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Polls on Democratic Lead; Former Governor Chris Sununu is Interviewed about the Midterms; Former Prosecutor Jeremy Saland is interviewed about a Cornell Rape Allegation; Inflation Picked up in August; Effort to Defeat Wealth Tax in California. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired September 30, 2026 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:31:06]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Just 34 days now until the midterm elections. But who is counting? I'll tell you who's counting. Both Democrats and Republicans, curious if this is happening, a blue wave.

With us now, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.

We've had a lot of polls the last few days.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: We've had a lot of polls the last few days. We've seen polls with Democrats up by double digits in the national congressional polls. And you know what? It is part of a larger pattern. And that is the Democratic lead. It is building. It is building. The high tide may be coming in just at the right time.

Take a look here. OK, the average lead for Democrats in the national congressional polls, you know, you go back a year ago, Democrats were only ahead by three. You go back six months ago, Democrats ahead by five. You go back a month ago, Democrats ahead by seven.

Look at where it is now. It's at its high for this entire cycle. It is plus nine points for the Democrats. The Democratic wave ain't going away. If anything, it seems to be building at this particular moment.

BERMAN: One of the things we talk about when we look at polls is trend lines, right?

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: Don't get caught up in any one number. Look at the trends. And the trend here is up.

ENTEN: The trend is clearly up. And this is an average of polls. It's not just one poll, three, five, seven nine. Democrats very much on their way. A staircase to potential electoral heaven.

BERMAN: OK. When you see a number like this, though, what does that tell you about the potentiality of the midterm, if that's a word?

ENTEN: OK. The potential -- you know what, I don't care. You know, my English teacher, sorry, Altschuler (ph), she's not listening, she failed me on too many grammar quizzes anyways.

You see this, plus nine points. OK, the Democrats' national congressional polling lead. We are now at the largest since 2008 at this point in the cycle. If you know anything about congressional election history, 2008 Democrats won, what, 59 Senate seats. They won their biggest House majority this entire century. Their biggest Senate majority this entire century. When you see the Democrats ahead by nine, sirens should be going off at any of the National Republican Senatorial Committee or Congressional Committee headquarters, because these are numbers that Democrats should be salivating over and should strike real fear into Republicans nationwide. Because when you have Democrats ahead by nine, the last time that happened, it was Democrat electoral gold.

BERMAN: When we've seen leads like this over history, what does that tend to mean?

ENTEN: OK. So you see this 2008, right? The Democrats national polling lead right now is the largest since 2008. Well, I went back even further back in history. How about this? OK. When Democrats lead by at least nine points in the national congress -- national congressional polls, as of right now in the cycle, 15 of 15 times since 1942, they went on to win the U.S. House of Representatives. When you see Democrats ahead by nine at this point, so late in the cycle, only about a month to go, that is really, really good news for Democrats because it means that at least, history speaking, historically speaking, they are on their way to at least a House majority, maybe a Senate majority as well.

BERMAN: Fifteen out of 15 is what percent, roughly?

ENTEN: Fifteen out of 15. You know, it's funny, I'm doing the math right here. I believe that that is 100 percent of the time.

Look, 2026 may be different, but based upon history, you really have to like where you are. You're definitely in the catbird seat if you are a Democrat running for Congress, or want Democrats to win.

BERMAN: So, Harry, say people have questions, maybe more insightful questions than the one I just asked, 15 out of 15, does that make 100 percent?

ENTEN: John, your questions are only the best questions any anchor could possibly ever ask.

BERMAN: Where can they go? Where can people go to get their questions answered?

ENTEN: Well, if you think Johnny B. answers questions well, you can ask Johnny B. questions. You can ask me questions as well. We're going to be covering A.I. data centers, the midterms and more. That is Wednesday, which apparently is tonight. Yes, it is tonight, Johnny B.

BERMAN: It's tonight.

ENTEN: It is tonight at 7 p.m. You can tune in to CNN All Access. You can get there, cnn.com/officehours. It's Hadas Gold. It's Johnny B. And this very good looking individual right over here. Oh, wait a minute, I dare say it's twins. It feels like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Devito all over again.

[08:35:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Guys. Guys.

BERMAN: You're playing both of them. Send us your questions at cnn.com/officehours.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Gracias. Here we go.

Joining us right now, former Republican governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu, now the president and CEO of Airlines for America.

Hello, sir.

CHRIS SUNUNU, PRESIDENT AND CEO, AIRLINES FOR AMERICA: Hello. That's the type of energy I like to follow.

BOLDUAN: It's hard to follow.

SUNUNU: And that's what people need to wake up to. They need --

BOLDUAN: But we do -- we -- you need to, you know, let's keep it -- kick it up a notch because when you follow Harry --

SUNUNU: We'll kick it up a notch. We'll bring it a little beyond the 15 out of 15 equals 100 percent level of math.

BOLDUAN: I love when Sununu talks you know what to John Berman as he walks off set.

OK, you've got what Harry was saying.

SUNUNU: Y Es.

BOLDUAN: How he's seeing the largest Dem lead at this point in the cycle since 2008. Larry Sabato, he just moved 11 more House seats another notch towards Democrats. How worried are you for the Republican Party?

SUNUNU: Yes, look, it's a midterm. I don't think any Republican came into this cycle thinking, oh, this is going to be a cakewalk.

What the numbers really mean to those candidates are, you better sell yourself. Candidate quality matters. You got to re-localize your race.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SUNUNU: If you're out there talking about just national issues in Washington and all this kind of stuff, you're toast. You got to connect with your voters. You got to convince them what you're about. You got to show that you're willing to push back on your party sometimes. And that's OK. But by re-localizing, making sure your message is very tailored specific, what is your issue today? What's happening in this town or this city? There's still plenty of time to kind of let these candidates -- make sure that folks know who they are, what they're representing, and it's not just all about Washington.

BOLDUAN: Not -- you have to -- you have to make it not about Washington.

SUNUNU: You have to.

BOLDUAN: And Donald Trump is making that hard, harder, with the landscape of, he's not changing course in what he is focused on. But this gets to exactly what I want to ask you. "The New York Times" has --

SUNUNU: And what course is that? We're trying to figure that one out.

BOLDUAN: I was going to say, you tell me.

SUNUNU: Let's call it what it is.

BOLDUAN: You tell me.

SUNUNU: Yes.

BOLDUAN: "New York Times," this new reporting that among the nine Republicans whose races are critical to Senate control --

SUNUNU: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Four of them said that they want Trump to join them on the campaign trail. And the others, the five others, either wouldn't say or said, no, including your brother's Senate race in New Hampshire.

SUNUNU: Sure.

BOLDUAN: A campaign spokesperson saying to "The New York Times" that Sununu, the other Sununu, doesn't plan to campaign with anyone from outside of New Hampshire.

SUNUNU: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Is Trump helping or hurting your brother's campaign?

SUNUNU: Well, in terms of New Hampshire, it's always about new Hampshire, right? As a former governor, I can tell you, again, just like I talked about, we --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SUNUNU: It's the 603. It's live free or die pride. It's what we do. We do it very different in New Hampshire than everyone else. And as soon as you start saying, well, I'm going to lean on someone else's influence to help me, well, that doesn't send the right message. And it's just not what we're about. It's not what my brother's campaign is about. It's not what Republican or Democrat in New Hampshire should ever be about.

BOLDUAN: People come into that state all the time when they -- when they want a campaign. You know that. You know that.

SUNUNU: Oh, yes, they do. They come knocking. They all come knocking.

But one thing we tell them is, don't come here with your money. Don't come to New Hampshire with your flash. We don't care. You've got to connect with us one on one. Money doesn't matter.

I always laugh when candidates come to New Hampshire and they say, well, I need to raise some money. And I laugh in their face and go, no one's giving you a dime. You got to earn it. You got to earn the vote. Not asking for a dollar here. So, it's just a very different place to run.

BOLDUAN: Let's talk about big dollars. Your current job. You were with the secretary -- the Transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, yesterday, talking about Duffy's call in Congress for $30 billion -- I think I have that right -- for air traffic control and airport infrastructure upgrades. You don't have to look any further than probably your last flight to see the impacts of the state of flying today. Why should taxpayers fund this?

SUNUNU: So, this is actually a great news story. And again, I don't represent the FAA or DOT. I represent the airline. So, we need to make things work.

We -- the political landscape is littered with infrastructure projects that have failed.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SUNUNU: That are over budget. That don't come to fruition. In just the first year, the first phase of rebuilding air traffic control, so your flights are on time, so we can manage weather better, so the radio systems actually work, so there's redundancy, so when some knucklehead in New Jersey cuts a line, we all saw that in New York last week --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SUNUNU: Theres's resiliency in the system. They're actually doing that. So, they've put out dollars for radar systems and radios and all this stuff. It's actually working. It's actually on time. It's under budget, this first phase.

So, what DOT is saying is, we've earned it. And they have. I mean I was kind of a little bit of a watchdog on DOT and FAA. They've done a phenomenal job telling the taxpayer, we're getting a return on the investment. We need it more than ever before. And, you know, we got to fulfill the mission. And what originally was envisioned as a seven or 10 year project, it's like a three-year project because they're so far ahead of schedule.

BOLDUAN: You getting any pushback from Congress on this?

SUNUNU: It's bipartisan. This is the other amazing -- what is bipartisan in Washington, D.C., right now? Everybody wants this to succeed. They're fulfilling on the mission. And again, I'm a -- I'm a -- I'm a fiscal hawk. And I hate infrastructure projects. You know, the trains that go nowhere in California and all this kind of stuff.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SUNUNU: This one's working. And it's working really well.

So, they've earned the dollars. If there's any good news story on a -- on a, what is it, Wednesday, Tuesday morning.

BOLDUAN: Today is Wednesday.

SUNUNU: Is it Wednesday?

BOLDUAN: Yes, it is.

SUNUNU: I can't even keep track because I'm in D.C. It's all -- it all blurs a little bit.

If there's any good news story for the taxpayer out there, it's, for once, Washington seems to be getting it right with investing the dollars and this extra $30 billion for new towers, new airports, smaller airports.

[08:40:01]

Whether its Westchester or San Antonio or Saint Louis, these are the airports in the local communities that are watching today that will get those dollars and make that entire travel experience much, much better.

BOLDUAN: All right.

SUNUNU: Pretty great.

BOLDUAN: Well, let us see. It is good to see you.

SUNUNU: Good to see you, as always.

BOLDUAN: Thanks for coming in.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you so much, Kate.

Disturbing new details this morning in the alleged gang rape of a former Cornell University student. We're now learning what Jane Doe reportedly told university police in 2024. CNN affiliate WCBS reports it obtained a transcript of her interview with police weeks after the alleged assault, and ABC News has reported it obtained the six page written statement signed by Jane Doe to Cornell at the time. Now, according to WCBS and ABC reports citing the documents, Jane Doe

told police she was heavily intoxicated that night. She also told police she was OK with an initial encounter, but that later in the night things changed. And according to WCBS, she said she was assaulted and raped.

In a new statement to CNN, the district attorney is responding, saying, "I will be looking into whether this is true and the specific circumstances of this allegation. I was not provided the transcript and the specific statement that has been attributed to Jane Doe was not included in the written statement that I received from Cornell PD. I will be investigating this fully and determining the truth."

Joining us now is former Manhattan prosecutor Jeremy Saland, who is also representing one of the accused in this case.

First to you, do you think that the prosecutor's office failed to do their due diligence in this case by not initially investigating this thoroughly?

JEREMY SALAND, FORMER MANHATTAN PROSECUTOR: No, I can't. I mean, we're hearing that the prosecutor is claiming that they did not receive all the information. But I understand previously from a statement from the prosecution, as you probably are aware, that there was information that she consented. And it seems like she did consent for some of this based on what we're hearing now.

That all being said, I think they should always do their job and be diligent in trying to get information. But if they're getting information that there was consent, generally one would assume they're not pursuing things that are consensual as alleged. But this is what they're doing now, and they should make sure they do their homework on a serious, serious case.

But, Sara, I just want to say one very important thing. Whatever happened in terms of an alleged rape and sexual assault, that has nothing to do with my client. There's not an allegation that he was involved in any type of sexual penetration, sexual activity, or anything along those lines. So, I speak solely to my client.

SIDNER: All right, let's get into the details of the accusations against your client. How do you explain why your client went up to the room after seeing a Snapchat message saying, and excuse my language, but this is what it said, "free pussy upstairs," if he intended to do nothing?

SALAND: So, you can also see in the beginning of that Snap conversation -- or, pardon me, when he responds, he references someone being away from the keyboard. I believe it was -- I don't know if he names the person specific because I just don't have it in front of me, but someone was away from the keyboard.

SIDNER: Yes, we'll get -- it's actually -- Jeremy, it's actually after that. And we'll get to that.

But how do you respond to why he went up there in the first place after seeing that initial call to go upstairs?

SALAND: Absolutely. So -- absolutely. So, what -- absolutely. So, one of his friends had left the room where he was, and he assumed that his friend was up there and he saw this message. And I think it's a fair question to ask, what the heck does this mean? What -- free x, what you just said, what does that actually mean? He went upstairs and his testimony was, and there's no, no challenge to that because the girl herself actually doesn't say, again, to be very, very clear that he had any type of sexual assault on her, attempt of any type of touching or any type of physical physicality.

He goes up there, he introduces himself, she makes a joke back about his name being Scott, because there was another Scott there with him. He speaks to her, sees that she's OK. He does not see her naked. Does not see anyone engage in sexual activity with her. She's articulate in her words. And then he sits down for maybe, maybe five minutes, roughly. There's a couch in there. My recollection is it's facing the opposite way of the bed.

And then he leaves. That is it. There's nothing more to this. He doesn't see any reason to have any alarm. He's not as friendly with those guys. I think they're a younger class who are in that -- in that room. There was people mulling around outside the room, both boys and girls, to my recollection. No one is saying, oh my gosh, you know, there's an assault and panic or anything like that when he goes up there.

SIDNER: In the -- you talk about him going up there and sitting there and the -- and the accusation. Did your client snort ketamine off the alleged victim's body, as she alleges in this -- in this complaint?

SALAND: No. No. We provided a hair follicle test during the initial Title IX investigation, corroborating and confirming that he did not do so. To my recollection, one of the other boys who he was with did the same, confirming he did not do so. She, you know, may have been impaired at some point and been confused of who she saw and who she thought was there later on.

[08:45:00]

And that's fair. But not when my client was there with her in that brief moment of time.

Her recollection may be wrong. And nobody, nobody will say he was there. I think at one of the boys thought he might have been there. But during the testimony, when all push came to shove in terms of the presentation, not a person will say he was there. She will not say he was there because he was not there at that time.

SIDNER: How did your client know to take a ketamine test? Had you all seen, for example, the six-page police report or the report from the school in order to know that that was an allegation?

SALAND: So, as you -- as -- if it's not clear, and it should be, I was involved in the Title IX proceeding to start. So, once we were aware of the allegations, and my client said, I absolutely did not take ketamine, no, this story is wrong, I went up there and I asked if she was OK. She was fine. We engaged. She made a joke about my name and the other Scott's name because she thought we were playing a joke on her, and I left. I -- we just said, we'll get a ketamine test. Let's try to confirm what's in your system and what's not in your system. And the important thing was ketamine. And he was negative for ketamine. And we presented that.

SIDNER: So, you found that in the school's investigation.

So, then I do want to ask you about what the lawsuit says. Your client was one of the students who faced temporary suspension by Cornell. You have said that your client was never ultimately suspended or expelled by the university. Is that because your client wrote an essay or did something to try to keep himself from being suspended, which was being offered by Cornell?

SALAND: So, so my recollection of his disposition in terms of the case, first of all, he was not found responsible for the allegations that she made. She was -- again, not responsible for snorting ketamine off of her, despite the allegation. There's no -- not responsible for any type of sexual assault. So, his penalty was not for those actions.

And ultimately, to my recollection, he was not suspended. He was not expelled. I think two other boys were. And he replied. And he always maintained his innocence. He's always maintained his innocence. And however Cornell decided to resolve this --

SIDNER: Was his --

SALAND: My recollection is he did have to write an essay or respond to and take some classes. But this was, in my opinion -- in my opinion, was a very biased proceeding. I made all sorts of objections, all sorts of objections throughout this proceeding, how biased it was. And even despite that, being biased towards this young woman, but even despite that, ultimately he was -- it was determined exonerated on those allegations that she made.

And why I'm upset about it is, people can be a victim. She very well could be a victim by those other boys and there should be accountability if that's true. But it doesn't give someone the right to say something about another person. And now we find ourselves in this civil suit where that initial caption is, he was involved in this rape, but they know he wasn't because they ultimately don't allege that in the actual factual complaint and they know he didn't have ketamine in his system. He wasn't even found responsible for snorting ketamine off her previously in another proceeding.

So, it's frustrating for my client, and the presumption of guilt is very real by so many people piling on who don't want to use critical thinking and wait for the facts. So, I think that's important to do so. Ugly, disgusting Snaps. Absolutely. Egregious at times in terms of those Snaps. Absolutely.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you -- yes, I do want to ask you, you said that --

SALAND: But not -- but not rape.

SIDNER: You said that you're -- you are saying your client had nothing to do with the rape, was not taking drugs with her or on her body. You said though he was -- he was accused of something and had to write an essay. What was it determined that he did do?

SALAND: So, it was determined that he was part of the Snap group and went up there. And they held him accountable for that. And, you know, we can agree to disagree because it's my position, as I've maintained. You're making a conclusion based on the potential conduct or actual conduct of other people who may have very well did horrible things. But he was not a part of that and merely responding. And this is why we disagreed. And I appealed it to the -- to the school and they, unfortunately, have their process and they disagreed with me that you're holding him accountable for something he did not -- the actions of others. Merely being involved in a Snapchat that was ugly, not knowing what that actually meant, going up there does not make you guilty, and leaving does not make you guilty of rape. It doesn't. It -- ugliness could have happened very much, in it's despicable. No one's excusing that. But not when my client was there.

SIDNER: Yes. Jeremy, you know that some people --

SALAND: Well, for that matter, he was aware of it, he would have reported it.

SIDNER: Yes. Yes. You know that some people will look at that Snapchat and think it's pretty clear what was being offered up in that room. But as you said, your client, at this point, obviously not charged. And you're saying in your -- the investigation that you saw with the school, that he was not involved. We were -- we're going to leave it there.

Jeremy Saland, thank you for coming on and walking us through the facts as you know them.

SALAND: (INAUDIBLE).

SIDNER: Sure.

SALAND: If I may, one thing, Sara, I'm sorry. Even if true, even if the assumption is that's what was being offered, he went up there and went and he said it wasn't -- that's not what was happening.

[08:50:03]

Even if you believe that conclusion, and based on his -- what he saw, her not being -- seeming impaired, not seeing her naked, not having seen her under duress, not seeing anything like that, you know, asking if she was OK, then, you know, he doesn't need to be accountable for what other people think that Snapchat was. But other boys, if they did something after the fact, then maybe they should be if, in fact, they did.

SIDNER: Jeremy Saland, I do appreciate you coming on and talking us through this case. Thank you so much. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Tracking more coming out on the breaking news today. A pilot stabbed mid-flight on a plane that was headed to Israel. Israeli sources now tell CNN they suspect the copilot planned to hijack the plane.

We'll be back.

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[08:55:10]

BERMAN: All right, breaking news on inflation. The headline, not getting better.

CNN's Matt Egan here with this.

So, what is this number and what is it telling us?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, John, this is the Fed's preferred inflation metric. And it showed that inflation, it stayed hot in August. No relief for consumers in terms of prices.

Let's look at the topline numbers here, 3.4 percent. That's the annual rate. That is no improvement from the month before, which was revised down, 3.4 percent in July, 3.4 percent in August. That's well above the Fed's target. And 0.3 percent is the monthly rate. That is a step in the wrong direction. Look at this. This is where we are right now. You can see how the last three months have moved in the wrong direction.

And when you look, this is the number that the Fed really pays the most attention to, right? This is the annual rate. The yellow line is what the Fed considers normal healthy inflation. And as you can see, we haven't been there for a very long time. Five and a half years. Moving in the wrong direction. When the president took office, inflation was around 2.6 percent. And now it is 3.4 percent.

We take a quick look at how the market is reacting. Futures, not a massive reaction here. But the reason that we're seeing the Fed raise interest rates is because of this inflation number, right? Prices are going up faster than what's comfortable. The Fed has had to raise interest rates to try to cool off inflation. So far it hasn't worked just yet. We're going to have to wait and see how many more times the Fed has to raise interest rates.

BERMAN: Yes, maybe more is the issue here.

EGAN: Yes.

BERMAN: Matt Egan, good to see you.

EGAN: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: Thank you very much. Kate.

Sara.

SIDNER: I'll take it from here.

On our radar, first responders in Arizona made several dramatic water rescues after heavy rain flooded roads across Phoenix, Arizona. Look here. One of the drivers was forced on top of his truck after rushing water swept his vehicle away, overturning it. He's just sitting there waiting to be rescued. Crews were able to reach him. They had to use a helicopter. They also responded to dozens of crashes as some roads turned into rivers, like this one.

And a Miami woman has been ordered to stay away from her four children after she allegedly left them home alone while she was on a three-day cruise in the Bahamas. Footage captured on police body worn camera shows officers finding the four children, the youngest a two-month-old baby, another a two year old toddler. Officers found them hiding in the bathroom where they appear to be pretty shaken up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MINDY GLAZER, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY CIRCUIT JUDGE: One baby -- the baby was born in July of this year. Who leaves a baby alone like that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Police say after getting a call from the baby's father, they forced their way into the home. Their dad told police that the mother had told him that the children would be left with their great grandmother. The mom is now out on bond.

And dramatic body camera video showing the moment NYPD officers save -- oh my gosh, this is so hard to watch -- save a choking baby. You see the baby not responding there. A crying mom flagged down police for help on Saturday. And then you hear that wonderful sound, the baby crying. Plenty of breath in that baby's lungs. The officers performed the Heimlich maneuver and patted the baby's back until, you heard the baby there, start crying and breathing again. The baby, going to be just fine.

And Mexico's national guard introducing its newest, smallest recruit, Commando the chihuahua. He's not only an adorable mascot, but he's being trained for search and rescue operations. Commando has his own miniature protective glasses -- oh my God, that is so cute -- custom fitted tactical vest and even a small camera mounted on his little teeny tiny head.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: That is a really cute dog.

SIDNER: That is the cutest thing I've ever seen.

BOLDUAN: I mean, look at that with the goggles. I mean, that is -- I'm just going to sit with that today, OK.

SIDNER: We need some happiness in our life. Commando the chihuahua.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And then you see -- that's my takeaway from today. This is what we all need.

Thanks, Sara.

SIDNER: Whoo, that's cute.

BOLDUAN: All right, let's move to California right now. The battle over a referendum to tax the wealthy has become one of the most expensive political fights in the country now. If approved -- it's called proposition 40 -- it would allow the state to collect a one- time five percent tax on people with assets with a net worth of over $1 billion. Now, one of the world's richest people, Google's co- founder, Sergey Brin, has stepped into the fight, giving just over $100 million to a group trying to defeat the effort.

CNN's Clare Duffy has much more on this.

Where does this fight, very expensive fight, stand?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Very expensive fight. Now, Proposition 40 would apply to billionaires in California as of the start of this year, to try to prevent them from leaving to avoid this tax. And it is expected to cover federal cuts in spending on health care that California says leaves a significant gap for its residents.

[09:00:02]

Also, 10 percent of this will go to things to like education and food assistance.