Good evening. We start tonight with breaking news moments ago Israel's military confirming that tonight he conducted what they called precise strikes on military targets in Iran. Three strikes come after reports by Iranian state media of explosions in the capital Tehran. This is in response the October 1 Iranian missile attack on Israel, which was part of an escalating regional conflict that's also seen Israeli troops entering southern Lebanon and the killings of the head of the Iranian back group Hezbollah, plus the political leader of Hamas while he was in Tehran.
We're going to start with Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv tonight. So what have you learned, Jeremy? Well, Anderson, the Israeli military is now confirming that strikes are indeed underway against what they are describing as military targets inside of Iran. They call these strikes, quote, precise strikes on military targets in Iran and Israeli officials tonight are taking pains to emphasize that there were no energy targets, neither nuclear nor oil targets that were hit in these Israeli strikes tonight.
We don't have a ton of more detail about exactly what the nature of these targets are, but Iranian state media is indeed reporting that there were explosions in the Iranian capital of Tehran. The Israeli military says that it has every right and duty to respond to what it describes as continuous Iranian attacks by itself as well as its proxies. Of course, this is primarily retaliation for that barrage of some 200 ballistic missiles that Iran fired at the beginning of this month and over the course of the last three and a half weeks, there has been mounting anticipation about exactly how Israel will respond as they initially did consider striking those nuclear and oil targets, but appear to have been talked off of that ledge by the United States, which very much wanted to see a much more limited response. The question now, of course, becomes how Iran will respond and how quickly they will do so.
So we really don't have a sense of how long these strikes may continue for or sort of the exact nature of the targets. What's the White House saying tonight or is the IDFC anything else? Well, the White House is making very clear that the United States was not involved in these strikes, according to a senior administration official saying that they are not participating in this military operation. We are also learning that Israel did indeed inform the United States ahead of this, and there has been very close cooperation between Israel and the United States in the lead up to this strike, not only with those consultations, of course, between U.S.
and Israeli officials, President Biden getting on the phone with the Israeli Prime Minister directly in recent weeks, but also, of course, it's important to note that the United States last at the beginning of last week deployed the FAD air defense system to Israel, presumably in anticipation of potential Iranian retaliation for the strike that we are indeed seeing tonight and to try and deter a future Iranian response. So we had heard reports before that Iran might respond very quickly to an Israeli strike, but it is not clear yet how quickly that will actually happen. And of course, the question is, will Iran now look to deescalate? Or will we look at another escalatory cycle of retaliation that could, of course, plunge Iran and Israel more directly into an all-out war?
All right, Jeremy Diamond. Appreciate it. Thanks very much. We'll continue to follow the story update within a new developments.
I want to turn to the state of the presidential race here, from President Trump expected to speak at a rally in Michigan any moment, hours after he left Texas, where Vice President Harris is scheduled for a second star-studded event in his many days this evening. Tonight, she'll be joined on stage for the first time by Beyonce. Texas may seem a curious to offer Democratic nominee with only 11 days until election day, but she's using the state and it's strict laws on abortion as a backdrop to discuss reproductive rights and women's health, which is obviously a key theme of her campaign that she previewed earlier today. Sadly, the elected leaders of Texas, a lot of them, have made Texas ground zero in this fundamental fight for the freedom of women to make decisions about their own body.
So tonight, we will be discussing the impact of that, not only to the women of Texas and their families, but to people around the country because of Trump abortion bans. When Texas, of course, also made her focal point on the Battle of Immigration and Border Control yesterday and against day the former president has been calling the United States a garbage can and he's blaming migrants. Today Harris responded. That's just another example of how he really belittles our country.
The president of the United States should be someone who elevates discourse and talks about the best of who we are and invest in the best of who we are. Not someone like Donald Trump was constantly demeaning and belittling who the American people are. America deserves better. Earlier today, when Trump was in Texas moments before he appeared on stage, he once tweeted threats about jailing and prosecuting American citizens that he perceives his enemies.
In a reason, part when I win, those people that cheated will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, which will include long-term prison sentences. He also writes, please beware that this legal exposure extends to lawyers, political operatives, donors, illegal voters, and corrupt election officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels unfortunately never seen before in our country. Although he's also threatening the special counsel who has not broken any law but is investigating in his vile charges against the former president.
Then you have to get the killers and murderers mentally deranged. You have to get about and we should throw Jack Smith out with them to mentally derange people. Jack Smith should be considered mentally deranged. He should be thrown out of the country.
The man who wants to be president, threatening a special counsel, working for the Department of Justice. No complaints from Republican leaders in the House were sent about that. But earlier in the day, Senator Mitch McConnell and Speaker Mike Johnson warned Vice President Harris of all people in a statement that she is the one who needs to tone down the political rhetoric. They mentioned both assassination attempts against the former president and then wrote this.
I'm quoting, the Democratic nominee for President of the United States has only fanned the flames beneath the boiling cauldron of political animus. The most recent and most reckless invocations of the darkest evil in the 20th century seemed to dare to boil over. Vice President's words more closely resemble those of President Trump's second would be assassin than her own earlier appeal to civility. They were referring to the fact that Harris called the former president of fascist during our scene in Town Hall with her, which she only did after two top generals who once served the former president said the very same thing.
The former chief of staff, John Kelly, told the New York Times this week quote, he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist for sure. The former president's joint chiefs of staff chairman, Mark Milli, told Bob Woodward that Trump is fascist to the core. And McConnell and Johnson did not mention though, they are certainly aware of it. Is that for quite a while?
Mr. Trump has been using the term fascist against Harris and a lot of others. He doesn't like it. She's a fascist, fascist, fascist, bar left fascist.
These are young smart people that happen to be fascist, fascist, fascist, fascist movement that wants to throw you in jail. Fascist, this is fascist, fascist, the fascist. He's surrounded by fascist and corrupt and fascist regime. So let's discuss with pro-community consultant strategist Brad Todd, seen in contributor in the New York Times as Lulu Garcia Navarro and Ashley Allison, former national coalition's director for the Biden Harris 2020 campaign.
Ashley, how much do you think it's wise for Harris to be devoting this day to be in Texas? Obviously Beyonce is there, there's a lot of other people there, but the focus is going to be on abortion rights. I do think it's important that the vice president is in Texas for a couple of reasons. First, I mean, we're just days out from this election, and that Senate race is still in play.
And so part of what you do in a campaign is that you go places where you can have ripple effects. So she's doing that. She doesn't think she's going to win the state. But if we win that pick up that Tennessee, which was a long stretch, but now I think the race is almost tied, could really be held well for Democrats.
But also, she's going to Texas. She has Beyonce. This is how campaigns work. And she has a ripple effect that she, her appearance in Texas will have will go into battleground states.
We'll go into states that also have governors races and Senate races and house races. So she's going to be in Texas in an area where traditionally Democrats don't do extremely well, but her message will go across the country. And she said it herself. Texas is ground zero for the abortion law.
People have lost their lives. They want to prosecute doctors. They want to prosecute citizens who just help women have bodily autonomy. So taking the fight to where it really start is super important.
And I think it will go and make be a national message that can have ripple effects. Plus she has the queen bee. So like, why not go to Beyonce's hometown? What a better message can you have?
Brad, I mean, she also did draw the former president, I guess, to Texas today as well. So if people complaining she's off the campaign trail in battleground states, he is as well. At least for this event. But Texas is a great place for the campaign.
And I think that Vice President Harris has a great chance tonight. You know, no state has been impacted more by this administration's failure on illegal immigration than Texas. And it's the issue where she's costing her the best chance at the election. Now she trails on it by 16.
She leads on a lot of issues. But immigration and the way this administration's handling gets hurting her. I think she should go to Houston tonight and declare that she understands they made a mistake. And she's going to do things differently.
It'd be the best thing she can do to turn the election around. Actually, what about that notion? It seems unlikely that that's something that she would suddenly do now with a short amount of time. But do you think that would have been something for her to do earlier?
Just say, look, yeah, sure, I wish we put these executive orders in faster and move on. I think what she has done is said that we have a problem with immigration that has been way before her administration. Both Democratic administrations and Republican administrations have not been able to move the ball for it. What I do think she should say tonight is that there could have been a bill that affixed the problem and helped the problem.
And that her opponent stopped it. So I mean, I appreciate Brad's point and I understand why he would say that. But I think she is able to have a message about the future forward and what she would do in this administration and not just fix the problem, but also stop the rhetoric about how immigrants are poisoning our blood, how they don't give to society. She could talk about a lot of issues that are important in the economy, immigration, abortion, and democracy because we also know Texas is somewhat ground zero for a lot of voter suppression tactics as well.
And so she could really have a comprehensive message tonight on which I think you will hear from her. Lulu, do you think this is a misapportunity? If Vice-versa Harris doesn't address the issue of immigration or speech tonight in Texas or do you think she should stay focused on reproductive rights? Yeah, no, I don't think she should be focusing on immigration because I do think it is the issue that she pulls most weekly on.
And I think the Democrats really have a lot of explaining to do on what has happened in terms of the surge of illegal immigration under the Biden administration. Most voters are constantly looking at this issue and saying why has this happened and why didn't you do anything sooner? So it's not something that she's going to win on. She's focusing on women.
That is her strongest issue. That is who she's speaking to in this election. Those are the voters, the reliable voters that are going to come out that are going to be voting on Roe. And she should really be laser focused on them.
Actually, in addition to, according to the US to a garbage can, the former president also said that towns have been quote, invaded and conquered and that some have been quote, infected yet. I mean, do you think any disgust with that sort of language is already baked into the electorate? I understand. Sadly, I think it is.
But I just want to talk to voters for a second. And even the panel is like, he's calling our country garbage, which means he's calling us garbage too because we live here. And so I don't want anybody leading me to things on trash. He talks about going out a US citizen.
That's why the vice president said he was a fascist. That's why his chief of staff said he's a fascist because that's what dictators do. They do political exile. They run people who don't agree with them out of their country because they're a dictator and they don't believe in democracy.
So I think that it's important to keep saying that because even if Donald Trump wins, I refuse to normalize that behavior in the effort to preserve our democracy. But before the election is called and while voters can still vote, talk about the issues, but also talk about the threat. It is constantly a yes and I know there are still some undecided voters out there and I think that message will resonate with them. Brad, I mean, I guess it doesn't surprise, maybe shouldn't surprise people, but I did find it again to actually point it is not normal for somebody who wants to be president of the United States to be talking about deporting a special counsel, a guy who's just assigned to this and doing his job.
Well, I mean, I don't think he doesn't mean that about Jack Smith. What do you mean? He doesn't mean that. He doesn't mean that.
He doesn't mean that. This is the way Donald Trump talks and he doesn't mean about Jack Smith. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It doesn't fly anymore.
You cannot keep on saying that Donald Trump says don't mean anything. We know that they do. We saw in his first administration that they do the things that he says, the things that he tweets actually become policy. We also know, by the way, I mean, if we're talking about immigration, there was an interview that was given by the former immigration czar, the real one for the Trump administration.
Stephen Miller who talked about expelling millions of people creating huge camps in Texas on the border, I mean, that there are plans in place to enact this very draconian agenda right away. And so, you know, you can talk about rhetoric, but there are policies to back them up. This isn't just about words. But the Republican, they were holding up signs.
And you mean? Right. At the convention, they had printed out signs that they were handing out to people saying mass deportation. Hold on just a second though.
The American public is very aware of Donald Trump's immigration policies, his actual policies when he was president. They're aware of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris's policies. And he leads on the issue by 16 points. By 16 points, she's the one that's out of step with where the public is here.
Do you think the American public wants American citizens deported? Because they are doing a job? Right. That's not immigration policy.
That's a dictator. That's a fashion. According to American citizens. Right.
You would disagree that if he did, if he was to do that, I assume, let me ask you, you believe that would not be an appropriate thing to do, that that would be an appropriate thing. Of course not. He also said if he shot someone on Fifth Avenue, I don't approve him shooting someone on Fifth Avenue. But let's get into the real world here.
We have two people who are very known. They're in a dead heat race. The American public is very concerned about the way Donald Trump talks. There's no question that the voters are concerned about that.
They're very concerned about the way Kamala Harris acts and what she does in office. That's where we are. You express all kind of outrage if we want, but that's where this time election. Go ahead a little bit.
Yeah, I'm sorry. But isn't the truth that actually, you know, you have both sides of this electorate frozen. We are ending this campaign almost where it started when there was a different Democratic candidate, neck and neck. You know, basically you have people in this country who dislike Donald Trump intensely and you have people who support him intensely.
And so at the end of the day to say that the American people are out of step with Kamala Harris, that's simply not true. On the issue of immigration, they are. But she can fix it. She can fix it.
We'll see. We're less than a little bit more than a week ago. Brad Coddle, we're seeing Navarro actually, Allison, thank you very much. We have the latest on the retaliatory strikes in Tehran confirmed by Israel's military.
Also, we're going to be the Ukrainian who immigrated to North Carolina and hope to find members of her family still missing after Hurricane Halene or Gere Tuckman as that story and more from the battleground states. AI is moving fast across the enterprise. But without visibility, it's just chaos. Different tools, different models, different teams using AI in completely different ways.
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They should make like a comic strip out of it. How I got news for your ears, check us out on Apple, Amazon Music, wherever you get to watch. Even though you can watch the podcast on Spotify. Showing you the skyline of Tehran where Israel tonight confirmed it launched for the military strikes against what they say are military targets, the media in Iran reported explosions in the Capitol.
According to White House officials, Biden has been briefed on the strikes and the White House was notified ahead of the strike. It comes after an Iranian missile, of course, attack at Israel earlier this month. John, we have now seen Chief Global Affairs correspondent, Matthew Chans, and seen in Chief National Security correspondent, Alex Mark Hart. Alex, what are you hearing about what's gone on so far?
Well, so far, I understand we're just hearing about those blasts just west of Tehran that's coming from the Iranians. It is actually quite surprising that we're getting this much information from both the Israelis and from the White House, both confirming that the retaliatory strikes by Israel are underway. The White House putting on a statement on the record just moments ago saying that these targeted strikes are against military targets in Iran. They're calling it an exercise of self-defense in response to those Iranian strikes, the 180 ballistic missiles back on October 1st.
For the past three weeks, Anderson, there has been a huge amount of worry in this town about how Israel would retaliate and a considerable amount of pressure from Washington on Israel to do it in a rather limited and calibrated way so that this doesn't further escalate. And what that has meant is specific pressure from the president on the record saying that he wished that Iran would not go after nuclear or oil targets. And it does appear that right now Israel, at least for now, is going after these military targets. So we're trying to figure out what those are.
They could be barracks. They could be training facilities. They could be commanding control centers, anything that has to do with Iran's missile system. But does it stop there?
You could also see a scenario on which Israel would use cyber capabilities or special forces capabilities as well. I think Anderson, one thing that we need to take into consideration is, is this the kind of strike that Iran is going to absorb and say, okay, essentially now we're even? Or are they going to feel really threatened by what Israel is doing tonight and respond, perhaps very quickly? That is a major fear.
Anderson, this does feel like we're kind of at the beginning of this retaliatory response. Unclear how long it may last. And Alex, we have Matthew. Matthew, I'm wondering if you're hearing anything from the Iranian government or more about what the IDF has said about what has occurred?
Yeah, well, I've been in touch with figures inside the Israeli military. And what they've told me is they've tried to underline this idea that these were military targets that have been struck or that are being struck as part of this retaliatory action. No energy infrastructure targets were hit. And that includes either oil facilities or nuclear facilities.
That's according to my sources inside the Israeli military. And of course, that's something the United States and President Biden in particular called on the Israelis to hold back from hitting those kinds of targets. So it seems at this stage, even though at the very early stage of this operation, that it's just military targets that are being struck right now, which may provoke less of a response, perhaps, depending on what was actually targeted and who, if anybody was killed in the strikes from the Iranians. It's also been confirmed, as you've seen from the US side, that US planes, that US forces were not engaged in this.
And that's been reiterated by sources in the Israeli military as well, saying this attack was 100% Israeli. What I haven't been able to get from Israeli sources is any sense of how broad this retaliation is because there have been reports in Iraq, in Baghdad, and in Damascus, in Syria, of explosions as well. There's no comment coming to us at the moment from the Israeli military about whether they're responsible for that or whether there are strikes on those countries as part of this broader retaliation action against Iranian interests. That's huge chance.
We'll check in with you throughout the night, Alex and Mark Ward as well, joining us now in the chief international anchor, Christiane Amunpour. Christiane, the last time there were retaliatory strikes against Iran by Israel, they were largely symbolic, sort of message sending. They were also in response to the Iranian attack on Israel. What do you make of what we have seen thus far or heard thus far from Israel's military?
Well, to put it all in perspective and context, it appears that the last time it was sort of a standoff missile attack that hit perhaps a radar station somewhere around Esfahan. This appears to be actual aircraft according to the IDF and according to the United States. It's in some way dropping bombs or missiles on Iran directly from their own planes. This would be a very first to put this into context, a very first time that this kind of engagement has actually happened.
Iran has been preparing for this ever since its 200-missile ballistic missile barrage against Israel back in early October. The question has always been from the Iran perspective. If you look at the report, if you hear what the Iranian officials have been saying is how big will it be and what around options should we respond at all if it's more symbolic or more something we can absorb and we expect as a retaliation from Israel? Or is it something much bigger, much wider targeted at the regime, targeted as you'd be discussing the crucial oil infrastructure or indeed the nuclear infrastructure?
And then what would they be potentially they think themselves forced to respond to? So I do think it's going to be important to see the scale of what Israel is doing and then to see whether Iran decides that it has to respond. Potentially in any event, it might respond according to sources somewhat but in a way that all sides understand that this is happening, this has happened, it's been in response to all these kinetic activities over the last several months and now they need to draw a hold under it. The bottom line is that all of this now is about deterrence, all of it, whether it was Israel striking Syria first and then that killed Iranian officials, remember in that building in Damascus, that was in April, then Iran responded and then again Israel killing a Hania, is my Hania the head of Hamas inside Iran.
It does not admit that but everybody believes that that is what Israel did or that Israel did do that. Iran then sending more missiles back including the killing of its ally and proxy Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah. So all of this is just so much strike, counter strike and attempt to establish deterrence and attempt to potentially, certainly from Iran's perspective, they don't want to see its been out of control. Bottom line is Israel is the dominant military force in the region and Iran while it's the dominant, let's say regional force, it is not at all the way with all to challenge Israel and it sees Iran's allies have been decimated in that region, whether it's Hamas, whether it's Hezbollah, etc.
And from reporting outside of Iran, it doesn't look including from officials like it wants to get into a massive, much bigger war with Israel. And which is pointing out that Israel is emphasizing this in Jeremy Diamond is reporting from there that it did not attack any energy targets, obviously no nuclear facilities, that means and no oil facilities and a number of those oil facilities are actually quite vulnerable. I mean, it could be in terms of certainly compared to nuclear facilities, could be relatively easily hit and a lot of economic damage done, but Israel is saying that they were not being targeted either. That's right.
In fact, when I spoke to the former Israeli Prime Minister, a few weeks ago when everybody was expecting, everybody knew that this was going to happen, the international community knew Iran knew, everybody's waiting, the Arab countries in the region know the Gulf countries. We don't yet know how Israel flew its planes and what direction it took. I mean, I haven't seen a map and I haven't seen the trajectory, but it meant that they would potentially have to fly over several Arab nations, whatever the countries are that stand between Israel and Iran. It would have to get permission.
And Iran has been on a diplomatic offensive over the last several weeks, trying to make sure that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Gulf countries in their words, stayed neutral. It was saying that anybody who appeared to be not just taking part, but allowing this strike would be considered a legitimate target. It sent that one to the United States as well. So there's been a lot of telegraphing of kind of posture.
But you're right, the United States did not want potentially the global oil supply and therefore the global economy to be shaken. It's considered almost impossible for the important nuclear sites to be attacked, other than by particular strength bonds that only the United States has and the delivery systems in terms of aircraft that only the United States has. That was always considered potentially a non-starter. The question is, is it ballistic missile attacks?
Is it revolutionary guard and how close does it get to the regime? Chris and Amapore, thank you. We'll continue to follow this throughout the night. Up next with former President Trump, Expected on stage two in Michigan.
Vice President Harris, all Houston rallied tonight with Beyonce, trying to make the case for a reproductive freedom nationwide. Two political players who made their name for running major presidential campaigns will join me next to talk about the state of the race. Two perspectives on the 2024 race, David Axerod was instrumental in getting Barack Obama elected President twice and Mike Murphy served as a top official for Republican campaigns including the late Senator John McCain's 2000 presidential day. Mike and David, a long time friends and co-host of the Hacks on Tap podcast.
They join me tonight. David, do you think it's wise for Vice President Harris to be campaigning in Texas tonight? Well, look, she's doing what really is a national event. She wants to make abortion rights a center of the campaign.
And you look at polling, and you can see why. I think in the CNN poll today, certainly one of the polls. Abortion rights was, by far and away, the issue that people said was an absolute must for them. The more people said that was a deal breaker for them.
And this is really a major plus for her in her campaign. It's a big distinction with Trump. And she's going to use Texas as a backdrop. Mike, do you think it makes sense for the vice-versa to be doing that tonight?
You've also said it's time for brute force closings for the candidates. What do you mean by that? Well, that means flood the zone. Four or five event days, a lot of impromptus.
And create the visual image of her out there earning it. So no, I don't think she should be in Texas. I think Ax is right. It's a national platform.
It's not a disaster. And she lured Trump there. So they're both wasting a day going to a state that isn't in place. I guess it's a tie.
But no, I think this is a dead even race. Every event counts and I'd be in the key states. David, any reason I think that the general Kelly is description of Trump as a fascist, which now the vice-versa is saying directly that yes, he's a fascist, said that our town hall. Do you think that is resonating with people?
Look, Anderson, you've heard me say this before. I think it's a deadly serious issue. And today, Trump was threatened to jail election workers after the election if he senses any improprieties and so on. He's talking about deporting Jackson-F, which is ludicrous.
Yeah. I mean, he's getting wilder by the day. It's concerning. But I've said many times if you're talking about democracy over the dinner table, it's because you don't have to worry about the cause of the groceries on your dinner table.
And I think the people who are hanging out in this race, the people who may make the difference in this race are likely influenced by issues closer to home. I thought in your town hall with her, the best line of the night for her was when she said he's going to come to office with an enemy's list and I'm going to come to office with a to-do list. And that to-do list is going to be the concerns we're discussing here tonight. I think that's where she should be.
And you can see in that CNN polling, this notion of retribution against enemies is a major concern of people. His temperament is overwhelming. The 56% said this was a reason not to vote for him. This is what's keeping the race close in a country where 28% of people say we're on the right track.
The incumbent party has no business being in the race. I mean, by historical measures, this would be disqualifying. People have such deep concerns about Donald Trump. So I don't think the issue of fascism itself is one that is going to move people.
I think the people who move by are already supporting Kamala Harris. But I think that the idea that he's going to be spending every waking day, I think about how to screw his enemies instead of working to help people is a powerful issue. Well, Mike, I mean, the former president is certainly playing into that talking, I mean, again, today about, you know, deporting mass numbers of people setting up camps. I mean, deporting, again, Jack Smith, who's just doing his job for the Department of Justice.
Yeah, no, no. Trump has decided to close the campaign not on the economy was better under me, but on the jack boots are coming message. We're going to build a monument to the bear mock. It trumps to in her favor, but she doesn't have to be in that dialogue with him.
I don't mind a one liner out every day to keep the fire going, but I agree with facts on this. She has to close the deal that when you vote for her, you get a better economic life for the middle class. And that's talking about things do cost too much. I'm new new advisors, new policy, changing the right direction on your side, be pounding that in places where they're feeling economic pain because that's the main spring of Trump's campaign.
It isn't calling their holding their nose, but they do think things were better under him and she's got to go right at that. I do think the contrast is important though. I think the contrast of a guy who's totally consumed by himself and his vengeance and someone who's going to wake up every day thinking about how she can do constructive things to help people and solve problems. I think that's a powerful contrast.
Mike, I just think you can go ahead. I'm telling voters who are already thinking he's crazy. He's proving that every day. It's a gift or she's got to move the needle on her and it's a mix of things.
Mike, do you think the Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney kind of road tour was helpful in any way? Is there really a big pool of people who think that might have influenced? Yeah, I think there's some. I mean, we're battling over microns here.
Well, there are two needles to be moved. One is can some Republicans come over and vote for her and does Liz Cheney and what Romney has said about Trump give him a permission structure? By the way, I'm telling my Republican friends to tell me I just can't vote for a Democrat, but I don't like Trump. I say, well, you can go halfway there.
You don't have to vote for Trump. Skip the ballot. Work your way down. It still takes a vote out of him in a key state that counts.
So I think that permission structure is important, but it's a bunted single. The economic stuff is the most important, I think. I mean, every day we're seeing different polls and people wake up and freak out. David, Mike, how much stock do you put in polls at this time?
Listen, if you add them all up, what they say is this is a really tight race, too tight for any poll to accurately predict, and it's going to go right down to the wire. Yeah, David, actually, I'd like Murphy. Thanks for being with us. Their podcast is Hacks on Tap.
Thanks so much. Well, coming up, John King's new all over the map report from Battleground, Pennsylvania. We'll be right back. John King recently returned to the suburbs of Philadelphia.
He wants down his all over the map series. He looks at the people and places that could decide the election. With the past 13 months, John and his team, I made 25 trips to 10 states tonight. He meets with one time Nikki Haley supporters to see who they're backing now.
Michael Pacey is methodical. A stickler for detail and preparation. Pennsylvania's archery deer season is now open. This range of places to shoot targets and adjust your gear.
Rifle season is a month away. And at this stop, Pacey is no nonsense. Just a few shots to help him adjust the sight. Two more to let a visitor get a feel for the 30 odd six deer rifle.
Conservative in every way. No wasted shots or time. Everything by the book. Not a fan of surprises.
Yet, Pacey is voting for Kamala Harris because he's even less of a fan of Donald Trump. You're going to vote for her, but do you know what you're getting? No, I don't. The scary part is, you know, I'm not voting for a candidate.
I'm not voting for a policy. I'm voting against a candidate in policies. And not even all the policies. It's just, you know, the unstableness of some of the things he says are truly scary.
Pacey is a Reagan Republican supporting Nikki Haley in this year's GOP primaries. A never-Trumper in a place where that really matters. Bucks County, one of the suburban Philadelphia counties crucial to the math in battleground Pennsylvania. He wants his party back and sees a second Trump loss as essential.
Then I think that the Republicans will start coming back to what they were because they don't have that radical right side. They don't have the craziness and the instability. Bucks County is a bit more away from the city, more rural and more Republican, yet not as deep and reliably read as just a few years ago. This neighborhood is becoming a lot like the Philadelphia suburbs.
This is a primarily Republican-leaning borough, always has been. But when it comes to national elections, I do see more and more support for Democratic candidates. Attorney Joe London switched her registration to independent after voting for Haley in the GOP primary. London was asked to join the local political program not long after our first visit five months ago.
Back then, she told us she would write in a conservative because she viewed President Biden as too old. Later, she told us she viewed Vice President Harris as too liberal and untested. But then she watched the Harris Trump debate. The last straw was what he said about the Ukraine, where he said that we have to have a negotiated settlement.
For someone who claims to be a conservative to say that was, in my opinion, outrageous. It's a peaceman. So London is now voting Harris, voting Democrat for president for the first time because she believes Trump must lose because she gets the battleground state math. I needed to vote against allowing him to become president again.
I don't want it on my conscience that I contributed in some way to that. Sometimes you have to say, American first, conservative second, Republican third. Media is in Delaware County, just outside Philly, reliably blue now. But still, a test of whether Harris can match or exceed Biden's 2020 math.
It's also a big test for Trump. He lost the Philly suburbs in 2016, but narrowly one statewide. But he lost these suburbs by a bit more in 2020. And he narrowly lost Pennsylvania.
We're getting to the end here. Have you met your mind? No. Zitya Sabatini is another never-trumper, another Haley primary voter, another Republican who won't vote for him but isn't sure about her.
Finish the sentence. I'm Madam Vice President. If you want my vote here in the very important Philadelphia suburbs, you need to do. You need to answer questions on point.
You need to provide more details about your economic plan. You need to provide more details about your vision also for this country. I'm, you know, I'm a bottom-line person. I want details.
Sabatini is mad at local Democrats she sees as tax and spend happy. Is she going to pay the price for that? She may. She may.
She does see an upside for Harris over Trump. I believe she's a person of character. I have no qualms about that. I really do.
I think she's an upstanding individual. It's just that I really don't know what to expect from her if she is indeed elected. Sabatini meditates frequently to clear her mind and reduce stress. Deep inhalations and long exhalations.
She predicts a final-day decision to either vote for Harris or to write in Haley. A vote to help score the suburbs and settle the biggest of the battlegrounds. It turns back with us. Where does each candidate have to perform well in Pennsylvania?
It's a fascinating and it's a complicated state. Let me just pop it up. In 2020, Joe Biden wins by 81,000 votes. You go back to 2016 and he looks at the margin Donald Trump wins by just 44,000 votes.
Let's go back to 2020 and look at it. Where we were there? About 40% of the vote is right there inside that line. The bulk of that is more closely in here.
The city of Philadelphia, the three-collar counties around it, then you have Berks County, where Joe London was right there. About 40% of the vote right down here. That's why the suburbs are absolutely critical. Donald Trump did not win these suburbs in 2016, but the margins were closer with Hillary Clinton.
It's a big deal to each of those suburbs in 2020 and Joe Biden won the state. So that's where you look for most of it. A couple of swing counties as well. You see all that red.
Trump's going to run it up in the world. We know that. It's going to come down to who wins the suburbs. All right, John King, thanks very much.
Coming up next, a report from Stormer Average, North Carolina on those still missing. It's been nearly a month since Hurricane Helene wrecked Western North Carolina. According to a recent state report, 95 people are confirmed that at least 26 people are still unaccounted for. Gary Tuckman went to Western North Carolina to speak with a woman whose family came to the state for a better life until it was upended by Hurricane Helene.
Hurricane Helene demolished the North Carolina home of Anna Weebie, her husband and two sons. So it's what happened here about a mile away on this now empty lot that has shattered her. I'm trying to stay strong for my family because I have to. Anna moved to the United States from Ukraine 25 years ago seeking better opportunities.
But two years ago, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, her mother, Tatiana, her sister, Anastasia, Anastasia's husband, Amitro, and their 13-year-old, Sanyaf Henny all fled war toward Ukraine and settled here in what was peaceful and quiet in Yancy County, North Carolina in this home, a 10-minute walk away from Anna and her family, a home which no longer exists on the empty lot. All four were home as Hurricane Helene ravaged Western North Carolina. They were swept away. The bodies, a wife and husband, found about two weeks later, miles away from where the house was.
Son and grandmother are still missing to this day. For Anna, her husband, Ryan, and their sons, it doesn't feel real. I'll just still in disbelief and heartbroken and still thinking maybe I will wake up from this dream and everything will be back how it was. This video was shot by Anna's husband as the nearby river started rapidly rising.
They realized they needed to evacuate, but by then cell phones and electricity were no longer working. All four of them frantically trying to get to the home of their relatives. Trees are down and we had to walk half way to get through. Anna's home is gone, going through the woods and we get down to the location of where it was and it was just hundreds of yards wide of water.
Their house was gone. Anna knows her missing mother and nephew are presumed dead, but... I still have hope just because unless I've been proven wrong, I will still be hoping that miracle could happen. Maybe my nephew still survives somewhere and we just don't know where he is.
The South Tull River is now its tranquil self, but for this family its fury on September 27th was impossible to comprehend and is now impossible to ever forget. Anna and Ryan hope to build a new home close by, but on higher ground. Please tell me what you would tell your sister and your mother right now if you could talk to them. I would tell them how much I loved them and if I would go back I would change it so none of this we would go through and we would be still all together.
They know how much you loved them. I think they do. Anderson and Anna and her family are now staying at Ryan's mother's house about a half mile away. It's a small home, it's not an optimal situation.
The power has been out ever since the hurricane. Meanwhile, they extended family and said, I'll go funding page for the Wheaties. Their expenses will be huge in the months to come. Not only do they want to build a new home, they are taking care of the arrangements of their loved ones so fast away.
Anderson. Thank you. And programming no scene will be live all night with the latest in our breaking news. Israel's military confirmed strikes on Iran retaliation for running strikes on Israel more than three weeks ago.
That's it for us. The news continues. I'll see you on Monday at the source when Caitlin Collins starts now. Have a good weekend.
From the descendants of history makers involved in the Louisiana Purchase to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, discover the untold stories of American expansion in the CNN original series This Land, premiering June 7 on CNN. Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. On my podcast, all there is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities. As Ken Burns said on an earlier podcast, the half life of grief is endless.
Mariska Hargate knows that very well. Jane Mansfield was killed in a car crash in 1967. Mariska was in the car with her. After decades spent coming to terms with her past and wanting to learn more about the mother, she doesn't remember.
Mariska has made a remarkable documentary called My Mom Jane. Our vulnerability is our greatest strength and our greatest connector. And so in telling the story, I don't feel vulnerable. I feel free.
We all have a story and you never know what somebody else carries. Talking grief, building community. That's what the podcast is all about. This is all there is.
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