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Erin Burnett Outfront

Trump In Ohio For Second Time In 10 Days As GOP Fights To Hold Senate; Trump: Rep. Omar "Crooked," But Have "Nothing To Do" With Search Of Home; New White House Press Secretary's Deleted Posts Criticized Trump Administration; GOP Concerns Grow Over Livestreaming Of Fort Hood Shooter's Execution. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired October 12, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:08]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Breaking news, Trump's rescue mission. The president tonight in Ohio trying to save Republican candidates who are struggling in a state he easily won. But will his visit make a difference?

Plus, CNN's KFILE uncovering deleted posts from Trump's incoming press secretary, including one warning of a Republican midterm bloodbath. And that's not all that KFILE found.

And growing backlash over plans to broadcast a military execution by firing squad. I'm going to talk to a retired Army staff sergeant who survived the Fort Hood attack and says Trump is making a mistake.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

(MUSIC)

BOLDUAN: Good evening, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan, in for Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, President Trump is scrambling to save must-win Ohio. Now, the president is about to speak to supporters in Youngstown. You see the live pictures there.

This is in a county that he won by almost 10 points just two years ago. Now he sees enough warning signs that he's spending precious time 22 days out from the election to boost his candidates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: How do you think the midterms are going to turn out? What's your --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I think the rallies -- right now, I'm going to Ohio. I think the rallies have had a massive impact. You see the numbers go up every time I have a rally.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BOLDUAN: But maybe not the way that he's hoping. All the trend lines and predictions coming in as they race to the finish line show conditions are deteriorating still for Republicans.

Definitely not music to the ears of Ohio Republican Senator Jon Husted. who, according to CNN's latest polling, trails Democrat Sherrod Brown. Husted was tapped to serve out Vice President J.D. Vance's Senate term. He's someone who just recently broke from Trump on his war with Iran.

Husted telling "Politico" this, "The war needs to come to an end as quickly as possible so that we can lower gas prices."

The president is also in Ohio to boost Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, who is running for governor, and CNN polling data shows him trailing his Democratic opponent Amy Acton by eight points. This is Trump's second visit to the state in 10 days.

It comes as new early voting numbers in Ohio show Democrats make up a larger share of people voting earlier than they did two years ago, including in the most Republican parts of the state. Not necessarily predictive, of course, of an outcome, but indicative of something, which may explain why President Trump just fired off another video promising Americans cash if they vote for Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm going to give all adult citizens in the United States of America $5,000.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Oh, and then there is the head spinning, head scratching, and what some lawmakers see as the absurd move of Trump now trying to make a diesel deal with Russia. a last-ditch move to try and bring down fuel prices, only this deal is going over like a lead balloon with his own party.

Republican Brian Fitzpatrick, who is in a tight race in Pennsylvania, is tonight vowing to force a House vote to block, quote, "any and all purchases of Russian oil." And more and more Republicans are publicly slamming this idea of a deal.

Congressman Don Bacon fired off more than a dozen tweets about it, including this, "The president's policies towards Russia and Ukraine are failures. Let's be honest, Trump is and always has been weak on Putin. Buying Russian diesel violates U.S. law.

We are mad that our president is siding with a war criminal who is invading its free and independent neighbor.

And tonight, here's the president's response to the criticism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: What's your response to Republican criticism of your diesel deal with Russia?

TRUMP: Well, I think these are Republicans that can't really be serious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Only they are serious with a seriously close eye on the midterm calendar.

Betsy Klein is traveling with the president. She's OUTFRONT live in Youngstown, Ohio for us tonight.

Betsy, you've been talking to voters there. What are you hearing?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Kate, I think it's absolutely. to keep in mind that attendees at Trump rallies in 2026 represent some of the president's most ardent supporters. But everywhere else, 22 days before the midterm elections, Republicans are running into serious headwinds. And it would have been hard to imagine about a year ago the type of midterm travel schedule that President Trump is keeping, taking him to traditional Republican strongholds, places like Montana, Alaska, Tennessee, here in Ohio.

But that is because there are lot of candidates that would prefer privately that the president keep some distance from them and that is because of his unpopularity. President's approval rating stands at about 33 percent according to CNN's poll polls. That is in large part because of this war with Iran that has dragged on more than seven months now and driving up gas prices to $4.35 a gallon on average.

[19:05:07]

And I spent a lot of time talking to voters here. Overwhelmingly, they are all unhappy with the price of gas, but not a single one of them blamed President Trump for those high gas prices. One of them blamed President Biden to me. A lot of them took aim at oil companies that they say are seeing record high profits.

Now the goal of President Trump's midterm travel is to juice turnout among his MAGA base, not necessarily bringing new independence quarters into the fold, but turning out the voters that they have. And we are seeing some candidates place strategic distance between themselves and this president. But there are some who are making the calculation that a visit from the president can be helpful.

That includes here in Ohio, two candidates in very tight races, the gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, as well as the Senate candidate, Senator Jon Husted.

But there are two other notable Ohio politicos here at this rally tonight. That is the embattled Congressman Max Miller, who is here after he has been engaged in this very bitter custody dispute with his ex-wife, who is the daughter of Senator Bernie Moreno, also of Ohio.

Moreno is here. He was given a prime speaking slot, but I should note that these two men have been seated directly across this stadium from each other. We'll have to see if the president brings that up, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, we will stand by for that as well.

You saw people getting to their feet. They're putting the presidential seal up. That means President Trump should be there soon.

Betsy Klein standing by for us. Betsy, thank you so much.

We'll see what the president has to say about that and so many things. In the meantime. Congressman Charlie Dent, everyone's here with me. Jamal Simmons is here with me as well.

Congressman, strategic distance or a full embrace? I guess that's the question for, it has been, for every Republican running.

But do you think Donald Trump will make a difference in, let's just take the key Senate race between Husted and Sherrod Brown? Do you think he makes a difference?

CHARLIE DENT (R), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: Well, first, I would argue for strategic distance right now.

BOLDUAN: I am shocked, shocked, to hear you say that.

DENT: But there's a reason for this. There's a reason.

Look, I've been telling anybody who will listen, that if you're a Republican running in a district or a state that the president won by 10 or 12 points or less, you're in a toss-up race right now. You're in the fight of your life. If you're in a seat that the president won by 15 or 18 points, maybe it's a slight lean Republican.

So, you've got to fight in your hands. So, you just can't simply win by holding your base together. You have to win independence and actually might even have to win some soft Democrats. It's that simple.

These -- most of these members who are in these competitive districts understand that, but a lot of folks who are in what we thought were safe seats and safe states realize for the first time in their lives they're not, and they have to change how they operate.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, change now, Jamal? I mean, is there-- it truly is there time? Or is there time? Is it too late?

People are voting now. Would strategic distance, which is now officially my new favorite term, really just seem inauthentic for some Republicans who have been running with president?

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Not only would strategic distance seem inauthentic, it may help to press turnout. Right now, Charlie knows this. We're in GOTV time. They're just trying to turn out votes. Persuasions over.

BOLDUAN: Get out the vote.

SIMMONS: Right, persuasion's over. Nobody's doing that anymore. But let me tell you this: what happens in Ohio ought to matter to J.D.

Vance more than it matters to anybody else in the Trump administration. Because if Ohio goes for the Democrats in this election, that is going to be a very bad sign for Vance going into Election Day if he's going to be the Republican nominee going into 2028.

And way back in the last century when Al Gore was running, in 1996, the Clinton administration had to pull out all the stops to try to win Tennessee. Gore lost Tennessee in the 2000 election and lost the election. It really does matter if you can hold on to your state.

BOLDUAN: Hmm. Dave Wasserman, we need your brain and perspective now. You study each of these races so closely, Dave. What do you see happening with voters right now in Ohio?

DAVE WASSERMAN, SENIOR EDITOR & ELECTIONS ANALYST, THE COOK POLITICAL REPORT: Kate, things have gone from bad for Republicans to potentially catastrophic. We shifted 18 House ratings last week in Democrats direction because we're seeing shocking polling in districts that Trump not only carried by five or 10 points, but in some cases 15 or 20 points.

And the common thread is that the places that have moved towards Republicans the most in the Trump era over the last 10 years, places like Ohio, Iowa, South Texas, even the north country of upstate New York are the places that have the potential to swing the most towards Democrats because it turns out many of these working class voters didn't gravitate towards Republicans because they love Donald Trump. They wanted change and they believed in his promises, but now that they're proving they were on borrowed time for Republicans. They're reverting back to Democrats.

[19:10:01]

And the key in the final weeks is going to be these eight or nine percent of voters who are still not firmly committed to their congressional vote choice. The Republicans who are breaking from Trump or portraying themselves as bipartisan people like Ashley Hinson in Iowa or Susan Collins or even Mike Rogers in Michigan. They stand a chance, but a lot of other Republicans who are simply in line with the president are at real risk of losing.

BOLDUAN: Jamal is wrong. There are persuadables. There's about five of them out there and they will matter.

Congressman --

SIMMONS: We will see. We will see.

BOLDUAN: Oh, let's throw out all of our least favorite -- time will tell. Time will tell.

SIMMONS: I think these -- true story, I think these voters are ready. They know these folks are standing with Trump. The question they have to answer is whether or not the Democrat that's running is when they want to go along with or how mad they are at the president and they're going to punish him. That's the question for them, not whatever the persuading argument.

BOLDUAN: It's like you're saying we're saying everyone's saying the same thing, just a different definition of it.

Okay. Gas prices. I mentioned earlier the deal that Trump says that he wants to cut on diesel with Russia. Brian Fitzpatrick, Republican from Pennsylvania, he is vowing to force a vote if Trump pushes forward a House vote to block any purchases of Russian oil and gas. Some of the Republicans say it's already illegal without a vote.

You know -- let me play what the president first said to this criticism, and then I want to ask you about Brian.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: What's your response to Republican criticism of your diesel deal with Russia?

TRUMP: Well, I think these are Republicans that can't really be serious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: You -- I bring this up specifically because you know Fitzpatrick well. When I've covered the elections in Pennsylvania, I am often in that high school where Fitzpatrick and his chief of staff are all the time.

Tell me, is he serious?

DENT: He's dead serious. And Brian Fitzpatrick, Don Bacon, a lot of other Republicans proudly view this diesel deal as a shameful betrayal of Ukraine and our European partners and allies.

This deal won't do much. It's an appeasement of Russia. This will not, it's frankly, it's a slap in the face to Congress, which just passed a very strong sanctions bill a few weeks ago.

BOLDUAN: Trump does not care about that.

DENT: Yeah, but the reality is, I think a lot of Americans do want Ukraine to succeed. They don't want us to be patsies for Vladimir Putin. And Fitzpatrick spent time in Ukraine when he was in the FBI, so he knows it well, and as does Bacon and others.

So bad deal. And I think a lot of Republicans who want to reject it.

SIMMONS: And this is a challenge for the president because one thing people know about Republicans is that Republicans were anti-Russia, anti-Soviet Union.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

SIMMONS: And so the president's cutting a deal with Vladimir Putin and cutting out the legs from underneath one of our allies, that just goes against everything people believe about how our foreign policy ought to work.

BOLDUAN: Dave, you have noted that gas prices could be an issue that not only has been a problem for Republicans to this point, but can be a still continue to be a problem in this final stretch with some of these voters we're talking about. What are you seeing here?

WASSERMAN: Well, in drilling down on the undecideds in our battleground districts poll, what we found was that they're independent and soft Republican-leaning voters who are disproportionately young. They have very negative views of both President Trump and Democrats, particularly the left flank of the Democratic Party.

And by narrow margins, they still trusted Republicans a little bit more than Democrats on immigration. But the breaking point for them is energy costs and gas prices. And unless They come down 25 cents between now and Election Day. Many of these voters might sit out the election, or some of them could even defect to Democrats. And that is what really has the potential to make this a generational wipeout where Republicans lose in a place like Kansas, which hasn't elected a Democratic senator since 1932.

BOLDUAN: It's good to have you here, guys. Thank you very, very much.

Coming up this week on CNN, Erin is going to be hosting a town hall event in that all-important Texas Senate race with Democrat James Talarico. That is Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. live on CNN streaming with an all-access subscription.

OUTFRONT for us next, more breaking news. President Trump says he had nothing to do with federal agents searching the home of Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, but that's not what the congresswoman herself is claiming tonight.

Plus, our KFILE is uncovering a number of deleted posts by President Trump's new press secretary, posts that criticized the very administration she now represents.

And backlash over A.I. data centers is dividing the country, and in some cases, the tension turning violent.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You need to be lined up, blindfolded, and (EXPLETIVE DELETED) shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:19:23]

BOLDUAN: The breaking news. President Trump says that he had nothing to do with federal agents executing a search warrant at the D.C. home of Democratic Congresswoman Ilan Omar. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I understand they're looking at her very carefully. I've always found her to be totally crooked, personally, but that has nothing to do with me. I think she's a terrible person, but that's really up to the DOJ. I have nothing to do with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Those comments come just hours after federal agents were seen, as we show video here, seen removing boxes from her home, a search that took place roughly three weeks before election day.

[19:20:00]

It's not yet known what specifically was the target of this search, but one neighbor does tell CNN that they were awoken around 4:30 in the morning to sounds of banging on the doors. Omar, who is seeking reelection, was also quick to react, saying in part this, "Make no mistake, this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement. I will not be silenced," she writes.

OUTFRONT now, former Obama White House ethics czar, Ambassador Norm Eisen, he has also helped lead more than 300 legal cases against the Trump administration.

Thank you for being here tonight. So, just as a reminder, not like people need reminding at this point, roughly three weeks until the election.

Voting is already underway in Ilhan Omar's home state in Minnesota. What is your reaction to this search of her home? How unusual is this kind of a move in today's day and age?

NORMAN EISEN, CO-FOUDER, DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS ACTION: In an administration that has flouted laws and protections for all Americans, this is another shocking transgression. It has long been the rule at DOJ that you stay away from anything that could affect political races in the 60 days before an election. We're well past that 60-day benchmark.

This standard is found in the Department of Justice manual, which guides their activities. You should never take action if it is intended to have a political effect. That's particularly acute in this period. So, it's very troubling.

As far as we can tell, according to reports about the subject of the investigation, it relates to immigration forms that may go as far back as when Omar was admitted to the United States. Her dad filled out the forms when she was a child in the '90s. Why do you have to go into her house on a dramatic raid like this three weeks before the election?

Then you have the president's series of extremely prejudicial remarks. So, it's profoundly troubling. It could happen to any American. It's not just about Ilhan Omar. It's about all of us.

BOLDUAN: When DOJ attained the search warrant says that investigators from the branch of the Department of Homeland Security, a branch related to HSI, is who ended up conducting the search. So, what type of investigation would, in your mind, reach the level of needing to move on something like this now versus wait and follow the guidelines which have long been standard of wait until after an election to not give even the appearance of.

EISEN: Well, it is recognized that if there's an exigency or an emergency, if you have reason to believe documents are going to be destroyed, evidence is going to be lost, then you have to strike a balance. But there is no indication of that here. And instead, what we have is a long pattern of the president attacking Ilhan Omar, a pattern of others being charged baselessly for political reasons.

Tish James, Jim Comey, both cases in which we at Democracy Defenders filed legal briefs. My client, Davey Hearn, the three-time Olympian who touched the reflecting pool, these are revenge prosecutions. In all three of those cases, they were thrown out by the courts or grand juries or both.

And now, Comey's being prosecuted again for shells, shells on a beach. So, in that pattern, together with the timing, you have to say something doesn't smell right here.

BOLDUAN: You, speaking of being in court, you were involved in a court hearing just today over another golf course that President Trump wants to renovate. The judge told justice attorneys that they had lost their credibility and, quote, "More than just being upset and furious right now, I am just beyond disappointed with the government."

This is over something like more than 400 trees that were cut down without giving prior notice to the court as was being requested. What happens now?

EISEN: Well, you've got a very angry judge, and with good reason, Kate. This is a case that originated with the destruction, the illegal destruction of the East Wing. We pursued the dumping of the toxic materials in a public park in D.C. that is also a public golf course. All ages, all income levels, everybody comes to the East Potomac links.

And then we learn that despite assurances to the court over the weekend, the steps to start to turn this into a Trump-style course instead of a family precious neighborhood course were undertaken including raising over 400 trees.

[19:25:15]

The court had said -- I was there -- the court said to the government don't you make material changes to this course and today one of the most shocking moments, the government said, "We're trying our best," and the judge said, "You're trying your worst."

Contempt for the rule of law, it's about much more than a golf course.

BOLDUAN: Oh, well, it sounds like we are far from over on this one.

Norm, thanks for coming in.

EISEN: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you, Ambassador. I appreciate your time.

Also tonight, new reporting from CNN's KFILE on President Trump's new White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia, posted repeated accusations that prominent Democrats were pedophiles, amplified conspiracy theories involving powerful elites, and claimed Hollywood figures were, quote, sick pedo cannibals. KFILE also is reporting that Zacharia deleted posts where she warned the GOP faced a midterm bloodbath, questioned the direction of the Trump administration, and called for suspending habeas corpus.

Andrew Kaczynski is OUTFRONT with much more on this now.

Andrew, what did you find?

ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Well, that's right. We found the Truth Social posts of the incoming White House press secretary, where she spread these baseless accusations of pedophilia against Democrats and Hollywood elites. I want people to look. at two posts that we found from September 2022 that targeted longtime Democratic operative and former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, who became a central figure in the debunked pizzagate conspiracy theory. That was the false conspiracy theory that claimed Podesta and other prominent Democrats were operating a child sex abuse ring out of the basement of Comet Ping Pong, a Washington, D.C. pizzeria. This restaurant did not even have a basement and this baseless claim had very real-world consequences when in December 2016, a man showed up with a rifle, entered the restaurant and fired shots while investigating the fake child sex trafficking ring.

I want to walk our viewers through just a few of these posts. See this one that she posted that said Pedo Podesta. She then added a hashtag Pedo Podesta. And then in another post, she tweeted, "Why doesn't Fox News do a feature on what a pedophile Podesta is?" And then we found another one where she said the radical left Hollywood elitists are sick. Pedo cannibals change my mind.

We also found that she reposted and this is like retweeting, but on Truth Social, it's called re-truthing quite a few inflammatory comments, including sharing a baseless conspiracy theory about Michelle and Barack Obama and the death of comedian Joan Rivers.

Take a look at this post that she posted in July 2022. She's it said, remember that time Joan Rivers said Obama was gay and Michelle had a dick, and then suddenly died. Obviously, there is no evidence supporting that.

She also reposted a Truth Social post in September 2022 that called Joe Biden, quote, "Pedo Hitler" and shared a post from Ali Alexander, a prominent stop the steal activist that read Democrats want to mask and rape your children. That's their satanic platform.

And Kate, all those posts are undeleted and still on her page as of today.

BOLDUAN: Those posts are still there, but they're also you uncovered quite a bit of deleted posts as well. What were those?

KACZYNSKI: That's right. We found quite a few deleted posts on Twitter where she publicly criticized the administration that she is now preparing to serve. In one exchange, she agreed with criticism from a far-right commentator named Mike Cernovich that the administration was not sufficiently delivering on key promises and warned Republicans could face major losses in the next election if they didn't change course, posting, quote, "2026 midterms will be a bloodbath if we don't shift course now."

We also found Zacharia amplifying accusations that the Trump administration was concealing information related to Jeffrey Epstein. She shared a post that said, quote, but this is her retweeting someone, "But if the DOJ will cover up for the Epstein-Pedos, how can we trust them to go after these guys?" The repost came one day after the Justice Department and FBI had announced they didn't find any evidence of an Epstein client list, and that sparked quite a bit of backlash from Trump supporters after they basically had said all campaign that they were going to release this stuff.

BOLDUAN: So, what is Zacharia saying about this now, and what is the White House saying?

[19:30:01]

KACZYNSKI: So, we reached out to both of them, and they gave us two statements. She did not directly address the specific posts in her statement to CNN. Instead, she told us, quote, I am grateful to serve President Trump as press secretary, and I will diligently and effectively amplify successful agenda.

And White House communications director Stephen Cheung offered a strong defense of her as well he told CNN, "Katie is a fabulous and wonderful addition to the team. She is uniquely qualified and whip smart to help inform the American people about all the great things President Trump and his administration have been doing and she will do an incredible job as press secretary."

So, we found she was very loyal to President Trump, also shared some conspiracy theories and it's going to be interesting to see how that first press briefing goes tomorrow.

BOLDUAN: Would say so.

Andrew, thanks for coming in.

OUTFRONT for us next, there's widespread concern about the Pentagon's decision to live stream the execution of the Four Hood shooter, including from an Army staff sergeant who survived that very attack.

Plus, bomb threats and calls for assassination, how the growing outrage over massive A.I. data centers is reaching a dangerous level in some cases. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Do you excuse that violence?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't excuse violence at all, but at a certain point, when voting only gets you so far, you know, you got to start asking yourself what else is there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:35:22]

BOLDUAN: There is growing backlash and deep unease over the Pentagon's plans to publicly livestream an execution. House Speaker Mike Johnson now says that he plans to tell the White House that there is, quote- unquote, "concern" among some Republicans about the plans to publicly execute Nidal Hasan and do so by firing squad.

Hasan is the former Army psychiatrist who, in 2009, carried out a massacre at Fort Hood. He killed 13 people. He wounded 32 others.

Speaker Johnson explains that some of the pushback that he's hearing about live streaming this execution is that they fear it will backfire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The concern would be that they would create a video that they wouldn't be a recruiting tool for future terrorists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: OUTFRONT now is retired Army Staff Sergeant Alonzo Lunsford. He survived the Fort Hood attack, shot multiple times.

Sergeant, thank you for being here. I can imagine this whole thing has stirred so many emotions for you. I mean, you were shot seven times by Nidal Hasan. You witnessed him killing your colleagues and friends. Knowing he is now set to be executed in December, first and foremost, what does this moment mark for you?

STAFF SGT. ALONZO LUNSFORD (RET.), SURVIVED BEING SHOT 7 TIMES IN FORT HOOD MASSACRE: I mean, it brings some joy and closure. But not to the magnitude where I want to go outside in front of my house and dance and jig or anything. No, because again, what Hasan did on the 5th of November was horrendous and it was cowardice. It's in my opinions, it's unforgivable.

But I'm not God, so I think he should be held accountable for his crimes and for his sins. Death by firing squad is warranted considering what he did that day. But I don't steel the moral -- my moral compass and just the way I was raised in the church. For him to be put to death in, it'll be made a public spectacle -- no, I disagree with that. It's not something where it's like a pay-per-view event. Or we're going to have a tailgate because the man is being put to death for what he did that day. It's not like that because one as a nation and as a people, we're better than that.

We are fought against nations who do this on a regular or. Is this not the American way? This is not back in the 1800s or the 1700s, this is not acceptable. And it's not something that should be rejoiced as far as bringing closure through the family members of the deceased. The family members of the still surviving.

Yes, it's closing the chapter, but not the book for some. And I really don't think, with the climate of our country today, that we are prepared for the backlash behind this or not. because we're fighting enough wars as it is. In other words, we try to win another war on our own soil.

BOLDUAN: Do you fear -- and that is what you fear could happen, you fear that this, that somehow it becomes celebrated, and your, I mean, your feelings about this matter more than anyone's, I would say, because you lived and survived this. You want to see this man executed, but you don't think it serves the public for it to be seen so publicly. What's your biggest fear that that would do?

LUNSFORD: Well, my first biggest fear is our young adolescents and kids viewing this. And when they view it, they're going to look at it in the wrong context. This is not like. Cops and robbers or Cowboys Indians or if you playing a superhero freeze tag or something of that nature.

People died that day and it is a different animal. It is not like a thing where you're having victory parades because this man has been put to death. He's just sitting on death row for 17 years wasting taxpayers' money.

It's not a situation where we're doing him a favor by making a martyr because with our teachings, we teach against that.

[19:40:00]

And a lot of times, I wish that people would stop using religious doctrine to sway an individual's mind to go out and do some foolishness. It's really unmoral if you look at the root cause of what the teachings of their religion is all about. So, a lot of that falls upon prey or people who are not educated and they're not able to make decisions for themselves because it's like the blind leading the blind.

And we don't want that. We don't want to be where it's a public spectacle and people are like looking at it like they're going to a movie. It's not that. We're not that type of people. I wish people would understand that.

And for those adults, if you don't want to watch it, it's horrific, then don't watch it. Don't turn it on, don't view it or anything. At least give those heroes that much respect. BOLDUAN: You plan to attend and witness the execution yourself, and I think you would have planned to do that anyway. What are you preparing yourself for?

LUNSFORD: Actually, the unknown of closure if that makes sense. For all the -- the head doctors out there, I guess you never heard of that phrase, the unknown of closure, but that's when I prepare for I it's uncharged territory for me.

I know what I was taught in school about what's supposed to happen. But that's not necessarily the case. Because every day I wake up, I'm going to have a constant reminder of what happened to me that day. I don't cry a river about it.

I cherish what I'm still able to do, to go where I want to go, when I want to go, how I want to go free. And again --

BOLDUAN: And that you survived.

LUNSFORD: Right. I'm no longer his victim. I'm a survivor. Yes.

BOLDUAN: Well, Sergeant, it is great to meet you. Thank you so much for your time tonight. I really appreciate hearing your voice.

LUNSFORD: Oh, you're welcome. Thank you as well.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

OUTFRONT for us next, she helped lead President Trump's "Stop the Steal" movement. Now she's breaking from the president in a very public way. Plus, Republicans are ramping up attack ads for the Maine Senate race, so why did some just air in Oregon instead?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:46:42]

BOLDUAN: Tonight, a new report warning A.I. is one of the top catastrophic threats facing the globe. Of 17 worldwide threats, only two, a nuclear conflict and the malicious use of A.I. pose a risk of extinction, according to experts at the University of Washington. This comes as there is growing backlash against A.I. data centers. A CNN review of police documents show bomb scares and death threats.

Kyung Lah is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shame on you!

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rage against data centers is boiling over.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No! Get your hands off me!

LAH (voice-over): Beyond community protests like this. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, baby!

LAH (voice-over): Into criminal cases that law enforcement has labeled terrorism.

POLICE OFFICER: You've been placed under arrest for making terroristic threats.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I -- I did not make any terrorist threats.

LAH (voice-over): CNN obtained more than 100 police reports from across the country on data center backlash in the past year. They include more than a dozen bomb threats.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It says, "bomb a data center".

LAH (voice-over): Calls for assassinations.

CALLER: You need to be lined up, blindfolded, and (EXPLETIVE DELETED) shot.

LAH (voice-over): And violent threats on social media, "Unalive them, Luigi's unite!"

Government agencies are warning of a broad range of threat actors and an increased threat environment targeting data centers. And police are cracking down, investigating all sorts of comments on social media, even some that lack any imminent threat.

Police in El Paso, Texas, investigated this woman after she told a local official, I hope you rot in hell and die over a data center project.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's my First Amendment right. Just because I said, I hope. That's insane.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just said it's terroristic threat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not a terrorist threat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It could be.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is not a terrorist threat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a borderline. You're kind of borderline.

LAH (voice-over): She didn't face charges.

HARLEY DELANDER, DATA CENTER OPPONENT: Good afternoon, sir.

LAH (voice-over): But this man, Harley Delander, did.

This is him talking to police.

DELANDER: These punks right here came by because I'm trying to organize a community protest against a representative who is trying to push in a data center.

POLICE OFFICER: The issue is some of the communication, the Facebook posts, some of the comments.

DELANDER: I never made a threat.

POLICE OFFICER: Okay, well, we disagree, and our state's attorney disagrees.

LAH (voice-over): Delander was angry about a data center possibly coming to this field near Dixon, Illinois.

DELANDER: Once the data center is built here, this land is gone. Concrete is -- it outlives people.

LAH (voice-over): Delander called for a protest at the home of the man he believed supported the data center, writing, "Someone put the fear of God in him and his family, make him scared to close his eyes at night."

DELANDER: It was surprising when they told me that they were going to arrest me. I was kind of in disbelief.

LAH: You did post his home address.

DELANDER: Yeah. Oh yeah.

LAH: Do you regret it?

DELANDER: I regret. how strongly I worded it.

LAH (voice-over): Delander was charged with multiple felonies, but he ended up pleading guilty to a petty charge that's less than a misdemeanor. He is still stuck with this.

DELANDER: So this is a GPS ankle monitor.

I still believe that I didn't do anything wrong. I don't think people should be arrested over strong words, strong language.

LAH (voice-over): And that's the dilemma for law enforcement, how far to take these cases. While 13 shots were fired into the home of an Indianapolis Council member, the majority of cases CNN found do not involve violence.

Still, records show law enforcement is carefully monitoring the angry backlash, including the groups organizing the protests, like the one aboard this bus.

Amy Kremer's anti A.I. group Humans First is on a nationwide tour. They call it a data center revolt, hosting protests in more than 30 cities.

AMY KREMER, CHAIR, HUMANS FIRST: Big tech by design is shoving this infrastructure down our throats. People feel like they are not being represented. Decisions are being made without input from the citizens in the community, and it's not right.

LAH (voice-over): Why would police care about Kremer?

In 2020, she helped lead the Stop the Steal movement.

KREMER: We're not going to let them steal an election.

LAH (voice-over): Organizing the rally before the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Her target this time, data centers.

KREMER: The United States Capitol Police.

LAH (voice-over): We showed Kramer this e-mail. U.S. Capitol Police Intelligence Services sent an alert to other law enforcement about data center protests organized by her group.

LAH: So the Capitol Police are watching you. What do you think about that?

KREMER: I assume that they're watching me everything I do. Watch me. I don't care. I'm not violating any laws. I didn't do anything wrong on January 6th.

LAH (voice-over): Kremer calls herself a loyal Trumper, but on this issue, she objects.

LAH: He just posted, "Let data reign."

KREMER: I disagree with the president on this. You know, when he says, "Let data reign," I say, let Americans reign. Big tech is coming in and totally disrupting their lives and impacting their lives in ways they could have never imagined.

LAH (voice-over): With the clock ticking to the midterms, A.I. and data centers are scrambling politics. Is this a Republican issue or a Democrat?

KREMER: I think it's an issue that affects all Americans, and so they all need to govern on it.

LAH: There are instances of people taking it too far because of this rage.

DELANDER: Oh, yeah.

LAH: Do you excuse that violence?

DELANDER: I don't excuse violence at all, but at a certain point when voting only gets you so far, you know you got to start asking yourself what else is there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: A CNN poll recently found that nearly nine out of 10 Americans are more concerned than excited about data centers. And with the midterms now less than a month away, politicians are certainly hearing it, and in many cases, distancing themselves from previous support -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Kyung, great reporting. Thank you.

OUTFRONT next, Republican ads targeting the Maine Senate race showing up in Oregon. Why?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:56:09]

BOLDUAN: Tonight, a $25,000 mistake. A Republican group trying to boost Senator Susan Collins meant to run ads attacking her opponent in Portland, Maine. But the ads accidentally ran in Portland, Oregon, instead.

This as Collins is now locked in a tight race with Democrat Troy Jackson. So, Jackson is calling in his top surrogate.

Arlette Saenz is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here in Maine, a Senate race is entering the final stretch, with Democrat Troy Jackson bringing in progressive reinforcements.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): If you want to hold Donald Trump and his disastrous policies accountable, the only way to do that is by electing a Democratic Senate, and this election here in Maine might well determine whether or not that happens.

SAENZ (voice-over): Senator Bernie Sanders is trying to boost turnout among Democratic voters.

Let's go try. As the power of the progressive movement faces tests in battleground states like Maine and Michigan.

SANDERS: We have got to be more than anti-Trump. We've got to be pro- working class.

SAENZ (voice-over): Sanders initially was a strong backer of Graham Platner, whose populist message energized the Democratic base. Platner's withdrawal from the race after an allegation of sexual assault, which he denied, forced Democrats to scramble to pick a replacement.

TROY JACKSON (D), MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: Working people have built this country, and working people ought to have a government that works for them.

SAENZ (voice-over): At the Fryeburg Fair, we spoke with Jennifer Messinger, an undecided voter who had supported Plattner in the primary.

JENNIFER MESSINGER, UNDECIDED MAINE VOTER: For me, it's trying to weigh both sides because there's a lot of vitriol right now on both sides.

SAENZ: What do you say to those Democrats who were very enthused about Graham Platner and might be disillusioned about the process right now?

JACKSON: It's about the issues that we care about, the issues that Graham fought for, that I'm fighting for. It was a different messenger, absolutely, but the things that you know they were drawn to are still right there in front of us and we can do it.

SAENZ (voice-over): But the close contest between Jackson and Republican Senator Susan Collins, who is running for a sixth term, could be decided by moderate and independent voters.

SAENZ: What do you think about Bernie Sanders?

GARY SALAMACHA, INDEPENDENT MAINE VOTER: I think he's crazy, so probably not. He definitely wouldn't sway me to Troy Jackson.

SAENZ: Bernie Sanders will obviously rev up the base, but is there any worry that he could potentially alienate moderates and independents who you need to win this campaign?

JACKSON: Yeah, honestly, I don't think so. In Bernie's world, he tells you exactly what he's fighting for. I mean, you know, you don't have to play those games or anything like that, and you know he's going to do it, unlike Senator Collins, who pontificates, goes back and forth, and in the end, leaves you wanting more big time.

SAENZ (voice-over): For many of the Democratic voters we spoke with, the mission of ousting Collins was their shared goal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She really lost me at Kavanaugh. That was the breaking point for me. And I'm really glad I broke when I did because I don't think she deserves the vote.

SAENZ (voice-over): But Collins has proven resilient in the past, winning a tough reelection battle in 2020 by more than eight points, even as Donald Trump lost the state by a similar margin.

SAENZ: How excited are you to vote for Susan Collins?

SALAMACHA: Eighty percent maybe. You know, not. I just think she's the best of all the picks. She's still the best candidate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAENZ: Senator Collins and Troy Jackson are set to face off in two additional debates this week, and Maine is one of those states where Republicans are outspending Democrats on the airwaves. But there is one notable group that has not been here advertising on behalf of Collins, and that is President Donald Trump's super PAC after he's expressed frustration with some of her past votes -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Arlette, thank you so much.

And thank you all so much for joining us. "AC360" starts right now.