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Talarico Makes His Case to Texas Voters at CNN Town Hall; Trump Approval Rating Hits New Low in Fox News Poll; U.S. Considering Using Mother of All Bombs Against Iran; Judge Limited Justice Department Access to Rep. Omar's Records. Aired 8:00-8:30a ET

Aired October 15, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: ... and that is because this area actually got a decent amount of moisture. You're looking at the last five days. A lot of this moisture was from Tropical Storm Rachel over the weekend.

That has allowed the ground in some of these areas to be a little bit more saturated, making it a little bit tougher. You know, if you have some fires that come through there to kind of spark, the ground is not quite as dry as it is up north. Notice these are the same areas you just saw on that previous map with the rain where they didn't have any.

So these are really going to be the target points for where we have that increased fire risk just because the ground is very dry in these locations, but it's not just simply being dry. You also have to factor in the wind, and they are going to be very gusty for today, not just in Southern California, but several of the surrounding states as well. That's why you have all of these wind alerts in effect for these areas, many of which will continue into Friday as well.

When we talk about it again, it's that high pressure that kind of builds into the Great Basin and that's going to allow those winds to get up around 50 to even 60 miles per hour.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, you know, we've been talking so much about hurricanes and different things and flooding events, and now we're talking about fires again in California. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar, it is a pleasure. Thank you so much.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The key moments from Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico in a unique CNN town hall event. Was he able to move voters on the fence and could he make modern history in Texas?

An all-time low. A new poll shows the president with his lowest approval rating ever, and there is one voting group where the shifts have been almost impossibly gargantuan.

And a mysterious car pulls up to a California TV station in the middle of the night before someone pulls out a gun and opens fire. This is the second time the TV station has been shot at in less than a week.

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The showdown in the Lone Star State with just 19 days now until the midterms. The Texas Senate race is no doubt one of the most closely watched races in the battle to control the Senate. Democrat James Talarico versus Republican Ken Paxton.

Last night, Talarico faced voters at a town hall hosted by CNN and Jubilee. Now, CNN offered the same to Paxton. That invitation still stands.

Talarico has recently faced a swirl of conspiracy theories from the right after he said that the flu knocked him off the campaign trail for a series of days. He's also faced questions on -- he faced questions on that and also about his past comments, some of his past comments about God and gender that have sparked controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES TALARICO, (D) TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATE: That decision to stay home for a week sent my opponent and his conspiracy theorists spiraling. Conspiracy theories don't put food on the table. They don't put gas in the tank.

The first comment about God not being defined by gender, when I said that I was being provocative and I want to admit that and come clean about that, we have an opportunity in this race not just to defeat the most corrupt politician in Texas. We have an opportunity to defeat this entire corrupt system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: There is a lot riding on this race, to say the least. Texas hasn't elected a Democrat to the Senate in more than 30 years. And according to the most recent polling right now, what's known is there is no clear leader in this race.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is live this morning in Fort Worth, Texas. Jeff, what else stood out to you about the town hall? What voters ask and how Talarico handled it?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Hey Kate, good morning. I mean, it was an extraordinary back and forth, not an ordinary town hall at all. A Senate candidate, James Talarico, they're sitting literally across a table from some supporters but from skeptics as well.

There was a fascinating segment called Change My Mind. It was an opportunity for members of the audience to come and directly confront or ask a question of the candidate. And one of the most interesting exchanges came on a question on the subject of abortion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TALARICO: We're both Christians and the Bible is silent on the issue of abortion. It means you and I both have to look at different scriptures to try to come to a conclusion. But what I think we can do is actually come together on reducing the number of unplanned pregnancies and the number of abortions.

Because if we treat this issue as a public health problem and not a culture war problem, then we can actually make progress together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: And in real time, in the moment, Jodi Hunt, the voter there sitting across the table from Talarico, disagreed with him.

[08:05:00]

She said that she believes that abortion is wrong. It is in the Bible, in her view. She said it's in the Ten Commandments, thou shall not kill. But after the town hall, our colleague Erin Burnett asked her what she thought of the exchange, and she said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JODI HUNT, FARMER AND PROFESSOR: I found a more balanced politician. I was surprised at how centrist he was on many of the issues. And I think that has brought me to a deeper understanding.

It's caused some things for me to think, well, let me rethink that. And let me, you know, and I liked his -- I liked that he responded to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So what was so interesting and different about this town hall, it was an opportunity to hear from undecided voters and independents and Republicans as well. Now it's an open question how many of these James Talarico can put in this coalition he is trying to build, but it does underscore what he is trying to do here in his race with Ken Paxton.

Now Ken Paxton is the Texas attorney general. He has a long string of controversies. He was impeached by the Texas House, not convicted by the Senate, but really was not the nominee that many Republican leaders were looking for. That's why this race is so competitive and so expensive.

So the bottom line to all of this, yes, James Talarico was clearly trying to correct and clean up some of his previous comments when he was a state legislator in Austin. But he said, look, he is not too liberal for Texas. Of course, voters will decide that.

He is announcing this morning, though, that he had a record fundraising in the third quarter, raising some $64 million. An eye popping figure. However, Republicans still have an overwhelming spending advantage on ads here in Texas -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: And they're spending so much money in Texas this cycle. It's good to see you. Thank you so much, Jeff -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. We're going to assess this and much more. Joining us now is White House correspondent for Semafor, Shelby Talcott.

Thank you so much for being here. Look, Talarico was clear he didn't have any problem with bucking his own party. He talked about his faith.

He talked about bringing prices down, what he would immediately do. But you heard there one of the constituents saying she was kind of surprised at how moderate he was. Do you think that this is going to change minds, that it will be actually moderate voices that might really aid a potential blue wave?

SHELBY TALCOTT, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, SEMAFOR: I think I think certainly there are going to be some voters who might have been convinced last night after hearing particularly him address a lot of those shifting stances that really the Republican Party have tried really hard to call him out on. But I've talked to people about this race specifically and really the midterms writ large. And the general consensus is there's not a lot of votes left, right? This is such a sort of politicized time in U.S. politics in general that the vast majority of voters are already firmly decided. And really the fight is between that maybe two and three percent.

But in a race like this, that really matters,

SIDNER: Within the margin of error right now. Let's go to some Fox polling that came out. These are quite abysmal numbers for the president. Trump has said, look, essentially nothing he can do can lose MAGA to lose those supporters.

But this Fox poll suggests that there are bigger problems for Republicans and it goes far beyond the base. Trump's approval is now at 36 percent. And Democrats have opened up basically a nine point lead in the generic congressional ballot.

But the decline, interestingly, is due in part to a decrease in voters who are under the age of 45. So younger voters, nonwhite voters and those without college degrees. How important were those voters to Trump in the first place?

TALCOTT: I mean, they were hugely important because one of the really big reasons that this president won in 2024 was because he really branched out of the traditional sort of Republican base and he was able to get a lot of voters that Republicans historically have not been able to get. And part of that was him going to sort of the podcast bros and speaking to them. And a lot of them have expressed frustration with him over the past few months.

He was able to energize younger voters by going to football games and sporting events. And so you're seeing that whole base. He was able to get the Hispanic vote.

That whole base is sort of really frustrated with him. And I think it's across the board. One of the interesting things that I saw about that Fox News poll was, of course, the inflation aspect.

So many voters are frustrated about the cost of living right now. And that's not necessarily surprising, but I think it's really important to point out because it speaks to what voters are going to be focused on when they head to the ballot in just a few weeks. And that's something that the Trump administration you've seen as he's rallying across the country try to address.

The question is, are the initiatives that this administration are bringing up over the past few weeks to address the cost of living crisis, to address gas prices and diesel prices? Is it going to be enough? Because a lot of those initiatives are for the next few years.

You're not going to necessarily see the impact in the next week or two.

[08:10:00]

SIDNER: Right. Look, 47 percent of voters say they are voting to oppose the president, compared with just 25 percent who were saying they're voting to support him. And the president keeps insisting to pretend that he's on the ballot. That is, of course, making some Republicans very uncomfortable.

The question is, will voters view Republicans just as an extension of, you know, the Trump administration in the Senate and congressional races, or will they see them as, look, this is they tend to say, look, this is our person in our state. We trust them.

TALCOTT: I think it depends on the race. And it also depends on how effective Democrats are in getting that message out, because that's certainly the message that Democrats want to send to voters, right? Is that any Republican running right now is an extension of the Trump presidency.

Now, what the White House is trying to do is they believe that the president has this core group of voters who only turn out typically for him and are not really interested in in other elections. And so their thinking is, if we can get the president out across the country and convince those voters that 20, 30 percent of voter base who are really just fans of the president to get out and vote when he's not on the ballot, then that can make the difference in what could otherwise be a really tough midterm race for Republicans.

SIDNER: It is trying to push an enthusiasm gap here. Shelby Talcott, it is good to have you. Thank you for coming on, appreciate it.

TALCOTT: Thanks.

SIDNER: Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up, the mother of all bombs, as it is called. New CNN reporting about plans by the U.S. military to now potentially use the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal on Iran.

And very soon the release of new key inflation data that we're standing by for. What the new numbers could tell you about the state of the economy now.

And more than a ton of stolen watermelons, how police uncovered this bizarre heist.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Breaking overnight, new video shows a cargo ship sinking in the Strait of Hormuz after being hit by an unknown projectile. Iran has not claimed responsibility for a strike. This is the second ship, though, in just the past 24 hours to sink after being hit.

And it comes as CNN has exclusive new reporting that the U.S. military is looking at a new strike plan against Iran, considering now using what is known as the mother of all bombs to hit Iranian nuclear and energy sites. Let's get right to CNN's Zach Cohen, who's got this new reporting. Zach, what are you learning?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, John, President Donald Trump and his advisers have spent months discussing options that they could at least message to the American people as a definitive end to the war with Iran. And absent of a diplomatic resolution and also keenly aware of how unpopular that war has become, the U.S. military has been tasked with developing fresh strike plans, a menu of options, so to speak, for President Donald Trump to choose from if he does ultimately greenlight a resumption of combat operations. And among those options, we're told by multiple sources, include potentially using what is known as the mother of all bombs or the MOAB.

It's a massive ordnance bomb. It is used primarily against surface area targets. But the idea here is that it also inflicts psychological effects on the enemy.

It's a weapon that President Donald Trump was actually the first president to deploy in battle back during his first term. And it does capture sort of this moment that we're in with the Iran war as the president facing the upcoming midterm elections and the prospect of the Iran war hurting his Republican Party's chances of winning, but also really wary of the advice he's getting from some advisers who just simply declare victory and remove U.S. troops from the region, saying that the U.S. has unfinished business. But still, those strategic goals that he and his top administration officials have laid out over the course of this conflict still remain open, and they have not been accomplished yet to date.

But listen to what President Donald Trump said last night about the conflict with Iran and when he thinks it could end.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's never been -- it's a golden age of America, and the Iran war will end very soon. It's going to end very soon, as soon as I want it to end, it'll end. But it's going to end very soon. They'll never have a nuclear weapon, and oil prices will drop like a rock.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So the question here, and this overlaps with our reporting, is whether or not the Iran war will end with some sort of a symbolic declaration of victory and an attempt to do so by the president. That's something we've been told by multiple sources that he and his advisers have been looking at. Or whether the U.S. military attempts to carry out something that a source characterized as a firework show, providing a big spectacle of a military operation, then quickly allowing Donald Trump to attempt to declare victory and remove U.S. troops from the region. But John, this is still a very prominent issue, particularly as the midterms approach, but also waiting to see what President Donald Trump does after those elections are over.

BERMAN: Look, and he's obviously keenly aware of the political implications of this, as he has said in the past that he would not attack Iran again before the midterms. Zach Cohen, good reporting on this. Thank you very much -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, John. Coming up, Ukraine's president says strikes will resume on Russian oil refineries after accusing President Trump of betraying Kyiv.

And new details this morning on the Justice Department's criminal investigation into Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, how the government is trying to expand their investigation.

Those stories and more ahead.

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: This morning we're learning new details on the Trump administration's investigation into Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Sources are telling CNN that the White House pushed for an unusually aggressive search of her home in recent days, and that a federal judge ultimately limited parts of that investigation related to access to documents. Congresswoman Omar is accused of changing her age in 2000 to help speed up her citizenship process.

She has denied any wrongdoing. Joining me now is CNN's Katelyn Polantz. Katelyn, what are you learning about this investigation?

Of course, there have been a lot of questions about the timing of this, but now we're starting to see some of the details that investigators are looking into.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Questions about timing, but Sara, what we're learning, and this is from many sources, speaking to Evan Perez, Jake Tapper, and I, about how this search came about. The way it came about is that the Justice Department wanted to treat the home of Representative Ilhan Omar, a sitting congresswoman, they wanted to treat it like any other search. That's not how it works under the law.

And so when they went to the federal court in D.C. for approval for this search, they had to get a warrant to go and send those HSI agents, Homeland Security investigators, to the home of Representative Omar on Monday to search and seize boxes, take documents out. The judge said, you actually do have to set up a process to make sure you're not accessing her legislative materials. She can't just be treated as if this were anyone's home.

[08:25:00]

There could be legislative work there, and the Constitution protects that for members of Congress, especially in criminal investigations. And so there was a back and forth that went on for several days with this judge and with the Justice Department before he was willing to sign this search warrant. Highly unusual in the way that that went down.

The other thing we're learning, Sara, this morning, is about what this investigation is. It's an immigration fraud investigation. There are questions about when Representative Omar, when she naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2000, was her age stated correctly. At the time, her father, who was helping her apply for citizenship, said that she was a minor. There is a question and an allegation by the Justice Department that she could have possibly lied about that. And then since then, that lie could have been re-upped on other federal paperwork, something like passport applications.

So this is a question of an investigation that dates back many, many years, but they are looking at more recent activity by Representative Omar on documentation about her immigration -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, Katelyn Polantz, I know you're going to be watching all of this as it goes forward. Really important story. Kate, thank you so much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: We're standing by for new inflation data. What signs it may offer and send about issue number one, the economy, before voters prepare -- as voters prepare to cast their ballots.

And a new look at how younger voters think President Trump is doing, as his overall approval rating is hitting a new low. We'll be right back.

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