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Paxton On Lack Of Sen. Cornyn Support: "He Wants Me To Lose"; Personal Insults, Attacks On Family In Heated Michigan, Georgia And Maine Debates; USS Lincoln Returns To U.S. After Near-Record Deployment. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 09, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:32:20]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, CNN has obtained an audio recording of Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton getting frustrated and complaining about the lack of support from former rival John Cornyn after their GOP primary runoff. At one point he told an attendee at a fundraiser last month that Cornyn wants him to lose and said the senator admitted that to a friend of Paxton's at a Dallas restaurant. CNN has not independently confirmed Paxton's comments and a representative for Cornyn told CNN that the restaurant conversation didn't happen.

CNN's Patrick Sinek is joining me now with more on this. What are you learning in this recording?

PATRICK SVITEK, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yeah, this is the latest leak from a fundraiser last month in Washington D.C. where Paxton was recorded and it speaks to just the ongoing tensions between these two leading Texas Republicans. Obviously, they had a very contentious Senate primary runoff earlier this year, but they have a feud that goes back years. In 2022, John Cornyn said that one of Ken Paxton scandals was an embarrassment.

And so let's take a listen to some of this audio. What you're about to hear is Paxton responding to a question about Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett whom the Democrat in this race defeated in his primary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN PAXTON, (R) TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATE: No, she's not. But I don't know how much she really affects votes.

ATTENDEE: Right.

PAXTON: I mean, maybe a little bit around the margins.

ATTENDEE: Yeah.

PAXTON: Just like Cornyn -- basically, how much he affects me because he's clearly not helping me. He wants me to lose. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SVITEK: Now, most political observers would agree that Cornyn is not an enthusiastic fan of Paxton in this race. He has said he would support the "Republican ticket," but has gone out of his way in some cases to not help Paxton and hasn't really even explicitly endorsed him.

And so that comment is not necessarily, you know, reveal -- hugely revealing on its own, but it does differ with what we've heard publicly from Paxton in this general election. He's tried to be more diplomatic toward Cornyn. He said he would "love to have his support."

Let's listen to a little more of that fundraiser audio that we obtained.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAXTON: I'll tell you a story that just happened three nights ago. A friend of mine at Cafe Pacific, a restaurant in Dallas, and he ended up at the table next to Cornyn. And so he told the waiter I want to buy his dinner, and the waiter thinks that somebody already did. He said OK. But he said it's his wife's birthday and they didn't buy dessert. So my friend bought dessert.

Cornyn called him over to shake his hand. He got kind of in his face all of a sudden and said thanks for the dessert. My friend said, "Well, you know, I just want to thank you for your service -- for all your years of service to Texas. He goes, "I realize it's hard to lose an election, but it shows a lot of character that you're supporting the ticket and you're supporting Ken Paxton."

[07:35:00]

And he -- and Cornyn's face went red and he backed off and said, "Paxton is going to lose. We need to teach those Republicans a lesson. It's going to be hard to learn, but they need to -- they need to know that their decisions have consequences. We need to make sure they understand that."

That's what he's trying to do. That's John Cornyn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SVITEK: Now, as you pointed out previously, a Cornyn representative denied that conversation took place. But just listening to Paxton, you can see how the bad blood between these two leading Texas Republicans has been building and continues to animate the general election in this very high stakes Texas Senate race.

SIDNER: Yeah. It doesn't seem like this is going to make that bad blood any better.

Patrick Svitek, thank you so much for your reporting -- John.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'll grab it. SIDNER: Oh, Kate.

BOLDUAN: John is now (INAUDIBLE).

The Pentagon is now saying that it is going to livestream the execution of a man -- the first execution by firing squad by the U.S. military since World War Two. In an interview, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that he wants people to see the execution of Nadal Hasan, the man who killed 13 people in a mass shooting at Fort Hood back in 2009. Hegseth says it will be available for public viewing because -- uh, because "People need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things." When asked for more information, a Pentagon official said the execution will be livestreamed but did not offer more detail.

But this decision has sparked almost immediate and bipartisan condemnation. Lawmakers, including Republicans, calling the livestream plans beyond disgusting and medieval and warning that it also violates, in their view, army regulation.

This execution is scheduled for December 3 -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, fireworks at Senate debates last night. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JON OSSOFF, (D) GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE: Imagine running for the U.S. Senate while neo-Nazi propaganda is disseminated to an audience of millions from your home. That's Mike Collins. And it's not just those around him. Mike Collins himself has amplified neo-Nazi propaganda online.

REP. MIKE COLLINS, (R) GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE: I've condemned racism, anti-Semitism, hate. I don't care where the source is. And I tell him that, too. It's wrong. We have no place in this world for that.

ABDUL EL-SAYED, (D) MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: You going after my mom?

MIKE ROGERS, (R) MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm not going after your mom.

EL-SAYED: That's exactly what you're doing.

ROGERS: What your mom was working at, I was going after that organization that was indicted for funneling money to Al-Qaeda. Look, that's your mom. My mom worked at a local Chamber of Commerce. I'll put my mom up any day for that.

MODERATOR: All right. We'll give you a rebuttal, and we're moving away from this subject.

EL-SAYED: He wants this to be about anything but his own record. He's okay if the federal government spies on you, but he wants to make this about anybody else, going after my mom, my sister -- got nothing to actual say about me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. The first was, of course, Georgia. The second there, Michigan. We got to play a debate in Maine. There were personal attacks going back and forth there as well.

With us now, Marc Short, the former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, and Yemisi Egbewole, the former chief of staff to the Biden White House Press Office.

It's interesting to me. Now, there were questions about Donald Trump and lots of arguments about tariffs and whatnot. But is this what voters want to hear, Yemisi, do you think, when they say the economy and cost of living is number one because that didn't come up in that exchange?

YEMISI EGBEWOLE, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO BIDEN WHITE HOUSE PRESS OFFICE, SENIOR FELLOW, THIRD WAY: Yeah, the Michigan debate was interesting to watch versus the Georgia debate, and I'm a little biased that I track Georgia bit more closely because I'm from there.

But Mike Rogers really tried to tie Abdul's family, some of his relationships overseas, his properties to the race itself, and I'm not sure that it's something that bleeds through and gets the attention of somebody living in Detroit, which is where Abdul needs to make sure that he gets that enthusiasm and that older African American voter turnout.

I'm not so sure that those are the things that they care about enough to one, vote for Mike Rogers, which I don't think is going to happen -- the Dems for Mike Rogers' campaign -- or two, not go out and vote. I still think they'll do that consistently.

And then looking to Georgia, Jon Ossoff really, really kept it to the things that affect Georgia when he was asked about Israel, when he was asked the genocide question. He said that's for outside sources like the IJC to make determinations on it and he brought it straight back to the Peach State.

BERMAN: How important is it to try to bring it back to the economy?

MARC SHORT, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: Well, look, I think that's the overarching issue, John. I think we know that, but I probably disagree a little bit here. And then I think that Mike Rogers had a very effective debate.

I think that you have a candidate in in Michigan who basically cannot tell you the difference between Iran and Israel. You have a candidate who, when asked, refused to denounce Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah. I think that's a pretty stark revelation --

BERMAN: Um-hum.

SHORT: -- and I think for a lot of particularly Jewish voters in Michigan that I think is disqualifying, so I think Mike Rogers had a good night.

[07:40:00]

At the same time, I think that, you know, it's an indictment on our party that we have two Democrat senators in Georgia. I think that Georgia -- you look at the success of Brian Kemp, and I think it really should be a Republican state.

BERMAN: I -- the question -- maybe I phrased it poorly is we just had polls in Iowa and Ohio where half -- where people say -- half the voters say the number one issue is the economy and cost of living. It's more than all other issues combined.

So wouldn't you want to turn every question to the economy and cost of living rather than make it all personal?

SHORT: Look, I think yes, John -- I think predominantly yes. But I think in the case of Michigan, you have a candidate who is so far outside the mainstream. I think that Mike Rogers is right to make the indictment that he did.

But I think there's no doubt, you're right. That is the number one issue. It continues to be the number one issue.

I think that the other issue that seems to be creeping up, though, and I think is a -- is a big challenge for Republicans is continued stories of more and more corruption and grift in the administration. I think you're seeing more and more voters -- like, I remember the rallies in 2016, John, and 2020. The overarching, you know, message that they got everybody shouting was the promise to drain the swamp. I think that's what they elected, in many cases, Donald Trump to do as the outsider. Come to Washington and clean it up. And every day there's a new story on this administration of grift that I think is undercutting that voter.

BERMAN: Let's talk about that, Yemisi, because we had -- we just talked about Kimberly Guilfoyle, the ambassador to Greece.

EGBEWOLE: "Honey, please."

BERMAN: "Honey, please." That was a quote in a text message where she was apparently, according to The Wall Street Journal, asking for $100,000 to be wired to her AMEX account.

EGBEWOLE: Um-hum.

BERMAN: This is 25 days now before the election. What's the impact of something like that?

EGBEWOLE: I do think corruption when it -- we talk about the economy and people's anxieties -- economic anxieties and then, too, their focus. There's a more increased focus on corruption, not just tied completely to the Trump administration, but a distrust with lawmakers and are the people that I am electing looking out for me.

And the Kimberly Gilfoyle story -- because this is a woman who was engaged to the president's son, very much in the inner circle of trust. And let me tell you, if you're asking somebody to cover a $100,000 AMEX bill, it's because you've asked for coverage for something that might be a little bit smaller than that. That's not the first time she's probably asked for that kind of money, and it's the consistency and the ease to which they operate like this that I think puts people off.

So why would Mike Rogers pivot back to the economy when he has to carry the water for the economy in this administration?

BERMAN: Vice President JD Vance was asked a question about that roughly yesterday, Marc, and he said," I don't love it." I mean, you've worked at a vice president's communications office before.

What kind of pressure does this put on them when they're out there trying to elect Republicans?

SHORT: Well look, I think the reality is that they have a lot to explain because of the tariff agenda. I think what we're seeing, you know, candidly is Republicans perhaps doing better in states like Maine than you might have suspected. But you see Democrats ever performing in the middle of America. And you know, when JD Vance can't give you a definition of socialism, I think that's as bad as when Democrats can't define what a woman is.

BERMAN: Um, we were talking backstage Marc and Iran came up. And the war in Iran is obviously still an issue, though the president says that he will not attack Iran before the midterms.

What did you make of that?

SHORT: Look, I think the president is consistently said I'm never going to tell my adversary what I will or won't do, so I think this runs counter to that.

I think the reality is that perhaps it's giving more breath right now to the Houthis to continue their attacks in Saudi Arabia and continue to put pipelines off. And you're seeing more and more attacks in the straits right now.

So I don't know why he would take that off the table right now. I get what the economic pressure is heading into the midterms, but it certainly seems you're giving more license to Iran and the Houthis right now by saying, hey, I'm not going to do anything till after the midterms.

BERMAN: Yemisi, what has Democrats nervous because a lot of things -- the terrain in general seems to be breaking their way, so what worries them?

EGBEWOLE: Well, people can be upset with Republicans, but they also have to have something to root for when it comes to Democrats. And if we retake the House and the Senate, we're going to be in positions of authority and leadership again and going head to head with this Trump White House. But what's the messaging here? What's the path forward? Because whatever path we choose also has to be picked up by those who run in 2028 and want to be our Democratic presidential candidates. It's all a big messaging tied together, and we hit the ground running post midterms.

SHORT: And that voting bloc and Democrat socialist is going to have power because the margin in the House is still not going to be so big, John. So they're going to be able to -- they're going to be able to guarantee what passes and what fails.

BERMAN: It's interesting to watch Hakeem Jeffries out there campaigning so hard to push the margin if they are going to win and push it as high as he can so that he has more power and maybe --

EGBEWOLE: And I hope he does too because I need him to be effective.

BERMAN: Yemisi Egbewole, Marc Short, great to see both of you.

SHORT: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So with the boom in prediction markets, betting on elections has also surged and not just on the outcomes of elections. People are now betting even on super specific topics this midterm cycle like endorsements, campaign stops, debates and a lot more. And unlike the actual results of a race, all of those political questions have knowable answers once sparking concerns about insider trading.

[07:45:13]

CNN's Marshall Cohen is tracking this one for us and he's joining us now. So Marshall, what are you picking up here?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Kate, good morning.

We have talked a lot this year about how popular these election markets are. And like you said, you can go on Kalshi or Polymarket and bet on who's going to win every Senate race, all the House races, governors, mayoral races and a lot more. But there is a ton under the hood on those sites that gets way, way deeper. And as those markets get more and more granular, experts say the risks of insider trading go up and up.

There has actually been more than $20 million in total trading volume on these so-called knowable markets. That's according to the anti- corruption data collective. And they tallied it all up and they found over 700 of these knowable markets on Kalshi and Polymarket.

Okay, what are we talking about? Let me give you some real life examples that are live on Kalshi or Polymarket right now.

You can bet on what JD Vance is going to say later today in Ohio. What words are going to come out of his mouth? You can bet on whether James Talarico and Ken Paxton are going to debate in Texas. There are markets on who Barack Obama is going to endorse next. He's been on an endorsement spree this week. Who's next? And there are also markets on where President Trump is going to travel for his campaign rallies. And as you look at these markets, you can kind of start to figure out

in your mind who might know the answers to these questions. Speechwriters, campaign operatives, White House officials, pollsters, campaign vendors. The list really goes on.

And these risks are real. Kate, this year we have already seen Kalshi suspend six political candidates for betting on their own races. And we all saw the White House teleprompter operator was caught trading on what Trump would say in his speeches. So these are real concerns. But of course, the companies say that they take this very seriously and that they have zero tolerance whatsoever for insider trading.

Let me read for you some of their responses. Bobby Denault, the head of enforcement over at Kalshi -- he said, "It may be simpler to prove insider trading in some of these cases because the material information is narrower and easier to identify." So he's saying that as the markets get more and more granular, it's actually easier to catch any wrongdoers.

And then a spokesperson for Polymarket said, "We use state-of-the-art surveillance and dedicated detections built for political markets, which flag anomalous trading to our team." And Polymarket actually recently hired a former FBI official to lead their internal investigations team.

Kate, one last note as usual, CNN has a partnership with Kalshi. We use their data to cover major events, but they don't influence our coverage, and we don't trade on prediction markets -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: That is correct.

It's great to see you, Marshall. Thank you for your reporting as always -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Kate.

We are tracking Isaias, the storm on track to become a major hurricane. We're talking about potentially a category three, and it's taking aim right at the Gulf Coast. The updated timing of the storm and the track ahead.

Finally home. The emotional reunions for sailors on board the USS Lincoln after it finally docked following the longest deployment at sea.

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[07:52:52]

BOLDUAN: A return months and months in the making and some very precious reunions during a special homecoming for the sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. Around 5,000 of them finally docked in California again yesterday after a nearly 10-month deployment, 322 days.

CNN's Pamela Brown was there. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm finally home.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR, CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Mixed in the emotion on this Navy pier are 122 sailors who have never met their children.

CHIEF PETTY OFFICER JOEY MONTEMARANO, USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN: The only person my daughter knows is my wife right now.

BROWN (voiceover): Joey Montemareno's daughter Madeline Grace was born while he was away at sea, and these images are all he knows of his 10- month-old child.

BROWN: What are you going to do, you think, when you see them?

MONTEMARANO: I'll probably cry a little bit. Probably try to hold back the tears while I kiss my wife, hug my wife and meet this baby that I've never met before that I can't wait to -- can't wait to meet and interact with.

BROWN (voiceover): We met Joey and many more of the roughly 5,000 sailors at sea on the USS Lincoln as they headed into port. Most admit their returning home changed.

AJANAE KELLY, SAILOR, USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN: This is the hardest one I have had to deal with, so I feel like if I could do this one, I could do anything.

BROWN (voiceover): It's the end of a harrowing 322-day deployment that faced scrutiny over the living conditions on board and low morale that included attempted suicides.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man overboard. That was a crazy day.

BROWN (voiceover): Many confirmed the uncertainty around the extended deployment brought mental challenges.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just thinking about my family and things going on back home that you can't control.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would go to prayer service with the chaplains and that would help out a lot.

BROWN (voiceover): Others we met confirmed food supplies ran low at times.

BARRY USERY, SAILOR, USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN: I was in cargo for a while -- the people that bring the food up -- and I was in there during the tough times. Not a lot of food was being brung up. But as we progressed, it got better.

CAPT. DAN KEELER, USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN: It was stressed, but we never shut anything down. BROWN (voiceover): Captain Dan Keeler, commanding officer of the

Lincoln, tells CNN supplies were mainly affected when support ships under threat from Iran were forced to alter their movement in the region.

[07:55:00]

KEELER: We served 14,000 to 16,000 meals a day, four times a day, so four meals a day. We never missed a meal, not for 10 1/2 months. There were some sacrifices made. Maybe there was only one protein option instead of two, but there was always food.

BROWN: Some of the family members had a town hall with Navy leadership because they were really concerned about their loved ones on this ship. And they were getting pictures of toilets overflowing and mold. What do you say to that?

KEELER: What I'll say to all the families is they were all so amazing. You can't do what we just did without a lot of support. I think a lot of the reporting focused on some, you know, anecdotal things because we looked into all this stuff and there really were no systemic issues. It's a big ship. It's a floating city. We have -- you know, a toilet gets clogged and eventually gets fixed.

BROWN (voiceover): Keeler acknowledges there were five suicide attempts on the Lincoln itself and three others on its support ships. He says anyone with mental health problems had access to treatment on the ship. The most severe cases were sent home.

KEELER: We had zero suicides. We had zero casualties on the ship. Every single sailor that left is coming home.

BROWN (voiceover): And they're coming home awarded with a presidential unit citation, the military's highest honor for a unit in battle.

ARIANA WESTFALL, AVIATION ORDNANCEMAN, USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN: It's going to be pretty cool to be able to wear that and tell everybody why I'm wearing it and what I did to wear it.

BROWN (voiceover): On board you could feel the anticipation as we pulled into port. Moments later, among this flood of emotion, Joey Montemareno, a father who served on a ship at war --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who's that? Is this your daddy?

BROWN (voiceover): -- now with his daughter together in peace.

MONTEMARANO: She's perfect.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: So sweet.

All right. On our radar for you, extreme adventure. Ash Dykes is taking over the internet right now as he attempts to kayak more than 400 miles in the unforgiving Congo River Basin. It is one of the planet's most dangerous and unpredictable waterways. Dykes and his crew are sure to face roaring rapids, dangerous wildlife and brutal heat in inflatable kayaks. You see him sitting on it there. It is official day two of his adventure, and he and his team are already on edge on what could be lurking beneath them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's moving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is. It must be -- it must be a hippo. Do you think that is potentially a hippo underneath us?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: One of the most dangerous animals out there. His video has racked up millions of views online with many of the commentators seeming more anxious than Dykes about his journey.

All right, move over Buc-ees. There's apparently a new king of the convenience store. Meijer takes this year's top spot in the American Customer Satisfaction Survey. The Michigan retailer scored 82 out of 100, so kind of like a B. QuikTrip, Sheetz and Wawa all tied for second place with Buc-ees below them -- John Berman.

BERMAN: Oh my. That's all I can say to that. I just in shock. I'm just overwhelmed by that news. Thank you for that.

SIDNER: All your favorite stores lined up right here behind you.

BERMAN: In the meantime, what happened to the Cowboys? Let's go right to CNN's Andy Scholes. This one I was not expecting, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I mean, Berman -- I mean, it's some -- it's just hard being a Cowboys fan, right? I mean, they just had that big emotional win over the Texans coming home against a winless Bucs team that had undrafted rookie for agent Jalon Daniels at quarterback. He was making his first ever NFL start for the injured Baker Mayfield. But in typical Cowboys fashion, they just found a way to lose this game.

The Buc's Bucky Irving just running wild in this one here in the third quarter. He busts this run for 72 yards. Bucky finished with 165 yards rushing and two touchdowns. And on the very next play of that drive, Emeka Egbuka -- he would score on this run to give the Bucs a 14-10 lead.

The Cowboys -- they were down 14 in the fourth. They tried to rally. Down eight here with under 90 seconds to go. Dak Prescott's pass knocked up into the air. It's intercepted. Owner Jerry Jones and George Pickens not happy. That sealed the 24-16 loss.

And as Dak was walking to the locker room, a stadium employee or a driver said "embarrassing" to him. And here's what Dak had to say about that at his press conference. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAK PRESCOTT, QUARTERBACK, DALLAS COWBOYS: I know when he said it, I just happened to look at him and at that point, you know, he looked away, didn't look, and then when I turned my head back, he said something else. And so that's the part that, you know, just as a man or as just a person, feel free to speak your mind. Just speak it. Don't cower it away from the reaction that you're going to get. And so, yeah, I mean, if you're saying it's embarrassing, say it's embarrassing. If you're saying it to me, then say it to me. Don't -- you know what I mean -- go back on it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right. Meanwhile, in the postseason, the White Sox have not clinched a series at home since 1906, and well, the wait to celebrate for their fans in Chicago, it continues. The Guardians, they're on the brink of elimination.