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One-On-One With DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin; GOP Rep.: Hispanics "Feel Betrayed" By Trump Immigration Actions; Talarico Picks Up Critical Black Caucus Endorsement; Sherrod Brown Responds To Musk PAC's Anti-Trans Attack Ad In Ohio; Republicans Avoid Trump In Midterm Election Ads. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired September 18, 2026 - 12:30   ET

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

MARKWAYNE MULLIN, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: So, I got to make the assumption every time we arrest somebody that is --

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

MULLIN: -- that came in this country illegal, I've got to assume that I don't know everything about you, and I'm not going to take your word for it. I'm going to run you in to make sure that I know who you are and who you say you are.

BASH: I have one other topic that I want to get to, but just before we button this up, talk about taking your word for it. Part of the issue is that we're not seeing numbers from your department. Will you help to clear up what you're saying by releasing figures of your arrests regularly and deportations?

MULLIN: Well -- and we will be as transparent as we're required to be by statute. But every time we try to do something and try to give numbers out like this, which this is a verified number, by the way -- it's not the first time I have gave this number out -- but every time we give numbers out like this --

BASH: Yes.

MULLIN: -- you guys want to go in there and pick it apart, make it political, when you should be saying, at least we're getting these criminals off our streets.

BASH: Right. Just --

MULLIN: So we will do everything that is statutorily required of Department of Homeland Security by Congress. We will always do that.

BASH: And just to reiterate, as you know, this is your former congressional colleague, a Republican running for reelection in a place that she and the president won very comfortably. She's sounding an alarm for a reason. This isn't just us. This is -- and this isn't us. It's -- she's -- I --

MULLIN: I will go back to this. We enforce our nation's laws. And she -- I know she has been working very, very hard to change the immigration policy.

BASH: OK. OK. She has, very hard. She's got lots --

MULLIN: There's a reason why it hasn't been changed really heavy since 1959, because it always gets weighed down in politics.

BASH: OK. I do --

MULLIN: But until they change it, I'm still enforcing our nation's laws.

BASH: You have been very generous with your time. I do want to get to one other topic, and that is election security.

The midterms are 46 days away. Can you promise federal agents you oversee at DHS will not be summoned to polling places when there's no legitimate active emergency?

MULLIN: This is -- this is so ridiculous. I have been asked this question so many times. I'm actually disappointed that you even brought this up, because you -- I think you and I have even talked about this already.

We're only going to be there if we're required because there's some type of threat. Now, I want to keep -- I want to keep -- I will throw some numbers that are new numbers that are just out, right? We have over 300,000 suspected individuals that voted that's -- and it's climbing that's -- is suspected to vote in the previous election illegally.

Right now, we have 1,620 open cases going on, and we have made over 151 arrests already that voted in the country illegally. We're going to enforce our nation's laws because every single individual that votes illegal in our -- in our elections cancel out the American citizens' votes that are doing it the right way.

BASH: Yes. Well, the reason --

MULLIN: So we're going to continue to do that because DHS is tasked with that. And we're not slowing down.

BASH: The reason I asked you about that -- and you have been asked a lot, including in your confirmation hearing, and you did say no. But I asked you because the FBI director was asked about it this week about sending FBI agents, and he said that the priority rests with DHS.

So he didn't rule it out. So, that's why I have asked you again.

MULLIN: Well, I gave you my answer. And I gave my answer at the hearing. I gave my answer here.

BASH: OK.

MULLIN: I gave my answer on "JAKE TAPPER." I gave my answer wherever I go and get asked the question. That hasn't changed.

BASH: OK.

MULLIN: We won't be at the polling place unless there's a threat for us to be there. If there's a threat for us to be there, we will show up because we meet threats head on.

BASH: Yes.

And just on the noncitizen voters, your own data, data that we have seen, does not back up the claim of widespread noncitizen voter fraud.

MULLIN: Well, as I just said, we have 100 -- we have already made..

BASH: I mean, just as Texas DHS originally identified 2,724 possible noncitizen voters after running 18 million registrations in your database.

MULLIN: Well, let's just look at what happened in New Jersey. How many did the governor of New Jersey say that they identified voted in their elections illegally? Wasn't it over 30,000? And that number is going to grow.

So that number right there will tell you what you have is wrong in front of you, because that was just in New Jersey. I'm telling you right now --

BASH: But this was your data.

MULLIN: Now, we have -- well, I just -- did you also see what the governor of New Jersey put out? Because I know you did because you guys ran it.

BASH: I did.

MULLIN: Yes. So what was that number?

BASH: No, I did, yes.

MULLIN: That was over 30,000, right? That was just in New Jersey, and I think that number is low.

BASH: Yes.

MULLIN: So, when you start talking about the other ones, I just told you we have over 300,000 we're looking into, and that number is growing.

We have over 1,620 open cases, and we made 151 arrests already.

BASH: And because you brought this up, the DHS -- a whistle-blower came forward alleging -- from your department alleging that DHS agents involved in the unlawful voter initiative, which I think is what we're talking about here, have been told to misrepresent themselves if needed to obtain sensitive voter records --

MULLIN: That's not accurate.

BASH: -- essentially to pretend they're a voter. The whistle-blower --

(CROSSTALK)

MULLIN: I would want to see the whistle-blowers e-mail or what she saw, or he, whoever that is, that saw that. And I'm sure, if the case goes through forward, it'll be fine. But I haven't -- I haven't seen that. That's absolutely not the directive that we put out there, and it's not even close to what we're doing.

But people can go out for their own personal reasons. If this is true, we will fix the problem. We will solve the problem. I'm not playing politics on this thing. It is -- we're simply enforcing our nation's immigration policy and our voting policy and our nation's laws as a whole.

[12:35:06]

I'm not going to deviate from it. I'm not going to be pulled in politics with it. We will do our job, and we will do it well because that's what the men and women at Department of Homeland Security do. We are patriots. And we're saving this country every single day because we're tasked with protecting the homeland.

That means from the voter box to our immigration policy and in our streets inside our cities.

BASH: Mr. Secretary, thank you for being here.

Last question is, don't you miss the Senate?

MULLIN: No, I don't. I love my job.

(LAUGHTER)

MULLIN: I have been honored to protect the homeland.

BASH: OK.

MULLIN: And I'm telling you, I work with 270,000 patriots every single day. We take protecting the homeland very, very, very serious. Keep in mind we have cyber, we have sea, we have air, and we have land. And we do it every single day, and we do a good job at it.

BASH: A big responsibility. Thank you for my -- for all of your time today. I really appreciate it.

MULLIN: Thank you.

BASH: And our reporters will be back to talk about the politics of immigration after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:40:24]

BASH: We just heard from the Department of Homeland Security, the Secretary Markwayne Mullin. My panel is back and we're joined by CNN's Immigration Correspondent Priscilla Alvarez. Priscilla?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dana, what we heard there from the Secretary is that he was defending the administration's position on immigration despite the concerns both public and private that are shared among some Republicans. And the line he kept coming back to is that he is enforcing the nation's immigration laws. But that's not necessarily the issue that we're hearing from Republicans and other sources. It's how they have chosen to do that.

And that can really fall under two categories, which is who they've decided to go after, and also how they've done that. So in the who, they have cast a wider net of who is eligible to be arrested and potentially deported. They, at the beginning of the administration, said it was only the worst of the worst, those public safety and national security threats.

Now it's them and then some. And the and then some is where you hear the concerns because it is people that may already be in the immigration process who are suddenly being swept up in these arrests. And they are not always with the criminals, like he says.

Those are people we consider collaterals. And that is a policy, by the way, that the Obama administration also took. But it is people at the airport who are boarding a flight, who are in the legal immigration process, who are suddenly arrested as an example.

The other part of this is the tactics. Dana, that, for example, is something that has made headlines multiple times. People have died. ICE agents have killed people. And that is another alarm bell that has gone off multiple times among Republicans, immigration hardliners, and the rest.

So, yes, the Department of Homeland Security is charged with enforcing the nation's laws. But every department and every administration is also charged with implementing policy on how exactly they're going to do that. And that is where the administration is losing some support among Republicans, because they have deviated from only the worst of the worst and also made it much more.

And I will tell you, Dana, that was always going to happen to some degree. If the President wants mass deportation, you don't just focus on the threats. You do widen the aperture. And that is where we are today.

And I will just throw a stat at you to show you where the administration has gotten. In August, they arrested, they being ICE, around 51,000 people. That's a new high under the second Trump administration. So we are seeing this pick up at the same time that we're hearing this criticism from some Republicans.

BASH: Yes. And Jeremy, just on the sort of Republican and the politics of this, the fact that the Republican congresswoman said what she said, I kept coming back to that in my discussion with Secretary Mullin, because that was -- she was -- she planted a flag or maybe it was maybe she sounded the alarm. I don't even -- I don't -- maybe both. She was trying to get the attention of him and more importantly, from

of the President that this is not what the people who voted for you, particularly the Hispanic voters who came out in droves, especially in her district in South Florida. This is not what they thought they were getting. And you're going to pay politically.

JEREMY PETERS, CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Right. And it's another instance of Trump breaking his promises to the people who voted for him in 2024. I mean, this is an 80-20 issue, like 80 percent of people support deporting people with criminal records who are here illegally. But through an unforced error and a broken promise, what the administration has done is cast a really wide net and in the process, sweep up a lot of people who either shouldn't have been arrested and were therefore released or who really didn't break any other law than being here illegally.

And that's very disruptive in communities like Miami, all over Florida, Arizona, you know, the Southwest, the Hispanics who voted for Trump and, you know, made this -- almost split the Hispanic vote evenly 50-50 for the first time ever with a Republican nominee. And it seems like -- I'm hearing a lot of Republicans anyway, to say how President Trump has just squandered that support.

BASH: Gloria?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, you talk about people who are being swept up, who haven't broken a law. We just saw a video of apparently someone who is not only an American citizen, but was allegedly trying to do something that we are seeing a lot of, right, filming law enforcement action because of what these actions look like.

[12:45:08]

And you asked him a question of like, you know, should people like that look like the person in that video? People who look like me, frankly, have to worry about carrying proof of citizenship because maybe you are going to get stopped or maybe you are with a person who is being targeted, right, targeted for enforcement that day. And I think his answer was telling right that if I haven't broken a law or if you haven't broken a law, you should have nothing to fear.

But that directly contradicts these sort of large nets that they're casting. And I think, you know, Priscilla made a great point. These are choices that they are making about how to implement these policies. We saw it under the Obama administration, Biden got rid of this sort of collateral idea, right, that they would just sweep everyone up no matter who they were targeting.

But I agree that, you know, Republicans, not only in Florida, but in Texas and in other parts of the country are seeing this and they're hearing from their constituents. They do not like it. This is not what they were expecting. And it's having effects not just to them personally, but in industries and --

BASH: Yes. PAZMINO: -- you know, people who need these communities to work.

ALVAREZ: Dana, can I just say, especially with South Florida, that it's not just --

BASH: Yes.

ALVAREZ: -- people and their status as they were when the Trump administration came in. In places like South Florida, which I have visited and talked to people there, it is the de-legalization of people. So it is people who, the Venezuelan community in particular, for example --

BASH: Yes.

ALVAREZ: -- who were here on temporary protected status. They can't vote, but they were members of that community and of that economy. And when you pull away their work permit and their ability to be here, that's the type of thing that is felt very deeply in South Florida and that we're seeing consistently.

BASH: Abby?

ABBY LIVINGSTON, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, PUCK: Well, I just think what was fascinating was how many times he reiterated that they're just enforcing the laws on the books. And these races that are so critical, these house races, this South Florida and South Texas could be costing Senate seats. And these folks running for these districts where voters are unhappy with the administration's policies are basically running to be legislators to rewrite the laws, and that could end up curbing the executive branch down the road.

BASH: All right, everybody, stand by.

Up next, Talarico -- James Talarico says he is treating Texas black voters like swing voters. Why is he saying that? And what would the endorsement he just got do? Will it help swing those voters in his direction? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:51:57]

BASH: A major boost for a Democrat in a key race who's faced headwinds with black voters. Today, the Congressional Black Caucus said that it is backing James Talarico in the Texas Senate race after previously supporting his primary rival, Jasmine Crockett.

Chairman Gregory Meeks said, quote, "Black Texans deserve a senator who will show up, listen and fight for their communities, and James Talarico will be that." Talarico added, quote, "Texas has the largest black population of any state of the union, so it's time we elected statewide leaders committed to working for and investing in black communities that have been taken for granted."

Our panel is back now. I want to start with Abby Livingston, our Texan here. Can you literally take us behind the headlines and explain why that which sounds like a run of the mill rudimentary endorsement of a Democrat, largely Democratic group endorsing and Democratic candidate is much more than that?

LIVINGSTON: There are two very imperative reasons. One, it shows fence mending after the primary with Congresswoman Crockett, which everyone will recall got pretty rough. Number two, there are no more effective campaigners in the Democratic Party in down ballot races than CBC members, and they often fly in from other states and campaign at black churches, and they are extremely effective at getting the black vote out.

And so that is absolutely critical for Talarico to have a successful campaign. And we'll see how much enthusiasm is behind that endorsement.

BASH: Yes, I mean, the enthusiasm is really key. Kind of not said there, which we've reported a lot on, is that Jasmine Crockett has said she won't campaign with him. She'll campaign for down ballot Democratic candidates. I do want to turn to a different race, and I'm going to go to you, Jeremy. And this is a race in Ohio, rather.

We talked yesterday on the show, or maybe earlier this week, someday this week on the show about Elon Musk starting to use his fortune to run ads in Texas and also Ohio on the trans issue, which of course played big and in many cases helped Republicans two years ago. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, who's running to get his seat back, said this in a new ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here they go again, those same attacks against Sherrod Brown.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With everything going on, that's what they're talking about?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Ohio, it's against the law to perform transgender surgeries on kids. That's right, it's illegal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jon Husted, why'd you vote to increase the cost of groceries?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To do nothing about the cost of gas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To kick 490,000 Ohioans off their health care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Jeremy?

PETERS: The reason this issue of transgender medical care for kids was so effective in 2022, 2024 is because it made Democrats look like they weren't focused on pocketbook issues, the issues that matter to most voters. Well, that's exactly what Republicans risk doing this year if they make it a focal point of their races, and a lot of them have. [12:55:09]

And I think it's a question of whether or not, there's a slice of voters who are obviously very animated by this and other issues that are important to conservative Christians, social conservatives, but the war, inflation, there's so many other things people have to be worried about. Now, this is an example, I think, of fighting the last election's battle.

BASH: Gloria?

PAZMINO: Yes, I think that's right. I mean, we're seeing Brown, Chair Brown is calling, sort of making the point in his ad, like, really, is this what we're talking about when we have affordability, affordability, affordability, gas prices, the cost of living, the cost of food.

And, you know, we see this sort of attempt to focus on the culture wars by some on the right, but I think, to the point that Jeremy just made, you know, we saw how much that hurt Democrats in the last cycle, and we're seeing with some other Democrats that we talked about in the show today that they're trying to bring the focus back to those issues, right? Because they recognize now that --

BASH: Yes.

PAZMINO: -- that's what voters are worried about, and they see the polling, and they're trying to focus on that. So, it's an effective sort of conversation, an ad, in terms of kind of flipping the conversation on that issue.

BASH: Gloria, Abby, Jeremy, thank you so much for being here today. Really appreciate it. Happy Friday. Happy weekend.

And now to new CNN reporting on a growing calculation among many Republican candidates, they're betting less President Trump could do more for their campaigns. Here's Jeff Zeleny.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump is eager to be at the center of the midterm election fight.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So I'm asking you to pretend that I'm on the ballot. I'm on the ballot.

ZELENY (voice-over): Yet, one place he's not, at the center of Republican campaign ads. A new CNN analysis shows that Trump is a bit player, often seldom mentioned at all, in a deluge of GOP ads in some of the biggest races in the country. While the president asked Republicans to vow their loyalty to him --

TRUMP: Please raise your right hand. I pledge --

CROWD: I pledge -- TRUMP: -- to the greatest president in the history of the United

States.

ZELENY (voice-over): Our analysis shows that Democrats are far more likely to invoke Trump's name in attack ads like this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mike Rogers, all in on the war, all in on Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Susan Collins does what's best for Trump.

ZELENY (voice-over): So far this month, Republicans have aired just 12 ads that mention Trump. A CNN analysis of ad impact data found, to the tune of about $1 million. But that's only a fraction of more than 500 GOP ads produced during that period. Spending that adds up to more than $160 million. That means Republicans and their allies are devoting less than 1 percent of their ad budgets on Trump specific TV spots.

Still, the President wants to make the midterm elections all about him.

TRUMP: When I'm on the ticket, Republicans always do very well.

ZELENY (voice-over): But given his historically low approval ratings, Democrats do too. So far in September, Democratic candidates and groups have spent nearly $23 million on 95 TV spots that mention the President, making up about one-fifth of their ad budget.

Follow-up from the Iran war is a theme Democrats have seized on, like in this ad attacking Republican Mike Rogers in his Michigan Senate race with Abdul El-Sayed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The endless war in Iran is costing us all. Billions for bombs. Brutal at our gas pumps. And Mike Rogers, a cheerleader for Donald Trump's war.

ZELENY (voice-over): As some Republicans thread a delicate needle by showing their support and independence with Trump --

SEN. ROGER MARSHALL (R), KANSAS: This is not the first time I've disagreed with President Trump, and it probably won't be the last.

ZELENY (voice-over): Outside GOP groups are firing back hard, erasing a Democratic spending advantage in nearly every top Senate race. Republican advisers say the party's best hopes of holding the Senate majority is not by touting Trump's agenda in TV ads, but by tearing into their Democratic rivals.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's something not right about Abdul El-Sayed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sherrod Brown, bailouts for big banks, higher taxes for you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Roy Cooper, his record is worse than you remember.

ZELENY (voice-over): Trump repeatedly talks about the fate of all presidents and their parties in midterm elections.

TRUMP: Even if he's really a good president or a great president, there aren't too many of them. They don't win the midterms, and nobody quite knows why.

ZELENY (voice-over): A lesson he well remembers from 2018, when Republicans lost control of the House during his first term.

TRUMP: You know what happens if you don't vote? You go to hell. You know that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY (on-camera): And Dana, what's so interesting about all of this, these aren't just Republican candidates distancing themselves. These are Trump top allies, his political advisers choosing to not use him because, as one told me, the President is not the best messenger at this point.

BASH: Such a great piece, Jeff. Thank you, as always.

Thank you for watching Inside Politics today. Please join me on State of the Union this Sunday. Maryland Governor Wes Moore will be on the show. And also, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz. Be sure to tune in, 9:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

CNN News Central starts right now.