Is Musk Trying to Buy the Midterms? 

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0:44There's a reason millions of companies like Mattel, Heinz, and Allbirds continue to trust and use them. With Shopify on your side, turn your big business idea into... Sign up for your$1 per month trial at shopify.com slash special offer. The richest man in the world is pouring a historic amount of cash into the midterms. Will Musk's money turn the tide for Republicans? I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines and inside politics.

1:20There are just 22 days until the election, and we are tracking the races, candidates and stories that could shift the balance of power here in Washington and across the country. Here's what's on our midterm radar. Trillionaire Elon Musk is smashing records for political spending. Since July, he's given Republicans at least$276 million. Most of that money went to the main Senate Republican Super PAC, which is pouring money into Senate races across the country. The New York Times says he gave at least$90 million to Republicans before July. That means he's given at least$366 million to Republicans this cycle, and likely more to groups not required to disclose their donors.

2:08It's a lot of money. But get this. You can see it on the screen. Elon Musk is so rich that$366 million is less than 0.04 % of his fortune. President Trump kicks off a busy week of campaign travel with a rally tonight in Ohio, his second time in the Buckeye State in just 10 days. He'll spend the rest of the week traveling to Alaska, Arizona, and Montana, all states he won in 2024. By the end of the week, the president will have campaigned in at least 11 states in two weeks. And James Tallarico is laughing off conspiracy theories about what took him off the campaign trail the past two weeks. Right wing influencers were spreading unsubstantiated rumors that Tallarico had some sort of mental health episode.

3:00He says the real reason he's been home is a lot more mundane. I had the flu. This is the craziest thing I've ever heard. It's wild that someone can just post something on the Internet and then the media just runs with it. His GOP opponent Ken Paxton said on Fox yesterday that he doesn't believe Tallarico's explanation. Two weeks is a long time to be away with the flu, and it's just a very strange time to disappear. He also has type 1 diabetes, which might be part of the reason that he was out so long. In the Palmetto State, Republican Senator Darlene Graham and Democratic challenger Annie Andrews faced off in their first debate and one familiar Republican attack came up.

3:45My Democratic opponent is pretending to be someone she is not. She's the most radical liberal that's ever run for state office in South Carolina. Annie Andrews will not stand up to the Socialist Democratic Party. She's only going to join them. She's been told to come out here and call me Bernie Ocasio Mom Donnie. That's what's in her script. But the truth is, my name is Annie Andrews. And there shouldn't be any confusion about that, because unlike my opponent, I haven't changed my name recently. South Carolina hasn't elected a Democratic senator since 1998. I'm joined by a terrific group of reporters on this fabulous Monday.

4:26Hi, everybody. Hello. OK, let's start with the Elon Musk of it all. It's just hard to comprehend really all of it, the fact that he's a trillionaire, number one. But then the money that he's spending. And we talked so much in the 2024 presidential year about how much Elon Musk spent during the entire cycle. This is a midterm year. He's been spending just a few months and it's already outpaced what he spent in the entire presidential cycle. I mean, look at that, David. I mean, he was the largest single donor on the outside, you know, funneling money to outside groups in the presidential. And he clearly is this time as well.

5:05I mean, to have a single person able to put that much money in, it is astonishing. But the question is, will it matter or how much will it matter? I mean, just I recall just on Friday, you said you were talking to Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report. They had moved 18 races in the Democratic direction. And one of the things they stated in their analysis was because they are not seeing the needle moving, even with all the money that has been injected. Now, a lot of this money given since July, this is infused into the system already. Three more weeks to go, no doubt. More of it will seep in.

5:39But so far, the overwhelming money advantage that Republicans have and that Elon Musk is turbocharging for them doesn't seem to be altering the playing field in some way that we've seen sort of Republicans able to take races off the map or shut things down. The competitive battlefield still seems to be the competitive battlefield. Yeah, and I was talking to a Republican strategist working on one of the campaigns, not Texas, who was reminding me that a big part of the reason why Elon Musk is putting this much money in, and it is TBD, how much it's going to matter, is because A, it's Texas, and he cares about Texas.

6:14He lives there. And B, Texas is really, really expensive. We don't know how much is being funneled into Texas. I'm guessing it's a lot. And to your point about just the overall advantage, the total midterm election buying September 8th through Election Day, what we have right now is Republicans$1.9 billion, Democrats$1.5 billion. Also, we just say these numbers as if it's just like a number, but just like, can we put that back up on the screen? $1.9 billion,$1.5 billion. dollars. So you're talking two and a half billion dollars, three and a half billion dollars, three and a half billion dollars just through September 8th.

6:59Since September 8th through election day. And that is the American election system now, right? Like that's the way things are. It's money, money, money. I think that's some, I think the problem for Republicans is that they're spending a lot of money, but are they putting any in the pockets of Americans? And I think that's the issue is like, OK, you're spending all this money. But what they're coming up against is people don't feel good about the money in their bank account. Right. Like and I think that's hard to overcome. Now, I'm not saying that the money won't matter because I think part of what they're trying to do is you could have for Republicans, you could have a bad day or you could have a bloodbath.

7:37Right. And I think the money could help to stave off the worst case scenario. And I think that may be a part of it too. But I also think that Trump should be thinking about this because a long time ago when he was running for president the first time, he was outspent by Clinton and the Democrats and he won. So sometimes, you know, you can be outspent and still win. And that's the thing that Republicans have to worry about. Let's get back to Texas, Jeff Mason, and just hear from the Democratic candidate, James Tallarico, and then his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton, about the fact that he was gone from the campaign trail for two weeks, two weeks plus.

8:25He says he had the flu. Again, he has type 1 diabetes, so it's not just like a person who doesn't have that preexisting condition getting the flu. But he's going back at Ken Paxton and trying to make the most of what is coming at him. I've heard credible reports that Ken Paxton has a serious medical condition that causes clinical levels of cowardice. It's why I haven't heard from him after 85 days when I first challenged him to a debate. He has asked for proof of life from me. I'm asking for proof of spine from him. We've been working on that for months with him. And of course, we can never quite work out the details because he always wants something we can't do.

9:09Jeff? His response to that on Twitter was, here are the details, anytime, any place, any network. So Tallarico is certainly pushing back. You say it here, it comes out there. I read it ahead of the show, Deanna. So he was ready for that. And I mean, I think the question there is, does Paxton want to debate? And the answer seems to be no. And that's because so far, Tallarico has run a campaign that certainly Texas did not expect to be as successful as it has been for a Democrat. As far as sickness and health go, I mean, I've had the flu that's laid me down for that long before, and I don't have a pre-existing conditions.

9:47But that's my investigative reporting on the flu. But certainly the issue of illness and how much you disclose about that and what takes you away from the campaign trail has hurt other candidates before. I mean, I remember going back to the Hillary Clinton campaign against Donald Trump in 2016 when she was out for a while. That also became an issue, and she didn't disclose it right away. So it's not uncommon in political campaigns for illnesses like that to come up and for that to become an issue. But certainly the prospect of a debate, it's pretty believable what Tallarico is saying. Well, it is, if you kind of, again, take a step back, the fact that this is such a marquee, critically important race and there isn't a debate on the schedule.

10:37Unusual. But not unusual for Ken Paxton in the history of his campaigns. He's not somebody as a candidate that has - Yeah, but he's never run for Senate before. No, no, yes. That has been eager to debate. But yes, and by the way, we're seeing it in some other places too. We are. just candidates are a little reluctant to debate in this modern media environment, which, by the way, this modern media environment or modern information environment is also what has allowed for a vacuum to be filled about theories about where Tallarico is. What I find so curious is, why is that the message that Paxton wants to lean into in these closing days?

11:14That is obviously answered by Tallarico now being back on the campaign trail. So why is that? Where do they think they're going to get mileage of that with voters rather than sort of addressing what voters are saying are the most important issues to them. And it's just an intriguing decision in the Republican ecosystem around Ken Paxton that they're leaning into this and have been doing so for the last two weeks in this. We talk about Kansas for a minute. Again, not a state that we talk often about on the midterm battleground map. But the incumbent Republican, Roger Marshall, is still dealing with some news that he would rather not.

11:55They're just putting up a bunch of headlines about the fact that he paid off a six-year-old campaign cookie bill. This is, and he put it on his Amex bill, apparently, Amex card, and put that on social media to make clear that that's been done. This is on top of reports of him charging 18 percent on medical bills. He's a physician. And then questions from a local report about blurring lines between taxpayer dollars and campaign cash. He is up against a Democratic candidate who is a pastor, and he is the leader of a megachurch, Adam Hamilton. Yeah, you know, I think that this is part of the another issue for Republicans is that they shouldn't have to be going this hard in Kansas, right?

12:43I do think that we should be clear that even with all of the headwinds against Marshall, the thing of it is he is an incumbent. He is a Republican in Kansas. And so even with this and with the polls where they are, a lot of them are in the margin of error, right? So it's not like you have the Democrat up by nine points or something like that. So in races like this, it is very likely or it is possible that the Republican is going to pull it out. The problem is you've got to spend money to make sure that's the case. And so that's where you have to put resources into something that you should not have to put resources in where there are these other purple states that you should be focusing on.

13:27So I think that's the problem, that this is a resource issue. Maybe he'll pull it off, but you have to spend money on that when you shouldn't have to. Everybody stand by. Coming up, breaking news this morning, federal agents search the home of Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. The latest developments after a quick break.

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14:4230 seconds response time requires monitoring plan with outdoor protection starting at$49.99 a month. Visit simplisafe.com slash licenses for alarm license information. This morning, federal officials carried out a search at the D.C. home of Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Moments ago, Congresswoman Omar made her first comments about the search, saying,

15:20Our crime and justice correspondent Caitlin Polance is tracking this story. Caitlin, she's right. She has long been a target of President Trump's and other Republicans. What do we know about what these law enforcement officials went in to look for? What was the subject? Yeah, Dana, there are only a couple details that we know, but by piecing together what we see from those images from outside of Representative Omar's home in the Washington, D.C. area today, that's Homeland Security Investigators, HSI, on site there doing the investigation. That signals that this has some sort of immigration enforcement component to it.

16:00On top of that, we do know, according to a statement from the Justice Department spokesperson today, this is saying that today in the Washington, D.C. area, HSI executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the Department of Justice. This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation. So that adds to what we know about this as well. It would be a criminal investigation related to immigration in some way, and of course involves or potentially targets Representative Omar herself. Now, her statement, her response here is that this would be an escalation in a campaign of political intimidation.

16:43And Dana, there are multiple things here to keep in mind. Right now, this is someone that the president has often criticized very harshly. that Republicans have criticized. We know that the White House border czar, Tom Homan, has said that there is an investigation here that's been ongoing for a while. We also know that we're right in the middle of election season. Not only is this a sitting member of Congress, this is someone who is on the ballot in the midterm elections for the Democrats in Minnesota, not even a month from now with voting already beginning across the country and in that state.

17:20And just real quick, on that last note, I know that norms have just been shattered up and down about what DOJ normally does or doesn't do. But it is practice historically that the DOJ doesn't go after people who are on the ballot this close. Am I right about that or has it changed? No, that is exactly right, Dana. The historical practice and internal policy at the Justice Department has been that 60 days before an election, you are not supposed to take overt political or overt investigative steps that could influence politics, specifically electoral politics. You should not be doing anything that would harm a candidate or help a candidate.

18:06And if something like that were to potentially take place in an investigation, it would need to to go through a long clearance process and discussion within the Justice Department. I did learn today that from a source that at the Justice Department, top Justice Department leadership did sign off on this. There was thorough deliberations over it. And of course they did have to go to a federal judge for sign off to do this search at this time. There aren't charges filed here, but having investigators in those HSI jackets outside the candidate's home, the Congresswoman's home today, that is quite an unusual step to see, something we often don't see before an election like this that would require top Justice Department officials talking about it and weighing in.

18:57Caitlin, thank you so much. I appreciate it. We don't know a lot of what went on, the reason for the judge approving the search, what they were looking for, all of that. As Caitlin said, we just know that Homeland was involved, which suggests there's some immigration question there. What we do know is that the president talks about Ilhan Omar all the time, has done so for years. Here is some—here are some examples. I love this Ilhan Omar, whatever the hell her name is, with the little ching, the little turban. I love her. She comes in, does nothing but. She's always complaining. She should get the hell out, throw the hell out.

19:39She does nothing but complain. Ilhan Omar, one of my favorites. She ought to get the hell out of our country. She shouldn't be here. She shouldn't be in our country. How about Ilhan Omar? She comes from Somalia. All they have is crime and squalor. And she comes into our country and she says, my constitution allows me. She's talking about our constitution. What they've done to Minnesota, these people from Somalia, What they've done to Minnesota should never be allowed. And Jeff, that was Saturday. That was just two days ago, the last one. Yeah, and you were right to say it's been happening for a long time.

20:15I mean, I remember being in a rally during the president's first term when he was going after her and the other members of the squad. And it led to the crowd chanting, send them back. And it was a really dramatic and for many people upsetting moment to see. So he has absolutely targeted her for some time. We don't know the details to what extent this is connected to that, but she's certainly drawing that conclusion. And based on her experience, you can see why she would. Well, and when you have a president speaking that way, and we should say that this is racism, you know, to say that someone's from a country, or they were born in a country and they're now a citizen, they don't have the right to speak here because their country is dirty and squalor.

20:58That is racism, and we need to be very clear about that. But when you have a president making statements like that, it does not inspire confidence that the Justice Department would be neutral in situations like this. Because he continually says she needs to get out of the country. Yeah. Right? So that's part of the problem. Never mind mocking her. Yes. And in the first term, not only did he complain about the squad or sort of allow the chance of sending them back. He actually raised very specific questions about her immigration story, specifically the other three members of the squad were all born in the United States.

21:38And when we learn, I'm going to be very curious to see if that like matches up in any way in this investigation with a narrative that the president has been trying to sell about her immigration story for years. And again, we'll have to learn more here. But this is not new material for Trump. All right, everybody, coming up next, President Trump has a busy week. He is going to campaign in four states over the next three days. Some Republicans say, you know what, maybe it's best if you just stay home. We have new CNN reporting after a quick break.

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22:43Still haven't started? Hey, better late than never. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pickup fees may apply. 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 Kankren, 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.

23:31After 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. 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, 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 the success of his presidency that they got to show up and vote.

24:32I 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 the worst case scenarios. Yeah, no, absolutely. And I think that you're right about a lot of these. The Arizona district is interesting to me. We'll see if that makes a difference.

25:11But 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 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. Ding, ding, ding. I mean, that's what we start talking about every time we get this close to an election as 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.

25:49You 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, 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. 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. Even Ken Paxton apparently said that, right? Yeah. Yeah. And the president loved that.

26:24One 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, 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, Vladimir Zelensky, responded.

27:18We 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. 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. 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.

27:59Yeah, 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's 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.

28:36It's, you know, ballrooms. It's this is 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 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. Yeah. All right. Everybody stand by. Coming up, a Democrat at the border, a Republican touting that she is, quote, pro-choice. Two new ads in key Senate races. We're going to show you that is both very telling about where things stand.

29:14Stay with us.

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30:05Find furniture, hosting essentials, festive serveware, and more all in one place. So you can spend less time getting ready and more time enjoying the season with the people who make it special. Shop Wayfair.com today to make holiday magic at home. Wayfair, every style, every home. 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 Donald, the Republican congressman running to be the next governor of Florida. As the first black governor in Florida history, Byron will create jobs, fight for our families and make Florida affordable.

30:47Byron Donald's for Florida. Make history for our future. 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. Do you recognize that this would be significant? 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. David? Yeah, it's, I mean, let's do the politics of it for a moment, 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, in the primary season, I should say, and we're in general election season now, and the calculations are different.

31:34And 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 Donald, 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. Yeah, 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 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.

32:25Right. 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 it's D.E.I. Right. You got to be careful about that. Well, which is to his point why he wasn't necessarily talking about it during the during the primary. I want to play two ads, one from Josh Turek, who is running in Iowa, and then Michelle 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. Excuse me, LaFoya is also a Republican, I should say.

33:04Let's watch them, and we'll talk on the other side. Josh wants to secure the border. And in the Senate, he'll go after drug traffickers to stop the flow of fentanyl. When it comes to keeping Iowans safe, we trust, we trust, we trust Josh Turing. 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. 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.

33:48Yeah. 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, 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 yeah, 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.

34:26It's like Susan Collins in Maine. I mean, these are Republicans who know their constituencies and know where they're running. And Democrats are, I wouldn't say they're nervous, but they are watching Minnesota with some concern. And so obviously Tafoya's campaign is seeing something. Also, that there's potential votes to be had. There are a conversation with voters to be had in a blue state. 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 those statements is not unusual now either. Yeah, no, that's a really good point.

35:00All right, 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. 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. Amazing. Aw, so cute. And, you know, and 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.

35:47I like that. It is creative. It's true. We're used to babies and puppies. Yes. Now we have an alpaca. And the name pasta? Oh. Chef's kiss. Yes, yes. See what I did there? Well done. Well done. 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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36:40AI 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. 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?

37:28Listen, 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 throughout businesses, be involved in San Francisco. Be involved in our public schools. Support public transit. that help us build new beautiful parks.

38:11We 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. Do you want data centers in and around here? Well, I think we're actually working with our board of supervisors, which is our city council, on how do we define that here.

38:55We 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. Speaking of San Francisco, just a couple of questions about some famous San Franciscans who are thinking about running for president, like your governor, Gavin Newsom. Dana, you're really, you're just wanting me to talk about everything outside of San Francisco. No, no, no, he's very, he was just at the top of the Golden Gate Bridge. I know. I saw him a few hours before. I went to the top of Sutro Tower, which is our tallest tower here.

39:36And he wanted to one up you? He did. I've heard it's more frightening to do the cables up to the. Better him than me. That's all I got to say. If you watch the video of me going up to Sutro Tower, you'll see that I don't do well with heights. I feel you. I was told by the governor that this is not a choice, that I have to go to the top of the bridge. Would he make a good president? I listen, the mayor Newsome, now Governor Newsome 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.

40:16I 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. So if I asked about Vice President Harris, I'm guessing you would say the same thing? Absolutely. You know, she was a district attorney here and known her for years. This is very San Francisco, I just want to say for the record. They're all San Franciscans. Right. But no one has approached me about anything. They haven't even announced if they're running or not. And you are trying to throw me off my game. No, I'm not. My game is San Francisco, and I am true to the game here.

40:57Thank you to Mayor Lurie. Thank you for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after a quick break.

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