Early Voting Surges With Election Day 11 Days Away

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0:39Right. Okay, we can afford that. You know what? Forget the music budget. We're going to stick with whatever's in the public domain. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for a 12-month plan required, $15 per month equivalent, taxes and fees extra. New customer offer for initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. Happening now, more than 20 million votes already cast. That is millions more than just yesterday morning. New early voting numbers coming into the Situation Room will take you live to the crucial battleground state of North Carolina as concerns grow over an absentee ballot rule that could reject some votes.

1:20Plus, breaking news, attack on Israelis.

1:28And now Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is closing the West Bank. We are following the very latest in this escalation. Plus, gas price spike. Which states are seeing the largest surges and how the price at the pump could go all the way to the ballot box? And melanoma vaccine trial. New promising signs in the search to prevent the deadliest type of skin cancer. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown and you're in the Situation Room.

2:07We begin with a massive wave of early voting sweeping the country right now. We're just 11 days out from Election Day and more than 20 million Americans have already cast their ballots. That is nearly 20 % of the entire voter turnout from the last midterm elections. And five states have already surpassed one million votes each, California, Texas, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. And that is where we find CNN national correspondent Diane Gallagher. Diane, this turnout is historic. What are the numbers telling us about who is voting early? So, Pamela, I just got numbers from the North Carolina State Board of Elections that add in yesterday.

2:48So we're talking about eight days of early in-person voting, plus absentee by mail. And more than 1 ,269 ,000 North Carolinians have already cast pre-election ballots in this state. And when you look at the data, there is a pretty obvious trend right now, at least when you extrapolate this early data. And that is that Democrats have an enthusiasm advantage when it comes to turnout. You can see 42 percent of all the ballots cast are coming from registered Democrats. That is outpacing where Democrats were in both 2022 and 2024 at this same exact time. Republicans are lagging in terms of turnout at this point in North Carolina, making up just 23 percent of those ballots.

3:37Now, look, it is important to note you have no idea how someone is going to vote. These are just who they are registered by. And to give you an idea, in North Carolina, 40 percent of the voters are registered as unaffiliated, and each party has about 29 percent of the electorate registered with them. But it is safe to say that we are seeing a lot of registered Democrats come out early and get those ballots banked. We spoke with one man after he voted here in South Charlotte today who said he cast a straight Democrat ballot and believes that this election is making people who feel like him feel energized to get out.

4:17I've lived a long time. Never have I seen a situation or experienced a situation that scares me more than what we're in right now. So it's important for everybody to get out and vote. It's important for you to let your voice be heard. And more importantly, if you love America, it's time to vote for America, not against it. So one other caveat here. These are early pre-election ballots. And early enthusiasm does not always equal election results. And so this is a good data point for us to look at to see how the trends are forming. But the only way anyone will know how this shakes out is once we have all of the votes counted come election night.

4:57Wolf? All right, Diane Gallagher in Charlotte, North Carolina. Thank you very, very much. Coming up this hour, by the way, we'll speak to a board of elections official in North Carolina on an additional requirement to mail in ballots and concerns right now that voters potentially could have their ballots rejected because of it. Happening now, President Trump is back on the campaign trail to Florida today as he pushes for a massive midterm turnout. Back in Washington here, he is locked in a fierce new battle with his own party over Vivek Ramaswamy's controversial attack ad against his Democratic opponent for Governor Amy Acton.

5:33The president is strongly defending it, even as GOP backlash grows by the hour. The ad features Amy Acton's estranged mother calling her a liar. Acton's mother lost custody of her when she was just 12 years old. Her stepfather was charged for sexually abusing her, yet Acton's mother stayed with him. President Trump has repeatedly said he knows nothing about any abuse or what the stepfather was accused of. Instead, he's insisting that Ramoswamy's rival is fair game, actively urging him to ignore Republican demands to pull the ad down. You mean you have a mother that said terrible things about, well, who knows the daughter?

6:11She really said she was a horrible liar. I mean, it was crazy. And he made a commercial, he put it up, you know, like I would do. So I told him, leave it up and look upstairs and say, thank you, God, very much. I appreciate it. All right, let's go live now to CNN White House correspondent Elena Trin at the White House. Elena, what more are you hearing about the president's position on this? Well, look, I think what's important to point out here, Pamela, is that the president is not only defending this ad, an ad that has received sharp backlash from a series of members in the Republican Party. You actually can't find many prominent Republicans outside of the president and the vice president who have been so vocal in defending this ad from the Ramaswamy campaign.

6:54But the president is also encouraging Ramaswamy to keep running this ad. Now, again, I do want to point out just some of the voices we've heard criticizing it. That includes the governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, the seat actually that Ramaswamy is running to replace and to fill. But you also heard from the state's former Republican governor, John Kasich, former Republican senator Rob Portman, and also Senator John Husted, someone the president has been repeatedly praising on the campaign trail. Even he has been distancing himself from it. And I think what's important as well to point out here is that, of course, Pamela, we have seen ads in the past that have drawn family members into these bitter political fights.

7:37What's different here and what's really at the heart of the matter is the allegations that Amy Acton has leveled against her stepfather, who she says sexually abused her, and then also her mother for staying with him despite the stepfather being charged. That's really what is drawing a lot of questions to this. I think what's interesting as well is from what we are seeing, I think a key thing as we look ahead to what's going to happen after the midterm elections, of course, that will be the end, the last two years of the president's second term. He will be a lame duck president. A lot of attention turning to what the future of the party is going to look like beyond President Trump.

8:12And you've seen now many prominent Republicans questioning if this is really the route that they want the party to take on. And if morally this goes too far and crosses the line. Many say they do, even as the president continues to argue that this is a fair game type of ad. All right, Elena Treen, thank you so much. Wolf. Also happening now, gas prices are surging in the key battleground states of Michigan and Ohio. And that could be a key factor in elections there. As polls show, the economy and rising prices are the top of the mind issues for voters. All right, let's go live now to CNN senior reporter Matt Egan.

8:48Matt, just how bad is it? Well, Wolf and Pamela, these price spikes are stunning. And so is the timing here, right? Just days before the midterms. The exact problem that is frustrating so many voters, high gas prices, is getting dramatically worse. And it's happening in the exact place that could determine the balance of power in Congress. Let's zoom in on Michigan, one of the biggest battlegrounds in this election. 48 hours ago, gas prices were averaging$4.44 a gallon in Michigan. Not cheap, but look where we are now,$4.77. That is a 33 cent increase in 48 hours. That is very rare. And it's not just Michigan.

9:29When you look at the Great Lakes region, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois, all of them going dramatically higher in the last two days. And look at Ohio in particular, just under$4 a gallon in that state on Wednesday, now$4.37. So you're looking at a$0.39 increase again in just the last two days. So why is this happening? Well, analysts are pointing the finger at a major refinery in the state of Illinois. It's an Exxon Mobil refinery in Joliet, Illinois. Exxon confirms to CNN that, yes, they are having an ongoing operational issue, but the company has not detailed exactly what has happened, nor have they provided any sort of timetable for when things could get back to normal.

10:12Now, the longer that this refinery is down, the higher prices will go because there's just no margin for error in the global refining system right now. And keep in mind that Michigan is already experiencing the biggest 12-month increase in gas prices in any state in the country. $1.67 more expensive than this time last year. That's a bigger increase than even in California, which has an almost$1.50 increase over there. And this is really squeezing consumers right before the midterms. Brown University calculates that consumers are paying$2.6 billion more in Michigan on gasoline alone since the war started.

10:59That works out to almost$650 per household. So the bottom line here is gas prices. It's just the number one issue for a lot of people on the cost of living right now. And it is getting worse in some of the states that could decide this election. Pamela, back to you. All right, Matt, thanks so much. And there's breaking news right now coming into the Situation Room. Two, yes, two former FBI officials are now facing charges for allegedly lying to Congress. Let's go live to CNN Crime and Justice correspondent Caitlin Polance. Caitlin, what are you learning? Wolf, this reporting first on CNN this morning that the Justice Department is bringing criminal charges against two FBI officials that it believes potentially hampered the investigation years ago into Hunter Biden, the son of Joe Biden.

11:49There were all kinds of allegations about both the Biden family and Hunter Biden himself that were swirling around the FBI. It led to a special counsel investigation into Hunter Biden, where he was ultimately charged with tax and gun crimes then pardoned by his father in 2024. But in this case, we do expect the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C. or the Justice Department to announce criminal charges against two FBI officials that were involved in that Hunter Biden investigation. They are going to be charged with something that would look like obstruction of Congress or potentially lying to Congress when they would have been speaking about their work at the FBI.

12:34Also, Wolf, it is of note that this comes about two weeks before Election Day in this country. So we're going to be talking again about the investigation into Hunter Biden and the Biden family. One thing to point out, though, is that there have been a lot of accusations of false statements around the Hunter Biden situation over the years. In fact, there was an FBI informant that was ultimately charged with providing false information to the FBI. That man, Alexander Smirnoff, he was serving time in prison for that. But the Republicans have long been quite unhappy with how that investigation played out at the FBI.

13:15There were always assertions that it had been slow walked by FBI officials. We're waiting to see exactly what the criminal charges here might say. and hopefully they will be unsealed at some point soon. But this is the latest of a new case of much interest to this president and this Justice Department. Yeah, lots of news. Caitlin Polantz reporting for us. Thank you very, very much, Pamela. All right, we're still ahead. We're following the breaking news. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ordering the closure of the occupied West Bank after two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at an Israeli military checkpoint, killing two soldiers.

13:52We will take you live to Jerusalem just ahead. Plus, speaking out, the Washington Post photojournalist who was attacked by Israeli settlers is now telling her story of the beating. You're in the Situation Room.

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14:47You know what? Forget the music budget. We're going to stick with whatever's in the public domain. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for a 12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. New customer offer for initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. We have breaking news in the Middle East unfolding right now. Now Israel's military has just confirmed that two Israeli soldiers were killed when Palestinian gunmen opened fire at an Israeli military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank.

15:20Listen to this.

15:35At least three other people were wounded and both gunmen were killed. This is video from the scene right after the shootout. Right now, Israel is locking down the West Bank and ordering what it calls a full siege on the city of Hebron near the attack. CNN Jerusalem Bureau Chief Oren Lieberman is joining us right now. Oren, what else are you learning? You saw some of the video of the gunfire there. And what's shocking about this is how long it lasted. We have seen shooting attacks before. Normally, they're over in a matter of moments. This, according to first responders, lasted some 20 minutes early Friday morning.

16:12That's when Israeli authorities say two Palestinian gunmen near the occupied West Bank city of Hebron in the southern West Bank opened fire on Israeli security forces at an Israeli military checkpoint. The Israeli military confirmed a short time ago that two soldiers were killed in that attack and three more were lightly wounded. The two gunmen were shot and killed at the end of the attack. You saw that video, the emergency responders that went to the scene there, and you saw the difficulties that security forces had throughout this attack. In fact, one of the things you heard there is security forces saying they couldn't reach the wounded for some time there as a result of the attack.

16:47Now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as the defense minister, visited the scene of the attack. They said they would move quickly here, evacuating the neighborhood where this happened and instituting the model that we have seen the Israeli military carry out in several of the refugee camps in the West Bank, where they clear out an area, displace thousands of Palestinians, and demolish homes that they say are being used as terrorist infrastructure. Only hours after the attack, the Israeli military has already begun carrying out that operation. We have seen video with soldiers yelling at residents there, you have five minutes to leave, and those demolitions have already begun.

17:23So just days before the election here, as Netanyahu tries to once again show he is Mr. Security, It seems the Israeli military moving very quickly to shut down the city of Hebron. Earlier, Netanyahu had ordered a closure of the entire West Bank, but it looks like as of right now that closure limited to Hebron in some areas there. This is something we will obviously keep an eye on. Oren, it comes, and I want to ask you about this, the recent surge of violence from Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. An American photojournalist for The Washington Post is now out of the hospital but still recovering from her beating.

17:59this past weekend that occurred. Tell us a little bit more about that. So this is veteran Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine. She was covering the beginning of the Palestinian olive harvest in the town of Abu Falah in the West Bank. She accompanied Palestinians into essentially their olive groves there to start picking olives. And that's when they came under attack from a group of dozens of settlers. And we saw a video of the attack. Heidi Levine was wearing a press vest and a helmet that clearly identified her as press, and yet she was attacked. She was thrown to the ground and beaten.

18:34She says her cameras and her passport were stolen. She ended up in two hospitals. First, she was rushed to a hospital in Ramallah and then taken to a hospital in Israel where she underwent surgery. As a result of the beating, she is now out of the hospital, though she is still recovering. Here's what she had to say. I think what hurts me the most is I can now really understand what others have gone through, what Palestinian women, children, men have gone through that I have met after they were attacked. We don't even mark our cards with press signs anymore because it makes us very vulnerable to being attacked by settlers.

19:22It's not the first time I've been attacked in my career by them. But hopefully it will be the last. One day after Levine was attacked, settlers attacked a group of European diplomats that were going to the Christian town of Taiba in the West Bank. So you see that this has become a phenomenon that the West Bank has seen surge in recent months, especially around the olive harvest. Now, Levine was very critical of Netanyahu, who has repeatedly tried to downplay settler violence, saying it's only a small rogue group that's carrying it out. But we have seen over and over again the results of that violence.

19:59And all this happening just, what, four days or so before the national elections in Israel. That's coming up. Orrin Lieberman in Jerusalem for us. Thank you very, very much. Pamela. All right, Wolf, coming up, Star Shield confusion. Ukrainian officials say they still don't have full access to the vital satellite system, despite President Trump saying the restrictions have been lifted. So where is the truth?

20:27Well, happening now, Ukrainian officials say restrictions to the Star Shield satellite service, they are still in place. And that is despite President Trump claiming access has been restored. A source tells CNN President Trump called SpaceX's founder, Elon Musk, in recent days, telling him to turn it back on. And this follows days of disruption and conflicting accounts about who ordered the outage. Starshield is vital in Ukraine's war against Russia. Here's what Ukrainian President Zelensky told CNN's Kristian Aminpour yesterday. Who do you think did it? I don't know. It can be, I mean, technically it can do, I think, SpaceX.

21:05But the decision comes by themselves or from some institutions. I don't know. It's not clear for me. But technically, it can do only one company. Is it up to speed? I don't understand. Is it back up to speed or not? No. We had enough speed to destroy Iranian Shahid's 400, 500 kilometers per hour. Yeah, it's more than 300 miles. Now we had maximum 100 miles. Ukraine says Russia launched more than 170 drone attacks overnight, hitting at least 19 locations. So for more analysis, CNN political and global affairs commentator Sabrina Singh is here in the Situation Room. Sabrina, is there any clear explanation for what actually happened with Ukraine losing access in the first place and how damaging it's been for Ukraine's military?

22:01Well, we're clearly seeing how damaging it's been for Ukraine's military. Just look at the damage that you're seeing in Ukraine in these cities with these apartment buildings being struck, with innocent people being killed. So there's no question that the damage is being done. But how this happened, what we're learning, there are conflicting reports. And I think what's most concerning here is that potentially a civilian made a unilateral decision about a country's national security and the decisions that they can make when it comes to launching offensive strikes against Russia and defending their own sovereign country.

22:34And what this all reminds me of is that fight that Pete Hegseth got into with Dario Amadei at Anthropic, because the Department of Defense did not want Anthropic to dictate terms of their software and capability to the Department of Defense. And yet in this instance, you have Starlink and potentially Elon Musk being able to turn off certain terminals for the Ukrainians to use, dictating terms of usage to another country. So that's sort of, they compete in what the Department of Defense wanted. So you heard President Zelensky there say that Ukraine's access to Star Shield is not fully restored and that they're not getting unlimited internet speed impacting their ability to ward off these Russian attacks.

23:17Just help us better understand why that speed is so important. Well, the speed is so important because Russia has been able to increase the speed and ability of these high-powered drones to strike within Ukraine. I mean, we know that you're using jet engines now to propel these drones to go faster. So in able to be able to shoot down these drones, they need those capabilities that allow Star Shield to operate at 200, 300 miles per hour to detect these drones. And because they didn't have that, what you saw is some horrific images being circulated online, including a child killed just in a stroller.

23:51I mean, I think that image has been circulated pretty widely. And that is because Starshield and Starlink capabilities were either slowed down or turned off. And because of that, innocent people died. So I think you're seeing at least bipartisan calls in both the House and the Senate for an investigation into what exactly happened. And what was interesting yesterday is you saw the president say, I don't want to get into it, but I told him to turn it back on. So someone knew something. Well, actually, he was like, you know, I don't want to say I talked to him. So someone may have talked to him, whether it was me or someone else.

24:21He wanted to keep it vague. Yeah, he really wanted to keep it vague and dodge the question here because innocent people died because of this decision. And I think the president and others around him know this was a catastrophic error and mistake and gave Russia the ability and, frankly, the upper hand to strike within Ukraine and kill innocent people. And that's exactly what Vladimir Putin wants. So what impact do you think this will have on the prospect of holding any trilateral talks? And can Ukraine ever fully regain the trust of the U.S. after this? Well, on that question, I think it's very hard for Ukraine to be able to trust the U.S.

24:55and even Zelensky said, you know, in certain interviews, like, I am having trouble trusting the United States and this president. But when it comes to these potential trilateral talks, Ukraine is walking up to the table with one arm tied behind its back. It does not know if the United States can be a reliable ally. It does not know if intelligence sharing, if these Starlink and Starshield terminals will remain on. And so Russia walks up to the table with the upper hand here. They have allowed, been able to sell their sanctioned diesel on the global market, fueling their war machine. And Vladimir Putin has been able to drive a further wedge in between the United States, Ukraine, and Europe.

25:31So Russia really walks up to the table with a stronger hand at this point. All right, Sabrina Scene, great to have you on. Thank you. Wolf? Excellent analysis. Thanks from me as well. Coming up, the effects of a very highly controversial ad, how Vivek Ramaswani's TV spot in Ohio is causing shockwaves for Republican candidates across the country.

25:57This holiday, all plans, even unlimited, are just$15 a month. A holiday deal this good obviously deserves an enormously expensive holiday song, like All I Want. Right. Okay, we can afford that. You know what? Forget the music budget. We're going to stick with whatever's in the public domain. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for a 12-month plan required,$15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. New customer offer for initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. All right.

26:29Welcome back. We're taking a live look here at the White House. The president will be leaving here any moment on his way to another red state. That would be Florida. He has been on the campaign trail for several days ahead of the midterms, trying to boost momentum for Republicans. So we're going to keep an eye on this and see if he has anything to say. We'll see if he speaks to reporters on his way to the Marine One helicopter at the White House and gets ready for that campaign trip to Florida. And if he does, we'll take we'll take that live. But we'll see if he says if he speaks and answers reporters questions.

27:02Yep. All right. Let's get back to our top story right now. The final sprint to the midterm elections. President Trump doubling down on his support for Ohio Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy. With just 11 days until Election Day, Ramaswamy has come under increased scrutiny over a very controversial attack ad his campaign put out. The video features Democrat Amy Acton's estranged mother, who calls her daughter a liar and urges voters not to support Acton. Acton says she has not seen her mother since she was about 12 years old, when she says the man her mother married sexually abused her and faced criminal charges.

27:43Joining us now here in the Situation Room is CNN political commentator and former senior advisor for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, Karen Finney, and former White House spokesperson during the George W. Bush administration, former spokesperson for the Indiana Republican Party as well, Pete Seat. Pete, this ad, very controversial ad, disgusting, has divided Republicans. Is President Trump's support over this going to help Ramaswamy on the scene over there? Well, President Trump is trying to get fellow Republicans to stop criticizing this ad. I think that's in part or one of the plausible reasons for why the president spoke out.

28:26He's tired, just as the Ramaswamy campaign is, of the criticism they're getting from inside and outside of Ohio. But, you know, typically when there's an October surprise in campaigns, it's something that Democrats spring on Republicans or that Republicans spring on Democrats. Here you have an October surprise from a Republican on fellow Republicans because it has nationalized this conversation and put fellow Republicans of Vivek Ramaswamy in the uncomfortable position of having to talk about a campaign ad in the state of Ohio rather than talking about their own campaigns. And they've got to be frustrated about this.

29:03Very frustrated. Karen, even in this era of hyperpolarization, we're seeing bipartisan backlash over this video, including a new statement from 10. Yes, 10 sitting women governors condemning the video. What are your thoughts? Right. You know, well, there's a couple of things here. Number one, I think part of what this comes down to is a question of judgment, because in this moment, part of the conversation we heard in our own reporting where voters were saying, what were they thinking? What did they think was going to happen? And so, you know, it says, what kind of person does this, defends this, thinks this is a good idea?

29:44And what does that tell me as a voter about how that person would lead and make decisions versus let's look at how Amy Acton has behaved. I mean, she has been just incredibly impressive. Obviously, I can't imagine the pain this has brought back for she and her brother, but she's answered every question. She's been very transparent and honest and open, understanding. And, you know, what we have to remember, this conversation is happening in the context of what happened, what we learned about what had happened at Cornell. It's happening in the context of a country that still wants to know where the Epstein files and you have a president and a vice president who are part of hiding that from us.

30:26So I think you have to recognize the broader context in which this is happening and see this as a leadership test. What kind of leader are you? Are you going to be able to stand up to the pressure and lead with grace? Are you going to platform someone who is part of abusing their child. Important point. Pete, the impressive Cook political report, as you know, moved 19 races to favor Democrats this morning. This does not mean 19 races are all going to swing Democratic. But what does it tell you about the broader electorate going into the final days of this critically important election cycle? It tells us what we've always known and that this midterm election cycle with a Republican president and Republican majorities in the House and the Senate would not be favorable to Republicans.

31:19That's just history, and that's what we should come to expect. I think there are some legitimate questions about polling out there. We know that at times polling has not been all that reliable when it comes to assessing the turnout and support from Trump-only voters, people who showed up in 16, 20, and 24 but may not turn out in the midterms. That's why you see President Trump going to these red states to deeply conservative parts of places like Iowa, as he did yesterday, to try and drive turnout from those voters. But we also know when it comes to the Senate, I know you're talking about the House Wolf, but when it comes to the Senate, Democrats have to have an almost perfect night.

32:02They have to hold four of their vulnerable seats and they need to flip four Republican seats in order to get a clear majority. So while things are trending in their direction, while things feel good for Democrats, it's not a fait accompli. They're not necessarily going to have a good night and a lot to celebrate. Karen, I want you to listen to what the House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNN's Manu Raju just yesterday. Listen to this. If you go through the issue set and you ask the American people. Who do you trust on the economy? Democrats. Who do you trust on combating inflation? Democrats.

32:39Who do you trust on driving down the high cost of living? Democrats. Who do you trust on health care? Overwhelmingly, Democrats. Who do you trust on the deficit? Democrats. Who do you trust on ending the war in Iran? Democrats. Who do you trust on immigration at this point. It's Democrats. So we have a decisive issue advantage across the board. So if Democrats are successful this November, what issues do they need to prioritize to keep all this momentum up? Well, number one, getting costs down. And we know because of the big, ugly bill, a number of things are going to happen in December and even in January, where costs are going to go up.

33:25We know some of those Medicaid reimbursement costs are going to go up. We know that some of our health care costs are scheduled to go up again, thanks to the insurance companies. So I think focusing on what they can do to bring costs down, look, one of the things they can do is let's claw back some of the money for these vanity projects for things like the Arch, which Trump now says he's going to try to fast track this without Congress and do some kind of executive order, I believe. You know, let's look at these vanity projects. Let's try to claw back some of that money. And then, you know, we know also in January we'll have a fight about the budget.

33:58Why are we spending money on a war that Congress never approved, that, you know, continues to be both a drain on our resources, raise costs in this country. And so that's another place where they can say, we're going to rein you back in, Mr. President, and you're going to be held accountable because that's what the American people are demanding. Karen Finney and Pete Seat, to both of you. Thank you very, very much, Pamela. All right, Wolf, coming up here in the Situation Room, ballot concerns. The North Carolina election official will join us ahead on worries about a new absentee ballot rule in the state that the governor is calling infuriating.

34:37We'll be right back. Stay with us.

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35:26Our expert staff can help you pick the perfect gifts and we have free in-store gift wrapping to help make the holiday season truly special. See you soon at your local Tecovas store or shop with us anytime at tecovas.com. Well early voting is underway in many states including Battleground North Carolina. Voters there are deciding who will replace Republican Senator Tom Tillis with polls showing Democratic former Governor Roy Cooper leading over GOP candidate Michael Watley. The latest data shows Democrats lead Republicans by 19 points among early voters. Turnout is up 38 percent from the same point before the 2022 midterms.

36:05And we are hearing from voters about why they're eager to vote. I feel like there is a lot of enthusiasm, especially with younger people now, just seeing how poorly everything is being ran now and people want to make that change because a lot of Republicans are in power and they're not doing a good job. So people are coming out to make sure that our voices are heard and that change can happen, hopefully. Yeah, I completely agree. And even just starting a family, this is our first baby, she's nine months old and everything has just gotten so wildly expensive. You know, we're feeling it at the grocery store.

36:42We're feeling it, you know, everywhere trying to save for a home. It's just something's not working in this government right now. And we are raising this little one to be an early voter. And, you know, we're trying to set a good precedent, good example. Trying to make the world better for her for the future, you know. Exactly. That little baby was so cute. Joining us now with more perspective is Jerry Cohen, a Democratic member of the Wake County Board of Elections for the last seven years. So, Jerry, let's begin with mail-in ballots in North Carolina. There were these new rules that were put in place by the State Board of Elections, and now preliminary data is showing an increase in these spoiled ballots compared to 2022.

37:21Ari, I'm going to actually get back to you, but first I want to go to President Trump. He's making some remarks outside the White House. I think we carried some people across the finish line. We'll see. But that was great in Iowa. Now I'm going to Florida, Fort Myers. And we'll, I think, have a tremendous crowd, I can tell you. They're lined up miles long, but we'll be there soon. I sleep. The President, the ceasefire is really good news. Will the First Lady be a part of the trilateral peace talks? The President No, but it's not the worst idea I've ever heard. The Press Have you thought of her?

37:53The President What she wants to do is save children. And that's her focus. And both sides are cooperating with her. So, doing a very good job. The President How did that all come about, Mr. President, her initiative. And they contacted both sides, and both sides wanted to do it. The Press. Any news on a new press secretary that you could give us a new press secretary? Mr. No, nothing much. We're in no rush. The Press. The Press. There's a new book out that says Jared Kushner had access to$2 billion from Middle Eastern countries. Mr. It's a false story. The Press. You don't know anything about this?

38:26Mr. No, it's a totally false story. It was totally an incorrect story. It was just fake news. It's amazing. The Pressure President, you must know now who ordered the Starlink access in Ukraine to be restricted. Who was it? Was it Pentagon? The President, well, I wouldn't tell you if I did know. I have no idea. But I wouldn't tell you if I did know. Why would I tell you? Who you is? The CNN, sir. The President, why would I tell CNN? Although they did do some nice polls on me, I must say. The Pressure President, what do you think? CNN keeps doing those polls. I like them more and more. The Pressure President, President, they say they're still restricted access.

38:59Zelensky said they still are receiving slow acts. The President, 20 ,000 non-citizens were on the voter rolls in California. 20 ,000 non-citizens. The President, well, I'm not surprised. It could be hundreds of thousands. That was just a batch. 20 ,000 absolutely fraudulent in California for voting. And it could be 100 ,000. It could be 3, 4, 500 ,000. California is very corrupt in voting. So is Minnesota. So are many other states. Mr. President, early voting is at record levels in a number of states that are critical for Republicans to hold on to the Senate. Texas, Ohio, North Carolina. Who do you think that early voting is benefiting?

39:41The President's President of the United States, I think that we're doing very well against Salafrico. I think we're doing very well. We have the best attorney general in the history of Texas running. So I think we're doing well, but we're going to find out. The numbers are very high all over. or the numbers in — like, I was in Iowa. I showed the enthusiasm last night. I think there's great Republican enthusiasm. I really think — you know, I keep hearing about different things. You've been following me. I've been — we've been packed. Every house — every house has people that can't get in. Fort Myers — that's Florida.

40:15They say they've never seen anything like it. So, I mean, if that — if that counts, I think we're doing very well. The Pressure Manninger has told Elon Musk to stop messing around. Would you create a Star League connection? I have not spoken to them. I might have to, but I have not. I've heard it was mixed, but if it's not, I'll speak to them. Is there any message to minority voters that supported you so much now that we're in the mix? Are there any message to minority and black voters? I think the minority voter has been great to me, you know? So I've been great to the minority voter. Look what I've done for, as an example, with the historically black colleges and universities.

40:54I've taken care of them. I've been very good. The Hispanic voters have been great to me. But I've been great to them, too. You know, there's a reason. And I've been great to Hispanics. I've been great to Blacks. I've been great to pretty much everyone. It's a different Republican Party, but we're also the party of the worker. It's a much bigger party than it used to be. I mean, if you go back 10 years ago, before I got on the scene, this is a much more powerful party. This is a much bigger, frankly, more important party. Mr. President, you've been campaigning nonstop for the past few weeks. You'll campaign nonstop next week.

41:29Who do you view right now as the most vulnerable Republican Senate candidates? Well, I wouldn't want to say that. I wouldn't want to say that. But there are a couple that are a little bit vulnerable. There are a couple where they had a little bad luck over the last couple of weeks. Something came out about. But the Democrats have that, too. I mean, look, if you look at El Sayyad in Michigan, you take a look at that. I mean, he's had more bad publicity, but, you know, we'll see what happens. I do think that some of the networks give too much air time to the opponent, if you want to know the thing.

42:05Mike Waltz said on Iran, Mike Waltz said that there could be a stalemate for up to a year, and the U.S. is preparing for an extended conflict. But you keep saying it's going to end soon. We could end it very quickly, but Iran is a failing nation. We're taking all the oil out that we want. You see that with the hormones straight, our Navy. And we have it blocked up for them, but nobody else. And everybody is taking oil out. In fact, last week we took more oil out than we have ever taken it out, even before the war. So that was a big sticking point. So we have that. And they have inflation. They have no money.

42:42You know, the question is, do we want to finish it off, or do we let it — do we just want to let it wither? Because we're getting everything we want. And, Steve, we have more oil coming out of the hormones straight today than they did a year ago. The Pressure on the White House, though. Do you think the Vice President? The President Biden's president, President Biden, and the President Biden's president, I think we're voting tomorrow in Florida. The Pressure on the White House, President Biden, how come Elon Musk doesn't have a gab order like you did? The President Biden's president, I love that question.

43:10She should have. But look, what she did is her whole life is a scam as far as I'm concerned. Her whole life is a total scam. Mr. President, do you think your vice president, J.D. Vance, should have enforced Netanyahu just like you did? I don't know that he did or didn't. That's up to him. I would leave that up to him. Mr. President, if there is gridlock for the next two years, obviously you don't want to see that. But if there is, would that be bad for the U.S. economy? No, it would be probably good because we're taking a tremendous... Don't forget, when you say gridlock, you're talking about Iran?

43:44That would be - The President's I'm talking about gridlock in terms of your legislative agenda. Oh, that. Oh. Let's talk about gridlock with Iran. Iran is not able to do much now. And we could, if we wanted to, just take all of the oil. We could take the whole country. We could take all of the oil. And as you know, the Hormone Strait is totally ours. And that's the way we'll keep it. So, in that way, that would be - The gridlock's very interesting because they have no money. They have inflation that's 301 percent, the highest in the world right now. So we'll see. As far as you're talking about if the Republicans didn't win.

44:21Right. Just political gridlock. Well, I think the Republicans are going to win. But if there was, as you call it, gridlock, what happens is I veto everything and then the Democrats come and they want to make a deal. So we'll work it out. I mean, if you look historically, when you have a situation where that would happen, If it happens, you veto, veto, veto, and then they come and they say, how do we get it done? And you make a deal. Now that you know the back story about Amy Atkin and her stepfather and why she hasn't talked to her mom for so long, her stepfather was indicted for rape, now that you know all that, sir, do you change your mind about the ad?

44:59No, no. It's a mother speaking badly against Amy Atkin. And to me, it's very easy. The mother... The Press But they haven't talked for 50 years. The President I don't care. So if it were my mother speaking badly about me, you'd be making it the number one story on the news. You know, maybe you wouldn't, but mostly. The Press But her mother stood by her after her husband had raised for her. The President Look, look, you don't know that. You don't know that. You don't know anything. Her mother stood by, didn't stand by. Her mother went on television and said that the daughter, who's running for governor of Ohio, is a liar and a bad person.

45:36And that's all I know. Whether who — Nobody knows. Nobody knows anything. Can I be honest? You shouldn't even — you're — the press is embarrassing themselves. You're trying to take a horrible situation for a Democrat and make it look better. The mother said really bad things about a person that wants to be the Democrat governor of Ohio. The mother said terrible things. Anybody seeing that would say, no way I'm voting for her. There's nothing to it. It's very simple. The press is trying so hard to nullify. You know, they called me up about it. I said, wait a minute. The mother said these things.

46:17The mother looks like she's totally lucid. She looks very smart, actually. And she felt she had an obligation to Ohio voters to tell them that her daughter is a liar. President, President, President Zelensky says that Starlink is still not working for Ukraine, as of today. I haven't heard that, but I'll look at it. Did you speak with the British Prime Minister today? I did. Can you tell us what you discussed and why that call was made? We discussed the fact that they're opening up the North Sea oil, and that's going to make the UK a very rich country. They're opening up the North Sea oil. We discussed.

46:52I've been after them to do that for two years. The other Prime Minister, the previous man, is Starmer, who's a very nice man, but he never got it done, and this one is getting it. But Andy is getting it done. And I guess it's against the liberal principle, but he knows what's right. It's going to make the U.K. a very wealthy country. Did you discuss Iran or Ukraine with the Prime Minister? We did very lightly. We mostly discussed Aberdeen and the North Sea. And can you just talk about the trade talks with Mexico? President Scheinbaum hoped there might be a deal before the midterm. What's the latest?

47:25We're very close to a deal with Mexico. Very close. It'll be a very good deal for hopefully them, but it's going to be a good deal for us or we won't make it. The same thing with Canada. Canada is working very hard to make a deal with us. And I hate to say this, but we have all the cards in both of them. We have all the cards, just like I told Zelensky. We have all the cards. The President, on the Ramaswamy ads, sir, Republicans like Ashley Hinson, who you were with last night in Iowa, are denouncing the ads. The President, but they don't know the facts. Look, this is a mother that went on the air to say that her daughter, who's running for governor of the great state of Ohio, that I won in a record all three times.

48:09I got the record vote, the highest vote ever. So I know it well. I love the people. A mother is saying, don't put my daughter there because she's a terrible person and she's a liar. Why shouldn't somebody use that? But do the sexual abuse allegations mean nothing to you, sir? The President said, Steve, wait, wait, wait, wait, slow down. Who are you with? Who are you with? The Press 1. I'm with NBC, sir. The one of the worst networks you have. The Press 1. But there are very serious sexual abuse allegations. The President, quiet. The Press 1. They make no difference to you? The President, isn't she a fresh person?

48:42You're a horrible little reporter, aren't you? If my mother said bad things about me, do you think the Democrats would put it up? I think so. But my mother thought I was wonderful. Thank you, Mom. My mother would never, even if she thought them, she would never say, this is a person, a mother, a smart woman. I watch, smart woman. She said her daughter is a disaster. Her daughter is a liar. And she felt that she had an obligation. And she also said her daughter lied about her opponent, which is Vivek Ramishwamy. If I had that ad, I should be so lucky to have an ad like that. Why wouldn't you listen to a mother that says that?

49:23Why? Why would you miss NBC? Why wouldn't you listen? Wait a minute quiet You have I don't know anything about a stepfather or you have This one just keeps talking You just keep talking you have us. I don't know anything about stepfathers From many many years ago. I know that recently a mother got on television and said that her daughter should not be governor of Ohio And she said, I love my daughter, but my daughter lies all the time and lied about her opponent. And I can't watch it. And the mother got up. This has nothing to do with a stepfather or anything else. This has to do with the fact that a woman got out, the mother of a person running for governor of one of the greatest states where I set records and said that she's a liar.

50:15Her daughter is a liar. She said her daughter lied about Vivek and the mother couldn't take it anymore. She basically said her daughter should not — that's what she said — her daughter should not be the governor of Ohio. To me, that's something that's very much fair game. The Press Press, President, could you preview your trip to Michigan on Sunday? The President, my trip to Michigan is going to be very exciting. Every one of my trips is exciting. I think we did fantastically in Iowa. I think that you're going to have everybody I talked about last night is going to be elected. You're going to have a great governor, a great senator.

50:51We're going to have a very big one right now. They're saying the line is two miles long or four miles or five miles long. We're sold out at every single place I go. And every single place I go, people that are down are now winning. Thank you very much. How does the U.S. military prevent these attacks that are happening on cargo ships, on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormones. The President's confidence. They're really good. The Navy has done a great job. We have more. You just saw it on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. There's more oil coming out right now through the Strait of Hormones than it was even before the war.

51:28We have done a hell of a job. I hope someday we'll recognize it. The tanker of the people left Russia today is to believe in all this to make peace in Ukraine to saving babies and bringing babies back home to their parents. And she's been able to do something that's great. She's been working very hard on it. She wants to see babies come back to their families. And that's between Russia and Ukraine. And they worked a ceasefire in a very rough place, by the way. And babies are being exchanged. She's done a great job. On politics, Kamala Harris was in Mississippi last night. Mississippi is a state that nobody really thought would be at play.

52:11What does that have to tell you about the midterms? Well, I won it by 32 points. They've asked me to go. I'm going there, I think, on Monday. Yes, sir. And I look forward to it. And Cindy Hyde Smith, you know, Cindy Hyde is fantastic. And she's very popular. She's up in the polls. She's not losing. You've been doing so many rallies. I'm just curious. Do you feel like the strategy is working? I know he's not your favorite, but Karl Rove had an article the other day in the Journal. And he said that there's a chance of backlash. Do you think the rallies is the best strategy so close to the midterm?

52:42Look, you have Karl Rove. He's a loser. He's proven. He's been a loser all his life. Karl Rove doesn't know what he's talking about. Look, every single place I've gone to, every single place, whether people were losing, that were expected to win. When I'm leaving, look at Ohio, how much better he's doing. Look at everyone. Look at Iowa last night with Ashley. She's, they just came out with numbers right now. Every place I'm going to, every place is full, loaded with people, lines outside trying to get in. I'm going to Fort Myers right now. They say there's a line of people that's five miles long.

53:20Every place I've gone to, I've helped. And every place wants me. The one problem is I'm one person. This is a lot of work. Let me tell you, this is a lot of work. Do you feel like, though, is the juice worth the squeeze? Do you feel like you say you feel like you're the only one doing it? Do you feel like other Republicans should be more? Well, I'm the only one that can get 25 ,000 people to show up. That's you know, whether it's Democrat or Republican, that's a proven fact. That's been proven for 10 years. I'm the only one that can get the crowds and I don't know why you know, you'll have to tell me someday you'll write a book about it, but like in Fort Myers, they have thousands and thousands of people that were there yesterday.

54:02They were lined up yesterday. So that seems to be a trait or an ability. I can and I want to use it for good purpose. And if I don't think somebody is really worthy or good job, I don't go. But Mississippi, I'm going. Today I'm going for a man who's going to be a great governor. I think he's going to be a great governor. So Byron, we're going to see him in a little while. We have, but we have a tremendous crowd of people. I don't know if you're going and you're doing a very good job, by the way. The Pressure Pressure Pressure Pressure Pressure I'm going to be going to Michigan. I don't know. Is it Saturday, Sunday?

54:40I look forward to Michigan. I can talk about a man who's a Muslim Brotherhood person, who's a jihadist, and who can't be in our Senate. He's a fake guy. All you have to do is look at his statements from two years ago. I'm looking forward to going to Michigan. And by the way, Mike Rogers will be a great senator. But I'm looking at a man who is with, I call him Mohammed. But Abdul is Abdul. It's actually, his middle name is actually Mohammed. I don't know if you know that or not. His name is Abdul Mohammed. He's a fake. He's a total fake. And we can't have fakes. Can you imagine this guy? He was a member, probably still is, of the Muslim Brotherhood.

55:28we can't have him in Congress. The President of the United States is already The President of the United States is already We can't have him in the United States. We can't have him in the United States, and I look forward to me. I'll tell you what. I look so forward to Michigan, and I think it's going to be wild, but I look so forward because he's a total phony. He's a little phony. And everything about him is fake. And he's a liar. And he talks about all these things about like he's a moderate. He's not a riot. He's a jihadist. He's a vicious, violent jihadist, and he has no place in our government.

56:01On tariffs, sir. Mr. President, on a last stop. Have you seen that it rare and increased black waited in the U.S. Central Library? I understand they've done that. I didn't know about that, but somebody told me they did that. Very nice. Are you still looking into whether their travel was appropriate or any conflict? No, I'm not. No, no. They took the money and they gave it to, essentially, a charity. No, that was — I just heard that. I think it's a very nice thing. Mr. President, come on, Mr. Degas. Come on, dude. It's my son, Mr. President. Oh, you're much better looking than you thought. Look at all that hair he's got, huh?

56:35That's good. He's a good little bit. He's got a good father. Now he's going to ask me a nice question. Tell him, Dad, ask me a nice question. I want to ask you about Elon Musk. So if the Democrats win control of Congress, how concerned are you that they'll go after Elon Musk? Well, look, Elon's a brilliant guy. And I have an expression. We have to protect our brilliant people because we don't have too many of them. There aren't too many of them in the world. And Elon has done nothing wrong. Elon is a very good guy. He's a very different kind of a guy. But I think people have an obligation to protect our geniuses.

57:11You know, there aren't that many of them. We're leading in everything right now. We're leading in SI. We're leading in everything. It's amazing how we're doing. But we are leading superintelligence. We're leading in every single capital. We have more things being built in our country right now than any country has ever had in history. Do you think the richest man in the world has so much power over what goes on in a war between Russia and Ukraine? Well, I don't think he does. I think he's, first of all, he's a very good person. He's not going to do anything wrong. He's a very brilliant person, or Starlink, which exists, and other things.

57:48But Elon will never do anything wrong. I know him very well. He's a fair person and, you know, it's an unusual situation where you're talking to a private company. But he's not going to do anything that's wrong. Can I ask you about Canada tariffs? You're going to Michigan tomorrow. Mike Rogers has said that the Canada tariff war has to end. Are you worried? It'll affect his family. Well, Canada wants very much to make a deal because of tariffs. They want to make a deal. And as you know, they've been making$90 billion a year for many years with us. They're making anywhere from 80 to 100 million dollars.

58:22And I said, nope, I'm not doing that. And Canada now is very much prepared to make a deal. President, President, I've been on your first meeting, sir. The President, I've been on your first meeting, sir. Really good. I finally had a nice group of people in my office. The Catholic representatives, bishops and others. It was a great meeting. Well, they prayed. They mostly prayed. Actually, they're very nice. They're great. They were great people. The Pressure of the NFL playing in France this weekend. The President Biden's question is, well, you worry about it. I think maybe it's looking like tomorrow is going to be a bad day in France, so you worry about it.

59:07I would have said the NFL could have probably postponed that match. Because France is really in trouble. That's what happens when you go left. That's what happens when you allow unlimited numbers of people into your country from very unfriendly countries. That's what you're going to happen.

59:30So there's the President of the United States spending about 15 minutes or so answering reporters' questions as he's getting ready to board Marine One right now over the new helipad at the White House, getting ready to head down to Fort Myers in Florida. Then he's going to be going to several other states, including Michigan, where he still calls Abdul El-Sayed the Democratic candidate for senator, a jihadist and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Yeah, he said he was a vicious, violent jihadist. And as you said, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. He has denied that, Abdul El-Sayed. And he also really quadrupled down on this highly controversial ad from the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign about Amy Acton showcasing her mother, calling her a liar.

1:00:18And as we know, Amy Acton's mother lost custody of her daughter at 12 years old because her stepfather was indicted for rape of Amy Acton and then fled the state and became a fugitive. But her mother stayed with her. But you're hearing there from the president that he wants Republicans to own it. He wants to keep the ad up, and he's really dismissing everything about the stepfather sexually abusing Amy Acton and the charges around that and saying that, you know, it's a good ad and it should stay up. So I want to bring in CNN, Washington Bureau Chief and Political Director David Chalian to make more sense of what we just heard from the president.

1:00:53I want to start with that because this is really dividing. This ad is dividing Republicans just before the midterms. Even Ashley Henson, who was just campaigning with in Iowa last night, put on her ex before that, that that ad should be taken down. You're hearing from other Republicans that same sentiment. But the president right now is putting pressure on Republicans to to actually support this ad. Including Republican John Husted, who is on the ballot in Ohio for Senate in a state that in a race that could determine control of the United States Senate. And he has said he would not have run that ad.

1:01:27Obviously, the governor there also called for it to come down, which is we are finding ourselves an interesting moment. Watching President Trump answer those questions today about it on the rope line there before getting on the helicopter, Pam. He is employing a classic Trump strategy here, which is like engage the fight, embrace the controversy and keep it up and drive through it. That's the way to the other side of a controversy. No retreat, no surrender. That we've seen this from Trump for 10 years. And by the way, he's had some success with it as well as a strategy. What is different right now is the divide among Republicans that you're talking about.

1:02:00Usually, if Donald Trump puts out, this is the playbook for how we're going to do this, Republicans sing or use that playbook or mixed metaphors, sing from that song sheet. And that is not happening now. We are seeing a lot of Republicans in the state of Ohio, as you noted, actually, in Iowa and elsewhere, not going along with the president and the vice president and Vivek Ramaswamy on this. And that's new and different. We're showing our viewers some live pictures of Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio right now. You know, you've been taking a very close look as our political director, Washington Bureau Chief, of all the major polls out there, including the so-called poll of polls, the averages of all the polls.

1:02:41The president, you heard President Trump just say, I think Republicans are going to win. He said he is seeing great enthusiasm for Republicans whenever he goes out to his speech in one of these states. It's he thinks the Republicans are going to win. The polls don't suggest that. They don't. Well, they don't suggest the enthusiasm piece. You know, polls aren't going to predict here the outcome of the race. But obviously, the polls are indicating a very advantageous environment for the Democrats. Our recent poll this week on the generic congressional ballot for the battle for the House was a 10-point advantage for Democrats, 49 percent to 39 percent.

1:03:18Now, I have no doubt that Donald Trump, when he shows up at a rally that is full of his supporters, he senses some enthusiasm from them. But if you look not just in polling where we see ask people, you know, those that are most enthusiastic, extremely enthusiastic vote overwhelmingly, that's an advantage to the Democrats. But if you look at what's happening in the early vote right now of people who have participated in early voting, Democrats are significantly outperforming Republicans in many of the critical states in the early vote. Now, we have to see who shows up on Election Day. That's not determinative, but it is a sign of this enthusiasm piece of just where Republicans are not anywhere as close to where they were two years ago in the early vote when Donald Trump won that presidential election in terms of banking a bunch of vote early.

1:04:00And so they're going to have a taller task to get their Election Day vote out if they're going to make some of these states more competitive. I also want to just take a moment to highlight what he said about the election, the upcoming election, and saying that there was corrupt, there would be corrupt voting in California and Minnesota, some of these Democratic states. He is already setting the stage, David, and I want us all to be aware of this, to say that the election was rigged if a Republican loses. You know, I have to remind everyone, 10 years ago when he won the presidency in 2016, he complained about a rigged election in California.

1:04:34Because, you remember, he didn't win the popular vote, and he didn't like that he didn't win the popular vote. And he was saying, so this has been something that Donald Trump has been harping on for 10 years now. We know there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of elections to date. We have not found that. Election experts on both sides of the aisle who dig into this have not found that kind of widespread systemic evidence of fraud. There is no doubt in my mind, just the way Donald Trump has talked about mail voting a lot this year, the way he has talked about what he sees as corruption in these states, he is no doubt laying a groundwork for a post-election argument.

1:05:17But I would say, even if it goes his way, we might hear this post-election argument because he has not shied away from this. He has. I mean, even after he won the last election, the states that he didn't win, he said that there was... All right, really quick, one last thing. I thought it was really interesting, too, that he's sort of giving us a preview, if Democrats take control of Congress, how it would be and the kind of friction and how he would handle that. He said he would just veto whatever would pass through Congress and then he would make a deal with the Democratic majority. I mean, you know, deal-making is something Donald Trump talks about all the time, right?

1:05:48It would not be uncommon to see if there is a split, a Democratic-controlled House and Senate, let's say, and bills get to the president's desk of the other party that we may see an uptick in the vetoes of that. That is Washington gridlock at the way we've come to understand it. But I would not be surprised if Donald Trump in his final two years of office didn't just put up a wall to, let's say, Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker of the House, if that comes to be. I would imagine he is going to try to find some areas where they can strike deals. We saw him try to do that in the past. The question is, you know, even if Democrats were to take control of the Senate, Pam, they're not going to have 60 votes.

1:06:31So it's not even clear how much legislation is going to get to the president's desk if Democrats control just the House, not the Senate, or both, but without 60 votes in the Senate. It's still going to be an uphill climb for Democrats to get legislation to the president's desk. That's a really good point. All right, David Chalian, thank you. Great to have you on. Yeah, it was good that the president answered reporters' questions for, what, about 15 minutes. That's always important indeed. All All right. And one thing I noticed, David, let me get your quick thought. He was asked, when are you going to name a new White House press secretary?

1:07:03And he said, quote, no rush, no rush. Which is when Caroline Levitt first left at the end of the summer, that was the statement from the White House, which is why the surprise of Katie Zachariah sort of like came about with even some people in the White House not even knowing that there was going to be a press secretary appointed because he had said there is no rush. I am sure after that five-day stint for Katie Zacharias, press secretary, Trump feels a little burned. And he has always said, and this is true that people say this around him, Wolf, he is his best spokesperson. He is constantly going to direct what the message is, and he talks all the time publicly to try and shape that.

1:07:41And so I can imagine that he is in no rush in this final period before the midterm election to have anyone else take that spotlight. He thinks he probably delivers the message better than anyone. And on Iran, he also said that the U.S. is in position right now to take all of the oil from the Strait of Hormuz, if it wants to do so, and destroy, basically, Iran in the process of a renewed U.S. military strike. We'll see what happens on that front as well. All right, everybody stand by. We have a lot more news coming in to this situation right now, including some breaking news. The Trump administration is suing Alaska over its Senate race, which has two candidates with the same name.

1:08:19I want to show our viewers what voters see when they go into the booth. You can see both of their names highlighted there. They are right there. CNN's Gabe Cohen is here with me in the Situation Room. Tell us what's going on over here. Yeah, so Wolf, this is a pretty remarkable update in a story that has been fascinating to watch play out here in recent months. So what has just happened is the Justice Department is suing to preemptively block the state of Alaska from certifying the results of that Senate race if the Democratic candidate, Mary Peltola, beats the Republican Trump-backed incumbent, Dan S.

1:08:57Sullivan. And it is because of that other Dan Sullivan, Dan J. Sullivan, this retired teacher who is also running in the race, and this claim that it's sort of a fraudulent campaign that's been designed to confuse voters. And the administration is saying that if Peltola wins, the state cannot certify this until an investigation is done to figure out if voters who cast ballots for Dan J. Sullivan really meant to cast ballots for the Trump-backed incumbent instead. There are a couple issues at play here. One, of course, is that the executive branch of the federal government, the president, does not have authority over election administration.

1:09:35That is done on the state and local level with some authority given to Congress. But beyond that, when it comes to this story, this has been litigated already at the state level. The state of Alaska and election leaders months ago tried to get Dan J. Sullivan removed from the ballot. And then in June, it ended up at the Alaska Supreme Court. And they ruled that the state really couldn't do that, that they could not prove beyond what they believed that this campaign was fraudulent and designed to confuse voters. And what they essentially said was that Dan J. Sullivan had to be allowed to stay on the ballot and that the state instead could differentiate the two candidates on the ballot, as you showed in that image, where the incumbent Dan S.

1:10:19Sullivan is clearly labeled as the incumbent, as a Republican, whereas Dan J. Sullivan is listed there. just by his full name. And it speaks to some of the concerns that we have heard for months now across the country that the president and his allies and this administration have been sowing doubts in election results ahead of the midterms and that there are concerns that Democratic winners may not be seated, that there would be efforts not to certify those races. I will say this is a very unique case, but even our team talking to election experts and voting rights experts in the last couple hours, They're really saying this is somewhat of an unprecedented lawsuit.

1:10:57And it's really not clear what an investigation would look like to try to figure out if voters who cast a ballot for one candidate really meant to vote for another. I don't know how that would play out. There are a lot of questions there. Because the other Dan Sullivan has registered Republican incumbent right next to his name. So if you want to vote for the registered Republican incumbent, you know who to vote for. Right. Even though there's somebody else with a Dan Sullivan name. Yeah, that's the idea that they've been labeled very clearly. And look, there is a lot of concern about voter confusion in the race.

1:11:29But again, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled on this. Now the Justice Department trying to jump in. Gabe Cohn with excellent new reporting. Thank you very, very much. Let's discuss what's going on with former federal prosecutor Barrett Berger. Barrett, what's your reaction to this? Does the Department of Justice have a real case here? They don't. I agree with Gabe. I think there are some real factual and legal issues with this case. First, just looking at this factually, this case isn't ripe yet. We don't actually have a victory by any party. So this is kind of a placeholder litigation by the DOJ.

1:12:05But really, Gabe identified the right issue here. How would courts determine voter intent in a case like this? So the DOJ has said this should not be certified pending an investigation, but what does this investigation look like? Are they going and interviewing every voter to see which Sullivan they intended to vote for? There are real practical hurdles to that and real privacy issues that go along with that too. This is entirely the reason that these kind of lawsuits, this type of litigation, usually happens before the ballots are created, not after. This is the kind of complaint that should have been filed months ago.

1:12:40But even aside from sort of the practical issues, the legal grounds are very shaky as well. So there are very limited circumstances where a federal judge could stop the certification of a state election like this if there is a need to remedy sort of a gen, like a real genuine violation of federal law. But you can't just have federal courts jumping in and stopping elections. Those are typically run by the state. And DOJ has identified very shaky legal grounds here, this National Voter Registration Act, as the basis for its cause of action, which is really intended to deal with voter registration lists, list maintenance.

1:13:21It is really not intended for this kind of a purpose. And I really cannot imagine a federal judge using this as the basis to not certify this election. Barrett Berger with excellent legal analysis as she always provides us. Thanks very, very much, Pamela. All right. Well, if I want to go back to the White House and go to CNN's Elena Train, because as you pointed out, we heard from the president for around 15 minutes and he touched on several topics when he spoke with the press just before he left for Florida. What stood out to you the most, Elena? He answered a lot of topics and some different answers actually from things he has said in the past, Pamela.

1:13:57I was out there with him asking him a number of questions and you're right? He did stop to talk for a while. But one of the things that pressed him on was Starlink. This has been a huge issue, of course, with Ukraine. Ukraine really saying that they are continuing to see restricted access to Starlink and Starshield, both of which have prevented them from moving forward with some of their operations and strike attacks and things like that. Now, the president said, one, I asked him, do you know, you must know now, who was the person from the Trump administration that Elon Musk had referred to who had put that restrictive access on Ukraine.

1:14:32He said he argued that he didn't know, but even if he did, he wouldn't tell the media. He also said, you know, I asked him about what Zelensky had just said moments ago, where Zelensky had said they're still seeing issues, even though the president said that he had spoke with Elon Musk, who of course runs Star Shield and Starlink, and told him to continue their access. I told him Ukraine says they're still having problems. He said if that's the case, he will speak with President Zalewski. Another issue I think that was important to note here is there's been a lot of talk, of course, today about that very controversial ad that Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign, Vivek Ramaswamy running for governor in Ohio, has put out about his opponent, Amy Acton.

1:15:16Now, the president has said that that ad, yesterday he was saying, you know, he believes he defended it, he believed that it should still run. We had pointed out, Some of the other press out there, I did this as well, pointed out exactly why people are upset about it. Essentially that the mother featured in that ad was someone who stayed with a man who had sexually abused Amy Acton. That is what Amy Acton said. And her stepfather had faced charges on this. The president continued to argue, well, you don't know that and defend the ad, despite being informed of that and saying he does now know why people are so upset about this.

1:15:53So a lot of different points there. He also talked a lot about the campaign and about where he's heading, trying to project confidence in the midterms, Pamela. All right. A lot from the president just ahead of midterms. Elena Treen, live for us at the White House. Thank you for that wrap up. We'll be right back.

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1:17:07CNN's Ryan Young is here following the story. What more are you learning, Ryan? Yeah, a lot of outrage on this case, Pamela, and of course, since June, people in the community have been asking questions about how this case would move forward and whether or not the officer would face charges. We now know, of course, that That officer has resigned. The mayor of that area confirmed that to CNN this morning. But there's still a lot of questions about how this led to all of this. And of course, you have the five officers who ran outside, including sheriff's deputies, and surrounded that car. Of course, you see the car here.

1:17:35It did back into another car. And at some point, when that car goes forward and passes, and you can see the officer right there in the video there, he then fires three shots. One of the bullets looks like it enters the front of the vehicle. and then two others went through that passenger window. And, of course, there's a lot of conversation about whether or not he needed to fire. Now, we know a lot of times law enforcement looks at a moving vehicle like it's a weapon, but none of the other officers fired. So the question in the community is, did this officer need to open fire? Now, there was a news conference yesterday.

1:18:10Ben Crump, other attorneys, people from the community showed up and had a conversation just about what they would like to see happen next. Let's take a listen to Ben Crump talk about what he hopes happens, but also the questions that are still left unanswered in this case. The shot that killed one-year-old baby Cory and Wiley was not justified. He was not in harm's way when he shot from the side. You look at the video for yourself. We believe that when he fired that shot, that fatal shot that killed this one-year-old baby, it was from the side of the vehicle. And it was not justified. Pamela, there have also been a lot of questions, even for folks in the media, just about why this video hasn't been played before.

1:19:02First of all, Dark Horse Press is the one who got that video and originally released it. The video the family saw yesterday came from the department from Mississippi, and they were able to see that from law enforcement for the first time. So there's a lot of questions about how this all played out, transparency, how this will move forward. Can the family sue? But now we know this officer has decided to resign. But there are a lot of wounds in that community that still are left unhealed, especially when you see the face of that one-year-old boy just so full of life and obviously now a life that's ended.

1:19:38So questions in a community that doesn't know what to do next. So it'll be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few days. Precious little boy. Ryan Young, thank you. Wolf. Starshield shake-up. President Trump says the vital satellite service is back up and running for Ukraine, but officials there say that's not, repeat, not the case, as disruptions seriously complicate their defense against these incoming Russian attacks.

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1:21:05And there's more breaking news. President Trump just told reporters he would get Ukraine's access to Starshield straightened out, his words, straightened out. That after President Zelensky said restrictions on the military-grade satellite internet service were still in place. CNN reported that President Trump asked Elon Musk to restore Ukraine's full access to that service. Starshield is vital for Ukraine's defense. Meanwhile, Russia unleashed more attacks overnight with more than 170 drone strikes. CNN senior military analyst, the retired Admiral James Stavridis, is joining us right now. Admiral, thanks so much for joining us.

1:21:43How is this controversy impacting the U.S. military partnership, the relationship with Ukraine? Yeah, let's kind of do it from the inside out, Wolf. So for the Ukrainians, this is devastating. whenever that star shield, star link connection goes down, because they're defenseless right now in the sense that they don't have the high end patriots they need. And this is Putin's way of putting pressure on them. Next click out, it's a big advantage for the Russians, obviously, because it opens up more opportunities for them to go after population centers, military targets like you're showing. And then finally, your point, it hurts U.S.-Ukrainian cooperation, because we provide, quite correctly, intelligence to the Ukrainians that prepares them to put their drones in place to take out incoming threats.

1:22:43Without the Star Shield, they can't receive that and actionized that intelligence as effectively. So it's devastating. Final thought, I hope the president is sincere. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. I hope he puts the top of his list to straighten this out, which means full speed, full speed ahead for Starshield and Starlink. Yeah, he said at this news conference just a few minutes ago, I heard it was fixed. Well, clearly it has not yet been fixed. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said this morning that speed has not been fully restored to Starlink and Star Shield. So what impact do you think this will have on the ground for Ukraine's military, especially as it's trying to protect civilian populations, including schools, churches, all sorts of hospitals in Ukraine?

1:23:37Very clearly, Wolf, this is going to lead directly to more Ukrainian tragic and unnecessary deaths. That's quite obviously the worst part of this. And then, secondly, it only improves Russian morale. And I think it hardens Putin's desire, his view that the longer he holds out, the better his chances are at the negotiating table. I would argue if we want to get Putin to the negotiating table, which we talk about all the time, let's get to a deal here, the way to do that is not to hinder the Ukrainians, quite the opposite. The way to get there is to give the Ukrainians all of the tools, all the high-speed internet, the intelligence.

1:24:26They're getting the weapons that we are largely making here in the United States. We then sell them to the Europeans to pay for them. And then they're given to the Ukrainians. That's where we need to up our game. And then final thought, Wolf, not really related to the startling star shield, but the more we can put sanctions on Russia and put economic pressure, That's how we get Putin to the table, economically pressuring him, militarily pressuring him. He'll come to that table if he has to. And if we can get him to the table, I think there's a reasonable chance we could cut a deal here. And removing the sanctions that the U.S.

1:25:07had imposed on Russia, that's just going to be the opposite effect, right? Exactly. Again, if your stated objective is to get to a deal, stop the killing, get Putin to the table, the two things you need to do are put economic pressure with sanctions and give Ukraine the tools to conduct the military pressure. That's the only way we're going to get Putin to the table. You're the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Admiral Stavridis. How do you believe U.S. allies, NATO allies especially in Europe, are seeing this Star Shield controversy? They see it as confusing. They see it as part and parcel of the general tendency of the Trump administration to lean back away from Ukraine.

1:25:56And thankfully, the European NATO allies are standing up and are supporting Ukraine in these very turbulent and fraught times. They're doing it by buying weapons for them. They are doing it by giving them economic support through the European Union. They're giving them diplomatic support. And if we do get to that negotiating table, by the way, we're talking about U.S., Ukraine, and Russia, I would like to see that be a quad set of talks that include a representative from the European Union. Good point. Retired Admiral James Stavridis, thanks as usual for joining us. Appreciate it. Thanks, Wolf.

1:26:39Pamela. All right, Wolf, coming up, Vice President Vance tells Republicans to, quote, stop whining about the controversial ad that has inflamed the Ohio governor's race. But could his defense come back to bite him in two years? We're going to ask Michael Smirconish up next.

1:26:58Well, just moments ago, Ohio's Republican candidate for Governor Vivek Ramaswamy addressed the growing backlash to a controversial ad from his campaign. It features his opponent's estranged mother urging people not to vote for her. The ad has faced bipartisan backlash. Governor Delaney called on you to pull down the ad. Your reaction to that? I respectfully have a different point of view. And I think the issue here, and I just want to be crystal clear about it. The issue here is that our opposition, and I think with the media aid, they are lying about an ad that is about lying. Our ad had nothing, nothing to do with childhood abuse, sexual abuse.

1:27:39We condemn that as forcefully as anyone. Our ad was about a consistent track record of Amy Acton telling lies, including during this campaign. And I do think that there has been very little to no coverage of the lies she has told about me, about my family, about my mother. An ad they put up, falsely calling me a murderer of a man's wife who was on television, deluding people across Ohio. That's inexcusable. And I do think it is wrong. And it's more than double standard wrong. It's just wrong that there was pin drop silence from the media about those lies from my opponent. And yet when we call her out for lying, they have the gall to deflect the topic to something that the ad had nothing to do with.

1:28:29I think the people of our state are smart enough to see through it. We're not going to dignify those lies by bending the knee to their deflection. She should be answering for why it is she has not told the truth about her own record, about multiple different 911 calls on her across multiple different marriages made by her own child, made by ultimately calling the COVID death rate 50 % when it was less than 1%. slanderous lies told about me. She does need to be held accountable for that. And I think that those in the media know this. If this were a Republican, if the same shoe fit the other foot, President Trump mentioned the same.

1:29:10And I think he was right about this. If this was President Trump or a family member of a similarly situated Republican, it would be front page news, not out of criticism, but out of promoting the story. And so we're not going to accept those double standards. Ohioans don't accept those double standards. And most importantly, unnecessarily allows our opponent to deflect from the fact that she has no plan to improve the state. She doesn't have the qualifications to be the governor. And I think in this final week, we need to be focused on the issues that impact Ohioans. And I believe I'm the only person in this race who will be able to deliver on the things that this state needs, which are lower property taxes, lower electric bills, fighting Medicaid fraud, combating waste fraud and abuse, prosecuting criminals, restoring the rule of law.

1:29:55I'm going to be the candidate who fights for Ohioans, who has the capabilities to do this job. And I think it is legitimate to be able to criticize the opponent's capabilities without getting into any issues which we have not gotten into relating to the topic they're discussing. They're the ones who brought that up, not us. And I do think that we do. Do you have any doubts? Do you have any doubts that? Do you have any doubts given the fact that you did platform her mom about her story of abuse and neglect from her stepfather. So let me let me just say a word about this because I didn't see a single I didn't see a single media story when they platformed a man who completely wrongly and I feel bad for him he's an older man had him reading from a script on screen calling me a murderer of his wife which is the most insane claim they could have made put millions of dollars in advertising across this state.

1:30:49I didn't hear a peep from the media. her mother has spoken since 2020. I've never met Amy Acton. I've never met or spoken to her mother. But I do think that if a candidate has repeatedly told lies in this campaign as she has and she is called out for it by a lot of people who are close to her from the state physicians to people who worked for her to now another person who's close for her. I think that in the standard of political advertising that they have used and that the media regularly accepts, I think it is absolutely acceptable for voters to hear and make a decision for themselves. We'll see you in circles.

1:31:24And joining us now, CNN political commentator, Michael Smirkanish. He's the host of CNN Smirkanish and also the Michael Smirkanish program on Sirius XM. Michael, first of all, what do you make of the way Ramaswamy is now reacting to all of this? I think he's trying to make it much more confusing than it actually is. Amy Acton maintains and said then that she was sexually abused by her stepfather when she was 12 years old. He was charged. He became a fugitive. Her birth mother supported him. And now they've brought her out 47 years after the last time mother and daughter saw one another to say that she's a liar.

1:32:09It's all about the sexual abuse claim. So they've played for political purposes that card. That's what it's all about. Now he's trying to muddy, I think, the waters as to what the commercial did and did not represent. I can't imagine that 11 days out from the conclusion of the midterm, that it's in the best interest of the Ramaswamy campaign, that this is what everybody's buzzing about. But here we are. Here's what Vice President J.D. Vance said earlier this week about some of the outrage over this ad. Listen to this. But I have to admit that I'm a little bit disgusted when I see Republicans across the country who are whining more about that advertisement than they are about what the congressional Democrats and other Democrats want to do to the United States of America.

1:33:02Politics is a tough business. And my message to my fellow elected Republicans is if you actually believe in the things you say you believe in, stop whining about an advertisement and go win the race in 13 days. Next question. So, Michael, what do you make of Vance's strategy? I don't know why he would choose to become a part of this story. Politically speaking, I would think it would be most prudent for him to just stay the heck out of it. And likewise for the president. The difference between the president and the vice president, the difference between the president and everybody else is that Donald Trump has nine lives.

1:33:39And Donald Trump can just take a page from that Roy Cohn playbook and deny, deny, deny and obfuscate. And tomorrow there's something else that he'll have moved on to. Nothing sticks to him. Nothing has stuck to him. I don't think that's going to be the case in a post-Trump era. And I'm talking specifically about 2028. I think it comes back to haunt Vance. I might be wrong. We'll see. We will see. Michael Spirconish, thanks as usual. And Michael's live every Saturday morning here on CNN, 9 a.m. Eastern. We'll be watching Saturday morning. And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning.

1:34:18We'll see you back here Monday morning inside politics with our friend and colleague. Dana Bash starts right now.

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