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Texas Congressional Candidate Bobby Pulido: We Need to Talk More in Terms of Economics; Police Clash with Student Protesters in the Streets of France; New York Governor Declares Measles Disaster Emergency; Coco Gauff Calls Out Racist Comments on Social Media. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired October 06, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We're now just four weeks from Election Day when Republicans and Democrats in all 50 states will duke it out for control of the House and Senate. 470 seats are up for grabs this cycle, but only a few key races considered toss-ups could decide the balance of power in Congress. With Swing Seat Spotlight, we're taking a closer look at those contests and the issues that make the difference.

Today we're zooming in to Texas' 15th congressional district, the border district that is over 80 percent Hispanic according to census records. A seat that Democrats had held for decades until Republican Monica de la Cruz first flipped it in 2022. In the last election, President Trump carried that district by 18 points, though the tides may be turning, giving sliding poll numbers and Texas Republicans' decision to redraw their state's congressional map.

Our next guest is running as a Democrat in Texas' 15th district. Bobby Pulido joins us now. A quick note, he's also a Latin Grammy winner and an American Grammy nominee.

Bobby, thank you so much for being with us. You told the Texas Tribune that both parties misunderstand Latino voters. What do Democrats get wrong about them?

BOBBY PULIDO, (D) CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE, TEXAS' 15TH DISTRICT: Well, you know, we don't come from generational wealth down here in South Texas. The Rio Grande Valley used to be known as El Magico Valle. It was a farming community, which my dad belonged to and my grandfather did, too.

So we need to talk more in terms of economics. And I think that, you know, you can't just focus on social justice, which is important. You also have to lead with an economic message with Hispanics in South Texas.

And, you know, I think that the party didn't do that and or effectively enough. And we definitely have to have an economic message and show why we are better than what the Republicans are selling right now. SANCHEZ: If you win, you say that one of your top priorities will be immigration reform. The Democrat running for governor in your state, Gina Hinojosa, says that your party was hurt because President Biden hid on that issue. I wonder if you agree? If you think Democrats need to regain voters trust on immigration.

PULIDO: Absolutely, I felt like it was political negligence where either, you know, the president didn't come down here and neither did the vice president. For three years, there was nothing done. And, you know, it was very chaotic.

I got to see those tent cities with my with my eyes. Me personally, I was there. And so, you know, it took them long.

I think in the last year, obviously, he did sign an executive order that helped a lot. But by that time, a lot of the trust had been broken. And now what we're seeing is something, you know, an overcorrection for sure.

That even, you know, it's probably something even stronger than that. You can't go from let them all in to kick them all out. And right now, people are hurting right now.

[14:35:00]

Let me tell you something, this is not just something that's humanitarian, which is very important, but it's also economic down here. We're an integrated society, we have been for years and years and years, and there's lots of mixed status families here. And everybody's really angry, and I'm going to tell you, just anticipate a very, very big backlash this cycle because of it.

SANCHEZ: Do you think that the House Democratic leadership understands what you're saying about what it's like to live in a border community? Because many of them backed President Biden at the time.

PULIDO: Well, of course, I mean, if they don't understand it, then there's a problem. But I think they do. The people down here want a strong, secure border.

They're not for demonizing people like the president did. But they're sure as heck not for, you know, racial profiling or profiling based on how you speak. I mean, there's a huge, large percentage of people here that speak Spanish only.

And right now, they've been really aggressive. They've hurt all the construction industry. There's labor shortages in farming.

There's labor shortages at restaurants. They ran on this narrative that if you got rid of a lot of people that were undocumented or otherwise, things would get better. And it's been the exact opposite.

Things have gotten worse. Our economy's not doing well here. And we're actually, you know, the traffic from people from Mexico is also down.

We depend a lot on a healthy relationship with Mexico. And right now, we don't have it. I think our foreign policy has been crap, to be honest with you.

We've been, you know, not friendly to our friends. We've been unfriendly with the world and try to make enemies with people that try to make friends with our enemies. And so it just doesn't it seems like everything's just backwards.

And so people here just felt like they got lied to.

SANCHEZ: Bobby, I want to turn to the months of headlines that you faced about your former accordionist, Frankie Caballero, and give you a chance to address them directly. Caballero, for our viewers who don't know, is a registered sex offender, and he pleaded guilty to indecency with an eight-year-old back in 2014. He rejoined your band after serving prison time.

And according to Axios, played a 2018 benefit show with you for a middle school. What did you know about his record when he came back to your band in 2017?

PULIDO: Well, I've actually said, you know, we didn't know about that on his record. I didn't find out till actually it came out when I was running for office. We did not know about that history.

And part of the thing is this. He also was charged with failing to register as a sex offender. So, I mean, if he failed to register, you think he was going to come and tell us?

He didn't. And every musician that ever worked for me has been contract labor. We don't do background checks.

It's not a normal thing to do that in the music industry. And so we didn't know about it. And of course, they're desperate because they're losing in the polls.

SANCHEZ: He did register several times up until more recently when he was prosecuted for not registering. Court records do show that he was charged in 1995 with aggravated sexual assault of a child, a charge that was later dismissed. And in 2019, you gave an interview to a YouTube show in Spanish where you said that around the time that you were starting out in the 90s, you went to get Caballero out of jail.

Here's that clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PULIDO (through translator): They threw that bastard in the slammer. I went. I remember when I started out. I went to get him out of the slammer. I went over there to get him out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: You told Bloomberg that you misspoke back in July during that interview. There's also a clip from a show that Bloomberg reports was in 2018 where you were playing with Caballero and you joked about him having gone to Penn State. There was obviously a scandal at the university only a few years earlier than this involving child sex abuse.

And you told Bloomberg that it was a joke about him having been to the penitentiary. Did you ask Caballero what he went to prison for? Did you ever go to jail for him?

PULIDO: I never bailed him out. Never did. That show that I was doing, it was a it was a comedian show and we were drinking.

That's what the show was all about. But I never bailed him out. Absolutely not.

And not only that, your second question was I forgot what your second question was. Can you repeat it?

SANCHEZ: Did you ever ask him what he went to prison for? If you're joking about him having gone to Penn State and talking about bailing him out?

PULIDO: Oh, yes, yes, absolutely. I did ask him, what were you in prison for? And he says for harboring illegal aliens is what he told me.

SANCHEZ: And the conversation never went further than that.

[14:40:00]

I mean, you see why parents and voters might be concerned about something like that.

PULIDO: Absolutely not. He never mentioned that. Absolutely not.

And if you go look at his record, which we subsequently have seen, he actually went to jail for that.

SANCHEZ: What would be your message to parents?

PULIDO: As well as many other things.

SANCHEZ: What would be your message to parents in the district about your relationship with him?

PULIDO: Well, they make it seem like he's my buddy and that's not true. You know, he worked with me for a period of time. I did know he was in jail.

You know, like I said, I asked him, what were you in jail for? He said harboring an illegal alien is what he told me. That never came up.

Absolutely not. And so look, I would not have hired him had I known that. And as a matter of fact, when he got let go, it was because we found out that he had beat up his wife and we let him go.

SANCHEZ: Bobby Pulido, we have to leave the conversation there. We appreciate you sharing your time with us. We should let you and our viewers know that we've invited your Republican opponent, Congresswoman Monica de la Cruz, to join us. We look forward to hosting her in the next few days. Thank you very much, Bobby.

PULIDO: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, the renewed push to contain a disease once declared eliminated in the United States. Ahead, we have details on a statewide disaster emergency in New York as measles cases surge past 100.

[14:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We are continuing to monitor the unprecedented protests in France. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets. They are demanding better learning conditions in the nation's schools.

Authorities are struggling to contain these demonstrations. They are just so massive. We have CNN's Melissa Bell, who is live for us in Paris.

You're there on the streets. And, Melissa, in the last hour, you told us police were clashing with crowds. What's the situation like there now?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What they're trying to do now is really get rid of a few protesters who are here at the Place de la Nation. You can see them over there. Occasionally, they charge the students, and the students charge towards them, projectiles going back and forth.

Still a bit of tear gas bins set alight still by protesters. But these are the last few. Really, this demonstration is coming to an end.

The police appears to be managing to clear the square little by little. It is its size, I think, that is the most important thing that we've seen today. Nearly 260,000 people were out in the streets of France.

And to put that into context, Brianna, when you look back at the Yellow Vests, that would have been a massive turnout. What happened was this protest that started at an isolated school, ballooned into barricades across so many hundreds, a thousand on some days, French high schools, then saw today the unions, the teaching unions, the public sector workers turn out in force, they said, to protect the students from what they say has been an excessive use of violence. And we have seen a lot of injuries.

And a lot of the anger that was out here today really fueled by what students and those unions who came out to support them say was a lack of response from the government about their demands for better funding for their schools. But also, they say an excessive use of force by police that has caused injury among some of these minors -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Melissa, thank you so much for keeping an eye on things there. Huge story there in Paris.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has declared a statewide disaster emergency as measles cases rise.

SANCHEZ: It's the first time a U.S. state has made such a declaration since cases started surging last year. New York has reported 108 measles cases this year, most of them in rural counties where vaccination rates have lagged. We should note this comes as neighboring state Pennsylvania battles a fast-moving outbreak with over 900 cases there and five deaths.

Joining us now to discuss is Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Doctor, thanks for being with us. New York is now expanding who's allowed to administer the MMR vaccine.

It permits pharmacists to vaccinate kids as young as two years old and allows nurses to order tests for suspected measles. How big of a difference do you think that's going to make during this outbreak?

DR. PAUL OFFIT, DIRECTOR, VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: I think it'll help. It also allows midwives to give vaccines, paramedics, people who work in emergency medical services. So it expands their ability then to vaccinate at-risk populations.

I think it's a good idea. You could argue we could do the same thing in Pennsylvania.

KEILAR: Yes, and this order also requires all MMR vaccinations be reported to the state or New York City immunization registry within 72 hours. It waives adults' consent for that reporting for those who may already be vaccine hesitant. Can you speak to that waiving of consent, why that's necessary and how much information is really shared?

OFFIT: Right. We're in the midst of a massive measles epidemic in this country. We have more measles in this country than virtually every other country in the world.

I think there's only 10 countries who have more measles than we do and that they're in Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. So I think it's all hands on deck. We need to vaccinate our children.

And the other thing I think that's getting lost here is if you look at the five deaths in Pennsylvania, four of them are essentially in adults. We had an 18-year-old die, 20-year-old die, 40-year-old die. And then we had a baby die in the first day of life because the mother had measles and then transferred the virus to the baby.

The baby had congenital measles. We have another four cases of congenital measles, two of which are in the neonatal intensive care unit. We also need to vaccinate adults, not just children.

[14:50:00]

SANCHEZ: New York has reported 108 measles cases this year, including 92 since July 15th in under-immunized rural communities. The order notes the surge in neighboring Pennsylvania. It says most of that state's 1,000 cases are in rural counties that border New York.

I wonder how you think the two states should band together to help deal with this outbreak.

OFFIT: Yes, it's all hands on deck. I mean, we have two ways of -- we have two, elementary, two arrows in our quiver to be able to handle this. One is quarantine and the other is vaccination.

And I think we need to do everything we can to vaccinate people. And frankly, we need to make sure we mandate vaccines for school entry because when kids go to school, they're much more likely to share their viruses and we're entering the winter, spring months when this virus typically takes off. I think this is going to get much worse.

Also, you know, you look in a state like Pennsylvania where we have both a religious and philosophical exemption. It's very easy not to be vaccinated. Just sign a form and you're good.

And at some point, we're going to get to the point where we have enough suffering and hospitalization and death where we're going to do what we need to do in terms of quarantine and vaccination because right now, we're not there. I'm not sure how much more suffering we have to experience before we realize that this is bad.

KEILAR: Dr. Offit, what is the risk to people who are vaccinated in these rural counties?

OFFIT: Well, it's interesting. There was an outbreak in the Netherlands in the early 1990s involving about 3,000 people and the results may surprise you. You were obviously most likely to be protected if you were vaccinated, living in a highly vaccinated population.

You were actually more likely to get measles if you were vaccinated, living in a highly unvaccinated population as compared to if you were unvaccinated, living in a highly vaccinated population. Herd immunity matters. Even though you're vaccinated, if you're surrounded by people who aren't vaccinated, no vaccine's 100 percent effective.

So, you know, you're at risk. For the most part, if you've gotten two doses of measles vaccine, which were available since 1989, you're going to be protected for the rest of your life, but it's not 100 percent effective. It's 97 percent effective.

SANCHEZ: What else can public officials and physicians do to reach those who aren't vaccinated?

OFFIT: I think everything you can. I think the best thing to do is to find out who in the community is influential and then give them the information and the resources and the tools they need to go in and help vaccinate. And vaccinate in the home if you need to, which is what I know they're doing with the Amish and Mennonite community in Pennsylvania. Because right now, it's a serious problem. We've had eight people die of measles in this country, a country that eliminated measles by the year 2000. We're going to be dealing with this every year for years to come until we get on top of this.

And right now, the Secretary of Health and Human Services and frankly, the Director of the CDC are just standing back and watching this happen. They should be on television every other day talking about what we need to do in terms of providing services and personnel. And most importantly, letting people know just how serious this disease can be and deadly it can be.

I think people think of it as just sort of a fever and a rash. It's not that. Measles is a killer.

I think the problem is when we eliminated measles from this country in year 2000, we also eliminated the memory of measles. And I think we're suffering that.

KEILAR: Yes, a lot of people just don't have any reference point here. Dr. Paul Offit, thank you for being with us.

OFFIT: Thank you.

KEILAR: Still to come, Coco Gauff speaking out after a disputed point at the China Open triggered what she calls an insane wave of racist abuse online.

[14:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Coco Gauff is speaking out after she received what she calls an insane wave of racist abuse on social media. The comments came after a controversial point in her China Open match when Gauff stopped play during a rally because advertising boards flickered around the court. CNN's Don Riddell joins us now.

So, Don, take us through what happened and whether that flickering was enough to stop play.

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is an interesting one. This was a match being played in China, the China Open against a 16-year-old called Sun Xinran. Boris, keep your eye on either side of the court where you can see those advertising boards and you can see that they kept changing during the point.

What's interesting is that Gauff played most of the point and then stopped towards the end. That's when her opponent hit the winner, but because of the distraction, they got the point replayed. Now, at that point, her opponent was 5-4 up in the first set, but after that, Gauff just wiped the floor with her, winning 7-5, 6-1.

And then Gauff said afterwards, that's when she sort of discovered what had been sent to her on social media. And we can bring up her quote here because she had quite a lot to say about it. I'm hoping we can show our viewers on the screen.

She said, "Hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist. The amount of racist comments, direct messages I've received in the last few hours is insane. I'm not a cheater or a thief."

So Coco Gauff speaking out there, unfortunately, an awful lot of athletes and in particular, female athletes are subjected to this kind of abuse on social media.

SANCHEZ: Don Riddell, thank you so much for bringing us that report.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

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