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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Trump Rallies GOP Voters In Red-State Mississippi Eight Days To Midterms; Trump Says He Doesn't "Give A Damn" About Gas Prices As U.S. Makes "Fortune"; Justice Department Charges James Comey For A Third Time; Polls Shows Tight Race In Iowa Eight Days Before Election; Elon Musk Is Now A Mega-Donor Unlike Anyone This Country Has Ever Seen; Democrats Demand Investigation Into Musk's Role In Starlink Slowdown; Rearview Politics Redux. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired October 26, 2026 - 20:00   ET

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

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: On nationwide, the Treasury Department says this year more than 53 million filers claimed at least one of the new tax cuts. The White House has promoted its signature achievement in political ads, saying working families have benefited in Trump's second term -- Erin.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: All right, Kyung, Thank you very much. And thanks so much to all of you for being with us. AC360 starts now.

[20:00:35]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Good evening, with just eight days left until the midterms, the President is in Mississippi, a ruby red state that he won by almost 23 points in 2024. But even there, a key U.S. Senate race is inching bluer. According to the cook political report. Cook recently moved it from solid Republican to likely Republican.

And Mississippi is not alone, all week, the President will be hitting one red state after the next. He's been telling people to vote as if he's on the ballot. We'll see how that plays out in every state. His job approval is at a record low for him. And as gas prices, according to a new CNN analysis, have now broken a Biden era record for the number of days above $4.00 a gallon.

Yet over the weekend, the President has been saying a lot about things that would not seem to matter to most voters. And on fuel prices, he's saying this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thought our country is making hundreds of billions of dollars because of what's happened in the Middle East, because they're coming to Texas and they're coming to Oklahoma, and they're coming to Louisiana, and they're taking that oil.

So, we're making hundreds and hundreds of billions, trillions of dollars but my people said, please don't mention that, sir, because people are paying a little higher. That number is going to come way down. But what we've done for this country, were making money like this country has never made before.

So, I said, let me say it very gingerly, very softly, because somebody would say the fake news -- he's bragging about making money while people are suffering at the, you know, because, you know, you're still paying lower than Biden and Obama. And they don't have nuclear weapons, but they're going to be coming in.

No, I could just see the fake headlines. President Trump is talking about all the money they're making while people are suffering at the pump. That'll be the headline. But I said, I don't give a damn. I'm going to say it. We're making a freaking fortune.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Doesn't give a damn. His words about what people think because we again, his words are making a fortune. Now, keeping them honest, the we he's talking about are not American consumers who spent $145 billion extra on gas and diesel since the war started, according to research from Brown University.

The President is talking about American oil companies, which is maybe why his people didn't want him talking about that. Some of which, by the way, he may have a financial stake in. This summer he disclosed owning shares of X on Chevron and other oil companies.

Speaking on the campaign trail in Montana today, Vice-President Vance correctly said the prices spiked higher in 2022 during the Biden administration after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Then he said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE (R) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They skyrocket every time some tinpot dictator decides to throw a tantrum.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, make of that what you will. A new polling from CBS News shows that more voters think the gas prices will go up if Republicans win, than if Democrats do. That same poll shows that voters, by almost a two to one margin believe that if Republicans win, they'll be more corruption rather than less.

And even 17 percent of Republican voters say the President prioritizes his family's financial interests over those of ordinary Americans. Now, the President also continues to prioritize human anatomy, some of it, specifically Ohio Senator Jon Husted's whose ass he recently admired.

Now, though, he says it was really the senator's prowess at football to support the President says he sort of played in high school, that he was interested in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I didn't love being tackled by large people, and I didn't like it. But I'm looking at him up and down and I'm studying him and then I made the mistake. I told in fun. I said, I looked at his ass, and I've never done that with a man before, it's true.

Off the record, women, yes men, know, okay. By the way, I looked at one hell of a beautiful ass before Nicki Minaj. That's hard to miss. Stand up, that's hard to miss. Okay, I'm going to get back to my -- sorry, Nicki. I hope Nicki wasn't insulted, but we love Nicki.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: So, with voters concerned about the war, the economy, gas prices, corruption, the President wants voters to know in the closing days of the campaign that he does, in fact, like Nicki Minaj's ass and does not like being tackled by large men.

But the thought of being tackled by large men is what made him look at Senator Husted's ass check.

The President also wants voters to know that that he thinks the Michigan Democratic candidate for senate will Abdul El-Sayed, who is Muslim, is also a would-be terrorist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He would be the only senator that will have to go through a metal detector before he's allowed to go into the Senate. I want him to have a metal detector.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:05:50]

COOPER: On that same platform, with the President watching the father of someone killed on 9/11 said that El-Sayed was not a real American.

Meantime, the first major public figure the President once accused of not really being American hit the campaign trail over the weekend and had this to say about whether the President is focused on what voters care about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Does anybody really think this guy is spending that much time thinking deeply on these issues? I don't know if you've noticed, but he is very focused on home renovation. What's up with the gold?

I mean, he's got The White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a cheesecake factory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, that last remark drew criticism by some on the right who accused Mr. Obama of being elitist and out of touch. President Trump, meantime, defended his renovations today, saying, "Guys like Obama don't see it," adding, "he's not a smart guy." But what really drew his ire again, with just days left until the election, inflation rising in the country at war with someone else, someone so offensive, it seems that the President wrote his longest social media post ever about this guy. More than 1,300 words. Here they are.

They begin with this: Let's talk about this complete and total loser, Bill Maher. Yeah, Bill Maher, that's who he's talking about. That post talks mostly about Maher's effort to ingratiate himself to the President and 1,300 words or so later, it ends with this.

You're a loser, I never watched your show much, but I will never watch it again because it is nothing more than fake news that America and the world is unfortunately subjected to. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

A lot to discuss. Joining us now, former deputy assistant to President Biden, Jamal Simmons, former Trump White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin, CNN political commentator and "New York Daily News" columnist S.E. Cupp and former White House spokesman for the George W. Bush administration, Pete Seat.

So, Alyssa, President Trump in Mississippi, he won it by more than 20 points. What does that say about where the White House thinks we are or they are?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Listen, at this point, it's about shoring up low-propensity voters in deep red areas where they're getting nervous. I've talked to some White House insiders who think that Texas is very much in play. Kansas potentially could be, they're very concerned about Iowa. Mississippi is still a long shot, but I think it's twofold. They want to make sure that if some, you know, Independent voters are fleeing away from Donald Trump.

So, they're hoping some of these low propensity voters who turned out from in 2024 might come out if he holds these rallies. But also, some of this is just giving into the fact that Donald Trump loves to pack a stadium. He wants to be out there, he wants to do the Trump show, and he wants to be applauded. And advisers around him think that's probably better than having him in The White House. I don't know, attacking Iran or doing something else.

COOPER: Right, he still finds time to talk about Bill Maher, even though he's out on the road.

I mean, it is -- he's got these jam-packed rallies. He's talking about profits from oil companies. You know, the Bill Maher stuff, Nicki Minaj, you know, and then obviously his campaign greatest hits. Do you think it's smart to have him out there?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, listen, I think a lot of Republican candidates are having to make this sort of Faustian almost a sophies choice, right? We know that he comes with a lot of negatives, but we also know that in some cases, he's the only reason that some voters turn out. So, I think rolling the dice is because they're out of ideas and he is

not helping. That comment during the Georgia rally about oil companies, they're making so much money. We learned a lot right there because there was a question amongst folks like us who cover this, like, does he know how bad his own messaging on the economy is landing? Are people in his inner circle telling him? No, no, no, it's great, voters love inflation.

They love the war; they're on board for your tariffs. Keep going. We didn't really know because there was no good reason for him to be saying what he was saying. He does know. He admitted there, he is being told not to say this impolitic, offensive, out-of-touch stuff, and he's doing it anyway.

I think he's doing it anyway because he knows deep down inside that his cult of personality is maybe the only thing that is going to turn out the base, and that's where they're at. They are trying to turn out every last base voter. They're not, I think, going after independents, moderates and undecideds anymore.

COOPER: Jamal, I mean, it's not just the President spending time in Mississippi, the GOP, the Republican Super PAC, they're putting money into it.

[20:10:14]

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: They are, the Republicans know one thing. They may not be able to win with just MAGA, but they can't win without MAGA. So, they need the President to turn those voters out. As he was just saying a second ago.

And here's the thing, the Democrats are doing something really smart. Everyone is saying maybe they're overplaying their hand. They're being a little too exuberant. But by pushing into states like Mississippi and these others in South Carolina, they're forcing the Republicans to have to spend money down there.

They just did two, Democrats did $1 million buy in Mississippi, and the Republicans just matched $1 million down in Mississippi. So, you're putting money there. The President's time is going there, which is keeping him out of places where they probably really do have a shot to win, like Kansas or Texas or Maine and some of the -- Ohio, they're keeping him out of a lot of those places and into these stretch states.

COOPER: Pete, you just heard the President say he doesn't give a damn about high gas prices. We're making a fortune talking about oil companies. And America is doing great. I mean, even not the average voter, they're not doing great, struggling to fill up the car, the pump. What is the political upside to talking about high gas prices just a week out from the election?

PETE SEAT, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN FOR THE GEORGE W. BUSH ADMINISTRATION: Well, there's no political upside. And I watched the crowd behind him. I listen to what he said but I watched the crowd. If you contrast his comments about Nicki Minaj, that crowd, and I know there were different audiences, but they were laughing, they were clapping, they were having a good time.

Then watch the people behind him when he makes these comments about gas prices and oil companies, and you see a few polite golf claps and mostly stone faces, it did not land with the crowd where most anything, he says lands.

And what's so confounding about this is when Donald Trump is on the ballot, actually on the ballot. He's very good at saying, I'm fighting for you. And here he is talking about we and the audience he's speaking to don't see themselves as part of that, we, and are just asking themselves, well, what about me, sir? What are you doing for me?

But he keeps going down this rabbit hole and it's not going to be helpful.

COOPER: Alyssa, I mean, as somebody who, you know, worked in the first administration when he says, you know, my people told me not to say this, but I'm going to say this, on some things that can seem charming and some things it's probably better not to actually say those things. Well, does it surprise you that he is still -- I mean, I guess --

GRIFFIN: He's always done this, but to S.E.'s point, it's very revealing because it shows that there are people around him who are telling him reality that gas prices are high. To your point, that they've exceeded the highest that they ever were under Biden for a prolonged period of time.

And I have no doubts that there are a handful of advisers who are giving him the cold, hard reality. But I've briefed Donald Trump when he doesn't want to hear something, there's no breaking through. I think that he genuinely still thinks the country is thriving. We're the hottest nation on earth. You know, affordability is a hoax. I think he really internalizes those things and believes them.

So honestly, all advisers can do is send him to places where he can maybe do the Trump show and turn out some MAGA base voters and hope for the best.

COOPER: It's interesting to see, obviously, the juxtaposition between President Obama and President Trump out on the campaign trail. Do you think President Obama is the closer that Democrats think he is?

CUPP: Yes, and I say that as someone who is very critical of Obama and his policies during that administration. But I think he's basically Trump's worst nightmare because he reminds people, put the politics aside. He reminds people of when things felt normal, things felt ordered.

They were less chaotic, you had someone in The White House who seemed like a grown up, even if you disagreed with what he was doing. He seemed like a grown up. He was dignified. He respected the office. He seemed to respect voters.

I think it's terrible it's terrible for Republicans to have Obama sort of following Trump around and reminding people of what it was. Again, it has nothing to do with the politics, just what it could be, what it was and what it is now devolved to with the President of the United States talking about Nicki Minaj's ass eight days before a midterm election.

COOPER: It's interesting to me to keep seeing corruption coming up in these polls. Increasingly, it was number two voters' concerns in a recent poll, the CBS Poll showed almost a two to one margin, voters think Republicans, if they win, there'll be more corruption than if Democrats win. Is that something that Democrats you think should be leaning into?

SIMMONS: Oh, yes, and I think they are. If you look at what Hakeem Jeffries has been doing going around the country, he's talking very directly about holding the crooks accountable. And if you look at what's happening with the President, with President Trump and President Obama both being out there, this is like honesty and decency versus corruption and in reality. And, people are able to see what it looks like, as you mentioned ago, they can see what decency looks like.

Listen, when President Obama made the joke about Saddam Hussein and the cheesecake factory, everyone picked up on the cheesecake factory, but the hit was the Saddam Hussein.

COOPER: Pete, I did think it was interesting that, you know, the Republicans who responded were saying, oh, he's out of touch, you know, talking about the cheesecake factory, when in fact, the insult is he's comparing him to Saddam Hussein and all the gold in his palace, which is very, you know, early Uday Hussein, to quote an old article in "The New York Times".

[20:15:28]

SEAT: Yes, it's highly insulting to compare him to someone who waged armed conflict against the United States of America and attempted to assassinate a former American President. But the way I see it, both Donald Trump and Barack Obama are playing effectively the same role on the campaign.

They're trying to get the base out. They're throwing out the red meat. They're doing the zingers and the one liners and the applause lines. That's what their jobs are. That's what presidents do in midterm election cycles. They go to their blue states. They go to their red states to get the base to get out the vote and they're both doing that.

COOPER: All right, everyone, stay with us. Up next, we have more breaking news. Just hours after a judge found the Justice Department's firing of his daughter unconstitutional, we learned the Department of Justice has criminally charged FBI Director James Comey for the third time, details on that.

Also, more on what the President himself, yet again, lingered on in these inflationary times. The bottom line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: I looked at his ass, and I've never done that with a man

before, it's true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:20:44]

COOPER: More breaking news tonight. The Justice Department has criminally charged former FBI Director James Comey for the third time. The latest charges unsealed today centered on a leak of a sensitive national security document, October 2016, when he was running the FBI.

The Justice Department says it is still seeking to bring its case to a grand jury for an indictment, and that the October 5th filing is intended to buy time before the statute of limitations runs out. Comey reacted to the news online.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: It would almost be funny if it weren't such an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice, one that we cannot become numb to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Joining us now, two federal prosecutors, Jeffrey Toobin and Ryan Crosswell. Ryan, you've read the document. Do you think there's any merit to the charges?

RYAN CROSSWELL, FORMER PROSECUTOR WITH PUBLIC INTEGRITY SECTION, DOJ: Thanks for having me, Anderson. Well, it's hard to tell. It is just two pages. There's not a lot of facts there. What we know is this is something that occurred apparently 10 years ago and looks like it may have been rushed to beat an impending statute of limitations.

We also know, obviously there's a history here. This will be the third time, and the judge is going to know that.

COOPER: That's going to come into play in the judge's -- the way the judge looks at this, you think?

CROSSWELL: Well, yes, I think I think actually in two ways, Anderson. One is there will absolutely be a vindictive and selective prosecution motions against this. But two judges are human beings, and they're going to know about the indictment.

Obviously, the judge will know about the first indictment was thrown out. I think Comey's lawyer described it an indictment that the grand jury never saw by U.S. attorney that was never confirmed. And I just think that that can always play into the judge's factors and what the judge is thinking about.

COOPER: Jeff, do you see this as a case of selective prosecution? Ultimately, do you think it's going to be thrown out the court like the first case?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Anderson, this is a fiasco. This is a disgrace. This case should never have been brought. I think it's legally deficient.

The idea that they are still playing around with the statute of limitations, 10 years after this event took place, the idea that they think filing an information stops the statute of limitations, that apparently is not the law in the D.C. Circuit. And it seems like they didn't even do it in time, even if that's their theory.

I mean, the incompetence on top of the vindictiveness here is just extraordinary. And the news about Maurene Comey shouldn't be seen as a separate piece of news. It is part of this insane vendetta that Donald Trump has orchestrated against the Comey family. He's now lost the effort to fire Maurene Comey, who is, by all accounts, a distinguished assistant U.S. attorney. And this case is going to get thrown out one way or another, because there is incompetents in charge at the Justice Department.

COOPER: Ryan, you're a former federal prosecutor at the Department of Justice. I'm wondering what you think the administration's approach at DOJ has done to its credibility. Do judges take that into account?

CROSSWELL: Oh, I mean, I think absolutely. I mean, we've seen this in multiple instances where they've called out prosecutor's candor. And we've seen this with even grand juries, you know, not indicting cases. And I think the sad thing is, is this is a credibility that has been developed over decades. Defense attorneys used to complain to me sometimes.

It's like the judge always believes the federal prosecutors. But that that has a history, and I think it's so been squandered.

COOPER: Because there I mean, there were ethics, there were rules that were followed.

CROSSWELL: Right and particularly in these political cases. And I mean, again, the sad thing is just to step back with the American people need to understand is the Department's role is so important, and we're all less safe. We're less safe when judges just don't trust prosecutors. And that is something that's been happening for two years.

And here's the irony of it, the same statute that Mr. Comey has been charged with is the one that Donald Trump was charged with, and this entire time has been this pretext. The Justice Department was weaponized. I doubt you're going to have James Comey on a tape discussing the classified documents, as you did with the President, and that the whole basis of all of this has been that -- so it's brutal.

COOPER: Jeff, you mentioned the filing unsealed today is called an information, not an indictment. What does that mean?

[20:25:19] TOOBIN: Well, an indictment is voted by a grand jury, and this case

has not been presented to a grand jury. And one of the many unprecedented things about this Justice Department is they keep losing in front of grand juries, which almost never happens in federal court.

But the way an information is usually used is when a defendant agrees to plead guilty, subject to a negotiation. And this way, the Justice Department doesn't have to go to a grand jury. They simply present the charges in the form of an information to which the defendant pleads guilty.

But James Comey hasn't agreed to plead guilty to anything. So, the idea that they can somehow file an information and stop the statute of limitations from running is, I think, a novel theory, one that has not been accepted in many places in the country and is just another example of how this fixation on getting the Comey family is demeaning and degrading the Justice Department.

COOPER: Ryan, it would just --I mean, the timing of this right after we learned about Comey's daughter, that's coincidental based on when the judge opened this and unsealed it, right.

CROSSWELL: My guess is it's probably coincidental. I mean, to Jeff's point, I think what it looks like was this this case, the information was filed before the statute of limitations would have expired two or three weeks ago.

So, I'm guessing that's coincidental. It's just kind of a sad irony of this.

COOPER: And I mean, Alyssa, just the bigger picture, this is the third time Comey has been charged by the Department of Justice. How do you think, you know, we're learning it's this, what, eight days before the midterm, the timing of it? What do you make of it?

GRIFFIN: I mean, I spent four years listening to Republicans complain about the weaponized DOJ, how it's being weaponized against Republicans. And now you have this third attempt against one individual, a former FBI director. What we've seen numerous cases against other individuals who are opponents of the Presidents fall apart.

I think it's very clear that I'm sorry, but this administration is doing exactly what it accused the prior administration of doing. And by the way, a lot of this is not even meant to make these indictments stick and to actually get convictions. It's about intimidating people who oppose the President. It's about making them spend a lot of money fighting legal battles and being less likely to speak out in the future. And I'm sure it has a chilling effect.

COOPER: Jamal, they also, you know, we learned today the Justice Department is sending they said approximately 1,000 election monitors to all 50 states on for elections on the heels of the suit, they already filed, potentially to block the certification of Alaska's Senate election. SIMMONS: In normal times, that would give people comfort because you

would believe the Justice Department is going to help solve problems. Now, we all believe the Justice Department is going to help create problems. That's why they're headed out into the country.

And so, when the President of the United States has inserted himself into the way that the Justice Department works, it's hard to trust how any of it works. And I think even if a Democrat was in office and a Democrat was telling the Justice Department what to do, we would all still have questions about it.

So, this is something that is making everyone nervous. On the other hand, I will tell you, there are Democratic groups who are also organizing, sending election monitors out to states, making sure that people are trained. They're going to be all sorts of folks, clergy and, union members and other people on the ground to try to deescalate some of these moments and help people get to the election place so that they can have their votes cast and then counted.

COOPER: Jeff, I want to play you something for our viewers that Todd Blanche, the attorney general, said on CNN yesterday, defending the lawsuit in Alaska.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: We are not doing anything improper. We're not doing anything. We're not allowed to do, and we have to let the process play out. But I do think it's important for the American people to understand that we are not, President Trump is not trying to take over a state election in any way, shape or form.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: What do you think of what he said?

TOOBIN: It's a lie. I mean, that's exactly what they're trying to do. And, you know, I'm old enough that I covered the recount in Florida in 2000. And if you remember, in Palm Beach County, a lot of Democrats mistakenly voted for Pat Buchanan because the ballot was very confusing, the butterfly ballot.

But the answer was, you know, if people cast mistaken votes, that's just the way it is. We have a secret ballot in this country. We can't undo elections after the fact. That is exactly what this lawsuit attempts to do, which is impossible under American law.

People may vote for the wrong Sullivan, but if that's who they vote for, that's who they vote for, and the State of Alaska, which runs the election, says there's nothing that can be done and there's nothing that can be done. And the state of Alaska, which runs the election, says there's nothing that can be done, and there's nothing that can be done.

[20:30:07]

COOPER: Yes. I want to thank everybody. Up next, our John King talking to Iowa voters on the first stop of a

five-day, five-state All Over the Map tour.

And later, new insight into just how much money Elon Musk has spent in support of Texas Republican Ken Paxton's run for the Senate. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: On election night, we're going to be watching results closely in Iowa, of course, where there are several surprisingly competitive races as state President Trump won in 2024 by 13 percentage points. Tariffs in the war in Iran have impacted the farm-heavy state, driving up prices for farm equipment, fertilizer, and diesel, and forcing Republicans who sink more money into the state to try to get GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson over the finish line.

CNN's John King is in West Des Moines, Iowa, on a five-day, five-state All Over the Map tour. He joins us now.

[20:35:06]

So what does it say that Iowa State Trump won three times, has two GOP senators, all four House seats are Republican, and has had Republican governors for more than 15 years now, is a big 2026 battleground?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It speaks volumes, Anderson. We were in West Des Moines most of the day, but we're at the state capitol in Des Moines now, and it speaks volumes that a state that he voted for in three times, just look at the map, have the mini- magic ball with me.

You mentioned the gap between Trump and Harris, but just look, Kamala Harris won five of Iowa's 99 counties. Just look at that. That is a stunning victory.

Now we look at the House races here. As you noted, you can't even see the lines between the districts because it's all red. Iowa, four House districts, four Republicans, two United States senators, a Republican governor for a very long time.

So what has changed? You mentioned some of the issues here. I just want to put them into visual for you. Since the President, watch this as we switch this map, since the war started eight months ago, this is the price of gas.

And I want to show you the scale over on the bottom left side of your screen. You will see it there. If you see purple on this map, this purple here, let me just get this to work. There we go. See purple on this map, and you see some of it in these counties, 13 counties in Iowa, gas prices have gone up more than 73 percent since the start of the war back in February.

If you see this pink color, and you see that in most of the counties across the state of Iowa, gas prices have gone up 63 to 73 percent in that range. If you see the gold or the orange, which you see in other parts of the state, that's only, only I say sarcastically, 54 percent to 59 percent there.

So you just see the price. And that's gasoline, Anderson. This is rural America. People have to drive a lot. A lot of them also have farms, and they have combines, and they have tractors, or they have diesel pickup trucks.

This is the price of gas going way up. Guess what? Diesel's gone up even more. So even here, a reliably red Trump state that has Republican leadership at the state level for more than a decade is in play. And that's why.

Trump's policies have put Trump states in this midterm election in play. You just come out. I just want to show you on the map before. I know you have a question for me, but just look at, you know, why are we talking about a potential Senate race in Nebraska? Look at the price of gas.

Why are we talking about a Senate race in Kansas? Look at the price of gas. In middle America especially, since the war started in Trump's America, rural America, people are being punished. And a lot of the Trump voters tell us, punished by a war he promised he wouldn't start.

COOPER: Do you, I mean, in your travels there, do you see evidence that Democrats are winning over Trump voters in the state?

KING: Yes, you cannot -- the Democrats -- look, Democrats have enthusiasm. We see it every time we visit a county Democratic headquarters, go out canvassing. Democrats are coming out of the woodwork to vote.

But in a state like Iowa, a state like Ohio, if Nebraska and Kansas actually remain in play, Democrats can't win unless they get some crossover voters -- Republican-leaning Independents or Republicans who voted for Trump.

You're going to -- you met Shanen Ebersole a few years ago, Anderson, when we were here for a debate. Shannon's one of our All of the Map voters, and she came to that debate. Listen to her. She's voted for Trump three times. Now, she was a Nikki Haley voter in the primaries, but the prices are killing her.

She's prepared to go to vote. She's actually going to vote early tomorrow. And she says in at least a couple of the big races here, governor, Senate, her house race, she's going to vote Democrat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING: What needs to be course-corrected?

SHANEN EBERSOLE, IOWA REPUBLICAN: The war, the diesel prices, the extremism. I've said that all along.

KING: Yes.

EBERSOLE: The extremism is what we need to course-correct again.

KING: One way to try to do that, I mean, some of that comes directly from him, in your view, right?

EBERSOLE: Yes. Yes.

KING: He's not on the ballot. So one way to try to get a message to him is to send more Democrats to Washington so he understands people are really mad at him.

EBERSOLE: Yes.

KING: Are you ready to do that?

EBERSOLE: I think so.

KING: For Senate and for House?

EBERSOLE: I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: The "I don't know," Anderson, is she said she was most likely to vote Democrat for House and maybe Republican for Senate because she doesn't want the Democrats to have all of that power. She's worry they would be too liberal. But she does want to send a clear message to Trump.

She said her most likely outcome, Democrat for governor, Democrat for House and Republican for Senate. But, remember, this is a three-time Trump voter. If there are more voters like that here, Democrats actually are in play. And ruby red Iowa could send a pretty big blue message eight days from today.

COOPER: I still remember her ranch or farm and it's beautiful.

KING: Right.

COOPER: I still want to live there.

KING: That's right. Yes.

COOPER: John King -- yes, thanks very much. Appreciate it.

Up next, we take you to Texas and the Senate race that could decide the balance of power in Washington. Democrat James Talarico criticizing not only his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton, but also the world's richest man, Elon Musk, who's built a business empire, obviously, in the state and is spending what anyone but him would consider a fortune to get Paxton elected.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:44:00]

COOPER: The President will make his third trip to Texas this month and hold two rallies there tomorrow. The Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican State Attorney General Ken Paxton is both closely watched and one of the most expensive. Elon Musk is a big reason why. He is the largest single disclosed

donor of this election cycle, with more than $400 million spent, much of it in Texas.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Corpus Christi, where the President's first rally will be tomorrow. So what have the candidates been saying about Musk's donations?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, so far, Elon Musk has donated about $158 million to help Ken Paxton beat James Talarico. He's donated also more to other state candidates like Governor Greg Abbott as well. And this issue is starting to come up.

We were in South Texas last night with James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa, who's running for governor here in Texas. And both of them have been bringing up Elon Musk's name on the campaign trail much more often.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMES TALARICO (D), CANDIDATE FOR SENATE: Our movement is funded by 1.3 million individuals who have donated their hard-earned money to our campaign.

[20:45:08]

Ken Paxton is funded by one dude. Elon Musk wants our land. He wants our water. He wants our taxpayer dollars. He wants his very own personal United States senator. He is trying to buy Texas.

REP. GINA HINOJOSA (D), TEXAS GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: Elon Musk has given Greg Abbott $500,000 just to his campaign, not to mention the other hundreds of millions of dollars he has spent on this election for Greg Abbott's side. And what did he get in return? Let's see what we already know. $1.7 billion in property tax breaks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And Anderson, you know, it's really interesting to watch how voters are reacting to this. We've been talking to voters about this, not just here during this election primary, but we reported extensively on Elon Musk and his business dealings here in Texas.

Remember, he's moved his SpaceX operations, Tesla operations here to the state in the last two years. And there are many people here in Texas who respect what he has done. They appreciate him as a businessman, as a visionary, as we've heard people also say.

But there is a great deal of frustration and anger towards him as well. And we found here in the last few days that it really lines up along party lines. So we'll have to wait and see how effective this line of attack for these Democratic candidates will be here in the closing days of this midterm campaign. Anderson?

COOPER: Ed Lavandera, thanks so much. Over the weekend, shortly after Ukrainian officials confirmed that

their access to the Starlink satellite internet service had been fully restored, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to social media and accused Ukraine's military of violating the company's terms of service. Ukraine denies that, saying they don't use Starlink for offensive operations.

Meanwhile, a group of Democratic congressmen representing the Silicon Valley have ridden to the White House, demanding an investigation into the slowdowns and interruptions to Ukraine's Starlink service.

Joining us now, one of those congressmen, Congressman Sam Liccardo. Congressman, thanks for being here.

You write in this letter, quote, "Congress and the American public deserve to know who authorized the restrictions, how they were implemented, and whether they were directed by the Trump administration or Elon Musk." I'm wondering, have you received any response from the White House to this request?

REP. SAM LICCARDO (D), CALIFORNIA: No, we haven't. And certainly we've heard lots of calls for investigations through this last week and a half. It feels a lot like we're listening to Shaggy "It Wasn't Me" back and forth between the administration-Elon Musk.

The truth is, both parties are responsible. Somehow or another, the Department of Defense decided an oligarch was going to enable the throttling of a critical service that's resulting undoubtedly in the death of Ukrainian civilians who are under a barrage of 2300 drone attacks from Russia in a single week.

So, frankly, everyone's at fault. And Elon certainly got his own explanation. But we need a full investigation. And then we need consequences. Elon Musk and Starlink need to lose contracts, starting with the bead contracts that currently has hundreds of millions of dollars locked up with the Commerce Department.

COOPER: It was interesting because Elon Musk in his first reference to this online, he basically pointed the finger at the White House, saying, you know, that a decision like this would, you know, would have had to have come from, I think, from the Pentagon or, you know, ultimately from the -- from POTUS, he said.

And, obviously, the White House and others were kind of pointing the finger at Elon Musk. His argument is that Ukraine used the civilian service Starlink to direct drones in an offensive manner to kill people. They say that is not the case. They're using it to shoot down incoming drones that are killing Ukrainians from Russian missiles and Russian drones. Do you buy Musk's argument?

LICCARDO: Not at all. Neither do independent experts, because the Starlink can't actually operate anything at more than 90 kilometers per hour. And they have to go to Starshield in order to get to high speed drone capability at more than 160 kilometers per hour, which was where the throttling was happening. So there was no question that Ukraine had to be using Starshield for

any offensive uses of drones or for interceptors. That's exactly what Ukraine signed up for and that's what they didn't get.

COOPER: The amount of power that Elon Musk has to impact and change the course of the largest war in Europe since World War II is really stunning. There's nothing really that Congress can do about that, is there?

LICCARDO: Well, there needs to be. And certainly the results in November can help. Look, it has not helped that we've had an administration that is coin operated by Elon Musk.

[20:50:02]

But certainly in January, beyond the investigations, we need to ensure that every Starlink contract and every other Elon Musk contract is thoroughly vetted because we cannot, for example, allow Starlink to be providing wireless connectivity to Americans who depend on having reliable wireless connectivity through Starlink and then having Elon Musk essentially decide he's going to throttle it because he doesn't like the politics of a particular region.

There should be a price playing politics with your products, and Elon Musk needs to feel and pay that price.

COOPER: Congressman, I really appreciate your time tonight. Thanks so much. We'll follow up with you. Appreciate it.

Coming up, Donald Trump talking about Nicki Minaj in ways that might surprise you. We'll have more on that ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: By the way, I looked at one hell of a beautiful ass before Nicki Minaj.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:55:16]

COOPER: On the backside of last week, we reported on President Trump's bootiful comments about Ohio GOP Senator Jon Husted. Now, in case you're behind on the President's remarks, here's what he said at a campaign stop in North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm studying his body. I've never studied the body of a man before. It's not my thing. Nothing wrong with it, of course. Nothing. I always proceeded by saying nothing wrong, but it's never been my thing, to be honest with you.

But I looked at his ass. And then I looked at his legs and I said, his ass is like -- it's like a pile of muscle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Nothing strange about that. Just one elderly straight guy checking out the pile of muscle on another straight guy's ass. But -- and it's a big old but, the world's most powerful fan of peach emojis now says the whole thing is just a tempest in the G string.

And this weekend, the commander-in-chief decided to put the questions to rest by continuing to drill down on the senator's backside. According to him, wasn't gay at all as football.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And I had just found out that he's a great athlete, a brutal tackler. You know, some guys I play little tiny football. I didn't like it too much. I like to watch it. I didn't love being tackled by large people. And I didn't like it.

But I'm looking at him up and down and I'm studying him. And then I made the mistake. I told in fun, I said, I looked at his ass and I've never done that with a man before. It's true.

Off the record, women, yes, men, no, OK. But when I said I looked at his ass and I said, the press went crazy the next day. They said, what's with Trump? All he wants to do is talk about a man's ass. There's something different about -- they didn't explain the whole football deal.

That's why with the fake news --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Fake news. It's sports thing. You know like that Russian hockey player Ilya. The way he was always ribbing his buddy Shane. I'm OK about that. But there's a but again, there is a record here and we have receipts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I never did that with a man before. I examined his ass and then I looked at his shoulders. I looked at his feet. This guy walks through the door. I said, look at this beautiful guy.

I actually think Mike Collins is a good looking man. Rick Jackson's a very handsome, distinguished, beautiful looking guy. Oh, he's a good looking guy. You're not allowed to say that about women or men anymore. It's the end of your political career. But he is a good looking guy.

I wish Tim didn't look that good. He's a very handsome guy. I don't like handsome guys.

I started examining his body. I watched up and down. I looked at his ass.

He's central casting, by the way. You can't miss a big, strong, handsome Oklahoma studs.

Now I'm looking at the legs. He's this beautiful guy. He's got legs like tree trunks.

He's a handsome guy, by the way. I didn't -- it's usually not my thing, but he is a good looking sucker.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: I asked the President's greatest hits now include women.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: By the way, I looked at one hell of a beautiful ass before, Nicki Minaj. That's hard to miss. That -- stand up. That's hard to miss.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Now, I know what you're thinking. Eight days until the midterms, where can I sign up for such a master class in message discipline? Unfortunately, the university turned class action settlement started by then citizen Donald J., my anaconda don't want none unless it's got buns hun, Trump is long out of business. But at least he's not still waxing nostalgic for how golf legend Arnold Palmer wielded his three wood, so to speak.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But Arnold Palmer was all man when he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there, they said, Oh, my God. That's unbelievable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: You should have heard what Harry Truman said about taking a sauna with Sam Snead. Speaking of President Trump in the Trump White House, the butt stops here.

Thanks for watching. You can stream the show anytime live or you can watch the program on Demand anytime, any screen, any mobile device. All you need is an all access subscription. Scan the QR code on your screen or go to CNN.com/Watch to learn more.

That's it for much -- that's it for us. I'm all flustered.

The news continues. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now.