Trump Tells Ramaswamy Not to Take Down Controversial Ad in Ohio Gov. Race

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0:54For a limited time, go to stamps.com and use code podcast for a free welcome gift. Taxes and fees apply. Good evening. Just 12 days to go until the midterms. The president about to take the stage in Iowa tonight, a deep red state that he won by 13 points two years ago. He's there to try to boost turnout for the Republican Senate candidate, Congresswoman Ashley Hinson. She's currently neck and neck with her Democratic opponent, State Representative Josh Turek. But we begin tonight's election coverage with Ohio and the continuing fallout from the ad Republican Viveka Ramaswamy's campaign made using the estranged mother of his opponent, Democrat Dr.

1:31Amy Acton. President Trump went all in on it today. First, the ad, this is it, it features Acton's estranged mother calling her daughter a liar. Acton has not spoken to her mother since 1978. She was 12 and testified against her mother's husband, her stepfather, saying he sexually abused her. Her mother sided with the husband, who was indicted for a sexually abusing act, and he fled the state, later died. President Trump, who has repeatedly said he knows nothing about any abuse or what the stepfather was accused of, is nevertheless weighing in repeatedly and verbosely. This afternoon, he posted more than 400 words of support for Ramaswamy's ad, saying, quote, I only wish the mothers of my opponents would be so brave as to come forward and explain that their son or daughter is a liar and much worse.

2:18Less than two hours after that post, when departing for Iowa, he walked up to reporters and repeatedly quoted from the ad, while again claiming to know nothing about the actual allegations against Acton's stepfather. CNN's Caitlin Collins pressed him on that point. Mr. President, why did you make no mention of the sexual abuse allegations that Amy Acton made against her stepfather, who stayed married to her mother? Well, I have no idea. I don't know the mother. I don't know her. I never heard of her until just recently. as somebody running for governor of Ohio. I can tell you this, if my mother ever made those statements, I have a mother, I had a mother who's up there right now looking down, Mary McLeod Trump, if she ever made statements like that about me, you and your fake station would have it front row center.

3:05You'd love it. She accused her stepfather of child rape, Mr. President. A horrible statement about the daughter. Said she was a dirty liar. She said she was a lot of different things. And I don't know why you're not allowed to say that the child rape allegation is different Be the first one to be broadcasting and you would have found nothing wrong with them Amy Acton's mother said horrible things about Amy Acton and I don't know why you're not allowed to do that You're not allowed to broadcast it now. I'll say this the press is ganged up Because you hate it because that one ad should really win look If what the mother said about the daughter is half right, she has no right even running for the governor of Ohio.

3:48What about what the daughter said about her mother? What about what the daughter said? She said her stepfather, her mother remained married to her stepfather who sexually abused her when she was 12 years old. When did she make that statement? Years ago. In the 1970s. Years ago. He was charged, Mr. President. I have no idea. All I know is Amy Acton's mother said horrible things about Amy Acton, calling her a liar and other things, and unreliable. A lot of very bad things. And I say that she's fair game. So, just to be clear, he says he does not know anything about Dr. Acton, never heard of her until now, doesn't know anything about the charges against the stepfather, all of which are pretty important elements in this Sikh saga.

4:30But despite not knowing any fact, the president has no problem opining. And his repeated refrain is he doesn't understand why you aren't allowed to have a mother saying horrible things about her daughter. He said, I don't know why you're not allowed to do that. You're not allowed to broadcast it. Mr. President, you are allowed to do what Ramaswamy did. You're allowed to. It is just really sleazy. It's deeply, deeply sleazy. The current Republican governor of Ohio, who is term limited and who is Vivek Ramaswamy, is running to replace weighed in today as well. I would just urge the Ramaswamy campaign to take this down.

5:08It's just wrong. And the Republican candidate that President Trump is actually campaigning for in Sioux City tonight is also not a fan of this ad. ABC's Jonathan Karl asked her about it. It's terrible. I think about it as a mom, and you think about your kids surviving childhood sexual abuse and having to relive that trauma on TV again. I think it's absolutely terrible, and I think they should take the ad down. We begin tonight with Caitlin Collins from Washington. So, Caitlin, what's the backstory here? Why do you think the president is going to the mat for this ad with less than two weeks until Election Day?

5:44I think there's a few different factors at play. I think, one, he is trying to get every Republican he can elected 12 days from tonight, Anderson, and wants to do as much as he can, and he's not going to criticize them in the final days of the campaign no matter what. really is at stake here or what is included in the content of that ad. The president said he spoke to Vivek Ramaswamy about this. So there was a conversation between the two of them where he defended the ad and essentially kept today referencing his own mother and kept putting this in the lens through himself and saying, if this is my mother making these comments about me, no one would hesitate to cover them.

6:24And as I tried to point out to the president during our exchange where he was simultaneously denying knowing anything about these allegations that Amy Acton has made about her stepfather and also commenting on them and dismissing them outright as we were asked about asking about them was the allegation is what makes this difference. Yes, of course, politicians have had family members come out and criticize them before or say that they don't believe that they should be holding elected office. But the difference here is what's at the heart of this, which is that Amy Acton says it was her stepfather who not only sexually abused her, but that her mom remained with him for the rest of his life and that they have not spoken in decades.

7:02And so the president kept giving credence to her mother's arguments that Amy Acton is a liar and kept giving those credibility. And so I think it's not only that, that he's viewing it through the lens of wanting Republicans to win, believing that if similar allegations were made about him in terms of a candidate's mother talking about him, that it would be used in the press. But also, Anderson, when it comes to sexual abuse allegations and sexual assault allegations, we know how the president has responded to those when sexual assault allegations have been made about him. And so he has denied them, pushed back on them.

7:35And he clearly is telegraphing and very outright saying that that is the strategy he believes Vivek Ramaswamy should follow here when it comes to the criticism over using her mother in this ad. He was saying he doesn't understand why anyone would criticize that ad and making the argument if it was Democrats, that it wouldn't be criticized, which of course is not true. Kayla Collins, appreciate it. We'll see you at the top of the hour for The Source. Joining me now is former Deputy Assistant to President Biden, Jamal Simmons, Political Scientist at Princeton University, Lauren Wright, CNN Chief Political Correspondent and Anchor of Inside Politics, Dana Bash, and former White House spokesman for the George W.

8:09Bush administration, Pete Seat. Dana, what do you make of Caitlin's assessment of the president's kind of strategy on this? Yeah, I mean, it's his strategy. It is his go-to. all of the layers that she just described, but I'll add one other. It's the you never, ever, ever give in. If you start to put your foot on the gas, you got to floor it. And especially when it comes to something that's negative and something that is bad. I mean, it's the Roy Cohn playbook that he learned so many years ago. The problem is, and we've seen this in politics during the Trump era that sometimes, most of the time, it works for him.

8:51It almost never works for other candidates. It's just he's one of one on those kinds of scandals and trying to weather the storm. I've spoken to sources in Ohio today who say that this is rippling through the whole state, but especially the suburbs and women in the suburbs who are trying to were trying to figure out kind of where to go. Maybe even those who are traditionally Republican voters or leaning voters. And they're outraged by this. What the Ramaswamy campaign is banking on is that low information voters, those who are traditionally Republican voters, but might not be inclined to go out and vote this year because they're so mad at the president, might hear the president, watch this ad, don't know about the context about the mother, and say, okay, maybe I'll go vote.

9:46Jamal, if you were working for the acting campaign, would you advise them to, you know, have her out talking about it? I mean, she did an event that was kind of a listening session, I think it was yesterday or two days ago. It was kind of halfway through. She talked about it. She did. There was a woman who came up and hugged her because she felt badly. I think it's time for her. I mean, she will talk about it. She should talk about it. I think the grenade that has been exploded by Vivek Ramaswamy in this is really right now all over his face. It's right in front of him. And it says to me they must have polling numbers where they knew he was losing.

10:22And the only option they had left was to do something that was really extreme and just hope that the damage to her would be worse than the damage to him. That's the kind of choice you make. But when you make that choice, it says something not just about what's happening with Amy Acton, because she's going to be fine in this when this is over. It says a lot about Vivek Ramaswamy and whether or not people really want this guy to be the governor of their state. And now it's saying something about the president and J.D. Vance because they're joining in in the meanness. And it's the meanness that you're hearing about, I think, from voters all over the place, that maybe this era has just gotten to be too coarse, too mean.

10:57We're attacking each other too much. And we need to all sort of pull back a little bit. And if you can't defend somebody in a child rape allegation, I just don't know what else you can do. Lauren, how do you see it? I happen to completely agree with this. You know, I think one of the parts of the story that's so important is Amy Acton is an extremely strong candidate. She is not a nut nut DSA member. She is not anti-ICE or anti-police. She's for Medicaid work requirements and voter ID, for gosh sakes. And she's against transgender surgeries for kids. And she's against transgender women and women's sports.

11:30She is winning this race. And so the way I see it is it was just a desperate, futile attempt by Ramaswamy to mix it up, big Hail Mary, totally blowing up in his face. And I'll also just add to Dana's point very quickly. Trump has been losing a lot lately on Katie as press secretary, on the live stream executions. And so there might be something where he's saying, I can't give in on this other thing, too, even though it's plainly horrible. Pete, I mean, do you think the president is helping Ramaswamy at all? by elevating this and continuing to talk about this? I mean, he went all in on this today.

12:09Well, I think there are two plausible scenarios in my mind. One, in that phone call, that conversation that the president had with Vivek Ramaswamy, Ramaswamy or the campaign could have asked the president to weigh in because they're tired of the dissent that they're hearing from Republicans, both inside and outside of Ohio. They clearly made a calculated political move here And they thought that the reward would be greater than the risk. And it's turned out to be the opposite based on the coverage, based on the fact that we continue to talk about this. So it's one thing to criticize Ramaswamy.

12:45It's another thing to disagree with Vice President Vance. It's a whole different ballgame when President Donald Trump tells every Republican complaining to effectively zip it. The other plausible scenario, let's just be honest, Donald Trump wants to be the center of attention. And for three days, he has not been the center of attention. So here's a way that he can insert himself into the news cycle. A lot like influencers ride the wave of whatever is trending on social media. He got himself into the story. Which is so accurate and so true and so terrifying that the president of the United States acts at times like an influencer.

13:24I mean, literally saying, I don't know any of the facts of this, but let me weigh in on it. Well, it's like when he was just sitting in Trump Tower before he went into politics. I mean, he used to do that all the time on Twitter. It's one of the many ways that he became known. One thing that I will say is that I don't want to lose sight of the fact that Mike DeWine, the sitting Republican senator, excuse me, governor, came out and made a point to go to cameras at the state house and say how horrible this ad was and that he needs to take it down. He's a normie, you know, maybe an old school dying breed of Republicans, but he was trying to give voice to others, including those who are on the campaign trail, like you played Ashley Hinson.

14:08I mean, the president is going to go campaign with her now. And other Republicans who have not been in the words of jd vance and donald trump um complaining and whining they've been trying to save their party from themselves and that was the response that if you're ramaswamy do you think you try to continue pushing this or do you try to you know how are you get whatever spotlight you have you try to use it for something else i don't know how you can go back on it now what do you think yesterday was the day that he should have gone back yes it would have been instant yeah now he's in this. That was a mistake.

14:41They decided to put money behind this, not just walk away. And I think that's important. They this was a video that was out there in the ether that they were kind of testing and they could have just taken it down. But whatever they saw made them think that the deficit that he's at and the polls clearly internally, it was worth the risk to put four million dollars behind it. So they knew the blast radius would be very big. I mean, look, 20-something years ago, when Max Cleland was running for Senate in Georgia, I was his communications director, and the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee put the first ad using Osama bin Laden against Max Cleland, who was a war hero, lost three limbs in the Vietnam War.

15:22People exploded about it. It was a very big deal in Washington. We had Republican senators who were threatening to do exactly what Republicans are doing right now. Chuck Hagel was going to do an ad for Max Cleland. I helped write it. What happened was they went to Bill Frist and the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, and they said, take it off. And what they did was they took out the offending parts, and then they kept in the parts that were going to work. And Saxby Chambles ended up winning that race. So there's a way to do this if you think something's extreme and it's gone too far. But we're very far from those days when people had any sense of what was appropriate.

15:56Yeah, we sure are. Everyone stick around. We're going to have more ahead on the Ramaswamy ad controversy, including reaction from Republican Senator Tom Tillis. who's not shied away from the criticism of President Trump and later new reporting from the Wall Street Journal that the president called Elon Musk to get him to restore the military-grade Starlink service in Ukraine. More on that ahead.

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17:12Shop Wayfair.com today to make holiday magic at home. Wayfair, every style, every home. Back now with our breaking news, President Trump doubling down in the face of bipartisan criticism of Vivek Ramaswamy's new campaign ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent calling her a liar. Amy Acton has said repeatedly she has been estranged from her mom since the late 1970s when she accused her mother's husband of raping her, for which he was indicted. He later fled the state and died. Amy Acton was just 12 years old at the time. The president calls using Acton's mother in the ad fair game.

17:47Joining us now is Republican Senator Tom Tillis of North Carolina, who made the decision in 2025 not to run for re-election this year. He's also the author of her new book, How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents, which he has done, which is on bookshelves now. Senator, thanks so much for being here. I do want to just start asking about the Ramaswamy ad in Ohio. President Trump is supporting it, urging Ramaswamy to double down. Do you think it is, as he says, fair game? I think it's a bad idea. I mean, if you look at the whole premise of the ad, it looks like it's a very sad story to be told about this family.

18:21And quite honestly, I've ran a number of campaigns, including the effort for us to win a majority here in the State House back in 2010. I would have never allowed an ad like this to go on. In fact, you view this ad as maybe a calculation that even the backlash that would come from it may be necessary. It feels like to me Ramaswamy may be in trouble. In the book, How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents, you call voting to confirm Pete Hegsteth the biggest regret of my career. Is he the worst Secretary of Defense you have seen? And if so, why? I think, yeah, I think Pete's problem, and again, there's nothing personal with any of these people, but Pete's problem is he's not engaging Congress.

19:04He's not engaging the Senate. He's asking for appropriations requests, and he hasn't even built meaningful relationships with chairman of the committees of jurisdiction, let alone rank and file members like me that they need to get the funding bill passed. So I just think he has all the hallmarks of somebody that's weighted out of his depth. He doesn't know how to leverage the expertise of the Pentagon. I think he's trying to micromanage. He doesn't even understand the basics of the tooth-to-tell ratios. He wants everybody to look like they're ready to go to the front line when he should well know that three-fourths of the people in an area of responsibility or forward deployments are supporting the warfighter.

19:42You've got to have a lot of diversity, a lot of capabilities to make a war effort work and make it successful. And doesn't seem like Pete remembers his training very well. There's been criticism of what there may be bloat in some of the upper echelons of leadership of some of his firings of some very experienced, you know, very combat. You know, people perform remarkably in combat, some generals. Do you worry about the depletion of some of the generals who have left? I do, Anderson. I tell you, I was either the chair or the ranking member of the personnel subcommittee for the eight years that I was on Senate Armed Services.

20:24And I think arguably that committee is closer to the personnel of the DOD than anybody. The way that Hegseth has just reached down after extensive board reviews to put forth promotions and to pull people out of promotions, it really discredits the whole process that people, men and women in uniform, go through to get to that point. That's one example. I also think that Pete apparently feels uncomfortable with people smarter than him. I like surrounding myself with people smarter than me. That makes me better. And it looks like he's forcing out some of the best people. And quite honestly, I think it was a disagreement with Dan Driscoll that probably resulted in that resignation.

21:06Dan Driscoll is a quality guy. We need more of him, not fewer of him, just like we need many of the generals that have been pushed out in service. And it sends a horrible message to the next generation of generals like that. Is it really? Is the DOD becoming that politicized where I may invest another 10 years and have this sort of treatment by future secretary of defense? It's not good personnel and HR leadership. Does the president, in your view, deserve to have a Republican-controlled Senate? I mean, he ran point on defeating John Cornyn. He was prepared to support the primary challenge to you if you'd run for reelection.

21:40His policy is a behavior. They put other Republican seats in jeopardy. Now a Democrat is poised to win your seat. By the way, are you voting for Michael Watley, the Trump ally nominated by the Republican? Let's go back to what the American people deserve. The American people, I believe, will be best suited by having a Republican majority in the Senate. And that's why I hope that Ramaswamy's ad will not affect negatively John Husted, who is a quality Senate member in Ohio, and he deserves to get elected. So I think that what we need now is some checks and balances. It looks like to me that that's what's driving some of the vote.

22:21And to the extent that we have to deal with the Democrat majority in the House, I can accept that. But I don't want the Democrats to take control of a chamber that just a couple of years ago they voted to nuke the filibuster. Fortunately, we had a few that respected the chamber enough not to do that. But what I do know is that this Republican majority has resistant President Trump's continuous pressure to nuke the filibuster. So I believe that we're showing respect for this institution and we can weather Dylan on a bipartisan basis with a Democrat led house if we need to. Senator Tom Tillis, I appreciate it.

22:56The book is How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents. Up next, we'll be joined by CNN's chief data analyst, Harry Enten, to dive into some of the Senate's most vulnerable races for the GOP, and later new reporting from The Wall Street Journal on President Trump's phone call with Elon Musk over his Starlink service in Ukraine and trying to get it up running in full speed. We'll be right back.

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23:57More than 19 million people have cast their votes so far, nearly 8 million of those in person, another 11 million by mail. The president is in the midst of what was a seven-day, seven-state tour, but is now up that to 10 states in 10 days, all of them states he won in 2024, which speaks to the concerns the GOP has in some areas usually considered deep red territory. CNN's Harry Enten joins us now at the Magic Wall with a closer look at some of the most vulnerable Senate races. Harry? Yeah, you know, Anderson, when we started off this year, I don't think that most people thought that the Senate was really going to be in play.

24:28But where we are right now, the Senate is very much in play. I mean, just take a look here. Take a look at the right now. Essentially, if you have the toss-up states, at least 47 seats are leaning to the Democrats. You got 46 seats leaning to the Republicans. And, of course, Democrats need 51. Republicans need 50, of course, because Vice President Pence would break the tie. But at this point, what are we seeing in the polling? Well, to me, what is so interesting is if we see the polling averages, look how tight these races are. I mean, my goodness gracious, you really can't get tighter than this.

25:00I mean, Kansas, which, of course, no Democrat has won since 32, that's a tie. Iowa, which Trump won by double digits, Democrats by one. Maine, Democrats by two, again, well within the margin of error. Texas, which of course hasn't elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988, plus three for the Dems. Michigan, very tight, three. And Ohio, plus four with Sheriff Brown's trying to reclaim his seat. But I think the thing to take away from this is that the Democrats do in fact hold even a nominal advantage in these states. And what happens if all of these polls are right? Well, I'll tell you this much.

25:30We can take Maine. We can turn it blue. We can turn Ohio blue. We can turn Michigan blue. We we can turn Texas blue and there's also Alaska polling turning blue. So if the polling is exactly right, Anderson, the Democrats will be on their way to a majority. The question is, will the polling be exactly right? Yeah, well, I mean, we've all seen this story before. What does history say about the accuracy of polling, particularly when it comes to how Republicans vote in Senate races? Yeah, sometimes it feels like deja vu all over again, Anderson, right? It feels like I'm Yogi Barron. We've seen this story before.

26:06And indeed, we have seen this story before because take a look at this. Okay. How about the GOP in the Trump era? GOP outperformed their final Senate poll averages in the states that Trump has won. Look at this. They've outperformed on average by 4.1 points. And of course, Democrats need to win a slew of states that Donald Trump not just won in 2024, but one by double digits. Of course, we're talking about states like Texas, states like Alaska, states like Iowa, states like Ohio. So what happens if we get the exact same polling error this time around? Well, what happens? Hello, this is what happens.

26:45We get Republicans actually holding on. So the question ultimately is, is the polling going to be right this time around, or Republicans going to outperform like they have in the past? If they have, Republicans hold on. If the polling is right on, the Democrats head to a majority. Anderson, I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know. That's why we've got to watch. Harry Anton, thanks very much. And participate back now with the panel. Thanks so much. What do you think is going to happen? I don't know. Do you believe? I mean, I just feel so skeptical of all this. The way that I answer that is to believe the way Republicans are behaving.

27:20And when we see the president, never mind going to Iowa, which he has crushed in the last decade, never mind going to Kansas, which was like has not been on the Senate map for almost a century. He's going to Mississippi. You know what that means. Mississippi. So regardless of what the polls show or don't show, the Republicans are nervous enough to send the president of the United States to one of the reddest states. Oh, and by the way, I'm forgetting Alaska. Red Estates a week and a half before the election. So I think that's the best way to answer. Lauren? You said skeptical. I'm cynical about polls.

27:59Some of them recently are outright fake, as we saw with Wedgwood. Then we have the issue that actually most polling firms can't tell the difference between AI bots taking an online survey and humans. That's another can of worms. And all of those weaknesses that Harry very aptly pointed out are in favor of Democrats. Republicans are not participating in polls. But they also might not participate in the election. Yeah, they don't have an idea of what a likely voter looks like right now in Michigan or in Maine or Alaska. So I think when there is uncertainty this time around, it's in the favor of Republicans.

28:33But, of course, structural advantages for Democrats across the board. I just don't know if they're going to get there in the Senate. What makes me nervous is that the Republicans are really good at data targeting. They know how to find voters. They know what to say to those voters to get them to move. They don't do it necessarily by demographics. They really look at what's motivating people based on their behavior, and they go out and turn them around. And if the president has figured out that there are some voters in these states that they just need to get motivated, and he can go there and get them excited and say things that will make them move, then you could see Republicans closing this gap and Democrats might not have as good a night as they want.

29:10But, man, they are really up against a wave, against a big wave of sentiment where the president's unpopular with general election voters and Republicans are unpopular, too. Pete, I mean, do you think just from a political strategy perspective, should the president stop saying at all these rallies that America is in a golden age and the prices are down when they're not? Yeah, he needs to start being realistic about his message, but he's playing to the crowd. He's playing to his strengths. He loves to amp people up. And part of it is turnout. They enjoy seeing him. They enjoy being part of the spectacle.

29:49And I want President Trump to go to the places where he's going to make a positive impact. And I want him to stay far, far away from the places where he's going to be a drag on Republican candidates. I trust his political team is not just throwing darts at a map and shipping him off to places wherever those darts land. They know where he can make a difference. And in some of these races where Republicans are in competitive, tight races, and they win by 1%, 2%, 3%, and he showed up, that margin of victory will probably be as a result of Donald Trump campaigning there. Mm hmm. Dan, I mean, you've covered a lot of midterm.

30:29Does it feel different in some ways or? It does in that the pendulum is swinging so much faster these days in that the people's patience is worse than very easily. It was only two years ago that this very sort of accountability, excuse me, affordability message and people's economic angst propelled Donald Trump into the White House. And now two years later, they're like, OK, not only what has happened, not much, but they look at his main policies, tariffs, and also the ramifications of the Iran war on the economy. And they say, no, this is not what we expected. It's not just here. I mean, we're seeing elections globally and the anti-incumbent fervor is so, so strong and it continues to sort of overturn government after government after government.

31:24This is a global anxiety post-COVID and we haven't really gotten out of it. To me to see how corruption has risen in something that voters are really thinking about. I think it was number two in a poll we had just yesterday. That's a drastic change. I noticed the same thing because really for the last 10 years, it hasn't been anywhere on voters radar. And, you know, I actually said the same thing during the Hunter Biden stuff. Republicans were saying, of course, people care about corruption. I mean, look at this. And it was never, ever even top of the list, not near economics, not near abortion.

32:00But now that is changing. I do think, though, that it is a bipartisan issue. I think Republicans and see Democrats as corrupt and vice versa. So we have to be careful about that. Except the billions of dollars the president is making are really conspicuous. I think people are paying attention to it, and they're connecting the friends and family benefits that are happening in this administration to their own particular economic pain. Jamal Simmons, Lauren Wright, thanks so much, and Abash as well. Thank you, Pete Seed. Great to have you. Up next, a new report from The Wall Street Journal that President Trump called Elon Musk to get him to lift the restrictions on the military-grade Starlink service in Ukraine.

32:33One of the reporters who broke that story joins me. Plus, we'll hear what the president is saying about it now. And later, we're learning when construction could start on the giant, gorgeous, controversial sniper position, sniper ammunition storage triumphal arch, and whether it will still be home to drones and a sniper's nest. Stay with us.

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33:30She found more decor and added to cart. Merry Christmas to all. Get your Wayfair head start. For holiday decor you can count on, Wayfair delivers. Tonight, the Wall Street Journal has new reporting involving the president, Elon Musk, and the steps taken to restore military-grade Starlink satellite technology that Ukraine had been relying on to help defend itself. The headline, quote, Trump called Musk and asked him to lift Ukraine's Starlink restrictions. The president was asked about this new report late this afternoon. Here's what he said. You know, whether I called or whether somebody else called doesn't make any difference.

34:06I guess the bottom line, he put it back. Put it back, he said. Now, tonight, a CNN source says that some Ukraine military units are reporting higher speeds using Starlink, but it's not fully restored everywhere. Joining us now is Lara Seligman, one of the Wall Street Journal reporters who broke the story. Lara, thanks for being with us. I spoke with your colleague Alex Ward on Tuesday about the article about Elon Musk's role in the Starling Slowdown. According to your new reporting, what happened in the White House after that story was published? Well, thanks, Anderson, for having me. This has really baffled Washington for more than a week now.

34:44So in between Tuesday and Thursday, what changed, obviously, is that The Wall Street Journal, we reported that it was Elon Musk that made the decision to slow down this military-grade version of Starlink that Ukrainian forces use to defend themselves on the front lines from Russian attacks. Since then, Trump has been telling allies and advisors that he wanted Musk to reverse the slowdown. And then there was this call in the last few days that we reported today between Trump and Musk, where Trump said he was frustrated that the system's speed limits remained capped and asked him to lift those limits.

35:18Today, US and Ukrainian officials told us that they were beginning to see the return to normal speeds. Now it's not fully restored yet, as you said, and tonight's attacks, Russian attacks, will probably be the true test of whether it's been fully restored. But at least in some tests they're doing, the system is back to normal. Of course, there's still one big unanswered question, which is, did someone in the White House, whether it was Trump or someone else, tell Elon Musk to impose the restrictions in the first place? And that we still don't know. And I mean, that is a great question because obviously the president has been pressuring Zelensky and publicly commenting, indicating he wants there to be a deal and thinks Zelensky has not been willing to do that.

36:01Obviously, Zelensky, you know, is no fan of Vladimir Putin and has reasons not to give up territory. As you've heard, President Trump said that about Elon Musk, quote, the bottom line, he put it back. Does that sound to you like the White House is putting the responsibility for this incident on Elon Musk and SpaceX? Well, look, the timing here is really suspicious. This slowdown first happened last week, just days after the president and Musk both publicly criticized Ukrainian President Zelensky for attacking Russian diesel refineries, which Trump has blamed for elevated energy prices. And since then, the administration just cannot get its message straight.

36:43You had Defense Secretary Hegseth and Marco Rubio saying that the slowdown came from Elon Musk. But then the vice president today muddied the waters when he suggested that Musk would only act if the U.S. government directed him to. So from all of our reporting from the president's comments today, it seems like even if it was actually Musk that actually pressed the button, so to speak, He may have had some direction or at least a wink nod from the White House, if not Trump himself, someone senior in the White House, where he understood that this was what Trump wanted him to do. Now, again, we don't know for sure, but that's where my reporting has led me to believe so far.

37:23The capabilities that Ukraine would get back if this is fully restored, and that's an if, are they both defensive and offensive? So under the restrictions, the system speeds were capped at around 100 miles an hour, which means that Ukrainian drones and missile interceptors could not stay connected when traveling at high rates of speed. This, of course, rendered them powerless against Russian attacks. With those limits removed, now Ukraine's missiles, drones and missile interceptors can now travel at higher speeds, which are needed to intercept Russian Shehid-type drones, bomb the Russian army logistics chain and stall Russians' invasion force.

38:06So it's both offensive and defensive weapons that this applies to. And it really, as the Ukrainian officials have said, it really hampered Ukraine's ability to defend against those attacks in the last week. And now we see that coming back online. That should help a lot with Ukraine's ability to defend itself. Larissa Eligman is always great reporting. Thank you so much for The Wall Street Journal. The Trump administration is indicating that construction on the president's proposed 250-foot triumphal arch could begin just days after the midterm elections. It's part of a president's wider effort to reshape the nation's capital to his liking, I guess.

38:43But the final plans released by the administration last week removed a key feature that the president had proposed. CNN Sunderland-Safadi has more than that. I think the arc is going to be incredible. Despite legal challenges and fierce resistance, President Trump is expediting plans to get his long-desired 250-foot Triumphal Arch built while he's still in the White House. And I want to see if I can get it built before we leave. In a new court filing, the Trump administration is now announcing they will commence construction in just two weeks, as early as November 5th. November 5th is when the arch will likely pass the final regulatory hurdle at the National Capital Planning Commission.

39:23After the administration streamlined the process by abruptly cutting off a historical preservation review that's required under law. No arch! No arch! No arch! The immediacy of breaking ground potentially on that very same day is despite the legal limbo that the project remains in.

39:47With two separate lawsuits, including a high-profile one brought by a group of preservationists and veterans. It's a little ironic that a man who gets out of service for foreign alchards should build a gargantuan arch, blocking the view of all these iconic memorials. Today, the plaintiffs in that case responded to the building plans, filing a preliminary injunction to stop the administration from taking any steps to construct or to direct or facilitate construction of any structure in Memorial Circle while the lawsuit plays out. The arch has become a key part of the president's quest to remake Washington in his name and style as part of his legacy in office.

40:31A totally magnificent triumphal arc to honor the 250-year triumph of the American spirit, American military, and frankly, American competence. Intended to be the tallest arch in the world. The most beautiful one is the one in Paris, the Arc de Triomphe. It's beautiful, big. Ours is going to be bigger and more beautiful. Last month, the president debuted a new justification for building the arch. It's going to be great. And it's got a military component. Everything has a military component nowadays. Claiming it will become a top-grade military complex for drones, snipers and ammunition storage.

41:13However, the plans revealed this month did not include any military infrastructure at all. So do we know why that there's no military component any longer now included? it. Well, Anderson, sources tell me that time certainly is likely part of the equation here. When President Trump came out with this plan last month to add a military complex as part of the arch, sources saying that there was a big question whether the arch plan needed to be re-reviewed and then re-approved by the two commissions that over the course of this year it's slowly been making its way through. So there was a sense that the administration could, if they added the military complex, essentially go back to square one.

41:58And time is of the essence here for the administration. President Trump wants to see this arch starting to be built as soon as possible. He wants it finished by the end of his term. So they point blank did not want to slow down any part of this equation. Now at a meeting last month at the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, They said that the plan for the military complex and a plan for construction of the actual arch will be separate and apart from each other. And that plan for a potential military complex would come from the Department of Defense. Anderson. So Mr. Fadi, thanks so much.

42:30Appreciate it. Coming up from a spaceship captain and alien to a no-nonsense flight instructor and top gun. Remember the remarkable career of actor Tom Skerrick. And coming up at 9.15 Eastern tonight, my streaming show, All There Is Live. One of the voices you'll hear from tonight. You'll hear from him in a moment. when his beloved grandmother, Gene Sippy, died. I'm so exhausted from being strong, and I feel like I witnessed this enormous thing and accompanied someone through death, and that the world just kept on going.

43:07Tonight, we remember veteran actor Tom Skerritt, who died yesterday at natural causes, according to his family. His breakthrough role came in MASH in 1970 as Army Surgeon Duke Forrest. He had a whole string of hits, including nearly a decade later, he was the spaceship captain in a remarkable film, Alien, 1986, Top Gun, where he played the Viper, the hard-charging flight instructor as well. Gentlemen, you are the top 1 % of all naval aviators. The elite. Best of the best. We'll make it better. Four years later, 1989, he starred in the hit movie Steel Magnolias. Then in the 90s, the TV role that earned him an Emmy, Sheriff Jimmy Brock on Picket Fences.

43:57Tom Skerritt was 93 years old. In just about 15 minutes, I hope you join me for All There Is Live. You can only watch it at CNN.com slash All There Is. It's a show about loss and love and people from all over call in and watch one person You'll hear from on the show tonight is young man named Christopher shortino who left us this voicemail shortly after his grandmother Jean Sippy died Hi Anderson, my name is Christopher. I'm 25 and Four weeks ago my grandmother died of congestive heart failure. I called her grams She was my best friend since I was five. We talked on the phone constantly when something was wrong or if something was funny or I was broken up with or when nothing interesting happened.

44:43We just talked about our days. The day she died, hospice called. They said she had 24 to 72 hours. So I got on the fastest flight I could. I thought I was going to get to spend a day or two sitting beside her. When I got to her house, she was sleeping. After about half an hour, she opened her eyes halfway. I put my face in front of hers. I told her that I was there and that I was there to see her because I loved her. And she looked really far away. I couldn't tell whether she could see me. And a tear came down her cheek. And then another. She died about an hour later. I think that's the part that I can't get out of my head.

45:29I don't know if she knew I was there. I don't know what the tear really was. I just remember looking into the eyes of someone I had loved my entire life. And I was desperately trying to find her so that I could tell her everything was okay, like she'd always told me. And when she closed up, I sat holding her hand until her nurse had declared she'd pass. What has surprised me so much is how badly I've needed someone to ask me about what that was like. I'm so exhausted from being strong, and I feel like I witnessed this enormous thing and accompanied someone through death and that the world just kept on going.

46:11I called her number many times since she's passed, and it's been disconnected, and I think that's why I'm leaving this. I miss her terribly, and I just need someone else to know that it happened, that I was there, and that I will never be the same. You can join us. All there is live 15 minutes from now. CNN dot com slash all there is. The news continues. The source with Caitlin Collins starts now. The holidays are busy enough. Getting your home ready shouldn't be. From the perfect tree and twinkling lights to festive decor for inside and out. Wayfair has everything you need to get your home holiday ready.

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