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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Lewd Online Posts by GOP NC Governor Candidate Mark Robinson Removed, Unclear Who Did It; Trump Allies Approve Controversial New Georgia Election Board Rule For Ballots; Harris Rallies Supporters In Battleground Wisconsin; Polls Show Tight Race For Wisconsin's Electoral Voters; Sisters Of Murdered Hamas Hostage Speak Out; Minnesota Power Plant Trades Coal For Renewable Energy. Aired: 8-9p ET

Aired September 20, 2024 - 20:00   ET

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

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Late last year, a high ranking North Korean diplomat defected from Cuba. South Korea's foreign ministry says, North Korea has been closing consulates, embassies, and offices around the world.

The number of elite defections is rising even as overall defections are down dramatically since the pandemic. The result of massively increased North Korean border security, not just to keep people out but to keep them in.

Will Ripley, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Our thanks to Will Ripley, and thanks to you for joining us. Have a good weekend.

Anderson starts now.

[20:00:38]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Tonight on 360, breaking news and CNN's exclusive investigation to disturbing online posts made years ago by the Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina, as questions swirl about how former President Trump will or will not deal with the brewing scandal in the crucial swing state.

Also, allies of the former president on the Georgia election board have passed a controversial new rule that could delay election results in that key state. Georgia former lieutenant governor, a Republican joins us.

And later, my conversation with the family, one of the six Israeli hostages recently executed in a tunnel by Hamas.

Good evening.

It's been a little more than 24 hours since an exclusive CNN report detailed disturbing online posts made years ago by North Carolina's controversial GOP nominee for governor, Mark Robinson and the reverberations continue to be felt in that crucial swing state and beyond.

Moments ago, we learned that those lewd posts had been removed from the porn forum called "Nude Africa". It's unclear whether the comments were removed by Robinson or the site's administrators, neither the candidate, the campaign nor "Nude Africa" responded to inquiries from CNN.

There's also word tonight just 46 days until the election that a high- profile fundraiser for Robinson that was supposed to feature the head of the Republican Governor's Association, that's no longer happening. And Trump, who has previously praised Robinson is headed to the crucial battleground state for a campaign event tomorrow. It seems doubtful Robinson will appear with the former president at a rally, but unclear.

CNN's KFILE investigative team found that comments made by Robinson between 2008 and 2012 on this message board for the porn site "Nude Africa", in which Robinson expressed a love of transgender pornography among other things and also praised slavery, professed a preference for Hitler over President Obama, and called Martin Luther King, Jr. a "commie bastard".

Robinson, who is currently North Carolina's lieutenant governor, denies making those comments despite the KFILE discovering that the user profile contained his full name plus an e-mail address that he used on numerous websites for decades.

The big question tonight is how the former president will or will not react. Trump likely needs North Carolina, of course, to win and polls show a tight race at the top of the ticket there. The election has officially begun in North Carolina, absentee ballots have been sent to members of the military serving overseas.

According to "The New York Times" after Trump heard about CNN's reporting, he wanted "nothing to do with the scandal and didn't see why he should get involved."

"The Times" also reports his impulse was to, "ignore the controversy and power through", but "The Times" says, "people close to him anticipate he will deliver a version of a comment he has made about countless supporters of former aides that he hardly knows the guy".

Trump suggesting, however, that he doesn't know Mark Robinson who says he's not dropping out of the race, that may be hard.

Today, the Harris campaign started airing this ad in North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And he has been an unbelievable lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson.

LT. GOV. MARK ROBINSON (R) NORTH CAROLINA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: For me there's no compromise on abortion.

TRUMP: I think you're better than Martin Luther King. ROBINSON: We could pass a bill so you can't have an abortion in North Carolina for any reason.

Abortion in this country, it's about killing a child because you aren't responsible enough to keep your skirt down.

TRUMP: I've been with them a lot. I've gotten to know him and he's outstanding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: And late word from the senior senator from North Carolina, Republican Thom Tillis, "If the reporting on Mark Robinson is a total media fabrication, he needs to take immediate legal action. If the reporting is true, he owes it to President Trump and every Republican to take accountability for his actions and put the future of North Carolina and our party before himself".

I'm joined now by North Carolina Democratic Congressman Jeff Jackson, he's also the Democratic nominee for North Carolina attorney general.

Congressman, appreciate you being with us. Are you surprised Robinson has refused to drop out of the race?

REP. JEFF JACKSON, (D-NC): No, this has been who he's been. And frankly, I'm not surprised by the recent revelations. If you're from North Carolina, this is not a surprise. I know the rest of the country is just now learning about him, but we've known who Mark Robinson is for a long time.

He's referred to gay people as filth. He has said that God doesn't call women to lead. He's been carrying around a lot of anger and lot of hatred for years.

COOPER: Much of -- I mean, do you think it has much of an impact not just in the gubernatorial race, obviously, but potentially the presidential race?

[20:05:01]

JACKSON: I do. I mean, look, North Carolina is a 50/50 state that is full of 50/50 races, including mine, including the presidential race. A swing of 25,000 votes could be the entire margin. I think you're going to see a backlash of basic decency.

Look, they're going to be people who look at these comments, he's in favor of slavery, wants to own slaves, wants to join the KKK, says positive things about Hitler, recommended reading "Mein Kampf" and said that it was a good read and a real eye-opener.

People are going to make a decision that's not based on politics, but that rather is based on basic decency.

COOPER: You know, it's interesting you're saying you weren't surprised even by the comments that he'd made on this porn site. But some of the comments are completely at odds. I mean, he's said a lot of things about transgender people according to his porn history and comments on this site, you know, he seems very actually interested in watching transgender people.

JACKSON: There does appear to be some hypocrisy on the far right, there does appear to be some hypocrisy in the moralizing. This is someone who's big issue was condemning abortion and it was revealed that he paid for one for his wife.

COOPER: You've noted that your opponent in the North Carolina attorney general race, Republican Congressman Dan Bishop, has repeatedly praised Mark Robinson in the past. Do you think it's going to affect your race?

I think there's going to be fallout across a number of races because frankly, all these Republicans, statewide candidates gave Mark Robinson a bear hug years ago because he was more popular than they were.

So they've been heaping praise on him. My opponent for attorney general is Dan Bishop. He said that Mark Robinson was a thoughtful in a learned student of history who brings a fresh perspective and he wants to be his sidekick as attorney general. He's going to have a hard time walking that back.

COOPER: That's not a coat that wears well in the wake of this, I mean, that he's a pristine student of history. Do you expect Trump to do that, 'oh, I hardly know the guy' line?

JACKSON: I think he probably will. The ironic thing is, I think Mark Robinson is following the Trump playbook specifically after Access Hollywood, he's just going to put his head down, say the media is lying and power on.

But Trump knows that that's not going to work, that this is a special level of toxicity, very close to the election. So Trump has to deal with it.

Ironically but Mark Robinson is going to behave like Trump would in his position and just call everybody liars and march on.

COOPER: You're running to fill North Carolina's attorney general, Josh Stines' seat as he runs against Robinson. The latest polling numbers show that Stein is leading. I mean, there's no chance that -- I am assuming you think there's no chance that Robinson could still win the race? He seems like 10 points behind before this story even broke.

JACKSON: If Mark Robinson wins this race, it will be the biggest upset in my lifetime.

COOPER: Congressman Jeff Jackson, I appreciate your time tonight. Thank you.

JACKSON: Thank you.

COOPER: CNN anchor, Abby Phillip joins us now along with Ashley Allison, who was national coalitions director for the Biden-Harris campaign in 2020 and Erin Perrine, former director of communications for the Trump 2020 campaign.

And this is such a -- I don't even know where to begin with this thing. And the fact -- I mean, first of all, I just didn't know there were comment sections on porn sites -- so this is --

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: The whole thing -- it's a pretty bad thing.

COOPER: -- I mean it's like doing political commentary on this site is very strange to me. Do you think -- I mean, these posts have been removed, which is interesting, not clear if it's Robinson or the website who have removed them. What do you make of that?

PHILLIP: Yes, I mean, look, I think that there's a lot of evidence that that is in the KFILE story that points to this being Mark Robinson's page. I think the denials are what they are, but it would be almost like suspending disbelief to think that all of these different elements of identity verification that went into this weren't true.

COOPER: And by the way because he says well, it is AI. I mean, this is about 2008-2012.

PHILLIP: These are posts that are more than a decade old at this point, before AI was really a major factor in our lives. So, I think that that is what it is, but it's also the reality of Mark Robinson being a person who even before this had a long and checkered history.

There were reports about his frequenting porn stores and the reports about his paying for an abortion. It's part of a long list of things that he has done and for the Republican Party to just now decide that this is the moment that Mark Robinson becomes unacceptable is another trend in that they are backing candidates that Trump backs that are bad candidates.

Candidates that Democrats are basically praying for, that they are really celebrating about in Kamala Harris headquarters right now because this is exactly the scenario, a weak candidate and actually a candidate who might turn out Democratic leaning voters that they need in a state like North Carolina to make that state competitive.

[20:10:08]

COOPER: Ashley, you mentioned that the Trump campaign has shied away from addressing the revelations, including JD Vance, who tried to shift the focus to Harris when asked about Robinson. How much of a liability does a down-ballot race impact Donald Trump in North Carolina?

ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it could. Particularly because of the way prior to the KFILE reporting happening, Donald Trump was so aligned with Mark Robinson.

I mean, comparing him to a better version of Martin Luther King, that is a pretty high compliment that someone can give. So, the thing getting that you can distance yourself from this individual without actually saying that is I don't think is a good strategy, but I also think because it's the governor's race.

Maybe if this was a state senator that was running, it wouldn't be as prominent, but this is the person who's going to lead the state of North Carolina, it's the second name under Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on the ballot. So they are very closely related and I think that it could have an impact, particularly because North Carolina is so close right now in a way that most folks didn't think it was going to be with Joe Biden on the ticket.

So, this is not -- I'll say this, politically, this is not good for Donald Trump or Mark Robinson. But for America, this is awful that we have this type of person that is hypocritical and so hateful and leadership and that is seeking such a high office in the state.

COOPER: Erin, I mean, Senator Tillis' statement, which again says Robinson should take legal action if the reporting is false or take accountability. I'm not sure taking accountability would mean because, I mean, he's on the ballot, the deadline has passed for getting somebody else. What would that look like?

And do you think Trump should address this or do you think he'll do the "I don't know this person".

ERIN PERRINE, FORMER DIRECTOR OF PRESS COMMUNICATIONS, TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN: I anticipate Trump will do the 'I don't know this person', but it's already clear in polling that North Carolinians were already separating Donald Trump from Mark Robinson because Mark Robinson was polling so far behind Donald Trump at this point.

So, I understand the strategy of Kamala Harris and her campaign putting out an ad to try to tie the two of them together more were closely, but Trump was already well ahead of Robinson on the ballot as of this point in the race.

So I anticipate most Republicans in North Carolina will be putting a space between themselves and Robinson not doing events with him, not hugging him in, and trying to create that space. Because ultimately, it's the top of the ticket that people will be voting for.

Donald Trump is the one that will likely be the one that drives the voters either to the ballots for him or against him. But ultimately his numbers really don't shake a or move much at all, given any controversy that's happened at any point in any other races.

Donald Trump has a very high -- very high basement, but a very low ceiling when it comes to movement in the polls.

COOPER: Abby, you know, this fundraiser for the by the Republican Governors Association in the state, that apparently has been canceled according to according to a source. It's going to be an interesting sort of test case on this tactic now, which is just deny anything and just try to barrel through.

I mean, there's, you know, there used to be a sort of shame. There used to be something called shame in politics that you know, there's some people felt that actually a slight sense of shame and might step back. That's kind of just old.

PHILLIP: Never back down, never apologize, I mean, that is the Trump way. And even when its self-defeating, I mean, the deadline actually was last night for them to -- for Mark Robinson to withdraw from the race that they could have put someone else essentially in that slot.

Imagine if the Republican Party had had a serious conversation with themselves two weeks ago and exerted more influence to change the composition of that race. They would be looking potentially at a competitor -- competitive governor's race in the state of North Carolina.

So the only reason that they're doing this is because that is Trump's way. But it's going to lead to pretty clear electoral losses, probably in this race and in several others as well.

COOPER: Ashley, the last Democrat to carry North Carolina was President Obama back in 2008. What else do you think Harris should be doing to increase her chance of winning in the state?

Now, in Georgia you know, she's got the person who was working with Senator Warnock on his race, who you know is bringing Warnock to counties just trying to pick off as many votes as possible.

ALLISON: Yes. I think that the Harris campaign should talk about the coalition they are trying to build. There's a lot of HBCUs, so young Black voters to really galvanize and that was a strategy in 2008.

North Carolina also has a lot of folks who have moved from the Midwest and are moving down into North Carolina. So, the population is shifting.

I also don't think you should discount rural parts of North Carolina. And so, really going out, having a conversation with voters, talking about her opportunity agenda, talking about what it's like to have a family and wanting to buy a home or wanting to raise your children and not have to struggle that first year with her child tax credit. So, there's a lot of opportunity there.

I also think they need to continue to connect Donald Trump to Mark Robinson. It is unacceptable for the Republican Party not to completely condemn these comments that he has made before and that he is being accused of making now on this site.

[20:15:39]

COOPER: Ashley Allison, Abby Philip, Erin Perrine, thanks so much. Abby, is going to be back with NewsNight, of course, at 10 o'clock tonight.

Coming up with a new rule, pushed by allies of the former president, make vote results in Georgia more chaotic. Even some Republicans think so, if it's allowed to stand.

One of the state's former lieutenant governor joins us next. Also, Vice President Harris in Wisconsin tonight, a state vital to her blue-wall strategy. The state's Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, she joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:20:32]

COOPER: Despite some Republican complaints after 2020, about the length of time it can take to count ballots, Georgia's election board today approved a controversial new rule to require hand counts of all ballots at polling places.

The vote was three of two, backing the proposal where three allies of the former president. Now, critics have said the requirement could stretch out and introduce chaos into the vote counting process that is, if it even passes legal muster.

CNN's Sara Murray joins us now with the latest. So, explain what happened today.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we saw is the Republican majority on the state election board push forward this rule change that would go into effect in October against the advice of the Secretary of State, against the advice of the Republican attorney general, against the pleadings of bipartisan election officials across the state.

And essentially, what it does is, it says that after you've conducted this whole election, election workers, you've been awake all day. You need to hand count the number of ballots that have been turned in. You need to compare that to the number of ballots that voting machines say were cast and compare those two numbers.

And so, there are a lot of concerns about this from the perspective of statewide election officials and local election officials. One, is you know, they've been working all day, hand counting paper ballots is not a perfect science. Usually, the machine-count numbers are better and that you have a chain of custody issue with these ballots.

So, the view of voting rights experts on election experts is that this could just inject a lot of chaos. It could delay figuring out who won the state and you know, we've seen in the past, the longer it takes to count the more we have these kind of conspiracy theories fester.

COOPER: And so, what happens next?

MURRAY: So, what happens next is sort of a question of who is going to sue and when. And there's a statement today after the meeting from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger that sort of hints at that.

He says, "Attorney General Chris Carr has stated that these rules would not withstand legal challenge, and I have worked every day to strengthen Georgia's election law to ensure our elections remain safe, secure, and free". It would not be the first time the state election board has been sued as a result of rules they've passed. Just this year, they're already in court over a rule regarding election certification and saying state or local boards can conduct their own reasonable inquiries before they certify the election results. So, I expect were going to see more lawsuits.

And, Anderson, I think what's really important about what we saw in Georgia today, is this a sort of an early glimpse, a preview, if you will, of the kind of stuff we are going to see in the run-up to and after November.

We have a lot more folks who are election skeptics that are in positions of overseeing or even administering elections. And so, there's just a lot more of this that's still to come.

COOPER: Yes, Sara Murray, thank you.

Joining us now, CNN political commentator Geoff Duncan, the state's former lieutenant governor. He also testified before the grand jury in the Georgia election interference case.

First of all, just your reaction to this hand-count rule in your home state, because this is what a lot of election deniers have been pushing for, saying it should all just be paper ballots and hand- counted. Obviously, there's often more human error in hand counting ballots than machines.

GEOFF DUNCAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, this nearly can reconfigured state election board, I think they got their way. They've been carrying Donald Trump's water for months now, ankle biting it, it is solutions in search of a problem. And today, they injected the ultimate asterisk mark into our November election.

They are able to change laws to follow conspiracy theories instead of reality and it's unfortunate, and were in this juxtapose because even if these lawsuits come forward, then the MAGA crowd is going to scream and Donald Trump is going to be that the chief cheerleader saying that he didn't get a fair opportunity to run a fair election. So it's really a difficult spot.

I once again call on Republican leadership from every corner of this state, county, city, state legislative, even the Governor's Office to call on this as loud as absolute possible that this is a horrendous idea. And it usurps democracy in its ultimate format.

COOPER: We should all just point out, I mean, the election in Georgia was free and fair and there was no widespread voter fraud. So, all of these conspiracy theories are just, they've been looked at, they've been examined, there's nothing there.

Fast forward to election night this year, what would this new process mean for Georgia's counting practice?

DUNCAN: Well, it would slow it down and it would inject a human element to it, which once again is really the secret sauce to these conspiracy theories is doubt. They've planted the ultimate seed of doubt. And it would just allow open up for opportunity and delay the actual count and the verification or certification of the election process, which time is your enemy in elections.

[20:25:05]

You want to get them -- you want to get the votes in crisp, clean, counted and registered as quickly as you can to eliminate any sort of doubts or in proprieties.

But look, these guys aren't interested in winning this election, fair and square, and that's by putting a good candidate forward that can actually win. There's no reason why a Republican candidate for president shouldn't be way out in front in front in the state of Georgia, eight statewide constitutional officers are Republicans, strong majorities with Republicans in the legislature.

The only time a Republican loses in Georgia is when Donald Trump puts his fingers on them. We have two US senators to prove that case.

COOPER: The "Atlanta Journal-Constitution" reports that according to a recent survey conducted by the paper, sizable majority is Democratic and Independent voters in the state believe the election will be fair and accurate, but less than half of Georgia Republicans express such confidence.

Even with this hand-count, if the former president loses in the state, do you think Georgia Republicans will accept that decision?

DUNCAN: Well, they're going to have to. Once again, he will have led the losing team. My hope, look, Anderson, this whole thing from day one for me is not about trying to get popularity. It's about trying to fix the Republican Party and it needs to start here in Georgia. We are broken at our core as Republicans here in Georgia.

We have a state party that is dysfunctional and only solely worships one person and one person only and that's Donald Trump. He could say jump off a bridge and they would do it. He could say rig an election and they would try to do it. That's exactly what's happening with the state election board.

COOPER: So, assuming this is going to be challenged in court, do you think it will be overturned in court? I'm not an attorney. I don't even get to play one on TVs. My hope is it is, my hope that it quickly is overturned and allows the laws in place because the realities of this were so close to the actual election day.

There just makes no sense to do it. I don't want any doubt. And look, if Donald Trump wins this state, so be it. It is what it is, I'll accept the results and move on. If Kamala Harris wins, then the other folks on the other side should accept the votes and move on.

We need to move on as a country, we need to move on as a party from this hyper chaotic period of time that we find ourselves in.

COOPER: Geoff Duncan, thanks very much. Coming up, Wisconsin's Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, campaigning alongside Vice President Harris today. I'll speak with Senator Baldwin about the critical role her state could play in Harris campaign's path to the presidency.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:31:43]

COOPER: Vice President Harris just wrapped up remarks in Madison, Wisconsin. The state is part of the so-called Blue Wall, seen as a critical part of Harris campaign strategy. The Vice President impressed upon her supporters tonight that, as we mentioned, the election is just right around the corner.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Election Day, yes, in 46 days, and early voting has already started in some states.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: Early voting in Wisconsin starts in just 32 days. And, in fact, many of you may have already received your mail-in ballots. So all I had that to say, the election is basically here. It's basically here, and we have work to do. To energize, to organize, and to mobilize, and to remind everyone, your vote is your voice. And your voice is your power. And never let anyone take your power from you.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: Never.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: So Madison, today I ask you, are you ready to make your voices heard?

(END VIDEOCLIP)

COOPER: And joining me now is Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, who appeared with Vice President Harris at the rally and is in a close reelection race of her own. Senator Baldwin, thanks for being with us. I want to get to the state of the race in Wisconsin a moment first.

There's a CNN reporting that the Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina, Mark Robinson, you know, posted these disturbing comments on this porn forum back in 2008, 2012. The story broke. Robinson denies it. The former president has publicly praised Robinson in the past. He hasn't really said much anything about this.

What do you think this means for Vice President Harris chances to win there?

SEN. TAMMY BALDWIN (D-WI): Yes. Well, first of all, what he said was absolutely disgusting. And in my mind, he has no place in public office. But I have to say, there seems to be a theme this year in races across the country where Democrats are running candidates who have deep respect for the people whose votes they're seeking and Republicans are nominating folks that seem to be insulting the very people that they seek to represent.

You know, look at J.D. Vance and his comments about childless cat ladies. Look at my opponent who has disparaged people in nursing homes suggesting they shouldn't be able to vote and called farmers lazy. And, you know, we deserve as voters people who respect the very people whose votes they're seeking.

COOPER: The latest Marist poll shows extremely tight race in Wisconsin. Vice President Harris leads the former president by a single point among likely voters, 50 percent to 49 percent. Well within the polls. Margin of error showing no clear leader. Obviously, you know, 2020, you know, Biden won with just some 20,000 votes, I think it was.

And I think --

BALDWIN: Right.

COOPER: -- two counties really made the difference. What does Vice President Harris need to do to win Wisconsin? And how much is your own Senate race impacted by her race there?

BALDWIN: Yes. Well, let me just start by saying that Wisconsin has been the battleground state in many presidential elections. It was the tipping point state that gave Trump the White House in 2016.

[20:35:03]

And you mentioned how close the victory for Biden was in 2020. They are tied right now. And in my race, the three recent polls I've seen have had us within the margin of error. In fact, RealClearPolitics just took us from a Lean Democrat to a toss-up and the Republicans are spending millions and millions of dollars.

My opponent is a multimillionaire who is self-financing his campaign. And so I will say, if anyone wants to help out, you can go to tammybaldwin.com and get 5 or 10 or whatever you can afford. But in terms of what Harris needs to do, she did it today, showing up. And you got to show up in red parts of the state, purple parts of the state and blue parts of the state, and she has to continue to make the contrast between what she's running on, what she is about, and what Donald Trump is pushing, you know, on our fundamental freedoms.

Donald Trump put three justices on the Supreme Court who overturned Roe. And she of course is a champion for restoring reproductive, reproductive health. I lead the bill called the Women's Health Protection Act, which would codify Roe at the federal level.

On health care, Trump and my opponent, Eric Hovde, would repeal the Affordable Care Act in its entirety, stripping health care away from millions of people. I helped write the Affordable Care Act, including the provision that allows young people to stay on their parents' health insurance until they turn 26.

We have such a stark contrast, and she needs to continue to come to these swing states, these battleground states like Wisconsin --

COOPER: Yes.

BALDWIN: -- and make the case and make the clear contrast.

COOPER: Well, Senator Baldwin, I appreciate your time. It's a close race. We'll continue to follow it. Thanks very much.

BALDWIN: Thank you for having me.

COOPER: Take care.

You've heard about the six Israeli hostages executed recently in a tunnel by Hamas. In a moment, I'll talk with two young women whose 24- year-old sister was one of those hostages. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:41:35]

COOPER: More deaths in Lebanon today. The Israeli military claims it killed one of Hezbollah's most senior military leaders and about 10 other commanders in a Beirut airstrike. There's no confirmation on the deaths from Hezbollah, which the U.S. and many countries have designated as a terrorist organization.

Lebanon's health ministry says about at -- says 14 people were killed and dozens more were wounded. Now this comes after the remote detonation, as you know, across Lebanon of explosive laden pagers and walkie talkies used by Hezbollah this week that killed dozens and injured thousands. Israel hasn't officially taken responsibility for those attacks, but CNN has reported the exploding pagers were a joint operation by Israel's intelligence agency, the Mossad and the IDF.

Well, tonight, we're also learning more about one of the six hostages who was executed by Hamas late last month and found in a tunnel. Eden Yerushalmi was kidnapped on October 7th from the Nova Music Festival. She tried to flee with two friends in a car, but Hamas gunmen shot up the vehicle, killing her friends.

Eden survived that attack, which is incredible when you see all the car's bullet holes in this video. She pretended to be dead and was able to call her sisters. She later left the car and hid in a eucalyptus bush. She remained in contact with her sisters the whole time, until a gunman found her there.

"They've caught me," were the last words she spoke on the phone. Eden turned 24 in captivity. Recently, I spoke with her two sisters, Shani and May.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

COOPER: May, you and Shani were on the phone with your sister for hours on October 7th after she had left the Nova Festival, was trying to hide. You were with her on the phone until the moment she was captured. In all that time, and in all the nearly, you know, the more than 300 days since, did you ever give up hope that she would come back alive? Did you always believe she would be alive?

MAY YERUSHALMI, YOUNGER SISTER OF EDEN YERUSHALMI: We believed it. Yes, we believe that she will come back to us alive. And we had so much faith and actually, there's something that we've never told no one before, but we did have -- we did has proofs of life from Eden, actually three times. And the last time, the last proof of life that we got from Eden was exactly 20 days before that she got murdered. So we had so much faith.

COOPER: Wow. So you had three times proof of life over all this time, just -- and just 20 days before she was killed was the last time you had evidence that she was alive?

M. YERUSHALMI: Yes.

COOPER: The IDF, Shani, they released this video of the tunnel where Eden and the other five hostages were killed, where they were found. What did they tell you about the conditions there?

SHANI YERUSHALMI, OLDER SISTER OF EDEN YERUSHALMI: So we know that the tunnel was very narrow and also very low. We know that they couldn't -- they barely could stand fully. We know that when they -- they couldn't sleep next to each other, but only in a line. There were no windows, no air, no light barely food. And if they needed to go to the bedroom, they were forced to do it in a bucket --

M. YERUSHALMI: In a bucket.

S. YERUSHALMI: -- and in an empty bottle of water. It's inhuman.

[20:45:11]

COOPER: And Maya, I understand you and your parents got to see it, Eden, before the funeral. That was important to you to actually, to see her.

M. YERUSHALMI: A few hours after they told us what's happening, they asked us if we want to see her body. And they warned us that it's going to be very hard for us. They told us that she got shot in the head from a very close range and she had mark on her hands --

S. YERUSHALMI: In defense in herself. She did like this.

M. YERUSHALMI: Like this before they shot her. And they told us that her body shape was in a bad situation. And our parents chose to see her face. Of course we said yes. We wanted to see her because we haven't seen her for 11 months, since October 7th. And we wanted to say to her goodbye --

S. YERUSHALMI: And sorry.

M. YERUSHALMI: -- and to say sorry that we couldn't find her sooner and alive. And then our parents got in first and they saw -- and they chose to see her face. They kissed her where in the side that they could. And then me and Shani wanted to go there too. And we chose to see only her feet and her hands because this is the only -- it was enough for us and we could recognize Eden by this.

And before we got out, we gave her a hug. A last hug to say goodbye to her. And she was so, so thin. We could feel her bones sticking out. And after that we --

S. YERUSHALMI: We got --

M. YERUSHALMI: And after that we found out that she -- that her body weight only 79 pounds and she's 24 years old woman. And this is something that we will never imagine that her body will look -- looks like this.

S. YERUSHALMI: They starved her before they murdered her.

COOPER: After the funeral, Hamas released a video, and we have not shown that video on purpose. I know you and your family want us to show a small portion of it, of your sister, because she's talking about your family. Can you just -- before I actually show it to people, can you just tell us why you wanted people to see this part of that video?

S. YERUSHALMI: We wanted people to see how Hamas treated the hostages, innocent civilians, in our case, our sister is a 24 years old young woman. And you can see in that video the bags under her eyes, how tired she is. You can see that she's very thin --

M. YERUSHALMI: Very weak.

S. YERUSHALMI: -- very weak. That she misses us, she misses her family. She calls our names. She touch her heart with her hand. You can see how desperate she is. And we believe everyone needs to see this to see how Hamas treated their hostages and also to see how strong and -- how strong she is.

M. YERUSHALMI: I want to add that this video, she looks in a bad way, this video. And it's not from the last month, it's from January, February. So, just imagine how worse she came back. Just imagine.

COOPER: I want to play just that portion of the video that you have asked us to play.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

EDEN YERUSHALMI, HOSTAGE BY HAMAS (through translation): A message to my family that I love, I miss you father and mother, sister Shani and May. I love and miss you all so much.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

COOPER: Was the IDF, were they able to tell you anything about that video in particular?

S. YERUSHALMI: Only that they took it probably between January, February.

[20:50:06]

COOPER: What do you want people to know about your sister?

M. YERUSHALMI: Our sister, Eden, was a happy person. And she lived life to the fullest. And she loved life, and she was a great sister. She was an amazing sister, an amazing friend. She had a lot of friends. And now she's our angel.

We are still -- we still have more 101 hostages in Gaza and we have to --

S. YERUSHALMI: To save them. We have to put pressure on Hamas. It's not enough. And we need to save --

M. YERUSHALMI: We don't want other families to feel what we are feeling.

COOPER: Well, Shani and May, thank you so much for being with us and telling us about your sister.

M. YERUSHALMI: Thank you.

S. YERUSHALMI: Thank you.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

COOPER: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:55:11]

COOPER: In a move that has the potential to reshape how the United States approaches clean energy projects, a Minnesota power plant known as the state's top polluter will soon trade coal for solar energy. Researchers say the plan to repurpose the plant's existing infrastructure to connect solar panels with the power grid could supercharge the push for renewable energy.

CNN's Chief Climate Correspondent, Bill Weir, has details.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Behold a fire breathing dinosaur named Sherco. For decades, it has been devouring mountains of coal in Minnesota and belching out gigatons of planet cooking gases, making this power plant the state's biggest climate polluter.

But in a vivid example of energy transition, Sherco's owners are changing its diet, swapping out coal for renewables, until the last fire goes out in 2030. And after that, 125,000 homes will be powered by sun, wind and iron batteries with four days backup.

WEIR: Is Xcel decarbonizing as a strategy?

RYAN LONG, PRESIDENT, XCEL ENERGY MINNESOTA: Yes, so we are decarbonizing as a strategy. We have had a goal to get to 100 percent carbon free energy by 2050 for a number of years now. Two years ago, the Minnesota legislature passed a law that said they want to get to 100 percent carbon free energy by 2040. So that's now our target and we're on track to meet that.

WEIR: That pile of coal weighs around 1.7 million tons, and in about six years, it'll be all gone. The smokestacks will be obsolete. But this fossil of a different age will remain a valuable part of the community, pushing out clean energy from wind farms and solar fields all around the state.

But this is also a model for the rest of the country. A study out of Cal Berkeley found that the U.S. could double its power capacity by building new energy next to old infrastructure.

PETE WYCKOFF, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF ENERGY RESOURCES, MINNESOTA COMMERCE DEPT.: Minnesota, for economic reasons, was already moving to phase out coal. But what the Inflation Reduction Act did, through its tax credits, is give extra incentives for when you phase out a plant, a fossil fuel plant, to build something new right there.

WEIR: And use the bones in the connection.

WYCKOFF: Use -- you use the -- the site is actually being used.

WEIR: Yes.

WYCKOFF: But the more important thing is you're using an existing way to connect to the electric grid.

WEIR (voice-over): Minnesota recently completed a transmission upgrade, but the lines are already strained by all the new supply and demand. So like a fast pass at Disneyland, this method allows clean energy projects to skip the years long wait for grid connection while making the shift a lot less jarring for local communities.

WEIR: What does that mean for workers? Can the same people who are now working in coal come over and work in sunlight?

LONG: Well, some of them can. So we've got about 240 workers at the plant. And what we have told them is, if you want a job with Xcel Energy after that plant retires, you'll have a job with Xcel Energy.

WEIR: Would this have happened without the Tim Walz administration and their targets? Would it have happened without the Inflation Reduction Act that Joe Biden --

LONG: Yes. So the Walz administration has been really great to work with, and the IRA benefits have been really significant for our customers. That helps us move through this transition while bringing customer bills down compared to what they otherwise would be. We're extracting about $300 million of IRA benefits for our customers with this project alone. WEIR (voice-over): He says their customers will eventually reap billions in tax incentives as Xcel winds down dozens of fossil fuel plants, all part of a quiet industrial revolution steadily spreading nationwide.

Bill Weir, CNN, Becker, Minnesota.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COOPER: Well, a quick programming note to tell you about. This Sunday on CNN, our Fareed Zakaria talks to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Among the many topics they cover is the public's long fascination with her marriage.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON: I think for me and as I -- I've said this for many years -- nobody really knows what happens in a marriage except the two people in it. And every marriage I'm aware of has ups and downs, not public hopefully for everyone else. And you have to make the decisions that are right for you.

And I would never tell anybody else, stay in a marriage, leave a marriage, whatever the easy answer is. And, you know, for me and for us, I think it's fair to say we are so grateful that at this stage of our life, we have our grandchildren, we have our time together.

You know, I write about how we start the morning playing spelling bee in bed and, you know, Bill is like such a great player. He gets to queen bee almost immediately it feels like. We just have a good time. We have a good time sharing this life that we've lived together for now, nearly 50 years of marriage.

That's what is right for us. And that's really my message.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

COOPER: Well, Fareed Zakaria, GPS, that airs Sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

That's it for us. I hope you have a great weekend. I'll see you Monday. The news continues right now. The source starts.