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CNN This Morning

Trump Holds Rally In Deep Red Northern Kentucky; El-Sayed Campaigns In Conservative Michigan Districts; Deadly Fire At Canadian Military Base Under Investigation; Ukraine Strikes Russian Oil Hub In Massive Drone Attack; Hundreds Of Thousands Protest Across France; 1,200 Detained; Pope Leads First Sunday Prayers Since Cancer Surgery; Child, Adult Killed After Woman Plows Car Onto Youth Soccer Field; Dem Senate Candidate Says Party Needs New, Fresh Leadership; Trump Waives More Russia Sanctions As Feud With Zelenskyy Deepens. Trump Waives More Russia Sanctions as Feud with Zelensky Deepens; Katie Zacharia Fired After Five Days as WH Press Secretary; Six Flags Over Georgia Reopens; "Pheromone-Maxxing" Is the Latest Trend on Social Media. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired October 18, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:00:24]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN This Morning. Here's what you need to know today. President Trump is stepping up his attacks on Democrats just 16 days out from Election Day.

Plus, we're going to show you the moment Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed tackled a question about his faith during a town hall.

We're following breaking news out of Canada. Several people are dead after a major fire broke out at a military base.

Also, just minutes ago, Pope Leo spoke for the first time since he was released from the hospital yesterday. His message in Vatican City this morning.

And we're tracking a wet and windy start to the work week. A storm just off the Carolina coast is bringing a flood threat to the East Coast and the Mid-Atlantic.

Plus, have you heard this one? A pop star walks into a toy store to buy a singing bird. That ignites a social media firestorm.

There's a lot going on here. It's all ahead in the morning roundup on CNN This Morning.

It's a brand new day of a brand new week, and I'm glad to start it with you. October 18th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

We are 16 days from the midterms, and the campaigning is going from a marathon to a sprint now. President Trump has been going at a frantic pace. He's waking up this morning at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. He'll be back on the trail in Kansas tomorrow after headlining a rally in deep red northern Kentucky on Saturday in the same district represented by one of his top Republican critics, outgoing Congressman Thomas Massie.

Well, this weekend's midterm push comes with early voting happening in many states. More than 8 million votes have already been cast. More now from CNN's Julia Benbrook.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump promised to really hit the campaign trail hard this month, and he has done this. He started out with rallies in Oklahoma and in Alabama and has continued that theme of focusing on primarily Republican strongholds, even this weekend as he made a stop in Kentucky.

There were two main candidates that he was focusing in on there. Andy Barr, a current congressman who is vying for the seat of retiring Senator Mitch McConnell, and then on the House side, Ed Gallrein, who has already defeated one of Trump's political foes in the primary, Thomas Massie.

Now, an RNC official tells me that this event, as the others that Trump has appeared at this month, have been focused in on turnout. They really want to get Republicans to show up at the polls. And Trump has said repeatedly throughout these appearances that he wants his party to pretend like he is on the ballot.

That is something that he reiterated this weekend. But he also essentially said that he doesn't have to be out here. He's really just doing this out of the kindness of his heart. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't need to do this. I could sit home. I already won. Somebody said, good luck with the election. I said, no, I already won.

I don't need to do this, but I have to, because if they win the midterms, all of a sudden you're going to see a slide. And all of the crap that we talk about, the incompetent stuff that we talk about is going to come back. And we're going to go through the same process. And I don't think our country can handle it again. I really don't.

So that's why I'm here working my ass off for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: Right now, of course, Republicans have control of the White House, the Senate and the House. And any change in that will have a big impact on Trump's next two years and how he navigates things. We do expect him to be out on the trail again in the coming days with stops expected in Kansas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Iowa, and then back here in Florida. Victor?

BLACKWELL: All right, Julia, thank you so much. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, she's been in Michigan this week campaigning for Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed. And she also boosted him with $1 million from her own campaign fund. El-Sayed is running to replace outgoing Democratic Senator Gary Peters.

Now, the contest for Michigan's open Senate seat is seen by many as a test for progressive Democrats in a battleground state that Trump won in 2024. CNN's Gloria Pazmino has the latest.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, we have been following El-Sayed throughout the past week, where he's been campaigning everywhere from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan all the way down to Detroit. And we spent the day in Cairo, Michigan, on Saturday, where he made a visit to an area that has been historically a Trump stronghold.

[07:05:08]

Trump won easily in 2024. And it's a place where a majority of people have supported the Republican Party. But that's exactly what the past few days have been about.

El-Sayed campaigning in places where you might not think he has a lot of appeal, but he told us that he believes his message of Medicare for All, affordability, and focusing on issues of prices, gas prices, for example, he believes that that will resonate not just with his supporters, but even with some Trump supporters and Republican diehards who are concerned about those issues.

And, in fact, that's much of what we heard when we talked to voters and we asked them what was their top issue. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The reason why I really want to vote for Abdul El-Sayed is because I'm a medical biller. And at my job, I rarely see insurance fully paid for care. And I've seen the kind of debt that people can get into just trying to stay healthy. So it's really important to me that he wants to help with that.

PAZMINO: Do you think he has appeal in a place like this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he does. It's going to be hard, though, because it's a big farming community. People have voted the same way their whole lives for generations, so it's very hard to combat. But I think in our current situation, even farmers are kind of -- are feeling it a little bit. And I think it's really good for someone like him to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: El-Sayed held a series of town halls this past week. He took questions in a lot of these town halls. Voters asking him about what he could do about gun control, health care, bringing gas prices down. So it's interesting to hear directly from voters who come to these events and want to hear directly from the candidate. Now, El-Sayed will continue campaigning. It is coming down to the wire. We're just a few days away from the general election. And he will be joined by President Barack Obama in Detroit. That is expected to be another large turnout rally for El-Sayed as he continues to drum up support looking forward to Election Day. Victor?

BLACKWELL: All right, Gloria Pazmino, thank you.

Breaking overnight, several people are dead or injured after a major fire at one of Canada's busiest military bases. Hospitals have been overwhelmed with patients from CFB Wainwright. One emergency room doctor described it as a one in every 15 to 25 year disaster.

CNN has reached out to the hospitals treating patients along with the military base and local officials for more information. When we get it, you will get it.

Also breaking overnight, a fresh wave of attacks in Russia. There's this massive overnight strike that Ukraine launched, more 1,000 drones at Russia, and it made one of the Ukraine's largest drone attacks of the year. A major target was one of Russia's biggest transport hubs for oil shipments.

Officials say one person was killed. Five people were wounded in the attacks. Ukraine's president says his country also took deadly fire overnight, including new strikes on the power grid. And, you know, this comes as the White House is facing backlash over President Trump's decision to waive the upcoming sanctions on Russia that sparked bipartisan pushback and ramped up the ongoing feud with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

New this morning, there's a dramatic video out of France. Look at this, where mass protests turned violent overnight. This is the historic city hall in Limoges. This is central France.

Watch as the roof and the bell tower there, you saw it, crashed down. Officials say mass rioters torched a police car outside. They smashed their way in, set that 143-year-old building on fire. It's part of a wave of protests that are sweeping across France over the cost of living and crumbling schools and what demonstrators call government inaction.

Organizers say more than 800,000 people joined the protests across the country. France's prime minister says about 1,200 people were detained.

CNN's Melissa Bell was out on the streets of Paris as the damage came into view.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But let me just show you around here. As you can see, the remnants on the streets of the scuffles with police. There's been a lot of damage to shops, looting still carrying on around many parts of Paris and of France.

And this, of course, will turn in now to a massive cleanup operation. But there has been so much anger expressed on the streets of France today. It's also important to remember that we're heading into election cycle six months from a presidential election that is likely to see the far right, which is leading the polls right now, make it to the second round.

There are also talk of the far left facing off with them. These extremes are dominating, really, the political discourse at the moment. And there was a lot today in the protest against the far right.

[07:10:00]

So I think it's important to note just that very political context in which we find ourselves now here in France with a great deal of anger on the streets of Paris and elsewhere.

BLACKWELL: Melissa, thank you.

At the Vatican, Pope Leo presided over Sunday prayers for the first time since having lung cancer surgery. He was greeted by a pretty big crowd in St. Peter's Square just one day after he was released from the hospital. The Pope thanked the people who prayed for him and the hospital staff.

The Vatican says the Pope, 71 years old, that a surgery to remove the lower lobe on -- of his right lung was successful. They're being cautious about his plans to travel to Latin America next month.

A six-year-old boy and a man are dead after a woman drove a pickup truck into a youth soccer field in Wichita, Kansas. Police say it happened yesterday afternoon in the middle of a game. The driver, who's a 34-year-old woman, had a child playing on another field.

The two children were in the truck with her. Eleven others, including five children, were hurt. But police say their injuries are not life- threatening. One child describes his dad rushing in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My dad went to the truck, took the person out the truck so they don't hit any more people. Shocked he did that because if he didn't do that, maybe the car would have stopped and more people could have gotten hit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now, the driver is in custody and is cooperating with police. Investigators say they do not know yet why it happened or if she will be charged.

This morning, people in Southern California are back in their homes as this fast-moving wildfire is being brought under control. The North Fire devastated parts of San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente. The fire spread more than 570 acres, is about 25 percent contained this morning.

Firefighters say the damage -- the fire damaged or destroyed at least six homes. Two firefighters suffered injuries battling those flames. The good news is that no one else was hurt here.

A dramatic rescue in Northern California, two state park officers were driving early Friday morning when they came across this, a car flipped on its side, fully engulfed in flames. There's a woman inside during this video. Officers jumped into action, went into the fire to pull her out.

She's 46 years old. She was conscious when she was taken to the hospital. She was later released from that hospital.

Still ahead, could Kansas flip from red to blue? The Senate race Republicans saw as safe is now suddenly anything but. What the Democratic candidate is telling our Manu Raju.

Plus, a brewing Nor'easter to stir up for days of trouble off the Northeast. We're going to get into that and how long it's going to potentially cause problems.

Also, historic day in college football. Five of the top seven teams losing the regular season for the first time. We've got the highlights.

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[07:18:00]

BLACKWELL: The fight for control of Congress is playing out on campaign stops across the country this weekend. President Trump was in Kentucky yesterday and again told supporters to treat the midterms like his name is on the ballot. He also promised $100 million investment in a pharmaceutical plan if Republicans keep control of Congress.

Meanwhile, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, she put serious money behind Michigan Democrat Abdu El-Sayed. She announced $1 million investment into a Senate campaign Friday, and it gave El-Sayed a pretty important boost heading into the final weeks. President Trump has called El- Sayed a jihadist and claims he's a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. But here's how El-Sayed addressed that concern from a voter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm going to swear an oath to the Constitution of the United States, and that Constitution guarantees us all the right to practice whatever faith we want or no faith at all.

And now you assume, you assume, Tommy, that because I am Muslim, that somehow I would have some allegiance to something that is not our Constitution. I'm not running to be a Muslim senator. I'm running for U.S. Senate and happen to be Muslim.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: With us now is CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju. Manu, good morning to you. So $1 million, good money, with 16 days left in the campaign. But more than the money, what does this mean? What does AOC bring to the campaign? How could she shape the race there in Michigan?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, she and El-Sayed are very aligned ideologically. They're very from the same progressive wing of the Democratic Party. She speaks to a very similar type of audience that he tends to draw in these campaign events, a lot of younger voters, more liberal voters, people who, of course, El- Sayed needs to come out in droves in this race.

The challenge for El-Sayed has been through this general election season, which, of course, has been shorter because their primary, the Democratic primary, very divisive, ended in August. His challenge has been to try to pivot to the middle and try to win over some of the more skeptical Democratic voters, some of the people who are concerned about his position when it comes to Israel, who are concerned about some of his more progressive positions.

[07:20:12]

And he has -- that's one issue that you've heard from some Democratic -- top Democrats who have hoped he could have done more to woo those disaffected Democrats after that very bitter primary with Haley Stevens. And the question for El-Sayed is, can he win over some of those swing voters in -- not just in the counties that typically determine statewide elections, like Macomb County just outside of Detroit, but also in Wayne County itself.

In that Democratic primary, he didn't do nearly as well as Haley Stevens with Black voters in the Detroit area. He needs to do much better with that demographic as well in order to beat Mike Rogers, the Republican who is backed by Donald Trump in this race.

And, of course, Victor, if the Democrats lose Michigan, their chances of getting the four seats they need to win back the Senate majority gets so much more difficult, which is why this is a must-win for Democrats if they have any chance to take back the Senate, Victor.

BLACKWELL: I think voters are used to close races in Michigan, not so much in Kansas, where there is a close Senate race. You spoke with Democratic candidate Adam Hamilton. Would you --

RAJU: Yes, look, this is a race that no one expected to be on the map at this point. A Democrat has not won a Senate seat in the state of Kansas in nearly a century. There have been only three Democratic senators ever in the state's history.

But Adam Hamilton, according to the polls, has a chance to defeat the incumbent Republican Senator Roger Marshall, in large part because of the economic conditions that are happening in Kansas, high diesel prices hitting the farm country, the President's own approval ratings sliding, and also Hamilton's profile himself.

He's a leader of a megachurch in Kansas, the biggest church in Kansas, the largest United Methodist church in the entire country. And all these things, these factors are a big reason why Hamilton has a striking chance.

Now, one of the big questions for him is, can he differentiate himself from his national party, which is still very unpopular, particularly in a red state like Kansas? And when I asked Hamilton about that, about distancing himself from his party, he tried to make the case that he's a different kind of Democrat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: I saw you had said that you had spoken to Chuck Schumer about how he's making this race harder for you.

ADAM HAMILTON (D), KANSAS SENATE CANDIDATE: Right.

RAJU: What do you mean by that? Is it just how toxic this -- the Democratic brand here is in this state?

HAMILTON: Yes, I think the Democratic brand is in trouble everywhere across the United States. And Chuck Schumer becomes the sort of archetype for that. Whether it's deserved or not, that's how he's seen. And Roger Marshall at the state fair debate mentioned Chuck Schumer, I think it was like, I don't know, eight or 10 times. And I'm like, that's so interesting, you know?

And so what I've said is I'm not going to vote for Chuck Schumer for, you know, the Senate majority leader if -- or minority leader, whichever it is. No disrespect for him, but we need new and fresh leadership. And the Democratic Party needs that desperately.

They need new and fresh leadership, new ideas. And I think I'm a part of that. And there's a lot of others who are coming up --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But it's a sign that Republicans have serious concerns about this race. None other than President Trump himself is going to campaign with Roger Marshall this week in Kansas because of the concerns that Marshall could lose this race. If he does, then that makes the Democratic chances of taking back the Senate so much easier.

But this is still the state of Kansas. It's still a place that Trump won three times. And even though all these economic factors in -- are going against the President and his party, Roger Marshall has calculated, aligned himself very closely with Trump. And perhaps there'll be enough GOP voters to push him over the finish line here, Victor.

But, of course, that is a big gamble in this current state of politics, particularly in this election. It's turning into a referendum on the President.

BLACKWELL: Certainly want to watch Manu Raju. We will be watching at the top of the hour.

Thank you so much. Watch Inside Politics Sunday coming up next at 8:00. Still ahead, South Carolina Senator Darline Graham breaks from President Trump on Russia sanctions, her brother championed. What she's saying this morning.

And there's a new unit of measurement for Trump White House longevity. It called the Zacharia, after the press secretary lasted five days. We'll talk about all this. And more ahead in the roundup.

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[07:28:55]

BLACKWELL: President Trump's move to waive Russia related sanctions has sparked bipartisan pushback. He signed an executive order Friday to waive penalties on Russian fossil fuel sales. Those sanctions were days away from taking effect just a month after they'd been passed under the Lindsey Graham Act, which the President signed. They were intended to punish Russia for its war on Ukraine. Now, Trump says that relieving those pressures serves the national interest of the United States.

Joining me now for the morning roundup, Atlanta Journalist Rick Folbaum, Attorney Madeleine Simmons and SiriusXM Culture and Economics Contributor Drew McCaskill.

Everybody, welcome back.

RICK FOLBAUM, ATLANTA JOURNALIST: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: And Rick, let me start with you on this. Because really, this is getting pushback from both parties because there was overwhelming bipartisan support for this, not only for the content of it, but in tribute to the late Senator Lindsey Graham. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says this will give the President 60 days to consider some options. But what do you see here as the President is kind of softening the pushback against Russia?

FOLBAUM: Well, you know how difficult it is to get bipartisan support for or against anything. And here we have bipartisan support for and now bipartisan condemnation for the President's move lifting these sanctions with his executive order.

[07:30:00]

You know, I think that at the end of the day, the president is looking at the map and looking at the calendar. He sees that he's got an election coming up, and clearly this is an attempt to try to bring some relief to consumers when they go to the supermarket and when they go to the gas station.

And if this leads to that, as much as Lindsey Graham may be rolling over in his grave, I don't think voters are going to care one bit. I think they'll be happy for the break.

DREW MCCASKILL, SIRIUS XM CULTURE AND ECONOMICS CONTRIBUTOR: The problem is, is that this is not going to be true relief. It's going to be a payday loan that you're going to get. They're going to get a little relief in the beginning, but then the bill is going to come due for all of this and a lot of different implications after the election is over, right? Like this is not Russia to the rescue with diesel. I just don't think that that's what voters are actually going to get.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, let's talk about another Senator Graham, Senator Darlene Graham, who is on the ballot to replace her brother. She's the appointed Senator now. She took credit for getting this across the finish line, working with the president to get it signed. Now, she has come out against the president's decision. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DARLINE GRAHAM, (R-SC): Look, the president and I share the same goal, which is to end the war, to get gas and diesel prices down. And the sanctions bill is one of the tools he can use to do that. It's up to him whether or not he chooses to use it. Personally, I would choose to keep the pressure on Russia to end the war and get the gas prices down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: This puts her in a really difficult spot.

MCCASKILL: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And how much do voters care about this in South Carolina, though? Because what we know from polls, it's about affordability. Now, this intersects with that. But is this what's going to move anybody in that election, do you think?

FOLBAUM: I mean, I don't know. It's going to be, you know, interesting to watch that as this plays out. But again, I do think that if there is a drop in prices that the average voter, the average person is not going to care about what the president does when it comes to Russia. They're going to be grateful for an extra couple of bucks in their pocket.

BLACKWELL: Katie Zacharia, grand opening, grand closing. Five days as the White House press secretary. This is another question here. Like there are headlines here at CNN and elsewhere. Another embarrassment. Sixteen days from the midterm election. But we know what voters care about. Is this a big deal?

MCCASKILL: I don't think it's a big deal for voters. I think it's one it's one more embarrassment for the administration. I mean, are you kidding me? You didn't that the people that are going to be answering questions for, you know, Kaitlan Collins and Kristen Holmes like that's crazy. Right. But it's also, I think, an indicator of just the chaos that I think voters are turning away from the administration and from the party, because, listen, in regards to whether people have liked the press secretary or not, the that podium just used to be the standard for American communications. You knew that if it was said from that podium, you could trust what was happening there. And public trust being lost is just one more thing where if the administration says something, people are less likely to believe it. And that is trickling down to a lot of other races all over the country.

You start to look at when the public trust is down for the sitting party and you start having people being competitive in races in Mississippi and Kansas. You know, those things, those things matter.

BLACKWELL: Madeleine, let me ask you about this, because Zacharia, until the last day, was trying to create or explain some distinction between her claim that she's a lawyer, but not an attorney. And the president said she was attorney and she would retweet attorney. Is there one?

MADELEINE SIMMONS, ATTORNEY: I didn't know. No, I mean, there's really not. I don't think when anybody looks to go hire an attorney or a lawyer to represent them, if the person says I'm a lawyer, they're going to assume that they have passed the bar somewhere, right?

BLACKWELL: Yes, yes.

SIMMONS: And she did not pass the bar anywhere and then tried to say that she was a practicing lawyer in China. But when you see the statement made from one of the partners at that Chinese law firm, they said basically what she was doing there was akin to a paid internship.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SIMMONS: So, I don't think that it's anything except for misrepresentation to go around saying that you're a lawyer or you're an attorney when you're not the member of a bar anywhere. And if you are a real member of a bar somewhere and you're out there misrepresenting yourself, you're going to get disciplined. But for her, since she's not a member anywhere, I guess there's no bar to discipline her.

BLACKWELL: I mean, social media is going crazy with this. When she says questions about if she passed the bar, there are memes of her walking by cheers. Yes, she passed the bar, but that's it.

[07:35:00]

Let me ask you about something actually pretty tragic here in the state of Georgia that we watched this week. And this is at Six Flags Over Georgia, back open this weekend after earlier in the week, a man fell from the Goliath roller coaster and died. What's the exposure here? Should the manufacturer, the park, the regulators expect lawsuits?

SIMMONS: Yes, is the short answer to that question. Like you said, horribly tragic. This man was a teacher here in the greater Atlanta area, was there with his niece on the ride next to him and his fiance and daughter down at the bottom of the ride. And, you know, when he fell, his body hit other people that were on that ride. There was blood splattered on other folks that were on that ride. It was just a very horrific accident.

But to your point, you know, we're going to see and it's going to be revealed what kind of safety cuts and maintenance cuts that Six Flags was potentially doing to save money. You're going to see cases brought against manufacturer, against Six Flags, against potentially operators of the ride. I think that the buck ultimately falls with Six Flags, but you're going to see the fingers pointed at a lot of different entities because at the end of the day, this could have been prevented and should not have happened.

BLACKWELL: CNN looked at records between 2016 and 2026 that showed Goliath appeared to have passed annual safety, state safety inspections. But of course, there is more to look at.

All right. Everybody stay with us. There is plenty to talk about, including men skipping showers and drinking urine for the viral pheromone-maxxing dating trend. We'll talk about that ahead.

Also, if you're heading out, remember you can stream our show from anywhere in the U.S., right from the CNN app. You can also go to cnn.com/watch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: May I help?

JULIA ROBERTS, ACTRESS: No, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

ROBERTS: Look. Do you remember me?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I'm sorry. I was in here yesterday. You wouldn't wait on me. Oh, you work on commission, right?

ROBERTS: Yes. Big mistake. Big, huge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So, we all know that iconic scene from "Pretty Woman," Julia Roberts goes into a store, but the staff refuses to help her because it looks like she can't afford anything in the shop. Well, Kelly Clarkson says that the same thing happened to her. Well, kind of. She tried to buy a singing mechanical bird from a store called the Art of Play in Brooklyn, but she says the store refused to sell her this $15,000 bird.

The Roundup panel is back with me. First of all, $15,000 bird. I mean, I feel like we can have a whole panel on that.

MCCASKILL: On that alone.

BLACKWELL: But she tweeted out that they treated her like Julia Roberts from "Pretty Woman." The store said that her behavior was reprehensible and her ego was bruised. Your family has been talking about this. MCCASKILL: Yes, my group chat, my family has been talking about this nonstop. There's folks on one side. They're saying, well, maybe they just didn't recognize who she was. But it's the statements that the store also made that just the first one didn't pass, you know, muster with the actual facts. So, then they had to say, rely on the second statement. Tell the truth first, people, if you ever get the opportunity, tell the truth first.

But then my other part of my family said, well, Kelly's punching down because she's got so many fans and they weren't treated well. And -- you know, but all of the all of the black women in my family are saying, see, that's what you get when you don't treat people the same when they come into your store.

BLACKWELL: I mean, is she punching down because they're selling a $15,000? So, one can afford it. One is selling it.

MCCASKILL: Yes.

SIMMONS: Well, then I think to your point, if the store would have come out and said, oh, we apologize and fell on the sword and said, you know, we didn't mean to ever make anybody feel this kind of way, whether they're a celebrity or not. I don't think we'd still be talking about this.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SIMMONS: Right? It's because they came out and said, Well, the bird actually wasn't for sale. Yes, the bird was for sale, right?

BLACKWELL: Yes. And they changed reportedly the price from 15,000 to $15 million now, which of course, I mean, maybe people would say $15 million.

FOLBAUM: What is the commission on that? I mean --

BLACKWELL: It ain't worth $15 million. Let me play this for you, Madeleine, because this is from the store's owner who says that Clarkson has created a bigger problem for them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM RUBIN, CO-OWNER, ART OF PLAY: Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger. Not just are people showing up in person, but our neighbors are getting doxed and review bond. People are being threatened on the street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: You think they have a credible legal case here?

SIMMONS: I don't think that they do simply because what we have seen is that what she said is true. Basically, they you know, they didn't deny that they came in there wouldn't sell her the bird. And then we've seen that it's false that the bird wasn't for sale. So, there's not a defamation situation when what she has put out there is true. BLACKWELL: All right. Rick, let me start with you on this. And take no context and be starting with you on pheromone-maxxing. For an explanation here. Let's go to my colleague, Matias Grez.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATIAS GREZ, CNN CREATOR: Not showering, wearing sweaty clothes, and even drinking urine before going on dates. Questionable personal hygiene choices, all in the name of pheromone-maxxing, the latest maxing trend on social media. The reason behind this behavior, according to some young men is to increase the amount of sex pheromones they give off in the hope of attracting women.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: I have no idea where this came from, or why people are doing it, but apparently doesn't work.

[07:45:00]

FOLBAUM: First of all, I'm glad I'm not single. I haven't heard any of this. But you know, if young men want some advice, some dating advice, I've got some for them. Be a gentleman and take a shower. I mean, those are the things that are going to get you a second date. That's the thing that women are attracted to. They want somebody who's going to be kind and who's going to be, you know, really just -- this stuff. I don't really understand at all.

BLACKWELL: I don't. I mean, there's no wonder you're not getting a second date. Because you drank urine before the first one, right?

SIMMONS: And you smell bad.

BLACKWELL: You smell like a sweaty sweatshirt, right?

MCCASKILL: I also think there's a little bit of like one as a person with a nose, I'm disgusted. But as a workplace analyst, and you know, and as a human being, I think the men are not OK. Like young men are -- there's new data from Sherman that says young men are literally dropping out of the labor force. And I think that there's a lot of folks online who have built entire businesses around the loneliness and disconnectedness of young men, and they're willing to sell them pipe dreams, all kinds of stories, anything.

And I think it's a really profitable space to take advantage of the fact that young men are looking for any sort of quick fix or solution to connection and you know, dating, but this ain't it?

BLACKWELL: Well, the science says that this works in the animal kingdom. There's no science that says really, it works for humans.

MCCASKILL: But you're not a cheetah.

BLACKWELL: Yes, that's true. That's true. So, the last one here, Halloween is coming up. And there's a new survey out from Talker that shows that 76 percent of people are not planning to dress up for Halloween this year. Halloween has always been my least favorite of the fourth quarter holidays. But anybody in still in the dressing up for Halloween?

SIMMONS: Well, I think part of this is the affordable affordability issue we're having, right? Folks are saying, what am I going to spend my hard-earned dollars on? And it's probably not going to be the spirit Halloween store costume, right? You know, I'm going to get it for my kids, but skip it for myself.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And the same survey found out at the top of the list of played out costumes. Sexy anything. Sexy Bumblebee, the sexy pirate, the sexy nurse, right behind that pirate and Joker. I don't know. I mean, I'm not dressing up, but some of those still seem cool to me. But I'm a geriatric millennial. So, maybe that's --

MCCASKILL: Oh, so sad. It's hard enough for me to figure out what to wear as myself. So, I'm definitely not doing Halloween. I've never done that before.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

MCCASKILL: But I think -- I think you're -- to your point, like there's also like a little bit of people are just like, in a different place. Like, there's really focused on a lot more things. They're tired financially, they're tired creativity -- from a creativity standpoint. I don't think Halloween is going to get the play this year.

BLACKWELL: All right. Drew, Rick, Madeleine, thank you all.

FOLBAUM: Thank you.

SIMMONS: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: We'll be back.

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BLACKWELL: We're tracking the system off the coast of the Carolinas that will bring wet and windy weather for the start of the work week. CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is watching it for us, Allison.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, this is going to just linger and meander off the coast for several days, which in turn is really what's going to cause most of the problems. You can see right now we've only got some rain showers right there along the outer banks. Most of the rain with this system is going to stay well offshore.

But for a lot of those coastal communities, you are going to have some intermittent showers off and on throughout the day today. Same thing on Monday. Same thing even on Tuesday. Because again, this really simply does not move all that much. Wind is going to be probably the bigger impact, especially for a lot of these coastal communities. Winds up around 35, 40, even 45 miles per hour at times. Again, not just Sunday, but even progressing into Monday and Tuesday. Again, the same thing over and over here because it's just not moving all that much.

The other thing to note, too, is that wind is actually going to push a lot of that water onshore. So, you have a lot of these river gauges, creeks, streams, all of these reaching up to minor or even moderate flood stage over the next few days. Many of which, by the way, of these total roughly around 40 gauges don't even peak until we get to Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. So, this is much more of a delayed impact than, say, just regular rain coming down. But we do still also have the flood watches in effect for several states here through at least the remainder of Monday.

BLACKWELL: All right. Allison, thanks. It was upset Saturday in college football. CNN Sports Andy Scholes is here. Not a good day to be a high ranked team.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: It was not, Victor. This was one of the most wild Saturdays I can remember. It was just upset after upset. Seventh ranked Texas, they lost at home to Florida. It was their second straight loss. Sixth ranked Alabama lost at Tennessee. This is actually the first time ever that five of the top seven teams all lost on the same day.

And we had a huge top 10 matchup in Provo between eighth ranked BYU and second ranked Notre Dame. Under two minutes to go, Bear Bachmeier to Walker Lyons gives the Cougars the lead. Notre Dame, though, they drive the field. And with four seconds left, CJ Carr's pass goes incomplete. But the ball actually hit the ground with one second left. So, the Fighting Irish get one more play, right? No, they don't review it. All the BYU students rush the field as the Cougars get a huge win there in Provo by a final of 28 to 24.

Top ranked Georgia also one of the big upset victims. They were hosting unranked Auburn to get -- it was a tie game. The Dawgs were driving to try to win this one. But Gunner Stockton runs into his own linemen and fumbles. Auburn would recover, very similar to the infamous butt fumble from back in the day. Tigers then get in position, kick a game-winning field goal to win 27-24.

All right. Meanwhile, in baseball, the Rays are trying to pull even in the ALCS. This game was tied in the sixth. Junior Caminero coming through with the clutch double to left field here. Jonathan Miranda would come around to score to give Tampa the lead.

[07:55:00]

Then up two in the ninth, Yandy Diaz would come to the plate, provide some insurance for Tampa to run home run. Rays end up winning seven to three to even that series of two games. Base game five tonight, 5:00 Eastern. You can watch that one on TBS.

WNBA Finals, meanwhile, tipping off yesterday in San Francisco. Dream had a seven-point fourth-quarter lead, but the Valkyries, they would just keep chipping away. Late in the fourth, Gabby Williams, running layup here, made it a one-point game. Williams had a game-high 26 points. And then the Dream, just ice cold in the final minutes. They went 0-7 from the field to close out the game. Golden State, they'd end up winning that free-throw line. Final game won 68-64, Valkyries.

You know, Victor, we talked about it yesterday that this series was going to be a defensive battle. It certainly was that in game one. We'll see more in game two, I bet, more of the same tomorrow.

BLACKWELL: Defense wins championships.

SCHOLES: That's what we said.

BLACKWELL: That's what we said.

SCHOLES: Also, making shots wins championships as well.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it does. That was hard to watch, hard to watch. All right. thank you so much for joining us, CNN This Morning Weekend. Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju is up next.

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