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Backlash Intensifies to Ramaswamy Ad With Opponent's Estranged Mother; EPA Says, Error Caused Toledo Chemical Leak, Triggered Evacuations; Kansas Democrat Denies Ties to Democratic Leaders, Reminds Voters He's a Pastor. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired October 22, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Backlash intensifying over Republican Vivek Ramaswamy's attack ad in the Ohio governor's race featuring his opponent's estranged mother, who home she was removed from as a child after her stepfather was charged with raping her. But the president and vice president are defending Ramaswamy, J.D. Vance even telling Republicans to stop whining about it.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A huge chemical leak sparks evacuations. This morning, the latest on containment efforts and word if there will be any lingering impact.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And reporter to the rescue, covering dangerous flooding and then jumping into action to help save a man trapped in a sinking car.

I'm Kate Bolduan with Sara Sidner and John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

SIDNER: Just 12 days to go to the midterms and the battle for power is uglier than ever. President Trump and Vice President Vance defending Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate for governor in Ohio, as the backlash is intensifying about his controversial attack ad. The ad features the estranged mother of Amy Acton, his Democratic opponent for the governorship, calling Acton a liar and urging people not to vote for her.

What the ad doesn't say is that as a 12-year-old girl, Acton was removed from her mother's home after her stepfather was charged with raping her, and her mother stayed married to him. President Trump says he knows nothing about the ad, but he weighed in anyway, while Vice President Vance says he's, quote, disgusted, not by the ad, but by Republicans complaining about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I hear the mother went very rogue on the daughter, doesn't have a lot of respect for the daughter, and I think the mother is a witness to things also.

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I'll be honest with you, whether the ad was appropriate or not is not really my concern.

But I have to admit that I'm a little bit disgusted when I see Republicans across the country who are whining more about that advertisement than they are about what the Congressional Democrats and other Democrats want to do to the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Several Republicans are criticizing the ad anyway, including Ohio Senator Jon Husted, who campaigned with Vance and Ramaswamy. Just yesterday he said he would not have run that ad.

Acton, meanwhile, is hearing support from voters on the trail, one woman getting up to give her a hug during an event Wednesday.

Here's what she said to CNN about Ramaswamy's ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY ACTON (D), OHIO GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I'd hoped he wouldn't sink this low, but of course he did.

I had a childhood of extreme physical abuse and sexual abuse. As a kid, my brother and I are frequent flyers in children's services, finally removed after a grand jury saw evidence that was so e- so, so shocking that we were removed from my mother's custody, age of 12.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: The big question now, will this ad move votes, and which way? John?

BERMAN: All right. With us now, CNN Host and Political Commentator Michael Smerconish. Michael, great to see you this morning. This is the latest polling that came out overnight from Fox News of the governor's race in Ohio, basically no clear leader here. Other polls have showed a slightly bigger margin for Amy Acton, but this is the state of play right now.

I want to play for you what Nancy Mace, Republican congresswoman from South Carolina, had to say, not just about Ramaswamy, but about Vice President J.D. Vance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): This ad is going to go down as the most shameful, disgusting, offensive ad this election season. Somehow Vivek Ramaswamy somehow managed to limbo under the lowest bar of decency in this country to go after a woman who was allegedly raped by her stepfather, and not just, like, accused. This guy was arrested and charged with child rape. And the idea that the vice president would go to the mattresses to defend this ad might have cost J.D. Vance the presidency.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: It's that last part, Michael, I want to focus on first there. The Ramaswamy ad has been out for a day. People have been talking about it, but J.D. Vance now not just leaning in, but wrapping himself in that ad.

[07:05:02]

I wonder what you think the political impact of that might be.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST AND POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Significant. I think it's going to follow him. With regard to the ad, when I first saw it yesterday, I said on radio that it was political malpractice to run it. It weaponizes a child's sex abuse, and it also preys upon an elderly woman whose wellness I question.

If you saw it in a vacuum -- I mean, I'm trying to be fair here, but it's hard. If you saw it in a vacuum and you didn't know the background facts, I don't know, maybe it moves the needle. You at least would question the veracity of Amy Acton. The moment you know what the background facts are, you see it for what it is. It's just despicable.

Axios reported that the Ramaswamy campaign was showing it to persuadable voters with a positive result. I can only imagine that they didn't tell them that, for 47 years, the, quote/unquote, mother has been estranged from the daughter. It's repulsive. And the idea that we're talking about this 12 days out, not a good thing for Republicans, certainly not a good thing for Ramaswamy.

BERMAN: And, again, I just want to remind people the state we're talking about here, this is Ohio, a state that, that President Trump won by, you know, almost 12 points against Kamala Harris two years ago. He's going back to Ohio. The reports are, next week when the president is in Ohio. What are the chances this is all gone, or is this now 12 days of stink left in Iowa? I mean, Ohio, I should say.

SMERCONISH: Well, who knows what's to come, right? There, there's still time on the clock for other incidents like this to drop. But to the extent that the vice president or president step foot in Ohio between now and the conclusion of the midterm, of course, it's going to come up.

The president's initial instinct was the correct one when he tried to distance himself and say, I don't know anything about it. Then he made the mistake of saying things that showed that he had awareness of exactly what was going on here. But with regard to the vice president, you know, a smart guy by all accounts, I just don't understand why he would embrace this.

And you're not going to run from it, because there's a lot of video, and it's the sort of thing that's going to come up well into the future, in my opinion.

BERMAN: Michael, I want to shift gears and shift states if I can for one second and move to Mississippi, the Senate race there between incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith and Scott Collum, because we learned that President Trump is going to go to Mississippi to campaign for the Republican incumbent senator here.

And that's notable, right? That's notable because Mississippi, okay isn't just any state. Mississippi is a state the president won by 22 points. I mean, it makes Texas look like chump change. The president won by 22, yet he feels the need to go campaign there for a Republican Senate candidate. What does that tell you?

SMERCONISH: In the end, always look at where the principal, in this case the president, is traveling and where the money is being spent. Because both sides are going to tell you, you know, it looks like it's a, a winnable election, and we're in a good position, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But the travel and the dollars don't lie.

So, you're right. The fact that this is where he chooses to spend his time instead of going, let's say, into the collar suburbs of Philadelphia and trying to save Brian Fitzpatrick's Congressional race. Of course, Fitzpatrick wouldn't want him there, but that's my point. All of the travel has been in ruby red areas that should be secure in the Republican column.

BERMAN: You make a great point there, Michael. Polls are what they are. I happen to like them, but other people think that sometimes they don't tell you very much. But travel is irrefutable. We know without any argument that President Trump is going to the state, and that is instructive in itself. It's always great to see you.

Michael Smerconish, thanks so much for coming on. Kate?

BOLDUAN: I will find a way to argue against it. He is not, but he is. Here we go. Here's this update. Construction could begin in just two weeks on the arch dreamed up by President Trump. The Justice Department revealed in a new, in new, a new court filing that the National Capital Planning Commission could sign off on the final plans when it meets on November 5th. It would still need final authorization from the Interior Department, but that's basically it.

If you were wondering, the construction plans released last week did not feature what Trump had at least promised, which would be detailed plans of the ability to store large numbers of drones and large quantities of sniper ammunition that he used at one point to justify building the arch. Several lawsuits are still pending trying to stop this construction.

An American wrongfully detained in Russia for more than four years is now back in the United States. President Trump posted a picture of 74- year-old Stephen Hubbard overnight holding an American flag while inside an aircraft returning to the U.S.

Russia accused Hubbard of fighting for Ukraine when he was captured during Russia's invasion back in 2022. The State Department has called that accusation a fabricated lie.

[07:10:00]

His release was announced yesterday as U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to talk about Russia's war against Ukraine, during which Steve Witkoff said that Putin was a humanitarian because of this release.

And also new this morning, the EPA says an error is to blame and is what caused a hazardous chemical leak that triggered evacuations in Ohio. We have the very latest on how this happened and how things are going there now.

Plus, new body camera video has been released of the moments around a police officer -- that ended with a police officer opening fire in a Walmart parking lot, and a one-year-old baby, who was inside the car, was shot and killed. The Mississippi attorney general, you'll recall, called the officer's actions justified. What this new video now shows and what happens now.

And Meta has now been ordered to pay its biggest fine ever, $25 billion, for misleading users about their data privacy. Who's getting that money, and what is Meta saying about it today?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00]

SIDNER: We've got some new dispatch audio this morning from the moment fire crews in Toledo, Ohio were dispatched to the scene of a major chemical leak, which prompted the evacuation of hundreds of residents. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Caller states that there's a tank, a trailer that is leaking and venting unknown chemical. There is a cloud of the chemical in the air.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a large plume of smoke. We can smell some type of chemical, and we're nowhere near this plume.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN's Omar Jimenez joining me now. What are you learning this morning about this? A lot of concern about what the chemical is and the dangers it may pose.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: So for starters, officials there do not see an explosion as a real risk, which is good news considering less than 24 hours ago, that's exactly what officials there were concerned with.

You heard a little bit from that dispatch audio. There's this big plume of smoke. There's the smell in the air emanating from this chemical tank leak. The chemical we are talking about here, I'm going to read it just to make sure, glycidyl methacrylate. It's an industrial chemical used to make certain plastics and stuff perform better. But as we understand, this release was caused by an error in transferring this chemical material, according to the Ohio EPA.

I just want you to listen to some of what we're hearing from residents in terms of basically the effect and impact on the community as this was happening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNDA RAGLAND, TOLEDO RESIDENT: I assumed it was a house fire, and when I opened up the door and first peeked out, I realized it was something different, and that's when I grabbed my phone.

And then when my nose started burning, I knew it was definitely something different. It was a -- the smell was so bad, I literally had to cover my mouth and my nose. That's how bad it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENENZ: There are about 30 people that were treated for symptoms related to this. Most have been released.

But initially, there were close to 1,000 people that were evacuated within a mile radius. That's down to 300 people, just about, within a half-mile radius. Shelter in place orders are lifted, but one thing they'll be looking at moving forward is even though there hasn't been an explosion, they will be looking at whether this leak was caused by an explosion as they, you know, try and learn more about this.

SIDNER: And you can hear the concern if your nose starts burning and there's something in the air that you can't get away from. It's going to be really, really scary.

Omar, thank you so much for your reporting this morning.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

SIDNER: I appreciate you. All right, John?

BERMAN: Right, so what exactly is MAGA bingo? And did either candidate win in a contentious Senate debate in Michigan overnight?

New this morning, scathing comments from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. He says three waves of ballistic strikes were launched by Russian humanitarians. This after President Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, gushed that Vladimir Putin is a humanitarian.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: All right. This morning, debates in critical Senate races. In Kansas, where voters have not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932, Republican incumbent Roger Marshall and Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton each tried to make the race more about others, President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ROGER MARSHALL (R-KS): He worked on immigration policy, amnesty policy with Barack Obama. If he gets control of this seat, he'll give control to the U.S. Senate to Schumer, which will create open borders. ADAM HAMILTON (D), KANSAS SENATE CANDIDATE: I just want to remind you, I've been a pastor for the last 38 years. I have not been a senator. I didn't develop policies with President Obama or anyone else.

MARSHALL: I've had multiple times when I've objected to the president before. But we -- I do want to emphasize, we need the Trump voters to come out.

HAMILTON: If you think the tariffs are good and unpredictability, chaos, and corruption is okay in Washington, then I'd say vote for Roger Marshall. If you want change, then I'd like to ask you to vote for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: In Michigan, Republican Mike Rogers questioned Democrat Abdul El-Sayed's loyalty to the United States. El-Sayed would be the first Muslim elected to the Senate. For his part, El-Sayed invited viewers to play a game of MAGA bingo during the debate whenever Rogers hit a Republican talking point.

Let's get right to CNN's Gloria Pazmino for the latest on the debate action overnight. Gloria, sum it up for us.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. You know, this was the last time that these candidates would have an opportunity to speak directly to voters, it was the last debate before the general election, and it was the last opportunity that Mike Rogers would have to sort of present Abdul El-Sayed as this radical candidate, right, aAs someone who is simply too far to the left to be elected, and that's exactly what he tried to do throughout the night.

El-Sayed, for his part, tried to tie Mike Roger, Mike Rogers to President Donald Trump and his policies. The two went back and forth throughout the night. It was not as bitter and as ugly as we saw in the first debate, but there were still several lines of attack throughout the evening.

I want to play for you this sound bite from Mike Rogers, because in the last few weeks of this primary, of this election we have been seeing Republicans ramp up attacks against El-Sayed, bring up this claim that he's tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, sort of questioning his loyalty. I want you to see how the moment played out on the debate stage last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ROGERS (R), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: So being bought off by the Muslim Brotherhood, having donors to his campaign from Hamas that support Hezbollah is not a problem? If you are going to go to the United States Senate, we need to know, are you for America or are you for these terrorist groups overseas?

You can grin and you can smile and you can talk real pretty, but I'm going to tell you what, that is a risk to our national security. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: El-Sayed has responded to this. He's r- he responded in the moment as you know, again, saying that Mike Rogers was trying to accuse him of having double loyalties or dual loyalties. As you said, John, El-Sayed, if elected, would become the first Muslim senator elected in the country's history. This has become a particular flashpoint in the last few weeks of the election.

Now, El-Sayed had an opportunity, as I said, to tie Mike Rogers to the Republican Party, of course, he's the Republican candidate, to President Trump, and specifically his policies, and here's how he responded to that.

[07:25:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: Let's talk about this. Yes. He keeps raising this question about this association with an organization I've never been a part of because my mom was a nurse in Missouri. It doesn't make any sense, and it's actually really quite beneath you, Mike. It's really quite beneath you. To call into question my loyalty to the Constitution -- I'm talking.

ROGERS: Own up to it.

EL-SAYED: I'm talking.

ROGERS: All right, own up to it.

EL-SAYED: I'm talking.

ROGERS: Well, own up to it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me. Yes, go ahead.

EL-SAYED: Can I have a few more seconds?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

EL-SAYED: Go ahead. Thank you. To bring into question my commitment to the Constitution is really beneath you. I am proud of America. I'm proud to be an American. I'm proud of our Constitution that guarantees all of us the right to pray as we choose to pray. And the question that you would ask that I think is actually really quite shameful as somebody who's actually served under that Constitution. It is shameful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: That was the moment of El-Sayed defending himself from these accusations that he's tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, something that he has denied. He has disavowed the Muslim Brotherhood.

Also Mike Rogers at several points throughout the evening trying to cast El-Sayed as too radical, suggesting that he was aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America. El-Sayed is not a member of the DSA. In fact, he has described himself as a capitalist.

And in the end, Mike Rogers making a direct appeal to Haley Stevens voters, telling them that if they're still on the fence, they have a home with him and the Republican Party. John?

BERMAN: Gloria Pazmino, thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, is the Senate map of competitive races ex- now expanding? Where is the big money headed in the final days? CNN has a new look at the key races to watch.

And talk about right place, right time. The moment a reporter jumps into action while covering flooding to help save a driver caught in those floodwaters.

We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]