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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Trump Holds Rallies As Inflation Rises Ahead Of Midterms; Poll: M.T. GOP Senate Candidate Leads Independent & Dem Opponents; MD GOP Rep. Andy Harris Frustrated By Crowd, Press; Election Officials: Musk's PAC Is Spreading Inaccurate Voting Info; DOJ Escalates Voter Roll Fight With Legal Threats To CA Officials. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired October 14, 2026 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:00:30]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. We're going to start with breaking news in our Politics Lead. Just 20 days left to go until the polls close for midterm elections 2026 and President Trump right now is headlining a campaign rally in the swing state of Arizona. The president looking to jumpstart Republicans in several competitive races, including the governor's race and House races.
Moments ago, Trump took a curious approach given his plummeting poll numbers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So we're going to elect a strong Republican majority in the House and Senate, and I think we have a really good chance. And to be honest with you, you know, I'm not on the ballot. And they say if I'm on the ballot, we get 49 percent more votes. So I'm here to say, please, pretend I'm on the ballot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: The president's midterm campaign schedule is ramping up as Republicans fear they'll lose control of one safe seats in the House and possibly even the Senate, thanks to, among other factors, Trump's unpopular war in Iran and the affordability crisis. And 76 percent of voters in a recent poll saying the president has the wrong priorities. That's a CNN poll. So after this Arizona rally, the president will head straight to Montana this evening. That's where Republican congressional candidate Aaron Flint is locked in a close race against Democrat Sam Forstag.
Then later this week, the president will stop in Georgia and Kentucky, another big governor's race there, and some House races. Then next week includes North Carolina, where Michael Whatley, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, currently has $0 in remaining T.V. ad reservations for his battleground race. And let's just take one second to contemplate this.
In a state that Trump won three times in a row, the Republican Party has essentially abandoned the former chairman of the Republican National Committee in his race for an open Senate seat currently held by a Republican. So now, as Trump hits the trail, as with any Trump rally, it's safe to say we never will know exactly what we're going to get. In addition to his recent pledge to send checks to Americans if Republicans keep control of Congress, Trump's also adding to his midterm election push the tantalizing idea of pardons for people who then come on stage to endorse Republican candidates. During his rally last night in Alaska, Trump, while on stage, issued pardons to two vehicle repair shop owners who pleaded guilty in 2022 to violations of the Clean Air Act by tampering with federally mandated devices that tracked vehicles diesel emissions. They then came on stage and at least one of them endorsed Dan Sullivan, the incumbent senator running for reelection.
There is one bit of news the president will likely omit from his rallies in this swing. As we learned this morning, inflation rose even higher than expected. The Consumer Price Index showing that September prices are at 3.7 percent. That's up from 3.4 percent in August and above economist's expectations for a 3.6 percent increase.
That increase is not just due to higher gas prices from the war in Iran, which by the way, have now been stuck at or above $4 a gallon for 166 days, more than any year in history. The inflation increase is also driven by the cost of your car repair, your doctor's visit, the plane ticket, the computer upgrade and the new clothes. This is all compounding the affordability crisis and concern and keeping the economy in focus for voters just in time for the midterm.
CNN is on the campaign trail. Betsy Klein is in Bullhead City, Arizona, where the president speaking now. Kevin Liptak is in Montana, where the president is headed later this evening.
Betsy, what more are you hearing from not only the president but from Arizona voters?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: The president and his policies here in Bullhead City. Of course, across the country, the president's approval rating is at just about 3.33 percent. That is in part because of that war with Iran, as you mentioned, driving up high gas prices and inflation more broadly. But when I asked folks here on the ground about that, they did not place any blame on the president or his policies.
One of them told me, quote, he's working on it. He's got a plan. We just got to be patient. Another blamed Biden. Many blamed the Democrats.
One person I spoke to blamed RINOs, Republicans in Name Only, that they said were undermining the president at every turn. Of course, there are two big caveats here. Number one, Trump rally attendees are not representative of Republican voters. They represent the president's most ardent and devoted supporters. And separately, to put on my John King magic wall hat, we are in Mojave County, Arizona. This is one of the reddest places in the state. And the country voted for President Trump in 2024 by a margin of 55 points. And all of this is consistent with the president's midterm campaign strategy that is bringing him to these places to turn out his most ardent supporters. The president encouraging his supporters to vote for Andy Biggs, who's in a competitive race here for governor. Listen.
[17:05:19]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I don't know what the hell it is.
We won all seven swing states. We won Arizona by the largest margin. Think of it. We won Arizona in a landslide. The largest number of votes ever gotten.
Just give some of them to Andy, please. Would you give some of those votes to Andy?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KLEIN: But we are 20 days out from the critical midterm elections. And here's what the president is spending his time on here in this rally. He's talking about ranked choice voting in Alaska, beautifying Washington, D.C., his Qatari plane. He's relitigating the 2020 election.
In addition to that, a big focus here on immigration, drawing contrast with Katie Hobbs, the Democratic governor, and warning that Democrats will lead to open borders, even touting some of his accomplishments in addition to that, Jake.
TAPPER: All right, Betsy.
Kevin, Montana, I normally think of it as a pretty solidly red state. So why would President Trump spend any time there tonight in these closing weeks of the campaign?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: You're right. It's a red state. And we're in a very red part of that red state. He's coming here to focus on the House race here. He hasn't really touched House races a lot in this campaign blitz, but he's really trying to juice turnout and enthusiasm for Aaron Flint.
He's the conservative radio host. He's running against Sam Forstag. He's gotten actually a lot of national attention. He's a young, progressive, former fire service firefighter. The question I think today is whether the president helps or hurts Aaron Flint.
You see signs all around town tying Flint to President Trump, specifically tying him to the war in Iran. The other issue that I heard consistently from people here today is housing. You know, Montana has a housing crisis. A lot of out of staters moving here, jacking up prices. And Democrats are really seizing on that, trying to tie Flint to President Trump. He doesn't really talk about housing all that much, President Trump.
The question is whether the Democratic brand really has a possibility here. People acknowledge that it is just soured for Democrats in Montana. Even Sam Forstag, who I talked to earlier this morning, acknowledged that. He said that people are pissed at Democrats. He used that word.
But he also said that he didn't think President Trump's visit here would help all that much.
TAPPER: All right. Kevin Liptak in Montana, Betsy Klein in Arizona, thanks to both of you.
Let's talk about this now with our panel, Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha and Mark Williams, the former chief of staff for Republican Congressman Mike Conaway of Texas.
Mark, let's start with you. So before the president was in Arizona, he was in Ohio, among other places. And Betsy Klein talked to a number of voters there about gas prices there. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would pay $20 a gallon before I vote for any Democrat.
KLEIN: Who do you think is to blame for the price of gas right now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, not Trump. Not Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little high. I mean, a little high, but I think when the war is over, they're going to come down, they're going to come down fast.
KLEIN: Do you place any blame on the president for that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I mean, I know he's doing what he can and I know a lot of are upset with him. I mean, yes, I get upset with him. I mean, I love the man, but I don't always agree with him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So if only every voter sounded like those three, right? But that is not reflective of the public at large. And it does look like this is going to be a problem for the president.
MARK WILLIAMS, PRINCIPAL, FEROX STRATEGIES: Yes, but that's why he's out and barnstorming, I think --
TAPPER: Rallying those folks.
WILLIAMS: Rallying those folks. He's got to get his voters out. You guys know that the party in power, the biggest problem that they have is getting turnout in midterm elections. So the Republicans are using the biggest kind of utility player that they have at their disposal, which is the president. And so he's barnstorming. He's going to try and get as many people out as he -- as he possibly can. And we'll see. It's tough with, you know, $5.5 gas or whatever it is could be right, like the middle of the road voter is going to have to make a decision, do they want Democratic policies moving forward or do they want, you know, President Trump and what he stands for?
TAPPER: So, Chuck, we've talked about this before. Obviously there's a -- there's anti-Trump sentiment in the country. Is it pro Democratic? I mean, the Democratic Party, the Democrats are not polling well either. And I haven't heard a ton in terms -- like Nancy Pelosi, give her credit in 2006 and in 2018, she had an agenda, she had unity.
I don't know what's going on. I don't know what the Democratic Party's running on.
CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Let me break it down to you in this way. And I'm working in these races from New York to California. The number one thing that's happening in the American public, to your point about Democrats, is you ask people, do you feel like your life's getting better? Is the country headed in the right direction? We've all seen those polls a million times.
Well, right now, it's upside down for Republicans in a huge way. We get to take --
TAPPER: Seventy-seven percent wrong track.
ROCHA: Right. We get to take advantage of that because we can say we're not in power and we didn't break it without saying and here's our message right now. If we just say we're not them, these voters, again, because it's a midterm election and not a presidential election, and not those three people that are at a Trump rally, regular folks are like, we're going to blame the Republicans. Just like, Jake --
[17:10:15]
TAPPER: Yes.
ROCHA: -- they blamed Joe Biden and the Democrats two years ago. And this is how Joe Biden got -- Joe Biden, Donald Trump got elected because they didn't trust Joe Biden. And let me finish with this. When I was running congressional races two years ago, I was trying to tell people that the economy was good and that the stock market was all- time high and unemployment was at an all-time low. And they were like, we still don't like Joe Biden or the Democrats.
That's what Independents are telling us today about Donald Trump.
WILLIAMS: And what's interesting about that is that the Democrats numbers are also underwater.
TAPPER: Yes.
WILLIAMS: You know, there's 63 percent, 65 percent of people saying we don't like them. Also interesting, there are numbers out there that say, who do you trust more on the economy? People still trust Republicans and Trump more on the economy than they -- than they do Democrats.
ROCHA: When you put the name to the Democrat, though, you're right about the generic Democrat. But when you say James Talarico, when you say Sherrod Brown, when you say Mary Peltola, those numbers jump 20 points.
TAPPER: So Trump's midterm rallies have been lively, to say the least. Characteristically lively in Ohio. On Monday, at one point, a brawl appeared to break out between a protester. She was wearing a Release the Epstein Files T-shirt and a rally goer in the stands. We don't know exactly what led to this, but Trump followed up with this during the melee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Don't we love law enforcement? Always got to go on a diet. He's a fat guy. Wow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Any reaction?
WILLIAMS: I mean, do you expect anything like more or less for the president, right? I saw a good -- a good interview with someone the other day and they're like, I love his policies. I wish he would tone down the rhetoric a little bit. That was from a Republican voter.
TAPPER: Yes.
WILLIAMS: And I think that's what you'll kind of see more and more from the Republicans.
ROCHA: Let me make -- let me tie this to the elections in the midterms. Right now --
TAPPER: Yes.
ROCHA: I've made over 100 T.V. ads for Democrats. And so I've watched a lot of Republican attack ads on us. Almost in every congressional race in America, you have the Republicans running some kind of a trans ad and you have Democrats running some kind of cost and corruption ad. And these are two strategies. Either one of them could work.
But I'm telling you, this is where the election is right now, on everybody's airways. It's these two messages colliding.
WILLIAMS: And you saw that message. That was Trump's closing message in the -- in the last election. I think it was hugely, hugely effective. We'll see how it does.
ROCHA: I think it works in a presidential year, maybe when everybody's belly is full and gas is $3 a gallon. I don't think it works now.
TAPPER: So speaking of Texas roots, tonight's town hall features a Texas Democratic nominee for the Senate, James Talarico, what do you think Talarico needs to do tonight? And where do you think the race is? And then to you with the same thing.
ROCHA: I've worked for James Talarico now for over a year. And what you see is what you get with James Talarico. And I think what he needs to do tonight is what he's done this entire campaign. And I give him credit, he's very disciplined. He has stayed on this cost and corruption message.
He looks like a boy scout, but he's making ads where he's hitting Paxton on every bit of corruption that he's ever done. So I think he needs to talk to the Texas voters tonight who may be still undecided, those who are thinking about staying home and those Republicans that voted for John Cornyn. That's what he has to do tonight.
WILLIAMS: I think at the end of the day, Republicans come home for Paxton. I'm not sure there is much that Talarico can go on and say tonight that is going to sway that. I think he's been defined by the massive amount of money that has gone in and the ads that have been run against him. The voters didn't know really who he was until $200 million got dumped into Texas.
TAPPER: All right.
ROCHA: I think that mattered six months ago, but not now.
TAPPER: All right, thanks to both of you. In just a few hours, look for a CNN and Jubilee town hall with James Talarico. He's going to take questions from voters. CNN's Erin Burnett is going to moderate. That starts at 8 Eastern tonight here on CNN and streaming on the CNN All Access app.
Still ahead here on The Lead, a Republican congressman's tense exchange with the news media.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ANDY HARRIS (R-MD): You cannot --
CAT MURPHY, CAPITAL NEWS SERVICE REPORTER: You have most --
HARRIS: You cannot -- you cannot -- you cannot film me. You cannot film me.
MURPHY: Yes, I can.
HARRIS: No, you can't.
MURPHY: Yes, I can.
HARRIS: This is a two party state. I am not giving you authority to film me. This is private.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Wrong there. I'm going to talk to the journalist at the center of that exchange.
[17:14:02]
And we're going inside these new inflation numbers. See the exact factors driving up your everyday spending. Stay with us.
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TAPPER: In our Money Lead, new and higher inflation numbers as President Trump hits the campaign trail. Inflation rising in September to 3.7 percent, higher than the 3.6 percent that many economists had expected. Driving the numbers is the energy shock from the Iran war. Gas Prices nationwide jumped 9.1 percent from August, 9.1, accounting for more than half of the overall rise in inflation. Let's bring in CNN's Dave Goldman.
Dave, break down the numbers for us.
DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, a lot of people think because of what you just said, the economy is doing badly. It is not. President Trump is right. The unemployment rate is at 4.2 percent. That's full employment.
Retail sales are growing very, very fast. And so is the overall economy. And so why do people hate this? Seventy-three percent according to that latest CNN poll do not like the economy. You got to go way back to the beginning of the inflation crisis.
Remember, under President Biden, we had a 21.5 percent increase in consumer prices, gas prices up 31 percent. And your paycheck lost out to that. Your paycheck fell by 4 percent. So President Trump gets elected. And what did he say he would do?
Well, he would lower costs, he would lower spending, and he would raise jobs. So, Jake, that is the promise of the Trump administration, at least.
TAPPER: Well, Dave, we're nearly two years into Trump's second term and he did promise to bring prices down starting on day one. That was one of the main reasons he was elected. What's the reality?
GOLDMAN: Yes, so not close. So fuel and rates. That is both driving up the cost. And that has to do with Iran. Rates, imports, that's tariffs.
Yes, we have a lot of price increases because of Trump's policy here. Chips and labor, that's AI, we're not regulating any of that. Trump's policies are raising prices. So we're seeing this. We had that 3.7 percent inflation number over the past year, but your paycheck is gaining only 3 percent over the course of the past year.
[17:20:15]
So inflation is eating your paycheck. Even this nice Social Security bump that we heard we were going to get next year, we heard that today, does not meet inflation. So they're losing out, too. So did Trump deliver on costs? Well, no, certainly not on spending.
Remember DOGE? Whatever happened with that? Nope. And jobs? Well, you know, jury's still kind of out.
We are gaining jobs, but not as many as we had before is certainly a mixed bag, Jake.
TAPPER: All right, Dave Goldman, thanks so much.
My next guest is a Democrat trying to flip the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. But a big endorsement in her race just went to her challenger, who is an Independent. What might that move signal to voters? I'll ask next.
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[17:25:20]
TAPPER: Back with our Politics Lead. So cue that CNN election jam, please.
While it may not be a battleground, Montana is also home right now to a tight House race and a three way Senate contest where Republican candidate Kurt Alme is leading both an Independent and a Democratic candidate in recent polls. Alani Bankhead joins me now. She is the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Montana and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel. We had the Independent candidate on yesterday.
Alani, thanks so much for joining us. So here's the obvious question. I'm sorry, it's a racehorse -- it's a horse race question. But this week, the Montana Democratic Party chair resigned from her position to endorse the Independent candidate, Seth Bodnar. She claimed in an op- ed that she doesn't think you have a path to victory.
Bodnar is leading you by 14 points in a poll from last month, although he's still trailing behind Kurt Alme, the Republican. But if you add up your percentage and Bodnar's percentage, it does look like he could possibly win. And in this same poll, more Independents or Republicans say they would vote for Bodnar than you. So I do wonder, is there any part of you that thinks maybe to defeat the Republican I should drop out and support the Independent?
ALANI BANKHEAD, (D) MONTANA SENATE CANDIDATE: So actually, I don't think that, but thanks for having me. The majority of the polls since the primary have largely been paid for by dark money groups that actually support the Independent. And even then, you know, his polls show that we're essentially neck and neck. And the reality is that the chair of the Democratic Party, she'd been conspiring with Missoula consultant class to push the Democratic nominee aside in favor of the Independent long before I ever joined this race. And so we knew that this was coming.
Our executive director and the majority of the executive board have been absolutely incredible in supporting us. So, yes, that's what I think of that. TAPPER: So why -- I mean, you need Independents and Republicans to vote for you in the state of Montana in order to win. Why would a Republican or an Independent in Montana vote for you given your generally progressive views on issues?
BANKHEAD: So actually I'm military law enforcement, a Christian, and I hunt pedophiles for a living. So I'm a child sex crime specialist. I've actually put handcuffs on the Epstein class in the past on six continents. And so I'm very familiar with the D.C. machine. I'm the only candidate that has 20 plus years of experience working with folks in the beltway.
And I get results and I have a track record of that. And so that's very appealing to Independents and conservatives to have somebody who actually has more middle of the road, progressive type views. And the reality is that Montana, outside of the state, people think it's very red, but it's actually very common sense, very purple. Historically, we've been a very purple state and I think you're going to see a return to that this November 3rd.
TAPPER: So -- OK, so I understand your biography is that of somebody that it's appealing, law enforcement and the -- and the rest. What do you make of the Epstein files? What do you make of what a lot of people think is a conspiracy to protect pedophiles and predatory men?
BANKHEAD: Well, the reality is, Jake, that I've seen it for my entire career, this is the status quo. And this election is not about Republican versus Democrats. It is about the Epstein class versus everybody else. So that 1 percent billionaire class that want to hang on to power and money. And Montanans of all political stripes actually see that.
And so I'm used to standing up against those who want to hurt kids. And the reality is that in all my years of hunting pedophiles and traffickers, the biggest impediment we had was the government, unfortunately. So I'm very used to going up against assistant U.S. attorneys and other federal law enforcement officers and corrupt government officials that want to protect that class. And I've been very successful and I look forward to doing it again in D.C.
TAPPER: You and the Independent candidate, Seth Bodnar, have similar platform positions on a number of issues. You both want to bring down health care costs. You both want to end the war in Iran. You both want to protect Montana public lands, you both want to pass the farm bill. The list goes on.
I asked him yesterday how his views are not just that of a Democrat. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SETH BODNAR, (I) MONTANA SENATE CANDIDATE: Democratic Party's left a lot of people like me. I think the Republicans party has left a lot of people like me.
I think what Montanans are fed up with is parties at the extremes, voices at the extremes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Do you agree with that?
BANKHEAD: Well, he's completely supported by the Democratic machine, so I think it's kind of hilarious. But I do think that people across the board, regardless of political flavor, are really frustrated with the two-party system. And we're seeing and feeling that on the ground as well.
[17:30:10]
TAPPER: Alani Bankhead, thank you so much for joining us today. We really appreciate it. We have extended an invitation to Republican Senate candidate Kurt Alme, who's welcome to join us anytime. Come on in, the water's fine.
Up next, a must-see moment, a Republican congressman threatening to have a journalist arrested. She wasn't. She's going to us here in the studio, next.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ANDY HARRIS (R-MD): The facts are that diesel prices have gone up. There's no question about it. Why has it gone up? Because the Democrats' environmental regulations have not -- ma'am, I got to tell you -- that -- this is the problem. You all say you believe there's a First Amendment, but only if you agree with you. You should let me finish the sentence, ma'am. You are rude. You're rude. OK? I'm sorry. I got to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[17:35:29]
TAPPER: That was Republican Congressman Andy Harris of Maryland facing a jubilant crowd, skeptical crowd at a candidate's forum last night. You heard the audience erupt in laughter when Harris blamed skyrocketing diesel prices, which are the fault of the war in Iran and, frankly, the war in Russia and Ukraine, blaming them on Democrats.
Now, moments after that candidate's forum, Harris had another tense exchange, this time with a student journalist in the hallway.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So are you concerned about the current --
HARRIS: No, I'm not. I -- now, listen to me. I'm going to say this. I'm going to say it slowly because people from Baltimore, Alabama need me to say things slowly because they don't understand. I have participated in every League of Women Voters forum in the primary in general since 2008. Next question.
I'm done with the banner. Yes, ma'am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think you should respect their questions.
HARRIS: Same thing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think you should respect their questions just as much as mine.
HARRIS: We're not answering your question either. Go on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sorry. No, I will continue then.
HARRIS: I'm not going to answer it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right.
HARRIS: You can continue the question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, I'm going to continue. So all of your --
HARRIS: You cannot film me. You cannot film me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I can.
HARRIS: No, you can't.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I can.
HARRIS: This is a two-party state. I am not giving you authority to film me. This is private.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have invited the press into a gathering.
HARRIS: No, I'm disinviting you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you're not. I --
HARRIS: You're gone. You do not have my permission to record. If you record, we will refer you to the prosecutor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyone in here is recording.
HARRIS: But you are not allowed to. We are in a two-party state. You are not allowed to record.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why am I not allowed to?
HARRIS: What? Excuse me?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why am I not allowed to?
HARRIS: Because I refuse to give you permission to do recording.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If everyone else in this room --
HARRIS: It doesn't make it --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you please hold my phone?
HARRIS: Do you know the law?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's your question?
HARRIS: With due respect, this is a public forum.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a public forum.
HARRIS: This is -- do you know the law? Are you a lawyer? Are you -- you're a doctor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, actually, I'm a legislator. Yes, I actually know the law well.
HARRIS: You know the law well because we have to prosecute.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You said that you wanted the war in Iran. You said that it could have gone smoother and it could have gone better. What did you mean by that?
HARRIS: You're going to have to take her camera. You're going to have to take her camera. She is violating the law. In fact, get an officer in here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: For the record, the congressman could not be more wrong about the law. Two-party consent is relevant only to private oral conversations, and the congressman has zero expectation of any privacy at a press conference or press briefing right after a candidate forum.
In fact, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives you the right to record public officials in public places as long as you're not interfering with their official duties. So let's bring in the journalist at the center of that exchange, Cat Murphy. She's 22. She's a graduate journalism student at the University of Maryland and a reporter for its Capitol News Service. We should also note that he was also hostile to the Baltimore banner at the beginning of that exchange.
So first of all, a lot of journalists might make it all the way to retirement and not have a confrontation like that with a member of Congress, not to mention one that goes viral. It's been about a day now. How are you taking it all in?
CAT MURPHY, GRADUATE STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: It's been a lot. I won't lie. It has been a lot. But I was focused on doing my job and asking my questions that I wanted answers to, and I think I did that.
TAPPER: You did. We heard you at the end try to get in your question on the issues and his stance on Iran. What did you want to know? MURPHY: Absolutely. So he, during the candidates forum, he had said that his response to his stance on the war in Iran, on Trump's handling of the war in Iran, was that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
TAPPER: Sure. That's what all the Republicans say whenever you ask about the war.
MURPHY: Right. And so he led with that, but then at the end, he kind of threw in a line about, do I think it could have gone smoother? Do I think it could have gone faster? Yes. And I wanted to know what he meant by that. I wanted to know what he disputed about what happens that he believed could have gone better or faster.
TAPPER: So he threatened to have your phone taken away. He threatened that you would be prosecuted. He threatened to have an officer come over. Have you heard from his office at all? I mean, everything he was saying was completely contrary to the First Amendment and to the law in Maryland. Have you heard anything from his office? Did they ever apologize or anything?
MURPHY: No, I have not heard from his office.
TAPPER: Your dean commended your actions. He said he was proud of how you handled yourself in a difficult situation. What do you take away from this moment? Does this make you want to go into journalism more or less?
[17:40:09]
MURPHY: I'm going to be honest. He had some events today where he was announcing funding. And when I went to bed last night, I still wanted to go today.
TAPPER: Yes.
MURPHY: You know, my plans changed a little bit as the day has gone on.
TAPPER: To do interviews.
MURPHY: Right.
TAPPER: Not because you didn't want to.
MURPHY: Right. But I have no intention of stopping covering him or of not going into journalism.
TAPPER: Well, I think you look great. And how he looked? Well, the viewers, they can judge for themselves. But Cat Murphy, it's a pleasure to meet you.
MURPHY: Thank you.
TAPPER: Hopefully, we can get you to come work at CNN after you graduate in December. MURPHY: It's been great to be here.
TAPPER: As Elon Musk contributes millions in this midterm cycle, some top election officials warn some groups taking his money are pushing confusing voter information. What these experts want you to know before these mailers pop up in your mailbox. That's next.
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[17:45:26]
TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, the world's richest person is also the biggest single known donor to the Republican Party ahead of the midterms. Elon Musk's staggering $276 million boost has given Republicans an edge in fundraising. The owner of Tesla and SpaceX businesses, he's buoyed by federal contracts and he's helped by a good relationship with President Trump.
Just last week, federal ethics filings revealed that Trump bought $5 million worth of bonds issued by SpaceX over the summer. Two days after the President bought those bonds, Trump announced a new effort to slash red tape for the commercial space transportation. It also appears that Musk's political action committee, America PAC, is stirring up some confusion.
Colorado voters tell CNN they were getting texts earlier this month saying, "Your ballot request is in. Confirm now where and when to return it." The trouble is every registered voter in Colorado automatically gets a mail ballot, leading to a flurry of calls to county offices. People confused.
Joining us now is Carly Koppes, a Republican election chief in Weld County, Colorado, which is north of Denver. Carly, thanks for joining us. So you say you've heard from voters who received similar texts and thought something fishy was going on. Is there any way for county officials to stop this political action committee from sending these confusing texts?
CARLY KOPPES (R), CLERK AND RECORDER, WELD COUNTY, COLORADO: No, we see this every election cycle. We don't have any ability to stop third parties from engaging and get out the vote efforts. And so the best that we can do is be ready to answer the voters questions and concerns and let them know here is the correct information. Here is what we're doing. And thank you for calling your actual trusted source, which is us at the county elected office.
TAPPER: So it's not obviously just happening in your county. It's happening all over the country. In Washington State, the secretary of state there, Steve Hobbs, is warning voters not to even use the website that Musk is funding, which claims to help with registration and sends out election reminders.
In response, Musk's PAC, the America PAC, posted on X asking, "Why is he attempting to suppress voter registration?" So what do you say when people ask you if they should go to a third party to get out information on ballots or voting or whatever? KOPPES: I've been consistent over my 20 plus years in administering elections here in Colorado that you always should come to our trusted websites. It's important that you come to us because we have the correct information. We know how elections are run. And when you have big national PACs spreading information out there, every single state is different. And so just as the example that we saw here in Colorado and Weld County, that wording doesn't actually fit our election model. And so, again, trying to make sure that you're coming to the correct source is very important.
So I do support Secretary Hobbs in saying, how about you come and visit our website first, go through our verified sources. It's going to be way better information and more consistent for what you, the voter in every state and every county is going to experience.
TAPPER: The Colorado County Clerks Association has a new online guide explaining how the state's election system works. The head of the association, Matt Crane, told Colorado Public Radio he's also encouraging people who have any questions or any doubts about how elections work to schedule a tour with their county's election clerk. Have any voters reached out to you? Do you think that that effort could work and help educate people who have questions about elections? Maybe they've been fed misinformation.
KOPPES: We've actually seen huge amounts of success with our tours when voters are coming in and signing up and scheduling a tour, kind of life of the ballot to explain them. This is what happens when we get your ballot back. It's been very successful. I would love for more and more voters to take advantage of it. We have nothing to hide. We're very transparent. And we would love to educate every single voter on what actually happens in elections.
I think that's kind of been the mystery is not a lot of people understand how elections operate. They don't understand the checks and balances. They don't understand the quality control process. And so when we're able to have them come into the tour, we can literally show them every step of the process and they can feel confident in their elections that we are doing everything above board. We are transparent. We are secure. And we're going to make sure that your voice is heard accurately and correctly with how your ballot is being handled from the very beginning to the very end.
TAPPER: There's a recent CBS report that reveals some Colorado voters are going to see a ballot question that might not be supposed to be on their ballot. It's ballot issue 7A. It increases taxes to fund passenger rail service. Ballots have already been printed and sent out. How's your office going to deal with that?
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KOPPES: So just like how we deal when a candidate on the ballot withdraws after the ballots have been already sent out, it's the same mechanism and process that we're going to do. We are able to go ahead and count the ballot exactly how it is. And we're able to within our system not report out the ballots that aren't eligible to be voted on for that. It's a very simplistic process. It's not world ending. It's something we're very used to doing. Special districts give us the incorrect boundaries more often than not. And so it's something that we continue to handle and manage. And isn't anything as world ending or extravagant as some are trying to make it out to be. It really, truly is very simple. Just like when a candidate withdraws, it's the same process.
TAPPER: All right. Weld County clerk and recorder Carly Koppes, thank you so much. And thanks for what you do.
Sticking with the midterms in election security, executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, David Becker, joins us now. David, we have a lot to talk about. But let's start with California. In a letter obtained by CNN, the Justice Department is threatening legal action against election officials in California if they do not review a list of alleged non-citizens on the voter rolls in Los Angeles within 48 hours. You point out that these voter lists are already public. So what do you make of the timing of this letter?
DAVID BECKER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER, CENTER FOR ELECTIONS INNOVATION & RESEARCH: Yes, the timing is very troubling. The letter was sent yesterday. And people should understand that under California state law, which the administration knows well, California County sent out their ballots to all eligible voters in California eight days ago, eight days before that, on October 5th. So this election did not sneak up on the administration. I think the question is, what have they been doing for the last 21 months when these voter lists are public? They've been using the vast resources of the federal government to make pretty broad claims about non-citizen voting that even their own data doesn't support.
And so this is obviously pretty troubling. And it's more troubling when you realize that this administration has a pretty bad track record on accurately identifying whether an individual might be a citizen or a non-citizen. For instance, in Nevada, they initially claimed around 16,000 non-citizens were on the voter list, reduced that to only 185 a couple of weeks later. And when Nevada election officials reviewed that list of 185 individuals, they found that every single one of them was a documented citizen.
TAPPER: Reuters has a list of nine ways that the Trump administration, President Trump specifically, could interfere with the midterm elections. Here they are. And I'm going to ask you, which ones worry you the most? So get ready. One, Trump could allege election fraud or compromised voting machines without that being true. Two, he could pressure election officials to change results, which he's done in the past. Three, he could order the seizure of ballots or voting equipment. Four, his election monitors could interfere with voting. Five, he could send ICE agents to polling places. Six, or he could send the military by way of the Insurrection Act. Seven, he could declare a national emergency over alleged voter fraud. Eight, he could charge election officials with some sort of crime, as with the threat to California. Nine, he could pressure Congress to refuse to see election winners.
Let me also just take a moment to say how incredibly insane it is that I am standing here, or sitting here rather, talking about the ways in which President Trump might try to interfere with the midterm elections. And frankly, it's because of what happened on January 6th, 2021. We know what he's capable of doing. Anyway, which of these do you think are most likely and which makes you the most nervous?
BECKER: Yes, I mean, it is, it's incredible that we are considering these possibilities. But I think you hit the nail on the head, Jake, with what you -- how you characterize this as a little bit different than the way the Reuters headline did, which was try to interfere. I think it's possible the President might try to interfere. We should remember this President has failed in every attempt to interfere with the elections, every single one. Two executive orders, both blocked by the courts, including the Supreme Court.
The DOJ bringing lawsuits trying to seize sensitive voter data, they are zero and 26 in those cases. They've tried to investigate past elections, and they found nothing. They tried to pass the SAVE America Act, and it's just not passing. So they've failed every single time. And so I'm generally not concerned about any of these actually succeeding. I think they're all extremely likely to fail and very unlikely to even be attempted. But there is the possibility that the President might consider doing something as illegal as sending troops or ICE to the polls. That is clearly illegal under 18 U.S.C. 592 of the federal code.
It would be blocked immediately by the courts. It would likely result in a political backlash. We should also remember that voters are a moving target, thanks to early and mail voting. Over half of all voters are going to vote before Election Day. Over 5 million voters have voted as you and I are now speaking right now, according to the University of Florida Election Lab. And so we're seeing this likely all these likely interference models really kind of falling apart. I mean, I think if the President were to try to postpone or cancel the election or declare an emergency, that's just not going to work.
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The federal government doesn't run elections. The states are running elections. If they tried to seize voting machines, the states are going to say, good luck with that because the states are just running these elections. I think it's very unlikely any of these things are going to happen and voters are going to find a really safe, secure and convenient voting experience when they go to the polls this fall.
TAPPER: From your lips to God's ears, David Becker, thanks so much. Appreciate your time.
Still ahead on the lead, Gina Hinojosa, the Texas Democrat challenging incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott for his seat. We're going to talk to her next.
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TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, President Trump holding two midterm campaign rallies today, first in Arizona and then in Montana. But this comes as new economic data shows what so many Americans are feeling --
