El-Sayed Brushes off Former Primary Rival’s Call to Denounce Controversial Ad

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1:13With the president on the road in Florida right now and new signs of trouble for Republican House candidates across the board, two big stories are rocking the campaign, both involving Democrats, one in Alaska over ballot shenanigans, the other in Michigan over a controversial ad. Good evening. Thanks for joining us. We begin tonight with the Michigan Senate race between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers. The story tonight, though, only involves Rogers indirectly. It centers instead on tensions between El-Sayed and his former primary rival, Congresswoman Haley Stevens. Now, the two were expected to campaign together in Detroit on Sunday with South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn.

1:50Those plans could be derailed by an ad the Anti-Defamation League calls a, quote, case study in anti-Semitism. It was put out by a PAC founded by Gent Uygur, a left-wing political activist. Here's some of it. But, honey. What? You're going to have to put those eggs back. They don't like eggs anymore? No, they like eggs. But we have to set that$7 aside. For killing Palestinians? What? I mean, don't we give Israel$4 billion a year anyways? Yeah, and now we're giving them another$26 billion. Why does Mike Rogers care so much about what Israelis want and so little about what you want? Mike Rogers is for they, them.

2:33Abdul El-Sayed is for you. Well, Stevens has tried and failed to get El-Sayed to denounce the ad. Today, she released a statement that reads, in part, I have learned from Democratic Party leaders and emissaries that Dr. El-Sayed has heard the deep concerns of the Jewish community and is now, for the first time in this campaign, formally condemning that ad for what it is. That is why I accept Congressman Clyburn's invitation to appear with Abdul on Sunday. I urge voters in the press to confirm it with Abdul directly. Late today, Al-Sayed responded online but did not condemn the ad, quoting it now in full.

3:07His response, our campaign is and has always been focused on addressing the most critical challenges Michiganders are facing, skyrocketing gas prices, unaffordable groceries and the inability to see a doctor. That focus is why our people-powered campaign defeated a historic$70 million in outside spending from big corporations and AIPAC on behalf of Congresswoman Stevens. Now the stakes are even higher, defeating Trump's hand-picked candidate, taking back the Senate and defending our democracy. El-Sayed goes on to say that should be the priority for all of us right now. So while Congresswoman Stevens seems intent on re-litigating a primary that ended three months ago, let's all focus on the task at hand.

3:48That's beating Mike Rogers, holding Trump accountable and getting money out of politics, putting money in pockets and passing Medicare for all. Now again, he and Haley Stevens are members of the same party and are expected to campaign side by side on Sunday. Joining us now is host and editorial director of Vox, Estet Herndon, former special assistant to President George W. Bush, Scott Jennings, and former senior advisor to President Obama, David Axelrod. David, we'll start with, we'll get to Alaska in a little bit. But how big of a problem is this bad blood, do you think, between al-Sayed and Stevens?

4:18Was it smart for his campaign to put this statement out? Yeah, I would not have engaged. I certainly would not have engaged in his name. I understand the irritation. It does feel a little bit like she is still litigating the campaign. I praised her after the primary because her first message was, we all ought to unite now. and then she never quite did. But this is not the argument that he wants to have going down the stretch of this campaign. And the fact that he responded just prolongs the story. As for the ad itself, it is an offensive ad because it misleads people into thinking that the reason that their costs are way up now is because of what happened in Gaza.

5:07However you feel about what happened in Gaza, the costs are up now because we're at war in Iran. It's a different issue. Rogers has been on one side, El Saeed on the other. And then the they-them ending was really heavy with inference. So I think he should have rejected the ad. But at this point, he needs to focus on the arguments that he's running on, which go to the things that he talked about at the end of that statement. But he didn't need to respond to her. He's just continuing. The thing about El-Sayed that I think is concerning at times is that he always engages. He likes the fight, and he engages in the fight.

5:50And when he's on message, he can be very, very effective. When he is in this back and forth, it's not always useful. Scott, El-Sayed's Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, said on social media that his Democratic Rivals campaign, has been based on vile racism and anti-Semitism and said that former Stephen supporters have a home with us. Do you think he will be effective in actually splitting some of the Democratic vote here? I do. I think historic numbers of Jewish Democrats in Michigan and frankly across the country, but specifically in Michigan, are going to vote Republican, many of them for the first time in their life.

6:25This isn't a fight really between El Saeed and Haley Stevens. This is a fight between El Syed and every Jewish American in Michigan. He cannot denounce this ad. He cannot figure out who the good guys and the bad guys are in the Middle East. He can't tell who our allies are and who they aren't. He said when that lunatic rammed his truck into the synagogue, hurt people, hurt people. And his campaign, Anderson, has at some points been based on this idea that we can't say have things like good schools in America because we have foreign aid to Israel. He's essentially himself made the same argument that they were making in that economically incoherent piece of garbage ad that we just played here on CNN.

7:02He's dabbled in this rhetoric himself. So to expect him to denounce that now, I mean, I applaud Haley Stevens for trying, but good luck. He clearly believes in it. So do I think that Rogers is going to peel off Jewish Democrats in Michigan? Yes. I also think he's going to peel off some black Democrats in Michigan because El-Sayed won't give them the time of day either. I think he has had no interest in listening to the concerns of the Jewish community or the black community. And it's a very close race. And, you know, on election night, we'll see if it makes the difference. Ested, he has had problems with inroads in the black community in Michigan.

7:35I mean, I think that we're going to see how that plays out on Tuesday. Some of the polling is sort of mixed on this front. And I think we should kind of pump the brakes here. This isn't that that that campaign did not put out. And so I think even the desire to tie to him serves Republican efforts, surely. But I understand the annoyance of El-Sayed, who has had to deal with, frankly, a moderate wing that have been kind of openly sore losers after this primary. And to me, it's not a surprise. This primary is one that holds, I think, a particular weight in this midterm cycle, not just because of how El-Sayed won, but because of the question of electability and how that plays in the Midwest that will be answered going forward.

8:12I think there's fair questions to ask about El-Sayed, his connections to others, and whether he has actually put out a plan that assures Jewish Americans that he will also fight for them. But it is important to know that his message on the trail is focused on the kind of tangible affordability focused issues. He doesn't really talk that much about sort of Israel first, more so than in media interviews. But I think David's point is a true one. He has been someone who likes that sort of fight. And I do think that instinct, particularly four to five days out from the midterms, might be a bad one.

8:44He could have denounced this ad. He could have not engaged more directly with Stevens. But I think the blame should be when you think about Democrats. I think the questions of one to ask are really to Stevens about why she has been behaving in this kind of effort over the last week or so. David, why do you think that? Why do you think it is? And also, David, I mean, do you think I mean, Scott is saying that this is going to be very hurtful for him in Michigan with Jewish voters. Do you think that's true? Well, I think we'll see on election night. My guess is the majority of Jewish voters will vote for El-Sayed because Jewish voters have a range of issues that they care about.

9:24And many of them put them on the opposite side of President Trump and on the opposite side of Mike Rogers. But Scott, he is faithfully presenting what I think is the hope of the Rogers campaign, that that will make a difference. You ask why Stevens is doing this. I mean, it feels like she's almost setting up an endorsement of Rogers. And that, you know, this is there's nothing that she is doing that suggests that she is trying to be constructive here. I think that when you do what she's done here in the last few days of the campaign, it seems that it is aimed at trying to undermine him. And maybe she's just she's never gotten over the fact that she lost the primary.

10:13Scott, you talked about, you know, this having an impact on some of perhaps his Democratic support. Do you think, Scott, the the, you know, kind of racist attacks that the president has repeatedly launched against El-Sayed, calling him a jihadist, making fun of his names, as he often does with Muslim candidates or people. Do you think any of that will backfire on Republicans? or on Rodgers? I think if you are, I think if you're intending to vote against Mike Rodgers because you don't like Donald Trump, you've already made that decision. I think when it comes to these issues of, you know, surrogates saying one thing or the other, I tend to think it's a little overblown.

10:55I'm a little flummoxed though at how this is being portrayed as somehow a problem with Haley Stevens. Haley Stevens is trying to drag her party's nominee and her party generally back towards some semblance of respectability here. They are engaging in vile anti-Semitism. Everybody here seems to agree that this ad is anti-Semitic. And the fact that Abdul El-Sayed cannot denounce it, will not denounce it, ought to tell you the problem that Haley Stevens has is that she doesn't want to be, she doesn't want her political party to go down. This ad is not being put out by Abdul El-Sayed. I mean, this is being put out.

11:31Anderson? Yeah, go ahead, David. It's being put out by, It's being put out by his best friend's uncle. It's being put out by his best friend's uncle. They're all part of the same campaign. Hey, Scott, I don't even know who my uncle's best friend is. I mean, or my best friend's uncle. All the anti-Semites in Michigan know each other. I can assure you of that, Anderson. Believe me. I don't think all the Muslims know each other. Yeah, go ahead, Anderson. I want to say something. I want to say something. I want to say something as a Jewish American. And whenever hate is on the march, it's generally bad for all minorities, including Jews.

12:12And so if Scott wants to denounce this ad, I said I disliked the ad for the reasons that I suggested. But then also be consistent and denounce what the president did in Michigan, essentially suggesting that El-Sayed was a jihadist and a terrorist and was a threat to our national security and so on. And it wasn't even a veiled appeal to hate and fear. It was an overt appeal to hate and fear. So if we're going to denounce hate and we're going to denounce appeals to prejudice, be consistent in it. Let's say we denounce all of it. We've got to take a break. Ahead tonight, that breaking news in Alaska on the Senate race, the two Dan Sullivans on the ballot and new developments in both the federal criminal investigation and the government civil lawsuit as well.

13:06Plus, new reporting in the New York Times about one of the president's former lawyers, Alina Hava, the$50 million contract she secured to work for a billionaire. And according to the report, the president's fury with him, with her getting that amount of money. And now he wants some of that money. He wants a cut of the money to go to his presidential library. The details on that ahead.

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14:39As we mentioned at the top, there's breaking news tonight in the Alaska Senate race. The one with two Dan Sullivans on the ballot, the incumbent Republican Dan S. and the alleged spoiler candidate Daniel J. In a new filing tonight, the Justice Department asked a federal judge to set aside any votes for Daniel J. The DOJ, as you know, has filed suit, seeking to delay certification of the election if Senator Dan S. loses in order to investigate whether voter confusion caused his defeat. And the department is also conducting a criminal probe. The officials in charge talked to reporters today. As we speak, law enforcement around the country are taking investigative steps with respect to a criminal investigation on these matters.

15:22Now, because this is an ongoing investigative matter, we can't discuss the specifics of those investigative steps and who may or may not be involved. Democratic candidate Mary Peltola, whose campaign was linked to the recruitment of Daniel J. Sullivan in a deeply reported piece in the New York Times this week, said today that she, quote, knew nothing about any other candidates on the ballot except for me and the incumbent. Alaska's Republican governor today said that certification of the election could be, quote, stopped or changed because of a state investigation into the allegations against her.

15:55And the president weighed in as well in what some have called the sullied ballot. You need about 190 IQ to figure out the ballot. They put a ballot down where they're talking about incumbent Republican and the other one. Most people don't know in Alaska and a lot of other states, too. What does incumbent mean? They don't know what incumbent means. Safe to say most people know. They might even know there's a B in incumbent, unlike some words. And nobody knows that dumb has a B at the end of it. Most people think it's D-U-M, and that's fine. CNN's Kinlaw is in Anchorage and joins us now with more.

16:38What do you learn about where the investigation stands tonight? And do most people you talk to know what incumbent means? I ASSUME SO. YOU KNOW, EVERYONE I TALK TO AND STANDING IN LINE KNOWS WHAT INCUMBENT MEANS. THEY KNOW HOW TO SPELL IT. EXCEPT FOR ONE PERSON WHO QUOTED THE PRESIDENT. SO I THINK WE KNOW AT LEAST WHAT HER POLITICAL LEANINGS ARE. BUT GENERALLY, THE PEOPLE WE SPOKE TO ACTUALLY JUST FIND ALL OF THAT QUITE INSULTING. LET ME TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT, BRING YOU UP TO DATE TO WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW. THIS IS MARY PELTOLA. SHE IS, THIS IS HER CAMPAIGN EVENT. You can see that it's empty right now.

17:13It's going to start at the top of the hour. The press is assembled. Meanwhile, what's hanging over all of this as she's on the campaign trail is that there is a deadline set for tomorrow for anyone who wants to jump in on the DOJ case to have a toss that they have a deadline of tomorrow by noon Alaska time. So that is something that is happening. But it's really being seen in two tracks here, Anderson. There is that and then there is this. And what the campaign is hoping is that this, which they anticipate is going to be quite full with voters, is that is what's going to carry them across the finish line.

17:49They will worry about all of the cases, all of the fighting that's happening between the White House and here in Alaska, all of that to wait until after the votes are cast. Yangala in Alaska, thank you for more on what the Department of Justice is asking a judge to do with the ballots in Alaska. Seeing this, Evan Perez joins us. So, Evan, walk us through what the DOJ is seeking to do with the ballots in Alaska. Well, Anderson, they're asking a judge in this case to segregate all the ballots, every vote that Daniel J. Sullivan, the decoy Dan in this drama, as they call him up there, to make sure that all of those votes are segregated and set aside when they are counted.

18:29And the issue here, according to the Justice Department, is that they want to be able to quickly try to assess whether this should not be certified. They're asking for the judge to allow for certification to be delayed. And they're also asking the judge to force the Democrats in and the Peltola campaign to get ready to provide documents that could show that they were involved in this operation to what they say was mount a frivolous or fraudulent campaign by Daniel J. Sullivan. Now, the state has pointed out that it's not clear how the Justice Department will determine whether the votes that, let's say Daniel Sullivan, Senator Sullivan loses, how they determine that he lost because of Daniel J.

19:25Sullivan. It's not clear that the Justice Department is going to be able to quickly determine that. In the meantime, obviously, voters and everybody will want to know what the result of this election is. Now, all of this is going to come to a head over the next couple of days. We anticipate that this judge that is hearing this case is going to rule perhaps as soon as this weekend. Again, trying to make sure that all of this is done ahead of Election Day. And, of course, looming over all of this is the separate criminal investigation, which you heard from the U.S. attorney there is now ramping up big time with subpoenas going out all over the country as they try to get to the bottom of this.

20:06Evan, thanks very much. Evan Perez back with our panel. Joining the discussion is the director of Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA, Rick Hassan. Full disclosure, Rick has filed a friend of the court brief opposing the DOJ's civil lawsuit that seeks to block certification of the results in the event that Senator Sullivan loses. Rick, let me start off with you. There are two parallel paths. the DOJ was already seeking to intervene in civil court. Now, as Evan was saying, the department is also running a criminal investigation. Does the New York Times reporting merit, in your opinion, further legal scrutiny of whatever happened in Alaska?

20:38Is this illegal? Well, first of all, on the civil suit, the DOJ, the federal government doesn't have any authority to stop certification or to demand segregation of ballots. We just had a Ninth Circuit ruling today in California that affirmed that. The federal government is just trying to work its way in here, and whatever caused Daniel J. Sullivan to get on the ballot, and whatever confusion there might be, has really nothing to do with this, you know, separate investigation. The separate, the criminal investigation is going to look into things like, did someone perjure themselves? Did they coordinate in violation of campaign finance laws?

21:15Again, those things, they'll have to be investigated, but none of them relate to the question of who the winner is. So I really think the judge is likely to toss the case entirely by Monday, the civil case. And then there's going to be the governor who said that maybe there's going to be something that happens on the state level. And ultimately, this could end up being resolved by the Senate itself, which has the ultimate authority to decide disputed elections for Senate. So just to be clear, you believe the judge will toss the request to segregate the ballots? Well, so what's pending before the judge right now is not the request to segregate the ballots that's in a motion for preliminary injunction she's got before her a motion from laska to throw the whole case out to dismiss the case and i i'd say i think this was the weakest complaint in an election case i've ever seen and i would be really surprised if the judge doesn't toss it um david how big a deal is this whole THING IN YOUR VIEW?

22:14I THINK THAT IT IS A BIG DISTRACTION AT THE END OF THE CAMPAIGN. AND, YOU KNOW, HONESTLY, I THINK THERE ARE A BUNCH OF OLD WARD COMMITTEE MEN RATTLING AROUND IN HEAVEN OR WHEREVER ELSE THEY ARE WHO ARE OUTRAGED BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THEY HAD COPYRIGHTED THIS IDEA. CHICAGO WARD COMMITTEE MEN. AND WHEN JOHN F. KENNEDY RAN FOR CONGRESS THE FIRST TIME, and his team put another guy with the same name as his opponent on the ballot. This happens often now, whether there was subterfuge and so on, I don't know. It's not helpful because this is what we're talking about now and not the issues of the campaign that she wants to talk about.

22:55But I have a feeling that a lot of this stuff will disappear as soon as this election is over. Scott, I mean, is this people upset that there's gambling in Rick's Casino? I mean, is this something that has been done before, certainly, you know, on multiple sides of political aisles? Or is this particularly egregious? I cannot believe I appear to be the only person on this panel that actually reads The New York Times. Read the story. There was clearly a conspiracy among Democratic political operatives in Alaska and maybe Washington to deprive people of the free exercise of their constitutional rights.

23:3018 U.S.C. 241. I encourage everybody to get familiar with it. That is exactly what they are looking into. at a minimum, you have a Democrat candidate here who has been running on, I'm going to unrig the system. I'm going to get rid of the rig system and make it better for you. When it appears she is right in the middle of rigging the electoral system in Alaska. This is, I mean, it's crazy. The evidence in the New York Times, it's not a Republican conspiracy theory. It's not an allegation. It's in the New York Times that they said, go out and find me everybody named Dan Sullivan that you can find.

24:01They're clearly trying to confuse the people of Alaska. At a minimum, it's despicable. And at a maximum, I think there's good reason for a criminal investigation. Ested? I do think the Times story was fairly damning. I do think that it also showed an unseemliness from the Peltola campaign that denied any connection to the sign of seeking of this candidate. And I think could have six, seven months ago say, hey, we're going to pull every lever. We might pull an old school trick because we want to win this election, that's not the route they took. So I do think that might have a political effect here.

24:34But I don't think that we should take Donald Trump's DOJ in good faith. This is one that has been weaponized throughout this administration for the purposes of kind of targeting Donald Trump's enemies. This is a president that has telegraphed his desire to challenge results throughout this midterm season. And so I do think we should see these efforts within that context. Like the legal question is one that I think is completely separate from their efforts at decertification. And so all of those things, I think, pull at different threads. But did the Peltola campaign put themselves in a difficult political position?

25:05And I think invite fair, ethical questions, particularly from their own statements. I think that time story does show that's absolutely true. Thanks, everyone. Coming up next, we're going to take you to Maine and talk to our John King with the Senate raised there, too close to call. Be right back.

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26:00When we left you last night, the questions had just begun about why the president suddenly canceled weekend appearances in Kansas and Iowa and replaced them with phone-in teller rallies. Was he tired of the road? Was he sick? Were candidates in tight races asking him to stay away? Did he just not want to do it? No one knew for sure, and he wasn't happy being asked. So, you not going to Kansas have nothing to do with you being sick of traveling? Oh, you're sick to ask that question. You are sick. Who are you with? I'm with Reuters, sir. You are a sick guy. Reuters is terrible, but... Well, we just want to make sure you're doing well.

26:33Look at this guy. He's way out of shape. He said he canceled his Kansas trip because the Republican senator, Roger Marshall, was, quote, doing well, even though new CNN polling shows him struggling. Then this afternoon, just as suddenly as they were canceled, Kansas and Iowa were back on again. I got a call from both states, Kansas and Iowa, And we have a couple of races that are very important. And they said, if you could go, it would be better than a tele-rally. And I tried to talk about that. I said, what about a tele-rally? But they asked me, so I'm going to do two on Sunday. He says he's back to going again because he was asked to come.

27:15A top Republican official, though hinted otherwise, telling CNN, quote, he hasn't moved the needle anywhere. where people familiar with the matter say that he had grown annoyed with the news coverage about his decision to cancel. He certainly seemed annoyed. Rallies or no rallies, though, Republicans got more bad news today from the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which moved a dozen House races toward Democrats. Their ratings now project that more than 218 seats will lean Democrat or better, forecasting a Democratic majority of as many as 240 seats. But, of course, it all depends on election night.

27:46Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz today said that his traditionally red state could turn blue across the board. Texas is excruciatingly close. We could lose Texas. And by the way, not just the Senate race. We could lose every single statewide race in Texas. Well, a world away in Maine, five-term Senator Susan Collins is facing a tough challenge from Democrat Troy Jackson. The latest CNN polling shows no clear leader in this race, with Collins garnering 45 % to Jackson's 49%. Joining us now from Portland, Maine, is CNN's chief national correspondent, John King. So, John, what are you hearing from voters there?

28:24Anderson, a remarkably close race to the end in a Senate race that, as you know, has had a lot of drama. I just want to show you a little bit about the state where I am. I've got the mini magic with me. It's through this circle here. About half of the population of Maine, it's only a little more than a million people here, live inside that circle. That is, we'll go back to the 2024 presidential race and show you what that's like. That's a Senate race, but give me one sec, we get here. You see all that blue there. Along the southern coast of Maine, it's heavily Democratic, heavily progressive. That is where Troy Jackson needs to run it up if he is to defeat, as you say, the veteran incumbent and the survivor, Susan Collins.

28:57She makes this race about experience. She says, maybe you didn't like my vote for Brett Kavanaugh. Maybe you think I don't break with President Trump enough, but I bring a lot of money home to Maine because of my seniority. Troy Jackson is trying to make it about change. She's also trying to make it about the president. If you drive around Maine, you see evidence of that. This is Emily Bruce Plum. She's one of our all over the map voters. She was initially somewhat skeptical of Troy Jackson, but she says he has impressed her and more. We passed a sign on the way up here. It said a vote for Collins is a vote for Trump.

29:29Are people voting Troy Jackson, Susan Collins? Or are they voting, should we stop Trump? I think a lot of people view it that way, and I personally think that's true. I think some people think the division is actually vote in the interest of the nation or vote in the interest of Maine. And I think that Troy's campaign has done a good job breaking that down, that what she stands for hurts Maine in a bigger way than anything she brings home.

29:58At the very end, we're in the final days now, Anderson. Democrats here say they are modestly confident, but they acknowledge it's incredibly close. And they acknowledge at the beginning of the cycle they thought this would be an easier seat to win. They say the drama here is one factor. And they also say, again, Susan Collins runs tough campaigns and she knows how to survive. John, stay with us. I want to bring in Alex Seitzwald. He's the deputy editor at the Midcoast Villager in Maine. Alex, thanks for being with us. Hard to overstate how interesting this race is. I mean, there was the Graham Plattner scandal.

30:28Obviously, Troy Jackson got a late start, has a nontraditional background for a candidate. Susan Collins, crucial to President Trump's efforts to keep his allies in control of the Senate. voted to convict him at his second impeachment trial. It's a lot. Where do you see it going right now? Yeah, Anderson, and despite all of that very real high-level drama, on the ground, Susan Collins is running a very old-school, all politics is local campaign. I've been following her on the campaign trial this week and was struck by how relentlessly she's focused on what John was talking about, bringing money home back to Maine.

31:02At the beginning of the week, she was in Camden, where my newspaper, The Midcoast Villager, is based touring a mobile home park where she helped, you know, upgrade their sewer system. Then I was with her at Bath Ironworks where she was touting a new destroyer that she helped bring. Then she was at a police station where she brought money. And this is not an accident. This is what her entire campaign is about. And it's how she's been able to escape association with the National Party with Donald Trump. But then I talked to Troy Jackson yesterday and he says, look, I'm not going to dismiss the money that she brings to the state, but she's cost Maine so much more.

31:36And what he argues is by enabling Donald Trump with the Iran war and heating oil prices up 83 % over last year, tariffs on Canadian goods right on our neighbor to the north that raises the price of a lot of things. So one thing that I'm watching is late breaking voters. In 2020, every single poll had Susan Collins losing and she won. That could have have been polling, but I think it also was late deciders because with Susan Collins, talking about cross pressured voters. These are not people who are just voting straight party line. They're conflicted, which means that they're going to put off their decision until the very end.

32:13And so I think these last few days could matter for some people in a very tight race. John, what do you think about that cross pressure voters? I think what Alex just said is very instructive because of a Susan Collins. He's dead right as a survivor. B. This is a classic old school campaign in environment where we know people across the country are looking for new and different. And we were out with some Democratic canvassers today who were saying, there's some voters who voted for Collins in the past are ready for change. Essentially, thank you for your service. Not even a negative vote against her, just it's time to move on.

32:42But it's just a fascinating dynamic. Alex mentioned, I'm going to show you gas prices here. This is not home heating oil, but I just want to show you gas prices in Maine. This is since the start of the Iran war. Gas is already up here, right? It was a beautiful day today. It was mid-60s during the day. It's getting chilly now. Over the weekend, it'll hit freezing. The point about home heating oil is instructive. If voters are making a last second decision, is it about, okay, I disagree with her some, I wish she would break with Trump more, but she does bring a lot of bacon home to Maine. That's a traditional campaign.

33:09Or is it a national decision? We have to join a movement to flip the Senate to stop Trump. I think keep what we got. This is a classic stay the course or change campaign. And in a wave election, if this is to be a blue wave election, it's a wave. It comes up and then it breaks. And when it breaks, it comes to shore. And in a wave election, the close races, most of them break in one direction. That's what the Democrats are counting on. Wow, fascinating. John King, Alex Seitzwald, great to have you on. Thank you so much, Alex, and thanks, John. New report from The New York Times claims the president erupted after learning his former personal attorney, that woman, Alina Haba, secured a$50 million contract to work for the family of a wealthy pardon seeker.

33:49The Times says the president is seeking some of that money for his presidential library. He got mad, according to The Times, and he wants a cut for his library. The reporter who broke the story joins us. Also, Donio Sullivan checks in with a ride-or-die Trump supporter who vehemently backed the president in the past. How does he think the second term is going so far? Stay tuned.

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35:19The New York Times is now reporting President Trump erupted after learning his former lawyer, Alina Habba, got a$50 million deal with the family of Julio Herrera Valentini, a Venezuelan billionaire who sought a pardon from President Trump. That's according to multiple unnamed people briefed on the conversations, according to the Times. Last week, the New York Times reported that Habba finalized the contract to work as a general counsel for a new company established by Herrera's daughter last fall while serving as New Jersey's acting U.S. attorney. According to the Times, Habba then began formally working with the company at the start of this year while serving as a senior advisor to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi.

35:58And just weeks later, Herrera was pardoned by the president. Both Habba and the White House denied that she had anything to do with the pardon. According to this new report from the Times, with the president angered over the deal, he has told his aides and allies that Hoppe should donate a portion of the money that she made to his former future presidential library or another Trump-related entity. Earlier, I spoke with The New York Times White House correspondent Tyler Pager, who broke the story. Tyler, what more can you tell us about the president's reaction to Hoppe's deal? Yeah, so when the president learned about the details of the deal that we first reported, he was outraged.

36:39He vented to aides and allies and he started making calls. He called Alina Haba. He called Chris Keis, one of his former personal attorneys who represented the man who was seeking a pardon. And he said to aides and allies that Haba should donate some of the money that she earned from this contract to his library that he's fundraising for or another Trump-related entity. I mean, we've often heard that he gets upset if others around him make money essentially off of their closeness to him. I assume other than his family members. Just to be clear, do you know what specifically he was most upset about?

37:24Was it the size of her deal? The idea that she might have had something or, you know, whether if she had something to do with a pardon or just that he wasn't getting a cut of it? Based on my conversations with people that were briefed on these calls, he was sort of shocked by the size of the deal. People close to the president say he understands that people are going to make money in the private sector. But he was really surprised just at how much money she was making for this one family. I mean, it's remarkable to look at it through that lens, which is he's just shocked by the amount of money she was able to generate.

38:09And he wants a cut of it. Is the presidential library actually going to get a cut of Habba's contract? I mean, that is a good question. There's a precedent for this, Anderson. We saw that James Blair and Chris Lasavita, two of the president's top outside political advisers, caught themselves in hot water over their work overseas. The president criticized them on social media. And then what do you know, a few days later, they announced that they're donating those consulting fees to the president's library. I reached out to Alina Habamildoon. She just got married and changed her name. She did not respond to my request about, are you going to donate the money that the president wants you to?

38:55But we do know the president is eager to raise a lot of money for this presidential library. And we've seen some of his aides already take steps to do that when they catch themselves in some hot water. I mean, again, it would be one thing if he said this is outrageous that she made this amount of money. She should give it all back or donate it, you know, to to a charitable organization. he's saying I want a cut of it for my library is fascinating to me. Since we last spoke, have you learned anything more about what exactly she is supposed to be doing for this company in exchange for$50 million over four years?

39:32Because she said she had nothing to do with the getting the part in. No, I've continued to try to report on this company, Concord Partners, which was set up just before she finalized her deal to be the general counsel. People as I reported earlier, people inside this Herrera family business empire didn't even know this company existed. After the story ran, I followed up with these people. Some of them had their own questions. They didn't seem to be able to get answers. So it is very unclear what this company is doing, what she is doing on their behalf. And one of the other things the president said to people as he was making calls in the aftermath of that initial story is that the family shouldn't pay her out the rest of her contract.

40:16Now, she signed a contract. It's unclear that that's even something they are able to do. But it just sort of shows you how frustrated the president was about a contract that he thought was astronomical and was surprised at the scale of it. And have you had any reaction from the White House or Alina Haba to your reporting, to your new reporting? I have not. The, you know, So the president made a bunch of calls after this story. And I reached out to the White House, laid out the reporting, and they just didn't respond. Tyler Pager, thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Well, coming up, Donio Sullivan checks in with those who vehemently supported President Trump in the past to see how they think his second term is going so far.

41:01I'll be right back.

41:10Welcome back. The president is at a rally in Daytona Beach, Florida. Tonight he's been mostly in red states with low approval numbers. The war in Iran, high gas prices, inflation, all testing, obviously, the loyalty of the base. Some MAGA supporters have become disillusioned. One superfan in Colorado is not budging. Donio Sullivan catches up with him to find out why he is standing by the president.

41:36Joe! Mr. Black! Oh, my God! What's up man? Long time no see. This is Joe Black. Good to see you here. Good to see you. What's up? Wasn't this covered in Trump stuff before? Yeah, I told you I went incognito. So what, you're ashamed of him? No, I'm not ashamed of him. Trump 2024, let's do it! I first met Joe nearly three years ago outside a Trump rally in Las Vegas. Are you guys going to cover it like accurately? You don't think it's accurate? Not really, I think you guys do sound bites. Welcome back ABC News live election night headquarters here. He and I stayed in touch throughout 2024. There he is, there's Dhoni.

42:19And we chatted by phone on election night where he watched the results come in at his neighbor Bob's garage. How are you feeling? I will never forget 2020. Where they drink beer and argue politics. I just wish I could show you Trump the way I see him because you don't see him that way. You see him the way that ABC, NBC, CNN and everybody else spells it out. He's a Nazi. He's a rapist. He did this. He did that. It's since then repeatedly has gone on about wanting to do these things that dictators do. How long was Trump on the truck? About two years. With the midterm elections looming, I came back to visit Joe to see if he was also starting to question his support for the president.

43:08Joe is taking me to his neighbor Bob's garage. So what is the price of gas right now? Here I think it's 618. I'm diesel. Everybody's filling the gas prices. But, like I told you, it's not all Trump's fault. I do believe it has a lot to do with the war. and nobody likes war, but anybody who knows this Iranian regime, like, for the last 47 years, they've just been bad guys going around bullying, blowing people up. But there's always been bad guys. He said no more wars. But these guys seem to think they can shut down the Harmu Jastri, do whatever they want to do whenever they can't get their way.

43:48They only shut it down after he bombed them. You know, it's a complicated thing that's been going on for a long time.

43:59To Bob, thanks for letting CNN back in your house. It's temporary though. So Bob, how do you think Trump's doing? Well, it's better than what we had. Hell of a lot better than what we had. Everybody's bitching about the price of gas. What do you think they did to it? You think that it was the right call with Iran to go into Iran? Yes, I do. Damn right. Beyond the shadow of a doubt. On election night, you guys had a... who was here that was a... Shane. Shane. Yeah. He wasn't a Trump fan, right? No. They've been asked to not come around. Well, ever since 2024, I don't know, something changed. While so many were growing more critical of Trump, Joe seemed to have doubled down.

44:45I've been traveling the country these past few months, talking to a lot of MAGA. A lot of them are not happy. That's because they're not the real MAGA. No, some of these guys really are the real MAGA. So what are they not happy about? They're not happy about a ward around. They're not happy about the Epstein files. And they're not happy about AI data centers. Yeah, there's that. It feels like MAGA is fracturing right now. I'm sure you would love to spread that story, but I don't think so. Is there anything Trump could do? Of course there's something Trump could do.

45:25But he hasn't done it.

45:32He's no matter, no, he's Trump, ride or die. Trump, ride or die, no matter what. You've also spoken to a lot of folks who you follow who have kind of started to walk away a little bit. Yeah, that's been what's been most notable in this second Trump presidency, and particularly this year. I mean, the Iran war was really the straw that finally broke the camel's back for many people. The idea of a forever war. Exactly. And also, you know, he said no more wars. And so much of the focus was on gas prices. But you hear there from Joe Black and his neighbor, Bob, who so kindly let us back into his garage.

46:02Not permanently. Not permanently. I love his garage. Yeah, well, I brought some Irish whiskey to help. So come there and give. but they are convinced one, that this war was necessary that there was an imminent threat from Iran and two, they just really believe that no matter what happens under Trump it would be better than what would have happened under Biden or Harris. It's great to check in with folks you do stuff on Donato Sullivan thanks so much and a reminder we have special programming on Sunday midterms 2026 countdown to election night that begins at 6pm Eastern streaming live with an all access subscription that's it for us, the news continues I hope you have a great weekend.

46:41I'll see you Sunday night and all week for election coverage. A big week. Get your rest. The news continues. The source starts now.

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