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Rising Death Toll, Several Unaccounted For After Hurricane Helene Rips Across Southeast U.S.; Airstrikes Hit Beirut In Closest Strike Yet Toward City Center; At Least 93 Dead After Hurricane Helene Rips Across Southeast; Harris And Trump Neck-And-Neck In New Battleground Polls; SNL Returns With First Episode Of 50th Season. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired September 29, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:01:56]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kaitlan Collins in New York.

And we start with breaking news this hour as the death toll from Hurricane Helene has now climbed to at least 93 people as officials are warning us that number is only expected to grow. The North Carolina governor I just spoke with him in the last hour. He says over a thousand people have filed reports that loved ones they're unable to reach them as of this moment. Several areas of his state are still in search and rescue mode.

President Biden has been briefed by FEMA. He is planning to visit storm-ravaged areas later this week, we are told, and what he'll see is nothing short of devastating. Sides of mountains have collapsed, sliding down into towns overwhelming communities with mud and debris. Entire roads have crumbled, meaning that survivors have no way out and rescue crews no way in.

CNN's Rafael Romo is live for us in Asheville, North Carolina.

And Rafael, obviously, the question here of what this looks like, the biggest concern is for people's safety. And where do the rescue efforts stand right now from what you're hearing from officials?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Officials are telling us that there are rescue teams from out of state, 19 of them, three from the federal government, trying to rescue people and they've been able to rescue hundreds of people. But the reality here is that the problem goes even deeper because people don't have water, don't have power, don't have a way to communicate with relatives.

And I could tell you a lot of stats and figures, Kaitlan, about what people are facing right now. But we wanted to hear directly from people who lived here, from people who went through that hurricane in the last few days. And I am grateful that the Manderscheid family is joining me right now here live in Asheville.

Laura and Kyle, thank you very much for giving us a couple of minutes to talk to you.

Lauren, let me begin with you. What is the situation? You live only five minutes from here. What are you guys going through right now?

LAUREN MANDERSCHEID, LIVES IN ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA: Yes. So currently we don't have any power or water, no way to communicate with anyone else either region or inside the region, which is obviously frustrating. But we've been relying on a.m. radio to get updates locally so not having water or power really is crippling for any type of recovery effort.

ROMO: Yes, and Kyle, it is very difficult also to see that we are surrounded by mud. It's very difficult to go anywhere. How is the family coping right now?

KYLE MANDERSCHEID, LIVES IN ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA: So we're just taking one step at a time. You know, we've just been huddling down at the house just making sure that, you know, our daughter is taken care of, you know, that the food we have, you know, were just trying to ration what we have and just trying to be as diligent as we can with the supplies we currently have.

ROMO: Yes, they were fortunate enough, Kaitlan, a few moments ago to meet their daughter, 4-year-old Rose, and it's just hard for me to imagine that you're going through this and at the same time you also have to take care of that precious little girl of yours. It's just got to be real hard.

[19:05:04]

L. MANDERSCHEID: Yes. I may yell at my husband a little bit more to stop drinking so much water.

(LAUGHTER)

L. MANDERSCHEID: Yes, so we are trying to take care of her and keep her belly full and keep her happy. And She's doing great, I mean, all things considered, she's doing really well.

ROMO: Governor Roy Cooper told us in the last hour in an interview with Kaitlan Collins, that they're bringing supplies, Kyle. Water, food for people who need it. Are you guys OK for the time being and what can you tell me about your neighbors, people who live where you live?

K. MANDERSCHEID: It seems to be pretty scattered, you know, there are some people that are way worse off than others. We would consider ourselves lucky in the fact that we have food. We know that there's people missing and there's been, you know, reports of people that have absolutely no food and are still, you know, being looked for and things like that. So we're pretty lucky in that regard.

ROMO: And Lauren, before we go, you wanted to say hi to somebody you haven't been able to reach to. Quickly can you say who that person is and what do you want to tell her? L. MANDERSCHEID: I just want to say hi to my mother, Anette, in

Sarasota, Florida. And let her know that we are OK, and that we love her and we're OK.

ROMO: Thank you so much for your patience. Thank you for talking to us. All the best to you.

And Kaitlan, that's the story that we hear from many people. They're unable to communicate with loved ones. That's got to break your heart.

Kaitlan, back to you.

COLLINS: Yes. Relying on a.m. radio to get updates and also concerns about having to clean drinking water for their 4-year-old daughter, for their family.

Rafael Romo, in Asheville, that is what life is like there right now. Thank you for that report.

And it's not just of course the day-to-day that we are looking at. In other areas, local business owners also say that their livelihoods, entire livelihoods have literally been swept away as a result of this storm.

Erin Quevedo owns the Balm Salon on Depot Street and joins me now.

Erin, let me just first say, I'm so sorry for what you and your neighbors have been through. We'll make sure it gets the attention that it deserves as you're recovering from this. But can you just tell us what happened to your salon because I understand it was actually under water as a result of this storm.

ERIN QUEVEDO, OWNER, BALM SALON: Yes. So the entire -- most of the entire salon was under water. We had about five feet of water that came up into the building. And it completely destroyed everything. So it just washed everything away. Everything is covered in mud and it's not just us, but it's all of the buildings around us, too. So the entire River Arts District is really suffering right now.

COLLINS: Were you able to salvage anything or is your sense that right now from the damage you can assess that just the entire salon is destroyed?

QUEVEDO: Basically the entire salon is destroyed. So I was able to save just a couple of things, but nothing really like my shears for my stylists and a couple of other like personal items, but basically everything is gone.

COLLINS: I mean, Erin, I imagined when you open this salon that you never thought you'd be dealing with five feet of water inside your business.

QUEVEDO: No, I mean, of course not. You know, and like this is a flood and like this is a situation that like I don't think any of us ever expected to happen. You know, like, it's really crazy and nothing that any of us have experienced like in our lifetime. COLLINS: What's next for you? What is your next step here? Because I

know you have employees, you have stylists who work there. But what comes next?

QUEVEDO: So right now for all of us, like what we're doing in the community is we're just trying to like take care of each other as much as possible. I started a GoFundMe for my stylists to help to try to like support them right now, since we can't work. We're just banding together with like our friends and our community and trying to just, you know, take care because none of us -- most of us don't have any power or water and a lot of people don't have like cell service yet. So everything is just -- it's just really crazy. We're just trying to do what we can one step at a time.

COLLINS: Given you don't have power and water, and you know, we were talking to the fire chief earlier Nashville, the assistant fire chief, about they don't know when that's going to be restored. What's your reaction so far of how officials are doing now the government is handling this inside state, your local officials. Do you believe that they're doing what they need to be able to do what they can in this moment?

Erin Quevedo, we lost her shot there. Obviously, understandably, some major issues with communication and getting in touch with people who are on the ground that Rafael was speaking with. We'll continue to report out what is happening there.

Thank you, Erin Quevedo, for joining me, though, to talk about that.

Still ahead here tonight on CNN, Israel is intensifying its attacks. now going after both Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi Rebels in Yemen. Jim Sciutto is live in Tel Aviv, as Israel's moving tanks closer to the northern border with Lebanon amid questions of the possibility of an Israeli ground invasion.

[19:10:09]

We're going to get a live report on the ground right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news just into CNN, and these are new pictures live in central Beirut.

[19:15:02]

CNN is learning of new strikes, Israeli airstrikes, to strike inside the city center of Beirut. In fact, the closest to the city center of Israeli strikes so far during this latest offensive there. CNN has geo-located these scenes in the city of Beirut.

CNN's Nic Robertson joins me now here in Tel Aviv.

Nic, we have of course seen a whole series of Israeli airstrikes across southern Lebanon. No question. But also in Beirut most significantly in the southern part of Beirut, the one that killed Hassan Nasrallah. But a strike right in the city center. Tell us the significance of that.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, it clearly indicates that the IDF thinks that there are targets that are now closer to the city center. I mean, that makes sense because the strikes in Beirut had been targeted strikes at individuals. So this again suggests that they were targeting an individual. But by having it so close to the city center for all those people that moved away from the southern suburbs where Hezbollah is known to sort of have deep roots and a stronghold, this means these other areas or would indicate these other areas are now less safe. And it perhaps indicate that high-value Hezbollah targets or whomever are moving more centrally located.

SCIUTTO: It also has a significance, does it not, because in Lebanon, the southern part of Beirut considered, as we watch these live pictures here, more of a Hezbollah stronghold? If you strike in the city center in quite a mixed city, with all of the various ethnicities and religions that make up this diverse society here, you are bringing the war to them as well, are you not?

ROBERTSON: Yes. I mean, if you go back to the civil war days, there were those sort of the green line and the other sort of the library intersection where these were the sort of -- these were the dividing lines between the different communities, whether it'd be Christian, whether it'd be Shia, whether it'd be Sunni and the different strongholds there.

So yes, when you come into the center and this we understand was near the Cola Bridge, a major intersection.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Major intersection in downtown. Yes.

ROBERTSON: Yes. Yes. When you bring it in there, then you are coming out of the sort of more -- the areas that are known as the Shia stronghold, the Hezbollah stronghold, but also it does indicate perhaps that some Hezbollah figures are now realizing that there is no safety where they were. But it seems to be that this would suggest that, again, the Israelis, the IDF, have an intelligence penetration that is giving them a degree of tracking on some of these figures.

SCIUTTO: They could find them wherever they are. I should note that this video was taken just moments ago. It is not live video, but showing the immediate aftermath of this strike in Beirut.

Nic Robertson --

ROBERTSON: Yes, it seems to be another part of the IDF's continued effort, and this was the impression I was getting speaking with IDF officials today to continue to keep Hezbollah on the backfoot. This is a moment to press the advantage and very clearly they continue to do that.

SCIUTTO: And to deliver the message, it seems, in quite explicit form that they could find Hezbollah leaders and fighters wherever they are. And we've seen a lot of evidence of that in recent days.

Nic Robertson, thanks so much.

I want to turn now to our panel of experts, CNN national security analyst, former deputy director of National Intelligence, Beth Sanner. Also joining us, Aaron David Miller, longtime Middle East diplomat and General Wesley Clark, of course, was a long history himself in national security, former NATO Supreme Allied commander.

Good to have you all here.

Aaron David Miller, first, if I could begin with you as we see these strikes now that are showing the true extent far and wide of this ongoing military series of operations against Hezbollah across Lebanon but also what we saw earlier today, strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen. This expanded offensive, escalation, whatever you want to call it, is far from over.

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: There's no doubt it. In fact, Jim, you know, I don't believe in transformations. They're rare in life and certainly very rare in Middle Eastern politics. Doubtless, these Israelis have made an extraordinary effort to decapitate Hezbollah, go after their comms, their intelligence network, their veteran commander.

The real question in the end, though, is I think how in fact do you translate even strategic successes into what the Israelis hope is a broader aim, which is not just to break the ring of fire, but break it in a way that they can return 70,000, 80,000 Israelis who've been relocated, dislocated from their homes in the wake of October 7th, and to give them not just an assurance from the government that they have a security but a sense of real security so that no cross-border incursions by Radwan forces in southern Lebanon will occur.

That's going to be a great fear. So again, I think we're in early days here of three wars of attrition. One between Israel-Hamas, which is not over.

[19:20:07]

One between Israel and Hezbollah, which is ongoing. And of course the premier event between Israel and Islamic Republic of Iran.

SCIUTTO: Yes. General Wesley Clark, the discussion now in Israel is, will there be a ground component to ongoing Israeli operations against Hezbollah? Preparations are underway. We have seen, my colleagues have seen some of those forces positioning in northern Israel. Would it be necessary, in your view, from a military perspective, for Israel to send ground forces in to accomplish what appears to be their goal which is to push back Hezbollah forces from its northern border?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK, FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Yes, that would appear to be necessary. If that's the goal is to push them back 10 miles, yes, you're going to have to have ground forces in there. Really depends on how Israelis read the results of the airstrikes and their first moves that the ground forces. If they hit a lot of resistance, their objectives may be flexible, but I have to believe that the Israelis right now see nothing but weakness. Iran is weak. Iran doesn't want to intervene. Doesn't want a war. And

so I think the Israelis are going to do to maximum damage they can right now to Hezbollah. And that means ground forces.

SCIUTTO: Beth Sanner, and if you're just joining us, these are pictures from just moments ago of an Israeli strike in the center of Beirut. A line if you want to call it that, that we have not seen these Israeli strikes cross yet in this latest escalation.

Beth, as you follow, as you know the U.S. preference and President Biden repeated again today is for some sort of negotiated settlement to get security for northern Israel, but also to end the expanded fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Is there any path, credible path that exists today to carry that out or is Israel fully invested in a military solution if you want to call it that, purely a military solution?

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, you know, I think this is something that maybe Biden will be talking to Netanyahu about a little bit later tonight because, as Aaron said, it's -- you know, you can have these strategic successes, whatever you want to call it, on the battlefield but, you know, ultimately you have to have some kind of political agreement in order to create a permanent kind of, you know, safe area so people can return home because, you know, what is going on when you bomb the center of Beirut, you're starting to, you know, not only do you have basically ground forces that are still intact in southern Lebanon, even if they may be scattered and without a command and control, there are still tens of thousands of soldiers and you're creating, you know, just a sense of this Lebanese people against Israel.

In the long run, this is what Biden always talks about, right, that you need to have a sense of strategy of where you're going and how you're actually going to get that line between the military successes and the long term stability that you seek. And so, no, we're not ready yet. I don't think that there's any way that the IDF is going to hold back at this point. They have a strategy, they have an existential threat, and they're going to go for it for a while more.

SCIUTTO: Well, what you just described, right, is exactly how some U.S. officials, but even some Israelis speak about the issue here between Israelis and Palestinians. And that is that you need a political agreement, not purely forever war.

But, Aaron David Miller, at least the current Israeli government seems to have no substantive interests or has demonstrated no commitment to that path. Where is that path? Who would lead such a path to some sort of negotiated solution?

MILLER: I mean, Jim, that's the core question, right? I mean, you've seen a year almost hard to believe it'll be a year next week, next Monday, a week from Monday, and what you're going to end up with, I'm afraid, there's two incredibly traumatized communities, which are effectively in my judgment with respect to a political solution, leaderless. You have an Israeli prime minister whose organizing principle is to try to maintain himself in power and he's got a coalition of particularly two extremist ministers who will bolt, by the way.

It's interesting because you just added, you don't start to the coalition another four seats. So he does have more running room should he choose to take a bit -- look, November 5th is the key date for Benjamin Netanyahu. He's waiting to see essentially who the next president of the United States. And I think that will -- he'll adjust accordingly. So the answer is no, I see no pathway right now out of this.

[19:25:09]

SCIUTTO: Sad fact. Too often. Beth, Aaron David Miller, General Clark, thanks so much to all of you for joining us.

Still ahead this hour, we will continue to follow the breaking news back in the U.S. At least 93 people, that's 93 people confirmed dead after Hurricane Helene including 30 people in just one North Carolina county. We're going to take you there coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Search and rescue crews are at work trying to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Tonight so far the death toll has climbed to at least 93 people. It jumped so much from what it was around 60 just a matter of hours ago. That's because we learned that 30 people have now been confirmed dead in Buncombe County in the North Carolina mountains, scores more of people are still missing mainly due to a lack of communication from those people and their loved ones with officials.

[19:30:25]

I spoke to the North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper about the impact that this has having on his state and what their biggest issues are right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ROY COOPER, (D-NC): This is a devastating catastrophe of historic proportions. People that I talked to in Western North Carolina say they have never seen anything like this.

Our number one priority right now is getting people out and getting supplies in. There are search and rescue teams from 19 states from the federal government, from our National Guard, from our state and local teams, who are out there rescuing people as we speak.

The biggest problem is getting to them because more than 280 at roads are closed. Many counties and areas where people are our land blocked. Cell phones, and internet service is down.

So we know there are a lot of families and friends that are worried about people. Food and water is critical because people are cut off and it's very difficult and if not, impossible, to get trucks into some of these places, so we are having to do it by air. There is a massive effort underway to coordinate and make sure that were getting supplies and water to people because it's a life and death situation here.

We know that there will be a number of fatalities. This is a tragic, devastating event. So we know there will be a lot of fatalities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The governor warning, he does expect that death toll that we just updated you on to continue to rise as they are searching for people.

I want to go to CNN's Rafael Romo, who is on the ground live in Asheville, North Carolina. And, Rafael, obviously we can see the water and the devastation it had, but even after it recedes, there's just a huge mess to clean up. We're looking at where you are, it is one of the hardest hit areas.

It's actually close to the famous Biltmore Estate. Tell us what you're seeing on the ground.

ROMO: Yes, a huge mess is a great way to describe it, Kaitlan, and look at where we are. I am surrounded by mud, by debris, by all kinds of different dangers.

You see behind me there's a Wendy's that is surrounded by mud, that's not going to open any time soon. On the other side, there's a Long John Silver surrounded by debris. Here, there's like a drum container. I don't really know what it is and it's hard to imagine where this thing came from, which tells you how powerful the floodwaters were. There's a plank here and again, mud everywhere.

And this is what people are having to put up with. Also, this is something that caught my attention, Kaitlan. If our photographer zooms in, this gas pump, the screen here has sand inside, which tells you that the water level at one point was up to this point. And this is only a few things that I can point out.

Officials are saying that people need to stay away from the water because there may be downed power lines, there may be sewage, there may be other things that pose dangers.

And this is only one part of the state. Just multiply what you're seeing here, times dozens, maybe hundreds and that's when you begin to get an idea of what Western North Carolina is going through right now -- Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yes, the devastation is unreal.

Rafael Romo, thank you for being on the ground. We'll continue to check back in with you as we learn more from officials and we'll be back with other major breaking stories in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:38:53]

COLLINS: In the race for the White House tonight, new polls show Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in a dead heat as we stand tonight, just 37 days away from the election.

Both candidates spent the weekend in crucial battleground states addressing hot-button issues for voters. Trump during his in Pennsylvania took aim at Harris on immigration. Obviously, the comments that we showed you earlier as well.

Meanwhile, Harris traveled to the border in her first visit there since becoming the Democratic nominee, where she vowed to crack down on illegal border crossings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If Kamala Harris wins this election, she will overwhelm Pennsylvania cities and towns with a illegal immigrants and migrants and Pennsylvania will never ever be the same.

KAMALA HARRIS (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As president. I won't only bring back the Border Security Bill that Donald Trump tanked. I will do more to secure our border. We will pursue more severe criminal charges against repeat violators.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Joining me now is the pollster and communications strategist Frank Luntz, and it's great to have you here, Frank, because immigration obviously is a huge issue for voters. That's why we saw Harris at the border on Friday night in Arizona.

And you did a focus group recently about just how much this issue matters to the voters that you spoke with. I want to share some of that with people.

[19:40:16]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The thing for me is that there's a distinction between an illegal immigrant and someone who's entered the country illegally who's seeking asylum and trying to become a citizen.

The other question is, what do you want that there here? What do you want -- what are we going to do with them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get in the border.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- to give that the people -- do think it's a problem.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not here, the boredom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Send them home. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Send them home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By -- illegals here, you undermine the system of legal immigration because you send a message that laws can just be tossed off the window.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now, a lot of voices that we're hearing from there, what stood out to you, Frank, from what you've heard of these voters with very different views?

FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER AND COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIST: In that session, it went on for 11 minutes. I did not interrupt even once. They didn't need a moderator for 11 minutes, they took the conversation completely in a different direction.

I applaud CNN for using the most rational responsible, sensible, commentary, because this is an issue that is out of control. The public is very hyped up about it, very angry about it. Wanting to the solve the issue, complaining about both political parties, both candidates, and that they are doing nothing except arguing. The situation seems to be getting worse.

COLLINS: Well, and on that, we're seeing numbers that show Harris has the edge with registered Latino voters. It's a new number, new polling that's out today from NBC, but she's actually further behind than where Democratic nominees have been in the past. What do you attribute that to?

LUNTZ: That is a critical finding. Back in 2020, Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by more than 30 points among Latino voters. Right now, Harris, his lead is only 13 or 14 points, half of that. And that comes into play in states like Nevada and Arizona that are critical to the seven most important swing states.

Number one, there is a break, a split between the Black and Brown community over the Biden ministration. Biden and Harris and the feeling that they're being left behind.

Number two, economics, that they see that Donald Trump, though the division between Trump and Harris has narrowed somewhat, Trump still has the advantage on the economy in general, and inflation and affordability in particular.

And number three, they know that they matter. And so, they're paying much more attention and they used to be a core constituency for the Democrats. And now, quite frankly, they're probably the largest group that is truly up for grabs in 2024.

COLLINS: Yes, it'll be fascinating to see the impact that has on this presidential election.

But Frank, I have also to ask you about something. Trump earlier today and he did part of this yesterday, but today he was talking about this violent crackdown on crime in the United States. I want you to just listen to what he said at a rally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm walking into -- you see these guys walking out with their air conditioners, with refrigerators on their back. The craziest thing, and the police aren't allowed to do their job. One rough hour, and I mean, real rough. The word will get out and it will end immediately -- end immediately.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: You know, it will end immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: When you hear that, I mean, he's literally describing the plot of the movie "Purge" for people who haven't seen it. But, Frank, just listening to that, talking to voters. You know, when you're talking about these undecided persuadable voters, how do you think they hear something like that?

LUNTZ: Well, you're getting right to the point and this is critical. Voters, these undecided voters don't like how Donald Trump talks but they do agree with him on many of the most important issues.

They approve of Harris' approach of focusing on the future, but they question her on issues like this, whether she's strong enough and tough enough.

So the rhetoric is not effective, but focusing on the issue is, and that's why there's still undecided voters. Because quite frankly, they don't want to vote for either candidate. What I tell people in speeches is the good news, I' m going to be done with all of this in less than 40 days.

The bad news is that one of these candidates has to win. This is the frustration for undecided voters. They like the policies of one candidate and they prefer the persona of the other candidate.

COLLINS: Frank Luntz, it's a fascinating look at this race and where these voters stand. Thank you for joining us.

LUNTZ: Thank you for having me.

COLLINS: And up next, more on the numbers that Frank and I were just talking at eight o'clock right after this. "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper, you're going to hear a CNN senior political commentator, Ana Navarro exploring why former president Donald Trump is still appealing to so many Latino voters.

She traveled across the country to firsthand see these issues that a lot of these Latino voters care about. That is next here only on CNN, so be sure to watch that.

[19:45:28] I do want to note some breaking news that we do just have in the singer and songwriter Kris Kristofferson has died. Kristofferson, of course, co-starred with Barbra Streisand in the movie, "A Star is Born". He wrote many songs made famous by others like "Me And Bobby Magee".

He was a Rhodes Scholar, a Golden Gloves Boxer, and an Army Ranger as well, all according to his agent.

Kris Kristofferson, was 88 years old. We're thinking of his loved ones and his family tonight.

And we'll be right back with more headlines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:50:39]

COLLINS: "Saturday Night Live" returned last night with its first episode of its 50th season. The show may have not aired during this summer, but they were not going to miss out on the opportunity to take on Charli XCX's Brat Summer even featuring yours truly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOWEN YANG, AMERICAN ACTOR COMEDIAN: Now, it's time to welcome our guests. Please welcome Queer Nightlife icon Susanne Bartsch and hetero CNN icon, Kaitlan Collins.

CHLOE FINEMAN, PORTRAYING KAITLAN COLLINS: Pleasure to meet you.

JEAN SMART, PORTRAYING SUSANNE BARTSCH: Thank you darling, to be here is wow.

FINEMAN: Now, is this a political talk show?

YANG: It is babe, let's get into it. President Biden addressed the United Nations this week as conflict in the Middle East rages on. Susanne, your thoughts.

SMART: It reminds me of just one night in the 80's at Aria, and my best friend's Bob and Diana Ross were holding my hair back as I retched in the toilet. And Bob said to me, you've got to clean up your act and that's what they have to do in the Middle East.

YANG: Totally. And Kaitlan, have you ever done Catman?

FINEMAN: No.

YANG: Did you like it?

FINEMAN: Did I like it, when I didn't do it?

YANG: Exactly. Reproductive rights are under attack. Kaitlan, what are your thoughts with Snoop on "The Voice"?

FINEMAN: Am I going to get a question on current political events or?

YANG: I wish we could darling, but it's time to go, you're so Julia for coming. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Joining me now, comedian and in impersonator Matt Friend. Matt, I don't know. I thought they did a pretty good job with the eyebrows for sure. That was the first thing that stood out to me.

MATT FRIEND, AMERICAN COMEDIAN ACTOR: It was amazing and so randomly, I just ran into and met Chloe Fineman on the sidewalk in New York like two hours ago, and she was fantastic, a little Elizabeth Holmes-ey with a deep voice there that she tried to do, but it was fantastic. And I loved watching it.

COLLINS: Yes, and I'll be clear. My voice is just raspy right now because I was at Alabama- Georgia game last night, we tried to win so, it was insane. I'm still recovering a little bit from just how excited I was there, but you Matt, obviously, you're known for your impersonations which are incredibly sometimes eerily spot on.

And what we're looking at in politics this week is that in two days we're going to see JD Vance and Tim Walz in their one and only vice presidential debate. What are your predictions for how that's going to go?

FRIEND: Well, I just hope that JD Vance loves his memaw as much as Eric Adams loves Turkish Airlines, but I think it's going to be a very interesting debate.

I think you know, the winner of this debate will get another -- will get Diddy's key to the city presented by Eric Adams. So, let's see what happens.

The JD Vance campaign situation has been interesting. He's been in some weird situations. He is in like a donut shop or at a bakery goes, I'm JD Vance, I'm running for vice president and then like no one wants anything to do with him.

So hopefully there's a little more charisma and Tim Walz will be moving his hands and going crazy. I'm not sure what he is doing. He's got a lot of -- he's got a lot of handwork going on.

So, I'd like to big 'CE', there's big coach energy at a Tim Walz and big couch energy had a JD Vance. So let's see what prevails.

COLLINS: For Governor Walz, what -- do you have an impression of him yet because he does have this kind of presence on stage that a year ago, not many people were aware of. Do you have an impression of him yet, or are you still working --

FRIEND: Look, he's very animated. It almost like, you want a "Fiddler on the Roof" thing. He's moving his hands. He's very excited to be there. He's going to say JD is just plain and simply weird. He's got that coach energy going on a little Ted Lasso with a little bit of rasp.

And he's going to say, when we win this dang election, I'm taking a gallon of Gatorade, Kaitlan, and I'm pouring it over Kamala's face, that's what I'll say.

JD is just plain and simply weird. It's coming along. I've got to work on it.

COLLINS: What are you going to do if you have you have Joe Biden impression, you have a Donald Trump impression. What are you going to do if Harris wins the election?

FRIEND: Well, listen, Kaitlan, first of all, I just want to say it's really a tremendous honor to be back on CNN with you. The last time I was at CNN with failing Kaitlan Collins. I called you a nasty person. It was during that great Town Hall, but there's a lot of material to work with, Kaitlan, and I will tell you that you're not so nasty. In fact, you're quite nice. You've improved a lot, and thank you for the tough question, tough but fair.

To answer your question Kaitlan, you know, I can just do the whole government. Okay, we've got Walz, we've got Bernie, we've got Ted Cruz, we got Bernie Sanders, RFK, Jr., Barack Obama, it doesn't -- I kind of-- Gavin Newsom, so I'm just going to work with everybody else and I'll try to adjust my vocal cords to match the Kamala Harris.

But the bottom line is I'm really on CNN tonight to admit that I also had an affair with RFK, Jr. Okay. Continue, here we go.

COLLINS: Okay, on that note, Matt Friend, thank you so much. I don't know if I should I be thanking you?

Thank you so much. Have a great night.

FRIEND: Thank you, Kaitlan. You're the best. Good night.

COLLINS: Well, thanks.

Thanks to the rest of you for joining us tonight for a very busy hour. I'm Kaitlan Collins.

"The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper is up next.

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