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Trump Seizes Protests in France as Midterm Message; Putin Pushes for Trilateral Summit with Trump and Xi. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired October 20, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

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ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN ANCHOR/LEGAL ANALYST: Today in the group chat, President Trump blames what he calls migrants, jihadists and communists for the violent protests in France. Is that a winning midterm message?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: What's happening to France, they want to happen to our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Vladimir Putin floats a three-way summit with Trump and President Xi Jinping. Could a seat at the table come at Ukraine's expense?

She's the subject of the hottest movie in America. Could Elizabeth Holmes turn all the hype into a pardon from President Trump?

And all right, all right, all right. Matthew McConaughey calls on independent voters to ditch the two-party system. Is that even possible?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, ACTOR: And a fair fight is not just two fighters throwing the same punches at each other for 50 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Morning, everyone. I'm Elliot Williams, in for Audie Cornish. We begin here: President Trump seizes the unrest in France to issue a warning two weeks out from the midterms.

Over the weekend, demonstrations broke out across France, people taking to the streets protesting soaring inflation, cost of living, and gas prices. In some places, it turned to riots and looting.

Now President Trump is trying to use it to his benefit, turning into an argument for hardline immigration and a cautionary tale for what could happen here in America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If you want to see what is at stake in this election, just look at what's happening in France, a once great nation that is being conquered, looted, and burned to the ground by migrants, jihadists, and communists who hate Christianity. And they hate, frankly, the Western civilization itself.

When you see burning steeples and raging fires in France, just remember that is what the radical "Dumocrats" want to do to America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: All right. Today in the group chat, Mario Parker, managing editor of economy and government at Bloomberg News; Chuck Rocha, a Democratic strategist and former senior adviser to Bernie Sanders' presidential campaigns; and Ashley Damos [SIC] -- Davis, former White House official under President George W. Bush. Welcome, all.

Ashley, I've got to start with you on this sort of bigger point. You know, a professor of foreign policy at Johns Hopkins says, quote, "The events in France are not going to win a single vote for Republicans, though it could 'mobilize the base' to vote."

Can you tell us how does what's happening overseas with protests maybe affect how Republican voters turn out to the polls this year, or maybe not?

ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL UNDER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I really think that just the people around this table and some others that care about the day-to-day aspect of foreign policy care about what's going on in France, but most Americans don't. And it's not going to change the message.

Who he's talking to there is the base. And so, they are just seeing, like, the chaos.

And remember, the reason that they're protesting. We had a half a million protesters -- not we, France did -- in regards to a really, really good issue. I mean, there was a concern about the education, about the -- the ability for kids to go to school, to have good schools.

And it's been hijacked, in my mind. I have no idea where they're from. It doesn't matter. But they've been hijacked by thugs that are starting to destroy stores.

Remember, that happened here. I think it was the George Floyd peaceful protests that were happening years ago. And we had people that were brought in that had nothing to do with the protests that were breaking into all the city centers.

WILIAMS: Yes, actually, let's -- let's hear from President Trump, who actually politicized unrest or protests at that time, too. This is President Trump back in 2020.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We must never allow mob rule. We can never allow mob rule.

In the strongest possible terms, the Republican Party condemns the rioting, looting, arson, and violence we have seen in Democrat-run cities, all, like Kenosha, Minneapolis, Portland, Chicago, and New York, and many others. Democrat-run. There is violence and danger in the streets of many Democrat-run cities throughout America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Chuck, sounding like a playbook here. Tell us what you think.

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Look, I don't know much about France. I'm sure Ashley's got a house over at the South of France.

But look, I do know about the elections that's going on right now. And the -- the way this is connected, this is a pattern that's going on in the elections right now where not only Donald Trump, but Republicans everywhere. I'm running ads talking about cost and corruption.

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And they're running ads going, Look, it ain't our fault. All these numbers are in our favor. But you -- if this happens, this Democratic system is going to take over your school; or this immigrant who's to blame because you lost your job; or Joe Biden is to blame. They love blaming Joe Biden.

It's all the things that he's talking about right now about France is what the Republicans, not Donald Trump, but actually, congressional candidates are saying there's other people to blame, but not us in these midterms.

WILLIAMS: Yes. Now what's here, Speaker Mike Johnson, you know, he echoes that. And he has a post up on X, saying that, quote, "France is descending into chaos because they wanted open borders, just like the socialist Democrats in America," calling it a chilling warning.

Now, Mario, I guess the question is to what extent is immigration the issue here? And that, you know, at any point folks can use that as a political cudgel right now.

MARIO PARKER, MANAGING EDITOR OF ECONOMY AND GOVERNMENT, BLOOMBERG NEWS: Well, Republicans would like to use immigration, right? A couple of weeks ago, the president in the Oval Office was lamenting the fact that some of his political advisers said the immigration for him was not necessarily a winning issue this time, because he has been so successful in carrying out his policies to at least close the border. Right? Not to mention what's happened with ICE or anything like that.

But he's -- this is a cudgel that he frequently uses American carnage, right? Which is part of what we saw a decade ago. And then immigration, as well. So, he wants to be able to, Ashley mentioned, to stoke the base in

that way. The problem is that Americans only care right now about how much a dollar costs, to kind of quote Kendrick Lamar.

WILLIAMS: And it's funny. A state where those affordability questions really are coming up is Kansas. The president was just there stumping with Roger Marshall from Kansas.

You know, there's a tight race happening there right now. So, I guess the question is, to what extent do any of these questions trump affordability -- Trump, pun intended -- affordability questions, Ashley.

DAVIS: Well, the affordability questions are very serious. And the only way that we can keep some of these Senate seats is for the president to go out.

You know, there's this big to-do about why is he spending so much time in red states? Well, a lot of our red-state Senate candidates are very close and need the base to get out and vote. We don't --

we have an enthusiasm gap. We've been talking about this for a long time.

Chuck will talk about the gas prices. Chuck will talk about the grocery prices, which you should be.

ROCHA: Thank you.

DAVIS: But that's what people -- you're welcome.

WILLIAMS: Well, she just told you to talk. So, what do you got?

ROCHA: Look, the thing on these -- on these races that are happening in Republican areas, to Ashley's point, is that a lot of them are rural states.

So, they're over -- overly impacted by diesel prices and farmers. For those of you who grew up on a farm, you negotiate your diesel prices early because you can't drive your tractor down to the gas station. So, you -- a guy brings you -- stay with me, Ashley. A guy brings you diesel to the ranch, and you buy it in advance. So, they've been mad for a minute, and it just overly impacts them.

And also, you think about what happened with the price of beef and us getting a bunch of beef from Argentina. These little things all have a cut, right? And it's not just one thing. They're just overall mad.

And because Republicans are in charge, they get the blame. And this ain't about Democrats having the answers to everything. They're just mad. And it's easy to blame a Democrat or a Republican.

DAVIS: Yes. Because if you look at the polling, which I quasi believe and don't believe, the Democrats' popularity in Congress and Republicans' popularity in Congress are just as unpopular as the president's. I mean, they're just mad at everybody. WILLIAMS: Yes. You know, it's funny. Chuck, you mentioned farmers. We

are going to talk about farmers later.

ROCHA: Thank God.

WILLIAMS: You're a step ahead of us.

ROCHA: We talked about France enough.

WILLIAMS: You talk about -- can you really ever talk about France enough? I don't know.

But -- but needless to say, also later in the program coming up, we're going to talk about religion and politics. Abdul El-Sayed puts his Muslim faith front and center. Could it help him win over voters for the Senate race in Michigan?

Plus, Russia's Vladimir Putin suggests a three-way summit with Trump and China. Could that come at a cost?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:13:41]

WILLIAMS: Vladimir Putin is reportedly floating the idea of a summit with President Trump and Xi Jinping soon. Ukraine would not be in the room. But President Trump is open to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I would do it. Not so much for Ukraine because Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine. They haven't been doing much. And the same thing with China. We would have it to talk about nuclear weapons, denuclearization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: But some in even the president's own party think that's a bad idea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): Putin is lying. Putin is playing President Trump like a fiddle. And history is not going to look good on -- on an America that failed to rise up and defend the Western world, if Putin actually gets his way.

And I believe that a summit with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, two countries who want to overwhelm the world, is absurd.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Chuck, speaking Texas a little bit. You might know a thing or two about fiddles. Is Putin playing president like a fiddle?

ROCHA: I think what's important for the American public to know is that guy who just -- you just heard on TV, who's the Republican speaking against the president, ain't running for reelection, A. B --

DAVIS: Selling a book.

ROCHA: Selling a book. But also, I think the American public right now, even rednecks in East Texas are like, I don't know about China, and Russia, and the president getting together and coming up with anything positive.

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So, I'd be careful if I was him. But I'll leave the Republicans to -- Ashley to talk about.

DAVIS: Well, first of all, do you know how to play a fiddle?

ROCHA: Kind of.

DAVIS: OK. Maybe that can be in your group chat sometime. But no, I thought that the -- what he was talking about yesterday that was the most important about this is.

But no, I thought that what he was talking about yesterday, that was the most important about this is. One, the meeting is over denuclearization is what he said it would be over, if they have it when he's in China in November. Because he said China especially has has -- has the ability and has been developing nuclear bombs at a faster pace than anybody, which is a concern.

But also -- and this is where we talk about this just in regards to Putin. But what he said yesterday that was super important was he's working on hostages being released. He's working on diesel prices. This is kind of part of the deal, whether it will work or not.

He's also working the fact that Russia won't get involved in Iran. He has been saying that they have not done anything to really undermine what we're doing in Iran at this point.

And so -- and he pointed out, which is true, this is a big negotiation. The American people only know, like, this much of it. He said that there are Republicans that are going out against him, which is understandable, especially for some of our hawks.

However, this is part of a broader strategy. People either believe him or not.

WILLIAMS: Now, President Zelenskyy has also talked about this in his speech yesterday, he held a call with American lawmakers. And here's his assessment with what's happening, Mario, and I want you to talk about it after.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: The situation with shooting down these missiles is very bad. We have almost no Patriot interceptors left from the United States.

And unfortunately, again, we received no warning from our partners about the first wave of the attack.

And we also know that, unfortunately, the Pentagon is delaying the delivery of missiles that our partners have already paid for. All of this suggests that some political decision has been made to slow down, to slow down support for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: So, it seems like, you know, a political decision has been made about the aid that's provided to Ukraine, but it seems to upend what really was the post-World War Two order.

What -- tell us about the politics of this and what's driving the White House right now.

PARKER: Well, on -- President Trump on the campaign trail in 2024 said this was something that he would be able to solve on day one. Right?

He said that he has a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin, that he would have been able to solve this very quickly, that this wouldn't have even happened, in fact, if he were president, first of all.

Second of all, we've seen just these tensions between he and Zelenskyy since that infamous Oval Office meeting over a year or so ago. The president invoked that yesterday, as well.

And then he's just ratcheted that up. You see, the president, one of the things that was telling is that he says that his rebuttal to Republicans who have been calling him has been that he's a deal maker, that he's making all of these deals that Chuck and Ashley kind of outlined here, as well.

And so that you should trust him, essentially. But that also, I mean, again, he's putting the clamps on Zelenskyy here, saying that perhaps Zelenskyy shouldn't be the one at the table, because no progress has been made so far.

He wants to be able to have a win on the foreign policy front, and then also bring down diesel prices.

WILLIAMS: All right. We've got to leave it right there. But we're not done talking about the rest of the world.

After the break on CNN THIS MORNING, another foreign policy question for the White House. President Trump just backed Benjamin Netanyahu for reelection in Israel. Why won't J.D. Vance follow his lead?

And later, a hit movie puts convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes back in the spotlight. Could it help her win a pardon from President Trump?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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WILLIAMS: President Trump is throwing his full support behind Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just days before a critical election, but his own vice president isn't following his lead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: The president has the most effective endorsement in American or international political history. I endorse American candidates, and that's where I'm focused on is the midterms. So, I'm not getting involved in Israeli elections.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Now, J.D. Vance has gotten involved in foreign elections before. Earlier this year, he campaigned for Viktor Orban.

Why is Benjamin Netanyahu different? The group chat is back.

You know, Ashley, I spy with my little eye someone who might be running for president. But I'm wondering what the upside might be in distancing from President Trump on Israel.

DAVIS: Well, that's his fundamental belief. I mean, he's always not been as supportive in regards to some of the Israeli issues as the president.

But also, he's much more "let's not get involved in foreign wars." Obviously, President Bush [SIC] -- or President Trump said that, as well.

However, he's always been on the other side of this. However --

ROCHA: Yes, but Tucker calls it -- my bad. Go ahead.

DAVIS: Yes. And Tucker. But the one thing that I think is interesting is when he said yesterday that he's not sure there's a chance he doesn't run, because he has four little kids. And so, I think that's something to watch, especially if we get killed in midterms.

WILLIAMS: Sure. But -- but right back at it. How much of this is the fact that younger voters, even particularly many young Republican voters, just simply don't have the same relationship with Israel now that many Americans did decades ago? Is he tap -- trying to tap into something?

DAVIS: Yes, but I don't even think it's just Israel. It's the stay out of everyone else's wars.

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And by the way, on the Republican side, people don't support Ukraine either. They're just kind of, like, let people do their own wars. We don't have to save everybody.

ROCHA: Because Democrats are running ads right now. We just finished our 251th ad where it wasn't all on this. But when you tell the American people, why are we spending all this money overseas when you can't pay for their cutting public education in Texas? It's a great political argument. Whether it's good public policy or not. DAVIS: We made that argument, too, on Ukraine two years ago. It's just

-- it's the same playbook. Copied.

WILLIAMS: Yes. So, you know. Oh, sorry. So, Mario, you know, there are people, many people, many Republicans who see support for Israel as critical to, essentially, the identity of the party.

How do you think this all plays for the party, writ large?

PARKER: Well, I think that you made a good point. And the question that you posed to -- to Ashley about the youth vote, right?

If we see anything in the J.D. Vance, any lane that he's been carving out, if he does, in fact, make a 2028 run, it's the fact that he's going after the young -- the young Republican voters.

He's already, I believe -- I believe, has an endorsement for Turning Point USA.

For example, you see him on the road quite a bit with, again, youth Republican organizations.

And that being said, they're much more isolationist than that previous generation of Republicans. They're not as hawkish on foreign policy.

Netanyahu broadly, he's been a lightning rod on the left, but he also has seen some of his favorability, at least in America, erode on the right, as well.

So, this is strategically a safe space for J.D. Vance to create some distance from the president.

ROCHA: There's also a new point on money here, because money has become an issue in American politics. And the way that now AIPAC and other folks are getting involved in the U.S. politics, whether we like it and whether either side, your own. They are now involved. And it's a cudgel a lot in the political atmosphere, fighting back and forth.

You know, the big point in all of this seems to be this not being your father's or mother's Republican Party. And it's interesting we're talking about that later on in the program,

Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, could voters who disapprove of Trump still vote Republican? CNN's Ron Brownstein is going to join us next.

And later on CNN, a shadowy fleet of oil tankers and new questions about the global oil supply. In the next hour, could the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz send gas prices even higher?

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