Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

RFK Jr. Suspends Campaign, Endorses Trump; Ceasefire Talks Resume In Cairo Even As Israel Strikes Hit Gaza; NASA: Starliner Crew Will Fly Home On Rival SpaceX Capsule; How Trump, Allies Funnel Millions to His Businesses, Faith Leaders Uniting to Combat Climate Change. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired August 24, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:01:35]

PAULA REID, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Reid in Washington, in for Jessica Dean.

We're about ten weeks away from the election, and there's a new shakeup in the race for the White House. Third party candidate, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is suspending his campaign and endorsing former President Donald Trump. The campaign hopes RFK's supporters will help put Trump over the top in what will likely be a very close race against Vice President Harris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think he's going to have a huge influence. We're leading now, but I think he's going to have a huge influence on this campaign.

And to all who supported Bobby's campaign, I very simply asked you join us in building this coalition. It's a beautiful coalition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: Both campaigns are not wasting any time.

Next week, Harris will meet with voters during a bus tour through the battleground state of Georgia, while Trump will speak at campaign events in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Trump campaigns posters though, say they expect Harris will get a two to three point bump in the polls following the Democratic convention this past week.

For more on this, I want to bring in CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic", Ron Brownstein.

Ron, thank you for being here.

As I just -- as I just said, the Trump campaign believes that bump in the polls will, quote, be an extended honeymoon phase. How do you think this will translate when it comes to the long game here? RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, look, I think there are aspects of the momentum for Harris that are real and irreversible. I mean, the fundraising has been incredible and I think we're going to just see eye-popping numbers of how many raised during convention week, maybe as soon as tomorrow on interior engagement is enormous. Much, much stronger than under Biden. The crowds 15 to 18,000 in August, you're probably looking at 50 to 75,000 person rallies in October, which we haven't seen since Obama in 08. And all of that is valuable to her, but the task in the swing states, as you say, I mean, you know there are a closely divided country. There are only six or seven states that are truly at play and they are at play because they are basically divided 50/50.

So her challenge in those states is much more blocking and tackling, maximizing turnout, literally one or two votes per precinct could decide this election in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. So, all of those inputs that I just mentioned will help her in that. But ultimately, the job is going to be the blocking and tackling address section before on the ground in these closely divided swing-states.

REID: And my next question has yielded answers across the spectrum of possibilities, with this RFK Jr. endorsement. How do you think it could impact the election?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, first thing, you think is going to have a minimal impact. But to the extent, it does have an impact, I would not be surprised if it ends up being a net negative slightly for Trump.

And here's why I say that, RFK Jr. support has contracted to where indeed it is likely that most of the remaining people who said they were for him will vote for Trump if, in fact, they vote at all. And I believe many of them will not vote at all, but that isn't really the only thing that's going on here by.

By aligning with Trump -- by aligning with RFK, Trump is doubling down on some extreme arguments about vaccines, in particular.

[19:05:05]

No one has paid a lot of attention. Certainly, we have not in the media. The Democrats have not. But Trump has been saying repeatedly, I'm going to look to say I get it exactly right. I will not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate today from kindergarten, to college.

And obviously, the idea that RFK would have some role in public health in a Trump administration will underline that pledge or threat depending on how you look at it. And I think that could cost him more in white-collar suburbs than anything he gains at the margin from RFK voters. Seventy percent of all Americans say they believe vaccine mandates in schools should remain in place. I am sure that number is higher among college educated white women. I think wrapping himself together with RFK razors, the threat level for those voters.

There was a reason "The Wall Street Journal" editorial page, which wants Trump to win wrote after the endorsement, pocket the endorsement, Mr. Trump, but then really don't be seen with this guy again.

REID: You wrote a piece for "The Atlantic" this week talking about the focus on Democrats, so-called blue wall. You coin that term in 2009 and now say it symbolizes Pennsylvania, Wisconsin -- Wisconsin and Michigan.

Now, what's the best strategy for Harris? With Trump's campaign also pouring a lot of money into these states, how should Harris be attacking the states?

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, first of all, the blue wall when I coined get to know nine referred to the 18 states that ultimately voted Democratic in all six consecutive elections from 1992 to 2012, which is the most states the party had won that often since the formation of the modern party system in 1828.

In 2016, Trump famously knocked Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin out of the wall, and really when people talk about the blue wall, now, they usually are referring to those three states. Its kind of the bricks that were dislodged from the wall, that kind of become the wall in the popular imagination.

Look, these are states that have remained so important in American politics because they are so competitive, they are all closely divided and they tend to move in tandem.

I was struck in doing the research for this story. I really wasn't aware of this. All the way back to 1980, they have diverged once -- just once in the presidential elections, 1988 was the only time they split. And who they voted for and similarly, over the last 30 years, they have voted the same way for governor, even except for one election so, you know, for Harris, the challenge there is to claw back some of the ground that Biden had long among younger voters and non- white voters, Black voters, particularly in Detroit and Milwaukee, and Philadelphia.

And also to max out among the voters I was just talking about, these are states where the Democratic games among college educated white voters have really been important to their overall reassertion of control of them since 2016. But she also has to do one last thing in these states, which is hold on to the relative improvement that Biden made in 2020 relative to Clinton in 2016, among non-college and older whites. Those are bigger share of the electorate in these states and they are almost anywhere else and it is going to be critical for her.

She doesn't exactly have to match Biden because I think she can add some votes on the college side that he didn't have, but she can't fall all the way back to Clintons levels in 2016. And honestly, Paula, I think that is the critical battleground between now and November, how many non-college and older whites can Trump peel away from Harris in these three states, because if he can't, its going to be very hard for him to win.

REID: Yeah, it's interesting you say that I was speaking with another pollster a few days ago on air and he said that the reason he thought Trump might pull this out is because of that exact group of voters.

Now, I want to talk a little bit about abortion rights. It was a big part of the convention. Trump is, of course, now trying to distance himself from project 2025, saying that his administration would be great for women and reproductive rights.

Is that going to be enough for him to win over enough suburban women voters?

BROWNSTEIN: No, I don't think so. I mean, you know, its easy for us to forget that the Dobbs decision only happened after the 2020 election. And however well, Biden did among college-educated women in 2020 Democrats in these three states. And were talking about above all, which are probably going to decide this election again, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, the Democratic gubernatorial candidates did better in 2022, post-Dobbs than Biden had done in 2020?

I don't think Biden maxed out the ceiling of where this can go, especially given the other factors that I mentioned, like Trump's opposition to vaccine mandates in public schools that will be accentuated by associating with RFK Jr. So I think there's every possibility and even likelihood that in these states Biden excuse me, Harris will run better than Biden did among college white women, Shapiro in Pennsylvania in '22, Whitmer in Michigan in '22, they both ran ten points better among those college white women than Biden had done just two years earlier.

[19:10:04]

I'm not sure if Harris can get all the way up to where they got, which is about 70 percent. But I would not be shocked if she's in the mid 60s among those voters in these -- in these states, and again, that is going to be critical for her to offset any loss among those working class whites who are going to be the principal focus, I think for Trump's advertising, arguing that Harris is soft on crime and the border and not going to keep you safe and not going to deal with -- deal with inflation.

These states, you know, there are a lot of moving parts. There are crosscurrents. They are usually end up close and they heard very likely to be the tipping point once again, in 2024.

REID: Those three states and all the others. We'll be watching for the next ten weeks. Ron, thank you so much for joining us.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

REID: And still ahead, high-level ceasefire talks are happening today in Cairo. This as the IDF says it remains prepared for any retaliatory attacks from Iran or Hezbollah. We'll talk with Israeli ambassador to the United Nations ahead.

Plus, an eight-day stay in space turns into an eight month stay. Two NASA astronauts will remain aboard the space station after issues with their Boeing spacecraft. We'll talk about it live with the one and only Bill Nye, the science guy. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:16:01]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Sciutto in Tel Aviv, Israel, where tonight, the IDF says it remains prepared for any potential retaliatory attack by Iran or Hezbollah. However, it's giving no indication of how or when.

Iran, you'll remember, has vowed retaliation against Israel for the assassination of Hamas political leader in Tehran last month, but says its response will be, quote, carefully calibrated to avoid impacting the ongoing ceasefire and hostage release negotiations. High level talks are happening this weekend in Cairo. However, major sticking points remain to reaching a deal.

Joining us now is the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon.

Ambassador, thanks so much for taking the time.

DANNY DANON, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE UNIITED NATIONS: Thank you for having me, Jim.

SCIUTTO: As you know, the IDF says it is prepared for any potential Iraq -- attack by Iran or Hezbollah that they've been prepared for some time. Can you describe the level of alert tonight?

DANON: Jim, we're on alert as you just reported, we are hearing report from Lebanon about the intentions of Hezbollah to attack Israel. They're attacking us every day but their intention is to attack deeper targets, civilian targets. So we are on high alert. We told the population needs to change the way of life.

You know, tomorrow, the kids will go to school everything will be as usual. But our defense system already and I will add to that that also our offense is ready. Hezbollah will push the line too much. It will be felt also in Lebanon, it will not be quiet in Lebanon if the kids in Israel will not be able to live safely.

SCIUTTO: As you know, talks are underway in Cairo tomorrow between Israel, Hamas, as well as mediators, including the U.S., Qatar, Egypt. Do you see any potential attack in the coming days as deliberately intended to disrupt those talks?

DANON: You know, many, many time we try to make the linkage between all the players in the region between Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas. Not always the case. And I think in the case of Hezbollah, we have seen that they actually targeting Israelis without any connection to what's happening in the southern border, southern front, and I think we have a little bit you know, I said it very clearly in the security council on Thursday.

DANON: You know, we have been waiting for a while, but there will come a day that we will say that's it enough. We cannot keep 100,000 Israelis as refugees in different places they will have to go back to their home, the northern Israel and in order to do that, we're going to have to put his butt off on the fence and make sure that we have secure border.

SCIUTTO: As you know the families of hostages still being held in Gaza, the numbers 109 though many are believed to have died already, there are growing impatient and some of them have accused the Israeli prime minister of not doing enough to bring their loved ones home. And of course, their fear is understandable because just this past week, six more hostages were found dead. Their bodies recovered from Gaza.

Does the Israeli prime minister, in your view, does the Israeli government, is it an investing enough to get those hostages home?

DANON: Well, Jim, no one can blame the families. You know, they're suffering. They know about the ongoing atrocities of the hostages.

[19:20:03]

We hardly thought about what's happening there.

And as you mentioned, the time is working against the hostages but at the same time, the prime minister is committed of the negotiations. We accepted few proposals coming from the U.S. and the mediators but Hamas rejected all the proposal more than five times. They are the same decisions that it was the final the draft that was proposed, we said yes, Hamas said no. I hope it will change.

We want to have some kind of ceasefire that will allow us to bring back some of the hostages. I'm not sure Hamas thinking the same way for them at this final is the destruction of it loud. So you know, we tried to negotiate with them the mediators, but unfortunately, ten months and we have babies, children, innocent families still kept in captivity.

Yeah, the suffering there, the accounts of their suffering there is just -- is just enormous you have just returned to the U.N. you -- in your new duties as the as the ambassador, there can you describe the climate in the U.N. now, for Israel as -- as ambassador, what are you hearing?

DANON: Well, a different U.N. You know, the U.N. was obsessed with this battle from the beginning. But now, it's a different atmosphere, very hostile environment.

And I was shocked. I was shocked that the U.N. was not able to condemn that terror of October 7 even once, not the Security Council, the General Assembly, I approached the Palestinian representative the other day and I demanded that he will condemn what Hamas did to us, and he was not willing to do it. And I told him if you don't condemn them, you belong to them. That's diplomatic terrorism. I hope it will change. I'm not sure it will.

I intend to fight for my country and to make sure that they will remember the hostages. We are in Gaza, not because we want to be there. We have no desire to be in Gaza or to be in a war. We are there because we were attacked and we have 109 hostages in the hands of Hamas. Once we will bring them back, there will be with some books for the future of Gaza.

SCIUTTO: Before we go, finally on the talks still underway, Secretary Blinken, when he was in Israel just a few days ago, said that this is the last best chance to reach such an agreement. I wonder if you agree that if no agreement is reached in the coming days, that perhaps the time has gone for -- for any deal for a ceasefire or return to the hostages.

But we appreciate the efforts of the U.S. to try to bring a deal to the table? You know, I don't think it will be the last because we will continue to do everything we can to bring back the hostages. Maybe it will involve another cycle but at the end of the day, we are committed to do everything in our power to bring the hostages back. But many times the Americans tried, they were very optimistic.

But I think, you know, the players in the Middle East are different. No one can understand exactly the (INAUDIBLE) terrorist actually thinks. He doesn't think about the people of Gaza. He doesn't think about the hostages. He has different motive. It's very hard to calculate what will happen in the near future with Hamas.

SCIUTTO: Ambassador Danny Danon, we appreciate you joining us this evening.

DANON: Thank you, Jim. Thank you very much.

SCIUTTO: Well, still ahead, NASA astronauts stranded in space now for another six months after issues with their Boeing spacecraft, we're going to be joined by Bill Nye to talk about all of this. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:28:21]

REID: Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will not be returning to Earth now until next February, and they will do so with rivals SpaceX. The Boeing test flight launched back in June on what was meant to be an eight day stay in space, but it's now turning into eight months. The spacecraft that took the astronauts to the space station will return, but without its crew after five of the Starliner's 28 reaction control thrusters quit working during the first stretch of the mission.

Joining me now is CEO of the Planetary Society, Bill Nye, also known as Bill Nye, the Science Guy.

Bill, you used to work at NASA. What do you make of today's announcement?

BILL NYE, CEO OF THE PLANETARY SOCIETY: I used to work at Boeing. Yeah, I did a little bit of work on the 747 Sophia telescope that's mounted on a special 747 airplanes a long time ago. And I -- the culture at Boeing must have been different.

This sort of thing did not go on. When I was there, not really, the sort of thing didn't happen. These problems with the 737 where they've moved headquarters from Seattle, first, to Chicago, then to the Washington, D.C. area, and then contracting other companies. I mean, with a very close relationship to make the fuselages and so on. It's just -- that was a different era.

But this spacecraft is built by different organizations within Boeing and everybody had high hopes for it. You know, the first contract was in 2014 and it's just now getting -- took people, gave people a ride as they say, to the space station, as these very subtle but important problems with the thrusters and a helium leak.

[19:30:18]

And so, this is just a really a serious problem and I'll tell you there'll be other missions that could go to the space station. There'll be other spaceflights that will happen, but it's reasonable that they don't want to do anything with -- NASA doesn't want to do anything -- I'm not kidding between now and the election. Don't shoot the messenger. It is very reasonable hypothesis.

REID: No, that seems reasonable. You certainly don't want to have anything going wrong, so close to an election with already under such scrutiny. But when the Starliner does come back without its crew, I mean, is there any value in that, the things that can still be learned?

NYE: Oh, yes. Oh, there'll be -- there's all sorts of sensors and still in guidance that has to be done from earth. We had an old joke about the new bomber that has a pilot and a pit bull and the pilot was there to watch the instruments and the dog was there to make sure he didn't touch anything.

They can bring this spacecraft back remotely, autonomously in many ways. But it's not the same as having people on board and as the saying goes, a test flight is not routine so things went wrong on this test flight, but it is another demerit, another dark spot for Boeing right now.

Now, we heard a lot today about the inherent risk of a spaceflight from NASA administrators. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: Spaceflight is risky even at its safest and even at its most routine and a test flight by nature is neither safe nor routine.

STEVE STICH, MANAGER, NASA COMMERCIAL CREW PROGRAM: It was just too much risk for the crew and so we decided to pursue the uncrewed test flight.

(END VIDEO CLIP) REID: But what I hear you saying is this is beyond just the normal risk and that this could damage the credibility of future Boeing missions.

NYE: Well, anything going wrong could damage credibility of whatever manufacturers involved. SpaceX has this remarkable record, they're close to a hundred spaceflight, a hundred launches year. And they've taken people -- they -- the company has taken people up and down with great success, remarkable success. But Boeing's is an old aerospace organization that has had a great success for almost a century.

And so, you would expect Boeing to be able to pull this off. It's much worse to have something go wrong than bring that thing down without people on board and then figure out how to get people back after the election. But you know, there's going to be at least one more test flight of this CST, the Starliner. There's got to be before they fly people again

And so, the cost is going to go up. Boeing signed a contract, but they're going to have to eat this cost. It's a big deal. But people talk about risk in spaceflight. Even when you're on orbit, as they say, even when you're in orbit, and everything's going smoothly, there is the risk of a fire on board or these micro meteorites causing great damage, it has been a subject in movies and so on.

And so, these men and women train and train for this, for these eventualities, but still the longer you are up there without the lifeboat, without the spacecraft waiting to bring you back to Earth, it is a risk, and as the saying goes, they packed for two weeks and now they're going to be there for eight months.

So, they're going to have to, I'm not joking, they have to find something to do and they will but it's not the most efficient scheme.

REID: Certainly not, an earlier guest said that NASA will be actually sending them more assignments. They will be doing more science experiments, something I'm sure you'll appreciate, Bill Nye, the science guy. Thank you so much for being with us.

NYE: Thank you.

REID: And still ahead, a CNN investigation into how Donald Trump's businesses are raking in millions of dollars from Republican political campaigns, including his own.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:39:27]

REID: Former President Trump ran his White House so differently than most others. And now following his presidency, he has created a system where politics and business have a very close relationship.

A CNN investigation shows Trump turning a personal profit from his supporters. Some Republican campaigns, including his own, as well as other political allies have spent millions at Trump's businesses. Here's CNN's Kyung Lah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My new book, "Save America" published by Winning Team Publishing is now available for order.

[19:40:02]

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In all the ways you already know former President Trump publicly makes money selling books and Bibles.

TRUMP: God bless the USA Bible.

LAH (voice over): Gold sneakers

TRUMP: That's the real deal.

LAH (voice over): And trading cards.

TRUMP: It's called the America first collection.

LAH (voice over): It's at Trump properties like Mar-a-Lago, Trump's opulent Florida home where Republican campaign dollars are pouring into Trump's own pocket.

More than 150 congressional candidates and political groups have spent millions at Trump properties and associated businesses.

According to a CNN analysis of federal campaign finance data with 2024 on track to be the biggest year of spending since 2016. The vast majority of the candidates are Republican and most endorsed by Trump.

BERNIE MORENO (R), OHIO SENATE CANDIDATE: A vote for Trump and Moreno is a vote to put America first.

LAH (voice over): A clear example is Ohio businessman, Bernie Moreno, a political novice who made his fortune selling luxury cars. The same month, Moreno announced his run for the US Senate last year, he spent $13,000.00 on event catering at Trump's Mar-a-Lago.

The same day one of the payments was made, Trump posted on Truth Social, "Moreno is a highly respected businessman who is thinking of running for the Senate." Trump endorsed Moreno months later, calling him a MAGA fighter.

Two days after the endorsement, Moreno spent $17,000.00 at Mar-a-Lago and a month later $80,000.00 more on a fund raiser at the private club attended by some in Trump's inner circle.

KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, MEDIA HOST, DONALD TRUMP JR.'S FIANCEE: We asked him to come here to Florida so we could bring him here to the president's home, so we could share him with you. LAH (voice over): Moreno is now locked in a competitive battle for Ohio's Senate seat with Trump by his side.

TRUMP: He's a hero, he's a winner.

KATHLEEN CLARK WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS LAW PROFESSOR: That coincidence of this significant spending nearly coinciding with the Trump endorsement doesn't prove beyond reasonable doubt that there has been a bribe.

That pattern does and should raise questions in the minds of voters about what's really going on here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The incredible Kari Lake.

KARI LAKE (R), ARIZONA SENATE CANDIDATE: I will do everything in my power to make sure this man gets back in the White House. We need him now more than ever.

LAH (voice over): Another Republican endorsed by Trump is also one of Mar-a-Lago's top political spenders. This year alone Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake's campaign spent more than $100,000.00 on lodging, catering and facility rentals.

Other top spenders at Trump properties include retired football star and former Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker. His campaign spent the most of any Congressional candidate in the last decade, nearly $215,000.00 at Mar-a-Lago. Trump's Golf Club in West Palm Beach and his Las Vegas hotel.

TRUMP: You know Herschel is not only a Georgia hero, he is an American legend.

LAH (voice over): Trump endorsed Walker who would go on to lose his race.

Political groups also drop big money at Trump's businesses. The RNC spending more than $2 million since 2016, but at that top spot by far is Donald Trump himself whose campaigns and associated political committees have funneled more than $28 million in political contributions to his businesses from renting his ballroom to his campaign to using election donations to pay for his private jet, Trump Force One.

Trump the candidate has been paying Trump the businessman.

DAN WEINER, BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE: It's not illegal. The law is that, candidates can spend money at their own businesses provided that the businesses provide really good services at a fair market rate, but it certainly raises at least an appearance of self feeling that is very concerning from a corruption standpoint.

LAH (voice over): In a statement, the Trump campaign told CNN these allegations are false adding, committees are paying the fair market rate for all venues and services. LAH (on camera): Spokespeople of Bernie Moreno and Herschel Walker did reply to our request for a comment and they say that the Mar-a-Lago fund raisers were wildly successful.

Walker adding that he and Trump have known each other for 40 years and his events had nothing to do with Trump's endorsement.

We did reach out to the Kari Lake campaign but did not hear back and it is important to note that despite the criticism you heard in our story, none of this is illegal.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REID: And still ahead, faith leaders in Georgia uniting in climate action, that story next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:49:24]

REID: The Biden White House allocated $370 billion to clean energy and climate two years ago with the Inflation Reduction Act. Since then, more than 750,000 families have used the new tax benefits to put up solar panels. But one of the groups might surprise you.

CNN's Elisa Raffa spoke with faith leaders, uniting in climate action.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice over): After noticing more of her patients dealing with the impacts of longer allergy seasons, more extreme heat, and increasing air pollution, Dr. Neha Pathak's search for prescriptions took her down a seemingly unconventional path.

DR. NEHA PATHAK, PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN: It can have a big impact on your own personal resilience. So, I really looked to my faith tradition to help bolster that resilience for me.

[19:50:12]

RAFFA (voice over): Through that search, this physician and practicing Hindu, found herself serving as a board member for Georgia Interfaith Power and Light.

Her work towards climate and spiritual solutions is more connected than you might think.

PATHAK: The first thing we do when we wake up in one of our prayers is to thank Mother Earth for allowing us to step on her all day long. When we take our first bite of food for the day, we thank Mother Earth for providing us this food.

RAFFA (voice over): As the board chair, Rabbi Laurence Rosenthal points out, the Bible has been talking about extreme weather for thousands of years with examples like Noah's Ark, plagues, and famine.

RABBI LAURENCE ROSENTHAL, SENIOR RABBI AHAVATH ACHIM SYNAGOGUE: When you read the book of Psalms, it does talk about the thunder, and the lightning, and the wind, and the storms, and the sea, and all that it's contained. And it really focuses on experiencing God through the environment.

RAFFA (voice over): While solar panels on the roof of this church may seem like an unlikely intersection between climate, religion, and politics, it's actually shining.

RAFFA (on camera): What are the benefits to our congregation getting solar panels?

ROSENTHAL: Well, you take yourself off the grid, so we're not continuing to burn coal. The other piece of it is to, in the long term, to lower some of the electrical costs that we have.

RAFFA (voice over): The Inflation Reduction Act is the most significant climate legislation Congress has ever passed, making religious institutions eligible for direct pay rebates for the first time.

A hundred and seventeen panels generate 440 watts of energy offsetting 26 percent of the electricity at this church's campus. That's something that's becoming more common, thanks to recent funding, from the Inflation Reduction Act.

Solar is the fastest growing renewable energy source up nearly eightfold in the last decade. One forecast shows the Inflation Reduction Act will lead to a 48 percent boost in solar deployment in the next 10 years.

In the two years since the new rebates, Georgia Interfaith Power and Light says it has seen a 50 percent increase in faith communities and rolling in their Solar Wise Program. When it comes to the climate crisis, these faith leaders agree the calling is clear.

PATHAK: We have the science. We understand why this is happening and now this faith piece is the reverence for the world around us. The moral call to do the work that aligns with the science.

RAFFA (on camera): Why are you as a rabbi so passionate about these environmental issues?

ROSENTHAL: If I ignore the environmental crisis that we are continuing to wade through. Then I'm not taking that chart seriously. I'm not caring for other human beings.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

RAFFA (on camera): The crossroads here between climate, religion, and politics just working so well. And historically, we don't really find that that's the case for topics like evolution and abortion, where that gets a little bit more complicated. Now, the White House has noticed that these religious organizations are really taking on the charge of climate action. John Podesta, senior advisor to Biden on this topic, telling CNN last week that these groups have been active voices in the climate debate.

They're on the frontlines of dealing with the effects of extreme weather because they are the ones that are in the disadvantaged communities.

And again, it's not just one religion, we are seeing multiple religions come together and show us that we are much more similar than we might think -- Paula.

REID: Elisa Raffa, thank you.

And today, a statue honoring the late civil rights icon and US Congressman John Lewis was unveiled in a town square in his former Georgia congressional district.

The new statue replaces a contentious Confederate monument that stood in the very same spot for more than a century. In 2020, it was taken down in the early morning before cheering crowds.

CNN's Ivan Rodriguez is in Decatur, Georgia with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For many people, this marks a new beginning and a signal of change. Behind me, you can see the bronze statue of late Congressman John Lewis with his hands over his heart, a gesture he frequently used to express his love for others.

And standing in front of the historic Decatur Courthouse in this district where Lewis served for 17 consecutive terms. Nearly two years ago, sculptor, Basel Watson was chosen to design and create this statue and the significance can't be understated.

Early on in the process, this memorial was billed as providing a symbol of inclusivity, equality, and justice to replace a Confederate monument, which was erected in the early 1900s to glorify this so- called lost cause.

Lewis, who was the son of sharecroppers, survived the brutal beating by police during the Landmark 1965 March in Selma, Alabama and went on to become a leader of the civil rights movement.

Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock spoke about that March in Selma and the impact it had on the country.

SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): Somehow, when he crossed that bridge by some stroke of grace mangled with human resilience. He crossed the bridge and built the bridge at the same time. And today, all of us are standing on the other side of that bridge.

[19:55:13] REP. NIKEMA WILLIAMS (D-GA): This statute today is a reminder of the courage and the love that it takes to face arrest dozens of times in the pursuit of dignity for human rights for all.

RODRIGUEZ: The monument that used to stand here was removed by order of a county judge after the city called it a threat to public safety. Crowds cheered while construction crews took it down and it was among those around the country that sparked protest over racial injustice after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police.

Now, this statue of the late congressman stands here as a reminder to all who come about his legacy that he left behind for the country but also here in the community he served for so many years.

Ivan Rodriguez, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REID: Thank you for joining me this evening, I'm Paula Reid, in for Jessica Dean. I'll see you again tomorrow night, starting at 5:00 PM Eastern.

HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:00:00]