Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Battle For Congress Ramps Up With Just Over Three Weeks Until Election Day; Pope Leo Says He Needs Surgery To Remove A Lung Nodule; New Strike On Saudi Airport Causes Fire At Terminal; Hurricane Simon Now A Cat 4 Storm Off Western Mexico Coast; Remnants Of TS Rachel Push Inland; Isaias Remnants Trigger Flooding, Landslides In North Carolina; Powerful Waves Damage Oceanfront Homes In Southern California; Democratic Challenger Troy Jackson Slams Susan Collins' Claims Of Independence; New York Mayor: ICE Tactics Making The City Less Safe. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired October 11, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:29]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Breaking news.

Energy ceasefire? President Trump says Russia and Ukraine have come to an agreement. How both countries are responding.

Plus health scare. Pope Leo announcing today he will undergo surgery in the coming days to remove a lung nodule. Details on the prognosis.

And later, tropical threats. A trio of storms wreak havoc on both U.S. coasts. The areas seeing impacts today.

Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right. With just about three weeks to go before the midterm elections decide control of Congress, both parties are blitzing the campaign trail in a race to sway voters.

President Trump headlined a rally in ruby red Tennessee on Saturday, and he plans to make several more campaign stops this week in the battleground states of Ohio, Alaska and Arizona even as his approval ratings reach new lows. The president continues to plead with supporters to pretend he's on the ballot on November 3rd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If we don't win the midterms, they're going to blame me. You know that.

If we do win them, I will get no credit whatsoever. It's true. I won't get any. But I'm working my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) off. You better get out there and vote. You think this is easy.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: On the Democratic side, Senator Bernie Sanders rallied for Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson in Maine, who is going up against incumbent Republican Susan Collins. That race could be the key to Democratic hopes of flipping the upper chamber.

And House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries out on the trail last night in Pennsylvania, targeting a GOP held district that Kamala Harris won in 2024.

CNN's Betsy Klein is joining us now from the White House. Betsy, what more can you tell us about the president's campaign strategy for these final critical weeks before the election?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Fredricka, President Trump's midterm travel schedule is going to take him literally all over the map this week. And the goal of that, according to Trump advisers, is to juice turnout among his MAGA base.

They are not necessarily looking to try to pick up new voters or Independent voters. They are trying to turn out the voters that they have.

And this time it's going to be a combination of red states and more competitive states.

Beginning on Monday, he is going to Alaska, where he is going to be stumping -- excuse me Tuesday -- for Senator Dan Sullivan's reelection campaign. He is engaged in a very tight race against the Democrat, Mary Peltola there.

He will go to Bullhead City, Arizona right on the border with Nevada, where he is going to be stumping for congressional and gubernatorial candidates there.

He's also going to reliably red Montana. he's looking to bolster congressional candidate Aaron Flint. He's in a very tight race.

And of course, there is much more to come in the days and weeks ahead. But we are now 23 days out and Republicans are running into serious headwinds.

Privately, Trump officials are really conceding that Republicans could lose control of the House. They are also increasingly concerned about their prospects of holding on to the Senate.

And the president's unpopularity may be playing a role here. According to CNN's poll of polls, his approval rating stands at just 33 percent.

This war with Iran is creating major headwinds for them as well now, seven months in gas prices at $4.35 a gallon. And all of this as there are other issues demanding President Trump's attention.

Just this weekend, after an attack by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Saudi Arabia, the president is now considering retaliatory strikes, looking to make a decision there. And he also announced this morning that there is an energy ceasefire

between Russia and Ukraine. Of course, we should note that Ukrainian officials say they just learned about this from the president's post to social media. So we'll have to see how that shakes out.

But all of that contributing to a very consequential few weeks ahead for this president, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Betsy Klein at the White House, thank you so much.

All right. We're also following breaking news on Pope Leo's upcoming surgery. This morning, the 71-year-old pontiff told the crowd gathered at Saint Peter's Square that he will have an operation to remove a small mass of tissue from his lung.

[14:04:48]

WHITFIELD: CNN Rome correspondent Stefano Pozzebon is joining us right now with more details on this. Stefano, what more are you learning about this upcoming operation?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN ROME CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, according to the Italian press, especially Corriere Della Sera, the upcoming operation will be at the Gemelli Hospital, which is literally a stone's throw from the Vatican. And it will take place perhaps on Wednesday. We only heard from the Holy See from the Vatican itself.

The spokesperson, Mario Bruni, told us that the Pontiff will be heading to Gemelli in the upcoming days and that this operation was scheduled after they found this small, dense tissue on his lung.

But, you know, it was surprising. Nobody really expected this sort of news in this fairly warm Sunday here in Rome. However, that does not, Fredricka, mean necessarily that there is a cause for concern or anxiety.

We spoke, for example, with Dr. Steven Liu at Georgetown University. He's an expert on cancer and especially lung cancer.

And he told us that when there is sufficient concern and when it's safe to do so, based on the location of the nodule and the health of the patient, or surgical removal can provide the easiest solution.

And it seems that that is the case with Pope Leo, considered to be fairly young for a pontiff. He's only 71 and is generally seen in good health.

He's also in good spirits. He made the announcement, as a matter of fact, to the people that were listening to him this morning and just announced it with a light touch. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO XIV, ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): Dearest, recently during some medical examinations, doctors found a localized nodule in my lung. It was detected at a very early stage and is well contained.

The doctors believe it's advisable to intervene. So, following their advice, I've decided to undergo surgery to remove it. The operation is already scheduled for the next few days.

I thank you for your spiritual support and entrust myself to your prayers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POZZEBON: And that was the very end of his speech earlier today. He ended up calling it for everyone to have a nice Sunday.

And even before announcing this operation, he had already said there was a group of Peruvian faithful here in Saint Peter's Square.

They -- and the Pope told them that he would see Peru very, very soon. Of course, that is a reference to the upcoming papal trip to South America between November 6th and November 17th. It doesn't seem that this operation will be a cause for concern to cancel that trip perhaps, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Stefano Pozzebon, keep us posted. Thanks so much.

And then this breaking news. President Trump has announced this morning, quote, "Effective immediately, there is an energy ceasefire in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it." End quote. Coming from the president of the United States.

A Ukrainian official told CNN. They read that announcement of the agreement at the same time everyone else did. Volodymyr Zelenskyy telling Axios, I'm quoting now, "News to me", end quote.

Just yesterday, President Trump called for a new president in Ukraine who would agree to end the war. Zelenskyy replied that Russia and Russia alone was to blame for the war.

With us now is Bill Taylor. He is the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine and is now a distinguished fellow at The Atlantic Council.

Great to see you, Ambassador. So, you know, without providing any specifics, President Trump putting this on, you know, social media announcing there's an energy ceasefire. Zelenskyy says he doesn't know about it, essentially by saying "news to me". Nothing coming out of Russia.

So what do you think is going on here with Trump's declaration on social media?

BILL TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE, ATLANTIC COUNCIL FELLOW: Well, Frederick, this is not the first time that President Trump and President Zelenskyy, for that matter, have suggested, have recommended, have asked for an energy ceasefire. President Zelenskyy has wanted a broader ceasefire, but he's willing

to go for an energy ceasefire and has made that clear over and over. And sometimes President Trump will reinforce that.

And every time in the past, Putin has said no, have said no. He's not interested in energy or any ceasefire.

So if President Putin has told President Trump that he's changed his mind and is now ready to go for a ceasefire, that the damage that the Ukrainians have done to their refineries is making it so painful for Putin that he's -- that's a good thing, Fredricka. That's a good thing.

[14:09:42]

WHITFIELD: And then what about the timing of this (INAUDIBLE)? Because there has been some global and even bipartisan in the U.S. outrage after Trump said that he would lift sanctions on Russia in exchange for diesel fuel being made available, you know, to the U.S. by Russia. Do you see any correlations here?

TAYLOR: So President Trump has been pushing on President Zelenskyy to stop hitting the Russian refineries because of this concern over diesel. And so President Trump has tried to get the Russians to export diesel.

President Zelenskyy has said, fine, I'm happy not to shoot at the Russian refineries producing diesel if the Russians will not shoot at my energy. And so it sounds like there's been success in that discussion.

And President Trump has said, ok, it sounds right. We should do it on both sides, not just pressure Zelenskyy. Let's put pressure on both sides to come to a ceasefire. And maybe that's the relationship between that and the lifting of sanctions.

WHITFIELD: And then all of this also coming after we heard from the president of the United States yesterday, who went as far as blaming Ukraine -- Zelenskyy for the rising diesel prices in the U.S., and even said that he should no longer be president.

This is just a kind of synopsis of what he said. So let's listen to him in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He wants to make problems for our farmers and ranchers with diesel fuel. He better damn well stop. I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal.

And then Zelenskyy, responding to much of what was said by the president yesterday, Zelenskyy on ABC News today. And he even said everybody knows that the conflict in the Middle East is largely to blame for the rising fuel prices.

And then he was also asked about how long, you know, can Ukraine go on like this in this war? This is some of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: We count on president, his team involving to stop Putin. But to stop Putin, and I think this is the main goal to stop him. This is the main deal to stop this war. And we count on American support.

Then, and of course, we count on our European partners. And I hope that we will save this unity, Europe and the United States. It's not simple, by the way. Really not simple.

We work hard each day to save this, but in any way we will defend ourselves because otherwise we will lose our lives and homes, our freedom, independence, Ukraine. And we can't lose it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: He almost seemed, too, to seem very emotional, you know, about the idea of potentially losing his country, let alone, you know, the idea of losing his job. He says he'll leave that up to the Ukrainian people.

If there were a 60-day ceasefire that Russia would agree to, then perhaps there would be room for an election.

But how do you interpret, you know, the stature of this president of Ukraine? He's trying to stand his ground, be very defiant. At the same time, recognize that he needs allies to continue to -- continue to fight in this war with Russia.

But it seems like he's also trying to remind people that, you know, Russia and Putin need to be pressured here.

TAYLOR: Absolutely, Fredricka. Russia started this war. Putin started this war. He can end it, but he's only going to end it if there's pressure put on him economically, militarily, as the Ukrainians are doing militarily.

Everybody understands how this war started and understands how it will stop.

President Zelenskyy does feel emotional about this. I mean, this is about the existence of Ukraine. This is about the existence of his country, of his people, the freedom, the sovereignty of Ukraine.

If they stop fighting, there will not be a Ukraine. He understands it. That's of course, that's emotional.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Its powerful. Yes, indeed.

All right. Ambassador Bill Taylor, always great to have your voice. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Fredricka. Coming up, a deadly missile strike on a Saudi Arabia airport in Riyadh, killing at least 12 and wounding hundreds. Now President Trump is weighing possible U.S. military action against the Iran-backed Houthis.

And an ICE shooting caught on camera. Agents firing at a man in his car in New York with his five-year-old boy in the back seat.

Now the Homeland Security Secretary is defending the agent's actions, saying the blame rests on the suspect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARKWAYNE MULLIN, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The last thing I would have done is put my son or one of my kids in danger.

[14:14:46]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. New today, Saudi officials say a strike on the Riyadh airport started a fire at one of the terminals. Later, Saudi air defenses intercepted a cruise missile near the airport. And this attack comes a day after at least 12 people were killed. And more than 300 injured in an attack on the same airport by Iran backed Houthis in Yemen.

[14:19:49]

WHITFIELD: CNN's Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem. Oren, what's happening?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: The Iran-backed and armed Houthis in Yemen are showing they are ready and willing to fight and to escalate attacking civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.

This, although they haven't claimed responsibility for it, matches the pattern of attacks we've seen on the exact same airport, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.

It was on Saturday that a Houthi attack hit the airport, causing the deadliest attack on Saudi Arabia in more than a decade. At least 12 people were killed, including a U.S. citizen, and more than 300 people were injured.

That led into Sunday, where Saudi authorities say another attack hit the airport, striking a terminal building there and hitting a fire, and Saudi air defenses intercepted a cruise missile that was on its way, effectively, towards the same target here.

So the Houthis there are indicating that they're willing and very much able to fight.

Now, the Saudis have carried out punishing strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, trying to offer their support to the internationally- recognized government of Yemen, which has tried to push back against the Houthis.

But in much the same way we saw Iran fight, the Houthis are doing the same. They don't have the military capability or the weapons to match Saudi Arabia's military.

What they do have are drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, and they're able to use those very effectively to cause the disruptions we're seeing here.

Now, why does this matter beyond the Arabian Peninsula? And why does this matter beyond the Middle East?

Take a look at this map. Just as Iran was able to leverage control over the Strait of Hormuz on one side of the Arabian Peninsula, and that sent gas prices surging and shocked the global economy, the Houthis may well be able to do the same to the Bab al-Mandab Strait on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula, one of the world's most critical waterways, through which traffic going to or from the Suez Canal has to pass.

That is the risk to the global economy here, and that is the reality the region and frankly, the world are facing as the conflict between the Houthis and the Saudis escalate.

The key question, of course, now is what is the U.S. and what is President Donald Trump going to do?

The Saudis have made clear they want the U.S. involved here striking the Houthis. In fact, it was President Donald Trump who said earlier during the weekend that he's considering his options and he may get involved, but it's unclear that he's really willing to do so.

The war with Iran is already unpopular and has driven up gas prices. Another unpopular war with the Houthis, another shock to the global economy this close to the midterms, it's not clear Trump wants to go in that direction.

And that leaves the Houthis perhaps feeling emboldened as they carry out and continue to carry out these attacks on the Saudis.

WHITFIELD: All very important points there. Oren Liebermann, thank you so much in Jerusalem.

All right. Coming up, right now the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel in the U.S. bringing a significant flood risk to Nevada after hitting southern California, an area not used to these kinds of storms. A live report straight ahead.

[14:22:53]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. In the Pacific, powerful Hurricane Simon has strengthened to a major Category 4 off Mexico's Pacific Coast. And it's dangerously closing down on the popular resort destinations along the country's west central coast. Oceanfront restaurants, well, they're shutting down. Residents and

businesses are stacking sandbags. They're securing chairs.

Meanwhile, police cleared beaches and authorities evacuated people from vulnerable areas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLOS GONZALEZ, RESIDENT (through translator): Practically everything floods. Almost, almost everything -- everything floods because it does come in strong because of the slopes or the drains get clogged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Workers at local businesses, they're boarding up windows. They're bracing for potential flooding. And Mexican Navy personnel are patrolling areas prone to storm surges.

Simon's eye has been tracking north just off the coast, and forecasters say the storm could move ashore. But its exact path and impact remain uncertain.

And hundreds of miles to the north, what's left of Tropical Storm Rachel is bringing heavy rain, gusty winds to portions of the southwestern U.S.

After hitting the southern California coast, this is Long Beach, where powerful waves have damaged oceanfront homes. Crews are working to reinforce a vulnerable seawall as well.

And then we're not finished -- there are a lot of storms out there. Then there's Isaias still. It is still causing problems. What's left of the storm is wreaking havoc across parts of North Carolina now, including tornadoes.

Heavy rain is triggering flash floods, landslides and road closures near Asheville. And officials are urging people to stay off the roads and avoid driving through flood waters.

And this video from North Carolina's Emergency Management showing a flash flood rushing down a road in Chimney Rock in Rutherford County.

Oil production off the Gulf Coast is gradually recovering after shutdowns and evacuations caused by Hurricane Isaias. Workers are also returning to offshore production platforms that were evacuated ahead of the storm.

CNN meteorologist Melissa Nord is here. Boy, there's a whole lot of activity, and it's not over yet.

MELISSA NORD, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is not. It certainly is not, Fred. And I do want to start on Isaias because even though this thing made landfall two days ago, it's still causing destruction.

We've had this afternoon alone several tornadoes. Radar indicated, storm spotter indicated 18-wheelers flipped on their sides on the highway near Fayetteville, North Carolina.

NORD: These are the reports yesterday through this morning and now the last couple of hours, it's been the northwestern side of the Raleigh- Durham area and also out near Fayetteville and Wilmington, North Carolina where we've tracked several tornadoes on the ground.

[14:30:07]

This one in particular, a very large, dangerous tornado that had touched down south of Kenansville. And now that tornado warning continues until 2:45. And then we go north and east of Raleigh, these cells produced likely damage closer to the Raleigh-Durham metro area. So those are going to be moving northeast. And we're watching that for the rest of today.

You can also see this. This is that major Hurricane Simon, which right now has winds of 140 miles per hour, dangerous, powerful category four. And it's going to be riding the coast. That's Puerto Vallarta, big vacation town and resort location there.

So, we're watching this as it moves the next couple of days to the north. It's sliding along the coast, eventually making landfall there as a tropical storm by the middle of the week.

Rachel also made landfall overnight last night, and still the remnants are producing rain. This is rain over areas that are in the desert southwest, the Great Basin. Some of these locations are not used to getting a whole lot of rain at one time, except for monsoon season.

So we're watching that flash flooding threat. We've seen a lot of warnings issued this afternoon. Flash flood warnings east of Las Vegas, driving out towards the Grand Canyon. And then where it's cold enough, thanks to a little upper level pocket of cold air, we've got some snow falling there over the Bitterroots.

Flood watches remain in effect. Watch the moisture continuing to bring more rain. Mountain snowfall inland across the Great Basin. As we head through the rest of the day today into tomorrow as well. And then we'll finally start to see some of that moisture pushing to the east.

But in the meantime, the flood threat, it is with us today. That includes Las Vegas and Saint George, Utah, both populated areas, especially Las Vegas, moderate risk.

So that's a level three out of four risk of excessive rainfall. Today, we'll be watching again this desert type of terrain doesn't absorb the water in the same way that places on the East Coast do. So, a quick inch of rain can cause some big issues -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Okay, Rachel Nord, thanks so much.

Well, let's zero in on southern California and Julia Vargas Jones is in San Diego, California, right there.

I mean, sometimes you look at what's behind you right there and you can see the beauty. It's really pretty. But then we also know it's very ominous. What's up?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it is. And in those storm warnings they have been lifted Fred. But that doesn't mean that the hazards are over. So authorities here have set up here in Mission Beach in San Diego, these sand berms, to keep the water from coming in.

We are seeing of course, there's people out. It's been extremely hot in southern California over the past few weeks. So this is a bit of a reprieve as well. But there are some hazards. The National Weather Service is saying that the conditions in the water behind me are just dangerous surf with terrible threats for rip currents. And then we have rain and wind coming.

As we were just talking about, this is an area of the United States that is not used to getting so much rain. So an inch of rain, which is what we're expected to get still here because of Rachel, is about the same amount that San Diego gets in the entire month of October.

So dealing with all this rain becomes a real problem. And you know, the infrastructure in these areas is, is hard to actually fathom how much that causes -- wreaks havoc here. And then winds, we're expecting here where we are about 40 mile an hour winds. We've been, its been coming up and down as the hours have gone. And then in those more mountainous regions or just above here where we are, about 60 miles an hour.

And then as we just heard, the risk of flash flood, because the kind of soil that we have here is just not set for that kind of rain. And what we see happens is after this fast and quick burst of rain, there are landslides, there's danger of mudslides, and that's not just here in California. We're talking about Utah, Arizona, as the storm is heading to that direction as well.

But extremely unusual for southern California to be even in a tropical storm alert or to have had one of these. The last time this happened was the first time they happened in 2023. But as we prepare for this year of Super El Nino, Californians can start to at least expect more and more of these -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Getting ready for the uncertain.

Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much.

All right. With just 23 days now until the midterm elections, the big names are hitting the campaign trail. We'll take a look at how Senator Bernie Sanders is trying to flip one of Maine's Senate seats to Democrats.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:39:14]

WHITFIELD: All right. One of the closely watched races in the upcoming midterm election is in Maine. A longtime Republican senator, Susan Collins, is facing Democratic challenger Troy Jackson. Unlike other Republicans, Collins is touting her independence from President Trump.

Jackson says that's not what's happening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TROY JACKSON (D), MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: And now, magically, Senator Collins starts voting with Trump 96 percent of the time. Look, look, I'm sorry. I don't care who the president is. That is not independence. And that's not what political power is supposed to be for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Last night in Bangor, Maine, Jackson got some help from Senator Bernie Sanders as well. There he is, one of a number of big names on the campaign trail across the country.

Joining me right now to talk more about all of this, the upcoming midterm elections, Bill Nigut is here. He's the host of Atlanta's WABE podcast, "In These Times".

Bill, great to see you.

BILL NIGUT, HOST, WABE ATLANTA PODCAST "IN THESE TIMES": It's good to see you.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. And in these times, all eyes are on this midterm elections.

NIGUT: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: This is really fascinating. Let's start with Maine. And then we'll kind of cross the map a little bit more.

I mean, Georgia Troy Jackson getting, you know, a lot of traction considering he has not been in this very long to take on this incumbent in Susan Collins.

What are you watching here?

NIGUT: Well, first of all, its fascinating that Bernie Sanders, the socialist in the U.S. congress, has gone to campaign for Troy Jackson, who cannot really be accused of being a Democratic socialist, is Republicans are trying to paint a lot of other people.

WHITFIELD: He has pulled there, influence?

NIGUT: It's -- that race looks like its a push. I mean, it looks like it could go -- could go any direction. Just like a lot of Senate races across the country. But it's a purple state.

WHITFIELD: Also on the campaign trail, President Trump, he is rallying the base, trying to get supporters to pretend that he's on the ballot.

NIGUT: Yeah. WHITFIELD: I mean, is that a winning strategy? Is that going to work?

I mean, of course we won't know until Election Day. But the president feels like he can be influential. Can he right now, approval ratings so low?

(CROSSTALK)

NIGUT: Of course, he thinks he's -- of course, he thinks he's influential. He thinks he's influential in all things.

There are some, as you know, Republicans who are pulling away from Donald Trump. And so in many races, Republicans are saying we don't want him in our state. People, I think, are not turning out imagining he's on the ballot. And I think right now, he's going only to red states where he can get the enthusiastic response that feeds his ego.

WHITFIELD: Okay. And not necessarily to assist or help out the Republican who's running.

NIGUT: Yeah.

WHITFIELD: Okay. Let's talk about Georgia now. Incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff and Republican Mike Collins holding their first debate a few a few days ago. They'll face off again Tuesday. And Republicans are, you know, shifting money away from Georgia with Ossoff leading in the polls.

However, I've heard from some analysts who believe that Ossoff, while he may be appealing in some of the bigger cities, it's the rural areas where perhaps, you know, there is a feeling that Republicans may not necessarily --

NIGUT: Maybe, but you also got the mayors of two agricultural-oriented cities, two Republican mayors who have endorsed Jon Ossoff because he said -- they say he's always been there for them and their constituents. He's got probably an eight or nine-point lead over Mike Collins.

And as you say, Republicans aren't sure they should be spending their money on that race at this point.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, yeah. So how do you see it potentially shaping up?

NIGUT: I -- right now, Ossoff, who was once the number one target for Republicans, it now looks like a guy who may win this going away.

WHITFIELD: Oh, fascinating.

All right. And then South Carolina tonight --

NIGUT: Yeah.

WHITFIELD: -- Senator Darline Graham --

NIGUT: Yeah. WHITFIELD: -- will face off on the debate stage against Democratic challenger Annie Andrews. Polls showing, you know, that race is surprisingly very close now.

Graham had a pretty rough -- she's had rough debate history --

NIGUT: Yeah.

WHITFIELD: -- you know, in the primary.

So, is she better poised, better ready or are voters, I guess, giving her allowances because she reminds folks, I'm not a political figure, I haven't been in this, but my heart is in the right place?

NIGUT: Well, I mean, as Lindsey Graham's sister, she wins points with many, many Republican voters in the state. But Donald Trump was cautioned to be careful about really going all in for her because she is a novice politician. And as you point out, that showed in some of the debates, South Carolina should be all red. We'll see what happens.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. Okay. And do you see that? That's going to be a real indicator of kind of the climate of, you know, the voting habits in this country?

NIGUT: I mean, there are a number of states right now where Republicans should be winning. And in fact, they're in pitched battles with Democrats. Here's my surprise -- here's my under the radar example of that.

Kansas -- Kansas has not supported, has not elected a Democratic U.S. senator since 1932, the year that FDR was first elected president.

Right now, it looks like the Democrat in that race may very well be in a tie, if not leading a little bit over Roger Marshall, the first term incumbent in the state. Fascinating to see how that's going to play out.

[14:45:01]

WHITFIELD: It is fascinating. We'll be watching Kansas as well as well as the rest of the country.

Bill Nigut, always great to see you.

NIGUT: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much.

And make sure to tune in tonight for a special edition of "NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP". A midterms 2026 countdown to election night. It begins tonight at 8:00 Eastern Time and Pacific on CNN and reaming live with an all access subscription.

All right. Straight ahead, ICE is again under scrutiny after agents struck a man with their vehicle, and that it was all caught on camera. We'll look at the fallout from that incident after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:50:17]

WHITFIELD: Just days after a shooting involving ICE officers in New York, officials in Houston say an undocumented immigrant is recovering from injuries after being struck by a vehicle during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation there. It was caught on surveillance camera and contains some graphic video. According to an ICE spokesperson, agents were trying to pull over a pickup truck when two men jumped out of the vehicle and then fled on foot.

The surveillance footage showed an unmarked vehicle hitting one of the two men. Officials say the man who was struck was identified as Miguel Parra Hernandez, from Mexico and is in custody. The other individual is still on the run.

Mark Morales is joining us now from New York with details on this incident happening in Houston, Texas.

MARK MORALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, an agency spokesman described the man you saw in that video as having run in front of an ICE vehicle. Now, he's a nice custody right now with an apparent broken leg. The other man who was actually the target of this enforcement action, he is not in custody, but he was identified as a public safety threat. He was on a final removal order.

And this incident really brings the tactics that are being used back to the forefront. As we've discussed before, internal guidance now suggests that if you want to do a car stop, not only do you need more special tactical training, but the vehicle itself has to have lights and sirens. It can't just be an unmarked vehicle. And all this comes, as you said, days after an ICE involved shooting in New York City, where a man from the Dominican Republic was sitting in his car when he was shot with also his five, his five year old son in the backseat -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then, Mark, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin actually did address that situation with the shooting in New York with the Dominican man and his five year old inside. We also heard from New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

What can -- what can you tell us about this exchange of ideas on what really happened?

MORALES: Well, in the last few days, we've really seen how important video is of what these -- is in this -- in these scenarios, so that you can actually see what actually happened. We saw surveillance video from eye in the sky that actually shows what happened in the moments leading up to the shooting. And we saw body camera footage from the officers that were responding that actually rendered aid to this man, Oscar Belgal.

And as you said, Mr. Mullin was on with us today. And he actually spoke about the possibility of seeing more video. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: So you said ICE agents were wearing body cameras during the encounter.

The NYPD have already released its bodycam footage.

MARKWAYNE MULLIN, DHS SECRETARY: Yes.

TAPPER: Will the -- is the ICE agents' bodycam footage going to be released to the public as well? And, if so, when?

MULLIN: I'm sure it will be. Right now, FBI and HSI are doing the investigation. So, as it develops and we get all the information out correctly, we'll release information at due time.

One thing that we have learned for sure is that we never want to get ahead of the investigation. That's even with me and the speech or the conversations that I have about it. I want to be very clear that the investigation will go through, and when we find it and we are -- complete the investigation, we'll be very, very transparent with the public.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORALES: Now, Mayor Mamdani has been very critical about ICE even operating in New York City. He says they shouldn't even be here at all. And here's what he had to say about their enforcement action and the possibility of just seeing what happened that day. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK: I implored both of them as to looking at the footage. You're talking about agents who are opening fire in broad daylight.

Again, we're talking about around 4:00 p.m. on a Thursday. We're talking about people carrying their shopping bags, walking by a bodega, thinking they're on their way home. Then they hear shots ring out and they don't even know whether this is from someone who is supposed to be a law enforcement agent, or just someone who is terrorizing the city.

And when it comes to ICE, there is no difference between those two things. And so in those conversations, I made very clear that this was making the city less safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORALES: The man in question, Oscar Belgal, is currently in ICE custody. He's sitting in a federal detention center in New York. He's got a legal team, and so does the federal government. Now they're going to be duking it out over his final deportation orders -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Mark Morales, thank you so much.

All right. Coming up, Trump says Russia and Ukraine have agreed to stop attacking each other's energy supplies. But for Kyiv, the announcement came as a surprise. The details are still unclear.

[14:55:01]

Also, a majority black congressional district in Louisiana is no more, and the longtime congressman who represents it won't run again. Congressman Cleo Fields joins us on what's at stake for his hometown.

Plus, for decades, climbers passed a body known as "Green Boots" near Everest's summit. Now, nearly 30 years later, his identity has finally been revealed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)