Trump Talks Pools, Algae and His Helipad in Closing Message

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1:02Out front next, the breaking news out of touch. President Trump delivering his closing message about a reflecting pool, his golf course, and an arch. And that list goes on. We've got new reporting this hour about Trump's mindset, what he's actually saying behind closed doors about the election. Plus, Sabato's crystal ball moving the Texas Senate race in the direction of James Tallarico tonight. On top of four other Senate races, all moving left. Cook Political Report also moving the Michigan Senate race to the left. Sabato and Wasserman are here tonight. And the New York Times reporting NVIDIA's CEO, a Trump ally who went with him to China, may have been the target of a Chinese spy plot.

1:37What happened? And will Trump do anything about it? We have new details and new video. Let's go out front.

1:58And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. Welcome to this special edition of Outfront, the countdown to election day, election night. We're hours away now. Tone deaf President Trump tonight, though. The president making his final midterm pitch, And it was a message which had nothing to do with Americans, Republicans, the economy. None of that. Absolutely none. Today, I'm thrilled to announce the official opening of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. That's actually the largest pool, the longest pool anywhere in the world by far. And by the way, we resurfaced the granite. This was sad because this was the grass and it was totally vandalized.

2:38So that says 8647. You don't see it as clearly because we sprayed it. I looked at it two days before, and I said, what beautiful grass. You can even see where the concrete, that's the rebar behind. So this was just really worn out. Tremendous algae problems. And you have that picture with the algae? Yeah, let me see that. The green, that's not grass, that's algae. It took over the entire pool. The grass in front of the White House, if you take a look at the new helipad, and all of the grass and surroundings. That's brand new and it's beautiful. We're much, even more proud of all the statues that we've done all over Washington.

3:16We're going for a final approval of the Triumphal Arc military complex. We're doing a renovation of the golf course, which is in a horrible condition, very dangerous and horrible condition. The walls are caving in, the whole thing is a mess. so trump spent about 25 minutes talking about what you just heard the reflecting pool granite rebar grass algae uh the golf course he had props and he didn't actually wrap it up even at the end by mentioning the election urging people to vote endorsing his candidates instead he did this

4:10So what we heard from Trump today was actually very consistent with CNN's latest poll, in which 74 percent of voters said Trump does not have the right priorities. And that, of course, has been dragging down his party. Tonight, the final forecast from two of the nation's top election forecasters are out. Larry Sabato moving five Senate races today in the Democratic direction. just one Iowa going towards the Republicans. And the Cook Political Report's final prediction moves that Michigan Senate race from toss-up to lean Dem. Both Cook and Sabato forecast the House goes to the Dems easily. They'll be here in just a moment.

4:43But Election Day voters, right, they're going to start going to the polls in less than 10 hours. But Election Day voters are following on the heels of 56 million Americans who have already voted. 56 million Americans. So we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, but we can tell you some things about those early 56 million voters. And so far, it boils down to this. Overall, Democrats have a 13-point advantage in terms of voters' identification across 25 states, which compares to a four-point advantage just two years ago. Kristen Holmes begins our coverage tonight outside the White House. And Kristen, what are you hearing?

5:23You know, we hear Trump publicly, OK? algae, golf courses, statues, the triumphal arc, all of that. What's he saying privately behind closed doors about the election tomorrow? Yeah, I mean, Aaron, he has seen all the same things that we at CNN have seen with reporters across the country. He's seen the polling, which obviously does not look good for Republicans. He'd seen the field of candidates. He's seen the landscape. And privately, to some allies and advisors, he has predicted the worst case scenario, which is that Democrats win both chambers of Congress, and in that has talked about what exactly that would look like in terms of governing or investigations or potential impeachment hearings.

6:04The other part of this that was interesting is you almost heard Trump admitting that today during that speech in front of the reflecting pool. Yes, he spent most of the time talking about things that most Americans don't care about and frankly will probably never see. But he also did talk about the midterms only to stress that almost every cycle a president wins and then the next cycle the other party wins, and then saying we gave it our best shot, which sounds like almost a concession before actually seeing the results. Now, I will tell you, even though he has privately predicted this, when I asked White House officials, how do you think he's going to react if, in fact, Democrats do win both chambers of Congress, they say it's anyone's guess.

6:47It's going to be how Donald Trump feels in that moment, even though he has been prepared, even though he has been predicting this. Now, interestingly, the White House just added this viewing party, closed press tomorrow night, starting at 7 p.m. in the East Room. We'll see if they end up opening to the press. I think a lot of that's going to depend on how Republicans are actually doing. Yeah. All right, Kristen, thank you very much at the White House. And everyone's here with me. Gretchen, interesting you got, you know, with the lawsuit in Alaska, right, that if the Republican loses, they want to not certify it.

7:20Now, obviously, that was shot down by the court. Trump says he's going to pursue it. But my point is, Trump had said he was the one who ordered the DOJ to do that. So we know what he has in place if he loses. OK, but then you hear what Kristen's reporting behind closed doors. He's expecting to get schlacked. Now, who knows if it happens, but that's what he's saying. What does that say to you, that he's saying that to people privately? That he should have done something more publicly to try and help Republicans. I mean, today he goes out to this reflecting pool. That would be a site that you'd go to if that was actually a successful project.

7:52Because then you could say, look at this beautiful reflecting pool behind us. We created this. And we got rid of taxes on tips. And we, you know, secured the border. And we've increased the economy, if he actually had. But instead he goes and for 25 minutes talks about a debacle. I have no idea what that was. and he certainly has done nothing to try and help Republicans for the last two years. I mean, Jonah, he said something else at the end of his speech. I saved it for this. I wanted you to hear it. Okay, 25 minutes of what you heard, right? Algae and arcs and interesting is an arc, not an arch.

8:29And the golf courses and everything. And then he ends towards the end with this. We have a lot of great things planned for Washington and I could get into the nation, but for that you don't have enough time. So 25 minutes of golf courses in the ilk, but not enough time to mention anything about the country. Yeah, I mean, like, you can imagine the political consultants inside the White House white-knuckling it through this, you know, chain-smoking cigarettes and shooting up black tar heroin, thinking, you know... What's he going to say? What's he going to say? You know, it's sort of like, you know, like, you expect them to do that thing from Jerry Maguire where they just drop to their knees and say, help me help you.

9:12right because this like i take richard's point about you know if this had been successful and all that let's just assume it was successful like he thinks who's voting on the rehab of the lincoln memorial pool i mean like i live in washington dc i will actually make the case that there have been improvements because of trump's doing this stuff no one cares like where in america is someone voting on this how does this affect affordability or all the stuff democrats want to talk about? Like, he's talking about doing great stuff for the nation. It's like his showman reveal, like, stay tuned, because, you know, same bat time, same bat channel.

9:51The second half is going to be awesome. I just don't think it's working on anybody. The grass looks really good, he says. The grass looks good. Listen, I've been around presidential politics for a long time. I've been with winners. I've been with losers. And I got to tell you, he's done the hardest thing there is to do in politics. He did it twice. He won the White House. So that means I have to assume there's something that's happening that's not just crazy. So here's what I think is going on. He's just counter-programming the news. As long as we're talking about whatever crazy thing Donald Trump is talking about, then we're not talking about$4 gas, and we're not talking about the fact that people can't go to the grocery store and buy food, and we're not talking about the inflation rate or the mortgage rates that are going over 7%.

10:29All those things are things that he doesn't want us talking about, which creates space for candidates in the states to actually have time to maybe escape that narrative for a little bit and try to run on something else, which is what culture play is about. And it's about all of the touching, talking about men's backsides, all that. And so get us to not talk about the economy. Paul, Trump did talk today about the biggest drop in oil in history, which has not happened. Just to be clear, right? We have the most expensive Election Day gasoline on record tomorrow. The most expensive. So just that those are the realities.

11:04But, you know, to Jamal's point, so he mentions a drop that didn't happen. We've got the most expensive gas. Americans know that, right? People see that. And instead of talking about gas prices, he talked about something else here. We're doing a renovation of the golf course, which is in a horrible condition, very dangerous and horrible condition. We're doing a renovation of the golf course, and we're going to make it a world championship course. It's going to be built to the highest standards of golf, a world-class golf course. But even if that's to distract, people are seeing this, right? And tone deaf maybe doesn't even capture it.

11:48No, chaos is our new normal, and it's been our normal with him through both administrations. And I think he's reminding everybody why they don't like him. Every time he's out there talking about things that are unfocused, no working people care about his golf course or the reflecting pool, except for maybe people who run pool companies. Right. But if you wanted to craft a message that would be explicitly ineffective with independence, it would sound like that. But I think this is also what we should brace for no matter what happens tomorrow, because he is going to be all gas, no brakes and maybe even more so.

12:18You know, I think he may be even accepting the loss. And a cornered animal is a dangerous animal. Simultaneously, he's talking about increasing attacks on Iran. I think we have to prepare for the unexpected and don't have a failure of imagination because Trump never does. I mean, the only thing he could do to be less popular is say he's hitting Cuba. And he's talking about doing that, too. So in the next 24 hours and what comes afterward, I think we have to really be prepared, especially for the national security apparatus that he operates, to do some unpredictable and unexpected. Well, and the speculation about that, you know, Chris Murphy had said, and by the way, thank God he's doing OK.

12:49But before he had suffered from that stroke, he said he had been briefed on potential attack plans, which he dubbed insane. Yeah. And I think both Democrats and Republicans have no faith in the war right now or that there's any strategy. And of course, he would not do this before the election. To Paul and Jamal's point, though, the only other thing that I can think about why he would do this particular thing today, other than he wouldn't be welcome in the majority of the states right now, is that maybe there's some way that he thinks he's going to engage his MAGA base by going back to an old story where vandals did this.

13:26And that's one of the reasons that you need to help me protect America and bring it back and make it great again. That did go through the back of my mind today, that aside from the chaos, that maybe that's what he's thinking as a last-ditch effort to try and get the people together. He thinks he can snatch the microphone. He used to be able to do that, but especially with the war, it's become a lot more difficult. And again, that's why I think he's dangerous, because if the narrative is about the election, that's exactly when he does something, usually national security or nationally focused, that changes the narrative and puts him on the microphone again.

13:55You know, there was a small group of people. There was a small crowd there today, Jonah. And a lot of his rallies, he's been very upset at the coverage because, you know, he would say, well, when people show pictures of all these empty seats, it's because people moved to the floor and they didn't want to sit. Right. There's been excuses. But then what they started doing in many cases was using much smaller venues so that they could fill them. Jamal knows that trick. I was the old crowd guy. To Trump, though, it's all a huge success. Maybe he doesn't realize that. I don't know. He brought it up today.

14:23Okay, he brought up his rallies. I'll play it. And we had big rallies, the biggest rallies ever by far for a midterm election. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. And that means there's love. And those rallies were love. Yeah, look, I mean, so the most telling thing that he says a lot is he references Harry our colleague, Arienton's thing, where there's this little soundbite where he's explaining that self-identified MAGA voters have stuck with Trump at like 98, 99%. And in Trump's retelling in his mind, he thinks that means he's 99%. And he says so. He said so in an interview recently. And I think that's because he's always had this idea that his base is actually the only real Americans.

15:09And so he talks to them and he is obsessed with holding on to them. And it comes out in things like his talk about the rallies. You know, like, there are Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute bands that fill up, you know, places. And they'll think, well, like, I've got all the Lynyrd Skynyrd fans in the whole area in here. I must be super popular. But those are the only ones, right? And I actually saw, I don't know if it was AI or not, but I saw it on Twitter and I love it so dearly. I want to take it to the prom. There was a guy holding up a sign that said, it said, less gas talk, more ass talk. And because the John Huston stuff and the male body part stuff is becoming shtick.

15:57It's all become, it's part of his shtick. People go to the show because they want to, now do the part about his ass. Like the idea that that is a tactic that is going to win over the persuadable median voter is lunacy. But he somehow believes that. He believes, I mean, there's a part of him, I mean, you know, fine, he has no problem making things up, obviously. But there's a part of him that does believe these are big rallies and that people love him. There's a part of him that needs to believe that. Oh, for sure. It's a Potemkin village. And any great advanced person knows how to create a great event for the candidate or the principal to be able to come in and say, oh, wow, this is wonderful.

16:30Everybody's here. They love me. The other thing he's doing, Republican pollsters will tell you, is he has had some success driving up the negatives for Democrats as he's traveled around. So his talking points about communists and jihadists and all the horrible things he's been saying is getting in the heads of his people. And so one of the things I think they've been worried about is how do they activate the MAGA voters to show up? Because they got to hold the bottom up in this election to keep the MAGA voters there to help somebody survive. That's going to happen. And then try to keep the people who are maybe thinking about voting for a Democrat, keep them back on the side or at least out of the election.

17:02To your point, late deciders who've decided in the last 30 days, there's a Republican advantage to it. So there might be some. And some of those late deciders are independents. They are. But he continues to crater with them, especially the ones that care about the economy, that care about the border, that care about national security. I think we have to take a step back, too. And remember, the world is watching and he looks deeply unserious and unfocused. And we're laser focused on our election. But the Chinese love this. Putin loves this. I mean, our enemies are celebrating his lack of focus and his lack of seriousness.

17:31And I would just add that the chaos here to me is because he doesn't have anybody surrounding him anymore in this second term that is going to tell him the actual truth. You had some of those people in the first term. He got rid of most of them quickly. But at least they had experience in knowing how to do this. Now he has absolutely nobody. Anybody who would look at that event today and say, I planned that. You know, I developed that. I think that was a great display. That is not happening anywhere because he is just running the show. There's nobody else there. And that's where you get to the really dangerous point in time.

18:04And you talk about being a cornered animal when someone gets in a corner. All right. Thank you all very much here. Hours away from polls opening and breaking news. We just told you there were new projections from the nation's top election forecasters. And we're going to tell you exactly what they are. They're here next. Plus, dueling rallies in Michigan tonight as we count down to the first polls opening. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed says he's raised millions after his fellow Democrat Haley Stevens endorsed his opponent, Mike Rogers. So is Stevens actually helping El Syed? And we'll take you to the magic wall to see how the president's closing message is hitting Trump country.

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20:10That would be a net gain for Democrats of plus six, six seats. And the Cook Political Report is out with their final Senate forecast. And that shifts the crucial Michigan Senate seat from a toss up to lean Dem. So that's a shift there. And that comes just a day after Democrat Haley Stevens crossed party lines to support the Republican Mike Rogers. So Larry Sabato is out front now, the man behind the Sabato crystal ball. And Dave Wasserman, senior editor and elections analyst for the Cook Political Report. OK, here we are. It's finally it. We're here. It's Election Day Eve. Larry, can I start with one of your biggest, boldest moves here?

20:45And this is, gosh, I'm thinking back to when we first started talking about this, that, you know, you said, how many times have I heard people say Texas could go blue and those hopes have been dashed for Democrats? But when you're looking at the numbers here, you're putting that from a toss up to lean Dem. Why do you think James Tallarico can win? Because he's run a brilliant campaign and everything that could go right for Tallarico actually has gone right. And I would say that Paxton has so many problems in his past, and there's a divided party there. There's just no question that Senator John Cornyn, the man he beat in the Republican primary, is not enthusiastic about him.

21:28And the people who support Cornyn, by and large, are not either. So a split party, the issues moving in Tallarico's direction, you have Latinos moving back to the Democratic Party. You know, it's gone very well for him. And it's it's an incredible situation. I don't think anybody in the beginning thought that a Democrat was really going to win other than the handful of hardcore Democrats in Texas and elsewhere. Yeah, it was interesting. John Cornyn's tweet today was right. Something along the lines of just reminding everybody that it was however many years ago. Right. That there was a Democrat elected to the to the Texas Senate.

22:04But that was he left it. He left the point there. Dave, let's talk about your big move on the eve of the election. What made you move Michigan, especially the day after the Haley Stevens fracas, shall we call it, move Michigan towards Abdul El-Sayed? Aaron, Michigan's been polling strongly for El-Sayed for the last week. The difference, I think, between Texas, where Republicans have been divided, and Democrats, where you have this brutal Democratic primary, Paxton's image in Texas is 20 points underwater. El-Sayed is only being recently introduced to the nation, but in Michigan, he's had a lot of time to establish his own biographical credentials, and he's net positive with voters.

22:51So Michigan should go for a Democrat by 10 or 12 points in this environment. I suspect he'll win by mid-single digits, but there's still an advantage for him. And it's a big reason why I think we will probably know control of the Senate before we all turn into pumpkins at midnight. Wow, which is an incredible thing to say. Actually, no, maybe six months ago, people would have thought that was also the way it would be, but that would be if it was going Republican, because you have so many of these states, right, that have gone for Trump for double digits. But now, obviously, both of you see it very likely going the other way.

23:24And Larry, your Senate prediction, I know, is also because of some other major changes that the crystal ball sees in some other toss-up races. So what are those? Well, Ohio has been a toss-up all along, again, because it's been so solidly Republican since Trump came on the scene. But Sherrod Brown, the Democratic nominee, has had a small but steady lead throughout the campaign. And again, you've got some of the same issues operating there as you do across the country, from costs to opposition to the war in Iran. And so we think that that makes a lot of sense, especially because the Democratic candidate for governor, Amy Acton, has opened up an even larger lead than Sherrod Brown has.

24:09So this could be the rarest of rare events, Democrats winning both a Senate seat and the governorship in the new red Ohio. All right. So, I mean, all of that is pretty stunning and not a conversation, you know, anyone would have thought we'd be having even months ago. But let's talk about the House, Dave, because your final House forecast is out. And I know that you're projecting this is a massive gain for Democrats in any scenario, 230 to 240, which really begs the question. You know, it would have said, OK, you just need three to get the House. But the expectations are high now for Democrats.

24:43Is anything less than 10 pickups going to look like an underperformance? Absolutely. Look, anything less than 10 would be shocking, given how poor Trump's approval ratings are in these competitive districts. And a big theme here is that gerrymandering has not yielded the types of gains that Republicans were hoping for. They targeted five Democratic seats in Texas. They might be lucky to net one seat out of Texas. Florida, they targeted four Democratic seats. They might net one seat. And then North Carolina, they tried to target Democrat Don Davis. Not only might he win, but they might lose a seat in western North Carolina that we've moved into lean Dem.

25:22And then Ohio, where Republicans were targeting the longest serving woman in the House, Marcy Captor, looks like she's going to hang on. So it's not the kind of insurance policy Republicans were hoping for. And on a really big night for Democrats, they could get into the high 230s, maybe even the low 240s. How do you see it, Larry? Do you think that's possible? We've called it plus 24 net seats for Democrats, which brings it up to 239 Democrats. And again, we don't coordinate. Dave and I are friends, but we don't coordinate. And we ended up at about the same place. So it will be a big shock to all of us, and I'm sure to you, if it turns out that Republicans somehow hold on to the House.

26:05But boy, I wouldn't bet a nickel on that. All right. Well, I appreciate both of you. It has been a fun, a fun few weeks talking to you all every day. And now tomorrow, we'll see how it all really pans out. So thanks so much to you both. Thank you. Thanks, Aaron. And next, this is what Michigan's Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers just said on a Christian radio show. I've been very open about all of those issues, including, for that time I was in Congress, having a 100 % pro-life rating. That is not what he's saying now, though. K-File is next. Plus, we'll take you to the magic wall to break down the races that Republicans have to win if they want to have a chance of holding on to the Senate.

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27:31And welcome back to this special edition of Outfront. We are hours away from Election Day polls opening, and we've got breaking news with dueling rallies happening in these final moments in Michigan, one of the most consequential Senate races of the midterms. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, as you can see, and Republican Mike Rogers, they are about 25 miles away from each other, taking the stage soon for their final rallies before Election Day. And the big question tonight is whether Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens will appear again with Rogers, right, in this final rally before the polls open tomorrow morning after her surprise decision to endorse Rogers.

28:05Sondland Serfati is out front. She is at El Syed's rally in Detroit. And Sondland, El Syed's campaign says that the Haley Stevens endorsement has been a boon for them, that he's raised$2.4 million, I guess, in what, just about 24 hours since that shocking endorsement. Does the El-Sayed campaign think that her flip is actually helping them in terms of turnout? Well, Erin, there certainly is a sense within the campaign that her flip has galvanized Democrats here in Michigan. And that certainly is significant and certainly backed up by those fundraising numbers on Sunday that the campaign reported.

28:42I spoke with one Democrat just a moment ago, and they said nothing gets people out to the polls like betrayal. So certainly within the campaign, there is this sense that perhaps this anger and this 11th hour of switch of her vote will drive more people at the polls where they need it. But that still is very much an open question whether that will be a translation to voter outcomes. Now today on the campaign campaign trail, Abdul Sayed largely ignored the drama that has unfolded over the last 24 to 48 hours, really staying focused on his message. You see behind me, he's here at this theater tonight at a GOTV Get Out the Vote event, his last of the evening with rapper Common.

29:25So certainly a celebratory note to end this campaign and largely ignoring the drama. He was asked on the campaign trail about any message that he has for Haley Stevens, and he answered in one word, nope, and then went on to say later that he doesn't think much about his opponent at all. Now, contrast that to Mike Rogers, his Republican opponent, who has really made her endorsement, the Democratic Congresswoman's endorsement, a key message and part of his closing campaign message. He will be he's appearing at this hour in Rochester's Hill, just two dozen miles away from this location downtown. And it's still an open question whether we will see Stevens and Rogers together.

30:08She left the door open in an appearance earlier today saying that's something that she's not ready to announce. So big question whether they will be seen together in the waning hours of this campaign. Erin? All right. Thank you very much, Sunlin. And also tonight, K-File has new reporting on the Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers and specifically on his abortion record. Rogers is now clarifying his position after touting his, quote, 100 percent pro-life, end quote, record during an interview last week on a conservative Christian radio show. Here's what he said. Can we feel confident as evangelical Christians that you're going to be on our side on some of these social issues?

30:50You don't even have to think about it twice. I mean, I've been very open about all of those issues, including, from that time I was in Congress, having 100 % pro-life rating. We're all conservative Christians. This is the only way that I know how to be when I go back to the United States. Absolutely. The thing is, though, on the campaign trail, Rogers has said he opposes a national abortion ban and would respect Michigan's abortion protections. So CNN's Andrew Kaczynski saw that discrepancy, digs into the story. He's with me now. What did you find? Well, Aaron, abortion is probably the last issue that Mike Rogers wanted to be talking about these last days of the campaign.

31:33And there is a reason for that. This is a difficult issue for him politically because after Roe v. Wade was overturned, Michigan voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment in 2022 that enshrined abortion rights in the state's constitution. So Rogers has had to reconcile his longtime opposition to abortion with the protections that Michigan voters put in place. After his comments in that radio interview went viral, Rogers quickly said this on X. He said, Michigan voters have already decided the issue, and I respect that decision in the Senate. I won't do anything to change it. He also added, this decision is one of the hardest decisions a woman will make in her entire life, and it should be handled with her family and her doctor, period.

32:16Which is interesting, you know, that, you know, you go on a radio show and I guess, you know, you say what you have to say in that setting, but then your reality comes to strike. Because what you just said is very different from being, in his words, quote, 100 % pro-life, right? Those things don't sound the same. So I guess when you look at his record in Congress, what do you see? Yeah, absolutely. It's very different. And Aaron, when you look at his record, the 14 years in the House, there's a reason that Democrats have continued to focus on this issue. He has a long history of supporting federal abortion restrictions, including voting for legislation that would have banned abortions nationwide after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

32:51And in a 2010 interview that we uncovered during his last Senate run, we found that Rogers went even further. He said that abortion should only be legal to save the life of the mother. And Aaron, we went back through Rogers' congressional papers that are archived at Oakland University, where he found these voting scorecards showing that he received 100 % perfect ratings from National Life to Right. At the same time, he was getting near zero ratings from abortion rights groups, including Planned Parenthood and NARAL, Pro-Choice America. And Rogers, we found he wasn't shy at all about touting that record.

33:25He touted it in ratings on his own campaign website. He highlighted endorsements from anti-abortion organizations. So when he told that Christian radio audience last week that he had a 100 % pro-life rating. He was accurately describing his record in Congress, but that was very much out of step, Aaron, with what Michiganders put in their state constitution in 2022. So interesting. What he said in the radio interview is consistent with his record and what he believes, but what he said on X. Quickly clarified on X that he does not, you know, this is his position. And again - Well, it's very different from what you just said in his record with this is a decision that should be handled with her family and her doctor, period.

34:05Very different. I don't think that would get a 100 percent pro-life rating. No, it would not. I'm comfortable saying that. Andrew Kaczynski, thank you very much. I appreciate you. And next, Trump touting about what he called the biggest drop in oil prices today. But of course, when it comes to prices at the pump, they are the highest they've ever been on an election day. Is it too little, too late? Plus, a top tech ally of Trump targeted by a suspected Chinese spy, according to The New York Times. And tonight, officials fear that she could have passed crucial information to Beijing.

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35:53and welcome back to a special edition of out front countdown to election morning that's what i'm going to call it election morning then all day then there's a night we've got the breaking news live pictures of an event where republican ashley hinson is moments away from taking the stage making her closing pitch that's in iowa it's the only senate race tonight the top election forecasters have shifted towards republicans everything else going in the other direction Democrat Josh Turek trying to stop her to become the first Democrat to win a Senate race in Iowa since 2008. Trump, meantime, rallying in Dubuque, Iowa, 24 hours ago, trying to keep that seat Republican.

36:26Phil Mattingly is here with me at the magic wall. So, you know, Phil, if Republicans hold on to Iowa in the Senate, right? OK, so OK, we go ahead and give them that. What else needs to go their way then? So let's start from the baseline of Democrats hold the seats that they're defending. So they win Georgia. They win in Michigan. They hold on to New Hampshire. Then they flip North Carolina, which is the expectation right now based on polling former Governor Roy Cooper over there. Now you look at the map and what you're seeing in yellow are still kind of the battleground states. And you say, OK, they are able with the former Senate incumbent, Sherrod Brown, to win back Ohio, which would be a significant win for them.

37:00But Susan Collins once again bucks the national trend and holds on to Maine. Here's what they're looking at right now. Now, if Republicans can hold on to Iowa, which to what you heard earlier tonight is the lone bright spot in an environment where Republicans don't have many bright spots at all. I think this is where it gets difficult and underscores the difficulty of the map for Democrats from the start. These states, if you look at the three of them, this is Kansas, a plus 16 Trump state. This is Texas, a plus 13 and a half Trump state. And this is Alaska, a plus 13 Trump state. They would have to win two out of three of those if they don't win Iowa and they lose either Ohio or Maine in order to get that 51 seats they need.

37:39This math has always been complicated. But Iowa going to Republicans, Hinson winning that race would certainly make it a more difficult path. I mean that. Right. I mean that. And that just shows you. Right. This is why a few months ago, even nobody was having this conversation. It underscores the environment is particularly bad for Republicans, but is still kind of in need of a straight flush for Democrats and able to pull it off. Right, right. OK, so Trump now, you know, obviously we were saying today he had his final speech and it was about algae and the reflecting pool in the arch. There's like three minutes on midterms.

38:11And 25 minutes. And then in the three minutes on midterms, he talked about gas prices going down today. OK, and here's what he said. Oil today is down ten dollars, which is the biggest drop in oil in history. There's never been any single day where oil is has gone down that much, down ten dollars. And it's going to go down a lot further because we're winning with Iran, easily winning. So it did go down eight dollars and sixty six cents. Now, that's oil. That's not gasoline prices. And by the way, oil prices go up and they go down. Rocket and feather, I believe. The highest gas prices on an election day that we've ever seen.

38:52That doesn't change. So so he could say this. I guess the question is, does any of this rhetoric matter in any of these battleground states that you're looking at, where people are going out and they're going to fill up their cars tomorrow at a record high gas price? The change in the global oil benchmark is not changing what people are seeing in their gas stations. And they're certainly not changing what people have seen over the course of the last six months at their gas stations. And I think this is a really kind of clean way to look at it. When you pull up gas price change by percentage since February and then you look at where basically to explain this lighter areas, the change hasn't been as dramatic under 45 percent.

39:30The darker it gets. Can I just say under 45 percent? Right. Not dramatic. The best case scenario is still significant. If you're starting to see pink and purple here, that's between 70 and 75 percent. That's significant. Now pull out the key Senate races that we're watching and you start to see some pretty notable trends in terms of what you're seeing here, which is right now you see Iowa, Kansas, Texas, even South Carolina, Michigan, significant portions of Maine. What are all those states? Those are critical, critical states. And you start to understand why the map this isn't entirely because of what we've seen in gas prices, but it has exacerbated everything.

40:07You talk about Iowa. Ashley Hinson may win Iowa. There's a chance they lose 75 percent of their Republican House delegation in races. Economic pressure, a huge part of what's going on here, even if Hinson is able to outrun. All right. Well, thank you very much, Phil Mattingly. And next, did a Chinese spy target a top Trump ally, the NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang? That's what The New York Times is reporting. And this is him in May of 2025 with this woman supposedly named Alice Huang. So who is this woman? And what sort of information do officials believe she may have been passing on to Beijing?

41:03Tonight, Trump, an AI titan and an alleged spy. The New York Times reporting NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang developed close ties to a businesswoman who was believed by U.S. intelligence to be a Chinese spy. The Times reporting Trump was briefed on this but took no action. Will Ripley is out front with more details. Tonight, questions swirl around the woman in pink linked to what the New York Times calls a Chinese spy plot. How did she get so close to NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang? Yes, sir. At this exclusive group dinner for tech executives in Taipei last year, cameras capture friendly conversation. At one point, she gives them a peck on the cheek.

41:46At the end of the evening, they get in the same car and drive away. Who is she? Her name is Alice Huang or Huang Le, and U.S. intelligence officials believe she is an intelligence asset for the Chinese government, which means she's passing information back to Beijing. Paul Moser with The New York Times has been investigating her links to Jensen Huang and NVIDIA for more than a year. CNN has not independently confirmed her identity. We first see photos of her in 2024 on LinkedIn at a bar with Jensen during a computer trade event. U.S. officials believe she has a close relationship with Jensen Huang.

42:18That raises alarms amongst U.S. officials because that could give her insight into Trump's thinking on AI, gives her insight into Jensen himself. The Times reports President Donald Trump was briefed on the findings last year, but chose not to act. Thank you, Mr. President. Jensen Huang is a familiar face in Trump's orbit. The National Medal of Science to Jensen Huang of NVIDIA. At this White House state dinner, sitting at the head table with the president and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. And they've all agreed that that's a very positive. He even joined President Trump's trip to Beijing. When asked about the New York Times report, Trump lavished praise on the tech billionaire.

42:57I have a lot of respect for Jensen. I didn't know about the specific thing. but I hope he's going to be okay. He's a great, brilliant person and we want to protect our brilliant people. We went back to the last place Jensen and the woman were photographed. This is a pretty exclusive restaurant here in Taipei. They're famous for their chicken soup and their chef used to cook for Taiwan's president. It's also one of Jensen Huang's favorite places to eat. And this is him in May of 2025 with this woman supposedly named Alice Huang. You can see them here leaving this restaurant. The NVIDIA CEO has reportedly dined here four times in two years.

43:31The hostess told us she didn't recognize the woman spotted with him last year. You don't remember? You don't remember seeing her here? No. No? Okay. We did find this LinkedIn profile listing Huang Xiaole as an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore tech company. Corporate records also identify Huang Le as a former Megaspeed director. The company did not respond to our message, but did tell the New York Times its current leadership takes the matter extremely seriously and is committed to getting to the facts behind these allegations. What happened when you went to Singapore and looked for her company?

44:04The office manager answers and she's kind of confused. She's been hired for a few months. The office behind her is completely empty and she says that all of the bosses are in China and they never really come down and she doesn't hear much from them. And this is a company that bought how many billions? Yeah,$4.8 billion in chips over two years. A number confirmed to CNN by import genius researcher William George. He spent more than a year tracking NVIDIA technology shipments to Megaspeed and its Malaysian subsidiary Speed Matrix, some involving a Chinese technology company blacklisted by Washington.

44:38It is almost impossible for me to imagine a higher priority target for Chinese intelligence right now than people in the U.S. AI and AI hardware space. Including Jensen Huang. Including Jensen Huang, yes. In a statement to CNN, NVIDIA says allegations of illegal chip diversion were thoroughly investigated and debunked last year. The company is also defending its CEO's conversations with the woman identified by the Times. Jensen's interactions with Ms. Huang are not unusual or unexpected. Meetings with customers are part of a CEO's job. Jensen talks with thousands of customer executives every year.

45:13NVIDIA insists its customers receive ordinary business information, not sensitive NVIDIA trade secrets, and zero information relevant to national security. Beijing's foreign ministry also rejects the Times' findings, saying the report is based on unfounded speculation and is purely an attempt to smear and vilify China. The Times says it's not clear what information she allegedly passed to Beijing or where she is now. Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei. Incredible reporting by Will Ripley. And thanks so much to all of you for joining us. AC 360 with Anderson Cooper begins right now.

46:10from your office or home. Save up to 90 % with automated rate shopping. That's why over 1 million small businesses trust Stamps.com. Go to Stamps.com and use code PODCAST to try Stamps.com risk-free for 60 days. When you spend enough time around great companies, you notice that the best ones treat trust as a growth strategy, not a box to check. Vanta helps companies build and prove trust from day one. Its agentic trust platform connects compliance, risk, and trust at enterprise scale. Vanta delivers a 526 % return on investment over three years and pays for itself in just three months. Learn why over 16 ,000 of the fastest growing companies use Vanta at Vanta.com.