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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Soon, Trump Rallies In Ruby Red Nebraska; Supreme Court Kicks Off New Term With Blockbuster Case; Trump Says, Threats Prompted U.S. To Remove Air Force Bombers From U.K.; Latino Voters Swing Away From Trump & GOP In New Poll; Politico: Paxton Says Washington Runs His Campaign In Leaked Audio. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 05, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, President Trump is hosting a campaign rally tonight in the most Republican part of one of the most reliably Republican states in the entire United States. With less than one month until the midterm elections, why is this the White House strategy, and what are the odds it's going to work?

Plus, before he left for campaign events, President Trump confirmed specific threats caused the U.S. military to move all of its Air Force bombers from a base in the United Kingdom back to the United States.

[18:00:00]

That base and those bombers had been used in the war against Iran. What we're learning about that threat tonight also.

Today, a new term started for the U.S. Supreme Court, and the justices have a number of very high-profile cases on the docket, from Trump's defamation fight to a major Second Amendment decision and the administration's transgender military ban. We're going to break down the biggest issues the High Court is set to decide.

The Lead tonight, President Trump desperately trying to shore up support just 29 days before the polls close. In about an hour, he's going to take the stage in Grand Island, Nebraska. Now, that's a state that Trump won by 20 points in 2024.

It's part of Trump's red state swing, with strong parallels to previous trouble, troubled, troublesome, troubling years for the GOP. In fact, the last time a sitting president visited that specific small central Nebraskan town was 2006, when Republicans were just days away from what then President George W. Bush would call a thumping in the midterm elections.

Today's also the last day to register to vote in 12 states. One of those states is Texas, and that's where Democrat James Talarico is leading Republican Ken Paxton 51 to 45 percent, according to a New York Times/Siena poll.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in Grand Island, Nebraska. Kaitlan Collins is at the White House. Jeff, good to have you back in your home state. A Republican member of Congress told CNN this is a, quote, five-alarm fire. What are we expecting to hear from the president tonight?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, President Trump has long realized that he is like other presidents in one regard, the midterm elections are often not kind to the party in power. He saw that in 2018, and he's been talking about the, about that increasingly as he's been campaigning.

But one thing is clear from his travel itinerary, as you said, this October red state blitz is a sign that the final month of the midterm election campaign is playing out in Trump country. Yes, he's coming to this deep red part of Nebraska to seek safe harbor, if you will, to find friendly faces, but he's also coming to try and remind some Trump voters that they need to turn out.

There is a very key Senate race here, as you were saying. Senator Pete Ricketts, a Republican, he's running against an independent, Dan Osborne. There's no Democrat on the ballot here. So, that adds some intrigue to this campaign. And the Ricketts campaign and Republicans are mindful of this environment. They're mindful of the economic difficulties here in Nebraska.

But, Jake, one thing that's interesting about the president's travels here, as you said, he'll be making his way here in about an hour's time, there are two very competitive House races in Nebraska, the second district in Omaha, of course, which is the blue dot, as we talk about a lot, and the first district with Congressman Mike Flood. President Trump is not going to either of those. He is coming to a safe district here to talk about a Senate race.

But, Jake, talking to a lot of voters here, the price of diesel comes up again and again and again. Driving here, it is about $6 a gallon, a record high. No one can ever recall that. Also, there's some anger among beef producers. Nebraska is the top beef producing state in the country, over the president's decision to allow more beef imports.

So, there are some very real concerns here in Trump country. As you can see behind me here, there is a lot of love for President Trump. There is no doubt about that. So, the question is, do all of those supporters who voted for him again and again actually turn out in the midterm elections, or do they stay home, which many Republican candidates worry about. Jake?

TAPPER: And, Kaitlan, despite waging this legal battle against Americans being able to vote by mail, President Trump is now openly encouraging people, his people, Republicans, to vote early and to vote by mail.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. It was a pretty remarkable video that the president put out on Saturday given what he has said about mail-in voting for years, where he has not only railed against it rhetorically, he has also tried to restrict it with the power of his office, either by executive order or by pressuring Republicans on Capitol Hill to pass legislation, both of which were not successful because of the courts and because political efforts just were not there. The momentum was not there for what the president was pushing for among his own party.

But he came out on Saturday and put out a video basically urging Republicans to vote, including voting early and voting by mail, which stood out because, yes, the president himself has voted by mail, but he has said that it's inherently corrupt, that it can't be trusted for voters. He's tried to stymie it, basically. And he was asked about those comments today as he was leaving the White House to head to Nebraska.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: And I'd rather have them vote in person, but they can vote by mail if they want because we seem to have no choice because a lot of people want to vote by mail, but a lot of very good people also want to vote in person.

[18:05:00]

You can do either.

What we're concerned about is there seems to be a lot of cheat -- not seems to be. There is a lot of cheating in vote by mail.

REPORTER: Where, Mr. President?

TRUMP: A lot of cheating all over.

REPORTER: Where? Do you have evidence?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now, he was asked there, Jake, at the end, for any evidence to back up his arguments that there is a lot of fraud when it comes, and cheating, when it comes to voting by mail. He obviously did not provide any. He simply pointed to the state of California, and that was it. They have never provided evidence of that, and there's actually not evidence of that when you look at the numbers when it comes to mail-in voting.

But I think what the president said there about there really being no choice was notable, Jake, because he's basically acknowledging that his efforts to change mail-in voting have not worked. And it's also a reality of the sense of concern inside the White House about Democratic momentum heading into the midterm elections next month.

Now, we'll see if it bears out. Obviously, we can look at the polls. We'll see what the voters say. But, clearly, there is that concern inside the White House about what the votes are going to look like, which is why the president is saying, if you're a Republican, vote any way that you can, despite what he has said previously.

TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan Collins at the White House, and Nebraska's own Jeff Zeleny back in Nebraska, thanks so much. Don't miss Kaitlan on her show, The Source with Kaitlan Collins. Her guests tonight include Democratic Senator Cory Booker from the Garden State of New Jersey. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern on CNN.

And joining me now is outgoing North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis, whose brand-new book, "How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents", offers more than 200 pages of blistering critiques of politics in this country, including his own country. It's a lively and engaging read, and, Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

We'll talk about the book in just a sec, but I do want to ask you about the midterms, because we're just a few weeks away. CNN just expanded our list of the most likely Senate seats to flip this year to include ten seats, including Kansas, which hasn't sent a Democrat to the Senate in 94 years. The Senate Leadership Fund, the Republican- aligned PAC, just paused spending in your state of North Carolina, and is launching a seven-figure ad buy in Kansas.

What's your read on the current energy within the party on whether Republicans are going to hang on to the Senate?

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): Well, I still think we've got a good shot. I do believe that we could lose a f- a few seats, net a few losses, but now is the time for the people running in these states that now are up for grabs, is to ask themselves why that is. And a lot of times it's not resonating with unaffiliated voters who want to hear a conservative voice, want to have a conservative voice representing their Senate, but they want some level of independence.

I really believe that states like North Carolina and others, if you go in, respect the president, make it very clear you're a Republican, you're a conservative, you vote with him most of the time, but where you have the differences, state them. If it's on the war, if it's on affordability, be what you -- be who you are and take that message to the voters and win 30 days from now, 29 days from now.

TAPPER: We're awaiting President Trump to touch down in Nebraska later this week. He's also going to hold a rally in Texas. He says he's going to go to the Georgia/Alabama football game in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. What do you make of this red state campaign push from President Trump? Do you think it's going to drum up support where it matters, where vulnerable Republicans running for House or Senate need it?

TILLIS: Well, in some respects, I like what the president's doing, because I believe that he is doing everything he can to get the MAGA base out, the people who don't normally come out in midterm elections, which I think are very important. And to a certain extent, if he's staying away from some states where we've got some ground to make up, he's not as popular, I think that's smart politics, and I'm glad that the president's doing it.

But the key is that these candidates have to get out there and they've got to work. They don't -- you don't leave the state. You knock on doors, you make the phone calls, you get your local GOPs out there. Everybody needs to be working towards one goal, and that's keeping the majority in the U.S. Senate.

TAPPER: Let's turn to your book, which comes out tomorrow. You really don't hold back on what you call your WTF moments, especially when it comes to regrets about voting to confirm Secretary Hegseth or former DNI Gabbard or Secretary RFK Jr.

There is a moment where you ask RFK Jr. about the reports of his habit of collecting dead animals in a private meeting. Let me read from this quote. Just a few seconds after I raised the issue, RFK Jr. said, well, I don't know. Who doesn't want a whale head? I nodded and said, you know what? Enough said. Let's move on. I mean, WTF indeed.

But looking at it now which of the figures surrounding Trump in this second term, which do you think has given him the worst advice?

TILLIS: No doubt, Kristi Noem's probably first on the list. I'm glad she's gone. She did a poor job of -- she was just not up to the task as an executive. I'm not making a judgment about any of these people at a personal level.

[18:10:01]

She simply wasn't qualified for the role. She put untrained people in untenable circumstances, and bad things happened.

Shortly behind that, I would say, would be Pete Hegseth. I'm surprised he still has a job. We should be celebrating the win in Epic Fury, but instead we're meandering now. But I'm also concerned with just Pete's misunderstanding about the organization of the DOD, and it is the Department of Defense. It's not the Department of War. You need to change the law to make it that.

Pete is so focused on the tip of the spear that he's not thinking about the three-fourths of everybody in the DOD who will never be on the frontline of the battlefield, but they're critically important. So, it's just another example of where he simply does not have the executive experience to run an organization of the scope, magnitude, and gravity of the Department of Defense.

TAPPER: What do you say to your critics out there who argue that the shortcomings of many of these nominees, Hegseth, RFK Jr., they were all known before you voted to confer them, so you're saying now that you regret voting for them isn't enough?

TILLIS: Well, you know what I would say to them is at the time I'm deferring to the Senate Armed Services Committee. I am not a liberal hack. I'm not going to vote on my gut. I'm not going to vote because I don't feel good about something. I've either got a good reason or a bad -- you know, I've got a good reason to vote against somebody, or I'm going to defer to the majority of the Senate Armed Services Committee. In this case, it was unanimous.

But I'm looking at his job performance now. I, you know, looked at his resume, thought I'm not quite so sure. The Senate Armed Services Committee felt differently. Now, I'm looking at a performance review, and, clearly, he's not up to the task, and that's why I think we should move on. I think it's in the president's best interest.

TAPPER: You write quite a bit in the book about your decision to not vote for the big, beautiful bill. You were very concerned about the cuts to healthcare. Right now, there's a new poll, 46 percent of rural voters say their community doesn't have enough doctors or healthcare providers. 35 percent say there's not enough hospitals. That's more than a 10 percent increase in both of those numbers over the last nine years.

The cuts to Medicaid and the cuts to rural hospitals that came in that bill, do you think that's why the president, along with diesel fuel prices, is having such a tough time in red states with a big rural community, such as Iowa or North Carolina, or in Nebraska where he is today?

TILLIS: Yes. You know, when we were doing the impact analysis last year, impact assessment on the big, beautiful bill, I said, guys, let's go back to the House mark. That is change that states can absorb. But if you put another, almost a doubling back on the states and give them no time to prepare, the ads are going to write themselves, and I've seen the ads.

This is something I was telling people back in June of last year. Now, we're seeing it come to life. This was just an example where the president needs people to look around corners from him. Does anybody really believe any president understands the complexities of Medicaid? Of course not.

But you have to have people that do, and you have to help guide policies that are going to cover our political flanks, and our flanks are exposed in this cycle, and they, the Democrats, are exploiting it in exactly the same way I exploited Obamacare before it was totally implemented to become the second Republican speaker of the House in -- since the Civil War in North Carolina, and went on to win against the Democrat incumbent in a general election on failed, rushed, well- intentioned, poorly executed healthcare.

TAPPER: Senator Thom Tillis, "How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents" comes out tomorrow, thank you so much, sir. Good to see you.

TILLIS: Thank you.

TAPPER: Today kicked off the new term for the U.S. Supreme Court, and there are a handful of potentially blockbuster cases already on the docket. CNN's Joan Biskupic is here to walk us through the major cases we're all keeping our eyes on.

Plus, how many, quote, bad things should the public have to accept for the potential good things, the benefits of A.I.? Well, the CEO of OpenAI just weighed in, and his answer may surprise you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00] TAPPER: Our Law and Justice Lead now. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court started its new term, and there are a number of very high-profile cases on its docket, an important Second Amendment challenge to ban on AR-15s. There's a fight over voter registration, and the most significant climate change case to reach the court in nearly two decades.

CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst Joan Biskupic is here. And, Joan, when you look at the cases already on the docket, which ones could have the biggest impact on the American people? What races are you watching closely?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Well, I'll start with today because we had this -- we kicked off the term with this major climate change case that if the states and cities prevail in this one and are allowed to sue the major energy companies for damages from climate change, that could cost the companies millions and millions of dollars, but it could also go toward recouping costs for floods, for fires, for all sorts of damage from climate change. And so that's up there.

Interestingly, that one could end up in a 4-4 split because Justice Alito recused himself. He didn't give an reason, but he owns some big oil stocks. So, that's likely the reason.

But now you mentioned the AR-15 one. The Second Amendment has undergone a transformation with this conservative court. The Second Amendment rights have been greatly expanded, and now in a case from Cook County, Illinois, the justices in December are going to look at whether states can ban the possession of AR-15. So, that will have great consequences.

And then on Election Day, we will have our own drama on November 3rd with a really important church-state case, again from Colorado. This one involves whether Colorado's plan for universal pre-K and the funding of universal pre-K can exclude schools, in this case a Catholic entity, that doesn't want to take children from same-sex parents.

[18:20:05]

It's a fight between kind of a free exercise right of being able to say, we don't believe in, you know, LGBTQ rights, and we don't want to take children from same-sex parents, against the state saying, but if you're going to take our funds, we believe that you have to engage in a non-discrimination policy. So, that's -- that will be a good one, too.

So, we've got both culture wars, but I just want to say we're probably going to have some more election cases given, you know, as we march toward November 3rd, I'd be ready for anything on that front.

TAPPER: Oh, we also heard from Justice Alito. He says he considers retirement every term. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JUSTICE SAMUEL ALITO, SUPREME COURT: Something I think that somebody at my age has to think about every term. But I thought that I could still make a valuable contribution, which is why I became a justice and a judge in the first place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Justice Alito sitting down with CBS's Jan Crawford. Do you think there's pressure on him to step down?

BISKUPIC: I think there's pressure from Republicans who want to make -- well, not -- he's past the window. He's past the window. We already -- you know, right now, we have the Republican Senate. He might still have that opportunity next year. Donald Trump obviously will still be in office. We might still have a Republican Senate, so he'd have an option. But, you know, he's not going to want to go when he doesn't have the political conditions right.

And I think there had been earlier pressure on him to go, like, last summer while we definitely had the Republican Senate. But, you know, he's only 76, Jake. Ruth Bader Ginsburg hung on, and everybody -- you know, the fear of every -- of Republicans and Democrats, depending on where they're at, that they could stay in office too long and then die in office and give the president of an opposite party the nomination, as happened with RBG.

But Justice Ginsburg was 87 years old.

TAPPER: And had cancer.

BISKUPIC: Yes, multiple kinds of cancer.

TAPPER: And he looks pretty healthy.

BISKUPIC: And he's 76.

TAPPER: Yes, interesting.

BISKUPIC: He's a teenager.

TAPPER: A teenager in Washington, that's true.

BISKUPIC: At the Supreme Court, yes, exactly.

TAPPER: Joan Biskupic, thanks so much.

Coming up next, what we're learning tonight about the U.S. military's abrupt decision to move all of its Air Force bombers out of a base in the U.K.

But, first, right now on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, crowds protesting the school's handling of an alleged gang rape in 2024. We're monitoring this and so much more.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

TAPPER: In our World Lead, President Trump just weighed in on why the United States yesterday moved its long range bombers stationed in the U.K. back home to their American bases.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Was there intelligence or a specific threat that led you to pull those bombers back from the U.K.?

TRUMP: Yes, I think we can say that. I mean, they didn't fly out by accident. Yes, the -- no, but there were some threats. And rather than tempting the enemy, we'll capture the enemy and beat the enemy, but why should we leave them there? So, we moved them around a little bit, not very far.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Let's go to CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller. John, so what exactly is the threat behind this move?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, when you move all of that kind of aircraft that suddenly, it's a strong indicator that you don't believe with the arrest of these five men a couple of weeks ago, that you have eliminated that threat. I mean, they have to believe that there are some parts of that are still active.

They may have intelligence, or they may just know that if Iran, which both our president and the prime minister have suggested is behind it once one version of a threat fails, they usually try to put together another version of the same one. And, you know, you've got planes lying around that are worth $317 million apiece out there in the open. It's a risk that you could manage simply by moving them.

TAPPER: Is it possible that they were aware of this kind of threat, something that would not necessarily be protected by perimeter security?

MILLER: Well, that may be the key here, Jake, which is perimeter security is key. I mean, that's why it's a secure base, right? You've got a fence line, you've got military police, you've got motion sensors, you've got checkpoints. If you want to lock down that base so nobody's going to get near a plane who's not authorized, you can do that.

The changing nature of the game, though, is they've seen what drones have done to U.S. bases in the region, out in the Middle East, how many aircraft they've lost, how many buildings they've lost, how many service members they've lost, and there's nothing preventing that kind of thing happening in Great Britain in that, Jake, if you look at the reports of drone activity over those three British military bases in that area, and at both airports, that's 346 incursions by drones over military locations up until the end of August, which means that's a lot of drone activity that is being put at risk.

TAPPER: What more have we learned about or from even the five men taken into custody, or the sixth, who was arrested last week?

MILLER: Again, interesting that they were taken into custody, that this was a terrorist plot that was broken up, according to authorities, and then almost immediately released on bail. But what we learned was when they went through the three vans that had the phony fuel oil, you know, stickers on them what they found was containers which they thought were explosives and turned out not to be explosives.

Investigators are focused now on a potential theory that those men might have been up in that area near the air base, but also around, you know, the farming community trying to obtain, buy, or likely steal red diesel.

[18:30:01]

That's the diesel that the farmers use up there for tractors and heavy machinery and things that don't go on the roads or the highways. They get it at a much cheaper price. And that is the kind of fuel oil that if you put together with fertilizer, also available in farm country, you come up with what they call an AMFO bomb, ammonium nitrate and fuel oil.

Remember the World Trade Center. Remember Oklahoma City. Remember the embassy bombings. These bombs are very powerful when put in large vehicles. That could be related to the plot and they are still investigating the background of those men.

And the sixth person arrested, we don't know much about that person except I would suspect as an investigator what they got was the five they could get on the scene, and then they probably went after the person they've been in contact with who they suspect may have been a handler. So, that is very active still.

TAPPER: John Miller, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

Today, A.I. executives were pressed on the emergency safety risks, how many jobs A.I. could eliminate, and what safeguards A.I. executives are putting in place to protect the public, if any. Were their answers sufficient? Well, I'm going to ask the lawmaker who led today's hearing. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

TAPPER: Now for the latest in our continuing series, AI: Friend or Foe, warnings about how A.I. could pose an existential threat to humanity or A.I. agents going rogue and evading human control, calls for an A.I. slowdown. It's our understandable that there are widespread safety concerns.

But in his interview with Politico, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he believes the risks are worth it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAM ALTMAN, CEO, OPENAI: The world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology and people having the agency.

I do think the lighter touch regulatory stance that we advocate for comes with an accepting of the fact that some bad things are going to happen as society figures out the resilience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Earlier today, New York City's council pressed OpenAI, Google, Meta, Anthropic executives on Sam Altman's comments and the overall safety risks involving AI, and the speaker of New York City Council joins us now. Speaker Julie Menin, thank you so much for joining us.

Before we get to today's hearing, what did you think of Altman saying, quote, the world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits, unquote, of A.I.?

JULIE MENIN, SPEAKER, NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL: Well, thanks, Jake, for having me tonight. I'm still actually at City Hall because the hearing is still going on. I think Sam Altman's comments are not acceptable, because saying that we as a society should bear that risk for the benefit of A.I. is not a premise that I buy.

We all know the benefits of A.I. They're unquestionable, the medical breakthroughs, the science breakthroughs, the innovation, efficiency, all of that is terrific, but that also requires responsible safeguards as well. And so the point of our hearing today was to look at what some of those responsible guardrails can be.

And we heard testimony from the companies. We heard testimony from whistleblowers such as Jacob Coxon and other safety experts as well.

TAPPER: On today's hearing, were there any answers from OpenAI, Google, Meta, Anthropic, that satisfied you at all when it came to the safety risks of A.I.?

MENIN: Well, I think the fact that they wouldn't answer some of those safety questions is exactly why we need regulation. I've spent most of my career as a regulatory attorney and used to serve as commissioner of the Department of Consumer Affairs in New York. And if you think about it, Jake, for the pharmaceutical industry, we don't let them self-regulate. We have the FDA. For financial firms, they don't self- regulate. They have the SEC and other regulations. The airline industry, of course, has the FAA.

So, this idea that A.I. companies should self-regulate is troubling. We need responsible guardrails. We need third-party independent validators who are free from conflicts of interest. And so we need whistleblower protection so that we encourage whistleblowers to come forward. These are all the types of legislation that we're looking to pass in the city of New York. TAPPER: Did any of their answers on the subject of the potential elimination of hundreds of thousands of jobs, including New Yorkers, did any of their answers raise any red flags for you?

MENIN: Absolutely. When we talk about job loss, I asked them if they could estimate what would the job loss be in New York City.

We have to remember that we have about 400,000 tech jobs right now in New York. That's terrific. We're actually outpacing San Francisco, and we want to continue that trend. But when we look at job loss, I asked them what would be the job loss in the next five years from A.I., and they really couldn't quantify that.

Boston Consulting recently put out a report that quantified it at about 10 to 15 percent of the workforce, which in a city like New York is 600,000 jobs. So, that is an enormous effect on New York City's economy and one that we need to be better prepared for.

TAPPER: What specific A.I. policies is the New York City Council pursuing?

MENIN: Well, one of the big policies we really want to focus on is third-party validators. We don't believe it's responsible for the companies to self-regulate themselves. So, whether it's what happened at Hugging Face, whether it's the incident in Australia with the Australian government website, or even here in the United States with the Census Department website where rogue A.I. agents broke into that, you need an independent third-party validator to do that safety check.

And one of the big things that came out of the hearing is we said to these companies that they should not release any product that had failed an internal safety test or a third-party validator test. That's something that we absolutely believe in.

In addition, we are looking to pass a law that would be first in the nation that would give rewards for whistleblowers, in other words, a portion of the fines and penalties that the city of New York would assess to encourage these whistleblowers to come forward because we know it is difficult for them to do so.

[18:40:02]

When Jacob Coxon, and we had other whistleblowers who came today, they are very brave and courageous to come forward. They're putting their career on the line.

So, we want to make sure that we are rewarding those whistleblowers and encouraging them and protecting them as well.

TAPPER: New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, thank you so much for joining us today. I appreciate it.

MENIN: Thank you, Jake.

TAPPER: A new poll shows a dramatic swing amid one group of voters that will be key to winning the midterms. We're going to dig into those numbers next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: And we're back with our Politics Lead, as you can tell from the sounds, the dulcet sounds of the CNN election jam. A new poll shows that Latino voters have largely soured on President Trump and the Republican Party. When asked what they think about the job President Trump is doing, only 27 percent of Latino voters approve of the president's job performance, 69 percent disapprove.

When it comes to which party they want to control Congress after the midterms, 59 percent of Latino voters in this poll say they'd prefer Democrats to win. Just 35 percent want to see the Republican Party stay in power.

[18:45:00]

All of these numbers, according to the latest NBC and Telemundo survey.

Here to discuss CNN en Espanol correspondent Ione Molinares.

Thank you so much for being here, Ione.

IONE MOLINARES, CNN EN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT: Pleasure.

TAPPER: Let's dig into some of the issues in the poll. Latino voters were asked if they approve or disapprove of Trump's handling of certain issues. On immigration, 30 percent approval, 69 percent disapproval. On the economy, 25 percent approval, 74 percent disapproval.

And on the cost of living, it's even worse. 20 percent approval, 78 percent disapproval.

It seems that some of the same issues that President Trump won on in 2024, including with a lot of Latino voters, are now his biggest liability.

MOLINARES: It's the same as the normal general population. It's harder because the immigration is playing a big part of it. When you see Latino voters, when you see entrepreneurs, when you see people afraid of going out and be part of the economy, it's hurting the Latinos and it's hurting a big population.

When you see there's 25-year people leaving here with Salvadorians with a TPS, and then suddenly, they just don't have it. And it's 25 years of losing all that. It's hard. So, they are blaming directly and tying immigration with economy.

TAPPER: We know Latino voters, like any voting bloc, are not a monolith. Mexican American voters in California are different from Mexican in Texas, who are different from Venezuelans and Hondurans and Cubans.

But a Democratic pollster and a Republican pollster teamed up for this survey. The Republican pollster says this about the results. Quote, "Trump is a central figure. He's had real consequences on our politics. And without his presence, I think none of these changes would be evident in the data among Latinos."

Do you think that Trump is in some ways, or his policies are washing away so many of the gains that Republicans made with Latino voters, some of -- some of those gains Trump is responsible for?

MOLINARES: Exactly, yes. And it is. He is doing it because at the beginning or when two years ago, a lot of Latinos gave Trump the benefit of the doubt with the hardliner -- hardline policies in the border.

TAPPER: And he said he was going to go after the worst of the worst.

MOLINARES: Exactly. And that was important.

But when it came to the final redefine who's here and who is criminal by just being undocumented here or by not having a permanent status, and just because of that, you are eligible to be deported. That hurt. And that -- that changed the whole equation for Latinos.

TAPPER: The pollster also called Latinos, quote, the swingiest of swing groups. Do you think that's true? And if so, why?

MOLINARES: I'm not sure, but I think I think it is right now because we just saw a change from Democrat to Republican to helping Trump, to going back again to denounce his strategy. But I guess it will be -- it will depend on what happens with the Democrats this time around if they gain Congress for one simple reason.

The survey also talked about how the Republicans lost ground with the Democrats right now. I mean, with the Latino voters. But the Democrats didn't gain any. So, it's usually the case that if the Democrats don't do anything, it might be something that they will probably have to get them on.

TAPPER: Yeah. Interesting.

MOLINARES: Yeah.

TAPPER: All right. Ione Molinares, thank you so much. Great to have you.

The panel joins me now.

Shermichael, let's I think that it's fair to say that this is really going to have impact in Texas, potentially, because that is where there is a huge bloc of Latino voters who swing their votes. Republican Texas Senate candidate, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, caught on more leaked audio expressing frustration over how his Senate campaign is being run. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

KEN PAXTON (R), TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATE: I've never been in a race where I felt less control over the campaign and like what issues are going to matter because it's all coming, you know, from D.C. and I don't control the message or what we're doing or and I can't, I have no, I don't have the ability to change anything. So, I have to live with whatever I've got.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

TAPPER: Man, I don't know who Ken Paxton is hanging out with, but he needs to start frisking him. So in any case, voters typically want a senator who will take their agenda to Washington, not take orders from Washington. Could this have an impact?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm not even sure what he means when he says he's unaware of who's running his campaign. I mean, he is the candidate. Ultimately, the buck stops with him. I've worked on a number of campaigns. I've never worked for a candidate where the candidate was taking orders from somewhere else.

Now, maybe you're working with the NRSC in terms of fundraising and maybe messaging, more broadly speaking, but I have always found that I do some work with them currently that they really sort of allow the candidates to be independent and run their own individual races while supplying them with financial support, particularly in the slew of competitive races we have across the country. So, I'm not exactly sure what Ken Paxton is referencing.

He's in a very tough race. He's not the most ideal candidate in the world. Let's be honest about this. And look.

[18:50:00]

TAPPER: He's been impeached. He's been indicted.

SINGLETON: Cornyn -- Cornyn, I'm a Republican. I'm a gun, big 2A guy. Cornyn certainly rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

But I can guarantee you we would not be this close with Talarico, with him in some polling being a point or two ahead. This race is costing my party over $200 million to try to get this guy across the finish line because of all of his bad proclivities in the past. And so, if there's anyone to blame about the current rendition of his campaign, it should be himself and not people in D.C. who are trying their best to help him, despite all of his flaws.

TAPPER: So in addition to his having been indicted, though not convicted and impeached, though not convicted again, his wife is divorcing him on, quote/unquote, biblical grounds, which is a reference to his straying.

She -- she's a state senator, Angela Paxton, I don't need to tell you. You're a Texas boy. She is out with a new ad or someone's out with a new ad featuring her and she's supporting Republicans. She's basically saying, "If I can vote for him, you can vote for him."

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STATE SEN. ANGELA PAXTON (R), TEXAS: Either we hold every Republican seat or we hand the future of Texas to the other team. That's why I'm voting for the Republican ticket on November 3rd.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: She never says ken.

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Right.

TAPPER: She never talks about the senate race, but she is clearly sending a message. Republicans, if I'm okay with him, you should vote for him, too.

ROCHA: And for all of you at home who are watching football last Sunday and saw that ad in Philadelphia or in Iowa or in L.A., it's because TV stations in Texas have run out of ad space. There's so much money being spent that it was cheaper. Stay with me, boys. It was cheaper to buy a national ad that run in places where folks can't vote for them than to buy a local one ad.

TAPPER: Because it was on that very painful Rams/Eagles game that I was watching. And I'm like, who -- who in -- who's rooting for the Eagles or the Rams that lives in Texas?

ROCHA: So as the ad maker, it is so expensive to buy ad space in Texas to buy a national ad costs less. It's cheaper to buy a national ad now. The most expensive media market in the entire nation is in Harlingen, Texas, because of the Texas Valley.

And to answer the question, you actually asked me --

TAPPER: Yeah.

ROCHA: -- the reason she's doing the ad is there's two kind of people that are really screwing the pooch for Paxton. One is what you just talked about. Latinos are really mad. They're really moving away because they're the anxiety of the economics.

And the second piece are Republicans, and I call them common sense Republicans. The Republicans who want less taxes, right? Those are the folks.

TAPPER: Republicans, Shermichael --

SINGLETON: I think.

ROCHA: So it was the folks who voted for Senator John Cornyn. Not all of them are going to vote for him, but there's enough of them who just don't like Paxton, who she was saying, just vote for the spot.

TAPPER: So meanwhile, Trump has been to a number of, generally speaking, ruby red states. He was in Nebraska today. And he also gave an update on where he's going to be traveling next. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think when I travel there, the numbers go way up. We have massive crowds. We're going to Michigan. We're going all over the country. No, when I go there, they pick up a lot of steam. When I go there, they win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So Michigan next. Do you think that's going to help Mike Rogers?

SINGLETON: You know, I think that's going to be tough. I think there's a message from Rogers campaign to Jewish voters there. I think there's a potential opportunity. I'm not certain that we're galvanizing it the way we should with a cohort of Black men and some Black churchgoers.

Obama is going to be in Michigan. That certainly concerns me as a strategist, because that's absolutely going to excite Black folks in Detroit and those surrounding areas. So this is going to be tough for us.

ROCHA: Let me just say, the DNC may have $500 in the bank, but they will pay for a ticket for him to go to Michigan or to Maine, or I'll pay for it myself, because that's probably the only two places you don't want him.

TAPPER: So, speaking of ads that I saw while watching football, there's that one that's government-funded, campaign style ad featuring Trump. He's reciting words from the 2024 campaign speech. Yeah, campaign style for sure. I think it's very political, going after news media, going after deep state, going after warmongers, et cetera.

President Trump just announced about those ads, quote, "The radical left is upset with the fact that I'm taking ads, which I consider to be a positive promotion for our great USA and paying them for with them -- paying for them with USA money. This is rather standard thing to do, but rather than doing that, although nothing will make them happy, I've decided to do the patriotic ads among others and pay for them myself and with money I raised for MAGA Inc, Make America Great Again, President Donald J. Trump."

Why would he do that?

ROCHA: It makes no sense to me because it has nothing to do with gas and groceries. And so every time he does this in the election that we're in right now, it just gives Democrats more wings.

TAPPER: All right. Thanks to both of you.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Our last lead start in our law and justice lead, former "American Idol" contestant Caleb Flynn today was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his wife, Ashley, just before sentencing, the words of his two young daughters were read aloud.

His 10-year-old daughter writing, quote, "Mommy was the perfect person, the absolute perfect person. What did she ever do to make you hate her so much?", unquote. Heartbreaking.

In our world lead, the FBI arrested a 34-year-old California woman at the Los Angeles airport on charges of acting as an unregistered agent for China and allegedly surveilling the Taiwanese president's son and his family. The federal complaint alleges that this woman was working for China without registering as a foreign agent, and took photos and videos of her targets to send to Chinese officials.

In our sports lead, the NFL has suspended two officials for unprofessional conduct after incidents with players on Sunday. Line judge Jeff Seeman is suspended for two games after being caught on camera cursing at an Arizona Cardinals player.

And referee Adrian Hill was suspended after the Miami/Minnesota game, Hill yelled at Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson and pointed for him to get away. When Wilson tried to help him to his feet after a collision.

If you ever miss an episode of the league, you can watch a show on the CNN app.

"Erin Burnett OutFront" starts now. I'll see you tomorrow.