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President Trump to Campaign for Republicans in Georgia While Former President Barack Obama Campaigns for Democrats in Ohio and Michigan; Organization Will Deploy Trusted Community Members to Polling Stations to Reassure Voters; Large Demonstrations Continue in Paris and Other Cities in France over Cost of Living and Education; Italy Passes New Law Increasing Power of Police to Suppress Protests; Viral Clips of Political Speeches on Social Media May Mislead Viewers; Rising Cost of Beef Affecting Restaurants across U.S. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired October 24, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, the midterms have entered the home stretch. We're now just ten days away from Election Day in America. And today, the two biggest stars in each party are hitting the campaign trail for dueling rallies as they take center stage to rally voters to the polls.

Soon, President Trump travels once again to Georgia to campaign for Republicans in tough Senate and governor races. Before departing the president and first lady are also planning to cast their midterms ballots today in Florida.

Also today, former President Barack Obama campaigning for Democrats in two key midwestern battleground states. Right now, he's in Cleveland, and there he will be campaigning alongside former senator Sherrod Brown and Amy Acton, who is running for the gubernatorial seat. Later today, Obama will head to Detroit to rally voters for Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed in a high-profile clash against Republican Mike Rogers.

We've got a team of correspondents out on the campaign trail covering all of these critical races.

All right, let's begin in Cleveland, where former president Barack Obama will soon be on stage to campaign for Democratic candidates for governor and Senate in Ohio. Meantime, President Trump is starting his day in Florida, where he will soon join millions of other Americans who have already cast their midterm ballots. After voting, he travels to Georgia to hold a rally to boost turnout for GOP candidates in the peach state tonight.

CNN's Julia Benbrook is joining us now from Florida. Julia, I mean, what's the president's strategy as this midterm election now just counts down ten days away? JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And President Donald Trump,

he promised to really hit the campaign trail hard over this last month. And he has done that. He has been out delivering a message for Republicans almost every day this month. His message has been focused primarily on turnout. He is hoping to motivate his base to go out to the polls. And a White House official tells me that he will be going out to the polls himself today. He'll be participating in early voting here in Palm Beach County before he continues that campaign blitz in Georgia.

Now, Election Day, it's still over a week away, but data shows that more than 23 million ballots have already been cast. And we are seeing some early trends in all of that. In several key states so far, Democrats make up a larger scale, larger share of early voters than they did at this point two years ago, highlighting a Democratic enthusiasm edge that has also been evident in primary voting, in polling, and in special elections.

Of course, this recent data only shows who is voting, not what they are voting for. And Republicans typically prefer to show up on Election Day. So when it comes to that enthusiasm edge that I mentioned, Trump has dismissed those claims. In fact, he says that he's on the campaign trail. He's seen people come out to his rallies, and he believes that edge is with his own party. Here's what he said during a rally in Fort Myers yesterday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: This time, I mean, I've never seen, they have countdowns to the midterm. I've never seen anything like it. I've never seen anything like it. And, you know, they talk about the energy, they talk about the energy in the Democrats. But you know, it's the fake news. The Republicans have far more energy. I see their energy.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: And then just highlighting that turnout message even more, it was a couple of weeks ago that he put out a video encouraging Republicans to vote using any method that made sense for them, including early voting and mail-in voting. That last part is notable because he has railed against the mail-in voting method and has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that it's linked to widespread voter fraud.

But again, he's going to be voting early here today. He then takes off for that rally in Georgia, where he will be stumping for the GOP Senate candidate who is -- that is one seat that Republicans are really hoping that they can flip, that they can take from Democrats. Then tomorrow you're going to see him in Michigan on the schedule for next week, stops in Mississippi, Texas, and Ohio. So this campaign blitz is not slowing down until that final day.

[14:05:06] WHITFIELD: All right, Julia Benbrook in Florida, thank you so much.

All right, lots to talk about here. Lets bring in CNN senior political analyst Nia-Malika Henderson. Great to see you.

OK, just ten days to go. Can you believe it? We are almost there. But despite, I mean, finally, wow. I feel like we've been talking about this for a very, very long time. All right, so despite the president's pretty poor ratings, he is stumping in mostly Republican friendly territories, South Florida, Georgia, you know, today. You've got former president Barack Obama in Ohio and then later Michigan. So what kind of momentum are these big names bringing to these congressional, gubernatorial candidates?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Listen, they bring people out to these rallies. They energize them, and they remind these diehard faithful Republicans and diehard faithful Democrats to get out and vote. Early voting has started in a lot of these states. And so that's why these big names are here.

You know, if you think about the contrast, President Trump has an approval rating somewhere 33, 36 percent. Obama's approval rating was about 48 percent while he was in office. It's about 58 percent now. These are the two big heavyweight favorites of their parties. And to the extent that President Trump has any hope of staving out -- staving off a blue wave, it's going to come because he's able to drive out the MAGA faithful. And really, if Democrats want to create a blue wave, they are going to need their base voters to show up. That's why Obama is going to be in Detroit. And so we'll see how that goes.

WHITFIELD: Yes. So later today, when Obama is in Detroit, President Trump will be at Port Huron, Michigan. I mean, these are very different communities, very different voting bloc. But, you know, it looks as though neither side is, I guess, taking things for granted by going to comfortable setting -- settings, but then also trying to, I guess, challenge maybe those independent voters or voters who are a little bit on the fence about which way they're going to go. Is that how you're seeing some of this plotting out of cities?

HENDERSON: I think that's right. And particularly someone like Obama is very good with, obviously, base voters, but obviously independent voters too, right. He doesn't get a 60 percent approval rating unless independents like him.

And so, listen, I think if you're Obama -- if you're Trump, he isn't as well liked among independent voters, and that's why his approval rating is as low as it is. But listen, they have got to put everything out there and try to drive folks to the polls. And so that's why you see them there in those different areas. Sometimes if you're Trump, you want to be in those deeply red MAGA heavy areas to really swell the vote. Given that his base is sort of fracturing, this is kind of like Republicans, you might not like everything I do, but come on home to the party.

WHITFIELD: And speaking of Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed just releasing a new campaign ad with some rather familiar FOX News faces. Just take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDUL EL-SAYED, (D) MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: Don't want to take my word for it? How about some folks you know a little bit better?

JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: You've got to respect Abdul because he beat the machine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's very charismatic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His campaign now is America first.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And Abdul El-Sayed, who, by the way, was captain of his high school football team. Mike Rogers wants to pick a fight with him about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's a good-looking guy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he's better.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's a great speaker.

TUCKER CARLSON, PODCAST HOST: I wouldn't vote for Mike Rogers at gunpoint.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh, and what's this? How do you decipher this?

HENDERSON: Yes, this was one of the smartest ads I've seen this cycle, right? If you think about the way they're trying to paint Abdul El-Sayed, it is that he is un-American, right, that he is sort of outside the norms. He's not a real Michigander. And not only that, he's a threat to America, right?

And so there you have all American FOX broadcasters praising him, talking about him playing football. So this was so, so smart for Abdul El-Sayed, who will have to get some Republicans, right, some independent leaning Republicans, to, to, to, to cast a ballot for him. So I thought this was a really brilliant play down the stretch as he has faced real blowback from Republicans who, again, are trying to say, this is a guy who is outside of the mainstream. Well, listen, how outside of the mainstream can he be if you've got FOX News and conservative personalities praising him.

WHITFIELD: All right, describing him that way.

All right, Nia-Malika Henderson, great to see you. Thank you so much.

HENDERSON: Good to see you, Fred. Take care.

[14:10:00]

WHITFIELD: All right, still to come, early voting now underway across New York. Ahead, a look at the added effort by poll workers to ensure voters can safely cast their vote.

And later demonstrations in France bringing hundreds of thousands to the streets but are later replaced with violent clashes between groups of rioters and police at nightfall. We'll have a live report straight ahead.

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[14:15:01]

WHITFIELD: All right, live pictures right now in Atlanta where you see incumbent Senator Jon Ossoff who is stumping for reelection. He's at a get out the vote rally there. He's also being joined by the former transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg. They're trying to mobilize volunteers to help galvanize support and get people excited about voting day just ten days away.

And then Ossoff and Buttigieg, I understand, are going to be hitting neighborhoods, going door to door, trying to encourage people later on today.

And then also later on tonight, President Trump will be in Georgia at a campaign rally for Republican Senate candidate Mike Collins, trying to do the same thing, getting people excited about this election now just ten days away.

And so early voting is already underway in several states, with more than 23 million votes already cast across the country. In New York, polls open for the first day of early voting today. Mayor Zohran Mamdani was among those who cast his midterm ballot earlier today at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Letitia James is reaffirming her commitment to protecting voters rights following mixed messaging from the Trump administration about the potential deployment of federal immigration officers to polling locations.

And for more on all this, let's bring in CNN's Mark Morales, who is on the ground at a polling place in New York. How excited galvanized are voters, Mark?

MARK MORALES, CNN REPORTER: Well, we're seeing a steady stream of voters coming in here to cast their votes. And we're at a public school right here in the heart of New York city. And so far, they've counted around 650 ballots today. Now, that's a pretty good turnout for this location.

But you touched on something very important, so it's important to note that federal law enforcement, whether it be FBI, DHS, or even ICE, they're not allowed at these polling locations or really any of these polling locations.

Now, obviously, that's something that can change depending on situations, whether or not you have to actually deploy federal law enforcement to an incident. But by and large, they're not allowed at any of these locations. Now, who is allowed at these locations? Well, the NYPD has deployed

strategically to different locations around the city. Theres an NYPD officer at almost every polling location. Theres even independent poll watchers that are here that are all tasked with making sure that everything goes according to plan.

Now, we also talked to voters today, and they spoke about how not only were they excited to cast their votes, but they had some concerns about possible voting irregularities, maybe not necessarily in New York City, but in other cities as well. And you mentioned the attorney general of New York, Letitia James. Not too long ago she held a press conference earlier this week where she talked about this, and the strategy that she's going to employ is going to be something that a lot of other states are going to do, too, which is basically having people that have their ears on the ground that can actually tell the office when something is going wrong. And when it does, they have a team of lawyers ready to go to file lawsuits in response to some of these things.

Now, I also spoke to the attorney general of Illinois, and he said something very interesting, that although Illinois is a blue state, a lot of the county clerks that they work with to actually run this election are Republicans. And the one thing that was always constant was that they always did the right thing, always counted everything appropriately, no matter what party. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Mark Morales in New York at a polling station there, early voting polling station there. Thank you so much.

All right, my next guest is doing her part to protect Americans' right to cast their ballot. Her foundation has been deploying hundreds of poll watchers to major minority precincts in key states like Michigan, Ohio, and Georgia to counter any potential threats, including voter intimidation.

Mary Corcoran is joining me right now. She's the executive director of Save America, a nonpartisan organization that's focused on defending the constitutional rights of Americans. Great to see you.

MARY CORCORAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SAVE AMERICA: Great to be here. Thank you so much for having me.

WHITFIELD: So you're here in Atlanta and, you know, polling sites around this state, quite frankly, have been very busy. I mean, it's been a very aggressive early voting effort. And then tomorrow on Sunday, there are polling stations that are open for early voting, which is pretty extraordinary, right? And you and your personnel will be out as well. What will you be doing exactly?

CORCORAN: So our program is called Vote Safe, and were running it here in DeKalb County here in Georgia, as well as Michigan, North Carolina, and Ohio. And the idea is that we want to ensure that all voters, all eligible voters, feel comfortable coming and casting their vote free of fear and intimidation. And our concern and what we're looking to overcome is that we have seen that there's been a lot of indications from the administration that they will not rule out sending ICE and other armed agents to the polls.

[14:20:00]

And whether or not they actually do that, the mere fact that Trump and some of his surrogates have talked about it can create fear in those communities. So what we're doing is were going to have people like clergy, veterans, teachers, nurses, local members of these communities at the precincts to ensure that every eligible voter has the confidence of knowing that their community has their back at the precinct.

WHITFIELD: So your organization has actually trained people like you just described, clergy, volunteers, but trained them in what manner? And trained them to be prepared for what, and to react in what way? Because it is sacred ground at a polling station. And just as a candidate can't be within, or a sign can't be within so many feet, I mean, just the presence sometimes of people can also be intimidating. So what are you training them for? How did you train them? And what will be their posture at any number of these polling stations?

CORCORAN: So the first very important thing is that all of our volunteers have a very big pin that says Vote Safe. And we've been talking to voters in the weeks upcoming, both early vote and Election Day, that our Vote Safe team members are going to be there. So the idea is when a voter gets there, they see their Vote Safe team and know that there's people there that have their back.

And importantly, related to the training, of course, they're trained in all of the regular stuff. You know, voters' questions, regular how to questions. But also they're trained in deescalation, deterrence, and documentation.

WHITFIELD: Will they be in the parking lot or will they be physically in some of these polling stations? Because --

CORCORAN: They won't be in the stations. But for example, whatever the legal place that they're allowed to stand, they're standing there. So for example, in Georgia, where we've been active since the beginning of early vote, in front of each of the early voting precincts they're walking up, but at the same place where other campaign members or poll watchers are allowed to be, which is, um, I think at least 100 feet from the precincts.

WHITFIELD: OK, and you feel like this is going to offer assurances to voters and feel comfortable to people?

CORCORAN: Yes. I think what we've found, our organization has been working with communities that have been impacted by ICE specifically, 11 communities over the last 18 months. And what we have found and learned is that people feel less fear when they don't feel alone. So we've applied that same insight to what we're doing at precincts for this midterm election.

WHITFIELD: OK. And your focus this go-round Michigan, Ohio, Georgia. Mary Corcoran, thank you so much for being with us.

CORCORAN: My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it.

All right, still to come, demonstrations resume in France as authorities deployed 70,000 police officers nationwide this weekend. Coming up, a live report on the massive security operation in place there.

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[14:27:08]

WHITFIELD: Intense moments throughout France. This is just the last hour in Paris where you see protests were getting really tough there, with a lot of protesters turning out as well as being met by law enforcement. In Paris demonstrations ended as groups of rioters emerged to confront police, who used tear gas and water cannons to try to disperse the crowds.

And last hour, we saw protesters carrying lit flares as authorities launched stun grenades. Shops on Fridays began boarding up their displays in many popular spots like the Louvre, the museum, are closed today, bracing for another weekend of unrest.

Authorities have ramped up security after more than half-a-million people took to the streets last weekend. And those demonstrations quickly turned very volatile there, with lots of looting taking place, buildings being set on fire, as well as cars.

CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward is joining me live right there. You can still hear those stun grenades going off. What's happening?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, it's much quieter in the last hour. It seems that most of the remnants of the protesters have been dispersed. And France's interior ministry is already heralding this as a big success for security forces, because even though we have seen those protracted clashes, and we were up close in those clashes, volleys of tear gas being fired, there were stun grenades, the water cannon came out at one stage. The riot police were charging and the protesters were then running and then running back and forth. And so it went on for many hours.

But crucially, we have not seen the kind of looting that we saw last week. And that, of course, was such a big concern. Now, one possible reason we haven't seen that is because at the last moment, Fredricka, the authorities here changed the march route. It was initially supposed to be in a more central area. Instead, they moved it to a part of town that really is just on the very edge of metro Paris, if you will. And so that definitely had an impact. It meant that the protesters were slower to congregate. And it also meant that there were fewer obvious targets for that kind of looting and vandalism that we saw was so prevalent last Saturday.

Now, we do know that still a lot of people took to the streets, 110,000 here in Paris, which is roughly the same amount who took to the streets last week, 400,000 nationwide. That's a little lower than last week's levels.

[14:30:00]

But certainly fair to say that the main forces that are propelling this protest movement, anger at the rising cost of living, at the fuel prices, at the lack of investment in schools, those issues have not been resolved. And there is a clear sense of deep disenchantment with President Emmanuel Macron's government.

So unclear where these protests go from here. And until then, you can be sure that you're going to see a huge police presence like the one we saw throughout the course of today any time there are more protests in the future, which I think, Fredricka, you should expect that there will be.

WHITFIELD: Indeed. And there are curfews in place, right? So there's almost like a cut-off point for every evening, even though there's no promise of it necessarily ending altogether

WARD: So there are curfews that are localized in different areas. So in Place de la Republique in central Paris, for example, there's a curfew in place from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 in the morning to try to avoid some of the groups that might gather and try to cause real problems in the late, late night hours.

And I think it's important to underscore, when we were on the march today, which was peaceful, which was huge, and which really was comprised so many different types of groups of French people with different concerns about the direction their country is moving in. But as it got later and as the protesters got more antagonistic, you certainly felt that there was a change in the mood and a change in the makeup of the protesters themselves, with more of these so-called "casseurs", which in French means "breakers" or "wreckers", but basically means looters or rioters -- or I should say rioters, to be more specific. And that was definitely felt. More anarchists in those groups as well, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, keep us posted. Clarissa Ward in Paris, thank you so much.

All right, we're also following protests in Italy where the government recently passed a law, and order decree to grant more powers to the police. Hundreds gathered today for demonstrations against the war in the Middle East, while others rallied against government leadership and the rising cost of living.

CNN's Rome correspondent Stefano Pozzebon is joining me live now from Rome. Stefano, I mean, paint the picture of how protests have unfolded there.

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN JOURNALIST: Well, the protests have gathered in several cities at the same time, Fredricka, all across Italy, from Turin to the north to the capital here, Rome. But it paints a much different picture to what Clarissa and Melissa have seen up in Paris for the whole day. Here in Italy, the government had declared a special law and order decree last week and announced an unprecedented deployment of police forces into the streets, and that seemed to have scared much of the protesters off.

The numbers we're seeing today, at least here in Rome, for example, were far less than the expectations from the organizers. That doesn't mean, however, that people did not take to the streets, especially here in Rome. We spoke with hundreds, and we saw and spoke with thousands of protesters who went into the streets to let their grievances heard.

And it's interesting, when you analyze all of these movements, when it comes to this gen z that seems to be rocking up the whole of Europe, it's not just one grievance that they're voicing. We're talking here about people who believe that climate change needs to be addressed, the cost of living, the cost of housing, the presence of Italy within NATO, or, for example, the role of Italy in the war in the Middle East.

We spoke also in particular about the reaction of the Meloni government, who last week, as I was saying, ordered a -- this week, sorry -- passed a new decree that grants the police extensive new powers, including the ability to detain underage protesters preemptively. This is what one of the protesters told me when I asked her whether she thinks this generation's voice is being heard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOFIA BARONTI, ITALIAN PROTESTOR: Actually listen to peoples voices. I think they're just doing what you know, just fits them best and their interests. And I think they should actually listen to what people think. And because I think we're very clear about what we want. So I don't think they're listening to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POZZEBON: This protest was mostly peaceful. Like I was saying, Fredricka, in some cities, including Rome and Turin and Bologna, small pockets of protesters remained out in the streets well into the night, and they were hit by water cannons and tear gas as soon as they tried to force the blockade.

But at least here, I really want to stress that Italy paints a much different picture from what happened in France, and it seems that Meloni is having these, today's match won on her side. What remains, however, when we spoke with protesters today is that next Friday, the 30th of October, the streets will once again be gathering with protesters, and in particular, students who are calling for a national student strike here in the republic. Fredricka?

[14:35:03]

WHITFIELD: All right, Stefano Pozzebon in Rome, so far, yes. The contrast to what we're seeing in Rome and in Paris and beyond, quite severe. All right, as social media becomes a go to news source for many

voters, demand for online political content has never been higher. But some of what's being put out there can miss the big picture. Why you may want to beware of so-called clippers, when we come right back.

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[14:40:10]

WHITFIELD: From Facebook to Instagram to TikTok, social media platforms are increasingly shaping or influencing political debate. Case in point, so-called clippers who splice together highlights from rallies and other events. But as CNN's Marshall Cohen warns, important context could be missing, so proceed with caution.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Viral clips on social media are shaping how we see the midterms. But do they leave voters with just part of the story? Check out this clip of President Trump talking about the war in Iran. It racked up more than 30 million views from just two tweets.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: It's a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They can take out a city. Let them take. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego.

COHEN: All right, let's look at this together.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: Its a small price to pay.

COHEN: All right, these were 40 seconds from what was a 90-minute rally in Nebraska. But those 40 seconds drove the media conversation for days. Now, this is happening because of what's called the clipping industry. These are folks that make a living by watching political rallies and campaign events and posting hundreds of clips on social media every single day.

SEN. JON OSSOFF, (D-GA): I want everybody who is clipping this debate online tonight to roll that tape.

COHEN: Aaron Rupar is an independent journalist and a Trump critic who has built up a significant following on social media as a clipper chronicling Trump since he first ran in 2016.

AARON RUPAR, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST AND CLIPPER: It was clear to me that there was a huge appetite for this. If you're really going to do this well and kind of beat the competition, you have to be locked in sometimes for up to 12 to 14 hours a day.

COHEN: These days, more than half of Americans get at least some of their news from social media. But what you see on your feeds can be highly selective. And of course, that comes with some risks.

In 2024, this account from the Republican National Committee repeatedly posted dozens of out-of-context, cherry-picked clips making President Biden look like he was lost and confused. And this year, Kamala Harris's old campaign account rebranded as a new video forward feed supporting Democrats. That was one of the accounts, along with Rupar, that clipped those comments of President Trump talking about Iran possibly nuking cities in California.

But the White House took issue with those clips. They called it a cherry-picked media freak out. They said that Trump was obviously just talking about what could happen if Iran ever got a nuclear weapon, which he is trying to prevent.

RUPAR: That is a struggle of being a clipper is kind of making sure that everything is in the best context, that you're not misrepresenting, because you said something later about how were never going to let that happen. That kind of opened the door to me receiving some pushback. But I also understand at this late date, you know, doing this for a decade, that that's just part of the business of covering Trump.

COHEN: There are people, though, that say this clipping culture is not good for democracy. How do you respond to that?

RUPAR: I'm always going to err on the side of trying to get it right. It might have 10 million views for something that you misrepresented, but then that next time you have something, people are going to look at your account and kind of be like, I don't know if I trust that guy.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Marshall Cohen, thanks so much.

All right, restaurant owners are walking a fine line these days. How can they keep rising beef prices in check without losing customers? The burger breakdown next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:48:09]

WHITFIELD: All right, taking you to Georgetown, Texas, where supporters of the Senate candidate Ken Paxton are rallying in his support there at that venue. We'll continue to monitor it. And Paxton is in a very tight, I mean, neck and neck Senate race with Democrat James Talarico. It is a pivotal race that also is pivotal in the balance of power. We'll continue to monitor.

All right, few meals in America are as iconic as a burger and fries. But beef prices are soaring, and that's putting restaurants in the pressure cooker financially. CNN's Coy Wire and David Goldman dropped in on one Atlanta hot spot to see how the owner is making sense of it all.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: There is nothing more American than a hamburger. DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Maybe a hot dog.

WIRE: OK, maybe a hot dog. Either way, the prices of ground beef have been absolutely ridiculous, up to about $7 a pound from under $4 a pound in 2021. It's a good time to be a vegetarian, maybe.

My buddy Dave and I are here outside the legendary Atlanta burger joint Grindhouse. We brought our questions, our appetites, our wallets. Let's see which one gets cooked.

WIRE: All right, I'm getting the O.G. The original burger grindhouse style double and fries. What are you getting?

GOLDMAN: OK, I'm going to get the impossible burger. I think.

WIRE: David, that's not even beef. You're such an unc.

GOLDMAN: That's what my kids tell me every day.

WIRE: So what is up with the beef prices right now?

GOLDMAN: Yes, I mean, American beef production prices have exploded higher in recent years for a lot of reasons, but most of them actually have to do with climate change, because drought conditions have forced farmers to figure out other ways to feed their cattle, mostly with expensive feed as, you know, grass is dried up.

[14:50:3]

WIRE: Yes. And some ranchers, they're just, from what I've seen, are throwing in the towel. The herd sizes are the lowest they've been in 74 years. That's like almost as old as you. Yes.

GOLDMAN: Where is our waiter?

Hey, Coy, check it out. Six, seven.

WIRE: So David, value is a huge part of the fast food game, too.

GOLDMAN: Yes. I mean, burger prices have been surging at chains like McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys, so much that customers have been turning away from fast food in favor of fast casual restaurants like Chilis and Applebee's. And they cost just a small amount more than McDonalds. But they offer what they perceive as a much better value.

WIRE: Thank you. Really excited. All right.

Perfect. David. Was I lying?

GOLDMAN: You were not lying. This is excellent. Thank you, Coy.

You know, it's interesting, because burger places, even legendary ones like this, they want to keep their prices low because burgers are considered a value food, right? You can come get a nice meal without breaking the bank. WIRE: And that's the squeeze though, right? Especially for

restaurants like this. I mean, burger prices have gone up 14 percent since 2023. Ground beef prices have gone up 44 percent. So you just wonder how places like this are managing. You know what, let's go find the owner and ask.

GOLDMAN: Good idea. Let's go.

ALEX BROUNSTEIN, OWNER, GRINDHOUSE KILLER BURGERS: The customer only wants to pay so much for a burger. They're not going to be able to absorb all of our price increases. Fortunately for Grindhouse, we've been able to -- we sell a lot of beef, so we lock in, we try to lock in an annual contract. And so we usually feel the pain around January 1st when we find out what our new price is. I know last year it was about a 10 percent increase from last year to this year.

WIRE: Your cost.

BROUNSTEIN: Our cost just for the beef itself. There's a lot of other things that go into it. All of our costs are going up these days with the cost of fuel, cost of labor, health care that we provide for our employees. Everything is going up.

WIRE: So how much of a headache does that create for you? And like trying not to hurt your customers, keeping that entry level, you know, burger, right?

BROUNSTEIN: Sometimes you can't find another supplier that maybe they'll have a better deal or, you know, change your product because maybe, you know, if you're using chuck and maybe you want to switch to sirloin because chuck is more expensive. So there's always things you can look at. But at the end of the day, the price is probably going to go up.

We know that as -- I just look at it like this. As long as we are competitive in the market, I feel good about how our how the customers will view Grindhouse. So sometimes, yes, it'll be, well, the beef went up, but we haven't raised our milkshake prices in five years. So maybe if we had another $0.25 to the milkshakes, it'll kind of help us out. So there is a little bit of that.

But, you know, it's mostly just a across the board, hey, we got to go up 10 percent this year because all of our products went up. It's not just beef. It's everything.

GOLDMAN: So he raised some interesting points, right? I mean, if he can't raise the price of burgers because people aren't willing to pay for it, he's going to raise the price of other things.

WIRE: Yes. Well, let's check the damage. All right, my burger and fries and coke.

GOLDMAN: And coke.

WIRE: And whatever that is. How did mine come in under yours?

GOLDMAN: Not used to losing, are you, Coy?

WIRE: Dude, that's the point. You can still get an affordable burger. I won.

GOLDMAN: Right. Give me a fry. Fumble.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO TAPE)

[14:58:00]

WHITFIELD: All right, major protests unfolding across Europe today, with demonstrators rallying over rising living costs, school funding, and government policies. And we've seen similar scenes in cities across France and Italy. The video on the left is actually from Rome, Italy. We misidentified it as Paris earlier today.

In Paris, tear gas was used to disperse some demonstrators after clashes with police. France's interior minister says at least 400,000 people took place -- took part, rather, in the protests across the country, including demonstrations over underfunded schools, teacher shortages, and the rising cost of living.

All right, "Have I Got News For You" crew is never shy about roasting the weeks biggest headlines. Here's a preview of tonight's new episode.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY WOOD JR., HOST, "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU": Bonus points. What else did the president give Ohio voters this past week?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A little pinch on the butt.

(LAUGHTER)

WOOD: You're close.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, Roy.

WOOD: It involved that ass.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Its Husted's ass, and his muscular hands.

WOOD: Points to you, new guy. Hell, yes.

(APPLAUSE)

WOOD: Trump gave out more compliments for Senator Jon Husted's big, beautiful butt. DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm studying his body. I've never

studied the body of a man before, but it's never been my thing, to be honest with you. But I looked at his ass. And then I looked at his legs, and I said, his ass, is like. It's like a pile of muscle that. I looked at his shoulders, and I tapped him on the shoulder, and it --