Trump: My Rallies Having a “Huge Impact” on Republicans

0:00This holiday all plans even unlimited are just$15 a month. A holiday deal this good obviously deserves an enormously expensive holiday song, like All I Want. Right. Okay, we can afford that. You know what? Forget the music budget. We're going to stick with whatever's in the public domain. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for a 12-month plan required,$15 per month equivalent, taxes and fees extra. New customer offer for initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. When an intruder approaches a home, they expect a camera.

0:32What they don't expect. Stop. This is SimpliSafe. Police are on the way. Using smart AI cameras, live U.S.-based agents help deter intruders in under 30 seconds. Don't just record a break-in. Stop it from ever happening. Plan starting around a dollar a day. Right now, get 70 % off your new system with professional monitoring at simplisafe.com slash Spotify. 30 seconds response time requires monitoring plan with outdoor protection starting at$49.99 a month. Visit simplisafe.com slash licenses for alarm license information. Tonight, with two weeks to go, President Trump is in Kansas trying to stop a Democrat from winning a Senate seat for the first time in nearly a century.

1:11I'm Dana Bash, in for Kaitlin Collins, and this is The Source.

1:2915 days until the midterms and tonight President Trump is on a tour of red states taking him to Kansas where the Republican Party is hoping to stave off its first Senate loss in 94 years and where the president was repeatedly interrupted by protesters. Pretend I'm on the ballot. And I am actually. You know what he is. They're paid protesters. Oh, here's another one. Listen to that one. I can tell by the voice they get paid. They get paid. Whatever you do, get out and vote so we can get rid of idiots like that. And we're not going to let that happen. to this country. Tomorrow the headlines are going to be Trump has to go through massive protests.

2:19No, we have, you know, they have 5 ,000 people standing outside watching a jumbotron right now. He's writing the headlines during the speech. Vice President Vance, meantime, spent the day in North Carolina when he was interrupted by a protester. And the VP responded this way. For too long, ladies and gentlemen, we have been ruled by a corrupt, far-left cartel that subjected this country to woke insanity for years.

3:15Ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to have to amend something I said earlier. I said that we have had zero illegal border crossings in the United States of America.

3:31But one isn't bad, right? A protester could be heard shouting that he is a U.S. citizen as security dragged him out. As for the president, he'll be logging plenty of miles this week. Sticking to deep red states, he won several by healthy double-digit margins because the Republicans on the ballot are so vulnerable in these places. As he left the White House today, the president insisted that strategy is working for these Republican candidates. I'm the one that's winning. I'm the one that's doing the rallies. It's taking people into a winning position. When you look at what's happened, if you take a look at what's happened since I've been doing these massive, totally sold-out rallies, nobody's ever seen anything like it.

4:18As an example, we're up in Texas. We weren't. We're up in Alaska. We weren't. We're up everybody, every place that I've gone to, we're up. I went to Alaska and Dan Sullivan is up. I went to Ohio. John Usted is up. I went to Texas and Ken Paxson is up. So far, and I went to many other places. Wherever I go, they seem to be up. And I have the biggest rallies anybody's ever seen. They're packed houses. We have thousands and thousands of people today. And beyond the house, They're broadcast all over. And my rallies are having a huge impact and a positive impact on the Republican Party. Let's look at three of the specific races that the president cited.

5:09Senate contest in Alaska, Ohio and Texas. The latest New York Times-Siena poll in Alaska finds the Democrat Mary Paltola leading by seven percentage points. In Ohio, the latest CNN poll has Democrat Sherrod Brown up by six percentage points. Now, both of these polls were done before the president visited those states. We don't know if the rallies he had changed the numbers. Or more importantly, what his real goal is, is to up the GOP turnout between now and Election Day. We'll have to see. In Texas, President Trump and Vice President Vance have held multiple rallies on behalf of Trump's hand-picked candidate, Ken Paxton.

5:50And a brand new CNN poll of polls out today shows no clear leader between him. and the Democrat James Tallarico. But even as the president cited polls as proof of his impact, he also reverted to his usual attacks on them. I mean, I think it's fake polls. Look, I had one poll where I was down by three, and I won by 20. And the person that was the pollster had a quid in disgrace. So, you know, one of those things. I don't rely on the polls, but polls mean something. But a lot of the polls are rigged, just like the journalists are rigged. I could name six of them that I'm looking right here. You're rigged journalists.

6:32A lot of the polls are rigged. Not all of you, but there's some good ones I can name also. But a lot of the polls are rigged. While November 3rd is Election Day, in many states, voting is already happening. In fact, up two-thirds of all, up to two-thirds, rather, of all votes cast in these midterms are expected to be cast early. For example, Texas. The Dallas suburb of McKinney looked like this today as voters turned out on the first day of early voting. I'm getting tired of name calling and attacks. You know, we need to get back to some civility. We need to get back to where we can actually have discussions.

7:12We've, you know, we've made it through, you know, all sorts of elections and ups and downs. And, you know, sometimes my candidate wins, sometimes not. And we'll be fine. It's kind of exhausting. The research you have to do when you see these commercials just to make sure they're telling the truth is pretty nuts. When the nine million ballots have been already cast across the country and of the seven states the president is visiting this week, we have data on who is voting early in four of them. In all four, we see more ballots being cast by Democrats, people who are registered as Democrats at this stage.

7:50My political sources are CNN chief political analyst David Axelrod, former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania Charlie Dent, and Republican strategist Malik Abdul. Hello, one and all. Happy Monday to you. First of all, just kind of the vibe of what we're seeing so far. I'm going to go to you here because as far as I know, you're the only one who's been on the ballot, never mind in Congress. and what it's like to be in a situation where you know when you're running against big-time headwinds. Oh, yeah. Well, I ran in 2006. And believe me, when you're running into the wind, into a heavy storm, it's very hard to move a message.

8:34Basically, what you need to do, because you're not winning on the issues, you try to discredit your opponent as best you can and knock them down. But it's hard to move numbers. And that's why I'm skeptical that all this money that's being thrown, I'm not sure it's going to persuade many people at this late hour because I think the narrative has been written, the die has been cast, people kind of know where they are. So just tough running into a headwind. When the wind's out your back, it's completely different. Yes, I've experienced both. Yeah, go by. I've been on the other side of a wave in the White House.

9:08And, you know, you do what they're doing. and you try and find ways to change the narrative, and you try and find rationales to make people believe that what is going to happen isn't going to happen. So I don't think President Obama ever went out quite as emphatically and told the stories that this president's telling. Well, Malik, the president did speak about what he hopes to do in Kansas on his way there. Let's listen to that. I have a man named Roger, and you know him very well, Roger Marshall. He's a fantastic senator. He's one of the best. It's a close race. It shouldn't be. And as you know, I won by a tremendous amount, like 25, 30 points.

9:53I won by a lot, Kansas. And they should be winning by a lot. I mean, that's maybe the most sort of candid I've heard him on the reality of what's happening on the ground, particularly in the place where he is tonight. Betsy Klein, who's our correspondent, who's at that rally, says that she has spoken to so many undecided voters. For anybody who's ever been to a Trump rally, there is almost never anybody who is undecided. Obviously, they're not undecided about him if they're there, but undecided about Roger Marshall. It's stunning. Yeah. Fortunately, I was just looking at the insider advantage poll, so it does have Marshall up.

10:36We weren't expecting this to be one of the competitive races, but I think what you're seeing in not just this race, but really just around the country, it is not simply just an anti-incumbency. I think we're seeing a much more amplified version of what we saw in 2024 with the economic frustration. But you don't just simply now have the economic frustration. You have frustrations over the war. You have frustration over, you know, what you're paying at the pump. And these type of things, the same economic frustration that drove Donald Trump to a victory in 2024, that exists now. And so the question for voters is whether or not the administration is doing enough to address those concerns.

11:16And that's what we're going to see on November 3rd. Donald Trump said he's on the ballot. Isn't it also, it's a little, it's more than that because voters can point to specific decisions the president made, decisions on tariffs, decision to wage war, and they associate those decisions with higher prices because it's true. So he promised to bring down costs and he promised not to get us into unnecessary wars. And now that is being litigated in these elections. And they're going to take that out on the Republicans. And candidates matter. Yeah. And the fact is that the incumbent Republican, Roger Marshall, talking to a lot of Republicans, I don't know if you've heard the same thing, is that he was a little bit asleep at the switch and wasn't as sort of aggressive about campaigning.

12:06And he is up against a Democrat who is part of kind of a new wave of Democratic candidates this year. He is a member of the clergy and not just a member of the clergy. He has a megachurch in Kansas. Listen to what he told Jake Tapper today about the president coming to Kansas. I took it as a big compliment. I took it as a statement that the Republican Party felt they needed to send the most powerful man in the country to try to save Roger Marshall. and I think it's only going to hurt him. So I'm glad he's here. Well, yeah, well, Donald Trump is a turnout machine. Yeah, he'll probably help Republican turnout, but he's going to help Democratic turnout too.

12:46And, you know, I've always said the president should be lying low right now and just spending his money to help turnout. That's what he should be doing, but it's not in his DNA. The fact that he's in Kansas, I mean, I don't think the president's really helping Marshall that much there because the president's numbers are not just sagging in battleground states and districts, but they're sagging in reliably red areas like Kansas. And incumbents get caught, you know, who are in those types of communities or states where they never really had to run a race before. So even if you were in a very red district, which you really never were, but even if you were and the president said, I want to come, you would say no way right now?

13:26Well, maybe at this point, that's the only thing they can, if they're going to have the president to come in and just drive up base turnout because they're beyond the point now trying to persuade some of the more moderate and independent voters. It's base turnout. It's base turnout, but that might not be enough though. No, it might not, but what's plan B? I mean, they are in a situation where they have to try and change the equation, and the way you change the equation is to get people who don't customarily vote in these primaries. The problem is those people are are really sensitive to these issues of the economy and the wars and the Epstein stuff and so on.

14:00So, you know, you're really, you're trying to energize a base that doesn't feel particularly influenced. And Republicans know that Donald Trump is the most popular Republican figure as far as where you were saying, like those rallies really turning out the base. This is all about turning out the base and Donald Trump is going to every red state, even went to Syracuse. It's a risk, though, because you can also turn on the opposition. And they're gambling that they're already turned on. There is no plan B. David, as somebody who has run more races than probably one or two. We all want it. I mean, I first met you when you were running local state ride races in Illinois.

14:42You were a teenager. Yeah, I was. It was so weird that I was there. And obviously pretty big races like the president of the United States. What is sort of the sort of big picture that you're looking at here that we should all be focused on? Well, you know, it's interesting what Roger Marshall said is actually true. Like the worst thing that can happen to you when you're a candidate is to be ignored, because that means there's a great deal of confidence. I'm watching the money, not Roger Marshall. I mean, yeah, Hamilton. I watch the money and I see where the money is moving. And I'm watching whether the favorable ratings of these Democratic candidates are being impacted negatively by this barrage.

15:22I mean, what's interesting about Texas is you would think after$250 million that Tallarico would be buckling here, and he's not. And part of it is his durability. Part of it is that Paxton is so unpopular, it's very hard to push people his way. Yeah, well, Paxton, you know, there was some conversation before Donald Trump even decided to endorse Paxton. saying that Cornyn was the better candidate here. I think the big thing that concerns me about what I will be watching coming out of Texas is not just the Hispanic vote. I was looking at the numbers, and when Ted Cruz ran against both Allred and Beto O 'Rourke, he was never behind in the polls.

16:04The latest polls that I looked at going back to this summer with July, I think since July, Ken Paxton has only led in one poll. I don't know what it's like. Cruz also had a much more favorable rating. Right. This is not in Texas. This is nationwide. But there is a new poll from Telemundo that shows a majority of voters say they are going to vote in opposition to Trump, which, speaking of Texas, is fascinating because one of the reasons why the White House wanted a mid -decade gerrymander in Texas is because they felt so bullish on the increase in the Latino vote. And that's part of how they - Many of us were saying early on - You said don't do it?

16:42Don't misread this vote. And it's not just the Hispanic vote, the black vote as well. That coalition was not a Donald Trump forever MAGA style coalition. It wasn't. I remember when Obama got elected, and you'll remember this too, there were people saying, well, this is the coalition of the ascendant. This is going to dominate our politics for the next generation. Eight years later, we had Donald Trump. It is hubris to assume that you have permanent possession of a base of voters. These Hispanic voters who are working class people, small business people, they had reason to vote for Donald Trump in 2000.

17:18I was that two time Obama voter who then voted for Donald Trump. Well, it's a dummy mander down in Texas. I mean, they look, they drew the maps based on 2024 performance, not anticipate, apparently not anticipating a midterm wipeout in 2026. And that's why they're having problems, not just in South Texas. I've been down the Henry Cuellar's district in Laredo. So that's a fairly conservative Democrat, Hispanic Democrat down there. But you also go down to South Florida. Look at the district of Salazar. Trump won that district by, I think, 15 points. And you've got probably a toss-up race going on down there.

17:50So it's a massive problem. There's just too many assumptions being made about voter behavior going forward based on past performance. Well, not just the economy, but the immigration program. I mean, people in South Texas wanted to seal the border. They did not want to demonize every Hispanic in the country and have to carry their passports around and watch or witness the abuse of people. And that's what has turned a lot of those voters. This election will be the first time that we will see how all voters, but definitely Hispanic voters, feel about Trump's implementation of Trump's immigration policies.

18:30And the first indication of that will be in Florida. And those Hispanic voters down in South Texas, I always said one reason why Trump won down there, where do they work? Oil services sector, they're in the Border Patrol, state and local law enforcement, kind of Republican issues. You say follow the money, also follow where the principles are going. The House Speaker has been to South Texas, especially southeastern Texas, multiple times, and he didn't expect to be there. Thank you all. Great to see you. Up next, would President Trump endorse J.D. Vance for president in 2028? What Vance just said about that.

19:00And later, President Trump's response when asked about ending Russia's war in Ukraine may leave you a little bit confused.

19:31This 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 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. The real cost of a break-in isn't your valuables.

20:04It's the feeling that your home stopped being safe. SimpliSafe keeps danger away from your family with three layers of protection. One, smart AI cameras and live US-based agents help stop intruders before they break in. Two, we sound the alarm at points of entry. Three, our agents request emergency response. Plans starting around a dollar a day. Right now, get 70 % off your new system with professional monitoring at simplisafe.com slash Spotify. Outdoor deterrence plans start at$49.99 a month. Visit simplisafe.com slash licenses for alarm license information. President Trump and Vice President Vance are usually in lockstep publicly.

20:38But tonight, there's a rift when it comes to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his competitive re-election battle. Here's what Vance said tonight when asked whether he supports Netanyahu's re-election like the president did. I endorse American candidates, and that's where I'm focused on is the midterm. So I'm not getting involved in the Israeli election. So you're not, you don't want to say one way or the other whether you support it. I'm not anti-endorsing him. I'm not pro-endorsing him. I'm not getting involved in Israeli elections. He certainly has been involved with elections outside the U.S.

21:12as vice president. Remember he traveled to Hungary earlier this year to support Viktor Orban ahead of his election, which the longtime prime minister then lost. And while Vance has declined to take a stance on Netanyahu, President Trump made his endorsement very clear in a lengthy post, saying, quote, Bibi Netanyahu has been a great warrior, prime minister, and even greater partner for peace. He's been strong, brave, and brilliant in the face of tremendous opposition, including that coming from even Israel itself. My White House insider tonight is Shelby Talcott, White House correspondent for Semaphore.

21:48Now, the outlier here, to be fair, is President Trump, because it is sort of used to be verboten to get involved in internal politics from an ally, well, especially by an ally during an election. Never mind what J.D. Vance did with Viktor Orban. But what is your take on this? Is this just kind of the difference between the two of them on Israel? Is this J.D. Vance kind of tacking more to the Tucker Carlson wing of the party? I see it more as this is the difference in how each person views what America first means. And I think that that is going to become more evident should J.D. Vance formally announce and start running.

22:34Because I do think he has different ideas of what sort of the America first mentality that really rose under President Trump means. than somebody like President Trump. We know that J.D. Vance was much more skeptical of the Iran war. We know that he's more skeptical of foreign intervention and of how sort of the U.S. treats allies like Israel, like Ukraine. And I think this is sort of the first real glimpse into those differing opinions. And I think we're going to see more of it should he run. In this interview with Mark Halperin, he was asked about whether or not the president would endorse him in 2028.

23:13I think I would get an endorsement, but I also think there's something to be said for people actually running their own race. And because the president's endorsement is so dispositive, you could absolutely see a scenario where the president says, you know what, we need to let this race play out and not preemptively prejudge the results. Record scratch. I mean, the president loves to see people sort of fight over who's going to be his successor. or he always has. And so it wouldn't be surprising to me. And I think a lot of the people that I've talked to both inside and around the White House wouldn't be surprised if the president sort of sits back and waits and kind of sees.

23:51Yeah. And he's trying to set that expectation. He's trying to set that expectation, which is really interesting. But I do think everybody I've spoken to both inside and around the White House, people who really like Vance, people who are more skeptical of Vance, say that the president's endorsement could effectively shut this race down. So it really depends at the end of the day if J.D. Vance decides to run and the president says, okay, the candidates who might be running against J.D. Vance, I don't like them, or hold on a sec, I want to wait and see what this looks like. And isn't there another factor here that the sooner the president endorses, the sooner he is more of a lame duck?

24:28That's a really good point, yeah. And I think you're seeing, even in these first two years, the president has been sort of acutely focused, I think it's fair to say, on his legacy and legacy project and sort of how he's going to be remembered and things that he's doing here in Washington, D.C. that are going to be around for a lot longer than he will be around. And I think the last two years of his presidency are going to be really interesting to see, particularly depending on how Republicans do in the midterms, say they do really poorly in the midterms and the president is struggling to really move things forward in Congress, what is it going to look like as the president realizes that this is his last two years in office.

25:07You have some new reporting tonight on that, on what's already going on inside Trump world in anticipation of these midterms in two weeks. Yeah, the really big question that I'm hearing inside Trump world is what happens after the midterms, particularly if Republicans don't do well. And the main question there is, is there going to be a blame game? Is it going to fall on somebody like James Blair, who the president is very close with his outside advisor, but who has faced some controversy because he went overseas on a trip just a month before the midterms, when he's supposed to be sort of focusing on the midterms.

25:43Is it going to be somebody like Susie Wiles, who I've been told by a dozen people inside the administration is incredibly safe and is one of the only people that would be very hard to push out? But people are trying to sort of see if that's something that the president might be open to. Or is it going to be somebody else, maybe Pete Hegseth, right? is another name that I've heard, if the president sours on the Iran war. And so these are questions that people inside the administration, close to the administration are asking is, if things go really poorly, who is the president going to blame? Is he going to look in the mirror?

26:19That was a rhetorical question. We know the answer to if things go poorly. But I do think that if Republicans maintain control of the Senate, that will be acceptable for Trump. Yeah, no, I agree with that. Thank you so much. Really good to see you always, Shelby. And up next, the president says Russia hasn't, quote, been doing much in Ukraine. As he signals he's open to a meeting about ending the war without Ukrainian President Zelensky. My congressional source, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, is next.

27:03A 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, President Trump is making clear that he's increasingly open to sidelining Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy when it comes to ending the war in his country.

27:41It's a war that Russia started, but listen to what the president said today about efforts to end it. Mr. President, have you agreed to a trilateral meeting with President and Xi talk about Ukraine? No, but I would do it. Not so much for Ukraine, because Russia frankly, it's been fine on Ukraine. They haven't been doing much. I would meet in order, anything I can do to end the war, whether somebody's there or not, whatever I can do to end the war. And they do want to have a meeting at my suggestion, because I'm going to be over in China in November on the denuclearization. And if we can do denuclearization, I will have done the world a big, big favor.

28:23Ukraine could have had this thing settled a long time ago. If he would have listened to me, and you remember the Oval Office, he would have had this settled a long time ago. Maybe it's time for Zelensky to get somebody else to negotiate. Still, Zelensky is clinging to hope that a meeting with U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will happen in Norway this week. After the president slammed Ukraine yesterday for launching one of its biggest drone attacks this year on Russian energy sites, the attack followed the White House offering more concessions to Russia, including waiving sanctions on Russian diesel sales ahead of the midterm elections.

29:03Today, Zelensky pointed to Russia's constant attacks on Ukraine, including a missile attack on a Kiev metro station and a drone attack that killed six people, including three children. I want to warn you, the pictures Zelensky shared of that drone attack are disturbing and include this blurred image of one of the victims, a child in a stroller. Her name was Angelina, and she was just over a year old. Zelensky says this shows the truth about this war. Ukraine has accused the U.S. of choking off access to critical intelligence and the Starshield satellite program that Ukraine uses in part to detect incoming missiles.

29:44Listen to the president's response when he was asked about those issues today.

30:13My Democratic source tonight is Senator Richard Blumenthal, who serves on the armed services and Homeland Security Committees. Thank you so much for being here, Senator. Based on the president's actions and rhetoric, do you think the U.S. is still behind Ukraine in the war that Russia waged four years and seven months ago? That's the question that President Zelensky is asking. And what we said today to him, members of Congress, I convened this meeting, asked President Zelensky to join us, to express to him our determination to continue to stand with Ukraine. The vote on the Russia sanctions bill was an overwhelming 86 to 11 bipartisan in the Senate.

31:00Likewise, in the House, the American people are with Ukraine. The president is contradicting the will of the American people who want to stand with Ukraine and who want the Starlink service to be continued despite its continued disruption by the Trump administration. They want that warning from shared intelligence to prevent the kind of missile and drone attacks that cause children to be killed atrociously, heinously, deliberately by Putin. And that's the reason that I think that the moral will of the American people still is with Ukraine. You were talking about the legislation that passed overwhelmingly in the name of your late, very good friend, Lindsey Graham.

31:54And the president used the ability, which was written into the law, of course, to delay these sanctions that were put in place for 60 days. What do you make of that? And whether or not, my question is whether or not you buy the idea that the delay is in order to get Russia to the table?

32:22The delay has nothing to do with getting Russia to the table. It has everything to do with Trump sucking up to Putin. Remember, Trump is siding with Putin, who is providing intelligence to Iran that it is using to target our sons and daughters, our bases, our troops in the Middle East. He is using that intelligence from Putin, Iran is, to target American assets there. And Trump is trying to blame Zelensky and Ukraine for economic problems he's created, the soaring prices of diesel and fuel. It is part of an effort, very simply, to bleed Ukraine into submission so that Putin can be rewarded with conquering more territory and undermining Ukraine's security.

33:14You think it's as simple as that? But the principle of nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. You think it's as simple as that, that this is the president just simply deciding to side with Russia and kind of give up on Ukraine? Obviously, I'm the last person in the world to try to get inside Donald Trump's head as to what his real motives are. But certainly that's the inevitable, unavoidable appearance of the kinds of actions he's taking, lifting the sanctions that fuel Putin's war machine with revenue from oil and gas, ending the kinds of penalties on the oligarchs and the financial institutions and energy companies of Russia that provide that kind of support for killing in Ukraine and disrupting the Starlink service that enables the Ukrainians to defend themselves against the faster moving drones more rapid than 100 miles an hour or the early warning systems that enable Ukrainians to seek shelter in bunkers, and I've been there.

34:22You worked with Lindsey Graham to get, obviously it didn't pass while he was still alive, but then it was named for him to get these sanctions that the president put a pause on through Congress and to get the president to sign it. Did you talk at all about the possibility of the president doing what he did, putting a pause on it? We talked about a lot of possibilities. And Lindsey Graham was nothing if not realistic about Donald Trump. And we disagreed on many, many issues, most issues. We voted differently. We agreed on Ukraine, that Ukraine's security has to be assured. And And Lindsey Graham thought that Trump might not use these sanctions in the way that Congress intended.

35:16And he said that there has to be an outcry and outrage, which is what we're seeing beginning now that will pressure the Trump administration into using the law as intended, changing course to bring Putin to the negotiating table. And one more point here. Zelensky today on this call said very emphatically he would engage in a ceasefire on energy facilities and resources and civilians if Putin went along with it for whatever period of time that ceasefire might last. Zelensky wants peace. Putin does not. That's the obstacle. Can you tell me more about this call with Zelensky that you arranged? — Zelensky was firing.

36:05He was passionate and fierce in describing and showing pictures of those civilians who were killed just in the last 24 hours because their air defense has been crippled by the disruption of the Starlink or Starshield service, as it's called. He was emphatic in blaming the Trump administration for purposeful and intentional disruption. And he was really heartbroken, almost tears in his eyes, when he talked about the toll on his country. You know, I've been in Ukraine when those air raids sounded, and I've seen the importance of that intelligence in providing the warning about the launching of the missiles, because there are only minutes to get to the bunkers, and they need those minutes.

36:57So he was just extraordinarily passionate about the need for all of these services to be continued. And even before these recent events and the moves by the president, there was fear that Ukraine was getting close to collapsing because they needed and still need more weaponry, never mind the ability to communicate with Starlink and Star Shield. The Washington Post is reporting tonight that the administration is holding up Patriot missiles for Ukraine. If they're not getting these weapons or sufficient technology, never mind the reports of the lack of intel sharing, which you heard the president deny, how much longer can Ukraine keep fighting this war?

37:42You know, President Zelensky once said to me on one of my 11 trips, in the end, it will be fine. And if it's not fine, it's not the end. Zelensky was offered a ride out of Ukraine when the Russians were just kilometers away. And I've seen how far away they were. You can travel it in about 15 minutes by car. And he said, don't send helicopters, send ammunition. That's when President Biden gave him that option. The Ukrainians are absolutely determined and they will continue fighting. They will lose lots more women, children, civilians if we fail to provide the intelligence that's needed for their warning about ballistic missiles and the Starlink service that's necessary for them to intercept those drones, but they will continue fighting and they need that air defense, the interceptors you just mentioned, which we've promised.

38:42And now the Trump administration is holding up. But the Europeans have stepped up and they know the truth about whose side Vladimir Putin is on. And they want to be on the right side of history. They're here because they know Putin will keep going. The Finns, the Swedes, the Moldovans, the Poles, they all know, because they've seen up close and personal what Russian rule looks like. They want to stop it. Yeah. And they all are in the neighborhood. And then some. Thank you so much, Senator Blumenthal. Really appreciate you coming on tonight. And up next, a tense showdown in court today over the president's efforts to transform a public golf course.

39:24My legal source joins me next.

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40:03This holiday, all plans, even unlimited, are just$15 a month. A holiday deal this good obviously deserves an enormously expensive holiday song, like All I Want. Right. Okay, we can afford that. You know what? Forget the music budget. We're going to stick with whatever's in the public domain. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for 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, a showdown in court between a federal judge and Justice Department lawyers.

40:41President Trump is determined to plow ahead with the renovation of a public D.C. golf course, despite a judge's order requiring notice before any construction. This morning, the president posted, quote, they do not need an approval. Work is scheduled to begin immediately. Adding the judge is on the case. The judge on the case is a crazed lunatic whose courthouse tapes will reveal may be insane. Today's hearing turned tense. Not surprising when that judge grilled the DOJ attorney over what Trump said and the actions of the government officials actually overseeing the golf course. Judge Anna Reyes said in court, quote, I don't know what to do when I keep getting different stories.

41:24Ellie Honig is my legal source tonight. I'm trying to imagine, as I'm sure you are with the experience that I don't have, what goes through a lawyer's mind when you're representing the president and you wake up and you see this post from the president attacking the judge that you're about to go have a hearing before? Well, Dan, I think what went through these lawyers' mind is, oh, great, our client, the president of the United States, just flatly contradicted us because the legal team has been saying in court for the last several appearances, there are no imminent plans to completely renovate that golf course.

42:01Instead, this is just sort of standard maintenance. And here comes the president multiple times over the weekend saying, no, no, no, we are about to renovate this, all caps, immediately. And that's exactly why this whole situation has escalated so quickly. And today in court, Judge Reyes tried to put the government lawyers to that very question. She said, hang on a second. Is there a plan to do a renovation here or not? And the government really struggled to answer that. And I think that's largely why Judge Reyes has expressed such frustration and at times anger with the government lawyers, rightly so.

42:35Yeah. And obviously, you know, we're talking about a golf course, which is very important, but it also speaks to what we have seen the president do. The East Wing, for example, what he's trying to do with the Kennedy Center, but specifically in this courthouse. It was probably one of the tensest situations between the Trump administration and a judge really in recent memory. It lasted like seven hours, right? Yeah, Judge Reyes and other lawyers for the plaintiffs here grilled several high-ranking officials from the Interior Department, from the Justice Department. And you're right, this started as just a dispute over trees and a golf course, but it's really become a showdown of sorts between the courts and the executive branch.

43:21Because Judge Reyes, who has this case, initially said, I'm not going to issue a formal order blocking the president or anyone else from undertaking plans at this golf course. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt. no, I'm not going to take extreme action. I'm just going to say to the government, if you're going to do something that's serious and irreversible here, you need to notify us first. Well, on Friday, October 9th, the Friday before the law on Columbus Day weekend at 4.55 PM, five minutes before the end of the day, the government said, oh, judge, we might be doing something soon.

43:52And by the next day, 400 trees had been removed. And Judge Reyes said, essentially, I extended you this trust and you violated it. So that was another issue that was animating Judge Reyes today. She said, basically, I gave you a chance. I assumed you would act in good faith and you've not done that. Well, this is obviously hardly the last of it. And I'm guessing we'll be talking soon to see what the next chapter in this drama is. Ellie, thank you so much. Good to see you. Thanks, Dana. Up next, the source code. Tonight, it is 43. We'll be right back with the story.

44:33Tonight's source code is 43. That's how many years Christiane Amanpour has worked at CNN. The network's chief international anchor said today that she will sign off from CNN next June after becoming a household name worldwide for her heroism as a foreign correspondent for almost as long as CNN has existed. In a statement, Amanpour said she looks forward to interesting new projects down the line and will always be rooting for CNN and maintaining its history of independent journalism. Remember, always be truthful, not neutral. She will certainly be missed here at CNN. You can stream the source live or watch on demand anytime with an all-access subscription.

45:16Scan the QR code on your screen or go to CNN.com slash watch to learn more. Thank you so much for joining us. CNN Newsnight with Abby Phillip starts right 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. 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 a 12-month plan required,$15 per month equivalent.

45:53Taxes and fees extra. New customer offer for initial plan term only. greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. The real cost of a break-in isn't your valuables. It's the feeling that your home stopped being safe. SimpliSafe keeps danger away from your family with three layers of protection. One, smart AI cameras and live US-based agents help stop intruders before they break in. Two, we sound the alarm at points of entry. Three, our agents request emergency response. Plans starting around a dollar a day. Right now, get 70 % off your new system with professional monitoring at simplisafe.com slash Spotify.

46:23Outdoor deterrence plans start at$49.99 a month. Visit SimpliSafe.com slash licenses for alarm license information.