph) and Salome Montoya, they were both in -- Salome was in the classroom, and I'm going to interview

Salome in Spanish here and will translate what she says. Salome, (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SALOME MONTOYA, STUDENT: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RODRIGUEZ: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MONTOYA: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RODRIGUEZ: So, Salome was telling me, Isa, that she was in the classroom working on the computer at the time, she heard at least six gunshots is

what she can recall right now, the teacher in that classroom told them to get down and get into a corner of the classroom. (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN

LANGUAGE)

MONTOYA: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RODRIGUEZ: She says that after a few minutes, they were escorted out by police with their hands up in the air. As they were exiting that classroom,

going into a hallway, she says that she saw someone who was dead on the ground with a sheet that was over that body. The mom here said that she ran

to the -- to the -- pretty much here to the school, got in her car quickly, saw everything that was going on.

She was very concerned, obviously, Isa, as many parents are here as well, reuniting with their children.

SOARES: Yes, and look, Ivan, just hurting hearing Salome, you could hear it in her voice just the fear, of course and the panic, telling her to

crouch down as she heard that. Appreciate it, Ivan, thank you very much, indeed. Let's bring in former FBI special agent Bobby Chacon for the very

latest.

Bobby, appreciate you being with us. We are now hearing that four dead, nine others taken to various hospitals with injuries following this

horrific shooting. From what we've heard so far, what do you make of it? What do you -- what can you -- what can you glean?

BOBBY CHACON, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, it sounds hopefully like a single shooter, a single suspect, not two or more, and it's contained to

this incident and that person is in custody. It looks like it's a school- aged person, so, it might have been a student, although that's not confirmed yet.

So, it seems like it's possible that it was a student or a former student of this school, that they acted alone, and that the incident is contained

right now. And that's the hope and that's what it looks like right now.

SOARES: Yes, we know the suspect is alive, Bobby, I wonder how important it is for officials to figure out a motive at this stage.

CHACON: Well, it's very important because you know, there are other like- minded people. Was he part of a group that was disenfranchised or unhappy with things and stuff. So, there's -- the FBI has what's called a Social

Media Exploitation team that they deploy to events like this that can really deep dive into the suspect's social media and see who they're

aligned with, do they have like-minded people that are thinking about doing the same thing?

[14:30:22]

And so, they'll be doing that in the minutes and hours as they pass right now. That's the most important thing, to contain this particular incident

and then to ensure that there are other -- there aren't other like-minded people, co-conspirators, or other people they were communicating with

online that might be thinking of doing something similar.

SOARES: And based on what we know so far, Bobby, I know we're still getting a lot of information, still trickling in, we're hearing from

families, as we just heard there from Salome (ph), who was inside that room in that class. What do you make of the response time of how authorities

dealt with this?

CHACON: Well, it seems to have been pretty good. It seems to have been by the book. I mean, everybody kind of is learning -- not learning. We've

known this for many years, but each time there's lessons to be learned. And, you know, everybody knows now we have to rush in there. We can't wait.

Uvalde, Texas last year was a horrific mistake. And so, now we -- you know, these officers know they have to run right at the danger, as dangerous that

it might be, because every shot you hear could be another child losing their life.

So, everybody -- it looks like in this situation that the response was good. It was quick. The FBI responded, the ATF responded after the fact,

but the local law enforcement seems to have responded very well. They secured this incident fairly quickly. Unfortunately, we don't know how

severely injured some of those injured people are. And oftentimes, people will not survive the initial injuries that -- once they went to a hospital.

We hope that's not the case.

We don't know what kind of weapon was used. Once we hear what kind of weapon was used, then, you know, we'll have a better idea of what kind of

wounds and what kind of injuries the hospitals are dealing with now with those injured people.

SOARES: Yes. And we hope, of course, that the injuries are not too severe, of course. I know authorities will start piecing this all together. Bobby,

I appreciate you coming on and to break a new story. Thank you very much indeed.

And still to come on the show tonight, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is unveiling new proposals to improve the U.S. economy. We'll take a look at

those. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:35:00]

SOARES: Welcome back everyone. A U.S. service member has been detained in Venezuela. It's feared the sailor is being held by Venezuelan intelligence,

SEBIN. Officials telling CNN he was in Caracas on personal travel, and the Navy is working with the State Department to gather more information.

The detention comes just days after the U.S. seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's plane. Officials say the plane was purchased in violation

of U.S. sanctions. Venezuela has seen a wave of unrest in recent weeks. We have followed it here. We've reported on it, followed, of course, by the

brutal government crackdowns. This after President Maduro claimed a third term in office, despite criticism over the legitimacy of the election.

Human Rights Watch has issued a scattering port (ph) today on that post- election violence, saying the killings as well as detentions are the worst the country has seen in years.

Mr. Maduro, meanwhile, searching for the approval of his electorate, announcing Christmas will come two and a half months early, at the

beginning of October, I kid you not. Joining us now is journalist Stefano Pozzebon from Bogota, Colombia. Stefano, just what more do we know at this

stage about this U.S. sailor and the timing of this critically?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN JOURNALIST: Yes. Hey there, Isa. Well, unfortunately, we don't really know much else from what we were able to

pierce together this morning around the case of these U.S. active-duty service member who has been detained in Caracas on August 30.

We know that he traveled to Venezuela sometime in the previous days, and he was detained in Caracas. The first question, of course, that the U.S.

officials from both the State Department and the Department of Defense are still trying to answer is how and why he was able to travel to Caracas.

What was the reason for him to travel there? Given that, as we know, he was there on personal matter, but also, given that as a U.S. citizen, you would

need a visa to travel to Venezuela. So, it could be that this service member has also another passport from another country that does not require

a visa to travel to Venezuela.

This is some of the hypothesis that we're trying to follow in trying to bring you more news about this case. But just like you said, yes, this is a

development that will for sure complicate the negotiations between Washington and Caracas. Just as Maduro's crackdown is moving ahead with

brutal efficiency.

Yesterday, I was able to speak with investigators from Human Rights Watch who reviewed analysis and they found that at least in 11 cases of killings

in post-election violence in Venezuela last month, there was a direct involvement from state actors from the security forces, in that case, was

National Guard of the Venezuelan.

And so, you could see how Maduro is moving ahead with cracking down on dissent. The news about the Christmas is just another strategy that he's

employing to try to restore the country to some sort of stability, to some sort of quiet and security, because he understands that dissent is very

dangerous for his government right now.

And of course, with one U.S. active service member in his hands, he has yet another card to play in a future negotiation with the State Department, the

White House, something that surely will come up in the upcoming weeks and months as both the U.S. State Department, but also other countries in the

region, Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil, are trying to mediate a solution out of that terrible crisis they were seeing in Venezuela.

SOARES: And we have yet to see any fruitful efforts come out of that, of course. We'll stay on top of that. And of course, the election -- Christmas

coming early, I think it's a bit of a distraction as you -- as we know all too well. Good to see you, Stefano. Thank you very much.

Well, one man who knows all too well about dealing with autocrats like President Maduro is Mickey Bergman. Bergman was pivotal in helping release

the Citgo 6 in Venezuela as well as others and work to free other Americans detained abroad like Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. Here's how he says he

finds common ground with world leaders. Have a look.

[14:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICKEY BERGMAN, HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: Every leader has a style, and a different approach to negotiations. And with President Maduro and his team

who are -- by the way, it's something you find out when you deal with them individually, they're human beings. They don't -- there's nobody that wakes

up in the morning thinking, oh, I'm evil. Let me see what evil I can do. There's a certain narrative. There's a certain way they see the world that

explains to them why they're doing what they're doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: And you can watch my full interview with Mickey Bergman all about his new book on shadow negotiating on Thursday in the latest installment of

our new series, Isa's Book Club.

And still to come tonight, Vice President Kamala Harris will soon unveil the next phase of her economic policy. Our panel will examine the potential

impact. That is just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: Welcome back, everyone. Let me bring up to date on the deadly high school shooting in the U.S. State of Georgia. A law enforcement source

tells CNN the gunman who opened fire is a 14-year-old boy. Now, the sheriff's office says he's in custody. It's not clear whether he attends

the school in Winder just outside Atlanta. Officials say at least four people have been killed, and we've heard in the last few minutes nine

others have been hospitalized with injuries.

President Biden says he is mourning the victims, and he says we cannot continue to accept this as normal. We'll of course stay across this

breaking news as soon as there are any more developments, we will of course bring it to your attention.

Now, staying in the United States, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is unveiling her new economic policies if elected president. She's expected to

take the stage any minute now. These are live images right now from New Hampton in -- Northampton, I should say, in New Hampshire. And she's

expected to lay out her new proposals.

Harris wants to give additional tax relief for small businesses and cut the red tape hurting their development. The U.S. jobs report for July seemed to

show that the labor market is cooling off. The one for August will be released as normal on Friday.

Meantime, a newly released CNN poll shows the race for the White House in a statistical dead heat. Have a look at this. Among likely voters, Kamala

Harris leads Donald Trump in the swing states, you can see there, Michigan and Wisconsin, by amounts that are just outside, of course, of the margin

of error.

[14:45:00]

But if you look closely, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, the two are essentially tied. The former president, meanwhile, holds an advantage, as

you can see there, in Arizona, 49 percent.

And if we dig further into those numbers, about 15 percent of voters in those battleground states are still undecided at this point. The top issue,

especially among Trump supporters, as we know, is the U.S. economy. Protecting democracy was the next biggest concern for likely voters.

Let's get more on all of this. Joining us now as a host of Quest Means Business, our Richard Quest and CNN economic as well as political

commentator Catherine Rampell. Thank you to you both.

Catherine, let me start with you. We are expecting -- we're looking at live images. I'm hoping -- I'm directing, can we pull those up, to see Kamala

Harris, in the next few minutes or so. What are we likely to hear from her? What do we need to hear -- what do voters need to hear from her when it

comes to economic policy here?

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: There are a couple of tax breaks that she's expected to talk about today, one of which

has to do with the amount of business expenses that startup businesses can deduct. Currently, there's a $5,000 limit. She is proposing to multiply

that by 10, $50,000 and essentially allow new businesses a little bit more flexibility in when they take that tax deduction.

The goal is presumably to increase the number of startup businesses, increase their longevity. We don't exactly know how likely this is to

become law. It seems to have some bipartisan support. There was actually a Republican version of much the same idea a few years back, and that bill, I

believe, was expected to cost something like $2.8 billion dollars over 10 years. But that number is a bit dated at this point. So, that's number one.

Number two, we don't know if she's going to talk about this today, but it has been leaked by her campaign, including to The Wall Street Journal, that

she may pare back the Biden capital gains tax proposal.

SOARES: Yes.

RAMPELL: So, if you look at what Biden had proposed, he basically said that for households making over a million dollars, they would have to pay

the equivalent of like, 45 percent marginal tax rates on their capital gains once -- because it's get -- their capital gains is like, you know,

what you pay on an investment after you've realized it, after you've sold it, that you've sold your stock, for example, after holding it for a long

time.

SOARES: Yes. And that's what we're seeing in the last few minutes. Yes.

RAMPELL: Yes.

SOARES: Vice President Harris is to break with Biden on capital gains tax on that policy.

RAMPELL: Yes. She would still raise the tax, to be clear, but not as much as Biden would.

SOARES: And, Richard, apologies, I have to interrupt. Of course, if we see Kamala Harris appear, we'll have to interrupt. But we know that economic

issues, we show that for our viewers, have posed a really kind of notably weak point for Biden. And yet, it is one of the most important issues for

voters.

Where -- what do you think she needs to say, she needs to do to turn it around, because currently she's lagging when it comes to trust on the

economy?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND CNN ANCHOR, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: I think the core is -- it's really nothing to do with the detail

on the individual tax policies per se. These are highly technical. Yes, certain people who are in certain categories, it will resonate with them,

if you are the sort of person who has that sort of salary and large capital gains. But you're probably not going to be heading in that direction

anyway.

The reality is, she has to show that she's not just a tax and spend Democrat. Because so far, we have a raft of spending proposals. We have a

limited number of tax proposals. But as, Catherine -- you know, if I was to say to Catherine, you know, bearing in mind what we are expecting her to

say today, the one thing she hasn't said, nor indeed has Donald Trump, is how am I going to pay for it?

When you add up the promises being made versus the revenues that are going to take, or the lack of revenues thereof -- there we see the vice president

-- then it becomes very difficult to pay for it all.

SOARES: And, Richard, on that, I mean, today, we saw new economic data that shows the number of open jobs is now at its lowest level. We are, of

course, waiting for the jobs report that's coming out on Friday. And normally, the majority of voters wouldn't be paying attention to this, but

this is not normal time. We're in campaign season. What does this mean? What does this show us, the numbers we're getting about the broader economy

here?

QUEST: It shows us that the medicine that the Fed has been administering to higher interest rates is working exactly as it was intended to. There is

no majesty or magic here. They raised rates, 18 months -- nine to 18 months later, the economy has slowed down precipitously. And the issue is whether

or not they can lower rates to get growth started again sufficiently so that there isn't a shallow recession or a downturn.

[14:50:00]

But don't get -- don't be fooled here. This is what the medicine was intended to do. The issue is whether it's happened a little too more

quickly and more ferociously than the Fed actually wanted.

SOARES: Richard and Catherine, do stay with us. Catherine, we're going to take a short break, we'll come back and we can talk about Fed and what the

Fed was going to do and how that may impact the election. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: And you are looking at live images from New Hampshire, where we are expecting any minute now, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is

expecting to unveil her new economic policy, of course. She's expected to take the stage any minute. She wants to give additional tax relief for

small businesses, cut the red tape hurting their development.

We've actually heard in the last few minutes that Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to propose, excuse me, a small increase in taxes on

capital gains, pretty much breaking with the policy that's been laid out by President Biden in his 2025 budget.

Before we went to break, I was joined here in the studio -- I was joined, I should say, with Richard Quest and Catherine Rampell, both down the line.

Richard, you and I were talking about job reports. I'm just going to ask, Catherine, you know, we are excited about I'm expecting to see some

movement from the Fed. I think it's mid-September, 18th of September. How was that, Catherine? How do you think this plays in to this election? I

know the Fed is completely independent, but how do you think this decision will play into what we may hear from Kamala Harris here?

RAMPELL: That question was for me, correct?

SOARES: Correct.

RAMPELL: Yes. OK. Sorry. So, I don't think Kamala Harris is going to talk about the Fed at all. In fact, she has been very disciplined and good on

this particular issue. Donald Trump likes to jawbone the Fed, which historically, at least in recent history, has been a big no, no. You want

the Fed to not only be politically independent, but to be perceived as politically independent and not, you know, sort of being bullied by the

president or any other figure.

And so, Kamala Harris has tried to draw a distinction between herself and Donald Trump as respecting the Fed as an institution and its role -- the

role of its independence, rather, in being able to essentially control price levels, or at least do its best to tamp down inflation when needed.

[14:55:00]

What I do think the Fed will do, however, is lower interest rates. They have blatantly signaled that several times recently, the question is how

much they will cut interest rates. And as you point out, we'll get some jobs data this Friday, which will surely play into that decision.

No matter what they do I am sure Republicans will accuse the Fed of being political, of trying to help Democrats. Of course, if that were true,

presumably the Federal Reserve would have cut interest rates ages ago because, as they say, rate cuts or rate decisions work with long and

variable lags. Whatever they do in September, whether it's a quarter percentage point cut or a half a percentage point cut or what have you, we

won't really feel it for a while. Probably not until well after the election.

SOARES: Yes.

RAMPELL: So, the optics of it may look helpful to Democrats, but it won't actually be.

SOARES: Richard, I know you want to jump in. You've got about 20 seconds.

QUEST: If they cut in September, it'll be too late for any real effect, as Catherine said. In fact, you won't see the result if it's a quarter point.

You won't see any of the results this year until next summer. It's just -- that's just the way the system works. This is all about optics, optics,

optics.

SOARES: Indeed. And we will wait to see what she says and details on the policies, which probably we won't get this evening. Richard, Catherine,

appreciate it. Thank you very much.

Newsroom with Jim Sciutto is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:00:00]

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