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The Situation Room

World Series Set; New Cases of Dengue Fever in Florida; Hispanic Voters Turning on Trump?. Aired 10:30a-11a ET

Aired October 20, 2026 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: What does that mean for Republicans, who control Congress and the presidency?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's really a terrible thing for Republicans, particularly because it's -- so much of it is centered on Trump, who is telling everybody to pretend that he's on the ballot.

And it is -- not a week goes by in this country where we don't hear a story about how Trump, a family member of Trump, somebody in the inner circle of Trump is making millions, if not billions of dollars from inside deals, a lot of it profiteering from the presidency, while Americans can't pay for groceries, while Americans are losing health care coverage, while Americans are paying enormous amounts for gas and diesel and just having a really hard time making ends meet.

Not a day goes by that we don't hear about Donald Trump and his ballroom or the Reflecting Pool or gilding everything gold in Washington, building statues to himself, putting his name on buildings, while Americans are hurting.

So I think it's two things. I think it's the incredible contrast of the wealth that Trump and his inner circle have amassed as he is president, and the hurt and pain, the financial pain that Americans are going through.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Yes, that's an important point indeed.

President Trump, Ana, is also looking to increase Republican voter turnout in North Carolina for two key congressional races there, as well as the Senate contest. But listen to what the Kansas Democratic Senate candidate, Adam Hamilton, told CNN about the president's visit to his state only yesterday. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM HAMILTON (D), KANSAS SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: I took it as a big compliment. I took it as a statement that the Republican Party felt they needed to send the most powerful man in the country to try to save Roger Marshall. And I think it's only going to hurt him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Are these rallies that Trump is engaged in right now across the country helping or hurting Republican candidates?

NAVARRO: I think it's a little bit of both, Wolf.

I think that certainly, for low-propensity Republican base voters, the ones that only show up for presidential elections, it does help. And that's what it -- I think -- and I think these rallies and these visits to these states are very strategically designed to do just that, to get the base, the Republican base, the Trump base, out and voting.

But when he's in these states, everybody sees that he's in these states and he has historic lows, is carrying a ton of baggage. People are angry about so many things, the economy, the war, the corruption, you name it.

And so, yes, does it help with a targeted group of voters? Yes. But does it hurt with a general population of voters? Also yes.

BROWN: I wonder what you think about this.

So, AdImpact has tallied how many mentions President Trump has been mentioned in campaign ads and found -- quote -- "In May, President Trump was mentioned in 47 percent of GOP broadcast ad airing. So far in October, that figure has fallen to just 1 percent. What does that tell you?"

NAVARRO: It tells me that Republican candidates realize that he is an albatross around their neck and want to distance themselves as much as possible.

Look, I have seen it in my own district, right? I live in District 27 in Florida. That's the district where the congresswoman, the Republican incumbent, Maria Elvira Salazar, put out an ad, actually speaking to the camera and telling Donald Trump that he had gone too far on immigration and the Latinos felt betrayed.

When you see an ad like that by an incumbent Republican in Miami, Florida, that that's all the proof you need about just how toxic Donald Trump has become in this race even for Republicans.

BLITZER: And, Ana, on that point, there's been a big swing from Latino voters, a critical group of voters that was certainly key in reelecting President Trump just two years ago, especially in Florida.

A Pew Research poll finds that, among Latino registered voters, 51 percent would rather a Democratic candidate win, while just 24 percent would rather a Republican candidate for Congress win. Why are these voters moving away from Republicans?

NAVARRO: For the same reason that every American -- that most Americans are moving away from Republicans. It's the economy first. It's the war.

But, look, when it comes to Latinos, there's this very specific thing playing out, and we see it playing out on our screens on a daily basis. Latinos, brown and black people in this country are being hunted by the Trump administration. We see the extreme cruelty.

Rarely a day goes by that we don't see images of Latinos, sometimes U.S. citizens, just because they look brown, because they look brown -- black, because of the racial profiling by this government, that they're not being tortured, wounded, hunted, chased, treated worse than we would allow animals to be treated in this country.

[10:35:16]

If you are a Latino, that hits your algorithm. You're seeing that on your social media. We are sending it to each other. You cannot avoid seeing the cruelty, the inhumanity, the violation of human rights and just human dignity that is happening and has become commonplace under this administration when it comes to immigrants and anybody that looks like me or sounds like me.

And so, yes, even people who supported Trump -- look, Latinos were among the Americans who thought that the border was out of control. But now they think ICE and this administration is out of control.

BROWN: Ana Navarro, thank you so much. Always great to have you on.

NAVARRO: Thank you, Wolf, and thank you, Pam.

BLITZER: And thanks from me as well, Ana. Appreciate it.

And now to a SITUATION ROOM special report on the viral clips helping shape the midterm conversation and the people behind them. It's an industry known as clipping, with independent journalists and political operatives flooding social media with moments from the campaign trail, but those clips don't always tell the whole story.

And sometimes what's left out matters just as much as what takes place online.

CNN senior reporter Marshall Cohen dove into the world of political clipping.

Marshall, you're here with us in THE SITUATION ROOM. You spoke with a prominent clipper, as they're called, about the industry. What did you learn?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, Wolf, we have all been there late at night, scrolling your feed, and if you're like me and you get political content, you have probably seen material from these clippers that they have edited and posted.

They're more influential than ever, and they are shaping how we see the midterms.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Viral clips on social media are shaping how we see the midterms, but do they leave voters with just part of the story? Check out this clip of President Trump talking about the war in Iran. It racked up more than 30 million views from just two tweets. DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a small price to

pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They can take out a city. Let them take -- let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego.

COHEN: All right, let's look at this together.

TRUMP: It's a small price to pay.

COHEN: All right, these were 40 seconds from what was a 90-minute rally in Nebraska. But those 40 seconds drove the media conversation for days.

Now, this is happening because of what's called the clipping industry. These are folks that make a living by watching political rallies and campaign events and posting hundreds of clips on social media every single day.

SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): I want everybody who's clipping this debate online tonight to roll that tape.

COHEN: Aaron Rupar is an independent journalist and a Trump critic who has built up a significant following on social media as a clipper chronicling Trump since he first ran in 2016.

AARON RUPAR, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST: It was clear to me that there was a huge appetite for this. If you're really going to do this well and kind of beat the competition, you have to be locked in, sometimes for up to up to 12 to 14 hours a day.

COHEN: These days, more than half of Americans get at least some of their news from social media, but what you see on your feeds can be highly selective, and, of course, that comes with some risks.

In 2024, this account from the Republican National Committee repeatedly posted dozens of out-of-context, cherry-picked clips, making President Biden look like he was lost and confused. And this here, Kamala Harris' old campaign account rebranded as a new video forward feed supporting Democrats.

That was one of the accounts, along with Rupar, that clipped those comments of President Trump talking about Iran possibly nuking cities in California. But the White House took issue with those clips. They called it a cherry-picked media freak-out. They said that Trump was obviously just talking about what could happen if Iran ever got a nuclear weapon, which he is trying to prevent.

RUPAR: That is a struggle of being a clipper, is kind of making sure that everything is in the best context that you're not misrepresenting.

Because he said something later about how we're never going to let that happen, that kind of opened the door to me receiving some pushback, but I also understand at this late date, doing this for a decade, that that's just part of the business of covering Trump.

COHEN: There are people, though, that say this clipping culture is not good for democracy. How do you respond to that?

RUPAR: I'm always going to err on the side of trying to get it right. It might have 10 million views for something that you misrepresented, but then that next time you have something, people are going to look at your account and kind of be like, I don't know if I trust that guy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: We have got some fresh data just out this morning from the Pew Research Center about how people consume the news on social media. You won't be surprised, 59 percent of adults say that they get some of their news from the Internet. Most popular platforms, Facebook and YouTube. Video is obviously quite dominant.

[10:40:00]

And also, Gen Z, members of Gen Z say that they also are getting news influencers on their feed that are promoting the midterms as well -- guys.

BLITZER: Marshall Cohen, thanks very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: Thanks, Marshall.

All right, coming up: expanding dengue fever. Right now, Florida has the most locally acquired cases the state has had in at least a decade. An infectious disease doctor will join us just ahead on what you need to know.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Happening now: The Florida Department of Health confirms two new cases of locally acquired dengue fever in Citrus County this week, meaning those patients were bit in the state of Florida.

[10:45:05]

And Florida officials say that there have been more than 360 locally acquired infections this year. That is the highest number of locally acquired dengue cases in years.

With us now in THE SITUATION ROOM is Dr. Aileen Marty, infectious disease professor at Florida International University's Department of Medicine.

Bottom line, first of all, what is dengue? Like, what does it do to you?

DR. AILEEN MARTY, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY: So, dengue is a disease that's transmitted via mosquitoes, and it's a viral disease. And there are actually four different types of dengue viruses, 1, 2, 3, and 4.

And it is particularly dangerous if you have had one type and then get another in a short period of time, for a variety of reasons. It is the -- a large percentage of people will get no symptoms at all, which is great for the mosquito vector, which is going to bite you and then incubate it and then transmit it to someone else, but -- and great for that individual.

But it keeps the disease in play, because that's that many more potential people that can get bitten and can get serious disease. So most people who get disease, the dengue illness, will have what we know -- typically call breakbone fever.

It is a high fever. It is a rash, pain behind the eyes, extremely uncomfortable. You can have little tiny petechial hemorrhages. Now, some people, that's it. That's the worst of it, lasts a few days. Other people, after the fever breaks and they think they're getting better, actually, things go tremendously downhill, and they get severe dengue, which is basically a hemorrhagic fever.

So we just call it -- you can get bleeding from various different body parts, including your nose and your...

BROWN: Wow.

MARTY: Yes, exactly.

BROWN: So you could think you're getting better, but then you get worse. So it can be deadly.

MARTY: Yes, it is deadly.

BROWN: Yes.

MARTY: In fact, we had a death this year in Florida.

BROWN: Yes.

So, on that note, I think people across the country are watching this and wondering, what does this mean for them? The CDC has reported more than 1,600 locally acquired cases across the U.S.

What is the level of concern when it comes to the growing number of cases we're seeing not only in Florida, but across the country?

MARTY: Well, the concern is that we're not having appropriate mosquito control, because we do not have a licensed dengue vaccine right now in the United States. Dengue vaccines exist, but not available in the United States, and none of them are that great.

One that we used to have licensed here has been pulled from the market, because it didn't -- it wasn't as effective as we want it to be, and some problems with dengue 2. You remember there's four types.

BROWN: Yes.

MARTY: So we have to control the vector.

And in this heat that we have been having this year, there are many more mosquitoes. And if just a handful of them get infected, that -- those female mosquitoes are going to lay infected eggs, and those infected eggs are going to grow at a much -- and become adult mosquitoes much faster.

BROWN: Much faster. So it's really a race against time.

All right, so I'm channeling Wolf Blitzer here, who has loved ones in Florida. What can they do to protect themselves from this?

MARTY: So, you always have to think in terms of what the government does and what the individual does, right? So what the individual has to do is get rid of containers that have water anywhere near their homes or businesses, because that's where the eggs get laid, and then you may have potentially contaminated eggs that bring contaminated adults.

The next thing you have to do is, if you're going to be outside, you want to wear an appropriate mosquito repellent. And these are Aedes mosquitoes. They're not the malaria mosquitoes that we think of as dawn and dust. These bite in the middle of the day.

So you have to be aware to use preferably picaridin. That's an excellent type of mosquito repellent. You can use DEET. I'm not a fan of DEET because it smells bad and ruins your electronics. And IR3535, fantastic.

BROWN: All right, good tips right there.

OK, Dr. Aileen Marty, thank you so much -- Wolf.

BLITZER: So little kids who are playing outside should be protected as well.

MARTY: Yes, they should. And, obviously, if you're going to be sleeping in the sun where there are mosquitoes, you might want to wear a mosquito net, have a mosquito...

BROWN: I mean, is that just in Florida or across the country at this point?

MARTY: No, no, it's main -- it's -- so, right now, it's mainly Hillsborough County, the Tampa Bay area that -- where we're seeing the vast majority of cases in Florida.

But, yes, we're seeing it in number of different places that we have had locally acquired. But what the government can do is even more important, two things. Number one, you can spray for -- and, in fact, in Broward, where I live, they actually have drones that spray specific areas, because the mosquitoes that carry dengue don't travel very far, no more than 500 meters.

So if you localize where they are, you can target that spraying. Unfortunately, they're not doing that in Hillsborough County. They're doing helicopters. The other thing is to put bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium, B.T., in water or in the area because that will kill the larva.

[10:50:01]

BROWN: OK. All right, thank you so much for that.

BLITZER: Thank you very much. Good advice.

BROWN: Yes.

BLITZER: We will be paying attention, especially those of us who do have family and loved ones down in Florida, watching all of this unfold. Thank you very, very much.

BROWN: Thank you.

MARTY: You're welcome.

BLITZER: And coming up: a very, very different story. The World Series is now set. It'll be the Rays versus the Brewers on baseball's biggest stage. How the matchup is guaranteed to make history -- just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The World Series teams are now set. And whoever wins will make history.

BROWN: All right, let's go live now to CNN sports anchor Andy Scholes.

Andy, it's going to be a great matchup.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, yes, the Brewers best record in the National League, the Rays the best record in the American league, so fitting they're going to meet in the World Series.

Got to feel, though, for Guardians fans, right, guys? They have the longest World Series drought in all of baseball, haven't won it since nineteen 48, so their wait is going to continue. But either the Rays or Brewers are going to get to celebrate their first ever title.

[10:55:03]

It's going to be the first World Series since 1980 between two teams that have never won. And for the third time in their history, the Rays have won the A.L. pennant.

Junior Caminero's big hit. He finally had his postseason moment, first playoff home run. Came in the seventh off Guardians' All-Star closer Cade Smith. And Caminero celebrated a lot. It took him 38 seconds to get around the bases, which is the longest since they started tracking it back in 2015.

But the Rays take game six 7-3. Game one of the World Series is going to be Friday night in Milwaukee -- 49ers, meanwhile, are the first team to get to 6-0 this season. They beat the Commanders to wrap up week six last night.

Christian McCaffrey, he scored two first half touchdowns. The Niners, they were up 20 in this game, but the Commanders actually fought back and actually had the ball down six in the closing minute. Final play, though, the Niners only rushing three, and they're still able to get to Jayden Daniels for the sack.

So, San Francisco wins 23-17. NFC East really struggling this year. They're the first division ever to have everyone play in a two-week span and have nobody win. All right, it was a big night in the Bay Area as the Valkyries, they were hosting the Dream in game two of the WNBA Finals.

And after struggling in the second half of game one, Angel Reese coming through big time in this one, gets 30 points, 16 rebounds. The Dream outscored Golden State 21 to nine in the third quarter and would cruise to a 79-65 win. This is Atlanta's first ever Finals win. They had been 0-10, the series now tied a game apiece as it shifts to Atlanta for game three tomorrow.

And, guys, the NBA season, it tips off tonight. The Knicks are going to open it up hosting LeBron James and the 76ers as they drop that banner.

Wolf, how are you feeling about your Wizards this year? Got a lot of talent.

BLITZER: I'm feeling upbeat. I'm hoping for the best. Go, Wizards.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHOLES: All right. We shall see.

BROWN: Every year, you always have a positive attitude, Wolf.

BLITZER: I'm very optimistic.

BROWN: Very optimistic.

All right, Andy Scholes, great to see you.

SCHOLES: All right.

BROWN: Thank you.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)