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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Woman Sues Cornell And Chi Phi Fraternity Over Alleged Gang Rape. Alleged Terror Plot Near U.K. Base Used By U.S. Bombers; Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE), Is Interviewed About GOP Preps Trump Midterm Push Amid Low Presidential Approval; Estranged Wife Of TX Senate Candidate Ken Paxton Tells Women's Group To Support GOP Candidates "Even If We're Mad At Them"; Blanche: Trump's Press Ban Is Driven By National Security Concerns. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired September 28, 2026 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:00]
KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST AND POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: All right, thanks to my panel. Really appreciate all of you for being here. Thanks to all of you at home for watching as well. It's always great to have you. Don't forget, you can stream "The Arena" live. You can catch up whenever you want from CNN app. Just scan that Q.R. code below. You can also catch up by listening to our podcast. You can follow the show on X and Instagram or @thearenacnn. Don't go anywhere. Jake Tapper stands by for "The Lead." Hey, Jake. You're in for tonight?
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: I am ready for the night, yes. Are you talking about --
HUNT: OK.
TAPPER: OK. You're talking with the Eagles players, right? My head is still in Philly's land, and I'm looking for it to tomorrow. But I hear you and LeBron appeared in the Sixers uniform.
HUNT: Love it.
TAPPER: It's just a big week. We're very excited. Thanks, Kasie. We'll look for more tomorrow in "The Arena."
HUNT: See you tomorrow.
TAPPER: One Trump advisor making it clear the midterm elections will be -- quote -- "effing tough." "The Lead" starts right now.
Thirty-six days in this critical midterm election season, 36 days left and the president's role is more defined. What CNN is learning about plans for Trump's aggressive campaign strategy as even more candidates appear to be slipping away from the president's support.
And he filed for divorce on -- quote -- "biblical grounds." And now, Angela Paxton, the ex-wife of Texas attorney general and Senate candidate Ken Paxton, is urging conservative women to vote Republican. The new video underscoring the close fight in this hot race for U.S. Senate in Texas. But first, an explosive civil lawsuit against Cornell University that could soon lead to new criminal charges, potentially, in a two-year- old gang rape investigation at Cornell. Ahead on "The Lead," the top prosecutor relaunching this case and the attorney for the woman who says the school did not do enough to protect her.
Welcome to "The Lead." I'm Jake Tapper. We're going to start in our "Law and Justice Lead." A stunning announcement from a top prosecutor in New York, reopening a gang rape investigation at the elite Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. This move comes after a former student, Jane Doe is how we know her, recently sued Cornell and seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity.
Jane Doe claims that the fraternity members drugged her and sexually assaulted her in October 2024, and that Cornell University did not do enough to protect her. The complaint also alleges that the fraternity members used Snapchat to invite other members of the fraternity to join the assault, the rape.
The case has rattled the country, and has critics accusing the Ivy League school of covering up a rape and a culture of rape. So, why reopen this case now? Why revisit the specifics of this case now? Well, the district attorney from Tompkins County, New York will be here on "The Lead." And in minutes, I'm also going to talk to the attorney for Jane Doe who will join me live.
But first, let's start with CNN's Gloria Pazmino reporting on what happened, allegedly, two years ago and where the case stands now. And a warning, the contents in this report are very disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New York prosecutors are relaunching an investigation into an alleged gang rape at Cornell University. The new review, after a former student identified as Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit claiming seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity drugged and sexually assaulted her in October 2024.
While no criminal charges were filed then, Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten says he will now present new evidence to a grand jury. Van Houten told CNN his office didn't bring charges in 2024 because Jane Doe's initial statement -- quote -- "did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped." On the contrary, Jane Doe's statement described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual. His office released only partial statements from her original 2024 statement.
The civil lawsuit also states that after arriving at the frat house, she was visibly intoxicated and that she had consumed about 10 standard drinks within the past three hours. The lawsuit also includes a screenshot of a group chat where other fraternity members were allegedly invited to join the assault.
The D.A. said the screenshot included in the complaint was not provided to his office at the time, telling ABC News --
MATTHEW VAN HOUTEN, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, TOMPKINS COUNTY: Well, that's disgusting. It's disgusting. It's morally despicable.
PAZMINO (voice-over): Jane Doe's attorney told CNN -- quote -- "Other than her initial contact with Cornell police, she was not contacted by investigators."
CNN has reached out to Cornell University Police for comment. It's unclear what other evidence police may have collected.
[17:04:58]
According to the civil complaint, Cornell expelled two of the seven accused fraternity members while the others received lesser punishments, including suspensions and written assignments. The frat was also barred from campus.
In a statement, Cornell University said -- quote -- "None of the individuals charged were offered the opportunity to write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement. The complainant and respondents had the opportunity to testify and present evidence. At its conclusion, the hearing panel issued a range of sanctions, which included expulsions and suspensions from Cornell."
UNKNOWN: It's hard to bring an investigation two years later. Witnesses graduate. Their memories get less sharp. Physical evidence gets destroyed. Snapchat messages disappear. So, it's hard to reopen these things, but it's absolutely the right thing to do given the nature of the allegations and the complaint here.
PAZMINO (voice-over): Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez addressed the allegations at a town hall organized by Cornell University groups on Sunday.
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D), NEW YORK: The culture of rape, sexual assault, and pedophilia is protected in elite institutions across the United States and including Cornell University in this instance.
(APPLAUSE)
It has got to stop.
PAZMINO (voice-over): Actor Florence Pugh even posted a statement on social media saying "Colleges, schools, universities repeatedly failed women around the world."
Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: Gloria Pazmino, thank you for that report. Joining us now is Thomas Jiffra. He is the attorney for Jane Doe, the woman who filed this lawsuit against Cornell University and against the seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity. Thomas, in a statement to CNN, your client said that she went to Cornell with great hope and promise for a good education, but instead had the worst experience of her life. Before we get into the details of the case, how is she doing as all of this begins to unfold so publicly?
THOMAS P. GIUFFRA, ATTORNER FOR JANE DOE, CORNELL 7 CASE: Well, it has been very challenging for her. It has been a nightmare ever since this happened. She has a wonderful family that has been extremely supportive.
One of the things that impressed me is the support and the out showing of support that she has seen from other people throughout the United States and including the world. I receive emails every day multiple times from people expressing support, and that's really made a difference for her. I mean, her life has been really ruined by this.
TAPPER: So, the Tompkins County district attorney, who is reopening the case, released a statement this morning saying he didn't originally bring charges in 2024 because your client did not allege she had been sexually assaulted and that her participation had been -- quote -- "voluntary, conscious, and consensual" -- unquote. Now, he also included excerpts from her statement to the police. What's your response to what he said, a voluntary, conscious, and consensual sexual encounter?
GIUFFRA: I don't know how anybody who was grossly intoxicated and drugged can consent to anything. I mean, the fact is she went to the Cornell University Police to file a complaint because she believed she was a victim of a crime. If this was consensual, she didn't want to participate, she wouldn't have gone to the police in the first place.
The problem is the district attorney's office, as I've learned, had no role in investigating this. This was done by Cornell University's Police Department. And I was surprised to learn that today because I expected a small police department on a university campus would call in outside agencies to support them. Apparently, that wasn't happening, and you have police officers, group that just doesn't have the skills to investigate serious crimes.
TAPPER: So, in her initial 2024 sworn statement to police, your client described her level of intoxication as a five out of 10 when she arrived at the fraternity house, five or six out of 10 when she began messing around with a couple of boys consensually, and then after five other boys come in, allegedly assaulting her and more, she says at the end of the night, she's an eight out of 10.
Is there a loophole in the New York law where if you voluntarily get drunk, intoxicated, do drugs, that there is no question of whether or not you can give consent? I mean, I was raised being told if somebody is that drunk, they can't give consent legally, but I don't know what the laws are in New York.
GIUFFRA: I think the laws are as you expected. If somebody can't consent because they're intoxicated, that doesn't give somebody the right to rape them.
[17:10:02]
I mean, in fact, part of the reason we sued the sorority is when she left that sorority house, she's already heavily intoxicated. There was testimony from witnesses who described her as slurring her words and unable to really proceed, and yet she went out into the world, and this is what happened.
TAPPER: What does your client want to see happen? What does she want from the sorority? What does she want from the fraternity or the fraternity members? What does she want from Cornell? And what does she want from the Tompkins County district attorney?
GIUFFRA: I think she wants accountability. Her life has been destroyed. She's a woman who comes from a small town. She was not somebody who was a legacy or somebody who was from a wealthy family. This was her dream, and it was taken away from her at a young age and in just a horrific fashion. And she's not even in college anymore. She is barely hanging on. She wants these people to be held accountable.
I mean, I was involved with this case early on, and I was surprised she never heard from any investigators. I certainly didn't think that Cornell University Police were competent to do it. And then she went through the Title IX process, and what she said was upheld by the Title IX hearing officers. These men had consequences. And no, they weren't all expelled. I have thoughts as to whether certain additional people should have been expelled.
But she felt like she wasn't heard and there was no accountability. And one of the things that I think hasn't come out is she wanted to leave the university and go home and heal. And her parents, who had paid thousands and thousands of dollars for her to attend Cornell, tried to get their money back, and Cornell said, no, you have to stay in school. So, she spent an entire semester in the campus where she saw these guys on a fairly regular basis, and that is just horrifying to me.
TAPPER: So just to be clear, after this horrific event happened, after the alleged gang rape, she told Cornell University Police what happened in a very detailed way, and then the Tompkins County district attorney, they got that police report, and they didn't do anything? They didn't interview her or anything?
GIUFFRA: No, she wasn't interviewed at all. Cornell was given a copy of that Snapchat months before the Title IX hearing. It was available. It was there. If somebody had done an investigation, they would have found it. There were multiple people listed on that chat. Every single one of them was a witness. Every single one of them had evidence. They could have been interviewed. They could have been followed up. They could have found out where the ketamine came from.
I mean, another fact that's out there is there was an issue with ketamine where the police were there a week before this happened. It's incredible to me that there was no investigation because the way it works in New York City where I practice is if there's a major crime, the police bring in the district attorney right away to investigate. Apparently, that doesn't happen in Upstate New York.
TAPPER: So, she says in the police report, and they only know this because the Tompkins County district attorney trying to defend himself, cited excerpts in his statement today, she says that at one point, she was asked if she wanted to do ketamine, and she remembered maybe she had done ketamine but she didn't remember exactly when or where. At one point, there were seven guys in the room, I think, allegedly trying to have their way with her, grabbing her. One is rude to her. She's backing away from one. At one point, she's hiding under the blankets.
I don't understand how anybody in law enforcement can see this as consensual but, again, there is this argument out there that there's this loophole in New York law. Is there a loophole in New York law?
GIUFFRA: I don't believe there is. If there was, think about it logically. It would mean anybody could go trolling a bar looking for a woman who is intoxicated, rape them, and get away with it. That's effectively what they're arguing. She was incapable of any kind of consent.
TAPPER: It's a horrific, horrific story. Thomas Giuffra, thank you so much for your time. As this case proceeds, I hope you'll come back and talk to us more about this. Later here on "The Lead," I'm going to talk with the district attorney who's reopening the case. Mr. Giuffra, thank you so much.
Given the gravity and nature of the story, I do want to remind anybody trying to navigate any similar crises in their life, including those for whom maybe this story is triggering about something that happened in the past, there are people who can help, experts.
[17:15:05]
There's the RAINN network, short for Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network. You can reach them any time at RAINN.org. That's RAINN with two Ns, R-A-I-N-N.org, or you can call 1-800-656-HOPE. That's 1-800- 656-HOPE.
Well, there is other news we're covering today. Major questions tonight for the U.K. releasing five suspects in a terror plot. Hear how even President Trump is criticizing the move that could have targeted U.S. forces at a base nearby. And Attorney General Todd Blanche, how he tried to say national security was legal justification for President Trump's White House ban on news outlets entering the building, including CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: In our "World Lead," President Trump reacting to the U.K. releasing five men on bail in connection with an alleged terrorist plot targeting a military base used by the U.S. military. Here's President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: What's your reaction to that? And is this connected to Iran?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Might be. But I will tell you, I would have said, don't let them have bail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[17:20:00]
TAPPER: The accused are still under investigation. Their arrests on Sunday set off alarm bells from London to the Pentagon. The base is Royal Air Force Fairford. It's of vital importance to the U.S. It's where many long-range missions to attack Iran originate from.
The latest now from CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Early Sunday, they were cuffed in police custody. Now, the five men arrested on suspicion of terrorism and explosive charges outside a U.K. base used by the U.S. Air Force are out on bail.
LAURENCE TAYLOR, ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, U.K. COUNTER TERRORISM POLICING: To be very clear, this does not mean that the investigation is over. They are subject to stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others. They absolutely remain under investigation as we explore multiple lines of inquiry.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Police, after searching their vans, appear to lack evidence for now to support their suspicions.
TAYLOR: Those vehicles have been subject to extensive examination with the support of military assets and forensic experts.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): It was finding those vehicles that triggered this farmer who took pictures of them to raise the alarm.
LOCAL FARMER, CALLED EMERGENCY SERVICES OVER SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITIES: First thing I noticed was there's a vehicle on our farm drive, and then I realized there's three of them, and they're parked in a really strange formation.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Right after, she spotted the now-released men.
LOCAL FARMER: It's such a flash moment of seeing them. There were definitely more than five. We think maybe between eight and 10 of them were there at that point, and a lot of them had their faces covered.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): She called the police hotline 999, and then her friends.
LOCAL FARMER: I put a message on our village WhatsApp group just saying -- because I didn't want people to be scared, I just said just to let you all know something very odd has happened today or tonight in the village and told them what I'd seen. And literally, within five minutes of that, everything sorts of kicked off and armed police arrived.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): After them, the bomb squad showed up. Next, several hundred local residents, including the farmer, evacuated. But the circumstances leading to the short-lived arrest are raising concerns.
ROBERTSON: Local residents, including the farmer who called the police, have questions. They say over the past week, the base appeared to put in place what looked like additional security measures. Big vehicles, concrete blocks blocking the gates, giving access to the airfield.
LOCAL FARMER: I just can't process how that base was on such high alert and that the men were even there, never mind how many and how many they caught. They reacted very quickly to the 999 call, but before that, where were they?
ROBERTSON (voice-over): The area's local lawmaker has questions, too.
ROZ SAVAGE, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, SOUTH COTSWOLDS: I have so many questions that I really want to ask the secretary of state for defence, even the prime minister, about who knew what and when. If there was advanced intelligence, then it seems that a lot of people who should have known that didn't know that.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): For now, more unknown than known. The U.K. counterterrorism chiefs leaving the possibility open. The men acted wittingly or unwittingly, working for a foreign state.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Fairford, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: Thanks to Nic Robertson. Let's bring in Phil Mudd, a former CIA counterterrorism official, former FBI senior intelligence adviser. Phil, President Trump was asked about these arrests yesterday. I want you to listen to his response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The arrest in the U.K. was fantastic. Working with Britain, it was an amazing job. We had them under investigation. They -- they were looking to do big damage to our port.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: What do you make of what the president said there, seeming to reveal that there had been something of an ongoing investigation involving the base, that it was more than just the farmer Nic Robertson spoke with noticing something suspicious?
PHIL MUDD, FORMER CIA COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL, FORMER FBI SENIOR INTELLIGENCE ADVISER: I mean, sort of, Jake. This is pretty confusing. I have about 200 dog years in investigations like this, and this one is a little confusing.
So, let me give you two pictures. Number one, a civilian calls in to a security line and says there's something suspicious, and immediately a bunch of people react. Boy, that sounds a little far-fetched in this situation. But on the other hand, obviously, the president is suggesting people were under surveillance and that they were arrested because of the surveillance.
[17:25:00]
That doesn't make sense either because if you're surveilling people, you don't conduct the operation when you're in a high-risk area with a bunch of civilians. I'm not sure what happened here, but in the world I lived in, if the Brits are leading the investigation and the Americans say we were actually involved in the investigation, that's a little bit embarrassing. You don't say that. The Brits take the lead. We sit in the back seat, Jake.
TAPPER: I want to turn to another case involving an alleged terror plot in the U.K. The Times of London broke the story about a former bodyguard who protected the leader of Hamas back in the mid-2000s, and then later moved to the U.K. in 2015. He was granted asylum, put under protection, later granted British citizenship. The paper IDs him only as Mr. X. But last year, he was arrested for helping to plot an attack on Jewish community centers and Israeli diplomats and pro-Israel demonstrations in Germany and possibly in Austria.
The story in the Times of London cites sources who say the plot was -- quote -- "overseen by senior figures in Hamas and Mr. X was an 'essential' figure in what transpired. One official described him as a senior Hamas asset who had used his British passport to routinely travel to Qatar and Turkey -- Hamas's two international hubs -- as well as Egypt" -- unquote.
I don't know what to make of any of that. I mean, how concerning is it that Hamas would be, A, trying to do these attacks in Europe, but also that the Brits let him in, gave him asylum, gave him citizenship? I don't understand. Was he a double agent who was actually a triple agent? Like, how did this happen?
MUDD: Well, let me clarify this for you in 60 seconds or less. We're going back years. The British have a different perspective. And again, we're going back years ago. This is before -- many years before October 7th. The Brits have a different perspective on Hamas than we do. They let in someone on asylum grounds, and he goes underground for years. You cannot, you cannot keep somebody under surveillance for that long a period of time. So, they let someone in on humanitarian grounds, and over time, he decides to reconnect with his network.
You can ask whether they should have let him in. Maybe not. You can also ask whether they should have surveilled him during that time. Not possible, Jake. That is not possible. So, he reconnected and went south. That's what happened in this case, I think.
TAPPER: All right. Phil Mudd, thank you so much. We always appreciate you and your expertise.
MUDD: Thank you.
TAPPER: Thirty-six days left in the midterm race. What CNN is learning about President Trump's strategy to help Republicans keep control of House and Senate in November. But could some of the people closest to him be hurting the plan? Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:32:02]
TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, cue the election music, please. Thank you. Just 36 days out from midterm election day. Enthusiasm, according to polls, is dwindling. Oh, I'm sorry. Not according to polls. Enthusiasm is dwindling, according to our sources, among President Trump's inner circle. As they privately acknowledge, there's not much else he can do to win over large swaths of independent or swing voters amid his very, very low approval ratings.
One Trump advisor put it frankly to our White House team, "It's obviously going to be effing rough." Except he didn't say effing. Republicans are most worried about losing control of the House. But confidence is now starting to slip away that they can hang on to the Senate, too. Yet, there remains a robust plan for both President Trump and Vice President Vance to travel to both purple and deep red states to rally their supporters.
Trump posted this morning he'll be, "out there spending money," adding, MAGA, pretend I am on the ballot. You might have also seen this T.V. ad of President Trump yesterday during Sunday NFL football, paid for by you, the U.S. taxpayer, though the voiceover sounds really, really similar to a Trump campaign speech from November 2023.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the final battle. We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country. We will rout the fake news media and we will liberate America from these villains. 2024 is our final battle. We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country. We will route the fake news media.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Sounds quite a bit like the same thing. The administration compared the ad to previous PSAs, however, saying these are very clearly not campaign ads, even if Trump used the exact same language while campaigning in 2024. The GOP is betting big that Trump will be a driver for Republican voters in November, but they are facing something of a catch-22 because the president is also a big motivator for people who hate him, Democrats. And that can be a problem, especially when he and his family or his advisors, shall we say, drift off message.
Take this past weekend, Trump's White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Dan Scavino, posting this A.I.-generated video of what seems to be a version of himself and his wife, along with Eric and Laura Trump. They're popping champagne dressed to the nines in a Golden Hotel luggage cart. FBI Director Kash Patel was also pictured in real photographs partying alongside Republicans at Trump's former personal lawyer and acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba at her third wedding, an extravagant affair at the Waldorf Astoria, where she wed a Turkish billionaire. Speaking of lavish weddings, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are saying they want to investigate the wedding of Donald Trump Jr. after that ProPublica report that a Russian oligarch with connections to Putin funded the Ireland wedding party. Here's what North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis told me yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[17:35:04]
SEN. TOM TILLIS (R-NC): Come on, guys, this is amateur hour at a time when we need our pros on the field. We've got an election we need to win in 37 days. How this helped, I can't imagine. So, yes, I think taking a look at it, maybe Don Jr. can give us a reasonable example for why tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars from an oligarch went into a wedding in some beach location. But, boy, I'd sure like to see the rationale behind it on its face. It doesn't look very smart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: This all while American voters are paying on average $4.47 for a gallon of gas, up almost $1.50 from before the war, which started seven months ago today. Ground beef is up $1.27 per pound since Trump took office. And on Election Day, that's a little more than a month away.
Joining me now, Republican Congressman Mike Flood from Nebraska. Congressman, do you think November is going to be, as one Trump advisor put it, effing tough for Republicans?
REP. MIKE FLOOD (R-NE): Well, I think October is a political lifetime. There's a lot of things that can happen between now and Election Day. Certainly, we need to get out and tell people that, you know, we passed the largest tax cut in American history. We doubled the child tax credit to $2,200 per child. We got rid of taxes on tips and overtime and for most seniors on Social Security. And you can now transition the family farm without federal estate tax dollars, penalties, in most situations in America. So there's a lot of things we have to get the message out about. Certainly, to your point, on the dashboard, there's a bright red light that's blinking, and that's diesel fuel.
TAPPER: The message, and you're very on message, and I totally understand it and respect it, of the achievements, as you see them in the big, beautiful bill, as it was called. Do you think that the President is on message like you are? Do you think that his team, Dan Scavino, Kash Patel, others that have posted photographs, Don Jr., do you think they are talking about no tax on tips the way that you are?
FLOOD: I don't live on X or Facebook or anything like that. I can't control what anybody else puts on there. I have to think every night when the President and his team, just like every member of Congress, goes to bed, we want to tell the American people what we did. We did what everybody thought wouldn't be possible. We passed this big bill. It has wide-ranging ramifications. We cut $2 trillion in spending. But beyond that, we also passed 11.5 percent, you know, of all of that appropriation with the Democrats. We have done more. We passed sweeping housing legislation that became law. Americans need to know that our message on affordability is we are increasing housing supply. We are bringing down costs. As it relates to diesel, everything should be on the table. I think you see Republicans and Democrats all over this country recognizing that it ripples through the economy. It certainly does. I'm open-minded to see what's out there. As far as coming back to Washington, show me a plan that involves the Senate, and I'm all for it.
TAPPER: Nebraska Republican Congressman Mike Flood, thank you, sir. Always appreciate you coming on.
This programming note, CNN is hosting a debate in the California race for governor. I'm going to moderate alongside CNN's Dana Bash. Coming up this Wednesday night, 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific. Look for that live here on CNN and streaming on the CNN All Access app.
[17:38:25]
Still ahead, the new video message from Angela Paxton, her message to women in her state today after divorcing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Senate nominee from the Republican Party in Texas, divorcing him on, "biblical grounds."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: We're back with the Politics Lead in a curious moment. The estranged wife of Texas Republican Senate candidate and current state attorney general, Ken Paxton, seeming to back his election, kind of. Angela Paxton herself is a Texas state senator. She filed for divorce last year citing, "biblical grounds." She accused Ken Paxton of adultery. But in a recent speech, she urged conservative women to back Republican candidates, "even if we're mad at them."
Ken Paxton, you'll know, was impeached by the Texas State House in 2023 over allegations of bribery and improper influence related to a donor also included in the allegations. Was a Paxton had a girlfriend outside his marriage whom that donor hired as a favor to Paxton. He was acquitted by the Texas State Senate. But the scandals front and center in this year's Senate race. I'm not lost on those who preferred primary Paxton's primary challenger, incumbent Senator John Cornyn.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARL ROVE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: If John Cornyn were the nominee, this race would be over. But, you know, when you got a guy who's got multiple girlfriends and $200,000 worth of improvements in his house from a corrupt business guy for whom he does favors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Let's bring in CNN's Arlette Saenz. Arlette, Angela Paxton's speech was titled the elephant in the room, but she didn't specifically name the elephant. ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, she didn't. But there's no question who she was referring to as her estranged husband. Ken Paxton is perhaps one of the most controversial candidates on the ballot in Texas. This is really notable. Even though she didn't mention his name, it's still a reference to this race, which she really has not made at all during this general election or during the primary contest.
Now, Angela Paxton, she's a state senator. She was speaking to a group of Republican women recently where she said that they may be conflicted about certain Republican candidates, but they still needed to think about the party seat that is in play in this election. Take a listen to what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[17:45:02]
SEN. ANGELA PAXTON (R-TX): The reality is, while we are the party of values, we have some vulnerabilities on our ballot. I'll be honest with you. I think Republican women will decide this election because some of those vulnerabilities, I think, have been particularly alienating to women. We have more control over that seat and the future when we control the seat, when it's still in the family, even if we're mad at it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ: Now, these comments come as there is a lot of anxiety among Republicans about whether they will be able to hold onto the seat with Ken Paxton at the top of the ticket in that Senate race. He has really been weighed down by a host of controversies, including allegations about infidelity. There was that impeachment that went through, and it was later he was acquitted on that during his time.
But this is something that Republicans had warned a lot about, that his controversies wouldn't sit well with Republican voters. And in fact, as you heard from Karl Rove there, this was an argument that people were making back in the GOP primary when he was running against Senator John Cornyn. Cornyn had run ads talking about Paxton's dirty deeds. At the time, Paxton's daughter put out a video saying that her father isn't a perfect man, but that they do think that he is a good person.
This all comes, too, as you are seeing Republicans pour so much money into the state of Texas right now. I looked it up right before we came on the air. Senate Leadership Fund, they have a group that is running $124 million worth of ads to try to boost Paxton in this final stretch. That is money that a lot of Republican strategists wish that they were spending elsewhere, not necessarily in a red state like Texas.
But Paxton's controversies could really be a hindrance to him going forward in this race. We'll see how this all plays out in the next five weeks.
TAPPER: Arlette Saenz, thanks so much.
Today, CNN is announcing today a town hall with the Democrat in the race, Texas Senate candidate James Talarico. We have, of course, extended an invitation to Ken Paxton as well. The town hall with Talarico will be moderated by CNN's Erin Burnett. It will be live Wednesday, October 14th at 8:00 Eastern, live here on CNN and on the CNN All Access app.
Yesterday, the U.S. Attorney General tried to justify the President's ban on news outlets that he deemed too negative by claiming that the reporting of we hear it CNN and "MS NOW" and "Politico" constitute a national security problem. The judge who just last week pointed out how unconstitutional the ban was, whom Trump appointed to the bench, by the way, did not agree with the national security arguments.
Despite that, the Trump administration continues to make this national security argument. Here's what Attorney General Blanche said yesterday on "ABC."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TODD BLANCHE, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: That is what is a national security problem. When you have completely misinformation, complete misinformation coming out of the White House, that affects our relationship with our foreign partners. That affects our relationship with our foreign enemies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: When you have complete misinformation coming out of the White House, that affects our relationship with our foreign partners. That affects our relationship with our foreign enemies. And therefore, it's a national security problem. You see this sometimes in politics, especially with this White House, a cabinet secretary trying to squeeze a round peg into a square hole. In this case, the failed and not credible national security argument behind the ban. That's a round peg into the square hole of the President's stated justification for the ban.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: There's something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative statements.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Now, set aside, when it comes to Blanche's argument about misinformation, set aside for a moment that the biggest purveyor of misinformation from the White House is President Trump, with tens of thousands of documented lies that we are all, all too familiar with by now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The millions of votes illegally stuffed into ballot boxes and all caught on government cameras. Millions of votes were cast illegally in the swing states alone.
It's going to disappear one day. It's like a miracle. It will disappear.
I'm going to put tariffs on other countries coming into our country. And that has nothing to do with taxes to us. That's a tax on another country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Moving along from that regrettable fact of the President's prevarication is the question of who decides what is misinformation in journalism? Is it Attorney General Blanche? Now, Trump acknowledges that he was banning us from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: A very simple ban. I don't want them in my office. I don't want them here. I would say the ban would go as far as you can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[17:50:03]
TAPPER: Attorney General Blanche said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLANCHE: Well, the President hasn't denied access. That's not the right way to describe it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: It isn't. Last month, Blanche told "NBC" that President Trump had never told the Justice Department who to prosecute.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLANCHE: The President will never ask me to do something unethical or illegal. He never has. He never will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Of course, that ignores that we all saw President Trump sending then Attorney General Pam Bondi, Blanche was a Deputy Attorney General at the time, calling for the prosecutions of Democratic Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey.
I think it's fair to say that Todd Blanche doesn't necessarily have the firmest grasp on what facts are as related to President Trump. And that's why this decision is not supposed to be up to the leaders whom we are covering. I get that President Trump would prefer a press corps made up entirely of "Fox" and "Breitbart," but that's decidedly not what the founding fathers had in mind. They made it clear they thought a free and adversarial press was necessary. James Madison called journalists covering politicians, "The only effectual guardian of every other right." The only security of all is in a free press, Thomas Jefferson told the Marquis de Lafayette.
What Trump and his chief law enforcement officer are expressing when it comes to the press is contrary to the values espoused by Madison and Jefferson. When leaders attempt to silence journalism, they reveal a profound fear of the very accountability that the Constitution was designed to enforce.
Joining us to talk about this now is CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. He's a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York. Ellie, Blanche now claims that the President's press ban is motivated by national security concerns in the fact that we cover things that they don't like. How did that argument play in court?
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Jake, the national security claim that we're hearing here is a pretext. It is something that was made up after the fact to try to justify the press ban. And that's not my conclusion. That's the conclusion of the federal district court judge you referenced earlier, Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump nominee.
In his opinion, Judge Kelly says specifically, and I quote, "There is nothing in the record," to support this national security claim. And in fact, the reality is Donald Trump spent the first three days of the ban saying explicitly the reason for the ban. I don't like their coverage too unfavorable. Not nice enough to me, essentially. And only later did they throw in the national security claim. And the thing is, Todd Blanche does the exact same thing in that interview you showed.
In one breath, he will say, well, CNN's reporting is a national security threat. And seconds later, he's saying, and we don't like it. They're overly unfavorable to us. So even Blanche is not able to keep up this pretext.
TAPPER: Blanche also claimed that the President had not denied access to the press and that, "It is a privilege and not a right to be at the White House." Is he right as a matter of constitutional law?
HONIG: Well, that's the exact same first line of the losing brief that the President's team submitted. It's a privilege, not a right to access the White House. As a matter of law, whatever you call it, the press is entitled to due process before they're removed from the White House, from the Oval Office or from any of that. That's exactly the basis for the judge's decision.
And in this case, there was zero due process. The entirety of due process was Donald Trump's Truth Social posts. And the judge says you can't do it that way. There have to be known rules. There has to be an opportunity to contest the ban. And what the White House said in this case is, well, they acknowledged there was no due process.
They say we're going to create post deprivation process, meaning first we're going to deprive you of your rights, and then we're going to invent some process after the fact. And Judge Kelly said that's not the way it works. That's not what due process is all about.
TAPPER: Elie Honig, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
[17:53:56]
Still ahead, the fight for control of Congress down to just 36 days. Earlier, we heard from a House Republican. Up next, we're going to hear from a Senate Democrat on the chances of a Democratic victory in November. Also ahead, the top prosecutor who's reopening this disturbing gang rape case at Cornell. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: The Lead tonight, MAGA, pretend I am on the ballot. That is a quote from Trump's Truth Social post, coming 36 days until midterm election day. Trump's advisors are betting on him to get enough base voters out to the polls. This as a new Trump taxpayer-funded ad hit the airwaves over the weekend. A video sounding quite similar to a message delivered during Trump's 2024 campaign. Here's part of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We will liberate America from these villains once and for all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: With approval ratings at an all-time low in a largely unpopular war with Iran, consumer confidence down quite a bit, and three quarters of the American people thinking the country is on the wrong track, Trump advisers privately are acknowledging that there is little expectation that the President can win over large numbers of independents and swing voters.
Despite that, President Trump's team is planning an aggressive campaign schedule for Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance in both battleground and in deep red states alike. Let's bring in CNN's chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins. Kaitlan when talking about the midterms, one Trump adviser told CNN, "It's obviously going to be effing rough." Except the U-C-K were mentioned. So why exactly do they think Trump is the best answer to help Republicans keep control of Congress when he is so unpopular?
[18:00:00]
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, probably because the President thinks that Jake and he has seen polls before where he's been down and believes that they're wrong or fake or just misguided in his view.
