Trump Boost? Or Trump Burden? 

0:02President Trump is now going all in on the midterms with his cash and his time. Is he more boost or burden? I'm Dana Bash. Let's go Behind the Headlines and Inside Politics.

0:2048 days until the election and we are tracking the races, the candidates, the stories that could shift the balance of power here in Washington and across the country. Here's what's on our midterm radar. First up, this just happened. Republican leaders scrapped tomorrow's votes, which means House members are going to head home today through Election Day. Now, this isn't just about getting a head start on fundraising and glad handing. The Speaker's move is to avoid a forced showdown over a resolution to impeach the Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth. And President Trump hits the trail in North Carolina tonight.

0:59Tonight, he's going to campaign with GOP Senate candidate Michael Whatley in his race against former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper. The visit underscores a crucial challenge for Whatley. He wants to tap into the president's poll with the GOP base, but not alienate moderates and unaffiliated voters who could decide this incredibly important race. And from one crucial battleground to another, in Michigan, a must-hold for Senate Democrats. Both campaigns are talking a lot about an empty podium, and here's why. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed agreed to a local news debate, but Mike Rogers did not, accusing the moderator of bias.

1:40Fox 2 set up his podium anyway. Here's Rogers explaining his absence and El-Sayed at the event. I mean, when you have someone who's already picked their candidate, you can't have a two-on-one. You can't have a media outlet set a date and say, this is a debate and you must be here or we're going to put an open podium. I'd love to hear what his commentary is about this war in Iran that we can't get out of, that we're paying for both through our taxes and at the pump. But he's not here because he doesn't want to answer those questions because he doesn't even want to be asked them. Michigan voters will get to see the candidates face off at two debates next month.

2:19And there's another new poll that's giving Democrats hope for a blue wave in November. This one from Marquette University. Democrats lead the generic congressional ballot by 13 percentage points, 54 to 41. It's slightly better than the poll that had Democrats cheering yesterday from The New York Times, which had Democrats with a 51 percentage point lead to 43 percent for Republicans. Now to a really notable flip on the Iran war from two Iowa Republicans in really tight House races. After opposing earlier War Powers measures, Zach Nunn and Marionette Miller-Meeks both joined Democrats and five other Republicans to back limits on continued military action.

3:04Here's how Nunn, who campaigned with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last month, explained his vote. Why did you break with your party? Look, this is deadly serious. I've got 20 years of combat service, including still serving the military today. My home state of Iowa has lost a disproportionately high number of men and women to the attacks going on based on Iran. What this clearly says is that Congress needs to have a stake in the game. We need to honor these men and women every single day, but we also owe them the responsibility of having a battle plan marching forward. I'm joined by a terrific group of reporters here today.

3:43Hello, everybody. Happy Wednesday, halfway through the week. So much to talk about with all of the headlines today. I want to turn back, though, to discussing where the president is headed, which is North Carolina. and just kind of set the scene for our viewers about what he is facing when he goes there in terms of numbers. The billboard in the sky that everybody sees when they drive around, and that is gas prices. Check this out. The average gas price today in North Carolina is$4.12. Just a month ago,$3.70. A year ago,$2.84. sense, Kristen. Yeah, and this race is one that many Republicans have already written off.

4:32And you can see that even just in the spending. Right now, they are putting a limited amount of money into North Carolina, they being Republicans, just because they aren't sure that Whatley can pull this out. One, Roy Cooper has the name recognition in the state. And two, it's Whatley himself does not have the kind of magnetic personality to combat that kind of... So if that's the case, Why do we think the president is going there? Loyalty out of it? Well, there's partially loyalty, and that is what I was told. I was told that they are putting money into it, and he is going to support Whatley because he thinks he's a great guy.

5:05He was supportive of him. He ran the RNC. Exactly. They are good friends. But on top of that, I do think there's a little bit of putting your toe in the water here, which is if they pump this$6 million into North Carolina, if President Trump goes and puts on a big show with Whatley, does that move the needle at all? And if it does move the needle, do we put more money into it to actually get us there? Oh, that's really interesting. And I think right now they're just testing it out to see, because there are a lot of people still, Republicans, who have written off that race. So it's a test case of lots of things, including pretend I'm on the ballot.

5:38Right. Because North Carolina is a place where it could definitely move the needle if that actually works. Let's look at some of the broader polls, Tolu, from this New York Times polling, rather. Look at this. question about issues that are important to deciding your vote. The economy, 18 percent. Everything else is nowhere near. I mean, inflation, I would argue, is part of the economy, which is 7 percent. Foreign policy, 8 percent. Opposition to Trump, 7 percent and immigration below that. But it's obviously this 18 percent that we all know, we all hear, we all feel. Yeah, if you're talking about the economy, you are talking about gas prices.

6:20You are talking about grocery prices. You are talking about the cost of living. It's the same thing that President Trump made the number one thing that he said he was going to do in the 2024 election, because people were worried about inflation under the Biden administration. He said that he would solve the problem. He said it would be easy. He said he was going to bring prices down in the first year. And it's been a year and a half and it has prices have not gone down. They've gone up. He's launched a war in Iran and people are not happy about that. And they're looking at it every day, as you said, with that billboard in the sky that they drive by every day with gas prices going up.

6:49And so this is a real problem for Republicans who are distancing themselves from the president and from his economy, because when you look deeper into those poll numbers, you see that Republicans, the president, are underwater significantly when it comes to the economy, when it comes to the cost of living. And that is the number one thing people are talking about. Andrew, you spend all day, every day talking to, particularly on the House side, all of the Republican candidates who are now heading home to go back to the campaign trail. In the brief period that they were back in Washington, what was sort of the overriding theme that you heard from them politically?

7:24Well, yesterday during the Senate Republican lunch meeting, I reported this morning that Senator Susan Collins, who's one of those vulnerable Republicans on the ballot this year, stood up and complained that the Senate is currently voting on a college sports NIL bill. They're going to have to spend a week of floor time on that, plus do some nominations before they leave for the recess rather than vote on legislation that actually directly helps regular americans like permitting reform she has a bill on insulin capping the price of insulin and there's also this bill the ratepayer protection act which would shield americans from higher energy costs stemming from data centers and so that is those are all big issues that directly affect americans and she stood up and complained that they were doing this nil bill Now, the NIL bill stems from a commitment that John Thune, the Senate Majority Leader, made to Ted Cruz, the Senate Commerce Committee chair, well before the recess.

8:17So it was partially a case of bad timing. But I had another Republican senator come to me after the launch. This is a Republican who is on the ballot this year and complained to me that the president and the White House specifically are, quote, hanging nooses around our necks. And he's talking about, when he says us, he's talking about those who are on the ballot right now, saying that, you know, we're less than 50 days out and the president is escalating a trade war with Canada. The war in Iran seems uncontrollable right now. And, of course, we see the polling data right now, and it's not looking good.

8:48Let's look at one of the ways that they are trying to test the pushback. Listen to Vice President J.D. Vance talking on Capitol Hill today about how he thinks Republicans could and should push back. If you are one of the few Republicans who's running against a Democrat who's not crazy, then just talk about Abdul El-Sayed. He's got enough material for the whole country. Kristen? I mean, this is the strategy that they were talking about months ago before El-Sayed was even on the ballot. I mean, they wanted to have this kind of idea that Democrats were unhinged. They were too far left. And that's what Vance is saying here.

9:26They did get a little bit of a gift in some of these primary candidates because they have a boogeyman to point to. But overall, I mean, these people are running different races. It's not possible that every candidate is El-Sayed. And that's not likely to work in every single race. And so they need to come up with something else. And I do think that part of this is what you're seeing now, which is this kind of push to spend more money. That's part of them with their effort to kind of combat the messaging and the polling that's out there. All right, everybody stand by. Up next, I'm going to speak with independent candidate Democrats are hinging their Nebraska hopes on, Dan Osborne.

10:03Plus, when John King goes all over the map, he means all over the map. His report from Toss Up Alaska is coming up.

10:20Hey, 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.

11:05We 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. We get to talk to the men's winner of the New York City Marathon, Andreas Almgren. He's a self-coached 31-year-old who was, get this, making his marathon debut. He never ran a marathon before he won it. If someone wanted to start getting serious about running, and they wanted to approach it like a data scientist like you do, how would you suggest they start?

11:44Be patient. My peak weeks, I ran like 140, 150 miles per week or something. Wow. Either increase the distance, or you should increase the intensity. You should never increase both at the same time. Listen to Chasing Life, streaming now, wherever you get your podcasts.

12:06Democrats' hopes of capturing the Senate could come down to independence, like Dan Osborne in Nebraska. The mechanic and union leader is not running as a Democrat, though the Democratic Party is behind his campaign and certainly against Republican Senator Pete Ricketts. Here's why. When Kamala Harris lost Nebraska by 21 points in 2024, Dan Osborne was on the ballot and he came within seven points of defeating Senator Deb Fischer. So he decided to run again. And to sign the race could be even closer this time, a Senate Republican super PAC just put over$3 million into an ad campaign targeting Osborne.

12:46Dan Osborne joins me now. Thank you so much for being here. I do want to start with news out today in your state, and that is the Omaha World Herald reported on a leaked recording from a private event where you reportedly said this about some of President Trump's voters in Nebraska. Let's listen. Billy Bob in f***ing Red Cloud, Nebraska, who lives next door to the f***ing Trump store as you pull into town, and is waving the Trump flag. He's just, he just, all he knows is he's like on the winning team. It's really that simple. It is, and Trump, and that is why he's been so effective. he's been so effective at taking Billy Bob and his wife Mary Jane or Mary Jo telling them look we're winning you're on the winning team and that's all they care about because their lives probably suck so far.

13:44First of all just to confirm is that you saying that? It sure sounds like me. Is that what you think of Trump voters? No, I've talked to Trump voters all across the state. I'm on a 93-county tour right now. I've got 55 counties under my belt. I did over 200 public events in 2024 when Trump was on top of the ticket. And I talked to a lot of Trump voters. And no, that's not it. What I'm talking about, I'm talking about people are pissed off. People are disenfranchised, especially, and that's what Trump captured. in Nebraska. He captured people who are angry about the political system, and Trump ran outside of that as an outsider.

14:31That's what people like about Trump. It's why I'm running again as an independent, running outside the political system, because I'm tired of the two-party doom loop. I'm tired of the Chuck Schumers of the world not getting anything done for me and my family. And I'm tired of Pete Ricketts, my opponent, not breaking up the meatpackers in my state and enriching himself while in office. That's what people are mad about. And certainly that's what Trump has tapped into as well. Yeah, I understand that that is definitely the crux of your campaign. In this audio, which you said sounds like you, though, you use names like Billy Bob and Mary Jane or Mary Jo.

15:13You say that they just really want to be on a winning team because their lives suck so much. But the way that you talk here doesn't sound like you, doesn't sound very respectful, let's just put it that way. Would you agree with that? Yeah, I think, you know, ultimately, again, going back to the amount of people I talk to, and when I say their lives suck, I'm talking about the fact that bankruptcies are up 46 percent for single-family homes, or excuse me, ranches and farms across Nebraska. And the war in Iran inputs are way up for fertilizer and for diesel. So, yeah, that makes life suck. It makes it extremely hard.

16:01And people are angry, and they continue to get more angry off of bad legislation that Pete Ricketts continues to rubber stamp. And I don't remember who I was talking to or what the context was there. But what I do know is certainly people are angry about this and life continues to get harder. I mean, we've got to look at farmer suicide is three and a half times the national average because they're going bankrupt. And who's coming in? People like Pete Ricketts and Wall Street buying up our farmland and continue to consolidate the industry here. Nebraska is an ag state first and foremost. We've got to protect that.

16:37Yeah, and I want to talk about that. Do you regret saying that the way you did? I mean, there's a lot of talk about this as your deplorables moment. Yeah, sure. You know, I talked to a tremendous amount of people. And again, I don't remember the context of this one particular conversation, but it certainly does sound out of character for myself. I've always lived by the golden rule, treat others like you want to be treated. And if somebody was offended by this, certainly I would apologize to those people that might be offended. But I got to tell them I feel their pain. I absolutely feel their pain.

17:17We're all angry right now. And sometimes when you're angry, you say some things. But, you know, I'm angry that our Ogallala Aquifer, we sit on the largest body of fresh water in the world. And we're depleting it six times faster than it gets replenished. But yet Pete Ricketts allows 37 data centers to come in with$800 million in tax credits without being responsible about where they're putting it. That's why people are angry. That's why I'm angry. And I think, you know, anybody who hears this and knows me understands that's where it's coming from. You released an ad yesterday criticizing the Trump administration's decision to import foreign beef, which you and many others argue hurts American cattle ranchers' ability to grow domestic cattle herd.

18:02What should be done to lower the cost of beef right now for families at the grocery store? It is nearly$7 per pound, close to double the cost in 2020. Yeah, well, we got to break up the meatpackers. They're the ones who have vertically integrated the industry. You know, Tyson just paid out two lawsuits of over$80 million for price fixing. I think that's the root cause of why beef is so high. And then they strategically work with each other like Brazilian-owned JBS to shut down plants around the country. They continue to enrich themselves. And then they control to the producer what they get for their product all the way to the grocery store what we pay.

18:44So it's about breaking up the titans of industry similar to how we did after the 1900s by using the Packers and Stockyard Act in 1921. Let's talk about where you may potentially vote with Republicans because you do say that you are an independent outside of both parties' machines. You said that you would have voted no here in Washington in the Senate for the so-called Big Beautiful Bill. Does that mean that you oppose all of the provisions? for example, would you have supported cutting taxes for tips and overtime, cutting taxes for seniors? Yes, of course. I got a family of waitresses. I've waited tables myself, and I've worked overtime to put food on my table my whole life, punching a clock.

19:31And yet that would not have made you vote for the broader bill? No, no, because the problem is it hurts health care too much. It's more damaging than it is effective. And the lion's share of the tax cuts go to the already uber wealthy. And it hurts our row crop farmers, specifically our corn farmers here in Nebraska, with all the ethanol tax credits going to the actual ethanol plants. So the CEOs of the already rich companies, they're the ones going to get that$2 billion of Nebraska ethanol, not the corn growers themselves. So there's too many damaging things in that. Yeah, I would love to see a strong tax on tips and no tax on over no tax on tips or overtime and social security locked in the vault forever.

20:17But I think that fell short. Dan Osborne, thank you so much for being here. I do want to add we've invited your opponent, the incumbent Republican Senator Pete Ricketts on this program, and we hope he joins us soon. Thanks again, Mr. Osborne. And up next, will Fed Chair Kevin Warsh listen to President Trump on interest rates, the high stakes decision that could hit voters' wallets just weeks before the midterms.

20:48It is decision day at the Fed. Anybody who is in politics or around politics or just a human living in America is looking at this very closely. The question is, will the Federal Reserve actually raise interest rates to fight inflation? If it does, your wallet could feel the effects of it very fast. Will lawmakers on the ballot in November, what will they do with it? What is their hope? Well, we know what that is. David Goldman is joining us now. Look, the president picked Kevin Warsh for this job. We know that he is hoping and praying that Warsh does what the president wants him to do. What do you think?

21:28Well, I think the Iran war is getting in the way of that because look what has happened to inflation. We're at 3.7 % now. 3.8 % is the target for last month. And then 3.9%, and that's forecast for this month. It's going up and up and up. Remember, the Fed wants it to be at 2%. We are way, way, way far away from that. We haven't seen 2 % inflation in five years. And the effect of that has lifted the bond market. And when the bond market keeps going up, then things that are pegged to it keep going up, including the mortgage rate. And that has locked in so many people into their homes, and it has prevented people from buying homes.

22:12We've seen a 24 % decrease in mortgage applications as this has gone higher and higher and higher, about four-tenths of a percent this year alone. Remember, this was under 6 % around February, the effect of the war, again, having a big, big impact. Now, what happens if the Fed raises rates? And this is why politicians want those rates lower, Donald Trump, namely, because credit card rates are pegged to the Fed funds rate. Mortgages and car loans pegged to bond rates that follow the Fed. So, Dana, it is not a pleasant business to raise rates, but when inflation is rearing its ugly head, that's what you have to do.

22:55OK, so what happens if the Fed doesn't do anything? Yeah, well, the bond market is basically daring the Fed to raise rates. I mean, we have seen bond yields around 5%, as my magic wall breaks, 5%. And that we haven't seen since 2023. And we hit 5.04 % yesterday. That was the highest in 19 years. What happened 19 years ago? The financial crisis. We don't want to see that. That will keep going higher and higher if the Fed doesn't raise rates today. Your magic wall is clearly in cahoots with the bond market. I think that's right. That's my diagnosis there. That's right. Always good to see you. Thank you so much.

23:37Thanks, Dan. Claims coming out of Silicon Valley that artificial intelligence could destroy humanity are bringing people together in Washington. You heard me right. Bringing people together on very opposite sides of the political spectrum, including two men who disagree on pretty much everything else.

24:02What brings Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon together? Well, the two joined forces to push Congress to regulate AI after a week of warnings about possible catastrophic outcomes of the technology. Senator Sanders explained the strange synergy on CNN. All over this country, whether people are conservatives, progressives, moderates, I say, where the hell is the United States government? Where are our elected officials? We are worried. What are you doing? And the answer, Jake, is nowhere, nowhere near enough. And my panel is back now. Tolu, you wrote about this interesting, I don't even want to call it a bromance.

24:45Well, let's just read what you called it. The only thing capable of uniting Bernie and Bannon with warnings that the technology could cause mass economic displacement and even human extinction. Political figures who once wanted nothing to do with one another are suddenly joining forces, scrambling the political landscape just weeks before the midterm elections. Yeah. Flashback a decade ago, Bernie Sanders was calling Steve Bannon a racist and calling on Trump to excommunicate him from his government because of his association with the far right. Last year, Steve Bannon was using words that I can't use on this program to describe Bernie Sanders.

25:18What's brought them together is sort of this joint fear of AI, not only harming the economy and displacing millions of jobs, but potentially also creating a national security crisis that could potentially lead to the extinction of the human race. And so they are joining forces in a way. They did not actually share the stage. Bernie Sanders people made it clear that they were not on stage together, but they were making the same argument from the same stage about the dangers of AI and saying that we've got to get the oligarchs, they both used that word, out of power and put the people back in charge.

25:51Okay. And in other evidence that we are in the upside down, Steve Bannon went on National Public Radio, public radio, which the Trump administration cut funding for because they said it was too lefty without hard evidence of that. But let's listen to what Steve Bannon said on National Public Radio. If you shut down the Chinese Communist Party and AI, which we can do because we give them everything, we can then take our time and set up a regulatory apparatus. I think like the Atomic Energy Commission or something like that to have some legislation. You need time to do this right. It can't be done in a hurry.

26:27And to do that right, you need to shut down. Everybody says, it's China, China, China. We'll shut China down. Kristen? So I think back to 2016 when there was this kind of overlap at one point where the Bernie bros met the MAGA party. And then it was populism. And the thing about Trump that was always so interesting is those kind of crossover issues are ones that he has had the finger on the pulse of. He has not had the finger on the pulse of this. He is trying to barrel through. He is trying to fight both the left and the right. He is saying that data centers are great. Then he gets pushback. He says, well, they are great for most people.

27:11He is saying we should go full steam ahead on AI. It shouldn't slow us down at all. That is not where the American people are. And what does it tell you that Bannon is trying to push him from the outside? He's not the only one. I mean, they understand this is an issue. And I will say, they saw this coming months ago, but they still hadn't quite streamlined any kind of messaging. And his messaging now is just do this, which is not what people want to hear. It seems like this is kind of classic Donald Trump. He feels backed into a corner on a number of issues, many of which we've talked about today.

27:43And so when he feels backed into a corner, he pushes back on this issue and others. Where you spend your time, Andrew, on Capitol Hill, there are members of Congress who are using AI in their daily work, in the work that they do for the American people. There's a story from the Washington Post from the summer. Chatbots are doing the work of Congress with little oversight. One of Anna Paulina Luna's staffers had copied a chatbot's answer, timestamp and all, and pasted it into the public record of the National Defense Authorization Act. A screenshot of the garbled text circulated on social media and the Florida Republican was nonchalant.

28:24She said, not a shocker. Most staff use it. That is true, but a lot of them still don't know how to use it and the best ways to use it. At the same time, they're going down into the SCIF, which is a secure briefing area where you get classified briefings in the Capitol from senior administration officials. And they're hearing about the perils of it, the dangers of it, the national security risks and threats from entities like the Chinese Communist Party, as we heard Steve Bannon just mention. But the reality is that Congress has been working on AI policy for a long time. I say working on, that doesn't mean they've legislated on it.

28:57They've created working groups, different members have introduced legislation, but the speed of the innovation of AI is way too rapid for the speed of legislating. We know the speed of legislating is at a snail's pace. So the concern here is that by the time Congress actually comes up with something that might or might not be comprehensive enough, there's more advancements that make what they just did moot. It's exactly why Congress has done pretty much nothing on social media, for example, over the past decade. And there's that. And then there's the fact that, I mean, I've heard from some members of Congress who are working on this, that as soon as they saw the president's post earlier this week saying, you know, if you're not for this, then you're for China.

29:41And if you're not for this, you know, that what do you say? I'm the president and I'm the one who's going to regulate it, something to that effect. that that sort of threw cold water on any attempt, even as late as it is, to push legislation. Yeah, the president has made it clear that he's not going to support anything that would hinder or restrict AI from advancing. He thinks he's in a super, a race against China, towards super intelligence, and he does not want anything to stop that. And so Republicans are not going to stick their necks out if the president is not going to support it anyways.

30:13And so that makes it hard for legislation to take place. It makes it hard for the bipartisanship that you need for something like this. When you're talking about the potential extinction of the human race, you need both parties to kind of put aside their partisanship. But the president does not subscribe to that. Talk about a bumper sticker. When you're talking about the extinction of the human race, you kind of need both parties to get together, I'll say. Thank you all. Appreciate your great reporting. And Alaska is home to Fat Bear Week, eight national parks. It could be home to the Democrats' path to regaining control of the Senate.

30:48I don't think this is like a communist versus a Nazi or a devil versus an angel. This is two good people that are trying to do their best. John King talks to voters in The Last Frontier for the latest installment of All Over the Map.

31:09Could be the last frontier for control of the Senate. Democrats are hoping Mary Peltola can beat incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan come November, giving them an opening in the race for the majority. CNN's John King leaves the lower 48 and heads all over Alaska's map.

31:30The raw rainy morning makes no difference. It's September now. Snow not that far off. Training is on a schedule. Weather is weather. It is a part of Alaskan culture. There's evidence of sled dogs that dates back 8 ,000 years. Alyssa Buser and her husband Roan pick the team, then harnesses for 10. Just four miles or so this run. And then we'll slowly continue to build, and by December they'll be worked up to 50-mile runs. Ha! G is right. Ha is left. There is no sled dog command for Flip Washington on its head. It's crazy the amount of money that you spend on groceries, especially like within the last year and a half, food has just gone up so much.

32:15So I think it's really important to vote and make sure that we have affordable food, affordable housing, that we have jobs, that we have health care. Thank you, Ash. Bueser is a registered independent, but she wants change in Washington. Democrat Mary Peltola is her choice in a Senate race that could determine which party controls Congress. Mary is from Alaska. Maybe she'll actually look out for what's the best for Alaskans. The State Fair has a spectacular snowy backdrop. Rides, games, and yes, a little politics if you wish.

33:00Daily celebrations of Native Alaskans and traditions many in the lower 48 might not understand.

33:09They're about 15 percent of the population now, many living in the most remote corners of this giant state. Lisa Lynch lives in the Anchorage suburbs now, but her mother is from Nome. And much of their family is still there. It is crazy to think that you could go to a grocery store here in America and there's no fresh meat, there's no fresh fruit, there's no fresh vegetables. And it gets so bad in some of the villages. A visitor gets VIP Inupiat treatment. The curved ulu used to chop slices of dried salmon and muck tuck. Whale blubber. Yes, some policy disagreements with Senator Sullivan. But Lynch says her vote for Peltola is mostly because of her rural Alaska roots.

33:51He has lived here for a long time, but it's not quite the same because he never had to rely on the fish rums to feed his family. He never had to worry about if they could have a moose in their freezer or go caribou hunting. If elected, Peltola would be the first native Alaskan to serve in the Senate. Senator Sullivan was born in Ohio, but has lived in Alaska for more than 20 years, served as the state attorney general, and has held the Senate seat since 2015. Palmer is home to the state fairgrounds, and Mary Grubbs stopped at a local restaurant for lunch during a visit from Fairbanks. I don't ever miss a vote, and I will definitely be out there and I will go vote for Sullivan.

34:32Nothing bad to say about Peltola, though Grubbs is worried about Democrats gaining power in Washington. You've got all these communities that are electing socialists or really far left-leaning ideologies. So to me, I just, I don't really want far like those, but I also don't really want really far to the right either. Everywhere you go, reminders of the big choice. And don't make the mistake of thinking these warnings are just for show. Affordability, of course, is the biggest midterm issue everywhere. But Alaskans pay even more for most things because being so remote comes at a price. Groceries in Juneau, for example, 29 % more than the national average.

35:19In Anchorage, it's 26 % higher. In Fairbanks, 25%. Healthcare is another giant affordability challenge. Americans on average pay$9 ,700 a year for healthcare. In Alaska, it's$14 ,000. That's 44 % above the national average. And those living in rural communities that are hard to reach face even higher, sometimes eye-popping costs. A gallon of milk as high as$16 in Bethel, a dozen of eggs$8.69 in Skagway. Gas hit$11.50 a gallon recently in Alatna and nearly$27 in Shungak.

35:57Rick Brown moved to Alaska three decades ago, the day he retired from the fire department back home in Kentucky. I think Michael just wrote logistics. Apparently so. Started his own adventure company 20 years ago. Fishing, hiking, kayaking, panning for gold. Oh, let me ride shotgun. He just turned 75. Happy birthday. So anyway, you know, if I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't do it. Business this summer was okay. He expected better. I think the war had a little bit to do with it, and people were unsure of what was going to happen. We get a lot of campers that come up, they drive up, And I see that changing as the years go on, as the price of fuel gets up.

36:42Brown likes Senator Sullivan and says he helped the company get access to federal land for some of its tours. For Sullivan twice before, leaning Sullivan this time. But some hesitation because of campaign support the senator receives from larger fishing operations. Our sewers used to be a little village with a fishing problem, you know. Now it's a tourism town, but I still have a lot of friends that are commercial fishermen. And I want to see what's going to happen to support some of the issues they got with the draggers, you know, the trawlers. Again, nothing negative to say about Peltola, but again, worries about the Democrats' direction.

37:24You know, the socialism, the socialist side of it, I don't, I can't wrap my arms around that. You see the change at the Seward waterfront. Still a fair share of small commercial fishing boats, but also a cruise ship stop now, and a harbor more and more tailored to tourists.

37:4431 years in the charter business for Andy Mesereau. 31 years of finding the right spot. How you doing, buddy? Beautiful silver saddle. We're going to let him go, John, so he can live to spawn another day. This year, a faraway war hurt. We came into the season and fuel was 325, and then overnight it turned into 525, and there's no way we can really backcharge people that have already paid for their trips for the cost of fuel, so we kind of had to eat it this year. Mesereau is on the water just about every day, and he's served in fisheries management roles here for years. They have a unique smell to them.

38:23He thinks Peltola's talk of banning the big trawlers is over the top. I don't think we should ban trawling. I think we should hold their feet to the fire and make them do a better job. Mesereau knows and likes both Senate candidates, and he says Alaska is lucky. I don't think this is like a communist versus a Nazi or a devil versus an angel. This is two good people that are trying to do their best. But choice time soon, likely Peltola, again because of her roots. She's like a real Alaskan that lives out in rural areas and has been a fisherman. She knows what it's like to have a sore back at this time of year in sore hands.

38:57I think the decision point is, do you want to change in the way things are going in D.C., or do you like it the way it is? And if you frame it that way, it's hard to like it the way it is. A change in course by reliably red Alaska would be beyond a big deal. But the last frontier just may get the last word on whether the Senate and Washington changed tracks from red to blue. John King, CNN, Moose Pass, Alaska. Certainly God's country. Thank you so much for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after a quick break.

39:38I'm Adi Cornish. I'm Ari Shapiro and it's 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 O'Dell. 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? Well, no, I mean, I would phrase it as how do you develop a personal style in the age of AI slop?

40:17You 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.