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Hurricane Helene Kills 89, Leaves Southeastern U.S. In Devastation; Public Emergency Declared For North Carolina, Florida And Georgia; Israel-Hezbollah War Intensifies; Israel Launches Airstrikes In Al Hudaydah; Harris Leads Trump In Polls; Harris And Walz Continue To Campaign; Port Workers Strike Looms; Jimmy Carter Turns 100 Years Old; Union City Raises Support For Harris; SNL Returns. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired September 29, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Hi. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Jessica Dean in Washington alongside my colleague Jim Sciutto in Tel Aviv. We have breaking news in the Middle East. We're going to go to Jim in just a moment.

We're also following breaking news here in the U.S. and we'll begin in the southeast where the death toll from Helene has just taken a dramatic jump from 64 to 89 confirmed dead. Thirty of those deaths coming in Buncombe County, North Carolina, where Asheville is located.

We're told whole towns are underwater. Rescue efforts are underway. About 2.5 million people are still without power across five different states as downed trees, landslides and communication issues persist. CNN's Ivan Rodriguez has more on Helene's widespread destruction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Communities in the southeast are grappling with widespread devastation after Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Thursday. Asheville, North Carolina is experiencing the worst of it as entire communities have been trapped by floodwaters.

MIKE CAYSE, CITY OF ASHEVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT: We've lost communications capabilities. It's very difficult for us to move around the community. Many, many of the roads are closed, trees are down, we're clearing those as quick as we can and a lot of the critical infrastructure that we become used to every day in normal times is now gone and we have to work around it.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): Hundreds of roads remain closed in western North Carolina Sunday. Crews are working to reach people who are trapped with limited supplies.

CAYSE: Our biggest need right now is to take care of the people that live in this community. We need water desperately. We have yet to receive any water.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): Millions of people remain without power across several states, including Tennessee where dozens had to be rescued from floodwaters on a rooftop of a hospital.

BILL LEE, GOVERNOR OF TENNESSEE: I've never seen a hurricane disaster in Tennessee that has looked like this, not in the years that I've been here.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): In Florida, where Helene made landfall, communities were wiped out from storm surge and strong winds. Countless residents are displaced. Boiled water notices are in place in multiple counties.

RON DESANTIS, GOVERNORN OF FLORIDA: We've got a couple things to remedy, but then it's mostly going to be the homes and the businesses and fixing that.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): In Keaton Beach, Florida, I'm Ivan Rodriguez reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Let's go now to North Carolina where scores of people remain unaccounted for at this hour. CNN's Rafael Romo is joining us live near Biltmore Village in Asheville. And Rafael, so many people wondering how the recovery efforts are going right now, and I know we've heard you talking about people who are still unaccounted for, people trying to get in touch with people to make sure they're okay.

RAFALE ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right, Jessica. And if you remember, we were talking about how yesterday officials here in Buncombe County were saying that there were as many as 60 people unaccounted for. Today, they're telling us that 30 people have died. They have updated that figure in the last hour. Thirty people have died here in Buncombe County where Asheville is located.

That brings the total to 36 in the state of North Carolina in 89 in the entire southeast as a result of a tropical storm, Hurricane Helene, which hit this area on Friday. Now, we are located -- right behind me is Biltmore Avenue. It's one of the hardest hit areas here in this town. And that gives you an idea. When you look at the mud and the debris covering the road, the kind of challenge that state officials are facing right now. It's very difficult to navigate through those roads.

[17:04:57]

And I can tell you, we've been trying to get to different places ourselves, and it's been very challenging. That's why Governor Roy Cooper says that in many instances, what they have had to do is airlift a lot of the supplies to reach those communities in need. They have set up a system by which they bring most of the supplies here to Asheville, and then they try to get a way to find a way to the mountain communities around this area. If there's no way of getting there then they airlift those supplies.

They have also opened mass feeding sites that are now available for people and the governor said that he understands the plight of people, what people are going through, he knows that they're desperate and he wanted to reassure them that state officials are everything they do to bring some relief. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY COOPER, GOVERNOR OF NORTH CAROLINA: People are desperate for help and we are pushing to get it to them. A massive effort. Many people are cut off because roads are impassable. They don't have power or communications. Please know that we are sending resources.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: State officials were saying yesterday that as many as 400 roads were impassable for different reasons, even flooded, some of them had been just completely destroyed. Today that figure has gone down to 280. So a little bit of good news there, Jessica, when it comes to the situation here on the ground. But again, very, very sad of the news that we heard last hour, 30 people dead here in Buncombe County. Now back to you.

DEAN: All right, Rafael Romo, thank you for that reporting. And a short time ago, the Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency for North Carolina, Florida and Georgia. Joining us now former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. He's now the chief emergency management officer for One Concern. Craig, thanks so much for being here with us.

CRAIG FUGATE, FORMER FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: So many communities have been devastated by this storm are continuing to live through that right now. As someone who has seen a lot of disasters and disaster zones. As you watch these videos and hear this reporting, what are the biggest challenges you can identify as they begin these recovery efforts and the rebuilding and the cleanup?

FUGATE: Well, it's going to be the road network, as the governor said, it's just hard to get supplies in. You can fly some stuff in, but that won't sustain large areas. So getting roads open, doing emergency repairs is something I know that their Department of Transportation is working on. And President Biden's made the declaration to turn on all of the federal assistance.

FEMA is supporting the governor and those teams. But this, this impact and you have to go back to probably 1969 when Hurricane Camille did similar levels of damage in Virginia to understand the power these storms can have once they move inland.

DEAN: And we know FEMA is sending bottles of water to western North Carolina. We've heard from one official not too long ago saying that they are facing clean water shortages in some places. Those are the type of real issues that are popping up that can really, really impact people. How will people be able to get those much needed supplies and do you anticipate that that will continue to be a need for days to come?

FUGATE: Well, North Carolina, some of the other states actually had supplies on their own, FEMA's backstopping that. So the problem is getting it to where it's needed. And that's to a large degree, areas that are cut off, bridges that are gone, and trying to locate where people are at. But the first priority is still search and rescue.

So I think this is -- you got to put this in context that while there are people moving to those more immediate needs, a lot of effort is still on searching and trying to locate people, particularly those that may be trapped. And then as you start getting into these water missions and dealing with feeding, a lot of this will be determined by how long does it take to get water systems back up?

And as you've heard and seen from reports, some of these systems have been destroyed or heavily damaged. So you're talking days to weeks just to get those systems up. So this will not be. a short response on the water emission and others. This is probably going to be going on for weeks in some of these areas that are hard hit.

DEAN: And we know that FEMA is working with those local and state authorities, help people understand how those different layers of government in a situation like this, how do they work together? What is FEMA focused on that maybe the state and local authorities are doing something else? How does it get delegated?

FUGATE: Well, the first thing is FEMA sends their folks into the State Immersion Operations Centers. And ideally, we're not really looking at this as each level of government trying to figure things out. They're working as one team. Where FEMA is really focused is on the state's unmet needs, resources they may need from everybody from the Army Corps of Engineers to those supplies that are needed in those states.

[17:10:01]

But FEMA will also be looking at what long-term recovery looks like. How many homes have been destroyed? What is housing going to look like? You know, a lot of the programs that FEMA will do will be based upon the availability of hotels and motels. Well, there's parts of these areas that's not going to be an option. So looking at the temporary housing mission, you know, whether they need to bring in, you know, trailers to provide longer term housing.

And then the issue of, you know, permanent work to rebuild. And the key thing here is to make sure that as we're rebuilding from these disasters, we're not just putting it back the way it was. We're building it back better and stronger because, unfortunately, these extreme rainfall events, whether it's a tropical system or not, are increasing in frequency and we really need to consider, are we building for the future or only the past?

DEAN: And I also just lastly want to ask you about communication because cell phone service, we know, was knocked out from the storm. People are having a very hard time communicating, much less, just to tell people they're okay, much less to have all of the officials and people trying to get to them and rescue them being able to communicate with one another. What is your best recommendation if somebody out there is trying to hear from a loved one and can't get them? What do you recommend they do and what kind of challenge does that present? FUGATE: Well, the communications being out and you can't reach

somebody doesn't necessarily mean the worst has happened. So, first thing I tell people is, although we know we have lost lives, we generally see more people that are missing or unaccounted for because of communications.

I don't want people to lose hope. The second thing is, as those services come up, you'll start getting better communication, but for the people in the area, probably their best source of information is still gonna be radio. Radio stations that are broadcasting to get information in the areas.

Each state has different ways to get into their systems and say, hey, I got family missing, identify that. So I would recommend looking at those state emergency management websites on how you can get information in there that you're missing somebody and see if there's any information on them. But it's hard to say patience, but I also will tell you that in many of these disasters, it is the lack of communications that leads people to worry that in many cases, people are okay, they're just cut off.

And so I just want people to, you know, you hear these big numbers about people being missing and you can't make contact, don't assume the worst. In many cases, as communication comes up, we'll be reuniting families.

DEAN: Yeah, we hope we hope that is the case and I think(inaudible) it's a good message. Don't lose hope. Craig Fugate, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.

FUGATE: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: You're in the "CNN Newsroom" and President Biden saying an all- out war in the Middle East must be avoided as Israel continues to strike Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen. We've got details on that ahead.

Also Vice President Harris is in battleground Nevada today as former President Trump attacks her mental acuity.

And later, when "Saturday Night Live" went on its summer hiatus, President Biden was still in the race. So much has changed this summer, and the comedians didn't hold back in their season premiere. We're going to have some highlights. That's next.

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[17:15:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I'm Jim Sciutto live in Tel Aviv, Israel. The world is watching as tensions here in the region remain critically high. Israel and Hezbollah again trading fire across Lebanon's border, though Israeli strikes inside Lebanon far more numerous. Lebanese health officials say at least 58 people were killed in Israeli strikes just today. And there's this, Israel carrying out airstrikes on Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen. The IDF says a power station and a seaport with an oil pipeline were

hit there. Ben Wedeman joins us now and first on the situation in Beirut. I know as we've been speaking you say these strikes have become more sporadic in recent hours, but it's been quite a few days there.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They've been sporadic on the southern suburbs of Beirut today, but what we've seen in the Beqaa Valley and southern Lebanon, that they've been very intense. In fact, just to update you, the Ministry of Health is just giving new numbers of the fatalities. They're now approaching 80 for this day alone.

Now, at the moment, I'm hearing an Israeli drone overhead, which has become pretty constant over the Lebanese capital. And of course, they're clearly keeping a very close eye on the southern suburbs. Now today, Hezbollah came out and announced that two more of their senior commanders have been killed. One, Ali Karki, who was responsible for the southern front, in other words, the border with Israel, and Nabil Kaouk, who is the head of preventative security and also a member of Hezbollah's leadership council.

And also, we heard from a Lebanese security source, Jim, that the body of Nasrallah has been found at that site where six buildings were flattened. However, we still don't know when or where or if a public funeral for him will be held. Jim?

[17:20:04]

SCIUTTO: Our Ben Wedeman in Beirut, and now to the other front of this expanding war, that one inside Yemen and I'm joined now by CNN's Nic Robertson who went on a flight today with the Israeli military, the Israeli Air Force I should say, to Yemen. Tell us what you saw.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, this was an IDF embed, allowed to be there, not allowed to take a camera with us, so did not have our own video footage on board this aircraft. But what we were able to see was how they are operating on these long range missions. This mission today to strike Hudaydah involved a number of air to air refueling aircraft and that's what we were on board one of, and topping up the F-35 fighter jets all the way as they were en route flying on their path towards Hudaydah.

SCIUTTO: And it's a vision into the difference between striking Yemen and striking Lebanon, because Israeli warplanes can strike Lebanon in a flight that lasts minutes. Yemen is a much longer flight of hundreds of miles that requires that refueling and therefore is a much more elaborate operation, I imagine.

ROBERTSON: Much more elaborate, much more sophisticated, 1200 miles. This by the way I was told was the second longest mission that the Israeli Air Force has ever conducted like this since 1985 when they struck targets in Libya. Now, of course, they fly these aircraft at further distances, but this was the longest combat mission that they've been on and what the message was here other than what they targeted on the ground there, the power station, the other Houthi- controlled facilities in the Port City of Hudaydah, was to show exactly what the prime minister has been saying, that the enemies that strike out and hit Israel, we can reach you wherever you are.

SCIUTTO: Yeah.

ROBERTSON: That was the message. That was the message of how they have the ability to use these fuel tankers to get their fighter jets on station. The reason they did it now was because just yesterday the Houthis fired another ballistic missile at the center of Israel and they claim that they had fired it at Ben Gurion Airport when the prime minister was just landing on the tarmac.

SCIUTTO: Wow. That's quite a message of its own. I wonder, is that message about the range of Israeli air force operations not just intended for the Houthis in Yemen, but also for Iran.

ROBERTSON: It's exactly what I was told. Not just for the Houthis, they're for Iran, for Iran to say that Israel is willing and ready and able to reach out and of course what the IDF explain and say is that the Houthis are only able to launch these missiles because they are being brought in by the Iranians because they're Iranian-backed and the place that they're bringing them in or one of the places they bring them in is the port city of Hudaydah, which is one of the reasons why they were targeting the Houthi control part of it.

I asked them, you know, what do you do about civilians? And they said that's part of the sophistication of this mission, is you time it right to the minute, to the second even, to try to reduce the possibility of civilian casualties on the ground. They say you cannot always mitigate against that, but they take precautions they told me, you know, if they see civilians there or if they see for example shipping close by to where they're targeting.

They say that they wouldn't strike. So it's a very important question, I think, to be asking the IDF at the moment about civilian casualties because it's -- because the high casualty toll in Gaza, the high casualty toll that we're seeing inside of Lebanon.

SCIUTTO: A whole new bar has been set for civilian casualties. And we see, for instance, in Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon that there are times when certain precautions are taken and times when they're not. For instance, there were warnings that went out prior to Israeli airstrikes on weapons depots. Of course, there was no warning prior to the strike that ended up killing Nasrallah. I imagine in that point; secrecy outweighed the risk of civilian deaths.

ROBERTSON: And that is, you know, something that was explained to me that you know there are there are targets like that where they would describe it as, you know, the golden information, the information comes in that he's in -- that a high-value target is in that place says a whole different calculation of a situation like Yemen today.

I was told that if there had been a very high risk of civilian or other casualties that --

SCIUTTO: They would pull back. ROBERTSON: They would have pulled back.

SCIUTT: Nic Robertson, fascinating access, thanks so much. And we'll be right back with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:00]

DEAN: Some new polling giving us additional insight into how two critical voting groups are leaning ahead of the election. A new NBC Telemundo CNBC poll shows Vice President Harris with a 14-point lead over Trump among likely Latino voters. Harris getting 54 percent in that poll while Trump has 40 percent. Meantime, a new CNN poll also showing Harris leading with voters age 65 and older.

She currently has a four-point advantage over Trump with senior voters. If she holds that support through the election, Harris would be the first Democrat to carry voters age 65 and older since Al Gore in 2000.

And that new polling coming as Vice President Harris is campaigning out west today. She's holding a fundraiser in California before heading to a Las Vegas rally in the battleground state of Nevada that's set for later tonight.

[17:29:59]

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is joining us now from Las Vegas. And Priscilla, what more are you learning about the focus for Harris when she gets there to Nevada?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN REPORTER: Jessica, I've been speaking with Harris campaign officials who tell me that what they're seeing on the ground here is that there are three particular issues that are top of mind for voters: the economy, housing, and reproductive rights. So, all of those three will be themes throughout the course of the vice president's remarks at her rally here tonight.

But this is also an opportunity, one that the campaign sees, to try to shore up support with Latino voters. As you mentioned there, the vice president has a lead on her Republican rival, Donald Trump, among that electorate, a growing electorate, but when you break it down, she has an advantage with women, Hispanic women, but it's pretty even with Hispanic men, and taken in totality, it still lags behind other Democratic nominees.

So, this is an area of focus for the Harris campaign to try to gain some ground with these Latino voters, including with her stop here in the critical swing state of Nevada. Now, of course, this is going to conclude her West Coast swing. Earlier, on Friday, she was in Arizona where she talked about border security, and then she has spent the weekend in California where she has participated in two fundraisers. She is currently at one now before she comes down here for this rally.

Now, the rest of the week is going to look like a focus on the blue wall, and she will be returning to Pennsylvania as well because as the campaign has looked at multiple pathways to hit those 270 electoral votes, Pennsylvania is always key to that strategy. So, the campaign clearly ramping up their travel and getting more aggressive ahead of Election Day and the vice president concluding her West Coast swing for now with this rally tonight here in Las Vegas.

DEAN: And meantime, Priscilla, we look ahead to Tuesday. What do we know about that vice-presidential debate and how governor Tim Walz is preparing for that?

ALVAREZ: Well, the Harris advisors that I've spoken with say that they really want his likeability to shine through. Of course, that was something the vice president gravitated toward when she was selecting who her vice-presidential nominee would be.

Now, they are also aware that J.D. Vance is a practiced debater and sources tell CNN that Walz is nervous and fighting nerves because of the pressure, because ultimately, this could very well be the last debate of this election because, so far, the former president has not committed to debating the vice president a second time.

So, this is going to be a key moment and one where advisors are also preparing Tim Walz to focus on the former president, tying J.D. Vance and painting him as just as much as a risk as the former president over the course of this 90-minute debate, but ultimately, they do want to have his personality come through the way that they have seen on the road. Jessica?

DEAN: All right, Priscilla Alvarez for us there in Las Vegas, thanks so much for that reporting. And just a reminder to tune in to CNN as Tim Walz and J.D. Vance come face to face for their one and only debate. a CNN special event, the vice-presidential debate simulcast airs live Tuesday at 9 p.m. Eastern right here CNN.

Up next, a historic birthday milestone. Former President Jimmy Carter turning 100 this week. We're going to speak with the Carter Center CEO on plans to celebrate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: A looming walkout at U.S. ports from Maine to Texas threatens to become the most disruptive strike to the U.S. economy in decades. Longshore workers at East and Gulf Coast ports are set to walk off the job Tuesday if they cannot reach a deal with the major shipping lines, potentially crippling 14 ports. A strike of this kind could slow down the flow of many imported goods, including bananas, cars, alcohol.

CNN's Camila Bernal is at the Port of Los Angeles. Camila, this could be a big deal. Walk us through what kind of impact it could have.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jessica, it could have a huge impact, and the question here then becomes how long would the strike go on for because right now, the union is saying that they will go on strike.

But depending on how long this last, then you begin to see a lot of these impacts on a lot of things that you purchase daily. You mentioned some of them like the fruits, like the bananas and the cherries and the chocolate, but also clothing and household items. You also have European alcohol and European cars that go through these ports. So, what happens there is that you have a shortage. Once you have a shortage, then the prices go up, and that's when you begin to see that impact on the U.S. economy.

So, on one side of the negotiations is the union. So, the International Longshoremen's Association or the ILA, they say they represent about 85,000 union members. Of that, about 50,000 will be included in this contract. But they say that about only 25,000 jobs are available. So, they're already saying there are not enough jobs.

And according to a person familiar with these negotiations, what they're asking for is a $5 an hour increase every year of the contract. They say if you talk to these union leaders, they will say that they have seen the profits of the industry and they have not seen it reflected on their paychecks. They say they earn billions of dollars for the employers, and they want to see that in the contract.

[17:40:00]

Now on the other hand, you have the employers who say that these demands are unreasonable. The United States Maritime Alliance or the USMX, what they're saying is that they want to return to in-person negotiations to try to talk through all of these points, and a person familiar with the negotiations saying that they have offered upwards of 40% increases in those wages over the 60-year contract but, again, they have not been able to come to the table, which is why we anticipate that strike beginning early Tuesday morning.

And in the meantime, you have retailers and people involved in all of this, nervous about what could happen and how long this could last. The National Retail Federation saying that just one day of these ports being shut down could mean that it takes about five days to recover. So again, this is a long-term problem if this strike goes on for multiple days or even weeks, Jessica.

DEAN: Absolutely. All right, Camila Bernal with the latest there from the Port of Los Angeles, thank you so much. And we'll be right back.

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[17:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Former President Jimmy Carter will turn 100 years old this Tuesday, and people in his hometown of Plains, Georgia yesterday celebrated the milestone at the annual Peanut Festival there. Carter is the oldest living former president and has lived longer than any president in American history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JILL STUCKEY, SUPERINTENDENT, JIMMY CARTER NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK: All of us that live here and know the town have always known President Carter. Everybody is just thrilled that our favorite citizen is going to be turning 100 years old.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Paige Alexander, chief executive officer of the Carter Center in Atlanta, is joining us now live. Paige, thanks so much for being here with us. This is an incredible milestone, and I know this celebration has been in the making for quite some time. First, just tell us how President Carter is doing and will he be able to take part in these celebrations?

PAIGE ALEXANDER, CEO, THE CARTER CENTER: I think his centennial birthday, he's taking part in just by being present. So, he is age- appropriate for 100 years old, and he is very excited to know that people are still thinking about him and talking about him in such a way that it really brings forward his legacy.

DEAN: And what is that legacy? What are you all focusing on? And what -- what do you want people to know on his 100th birthday?

ALEXANDER: You know, when people think about the president of the United States, they think about somebody who was in public service. And in reality, he only spent eight years as governor and as president of the United States, but he spent 40 years working to set up the Carter Center and being a humanitarian and a global citizen.

And so, what we want people to think about is his integrity, his moral goodness, what he put out in the world and how he was the same person at 30 as he was at 50 as he was at 90, really just giving back and serving the public and recognizing that all people are equal.

DEAN: And I do think it's so telling and perfect that it -- where he began in Plains, Georgia, they're also here on his 100th birthday, that he is -- he's back there and that there was a celebration. Can you tell us about kind of what has been leading up to this moment?

ALEXANDER: Sure. Well, President Carter really enjoyed all different types of music. He had a very eclectic taste and CDs that he still has on his desk here at the Carter Center. And the idea was for us to put together a concert.

So, people who really loved and cared about him from, you know, from Carlene Carter to the B-52s to BeBe Winans, all the folks who really felt that he made a difference in their life, they performed on September 17th, that has sold out Fox Theater Show, and it will be aired on his birthday on Georgia public broadcasting at 7:00.

And so, I think, you know, using music to celebrate his 100 years and everything that he felt that did to bring people together, that's just one element. There's a digital mosaic on our website that people can upload pictures and memories and thoughts about President Carter. And the museum is going to be open on his birthday, first to have 100 sent admissions to show a hundred portraits of Jimmy Carter and gifts that were given to him at the White House. So, everything we're doing is really to celebrate all 100 years of his life.

DEAN: And President Carter has said he does have something still on his bucket list. He wanted to make it to his 100th birthday and vote in this upcoming presidential election for Vice President Harris. Will he be talking or will he be giving out any statements about encouraging others to vote? Of course, you're in Georgia, a key battleground state in this race.

ALEXANDER: Well, I think the Carter Center has worked on over 124 elections in different countries. So, election integrity and the right to vote and citizens participation is a big part of what the Carter Center does, and I think President Carter is living up to that. He has -- he has voted absentee for the last several years, and he will be doing that on October 15th when the -- when early voting begins here in Georgia.

DEAN: It'll be right around the corner. Well, a very happy birthday to President Carter. Page Alexander, thank you so much.

[17:50:00]

ALEXANDER: Thank you.

DEAN: It has been a shocking few months of political news. And until last night, "Saturday Night Live" has been on summer hiatus for all of it. And now, they're back. We'll have more on that just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Former President Donald Trump is campaigning in the battleground state of Pennsylvania today, and he gave a preview about his return to Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of his first assassination attempt back in July.

[17:55:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going back to Butler.

(APPLAUSE)

You're going to be there. We're going back. We have a lot of people coming, and I really believe that will be the safest place on earth. And also, I think I'll start this speech by saying, as I was saying --

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: The former president also criticized Vice President Harris on immigration and repeated false attacks about her mental acuity. And just 20 miles away from Trump's campaign rally, a small republican-leaning town in Erie County is raising support for Kamala Harris. CNN's Phil Mattingly has more on why that area is trending blue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY CHELTON, VOLUNTEER, COUNTY LINE DEMOCRATS: This is a red town.

(LAUGHTER)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Union City, Pennsylvania is Trump country.

UNKNOWN: Trump!

MATTINGLY (voice-over): But these days, the GOP stronghold in the corner of the critical swing state battleground of Erie County is home to an increasingly vocal --

UNKNOWN: Kamala, Kamala, Kamala.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): It outnumber group of Kamala Harris supporters. Dan Gourley is a third-generation dairy farmer who volunteers at the local democratic headquarters.

DAN GOURLEY, FARMER: There's a lot of support for this. When we started this four years ago, I mean, people actually laughed and were like, seriously, Democrats in Union City?

MATTINGLY (voice-over): But Erie is a county that has proven the old adage that every vote matter is undeniably true, like when Donald Trump blew up two plus decades of democratic dominance in 2016, only to see Joe Biden wrestle it back to blue in 2020 each by the absolute narrowest of margins. That's when Gourley first got involved in politics after then President Trump's trade war with China hit his bottom line hard.

GOURLEY: The markets I lost personally, it averaged about $350 to $70,000 a year for four years running. Well roughly a quarter million dollars that I lost under Donald Trump.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Even though farmers bore the brunt of China's retaliatory terrorists targeting U.S. agriculture and food products to the tune of billions, Gourley says he has struggled to convince many Trump-supporting farmers in the area to acknowledge how the former president's policies affected their business.

But that didn't mean he wouldn't try enlisting a makeshift team of like-minded residents to hit the phones, enlist volunteers and hand out signs, turning the idea of a local democratic headquarters from a joke into a reality, right next door to the opposition.

CHELTON: In 2020, things got pretty rowdy around here with the Trump supporters and the Biden supporters. MATTINGLY (VOICE-OVER): Union City still win for then President Trump, two to one in 2020, but the national democratic enthusiasm that sparked with Harris's ascension to the top of the ticket has reignited this cycle's efforts. The county line Dems say they can barely keep up with the demand for voter registration forms and for Vice President Harris's campaign signs.

CHELTON: We took some old Biden-Harris signs. We cut Biden off. And we started out hot gluing them. We were hot gluing them and then stapling them and putting them back down on the wires.

GOURLEY: Probably time to get back out.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): While Gourley tries his own, we'll call them alternative methods to chip away at the margins.

UNKNOWN: Vote for Harris!

MATTINGLY (voice-over): To swing Union City voters blue, one driver at a time, in a county and a state with the power to determine the outcome of the 2024 election.

UNKNOWN: A lot of horns bowing and a lot of thumbs up and a bunch of thumbs down and fingers up.

(LAUGHTER)

But that's okay. It's going to be good.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

All right, Phil Mattingly, thanks for that. "Saturday Night Live" kicking off its 50th season with Maya Rudolph reviving her role as "fun aunt" Kamala Harris. Comedian Jim Gaffigan joining SNL alum. Andy Samberg and Dana Carvey to portray other notable figures from this year's race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYA RUDOLPH, ACTRESS: My campaign is like the Sabrina Carpenter song, "Espresso."

(LAUGHTER)

The lyrics are vague, but the vibe slaps.

(LAUGHTER)

UNKNOWN: Folks, I haven't been this excited since I got a 10% rebate on a leaf blower from Menards.

(LAUGHTER)

UNKNOWN: I, for one, can't wait to decorate the White House for Christmas.

(LAUGHTER)

The theme will be Hanukkah.

(LAUGHTER)

UNKNOWN: They say that me blaming the Democrats for inciting violence is the pot calling the kettle black. But frankly, I didn't know the kettle was black until very recently. I thought the kettle was Indian.

(LAUGHTER)

UNKNOWN: And guess what? And by the way --

(LAUGHTER)

-- in fact, the matter is, no joke, this is serious, right now. This is serious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Oh, man, we're just five weeks out from Election Day. We've got more SNL coming our way.

[18:00:01]

Just 38 days now before Election Day. How about that? That's going to do it for this edition of "CNN Newsroom." Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Jessica Dean. Stay with CNN. Our coverage continues with Jim Sciutto and Kaitlan Collins. Have a great night.