Return to Transcripts main page

The Lead with Jake Tapper

Now, GOP's First-Ever Midterm Convention Starts in Dallas; Supreme Court to Rule on Trump's Mail-In Ballot Appeal; CNN Poll Shows No Clear Leader in Michigan Senate Race. Newly Released 9/11 Records Reveal Officials Misled Public About Air Quality Around Ground Zero; Apple's New CEO John Ternus Unveils New, Foldable Phone. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired September 09, 2026 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.

And you just heard the theme of our Lead tonight. Right now, with less than two months to go until the midterm elections, Republicans are gathering in Dallas for what Republicans are calling Trumpapalooza, a midterm convention, which up until now was not a thing because party conventions are typically only held in presidential election years.

[18:00:08]

Still, President Trump and Republican Party leaders and battleground candidates are trying to rally the base at this two-day event. Calling it Trumpapalooza, of course, is a bit of a gamble for those Republicans facing tight races because Trump is not popular, and neither is his war with Iran, and neither is the rising cost of living, to name a few things. That hasn't really put voters in a palooza type mood.

Democrats are trying to capitalize on that discontent by holding competing events down in Texas with the goal of drawing attention to Trump's unpopularity. But Democrats aren't exactly in the clear either in some of the key races.

CNN has some brand-new polling out today in two of the most important Senate races this year. The contest in Michigan between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers, no clear leader, and the contest in Maine between Democrat Troy Jackson and Republican Senator Susan Collins, no clear leader, both races right now within the margin of error, clear toss-ups with less than two months to go. You'd think theoretically with such an unpopular president the Democrats would be overwhelmingly in the lead, but they are not.

In moments, I'm going to talk with the former House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, about Democrats' efforts to retake the House and the Senate, but we're going to start right now with CNN's Alayna Treene, who is down in Dallas at the Republicans' big event. Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. Look I went to a lot of these types of events throughout the 2024 campaign trail, and this sounds exactly like them. You mentioned how people are referring to this as a Trumpapalooza or a big Trump fest. That's kind of the vibe you would get if you were here in this room. We just heard from Senator Tim Scott, who told everyone to stand up for Trump, and was touting all of the things that are great about the president. That's exactly what so far the speeches have been like.

But, look, I can tell you from the conversations, Jake, I've been having with some of the president's political operatives. They say there's one key goal for this entire convention, which is really about energizing the president's base, unlike in 2024, where the president's team was really targeting a lot of moderate voters, independent voters, first-time voters. They recognize those voters are not going to come out in a big way for Republicans this year. Instead, they are zeroing in on trying to get the president's fiercest supporters, the members of the MAGA universe, to get out and vote on Election Day. They think that is the core to having Republicans see success in November.

But a lot of this is not really about boosting these vulnerable Republican candidates. It is about trying to improve on what you just mentioned, the president's really poor polling numbers. CNN's putting them at 35 percent right now.

So, I'm interested to see what the president's speech tonight will look like. We know he's being told from his advisers to talk about affordability, to talk about what he's been trying to do to help the economy, all areas where really he is hurting in this moment. We'll see if he actually stays on message. Jake?

TAPPER: Alayna, as the Republican convention is ongoing, you also spent some time with Texas Democratic Senate Candidate James Talarico. What did he have to say? I'm told that he had some interesting things to say about his own party, the Democrats.

TREENE: He did. Look, it's no secret that he's facing, you know, as -- even though he's doing pretty well in Texas, it's still a deeply red state. And I was asking him specifically about whether he thinks the Democratic brand hurts him in a race like he's running for Senate in Texas. Listen to what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES TALARICO (D), TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATE: And I honestly think people are just ready to vote for a senator under the age of 80. And so I think that fresh blood, that fresh perspective is necessary.

I'm also unhappy with the Democratic Party nationally. I'm unhappy with its inability to fight for working people. And so that's why I call myself a Texas Democrat in the tradition of Lyndon Johnson and Barbara Jordan and Lloyd Bentsen, people who fought for the middle class, people who fought for working Texans. And that's exactly what the Democratic Party has to get back to if it hopes to actually change this country so that it works for regular people again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, Jake, a couple things I took away from that answer that Talarico gave me. One is that he said he's largely unhappy with the Democratic brand right now. He also said he thinks there needs to be fresher blood in leadership. I actually specifically asked him does he think Chuck Schumer should remain the leader of the Democrats in the Senate should Democrats actually win back the majority in the midterms? He wouldn't go as far to say that he would try to oust him, but he said he believes they need younger people in leadership roles.

So, pretty interesting from James Talarico. Obviously notable given we are in Texas right now. We're going to hear from Ken Paxton, his Republican opponent, here tonight. So, some fresh comments from Talarico there.

TAPPER: All right. Alayna Treene in Dallas for us, thanks so much.

Let's talk about this all with Democratic Congresswoman and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Speaker Pelosi, always good to have you.

I want to show you an image from the Republican convention this afternoon. The stage background at one point featured images of you and other Democrats, some of whom are no longer in office, including former President Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris.

[18:05:09]

Others are retiring, like you or Governor Tim Walz. Obviously, they're using you guys as boogeymen and women. What's your take on the concept of this and on the midterm convention overall?

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Well, I think that it's a demonstration of their bankruptcy of not having leaders to brag about. What is this called? Trump --

TAPPER: Trumpapalooza.

PELOSI: Trumpalapaloozer. Trumpaloozer. His numbers are so bad that they can't put his picture up there, so they put all the rest of us.

But enough about them. The fact is the American people need to have the Democrats win the election, which we're fully prepared to do. I'm so proud of our candidates. Each one of them in each of the districts they're running in is a representative. That word is a job description and a job title, representative of the district they want to represent, having nothing to do with the Trumpapaloozer, whatever that thing is called. And I think it should end in loser, because that's what they all are, and he is as well.

TAPPER: So, the Iran war will no doubt be mentioned at the convention, even though it's weighing heavily over Republicans right now. Take a listen to what President Trump had to say about the war on his way to Dallas earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Oh, I think the war is going to end immediately after the election.

REPORTER: Why?

TRUMP: I think the war will end immediately after the election.

REPORTER: Because?

TRUMP: Because they can't hold out any longer. They're desperate to try and affect the election so that we can get a nice, weak group of people in there, and leave them alone, and let them have their nuclear weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, it sounds as though he's saying Democrats would allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. He's also saying, of course, the war is going to end after the midterms. What's your response?

PELOSI: Well, first of all, let's just say it's not about always responding to Donald Trump. I know that must attract advertisers, but it doesn't win the election. We have to talk about what we're going to do for the American people. Hakeem Jeffries is going to be the speaker. He is preparing how we win, how we protect the election and what we're going to do when we win.

Our country is at war. We always root for our country under any circumstance. So, let's get this done, Mr. President. You said it would take a few weeks. Clearly, you did not know what you were talking about. And you're sounding like Richard Nixon when you say you're going to end this right after the election. But okay for that.

The fact is so sad about this war because it was could've been so totally avoided. President Obama was masterful, virtuoso diplomatic accomplishment when he did the Iran nuclear agreement. And they had stopped -- we accomplished all of our goals. Except this one comes in, tears that up and now says he's going to stop the development of nuclear weapon in Iran, which he hasn't.

So, it's really sad, but our troops are in harm's way, and this is not a small potatoes thing as that person you had on the screen might refer to it. Small potatoes is not how we describe our men and women in uniform risking their lives.

So, this Iran war is taking a toll on the nation because people don't like us going to war in the first place. Second of all, it's increasing the cost of price at the pump, gasoline for farmers, increasing the price of food and groceries. So, this has an impact right at the kitchen table of the American people, in addition to not protecting the security of our country.

TAPPER: I'm sure you're hearing from constituents about these higher prices, not only because of the war but also because of the tariffs. People are really suffering out there. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics cites price increases across multiple categories from July of last year to July of this year. Examples include airline fares up 25.5 percent, candy and chewing gum up 9.6 percent, delivery services up 12.6 percent.

How can Democrats capitalize on these higher prices in order to win the election? Because right now, it does seem as though Democrats are slightly favored, but you would think theoretically that the polling would suggest more of a wave coming given how unsatisfied voters are with the economy and with the president.

[18:10:00]

PELOSI: Well, let me just say this addressing largely the issue for a moment. Can you just imagine if we had a woman president of the United States, and she demonstrated, as this president is demonstrating, that he didn't know what he was doing? He got into a war for a purpose that was not legitimate in -- legitimized by an act of Congress. He's messing with tariffs which have an impact on the kitchen table cost for America's working families. And the tariff issue is a big one. It affects people more than I think he knows, because regionally, for example, in California, we see an impact on the lack of being able to trade, say, for example, with Canada in terms of tariffs and the rest of that.

So, if we had a woman president who came in and said, I don't know what I'm doing with tariffs, I don't know what I'm doing with national security, I don't know what I'm doing with the cost of living, I don't think it's that big a deal, instead, I'm going to build a new ballroom, or I'm going to cement over the Rose Garden, what do you think people would say?

Why does this man get -- well, he's not going to get away with it because we're going to win the election. But why -- I mean, we've got to stay focused on what matters at the kitchen table of the American people. We save our democracy, which is at risk with this person. What's a democracy? Freedom of the press, free and fair elections, independent judiciary, separation of power, the list goes on, rule of law, due process. That's all at risk. But what people -- that's so important. But what people vote on is what happens at their kitchen table, and this president has no relationship to that.

I think our candidates are spectacular. They know why they're running. They know their why. They know what they're talking about. And they are -- they -- and we have to have a further proof to the public that the Democrats are there for working families if we're having some candidates say that we're not.

But they have to say what they have to win. How many times did I have to say to candidates, say what you want about me, just win the election. Just win the election because everything is at stake. I think you're going to see a big Democratic victory in the House. You've demonstrated that it's possible to win the Senate as well. And it's going to be very important in terms of who we are as a country, the culture, the sense of community that we are. And when we win, we must bring people together. TAPPER: Stay with us because I want to ask you about Democratic plans to take back the House and the Senate in November, and also what your first priorities will be when Democrats get to the House and Senate, if they do. We're going to talk about that with former Speaker Pelosi after this quick break.

Plus, we're going to go live on the campaign trail in Michigan. We're going to take a deeper dive into one of the most high-profile Senate races ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

TAPPER: And we're back, sticking with our Politics Lead. With less than two months to go until the 2026 midterm elections, it is worth revisiting a bold prediction that then-House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi made about Democrats in the 2018 midterms. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: Up until today, I would have said if the election were held today, we would win.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened today that changed that?

PELOSI: What now I'm saying is, we will win. We will win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now, in the 2018 midterms, Democrats did go on to pick up a net gain of 41 House seats, grabbing their largest majority gain since 1974. Plus, Democrats flipped a net of seven governors' offices.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is back with us. So, Madam Speaker, you were good in 2006 and 2018 at wrangling the cats of the Democratic caucus and taking back the House, and you and I have talked about this. You spearheaded Democratic efforts to retake the House in 2006 under the banner of six for '06, six legislative proposals that all Democrats were running on, such as raising the minimum wage.

In 2018, you did the same thing. It was called For the People, and you had basically three buckets. One was lowering healthcare costs, another was cleaning up Washington. I keep looking for Democratic Leader Jeffries to announce something like that, like you did Six for '06 or whatever. What are Democrats running on now under Leader Jeffries? What is the agenda?

PELOSI: Well, as you may know, I'm not in charge anymore, and I'm very supportive of the new generation of leadership coming into the House. And what I hear them saying, and in the districts that we have to win, he's talking about lowering the cost of living. He's talking about more affordable healthcare to restore what the Republicans took out of the Affordable Care Act and the additions we made under President Biden. And he's talking about ending corruption. People do see how corruption affects them in their daily lives. But he will have his agenda when he goes forward into January, and we will win. Now, six for '06 I loved. By the way, I was the leader, soon to be speaker, and I didn't get one of my ones in the six. It was just developed by the members, and this is what the members have developed. Of course, the war is going to be a big issue in the campaign as well.

So, again, I'm glad we're not talking about the Trumpapaloser convention, and we're talking about the future. Thank you for changing the subject to that. But it's going to be very refreshing because it's not just about the issues, it's about the values. It's about transparency and accountability. It's about bipartisanship. It's about bringing our people together. Those are not issues, they're values.

[18:20:00]

And that's what Hakeem and the House Democrats are about, taking us to a place where the American people lose some of their cynicism and have more confidence in government.

TAPPER: I don't need to tell you that so much of politics is about branding and explaining, and that's what Six for '06 was about. People understood these are the six things that Democrats are running about. When I hear Abdul El-Sayed talk about why he's running, he says, less money for foreign wars, more money in your pocket, and Medicare for all, three things. I didn't memorize it, I've just heard him speak so many times, it's in my head. Don't you think that House Democrats need to have some pitch like that so people know what House Democrats as a group are running on?

PELOSI: Well, we have two months until the -- almost two months until the election. And when people start paying attention, they will get the message.

Let's talk about Lincoln. Lincoln said, public sentiment is everything. With it, you can accomplish almost anything. Without it, practically nothing. But for people to, public sentiment to prevail, people have to know, and that's what our Democratic candidates are making sure people know the difference between Democrats and Republicans when it costs to -- comes to the cost of living, when it comes to access to quality, affordable healthcare, when it costs to supporting our democracy, ending corruption, and, again, to bringing people together.

So, I feel very confident of what I see going around the country, that people know the difference between Democrats and Republicans. Some Democrats will want to say, I don't like what so and so. He's too left for me, or he's too right for me. It doesn't matter. You run your own race in your own district. I have no criticism for what the Democrats have decided how they want to run their race, how they will conduct a campaign. It's a war term. A campaign is a war term.

TAPPER: Yes.

PELOSI: We are going to win. And you mentioned that we won 40 seats, 40 seats in '18, 31 of them in Trump districts. We'll win, I think, about 30 in this election. That's what I'm thinking.

TAPPER: 30 in this election, you think? Are you worried at all about some of the candidates that have been put forward because the Democratic Socialists of America have gotten involved in elections in an effective way in some places? In some districts are blue districts, like in my home city of Philadelphia, that Democrat DSA candidate, he'll be the next congressman no doubt.

But there are other districts that are battleground districts, and DSA candidates, there are a lot of Democrats wringing their hands, that they might cost them a seat or maybe even a Senate seat for some of the DSA, if not DSA candidates, DSA-aligned candidates. What do you think? Are you worried at all about that?

PELOSI: No, I'm not worried about that at all. I think that we have a big tent that is the Democratic Party. I've been involved in this for nearly 50 years, before you were born or maybe even before your parents were born.

TAPPER: I'm 57, but, okay, thank you.

PELOSI: Okay, so when you were running around seven years old. I was dealing with the left of the left in California, and that was a joy. We had our differences, but we had our common ground. And people consider me left-left from San Francisco, which I'm proud to embrace.

But it isn't a question of saying we're a big tent, accept just what I believe. If people want to disassociate themselves from someone else, as they disassociated themselves from me election after election after election, and, by the way, I was funding their disagreement with me, I just said, you just win, baby. You just win.

So, I wouldn't go to that place because the fact is these members know their districts, representative. They know their districts. They know what they believe. They know why they are running. They know what they're talking about. They have good judgment. They are strategic in their thinking. They're showing that they care about the American people, and they are going to be wonderful new members of Congress. It's going to be very exciting, and I can't wait. I'm just going to Congress one day to see Hakeem Jeffries sworn in as speaker of the House.

TAPPER: Former House Speaker, Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi of California, don't be a stranger. Please come back before the election. Always nice having you here.

PELOSI: My pleasure. Thank you.

TAPPER: We're standing by for a decision for the U.S. Supreme Court on President Trump's attempts to curb mail-in voting. Have the justices given any hints into how they might rule? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00] TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, we are all watching the U.S. Supreme Court, which could be set to rule very soon on President Trump's efforts to crack down on Americans voting by mail.

Let's get right to CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst Joan Biskupic. Joan, final briefs were due to be filed today. Where does this case stand?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: I think, Jake, we should have an answer as soon as tomorrow. And in fact, if it comes tomorrow, it will be for the better because this is getting to be an urgent situation, a lot of confusion out there. Donald Trump, who has made ma- mail-in ballots such an issue, claiming that there's a lot of fraud out there, none of which, you know, there is not substantial fraud in mail-in ballots.

So, he's kind of created this issue and now wants the Postal Service to be required to have special envelopes for anyone who mail votes by mail. And we're so late in the process at this point, less than two months before the November 3rd election. The Postal Service workers say it's impossible to have this thing ready. The whistleblower who's complained about it says it's impossible to have this ready.

[18:30:03]

The states that have challenged it just today in their filing, Jake, said this could be an unmitigated disaster, and it would especially disenfranchise the elderly, the disabled, potentially even military people, all the people who generally vote by mail, and there are more than those specific categories that vote by mail that it would impinge on their rights.

The Trump administration's claim is that what it's asking to do is not to regulate elections, which are the domain of the state, but to actually have regulations over the Postal Service. I think it's a real stretch of an argument, but we'll see what the Supreme Court says. And this thing has been simmering for a while, but now it's going to come to a head. And as I say, I'm expecting a ruling as soon as tomorrow.

There are several other cases percolating out there, Jake, but this is the most important at this point at least because it goes to exactly what the Trump administration has been trying to do to discourage mail-in voting and to also right now sow a lot of confusion. Election officials are saying they need an answer whether this program is going to take place or not, and they're basically saying that they are not going to be able to accommodate it, so they want an answer as soon as possible. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Joan Biskupic, thanks so much.

CNN's new polls show a neck-and-neck race for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, but Republican Mike Rogers says part of his strategy is appealing to people on the other side of the aisle. We'll explain next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [18:35:00]

TAPPER: Hear the election music again. We're just 55 days from the midterm elections that could reshape the balance of power in Washington and across the country. You just heard House Speaker Pelosi predict 30 flips of seats for the Democrats. We'll see.

One of the many key races we're tracking is in the Senate, though. That's Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat. A new CNN poll finds no clear leader in the race between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers, everything within the margin of error there. Among likely voters, 47 percent support El-Sayed, 44 percent back Rogers, a narrow difference, as I said, within the poll's margin of error. Half of likely voters say El-Sayed is too liberal, potentially giving Rogers an opening because he fares slightly better on that question. 42 percent of Michigan voters say he's too conservative. 42 percent versus 50 is not nothing.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is in Michigan where Republicans hope to make Rogers the state's first Republican senator since 1994.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the battle for control of the U.S. Senate, Republicans are setting their sights on Michigan.

MIKE ROGERS (R), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: We should send the first Republican in a quarter century back to help this president.

SAENZ: Former Congressman Mike Rogers looking to flip this toss-up seat red as he faces off against Democratic Nominee Abdul El-Sayed. A new CNN poll released today showed no clear leader in the race, with about a quarter of likely voters saying they're still persuadable.

DAMIAN WHEELER, UNDECIDED DETROIT VOTER: Sayed is reaching out a little bit to me. Mike Rogers is reaching out a little bit to me, but I'm undecided right now.

SAENZ: After narrowly losing a Senate race in 2024, Rogers is reintroducing himself to voters with a pitch aimed at working class voters and boosting Michigan industry.

ROGERS: We will be the envy of manufacturing around the country again.

SAENZ: Once a Trump critic, Rogers has run close to President Donald Trump's agenda.

ROGERS: When I get back there, Mr. President, if you haven't gotten it done, we're going to pass the SAVE Act. Save America.

SAENZ: At the same time, he's grappling with political headwinds facing GOP candidates across the country amid voter dissatisfaction with the state of the economy and the president's job performance. ROGERS: I think people are missing the boat if you want to just like label this as Washington versus here. What we're finding is people are enjoying the very fact that these tax breaks for the working family tax cuts are huge.

SAENZ: For Michigan voters, the economy and cost of living top their concerns.

Trump's trade war with Canada also unpopular in the state, with nearly two-thirds of likely voters saying the tariffs on Canadian goods are a bad idea.

ZACH KEAN, DEMOCRATIC VOTER: Currently, what's going on today with that trade war is just nonsensical. There's no upside.

SAENZ: Speaking to reporters today, Rogers trying to navigate the political cross currents.

ROGERS: Let's send the one guy who can go back and say, this isn't working for Michigan. We'll get it fixed. If it's good for Michigan, I'm for it. If it's bad for Michigan, I'm going to be against it.

SAENZ: After a divisive Democratic Senate primary, Rogers is courting Democrats uneasy with El-Sayed's progressive policies.

ROGERS: You have a home with us.

SAENZ: While Rogers and his allies are running ads attacking the Democrat as too far left for the battleground states.

ROGERS: Abdul is too extreme for Michigan.

SAENZ: Longtime Democratic voter Linda, who would not share her last name with CNN, said she had concerns with El-Sayed's positions and past comments about Israel.

LINDA, DEMOCRATIC VOTER BACKING ROGERS: The candidate that is the Democratic runner is not somebody that I can vote for. I have to vote for Mike Rogers. I have to, and I don't agree with him on many things.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAENZ (on camera): Now, only 3 percent of Michigan likely voters in our CNN poll cited U.S. policy towards Israel as being their top concern in this race, but the Rogers campaign believes that Jewish Democrats, like Linda, are people that they could sway over in this election, even as El-Sayed has tried to mend fences with the Jewish community in the wake of the Democratic primary.

Now, Rogers was here in Michigan attending a few events here in Detroit area earlier today. But tomorrow, he will be in Dallas for the GOP midterm convention. He is speaking there in Texas. Republicans are hoping that that gathering will try to help to energize Trump voters who may not typically turn out when he's not on the ballot. That could be a key here in Michigan which is always a very close, close race, and every vote will count. Jake? [18:40:00]

TAPPER: All right. Arlette Saenz in Detroit, thank you so much, I appreciate it.

The panel joins us now. Ashley, so the poll that we had has -- it's basically a toss-up because it's within the margin of error. I think it's for 47 percent to 44 percent or something like that for El-Sayed. But this number is what I find more interesting. Of Michigan voters, is El-Sayed too liberal? 50 percent say yes. Is Mike Rogers too conservative? 42 percent say yes. There is an opening for Rogers there, I think. What do you think?

ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, V.P. HARRIS: I would have to respectfully disagree with you.

TAPPER: Well, you don't have to do it respectfully. You could just go ahead and disagree.

ETIENNE: I like that, Jake, so I'm just going to say respectfully.

TAPPER: Just go ahead and disagree.

ETIENNE: The problem is Rogers is running on, you heard him say this, a platform that he can go to Washington and fix it. But how can you go to Washington and fix it when the guy who started the fire is still in the White House? I mean, that makes no sense. I don't think -- I think that's where the gap exists, and that's where the trust gap is going to exist among voters.

So, I think the issue, though, is whether or not El-Sayed's brand of liberalism, the 50 percent, actually works and speaks to the concerns of Michiganders. The problem is Trump campaigned on bringing back manufacturing jobs, lowering prices, neither of those two things have happened.

So, if El-Sayed can position himself as someone who can hold the president accountable to the economy, and that his brand of liberalism actually speaks to economic concerns that Michiganders are dealing with, I think he has a great chance of winning.

TAPPER: Kevin, let's dive into the demographics of this poll. Michigan's electorate is predominantly white and older. This poll shows Rogers is leading El-Sayed among both groups, but only narrowly. He's only leading narrowly. Should that concern Republicans? Shouldn't Mike Rogers be up more than six points with voters 45 or older and five points with whites?

KEVIN MADDEN, FORMER ROMNEY PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN ADVISER, 2008 AND 2012: He should, and that's the task of the, for the campaign for the next 55 days. And I think the numbers that you showed, I think the bigger race has to do with some of the trend lines you see on liberal, too liberal, or who's conservative.

In order to win this race right now, Mike Johnson has to hold down --

TAPPER: Mike Rogers.

MADDEN: I'm sorry. Mike Rogers has to hold down the sort of ability for him to consolidate support amongst Democrats. You saw that El- Sayed has about 90 percent of Democratic voters, and Mike Rogers has about 97 of Republicans.

He's losing, though, amongst independents. The way he wins this race is to -- again, is to show El-Sayed as being outside the mainstream with those more pragmatic economic voters that are in the middle. That's the entire race for him right now.

ETIENNE: I mean, the problem is he doesn't have a good pitch. I mean, you know, the situation that folks are dealing with on the ground, their kitchen table issues, are all because of the president. I mean, that's --

MADDEN: That is true, and I think that is the headwind that he's facing right now. But I think the message that we just saw him carry, which is that I'm going to be your ambassador for Michigan values and Michigan issues with the president, that that's the best way that he can get that message across to these voters, is that he's on the -- I think every single one of these voters in the middle is going to say, which one of these candidates is really on my side, and that is key.

ETIENNE: And they're not going to do it on policy. They're going to demonize this guy on his faith, and they're going to try to make him out to be a socialist.

TAPPER: Well, we'll see.

Let's also turn to Maine, because we also have some new polling there. As with Michigan, there's no clear leader among likely voters. 48 percent back Democrat Troy Jackson, 45 percent support incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins. Again, that's within the margin of error, so no real leader there.

71 percent of Democrat Jackson supporters say their vote is driven more by opposition to Collins than by support for him. By comparison, only about a quarter of Collins supporters said they're motivated by opposition to Jackson. That's fair, because they probably don't even know who he is. He was a late nominee. What do you think about all that?

MADDEN: Well, I think every campaign I've ever worked on, and I bet you this goes for you, too, which is fundamentally you believe that voters have to be given a choice, and they have to sort of be for something versus just against something. And I think that's where --

TAPPER: In order to get them to the polls, or --

MADDEN: In order to get them to the polls, which is that, fundamentally, you're going to be able to motivate people because they're for your campaign versus just against the other guy.

And I think -- and that's something that Susan Collins has focused very intently on in this race, which is reminding a lot of the supporters and the voters that know her very well in Maine that she can be trusted, that she is an effective ambassador for the state in Washington, and that she has values that are aligned with them.

And I think that's why she's been trying to drive a contrast message against her opponent here, which is that doesn't have the experience, doesn't have a record of accomplishment and can't be trusted.

TAPPER: She has -- I mean, it was six years ago.

ETIENNE: Sure.

TAPPER: Trump headwinds were awful then as well, and Joe Biden won Maine, and she won Maine.

ETIENNE: By nine points.

TAPPER: And like incredible, and Sarah Gideon, the Democrat --

ETIENNE: She was down in the polls.

TAPPER: And she was down in the polls. Sarah Gideon, the Democrat, was a perfectly reasonable candidate.

ETIENNE: Yes.

TAPPER: You know, nothing really negative about her.

[18:45:01]

ETIENNE: Sure.

TAPPER: Susan Collins has -- I don't know if it's going to happen again, but she seems to really have the state wired.

ETIENNE: Well, what's interesting is I think what Kevin said is she's creating some distance between her and her opponent and her opponent in this race happens to be Donald Trump. So, she's running away from Donald Trump on everything from the tariffs in Canada, to ICE being in Maine, to the big -- the Build Back Better or the Big, Beautiful Bill, whatever they call that thing, to, again, his entire economic agenda.

She's pushed back on -- and the war in Iran, she's pushed back on effectively. So really, she's running against the president in this particular race. And the question is whether or not she can consolidate independents and convince them that actually, she's going to be a check on the president. I doubt that that can actually --

TAPPER: Fascinating. Two campaign experts, thank you so much for being here.

My next guest fought for years to get compensation and health care for 9/11 first responders and survivors. His reaction today to newly released documents showing that officials in New York and the federal government misled New Yorkers about the air quality in and around Ground Zero. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM BROSI, PRESIDENT, UNIFORMED FIRE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION: What we learned was the air was as toxic as we said it was. What we learned is that we were dying with every breath we took down there. What we learned is that the city knew it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Earlier today, unions representing New York firefighters expressing frustration and well-deserved anger over newly released 9/11 records.

[18:50:02]

The documents, released Tuesday by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, revealed that officials misled the public and first responders about the toxic air quality levels after the terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center. Friday will mark 25 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Nearly 3,000 people killed immediately.

But frankly, the deaths never stopped. They've tripled. Nearly 10,000 people have died from 9/11 related cancers and other illnesses. There are more first responders who have died from post-9/11 illnesses than those who died on that horrific day 25 years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB EUSTACE, PRESIDENT, UNIFORMED FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION: Could members have been diagnosed earlier? Could illnesses have been treated earlier? Could families have been spared years of fighting for health care, compensation and recognition? Could we have spared years of dragging sick members down to Washington, begging for information that maybe we've known?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: It is a national scandal and disgrace. Thousands of first responders worked for months at ground zero, and they inhaled toxic dust and debris. Children, families. Every day, people either went back to work or school in New York City after officials said the air quality was safe, the air quality was not safe.

Advocates who sued for the city to release these records say it will give people what they need to access federal assistance, and it will help kick start additional research on health outcomes. As for any more legal repercussions against the city or any individuals? Well, some say it's deserved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROSI: When people talk about the monetary liability 25 years later, after four times the amount of people have died since that that day, I don't care. They made an economic decision not to tell us. They made an economic decision to prioritize Lower Manhattan over the citizens that live there. And now it's time to pay the bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: My next guest is an American hero. He fought relentlessly to get Congress to ensure thousands of 9/11 first responders get the compensation and health care that they deserve. He's also the author of the newly released book called "I Will Follow You Anywhere: The True Story of the 9/11 Responders Who Took on Congress", Army veteran, 9/11 responder and founder of the FealGood Foundation, John Feal joins us now.

John, it's an honor to have you back on the show.

I want to talk about the book in a second, but I do have to ask you about these newly released 9/11-related documents about the poor air quality around Ground Zero and how that was not -- how it was hid from first responders. What was your response when you -- when you saw these documents?

JOHN FEAL, 9/11 FIRST RESPONDER: Well, Jake, I saw those documents and there's no smoking gun. We knew we were sick. We knew they were lying when they said they didn't have any proof that we were sick. And we walked the halls of Congress in the early 2000s, when Congress said we were making it up.

What Mayor Mamdani has done is shown transparency that the other administrations haven't. But there's no smoking gun in there. There's nothing in there that we didn't know. What bothers me, though, Jake, is roughly 10,000 people have died since 9/11 from their illnesses.

If the city would have came clean and said, you know what? Maybe the air isn't as safe as we thought it was. Let's put some safeguards in there. Let's not send those kids back to school, those people to their apartments in open Wall Street. And maybe instead of 10,000 that have died, maybe we would have only been 4,000.

Maybe if they would have came clean, we wouldn't have made 400 trips to D.C. Maybe we would have only made 150 trips to D.C.

TAPPER: Right.

FEAL: Instead of 2,400 meetings, maybe it would have been 800 meetings.

What they did was create a bigger problem from the problem that they had. And there is no escaping it now, because this is a snowball effect. More and more people are getting sick and dying -- 155,000 people in the world trade center health program, 57,000 of them would have certified cancer, and this could have been prevented.

I'm not saying not everybody would have got sick, but it would have been staggering numbers like we see now.

TAPPER: Your book captures the relentless fight you and your brothers and sisters went through to get Congress to finally pass legislation securing health care and financial compensations for 9/11 first responders and survivors.

You mentioned rightfully so, comedian and fellow advocate Jon Stewart, who made a very passionate plea before Congress in 2019. I want to play some of the remarks for viewers who might not remember that moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, ENTERTAINER & ADVOCATE FOR FIRST RESPONDERS: Your indifference cost these men and women their most valuable commodity -- time.

It's the one thing they're running out of. They did their jobs with courage, grace, tenacity, humility.

[18:55:04]

Eighteen years later, do yours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That was 2019. It's now 2026.

And the fight isn't over, right? I mean, there are current challenges from Congress, from the Trump administration, tell us about that. Things that are -- that are giving you struggles in your advocacy work for 9/11 first responders.

FEAL: You know, Jake, we just got a bill passed this year to keep the World Trade Center health program funded. We got that attached to the homeland security bill in April. We're trying to get more illnesses added to the bill where we see so much opposition from the CDC and HHS, like adding heart, autoimmune and cognitive. And there's a spike in the 9/11 community in these illnesses.

It's a constant battle. You know, this bill's only 16 years old. If you think about it, it's a teenager. And we're its surrogates and we're making sure it matures and helps as many people as possible.

You know, we used to have to go around these obstacles and these hurdles that Congress or the federal government put in front of us. Now, we go through them, and we're going to be relentless and resilient in making sure that these things get done.

TAPPER: And RFK, Jr., the HHS secretary, he's -- he's not particularly helpful these days either, right?

FEAL: No, I mean, he fought you know, the bill calls for 120 people to be -- oversee the world trade center health program at NIOSH, and there's only 82 people there overseeing the world trade center program. And those people are responsible for the enrollment into the program and the certification of illnesses. And that process has slowed down dramatically, with very sick people waiting to get free health care and then get compensated.

Also, he put a freeze on $13 million in research. And if that money is not used in a certain amount of time, they take it back. And who knows what this administration is going to do with $13 million.

TAPPER: Again, the book is "I Will Follow You Anywhere: The True Story of the 9/11 Responders Who Took on Congress". It's out now.

Army veteran, 9/11 responder, founder of the FealGood Foundation, John Feal -- thank you. You always class up the joint when you're here. We really appreciate it.

FEAL: Thank you, Jake. Good seeing you again.

TAPPER: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Our tech lead now. Today, Apple revealed the newest addition to the iPhone family, the iPhone Duo, Apple's first ever foldable phone. The duo will feature a 7.6-inch screen when unfolded, can be used horizontally and vertically. This will be apple's biggest change to the iPhone look in years, and the top-of-the-line model will cost just under $3,200. Yikes.

And are out of this world lead, the U.S. has apparently seized the largest Martian meteorite on Earth. According to the U.S. attorney here in D.C., Jeanine Pirro, the meteorite has gone through many different hands, many different countries, but no one knows where it landed and who originally owned it. So, what did her office do? Well, she claimed it belonged to the United States before it could be sold at any auction.

You can follow the show on X and Instagram @TheLeadCNN. If you ever miss an episode of THE LEAD, you can watch the show on the CNN app.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now. Take it away, Erin.