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Trump Heads to Ohio With Just 22 Days Until Midterms; Trump to Stump in Ohio, Alaska, Arizona & Montana This Week; Trump Facing Bipartisan Backlash Over U.S.-Russia Diesel Deal; Pope Leo Set for Surgery; Trump Weighs Joining Fight Against Houthis After Riyadh Airport Attacks; Flood Threat for Millions. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 12, 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": A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.

ERICA HILL, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": President Trump heading to Ohio today to shore up support for Republicans with three weeks to go now until the midterm elections. And new signs that his push for additional data centers may be short-circuiting with voters in that state. We're going to crunch the newest polling numbers for you.

President Trump also announcing an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, but Ukraine's president says while he welcomes that sort of agreement, Moscow is clearly already ignoring it.

SANCHEZ: And later, proof of life, something scientists have been searching for could be sitting inside a rover on Mars, but will China bring back the red planet's secrets before NASA? We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

With just 22 days before the midterms, President Trump is stepping on the gas, heading to four different states in the next three days. He's heading to Ohio tonight, a red state he won two years ago.

Recent polling, though, finds that voters are no longer feeling so rosy. When it comes to the economy, three out of four voters in Ohio say President Trump's policies have increased costs, and as 58 percent in the polls say that tariffs are a bad thing.

CNN Chief Data Analyst, Harry Enten is tracking all of the midterm numbers for us. Harry --

(LAUGH)

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: I have one camera. You have like 10 in that studio. That was --

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: That was President Trump hitting the gas on his campaign blitz and the camera moving because of it.

(LAUGH)

SANCHEZ: When it comes to the economy, Harry, another big issue for voters, data centers, the future of A.I. Talk to us about where the A.I. debate lands and where it's having the biggest impact on key Senate races.

ENTEN: Yeah, you know, it's obviously at this point, most of our focus is on the Senate, right? Because the Senate ultimately is the one in which we're not really quite sure which way it's going to go. We think the House is going to go Democrat. Of course, we'll have to wait and see. But if there is one state, one state where I'm really looking for the impact of A.I. and data centers, it's the state of Ohio.

It's the Buckeye State because the New York Times-Siena University of poll polled across all the key swing states, all the key Senate races, and the state in which the highest share of voters said across those swing states that, in fact, data centers was their most important issue. It was, in fact, the state of Ohio. You can see it right here.

It's in blue. It is an issue that Sherrod Brown, of course, the former Senator trying to become the next Senator from Ohio, has been running on. Data centers is huge in Ohio. A lot of money has been spent on data centers there in terms of the advertisements. So to me, this is the state where if data centers are going to have an impact, it is going to be the great state of Ohio, Boris.

SANCHEZ: A lot of money has also been spent on that bow tie. It looks absolutely luxurious, Harry. Very nice.

ENTEN: Thank you. I think this is the first time I've worn a tie on air since 2018 or something like that.

SANCHEZ: Very nice. Very nice.

ENTEN: I figured I'd do something special for you.

SANCHEZ: You may want to move it just up slightly, but it looks fantastic.

ENTEN: But what do I know about putting on ties anyway?

SANCHEZ: It looks great.

ENTEN: It's been like eight years since I wore one.

SANCHEZ: Listen, how do voters in Ohio, to get back to the point, feel about data centers generally? Do they welcome them?

ENTEN: No. No. I mean, no. They feel about them the same way that my ability is to put on a bow tie. Poor. Poor. I mean, look at this. I mean, just take a look here.

OK, Ohio, net support for data centers. Overall, it's 32 points, 32 points in the negative. And what about those non-college voters? Those are the voters, of course, that Donald Trump had really connected to in his three bids for the presidency in 2016, 2020, 2024 that allowed him to carry the state of Ohio all three times after Barack Obama had carried it twice.

And look at this, non-college voters, the net support for data centers. I mean, this is way down in the Ohio River. 38 points underwater. So no matter which way you splice it or slice it, what we're seeing is data centers is something that, of course, Democrats would want to run on, given that President Trump, of course, has been very much in support of them. And perhaps there's no clearer the case than the great state of Ohio.

SANCHEZ: So who then benefits from that sentiment among voters in terms of who's running for office?

ENTEN: You know, this is one of those issues, right, when it comes to data centers and A.I. that almost seem to pop up overnight, right? But one of the people who's been running hardest on it is Sherrod Brown, right? We spoke about him, trying to re-become a senator from the great state of Ohio.

And I mean, you can see it right here. OK, Ohio Senate trusts more in data centers. Overall, Sherrod Brown, by 10 points. That, in fact, I believe was the largest lead of any Democratic candidate across the key swing states that the New York Times polled, a 10-point advantage. And among the non-college voters, look at this. Sherrod Brown, by four, a group that overwhelmingly went for Donald Trump on the key issue of data centers.

They're trusting Sherrod Brown, even just a slight bit more, than you might expect given, of course, that non-college voters have been a base of the Republican Party during the Trump era. But when it comes to data centers, they are more likely to trust Sherrod Brown. I expect to continue to see him running on this election -- running on this issue in this election in the same way that I'm going to be running to take this bow tie off once we're off the air.

[14:05:00]

SANCHEZ: No.

HILL: No.

SANCHEZ: No, you better keep it on, Harry.

ENTEN: You want me to keep it?

SANCHEZ: Yes, keep it on.

ENTEN: You want me to keep it?

SANCHEZ: Yes.

ENTEN: I mean, look, maybe I could take -- this feels like a class picture. Maybe I could take it and send it to my mom and show her that I actually do have a job for a change.

SANCHEZ: Rock that and some jean shorts, you'll be killing it, man.

ENTEN: Oh, yeah.

SANCHEZ: Harry Enten, thank you so much.

ENTEN: Thank you, my friend.

HILL: Boris, you're putting him in jorts and a bow tie?

SANCHEZ: Jorts, why not? (inaudible).

HILL: It's a look. It's a look. We'll look for that tomorrow, maybe. Today, President Trump is defending his new deal with Vladimir Putin. That deal would temporarily lift U.S. sanctions and allow Russia to supply diesel to global markets.

The agreement, widely criticized from both sides of the aisle, would allow Russia to supply about 800,000 tons of diesel over the next couple of months. Today on Truth Social, Trump tried to justify that deal by claiming the European Union has paid Russia $250 billion for energy.

Now, it's important to note it's really not clear where the president got those numbers. The closest we could find is a resemblance to findings from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air, which shows that the E.U. has spent about $266 billion on Russian fossil fuels since Russia launched its war on Ukraine in 2022.

Now, it's also important to note here, in December of last year, the E.U. agreed to phase out Russian natural gas imports by late 2027 and also to move toward phasing out Russian oil.

Joining us now is Patrick De Haan. He's the Head of Petroleum Analysis for GasBuddy. Good to see you back with us today.

So, President Trump has said that Putin has agreed now to supply about six million barrels of diesel this month and next. So, that would cover about a day and a half of the U.S. demand. Will this deal actually result in lower prices for Americans, as President Trump has claimed?

PATRICK DE HAAN, HEAD OF PETROLEUM ANALYSIS, GASBUDDY: Certainly. I think that that is very complicated whether or not Russia even has this diesel that they're able to export outside of their country remains to be seen. I'm very skeptical that Russia simply has this amount of diesel sitting by. Of course, Ukraine has been continuing drone attacks in response to Russian attacks. And we've seen long lines for diesel in Russia.

So, I think that's problematic whether this supply exists. And then secondly, why the U.S. would be buying this when we are an exporter of diesel every day to the tune of 1.5 million barrels or so. The amount of diesel that we are said to be importing from Russia over time is less than a week's supply. This initial 300,000 tons is only about a day and a half of what we are producing as a nation on a daily basis.

So, there's just a lot of concerns. Ultimately, this is not going to move the needle much. Again, only a day and a half of supply. This is not something that's going to have a material impact. It may have a psychological impact until the market unpacks whether or not this diesel is actually coming from Russia or not.

HILL: But bottom line, it seems to be that the math isn't mathing here. When we talk about where things stand, as I noted, the E.U. has been making this concerted effort to move away from Russian energy, agreeing to phase out Russian natural gas imports by late 2027.

How could this impact those efforts, this potential deal?

DE HAAN: Well, look, I think Europe has been certainly tightening its regulatory environment when it comes to things like natural gas, even things like gasoline and diesel. So, they may have to go a little bit backwards. They still may need to rely on Russia or, if not the U.S. or the Middle East.

Of course, those are a little bit fraught, at least the Strait of Hormuz essentially still being closed, Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia raising risks. So, you know, Europe may have a hard time figuring out where to get its energy supply from in light of the Strait of Hormuz. It certainly can get an increasing amount of natural gas from the United States.

But it may still have some reliance on Russia because of a lack of its own ability to refine things and to produce things like gasoline and diesel. So, you know, Europe, that could be a struggle this winter, of course, if it's warmer than normal, that certainly could help them. But all in all, Europe has been moving away from refining, and that certainly has put them in harm's way when refining now globally is very challenged.

HILL: Yes. So, we have that deal initially announced. And then we had the president yesterday saying that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to what he described as an energy ceasefire which, you know, ties into all of this understandably.

Ukraine's president said, look, Russia already violated this. They're continuing to go after our energy infrastructure. What impact, though, could, if there was some sort of a sustained energy ceasefire, what impact could that have on global energy supply and prices?

DE HAAN: Well, both parties are made aware of what the president's referring to. There might be some movement. But as you mentioned, this lasted a mere hours. If there is meaningful movement, it's still likely we'll take Russia weeks or months to fix their refineries, getting them back online.

And keep in mind, there's always the question of whether or not those sanctions that many Western countries have on Russia is going to be problematic for getting those refineries back online. So, once Ukraine slows down attacks in response to Russian attacks, then they can start rebuilding, retooling their refineries. [14:10:00]

But even at best, I think that's going to extend well beyond the U.S. midterms, the focus point that the president has made in many of these deals.

HILL: Patrick De Haan, always appreciate your insight. Thank you.

DE HAAN: Thank you.

HILL: Still ahead here this hour, President Trump now considering U.S. military involvement following those deadly strikes at a Saudi airport. So what this could mean for continued tensions in the Middle East.

Plus, more rain from what's left of Tropical Storm Rachel now targeting already some parts of the Southwest. We're keeping a close watch on the flood risk there.

And Pope Leo preparing for surgery to remove a growth on his lung. What we know about that procedure and his recovery, and much more ahead on "CNN News Central."

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[14:15:21]

SANCHEZ: President Trump is considering getting U.S. forces involved after deadly attacks on one of Saudi Arabia's largest airports. New video shows the chilling moment one of those deadly strikes hit Riyadh's King Khalid International on Saturday. We should warn you, the video contains graphic content.

From the security camera, you can see passengers lining up to board their flights when a missile hits the airport terminal. The explosion causing part of the ceiling to collapse as passengers cover their heads and scramble for safety. That attack by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen killed 13 and was followed by a second strike on the airport yesterday that killed one additional person.

Hundreds more were injured in the attacks. The airport remains closed until further notice.

Let's discuss with retired Army Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, also a former Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs under President George W. Bush.

General, thank you so much for being with us.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Sure.

SANCHEZ: So King Khalid is Saudi Arabia's second biggest airport.

KIMMITT: Right.

SANCHEZ: How capable are the Saudis of defending against these kinds of attacks?

KIMMITT: Well, what they're going to need to do is reposition some of their air defense assets. Obviously, they used most of it to protect their infrastructure in some of their large population areas. Probably didn't have a lot surrounding its own airports. You can bet they're going to put it there now.

SANCHEZ: After weeks of declining to do so, President Trump is now saying that he's considering whether there should be U.S. involvement against the Houthis in Yemen. Walk us through the pros and cons of getting the U.S. directly involved.

KIMMITT: Well, the most important thing is how we go back in there. Look, I think it's important for the audience to know that the forces of the legitimate government of Yemen are making progress on the ground. If we're going to support, we ought to support, as we used to say, by, with, and through the Yemeni forces. Not do it ourselves, but give the Yemeni forces intelligence capability, perhaps some air support, certainly some logistics support.

I don't think we're going to see American troops on the ground.

SANCHEZ: What is the risk of engaging against the Houthis the way that the U.S. did back in 2025 more directly with strikes?

KIMMITT: Well, it's not the danger as much as it is the ineffectiveness of trying to defeat an enemy from the air. It has to be done from the ground. My air force compatriots may disagree with that, but at the same time, I think it's going to be these ground forces of the Yemeni army that are going to make the difference.

SANCHEZ: I wonder how this fits into the broader picture, because a big part of the reason this is happening now is Iran trying to exert more influence over energy flows through the region, right? The Bab al-Mandab Strait, which the Houthis have been targeting. It's essentially the way that the Saudis have been bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.

So could the U.S. use this potentially as an opportunity to put more pressure on Tehran?

KIMMITT: Well, I certainly think so. And it's not just the United States. I think it could very well be that the Iranians also had back of mind the Mecca Pact that was signed. So now Iran, Pakistan -- Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey are now there to defend KSA, and it could very well be that the Iranians are testing that out as well, testing that pact out as well.

SANCHEZ: Saudi Arabia ended a longstanding partnership to fend off the Houthis with the United Arab Emirates late last year. Do you think this is an indication to Mohammed bin Salman, if President Trump doesn't get more involved, that he's perhaps over relied on the United States for security?

KIMMITT: Well, I think it's important to understand that the Saudis and the Emiratis fought together against the Houthis about 10 years ago, weren't very successful. They came out, the Houthis survived. It makes a whole lot of difference when you start to have, not simply the United States, but a coalition of countries that see the importance of the Bab al-Mandeb, and as a result, are trying to help KSA, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in that regard. It not only helps Saudi Arabia, but it helps international traffic.

SANCHEZ: General Mark Kimmitt, appreciate the perspective. Thanks for joining us.

KIMMITT: Thanks.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Still plenty more news to come this afternoon. Hurricane Simon roaring off the coast of Mexico, threatening to bring ferocious wind, flooding and possible mudslides.

Here in the U.S., flood watches are in effect across the Southwest, caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel. We've got your forecast coming up in just a couple minutes.

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[14:24:32]

HILL: Across Utah and Arizona, people are dealing with the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel. The storm, of course, dissipating at this hour. Its impact though across the region will be remembered for a long time. Take a look at some of these images we have for you. This actually out of Long Beach, California, homes along the coastline there. You can just see the destruction and the serious damage there, a total loss likely for number of those homes.

[14:25:00]

In Mexico, Hurricane Simon just skirting the Pacific Coast and you can see what happened there. Communities, tourist areas, really preparing for the storm's wrath. CNN's Allison Chinchar is following all of these storms for us, all these developments.

So first of all, let's start in the southwest, Alison.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, so that's right. Again, over the weekend, the storm was making its way up towards the Baja California coast.

You can kind of see where it moved inland. And even though it technically did not make landfall per se over California, it pushed a lot of moisture into these areas and not just southern California, but Arizona, Nevada, all of the southwest really was able to see a significant surge of moisture as it kind of pushed up through those general areas.

And here we can kind of take a look at some of those totals, pretty decent total, several places even picking up half a foot of rain in total before the system has kindly, at least mostly moved out of the area. But you also have a few others that picked up several inches. I know two inches may not sound like all that much in terms of rainfall, especially if you live east of the Mississippi. The key thing here, though, is for some of these areas, that is more than a month's worth of rain that some of these areas got in just about a day or two.

When you look at the radar, we do still have some areas that are dealing with the heavy showers, although most of it right now is relatively light, especially over areas of southern California. But that moisture is spreading well away from the southwest. We've got a trough that's off to the north, and what that's doing is it's pulling up a lot of that moisture.

So you even have rain and, yes, even some snow showers across portions of Idaho, areas of Montana. And it was that way yesterday. It's continuing into the day today. So a lot of these areas are going to continue to see some of that moisture.

Now, these are the flood watches. This has trimmed considerably in the last 24 hours, not nearly as many people under that risk as we were yesterday. But the risk is not zero. You still have any of these areas that are in the green color have that potential for the flooding as we go through the rest of the day today. And it's not just today, but even going into tomorrow, you'll see a lot more of those showers still kind of lingering, especially across places like Utah and into Colorado where you're still going to pick up at least a little bit of extra.

For today, though, however, this is going to be the area that still has that potential for excessive rainfall, keeping in mind that for some of these areas, that ground is saturated. You still have a lot of moisture that was left from yesterday. Now we're just adding more rain on top of it.

So that is going to be a concern for the rest of the day today, and especially through the overnight hours.

HILL: Absolutely. Can we also touch on Hurricane Simon, which could impact Mexico? Where do things stand with that storm?

CHINCHAR: Yeah. So we take a look at this particular storm. This was a very strong potent storm over the weekend. It has weakened slightly now down to a Category 2 storm, winds just above 100 miles per hour.

The interesting thing with this storm is it's very small. So even though it is expected to kind of approach the coast, we're not really talking about incredibly strong winds making it very far inland. The big concern may end up being just the rainfall as it kind of slides up the coast.

Now, this is the official national hurricane center track, and it does actually pull it back into Mexico several days from now, because this is very, very slow moving. But it does actually have an actual landfall in a few days. The interesting thing to note about this one, though, is that the models are kind of skewed. Some of them actually have it going back out to the west and not making a landfall. So this is certainly something we're going to have to keep a close eye on in the coming days, because where that track ultimately ends up going is going to have a big influence on exactly how much rain some of these areas end up getting as we finish out the rest of the week.

HILL: Absolutely. Keeping you very busy, and it's only Monday. Allison, appreciate it. Thank you.

Still ahead here, Elon Musk going big on the midterm, spending hundreds of millions of dollars to boost Republican races. Can his money actually tip 3the balance of power?

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