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Trump Urges Republicans to Vote by Mail; Senate Seats for Democrats Expands; Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) is Interviewed about the Midterms; U.S. Bombers Removed from U.K. Air Base; Thompson to Stay at Helm of CNN; Calls for Letitia James to Step Aside from the Cornell Case. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired October 05, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL ECONOMICS ANALYST: Come by. They're not getting hired either. I think people feel that there's a real slowdown in the economy. And that's hard to just PR away.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. It's the same problem that the Biden administration had.

FOROOHAR: Indeed. Indeed.

BERMAN: Which is, there are some economic figures that are, in fact, strong. Employment numbers are strong in both administrations, but inflation just eats away at that.

FOROOHAR: Yes.

BERMAN: Rana Foroohar, the book is "Sea Change: America's New Great Game in the Arctic Circle." It's such a compelling read.

FOROOHAR: Thank you.

BERMAN: I'm so glad you had the opportunity to do it and write the book. Appreciate it.

FOROOHAR: Thanks so much for having me.

BERMAN: A brand-new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The president's midterm blitz, full steam ahead. But his messaging now on the campaign trail seems to be shifting. Why he is now urging supporters to use mail-in voting after attacking that very thing.

And the breaking news overnight, a sudden military evacuation is raising new questions today. Why U.S. bombers were pulled out from a U.K. base.

And the wild moment a bear charges out of the woods and attacks a woman's car while she is trapped inside.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with John Berman and Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump's midterm rally blitz going full speed ahead across the country. His itinerary is taking him to states Republicans considered safe until now. And some of the deep red states of Nebraska, Ohio, Texas, where he's headed today, Republicans are now fighting off strong Democratic challenges. But despite the president's low approval ratings, his message has largely stayed the same, vote like he's on the ballot.

But on one issue, he's shifting his message. For years he has attacked early and mail-in voting. Now he's urging supporters to use both.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If your state has early voting, do not wait. Go out and vote. Vote early, vote by mail or vote in person on Election Day, November 3rd.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN's Liptak -- Kevin Liptak is live this morning at the White House.

What is the latest there? I've given you a first and last name that's the same as your last name. Clearly, I need coffee or something.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, no worries.

Yes, and I think that shift on the mail-in voting is interesting. It clearly reflects Republicans' concerns that they are going to need votes anywhere that they can get them as the picture turns increasingly grim for them in November's election. And that map of the president's travels just underscores that the president is defending places that neither he nor, frankly, Democrats thought that they would be competitive in -- two years ago. So, Ohio, Alabama, Texas. He's in Nebraska today. The vice president is going to Alaska. These are all places that the president won by double digits two years ago.

And it does underscore the anxieties that Republicans have that the president's supporters, you know, his base of diehard support, is just not going to turn out in the election. And that's why he's been on the campaign trail and will continue to be on the campaign trail until November.

You also, I think, see the president really pulling out the stops of what he can do in his own office to try and influence votes, whether it's paying -- using government money for those ads that are promoting his record, or promising voters those $5,000 checks if Republicans are able to retain their majorities. That's a promise he made again on the campaign trail over the weekend.

But there are continued warning signs. And there was a poll from NBC and Telemundo over the weekend in particular that showed a real erosion in support among Latinos. That's a voting bloc that helped propel the president back to the White House in 2024. But this poll showed that by a 24 point more -- margin, 59 percent to 35 percent, Latinos supported Democrats winning in the midterms. The president's approval rating among that bloc now only 27 percent. It's even smaller when it's his approval on the economy, only 20 percent support his handling of the economy. And it just goes to show the president has some real work to do as his own record continues to weigh down Republicans.

Now, today, he will be in Nebraska. That's a state he won by 20 points in 2024. He's going to be campaigning alongside the incumbent Republican Pete Ricketts. But even there, his record is causing some problems. The president's decision to allow imports of foreign beef has caused real problems among ranchers. And Ricketts says he opposes it. So, it just goes to show that even as the president hits these Republican states, some of what he has done in office so far will continue to be an issue.

SIDNER: Yes, I mean, the worry not just about flipping votes, but worried about bringing voters out. That is a big one. And you see the president doing his blitz there while Democrats are working hard to try to shore up some of those places they didn't think they could win.

[09:05:04]

Kevin Liptak, thank you so much for your reporting there from the White House.

John.

BERMAN: All right, so, CNN has a list of the ten most likely Senate seats to flip. And Nebraska, where the president is going, not even on that map. It's right above a different state that might be. To win the Senate majority, Democrats need to pick up four Republican held seats and not lose any.

CNN's Arlette Saenz joins us now with a look at the races in play.

Arlette.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John.

Well, nearly four weeks out from the election, the Senate battleground map is expanding as Democrats have seen some improving signs in several red-leaning states. We have been ranking the states seats most likely to flip for several months now. And now, for the first time, we've actually expanded this list from nine to ten as a very red Kansas has really come on board in a very real way.

There is also significant movement in this list compared to other lists, as you have red-leaning states like Ohio, Alaska, and Texas all moving up in their positions.

But to start with Kansas there, that is a state that no one really ever thought would be on the battleground map heading into November. But the Democratic candidate, Adam Hamilton, a pastor in the state, has really made this an incredibly competitive race against the incumbent GOP Senator Roger Marshall. As you can see right there, "The New York Times" polling released over the weekend showed that this is a statistical tie. It's also worth noting that the Senate Leadership Fund, one of the biggest Republican super PACs, is actually spending money in this race. They said on Friday that they would be spending seven figures worth of television advertisements in this final stretch, perhaps signaling some of the Republican concern about a state like that.

Then I also want to note Ohio, Alaska and Texas. Ohio now ranks as our second state most likely to flip. "The New York Times" poll released over the weekend showed Democrat, a former senator, Sherrod Brown and the incumbent senator right now, Jon Husted, really running neck and neck. But other polling has shown Brown ahead in this race. And Brown has really made a big issue of data centers in this campaign, something that the GOP even acknowledges can be an anchor on Husted's campaign.

You're also seeing movement in the Alaska race. And then down in Texas, where Democrat James Talarico has really mounted a much stronger campaign than many had anticipated. That "New York Times" poll had him up several points over Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. We've all heard about the Republican rescue mission that is underway in that state, sending millions there to the state.

But just a note on the landscape here. Democrats are feeling very good about the mood and the environment. President Trump's approval rating is low. There's a lot of voter frustration with the economy and his handling of the war in Iran, but they still have to win in very deep red states. Republicans are betting on their voters turning out, and Republicans are also set to outspend Democrats in eight of these ten competitive races.

John.

BERMAN: The money could very well matter and the fact that a lot of these fights are on Republican territory.

Arlette Saenz, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And joining us right now is Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois to talk much more about this.

So, you heard all that kind of laying the -- laying the landscape that you saw from Arlette right there. You also have the president, who's making his own big predictions, telling supporters this weekend that if they turn out and vote like he's on the ballot, that they will beat Democrats big. He's making those predictions. So, what predictions are you making for the midterms now? How many seats do you think Democrats will pick up?

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): I think they're going to take the majority in both houses of Congress at this point.

I was at a Democratic breakfast. I keynoted a breakfast this past Sunday. And they had to expand the venue so much because way more Democrats showed up for ham and eggs than they had originally anticipated. And I think that's happening all over the country. I think Democratic turnout is going to be extremely strong, and there are going to be a lot of positive surprises for Democrats throughout the country on November 3rd.

BOLDUAN: Are you more in the camp of a 15 seat gain by Democrats in the House or -- you know, some models have it upwards of 25 or 30 seats to gain. Where are you?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I'm probably in that first camp. I think that we have to be mindful that remember, Republicans redistricted the heck out of the maps in a lot of states to hold back Democratic gains. All that being said, I think Democratic turnout is surging, and we're seeing a lot more vote by mail, as well as early voting in person where it's possible. And so, I think that's going to help mitigate some of that, what I believe to be illegal redistricting that's happened in some of these states by Republicans.

[09:10:01]

BOLDUAN: Let's talk about kind of, I guess, predictions in polling. The National Economic Council director, Kevin Hassett, spoke to CNN this weekend. He was talking about -- there are aspects of the U.S. economy that he think -- that are -- he says the data shows things are going well in certain regards. And he blames the polling for low consumer sentiment rather than that polling is simply reflecting consumer sentiment.

Let me play this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Ahead of an election cycle, the fact that there's, you know, possibly partisan pollsters telling us that the people are really, really depressed. It's a classic Democrat move. And I just don't buy it because if it were true, if the polls were any value for thinking about what's going on with consumers, then we should look at the consumption data and say, geez, yes, that's right, people -- people aren't spending. But, in fact, the retailers are doing well.

And if people were unhappy, it'd show up in the data.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: What do you think of that?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I think he's living in an alternative reality. Look, I think that when people see $6 gas, $7 diesel, they know exactly how the economy is affecting them and it's not affecting them well. It's really hurting them. I talked to some college students over the weekend who are having trouble finding a job. I talked to a young adult who basically said she doesn't think she'll ever own a home because home prices and interest rates are so high. And, you know, people are just very fearful of what Donald Trump is going to do next. The Iran War and blanket tariffs are hurting people economically in ways that are just rippling through the economy. And, you know, Trump said he, you know, should be given an A plus rating for his conduct of the economy. I think most people would give him an F minus at this point.

BOLDUAN: I want to play you something that another man from Illinois is talking about right now, potential Democratic presidential hopeful Rahm Emanuel. He was asked about the possibility that Democrats will move quickly to try to impeach President Trump again if they retake control of the House. His take is, don't do that.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAHM EMANUEL, FORMER CHICAGO MAYOR: You're never going to get an impeachment. Then if you do that, you just basically prove all of Washington is what the American people think, it's Disneyland on the Potomac.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Instead, Rahm says he wants Democrats to pass an ethics package, as he describes it, to address corruption that he says is taking place in the Trump administration.

What do you want to see Democrats do to -- if they win the gavel? Do you think an impeachment proceeding, an investigation into impeachment, would be a mistake?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, I think right now I have yet to talk to a Democrat whose said that our first priority should be impeaching the president. I think in light of that $6 gas and $7 diesel, and just those high price of health care and everything else --

BERMAN: It's definitely been part of the conversation though.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: It's been part of the conversation. I don't think anything should be ruled out. But I don't think it should be the first priority.

That being said, I absolutely think there has to be oversight and investigations with regard to the Epstein affair. Thousands of girls, now middle-aged women, have yet to receive a single iota of justice, and the White House is blocking progress there. There has to be investigations with regard to DHS, ICE and CBP, which have acted lawlessly. And, of course, the corruption which pervades this administration. I think those have to be investigated.

And by the way, I think Pete Hegseth, we need to watch that impeachment vote that's coming up in November very carefully because I do think there's a bipartisan majority in Congress to impeach Pete Hegseth, given his just horrible performance at the helm of our military and his basically hollowing out of our ability to take care of our own security.

BOLDUAN: Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, thanks for coming in.

Sara.

SIDNER: Thank you, Kate.

This morning, all U.S. long range bombers stationed at a critical air base in the U.K. have been flown out and moved back to the U.S. This all comes after a new, unspecified threat that just days after British authorities arrested six people in an alleged Iranian plot targeting the base. The U.K. base in question is crucial to the U.S. alliance with the British military, and is also used to project power to the Middle East. It has been used to launch strikes against Iran since the beginning of the war.

CNN's Zach Cohen is joining me now.

The way in which this happened was quite surprising because it happened very, very quickly. What are you learning?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Sara, it does appear that this was a scramble and a decision that was made very quickly to move all of the B-1 bombers that were stationed at this airbase in the U.K. back to their home bases in the United States, and a source telling me that this was in response to a, quote, real world incident. So, something -- a threat that was verifiable enough to where they wanted to make sure that they moved these bombers, which are a very valuable asset for the U.S. military, and when they go to great lengths to make sure are protected, move them from this base in question.

[09:15:02]

And as you said, it comes after this incident last week where we saw several arrests connected to what officials have said was an Iranian backed terror plot targeting this same base.

Now, Marco Rubio, the secretary of state/national security advisor for President Donald Trump, was asked about this move of the bombers from the U.K. base back to their home bases in the United States.

Take a listen to what he said as he sort of downplayed the decision and in connection to the incident last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: The Department of War is constantly reallocating resources where they need to be. There's regular rotations that happen as well. So, I think you guys are just --

REPORTER: Is that (INAUDIBLE)?

RUBIO: Well, I mean, we've documented what happened last week. I wouldn't directly tie that to the move that was made. The only reason why you guys are focused on how many planes are at Fairford is because of the threat that happened last week. But it's not unusual to see rotations happen and movement of assets to different parts of the world based on exercises, redeployments, people changing out and new people coming in, new planes coming in, old planes going out. So, crews are changing all the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So, in some ways, Secretary Rubio is correct, that it is not unusual to see U.S. -- the U.S. military move its assets from base to base, depending on exercises, et cetera. But what is unusual in this case, we're told, is the fact that they didn't move these bases -- or these airplanes to a different base in the region, instead moving them back to their U.S. bases, which again, does impact the U.S.' ability to project power globally. And, of course, comes amid the ongoing conflict with Iran, which this base in the U.K. has been used as a strategic point to launch those strikes against Iran for the last several months.

SIDNER: Zachary Cohen, as always, great reporting from you. Thank you so much.

John Berman.

BERMAN: All right, breaking news this morning, and the news is us. CNN's CEO Mark Thompson will remain at the helm here at CNN as the networks parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, merges with Paramount. The merger is set to take effect tomorrow. The combined company will be called Skydance.

Let's get right to CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter, who can answer the question of who I work for tomorrow.

Brian.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: This announcement does resolve months of uncertainty, John. There have been questions ever since Paramount prevailed in the bidding war for Warner back in February about who would run CNN in the future. And now we have the answer this morning.

Skydance, as you said, taking control tomorrow, they've just announced the new leadership team for the combined company. And Mark Thompson will remain as chairman and, very importantly, as editor in chief of CNN.

Here's part of Mark's memo to the newsroom. Here's what he told staffers a few minutes ago. Quote, "I'm convinced that from CEO David Ellison on down, Paramount Skydance leadership really does believe in news alongside entertainment as a top strategic opportunity for our new company. They've seen our digital strategy, and they're excited about it as we are." Thompson went on to say, quote, "I have real confidence that they both understand and will fully support the principle and the practice of the kind of independent news that CNN has always stood for."

That's significant, of course, for the following reason. There have been questions for the past year about Paramount's cozy ties with the Trump administration, patriarch Larry Ellison and his close relationship as a donor to the president, and David Ellison's efforts to cozy up to the Trump administration to win these merger deals. So, those questions have really been a cloud over this merger, with some concern about what's going to happen to CNN.

Well, this announcement resolves that, and it signals there's not going to be any immediate combination of CNN with Paramount's CBS News unit. Bari Weiss will remain in place as editor in chief of CBS News. Many insiders had wondered if Weiss would be given a role at CNN as well. And that's not happening for the time being.

It seems pretty clear to me the Skydance leadership team, again taking control tomorrow, they are valuing stability over any possible shakeup. You know, this company is going to be saddled with a lot of debt. It's going to be under severe pressure to cut costs because of that debt. But at the same time, Skydance is going to be relying on the cash flow from profitable channels like this one, like CNN, in order to pay down that debt. So, the company has good reason to avoid disrupting the network.

And it seems to me, John, the headline this morning is about stability here at CNN, as well as other major Skydance assets, like HBO. This announcement this morning also keeps the head of HBO in charge.

So, David Ellison, leaning on figures like Mark Thompson and Casey Bloys as this new combined company becomes one of the biggest media companies in the world effective tomorrow morning.

BERMAN: And we lean on you, Brian Stelter, to explain it so clearly to us and to the audience. Thank you very much for that news this morning.

STELTER: Thanks.

BERMAN: Appreciate it.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

This just in, an attorney for one man accused in the Cornell rape investigation now demanding that the special prosecutor recuse herself.

Plus, a mysterious death at a Russian lab that studies the plague. The World Health Organization is investigating, though also trying to calm fears already around a broader risk to the public.

[09:20:04]

And cash to get kids to go to school. The D.C. experiment that could pay students $50 a week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: This just in, the attorney for one of the men accused in the Cornell University rape investigation has now released a statement questioning the impartiality of New York's attorney general, Letitia James, as special prosecutor and calling for her to recuse herself.

[09:25:03]

This is over comments that she made before being named special prosecutor in the case.

Here's the statement from the man's attorney now. Quote, "the issue is not her compassion towards someone alleging sexual assault. These serious allegations deserve a thorough investigation. The concern is that her statements could reasonably be understood as accepting that the alleged conduct occurred before she assumed responsibility for determining what the evidence establishes."

CNN's Jason Carroll is following all of this, and he's here with me now.

So, this is a new move in, well, a first statement, but a new move in how this is all unfolding. What could this do?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, let's sort of start from the beginning here.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

CARROLL: I mean this starts with, you know, the governor who had lost faith with the Tompkins County district attorney. So, what she did instead is, she took Letitia James and said, I'm going to appoint her as a special prosecutor in this case.

Well, before that happened, Letitia James posted on Facebook, standing with the Jane Doe, saying, quote, "we stand with you" in this Facebook post. And so that's why you have this attorney representing one of these students from Cornell and is asking, you know, the question, how can she be objective in this case? So, that's just sort of one of the new editorial threads that we're seeing here.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

CARROLL: Look, there are concerns on all parts of this. You now have this concern from the attorney representing the student from Cornell. You've got concerns from Cornell students out there who say and have been protesting, not happy with the way the university handled the investigation, not happy with the way that Cornell police moved forward with the investigation. So, you've got protesters there.

And then, in a separate thread, you've got the attorney who's representing Jane Doe. And he has real concerns that some of the evidence involved in this case may have been lost. And he's specifically referring to evidence from cell phone records that he say may exist. He believes that perhaps on that night, back in 2024, that some of these Chi Phi members may have taken pictures of Jane Doe during the alleged assault.

And CNN has learned that early on in the investigation that Cornell police had actually drafted letters asking some of these cell phone carriers to preserve all available data. Now, we've reviewed these drafts, and it's unclear if these drafts were ever sent. And so, Jane Doe's attorney, at this point, is now saying, look, some of that evidence just might be gone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS GIUFFRA, ATTORNEY FOR JANE DOE: I'm confident, knowing this day and age and the group that we're dealing with, that there were other photos, there were videos. And you know where I think those photos and videos are now? I think they're in the bottom of Lake Cuyahoga, because once they knew there was a problem, they cleared everything out and they got rid of it. And the fact is that the investigators let that happen. They let that happen. We'd have a lot more evidence. And, frankly, I don't -- I'm not even sure we have everybody who participated in this assault because my client was blacked out during periods of time, and that's reported in these statements. We don't even know the people we have are the people we definitively know. If you ask me, I believe there were more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: So, again, you've got concerns on all parts of this case. Concerns from Jane Doe's attorney and clearly concerns from an attorney representing one of those students from Chi Phi who says the special prosecutor in this case should recuse herself.

BOLDUAN: And you put it so well, because there's a lot of different parts of -- it's all about the same thing, but it's a lot of different parts that need to be pursued and a lot more reporting and a lot more needs to come out, what you're doing so wonderfully, Jason.

And we also just learned that ABC has played a portion of a recorded phone call between Jane Doe and one of the accused. CNN is working to obtain the audio of that -- of the calls. And we will, of course, bring that to you when we do have it.

Jason, thank you so much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Kate.

Ahead, a new term begins today at the Supreme Court with high interest cases in front of the justices. We'll walk through what you need to know.

Plus, we're getting our first look at the U.S. Marine arrested in Japan on suspicion of murdering a woman in Okinawa, which is sparking protests.

Those stories and more, ahead.

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