The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper

CNN Political Commentator Ana Navarro presents a cross-country examination of the nuanced impact of the Latino vote in the 2024 presidential election.

The Latino vote could be crucial to the election, but it's not the homogenous monolith that some talking heads might make it out to be. Latinos are now the second largest group of voting-age Americans, and an estimated 36 million Latinos are eligible to vote this year, an increase of nearly 4 million in the last four years.

"So often on I get asked, ‘How can any Latino, how can any immigrant possibly vote for Trump?'. Well, many are doing just that," said Navarro. "On TV, political experts are constantly talking about Latino voters. We wanted to talk to Latino voters. We put names and faces and personal stories to the statistics and poll-numbers and explored the issues and perceptions driving Latinos to the polls this year."

Navarro, a Republican well known for criticizing former President Donald Trump, is now an active supporter of Vice President Kamala Harris. In this episode, she explores the issues that matter most to the different Latino communities across the country on both sides of the aisle. She visits immigrant communities in her hometown of Miami, where Cuban Americans have historically primarily supported Trump at the polls. Navarro meets up with CNN Senior National Correspondent Ed Lavandera at the southernmost tip of Texas, widely considered a Democratic stronghold where the population is 90% Latino. She finds out in both places that those assumptions can be deceiving, and some Latino voters are being swayed on a number of issues to change course.

She also visits with Latino voters in two cities in critical swing states: Cumming, Georgia, where 10% of the state population is Latino and 22% of those Latinos will be voting in their first presidential election; and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a state with the third largest Puerto Rican community in the US.

CNN Anchor Kaitlan Collins takes a closer look at the history of the office of the First Lady and who may redefine it for the next generation. 

In an unprecedented election full of historic firsts, the spouses of the candidates are breaking the mold in their own right. Former First Lady Melania Trump may become only the second woman in US history to return to the East Wing for a second nonconsecutive term, and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff could become the first man to ever serve in that role. In this episode, Collins examines the historically high-pressure and thankless position of the First Spouse, unpaid and ill-defined yet filled with scrutiny.

"The job description of the first spouse has always been ill-defined, given it really has no definition at all," Collins said. "Melania Trump pushed the boundaries of how first ladies in the modern era defined it. And we could be on the verge of seeing how Doug Emhoff upends the title once again by becoming the first man to occupy the role. Either way, we are in for a fascinating look at the East Wing in 2025."

In this episode, Collins breaks down how Melania Trump blazed a new path as First Lady, delaying moving into the White House and enduring reporting of alleged extramarital affairs by her husband. She was the nation's only First Lady to grow up speaking a language other than English, and her tumultuous tenure in the position was marked by fashion missteps and shirking tradition. 

Collins also explores the story of Doug Emhoff, the country's first-ever Second Gentleman, who hopes to become America's inaugural First Gentleman as well. Emhoff made a name for himself at this year's Democratic National Convention as a relatable everyman supporting his wife's career. He also represents a nontraditional family structure, having two children from a prior marriage who call the Vice President "Mamala."

CNN Correspondent Omar Jimenez premieres a deeper look at the consequences of a right-wing conspiracy theory given a national platform playing out in Southwestern Ohio.  

Since 2020, roughly 12,000 Haitian immigrants have moved to Springfield, a city once struggling to find workers. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and running mate J.D. Vance have spent a large portion of their campaign targeting these legal immigrants, spreading misinformation and threatening to deport them if elected. In "Why Springfield?" Jimenez takes viewers inside this community, speaking with lifetime residents, business owners, local authorities, and the immigrants who are now facing harassment and threats to their safety. 

Haitian immigrants describe the horrific conditions they fled in Haiti and the new threats they now face in Ohio. Community members reveal how Haitian immigrants have revitalized the local economy, allowing businesses' workforces to expand, housing development to grow, and retail to thrive. Jimenez also speaks with Republican Governor of Ohio Mike DeWine about the impact of Haitian immigrants on the state and what could happen if they were to leave.