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Two Killed After Hydrogen Sulfide Leak At Texas Oil Refinery; 1 Killed, 23 Tourists Rescued After An Elevator Malfunctioned In A Colorado Gold Mine; Harris Campaigns "Souls To The Polls" Initiative Kicks Off Sunday; "TV On The Edge: Kanye Breaks The Telethon" Airs Sunday At 9P ET/PT. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 11, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: -- in Deer Park, Texas, just southeast of Houston through that energy corridor. That is one of the most prominent energy corridors in the country. This chemical leak happening just before 5:00 yesterday afternoon. Two people killed, 35 people had to be treated for their exposure to this chemical leak as well.

And it caused a shelter in place order to be sent throughout the city that lasted several hours. Officials say that air monitoring tests that were done throughout the evening showed that there were no toxic levels of this chemical in the air. So after that, the shelter in place order was lifted. But very intense moments inside that chemical plant where dozens of first responders descended there on the scene to handle the situation.

This is what the mayor of Deer Park had to say late last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JERRY MOUTON, DEER PARK, TEXAS: We are at this moment lifting the shelter in place in the city of Deer Park. We have a confirmation from our air monitoring sources that there's been no detectable or reportable narratives. With that said, we do know there's still going to be some remnants of odor in the air that our constituents will be smelling at times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: This hydrogen sulfide is colorless, but it is, as you heard the mayor there reference, it definitely has a pungent odor to it. So that might be detected throughout the day today.

As of last night, the sheriff there in Harris County also says that crews had not been able to reach the exact location where this chemical leak happened. So we're still waiting on word as to whether or not those crews have been able to make it in there, and no cause yet as to what caused this chemical leak. Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: There's a lot more information that they need to figure out, that's for sure. Ed, thank you so much for the latest reporting on that one.

John?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: All right, breaking overnight, 23 people were rescued from a Colorado mine, after an elevator malfunction left one person dead and trapped hundreds of feet underground. Let's get right to CNN's Lucy Kafanov in Cripple Creek with the latest from there. Good morning, Lucy.

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, John. I mean, look, for some of us, the idea of being underground in a tight mineshaft is scary enough on a good day. But for the 12 people who were trapped for at least six hours last night, this was a truly harrowing, terrifying ordeal. This was all after an elevator malfunction or an equipment malfunction left one person dead.

By 8:00 p.m. yesterday evening, all of them were above ground. They were given pizza, that's what they ask for. They were safe and in good spirit, according to the sheriff. And as one official put it, this was basically a big, happy ending to an otherwise tragic day.

All of these events began to unfold at around noon. That's when the sheriff perceived information about a mineshaft cage elevator. And you can sort of see that white structure behind me, that goes down 1,000 feet below ground. That was the mineshaft cage elevator.

There's two groups in the mine. One of them was trapped inside that elevator, 500 feet below the surface. We know that the death occurred within that group which also included 11 people, two children. They were brought to the surface pretty much immediately for injuries.

The dead body, the deceased person's body was also recovered in that group and brought up. No information on how the death exactly occurred, but officials did describe it as a, quote, "tragic accident."

We do know that the other group was stocked all the way at the bottom of 1,000 feet down. And just for some context, this is not an actively working mine. This is a historic mine. Tourists can, you know, take an hour long tour down there.

They can see how, you know, mining worked in the gold rush and they have to take this two-minute right in this really tightly packed elevator to get down to the bottom. When they were stuck there, officials didn't know how they can get them up because they weren't sure that the elevator was safe. They thought they might have to use ropes.

But just for context, 1,000 feet down. I mean, that is nearly the height of the Empire State Building. That is why it took so long to determine that the elevator was safe to pull them back up. Those folks didn't know that the death occurred until they got up to the surface. But the sheriff tearing up when he talked about the emotional impact for all of those after this experience.

Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

SHERIFF JASON MIKESELL, TELLER COUNTY, COLORADO: And it really is a big concern of ours to make sure everybody is -- especially at a traumatic situation like this with children. You know, it's one of those things. You tear up a little bit when you're dealing with kids that have to go through these types of things. I'll tell you, that's one of the things that tugs my heartstrings. But they're safe and, you know, that's all we can hope for right now.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

KAFANOV: And John, right now, the investigation is about to begin to determine the exact nature in which this death occurred and how to prevent something like this from happening in the future. This tour was one of the last ones for the season.

This Sunday was actually supposed to be the last day. Obviously this mine shut until they can determine what went wrong. John?

[09:35:06]

BERMAN: It had to be so terrifying for those people trapped underground for so long. But for all of them who got out, it's got to be hard to learn that one person died.

Lucy Kafanov, thank you very, very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Kamala Harris kicking off a new effort this weekend to turn out black church goers in battleground states. What is the pitch?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:04]

BERMAN: All right, happening now. Just moments ago, the Harris campaign released new details of a new initiatives to partner with black faith leaders to try to shore up support from black voters, "Souls to the Polls," at it has long been called. And this comes as former President Obama made a surprisingly blunt appeal to black men who may be hesitant to support Vice President Harris.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You're thinking about sitting out or even supporting somebody who has a history of denigrating you? Because you think that's a sign of strength, because that's what being a man is? Putting women down? That's not acceptable.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BERMAN: All right. With us now is Congressman Steve Horsford, a Democrat from Nevada. He is also the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Congressman, thank you so much for being with us.

President Obama was really blunt, surprisingly blunt, about his concerns that there might be some softness among black men in terms of their support for Vice President Harris. What explanations are you hearing among black men about why they might be hesitant?

REP. STEVEN HORSFORD (D), CHAIR, CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS: Well, thank you so much for having me. Good morning from the great state of Nevada. While some folks who aren't voting may have excuses, most of the black men that I talked to are really just looking for questions. That's why the Vice President and Democrats up and down the battle -- up and down the ballot are doing everything necessary to reach voters, black men included exactly where they are to earn their vote, to make sure that they understand our voice in this process in this upcoming election now in less than 30 days.

And that is why we're excited to launch "Souls to the Polls" this Sunday, October 13th. And this is an all-out effort in the battleground states with national leaders, faith leaders, the Congressional Black Caucus, elected officials, both the state and local level to ensure that we reach voters and turn them out by Election Day.

BERMAN: You mentioned excuses. Some might be looking for excuses. What do you mean by that?

HORSFORD: Well, that was the term that was used. And, again, I'm more focused on making sure that people understand our power in this upcoming election. Look, this this election is about choices. One that's represented by Vice President Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, who want to move us forward or Donald Trump, who wants to take us back.

One that is offered by the Vice President that is about our economic opportunity and actually advancing work, wages and wealth or Donald Trump, who wants to give more tax break to the very wealthy and then cut benefits for everyday working people, including seniors for Medicare and Social Security.

We have Vice President Kamala Harris, who is about fundamentally protecting our freedoms, our rights and our opportunities and Donald Trump who wants to take them away based on Project 2025. And so those are the choices.

And people actually have the power to determine our future and it starts by voting early, and making sure that all of our friends are voting and that's why this "Souls to the Polls" initiative led by the Harris-Walz campaign is so important because we have to reach people where they are. We have to earn their vote.

Look, this election is going to be close and every vote matters. And that means we have to ensure that every single person knows their power and that we get out and we vote.

BERMAN: Look, if you look at polls, all the polls seem to show that Donald Trump has increased his support among black voters certainly since 2016 and also from 2020 as well. Why do you think that is?

HORSFORD: Well, what's also included in the fact is that black voters overwhelmingly determine every election and have overwhelmingly supported candidates who share our values. In this, there is no question that Kamala Harris shares our values. She is someone who has fought for those values every single day.

As Vice President, former United States Senator, Attorney General, she's put people over politics. She's ensured that consumers have been protected by taking on big corporations that were gouging homeowners, after the foreclosure crisis.

[09:45:06]

She has ensured that we took on big pharma and capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month, and now expanding those benefits to more individuals and capping it at $2,000 for all medications for seniors. She will continue to do that as president of the United States.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has told us what he would do with Project 2025, and that is to roll back our rights, to defund the Department of Education, to eliminate benefits for veterans, and to take us back to a period of time that we don't want to go back to.

We want to move forward. It's time to turn the page on Donald Trump and elect Kamala Harris and a new path forward for America.

BERMAN: Congressman Steven Horsford from Nevada. If Jon Ralston is watching Nevada, you matter a lot in this election. Thank you so much for being with us this morning.

All right, interesting. This morning we're getting word that the Harris campaign is releasing an ad targeting Green Party candidate Jill Stein. So what's this about? Why are they doing this with just a few weeks before the election?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:50:50]

BOLDUAN: This Sunday, a brand new episode of CNN's original series, "TV on the Edge," this time tackling a defining moment in American culture in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. When Kanye West, you probably remember, called out then-President George W. Bush on live TV for the administration's response to that disaster, West going off the cuff, saying on live TV, quote, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

Sara Sidner had a conversation about that moment with podcast host Rachel Lindsay. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It was like we didn't count. It was like black life didn't matter at all.

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: After Kanye said it, this was a lot of people's faces, because it felt like he said the quiet part out loud.

MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, AMERICAN ACADEMIC AND AUTHOT: Kanye West is speaking a sentiment that many African American people have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fortunately, whether you like it or not, there are a lot of people that believe that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think that, like, the president and a lot of the leaders don't care about black people?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do. Bush already, we know, I don't like to say that word, but don't care for the colored people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do remember feeling like, somebody said.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought as American citizens, the government was supposed to help you out and a statement from Kanye West or what I was watching on TV or the way we were being depicted in the media showed me a different reality that I became in tune with. And the next time I had an awakening like that, I didn't have it again until Trayvon Martin.

SARA SIDNER, CNN HOST: All right, joining us now to discuss the young woman you saw there has a very great podcast called, "Higher Learning," Rachel Lindsay is with us now. This really changed you personally.

RACHEL LINDSAY, CO-HOST, HIGHER LEARNING PODCAST: Yes.

SIDNER: But it changed the country as well.

LINDSAY: Yes.

SIDNER: Talk a little bit about how it affected you personally and how you saw it sort of morph the way that people talk about race in this country.

LINDSAY: Yes, it's -- we have those moments that we watched on television where they just really shook us and constantly as you're watching this episode, I say it was an awakening for me. I remember where I was 2005, August 29th, 2005. I was in college. I was kind of living in a bubble.

Little, you know, naive, kind of a bit of a privileged life and watching that moment, it stopped me in my tracks. It shook me. It was a conversation that we were having. I don't know -- I didn't have any connection to New Orleans. But being in college, I have friends in -- from New Orleans.

I saw the pain. I saw the hurt. I was angry. I was confused. I felt helpless. And it was at that moment, I said, I need to do something to help them. How can I help them? And it just put me on this path of knowing who I am in this country, knowing what I represent, knowing how I'm seen and maybe I -- maybe had romanticized the way that, you know, black people or maybe poor people have been seen in this country before. But that moment shook me and it gave me a very harsh reality of who we are in this country. SIDNER: And this was back before, you know, the twitters --

LINDSAY: Right.

SIDNER: -- and the social media. So all of us kind of had a similar viewing experience.

LINDSAY: Yes.

SIDNER: We may not have taken away the same things. We have a similar viewing experience. How do you think socially and culturally this changed us after those moments and particularly the moment where Kanye West went off script, everyone was like, what just happened?

LINDSAY: Yes.

SIDNER: Did we just say that? Because people didn't talk about presidents like that at all.

LINDSAY: No.

SIDNER: They do now.

LINDSAY: No.

SIDNER: But they didn't talk about presidents like that.

LINDSAY: We live in a different society now. Like, at that moment, someone like Kanye West, a rising star, held the government's feet to the fire. He demanded accountability. He demanded respect. And it was very empowering and courageous to sit there and watch that moment.

And it made all of us want to be that. It's almost 20 years since Hurricane Katrina happened. And to see the progression of Kanye West is something that myself or no one I think could have predicted would happen for what he represented and the pillar that he was in the community in that moment to where he is now.

I mean, you see in this episode that there were shirts made that said Kanye West was right. You can't wear those anymore because he has offended so many groups of people.

SIDNER: Neo Nazis have used that very statement from Kanye West.

[09:55:02]

LINDSAY: Yes. Who could have imagined that? And so for someone who planted a seed in so many people and gave them their voice, gave them their courage to speak out and represent themselves in a way, is now someone that you don't even want to be connected to.

It's truly sad and I miss the Kanye of 2005 and hopefully he finds his way back. But I love that this episode addresses all of that.

(END VIDEOCLIP) BOLDUAN: The all new episode of "TV on the Edge: Kanye Breaks the Telethon" airs this Sunday night at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

BERMAN: You know, I felt like Sara did like a whole week's worth of work right there in that one segment.

BOLDUAN: We got her for one moment this week.

BERMAN: I think it was like a whole week. She poured all of her heart and soul into that one thing. So really it was OK that she wasn't here for the rest of the week (ph).

BOLDUAN: No, it's never OK she's not here.

BERMAN: No. She will be back though.

BOLDUAN: Thanks so much for joining us. This is CNN News Central. Have a good weekend. Newsroom's up next.

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