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48 Days Until Election Day; New Poll: Democrats Lead By 13 Points Among Likely Voters On Generic Ballot; Osborn Responds To Leaked Audio Criticising Trump Voters. Aired 12-12.30p ET

Aired September 16, 2026 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

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DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump is now going all in on the midterms with his cash and his time, is he more boost or burden? I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines and inside politics. 48 days until the election, and we are tracking the races, the candidates, the stories that could shift the balance of power here in Washington and across the country.

Here's what's on our midterm radar. First up, this just happened, Republican leaders scrapped tomorrow's votes, which means House members are going to head home today through Election Day. Now, this isn't just about getting a head start on fundraising and glad handing. The speaker's move is to avoid a forced showdown over a resolution to impeach the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

And President Trump hits the trail in North Carolina tonight. He's going to campaign with GOP Senate candidate Michael Whatley in his race against former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper. The visit underscores a crucial challenge for Whatley. He wants to tap into the president's pull with the GOP base, but not alienate moderates and unaffiliated voters who could decide this incredibly important race.

And from one crucial battleground to another in Michigan, a must hold for Senate Democrats. Both campaigns are talking a lot about an empty podium, and here's why. Democrat Abdul El- Sayed agreed to a local news debate, but Mike Rogers did not, accusing the moderator of bias. Fox 2 set up his podium anyway. Here's Rogers explaining his absence

and El-Sayed at the event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ROGERS, (R) MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: I mean, when you have someone who's already picked their candidate, you can't have a two-on- one. You can't have a media outlet set a date and say this is a debate and you must be here, or we're going to put an open podium.

ABDUL EL-SAYED, (D) MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: I'd love to hear what his commentary is about this war in Iran that we can't get out of, that we're paying for both through our taxes and at the pump, but he's not here because he doesn't want to answer those questions because he doesn't even want to be asked them. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Michigan voters will get to see the candidates face off at two debates next month, and there's another new poll that's giving Democrats hope for a blue wave in November. This one from Marquette University. Democrats lead the generic congressional ballot by 13 percentage points, 54 to 41. It's slightly better than the poll that had Democrats cheering yesterday from the New York Times, which had Democrats with a 51-percentage point lead to 43 percent for Republicans.

Now to a really notable flip on the Iran War from two Iowa Republicans in really tight House races. After opposing earlier war powers measures, Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks both joined Democrats and five other Republicans to back limits on continued military action. Here's how Nunn, who campaigned with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last month, explained his vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) Why did you break with party -- with your party?

REP. ZACH NUNN (R-IA): Look, this is deadly serious. I've got 20 years of combat service, including still serving the military today. My home state of Iowa has lost a disproportionately high number of men and women to the attacks going on based on Iran. What this clearly says is that Congress needs to have a stake in the game. We need to honor these men and women every single day, but we also owe them the responsibility of having a battle plan marching forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: I'm joined by a terrific group of reporters here today. Hello, everybody. Happy Wednesday, halfway through the week. So much to talk about with all of the headlines today. I want to turn back though to discussing where the president is headed, which is North Carolina, and just kind of set the scene for our viewers about what he is facing when he goes there in terms of -- of numbers, the -- the billboard in the sky that everybody sees when they drive around, and that is gas prices.

Check this out. The average gas price today in North Carolina is $4.12. Just a month ago, $3.70. A year ago, $2.84, Kristen.

[12:05:00]

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, and this race is one that many Republicans have already written off, and you can see that even just in the spending. Right now, they are putting a limited amount of money into North Carolina. They being Republicans just because they aren't sure that Whatley can pull this out. One, Roy Cooper has the name recognition in the state, and two, it's Whatley himself does not have the kind of magnetic personality to combat that kind of -

BASH: So, if that's the case, why do we think the president is going there? Loyalty? HOLMES: Well, there's partially loyalty, and that is what I was told.

I was told that they are putting money into it, and he is going to support Whatley because he thinks he's a great guy, he was supportive of him. He ran the RNC.

BASH: Exactly.

HOLMES: They are good friends. But on top of that, I do think there's a little bit of putting your toe in the water here, which is if they pump this $6 million into North Carolina, if President Trump goes and puts on a big show with Whatley, does that move the needle at all? And if it does move the needle, do we put more money into it to actually get us there?

BASH: Oh, that's REALLY interesting.

HOLMES: I think right now they're just testing it out to see because there are a lot of people still Republicans who have written off that race.

BASH: So it's a test case of lots of things, including pretend I'm on the ballot.

HOLMES: Right.

BASH: Because North Carolina is a place where it could definitely move the needle if that actually works. Let's look at some of the broader polls, Toluse, from this New York Times polling, rather. Look at this question about issues that are important to deciding your vote. The economy, 18 percent. Everything else is nowhere near.

I mean, inflation, I would argue, is part of the economy, which is 7 percent Foreign policy, 8 percent. Opposition to Trump, 7 percent. And immigration below that. But it's obviously this 18 percent that we all know, we all hear, we all feel.

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: Yeah, if you're talking about the economy, you are talking about gas prices, you are talking about grocery prices, you are talking about the cost of living. It's the same thing that President Trump made the number one thing that he said he was going to do in the 2024 election because people were worried about inflation under the Biden Administration.

He said that he would solve the problem. He said it would be easy. He said he was going to bring prices down in the first year, and it's been a year and a half, and it has -- prices have not gone down. They've gone up. He's launched the war in Iran, and people are not happy about that, and they're looking at it every day, as you said, with that billboard in the sky that they drive by every day, with gas prices going up.

And so, this is a real problem for Republicans who are distancing themselves from the president and from his economy because when you look deeper into those poll numbers, you see that Republicans, the president, are under water significantly when it comes to the economy, when it comes to the cost of living, and that is the number one thing people are talking about.

BASH: Andrew, you spend all day, every day talking to, particularly on the House side, all of the Republican candidates who are now heading home to go back to the campaign trail. In the brief period that they were back in Washington, what was sort of the overriding theme that you heard from them politically?

ANDREW DESIDERIO, SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, PUNCHBOWL: Well, yesterday during the Senate Republican lunch meeting, I reported this morning that Senator Susan Collins, who's one of those vulnerable Republicans on the ballot this year, stood up and complained that the Senate is currently voting on a college sports NIL bill.

They're going to have to spend a week of floor time on that, plus do some nominations before they leave for the recess, rather than vote on legislation that actually directly helps regular Americans, like permitting reform, she has a bill on insulin, capping the price of insulin, and there's also this bill, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which would shield Americans from higher energy costs stemming from data centers.

And so that is -- those are all big issues that directly affect Americans, and she stood up and complained that they were doing this NIL bill. Now, the NIL bill stems from a commitment that John Thune, the Senate Majority Leader, made to Ted Cruz, the Senate Commerce Committee Chair, well before the recess. So it was partially a case of bad timing.

But I had another Republican senator come to me after the launch, or this is a Republican who was on the ballot this year and complained to me that the president and the White House specifically are quote hanging nooses around our necks, and he's talking about when he says us, he's talking about those who are on the ballot right now, saying that you know less -- we're less than 50 days out, and the president is escalating a trade war with Canada.

The war in Iran seems uncontrollable right now, and of course, we see the polling data right now, and it's not looking good.

BASH: Let's look at one of the ways that they are trying to test the pushback. Listen to Vice President J. D. Vance talking on Capitol Hill today about how he thinks Republicans could and should push back.

If you are one of the few Republicans who's running against the Democrat who's not crazy, then just talk about Abdul El-Sayed. He's got enough material for the whole country. Kristen?

HOLMES: I mean, this is the strategy that they were talking about months ago before he was - El-Sayed was even on the ballot. I mean, they wanted to have this kind of idea that Democrats were unhinged. They were too far left, and that's what Vance is saying here.

[12:10:00]

They did get a little bit of a gift in some of these primary candidates because they have a boogeyman to point to. But overall, I mean, these people are running different races. It's not possible that every candidate is El-Sayed, and that's not likely to work in every single race. And so they -- they need to come up with something else.

And I do think that part of this is what you're seeing now, which is this kind of push to spend more money. That's part of them with their effort to kind of combat the messaging and the polling that's out there.

BASH: All right, everybody, stand by. Up next, I'm going to speak with independent candidate Democrats are hinging their Nebraska hopes on, Dan Osborn. Plus, when John King goes all over the map, he means all over the map. His report from Toss-up Alaska is coming up.

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[12:15:00]

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BASH: Democrats' hopes of capturing the Senate could come down to independents, like Dan Osborn in Nebraska. The mechanic and union leader is not running as a Democrat, though the Democratic Party is behind his campaign and certainly against Republican Senator Pete Ricketts. Here's why. When Kamala Harris lost Nebraska by 21 points in 2024, Dan Osborn was on the ballot, and he came within seven points of defeating Senator Deb Fischer.

So he decided to run again. In a sign the race could be even closer this time, a Senate Republican Super PAC just put over $3 million into an ad campaign targeting Osborn. Dan Osborn joins me now. Thank you so much for being here. I do want to start with news out today in your state, and that is the Omaha World Herald reported on a leaked recording from a private event where you reportedly said this about some of President Trump's voters in Nebraska. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN OSBORN, (I) NEBRASKA SENATE CANDIDATE: Billy Bob in (BEEP) Red Cloud, Nebraska, who lives next door to the (BEEP) Trump store as you pull into town and is waving the Trump flag. He's just -- he just-- all he knows is he's like on the winning team. It's -- it's really that simple. It is.

And -- and Trump, and that is why he's been so effective. He's been so effective at taking Billy Bob and his wife Mary Jane or Mary Jo at telling them, look, we're winning. You're on the winning team, and that's all they care about because their lives probably suck (BEEP).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: First of all, just to confirm, is that you saying that?

OSBORN: It sure sounds like me.

BASH: Is that what you think of Trump voters? OSBORN: No, I've talked to -- I've talked to Trump voters all across the state. I'm on a 93-county tour right now. I've got 55 counties under my belt. I did over 200 public events in 2024 when Trump was on top of the ticket, and I talked to a lot of Trump voters. And no, that's not it.

What I'm talking about, I'm talking about people are pissed off. People are disenfranchised, especially and -- and that's what Trump captured in Nebraska. He captured people who are angry about the political system, and Trump ran outside of that as an outsider. That's what people like about Trump.

It's why I'm running again as an independent, running outside the political system because I'm tired of the two-party doom loop. I'm tired of the Chuck Schumer's of the world not getting anything done for me and my family, and I'm tired of Pete Ricketts, my opponent, not breaking up the meat packers in my state and enriching himself while in office. That's what people are mad about, and certainly that's what Trump has tapped into as well.

BASH: Yeah, no, I understand that that is definitely the crux of your campaign. In this audio, which you said sounds like you, though you use names like Billy Bob and Mary Jane or Mary Jo, you say that they just really want to be on a winning team because their lives suck so much. But the way that you talk here doesn't sound like you -- doesn't sound very respectful. Let's just put it that way. Would you agree with that?

OSBORN: Yeah, I think you know, ultimately, again, going back to the -- the amount of people I talk to, and when I say their lives suck, I'm talking about the fact that bankruptcies are up 46 percent for single family homes, or excuse me, ranches and farms across Nebraska, and the war in Iran inputs are way up for fertilizer and for diesel.

So yeah, that makes life suck. It makes it extremely hard, and people are angry, and they continue to get more angry off of bad legislation that Pete Ricketts continues to rubber stamp. And I don't remember who I was talking to or what the context was there, but what I do know is certainly people are angry about this, and life continues to get harder.

I mean, we got to look at farmer suicide. It's three and a half times the national average because they're going bankrupt. And who's coming in? People like Pete Ricketts and Wall Street buying up our farmland and continue to consolidate the industry here. Nebraska is an ag state, first and foremost and we got to protect that.

[12:20:00]

BASH: Yeah, and I want to talk about that. Do you regret saying that the way you did? I mean, there's a lot of talk about this as your deplorables moment.

OSBORN: Yeah, sure. You know, I -- I talk to a tremendous amount of people, and again, I don't remember the context of this one particular conversation, but it certainly does sound out of character for myself. I've always lived by the golden rule, treat others like you want to be treated. And if somebody was offended by this, certainly I would apologize to those people that might be offended.

But I got to tell them I feel their pain. I absolutely feel their pain. We're all angry right now, and sometimes when you're angry, you -- you say some things, but you know I'm angry that our Ogallala Aquifer, we sit on the largest body of fresh water in the world, and we're depleting it six times faster than it gets replenished.

But yet Pete Ricketts allows 37 data centers to come in with $800 million in tax credits without being responsible about where they're putting it. That's why people are angry. That's why I'm angry, and I think you know anybody who hears this and knows me understands that's where it's coming from.

BASH: You released an ad yesterday criticizing the Trump administration's decision to import foreign beef, which you and many others argue hurts American cattle ranchers' ability to grow domestic cattle herd. What should be done to lower the cost of beef right now for families at the grocery store? It is nearly $7 per pound, close to double the cost in 2020.

OSBORN: Yeah. Well, we got to break up the meat packers. They're the ones who have vertically integrated the industry. You know, Tyson just paid out two lawsuits of over $80 million for price fixing. I think that's the root cause of why beef is so high. And then they strategically work with each other, like Brazilian-owned JBS, to shut down plants around the country.

They continue to enrich themselves, and then they control to the producer what they get for their product, all the way to the grocery store, what we pay. So it's about breaking up the titans of industry, similar to how we did after the 1900s by using the Packers and Stockyards Act in 1921.

BASH: Let's talk about where you may potentially vote with Republicans, because you do say that you are an independent outside of both parties' machines. You said that you would have voted no here in Washington in the Senate for the so-called Big Beautiful Bill. Does that mean that you oppose all of the provisions? For example, would you have supported cutting taxes for tips and overtime, cutting taxes for seniors?

OSBORN: Yes, of course. I got a -- I got a family of waitresses. I've waited tables myself, and I've worked overtime to put food on my table my whole life, punching a clock. So -

BASH: And yet that would not have made you vote for the broader bill?

OSBORN: No, no, because the problem is it hurts health care too much. It -- it -- it's more damaging than it is effective, and the -- and the lion's share of the tax cuts go to the already uber wealthy, and it hurts our row crop farmers, specifically our corn farmers here in Nebraska, with all the -- the ethanol tax credits going to the actual ethanol plants. So the CEOs of the already rich companies, they're the ones going to

get that $2 billion of Nebraska ethanol, not the corn growers themselves. So there's too many damaging things in that. Yeah, I would -- I would love to see a strong tax on tips and no tax on over -- no tax on tips or overtime, and Social Security locked in the vault forever. But I think that fell short.

BASH: Dan Osborn, thank you so much for being here. I do want to add, we've invited your opponent, the incumbent Republican Senator Pete Ricketts, on this program, and we hope he joins us soon. Thanks again, Mr. Osborn.

OSBORN: Thank you.

BASH: And up next, will Fed Chair Kevin Warsh listen to President Trump on interest rates, the high-stakes decision that could hit voters' wallets just weeks before the midterms.

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[12:25:00]

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BASH: It is decision day at the Fed. Anybody who is in politics or around politics or just a human living in America is looking at this very closely. The question is, will the Federal Reserve actually raise interest rates to fight inflation? If it does, your wallet could feel the effects of it very fast.

Will lawmakers on the ballot in November, what will they do with it? What is their hope? Well, we know what that is. David Goldman is joining us now. Look, the president picked Kevin Warsh for this job. We know that he is hoping and praying that Warsh does what the president wants him to do. What do you think?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Well, I think the Iran War is getting in the way of that because look what has happened to inflation. We're at 3.7 percent now. 3.8 percent is the target for last month, and then 3.9 percent. The -- and that's forecast for this month. It's going up and up and up.

Remember, the Fed wants it to be at 2 percent We are way, way, way far away from that. We haven't seen 2 percent inflation in five years, and the effect of that has lifted the bond market. And when the bond market keeps going up, then things that are pegged to it keep going up, including the mortgage rate, and that has locked in so many people into their homes, and it has prevented people from buying homes.