CNN Poll: Trump Approval Hits Record Low

0:01Pamela Brown: Happening now, breaking news, American freed. Russia releases a 74-year-old retired teacher who has been imprisoned there in Russia for more than four years. The latest we're learning about the negotiations to bring him home. Incendiary ad. GOP gubernatorial nominee Vivek Gramoswani releases an ad featuring his opponent, Amy Acton's estranged mother. Why Acton's campaign is now calling it, quote, despicable. $8 billion relief plan. President Trump announces a massive aid package as farmers across the country strain under skyrocketing fuel costs. The founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association will join us live.

0:45Pamela Brown: That's coming up and one-on-one with Mahmoud Khalil the Palestinian activist will join us on why he's appealing to the US Supreme Court as he fights deportation Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Well, I'm Wolf Blitzer Pamela Brown is on assignment. You're in the Situation Room

1:14Pamela Brown: This is CNN Breaking News. And we begin with the breaking news. Brand new CNN poll numbers just out with less than two weeks before the midterm elections. And they are very bad news for President Trump and his fellow Republicans. The president's job approval rating now stands at only 32 percent. That's a record low for him. And while the president is not on any ballot, anti-Trump sentiment certainly is. Congressional Democrats are hitting the final stretch with a 10-point advantage over Republicans nationwide. That's based on the voters' choice in their own district. Republicans are facing broad dissatisfaction with the U.S.

1:54Pamela Brown: economy and the state of the country as they try to hold on to Congress. I want to bring us here in the political director of the Washington Bureau Chief, David Chalion. right now. David, thanks for joining us. President Trump is really hanging over these midterms, isn't he, right now? Without a doubt.

2:11Wolf Blitzer: I mean, you noted that low mark of his approval rating across his two terms. But just look at how his approval rating has come down over the course of this term. Since February of 2025, Wolf, he has been on a steady decline from 47 percent approval at the start of this term, now down to that record low of 32 percent. And it's happening among his fellow Republicans, too. He's at a low point in approval among his fellow Republicans. And, you know, Wolf, this is not where a president wants to be in a midterm period, just a couple of weeks before the election. You could stack Trump up to his modern era predecessors before midterms.

2:51Wolf Blitzer: And he is at the low mark of all of those as well.

2:54Pamela Brown: How is the president of President Trump viewed on the issues specifically? Well, in every issue we tested, Wolf, he is below majority approval.

3:05Wolf Blitzer: His best issue is at 41 percent approval on voting and elections. You see immigration there at 38 percent. Those are pretty anemic numbers to begin with, and those are his strongest issues. But look at the bottom of that list, Wolf, on the most important issue to voters, the economy, inflation, cost of living. That is where Donald Trump is performing the worst.

3:25Pamela Brown: Is the economy a decisive issue for many voters? Without a doubt.

3:30Wolf Blitzer: It is overwhelmingly the most important issue. Nothing else comes close, voters tell us in our poll. But also for Donald Trump, Wolf, this is the big changemaker from his first midterm election in 2018. Look at that first column. His approval rating on the economy now stands at 27 percent. Eight years ago when he was heading into the midterm elections, by the way, his party lost 41 seats in that election. He was at majority approval on the economy, 53%. And if you look, the assessment of the economy in the country among Americans in our poll now is far worse than it was at that point eight years ago.

4:06Wolf Blitzer: I mean, overwhelming majority now say, 69 % overwhelming majority said then that economic conditions were good. Now it is only 26 % of Americans in our poll say economic conditions are good, Wolf.

4:22Pamela Brown: How do Americans, according to all these latest polls, view the war with Iran and its impact on the U.S.? It's a good question, Wolf.

4:30Wolf Blitzer: This war was unpopular when it started, and its unpopularity has hardened, especially as people have felt the pinch from the war at the gas pump. 67 % say that Trump's decision on Iran military action has hurt. Only 18 % say helped. 14 % not made a difference. Two-thirds of Americans say his decision to go to war with Iran has hurt.

4:55Pamela Brown: All right, David Chelyan with all the latest numbers. Very important information. Thank you very much. And there's more breaking news we're following. An American detained in Russia for years has just been released. 74-year-old former teacher Stephen Hubbard is on his way back home. We'll have much more on that coming up in just a few moments. But all of this comes as the U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff held a three-hour meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin in part to discuss a way to end Russia's war in Ukraine. Witkoff met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday. And this morning, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Elon Musk is responsible for ordering a slowdown of a crucial satellite communication system used by Ukraine, which made the country more vulnerable to Russian attacks in recent days.

5:46Pamela Brown: The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said this morning that the system is still limited. Not good for Ukraine. Let's go live right now to CNN's senior White House reporter, Kevin Liptak. Kevin, what more are you learning, first of all, about Witkoff's meeting this morning? Right.

6:02Wolf Blitzer: And Steve Wyckoff arrived to that imperial palace in St. Petersburg with new iterations of this plan to try and bring the war in Ukraine to an end. He said that he had some papers that he wanted to show Vladimir Putin, and he asked Vladimir Putin to review them at his leisure later in the day. You know, he arrived there after meetings in Oslo with the Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky and representatives from European countries. A U.S. official described those meetings as constructive. They said that the Ukrainians had come to them with some new proposals for how to bring the war to an end.

6:37Wolf Blitzer: You know, our understanding is that this new plan would include security guarantees for Ukraine, plans for economic reconstruction in that country, and plans for European integration for Ukraine. But it also includes some incentives for Russia to agree to some kind of deal. and what the White House officials and what President Trump has said is that they do hope that these new economic incentives will make Vladimir Putin more willing to compromise to come up with some sort of plan to see this war end. And you've seen President Trump over the last several weeks or so really siding in an extraordinary way with Russia, saying that Ukraine needs a new president.

7:18Wolf Blitzer: You know, when it comes to this question of Starlink and Starshield, which is the military version of that satellite system that Ukraine has relied on for its missile and drone programs. There are still a lot of questions about what exactly led to that slowdown. Elon Musk has said that that order would have come from the White House and from President Trump. The White House has insisted and President Trump himself has insisted that he had nothing to do with it. And so still, I think some remaining questions about what exactly happened there. But you've also seen President Trump side with Russia in the form of this deal to purchase diesel from Moscow.

7:57Wolf Blitzer: You've also seen the president delay sanctions on Russia that were part of the Lindsey Graham Act, the president saying that he didn't want to scupper any chance of peace negotiations at what is a very critical moment. But that could prove somewhat awkward when the president heads to South Carolina today to campaign with Lindsey Graham's sister, Darlene. She has said that she disagrees with the president on that particular move to waive sanctions for now on Moscow.

8:25Pamela Brown: All right, Kevin Liptec at the White House for us. Kevin, thank you very, very much. I want to continue the breaking news out of Russia right now. This is new video of Stephen Hubbard, the American imprisoned by Russia for four years and now leaving the country with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. The U.S. said the 74-year-old retired American teacher had been wrongfully detained. Let's go live right now to CNN chief global affairs correspondent, Matthew Chance, who's in Moscow for us. So what details, Matthew, do you have on Hubbard's release?

9:00Wolf Blitzer: Well, Wolf, we know that even before the meeting, this critical meeting in St. Petersburg between Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, began, that Stephen Hubbard, that 74-year-old U.S. citizen originally from Michigan, was already released. He'd already been transferred over to the airport in St. Petersburg, where he awaited his flight back to the United States. It's not clear whether he was going on Witkoff's plane back with him or whether he took a separate aircraft. We haven't got that established. But this is a massive relief for obviously for him and for Mr. Hubbard's family.

9:36Wolf Blitzer: He's been held in sort of very difficult conditions for the past four years in a penal colony in Mordovia, which is a quite remote part of Russia, where a lot of foreign prisoners are actually held. And he's had some very acute health problems as well. I mean, he's not a young guy, 74 years old. He was detained back in 2022 and accused of and admitted to, pleaded guilty to rather, sort of fighting for the Ukrainian defense forces. His family have subsequently said, look, there's no way he could have done that. You know, he's more of a pacifist than anything else. Nevertheless, you know, that situation he was in sent us something like six years in prison.

10:18Wolf Blitzer: He served a good four years of that. And so, you know, he's done the bulk of his sentence anyway. But, you know, President Putin at that meeting saying that he was pardoned by the Russian Federation and they've been allowed to go home. So it's being sort of characterized by Wyckoff as a humanitarian gesture. And of course, President Trump has lauded it as well as being something that was a sort of almost personal favor to him. Wolf.

10:47Pamela Brown: All right, Matthew Chance, with that news, we're glad he's on his way home. Thank you very, very much. And we're following other breaking news, this time coming out of Ohio. Very hazardous material blanketing the Toledo area. One woman telling CNN, and I'm quoting now, my airwaves felt like they were burning. She'll join us live. That's coming up. And later, straining under surging fuel prices. New CNN reporting into President Trump's plan to ease the pain and whether it will actually make a difference. We'll be right back.

11:24Wolf Blitzer: 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.

11:53Pamela Brown: It takes time to heal. And I kept myself busy that I didn't let myself mourn. I needed to laugh again. I needed to be silly and interact with people and feel other people's energy and make people happy, too. We have to share so other people can see that they can get through it, too.

12:14Wolf Blitzer: Talking grief, building community. That's what the podcast is all about. This is all there is. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life podcast. You may have noticed gambling doesn't require a casino anymore. You can just open up your phone. It's designed to keep us coming back or maybe never even leaving in the first place. We're going to talk to Dr. Timothy Fong, co-director of UCLA's gambling studies program. You're going to learn what your brain is really chasing when you place a bet. And also importantly, how to keep the game from playing you.

12:50Wolf Blitzer: Gambling addiction, gambling disorder is the hidden addiction. You can't smell it. You can't taste it. You can't see it. You can't have a urine drug test. Who are we talking about here, Professor? or who's the most likely demographic to be affected by this? Literally any single human on Earth. Listen to Chasing Life, streaming now wherever you get your podcasts.

13:11Pamela Brown: Breaking news, there's a serious hazmat situation underway right now in Toledo, Ohio. Some people are being evacuated because of a, quote, hazardous material release. Others are being told to shelter in place. Officials say the chemical is an industrial product used in coatings. symptoms of overexposure include headache, dizziness, tiredness, nausea, and vomiting. Toledo's mayor says there's still a risk of explosion and that hazmat teams are re-evaluating whether they can approach the chemical tank. Joining us now, two guests, Linda Ragland, who took this video also with her, her sister, Lynn Claybrooks.

13:54Pamela Brown: Linda and Lynn, to both of you, Thanks very much for joining us. Linda, let me start with you. What is the air like right now in Toledo where you are?

14:03Wolf Blitzer: It has a strange smell to it. I can't describe it because I don't know what chemical was exposed, we've been exposed to.

14:13Pamela Brown: It's definitely a chemical. Tell us, Linda, how you first figured out something was very wrong.

14:20Wolf Blitzer: um a smell in my room a strange smell and a phone call from my auntie asking me was it smoky over in my area so i i got up and i went downstairs and i assumed the house was on fire because we just recently had that a house on fire so i assumed it was a house fire and when i opened up the door and and and first peeped out i realized it was something different and that's when i grabbed my phone. And then when my nose started burning, I knew it was definitely something different. It was a it was the smell was so was so bad. I literally had to cover my my mouth and my nose. That's how bad it was. And I ran in and woke up all my family members and checked on two of my grandkids who have asthma real bad.

15:10Wolf Blitzer: And I was more concerned about them than myself.

15:14Pamela Brown: Yeah, which is understandable. Lynn, officials said this morning there's no immediate health danger related to the incident that occurred last night. But do you believe that?

15:27Wolf Blitzer: I do believe for people that have asthma that, yes, it would be immediate health for someone who is suffering from some type of respiratory illness. Yes. Yeah, it was it. It's it was. I can't describe because we don't even know. We didn't hear so many different names of what chemical and we don't even know. So I'm hoping that the city of Toledo, you know, the public deserves to know what we was breathing in last night. I had to cover up my air conditioners and put out towels around my door to try to keep it out. Inside my own home was foggy. So it was scary. We've been up since 1.45 a.m. Yes. We have not gotten any sleep.

16:09Wolf Blitzer: I was more concerned about everybody in the house, and everybody was nervous and didn't know what was going on.

16:16Pamela Brown: Lynn, what have you heard from the city, the city of Toledo? What are the officials telling you and others?

16:24Wolf Blitzer: We're just basically watching the news. So basically we're just getting the information that we see on the news and basically, you know, just staying in. Well, currently we're not in, but you're basically standing. The air is a little bit better now. The only reason we're out, because I had to take my daughter to a doctor's appointment. You know, hospitals don't close, so I had to take her to our appointment. But the air is much better than last night. But it's a strange smell. And where we're at, we're pretty much farther away from our home. At my home, the smell is very strong. Here is just a little lingering.

17:01Wolf Blitzer: It's very strong at my home still.

17:04Pamela Brown: Have there been any official alerts at all? Official alerts.

17:11Wolf Blitzer: There probably have been. I have not seen any. I'm just being honest. You know, I just got up. I was more concerned about my household and making sure everybody was safe. That was my my major concern was the two grandkids that has asthma. I was more concerned about them. And all the Toledo Public Schools did close, so I wasn't worried about them having to stand at bus stops or walk to school. So I wasn't concerned about that. I was glad that at least Toledo Public did that. Yes.

17:42Pamela Brown: How old are your grandchildren, and how are they doing?

17:47Wolf Blitzer: The youngest is, she's eight. That's the one that has, she's had anything. She gets sick real quick. She's the one that has the serious asthma problem. And actually the other one, he's not quite young, young. He's 21, and he was wheezing this morning. He was wheezing, so something triggered his wheezing.

18:09Pamela Brown: And we believe it was. I was going to say, have there been any issues, serious issues, health-related issues at this specific facility before that you know of?

18:22Wolf Blitzer: No. None whatsoever. We was blindsided by this. waking up in the middle of the night. And this, like I said, I thought it was a house fire because we just - That's the first thing I did was thrown out. We recently fought because we recently had that issue was a house fire and it was a fatal house fire. So that's what I assumed another house had caught on fire.

18:44Pamela Brown: Well, good luck to all of you. And we'll stay on top of this story. Make sure our viewers know what's going on. Thank you.

18:50Wolf Blitzer: We just want clarity of what we was breathing in. We don't even know. That's all we want to know.

18:57Pamela Brown: We just want to make sure you're safe and get through this ordeal. Linda Ragland and Lynn Claybrooks, to both of you, good luck. Thanks so much for joining us.

19:07Wolf Blitzer: Thank you.

19:08Pamela Brown: And coming up, President Trump is now rolling out plans to try to ease rising fuel prices. Is relief coming?

19:22Pamela Brown: Less than two weeks to go until the midterm elections here in the United States. And we have some brand new CNN reporting on President Trump's last minute push to try to bring down prices at the pump just ahead of Election Day. With gas averaging just over four, four and a quarter nationwide right now and diesel topping six dollars, voters are feeling the pinch. and sky-high fuel is becoming a political liability for both President Trump and the Republicans. The administration has rolled out a series of moves in recent weeks to try and ease some of that pain. The latest, an$8 billion farmer rescue plan unveiled on Monday.

20:02Pamela Brown: It's the second major federal farm aid package in less than a year as farmers grapple with soaring fuel and fertilizer costs.

20:12Wolf Blitzer: everybody in agriculture is tired this would be the best way to put it they're just tired they feel very beat up right now your bottom line is you're trying to make

20:22Pamela Brown: it profitable so you can be here next year but you know sometimes the fight gets to be too much all right let's go live right now to see the senior reporter matt egan who's in new york for us matt the farmer relief plan is what the latest in a series of moves by the trump administration to try to ease fuel prices. How much of an impact could these moves really have on voters' wallets, and how quickly?

20:48Wolf Blitzer: Well, Wolf, the president is waging this last-minute scramble to try to contain the damage from high fuel prices. He's bailing out farmers, importing Russian diesel, and trying to drive down skyrocketing shipping costs. All of these moves, they should be helpful on the margin, but none of them, none of them look like the silver bullet that will make energy cheap again. And look, there's no doubt the war with Iran has caused prices to skyrocket. Before the war started, gas was cheap, below$3 a gallon. Now it's been stuck above$4 a gallon for more days this year than any other year in history. Diesel, a crucial fuel for farmers and truckers, has also skyrocketed above$6 a gallon for the first time in history.

21:31Wolf Blitzer: And jet fuel, look at this, jet fuel has almost doubled from before the war. Airlines have responded by jacking up airfare, baggage fees, and killing some of their cheaper routes. Now, all of this is really squeezing consumers just before the midterms. Research from Brown University shows that consumers are paying an extra$140 billion since the war started just on gas and diesel alone. That works out to almost$1 ,100 per household. And keep in mind, this doesn't even factor in other costs that have gone up, such as rising mortgage rates and other borrowing rates. Now, the spike in diesel has really hurt farmers.

22:13Wolf Blitzer: And so the president has thrown them an$8 billion lifeline. These are one-time payments to farmers. The USDA has cited what they're describing temporary market conditions and increased input costs because it's not just diesel, it's also that spike in fertilizer. Now, some of the details here are somewhat sketchy. Payment rates have not been disclosed. But researchers say that, yes, this$8 billion rescue, it does look like it will be helpful to farmers. Of course, it's telling that the administration has to launch another farmer bailout just months after a$12 billion relief package. Now, the president has also ignited a bipartisan firestorm by agreeing to import diesel from Russia.

22:57Wolf Blitzer: The plan calls for initially importing 2.2 million barrels. And yes, that sounds like a lot, but it's really just a drop in the bucket because the U.S. consumes about 4 million barrels of diesel and heating oil every single day. As one executive told me that if you imported all this Russian diesel in one day, it would only last us until about lunchtime. So look, bottom line, the president is clearly responding to the poll numbers on the economy and on inflation. These moves could be helpful. However, to really make energy cheap again, what you need is a lasting deal to end the war with Iran. Wolf, back to you.

23:35Pamela Brown: And let the oil flow. All right, Matt Egan, thank you very, very much. And next hour, the founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association joins us to discuss the potential impact of President Trump's$8 billion farmer relief plan. That's coming up. A new CNN poll signals the latest worrying sign for Republicans in this, the final stretch just ahead of Election Day. The poll asked registered voters which party's candidate they would vote for in their own congressional district. The result? Democrats have a double-digit edge over Republicans nationwide. The poll also shows President Trump's approval rating at a record low of only 32 percent.

24:17Pamela Brown: Only 32 percent approve of the job he's doing. Joining us now to discuss all of this and more is former Trump administration official Matt Mowers and Democratic strategist and former senior advisor to Kamala Harris's 2020 presidential campaign, Mike Nellis. Matt, let me start with you. Despite his low approval rating right now, President Trump is out there on the campaign trail stumping for Republican candidates on a nearly daily basis. Notably, he's visiting primarily solid Republican areas. So what does that tell you about the Republican Party strategy right now going into these final days of the election cycle?

24:57Wolf Blitzer: Well, Wolf, I think it says a couple of things. But first, looking at that poll in the generic ballot that you just put out, well, you never want to see your party down 10 points. If you compare that to CNN's final poll in 2018, so the last and the first Trump midterm, Democrats had a plus 13 advantage on that generic ballot in the final CNN poll. So slightly better here. And actually, the end result was really only about plus Democrat eight and a half. So about four and a half points off. So it contextualizes this a little bit. But what it shows is that the president is still working to drive turnout among his base.

25:30Wolf Blitzer: A number of these senators have had to choose to take some tough political votes. I mean, part of the reason you earn political capital is to spend it. Certainly, the president believes that he's spending it on something worthwhile with the activity he's taken in Iran. He's consistently said that his really only truly achievable goal is to ensure Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. And he took action and sure it didn't happen. But as we've seen and we've discussed, there's some political byproducts of that that you have to deal with. And so he's out there turning out the base right now in a lot of key states.

26:03Wolf Blitzer: And a lot of these issues have really hit hard into the Midwest, into the farm belt. And that's why you're seeing him go out there and remind folks about what's at stake in the election. It's why you see him turning out support in places like Kansas and Iowa and Ohio, states that voted for him by double digits. But if he's successful in doing that, you're going to ensure that a few key Republican senators get reelected here in a couple of weeks.

26:26Pamela Brown: Mike, the new CNN poll also shows that among registered voters, 78 percent now say their vote is about changing things up in Washington. What do Democrats need to do to prioritize this momentum that's clearly going on for them?

26:43Wolf Blitzer: Yeah, I think Democrats need to keep focusing on the issues that we know the American people care about. Fox News had a poll the other day showing that corruption is the number one issue in America right now. people fundamentally understand that this is the most corrupt administration we've ever experienced in American history and that all the other issues that people are mad about from affordability, gas prices, rising mortgage rates, everything else is a reflection of the corruption inside this administration because they're more focused on self-dealing and making money for themselves than doing anything that might actually help the American people.

27:13Wolf Blitzer: And the reason that Donald Trump is so focused on campaigning in red states right now is twofold. One, that's where they're playing defense right now. They've already given up on states that are purple like North Carolina. They have abandoned that Senate race and are giving it essentially to Roy Cooper, the Democratic candidate for Senate there. But they've got to go defend in Kansas and Alaska and Ohio and Texas and so many other places. They're spending money where you would least want to spend it. That would be like Democrats blowing hundreds of millions of dollars in California in the closing weeks of an election, which simply is unfathomable at this point.

27:42Wolf Blitzer: And so I think that in addition to that, it's also the only place that Donald Trump can go where he can draw a crowd. And the truth is, his crowd numbers are dwindling. I mean, he's showing up to these places and getting a third of the amount of people he used to find. So there's fewer enthusiasm for the Republicans right now. And more importantly, they don't have any actual solution to deal with the economic crisis. Yes, they're patching things up. They're trying to, as you talked about earlier, you know, make this deal with Russia where they get half a day's worth of diesel, which isn't going to solve any problem.

28:08Wolf Blitzer: It actually creates more problems for them because they're essentially easing sanctions on Russian oligarchs with this war in Ukraine, which is going to anger more Americans. But they're doing that. They're doing this farmer bailout, but they've got no actual solution that might actually improve your life or solve this. And they're certainly not going to get away from this illegal war that they're operating.

28:24Pamela Brown: And I think it was significant, Mike, that the former New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg, now says he's going to be spending around$80 million to support Democrats in these midterm elections. But Bloomberg's political advisor told the New York Times he remained deeply concerned about what he sees as the leftward drift of the Democratic Party. How do Democrats manage this split over the future of the party right now?

28:50Wolf Blitzer: Yeah, well, I think right now we can't focus on the split of the Democratic Party, right? It's a big tent Democratic Party. I think you want a vibrant conversation in it. And the left can't win without the middle and the middle can't win without the left. So the Democratic Party infighting right now to me is especially unhelpful. Now, Michael Bloomberg's coming in with a huge infusion of cash at a time when Democrats need it. Earlier today, Democrats announced that they've got polling in, I believe, about 13 districts that Donald Trump won between eight points and 18 points in the 2024 election where they show the Democrats ahead.

29:18Wolf Blitzer: So we need that money to go fight because our battleground map is expanding and the Republicans are shrinking. They're playing defense. We're playing offense. So I'm happy to see Michael Bloomberg step up here. And all the infighting for the Democrats, like put it aside for now. Got a big presidential primary coming up. It's going to start in a few weeks, whether we like it or not. Then we can fight about the things we believe in. I just set that all aside for now.

29:36Pamela Brown: Matt, the Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign has announced it will spend$4 million on a very controversial attack ad that features his Democratic opponent's estranged mother. We should note that Amy Acton has said she has not seen her mother, biological mother, since she was about 12 years old when a man her mother married abused her and faced criminal charges. Matt, Ramaswamy was heckled at a campaign event yesterday over all of this. The protester appeared to cite the video. Take a look at this.

30:13Wolf Blitzer: Packed house here. Look at this tonight. We're ready to do this. Sir, sir, excuse me. Excuse me. You're going to leave this room. Sir, sir, if you want to be patient and you want to ask a question at the end, you'll be free to do that. Thank you for making your contribution today. We'll give a round of applause and we say a friendly good night. A friendly good night. Thank you, sir.

30:38Pamela Brown: So, Matt, is this ad the kind of issue that voters want to hear about right now?

30:44Wolf Blitzer: Well, look, we're 13 days out from an election, and in cases like this, sometimes you have to wonder whether the counterpunch is stronger than the punch. I mean, if you just watched the ad and knew nothing else about this scenario, you would think it's a very powerful ad. I saw Amy Acton and also came out with a response ad featuring her brother, which if you see the full context is a very powerful counterpunch to this issue. So I think it's really ultimately going to depend on, if you're looking at this purely at the politics of it, purely the impact on the election, it can depend on which message has more weight behind it, as far as how much spending there is in the final few weeks and which one is actually searing into the memory of voters and how much are they contextualizing this?

31:23Wolf Blitzer: I mean, clearly the stories coming out from Amy Acton are heart-wrenching. You never, you know, you want to help anyone you could in a scenario like that. But if voters are only seeing the initial ad, that's going to impact their thinking pretty extensively as well, because it was a pretty powerfully and very specifically designed advertisement.

31:42Pamela Brown: It certainly was. Matt Mowers and Mike Nellis. Good conversation. Thank you very, very much. Coming up, we're getting new comments from President Zelensky on the terms it would take to accept a peace deal with Russia. Could it spell progress in this four-year war?

32:06Pamela Brown: Happening now, the U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff has been meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin for three hours this morning. With us now to discuss CNN National Security Analyst Alex Plitsis and CNN Military Analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Alex, first to you. Witkoff is pushing for Russian President Vladimir Putin to consider resuming what are called trilateral talks between Russia, the U.S., and Ukraine. And we just learned that Putin, Vladimir Putin, said the Kremlin would be ready to resume those talks after mid-November. How critical of a step potentially could this be?

32:48Wolf Blitzer: So a trilateral talk could be important to be the first time it would put President Putin and President Zelensky in the same room. But Putin has made similar statements only to renege in the past in terms of what he's willing to do and then always finds an excuse to get himself out of it. He hasn't been serious about peace. And anyone that you speak to from any of the Allied Intelligence Services or anybody in the region comes to the same conclusion. So yet to be seen. If it happens, it's great. But I'm a skeptic at this point.

33:12Pamela Brown: Colonel Leighton, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, was asked this morning about accepting a peace deal that would effectively freeze everything where it sits currently in terms of land and borders and stuff like that. Listen to this.

33:28Wolf Blitzer: Would you accept a peace deal that freezes everything the way it is right now, where you still keep 75 percent or more of your country, regardless of how it started, would Would you accept where it is right now? Yes. Right now, we have to freeze. And I think this is a real way to end this war. We call it ceasefire or stop killings like President Trump called it. Freeze and stop. And, of course, this is minimum what we need from Russia today. Then, of course, we'll go to the president and to Europeans and we'll ask security guarantees. The most important is peace and also security peace.

34:13Pamela Brown: So do you think this is a concrete step that could lead to an agreement between Russia and Ukraine? What do you think?

34:20Wolf Blitzer: Well, Wolf, I think that the Ukrainians have had this position before. And to correct Brian Kilmeade, it's actually 80 percent of the Ukrainian territory that the Ukrainians still control, not 75 percent. So the Ukrainians would definitely find it advantageous to have that kind of a ceasefire where you're basically freezing in place. It's somewhat analogous to what happened in the wake of the Korean War, where things were frozen in place at that point in time back in 1953. So this is the kind of solution that Ukraine at least will want in the interim. And it will basically freeze things in place and allow them a bit of breathing space as well.

35:02Pamela Brown: But how big of a deal was it that Zelensky saying he would accept a deal that effectively gives up, what, 25 or 30 percent or whatever of Ukrainian territory?

35:14Wolf Blitzer: Yeah, it's only 20 percent. And only I say that in quotation marks. I mean, it's still one fifth of the country. It's effective in the sense that it allows Ukraine, if it's the current line, if it's the current line, it would allow Ukraine to keep its fortress belt in the Donbass region. And it would also allow it to keep the rest of the country, the central part, Kiev, and, of course, the western and southern parts as well. So it really depends on what happens next. I would expect the Russians to try to mount a ground offensive of some type in perhaps the southern area, perhaps the eastern areas, in order to maximize their territorial gains.

35:53Wolf Blitzer: But it would be effective enough for Ukraine to survive. And right now I think that's what Zelensky is looking for.

35:58Pamela Brown: Alex, The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that Elon Musk is responsible for ordering a slowdown of a crucial satellite communication system used by Ukraine, which made the country more vulnerable to Russian attacks in recent days. That slowdown would make it more vulnerable. Here's what President Zelensky said yesterday about Starlink. Listen to this.

36:21Wolf Blitzer: I had a conversation with Secretary Rubio. We spoke about sensitive issues like connection, startling, about interceptors, which are very important, about intelligence. So, I mean, we've been very concrete and the conversation was very positive. We are thankful that intelligence works. Now, I'm speaking about early warning, what is very important for our people, for children, adults, civilians, because we can hear when ballistic is coming. So we are thankful to American sight. Now it works.

37:02Pamela Brown: President Zelensky also said this morning that Starlink is still limited. What are your major concerns after reading this Wall Street Journal report earlier this morning?

37:13Wolf Blitzer: So the higher bandwidth and the utilization that was there was really meant to support their counter drone capabilities and in ramping down the amount of bandwidth that was available it actually put the country at greater risk to include u.s diplomats and folks that are on the ground and u.s citizens that are in and around keith so this not only endangered the ukrainians but endangered american citizens and our diplomats inside the the nation's capital there uh if this is in fact true and this was him this is absolutely despicable and it calls into question whether or not such a service can be trusted in the future by a nation state where a private sector ceo can have the ability to meddle in international affairs and effectively turn things off.

37:49Wolf Blitzer: Wildly inappropriate if it's in fact true.

37:51Pamela Brown: Alex, please listen to Colonel Cedric Leighton. To both of you, as usual, thank you very, very much. And we'll have more news right after this.

38:01Pamela Brown: The King makes his debut in Philadelphia, and he's already making waves. Let's go live right now to CNN Sports anchor Andy Scholes. Andy, so what's the latest?

38:10Wolf Blitzer: Yeah, well, Wolf, you know, nice start for LeBron in that Philly blue. And, you know, Knicks fans, they were so pumped up to celebrate the first title in 53 years last night. The cheapest ticket to get into the building at MSG by game time, it was more than$2 ,000, Wolf, which is just bonkers for a regular season game. But the Knicks getting those fancy rings, they were pretty awesome for winning that championship. They opened up, turned into Madison Square Garden. Then the moment Knicks fans had waited so long for raising a championship banner to the Raptors at MSG for the first time since 1973.

38:42Wolf Blitzer: As you mentioned, LeBron making that Sixers debut. In the second quarter, he actually got into it with a Knicks fan that was sitting courtside. Apparently didn't like that the fan called him soft. Spike Lee even jumped in at one point and played Peacemaker. But LeBron, man, 41 years old, looked great in this one. Third quarter, Jalen Brown also making a Sixers debut. Got a steal here. He's going to throw the alley-oop to LeBron. Then in the closing minutes, the Knicks were down by six. LeBron flies through the air, gets a block. 24th year still doing stuff like that. Philly would hold on to win 106-100.

39:13Wolf Blitzer: First time in LeBron's career, he's won a debut with a team. He had five tries before it was 0-5. All right, NFL Players Association, meanwhile, say they want a full investigation into how the Eagles handled Jalen Hurts' injury. Hurts is expected to miss the rest of the season after doctors discovered multiple blood clots in the quarterback's lungs. The initial superficial clot was discovered in London, and Hurts still played against the Jaguars and then traveled back to the U.S. Now, yesterday, NFL officials staunchly defended the medical process involving Hurts' blood clot issue at the NFL owners' meetings.

39:45Wolf Blitzer: Dr. Alan Sills said, quote, the notion that there's external factors that any of our physicians would put a player in harm's way, that's nonsense. Well, the Eagles, they're going to host the Cowboys on Monday Night Football. But as we mentioned, Jalen Hurts will not be playing as he's expected to miss the rest of the season.

40:01Pamela Brown: We'll miss him totally. Thanks very much, Andy Schultz, reporting for us. And here's what's coming up all new right at the top of the hour. Ohio ad outrage. The Republican candidate for governor there has a new ad featuring his Democratic opponent's estranged mother. And it's drawing widespread criticism from both sides of the aisle. Plus, Mahmoud Khalil, the pro-Palestinian activist, a Columbia University graduate, is still fighting to stay in the United States more than a year and a half after the Trump administration first detained him and accused him of helping Hamas, a charge he denies. He'll join us live in the Situation Room.

40:46Pamela Brown: Happening now, a controversial new ad in flames, the governor's race in Ohio, shocking Republicans and Democrats alike, and helping farmers, the people who grow our food, struggle with fuel and fertilizer costs. But will a boost from Washington be enough to make a difference? Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Pamela Brown is on assignment. You're in the Situation Room.

41:19Pamela Brown: This is CNN Breaking News. And we begin with the breaking news. This new CNN polling shows President Trump's job approval rating has hit a new low. Only 32 percent of the American people support the way he's handling his job. This comes less than two weeks before the midterm elections on November 3rd. The president is not on the ballot this cycle, but he is out there on the campaign trail actively stumping for Republican candidates across the country. The new CNN polling also shows a majority of voters want change in Washington. with 48 percent saying cost of living is the most important factor in their choices for Congress, followed by corruption in government.

42:01Pamela Brown: The new poll is a positive sign for Democrats as they enter the final sprint with a 10-point edge nationwide. CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny is in Detroit covering Michigan's very tight Senate race. But let's start with CNN's Patrick Svitek. He's following the ad that has inflamed the Ohio governor's race between Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton. The ad features Acton's estranged mother urging people not to vote for her. For context, Acton says she has not seen her mother since she was only 12 years old when a man her mother married abused her and faced criminal charges.

42:42Pamela Brown: Here's part of that ad.

42:45Wolf Blitzer: It's not easy for a mother to say this, but Amy has a serious problem. She is a liar. She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true. She's lied her entire life. My daughter needs help, and she can't help you if she needs help herself. Don't vote for people who lie. Don't let her become your governor.

43:14Pamela Brown: Patrick, how is Acton responding to this?

43:18Wolf Blitzer: Yeah, so Amy Acton is obviously denouncing this ad. But what I think is interesting is her campaign is putting front and center her brother, Philip Stearns, to push back on this ad especially. He's been explaining the circumstances of their youth, of how their birth mother lost custody of them around this due to this alleged abuse. And so the campaign almost seemed well prepared for this kind of attack to come out in the final weeks of the race. As this video was initially circulating yesterday, the campaign released a statement from the brother. And later in the day, they released a ad of their own with the brother pushing back on this.

43:53Wolf Blitzer: But of course, Amy Acton herself is also addressing it. Let's take a listen to what she had to say about this yesterday. It's awful to see this. It's awful to see her this way. And it's even more incredible to see that my opponent has taken advantage of someone who is who's clearly not well. Now, her opponent, their Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, is doubling down on this line of attack. His campaign initially didn't say whether they were behind this ad. But by the end of yesterday, Ramaswamy told reporters that it is an ad for his campaign and his campaign announced that it would be putting four million dollars behind an advertising campaign to air this spot in Ohio.

44:37Wolf Blitzer: And so he is not backing away from this line of attack.

44:40Pamela Brown: All right, Patrick, thank you very much. I want to turn to Jeff Zeleny right now. Jeff, I know you're in Michigan where the Senate race has both candidates courting a key voting bloc. Update our viewers.

44:52Wolf Blitzer: Well, if the Michigan Senate race is really at the center of the fight for control of the Senate, there's no doubt about it. And the final debate is this evening between a Republican, Mike Rogers and Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed. But this race is closed for many reasons, but largely because of the different coalitions here in Michigan. During the primary campaign, Abdul El-Sayed struggled to win over black voters. That's been one of the things that has been worrying some Democratic leaders. But Mike Rogers has been really trying to extend his outreach to African-American voters as well.

45:24Wolf Blitzer: As we've been talking to people on both sides here, this is what's at stake. And here's what they're telling us. How important are black voters to a winning coalition here? Black voters are underestimated, but super critical. Mike Rogers is clearly trying to make some inroads. He is. Do you think his outreach to black voters is serious? I mean, should it be taken seriously by El-Sayed supporters? Everything should be taken seriously. This is not a campaign. This is not a year where we need to take anything for granted. He seriously tried to campaign. He seriously wants to win their vote. He seriously doesn't want to make life better for black people.

46:07Wolf Blitzer: That's not how Nora Evans sees it. Do you think the Democrats have taken the black vote for granted over the years? Absolutely, yes. Evans, a teacher and mother of two, is supporting Rogers and appears in this TV ad. I voted for Barack Obama, but this year I'm voting for Mike Rogers. When we caught up with her, she said she's gradually become more conservative and is drawn to Rogers' message to improve literacy in schools and safety overall. The outcome of the election will send a loud message that the black vote is just not up for grabs, like you have to earn it. We are no longer just voting according to parties, but we are voting according to policy and plans.

46:51Wolf Blitzer: There's no question even a sliver of votes that Mike Rogers might win from this Democratic key coalition could impact the overall outcome. That's why their outreach is so significant. But, Wolf, this Michigan race is at the center of the fight for control of the Senate because, as you well know, Democrats must net pick up four new seats and hold their existing ones to win control of the Senate. If they would lose this Michigan seat, which is currently held by a Democrat, they would have to win five seats. That, of course, is a much higher hurdle. But given all the cross currents here in Michigan, it's a fascinating one to watch.

47:26Wolf Blitzer: President Trump visiting here on Sunday. Former President Barack Obama coming here to Detroit on Saturday to try and shore up support for El Syed.

47:35Pamela Brown: All right, Jeff Zeleny in Detroit for us. Jeff, thank you very, very much. Still ahead, hazmat emergency. A chemical tank explodes in Ohio, forcing evacuations. And officials now worry there could be another blast. We'll talk to the mayor of Toledo, Ohio. That's next. Plus, three and a half million pages. Yes, three and a half billion pages and thousands of books. We're going to take you inside the effort to keep the spotlight on survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and the effort to find the truth about his crimes. Lots going on. You're in the Situation Room.

48:15Pamela Brown: Breaking news. There's a hazmat situation right now in Toledo, Ohio. Some people are being evacuated because of a, quote, hazardous materials release. Others are being told to shelter in place. Officials say the chemical is an industrial product used in coatings. Symptoms of the overexposure include headache, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting. And joining us now is Toledo's mayor, Wade Kapsukavich. Mayor Kapsukavich, thank you so much for joining us. First of all, tell us where you are right now.

48:50Wolf Blitzer: I'm standing in the parking lot of a Meijer grocery store about a quarter mile. Yeah, I would say maybe an eighth of a mile away from the incident, which is as close as we are allowed to get at this time. From what we understand about the chemical, there's a 12 hour period from the release of the gas before it is safe to approach it and and address it for fear that it could trigger an explosion. So we are in a staging area with our hazmat teams and Toledo Fire and a number of other partner agencies awaiting the go ahead to be able to approach it and contain the situation.

49:31Pamela Brown: Well, we just want you to be safe. Is the chemical, as far as you know, Mayor, still leaking?

49:37Wolf Blitzer: Yeah, it is. The word I would describe is venting. It is a it is a liquid when it's in the tank, as it's supposed to be. Last night around 9.30, there was an incident. We still don't know what caused the incident, but a leak caused it to vent into the air. It's been doing that now for about 13 hours or so. It's venting less than it was at its height, but it is still venting. I'm looking at it over my shoulder there. It's still venting, though, without as much volatility as it did earlier, which is why we believe shortly we'll be able to address it and continue to protect public health, which, as you have already mentioned, we did by ordering an evacuation zone within one mile of the site.

50:25Wolf Blitzer: And within three miles of the site, we've extended a shelter-in-place zone. So we're encouraging people to stay in their homes and ventilate to the extent they can.

50:36Pamela Brown: Where exactly, Mayor, is the leak coming from? A tank.

50:41Wolf Blitzer: This is a company that provides industrial services to come. So it's an outdoor tank like you would see commonly, you know, anywhere. It's just a tank that unfortunately is now venting. Our concern is that there are other tanks near it. And based on our understanding of this chemical, if we introduce something like water into it too soon within that 12-hour window, that could trigger something that hasn't happened yet, but something that we fear could happen, and that would be an explosion. So as troubling as this leak and this venting is, it has not toggled into an explosion, which obviously would be far more dangerous and worse.

51:25Wolf Blitzer: and that's why we're observing this 12-hour window. But it's a leak, a leak of a tank that you would see anywhere.

51:32Pamela Brown: Should people nearby, including you, be wearing a mask right now, you think?

51:38Wolf Blitzer: No, no, we're working with the Ohio EPA, U.S. EPA, our own environmental services team here in the city of Toledo, taking measurements to make sure that public health is being protected. You know, I'm about as, well, I am literally as close to it as any human being is. And, you know, there, you know, might be a little irritation in your eyes, you know, maybe a little taste in the back of your mouth. Depending, you know, your breathing could be a little trouble, but it's not it's not debilitating for me. Now, I'm in good health. Someone with more, you know, someone with health challenges might approach it differently.

52:12Wolf Blitzer: Now, long term extended intense exposure to this particular chemical could be cancerous. There's no question. But what we're talking about here, you know, a relatively. contained, though still troubling leak, isn't something that is going to disturb public health as we, in a serious way, as we understand it. But look, we're early in this process. We're going to study and take samples. Frankly, though, to be honest, one of the reasons I'm here and I'm here very publicly is to try to communicate that while this is serious and while it is troubling, you know, we want to reassure people that there's no need to panic.

52:52Wolf Blitzer: Everything's going to be okay. Toledo is a resilient place. We've gotten through things like this before. It's right to be concerned. It's not right to panic, and there's no cause to panic.

53:02Pamela Brown: What is the chemical that's so dangerous?

53:06Wolf Blitzer: It's called glycyonol metaculate, and I hope I'm pronouncing that right. I'm not a chemist, but that's what it is. And again, it's typically in liquid form, but because of the leak, when it vents into the air, it turns into a gas. I'm told that when it then falls back down to the earth, it will resume being a liquid. But we're not at that stage yet.

53:29Pamela Brown: We spoke to two Toledo residents in the last hour on this show in the Situation Room. Here's what they told us, Mayor. Listen to this.

53:38Wolf Blitzer: I can't describe because we don't even know. We didn't hear so many different names of what chemical and we don't even know. So I'm hoping that the city of Toledo, you know, The public deserves to know what we was breathing in last night. I had to cover up my air conditioners and put out towels around my door to try to keep it out. Inside my own home was foggy, so it was scary. We've been up since 1.45 a.m. Yes. We have not gotten any sleep. I was more concerned about everybody in the house, and everybody was nervous and didn't know what was going on.

54:11Pamela Brown: How are you communicating, Mayor, with the residents, and what the risks are there? What are you saying to the folks?

54:20Wolf Blitzer: We're communicating every way we know how. You know, we've been on site. The 911 call that alerted us to this came from an employee around 930 last night. We were on scene probably within a half an hour, and we've been here ever since. We've had, you know, folks with the city of Toledo and our hazmat teams who, you know, haven't slept last night. I know I've been. I went to our emergency command center around 4 in the morning. and immediately we started communicating the best way we knew how. So we had a news conference this morning at 7. We've been communicating through cell phone texts, Facebook.

54:57Wolf Blitzer: In terms of the evacuation of the areas, initially within a half a mile of the zone, but then later to a mile, door-to-door was a tool in our tool belt to make sure everyone got that message. And actually, through the partnership of our local public transit agency and our school system, there's a school just over that way, a little bit, where we have residents who are using that as a temporary shelter. So the woman that you interviewed is right to be concerned. You should be concerned. And we didn't know what the chemical was probably at one in the morning. She said that's when she became exposed to it or was aware of it.

55:39Wolf Blitzer: We learned probably around four or five this morning. And again, within an hour of knowing that we had a news conference and talking to you in a forum like this is also very important. It's all over the news now. However you would consume your news, everywhere you would look, you would get the name of this chemical, what some of the concerns are and what we're doing to address it.

55:56Pamela Brown: It is so, so important, especially for people who have some issues with their health to begin with. Ships in port in Toledo, we're told, are not moving out until the hazard is taken care of. and CSX rail lines are shut down because their lines run right near the property. Can you provide an update on when you think all of this could resume?

56:19Wolf Blitzer: We truly any minute now are planning to fly our drones over the site, and they're pretty sophisticated with their infrared imagery and their ability to kind of dig down into knowing what's going down in the tank and pending what that drone tells us, we think that really within an hour, we certainly feel as though within an hour we could have a meaningful status update in terms of what the next steps are. And my anticipation is that those types of activities could resume by early afternoon, though we're not prepared to announce that yet. I will also say, and this is more in lines with the CSX traffic, our trains right adjacent to this site, I mean, literally adjacent to it, is our Stellantis Jeep site.

57:06Wolf Blitzer: One of the things we're really proud of in Toledo is we make Jeeps. Actually, we invented the Jeep back before World War II, and we've never stopped making it. Our Jeep workers went home. The third shift, they went home when this happened, and their first shift was called off also. So there's, you know, we're taking necessary precautions, but it's, you know, also fair to say that, you know, there's an economic impact here, but public health and safety is so much more important than anything else.

57:31Pamela Brown: That's priority number one. And Toledo Mayor Wade Kapsukiewicz, thanks so much for joining us. Good luck to you. Good luck to all the folks in Toledo, a great city. I've been there. And we wish you only, only the best. Thanks very much for joining us.

57:45Wolf Blitzer: Thank you.

57:46Pamela Brown: Up next, more than 18 months after federal officials detained him, the pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil is still fighting the Trump administration's latest efforts to try to deport him from the United States. And now he's taking that fight to the U.S. Supreme Court. He'll join us live. That's next.

58:09Pamela Brown: Happening now, Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stop his deportation and weigh in on immigration-related detentions. Khalil spent 104 days in ICE detention last year because of his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University, where he had been a graduate student. since graduated. The U.S. government argued at the time that Khalil was harmful to the country's foreign policy interests. He is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to let federal judges quickly determine the legality of such detentions to prevent people from being held for months or even years without judicial oversight.

58:49Pamela Brown: Mahmoud Khalil is joining us now from New York. Mahmoud, thank you very much for joining us. We've spoken before, and I want to point out you're the author of the book, a new book entitled No Land to Stand On, Notes from Detention. I know you're fighting to stay in the United States with your American wife and your 18-month-old son, but you have said that Americans should care because these issues are much bigger than just your case. Tell us what you mean by that.

59:18Wolf Blitzer: Absolutely. Thank you so much, Wal, for having me. You know, my fight is not only about my ability to stay in this country, whether I get to stay in this country. It's also about whether anyone actually in this country would have the right to speak out without fearing retaliation from the government, without fearing that they would be disappeared. In my case, you know, the government is weaponizing the immigration system. So our question to the Supreme Court is simple. Can the government weaponize immigration laws to punish someone's speech, then tell the federal court that they have no power to step in?

59:51Wolf Blitzer: And so it's one of these, you know, my case is another case of this administration's abuse of authority, abuse of power that they want to go after everyone and every single one who disagrees with them. And, you know, to me, it's very simple. If the Trump administration can punish someone for pro-Palestine speech, so this or any future administration can punish anyone for really any speech.

1:00:19Pamela Brown: I know, Mahmoud, you're turning to the U.S. Supreme Court, which, as you know, has a conservative supermajority with three of the justices appointed by President Trump. Are you optimistic that you will prevail when all this comes before the Supreme Court?

1:00:34Wolf Blitzer: You know, I'm fighting this case because I believe that the Supreme Court should side with us. In the past, they did. Whether including Justice Alito, by the way, who also cited around this question around that federal court has jurisdiction or has the power to intervene when there are constitutional questions. So we're just asking them to reaffirm, one, that immigrants in this country have the right to challenge their detention and immigration in federal courts, but also to reaffirm that non-citizens in this country also have First Amendment rights. And that was very well established in the past.

1:01:16Wolf Blitzer: But again, we're dealing with a government right now who's trying to push the envelope, who's trying just to see what they can get away with. But also, you know, I don't get my, I would say, my accountability or my justice only through courts. Because we know too well that the rights that we have right now, we have them because people vote for these rights, whether it is during the independence war, whether it is during the reconstruction era, the civil rights movement, or any, you know, like the Black Lives Matter. So to me, when I see that people are actually voting out those members of Congress who are also trying to take away our rights, this is accountability to me.

1:01:59Wolf Blitzer: And my book that's now is out as accountability to me. The fact that the same words that this administration tried to silence are now out. And now people are reading more and more about my story and about the stories of immigrants in this country, but also the story of Palestinian families around the world.

1:02:18Pamela Brown: It's such an important story indeed. Mahmoud, if the U.S. Supreme Court does not rule in your favor, what is your next course of action to stay in this country?

1:02:29Wolf Blitzer: You know, we have another case in the Fifth Circuit. It's also a conservative circuit. That's why the Trump administration transformed me over 13 miles away to ensure that I would stay in that, so they can ensure the outcome. So, you know, the Fifth Circuit is one of the most conservative circuits in the country. It's in Louisiana. So I will continue to fight. But once again, this is not only about whether I get to stay in this country. I'm fighting this fight because I can't afford to lose. Thankfully, I'm an Algerian citizen. I have family in Europe, so that's not the story. I'm really fighting because I can't afford to lose, unlike the thousands and hundreds of thousands of immigrant families in this country who cannot afford to lose, unfortunately, or the Palestinian families who are now going through occupation and killing.

1:03:24Wolf Blitzer: Also, they cannot afford to lose. So I'm one of those privileged Palestinians who are now, when I compare my situation with my people, but also with immigrant families, it's a drop in the Sea of Sorrow, unfortunately. So this is my part of the fight.

1:03:40Pamela Brown: As you know, the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement after your lawyers filed papers with the Supreme Court. In the Department of Homeland Security statement, they say, and I'm quoting now, The Trump administration acted well within its statutory and constitutional authority with respect to Khalil, as it does with any alien who advocates for violence, glorifies and supports terrorists, harasses Jews and damages property. We would encourage him to use the Customs and Border Protection home app and self-deport, end quote. How do you respond to that statement?

1:04:16Wolf Blitzer: You know, the government knows all too well that baseless allegations and smears against me cannot survive the slightest scrutiny in federal courts. That's why they're doing everything they could to keep those courts away from looking at my case and to channel it through its kangaroo immigration system that's fully controlled by the Trump administration. So I'm saying that I'm fighting until the end. And, you know, they're in power for the next two and a half years maximum, maybe two weeks now in Congress and Senate. So we will see.

1:04:50Pamela Brown: What has your life been like, Mahmoud, since you were first detained some 18 months ago?

1:04:58Wolf Blitzer: You know, it's been very difficult. Like, I'm a new father. I'm also like a new family. I got married just like about two years ago. And it's been now really moved into this just labyrinth of legal fights, of also advocacy fights. So it's been difficult. But this is, you know, a life of so many immigrants' families as well in this country. Again, like, thankfully and gratefully, like, I have a legal team, a very strong legal team. may have a good support system, but many of the families, the immigrant families here who are fearing to be snatched off the streets, they don't have this kind of support.

1:05:40Wolf Blitzer: They don't have this kind of spotlight on their cases. So I take that with so much grace, with so much responsibility to do what I could do. And also, this is, you know, I'm fighting because this government really stripped me from 104 days of my life, but also from witnessing the birth of my child. So I will continue to seek accountability toward that. So it's really not about whether I get to stay in this country. It's much bigger than that. And it's unfortunate that this is happening in a country that supposedly champions justice, rule of law, basic dignities. But these are not afforded, unfortunately, to us.

1:06:24Wolf Blitzer: Or this administration is trying so hard to strip us from these basic rights.

1:06:31Pamela Brown: Well, I just want to point out to our viewers, you have not been charged with any crime, but you were detained for more than 100 days. And I want to congratulate you on your graduate school, your graduation from Columbia University. Good work on that front as well. Mahmoud Khalil, good luck to you. Thanks so much for joining us.

1:06:50Wolf Blitzer: Thank you so much, Wolf.

1:06:52Pamela Brown: I want to bring in our chief Supreme Court analyst, Joan Piskupik, right now. Joan, how do you think the court will read Mahmoud Khalil's petition?

1:07:00Wolf Blitzer: Well, thanks for having me, Wolf. And I think he laid out a lot of issues very well. I mean, he laid out his broader quest here for the kind of justice he's seeking. But he also was right when he said it's actually a very discreet question that the Supreme Court is being asked to decide here. And that's the forum for this initial challenge to his detention and his deportation order. A lower court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that handled the order that had come up from New Jersey in his case, said he shouldn't have been able to get relief from a district court judge. He should be back before an immigration judge.

1:07:39Wolf Blitzer: And that really stops him in his tracks. And what he's done is appeal that to the Supreme Court. And the court's being asked to review what are sometimes called now or never claims. Can someone who's subject to a deportation order and being detained be able to get relief in a district court now rather than having to wait to the end of his proceedings and, you know, essentially kind of be shut out. And the one thing that he's got, you know, this is a tough court, as you rightly said, Wolf, when you said that, you know, we have this conservative supermajority. And it's a court that has been very sympathetic to Donald Trump's efforts to, you know, for mass deportations to narrow immigration rights.

1:08:25Wolf Blitzer: But what he does have going for him is that the lower courts are kind of divided on how to handle these these claims. And even though the Third Circuit ruled against him in his case, there was another ruling recently from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which is based in Richmond in a different matter that was more lenient in terms of when these so-called now or never claims can be brought. So one thing I should tell you about timing, we're not going to know for about three months or so whether the Supreme Court takes this, because the Justice Department now has about a month to respond to this petition.

1:09:04Wolf Blitzer: The justices will likely consider his plea in January conference. And then if they take it, probably a decision by the end of June. Wolf.

1:09:14Pamela Brown: We'll see what happens on that front. And Joan, while I have you, I want to get your thoughts on some news just coming in from the Supreme Court. The high court is about to consider transgender medical care in federal prisons. Tell us about that.

1:09:29Wolf Blitzer: Sure. It just happened. Well, so I'm going to look down at this order. It was just a brief one in an emergency case where the Trump administration was appealing a prison situation where it wanted to suspend hormone therapy and other treatments for transgender Americans in federal prisons. And it was a case where just in this emergency posture right now, Wolf, the court did not side with the Trump administration. It's in litigation in lower courts. And the justices wanted the, I mean, pardon me, the Trump administration wanted the justices to intervene immediately to stop this kind of care in prisons.

1:10:06Wolf Blitzer: And there was no explanation for the order, but I do have to say that two justices dissented, Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito, they did not explain themselves, but we'll be seeing more of this coming up. And it was a rare but temporary win for the transgender interests. But as I say, it's a very preliminary move right now by the Supreme Court and where this case is at involving federal prisoners, Wolf.

1:10:33Pamela Brown: All right, John Biskupic, our Supreme Court analyst, Thank you so much. Always good to have you join us in the Situation Room. Thanks. And just ahead, the Trump administration is spending billions of dollars to try to help farmers cover rising costs as harvest season arrives. But is it too little, too late? We'll ask the founder of the National Black Farmers Association. That's coming up.

1:11:02Pamela Brown: There's breaking news. we're getting new video coming into the Situation Room of the hazmat situation in Toledo, Ohio. This is from our affiliate there, and you can see a cloud billowing out from a tank. The chemical leaking is an industrial product used in coatings. The Toledo mayor told me just a few minutes ago that hazmat teams have still not been able to approach the tank because of the risk of an explosion. He also said that long-term exposure to this chemical could cause cancer. We'll continue to monitor this and bring you all the latest developments. Stand by for that. Also happening now with 13 days until the midterm elections, the Trump administration is rolling out$8 billion in relief for farmers who face soaring fuel and fertilizer prices.

1:11:49Pamela Brown: It's the second aid package in less than a year and comes as the fall harvest season gets underway. But farmers have been sounding the alarm on prices for months. I obviously can't purchase ground.

1:12:04Wolf Blitzer: You know, ground is$12,$13,$14,$15 ,000 an acre now and I just can't purchase it and pencil it out in my lifetime or even my son's lifetime. I would say this time last year we weren't feeling real great about life because we had to do a lot of cutting to get this thing to a positive number. The buck has to stop at this desk. I just didn't think$6,$5.50 diesel was in the cards.

1:12:29Pamela Brown: John Boyd Jr. is the founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association. John, thanks so much for joining us. As you know, the USDA, the Department of Agriculture, is set to announce payments next month. What assurances are you looking for to ensure this money reaches farmers who need it most? Well, thank you so much for having me.

1:12:50Wolf Blitzer: You know, I think this is a minute too late and a dime too short by the Trump administration. I believe it's an announcement to really look at votes, you know, getting votes in the midterm election. And we have to look at what we got here. The president's tariffs, the war in Iran, the war is really what is at the center of this thing. We didn't have six dollars and seven dollar diesel fuel until we went to war with Iran. and the administration have made numerous promises to help America's farmers. And I've certainly been on CNN talking about the 400 farm foreclosures that we have. And this administration has done absolutely nothing to help these farmers facing farm foreclosure.

1:13:32Wolf Blitzer: Well, if I'm paying$7 a gallon for diesel fuel, and I'm letting other bills go to pay for this diesel fuel. Every time I roll up there and fill up my 300 gallon tank, my farm tank is twenty one hundred dollars that I have to have to pay to put into my combine to harvest my crop. So the money has to come from somewhere and I'm letting other bills go. And nobody's talking about the the equipment companies that are suing farmers and taking them to court and picking up the equipment. I have a fertilizer deal or I went from one hundred thousand dollar bill there and paid it down to 40 and they're taking me to court.

1:14:09Pamela Brown: When I reached out to him yesterday to tell him about his payment, they said they didn't believe anything that this administration was saying.

1:14:16Wolf Blitzer: So there's a lot of doubt and farmers need the help right now. And I'm hoping that farmers will run to the polls. I've been talking to farmers, Wolf, that are voting early for the first time. I never heard of a farmers voting early because they're in bad shape. When you lose your farm, Wolf, you lose your history, you lose your livelihood, and you just don't pick up and buy another farm. And that's what this president doesn't understand. So he makes these announcements. You know, I was listening to him and he said unemployment was at an all time high for black people and Native Americans and Hispanics.

1:14:50Pamela Brown: I think he knows what he's saying when he says this stuff. He's done a deal with Russia. You know, when did we start doing deals with Russia for diesel fuel for 300 metric tons? 300 metric tons in the United States will last us 13 hours.

1:15:07Wolf Blitzer: So, again, these are announcements that this president is making, but they really don't amount to real significant payments for farmers. Our farmers at the MBFA don't qualify, many don't qualify for this payment because many haven't reported their crops because they haven't been getting any help from USDA. So you have to have already reported your crops, been in the system.

1:15:31Pamela Brown: So this diesel fuel payment is going to help a lot of large scale farmers and not many small scale farmers here in the United States. You represent black farmers across the United States. Are they facing particular challenges right now? And are you concerned about whether they will get the deeded relief from this newly announced bailout plan?

1:15:55Wolf Blitzer: I'm very concerned about it. And when I reached out to this administration, well, they invited me to the meeting when the president had the farmer meeting in the White House. And then they disinvited me so that I couldn't come to the meeting that they were doing away with the black farmer issue, the small farmer issue.

1:16:14Pamela Brown: So I'm very concerned that this administration was something not included. those payments that the president spoke about earlier, the$13 billion payment that already went out, many black farmers didn't get it.

1:16:28Wolf Blitzer: Again, because they're not in the system, they have to change those rules to allow all farmers to participate and receive this aid. That's why you see the subsidy numbers so wopsided, where black farmers are nearly just not even in the scheme of things there. They have to change that. The agriculture department knows it. The president knows it. So he puts us into this position that we're in through his policies. We got here by the president's policies, their policies, his tariffs, his war. And now we're having to pay the price. And this administration, if he wants to help farmers and all farmers stop farm foreclosures today in a complete farm moratorium, direct loans at USDA, guaranteed loans, and all secondary agricultural lenders, we should not be losing our farms because of a war in Iran and the president's poor decisions and ego is in the way of saying, you know what?

1:17:22Wolf Blitzer: My war put these farmers in complete jeopardy here. And that's really what happened. And I'm hoping that farmers, you know, they voted for our war three times. And I'm hoping that they will vote their pocketbooks this time instead of their pride and history of voting

1:17:39Pamela Brown: completely Republican. Yeah. All right, John Boyd Jr., good luck to you. Good luck to all the farmers out there, especially the black farmers right now that you represent.

1:17:50Wolf Blitzer: And, well, if we have a national conference coming up, October 30th and 31st in Columbia, South Carolina, there's going to be 1 ,000 farmers there, and people who want their vote, they need to show up and tell these farmers why they should vote for them in the upcoming election. So thank you so very much for having me.

1:18:07Pamela Brown: John Boyd Jr., good work. Thanks so much for joining us. And we'll be right back with more news.

1:18:18Pamela Brown: The Australian lawmaker badly injured in what officials call a deliberate attack has now had her second leg amputated. Authorities say a man hit Helen Haynes with his SUV Monday outside her office. Her husband says she's in critical condition, but is stable, at least for now. A suspect has been arrested and charged, but investigators aren't talking about a motive. Other news. British police say they've rearrested two men on suspicion of helping Iran's foreign intelligence service. It's part of the investigation into an alleged terror plot targeting a Royal Air Force base that U.S. bombers have been using.

1:18:57Pamela Brown: Seven people in total face charges. Iran denies any involvement. the U.S. moved all of its long-range B-1 bombers from the base days after the initial arrest last month. Those B-1s have played a big role in the war with Iran. And the NFL is now defending how the Philadelphia Eagles handled the health of star quarterback Jalen Hurts. He likely will miss the rest of the season because of blood clots. Doctors noticed them last weekend and cleared him to play. But after the game, the clots had moved to his lungs. Critics questioned the decision to let Hertz play, but the league's chief medical officer says the team made the right call.

1:19:38Pamela Brown: The Players Association is still calling for a full investigation. And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media, at Wolf Blitzer and at Pamela Brown, CNN. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning, every weekday morning, 10 a.m. Eastern for two hours. Inside Politics with our friend and colleague, Dana Bash, starts after a quick break.

1:20:10Wolf Blitzer: I'm Adi Cornish. I'm Ari Shapiro, and it's Engagement Party. It is Engagement Party. And we get to talk about what we're obsessed with, what we're engaged with, what we need to process with a friend. Her name is Amy O'Dell. She is a fashion writer, blogger. But the thing is, she's a journalist who's written about the sacred cows of fashion. And yes, I mean, Gwyneth Paltrow and Anna Wintour. She has done biographies of both. And she is also the sort of rare fashion writer who, at this point, kind of outside the system. And so the question that we're going to try to tackle is... Is fashion terrible now?

1:20:40Wolf Blitzer: Well, no, I mean, I would phrase it as how do you develop a personal style in the age of AI slop? You know, on social media, like creators have to try a whole bunch of different things and see what catches. And then they make it over and over and over again. The same thing happens with clothing. So they're sort of seeding the market, seeding the internet with all of these different ideas. And then they can see what sells and then they can just make them really fast. Follow Engagement Party. Wherever you get your podcasts.