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Trump's Travel the Week: Alaska, Arizona, Montana, Georgia; Democrats Hope to Fulfill Dream of Turning Texas Blue; Moody's Analytics: Iran War Costing Average U.S. Household $2,000; Elon Musk's Net Favorability. Aired 8:00-8:30a ET

Aired October 13, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: 21 days to election day. Early voting begins though today in battleground Georgia and President Trump is headed to Alaska to try and save his Senate majority. Why was that funny, JB?

Moving on. We're standing by to see what happens next with Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle. The President says he's not happy. And the man releasing her text messages tells CNN he's now preparing to talk to Congress.

And when sea lions invade, or rather more like apparently take back their turf. What is going on here? We will explain.

I'm Kate Bolduan with Sara Sidner and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. What are they doing?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Exactly three weeks to go until the midterms. President Trump heads to Alaska to campaign today. But is he bringing the right message for Republicans?

At an appearance in Ohio overnight, he asked voters to pretend he is on the ballot, even as some Republicans worry he is a drag on the party. And he also took time to appraise the anatomy of Ohio Senator Jon Husted, a former college football player.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But I'm standing over here and I don't do this with men very often. I started examining his body because I didn't know he was a great athlete. And I looked and I watched up and down.

I looked at his ass, and I looked at the whole. And then I looked at his hands. Look at his hands.

He's got these like claws.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: One question is how much overlap is there between the Husted ass caucus and the huge swath of voters who say they are concerned about the cost of living? That is likely to be a major subject in crucial Senate debates tonight in Maine and Georgia and Iowa. CNN's Alayna Treene is live this morning at the White House, home of Grey's Anatomy and more, no doubt.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, quite a commentary from the president there on Senator Jon Husted. Look, we're seeing Trump really take this tour on the road this week with several stops to many different red states, many of these places, of course, states that he has won three times in all elections, 2016, 2020, 2024. We saw that with Ohio, of course, and Alaska, which is where he is headed today.

John, he's going there to stomp for the Senate incumbent there, Dan Sullivan, some other Republicans in the state as well. Tomorrow, he'll be in Montana and Arizona. Later this week, Georgia, more travel for this weekend.

I think you're getting the gist of what I'm laying out here. The president is on a very aggressive campaign schedule with just three weeks to go until November 3rd. And a lot of this is because they are worried, Republicans, about the enthusiasm gap.

Now, I will say, the strategy that the president's team has had from the get-go has been all focused on turnout and trying to go out there with these rallies, again, to very red states, places that I think Republicans a couple months ago would have argued would likely be safe districts that you shouldn't be spending time and resources in. Well, he is spending his time and resources in these states to juice turnout. And that really was the message you heard him deliver once again in Ohio last night with this quip that he wants his voters to pretend, he's on the ballot.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: What happens is every time I run, we do great. We have a tremendous turnout, 48, 49 percent more than when I don't run. So I'm asking everybody to pretend, just pretend that I'm on the ballot.

Because in a way, I am on the ballot, because they will try and destroy everything we've done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So the president there arguing that, yes, make this election about me. Not necessarily, though, I think a message that some Republicans are hoping will actually or are worried may actually help them. If you look in Ohio last night, just where he was giving that message, I mean, he is underwater there.

Our latest CNN poll from last week showed that he was underwater by 28 points, his approval rating in Ohio 36 percent. So will that message actually translate to more enthusiasm from the party on November 3rd? We'll see.

Now, I will say in the conversations I have behind the scenes with some of the president's members of his political operation, they say this is the strategy they have. They are invested in it. They are invested in trying to juice as much of his base to turn out as possible.

We're seeing that really play out this week with all of the travel he has. And that's going to be the message that he's going to deliver, I think, in Alaska and all these other states, John.

BERMAN: Maybe. We never know exactly what message he'll deliver when he gets there. And Dan Sullivan better watch his back, literally.

[08:05:00]

Let's just say that. Alayna Treene, thank you very much for that -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Democrats also have their sights set on flipping a Senate seat in Texas. But they've been very optimistic before in the Lone Star State, only to lose.

I remember the date was 2018. The candidates were Democrat Beto O'Rourke versus Republican Ted Cruz. Now it's Democrat James Talarico versus Republican Ken Paxton.

CNN senior political analyst Mark Preston is joining me now. When you look at the Talarico-Paxton race compared to, say, the Beto O'Rourke race versus Ted Cruz, which I know you remember very, very well, what do Democrats' chances look like now?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Sara, let's consider the Beto race. He provided a lot of hope. He almost went back to the days of Barack Obama, remember, hope and change, hope and change.

Beto O'Rourke offered a lot of hope. Well, now James Talarico is offering a lot of change. And I think that's the difference we're seeing in these two candidacies.

We're also seeing a president right now in President Trump who is, as Alayna just said, is incredibly underwater all across the country in all of these races. He's trying to prop up Republicans just to at least hold on to the United States Senate. But here's what's facing right now James Talarico.

He's facing a very Republican state, even though Beto O'Rourke almost won, lost by less than three points to Ted Cruz back in 2018, the last time a Democrat won the U.S. Senate was in 1988. And I would argue that probably half our staff doesn't even know who that winner was, Lloyd Benson. You also go back and look at how Donald Trump did in the presidential election.

He won Texas by nearly 14 percentage points. Polling also shows that older voters right now are leaning towards, and in a very strong way, leaning towards Ken Paxton right now. Older voters tend to vote.

So as James Talarico is showing signs of a possibility and giving hopes to Democrats that they can take Texas, the reality is this is still a very, very Republican state. And we're seeing right now Republicans doing everything they can to try to now save Ken Paxton, who I think everyone could acknowledge is not a very good candidate. They are outspending Democrats right now, five to one, to try to save this seat here in Texas.

SIDNER: Yes, I think I saw the numbers where they dumped $100 million into the state of Texas on this race, which is incredibly high amounts of money. Mark, look, there are plenty of other races to be paying attention to as well. There are big debates tonight in the Senate seat for Maine, Georgia and Iowa.

I know a lot of people watching Iowa. What are you looking for from these showdowns?

PRESTON: Well, first of all, three stages, three different races. As you know, two are facing incumbents. One is an open seat.

Let's start in Maine. Susan Collins right now is trying to convince voters up in Maine that her seniority and her ability to deliver for Maine and her independence of Donald Trump is enough to send her back to the U.S. Senate for a sixth term. At the same time, we're seeing her opponent, Troy Jackson, saying that it's time for change.

Moving down to Georgia, different outlook for Republicans right now down there. A Republican state, but we see Jon Ossoff right now, the Democrat incumbent, who has done very well on the campaign trail. The question tonight is, how does he tie the national economic woes to Donald Trump?

How does he play that out across the final 21 days of this campaign at the same time? Does his opponent stay steadfast and continue to support Donald Trump? As you know, out in Iowa, that's an open seat right now.

There's a lot of talk about Iowa and the heartland and how these diesel prices are really hurting farmers right now. Who's going to have the better message right now? Is it going to be the Democrat, Josh Turek, or is it going to be the Republican, Ashley Hinson?

Who has the better message about saying, send me to Washington and I'm going to try to ease the woes, the financial woes that you're feeling in our state, specifically amongst farmers? Three different races, totally different candidates, but the fact is these races add in Texas as a fourth race right now. This is the path for Democrats to win the Senate majority, for Republicans to hold the Senate majority.

A lot going on in the next 24 hours.

SIDNER: Yes, these debates are going to be really interesting. All formidable candidates. We'll see what happens tonight.

Mark Preston, thank you so much. Always a pleasure to see you in the morning.

Tomorrow, a new town hall for us. Democratic Senate candidate, as we were just talking about Texas, James Talarico, comes face to face with Texas voters. Erin Burnett moderates the CNN and "JUBILEE TOWN HALL WITH JAMES TALARICO," Wednesday, 8 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN, and streaming live with an all-access subscription -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So Six Flags has shut down multiple roller coasters across multiple states, for now, after a man died falling from a ride in Georgia. What Six Flags is saying today.

[08:10:00]

And there's new data out. How much the Iran war is costing households across the United States right now. We've got the detail on that for you.

Plus, a literal hot mess in France. Hackers break into the networks of hundreds of supermarkets, jacking up the temperatures in their refrigerators and freezers, spoiling tons of food, amounting to tens of millions of dollars of losses.

What's happening now? We've got that.

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BOLDUAN: There is new data out offering a fresh take on the cost of the Iran war, specifically how much that war is costing and trickling down to American families right now. CNN's Matt Egan has the details for us. He joins us now.

What are you learning, Matt?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Kate, this war, it's been consistently two things, right? Unpopular and expensive. And I don't think that's any coincidence.

When you think about it, gas, diesel, airfare, mortgage rates, they've all gone up.

[08:15:00]

They're all very visible. I mean, even though the war is taking place an ocean away from us here on the East Coast, the financial impact has just been so tangible.

[08:15:00]

So Moody's Analytics is estimating that the cost of U.S. consumers from the war is $265 billion since it started in late February. That amounts to about $2,000 for the average family.

$2,000. I mean, when you think about it that way, no wonder consumer confidence has been in such a tailspin. So how do they get to this $2,000 figure?

BOLDUAN: Yes, what makes that up?

EGAN: Well, not surprisingly, the biggest impact of course is energy. Energy alone is $1,100 per family according to Moody's. Now that's not just gasoline, that's diesel.

It's also jet fuel and it's home heating costs that are projected to go higher. But it's not just energy, it's borrowing costs as well, right? We have a situation where inflation is up, bond rates are up, the Fed is raising interest rates for the first time in three years.

So yes, it's gotten more expensive to get a car loan. Mortgage rates are around seven and a half percent right now. Credit card rates have gone up as well.

So Moody says that's $540 per family right there. And then you have the actual costs from the conflict itself. Military spending, that amounts to $360 per family.

And keep in mind, all of these costs, this is a running tally. So the longer the war goes on, the higher that these per family costs are going to go up. Now just digging in a little further to energy, since that's the biggest bracket here, gas prices.

So they've stabilized, they're no longer going straight up. Right around $4.34 a gallon nationally. But historically, this is a very high price for this time of year.

And in fact, gas has never been above $4 a gallon as many times in a calendar year as this year. Look at this, 165.

BOLDUAN: It's never been above $4 this many times.

EGAN: That's right, 165 days so far this year with $4 gas or higher. That's according to AAA data. You go back, their data goes back to 2000.

There's only two other years that have really had any days with $4 gas. Back in 2008, before Lehman Brothers imploded, that summer, you had very high gas prices. 48 days with $4 gas.

And of course, 2022, under former President Biden, after Russia invaded Ukraine, 158 days. And look, I mean, obviously the year's not even close to being over. So this could completely blow away that 2022 record.

One other point here is airfare, right? So airlines are facing the spike in jet fuel costs. They've responded by cutting some of their cheaper flights, by raising baggage fees and lifting airfare.

So airfare, 23 percent more expensive year over year. We'll get an update on this figure from tomorrow's inflation report. So Kate, look, put it together.

Cost of living was the biggest problem in the economy before the war started. It's the thing the President promised to fix, and the war is making it worse.

BOLDUAN: That $4 a gallon gas figure is something to remember, for sure. It's good to see you, Matt.

EGAN: Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much -- J.B.

BERMAN: All right, sources tell CNN, a State Department watchdog is investigating Ambassador and former Donald Trump Jr. fiance, Kimberly Guilfoyle, after reports she asked a MAGA donor to pay her Amex bill. What the President now says about her future.

And from bond threats to calls for assassination, the growing opposition to AI data centers that is dividing communities across the country.

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, The New York Times was the first report that Elon Musk is spending at least $276 million to help elect Republicans around the country. That's spending from the beginning of July till now.

It's a ton of money, and it could be even more. That's to help other people. One question is, does he need some of that help himself?

With us now CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten. I asked that because how's Elon Musk doing in terms of popularity right now?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: It turns out you can't buy love, Johnny B. Money can't buy your love because just take a look at these numbers for Elon Musk. Compare this to where he was back in 2024, right, when I think Elon Musk is sort of a political entity really first came onto our television screens into our lives.

You can take a look at the net favorability in October of 2024. Look at this. He was only about two points under.

Here's about breakeven. You couldn't really run against Elon Musk. Now, if I'm the Democrats and the idea that he is out there spending that do re me, I'm saying, you know, if I'm a Democrat, I am running against Elon Musk.

I am running against the elites because look at this. His net favorability is way into the basement. I mean, my goodness gracious, it's 22 points below water.

That's a 20 point switcheroo. No matter how many statements he can put out on X, the bottom line is that the American people do not like Elon Musk and to a significantly lower degree his likability than it was just two years ago.

BERMAN: How do independents feel?

ENTEN: Yes, I mean, you think that these numbers are down there in the Hudson River. Why don't we go down to the Atlantic Ocean?

Because you can see it among independents. Take a look at this, Musk's net favorability among independents in the fall of 2024. Look at this.

He was five points underwater, which is, you know, not so great, but it's not so terrible. You can't really run against somebody. He's basically neutral.

But look at this now. He's 27 points underwater way down there with the Little Mermaid. This is an issue for Republicans across the board.

That is, independents have been breaking away from the president United States from breaking away from Republicans and Elon Musk just adds to the problem that is building, building, building. As Republicans head towards these midterm elections, they have, simply put, alienated the center of the electorate to a historic degree.

BERMAN: How might the ubiquity of a trillionaire like Donald Trump? Sorry, ubiquity of a billionaire trillionaire like Elon Musk sort of changed perception of the party.

ENTEN: Yes, you know, you got a billionaire in Donald Trump. You got someone who's been floating with being a trillionaire in Elon Musk. And you could just see this right here.

Republicans love to run as the idea. The Democrats of the elite, the Democrats, the elites. We're the party of the working class, party viewed as elitist.

Look at this among non college voters. You know, the working class of America. What are we talking about?

In the fall of 2022 back during the last midterm elections, Democrats were seen as more elitist by five points. Look at it now. Republicans are seen more elitist by 10 points.

This just hammers away at this message that we have been seeing in the polling over and over and over again.

[08:25:00]

You got these billionaires and potentially trillionaire spending, and they're therefore now seeing the Republican Party is the party of the elites, and it's no wonder the non college voters, which voted for Donald Trump, have been shifting into the Democratic column.

BERMAN: It's a really interesting shift there over time on something like this. So Elon Musk has been spending this money, $267 million since the beginning of July to presumably help elect a lot of Republican senators. How much has it helped?

ENTEN: It hasn't helped. It hasn't helped, at least in the grand scheme of things. It's been canceled out by other things. And I think this is the big problem.

You know, it's one thing to say, hey, you know, we don't necessarily like that Elon Musk is so unpopular, but we all take his money. But look at this. According to the Kalshi prediction market, you go back a few months ago, Republicans or Democrats had a 44 percent chance of taking back the United States Senate.

That number has gone up. They're now the majority favorite at 62 percent chance to take back the United States Senate. So it turns out money can't just not only not buy you love but apparently can't necessarily buy you a Senate majority as well.

Although we'll have to wait and see on this one.

BERMAN: One of the key races is in Texas. CNN is hosting a town hall with James Talarico in Texas tomorrow night. What can viewers do if they have questions about that race or anything else going on in Texas?

ENTEN: Well, you know, funny enough, Johnny B, look at this. We got office hours. Am I joining you on this?

BERMAN: And if you are, we should have you up here.

ENTEN: Near by.

BERMAN: It's Harry. Harry, Harry.

ENTEN: I got a nice smile.

BERMAN: We got two eyes and a smile.

SIDNER: Harry, there. That's it.

ENTEN: There we go!

BERMAN: Join Harry Enten and me tomorrow night for "OFFICE HOURS." It's seven o'clock. We'll be talking about all things Texas.

You could write us live right now at CNN.com/OfficeHours. Join us with the CNN all access subscription.

SIDNER: Harry is doubling as Gumby because he's nice and green over there and also doing a little dance to that song. Very fun, guys. We will all be joining you.

All right this morning, we're giving you a live look right now at the White House press briefing. It is going to be getting underway as a brand new White House press secretary makes her debut. But CNN's K- file found in some of her now deleted social media posts -- we'll talk about it.

And a new study showing those obesity fighting GLP-1 drugs, maybe something surprising, slow or even reverse aging. How? We'll talk about it.

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