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Two U.S. Presidents On The Trail; Wave Of Discontent; Bridging The Divide. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired October 25, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

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KRISTI LU STOUT, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome. I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.

And ahead here on CNN Newsroom, two U.S. presidents on the campaign trail urging voters to turn out for their sides as we close in on the midterm elections.

A wave of discontent sweeps across Europe. Protesters call for change while authorities deal with the unrest.

And North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, crosses a new bridge into China, signaling strengthening trade between the two nations.

With just days to go until the U.S. midterm election, President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama are both rallying supporters in key battleground states. Now, former President Obama took to the stage in Michigan on Saturday in support of the Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

Now, his race against Republican Mike Rogers could play a critical role in the Democrats' efforts to regain control of Congress. And Obama urged Michigan Democrats to use their votes to send a message to the Trump administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: After ten years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence, tomfoolery, nonsense, the likes of which this country has not seen in modern times at least, you get to say enough is enough. We're voting for change right here in Michigan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: President Donald Trump rallied his supporters in Georgia on Saturday, acknowledging the challenges Republicans face in the state Senate race.

Now, Trump said a win by Republican Mike Collins over incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff would be, quote, somewhat of a shocker, but that didn't stop Trump from going after Ossoff and his policies. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: He's going to want to terminate your Second Amendment. He's going to want to do everything you can do. What the hell? How can Georgia vote for him? They can't vote for him, including Democrats in Georgia. But Ossoff is an open border extremist who betrayed his most sacred duty in keeping Georgia safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: Now, President Trump was busy on Saturday. He voted in person in Florida, despite being previously opposed to early voting.

CNN's Julie Benbrook has more.

JULIE BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump cast their ballots here in Palm Beach County over the weekend. They are joining the more than 23 million Americans who have already cast their ballots, and that data is showing us something. So far, in several key states, Democrats have made up a larger share of early voters than they did at this point two years ago, highlighting a Democratic enthusiasm edge that has been evident in primary turnout, special elections, and polling.

Now, of course, this recent information only shows who is voting, not the candidates and the issues that are motivating them to do so, and Republicans typically prefer to go to the polls on Election Day. But after Trump cast his ballot, he was asked, did he vote party line? He said, quote, very much so.

He also spoke to his time out on the campaign trail. He's been crisscrossing the country, and spoke on how he believes that has been going. Take a listen.

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TRUMP: In fact, I heard a couple of the analysts 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, like, 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: So, there you hear him highlighting some of the key areas of focus. He continues this campaign blitz with stops this weekend in Georgia and in Michigan. Next week, he'll be in Mississippi, Texas, and Ohio.

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His message remains the same. He wants Republicans to pretend like he is on the ballot in hopes to motivate his base to get out and vote.

Reporting in Florida, Julia Benbrook, CNN.

STOUT: Now, earlier I spoke with CNN Senior Political Analyst and Opinion Columnist for Bloomberg, Ron Brownstein. I got his insight into the latest news from the midterm campaign trails, including a contentious race unfolding in Alaska, and President Trump's vow to sue if the GOP loses.

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RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: The Alaska Supreme Court has already looked at this issue, and obviously there's no basis to keep somebody off a ballot simply because their name resembles that of another candidate on the ballot.

It would be shocking if there was any court that upheld what the president is trying to do. Plus, as I think the graphic is showing you know, Alaska identifies the Dan Sullivan who is the incumbent as opposed to the Dan Sullivan who is the school teacher also on the ballot. It's ranked choice voting as well in Alaska. So, even if people are confused about which Republican they want to support on the first ballot, presumably, if they want to vote Republican, they're going to list the Republican as their second choice, and the vote will flow there anyway.

I think, you know, one possible effect of this is to reduce the odds that Dan Sullivan, the incumbent, survives the ranked choice balloting. I mean, I got to think this is going to be very poorly received in Alaska. Lisa Murkowski, the Republican senator, has already condemned it. So, we'll see where this goes, but it would be kind of shocking if a court found that having the same name disqualifies you from a ballot.

STOUT: And what makes this concerning is what you just alluded to, which is Trump has a history of challenging election outcomes. So, are we going to see more legal challenges, more disputes in the weeks ahead, and what can election officials do to prepare for that?

BROWNSTEIN: I think it is inevitable that we are going to see more challenges and just more of everything. I mean, who knows what ICE deployment is going to look like on Election Day. We've seen the threats to California officials, that they will be criminally prosecuted unless they segregate ballots that the administration says are inappropriate.

I think you're going to see a very different reaction in blue states and red states. I mean, I don't know. You know, you have in Alaska, Texas, Ohio, in particular, you've had Republican secretaries of state who have made pretty partisan decisions. You know, like, for example, the secretary of state in Alaska tried to keep the other Dan Sullivan off the ballot originally before the courts intervened. And, you know, if there are very narrow results in Texas, what does Greg Abbott do if he is the re-elected governor? If he loses, what does he do?

So, we are not out of the woods by any means, and it is possible that we are going to see more post-election conflict in this midterm than we've ever seen in a midterm, unlike anything except for the 2020 presidential itself.

STOUT: And, Ron, I need to ask you about Michigan and the Senate race there. You have the GOP candidate, Mike Rogers, and allies including the president. They're all ramping up their attacks on Abdul El-Sayed. They're trying to tie him to the Muslim Brotherhood. Is this going to reshape the race, or is it going to backfire?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, El-Sayed is probably in the most difficult position of any Democrat running in a state that has not voted for Trump in all three of his elections, any of the states the Democrats are defending in a swing state. I mean, Georgia, New Hampshire, Minnesota all look a little better.

El-Sayed has a lot of vulnerabilities, ideological vulnerabilities. He is a very confident candidate, but that can come off to some voters as arrogance. There's a history of tension between the black and Arab American communities. There was a lot of resistance to him in the primary in black communities in Michigan. And all of that is real.

And then you have Republicans essentially questioning his loyalty in a way that is reminiscent of what they have done with, you know, other Democratic candidates of color, or, you know, members, representatives of color, like Ilhan Omar. I think all of that adds up to this being a very difficult race for him, more difficult, as I said, than any of the other seats Democrats are defending.

But Mike Rogers is dealing with a very serious undertow. Donald Trump is less popular in the state today than he was in 2024 when Mike Rogers lost the race. I still think it is an uphill climb but this race, without question, is much tougher than it would've been for Democrats if they had nominated Haley Stevens, I think.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: That was Ron Brownstein speaking to me earlier.

Now, protesters across Europe, meanwhile, they are voicing frustration over high housing costs, lack of economic opportunity, and lack of investment in schools. On Saturday, demonstrators turned out in Italy, in Albania, in Belgium and Spain, and many of them were inspired in part by the student protest movement in France.

[03:10:08]

Now, according to Reuters, police in Barcelona arrested some 100 people after hooded demonstrators who had taken part in anti- government rallies looted shops and set fires. The interior minister for the Spanish region of Catalonia said around a quarter of those arrested were minors. Barcelona's mayor says anyone who committed acts of vandalism will face legal consequences.

And in Bologna, Italy, protesters there clashed with security forces, leaving several people injured. About 1,000 people gathered in the city center to denounce the soaring cost of living, but the rally took a violent turn, with protesters hurling bottles and firecrackers and officers firing tear gas and water cannon.

And this is the scene in Albania. Some protesters threw stones at police who responded with water cannons and tear gas. Protesters rallied in the streets of the capital Tirana for the eighth straight day, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama. They say his government is engulfed in scandal and corruption. They're also protesting the cost of living, lack of jobs, and poor education standards.

Police pursued protesters in Brussels on Saturday and fired tear gas and pepper spray on the crowds. Inspired partly by the protest in France, students in Belgium are demanding improvements in the country's education system, and they're accusing police of reacting with excessive force. Reuters witnesses saw officers hitting and kicking one demonstrator who fell to the ground.

And French officials say more than 400,000 people marched in mostly peaceful protests on Saturday. They are demanding greater investment in education and social services, more opportunities for young people, and economic relief. 70,000 police officers and specialist units were mobilized across the country ahead of the protests. And the French interior minister says many of them faced a, quote, extremely high level of violence from smaller extremist groups after the main marches.

Now, the Starshield satellite service is now fully back up and running in Ukraine, but the country is still at loggerheads with Elon Musk over it.

Starshield is a military-grade version of his Starlink satellite system, both of which are used by Ukraine's military. And on Saturday, Musk accused Ukraine of violating Starlink's terms of service by using it for offensive drone strikes, and he added that the loophole was closed last week. But a Ukrainian presidential adviser quickly pushed back, saying that Starlink is unavailable over Russia's territory, and that it would be impossible to use it for strikes inside Russia.

The Starshield service was abruptly slowed down in Ukraine last week, but it is still unclear who is behind that decision.

Meanwhile, the U.S. First Lady Melania Trump is revealing more details about her role in negotiating a local ceasefire in Oleshky. She says she made a direct appeal to the Russian and Ukrainian leaders about the humanitarian crisis in the town occupied by Russia.

The ceasefire, going into effect on Tuesday, will help in delivering aid and evacuating civilians. Ukraine's president praised the agreement on Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: There is also an agreement regarding Oleshky. Access to Oleshky should be unblocked soon. In the occupied, temporarily occupied area in our Kherson region, the Russians have mined the roads, making the situation difficult, extremely difficult. We hope it will be possible to carry out this humanitarian operation to unblock access to Oleshky and allow food and medical supplies to be delivered, and for people to be able to leave this combat zone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: North Korea's leader is indicating he is fully behind boosting trade with his top ally. Kim Jong-un visited China on Saturday, crossing a new bridge connecting the two countries. Now, the facility is expected to give a shot in the arm to trade between Beijing and Pyongyang. Now, North Korea has been expanding its military ties with Russia, leading to speculation that it's becoming less reliant on China. But analysts say Kim's trip indicates he still wants to bolster economic ties with Beijing.

Now, for more, I'm joined now by John Delury from Nanjing, China. He's a resident professor of international relations at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. He joins us now. John, it's been a while. It's so good to see you. Thank you for joining us here on CNN Newsroom.

Now, this is Kim Jong-un's first visit to China in over a year. Why is he back in China? Why did he make this trip?

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JOHN DELURY, PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS, HOPKINS-NANJING CENTER: Well, you know, this trip is part of a, a series of moves reciprocated on both sides that go back at least to, you remember about a year ago, that Kim Jong-un surprised us by appearing in Tiananmen Square alongside Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin and other world leaders for the anniversary of victory in World War II that China celebrates.

So, if you've been following this relationship there have been a number of high-level visits back and forth between Pyongyang and Beijing, and so this is sort of Kim Jong-un's turn. It's pretty significant that he makes a trip all the way, right across -- steps across the border, blesses the opening of this bridge without Xi Jinping actually there to greet him. So in a way, you're seeing Kim Jong-un really showing his side's efforts to upgrade the relationship with China.

STOUT: An attempt to upgrade the relationship. State media reporting that Kim Jong Un has returned from China after this visit. There's been a lot of speculation that this visit could be some sort of a checking in with China to -- in advance of any sort of summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. There's speculation about a sideline meeting with Trump at the APEC summit due to take place next month in Shenzhen. What's your thinking there? Is that going to happen?

DELURY: It's so hard to guess. They like to keep us guessing. When I've been in Seoul, that's the talk of the town for quite a while, is when might Trump and Kim Jong-un have a visit? And the APEC meeting, as you say, Kristie, really is a possibility since we expect Trump will be there. Putin will be there.

STOUT: Yes. DELURY: So, I would not rule it out. You know, Kim Jong-un is showing that he's willing to leave his country, and this does sort of follow a minuet of moves that we saw back in 2018. So, this could have been Kim Jong-un having some private conversations with those close to Xi Jinping to prepare the way for a visit to Shenzhen next month. That's something we need to watch for.

STOUT: Yes, absolutely. I want to ask you about the bridge. Kim Jong- un crossed into China on this brand-new, newly opened Yalu River Bridge. You know, it was a moment that felt very scripted, very symbolic. How would you describe the bridge between China and North Korea right now?

DELURY: Well, first of all, I mean, I'm a historian, so the history here is important. He's there on one of the anniversary of the first altercation, military altercation of Chinese volunteers fighting in the Korean War way back in 1950. And it's that river that they had to cross in winter to join the North Korean soldiers.

So, there's certainly a historical context behind it. But then on the other hand, the bridge is a symbol of a new economic opening. He went to see a bus factory. So, actually the sort of economic trade, reopening trade for a bridge that's been delayed for some time, the reopening of it, that's a message back to North Koreans as well as people here in China that North Korea wants to normalize its economic relationship. And so that's a more promising side of what we're seeing, I think, in terms of the options we have with the future of Kim Jong-un's North Korea.

STOUT: Yes, the bridge a symbol of bilateral trade expanding between these two countries. I want to ask you quickly about Xi Jinping, because Kim Jong-un did not meet with the Chinese leader this time. Should we read anything into that? Is that a snub?

DELURY: There's going to be speculation and framing of it as a snub. You know, I don't think that Kim Jong-un would make this trip unless he were comfortable with the choreography of it. I think he went knowing that he would not meet President Xi. It's a way, again, for him to signal that he's sort of all in on improving the relationship. Wang Huning is a very senior figure in China and close to Xi, so it's a way of passing any kind of message he may want passed to Xi Jinping.

So, I would not read too much into the absence of President Xi, although again, it does signal that Kim Jong-un has a high level of commitment in this particular moment to a good relationship with China.

STOUT: That's right. Xi, after all, visited Pyongyang recently in June, and he's got a very busy next couple of days coming up with that big CCP meeting in Beijing.

John Delury, we'll leave it there. Thank you so much for joining us. That was John Delury speaking with me from Nanjing China.

Now, there is so much more to come right here on CNN Newsroom. In fact, it is election day in Brazil, and voters are preparing to cast their ballots in the presidential runoff. Ahead, how the two candidates closed out their hard-fought campaigns.

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STOUT: Israelis are demanding answers from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government just days ahead of their crucial election. Thousands gathered in Tel Aviv's Hostage Square on Saturday, calling for an independent inquiry into failures around the October 7th attack and the events leading up to them.

The countdown is on in Brazil's tight presidential race with voters set to cast their ballots in the hours ahead. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is facing off against Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro, and polls have them neck-and-neck as each candidate offers differing visions for Brazil. On Saturday, they each wrapped up their campaigns, making a final push for undecided voters.

Now, Lula campaigned in Rio de Janeiro before heading to Sao Paulo, where thousands of supporters joined him in a march. The event was bittersweet for many as the 80-year-old leftist politician is widely expected to be making a final bid for office. Meanwhile, Flavio Bolsonaro's supporters cheered and waved Brazilian flags as the right- wing senator paraded through Rio.

Our CNN Brazil Reporter Vinicius Murad has the latest from Sao Paulo.

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VINICIUS MURAD, CNN BRASIL REPORTER: Brazil's presidential candidates have finished their final campaign events before Sunday's runoff election. Senator Flavio Bolsonaro campaigned in Belo Horizonte and held his final rally in Rio de Janeiro. In Minas Gerais, he said that winning in Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais is key to winning Brazil. His campaign has focused on public security, stronger action against crime groups, and the rising cost of living.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva held a rally in Rio de Janeiro and is ending his campaign here in Sao Paulo. Lula said he was very optimistic about the election, while acknowledging that not every candidate wins. He also spoke about the need to fight violence and crime in Brazil.

Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro are the country's three largest state electoral areas, making the Southeast a key battleground in the runoff. Brazil's electoral authority says that more than 150 million voters are eligible to vote in Sunday.

In the first round, Flavio Bolsonaro received 47 percent of valid votes, compared with 45 percent for Lula. The latest major polls show the two candidates in a technical tie, setting the stage for a close election on this Sunday.

From Sao Paulo, Brazil, Vinicius Murad.

STOUT: And thank you for watching. I'm Kristie Lu Stout here in Hong Kong.

Quest's World of Wonder is next, and then there's more CNN Newsroom in about half an hour.

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