Trump Focuses on Renovations, Not Economy, in Final Message

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0:43Good evening and welcome to the special edition of Laura Coates Live. And that countdown to the midterms is almost over. Election Day now, less than an hour away. I've got my panel here to comb through the campaign's final moments and what we can expect when the polls open in the AM. And we want you at home to be a part of our coverage. So send me your questions, send me your comments at CNN.com slash engaged politics. I'm going to answer them live on air this hour with our panel. Now, tonight, candidates are making their final push to get voters to those polls, including in two of the most hotly contested Senate races, James Tallarico and Ken Paxton in Texas, Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers in Michigan, all four holding events in front of their supporters.

1:30Now, the president, let's just say his closing message, well, it looked a bit different. He used the ambiance of the reflecting pool as his backdrop and his, well, main subject. He spent 25 minutes talking up all his D.C. renovation projects, including the first 16 minutes of the reflecting pool alone. Everything from the pipes to the granite to the algae. Very special place with the Lincoln Memorial behind us. We're giving serious thought to changing the name to the Trump reflecting pool. We'll announce that sometime tomorrow. I'm sure that Secretary Doug Burgum will have a lot of fun in announcing that now.

2:24I'm only kidding. I'm only kidding. This is the largest reflecting pool in the world. It's almost as tall as two Empire State buildings laid on its side. We opened it quickly and there was great vandalism with slashing. We have pictures of it. We have photographs of it. The pipes now are totally renovated. They're brand new pipes put in and the pipes being very important in terms of the algae and other things. We resurfaced the bottom in a beautiful dark blue, very dark blue. They call it American flag blue, but it's very dark. And by the way, we resurfaced the granite. This granite was all resurfaced.

3:08And, you know, because it's granite, it's got a... In many cases, granite will have a million, what they call a million-year life. The algae is brutal. It forms easily. And we have it. I don't think you'll see too much. We have great equipment in there. Now, that just doesn't happen. It's a work of art in many ways, but it was a work of art that never worked. But now it will work. It didn't end there. He went on about the grass at the White House, the helipad, his plans for the new arch in Washington. He eventually got to the election, the one happening tomorrow, attacking Democrats and touting his record and his rally.

3:52And his final appeal, yeah, I think it's part pep talk, part don't say I didn't try. If the people that voted for me and voted in the last election where we had such a great victory, if they go out and vote just a good portion of them, we will win in a landslide. For some reason, the sitting president doesn't win the midterms, but we gave this a very strong shot. Interesting tone there, right? I want to bring in the panel tonight to discuss. I've got senior political commentator Scott Jennings, former communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris, Ashley Etienne, senior political commentator, Shermichael Singleton, and creator of Under the Desk News, V.

4:36Spear. Glad to have all of you guys here with me. Okay, I mentioned the tone. Scott, is this the message that the president should have ended on? And the tone, it almost sounded resigned at the end. Well, look, he worked very hard in this election. A lot of people didn't think he was going to try. He tried very hard. He did over 30 rallies. He traveled the country. He appeared with candidates. He spent hundreds of millions of dollars out of his own political war chest to try to help the Republican Party. And we'll see what happens tomorrow. So, you know, this was the end of the end of the trip for him here on the midterms.

5:10But I don't think you could argue that he didn't try his darndest to rally the Republicans. And honestly, that's what they need. If you think about some of the races going on out there, such as Texas, that's actually the number one concern of the Republicans in Texas, is that the Republicans aren't going to vote. And that's what the president was trying to cajole them into doing. I'm not convinced this was his strongest ending. I mean, you want to sort of end with a bang. You want to end, like, if I'm doing a closing argument, for example, I'm not going to trail off into what was happening in the courtroom cafeteria.

5:39I'm going to try to give you my best moments. Why did he fall short in that vein? I think he did. Look, I think the argument is quite simple. The economy isn't at its best. The American people are struggling. Gas prices are high. But we want to resolve that. People are worried about the conflict in Iran. But what we want to prevent is from Iran or Tehran, rather, funding proxy groups in 20 years to walk into some major U.S. city or western country and explode a dirty bomb. What we don't want to do is hand over the keys completely to Democrats. The House, for historic reasons, will go to Democrats.

6:14That's non-debatable. Well, you sound resigned, too, and that's an odd message for a Republican to say. It's not about being resigned. You just said the House goes to Democrats. But that's history, though. That's four-plus decades worth of history, or actually more, going all the way back to the end of World War II. The party of the president loses every midterm, 18 out of, I think, 21 or 22. President Trump isn't exempt or unique in that regard. So I wouldn't put him aside from previous presidents. That said, though, you can make the argument for Republicans to keep the Senate. You don't want to hand over the keys to Democrats completely.

6:47I think a lot of the American people care about immigration. You may argue that Republicans have gone too far. That's debatable. I'll permit that. You don't want some of the Democrats like El Sayed with some of his pronouncements about economics and some of his pronouncements about Medicare for all or even some of his foreign policy pronouncements that I believe will not keep America or our allies safe to run the United States Senate. So there is a strong argument to make to the American people that I think many people will be open to. That should have been the closing message, in my opinion. Well, you know, I don't know if you guys heard earlier tonight, former Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene was speaking, and she was already pinning a potential GOP defeat on the president himself, not just because history dictates or has shown in the past that the parties may not go well if you're the party in the majority of the midterms.

7:33Listen to this. I think it's a complete referendum on Donald Trump, his betrayal, where he promised no more foreign wars than to bring world peace, not releasing the Epstein files, and also not listening to everyday Americans who are saying we cannot afford the cost of living. It'll also be a referendum on Mike Johnson and Republicans in who Congress, who never, ever stood up to Donald Trump. That doesn't sound like just the old rigmarole. No, I think that he did fail on his promises. They were pretty simple, right? I'm going to bring down costs on day one. I'm going to end the war in Ukraine on day one.

8:13I'm not going to start another forever war in the Middle East, and none of those things came through. I think it's an odd choice for him to be showing pictures in a sort of show-and-tell way today about all of the vanity projects that he's doing around D.C., which is costing the taxpayer, I think it's like$1.6 billion have gone into these vanity projects. I think this idea of him like trying to rally Republicans is a little flawed because I watched a lot of those rallies and they were really almost like a goodbye to Trump. Like one more time. Come see me. I'm going to do all the old tricks. While the Republicans that he was supporting were saying things like, hey, we know prices are too high.

8:45Maybe pick another protein. Save yourself some money. Prices are too high. Maybe skip a Starbucks run stuff that just isn't going to resonate with the American people. So I think whether it's his lack of leadership to guide this ship for Republicans or it's the fact that he really has betrayed Maha with the roundup stuff that happened or MAGA folks who said this doesn't feel like America first. I think that's what we're seeing. No, I mean, I think the president really punctuated former Congresswoman Greene's point. I mean, this is why the Republicans wanted him off the trail, because he cannot stay focused.

9:19He's concerned about everything, primarily himself, rather than the American people. He has no closing argument. He's made a mess of the economy, made the mess of our ally ships all over the world, and he has no answer for it. So what is he left to do other than to stroke his own ego with his vanity project? And the reality is, what if he put that much energy into fixing the economy? I mean, that's the only desire of the American people is to have a president to actually see them. And interestingly enough, Republicans made the same criticism of Joe Biden, that somehow he ran and tried to convince the American people that the reality wasn't real.

10:00And here we have not just people suffering, but more importantly, states from the Midwest to red states that he won by double digits that are all in play now because of his own actions. And so, yeah. So, I mean, I think the president, he just punctuated Green's point. which is he could care less about the American people, could care less about the situation, and doesn't have any solutions. Do you disagree with that? Look, it's mostly gas prices. I mean, let's be honest. I mean, the diesel stuff in the Midwest is terrible, and a lot of people are upset about it. And gas prices generally have been high this year.

10:32I think the debate to be had was, okay, gas prices going up could be a temporary thing because we do have more oil flowing out of the Middle East now than even before the war started. So it's likely that those are going to come down. But what's a Democrat ever done about gas prices? Democrats have been against domestic energy production. They're against refineries. They're against pipelines. In fact, it's been the policy of the Democratic Party for decades to restrict domestic energy production, to drive up the cost of gas so that we would move away from fossil fuels. El-Sayed in Michigan himself is like, I don't want pipelines.

11:04Why would we want to move around fossil fuels? So the debate is there, was there, is there to be had. It's too late for debating now, of course, because people are going to vote tomorrow. But that really is kind of the message. I think Mike Johnson and some of the Democratic or some of the Republican candidates actually got into this a little bit more individually in their races. Like, look, I'm here to tell you that I hear you. I see you. I understand the concerns that you have. Let me tell you what we've done, what we would do. And ask yourself this question. Has a Democrat offered a single policy idea this election that would change any of it?

11:34Or they want to go back to the past? I think if Republicans had had that debate. I want you to. But let me go back to the past for a moment. I think it's really interesting. It was four years ago, even midterms and Congressman Republican Mike Lawler posted this on social media. Before you vote tomorrow, fill up your tank and go grocery shopping. It will inform your decision. I mean, this was four years ago. You're talking about look at the prices before Democrats and Republicans. I mean, this was the the question being asked of voters then. What do you say now, Ashley, that Scott's statement about what have Democrats ever done?

12:12Well, I will say this. I think to say that the American people are going out in droves. I think what 50 plus million of them have now early vote. I mean, it's a record number of early vote is only voting on the economy is foolish. If you look at the polling, the number one issue right now is corruption. It's not the economy. It's the combination of what they're seeing coming out of this White House. A president who, again, as I said earlier, is primarily focused with his own interests, has made over two billion dollars since he's been in office. And the American people are feeling like they're squeezed and like Washington is corrupt and it's, you know, making themselves and their billionaire friends more rich and at the expense of the American people.

12:56So it's not simply just gas prices. You got tariffs. We were talking about Mississippi. Pick a different protein. I mean, that's where the president's importing beef from out of the country and is actually killing cattle workers. So this not it's not simply just the economy. It's the totality of this president's agenda that is squeezing the American people to death. Yeah, I don't think it's necessarily exactly like all Republicans need to follow Trump's sinking ship either. I think that this is a referendum on MAGA, on Trump, on leadership as it stands now. And you've seen a lot of Republicans not want to be seen with him on the campaign trail.

13:30Say he's dragging them down. Say he's a big distraction. It doesn't have to be something that people sycophantically continue to follow him on. Maybe this is an opportunity for folks to reflect. The things that drove people out for Trump was this feeling of hope and excitement and something different. And I think that's what's driving Democrats out right now, this idea of hope and participation. Perhaps that's why we have the reflecting pool today. Yes, maybe reflect. Everyone stand by. I want to hear from all of you. Still ahead, though, the wild finish in Michigan. Can we please talk about this as Haley Stevens faces backlash for backing the Republican nominee for Senate?

14:03We have new evidence tonight that suggests her move against Abdul El-Sayed may have backfired. Plus, the former Republican senator who says his prediction of a GOP reckoning may be about to come true. Hey, 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. Lil Jon has a memoir that just came out called I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me.

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16:09I don't think much about my former opponent. I think a lot more about whether or not these young people are going to be able to afford the life that they're graduating into. Do you have a message for Haley Stevens today? Nope. Nope. Michigan's Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is trying to turn the page from yesterday's melodrama. Both him and Republican Mike Rogers held dueling rallies tonight. one day after Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens rescinded her endorsement of El-Sayed and backed Rogers. Today, El-Sayed says that endorsement led to a surge in fundraising, more than$2.4 million in 24 hours.

16:48But questions keep swirling about Stevens' decision. Was she influenced by her fiancé? Was she influenced by something else? And why now? In a new statement, Stevens says the decision was hers alone, not impulsive, and one of, quote, conscience. And she told Scott Jennings on his radio show that many voters support it. It's just, at the end of the day, I made a decision. And you know what? I'm hearing from a ton of people. And maybe they don't want to come forward, but I'm hearing from a ton of people all over who are agreeing and are thanking me for just saying what I feel. A panel's back with me.

17:29What do you think, Ashley? I mean, do you think that the El-Sayed campaign has handled the last 24 hours well, given what has happened here? Oh, absolutely. That alone what her decision was. No, absolutely. I think they handled it almost spot on perfectly. And to your point, it's backfiring. Not only are we seeing, you know,$2 million surge in his fundraising, but I do believe black voters. The one thing I can tell you about black voters, they do not tolerate disrespect. So I think they're going to come out in droves and vote for him. And she's in respect being almost used as props. And beyond being used as props, you know, she pandered to black voters.

18:07I mean, she went out and and sought their endorsement, their support. She got their support. And then she turned around and stabbed him in the back. I mean, the reality is black voters in Michigan, black people in Michigan right now are suffering more greatly than any other than anywhere else in this country. There's 11 percent black unemployment in Michigan. National level is three percent, three times the national level. Black people are are unemployed in the in the state of Michigan. So for me, you know, as a young people would say, you played in our face. You sought our support. We gave it to you.

18:42Then you backstabbed us and you supported someone who's going to go to Washington and finish the work that Trump already started. I mean, it is unbelievable. Was she aware of the I mean, the optics? I talk about the word prop in the sense of the decision of where she announced and the timing of it and what was going on in that circumstance. But surely those optics were predictable. I mean, El-Sayed went to a black church. He had a bunch of black men standing behind him. He struggled with black voters. And this is according to local reporting of black newspapers. So I don't see how that's not pandering either.

19:14I mean, maybe you can make the case both of these individuals are pandering for the black vote. But I don't I wouldn't be discriminant in separating Haley Stevens from El-Sayed. he also needs to black vote he's pandering to black voters as well how's that any different well i mean the the difference is is she's not genuine in her interest is he genuine in his absolutely he didn't go he didn't go out and support he didn't go out and support a republican how do you know that i'm telling you what he has to say to get black voters to vote for him well i well first off that that has to be proven so i mean i i can't suggest what do you what proof do you have that he's not being wait are black are black voters a monolith i mean you're you're acting like if a me yes anybody i mean if i mean you i know black people are not a monolith i'm black so you seem to be indicating that because haley stevens chose to support a republican that black voters are in mass going to be upset with her well how do you know that some black voters aren't also considering voting for mike rogers because several of them have already endorsed mike rogers absolutely and i and so why is it a backfire then for her to go she was will be about she was she was invited to a church i'm willing to bet that it's going to mike rogers has put in far more time in Detroit with the black community than El Syed has in this campaign.

20:21I'm not sure that's true. You know who pushed that narrative? Haley Stevens. She was the one who was perpetuating that narrative about El Syed. So I don't believe that. There is a poll. I want you to respond. There is a poll that shows 93 percent, and I'm going to put it up there, 90 percent of black voters support El Syed. And so, you know, in conversations about how this is going, this obviously is impactful in how to assess. You know, I broadly agree with Ashley's point in terms of the sentiment. I mean, I've heard it from black people I know in Detroit. They didn't like it. So I'm not pushing back on that.

20:54I just think El Sayed is also pandering because he has internal polling. He recognizes the public polling that for months have shown he's struggling with black people, which is why he's overly emphasized, spent a lot of money on trying to target and engage with black people. And I don't know if that is legitimate or not. But that's the business. If the question is, is Haley Stevens genuine about her new endorsement of Mike Rogers, I find that very suspect that she had this big change because she hasn't listed policies of his that she's particularly aligned with. She's only ever said his name and then she sort of backpedals and goes, but I'm only one vote.

21:27I'm only one vote. At the time that she gave this endorsement that morning, her pinned tweet was a Senate. If Mike Rogers enters the Senate, we get abortion bans, more war in Iran, more tariffs and less affordability. That was her pinned X tweet, whatever you want to call it. So she hadn't put enough conviction and thought into it that she didn't delete all the takedowns that she had of him, all of the months that she has gone into saying what a disaster he would be as a senator. So which is true for you, Haley? Was it then or is it now? You talked to her in your interview. Did she acknowledge or address any of those concerns about what was the 180?

22:03Well, I think my takeaway from our conversation was she ultimately just felt like Abdul El-Sayed had no place for her in his campaign. I mean, she is very uncomfortable with some of his affiliations with people who more than dabble in anti-Semitism. She didn't like that rebellion pack ad that blamed the price of bananas on the Jews. She really didn't feel like Abdul El-Sayed ever forcefully pushed back on those things enough, denounced those things enough. But ultimately, they were trying to have some kind of a unity event this weekend. And, you know, she was ultimately asked not to be there. And I think the bottom line is she said something to the effect of I tried.

22:40I really tried. But ultimately, they didn't have a place for me in this campaign. Mike Rogers, obviously, was more than happy to appear with her. And sometimes in politics, it's as simple as how much time do you want to make for somebody? El Syed made very little time for her. Rogers made some time for her. If you're standing on your principles, it's not that simple to abandon your principles because your feelings are hurt. I mean, like your feelings are hurt. Her principles regarding anti-Semitism are pretty deeply held, and it's obvious to her that that's upsetting. One other issue she brought up, people have called her crazy.

23:09George Conway said she needs to be sent to a mental institution. James Carville said something I dare not repeat on here. It's so vile. People have accused her of her fiancé running her like some sort of a puppet. I also think she feels like a lot of this overreaction has been really sexist. She's a female in public service in Michigan who got elected on her own volition. She has her own agency and her own thoughts and feelings. And all of a sudden you get out of line on the left and you see the sexism and the misogyny come right out. I think she's very upset about that. You're not agreeing about the sexism?

23:39Yeah, no, I think that that could be a factor. But I think people are feeling incredibly betrayed by her decision. And it's nonsensical, like, because it's not based in principle. because, you know, to the point V made, which is like you could still see where she's made these pronouncements about why we shouldn't support him. So, yeah, but I do, I mean, again, I can't endorse what other folks are saying, but I do believe sexism could be a factor. I'm just not convinced just because there's no room on a campaign. I'm not sure you would expect every politician to change parties' endorsement. Clearly he knew.

24:18Stand by, everyone. Up next is tomorrow the day that Republicans wake up and question their loyalty to President Trump. Well, my next guest served in the Senate in the first Trump term and says the day he has long predicted may finally be coming. Former Republican Senator Jeff Flake joins us next. Plus, how far will Trump go in protesting election results in Alaska and will his party do what he says? If it's close and that's the one Senate race, could you redo that election? I don't know. I'd have to ask the lawyers, but I do think it's a criminal act.

25:00Well, President Trump has held an iron grip over the Republican Party for about a decade now. But will that grip be tested with whatever comes tomorrow night? My next guest says yes. He's a former Republican senator turned critic of President Trump. And today he posted in 2019 during the first Trump administration, I wrote one day in the not too distant future, Republicans will wake up and say, we did this for this man. It's taken longer than I thought, but I think that day is finally coming. Former Republican Senator from Arizona, Jeff Flake joins me now. Senator, welcome back to the program.

25:39Look, you know, Trump lost in 2020, came roaring back in 2024. Do you really think Republicans will just wake up and move on from him if Republicans lose the midterms? Well, I certainly don't expect them to all denounce him after the midterms. If the midterms go the way they look, they're going to be going, but they'll certainly move on. The president is a lame duck now. This is two years out from the end of this administration. It happens to every president. But I think it'll be a particularly steep climb here because the president's policies are not popular. And so I think it'll be easier for Republicans to move on to, you know, basically to pastors they know far too well.

26:25You know, things like free trade, limited government, rule of law, things that have been missing, I think, from this administration. So moving on looks like public policy stances contrary to Trump or a different agenda entirely. Yeah, I think it's going to be more traditional Republican. I'm sorry, traditional conservatism. You know, we've left limited government long behind. I think 11 trillion dollars have been added to the national debt during President Trump's first and second terms. So I hope the Republicans and usually when we're not controlling both chambers and the White House, we tend to be a little more fiscally conservative.

27:06Also on free trade, most Republicans on Capitol Hill are more free trade than the president is. And so I think that we'll move on from some of this protectionist or push the president to do so. So, yeah, and also support for Ukraine as well. There's a huge majority in Congress that wants to support Ukraine. The president doesn't. I think the Congress will push the president to do that. Trump has a very large footprint on the party. Do you think the GOP is capable of returning to what it was before he was president, even for a second term? Or is that version of the party something Republicans or Republican voters maybe no longer recognize or want?

27:48Well, yeah, it would be foreign to them right now, certainly. But I think that that's where we're going to go, because I think that's a winning issue, particularly if the Democrats go for the left than Republicans. If we have a message of limited government and economic freedom, individual responsibility, strong support for American leadership abroad, that's something that I think the vast American middle will recognize and want. You know, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, James Comer, was asked whether Republicans would not seat Mary Peltola if she wins due to the ballot sacking scandal.

28:23Listen to his response. Is it at all possible that she might not even be seated, even if she were to win? That's a big possibility. I have not spoken to Senator Thune about that. We kind of tend to operate within the confinement of the House with respect to our investigations. But at the end of the day, I think the American people can see loud and clear what was done here. Are you confident that John Thune and leadership in the Senate would stand up to pressure from the president or anyone else to not seat her? John, he obviously hasn't talked to John Thune because John Thune will seat her if she wins the election.

29:06and that's certified by Alaska. You know, it doesn't matter what the president thinks about this. It matters what Alaska voters think. And Dan Sullivan said that he would accept the results of the election. So, no, it doesn't really matter what the House thinks on this, or the Senate in particular, because if the voters in Alaska vote for her, she will be seated. Why are you so confident that that will happen with Senator Thune? Has he spoken to you? Oh, because no, he's a traditionalist. He's an institutionalist. And they're not going to go off. And just because the president doesn't want her seated, if she wins the election, they're not going to go along with that.

29:47That's another area I think Republicans will be more inclined to stand on their own. You saw them do it after, you know, 20 or January 6th, gratefully. And I think they'll be even more likely to do it now. Senator Jeff Flake, thank you. You bet. Still ahead, we have a late race change from Fox News. Their team now shifting the Nebraska Senate race from likely Republican to lean Republican. Could it open the door for Independent Dan Osborne to close the gap? You know what? I'm going to ask him next.

30:30If a blue wave hits tomorrow, independents in the Midwest might get swept up in it. A new poll finds Nebraska incumbent Republican Senator Pete Ricketts is up just six points against independent Dan Osborne. Even though he's running as an independent, Democrats actually endorsed Osborne. They even cleared their primary field to help him get nominated. And Osborne may be the Democrats' best shot at winning this seat. There are nearly twice as many registered Republicans as there are Democrats in Nebraska. But that's led Republicans to question whether Osborne would truly be an independent voice in Congress.

31:09Democrats and PC Insiders. They donate to Osborne. Osborne pays himself. Osborne does their bidding. The checks keep flowing. Independent Nebraska Senate candidate Dan Osborne joins me now. Dan, nice to see you. First of all, do you think you've created enough distance between yourself and Democrats in the closing day of this race? Yeah, I don't put much stock into that, Laura. We've gone all 93 counties in Nebraska. We just talk about the things that matter to Nebraskans. diesel fuel. We're taking our fields right now to harvest. Our farmers are getting killed. We're getting killed at the gas pumping in the grocery store.

31:58This war in Iran is really irritating people. We are now aligning ourselves with Vladimir Putin and Russia while abandoning a democracy in Europe. What we're talking about is just Congress needs to act as a co-equal branch of government and take their power back, including tariffs, everything that's been jacking up our prices here. So Democrat, Republican, I don't know. They've spent$60 million calling me a Democrat because, you know, they just like to stoke fear and division in people. But at the end of the day, I'm just a worker for the workers. So when you're walking around, when you're talking to people in all those different counties and areas that you've been traveling, are they approaching you with questions about your party affiliation?

32:41Are you getting pushback and challenge from voters who are wondering about things like polls? I mean, there's a New York Times poll where they believe 55 % of the voters believe your views are similar to Democrats. I mean, are you getting that from the people you speak to?

32:59Yes and no. I mean, there's so many people just concerned about our democracy. And right now, if you're putting diesel in one of your duallys or John Deere right now, you're certainly rethinking this whole thing. I mean, I come from a labor background. You can call me whatever you want. But again, at the end of the day, we're just going around talking about kitchen table issues with people, figuring out ways to get people's paycheck to stretch further at the end of the month. And, you know, neither party's doing it for anybody right now. So if you want to label me something, you could label me a Teddy Roosevelt Republican, because I want to break up the titans of industry, including health care, big oil, big pharma, meatpacking, to create a true economic environment that favors competition.

33:46That's what I'm all about. But again, they've put$60 million behind the message because they're scared. We've got them on their heels. That fear and the amount of money that is being spent is interesting to many people watching this, not just for this election cycle, but in the future as well, particularly because as an independent, that used to be a type of candidate that was siphoning votes from others and was frowned upon by the GOP and Democrats. I mean, there's polling that says that you're peeling off about 12 percent of GOP voters. What do you think is driving that support? I think people are just frustrated.

34:30They see a two party system that's not working for them. We live in this world of executive orders and people ultimately on both sides of the party are fed up. I've heard people from both parties say, I dislike my party right now, but I dislike my party a little bit less than the other parties. So, you know, I don't put a whole lot of stock into parties. I don't want to have a party boss. I don't want to have a corporate boss. I believe in the words of Abraham Lincoln. This is a government by and for the people. And I want to work for the people in Nebraska. You have run before two years ago, in fact, for the Senate.

35:03You were also running as an independent. You only lost by single digits. I mean, more Americans seem to want politicians to be independent, given what you've expressed, especially about frustration on both sides. In fact, even actor Matthew McConaughey has weighed in. Listen. So independents belong in the fight, not as a protest, not as a spoiler, but as a real and potential winner. on the ballot and considered seriously by us. Do you think this year gives independent-minded voters hope that independents who are running to be politicians can be elected and not just taking votes away from the so-called rightful owners of those votes?

35:51Yeah, I think so. Look, we got our race inspired people in 2024. Yeah, we fell a little bit short, but I believe we've created something. You've got a firefighter in Wisconsin. You've got a firefighter in Spokane. You've got a fisherman in Alaska. You've got an iron worker in Ohio. You've got three Senate races in South Dakota, Montana, and Idaho. You've got an electrician in Alabama, all pointing to our race in 2024 as inspiration, working people standing up to try to take their government back from this elite class of rulers that think they don't have to operate with the same laws as the rest of us do.

36:30So that's what we've inspired. I'm just proud to be a part of it. And I think, you know, you mentioned the New York Times poll, but there's a Yuga poll that came out after that, that shows 49-49. So take polls for what they are, but I think we're running one of the closest Senate races in the country here. I'm watching your race closely. Dan Osborne, thank you. Thank you, Laura.

37:22Republicans not understand that the reflecting pool, arches, and gold horse statues haven't paid my bills nor made me healthier. Scott? Well, we got rid of a lot of algae. I consider that maha, just for the record. Oh, my gosh. Okay, next question, please. I think the future of the Republican Party, if they lose badly, is far more interesting than what Democrats will and won't do. V? I agree. And I think a lot of people are identifying as independent because they're not latched into either one of the two parties. And so there's a big opportunity for both sides to be able to reinvent themselves before 2028 or 2032.

37:57Interesting. All right, I have this one. What do you think the reaction would be if Cornyn decided to endorse Tallarico tonight, Michael? It would be seismic, but it won't happen because he's a traditional institutionalist, a traditional conservative. And he's of the contextual mindset of the Edmund Burks of the world, which I know most people don't really value today. But that's important to him. It's important to the Bushes. It's important to many southern conservatives out there. You're saying there's a chance. I'm just kidding. Hold on. I did not say that at all. Here's a new one. Why are we forgetting Dems have been overperforming since this election cycle started?

38:30I find that more likely to continue over Republicans being undercounted. Ashley? No, I think that's absolutely right. I mean, it just doesn't fit with the prevailing narrative. I mean, the narrative right now is what Trump isn't doing, how voters are responding to Donald Trump. The other reason why I would say it's not catching fire is because Democrats don't really have a proactive agenda. I mean, they're not sort of leaning into it themselves. And also, people are voting against Donald Trump. They're not voting for Democrats. All right. How about this one? How quickly do you expect Republicans in the House and Senate to distance themselves from the president if Democrats win big on Election Day and his political grip on the party weekends?

39:11Kind of what Senator Flake was talking about. Depends on the issue. I think there'll be a defensiveness among congressional Republicans to stand up for the president if Democrats go overboard on oversight or impeachment. But on certain issues, you could see people breaking them. But if Democrats are in charge of both chambers, they'll, of course, be setting the policy agenda. And I would expect to see some unification among Republicans against whatever that policy agenda might be. So I think it depends. I also would just add one more thing. The president still wants a legacy. and he's probably going to be, even if it's contentious in Washington, you have a divided government, he's still going to be looking for ways to possibly sign some legislation before he leaves office.

39:46All right, this one's for you, Bea. I think, how come podcasts aren't playing as much of a role in the midterms as they did in the general? Because we found out in the general that the podcast didn't really drive a lot of people to the ballots in the way that we thought it did. Podcasts are excellent places to get information, to find community, to get your opinion, but it's still your friends and neighbors and the folks who knock on doors who drive people to the actual polls, And I think that's something we need to recognize. I want to skip ahead to a question that is really interesting to me for the entire panel.

40:14And here it is. Who has run the best and the worst campaign of the 2026 campaign? What do you think? I would say Michelle Tafoya, the best and Ken Paxson, the worst. I would say James Alarico, the best when an early invested in Latino voters. It's working. Record number of Latino voters early voting now. It's put the entire state in play. Scott, what do you think? How do we know? We don't know who won and lost yet. Details, details. It's getting here today. I will say Tafoya has been a great candidate. I mean, tough state. I'll tell you who else I like is a Saritha Comitoretti, the Republican candidate for attorney general in New York.

40:55Tough environment in New York, but she exposed Letitia James in New York. And I think win, lose or draw on Election Day, she's a rising star for the party. For me, it's Angie Nixon. She didn't have the support from the Big D party in the beginning, and she kept going. She's in her comments to bring social media back into it. She's really accessible. And I think worst is Darlene Graham. I haven't seen her really, like, rise to the occasion of this, you know, nepotistic windfall that she's occurred. Nepotistic windfall. There you go. OK, here's one more question. Let's see here. If Dems win control of the House, what will Republican leadership try to get passed before the change of the guard?

41:33What do you think, Michael? Look, I think we still care a lot about housing. I think we still care a lot about national security. And I could see some bipartisanship on immigration. Energy permitting reform is teed up in the Senate. The farm bill should get done, hopefully. And they also have to do the NDAA before the end of the year. So there's quite a few issues. All right, everyone. Can you believe we are like 10 seconds away from officially Election Day? All right. Thank you. Remember, you can stream my show live on CNN app or look at that QR code on the bottom of your screen and go to cnn.com slash all access to learn more.

42:04Here comes the story is and Alex Michelson next.

42:11Have I got news for your ears? The podcast. I am your host, Michael Ian Black. We are talking about the final polls going into the midterms, the hot races getting the most attention. Trump's final argument. Have I got news for your ears? Check us out on Apple, Amazon Music, wherever you get your podcasts. Even better, you can watch the podcast on Spotify.