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U.S. Considering Using Mother of All Bombs on Iran?; Ukraine- U.S. Feud Escalates; Trump Approval Rating Hits New Low. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 15, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Polling problem. The president's approval rating hits its lowest point in new polling across his two terms in office, a bleak number as he tries to persuade voters to keep a Republican majority in Congress.

And reinforcements in Michigan, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hitting the campaign trail for Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El- Sayed, while his opponent, former Congressman Mike Rogers, gets some help from the vice president. Election Day is just 19 days away.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And a CNN exclusive, how the Pentagon is weighing using a powerful weapon, the so-called Mother of All Bombs, against Iran.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: With President Trump's midterm push in high gear, new numbers out from FOX News finds his approval hitting an all-time low, 36 percent, now the lowest rating the president has ever had in a FOX poll.

And when it comes to the issue the voters say they care most about, it gets worse. Today, only 29 percent of registered voters say they approve of how he's handling the economy. In the meantime, the gloves are off in Michigan. Today, all eyes are on a key race as Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez campaigns with Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Here in just hours, Vice President J.D. Vance will visit the state to rally for Michigan Republicans.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is live for us now at the White House, where President Trump is off the campaign trail today.

Kristen, first, any reaction to this new polling?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're hearing the same thing from the White House that we have heard time and time again, President Trump saying that these polls are not right, that they are fake.

But we are out there talking to everyday Americans, and they are very real that these are things that they are concerned about, things that they care about, particularly when it comes to the economy. So let's take a look at the FOX poll as a whole, because this is all about President Trump's approval versus disapproval rate on -- on issues that Americans care about, one, the economy, which you put up there.

Only 29 percent of people approve, 70 percent of people disapproving Trump's handling of the economy. Inflation, which goes into that, 22 percent approve of his handling of it, 77 percent do not approve. Border security, see about breaking even there. That's obviously President Trump's biggest issue, border security, immigration as a whole.

So he is getting 50/50 there, which is not what the White House would like to see. They'd like to see it much higher than 50 percent, since that is a key issue for him. And then you have foreign policy, likely looking at tariff policy, the trade war, and the war in Iran, 35 percent of Americans actually approving of that, and 64 percent of Americans disapproving.

So the second part of this FOX poll now is how Americans are going to vote, what they are most concerned about as they head to the polls, and this will show you likely the breakdown here as to why people are not approving of President Trump's handling of all of these various issues, or approve of his handling of this job overall, because you have corruption in government there.

That is something they are extremely concerned about, 88 percent. Inflation and high prices, we know that it's still really the number one issue driving voters out, 85 percent, and gas prices 83 percent. These are all things that people pin on the Trump administration or President Trump as a whole, talking about the war in Iran, seeing that direct link to inflation, high prices, gas prices especially.

Now, I kind of want to show you the bottom of this list, which is what they care least about, because this is something that we have heard the administration touting. Voter suppression, only 62 percent of voters care about that, border security 56. They, again, would love to see that border security number much higher.

They believe that's one of their greatest accomplishments. And then voter fraud, which is something we know that the president has touted, they have talked a lot about these fraud tasks force, that's already just at 52 percent.

So, all of this to show you that, if people feel this way and they feel this way about President Trump's handling of these issues, and these are the issues that are driving them out to the polls, it does look as though it's going to be an incredibly painful twist for those Republicans heading into the midterms, which, again, is why you're seeing President Trump out there on the road trying to gain enthusiasm with Republican voters.

[13:05:05] KEILAR: And, Kristen, another important headline that we're following today, what is the president now saying about the planned execution of the Fort Hood shooter?

HOLMES: Well, he's saying it's not going to be livestreamed.

And we actually knew this consideration was coming. Our colleague Alayna Treene had an enormous amount of reporting on this. But he did post this after all this consideration.

He said: "I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the world to witness how America deals with terrorists and scum like Hasan, but many very good and well- meaning people would rather not watch him die through streaming or through any other visual device."

So there will be a private viewing for families who are impacted, whose family members died, but they are no longer going to stream this execution.

KEILAR: All right, Kristen Holmes, thank you so much -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Today, we're getting new predictions for several critical U.S. Senate matchups, as Democrats try to flip the Upper Chamber. That includes the race in normally ruby-red Kansas, where Republican Senator Roger Marshall faces an increasingly tough battle against Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton.

Joining us now is one of the country's top elections forecasters, the director of the Center for Politics at University of Virginia, Larry Sabato.

Larry, as always, thank you so much for joining us.

So you see this Kansas Senate race as a toss-up, even though a Democrat hasn't won a Senate seat there since -- in about a century or so. Why has Adam Hamilton put this seat in play?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Well, he's mainly put it into play because he's a very good candidate. And, after all, he's a megachurch pastor, which is not something you normally associate with Democratic nominees.

But it's Kansas. He's been a Republican for much of his life. He's got conservative views on some issues. But, mainly, it's because of the same issues affecting everywhere else. It's about prices and inflation and the unpopular and unsuccessful war in Iran and corruption and all the other things that your correspondents were just running through.

SANCHEZ: I want to ask you about another state where we usually don't see Democrats running so closely to their Republican rivals, Mississippi. A Democratic Senate candidate, Scott Colom, is out with a new ad. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The price of beef continuing to go up.

SEN. CINDY HYDE-SMITH (R-MS): But, you know, you have so many proteins to choose from.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pick another protein? (EXPLETIVE DELETED) I'd rather pick another senator instead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pick another protein? She done lost her damn mind. I'd rather pick another senator.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: It's been 44 years since that state has elected a Democratic U.S. senator. Is there reason for Democrats to get their hopes up?

SABATO: There's reason for them to see that Democrats are doing reasonably well in places where they really shouldn't be doing well or never do well. You mentioned Kansas, but Mississippi is another one. I don't personally believe that the Democrat is going to manage to win that race.

But the fact of the matter is, some private numbers and comments by people who really know Mississippi politics suggest that, again, those same issues that are hurting Trump and hurting the Republicans across the country are even having an impact in places as conservative and Republican-oriented as Mississippi.

So, that ad kind of demonstrates that, if you make a dumb comment and you're an incumbent Senator, you can pay for it in the right year, and this is the right year for Democrats, even in a place like Mississippi.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris is going to be stumping for Democratic Senate nominee Chris Pappas in New Hampshire, a state that Harris won by 3 percentage points. How do you see that race shaping up and potentially Harris' influence?

SABATO: We have never had New Hampshire as a toss-up. It has never been a toss-up. This is the kind of year when a Democrat, especially a congressman like Chris Pappas, is going to win. You can argue about the percentage, but he's doing better than he was, and he wasn't doing that badly, even when some were saying it was a toss-up.

So I'd say this is a likely Democratic race. We moved it from lean Democrat to likely Democrat.

SANCHEZ: And Nebraska, Senator Pete Ricketts getting a tough challenge from independent Dan Osborn. I spoke to Osborn last week. He's reticent to say who he would caucus with if he winds up winning and getting to Washington.

I wonder what issues you think are motivating voters in this race and how you view Osborn's sort of tilt away from Democrats.

SABATO: I don't want to become too much of a broken record.

It is kind of the same, inflation and war and corruption. But it's also the fact that, in a lot of places, and including some blue places, by the way, Boris as well as red, voters are tiring over time of the fact that they are developing or have developed a one-party system, and the people always elect the same party.

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And it leads to corruption and arrogance, and it also leads to occasionally, under the right set of circumstances, voters considering the other party. Now, this isn't a party. Dan Osborn is an independent, but they're thinking about it, just as they are in Kansas and Montana and a few other states.

SANCHEZ: So, when you look at the big picture, Larry, are Democrats in your mind, from the numbers, on track to take back the Senate, or should they perhaps temper expectations?

SABATO: They're on track to at least tie the Senate. And, of course, that means Republicans still connect. They still will dominate because the vice president breaks a tie. They could also get very easily 51-49 in their favor, but, of course, they'd have to worry about Senator Fetterman, who splits his votes between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.

But, Boris, it's no longer what it was on January 1, when everybody said, not a chance in this world Democrats can control the Senate. I think it's a little better than 50/50 as we sit here today.

SANCHEZ: Well, quite an interesting picture you paint.

Larry Sabato, thanks for joining us.

SABATO: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Still to come this afternoon, a CNN exclusive: growing fears the White House is turning the screws on Ukraine. Sources say the country has run out of the U.S.-made Patriot missiles it uses to defend itself against Russian attacks.

Plus, more reporting you will only see here on CNN. Under mounting pressure to end the war in Iran, we're learning President Trump is considering deploying what's referred to as the Mother of All Bombs.

And, later, why eight states are now suing OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, alleging the tech giant deceived parents. We have got the details in just moments.

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KEILAR: We do have some exclusive new reporting now, sources telling CNN Ukraine has run out of U.S.-made Patriot defense missiles, leaving it more vulnerable to Russian ballistic missile attacks. On Wednesday, Russia struck three power plants in the capital, in

Kyiv, killing four people and injuring more than two dozen others, a source telling CNN that almost all the ballistic missiles in the latest strike got through because Ukraine lacked the interceptor missiles needed to shoot them down.

And chances of Ukraine getting more us supplies appear slim amid a new clash between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Trump. Zelenskyy says he feels betrayed by Trump's deal with Russia to import its diesel fuel.

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PIERS MORGAN, FOX NATION HOST: Do you feel betrayed by what has been happening?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Really, yes, really, between us. But, I mean, it's a little bit more complicated than just my emotions or my feelings.

Yes, it depends not on my -- not on me. I mean, this -- our country has to survive. And we count on our real partners, strategic partners, United States.

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KEILAR: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has more of this exclusive reporting.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, this is certainly a perilous time for the already fractious and sort of seesaw relationship that he has with President Trump.

Clearly, the last 10 days has set Ukraine on a path where it believes the United States is no longer going to act as ally, and indeed that Zelenskyy should call that out. He's also been today referring in an interview with a British publication called "The Financial Times" about President Trump's well-known fondness for essentially dictators who stay in power for decades.

Clearly, Zelenskyy now in a position where he may see some kind of fiery reaction from the U.S. president. But how did we get there and where does this leave Ukraine? Look, it's important to point out that we're looking now at a Ukraine that, as according to a source familiar with the situation has told Victoria Butenko in Kyiv, has run out of Patriot interceptor missiles.

Ultimately, the U.S. is the biggest supplier manufacturer of those. They have had a similar crisis back in August when I was last there, and then some European states rushed to assist and fill a slight gap. That's run out. That's crisis number one.

The next big ballistic missile attack against Ukraine will not be intercepted, it seems, at this point. Secondly, it appears that, after the tensions of the last week or so, the United States has begun to restrict some technology and possibly intelligence, according to Ukrainian officials.

The key one here is the fact that Ukrainian officials say they haven't received the early warnings about Russian ballistic missile launches that they have relied upon for years now. They're the reason why sirens sound, and they're the reason why people get minutes to get to the shelter.

They say they have not been receiving those for some time now, although President Trump has publicly stated there's been no stoppage in intelligence sharing. Over the past few days too, we have had this issue about the speeds, the flying speeds at which Starlink dishes, useful for long-range attack drones, medium-range, and also some defensive drones, the speeds at which some of those Starlinks can function.

That appears to have been a bit of a blip that seems to be being rectified, although Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX is behind those Starlinks, has, interestingly, distanced himself from the decision process around that, saying it's the U.S. government, the White House that make it, but clarifying he doesn't really want Starlink dishes used in offensive operations, so a bit of a mess there in terms of operation on the front line being interrupted.

But all of this comes after the diesel deal and the energy cease-fire, which President Trump announced. He said that hundreds of thousands of Russian barrels of diesel would suddenly be on the market, a bid to get prices down at the pump, although many analysts say that would be a tough one.

And he also declared an energy cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine said that was the first they'd heard about it, and Russia bombed Ukrainian energy infrastructure a matter of hours later. We're in a very messy place here.

But strip all this aside, ultimately, it's Ukrainians now facing another sleepless night without interceptors or ballistic intelligence warnings, ultimately from the United States, they say, so a very dangerous moment here for Ukrainians and in that vital relationship between Zelenskyy and Trump.

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KEILAR: Our thanks to Nick Paton Walsh for that report.

And next: Sources say President Trump is considering using a bomb developed for psychological operations against Iran. What we know about the Pentagon's plans.

Plus, we're live in Rome, where the pope is recovering after having part of his lung removed. We have the latest on his condition.

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SANCHEZ: Now to some exclusive new CNN reporting. The U.S. military is considering using the so-called Mother of All Bombs on Iran, according to multiple U.S. officials familiar with the matter, as President Trump faces increasing pressure to end a deeply unpopular war.

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Sources say the president is considering using the powerful weapon to target Iran's energy infrastructure and nuclear sites, including Pickaxe Mountain. U.S. officials familiar with the planning say there are serious doubts, though, over how effective that would be, because this bomb, which is capable of destroying the equivalent of nine city blocks, does the majority of its damage on the surface, not underground.

CNN senior national security reporter Zach Cohen is here with more.

Zach, this bomb was developed as a psychological weapon. So, under what context would it be used in Iran?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Boris, based on the phrasing of these new strike packages that the military has developed in recent weeks, sources tell us that it seems to suggest that the Trump administration could try to use this Mother of All Bombs in an effort to create a scenario where Trump could then quickly declare victory and then essentially pull U.S. forces out of the region.

And the prevailing concern here -- beyond the potential for civilian casualties and the likelihood that it would likely, almost certainly prompt a strong response from the Iranians if it were used, the concern is whether this munition is actually the right tool to use to hit the kind of targets that are being identified in these strike packages.

And that includes these underground facilities at places like Pickaxe Mountain, where the U.S. officials believe Iran is storing some components related to its nuclear weapons program. And it's something that officials acknowledge that is beyond the capability of the current U.S. munitions arsenal.

And so the alternative here is to use something like the Mother of All Bombs as sort of a more performative munition, one that would send a message, effectively, and also have that psychological effect that you're talking about that more conventional munitions don't.

So this would line up with the fact that we're also told that President Donald Trump for months has been talking to advisers about trying to find some sort of a definitive -- a way to cultivate a definitive end to this war, even if it's just for messaging purposes.

And the optics here are really what's important to the president, it seems, sources saying that he has really been wary of advisers telling him that he should just tell U.S. forces to leave the region. He says that there's so more work to do, but -- and pulling U.S. forces out before some sort of a big final moment would signal some sort of a defeat on the U.S. end.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

COHEN: So he's balancing that with pressure, though, from his own voting base to end this conflict, which has stretched on for months, despite Trump initially saying it'd be over in a matter of weeks.

SANCHEZ: Well, Trump has repeatedly said that the war is close to ending. Yesterday, though, at a rally in Arizona, he sort of made a surprising admission about not foreseeing certain consequences.

Let's listen.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They have got nothing right now. They have no military. Their navy's gone. Their air force is gone. Their radar is gone. Their anti-aircraft is gone. Their leaders are gone.

That's one of the problem. I might have gone too far. I probably went a little too far. I'm sorry, because I don't know who the hell we're dealing with anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The idea being that so much of Tehran's leadership was eliminated that the IRGC effectively took control of the direction of Iran.

COHEN: Yes, the U.S. intelligence community actually predicted this would be the outcome if the U.S. were to essentially decapitate Iran's leadership, killing the supreme leader, as Trump and Israel did collectively in the opening days of these combat operations.

So this is in some ways a predictable outcome, and one that Trump should have foreseen as a risk and a likely possibility. But, still, we have heard the administration cite this example of not knowing who they're talking to or who really wields the power within the Iranian power structure.

And that has been something that has been a challenge to reaching any sort of the diplomatic agreement. And that's why you see the U.S. military continuing to provide a fresh menu of military options, because the negotiated diplomatic track doesn't seem to be bearing any fruit.

SANCHEZ: Zach Cohen, thanks so much for that reporting.

Still to come: It is one of the most talked about midterm matchups. Some brand-new fund-raising numbers in the race between James Talarico and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, they blow previous records out of the water. We will get into those numbers next.

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