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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Trump Orders DOJ To Block Key Senate Results If His Candidate Loses; Trump Again Defends Ramaswamy Attack in Ohio Gubernatorial Race; Zelenskyy Says Ukraine's Access To Starlink Is Still Limited; Moms Try To Get Electric Shock Gloves Out Of Their Kids' Schools; Obama Returning As Campaign "Closer-In-Chief" For Democrats; Man Who Killed Oregon School Shooter Grapples With The Aftermath. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired October 23, 2026 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SHARLENE ROCHARD, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: It should be at the forefront of any voters' mind really. I think we are changing hearts and minds along the way.
M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): M.J. Lee, CNN, Columbus, Ohio.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: And of course, questions now as to whether that Vivek Ramaswamy ad will bring up Epstein and Epstein issue back to the forefront for more voters in these final days.
Thanks so much for. We will see you on Monday. AC360 starts now.
[20:00:26]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Good evening. We are just 11 days away from midterm elections and the Department of Justice has made an extraordinary move to intervene in a race that could decide the balance of power in the Senate, a legal maneuver that President Trump says he himself ordered.
In a lawsuit filed today in Alaska, the Department of Justice preemptively asked the state not to certify the results, if this man, the incumbent Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan, loses. They are basing that suit on the fact that he is not the only Republican named, Dan Sullivan in the race.
This is registered Republican Daniel J. Sullivan, who is also on the ballot.
In Alaska's primary, the four candidates that get the most votes, regardless of party affiliation, get to advance the general election. So this is what Alaska's ballot will look like. The states election officials included middle initials and incumbent next to Senator Dan S. Sullivan's name to try to avoid any confusion.
A legal battle erupted in Alaska before the state's primary about Daniel J. Sullivan, the Republican challenger, being on the ballot. Alaska's Supreme Court ruled he could be, and election observers assume that settled the issue until today.
The President was asked about the DOJ lawsuit and made an admission that would have been shocking in any other administration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Any thoughts on the Alaska lawsuit?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, I am the one that said do it. They have two guys running named Dan Sullivan running. So the Democrats put up a guy, never -- I don't think he ever voted before, all of a sudden he decides to run for the Senate and his name is Dan Sullivan.
One is Daniel S., one is Daniel J. The Daniel J. is the fake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: "I'm the one that said to do it." He is not even pretending the Department of Justice is independent there.
Just yesterday, on the eve of this suit being filed, Attorney General Todd Blanche was asked this, which now seems prescient.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Can you rule out any action from the Justice Department in terms of certification process of states? Is there any scenario in which DOJ would weigh in on that certification process or try to block states from certifying?
TODD BLANCHE, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I mean, is there any scenario? Yes, of course, there are scenarios that we could all come up with hypothetically, you know, some doomsday scenario, for example, right?
It is not DOJ's intention to and its never our intention to improperly interfere with elections or the state confirmation process or certification process. But, you know, to say that there is no circumstances that we would ever do that. Of course, I am not going to say that, but am I planning my days around the election to be somewhere to not certify? Of course not. No, not at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: What is interesting about that is he would have known yesterday that they were going to be launching this lawsuit today.
Late tonight, Alaska's Democratic Senate candidate, former Congresswoman Mary Peltola, weighed in on all of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY PELTOLA (D), ALASKA SENATE CANDIDATE: This is such a sad, sad, desperate attempt to cling to power. And I just really feel strongly that Alaskans know exactly who they are voting for. We have safe and secure elections, and this is just more distraction, more diversion and another red herring.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: CNN's chief White House correspondent and anchor of "The Source," Kaitlan Collins starts us off tonight.
You heard the President say he was the one who ordered the lawsuit. What's the back story here?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: I mean, you're right when you said it is shocking, but it is definitely not surprising because the President has been personally obsessed with this and has talked about it at length, not only publicly at his rallies, but I am also told he has been talking about it privately because he is just so dumbfounded by the fact that there are these two Dan Sullivans, he feels like it is this political trickery that this other Dan Sullivan is running on the ballot, obviously has the same name, and that he is trying to fool these Alaskan voters when their early voting is already underway there.
And so he has been talking about this ad nauseam for weeks, if not months now, because he is worried it is going to affect the race and basically drain votes from the Republican incumbent and deliver them to Mary Peltola.
And so when the President has been talking about this and said outright that he directed the Justice Department to get involved here, it is because he actually thinks it is going to affect this race. Will it? I mean, we don't know.
Alaskans also, Lisa Murkowski had to mount a write in election where people wrote in her name, which is a complicated name to spell and she still won. I mean, they are obviously savvy, smart voters. And so it is not clear that its actually going to confuse them. It is also ranked choice voting. So it is not like they are picking one or the other. They could technically pick both if they wanted to.
And so having Todd Blanche comment there, notice he said we will not improperly interfere in the elections. I mean, clearly The White House and this DOJ, which is different from every other DOJ, feels like they have a lot of leeway here when it comes to what these elections could look like.
[20:05:10]
And I think obviously, in a few weeks from now, depending on how election night goes, the President, we could see a lot more activity like this.
COOPER: Yes, Kaitlan Collins, thanks very much.
Kaitlan will be back at the top of the hour for "The Source."
Joining us now is Vanita Gupta, former Associate Attorney General under President Biden. She also served as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division under President Obama. Vanita, can you walk us through what the federal government is actually asking the court to do here? And do you think this case has any chance of actually succeeding?
VANITA GUPTA, FORMER ASSOCIATE ATTORNEY GENERAL UNDER PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, the case is totally meritless. The Justice Department is asking Alaska officials to block the certification of the Alaska vote and it is totally unprecedented what they are asking for. The federal government has no role to play in certification or the running of our elections. Our Constitution says the states will do that.
So Alaskan officials will be counting Alaska votes and certifying the election as is required by federal law.
COOPER: I mean, the President made the statement that he directed the Department of Justice to bring this case. Would that have any impact on the outcome?
GUPTA: Well, its mores says as a statement of how kind of sick and diseased, unfortunately, the Justice Department is, that a President is able to kind of commandeer the Department of Justice. But it also is a demonstration of why this lawsuit is as meritless as it is.
The President commandeered a Justice Department to do something that the Alaska Supreme Court already decided back in June. The Alaska Supreme Court determined who would be rightfully on Alaska's ballots before a single ballot was printed. And now, as Alaskans are actually voting, the Department is filing this totally meritless lawsuit that I expect a court will very quickly throw out.
But asking Alaska officials to block certification because there are two candidates whose names are the same, Dan Sullivan, but this is an issue that has already been adjudicated, litigated straight up to the Alaska Supreme Court and the Justice Department actually has zero authority to ask for the remedy it is seeking.
Honestly, a first year law student wouldn't write this complaint. It is to me more of a statement about kind of where the department's lawyering is and the fact that it is being allowed to be used this way by a President who is doing everything he can to delegitimize our elections, you intimidate voters, discount results that he may not like.
But the fact of the matter is, state and local election officials run our elections and they are holding the line, and courts have been involved in any number of efforts that the President and the Justice Department have tried over the last 18 months and they are losing at every turn.
And in a lot of ways, this complaint reads more like a press release, because I think they have tried, you know, they've tried to get private voter data in 26 states where decisions have been issued, where the states have challenged the administration for doing this. The administration has lost all 26 cases.
The Supreme Court told the administration that they cannot use the U.S. Postal Service to interfere with mail-in balloting, and so they are just losing everywhere and this really is kind of a desperate attempt what they are doing in Alaska, what they're doing in California, and the fact of the matter is, voters should feel very confident voting. We are seeing record turnout among voters all over the country. Maybe they are energized by this and kind of defiant, but it is not working.
And as I said, the Alaska Supreme Court decided this issue. It was being litigated, decided in June, and the Justice Department was totally silent.
This is no emergency. This is the Department at the President's command trying to interfere in Alaska voters casting their vote in the will of voters, and it is going to fail. It is utterly meritless.
COOPER: Would this end up at the Supreme Court because the administration has had some notable successes in front of that court?
GUPTA: It could. I mean, it is hard for me to see it ending up at the Supreme Court, because I think that this case is going to get thrown out pretty quickly. But I just don't think, as I said, I don't think a first year law student would have written this complaint. I mean, it really, I think is a betrayal of the kind of excellent lawyering that the Department is known for, that it even filed this.
And it is very interesting, obviously, there is no career lawyers that put their name to it. My successor signed the papers, which is highly unprecedented. But this whole move is a fairly radical move.
COOPER: Yes, Anita Gupta, thanks so much.
GUPTA: Thank you.
COOPER: Up next, more on the breaking news on this DOJ lawsuit.
Plus, President Trump escalating his war of words with Ohio gubernatorial candidate, Amy Acton and once again defending the widely condemned ad featuring her long estranged mother.
[20:10:10]
Later, we are hearing from the hero Oregon dad, who last week raced after a school shooter and into the line of fire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAYLUB GIAMANCO, 36-YEAR-OLD CARPENTER AND FATHER FROM BEND, OREGON: I started hearing children pleading for their lives, and then I started hearing gunfire and I just started Army crawling faster and faster. And I told myself, this is probably the last thing that I am ever going to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: More on our breaking news tonight. The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska's Senate election if the Republican incumbent, Senator Dan S. Sullivan, loses to Democratic challenger, Mary Peltola.
Now, the DOJ argues that the presence of another Republican on the ballot, with a nearly identical name, Daniel J. Sullivan, is an effort to mislead supporters of Senator Dan Sullivan into voting for the wrong candidate.
[20:15:17]
Again, here is what President Trump said when he was asked about this earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Any thoughts on the Alaska lawsuit? With the ballot?
TRUMP: Well, I am the one that said do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACDONALD: Joining us now, co-author of "POLITICO's Playbook," Dasha Burns; former New York Democratic Congressman Mondaire Jones, and also Scott Jennings.
Hey, Scott, should President Trump be directing the Department of Justice to intervene in this?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, he is the President. The Department of Justice is in his Cabinet, so I don't have a problem with that and I think it is a worthy endeavor. I don't know what the courts are ultimately going to decide. It is kind of a novel thing because it is almost unthinkable for a political party to try to confuse and deceive the people of a state the way the Democrats are here in Alaska.
I mean, anybody with half a brain and a thimble full of integrity has to admit this is a willful attempt to deceive people in Alaska and try to scramble this vote.
Plus, they have ranked choice voting on top of it, which is an abomination in and of itself. So, it is a very unusual situation. But as to your question, I don't have a problem with it. The President is president, the Department of Justice is in his Cabinet. I think it is a worthy endeavor.
COOPER: Congressman Jones is the Department of Justice just part of his Cabinet?
MONDAIRE JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So, that's not how this is supposed to work and for four years, my friend, Scott and other Republicans were falsely accusing the Biden Justice Department of being weaponized. Here today, you have actual weaponization of the Justice Department. This is what you do in authoritarian regimes. This is not how the Justice Department is supposed to work in a true democracy.
And that is separate and apart from the fact that on the merits, this lawsuit is baseless as you just heard from the former Associate Attorney General of the United States in the earlier interview that you just did.
Look, and what is crazy about this, additionally is that in the state of Alaska, there is already ranked choice voting. So if you get the wrong Sullivan, you get a second bite at the apple.
And on the --
COOPER: So you're saying you can vote multiple --
JONES: Yes, and on the ballot itself is a distinction between the Republican nominee and the who is also the incumbent and the Independent. The Alaska Supreme Court already ruled on this earlier this year.
By the way, a group of judges, four of the five of them appointed by the Republican governor of the state of Alaska. I mean, there are so many reasons why this is absurd and wholly without merit as a legal matter.
COOPER: Dasha, do you expect the Democrats to use this suit as proof that President Trump is going to try and alter the outcome of the midterm elections?
DASHA BURNS, POLITICO WHITE HOUSE BUREAU CHIEF: So I've got to tell you, Anderson, the fact that we are having this conversation more than a week out from the election says so much here and it absolutely is something that I am hearing from Democratic sources that they are going to jump on, because Democrats have been trying to sound the alarm early on, that they worry that the President is going to take action to intervene in the election.
The fact that more than a week out, he is establishing grounds for delaying the certification of a very, very critical race is absolutely something Democrats are running on.
What is remarkable here, though, too, Anderson, is that Alaska is a Republican state. He is not suing some super blue -- he is not suing California. He is not suing, you know, New York. He is suing Alaska here, and that also shows the vulnerability for Republicans in this moment.
This would not be happening if everything that we are talking about for the last several weeks, everything that I am hearing from Republican operatives, of folks tearing their hair out worrying that this is going to be a really troublesome night for Republicans, if that weren't happening, we would not necessarily be seeing this right now, and it opens the door for Democrats to be able to say that this is one of the few arguments left for Republicans, one of the few avenues left for them to try and hold on to the Senate. COOPER: Scott, President Trump was also asked today about the Ramaswamy ad in the Ohio's governor's race. He was pressed about the sexual abuse allegations against the Democratic candidate, Amy Acton's stepfather.
The ad featuring her estranged mom. I just want to play what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: You know the back story about Amy Acton and her stepfather and why she hasn't talked to her mom for so long. Her stepfather was indicted for rape. Now that you know all of that, sir, do you change your mind about the ad?
TRUMP: No. It is a mother speaking badly against Amy Acton. And, to me, it is very easy.
REPORTER: But they haven't talked --
TRUMP: I don't care.
REPORTER: But do the sexual abuse allegations --
TRUMP: Let me ask you, if my mother said --
REPORTER: -- sir, the sexual abuse allegations.
TRUMP: Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. slow down. Who are you with? Who are you with?
REPORTER: I am with NBC, sir.
TRUMP: One of the worst networks you have. But listen, listen --
REPORTER: But there may be sexual abuse allegations.
TRUMP: Quiet.
REPORTER: They make no difference to you?
TRUMP: Isn't she a fresh person? You're a horrible little reporter, aren't you?
[20:20:06]
REPORTER: She stayed with the stepfather.
TRUMP: Wait a minute. Quiet -- you have -- I don't know anything about her stepfather. All you have --
REPORTER: Raping his stepdaughter.
TRUMP: This one just keeps talking.
REPORTER: In 1978, sir.
TRUMP: You just keep talking.
REPORTER: I am answering you, sir.
TRUMP: You have -- I don't anything about stepfathers from many, many years ago. I know that recently, a mother got on television and said that her daughter should not be governor of Ohio.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Scott, does it surprise you that for the President of the United States, he keeps weighing in on this, and yet, over multiple days he denies knowing anything about the underlying allegations against the stepfather or any of the backstory here?
I mean, it seems hard to believe he knows nothing about the stepfather. He just doesn't seem to want to address that.
JENNINGS: Yes, I don't know what he knows or what he doesn't know. I am not surprised he weighs in on it because people keep asking him about it.
COOPER: Somebody should brief -- I mean --
JENNINGS: I mean, they absolutely could and if they did, he would learn the terrible details of this. I mean, what you're talking about here is Amy Acton's mother is basically saying, I don't trust 12-year- old Amy Acton, who was quite possibly raped in my own home to be governor. I mean, it is a ludicrous sort of argument that they are making.
So on the moral piece of it, it is not good. But on the political tactics, just to address that for a moment, this is probably the worst politics you could imagine and it is bringing a lot of attention to Amy Acton's story, her narrative, and it is putting a lot of attention on Vivek Ramaswamy. And I think, look, it is a close race.
I don't know what is going to happen. This may or may not backfire, but I know one of Ramaswamy's key candidate deficiencies is likability. Not certain this is doing anything to help that, it was a problem for him in the 2024 presidential primary. It is a problem for him in this governor's race.
So, look, I want Republicans to win, and I know the President does, too. I just question whether this vector is the way to do it in Ohio.
COOPER: Yes. I mean, Congressman, they don't have -- there is not a sleaze-ability factor, but that his sleaze-ability numbers probably rose.
JONES: Yes. Look to Scott's point, Vivek has for his entire time in public life been known to be very unlikable. But I think one of the things that's particularly searing about this, and aside from just the horrific act of weaponizing, you know, someone's personal life, personal family life, I should say against them, we are talking about someone who is literally a victim herself, the Democratic nominee of rape by her stepfather. Her stepfather was indicted for raping her when she was a young person, and she hasn't even seen her mother as a result of losing custody over that. Right?
And so the facts are horrible, but now you have actual Republican public figures, including people in elected office, distancing themselves from this tactic. And so everyone seems to understand except for Vivek and perhaps the President of the United States, apparently, that this is out of bounds.
COOPER: Dasha, Dana Bash told me on last night that suburban female voters in Ohio have traditionally voted Republican have expressed outrage, or a number of them have expressed outrage about this.
Do you think any of what we heard from President Trump or Ramaswamy today helped soothe that at all?
BURNS: God bless, Dana Bash for bringing up the exact voter group that I was going to as well, and I do think it is very, very 2026 that sleaze-ability is now in our political vernacular and that exact category of ad, the sleaze-ability ads, is not what is going to sit well with suburban women.
Whether or not you know that the depth of the back story of Amy Acton, there is no woman that watches an ad where a mother calls her own daughter a liar. There is no way to not recoil at that ad, and the thing that I hear from Republican operatives is they fear that not only is this the nail in the coffin of Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign, but that it will drag the entire rest of the Republican ticket in Ohio down.
Because what does this mean? This means people are talking about this ad, which also means that people are not talking about affordability, about gas prices, about what they are going to do to improve the lives of voters who are incredibly frustrated in this moment.
So this is a distraction. It is a distraction. And it is once again, another moment where a candidate at the top of a ticket and a President are not focused on the issues that that every Republican operative across the country has been trying to shake folks by the lapel and say, you need to think and talk nonstop about the things that voters keep telling us they want to hear.
COOPER: Scott, just from a political standpoint, once Ramaswamy had released this ad, do you think doubling down on it, putting money behind it made sense, or should he have pulled the plug immediately?
JENNINGS: Well, I mean, the tactic is obvious. They obviously tested it. It got out initially because I think someone who was polled on it, you know, may have released it out into the wild. So then it got out into the public domain.
[20:25:06]
But when they tested it, they clearly think it tested well. The problem is when you test ads like this in a vacuum, it can be deceiving because you're also not testing what the rebuttal is. And so that's Part A.
Part B is I think they think they can just outspend Acton and she won't have the money to reply and so maybe enough people will just believe that her own mother thinks she is a liar without ever hearing the back story. That's clearly the gambit, is that they have an ad that they think tested well, and they can outspend it, and the other campaign won't be able to fight back with enough earned media.
Now there's been a crush of earned media. There is, I mean, obviously national media is covering it, Ohio media is covering it. Everybody seems to be talking about it.
So that's the gambit. I don't know if they're going to be right about it. It is a risk I certainly wouldn't take if I were running a campaign.
COOPER: Yes. Scott Jennings, Dasha Burns, Congressman Mondaire Jones, thanks very much.
Up next, President Trump said he told Elon Musk to restore Starlink to Ukraine. Now, Ukraine's President Zelenskyy says it is still not fully restored. I will tell you what the President said about that today.
And later, for the first time, we are hearing from the hero dad who stopped the Oregon elementary school shooting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:30:51]
COOPER: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says restrictions to the Starlink satellite service are still in place, calling it speed limits. That contradicts President Trump's claim yesterday that access had been restored. The technology is critical in helping Ukraine's military operation against Russia, obviously.
The President told reporters this afternoon, quote, "If there's a problem, I'll get it straightened out." This comes after a source says the President asked Elon Musk in recent days to restore the system.
Meanwhile, First Lady Melania Trump says she has secured a one-city ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine to ensure elderly residents can evacuate. According to Mrs. Trump's office, this will take place in the city of Oleshky, Ukraine, starting on Thursday.
Joining us now is Democratic Congressman Adam Smith of Washington State. He's the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee. So, Congressman, what does it say to you that according to Ukrainian officials, Starlink access hasn't -- or the speed of it has not been completely restored?
REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): Well, I think we've got a real problem, you know, between Musk and Trump and others, you know, of this sort of, I don't know, MAGA approach that is really pro-Russia and not pro- Ukraine. Now, the overwhelming sentiment in the country is support of Ukraine. The overwhelming sentiment in Congress is in support of Ukraine. There
are laws on the books, you know, requiring us to send the money and support them in a variety of different ways. So, Musk and Trump and the others on the other side have to sort of be a little stealth about how they undermine Ukraine.
But that's what worries me, is I think that's what they're trying to do, is they're trying to subtly undermine Ukraine because of a larger sort of right-wing MAGA movement, you know, between, you know, the certain tech giants and Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters. I mean, that's the scary thing. Ukraine's one part of it, but it's certainly not the only part of it.
You know, you saw with Meta and Zuckenberg (ph) how -- Zuckerberg, sorry, how, you know, the No King stuff just suddenly disappeared from, you know, Facebook and Meta's, you know, websites. And then they're supporting Bolsonaro down in Brazil. So, I don't want to get into, you know, any sort of conspiracy here, but it sure seems like the MAGA people are trying to undermine democracy in favor of autocracy.
COOPER: Also, and what -- there's two options here. I mean, it's not clear who first ordered this. You know, Elon Musk initially in his statement had said, you know, anything like that would have to come from ultimately from POTUS. The, you know, the White House seemed to have pointed fingers at Musk early on.
Which is scarier to you that the President of the United States would do this, would order Musk to do this in order to punish Ukraine, to try to force them to the table, along with the other things he has talked about doing, or that Elon Musk would have the power to do this on his own?
SMITH: They both are equally, but look, that's the whole thing. It's like, you know, early on with the Trump administration, there was a suspension of aid to Ukraine that happened in the first couple of months. It was suspended and we investigated it on the Armed Services Committee, bipartisan. What's going on?
It was acknowledged that it had happened, but how many witnesses we had in front of us? I remember asking Elbridge Colby, the Under Secretary for Policy, about this. He said, yes. I said, well, who ordered it? He said, yes, we -- I don't know. How do you not know? OK.
So, you know, it is sort of under the radar, but it is incredibly dangerous. And like I said, it spreads back here towards this authoritarian approach. And now, you know, we have the Trump Justice Department announcing that if the Democrat wins in Alaska, they're going to avoid the election.
I mean, this is an all-out assault on representative democracy in favor of Putin-like autocracy. And we ought to be very concerned, not just for Ukraine, but about the broader issues around it.
COOPER: The Times is -- New York Times is reporting a bipartisan group of senators have told White House officials that they will block Trump's pending nominees until the administration ensures full capabilities with Starlink used by the Ukrainian military are restored. What impact do you think -- I mean, does political pressure from Congress, can that have an impact at the -- on this White House?
[20:35:14]
SMITH: It hasn't thus far. Now, I will say that the Republican Party hasn't really participated in that in any meaningful way. They've made phone calls, but they haven't supported legislation. But look, I think -- and you and I have talked about this before -- I think Trump has gone completely rogue. And I don't know what he's going to pay attention to.
And again, it's not just Ukraine. Now, let me say Ukraine is incredibly important. And the frustrating part about it is Ukraine is on the verge of kind of winning.
COOPER: Yes.
SMITH: You know, they've pushed back Russia. They've inflicted massive amounts of pain on Russia. You know, we could have a clear victory for sovereignty and democracy and to try to contain, you know, might makes right authoritarianism. And Trump and Musk are undermining that success, you know.
And gosh, some of the things they've said, describing Putin as a humanitarian, which Witkoff said. Trump saying, you know, Russia's not really doing that much in Ukraine. And you guys show the images every day of civilians being killed and civilian targets being attacked. You know, it's scary.
COOPER: Yes. Congressman Adam Smith, I appreciate it tonight. Thank you so much.
Coming up first, it was ICE going to use these electric shock gloves, now a school district in Nebraska is. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz investigates.
And later, for the first time, we were hearing from the hero father in Oregon who killed a school shooter before he could kill more teachers and kids.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAYLUB GIAMANCO, STOPPED SCHOOL SHOOTER: I really did want to speak with the families and the victims and just cry with them and hold them. I want to apologize for not saving their babies. That's probably the biggest thing for me right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:41:00]
COOPER: We've reported in the past on how ICE has ordered controversial electric shock gloves for immigration enforcement operations. Here's a reminder of what the gloves look like in a demonstration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So when Dan grabs Deputy Brobek (ph) with the gloves --
(Yelling)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, now we've learned these gloves are already being used in one school district in Nebraska that has some parents outraged and scared for their kids' safety.
CNN's Shimon Prokupecz went there to investigate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATY EILERS, MOM OF STUDENT AT MILLARD NORTH HIGH SCHOOL: My son is level 1 autistic and he has an atrial septal defect. That means he has a hole in his heart. I'm terrified that they're going to shock my son and he's going to -- go into a fatal arrhythmia and die.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm concerned they're going to kill someone.
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some parents in Omaha's Millard Public School District are angry over electric shock gloves.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope my kid doesn't get shocked at school today.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): At the latest school board meeting, they fought to get rid of them in their kid's school.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm asking this board to publicly reconsider the decision to keep these gloves.
PROKUPECZ: These shock gloves were specifically bought for school resource officers by the Omaha police. Cops on patrol don't even have them. It's only being used in schools.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you starting with kids in schools and not starting with the general public?
OFFICER JASON CVITANOV, OMAHA POLICE: I think because of the low level of force, plain and simple. Right now, the chief's objective was to utilize them in schools so we could -- we had another option available and to give this some time to run, see how it went.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): The gloves made headlines recently when the Department of Homeland Security announced they would be using them in immigration enforcement. And that is how these moms learned they were already in their kids' schools.
RACHEL MURPHY, MOM OF STUDENTS IN MILLARD PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT: Why are these gloves being tested on our students?
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): The gloves have been a law enforcement tool for years. Two years ago, the U.S. military studied their potential use on prisoners. And according to that report obtained by American Oversight, Army soldiers played combative inmates. Several were large men who were shocked multiple times. They reported feeling fatigue, soreness and excessive apprehensiveness to being shocked again.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: We're also banning the Orwellian practice of using shock gloves in enforcement activity.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Last month, California became the first state to temporarily ban the gloves. But here in Omaha, the gloves have already been used at least five times on students. In one incident, a student fighting with an administrator was shocked in a classroom. Security camera footage shows that student being escorted down a hallway after.
JOHN STUCK, DEFENSIVE TACTICS INSTRUCTOR: Put your arms out to the side.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): We wanted to see the gloves for ourselves.
STUCK: Right on your forearms. Perfect.
PROKUPECZ: Right here.
STUCK: Yes.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): So we went to this tactical training center.
PROKUPECZ: Yes, it's a shock.
STUCK: That's it?
PROKUPECZ: But I think if you're on there for a while, you really feel it. I just worry, though, for kids with this. You know, I mean, honestly, like, it's a lot.
STUCK: What's your worry?
PROKUPECZ: It's painful.
So compliance on their website, I think, right, talks about shouldn't be used on children. I mean, would you agree with that?
STUCK: What do we classify as children?
PROKUPECZ: I mean, I think we know.
STUCK: Is 16, is 15, is 14?
PROKUPECZ: What do you say to those parents who are really freaking out?
STUCK: Those school resource officers love your kids. They're not there to injure kids. They're to keep the students safe.
The easiest thing to tell them is like, look, we brought in a tool that's less than all those things on their belt.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): In a previous school board meeting, this is how the superintendent explained why he's in favor of the glove. But he didn't take any questions.
DR. JOHN SCHWARTZ, SUPERINTENDENT, MILLARD PUBLIC SCHOOLS: This is not a tool for discipline or to obtain general compliance. Officers issue warnings prior to any intervention, and any use of force has a multilayered administrative review by police.
It has not been deployed in any of our schools. It became clear that removing the tool could take away a lower impact option for officers if use of force is necessary to protect health and safety.
[20:45:01]
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): We reached out to Millard Schools for an interview with the superintendent. They denied our request, so we went to the school board meeting to talk to him.
PROKUPECZ: Dr. Schwartz, how are you? Shimon Prokupecz from CNN. How's it going?
SCHWARTZ: Good.
PROKUPECZ: Can I get a word with you here? Omaha School District did it. But you at this point are refusing to do that. And I'm just wondering what your thinking is on that.
SCHWARTZ: First of all, thanks for being here tonight. We've already made comments --
PROKUPECZ: I know, but --
SCHWARTZ: -- (INAUDIBLE). Thank you.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): -- just quickly, is it because you are trusting the Omaha Police Department to do the right thing? I mean, just generally what -- you know, you've been doing this a long time. You seem to know what you're doing. Are you just saying, hey, this is in the hands of the police and we cannot tell the police what to do in this situation?
SCHWARTZ: You know, I think we got a really great statement we'll share with you tomorrow. We can follow up and it'll answer those questions, because we've already spoken on the topic (ph).
PROKUPECZ: But not to me. And I've asked to speak to you and your folks have refused to allow me to speak to you. They said they denied my request.
SCHWARTZ: There's no other comments that I have.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not going to stop.
EILERS: I will keep showing up to meetings until I annoy the ever living heck out of them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And Shimon joins me now. So are some schools banning?
PROKUPECZ (on-camera): Yes. So there's this inconsistency in Omaha in this area. So Millard School District is allowing them. And these are the moms from that school district. The Omaha Public School District, which is the largest school district there, they banned them when it got out that they had them in their school.
I mean, parents came out in force and the community came out and they attended a school board meeting and basically put pressure on the superintendent of that school district to pull them out.
COOPER: It's interesting that the school was -- the police spokesperson was essentially saying, we're kind of testing it out in the schools.
PROKUPECZ (on-camera): That's how the moms feel. And that's how people in the community feel too, that they're using
COOPER: At least we -- he said -- he didn't say we're testing out --
PROKUPECZ (on-camera): No.
COOPER: He said, we want to see how it goes.
PROKUPECZ (on-camera): Right. And that's how people in the community feel. I spoke to one man who's a community leader there. He said, their problem is not so much that these officers have them. Their problem is that they are starting them in the schools.
And they would be fine, let's say, if they had them on patrol. But why are you starting them with kids in schools?
COOPER: Shimon Prokupecz, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
We're -- coming up next, where former President Obama is hitting the campaign trail this weekend as swing state Democrats look to him to be their closer-in-chief.
And you'll hear from the hero dad who killed a school shooter in Bend, Oregon before he could kill more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIAMANCO: I told my Siri to call 911, and the dispatch had picked up. And I was, you know, reporting the incident. But she was asking questions, and I said, I'm sorry, I have to go in. People are going to die.
(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:51:45]
COOPER: Eleven days until midterm elections and tonight, the nonpartisan election forecaster, the Cook Political Report, has shifted 19 House seats in Democrats' direction and suggests the chances of a Republican House majority, quote, "have all but evaporated."
Meanwhile, this weekend, former President Obama is adding his star power to the campaign trail to help Democrats. With more on that, here's CNN's Arlette Saenz.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the campaign's final stretch, Democrats are turning to the most popular figure from their party's recent past to secure a Senate majority for the future.
BARACK OBAMA, 44TH U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm firing up. I'm ready to go.
SAENZ (voice-over): Former President Barack Obama is reprising his role as a closer on the campaign trail for an election he's described as, quote, "on the razor's edge." Up first on Saturday --
OBAMA: Hello, Ohio!
SAENZ (voice-over): -- Cleveland, Ohio, where Obama will campaign with Senate candidate Sherrod Brown and Amy Acton, the Democratic candidate for governor who was thrust in the spotlight after her GOP opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy, released a controversial ad featuring her estranged mother.
OBAMA: Amy understands that leaders should solve problems, not create them.
SAENZ (voice-over): That same day, Obama heads north to Michigan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Barack Obama.
SAENZ (voice-over): Where he last campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.
OBAMA: But I was feeling some kind of way following Eminem. I'm nervous. But on the surface, I look calm and ready to drop bombs. But I keep on forgetting.
SAENZ (voice-over): This time, he'll appear with Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, hoping to boost support among Black voters in Detroit, who could be crucial to deciding the election.
OBAMA: That's why I'm asking you to support Abdul El-Sayed.
SAENZ (voice-over): Obama rounds out his campaign swing in Georgia on Wednesday with Senator Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic candidate for governor.
OBAMA: I hope you'll support my friend Keisha Lance Bottoms.
SAENZ (voice-over): The former President is promoting Democrats across the midterms map.
OBAMA: Troy Jackson, Deb Haaland, Sen. Roy Cooper to the Senate.
SAENZ (voice-over): Including with a stop in Texas, where Democrats have high hopes about turning a Senate seat and governor's office blue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President --
OBAMA: Good to see you, brother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nice to meet you, sir.
OBAMA: Good to see you.
SAENZ (voice-over): 18 years after a win in Iowa started his journey to the White House --
OBAMA: I got it. You ready for me, Josh?
JOSH TUREK (D), IOWA SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm ready.
SAENZ (voice-over): -- Obama offering a boost to Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek.
OBAMA: Let's go. We playing horse or what?
TUREK: We're playing Iowa.
OBAMA: I know a little something about winning Iowa.
SAENZ (voice-over): And before the 2026 midterms even end, Obama is already turning his attention to 2028, urging candidates to prioritize plans to address artificial intelligence in their campaigns.
OBAMA: If somebody does not have a serious plan for how to deal with this, then they're not meeting the moment. And you should probably look for somebody else.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAENZ (on-camera): And Anderson, this weekend will feature dueling presidential campaign appearances. Trump will rally in Georgia on Saturday before traveling to Michigan on Sunday, one day after former President Obama is in the state.
[20:55:01]
Now, Obama is a big motivator for the Democratic base. The question is whether these appearances will help get his candidates across the finish line. Anderson? COOPER: Yes. Arlette Saenz, thanks so much.
CNN will have extensive coverage of Democrats and Republicans on the campaign trail this weekend, including a special two-hour edition of The Source this Sunday night at 8 o'clock.
Just over a week after a shooting at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon and took the lives of three children and one teacher, the Good Samaritan who stopped the killer is speaking out for the first time.
Kaylub Giamanco is his name. He's a 36-year-old carpenter and military veteran whose kids attend the school. He followed the gunman and shot him to death after he -- the gunman forced his way into the building.
He sat down for an exclusive interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting to talk about what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIAMANCO: I had seen a man in black, and I had seen a rifle. And then I saw him fire two times towards the Toyota pickup truck. And at this point, the gunman had thrown his rifle up and over the fence. And that's when panic fled into my brain. And I was just, that's when I opened my center console and I just said, no, no, no, no, no.
And I grabbed my gun. And I saw him walking all the way across the school, and I just was in full panic. Like, no, there's children, there's babies in there.
And I told my Siri to call 911. And the dispatch had picked up. And I was, you know, reporting the incident. But she was asking questions. And I said, I'm sorry, I have to go in. People are going to die.
And then at this point, he reached the double doors. And I heard him fire two shots into the doors. And then I started going along the windows. And that's when I started hearing children pleading for their lives. And then I started hearing gunfire.
And I just started army crawling faster and faster. And I told myself, this is probably the last thing that I'm ever going to do. And that's when I crawled through the bottom window that was shot out and continued on to the rug inside where there's a little breezeway with stairs. And then the special needs classroom was to my left.
And then I peeked through the window. And at this point, I found my opportunity. And I seen a teacher on the left struggling with the gunman on the right with the rifle. And I knew that he did not know that I was there.
And so at that point, I swung the door out and open. And I stepped in, and I fired. And they dropped to the ground. And the teacher sprang out of the building, thinking that I was a second shooter.
And I could see the fear in her eyes. And that did hurt a lot. And then I looked down at the gunman. And he was scrambling for his weapon. And I looked at him. And I shot him two more times to make sure that he couldn't move, because I was afraid of him shooting anybody else. And that's when the first officer was coming on the scene.
When the gun was on the ground, I had my hands up. And I said, we need your help over here right now. Please, please, please. And he came over. He acknowledged me.
And then I picked my gun back up. And I said, can I go call my wife, please? And I call my wife to tell her that I'm not coming home for tacos. And that I need her to get to the school immediately.
That I had just had to shoot and kill somebody. And that I had to watch him take the lives of children and teachers. And, you know, then I called my mom. And I told her -- you know, I called her, and I was like, mom, I just had to take the life of what I think might be a child, because he went into my daughter's school with a gun.
And she was just like, OK, baby, calm down. You know, you did the right thing. You're a hero. You saved lives.
And then I just kind of broke down at that point. And I was just like, you know, I didn't save everybody. I didn't get them all. And I kind of just broke at that point.
But I can tell you that I genuinely feel like I was supposed to be there. And if I wasn't there, I just don't know what would have happened. I really did want to speak with the families and the victims and just cry with them and hold them.
I want to apologize for not saving their babies. That's probably the biggest thing for me right now, because the gratitude for saving people's children is awesome. But there was ones that I didn't save. And that's probably the hardest thing for me right now.
And so, yes, there's a little bit of like fear of seeing these families, because I do feel like I failed them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That is Kaylub Giamanco, who did an extraordinary thing in Bend, Oregon.
A reminder, you can stream this show live or watch any CNN program on Demand, any time on any screen or mobile device. All you need is an all access subscription. You can scan the QR code on your screen or go to CNN.com/Watch to learn more.
That's it for us. I hope you have a good weekend. I'll see you back here on Monday.
That news continues. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now.
