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Trump Heading to Texas as GOP Fights to Hold Senate Seat; Trump Stumps in Red States as GOP Nominees Face Tight Races; Collins and Jackson Face Off in Maine Senate Race Debate; Cornell Students Hold Solidarity Sit-In for Jane Doe; Isaias Expected to Hit Gulf Coast as a Dangerous Hurricane. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired October 07, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: With just 27 days until the midterms, President Trump is heading back to Texas today, where some races are tighter than a bolo tie, which is the state's official neckwear. CNN's Kristen Holmes is live at the White House. So, Kristen, this race, much tighter than Texas Republicans are used to.

Bolo tie tight, in fact.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Bolo tie tight. I like that. I mean, when you talk to these Republicans, we've seen so much shift during this race in Texas.

Just in the last month, I spoke to one operative who's been working on this race who a month ago told me there was absolutely no way that a Republican could lose in Texas. That same person told me yesterday that there was a very good chance that Ken Paxton could lose in this Senate race. Now, I want to show you the most recent polling, and this is what Republicans are really freaking out about.

This shows you the Senate race, how close it is, and it has Talarico, James Talarico, the Democrat, up 51 to Ken Paxton's 45 percent. President Trump is going to Texas again. It is a solidly red state to try and draw out Republican voters.

The White House, the political operation, they have all seen the polling that shows just how unhappy and unenthusiastic Republicans are across the board. So in a state like Texas, they think it's important to have President Trump show up and actually try to get those voters enthusiastic, so they show up to the polls. Now, President Trump was asked about the latest leaked audio of Ken Paxton.

This is now the third time we have seen audio of him leaked. This last one, he's talking about how the war was bringing him down and the cost of diesel and gas, something that I will tell you Republican operatives agree with but likely don't want to put their name on either. And President Trump was asked, because of all this leaked audio, do you regret endorsing him?

President Trump said, no, no, no. He was great at his job. We're going to Texas. But I will tell you, there was this moment a few days ago when the first leaked audio came out, and President Trump was asked specifically, you know, Ken Paxton saying this stuff about you, about the fact that your midterm convention wasn't great, it brought down his poll numbers, why are you still going to Texas? And that seemed to be the most honest answer that President Trump gave, which was there's election there that Republicans have to win. So that's why I'm going.

KEILAR: All right, Kristen, what is that sound behind you? Because it is the same sound that we heard during the president's Q&A in the Oval earlier.

HOLMES: They are doing the construction in the back. This is the ballroom construction. I don't think you guys can actually see it here.

I can see a crane above me, but they are pounding away at that every single day. So that is what you can hear in the background there.

KEILAR: All right, we'll send some ibuprofen your way. Kristen Holmes, thank you very much. Let's talk more about the midterms.

With us now, the president of the Center for American Progress and former domestic policy advisor to President Biden, Neera Tanden. We're also joined by the director of the Advanced School of Politics at the Leadership Institute, and former spokesman for the Ted Cruz presidential campaign, Rick Tyler, who is with us. All right, so, Neera, these trips to Texas that Trump is taking, do they hurt Talarico's momentum, do you think?

NEERA TANDEN, PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: Well, since Ken Paxton said the midterm convention that was actually in Texas hurt Ken Paxton, helped Talarico, I'm hoping that the president will spend more and more time in Texas. As he's campaigned in Texas, both Talarico and Hinojosa, the candidate for governor, the Democratic candidate for governor, are moving up in the polls.

[15:35:00]

So I actually think that he's creating, and I think Ken Paxton's leaked video this morning, the third leaked audio from Ken Paxton saying that prices are up because of the Iran war. Well, who did the Iran war? It was Donald Trump.

So I think it's actually a useful reminder for voters that Trump and Republicans are responsible for their high costs.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Rick, curious to get your thoughts on Trump visiting Texas and the context around it, this relationship with Ken Paxton, but more so, why does this keep happening to Ken Paxton, that people are surreptitiously recording him and then slowly leaking it out?

RICK TYLER, FORMER SPOKESPERSON, TED CRUZ PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: I don't know, maybe he's doing it himself. I mean, look, you do it once, OK, twice it happens and three times you're, you know, I'm starting to be suspicious. Now, look, Texas is a complete, I don't even know if it's a miscalculation, it's just an incompetent calculation that somehow, you're going to take somebody who would have easily won the seat for nothing, Cornyn, and replace them with someone who's going to cost $300 million to win and he's now losing by more than six points, depending on which poll you look at.

So the president is -- you can see by the president's schedule that he is playing defense everywhere. He's not showing up in, although he's threatened to go to Maine, I don't know why he would do that, that's not going to help Susan Collins. He's showing up in places where he's trying to turn out the base. Because we know, and I've said it on this program before, that Trump has the capability of turning out two bases, his and theirs, and it depends on which one is more motivated, all things being equal, and right now it is not his base that's motivated because he's not on the ballot, they can't vote for him, and over and over again in every election that he's in, it has shown that even when Trump's on the ballot, the Republicans don't benefit.

And when he's not on the ballot, they clearly don't benefit. Like, there's no Republican winning election where Trump has been president. It just hasn't happened, it's not going to happen again.

KEILAR: All right, let's talk about Maine, because at least Susan Collins is pretty sure the president isn't going there. This is a moment from last night's Senate debate. It's kind of the moment between Senator Collins and Democratic nominee Troy Jackson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): Troy mocked it, but I was successful in getting concrete, pulp, and road salt removed from the tariff list.

TROY JACKSON, (D) MAINE SENATE NOMINEE: I didn't mock the fact that she got road salt back, I mocked the fact that what about everything else? I mean, we can't eat road salt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Can't eat road salt, that's kind of gone a bit viral here. So she's breaking with Trump on tariffs, Mike Rogers in Michigan breaking with Trump on tariffs. Can Republicans really distance themselves on the trade war?

TYLER: I think they can. Look, Trump is making it difficult because what he is doing is what the Republicans don't want it to be done. Look, every midterm election, to a certain extent, is a referendum, it just is.

And if it's going to be a referendum on Trump, the Republicans are going to do poorly. What they have to do in the individual races is not make this a referendum on Trump but make it a choice between Troy Jackson and Susan Collins. Susan Collins has been very successful in doing that in all of her races, none of them have been easy.

And she has navigated that very well, and I think she will prevail, I think she will win. But it is a tough race. TANDEN: I think the fundamental problem for the Republican Party is that there really has been almost no daylight between the Republican Party and Republicans in Congress and Republican senators and Donald Trump. Outrage after outrage after outrage has happened, and you really haven't seen Republicans break. So if you are a person who doesn't like what Donald Trump is doing, and you're looking for some kind of check on him, which is, you know, 40, it's actually like 60 percent of the country at this point, why are you going to trust Susan Collins, who has some votes here and there, but on fundamental issues, she's been there for Donald Trump.

Why are you going to trust her? And I think that is very different today than it was, you know, in 2020.

SANCHEZ: Another very close Senate race in Michigan. You mentioned Mike Rogers and stepping back from Trump's tariffs against Canada. Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed is now predicting that he's going to win his race by seven points, though if you talk to folks in Michigan, specifically Jewish leaders, African-American leaders as well, they argue that they need more outreach into their communities.

What do you think Abdul El-Sayed needs to do between now and election day to win?

TANDEN: Well, I think he has to do what he's been doing, which is unify the Democratic Party. He's had Gretchen Whitmer, Alyssa Slotkin, Haley Stevens, a whole range of people, including now Barack Obama's going to campaign with him, which is exciting news. But I also think he has to be, as he has been, laser-focused on costs.

[15:40:00]

The fact that Mike Rogers, who a month ago was saying that the Canadian tariffs were, you know, OK by him, and now he's reversed course shows that that is a salient issue, and I'm glad that Abdul El- Sayed has been driving it pretty relentlessly.

SANCHEZ: Rick, last word to you on that race.

TYLER: Well, I'd like to -- one opportunity, at least, to disagree. I think Susan Collins has done more for Maine than for Trump. But look, this is -- the Republicans are -- they need, like, a Council of Trent, to use a Catholic terminology. Like, what is it that they actually believe? I mean, they used to believe in free trade.

They used to believe, be a pro-immigrant party, and it's all been reversed now. And you can see it in Texas in the Latino vote, because Trump brought over the Latinos because the Democrats, frankly, gave up the working class. Who's in the working class?

A lot of Latinos. So watch for the Latino vote in Texas, because that's going to reveal a lot going into the presidential year.

SANCHEZ: Rick and Neera, thanks so much for the perspective.

Still to come, new details in the Cornell University rape investigation. The lawyer for the victim of the alleged gang rape says she is now facing death threats.

[15:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Happening right now, Cornell University students are staging a seven-hour sit-in demanding more accountability in school policies and campus culture following disturbing allegations of a 2024 fraternity house gang rape. A student-led town hall and massive protests have flooded the campus. Many have said they feel unsupported by the school's administration.

Others are calling for Cornell's president to resign amid outrage over how the university handled the investigation. Madeline Gage is a senior at Cornell who attended last night's town hall. She also helped plan Monday's on-campus protests.

Madeline, thank you so much for being with us. Cornell confirmed that two of the students that were named in Jane Doe's lawsuit are still enrolled there, still attending classes there. Faculty say that they are struggling to teach amid the controversy.

I wonder what you're hearing from students on that.

MADELINE GAGE, CORNELL UNIVERSITY SENIOR: Yes, well, thank you for letting me speak on such an important issue. As far as the news that there are two students on campus, this actually isn't news to students, I would say. There were already rumors circulating about peers seeing them in their classes, seeing them around campus.

So I think this just confirms the rumors, but students were, I think, broadly already aware, actually.

SANCHEZ: And as you are watching this seven-hour sit-in on campus unfold, what does the administration have to do to end these protests?

GAGE: Yes, so I think there's several things we're asking from the administration. One of the main things is to give up control, which means returning to an independent judicial system, which would look like students and faculty coming together and being elected by their peers. And we think this is really important because the student trust in the administration is really low, and that trust only keeps declining as more details of this case are coming out.

For example, last week in hearing that Jane Doe requested from Cornell to have her tuition refunded for the year so she could go home and be with her family, and Cornell refusing. I think a lot of students on campus thought that that decision was, frankly, callous. So as trust continues to decline, we think an independent judicial system may restore some faith.

SANCHEZ: I'm curious to get -- yes, go ahead.

GAGE: Sorry.

SANCHEZ: No, it's fine. Go ahead. GAGE: Additionally, students are hoping that CUPD, our police department, gets proper training on sexual assault awareness, and then hopefully that there would be in-person training about consent for students. I know my freshman year, I remember doing the training, and it took only an hour and was completely online. And bystander training might be a good start as well.

SANCHEZ: So the university has said that former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates is going to lead this independent review of how the school responded. Would you trust the findings in that review?

GAGE: You know, I think myself and students broadly are just very happy that an independent investigation is happening at all, but to be fully satisfied, we really hope those findings are made public and that they focus on what Cornell can change, and then that those changes are actually implemented.

SANCHEZ: I'm also curious to get your thoughts on this proposal from the mayor of Ithaca, where Cornell is located. He's set to hold a council meeting on this idea to pause Greek life and student gatherings. Is that something that you support?

GAGE: Yes, that's something I personally do support, and I think a lot of students on campus do feel it's necessary to pause these activities until that independent investigation comes out. We find out just what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening in the future. Yes.

SANCHEZ: What about the idea of banning Greek life altogether? Roughly a third of Cornell undergraduate students participate in Greek life. Do you think that's something that the student body wants to see to disband these organizations?

GAGE: Yes, I think that's something that's very controversial among the student body. Certainly this incident has opened up conversations about whether it's appropriate to ban Greek life or not, but I would say it's a pretty divisive issue on campus. Yes.

[15:50:00]

SANCHEZ: And from a personal perspective, you're in the middle of fall term, fall break I think is in a few days. How is this impacting your studies, the students' academic experience that all of this is swirling around you?

GAGE: Yes, I would say it's a rough time to be at Cornell for sure. I mean, I know a lot of students' anger has been reported, but we feel more than that. We're also disappointed and so sad that Jane Doe didn't get the support she deserved, and that it seems like other survivors may not have gotten the support they deserved.

So it's just -- we're disappointed in our administration and we're really hoping that some changes happen.

SANCHEZ: Madeline Gage, we appreciate you sharing your perspective and having this conversation. GAGE: Yes, thank you so much for letting me talk about such an important issue.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Still to come on CNN, we're tracking tropical storm Isaias, the storm creeping closer and closer to the Gulf Coast, where it is expected to make landfall potentially as a hurricane when we come back.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Now to some of the other headlines that we're watching this hour. A Delta passenger is now in custody after officials say he stole an airport tug vehicle. That's one that typically transports luggage and just drove it around the tarmac at Orange County's John Wayne Airport before crashing it into another vehicle.

Then, he tried to commandeer an airline laboratory truck before he was arrested, according to an airport official.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PILOT: Hey Ground, SkyWest 3492. Just out of curiosity, you know what's going on with the vehicles behind us with all of the law enforcement?

GROUND CONTROLLER: Yeah, looks like someone stole a tug. Security breach at the airport. Somebody stole a tug, so they pretty much shut down and put a ground stop on effect.

PILOT: OK, gotcha. Thanks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Yes, that's the tower talking to a pilot there, reading them in on what happened. That 26-year-old's supposed to be flying to Seattle when he reportedly went out a terminal access door before embarking on his dangerous and highly illegal ride. He's now facing multiple charges.

Plus, a Memphis City Council meeting turned chaotic after lawmakers delayed the vote on a data center moratorium. CNN affiliate WMC reports more than 100 people showed up at City Hall to witness the vote. The decision to postpone it reportedly led to a fight breaking out in the lobby.

Tense exchanges among City Council members. Police were called to the scene. A department spokesperson says no one was detained, no one was harmed.

That vote has now been postponed to October 20th.

SANCHEZ: And some horrific video to share with you, showing the moment a school bus crashed in Central Florida. We should warn you, the video you're about to see is disturbing. So this was in Winter Haven on Monday morning. The Polk County Sheriff

says a sedan traveling on the opposite side of traffic crossed into the bus's lane, causing a collision. The impact tore off one of the bus's tires, causing the driver to lose control and then crash head-on into a Jeep. The driver of the Jeep and a 10th grader on the bus died.

At least 38 people, most of them students, had to be hospitalized. The driver who police say is responsible for the initial crash so far has not been charged.

Well, here's something people on the Gulf Coast have not had to worry about for a while, a hurricane.

KEILAR: Yes, tropical storm Isaias is moving north and expected to rapidly gain power, possibly hitting the Gulf Coast as a Category 2. It's the first of the season in the Atlantic Basin, so let's go to Allison Chinchar on this. Allison, bring us up to speed on this storm.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, so we're looking at right now, it looks rather disorganized down here in the Gulf, but we anticipate that it's going to gather its strength over the next 24 to 36 hours. Right now, those sustained winds about 50 miles per hour, gusting up to 60, but we do anticipate that this will become a hurricane, possibly as strong as a Category 2 or Category 3 hurricane in the next couple of days before finally making landfall very late Friday evening right here along the Gulf Coast. Where you can already see we have some of those watches in place, and that's in anticipation of this storm continuing its northward trek. And here's a look at the storm.

Again, you can kind of see as it gets its act together, strengthens and then continues to slide up to the north. Now, we will already start to see very heavy rain bands. Storm surge, very gusty winds as early as Friday, but a lot of that is expected to continue well into Saturday.

We are looking at some very heavy rainfall, widespread totals of 4 to 6 inches, but it is not out of the question for some of these areas, especially right there along the coast. It could get maybe 8 inches or more before the system finally exits a lot of these areas. Now, when you talk about storm surge, obviously the greatest threat is going to be right here in this orange shaded area.

You're talking places like Mobile over towards Pensacola. It could be looking at 5 to 7 feet of storm surge. But even some of the surrounding areas, again, notice the yellow you could be looking at several feet of storm surge as well.

Now, when we talk about getting all of these forecast updates for you, keep in mind you can take a look at our new CNN weather app that will have all of the details, minute by minute updates that you can get as we go through the weekend. We know many people have some outdoor plans, perhaps this weekend, and you want to know what the forecast is going to be. You can get all of that right through here on the app.

All of the information you would need, even if you necessarily don't live along the Gulf Coast, but you want to stay up to date with the forecast, you can get that right here by downloading the app.

SANCHEZ: A fantastic plug. Allison Chinchar, thank you so much for reminding us what the CNN weather app can do.

"THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts after a quick break. Thanks for joining us this afternoon.

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