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Trump Rallies In Kentucky 17 Days Before Midterms; Ocasio- Cortez Campaigns With Democrat Senate Hopeful In Michigan; Investors Search For Motive In Oregon School Shooting; Aired: 6-7p ET

Aired October 17, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:01:23]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York. And tonight, just 17 days until election day in America, top Democrats and Republicans making their pitches to voters all across the country.

President Trump rallying in Kentucky earlier for Republican Congressman Andy Barr and congressional nominee Ed Gallrein, while in California, Governor Gavin Newsom, Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are out stumping for Democrats this weekend.

Ocasio-Cortez has been campaigning in Michigan for Democratic Senate nominee there, Abdul El-Sayed, who is running to replace outgoing Democratic Senator Gary Peters.

Now, this weekend's midterm push comes with early voting underway in a lot of states, with more than eight million votes already cast. And across the U.S., thousands of so-called No Kings rallies taking place, organizers say their focus is getting people to vote and to oppose any voter suppression efforts.

Let's bring in CNN correspondent, Gloria Pazmino, who has been in Michigan today. Gloria, I know you've been on the trail with Abdul El- Sayed. What are you hearing in these closing days as he makes his pitch to voters and also as Mike Rogers, his Republican challenger, making his pitch to voters?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica, we've had, quite frankly, a fascinating few days here in Michigan. We started in the upper peninsula, you know, very much Republican Trump country earlier this week where El-Sayed made several campaign stops, had really large turnouts in some of those rooms, and talked to voters about why he believes his message can appeal to Republicans and Trump supporters, because he says that he is focused on issues of affordability, of healthcare and gas prices.

And we've heard that message over and over as he has been crisscrossing his way around Michigan over the past week. We are in Caro, Michigan right now. We are probably about three to four hours north of Detroit. This is also very much Trump country. In 2024, Trump won here easily by more than 50 percent of the vote, and I heard from voters here today who told me that they know that this is a red place. This is a place where people have historically voted Republican, but they believe that Abdul El-Sayed's message can actually resonate with some of those people.

I just spoke to a woman who told me that she knows a lot of farmers in this area, and that is a critical community that is struggling right now. They believe that perhaps some of what El-Sayed is talking about could appeal to them.

I want you to take a listen to the candidate speaking at this town hall just a short while ago, where he took questions from voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: Donald trump is not himself the disease of our politics, he is the worst symptom of the disease of our politics.

The disease is the system that allows big corporations and billionaires and special interests to buy and sell politicians in ways that leave them rigging the system against us. It is why we pay more for all we have to buy, get paid less for the work we do. Watch as our tax dollars get misspent to buy bombs and tanks for other people's countries, instead of to buy healthcare and schools here in our own.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Jessica, Medicare-for-All, also something that voters here brought up when I asked them what they were concerned about, what's kind of their big top issue in their day-to-day lives, the cost of healthcare is something that people bring up over and over again.

It was also interesting to see him campaign with Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez, right? She is very far from her New York district, but they were here across the state together. She made a donation from her campaign account, $1 million to his campaign account.

I also just asked him if he thinks that the Democratic Committee is doing enough to help him in fundraising in these last critical weeks.

[18:05:11]

He said that, you know, he is continuing to raise money, small dollar amounts from people. So the next two weeks are certainly going to be critical.

He will be campaigning with President Barack Obama next weekend in Detroit. So we expect that to be large -- likely another large turnout of supporters -- Jessica.

DEAN: Yes, and gloria, what about his Republican opponent? What are we hearing from him? Does he have any big surrogates out with him as well?

PAZMINO: Well, look, that is interesting because driving -- on the way driving here, I did see a lot of Mike Rogers' signs. And as I said, this is a county that has historically gone Republican, but I have not seen Mike Rogers on the trail this week.

He is expected to be opening up a campaign office in Detroit next week, and he is out on the trail. But when you listen to El-Sayed talk about Mike Rogers, he often makes the point that he is not campaigning in these areas where you think he would want to come to because, you know, it is a Republican stronghold.

So El-Sayed certainly putting a lot of miles in. He has been riding a bus across the state as part of his, "It Shouldn't Be This Hard Tour." And we -- you know, we are seeing him just campaign in these places where you think that maybe he would not be going to.

DEAN: All right, Gloria Pazmino there in Michigan for us. Thank you so much for that.

And joining us now to talk more is SEMAFOR politics reporter Dave Weigel. Thanks so much for being here with us. We really appreciate it, especially on a Saturday night.

All right, let's go -- let's stay in Michigan for a minute. What are you watching for in these final weeks leading up to Election Day.

DAVID WEIGEL, SEMAFOR POLITICS REPORTER: I am watching for any fall off in the suburbs of Detroit, kind of Bloomfield Hills area for El- Sayed, because it has been very loud, but I am not sure how numerous it is.

A story of this race from the beginning has been Jewish Democrats, pro-Israel, Zionist Democrats expressing their worry that they can't vote for him even if they want to support the Democratic ticket. I want to see how that translates when early voting starts, if there is any actual drop off, because some of the El-Sayed offer in the primary, as he put it, one event I covered last year was there are a lot of guys named Abdul who didn't vote for Kamala Harris. I am going to bring them back to the party. Is there any trade off on his end?

DEAN: Yes, and there is the question he ran in that primary against Haley Stevens, who is a more moderate Democrat and it was tighter than polls suggested and she endorsed him shortly after, almost immediately after conceding that race, but we have not seen her out on the campaign trail with him and that seems to have been you know -- that's been noticeable.

And to your point, the question is, do her voters, do they ultimately go ahead and vote for El-Sayed or do they do sit home or do they vote for Mike Rogers?

WEIGEL: You're right. Stevens has not been stumping for him a lot. And he did call her during the primary, basically corrupt in a money -- an empty suit with a full of AIPAC money. He told me at one point, now, candidates always patch things up over a primary look at everyone who ended up endorsing Donald Trump, but it has been harder for him.

Hillary Scholten, the congresswoman from West Michigan in a district that's now very safely Democrat, still has not endorsed him. There are a couple of medium profile Michigan Democrats who have not endorsed him, and there is frustration in the Democratic Party over this from the left, because from the left's perspective, El-Sayed is the left's number one candidate of the cycle. If he can win, as AOC put it, then any progressive can win anywhere.

There is frustration that the rest of the party is not coming around to support him in the way that they are supporting, let's say Chris Pappas in New Hampshire. And you saw when Ayanna Pressley was in the state, even though various PACs have spent money in Michigan, saying not enough money has been spent behind him.

This is -- Democrats are -- as united as they can be before the midterm because they want to flip the Senate, they want to flip the House, but you are already seeing recriminations by people who supported El-Sayed believe that they are not getting 100 percent support from the party they think somebody like Stevens would have gotten.

Now, Barack Obama coming to the state, I think, is going to change that storyline, at least for that day. But there are a lot -- more Democrats than you might have expected, given the stakes of the election in Michigan very loudly saying it is worth it to them to protest this candidate and this election, no matter what the consequences are.

DEAN: That will be interesting to watch. I want to talk about President Trump and the Republican side. I know you've been doing some reporting, specifically when he was in Ohio, trying to drum up some support there. There is a very tight senate race there. There's a tight gubernatorial race.

He is going to what would consider, you know, we would -- the data would consider Republican strongholds. He is in Kentucky today. What is this telling you? And what are you watching as he is going to these certain places again, appearing to try to say and he said this outright, pretend like I am on the ballot.

[18:10:10]

So if you're just a Trump voter, please vote in the midterms, which historically that hasn't always worked for him.

WEIGEL: That's true. That's been the entire story since really the beginning of this Trump second term. How do you avoid the curse of your voters staying home in a midterm when the other party's voters come out?

And these rallies are for the faithful? And I was with Trump in Youngstown, Ohio. That is a place when I first covered him in 2016 there, you were getting a lot of people who had not been to political rallies before, had not voted Republican before, certainly, and were coming into the fold because of Trump.

This rally, and I didn't interview everybody inside the rally. But when I did, it was more true believers, those people who maybe they were from Ohio, some would come in from Pennsylvania. How much of the hard core Trump base that he turned out three times, not just the last time, three times, how much could he turn out? Because that is who is approaching with these rallies.

He is doing a little bit of promising people things, if Republicans win the election, he is still, for example, in Ohio said that if Republicans win both Houses, he is going to send a $5,000.00 check. But he is also saying there are certain benefits coming to these states because I am President and they might not come if I am not president. That's for the broader audience.

But most of what he is doing is just trying to get the highest percentage possible of dedicated MAGA voters to turn out, because they know that a lot of people who took a chance on Trump in 2024, who never voted for him before that, were thinking of South Texas Latinos, think of young men under 35 that they are not excited to vote for him, they are not showing up for these events. They are not showing up in the polls for him.

DEAN: All right, Dave Weigel, very interesting, 17 days to go. Thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.

WEIGEL: Thank you.

DEAN: All right, so what about young voters? Where do they stand in all of this? CNN's Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten runs those numbers.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Hey there, Jessica. Happy Saturday to you.

You know how I know the election is getting close? It is because it is freaking freezing out here in New York City. It is by far the coldest day of the year, which means autumn is here and it means the elections, well, they are getting closer.

And you know what? Donald Trump has set his all-time low in a Fox News poll that was released this week. It comes at the most inopportune time for Republicans. Now, why did Trump hit an all-time low? It is because, in large part, young voters, those under the age of 30, Generation Z, which unfortunately, I cannot say that I am a part of. I am a millennial, just like you are, I am getting older and you can see the numbers. They are absolutely plummeting among Gen Z for Donald Trump.

Take a look at this. Okay. Trump's net approval rating with those under the age of 30, you know, a retrospective approval rating looking back at term number one during the 2024 campaign. You can see it right here. Look at that.

Donald Trump was on the plus side of the ledger. He was at plus three points. Look at where his rating is right now. Woah! Deep down under -- we are talking under the East River. Look at this, 50 points underwater for President Trump. We are talking about a 53-point shift in the wrong direction. We are talking about a group that he did well historically with four Republican candidates running for President back in 2024.

Now, why is President Trump struggling so much with those under the age of 30? Well, sometimes I feel like I am singing the same old song over and over again, but in this case, I have to, because it is true throughout the entire electorate.

What we are talking about here, Jessica, is we are talking about the economy. I mean, just look at these numbers, look at these numbers.

The economy and voters under the age of 30, again, look at the Fox News poll. Look at this. Back in 2024 with those voters under the age of 30, Trump was more trusted than Kamala Harris back in 2024 by two points. Look at where he stands right now. He is 64 points underwater on the net approval rating. I mean, my goodness gracious, that's not just under the East River. That is under the Atlantic Ocean. We are talking about a shift here, Jessica. We are talking about a shift of 66 points in the wrong direction.

Those voters, Generation Z, shifting very much away from Donald Trump. And to me, it is so important that it is happening on the most important issue of the day. It is happening because of the economy. And why is it -- why are voters under the age of 30 feeling so down on President Trump when it comes to the economy? Well, it is inflation. It is inflation. And although we don't have a trend line here, I feel like sometimes you can put up a number on the screen and it just absolutely pops out at you, you know it is bad and it is inflation. It is inflation.

I mean, look at this. Voters under the age of 30 on Trump and inflation, look at the approval rating. It is nine! It is nine! We are just talking nine percent of voters under the age of 30 approving of the job that President Trump is doing on inflation, just a single nine.

To put that in perspective. I mean, like 10 percent, 11 percent, 12 percent depending on how exactly you measure it, say nationwide, that the moon landing was faked and we know the moon landing is a hundred percent real.

So we have broken that barrier, and look at this, 91 percent of voters under the age of 30 disapprove of the job that President Trump is doing on inflation.

Again, top issue that got him reelected in the first place back in 2024, top reason why he performed historically well for a Republican candidate, when it comes to voters under the age of 30 and it is absolutely crushing him now. And I know, Jessica, those Republicans who are running for reelection, these are numbers that they, simply put, don't want to see. As I said, it is coming at a most inopportune time.

But you know what? It is always a great time when I am with you. And therefore I toss it back to you.

DEAN: Always a great time with Harry Enten. Thank you so much.

Democratic optimism grows ahead of the midterms as they eye opportunities in really deep red states like Mississippi. But how realistic are their chances there?

Plus at least 36 lawmakers and election offices in 10 states sent suspicious letters with a white powder inside. We will have the latest on that investigation.

And next, new details on the deadly shooting inside an Oregon special needs elementary school classroom. What we are learning about the shooter here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:43]

DEAN: Officials are investigating what led to the deadly school shooting that has left an Oregon town brokenhearted.

Police say a 16-year-old former student opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, Thursday, killing three children and a young teacher inside a special needs classroom.

A father being hailed as a hero after he heard the gunshots and made his way inside with his pistol and fatally shot the gunman.

CNN reporter, Nick Watt joins us now from Oregon and Nick, I know you've had a chance to speak with witnesses and people who live there, who are grappling with this unimaginable tragedy. What have they told you?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the father of one of the kids killed, Rhoam Summer, who was five years old, the father posted on Facebook he said that they are broken and lost, basically without their curly haired little boy. He said they've got friends and family gathering around and keeping them safe.

And you know, you mentioned that father, he is being hailed as a hero here. And I just spoke to a mother. That father, that guy, by the way, had two kids in the school. So did this lady, Edna, who I just spoke to. Edna happened to be here just before 1:00 P.M. on Thursday, picking up her son to take him to a doctor's appointment. She talked us through what happened. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDNA, MOTHER/WITNESS: I saw the Dad go in into the side right there. He was, like, running, like running straight, saying that there is a shooter. So he --

WATT: And you heard gunshots.

EDNA: And I heard gunshots. Why innocent kids? They haven't done anything to you. Like it is --

WATT: Yes.

EDNA: Like, I don't understand why. I don't. I will never understand why, but its yes -- my son was like, he was even like, I just hope because he -- I mean, he heard the gunshots and he is like, "I just hope no -- none of my friends are hurt or I am going to be very mad and sad."

We were going to take him to the museum. And he is like, "Well, what if it happens there?"

WATT: Oh!

EDNA: So -- and like, how do I tell him that like -- I mean, I don't even know. I don't even know if it is going to happen again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: You know this was the 36th school shooting in this country so far this year, and there will be more. You know, you mentioned, Jessica, the search for a motive.

So the Police Chief said, everyone wants to know why. We may never know why. They've taken away the shooters electronics, computers and stuff trying to figure out what was going through his head. But, you know, as Edna just said there, she will never understand.

So for a lot of people here, the motive is kind of irrelevant because there can be no motive that could ever explain why anybody would go into a school and shoot a bunch of elementary school kids. It doesn't make sense.

Back to you.

DEAN: No, it doesn't make any sense. No! Because it doesn't make sense, it is not anything you can make sense of.

Nick Watt, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

And joining us now to discuss the investigation is former senior FBI official and active shooter expert, Katherine Schweit.

Katherine, thank you so much for being here with us under horrible circumstances.

KATHERINE SCHWEIT, FORMER SENIOR FBI OFFICIAL AND ACTIVE SHOOTER EXPERT: It is great to be here, but it is not great to be here, right?

DEAN: I know. Exactly, exactly! And I -- you try to wrap your head around this, but it is -- I think that mother tells it all. They will never know why and it is really hard to reassure your child that they are safe anywhere after something like this.

We do know that this father took down the shooter with his gun that he had legally. He had a permit for that. How rare is this whole sequence of events?

SCHWEIT: Oh, it is unprecedented. I mean, I am working on -- I am just finishing up some data work for two years with an analytical team and in the elementary school shootings over 25 years, less than 10 shootings in elementary schools, none of them elementary or other schools -- situations is this kind of a situation. There are a couple of situations where somebody came towards the school and they were prevented from going in, Rancho Tehama, I think, comes to mind, but this is pretty unusual and it is just really a conflagration of great circumstances that turned, you know, a bad situation, a horrible situation, a bad situation into not a horrible situation.

[18:25:05]

It is very unusual, and we have not had this kind of situation where a civilian goes in successfully, shoots and takes out a shooter.

DEAN: We know that the shooter's parents were cooperating with police Thursday. A source tells CNN that the shotgun used, though, was purchased by the shooter's mother and we are increasingly seeing parents held accountable for their underage children having access to these weapons and using them in this way.

Is it possible we will see that here?

SCHWEIT: Certainly. You know, my prosecutor days in Chicago don't sustain me for what might happen there in Oregon, but I think it is unlikely that the parents might be charged unless there is some very direct kind of overt act that shows that a parent was engaged and involved in supporting the effort or knew it might have happened ahead of time, which we've seen. That's why there are a pair of Michigan parents that are in jail for 20 years after their son did the shooting outside of Detroit.

But I do think that also one thing about when people hear, oh, the mother bought the gun, it is a question of, did the mother buy the gun for the child -- buy the shotgun for the child? Or did the mother buy -- a child can't -- an underage child can't buy a weapon, can't buy a firearm. So, it has to be purchased by somebody else and it could have been purchased for hunting or target practice and a parent is allowed to take their child to do that. So the purchase per se is not necessarily improper.

And the investigation of course will tell us, you know, what the intent was and whether or not there was no collusion or maybe the child did this recently with the mom and convinced the mom to buy the weapon, claiming it was going to be for a different purpose.

DEAN: Yes, or -- and I would imagine too safe practices. Was it in a safe? Was it locked down? Was it secured? All of these things that a responsible gun owner would ensure was the case.

The gun was a shotgun. Again that is, I would imagine, pretty abnormal in these shootings as well.

SCHWEIT: Certainly, we have -- I have seen maybe a handful of shootings in schools that are shotguns. The gun of choice in most firearms related violence is handguns across the United States in all types of shootings, but when it comes to school shootings, we see primarily handguns because they are easy to conceal and school shootings are perpetrated by middle school and high school students, shoot their own schools, shoot up at their own schools; elementary school shootings, as this one is generally somebody who comes from the outside, often somebody who went to that school only because they go to a location closest to their home.

It is a control thing for the shooter, so for the handgun, you know, easy for somebody to carry in a secret away, but a shotgun, that's somebody who is choosing to come in and has access to it. And I think that is what we will find, as is in this case, this is the type of firearm that the child had access to and knew how to use, and that's the reason that he probably chose that.

DEAN: Yes, and as you note, we do know that he did previously attend that school.

Katherine, thank you so much for being here with us on what is a very tough, tough subject, but we appreciate your time.

SCHWEIT: Absolutely. Be safe.

DEAN: Thank you.

Lawmakers in election offices sent suspicious letters with a white powder. What we know about that, next. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:32:58]

DEAN: Federal authorities are investigating suspicious substances sent to dozens of congressional and election offices across the country. At least 36 lawmakers have reported their offices received suspicious letters in the mail as of Friday along with election offices in at least 10 states. Some of those letters have contained an unknown or white powdery substance, prompting evacuations and responses from law enforcement.

CNN's Mark Morales has been following this.

Mark, do we know where this could be coming from? What is going on here?

MARK MORALES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTER: Well, that's one of the major questions that law enforcement is trying to answer now. They are trying to figure out who is responsible for this and why are they doing this.

Now, we are a little over two weeks away from the midterm elections, so that gives us a potential clue, but if you think about it, there is some precedent for this. Back in 2024, before the presidential election, similar packages with a similar white substance was sent to six different states, six different election offices.

So, this has happened before in the past, and if you go to last week where we are seeing that there was 10 different election offices that were hit in different states. Now, some of these folks are not taking any chances as you mentioned, the buildings were evacuated, the substances were tested to make sure that there was nothing toxic in there.

One of these was in Arizona at the Arizona State Capitol, and the Secretary of State, Adrian Fontes, was on the lead on Friday talking about this very thing. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADRIAN FONTES, ARIZONA SECRETARY OF STATE: The substance that was collected had gone through labs last night, initially just to check toxicity. That came back negative. I don't have any specific information as to what the substance actually is, but it is not harmful to human beings at this time.

The distraction of elections officials during this very, very busy time, and the intimidation -- potential intimidation of voters is harm, that is harm to our democracy, that is harm to our election systems that we want to run smoothly without intimidation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORALES: So the FBI, DHS, U.S. Postal Service -- they are all looking into this right now, and when you think about it, there is a pretty big digital footprint that's left by anybody who is trying to do anything like this.

[18:35:07]

So, not only do you have the Post Office that's going and sorting through mail that can actually figure out where letters come from, what sorting facility actually did it, but you have the security cameras at those Post Offices that can tell you who is coming and who is going with law enforcement actually backtracking to see where these people are coming and going.

And now, you also have the, the Post Office that is actually sorting 360 million pieces of mail a day, and through that, they actually identified some of these letters with this suspicious powder that were supposed to be going to some of these election offices, but they never made it to that destination -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Mark Morales, thank you so much for that.

Democrats eye a potential opening in an historically red state, Mississippi. What's driving that push? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:18 ]

DEAN: Democrats eyeing another deep red state, Mississippi. Democrat Scott Colom is challenging Republican incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde- Smith. It is likely a long shot for Democrats, but President Trump beat Kamala Harris by nearly 23 points in 2024. But the former Vice President is set to campaign in Columbus, Mississippi next week, and campaign officials believe Harris can help boost Black voter turnout in that state.

She is not the only top Democrat campaigning alongside Colom this week. Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock, the first Black man to represent Georgia in the Senate rallied voters in Jackson, telling the Mississippi has the opportunity to join Georgia in making history in the south.

And former President Barack Obama releasing an ad this week backing Colom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Scott made his community safer, prosecuting violent crimes as District Attorney and fighting corruption in Columbus. Now, he is running for Senate to raise wages, lower costs, and save your healthcare and hospitals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joining us now is politics reporter for "Mississippi Today," Taylor Vance.

Taylor, great to have you here with us. It is nice that we can kind of dip back down into Mississippi and see what you're seeing on the ground there. So, set the stage for us, and just so everyone knows, Mississippi has not sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1982, so that's where we are. Set the scene for us with this race.

TAYLOR VANCE, POLITICS REPORTER, "MISSISSIPPI TODAY": Yes! I think that Mississippi is competitive. I think Mississippi has always been competitive, even though people may be surprised to learn that. But it is still going to be a pretty tough fight, I think, for the Democrats here.

You know, Mississippi has the highest percentage of Black voters out of any state in the nation, and Black voters, by and large, tend to vote Democratic. Mississippi is an agricultural state and farmers are struggling right now. And I think that the Democratic Party is hoping to sort of seize on that and cause an upset here.

But as you said, Mississippi has not elected a Democratic U.S. senator in decades. So, it will be a struggle. But I think that it is very competitive.

DEAN: I will ask you this, as someone who is covering politics there in Mississippi, have you seen a recent race where you've had an influx of big names from the Democratic Party coming down like this? Like, has there been other races that have gotten similar attention?

VANCE: Uh, no, not like this. You know, former President Obama endorsed Mike Espy when he ran as the Democratic nominee six years ago and there have been, you know, a few endorsements here and there, but certainly, no, not like this.

DEAN: Yes, and so take people inside the issues that are driving Mississippi voters this go around. You mentioned, it is an agricultural state. Farmers are certainly feeling the burden of really expensive diesel among a variety -- tariffs -- a number of things. But what is driving these races?

VANCE: Yes, I think the Colom campaign, as you said, is hoping to, I think capture on the dissatisfaction with the high cost of goods, high cost of gas, high cost of diesel, tariffs, the dissatisfaction from that, healthcare and health outcomes is a huge issue in Mississippi. Rural hospitals are struggling here. They've been struggling for a while.

And, I think those are kind of the main issues driving the debate here in the U.S. Senate race, and really, I think the Hyde-Smith camp on the other end is really just hoping to, I think tie Scott Colom to the national Democratic Party overall and make social issues such as trans youth, trans rights, I think, an issue and sort of try to link him to, I think things like that, but those are some of, I think the main issues that we've seen here in Mississippi.

DEAN: And speaking of an actual debate, not that the idea of a debate, but an actual debate. He challenged Senator Hyde-Smith to three debates. She reportedly dismissed that offer. He told a CNN affiliate, WLBT that her refusal is disrespectful of voters. He called her a "chicken."

Do you think this is something we talk about? We've talked about this a lot with different political experts over the last several weeks. Do you think that that the debates make a difference to Mississippi voters right now, or that they would make a difference?

[18:45:20]

VANCE: I mean, I think so. I think everyone always wants to hear more from the candidates and hear their position on issues. You know, I don't think I've ever met a voter or a reader who says, no, we don't want to have a debate. We don't want to hear where candidates stand on the issues.

Do I think that we will get to have a debate? No. But certainly, I think a debate can always make a difference and can inform voters.

DEAN: All right, last thing, what are you watching for on election night? What's going to be telling? What are you going to be looking for to tell you where this is going?

VANCE: Yes. I mean, you know, I think the old adage and it is sort of, I think, it gets said a lot, but it is true and that's going to be turnout.

You know, turnout drives the results of an election. You know, high turnout races in Mississippi tend to benefit Republicans. Low turnout usually tends to benefit Democratic candidates, and I think that's going to be the thing to watch for here, is are there enough Republican voters who are so dissatisfied with the high cost of gas, the high cost of groceries and, you know, dissatisfied with the Iran War or the military action in Iran, are they going to be so dissatisfied that they just stay home?

I think the perfect storm that Scott Colom is looking for is to see if he can drive Black turnout enough, but that also White Republicans will be so dissatisfied that they will stay at home and not vote. And so I think turnout in key races is something that I am going to be looking for to see, yes, and to see if that will have an impact on the race come November.

DEAN: Yes. All right, Taylor Vance coming to us from Mississippi, thanks for your insights. We appreciate it.

VANCE: Thank you so much for having me.

DEAN: Maine Democratic Senate nominee, Troy Jackson is facing some heat this week for this moment Thursday night at his debate with Senator Susan Collins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): Two issues --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Collins, I am so sorry to interrupt.

MODERATOR: I am sorry. Somebody is interrupting. We will have our security deal with that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A.I. data centers are destroying our climate. They are poisoning our water.

COLLINS: So this is obviously one of Troy's supporters.

TROY JACKSON (D), MAINE SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Oh shut up! I did not -- I didn't -- I don't even know who that kid is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Today, CNN anchor and chief political correspondent Dana Bash sat down with Troy Jackson. She asked him about that moment. Here is their exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR AND POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: This week, there was a protester in the debate that you had with Susan Collins. She responded by saying, "This must be a Troy Jackson supporter." And you told the Senator, "Shut up." Do you regret saying that?

JACKSON: No. You know, she said that it was a Troy supporter. I mean, she accused me of setting that up. I had no idea who it was. I mean, I was surprised whenever he jumped up out of there. You know, I've had four debates with Senator Collins. I've shook her hand afterwards every time.

But what I am not going to be is, you know, talked down to by Senator Collins. I am not going to, you know, be accused of things like that. I mean, I am fighting for Mainer, and you know, I mean, I just think that was another situation where she was talking down to me and, you know, so I am not -- I am not going to apologize for that, no.

BASH: Some Republicans are saying that there were stories when you were in the legislature of women who were there, who said that you were, I don't know about talking down to them, but you were sort of aggressive in your tone and that this is another example of that. JACKSON: Some Republicans have been spending millions of dollars attacking me and my family, making untrue claims, things that they had to take off the air, and so it doesn't surprise me that some Republicans would be making any claims.

BASH: So, again, the "shut up" thing, you're going to leave it as is. No apologies.

JACKSON: Yes!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And you can catch Dana's entire interview with Troy Jackson. That happens tomorrow morning on the "State of the Union" at 9:00 Eastern. We will be right back.

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[18:54:03]

DEAN: CNN's Omar Jimenez sat down with acclaimed chef, David Chang to discuss the series finale of "The Detour" with David Chang. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This week, you also went to Florida, and for all the jokes about Florida, Florida Man, you may be found the most Florida Man of all in Eric Andre.

DAVID CHANG, CHEF: Yes! No, you know, it is funny enough, we have so many mutual friends, but we've actually never hung out. And, now I understand why that's never happened.

JIMENEZ: Well, you know, we've talked so much about, you know, getting taken off track or detours or whatever. This was the one where it felt like you actually did have -- all right, a production, we've got a plan it just went out the window.

CHANG: Karma! It was karma because this is what I do to the producers of "The Detour." And I think they really enjoyed this episode because I was like, no, we are not going to do Miami because everybody that's ever done food of Florida, they cover Miami.

JIMENEZ: Yes, it is like influencer central, right?

CHANG: I know nothing about Miami.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

CHANG: And as you can see from the episode, I call it Miami South Beach. It really makes Eric very upset.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

CHANG: But you know, I told Eric, listen, you can do whatever you want on the show. And he took me up on that.

[18:55:10]

JIMENEZ: I lived in Miami for a little bit when I was growing up, and the Miami now is very different from when I was a kid, but there is this other side of -- there are so many cultures and I know it was described as like the gateway to Latin America at one point, but even more so, so many cultures coming together and making some really great food that is not maybe on those top ten influencers lists. Like you were eating at a laundromat, right?

CHANG: Delicious! You know, Gabe, who is a "Romulei" -- Eric's friend now business partner, introduced us and that was fantastic. But probably the highlight of the meal for me in that entire episode was the food truck outside.

Like, to me, that was a -- that was one of those things where the food was great.

JIMENEZ: Yes!

CHANG: It is the story of how that all happened. I mean, these episodes could have been like three or four hours long each because of all the stories we've accumulated. It was pretty cool, and it was a really topical conversation about what makes America, America, what makes it hard to talk about. It was an enigma.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

CHANG: I thought it was amazing.

JIMENEZ: And you went to my -- one of my favorite places in the country, Key West, and you did it the right way. You drove down the seven-mile highway.

CHANG: I drove, Eric slept.

JIMENEZ: What were your impressions of just a place like that and the culture that was there?

CHANG: Florida is its own country.

JIMENEZ: Yes, yes!

CHANG: I don't know what else to say.

JIMENEZ: Yes! I think it is fair! Enough said.

CHANG: If Florida has its own countries and its own country.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

CHANG: And if you don't know what I am saying, you should check it out because its wildly confusing.

(END VIDEOTAPE) DEAN: All right, Omar Jimenez, our thanks to you for that. And that Season Finale episode of "The Detour" with David Chang airs tonight at 10:00.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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