Red State Warning 

0:00Every day, animals across the country face abuse and neglect. And every day, the ASPCA shows up to rescue animals in crisis. But they can't do it alone. Visit ASPCA.org slash need. Become a donor today to provide the care and shelter these animals urgently need. And for a limited time, the ASPCA will send you a free gift as a special thank you. Visit ASPCA.org slash need. Red state warning. New CNN polls underscore Republicans at risk on home turf as voters blame President Trump for making life more expensive. I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines and inside politics.

0:52There are just 26 days until the election and we're tracking the races, the candidates and stories that could shift the balance of power here in Washington and all across the country. We start with new CNN polls revealing two Republican Senate seats in two states President Trump won by double digits, now within Democrats' reach. Let's start in Iowa, where there is no clear leader between Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson and Democrat Josh Turek. And in Ohio, former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown holds a six-point lead over Republican incumbent John Husted. The poll also shows President Trump's approval rating is underwater in both of these Republican strongholds.

1:39Just 36 percent of likely voters in Ohio and 41 percent in Iowa approved of his performance. And perhaps the most telling data point of them all, on the economy. The issue President Trump was elected to fix, voters in these states feel he's making things worse. Three out of four voters in Ohio and Iowa say Trump policies have increased the cost of living. This was a major topic last night in the first Iowa Senate debate. I'm hearing from Iowans saying I'm struggling just to keep food on the table, a roof above my head, pay my electric bill and pay my gas bill. And again, that is because of Ashley Hinson voting five times in favor of these CAOC tariffs, seven times in favor of this war.

2:25Iowans out there, when you're struggling at the pump, that is because of Ashley Hinson. I'm proud of my record in voting for providing tax relief to middle-class families, the working families tax cut provided for no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, reduced tax on Social Security for our seniors, tax certainty for our small businesses. I'm joined by a terrific group of reporters here at the table. Gentlemen, hello. Jeff Zeleny, you were in Iowa this week. What did you learn there that informs your reporting as you're looking at these new polls? And not just Iowa, of course, but Ohio. I mean, there's no question about it.

3:01This final month of this campaign is playing out in red states, and we are seeing why now. But I mean, that number that you showed, who do you blame for this? The Trump policies are really to blame. And he ran just less than two years ago on bringing costs down. That's why that number is so striking. 76 % in Ohio, 74 % in Iowa, three-quarters of all voters are blaming Trump policies for this. That's kind of the baseline for it. But this Senate race is a fascinating one. There's no doubt about it. The debate last night, I think, was about a draw. They were both introducing themselves. Ashley Henson's from the eastern part of the state.

3:39Josh Turk is from the western part of the state. They aren't that well known necessarily. Three out of ten Iowans said that they can still change their mind or make up their minds. Independent voters are the key here. Republicans have an advantage by about 180 ,000 or so votes. Democrats are right under that. But independent voters are going to make this race. So that's why both sides are still trying to make some things. But overall, watching the debate last night, Trump was a bit player. Barely mentioned it at all. And that is different from, say, the main Senate race that we talked about earlier this week.

4:11He is at the center of all of this. So that is a striking part. They need to get Trump voters. Both of them need to get Trump voters. He might have been a bit player in the debate, but his policies, as we just talked about, are obviously dominating and not in a good way for the Republicans on the ballot. One more example of that, Phil Mattingly, in our new poll, among likely voters, the question on the economy. Cost of living, economy as a top issue, Ohio 49%, Iowa 48%. Tariffs are a bad thing for the state. Ohio 58%, Iowa 55%. Tariffs are quintessential signature Trump policies. And the probably two, if not of the most exposed, but certainly in the group of most exposed states in the entire country when it comes to tariffs, are Iowa and Ohio.

5:02I also just got back from Iowa. I'm not just trying to track Jeff around wherever he goes. He's a former Des Moines Register reporter, in case you didn't know. He's like a true expert. And Ohio. This poll was built from this moment for me. I think what was so striking, all the numbers you just laid out, I think are essential to understanding the reality, which is two CNN reporters in Iowa around the same time reporting on two different elements of the story, but the fact we're there at all, I think, is extraordinarily striking. I think this gets at Jeff's really smart point about the debate last night and the voters and the pool of voters that they're going after at this point.

5:37Iowa and Ohio, no two states have turned more sharply away from their kind of purple hue that we all knew them for over the course of the last several cycles. In 2008, President Obama won Iowa by nine points. Trump won it by 13 last year. The delegation in Iowa back in 2009, governor, Democrat. Half the House seats, Democrat. Senator, Democrat. Trump has turned both of these states red. Everything is red now. And it's the same for Ohio. It's gone even more sharply towards the Republican side of things. So that causes very real kind of DNA difficulties for a Democrat trying to flip that state. But the reality is those economic numbers you were just pointing to, every single one of them, and the fact both these states are so exposed to some of the most critical policy choices the president has made, not just tariffs, but also the Iran conflict as well, is why these races are very real right now.

6:23Just staying with you real quick, I'm going to put up the sort of generic question about whether or not voters want Democrats or Republicans to control the Senate, both in Ohio and Iowa. Very different answers, but as an Ohio boy, Phil Mattingly. The fact that now you're seeing they want Democrats in charge by a factor of four. I'm stunned. I'm stunned. my greatest regret of like the last five or six cycles in a purely apolitical and absolutely selfish fashion is that like my ability to get my company to pay for my trips back to Ohio or my trips to Iowa, which is the greatest state in the world that's not Ohio.

7:03I just assumed they were gone for eternity. And I think what you're seeing in Ohio right now is the Iowa numbers make sense. I think if you're trying to track how things have happened, Ohio is amazing. Right. So again, you said the Iowa numbers make sense. It was plus seven Republican, meaning people who were asked the question, who do you want to be in control of the Senate? Republican, that was up seven percentage points, which is probably why another topic in the debate last night was whether or not Democrat Josh Turek is too liberal for Iowa. Let's watch. I think that the vast majority of voters understand that there's more than one kind of Democrat and more than one kind of Republican.

7:46What kind are you? Guys, okay, that was Jeff Zeleny, and we're going to show that in a little bit. But now let's play the soundbite from this debate. Live television, folks. When he is showing up to vote, it's wrong for Iowa. He's too liberal for this state. That is fundamentally incorrect, actually. in the Iowa legislature. I voted with Republicans to reduce people's taxes. I am the third most bipartisan member of the Iowa legislature. Over 700 times voted with Republicans. Very proud of that. What does that tell you? That at this point, Hinson, as she faces this pressure from Turek, basically, as she faces these attacks about her proximity to Donald Trump and her votes as far as foreign policy with the Iran war, she is going to go on the offensive in trying to portray way, Josh Turek is out of touch, right?

8:39Which is something that we've seen. It's a 2024 playbook. We've seen it in the previous midterm cycle before that as well, trying to say that you are, you know, attached to this national party that's not in touch with voters in this state. The problem is though, voters in the state in Iowa and Ohio have made clear that they are frustrated with the policies of the party currently holding the White House, right? That's the Republican holding the White House and the incumbency as well. It is also just interesting, particularly when you talk about Ohio, just how incumbency has kind of been flipped and the themes of incumbency.

9:14You have Sherrod Brown, who has the name recognition that usually we associate with the person holding the office, even though he's the challenger right now. At the same time, you have Houston attacking Sherrod Brown and almost trying to associate him with incumbency, given the frustration that's across the country right now with the current state of the economy. It's just like a flip dynamic that we usually don't see for a challenger and somebody already holding the White House. We got a little preview accidentally, but you know, the more Jeff Zeleny that we can see out hunting in Iowa, the better.

9:49Let's watch all of it now, what we were going to play. This is Jeff, just back from Iowa, hunting with the Democratic candidate for governor. I think that the vast majority of voters understand that there's more than one kind of Democrat and more than one kind of Republican. What kind are you? I'm myself. Look, I'd say it all my town halls. I registered as an independent when I first registered to vote. I don't know why we have to be Democrats or Republicans. I've never heard a compelling reason that we should only have two options on the ballot. And I don't think either party is doing a great job of fixing problems.

10:26I mean, what a moment for just that sort of it's very telling that picture, never mind the content of what he's saying. And he's doing very well in the polls. He's up nine points in our poll, which is similar to other polls that have been taken here. What Rob Sand is trying to do is sort of emerge and a breakout of this Democratic brand that's really been an issue in Ohio, in Iowa, other places. And he's his own brand. That is what he is trying to do here. And you see him going up a tree stand there. We were hunting in a forest in Des Moines. Obviously, he's been hunting for a very long time. When he ran for state auditor, that was actually his campaign message.

11:06Get bucks, I'll save you bucks. in his auditor's office in the state capitol. He has deer head all across the wall. So this isn't just a campaign sort of slogan at the end. But the point of it is that he is trying to emerge beyond what is very much a troubled Democratic brand. He's trying to run beyond the brand there. So we will see if this race actually connects to the Senate race, which, of course, it's on the same ballot. So that is what Iowa Democrats there and other Democrats have their hopes. Can Rob Sands sort of a lift up Josh Turek? Or is it going to be a moment for Iowans to do what they did for a very long time with Harkin and Grassley, Harkin and Branstad, Democrat and Republican?

11:44Are they going to balance things out? So very intriguing series of questions from Iowa for election night. Yeah, and I think the point that he made and that you're making now that we have to keep underscoring, even though Democrats are ahead of Republicans right now in all of these races, it's not as if Democrats are the most popular party in the world. It's the lesser of two evils. The bow is the tell, by the way. You don't take a reporter bow hunting if you don't actually hunt. You can do a gun-related PR stunt. It's only bow season now. Gun hunting season, rifle hunting season is next week.

12:18You have to watch the piece, Phil. We are going to watch the piece. But up next, we're going to talk to the former Republican trying to be the first Democratic governor of Florida in 30 years. Stay with us.

12:35Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. On my podcast, All There Is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities. My guest is Lil Jon. He's a rapper, DJ, and producer known for hits like Get Low and Turn Down For What. In February 2026, his 27-year-old son Nathan went missing near Nathan's home in Georgia. Three days later, his body was found in a pond nearby. eye. Lil Jon has a memoir that just came out called I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me. It takes time to heal and I kept myself busy that I didn't let myself mourn. I needed to laugh again. I needed to be silly and interact with people and feel other people's energy and make people happy too.

13:20We have to share so other people can see that they can get through it too. Talking grief, building community. That's what the podcast is all about. This is all there is. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life podcast. You may have noticed gambling doesn't require a casino anymore. You can just open up your phone. It's designed to keep us coming back or maybe never even leaving in the first place. We're going to talk to Dr. Timothy Fong, co-director of UCLA's gambling studies program. You're going to learn what your brain is really chasing when you place a bet, and also importantly, how to keep the game from playing you.

14:01Gambling addiction, gambling disorder, is the hidden addiction. You can't smell it, you can't taste it, you can't see it, you can't have a urine drug test. Who are we talking about here, Professor? Who's the most likely demographic to be affected by this? Literally any single human on Earth. Listen to Chasing Life, streaming now, wherever you get your podcasts. It's been nearly 30 years since Florida had a Democratic governor, and the state we once saw as the swing state has been pretty much left behind by Democrats. Now David Jolly, a Republican-turned-Democrat, is hoping to change that. Jolly is running for governor against a staunch Trump ally, Congressman Byron Donalds.

14:42Donalds is far out raising Jolly, amassing around eight times more in his war chest. Still, some Democrats argue this race is much closer than you might expect, including the Democrat on the ballot, David Jolly, who joins me now. Thank you so much for being here. It is a very steep hill that you are trying to climb. 1.5 million more Republicans than Democrats in Florida. The last time Democrats won a Senate seat in Florida. Democrats had half a million more registered voters than Republicans. So what is your winning Democratic coalition in Florida? Sure. Importantly, Dana, voter registration doesn't really matter this cycle.

15:27Look, Mar-a-Lago elected a Democratic state representative. The city of Miami elected a Democratic mayor for the first time in 30 years. It was 19 points. Throughout Florida, we've seen swings like we're seeing nationally, 15 or 20 points. And so that has made November 3rd competitive. The race right now is essentially a toss-up. I would suggest maybe a little nudge our way, but let's just leave it basically in a toss-up right now. What is the coalition? Look, this is a governor's race, so I don't litigate the president or the national direction. I talk about housing, health care, education, and no data centers.

16:00The important thing for Democrats is that amplifies our values, that everybody deserves an economy that works, that the private sector is going to lead, but everybody needs their piece of it, that we should be able to afford housing or rents if you're in an apartment. We should have access to health care and good schools. That's it. But in a moment of change where all voters, independents and Republicans alike, feel the anxiety and the grips of a stagnant economy, look at a president building ballrooms or a Tallahassee kind of one-party corruption, they're saying, hey, you're trying to litigate ideology when I'm just trying to put food on the table and afford my house.

16:34And so while the right is litigating ideology, we're litigating solutions. And those solutions are different in Florida than Iowa, than other states. But it's an opportunity Democrats haven't had in a long time. So you just laid out your strategy, your policy agenda there. It's inside politics. So I want to get into the nitty gritty a little bit on that, which is you are pushing national Democratic donors and the DGA, the Democratic Governors Association, to put money into your race to help you close the gap. What have they said? And can you win without that money? Yeah, we can't win without the money.

17:10And this is the good news. Look, we're defying gravity here a little bit. Byron Donalds turns out to be one of those candidates. The more he spends, the worse he does. You don't always get that in an opponent, but he's outspent us by$100 million and the race is essentially tied. And so this race comes down really probably to two fronts. There's only about 6 % left undecided. You've got about 10 or 11 percent of undecided black voters. And obviously, Byron Donalds presents a historic candidacy while we present a historic agenda for all communities. And then those disaffected Republicans, some are DeSantis voters, some are former MAGA voters who are saying, I just can't stick with Republicans this cycle.

17:48So now you have kind of the jolly camp with the momentum and the Donalds camp with the money, the two forces in politics colliding. We can win without the money, but it's a lot easier to win when you do have the money. I know national donors are looking at a Florida governor's race saying, why should I care about Florida? The answer is because Florida electing a Democratic governor resets the road to the White House in 28. If you're a national donor of the national party, 26 in Florida is just as much about 28 and the White House. That's why we need help nationally. Speaking of 28, you've had some not so veiled comments pushing 2028 contenders to invest their time and money in Florida.

18:25I want to read what you told my colleague Steve Contorno. You said, I had long thought that all these presidential candidates would decide to come help in Florida. If for nothing else, if they became the champion of David Jolly and David Jolly wins, David Jolly is going to remember they helped. I don't mean that in a transactional way. It's just the enlightened self-interest of someone looking to run for president. I mean, look, politics is transactional. That is transactional, which, you know, that's fine. That's that's that's the point that you're trying to make. you say that it's surprising to you once you have said that.

19:00Have you heard from any 2028ers? Any nibbles? We have. Yeah, there are some folks that have come in very kindly on our behalf. We've had the opportunity to campaign with Pritzker. I spoke with Governor Moore yesterday. Rahm Emanuel was on the ground with us. We've had a number of folks call now to say, how can I help? And so, look, it is important for Democrats nationally to win Florida, but we do something else when we win Florida. Sure, the road to the White House gets a little easier. Dana, we get to reimagine our politics. A state where only 29 % of registered voters are Democrats, it will mean that we led with the Democratic Party's values, that the economy should work for everyone.

19:37Government can do a little bit to help, and everyone's rights should be protected, their dignity respected. But we will have built a coalition bigger than our party with independents and Republicans. That lets us reimagine our politics. I think there are three races that allow us to do that this cycle. It's Ossoff, Tal Rico, and ours. And so if you are looking at the White House in 28, yes, there's a new coalition available, but there's also a lot of Democratic delegates in the race for the Democratic nomination for the presidency. And so I expect we'll continue to see more people come in and help.

20:08One way that you could get attention and get your message out more is by debating your opponent, Congressman Donalds, and he is willing, you are not. Why not? Isn't that a missed opportunity, never mind maybe the right thing to do in a democracy, to stand on the stage and debate your opponent? Yeah, thank you, Dana. I had accepted several debates. Byron hadn't responded. Then he tried to check us with, here are the three debates. These are our sets of rules. Look, chalk it up to bad faith and honestly, a lot of dishonesty. All his ads continue to get fact-checked faults. I don't support a hurricane tax, a social security tax, oil drilling, or socialism.

20:45But fine, chalk all that up to politics. Here's what it came down to. When I realized the bad faith and dishonesty had gotten so thick, my wife and I have a seven-year-old and five-year-old, and I'm trying to elevate our politics to something better. I say, in the world of Donald Trump, I'm trying to be Ted Lasso. And if you look at all of these debates that are going on right now, I'm not sure they inform the voters or they move our politics to a better place. If anything, they're measured by who can lay down the greatest insult to stick on the other. and we all race to social media, our feelings are hardened, and we've done nothing to actually inform voters and improve our politics.

21:17If I thought it would, I would do it. I just don't think it does. And so I'm not going to platform the vitriol and rancor and dishonesty. I've done over 300 town halls. We'll do a lot more. As I mentioned, only 6 % of the state is now undecided. We have a very informed electorate. I'll stay on the ground every day with voters. I encourage Byron Donalds to do the same, but I'm not going to platform the vitriol and division. I think we've got to move our politics to somewhere better and I'm willing to do that. Well, I can think of a place where you can have a very substantive debate and I'm willing to host you on the show on anywhere with Byron Donalds because I hear you about vitriol, but I also think it's important to talk about the issues, especially as you laid out with such an important job as governor of Florida.

22:01So you're welcome to do it here, Congressman. Thank you so much. You got it. Oh, wait, was that a yes? No, it's not a yes. It's my final answer. I'm not doing debates. But thank you for the invitation. OK, thank you so much. And we did invite Congressman Donalds back on the program before Election Day, and we hope to have him soon, maybe with the congressman. Up next, we have some breaking news on a court hearing involving CNN, MSNOW, and Politico's access to the White House. Don't go anywhere.

22:36Now to breaking news in the quest for access to the White House by this network and others. A federal judge just heard arguments on a request from CNN, MSNOW, and Politico to extend his earlier order, allowing outlets to continue reporting from the White House after President Trump's ban. I want to get straight to CNN's chief media analyst, Brian Stelter, and CNN's Evan Perez, who was inside the courtroom during the hearing. Evan, I'll start with you. What happened?

23:08Well, Dana, the judge briefly extended the temporary restraining order, which prevents the White House from enforcing its ban on reporters from CNN, MSNOW and Politico. The judge simply just extended it by a couple of days till next Tuesday. He says he anticipates being able to rule between now and Tuesday on this request for a preliminary injunction. This is something that would take this beyond next Tuesday. That's what the media companies are asking for. One of the things that we heard, though, from the judge is him expressing skepticism about the government's case. He's already ruled, of course, that the White House did not go through and did not offer any kind of due process to the reporters before pulling their press credentials.

23:54And he expressed concerns about that again today. He told the government lawyers, it appears that the biggest hurdle you will have is that due process concern that he based his earlier ruling on. So now we wait for this next stage, which is the request for a preliminary injunction. And of course, the president and the White House have already said they're going to try to appeal all of this. A question that does really come up here, though, is whether the judge will address some of the other issues. Right now, it's only a due process issue. Is he going to address the First Amendment issue, the questions of national security, which is something the White House has brought up?

24:34He did not really explain whether he's going to do that, but certainly that's something we're going to keep an eye on. One other thing, Dana, we were in this courtroom. It was pretty packed. There were five attorneys on the media side, and there was one government lawyer, Michael Velchik, from the Justice Department, and the judge joked that he normally sees the government has a big retinue of lawyers in cases and one lawyer for a defendant, and this is not that type of case, he pointed out. No, it's not. It's not a normal case in really any way. Thank you so much, Evan. Appreciate it. Brian, the good news is there is an extension through Tuesday that CNN can continue to go through the White House gates, as other news organizations are, MS Now and Politico as well.

25:25But ultimately, the decision is still TBD and obviously has huge implications. And why are we here? We might be here because the president woke up on the wrong side of the bed. That's what Ted Boutreau said in court a few minutes ago. He's the attorney for CNN, MS and Politico. He said he doesn't know what the president was thinking. Maybe he just had a bad morning or a bad day. So you have a situation now where the Justice Department feels compelled to defend this ban in court and to try to push this forward so that maybe other news outlets can be banned in the future. And this is all about the president's own personal whims and feelings toward the news coverage that he constantly watches and reads and obsesses about.

26:02But most importantly here, this is about a lot more than just the three news outlets that are named. It's about the president trying to pick and choose who can ask him questions, who can document his presidency, and who can hold him accountable. Judging by his true social posts and his public comments, he wants the power to replace real reporters with propagandists. But the federal courts do not seem inclined to give him that power. The federal courts are leaning on decades of precedent involving the protection that news gathering has in this country. And that's something that should be hardening to Americans because press freedom is all of our freedom.

26:36It involves all of our freedom to know what is going on in the United States. Yesterday, we know that the head of the White House Correspondents Association, Jackie Heinrich, had a private meeting with President Trump where she was pushing for White House access and trying to get this ban nonsense to go away altogether. We don't know what the outcome of that meeting was, but it's notable that she had that chance to talk with the president directly. We also know the new owner of CNN, David Ellison, who took control earlier this week, has said he supports this legal action by CNN. That was also an important statement by the new owner of this network.

27:06So you have these three banned news outlets once again today in court fighting for our rights and your rights at home as viewers. And Dana, as Evan said, we should know more by Tuesday of next week. Yeah, and I just want to add that Jackie Heinrich, who is working in her capacity as president of the White House Correspondents Association, has been doing an amazing job fighting for all of the things that you just said, Brian. Thank you so much to you and to Evan outside the courthouse. What happens when a first-time politician gets elected to run one of the most liberal cities in America? We got so entrapped in our progressive values and talking about progressivism that we weren't taking stock of what was happening on our streets.

27:51I went to San Francisco to talk to Mayor Daniel Lurie. Our conversation is next.

28:03For almost two centuries, San Francisco was known as the place to make your fortune in gold, ride a cable car, enjoy the beautiful Bay views. More recently, San Francisco's been known for the problems plaguing it, a deadly drug crisis, rampant crime, homelessness, an affordability and housing crisis. But there's now a relatively new Democratic mayor of the city by the Bay, trying a different approach. I spent time with San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie at the city's iconic ferry building. So you say that this is, what do you call the doorway to the city? The front door to the city. We have people from the East Bay, from Marin coming in.

28:42This ferry building is just, it's a magical place. For years, San Francisco has been the poster child, particularly thanks to Republicans, President Trump in particular, on Democratic governance. and big cities not working. High crime, homelessness, disorder. You ran two years ago to turn that around, and you are. There are statistics that we've seen. Homelessness is down 4 % from 2024. Violent crime in 2025 fell 17%. What do you want other big city mayors, Democrats, to know about what you're doing here and why you think it's working? Dana, I've been clear. We lost our way as a city. We were focused on the wrong things and today we're focused on common sense.

29:30We're focused on good governance. We're focused on delivering results for the people of San Francisco. I said from day one public safety was going to be my number one priority. The crisis on our streets, the mental health and drug crisis is another top priority of mine. And I want to get the basics of governance right. We have to be relentless in our focus on delivering for the people of San Francisco. So is it as simple as that, as focus and just changing your priorities? Or is it about how you're doing it? For example, when you just said, we didn't focus on the right things, what do you mean?

30:07I mean, we got so entrapped in our progressive values and talking about progressivism that we weren't taking stock of what was happening on our streets. We had 810 people die of overdose in San Francisco three years ago. There's nothing progressive about that. There's nothing progressive about 30 ,000 car break-ins. Everyone had to deal with whether or not their car was going to be broken into. That number, by the way, has dropped by 90%. And instead of talking about ideological issues and instead of talking about all the dysfunction, we are focused. If you ask me a question, I'm going to focus on how do we keep that mother walking their child to the bus stop safe and also not seeing open air drug use.

30:55How are we going to make it easier for families to stay and afford to live in San Francisco? Because our families, our creative class, our artists make San Francisco the unique place it is. I had never been in politics before. First person elected to this position in 116 years that did not have any political experience. Is that right? 116 years. And nobody really thought I could win. And so whether you're talking about business or nonprofits or labor, I walked in not owing anybody anything. When you say that your focus is on getting things done that you described and not progressivism, are those two in conflict?

31:41Well, I think too often in this country we think about left, middle, right, instead of focusing on what is going to deliver. What do the people of San Francisco want from their mayor? They want them focused on everyday issues like public safety, like am I going to walk to the bus stop and see somebody sprawled out, passed out from an overdose? Is small business able to thrive in San Francisco? I mean, I can't tell you how many small business owners I've talked to that years ago would say that City Hall was an opponent to their being successful. And now we're cutting red tape, we're cutting permitting requirements so that small businesses can thrive.

32:27By the way, our Union Square is coming back. I was just walking around there this morning. We had a lot of vacancies on there. It's much better, much better. And even here there were vacancies. There was vacancies here and now I think we got 99 % full. And I think we lost our way as a city and it's why I ran. I could not explain to my two kids what they were seeing on the streets of San Francisco. And now we have that sense of pride back in San Francisco. We have that sense of hope and optimism. You used the word progressive unsolicited. So I'm trying to understand when you say we were too focused on progressive ideals versus getting things done, how you define that?

33:14Well, I believe in our progressive values here in San Francisco. That means that we look out for one another, that we take care of our immigrant community, that we take care of our LGBTQ plus community. But we got to a point where we said, well, it's that person's right to be on the street using drugs. Or it's that person, it's okay for someone to just go in and take what they want from a small business. In my mind, that's not progressive. There's nothing progressive about small businesses having to shudder because they're a victim of crime over and over again. Homelessness is obviously one of the main things I wanted to talk to you about because when, again, when San Francisco had become Democrats not knowing how to govern, it was crime but also homelessness.

34:00How are you helping to get people off the street but do it in a way that people are able to get real help? We have a drug crisis on our streets. That's the main focus right now. We have set up voluntary treatment facilities, and we also need involuntary treatment facilities. We're not going to arrest our way out of this issue. We have to get people the treatment and the options to get into recovery. But I also want to be very clear that, and I've said this from the day I got into office, if you are expecting to come to San Francisco to deal drugs, we're going to arrest you and we're going to prosecute you.

34:42You've gotten a little bit of pushback from some advocates of the homeless saying that they're not quite thrilled with the methods. Have you heard that and why do you think that is? What I'm not thrilled about was 810 people dying of overdose. Last year that number dropped to 625. I know what works and what we were doing here in San Francisco wasn't working. The numbers are better. Do we have more work to do? Absolutely. You are focusing a lot on trying to bring the cost of housing down here in San Francisco. The median sales price of a home is around$1.6 million. That's, of course, very out of reach for most people.

35:23Yeah. San Francisco has had an affordability crisis for decades. We've said no to new neighbors and housing for so long. It's why the day I got into office, we started working on a new zoning plan. We called it our family zoning plan to create more density and more opportunities to build affordable housing in San Francisco and market rate housing. That coupled with our reforms around permitting, shortening the time it takes to get your permit so you can get building more quickly, is starting to yield results. We're absolutely, we're in a rental emergency in the city. It went up 25 % year over year.

36:04That's not sustainable. You talk about the clean and safe streets. You're very open about wanting more police officers. You're part of a party that is still trying to figure out how to navigate either through or out of six years ago calling, some people calling to defund the police. So can you just talk about that contrast? I think people want good government. They want to feel safe on their streets. They want to feel safe in their homes. And that requires a strong law enforcement presence. Hi, you guys. How you doing? How you doing, sir? Thank you for everything. Have a nice day, sir. The fact that they're here walking around, is that part of your effort?

36:46We're trying to rebuild the ranks of our police department. And to make people feel safe. And to make people feel safe. And that's the type of police where you want to see them out walking. People are feeling safer in the city by huge numbers. As you pointed out earlier, last year crime went down 30%. It's down another 20 % this year. That's what people want from a mayor. And once again, I'm going to say, this is not a left or a right issue. This is a, do people want to be here in San Francisco? Do they want to raise their families? Do we want people visiting from other places? Hi, everybody. This is just a Thursday afternoon.

37:23Thursday. Hi, how are you? Nice to see you. We've come a long way, but we have a long way to go. And I'm going to be relentless in getting this city back to where it rightfully belongs. And that's the best city in the world. More of our interview tomorrow. Up next, an Inside Politics exclusive. A new ad targeting disenchanted Democrats to try to get them to cross party lines and vote Republican in Michigan.

37:57Tonight, the first of two Michigan Senate debates between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers. And if you're a Michigan voter watching, you might see a new 60-second ad from the Rogers campaign supporters who are trying to target Democrats, especially Jewish Democrats. Here's part of a new ad. My son Madden was in his classroom when a terrorist attacked his school. He admitted his intention was to kill Madden and everyone in that school. I just felt my whole world crumble. Abdul Al Sayed said, hurt people hurt people. He gave an excuse to someone who wanted to murder children. I'm a lifelong Democrat, but this election, I'm voting for Mike Rogers.

38:43My panel is here now. Phil Mattingly, what do you think? This is obviously big money to go into something like this in and around the debate. They clearly see an opening. I think that's been the case from pretty much the jump once I'll say I get the nomination. But also, I think you have to pair this with the Rogers campaign ad from, what, one or two days ago, where he broke explicitly and fervently on some of the president's major issues and initiatives as well. It tells you what they're seeing. I think what they're seeing in terms of a race where there are movable pools of voters that are not necessarily significant, but will be enough to potentially push one way or the other in terms of who wins.

39:23And they're trying to find where they are, target them, and make sure that they get the message that Rogers is a better alternative to El-Sahed. And it'll be interesting to see how it plays. More interesting will be El-Sahed's response, particularly in a debate forum. Yeah, exactly. And in a new Fox News poll, the question is likely voters, and it's broken down by party. only 6 % of Democrats say that they would support Mike Rogers, and 4 % of Republicans say Abdul Al-Sayed. It's obviously the independents that are pretty split, but if you go back to the only 6 % of Democrats saying Mike Rogers, I mean, that's not that much, but if this is a neck-and-neck race, it could matter.

40:11Yeah, it definitely could matter, and that's where you see this ad, trying to basically try to improve those numbers by pointing to past comments that El-Sayed has said that have obviously caused frustration. I do think it's worth adding. I believe he did apologize after making those comments. Recently he did. But the strategy is clear here for Mike Rogers. Seizing on past comments that El-Sayed has said, also trying to attach him to Hassan Piker, although a New York Times poll from just two weeks ago showed that still most voters in Michigan don't really know who Hassan Piker is, even though those who do have disapproval of him.

40:47The people who they're targeting in that ad know exactly who Hassan Piker is. They do. And then also the other kind of part of this messaging, which is how he deals with Trump's policies, right? The tariffs and the Iran war. And it allows Mike Rogers to change the conversation back to El-Sayed. That's what's been so interesting ever since the primary. In the early weeks, it was kind of all about Abdul El-Sayed. He, I think, has been pretty successful so far, shifting it back to Mike Rogers and the Trump administration. I mean, we've seen the reaction from Mike Rogers. He's been, I would say, a leading Republican Senate candidate out there who's been among the first to distance himself from the war, from affordability, the whole Canadian issue.

41:29So it allows him to change the conversation. But again, I think it's a small slice of voters. Some other bigger questions hanging over this debate tonight. Has Abdel El-Sayed improved his connection with African-American voters, which is a central, pivotal core of the Michigan Democratic electorate? So all eyes should still be on Michigan there because that is going to be perhaps the majority maker. When I get off the air, I'm going to Michigan. I'll be there tonight during the debate. You should go south to Ohio, which is better than Michigan. Have we talked about Ohio enough? Have we not? Have we not?

42:03Are you from Ohio? Nobody talks about it. I'm getting yelled at. We're going to say thank you. Thank you all so much. Thank you for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after a quick break.

42:19I'm Adi Cornish. I'm Ari Shapiro. And it's Engagement Party. It is Engagement Party. And we get to talk about what we're obsessed with, what we're engaged with, what we need to process with a friend. Her name is Amy Odell. She is a fashion writer, blogger. But the thing is, she's a journalist who's written about the sacred cows of fashion. And yes, I mean, Gwyneth Paltrow and Anna Wintour. She has done biographies of both. And she is also the sort of rare fashion writer who, at this point, kind of outside the system. And so the question that we're going to try to tackle is... Is fashion terrible now?

42:49Well, no, I mean, I would phrase it as how do you develop a personal style in the age of AI slop? You know, on social media, like creators have to try a whole bunch of different things and see what catches and then they make it over and over and over again. The same thing happens with clothing. So they're sort of seeding the market, seeding the internet with all of these different ideas and then they can see what sells and then they can just make them really fast. Follow Engagement Party. Wherever you get your podcasts.