CNN Poll: Support for Trump’s Foreign Policy Falls to New Low

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25:03Our law and justice lead now a damning new report published by ProPublica details a sweeping pay-to-play investigation that the FBI was reportedly on the cusp of greenlining. The probe was originally rooted in the interactions between Republican Senator Susan Collins' top fundraiser and the Hawaiian defense contractor Navitech. Now, that investigation quickly evolved into something potentially bigger. And by 2022, the now ex-defense contractor confessed to agents that his company won millions in federal contracts by bankrolling campaigns of dozens of powerful politicians. Cut to 2024, ProPublica reports, quote, agents had enough evidence to pursue a sweeping bribery probe that could ensnare top lawmakers of both political parties, unquote, But then President Trump returned to office, purged the FBI's anti-corruption unit, and the investigation reportedly died.

25:56William Turton is one of the reporters on the story from ProPublica, and he joins me now. William, let's start with the people around Senator Collins. Her deputy chief of staff put out a statement today that read in part, quote, The seven-year-old allegations made against Senator Collins and her staff in this piece are categorically false. There have never been any allegations of wrongdoing by the Collins first senator campaign. and the campaign was never the target of the FBI investigation, unquote. So walk us through the interactions you say the FBI uncovered that her fundraiser allegedly had with the defense contractor.

26:29And what's your response to that statement? Sure. The agents were at the beginning of their probe looking into the interactions between Collins and her involvement with a Hawaiian defense contractor, a man named Martin Cow. The Collins campaign says that we relied on Cal's word that's not accurate. We conducted our own investigation. And the FBI, too, investigated some of Cal's claims. And they took them seriously. Cal gave a lengthy confession to two FBI agents in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Honolulu in both 2022 and 2024, where he detailed his interactions with members of the Collins campaign, as well as the Super PAC supporting her.

27:14And what he alleged was a scheme in order to exchange contributions for contracts. Now, in your piece, you note that Navitak CEO Martin Cow and his close associates, quote, had donated nearly$900 ,000 to dozens of politicians, allowing Navitak to establish operations in half a dozen states with over$40 million a year in government funding, unquote. What other politicians receive donations? There's a lot of other politicians. that we're continuing to report on. You know, the public record shows many of the politicians. You can go on the FEC website and look it up. One other politician that we highlighted in our piece is Senator Lindsey Graham.

27:56In your reporting, did you get the sense that no one at the Justice Department or the FBI is watching to see if such schemes are running rampant given the administration's dismantling of various anti-corruption units in the government? You know, what we learned in our reporting is that the agents and prosecutors who do these kinds of cases are extremely careful and methodical. And, in fact, their job has gotten a lot harder because the Supreme Court has narrowed the definition of bribery. Even still, they took Cal's allegations extremely seriously and continued to investigate them until the agents were pushed out of the FBI as part of Trump's political purge.

28:40So the Collins team also says that Cal has credibility issues. It's acknowledged in your piece, right? I mean, that isn't an unfair criticism. That's right. I mean, Cal is a convicted fraudster. And the FBI knew that as well, right? They had to independently investigate and corroborate his claims, as did we. And the evidence they found in emails between Cal, the company, the lobbyists they hired, Collins Campaign, the Super PAC, interviews with other Navitech executives about their meetings with top PAC employees told a different story. William Turton with ProPublica, thank you so much for your time today.

29:22Appreciate it. We're 42 days out from Election Day 2026. My next guest tracks some of the most consequential elections ever. What's making her list? That's next.

30:00Transcription by CastingWords Starting at$49.99 a month. Visit simplysafe.com slash licenses for alarm license information. Tennessee 2012.

30:09Six weeks until election day. So I only get six more weeks of asking to cue the CNN election jam. One of you out there is going to write lyrics for it sometime. Six weeks from the midterms, you've likely heard, this is the most important election of our lifetime. Same with the 2024 presidential election and the one before that and the one before that. the phrase voters around the world have literally heard for centuries. A new book written by CNN's Dana Bash with David Fisher holds the key to which elections were actually the most pivotal in retrospect. The book is called The Elections That Changed the World.

30:45It's out today, and Dana's here to talk about it. Dana, congratulations. Thank you. On the book. The book doesn't just explore U.S. history. It runs from the election of Julius Caesar in 63 B.C. all the way to Nelson Mandela's election in South Africa in 94. You say it's not a comprehensive list, but how did you decide which ones to profile? Well, we decided that we wanted to have sort of a representative list of elections from big elections where millions of people vote to small elections, more sort of civic elections. And the criteria were that these elections were impactful far beyond the generation of people who actually did go to vote.

31:33And there are a lot of them out there. This is very subjective, for sure. But we really wanted to show, as we are six weeks until Election Day, how a person's vote and a single election, big or small, really can have lasting effects. And the key is you don't know when you're in it, whether it's going to change things for you and your family or whether it's going to really be an earthquake for the world. And that's why we look back in history and we didn't do anything truly modern. And we stopped with Nelson Mandela in 1994. What's the most important American election, do you think? Well, the most interesting and I think important election is the two elections in 1796 and 1800, because they were the first competitive elections in this country's history.

32:28And it wasn't really clear that this Constitution thing that actually the two men on the ballot, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson put together whether it was going to hold after George Washington left. And they were pretty bloody. 1796, of course, Adams won. Thomas Jefferson won the popular vote in 1800, but there was a constitutional crisis because there was a little bit of a problem with that constitution. And in the Electoral College, Thomas Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr, tied. So it had to go to the House of Representatives. And Jefferson eventually won, but it wasn't clear that it was going to work out.

33:09So I think that's probably the most important because it was the first real test. John Adams, garbage president, my personal opinion, by the way. Well, the Sedition Act is very relevant to where we are now. Well, he locked up a journalist, Benjamin Franklin Bay. She locked him up and he died of smallpox. Which of these elections were you able to learn the most about while writing the book? Like which one just like did you just devour and fall in love with? Well, I'm not sure if I fell in love with it, but the one that I learned the most from was the election of Sun Yat-sen in China in 1911. And the reason is because I didn't fully realize.

33:47I mean, obviously, we know about the history of the imperial centuries of imperial rule in China. And then we know, of course, about the CCP now. And I didn't fully realize that what was in between and what ushered in communist China was democracy. It was brief, but this individual, Sun Yat-sen, was a revolutionary. And he went in and he said, we've got to end the rule from above. Deity, that's what they thought that they were. And he pushed for an election, was elected president. And the democracy didn't go very well. And then he was the one who invited the Soviet Union in. And then Mao came in with his party and they effectively took over with a couple of sham elections in between, took over China.

34:35And that's where we are today. And I think it's very relevant to where we are this week with the Chinese leader coming to the White House. How do you think history is going to look upon this era of elections that we're in right now? I mean, who knows? I think we do know that the 2016 election was an earthquake. But the reason we stayed away from it is because we're still in it. We're still in the 2016 era because Donald Trump is still president. But there's certainly a lot of material, don't you think, Jake? Who would you have picked? Who would you have picked if you were doing this book? What election?

35:08What election would I have picked? Yeah. Oh, God, that's such a tough question. I mean, I'm personally fascinated by the 1800 election just because I hate John Adams as a president with the passion of a thousand burning suns. But, you know, I think that the FDR's fourth run where he was on death's door. And but that's most interesting to me because they ousted his Democratic Socialist vice president and brought in Harry Truman. That to me is why I'm so fascinated with that. But I'm told I have to go. But Dana Bash, the book is The Elections That Changed the World. It's out now. Everybody run and get yourself a copy.

35:55It's really fascinating stuff. You'll learn a lot. And it's really engagingly written. And Dana also talks briefly about the election that she won when she ran for student body president in what was it, eighth grade? Sixth grade. It's not as big. It's not as big as your win when you won for president. And I know there's a certain governor who did not win. No, I was president of the student body at my school and four years later somebody ran and did not win and he's now the governor of Pennsylvania. He's doing okay. He's doing okay. Dana Bash, thanks so much. At the United Nations today, President Trump called his Venezuelan oil deal the largest such in history.

36:33Okay, how much money? Where's it going? Where is it? The puzzling response when one lawmaker pressed the Trump administration for answers. Stay with us.

36:49My name's David Chang, and I've been a chef for over 25 years. Before algorithms, finding something good to eat, been getting out in the world and looking for it. So I'm picking up my friends, hitting the road, and seeing what's out there. The Detour with David Chang on CNN. Now streaming with an all-access subscription.

37:06Back in the world lead today, President Trump touted a new oil deal that he calls the largest in history, covering 65 billion barrels of oil with Venezuela. That's a lot of oil and potentially a lot of money. But where is the money going? Democratic Congressman Sean Caston of Illinois tried to get at exactly that a few days ago when he questioned the Treasury Secretary, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant. This is one of the largest assets that maybe ever to go on the U.S. balance sheet, Congressman. And, well, okay. Are the accounts that the Treasury is managing tied only to the sale of oils, or are you also taking control of other Venezuelan assets?

37:53It is many Venezuelan assets, yes. And you can't testify as we sit here whether or not those are flowing to U.S. persons? No. Can you identify where or what U.S. bank those funds are being held? No. Secretary Rubio had indicated that they were being held by Citibank. Do you dispute what Secretary Rubio said or do you not know? I agree with him. Is Citibank earning any fees or other charges on those deposits? I believe that they are likely earning their traditional fees. Okay, so that would be a U.S. person who money is flowing to? What is that? That would be a U.S. entity. Citibank is a U.S. entity.

38:35That would be a U.S. entity that Venezuelan funds are flowing to. Yeah, not a lot of information forthcoming there. Let's bring in Beth Sanner, who served as deputy director of national intelligence. Beth, it's not entirely clear how much money has been made from the Venezuelan oil sales, but about two months ago, Trump said it was north of$13 billion. I mean, he tends to take liberties with numbers, but the account has changed hands from Qatar to Citibank. It's not clear how that helps it reach Venezuela. CNN reached out to the Treasury and the State Department for clarity about this. Neither responded to our request for comment.

39:10What do you make of how confusing all these transactions are? Is that intentional or is it incompetence? It's intentional. I mean, why would you not tell somebody about what's happening from, you know, as Besson said, one of the biggest assets on our balance sheet, which in Citibank, I think he's kind of confusing two things. There's the oil deal, which is a separate deal for a lot of Venezuelan oil, where we will control majority stakes in this particular part of the Venezuelan oil fields. And then this is we're taking all, almost all of their export revenue, and we're taking it out of Venezuela, and we're putting it in an account, and Marco Rubio decides where it goes, and when, and how.

39:55And there's a$10 billion discrepancy from that $13 billion that he cited and how much we know has been dispersed, but they haven't told us for months and months. I think that it's a little bit crazy. And I think it's also why the Venezuelan people, you know, 70 % of the Venezuelan people polled said they think that the only reason Trump got rid of Maduro was because of the oil. And 89 % of them think that this deal is bad for them. And, you know, Trump's support has dropped like a rock. I mean, everybody was excited when he took out Maduro. 92 % of them love Trump at the beginning. Now 21 % do.

40:36So, you know, they get what's going on. And it's kind of surprising to me that the American people don't. But I mean, so the United States is taking this oil and what? We're selling it and then just pocketing the money? And how is it even legal to not be transparent about this? Well, I mean, it's probably not legal. It's not. There are two different things, right? The account that has their money from their oil sales. OK, now that's supposed to go back to Venezuela, but they don't know. And maybe maybe we don't want to say because we don't want to be clear that we're not giving them all the money that they're earning after an earthquake that no one's talking about.

41:19And we're giving them$10 billion we're just holding back and they're not using it. So you can understand on one hand, you don't want to just give all this money to a corrupt regime that's completely illegitimate. That's why they did it in the first place. But how they're doling it out should be more of a public record for both us and Venezuela. Well, I mean, I wouldn't be too worried about it when you have the Qataris, bankers, and the Trump administration. What could go wrong? Right? Nothing, Jake. Beth Stanner, thank you so much. Breaking news from Texas. Brand new video in the story of an ICE agent shooting a Venezuelan door dasher in the back.

41:55What this new video reveals, that's next.

42:06Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This is our President Trump making headlines at the United Nations today as he's caught up in the middle of a First Amendment fight. But the president threatened to annihilate Iran today. He claimed Cuba's government will collapse. And he said he thinks Russia and Ukraine will make a peace deal. We've got all of today's UN headlines in just moments. Plus, as she mulls a 2028 bid, former Vice President Kamala Harris is jumping right into the midterms, campaigning today in a race that is crucial if Democrats want to flip the Senate. We're live on the campaign trail in moments.

42:36Also, a major follow up to a story we brought you here on The Lead last month. attorneys say more than 100 people now plan to sue six flags, claiming they were seriously injured on a roller coaster in California. CNN spoke with one man who says he had emergency brain surgery because of the ride. And Hurricane Polo is still strengthening after exploding into a rare Category 5 storm. It's sustained winds topping out at 180 miles per hour. We've got an update on the storm's track tonight.

43:10The lead tonight, President Trump on the world stage. And a key question, is a deal to end the Iran war actually in sight? Today, President Trump addressed the United Nations, saying he was deciding whether to, quote, annihilate, unquote, Iran. Then he told reporters his aides had a very good meeting with the Iranian delegation. He also signed an agreement to establish a large military presence on Greenland. And he provoked the Cuban delegation to walk out of his speech after he said the communist government, quote, will fall. While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a, quote, positive and productive meeting with President Trump and told reporters he's ready to discuss an energy ceasefire with Russia.

43:49CNN State Department correspondent Kylie Atwood is at the United Nations right now for us. Kylie, a new CNN poll shows that Americans are quite dissatisfied with President Trump's handling of the Iran war. How optimistic is the U.S., officials in the U.S., about a potential deal after today? Well, they take their lead from President Trump, and he is clearly proactively entertaining the possibility of a negotiated Iran deal once again. That is a marked shift from where he was less than a month ago, where he said he was content with the U.S. position, that the U.S. was not seeking negotiations with Iran.

44:26But today, he said that the meeting that took place between officials on his administration, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Iranian officials, was a productive meeting. He said it lasted for three hours, that they agreed to have further discussions. We don't know when that will take place. But all of this happens against the backdrop, of course, of that war affecting global energy markets, affecting the global economy, and, of course, driving up the prices for gas here in the United States, heading into the midterms. That's obviously a political problem for the Trump administration. Trump said when he spoke at the United Nations General Assembly addressing world leaders that he doesn't believe that there will be a deal before the U.S.

45:07midterms take place. But if the Trump administration wants to get to that deal after the midterms in November, there is a recognition, obviously, that they would have to work on what that deal would look like. It's not clear that they would return to that MOU that the U.S. and Iran agreed to back earlier this summer, and then that fell apart. Amid the backdrop of all of this, the U.S. is also proposing, sources tell me, an investment fund for energy and infrastructure in the Middle East. Obviously, that comes as they're trying to shore up the possibility of getting energy out of that region, given that there's been the Strait of Hormuz challenges.

45:43There is oil getting out of the Strait of Hormuz with U.S. military escorts, but the levels are not, on average, as high as they were before this Iran war took place. We'll watch and see what discussions happen on that front as we talk to sources throughout the night tonight, heading into tomorrow where Trump isn't here, but top officials from the administration will be. Kylie, what about that other war, the one President Trump said he would end on day one of the second administration, the one between Russia and Ukraine? Well, Trump said today that he's hopeful that there would be a resolution in the near term.

46:19But frankly, it's language that we've heard from him time and time again. Again, there are no specifics as to how to drive an end to that conflict at this time. We do know that there are going to be meetings with Trump administration officials on that later today. So we'll watch and see how that plays out. But there appears to be no diplomatic breakthrough on that front, even as U.S. officials have repeatedly said in recent weeks that they would like to see a trilateral meeting between Russia, Ukraine and the United States. All right, Kylie Atwood at the U.N. Thank you so much. With us now, Texas Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro.

46:53He's also joining us from the United Nations General Assembly. Congressman, good to see you. So President Trump says the administration had a, quote, very good meeting with the Iranian delegation today. Trump seems optimistic about a deal, or so he says, but he keeps saying it's going to happen after the midterm elections. What do you actually think is going on? Do you think voters should believe what the president's saying here? Unfortunately, I don't think voters can believe what the president is saying because he has said repeatedly before that the war was going to end and then it keeps going.

47:25And this war, along with his tariff policy and his mass deportation campaign, are the reasons that Americans are paying higher gas prices, higher grocery prices, higher rent. And so it's been devastating financially to a lot of people in my district in San Antonio and across the country. Trump also said today that, quote, freedom will be coming to Cuba. Unquote. You've warned the U.S. should not get involved in overthrowing the Cuban government. What's your take on how the Cuban people are best able, will be best able to get democracy and freedom? Well, that's what we wish for the Cuban people is that they get to choose their leaders and have free and fair elections.

48:07That said, Donald Trump has threatened to overthrow the Cuban government. And you look at what's happened in Venezuela. He overthrew the Venezuelan government with Maduro, but actually left in place Maduro's vice president, Delcy Rodriguez. And the only people that have been enriched by what happened in Venezuela are people that have been close to Donald Trump. There is a multi-billion dollar fund that we don't know where the money is coming or going. There's just been a recent agreement called the NABEP agreement with a man named Mr. Betancourt that again has had sanctions placed on him before, had legal troubles before.

48:49And so just a lot of cronyism, crony capitalism and self enrichment here. So if it's the same thing for Cuba, if he means freedom for the Cuban people means an invasion and overthrow of the government and the only people to get rich are the people close to Donald Trump, then the American people, I don't think, want that and certainly the Cuban people wouldn't want that. Turning to Trump's immigration crackdown, we now have video from the Austin Police Department released at the press conference in the last hour showing the moments after 28-year-old Wilbur Rafael Garces Perez was shot in the back by an ICE agent in Austin, Texas, while delivering for DoorDash on Sunday.

49:26You can see him getting out of the car, placed in handcuffs, a police officer cutting off his shirt. One of your staffers went to the ICE facility in Texas holding Perez. You plan on seeing him tomorrow. What new information did you learn today? Why did this ICE agent apparently shoot him in the back? Well, first, Jake, I have to say that the The way they have treated Wilbur Garces Perez comes pretty close to torture. The reason I say that is because they shot him in the back, they took him to a hospital, but shortly after that they took him to an ice processing center where he was made to lie on the floor, was not given pain medication or any way to ease his pain, was then taken to a detention center, which is basically like a prison, a former prison in Pearsall, Texas.

50:14And he was in excruciating pain. He could not move the left side of his body, and they were still refusing to take him to the hospital. It wasn't until hours after that that they finally took him to the hospital and then again took him back to the ICE detention center, again, without giving him the medication and treatment that he needed. That is basically torture. And again, this is somebody who initially, at least we know, had a work permit. He came in through the CBP One app, which under President Biden, that was the legal way to come in and to do it in an orderly fashion. And he followed the rules to do that.

50:51And so Greg Kassar, who represents Austin, he and I are going to go visit Wilbur Garces Perez at what is known as the South Texas ICE Processing Center off of I-35 in Pearsall, Texas tomorrow. And I'll have more to report back after that. Have you spoken to other Democrats about how a Democratic House will handle ICE matters if you do, in fact, flip control of the House? We're going to hold them accountable. And that starts with investigations and bringing in ICE, of course, reviewing their budget. But you can't run an agency in this kind of lawless way and expect that the Congress is going to continue to give you billions and billions of dollars in the way that this Republican majority Congress has.

51:40It's not right. Again, this essentially amounts to a kind of torture. Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas, thanks for your time today, sir. Appreciate it. We did not show you a lot of video of the president today because there's still a First Amendment fight going on after Trump banned CNN and two other news organizations from even entering the White House. There's a hearing in the case tomorrow. We're going to talk about all of this next with a First Amendment attorney.

52:14In our law and justice lead today, for a president who loves to win, he's not one to talk about his potential losses much. But today, Trump acknowledged that the judge in this First Amendment case, a Trump appointee whom he labeled as not particularly fair, will likely side with CNN, MSNOW, and Politico tomorrow in court. The three media outlets sued the administration after their, our, journalists were physically banned from White House grounds. Now, despite its clear violation of the First Amendment, because, let us remember, this is why the president initiated this ban. This is from his own mouth on Friday.

52:54There's something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories. There's something wrong with a country that allows people to write purposely negative stories. Actually, there's nothing wrong with that country. There's everything right with that country, with the United States of America. The right to be negative, to criticize our leaders. And the principle born from that right of free speech and freedom of the press, and that is that the White House does not get to dictate who covers the White House. After all, as Sean Hannity once said. The administration doesn't want to hear what we have to say.

53:32They want to silence us. They want us to shut up. They want us to get in line. They don't want people asking them the tough questions. Amen, brother. That was October 2009. At that point, the Obama White House had declared Fox not a legitimate news organization and tried to block Fox from conducting interviews and pool rotations. Now, I was a White House correspondent for ABC News at the time, and all of us in broadcast and cable news stood up against the Obama White House doing that. To this day, I continue to get heat from some on the left for standing up for that principle. But it was and remains an important principle.

54:13You can't have the most powerful people in the country, the Obama administration, basically dictating who covers the news. President Obama is trying to exercise his power to intimidate. And I think that even the most left-wing journalists understand, hey, we can't have this in America if we want to have a free press. We can't have this in America if we want to have a free press. Bill O 'Reilly was absolutely right then, although he has the opposite take now. Now he says that the mainstream news media is abusing the First Amendment, so Trump has every right to do what he's doing. I will observe that if you stand for principles only when they benefit you, you're not actually in possession of those principles.

54:58You're only borrowing them. They're not yours. You're using them. It is disappointing how few voices there are in conservative media who are protesting President Trump on any of this. I mean, after all, as Glenn Beck said. They've either become such cowards that they're willing to play along to get along, or they're enjoying their new role as lapdogs for this administration rather than watchdogs for the republic. Once again, amen, brother. Floyd Abrams is a First Amendment attorney and he joins me now. Floyd, Trump labeled CNN and MSNOW and Politico's coverage as negative. Explain why that characterization of his is important in this case?

55:43Well, that's important because the First Amendment at its core protects negative as well as positive, as well as undecided speech. I mean, negative speech is sometimes extremely constructive and useful speech. It's more important what the First amendment is all about is keeping the government from limiting people and what they can say, what they can believe, what they say, what they print, what they show. And at least in this area, surely in particular, that's the opposite of what President Trump is offering us. Yeah, negative stories like the Pentagon Papers, negative stories like Watergate or Iran-Contra.

56:38President Trump says that the judge, whom he appointed, will likely side with CNN, MSNOW and Politico. If that happens, what's to stop the White House from, A, ignoring the judge, or B, doing it again?

56:58Well, I assume that what the president would do, at least in part, is to appeal. But in the interim, you know, if you've been told by a judge, if you've been told that the law is that this speech is allowed and you can't suppress it, you have to obey it. Now, in terms of what sanctions are there really against the president, the best sanction so far has been that the press got together and everybody has withdrawn from this pool of journalistic organizations that provide certain information to the public so as not to allow any notion that speech of this journalist or that journalist can be barred.

57:58One of the journalistic organizations, it should be said, that deserves some credit for being on the side of the First Amendment is Fox News. They've joined together with all the other leading news organizations in the nation to say, look, this is what we're all about. You can't prevent, you can't punish, you can't throw someone out of the room because he disagrees with you. Absolutely. The Fox DC bureau chief should be praised for that. It would be great if some of the Fox personalities also gave voice in the same way they did back in 2009. Floyd Abrams, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

58:44A grand jury investigation did not result in any charges in the investigation into the death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells, who died on July 4th on a trip with his friends. His family's not satisfied. They say there remain too many unanswered questions. That story's next.

59:05In our law and justice, lead a Mississippi grand jury unanimously found there was no evidence to support bringing charges in the death of Nolan Wells, the 18-year-old black man found dead after a July 4th trip. This follows months of speculation about the circumstances of his tragic death while on that trip with friends who are white. A letter from his friend's attorney says Wells decided to stay behind on the island when they went home. Wells' mother today reacted to the grand jury report. We still have no answers and the report reinforced the fact that Nolan was not given a thorough, transparent, and honest investigation.

59:48There is no explanation as to how the bruising on his body and the blunt force trauma to the back of his head occurred. How can a jury come to the conclusion of drowning, despite knowing that there was trauma to his body. Twelve grand jurors were identified as white, five as African-American, two as Hispanic, two as Native American, one as Asian, and one as other. They were presented with a wide variety of evidence and witnesses. The NAACP is calling for the release of the full autopsy report from the state's medical examiner. We will continue to follow this story. In our world lead today, the Trump administration informed Congress that it intends to accept 17 ,500 refugees next year.

1:00:33Most of them will be white South Africans. That's according to a report obtained by CNN in which the State Department argues this group faces discrimination in their home country, a claim that South African authorities deny. Refugee advocates say the White House is excluding vulnerable populations from other countries from this program. In our national lead, Hurricane Polo is still strengthening in the Pacific after rapidly intensifying into a rare Category 5 storm this morning. It is now tied for the strongest storm anywhere on Earth this year. Fortunately, the dangerous storm is expected to remain offshore as it moves north later this week.

1:01:10Coming up, will she, won't she? Waves of speculation about whether former Vice President Kamala Harris will jump into the 2028 presidential contest or sit this one out. The latest Inside Scoop next.

1:01:32And our politics lead former Vice President Kamala Harris on the campaign trail today in Battleground, Michigan. Earlier today, Harris appeared with Michigan Senate nominee Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, hoping to boost his chances in a must-win race for Democrats. I think we're at the point of our new relationship, Roman, and I'll call you Abdul. Perfect. For me, it's going to be Madam Vice President. That's appropriate. CNN's Arlette Saenz reports for us now from Michigan, where Vice President Harris's role in the 2026 midterms is fueling speculation about her political plans for 2028. Here are the facts that highlight the stakes in this election.

1:02:13In Michigan today, Kamala Harris is making her fall debut in the 2026 midterms, with 2028 right around the corner. The former vice president returned to Detroit to boost Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed with a roundtable on black maternal health. I'm here to support Dr. El-Sayed because on this subject, I know he will be a champion. Harris's visit comes two years after she lost Michigan to President Donald Trump, as many Democrats in the state were at odds over the Biden administration's position on the war between Israel and Hamas, including the conflict in Gaza. My disagreements with the then vice president's positions on Gaza are clear.

1:03:01I hope that moving forward, we don't reinforce the mistakes of the past that break us apart and start thinking about where do we go in the future. Despite her loss in 2024, El-Sayed hopes Harris can help bridge the divides from a bruising Democratic Senate primary. To help with that, Harris is also meeting with faith leaders like Reverend Wendell Anthony about mobilizing voters in November. Elections are very, very important. So we're hoping that, yes, he can help stimulate this vote to get people out. This was Clinton when he was in office, obviously Obama. Reverend Anthony leads the Detroit branch of the NAACP and has visited with many Democrats eyeing the White House.

1:03:44Harris is coming here in 2026, but a lot of people are wondering what she's going to do in 2028. That is a question. Do you think she has a lock on a state like Michigan? Nobody has a lock on anything. It's so early. But the thing I like is that there are a whole lot of people that have the capability. As Harris visits their state, Michigan voters expressed mixed feelings about another White House run. I think she's grounded. I like her policies. She's not extreme. So she fits well to me. I heard that she's talking about making a run for the presidency again. I don't agree with that. I think we ought to have fresh, you know, fresh candidates.

1:04:34Harris herself hasn't committed to running for president for a third time. Are you going to run for president in 2028? I haven't decided. You haven't decided. Right now, midterms, midterms, midterms, full time, occupying my thoughts, my mind and my work. But other high profile Democrats are waiting in limbo. I don't know if she runs, but we'll see. I know she's called around. Yeah, but I wouldn't run if she ran.

1:05:06Now, over the next six weeks, Harris is also set to campaign in Nevada for the Democratic nominee for Governor Aaron Ford. and down in Georgia with Senator John Ossoff. Both of those states, along with Michigan, will be key in 2028. But it's also noticeable where she's not campaigning. She is not out on the campaign trail with Democrats running in red-leaning states like Iowa and Alaska, perhaps highlighting some of the work she may have to do within the party if she does decide to run for president for a third time. And Arlette, you've got some breaking news for us on a prominent Michigan new endorsement for Abdul El-Sayed.

1:05:42Tell us more. Yeah, Michigan's Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is Jewish and has talked about some of the tension Jewish Democrats are facing in this race. She actually joined El Sayed for a podcast today to say that she was in this campaign. She felt that there was no other choice and she thinks El Sayed will be the candidate who can stand up and fight the Trump administration. It comes as El Sayed is still trying to do some work with Jewish Democrats After concerns arose during the primary, which was very divisive, when Israel and concerns about Jewish safety played prominently, his opponent, Mike Rogers, is also making a play for those voters saying that they have a home for him if they feel uncomfortable with El-Sayed.

1:06:25All right, Arlette Sines in Detroit, thanks so much. Political ads are flooding the airwaves, a lot of them negative. Flooding social media, too, with only six weeks until the midterms. Here's one, speaking of Michigan, from the Mike Rogers-backing Great Lakes Conservatives Fund. It attacks a Democratic Michigan Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, who we were just talking about, over his association with Hassan Piker. The video features the voice of the father of 9-11 hero, Todd Beamer, who said, let's roll, as they stormed the cockpit on United Flight 93. Here's a clip. When I hear anyone suggest America deserves 9-11, my question is, who would say that?

1:07:14America deserved 9-11, dude. I'm saying it. Abdul, are there any views that this sign holds that you disavow? I'm not here to disavow people's views. The panel joins us now. Amisha Cross, this is one of several ads against Abdul El-Sayed because of his association with Hassan Piker. Abdul El-Sayed has said he disagrees, he disavows what Hassan Piker said, although he didn't when he was appearing in that moment. El-Sayed says this race is about Michigan issues. And speaking of 9-11, Mike Rogers voted against helping 9-11 first responders several times. How do you think that plays in Michigan? Well, I think the Michigan voters care about what's happening in Michigan.

1:07:57At the end of the day, there are rising costs, particularly in health care, but also in housing costs. I think it was very smart for El-Sayed to have his sit down with Kamala Harris earlier, specifically around women's reproductive health and black women's reproductive health. As a fibroid sufferer myself, I know that that is something that matters to a lot of women, and we don't have enough research funding for it or support for it for those who are suffering. However, I also think that there's a very odd thing on the right that is happening right now, where there is a juxtaposition of trying to align Hassan Piker, whom is not running for anything in Michigan or anyplace else, but also trying to utilize El-Sayed's religious background against him.

1:08:33And it's really disingenuous. It's quite frustrating. We are a country of a lot of Christians, but we also are a country of a whole lot of Muslims. And Michigan as a whole has a pretty sizable Muslim population. I think that Michiganders are concerned with what matters on the ground in Michigan and that they are not going to be drawn away by a Twitch streamer. Mike? Fair game. You think it's fair game? I think the whole ad is fair game. You know, the Senate candidate had the opportunity to distance himself from Piker. He did not. You showed the clip of him saying, well, I don't want to talk about a California streamer, whatever language that he was using.

1:09:09He had that opportunity. It goes to judgment. I think all of this is fair game. And you're going to see more of these ads, both on the left and the right, calling into question previous comments that politicians have made. They should be ready for that. Well, the politician didn't make it. The Twitch streamer made it. Yes, but he has associated himself with that Twitch streamer. We've got a lot of ads to get through. So let's turn to the race for Ohio's 7th congressional district. Politico reports that Republican Congressman Max Miller, who we've covered his family issues quite a bit this year, He's threatening legal action over this ad released by his Democratic opponent, Bryant Poindexter.

1:09:45The ad features a local sheriff listing off some of the domestic abuse allegations by Miller's ex-wife, which Congressman Miller denies. Take a listen. Court documents say Miller beat her, held a gun to her head. Child welfare found a broken collarbone on their two-year-old, broken under his care and with suspicious bruising. 34 years in law enforcement tells me Max Miller does not belong in power. Mike, you said fair game about this is also fair game, you think? This is fair game as well. But here's the difference. So the first ad that you showed was from an independent expenditure organization.

1:10:24They have to document everything that they say in an ad in order for a station. A station can refuse that ad whenever they want to. And they have to have a documentation of every charge that they make. That ad, if I read the paid-for-by correctly, was from a candidate. Yeah, Brian Poyndex to the Democrat. Here's the dirty little secret in American politics. Candidates can say whatever they want to in the ad, and the stations can't take it down. So I do think it's fair game, but I do think that your audience needs to remember, when you look at that paid-for-by, you really need to understand who's paying for that ad, because it makes a difference.

1:10:59Yeah, I don't know that people go into that granularity of detail. What do you think of that ad? Many women have paid the consequences of this man's abuse, and many of those same women have come out and said it themselves. As someone who's personally lost four friends to domestic violence, I take this very seriously. Oh, that's horrible. In cases like this, I honestly thought that he should have dropped out a long time ago. This is really disgusting. Not only does it in some ways push women voters away, but also should push anybody who has a family away. Because this man has shown a longevity time frame of abuse against women.

1:11:30And it is very problematic. It is really frustrating. We should not be rewarding bad behavior. And I don't care what the ad says or, you know, who funds it. At the end of the day, I believe the women who have come forth in multiple occasions over the course of longer than a decade to say what this man did. There's a lot of Republicans that agree with you that he should have dropped out of the race long before this, including Mike Dubke. Yeah. Let's turn to violence in Georgia, because yesterday on social media, Rick Jackson, the Republican nominee running for Georgia governor, posted this video attacking his Democratic opponent, a former Atlanta mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms.

1:12:03Take a listen. Did they shoot you? He shot her. Oh, my God. We are not answering 911 calls right now to the personnel. This is who's mayor. I'm so proud of everything I did as mayor and how I pushed through and how the city navigated. Now, that was a compilation of undated videos showing violence in 911 calls, some of which went unanswered, aimed at portraying chaos during Bottoms' tenure as mayor. Amisha, Bottoms did oversee what she called Atlanta's COVID crime wave in 2021. Is that ad fair? I think that for people in the Atlanta area who were suffering under that crime wave, they have had their questions and they have brought those forth to her.

1:12:48She knew when she ran that some of these things would be brought up again. In all honesty, one of the reasons why she did not run for mayor again in Atlanta was because of those things that were running at the time. As somebody who comes from a city that also has a chair of violence, the city of Chicago, I think that for many people specifically living in large urban centers during the pandemic, every major city saw some of this. So I don't solely put that on the mayor, but I do think that she has a lot to overcome if that's one of the targeted campaign ads. So Mike, let's turn to the race for Ohio governor right now.

1:13:17Democratic nominee Dr. Amy Acton is out with this ad against her Republican opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy. This ad features a husband whose wife is suffering from Alzheimer's and was, in his view, kind of suckered by a drug for Alzheimer's that Ramaswamy was selling. Take a listen. He pushed an Alzheimer's drug that he knew didn't work. He made hundreds of millions of dollars scamming people like me. Mr. Ramaswamy, you don't give a damn about anybody. I just hope at some point realizes the damage he's done. Oof. That's a hard-hitting ad. That's a hard-hitting ad. You know, the thing about all of these ads that you're playing is the diversification of screens that people are looking at.

1:14:00And I think one thing that you've noticed if you look at these ads, as opposed to maybe ads that were run a decade ago, or even maybe six years ago, is a lot of these are very quick changes of video. That ad could be treated into a six-second or a 15-second format so that it could be used as pre-roll on YouTube and other places. So all of these ads now, you almost have to convey some level of emotion so quickly because the way that ads are being presented and where people are getting their information now. I mean, what does he say? I'm sorry I didn't know because both of those would be false. He definitely knew he was pushing a drug that did not work.

1:14:42Secondarily, he didn't care who got hurt. A lot of people's families, millions across the country, suffer from watching their family members with Alzheimer's and praying for a miracle or any type of drug that can help to bring those people back. He knew that there was no scientific backing for that drug, and he went ahead and pushed it because there was money to be made. It is disgusting. And those same people who bought into it, the same people who believed that this miracle thing could help them and bring their families back, those are the people who he hurt the most. You know, it's funny you say disgusting because I was trying to think, what emotion do all of these ads have in common?

1:15:11What are they trying to make you feel? and they're trying to make you feel disgust. Every one of them. Against Abdul El-Sayed for the Hassan Piker, against Max Miller for the domestic abuse violations, against the mayor for what happened during her tenure, and against Vivek Ramaswamy preying on these people. I put it angry or fear. I mean, I think that's the... In order to motivate somebody to turn out and vote... Yeah. Anger or fear? Anger and fear. Yeah, absolutely. Two of the most powerful emotions and ones that politicians like to prey upon to get your vote. Thanks to both of you. Great to have you.

1:15:44A big event coming up next week. CNN hosting a debate in the California race for governor. I'm going to have to fly out there and do this alongside CNN's Dana Bash. That's Wednesday, September 30th, 6 p.m. Pacific, 9 p.m. Eastern, one day from tomorrow. We're going to carry it live on CNN, CNN Internacional, CNN Espanol, and streaming on the CNN app that I hope you've downloaded by now. Attorneys say dozens of people are now reporting brain injuries after riding one specific roller coaster at Six Flags. Those details, next.

1:16:22More than 100 people have come forward to say that they suffered brain injuries after riding an extreme roller coaster at Six Flags, according to the attorneys representing the people. That's after a CNN investigation linked the world-famous X2 ride to severe injuries and deaths going back a decade. All of these new claims come from people who rode the roller coaster in just the past two years. CNN's Kyung La has the story. It's not about the lawsuit. It's hard for Michael Wilk to comprehend how so many people like him say they were injured at Six Flags Magic Mountain on a roller coaster called X2.

1:16:59He underwent emergency brain surgery after his doctor ordered an MRI. I truly hope that by coming forward

1:17:10changes will be made. That's why I'm here today. Wilkes' lawyers announced more than 100 people plan to sue Six Flags. Three have already been filed, but many more say they were seriously injured on this ride. We were contacted by more than 300 people injured on the X2 ride. We couldn't take all of the cases. Some were past the time limits in California, which is two years. A CNN investigation first reported two women collapse right after riding the X2 roller coaster at Magic Mountain this summer. They ended up in the same hospital the same week, and both women underwent emergency surgery for similar brain hemorrhages.

1:17:55Pam Gillen was at Magic Mountain with her daughter Camille, celebrating her 16th birthday on July 5th. It was seconds. You go in as yourself, and then when you come back, you're in a medical emergency. This was from a roller coaster. Exactly. Six days later, then 25-year-old Naomi Greer Wilkinson got on the X2 roller coaster. She collapsed after she got off the ride and was rushed to the hospital where Pam Gillen was being treated. Doctors who treated both Naomi Greer Wilkinson and Pam Gillen say the severe brain injuries were the result of a traumatic rapid acceleration deceleration event experienced while on the X2 ride.

1:18:38I do remember one of the surgeons storming through the ER and yelling, how many is it this month? They've got to shut that ride down. He was furious. Here's what Six Flags says that makes the X2 roller coaster different. The seats spin 360 degrees forwards and backwards independently around the track. Riders plummet 200 feet at speeds of up to 76 miles per hour with two so-called raven turns or half loops that turn into sheer drops. In three lawsuits filed against Magic Mountain, riders say the park deliberately hid evidence from the public and riders like them. If people voluntarily choose to ride a roller coaster, they don't assume a risk of death or catastrophic brain damage for some family fun.

1:19:36Wilkes stood next to Pam Gillen and Naomi Greer Wilkinson's parents at the news conference, filled with regret. He was hurt just months before Naomi and Pam. I cannot help but feel if I had reported it, maybe, maybe something would have happened. Maybe Magic Mountain would have taken it more seriously and they would not have been injured. We did reach out to Six Flags. The company says it will not comment about pending litigation. The X2 is no longer running, but Six Flags did not tell us exactly why it has stopped running. running. And Jake, we did reach out to those lawyers just about when they anticipate these lawsuits will be filed.

1:20:18They say it will be in the next coming weeks. They do say it'll be 100 lawsuits. Jake. Thank you so much. A galaxy of art and Hollywood history all under one roof. George Lucas's new museum is now open in Los Angeles and CNN's Alex Michelson is going to take us inside. That's next.

1:20:41In the heart of Hollywood, George Lucas is opening the doors to a brand new museum and a whole new world. CNN's Alex Michelson takes us inside the opening night of the new Lucas Museum. His movies transport us to a galaxy far, far away, and his museum looks like it could be a spaceship drawing the biggest stars in this galaxy to see it firsthand. You get to decide what art is. Director George Lucas and his wife Melody Hobson spent a billion dollars to make the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art a reality. What's the big thing you want people to see when they walk through those doors? Themselves. We want them to see themselves.

1:21:22Mark Hamill literally saw himself as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars exhibit. What does this museum mean to the Star Wars legacy. Well, it's an acknowledgement of how George created something that has become a permanent part of pop culture for the ages. The Star Wars collection, only about 7 % of the 1 ,300 pieces of art on display here. It's mind-blowing. Melody always describes it. It's like going through George's brain. This is George's soul. This is who he is and the kind of stuff he He wants people to see and the kind of things that made him who he is. The building itself feels like a set piece from a Lucas blockbuster.

1:22:02The elevator feels like you're taking a ride straight into a science fiction movie. 300 ,000 square feet on 13 acres. It's futuristic design topped with a massive rooftop park. It brings me to tears to see what they have been able to do here. It's beyond words. Opening night includes music, a drone show, and virtually every major director in modern Hollywood history assembled in one epic class picture. Star Wars made me believe in magic, made me sit in that theater and want to change my whole life. Lucas himself on hand for the opening ceremony to the public. Everything you do, everything you say is a lesson for somebody else.

1:22:46The real goal, inspire the next generation of storytellers. All kids under 17 get free admission. To know that we can maybe have a museum someday or have ideas like his, it's very inspiring. And one of the highlights, the tour guides. May the force be with you. Alex Michelson, CNN, Los Angeles. Our thanks to Alex Michelson for that report. Alex is going to have much more tonight on his show. It's called The Story Is with Alex Michelson. Look for it at midnight Eastern or 9 p.m. Pacific. only here on CNN. Aaron Burnett out front starts now. I'll see you tomorrow.

1:23:29The news is better. We are in the toilet. Together. Hey, how do you think I feel? The Have I Got News For You crew is back to keep you safe. Do you think anyone here knows what you're talking about? Nope. Have I Got News For You, now streaming on the CNN app.