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Grassley: Elect A GOP Governor In Iowa In Case I Die; Two MAGA Rally Devotees Tell Playbook They've Turned On Trump; Taxpayer-Funded Trump Ad Warns Of America's "Final Battle"; AOC's 2028 Road Map: Re- Election Or Higher Officer? Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired September 28, 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]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: Effing rough. That's how one Trump adviser is describing the midterms to CNN, and we've got brand new reporting.

I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at Inside Politics.

36 days until the election, and we are tracking the races, candidates, and stories that could shift the balance of power here in Washington and all across the country. Here's what's on our midterm radar. President Trump hit back over the weekend at Florida Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, a vulnerable Republican who made a campaign ad, speaking straight to camera, standing in front of the White House, criticizing his deportation policy. The president shared at least 14 posts from other Truth Social users criticizing her, including one calling her a backstabber and another that she wants amnesty. The Cook Political Report rates Salazar's district as lean Republican.

Retiring North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis admits his seat may be a lost cause for Republicans. Polls show former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper with consistent leads over former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley. In an interview with Jake Tapper on State of the Union, Tillis said the party may need to focus on other more winnable races.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): To me, it's a data driven decision. If we have a path to victory, then we double down on it. If we don't, we move where we have the opportunity. Look, this is about keeping a majority in the U.S. Senate. This has to be about the higher purpose of keeping a majority in the Senate, not any one candidate.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: So, does the data show that North Carolina should not be a top priority?

TILLIS: Yeah, look. If you're -- if you've got an aggregate of polls that have you in the high single digits or double digits, it's approaching a point where it's going to be difficult to make it up, absent a mistake by the candidates.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Turning to the fight for the House, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is brushing off numbers in a new CNN poll, which show his party is increasingly likely to recapture the House, but only a quarter of voters approve of their leadership. He told Manu Raju, that's a problem to worry about after the election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Well, we're not running a popularity contest. We're working hard to run Republicans out of power because they've done so much damage to the American people, and the American people clearly deserve better.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But do you think the public is not sold yet on Democrats leading Congress?

JEFFRIES: Well, I think that we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now, we have to accomplish the mission, and the mission is to make sure that we take back control of the House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And Senator Chuck Grassley told a crowd of Iowa Republicans that he has a very personal reason for wanting a Republican to win the state's governor's race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-IA): At 93 years of age, I don't know how many more groups of Republicans like this I'm going to have a chance to talk to. But one of the reasons I'm worried about who's going to be elected governor. I don't plan on dying in office. But if I did, I don't want a Democrat governor choosing my successor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Grassley has served for 46 years in the U.S. Senate. He hasn't said if he's going to run again in 2028, he would be 95 years old. I'm joined by a terrific group of reporters. Jeff Zeleny, there's so many things to unpack in that Grassley moment. It would be funny, except that he's 93 years old and he's actually got a lot of seriousness in that quote.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: For sure, he's also acknowledging the fact that the Iowa Democrat in the governor's race is doing much better than the Republican Rob Sand, is the state auditor. The only statewide elected Democrat left in Iowa, I mean, it was a blue state, a purple state. But does Senator Grassley -- this is the most recent time he's weighed in. But just a week ago, he was weighing in on diesel exports. He said President Trump needs to do something to bring down the cost of diesel, but Iowa is at the center of this midterm election race because of the governor's race, because of the Senate race.

The first time since 1968 that there's been an open seat in both of those, because Joni Ernst, of course, is not running for re-election. Three competitive House races. It's why at 2 o'clock this afternoon, President Trump is announcing a new steel plant to be likely placed in Iowa, he's trying to see if he can sort of shore up some Republican questions and issues there. But Chuck Grassley has seen a lot of midterm elections, and he knows this one could be a problem for Republicans.

[12:05:00]

BASH: Yeah. And I think the fact that the president is in the last- ditch effort trying to announce some moves that bring jobs to Iowa is really telling. And let's sort of open the aperture a little bit. Iowa is a great example, but there is just an overall feeling of concern to put it mildly. And we do have some terrific new reporting from Kristen Holmes and Alayna Treene, our White House team, saying that they are hearing from sources things like the following.

It's obviously going to be effing rough. Asked if there was -- that's according to one Trump adviser. Asked if there was anything Republicans could do to change the tide. Another operative replied, go back in time and never start the war with Iran. Shelby?

SHELBY TALCOTT, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, SEMAFOR: Yeah. I mean, I'm also hearing from Trump officials inside the White House, outside the White House, people close to Trump, some of his most-staunchest supporters who are privately acknowledging that this could be really rough for Republicans. At the same time, there's a little bit of a which I think is very typical of a let's not panic yet. If anybody can do something, it's Trump, but really, this is their only option, I think at this point, because the Iran conflict is what it is. Gas prices are what they are. Things are not going to change substantially for the American people in the next 30 days.

And so, the administration's strategy, and they really believe in this, is let's get the president out there as much as humanly possible and try to get those low propensity voters who really only show up for Trump and try to convince them to show up for other candidates.

BASH: And let's dig more into the reporting from our colleagues on that very point. Another quote from their story. The system is built around what areas we need to goose turnout two to three points, one operative told CNN. He'll be playing hard in Florida, Texas, Michigan and Ohio. He'll be on the road just about every day in October campaigning. We're leaving it all on the table.

And just for example, Stephen, just look at this week. The president is going to Oklahoma, not exactly a purple state. He's going to Alabama, also not a purple state, and he's going to Ohio, which has a little bit more of a potential pick up for Democrats. He's already been to North Carolina and Texas.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER: Yeah. North Carolina, for example, we listened to Thom Tillis there, talking about maybe it's time to move on. The president was in North Carolina, just about a week ago. That's the great look for Republicans if they decide to pull the plug. After he was there, you said, he was -- he's going to Oklahoma, he's going to, where Alabama?

BASH: Yeah.

COLLINSON: Obviously, red states. They might argue that you might get some bleed over into Texas and to Florida, for example. But you kind of go to war, as you were saying, with the army you have right now. They must be looking at races. Well, say it's a 6 percent race. Say the polls are off 2 percent, you know, Trump has pulled closer in elections before in September and October. And he can maybe juice 2 percent, maybe you can bring some of those races back into a competitive situation, but the fact we were talking about Iowa, for example, we're not talking about the president rushing off to Maine or Michigan right now --

BASH: Or Georgia.

COLLINSON: --or Georgia.

BASH: I mean, he's -- they're sort of tiptoeing around Georgia, but it's --

COLLINSON: Georgia and North Carolina mistakes he won two years ago in that big comeback. So, the environment tells its own story right now, but you know, you don't give up, it's almost triage right now.

BASH: Another data point, Jeff Zeleny, is by way of POLITICO Playbook, and they talk to people known as Front Row Joes, and these are voters, supporters of President Trump, who loved him so much that they have been to countless Trump events and get there early enough to be close to the front.

One is Trisha Hope, who's a Texas voter. She joined Front Row Joes in 2018. She lost faith in Trump after the Epstein issues came out and she was not happy about it. That was in July, but she said to POLITICO, it was like a dagger in my heart. It was like a light switch went on and it veil lifted, and I saw him for who he was, and I have not been able to unsee it since.

Rick Frazier, who's an Ohio voter, he's been to over 100 Trump rallies. He said, he promoted himself as a no war president. That didn't work out. I'm to the point of not going to the polls in November. It's that kind of voter, the Rick Frazier of the world, that the Trump strategy is aimed at.

ZELENY: There's no doubt about it. In the Front Row Joes, as you were saying, I mean they are the people standing in line, often camping out for up to 48 hours before a Trump rally to sit in the very front. So, some of them go from state to state to state, but it underscores just the intensity of which people supported this president.

[12:10:00]

We should point out, I mean, the reality is most of his previous supporters do still support him on a lot of things, but the intensity which those who don't is a question. And the Epstein thing is also, I thought that was very interesting. The Iran war on one side, and the Epstein files and the other side are two very specific examples of things that he campaigned on and has done the opposite of.

So, there is an intensity question. There's no doubt. But I was looking back at what he did in the midterms of 2018, his first midterm elections. He would often hold rallies, sometimes twice a night, flying places. There were places he couldn't fly, he couldn't go. They lost the House, but they did hold the Senate narrowly in 2018.

The question is, what is different now? And how Americans view the economy is a 22 percent a point to difference now in a negative way from 2018. His job approval is about the same --

BASH: It's 22 percent.

ZELENY: --22 percent. So that is a huge challenge here for this president. It feels much more like the sixth year of a president's term in office. President Bush's sixth year in office, obviously, '06 was a bloodbath for Republicans. So, we will see if it happens. One thing he's not doing is sort of giving Republicans permission to step away from him. So, we'll see if there are enough places for him to go in the month of October. I'm not sure.

BASH: Yeah. I mean, like we talked about at the beginning of the show, him reposting a lot of attacks on Maria Elvira Salazar --

ZELENY: Oklahoma and Alabama, if he would want to go to Texas and Florida, he could do that.

BASH: Yeah, that's a good point. Don't go anywhere. Coming up, the president has a brand-new campaign ad, and it's funded by your tax dollars. And pandemonium is back. The newest diplomats from China to giant pandas. They've landed in Atlanta. We're going to find out how they're settling into their new digs.

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[12:15:00]

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BASH: President Trump's latest midterm ad sounds apocalyptic.

(PLAYING VIDEO)

BASH: That ad is being paid for by you, the taxpayer, to the tune of at least $1 million so far. And if you had any doubt that it is a campaign, a political ad, well, it's nearly a carbon copy of a 2024 campaign video posted by the president on Truth Social. The major difference is this one says paid for by the U.S. government. That one ended with the Trump 2024 logo. Even some Republicans say it's not how public money should be spent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): I don't think any public official, including President Trump or Kristi Noem or John Kennedy, should spend public money on private ads for themselves. Now, the White House sees it differently, but I don't -- I think there ought to be a rule that you can't -- well, there probably is a rule. You can't spend public money to promote yourself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Yeah, there probably is a rule. Stephen, you wrote a terrific column about all this this morning and I'm going to read part of it. The Fuhrer is a classic example of the provocative behavior Trump uses to draw establishment forces into showdowns. At times, this seems like trolling for trolling's sake, but it feeds a narrative that he's under perpetual attack from a sinister deep state that only strong man leadership by Trump can save the nation.

COLLINSON: Yeah. That image you saw of the president in monochrome, square-jawed strong man, that is exactly the president he wants to be and sees himself as. And politically, it's also an image that I think some of those base voters he needs to get out in the midterms do respond to. But obviously, this breaks or appears to infringe or challenge plenty of laws, as the senator was saying there, but it's classic Trump. He wants to incite this firestorm over this.

The media is talking about it. The Democrats are getting angry. He's creating a foil for himself that positions him as the outsider, the slayer of the deep state. That is one of the political narratives that's really helped him, and if, we're talking about this, a lot of people aren't talking about high gas prices, why the Iran war isn't ending, you know, why he's in trouble in Iowa.

BASH: Yeah. Well, we have 24 hours, so we're talking about it all. But I totally agree with you that trolling for trolling sakes and other really important points that you bring up in your piece are kind of behind this, but it's also more fundamental. He thinks that this is OK. He believes, and we have seen this with example after example after example that as president of the United States, the federal government is his to do things like this.

TALCOTT: Yeah, that's exactly right. You've seen it this entire past two years, right, starting with DOGE on the first day of his second administration. I can't emphasize enough how, in the four years that the President Trump was not president. He and his team were not just sort of sitting around, hanging out doing nothing. They were sort of studying and figuring out exactly what they wanted to do and how they wanted to do it, with the acknowledgement that some of this does break the political norms.

[12:20:00]

And so, you've seen that in pretty much every aspect of this presidency so far, and this add in particular, is really interesting because it goes back to the main thesis of this administration when it comes to the midterms, which is, we have to put Trump front and center because those core base voters will come out and hopefully vote for other people.

BASH: Yeah. Thomas Massie, who is not exactly a fan of President Trump, despite being in the same party. Massie lost his primary largely because Donald Trump supported his opponent. Massie said, don't worry, using taxpayer dollars to run ominous campaign ads of the president has been done before and it's completely legal in banana republics.

ZELENY: And that puts a fine point on it here. I mean, the president wants to make this election about him. We've heard him say it over and over and over pretend I'm on the ballot. So, he's putting himself front and center, and you know, he wants to run that old race again. You know that he is saving the nation from this, but the reality is many voters are looking for someone to save them from him and his policies.

So, the question here over the final month. There's an extraordinarily huge advantage of spending from Republicans. The other question for this is, MAGA Inc. has the money to pay for these ads. I mean, by a mile, but they're not. But the reality is, how much is he going to sort of fire up the other side and independents who are just sort of done with him. We don't know, but it's that balance of him being out there everywhere also works against him

BASH: Yeah. All right, everybody, stand by. Up next, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez toured New York State this weekend. What the trip could say about her future plans? Next?

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[12:25:00]

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BASH: Her district covers parts of the Bronx and Queens, but these days Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is campaigning in New York, well beyond that, from Ithaca to Buffalo. And as CNN's Gloria Pazmino reports today, the state tour is offering clues to the congresswoman's future. Will she run for Senate? Will she run for president or run for the House again in 2028? Gloria is with me now. Gloria, good to see you. You spent some time on the road with her.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We followed the congresswoman to Buffalo over the past week and watched her as she sort of launched her tour of upstate New York. Right now, Ocasio- Cortez is certainly not the first lawmaker from New York to travel around the state, but she has this giant political brand, and she has been clear about the fact that she expects to make some sort of decision after the midterms regarding what her next political steps might be.

As you said, Dana, she's considering perhaps just running for -- she's certainly running for re-election, but she's also perhaps looking at a potential run for the U.S. Senate or even the White House. So, for those who are closely watching this, the launch of this tour in upstate New York was being looked at as perhaps a potential sign that she is laying the groundwork for a future statewide run.

Now, we caught up with the congresswoman, asked her point blank what her next plans are going to be, and I want you to take a listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Congresswoman, it sounds like you're running for something. Are you running for president?

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): I am running for re-election to be the congresswoman -- to continue being the congressman for 14th congressional district here this year. And again, you know, I think one dynamic that we are seeing emerge and that I am hearing from a lot of people is that there's a lot of outreach to persuadable voters, but there is worry about the Democratic base and enthusiasm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: So first comes 2027, right? Her likely of re-election to the 14th congressional district here in New York -- New York 14. But then comes 2028, and what she's going to do then appears to still be up in the air. She was in Buffalo to launch an organizing effort to make sure that more voters come out to vote ahead of the midterm elections.

BASH: Yeah, and that's really an important point. She is in places very different from the Bronx, and yet she is visiting blue house districts, the Erie County area where she went. That is competitive. So, Republicans are looking at her event, saying, well, the Democratic Party is clearly moving towards the left. How much is it that?

Especially, my question is what she actually talked about versus -- in the events versus what she told you, which is she's concerned that the base really does need to be energized, and she's there to do it regardless of sort of the topic that she's talking about. If she's talking about some of the far-left policies that she's so known to espouse.

PAZMINO: Exactly right. In fact, you mentioned Erie County, Dana, that's where Buffalo is located. But it's not just the city of Buffalo, which is a pretty solidly blue Democratic city that has, in the past, elected progressive candidates, including its most recent mayor, Mayor Sean Ryan, who Ocasio-Cortez met with during her visit. But also, most recently, there was a very competitive three-way primary in which Adam Bojak, the DSA candidate won and he's on