Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Two New Polls Show Texas Senate Race Deadlocked; Clash of the Candidates: Second Senate Debate in GA Gets Heated; Rising Gas Prices Stoke Higher Inflation in September; Inflation Flares Up to 3.7 Percent, Hotter than Expected; OpenAI Ex-Engineer Arrested for Bugging Conference Room 3-3:30p ET

Aired October 14, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: ... is to potentially have a broadcast event without showing the moment shots are fired. Ultimately, again, we'll have to see. It comes down to what President Trump decides. But again, Pete Hegseth out in front of the President a bit, and now there's some walk-back happening inside the Pentagon itself.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: All right, Zach, thank you so much for the reporting. Really appreciate it.

And a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Talking directly to the voters. Democrat James Talarico will make the case for why Texas should send him to the Senate in a CNN Town Hall tonight. Half a billion dollars has been spent on this critical race that could decide control of the Senate.

Plus, it's not just gas that's more expensive. The last inflation report before the midterm elections show that many prices across the board are rising faster than expected.

And later, military operations disrupted. Ukraine says that Elon Musk's Starlink is restricting military internet service without warning as attacks from Russia continue.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Twenty days to the midterms and counting. And that tight Senate race in Texas is going primetime right here on CNN. Two new polls show that Democrat James Talarico is deadlocked with Republican candidate Ken Paxton. Both polls within the margin of error, no clear leader. So, this one could come down to a photo finish.

In just a few hours, Talarico will be taking questions live from voters as CNN hosts a special town hall event. We have more on that in a moment. But first, Arizona Republicans are getting ready to hear from President Trump as he's about to kick off a double rally day. Let's go live now to Bullhead City, Arizona, where we find CNN's Betsy Klein. That's where the President will soon be taking the stage, Betsy. What are you anticipating we're going to hear from President Trump today? BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Boris, I would

expect a lot of red meat. And let me just set the scene here. Bullhead City is in Mohave County, Arizona. This is one of the reddest counties in the state, maybe one of the reddest counties in the country.

This county voted overwhelmingly for President Trump by 55 points back in 2024. It was 77 percent to 21 percent for Kamala Harris. It's a relatively rural place. It's also on the border with Nevada. And all of this is in complete alignment with President Trump's midterm campaign travel strategy.

That is bringing him to some of these red places to juice turnout among his MAGA base. The goal here is not necessarily to find new voters or to convince undecided independent voters for vote -- to vote for his candidates. The goal is instead to turn out his most ardent supporters. And that is what we are seeing here.

Now, there are some candidates in this race that we are seeing put some strategic distance between themselves and this president. There are other candidates, however, who are making the calculation that they want to hold the President and his policies close. And that includes the gubernatorial candidate, Andy Biggs, speaking right behind me right now. He's in a very tight race against Katie Hobbs, the Democratic governor of this state.

But 20 days out, Republicans are privately concerned that they could lose control of the House of Representatives. They are increasingly concerned that they could also lose control of the Senate. And that is in part because of the President's unpopularity driven by those high gas prices and his war with Iran.

And we heard today that key new report that showed hotter-than- expected inflation, 3.7 percent in the past month. I asked a lot of voters about that and how they're feeling about things. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: What grade would you give President Trump so far?

KAMERON YOCOM, ATTENDING RALLY IN ARIZONA: A.

KLEIN: Why's that?

YOCOM: A. I love -- I love Trump, personally. He's my boss now. I just signed up for the Navy, so he's my boss now. And I love him, personally. I can't say much bad about him.

GUINEVERE JOHNSON, ATTENDING RALLY IN ARIZONA: I would give him an absolute A-plus.

KLEIN: Inflation just hit 3.7 percent. Gas prices very high. Who's to blame for that?

JOHNSON: I think there's a combination of blame. I don't think the blame is necessarily President Trump at this point in time. He's having to deal with it, and I think he's doing a pretty darn good job. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, it's all going to come out to turnout here in Arizona, and there are some efforts we are seeing to organize even here at this rally. There's information about early voting and mail-in ballots, all of this heading into that critical election 20 days from now, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Betsy Klein, live for us in Arizona. Thank you so much, Betsy. Brianna?

KEILAR: Meantime, Georgia's Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, just announced a record number of early votes cast on the first day of early voting, more than 188,000 votes, which is 53,000 more than at this point in the 2022 midterms.

[15:05:03]

The critical Senate race between incumbent Jon Ossoff and Republican Mike Collins heating up once again with the second debate last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE COLLINS, (R) GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE: You know, when I was in your -- in your office, I -- I asked you to help our shared constituent, Laken Riley, to -- to get justice. And you just stared at me. We could have passed her bill under President Biden, but you wouldn't lift a finger. I mean, were you too cowardly to stand up for what's right, or was it -- or was it just politically convenient to wait until it was going to pass anyway?

SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): Mike, you know I voted for the bill. You're not just lying about my record. You're lying about a young woman's death because your campaign is in collapse. And your campaign is in collapse because the whole state knows that you're currently under federal investigation for the illegal misuse of tax dollars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Vice President J.D. Vance is in Atlanta today hoping to boost voter enthusiasm among Republicans who are -- ahead of President Trump's rally in Georgia on Friday.

So, let's talk about this now with someone who knows all about Georgia politics, Rick Folbaum. He's an anchor for Atlanta News First.

Rick, I mean, so much to discuss here. Let's first talk about that debate performance. That was a pretty amazing moment there. What were the takeaways? How did this debate go?

RICK FOLBAUM, ANCHOR, ATLANTA NEWS FIRST; RECENTLY MODERATED OSSOFF/COLLINS DEBATE: Well, this was the second debate, as you said. I moderated the first debate, which was last week. And things were heated last Thursday night, but it was really just sort of part one of -- of a two-pronged attack where Senator Ossoff really just went after Mike Collins right from the get-go, right in his opening statement last week. And then, he picked up on that again last night in their second debate.

Mike Collins, who was a little more subdued in his personal attacks against the Senator last week, he went right at it. He seemed to have taken some lessons from Senator Ossoff last week, and he really turned up the heat last night.

And so, a lot of people were talking about how Mike Collins had a better performance last night. But again, he is behind in the polls. We have the Vice President here today. We have President Trump coming to town on Friday. Both of those hoping to, as you've been talking about, boost voter turnout here in Georgia for the Republican candidates.

KEILAR: Yes, what does the Vice President need to bring with him as far as a message goes to really get undecided Georgia voters to go with the Republican candidate, or just to get them to think, you know what, actually, I will vote after all if they were thinking about staying home?

FOLBAUM: I think that's the key, Brianna, really, is to get them out of the House and get them to the polls. And early voting just started yesterday. You talked about those record -- record numbers. Both campaigns are urging their voters, their base, to get out and vote, make a plan and -- and vote in person. Don't do it by mail, necessarily, if you can, because you don't want to leave anything to chance. There have been a lot of scrutiny of elections here in Georgia. And so, the candidates are really saying it's best to go, have a paper trail, show up there at your polling place.

You know, the Vice President, I think, is just coming to try to excite the -- base here. And that's exactly what President Trump is going to try to do as well. We have two big marquee races here. We have a gubernatorial race where the governor originally came out, the candidate Rick Jackson, and said, I'm going to be President Trump's favorite governor. He has really since moved away from that, whereas Mike Collins, who is proudly MAGA Mike, is really embracing that and not distancing himself from President Trump in the least.

KEILAR: Senator Ossoff made a promise last -- last night. Let's go ahead and listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OSSOFF: I have zero interest in running for president. I'm not running for president. I'm running for re-election to the Senate.

COLLINS: He is running for president. He's going to be your DSA candidate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: What do you think -- do voters believe him? I mean, where do they -- where do they fall on this question of whether he's eyeing a presidential run?

FOLBAUM: Well, I mean, you heard from the senator last night, and he's been very consistent that he is not running for president. He has no interest in running for president. I think that he was pretty emphatic in that denial.

I -- I speak with his campaign on a daily basis, and they say that he is not interested in running for president. If anything, the talk here in Georgia is Senator Raphael Warnock might be a more likely presidential candidate in 2028. The senator has been showing up in places like New Hampshire. He has a campaign rally coming up with Kamala Harris, and so he's really talked about here in Georgia as maybe a more likely presidential candidate.

KEILAR: The Epstein files came up last night. Here's that moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: You know, Jon, one of your largest donors is Reid Hoffman. He slept on the Epstein Island.

[15:10:03]

He stayed at his Manhattan townhouse. Will you condemn Reid Hoffman and apologize for your hypocrisy tonight?

OSSOFF: Mike, who on your team advised you to raise the Epstein files? You voted to cover up the evidence, Mike.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Yes, I wonder if Collins might come to regret having brought that up.

FOLBAUM: Well, I mean, he did eventually vote for the Epstein files to be released, but, of course, it was only after pressure. He did not immediately latch on to -- to that argument. You know, but he -- he does have a point, though, when it comes to criticizing Senator Ossoff and -- and the fact that he has one of his biggest donors as somebody who very clearly has been mentioned in the Epstein files.

And so, it doesn't seem like either one of them has completely clean hands in this, but it did come up for the first time. It really has not been a major issue in this campaign so far.

KEILAR: Yes, it was -- so it was an interesting moment to see that last night. Cannot escape the Epstein files in politics these days, it seems.

Rick, great to speak with you. Really appreciate your insight here on this Georgia race.

FOLBAUM: Thanks, Brianna. Nice to talk to you.

KEILAR: Rick Folbaum, thank you.

Still to come, the last inflation report before the midterms shows prices, especially for gas, rising faster than expected. We're going to break down that data. Plus, a CNN investigation into Cornell reveals the university gave lax

punishments to some students found responsible for sexual assault.

And then later, an OpenAI engineer caught planting a sophisticated listening device inside OpenAI offices. He's now behind bars.

We have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:22]

SANCHEZ: The final inflation report before the midterms is out and it showed prices rising faster than expected. A new report shows consumer prices rose 3.7 percent from a year ago, fueled in large part by surging gasoline prices. This despite President Trump saying repeatedly that costs are coming down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're bringing prices way down.

We've already stopped the inflation.

All of your prices have been tumbling down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN's Matt Egan joins us now.

So, Matt, how do the numbers square with the President's rhetoric?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Boris, they really don't. But viewers don't need an inflation report to tell them that, right? They're experiencing these price increases in the real world, at the gas pump, at the grocery store, when they're trying to book a flight or get their car fixed. Clearly prices are still going up and they're going up uncomfortably fast in part because of the war with Iran.

Let's go through some of the top line numbers here. So, the new annual inflation rate for the month of September, 3.7 percent. That is a big step in the wrong direction from 3.4 percent in August. And this is hotter than expected. On a monthly basis, prices were up by 0.6 percent between August and September. That might not sound like a lot, but that is a big increase for one month. In fact, this is a six-month high. And when you look at the trend for monthly inflation, you can see that, you know, this is when the war started.

So, before the war, monthly prices were going up modestly. Then, the war hit and you saw gas prices skyrocketed. Inflation went in the wrong direction. There were hopes of a ceasefire that would last. Gas prices came down. There was some relief, but again, moving in the wrong direction.

When we look at the trend for annual inflation, it's absolutely true that inflation today is not nearly as bad as it was four years ago after Russia invaded Ukraine under President Biden. We had 9 percent inflation in America, right? That was a disaster.

However, it's also true that inflation was coming down. And by the time President Trump started his second term, inflation was at 3 percent. So, that means that inflation is higher now at 3.7 percent than it was when President Trump started his second term.

So, where are the prices going up? Well, not surprisingly, the biggest culprit is gas. Gas prices up 34 percent year-over-year. But it's not just gas, jet fuel has skyrocketed. So, airfare is 22 percent more expensive year over year. Also -- also motor oil, 9 percent more expensive. That's the biggest annual increase for that item in three years.

Now, we're also seeing some evidence of the A.I. boom and all the power and computer chips that the boom is consuming because electricity prices up by 4 percent year over year. That's above the overall rate of inflation. And computers and peripherals, a 10 percent surge. That's the biggest increase for that category since the government started tracking this in the late 1990s.

The silver lining though is groceries. Food at home is only up by 2 percent. That's the smallest increase since the end of 2024. However, the question is how long is that going to last? Because we know diesel and fertilizer prices have skyrocketed. Economists say that that's going to eventually get passed on to consumers.

One last point for you, Boris, it's wages and inflation. The blue line here shows wage gains. The red line is inflation. And for a period of time, wages were going up faster than prices. That's exactly what you want to see. But that trend reversed when the war started. And now, we have six straight months where prices are going up faster than paychecks.

[15:20:03]

So, bottom line here, Boris, people were already feeling frustrated, like they couldn't keep up with the cost of living. Then the war hit, and this has made the situation that much worse, which of course is the opposite of what President Trump promised voters. Back to you.

SANCHEZ: Yes, tough picture for the American consumer. Matt Egan, thank you so much.

EGAN: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Coming up, an OpenAI engineer is now behind bars, accused of planning a recording device inside a conference room where highly confidential discussions took place. We have all the details after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:09] KEILAR: The Department of Justice is releasing some new details about

an alleged spying scheme at OpenAI. The company says it found a sophisticated recording device hidden in a conference room where highly confidential discussions took place. The suspect, a now former employee, was arrested and just faced a judge for the first time. CNN's Hadas Gold is joining us now with more on this.

So, Hadas, how did the company find out what was happening here?

HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: So, OpenAI's security team does regular sweeps of their offices looking for exactly these types of things. And during one of those regular sweeps is when they found this device that they say was plugged into the USB port of a TV screen in a conference room that was used exclusively by executives. This device that was plugged into the USB port was oddly wrapped in toilet paper.

However, they do say that this device was rather sophisticated, that it monitored audio, it had advanced encryption, and a mechanism for transferring data that was also designed to evade monitoring. Now, they believe that this device was in place for about two days. After they saw it, they then notified the FBI and they actually installed a hidden camera, and that's how we're able to actually see this image of the suspect in this case, peeking behind the screen, ostensibly maybe checking on the device to see if it's still there.

Authorities have -- have identified this now former employee as 35- year-old Abdulrahman Alfozan. He is a Saudi national who had been working at -- as an engineer on OpenAI's product team for about a year or so, and he was arrested last week.

OpenAI has said in a statement that at this time, they have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data. Now, Alfozan was not new to Silicon Valley. He had worked previously at Meta. He went to Berkeley. He went to MIT. Interestingly, he is also actually listed as a partner at a Saudi-based venture capital firm called RAED. We've reached out to both RAED and the Saudi embassy for comment, and we have yet to hear back.

But the Department of Justice is taking this very seriously as an issue of National Security, but what we still don't know is whether this is a case of corporate espionage or if it's a case of sort of, you know, foreign governments trying to gain intelligence. But Alfozan, he is in federal custody, and he's expected to face a judge next week, guys.

KEILAR: All right, we'll be looking for that. Hadas, thank you so much.

Some new details on the FBI search of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's home in Washington, what we're learning after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)