Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Trump Hits Campaign Trail as Some GOP Support Slips in Polls; Trump Heads to Baltimore to Announce $6.6 Billion Investment; New York Attorney General Seeks Outside Attorneys for Cornell Rape Investigation; U.S., China Discuss Possible Nuclear Site Visits. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 06, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": -- disease began surging last year.

And an on-court controversy, tennis star Coco Gauff firing back after receiving what she calls an insane amount of racist comments on social media after a disputed point in her latest match.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

Just four more weeks to the midterms, which means time is running out for candidates and President Trump to fine-tune their closing arguments. In fact, time is already out when it comes to more than 1.5 million Americans who've already voted early.

Soon we are expecting to see the president as he takes a break from his campaign tour of red states to make a multi-billion dollar announcement today in Baltimore. That's where we find CNN's Kevin Liptak live where the president will be heading.

So Kevin, what are you learning ahead of Trump's remarks?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and this will be an event that looks a little different from what we've seen the president doing over the last several days. It won't be a big political rally. In fact, many of the attendees are service members in uniform and what the president is doing is trying to reinforce his commitment to manufacturing.

That was a campaign pledge he made as a candidate. Many voters say they're dissatisfied with how he's handling the economy and so even though this is not a political event, it certainly does serve a political purpose for what he's doing. And what he will announce is that this facility, which used to be a steel plant, is going to be getting a $6.6 billion investment to build submarines and it will start off building submarine parts. There's a company that's gotten a major contract from the government to build components for Virginia- class submarines.

This could create 3,100 direct jobs, according to the White House, 11,000 indirect jobs. And so in a way, I think the president is trying to reinforce what he has been doing on the economy, what he has been doing on manufacturing. It also serves the other purpose, officials say, of trying to bolster the U.S. maritime defense base, trying to compete with China by building these very high-tech, high-powered submarines.

But the president, of course, will be back on the campaign trail pretty quickly. He'll be back out tomorrow and I think, you know, this morning, he has shown that his focus is not solely on the economy. He's been posting on Truth Social about his political efforts and about his political rallies. He said at one point, quote, "My rallies are saving the Republican Party again."

He said in another Truth Social, quote, "My rally crowds and enthusiasm are unbelievable. Nobody has ever seen anything like it. We are flipping races all over the place."

And then previewed what he said was going to be a midterm surprise. And so evidence, I think, that the president is aware of how this race is going and how many Republicans are at this point trying to distance themselves from him, given his unpopularity, given the fears that if the midterms turn into a referendum on his record in office, that that would just be very bad news for Republicans.

Now, he will be back in Texas tomorrow. He'll be in Alabama on Saturday for the Alabama-Georgia game. These are, of course, Republican states. These are Ruby Red states. All goes to show that the president trying to get his supporters out to the polls ahead of the election, hoping that that will help Republicans get across the finish line.

SANCHEZ: Kevin Liptak, live for us in Baltimore, thank you so much for that report. Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": We're joined now by Democratic Senator, Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland. She is in North Carolina where she's campaigning for Senate candidate, Roy Cooper.

Senator, thank you so much for being with us. A testament to how well Cooper --

SEN. ANGELA ALSOBROOKS, (D-MD): Thank you so much for having me.

KEILAR: Yeah, thank you. A testament to how well Cooper is doing in North Carolina, the leading Republican Senate PAC is pausing $10 million in planned ad spending in that race. They're adding seven figures of spending to Kansas. In both of those states, you're seeing Democrats succeeding because they're appealing to Republicans as part of their block.

What does your party need to learn from that approach?

ALSOBROOKS: Well, I can say this. You're right. The energy on the ground here for Roy Cooper is electric. People have great confidence and trust in him. He's done a phenomenal job taking care of North Carolinians. But the point of the matter is we can't take anything for granted. I'm in North Carolina not just because he is winning, but because we absolutely must win. And I think that's the message across the country.

Every single person with the D in front of their name has to win right now because I believe the Republican Party has really ceded its right, right now. It's given up its right, its moral authority to govern based on how horrible their party has performed, not only the cost of groceries and housing and health care and utilities, but the American people here in North Carolina.

[14:05:00]

I've been in Mississippi and Georgia and is much the same, they have the very clear sense and are not confused that their lives have gotten worse, not better under this president and his -- the people who have been complicit in what they have done to enrich themselves, to enrich their family members, to enrich their allies and do nothing whatsoever for the American people.

So we are -- Roy Cooper is doing quite well in North Carolina, but we still need every single person to come out to vote. And this is going to be true. I'll be in Ohio next week, Michigan. I'm going to be -- I've been in Illinois. I'm going to be in other places. So we're going to -- we've got to fight this all the way through, but we need every single person to come out and to take our country back in the right direction.

KEILAR: But what's the message for your party with the appeal of these candidates to people in the middle?

ALSOBROOKS: Well, you know what the appeal is? People in our country don't want to go where this president and his administration is taking us, but they don't want to go back to where we were either. The status quo will never work again. Everyone recognizes that these institutions that have failed us for so long, lack of access to healthcare, lack of equal opportunity for education, lack of economic opportunity. This will never work again.

The financial institutions that have failed too many in the middle, we dare not say status quo because no one in our country is interested in the status quo. They don't want to live on the margins. They want to talk about wealth again, generational wealth and true growing opportunity for people to thrive in this country. And that has to be the message for the Democratic Party, is that every single person should have the opportunity to succeed in our country.

And we're not going back to where we were. But what we are forging forward into a whole new, um, agenda that includes more people.

KEILAR: You are -- you're there in North Carolina. The president is actually in your state today at Sparrows Point Shipyard in Baltimore County to promote this new Anduril industries facility to build parts for nuclear submarines. Anduril says this is going to create 3,100 direct jobs. Do you think that's a good addition to the Baltimore economy?

ALSOBROOKS: Oh, absolutely. I met with Anduril a couple of weeks ago. We are thrilled for their multi-billion dollar investment in Baltimore and the state of Maryland. And let me tell you, it couldn't be any better deserved. Baltimore is not only the economic engine, one of them for the state of Maryland, but we now know that Baltimore is integral to the economy of our country. And so their investment is well placed.

The billions of dollars of investment, we believe about 13,000 jobs. We're absolutely thrilled to include them in our state, to welcome them today. We know that they will have a profound impact on our economy, but let's not kid ourselves. Baltimore has a profound impact on the economy of our country.

KEILAR: This is an area that struggled when Bethlehem Steel closed, manufacturers left in the early 2010s. The president campaigned in Dundalk back in 2016. He promised to revive American manufacturing. Now you have new companies that are coming in to this redevelopment of Sparrows Point. Does the president get to take some credit for that?

ALSOBROOKS: Oh, absolutely not. I mean, you know, Baltimore is strong on its face and the president really should -- he's -- not only does he not get credit for attracting this economic opportunity to Maryland, but none of us should ever forget how he refused, for example, to bring FEMA to give flood relief when we deserved it in the western, the most red part of our state was overrun with -- we had a horrible flood there and he refused to have the federal funds, the taxpayer dollars that our state residents pay for federal relief when we needed it.

So we can't count on him now. We can't count on him ever, but our state is thriving nonetheless, and we're going to continue to thrive.

KEILAR: So I do want to ask you about Anduril because the Trump administration has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to this company to build autonomous munitions for the military and also surveillance towers for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, this company that is going into the area there in your state. Secretary Hegseth just named the Founder of Anduril, Palmer Luckey to be one of three Chairs of a new Future of Warfare study group and the president's son, Donald Trump Jr.'s firm, 1789 Capital has also made huge investments in Anduril.

It's one of the leading government contractors as far as investments from the president's son's firm. Does that raise concerns for you?

ALSOBROOKS: Well, let me just tell you, so these are the facts. Anduril will be bringing over $3 billion worth of investment to the state of Maryland, 13,000 jobs. So the people of Maryland and our economy will benefit.

[14:10:00]

You're asking me whether the president's continued corruption in grift, he and his family concerns me. Oh, absolutely. It's the reason they're going to lose these midterms in big ways.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: That's not what I'm asking you. Let me clarify, Senator. I'm asking you if you're concerned that the administration has committed these huge sums of money to this company to build autonomous munitions for the military and surveillance towers for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, along with those other issues I know you point to as grift, but also what they're paying the company to do in these contracts.

ALSOBROOKS: So I guess, if you're asking me whether I'm concerned that they're making investments in a company that his family will benefit from, that's what I'm hearing you say.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: No, I'm asking you if -- I'm also asking if you're concerned that the Trump administration has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to this company to build autonomous munitions for the military and surveillance towers for CBP.

ALSOBROOKS: Well, you know, I think that this is obviously something that has to be -- you know, we have to be careful about what the investment means, but for now, my answer is the same. A $3 billion plus investment in the state of Maryland with 13,000 jobs is important to our economy and, you know, I think that's going to be really important to the people of Maryland.

KEILAR: Yeah, and no doubt there are a lot of tax incentives that are certainly bringing this company to Maryland. We have certainly seen that hundreds of million dollars in tax incentives. Senator Angela Alsobrooks, really appreciate your time today. Thank you so much.

ALSOBROOKS: Thank you.

KEILAR: Still to come, in the investigation of sexual assault and rape allegations at Cornell University, New York's attorney general now seeking help from experienced outside attorneys. How the state is assembling its team and weighing possible criminal charges ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:16:46]

SANCHEZ: We are continuing to monitor the fallout and outrage over the handling of an alleged 2024 gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity house at Cornell University. CNN has learned the New York attorney general's office is looking to bring on experienced outside attorneys to help with the reopened investigation.

State A.G., Letitia James was named as a special prosecutor in the case after New York Governor, Kathy Hochul removed the local county D.A. from the investigation. Hochul saying she lost faith in his ability to conduct the renewed inquiry. CNN's Kara Scannell has more on this new reporting. Kara, walk us through the details.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Well, Boris, sources tell CNN that the New York attorney general's office is looking to bring in some outside experts, some attorneys with experience in criminal investigations into their investigation. And this really is not surprising because the New York attorney general's criminal authority is pretty limited.

They have the authority to investigate police-involved shootings, financial crimes, and organized crime. But sex crimes is not something that they typically do. Now, sources say that the structure of how this will actually look is not determined at this point. This is still pretty early stages.

The governor had written that executive order late last week, authorizing and empowering the New York attorney general's office to actually investigate the allegations at Cornell. So this is still early stages, but they are looking to beef up their team because, while they do have people who are former district attorneys or former law enforcement agents, there's a dearth of people that actually have the knowledge of how to investigate a sex crime, which is a pretty specialized area.

Now, sources are also telling us that one of the men, one of the former students involved in these allegations, has hired a pretty high-profile attorney. He has hired Teny Geragos. She was one of the lawyers who represented Sean "Diddy" Combs and Harvey Weinstein in their criminal investigations and at trial. She comes from this firm, Agnifilo Intrater. They're pretty heavy hitters in this space. So that also shows kind of the significance of how this is unfolding.

Now that we have a new criminal investigation taking place, that at least one of these men is beefing up his legal team. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Kara Scannell, thank you so much for that update. Still to come, what we're learning about talks between the U.S. and China about possible nuclear site visits as fears of a new arms race intensify.

Plus, a controversial call, an emotional young opponent and a flood of racist attacks. Tennis star Coco Gauff defending her actions after a dramatic China Open victory. That and much more coming your way on "CNN News Central."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:24:02]

KEILAR: Sources tell CNN the U.S. and China are discussing mutual visits to each other's nuclear facilities. These talks happening amid mounting concerns about China's rapidly growing nuclear weapons program. CNN's National Security Correspondent, Kylie Atwood with us now with her new reporting on this.

So Kylie, when did these discussions begin?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, in recent months. So when there were gatherings, diplomatic gatherings, these were discussions between U.S. and Chinese officials that happened on the sidelines. So not really formal talks, but some sidelines discussions that actually have proved to be quite fruitful in terms of possibility of the U.S. and China coming to some sort of agreement here.

It's still really early days. But what we understand is that according to a source familiar with the matter, it was the Chinese that actually put this idea on the table for reciprocal site visits for nuclear sites between the U.S. and China. Effectively, you know Chinese officials going to the DOE labs and potentially test sites in the U.S. and the U.S. doing the same to the similar sites in China.

[14:25:00]

Now, these discussions are very early. But U.S. and Chinese officials are expected to see one another multiple times before the end of the year. And I'm told that this is going to be a topic that they're going to push with the Chinese to try and see if there really is a possibility here for this to come to fruition. The backdrop being this massive nuclear buildup of its nuclear weapons program that China has been carrying out over the course of the last decade or so. U.S. officials concerned about that, China not wanting to engage in any discussions that would limit its growth of its nuclear weapons program.

And the main reason for that is because it's much smaller than the United States program at this point. They have about 600 nuclear warheads. The United States has 5,000 nuclear warheads, but over the next decade, they're expected to build hundreds more nuclear warheads.

So they're going to get closer to the United States pretty quickly. U.S. CNN investigative team has actually looked at some of the satellite images showing the infrastructure that is supporting this Chinese nuclear buildup, which are just really remarkable to look at. And then the other piece of this is that Trump has, since his first term, wanted a nuclear arms agreement between the U.S., Russia, and China.

Right now, there is no existing arms agreement between the U.S. and Russia. The final one that was standing expired last year. And so if they could get some traction between the U.S. and China, potentially they can pull Russia back to the table.

We have not seen any actual momentum on this, but this is an area for us to watch because President Xi and President Trump are obviously seeing one another two times later this year.

KEILAR: Yeah, have they talked about this?

ATWOOD: I'm told, a U.S. official told me that this topic of, you know, nuclear arms control did come up in the meeting. President Trump expressed his support for trilateral arms agreement between Russia and China, but President Xi rebuffed that.

He made the argument, as I was saying, that Chinese officials have said, we're not at the same level as you guys, so why would we engage in this? But because they have meetings later this year, we should watch this space.

KEILAR: All right, Kylie, thank you so much for the great reporting.

Still to come, from Quinceaneras to congressional candidate, could Latin Grammy winner, Bobby Pulido turn his popularity into votes and help Democrats flip a key Texas border district?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)