I'm Alex Markboard, and tonight for Wolf Blitzer, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world, this is the Situation Room and you've been listening to Vice President Kamala Harris there taking part in her second event of the day in the battleground state of Michigan. Let's discuss the Obama factor and more with all of our political experts. Alex Thompson, this was an event that follows her event yesterday with Liz Cheney in Ripon, Wisconsin. It's designed to reach out, I think, towards disaffected Republicans. This was a bit more of her wheelhouse. There's labor support in the building. How are things looking for her in Michigan? Well, today was all about shoring up some problems that she has with her base right now. The fact is that the Teamsters have not endorsed. The firefighters this week did not endorse. Those were two endorse men. Those are two unions that endorsed Joe Biden four years ago, and so it was not a coincidence that she talked a lot about labor, that shocked a lot about working class Americans, and then just before this, she met privately with Arab Americans and Muslim groups to try to show up as those groups are very concerned about the escalating war in the Middle East. Yeah, and Misha, to that point, I mean, she had this important meeting today with Arab and Muslim leaders. They are very angry, understandably, about the war, not just in Gaza, but now the expanding war in Lebanon. Breakdown for us, the Harris campaign's relationship with that group and what she needs to overcome in these remaining 32 days that she just pointed out. Well, it's very tenuous at this point. I think that with what we saw over the summer and prior to that, with the campus uprisings across the country, we heard from young people who are very concerned, but also saw that certain college presidents lost their jobs. And we've seen the community over and over again, specifically the uncommitted vote, call out where President Biden is as well as Vice President Harris on this issue. And I think that at this point, when we've seen a press conference earlier today, or a briefing earlier today, where we heard from Joe Biden who specifically said that or alluded to Netanyahu possibly trying to shift the scales when it comes to this election, utilizing his own power in what's going on in Israel and Gaza, I think that at this point, there has to be especially a concern in Michigan because you have such a large population of Arab voters. But in addition to that, we've seen this really affect younger voters in their preferences as well. I think that the meetings that she's having matters, but she also has to take a very clear stance on what will happen, how the U.S. will continue to move forward. Are we in support of watching thousands of innocent Palestinians continue to die in this war? And what it means towards our foreign policy and our relationship with Israel if we continue to go down this current path. Yeah. President Joe Biden making a remarkable, notable appearance in the press briefing room actually is first time in the presidency today and in his term, and he weighed in on election integrity. Let's take a listen. I'm confident it'll be free and fair. I don't know whether it'll be peaceful, but things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out, whether he didn't like the outcome of the election, were very dangerous. I only can hope that it's going to be free and fair, and I think in this state, it will be, and I hope in every state it will be, and I think we're going to do very well. Brian, what do you make of that? The president saying that he does believe that he'll be free and fair, but he doesn't know if they'll be peaceful. Listen, I think we know there's going to be free and fair because we put a big spotlight on it. It's hard to say that anything's going to be peaceful. The president has been shot once, and there's been another assassination attempt. Clearly, there's something in the air. Tomorrow, we're going to be in Butler, which is sort of a month away from a month from what had happened. So there's the violence you can feel it, you can feel it emanated anywhere, and you have to be careful. You have to be thankful to the Secret Service, but it's out there, and we have to be very careful with our language. Alex, what did you make of the president there talking about those concerns about potential violence around the election? I mean, this has been a galvanizing issue for Joe Biden's, the beginning of his presidency. Really since January 6th, you saw it from his inaugural address to now. It has been the issue that motivates him more than anything. His top political team thought that January 6th was going to be the equivalent of what 9/11 was to the 2004 election. All right. Everyone stick around. We're going to discuss when we come back. We'll be talking about the Obama factor. As the former president, payer prayer, is to ramp up his campaign events for Kamala Harris. And then President Biden is also making news with a remark that he made on Israel and the Middle East during that first ever Q and A with reporters from the podium of the White House briefing room. Kamala Harris is hoping to get a boost in the final sprint to election day from one of her party's biggest stars, former President Barack Obama. He's set to launch a 27-day campaign swaying through the battleground states, beginning next week in Pennsylvania. Let's get more now from CNN's Tom Foreman. President Barack Obama is on a mission to make sure his successor, former President Donald Trump, does not make a return to the White House. We do not need four more years of bluster and bumbling and chaos. We have seen that movie before and we all know that the sequel is usually worse. Kamala Harris backed Obama early in his historic bids for the presidency and for re-election. President Obama will fight for working families. Now fighting for her, he will be storming battleground states, starting in Pennsylvania. Making good on the pledge, he and former First Lady Michelle Obama offered just days after Harris became the defacto nominee. Michelle and I couldn't be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office. Obama is a triple threat tasked with rousing complacent Democrats to show up in vote, continuing to raise funds for the home stretch of the campaign, and recording ads for other down ballot Democrats. Like U.S. Senate candidate Alyssa Slotkin in Michigan who is battling it out with Republican Mike Rogers. Alyssa is a true public servant who has dedicated her career to serving the American people, no matter who is in the White House. Obama's push right up to election day could be very consequential, but not just for one side. He really drives turnout among Democrats, but there's a flip side. He also really drives turnout among Republicans. The former president, fully aware of that, has pushed his party's outreach to non-democrats all along. If we want to win over those who aren't yet ready to support our candidates, we need to listen to their concerns. The former president is undeniably one of the most extraordinary political figures of our time, and he proved remarkably skilled in drawing voters to his side. The question now is, can he push them to hers? Alex? A very big question. Tom Forman. Thank you so much for that report. Let's turn back to our political experts and get them to weigh in Alex Thompson. How does Obama actually help Harris get people out, and why do you think that he is just doing this now with 27 days to go when he gets out there next week? Donald Trump and Barack Obama are the two most dominant political figures of the last 12, 14 years in this country. We were talking earlier that Obama likes to be the closer, but you have to understand this isn't just about two different worldviews. This is also personal for Obama because his personal legacy is also intertwined with Donald Trump's legacy, and the fact is there's also a personal animus, I've talked to some of his aides, it's a personal animus here, because Donald Trump was the chief birther agitator, and it tried to argue that he was an illegitimate president, so there is a personal edge here. Let me show you were an advisor to former president Obama. That coalition, the Obama coalition, which stitched together voters of all different stripes, does that still exist? Because for example, he won Ohio and Florida twice, and yet now those states are firmly read. The coalition still exists, it takes a candidate to bring that coalition back together, and they think that we've seen that, we've seen it tried and tested, Hillary Clinton was not able to do it. Joe Biden was able to do it in part, and what we've seen now is that there's a severe splinter amongst that group, and I think that for Kamala Harris, it is within a very short and truncated time, can you bring that group back together? Are there differences enough to be able to be climbed over in the opportunity economy she's talking about in her vision for the future? She's working to do that across multiple states, but I think that the real issue here and the reason why Obama is getting in this, one, because of the star power, but in addition to that, it is, if you can make that coalition last, that's the true test of democracy, I think, and it's definitely the true test of the party. Can that coalition last more than just for the Obama, both of his storms? If it cannot, that shows how faulty this is, but if it can, it shows that the Democrats can continue to expand, and I think that that's one of the things that they're really fighting hard for. And Brian, does the Trump campaign have to counteract this star power, or do you think, as that point was just made in Tom's piece there, that he's actually a galvanizing force for Republican voters as well? I think he very much motivates a Republican party, but let's look at the image, the side by side of Barack Obama, Kamala Harris. You've got the man of hope, and you've got the woman of inflation. That's what people are going to see. They're going to be reminded of, Obama gave young people hope about the future. They gave hope about opportunity, they gave hope of this post-partisanship. Kamala Harris is a San Francisco liberal hack, who's created an economy and bankrupted in the middle class. That's what they're going to see. So I don't think Barack Obama's going to be able to change the page of how people filter and see Kamala Harris. You don't think that he will be able to get Democrats out in a meaningful way, people who might have been... No, the fact that he's out here so early is a red flag for the Democratic Party. It's because he usually comes in, Alex is right, to come close, to the final 10 days, to the final weeks. The fact that he's spending 27 days out there says that the coalition has not been recasted and not recreated, and there's a desperation there. So to me, Barack Obama, 27 days, there's a desperation to try to recreate something that's just said goodbye. I think it says more that this is a truncated campaign. He has to jump out now because the time the calendar is very different. But in addition to that, he recognizes what his power happens to be in this election cycle. So I think it's important that he jumps out, but we also have to recognize that the partisanship that you just mentioned, that drive that we've seen in terms of separation, was largely driven and created by an amplify by Donald Trump. The big difference that we saw amongst those groups is that there was a guy who came in and his one purpose in running was to eradicate all of the gains of the Obama administration. And he said that when he ran, in addition to winning a campaign that was also racist, one that was also driven by grievance, and one that he continues to drive by grievance. He wants to have a democracy in shambles, and he has shown that time and time again. Well, I can also tell you just real quick, Donald Trump doesn't really personally respect Kamala Harris, but he does personally respect Barack Obama. And there's an intimidation factor with Barack Obama. I don't think Donald Trump personally respects anybody, but I also believe that at the end of the day, he knows he can't go toe with Barack Obama, and they think that there is a level of fear and frustration there. But aside from just octomout on his third term, I mean, Hillary Clinton was Barack Obama's third term, and the American voters said no. He's never run against Barack Obama. Well, and Barack Obama right now, and that race said that he believed he could have won that race. There's been a formidable amount of star power, whether it's effective or not, I think is the question that has lined up behind Kamala Harris. Will we expect to see Michelle Obama out on the campaign trail? You've got Bruce Springsteen just endorsed her yesterday. Taylor Swift, of course, huge endorsement. She comes out onto stage to Beyonce's song Freedom. Do you think that we'll see other big names like that out there, Alex, and does that have an impact? I mean, Barack Obama likes to be the closer. Michelle likes to be the closer to the closer. Like the on course, she does not like to campaign. She does not like campaign politics. And she was very reluctant to campaign for Joe Biden because of some interpersonal family dynamics related to Hunter Biden. So it will be really interesting to me if we see her, it will not be to the very, very end. I mean, she'll... I think that's true. We'll definitely see Michelle Obama come out. I think that we're going to see the whole, you know, the Holy Trinity of Democrats come out around this. We're also going to see more celebrities. But long-term celebrity influencers have not necessarily showcased that they can bring people to the polls. It's great to have them, but at the end of the day, this is going to be a grassroots campaign. Every door knock is going to matter. And in the battleground state specifically, because the margins are just so slim, every single vote is going to count. Brian, I was struck by the scene yesterday in Ripon, Wisconsin, the home, the birthplace of the Republican Party, to see a Cheney stand up there saying I'm proudly voting for a Democrat. That was really stunning. But to what extent do you think that that actually changes things? I mean, that was really personal and I don't think it changed anything. If Liz Cheney had a chance to affect the Republican Party, it would have been in her home state when she was running for Congress and she got blown out. So if you look at the impact she's going to have, it's going to be marginal with Republicans where she would have the most impact. I doubt that independent voters are going to say, oh, now that Liz Cheney's on board, now this is going to finally push us. Independent voters want to know what's happening with the economy and they know what the Harris economy brings. And that's four years of inflation that's been crippling to the most. So we're not going to talk about the hundreds of thousands of jobs that have been added just in the past month. I think that the whole argument that Republicans continue to have about the economy is first written because it doesn't matter. Absolutely. You can talk about the jobs. But as people go and pay their gas and it's 20, 30 percent more, as people can't pay their mortgage, they don't care about the jobs. They care about the payments that they can't make at that moment. I can tell you also really quick, the Harris campaign may not, regardless of Liz Cheney, does believe that all the former Hillary used to work for Trump that are now saying that they don't think he's fit. They are investing a ton of money in ads featuring those people. And those people are also stumping for Kamala Harris in the battleground states as well. Thanks to you all. We have to leave it there. 32 days as Kamala Harris just reminded us and coming up, President Biden uses a rare trip to the White House briefing room to give advice to Israel as it prepares an expected retaliation against Iran. We'll share that with you right after this quick break. I'm CNN's John King. Join me for the podcast all over the map where I'm traveling across the country to find out what American voters think, what frustrates them, what gives them hope, and what may motivate them to go into the voting booth. Nevada is not just a battleground in this presidential election. I know that his panics have made the difference in a lot of elections. The economic anxiety that you find all across the country, well, you will find it on steroids right there. Listen to all over the map wherever you get your podcasts. President Joe Biden weighed in on the conflicts in the Middle East today during a rare visit to the White House briefing room. Listen to the president offering his thoughts on Israel's expected retaliation against Iran. The Israelis have not concluded how they're what they're going to do in terms of the strike. If I were in those shoes, I'd be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fuels. The Israelis have every right to respond to the vicious attacks on them, not just from the Iranians, but from everyone from Hezbollah, the Houthis. But the fact is that they have to be very much more careful about dealing with civilian attacks. CNN's Kayla Toushey is joining us now from the White House. Kayla, the president are facing a lot of questions there amid these dangerous escalations and moves in the Middle East. He is, and he has been for days, if not longer, Alex, President Biden facing questions today on exactly what response he sees as appropriate for Israel to take in response to the attack by Iran this week. He has said that he does not support Israel hitting Iran's nuclear facilities, and then he was forced to clarify a comment he made yesterday where he said that he appeared to leave the door open to supporting Israel hitting Iran's oil reserves, which today he said that he'd prefer that they not, essentially. But it's unclear whether Israel would abide by the advice that the U.S. is providing. U.S. officials have suggested that Israel is giving no assurances that it is, but he's also facing questions on why after a year of this conflict and in which time the U.S. has been feverishly pursuing a diplomatic solution to this conflict, Israel has instead intensified the conflict on two new fronts, both against Iran and against Hezbollah in Lebanon, in a war that was originally prosecuted against Hamas in Gaza, and Biden was asked in the briefing room whether he thought there was the potential that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to derail Democrats from being able to keep the presidency. Here's how Biden addressed that question. No administration has helped Israel more than I have, none, none, none. And I think, maybe you should remember that. And whether he's trying to influence the election, I don't know, but I'm not counting on that. A White House officials have acknowledged privately that Netanyahu faces a complicated political calculus of his own in his country, where a ceasefire gets mixed reviews. Alex. Joe Tashay at the White House. Thank you so much for that report. Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado. He sits on the House Intelligence and Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman, thank you so much for being with us. Some really interesting remarks by the president there, remarkable that he did not really give a straight answer there on whether he thinks the leader of one of the U.S.'s closest allies, Israel, is trying to influence this election. Do you think that Netanyahu is trying to influence the 2024 election? I don't have any inside information, I think it's just conjecture about whether he is or not. What I do think is happening are two very troubling things. One is the continuation of an unacceptably high level of civilian casualties. You know, listen, we learned in our multiple decades during the war on terror that you cannot address a terrorist threat. You cannot bomb away a terrorist threat. You have to center and make a priority, the protection of civilians and the dignity of all people. And so far, I have not seen that be a priority. And then the second is what appears to be lack of coordination by the Israelis and lack of any type of delineation of how they are going to finish this, what their in-game is and what their in-goal is, which after a year remains unclear. And we have these three different fronts essentially, Gaza, Lebanon and now Iran. And my colleagues Kylie Atwood and Jennifer Hanzer are reporting that in terms of the Israeli retaliation against Iran, the administration has not gotten assurances that Israel will not target Iran's nuclear facilities. President Biden has said that he hopes that they will not. Do you think the U.S. has lost its ability to influence Israel? I think that would be an overstatement. I mean, listen, Israel has the right to defend itself. I've consistently said that. I condemn the attacks by Iran on Israel, and I have supported the security umbrella and the air defense collaboration between the United States and Israel to respond to those attacks by Iran and the rocket attacks by Hezbollah and others. At the same time, there does need to be a greater level of coordination by Israel. I mean, we are trying, we are sending emissaries over. We are attempting to figure out what their strategy is. There has to be more information by Israel because they exist. They live under the U.S. security umbrella. Make no mistake about this. I mean, they have their own military, they have their own air force. But ultimately, it's the U.S. security umbrella that makes a lot of that possible. And if there is a wider regional conflict, the risk of us being pulled into that conflict is extremely high. So I again will call for Israel as the president and the administration has repeatedly to coordinate more closely with us. Congressman, you famously served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now we have a conflict watchdog telling CNN that Israel's bombardment of Lebanon is quote, the most intense aerial campaign outside of Gaza in 20 years. Last week, Israel carried out 3,000 strikes in Lebanon over two days. The U.S. carried out fewer strikes than that. Most years in Afghanistan. So the question is, are you comfortable with the scale of this war? I'm greatly uncomfortable with the levels of vision with civilian casualties. Listen, there's no modern precedent for the ability to defeat a terrorist threat with military force alone. In fact, you can actually make a terrorist threat worse over time by, you know, fueling the extremism, fueling the despair, fueling the underlying groundwork that leads to extremism and terrorism. If you don't give people hope and dignity, and that's why I've been pushing for Israel and for Prime Minister Netanyahu to come out and clearly state there must be a two-state solution, there must be peace, they're going to respect the rights and dignity of all people. And then we're going to work backwards from there and figure out what we need to do to establish security and to make sure that the state of Israel is secure as well. But until we have that in goal clearly stated, I just see this continuing in perpetuity and that is just not an acceptable result. Yeah, it shows no sign of ending. So much going on in the Middle East. Congressman Jason Crow, really appreciate your thoughts this evening. Yeah, thank you. Just ahead, new reaction to Melania Trump's break with her husband on the issue of abortion rights. Donald Trump and J.D. Advance are both weighing in now. Five times a day, CNN brings you five stories that'll get you up to speed on your day. New episodes drop Monday through Friday at 6am, 9am, noon, 3pm and 6pm. Hello from CNN, I'm Joe Beck. From CNN, I'm Phez Jamil. I'm Christopher with the five things you need to know. From CNN, I'm a FOMA DK. Follow CNN 5 Things on iHeartPodcasts. Tonight, J.D. Vance is joining Donald Trump in trying to downplay a newly revealed split between Melania Trump and her husband on the issue of abortion. The former first lady, stirring controversy by publicly declaring her support for abortion rights. Let's bring in CNN's Brian Tossa. Brian, this was really a highly unusual move by Melania Trump, which is making some waves within the GOP. It's making waves for sure, Alex, and it's unusual, analysts say, because it's really unheard of for a first lady or former first lady to say all of this in the middle of a campaign season. Tonight, more reaction to Melania Trump's newly revealed stance on abortion rights, this time from Donald Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance. Melania is entitled to her own views in the same way the people of Georgia are entitled to their own views, and I don't believe I have to attack or disagree or criticize anybody on this issue. The former first lady coming out in favor of abortion rights, ahead of her forthcoming memoir, Melania. Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth, individual freedom. It's a position seemingly at odds with her husbands, but former President Trump doesn't seem to mind. We spoke about it, and I said, you have to write what you believe. I'm not going to tell you what to do. You have to write what you believe. One first lady historian calls Melania Trump's position jaw-dropping. First ladies do not show any daylight between themselves and their husbands, but in modern history, we've had Laura Bush, Barbara Bush, both women who were pro-choice, married to men who were not pro-choice. And so they wouldn't have ever said it during a campaign season. This as the former first lady is also shaking up the political and media landscape in other ways. In an interview with Fox News criticizing Secret Service leadership before the assassination attempts on her husband. Our team asked many times for more security, more help. They were denied for the top leadership. You have a question marks. And that's all on this administration that they could give permissions what to do. CNN has reported that Donald Trump's security detail had complained prior to the assassination attempts that they were not being given enough resources by the Secret Service. The agency has acknowledged it didn't provide some of what Trump wanted, but has since ramped up his security. Melania Trump also telling Fox in a separate interview this. I think both of the events, they were really a miracle. If you really think about it, July 13 was a miracle, like that much and he could, you know, he could not be with us. And there is more controversy surrounding the former first lady. CNN's Hadas Gold and Pamela Brown report that when CNN recently reached out to Melania Trump's publisher to request an interview with her ahead of her upcoming memoir, the publisher Skyhorse demanded $250,000 for the interview. CNN did not sign the agreement. Later Skyhorse said it had sent the payment demand by mistake, spoke to people for Melania Trump and CNN declined to comment. Alex. Brian Todd, thank you so much for that report. CNN has been digging deeper into Melania Trump's role as a former and now potentially future first lady. On the whole story with Anderson Cooper, CNN anchor Katelyn Collins has an in-depth report called the first spouse, Melania and Doug, focusing on Kamala Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, as well as Melania Trump. Here's a clip. Please welcome Stephanie Grisham. By 2024, Melania's chief of staff, a self-proclaimed former Trump true believer, described her breaking point with the first lady. On January 6th, I asked Melania if we could at least tweet that while peaceful protest is the right of every American, there's no place for lawlessness or violence. She replied with one word, "No." I became the first senior staffer to resign that day. I remember that day really well because I was at the White House. Later, we would realize what she was doing was having a rug photographed, a rug that she had redesigned for the diplomatic room. That's what she did on January 6th. That morning as that day, her husband was delivering the speech on the ellipse and his rioters who were attacking the Capitol. She was doing a photo shoot. And I think at that point, people could really understand who Melania Trump was. Much more aligned with her husband's politics than people thought. And Caitlin Collins joins us now. Caitlin, we just heard quite a striking contrast between Melania Trump on January 6th and then her very enigmatic pro-abortion message now. How do you square those things? Well, I think the bottom line when it comes to what we're hearing from her on abortion and why we are now hearing from her on this issue, given obviously Roe vs. Wade was overturned years ago. And we've seen how that battle has played out across the U.S. When you talk to people who have covered Melania and studied her for years, they say it's really a promotional effort. It's not necessarily some strategic part of helping her husband's campaign with one of his weakest issues, which is abortion, and is something that Trump campaigned itself is fully aware of. They think it actually just has much more to do with the fact that she has a book coming out within a few days. But I think the January 6th part that was so interesting to me in looking back at what she was doing that day, and I should note that in 2022, she later put out a statement saying if she had understood the depths of what was happening on January 6th that she would have come out and condemned it, of course, that was a statement in June of 2022, not in January 2021 when all this was happening. I think that speaks, though, to this idea that some people think that there is this huge gulf of distance between Melania Trump and Donald Trump on the issues. And what it shows is that often they are more aligned than I think people might expect and certainly were on that day in terms of not putting out a statement saying as much, initially, not as the riot was happening. And Caitlin, the other part of this doc that you've done is spotlighted second gentleman Doug Emhoff. Of course, if he could become the first spouse, the first man in that office, what do you think we can expect to see from him if he takes on that role? It's a fascinating look, regardless of which candidate wins. Because if Melania Trump wins and Melania Trump returns to her role, she never was a typical or conventional first lady. And I say that in quotes because there's no defined role for this position. Every first lady has done it differently. But with Doug Emhoff, he'd be the first guy to ever occupy this position. I actually went over to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington. They have a first lady's exhibit there. And in the doc, I speak with one of the curators about that because they have all of the inaugural gals that every first lady has worn to their husband's inauguration. There's no tucks in there, obviously, but there certainly could be. They came close to being prepared for that during the election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the idea that Bill Clinton might take that role. But it's an open question of what it would look like. What I really learned that was interesting, and you'll hear this on Sunday night when the documentary airs, is a lot of experts who have studied the role of first spouse said that they actually think if Doug Emhoff is in that role, that he will fulfill a more traditional view of what that looks like than Melania Trump would if she returns to the White House. If Donald Trump does win, or if she would remain in New York City, so big questions of what this could look like. Either way, it's a fascinating look at this position and just how much it's changed and also how antiquated it still very much is. Yeah, I think it's pretty remarkable. It's high profile as this position is. It is unpaid. I mean, they're essentially serving as the spouse, and yet they have these huge portfolios, which as you say, change depending on who the person is. But when you look at these two people, and you look at the past holders of this role, what has stood out to you most? You know, I covered the White House, obviously, for a long time. You focus on the West Wing, understandably. You focus on the president, his advisors inside the West Wing, who's around him. But often a lot of influence comes from the East Wing. I mean, Jimmy Carter and Roselyn Carter really exemplified this. She would sit in on cabinet meetings, and they establish a weekly lunch where they talked about policy, not just catching up with one another. And so I think the emphasis and the influence that you see whoever is occupying that role has on the president of the United States is really an interesting look, and it often gets overlooked. And that's why this documentary was so fascinating for us, is to dig into that into something that really doesn't get a lot of attention, but certainly should. Yeah, really, really interesting. I don't know if the Smithsonian needs a tuxedo. They're not all that interesting. They don't vary all that much, but we shall see Caitlin Collins. Thank you very much. We'll see Caitlin's full report on the whole story with Anderson Cooper Sunday night at eight Eastern and Pacific only on CNN. And Caitlin will be back with more news tonight on the source at 9 p.m. Eastern. We'll be right back. One week after Hurricane Helene slammed into Florida's Gulf Coast and triggered a historic flooding disaster across multiple states, the death toll from the storm has risen to at least 218 people. CNN's Ryan Young has our report. The pictures from above just incredible. The before, the after. I haven't seen my kids. I'm tired. I'm hungry. I still have no power. Ripped up roads, destroyed homes, and power lines down everywhere, making the recovery process and the search for the missing very difficult. It's the not knowing what's happening around you. It's not knowing if help is coming. Helene is the second deadliest hurricane to strike the US mainland in the past 50 years. A week after, at least 200 people are still missing and just one North Carolina county and more than 200 people are dead across six states. We've never seen this before, and I know that we don't really, truly know the numbers of the loss of life here. Lessons remain about a tragic incident at the Impact Plastics Plan in Tennessee, where workers tell us they were not allowed to leave the factory in time to escape the storm. I said, can we leave? And the woman said, no, not until I speak with Jerry. About 10 minutes later, she came back and said, y'all can leave. It was too late. Why did you make this work that day? Why? 11 workers were swept away, 5 were rescued, and sadly, 2 were found dead. The company issued a strong statement denying any wrongdoing, and says all employees were told to leave the facility at least 45 minutes before the flood hit the area. Stories of survival and neighbors jumping in to help neighbors are inspiring. Flood waters from Hurricane Helene were taking Leslie Worth downstream, adding Honell, who was preparing for his son's wedding, heard Leslie's screams in the water and jumped into a canoe. So I jumped in and started swimming to her. Others also springing into action. This championship kayaker brought supplies to residents trapped by flood waters. Across six states, the work declared an open road to help power crews get the lights back on, while small businesses and families hope for a timeline to get life back to normal. It's just realistically not there for so many right now. Brian Young, CNN Atlanta. And Aaron Burnett out front starts right now. TCM's new limited series is called Making Change. I'm your host, Ben Mankowitz. I'll be discussing some of the most significant political films of all time with a number of special guests, Stephen Spielberg, Kaitlyn Collins, Stacey Abrams, Robert Gates, Sally Field, just to name a few. There's politics in everything. There's politics in every genre. Without the arts, you can't have a sophisticated culture. Join us for Making Change Fridays beginning at 8 p.m. on Turner Classic Movies. (upbeat music)
