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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Fires Katie Zacharia After Just Five Days As White House Press Secretary; Early In-Person Voting In North Carolina Jumped Nearly 47 Percent From 2022; Police Chief Says, Three Boys, 25-Year- Old Teacher Were Killed; Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Joins El-Sayed On Campaign Trail In Michigan; Sailor Deployed To USS Lincoln Reunites With Deported Father. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 16, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Boris Sanchez in for Jake Tapper.

[18:00:00]

This hour, Katie Zacharia, fired as White House press secretary after just five days on the job. President Trump making it clear as he left the White House today that Zacharia was not cut out for the role. So, who's he going to hire next, and how soon might they take the podium? We're going to take you live to the White House in just moments.

Plus, President Trump back on the campaign trail today, rallying Republicans in Georgia. His schedule for the next week was just released, packed with stops in ruby red states as he tries to avoid a worst-case scenario for Republicans. We'll take a look at the White House's strategy with just 18 days to go.

Also, officials in Bend, Oregon, giving an update this afternoon on a deadly school shooting there. Three young boys and a 25-year-old teacher identified as the victims. Investigators, though, still searching for the shooter's motive. We'll take you live to Oregon for the latest details.

And a U.S. Navy sailor came home earlier this month after a long deployment as part of the war with Iran. Now she says she has a new fight ahead of her as she works to bring home her father, who was deported to Mexico as she served overseas. Their story, straight ahead.

The Lead tonight, President Trump on the road with just 18 days until Election Day, or about three-and-a-half Zacharias. We'll explain that in just a second. Trump is speaking at a rally in Georgia right now, and is heading to Kentucky tomorrow with a few more reliably red states to round out the week as he tries to tamp down a possible blue wave.

Meantime, back in D.C., the White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia, fired today after just five days on the job. Here's a quick recap of her eventful tenure. On Friday, October 9th, President Trump announced her hiring in a Truth Social post referring to her as an attorney. That weekend, she did the rounds on conservative media outlets, and Monday, October 12th, was her first official day on the job.

Tuesday the 13th was her first news conference, which lasted just about 14 minutes, and she accidentally referred to President Trump as her husband. Wednesday and Thursday, she and other White House officials were in damage control mode over why she kept calling herself a lawyer, despite never having passed the bar exam.

Last night and this morning, some more Fox News interviews, some tough ones, all leading to the nudge from President Trump earlier this afternoon when he told reporters he asked Zacharia to, quote, reconsider her role.

Let's go live to the White House with CNN's Kristen Holmes. And, Kristen, you talked to President Trump about this earlier today. He was asking Zacharia whether she really needed this job.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and it was clear from what President Trump was saying that there had been some sort of conversation in which President Trump was asking her to reflect on the job and say maybe you really don't want to do this job.

Now, we didn't know at the time that she had already been fired and was transitioning out. That's how one White House official put it. But it's not that common in Trump world to be fired and then have the president say such nice things. In fact, usually, he goes scorched earth, but this is some of our exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: And I said, Katie, do you need this? I don't think you need this. And we're talking about doing something. We like Katie a lot. I think she's been really, really treated very unfairly.

REPORTER: Are you saying you're talking about firing her or replacing her?

TRUMP: We're talking about -- I want her to have a good life. I don't want to have a life like she's led in the last three days. She is being brutalized by the media.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And just in defense of me, it is very loud. That's why I am screaming there, as you can hear. But he did continue to say that she didn't deserve it, that she was treated brutally.

And what we're told is that it wasn't just about the press briefing, which was widely panned. It was 14 minutes, and then she took questions from three pre-planned outlets, but it was also the interviews she did afterwards, that during those interviews, she just couldn't really hold her own, that she was, he was asking advisers and allies, and essentially saying that he agreed with them that she wasn't quite ready for primetime.

Now, we asked a series of follow-up questions there, would he consider another role in the administration, which he said yes. Who else was he considering for press secretary? He said that everybody was interested in the job. And one thing to keep in mind here is that President Trump didn't show any urgency in filling the role when Karoline Leavitt left. And in fact, most allies and advisers, even White House officials, didn't think they'd have a press secretary until after the midterms.

And then there was this kind of rush of urgency where he found Zacharia, he grew kind of enamored with her, watching her hits on Fox News, as one person put it, and decided that she was the right one for the role.

And the whole hiring process was a series of three days with President Trump going with his gut, not consulting any of his advisers, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, on if he should hire her. But at the end of the day, he did agree with those advisers and allies when they said this is not the right fit for her.

SANCHEZ: Kristen Holmes at the White House, we appreciate you not yelling at us.

[18:05:01]

Thanks, Kristen.

Let's discuss with our panel now. Ashley, first to you. Trump's previous record holder as press secretary, Anthony Scaramucci, lasted 11 days. He was actually communications director.

ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL, G.W. BUSH ADMINISTRATION: Right.

SANCHEZ: And he posted on social media, quote, records are made to be broken, but I take no pleasure in other people's pain. What do you make of Zacharia's brief but memorable tenure at the podium?

DAVIS: Well, first of all, I think that Scaramucci handled his firing and his post-life like the best out of anybody because he's kind of like makes it a joke that he only lasted 11 days. But, listen, she was toast after the -- whatever you want to call it, whether it's a lie or miscommunication, when she said that she was a lawyer, or insinuated that she was an attorney, which is even a bigger deal. And so this was the right thing.

One of the things that, and which was just said as well, is he actually let her go very nice. And so he was still being very complimentary of her. I'm a big believer that leading into an investigation chaos as we're going to get in January after the midterm especially, you know, with the House, that you're going to need a really strong press secretary, and I just don't think she was up for the job.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Mo, so that -- I talked about that first briefing lasting only 14 minutes, she took three questions. She told Sean Hannity on Fox she thought it would've been fine just to introduce herself without any questions at all. Let's give some perspective to our viewers. Of the past press secretaries, Sean Spicer's first briefing was an hour and 18 minutes. Kayleigh McEnany's the shortest at 32 minutes. Of course, Stephanie Grisham held no briefings. She was on the job for much more than five days.

What does this whole ordeal tell you about Trump's consideration of qualifications when it comes to this role?

MO ELLEITHEE, EXECUTIVE DIRECOTR, INSTITUTE OF POLITICS AND PUBLIC SERVICE: He likes someone who's nice to him on T.V. And maybe that's it, right? I mean, there wasn't that much of a -- by all accounts, there wasn't that much of a rigorous hiring process going here. She clearly hadn't been vetted fully or else they would have caught this whole issue about whether she was a lawyer or an attorney.

She clearly hadn't gone through any sort of rigorous -- you know, I know -- I don't know what their process is in this White House. In other White Houses, they'll bring candidates in and maybe sort of do a mock press briefing to see how they do. That didn't happen. She was someone who was loyal to him and defended him on cable news panels.

And that's where the real problem is to me. It's a hard job. She did not need to go out there on day one at all. She should have waited several weeks. But the president hired her without this vetting. The president's the one who pushed her to do this briefing completely unprepared.

SANCHEZ: She acknowledged last night on Fox that she did the first briefing without having been briefed herself.

ELLEITHEE: Right.

SANCHEZ: Let's play more of her appearances on Fox News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Why get into this long, drawn out definition between the difference between a lawyer and an attorney? Because I don't think most people see much of a distinction. Why didn't you just say, I never practiced law?

KATIE ZACHARIA, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, Sean, when I moved back from the United States, I didn't retake the bar. I had four kids in six years. It was never my intent to go into the practice of law.

LAWRENCE JONES, FOX NEWS HOST: And do you think you still have the confidence of the president?

ZACHARIA: I'm standing here, and I was able to travel with him through all of the midterm convention, or, excuse me, the midterm rallies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: So, the president says the media treated her in a nasty way but these are fair questions coming from a very friendly network, and you saw the responses.

DAVIS: Yes. And if I think anything put her nail in the coffin, it was those interviews yesterday. There was damage control that was supposed to be done, but it was over.

SANCHEZ: Made it worse.

DAVIS: But I want to just talk about real quickly the main point of what he said today was -- after the talk about her, was the fact that Susie Wiles is going nowhere. And she said it again. He said it again in the press conference because that's the other, you know, in our chitchat world, like the -- is Susie leaving? By the way, if Susie would want to leave, two years of a chief of staff, as we all know, is like ten years, yes. And so -- but he reiterated again.

So, there's someone that's either trying to get Susie's job that are planting these stories, but I think that's what's interesting to me.

SANCHEZ: Notably, a tenure in which she was also dealing with breast cancer, right?

DAVIS: Absolutely. You know, when Andy Card said to us when he was chief of staff, he said, when you're at the White House longer than 18 months, no matter what you are, it's time to start looking because you just are exhausted.

SANCHEZ: Mo, the other question is the timing of this because we're 18 days out from the midterms at a time when Republicans are facing not only historical headwinds in the sense that they're the incumbent party, but also the, the economy's in a rough spot. The war with Iran is unpopular.

[18:10:00]

President Trump himself is often saying things that are at odds with his own press shop.

So, what does it send to voters as a message that now the press secretary role is up in the air again?

ELLEITHEE: I mean, the, for the past week, the press secretary should have been setting the message from the White House. Instead, the press secretary became the entire message, right? There was no White House message that was able to penetrate this past week because we were all following this drama.

So, it was just another self-goal -- you know, own goal by the White House this close to the election. Republicans I talk to just keep -- you know, they're just shaking their heads.

SANCHEZ: Mo Elleithee, Ashley Davis, appreciate the conversation.

DAVIS: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Thanks. Still plenty more news to come, we're getting new numbers today about how many Americans have already voted in the midterm elections, what that could tell us about some of the more competitive races ahead.

Plus, we're learning new details about that horrific shooting at a Bend, Oregon elementary school yesterday, including the quick and heroic actions of a parent and a teacher that saved lives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

SANCHEZ: We're back with our politics lead. If you've already cast your ballot, you're among the majority of Americans who vote early.

Let's go to CNN's Tom Foreman at the Magic Wall. Tom, we have some very interesting new early voting numbers coming out of North Carolina.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we do. And even as we turn to those numbers, I can tell you the message is simple enough. If Republicans hope the Democrats are losing momentum and they're picking it up, they better keep hoping, because it's not happening yet.

Look at these numbers. This is what we're seeing right now in this race. The Democrats are vastly, in the first day of in-person voting yesterday, there's been mail-in voting for several weeks, in the first person first day of mail-in -- of actual in-person voting, look at this, vastly outpacing the Republicans over here, massive difference, 47 percent here, 20 percent there. Compare it to the bigger picture of 2024, there was almost no difference there. But the difference here is not just that Democrats are increasing their numbers, but, critically, that Republican numbers have cratered here.

Now, maybe they'll catch up, but this is a state where they register by party when they do this, so we really can know who's voting. In other places, we just base it on geography and likelihood of who they're voting for, but here you have a much better picture, and it looks bad for Republicans.

If you look at bigger, key Senate races, you see it all over the place. Alaska, that's the closest one, 26 percent, 24 percent. But a lot of people here are either unaffiliated or no party. Maine, runaway there at the moment. Nebraska, North Carolina, which we just talked about, Ohio. And if you look at the U.S. map Iowa, for example, is behaving very much like North Carolina is with their early voting going on now.

Again, as we've said all along, does this tell us how it's going to end? No. In some places where Democrats started off very strong, now it looks like it may be a little bit softer, but they're still basically showing a much bigger advantage in this enthusiasm gap that we're talking about so much.

So, there's time for the Republicans to still come back and do better, and maybe on Election Day. But right now we're closing in on 7 million votes already cast pre-election here, and it's not as early as it was. So, the time is beginning to run out. Boris?

SANCHEZ: We'll see if some of these trends hold. Tom Foreman, thank you so much.

Joining us now to discuss, CNN Political Director and Washington Bureau Chief David Chalian. David, great to see you as always.

So, these early voting numbers may sound exciting for Democrats, but there are still some that think some of these races are too close for comfort, including in Minnesota, the race there to replace the retiring Democratic senator, Tina Smith. Why is that seat so important? What does the fundraising look like?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Well, I'll answer your last part of the question first, which is that unlike a lot of the competitive Senate races that we've seen the Democratic candidate in the third quarter that just closed and reported dramatically outraising Republicans. That's not the case in Minnesota. We saw the reverse in the third quarter. Michele Tafoya, the Republican candidate you see there, actually outraised Flanagan, the lieutenant governor there.

But it's just one of these races -- you say why it's so important. Democrats, as you know, need a net gain of four Republican seats that they have to flip in order to become the majority party in the United States Senate, but they also have to keep all of their own that they have.

SANCHEZ: Right.

CHALIAN: And so if indeed a race like Minnesota is all of a sudden, you know, potentially giving Democrats a little cause for concern, although I think there's some debate about that. Some Democrats think they're okay there. But it's still something that requires attention, time, resources just to make sure, because they've got to hold all their own.

Now, they have to do that in places that are far more competitive than Minnesota, like in Michigan, again, if they are to have a path at the majority.

SANCHEZ: Well, let's talk about another place where fundraising is key, and that is Kansas. The Senate race there, Democrat Pastor Adam Hamilton raising $9 million between July and September. The incumbent Republican senator, Roger Marshall, raising only $800,000 in the same timeframe. That is an 11-1 ratio.

CHALIAN: This is what I was just saying. If you look at those other races, we've seen this dramatic -- but that number, that's abysmal for a Republican incumbent senator with a real fight on his hands. To me, that is like the perfect encapsulation of an incumbent senator who seems to have been caught sleeping a little bit on just like how tough an environment this may be and how quickly Hamilton was sort of coming on and making that competitive.

We've seen in the last couple weeks race watchers have moved that to a true toss-up race, like some of the other, Alaska, Iowa, Ohio, Texas, that we've talked about, these Trump double-digit states. Kansas is now in that equation. And the question is did -- you know, is it still just too much of a Republican state for Hamilton to actually get over the finish line here, the Democrat, or, you know, did Marshall really get caught by surprise enough that this environment, even in Kansas, could prove very dangerous?

SANCHEZ: A state that President Trump won handily, we should note.

I want to get your thoughts on something that I asked Pollster Frank Luntz yesterday. He was skeptical of some of the polling that came from Fox News showing President Trump's approval rating at a historic low showing anger about corruption in government and the economy. Here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER AND COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIST: I got 2016 wrong. I believed in the exit polls. Trump voters walked away, refused to participate because they thought that it was against them. They thought that the polls were all biased. And that's what Republicans are being told right now. Don't believe the polls. They're not accurate. Well, they may be. We're about to find out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: He argues that polls are bad at determining turnout, and specifically among the more sort of disengaged, not politically tuned- in Trump voters.

CHALIAN: Yes. In polling world, this is called the thing here is called non-response bias. And this is something that we saw in 2016 and 2020 where pollsters didn't capture the entirety of that Trump vote. But, Boris, I got to say, polls are not supposed to be predictive. They're not supposed to tell you exactly how the election's going to turn out. They are a snapshot in time. What tells you how an election turned out is when we count the actual votes.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

CHALIAN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: David Chalian, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Still ahead, a Washington Post photographer hospitalized after Israeli settlers attacked her while she was trying to do her job. We've got the details in a report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

SANCHEZ: In our World Lead, a Washington Post photographer attacked by a group of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank today. Fellow journalists raced to Heidi Levine's aid after she says attackers threw stones at her and kicked her repeatedly, even though she was wearing a protective vest clearly marked with the word press.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Israel for us. Jeremy, The Washington Post says she will need surgery. What else are you learning?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, Heidi Levine is a veteran photojournalist. She's been covering this conflict on the ground for decades. And earlier today, she was doing her job, covering the olive harvest season in the Palestinian village of Abu Fualah, when suddenly dozens of masked Israeli settlers descended from a hilltop. Several of them surrounded her, pushed her to the ground, and began beating her.

She says the beating lasted for about ten minutes. They stole her camera equipment, her passport, and her phone, and left her there bloodied, bruised, and clearly in shock. Several colleagues then rushed in as well as Palestinian medics, got her out of the area and off to a hospital.

She was one of several people who were wounded today in settler attacks across the West Bank on Palestinians who were harvesting olives. We saw that these Israeli settlers set several cars on fire as well, including a fire truck.

And it's important to note that these attacks by Israeli settlers are getting worse. Journalists are now regularly being targeted by Israeli settlers, and the olive harvest season, just like last year, is becoming synonymous with a surge in settler attacks against Palestinians.

In a statement, the Israeli military called violence against civilians, quote, grave and unacceptable, but the Israeli Prime Minister's Office is already trying to minimize the incident, saying that Levine was, quote, allegedly assaulted and saying that the circumstances remain unclear and under investigation.

The Israel police, for its part, said it has opened an investigation, but we know that too often those investigations into settler violence don't result in any indictments. And that's why Levine, from her hospital bed, said that she is, quote, sure that, sadly, none of them will be prosecuted. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond, thank you for that report.

We have breaking news out of southern California, a wildfire exploding in size in just the past few hours, torching homes in its path. We have the details when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

SANCHEZ: We're back with breaking news in our National Lead, new details about yesterday's deadly shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon. A five-year-old, identified as Rome Summer, was one of three young victims. The families of two other victims, an 8-year-old boy and an 11-year- old boy, declined to make their names public at this time. The teacher killed is 25-year-old Megan Lambert, who grew up in Bend. Officials saying that this, her first teaching job, was her dream job. Police also say a seven-year-old girl who survived the shooting is in stable but critical condition. Another 54-year-old teacher is recovering with non-life-threatening injuries.

All of the victims apparently shot in the same classroom, a special needs classroom with students of different ages. Bend's police chief also revealing the 16-year-old suspect was a former special needs student at the school, who investigators learned walked to the campus with a shotgun and was spotted by two drivers jumping a fence to get in.

And one of those drivers, Kaylub Giamanco, a parent whose two daughters go to Silver Rail, went into the school following the shooter and then shot and killed him. Chief of Police Mike Krantz praised his heroism and that of another teacher who helped save lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MIKE KRANTZ, BEND POLICE DEPARTMENT: In addition to the 36-year- old man who bravely stepped in to stop the suspect, I want to highlight another person whose heroic action we need to recognize. A teacher in the classroom threw her cellphone at the suspect and then tackled him and fought to take the firearm from him. She was not injured in that incident, but she almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

The shooter's motive is still under investigation.

Let's discuss with Democratic Congresswoman Janelle Bynum, whose district includes Bend, Oregon. Congresswoman, thank you so much for sharing part of your evening with us. We're sorry that it's under these circumstances. I understand that you were at today's news conference and you also visited the school today. Yes. How was that and how is your community processing all of this? It feels very heavy.

REP. JANELLE BYNUM (D-OR): It also feels very preventable. We saw that it was easier to get a gun than it is to get mental health resources. I also visited the central library and talked with those people there who are managing the mental health response and we all acknowledge that it is very, very difficult to help someone in need with the current resources that we have.

SANCHEZ: So, in Oregon, a 16-year-old could legally possess a shotgun if it was transferred or provided by a parent. They may lawfully temporarily possess it for hunting, target practice, or shooting sports. Sources told CNN that the shooter's mother bought the shotgun. I wonder if you think the parents should potentially be held accountable?

BYNUM: So, the issue here is that guns are the number one cause of death for kids. And it's also the issue that when guns end up in the hands of the wrong people, people who may have suicidal thoughts or people who have thoughts towards hurting other people, we have to have the proper interventions.

[18:35:03]

Otherwise, if you think about it, this school, we had invested money in to make sure that it was locked. They did all of their drills as expected. Everything that we've, you know, said that will protect kids up to now, and yet it didn't work.

And so I think we have to go back and rethink what we're doing to protect our children, not just, you know, who can carry a gun, but how we make sure we intervene when we suspect that there are problems.

SANCHEZ: Does that include looking into any potential behavior by the parents that perhaps overlooked access to this weapon?

BYNUM: It includes everything. I know that I have, you know, tried to access resources for my own children, and what we-- what I talked with the superintendent about, just briefly, is when it gets to be a stage where things are acute, a lot of us, our hands are tied. The laws don't go far enough fast enough for us to be able to intervene.

I think what you're also getting at is just vicarious liability. And so there's a conversation that we should be having about responsible gun ownership. Everybody plays a role in solving this problem. And I should remind people that we're talking about a child who killed other children. And that, I think, is the responsibility of the adults here.

SANCHEZ: Wow. The bystander who killed the shooter is Kaylub Giamanco. He's a dad whose two daughters attended Silver Rail. And in a statement earlier today, the National Rifle Association praised him, quote, yesterday's terrible act of violence in Oregon serves as another reminder of the importance of a law-abiding armed citizenry. It goes on to say, his decisive actions exemplify the heroism of everyday citizens who are prepared and ready to respond when innocent lives are on the line. What is your response?

BYNUM: Well, I can relate because if I thought somebody was about to go into a school and harm my children or any other children, game on.

SANCHEZ: And your thoughts as you talk about more that could be done to take guns off of the wrong hands, to the idea that the NRA is now saying things actually worked the way that they should have, in a sense, that the -- it's a good thing that this law-abiding person was there with a weapon.

BYNUM: I think two things can be true. The first is that we never should have any of our children at risk of being harmed as they are in school, and we should also respect people who have courage to go in a place where they don't know if they're going to come out alive.

But we should never put that burden on them, to be quite honest with you. There's more that we can do in the prevention space so that dad never has to think twice about whether he's going to go in and save those children.

There are -- the challenge here is that this is not just affecting the children and the families of the children who were killed. This affects the first responders. It affects the teachers. It affects the hospital staff. It affects the emergency technicians. It's affecting all of the children in the district. It's affecting the state. It's affecting the country. It's affecting the world. This is a cascading effect, and we have to stop allowing our children to be shredded in schools, grocery stores, parks, churches. We have to stop this violence.

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman Janelle Bynum, we appreciate you sharing your perspective and our hearts go out to the Bend community. Thank you for joining us.

BYNUM: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Also breaking tonight, businesses and homes burning in Southern California. Orange County officials say a fast-moving wildfire exploded in size over the last few hours.

CNN's Leigh Waldman is in Los Angeles for us. Leigh, what are you learning?

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, you mentioned exploding in size. Within three hours, this fire, the Norte Fire, as it's being called, went from 50 acres to now 465 acres.

And you can see they're attacking this fire from the sky. Those fixed- wing planes dropping fire retardant onto these homes. But we do know, unfortunately, from the Orange County Fire Authority, that several homes in this area have been lost.

But what is making this so much worse for Southern California right now is the Santa Ana winds that we've been dealing with for several days now. They're expected to die down throughout the weekend.

But right now, it's a tough fight for these firefighters in this area. It's tough terrain. It's really dry. It's really warm out here, but you have those gusty winds, 25-mile-per-hour wind gusts blowing into this area, blowing those flames house to house here.

[18:40:08]

It's an uphill battle for these fire crews.

SANCHEZ: Leigh Waldman, thank you so much for the update. We'll stay on top of this story and bring you the latest details as we get them.

Not only is Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the campaign trail this week, she's also throwing seven figures to help one candidate get elected. We've got the details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We're back with our Politics Lead. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez finishing up a sprint around Michigan campaigning alongside the progressive Democratic Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, doing what she can to push him over the finish line in a tight race that might decide who controls the upper chamber.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino wraps it all up for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): Thank you, Michigan. And let's hear it for my friend, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed.

[18:45:00]

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the closing weeks of the midterms, U.S. Senate Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez barnstorming across Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It may be a Republican stronghold, but El-Sayed is hoping his populist message with a focus on Medicare for all and affordability, might appeal to moderate even conservative voters.

ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: The number of people who tell me I voted for Donald Trump two or three times, and I'm voting for you.

The difference in our politics right now is not red versus blue. It's not Democrat versus Republican. It's the people who've been locked out of their politics for a very long time.

PAZMINO (voice-over): Among the Great Lakes, the sleepy towns and Rosy's Diner, where the waitress greets you by name -- voters say they're worried about the basics.

SCOTT PETERSON, ESCANABA RESIDENT: We hunt, we fish, and we can put stuff in the freezer, right? But now we're starting to see even the cost of fuel for the boat. Things are starting to affect us up here. So it's -- it's getting to be a serious thing. It keeps you up at night.

PAZMINO (voice-over): These are the voters El-Sayed is hoping to make inroads with. Ocasio-Cortez making a direct appeal to Republicans.

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): I want to welcome you here. I want to thank you for keeping an open mind and an open ear. And really, what we want to say is that we're better together than we are apart.

PAZMINO (voice-over): Elliot Eckstein opened this butcher shop five years ago. He's a Republican but hasn't made up his mind on the race.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Upper Peninsula is its own economy. The fuel prices have made it challenging to deliver product. We had to put a delivery charge on.

PAZMINO (voice-over): It's not just gas prices. Voters are worried about. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are people who care about what's happening

to immigrants right now. There are people who care about what's happening to those on Medicaid and losing SNAP that it's -- these issues are very important.

PAZMINO (voice-over): There's also palpable frustration about the ongoing trade war with Canada. Michigan's largest trade partner.

PETER GREGOIRE, ESCANABA RESIDENT AND REGISTERED DEMOCRAT: Even though we're fairly conservative up here, that most of the people are fairly conservative. They're -- I mean, nobody wants to be in a war. Nobody wants to have tariffs on Canada, who we've been trading with forever and have our prices go up because somebody picks a fight with somebody who doesn't need to have a fight with them.

PAZMINO (voice-over): Here at Blades Bait and Tackle, they agree on how to catch the lake fish.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are giant suckers that people use for catching big Muskie out on the lake.

PAZMINO (voice-over): Less so on who to vote for next.

NOAH JOHNDON, ROGERS SUPPORTER: I'd probably vote for Mike Rogers. I agree with more of his policies.

PAZMINO: You're a registered Republican, but you've supported Democrats in the past and you still might.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I -- absolutely, I'm wide open.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAZMINO: And, Boris, we are now in Southwest Detroit, where Ocasio- Cortez is about to hold a Latinos for Abdul rally.

And we've spoken to voters here. They told me they're worried about immigration enforcement, but also affordability and high prices. And in just another sign of just how important this race is to Ocasio- Cortez, she donated $1 million of her campaign account funds to El- Sayed. That is a unusually large sum of money for a House representative supporting a Senate race that's outside of her district -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Gloria Pazmino in Detroit for us, thank you.

In our national lead, when it comes to the midterm elections, we aren't just following the candidates. We're also tracking the security of the U.S. election system. And today, CNN has new information on the threats surrounding the voting process. A new report finds scammers using fake emails and text messages to trick voters into turning over private information. The fraudsters are also using official logos to try and sell merchandise, like what you're seeing here, and also to trick voters into thinking they are donating to a real campaign.

Meantime, just yesterday, federal election officials were set to receive a highly anticipated classified briefing about foreign threats. That is until U.S. intel officials postponed the video call because of technical difficulties.

Across the country, law enforcement is investigating suspicious substances sent through the mail to multiple election and congressional offices to. One of those targets was the state capitol in Arizona. Where just yesterday, offices were evacuated after staff opened an envelope filled with white powder.

Joining us now is Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes.

Adrian, thank you so much for being with us. Tell us what you learned about the substance that was sent to the state capitol and who may have sent it.

ADRIAN FONTES (D), ARIZONA SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, thanks for having me. And first, I want to congratulate the professionals in my office who so quickly handled the encounter, sequestered it and evacuated the building so that everybody else was safe. And, a couple of my employees had to be quarantined for a while. The substance that was collected had gone through labs last night initially just to check toxicity.

That came back negative. I don't have any specific information as to what the substance actually is, but it is not harmful to human beings at this time. And I certainly do want to thank all of the folks at the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Phoenix Police, Phoenix Fire, and all of the law enforcement and public safety agencies that responded so quickly, you could not have scripted the response better.

[18:50:06]

Our team handled it very well. And I'm very proud of all of them.

SANCHEZ: I'm glad to hear that your team is okay. If this wasn't actually intended to cause harm, and we should point out it's not specific to Arizona, it's happening nationwide. Then it appears it was meant to at least distract, if not intimidate. I wonder what your message to voters is then?

FONTES: Well, the distraction of elections officials during this very, very busy time and the intimidation of potential intimidation of voters is harm that is harm to our democracy. That is harm to our election systems that we want to run smoothly without intimidation, without upsetting the apple cart.

We are taking this very, very seriously. The FBI is taking the lead in investigating this. And as you mentioned, there have been incidences in other places across the United States of America. But elections will go on. And what voters really need to know is that they themselves, their neighbors, their friends, their families are the ones who run our elections.

And in my view, the best answer to this kind of intimidation is participation. Voters should get out there and vote and vote early. If you have the ability to send a loud message that we as Americans are far braver than any cowards who might send powder through the mail.

SANCHEZ: I mentioned that, uh, intel briefing that was set for this week to address foreign threats being canceled because officials said they were having technical difficulties. Three sources told CNN that federal officials have not been in touch as regularly with election officials about security issues, compared to administrations past.

Is that your experience? Can you elaborate on that

FONTES: Yeah, I've been very public in my criticism of CISA, who has all but disappeared starting in the spring of 2025. You know, under the Trump administration, they started building up a very strong profile, assisting us with connectivity, with trainings, with all kinds of inspections around our state. And then suddenly, at the end, that increased as well under the Biden administration. But now Trump 2.0, they've just up and disappeared.

So, it's not just less frequent. It's not at all. And it's too bad because we used to have a great partner for making sure that our threat profile was well analyzed and that we were prepared.

Now we've kind of had to go it alone, but we've rebuilt a bit of that network across the country without CISA. And we're doing fine. Thank you very much.

SANCHEZ: And quickly, have federal officials rescheduled this briefing? Has there been any attempt to set a date for it?

FONTES: No. I was in attendance to the briefing. That never happened.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

FONTES: And I have yet to be invited to the next briefing, which I do anticipate happening soon.

SANCHEZ: We certainly hope so. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, thank you so much.

FONTES: Thank you very much.

SANCHEZ: A father deported while his daughter was deployed overseas with the U.S. military. Now she's back from her deployment, taking up a new mission, trying to bring him back.

Their story is next

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:56:25]

SANCHEZ: In our national lead, for one sailor aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, the 326 day long deployment didn't have a happy ending because while Jessica Martinez was halfway across the world, the government deported her father.

Here's CNN's Ed Lavandera. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I see her.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Jessica Martinez emerged from the crowd into the arms of her sister, months of emotion poured out.

The 22-year-old Navy sailor spent more than ten months deployed on the USS Abraham Lincoln, which returned to California earlier this month. But this homecoming wasn't what she dreamed.

PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS JESSICA MARTINEZ, U.S. NAVY: I feel a little disappointed. It's like a stab in the back.

My sisters in the military, she's doing the process for him.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Two months into her deployment, Martinez learned her father was deported to Mexico. He wore a U.S. Navy sweatshirt the day she headed out to sea. But he wasn't there to welcome her home.

J. MARTINEZ: When I got the news that my dad got deported, I just didn't want to continue anymore. My dad was all like, I've always taught you to keep going in life.

I didn't raise a quitter. And I had to keep going. It was for my dad.

This is my first time visiting Tijuana.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The reunion happened a few days later

ANA MARTINEZ, SISTER: Dad, he's right there.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Jessica Martinez and her sister Ana (ph), walked across the border from San Diego into Tijuana, Mexico.

Waiting on the other side was her father, Humberto.

Humberto told us he's grateful his daughter returned safely, that it's been his dream come true to see Jessica become a sailor and go on to finish college.

He says, "I tell her that maybe someday we'll be able to reunite over there as a family. Hopefully somebody is going to help me and I can go back to my family."

But the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to CNN earlier this month, Humberto Martinez is, quote, "never going to be welcomed back in the United States". The DHS statement goes on to say Martinez is a, quote, "criminal with convictions for DUI and drug offenses and arrests for false citizenship and human smuggling," and that he's been removed from the U.S. at least six different times.

When CNN first asked about Humberto Martinez's immigration record seven months ago, the DHS statement offered different details, the agency told us in March, Martinez had been removed from the U.S. four times, not six, and also included a conviction for unauthorized use of a vehicle. It did not mention the other crimes he allegedly committed.

In a public record search, we were only able to find the DUI conviction, Martinez told us. It was a misdemeanor charge and that he completed the court mandated classes and community service.

We've asked DHS for clarifications on the details in these statements, but they have not responded to that request.

Humberto Martinez denies he was involved in any other crimes, but admits he unlawfully crossed the border multiple times and that he hopes to find a way back to his family.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

J. MARTINEZ: I don't care how many lawyers I have to go through, I have to pay. I'm going to find justice for my dad, for him to come back.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Ed Lavandera, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Ed Lavandera for that report.

Coming up Sunday on "STATE OF THE UNION", Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers, Maine Senate candidate Troy Jackson, and the Energy Secretary, Chris Wright. That's Sunday at 9:00 a.m. and noon Eastern, right here on CNN.

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