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Father Who Killed School Gunman Speaks Out; Ukraine's Starlink Access Still Limited?; Trump Fuels Flames on Controversial Ohio Ad. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 23, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Fierce defense. The president stands by a Republican ad so controversial, many in his party are denouncing it. But will it backfire?

Plus: high-stakes and mixed messages. President Trump says he will get Ukraine's access to Starshield -- quote -- "straightened out" after officials say restrictions are still in place.

And a Florida police officer facing felony charges. Officials say he found a dead man during a welfare check and then impersonated him for years. He even renovated the guy's home. You can't make it up.

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

Right now, President Trump is heading to a midterm rally in South Florida, but before the president left Washington, again he defended that controversial ad roiling the Ohio governor's race and downplayed the outrage surrounding it.

Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy released this attack ad, which features the estranged mother of his Democratic rival, Amy Acton. Acton's mother lost custody of her and her brother when Acton was 12 years old. Acton's stepfather was indicted by a grand jury on charges of sexually abusing Acton when she was 12.

But her mother, Acton's mother, stayed with him, with the stepfather. Listen to the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Her stepfather was indicted for rape.

Now that you know all that, sir, do you change your mind about the ad?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No. No.

QUESTION: But her mother stood by her after her husband had raped or had...

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Look, look, you don't know that. You don't know that. You don't know anything.

Her mother stood by, didn't stand by. Her mother went on television and said that the daughter who's running for governor of Ohio is a liar and a bad person. And that's all I know. Whether -- whose...

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Nobody knows. Nobody knows anything. The mother looks like she's totally lucid. She looks very smart, actually. I don't know anything about stepfathers from many, many years ago.

I know that recently a mother got on television and said that her daughter should not be governor of Ohio. This has nothing to do with the stepfather or anything else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Let's go to CNN's Alayna Treene, who is at the White House.

Alayna, why is the president breaking from so many in his party, defending the ad?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, I was actually the reporter pressing him on that. Me and CBS News' Weijia Jiang, were both pressing the president on this, reminding him -- he was saying, I don't know anything about the stepfather. We don't know. He was essentially denying to me -- he's like, we don't know that that actually happened.

And I said, well, he was charged and indicted, and the president continued to dismiss it, instead choosing to continue to try and focus on what Amy Acton's mother, who said it, despite, of course, the estrangement that we pointed out to him and him acknowledging that he now knows, different, of course, an answer than he -- when he feigned ignorance yesterday, saying he didn't know about it.

Look, I think what's really interesting about this entire saga, really, around this ad from the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign is that the president is not only defending it, but he also very publicly made clear yesterday at a rally in Iowa that he told Vivek Ramaswamy that he should continue to run the ad.

And that is despite hearing a ton of criticism from a number of prominent Republicans, including Republicans in Ohio and the governor of Ohio, the Republican governor, I should say, Mike DeWine, who is the person that Vivek Ramaswamy is running to try and replace.

DeWine saying that he had advised that Ramaswamy's campaign should remove the ad because of all of this. And I think a lot of this goes back to just where we are at this point in politics. If you look at -- I think, of course, Brianna, we have repeatedly covered the family members and things like this have come into politics in the past, have played a role in political messaging.

What is different about this case, what's really at the heart of this instance is the allegations that Amy Acton had made against her stepfather, and that he was charged with raping her between the ages of 9 and 12, and that her mother, the one who is featured in this ad, stayed with her husband and ended up becoming estranged from Amy and her brother.

[13:05:00]

I do want you to listen, though, because we heard a defense from Vivek Ramaswamy, who is continuing as well to defend his campaign's use of Amy Acton's mother in this ad. I want you to listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VIVEK RAMASWAMY (R), OHIO GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Our ad had nothing, nothing to do with childhood abuse, sexual abuse. We condemn that as forcefully as anyone.

Our ad was about a consistent track record of Amy Acton telling lies, including during this campaign. And I do think that there has been very little to no coverage of the lies she has told about me, about my family, about my mother.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, clearly, you're hearing Ramaswamy trying to make a distinction here, that he is not referencing the abuse that Amy Acton had faced, that this is about her lying. But, of course, including her mother in this has brought all of that to the surface.

I should add as well that that argument Ramaswamy made, Brianna, is very similar to what we heard from the vice president, this idea that Vice President J.D. Vance said that he was disgusted by Republicans who are focusing more on attacking this ad than trying to win some of their races, and that -- pointing to the fact that some Democratic ads aren't that palatable either.

By and large, I think the bigger story of all of this is what this means about the future of the party, something many Republicans are now grappling with as we look down at the final two years of President Trump's term, his second term, and who might replace him, so, all of this, I think, playing a role in this broader conversation.

KEILAR: So is Ramaswamy trying to say that something has been said about his mother? Is that -- am I understanding that correctly, Alayna?

TREENE: Yes, he's saying that some of the ads and what Amy Acton has said have been lies about his mother. We haven't yet -- and I still have to -- we will have look into that to exactly what he is referencing about what Amy Acton has now alleged against his family.

But this just, I think, shows how much nastier this fight is coming with 11 days to go until the midterm elections. KEILAR: Yes, at this point, we will see what he means by that.

Alayna Treene, thank you very much.

As millions of Americans cast their ballots early, a new midterm forecast pointing to growing trouble for the GOP. According to The Cook Political Report, the party's path to keeping control of the House has -- quote -- "all but evaporated." Its latest projections have moved another 19 races, 19, into the Democrats' direction.

Dave Wasserman is with us now to talk about this. He's a senior editor and elections analyst of The Cook Political Report.

Dave, great to have you here to talk about this.

Several of the ratings changes are tied to Republicans underperforming at the top of the ticket. Where are candidates in statewide races bringing down candidates who are downballot?

DAVID WASSERMAN, THE COOK POLITICAL REPORT: Well, Brianna, with these changes, what's significant is that we now have a majority of House seats at least leaning towards the Democrats, 220 of them.

And a big reason is that Republicans have specific top-of-ticket problems in several states. For example, North Carolina is a state where Republicans have pulled out of the Senate race. National Republicans have stopped spending money there. Roy Cooper's on track to win.

That could be detrimental to Republican House candidates. We have actually moved three House races towards the Democrats, including some seats that Republicans didn't anticipate would be vulnerable at all. And that's after Republicans redistricted the state to their benefit.

Ohio, where you have this bloodletting in -- within the Republican Party over the Ramaswamy ad, the critical bloc there is Mike DeWine Republicans. And, in a way, DeWine's condemnation of the ad, without outright coming out in favor of Amy Acton, is more powerful than if he were to switch his endorsement.

It could depress Republican turnout, to the point where several Republican seats would be in jeopardy in Dayton, in suburban Columbus. Republicans have been trying to oust Marcy Kaptur in Toledo. That looks less likely to happen. Max Miller could lose outside Cleveland.

And even in Kentucky, a place where there isn't a competitive statewide race, low turnout could be problematic for Republicans' chances of holding the Sixth District in Lexington. So, for Republicans, this is like a game of Whac-A-Mole, where they can't keep up with all the emerging problems and headache races.

KEILAR: Wow.

And if you follow the money here, where are you seeing Republicans and Democrats invest in these final days? And what is that telling you? WASSERMAN: The bulk of the spending is happening in states that did

not gerrymander their districts for 2026. We have clusters of very competitive seats in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Virginia.

There are also a lot of competitive seats, though, in Florida and Texas, where Republicans did draw the map to their benefit, and where we're seeing overperformance for Democrats relative to 2024 among Hispanic voters.

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There are three to four seats that Republicans drew in South Texas with the aim of converting them to their side that we think Democrats stand a very good chance to win. If that happens, then Republicans' efforts to gerrymander might not yield them any more than two or three House seats.

Keep in mind, Democrats only need to flip three Republican seats on net to win the House majority. This could end up being pretty big, where Democrats either match or possibly exceed the 235-seat majority that they won in 2018.

KEILAR: Yes, so they currently hold 215. You now have 220 seats rated either solid likely or lean Democrat. So that is -- I mean, that is quite the switch here.

What are you -- I mean, at this point in time, it seems like Republicans are just trying to stem the bleeding.

WASSERMAN: That's right. And they're shifting a lot of resources out of seats that used to be in the toss-up column into seats that are in lean or likely Republican to try and shore up incumbents who are getting dragged down by Trump's low approval rating.

And, look, there are plenty of Republicans out there who have distinct brands independent of Trump who are still in the game, for example, Brian Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania, Ashley Hinson running for Senate in Iowa. But then less well-known Republicans are the ones who are -- we're seeing shocking polling for, especially in some of these open seats, where the candidates are not well defined, and it's more of a referendum on Trump's performance.

So whether it's Iowa's Second District or North Carolina 11 or Nevada 2, these are all double-digit Trump seats that Republicans are struggling to hold and where they're pouring money in at the last minute.

KEILAR: Really interesting to watch here.

Dave Wasserman, thank you so much.

WASSERMAN: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: Still to come: President Trump claiming Elon Musk has restored Ukraine's access to his Starlink Internet service, but Ukraine's president says, no, that is not the case. We will explain why this could have major implications for the war with Russia.

Plus, the father who fatally shot the gunman in the Oregon elementary school where there was that recent mass shooting is speaking out. This is him on camera for the first time. See his emotional interview coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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KEILAR: Just a short time ago, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said restrictions to the Starshield satellite service are still in place. And that contradicts President Trump's claim that access had been restored.

Zelenskyy says he's also waiting for Patriot interceptor missiles that were promised.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: The speed limits on Starlink and Starshield are still there, and the speed has not been restored.

And (INAUDIBLE) and the delivery of interceptors to protect us against the Russian ballistic missiles is still delayed. We are waiting for interceptors that were already agreed on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, a source tells CNN that President Trump called SpaceX's founder, Elon Musk, in recent days, telling him to restore service. Starshield is a military-grade satellite network developed by SpaceX, and this technology is critical. It's essential in Ukraine's war against Russia.

In the meantime, Ukraine says Russia launched more than 170 drone attacks overnight, hitting at least 19 locations.

CNN's Kylie Atwood is with us now on this story.

And before hitting the campaign trail here just a short time ago, reporters grilled the president about these Starshield restrictions.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: They did.

And he claimed today that he is working to get this access restored for the Ukrainians. But it's worth noting that this has been a long saga, Brianna. Just yesterday, President Trump said that it had been restored for the Ukrainians, but, as you said, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy saying today that this tool, this critical tool for the Ukrainians on the front lines, is still not restored.

And it's hurting them on the battlefield in terms of their capability to defend against Russian attacks and also carry out their own attacks. We should also note that, as you said, CNN has reported that President Trump did call Elon Musk, who is in control of SpaceX, which owns and has created the Starshield operating system, and asked him to restore full access to the Ukrainians.

But we should note that, even though Elon Musk created this system, it is a Pentagon system. It is a national security tool of the United States. So there are still questions as to who actually ordered the slowdown in the first place.

And listen to how President Trump is still not answering that question when he was asked about it by our colleague Alayna Treene and some other reporters today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Mr. President, you must know now who ordered the Starlink access in Ukraine to be restricted. Who was it? Was it the Pentagon?

TRUMP: Well, I wouldn't tell you if I did know. I have no idea, but I wouldn't tell you if I didn't know. Why would I tell you? Who are you with?

QUESTION: With CNN.

TRUMP: Oh. Why would I tell CNN?

QUESTION: Zelenskyy said they still...

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Well, if there is a problem, I will get it straightened out.

QUESTION: Have you told Elon Musk to stop messing around with Ukraine's Starlink connection?

TRUMP: I have not spoken to him. I might -- I might have to, but I have not. I have heard it was fixed. But if it's not, I will speak to him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ATWOOD: Now, it's a bit unclear if President Trump actually knows who ordered the slowdown or not at this point. He's sort of indicating there that he might know, but he doesn't want to tell people. Earlier, he had said that he would like to find out who ordered the slowdown.

So we're still in a bit of a moment of confusion here. And I think it's worth noting that Elon Musk came out when this news broke and he said that this is controlled by the U.S. government. But he didn't count out the possibility that it is influenced by him.

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And I think that is a critical question here. How much influence did Elon Musk have in this slowdown? And lawmakers on both sides of the aisles are wondering the answer to that question because they say it's an issue of U.S. national security. KEILAR: There doesn't seem to be this, like, vociferous thing coming

from the government of, absolutely, this has to be fixed. What the heck is going on here? This is unacceptable. We're not hearing that.

ATWOOD: No. I mean -- right. This slowdown has now been in effect for more than a week. And, initially, we heard from Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that this is not something that the U.S. government controls at all. Then you heard J.D. Vance, the vice president, yesterday saying that this is an issue that's in the hands of the U.S. government.

So there's a bit of confusion as to who is driving the train here and who's making the ultimate decisions, but it's taken a while to get it resolved. It's still not there.

KEILAR: The buck doesn't appear to stop anywhere in this case here.

Kylie, thank you so much for that.

Still ahead: a problematic promise, President Trump once again vowing to direct the Justice Department to settle remaining claims related to the toxic water at Camp Lejeune if Republicans, if Republicans win the midterms.

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KEILAR: We're hearing for the first time from the father who took down a school shooter in Bend, Oregon, last week.

Kaylub Giamanco was outside his daughter's elementary school when he says he saw the gunman force his way inside. Giamanco talked about the moment that he realized he had to take action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAYLUB GIAMANCO, SHOT SCHOOL GUNMAN: The gunman had thrown his rifle up and over the fence, and that's when panic fled into my brain, and I was just -- that's when I opened my center console and I just said no, no, no, no, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN'S Leigh Waldman has been following this story.

Leigh, tell us what else Giamanco said.

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, this was such a powerful emotional interview from this man, a father who had just dropped his own daughters off at that elementary school, gotten them dressed up for their picture day hours before.

He was driving past the school for lunch. That's when he noticed that gunman going into his daughters' school. He didn't hesitate. He jumped into action. Listen to him and how he describes taking action that day, stopping this gunman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIAMANCO: I started hearing children pleading for their lives, and then I started hearing gunfire, and I just started army-crawling faster and faster, and I told myself, I'm -- this is probably the last thing that I'm ever going to do. And I just crawled faster and faster, and I went prone around a recycle bin that was sitting there into the corridor where the doors were.

And that's when I crawled through the bottom window that was shot out and continued onto the rug inside where there's a little breezeway with stairs, and then the special needs classroom was to my left.

At that point, I was on the ground on my hands and knees. I reracked my weapon to make sure that a live round came out, so that I knew that I was ready to go. And then I peeked through the window, and, at this point, I found my opportunity, and I seen a teacher on the left struggling with the gunman on the right with the rifle.

And I knew that they were -- they were both side to me, and I knew that he did not know that I was there. And so at that point, I swung the door out and open, and I stepped in and I fired.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALDMAN: Now, Kaylub, he describes the moment he called 911 and told the dispatcher he spoke to that: "I have to go in. People are going to die."

And there was this recognition as he's taking action, taking his own gun to stop the killing that was happening in this elementary school that he realized, this could be the last thing that I am ever going to do. And throughout the interview, Brianna, he's struggling with the word hero, struggling with this recognition that he did enough that day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIAMANCO: And I told her -- I called her. And I was -- I had to take the life of what I think might be a child because he went in and -- to my daughters' school with a gun. And she was just like: "OK, baby, calm down. You did the right thing. You're a hero. You saved lives."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALDMAN: That was his phone call with his mother immediately after this shooting.

But the issue he is struggling with now, a week later, is the fact that he wasn't able to save everyone. It's something that he is still coping with, still dealing with, and he's actually pushing off that hero title, not for himself, but actually to the unknown teacher who was struggling with this gunman.

He says that this woman was unarmed, but put herself between her babies, the kids in her classroom, and this person who was coming in to do harm that day. It is an incredibly powerful interview, 45 minutes that he sat down with the Oregon Public Broadcasting. And you can just feel the pain he is still trying to deal with.

KEILAR: Yes, I think, Leigh, it's sort of a reminder that, even when someone like this steps up, it doesn't feel good, what he did to be a hero.

And we knew from the beginning, when he wasn't coming forward straight away, that it was difficult, right, that he was struggling with what he had been through. And as we talked to people, they would say, yes, something so terrible was averted, but, obviously, these lives are still lost, and this school is suffering this incredible tragedy.