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Trump Making Midterm Blitz with Just Over 2 Weeks to Election Day; Appeals Court to Weigh Refunds for January 6 Capitol Riot Defendants; Obama Calls Trump's Investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar Appalling. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired October 19, 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]

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Williams is back. First came after a hamstring injury and it was like the Bears quarterback was barely missing. 30 for 36, career best, 83 percent of his passes completed, 305 yards in a 31-23 win.

Look out, Chicago looking nasty.

Now, what happens in Vegas? Apparently goes straight into the Bills record book. Buffalo's Josh Allen is the magic show. About to get sacked right here, he escapes. Watch this pass, John. I mean, just threw that thing like a dart. Just shot putted to Keon Coleman. It's his second touchdown pass of the day.

Ties Hall of Famer Jim Kelly's Bills franchise record of 258. Buffalo survives the Raiders 33-30.

October baseball, Tampa Bay's Drew Rasmussen raising the bar. Seven innings, just one run allowed. Rays keep Cleveland's bats on ice with a 3-1 win. They take a 3-2 lead in the ALCS, one win away from the World Series.

Awaiting the winner will be the Brewers. Game 6 tonight, 8 Eastern on TBS, Truth TV, and HBO Max.

John finally in Canada over the weekend, hair raising highlights. Calgary and BC get two unexpected players hopping on the field. No helmets, no pads, no pants, just pure speed. Fans are loving it. Officials, they actually get booed when they finally rush the Rabbits off the field. Get those two, a contract and a carrot. Calgary wins 32-13.

John, I haven't seen you smile like that since your Patriots won three straight. Congrats on your win over the Jets yesterday.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much. Well, by the way, those two hares were just signed to be kickers for the Rams. All right, Coy Wire, thank you very much.

A brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: 15 days to midterms, but polls are opening today, people, for early voting in more than half a dozen states as the president is heading out to try and shore up support in states he really shouldn't have to.

And will January 6th rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol now get money back from the U.S. government? We will find out.

And herd on the lam, a tractor trailer carrying dozens of cows crashes on an expressway, and what happens when cattle make a run for it? Well, it makes news.

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

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, just 15 days to ago, the balance of power in Washington is on the ballot. Early in-person voting kicks off today in eight more states, including three with Senate races that are being closely watched in Texas, Alaska, and South Carolina. The Democrats appear to have the upper hand in the race to control Congress.

They are leading 54 to 45 percent in latest CNN Poll of Polls. Now President Trump has told voters to pretend like he is on the ballot, but his numbers aren't doing Republicans any favors. The CNN Poll of Polls has him at just 34 percent approval rating right now.

Against that tough backdrop, he's hitting the campaign trail again today. He plans to campaign in seven states over the next seven days. CNN's Kristen Holmes live this morning at the White House.

He had a lot to say over the weekend. What are you learning about his plans?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Sara, today he's going to Ruby Red, Kansas to campaign for Senator Roger Marshall. This is not a state that he should be in at this time, so close to the midterms, the state that he won by double digits just two years ago. And Sara, they have not sent a Democrat to the Senate since the 1930s.

But this really goes to show you what the strategy is here, because this is also a state that has double the amount of Republicans than Democrats. And they are worried that those Republicans are not enthusiastic, that they're not going to come out and vote. And historically, President Trump, when he is on the ballot, can drive out those Republican voters.

Whether or not the strategy works remains to be seen. I spoke to a number of voters when I was in Alaska. They all said that they came to the event, but they were going to vote anyway.

So is he actually reaching those unenthusiastic voters or are they just staying home? Now, this is what President Trump had to say about his travel over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't need to do this. I could sit home. I already won.

Somebody said good luck with the election. I said, no, I already won. I don't need to do this, but I have to because if they win the midterms, all of a sudden, you're going to see a slide and all of the crap that we talk about, the incompetent stuff that we talk about is going to come back and we're going to go through the same process.

And I don't think our country can handle it again. I really don't. So that's why I'm here working my ass off for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So clearly, he thinks he is working his bottom off for the American people, for Republicans.

[08:05:00]

But there are a lot of Republicans, particularly in the state of Kansas and really across the board who say that they're struggling. The Iran war has driven up prices, diesel fuel, regular gas. All of these things are things that they are feeling and that might drive them out to the poll and not in a way that President Trump would want.

Now, the rest of the week also hitting those red states. North Carolina for Whatley, who he believes or at least has said he's concerned about him winning the Senate race there -- Michael Whatley.

South Carolina, Darline Graham running for Senate there. That should also not be a state that is even on the consideration for President Trump to be headed to in the last two weeks before those midterm elections. But just so you know, I mean, there is so much money that is floating around here just in Kansas alone.

The Senate Leadership Fund, which is the super PAC for Republicans, they put $14 million into that race.

SIDNER: Yes, and I think what, 100 million in Texas. There's a lot of money floating around.

HOLMES: More than 100 million.

SIDNER: More than 100 million. We'll see if money talks. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much, appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Let's talk about Kansas, because as we said, the president is headed to Kansas today. And just moments ago, he put out a social media post explaining why he is going there.

This is what he said. "I'm going to the great state of Kansas today to rally support for Roger Marshall, one of the absolutely best senators in the U.S. Senate. His opponent is a fake and would be a disaster for Kansas, a state I won all three times getting the highest vote in the history of Kansas.

Such an honor. See you all later, President Donald John Trump." I think that's the point here. He won a big all three times. So why does he have to go back this time? With us now is Larry Sabato, the director of Center for Politics at the University of Virginia and the guy behind Sabato's crystal ball election forecast tool.

Larry, great to see you this morning. I should note you have Kansas in one of your five toss up states, along with Texas, Iowa, Ohio and Maine. CNN has some more toss ups, too.

I think we have Alaska, Michigan and others. But these are your five. I'll actually write this down so people know I'm talking about your five here.

Why do you see Kansas here as a toss up, a state that President Trump won by 16 points?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, THE CENTER FOR POLITICS AT UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Because every objective bit of information John suggests that is a toss up. The Republican incumbent Roger Marshall is not a particularly good politician. I'm not going to comment on whether he's a good senator or not.

That's for other people to judge. But he's not particularly good. And his political instincts, let's say, are not sharp.

If you're the incumbent senator or you're running for Senate and you sue 700 of your constituents because they haven't paid their medical bills, you may be completely legitimate in doing so. It may be the right thing to do legally, but it is a stupid thing to do politically. Adam Hamilton is kind of the perfect Democratic candidate, head of a megachurch, Protestant megachurch in Kansas.

You don't normally associate that with the Democratic Party. So this is really close. And of course, look at the issues.

The Kansans are just as upset as anybody else by the state of the economy, inflation, the war in Iran, corruption. You know, you put it all together and it's actually a race. Amazingly, only three Democrats have ever been elected to the Senate from Kansas in the entire history of Kansas.

And as your correspondent mentioned, the last time in the 1930s.

BERMAN: And I just put the latest poll we had up from The New York Times and Siena showing pretty much a dead heat between the Democrat Adam Hamilton and the incumbent Roger Marshall. Some of the other states you have listed as toss ups here, Texas, right? What needs to happen in Texas?

That's what would happen if it flipped blue. But what would need to happen in Texas for a Democrat to win there? Right now, the polls are extremely tight.

Most have, you know, James Talarico up by a point or two. But for a Democrat to win there, what would need to break for Talarico? SABATO: Well, the first thing would be hell would have to freeze over. I think that's very important. I don't know how we'd measure that exactly.

But look, if you were to judge again by the objective data, you would actually pick James Talarico as the favorite. And maybe we will in the end. It's just that we've all been burned so many times in Texas by Democrats predicting victory and in 30 years, it hasn't happened. But, you know, the Republicans picked, pardon me, the worst possible candidate with loads of scandals and problems. Democrats picked one that is agreeable.

He comes across well as with your with your forum this last week. And I think the combination, again, of those issues, tariffs and imported beef from Brazil and, of course, the war in Iran and all of this coming together, all of the usual issues, the high inflation and cost of living and so on. You put it all together and the impossible can happen.

And I'm not saying it's impossible, but some years it appears impossible. And this year it appears more possible than impossible.

[08:10:00]

BERMAN: And one of the things that people should look at when we're talking about places like Texas and Kansas, how much Republican vote would it take going to the Democrats or either sitting it out? How much do they have to rely on Republicans here, one way or the other, to get elected?

SABATO: That is the critical question in my mind. That and independence. We have a little independence split.

Generally, they're going to need, in Republican-leaning states or Republican-strongly tilting states like Texas and Kansas, at least 60 percent of the independents. But on top of that, they need some even small slice, maybe 5 percent of the MAGA Republicans. And then they're going to have to get a good 20 percent of the non-MAGA Republicans.

And interestingly, MAGA Republicans used to be, when Trump was popular, and he certainly is not anymore, even in these states, the MAGA Republicans used to be maybe 60 percent. You could even say it was a little more than that of the Republican Party. Now MAGA Republicans are more like half or 55 percent of Republicans than non- MAGA.

Think of them as Reagan Republicans. They've never really liked Trump all that much, but they voted for him three times. Well, they are willing not necessarily to vote Democratic, but they're willing to skip that race on the ballot or maybe to find something else to do on Election Day.

BERMAN: And that's what we will be watching in 15 days. Larry Sabato, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: France is just reeling this morning after a weekend of rioting and looting, the worst the country has seen in years. You'll see some of this video coming in. But also now what the French president is saying about what he's going to do and who he is now blaming.

And Elon Musk is now promising to give every child in America a share of SpaceX. Why?

And thousands of people gather to watch daredevils jump from a bridge nearly 900 feet above the river.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Next hour, the federal appeals court will consider whether January 6th Capitol riot defendants can get back the money they paid to the government for things like fines and restitution that they paid for storming the Capitol. The case raises questions about the reach of President Trump's pardons and whether they entitled defendants to refunds. This is what one of the convicted January 6th rioters, who was pardoned by the president, told Comedy Central.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YVONNE ST CYR, PARDONED January 6 DEFENDANT: I am waiting on $2,270.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much money have you gotten so far?

ST CYR: Nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zero.

ST CYR: Zero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's it for?

ST CYR: January 6th.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were attacked on January 6th?

ST CYR: No. It was money that I paid for restitution, but I did not break anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, you were doing the January 6th?

ST CYR: Correct.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. And you want money back?

ST CYR: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First insurrection's free, right? I think that's in the Constitution.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SIDNER: Joining me now is CNN senior legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor, Elie Honig. All right, Elie, so I mean, does the law actually allow a person who has been pardoned to get back money like restitution or fines that they've paid to the court?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Sara, the law right now is confused and conflicting. So as you said, anytime there's a criminal conviction, the sentence will have some term of incarceration or probation, but also financial elements. Could be restitution, could be fines.

Now, after the pardons of the January 6th defendants, some of them went back to the courts and said, well, we want our money back. And the courts, the federal judges in DC have actually split on that. Some federal judges have said, no, a pardon does not negate all elements of a sentence, and you don't get your money back.

But other judges actually have said, well, if your case was still pending on appeal, as many were, then your case was never finale, and you actually do get your money back. In fact, the woman in that clip you just showed did get her money back. She won her case in the lower court.

So there's obviously a conflict and an inconsistency here. And that's exactly why this case is going to be argued in about an hour and change up at the DC circuit. So they can hopefully resolve this and give some clarity as to what a pardon does and does not do.

SIDNER: Well, some of this is going to, you know, blow the minds of some Americans after what they saw on January 6th. But are there other ways beyond this that the DOJ could say, hey, we will figure out a way to pay money to January 6th rioters. And we all remember that there was this slush fund that the president was trying to put together and that got dashed over time.

Is there anything else that they might do?

HONIG: This Justice Department has already made its intent clear. Speaking of blowing the minds of American viewers, DOJ, the Justice Department, actually agreed with all those people who came back to the court and said, we should get our money back. The Justice Department supported them and said, yes, pay them their money back.

Now, separate and apart from that, Sara, and even putting aside the slush fund, which was put on ice, that $1.776 billion fund, DOJ still has the ability to pay people who were January 6th rioters, huge amounts of money, because anyone who believes they've been wronged by the government, including through a wrongful lawsuit or criminal case can bring what's called a federal tort claims act claim. They can say I was wrongly prosecuted, therefore I'm entitled to X.

And sometimes those claims can be hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions of dollars. And it's up to DOJ in the first instance to decide, do we want to pay them or do we want to deny it and make them sue us?

[08:20:00]

Todd Blanche has made clear that he believes some of these folks are entitled to pay. And the thing is we won't necessarily know because those settlements are typically confidential. So only through reporting or FOIA requests will we even find out if Todd Blanche decides to pay off some of these rioters, and it's clear that he does want to.

SIDNER: And it will be clear the media will go and try to figure out exactly how much of these monies have been paid out and to whom. I do want to ask you about another issue that is facing Washington and the country, a federal judge temporarily barring the Trump administration from cutting down additional trees at the D.C. municipal golf course, the public golf course. But President Trump said that restoration work on the park golf course will begin November 15th, despite the federal judge's order last week for tree clearing at the site to be stopped through late October.

What do you expect to happen in this case?

HONIG: Well, this judge is furious at the government. And by the way, Donald Trump's announcement that he expected to do this renovation in November is exactly contrary to what his lawyers have been saying in court, which is that no plan for a full renovation is imminent. This judge is furious at the Justice Department because in prior weeks she said, look, I'm not going to issue an official order.

But if you start doing anything that's irreversible at this golf course, I need to know about it in advance. And the Justice Department on the Friday evening before Columbus Day weekend said, judge, we may be doing something over this weekend. And then within a day had cut down 400 plus trees.

The judge was furious. She said, I trusted you. I gave you the benefit of the doubt and you abused it.

And now she has the parties coming back into court today. She has now put an official restraint on them. And so we'll see if the judge clearly, she has lost all faith in the Justice Department and she's not going to give them the benefit of the doubt moving forward.

SIDNER: Elie Honig, it is always good to have you to walk us through all these things. Really appreciate it.

HONIG: Thanks, Sara.

SIDNER: Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, a terrifying fall, an airman is killed while rappelling from the ceiling of a stadium before a college football game. The latest that we are learning now about what went just so wrong there.

And former president Barack Obama speaking out, hammering the Trump administration's investigation of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, why he calls the investigation appalling. We'll be back.

[08:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Former President Obama is speaking up and slamming the Trump administration's investigation into Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, calling the move appalling. Here's what President Obama actually said. Quote, "The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president, and it's not the first time this has happened."

It was a week ago that federal officers were seen searching the home of Ilhan Omar. Sources have told CNN that the search is related to an immigration fraud investigation, and now President Trump's border czar says that Congresswoman Omar may even be stripped of her citizenship. CNN's Katelyn Polantz is in Washington watching this one.

Katelyn, what's the latest that you're learning about this investigation?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, it's been a week since that search of Representative Ilhan Omar's home in Washington, D.C., authorized by a judge, but the legal fight and the political fight are just beginning. There is much more to come here. We are already hearing from former President Barack Obama rushing to Representative Omar's defense and engaging with the allegation that we now know through CNN and other outlets reporting what the Trump administration is investigating.

What they are investigating is the possibility of immigration fraud several years ago, specifically at the time when Representative Omar became a citizen of this country in 2000, whether she was 17, as she says she was at that time after having been a child refugee from Somalia, or was she 18 years old at the time she became a citizen? Barack Obama, he says that the administration now is trying to uncover a smoking gun from 20 years ago to make this case. He also writes that "The fact that any president or any administration is willing to engage in such transparent efforts to intimidate someone should outrage all Americans, regardless of how they feel about Congresswoman Omar's political views. Because if this is the new normal, there's no reason to believe it will stop with her or that future presidents in either party won't do the same."

Now, on the administration side, Justice Department has said not a whole lot so far about this investigation. There has not been any criminal charges filed yet, but the White House Border Czar Tom Homan, he was speaking on Fox News about this particular investigation and where it could lead. Here is his statements from this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: I've been told to have a strong case, and we'll let the evidence lead where it leads, but should be held to the same standard you and I are held. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would this involve denaturalizing and then deporting her if it if it turns out that there is some kind of immigration fraud?

HOMAN: Of course, if you lie during naturalization process, there is a process to denaturalize somebody. We've done it before. It's a long, tedious process, but it's been done before.

I've been involved with those investigations before, and certainly the evidence points that way that could happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: That's right, where Tom Homan is saying that it could be a long, tedious process. Denaturalization would be something far down the road. Right now, though, the question is about whether the Justice Department will get access to Representative Omar's record seized in her house.

There's a fight in court already brewing, and we as the media are trying to learn more at this time, even asking a judge to reveal more information that is underseal -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and 15 days out from the midterm election. Katelyn, thank you very much. I appreciate your reporting -- John.