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Inside Politics
Some In GOP Say Trump Campaign Rallies Hurting, Not Helping; Trump Blames Zelenskyy For Making "Problems For Our Farmers"; New Byron Donalds Ads Highlights He'd Be State's First Black Gov.; Iowa Dem Josh Turek Ad Features Endorsements From Sheriffs; MN GOP Senate Candidate: I'll Stand Up To Trump When He's Wrong; One-On-One With San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie. Aired 12:30-1p ET
Aired October 12, 2026 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[12:30:07]
DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: This week, the President is kicking his campaign schedule into overdrive to back candidates in two key Senate races and visit two House districts. But in brand new CNN reporting from Adam Cancryn, Lauren Fox, and Patrick Svitek, GOP officials are telling CNN they're not sure Trump's campaign visits are helping. One House Republican running for reelection told my colleagues about President Trump's numbers, quote, "Trump is dragging the party down."
David Chalian, I want to read one more quote from this article from our terrific colleagues, "After months of pressing President Donald Trump to ramp up his travel on behalf of key candidates, some Republicans now worry he's grown so unpopular that his presence on the campaign trail may, in some cases, be doing more harm than good." And again, if you look at the map, you'll see where he's going -- Ohio, Montana, Alaska, and Arizona.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: But I think the map that you just pointed out is key to try and assuage that concern. Not that some of these aren't more purplish or battleground, but there is the theory of the case from the White House that I don't think is totally unfounded. That because of so much of the turf is in deep red territory, even though he's upside down in these places --
BASH: Yes.
CHALIAN: -- there is the potential for him to go in and try and juice up some enthusiasm, grab some people that were with him a couple of years ago who may be less interested this time, and remind them of the importance to him for his -- the success of his presidency that they got to show up and vote. I don't think that's like a crazy idea, but it seems to me it is necessary and not necessarily sufficient to get across the line, given where he does stand in these places and the fact that we do see so much erosion even among his fellow Republicans or some key parts of his coalition. But I think he still has the ability to go in some of these pockets, Dana, and perhaps, you know, to the point you were saying before, mitigate worst-case scenarios.
BASH: Yes. No, absolutely. And I think that you're right about a lot of these. The Arizona district is interesting to me.
CHALIAN: Right, right. Yes.
BASH: We'll see if that makes a difference. But the fact is, with the core Republicans, not necessarily the ones who crossed over in 2024 to vote for him, both demographically and with the younger sector of the electorate, they still love him. And the question is --
CHALIAN: Sure.
BASH: -- whether or not they love him and they're going to do it from their couch, or they love him and they're going to do it from the ballot box.
JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, BLOOMBERG: Ding, ding, ding. I mean, that's what we start talking about every time we get this close to an election, is it turns into a turnout game and whether or not people are excited enough to go and go to the polls or whether they stay home. And certainly that's a good chunk of the strategy behind the President's travel.
You have to -- you were mentioning the White House's strategy. I mean, the White House said all spring that he was going to travel a lot, and then he didn't --
BASH: Exactly.
MASON: -- largely because of the Iran war. But this travel intensity, they also sort of committed to, and it's happening. So he clearly is engaged in trying to help his party across the threshold but --
BASH: And that's one of the things that's so interesting about this new reporting is that it's not that these candidates didn't want the President, they did. But now maybe they're not so sure because of where we are. I --
MASON: Even Ken Paxton apparently has said that, right?
BASH: Yes, yes. And the President loved that.
MASON: Yes.
BASH: The -- one of the other parts of the White House strategy is to try to dole out some sort of political candy in a lot of these places, except -- there's a big asterisk here -- a lot of the announcements that the White House has made, they're not real yet, or at least they're not cooked yet.
For example, a steel mill in Iowa, that -- he announced it apparently isn't happening yet. An energy investment from South Korea apparently hasn't really happened yet. And then we have this latest executive order to lower diesel prices, and specifically a deal, apparently, to get Russian diesel.
Let's listen to what the President said about that and how the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We said you can do whatever you want to Russia, don't hit the refineries, because that's a world problem that's caused. And he wants to make problems for the world. He wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel fuel.
PRES. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINE: Everybody understands that the prices on diesel, it doesn't depend on our attacks on diesel in Russia. Everybody understands that it depends on the blocking or moves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[12:35:01]
BASH: Translation, that's not even a thing, Mr. President, is basically what he's saying. Never mind the fact that Ukraine has said that they've actually refrained from attacking Russian energy, which is what the White House wanted.
AYESHA RASCOE, NPR HOST, "WEEKEND EDITION SUNDAY" AND "UP FIRST": Yes, I mean, I think, you know, this is why he's doing this, because he wants to, you know, kind of take the attention away from the Iran war, which is largely responsible for the higher energy prices, and put it on Russia and Ukraine and make it seem as if he is doing something.
The problem, though, is that he has said a lot of things about gas is going to come down really fast, diesel is going to come down really fast, and it has not happened. I do think that as far as him being out on the trail, I think probably the most helpful thing for Republicans would be him staying on message.
Because a lot of what he talks about these days is like interior design, it's, you know, ballrooms, it's this, it's that, that's not what people -- you know, the Kennedy Center, it's like, can he stay focused on the things that matter to Americans, and not all this other stuff, the Nobel Peace Prize, that seems so animating to him, which is, I think, is fine when everything's going well. But when things aren't going great, I think that's a harder message to sell.
BASH: Yes. All right, everybody stand by.
Coming up, a Democrat at the border, a Republican touting that she is, quote, "pro-choice" to new ads and key Senate races. We're going to show you that is both very telling about where things stand. Stay with us.
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BASH: In the final sprint to Election Day, we're seeing some candidates subtly shift their messaging in political ads. Look at a new ad from Byron Donalds, the Republican congressman running to be the next governor of Florida.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's the first black governor in Florida history. Byron will create jobs, fight for our families and make Florida affordable. Byron Donalds for Florida, make history for our future.
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BASH: It's a message that Byron Donalds has shied away from until now. Here he is asked about his history making potential back in March.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you do you recognize that this would be significant?
REP. BYRON DONALDS (R), FLORIDA GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: I'm aware of it, but I don't really focus on it. Actually, in this entire time of politics, I'm not really focused on race as a marker.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: David?
CHALIAN: Yes, it's -- I mean, let's do the politics of it for a moment --
BASH: Yes.
CHALIAN: -- which is like obviously there is a big African-American population to be courted in Florida elections, and you see that. But I also think, you know, that interview was in March around primary -- in the primary season, I should say. And we're in general election season now. And the calculations are different.
And this is a tale as old as time, right, that you do watch a shift in general election messaging from primary season messaging. But it speaks to me that Byron Donalds, who may be in a more competitive race now than he thought, which is also something you are hearing from many Republicans across the country, that there are more competitive races now than they thought they would be given the environment, is making sure to pull every lever possible to build the coalition that he needs to win.
RASCOE: Yes. And I don't think it's just to appeal to African- Americans, not that you were saying that, but I think this doesn't just appeal to African-Americans, but to maybe those more moderates or for people who need what that permission structure to vote for him to say, look, not only when you vote for me, if you like my policies or you think I'm OK, you'll also be doing this historic thing, right?
Like, so I think that that's part of what he seems to be playing into, although he got to be careful because they may say is DEI, right? You got to be careful about that.
BASH: Well, which is to his point, why he wasn't necessarily talking about it --
RASCOE: Yes.
BASH: -- during the primary. I want to play two ads, one from Josh Turek, who is running in Iowa, and then Michele Tafoya, who is a Democrat running in Minnesota, both running for the U.S. Senate. And the way that they are speaking is not the way we're used to hearing members of each party --talk, talk -- excuse me, Tafoya is also a Republican, I should say.
Let's watch them and we'll talk on the other side.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Josh wants to secure the border. And in the Senate, he'll go after drug traffickers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To stop the flow of fentanyl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When it comes to keeping Iowans safe --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We trust.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We trust.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We trust Josh Turek.
MICHELE TAFOYA (R), MINNESOTA SENATE CANDIDATE: A senator should work for Minnesota, not party bosses, lobbyists or even the President. I'm a pro-choice Republican. I'm not afraid to stand up to my party. When Trump is right, I'll work with him. When he's wrong, I'll stand up for Minnesota.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: So that's a Republican running in a blue state saying, I'm pro- choice. And before that, it was a Democrat running in what has become a red state saying, come with me, I'm going to the border.
MASON: Yes. Fascinating the political swap there and certainly on abortion politics. I mean, the -- calling yourself pro-choice as a Republican is so rare after the Dobbs decision and after the President essentially during his first term and then second term has made that into a success story for the pro-life movement and the political capital that he has brought to that with the Supreme Court.
So, yes, very interesting that if a candidate is calling herself that now and openly doing so, that suggests that there is some weakness or that she may see some strength in doing that politically and making a big deal out of it.
[12:45:04]
BASH: Yes, it's like Susan Collins in Maine. I mean, these are Republicans who know their constituencies and know where they're running.
CHALIAN: And Democrats are, I wouldn't say they're nervous, but they are watching Minnesota with some concern. And so, obviously, Tafoya's campaign has seen something also that there's potential votes to be had. There are a conversation with voters to be had in a blue state.
MASON: And lots of Democrats, I think, now would say that they did poorly on immigration and that their policy needed to be changed. And so seeing that reflected in --
BASH: Yes.
MASON: -- those statements is not unusual now either.
BASH: Yes. No, that's a really good point.
Let's watch a fun ad. Meet Pasta, the baby alpaca, who is a star in a new ad by the Democratic candidate Steve Doyle in Wisconsin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. STEVE DOYLE (D), WISCONSIN CANDIDATE: Hi, I'm Representative Steve Doyle. Have you noticed how politicians prey on emotion to influence voters? They'll show you pictures of cute babies or use scare tactics to get you outraged over something they just made up. Please don't fall for emotional appeals.
Oh, and this is my baby alpaca, Pasta. She hopes you'll vote for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Amazing.
RASCOE: Oh, so cute. And, you know, and with -- if you're in one of these states where you're seeing all these political ads, I'm sure you're just absolutely tired of them. But then you see a little baby alpaca and you're like, oh, that's cute. And I like that.
BASH: It is creative. It's true.
RASCOE: Yes.
BASH: We're used to babies and puppies.
RASCOE: Yes.
BASH: Now we have an alpaca.
RASCOE: Alpaca.
BASH: And the name Pasta --
CHALIAN: Yes.
BASH: It's just chef's kiss.
RASCOE: Yes, yes.
BASH: See what I did there?
MASON: Well done. Well done.
BASH: I'll be here all night.
Coming up, the mayor of San Francisco weighs in on the city's former mayor's presidential aspirations.
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[12:51:11]
BASH: AI is infiltrating political conversations all over the country, especially in San Francisco, which is home to so many tech innovators. I asked San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie about the warnings from some AI leaders, as well as his thoughts on two San Franciscans who are considering 2028 presidential runs.
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BASH: This city or this area is obviously known for a lot of things, but including the innovation in the tech industry. OpenAI, Anthropic were both founded here. OpenAI's founder, Sam Altman, I believe, was on your transition team. Bill Gates said he's worried that AI could kill a billion people. Do you worry about the ramifications of the AI companies that are -- many of them are in your backyard?
MAYOR DANIEL LURIE (D), SAN FRANCISCO: Well, listen, when you hear Sam and Dario and Elon all say the same thing, of course, we should all be anxious. I found that to be positive a couple of weeks ago that they were all on the same page. I believe that there should be regulations at the federal level and at the very least at the state level.
I am proud that those companies are here in San Francisco. We have always been the home of innovation and entrepreneurs and we always will be. What I say to the leaders in this sector and in throughout businesses, be involved in San Francisco, be involved in our public schools, support public transit, help us build new beautiful parks.
We have a legacy of great companies here in San Francisco that have been part of the community, that have been part of our arts and our culture. And I am telling those leaders, we need you involved. And I've seen some baby steps which are encouraging, but we need them to step up because I don't want this boom that we're experiencing to just benefit 5,000 or 10,000 tech workers in a few downtown offices.
I want it to benefit 840,000 San Franciscans. And I think that is absolutely possible. BASH: Do you want data centers in and around here?
LURIE: Well, I think we're actually working with our board of supervisors, which is our city council, on how do we define that here? We have a handful of very small ones here, but we're going to work with our supervisors to define what comes next. And anything that comes to our city better have community first when they're thinking about coming here.
BASH: Speaking of San Francisco, just a couple of questions --
LURIE: Oh boy, here we go.
BASH: -- about some famous San Franciscans who are thinking about running for president, like your governor, Gavin Newsom.
LURIE: Dana, you're really -- you're just wanting me to talk about everything outside of San Francisco.
BASH: I'm just curious what you would think. No, no, no. He's very -- he was just at the top of the Golden Gate Bridge.
LURIE: I know. I --
BASH: He is San Francisco.
LURIE: I saw him a few hours before. I went to the top of Sutro Tower, which is our tallest tower here.
BASH: And he wanted to one up you.
LURIE: He did. I've heard it's more frightening to do the cables up to the -- I'm --
BASH: Better him than me. That's all I got to say.
LURIE: I'm -- if you watch the video of me going up to Sutro Tower, you'll see that I don't do well with heights.
BASH: I feel you.
LURIE: I was told by the governor that this is not a choice, that I have to go to the top of the bridge.
BASH: Would he make a good president?
LURIE: Listen, the mayor, Newsom, now Governor Newsom, is someone I've known for a very long time. His values are true to California's values, which is where we take care of our communities, our immigrants, our LGBTQ plus community. I do not -- you do not want a mayor of San Francisco pontificating on a presidential election that is two years away.
I have too much work to do right here, Dana.
BASH: I know, I know. So if I asked about Vice President Harris, I'm guessing you would say the same thing.
[12:55:01]
LURIE: Absolutely. I -- you know, I -- she was a district attorney here and known her for years --
BASH: This is very San Francisco. I just want to say for the record, they're all San Franciscans.
LURIE: Right. But no one has approached me about anything. They haven't even announced --
BASH: I know.
LURIE: -- if they're running or not. And you are trying to throw me off my game.
BASH: No, I'm not.
LURIE: My game is San Francisco.
BASH: No.
LURIE: And I'm -- I am true to the game here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Thank you to Mayor Lurie.
Thank you for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after a quick break.
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