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New Poll Shows Trump Gaining Support Among Hispanic Voters; Harris Looks To Win Back Black Voters In North Carolina; Four Israeli Soldiers Killed In Hezbollah Drone Attack; Interview With Governor Tony Evers (D-WI) On Harris-Walz Campaign; President Biden Tours Florida Storm Damage For Second Time In Over A Week; New Episode Of "TV On The Edge Features Katrina Devastation. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 13, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:29]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

And we are 23 days from election day in America. Tonight, Donald Trump is holding a rally in Arizona looking to shore up support in that key swing state. It's as Trump appears to be gaining traction with a key demographic, Hispanic voters. According to new polling presidential support in this year's race is split, 56 percent for Kamala Harris, 37 percent for Trump. And while she still leads that is Trump's best margin among Hispanic voters in any election cycle in which he's run.

CNN's Alayna Treene is on the campaign trail with team Trump. She joins us now with the very latest.

Alayna, despite Trump's very dark rhetoric toward immigrants and the border, and Latinos, he is not losing support with them. What are you hearing

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, he's not, and I apologize if I'm a little bit more quiet because he is speaking on stage behind me right now. But look, Donald Trump over the past several days now has really escalated his dark anti-immigrant rhetoric, particularly when it comes to undocumented migrants in this country.

We heard him in Aurora, Colorado, in a blue state on Friday saying that he would support the death penalty for any migrant in this country, whether they're here legally or not, who kills an American citizen or a law enforcement officer. That's actually something he supported and reiterated today.

But when it all comes down to all of this, Jessica, the bottom line from when I talked to Donald Trump's team is they argue that actually a lot of Hispanic voters buy in to that language and to, you know, Donald Trump's playbook of stoking fears in voters' minds about immigration in this country and about the border. And that's why you're seeing him lean into it so heavily.

I have to tell you, Jessica, and I know you know this, but I go to multiple Trump rallies a week. The language he has been using in recent days as it relates to immigration is far darker than we have heard, or I've heard at least pretty much in this entire election cycle. He is very much leaning aggressively into that as we look ahead to the final stretch of this cycle.

Now, I do want you to take a listen to some of what he said because he's really this entire speech so far in Arizona has been about the border and about some of those fears. I want you to listen to what he said in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For four straight years, she's imported an army of illegal alien gang members and migrant criminals from the dungeons all over the world. Not South America, all over the world. They come from prisons and jails, insane asylums, mental institutions. From Venezuela, from the Congo, all over. And she's resettled them into your communities to prey upon innocent American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So as you can see there, Jessica, really painting a very dark picture of the state of the country. And I can tell you when I talked to Trump's team, they say that this isn't going to change, that they believe this rhetoric, and Trump believes this himself, believes that this rhetoric delivered him to the White House in 2016. They think that he can use this kind of language to help him get to the White House again in November.

One other thing I want to mention, and we just -- it was just moments ago that this happened. Donald Trump called a series of Border Patrol agents on to the stage where they said that they endorsed Donald Trump. They talked about how he would be the person who would make America the safest, as it relates to the border. But then Donald Trump actually did something that we haven't heard yet. He announced a new policy that he would call for.

He said, that trying to address the shortage of Border Patrol agents, he said that he would announce a goal of hiring 10,000 new Border Patrol agents if he is elected. He also said he would call on Congress to give those agents a 10 percent raise as well as a $10,000 retention and signing bonus.

Again, all playing into his broader really conversation around the border and what he's arguing is now the number one issue for his campaign. I know that, and we've talked about this a lot, Jessica, that a lot of his allies and Republicans who want him to win in November are trying to get them to focus more on the economy. He's even said this publicly. He said this the other day in Reno, Nevada, that he actually thinks the border is the number one issue and that should be the primary, not the economy.

And I think that's why you're hearing him talk about this issue so much in this final stretch before November 5th -- Jessica. DEAN: Yes, Alayna, he also talked about the enemy from within which he

left a little hazy but said something about crazy leftists and that he could use the military if needed to take care of them.

[18:05:09]

So again, just painting quite a picture there in Arizona this afternoon.

Alayna Treene, thank you so much.

I want to stay on the campaign trail. Vice President Kamala Harris is in North Carolina. Before she heads to Pennsylvania tomorrow, she'll go to Michigan and Wisconsin later this week.

Eva McKend is with the Harris campaign in North Carolina and joins us now.

And Eva, we're starting to hear from a number of Democrats getting very anxious about the tightening of this race. This new polling today showing the data right before that a historically tight race is now even tighter.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jess, let me begin by telling you what the vice president told voters here in Greenville. She went after the former president arguing that he isn't being transparent enough with voters when it comes to neglecting to do that "60 Minutes" interview, that long honored tradition, when it comes to doing another debate with her, that she argued that his team is just too scared to have him in these situations.

And this lends itself to a broader argument that the vice president is trying to make. That, you know, she is trying to be an open book here. She released her medical records, the former president she argued did not, and she argues on the campaign trail that he is fundamentally unserious and does not have the character or the temperament to lead in this moment.

Take a listen to how this sounds on the trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do believe Donald Trump is an unserious man. But the effects of him being back in the White House would be brutally serious. Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails. He who has vowed, if reelected, he would be a dictator on day one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: Now as for those Democratic anxieties, Jess, you know, that campaign is adjusting in real time to this. You see the vice president doing very intentional outreach to black voters as she tries to recreate President Biden's winning multiracial coalition of 2020. We saw her meet with black elected in Raleigh, community and faith leaders. She spoke at a black church and she also met with black farmers.

Another big message here today, Jess, if you can, she told her supporters here, get out and vote early. Early voting begins in this state in just four days -- Jess.

DEAN: You're right upon it. All right, Eva McKend for us there in North Carolina. Thank you so much.

Joining us now to discuss is pollster and communications strategist Frank Luntz.

Frank, thanks so much for joining us. I always love having you on because I learn a lot. From what you're learning from just talking to so many voters, and I wonder if you'll just start us off with where you see and what you are hearing about this moment in this race.

FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGIST: I take this very seriously. I'm actually prepared for this segment. And some of the things, half the people are going to be angry at half the things that I say. The issue agenda is set. It is going to be and it's not the economy. It's affordability, it's prices, it's costs, that and inflation are the two key issues. Those are going to drive this last 23 days. And frankly Donald Trump has the advantage on both.

And on immigration, the reason why he wants to talk about immigration is because the current president, President Biden, and Vice President Harris seems so weak on the issue. I will raise this point carefully. That to the average American calling for the death penalty for someone who's here illegally, killing a cop is not insane. It's not left, it's not abusive. It's exactly what the left to center and the right would call for. That Trump -- and I realized that he's gone off the rails in some of his statements and you can replay them to your viewers right now.

But there's a reason why he's going up, that he's recovering after one of the worst debate performances in modern history. It's because he is speaking the language of the average American and she still isn't coming clean about where she stands on some issues and what she's all about. And it is a genuine problem for her campaign. And I understand why Democrats are getting frustrated because there are key groups right now, Latinos, young African-American men, and union members that are traditionally with the Democrats that aren't in this campaign right now.

DEAN: And on that note, Frank, we've seen recent polls showing Harris's support among black men is lower than certainly where Biden was.

[18:10:05]

I know you hosted a focus group with black men who are supporting Trump. I want to play a clip from that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KD, VOTER FROM UTAH SUPPORTING TRUMP: The reason why I'm voting for Donald Trump is because simply I want to make America great again. I think the last four years, we have seen overpromising without a plan. What I watched on the debate stage where a lot of lofty goals from a Democratic candidate who's been vice president of the United States for three years and, what, eight months, and nothing that she proposed, she or spoke on, she had a plan attached.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: That's so interesting, Frank. Give us some more context around that conversation you had.

LUNTZ: It's not that they-re pro-Republican because they aren't, but Donald Trump reaches them in a personal and a human way. They feel victimized by the federal government. They feel like they're attacked or even persecuted for being black men and they believe that Donald Trump understands their plight more than Harris does. That this challenges, economic challenge, this social challenge, this racial challenge, they see more in Trump's language and his willingness to fight and beat the system.

They see more in themselves in that fight than they do in Harris because they see her as representing voters who maybe they don't work, maybe they're of a different gender, but it's not who they are. It's the same thing with union membership, with the rank and file, absolutely are moving towards Trump at the same moment that the leadership are overwhelmingly, maybe 90 percent endorsing Harris.

And among Latino votes, you have that schism as well, where it's not what he says about illegals because if you're here legally, you agree with what Donald Trump is saying. I know this is blowing people's minds right now. But I want to emphasize that this looks to me just like Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016, where voters woke up the next day to a Trump presidency. Harris has miscalculated. She's mis- calibrated. And it's causing damage to her campaign.

DEAN: So we're three weeks out from election day, early voting started in some places. It's about to start in others. Is there time to recalibrate for Harris, in your opinion?

LUNTZ: The best example is when asked, does she have any differences with Joe Biden, she says no. The first thing she should have said is on the border, I do disagree. I do think we've made some mistakes. And here's how we're going to correct them. But she's not willing to do that. Hillary Clinton played it safe in the last 28 days of the election, not engaging with the press, not engaging with voters. And Harris is doing exactly the same thing. And it's going to have the same impact if she doesn't change that strategy.

DEAN: And my other thought here is just -- we talk a lot about persuadable voters, people that still could go back or forth. Some theories of the case are there really aren't many of those anymore. It's about turning out your voters at this point. But because she is in this unique position, Harris being still so fresh in this race because of this wild campaign season we've had, it seems as if she's still defining herself to people and Trump as we just saw in that clip, I played -- that Alayna played leading in here is still desperately trying to define her as well.

LUNTZ: I'm plugged for better or worse. He's speaking what he truly believes, for better or worse, and some voters, undecided voters, have turned off to that because they're turned off to that rhetoric. But he is actually speaking, I say this as clearly as I can, he's using language on prices and on immigration that the public responds to. It's not insane. It actually is a majority of Americans and the Harris campaign so disagrees with it, so disagrees with the strategy and the policies that they are mis-calibrated to how to win them over.

And one last point, it really isn't the undecided right now, accept that. Those people at 3 percent or 4 percent probably won't decide. They will probably stay home or they'll vote for a third party or write someone in. The key now is turning out your partisans. She has the most incredible intense support among young women, 18 to 30. But Trump's vote overall is damn well determined to vote. They will stand in line. They will do whatever it takes and even in that intensity, at this moment, he's got a very, very slight advantage.

DEAN: And just before I let you go, I do want to touch on something that continues to bear out in a lot of this polling.

[18:15:02]

And I would imagine, you'll tell me, in focus group as well, but this gender gap that we keep seeing show up again and again and again. What are your thoughts on that? And give us some nuance around it beyond just there's a gender gap.

LUNTZ: That is the question of this campaign. That's going to be what historians focus on. She has driven female vote to incredible levels, and particularly younger women. Trump has done the same for older men. So you have this conflict and it is not just about issues. It really is about attributes, how Trump presents himself and how Harris presents herself. She is a role model for younger women. Trump is saying, and almost screaming exactly what older men feels. So this is going to be a problem.

Here's the issue. I'm afraid that we're not going to know who won this election on election night, and we're not going to know the next night and we're not going to know even the night after that. CNN and organizations like yours need to start now communicating to the American people exactly how they're going to cover the campaign if we don't know for days because in the end Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, those are the states that make up the election, four of those states probably won't have the votes counted for days.

And the level of anger and division this country is so high that we need to figure out how to deal with it now before the election happens.

DEAN: Yes, it's a good point. I just talked to the Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro, last hour and asked him about that very question. And I asked him about being prepared for disinformation campaigns and lies, and then just the anger that I think you're probably seeing in a lot of people who are deeply frustrated and angry.

LUNTZ: That's exactly is so let's start addressing it now before it's too late.

DEAN: All right. Frank Luntz, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

LUNTZ: Thank you. Appreciate it, too.

DEAN: We are following breaking news out of the Middle East. At least four Israeli soldiers killed after a drone attack from Hezbollah hit an army base. We're going to take you live to Israel when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:21:51]

DEAN: We are following breaking news out of the Middle East. At least four Israeli soldiers have been killed, dozens more injured after Hezbollah drones hit an Israeli army base near Haifa. The drone attack is one of the bloodiest since the war started last October. Hezbollah has claimed responsibility.

Let's go now to CNN's Nic Robertson, who is in Tel Aviv, and joins us now live.

Nic, this seems like a major moment to mark.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It is. The IDF has confirmed that this was a military base that was struck that four soldiers are dead, seven are critically injured. Medics on the scene described it as very difficult situation more than 60 casualties they said, evacuated to eight different hospitals by ambulance and by helicopter. But just -- you have to stress here that this base is 40 miles from the border with Lebanon.

That's a long way. It's closer to here in Tel Aviv than it is to the actual fighting at the warfront. So this is very significant and it absolutely does seem to be perhaps the bloodiest incident targeting and hitting IVF forces away from the frontline since October 7th last year. The IDF chief spokesman has been to the site tonight describing what has happened. He's described that Hezbollah managed to get a drone into the base, that it came across the northern border from Lebanon around about 7:00 p.m.

He said the situation is now under IDF control, but what he describes as a scenario that requires investigation and reveals that they've come up short on defenses and he says the defenses need improving, too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL HAGARI, SPOKESPERSON, ISRAELI MILITARY (through translator): We are now busy contacting their families. All of the soldiers at the base were instructed to call home and update their families that they are OK. We are managing the incident. We will learn from and investigative the incident how a UAV entered without an alert at the base. The threat of UAVs is a threat we are dealing with since the beginning of the war. We need an improvement to our defense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: So Hezbollah over recent days has been threatening to target bases and collections of Israeli troops away from the border. This is something that it's been threatening to do. Now after this strike tonight they claimed that this was the act of a suicide drone and Hezbollah describes a scenario where they appear to have tried to cheat or fool the air defense systems here in Israel.

They fired, they say, lots of rockets, dozens of rockets into northern Israel. And then after that, with the intention they say of confusing the air defense systems, and then send a squad of suicide drones to target the base. Now that may be an overstatement of what they did, but it clearly shows that Hezbollah has been trying to find over recent weeks a way to get around the air defense systems here, which until now have been pretty effective.

[18:25:10]

On Friday a Hezbollah drone managed to get within a few miles of Tel Aviv and hit a nursing home not far away. And that was after intercept efforts. So Hezbollah seems to be refining their tactics here. And as you heard from the IDF spokesman there they absolutely need to improve. This is a very, very deadly and bloody day for the IDF today.

DEAN: It certainly is. I also want to ask you about this other major development, the U.S. now saying it's going to send an advanced anti- missile system that Israel along with about 100 U.S. troops to operate it. How significant is that?

ROBERTSON: It's very significant. This system, the THAAD, the terminal high altitude area defense missile system is designed to intercept ballistic missiles and it's ballistic missiles that Iran fired at Israel two weeks ago, more than 180 of them. Some of them got through to bases and other sites in Israel, military bases. So with this THAAD system, it should give Israel more protection if Iran strikes them again with ballistic missiles. The Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah to the north in Lebanon have also been firing ballistic missiles here.

But this is a comprehensive system and 100 troops is about what is normally sent with one of these weapons system and it's a comprehensive system that should sort of provide more or less blanket coverage across the whole country and will supplement what Israel is doing already. But I think what it tells us is that the United States and Israel recognize that this perhaps tit-for-tat exchange of missiles with Iran could escalate from here. And Israel needs more protection to withstand it if that's the case.

DEAN: Certainly. All right. Nic Robertson, with really important reporting for us tonight from Tel Aviv. Thank you so much for that.

Still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, we are talking with Wisconsin's Democratic Governor Tony Evers about Vice President Harris's a full- court press in crucial blue states like his and if she can pull away from former president Trump.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:31:49]

DEAN: Vice President Kamala Harris is going all in on the blue-wall states, taking her campaign to Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan over the next several days. But it's not just Harris and her running mate. This week, the Democratic governors of all three states will launch a bus tour with stops in all of those states to try and get out the vote.

Joining us now one of those governors, Democrat Tony Evers of Wisconsin.

Governor, thanks so much for being here.

GOV. TONY EVERS (D), WISCONSIN: Thanks a lot, Jessica. Thanks for the invitation.

DEAN: Yes. We're happy to have you. Look, we've reached the point with three weeks out now, it is about getting out the vote. I know that's what you all are going to be trying to do on your bus tour. I want to talk about Wisconsin for a second, though, and focus in on that. How do you feel about the ground game, about what you're seeing and talking with people all around your state right now?

EVERS: That's a great question. I am so pleased with the results so far. Obviously, polling is polling, but I get around the state every, just about every day and the energy and the people are engaged in this race like I've never seen before. So, you know, on the ground, I think it's good. Obviously we're a purple state. We're going to continue being a purple state. But as far as the energy, whether I'm in a campus or on those smallest town in northern Wisconsin. I'm very, very pleased where we're at at this point in time. And we've got a lot of help. We've got about 50 officers all across the state. They're seeing the same thing that I'm seeing.

DEAN: And yet these polls continue to show this really tight race especially in these battleground states. Some Democrats this week have expressed public concern that her momentum has stalled. There are worries voters still don't know enough about her. Polling showing she hasn't been able to fully separate herself from the Biden administration and President Biden.

Are you concerned about this? And what can she do in the next three weeks to change that?

EVERS: Well, I'm not concerned because, as I said before, we're a purple state. It's going to be close regardless. No matter what happens between now and November 5th. So it's going to be close, but I, you know, I expect that she'll be here. I know she's going to be here this weekend, and obviously Tim Walz is going to be here. S just being here is extraordinary. I've been to every event that she's had here in Wisconsin and it's just extraordinary.

Just a few weeks ago in Ripon, the birthplace of the Republican Party, great crowd, good conversation with Congresswoman Cheney, and so I feel good about where we're at, but I think people's expectations for the blue wall states, if they thought it was going to be a 10-point lead, they're wrong. We are a purple state. Donald Trump has support here. I believe very strongly that we're going to win here in Wisconsin.

DEAN: And there -- look, we're now looking three days, three weeks out to this election, and you're laying out so eloquently why it is so tight.

[18:35:00]

Do you think that -- there's a good chance we may not know who the president is on election night because it may just be too tight in a variety of places. I'm curious in Wisconsin as the governor what you're doing to make sure that that process can play out freely and fairly as it needs to? And also if you can -- you know, if there's a plan in place to combat any disinformation that starts to be spread, or conspiracy theories, as we wait to get those results.

EVERS: Well, certainly me and the folks that work with me will be on top of, you know, making sure that people understand what's truth and what isn't truth, and obviously there's a lot of that going around. But at the end of the day, it is about the folks at the local level who count the votes and send them into Madison to the elections commission.

I feel confident that in their work, I was confident last time. Unfortunately, the Trump administration decided or Trump people decided that they want to harass people and take us to court and all that. But at the end of the day, nothing worked because it was a good election. Obviously in Milwaukee, they're our biggest state, our biggest city in the state, and there, you know, it takes longer to count ballots.

We tried to get legislation done in the last go around in the legislature to allow then to at least process those mail and the process means just kind of taking them out of the envelope. But we weren't be able to get the Republicans meet behind that. So it takes a while to count those mail ballots and the ones that come in late. And so we feel very good about the system and we, you know, we're going to be having people out there watching the polls, making sure that people don't get too close to the voters, too close to, you know, harassing people.

But at the end of the day the people that work in Wisconsin, on elections, there all heroes. They took too much crap, excuse me, for last time around and I believe in the good the work of that. And they're Republicans or Democrats or independents, it doesn't matter. They believe that they're doing the right thing. And I agree with them. DEAN: Yes. They are public servants.

Wisconsin Governor Attorney Tony Evers, thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it.

EVERS: Take care. Bye-bye.

DEAN: Coming up, for the second time in a week, President Biden is getting a firsthand look at hurricane devastation in Florida while pledging more than a half billion dollars to help states make their power grids stronger.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:42:19]

DEAN: For the second time in just over a week, President Biden has visited Florida to tour storm damage, this time from Hurricane Milton. During today's trip, the president announced over $600 million in projects to help people in states like Florida help make their power grids stronger. More than 800,000 people still don't have power after Milton made landfall Wednesday night.

CNN's Brian Todd has more now from St. Petersburg.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Biden got an aerial and ground tour of the hardest hit areas of St. Pete Beach and the areas near here today. And this was kind of a bipartisan tour by nature. Several prominent Republican officials touring the area with the president and speaking after the president and including St. Pete Beach Mayor Adrian Petrilla, Kathleen Peters, the Republican chair of Pinellas County, both of whom Republicans.

Also accompanying the president was Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, a staunch Republican, and Republican Senator Rick Scott. So the president really trying to strike that bipartisan tone as a response to the hurricane because it kind of playing off the idea that some people here were playing politics. Kamala Harris and Republican Governor Ron DeSantis both accusing each other of playing politics with the response.

But the president himself kind of trying to stay away from that fray, striking that bipartisan tone while he was here saying both Democrats and Republicans are coming together to gather themselves and to help this area respond to the hurricane. The president also kind of striking a personal tone, talking about how his own homes were damaged in major storms and talking about the damage that was suffered here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thankfully, the storm's impact was not as cataclysmic as we had predicted but in Tampa, two before it, just keeps -- it seems getting worse. And you know, but for some individuals, it was cataclysmic. All those folks who not only lost their homes but more importantly those who lost their lives, lost family members, lost all their personal belongings. Entire neighborhoods were flooded and millions, millions are without power.

TODD: We should also note that President Biden was scheduled to be overseas at this very moment. The White House had scheduled a trip for the president to go to Germany and to Angola, which would have been the president's first and only trip to the continent of Africa while he was president. That trip had to be postponed. It was postponed on the eve of the day that Hurricane Milton hit this area. But President Biden says he is still determined to make a trip to Africa before he leaves office.

Brian Todd, CNN, St. Pete Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: All right. Our thanks to Brian there for that.

Ahead, Elon Musk hopes today's big achievement means we're one step closer to Sunday, sending people to Mars.

[18:45:01]

How SpaceX is making history and giving the phrase stick the landing a whole new meaning.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: SpaceX this morning launched the most powerful rocket ever built. That rocket booster pushed a starship up into orbit.

[18:50:09]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have ascend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: The liftoff there. And a lot of cheering with no crew that Starship circled most of the globe. It's splashed down in the Indian Ocean as planned. But the real technological wizardry was that the booster came back to the launch site.

Watch how the chopsticks reach out to catch it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can see those chopsticks now --

(CHEERS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is absolutely insane. One of the first ever --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: It is pretty incredible. Reusing the rocket is key to Elon Musk's dream of sending people back to the moon and to Mars. And you see those people pretty excited about it.

A new episode of "TV ON THE EDGE" takes you through the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. After the floodwaters poured in, survivors obviously needed help but many of them felt abandoned and ignored by the federal government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN LATHAN, CO-HOST, HIGHER LEARNING PODCAST: All the years I spent in college, all the books that I've read, the greatest education I've ever had for what it means to be black in America happened on August 29th, 2005.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hundreds most likely thousands are dead.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: There's no question if this had happened in a white suburb, I assume it would have been a very different story.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It made you wonder whether or not you lived in a government that was operating on your behalf. It made you wonder whether or not you were an American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: During a live telethon for hurricane relief, Kanye West lashed out at then President Bush, creating a spark that laid the groundwork for the Black Lives Matter movement.

CNN entertainment reporter Lisa Respers France is joining us now.

Lisa, tell us more about that moment and how pivotal it was.

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, that moment was incredible because here's Kanye West standing with Mike Myers, who of course is a comedic actor. So people I think expected it to be like a light funny moment. But Kanye West went completely off script and he says George Bush does not care about black people. It was a shocking moment.

I mean I feel like America felt like Mike Myers face looked at that time. He just looked like, wow, that really just happened. And then they go to Chris Tucker who, you know, has to come out of it and just keep the whole telethon rolling along again. It was such a shocking moment, but it was an incredible moment and a very important moment for the conversation around Katrina.

People had seen the horrendous footage like we're looking at right there of people just trying to survive. And so by Kanye West saying what he said, I say in the episode that it felt like he said the quiet part out loud. DEAN: And this whole series is about these moments in television that

really have shaped our society, our lives. To that end how did the events of that day help lay the groundwork for the Black Lives Matter movement?

RESPERS FRANCE: Yes, because by taking on the president of the United States, arguably, you know, an incredibly powerful person, and by saying this and being critical of him, it laid the groundwork for people feeling more comfortable to speak out against the treatment of black and brown people in this country because people focus on him saying George Bush doesn't care about black people but he also was part of what he had to say was about how the media was treating black people versus white people.

He was saying, you know, it made him upset to see that they treated it as black people were out here looting and causing destruction, but white people were out there looking for food. And so it laid the foundation for people to feel like, you know what, we should be protesting these things. We should be talking about these things.

And it's ironic, Jessica, when you think about it, because years later, Kanye West caused so much controversy by wearing a white lives matter shirt and people were so upset, but the Kanye of 19 years ago is a very different Kanye from who we see today.

DEAN: Yes. All right, Lisa Respers France, thank you so much for that. We really appreciate it.

RESPER FRANCE: Thank you.

DEAN: Be sure to tune in to a new episode of "TV ON THE EDGE," moments that shaped our culture. It airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. on CNN.

Some Democrats are worried Vice President Harris's momentum has plateaued. I just talked to a key Harris surrogate, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. You'll hear what he told me about that. That's next.

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[18:59:32]

DEAN: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

We are 23 days away from election day in America, and both candidates are on the trail. Right now, Donald Trump is speaking in Arizona. "The New York Times"-Siena poll also showing a narrow five-point lead for the former president in that state.

Vice President Kamala Harris just wrapping up a visit to battleground North Carolina. She's going to visit Pennsylvania tomorrow, a state where she holds a very small lead, but there is still no clear leader.

It's an extremely tight race.