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Protests Erupt Across Europe; Trump Targets D.C. Golf Course Construction; Interview With Fmr. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV); President Trump Campaigns in Kansas. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 19, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: You're in it now, Jeremy. It is incredibly complicated what you just laid out, and I know there's so much more "there" there. And we're just going to be along the ride with you as the votes...

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I will try and boil it down.

BASH: No, no, I mean, it's -- you did. And I don't think I could have done that. That was impressive. We will be on the ride with you as Israel actually does go to the polls next week. Thanks, Jeremy.

DIAMOND: Thanks, Dana.

BASH: And thanks for joining INSIDE POLITICS.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Buckle up, Toto, because Kansas isn't feeling like home for Republicans anymore. President Trump heads there to help a GOP senator who is in a shockingly tight race, Election Day just 15 days away.

And par for the court. President Trump says construction will begin immediately on a public golf course renovation in Washington, despite an order from a judge who said she's furious with the government.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus: a weekend of chaos. Officials now considering imposing curfews in France, as protests catch fire across Europe.

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

KEILAR: A mad dash to the midterms, soon, President Trump kicking off a seven-day, seven-state blitz in deep red Kansas as the Senate race there becomes a surprise toss-up. Not in 94 years has a Democrat won a Kansas Senate seat, but recent polling shows Republican incumbent Roger Marshall in a tight race with Democrat Adam Hamilton.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is live for us at the White House. Kristen, what's the latest?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, 94 years, and that's also just a reminder that, when I say I'm an elder millennial, I was thinking 1930s was 70 years ago, but you're right. It's actually 94 years ago is the last time they sent a Democrat to the Senate.

And this is what we're seeing across the board, which is these states that are deep red, states that President Trump won by double digits back just two years ago, are now having essentially ties in various Senate races.

Remember, I was just in Alaska, where they hadn't sent some a Democrat to the Senate in nearly 20 years. So here's President Trump's message as he heads to Kansas. He will be leaving just shortly.

He says: "I'm going to the great state of Kansas today to rally support for Roger Marshall" -- of course, he's the incumbent there -- "one of the absolute 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."

Remember, this is really all of their strategy in one here, this idea that a place like Kansas, which has double the amount of Republicans than they do Democrats, is subject to a potential flip, flipping blue. And that is because of the current policies that we are seeing.

So they're trying to drive up voter enthusiasm. They're trying to drive out Republicans, the base. And here's where he will be going this week. He's going to be going to Kansas, as we said today. He's also going to be going to Greenville, North Carolina, where he is going to be campaigning for Michael Whatley, who is in a very tight race and actually losing to the Democrat Roy Cooper.

On Wednesday, he's going to be in South Carolina, where he's going to be fighting for Darline Graham, the sister of Lindsey Graham. He's also going to be going to Sioux City, Iowa. We know that the Senate race there is incredibly close as well, Friday, Fort Myers, Saturday, Macon, Georgia.

Now, they have long suspected that they were likely going to lose the Senate race in Macon -- in Georgia, but he's still going there as well as Sunday in Michigan, which is a real swing state and really one of the only opportunities here for Republicans to actually gain a seat for the Senate.

Now, you might be wondering, why exactly are they putting Donald Trump out there, specifically, when you see the latest poll numbers we have? His approval rating here among likely voters, 34 percent. That means his disapproval rating on how he's doing the job is at 65 percent.

I mean, this is an all-time low now for Donald Trump. And if you look at Congress, Democrats are still coming out as the choice for Congress among likely voters. You have Democrats at 54 percent, Republicans at 45 percent. The idea behind this, of course, being that Trump's political

operation believes that most people aren't going to go out, most people being most Republicans, aren't going to go out and vote for Democrat. But what they will do is stay home on the couch. So if they can get that level of enthusiasm up and drive people to the polls, that would actually help them, specifically in a state like Kansas, where, as we just noted, there are double the amount of Republicans than there are Democrats.

KEILAR: All right, Kristen Holmes, thank you so much for the latest from the White House -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss the midterms now with former West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin. He spent his final months in office as an independent after serving as a Democrat for decades.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

Let's start with the Maine Senate race because you're stumping for...

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (I-WV): Thanks for having me.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

You're stumping Republican Senator Susan Collins in her reelection bid later this week. Why does she have your support over the Democrat in this race, Troy Jackson?

[13:05:12]

MANCHIN: Well, first of all, I have worked with Susan for over 14 years. I know who she is. I have said this sincerely that she is the soul of the Senate.

There wasn't a thing that we ever worked on in a bipartisan way that Susan wasn't involved or taking the lead on. She wasn't worried about being a Democrat or Republican or whose side was winning. When there was something to be done, Susan was always in the room, always wanting to fix it.

Now, people are out talking about Susan Collins, that she's not bipartisan. There's no one more bipartisan than Susan Collins in the Senate. I can confirm that because I was with her every step of the way. So she had become a very close friend of mine.

But on top of that, we got a lot of good things done and stopped a lot of bad stuff.

SANCHEZ: To that point about Democrats accusing her of being closely aligned with President Trump, you push back on some statistics that Democrats have been citing, arguing that those numbers are inflated because those are mostly votes on nominees, to confirm nominees.

But if she's confirming those nominees...

MANCHIN: Boris... SANCHEZ: Can you hear me?

MANCHIN: Yes, I can hear you. It's not it's not because of confirming somebody.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Well, let me just finish the question. Let me just finish the question.

MANCHIN: OK. I'm sorry.

SANCHEZ: It's fine, because they're citing those figures. You're saying that those figures don't actually represent how she votes and who she is.

I guess the counterargument would be that she's confirming nominees that Trump picked, including Supreme Court justices, because he wants them to carry out his agenda, no?

MANCHIN: I don't -- that's not Susan Collins. If the person is qualified, Susan's going to vote for them. She votes for Democrats, she votes for Republicans on both of them.

And I -- those numbers are so skewed when I'm saying that. They're saying, well, Joe Manchin voted 80 percent, 90 percent with Biden. I did not, not on the serious things that we disagreed with that really made a difference in our country. Then you have to stand tall and stand strong on those things.

Susan's been able to do that. If you think Susan Collins is Donald Trump's favorite, then someone's not paying attention to what's going on. He would do anything he could to get rid of her. And he's not going to be able to get rid of her, because she is Maine's senator. She's not Donald Trump senator. That's the difference.

And that's what you're looking for in a good senator or a good congressperson, whether it's a Democrat or Republican. Get somebody that's independent-minded. It's not afraid to make a tough vote.

SANCHEZ: So your message to voters who are considering her record is to look past some of her votes to confirm RFK Jr. as HHS secretary, Pam Bondi as attorney general, Brett Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court justice?

MANCHIN: Well, I don't know about Pam Bondi or about Robert Kennedy. I would not have voted for him. But that's never neither here nor there.

The bottom line is, I can tell you about Brent Kavanaugh. Brett Kavanaugh, we went down into the SCIF to find out that the FBI report, could not find those two together. To ruin a human person's life, he made a horrible presentation. I know that.

But when I saw everything, there was not a factor. And I checked with people that worked with him very closely within the First Circuit and here in Washington, and they said he was an outstanding jurist. Now, he was more conservative as me, but he was still qualified to do the job.

And that's why she voted. That's how I voted.

SANCHEZ: How do you think Democrats are going to respond to hearing you back Susan Collins as they're trying to take the Upper Chamber, they're trying to take the Senate? Do you think they should perhaps temper expectations?

MANCHIN: I'm an independent voice. I'm not a Democrat. I could not basically subscribe to that extreme left agenda. And I would like to think that and I know for sure that Susan Collins is not a MAGA Republican -- a MAGA Republican. She has not a far right Republican.

She's a center-right. I'm center-center-left, center-right. I can go -- I'm an independent. And I'm going to tell you, the big thing is, you want independent-minded people. I'm trying to get independent senators, such as Seth Bodnar from Montana, elected too. I'm for Roy Cooper, a Democrat from North Carolina, which I believe would be the most centrist Democrat, independent-minded centrist Democrat that we will have there.

So there's a lot of good people on both sides of the aisle, and there's a lot of independents, purely, truly independents, that want to come and basically not caucus with either party, Boris. They will come there strictly working with both sides, whoever have the best idea for the country.

[13:10:02]

That's what we're trying to do with the ILC, Independent Leadership Council. I personally am speaking about my friend Susan Collins, who I know is one tremendous senator, does her homework. She never backs down. And she will -- she stepped to the plate on -- after January 6.

We did the Electoral Count Reform Act to stop that from ever being an enticing way to disrupt government again. We stopped that from happening.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

MANCHIN: And there's so many things that we have done together. Bipartisan infrastructure bill, the CHIPS Act, you name it, we worked together on.

SANCHEZ: Former Senator Joe Manchin, an independent, as noted, thank you so much for joining us.

MANCHIN: Thanks for having me, Boris. Appreciate it.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

MANCHIN: Very independent with a big I.

SANCHEZ: With a big eye. MANCHIN: All about Americans.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate the conversation, sir. Thank you.

MANCHIN: Big I.

SANCHEZ: Still to come: teeing off, a contentious courtroom hearing, as President Trump fights to transform a public golf course in D.C. into a championship-level venue.

Plus: an escalating feud, President Trump slamming Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy over new strikes on Russia, accusing him of not wanting to end the war. We have more on the fallout from a deepening rift.

And, later: Could a popular cosmetic treatment help embryos during IVF?

That and much more coming your way on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:15:22]

KEILAR: As President Trump hits the campaign trail today, one of his D.C. makeover projects is facing some fierce pushback in federal court.

Today, a judge grilled Justice Department lawyers about the clearing of more than 430 trees from the East Potomac public golf course, a move the judge said she was furious about in a previous hearing since no notice was given or very, very little notice was given on a holiday weekend. The judge then ruled the government had to give three days' notice of what she called irreparable modification to the land, like this kind of thing here.

But, this morning, President Trump posted online that construction will begin immediately on what he says will be a world-class golf course. Last week, DOJ attorneys filed a motion to have the judge removed from the case. Yesterday, the president also posted a map outlining his vision of the project, and it apparently shows parts of the course taking over what is now a public playground and a walking trail.

Let's bring in Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, one of the groups representing the plaintiffs who are challenging this project.

Skye, thanks so much for being with us.

The administration's lawyer taking issue with Judge Reyes requiring high-level officials to be at today's hearing, as you're aware, writing that it demonstrates a cavalier disregard for these officials' valuable time and a blatant disregard for black-letter separation of powers principles that she should be aware of as a federal judge.

What was the tone of the hearing this morning? SKYE PERRYMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, DEMOCRACY FORWARD: You know, our

team is still in the hearing. I think they have just broken for lunch, but we understand that it was a pretty intense hearing this morning.

You have a federal judge who the president of the United States and the Department of Justice is operating as if they don't have to follow her orders. That is obviously, I'm sure, deeply concerning to her. It is deeply concerning to the plaintiffs in the case.

And, of course, it should be deeply concerning to every single American. This is really beyond at this point just the golf course, and is about what we have seen time and time again from this administration, which is a deep disregard for the separation of powers and the federal courts.

KEILAR: What do you make of what the president is now saying about the golf course moving forward and the picture of what it's expected to look like?

PERRYMAN: Look, I mean, this is why plaintiffs have been challenging this exercise from day one. It's harmful. It's unlawful. It will take away a valuable public land that's available for all people, and there's a number of laws that they're breaking in the process and harming the community.

There's debris that is on the golf course that has a number of sort of poisonous things they have dumped. So there's a variety of concerns. But I think the real takeaway today is, just think about what we're seeing. We're seeing the president of the United States -- while a federal judge is considering this matter and ruling on whether it is lawful, you have the president saying, sort of, I don't care, I'm going to move forward anyway.

That is the type of unlawful and antidemocratic behavior that transcends politics and is a deep concern for anyone that cares about democracy and the rule of law, the predictability of court orders in this country.

KEILAR: Why do your clients want to stop this golf course renovation?

PERRYMAN: Well, there's a number of reasons that this renovation is really deeply concerning to people and communities. The president wants to build something that is not for everyone. This is a national park. It is a community jewel.

In addition, the way in which the administration has been going about the renovation is unlawful and harmful, including, as I mentioned, the debris that has been dumped. So there's a variety of reasons that this needs to be stopped. We believe that our clients will prevail in doing so.

But, of course, you have this concerning conduct from the government that went in and just removed hundreds of trees after the judge made very clear this summer that they should not do that without appropriate notice. So those are the kinds of things I think that are being taken up at the hearing today. KEILAR: At a certain point, do you worry that, even as this proceeds

in court and you go through this process, that the ship will have sailed on this?

I mean, we are talking about taking out hundreds of trees on a course like the one at Hains Point that we're talking about here. I mean, it's not like they're -- this is a lot of the trees there, right? This is the tree line on the golf course. At a certain point, is it just irreparably so changed that there is no option but to redo it?

PERRYMAN: Well, we believe that there is an option here, always an option for the government to follow the law and to stop creating harm, and that's what we're in court pushing for, obviously.

But I will say your point about just the government moving forward, the administration moving forward, even as the court has been clear that they should not have done so, we have heard Justice Jackson at the Supreme Court call this type of maneuver catch me if you can justice, where you literally have the president and the executive branch of the United States trying to un -- trying to outrun the federal courts, not wanting any check on their powers.

[13:20:21]

And, of course, you see them doing this just before Election Day, where we know that there will be obviously voters checking their power, so it's deeply concerning all the way around.

KEILAR: Skye Perryman, thank you so much for being with us. Obviously, we're keeping an eye on this and other projects here in D.C. Thank you.

France reeling from its worst rioting in years. Take a look at these pictures here. We're going to look at what's driving these demonstrations.

Plus, the president is about to head to Kansas, a state that's usually safe for Republicans, but it may not be this year, Election Day just 15 days away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:25:30]

SANCHEZ: European cities are now reeling after a weekend of riots and anti-government protests. What started in France as nationwide demonstrations over education and the cost of living quickly spiraled into a wave of violence spilling into other countries, police clashing with protesters, throwing stones, looting, and setting fires.

Some of the worst destruction is in Paris, where cleanup is now under way. More than half-a-million people marched in France on Saturday. Most were peaceful. More than 2,000 wound up being detained. President Emmanuel Macron is vowing to hold those responsible accountable.

CNN's Melissa Bell is in Paris with the latest. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here at Place de la Republique, where so much of the rioting and looting took place on Saturday night and again on Sunday, with those fresh clashes that involved rioters and police, the cleanup operation continues, as it does in other French cities.

A great deal of anger being expressed by the mayors of some of France's biggest cities this Monday, given the police response, or, rather, the lack of an adequate police response, and given the extensive damage that the country's seen.

We have been hearing from the French president on Sunday night. A great deal of criticism about what President Macron had to say and how few concrete concessions or solutions he was suggesting. Politicians from across the political spectrum have already churned on that address to the nation as really not meeting what people were expecting to hear, concrete decisions about what could be done.

We have been hearing also this Monday from the prime minister about his fears for the next few months.

SEBASTIEN LECORNU, FRENCH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): This raises several questions for us, the first being how to protect this very Democratic framework, the presidential election. There's no way we will allow violent minorities to impose an agenda of violence and prevent us from holding this election.

For me, this raises the issue of candidate safety, personal safety. It raises the issue of safety at campaign rallies, regardless of the political parties.

BELL: That election is just six months away. President Macron will stand down, and it is the void really left by his centrist policies over the last few years that's attracted a lot of debate and a lot of anger, the rise also of the extremes.

The fact that the far right leads the polls, the fact that the far left is making such progress in the polls is considered sort of fertile ground for a particularly polarized presidential campaign, and, as authorities fear, potentially much more of these kinds of protests ahead.

Already, the yellow vests who were here last Saturday are planning a fresh protest next Saturday.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Melissa for that report.

So, President Trump won Kansas by 16 points, but Republicans are possibly in danger of losing a Senate seat in a ruby-red state. We're going to speak with a Democrat running for governor about whether her party can pull off the win in the Sunflower State.

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