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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Soon, Trump Rallies in South Carolina to Boost Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC); Two Bush Family Members Support Democrat in Texas Senate Race; Meta Ordered to Pay $25 Billion in New Mexico Data Privacy Case. Trump: Sen. Husted's A** Is Like A "Pile Of Muscle"; Tonight: Dream, Valkyries Face Off In Atlanta With Series Tied 1-1. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 21, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

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

This hour, President Trump is on his way to South Carolina, another ruby red state where polls show his handpicked Senate candidate might be in some jeopardy. Can the president pull Senator Darline Graham across the finish line for a full term in her late brother's seat?

Plus, the bipartisan backlash building after the Republican candidate for governor of Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy, dumped millions of campaign dollars into an ugly attack ad against Democrat Amy Acton. Will this backfire against not only Ramaswamy, but other Republicans in this crucial battleground state?

Also today, New Mexico sued two of Jeffrey Epstein's closest advisers, accusing them of having facilitated and concealed Epstein's crimes. The allegations are tied to the Zorro Ranch property owned by Epstein in New Mexico. The state's attorney general will join us live to discuss.

And game three of the WNBA finals set for tonight, the series already breaking records. We're going to go courtside to learn more, coming up.

Well, tonight you're looking at live pictures of the stage, or you're about to look at live, there you go, at the stage of a Republican midterm rally near Clemson, South Carolina, where President Trump is expected to appear at the top of the next hour. It is yet another stop in a typically deep red campaign state on his campaign blitz with just 13 days to go until midterm Election Day.

Trump is urging his supporters to cast their ballots for Senator Darline Graham, who is running for a full term to fill the seat left vacant by the unexpected death of her brother, longtime Senator Lindsey Graham. Graham is facing a tough challenge, however, from Democratic Candidate Dr. Annie Andrews. Worried Republicans are bolstering Darline Graham's campaign with millions of dollars after shaky debates and lackluster Senate hearings left the GOP fearful the Democrats could see an opening to seize a Senate seat in South Carolina for the first time since Fritz Hollings in 1998.

Trump's approval rating has hit a nationwide low of 32 percent in a new CNN poll today. Trump says he's working like a dog to keep the Republican majority, but also that a good president tends not to win.

CNN's Alayna Treene is in Pendleton, South Carolina for us right now. Alina, what more can you tell us about the president's strategy in these final days and weeks?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, Jake, we heard that the president had just landed in South Carolina. As you mentioned, he will be speaking here in roughly an hour.

But, look, the strategy remains the same despite those poll numbers you just previewed, 32 percent approval rating. That is terrible for a president. It's actually the worst approval ratings the president has seen across his two terms in office, and yet his strategy remains the same as it has been when, you know, I talked to, a couple of months ago, members of the president's political operation. They told me the strategy would be to have him tell his supporters to pretend he's on the ballot, to make these midterm elections all about him, and you are seeing him do that.

Now, I will note, the majority of where the president has traveled in recent weeks really has been to some of these redder areas and states, including tonight. He's going to be in South Carolina, which, as you mentioned, is a red state. It's not even a battleground, but the race that he's really going to be trying to boost here is that Senate race between Darline Graham and Annie Andrews.

And so what I think the president is going to try to do tonight is to convince his voters and his supporters to actually show up on November 3rd and to come out and vote.

One thing I do want to note as well is what we've seen from the Cook Political Report. Jake, they said today -- or on Tuesday, I should say, they said that the U.S. Senate race here in South Carolina was shifting from likely Republican to lean Republican. It previously, a month ago, was solid Republican.

Just to give you a sense of where things stand here in South Carolina, you currently actually hear Tim Scott behind me. Just some other people you're going to hear from tonight. You will hear from Darline Graham herself. You'll also hear from the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, a native South Carolinian, and then, of course, the president.

But one thing as well that's been interesting, I'm not sure you'll hear about this tonight, but there is actually an issue where Graham and President Trump have divided on in recent days. Of course, Darline Graham is running to fill the seat of her late brother, Lindsey Graham, and he was the one who had really pushed forward sanctions, fresh sanctions against Russia in its war with -- over its war with Ukraine. Darline Graham said over the weekend that she actually, if it was up to her, she wouldn't have seen the president wave, which he's done recently, those sanctions on Russia.

We'll see if the president brings it up tonight, especially given, of course, we have now seen Stephen Hubbard be returned, who was wrongly -- someone who was wrongly, fully detained in Russia, be returned to the United States. But a lot to pay attention to in a race that, Jake, really shouldn't even be on the map.

TAPPER: Alayna Treene in South Carolina, thanks so much.

And here with me now is Democratic Congressman James Clyburn from South Carolina.

Congressman, South Carolina voted for President Trump by 18 percentage points just two years ago. Do the Democrats have a real shot at the Senate seat for the president to be spending his time there campaigning for Senator Darline Graham in these waning days?

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): Well, I really think so. I think a lot has changed in the last two years. People have found that the cost of living is far outpacing their ability to earn a living. They're finding that healthcare is being made less available, housing more unaffordable, and they know where to lay the blame, and they are blaming this administration rightfully so.

And so I think that the people in South Carolina are beginning to see exactly what this administration is all about. And everywhere I go, I can feel change in the air.

TAPPER: So, your seat, your Congressional seat, is the only one in South Carolina that the Cook Political Report considers safely Democratic. All the rest are safely Republican, except for the open seat in the first Congressional district, which is considered lean Republican.

Do you think that it's possible that the Democrats can compete in that one seat, in the first Congressional district? Can you win that?

CLYBURN: We are competing and we are winning. Now, what the end result will be after these visits and the money that they're pouring into here, I don't know. But if the elections were held today, we would win the First Congressional District, and I think we would win the senatorial as well.

But I know how these things happen, and in the last ten days of a campaign, a lot can change. But if it were held today, we would win both seats.

TAPPER: I wanted to ask you about a report that you're mentioned in ProPublica about this now-defunct FBI investigation into an alleged bribery scheme that Senator Susan Collins has been mentioned in connection with in some ways. It's a naval firm called Navadic (ph) or Navatek led by a man named Martin Kao. It's alleged to have made campaign donations towards, among other people, you and the late Senator Lindsey Graham. And the allegation, what the FBI was looking into, was whether or not there was some sort of quid pro quo. There was going to be help steering federal money towards his company.

The ProPublica writes, quote, The FBI tallied $20,000 in contributions that Kao and his family members made to Clyburn a few days after their scheduled meeting. A month later, Hartman arranged for a $10,000 gift to Clyburn's alma mater, South Carolina State University, according to an email seen by ProPublica, unquote.

As you know, Martin Kao was sentenced to 87 months in prison, the only person to serve any time in this case, after President Trump gutted the public corruption team at the FBI. What was your response when you saw this story? What's your response to these allegations?

CLYBURN: I was shocked because I'd never heard of any of this. Now, I've had my staff looking into this, and they tell me that whatever this is, it had some connection with the University of South Carolina, and I was interacting with leadership at the university doing whatever they were negotiating to have done, same thing with South Carolina State.

I am a big proponent of the colleges and universities in my Congressional district, and when they come to me with proposals that they would like my help on, I give it. I never heard of this person that they're talking about. And I understand someone says he was in my office, but a lot of people are in my office that I don't know.

But as it relates to any kind of quid pro quo, I know absolutely nothing to do about any of that. And I just am as surprised as most people are.

TAPPER: South Carolina Democratic Congressman James Clyburn, thank you, sir. Have fun out there on the campaign trail.

CLYBURN: Well, thank you very much for having me.

TAPPER: For decades, the Bushes were Republican royalty, especially in Texas. But now, not one, but two members of that dynasty are backing the Democrat in the Senate race in Texas, James Talarico. That story next.

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TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, two members of the Bush family are crossing party lines to support James Talarico, the Democrat in the competitive Texas Senate race. Neil Bush, the brother of former President George W. Bush and son of former President George H.W. Bush, just revealed in a Facebook post that he voted for Talarico, saying, quote, my vote was motivated by two things, deep concern about Ken Paxton's record and genuine admiration for the character and principles I see in James Talarico, unquote.

Barbara Bush, the daughter of President George W. Bush, also donated $2,500 to a pro-Talarico super PAC.

Here now is retiring Republican Congressman Chip Roy from Texas. Congressman, the Bush name, as I don't need to tell you, it still carries a lot of weight and respect in Texas, especially perhaps among Cornyn Republicans.

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Polls show this is a close race. What's your reaction?

REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): Well, I wish polls made the case for elections because if so, I would be the attorney general nominee for Texas. I was up in the polls heading into the primary and I lost. So, my point of sharing that is just that, look, I don't put a lot of stock in polls. What I do is I just try to look at where people are, and I've been out on the campaign trail trying to help out across Texas. I was in Tyler last week with J.D. Vance.

And, look, I've been very public. I've crossed swords with Attorney General Paxton and I've had my differences. But what we've got right now is James Talarico, who has talked about putting the welcome mat out for anybody who wants to come to the United States and, you know, in the face of wide open borders that have been devastating to our country and our state of Texas with fentanyl and all the, you know, danger that Americans have been put in with open borders. And he's been out there talking about, you know, God being, you know, non- binary and six genders, all these things that are completely out of step with the average Texan.

So, you know, when I'm talking to people on the ground in Texas you know, they're fired up to get out there and make sure that we keep Texas red.

I do wish I would hear from Republicans, when I was at that rally last week, a lot more energy defending the hard work that we've carried out over the last two years on tax policy, on spending, on dealing with entitlement spending and mandatory spending, a lot of the things that I'm proud of, securing the border, stopping the flow, trying to push back on the cartels. Those things are things that I think we should be running on proudly and loudly with a vision about dealing with the things the American people are feeling at home, right? High diesel prices, gas prices, housing prices, and recognizing we've got to address those and get out there on offense.

So, when the American people hear that stuff, then they get fired up and you know, the people of Texas are showing up to the polls. But, look, there's no question it's a close election.

TAPPER: So, I mean, I think one of the things you're saying there, obviously when it comes to the, the border and the president's policies keeping illegal crossings at a minimum, people are, especially in Texas, I'm sure, happy about that.

But what's really going on right now and why your party's facing these headwinds is because they disapprove of President Trump's war on Iran. Not that they want Iran to have nukes, but they just don't see an exit, and obviously fuel prices are up diesel prices are up. They don't approve of the tariffs to a large degree, and a majority of the American people think that President Trump has the wrong priorities which is steered largely by President Trump's own comments and behavior where he's talking about this golf course and this ballroom and seems to be focused on other things.

What do you tell Republican voters when they say I'm hurting here, like I hear you, you on the accomplishments you're talking about, but there's this other stuff that's making my life more difficult?

ROY: Yes, I always say, you know, meet the voters where they are and talk to them about what we've accomplished. Most of the Texans I talk to are pretty excited about that, a lot of Americans. You know, I've been all over the country, Pennsylvania with my friend, Scott Perry, in Harrisburg, you know, doing what I can to help.

But I talk about the things that matter to people, right? And I acknowledge the gas prices and the diesel prices, but I also acknowledge, look, we want to cut the head of the snake off in Iran. We want to knock the knees out from under all of the stuff we've been dealing with for decades, with terrorist funding and terrorist proxies that have been endangering us and endangering Israel. And talk about it honestly. We don't want an endless war.

I mean, the president's not putting a bunch of troops on the ground over there. Yes, we've got our men and women in harm's way, and yes, we've been dealing with this now for seven or eight months. I've raised these issues. I've raised issues about war powers, a lot of questions. Ukraine and Russia's a whole another issue. These are things the American people are concerned about, but meet them where they are and say, look, you want to get gas prices down?

Let's make sure we've got refining capacity in the United States. Let's get our oil and gas going. And on that score, we're doing great. You want to get housing prices down, you need interest rates lower? Stop spending money you don't have.

I'm proud of the $1.7 trillion in spending reductions we got, by the way, with no Democrat support having to work through the reconciliation process. So, go talk to them and say, you know, we're not where we need to be yet. Let us finish the job.

TAPPER: All right.w Congressman Chip Roy Republican of Texas, good to have you, sir. Thank you.

ROY: Thanks, Jake. God bless.

TAPPER: Today, the New Mexico attorney general filed a civil lawsuit against two of Jeffrey Epstein's closest advisers. He's going to join us live next to explain why now and what he hopes will happen next.

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TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead today, two major actions coming out of the state of New Mexico. First, another significant court loss for Meta and the biggest fine ever against the tech giant. A judge ordered Meta to pay New Mexico $25 billion, billion with a B, dollars for deceiving users about its data privacy practices on Facebook.

Second, New Mexico's attorney general filed a civil lawsuit against Jeffrey Epstein's longtime attorney, Darren Indyke, and his longtime accountant, Richard Kahn. The state accuses Indyke of Kahn of having, quote, facilitated and concealed Epstein's crimes, and the state is trying to prevent both men from getting any money from Epstein's trust.

Joining us now is New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez. General Torrez, we'll get to the civil lawsuit in a moment, but first, on this $25 billion fine that Meta has been ordered to pay for deceiving users about data privacy. Meta is out with a statement. They say, quote, this ruling and the attorney general's approach to this enforcement makes it all but impossible to do business in the state of New Mexico.

At its core, this lawsuit seeks to impose a tax on speech to enforce new rules for what people can say online. We are confident we will prevail on appeal. What's your response?

RAUL TORRES (D), NEW MEXICO ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, the judge found them liable for misleading consumers, and it sounds like they haven't learned their lesson because they're trying to mislead people about what actually happened in this case.

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The $25 billion penalty has nothing to do with speech and everything to do with Mark Zuckerberg's misrepresentations to consumers and to users about how their data is protected and how it's shared in the modern digital economy.

TAPPER: Turning to the civil lawsuit that you're bringing against these two Epstein advisers, Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, their lawyer, in a statement, tells us that they, quote, emphatically reject the New Mexico attorney general's allegations, that they were complicit in or in any way knowingly facilitated Mr. Epstein's sexual abuse or trafficking, conduct that by all accounts occurred behind closed doors in secluded locations, and at times when neither Mr. Indyke nor Mr. Kahn was present, unquote.

What's your response to that?

TORREZ: Well, Mr. Indyke and Mr. Kahn, like Mr. Zuckerberg, is going to have every opportunity to come here to the state of New Mexico, appear before a jury, and explain to them exactly what they knew, when they knew it, and what involvement and what role they played in the enterprise that facilitated Jeffrey Epstein's crimes.

We know from our examination of the Epstein files and the work that we've done to secure testimony from some --

TAPPER: we have lost the New Mexico Attorney General on Cisco. We will try to bring him back. We'll take a quick break. But before -- actually, I'm not going to take a -- I'm not going to take a quick break. I want to bring in Epstein survivor and anti-trafficking advocate Liz Stein. She's in Michigan right now, along with the traveling Epstein reading room that displays the released Epstein files, though millions of pages remain unreleased.

Liz we're going to get to that in a moment. We're going to bring back General Torrez also when he comes back. But, first, let me just start by asking you, how are you doing?

LIZ STEIN, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: Today's been a really great day. I'm feeling extremely optimistic, and we're all doing very well. Thanks for asking.

TAPPER: Anouska De Giorgio was one of two survivors at today's news conference having to do with this new civil lawsuit out of New Mexico. Take a listen to what she had to say to fellow survivors.

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ANOUSKA DE GEORGIOU, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: I feel really reassured that survivors' best interests are being prioritized here, and that's not something that I've experienced in the six or so years that I've been involved publicly with this case and surrounding cases.

They're taking steps to protect anybody who chooses to come and be involved and offer information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What do you think?

STEIN: Well, I think that what we've seen today is a good start, and as survivors, we appreciate, you know, the action that the New Mexico attorney general's taken today. But it's going to take a lot more than just bringing Indyke and Kahn into New Mexico. It'll be interesting to see how they answer the questions that are, you know, asked of them.

TAPPER: On the traveling Epstein Reading Room where you are, which displays the released Epstein files, have any Michigan candidates in the midterm races for Senate, House, governor, visited your exhibit, come to see you, speak with you or any of the other survivors there?

STEIN: Yes. In fact, today, we had a press gaggle with El-Sayed, and it was really interesting to hear the opinions and the attitudes. And I asked him a very pointed question. You know, what we're asked a lot is, what does justice look like to you? And so I kind of flipped the tables and asked him, you know, what justice would look like from his perspective.

And he gave a really interesting answer that is kind of at the core of something that we talk about a lot, and he started talking about his daughters. Because there's been so much political emotion infused into what is just a sex trafficking case, and we're losing sight of the fact that we're looking at -- we're women who are someone's daughter, someone's sister, someone's mother, someone's aunt, someone's work colleague. And so I appreciated that he brought the human element into his answer.

TAPPER: When people visit the Epstein Files Reading Room, what do they tend to take away from it? What's their response when they go into the reading room and when they look at the files?

STEIN: I think that when we talk about the files and we know that they're online, it can feel like a really abstract concept. But when you walk into the reading room, the first thing that you're greeted with is a timeline, and there are three lines on the timeline. The top line is, yes, a line about Epstein. The middle line is a line that shows the interactions between Trump and Epstein, and the bottom line is Donald Trump.

And so I think that we've heard all of these stories for three decades now, but they're coming at us so quickly that we can't process them before we're hearing the next story.

[18:30:08]

And so the timeline really spells out in a very simple and concrete manner what the timeline was. And I think people are really affected to see it all put together.

And then they walk through the almost 3,500 volumes of books. And I think that, you know, it's very different experience to walk through the magnitude of what the files are versus just going to a website online can't really impose the impact of the volume of evidence that we have in this case.

And when you tell people that what they're looking at is just part of the evidence, that we're still waiting for more than three million files to be released, they're really taken aback as to why nothing's been done.

TAPPER: Liz Stein, thank you so much as always for your time and for your courage.

STEIN: Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: Let's bring back New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez. All right, so where was I? By the end of the year, the Epstein estate will have paid north of $200 million to victims and survivors who signed away releases to not seek any future lawsuits. How many more victims has your office identified women that have not signed, or men, that have not signed these releases?

TORREZ: So, I can't get into the specifics of the, the number of victims that we have been in touch with, but the bottom line is that people like Indyke and Kahn should not benefit in any way from participating in Jeffrey Epstein's enterprise that facilitated human trafficking.

TAPPER: The lawsuit also asks -- your lawsuit also asks the court to restrict Indyke and Kahn's ability to authorize and receive estate payments. Now, a devil's advocate might say, look, they're co- executors of the estate and their responsibility is to handle the estate. So, I guess my question is, does your office plan to file a motion in the estate's probate case to challenge their authority?

TORREZ: We anticipate filing an order with the court seeking a halt to any distributions of any kind until there's a resolution onto the underlying merits of the claims that we've advanced in the lawsuit filed today. But people need to understand that they're not just co- executors of the estate, they're beneficiaries of the estate.

And when you look at their conduct and what they knew or should have known about Jeffrey Epstein's behavior all, over all of those years, and the structured payments, the creation of corporate entities, we believe that there's a clear case to be made to a New Mexico jury that they knew about and had an affirmative obligation to prevent and not involve themselves in the facilitation of human trafficking here in our state.

TAPPER: New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, thanks so much for joining us. I appreciate it.

The Ohio ad scandal, the ad aired by Vivek Ramaswamy, that one Republican just told me could, quote, cost J.D. Vance the presidency, because he supported the ad.

Stay with us.

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TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, cue the CNN election jam, please, the election music? You're not playing it? You're denying it to me?

Well, in any case, we're just 13 days from the midterms, and early voting is underway across most of the country, and more than 15 million Americans have already cast their ballots.

Are all -- all eyes right now are on Ohio's race for governor. It's a contest that took quite an ugly turn yesterday. That's when Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and his campaign released an ad featuring Democrat Amy Acton's estranged mother. In the video, Acton's mom urges Ohioans not to vote for her daughter.

Now, here's the facts of the matter. Acton says her mother lost custody of her and her brother in 1978 after the mom chose to remain with their stepfather, who had been arrested and charged and indicted for raping Amy Acton when she was 12. These are actions that Acton's stepfather then fled Ohio accompanied by Acton's mom, and he remained a fugitive up until his death in 2004.

So, the politicizing of child rape and siding with the woman who stood with the rapist and not the victim has drawn strong bipartisan backlash and condemnation from, among others, Acton's brother and as you heard at the top of the hour, Congresswoman Nancy Mace, a Republican, and many others.

Let's discuss this with the panel. Shermichael, Vice President Vance was in Ohio. He didn't have to weigh in on the ad, but he did. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Whether the ad was appropriate or not is not really my concern. Politics is a tough business, and my message to my fellow elected Republicans is if you actually believe in the things you say you believe in, stop whining about an advertisement and go win the race in 13 days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: He also said that the ad presented the truth about everything. When -- Shermichael, when pressed on the fact that Acton said she'd been raped by her mom's husband, that the mom stood with, the president said, I just don't know that. And he said he claims he didn't know what she was talking about. There are court records that back up Acton's claims. The stepfather was charged and fled, and was on the lam until he died.

We've heard a lot of Republicans voicing concern that this ad might not just backfire against Vivek Ramaswamy, but against Republicans in Ohio, maybe even Republicans beyond Ohio. What do you think of it all?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't know if it'll impact Republicans beyond Ohio, but I am worried that it could have implications for Jon Husted, who's run a very competitive campaign up until this time.

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He's raised a lot of money. All indicators suggest that he's probably going to win this race, maybe by a point or two. But you do have to wonder for some of those independent right-leaning voters who look at someone like a Ramaswamy, and maybe they haven't decided which way they want to go in terms of Republican down the ballot or Democrat down the ballot, who may at the last minute say, you know what? Maybe I'll change my mind.

I mean, look I've had an issue with this guy since he first ran for president two years ago when he insulted half of the American people with his support of H-1B visa, saying that Americans are too fat, too dumb, too lazy to work highly technical jobs, therefore, we have to import people from other places. And so that to me was a line where I said, this guy has no place in the Republican Party when he insults half of the members of the Republican Party who are working class people.

And so, Jake, it does not surprise me that someone like Vivek Ramaswamy is standing be- behind this despicable ad. I'm just worried that it could have implications for the rest of the solid Republicans who are trying to win their races in Ohio.

TAPPER: So, Corbin, last hour I spoke with South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace about the ad. She's a Republican, obviously. She thinks that the ad won't only backfire on Ramaswamy and Ohio Republicans, but also on Vice President J.D. Vance because he stood behind it. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): This ad is going to go down as the most shameful, disgusting, offensive ad this election season.

Somehow Vivek Ramaswamy, somehow managed to limbo under the lowest bar of decency in this country to go after a woman who was allegedly raped by her stepfather, and not just like accused, this guy was arrested and charged with child rape. And the idea that the vice president would go to the mattresses to defend this ad might have cost J.D. Vance the presidency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Corbin, you think this actually could hurt Vance in 2028?

CORBIN TRENT, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR REP. OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yes, I think having this kind of -- the Republican Party has been twisting itself into some strange pretzels trying to protect rapists. You know, yet again, this is a guy, you know, Vivek Ramaswamy, who's using this ad to attack a rape victim. But then you got to remember also we've got a president that was convicted in a civil lawsuit of you know, of this, of similar crimes, right, you know, finger rape, digit rape they call it, I think. And then you've got the Epstein files, which you just covered before.

Like, you know, this party, for whatever reason, is replacing its people, you know, the representatives that are actually going after the Epstein files. It's replacing the members of itself that are standing up against child predators. You got, what, Paxton also made a sweetheart deal with a child molester. Like it's getting to become a theme of the Republican Party.

And, you know, I hope that they can pull themselves back from that abyss. I hope that they can return from the party that's willing to stand by anything and do what basically what J.D. Vance was saying, which is, you know, hold your nose and go vote for the Republican Party because, hey, it's better than Hakeem Jeffries. I mean, just -- people aren't buying it, first of all.

And, secondly, it's disgusting. I think Mace is right, you know, there's not -- it's not debatable. It's a disgusting attack when you're taking a woman that was abusing somebody, standing with an abuser, and then putting them on T.V. to attack their credibility, yes, it's disgusting, and I think Ohio voters are going to feel the same way I feel.

TAPPER: To be precise, because President Trump is rather litigious on this, I think it was sexual assault that he was ultimately, in that civil case involving E. Jean Carroll. But I take your point.

Shermichael, let's turn to the Michigan Senate race. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers are going to face off in their very final debate tonight. CNN's poll of polls showing an average of four respected polls. They -- it shows no leader, really. El-Sayed's at 49, Rogers at 47. The race is so tight, neither of them above 50 percent. How much could tonight's debate matter, do you think, Shermichael? SINGLETON: I mean, I think it's going to matter a lot, but I think what's really going to matter, Jake, is President Obama going to Michigan, trying to excite and turn out black voters in and around Detroit. If El-Sayed cannot win enough black voters, I just don't see mathematically a pathway to victory for him.

Mike Rogers is running a competitive campaign. He's been targeting Jewish voters. He's been targeting more traditional blue-collar workers, suburban, suburbanites, even targeting a cohort of African American religious voters, and a cohort of black men. And so if El- Sayed can't get, I would argue, probably 90 percent of black voters to turn out, his pool of voters to pull from to win, I think, just becomes slim.

And he's really hoping that Barack Obama still has the charisma, the magic to turn out African Americans. I think he does, but in a race this close, I'm not certain, Jake.

TAPPER: Corbin, El-Sayed sometimes he does an interview when he's asked about Israel and the Middle East, he says, I'm not focused on that. I'm focused on Medicare for all, and, you know, more money in your pocket, et cetera. Other times, he says other things. He did an interview with ABC News in which he said that Israel's not an ally of the United States and --

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[18:45:00]

TAPPER: And, you know, more money in your pocket, et cetera. Other times, he says other things. He did an interview with ABC News in which he said that Israel is not an ally of the United States.

And I'm paraphrasing here, but he said it's basically like your kid has a friend who's greedy and mouthy and always getting your kid into trouble. That's what Israel is.

Which do you think is the better strategy for him, especially in these closing days? Leaning into his opposition to Israel and his feelings about that, that country or focusing more on the pocket -- pocketbook and kitchen counter issues?

CORBIN TRENT, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR REP. OCASIO-CORTEZ: He's doing both. I mean, he's responding to questions he gets asked and trying not to be evasive.

I think one of the things that me about politicians is they do this weird pivot, pivot to the center, pivot away from things that they think while they believe them. They think there might be some liability to it in an election, and especially a close one like this. And it's pretty impressive to me to see a politician that actually says what they believe.

I think that's one of the things that people loved about Bernie Sanders. You know, that's one of the things that people liked about Donald Trump at the beginning is they believed that he was saying what he thought. And I think that so few people do that when they decide to run for office. To see him doing that is a very inspirational to me to see somebody say what they think. So, I think it's a good move.

TAPPER: Stick around, both of you. Coming up next, our panel is going to get to the bottom of President Trump's apparent interest in men's bodies.

Stay with us

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:12]

TAPPER: And we're back with more in our politics lead. President Trump getting cheeky yet again on the campaign trail last night in North Carolina. And by cheeky, I mean he was complimenting the backside of Republican Ohio Senator Jon Husted for the second time in as many weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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. Then I looked at his legs and I said, man, his feet are big. Then I looked at his shoulders, and I tapped him on the shoulder and it actually hurt my hand. It was like a piece of steel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Okay. So, Shermichael. Final pitch to voters. Jon Husted in a neck and neck race. Nice ass, closing message.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't think that's the final pitch. I mean, I think that's the president being humorous, having a little fun with his audience. As you could see from the people behind him. They thought it was hilarious.

I think the pitch is that Republicans want to continue to provide the type of economic opportunities by being pro-capitalist, as opposed to Democrats who have been taken over by DSA-like candidates. We want to make sure we have a stronger footing on the world stage, as opposed to retraction. I think that's the conservative position. That was just a little humor.

TAPPER: So that's Shermichael's closing message. And as always, you have my vote.

SINGLETON: Thank you, Jake.

TAPPER: Corbin, Trump said that he's never, quote, "studied the body of a man before," unquote. But I have to say, we did a little research. And that's not true. There's a lot of studying of men's bodies as recently as Friday and going back a few years. Here's just a handful of examples.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: I actually think Mike Collins is a good-looking man and he's all man.

And I actually think that Rick Jackson's a very handsome, distinguished, beautiful looking guy.

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.

Doesn't he look handsome? He's -- he's a much better-looking guy than I am. And look at him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Corbin, thoughts?

TRENT: I mean, he seems way more obsessed with peoples looks. This is like the thing that's like a trend with him, right? He is very superficial, very vain.

It's odd how much he thinks about peoples bodies and how little he thinks about Americans ability to pay for their food, to pay for their fuel, to pay for their housing, to pay for their education. I think he actually was quoted as saying, I don't think about peoples economic situation very often, but he does think about how nice people's asses are. He thinks about how strong their shoulders are.

And I think that that is showing up in America's lived experience under this economy. It is showing up under seeing who's leading our departments and who's leading the government. He put together it's clear that what he values and it ain't very good work. That's not what he's looking for.

TAPPER: Well, thank you both. Thank you both very much. And allow me to say that you're both very handsome gentleman. And thanks so much -- thanks so much for joining us.

We're heading to Atlanta next, where the WNBA finals already are breaking records. Just two games in. We're going courtside in moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:57:43]

TAPPER: Our sports league takes us to Hotlanta, because tonight, the game three of the WNBA finals between the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream is taking place. The series, which already is breaking viewership records, is all tied up after their dominant game two-win on the road, the Dream are looking to keep the momentum going in front of their 17,000 sellout crowd at State Farm Arena.

And that is where we find CNN's Don Riddell.

Don, what should people expect tonight in game three? DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jake, welcome to

State Farm Arena here in downtown Atlanta. I'm sure you well know that they're talking about a blue wave in the midterm elections coming up in a week and a half. We will see.

But I can guarantee you tonight there will be a sky blue wave because all of the T-shirts are on all of the seats here in this arena, and it's a sellout. More than 17,000 fans are going to be at this game. It is going to be an absolute wall of noise in support of the Atlanta Dream, the Golden State Valkyries are going to feel a very, very long way from home.

As you mentioned, this series already setting records, more than 2 million viewers tuning in to watch the first game. We've also got TickPick reporting that the tickets on the resale market are going for more than $200. That's also a WNBA finals record.

And this series is quite extraordinary because we know the league has really exploded in the last few years with the arrival of the megastar Caitlin Clark, and also hugely talented players like A'ja Wilson, the five time MVP. But neither of them are anywhere near this series.

We've got a Golden State team playing in only their second season. They're obviously in their first NBA finals. The Atlanta Dream have never won a finals game until game two. Now they've got home court advantage with three and four coming up here in Atlanta.

One of these two sides is going to win the NBA -- the WNBA finals for the first time. And this series is already absolutely electric. I'm expecting a huge crowd and a big atmosphere here tonight and hopefully a great game.

TAPPER: All right. Don Riddell at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, thanks so much.

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