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Hakeem Jeffries in Florida to Boost Democrats; MeidasTouch Network's Scott MacFarlane is Interviewed about the Midterms; Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) is Interviewed about Ukraine; Gunman Shoots at Oregon School. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired October 16, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you still feel that way, because you're kind of top dogging it?

DAVID CHANG, HOST, "THE DETOUR": I always feel that way. That it's never enough.

This is such a hard business, which is why, you know, I feel so lucky that a lot of things that I never thought would happen, like me sitting here having a show on CNN, talking to you, this is -- this is crazy.

SIDNER: Is this the American dream?

CHANG: I -- you know what? I probably will always be a curmudgeon and somebody that thinks that everything will be taken away. What I'm trying to do more of is to be grateful for the things that everybody has. And I need to appreciate it more myself.

SIDNER: It's beautiful that you said that because I have these feelings as well, growing up without money. And so, I think that touches a lot of people. But also where you went in this series was not the $200 plates, right? You went to a lot of places like truck stops and hardware stores and in Miami you ate outside of a laundry mat. Every time, was it a hit?

CHANG: No. And that's what -- that's why. I'm like, when you think about your best food memories, I'm not thinking about a specific dish from a specific place, right? I'm thinking about moments in time. Who I was with. What I was feeling. You can't find something that you're going to really love without some bad meals. But when you do find something you love, you're really going to love it, right?

SIDNER: Yes.

CHANG: You put in the work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The latest from Bend, Oregon, where four people, including three children, were killed in a school shooting. What we are learning this morning from the investigation. Staggering fundraising figures with some Democrats vastly outraising

their opponents. But in at least one race, the Democrats thought might be safe, there might be cause for concern.

And the new Tesla car that might be useful if you ever find yourself on a road that goes upside down.

I'm John Berman, with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SIDNER: Just 18 days out until Americans have their final chance to vote for a critically important midterm election that will decide which party controls Congress. First, to Georgia, where President Trump will be on the campaign trail today. He's trying to give a boost to Republican Congressman Mike Collins, who's facing off against Democratic incumbent Senator Jon Ossoff. Now, if money talks, it would say that Collins needs some help because his campaign reported raising just $2.4 million in the third quarter, which is vastly less than the $33 million raised by Ossoff for that same exact period.

The House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, also is on the campaign trail today. He is in Florida. He will campaign with Elliott Rodriguez in the high-profile 27th congressional district, a now vulnerable seat for Republican Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, one that Democrats would like to flip as the balance of power on Capitol Hill is up for grabs.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is on the ground in Florida this morning for us.

What are you learning about this race?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will be here on the ground in Florida 27, a very competitive House race that really will serve as a big test of the Latino vote and Latino sentiment almost two years into President Donald Trump's time back in the White House.

Now, Jeffries has said that the Democrats road to the majority in the House runs through a lot of districts that are in Trump territory, and that includes districts like where we are in Miami-Dade County. This is a county that flipped to Trump in 2024 by 19 points. A staggering figure as he had really made gains with the Latino and Hispanic community across the country that had helped fueled his return to the White House back in that race.

And here you have a very competitive contest between the Republican congresswoman, Maria Elvira Salazar, who is running against the Democrat, Eliott Rodriguez. Both of them, notably, were TV news anchors here in the Miami area. So, they are well known to voters. Jeffries will be here with Rodriguez to campaign at over the course of the morning.

But it's really interesting when you think about a place like Miami- Dade, to consider the Hispanic and Latino vote. This Florida 27th congressional district is made up about 70 percent of voters who identify as Hispanic or Latino. And if you take a look at the recent polling, President Trump's approval ratings among Latino voters have really dropped since his re-election. An NBC News Telemundo poll showed that Latino voters only had a 27 percent approval rating of President Trump's performance.

[09:05:00]

And that same poll also showed that 59 percent of Latino voters wanted Democrats to win control of the U.S. Congress this year, not Republicans. And so those are some of the dynamics that are at play in a battleground district, like where we are in Florida. If you also take a look at several of the competitive congressional districts over in south Texas, those are other places where the Latino vote will also play heavily in this election. So, we're spending some time on the ground here to talk to voters, to see whether some of their frustration with President Trump might translate in this congressional race, where Salazar had actually won by 20 points in the last election. Salazar has also run that TV ad warning of some of the frustration among Hispanic voters, saying they feel betrayed by some of the president's policies on immigration. So, those are all factors that could play out in this district that Democrats hope they can put in play over the course of the next two weeks.

SIDNER: We'll have to wait and see what happens.

Arlette Saenz, live for us from Pinecrest, Florida. Thank you so much for your report.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are 18 days out to Election Day now, my friends, and there is new data out on just how much money the candidates have to burn in these final days. Fundraising numbers out -- just out from last quarter, like this one.

In Minnesota, Republican candidate Michele Tafoya outraised Democrat Peggy Flanagan. This one, it's actually close, raised -- Tafoya raised $4.9 million to Flanagan raising $4.3 million.

But now let's go to the very closely watched races, like in Texas. The Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Raxton, the numbers here are wild. Talarico raised a record-breaking $64 million. But there's also this, the news that Elon Musk contributed more than $150 million alone to boost Paxton.

In Kansas, the Democrat running for Senate there, Adam Hamilton, right now far outraising Republican Senator Roger Marshall. Hamilton brought in $9.4 million last quarter. The senator raised $866,000.

To Georgia now. Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff is also dramatically outraising the Republican challenger, Mike Collins. Ossoff, with $33 million raised last quarter. Collins bringing in $2.8 million at the same time.

And joining me right now to put some context and some perspective around this, chief Washington correspondent for the MeidasTouch Network, Scott MacFarlane. It's good to see you again, Scott.

What sticks out to you when it comes to these fundraising numbers from the last quarter?

SCOTT MACFARLANE, CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, MEIDASTOUCH NETWORK: Well, first off, look at James Talarico and Jon Ossoff, $64 million in three months for Talarico. Nearly a record. Jon Ossoff, $33 million. But it's not the top line, Kate, it's the bottom lines in the data. They're getting all of these, $100 or less donations. For Talarico, 97 percent of his money came from donors who gave him $100 or less. That helps financially. But what a great indicator that is for Talarico of a broad base of support. That's what he actually needs, is that grassroots support that's widespread. The data shows that.

In Minnesota -- really glad you mentioned Michele Tafoya with a financial edge over the lieutenant governor of Minnesota, Flanagan. This really has the feeling, Kate, of an anti-establishment dynamic that's coursing through the political bloodstream. Democrats run the show in Minnesota. Republicans run the show in Texas. And you can see the opposition party really galvanized as the election draws near.

BOLDUAN: The way that "Punchbowl" put it this morning is that -- is this way, Scott, the GOP's candidate money problem has gone from bad to worse. The triage over the last few days from the Congressional Leadership Fund and the Trump-aligned groups shows that even with their huge war chests, Republicans may not have enough money to overcome a terrible political environment that threatens to end their control over Congress."

The counterargument, as laid out by one David Urban on the show earlier when he was talking to John Berman is this, if money decided elections, we would be having -- we would have a president Michael Bloomberg, to be talking about here. What do you think of that?

MACFARLANE: They need the money for the blocking and tackling of these final 18 days. I appreciate the sentiment that money doesn't buy you everything, but you need to stay equipped to, first of all, get out the vote, to hit those final campaign talking points that you want to argue to the constituents. And I'm seeing this. I went through Pennsylvania, through four battleground districts in the last few days. You can see the differences where the party has money. The ads saturate the airwaves in certain districts for one party. They don't for the other. I'm telling you, Kate, Democrats think they're going to flip four seats held by Republicans just in Pennsylvania, enough really to take the majority. And they have the opposition outflanked on money. You have Democratic challengers outraising Republican incumbents.

[09:10:02]

That's a problem for the Republicans.

BOLDUAN: Yes. You know, looking at the Senate, I just had Senator Blumenthal on. And I asked him, you know, when it comes to if Democrats would win control of the Senate, the question then quickly becomes, who's going to be the majority leader? Obviously, Chuck Schumer has been the leader in the party for quite some time. But one of the names bandied about as possibly challenging him is fellow Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy. And so I asked Blumenthal what he would do in a scenario of home state Murphy versus Leader Schumer. Let me play how he put it to me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Right now my focus is truly on aiding my colleagues all around the country who are running, and the challengers who will make that majority. I really think that that is the focus also of all my colleagues. There have been really no talk about who a successor might be. But right now the majority leader is Chuck Schumer. There's no indication that he will be leaving.

BOLDUAN: Are you definitely throwing your support if Dems win behind Chuck Schumer as majority leader?

BLUMENTHAL: Again, my focus is on winning the majority. And if Chuck Schumer wants to be leader, there's every indication that he will be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I've determined that's a stand by to stand by, and I'm going to try to avoid commenting. But what do you make of Blumenthal's dance on that?

MACFARLANE: Really good question. Really good interview, Kate. No surprise there.

This is a rite of passage of October. It's like the apple cider, foliage, trick or treat and leadership questions. This is all done by secret ballot. Nobody has to say what they're doing. It's like the Halloween masks. You don't know who's behind it when they cast this vote. Nobody's going to speak differently. Doesn't mean that leaderships positions are safe. There may be a mandate from these elections for change. That means change in institutions and in leadership.

BOLDUAN: Scott MacFarlane doing one of the things that we -- that can always assure that you get back on the show, you compliment my interview style. Thank you, Scott. It's great to see you. Have a good one.

John.

BERMAN: Also a good idea, maybe do the Senate leadership vote with all the senators wearing Halloween masks, right?

BOLDUAN: Oh, I like it. It makes it even scarier.

BERMAN: That would -- yes, if that's humanly possible.

Overnight, a Russian drone hit a supermarket in Ukraine's Odessa region. Look at that right there. The rift between President Zelenskyy and the Trump administration is widening. President Trump said he finds Ukrainian President Zelenskyy more difficult to deal with than Putin. And Zelenskyy said in an interview that Ukraine is losing a partner in the United States. This morning, Zelenskyy's in Brussels. Notably, he thanked the, quote, "real leaders" in Europe for their support.

With us now, Congressman Suhas Subramanyam, a Democrat from Virginia.

Has Ukraine lost U.S. support?

REP. SUHAS SUBRAMANYAM (D-VA): Ukraine has bipartisan support in Congress, in the House and in the Senate. It has the support of the American people. But it's really interesting to question whether the president truly supports Ukraine. He certainly has connections with Russia. He certainly sucks up to Putin regularly. His family seems to have close ties with the oligarchs, and Putin himself. So, there's a lot of questions right now about the president. But, in Congress, and with the American people, Ukraine has full support.

BERMAN: Is there any way, if the Democrats take control, they don't take control until January, and that's a long time. I mean it is -- it is October right now. Ukraine to survive from October to January, it's a long time. What could Congress do to force the United States to be more helpful to Ukraine?

SUBRAMANYAM: I don't want to wait until next Congress. I would like to go back into session and make clear to the American people that Congress does not support Russia's invasion of Ukraine and that Russia is not our ally, despite Donald Trump trying to do deals with Russia and Donald Trump's son getting money from Russian oligarchs for his wedding. It's very clear that we know that Ukraine needs the support. We know that Europe has been there to support Ukraine. And we know that if we let Russia invade Ukraine, we're going to let other adversaries invade their neighbors. So, we have to send a message and make it difficult and put an end to this war. And that means putting pressure on Russia.

BERMAN: Shifting gears, I actually -- I know data centers are an issue in the Ukraine/Russia war, but I want to talk about data centers here in the United States. If I'm not mistaken, there are more data centers in Virginia, your state, than any other state in the country. What do you think the role of Congress should be in regulating, having oversight over data center construction?

SUBRAMANYAM: Well, I'll tell you one role, which is in this Russia/Ukraine war, they're bombing each other's data centers, right? They're going after critical infrastructure. And data centers are considered that. So when we're, in the United States, putting data centers next to homes, next to schools and embedded in the communities, yes, that means more noise for the community.

[09:15:01]

That also means power lines running through the communities and being invasive there, but it also creates a safety issue, especially for my community, where, you know, we have the largest concentration of data centers in the world practically. And so, we have to make sure we keep these communities safe. And certainly we need to make sure that data centers are paying for their own power. So, there's a lot to regulate.

I introduced a national plan. But we need to make sure that Congress steps in because there is a federal role for this.

BERMAN: There is a congressional election going on in every district in the country, including yours. The race for control of Congress very much on right now and control of the Senate. Michigan is one of the races a lot of people are focused on. And you are starting to see identity politics coming in. I want to play some sound from the vice president, J.D. Vance, and the response from candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What is it that animates Abdul El-Sayed and drives him to seek public office? It is not the well-being of his fellow Americans. No. What excites him is this prospect of wielding the power of a country he hates.

ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: He wanted to raise questions about my commitment to America. And let me tell you, nobody understands how deep and profound the gift of this country is like a kid who was born here but for the accident of history that allowed that to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: What did you hear in that exchange, Congressman?

SUBRAMANYAM: Well, first, if someone hates this country, they're not going to run for United States Senate and dedicate their life to service. But second of all, you know, shame on J.D. Vance. I mean his wife is Indian American. There's this sentiment, this anti-immigrant sentiment in our country right now. And some of these Republicans are going out there with rhetoric that are either dog whistles or just directly saying that, you know, immigrant families and people of different backgrounds are responsible for the demise of others in America. And I think that's completely wrong.

And what's interesting is that, you know, we've got an Indian-American running as a Republican in Ohio, and he's having trouble courting the Ohio voters because the Republicans are hearing this sentiment in their party and even turning on their own sometimes. And so, certainly it's something that we have to look at.

There was a shooting at a temple -- or attempted shooting at a temple in Illinois recently. And so, you know, we have to make sure that we combat this type of rhetoric.

BERMAN: Congressman Suhas Subramaniam, Democrat from Virginia, we appreciate you being with us this morning. Thank you.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, ahead, what we are learning about the investigation into that deadly elementary school shooting that left three young children and a teacher dead as the Bend, Oregon, district has closed all schools for the day.

Plus, wildfire dangers ramping up in California. Santa Ana winds are fueling many of the fires that have cropped up. There's one that has I-5 near Camp Pendleton closed.

And a Tesla in self-driving mode slams into a police cruiser. What the driver said he was doing at the time of this crash.

Those stories and more ahead.

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[09:22:19]

SIDNER: Schools across the community of Bend, Oregon, are closed as community is mourning there after a 16-year-old blasted his way through elementary school doors and killed three young children and a teacher. Police say the 16-year-old was armed with a long gun, but that the gunman was shot and killed by a community member who followed behind him into the school. Investigators have not said whether the shooter had any connection to that school or what his motive might have been.

Joining me now is CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller.

John, what are you learning this morning about this? It is such a terrible tragedy. And the school has said, look, we have locked doors. We have locked classrooms. We have cameras. And yet this shooter was able to blast through them and get inside.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: So, Sara, investigators worked through the night executing search warrants, not just locking down places where the shooter lived, but looking for search warrants for other kinds of things, social media accounts, social media devices, phones, computers and so on.

What they are trying to figure out overnight, which will carry into today is, was there a clear motive? Did he leave a message? Is he one of these shooters who, over the weeks and months before this event and this terrible tragedy, is he someone who studied other shooters? These are the questions that they hope to have some answers today. There's a press conference scheduled for later today, perhaps this afternoon, where they may be able to share some of these.

What we learned from them yesterday, of course, was that three children, five, eight and 11 were killed and another seven-year-old was wounded, that a teacher was killed, that another teacher was wounded. And, Sara, you know, these stories. Unfortunately, because of our familiarity and frequency with them, usually when teachers are killed in these things, it is because they are actively trying to defend their students. We're still trying to get a picture of exactly when -- exactly what went on in those hallways and classrooms.

We spoke to one teacher who said they saw the gunman entering the building while they were looking out the window of their classroom, notified the front office. That probably jumped the lockdown, which allowed teachers to lock their doors and shelter their children in place. The community member who followed the shooter inside engaged him and fired shots. We still don't know if he was able to do that by surprise or if they actually confronted each other and exchange shots.

[09:25:03]

So, a lot of details that need to emerge over time. Some that could emerge today.

SIDNER: Yes, we were hearing from, you know, community members there, from a teacher there, who just talked about the fear, the terror that was happening inside of the school at the time of this.

I do want to ask you about that community member who managed to see what was going on and acted very quickly, ran in to -- close to danger and ended up taking out the shooter. When this sort of thing happens, what does the investigation look like? How do police sort of deal with that when they first get on the scene and the dangers of it as well, and then the investigation on the back end of all of this.

MILLER: Well, Sara, it's an interesting question because all of -- these things always happen quickly. We imagine them in our minds, as you know, 10 or 12 minutes of terror. Most of these actors, active shooter incidents unfold in two and a half to four minutes tops before there's an outcome of the shooter either taking their own life, being shot, wounded by police, or just taken into custody.

In this case, you speed up that timeline from a call that came in to 911 at 12:59. It went out to the units. The units were on the scene by 1:02. By 1:03 they were reporting that the shooter was down. The police radio reports indicated that the shooter had been shot by, quote, "a father," which suggests the father of a student. That answers other questions for us, which is, the amount of courage and determination it took to follow a man with a long gun, a rifle, a young man, this 16-year-old suspect, into the school to confront him with a handgun. But on the other hand, you know, as a parent, we all know, once you think your child is in the pathway of that danger, a lot of those calculations go out the window. You just move.

Ballistics will tell us some things. Whatever shell casings are recovered from the shooter's gun will give us an idea of the path. Video from inside the school may tell us more. But when you talk about this unfolded in about two minutes, that's about how it unfolded, starting with the shooter opening fire on a car in the parking lot. The car occupants are the first 911 calls saying, we're being fired upon by a guy with a rifle in the parking lot. Then he shoots his way through the doorways into the school.

Other questions they're asking today is, what was his tactical plan? How much ammunition did he bring? How much carnage did he intend to inflict before he was stopped? Shooting through the doors, is that something he got through the study of other similar incidents? You will remember Audrey Hale in the Nashville covenant school shooting, you know, she was confronted by the locked doors, shot her way through the glass. And we do know that these shooters seem to study the -- their predecessors and, in essence, try to compete in many ways.

So, we need to know a lot. We're going to find more of that today.

SIDNER: Yes, there's so much to learn. But that father who took action saved countless people.

John Miller, it is so good to have you. Thank you. Thank you for coming on this morning.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Farmers are getting squeezed like never before with the high price, well, of everything, from diesel, to fertilizer. And it goes on. So, what is on the line now for them this midterm election? We'll find out.

And the first images of Pope Leo were just released following his lung surgery, celebrating mass while in the hospital. We'll bring -- give -- we will bring you an update on his recovery.

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