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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Trump Rallies NC GOP Voters In Critical Senate Race; WSJ: Musk Ordered Starlink Slowdown That Blindsided Ukraine; OH Gov. Dem. Nominee Amy Acton's Estranged Mother Urges Voters Not To Vote For Her In New Attack Video; New El-Sayed Ad Highlights His Faith As He Faces GOP Attacks; Texas Voters Weigh In On Key Midterm Races; Democrats Hope To Flip TX Senate Seat Amid Tight Polls; GA Election Officials Push Back On Rigged Election Claims. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired October 20, 2026 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN, CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Pastor Williams, talked about that is so concerning to so many Democrats here. Now, President Trump, he's also coming to Michigan on Sunday, and Democrats would like to sort of take him at his word and say that he is on the ballot. They think he drives support and enthusiasm for them as well -- Erin.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: All right, Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much in Detroit tonight. And thanks so much to all of you for being with us. AC360 starts now.
[20:00:42]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": And good evening, with two weeks left to go before election day, November 3rd, welcome to our special coverage: Midterms 2026: Countdown to Election night. The President campaigning today in North Carolina State. He won two years ago by three points and also won in 2020 and 2016.
He is stumping for Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley, who is trailing his Democratic opponent, former Governor Roy Cooper, by 14 points in a recent poll. That is well outside the margin of error and perhaps explains why the GOP has poll spending there to put their money on closer Senate races.
The President spoke about him, about his midterm push today in the Oval Office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The President always loses for whatever reason the midterms, whoever it is, Republican, Democrat, great President, lousy President.
If I can get my voters, MAGA Republicans, whatever you want to call. If they get out to vote, we'll win in a landslide. But they have to want to get out to vote. And if you're not on the ballot, it's a little harder.
So, I'm asking them to pretend I'm on the ballot. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That is the President's constant refrain, now, pretend I'm on the ballot. He is saying it in states across the country.
Last night it was Kansas, tomorrow South Carolina, followed by Iowa, Florida, Georgia and Michigan. After a one-day break, then he's going to head back to Texas next week for two rallies in one day. The President hoping to keep the Senate, obviously, in Republican control.
Now, a lot of politicians are on the campaign trail. Former President Clinton is in Florida with Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly; House Speaker Mike Johnson is in Montana for Republican Aaron Flint in a competitive congressional race there. And Senator Bernie Sanders is in Texas for a get out the vote event with house Democratic candidate Greg Casar.
We've got special coverage tonight; all-star political panel is with me. You can also join the conversation by submitting your questions, you can head to cnn.com/engage politics. We'll answer some of your questions throughout the show. And also, some of our panelists responding directly to you online, that's cnn.com/politics.
We begin right now with Kristen Holmes, who is with President Trump in Greenville, North Carolina. So, this Senate race has sort of been seen as a lost cause for Republicans. Why would the President go there?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I mean, Anderson, no one can answer that question for me. Why is he here? Not only has the Senate Super-PAC, the Republican Senate Super-PAC pulled out, they pulled out weeks ago of any spending. The campaign itself has gone dark. They seem to know that they are so far behind that they shouldn't be spending any money to try and get that footing back.
Now, I was told that President Trump did feel a sense of loyalty to Michael Whatley, who was with him on the campaign. He was also his RNC chair, so, there is something to be said about that. And we are in a deep red portion of North Carolina. And again, this goes to the overall strategy, which is this idea that if they can drive out Republicans, there are more Republicans in these various areas than there are Democrats, and that Trump is the only person that can actually do that because he has been the main driving enthusiasm behind these Republicans for the last several elections.
Of course, those were elections that he was on the ballot. So, that's why you hear him saying he wants to be on the ballot, pretend like he's on the ballot. All of these various comments, but it's just unclear if it's going to work. And I'll tell you, I've been to a couple of these now. I talked to all of these different people in the crowd, and they say they were going to vote Republican anyway, even if President Trump hadn't come.
So, it's unclear whether or not I think right now were actually getting another protester. This is about the fourth or fifth protester, and this is actually getting a little bit violent there. You can see that there's -- they were fighting and pushing her back. This is probably the fourth or fifth protester that we've seen. You can see him screaming here. I'm not sure entirely what she's protesting there. But there have been a various number of them. You can hear President Trump, he's been calling them names, calling them losers, unsurprising there. But this is what we've seen overall throughout all of these different stops. He's had a lot of protesters.
COOPER: Kristen Holmes appreciate it, thanks.
Joining us now is former Republican Michigan Congressman Peter Meijer, former Trump White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin, former deputy assistant to President Biden. Jamal Simmons and journalist and "Lift Our Voices" co-founder, Gretchen Carlson.
Alyssa, does it make sense to you that the President is there?
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, because I think we're thinking about this all wrong. What The White House wants right now is to show that Donald Trump can show up somewhere, absolutely pack out a stadium because he's had some more sparsely attended events, right now.
This is partially about stroking his ego, but this is also about reading the tea leaves of where the midterms are going and being able to say, we'll, he turned out a crowd. He showed up, this is on you that you didn't win.
This is really more about covering his tail and even the kind of psychology of this having been in The White House in the 2018 midterms, when Republicans kind of got shellacked. This is also about him just wanting to get on the road and feel like he's in the fight.
Sometimes they want to get him out of the building and get him out when he gets to do the Trump road show. There's not really a deep strategy there to the level that there is any. it's that they need to shore up the base of the base. But this is really about Trump saying, look, I can still fill an arena.
COOPER: Congressman, does that make sense to you?
[20:05:42]
PETER MEIJER FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: I would say even though the state level may not be competitive or that's the assessment. Roy Cooper is a very strong Senate nominee there. The North Carolina's First Congressional District, which Greenville is right -- isn't inside of, but it's right on the bubble and there's probably a lot of folks in that audience who are coming from the first. That is a toss- up seat.
You have Don Davis, who's a Democrat. He's the incumbent and Lori Buckhout, who was the nominee in 2024, is running again in 2026.
So, it's not all about the state level. I mean, House control matters, too. And frankly, every seat is going to matter in the midterms.
COOPER: Jamal, are you concerned about Democrats might be buying into the whole kind of blue wave at this point and is that a nervous --
JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, there's a little irrational enthusiasm that's taking place right now.
COOPER: Do you think it is irrational?
SIMMONS: Yes, a little bit. I mean, South Carolina is one state. It could happen, Mississippi, it could happen. It also probably won't happen. So, you know, we've got to pay attention to these states and we're going to compete in those states. Democrats are going to do that.
Here's the thing I worry about. I take Alyssa's point that some of this is about getting the President out, making sure he's spending his time on the road.
I also wonder if they know a few of these pinpointed districts where they should go, because there are some of these Republican voters that Peter was talking about. There are a few of them that if he goes in there, he knows who they are. He knows what they need to hear. Maybe he can turn them out and uphold. Maybe it's a member of Congress, maybe it's somebody at the statewide level, but maybe it's just to narrow the gap so Republicans don't get completely wiped out. But it's a more narrow loss than they would have.
COOPER: That was an argument that Scott Jennings made, actually, which is like, there are some Republicans in all these places that he's going, which, you know, are they're kind of unhappy. But him being there, it might just galvanize them to come out.
SIMMONS: Yes, they're better at this than the Democrats are, which is why I always get a little bit worried.
GRETCHEN CARLSON, JOURNALIST AND FOUNDER OF "LIFT OUR VOICES": Yes, but last night when we were on the air together and he was in Kansas, Kristen Holmes was reporting that there were Republicans in the audience who weren't sure who they were voting for yet.
So tonight, she's saying that a lot of these Republicans are saying they're still going to vote Republican. But look, Roy Cooper is an incredibly popular candidate. He was governor, and I think you're going to get tons of Independents and maybe even some forlorn Republicans who are going to cross over and vote for him. This would be the first time in North Carolina that an open race, a Democrat, would win since 1974.
So, this is a big deal and to your point about Mississippi and South Carolina, the Cook Report today just shifted those from likely Republican to lean Republican or potentially lean Democrat.
I mean, I looked up on the screen, I saw South Carolina and Mississippi, what the hell is going on here, right?
SIMMONS: -- Collins is a great candidate; I want to be embarrassed.
COOPER: Do you think there are a lot of people who go to rallies who aren't sure who they're going to vote for?
GRIFFIN: No and I've said I say this having gone --Trump's rally --
COOPER: --Or they just not want to say who they're voting for?
GRIFFIN: If you're going to a Trump rally, you know who you're voting for. But there is still you're going into the DMA, you're getting the earned media, you're on the front pages of your local paper, it does help.
There is a Trump boom to having him come to your district. If you're trying to pick up some of these Congressional seats. it's very different, though, than the statewide candidates who are begging him to not come.
Listen, Mike Whatley is a non-factor in this race. He's not winning but there's a reason. Susan Collins is not going to want to appear with him in Maine right now. You're not, Dan Sullivans not wanting to appear with him in Alaska. Those are the ones where he's not quite as welcome. He can go to the red of the red states, and the candidates are still going to show up next to him, because what can they do other than wholeheartedly embrace him at this point?
CARLSON: And New Hampshire, where Sununu put out an ad today saying, I've never even met Trump.
GRIFFIN: Yes, I'm independent.
MEIJER: I've lost your state by ten points; you don't want him there. He won by ten points. You don't want him there.
GRIFFIN: Yes, exactly.
COOPER: Do you think that's effective for Sununu to have done that?
CARLSON: I -- who knows? I mean, it's a tight race there too. But Sununu has a massive Republican name in the state. The other thing I would point out is that enthusiasm and turnout is totally different in the primary elections that we've been covering over the last couple of months compared to the actual midterm election.
I mean, we saw Trump almost got 100 percent by candidates that he endorsed in the primaries. I think it's completely different when you're talking about a general election, because you're getting an Independents first and foremost, who couldn't vote in the primaries, and they may turn everything.
COOPER: Everybody, stay with us. We're going to take a look coming up at the controversy about Starlink in Ukraine, who slowed down the Starlink used by Ukraine's military to defend itself, Elon Musk or President Trump?
New reporting "The Wall Street Journal" has the disturbing answer. We'll talk with one of the reporters who broke that story.
[20:10:09] And later, Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed leans into his Muslim faith in a new ad after months of attacks over it from the President and other Republicans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: Faith is a thing there's just too little of in Washington. We don't have faith in our future. We don't have faith that we can actually fix things. So yes, we need a few more people of faith in Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:14:40]
COOPER: Ukraine has been raising the alarm about what it says is a slowdown of a military grade version of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite network that has caused some battlefield and interceptor drones used by Ukrainian forces to stop Russian attacks to become essentially useless.
This happened at the same time that President Trump has been attacking Ukraine's President for not negotiating a deal with Russia already. After Ukraine raised the alarm about Starlink showdown, Elon Musk posted on social media last Wednesday, "Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S. Military and ultimately, POTUS, the President of the United States. President Trump then claimed on Friday he didn't know who was responsible and raised doubts there had been a slowdown at all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It wasn't us. I checked it this morning. They say it's the same as it always has been. I don't know if it was anybody because it wasn't me, and I don't think it was Elon. And from what I understand, it's the same as it's always been.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:15:35]
COOPER: That last comment was Friday. Yesterday, when asked by reporters, the President seemed to acknowledge there had been a slowdown but denied he knew anything about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Have you investigated at all, who slowed down or interrupted the Starlink in Ukraine? Who ordered that interruption?
TRUMP: I don't know who it was, but I'd like to find out, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: Well, President Zelenskyy says he believes Ukraine was being
punished or pushed by the U.S. to stand down in the conflict, saying in an interview, "I believe steps have been taken to convince Ukraine to capitulate."
Well, today, "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that Elon Musk ordered the slowdown. The question is, was it at the suggestion or encouragement of President Trump?
Alex Ward, National Security reporter for "The Wall Street Journal" is one of the journalists who broke the story. He joins me now.
So, Alex, talk about what you have learned through your reporting. What Elon Musk did and what role the President of any played in it or The White House.
ALEX WARD, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL" NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: So, our understanding is that at least Elon Musk, who leads SpaceX, did order his company to throttle the speeds for Starlink Starshield, however you want to call it for Ukraine. And for those who aren't familiar, all that really means is that the connectivity that Ukraine needs to send interceptors and other kinds of anti-air defense missiles or whatever it may be, are reliant on that network at unlimited speeds in order to keep up with Russian attacks.
If that speed is throttled and it was throttled to about 100 miles per hour that rendered a lot of those interceptors useless.
COOPER: When you say throttled, you mean slowed down?
WARD: Correct. So, Musk's decision rendered a lot of Ukraine's defense capabilities effectively inoperable, and that we understand Musk did, based on, you know, what's been going on with Ukraine. His frustration with Zelenskyy's attacks on Russian diesel refineries, which, of course, Trump has expressed disappointment with that as well.
Now, one thing I should note is our reporting does not preclude the possibility that Musk and Trump talked about this and that Trump signaled to Musk that he wanted some kind of retribution for Ukraine. What we do know, though, is that Musk is the one who directed his own company for the Starlink slowdown speeds.
COOPER: And what did you learn about the reaction at the White House to this? Because it sounds from your reporting, like some people in the White House were surprised that this had happened and there was some sort of an investigation.
WARD: Yes, there's a bit of a SpaceX said, White House said. So, what you basically have is once this was revealed by Ukraine, SpaceX calls the White House and goes, hey, guys, our messaging is a bit off here. There was coordination right between the White House and SpaceX on this. We need to come out and say that.
And that was a bit of a revelation for folks at the White House who were surprised by the slowdown of the speeds of Starlink and we're looking for some kind of explanation of what it was. And it sounded like to a bunch of White House officials that Musk did it on his own. But again, we can't exclude the possibility of a Musk-Trump conversation. And in fact, we do, "a person familiar with the situation saying that Musk and Trump had multiple calls, including before the slowdown order."
So, but we don't have details of that exact conversation. But we do know that Trump and Musk spoke shortly after the issue became revealed publicly. And they discussed the Starlink issue.
COOPER: All right, Alex Ward, you can read more in "The Wall Street Journal". Alex, thank you.
Back now with our panel.
Congressman, as a veteran, as a lawmaker, does it concern you that a private citizen, Elon Musk, would have the power to do this?
MEIJER: What's concerning is just none of this really adds up. I mean, The White House is pointing blame to SpaceX. SpaceX is throwing it back to the White House, whether it's The White House or the Pentagon. You know, the denials are kind of all over the place, you know.
With respect to Alex Ward, I mean, there is a distinction between Starlink and Starshield. Starlink is commercial. Ukrainians are using it in a military capacity, but it's very limited.
COOPER: They're kind of jerry-rigged it.
MEIJER: Yes.
COOPER: They've kind of jerry-rigged it to work on their interceptors.
MEIJER: Correct. Well, and then you have Starshield, which is more of a military system. That's the one that can actually -- it's still, there's some restrictions, limitations, but that is administered by the Department of War. That is not something that Elon Musk should be able to tune.
If the reporting is correct and Elon Musk was tinkering with the speeds of Starshield --
COOPER: They don't but my understanding. according to "The Wall Street Journal" is Ukraine doesn't officially have access to Starshield that they have basically jerry-rigged and souped up a version of Starlink to fit their interceptors. And that is what was tinkered with. They refer to it as like a Starshield minus like a, it's almost like Starshield, but it's not officially Starshield.
[20:20:13]
MEIJER: Which, there's been, you know, getting back to some of the origins of this war and the use of SpaceX's technology and that, you know, initially it was just a blanket restriction across the country. Then it was opened up. But there were challenges because you had whitelisted Starlink units, and then you had non-whitelisted ones that were used by the Russians as well for communications, that was shut down. And there's a very strong push by the Ukrainians.
They would like to be able to use the Starlink systems to be able to communicate with their one-way attack drones going further into Russia, to be able to take out some of these interceptors. But there's a hard and fast line, you know, you cannot, you can use it for defense within your territory, but not beyond.
COOPER: I mean, Elon musk certainly has power over Starlink, which is what essentially the Ukrainians are using. And he was able to slow it down. Does that concern you?
GRIFFIN: There's a lot that we don't know but if either Elon Musk, the Department of War or The White House gave the order to slow this, that should be subject to Congressional investigations in the new Congress, that is morally reprehensible. It is devastating to Ukraine when they're in an active war posture right now. And no one, no individual or corporate entity should have the power to do that.
I think most Americans would agree with this, but I think why there's so many questions raised around this is look at the context of the moment. Donald Trump has been pushing Zelenskyy to hold elections, step down from power and cut a deal. He's now saying he's going to meet with China and with Russia, not with the Ukrainians, about ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.
COOPER: And he makes, he makes an oil deal on diesel with --
GRIFFIN: Correct, with the Russians violating our own U.S. sanctions. So, the backdrop of it seems like there could have been some sort of implicit or explicit pressure from The White House. And there's got to be investigations to get to the bottom of that.
SIMMONS: Anderson, this is either bad business or bad allyship, or maybe it's both. But I got to tell you, I've had a lot of conversations with tech executives over the last year or so who are all expressed concern that when they go around the world, they're trying to sell their services. A lot of countries are very hesitant about doing business with American companies because they're worried about what will happen when the President changes his mind about how he wants to engage with those companies.
And so, I think the question here is for these companies, if Elon Musk or the President of the United States could just turn off a service when they feel like it, what happens to everyone else who has a data in a server or data moving across a transmission line, or anything else that Americans have control over. That puts all of that data and all that service in jeopardy.
CARLSON: But to me, the bottom line here is that if this administration actually supported Ukraine, there would be outrage today at this reporting. I mean, if Elon Musk shut off Starlink, then then the administration and Trump should be out there saying, turn it back on. We support Ukraine. They're not doing that.
So, that's how it looks like everyone is pointing fingers at one another. The other thing that I thought about all day was if Senator Lindsey Graham was still alive, he would be getting to the bottom of this.
He visited Ukraine ten times since 2022. He was just coming home the night before he died a couple of months ago. I believe he had Trumps ear and he would have had a huge problem with what's been going on.
COOPER: I don't think his sister is going to be quite as --
CARLSON: No, no.
COOPER: Everyone stick around, up next, Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has repeatedly and falsely been accused of being a Jihadist by President Trump. In a new ad, El-Sayed is leaning into his faith and in Ohio's gubernatorial race, an ad has been released featuring the estranged mother of the Democratic candidate, Amy Acton, urging voters not to vote for her own daughter.
Acton, says she hasn't seen her mother since she was 12, after she testified against her mother's husband, her stepfather, who was indicted for sexually abusing Acton as a child.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONNA ARTHUR, AMY ACTON'S MOTHER: It is not easy for a mother to say this, but Amy has a serious problem. She is a liar. She lies about her past.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:28:01]
COOPER: The race for governor in Ohio is now getting very personal. A new video features the estranged mother of the Democratic nominee, Dr. Amy Acton, urging Ohioans not to vote for her daughter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARTHUR: It's not easy for a mother to say this, but Amy has a serious problem. She's lied her entire life.
My daughter needs help, and she can't help you if she needs help herself.
Don't vote for people who lie. Don't let her become your governor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So, there's a backstory here. Acton says her mother lost custody of her and her brother in 1978. She says her mother stayed with her stepfather, who was charged with sexually abusing Acton when she was 12-years-old.
According to documents provided by the Acton campaign, the stepfather was indicted by a grand jury but fled the state and later died. The video doesn't say who made or paid for it, but it's the latest escalation in what's considered one of the nation's ugliest political campaigns between Acton and her Republican opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy. And at a town hall tonight, Ramaswamy was heckled about the viral video.
I want to bring in CNN's Lauren Fox with some breaking news on this story? So, Lauren, has Ramaswamy said something about this ad?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, just a few minutes ago, actually, Anderson, Vivek Ramaswamy is now taking credit for this ad, telling reporters on the ground with him that his campaign made it.
Here he was just a few minutes ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIVEK RAMASWAMY (R), OHIO GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: It is an ad from our campaign. And the thing that I want to say is that I would love for this race and this election to be about the substantive issues that impact Ohioans. And unfortunately, Amy Acton has been hiding from those issues. She won't debate me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX: And in that video from his campaign, Acton's mother actually directs people not to vote for her estranged daughter, Anderson, for governor.
She argues that, "She's lied her entire life and needs help." What was not included in the video is the painful and complicated backstory that exists for Acton and her family. The Democratic gubernatorial candidate has actually talked publicly about how she has not seen her mother in decades, since she was 12 years old and her mother lost custody of her and her younger brother.
Acton has also talked about how her mother's husband, during that time was charged for sexually abusing her when she was a young girl. The video actually first appeared on Monday night on an Ohio political blog, "The Rooster", and the author of that blog, D.J. Byrnes, told our colleague Patrick Svitek that he obtained it from a voter who saw it as part of a polling call and actually recorded it. It was just a few minutes ago, though, that Ramaswamy's campaign actually took credit for this. After a day of really mystery about who was responsible for the ad -- Anderson.
[20:30:56]
COOPER: So what has the Acton campaign said?
FOX: Well, the Acton campaign issued a statement earlier today. They have not responded to this latest news from Ramaswamy's campaign taking credit. But earlier today, they released a statement from Phil Stearns, her brother, calling this video, quote, "a despicable low and an attempt to turn sexual abuse that Amy endured at 12 years old from our birth mother's husband into a political talking point."
Acton herself also said this today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMY ACTON (D), OHIO GOVERNOR NOMINEE: You know, it's awful to see this. It's awful to see her this way. And it's even more incredible to see that my opponent has taken advantage of someone who's clearly not well, who is older. And this is totally in line with who he is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX: And I would just tell you, Anderson, I talked to a lot of Democrats across the state today, including a congressman, actually Greg Landsman, who said that this may have been one of the most controversial, horrible political ads that he has seen in his time. Obviously, that says a lot, given the fact that this has been a very heightened and political campaign season, obviously.
But certainly a lot of questions about this ad earlier today. And now we have here Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign taking credit for it.
COOPER: Lauren Fox, thanks very much.
I do want to just talk to the panel about this. I mean, this has got to be the most disgusting ad I've seen.
GRIFFIN: Honestly, the grossest ad I can think of. I was racking my brain for something worse. I don't -- anyone behind it should be ashamed. And the fact that Vivek Ramaswamy seemed to take credit and stand by it rather than wholeheartedly denounce it, I think says, oh, you need to know about his character in it.
But also, if they created this, knowing the backstory, and this wasn't a mistake and just malfeasance, everyone involved should be fired, but they should own it and say, we didn't recognize the backstory that this is why the woman is estranged. But that doesn't seem to be the case. They seem to know exactly what they're doing.
COOPER: I mean, anybody can find out the backstory.
GRIFFIN: It's very clear. She'd not even spoken to the mother in decades. I mean, this race was already looking bad for Vivek. This looked like -- looks like --
COOPER: Do you think this will backfire?
GRIFFIN: This will absolutely backfire.
CARLSON: Totally.
GRIFFIN: This is everywhere, wall to wall across the state, and just disgusting politics.
CARLSON: In the last 10 years since Me Too has come to life, and as somebody who works in the sexual assault space, I've never seen anything like this. This is going to backfire immensely. And, you know, originally the Ramaswamy campaign came out earlier today and doubled down on the ad, still not taking credit for it.
But it was interesting that it was only on social media because you don't have to put the disclaimer on then who's putting the ad out. That's why it wasn't on TV yet. I mean, I doubt he's going to now put it on TV. He probably did not intend or think he was going to get this kind of backlash.
COOPER: In the video where he's talking about it, he acknowledges it's from the campaign, does not back up the ad, does not sort of want to dwell verbally at all.
CARLSON: No, he said she didn't want to debate him.
COOPER: And then just quickly moved on to, oh, she won't debate me --
CARLSON: This is --
COOPER: -- and I want to talk about issues.
CARLSON: This is a massive mistake. I don't care what people say that negative advertising works. I think that, in this case, this is a massive mistake.
GRIFFIN: That weaponizing childhood sexual assault never works. That's never going to work.
SIMMONS: Absolutely not. I will bet you $100 that they figured out that somebody was going to trace this ad back to them, and this was their effort to get ahead of it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
SIMMONS: Right? They didn't want to try to -- and turn it in some way to make it a positive. But there's almost no way you can make it a positive. And, you know, those of us who've been inside of campaigns, people bring you things all the time. People come up with all kinds of crazy ideas.
And at some point, it becomes about the character of the campaign and the character of the candidate. And then you decide, you know what, that might be a step too far, and you just say no. And that is the problem for Ramaswamy. This is going to be more about him than it is about acting.
COOPER: We got a question from a viewer, and I just want to ask it to the -- anybody who wants to answer. The question is, if Ramaswamy loses in Ohio, is his political career over?
GRIFFIN: I don't know. You know, I thought it was interesting when he originally was running for President. You know, he sort of gained steam initially because he was like Trump Jr. But then, for whatever reason, he really just went away quickly in that race because it was not believable.
COOPER: Well, in that race, the more you saw, the less --
CARLSON: But that's right.
COOPER: It might have been amusing or interesting at first --
SIMMONS: Right.
COOPER: -- but then after a while --
CARLSON: Yes. I mean, look, this race was probably his to lose in Ohio. And I think by the basis of this ad, he's done a good job of that.
[20:35:13]
GRIFFIN: This is his last shot at having relevance in politics. To your point, the more people see Vivek Ramaswamy, the less they like.
CARLSON: Exactly.
GRIFFIN: He's alienated so many different groups across the board. If he pulls off a miracle in Ohio, then maybe we'll be talking about him in future conversations.
COOPER: To another Midwest state where the campaign has gotten ugly. To Michigan, in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country, Republican Mike Rogers, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed participated in a candidate forum today in Detroit. El-Sayed, if elected, would become the first Muslim member ever of the U.S. Senate.
His critics, including the President, have tried to paint him as an Islamic extremist. They point to a social media post from his half- sister in 2012 regarding their mother's alleged activism in the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1970s. El-Sayed denies the family connection to the group, disavows the Muslim Brotherhood.
President Trump has repeatedly called him a jihadist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This guy's a jihadist. Mohamed El-Sayed.
(BOOING)
He said, my name is not Mohamed. I said, I'm the President of the United States. I can call you whatever the hell I want.
His name is actually Abdullah some ta-la-la-la. It's Abdullah pa-pa- pa-pa-pa. How about that guy? He's a jihadist.
If you look at the guy running in Michigan, he's a jihadist.
He's a radical jihadist. I don't want a jihadist as a senator from Michigan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: In response to the President and other Republicans, El-Sayed released this ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: My name is Abdul. It means servant. I pray every day. I reflect on my role in this life, on this earth, how we leave it better than we found it. To serve God, to serve our neighbors. All across Michigan, families pray.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Back with the panel to talk about the Michigan and the Michigan race. You know Michigan well. How do you see this race going?
MEIJER: I still think there's a very good chance Mike Rogers can pull this off. That's a good ad that Abdul put out. I think that was solid. The crux of a lot of the attacks against him, though, yes, on the extreme, there's things that trip into, you know, just race-baiting, Islamophobic, whatever you want to call it.
The reason why people have questions isn't because he's Muslim, it's because his response to events, whether it was the death of Ayatollah Khamenei, he had internal chat saying, oh, we got to play this very soft. We have a lot of supporters who are fans of the Ayatollahs. His reaction to an attempted terrorist attack at a synagogue in the Detroit suburbs was, again, hurt people, hurt people.
Now, he has since apologized for those remarks. But the reason why he's being asked questions on the Muslim Brotherhood is because his sister was talking about his family being Muslim Brotherhood, and his immediate response was, no, absolutely, that's not true.
So there's been enough evasion. There's been enough, you know, equivocation. There's been enough lack of clarity that when someone asks you a question like, will you condemn X or will you condemn Y, and you say, well, why are you asking me that? It's because we have legitimate questions that do not have anything to do with your religion. They have to do with public statements that you've made or other things that are directly associated.
COOPER: Do you think that's the case?
SIMMONS: I think you first get under suspicion because of what you look like or because of what your religion is, and then maybe they find something that they, you know, someone finds something that they can pin on him, and they can try to run that as a political attack.
I got to tell you this. This ad that he did, though, was really very good. This is the kind of thing in a campaign you want to do because you know this is a soft spot for him. You know this is a question people have. You take it on directly.
And really what he said was, I might look different, I might pray differently, but we have the same values. And he's establishing that there really isn't that much difference between us. We all have the same values about faith and family and prayer. And if he can get that across to Michigan voters, that might answer a question a lot of people have about it.
CARLSON: Yes, but Trump is doing well in stoking the fires, especially with what's going on in Paris right now. I mean, that's a -- that is a great talking point for him with his MAGA base. If you polled the average Fox viewer and asked them what they think is the biggest concern in America right now, a bunch of them would say a Muslim takeover. A bunch.
So this works with that particular group. And if you're looking for a way, not that I'm trying to give advice, but if you're looking for a way to drive MAGA to come out and vote, this is one way to do it.
COOPER: Gretchen Carlson, Jamal Simmons, Peter Meijer, Allyssa Farrah Griffin, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Up next, we take you to Texas, where John King talks with voters in one key area, once thought to be deep red, but could now be home to toss-up races. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:44:01]
COOPER: Tonight we head to Texas and the showdown between Democratic State Lawmaker James Talarico and Republican State Attorney General Ken Paxton for the U.S. Senate. The latest CNN Poll of Polls shows there is no clear leader for his latest All Over the Map report.
John King talks with voters in one Texas district that is now considered a toss-up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Corpus Christi Bay, southeast Texas, a spot on the map that was supposed to be a safe harbor for Republicans this year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm calling on behalf of James Talarico, Gina Hinojosa, and Democrats down the valley.
KING (voice-over): Supposed to be.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're asking for your support for your vote.
KING (voice-over): It's crunch time, and Nueces County Democrats are bursting with energy, believing even ruby red Texas might be part of a giant midterm message.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Connect with our community. Let's figure out what we need to do ahead.
KING (voice-over): The governor's race is tight. So is a nasty Senate clash. And the House race here in Texas 34, a toss-up too. Despite election year redistricting, Texas Republicans thought would paint it red.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm so grateful for Texas.
[20:45:09]
KING (voice-over): This picture does speak a thousand words. The Speaker of the House trying to save his narrow majority, looking out at the very reason he is on the road nonstop. Yes, it's a hot, sweltering weekday, but still a tiny crowd. Republicans are worried about enthusiasm, worried about turnout, worried about a big swing blue from Latino voters.
MIKE JOHNSON (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: Everybody's watching what you're going to do. They say that Texas is going to turn blue. Is that true?
AUDIENCE: No!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where did all the money go? It's like who's getting rich and where is it going? Is it the oil pipelines that are all getting rich?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody's getting it.
KING (voice-over): The politics bar is in the slice of Corpus Christi added to the redrawn 34th. Four friends around the table, two Democrats and two Republicans.
KING: So let's skip the parties and the names for a minute.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
KING: Raise your hand if you think things need to change. OK, so that's everybody at the table.
KING (voice-over): Republicans Milton Reyna and Richard Contreras in a very different mood from our first chat here eight months ago.
MILTON REYNA, TEXAS VOTER: I don't trust what's being said right now. I think we've been told the same thing over and over again and we haven't seen any results, any action from it. And, yes, I am disappointed.
RICHARD CONTRERAS, TEXAS VOTER: Our war is the problem, to be honest with you. I think we're struggling with that and we need to get out of that. We need to finish it and move on.
KING (voice-over): Still on team Abbott for governor.
CONTRERAS: I like Abbott.
REYNA: I like Abbott too.
KING (voice-over): But Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton turns their stomachs.
KING: You're a Republican and you're having a hard time in a race that could determine which party controls the United States Senate. CONTRERAS: I need to be an American first. I think, honestly, and I have to make that decision based on character. And right now Paxton's character is just not doing it.
KING (voice-over): This side of the table is excited.
KING: Does this time feel actually different that it's possible as opposed to a dream?
RAMON HERRERA, TEXAS VOTER: It does.
ADELITA CAVADA, TEXAS VOTER: I think it has difference.
HERRERA: It does. It does.
KING (voice-over): Ramon Herrera is betting on a big swing in the Latino vote.
HERRERA: We need to stop trying to promote everything that he's doing. It's not working out.
CAVADA: Yes, we'll see.
KING (voice-over): And Adelita Cavada sees another positive for Democrats.
CAVADA: I've seen young people more excited this time on the line, in person.
KING (voice-over): The new 34th stretches 150 miles from Corpus Christi to the Mexican border. Kingsville is conservative, working class, more than 70 percent Hispanic. The lines for the Kingsway Family Church food bank keep getting longer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
PASTOR STEVE MARTINEZ, TEXAS VOTER: You know, the economy right now has been hard.
KING: Right.
MARTINEZ: Like from people, you ask people right now, food is getting expensive, gas. And then in our community right now, lately, our electric utilities have gotten real expensive.
KING (voice-over): Pastor Steve Martinez votes his values. Abortion, gay, and transgender rights matter most to him, and he will vote Republican.
MARTINEZ: Yes. How is he doing?
KING (voice-over): But at the moment, prices matter most to many of his congregants.
MARTINEZ: Just a while ago, one guy just wasn't lying. He's like, man, I'm just struggling. The economy is hard. You know, I was like, what do I do?
KING (voice-over): Plus, a lot of anger at ICE enforcement. Even Trump supporter Martinez says he's too aggressive and is reaching way beyond the bad guys.
MARTINEZ: A lot of people's decisions are going to be now because of the big -- ICE has been just hard on a lot of families.
KING: And if their decision is made by that, then they're voting for Democrats. They're voting against Trump, right?
MARTINEZ: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)
KING (voice-over): Cristina Alvarez (ph), among the campaign workers walking door to door in working class neighborhoods, vital to Democratic hopes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here on behalf of Vicente Gonzalez for Congress. Sorry?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's my man.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, he's your man. Awesome. That's good to hear.
KING (voice-over): But a few doors down, a reminder every vote matters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. I'm excited.
KING (voice-over): This neighborhood is a bit more upscale. Daisy Alcazar and her husband bought here eight years ago.
DAISY ALCAZAR, TEXAS VOTER: Yes, it's home. Yes.
KING: But you say at the moment, home doesn't always feel like home.
ALCAZAR: There's a lot of fear in the community.
KING: Even here?
ALCAZAR: Yes. People are inside their houses, not going outside unless they need to for survival.
KING: 10 or 12?
ALCAZAR: 10. Your reading skills are not working.
KING: I didn't even look at the box. That's the box.
KING (voice-over): La Pale is Alcazar's business. Traditional Mexican ice cream treats.
KING: This is what most people would think of as the American dream. A family with immigrant roots, starts a business, employs people, makes their community richer in every way.
[20:50:05]
ALCAZAR: It is. I'm proud. I'm proud to be Mexican. I'm proud to represent our culture. I'm proud to grow and scale the business. But we have never seen this before. We have never been seen our community being hunted down in the streets. And that is the reality of what's happening.
KING (voice-over): Alcazar had to close a couple of shops during COVID. She will continue to sell to grocery stores and to restaurants. But this last storefront is closing soon.
KING: This right now is worse than the pandemic.
ALCAZAR: Oh, 1,000 percent times. Because when there's fear in the community, it paralyzes you. You don't eat. And we don't have customers. I sell ice cream for the love of God. We sell paletas.
We are the cherry on the top. Where it's joy and the experience here should be joy. It should be happiness. Where the reality is, we don't have customers.
KING (voice-over): Alcazar is voting blue in every race she can, hoping to send a message to the President and to the governor. She urges everyone she sees to vote and to take along family and friends. But she worries that fear will keep people home, or the belief it just won't make a difference.
ALCAZAR: If we get united and we show up, I mean, we could flip everything. The reality is, is it going to happen? Will my people show up? We don't know.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And John King's at the magic wall. We talked before about how many times Democrats have hoped to win a statewide race in Texas. Does this year seem different?
KING (on-camera): It feels different on the ground. Does that mean the Democrats will win? Of course it doesn't. Two weeks from tonight, Anderson, we count the votes and we find out why is it different.
Let's start with that Senate race you just mentioned. Number one, the Republicans decided to nominate him, Ken Paxton, the state attorney general who was impeached by the Republican legislature in Texas and has a long list of ethical questions. And you heard those Trump voters, Republican voters in the piece saying, I don't think I can vote for him. I don't think I can look my kids in the eyes if I vote for him.
So you have disaffection from Republicans in the Senate race. That's a big deal. Here's another big thing. And this is going to be a giant question come election night. Hispanics will make up somewhere around 25 percent of the electorate, maybe a little bit more than that on election night, right? They helped Trump in 2024.
And Republicans, Democrats are betting they swing back in a big way. The candidate for governor, Gina Hinojosa, is from down here in Corpus Christi in the valley. They think that will drive up Republican turnout.
But Anderson, look, half the population of Texas was not alive the last time Texas elected a Democrat to the United States Senate or elected a Democratic governor. It's been 38 and 36 years since those two things have happened. 38 for the Senate, 36 for governor.
So the question is, can Democrats pull it off this time? One thing they actually think works to their advantage, voters are mad at everybody. They're not just mad at Washington. They're mad at the people in charge. And in Texas, that means you'd be mad at the Republicans.
COOPER: John King, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Coming up, how the state that was at the center of President Trump's election fraud claims back in 2020 is preparing for midterms as it faces threats. We'll take you to Georgia next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:57:09]
COOPER: Amid accusations of fraudulent elections and social media conspiracy theories, election officials in some swing states are focused on safety. CNN's Gabe Cohen traveled to Georgia to see how election workers are dealing with threats.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you feel that elections in Georgia are safe and secure?
SHAYNEE BRYSON, WHITFIELD COUNTY, GEORGIA ELECTION DIRECTOR: Yes, they are.
COHEN (voice-over): Midterm voting is already underway here in northwest Georgia. But with the influx of ballots can come an influx of threats.
BRYSON: I worry about election day workers.
COHEN (voice-over): Whitfield County Election Director Shaynee Bryson says her staff is opening election mail in gloves right now after suspicious letters started arriving at election offices across the country.
BRYSON: We're going to take any threat seriously. COHEN (voice-over): Other deep red parts of the state have felt the ramped up tensions too. Irwin County gave panic buttons to its workers, as some others have done before. Cherokee County added staff training in case federal agents or ICE officers show up at polling places.
The fight in Georgia dates back to 2020.
TRUMP: We won it by a lot. If you remember, it was -- what a mess that was.
COHEN (voice-over): Trump's infamous call to Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
TRUMP: I just want to find 11,780 votes.
COHEN (voice-over): And later, his indictment for an alleged election scheme. The President was here last week, still spreading those baseless claims.
TRUMP: Ossoff lost that election, but they gave it to him because it was a rigged election.
COHEN (voice-over): Georgia's Trump-aligned state election board has gained influence in recent years, and members like Salleigh Grubbs have gone toe-to-toe with Raffensperger over whether Georgia's elections are actually secure.
COHEN: Do you believe elections in Georgia are safe and secure?
SALLEIGH GRUBBS, GEORGIA STATE ELECTION BOARD MEMBER: I do not. I believe that there are a lot of vulnerabilities that put that question front and center.
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER (R), GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Reasonable people understand our elections are free, fair, and fast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know what evidence you're collecting?
COHEN (voice-over): In January, FBI agents searched a Fulton County election hub and confiscated hundreds of boxes of 2020 ballots and records.
COHEN: So this is the building where the raid unfolded?
ROBB PITTS, CHAIRMAN, FULTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS: Not this exact spot. It was in the warehouse over that way.
COHEN (voice-over): Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts is still fighting to get those records back.
COHEN: Do you worry there could be federal intervention in the midterms?
PITTS: Worst possible scenario, election day, before the votes are counted, they come in, confiscate the ballots, take them off. What do we do? Now, people say that's impossible. Well, what I've learned with this administration, the impossible is always possible. We're prepared, though.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN (on-camera): And, Anderson, the latest fight on the state level here is around voting machines. And what that state election board says are serious vulnerabilities. They have now sent a letter to the Justice Department asking the Trump administration to intervene in Georgia elections. That has been met with a lot of criticism from local officials as well as Secretary Raffensperger.
Now, DOJ says they're reviewing it. They are only going to act if it is appropriate. But it's only adding to those concerns that this administration could take action in the midterms here in Georgia. Anderson?
COOPER: Gabe Cohen, thanks so much.
That's it for us. The news continues. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now. See you tomorrow.
