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Talarico Returns to Campaign Trail; Livestream of Execution Draws Backlash; Sen. Marshall Sued Patents for Bills. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired October 12, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:04]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: So, James Talarico is back on the campaign trail in Texas. This was after an absence of two weeks due to what his campaign called the flu. Now, he was spotted this weekend at a music event in Austin, followed by a Kacey Musgraves concert in Dallas Saturday. And his reappearance comes after days of speculation from his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton. Paxton led rally chants, wondering, quote, "where is Talarico?"

Now, some of Paxton's allies also pushed rumors that Talarico was being treated for a stress induced episode. And then the clinic at the heart of the rumor had to release a statement saying, quote, "James Talarico has never received treatment at the Lindner Center of Hope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN PAXTON (R), TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATE: I don't know whether to believe him about the flu or not. I just know that everything that he says, almost everything that he says has been false since the beginning of this campaign.

JAMES TALARICO (D), TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATE: I had the flu. This is the craziest thing I've ever heard. It's wild that someone can just post something on the internet, and then the media just runs with it.

You know, I've heard credible reports that Ken Paxton has a serious medical condition that causes clinical levels of cowardice.

He has asked for proof of life from me. I'm asking for proof of spine from him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now to discuss, Mark McKinnon, former adviser to George W. Bush and John McCain and creator of "The Circus" on Showtime.

So, I want to talk about broader Texas politics because, obviously, the Bush camp has been way more active in Texas in recent months. But let's talk about this rumor mongering. Elon Musk pushing in, in a little tweet storm. Basically saying, he's hiding something, a thing. What is that thing? He's got to be honest about the happening. Probably because it's not true, so he can't actually say what it is. Do these have an effect in a place like Texas?

MARK MCKINNON, FORMER ADVISER TO GEORGE W. BUSH AND JOHN MCCAIN: Well, Audie, thanks for having me.

James Talarico has run an exceptional campaign throughout. I think this was kind of a stumble for him because I don't think there's any question that he had the flu. But to go -- to be in a Texas Senate race, a U.S. Senate race, high profile race for this -- like this. And to just go off the grid for almost two weeks without being more transparent about it. I mean, I think that he should have said at the very beginning, I've got the flu. Show some pictures of him working at home, which he said he was doing. That would have been fine. But to just leave it -- to leave that vacuum, the Republicans filled it, obviously.

And I think typically, and understandably, not surprisingly, Republicans overplayed their hand and said he was at a mental health clinic, which has been disproven. So, I think it's probably a much ado about nothing in the end, but it was -- it was -- it was some lost time for Talarico and some time spent where he had to defend himself because this went right to the heart of where Republicans and Paxton are trying to attack Talarico, which is saying he's weak. He's not a manly man. But now I think Talarico has done a nice job of flipping it to say, well, wait a minute, this is the guy without a spine who can't even get on a debate stage with me.

CORNISH: Speaking of which, how big a deal is this debate thing? I mean every day I'm talking about debates in Montana and South Carolina and Maine, but it looks like this huge race in Texas is not going to have one?

MCKINNON: It's stunning really, and I think incomprehensible except for the fact that it really testifies, I think, to Ken Paxton's lack of confidence in his ability to stand on a stage with James Talarico, who's very talented and great on his feet. But I think it should be a disqualifier to go through a U.S. -- to go through a U.S. Senate race and not actually stand on a stage with your opponent. And I think that's a problem for Ken Paxton. But I also think that he understands, and his team does, that he'd probably get waxed by James Talarico in a debate. So, they think the better way to go is to just take the heat for not debating.

CORNISH: Now, we should mention, I want to throw up some poll numbers here. "New York"/Siena poll, this was in late -- no -- yes, late September among U.S. adults in Texas. We've got 51 percent for Talarico, 45 for Ken Paxton. So, the question is whether that gap has closed at all in these last couple weeks while Talarico has been off.

[06:35:04]

I want to ask about the sort of Bush dynasty of it all. You've got George W. Bush and Cornyn, of course, raising money for everyone but Paxton. Has Bush world undermined Paxton? MCKINNON: Well, I don't want to say anything about the president himself, but I'll just say that everyone I know from Bush world was a huge John Cornyn fan. And I think that if John Cornyn had gotten the support of Donald Trump, he would have walked into the U.S. Senate. They wouldn't have had to spend a dime.

But Paxton and Republicans have now spent more than $130 million on this race, which is more money than we spent for all of the media for George Bush for the entire country in his presidential race. So, that's how much money they've had to spend -- to spend to defend a race that they shouldn't have had to spend a nickel on.

CORNISH: What are you going to be watching for on election night? Are there specific counties or something that would help us understand whether, for once, Democrats have a chance at taking Texas?

MCKINNON: Sure. Well, Audie, the thing that I always hear from people, you know, every couple cycles is, oh, is Texas going blue? Is Texas going blue again? It's based primarily on the notion that there's a rising Hispanic demographic in Texas, which is true. But they make the false assumption that just because there's more Hispanics, that they're going to vote Democratic. Hispanics, like most voters in Texas, are just very conservative.

But there's been a huge swing of -- among Hispanics. They've supported Donald Trump in the last election by really pretty astonishing numbers but they -- those numbers have swung back dramatically to Democrats. So, that's one thing I'll watch for, particularly along the border.

But also, I mean, a look at sort of threshold areas, like Fort Worth -- the Dallas, Fort Worth area, where Republicans have typically been pretty strong in their support. But I've talked to a lot of Republicans who, for example, in 2018 weren't big fans of Cruz, but they just couldn't vote for Beto O'Rourke. And Cruz won that race by two and a half points. And Cruz was ahead in every poll except for one in that race. So, to me, it really says something about the direction of the country. I mean what -- you know, just what's happening politically in the country, but also especially in Texas that Talarico has just the opposite. He's led in almost every race by more than two and a half, which is what Cruz won by. So, you know, I think it -- I think Talarico has got a real shot here.

CORNISH: All right, Mark McKinnon, thanks so much for your time.

And for you watching, if you want to know more about this race yourself, Erin Burnett is moderating a new "CNN Jubilee Town Hall." You're actually going to hear from Senate Candidate James Talarico. And he's going to be talking face to face with Texas voters. You can watch that on CNN, and it is streaming live with All Access on the CNN app.

Next this morning, the Trump administration wants to live stream an execution by firing squad. We're going to talk about what it means to turn that moment into a public spectacle.

And then J.D. Vance questioning the faith of a Democratic Senate candidate who is also a pastor. The faith feud that is brewing.

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[06:42:44]

CORNISH: All right, so the Department of Homeland Security secretary is defending the Pentagon's plan to live stream the execution of the Fort Hood shooter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARKWAYNE MULLIN, DHS SECRETARY: I don't see an elevated risk at this point at all because of this. I think people need to understand, if you attack -- if you attack America, we will come after you and we will make sure that the -- that the punishment fits the crime. And in this case, he killed 13 individuals on Fort Hood. I have no sympathy for him. And I give absolutely zero thought to the way that this man dies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, Nidal Hasan is set to die by firing squad in December after being convicted in the 2009 shooting. And while Markwayne Mullin sees the showing as a spectacle, as a way of protecting the country. An Army sergeant who survived that attack sees it differently.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEANT ALONSO LUNSFORD, FORT HOOD SURVIVOR: It's not something that you should view for entertainment purposes. To show the whole thing without it being censored for the general public, I really don't, me personally, I don't agree with that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Group chat is back.

Can you talk about that? Because the viewing, the media part of it is the part we're focused on.

SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST: Yes. So, it's part of a broader theme, from the way I see it, of the president and this administration leaning into sort of the bravado to inspire people, as they say. You know, I think about what's happened in the Defense Department and at the Pentagon, you know, pledging loyalty, trying to make sure that you have the most sort of manliest people that are part of this. That all feels like it feeds into this.

But the challenge is, this type of public viewing of an execution is not something that, you know, mature, established Democratic nations typically do. We've seen this in other sort of, you know, communist societies, autocracies, such as China and North Korea. It's not a playbook that we have followed.

CORNISH: Yes. FISCHER: And I think that's why a lot of people say, this kind of goes against the decorum of what the United States and democracy represents. And it's not really fitting of our office.

CORNISH: Yes, because the debate is actually turning out to be not at all about whether or not he should be executed.

FISCHER: No. No.

CORNISH: I have not -- across the board, I've not heard anyone quibble with what the sentence was with his conviction. But to your point, here's the U.N. spokesperson on Friday.

[06:45:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHABIA MANTOO, U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE SPOKESPERSON: Public executions constitute a form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The live streaming of an execution is tantamount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture. Failure to respect this prohibition would inevitably render the execution arbitrary in nature and result in a violation of the right to life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, that's to your point.

And then I want to play one more for this side of the table. Here's J.D. Vance on Friday not sounding like Mullin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, first of all, I've see these announcements. I don't know that that's actually going to happen. Whatever the controversy is about the method of execution, I hope that people don't forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people. Now, that said, I mean, look, if it's ultimately live streamed, I'm not going to be watching it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TIANA LOWE DOESCHER, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": Look, I could not care less about what the U.N. says. They allow Iran to be on the women's rights councils, right? Look -- but I think Vice President Vance --

CORNISH: The (ph) U.N. spokesperson?

DOESCHER: So -- yes.

CORNISH: Yes. OK.

DOESCHER: So, look, Vice President Vance, he's a practicing catholic, right? And so that's different than his political role. From a political perspective, George Washington was in favor of public executions, right? He saw it as if the state has the monopoly on this form of violence, of judicial violence, people should see what it's for, right? That was obviously prior to the era of social media.

So, I think to the point of the fact that the execution itself is not a debate, it's because America luckily, unlike our, you know, European allies, understands that some crimes need to face the ultimate punishment.

CORNISH: So, you're saying, as a Catholic, that's why he is saying, I'm not going to watch and I'm not even sure it's going to happen.

DOESCHER: Yes, because --

CORNISH: Can you talk then, Herbie, about what can be said about this? Or -- because we had someone sitting in that chair last week who said, you know what, it would be a good thing for people to see the reality of the death penalty live, and that that would somehow bolster the arguments for those who are against the death penalty.

HERBIE ZISKEND, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY COMMS. DIRECTOR: This is about the spectacle with this crowd. It's always about the spectacle. You have the vice president who says he can't even handle watching it. And multiple Republican senators have said that this risks turning a murderer into a martyr. And I think as a society, as a government, we can honor the lives of those who were lost at Fort Hood without creating a propaganda tool for extremists. This is a bad idea, and I ultimately hope that they don't do it.

CORNISH: Yes, it was interesting hearing from one of the victims of the shooting, saying, like, wait, what are we doing? This isn't entertainment. Can you talk about this? The social media platforms have rules against graphic violence. I assume they're going to be waived for this.

FISCHER: Yes, so you're not, if you're a social media company, going to want to have exemptions for the way that your tools are going to weed out graphic violence, not because its necessarily a free speech issue, but because it violates some of your own graphic content and violent content, content moderation policies. So, I doubt any of them are going to be actually airing this live.

Also --

CORNISH: Although the FCC chair, I think, Brendan Carr is like, hey, let's do it.

FISCHER: So, Brendan Carr declined to weigh in on this broadly, which is a signal because he is somebody who weighs in on most things.

CORNISH: Everything. Yes, jokes on Kimmel.

FISCHER: The -- but the FCC only has jurisdiction over broadcast. So, that would be the local broadcast networks, like from ABC, NBC and CBS. They can't say whether a cable network could carry this. They have no jurisdiction over whether a social media company could carry this. We don't have any sort of internet regulator.

CORNISH: Do you have -- what's the buzz in the c-suites of media companies about whether or not they want to run this?

FISCHER: I don't think anybody's going to run this. I think everybody's going to cover the spectacle of it extensively and the decision around whether or not we should be doing it extensively. Putting that kind of content out there, sometimes social media companies -- or, sorry, media companies will put it on Instagram with a plate in front of it that says, this is disturbing content.

CORNISH: Or like blur it or something. Yes.

FISCHER: Yes. And social media companies do allow those types of exemptions, again, for news purposes and things like that.

CORNISH: Yes.

FISCHER: There was a very hotly debated case where the very famous photo from the Vietnam War of a young, naked girl went -- so, it was on social media and went to the oversight board to determine whether or not Facebook at the time should have pulled it down or kept it up.

CORNISH: Yes, even though it's kind of a historic document.

FISCHER: And it was ruled that it was a historic document and it shouldn't be pulled down.

So, I think the social media companies have a playbook for how to deal with this. Part of it is including historical context. Part of it is including a slate before you have to see it. I think news companies can decide selectively whether or not they want to use those tools to show this video in their social media, but I think pulling it live on their broadcast would probably be a risk to them. It's not the type of thing that you normally want to just have out there without warning your viewers repeatedly before.

CORNISH: Yes. Well, we'll see how it plays out.

Since you were talking about J.D. Vance's Catholicism, I want to talk a little bit about religion on the campaign trail. You've got Kansas and the Senate race there turning into a little bit of a battle over faith. So, you've got Vice President J.D. Vance who's been really going hard against Democratic candidate Adam Hamilton. Now he is calling this methodist pastor's Christian beliefs, quote, "left wing radicalism and not real Christianity."

Here's Hamilton's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM HAMILTON (D), KANSAS SENATE CANDIDATE: I thought it was a sign of desperation. And I thought it was really sad. It was pathetic. He doesn't know me, doesn't know anything about my faith. He came in attacking -- you know, when did we start attacking people's faith?

[06:50:03]

I thought it was a sad statement that the vice president of the United States would come here and attack the faith of the pastor of the largest church in the state of Kansas, the largest united methodist church in the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Group chat is back.

Again, I want to underscore that he is basically the head of a megachurch, even though it is a methodist church, right? So, he's not randomly doing vibes, although we know J.D. Vance would literally go after the pope.

FISCHER: Yes. Yes.

CORNISH: Can you talk about what it means to have this kind of candidate?

FISCHER: It's amazing because I remember the Kennedy Houston ministerial speech, where he's basically begging the country to, you know, vote in a Catholic for the first time. And it was such a historic milestone over 50 years ago. And to think that we're still, at this point, 50 years later, the type of faith that you are within the Christianity sect is still so hotly debated. It kind of speaks to the fact that it feels like we're going back in time a little bit that we're having these debates.

CORNISH: Yes, a little bit.

DOESCHER: I don't think that Vance is objecting to Hamilton being methodist. I think it's that he used his pulpit in 2020 to say that he had to atone for having white skin. That being white is some sort of original sin. That using his pulpit to talk about --

CORNISH: But he's also (INAUDIBLE) political left wing radical. And I think one of the things I've been questioning is, Democrats are entering -- re-entering this arena, meaning you're seeing some more mainline protestant candidates, I'm going to put up a few of them so people can see. James Talarico, of course, is a seminarian in Texas. We mentioned Adam Hamilton. But there's also, in the Texas House, Frederick Haynes III, the Reverend Sarah Throne Garriott in the Iowa House and in the Minnesota Senate you've got somebody who's running for lieutenant governor.

For all our talk about Democratic socialists, these are the people who have survived the primaries.

ZISKEND: This is a pastor who's written 30 books about Christianity and theology. And the fact that we're even talking about this, the fact that the vice president is taking time to attack this pastor in Kansas, a solidly red state --

DOESCHER: In Kansas. ZISKEND: Is a commentary on how unpopular Trump and Vance are and how

concerned they are. We're talking today, this morning, about Texas, about South Carolina, and now about Kansas. It's a -- it's a sad state of affairs for where the Republicans are three weeks out.

CORNISH: Also someone pointed out to me that the cover of J.D. Vance's book "Communion," it's a methodist church, not a Catholic one.

DOESCHER: Yes, I don't think --

CORNISH: It's very weird.

DOESCHER: I don't think Vance has anything against methodists. I think it specifically is about using the pulpit to talk about the evils of greenhouse gases.

FISCHER: But do the people in Kansas recognize that distinction? Because I think just coming out here and speaking ill of anybody that -- and targeting their religion, I don't think people are necessarily interpreting it to that level of detail. I think it just looks like, you know, a -- one politician attacking another politician over religion.

ZISKEND: And we're -- and on the other side of this, we have a candidate who -- we're talking about a candidate who stiffed a baker over cupcakes, brownies, and cookies, though this is a tough -- this is a tough state.

CORNISH: Oh, my goodness.

FISCHER: Oh, my God.

CORNISH: All right, I'm going to say this introduction next so no one thinks that you had a hand in developing this show, OK? We're doing the other side of it.

Senator Roger Marshall, as we just talked about, this Kansas Senate seat is a battle. And so, while J.D. Vance is kind of going after Adam Hamilton, this methodist church founder for his religion, you've got -- you've got the Republican in the race dealing with something else.

So, basically, this small bakery owner went like mini viral because she actually posted an invoice and she says, Marshall's campaign owed her for a job that she did six years ago. She claims her repeated efforts to claim nearly $700 went unanswered, adding, that's, quote, "why I will never vote for Roger Marshall." Now, the Kansas Republican actually responded to this over the weekend. He had an apology and a receipt showing that he paid her back double.

Here's the thing. A few weeks ago, "The New York Times" also reported that when the senator was a doctor in the state, he sued 700 patients for their unpaid debts. And 81 of them were arrested. The others were charged more than 18 percent interest.

So, in this race, where people are talking about the Christian thing to do, I think, there has been some back and forth about this. DOESCHER: I mean, I think it's a good thing that Roger Marshall paid

back with 100 percent interest, right? He paid double the bill, I believe, that's what he said. And if the receipt's correct. I don't know why his medical bills -- him, you know, doing your due diligence to recoup your funds. That's what you should do, right? It's a mistake that the campaign did not pay the cookie bill. I do not think they had an insidious plan to stiff, you know, (INAUDIBLE).

CORNISH: No, he posted, "we have no idea how this happened."

DOESCHER: Yes.

CORNISH: "We have repaid."

I find it interesting that you're saying that sort of diminishing the medical debt, because that is something that's turned into campaign ads. So, why are Democrats pushing that?

ZISKEND: Well, because he's not just -- he's not just going after and ultimately having arrested his patients who couldn't afford their health care bills, he voted to sign legislation -- he voted for legislation that cut health care for millions of people, including in Kansas, and gave a tax cut to the wealthiest people in the country. That's his record. And right now --

DOESCHER: And government revenue was up three percent last year.

ZISKEND: And right now, three weeks -- and inflation's been fueled, too. And right now, three weeks before an election, he's not talking about lowering prices. He's not talking about the things that Hamilton's talking about, which is ag and energy prices and lowering prices.

[06:55:04]

He's talking about these issues. And it's a tough place to be (INAUDIBLE).

CORNISH: Well, in each race there's an intersection between the local candidate and whether or not they're able to mitigate the economic issues and strains from Trump policies. Meaning, if you're an agricultural state like Kansas, gas prices, you are sensitive to diesel prices, you are sensitive to tariffs, you are sensitive to.

Right now, if I show you the polling among likely voters right now, I mean, it's close. It's more than close, 45 to 45 percent. And again, I recall when Democrats used to write books like what's the matter in Kansas, right? It was this idea that it was just this elusive thing they'd never get back.

FISCHER: Yes. And now you have these candidates who are fighting this big national headwind on all of the prices. I also think what this whole situation shows is that you can have a very strong and clear narrative that gets tripped up in social media a week, two weeks, three weeks before the election, and you've got to figure out how you're going to handle it. They -- I've seen it in the federal side where the White House has been really leaning into rapid response. They know how to handle these types of situations when they come up.

CORNISH: Yes. Here's Marshall just so you can compare. Here's an example.

FISCHER: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ROGER MARSHALL (R), KANSAS: I think that Kansans look at a story like this and realize it's from something like "The National Enquirer," that this is totally a hit job by left media. An article paid for by Chuck Schumer. And there are so many bills that we just wrote off as well. So, I just think this is very much a mischaracterization of the whole process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISCHER: But there's no infrastructure around him other than him saying that. I mean, if this was something that was being lobbed at the federal government, the White House has so many social media accounts, there's been reports that various agencies have paid influencers to target people when some sort of thing like this comes up. Now, he's alleging that its oppo research that was planted by the Democrats. OK, what's your infrastructure to be able to combat that oppo research? I think at the state level there isn't a great one and you're hoping that someone like, you know, an RGA or a NRSC or an NRCC, one of these big, you know, Republican groups can jump in to help you and support you.

CORNISH: Jumps in to -- yes.

FISCHER: There's no infrastructure for that we're seeing.

CORNISH: OK. Well, this is a state to watch for me, just by virtue of the methodist alone. There's a lot of -- a lot going on.

I want to talk about what's in the group chat.

And, Herbie, since you're new, tell us what's in your group chat.

ZISKEND: Well, I'm from Boston. We're big Patriots fans. And they had a rough first couple of weeks. And yesterday the Patriot's quarterback, Drake Maye, had 375 yards, five touchdowns. They're back. They're looking good. In my group chat of friends and family in Boston is very jazzed.

CORNISH: Where is your accent?

ZISKEND: It's not really there.

CORNISH: Oh, really?

ZISKEND: But I did grow up there.

CORNISH: Oh, are you sure? Are you sure?

ZISKEND: I am sure I grew up there.

CORNISH: We're talking about Boston football here.

All right. Go.

DOESCHER: So, Anthropic has added, for the terms of service, for using Claude that you can't be mean to Claude. Which goes along with this idea that the Anthropic researchers genuinely believe in A.I. personhood, and they're trying to -- and they're trying to design their own form of Anthropic-guided morality, reinventing, you know, the wheels from scratch. And I'm keeping an eye on this because --

CORNISH: Don't be nice to Claude. So, when you talk to you're A.I., are you like, get it now, robot, or do you -- or are you like, hey, find this please? So, what's your vibe?

DOESCHER: No, I'm -- I'm perfectly polite to my A.I.

CORNISH: Why? That's personhood.

DOESCHER: No, because, I mean, I, I don't know, I don't yell at my parking meter, right? I just -- it's just not really my (INAUDIBLE).

CORNISH: Honestly, I'm going to start because it's a conspiracy. OK, go.

FISCHER: Oh my gosh. OK, so I want to go back to the firing squad simply because I think about --

CORNISH: What? We're ending on the firing squad. OK, no, it's a real story.

FISCHER: Well, no, I just think about, generally speaking, I've watched this trend play out, not just in the government, but with all of media. You know, I think about reality shows. "My 600 Pound Life."

CORNISH: Yes.

FISCHER: You know, all these -- even "Dance Moms." All of these situations where --

FISCHER: They're bringing back the Stanford prison experiment.

FISCHER: Yes, that's what I'm saying. It's like we're trying to make, you know, a really big spectacle of so many different human hardships. And it's not just this one thing. It's sort of, the horror business. If you think about it, the real life business. And it's something I've been watching as we get more into streaming too. A lot of the things that get a lot of attention are like these horrific murder documentaries or just things that even reality shows where people have to compromise themselves a lot.

CORNISH: Yes. Because there's always been true crime.

FISCHER: Yes. CORNISH: But you're saying that there's also this like massive

business in horror entertainment and that somehow maybe that's bleeding into our reality television.

FISCHER: Of real people. Of real people. I think about it on TikTok, you know, all these videos going live of -- and viral of these kids that, in Thailand, that have to determine, you know, by basically the flip of a coin whether or not they're going into a military draft or they're going into college and how devastating it could be. And jus t--

CORNISH: Just real-life "Hunger Games."

FISCHER: It is real -- there's a lot of real-life "Hunger Games." Look, we've had "Survivor" in the past. This feels like it's taking it to a new level. And I just wonder what it means for us as a society where we're constantly being inundated with this type of content. It's like, it's sad, it's depressing, it's scary, it's all the things, but it's entertaining.

CORNISH: Are you planning to watch?

DOESCHER: No, I think it's bad for the soul. I think the execution is a good thing, but I think -- I think it's bad for me to watch it.

ZISKEND: No, way.

[07:00:01]

And my group chat's a lot lighter than yours.

CORNISH: OK. I want to thank you guys for being here today. Thank you for being with the group chat. We're going to talk about a lot this week.

And a head's up, that CNN is actually going to be partnering with Jubilee to have one of those little debates. You've probably seen them online. James Talarico is going to be taking questions from Texas voters. I know you're going to want to check that out. It's happening this Wednesday at eight.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" is next.