Return to Transcripts main page
CNN News Central
Interview with Sen. Chris Coons: Cook Political Report Moves 18 House Races Towards Democrats; Trump Says He's Reached Dead with Putin to Supply Russian Diesel; NYPD Releases Officer Bodycam Video of ICE Shooting; Pentagon Plans Public Livestream of Execution of Fort Hood Shooter; Mike Ditka, the Quintessential Chicago Bear, Dies at 86. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired October 09, 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]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Soon, President Trump will be heading to Syracuse, New York to rally his base for Republican candidates in tight midterm races there. He'll be visiting as the closely watched Cook political report moves 18 more House races across the U.S. in Democrats' favor. Several of those contests were previously considered toss-ups, but now lean toward Dems.
These new pickup opportunities have Democrats divided over whether to vote the party's limited resources to districts seen as safer bets or to gamble by trying to expand the map, spending money in districts Trump won big that now appear to be in play. Let's discuss with Democratic Delaware Senator Chris Coons. Senator, thanks so much for being with us.
I want to get to the midterms on domestic politics in a moment, but we have this breaking news that President Trump secured an agreement from Russian President Vladimir Putin to supply markets with Russian diesel fuel. What is your response?
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Look, Boris, this is just another bad mistake by President Trump. Of course, several weeks out from the midterm elections, where the high price of diesel is costing him and Republican candidates dearly in states like Iowa or Kansas that are newly competitive because farmers are paying costs that are way too high for them. Those costs are a result of Trump's war of choice against Iran and Iran's closure of the Straits of Hormuz.
But to extend a hand to Vladimir Putin, The murderous authoritarian leader of Russia who continues to kill civilians in Ukraine day after day after day shows that there's no values or principles underlying Trump's foreign policy. He recently rolled out the red carpet for Xi Jinping when he came to visit Washington. He rolled out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin when he visited Alaska earlier this year. There seems to be no limit to what President Trump's willing to do or what deals he's willing to cut to help his political prospects even when they cost us our standing in the world.
SANCHEZ: What message do you think this sends to not only Kyiv but to Tehran as well, which Russia has been aiding? [15:35:00]
It sends a message of encouragement to our adversaries that we have a president who doesn't stand on American interests and principles but is for sale and is willing to cut whatever deal he has to in order to pursue his family's interests or his own interest. Just this week, Trump at a rally was saying that, you know, if Iran took out Los Angeles and San Diego, it would serve them right. Now, some have said he was taken out of context.
But for any American president to joke that the Iranians should attack, should destroy an American city, strikes me as, well, just in terribly bad taste. And I've heard from foreign leaders in meetings at the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, at meetings months ago in Europe, that his tariff wars against our closest allies and partners, like Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, his threats to withdraw some of our key support for NATO, and his embrace of authoritarians, like Vladimir Putin in Russia, is merely encouraging our adversaries.
At a time, Boris, when Iran, North Korea, and China are all supporting each other, and Russia, and where our troops are paying the price in the Middle East, Trump should be standing up for American interests, not for his own selfish or short-term electoral interests.
SANCHEZ: The president cleared up those remarks about San Diego and Los Angeles, we should note, saying that he would protect American cities. He was being hyperbolic about a potential Iranian attack there. I am curious when it comes to the midterms, as President Trump argues that he's going to hold off on attacks against Tehran until early November.
Do you welcome that declaration? Is that a positive step forward?
COONS: Look, what he's saying, again, is that he's making critical national security decisions based on the elections, not based on what's in our country's best interest. And I think lots of former Trump voters, independents who voted for Trump, even Republicans who voted for Trump, are sick and tired of seeing the cruelty, the chaos, and the corruption, and an announcement that he's going to decide when to strike Iran based on the midterms, and that he's going to cut a deal with Vladimir Putin to reduce diesel prices based on the midterms is another reminder that what he's making decisions based on is short- term political interests, not the lasting national interests of the American people.
SANCHEZ: When it comes to Democrats' choices before the midterms, we have this reporting about Democrats seeing openings in states and districts that Trump dominated in the last cycle. Your party's at a fundraising disadvantage, and so it's a conundrum because you can either sort of play it safe and spend that money on districts that you're more likely to win or potentially bet big and hope that you flip these districts that went for the president, some by double digits, by as many as 20 points, I think, in a couple of circumstances. Are you in favor of going all in, or do you think the party risks spreading itself too thin? COONS: Look, Boris, I think that's a false choice because as Americans see that our democracy is at risk, as Americans have grown sick and tired of Trump's corruption and selfishness, his cruelty, they see candidates who are stepping up as Democrats who are going to make great contributions in the House and the Senate. Roy Cooper in North Carolina, Chris Pappas in New Hampshire, my old friend and colleague Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and now folks who didn't previously seem to be on the table, like Josh Turek in Iowa, who the Cook Political Report have moved all of those races in our direction, as well as House races. There are four in Pennsylvania that I think are now winnable.
I think folks who are watching who are concerned about the future of our nation should put some extra time into helping out candidates, into volunteering, writing postcards, making phone calls, making contributions. At the end of the day, if the election were right now, we would win decisively in the House and the Senate, and it's only because of hundreds of millions of dollars of additional advertising funded by dark money and corporate interests that the Republicans have any hope of holding onto the Senate. I think we need to put our foot on the gas, bear down, and campaign hard and put a clear choice in front of the American people, where Democrats put a positive, enactable future legislative agenda and contrast it with Trump's narrowness, selfishness, and cruelty.
SANCHEZ: If Democrats do capture the Senate majority, you would be in line to take the gavel as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
COONS: That's right.
[15:40:00]
SANCHEZ: You've been a longtime supporter of Israel. U.S. support for Israel was a hot-button issue during the primary season. In a recent interview with Politico, you said that you want a thorough re- examination of the U.S.-Israeli relationship. You're even open to imposing sanctions on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. How would you like to see Democrats approach that relationship if they take control of Congress?
COONS: Well, first, we need to remember that our relationship is rooted in values, in being allies for decades, and in the shared interests of our people. As democracies, as countries that are committed to the rule of law, we need to find a way to move together forward. We also need to remember that we've just recognized the third anniversary of the heinous and brutal attacks by Hamas on October 7, three years ago, that massacred hundreds and hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians.
Since then, Israel's been catapulted into a regional war against Iran's proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran itself. And so as we look forward, it's going to depend on what the next government of Israel looks like, what the next majorities in our Congress looks like, and how we can find a way forward together. I think there are real extremists in the Netanyahu government, ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. And part of what precipitated the interview you're referencing, and my comment that you are successfully referencing that I'd be open to sanctions, is that the Netanyahu government is moving ahead with building a block of settlements that is designed to prevent any possibility of a Palestinian state. That's a key strategic moment. And both Republican and Democratic presidents of the United States have vigorously opposed that step because it would mean the end of the dream or even the possibility of a two-state solution.
I think we need to look hard at what that would mean for our long-term relationship.
SANCHEZ: Senator Chris Coons, always appreciate the time and perspective.
COONS: Thank you, Boris.
SANCHEZ: Of course.
Still ahead, bipartisan outrage to the Pentagon's plan to livestream the firing squad execution of the Fort Hood shooter. We have details right away.
[15:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: This just into CNN. The White House says President Trump will no longer be attending tomorrow's football game between the University of Alabama and the University of Georgia because of Hurricane Isaias. That storm expected to make landfall tonight near Pensacola, Florida as a Category 3 hurricane.
It's then set to track north through Alabama and Mississippi throughout the day on Saturday. We're keeping a close watch on the storm, and we'll have more on its track at the top of the next hour.
So federal immigration agents say a man they shot and wounded yesterday during an enforcement operation in New York City is in their custody, but they will not say where he is being detained.
DHS says it was targeting Oscar Belgal, seen here in body police cam footage released by responding NYPD officers. Federal officials say Belgal is known as a criminal who refused commands by ICE officers to exit his vehicle. Local police say there was a five-year-old boy inside his car at the time of the shooting.
A child that is now safe and with family members, we've learned. DHS Secretary Mark Waynemullen defended the officer's actions, saying they believe their lives were in danger when Belgal allegedly tried to run them over with his car. He also said officers were not aware there was a child in the vehicle.
CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller is with us now. John, what are your sources telling you about this incident? JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, we're learning a little bit more. We've looked at some new video, and we hope to get that video to our air as soon as we can get that cleared. But it shows the suspect's vehicle, Belgal, pulling into a parking spot.
An individual in plain clothes runs up to the car orders him out, bangs on the window. At gunpoint, the car backs up and then takes off out of the parking space. The next piece of video we see, you do not see the confrontation, but you see people scattering as the shots are being fired.
And that will give us, as soon as we can get that to you, a little more of a view of what occurred. What we know in the background, though, is that the individual they were looking for is somebody who is associated, allegedly, with a Bronx gang, the Trinitarios, who was convicted of grand larceny stemming from a robbery case where it was alleged by the victims. He pointed a gun at them in the back seat of a car.
He racked the slide and told both of them, give me your jewelry, give me your money, or I will shoot you. And then while he was on probation for the reduced charge, he pled guilty to, he was arrested again by the NYPD, allegedly for the sale of narcotics to undercover officers. So for a program that's been so controversial, because, Boris, as you know, so many of the people who have been targeted in these kind of criminal roundups didn't have any criminal convictions or background, he appears to be very much like the kind of suspect that they promised they would be going after when this program started.
But it also appears that the tactics they use here that went sideways, in many ways, are the tactics that keep getting them into these controversial shootings, which is trying to confront people who are behind the wheel of a car while they're still in control of the vehicle and not being tactically prepared to stop that in any other way than shooting at the car, which is, at least as it is written in their policies, against their own policy.
SANCHEZ: Yes, important to point that out.
[15:50:00]
John, while we have you, I also want to get your thoughts on the Pentagon's plan to live stream the execution of the Fort Hood shooter. Earlier today, you had Vice President J.D. Vance suggesting it may not actually happen. And you're reporting that there are concerns among law enforcement officials about the impact that showing this publicly might have.
MILLER: Well, I talked to some of the top counterterrorism officials, some of the top analysts, just to gauge whether they had the same reaction to this that I did, which is, if you are going to do an execution of an individual who committed this many murders and has been sentenced to death, if you're going to use a firing squad, so be it. But if you're going to live stream that on video for the public to see, for the world to have and record, you really are, A, stepping outside anything that resembles the normal procedure. But more importantly, Boris, B, you are handing a piece of video propaganda to the likes of al-Qaeda, to ISIS, to al-Shabaab, to probably the Iranians that is the kind of thing that they could not have manufactured, something that takes the United States of America and shows the execution of somebody by firing squad, which hasn't happened since World War II.
It immediately made me think back to something that Ayman al-Zawahiri, the former head of al-Qaeda, said when he watched the execution of Syed Qutb when he was 15 years old. Zawahiri said, as a teenage boy, that set me on the path to this radicalization. I think they really have to consider that before they go forward with this plan as a propaganda backfire.
SANCHEZ: John Miller, thank you so much for joining us.
Coming up, legendary Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka passing away at 86 years old. We'll remember the Hall of Famer when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:55:00]
SANCHEZ: We have a new White House press secretary. It's not Mike Tyson, though. That is the former heavyweight champion at the podium just moments ago at the briefing room at the White House.
Tyson touring 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, appearing to be traveling with President Trump, to Syracuse, New York later tonight. Separately, we learned earlier that Katie Zacharia is going to be the new press secretary for the Trump administration, replacing Karoline Leavitt with just 25 days until the midterms.
We have more on the president's visit to New York ahead on "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt.
From one Iron Mike to another, the football world mourning the loss of an icon. Legendary Bears head coach Mike Ditka passed away at the age of 86.
He was nicknamed Iron Mike as a player, the first tight end in the Hall of Fame. He helped revolutionize the position. Then he moved to the sidelines and ultimately became Chicago's head coach, winning the 1985 Super Bowl.
After retiring from coaching, Ditka took his talents to television, becoming an unforgettable personality and pitch man. Joining us now to reflect on Ditka's legacy and impact on the NFL is sports commentator Bob Costas. Bob, appreciate you joining us this afternoon.
Ditka, of course, was like a larger than life character, way more than an average coach or player. What was it about Mike Ditka that made him transcend football?
BOB COSTAS, SPORTS COMMENTATOR (via phone): Complete authenticity. There was no artifice about him whatsoever. He embodied those Chicago Bears both as a player and a coach.
I mean, after all, he was a teammate of Dick Butkus. Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka. The very name suggests all kinds of hellfire taking place on the gridiron.
And then that team in 1985 that actually won the Super Bowl in January of 86, crushing the Patriots, they lost only one game. And their defense was one of the greatest of all time. And this is early in Michael Jordan's career as a Bull.
So at that point, the biggest sports figure in Chicago is Mike Ditka. And he transcended to become a national figure. You may remember there was a recurring bit on Saturday Night Live where a bunch of Bears fans sat around, Go Bears!
And they'd ask a question like, Who could beat Mike Tyson? Coach Mike Ditka. Who could set Vladimir Putin straight?
Mike Ditka. He'd go to Moscow and set him straight. You know, and he leaned into all that.
But something else about him, I worked with him in the 90s on NBC's NFL coverage. He was a guy with a gruff exterior but a warm heart. He was one of the biggest tippers I've ever seen.
If the tab was 200 bucks, he was likely to tip 200 bucks. I saw him peel off from a lot of hundreds he would keep with a rubber band in his pocket. Peel off 100 and hand it to a homeless guy outside 30 Rock.
And he could also be, you know, his commentary was very tart. Before one Super Bowl the Cowboys were in, it was a big thing in the 90s that Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones, the coach and owner, were very successful together, but they were at odds. So I interviewed the two of them for a Super Bowl pregame thing.
And they were trying to make nice. And when it came back, Ditka says, "If I didn't know better, I'd say one of these guys is lying. But I do know better, so both of them are lying."
SANCHEZ: He called it as it was, right? You mentioned the '85 Bears, the historic season they had, their only loss coming to the Miami Dolphins. What was his greatest strength as a coach?
COSTAS: The players respected him. They understood that he might literally grab one of them by the jersey, which is promoting these days. You know, shake the face bar on a helmet and then slap them on the butt and say, Let's go.
They accepted it. They knew it. And with him as one of the key figures, and then you've got Walter Payton on that team and Refrigerator Perry.
And you may remember that they did this thing called the Super Bowl Shuffle.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
COSTAS: Yes, and that became a national thing. It was a top-selling video. That was one of the teams that cut through.
If you asked a casual fan, name 10 Super Bowl winners, they might not be able to name 10, but they would certainly remember that Chicago Bears team.
SANCHEZ: So when you look at Chicago sports figures, other than obviously Michael Jordan, who is the GOAT, right? Who else could be so closely identified with a city the way that Ditko was with the Windy City?
COSTAS: Well, with a city, I guess, you know, you could say Babe Ruth and baseball. You could name some other people. But in Chicago, Walter Payton, who played for Ditka, Ernie Banks with the Cubs, Ryan Sandberg, who overlapped with the Cubs, overlapped Ditka, Jordan towers above all.
But I would actually say that as a national figure, as a cultural icon, Ditka would have been among Chicago sports figures, second only to Jordan.
[16:00:00]
SANCHEZ: Bob Costas, great to get your point of view, as we remember Mike Ditka passing away at 86 years old, a legendary player and coach.
Thank you so much for sharing your afternoon with us. "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.
END
