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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Candidate In Trouble; New Projects; Report: Musk Slowed Starlink. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired October 20, 2026 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:25]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Special edition of OUTFRONT tonight, countdown to election night.
President Trump in North Carolina right now trying to save his handpicked candidate who's struggling in the polls at this moment. And Trump offering up more money to Americans as it's countdown to election day.
Also breaking, more House and Senate races moving in the Democratic direction, including the Senate race in Mississippi.
And "The Wall Street Journal" tonight reporting it was Elon Musk who ordered the slowdown of Starlink that has hurt Ukraine so much in recent days, amid a deepening rift between the U.S. and Ukraine and Trump, of course.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. And welcome to this special edition of OUTFRONT, Countdown to Election Day, which is now less than two weeks away, because we're on Tuesday night, so we'll be almost done voting in two weeks.
And in these final days, the president is tonight in North Carolina, trying to keep the state's current Republican Senate seat from turning Carolina blue.
Trump has his work cut out for him, though, because a new poll from North Carolina shows Trump's candidate, Michael Whatley, trailing the state's former governor, Democrat Roy Cooper, by double digits. I mean, that is a massive, massive differential. That's not a neck and neck poll.
And it doesn't stop there. One of the nation's top election forecasters tonight, Larry Sabato, moving 28 House races towards Democrats, and that is across 20 states, not a single one moving in the Republican direction. "The Cook Political Report" tonight is moving two Senate races in the Deep South to the left. Those states, Mississippi and South Carolina.
Now, it is no wonder, given all of that, that Republicans are now keeping their distance from Trump. In fact, John Sununu really takes the cake on this. Let's just show you this new ad from the New Hampshire Republican Senate candidate, and that is, of course, John Sununu.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN E. SUNUNU (R), NEW HAMPSHIRE SENATE CANDIDATE: The way Chris Pappas tells it, I'm President Trump's long-lost son. I've never even met the man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, here's the thing. It's not like it was an interview where it just came out. I mean, he recorded an ad. They checked it. probably did like 20 takes. It wasn't a slip of the tongue.
Never met the man. It's a whole new level of napalm from a man that Republicans used to fall all over themselves to get close to and say that they knew.
And Sununu is not alone. He's joining a long list of Republicans now running from Trump.
Byron Donalds is even on the list. He is rolling -- running for governor in Florida. Donalds all but erased Trump from his campaign website. It was literally a day where, you know, it was Trump all over it, and then the next day he was gone.
And Fox News tonight shifted that race in the direction of the Democratic nominee, David Jolly.
So, there are warning signs, obviously, and that seemed to tee Trump up to offer, once again, money to people, this time if they report cases of corruption or fraud.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you turn somebody in and you, let's say, report and you find a billion dollars, we are giving a commission to that person of one percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, when it comes to putting billions on things, if we're going to look at people who are involved in billion-dollar gains on corruption, well, that just is going to raise a whole lot of questions, isn't it?
It comes less than 24 hours after Trump promised American farmers more money as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm also pleased to announce that the Department of Agriculture will be launching a new harvest fuel relief program, providing our farmers with $8 billion in support. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And of course, there's the $5,000 checks, remember, that Trump said that Americans would get all Americans if Republicans kept control of Congress.
Well, one thing is for sure when it comes down to actually what Americans think about all this, they're already voting. So far, more than 11 million votes have been cast in 41 states as well as the District of Columbia. And more and more Americans are turning out. You're seeing numbers that are back up or topping even presidential years in some states. But Trump's issue message on issue number one for voters at least remains the same.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have more growth than this country has ever had, and we have more growth than any country in the world is having right now.
We have the single greatest moment in the history of our country in terms of the economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, America does not have more growth than it's ever had. That's just factual. It's very easy to see. But in fact, if you look at the most recent quarterly growth, it was half the rate as it was in the same quarter of 2023, just as one example, OK?
So, Trump lied there, and Americans know it, which is why he is spending his final weeks on the road, traveling to the reddest of red states that should not be issues for Republicans, but now are major question marks.
[19:05:05]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: North Carolina's special place.
Hello to Oklahoma.
We love Alabama.
I love Nebraska.
Hello to the great state of Texas.
Very special hello to Tennessee.
I like Ohio.
Hello, Montana.
A very special hello to Arizona.
Thank you, Alaska.
Hello, Georgia.
A very special hello to Kentucky.
Thank you very much, Kansas. I love you, Kansas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT in Greenville, North Carolina. That's where Trump is tonight. And
Kristen, you've got some new reporting, I know. What are you learning?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, even though those midterms are two weeks away inside the White House, the knives are out. There is fear of a rampage by President Trump if they do lose those midterms, particularly both the Senate and the House, and it's led to some brutal internal jockeying one. We have seen knives out for chief of staff Susie Wiles. There was some perception among some of the administration that because she was not there when Katie Zacharia had been hired, but that meant that President Trump was looking for replacements. We've seen multiple reports on that.
We've seen the attacks in the reports on James Blair as well as Chris LaCivita. We know that in addition to those different allies, there are administration officials across the board who are looking for potential openings. There have been conversations, speculation that some cabinet officials might want to get out before Democrats take over, fear of those Democratic investigations.
One of the people that there's been much speculation about is Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who is expected to be a very vain focus for those Democrats right out of the gate. Another speculation has been around Secretary of Energy Chris Wright that he's going to try and leave and go into some kind of lucrative private energy industry.
Just right now, the real -- the real focus, Erin, is that the knives are out, and you're seeing that leaking and that infighting that this administration this time around had been very good at controlling.
BURNETT: Yeah, yeah. And now it's just the fact that you're already seeing that, as you said, two weeks away.
And before we get to everyone here at the table, I want to just encourage everyone watching since we are, well, as I said, less than two weeks away from the elections, please join in the conversation. We want you tonight if you can, submit questions that you might have about the midterms, cnn.com/engagepolitics. And our panel is going to go through them and answer some of them coming up this hour because they're going to be here throughout the whole hour.
So, okay, now everyone's here.
So, S.E., Trump is standing next to Michael Whatley tonight. S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Whatley.
BURNETT: Whatley, OK, in North Carolina, but John Sununu.
CUPP: This is my favorite story of the time.
BURNETT: I just -- I don't know if we have it. I could play it again.
CUPP: I mean, it is. We have.
BURNETT: They'll let me know if they can pull it down. I'll play it again in a second, but I mean. It's really incredible. This thinking is so clear and he wants everyone to know it.
CUPP: There are ways to distance yourself from the president. We've seen Susan Collins in Maine say, well, I didn't accept all of Trump's tariffs. We've seen Mike Rogers in Michigan say, I wasn't totally with him on the war. People scrub from the website to come out in an ad. and say to the camera.
I've never even met the guy, is remarkable, especially for someone with the last name Sununu, which is just synonymous with Republican politics in New Hampshire. It's amazing. It is so blatant.
I've never even met him. Couldn't pick him out of a lineup. Who is that guy?
BURNETT: All right, we got it. Let's play it. Let's play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN E. SUNUNU (R), NEW HAMPSHIRE SENATE CANDIDATE: The way Chris Pappas tells it, I'm President Trump's long-lost son. I've never even met the man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUPP: Never even met him. Don't know him. I don't know what that guy is. Sorry.
BURNETT: I mean --
GEORGE CONWAY, CONSTITUTIONAL LAWYER: He had to practice that expression. I mean, that that expression of like, who's Donald Trump?
BURNETT: I mean, it's probably, I mean, you know, as soon as a talented guy at the cameras, but that was most certainly not his first take on it.
CONWAY: Really lucky that Donald Trump will see this ad and call him a loser and he'll get an extra boost.
CUPP: Right, exactly right.
BURNETT: I mean, does it work? Does it work? CONWAY: For Sununu in New Hampshire. I don't know how it could possibly work. I mean, he's not John -- I mean, that name is, as S.E. says, completely synonymous with Republicanism in that state. So --
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I mean, he's doing it to do no harm. I mean, at the end of the day, you know, that is a state in which he is competitive. Republicans are very bullish on that state and on him winning. So, what he's trying to do there, I mean, laughter aside is obviously separate himself from the president, to not upset maybe Democrats who might vote for him and independents who might vote.
CUPP: But he didn't have to say anything.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Which is amazing.
CUPP: He didn't really have to do that. No, he didn't have to do that.
BURNETT: What others have done, which is just scrubbed Trump off their websites.
[19:10:01]
They don't talk about it or out of the ads.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: To me, the biggest problem is, we're talking about a state that Donald Trump has never won, right?
We're not talking about Texas. We're not talking about Georgia. We're not talking about North Carolina. We're not talking about Kansas.
We're talking about a state that Donald Trump has lost three times in a general election and Republicans may be bullish on it but I'll tell you this much, if I look up on election night and John Sununu has won in New Hampshire I know exactly how that night's going to go and that is Republicans are not only going to hold the Senate, they're going to hold it with ease. This is a state where there was one poll that came out I think a few months ago that had the race it's John Sununu I think actually up by two points but well within the margin of error but every single other poll since then has had Chris Pappas the Democratic nominee ahead of anything that lead widening.
I don't think that ad helps but you know what? When you're behind, throw stuff against the wall. Maybe it will stick.
BURNETT: So, we talk about the top concern. Obviously, for many voters, it was the economy. And then there was that recent Fox policy that showed it was corruption, right? That corruption was the top thing.
So, Trump saw that because it's on Fox. And so now he's going to pay people if they expose corruption. I'll play again the claim here of the money you could get.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: The kind of money that's been stolen is trillions from this country. Like crooked politicians that made things and set things up, crooked attorney generals like we have in New York, like we have in Minnesota, like we have, I can name all of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I don't know if -- you know, how much money, money they're getting, but he's saying, you know, it's a percent. So, if it's a billion, it's a lot now. I mean, just according to Forbes, Trump is an estimated $2.7 billion richer now than he was when he came into office.
So, you know, what's the corruption that voters are most worried about?
CUPP: Well, just before air, the White House official X account posted this, right? If you've seen fraud, if you notice fraud, report it here.
BURNETT: They're all in this, yeah.
CUPP: And it was a long list of people pointing to Trump, and then listing all of the people he's pardoned for fraud, right? So, I mean, this really just, probably unintentionally, draws attention, draws the eye to Trump's own corruption and this problem of corruption.
BURNETT: So does Eric Dieters, who exposed Kimberly Guilfoyle and says there's more to come, does he get paid of the AmEx bill? I mean --
CONWAY: There really is something of a OJ looking for the real killer. If I did it and, you know, I mean, it really goes on and on. We talk about the pardons like 15 minutes before we went on air. "The New York Times" came up with a -- came out with an exclusive story about another bunch of people being hired who are friendly with Trump. The former lawyer and two former lawyers take for a billionaire to get a pardon -- and it just never stops and that's what people associate when they're thinking corruption, when those polls that Harry's going to cite talk about corruption, they're thinking of this administration. They're not thinking of Tish James.
ENTEN: And that is what the polling shows. The polls show that Democrats have a double-digit advantage on which party is more trusted on corruption, we are a long way away from 2016 in which corruption was an issue that Donald Trump hammered Hillary Clinton over and over and over again.
Trump's net approval rating on corruption is minus 20, minus 30 points, perhaps even worse, depending on which poll you look at. The name of the game has stayed the same, but the game is fought over a very different ground from what it once was.
BURNETT: All right. So, Lulu, Trump has a new talking point, and that is, if you do not elect Republicans -- this is a new one in just recent days, right? Because of all the images we saw, Limoges town hall in France burning over the weekend. If you don't elect Republicans, you're going to get France. Here he is.
(BERGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If you want to see what is at stake in this election, Just look at what's happening in France, a once great nation that is being conquered, lootered, and burned to the ground by migrants, jihadists, and communists who hate Christianity.
Paris is going to be a Muslim city very soon, and that wasn't the deal.
These are people that hate France, but they've been let in. They hate France, but they've been let in, and you have to get them out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Jihadists and communists is an unholy alliance. This is he saying there? I mean, but does that -- does that capture people at this point with what 13 days?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's what he's got and this is what he's been doing since he went down the golden escalator and started calling Mexicans rapists. I mean, that is -- his message has always been everyone else is scary. I will save you from all those scary people, whether they be Muslims, whether they be brown people from different countries, whether they be African migrants.
And so, it's almost in in his view, a gift that this is happening there because he can say look, you know the madness that will engulf your cities when the left is in power because these are, you know, happening there because he can say look, you know the madness that will engulf your cities when the left is in power because these are, you know, these problems in France are sponsored by the left. you know, the protests, et cetera.
[19:15:04]
So, you know, this is very typical for him, but I don't think at this point it's going to have the same impact. It just isn't because people are worried about real things, which are the price at the pump, which is how much it's going to cost me for my groceries, how much my electricity is costing me, and if I can get health care.
CUPP: But it's the next best thing to a caravan, right?
ENTEN: Yeah, it is.
CUPP: Yeah, it's not quite a caravan because it's not as close. It's not on our border, but it's the best thing.
And I think Lulu's right that most voters are really laser-focused on the economy, but there's a lot of voters for whom this is a turnout driver, for whom the fear of the crazy socialists and the crazy --
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Because the caravan comes off to the border, to the border, and this is happening in France, and people don't fully understand what is happening there or why it's happening, and so I don't think it's quite the gift --
CUPP: I said the next best thing.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's the next.
CUPP: There's quite as good.
CONWAY: Ocean away.
BURNETT: There's another someone is lying that I'm curious, George, what you think about. And that is "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of Starlink, the military grade level Starlink that was helping Ukraine fight the Russians. And Zelenskyy's talked about how in recent days, how that has rendered them in many cases powerless when it comes to civilian strikes.
And, you know, there had been denial from Musk camp about that, denial that Trump and Musk's ever talked about it. "The Wall Street Journal" is saying Elon Musk ordered it. And according to "The Journal", a person familiar with the situation said, Must talk to Trump about it beforehand.
Okay. So, Trump, by the way, said he knew nothing about it.
CONWAY: Yeah, I mean, how could the president of the United States not know it? And Musk was pointing out earlier, correctly, that this is, it's Starlink-based, but it is a U.S. government asset, it's a U.S. government operation that runs this. And so, how could the president not have known it?
And Musk -- and Musk saying that he talked about it with Trump means that Trump knew. So --
BURNETT: Well, that's Musk essentially saying that's what he wanted me to do right yeah.
CONWAY: It's like they're trying to point at each other but they end up making each other culpable.
BURNETT: Does this little add up to anything, though, I mean, for Trump at this moment, this-- I mean, because you see it in certain circles, just the incredulation, whatever the way I'm not making a word here, but Thom Tillis was talking about it, you know, about Trump and Putin at this moment and the closeness there.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean, it's not just the closeness. This is actually leading to people dying, children dying in a country that was attacked and taken over by Russia. This isn't some sort of hypothetical thing. This is actually something that is having enormous repercussions for Ukraine. And beyond that, we have a president of the United States who is calling for having a meeting and a summit with Putin and Xi, and Xi Jinping in China to have to sort of carve up the world. I mean, it is unimaginable that this is American foreign policy at the moment.
He is desperate to get a win. He thinks by backing Putin and going against Ukraine that this will wrap up the war. But you know, quite frankly, I don't think the Europeans are going to have it because they see the wolf on their door and they rightly know that it's Russia. But it is just cataclysmic for Ukraine and Ukrainians.
BURNETT: It is that picture of that that that baby yesterday. Thank you all very much. But of course, everyone's staying with me.
And please, as I said, send in your comments and questions because we're here to discuss that with you coming up.
As well as the breaking news next, "The Cook Political Report" moving two crucial Senate races in the Democrats' direction, these are races in Republican strongholds. And Republicans' closing message with candidates in tight races going all in on, no, not France, transgender issues. So, is that really what voters want at these final hours? And a political ad shaking up the tight race for governor in Ohio. Republicans and Democrats both slamming it. It features the estranged mother of Vivek Ramaswamy's Democratic opponent.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:23:21]
BURNETT: Breaking news, two Senate races in the Deep South, Mississippi and South Carolina, just shifting towards the Democrats, one of America's top elections forecasters making this major projection tonight. The bright spot for Republicans, though the only one in this forecast is Minnesota. Cook report is moving that Senate race toward the GOP.
OUTFRONT now is Dave Wasserman, senior editor and elections analyst at "The Cook Political Report".
So, Dave, let's just start with Mississippi big jaw dropper tonight. Democrat Scott Colom coming out of nowhere trying to upset the Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith. Now again, we're talking about Mississippi, so it really wasn't a conversation. But now you're moving at the race, moving from solid Republican to likely Republican.
So how is this happening?
DAVID WASSERMAN, SENIOR EDITOR & ELECTIONS ANALYST, THE COOK POLITICAL REPORT": Well, Erin, it all comes down to candidate quality. That's the common thread. And Cindy Hyde-Smith is not Republican's strongest incumbent. Now, Donald Trump carried Mississippi by 23 points last time, but Hyde-Smith has been a chronic underperformer in her elections, and she committed an unforced error in this previously sleepy race when she said in an interview -- she appeared to downplay the increase in the price of beef, saying that consumers have many proteins to choose from.
And Scott Colom, who's been a crafty Democratic opponent, a county prosecutor, he created an ad -- leveraging the ad saying that it's time for voters to pick another senator. This is still a very Republican and racially polarized state, and it's a very long shot for Democrats. But we don't think that Hyde-Smith's going to win the type of margin that Republicans typically do.
BURNETT: All right. So another shift towards Dems that was surprising from your team is in South Carolina.
[19:25:01]
Republican Darlene Graham, who obviously was appointed to the Senate at Trump's behest after her brother Lindsey Graham passed away, she's facing Democrat Annie Andrews. And Graham's fundraising numbers are anemic, right? She's reeling from gaffe she made early, right, when she said national security is my thing is there's the major example. That race shifting from likely to lean Republican.
And I guess this brings me to the question I have here, Dave, on this, which is that if these races still all end up GOP, right? They go from safe and you know, 25 points to lean and nine points, right? The GOP still wins them in those scenarios.
What does the shift, though, from a double-digit win to a single digit win in states like these mean big picture?
WASSERMAN: It means that even in reliably Republican places, we're seeing problems pop up where national Republicans have to start spending money.
And what happened in this race is Annie Andrews, who's a pediatrician, she's tough to attack because she doesn't have a voting record to defend, she outraised Darlene Graham massively, 9.4 million to 1.5 million in the last quarter. And as my colleague Jessica Taylor noted in her analysis, Andrews had the airwaves to herself for a long time, for a few weeks. And that forced Republican Super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, to go in with $5 million to bail Graham out. We still think she'll win maybe by high single digits. But in polls, this is a close race.
BURNETT: And so, we've talked about a lot moving to the left. As I said, there was one race moving the other direction, just one. So, I want to highlight it so you can explain what's going on there. And that is Minnesota going from likely to lean Democrat.
This is an open race that is not incumbent on the ballot, but you've got the Lieutenant Governor, Peggy Flanagan, as the Democrat facing Michele Tafoya. well-known longtime sports broadcaster on the Republican side and you know you've had Trump and Vance talking a lot about Minnesota.
Trump brought it up today, right, in his -- in his saying, "I'll give you a cut of any corruption you turn in," he brought in the Minnesota attorney general into that, talking about corruption. Is that message what's working there?
WASSERMAN: Well, again, candidate quality. Democrats, they nominated Tim Walz's lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, who harnessed the energy on the left following Operation Metro surge. If Democrats had nominated a more centrist candidate or someone who was more removed from the Walz administration and the welfare fraud scandal, Angie Craig, they wouldn't be in this position.
But Flanagan is slightly underwater in terms of her personal image, and Republicans have a former NFL sideline reporter Michelle Tafoya, who's reminding voters that she's a pro-choice Republican trying to create some separation from Donald Trump.
We still think that Flanagan is going to win by several points, but this is now one of the closer races that Democrats have to defend out of their own seats.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Dave Wasserman, as always.
And next, Trump reviving a baseless conspiracy theory in the final days of the election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have five states where your child goes off to school as Tim and comes back as Tammy. Three or four days, that's true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So is that resonating with people now?
Plus, we want you to join the conversation. As I said, head to cnn.com/engagepolitics. We'll be answering your questions coming up. Lulu and Harry are already in the chat. You can see them busily typing away because they're in there. Harry looking at Lulu's notes. Check it out.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:32:46]
BURNETT: Tonight, a new Republican focus -- well, not new, but a resurgent Republican focus on transgender issues. Republican Senate candidate Darline Graham out with a new ad. It features Senator Tim Scott.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): South Carolina, I know we're tired of the ads. But Democrat Annie Andrews, she's just too dangerous, radical, and weird. Andrews wants men to play girls in sports.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Well, Andrews has released her own ad saying she wants no such thing, and she doesn't support biological men playing in women's sports.
But it comes as Trump is on the campaign trail, and he is reigniting a false conspiracy theory that he first raised in 2024. And that theory is that some schools are secretly sending kids to hospitals for gender surgeries without the knowledge of their parents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have five states where your child goes off to school as Tim and comes back as Tammy. Three or four days, that's true. And teachers make, somebody makes a decision, can you imagine? Goodbye, Timmy, I love you so much, I'll see you later.
And you say, where's my son? My son is in the hospital.
Can you imagine? Can you imagine? They don't even need approval. It's sick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Oh, it would be sick. It's just not true. I don't know where it gets the five states.
I mean, there is no state in America in which a school can send a child to a hospital for elective surgery without parental approval. Not one.
And the White House itself cannot provide one example to prove Trump's claim.
OUTFRONT now, Mark Sanford, the former Republican governor of South Carolina. He ran in the primary to fill Lindsey Graham's seat, and Anderson Clayton, the chair of North Carolina's Democratic primary.
Both of your states, of course, where the president is tonight and going tomorrow.
So, Governor Sanford, when you endorsed Ralph Norman over Darline Graham in the runoff, you said, and I quote you, the stakes are simply too high as our nation really is at a financial tipping point. But here we are with 13 days left and Graham's new ad tonight is not about the economy is about transgender athletes.
Is that going to help at this point with South Carolina voters?
MARK SANFORD (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OF SOUTH CAROLINA: I don't think so. I mean, I suspect what they've done is they polled it and that's the most lethal weapon that they have.
[19:35:04]
But I think it's off topic because the preponderance of folks that I talked to in and around South Carolina are worried about the economy. They're worried about affordability. They're worried about inflation.
I mean, and so I guess it's a way of changing the subject. If what's going on even working for you, let's change the subject. But I don't see this as the issue that's going to move swing voters, but time will tell.
Anderson, it's also coming up in your Senate race in North Carolina, where Roy Cooper is leading the Republican challenger Michael Whatley by massive double digits in the latest poll tonight. But Whatley is with Trump right now. Just a few moments ago, he said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL WHATLEY, REPUBLICAN NOMINEE FOR U.S. SENATE IN NORTH CAROLINA: He is going to fight for a radical agenda that puts boys in girls sports and allows transgender mutilation surgeries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I'll note that Cooper as governor did veto House bills in 2023 that ban gender affirming health care for transgender minors and another banning transgender girls and women from playing on teams that align with their gender identity. Say that 10 times fast.
I'm curious though, Anderson, as to whether you think them bringing this up in North Carolina and trying to bring all, you know, put this back on the front burner again is going to hurt. You think they're pulling it as well?
ANDERSON CLAYTON, CHAIR OF THE NC DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Look, Governor Cooper's had our legacy and a record in North Carolina as one of the top law enforcement officers in the state when he was both attorney general and governor. And we fully expect North Carolinians to see him as the public servant that we need in Congress right now to focus on lowering costs for everyday North Carolinians, because as we've seen from this administration, they do not care about the price that you're paying at the pump or what it's costing in a grocery store line right now for folks across this state and especially across both Carolinas in that aspect.
The South right now has seen record-breaking economic turmoil from tariffs alone from farmers across our states. North Carolina has the second highest rural population than any other state in the country other than Texas. And it means to say that agriculture right now is suffering across our state, which is the number one economic driver that we have in North Carolina.
BURNETT: So early voting data, Anderson, when we look at it in your state, shows a major boost in early voting compared to the 2022 midterms. And obviously, you know, we've still got quite a ways to go, but it's up 38 percent.
So, if you look at the composition of that, Democrats make up about 45 percent of the turnout so far. So, they're doing very well. I'm just curious, though, as to whether you read anything into that, because Clearly, Republicans could come up later. Things could happen on election day, right?
I mean, but what do you read into it as someone who knows these numbers and knows the detailed history better than anyone?
CLAYTON: I mean, polls just closed in North Carolina. We just had another record-breaking early vote turnout for Democrats in the state, and we're expected to keep up that momentum. But as you said, it's less than a week out for how many days that we've had from early voting starting.
And we just want to make sure that we keep our foot to the gas pedal in every way, shape and form because North Carolina is not just trying to get folks a turnout for a U.S. Senate race, but we're also looking down ballot in state legislative races in North Carolina, like Claire Kempner out there in Greenville, North Carolina, where Donald Trump is today because state legislative district is in play this year, thanks to Republicans in both Raleigh and in Congress and the bad policies that they've created coming out of both of those two areas.
BURNETT: So, Governor, what do you think of the early voting numbers that you're seeing? I mean, not just in South Carolina, but everywhere, because there are a lot of them now coming out. And you compare them to 2024, you compare them to 2020, and all those comparisons are out there. But what do you read into it?
SANFORD: There's nothing to read into it. I mean, I think it's fairly obvious, which is you have an energized Democratic base and you have a lot of Republicans that are sort of sitting on the fence. I was in Texas this weekend for a wedding and was amazing to me. The number of folks out there saying I just can't vote for Paxton. I just can't do it and there would be arguments at the dinner table. People do know you have to. Here's why whatnot.
But the fact that that conversation is taking place in Texas, the fact that Trump -- I mean, the -- I mean, the sort of most basic rule of politics is you need to be extending the lines, not sort of playing defense, but the fact that Trump is going to spend the last week in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, which ought to be just -- I mean, gangbuster states for him says everything.
Right now, Republicans are playing defense and deservedly so given what's happened in terms of disappointing a lot of folks in the base side with war with inflation with tariffs and go down the list.
BURNETT: All right. Well, it's interesting -- that's an interesting anecdote you had too about the wedding in Texas and we'll see where those conversations end, right? Whether people actually get up and go do that vote for Paxton or stay home, I guess, or maybe some of them vote for James Talarico. We'll see.
[19:40:00]
Thank you both very much. I appreciate it.
And breaking news, Vivek Ramaswamy heckled at his own town hall after a viral video featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, urges people not to vote for her own daughter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIVEK RAMASWAMY (R), OHIO GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: We're ready to do this. Sir, excuse me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Amy Acton's mother, who let her husband rape her. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Did this backfire?
And Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed calling in former President Obama to keep a once reliable coalition intact. But what is happening to Black voters supporting El Sayed in the state?
And this group, they're all here to answer your questions. They've been online, and your questions are next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news. Republican Ohio governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy heckled at his own town.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAMASWAMY: We're ready to do this. Sir, excuse me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Amy Acton's mother, who let her husband rape her. She let her husband rape her as a child. A child. She was 12 years old and her mother let her husband rape her.
RAMASWAMY: Excuse me. You're going to leave this room. You're going to be -- sir, if you want to be patient and you want to ask a question at the end, you'll be free to do that. Thank you for making your contribution today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The heckler seems to be referring to a controversial new ad featuring the estranged mother of Ramaswamy's Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, that's being slammed from both the left and the right.
For context, Acton has been open, but she has not seen her mother since she was 12 years old when she said her stepfather abused her. He faced criminal charges. Grand jury said charges were merited. Her stepfather and her mother fled the state.
Custody was taken away from her mother. This is part of the ad, which was posted online by a blogger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love my daughter, but when I saw her lying about her opponent, it's not easy for a mother to say this, but Amy has a serious problem. She is a liar. Don't vote for people who lie. Don't let her become your governor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It honestly gives you chills. It's terribly sad. Acton herself wasted little time calling out the ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) AMY ACTON (D), OHIO GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: It's awful to see her this way, and it's even more incredible to see that my opponent has taken advantage of someone who's clearly not well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Ramaswamy's campaign did not confirm or deny being behind the ad.
Everyone's here with me.
S.E., I will say that there were some who jumped immediately to retweet it, to say, oh, look, her own mother, and then took it back and said, I'm ashamed, that that is disgusting and that ad is horrid.
CUPP: It is. It's indefensible.
And just on the politics of it, it's also really, really dumb. And any good political operative would have looked at that and said, this is going to backfire spectacularly on you for two reasons. One, it makes her a sympathetic person, like a deeply sympathetic.
BURNETT: Uh-huh.
CUPP: But two, it goes right to the heart of the idea that people already had about Vivek Ramaswamy, which is that he's slimy and creepy and craven. And this goes right at that.
And finally, it just puts Republicans in a position to have to defend a pedophile two weeks before an election when the Epstein files are still out in the ether. I mean, it just makes no sense.
And now, I think this ad is going to jeopardize races even maybe outside of Ohio for Republicans.
BURNETT: I mean, it really is a horrific thing.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's a horrific thing. It's a low in our political discourse and that is saying something considering where we've been. I mean the story that she has lived it. She talks about how she lived in tents where she was begging for food at times and then being abused by her -- and not just abused, but actually raped by her stepfather and then being taken in and given stability by her actual father.
And so instead of that story being celebrated, regardless of your political lens, what is happening is they're trying to undermine that using her own mother --
CUPP: Who fled the state.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Who fled the state, fled the state. And so, this is just in every single way political malpractice, but also morally repugnant.
BURNETT: Yeah, I think that's what it is. It's just -- it just -- it makes you feel sick. George, we asked viewers earlier to submit comments and questions. We got a whole lot. I want to read one because I know you were all in the chat. I'll pose one to you.
One of our viewers asked, quote, "If the blue wave comes, should Dem spend time prosecuting corruption or rebuilding the lives of constituents?"
That's actually a really crucial question. Do you get the power and then go do what was done to you, even if it's justified because there was corruption? Or do you say, I'm going to fix the potholes?
CONWAY: I think you have to do both. I think you have to figure out a way to do both. I mean, I think the theme of this election for the Democrats has to be kind of like the theme that won in Hungary, which is that the corruption and the well-being of the people are closely related. And I think that one of the things about going after the corruption and revealing the corruption is important because we need to create a record so that this never happens again.
And I don't think it's -- you know, I know that some people make these arguments about, well, you're just having this, you know, this continual revenge from one administration to another, but there's a big difference here.
[19:50:01]
There's real corruption here. I mean, there are things to investigate each and every day, and we see it, and that's why the polls are showing that people are really sensitized to the corruption.
ENTEN: The two are tied. The two are tied. A lot of people think that the system is rigged in some sort of way, right? And that's why they think that the politicians can't solve what they think is a deepening economic crisis.
And so, to me, I think George is exactly right. You have to go after both because they're literally one and two when they're listed in the different polls. And the Democrats have big advantages on both for a reason. It's because they want them to come in and actually do something about it.
BURNETT: S.E., here's one for you. A viewer wants to know, quote, "How fast do you think Republicans who are in the new Congress will turn on Trump?"
CUPP: Oh, I mean, I think you're already starting to see signs of that. And that's why I think these elections are so important because of the political consequences. If Trump and Republicans are trounced, I think that gives permission structure for lots of lawmakers to start planning their exits and distancing themselves. It gives permission structure for Republican and MAGA influencers to start saying, we should be looking past Trumpism now.
I think it would be sort of a domino effect of backing away from this president and this administration.
BURNETT: Which is incredible, because we have not yet once in 10 years seen it. CUPP: No.
BURNETT: So that would be over.
ENTEN: And I will note, the time that we came closest to seeing Republicans back away from Donald Trump was after the --
BURNETT: January 6th.
ENTEN: Well, I was going to say January 6th, but also after the 2022 midterms, when there was an idea that he lost. Losing gives these Republican lawmakers the permission structure to actually go against Donald Trump.
BURNETT: All right, thank you all.
And next, is Abdul El-Sayed having trouble with Black voters in Michigan?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:55:56]
BURNETT: Tonight, Michigan Democrat Abdul El Sayed campaigning with Senator Raphael Warnock, hoping to fire up a coalition Democrats cannot afford to lose Black voters. El Sayed also hitting the trail with former President Barack Obama later this week as some Black leaders tell our own Jeff Zeleny that the Senate race against Republican Mike Rogers is far closer than it should be.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: Friends, my name is Abdul El-Sayed. I hope I can earn your support. Let's go fight and win.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the home stretch of the Michigan Senate race, Abdul El-Sayed talks about building a new coalition. The question is whether he can keep the old Democratic coalition intact. Starting with black voters, a pivotal group, his Republican rival Mike Rogers has spent months working to win over.
CHARITY DEAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, MICHIGAN BLACK BUSINESS ALLIANCE: Detroit is more conservative than folks would think.
ZELENY (voice-over): Charity Dean leads the Michigan Black Business Alliance and is supporting El-Sayed, but keeping a wary eye on Rogers.
ZELENY: How important are black voters to a winning coalition here?
DEAN: Black voters are -- underestimated, but super critical.
ZELENY: Mike Rogers is clearly trying to make some inroads.
DEAN: He is. ZELENY: Do you think his outreach to black voters is serious? I mean, should it be taken seriously by El-Sayed supporters.
DEAN: Everything should be taken seriously. This is not a campaign -- this is not a year where we need to take anything for granted. He seriously tried to campaign. He seriously wants to win their vote. He seriously doesn't want to make life better for Black people.
ZELENY (voice-over): That's not how Naura Evans sees it.
ZELENY: Do you think the Democrats have taken the black vote for granted over the years?
NAURA EVANS, MIKE ROGERS SUPPORTER: Absolutely. Yes.
ZELENY (voice-over): Evans, a teacher and mother of two, is supporting Rogers and appears in this TV ad.
EVANS: I voted for Barack Obama, but this year, I'm voting for Mike Rogers.
ZELENY (voice-over): When we caught up with her, she said she's gradually become more conservative and is drawn to Rogers message to improve literacy in schools and safety overall.
EVANS: The outcome of the election will send a loud message that the Black vote is just not up for grabs like you have to earn it. We are no longer just voting according parties, but we are voting according to policy and plans.
ZELENY (voice-over): Last weekend, Rogers opened a storefront campaign office in Detroit.
MIKE ROGERS (R), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: Our votes are not guaranteed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.
ROGERS: This is the chance to say we're going to do something new to try to revitalize our community and we're going to do it together.
ZELENY (voice-over): When we stopped by two days later, "Democrats for Rogers" signs were on display, but it was otherwise empty.
El-Sayed was dismissive when we asked about it as he ended a bus tour in Flint.
EL-SAYED: I saw he opened a cute little office in Detroit. He brought all his friends from the suburbs to come clap him in. It was nice. Yeah.
ZELENY (voice-over): As fall settles in and the campaign's end draws near, more than $280 million has been spent on the Michigan Senate race this year. It's critical to the balance of power in Washington, but Reverend Charles Williams II wonders if the enthusiasm matches the moment. REV. CHARLES WILLIAMS II, SENIOR PASTOR, HISTORIC KING SOLOMON BAPTIST CHURCH: It only takes this much of Detroit to defect. It only takes this much of Flint to defect. It only takes this much of Saginaw or Inkster to defect. And that could be enough to put us under.
ZELENY (voice-over): Williams, who leads the historic King Solomon Baptist Church, is supporting El Sayed, but taking seriously Rogers' outreach.
WILLIAMS: Not only is he making these inroads, but there are people in these communities that are actually welcoming him in those communities.
ZELENY: As we near the end of the campaign, is it closer than you would like to see it?
WILLIAMS: It's too close. It's too close.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY: And former President Barack Obama will be coming here to Detroit this weekend to try and shore up some of that support and also raise enthusiasm for this Senate race.
Now, Erin, no one is predicting that Mike Rogers is going to win a majority of the Black vote, but it's that sliver of votes that the pastor, Pastor Williams, talked about that is so concerning to so many Democrats here.
Now, President Trump, he's also coming to Michigan on Sunday and Democrats would like to sort of take him at his word and say that he is on the ballot. They think he drives support and enthusiasm for them as well -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much in Detroit tonight.
And thanks so much to all of you for being with us.
"AC360" starts now.
