High Gas Prices Loom Over Midterm Elections

0:00Every day, animals across the country face abuse and neglect. and every day the ASPCA shows up to rescue animals in crisis but they can't do it alone visit ASPCA.org slash need become a donor today to provide the care and shelter these animals urgently need and for a limited time the ASPCA will send you a free gift as a special thank you visit ASPCA.org slash need this holiday all plans even unlimited are just 15 a month a 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.

0:45Give 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.

1:03We're seven days out from the midterm elections and President Trump is in Texas tonight for the third time this month. I'm Caitlin Collins and this is a special edition of The Source live from Capitol Hill.

1:29One week from tonight and the balance of power in the building behind me could look a lot different. Whatever the voters decide next Tuesday, it will impact just about everything for the final two years of the Trump presidency. And that's why the president himself is holding not one, but two rallies in Texas tonight, including a return to Corpus Christi, the same city where President Trump was preparing to land last March when he actually gave the final go ahead to launch an attack on Iran, as my colleague Kevin Liptak noted today. Eight months later, this was part of his closing message to Texas voters.

2:05We're now in the throes of having an even greater victory against Iran and stopping them from ever having a nuclear weapon. It's going to end very soon. They have no military. They have no they have no name. They have no Air Force. It's somebody asked me yesterday. It's very interesting. How did you do again? Would you have attacked Iran? I said, absolutely. Is it one of the greatest things? History will be the judge of that, but American voters will issue their own judgment in just seven days from now. They appear to be in a deeply sour mood over the war's effect on the economy right now. Nothing illustrates that frustration really more than this.

2:49The average price of a gallon of gas nationwide is now$1.29 higher than it was before the start of this war. And in state after state after state, we're hearing voters say things like this. I think just the way we were promised, you know, just basic necessities, you know, lower gas prices. We want to be able to buy a house. We want to be able to have a family. And I don't, I haven't seen, and those things were promised to us. I voted for him, I can't lie, but seeing how he's just been a tyrant with his power, to be honest with you, is the best way to describe it. Starting wars that were not needed to be started.

3:29gas prices have continuously gone up. I've seen it a lot with my parents, how like gas prices, grocery prices, how like before it was way easier to buy all that stuff. Mainly gas prices is crazy, food prices are really ridiculous, you know. We're just trying to make a change. How are you feeling about gas prices? I'm not happy. What do you think is to blame for that? I'm not sure if it's what's going on out in the eastern with the Hormuz. I don't know. But I know he needs to get them backed out. How are you feeling about gas prices? They're high. How are you feeling about gas prices? You know, they're rough right now.

4:10Even with that sentiment shared widely among voters, the president in his final sprint on the campaign trail continues to tout how much money the big oil companies are making because of the war. By the way, your oil price, it's coming down. But your country is making an absolute fortune because of the situation in the Middle East. So Texas is now producing more oil and gas than at any time in its history. So somebody in the fake news will say they've already done it because they've said this. They said, isn't it terrible? He forgot about the price at the pump. No, your price is going to come down.

4:47But your country is making a fortune, and that's really good, right? They'll say, oh, you don't think, you don't think about the person. No, it's going to come down. If you're thinking, I've heard that before, it's because you have. When the war is over, gas will fall down at levels that you've never seen before. As soon as it's over, you're going to see gasoline and oil drop like a rock. It's going to come down like a rock. The oil is coming way down. You're going to see the prices drop through the floor. Oil prices are going to drop like a rock. Gas prices will come tumbling down. Oil is going to drop way down.

5:29Diesel is going to come way down. Everything is. Yet this is what the president was saying about those same oil company profits just over two months ago. They made too much money. Too much money. Chevron, too much money. ExxonMobil, too much. Too much money. When you look at one company where they made 12 times what they made the year before, they're going to give some of that back to the public. Now, the president is all out of time to make that happen before Election Day, a week from today. And it comes as almost 5 million Texans have already cast their ballots in the midterm elections. As President Trump today was also talking about what he is describing now as the one-day war, as he calls it, that the U.S.

6:14had with Venezuela. That was when Nicolas Maduro was captured and is now in the United States awaiting trial. Ever since then, the United States has been deeply involved in Venezuela's oil industry, and the president is touting the arrival of what he says is a million barrels of Venezuelan oil in Texas today. You have a little ship. See that little ship out there? It's got one million barrels of oil on it from Venezuela.

6:47And we're celebrating the greatest oil victory in history. To the victor belong the spoils, right? But thanks to our big victory in our recent war with Venezuela. On Truth Social, the president also said this shipment would mean, quote, gasoline and diesel prices will soon come plummeting down. Just watch. As we start the show tonight, I want to invite you to join our conversation that we're going to have. You can go to CNN.com slash engage politics. We're going to answer some of your questions throughout the hour here on The Source. My first two political sources tonight are Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist, and Kevin Madden, who is the former campaign advisor to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

7:32And Kevin, you know, when you hear the president, as he was talking there about how much the United States is making off this war, what do you think Texans, who the president is speaking with tonight or in their state, have to say to that? Well, look, I think Texans, probably more than many other states, have an appreciation for the energy economy. They recognize how much work and investment goes in, not only from people, but from infrastructure into producing the energy that the American economy needs in order to run. But when you think about how voters look at this and how they live their daily lives, they only really have one metric by which they gauge whether or not the economy is working for them.

8:13And it's often the price of gas. And so I think right now, the everyday reminder that they're getting when they go to the gas pump to fill up their car, fill up their truck, and seeing those prices high, that is, for them, it is a strain on many, many, many budgets. And so when they hear the president talking the way he does, that just creates a very discordant understanding of where politicians, priorities and politicians and sort of is Washington working for us. It creates that tension right now. And when you're one week from Election Day in the titular head of the Republican Party with many members of the House of Representatives and the Senate running for reelection underneath that Republican banner, that does create some electoral challenges, to say the least.

9:03Well, I mean, Paul Bacala, speaking of those electoral challenges, James Tallarico, the Democrat running for Senate in Texas, says this is an election, basically he describes as a fight between David and Goliath. He's running, of course, against Ken Paxton, the president's chosen Republican candidate in that state. You're our resident Texan here tonight. Do you think these two rallies today that the president held will be enough to get Ken Paxton over the finish line? I don't. And I understand what the president's trying to do. He's trying to rally the base, and I respect that. The problem is a good bit of his base is angry with him and even angrier with Ken Paxton.

9:39You know, I don't think that more Trump out there is good for the Republican Party. Trump is the problem, not the solution. And I think Tallarico is probably perfectly happy to see the president come to his state. You pointed out gas prices are up. They're up for Texans, too. And by the way, it doesn't create jobs in Texas to bring oil from Venezuela any more than it helps American beef producers in Texas that he's importing beef. It's like he doesn't even get his audience. And it seems to, I think, just disrespect them. You know, my father spent his whole life in that business. He was a salesman in an oil patch.

10:15And you want those rigs turned to the right. And that's good. He said that. But when you're unloading a tanker full of Venezuelan oil, it doesn't exactly create jobs for the folks in the oil patch. Watch Landman, Mr. President. It's a great show. You learn a little something. Kevin, what do you make of that? Do you think that that is something that the voters there are impacted by? You know, I think I think, again, you know, if you want to understand how your economy is working, open up your fridge and fill up your car with gas. So I think when you look at how this campaign is right now is being conducted in many of these issues, gas prices, just one part of it.

10:50It's the everyday nature of the affordability issue that is creating a challenge right now. Again, you go to fill up your car with gas, prices are higher. You go to the supermarket to pick up some food, food prices are higher. Health care costs, energy costs, education costs. These are the strains right now that are being placed on family budgets. And what folks want to know in an election cycle right now is, do you understand the problems of people like me, right? And what are you doing to fix it? And I think that's what this campaign has been about. And, you know, every time that the folks in Washington aren't talking about that or the folks on the campaign trail aren't addressing those affordability concerns very directly with voters, it's a missed opportunity.

11:35Yeah. And, you know, as we've been in this, you know, watching these two rallies, the president was just in Lubbock for his second stop tonight. And, Paul, you know, one thing he's been talking about a lot is Ohio Senator John Huston, the Republican he's trying to pull across the line there, his physique. But Ken Paxton caught a stray in the middle of all of this today. This is what the president just said on stage a few moments ago. I made the mistake of studying his anatomy and explaining it to the audience. the audience loved it. By the way, he went up 12 points that day. He went from being down to being up.

12:17Maybe I should do that with Ken Paxton, but I'm not sure your body is going to qualify. Paul, you're a long time political strategist. What did you think of that? Well, he's right. He's right. I know. Paxton's a beautiful human being and we love him. But good night. Is he trying? Is he trying to tank the race for the Republicans? I mean, believe me, nobody wants to hear about John Husted's rear end, much less. We certainly don't want to hear about Ken Paxton's. It's it's it's as if he's trying. And here he is. You think if you're Tallarico, you have the most powerful man on Earth coming into your state for two rallies today.

12:56You have the wealthiest man on Earth, Elon Musk, spending millions and millions and millions. Somebody told me it was over 100 million, maybe more, attacking him. And then he's got as his opponent the most corrupt politician in Texas. And he needs help. Tall Rico does. Now, I have to say he's leading in nine out of the last 10 polls. In the 10th, they're tied. So I can't find a poll that's got Paxton winning. And I don't think that President Trump telling us that his rear end is not as nice as John Houston's is actually going to put him over the finish line. There are very few guarantees in politics.

13:29I can 100 percent guarantee this election is not coming down to either one of those candidates anatomy. It had to be said. Thank you, Kevin, for that. You know, one thing that was notable to me about this race today is there is a former Texas Supreme Court chief justice. His name's Tom Phillips. He put out an op ed endorsing James Tolerico today. He said that that was because, quote, Paxton's longstanding reputation will embarrass Texas in ways our state simply cannot afford. Do you think, Paul, that that's going to swing any of those Republican voters when they hear that? Yeah, I know Chief Justice Phillips.

14:06He's a very conservative jurist. He was supported by Bush in the Republican Party. He's certainly no liberal. He's no Democrat. But he's a man of integrity. And he cares about the rule of law. And I think this creates, I think what the shrinks are telling us is a permission structure, right? It makes it OK for normie Republicans, for Cornyn Republicans, for Chief Justice Phillips Republicans, for Bush Republicans to either support Tallarico, as President Bush's own brother is doing and President Bush's daughter, or at the least stay home. Like if you can't quite stomach voting for a Democrat, I respect that.

14:39I think they're telling me you can stay home. So, yes, that permission structure is extraordinary to allow Tallarico, who then makes it easy. Right. He's not in your face. He's certainly not far leftist DSA type. He's a you know, he's what he is. He's a seminarian. He used to teach middle school. So that makes it kind of an easier journey for those voters, too. Kevin, I mentioned that we have viewers submitting questions throughout the hour. They have a lot of questions. Of course, we're watching next Tuesday and a bunch of these races, including in Texas. One of them asked, you know, how long should it really take for gas prices to go down?

15:11What's a reasonable lead time in terms of what this is looking like? Well, there's a lot that goes into the production lines. There's a lot that goes into everything from insuring tankers to trans transporting energy around the globe. It's a very dynamic marketplace. It's a very complex marketplace. So it doesn't just happen overnight. I think that's one of the things that politicians always have a hard time with on the campaign trail. They want to make promises in the, you know, in the room with 100 people in a gymnasium somewhere in Corpus Christi. But they also have to recognize that that these are much more difficult problems to solve.

15:51So, you know, it is one of those things where it is going to take some time. I mean, refining capacity takes a while to build. We saw the disruption that many of these conflicts in both the Middle East and as well as in Eastern Europe have had on on the infrastructure that doesn't get repaired or, you know, replenished overnight. So this is a this is a long term dynamic market that we're going to have to watch. Well, I mean, to that point about what politicians are saying on the campaign trail, Paul, another viewer is asking, what is the Democratic plan to lower prices for Americans? Because that is the number one thing that you're seeing Democrats run on.

16:28If they win on Tuesday, do they have a plan in place to act on those promises? Yeah, I think a lot of good Democratic candidates are. There's not a unified message. We're a very divided, diverse party right now. But if you look at what these candidates are running on, first, they're saying they want to end the war in Iran. And if they vote to end that war, gas prices will come down if the president obeys Congress. Second, Congress, not the president, has the power to levy tariffs. These tariffs, I believe, are unconstitutional. Congress should repeal those tariffs. Tariffs are taxes that raise the prices of all the groceries that Kevin was talking about a minute ago and every other consumer product that the tariff is placed on.

17:04I think Democrats ought to raise the minimum wage immediately. That hadn't been raised in decades, and that'll help your cost of living. It'll make you a little bit more money for most folks. And the president in that clip he played, I didn't remember him saying this, he seemed to support a windfall profits tax. Let's do it. Democrats want to raise taxes on those oil companies that are making money through no hard work of their own. This is just because of Mr. Trump's war. Take that money, plow it back to consumers. That's something Democrats can do to cut the cost. So I think there's a lot. But they better come with that agenda, Caitlin.

17:34If they come in there wanting to impeach Trump on day one, it will blow up in their face. And I mean, I can't stand Trump. He commits three impeachable offenses before his second bucket at KFC. But they shouldn't do that. They should move on people's cost of living first and leave impeachment alone, elect a new president in two years. Well, let's see what happens in one week from tonight. Paul Begala, Kevin Madden, great to have you both here. Thank you both. Up next, as the cost of oil and high gas prices are looming over these midterms, I'm going to talk to one of the president's top energy advisors.

18:06Plus, our panel here tonight will answer your questions at the midterms. Go to cnn.com slash engagepolitics to submit yours right now.

18:36midmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for 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. At Farmers, we go out of our way to keep you in the know. Like by singing, everything for emphasis. That, and by providing you with coverage on a page. An easy to understand language. So you know what's covered and what's not. No confusing legalese that no one gets. In full transparency, we do have to put a disclaimer at the end of this ad, though.

19:11Just being honest. That's what you get when... You have farmers. Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. Learn more at Farmers.com. Underwritten by Farmers Truck or Fire Insurance Exchanges or Affiliate. Products not available in every state.

19:23You can now add Venezuela to the list of nations or territories that the president has mused about making the 51st state. It will become a prosperous country and who knows, maybe someday soon it will become a prosperous 51st state. That's possible. Let's make it. Let's make it the 51st state. And instead of a president, we'll have an election for a governor. Venezuela is now on that list alongside Greenland and Canada. As the president also said today, quote, we took over Venezuela very successfully. Earlier in the day, he announced the arrival of a tanker in Texas loaded with Venezuelan oil. That oil is part of a deal that the White House announced back in August.

20:11My next source took part in the negotiations with Venezuela after the former dictator was seized by U.S. forces and what the president is now describing as a war. Jared Agin is an assistant to the president and the executive director of the White House National Energy Dominance Council. And the president today was talking about this Venezuelan oil deal and was describing it as a gift that he was given after they went in and captured Maduro. He said, a boatload of a million barrels of oil, giving that to the United States of America. How does it qualify as a gift? Well, Caitlin, let's take a step back and look at what has happened here.

20:47Let's look at what happened over the last 24 hours in Venezuela. You had the opposition leader Machado freely going through the streets of Venezuela, not arrested, people surrounding her. This was a sign that you want to see in Venezuela. On top of that, here in Texas, the president welcoming a ship with a million barrels of oil. That is unheard of a year ago, the fact that that happened. Here's how this deal got done. The president went in, he got rid of Maduro. He opened up a new deal. The Department of War is going into a deal with the biggest independent company in Venezuela on the 17 best fields of oil in Venezuela.

21:25They sent their first shipment. It's 65 billion barrels that are going to eventually make its way to the U.S. This was the first shipment, a million barrels coming to the U.S., no cost to the taxpayer that's going to get refined in Texas. It's going to go into the U.S. system and it's going to eventually help lower gas and diesel prices in the U.S. We've got more crude. This is this opens up. Look, Texas is at the max. Texas is drill, baby, drill. The Texas pipelines are at capacity. Having a million barrels coming into Texas is only going to help the U.S. market. Well, some people might watch the president as he was touring that tanker today and say, how soon is that going to bring down my gas prices?

22:05Do you think that this will impact these voters who are filling up their tanks anytime soon? Well, this is the great thing. The president actually has a plan for lowering gas prices. This is the difference. Find a Democrat that has a plan for lowering gas prices. The president has a plan. The plan for lowering gas prices is more crude flowing into the U.S., more crude into our refineries, more refined product on the market. We have to boost up refining capacity. The Democrats have been shutting down refineries across the U.S. California used to have dozens of refineries. California is now down to single digits of refineries.

22:36The fact that we now have pre-war level crude flowing out of the Middle East. Now we've got crude from Venezuela coming. Texas is all steam ahead, and all of that helping the market. Gas prices have already come down 20 cents in the last month. The president's the only person that has proven that he can drive down gas prices. Gas prices, you showed it earlier, gas prices were under$3 under this president. He'll get it back there again. I don't see any plan out of the Democrats to lower gas prices. We're the only ones with a plan to do that. Well, you say the president has a plan, but people might say, well, when are my gas prices going to be lower then, based on that plan?

23:10Well, it's happening now. Like I said, it's trending down 20 cents less over the last month. More diesel is getting on the market. The president's using the Defense Production Act to increase refining capacity. We have been trying to kill refiners here because of Democratic policies over the past 10 years. He is the only one. We brought refiners into the White House, asked them what we need to do to increase refining capacity. He's he's now using the Defense Production Act on more money to help refiners in the short term. These are tweaks of more pipelines, more storage to increase. And you're going to see gas prices continue to go down.

23:45When was the last time the U.S. built a refinery? I mean, it's been quite some time. This is the problem. It's been 50 years since we've built a refinery. We've opened up a new refinery is going to open in Texas. This is the first one built in 50 years. But here's the problem. How long will that take to actually start to impact Americans? Well, that's it. It takes a long time to open up new refineries. This is why we've been working with the refiners, asking them what they can do. Some of them don't need much. They need some money and freedom of the regulations. Try to get a refiner to build a refinery in California.

24:15We are now coming over the top using the Defense Production Act, which allows us to overrule some of California's crazy regulations to open up more refining. Getting more refined product in the market is how you lower gas prices. But, you know, the Exxon Mobil CEO before the war was or a few months ago was talking about how they had excess supply, essentially. So some people might look at that and say, well, once the war is over, what is that going to look like for these companies? Well, this is the difference that the oil and gas companies, we are now the largest producer and exporter of oil and gas in the world.

24:51The U.S. is in a huge position of strength. The president has made Drill Baby Drill work. All of these companies are now producing more than they've ever had before. And now this is this is the key. All of the world is looking to us. All of the world, Europe, is moving off of Russian energy sources and moving to us. Japan, Asia, moving off of Russian energy sources and moving to us. Now you've got, not only are we producing more here in the U.S., the center of the energy universe is from Alaska all the way down to Argentina. The center of energy is now in the Western Hemisphere. That is what the president is going to be known for.

25:25Well, a lot of that has to do with sanctions also as well. But, you know, there was an analysis done based on AAA data that the numbers kind of surprised me. And it said that because of the Iran war, the average price of gas during the president's second term is actually now more expensive than it was during President Biden's term. Obviously, this is a president who promised to bring gas under two dollars a gallon when he was on the campaign trail. So if you're a voter going to the polls next Tuesday, what do you say to them? Well, the price of gas under Biden was over five dollars. So the price of gas is lower.

25:56It's the average price, though. Yeah, but look at what the average price, the average price of gas in California is dramatically higher than in the rest of the country. It's Democratic policies that drive up the price of gas. The average price of gas is dramatically different in red states versus blue states. But it's still expensive in red states right now, right? Well, that's because we need to up refining capacity. But again, I go back to the president is the only person has proven that he can lower gas prices. He's going to lower gas prices again. The Democrats do not have a single plan. They call me.

26:27They want more windmills. They don't want more production of oil and gas. They want more renewables. But we're the only party that is trying to get more gas on the market, trying to increase refining capacity. You're seeing that it means more jobs, a million barrels flying, coming into Texas. Paul Begala is dead wrong. That creates jobs that creates more in the economy of Texas. That is barrels that would have been going to Russia or China. Now it's coming to Texas. It's going to the refineries built in Texas and Louisiana are specifically built for Venezuela crude. But voters who we're hearing from aren't blaming a lack of refining in the U.S.

27:01They're saying it's because of the Iran war that they're paying so much more that they've been paying only more since February. And when you look at the price of gas since then in Texas, they're paying a lot more, for example, for those voters he's speaking with tonight. Well, this is part of what I'm trying to educate people on. I mean, this is what people need to understand. There is more crude flowing out of the Middle East today than there was pre-war. Why is that a good thing? Iran does not have a nuclear weapon. There is now the strait is open and there are more alternative channels of getting oil out of the Persian Gulf.

27:34That is a good thing. There is more oil flowing from Venezuela up to the U.S. that would have been going to Russia and China. That is a good thing. But in order to solve the problem, what we also need to do is up refining capacity. That is why the president is using regulatory reform and funds to up refining capacity. It's the Democrats that have had a war against refining here in the United States. When the president is touting how much money these oil companies are making and how big their profits are, how do you think that makes people feel who are paying way more to fill up their car to go to work?

28:06I think this demonstrates why the U.S. is in a position of strength. The U.S., like I said, largest producer and exporter of oil and gas in the world. That was not the case in the past. This is because we are in a position of strength. Look at what prices are in Europe. Look at what prices are in Asia. They're turning to us. They want us to export more to them. That is the difference. In the long term, this is going to be better for the U.S. We are the only ones that have proven that we can do more. It's the Democrats that have tried to shut down all fossil fuels. But when will gas prices come down?

28:40Like if you're watching right now and you're paying more, When should you expect, based on what you just laid out there, for gas prices to come down? Well, they're already coming down, like I said, down 20 cents over the last month. But down from pretty high numbers. Yeah, but this is the problem. This is the problem in the market. It shoots up and takes a long time to go down. That's why the president has stayed on these refiners. They've stayed on these oil and gas companies. He wants those prices to come down. When you get more crude on the market, and we're going to bring more refining capacity on the market, so you're going to continue to see them to come down.

29:10We all want them to come down faster. That's why the president is going to Texas, making a show of it. That's why he's there saying, hey, there's a million barrels. When is that first refinery going to open? The first refinery in Texas? Well, that will open before the end of the president's term. But we're working with all the small refiners around the country of what they can do to produce more in the next weeks to months. I mean, this is a six months or less thing of getting more refining out of the existing refiners that are there. Someone might look at that and say, well, why didn't the administration do that before launching the war with Iran to kind of put that in place to help Americans who are now paying because of the war?

29:49We did. That's why gas was down under three dollars back in February, like you showed. We implemented drill baby drill. And that's why that's why gas was down as low as it is. Now we're implementing refined baby refined. But that does take time. and that's why we've brought the refiners in. What this has exposed is the Democratic policies around refining have been bad. We need to reverse that. Drill baby drill has worked. Now we're gonna do refine baby refine. Jared Hagan, thank you for joining us here tonight on The Source. Thanks for having me. Appreciate your time. Up next, how the vice president is defending the Justice Department's lawsuit in Alaska.

30:25My fellow White House insiders will join me right here on Capitol Hill.

30:31This 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 gonna 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. Tonight, officials in Alaska are urging a federal judge to throw out the Justice Department's election lawsuit, arguing in court filings that the DOJ is trying to, quote, cast doubt on the integrity of their Senate race.

31:16As you know, the Justice Department wants a court order to potentially delay certifying those results in the Senate race there, but only if the Republican incumbent, Dan Sullivan, loses. That's because another Dan Sullivan is also running, and the White House and DOJ is arguing it'll confuse the voters. Alaskans have seen this movie before, though. The incumbent Dan Sullivan actually won more than 68 ,000 votes in the state's primary over the summer, while the other Dan Sullivan won just over 4 ,000 votes. Vice President J.D. Vance argued today that could be confusing for Alaskans. Mr. Vice President, why shouldn't Alaskans find it insulting that the administration appears to be suggesting they can't read the word incumbent on their ballots and know to vote for Senator Sullivan?

32:03Well, I think the question presumes quite a bit. I mean, look, a lot of Alaskans are going to go and look at the ballot and realize exactly what you said, that this is all a big fraud. But people are busy. People have lives. People have jobs. And when you put a person on the ballot explicitly to try to confuse voters, I think that's the definition of electoral fraud. You're right. A lot of people won't fall for it. But some people are going to be confused by that. It's just human nature. Joining me now are tonight's White House insiders. Shelby Talcott is a White House correspondent for some before.

32:37And Jasmine Wright is the White House correspondent for The Washington Sun. And, Shelby, I think one question that a lot of people have is how the White House actually feels about whether or not this case is going to be successful. Or is it just the president looking at this because he is so personally obsessed with the two Dan Sullivans being on the ballot? And that's why the DOJ is getting involved. It's an open question. And I think the way I look at this is when I've talked to White House officials about past legal issues, their thinking generally is we're going to throw everything at the wall and see what happens.

33:08Because they found historically that occasionally they get a win even when they don't think they are going to be successful. And so I think in this case, that is what they're doing. They're sort of throwing spaghetti at the wall and saying, you know what, we might as well do it. And I think it's really notable that the DOJ is doing this because, again, I think it reinforces the idea that the DOJ and the White House are not as separate as maybe they used to be. Yeah. I mean, that's something that the president said himself. It was his directive for the DOJ to pursue this. Yeah, and it's interesting because sometimes when you ask the president about legal cases, like, say, what the DOJ was doing on the Epstein files, he says that this is not about me, that I had no role in it, that I had nothing to do with it.

33:51He said something similar about Ilhan Omar last week. But in this case, he said, I directed them to do it because, Caitlin, to your point, he is so personally obsessed with the two Dan Sullivans on the ballot. But this has been something that's been bugging Republicans for a long time, including here in the Senate. John Thune has talked about it, not necessarily saying that the DOJ should take action, but it's something that has been on the mind of Republicans. But I just want to make clear for folks who are watching this, this is a Republican-led state government in Alaska that is asking them to step down.

34:22These are not Democrats doing that. And so there is some pushback within the party, particularly on what rights the federal government has in a state election. Well, and when it comes to what the president is talking about on the campaign trail, We've seen him out obviously every day. He's only going to increase his rallies that he's doing over the next few weeks or the next seven days, I should note. Voters' top concern has been affordability. We know that. We've heard that from what our reporters on the ground and what they're hearing from them. This is what the president said today in Texas, though.

34:52The worst part is, though, people, voters, have about a two-week lifespan of memory. So I want to talk about the border. And my professionals say, sir, you've solved that problem. Nobody wants to talk about the border. I say, please, I want to talk. I did such a good job. What did you make of him saying that voters have a two-week lifespan of memory? I mean, I don't know if that's the best comment to make when you're trying to get people to vote for you. But again, this is the president talking to a rally of his most sort of fervent supporters. So I don't anticipate that actually making much of an impact.

35:27But at the same time, his broad comment was really interesting to me because that's been something that this White House has dealt with forever on the campaign trail during the first Trump administration. There's always a push and pull between what his advisers want him focusing on, what the speech says and what the president ends up sometimes focusing on. Yeah, he's argued he doesn't get credit for what he's done on the border because it happened at the beginning of his term. It happened pretty quickly when it comes to what their goals were. But I also think the longer it's gone on, we've seen how ICE has become a point of scrutiny, at least for Democrats, as they've made their case against the administration.

36:01And when I talk to Republicans, they've actually kind of parroted something that the president is saying, which is that he has handled the border. So that's not a motivating reason for people to get out and go to the polls like something as with the economy. I think his advisers are telling him the same thing. But the reality is that the president is going to get on that stage, as we've seen him doing every day for the last week or so, and say exactly what he feels exactly in that moment. And I think what some of the advisors have wanted him for a long time to do is focus on affordability issues.

36:31And I don't think that you're seeing him be consistently focused on that even now. You also had some interesting reporting today in The Washington Sun about this Texas Senate race that we're watching so closely and James Tallarico. And it was the Democrats are worried he hasn't done enough to to court black voters in the state. Obviously, a constituent that constituency that he needs to show up on Tuesday. You note that Congressman Jasmine Crockett has not been at any of his events that we've seen. What are you hearing? Yeah, my colleagues had this great story out on The Washington Zone. I encourage everyone to go read it.

37:03But basically, we've been talking a lot about what has the Republican Party done to court black voters. But in this case in Texas, where you have 2.7 million black voters who are eligible to vote in that state, the question is, what is Tallarico, the Democrat, doing? And I think a lot of advisers in that state, according to my colleagues, are concerned that they're not doing, that he is not doing that much. And they point to Jasmine Crockett, somebody who obviously failed in her race against Tallarico, but who had credibility in the black community as just one way in which the campaign has not really bridged that animosity and brought her back to really engage that group.

37:37In this story, they talk to strategists who note that the campaign, excuse me, that Tall Rico hasn't been to Harris County, which is the most populous county for black voters in Texas, not enough to engage the group there, right? And so they lay out certain examples. But, you know, the question is, is whether or not Tall Rico has replicated what he's done with the Latino group in Texas with the black voters. and the folks in that piece say that he has it. Yeah, we'll see what the campaign says and what that looks like a week from tonight. Jasmine and Shelby, don't go anywhere because I have a lot more to talk to you about.

38:14Because what we know today about the president's personal involvement now that Flavio Bolsonaro is brought to the U.S. after that stunning election loss in Brazil where he's also under investigation and they were trying to seize his passports today. More right after this.

38:33This 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't 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 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. Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm.

39:05When it comes to my policy, Farmers gives it to me straight, so there's no surprises. It's your coverage. You should never be confused. You hear that? An insurance provider with a conscience. We're a choir, but yes, we have that too. Straightforward coverage you can literally understand. That's what you get when you have Farmers. Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. Learn more at Farmers.com. Underwritten by Farmers Truck or Fire Insurance Exchanges or Affiliate. Products not available in every state. We are following some breaking news tonight as an advisor to the president tells CNN that he was personally involved in approving Flavio Bolsonaro entering the United States, as we reported he did today, after he fled Brazil following his stunning loss in Sunday's presidential election.

39:53Our sources are saying tonight that Bolsonaro has arrived in the U.S., but it's still not clear where exactly he landed or where he is going to stay. A source close to him said that the politician feared arrest in Brazil, where he's under investigation for alleged acts of corruption, money laundering, currency evasion. The Trump administration knew yesterday that he had 24 hours to surrender his passport to the authorities there, and they made clear he would still be allowed entry to the United States, and the state department confirmed today that they did issue visas for him to enter the United States.

40:27My White House insiders are back with me here on Capitol Hill. I mean, we were all following this so closely today after it was reported that he was missing in the country. They were trying to find him. They had ordered him to turn over his passport. He had refused to do so, I believe. What are you hearing from the White House about this? Not much. Honestly, there's not a lot of information that we have. You know, as you said, he disappeared for hours. And then there were reports that he was coming here to the U.S. You know, the State Department said that they're issuing visas. We heard that the president had personally approved this.

40:59But beyond that, we don't know why. We don't know if there have been direct conversations with the president about this. We don't know if he's here now. We don't know where he is. And so it's really, I think, just remarkable the level of involvement that the U.S. has had in this scenario. Yeah. What are you hearing about it? Again, it's kind of a head scratcher, right? What is the purpose and how involved was the president? Was it just somebody asked him or did he get on the phone and say, come on over, we'll take care of you? I mean, just if you kind of like take a step back and look at a lot of the president's allies, particularly Bolsonaro and the president have had a in his family rather have had a kind of long history.

41:40We know that earlier this year, the president threatened to put tariffs on Brazil because of the whole Bolsonaro being in prison and all of that. And so this is a father. Right. This is with the father. So this is a relationship that the president obviously really favors and a group of people he favors. But if you can take a step back at that, look at all the right wing allies across the country, excuse me, across the globe that have basically fallen in the last few weeks, not just Brazil and Bolsonaro. You can look at Serbia and you can look hungry. So if I was the State Department, I'd be looking around the country and figuring out where my allies are in power.

42:13And right now, that's not Brazil. Well, and after the election happened on Sunday, I mean, it was a surprising result to most people who are watching this closely. The president argued it was rigged and now he's welcoming him. Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro wrote tonight, losing an election is not grounds for an asylum. The Trump administration owes Congress answers on its role helping Bolsonaro flee Brazil in contravention of Brazilian law. Now, obviously, a lot of people have been also making the remark that the White House is pushing for deportations of people who are under criminal investigation or that they believe have committed crimes beyond just coming here illegally and noting that he is granting visas to this person who is under investigation in Brazil.

42:57Yeah, again, it's remarkable and it's a little bit of a head scratcher. I'm going to be really interested to see post midterms what happens, particularly with Congress, because if Democrats do particularly well, this is going to be a real headache, I think, for the Trump administration. Right now, everyone is sort of in limbo mode and there's nothing to be done. But as of next week, depending on how Democrats do, this is going to be something that I think the Trump White House is going to have to answer to. Yeah, it could fundamentally change their presidency a week from tonight. I wonder what you're hearing from people about that.

43:33I mean, I had one staffer tell me maybe two months ago that they already had gotten an attorney in anticipation of Democrats potentially winning the House. I mean, that was before the map even shifted to where it is now. And we don't really know what's going to happen until Tuesday happens. But the White House seems to be bracing for it to not be a great night. Yeah, we had one. So we had one source tell us for the story that posted over the weekend was that the White House attorneys were evaluating whether or not to pardon junior staffers because of some of the perceived threats that they believed were coming from people within the Democratic Party, specifically Senator Lisa Slocken.

44:08And in that story, somebody told us that the White House had begun having meetings about how to protect staffers starting in Q1 of this year, so earlier this year. So this is something that the White House has been planning for for quite some time. Obviously, it's still a major question mark of what happens when it comes to pardons or whether or not they establish a legal defense fund, something that outside allies have pushed the White House to really consider when it comes to junior staffers, when it comes to people who can't afford their own attorneys, not just those top lieutenants close to the president.

44:40Yeah. Jasmine Wright, Shelby Talcott, great to have both of you here tonight on Capitol Hill. Up next, it is time for Source Code. Tonight it is 5.7 million. I'll be right back with the answer right after this.

45:02And tonight's source code is 5.7 million. That's because that's how many voters cast a ballot in Israel today. That's out of 7.3 million eligible voters. It's huge turnout. The Central Elections Committee said that the turnout surged to nearly 78 percent, which is the highest percentage it has been since 1999. In just the last few hours, exit polls from Israel's three main pollsters have shifted slightly toward the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The latest numbers have been tied or slightly ahead of the opposition bloc that is being led by Gadi Eisencott. But the exit polls still indicate both are well short of a majority of those 61 seats needed to declare outright victory.

45:42Despite that, tonight, the prime minister is touting a decisive majority. Among those he thanked in his speech were President Trump and God. The final results are expected over the next few days. We'll be watching this very closely. It could still take weeks for a coalition building to take place. We'll be monitoring all of it here. And you can stream the source live or just watch it on demand anytime if you have an all-access subscription. It's not just here in the United States. It's also in the U.K. as well. You can scan the QR code on your screen or go to CNN.com slash watch to learn more.

46:15Thanks so much for joining us live from Capitol Hill tonight. CNN Newsnight starts now. This 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 F***. 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.

46:48Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms.

47:20available in every state.