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One World with Zain Asher

At Least 16 People Dead From Powerful Hurricane; Human-Caused Climate Change Fuels More Intense Storms; President Biden Condemns Misinformation On Cleanup; USAID: Up To 2.5 Million People In Lebanon Need "Urgent" Food Aid; Trump Compares Detroit To A "Developing Nation"; Obama Begins Campaign Sprint For Harris In Pennsylvania; One Person Dead, 23 Others Rescued From Tourist Attraction; Northern Lights Dazzle During Solar Storm; Aired 12-1p ET

Aired October 11, 2024 - 12:00:00   ET

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

[12:00:53]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: Milton's wake. This hour, Floridians are picking up the pieces.

Hidden dangers and deadly risks. Florida authorities warn of downed power lines as rescue efforts continue.

Also ahead, six hours underground. The urgent effort to help a group of tourists in a gold mine.

And later, the beautiful images you've just got to see. Take a look at this. The Northern Lights put on quite a show around the world.

Hello everyone. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga. You are watching ONE WORLD.

Wrecked homes and wrecked lives in Florida at this hour as millions of people try to pick up the pieces from Hurricane Milton. The dangerous storm

is responsible for the deaths of at least 16 people now, and more than 2.5 million households are still without power. Water rescues are still ongoing

from heavy flooding.

This comes as Florida's East Coast got hit with at least nine tornadoes and emergency responders in just one area. Had to cope with 900 calls for help

in just 90 minutes time.

Some of the people we've talked to say they still can't believe what they're seeing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was absolutely devastating. Only because we just went through Ian and the same exact thing happened with the tornadoes.

So to see the -- and it actually ripped the concrete right out of the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never, never have I experienced --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- damage or the amount of tornadoes that came to this area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it was the most frightening thing I've ever lived through.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just don't want people to have to come back to this. What a shame. I prayed to God Mother Nature would save us and preserve us,

but none of us were killed. Nobody died.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: And this boat captain was found clinging to a cooler. The storm had disabled his fishing boat off the west coast of Florida.

And in the Tampa area, rescuers saved a young boy surrounded by flood waters. He was one of more than 200 people rescued in the area.

CNN's Isabel Rosales is in Hillsborough County, one of the hardest hit where she's been covering those ongoing water rescues. And she joins us now

live. What have you been seeing today, Isabel?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bianna, it's an incredibly active scene out here in Valrico. This is south in Hillsborough County. Or take a look

right over here. All of that torrential rainfall from Hurricane Milton is leading to devastation even days later.

The river, a nearby river out the Alafia River overflowing and now leading to this entire community being underwater. This is a gas station and you

see this, this airboat right here, these trash bags. Those are people's belongings. This is the only way they're getting around by kayak, by

airboat, going into their homes, picking up what they can, tossing them in trash bags and coming back here to dry land.

I want to introduce you to how neighbors are helping out neighbors. This is Cindy Evers (ph). Cindy, thank you so much for speaking with us.

CINDY EVERS, FLORIDIAN HELPING NEIGHBORS: Yes.

ROSALES: Can you walk me over there, what you've got over there and tell me --

EVERS: Sure.

ROSALES: -- what you're doing?

EVERS: Do you want to see the nitty-gritties?

ROSALES: Yes.

EVERS: We have baby chickens.

ROSALES: Yes. So, Bianna, this is an animal rescuer coming out here. And as people are bringing their chicks.

EVERS: Here we have baby chickens.

ROSALES: Make sure they don't escape. And then actually, pick the camera -- pick the camera right over here to the left. And you can see -- you could

see -- you can see a pig. That you guys have pig.

What else have you rescued?

EVERS: A donkey, goats. We're -- we just got cleared by the county commissioner. We can actually go in now and get the dogs and cats and there

are some horses back there. Whatever needs to be rescued.

What are you seeing, Cindy, out there?

EVERS: Oh, my gosh. Again, just devastation. People that was told that it was OK to come back to their homes after they had flee. Now, they're back

home and now they're losing their homes, they're losing everything, just heartbreaking.

[12:05:08]

ROSALES: You're in nearby Lithia, I mean, these are still your neighbors.

EVERS: Yes, yes. We're all -- we're all connected in some way.

ROSALES: And we know that by the Alafia River it floods, that's normal, but this is not something they've seen before.

EVERS: No, no. This is nothing. I've been in this area for 60 years and never seen anything like this.

ROSALES: Cindy, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it.

EVERS: Yes. Thank you.

ROSALES: And, Bianna, I'll leave you with this. I mean, it's incredible to see the resiliency of this community, neighbors helping out neighbors

letting each other borrow boats and kayaks. And this is the way that they're going to find their next steps, getting out what they can.

Sheltering at a nearby elementary, staying with family with friends and until they can figure out how to -- how to turn the page on this.

GOLODRYGA: And being grateful for citizens like Cindy there, a good neighbor who has gone out of her way to travel to help rescue animals and

help out locals there any way she can.

And once again reiterating that as a Floridian, she's never seen a storm in its aftermath quite as intense as this.

Isabel Rosales, thank you so much.

Well, insurance companies could face upwards of $50 billion in claims for the devastation caused by Hurricane Milton, that's according to Fitch

Ratings.

And CNN's Bill Weir finds that most climate scientists point to climate change as the factor that's fueling intense storms like Milton. He visited

a flood ravaged community where right now the future seems uncertain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As earth overheats, these are the kinds of storms that take lives and livelihoods.

But as families, real and private grief, it's the material loss that is so obvious everywhere in Pinellas County, from the tower construction crane

that crashed down on neighboring buildings, to Tropicana Field peeled like an orange by Milton's winds.

The Tampa Bay Rays already have plans in the works to build a new stadium with taxpayers kicking in hundreds of millions of dollars. But what happens

now is anyone's guess, especially after the loss of entire neighborhoods, retirees and working class American dreamers.

SANDY DAUGHTRY, PINELLAS COUNTY RESIDENT: I'm just really concerned for all these people. It's just devastating. It's like World War III or something,

you know?

WEIR (voice-over): Sandy Daughtry hid in a closet during landfall and the day after, rides her bike through the mingled wreckage of back to back

hurricanes, praying for neighbors she knows now have nothing.

WEIR: Long after all of these pieces of people's lives have been picked up, what will remain in Florida is a massive insurance crisis.

In just the last couple years, dozens of different carriers have gone insolvent or stopped accepting new customers or been placed on state watch

lists.

So, as a result, flood insurance for a home like this can be over $20,000 a year, way more than the mortgage. So most of these families had no coverage

at all. And so many folks are uninsured, right?

DAUGHTRY: Yes, yes. I know. That's why I just like it breaks my heart. I'm riding through here just like my heart is just shattered. I just can't even

-- it's just unbelievable, really.

WEIR: What do you think becomes of communities like this?

DAUGHTRY: I don't know. I really don't. I'm hearing a lot of people saying they're going to leave the state and head back up north, but I don't -- I

don't know if that'll happen, you know, maybe a mass exodus or something.

WEIR: Do you connect any, all of this, to a changing climate, a warmer planet?

DAUGHTRY: You know, I don't -- I'm not sure. I couldn't answer -- I can't really answer that.

WEIR: Really?

DAUGHTRY: I just -- maybe it's just 100 year cycle or, you know, some kind of a cycle that we go through.

WEIR: Even though all the scientists are telling you, this is what climate change looks like?

DAUGHTRY: Well, yes. Well, that's the point. I'm not sure all the scientists are agreeing with that.

WEIR: They are. I can tell you they are.

DAUGHTRY: So that's why I'm kind of like, I don't know.

WEIR: I'm here to tell you they are.

DAUGHTRY: Yes. Oh, OK.

WEIR: Ninety-nine percent of them absolutely agree. You can ask anybody at NASA.

DAUGHTRY: Well, I can definitely tell you our beaches are eroding in my lifetime. All the beaches. They have -- I've seen the water come up a lot

higher --

WEIR: Yes.

DAUGHTRY: -- than it ever has before. So --

WEIR: Thank you so much.

DAUGHTRY: -- thank guys for talking and --

WEIR: Yes, thank you for talking with us.

DAUGHTRY: -- taking an interest.

WEIR: Really. You're a great neighbor.

DAUGHTRY: Oh.

WEIR: If there's a heaven, you're getting in.

DAUGHTRY: Oh. Amen. Amen. And that's, honestly, that's what I do. I ride around and just pray for people and just pray, you know. I just -- it's

just --

WEIR: You're a first prayer responder. That's --

DAUGHTRY: Yes. Amen.

WEIR: That's very sweet. All right. Good luck to you.

DAUGHTRY: Thank you.

WEIR: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: A first prayer responder.

Well, as Bill mentioned, many people hit by the hurricanes don't have insurance, so uninsured losses will significantly increase the cleanup and

recovery costs. This may be the costliest storm since Hurricane Ian in 2022, which much of the area is still recovering from.

Those affected by the storm face a battle on another front as well, misinformation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[12:10:06]

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To all the people impacted by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, despite that misinformation lies,

the truth is, we're providing the resources needed to rescue, recover, and rebuild.

Mr. President Trump, former President Trump, get a life, man. Help these people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: President Biden is expected to talk in an hour to provide an update on the federal government's response to both Hurricane Milton and

Helene. Vice President and presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, is expected to attend virtually.

CNN's senior White House correspondent MJ Lee joins us now live.

MJ, what more can we expect to hear from the president and vice president?

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, Bianna, for all of the reasons that you just laid out, we've seen President Biden's

week be completely consumed by first preparing for Hurricane Milton and now dealing with the storm recovery efforts.

And remember, you know, this week started with the president making the rare decision to actually postpone a foreign trip to Germany and Angola so

that he could fully focus and be here stateside as the storm was coming.

And each day, you know, we've seen him get briefed multiple times. On some days, we've actually heard or seen the president publicly discussing these

efforts multiple times as well. Just gives you a sense of the urgency here and the focus across the federal government that they are trying to show.

And we even actually reported yesterday that the White House had, at some point, discussed the possibility of appointing a coordinator. This is the

hurricane czar as we often so use that title here in Washington, D.C. Somebody who would take the lead in being sort of the public face of all of

these efforts and streamlining those efforts.

Ultimately, the White House did decide against it. But even the fact that discussion had happened, I think, again, stresses the urgency that everyone

is feeling here.

You know, the physical response to all of the damage from Hurricane Milton, but also two weeks ago, Hurricane Helene, that is absolutely Herculean. I

think the president has been making that clear.

But also as you mentioned, Bianna, there is a fight right now to really combat the misinformation and the disinformation that this White House says

has been widespread and so reckless.

There was a really important moment earlier this week when the head of FEMA came to the White House briefing room and she said actually one of the ways

in which this has had a real effect on people on the ground is that people who are actually needing assistance and can get assistance from the federal

government, they are simply not asking for it because they are getting all different kinds of information and have a basic concern or fear about

exactly what the federal government's response is and what they are doing.

For example, she said this idea that's out there that the federal government, if you ask for help, is going to confiscate your land. She said

that is simply not true. And I think that is why, as in the clip that you just played, we've heard some really strong language from President Biden

saying these kinds of lies are un-American, that they are stupid, and directly calling on former President Trump specifically to basically cut it

out, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. They're dangerous and they're unprecedented. I don't remember the last time we were facing a national disaster like this and

having to deal with misinformation and disinformation coming from some of our most prominent figures in politics.

MJ Lee, we will take the president's comments when he begins to speak. Thank you so much.

I want to bring in Lori Rozsa, the Florida reporter for "The Washington Post," and Steve Harrison, political reporter for WFAE in Charlotte, North

Carolina. Both states still grappling from these two storms within the matter of just two weeks.

Lori, let me start with you. The remnants of Hurricane Milton, I mean, you listen to what residents of Florida saying that they've never seen anything

like this and they've been exposed to many, many hurricanes over the course of the last several decades.

And yet, we still hear from hurricane experts saying they dodged the worst. That people were projecting and worried about in terms of Milton.

Talk to us about what you're hearing and what you're reporting.

LORI ROZSA, FLORIDA REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: What we're hearing is it's in the state has been hit before by sort of double hurricanes about 20

years ago on the east coast of Florida, Hurricanes Francis and Jeanne hit pretty much the same area and just within a couple weeks of each other.

But these two storms coming in a very populated area and so quickly together. I mean, not even -- not even two weeks raised concerns gave very

little time to clean up from Helene, which didn't happen. And before Milton came in and made another mess.

So people are concerned about cleaning up, you know, getting their houses repaired, and figuring out which hurricane did the most damage to their

property.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And that's why so many officials are warning that even though we're now 24 hours plus after Milton has hit, to still be very, very

careful in terms of assessing the damage and returning back home because of fallen debris that's still from Helene two weeks ago and then down power

lines and you name it. We see rescue workers there as they're walking through water, knee-deep, bringing in rescued animals.

[12:15:20]

Steve, let me turn to you, because North Carolina really took a battering, given that this is a state that doesn't necessarily have a history,

familiarity, preparations that a state like Florida would for a hurricane of this magnitude.

How's the recovery effort at this point?

STEVE HARRISON, POLITICAL REPORTER, WFAE: So, yes, like you said, North Carolina, I mean, has some experience with hurricanes, but that's almost

always in the eastern part of the state.

GOLODRYGA: Right.

HARRISON: Of course, Helene devastated Western North Carolina.

The recovery is going slow. They are making progress, but it has been two weeks. There are still tens of thousands of people without power.

And then the really big issue is water. Helene knocked out a huge amount of the water supply in the city of Asheville. Much of the city is without

running water. That is really a huge, just a huge barrier to returning back to normal.

GOLODRYGA: And, Lori, in terms of what's needed from the federal government assistance, we've heard from the governor of the state there talking about

how he was getting everything he needed from President Biden when they had spoken in anticipation of the storm.

And then we heard from him yesterday where he said that they, in fact, had an abundance of resources at that point.

So, clearly, they had been prepared. Right now, from everything you're hearing, is that still the case? Is there a sense that from the state level

and federally, there were enough reinforcements in place at this point?

ROZSA: For Florida?

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

ROZSA: Yes. I mean, because the governor did quickly send, right after Helene and he quickly sent some of his, as he calls them assets, people,

and equipment up to North Carolina. He said the job was pretty much done in Florida.

And then Milton came and he had to pull those folks back to Florida to help, and particularly with debris cleanup from, as you mentioned earlier,

from Helene, piling up in front of people's homes. So they did a lot of work there.

But some folks are still questioning whether those assets should have been -- should have remained in Florida instead of being sent to North Carolina

so quickly.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And that's not even dealing into the, what many describe as a broken insurance model at this point, given the severity of these storms

and the destruction that they leave behind. Many of these homeowners simply can't afford insurance, as our Bill Weir had pointed out in his piece.

Steve, let me ask you about this issue of misinformation. President Biden spoke out about it. President Obama, on the campaign trail for Vice

President Harris yesterday, spoke to it as well.

And the real impact and the dangers that it was having potentially now in Florida, as Florida is recovering from Milton. But we saw firsthand the

impact from Helene.

Is this something that you've spent some time reporting on and hearing from locals about how it's impacting them?

HARRISON: Yes. Immediately after Helene hit Western North Carolina, you know, a lot of the rumors started to fly, like you said, misinformation.

There was a Republican state legislator who represents the mountains, who went on social media kind of pleading for people to, I think his words

were, cut it out.

There has been kind of a bipartisan effort here to try and tamp down on some of the wild stories you're hearing.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis earlier this week said that, you know, that by and large, the money was flowing to Western North Carolina. You know,

there had been this story that the money for FEMA had been diverted to take care of migrants.

And Senator Tillis said, look, at this point, we are getting the resources you needed. But these are people who are cut off. They have no cell

service. They have no water. They have no power. And so rumors are spreading like wildfire through this area. And it's difficult in a way to

get the message out that a lot of this isn't true.

GOLODRYGA: And it's important to hear those comments from people like Senator Tillis there. It's his state, his constituents that are impacted.

We heard from Governor DeSantis address this week as well, saying anyone propagating in misinformation doesn't want to help people who are impacted

and suffering.

Steve Harrison, WFAE, thank you. Lori Rozsa of "The Washington Post," we appreciate your time.

And coming up for us, Israeli airstrikes hit the heart of Beirut as its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon intensifies. We'll have a live report from the

Lebanese capital.

[12:20:05]

Plus, former U.S. President Barack Obama has mentioned not holding back against Donald Trump as he hits the campaign trail in support of Kamala

Harris.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: The United Nations says no food has entered Northern Gaza since October 1st, putting one million people at risk of starving.

The World Food Program says Israeli military action has forced it to stop distributing food parcels. It's not that food is unavailable. The WFP says

100,000 tons of food aid is positioned in various corridors, such as in Ashdod, Egypt, or Jordan. That's enough to feed over a million people for

five months. But most of it is prevented from going in by the closure of crossing points and distribution disruption to transport routes.

Well, turning now to Lebanon and what's being described as the deadliest Israeli airstrikes in Central Beirut in nearly two decades.

Lebanon's health ministry says at least 22 people were killed late Thursday and more than 100 were wounded.

Witnesses tell CNN an entire four-story building filled with recently displaced people collapsed in one strike. The UAE is calling for the U.S.

to step in as the regional conflict expands. The United Nations is also urging de-escalation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL: We believe that the number of killed is close to 2,000 and we see already 170,000 people

fleeing to Syria. We see more than one million displaced. We see an enormous tragedy in Lebanon and we must do everything to avoid an all-out

war in Lebanon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: The U.S. Agency for International Development says about 2.5 million people are in urgent need of food aid.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Beirut and joins us now.

As noted, Ben, one of the largest strikes in years. First of all, tell us what you're seeing around you in its aftermath. And do we know who Israel

was targeting?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that according to the Israeli media, but no official Israeli sources, that the

target was Wafiq Safa, was -- who is Hezbollah's sort of chief diplomatic responsible for external relations.

But a Hezbollah source tells us that he survived one of those two strikes that happened last night, not in the southern suburbs that are behind me,

but rather in Central Beirut itself.

[12:25:11]

Hits Israeli strikes on Central Beirut have been relatively rare. I think I can think of four in the last few weeks, but yesterday saw two and, of

course, a death toll of 22 and 117 injured when a four-story residential building in a very densely populated neighborhood simply collapsed as a

result of that strike.

And it's important to mention that many of the people who were in that building, according to eyewitnesses and neighbors we spoke to, had fled

from other parts of Beirut, other parts of Lebanon, thinking that they were going to end up in a safe place.

But increasingly, the fear is here in Beirut that nowhere is actually safe. And certainly, what is not safe is south Lebanon, where we are seeing

intense fighting. The U.N. reporting today that the Israeli tank fire hit a U.N. observation tower, wounding two U.N. peacekeepers, one of them

critically. That's just one of the latest incidents where Israeli fire has hit U.N. positions in the south of Lebanon.

And we were in the south of Lebanon until midday today, where we were in the city of Tyre, where even though most of the inhabitants have left

because of the bombing and also because of the Israeli evacuation orders, a few people still hang out and hand -- hanging, continue to live there

despite the danger.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): You have to walk carefully through the rubble, all that remains of three buildings in Tyre demolished by Israeli bombs.

Neighbors say the bombing killed at least five people, including women and children.

WEDEMAN: The Arabic spokesman for the Israeli military will occasionally over Twitter or X put out evacuation orders for specific buildings in

Beirut before they're struck.

Here in Tyre, there have been no warnings.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): For 35 years, Behaa (ph) has run a small clothing shop next door. Now, in shambles.

History is repeating itself, she says. A three-story building fell over our heads during the 1982 Israeli invasion.

This ancient city is just 12 miles or 19 kilometers from the border with Israel. Most of the residents have fled north. Those who stayed behind live

under constant threat.

It was terrifying. The missile hit and it collapsed, says 70-year-old Mekdad (ph), describing another Israeli strike that destroyed multiple

homes in Tyre's old city.

For more than half a century, every generation has witnessed destruction and death.

We're used to it, says Mekdad's neighbor Yousef (ph). We're used to wars. We've seen wars.

Going back to the days of the Phoenicians, Tyre has looked to the sea. Now, a forbidden zone.

Israel has warned people to stay off the beaches and fishermen not to take their boats out.

So in Tyre's port, Abu Ibrahim (ph) sits and smokes his water pipe.

We go to sea so we can eat, he tells me. Now we can't. How can we eat?

An old man deprived of his sea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: And we left Tyre midday today. And what we saw was in the early morning we heard the rush of outgoing rockets being fired toward Israel, a

distant pounding of the hills by Israeli tanks and aircraft and Israeli aircraft breaking the sound barrier repeatedly overhead.

Here in Beirut, however, it's been a relatively quiet day so far. Bianna?

GOLODRYGA: And, Ben, just to pick on what you touched on before your piece there, those two U.N. peacekeepers that had been injured, Israel, the IDF

responding and saying that they had informed the staff from UNIFIL, those are the United Nations Interim Forces that are there in Lebanon, and they

were instructed to, quote, enter protected spaces hours before their position was struck.

We also know that the U.S. Secretary of Defense spoke with his counterpart in Israel, Yoav Gallant, and urged Israel to ensure the safety of U.N.

peacekeepers.

What more do we know about this incident and the stability of those UNIFIL workers in the days to come there?

[12:30:01]

WEDEMAN: Well, these incidents are today. I mean, there have been several incidents over the last 48 hours, and really going back to the first

Israeli raids into Lebanese territory.

And I've spent a lot of time, over the years, with UNIFIL troops in the south. They're there supposed to be as observers. They patrol along the

roads. But since active hostilities on the ground on the Lebanese side of the border started, they're basically hunkered down in their posts. They

just go out occasionally to resupply.

But in a sense, they don't -- they only have weapons for self-defense. And so they have to follow these strict rules.

Now, at a certain point, about 10 days ago, the Israelis ordered the UNIFIL troops to leave their positions. They refused. So clearly, there's a

certain amount of tension between the two sides.

And certainly what we've seen is France, Italy and others have summoned the ambassadors in their respective capitals, the Israeli ambassadors in their

respective capitals, to protest to them, but we shall see if that actually has any effect on the ground. Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. I was noted that the U.S. defense minister also raising this issue.

Ben Wedeman, thank you so much.

And coming up for us, more controversial remarks from Donald Trump on the campaign trail. How the Republican presidential nominee insulted the very

city he was campaigning in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: All right. Welcome back to ONE WORLD. I'm Bianna Golodryga.

With just 25 days, hard to believe, 25 days and that's it, remaining in the U.S. presidential race, the candidates have been sprinting through key

cities and states trying to lock in undecided voters.

[12:35:02]

In a few hours, Donald Trump will speak in Colorado, where he's expected to attack Kamala Harris on issues such as crime and immigration.

Now, it comes just a day after his latest political attack appeared to insult his own crowd. Speaking in Detroit, Trump said if Harris wins, the

country would resemble that very city, which he compared to a developing country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We're a developing nation too. Just take a look at Detroit. Detroit's a developing -- Detroit's a

developing area, a hell of a lot more than most places in China.

The whole country is going to be like, you want to know the truth? It'll be like Detroit. Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she's

your president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: All right. Let's get more from CNN's Kristen Holmes. She joins us from Aurora, Colorado, where Trump will speak later.

I don't know what he's going to say about Colorado, but you only heard one or two applause there in Detroit when Donald Trump was bashing that very

city, giving an economic address there, speaking at the Economic Club.

What has the fallout been thus far?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've heard from a number of city and local officials saying that that's simply not true,

hitting back at the former president.

Just a reminder, this is not the first time that Donald Trump has done this. This is not part of any planned remarks.

But remember what he did just months ago when he insulted the city of Milwaukee days before he was slated to attend the Republican National

Convention in the city of Milwaukee, something that his campaign then had to backtrack on.

Now, when it comes to Aurora, Colorado, one thing to keep in mind, this area is solidly blue. This state is solidly blue. He is not here to try and

reach out to swing voters. Instead, this has really become the epicenter for the disinformation campaign against around immigration and migrants.

In particular, they have been perpetuating this narrative, which has been proven false by the mayor of this area, as well as by the governor of

Colorado, that the city of Aurora has been overtaken by Venezuelan gangs.

In fact, just moments ago, they had a picture of what essentially looked like men with giant hoodies on holding guns that said, your apartment

complex under Kamala Harris. And then the next slide said, you're better off under Donald Trump.

This is a lot of the same fear-based messaging. When you heard it in Detroit, it was based on the economy. When you're hearing it here, it's

going to be based on immigration.

But, Bianna, one thing to note about this is that we don't expect him to tone it down at any point before November. And here's why, this messaging,

regardless of whether it is true or not, is resonating with voters on the ground.

Look at the recent "Wall Street Journal" polling that just came out today. These margins between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are razor thin, and in

part, his campaign believes it's because of these kind of message.

So you're -- don't -- we don't expect him to change anything that he is doing before November. In fact, he might even be ramping up the rhetoric.

As I said, I've never seen these kind of slides that he is showing here about migrant crime in Colorado, but that's the reason that he's on the

ground today.

And what his campaign says is, well, it's not a swing state, that clips of this rally will be promoted on social media over and over again on the

internet and that enough people will see it that it will essentially have the same kind of punch that doing a rally in a swing state would.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Kristen Holmes, you'll be there covering it for us. Thank you.

Meantime, Barack Obama, the mega-popular former president, went back out on the campaign trail in battlefield -- battleground Pennsylvania, for Kamala

Harris.

Obama slammed Donald Trump on everything from his tax plan to his recent conspiracy theories he's pushed about hurricane relief.

And Obama's message was directed very clearly at men.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've noticed this especially with men who seem to think Trump's behavior, the bullying and

the putting people down, is a sign of strength.

Real strength is about working hard and carrying a heavy load without complaining. Real strength is about taking responsibility for your actions

and telling the truth even when it's inconvenient.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Time now for The Exchange and the potential effect President Obama can have on the campaign trail.

Joining me now is Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

Larry, objectively, one could argue that President Obama is the most consequential, most popular Democrat out there to be campaigning for the

candidate.

And at the same time, he seems to see what so many, even in the Harris campaign, note as a vulnerability. And that is not being able to crack

through men, white men, men of color, and men who are not college-educated.

[12:40:02]

Do you think that message from President Obama can do anything to chip away at that?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Well, he won millions of each of those groups when he ran for president in

2008 and 2012, both successful campaigns.

So if anybody can reach them, I assume it is Barack Obama. And he knows how to deliver a rhetorical punch and make it stick. I thought his speech

yesterday was particularly powerful.

Having said that, you never want to put too many chips down on one endorsement, even by a popular former president.

In the end, Kamala Harris has to sell herself, not buy herself, but mainly by herself. That's the way our campaigns work.

But it's not just her selling herself. Bianna, it's critical that the Democrats double their efforts, triple their efforts to point out to people

how untrue most of the things that Donald Trump says are.

We assume that people take it for granted. And it is true that many people shrug and say, oh, that's just Donald Trump. He's done that for years. And

then they'll give you other reasons why they're voting for him. But you can't let him get away with this so close to election day.

GOLODRYGA: On that point, on spreading messages of untruth, misinformation, disinformation, there is something unique about Donald Trump being able to

get away with that. As you note, people just shrugging their shoulders saying that that's -- that that's the man, that's who he is, that's who he

always has been as a politician.

But there's something even more dangerous about it right now, given that we are still talking about the devastation of not one but two hurricanes and

the impact that this disinformation can have on some of the most vulnerable.

And you speak to the effectiveness of President Obama's words yesterday. He touched on this issue too and noted that there are many Republicans who

seem to be allowing this to happen. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: The idea of intentionally trying to deceive people in their most desperate and vulnerable moments. And my question is, when did that become

OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: And he was asking that question to moderate, non-MAGA Republicans. He said, people who I have worked with for years who may not

agree with me on policy issues, but this was never something that they dealt with at the time, just swimming in a sea of disinformation coming

from the head of the party.

What do you make of his words on that issue?

SABATO: Well, it is very different from the experience he had in eight years as president.

Of course, Republicans opposed, you know, most of what he did. They have different philosophies, and it's a democracy. That's perfectly OK.

But what isn't OK is what President Obama outlined, using fear and hate to get your way, to get votes, to get elected. There's always been some of

that in politics, but there are only four emotions, Bianna, that control politics, love and hope and hate and fear.

And I don't want to sound too cynical, but I'm old enough to say this. Hate and fear have a lot more impact at the voting booths than love and hope.

I'm sorry to say that, but it is absolutely true.

So the only way to fight it is to point out just how hateful, just how fearful another candidate is being. And that's up to the other candidate.

That's up to the other party. And maybe President Obama can light a fire under some of the senior Democrats.

GOLODRYGA: Let me ask you to weigh in on this new "Wall Street Journal" polling that we just touched on earlier, where voters in the seven

battleground states see Donald Trump now as better equipped than Kamala Harris to handle the issues that they care most about, namely the economy,

yet, they're divided about evenly on which candidate should lead the nation.

Once again, reiterating, this is a neck-to-neck race at this point. How worried should the Harris campaign be at this point? And what, if anything,

should they be doing over the next 25 days to increase the lead wherever they can?

SABATO: Very worried. No question about it. Not that she is necessarily behind. I think it's an even-steven race for the most part, though there

are natural Republican advantages in most of these seven swing states.

And what can they do? Well, redouble their efforts. And make sure that the democratic base understands that this race is not won. Neither one of these

candidates has put the race away. It is very much still up in the air.

And I also want to add, let's remember, that's just one polling group. That's one poll. And one of the results was kind of ridiculous. The large

Trump lead in Nevada. That contradicts every other good survey that we have seen in Nevada.

[12:45:04]

So even good polls and good organizations can have a statistical outlier. So that's not what people should focus on. They should focus on the fact

that all the elements of this race tell all of us that it is going to be razor thin.

And therefore, you redouble your efforts and you make sure that your people don't get overconfident. And I've seen some Democrats being overconfident,

incredibly.

GOLODRYGA: We'll have to continue this conversation at another time. We only have 25 days left. We'll have you back very soon.

Larry Sabato, we've unfortunately run out of time today. Thank you. We appreciate it.

SABATO: Thank you, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: One person has died and 23 others were rescued after an accident at a historic Colorado gold mine that is now a tourist attraction.

The local sheriff said it happened around noon local time Thursday when there was a mechanical issue with the mine's elevator.

CNN's Lucy Kafanov is live in Cripple Creek, Colorado with the latest. What more do we know about this, Lucy?

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bianna, on a good day, at least to me, it's terrifying to be down below ground in a mine shaft.

But for the people who were trapped there for six frightening hours, this was quite the ordeal. There was a mechanical failure of some sort with the

elevator. We know that it resulted in one person losing their life.

But by 8:00 P.M. last night, all 12 individuals were safely above ground. They had asked for pizza. They got it. One of the officials describing this

as a big happy ending to it, and otherwise, tragic day.

The sheriff learned that something was wrong at around noon yesterday. That's when he started getting reports about an elevator that was stuck

midway from the bottom of that mine shaft at about 500 feet.

That group, which also included the person that lost their life, was rescued almost immediately. It included 11 individuals. Two children were

in that elevator. There were four other minor injuries, but everyone sort of got to the top safely.

All we know about the death, as officials have described it, is a tragic accident. And then the other group of around 12 people and a guide were

trapped down there below, waiting to get rescued.

And just for some context, this is a former -- formerly active gold mine that was discovered in 1871. Right now, or at least up until this tragedy,

tourists are able to go down there. It boasts one of the only vertical shaft elevators in America that's left for one of these mines, to kind of

see what it was like in the -- in the gold rush.

[12:50:09]

And so to get down there, I'm going to get out of the way, although this car might block it. You see that white structure? That's kind of the

structure for the elevator. They get kind of -- they get packed in like sardines in a mine cage elevator. They take a two-minute ride down there.

And while the elevator was safe enough to get the folks out who were stuck, authorities really wanted to make sure there wasn't any more issues with it

because they could have done a rope rescue, but a thousand feet, that's nearly the height of the Empire State building. It just would have been too

risky to pull those individuals out individually.

They didn't know, the folks who were trapped didn't know about the life that was lost until they got up to the surface. Authorities wanted to keep

them calm. This was an all-hands-on-deck kind of effort.

The governor was involved. A lot of agencies came down here, rushed down here to make sure that they could pull the folks out safely and now they

are all out except for that one tragic life that was lost, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Wow. And I would imagine now a thorough investigation will begin very soon into how this happened.

Lucy Kafanov, thank you so much. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: All right. Check out this stunning display of color in the skies above Portland, Maine. This was a result of what scientists call a

geomagnetic storm. These northern lights, as they're commonly called, are often more visible in the Earth's Polar Regions.

But due to this rare solar storm, colorful displays of light could be seen much further south than normal this week in many parts of the world.

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam takes a closer look now at this unique phenomenon.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right, Bianna. Well, that's something you don't see every day. The northern lights in New Jersey. In

fact, they were seen as far south as Key Largo, Florida.

Here's some of these amateur astronomers heading outside to try and take in the spectacle. Really quite a sight to see some of the most spectacular

aurora borealis that we've seen since May of this year.

Of course this is all because of a very large solar flare that erupted off of the sun earlier this week. We've been talking about these as we're in

this peak solar cycle right now. And you can see that solar flare. It has to be perfectly directed towards us here on Earth in order for it to

interact with the Earth's magnetic poles.

So that actually travels from the sun via solar wind. When it reaches us, this highly charged particles, and it actually interacts with the North and

South Poles. You have to look to the northern portions of your horizon or the southern portions of the horizon, depending on what part of the planet

you're located. And then you can potentially see those beautiful displays of either aurora borealis or aurora australis, as it's known in the

southern hemisphere.

[12:55:20]

But it is certainly a spectacle to be seen. And if you didn't see it last night, guess what? There's one more opportunity to see it tonight before

chances start to decrease significantly into the rest of the weekend.

So head outside just after sunset, just when we start to get dark. And this is -- actually the viewing line best chances of course in the northern

sections of the United States. And as you head further into Canada, you might see some of the aurora borealis into Europe as well. That would be

Northern Europe.

The most common colors, of course, the reds. Least common, the purples. So get outside. See if you can see some of those rare phenomenon we like to

call the northern lights. Bianna, back to you.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. I know what a lot of people will be doing getting that one last glimpse this weekend that they can.

Well, that does it for this hour of ONE WORLD. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Bianna Golodryga. Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back in just a few

minutes with "AMANPOUR."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END