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Trump to Rally for Iowa Republicans Amid Tight Senate Race; Trump to Campaign in Mississippi Next Week as Senate Race Gains Attention; U.S. Orders Departure of Some Embassy Staff & Families From Saudi Arabia Amid Houthi Threat; Trump Weighs Options on Iran War After Midterms; Dozens Treated for Symptoms After Toledo Chemical Leak. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 22, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

WALDMAN: -- has been set in recent years. We just have to look at the Crumbleys in Michigan and Colin Gray in Georgia. We know that the Crumbleys, they had bought their son a gun for Christmas, same thing with the Grays.

They both faced charges. Both of these families faced charges following these horrific shootings.

KEILAR: All right. Leigh Waldman, thank you so much for the latest there.

A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.

SANCHEZ: Mississippi turning. Democrats hoping to flip the Magnolia state in the midterms even though it hasn't elected a Democratic Senator in 44 years. We'll look at a race that is closer than expected.

Plus, evasive maneuvers. The U.S. ordering some diplomatic staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia as strikes against that country ramp up. The latest on what this could signal about the ongoing war with Iran.

And a shot in the arm, a mutated virus driving the U.S. into an early flu season, especially in one part of the country.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

Today, President Trump heads to Iowa to try to energize Republicans just 12 days before the midterm elections. Despite Trump winning the state by double digits in 2024, Republican candidates there are facing major headwinds, partly because of the president's tariffs and high fuel prices caused by the war with Iran.

In Iowa's Senate race, a CNN poll of polls average shows no clear leader between Democrat Josh Turek and Republican Ashley Hinson. Further south, in ruby red Mississippi, the Senate race there between incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Scott Colom could also be closer than expected.

President Trump now planning to make a campaign stop there next week. CNN's Arlette Saenz joins us now. And Arlette, you have some new reporting about the U.S. Senate seats that are most likely to flip. Walk us through them.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are 10 states where the battle for control of the Senate are really playing out in the most competitive way. And just to remind folks, Democrats would need to win four Republican-held seats and hold on to all of their own if they want to win back control of the Senate.

But a lot of those battles are playing out in deep red territory, which is proving complicated for Democrats' chances. Now, if you take a look at our list of the states most likely to flip, one through five are all currently held by Republicans. North Carolina Democrat, Roy Cooper is perhaps in the strongest position to flip a seat in November.

Then you have Ohio, Alaska, followed by Maine. That is where incumbent GOP Senator, Susan Collins is in one of her toughest reelection battles yet. But she has proven resilient in past fights, so there's questions about where exactly that race will stand.

Then at number five is Texas, which is one of the races that has drawn the most attention this cycle. And a new CNN poll of polls average shows that there's no leader in that contest between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton. This is notable when you think about the fact that Texas has voted red for quite a long time.

President Trump won there by double digits in 2024. So the fact that Talarico is able to keep that race competitive is giving some hope to Democrats. Then at number six, we had Michigan. And this is a must-win state for Democrats. If they can't hold on to Michigan, it makes their path to the Senate majority much more complicated.

That is another race where a CNN poll of polls average has shown that there is no clear leader in the contest between Democrat Abdul el- Sayed and the Republican former congressman, Mike Rogers. They both face a lot of challenges of their own. el-Sayed needs to win over black voters and Jewish Democrats who are uneasy with his campaign, while Rogers is dealing with President Trump's deep unpopularity.

Then we have Iowa next on our list. Kansas has actually moved up one spot, switching places with New Hampshire as that Midwestern state has grown more competitive. And then at the very end of the list is Georgia. There could be an argument to take this completely off the list entirely, but Georgia was on this list from the beginning, and it really reflects the lost opportunity Republicans have in that state after hoping that it could be one that they could flip at the very start of the cycle.

So right now, there's a lot of Democratic enthusiasm, excitement about the potential of flipping the Senate majority, but it's far from a sure bet, especially as they're running in very red states. SANCHEZ: And they have to hold on to their own in competitive races. You have four Senate races listed as on the bubble to flip. What are they?

SAENZ: Yeah, so these are some states that we were also watching, and you hear a lot of conversation pop up in recent weeks. There is Nebraska, South Carolina, and Mississippi. Those are all states held by Republicans.

And then there is Minnesota, which is currently held by a Democrat. Things could shift there in any of those races, and so we'll see whether those truly bubble up to be on the full battleground for Senate control, but certainly they're races where both parties are keeping close up tabs on.

SANCHEZ: It speaks to the political headwinds you're talking about. We're talking about Mississippi potentially being competitive. Arlette Saenz, thank you so much. Brianna?

KEILAR: Iowa is not the only concern for Republicans this midterm cycle. Axios reporting that Senate Republicans are weighing an infusion of campaign cash in three normally Republican strongholds.

[14:05:00]

Tight races in Mississippi, South Carolina, Kansas have the GOP privately panicking, with one national Republican political operative telling Axios the wall has broken, the enemy is inside the fort. We are now fighting hand-to-hand. We're joined now by one of the political reporters who broke that story for Axios, Hans Nichols.

I mean one of the things we've been learning is the names of these states, the nicknames, because you know we always talk about them in politics and we've never talked about some of these states. The Magnolia State.

HANS NICHOLS, POLITICAL REPORTER, AXIOS: Yeah. It's good for our geography too, we kind of know exactly where the river outlines are. And yes.

KEILAR: I want to know -- I want to know the geography of the U.S.. But are Republicans actually worried about holding on to this Senate seat in Mississippi?

NICHOLS: Yes, they are, I mean that's the fear we picked up yesterday. And so we're at the stage of the campaign where I know we're all spending a lot of time looking at polls, sharing polls, texting polls back and forth, but we're at the stage of the campaign where don't necessarily look at the polls, look at where the president is going, look at where the speaker of the House is going, and look at where the money is going.

Now, the money hasn't followed the president, the president's heading to Mississippi next week, I believe he's going to be there on Tuesday. Money hasn't quite followed in Mississippi, but they're thinking about it. And the very fact that Republicans are thinking about spending money in Mississippi, a state Donald Trump told us -- that Donald Trump won by 22 points, tells us something. And the money has already gone into Kansas, it's already gone into South Carolina. South Carolina, they've spent, Republican Super PACs have spent I believe $8.5 million to right Darline Graham there.

So it's telling us something, it's telling us about the environment. You have travel, you have money buys, you have all this going on. And you have Democrats on this side saying we feel very confident. I mean the confidence you hear from Democrats is something I've never heard this late in a cycle. It seems different than previous years, I wasn't around for 2006, I wasn't around for 1994, these other big wave years, but there's confidence on one side and fear on the other.

KEILAR: So OK let's talk a little bit about Democrats because the Senate Majority PAC, which is Schumer aligned --

NICHOLS: Yeah.

KEILAR: -- is putting $1.2 million in ads to boost Democrat Scott Colom there, right?

NICHOLS: Yeah.

KEILAR: So I mean how are they viewing that purchase, the chances?

NICHOLS: Mississippi mischief, right? I mean they can go into Mississippi for $1 million, which goes a long way in Mississippi, and potentially force Republicans to play defense. Now, I should sort of temper some of the things there. Democrats are worried about Maine, they are worried about Michigan.

KEILAR: That's right.

NICHOLS: And you also see them spending in Maine and Michigan to try to bolster their candidates. So you're seeing the other side of the chessboard, but those are two states that are, you know, they went for Kamala Harris, those are blue states. Now Susan Collins represents a blue state and Susan Collins has always figured out a way to survive, but this time, Democrats say it'll be different.

KEILAR: And maybe they're hoping to make it up in some of these states where they really don't have any business normally being competitive, right? So Kansas, more than 90 years since a Democratic Senator was elected there, and you're reporting that Republicans are actually weighing putting even more money there.

NICHOLS: More money into Kansas, more money into South Carolina. Look, build a time machine. It doesn't have to be a way back time machine. Build me a short-term time machine and take me back six months ago and say we're going to be sitting here talking about Republicans playing defense in Kansas, South Carolina, and Mississippi. You would have thrown me off-set. Now you can still throw me off set, but for different reasons.

(LAUGH)

KEILAR: The time, the way the time machine works is that you can go anywhere in time, right?

(LAUGH)

KEILAR: The short-term time machine is the way back time machine. At least I think. I think, Hans.

(LAUGH)

KEILAR: OK, so when Republicans are thinking about overall how they're looking in the Senate, because like you said, there is a bit of a mixed bag here as you look at Maine and other places. I mean, how are they considering their chances?

NICHOLS: Sure, it's a mixed bag, but it's still going to require them to have a lot of mixed drinks on election night, right? I mean, Republicans are very nervous going into this. So look, Susan Collins can still win. There's still a path for Republicans to win. This isn't over, but all these states, the ten states you have there, with the exception of maybe two Democratic ones, one will be a flip which will be North Carolina if Democrats win there. Georgia, Democrats feel very confident about those.

Those other states are all in the margin of error, and that's not where you want to be if you're Republicans heading into Election Day, that we want to be in the margin of error going in two or twelve days out. That's not the position you want to be in.

KEILAR: We'll see if they leave the mixers on the side. That's going to tell us something, right, Hans?

NICHOLS: We'll see the ratio, right? You don't want that -- you never want to bruise the gin, though.

KEILAR: All right, Hans, go get your bike before it gets stolen.

NICHOLS: Don't tell everyone I left it unlocked.

(LAUGH)

KEILAR: All right, Hans Nichols, thank you so much.

NICHOLS: Thank you.

KEILAR: Still to come, why the State Department is telling some embassy staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia.

Plus, an update on the chemical leak in Toledo, Ohio. We've been tracking this. It has sent at least 50 people now to the hospital.

SANCHEZ: And later, what we know about this mutated strain of the flu causing cases to spike weeks before the flu season is actually supposed to start. The details on the way on "CNN News Central."

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[14:14:28]

KEILAR: The State Department is ordering some embassy staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia as Iran-allied Houthi rebels escalate attacks. At least four people were killed in two separate attacks on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia's Civil Aviation Authority says one of those attacks hit an airport in the east of the country. The extent of the damage still being assessed there.

CNN National Security Correspondent, Kylie Atwood is joining us on this story. What's the State Department saying about this decision?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, so they are pointing to these Houthi aggressions against Saudi Arabia, these intensifying attacks from the Houthi rebels, Iranian-backed militia in Yemen against Saudi Arabia.

[14:15:00]

And when the State Department spokesperson announced that this was going to be happening yesterday, this drawdown of non-essential personnel and their family members at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, which is a major development. He specifically pointed to these attacks by the Houthis on airports and other critical infrastructure inside of Saudi Arabia.

We also yesterday got a security alert from the State Department. That's for Americans in Saudi Arabia, warning them about what is happening, to be cognizant of these strikes that are continuing to happen inside the country, unpredictably, of course, and against the airports.

I want to redo a line from that security alert saying, quote, "U.S. government employees working in Saudi Arabia require special authorization from chief of mission to use any airport in Saudi Arabia following recent missile and UAV attacks on airports in the kingdom," essentially saying to Americans who are there that even our diplomats need to get clearance to go to the airport. So you really need to be cognizant of when you go to the airport, if it's a necessity, if you're making sure that there isn't a security situation when you arrive.

Of course, the U.S. has been providing support to Saudi Arabia to defend against these Houthi strikes, but the Saudis have asked for more direct support from the United States. President Trump has said that he would consider joining the Saudis offensively, but he has so far not actually provided any U.S. military strikes against Saudis.

KEILAR: So the war with Iran has been a bit of a stalemate, just sort of on cruise control at this point in time. What are you hearing about possible future strikes?

ATWOOD: And that's why this Houthi front is sort of becoming the hot front of the regional conflict. But when it comes to the Iran War specifically, our recent reporting from our colleagues, Zach Cohen and others, is that there were new plans that were drawn up in recent weeks, we reported on it, to use the mother of all bombs, potentially, by the United States against Iranian energy and nuclear targets.

That is something that President Trump was asked about in an interview. He didn't deny that that would be a possibility, but we really don't know the timing here. If President Trump wants to do this before the midterms, if he's waiting until after, because it wouldn't necessarily be politically advantageous for him, given his base is not really a fan of this ongoing war. So we'll have to watch and see where that goes.

But we do know that this administration wants to draw an end to this conflict. So do they do strikes like that, that are major strikes, that could signal, OK, we have done our final strikes and now we're ready to get out? We'll watch and see how they could do something like that.

KEILAR: All right, Kylie, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Coming up, shelter-in-place orders have been lifted, but some residents in Toledo, Ohio are still being kept away from their homes because of this chemical leak that has left parts of the city blanketed in a toxic fog. The mayor is going to join us with the latest right after this.

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[14:22:34]

SANCHEZ: Shelter-in-place orders have been lifted and an evacuation zone has been downsized following a chemical leak in Toledo, Ohio. This is how parts of the city looked yesterday when the hazardous material was leaking. Fire officials warned that those who came into contact with it could feel as if their eyes, nose, mouth, and skin were burning.

Health officials tell us several dozen people were treated after reporting symptoms. New dispatch audio captures the moment that emergency officials became aware of this incident. 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)

SANCHEZ: Let's get the latest from Toledo Mayor, Wade Kapszukiewicz. Mayor, thank you so much for being with us. At last check, the evacuation order was reduced to a half-mile radius. Why should some of those thousand or so people that were initially ordered to evacuate now feel comfortable returning home? MAYOR HANS NICHOLS, WADE KAPSZUKIEWICZ, (D) TOLEDO, OHIO: Well, actually, the evacuation zone is down to a quarter of a mile, which will only affect about 152 people. But your question is still fundamentally the same. Why should the 850 people feel safe going home now? And that is because, as you can see over my shoulder, the U.S. EPA is on site. We've been working with the Ohio EPA. And the readings that we are taking indicate that the harm to human health is limited enough to support those folks going back home.

I can understand the concern and, frankly, at this era in American history, the distrust of institutions. But just going by the science, as unpleasant as this has been over the last 40 hours, the science indicates that the readings are such that whatever levels of this chemical that are in the air, they are levels that are safe for humans to encounter.

SANCHEZ: Speaking to that, the unpleasantness of the experience, we're told that at least 50 people were treated at a nearby hospital. Do you have any update on that number, the severity of symptoms and how they're doing?

KAPSZUKIEWICZ: Sir, there were 57 of them who reported, that took themselves to the hospital.

[14:25:00]

All but seven have finished their treatment. There are seven that are either still at the hospital or still receiving some sort of a treatment. None of the situations I think would be described as serious. They're all in good condition and they all were reporting the sorts of, you know, their injuries would be, you know, difficulty breathing, excessive watery eyes, a cough, things of that nature, maybe headaches, certainly very serious, but nothing that would approach, you know, a threat to life.

SANCHEZ: We are glad to hear that. You've told residents that short- term exposure to the leak is not going to cause long-term health complications. Do you see that changing at all? Is that still your assessment?

KAPSZUKIEWICZ: That is, you know, I'm not a chemist or a scientist for sure. But based on the readings we are getting from those who are, our own HAZMAT teams, who actually in terms of developing news, our HAZMAT teams just within the last hour, for the first time, have been able to approach the tank and they're at the tank actually right now, the tank that had vented this 5,500 gallons of this chemical. They weren't able to approach it before about an hour ago.

Now they are. The samples they're taking, the Ohio and the U.S. EPA, our own environmental services team, right now are indicating levels that are acceptable. However, as in anything in life, if information changes, if condition changes, if new testing causes us to feel differently, then of course that could change.

I know that U.S. EPA is bringing in a device that's called their TAGA bus, which is an acronym that stands for atmospheric testing, bringing it in from New Jersey. I don't know that there's more than a handful of them in the country. That is able to measure within a billion parts or parts per billion that would provide perhaps a final assessment of the safety that everyone can enjoy and maybe allow those last 150 to be able to get back into their homes.

We actually think that could happen as soon as this evening, but safety is more important than anything else.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, no doubt. We're glad to hear that. There are folks on the tank on the site right now. What is the plan for that tank and for that facility in general, not only to figure out what happened and perhaps find accountability, but also for the future to make sure it doesn't happen again?

KAPSZUKIEWICZ: Well, the company has accepted responsibility. We've been speaking to them throughout this process, and they've admitted that this was caused by an error, an employee error. The chemical was in the process of -- they were attempting to transfer it and move it, and it sounds like a temperature was introduced to the tank that was not correct.

It was either heated up or cooled down inappropriately, but a simple human mistake was made by an employee of the company. So they've admitted their mistake, which I suppose solves the mystery of how this happened.

But going forward, there are an awful lot of questions that actually, frankly, we haven't begun to address in earnest as we still try to get -- make sure that the immediate crisis is behind us.

SANCHEZ: Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, we appreciate you sharing all these new developments with us. Please keep us posted on the situation.

KAPSZUKIEWICZ: All right. Will do. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Thank you. Coming up, Abdul el-Sayed, Mike Rogers clashing in their final debate before Election Day. Is this going to make a difference in one of the most pivotal Senate races of the year? We're going to discuss with former Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, after a quick break.

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