Protestor Interrupts Trump During Ohio Rally

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1:29And tonight, with six days to go and control of Congress on the line, both parties are bringing their heaviest hitters back to the campaign trail. President Trump and former President Obama are holding dueling rallies in Ohio and Georgia, respectively, two states that President Trump won in 2024, and two states where the economy consistently pulls as the top issue for voters. But in Ohio tonight, within minutes of taking the stage, the current president was interrupted by several protesters, forcing him at one point to pivot to an issue he probably wants to talk about the least. Welcome to Jeffrey Epstein.

2:16He mentioned Epstein. So I threw Jeffrey Epstein out of a club like 20 years ago. Because I thought he was a black child.

2:28That was a great, by the way, that was a great thing I did, I must tell you. After that, President Trump then immediately went back to talking about Republican Senator John Huston's body, which has become something of a staple and a theme during his October campaign blitz. The president then turned his attention to the former president, who got under his skin after he mocked the changes that he's been making to the White House. The White House has to be beautiful outside, right? It has to need that exterior plaster. The bricks were falling. The stone was broken. The monuments were coming off. The beautiful windows were cracked.

3:13It looked terrible. And I fixed it very inexpensively. I paid for it myself. I fixed it. President Obama, who doesn't understand...

3:27Who doesn't understand cleanliness? Who doesn't understand broken, cracked stone and sidewalk? Who doesn't understand that having asphalt going to your main entrance is not the right thing? We'd like to have granites and marbles. We'd like to have it look nice. You don't use asphalt. Use asphalt for a street. Use asphalt to patch, to patch up your streets. But you don't use asphalt to go into the White House. He said, why is he spending so much time fixing up the White House? Why is he doing that? You know why? Because the White House, I think, is the number one symbol of our country. What a terrible situation.

4:10But it's now all finished. So I'll just have to now just now. Now I just have to finish up. Now I just have to finish up, which I'll do very quickly. The war with Iran, where they've gotten beaten very badly. We'll finish that up. Now that the White House is completed. Those are just part of the president's remarks tonight in Ohio. Meanwhile, down south in Georgia, former President Obama was on stage where he came out swinging with a very different message of his own. The current president chose to make a series of bad decisions, the most important of which was to start an unnecessary war that nobody asked for.

4:59This is the reason why the price of oil is up. This is the reason why the price of diesel is up. The price of just about everything is up. And by the way, contrary to the promises and statements and declarations that were made seven months ago, this war is not over. It's still going on, which means you are not getting any relief anytime soon. So while all this is happening, the defense secretary is laser focused on very important matters like the jawline and testosterone levels of our troops. And live streaming executions, because that's how he thinks you cultivate that manly warrior spirit. These are not serious people.

6:01And we're all paying the price for their lack of seriousness. But if you heard that, the 44th president was actually just getting warmed up because President Obama then unloaded for several minutes, nearly yelling into the mic at one point about President Trump's conduct, alleged corruption, and, yes, the Cheesecake Factory.

6:27The President of the United States is spending time supergluing gold medallions to the mantle in the Oval Office. I am not making this up. He is literally doing arts and crafts while we are fighting a war and trying to deal with out-of-control prices.

6:53Now, look, I heard the President was not happy when I joked over the weekend that he's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory. And listen, first of all, let me get this on the record. I am the father of two daughters. Do you think I could have survived their childhood without going to the Cheesecake Factory? I lived at Chuck E. Cheese and California Pizza Kitchen and the Cheesecake Factory. That was my jam for about a decade.

7:46Of course, the real problem is prices have gotten so high, a lot of folks can barely afford to go out to eat.

7:55So you would think that this administration would be spending time worrying about that. But that was the interesting thing about how the administration responded to the speech I gave the other day. They did not dispute what I said about them being directly responsible for rising prices. They did not argue with that. They did not deny terrorists were contributing to higher costs for families. They didn't say anything about that. I accused this administration based on the facts that they were engaging in unprecedented levels of corruption. They didn't say anything about that. The president wasn't even mad about the Saddam Hussein comparison.

8:46That part didn't bother him. But he was very upset about the Cheesecake Factory comments. He took great umbrage.

9:03he said i didn't understand the work of the artisans in the white house and they mobilized this this is this was this i mean it's all crazy but this was the really crazy part they mobilized a whole of government response to that joke not to inflation but to that joke The White House even called the Secretary of the Treasury. This is the man who is in charge of the economy. The person who's supposed to be figuring out how to make your life more affordable. The guy who's supposed to be figuring out how to lower inflation and reduce interest rates. they told him he should hold a press conference in front of the Cheesecake Factory.

10:02No, y 'all didn't see this. This really happened.

10:11And the Treasury Secretary, he happens to be a former hedge fund manager worth half a billion dollars. and he was out there in front of the Cheesecake Factory explaining how he ordered the delicious French dip cheeseburger instead of the egg rolls.

10:44And that was just part of President Obama's speech tonight. We start this hour with Republican Congressman Chip Roy of Texas, who is joining us now. And Congressman, thank you for being here. I want to ask you a bunch about what's going on with the midterms. But when you listen to President Obama there, he's saying the Trump administration was more upset about what he said about the Cheesecake Factory than the Saddam Hussein conspiracy or what he said about corruption and all of this. What did you think of that? Well, Caitlin, great to be on with you. And I mean, look, this entire conversation, the entire intro, and it's not directed at you, it's directed at politicians.

11:18None of it has anything to do with what the American people care about right now. You can point at whatever fingers you want to, but they're concerned about the things that Republicans are doing well, securing the border of the United States, getting tax rates low, reducing mandatory spending, doing a lot of the things they wanted us to do and making our military stronger and so forth. But they're also frustrated about diesel prices, gas prices, home prices, food prices, all things that Republicans ought to be talking about in the context of what we've delivered and what we will deliver if they let us finish the job.

11:49I know there's a lot of viewers out there saying, well, we're sick of that. You guys didn't deliver on X, Y, or Z. We've been in power for 21 months in the House, the Senate, and the White House. And I'm proud of what we've done with the big, beautiful bill and getting, again, restraint on mandatory spending, tax reductions, and making sure that we have a strong, secure border. But we've got a lot of work to do to meet the American people where they are. And that's the message that I'd be delivering if I were the president and I was out on the campaign trail. Look, I'm not on the ballot, but I'm going out and I'm stumping for people across the country, all across Texas.

12:18I was in Pennsylvania last week near Harrisburg campaigning for Scott Perry. I'll be out on the trail tomorrow outside of San Antonio. And I'm talking to voters about what they care about. And I know that we haven't done the job on certain things, so we need to meet them where they are. But if you're a voter and you're saying, well, look, we've seen two years of Republicans in control of everything in Washington. And right now it's still costing me more at the grocery store and at the gas pump. Why should they elect Republicans on Tuesday? You tell them that if you want to go back to what we saw under Biden with an open, wide open border where we had vicious cartels that were spreading fentanyl in our communities and gang members that were killing people like Laken Riley or Jocelyn Nungere, you tell them that go ahead and vote for the radical left that are trying to regain power.

13:03If you want to tell them to, hey, go back to the point where we had massive spending and mandatory spending, say, go back to Democrats as opposed to Republicans that worked hard to cut$1.7 trillion in that spending that was often being used on wasteful spending. Look, we've been doing the job they elected us to do, but we haven't finished the job. My argument is very simple. We know that the American people are hurting. Look, I've got to go fill up my gas tank. I get it. But you've got to ask yourself, is it worth it to cut the head of the snake off with Iran in order to try to prevent the continuing use of proxy terrorists to disrupt the global oil supply and to disrupt our safety and security around the globe?

13:40I think it is, but only up to the point that we produce more refining capacity and do what we need to do in America, which I think Republicans have been doing. But you've got to speak to voters where they are. I don't want to talk about Cheesecake Factory. I don't want to talk about, with all due respect, the new helipad. I want to talk about the American people and the fact that they want to be able to afford things. And one last point on that. Both Democrats and Republicans for decades, look, I've been an equal opportunity basher of both parties. They have failed to stop spending recklessly.

14:10So interest rates are high. And now we've got inflation that we've got to constrain by reducing spending. Republicans put a toe in the water. We need to do better. We need to go farther. We need to be able to work with Democrats. By the way, I put on the table with Democrats. look, maybe we raise the top marginal tax rate if you guys will work with us to cut spending. We couldn't get anybody to work with us on that. So we did a one-party deal that held spending taxes lower, and we cut about$2.x trillion in spending. You mentioned the helipad. I mean, that's what the president keeps talking about on the campaign trail.

14:44Are you saying that what he's saying out there in these final few days is not what voters want to hear? Or not enough of it? No, I think the president is in Lubbock today. He's in Texas. He's out there meeting voters and talking to them on a whole lot of the great issues, and I appreciate it. I just wouldn't be focusing on that. But he's also talking about John Husted's body, cognitive exams, what he's doing at the White House. He said he's going to finish the war with Iran quickly. He's been saying that for seven months, with all due respect. Well, I mean, it's not easy. I mean, let's talk about Obama, who's trying to poke at the president.

15:12Obama put troops in Syria. Obama had people in his surges in Afghanistan. It was under Biden that we took tail and ran. Yeah, but Obama's not president right now. President Trump is the president right now. Okay, but let's look at what our most recent experiences was under Democrats. We tucked tail and run out of Bagram, and we left a total mess in Afghanistan. So now the president's trying to come in, deal with Iran that's been running proxy wars against us for decades, and I think effectively reducing their ability to have nuclear weapons, making us safer and more secure. But by the way, we know there's a cost to that.

15:40But if we had more refining capacity, we wouldn't have to worry about Iran. So we're working on that. We're going to get gas prices down. But you've got to look at the American people in the eye. Don't talk about the helipad. Talk about the fact we will get gas prices, diesel prices, home prices, food prices down if we cut spending, if we can increase. But that's what President Trump said two years ago. You know, this is something actually someone in Alabama said to me recently about promising to bring down prices, bringing down inflation, bringing down gas, getting it to two dollars, ending foreign wars.

16:09That is what President Trump said on the campaign trail in 2024. So why should voters trust Republicans when they've been in power saying that exactly in 2026? Yeah, my argument would be is that it takes time and we've only been in 21 months and we've got to be able to finish the job of reducing spending, which will drive inflation down, which will drive interest rates down. That we've got to have another round of reconciliation working to push spending down. And that at the end of the day, we need to finish the job with Iran. We haven't put troops on the ground over there in Iran. Let's try to stranglehold what's happening in the Middle East so we can increase our power around the globe.

16:44And we can end a lot of these endless wars that have been killing us for 25 years. I mean, again, we've had nonstop wars for 25 years. The president knows what he's doing to try to increase our strength and profile in the globe. But Republicans have got to go speak to the voters in these final five days. We have done an incredible job reducing spending. Like, we had more welfare reform in the big, beautiful bill than anything we had in the 1990s. We have seen a massive reduction in the federal workforce. We saw the permanent setting of tax rates in a competitive environment. One point seven trillion reduction in overall mandatory spending.

17:18These are all positive steps. But yes, I look, I say you tell them what the truth is. Let's finish the job. Well, you keep saying finish the job. That was President Biden's line. It didn't work. Yeah. Well, look, my view is that we've had now 21 months of success in pushing the direction. Look, economic growth is moving in the right direction. We've got jobs in the private sector moving in the right direction. We've got spending heading in the right direction. We've held discretionary spending flat for three years. We've got a stronger military. We've got a position in the globe that is stronger.

17:49Our position in the Western Hemisphere is stronger. Cartels now fear us. Our border is now secure. We don't have Americans dying in the streets. We don't have fentanyl pouring into our communities. And so take that message to the American people and say, give us two more years to be able to finish the job. Yes, to get spending down further, get interest down further, to get inflation down further, and to get our refining capacity up, get gas prices down, get diesel prices down. And then the American people will be in a position to have massive prosperity for a generation to come. Do you think it's a good idea to brag about how big the profits are for big oil when Americans can't afford gas?

18:25Well, look, I think the president's been somewhat critical, by the way, of big oil not passing through some of the profits they've got to drive prices down. I think to his credit, I think we need to hold them accountable. By the way, I've been very public about the crony capitalism between big corporate America and government. And we've got to do a better job of that. By the way, in the AI, big tech space, big oil, all of it. But I think the important part here is we need robust refining capacity if we want to get gas prices down so we're not beholden to people around the world. We are too dependent on foreign refining capacity in order to be able to have cheaper gas and cheaper diesel.

19:05Do you think that Ken Paxton is running a good campaign in Texas? You know Texas well. I do know Texas well, and I've been all over the state. And I think most people in this state understand that James Tallarico is deeply out of step with the average Texas voter. And, look, I think Texas, I've seen him all over the state. The president's been here. I've seen Ken Paxton out. I was in Tyler about two weeks ago with J.D. Vance on the campaign trail and saw Ken and I saw a whole bunch of people, including the vice president, Brandon Gill, Beth Van Dyne and others. And look, we're working hard. We're going around the state the best that we know how to do in order to reach the voters.

19:42But I do think I'll go back to my point. We got to talk to voters where they are. It's not enough to say that James Tallarico is bad. We need to make the case that Republicans are going to make their lives better. And if we do not show up to vote, then we will lose the election. Look, if polls decided elections, I would be the Republican nominee for attorney general. Our polls were up three points before the runoff for attorney general in May, and I lost. So, you know, polls don't decide it. People do, and we need the people to show up to vote. But I asked you if you thought Ken Paxton was running a good campaign.

20:16You didn't say yes. Well, they're all over the state. They're working hard. I think the attorney general is is out there trying to deliver a message about what he's done as attorney general. I have a lot of friends that in the attorney general's office that have done a lot of great work in fighting and defending the state. I think he's getting that message out. I think people are delivering the message that James Tallarico is not a good representative of the people of Texas at large. And so, you know, hopefully that message will carry the day between now and Tuesday. I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill.

20:43This is where you typically are. Of course, you're now in Texas in your home state tonight. Do you think after next Tuesday, Republicans still hold the House? Look, I think it'll all be decided on what happens between now and Tuesday, truly. If Republicans show up and finish strong through early voting and then show up on Election Day, then I think we've got a really good chance to be able to maintain the House and the Senate. I talk to Speaker Johnson regularly. I know he's still bullish. He's traveling everywhere. I think he was up in Pennsylvania with Scott Perry this week. He's pretty much everywhere.

21:11You know that. You've seen him. And I don't know anybody who's working harder than Speaker Mike Johnson, by the way, in traveling across the country campaigning. Well, his title depends on it, so we'll see what happens. Well, yeah, I think so. And look, we'll see what happens. But one thing I know for sure is it is the voters that decide this, not polls. So if everybody shows up to vote, then Republicans will be OK. Congressman Chip Roy, we'll see what the voters decide on Tuesday. Thank you for taking the time to join us tonight. Thanks, Caitlin. God bless. Up next, Abdul El-Sayed and his Democratic primary opponent in Michigan, Haley Stevens, have not been campaigning together in the last several months.

21:48They also haven't spoken, according to New CNN reporting. And Haley Stevens' fiancee just came out and endorsed the Republican in that race. We're actually going to talk to Congresswoman Haley Stevens right after this.

22:03Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. On my podcast, All There Is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities. My guest is Lil Jon. He's a rapper, DJ and producer known for hits like Get Low and Turn Down for What. In February 2026, his 27-year-old son Nathan went missing near Nathan's home in Georgia. Three days later, his body was found in a pond nearby. Lil Jon has a memoir that just came out called I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me. It takes time to heal. And I kept myself busy that I didn't let myself mourn. I needed to laugh again. I needed to be silly and interact with people and feel other people's energy and make people happy, too.

22:48We have to share so other people can see that they can get through it, too. Talking grief, building community. That's what the podcast is all about. This is all there is. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.

23:04One of the tightest races, six days out from the midterm elections, is the one in Michigan for that Senate seat. The latest CNN poll of polls shows right now there's no clear leader between the Democrat, Abdul El-Sayed, and the Republican, Mike Rogers. Back in August, El-Sayed narrowly won the nomination, you'll recall, when he defeated Representative Haley Stevens in the primary. The 731 ,000 Michiganders, though, who voted for Haley Stevens are going to play a big role in deciding who wins next week. Tonight, the congresswoman's fiancée is going public with his plans to vote for the Republican here.

23:40Jason Turkish told the Detroit News this, quote, we have never seen a candidate for U.S. Senate act so recklessly toward the safety of Jews in the community as we have seen from Abdul. He added, and I'm quoting him now, I may disagree with Mike Rogers on a whole host of policy issues, but I have absolutely no reason to believe that he isn't a patriot, that he doesn't love this country, and that he doesn't care about keeping the Jewish people safe. My source tonight is the Democratic congresswoman from Michigan, Haley Stevens, and thank you so much for being here. We really appreciate having you on.

24:13And I know a lot of people watching are probably saying, OK, but couples certainly don't have to agree on everything. Definitely not politics. But do you agree with your fiance and his sentiment here on this race? No, like like a lot of households across America, we're a household divided. I still very much want our Democratic nominee. His name is Abdul to win this race. There's so much on the line, but I will be honest, there are a lot of voters in Michigan. I was out knocking doors earlier today in Macomb County, and they are still undecided, and they are hurt, and they are confused. And this is why I think our nominee is in a very strong position to denounce the hateful ads that have hurt people.

25:07You know, we've got one with Tucker Carlson, who is a racist, anti-black, white supremacist apologist. And we've got another that's blaming Jews for the cost of groceries. And people are coming to me about this. And they're black voters. They're Indian American voters. They're obviously Jewish voters, working class voters. And so let's shut out the hate. You know, let's get these undecided voters over the finish line. let's make sure that Michigan has the representation it needs in the United States Senate. So you seem to be saying that you don't think Abdul El-Sayed has done enough to criticize those ads or appeal enough to those voters.

25:54Is that right? No, I'm saying that Abdul, and I fully believe he can do this, can denounce Tucker Carlson and and denounce anti-Semitic hate, you know, things that make particularly minority communities feel less safe and actually make them less safe. You know, when, for instance, you blame Jews for the cost of groceries being too high or, you know, health care not being affordable, that's dangerous for Jews. When you're, you know, somehow propping up Tucker Carlson, you know, that makes a whole host of people in our black community feel less safe and targeted. And there's over a million people that have voted in Michigan already.

26:40There's more people every day going to the polls during early vote, and there's still undecided voters. And I want to see those voters, you know, come over to our side. I'm still very much a passionate Democrat. I'm a Michigan Democrat who's, you know, not not afraid to say this because this is the party, you know, that, you know, we all want one that is talking about a brighter future that is disavowing anti-Semitism, that is telling Jewish Americans that they're they're safe in our party. Have you told Abdul El-Sayed this directly? You know, I haven't had a chance to talk to him about this, but I know that, you know, he has it in him to denounce these two ads, to take them down.

27:26I know that undecided voters would feel very reassured to see this, that we can win this seat, you know, that we can push back on this Trump agenda that has been making us, you know, frankly, so insecure here in Michigan. We have a trade war going on with Canada right now. We've got small business owners on the brink of foreclosure. And we need the person who's not going to rubber stamp this agenda in that seat. And so he can do the right thing. He can disavow these ads. And he can reassure these undecided voters who are still left. We aired part of that ad. Which is what I want. We aired part of that ad with the grocery store and grocery prices earlier this week.

28:12His campaign says that they don't have anything to do with it. Do you believe they need to go further than that? Is that what you're saying tonight? Yeah, let's see it disavowed. You know, it's hate. And that's not the Democratic Party. That's not, you know, what this moment's all about. Yes, we want to see grocery costs lowered. I actually have a bill for that. It's called No Tariffs on Groceries, you know, and that should go forward. You know, and disavowing that ad would reassure a lot of people. And I know Abdul can do it. Have you voted yet in the Michigan Senate race? You know, there's long lines at the polls.

28:52I haven't voted yet, but I want our Democrats to win. I want to see, you know, Abdul do the right thing here. I want to see, you know, health care for millions of people all across this country protected and secured. I want to see Christina Hines flip Michigan's 10th district. I was just out there with her campaign today. And I feel really excited about Democrats in this moment. But someone's got to speak up right now, Caitlin. And that's me. You know, I'm just, you know, I'm just using this time that I have to say that this, you know, that we've got a black and Jewish coalition that came out and voted for me in droves.

29:33And I want them to come out and vote for Democrats. I mean, and it sounds like you're speaking directly to Abdul El-Sayed's campaign tonight. Is that what you're doing here? Well, I'm speaking to you and I'm here in Michigan. I'm actually in Madison Heights, you know, and there's a lot of hardworking people on Abdul's campaign. I know that they're working their hearts out because they want to lower costs. They want to, you know, stand up to the Trump agenda. And so look, there's so much on the line here. And that's what I'm speaking to. Given that, when you do vote, will you be voting for Abdul El-Sayed?

30:18Look, I am the weirdest loser in this country. That Senate race was months ago. I hugged it out. Of course I'm voting for our Democratic nominee for Senate. I'm voting for the Democratic ticket. But I want to encourage, you know, this campaign to shut out the hate and to call it out and to make people who were in my coalition. Right. Make them feel comfortable about coming to the polls. Right. That's OK. So you are voting for it. Done. Yes. You know, but the reason I ask is because one thing Mike Rogers has been doing here is trying to appeal to your voters, to the people who voted for you over him in the primary.

31:04And Mike Rogers has been doing a lot of outreach to them, to everyone who did vote for you in the primary. Who would you encourage them to vote for on Tuesday? Is it Abdul El-Sayed? Yeah, look, I'm out. Yes. And there's, of course, this is, you know, look, but I want this campaign to hear. and to know that when people feel unsafe and when there is hateful rhetoric that's making its way into ads, that doesn't build the coalition and it doesn't ease the concerns of undecided voters. Caitlin, that's what I'm hearing in Michigan. That's what I'm hearing from folks. I'm hearing from black voters. And I still want this Democratic Party you know, to have these coalitions in it.

31:54And, you know, I know our candidate can do the right thing here. I know that we can disavow blaming Jews for the cost of groceries being high. And I know that we can disavow Tucker Carlson. If he doesn't do those two things that you think need to happen, what do you think happens on Tuesday? Well, look, I believe he can do that and will do that. And look, I think we're going to have record turnout for Democrats. I think that Hakeem Jeffries is going to become the Speaker of the House from a place called Michigan. I know we're a state that everyone watches. We're an incredible place. We've got these Great Lakes and an amazing automotive sector.

32:39And we've got jobs that need to be protected. We've got hard working people who need a fairer tax code. This is why I feel so strongly. I've been knocking doors for Democrats since I was 18. You know, I put up my hand to flip a Trump seat and I held it and I've got a lot done for folks and I want this Democratic agenda, you know, and this whole coalition that, you know, was with me in races for years to continue to feel like they've got a home in the Democratic Party. Congresswoman Haley Stevens, thank you for taking the time to join us tonight.

33:15Up next here on The Source, the president says tonight that he believes Alaska's Democratic candidate for Senate should be kicked off the ballot after that explosive New York Times report on how two Dan Sullivans wound up on it. My Democratic congressional source, Senator Chris Murphy, will join me right after this.

33:37I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life podcast. You may have noticed gambling doesn't require a casino anymore. You can just open up your phone. It's designed to keep us coming back or maybe never even leaving in the first place. We're going to talk to Dr. Timothy Fong, co-director of UCLA's gambling studies program. You're going to learn what your brain is really chasing when you place a bet, and also importantly, how to keep the game from playing you. Gambling addiction, gambling disorder is the hidden addiction. You can't smell it. You can't taste it. You can't see it. You can't have a urine drug test.

34:11Who are we talking about here, Professor? Who's the most likely demographic to be affected by this? Literally any single human on Earth. Listen to Chasing Life, streaming now, wherever you get your podcasts. Tonight, The New York Times is out with an explosive new report that operatives who were aligned with the Alaskan Democratic Senate candidate, Mary Peltola, had recruited a spoiler candidate in an attempt to peel votes off from the Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, the incumbent who is running, and to boost her chances of winning his seat. This is how President Trump responded to that report.

35:13Sullivan, the fake Dan Sullivan and Mary Peltola should be number one, they should be taken off the ballot and number two, they should be prosecuted. Well, the Times reports that the effort by Peltola's team involved going through voter records to produce a list of Dan Sullivan's from across the state. Apparently, there are several in Alaska. It also apparently included secret trips to far flung Alaskan communities to try to coax them into the race. Now, her former campaign manager says that the candidate, Peltola, was not directly involved, but was, quote, definitely aware. Her campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee deny any involvement in the other Dan Sullivans running for office.

35:57And during a rally today, this is how the Democratic candidate, Peltola, responded. This is just another distraction. It's another diversion. Every day it's some new, you know, look over here moment. This is all stuff to sell newspapers. This is all stuff to get subscriptions. Nobody at the New York Times cares about affordability in Alaska. My source tonight is the Democratic senator from Connecticut, Chris Murphy. Senator, what did you make of her response there? That, you know, she was kind of pending this on the New York Times for their reporting, but there were quotes from campaign staffers in that.

36:41Yeah, I mean, I don't know the whole story here. Apparently, this is somebody who was fired from her campaign. Her campaign says that they didn't have anything to do with it. I guess to me, the bottom line here is that Trump is just fishing for reasons to try to fix the election. He said what he wants in those remarks. He says he wants Mary Peltola off the ballot because that's probably the only way that Dan Sullivan can win. If anybody has actually looked at the ballot in Alaska, there is no way to confuse one Dan Sullivan for the other. The ballot actually says incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan.

37:20So if you want to vote for the incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan, there's going to be no way that you could that you could screw up. So whatever happened here, and I trust the Peltola campaign that they didn't have anything to do with it, whatever happened here, it actually isn't going to have any impact on the election because if people want to vote for Senator Dan Sullivan, the ballot tells them exactly who that Dan Sullivan is. But if Mary Peltola's campaign did go out and try to find other Dan Sullivans to run to try to hurt the Republican Dan Sullivan who was running, are you OK with that? Well, I trust what she's saying, that she didn't have anything to do with it.

37:58So I'm not going to engage in these hypotheticals. All I will say is that Donald Trump is looking for a pretext to try to steal this election. He's going to look for any possible way to get his Department of Justice to invalidate elections or to try to get Democrats to deny Democrats certification if they win. If Mary Peltola wins this election, it is because the people of Alaska shows that they wanted to make a switch from incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan, who will be listed that way on the ballot. There will be no fraud. There'll be no mistake on the part of Alaska voters as to who they wanted to send as their next senator.

38:36And there will be no reason for anybody to deny certification. If she's a strong candidate and you think that she would make a better senator than Dan Sullivan is right now representing Alaska, why would her campaign need to go recruit another Dan Sullivan to try to, you know, take votes away from him? Well, again, I haven't done my own research here. I just listened to what the campaign says. This is a disgruntled, fired former campaign staffer. And again, it just doesn't have any impact on the race. Yes, I guess if the ballot said Dan Sullivan, Dan Sullivan, there would be some reason for confusion.

39:14But that's not what the ballot says. Everyone who wants to vote for Mary Peltola will get the chance to vote for her. Everyone who wants to vote for Dan Sullivan will get the chance to vote for Dan Sullivan. And ultimately, this isn't about an agenda. And you will see this metastasize all over the country that Donald Trump is going to try to find whatever pretext he can to invalidate the will of the electorate. If the Alaskan voters want to fire Senator Dan Sullivan, they're going to do it. And Donald Trump is going to try to find any reason to invalidate the will of the voters. That's what this is about.

39:46Yeah. Well, and just to know, I mean, the New York Times article was based on interviews with 12 people, they said, who participated in or were told of this plan or the would-be candidates that the team tried to recruit. It's not like they just had one person saying this. It was a pretty deeply sourced report about the lengths they went to to try to get other Dan Sullivans on the ballot. I mean, would you like it if another Chris Murphy rate on the ballot. But but but but I wouldn't have any worry if the ballot in Connecticut said incumbent Senator Chris Murphy. I would trust that everybody who wants to vote for me is going to vote for me.

40:21But you're missing the underlying story here. The underlying story is that Donald Trump has basically declared that he believes any election that results in a Democrat winning is an illegitimate election. And what you are seeing, this lawsuit, which is not based in any law to try to deny the will of the Alaskan voters is going to play out in other states all across this country. That's the bottom line here, is that Donald Trump is going to use any means possible to try to decertify Democrats who win legitimately. And if Mary Peltola wins, she's going to win legitimately. To your point about, you know, I mean, I think we're not missing the point here.

41:00We've covered the lawsuit and we've had attorneys on to say that they don't really think it has any merit. And Elie Hoenig said it has less than zero percent chance of winning or going anywhere from the DOJ. When you look at this and what happens, you know, between now and next Tuesday, what do you think this is going to look like with the Justice Department? Should Democrats have a big night on Tuesday? Well, Donald Trump will do what he did in Georgia in 2020. He will start calling around to his friends who are administering elections and try to get them to throw out Democratic votes, to find votes for Republican candidates, just like he demanded in Georgia.

41:40He will create false stories of voter fraud and try to get millions of Democratic votes to not be counted. He will do anything he can in order to keep his people in power. Why? Because he is the most corrupt president in the history of the country, and he knows that if Democrats win control of the House and the Senate, we are going to get to the bottom of these crimes. We are going to find out fact sets that will ultimately result in his allies or people in his administration going to jail. And he knows the only way to continue to use the White House to enrich himself is to cheat, as he is trying to do in Alaska, and he will undoubtedly try to do in other states between now and when the votes are certified.

42:21Senator Chris Murphy, thank you for joining us tonight. Thank you. Up next, I've got John King here. He has been on a tour of the battleground states. He just went to Ohio, where the president just spoke tonight. What are voters there saying less than a week out from Election Day?

42:43President Trump tonight rallying in Ohio County that he won by nearly 40 points in 2024. before. My source tonight has been traveling all over the map before Election Day next Tuesday. He's in Ohio tonight. CNN's John King is racking up the miles as he's all over the country. John, I mean, tonight was the president's, I think, third trip to Ohio this month. Does what you're seeing on the map and what you're hearing from voters explain why he's there for the third time? Yes, that he has to be here at all, Caitlin, is a big deal. He has to come three times, including in the final days. Tells you everything you need to know about the political climate nationally and here in the state.

43:19The president, as you mentioned, won comfortably three times. This is where the president was tonight. He's in Ross County. That's where Chillicothe is. And as you mentioned, look at the margin there. He got 69 percent of the vote. And yet he is there tonight. Why? Because Republicans here, Republicans across the country, tell you one of their big issues is enthusiasm among Republicans. The mega base staying home. The mega base may be upset about the Iran war, may be upset about diesel prices, not coming up to vote. And so it's a huge problem. And you look at this, you know, So Kamala Harris winning only a handful of counties here in Ohio.

43:48And yet, and yet, 20 years since they've elected a Democratic governor here, Democrats think they have a chance. Republicans now have both of the Senate seats. Democrats think they have a chance. And even the Democrats tonight, look, the Republicans say they need the president to rally the base. Democrats say keep coming. We like it. And when you talk to these voters who are, you know, typically Republican voters or maybe independent and they're thinking about voting for Democrats, Is it because the Democratic candidates or is it because they don't like Republicans being in control in Washington?

44:19Mostly the latter. We were earlier today. I'm going to show you a Scioto County. It's right along the Kentucky border. Again, President Trump got 74 percent of the vote there. Among the voters we spoke to, Dale King. He's an Iraq war combat veteran. He's a conservative. He's voted for Trump in the past. He's voted for Republican senators. He's voted for Republican governors. He's going to vote for Sherrod Brown because he hopes a Democratic Senate will stand up to Trump on the war. He's going to vote for Amy Acton because he saw that ad that Ramaswamy ran about trauma in her childhood, and it frankly disgusted him.

44:47Listen.

44:51Courageous yet compassionate leadership. And I'm not saying either candidates kind of represent that. But, man, it would be so nice if you were voting for somebody instead of voting against somebody. So what are you voting against? Well, I'm voting against the war in Iran. uh that's kind of my single single biggest issue and then um i'm voting on the principles of a person over a political party and to me you know and i bet you like if blind policy test i'd probably line up more on the ramaswami ramaswami side but at some point you just got to pick principles over party and that's that's what i'm doing yeah Yeah.

45:36Content of a character. Yeah. And Caitlin, you hear that from voters here. The question is, is it enough? You know, Democrats are excited. We've been to county headquarters. We see them turning out. We saw some canvases out today. Democrats are going to come out of the woodwork, but a state Trump won three times. They need, as you mentioned, some independents and people who voted for Trump in the past, including Republicans. There was one. We find out Tuesday night if there are enough. I mean, John, that was remarkable hearing him say he probably agrees with the Republican candidate more, but on principle, he's going to vote for the Democrat.

46:06John King, this is why it's so great to have you out there on the ground. Can't wait to see you at the Magic Wall on Tuesday night. For everyone else, we'll be right back after a quick break.

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