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Obama Campaigns For Dems In Tight Races In Ohio; Trump Pushes To Boost GOP Turnout In Midterms; Trump Votes Early In Florida Before Campaign Rally In Georgia; Trump Votes Early In Florida Before Campaign Rally In Georgia; NY Voters Head To Polls As Early Voting Begins; Today: Obama Campaigns For El-Sayed, Benson In Michigan. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired October 24, 2026 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:19]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Just 10 days until election day in America, and the gloves are off. Today, the two biggest stars in each party are hitting the campaign trail for dueling rallies as they take center stage to rally voters to the polls. Just in the last hour, at a rally in Cleveland, former president Barack Obama campaigned for Democrats in the key state of Ohio. And he wasted no time taking aim at President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: The administration's actions are directly responsible for rising costs. The current president chose to make a series of bad decisions. Most importantly, he decided to start an unnecessary war that nobody asked for and nobody voted for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: We've got a team of correspondents out on the campaign trail covering all of these major races and rallies. Let's begin in Cleveland, where former president Obama just wrapped up that rally for Democrats in Ohio. That's where we find CNN's Lauren Fox.
Lauren, what kind of reception did the former president get there?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, this is why Democrats bring in former president Barack Obama to be their closer, because obviously, he is an experienced and talented orator. And the case that he was making today was that, yes, gas prices are too high. Yes, grocery prices are too high. Yes, it takes politicians sometimes too long to lower prices.
But he also was making the case that this was bigger than just prices. He argued that voters in this state may be feeling some way about this election, in part because they might be tired of politics as usual. They might be tired of feeling like everything in our political discourse is getting more and more negative. And he did address specifically that very controversial ad from Vivek Ramaswamy campaign, in which he featured Amy Acton, the Democratic candidate's estranged mother, telling cameras that Amy Acton was a liar.
Now, Obama said there used to be a time, there used to be a line that people would not cross. And he addressed that head on. Amy Acton also addressed that ad today in her stump speech, and she got a roaring reception when she mentioned it. At first, the crowd was booing when she mentioned Vivek Ramaswamy's ad, and then as she talked about her childhood, they were applauding her and receiving her really well in this room today. Obviously, the huge question on everyone's mind in the state of Ohio is, is this going to be a battleground state once again or have Republicans cemented so much support here that this is beyond Democrats' grasp at this point?
And that is the question going into this midterm. Donald Trump won here the last three presidential elections. Obviously bringing Barack Obama into Cleveland today was an attempt to turn back that clock and get Democrats elected statewide again in this state -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Lauren Fox there in Cleveland, thank you so much.
And of course, the former president then on his way to Michigan to do the same for Democratic candidates in the Senate and gubernatorial races.
All right. So President Trump continuing his midterm campaigning later on today. Before departing Florida, the president and first lady joining millions of other Americans by, right there, heading to an early voting site and casting the ballots just now 10 days ahead of election day for the masses.
All right. For more on the president's latest campaign push, the importance of him doing the early voting, Julia Benbrook is with us in Florida.
So what can you tell us about the president's strategy and the importance of being seen today early voting?
JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, his focus throughout this last month on the campaign trail has been on turnout. He has really been working to push Republicans to the polls in midterm elections that appear to be tilting in Democrats' favor. He has encouraged voters to get out and use any method that works for them. That includes early voting and specifically mail-in voting.
That part is notable because in the past he has railed against the mail-in voting method and has claimed, without evidence, that it's linked to widespread voter fraud. But he cast his ballot today. He joined the more than 23 million Americans, or he's on his way to, I don't actually know that he has cast it yet. We know that he is there at the polling location.
[16:05:06]
But he's joining the more than 23 million Americans who have already cast their ballot ahead of these elections. And we are getting some data from who is showing up. In fact, we're learning that in several key states that Democrats make up a larger share of early voters than they did at this time two years ago. So that's really highlighting this Democratic enthusiasm edge that we have seen in the polling as well.
Of course, this recent data, it only shows who is voting. It doesn't show what they are voting for. And Republican voters typically prefer to show up on election day. So when it comes to that enthusiasm edge, Trump has dismissed those claims. He says that he's out and about. He is seeing his supporters on the trail, and he believes that enthusiasm is within his own party. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This time, I mean, I've never seen, they have countdowns to the midterm. I've never seen anything like it. I've never seen anything like it. And, you know, they talk about the energy. They talk about the energy in the Democrats. But you know it's the fake news. The Republicans have far more energy. I see their energy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BENBROOK: So tonight in Georgia, we expect a similar message focused on turnout, encouraging his base to pretend like he is on the ballot. It's a message that many in his party hope still resonates, as his approval rating has hovered near an all-time low.
Tomorrow he'll be in Michigan, and then next week he is making stops in Mississippi, Texas, and Ohio. A lot of ground left to cover over these next 10 days.
WHITFIELD: That's right. All right. Julia Benbrook in Florida right now. Thank you so much with the president.
And then of course, next stop for the president, Georgia. CNN's Rafael Romo is in Perry, Georgia, where the president will be holding that rally in just a matter of hours.
So, Rafael, what are, you know, voters, supporters there hoping to hear from the president tonight?
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. There's already something that people here are talking about because even before this rally started here in Perry, Georgia, Fred, it was already surrounded by controversy because of a prior decision by Georgia Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson to skip this event.
The businessman's campaign previously said Jackson was going to hold a rally in Cherokee County in northwestern Georgia, where he was going to greet voters together with current Governor Brian Kemp in what his campaign initially called a force multiplier strategy to rally people in a different part of the state.
I reached out to his campaign in the last hour, and they told me in a statement that, quote, "After working out the logistics, Rick would now be able to attend both his rally with Governor Kemp and Cherokee County and the president's rally here in Perry."
During the primary race, Jackson aligned himself with President Trump, saying that telling voters that he wanted to, quote, "be like Trump," but with a southern tone, although he's recently seemingly taken some distance from the president. Jackson is in a very tight race for the governor's office with former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, according to recent polling.
On the Democratic side, Fred, former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg traveled to Georgia today to show his support for Senator Jon Ossoff at a campaign event held earlier in Atlanta. Let's listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE BUTTIGIEG, FORMER TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT BIDEN: When there was a chance for a project, when a senator called and said, hey, we got to do something to help these people in this community, you know, we didn't do and say, how did they vote? Are they on my side politically? Because we understood that public service is about taking care of everybody and doing right by the entire American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: And early numbers show voters here in Georgia are very energized. The secretary of state says early voting has shown record breaking turnout. Georgia surpassed one million in-person early votes on Tuesday, compared to more than 894,000 in the 2022 midterm election. And as of today, more than 1.6 million people have already cast ballots. Here in Perry, we saw people lining up to enter this venue starting around noon.
Something that will be very interesting tonight, Fred, President Donald Trump will hold his rally tonight here in Georgia at about the same time former president Barack Obama speaks in Detroit. President Trump will make his own stop in Michigan tomorrow to rally state Republicans.
Fred, now back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right. For now, from where you are in Georgia, definitely some very enthusiastic voters with that kind of high early voting turnout already.
Rafael Romo in Perry, thank you so much.
All right. For more on the races in Georgia, let's bring in the host of NPR's "Morning Edition" and the "Up First" podcast, Steve Inskeep.
[16:10:05]
Steve, always great to see you because I'm always listening to you, but great to see you now.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST, NPR'S "MORNING EDITION" AND "UP FIRST" PODCAST: Wow. Thanks for listening. WHITFIELD: All right. Wonderful. All right. So you spoke to voters in
the Peach State about these elections and what seems to be kind of the important issues that is driving so many, especially early voters to the polls already.
INSKEEP: Yes, I met some of those early voters. There is a lot of interest, a lot of enthusiasm. A thing that I do every election, Fredricka, for many years is I go and I knock on doors and whoever answers, that's my story. In this case, around Marietta, Georgia, I added to that people at early voting places, on running trails and walking trails and so forth. And I think a bottom line for me, in just talking with voters, is that Democrats are determined.
They are determined to vote over some of the issues you just heard. We've heard about prices and costs and so forth. But Lauren Fox perceptively noted the issue of negativity. And there are a lot of Democrats who are still upset about the way President Trump talks, the way that he addresses the American people. So Democrats strike me as determined on a variety of issues.
I would say Republicans are a little more disappointed. In some cases disappointed about the Iran war that it has not turned out better, that it has caused problems for the country, that it's still going on. They want it to just end somehow. And in some cases, I should add, Republicans are disappointed in the American public because they're not sticking with Trump and they're sticking with Trump. A lot of these disappointed Republicans are still voting for Republicans, but it's a damper, I think.
WHITFIELD: Oh, wow. That's fascinating. And then, of course, you know, President Trump, once he leaves Florida, he's going to be coming to Georgia. There'll be a rally this evening in Perry. Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson apparently now will be there. We heard that from our Rafael Romo, where at first Rick Jackson was going to be somewhere else. There was a conflict, but now he's going to be in the presence of Trump. And Senate nominee Mike Collins is somebody that Trump will be stumping for, too.
Why might that be really important, particularly for a Rick Jackson to be in the company of Trump when for a second, you know, he was saying, I'm going to be just like him, and then there was a distancing, and now it's back to maybe there's real capital in being alongside him?
INSKEEP: Yes, it's a little tricky there. Mike Collins is in more trouble than Rick Jackson in terms of polling. He's farther behind Jon Ossoff, the incumbent Democratic senator. Collins is all about Trump. That's what's behind his campaign. He needs Trump more. Rick Jackson, I think, could say he's a little more independent. He's a wealthy person himself. It's a largely or partly self-funded campaign.
He's got a particular image as a health insurance executive, and he is doing better in the polls, just as Brian Kemp, the Republican governor who's leaving office, has done better than other Republicans statewide in recent years. So you could imagine Jackson seeing a little more independent route and maybe a chance to win, even if other Republicans lose in Georgia, although, as you note, in the end, he's showing up at that rally.
WHITFIELD: Yes. You know, Jackson earlier in the week also said he was a little concerned about kind of the sluggish enthusiasm of early voting in the more rural areas. And, I mean, typically in the rural or historically rural areas, they kind of wait until the day of vote.
Is there anything to really gauge here, since so much of Georgia, particularly in the more urban settings, are voting early, that maybe, you know, there is a contrast with rural voters?
INSKEEP: The big picture answer to your question, Fredricka, is no. There's nothing to gain from this because we don't know how people voted. But that's not going to stop us, is it? And I did stand at an early voting place, and I did encounter, I think, more Democrats than Republicans at that little period of time where I was there in a slightly more Democratic than Republican area. And so that Democratic enthusiasm is there, but it's the final tally that really matters.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
INSKEEP: And it will not be a presidential level turnout, we assume, although it's going to be pretty high, and turnout will determine this. Even those unenthusiastic Republicans, if they show up to vote, they're going to be a vote for Republicans.
WHITFIELD: Right. And let's talk a little bit more about some of the Democrats, though, because we mentioned Jon Ossoff. You know, he, you know, is getting a lot of attention. He does seem to be, you know, or a favorite or so what -- so far, you know, doing pretty well in the polling. But then Keisha Lance Bottoms for the gubernatorial, you know, post, she up against that, you know, Rick Jackson, what are you seeing for her campaign?
What are people saying? She is a household name, you know, because as former Atlanta mayor, but how is she positioned in this race against Rick Jackson?
INSKEEP: I was fascinated by this. It seemed that Ossoff had a very clear image in the public's mind. This is, again, just talking to random people. Ossoff had a clear image.
[16:15:01]
Keisha Lance Bottoms had a particular image as mayor of Atlanta. There were Democrats who actually said, I don't actually think she did a very good job as mayor of Atlanta. She was a disappointment. But she's an interesting person and she's going to get my vote. I spoke with one Republican woman who also was disappointed by Keisha Lance Bottoms as mayor of Atlanta, and yet said, I think she's a strong woman, I appreciate her.
I don't think she was going to get that Republicans vote in the end. But people are thinking in a complicated way about Keisha Lance Bottoms and her Atlanta mayoralty, and what it means to have potentially as governor of Georgia, very strong opinions there. Strong opinions about Jon Ossoff. Some mixed opinions about Rick Jackson and Collins, the Republican Senate candidate, seemed to have the toughest time, again, with my random selection of voters in having an image with people, people having an idea of who it was.
WHITFIELD: Wow, you got some fascinating intel from voters while in Georgia.
Steve Inskeep, thank you so much.
INSKEEP: Pleasure.
WHITFIELD: All right. Let me take you straight to Florida right now. Let's listen to President Trump after voting, or at least being at an early voting station in Florida.
TRUMP: Potentially hundreds of thousands of illicit votes.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, Mrs. Trump, do you have any -- absolutely. Do you have any update on that suspicious package? There were three found yesterday, one close to the White House. Do you know anything about that?
TRUMP: Yes. They'll be making a report probably tomorrow.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, polls also show that government corruption is shot to the top of voter concerns this election. Why do you think that is?
TRUMP: Yes, I mean, well, because the Democrats are very corrupt. To me, corruption is one of the biggest things. If you look at Minnesota, if you look at Los Angeles, if you look at New York, the corruption is rampant. And to me, corruption is a very big factor.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There also have been some allegations involving --
TRUMP: What do you write for?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The "Wall Street Journal," sir.
TRUMP: You guys are worse than anybody. You know? The "Wall Street Journal" has lost its way. There's massive corruption that you don't cover on the Democrat side, and you should, because you ought to look at Minnesota. You ought to look at Maine. You ought to look at Los Angeles, because we are straight and we are solid. But you ought to look at the real corruption. It's Democrat corruption. And that includes Jeffrey Epstein. All Democrats involved.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sir --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, you said yesterday you urged the DOJ to sue Alaska. What do you say to those concerned about the independence of the Justice Department?
TRUMP: Well, all I do is I say this. You have a man named Dan Sullivan, highly respected senator running. They find a man named Dan Sullivan or Daniel Sullivan, and they put him up as a matter of confusion. He got two and a half or three points in the primary, and he's going to get possibly that now. And I looked at it and there's very few people will be able to differentiate. So they have no idea what they're doing.
It is a totally corrupt weaponization situation and they shouldn't be allowed to do it. So I recommended it to the DOJ. They looked at it. They agreed with me and they've gone to court. Let's see what happens. But that's pure corruption. And the Daniel Sullivan that they have up was never a participant in any elections, never even voted before. It's a disgrace. They found a guy named Daniel Sullivan. They put his name on. In fact, he later on tried to change his middle initial so that it was the same as Daniel S. I think it's a disgrace.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sir, are you considering pardoning junior administration officials to shield them from congressional inquiries?
TRUMP: Like who?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There is a report by the "Washington Sun" this morning that the White House is kicking around a plan to shield junior administration --
TRUMP: Well, I haven't thought of it, but I will tell you, it would be very unfair to go through what we went through for four years with the corrupt weaponization that took place. So in light of what Biden did, as you know, Biden shielded many people, including the Congress. If you look at what they did with Congress when they set up the special committee, which was a fraud, they all got shielded. So certainly, I haven't thought about it, but certainly I'd be allowed to.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And then on Ukraine --
TRUMP: The presidential pardons are, they say, the most powerful thing a president --
WHITFIELD: All right. Listening to President Trump there in Florida. He was at a polling station to take advantage of early voting there. But of course, you know, reporters there taking the opportunity to ask him a variety of questions. And the president there seemingly very agitated about what he is alleging. You know, election corruption in a variety of states. Of course, no proven corruption of those states thus far.
But also note the Department of Justice has preemptively led a challenge of the U.S. Senate race in Alaska if a Democrat wins. Let's listen to Melania Trump here.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: -- President Putin or President Zelenskyy?
MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: We talked, we signed the agreements. And --
TRUMP: With both.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: With both?
M. TRUMP: With both of them.
TRUMP: She does better than our professionals.
[16:20:01]
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, would you like the first lady to get more involved?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you going to put her in to negotiate, sir?
TRUMP: I think so. Do you want to get involved? I think she's doing better than the professionals right now. Now she got a ceasefire. This has to do with children and people. Elderly people.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you spoken to Elon Musk -- Elon Musk about the Ukraine situation and the conflicts?
TRUMP: I have. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you tell us about that?
TRUMP: No, I can't.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, the left says that we should believe women when they speak out. But Amy Acton's own mother is criticizing her, saying she's not fit to be governor. Why does it seem like the rules change when it comes to Democrats?
TRUMP: Well, it's amazing because, you know, they've said very bad things about Vivek, and the press doesn't complain. So you have a mother that said the daughter is a liar, and essentially that the daughter is no good and she is not qualified. And the press comes to the other person, Amy Acton's side. What a terrible thing to say.
If my mother, Mary MacLeod, the great Mary MacLeod, who you know and love, if she ever said anything bad about me, let me ask Margo.
Margo, if my mother said anything bad about me, do you think the press might not give me a pass? Mary McLeod would be front and center.
This is a disgrace. The mother said that Amy Acton is a liar and she's no good. And you know what? I don't think you can get a better reference than that.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: On Ukraine --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, President Obama and President Clinton are out there being a little critical of you today. Do you want to respond to them?
TRUMP: Well, they're critical because we've beaten them. You know, when I started, we had a very much weaker Republican Party, a smaller, weaker Republican Party. And then I ran and I won in 2016, and I won in 2022. But it didn't work out that way. It was a -- it was a rigged election. But I won by millions of votes. And I figured because I did, I'll do it again. And I did it again. And I made it too big to rig. Even better than 2020 or 2016.
And they're out there fighting. And I guess I'd be fighting about with them, too. But Obama was a lousy president. Clinton was not bad, but he got caught up in a lot of scandals. Outside of the scandals, he would have been a good president.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, any thoughts on Russia wanting to invest in Alaska natural gas?
TRUMP: No, but we'd like to get back to life where Russia and Ukraine make a deal, and then we'd be able to do business with both. You know, I made a deal with Ukraine to get their natural, up to $1 trillion worth of their natural minerals. And the reason, because Biden gave them $350 billion worth of equipment. So I said, yes, I feel foolish because all you had to do is ask them and they would have paid, meaning the European Union would have paid.
No, I have no comment on that other than certainly we'll do business with Ukraine and with Russia after this war ends, I would think.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, there's a new intel report that says Iran has increased its efforts to target U.S. personnel in the Middle East. What's your reaction?
TRUMP: Well, they're bad people. A very bad leadership. They killed 75,000 protesters. And you never write about that. They killed a lot of people, a lot of Americans. USS Cole, you go back many, many years. They've killed many Americans where, you know, they used to say 47 years. It's --
WHITFIELD: All right. We've lost that signal there with the president. But he's talking about a variety of things, also continuing to support -- OK. Let's listen again. We've got a new connection here.
TRUMP: -- very effectively, and I may have to finish it off, or maybe they'll make a deal, but I'm not sure. Either way we win.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, a man who is reportedly here in our country illegally has been arrested for allegedly damaging a war memorial in Virginia. What's your message to someone who disrespects a memorial honoring fallen Marines? And what should happen to them?
TRUMP: What he did to that beautiful memorial was terrible. I guess he comes from Mexico. He came in through the border of Biden, the open border of Biden, and we nabbed him. But what he did to that beautiful memorial, very important memorial, was a disgrace. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Who did you play golf with today, sir?
TRUMP: Just a couple of professionals. I played -- I didn't play, I just hit balls for an hour and I didn't want to play. I wasn't in the mood to play.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Why not? TRUMP: Because I'm too busy. I hit balls at a very lovely course.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, I can't keep up with you. I'm going with you once a week, and I'm tired and I'm exhausted. How do you --
TRUMP: You don't look exhausted.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. President. But how do you do it? Like, is it coffee? What is it? I mean, I'm exhausted keeping up with an 80-year-old president.
TRUMP: Well, you lose your voice a little bit. Not too much. It gets better. I've had this, you know, when I was campaigning and in the last campaign. So the last four months, as you know, I didn't miss a day. I made speeches, oftentimes a rally a day for weeks. And then at the end that last week, I was doing four, five rallies a day, and I said -- my only question was, will my voice hold out?
[16:25:06]
And now I've done actually 15, probably 11 or 12 in terms of the big ones. But we're doing a really big one now. I'm going to Georgia, but it's a strain on your voice. It's a strain -- you know, it's not normal, what I've done. In fact I heard a couple of the outlets say nobody else has ever done it. And it's hard because I'm not campaigning for myself. I'm campaigning for other people, some of whom I don't know. But in all cases, I find them to be very good.
Some are really outstanding people, like in Kansas, like in Texas. I mean, in Nebraska, I think we made big improvement. I would say that just about every place I've been, we've brought them way up. South Carolina, Lindsey's sister, who's fantastic, Darline. I'll be doing another one there I think. But they've all come up and they're all doing well. If you look at Ohio with Jon. Jon is -- was a great athlete.
I explained that big, powerful, strong guy. I got criticized because I was pretty intent on explaining his body type because nobody knew he was an all American football player. One of the best players. Jon Gruden told me about it. Jon Gruden came and said, what are you here for, Jon said. I'm here to support my friend Jon. This is Ohio running for the Senate. Nobody knew this about because Jon is a humble person.
So I started explaining, boy, look at this guy's body. And people said, what the hell was that? And what I was explaining, as everyone knows, that he's really a great football player, one of the best. They won the championship. He was an all-American. Nobody knew this about him until I met with the coach who came to -- Jon Gruden, who came to support him. Jon Husted, he's a great guy. So I thought I'd explain that. And his numbers have gone through the roof. You know, I took him, he was 11 or 12 down, now he's leading. So I think I've been very effective, very effective in every single place I've been.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It's because you love our country, sir.
TRUMP: I love the country. And I love a lot of these people that I'm campaigning for.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How far along are you on a possible attack on Iran?
TRUMP: Would you really think I'd tell you that?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I got to ask.
TRUMP: I know, I mean, can anybody from the "Wall Street Journal" ask a question so stupid? How far am I? Let me tell you. Well, we're thinking about doing it. And maybe tomorrow. Do you really think I'm going to tell you? If I'm going to do it, and there's a possibility I will, there's also a possibility we'll have a nice, big, beautiful agreement. That is a very -- they want to make a deal. But the problem is, will they hold the deal?
Look, I could have done the B-2 bomber thing a year ago and left. The problem is, over the course of a year, a year and a half, two years, they would have somehow figured a way to make a nuclear bomb. I've got to make it permanent. That's the only reason I'm doing it as long as I'm doing. We've done an amazing job. You know, we get -- we're getting, your paper wrote yesterday, two days ago, that we're getting more oil out of the Hormuz Strait than we did before the war started.
We get it out very, very strongly. Very -- our Navy has done an incredible job. Our military has done. They have no jet fighters left. They're all gone. They had 259 jet fighters, you know, they are laying out all over the runway in little pieces. They've knocked out every jet fighter in Iran. They've knocked out every ship, 259 ships, all at the bottom of the sea. They've knocked out the, all of the, actually some of the things that my uncle invented. The radar.
My uncle invented radar. Can you believe it? From MIT, Dr. John Trump. I mean, he'll probably be angry at me, but I knocked out their radar. I knocked out all of the different things. And the only thing they have going for them right now is inflation. They're setting a record inflation. Their inflation, as of this morning, I just read was 301 percent. So we've done a great job. And the question is, do we finish that which would not be difficult, or do we make a deal with them? And that's going to be up to them.
Thank you very much, everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So Congressman Luna was with you yesterday.
WHITFIELD: All right. You --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) Congress right now that would cap student loan interest (INAUDIBLE) and 5 percent? Would you sign that bill?
TRUMP: Yes, I might, because I think she's fantastic. She's been a supporter of mine from the beginning. She is a young, really brilliant person. I would say she's beautiful, but I'm not allowed to say that she's a beautiful person. But I don't say that she's beautiful because if you say that that's the end of your political career. So I will not say that she's beautiful, but she is beautiful. And she's beautiful inside and out. So I'm a supporter. She's been a very early supporter of mine, too. It's something that I would certainly consider. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, I just wanted to say, thank you for everything that you've done in Washington, D.C., picking up the streets, making it safer. I've come from Chicago. My dad is a Chicago police sergeant, and I've talked to many police officers in Chicago who would welcome the National Guard. They want it.
What kind of appetite do you think J.B. Pritzker has to have to now welcome the National Guard? And is there anything you can do without the governor's approval? Blue states like Illinois and California.
[16:30:15]
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes. I mean, you can violate the governor. You can go in. Pritzker -- the governor is supposed to ask for help. There are certain conditions, national emergencies, like in Chicago, where we could have that place fixed up in two weeks.
And just the other day, they had five people killed in one day. Last week, they had seven. It's terrible. Not to mention the number of people shot.
I could set that up. Washington, DC, as you all know, is now one of the safest communities in the whole country. And when I went down there two years ago, it was -- it was hell. It was hell.
You couldn't walk out -- people would go into the, you know, rented cars and everything else. They'd be -- they'd be accosted in the rent. It was so bad.
And in a period of two months, I had it good. In three months I had it really good. And now it's a year and it's as safe as there is anywhere in the country.
And not only safe. Clean. The graffiti is off all of the monuments. Everything is so beautiful. New grass in the parks. The tents are all gone. And people are coming back.
But we were losing two or three people every single week to death, so they'd come in from Iowa, from Indiana. They'd come in from other parts -- from Oregon. They'd come in -- their son, their daughter to see the Washington Monument, to see the Lincoln Memorial.
And they go home dead. Not anymore -- not anymore. We don't have killings. So thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Democrats take the House or the Senate or both over the midterms, shake out, are there areas of policy that you're thinking about working with them on?
TRUMP: Well, what typically -- I mean, when that happens, and it happens a lot over the years, you saw that because the sitting president always does badly in the midterms, almost. Two out of 25. What do you think that you know -- and one was a very unusual circumstance.
But I don't think that's going to happen. There's no president that's ever campaigned like I have. I've campaigned very, very hard. I'd like to keep it going because we've passed unbelievable legislation, tax cuts, military -- the military is so strong. We've rebuilt our military to a level that nobody thought possible. I don't want to see that destroyed.
I think the biggest thing is we're a respected country again. We were laughed at just two years ago. We were laughed at. We were a stupid country. We were a country led by idiots and morons and bad people and radical left people.
And you see that when you look at France. Just take a look at France, because that's what they'd like to have for our -- from our country. And I don't let that happen. Thank you very much, everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're saying you're going to the Ukraine?
MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: We will see. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
TRUMP: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. They're at a polling station in Florida taking advantage of the opportunity to early vote. He talked about a variety of things there. We're going to check in with our Julia Pembroke, who has been traveling with the president. And we're going to take a short break for now.
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[16:37:53]
WHITFIELD: All right. Live pictures right now, and behind the camera, well, we did see him, but he's left the stage. That was Texas U.S. Senate Democratic nominee James Talarico stumping in San Antonio, trying to push his message, secure vote. We're on the campaign trail across the country with so many candidates and big names that are campaigning for candidates and bringing it to you all day long.
All right. Meantime, early voting is underway in New York as polls open for the first day of early in-person voting. Mayor Zohran Mamdani was among those who cast their midterm ballot earlier today, urging New Yorkers to get out to the polls. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZOHRAN MAMDANI, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: You know, this is one of the only -- this is the only place in the world where you could be voting early at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And for New Yorkers who are concerned in a city where time is one of the most precious resources, voting early, you can do so in five minutes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. Let's bring in CNN's Mark Morales, who has spent much of the afternoon at a polling location there in New York. So, Mark, you've been talking to voters as well, not inside the polling station there, but you've been talking to them. What are they saying?
MARK MORALES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTER: Well, folks here have been excited. They've been excited to do their civic duty here. But we are seeing a lot of themes here.
A lot of folks are talking about voter safety, election security, whatever the election results might be, will they be accepted? And a lot of these concerns aren't necessarily about New York itself, as they are for other parts around the country.
Now, we're here at a public school here in the heart of Manhattan. There's been around a thousand people that have cast their votes here, which is a really good turnout for this location. And again, we spoke to some folks. And they told us -- they told us a little bit about their concerns and some of the stuff that they wanted to see happen. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDITH RIVEN, NEW YORK EARLY VOTER: For this election, voting really seems to be absolutely essential. The votes have to be counted. There can't be any mystery about them. And I want to make sure of that.
ED GOLDMAN, NEW YORK EARLY VOTER: We want to be sure that he gets counted and just want to have it done, so that there's no missing. It's important.
[16:45:06]
ELISSA STEIN, NEW YORK EARLY VOTER: I think that in New York City, with the amazing poll workers that we have and a Democratic government, we're pretty safe. In other parts of the country, I absolutely think that there's going to be voter intimidation. If not tampering, then definitely things to try to dissuade people or prevent people from voting. So I think that the more people who have poll watchers available, volunteers available, people who can come out and make sure that every vote counts, we're going to really need it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORALES: Now, a lot has been made about federal deployments to polling locations, but it's important to note that federal law enforcement is not allowed here. That's FBI, DHS, even ICE. Now, those are circumstances that could always change depending on whether or not there's a situation that would need those types of deployments. But by and large, they're not allowed here.
NYPD is allowed here, and they -- that's why they've been deployed to polling locations all over the city. Now, as far as security for the elections, how they go, New York Attorney General Letitia James had a press conference earlier this week. And she talked about her game plan around this.
And it's very similar to what other states are going to be doing around the country. And essentially, it's about having people that are tied in that know what's going on, that get wind of any sort of voting irregularities that may happen. They relay that information to the office of the attorney general.
They relay that to their network of attorneys. And then they decide whether or not they're filing a lawsuit. Those lawsuits end up becoming a very key weapon in fighting a lot of these voting irregularities. But as far as here goes, nothing really going on here. Everything seems to be going fine so far, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. That is good news. All right. Mark Morales in New York, thanks so much.
All right. President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, as you just saw, were in Florida casting their ballots in this midterm election. CNN's Julia Benbrook is in Florida as well.
Julia. I mean, the president and the first lady -- they spoke briefly. They talked about a lot of different things, from the Russian war with Ukraine, and also the president's allegation of corruption in some elections here in the states. I mean, pick it up from there.
BENBROOK: There was a lot that was covered. But President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were both there. And I actually want to key on something that the first lady said, because just yesterday, the White House had announced that the first lady had played a key role in securing a localized ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine in the town of Oleshky.
So it's expected to go into place soon. And she said -- she was pressed during this gaggle about her involvement. Did she speak directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy? And she said, yes, that she was involved in those discussions. Trump praised her work as well.
And what we know about that development, according to the first lady's team, is that this city came to her attention specifically at her Fostering the Future Together event, which took place in New York City on the sidelines of the recent United Nations General Assembly. And she said in a statement that the situation in Oleshky is dire. Oleshky is a frontline war city on the brink of disaster that its remaining population is comprised primarily of elderly residents who urgently need medical attention, medicine, food, and clean water. Now, as they were standing there today, Trump had already been pressed on if she would be involved in broader conversations, potentially trilateral talks between involving Russia and Ukraine. He said yesterday no, but it's not the worst idea in the world. Today, he was pressed a bit further, and he said, we'll see if she could go to Ukraine at some point that it could happen.
This conflict, as well as the conflict in Iran, top of mind for voters. Any of these developments, of course, are probably a win for Republicans. But it's really interesting that it's the first lady leading on these talks right now.
WHITFIELD: Indeed -- it is indeed. All right. Julia Benbrook, thank you so much. All right. Also on the campaign trail, Former President Obama with two rallies taking place today in key states of Ohio and Michigan. We're live.
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[16:49:05]
WHITFIELD: All right. Former President Obama is on his way to Michigan right now to campaign for Democrats in that state, in key battles for Senate and governor. He just wrapped up a campaign rally in Cleveland, where he rallied voters around the Democratic candidates in the Buckeye State. CNN's Arlette Saenz is joining us now from Detroit. So, Arlette, Michigan is a key battleground state for the Democratic hopes of taking back the Senate. What we -- what can we expect?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, former president Barack Obama will be here in just a few hours to rally Democrats in this final stretch of the election. The former president is reprising his role as the closer in chief, as he is often brought in in the closing weeks to try to help get Democratic candidates across the finish line. There will also be a real presidential split screen tonight, at the same time that the former president is speaking here in Detroit, President Donald Trump will be holding a campaign rally down in Georgia.
[16:50:02]
Trump is also set to campaign here in Michigan tomorrow. But for Obama, he is really hoping to be a motivator for Democratic voters in the state. The former president enjoys much more favorable opinion ratings, according to a CNN poll released earlier this year.
He is the most popular, viewed most positively among Americans than any other living president. So candidates like Abdul El-Sayed, the Democrat running here for Senate, are hoping that he can help with voters in this closing stretch. Now, El-Sayed has faced some skepticism from black voters who had sided with his opponent in the Democratic primary, Congresswoman Haley Stevens.
And so one sector or one constituency that President Obama could potentially help with is turning out black voters here in the State of Michigan. But certainly this is one of those battles that will be watched until the very, very, very end, as Michigan is one of those states that Democrats must win if they want to win control of the Senate majority. If they were to lose here in Michigan, they would have to win in even more deep red states. So they are hoping that President Obama, in his appearance today, will help fuel and push some voters out to the polls over the next ten days.
WHITFIELD: All right. Arlette Saenz in Detroit, thank you so much for that. All right. Let's talk more about the races in Michigan. With us now, the editorial and public affairs director here at WXYZ-TV in Detroit, Chuck Stokes. Great to see you.
Chuck -- and you also recently moderated the debate between Senate candidates Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed. And it still resonates, you know, some of the content from that debate, we're going to be seeing both President Trump and former President Barack Obama in Michigan this evening and tomorrow. President Trump was able to break Democrats' blue wall back in 2016 and 2024. Do you think his visit will be able to, you know, push Republicans over the finish line this go-round?
CHUCK STOKES, EDITORIAL & PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIRECTOR, WXYZ-TV: Well, the president, I'm sure, is hoping that that's what the case will be. But it's slightly different times now. You're in a midterm of his presidency.
Historically, presidents do not do well in midterm elections. We know that according to many polls, that his popularity numbers are down. But that hasn't stopped him.
He has told everyone, pretend as though I am on the ballot, even though technically he is not. He is coming into a purple state where he has a base, and he has done well in the past. He is going to use as much of his campaign clout as he can to try to get out the vote, especially when you consider the fact that absentee ballots have been out for about two weeks now.
It's closely approaching nearly a million people that have already returned their absentee ballot. Early voting started here today in Michigan, so even more people are going to the polls. And then traditionally, if you get a big voter turnout on election day, people coming out on the actual voting day, that oftentimes will favor Republicans.
And I'm sure that that's going to be the message from President Trump is if you haven't voted already, get to those polls and make sure that you vote for Republican Party. Conversely, you've got President Obama in town and just probably about half an hour or so --
WHITFIELD: Right?
STOKES: He's coming in to deliver his message to the Democrats to do the same thing.
WHITFIELD: And then -- I mean, granted, it was -- it was Wednesday. But like I mentioned, that debate still resonates. You were, you know, one of the moderators there. And there were some pretty heated exchanges. I do want to play a moment for our viewers at home. Of course, it will just, you know, conjure up memories for you. So let's listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE ROGERS, REPUBLICAN SENATE NOMINEE, MICHIGAN: If you are going to go to the United States Senate, we need to know: are you for America or are you for these terrorist groups overseas?
ABDUL EL-SAYED, DEMOCRATIC SENATE NOMINEE, MICHIGAN: To bring it a question? My commitment to the constitution is really beneath you. I am proud of America. I'm proud to be an American.
I'm proud of our constitution that guarantees all of us the right to pray as we choose to pray. And the question that you would ask that, I think, is actually really quite shameful as somebody who's actually served under that constitution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: How did that resonate with voters?
STOKES: Well, it depends on who you're talking to. It is certainly been a core issue of the campaign. It has probably been the one in which it's been bantered back and forth between all the political ads, and certainly garnered a lot of media attention.
It's sort of the sexy issue in this race. The emotional issue, for all the reasons that we all know, that is tied to religion. Dr. Abdul El- Sayed would be the very first Muslim in the U.S. Senate if he's elected. And so that's garnered attention.
[16:55:03]
And certainly Congressman Rogers has said you can't trust him. You can't trust his background. He has tried to tie him to terrorist groups abroad.
He has also said that he would raise your taxes because he's for Medicare for All and all these things. Conversely, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed has said you can't trust Mike Rogers because he is tied to big business. He is tied to the hip of Donald Trump, who campaigned for him and endorsed him in the primary. So, you know, they're going back and forth over this issue.
But what's interesting, Fredricka, is that while that issue did come up during our debate that I did with Carolyn Clifford and Alicia Smith, two of our anchors, is the fact that the majority of questions that we receive from viewers before the debate were really about bread-and-butter issues, about quality of life issues. People want to know, what are you going to do if you're elected to the U.S. Senate, about education, about tariffs, about health care, about artificial intelligence?
And so we tried to ask questions that really were addressed to the broad number of Michiganders that touch almost everyone's home regardless. Yes, the issues in the Middle East are important. They're emotional.
But a lot of people in Michigan feel as though that's almost a singular issue. As important as it is. But it doesn't resonate as much as, can I put food on my table? Can I put gas in my tank?
WHITFIELD: The cost of living is driving people to the polls, really across the country. Chuck Stokes, congratulations on the debate. It's always, you know, a great honor to be a moderator on any debate stage. So congrats to you on that. And thank you so much for being with us.
STOKES: Thank you. It's certainly our pleasure. And thank you for focusing on Michigan.
WHITFIELD: Absolutely. All right. And thank you, everybody, for joining us today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues with Jessica Dean in a moment
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