>> i've always said don't wear them if you can't run in them. we'll see if he can run in them. >> reporter: yet she strikes a serious tone on foreign policy challenges like israel and ukraine. >> when you look, it's an unholy alliance. it's iran, russia, and china. and let me tell you, i've never been as worried as i am today that america is acting like it's september 10th all over again. and we better remember what september 12th felt like, because we're there. >> reporter: she semi-bracing the momentum, but told us her defining moment is yet to come. >> my moment will be on election day. >> reporter: and erin, governor haley is just shaking hands here, finishing an hour-long town hall in new hampshire. the bottom line is this race for second place is simply a consolation prize, unless haley or whoever emerges can eroding some support from trump, who has a commanding lead in this race.

erin? >> jeff, thank you very much.. and thananks to all l of you fo. good evening with the israeli military saying troops have now surrounded gaza city, we have been watching for most of the evening now some especially heavy air strikes on gaza, intense enough that cnn military analyst cedric layton said earlier tonight it reminded him of what he called the shock and awe air campaign against iraq. here is some of what it looked like and sounded like from sderot, across the border from gaza. with flares overhead for much of the time, israeli warplanes launched wave after wave of air-to-ground guided munitions at targets in gaza. one ripple of tightly grouped ordnance after another could be seen streaking downward, while in the background outgoing artillery followed by thumps of

warheaded and shells landing. shortly before this began, antony blinken left on a swing, including stops in israel and jordan. his message was twofold. >> well, as we said, and it's important, israel has the right and the obligation to defend itself. and, again, to try to make sure that what happened never happens again. no country, no country, not the united states, not anyone else that i can think of would tolerate the slaughter of its civilians. but as democracies, the united states, israel, other democracies have a responsibility to do everything possible to protect civilians who may be caught in harm's way. so we will be talking about concrete steps that can and should be taken to minimize harm to men, women, and children in gaza. >> behind the scenes, u.s. officials tell cnn they believe there is only limited time for israel to try to accomplish its stated objective of destroying

hamas in its current operation before uproar over humanitarian suffering and civilian casualties reaches a tipping point. and on capitol hill, a republican-controlled house tonight passed legislation providing $14.3 billion in aid to equal. it cuts an equal amount from the irs and does not include money for ukraine, the bill is expected to face opposition, some of it bipartisan in the democratic controlled senate. also today, another 20 to 25 americans managed to make it out of gaza and into egypt by way of the border crossing in rafah before egyptian officials closed it for the day. it's all part of the picture tonight. nic robertson is at the camera position in sderot that has been trained on those images over gaza for the past several hours. so nick, do we know what we were looking at and what's been going on now on the ground? >> we believe were looking at beit anun being illuminated and

military smoke screen on the ground to potentially give the idf a little bit of freedom of movement, or make their movement safer around this town. this town, bait anunn is in the most eastern corner of the gaza strip. it's about 2 1/2 miles from where we are. and a little bit later on after that attack, there was an attack on what appeared to be another town a little bit behind b beit anun. it's very hard to tell what was being achieved on the ground, but it certainly gave the impression that all the firepower that was being brought to all that illumination, all that smoke screen, that this was the focus of a very intense and concerted push by israeli forces tonight on these particular towns, anderson. >> what's the idf saying about its operations around gaza city? >> yeah, it's saying it's at the gates of gaza city, that it's

going into gaza city, that it has surrounded, which really creates the impression that the idf has actually managed t d to bisect the gaza strip, cut the north from the south, if indeed they have fully surrounded gaza city, which is larger than beit anun and the idf has been telling civilians there they should move out of the way because it's dangerous. we now know more than 9,000 citizens in gaza have died according to the hamas-run palestinian health authority. more than 22,000 have been injured. and the activities, the military activities tonight perhaps going to contribute to that. but also, we know it's been incredibly dangerous for the idf. they increasingly are taking casualties. the number of soldiers who have been killed is going up. hamas, according to the idf is

using armored pierce:00 rocket-propelled grenades that puncture the heavy armor on tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. so it is very dangerous, as it appears gaza city and beit anun are focus of efforts to get in there to find the command and control, the headquarters of hamas, which has been and is so deeply buried underground in many circumstances, anderson. >> and have there continued to be rockets fired from gaza into israel? >> you know, remarkably, during that intense period where there was so much firepower we saw going into beit anun, we saw rockets coming out of gaza. you almost has to wonder under how much firepower how could hamas do that. and i was wondering if i should doubt my eyes. but then we saw the iron dome intercept systems take off and

intercept these rockets. so remarkably, it seems despite the heavy firepower, a couple of rockets were fired out of gaza that said, i have to say that through the day, very, very few rockets have actually come out of gaza that we've witnessed today, anderson. >> all right. nic robertson, appreciate it from sderot. new video on what israeli troops are seeing and what more they could be facing on the streets of gaza. and beneath them, cnn's ed lavandera has that. >> reporter: the hamas propaganda video shows its fighters emerge from underground tunnels in what appears to be the northern outskirts of the most populated areas of gaza. hiding in the terrain, the hamas soldiers fire away at israeli units advancing into gaza. one video shows a hamas soldier stalking an israeli tank, rung up next to it and placing an explosive device on the machinery, then running away.

seconds later, the device detonates. the hamas fighter then disappears into the ground through a trap door. a political leader of hamas spoke this week about the tunnel's vital roll in the hamas military strategy. "we have built the tunnels," he says "because we have no other way of protecting ourselves and being killed. these tunnels are meant to protect ourselves from the airplanes. we are fighting from inside the tunnels." while israel has unleashed thousands of air strikes across gaza since october 7th, hamas is also trying to show off its air strike capabilities. it released this video of a munition strike dropped from a drone over israeli soldiers. it's not clear how many casualties it inflicted on the israel defense force. several soldiers can be seen running away from the site. the israel defense forces released this hamas propaganda video which captures the elaborate maze of tunnels which stretch for dozens of miles

underneath gaza. the militant organization uses the tunnels to store weapons and to launch air strikes towards israel. veteran israeli journalist has reported on hamas for decades. he says the underground tunnels are known as the gaza metro. >> they're hiding there. they spend billions of dollars. they build houses, tunnels, path, and venue. it's a project. it's a huge project. >> reporter: israel says dismantling the tunnels is the only way to dismantle hamas. >> ed, it's fascinating to hear that interview with the hamas official who is saying they built the tunnels to protect themselves. nothing about the civilians in gaza who do not have bomb shelters, that hamas has not built shelters for civilians. just for their own people. you're in tel aviv tonight. what more do you know about israel's strategy to dismantle these tunnels or fight in them, if that's what they intend to

do? >> well, despite the fact that these israeli air strikes on gaza have generated so much controversy around the world, there is very clear indication that there is no intention of slowing down. prime minister benjamin netanyahu said today that, quote, nothing will stop us. other officials here in the israeli government essentially saying that this is all about a campaign to put maximum pressure on the hamas military. and given what we know, that that tunnel system and how vital it is to that military operation, it's hard to imagine that the israeli military has any plans of slowing down the attack on that. but all of this tunnel system is built around, in large part, large civilian populations. so that the s the dilemma here. but it is clear there is no indication that the israeli military forces are going to slow down the attempts to dismantle that system below ground. anderson? >> ed lavandera, thanks. retired army general mark hertling joins us now.

how effective do you think these tunnels are? we've seen some of the video. they've certainly been reinforced over many, many years. and a lot of money has been put into them. i mean, will idf soldiers actually have to end up going into these tunnel, fighting in these tunnels? or will it be an attempt to crush the tunnels from above somehow? >> anderson, if i can address what we've both been seeing from a soldier's perspective first, nic robertson has been showing some great films. ed just showed that film of the underground tunnels. the combat environment inside of gaza, gaza city is just something that will -- the sense. we can look from a faraway distance as nic is doing and just see smoke and lightning and bombs blowing up and artillery rounds landing. if you're inside that area, and i believe that israel has encircled all of gaza city, because in urban combat, you want to control ingress and

egress of your enemy into what their defensive positions are. so now they're trying to confuse hamas soldiers in terms of where those tunnel entrances are. they're trying seek out the locations. they're trying to cause just confusion by those soldiers. but in past wars, in 2021 and 2014, israel was very effective in finding where those tunnels were when they were first built. they would drop smoke inside of tunnels and see where the smoke -- green smoke or purple smoke and see where the smoke came out in other buildings. so then they could get a determination of where the tunnels went, where the rows were going in and out. i don't think you're going to see a whole lot of israeli soldiers going inside the tunnel, but they are going to continue to bombard those with the kinds of explosive devices we've seen over the last couple of days to cause those tunnels to cave in and trap those that are inside. now as part of that, they're unfortunately going to be hitting cities where there are

still civilians interspersed with himar fighters. i was looking at the film that nic was showing, and i wouldn't want to be in that city fighting if i were a hamas soldier right now, because it's just utter confusion and assault on all of the senses. you don't know where you are. you don't know where the enemy is. and even though the israeli forces are going in with tanks, a little tip on that, those tanks have vision blocks in the driver's seat that are about this big. so they're trying to figure out as the turret moves back and forth what they can see. they have thermal sights inside, but sometimes you can't see through some of this smoke and rubble. this is a horrendous fight inside of a city. that's why soldiers don't like to fight in urban environments. >> and if you are going -- if you surrounded it and you are moving -- i don't know if it's

block by block, if it's house to house, do you hold a street you have moved down, or do you operate and then move back to some other position? >> first, in normal tactics, you have to secure the buildings and then you secure it or hold it. the problem in gaza is not only the larger apartment buildings or the rubble buildings that are above the ground, you also have a subterranean city. so you also have to try and hold those locations and ensure the hamas terrorists who are moving around in the tunnel, perhaps even with some of the hostages are controlled in that area. that's why the exits of those tunnels around the city have to be destroyed. and that's why the israeli air force is hitting some of these cities with these large super penetrating bombs that go 100 feet down before they explode. that's why you see the large

craters that you're seeing now in the jabalya area yesterday. it's not because it's blowing up a lot of things, but it's penetrating the dirt up to 100 feet and then blowing up, which will collapse the tunnel. that's all part of the tactics of fighting a subterranean environment. >> collapse the tunnel and then obviously the buildings on top, as we're seeing. general hertling, thing. more on antony blinken's trip and how the fighting in gaza might affect it. and more from eric trump and donald trump jr. on how they say others were to blame, not themselves for the financial statements. the judge in their new york civil case has already ruled were fraudulent. the question is now w what they said anyny more crededible than those frfraudulent s statements.

secretary of state blinken is on the way to israel and jordan. he took off in the 1:00 a.m. hour from washington. at 4:00 p.m. israeli forces launched what looked like significant air and artillery barrages on gaza. the question tonight, how will it affect his mission, if it will, and the administration's aim in persuading israel to conduct the war with an eye to the end game. secretary blinken restated that goal on the tarmac today. >> with regard to what comes next, i think understandably, people are very focused on the day of, not just the day after. but we do have to have conversations now about how we can set the conditions for a durable, sustainable peace,

durable, sustainable security for israelis and palestinians alike. >> some perspective now. new reporting on how israel's ground campaign is going. joining us for that is brock ravid, political and foreign policy reporter at axios. brock, first of all, what do you make of what we have been witnessing over the last several hours? what are you hearing about what is going on the ground? >> hi, good evening. i think that what we see on the ground right now is the ground operation. okay, until today, the idf was inside gaza, but it was on the outskirts of gaza city. today the idf basically broke into gaza city, into neighborhoods like telelhawa, where a lot of the hamas security services headquarters are located to other neighborhoods in gaza, to the refugee camp. this is the real deal what we see right now. and at least from everything i

hear from israeli defense officials, i think they're much more satisfied than i would say even a bit surprised by how much progress they made so far in the ground operation. >> progress in terms of literally how many -- how much ground they have been able to move forward on, or just casualties by the idf? how do they measure that? >> i think it's twofold. one, how fast they were able to reach the places they've reached so far inside gaza city, and second, the amount of casualties the idf had so far in this ground operation, it's close to 20 soldiers. that's not nothing, but i think they were concerned the casualties would be much higher. israeli officials acknowledged that there will be more casualties going forward. but they thought there will be more at this stage.

and on the other hand, the amount of casualties they managed to create on the other side, they claimed that hundreds of hamas operatives were killed in the ground operation so far, and i think they sound pretty satisfied. >> this may be a dumb question, but in talking, when you talk to sources you have in the defense force, do they -- are they confident they know what they don't know? obviously, hamas has had a lot of time in gaza city to prepare for what -- since they were new -- knew when the october 7th attack would be and they knew what preparations they would make for inevitable israeli ground operation. how concerned do people you talk to sound about what awaits them when they're fully in gaza city? >> so first, everything that they thought will await them, awaited them. ieds, tunnels, booby traps,

everything was there. but one thing that the idf noticed in the ground operation was that hamas' best soldiers participated in the october 7th attack. and most of them were killed in this attack. so right now, what the idf is facing is let's say the second tier of hamas' armed forces, and at least from what i hear from liz officials, it shows. meaning that in any engagement on the battlefield, the idf feels it is clear who is the stronger side, who is the -- which soldiers are more qualified, and at least again for now, they're very satisfied with the results. >> and what are you hearing about secretary blinken's trip, the likelihood of some sort of pause? they're not using the word "cease-fire" but talking about some sort of humanitarian pause.

what's the reception to that going to be? >> so first, i got to tell you, anderson, i at least -- i don't think i totally understand what the biden administration means when it says a pause, because there are a thousand different ways to interpret it. what is clear, and i hear it both from israeli officials and from biden administration officials is nobody is talking about a ceasefire, mean access saying of hostilities that both sides just stop everything, each side goes back to its positions. that's not going to happen. and the question is, when you talk about humanitarian pause, for how long? is it a six-hour pause just to get a truck from one place to another? is it 24-hour, 48-hour pause to get hostages out? it's not very clear. and i think that it's definitely an issue that secretary blinken is going to raise in his meetings. but i don't think that's the reason he is coming to the region. one of the reason he is coming

to the region is to have this conversation with prime minister netanyahu, look him in the eye, and say bibi, what's the plan for the day after? and even though we are still in the very early stages, it's a conversation the administration wants to have with netanyahu. >> is there a plan? >> no, there is no plan. and by the way, you know, it is almost natural that there is not going to be a plan at the moment. we are really in quite early stages of this operation. but what blinken wants to tell netanyahu is, listen, it's okay that you don't have a plan now, but if you're not going start thinking about one, then there might be a problem. and another thing, even if you don't have a plan, when israel goes on this ground operation, there may be things that israel wouldn't want to do during the ground operation, thinking about the day after.

and this is another message that blinken will give netanyahu. >> brock ravid, thank you so much. appreciate it. >> thank you, anderson. more now on what hamas has been saying to the world on arabic language programs in the middle east, and what its spokesman and leaders are not saying when confronted with the barbarity of its attacks of civilians on october 7th. randi kaye has that. >> the existence of israel is illogical. >> reporter: hamas trying to control the narrative. >> the existence of israel is what causes all that pain, blood, and tears. >> reporter: that's gazi hamad, a senior hamas official, speaking out on lebanese tv. in the clip, he squarely blames israel for causing the october massacre carried out by hamas that left more than 1400 people dead. >> it is israel, not us. we are victims of the occupation, period. therefore, nobody should blame us for the things we do. on october 7th, october 10th,

october one million, everything we do is justified. we must teach israel a lesson, and will do this again and again. the al aqsa flood is just a first time. and there will be a second, a third, a fourth, because we have the determination, the capabilities and the resolve to continue to fight. >> reporter: playing the role of victim, the terror organization designated a terror group by the u.s. is trying to convince people around the world that hamas' attack on israel was justified. despite its own random killing of hundreds of unarmed israeli civilians and committing barbaric acts, one hamas leader spun israel's retaliation this way in a speech. >> translator: we assure the enemy and whoever is behind it that your pathetic attempts to conceal your own defeat by committing barbaric massacres against unarmed civilians with villain any will not save you

from acts of violence in the al aqsa flood. >> reporter: and those hostages hamas is holding in gaza? hamas, in trying to soften its image, now refers to them as guests. >> translator: we keep a diverse group of individuals currently under temporary custody, hailing from different nationalities. these individuals are considered our esteemed guests and our primary goal is to ensure their safety. >> reporter: this hamas leader also used arab tv to make the case that hamas didn't want to kill israeli civilians, despite the fact that video from the gunmen's own body cameras show them doing so on purpose and enjoying it. >> translator: we did not want to harm civilians, but there were complications on the ground, and there was a party in the area with population. it was a large area across 40 kilometers. >> reporter: and when facts get in the way of hamas' message, like during this interview with the bbc, hamas shuts down the

interview. >> i can tell you that we didn't have any intention or decision to kill the civilians. >> how do you justify killing people as they sleep, you know, families? how do you justify? >> i want to stop this television. i want to stop this interview. >> reporter: randi kaye, cnn, new york. coming up, the rise in anti-semitism around the world in the wake of the october 7th attacks and the israeli response has jews in one capital city recalling the who rofrs kristallnanacht. whatat happened,d, next.

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this latest chapter in the war between israel and hamas began with hamas perpetrating the most deadly loss of lives since the holocaust. two days ago, fbi director christopher wray told a senate panel that anti-semitism in this country is reaching what he called historic levels. tomorrow, cornell university is canceling classes to acknowledge what they call the extraordinary stress of the week. three days ago, a student there was arrested for allegedly posting online threats to kill members of the university's jewish community. and it's by no means only happen hearing in the u.s. cnn's fred pleitgen reports tonight from vienna, austria. >> reporter: valuable scrolls and prayer books reduced to ashes after an arson attack on this ceremonial hall in the jewish part of vienna's main cemetery. the last time this very hall was set on fire was almost to the day 85 years ago by the nazis on

kristallnacht. chief rabbi ingle inglemeyer te. >> i think it takes us back to the times where the books were burned, and it is an attack on the virtual values of the religion and of humanity, which happened here. >> reporter: a swastika on the outer wall leaves few questions about the antisemitic nature of the attack. >> it should worry us, all of the people in the free world about what's going on in the streets right now, antisemitic attacks are just the top of what's going on. >> reporter: since hamas' october 7th attack on southern israel, murdering more than 1,400 people and kidnapping hundreds, and israel's military response in gaza, which has also

caused many casualties, antisemitic incidents have skyrocketed by about 300% in austria, the head of vienna's jewish community tells me. >> we are anxious. people are thinking about their life. the first thing is jewish life possible in austria? the second thinking is, is jewish life possible in europe or in the world? >> free free palestine! >> reporter: with pro-palestinian anti-israel demos sweeping across the continent, jewish groups say anti-semitism is not only getting more prevalent, but uglier. from plastering stars of david on jewish homes in paris, to a molotov cocktail attack on one of the main synagogues in berlin, and near daily assaults and insults in various european countries. today, just hours after the

cemetery attack, vienna's jewish community hosted israelis whose relatives were killed or kidnapped by hamas on october 7th. his family four murdered, seven kidnapped. tal lives in europe, but while he is publicly advocating for the hostages in everyday life, he feels he has to hide his jewish identity. >> not be associated with anything written hebrew, not to speak hebrew, not to go to places that are considered jewish like a synagogue or things like that. >> reporter: while many european leaders have come out strongly against the rising tied of anti-semitism, the head of the european jewish association says it's not enough. >> we know exactly when we are in dangers. and we are now in dangers. european leaders, we need you right now to act. never again is now, not tomorrow, not next week. it's now. >> reporter: but as much as

there is fear, there is also a sense of defiance. rabbi inglemeyer himself painting over the nazi slurs on the cemetery wall, eager to show his jewish community will not be intimidated by antisemitic attacks. and anderson, the jewish community here in austria, they do tell me they are very happy with the response they got from the austrian government. they say the austrian government came out strong in their favor. in germany, that government banned hamas on this very day. nevertheless, the jewish communities here across europe are saying that they do feel anti-semitism is very much on the rise, and that they are feeling increasingly unsafe. anderson? >> fred pleitgen, thank you. coming up next, not one, but two donald trump sons taking the stand in new york city in new york civil fraud case facing the business. some tense moments as they responded to accusations of completely lying about the value of the company's assets. next.

in a new york courtroom today, the former president's two adult sons took the stand in a case of fraud in the family business. the two helped run the organization while their father was in the white house. they along with a former president and other executives were accused of overvaluing properties to win favorable terms from a bank.

they admitted to banks and insurance companies clearly contained invalid valuation that the defendants used to get business. eric grew tense as he was pressed about his understanding of his father's financial statements. earlier donald trump jr. wrapped up his second day of testimony, repeatededly saying the company's accountants, not him handle the company's statements. how did the testimony unfold? >> well, anderson, it began with donald trump jr. on the stand. he was confident, deferring all of the expectations and blame on e accountants.statements on to and then when his brother eric trump took the stand, it became a bit more combative. donald trump jr. said it was the accountants, eric trump took it further, saying he was unaware of the financial statements at t the heart of this case. and the ones the judge already said found to be fraudulent, he wasn't aware of this until the attorney general's investigation came to fruition. so after he made that statement, that is when the lawyer for the

state then spent about an hour and 15 minutes going through email, some of them dating back to 2010 with references to the financial statements, including one where eric trump provides an internal accountant with a valuation of a golf course of $200 million, pressing him, saying, do you want to change financial statements that the company may have produced. now he was also saying that even if he spoke to internal accountants about some of these properties, he said it never registered to him that it would be used in the financial statements that were given to banks. so his testimony is expected to continue tomorrow, and then next week it will be donald trump taking the stand on monday, followed by ivanka trump on wednesday. anderson? >> and the judge took issue today with the comment from one of trump's attorneys related to

the court clerk. what happened there? >> right. so donald trump was being -- eric trump was still being questioned. and then one of his attorneys had objected to the line of questioning and had made a reference to the clerk that sits right beside the judge passing a note to him, objecting to that, saying it appeared to be bias and improper. the judge got upset with that. he pounded his fists on the bench, saying that trump's attorney is not to speak about his clerk, saying he is tempted to even expand the gag order in this case which currently only applies to trump, saying he can't talk about any court staff, but threatening to extend it further. trump's attorney saying he was just trying to make a record. they're building a record for what they expect to be an appeal of this decision when it ultimately comes down. but certainly a tense moment, and something we'll look to see if it carries over into tomorrow. anderson? >> all right. thanks. next, john king continues his "360" series with a stop in milwaukee, wisconsin, where concern over black voter turnout

next november has the attention of the biden campaign. that's next.

john king is back tonight with another installment of our "360" series all over the map leading up to the 2024 presidential election. we talk to voters in battleground states about the issues that really matter to them. and for tonight's report, he travelled to milwaukee, wisconsin, where high turnout is key for democrats in the state's largest city.

nearly 40% of milwaukee's population is black, a crucial voting bloc. but voter frustration could be a problem for the biden camp. john king joins us with more. >> frustration is an understatement. remember how important black voters were. they rescued joe biden's candidacy. that's why he flipped the calendar and put south carolina first. he one more than nine out of ten votes in the election. one of them was wisconsin. a foundational element of the president's coalition, and one year out, let's go to milwaukee. he's in trouble. devonte johnson is a foot soldier for democracy in one of its most crucial battlegrounds. >> i'm for black leaders organized for community. >> reporter: this stop is encouraging. >> i'm so happy that it's a black plan out here going from door to door. >> reporter: organizer des woods gets a response far more common. >> i won't talk about the elections. >> reporter: woods is trained to keep trying. >> so are you not a voter? >> when i want. to and right now i don't want to.

>> reporter: the predominantly black neighborhoods on milwaukee's north side can look and feel forgotten. >> one of the main things -- >> reporter: the canvassers meet often and share what they're hearing. good paying jobs are scarce. rent is up. the streets used to be cleaner and safer. >> people say ain't nothing happening. it won't affect us. raise y'all hand. >> ain't no change. >> wow. >> so we see all these other areas. >> reporter: bloc founder angela lange outlines this week's agenda and next november's stakes. >> there is no way to win a statewide election that doesn't run through the black community. what happens in milwaukee can impact the rest of the state, which ultimately can impact the rest of the country. no pressure. >> reporter: the president was last near in august for a green energy event, and this old industrial site is being cleaned up with biden infrastructure money. >> putting in the work for black america. >> reporter: but early spending is proof the campaign sees the problem. the ads don't mention one issue critical here.

>> people are wondering what is he doing in terms of police accountability and criminal justice reform. >> reporter: lange also says the president better show up more. >> people always want to see people actually paying attention. and sometimes that means being able to physically be here and engage. >> reporter: black turnout soared near the obama years, but it dropped in 2016 and was flat in 2020. on a scale of one to ten, how you grade the joe biden presidency in terms of its impact on your life and your community? >> a 4. >> reporter: a 4? >> yeah. and i love joe. >> reporter: yvette baker, though, sees a reason for optimism. >> the alternative is the man who's name try not to say. >> reporter: well, i'll say it. as we sit here today, the likely alternative is donald trump. >> right. >> reporter: would that be enough to motive people even if maybe they're a little eh on biden? >> i think so. >> reporter: joanna brooks with is one such voter. she owns a yoga studio across the line. like many we met in the city,

brooke says black voters get taken for granted. >> black people in general tend to be pretty loyal to the democratic party. and sometimes i wonder just based on how that party has performed thus far for people of color if we should continue to be. >> reporter: but brooke says that accountability exercise must wait until avenue 2024 because of constant republican attacks on abortion rights and voting rights. >> i grew up almost certain that my rights were guaranteed. i took it for granted. and now as i sit and watch the work of so many black folks during the civil rights movement, so many women who fought for women's rights, when i see all of their work slowly being undone, that was a wake-up call for me for sure. you have to fight. >> reporter: erik jones is no trump is no trump fan, but he thinks

it's foolish to vote against trump. >> i hear people saying they're not going to vote. that's my fear. they see those two and they say screw it. >> reporter: we met jones at the fifth anniversary of the bronzeville collective. several local artists sell their goods here. it is a source of smiles and hope in a community often defined by poverty and a high incarceration rate. >> when jobs leave and opportunities leave, then you have certain things that are affected, right? >> reporter: jones says the president should stop by and learn a lesson. >> reporter: for the president, it is the mood a year from now that matters most. but the mood now is bleak. >> if you're joe biden and you want to be re-elected, he'd had a problem today, right? >> yes, he would. he'd have a big problem. >> reporter: if it were just biden and trump, who would you vote for? >> that's just a tough one. >> reporter: a young man who says the country needs big

change, determined to boost milwaukee's black turnout, yet not sure who gets his vote. >> john, where else besides wisconsin will black voters be crucial for president biden? >> everywhere, anderson, because they're part of his coalition. let me give you five states. wisconsin, pennsylvania, georgia, even out in arizona. why do i circle those five states? let's go back in time. donald trump won them all in it's not just black voters. joe biden did better in the suburbs. joe biden in 2020 did better with white working class voters. but to keep these blue, part of it is turning out black voters. look at the percentage. in georgia, 32%, nearly a third of the eligible voters in georgia are black. michigan, 13%, wisconsin, 6%, arizona, 5%. these are just five of the most critical states for him to get his electoral math again. and we've placed phone calls in some of these places. but when we were in milwaukee and heard it on the streets,

it's not all about biden but people are despondent. when you hear older black women say, i might not vote, that better be a wakeup call to the president. he's in trouble. >> i want to bring in van jones, former adviser to president obama. how concerned are you? >> there's no word big enough for the amount of concern because people, it's hurt. it's remarkable. i think when you remember 2008, the hope, 2016, the determination -- 2016, people, kind of, took their foot off the gas with hillary clinton. i think that -- police reform, nothing. criminal justice reform, nothing. voting rights, nothing. like, the things that black people came out and voted for and voted about, george floyd, the john lewis civil rights, nothing has gotten done on the

black card. and so it's starting to feel like, wow, like, you know, the economy isn't that good and our issues didn't get taken seriously. what are we supposed to do? and i think blackpeople think b people are single issues, we don't like donald trump. but i don't think that's trump. you also have people that are having trouble filling up a gas tank and they've got other stuff they're concerned about. john king has put his finger on exactly what is happening across the board. you're hearing in every black church, every black community center, every barbershop, every nail salon exactly what we found. >> van, to your point, there was the guy in john's story that said it would be foolish for people to think that trump will motivate voters, black voters, to turn out for biden. >> look, there will be some people, just not liking trump is enough. but there's other people who feel like, man, what do we have to do? we stand in long lines for hours

and hours and hours. we're getting gerrymandered. we have to fight so hard just to vote. and then the neighborhood's not any better. and then affirmative action gets taken away. and the voting rights is worse and the gerrymandering is worse. and nothing is happening. this is a moment right now. after a campaign and people got the chance to make the argument and get close to making the comparison, it may change. it could shift. there's a fight to be had. i just want people to know you're not starting from the 2008, 2012 barack obama high enthusiasm from black voters. you're starting from the opposite. if you don't know that, you're not going to volunteer right, you're not going to donate right. and the democrats going to be caught sleeping at the wheel. >> and john, you heard that from voters you talked to that they hoped for a voting rights bill or police reform or criminal justice reform, something. >> everything. the older black voters -- women are often the glue in these black communities, anderson. when you hear people say, people

died for my right to vote, and i might not vote. it's stunning. it blows away the organizers who have done this in campaign after campaign after campaign. one reason this bloc group is out there every day, they understand the challenges. they're knocking every week. they do neighborhood cleanups. they do everything to be in touch with these people. they want to be the familiar face. but i'm telling you, we knew it was bad from our phone calls before we even went out there. it is beyond belief. you heard the black man, devonte johnson, not sure who he's going to vote for. might vote for trump. older black women saying, i might not vote. for older black women to say that after all they've been through, it tells you everything about their disupon den si. they don't see change e and d t don't t see the e presesident. he betteter get out t there. > thank youou. we'll l be right b back.

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