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Harris And Trump Target Key Battleground Of Michigan; Interview With Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI); Leaked Documents Contain Israel's Plans To Attack Iran; Benjamin Netanyahu's Residence Targeted In Drone Attack; Trump & Harris Campaigns Hone In On Swing States As Race Enters Final Weeks; Trump Campaign In Talks With Nikki Haley To Have Her Join Him On Campaign Trail; Execution On Hold For TX Death Row Inmate In Shaken Baby Case; Cuba Hit By Second Nationwide Blackout In Two Days. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired October 19, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Vice President Kamala Harris faces voters and takes their most pressing questions live. Anderson Cooper moderates our presidential town with Harris Wednesday 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM with Jessica Dean starts right now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in Washington.

And with 17 days to go until election day, more than 11 million Americans have already cast their ballots with people turning out in record numbers in several key battleground states. Today two additional swing states open their polls, Nevada and Detroit in Michigan.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have been spending time in Michigan, both hoping to pick up the state's critical 15 electoral votes. Harris is appealing to working class voters in Detroit, telling them earlier today that Trump makes what she calls big promises, but that he fails to deliver, that he's one of the biggest losers of manufacturing jobs in American history. While Trump was in Detroit last night, he told a rally that Detroit's, quote, "real comeback" won't start unless he's reelected.

More than one million people have already lined up to vote early in Georgia. That is turnout that is absolutely smashing records. And that's where Vice President Harris is headed right now to a rally in Atlanta, where music superstar Usher is expected to join her on stage.

Our Eva McKend is joining us now.

Eva, what can we expect to hear from Harris tonight?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jess, what we're hearing from the vice president is her increasingly using the former president's own words against him, whether it is pointing to how he characterized his fellow Americans as the enemy from within or talking about how he described himself as a father of IVF, even though he of course was responsible for elevating the three conservative justices that led to Roe versus Wade being overturned.

They believed that this is an effective strategy especially to appeal to conservatives in states like this one. You have to remember, Jess, there are split ticket voters in Georgia. There are Republicans in Georgia that just have no appetite for supporting Donald Trump. Take a listen.

OK, it appears we don't have that soundbite but the vice president earlier today in Detroit, she said that the former president is exhibiting behavior that illustrates that he is unstable, unhinged, and unprepared to meet this moment. But listen, Jess, when I speak to Democrats here in this state, my sources here, they say that this moment, at this point in time in the campaign, it is all about boosting energy.

So that's why you're going to have Usher up on this page tonight. In addition, though, they've had other surrogates out on the campaign trail in Georgia as well with an event focused on black male turnout and also an event with black women talking about black maternal health and reproductive rights -- Jess.

DEAN: All right. Eva McKend for us there in Georgia where the vice president will be tonight. Thank you so much for that reporting.

Meantime, former president Donald Trump is headed to another critical battleground state with a rally planned tonight in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Last night in Detroit, he told his supporters to go ahead and vote early.

Steve Contorno is on the trail in Latrobe. He's joining us now.

And Steve, interesting to see how Trump has evolved on early voting and on mail-in voting. What can we expect to hear from him tonight?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely correct, Jessica.

Some of the signages people were entering today's rally said make a plan to vote, mail vote, absentee vote or early in-person. Obviously, three methods of voting that Donald Trump has spent the last four years criticizing and saying that he would get rid of if he is elected president, but now encouraging his voters to take advantage of those options. We'll have to see how he's able to coach them into doing that given the time he has spent criticizing those methods.

However, he's coming into tonight as well facing some criticism from Vice President Harris over some changes in his campaign schedule. He has cut several interviews that he was scheduled to appear at and vice president has insinuated that he is sort of running out of steam heading into the final stretch here. Trump defending himself and his schedule yesterday against those accusations. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What event have I cancelled? I haven't cancelled. She doesn't go to any events. She's a loser. She doesn't go to any events. She didn't even show up for the Catholics last night at the hotel. It was insulting. All they are, are soundbites. I've gone 48 days now without a rest and I've got that loser who doesn't have the energy of a rabbit.

[16:05:06]

Tell me when you've seen me take even a little bit of a rest. Not only am I not -- I'm not even tired. I'm really exhilarated. You know, why? We're killing her in the polls.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now today's rally is in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. It's a place where Trump won by a two-to-one margin four years ago, a place where he has to run up the score if he hopes to win again.

I have to say looking out at the crowd behind me right now, there is some empty seats there. It's pretty modestly filled out behind the risers as well. Not necessarily one of those, you know, rallies with thousands of thousands of people that we've seen him hold in the past. So there's still a couple of hours until he takes the stage which will be at about 6:00 tonight -- Jessica.

DEAN: Yes. Still a couple of hours to go there, Steve. I also want to ask you about Elon Musk, who of course is very much supporting the former president, has put a lot of money and time and resources into trying to get him elected specifically zeroing in on Pennsylvania. He's offering $100 to any registered Pennsylvania voter who signs his pro-Trump petition. What do you make and what kind of impact -- you're there on the ground -- is Elon Musk having as a surrogate?

CONTORNO: That's certainly going to be one of the great unknowns coming into this final stretch of the race is what kind of impact can Elon Musk have. As a surrogate, he's mostly repeating a lot of what we hear already from Donald Trump. In fact, and his most, his first event on the grounds, he repeated a lot of the election lies going back to 2020, some of them floating dangerously close to the accusations about Dominion voting machines that have gotten several news agencies into a lot of trouble and multimillion dollar defamation lawsuits.

But the potential impact for Elon Musk financial investment is what could ultimately make the difference. His super PAC has so far put in $100 million into this race, including $60 million on the ground game alone. That's in canvassing, get-out-the-vote operation.

Now, some Republicans are skeptical that Elon Musk has enough experience in this realm to make a difference. But that's a lot of money, Jessica, and any help down the stretch is going to make a huge difference.

DEAN: All right. Steve Contorno there in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, for us. Thank you so much for that.

And joining us now to discuss the latest in the race for the White House is Democratic Representative Debbie Dingell from Michigan.

Congresswoman, thanks so much for being here with us.

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): Thank you. It's good to see you.

DEAN: Yes. You too. I know early voting starting today in different parts of your state. So far more than a million absentee ballots have come in. Again, the early voting starting in person in Detroit today. What do you make of this as any sort of sign for how things are going in Michigan for Democrats, or is it too early to know.

DINGELL: Look, I continue to say neither candidate has won. I did not go to the Detroit rally today. I went to four other rallies so far today. And I'm going to tell you that (INAUDIBLE) here, and I have not seen a House of Labor rally like the one I did in my down river, which I talk about all the time as being my bellwether, larger turnout than I saw in 2016 or 2020. People talking, knowing the importance of telling the truth.

And after that, I went to the Black Trade Unionist and they had in energy and a spark that I hadn't heard. So we got a lot of work to do, we've got to roll up our sleeves. We know it's coming down to turning out every vote, but today made me feel better than I have felt in a while.

DEAN: And that's interesting you say that because my next question to you was, you very famously were trying to ring alarm bells for Democrats in 2016 that Hillary Clinton was in trouble in your state and you were trying to let them know about that. And it doesn't sound like at this moment in time, you have that exact concern. Is that right?

DINGELL: This is what I've told every rally I go to. In 2016 at this point I knew that Hillary Clinton was going to lose and told everybody. They were tired of hearing it. In 2020, I knew at this point that Joe Biden was going to win and today I know we still got work to do. But we know what that work is when you have six national union presidents at the same event traveling together, you know, that union presidents know they've got to educate their members.

We got, I mean, look, I'm not going to kid you. We have 17 days and 17 days of a lot of work but Donald Trump, people are paying attention to what Donald Trump is saying. He offended people when he insulted Detroit. He is rambling. He is seeing some really horrific things. And I think people are paying more attention. What I really want is for people to get to know the vice president. They need to let her do more retail events. They need to see the real Kamala Harris.

DEAN: And that's what we keep seeing bear out in a lot of this polling, too. And clearly you're getting it on the ground, which is that even at this point in the campaign, and let's put an asterisk by that because she got in very late.

[16:10:06]

We all lived through that, but that she's still in a way introducing herself to a lot of voters. And I'm curious what you -- I know you said more retail events, but what kind of messages, what more do you think people really want to hear from her?

DINGELL: Look, I want to see her in a union hall. I just want to see her that one on one. I know this woman, I have like we bonded when she first came to Washington because we were at something and we saw something that needed help. She took one look at me and say, you take this person. I'll take that person. And we worked together.

This is a woman with a heart and a soul, who cares, and is giving. Donald Trump is, I mean, I hate to say this because I'm trying to treat everybody with respect, but he can be crazy. He just goes -- he doesn't care about people. He's not going to fight for working men and women and that's what we got to get them to understand.

DEAN: There has been some concern, we just heard my colleague Steve Contorno talking about this, but there's also been some concern from Republicans about the Trump campaign's decision to outsource a lot of their ground game to outside groups. And again, because you're on the ground there in Michigan, because you're talking to people, what do you make of that from your vantage point right now?

DINGELL: So Michigan is a battleground state. I think they should be worried about some that they're seeing, though I suspect their ground game is a little better on battleground states than it is in some, but they're playing very dirty tricks. And I want people, who are watching this, to know that they are mailing -- it's one of the oldest tricks in the book, but are mailing, say, for instance, on the Mideast, mailing antisemitic pieces.

Muslim household pro-Israel pieces to Muslim households and people are catching on. It's backfiring. They are doing a lot of mail. I will tell you that, but we are educating people about the lies that are in that mail.

DEAN: And just lastly, just as you start to kind of think ahead to 17 days from now, where do you see Harris' most likely coalition forming there in Michigan? Do you think it's going to look like Joe Biden's?

DINGELL: I think she will have even stronger woman support right now. We're working to educate a lot of the male union workers. I think we've got to get those union workers in the halls. That's what I am very focused on. You know, people have been worried about young Africa-American males. They've had a lot of questions. They don't want to be taken for granted. There are a lot of people talking to them right now, and we're got to get young people out who are worried about the economy, the environment.

The issues they care about Donald Trump doesn't care about them. He doesn't care about their future. We have to energize them to know they need to have somebody who's going to care about their future.

DEAN: All right. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell from Michigan, thank you so much. We really appreciate your time.

DINGELL: Thank you. DEAN: Still ahead, the IDF is launching a fresh round of deadly

airstrikes in Gaza as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to push the war with Hamas forward. And who leaders in Cuba are blaming for back-to-back nationwide blackouts? More on that.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[16:17:56]

DEAN: Breaking news tonight as U.S. officials are investigating a U.S. intelligence about Israel's plans for an attack on Iran leaked online.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand is joining us now live from Rome. She's traveling with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Natasha, tell us more about what we know about this leak. It was first reported in Axios.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica. So this leak is what a U.S. official is calling deeply concerning. It is a leak of highly classified U.S. intelligence about Israel's plans for retaliation against Iran. And one of our sources did confirm these documents' authenticity. These documents are dated October 15th and 16th, and they are sourced to the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency as well as the National Security Agency.

And they're marked top secret and they have markings also indicating that they're only meant to be seen by just the U.S. and its Five Eyes allies, that's that intelligence sharing partnership between the U.S. and some of its closest allies. And what they described broadly are preparations that Israel appears to be making for a strike against Iran. And one of the documents says that the Israelis are preparing to strike Iran by, you know, moving different munitions around, by doing exercises with aircraft.

And so these are very, very sensitive, obviously, especially given the moment that we're in, the heightened tensions in the Middle East, and of course the fact that Israel clearly has been trying to keep its preparations for a potential strike on Iran in retaliation for that Iranian missile barrage on October 1st extremely quiet.

Now, we did reach out to the National Security Council for comment and they referred us to the intelligence community. The intelligence community understandably being very tight lipped about this, not confirming the authenticity of these documents. But of course, officials told us that one of the key things that investigations are focusing in on right now is just who had access to these documents.

That is going to be very important, but also key to remember that the U.S. still does not know for sure whether this was a leak or whether it was a hack because recall Iran has been involved in acts of U.S. persons previously, including as recently as this year with a hack on the Trump campaign -- Jessica.

[16:20:08]

DEAN: All right. Natasha Bertrand with that breaking news from Rome. Thank you so much for that reporting, Natasha.

Also today Israel has launched a new round of airstrikes. One of those strikes in central Gaza reportedly killing 11 members of the same family. And not too far away Gaza Civil Defense official saying an Israeli strike targeted a school where displaced people were sheltering. This comes as the U.N. says, 20,000 Palestinians are fleeing northern Gaza as the Israeli military operation intensifies.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vowing that a drone attack on his home was, quote, "a bitter mistake." Netanyahu was not home. No one was injured.

I want to go now to CNN chief global affairs correspondent Matthew Chance, who is joining us now live from Tel Aviv.

Matthew, walk us through what more we're learning about this drone attack targeting Netanyahu's house.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so this was a drone attack that the Israeli military said was launched from inside Lebanon across the border into Israel and targeted, they say, the home of Benjamin Netanyahu and his family in Caesarea, which is a town in central -- the central area of Israel. It's not clear whether it hit the home. Apparently it damaged some building in the area. But no one inside, you know, Benjamin Netanyahu's house was injured.

The Israeli prime minister and his wife were not there apparently at the time. But as you might imagine, it's provoked a furious reaction from the Israeli prime minister who called it an assassination attempt. He said he would not be deterred and that Israel would not be deterred from continuing what he called his war of revival in Lebanon and elsewhere. He blamed the perpetrators of the drone attack on agents of Iran inside Lebanon, the Shia Hezbollah militia.

And so that was who he pointed the finger of blame at understandably. But, you know, again, no injuries, but yet another sort of escalation or at least an illustration, that is the word I was looking for, that these drone attacks, despite the aerial defenses that Israel has, can on occasion still penetrate and find their way through -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Matthew Chance for us in Tel Aviv. Thank you so much for that reporting.

I want to go now to CNN political and global affairs analyst Barak Ravid, who is joining us now.

And Barak, you have that new reporting we're just talking about with Natasha Bertrand about the leak of this U.S. intelligence on Israel's plans of their potential attack on Iran. Walk us through what you've learned in that.

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I think the most interesting part, Jessica, with this leak is how it leaked and where it was published. And it was published in a Telegram channel that is affiliated with Iran. When you look at this Telegram channel, it is called the Middle East Spectator. You see that most of the content is pro-Iranian content.

And a Twitter account that is affiliated with this Telegram account says that it is located in Iran. And this places in my opinion significant concerns that there is a spy inside the U.S. intelligence community that is feeding Iran with highly classified intelligence from inside the U.S. intelligence community. And it is clear that whoever leaked this information and the Telegram Channel that published it that the goal was to try and disrupt what is expected to be quite significant Israeli strike against Iran.

DEAN: And is there any indication, Barak, at this point that will be effective in doing that?

RAVID: I don't think so. I heard from both Israeli and U.S. officials that there's no change in the Israeli plans. I think, you know, we will see that in the next few days, but it is clear that somebody in Iran and somebody inside the U.S. intelligence community may be in cahoots tried to disrupt this attack.

DEAN: Right, and of course that presents a lot of questions. I also want to ask you just more generally about the current state of affairs because following Sinwar's death, there has been a feeling, especially from U.S. officials, that this could be the opening to potentially an end of the war in Gaza. How do you see that playing out?

Have we lost Barak? I think we unfortunately have lost Barak Ravid, who we appreciate so much for joining us.

[16:25:03]

We'll try to get him back. But in the meantime -- oh, I think we do have Barak back. Let's see if we got him.

RAVID: Yes.

Barak, can you hear me OK?

RAVID: I lost you for a second there. I can hear you.

DEAN: OK. You're back. Thanks for hanging in. I just was asking you about this idea, especially from U.S. officials that Sinwar's death could be this opening to end the war in Gaza. And I want -- I was curious how you've seen that play out, that idea? How is that playing out now several days later?

RAVID: Well, it's definitely a great idea and it's definitely an opportunity because, you know, this is a major shift when the mastermind of the October 7th and the Hamas leader is not on the battlefield anymore. But from here to a hostage and ceasefire deal, there's a long way, and I think that at the moment, at least I do not feel that there's maturity either on Hamas side or the Israeli side to go for such a deal. And, by the way, the United States, which is the main party here that

can put a bridging proposal on the table, still hasn't done it. I know that U.S. officials are thinking about it. They're still hesitating. Secretary of State Blinken will be in the region on Tuesday. He'll go to Israel. He'll go to Egypt. He'll go to Qatar. But the question is whether President Biden will put something on the table now, to try and push the parties back to the negotiation table.

DEAN: And in that same vein, our colleague Matthew Chance has reported that Sinwar's body could essentially be used as a bargaining chip in exchange for the Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza. What do you make of that?

RAVID: It's definitely possible but again I think we're looking at a much I think specific question here. Because Hamas's position hasn't changed and it still demands that any hostage deal will lead sooner or later to the end of the war and Prime Minister Netanyahu, on the other hand, said very clearly, just the other day, that he's not going to end the war. That this war is going to end only with the destruction of Hamas. So there's a pretty big gap here that I don't see how it is bridgeable in diplomatic negotiations.

DEAN: All right. Barak Ravid, as always, thank you so much for your analysis. We appreciate it.

RAVID: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: And we'll be right back.

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[16:32:00]

DEAN: A little more than two weeks until Election Day, early voting is underway in many states, including critical battleground states like Arizona and Georgia.

And as of today, more than 11 million ballots have already been cast across the country as Harris and Trump campaign to the finish line.

Let's get more now with Toluse Olorunnnipa, the White House bureau chief for "The Washington Post."

Toluse, good to see you.

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, WHITE HOUSE BUREAU CHIEF, "THE WASHINGTON POST": It's great to be here.

DEAN: Yes. I want to start, first, there's so many things - there's 17 days left. But I want to start first with this reporting that the Trump campaign is in talks with former rival Nikki Haley to join him on the trail. We don't know yet if she'll agree to that.

I am curious, just based on your reporting, if you think that she could be an important surrogate, an effective surrogate for him. She did appear with him or appear at the RNC this summer and made a big pitch for him. What do you think her impact could be?

OLORUNNIPA: Well, this slice of voters, the people who voted for Nikki Haley in the primaries, are being hardly fought over both by both campaigns.

But it seems like, publicly, Kamala Harris can -- Kamala Harris' campaign is doing more to court these voters, to tell them that they have a place in her party, to tell them they have a place in the kind of government that she would run. She's had Liz Cheney out on the trail for her.

Donald Trump, on the other hand, has not been making this public according -- of this slice of voters who are very important. They're the kind of voters that vote in the suburbs.

They're the kind of voters that are voting in the outskirts of Detroit and Pennsylvania -- in Philadelphia and places where this race could be won.

And the fact that Nikki Haley has not really appeared for Donald Trump's since the RNC convention several months ago, is a clear sign that the Trump campaign has not been making the public overtures to these voters that Kamala Harris has been doing.

And that could be determinative in this case. So I'm not surprised that now, in this final stage of the race where it's incredibly close, Trump is looking for votes anywhere he can get them, that he would be willing to speak with Haley and appear with her, even though they've had this bitter rivalry over the past several months.

It's clear that he's trying to supercharge his campaign with the kind of votes that he has not been catering to so far. And it could be an important moment.

But it may be too little too late, in part, because Kamala Harris has been courting these voters for several weeks. She's had Liz Cheney and other Republicans speaking out on her behalf.

And it's been clear that she wants to publicly make the case that those votes voters should be with her while Trump has made the case publicly that he doesn't need them.

DEAN: And it is kind of interesting to think about this. You mentioned Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who, of course, is not only supporting Harris, but has been on the campaign trail with her, and is going to continue to be on the campaign trail with her.

Especially on Monday -- on Monday and a number of the all -- actually of the blue wall states.

And you think about just the fact that it was such a bitter -- bitter rivalry between Nikki Haley and Donald Trump in that primary that so many of those Haley voters that you would talk to who had such distaste for Trump.

[16:35:08] And you see validators, like Liz Cheney, who were teaming up with

Harris do wonder who they might be more willing to listen to.

OLORUNNIPA: It is. And it's also important to remember that a number of those Nikki Haley voters continue to vote for her months after she dropped out of the race, when she was no longer really even a candidate in the primary.

She dropped out. She said that she was not going to continue her campaign and those voters still said that they would not vote for Trump, who, at that point, was the only real viable candidate in the Republican primary.

So these are people who are not just going to fall in line behind Trump because he's a Republican. They have already said that they are willing to look at other options, that they want to send a protest signal with their vote for Nikki Haley after she had dropped out.

And those are the kinds of voters that Kamala Harris and her campaign are hoping will power her to victory.

And so the fact that Trump has not really been catering to these voters in a public way over the past several months is an opening for the Kamala Harris campaign.

Now some of these voters do not like parts of Kamala Harris' record. They do not like the Biden administration's actions over the past four years. And so it's not going to be an easy vote for them to vote for Kamala Harris for a number of them.

But the fact that Liz Cheney and a number of other Republicans have come out to support of Kamala Harris and giving some of these voters a permission slip to vote for a Democrat, in some cases, for the first time.

Now, what Nikki Haley could be doing by appearing alongside Trump in this final stage of the race is giving her permission slip to other people who are saying, I don't like Trump, I don't like his personality, but I support Nikki Haley.

And if she's with him, if she has been able to put bury the hatchet and say that he's the kind of person that could be in the Oval Office again, then I also could consider that.

It may be a small number of votes but, in a very close race, that could change the outcome.

DEAN: Right, when it's one on the margins like that, it's certainly could just make all of the difference.

Toluse Olorunnnipa, thank you so much for being here with us. It's always great to chat with you.

OLORUNNIPA: Thank you.

DEAN: And when we come back, what's next for the Texas man whose execution was halted after a last-minute appeal as his lawyer there's an advocate to find to overturn his 20-year-old conviction.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[16:41:42]

DEAN: A Texas death row inmate is expected to testify before lawmakers on Monday after the state Supreme Court stepped in at the last minute halting his execution.

Robert Roberson was set to be executed for the death of his 2-year-old daughter in 2002 based on a disputed diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.

I want to bring in CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, Joey Jackson.

Joey, great to see you.

Tell us what we can expect from Mondays hearing and what kind of impact it might have.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Jessica, this is pretty unique because you have a bipartisan group of state legislatures, Republicans and Democrats, who are calling this conviction into question.

And what the hearing is largely based on as a 2013 law in Texas that says that, hey, if you're conviction was predicated upon medical and forensic testimony that has since been discredited, you should have a new avenue of appeal.

Now, they call this the Junk Science Law, and I think most people, pretty much universally in medical community, would say baby -- shaken baby syndrome is not junk science.

That's not what the legislature is saying. They're saying that there have been significant improvement in terms of not misdiagnosing it. Could there have been at the time that this occurred, his trial back in 2003, a misdiagnosis?

The baby was sickly, the baby was prescribed medications that are not now prescribed to babies. Could that have impaired her lungs such that it led to the swollen brain? Could things have happened in the emergency room that led to the bleeding?

So there'll be a lot of focus on alternatives theories with respect to how she actually died, which would point away from the father being responsible.

And, ultimately, the legislature is seeking by subpoenaing him to point all this out and to have the public -- it get into the sphere of the public and, in essence, do justice to determine whether it was him who killed his daughter or were there alternative explanations for the death. DEAN: Yes, and within a matter of days, last week, several mass last- minute appeals by Roberson's team were denied, including by the U.S. Supreme Court.

So where do we go from here in terms of legal options?

JACKSON: You know, Jessica, it's an open question and there's really two schools of thought, right? As you look there the House committee, the injunction, meaning stopping it at least for the moment, the court staying the execution in the final hours.

But the two schools of thought are this. On the one hand, the avenues had been exhausted as it relates to whether he should be put to death, right? The Supreme Court not getting involved, this Texas state court saying you're going to be put to death.

But on the other hand, remember what has happened here, that this bipartisan group of legislators, and the reason he's still alive is because they issued a subpoena.

And they said you can't put him to death, the legislature said. He has to come before our committee. And not until or unless he answers those questions should he be then sentenced or put to death.

And so that school of thought would suggest that there will be real litigation over whether this committee has the authority to continue to bring him back until they unearth the question and really get to the core issues of whether his death -- sentence of death is proper and appropriate.

So it could lead to ongoing litigation, saying, hey, we're the legislature, we are a co-equal branch of government between you, judicial branch, and you, Mr. Abbott, governor.

And until we really convene and do our due diligence as a legislature, he's not going anywhere. And the hope with that is that would lead to an influence of public opinion such that people would say justice is not being served. maybe everyone should give this a second look.

[16:45:10]

Stop, halt it, and let's re-examine whether death would be appropriate in this circumstance.

DEAN: It's interesting that even the former detective on the case believes Roberson is innocent. Protesters outside the courthouse last week.

There's clearly a lot of public outcry. How much influence though does it have?

JACKSON: You know, Jessica, I would argue it has significant influence. At the end of the day, I think everyone wants justice. Yes, there are laws that need to be followed. Yes, the death penalty is appropriate penalty in Texas. Having said that, there are really issues of whether or not his death

and being put to death are appropriate and just under the circumstances.

I think the more eyeballs that get to look on this and the more people that say, hey, wait a minute, was there a misdiagnosis here? Is there an innocent explanation because of the two-year old dying?

Did the fact that she fell off the bed and hit her head have something to do with it? Did the fact that she was prescribed medications that are no longer prescribed have something to do with it?

Did the fact that he had autism, such that his demeanor, an effect, right, when he was getting our help, they we're saying, the medical professionals, he seemed like he didn't care. No, he had an issue and a problem.

I think ultimately, the more people that see this in the more outcry there is, politicians by nature are prone to look and examine public opinion.

We've seen that before very briefly in connection with the Menendez case, right? That's something that's going on now. You remember they were sentenced to the death and the killing of both of their parents.

Right now, that's being re-examined. Why do I bring that up? Because of the public pressure that's brought to bear. Because people saying, hey, maybe what they did was justified under the circumstances and at least, if not justified, it could be reexamined.

And so, in essence, I think the more eyes that look at this, the more people that see this as unfair and inappropriate, should be reexamined, I think the better off it is for the person now who sits on death row.

So, yes, I think public opinion will have a lot to do with it. And that, I think, is what the legislature is looking to do in having this hearing convened on Monday.

DEAN: All right. Joey Jackson, as always, thank you very much.

We've got more news when we come back.

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[16:51:45]

DEAN: Happening now, Cuba is suffering it's second nationwide blackout in just two days and millions have been left without electricity, without running water as the island struggles with aging and poorly maintained infrastructure.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann is joining us now live from Havana.

Patrick, what is the latest? Any idea on how long this will continue? PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I wish I knew. We hear about pockets of neighborhoods, not full neighborhoods, pockets of neighborhoods where energy is briefly restored, they lose it.

And so that is the concern is that even when officials we're able to get a small areas online, they're not able to maintain those areas because there simply is just not enough ability to generate power on this island at this point.

So the majority of 10 million Cuban now going into day two are offline, don't have power, and are increasingly frustrated.

We went by several bakeries in the city, the only places we could really find that we're selling bread and food. And people were calm until people came out from these government-run bakeries and said the bread was all gone.

And some people got very upset because they'd been in line for an hour or two, understandably, were mad that they we're not able to get bread.

So as this crisis goes on longer and longer, this is really the issue, is that it becomes a domino effect that sort of brings to light, you know, the generator here acting up, being apart part of the story unfortunately.

But as I was saying, as this goes on, longer and longer, peoples food starts to spoil, you cannot get water in your house if there are no pumps bring it to your house.

And so this is already gone on too long. But as we go into perhaps day three or longer, you wonder how people are going to be able to feed themselves or be able to have water.

And it just becomes more and more complicated. People have kept calm up until now. The government has told them, asked him to keep calm, but that can only last for so long.

Obviously, people need that power as soon as possible, and it's worrying to see, in hotels, in hospitals, at the airport, power disruptions there as some of the generators beginning to run out of fuel.

DEAN: All right, Patrick Oppmann there, thank you so much for bringing that to us. We really appreciate it.

American foreign policy could, of course, take starkly different directions depending on how the presidential race goes. Will the U.S. keep its longtime friends and allies or turn away from them and focus inward?

CNN's Fareed Zackaria explores these questions and the history that brought us to this moment in his latest in-depth special, "America First."

Here's a preview. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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FAREED ZAKARIA, ANCHOR, "FAREED ZAKARIA, GPS (voice-over): Tens of millions dead.

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ZAKARIA: Cities reduced to rubble.

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ZAKARIA: An entire continent in ruins. Europe after World War II was a hellscape, decimated by yet another great power conflict that had spiraled out of control.

The United States had been drawn into it at a cost of nearly half a million American lives. Yet, even after the Second World War, there were many Republicans who still believed in America First and that the nation's wisest course was to turn inward.

[16:55:15]

It took a World War II hero to inspire an about face in the party, General Dwight David Eisenhower.

(MUSIC)

ZAKARIA: He believed that America's enormous sacrifices could not be allowed to have been made in vain. So he campaigned for a fledgling alliance called NATO and lead Republicans away from isolationism for the rest of the 20th century.

This is the little-told story of how a general became a reluctant politician when the world and America needed him most.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Be sure to tune in for "AMERICA FIRST," a Fareed Zakaria special airing tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

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