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Trump-Aligned Congressman Hopes To Win Michigan Governor's Mansion; Poll: 82 Percent Of MI Voters Say Finances The Same Or Worse Over Last Year; MAGA Donor: Accuses Kimberly Guilfoyle Sought $100k For Access; Paxton On Cornyn In New Leaked Audio: "He Wants Me To Lose"; Latest Poll: Talarico Leading Paxton By 6 Points. Aired 12:30- 1p ET

Aired October 09, 2026 - 12:30   ET

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

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[12:30:24]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: With all the focus on the Michigan Senate race, we of course remember that the governor's mansion is also up for grabs. Two-term Republican Congressman John James is trying to win it back for his party as Democrat Gretchen Whitmer exits the stage. He's facing off against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.

Congressman James joins me now. Thank you so much for being here. You have been a close ally of President Trump's since you first ran for office in 2018. A recent Marist poll shows 82 percent of Michiganders think their personal financial situation either didn't get better or got worse over the past year under President Trump.

Now, I'm sure you've heard President Trump say the economy is booming and that we're in a golden age. So who do you think is right? The President or 82 percent of the people in your state?

REP. JOHN JAMES (R), MICHIGAN GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: Well, the President is not correct. The economy in Michigan is not booming. In fact, Michigan is 42nd out of 50 in infrastructure. We're 43rd out of 50 in economy. We're 45 out of 50 in education. U.S. News and World Report has Michigan 46th overall. That means that 90 percent or 45 states are doing better than Michigan and we all have the same President.

We have Democrats led by Jocelyn Benson who've been in charge for the past eight years and things are getting worse in the state of Michigan. I'm running to bring change. I'm a combat veteran who understands what it takes to bring people together to accomplish tough missions. I'm a businessman who understands what it takes to create jobs and increase wages.

And I also have been able to produce and deliver for the state of Michigan as a congressman and I'm looking forward to doing it as governor, working with anyone and everyone who will help do that for the state of Michigan.

BASH: And you have a bill that would give people in Michigan who have been hit hard by President Trump's tariffs financial aid in the form of low interest loans and tax credits. Doesn't that by definition suggest that the President's tariff wars, especially with the neighbor in Canada, are hurting people in Michigan?

JAMES: What it suggests is the Democrats in the state of Michigan are failing. Check this out. There are six other states that export a higher proportion of their goods to Canada. Five are run by Republican governors and two are in the top five states overall according to U.S. News and World Report.

Democrats have been in power in Michigan for eight years and we're doing worse than those states. I'm here to fix the problems, not just to fix the blame, which is why this bill, the Trade Act, that established a tariff funded program to protect United States manufacturers, workers, farmers, supply chain from disproportionate economic harm resulting from tariffs and retaliatory measures and this encourages domestic production because get this, Michigan's lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs since the year 2000 and many of those jobs went to Canada.

Our country needs to push back on unfair trade practices, which I've said in private and in public to the administration has been documented on ABC and Politico, but Michigan cannot shoulder these burdens alone. And what's making these things worse is that Canada is allowing China to dump Chinese automotive parts into the Canadian market, which are going to find their way into the U.S. market as a way of avoiding tariffs on Chinese products.

Look, I fought with Canadians in Iraq. I have a deep and abiding bond with them and we all do, particularly in Michigan, that will not extinguish. But we need to make sure that we have fair and mutually beneficial arrangements for our trade, make sure we protect our jobs, and increase our wages here in Michigan.

BASH: So you're totally fine with and you support this trade war that the President is waging against Canada. You think it's right for Michigan.

JAMES: Now what I have said in public and in private is that they need to be adults and they need to put their egos in their back pockets and get back to the table to negotiate in the best interests of the United States of America and Michigan. And what I have done is put a bill out there that will blunt the sting of these trade negotiations, but right now this is something that the President did.

I've never voted to put tariffs on Canada, but at the same time we have to deal with this. And I'm working with solutions. I have called on the Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer to reopen trade negotiations so that we can put this behind us so we can deepen and strengthen our relationship because trade with Canada is very important to Michigan. I will always prioritize the needs of Michigan. Michigan will not shoulder this burden alone.

BASH: After last night's Senate debate here in Michigan, you wrote about Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, quote, "I went to war to fight extremists. It's appalling to see one on stage in Michigan running for the U.S. Senate tonight." [12:35:03]

You mentioned your service. Thank you for your service. It included flying attack helicopters in Iraq. Are you comparing the Democrat running for Michigan Senate to the people you were fighting in Iraq?

JAMES: What I'm bringing up is the fact that the Iranian regime is communist cloaked in theocracy. What I'm talking about is he was asked multiple times whether Iran or Israel was a bigger threat and he couldn't answer. He's running to be a senator, and he couldn't distinguish the difference between Israel and Iran being a bigger threat to America.

History has lessons about socialists who scapegoat Jews. It's not pretty, and it's not to be tolerated. Extremism is a cancer and it does not need to be nurtured to thrive.

I went to war after September 11th and even John Kerry acknowledged that the money Obama sent back over to Iran found its way into the hands of Hezbollah and Hamas and the Houthis and people who, for -- during this Iranian proxy war in Iraq, killed Americans.

And so we need to make sure that we are calling our enemy the enemy, and the Iranian regime is the enemy of the United States of America. They have been for 47 years. This war needs to be over like yesterday. But we absolutely must use every resource at our disposal, economic, diplomatic and everything in between. But we also have to call a spade a spade and recognize that is totally unqualifying for someone who wants to be a senator who cannot tell the difference between an enemy and a friend.

BASH: But that's not what you said in your tweet. You said it's appalling to see one on stage, meaning extremists.

JAMES: A Senate counterterrorism expert testified under oath that Abdul El-Sayed's candidacy raises homeland security concerns because of his family's ties to Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups and connections to care. The Free Beacon has talked about this. El-Sayed has campaigned along with Hasan Piker.

And then you have people who have denied the Holocaust that he has not disavowed he campaigns with. The list goes on and on and on. Again, extremism cannot be abetted. We must call it out for what it is because it will metastasize into something that's very ugly and un- American.

Now, I do want to make this very distinct that I love everyone and will serve everyone in the state of Michigan, all of the Abrahamic faith who practice peacefully. But if you are espousing extremist values, if you are espousing values that scapegoat Jews, take rights from women and would tear us down to our studs and change our republic, then we have a duty to stand up and speak the truth that it is incompatible having an Abdul El-Sayed as a senator with the Western civilization and the Constitution that we have.

The DSA wants to abolish the Senate. They want to get rid of the Electoral College. Those are things that are extreme. And so, again, we have to stand up, say the truth, and make sure that we vote for Mike Rogers, make sure we vote for John James, make sure in Michigan you vote Republican up and down the ticket.

BASH: He is an American, Congressman. You know that.

JAMES: I do know he's an American. But you know what? If you are spouting out and espousing extremist ideals that sound like they could be parroted by the Iranian regime, if you are an American and you cannot distinguish between Iran and Israel being an enemy or a friend as a senator, he may not be qualified as an American to be a senator.

That is what I'm saying. If you have to teach someone the difference between an ally and an enemy, if he gets up on stage in front of Michigan and he cannot tell you, if he cannot tell you which one is a friend and a foe, then that's someone who should not be making national security decisions.

This is very important. He can't tell you whether or not the Senate should be abolished and he's running from it. And that's what the DSA is campaigning on. And so, again, if you have these socialist tendencies, those are extreme. And we need to make sure we're calling that out because, again, we cannot have socialists who are scapegoating Jews and think that it will not -- history will not repeat itself.

I mean, Dana --

BASH: Congressman, thank you so much --

JAMES: -- to be fair, right now, the Democrat Party in Michigan is not the party of our parents. The Jewish attorney general in the state of Michigan didn't even attend her own Democrat convention because she feared for her own personal safety. That is what's happening in the Democrat Party in the state of Michigan. And Abdul El-Sayed is the leader of that type of extremism that's catching hold.

Michigan is the center of the electoral universe in 2026. And we need to make sure we get everybody out to support us. Please go to johnjamesmi.com if you vote for common sense (ph).

BASH: Yes, it is definitely the center of the universe. That is for sure. And you, of course, are not running against Abdul El-Sayed. You're running against Jocelyn Benson. And we invited her on the show, and we hope that she will be here soon.

In the meantime, Congressman, thanks for being here.

JAMES: Yes, she'll come on to live soon. I'm sure she will.

BASH: Coming up --

JAMES: Take care.

[12:40:00] BASH: Coming up, a MAGA donor accuses Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle of trying to shake him down for $100,000 in exchange for access. We have new reaction from inside the Trump administration next.

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BASH: Now to explosive allegations of pay-to-play involving the U.S. ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle. The Wall Street Journal first reported that she allegedly asked MAGA donor Eric Deters for $100,000 in exchange for access. Here's how he explained it on CNN.

[12:45:13]

BASH: OK, sorry, we do not have the soundbite, but we can have Betsy Klein at the White House give us the information about how he explained it. And, Betsy, while I'm bringing you in, I will tell you that what Eric said is that before her Senate confirmation, she said to him -- this is his words -- "I need $100,000 to pay off my Amex card or I'm not going to become Greek ambassador."

And then he replied saying, "Why should I do this?" And her response in the text is, "I'll be your ride or die forever in the Trump administration. I won't keep track of how many favors or how big the favors. So that's why she asked for it. There was no question it was a quid pro quo."

Again, this is the donor who alleges that Kimberly Guilfoyle asked for money in order to get her confirmation as ambassador to Greece, which she got. She got the confirmation.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Dana. Time and time again, we have seen President Trump make it very clear that he is not happy when his allies appear to profit off of their relationship with him. So it remains to seen in this -- be seen in this case if there are going to be consequences.

But there are very serious allegations of a quid pro quo between this key Trump ally, now the U.S. ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and this former Trump donor. This is Eric Deters. He had been a Trump donor for many years and also ran for Congress in Kentucky. And he says that Kimberly Guilfoyle asked him to pay off $100,000 in an Amex debt. And this happened just days before her confirmation.

Now, Guilfoyle, in addition to being an ambassador, is a person who is very, very close to the Trump family. You'll recall that she was engaged to Donald Trump Jr. for about four years. And in the aftermath of that breakup, she got this plum assignment, the ambassadorship to Greece.

Now, according to these text messages that were provided to CNN by Deters in the six days before her confirmation hearing, Guilfoyle writes, quote, "Honey, please, I need you to get this done today." And then she also appears to be aware that this is improper. In another text to Deters, she writes, "It won't show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express. That's all it will show, please." And she later says she can get him in for a meeting on the matter they discussed. Now, of course, this is raising eyebrows in Trump world. The Vice President was asked about this yesterday. And he said, broadly, not referring to Guilfoyle or this situation specifically, but he said he doesn't like the idea of anyone selling access to government officials.

And CNN has spoken with many Trump allies and allies of Donald Trump Jr., who say overall, this is an embarrassing episode. Now, Deters ultimately did not wire Guilfoyle the money. He said he didn't have the liquid assets at the time. And a lawyer for the ambassador disputes the authenticity of the texts.

But Deters tells our colleague Jake Tapper, quote, "No question, it was a quid pro quo." We'll have to watch how this moves forward, Dana.

BASH: Yes, it's interesting that Don Jr. says this is embarrassing after the woman he ended up marrying in that wedding. It was paid for at least the time in part by a Russian who he said it was his friend, but apparently doesn't speak English. So it's all very interesting. Let's just leave it there.

Betsy, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Coming up, a CNN exclusive leaked audio of Ken Paxton talking about the Republican he says wants him to lose the Texas Senate race.

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[12:53:22]

BASH: CNN has obtained a new audio recording from a fundraiser last month of Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton complaining about the lack of support his primary opponent, John Cornyn, is giving him. He starts the conversation talking about how Texas Democrat Jasmine Crockett has not campaigned for his opponent, James Talarico.

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KEN PAXTON (R), SENATE CANDIDATE FOR TEXAS: No, she's not. But I don't know how much she really affects votes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

PAXTON: I mean, maybe a little bit around the margins. Just like Cornyn, basically how much he affects me. Because he's clearly not helping me. He wants me to lose. (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Him and W. Bush did that fundraiser. Raised over $1 million for all Texas candidates. Except Ken.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the AG has called and reached out to Cornyn. He's called him twice and then texted him numerous times, trying to get together. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the fact that his staffer went for Talarico right away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just tells you a whole lot --

PAXTON: I'll tell you a story that just happened three nights ago. A friend of mine was at Cafe Pacific, a restaurant in Dallas. And he ended up at the table next to Cornyn. And so he told the waiter, I want to buy his dinner. And the waiter thinks that somebody already did it.

He said, OK. But he said his wife's birthday, they didn't buy dessert. So my friend bought dessert. Cornyn called him over to shake his hand. He got kind of in his face almost and said, "Thanks for the dessert." My friend said, "Well, you know, I just want to thank you for your service, for all your years of service to Texas."

He goes, "I realize it's hard to lose an election, but it shows a lot of character that you're supporting the ticket and you're supporting Ken Paxton." And Cornyn's face went red. He backed off and said, "Paxton's going to lose. We need to teach those Republicans a lesson.

It's going to be hard to learn but they need to know that their decisions have consequences. We need to make sure they understand it." That's what he's trying for. That's John Cornyn.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's crazy.

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[12:55:22]

BASH: CNN has not independently confirmed Paxton's anecdote about the restaurant conversation. Cornyn's representative also told CNN that conversation did not happen and, quote, "If Senator Cornyn wanted Ken to lose, I can assure you he'd be more active in the campaign." Paxton's campaign told CNN the audio is, quote, "a story that doesn't exist."

Back with me now is CNN's Patrick Svitek and also Abby Livingston. Patrick, you're the one who obtained this audio. Tell us more.

PATRICK SVITEK, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, this is just the latest chapter in what is a years-long feud between these top Texas Republicans. I mean, for years, you have seen them trading barbs. You know, Cornyn has long made clear that he believes that Ken Paxton has disgraced the attorney general's office, an office that Cornyn himself once held.

And he's spoken out about Ken Paxton's scandals over the years. In 2022, he called one of those scandals a, quote, "embarrassment." And, of course, they had this bruising primary runoff earlier this year. And Cornyn has said that he'd support the Republican ticket in the general election, but he's not helping Ken Paxton in this race.

That's not just Ken Paxton's words. That's the reality on the ground. He is not campaigning for Ken Paxton. And it comes at a really crucial moment in this race because Ken Paxton's campaign is trying to shore up Republican voters for him. He needs to do more to consolidate the Republican base many polls show.

BASH: Yes, or at least get them out to vote, which I think is probably part of what you're saying. Speaking of getting out there, Abby, James Talarico, the Democratic candidate in Texas for the Senate, is not on the trail. He's not been there for 13 days. His office says and his campaign says that he's recovering from the flu.

And Ken Paxton is jumping on this. He put on social media, "Michael Jordan played through the flu and won an NBA championship, but low-T Talarico is too fragile to step out of the shadows with a cough last seen 12 days ago." This was last night. What are you hearing from your sources about what's going on?

ABBY LIVINGSTON, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, PUCK: Well, it's -- I think the most important thing to remember is that the most important precious commodity right now in a campaign is a candidate's time. So it's a really big deal that he's not out there. And it certainly has given Republicans a hook to jump on to.

They've been throwing things at Talarico for months, and none of them have seemed to really stick in a cataclysmic way. I think we have to see how this plays out and how long it goes. But the other thing I would point out that folks have said is that this is now an air war fight. And going around the state and reels retail politicking is good to get on the TV networks and things like that.

But the horse is out of the barn on this. And so I don't think it is a crisis now, but it's, you know, we just have to wait and see how it plays out.

BASH: Patrick, what are you hearing?

SVITEK: Yes, I mean, look, you can't get around the facts that being off the campaign trail for 12 or 13 days this close to the election is a cause for some level of concern. Now, of course, as Abby pointed out, this has been a, you know, almost cathartic moment for the Republicans because it's given them something to really seize on and rally around. And Ken Paxton is really beating the drum on this today.

But, you know, this is a significant amount of time to be off the campaign trail this close to such a high stakes election. There's no doubt about that.

BASH: We've been talking, Abby, so much over the past weeks and months about the unbelievable imbalance of spending in Texas and really everywhere. But the question has been about how it's going to play out in Texas because Republicans have so much money. Are you seeing it make a difference here we are 20 plus days out?

LIVINGSTON: I've heard there's a little bit of a bump that has helped Republicans. But the question is, how sustainable is this? And the most important thing in this context, I'd also remind is that candidates get a lower rate for television advertising. And so Democrats may not be as out advertised as Republicans.

But boy, this isn't even a money pit. This is a money crater for Republicans. And it could bring down several Senate seats. And one of them may or may not be Texas.

BASH: All right. Thank you to you both, Patrick, especially for your great scoop there. And hopefully James Talarico will be back on the campaign trail in time for CNN and Jubilee's town hall. He's going to face Texas voters. My colleague Erin Burnett is going to moderate this town hall on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN and streaming live on All Access.

Thanks so much for joining Inside Politics today. CNN News Central starts right now.