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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Trump On Arlington Cemetery Controversy: "There Was No Conflict, There Was No Fight"; Possibility That The Road To The White House Runs Through Deep Red Nebraska; Remembering Hersh Goldberg- Polin, American-Israeli Hostage, Whose Body Was Recovered In Gaza This Weekend With Five Others; Ukraine: At Least 51 Killed And 200-Plus Wounded After Russian Strike On Military Educational Facility In Ukraine. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired September 03, 2024 - 20:00   ET

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

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Cuomo did exactly just that during a public briefing. He also said in a tweet that the Chinese government had helped facilitate a donation of a thousand ventilators and he thanked the Chinese government for doing that.

Erin, also, in this indictment, there are some pretty shocking allegations about the perks that they collected millions of dollars, tickets to special the events, and even a special delivery of a specialty duck. That duck was prepared by the chef of a Chinese government agent and delivered to her parents' home -- Erin.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: It is all really incredible and to think about how many years, again, in New York, think about the New York Stock Exchange in New York City.

Thanks so much to all of you for joining us. "AC360" starts now.

[20:00:48]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Tonight on 360, the race is now a race.

How the post-Labor Day sprint for the White House got off to a start. And breaking news, that a top Trump volunteer was just barred from the campaign for saying a key battleground state is no longer a battleground state.

Also tonight, why the entire race could end up like this, tied at 269 electoral votes apiece and how one district in one state might unlock it.

Also tonight, as protests continue in Israel after the execution of six Israeli hostages in Gaza, we look at the long brave efforts and Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg bring their son Hersh, and all the hostages in Gaza home.

Good evening.

Thanks for joining us.

We begin tonight with breaking news. The Trump campaign tonight flatly denying report that it is

effectively writing off the state of New Hampshire. Word came in an e- mail from a top campaign volunteer. Now, a former top volunteer.

In it, Tom Mountain writes that the campaign has "determined that New Hampshire is no longer a battleground state". He went on to say, "this means the campaign is suspending all resources, staffers, supplies, speakers, et cetera, to New Hampshire".

A Trump campaign spokesperson tells CNN what he said is not true. We'll have more on this shortly. It's happening 63 days until the election and just seven days until the first and so far only debate the two sides have actually agreed to, which takes place in Philadelphia.

And in a sign of how much Pennsylvania matters this time, CNN has learned that Vice President Harris will be preparing for that debate in Pittsburgh, arriving on Thursday and staying five days there until Tuesday before traveling to Philadelphia for the event itself.

She was just in Pittsburgh yesterday, reminding voters that ballot start going out in two weeks and saying this when some of the crowd started yelling that the former president was going to jail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CROWD CHANTING "GO TO JAIL")

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The courts will handle that. We'll handle November. Let the courts handle their --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well on that note, two major legal developments for the former president, his lawyers in a court filing late today signaled the he'll be pleading not guilty to the revised election interference indictment that Special Counsel Jack Smith secured last week.

And a Federal District Judge also late today, denied the former president's request to move his hush-money case, which ended in 34 felony convictions to federal court.

The judge finding there is nothing in the Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling that altered his view that the payments were private and official acts.

Mr. Trump is also focused heavily on Pennsylvania. He'll be there for a televised town hall tomorrow with Fox's Sean Hannity, who aired a conversation with him today on his radio show.

In it, he talked again about his trip to Arlington National Cemetery last week with the parents of troops killed in the pullout from Afghanistan. During the visit, which he made into a campaign video, the Army says his people were made aware of federal laws against that, and that the cemetery worker who reminded them was "abruptly pushed aside". Here's what the former president said about it today to Sean Hannity.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And everything was good and I left and we said goodbye to everybody. And it was love, love.

There was no conflict, there was no fight. There was no anything. And I get home that night and I get like a call that, from one of the people that there's press. "Sir, there's a story that, your people got into a tremendous fight with people representing the cemetery".

It was totally false. I get enough publicity, believe me. I'd like to get less publicity.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

COOPER: But, to be clear, the former president was there at the request of family members. And as he has mentioned many times, some are upset at the Biden administration both for how the Afghan pullout was handled and how they personally were treated by the White House in the wake of at all.

None of that changes the fact that Donald Trump is saying that the United States Army is lying, or that he has a long record of bad mouthing serving and retired officers. Some of whom he referred to inaccurately as my generals.

And others according to one of those generals, former chief-of-staff, John Kelly, as suckers and losers. Now, some of whom like the late Senator John McCain, endured years of torture in a North Vietnamese prison, even turning down his captors offered to release him early because his father was a Navy admiral at the time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He hit me, he's not a war hero. He is a war hero -- he is a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, okay, I hate to tell you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:05:05]

COOPER: Today on "The Lead," CNN's Jake Tapper spoke to John McCain's son, Jim, who is a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and calls what happened a violation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM MCCAIN, SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN'S SON: There's three generations of McCain's that are buried there. It's a violation because these rules are set in place. The people who are buried there don't have an opinion. The point of Arlington Cemetery is to go and show respect for the men

and women who have given their lives for this country. When you make it political, you take away the respect act of the people who are there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Jim McCain recently became registered Democrat and now says he's voting for Kamala Harris.

Joining us now, CNN political commentators, David Urban, Kate Bedingfield, also, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, CNN political analyst and White House correspondent for "The New York Times".

So David, what do you make of this idea that New Hampshire may no longer be in play for the Trump campaign. That campaign saying is not true, multiple Republican operatives in the state told CNN that this volunteer's assessment is accurate.

DAVID URBAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Anderson, I know better than to second guess anybody what's going on in that state other than Pennsylvania.

My world is solely focused on the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And if the campaign says New Hampshire's in play, I believe it's in play.

COOPER: Kate, how aggressive do you think the Harris campaign should be in New Hampshire?

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, I think ultimately New Hampshire is a state that is going to come home and vote blue, I think.

But, you know, I think what we're seeing here is a reflection of the fact that the Trump -- the map for Trump, the path for Trump have dramatically shrunk since Kamala Harris went to the top of the ticket.

Now, that does not mean that Kamala Harris has the election in the bag. That doesn't mean I'm even saying she has New Hampshire in the bag, but it is demonstrably true as you look at where the campaigns are spending. You see that Harris clearly has potential path through the Rust Belt and also through the Sun Belt.

Trump, it's looking less -- like he has fewer and fewer options. So, I think for the campaign -- for the Harris campaign, has an opportunity to be on offense, it is an opportunity to force the Trump campaign to spend in places where they might not otherwise want to spend, places like North Carolina where the Trump campaign is being forced to ramp up their spending because they're seeing Harris making moves there.

So, I think what Harris campaign is doing overall is putting in place an aggressive strategy to try to put the Trump campaign on the defensive in some of these states that, you know, just six weeks ago, they felt really confident they were going to be able to win.

COOPER: Zolan, does it surprise you that the former president is still talking about what happened at Arlington, picking -- essentially picking a fight with the Army now, I mean, is that going to win him new voters?

ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I guess there's two questions there. Does it surprise me? Not necessarily, right. I mean, this is sort of groundhog day in a sense. We often hear from Republican strategists, allies of the former president, that they want the Trump campaign and the former president to focus his messaging on the political vulnerabilities of the Biden administration, whether that be the economy, whether that be immigration or even in this case with this visit the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

And often, that discipline is not there. The focus on that messaging does not stay, but you see it devolve into personal attacks or distractions which seem to occur with this case.

Look, the fact is this statement that he made on Sean Hannity, does undermine the initial statements that his campaign made in the wake of this evidently clash with this official in Arlington Cemetery.

Right after that event, his campaign said that they were going to release footage showing the physical blocking here, criticized that employee at the national cemetery.

That doesn't align with the comments that we heard from that clip released from Hannity today.

COOPER: Yes. I mean, they said the person is mentally unstable. David, I mean, does it make sense to you that he would still be out there talking about this? I mean, is there something that he gets out of it?

URBAN: No, look, Anderson, here's what I -- the only thing to echo what Zolan said. You know, what I find amazing is that we're talking about this kind of shuffled back-and-forth between staffers rather than the issue -- the larger issue of how these young men and women got killed or why they got killed in the first place?

The disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the fact that the current Vice President United States, Kamala Harris, has been asked for three- and-a-half years to meet with these family members by their family members themselves, and that she's denied to meet with them.

And so, the fact that --

COOPER: Yes, but David, that's not what your candidate -- that's not what Donald Trump is talking about, I mean, he's talking about the campaign video that was put out, I mean, he doesn't publicity when clearly they didn't want to get this thing out there.

URBAN: Well you know, Anderson, the families asked, I've watched the videos now. The families asked for the cameras to be there so they can memorialize this. I understand that Arlington does have a policy, the Army does have a policy, and Kate and I and, Anderson, you've seen that presidential -- when the president is walking, there are people 30 yards in front of the president and behind the president. I am sure that what he said is true. He did not see any of this. He probably wasn't aware that there was a shuffle if there was when

that took place, he came and went without notice. I'm certain of it and I'm sure the family members didn't know either.

[20:10:31]

COOPER: And yet Kate, I mean, they did put out a campaign video of it with, you know, it's not just pictures, it was texts on top of it.

You now have the active duty son of late Republican Senator John McCain speaking out against the former president's actions at Arlington, endorsing Harris, I mean do you think that an endorsement like that, Kate, actually has any impact on Independent voters?

BEDINGFIELD: Well, I think what it does is remind people of the long history that Donald Trump has of demeaning people who served obviously very personally, as we heard in the sound bite, the top of the show demeaning his father in a really brutal way after he served as a prisoner of war on behalf of this country in uniform.

So, I think what it does is it reminds people that Donald Trump is an unpalatable option. It reminds the Independent voters, you know, I don't like the way this man speaks of people who have both given the ultimate sacrifice for this country and also made the sacrifice of putting on the uniform, deploying, serving.

Americans are proud of their military and they're proud of veterans. And the idea that were going to reelect a president who says these kinds of things. I think that is a really off-putting thing for Independent voters.

I think what John McCain's son did today was quite brave and courageous. And yes, I do think it matters because it helps paint a picture of somebody that most Americans would say. That's not the way I want somebody who is serving in the Oval Office to talk about people who served this country in uniform.

COOPER: Zolan, the former present, released a new video today, seeking to tie Vice President Harris to President Joe Biden's record to get in the White House. Do you think -- how much do you think President Biden is actually going to be used by the Harris campaign, moving forward?

KANNO-YOUNGS: We're about to see a good sort of sample size of that this week. The president is scheduled to travel for some of the visits, not necessarily next to the vice president, but he's hitting the campaign trail.

He's getting back there and, you know, there's an interesting balance that we'll be watching here.

When it comes to policy and Vice President Harris' policy platform, right? She does represent incumbency. She was part of this White House and we have not seen much evidence that she's going to break obviously from the president that she served with.

However,, you are starting to see some differences in tone. And let's be honest, in a campaign, tone matters. An emphasis on trying to lower consumer prices, which has been a concern for voters consistently in the past couple of years.

An emphasis not so much just on talking about job growth and manufacturing, but to address the cost of living that Americans are feeling, that's stuff that I would hear from sort of even allies of the White House Democratic groups that they wanted messaging to focus on that housing costs as well.

So, I'm curious to see though how much of this is exclusively, even a slight change in tone, but still the same policy platform or will we actually see breaks. Thus far, I don't think we are seeing that because once again, for as much as some are framing, the vice president as a change candidate.

And I understand that in some ways, this is also somebody that's been a part of the White House in the past three years. So, it'll be interesting to see that balance.

COOPER: David, you talked on this program about things you have said to the former president about policy and sticking to policy?

Last week, he re-tweeted, he reposted a vulgar post, Truth Social post about Vice President Harris and Hillary Clinton, you know, talked about a sex act. It was incredibly demeaning for women. It was misogynistic, and all sorts of things.

This is how we addressed that post on a podcast today. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I do a lot of re-posting, the ones you get in trouble with are the reposts because you find down deep they're in some group that you're not supposed to be re-posting. You don't even know if those groups are good, bad, or indifferent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: So I mean, he's literally said this before about it's just a repost, I didn't post it, it's a repost and yet he continues to do it even though acknowledges he has no idea who these people are and he didn't address the incredibly demeaning text of this.

You don't have to dig deep to see how offensive and misogynistic it is.

URBAN: Anderson. I'm going to -- hopefully, he's going to start reposting some of my tweets where I talk about the issues, right? About fracking, about the economy.

COOPER: I don't think he's going to do that, David.

BEDINGFIELD: Keep dreaming, David. ] COOPER: David always can do it.

BEDINGFIELD: David, you are --

[20:15:06]

URBAN: Listen, I'm going to ask him, because I think -- listen, I'm going to ask him to repost Zolan, I like what Zolan was just saying.

You know, Kamala Harris is trying to run as a changed candidate but she can't run as a changed candidate because she's trying to change from the administration that she's a part of, so I'm going to send him some of Zolan's tweets and ask him to retweet some of those, right. I think he's spot on.

Listen, whether Joe Biden is going to campaign with Kamala Harris is something we're going to have to wait and see because I just heard James Carville a little bit earlier today saying his its advice is, saw Joe Biden off, cut him away, float free, be a part of this.

You cannot -- if you're tied to Joe Biden, she's going to sink like an anchor. He's going to be like an anchor around her because the Biden- Harris administration is incredibly unpopular.

And so, her only shot is to change and to run as an independent candidate. So I'm going to hope Donald Trump will re-tweet my tweets and Zolan's, not Kate's.

COOPER: All right. We'll see --

URBAN: We'll see how it works.

COOPER: We'll check in tomorrow. We have to take a short break coming up next.

Could a single electoral vote in Nebraska determine who wins the White House. It is the stuff of political fiction, but it has actually the potential to becoming reality. Jeff Zeleny explains how.

Plus, as protesters in Israel continued to demand a ceasefire deal, we remember the six hostages whose bodies were recovered in an underground tunnel in Gaza this weekend, including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:20:12]

COOPER: Given all the focus on Pennsylvania by candidates, campaign reporters, and certainly our panel members.

Tonight, there's also the possibility that the road to the White House runs through deep Red Nebraska. That's because Nebraska divides up its electoral votes between its deep-red areas and one that's not only up for grabs, but could also break and potential electoral college tie.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny explains

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These

blue dots are popping up on lawns across Omaha. Signs of a campaign where not only every vote counts, but where every electoral vote is critical.

JASON BROWN, NEBRASKA DEMOCRATIC VOTER: We debated back-and-forth, and we went for it and said, well, I think history is kind of cool and it turned out to be a huge win because --

RUTH HUEBNER-BROWN, NEBRASKA DEMOCRATIC VOTER: -- because it's starting a conversation.

J. BROWN: Exactly. We had no idea that conversations would go.

R. BROWN: Well, what's the blue dots, and that's the important part because as soon as you start the conversation, you have a full conversation.

ZELENY (voice over): Ruth Huebner-Brown and her husband, Jason, are suddenly having more conversations about the blue dot. Symbolizing a Democratic island in a sea of Nebraska Red, and the states unique way of dividing electoral votes.

J. BROWN: It's plausible that we could have a tie. And a whole notion of oh, my vote doesn't matter, kind of is really tossed out the window because this could be it. This could be the deciding factor.

ZELENY (voice over): For all of the pathways for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump to reach the White House. The race for 270 electoral votes could come down to Nebraska's sprawling second district.

And here's why -- if Harris carries the three blue wall battleground states and Trump wins the swing states across the Sun Belt, a single electoral vote surrounding Omaha could keep the race from becoming a 269 to 269 tie, decided by the House of Representatives.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D) VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, hello Nebraska.

ZELENY (voice over): A not so secret weapon for Democrats could be Tim Walz, who was born and raised here before moving two states away to Minnesota.

Tony Vargas believes the Harris-Walz ticket will also help Democrats win control of Congress. Starting with his race here, which is among the country's most competitive.

TONY VARGAS, (D) NEBRASKA STATE SENATOR: We have suburban, we have rural, we have urban, we have all different walks of life, all different races, ethnicities, socioeconomic but really this is a truly independent place.

ZELENY (voice over): Republican Congressman Don Bacon has thrived and survived politically because of that independent streak of the district. Trump won here in 2016, but lost in 2020.

Bacon said Trump runs the risk of losing again if he doesn't focus on inflation and immigration.

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): When you talk about DEI, race, coming up with nicknames,, that doesn't play well in this district. They want to talk about the issues. This is an issue district.

ZELENY (voice over): For months, Trump and his allies have sought to change Nebraska's election law and award all electoral votes to the statewide winner rather than by congressional district. A process shared only by Maine.

TRUMP: You better get me Omaha, do you understand that?

ZELENY (voice over): For now, Republicans are working to defeat Harris here in a district that extends through Omaha's Western suburbs to rural towns like Wahoo, where Stephen and Sonya Peetz are ready for change.

STEPHEN PEETZ, NEBRASKA REPUBLICAN VOTER: I would like just to see some hope. I don't see it now.

ZELENY (on camera): Which of those candidates do think gets the closest to bringing you hope?

S. PEETZ: I would say Trump.

SONYA PEETZ, NEBRASKA REPUBLICAN VOTER:, Absolutely Trump. I have a feeling that he is a person who sticks to his word. He means what he says.

ZELENY (voice over): They question what Harris stands for and are not sold on Walz no matter where he grew up. Back in the Dundee neighborhood of Omaha, the blue dots are in such high demand, Jason Brown ran out of spray paint.

Orders are stacking up he said, and not only from Democrats, but from Independents who may decide the election.

J. BROWN: It doesn't mean, oh, my God, I become a Democrat. No, you're voting for what you feel is right for the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: So in short, the blue wall needs the blue dot right here in Omaha. That's how the math works out. Of course both sides, the Harris campaign and the Trump campaign have many paths to victory.

But for all the talk about Pennsylvania, and Michigan, and Wisconsin, those are the most likely paths. But again, that is one vote short of the 270 needed. That's why so much money, time and attention is being spent right here in Nebraska on that blue dot, Anderson.

Nine weeks from tonight on election night, if our eyes are on Nebraska, we'll know this race it is incredibly still tight.

COOPER: Yes, that would be incredible. Jeff Zeleny, thank you.

John King has a closer look at this.

John, how could the election play out in Nebraska?

JOHN KING, CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Incredible is the right word, mythical is another word that gets used. Just look, let's put up Anderson. We are having some technical issues here, so I can't do this with my hands tonight.

But if you look at the map right there, that's what Jeff was just talking about. If Kamala Harris wins the blue wall states, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin wins all the other states that we view as likely are solid Democrat.

[20:25:00]

Donald Trump wins the Sun Belt states in that scenario, you see Georgia, you see Arizona, and you see even Nevada, right?

Then if Nebraska is all red, you see that little white on the top corner there. That's that Congressional District, Nebraska 2, if Donald Trump won that and the map played it like that you're a 269 and 269. It gets thrown to the House of Representatives.

We talk about this every four years. We've never had to deal with it, but in a close race like this, it's one of those possibilities. You have to study for it that's why Jeff Zeleny gets a free steak in Omaha.

COOPER: We talked about the reporting earlier about the Trump campaign in New Hampshire. How much does New Hampshire matter?

KING: Well, New Hampshire matters less now. Back remember, after the debate, the Trump campaign thought a lot more states were going to be in play if Joe Biden stayed as the candidate.

And so, they were looking at making a run at New Hampshire. They were looking to make a run at Virginia. They thought New Mexico might be in play.

Democrats were saying even Colorado might come back into play. It was the oh, my God moment for the Democrats but the truth is, this volunteer got told, you are no longer welcome, we are speaking the truth because he told the truth he's no longer welcome in the Trump campaign because they're not spending any money on television there.

Yes, Donald Trump does have a hardcore group of supporters in New Hampshire who work very hard and they are very passionate, but New Hampshire has trended away.

Hillary Clinton won it narrowly. Biden won it by more. Here's how you can tell, is Donald Trump spending any money in the Boston TV markets to influence New Hampshire? The answer is no. We'll see if he does. I doubt it.

COOPER: So the elections now, nine weeks away, what are you personally watching for? KING: Nine weeks away from tonight, we count votes, you ready? Get

your espresso machines ready everybody. So, let's look at some different dynamics. One is, where is Harris today compared to Biden? Let's look at the gender gap.

Let's look among women voters, female voters, look right there. Harris, with a 13 point advantage over Trump right now, that's one poll, the ABC-IPSOS poll last week.

Look at 2020. That's Joe Biden on the ballot. He had a slightly bigger advantage. If you're in the Harris campaign, you want to get to where that Biden number was. If you look to where Harris is right now, she's exactly the same as Hillary Clinton was. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but lost in the electoral college.

So, if you're Kamala Harris, you're looking at that number, you're saying you've made improvement, but you want to get to where Biden was in 2020. So, that is a source of she's ahead, but she needs more there.

And let's flip it now and look at male voters. This is where she's actually in a somewhat better shape. If you look at the numbers among male voters here, she's at 46 percent again, just one poll. So don't overinvest in this, but that's pretty close. A five-point split Trump advantage among men.

Look at Biden in 2020 and look at Hillary Clinton even worse in 2016. So, on gender issues, Harris is in good shape. She'd liked to be in stronger shape with female voters.

COOPER: John King, appreciate it, thanks very much.

Coming up, protest and heartbreak after six October 7th hostages were found murdered in a tunnel in Gaza over the weekend, including an American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin. His story, plus a conversation with the parents of another young American-Israeli still held hostage right now when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:31:52]

COOPER: Heartbreaking news this weekend that IDF forces recovered the bodies of six hostages, including 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin. They'd all been murdered in a tunnel in Gaza. His story became one of the most well-known, in part, because of the tireless efforts of his two parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, to advocate for their son, Hersh, and all the other hostages.

We warn you, some of the video you're about to see is graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Five days after the October 7th massacre at the Nova Music Festival site, an Israeli soldier showed me a disturbing video of a young Israeli man with his left hand blown off, being kidnapped, loaded into a pickup truck. I didn't know who he was, but four days later, by coincidence, I interviewed Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg for the first time on CNN.

RACHEL GOLDBERG, MOTHER OF HERSH GOLDBERG-POLIN: When I turned on my phone, which I don't normally use on the Jewish Sabbath, that's when I saw two texts pop up at 8:10, 8:11 in the morning. The first one said, "I love you." And the second one said, "I'm sorry." And immediately, I knew something horrible must have been happening or was about to happen.

COOPER (voice-over): I didn't know they were the parents of the young man I'd seen in that video until Jon said this during our interview.

JON POLIN, MOTHER OF HERSH GOLDBERG-POLIN: And we know from three eyewitness accounts of survivors that basically there were at least 11 grenades thrown into the bomb shelter. Our son, by all accounts of the witnesses, had his left arm blown off at some point during the attack.

COOPER (voice-over): That's when I realized I'd seen their son and they had no idea the vide of him being taken hostage existed. I waited until the interview was over and called them and then sent the video I had. And met with them a week.

POLIN: First of all, it's a crazy sequence of events that we talk to you through a computer screen and then get a phone call from you saying, I have a video of your son.

COOPER: I didn't want to say on live television.

POLIN: Of course.

GOLDBERG: Which we so appreciated --

POLIN: Of course.

GOLDBERG: -- the way everything has unfolded, the gentleness that you used, because at the end of the day, you're a journalist, and journalists want a story. And that could have been dealt with in many other ways that were not kind and gentle.

POLIN: Seeing that video, in general, gave us a dose of optimism.

COOPER: How are you able to get through each day?

GOLDBERG: I personally feel like we have to keep running to the end of the earth to save him. And we have to try to go believing that somehow he got treatment and he's there.

COOPER (voice-over): They showed me Hersh's room, which Rachel would visit to feel close to him.

GOLDBERG: We have a porch that's facing south. And I went out Friday night and I was like screaming to him, and hoping. Because Friday night, you know, we bless our children traditionally. In Jewish homes, you bless your children on Friday night. So I was screaming. It's a traditional blessing from the Bible. [20:35:04]

COOPER: What does the blessing say?

GOLDBERG: It says, May God bless you and keep you. May God's face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May God's countenance be lifted up to -- lifted up toward you and give you peace.

COOPER (voice-over): In the weeks after Rachel and Jon worked tirelessly to raise awareness about Hersh and the other hostages --

COOPER: Rachel, what -- you're wearing a tag that says 26. Can we tell people what that is?

GOLDBERG: Well, this morning I realized, you know what, it's day 26 and I don't know if anyone is really counting. I don't know how many people really care every single day until these people come home, I'm going to be wearing what day it is. So this is my new fashion statement.

COOPER (voice-over): The weeks turned into months. This was them in April.

GOLDBERG: We're living on another planet, so I don't know that we comprehend time the way that you do or normal people. We feel that everybody has failed. Our leaders, all of them, have failed to make this suffering on all sides stop. We feel that we, as parents, have failed. Because as a parent, your job is to keep your children safe.

COOPER (voice-over): Then suddenly, a few weeks later, Hamas released this hostage video of Hersh. It was the first proof his parents had he was alive.

GOLDBERG: We were sobbing. Tears and emotional. Overwhelmed feelings were just abounding. We weren't even listening to what he was saying, just hearing his voice and seeing him moving and that he was alive.

COOPER (voice-over): Then in late June, another video was released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. This one taken on October 7th, moments after the first video I'd sent them and then --

COOPER: You had so much concern about, you know, whether Hersh had made it out just from his injury alone, you see a tourniquet being put on at later on in the video, that -- I mean, do you think that probably saved his life?

GOLDBERG: Well, I'm happy that, for whatever reasons, that he was obviously treated, because as we all know, on day 201, we had a video released that shows Hersh with a stump where that jagged bone had been. But we know from day 201, thank God, that he is alive.

COOPER (voice-over): 129 days later, that hope became heartbreak. On day 330, Hersh Goldberg-Polin's body was found with five other hostages, Alexander Lobanov, Carmel Gat, Almog Sarusi, Eden Yerushalmi and Ori Danino. Israel says they were executed in a tunnel in Gaza, shot to death at close range. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: According to the Israeli Prime Minister's office, there are believed to be about 101 hostages still remaining in Gaza. 35 are believed to be dead.

A short time ago, I spoke with Orna and Ronen Neutra, whose son, Omer, is another Israeli-American still being held captive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Orna, Ronen, thank you for talking with me today. I know you consider Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin family. How are you dealing with what's happened?

ORNA NEUTRA, MOTHER OF AN ISRAELI-AMERICAN HOSTAGE IN GAZA: We're completely devastated, Anderson. This shouldn't have happened. Hersh was supposed to come out in the first phase of a deal that's been on the table for a long time now, and it's just completely outrageous and devastating that this is what happened at the (INAUDIBLE).

RONEN NEUTRA, MOTHER OF AN ISRAELI-AMERICAN HOSTAGE IN GAZA: Hersh managed to survive 11 most terrible months with the monsters of Hamas in Gaza. And yet, was murdered and executed a couple of days ago in the most brutal way. It's just heartbreaking.

COOPER: Rachel yesterday at the funeral said that she hopes that Hersh's death will be what she called a turning point in this horrible situation. And Jon said, maybe, just maybe, your death, meaning Hersh's death, is the stone, the fuel that will bring home the remaining 101 hostages. Do you think that's possible? Do you feel like something may be different now for Omer and the others?

O. NEUTRA: You know, it's not a clear path. We're seeing still many challenges in the region.

[20:40:05]

We're seeing a prime minister that is not willing to make the compromises needed to reach a deal to bring our son and the other hostages back.

R. NEUTRA: We sure see the Israeli public pouring in big numbers into the streets and telling the Israeli government that this event of the six hostages that were murdered few days back, it's just unacceptable that this will continue. And we're just hoping that this outpour, outrage, that we see in Israel is going to affect the government and Bibi Netanyahu himself to reach that so desired deal and get the hostages back.

As we know, this is urgent. And among them, our 22-year-old son.

COOPER: Who, by the way, turns 23 on October 14th. And this will be his second birthday being held hostage.

R. NEUTRA: Very true. O. NEUTRA: It's very true. So we can't even think about that.

R. NEUTRA: No, we can't think that far. And we really hope that a deal that the U.S. government is working so hard with the partners in the region will be cut between Israel and Hamas. And the two leaders, Hamas leader and the Israeli government must reach that deal or else we won't see our deal once coming back.

COOPER: Do you have faith --

R. NEUTRA: It's unthinkable.

COOPER: -- in the Prime Minister, in Netanyahu? He asked for forgiveness that the six murdered hostages weren't brought back alive. He also said Hamas will pay a heavy price for this. Do you think he has the hostages' front and center in his priorities?

O. NEUTRA: We don't.

R. NEUTRA: Unfortunately not. We met him in the White House with President Biden. We looked him in the eyes and unfortunately our feeling is that he has his own political future ahead of him rather than the safety of our son.

O. NEUTRA: It's not just our son. I don't believe that he has the interest of the Israeli people as his top priority. Anyone, you know, that's looking at this can see that Israelis need the hostages to come home for them to be able to recover from this, to move forward.

But the first step would be to bring the hostages back, to make the families whole, to bring back some sense of security, right? This was a breach between the Israeli government and its people.

COOPER: As you know, in a statement on Monday, Hamas has said that its terrorists have been given new instructions, as they said, on how to deal with hostages if the IDF approaches and they released an illustrated poster of a terrorist with a gun standing behind a hostage. How do you remain -- I mean, how do you hold on to hope? How do you get through each day?

O. NEUTRA: Anderson, we really have no choice. You know, the thought of our son sitting there like these young people that were just murdered waiting to be saved, it's what's driving us. And we wake up every morning and we stay laser focused. We have no choice. We have to bring them back. We have to bring him back.

COOPER: Orna and Ronen, thank you so much for your time.

O. NEUTRA: Thank you, Anderson.

R. NEUTRA: Thank you. We appreciate it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Still ahead, a report from Ukraine, which is seeing some of the deadliest Russian strikes of the war. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:47:48]

COOPER: New Russian airstrikes on Ukraine tonight. Region officials in the northeastern part of the country reporting a university campus was hit. It follows a strike that killed at least 51 people and wounded hundreds more at a military academy.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen has the latest from inside Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Parts of the military educational facility almost completely destroyed. Dozens killed here, the Ukrainians say, when two Russian ballistic missiles struck, leaving those on the ground with no time to get to bomb shelters.

More than 200 were also wounded and a nearby hospital damaged. Ukraine's president irate.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The Russian scum will undoubtedly be held accountable for this strike. And once again, we urge everyone in the world who has the power to stop this terror. Air defense systems and missiles are needed in Ukraine. Not in a warehouse somewhere. Long range strikes that can defend against Russian terror are needed now, not sometime later.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Russia's been accelerating its aerial bombardment of Ukraine's cities and infrastructure. A massive barrage aiming for the capital Kyiv early Monday, just as children were gearing up for the first day of school after summer break. One of the places damaged, a management college.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We got up and it had already started to boom. We ran out into the yard near the dormitory. We heard something flying and something being shot down.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): On Sunday, more than 40 people injured after Russian airstrikes on the northeastern city of Kharkiv. Responders desperately trying to save the victims.

There's an ambulance on the other side, the photographer says. We won't be able to carry him there, she answers.

While Ukraine's air defenses often take down Russian missiles, the consequences can be devastating when they don't. The strikes on Poltava were one of the deadliest single attacks since the start of the war.

We were on hand when a ballistic missile annihilated a funeral wake in eastern Ukraine in October of last year, killing 59 people. And 46 were killed in Dnipro in January 2023 when a heavy cruise missile blew a giant hole into an apartment block.

[20:50:06]

PLEITGEN: The Ukrainians say the reason why the damage here is so extensive is that this building was hit with a cruise missile called the Kh-22, that's designed to destroy aircraft carrier strike groups, and obviously what had hit the building, it completely annihilated it burying dozens of people underneath.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Now yet another mass casualty strike, leaving Ukraine's leadership angry and vowing revenge.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN (on-camera): So you can see, Anderson, this country really in shock after what happened at that military educational facility. And the Ukrainians are saying that the type of cruise missiles that were used by the Russians today extremely difficult to take down.

And they say they need more of the U.S. supplied Patriot surface to air missile systems because they're among the only ones that can take such missiles down. The Ukrainians are also saying they'd like to be able to hit the potential launch site of such missiles, but they need permission from the U.S. to strike deeper into Russian territory using some of those longer distance U.S. provided weapons.

However, the Ukrainians are also acknowledging that's something must have gone wrong with operational security, and they say they've launched an investigation to see how the security of personnel at such facilities can be approved. Anderson?

COOPER: Fred Pleitgen, thanks very much.

Up next, politics then and now, with about two months ago, what's shaping up to be heated 2024 presidential election. CNN's Dana Bash takes a deep dive into one of the most contentious and little known contests in our history in her new book, "America's Deadliest Election". She joins me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:55:41]

COOPER: ?I love learning about something in American history that's long, largely forgotten, and my colleague Dana Bash has written a new book about a governor's race in Louisiana in the decade after the Civil War, which she calls "America's Deadliest Election." I'd never heard of it, and it's an incredible story that draws parallels to the political climate today.

Dana Bash joins me now. I mean, the book is fascinating. I had no idea that this had occurred, and it's so incredible to me how much of American history just kind of disappears. I mean, we think, you know, oh, wow, things have never been this contentious. Things have never, you know -- our politics is, you know, is so potentially violent now. I mean, American history is, I mean, this is a prime example of how political violence has a long history here. DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Political violence is unfortunately part of the fabric of our country. We start by talking about 1872.

COOPER: You're focusing on two election --

BASH: Yes.

COOPER: -- the deadliest elections in American history, 1872 gubernatorial elections in Louisiana.

BASH: In Louisiana, during Reconstruction, and the segregationists that Democrats in the South saw what happened in 1870 and said, wait a minute, like our way of life is gone post-civil war, but it will really be gone if we allow blacks to vote the way that they did in this past election. So that's when they began to intimidate and to murder, frankly, people who tried to come to the ballot box.

And there was so much corruption in that election, Anderson, that nobody would concede in the next election --

COOPER: There actually ended up being two separate governors --

BASH: Yes.

COOPER: -- in Louisiana --

BASH: Yes.

COOPER: -- at the same time, both of whom claimed they were the legitimate governors of Louisiana.

BASH: There was a massacre of these black men called the Colfax Massacre. It was so bloody. 150 black men, Anderson, were slaughtered. And it was because all they wanted to do was vote. The people who did the murdering, White men, of course, they -- it was pretty much understood that they could not get prosecuted in a state court, so the federal government stepped in.

And what happened as a result of that, they tried them on civil rights charges and the Supreme Court ruled in a famous ruling called Crookshank that the federal government doesn't have a role there, it's the state government. That ruling which came from this election in 1872 ushered in the Jim Crow laws in the South for 100 years.

COOPER: "The Grand Parish prisoners," you write, "quickly became heroes. They were hailed as good, decent Southern boys, sons of the Confederacy." These are the people who had taken -- who had committed this massacre. You said every movement needs symbols around which people can rally.

I mean, again, just the parallels of, you know, a group of people who have broken the laws being hailed as heroes and, you know, good, decent people and sort of, you know, things are so polarized then, you know, obviously there's so much polarization now. BASH: So much polarization. And there are a lot of parallels. Not just that, but if you fast forward to the 1876 election, which we also talk about here, the presidential election, because this corruption that I just described four years earlier in Louisiana was also taking place in other states.

When the Congress got the elector, slates of electors, four states, they couldn't actually admit them. And there was a debate then about what the vice president's role should be or could be in determining which slates of electors he could accept. And it was determined then, just like Mike Pence determined, that he was just ceremonial.

COOPER: If the, I mean, if the foreign president loses again, do you think he goes quietly?

BASH: No. Do you?

COOPER: No.

BASH: No.

COOPER: I mean, I can't imagine there won't be endless court battles at the very least and --

BASH: Which is fine. I mean --

COOPER: -- the court battles are like, that's the way it's supposed to work. You're allowed to. And we saw, and we covered day in and day out, all of the challenges that they made in courts of law. The question is what happens afterwards when, or if, the courts decide, as they did in 2020, that there was no evidence that they put forward of the widespread fraud that he claimed.

COOPER: Yes. The book is "America's Deadliest Election." Dana Bash, congratulations.

BASH: Thank you. Thanks for having me, Anderson.

COOPER: And that's it for us.

The news continues. "The Source with Kaitlan Collins" stars now. See you tomorrow.