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The Source with Kaitlan Collins
Murkowski: Senate Should Stop Pretending Everything Is OK; Category 5 Hurricane Approaches Jamaica; Early Voting Surges In New York City Mayor's Race. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired October 27, 2025 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[21:00:00]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: Again, "THE STORY IS WITH ELEX MICHAELSON" debuts tonight at Midnight Eastern, and 09:00 Pacific, only here on CNN.
That's it for us. The news continues.
My podcast starts tomorrow night.
"THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS" starts right now.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN HOST, THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS: Tonight, as millions of Americans are bracing for a food crisis, and the President is floating a third term in office, my source this evening is Democratic Representative, Jasmine Crockett.
I'm Kaitlan Collins. And this is THE SOURCE.
Tonight, President Trump is in Japan, meeting with the country's first female prime minister. He just sat down, as you can see here in these images that are just coming into CNN, for a face-to-face meeting that is quite critical for the new leader of Japan. These are talks, as you can see the President and his extended Cabinet here, who is joining him at the table, some of his most senior aides, these talks are expected to cover tariffs, regional security, Japan's defense spending, all of these which have been points of tension in recent months.
We're going to continue to monitor the President in this meeting, as it's ongoing, see what the President says while he's on the ground for this big foreign policy trip through Asia. This is just his second stop during the entire trip.
But as all of this is playing out in Japan, back in Washington, the House Speaker Mike Johnson has been fiercely defending, keeping the House out of session, as there is still no progress on the government shutdown.
Right now, there are millions of Americans who are trying to figure out how they are going to buy food, next week. That is just one of the real-life consequences of a shutdown that has now hit 27 days, making it the second longest shutdown in U.S. history. The SNAP benefits, that more than 40 million people in this country rely on, will run out, this coming Saturday.
Tomorrow, the air traffic controllers, who are in charge of keeping people safe in the skies, will get a check for $0, despite the fact that many of them are working mandatory overtime because of current staffing shortages. These are shortages that led to thousands of flights being delayed over the weekend, a trend that we saw still happening today.
There's workers, like this TSA agent in Orlando, who says that the longer this shutdown goes on, the worse the problems will become.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's going to be a lot less people coming in, as people are going to be running out of money, people going to be running out of money for child care. Somebody have to sit at home with those kids. And if I have nowhere to leave my kids, how am I going to come to work?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: All told, more than a million federal workers are no longer getting paid, resulting in scenes like this one, long lines at very busy food banks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUMMER KERKSICK, EMPLOYEE, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE: I haven't gotten a paycheck this month, so the free groceries is very important, very helpful.
DENISE BLAKE, EMPLOYEE, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: I would have never thought in a million years that I would have been in this position to have to go to a food bank.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: It's painful stories like that, of people who say they could have never imagined being in this situation that they're now in, that it prompted people like Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, that she put it today to go rogue on the Senate floor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): It is so not business as usual. We're pretending that everything is OK. We're pretending that people are not being impacted by this shutdown. I'm looking at the people that are here, recording this, that will be working to process this vote. None of -- none of them are getting paid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: This is coming, as the President is not in Washington, of course, when it comes to lawmakers trying to hammer out an end to this government shutdown.
He did offer this assurance before he left. But despite the President's words that you're about to hear here, remember this. The Department of Agriculture said yesterday that they will not be using the $6 billion in contingency funds that they have, to cover food stamp benefits next month as this shutdown is going on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Are you going to direct the Department of Agriculture to fund food stamps next month?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Yes, everybody is going to be in good shape, yep.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: While the House remains in recess and therefore out of Washington, the Senate Chaplain looked to the heavens today for a way out of this current situation.
[21:05:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARRY BLACK, CHAPLAIN, UNITED STATES SENATE: When our children and grandchildren want to know what we were doing in the 119th Congress during the famous shutdown, may we not have to give these answers: I helped set a new record for keeping the government closed. I failed to appeal to the better angels of my nature Lord, remind our lawmakers that no gold medals are given for breaking shutdown records.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: My lead source tonight is the Democratic congresswoman, Jasmine Crockett of Texas.
And thank you so much for being here.
Because I just think to hear everything that is at stake this week, as it's really coming into clear view now, with this government shutdown dragging on, do you believe this will be the week that Congress comes to an agreement here?
REP. JASMINE CROCKETT (D-TX): I have no idea.
I mean, you started off talking about the fact that the President is in Japan. The President has time to do everything, but what he needs to focus on. In fact, we heard the press secretary say that his main priority is the ballroom, the ballroom that no one asked for, the ballroom that requires him to destroy historic pieces of the White House. And so, it doesn't seem like he's interested.
It is my hope that his friends start calling him. Jeff Bezos. When those Amazon planes are not flying. Hopefully, he will listen to them, because he's not listening to the pain that the American people are suffering through as, again, you played a clip, and he said, Everybody's going to be in good shape.
Who is everybody? Because when people are hungry, which people were already hungry in this country, we have not done right by those that have been struggling, because $6 a day to eat doesn't fix it.
And you say, Everybody's going to be in good shape, as you are putting more money into your son's pocket, as you are saying that, we should take American taxpayer dollars and put them in your pocket to the tune of $280 million. I mean, I don't know who everybody is, but it is not the average American.
COLLINS: Yes, and that context of the comment from Karoline Leavitt. She was asked if the President was working on any other renovations when it came to the White House, and she was saying, his focus was the ballroom.
But to your point about what the President said when he was leaving Washington. He was asked, are they going to find a way to pay for SNAP benefits? Because they found ways to pay for some other things, at least for parts of this shutdown.
The USDA website right now says this. I want people to just read this. It says, Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times to not fund the food stamp program, known as SNAP. Bottom line, the well has run dry. And the USDA website says, At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 1st.
Do you worry that people will blame your party when they do not have those benefits any longer?
CROCKETT: I don't worry about that. I think that's why the White House has decided that they would just violate -- well, I mean, they consistently violate the law. But we know that this is absolutely a violation of the Hatch Act.
And so, they are trying to make sure that they can place blame. Because the reality is that they control the White House, they control the House, they control the Senate. And typically, when you are an adult in politics, you sit down and you work together to come up with a solution.
And right now, Democrats are trying to make sure that the CBO, or the Congressional Budget Office, doesn't have to estimate how many more deaths are going to come at the hands of Republicans who refuse to make sure that people in this country can have health care.
There seems to be a theme, Yes, we will get rid of your health care, so that we can go and bail out Argentina. Yes, we will get rid of your food that is on your table, whether we're talking about the farmers who are not going to be able to put food on our tables, because there are record bankruptcies that they are filing right now. Or if we're talking about SNAP benefits. Like, they seemingly, it is a matter of, We've got the king, and he's just all about eating his cake, and don't worry about the poor little peasants. But that's where we are right now. COLLINS: You've talked about the benefits of SNAP before. You've talked about your concerns about cuts to the to the program. Do you think come Saturday, when people don't have that, that access, millions of Americans who need that and rely on it, that they will say, OK, this fight for health care premiums, that you're fighting for Obamacare subsidies, that that is still worth it if they're not able to get that money? Do you think that that's the calculus they'll make?
CROCKETT: I do think that they'll make that calculus. It'd be different if we were fighting for, a random plant in a specific part of the country. But at the end of the day, we're talking about the very basics.
Like, it is really sad when you are in a country that is not a third world country, and people are basically begging their government to do the basics. We're not talking about luxuries. It should not be a luxury that you get $6 a day, right, to eat, like that should not be a luxury.
[21:10:00]
And we should be looking at the fact that there are funds available, and he is choosing not to use those funds. Or, when you start to talk about your big billionaire friends as you're continuing to violate laws, why is it that you're not looking out for people that are hungry? Why aren't you looking at the fact that rural America overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump, and rural America uses more SNAP benefits than urban America? I mean, like, these are your voters, right? So, like, why aren't you doing those things?
So, I think that the question should be, which party is truly about being pro-life, which party is truly about the entirety of the United States, and which party is really more patriotic? I would say that he is a party of him, and other rich people, and nobody else.
And I'm hoping that all Americans can finally wake up and say, We are going to prioritize ourselves. We are going to look for people that maybe we don't think they're super funny or super entertaining, but they will not try to deal death to us with every single policy that they hand out.
And ultimately, if people end up going hungry, because SNAP benefits end up drying up?
COLLINS: Yes.
CROCKETT: This is just a preview of what is going to happen, as it relates to what they did in the big, ugly bill.
COLLINS: Yes, well, there's a lot of questions about what happens when this -- the bill that the House passed, to go through the end of November runs out, what that looks like.
And the President was talking to reporters on Air Force One today. He had a lot to say in that. We're going to show people that during the show, because he talked about a third term, he talked about his recent visit to Walter Reed.
But he also brought you up, at one point, while he was speaking with reporters. I want everyone to listen to what he said about you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They have Jasmine Crockett, a low IQ person. They have uh... AOC's low IQ. You give her an IQ test... have her pass, like the exams that I decided to take when I was at Walter Reed. I took ... those are very hard, they're really aptitude tests, I guess, in a certain way, but they're cognitive tests.
Let AOC go against Trump. Let Jasmine go against Trump. I don't think Jasmine... the first couple of questions are easy: a tiger, an elephant, a giraffe, you know. When you get up to about five or six, and then when you get up to 10 and 20 and 25. They couldn't come close to answering any of those questions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: It was a question about not ruling out a third term. But what's your reaction to what the President said there?
CROCKETT: Listen, I'm waiting on a reporter, and maybe it'll be you, Kaitlan, that finally ask him, What is his IQ? Because he is constantly talking about -- he doesn't even know what a low IQ is. He don't even know which scores are low. And I can guarantee you that whatever score, if he's taken one, anytime recently, I'm sure that his qualifies as low.
Listen, he's never been known to be an Einstein. This is not a guy who got in on merit, when it came to going to college. This is someone who, but for him, being born with a silver spoon, probably wouldn't have gotten into anybody's institution, unlike me. So, I am not worried about that.
And I wish people would look at the fact that you have a President of the United States who consistently is obsessing over two women of color that are members of the House. You are the President. You have a lot more power than we do. But obviously, you consistently feel threatened. And that is why we have seen, the attacks on black women in general from this administration. I don't know what black woman hurt him in his past, honey, but it is really taking him through it.
But I really wish, for the sake of this country, and honestly, for the sake of the world, that he would focus on his real job and stop worrying about me. My constituents will worry about whether or not I have an adequate IQ, even though that's not the test that he's taking. And it's up to them to decide. It's not him. He can't hire me or fire me, unfortunately for him.
COLLINS: Congresswoman--
CROCKETT: And as it relates to a third term, people need to--
COLLINS: Go ahead. CROCKETT: --people need to listen to what he's saying. They need to listen to that, because that is a very scary thing. It is unconstitutional.
COLLINS: You think he's getting serious?
CROCKETT: I do think he's being serious. He has hats that are made. He's starting to get people primed for this. There are people that are riding around and wrapping vehicles with, Trump 2028. This is a serious threat. We know that he didn't want to leave the house last time, and that's why we ended up with January 6.
So no, people need to think about this seriously, and understand that the people around him consistently break the law. And the Supreme Court has said that, Yes, he has immunity. So, I don't know how they will rule on whether or not he gets immunity, when he does something and he is not duly elected, because there are no third terms in this country. But we really need to be concerned, especially as his friends are the ones buying things such as Dominion.
COLLINS: Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, thank you for your time tonight.
CROCKETT: Thanks.
[21:15:00]
COLLINS: And we're going to let you hear the President muse about a third term. What he said when he was standing next to someone who might run in 2028 for the presidency, in just a moment.
Up next, though, we're going to check in. Because the strongest storm on the planet, this year, is hours away from making a direct hit on Jamaica. We're going to bring you the latest forecast, live out of Kingston, next.
And also, speaking of what the President said today. He revealed he got an MRI during that recent trip to Walter Reed. He did not say why the doctors ordered that, or why they did not bring that up before.
And also this, on the third term.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I would, I would love to do it. You know, I have my best numbers ever. It's very terrible.
Am I not ruling it out? You'll have to tell me. All I can tell you is that we have a great, a great group of people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:20:00]
COLLINS: Right now, the strongest storm to churn across the planet this year is starting to lash Jamaica.
Hurricane Melissa is a Category 5 hurricane. It is packing a 175 mile per hour winds, and torrential rain that is only going to get worse as the night goes on. There are mandatory evacuation orders that are in place all along Jamaica's coast. And forecasters are warning that there's going to be catastrophic flooding, landslides and also a storm surge that could be as high as 13 feet.
Joining me tonight is CNN's Meteorologist and our Weather Anchor, Derek Van Dam, who is on the ground in Kingston, Jamaica.
And first off, Derek, obviously want to say, I hope you're staying safe as you're covering this. But tell us what the conditions are looking like on the ground, and how they're lining up with the predictions about how bad this storm is going to be.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: Appreciate the sentiment, Kaitlan. We are doing everything we can to stay safe.
We have -- looks like we're going to actually miss the most catastrophic winds, which will likely make landfall on the western side of Jamaica. So this is really a matter of miles as we have the final hours leading up to this slow-moving disaster that will unfold, undoubtedly, here in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Right now, we're in Kingston. It's raining lightly. It was raining heavier just about a half an hour ago. So, we're getting these occasional lulls, and then it'll pick back up again.
But you got to trust me on this. The mountain ranges, which you can't see because it's pitch black here, they tower 7,000 feet over my head, just behind me. And if it's raining like this now, it's raining twice as heavy in the mountains there, and that -- there lies the problem, right?
The rain from the mountains, which will become so heavy, it will create the landslide and mudslide risk, with up to 30 to 40 inches of rain forecast within this area. Kingston itself sits in this bowl, so the water will funnel down into communities. Many of the communities, across Jamaica, experience similar setup, with the mountains behind them, and the people living below.
So, I want to show you the satellite imagery, which is just so, so impressive. But what's so astounding to me right now, not only is this a strong Category 5 hurricane, but it's the slow forward speed, at two miles per hour. That is slower than the average human walks. OK? And this has got major ramifications for down the line. Where will the center, the most compact and catastrophic storm winds will occur?
So what you're looking at right now, I really want to analyze this, because the line that I'm following along with this yellow telestration, shows you the path of Melissa's track over the past few days. But what we've noticed is this kind of stalling feature and more of a westerly jog in the past few satellite frames, and that has implications further down the line on who will get those strong, strong winds from the inner core wall. So, that is still to be determined.
But we do know that we're facing the potential here of the strongest storm to ever make landfall in Jamaica's history. And that's really saying something, because Gilbert, back in '88 was such an economic disaster, not to mention the catastrophe for the infrastructure here. Now, nearly 40 years on, they don't want a repeat, but it looks inevitable that they will. Hopefully, this test of the modern infrastructure around here will hold up.
And the hotel that we're staying in is doing their best. Sandbags up. There's some protections along the walls here, about three to four feet above the ground. So, that gives you an indication of how much water they anticipate to funnel through the city streets of Kingston. So really, a concern of mudslides, torrential rain and the storm surge.
Kaitlan.
COLLINS: All right. Derek Van Dam, we're going to keep checking in with you and the team on the ground, as we monitor these conditions. Obviously, stay safe. We'll check back in with you.
Up next. I want to check back in though, here in New York, because there's huge turnout already, in just the first couple of days of early voting, where we've got a closely watched race for mayor, of course. How these numbers look actually compared to 2021. CNN's Harry Enten is here to break it all down, right after this.
[21:25:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Breaking tonight, as we just got the latest data when it comes to early voting in the race to be the next mayor of New York City. Democrat Zohran Mamdani. Independent Andrew Cuomo, and the Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa, are all battling to lead the nation's largest city, next week.
I want to get straight to CNN's Chief Data Analyst, Harry Enten, who is here.
And Harry, when you look at these numbers, what does it say to you so far?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: You know, what it says so far is there's a ton of interest in this race. In fact, I got off the phone with my mother earlier today, and she voted early today, so.
COLLINS: OK. So, she's one of the 220,000 New Yorkers--
ENTEN: That's -- exactly. She--
COLLINS: --who voted early.
ENTEN: Exactly right. She's one of the more than 200,000 folks who have already voted early. And we're seeing high turnout, particularly in Manhattan and Brooklyn. We're seeing them make up the vast majority, Queens coming in at third.
And we're seeing lower turnout in Staten Island, and the Bronx. Of course, there's a reason why anecdotal evidence isn't the only evidence we should go by. Because my mother voted early in the Bronx, early today.
COLLINS: OK. So she's one of those 19,096 people--
[21:30:00]
ENTEN: She is -- she is one of those nearly 20,000 who voted early in the Bronx today. My mother doing her democratic duty.
COLLINS: OK, but what stood out to me from Ethan, our colleague who pulled these numbers, was that all of the people who've voted early in just the three days since you've been able to do so, is more than people who voted early in the entire last election.
ENTEN: This is where it really gets so interesting. We were mentioning Brooklyn. I was mentioning Manhattan. They have well exceeded how many people voted early the last time around. Bronx still a little bit short, but it will pass it rather easily. Of course, Mamdani likes the fact that the Brooklyn numbers are so high, because that is where I believe his base will most likely come from.
But the thing that I should note is, I'm a New York City guy. I followed New York City mayoral elections for a long period of time. I, based upon the early numbers we've seen so far, expect that this turnout will probably get over 1.5 million in total, which was about the baseline that was set in 2001. That was the highest turnout for any mayoral election so far this century. And it may, in fact, beat what we got back in 1993, which of course, was David Dinkins versus Rudy Giuliani. That was a real, you know, real contest of real ideas--
COLLINS: Yes.
ENTEN: --real division in the city. And that's, I think, similar to what we're seeing so far in this city.
I think a lot of people feel like there's a lot on the line, and that is why they're so interested to come out and vote early, because this is one of the few general elections that is truly competitive, that we've seen, that the polls have suggested could be competitive.
COLLINS: Do we know who benefits?
ENTEN: OK. This--
COLLINS: You mentioned Mamdani, like, in the Brooklyn numbers. But do we know? Is it clear?
ENTEN: OK, yes. So I mentioned the fact that Mamdani likes the Brooklyn numbers.
But one of the things that's so interesting is, if you look at the age breakdown so far. In the primary, what we saw in the early vote data was younger voters who were the most likely to turn out early. Who is the most likely to turn out early this time around? It's, in fact, older voters. Older voters.
I don't want to put my mother into a particular age bracket, but they look a lot like--
COLLINS: Do not talk about your mother's age.
ENTEN: I'm not going to talk about my mother's age. I'm just going to say that the early voters look a lot more like her than they look like me. And that makes sense, given what we've seen so far in the polling data as well, is that when you get a broader electorate, that is what Andrew Cuomo wants.
Because Andrew Cuomo voters are the ones who are kind of iffy on whether or not they would necessarily turn out and vote. He wants a wider vote. That would suggest if we do, in fact, get larger turnout, that's better for Andrew Cuomo. A narrow electorate is better for Zohran Mamdani. Of course, we're just going to have to wait and see, because we don't know who these people are necessarily voting for.
But the fact that the early vote numbers are leaning older so far, perhaps that might suggest that Cuomo might be able to outperform his polls, which, based upon the polling data we've seen, he definitely needs.
COLLINS: Yes. Well, thanks to your mom for contributing to our statistics tonight.
ENTEN: You know what?
COLLINS: Tell her we said thank you.
ENTEN: The Enten-Strassberg family always go out and we try and make the Kaitlan Collins segments as strong as possible.
COLLINS: Yes, and they do, obviously. We'd love to have your mom here next though.
ENTEN: You know what? You know what? She's doing pretty gosh darn good. She may show up. Who knows?
COLLINS: Harry Enten, thanks so much.
Also tonight, joining me is my Democratic source, Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.
And thank you so much, Senator for being here.
I won't ask you what you think the early numbers mean here in New York. But this is an election that is just eight days away. We have not yet heard an endorsement from your Democratic leader over in the Senate, where you are. That is Chuck Schumer, of course, of New York.
Do you think, and would you like, to see him endorse Zohran Mamdani? SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Chuck Schumer obviously speaks for himself. He knows his own mind. As for myself, I don't think anyone in New York is really interested in what Dick Blumenthal thinks about its mayoral race.
COLLINS: Yes, OK, fair enough. Fair enough.
Your state does border New York, of course. A lot of people commute from Connecticut to here every day. I do think there's a question of what that could look like.
Or, we've heard some people speculate, with Governor Kathy Hochul coming out. She did endorse Mamdani after a bit of a waiting period.
What it means for the Democratic Party, what happens next, next Tuesday? Do you think it will have implications for your party?
BLUMENTHAL: I think it should have implications for our party. Because the focus of Mamdani's campaign has been affordability, the cost of living, prices increasing in New York. That is a very compelling issue for us, and one that we need to address.
And I have tried to talk about it in Connecticut, because we're seeing grocery prices, for example, meat, poultry, fish, rising by 5 percent compared to last year, coffee rising by 18 percent, not to mention rents and electricity, and that is due in large part to the tariff chaos and confusion that we're seeing, as a result of Trump's lack of strategy for tariffs and the chaos and confusion that he's created. So, focusing on affordability is a very big deal.
COLLINS: Well, and speaking of your party, and its direction, and what that looks like. Our newest colleague here at CNN, Elex Michaelson, has his show debuting tonight, and he's got a really interesting interview with the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, who is very candid about something that he hasn't always been candid about. That's maybe running for president in 2028.
[21:35:00]
But before we get to that. He was asked about the state of the Democratic Party, and basically where it is right now. And this is what the Governor had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): In every respect, I think, weak and meek. I mean, look -- you've heard this line a million times, it's not even novel to say it, and it really resonated me, years and years ago. Bill Clinton said it. I think he was former President at the time. We got shellacked in another midterms. He said, given the choice, the American people always support strong and wrong versus weak and right. There's something to that. And I think we've appeared weak over--
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: On what?
NEWSOM: --on a number of issues. We've lost the national election. We lost both the House and the Senate. We lost our sense -- I think we lost our mojo, we lost our confidence, and we've been on our heels.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Do you think Democrats look weak?
BLUMENTHAL: I think that we need to strengthen our message. There's no question that strong is important. But right is important too. And we are standing, here in Congress, in favor of health insurance coverage for millions of Americans who otherwise will be at risk of losing their health care. That is a moral principle. We are standing strong on it. And I think it speaks to the moral fiber of our party as well as the political strength.
COLLINS: Also in Washington, we've seen the demolition of the East Wing playing out. One thing the White House did in recent days was say, who is paying for this. It's $350 million. That cost has gone up. There's a lot of corporations that have given money to it, according to this list that was given to us by the White House.
You sent those corporations, letters. What information are you seeking from them?
BLUMENTHAL: I'm seeking from those 37 corporations that are contributing $300 million, some of the major -- major corporations in the United States, Meta, Amazon, Google, Lockheed Martin, information about how much each is actually contributing, who solicited them, what kind of agreements they anticipate or enter into. In return, whether there's some kind of quid pro quo or pay to play.
The American people deserve to know whether or not there has been some kind of shakedown in effect. And knowing the way that Donald Trump operates, there may have been some agreement, implicit or indirect or explicit, that they would get more contracts, or their mergers would be approved, or that they would get permits for certain kinds of activities. And so, I'm asking these questions, of all the corporations that have contributed.
Remember, those visuals of the demolition of the White House -- of the East Wing of the White House, after Donald Trump promised it wouldn't be touched. The increase in the price tag, in effect, puts the White House on sale. It puts a For Sale sign on the lawn of the White House. And I want to know, because any sort of conflict of interest, the American people deserve to know.
And it may be, by the way, illegal, as a violation of what's called the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits the governments from spending money that hasn't been lawfully appropriated--
COLLINS: Yes.
BLUMENTHAL: --and it may violate the Constitution.
COLLINS: But, you know, Senator, some people might hear that and say, OK, but a corporation is not going to tell a senator if there was an implicit agreement with the White House when it came to a big donation they made to the ballroom. They're not going to say, Hey, yes, there is this quid pro quo here.
So, do you really think you're going to get that information that you're seeking?
BLUMENTHAL: Probably not from all of them, because they have personal and business and financial interests that they probably don't want to disclose. But the question that the American public can ask is, what are they hiding?
Second point. I am writing as the Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. If I were the Chairman, I'd have subpoena power, and they would have to answer. I'm hoping that maybe some of my Republican colleagues think it is in the public interest for the American public to know the answers to these questions.
COLLINS: We will see if they do.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, thank you for your time tonight.
BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.
COLLINS: And I mentioned that interview, that Elex Michaelson had with Governor Newsom. You can see the entire interview, and you should watch all of it. It will be on "THE STORY IS WITH ELEX MICHAELSON." That is debuting tonight, Midnight Eastern, 09:00 p.m. Pacific, for everyone who stays up late, only here on CNN, so make sure you watch that.
Up next. I mentioned what the President said about running in 2028. What he and his aides had to say about this idea that is blatantly unconstitutional. Earlier, on Air Force One. We'll let you listen to it and be the judge.
[21:40:00]
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COLLINS: On the second day of his trip to Asia, President Trump was asked by reporters, on Air Force One, about attempting to run for office again, which would be prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.
It's a question that he has been asked before. Remember, of course, Trump 2028 hats were on the Resolute Desk, when they invited those Democratic leaders over to the White House, just a few weeks ago.
[21:45:00]
In his most recent answer, though, the President left his options open, even as a potential 2028 Republican was standing behind him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I haven't really thought about it. We have some very good people, as you know.
We have one of them standing right here. We have JD, obviously, the Vice President is great. I think Marco is great. I think I'm not sure if anybody would run against those two. I think if they ever formed a group it would be unstoppable. I really do. I believe that. I would -- I would, I would love to do it. I have my best numbers ever. It's very terrible. I have my best numbers. If you read it--
REPORTER: Are you not ruling out a third term?
TRUMP: Am I not ruling it out? You'll have to tell me. All I can tell you is that we have a great, a great group of people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, if you're wondering why the President is being asked about this, it's because a key ally of his, Steve Bannon, has been arguing that there is a workaround, around the Constitution.
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STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: Well, he's going to get a third term. So Trump '28 -- Trump is going to be president in '28, and people just ought to get accommodated with that.
ZANNY MINTON BEDDOES, BRITISH JOURNALIST: So what about the 22nd Amendment?
BANNON: There's many different alternatives. At the appropriate time, we'll lay out what the plan is. But there's a plan, and President Trump will be the president in '28.
REPORTER: One theory on how you might try to serve a third term is that you could run as the Vice President.
TRUMP: Yes, I'd be allowed to do that.
REPORTER: Is it the White House's or the White House counsel's or your legal position--
TRUMP: No, you'd be allowed to do that. But I wouldn't -- I wouldn't do that. I think it's too cute.
REPORTER: You're ruling that out?
TRUMP: Yes, I would rule that out because it's too cute.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Joining me tonight is Jeffrey Rosen, who is the President and CEO of The National Constitution Center, and has a new book, "The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton Vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America," in stores now.
And what a perfectly timed read for this moment right now. And I just wonder -- I mean, I just want to be clear, the 22nd Amendment plainly states, No one can be elected president more than twice. I mean, that should basically end this entire conversation there. But in terms of how the President has been letting this float out there, as he did today when he was asked, Are you ruling it out? I wonder what that comment says to you.
JEFFREY ROSEN, AUTHOR, "THE PURSUIT OF LIBERTY": Well, the timing really is amazing, and some history is illuminating here.
My new book actually begins with the fact that both Hamilton and Jefferson feared a president who would overstay his term and refuse to leave office. And Hamilton's solution is a president elected for life, so he won't be tempted to subvert democratic elections. Jefferson's solution is a one-year term limit for the President, so he won't be tempted to run again.
In the end, amazingly, James Madison and some others favor a life term for the president. That fails, and they choose to have no term limits. But the rest -- for the rest of American history, people are worried about exactly this, a president who would refuse to leave office.
The 22nd Amendment is passed in 1947, after Franklin Roosevelt breaks the two-term limit and runs for four terms. And the goal is it says explicitly, No person shall be elected to the Office of the President more than twice. That seems as clear as it could be.
Now, as President Trump said, there is this workaround. He called it too cute. But the literal text would allow the President to run as someone else's Vice President, to get elected, then have the vice -- the president who is elected be resigned, and then he could take the office by secession rather than election. He ruled it out there and said it was too cute, but the text would allow that.
Short of that cute workaround, it's very hard to see how you could get around that textual limit. So we might find ourselves in exactly the situation that Hamilton and Jefferson feared, with the president extending his term and unconstitutionally refusing to leave office.
COLLINS: Yes, and I've covered Trump for 10 years now, and I do think it's important to say, one, I don't think he wants to be written off as a lame-duck president, which his aides fear, obviously, he will at some point in this term.
And two, there is a notion and a history of his, of saying something as a joke, and then it kind of takes on new meaning for him, the more that he says it. I mean, we saw this. People told us he would leave office in 2020, and that he wouldn't say that the election was stolen after a certain period. And obviously he still says that to this day.
But on your book, on presidential power, that's a really interesting look at it. You write about the two philosophies that Hamilton and Jefferson have as these threads that have kind of framed the last 249 years of our American democracy. And I wonder what you think they would make of the constitutional pressures that the country does see in moments like today.
ROSEN: Well, it's really remarkable how prescient Jefferson was. He literally, when he gets a copy of the Constitution, says, I'm worried that a future president might lose an election by a few votes, cry foul and refuse to leave office. So they were exactly afraid of this.
[21:50:00]
All previous republics have fallen because they'd succumbed to demagogues like Julius Caesar. The Founders are not sure that the system will work. They think what it requires is two things. The separation of powers. They think that Congress has got to do its job and check the president and stop him from being an elected dictator. And they really care about the virtue of the people and they think that people have to defend liberty, and also listen to differing points of view, so they don't get totally polarized.
At the end of his life, Jefferson places a bust of Hamilton across from his own, you can still see it at Monticello. He viewed Hamilton not as a hated opponent to be destroyed, but a respected, debating partner to be engaged with. And we've got to get back to that spirit, or else the Founders rightly feared that we may lose the Republic.
COLLINS: Yes, I loved how you wrote about that and what that how -- what that symbolized, basically, that he did that, after living -- after him, and just, taking someone who he fought and so fiercely disagreed with, and letting that continue.
Jeffrey Rosen, congrats on the book, and thank you for joining me tonight. It's great to have you.
ROSEN: Thank you so much.
COLLINS: And as he was speaking with reporters, the President also today revealed something that we did not previously know, about that recent visit that he took to Walter Reed. He got an MRI scan while he was there.
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TRUMP: I did, I got an MRI. It was perfect. I mean, I gave you, I gave you the full results. We had an MRI, and in the machine, you know, the whole thing.
REPORTER: Yes.
TRUMP: And it was perfect, yes.
REPORTER: Did he say what in particular they were looking for?
TRUMP: You can ask the doctors. In fact, we have doctors traveling with us, but I think they gave you a very conclusive -- Nobody has ever given you reports like I gave you. And if I didn't think it was going to be good, either, I would let you know negatively. I wouldn't run. I'd do something. But the doctor said some of the best reports for the age, some of the best reports they've ever seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: You heard the President touting his and his administration's transparency there. He declined to say, though, why doctors ordered this scan and why no one in his administration had said anything about it before.
As you'll recall, when the President was taken to Walter Reed and went back earlier this month, the White House described it as a routine yearly checkup. It raised eyebrows, because it came just six months after he had undergone a physical that his doctor said was the annual exam, back in April.
And here's what the White House said, then.
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KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This President is clearly committed to transparency. You in this room see him and hear from him on a daily basis. You in this room know from covering him, it's hard to keep up with him. He is a machine working around the clock every single day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Trump's latest health summary that was issued this month by the White House physician described the President as being in, quote, exceptional health, and said his second visit did include advanced imaging. And yet, no explicit mention of an MRI scan, which was not confirmed by the press secretary, even when she was directly asked about this last week.
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REPORTER: Any more details on the President's Walter Reed visit? The readout from his doctor mentioned 'advanced imaging.' What procedure was he referring to?
LEAVITT: Advanced imaging is something that presidents receive and people receive when they go to the doctor. And so we provide a detailed readout of that physical. And I would encourage you back to that. President's in--
REPORTER: Was it an MRI?
LEAVITT: President's in -- I don't know the exact imaging that took place. But as the physician's note said, the President is in incredibly good shape, and I think that's evidenced here every single day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Of course, we'll continue to ask questions and report out what this means, and why this MRI happened, and of course, what it means to the President's health.
Up next here for us, though. As the strongest storm is closing in on Jamaica right now, this year's strongest storm, the Hope Zoo in Kingston is moving fast tonight. They're trying to get hundreds of animals out before Hurricane Melissa makes landfall.
[21:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We're keeping a very close eye on Hurricane Melissa tonight. It remains a destructive Category 5 storm that has winds of 175 miles per hour, right now, where forecasters are saying it's expected to make landfall tomorrow morning on the southwestern coast of Jamaica. And it's a storm that could strengthen still even more in the coming hours.
It's already deadly. At least four people have been killed in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. And Jamaica's health minister told CNN that at least three people have died during storm preparations. Evacuations are underway right now along the coast.
We heard from the Prime Minister of Jamaica, who spoke to CNN tonight, about just the stakes of all of this.
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ANDREW HOLNESS, PRIME MINISTER OF JAMAICA: I don't believe there is any infrastructure within this region that could withstand a Category 5 storm. So, there could be significant dislocation.
And I urge all Jamaicans and people who are friendly well-wishers of Jamaica to continue to pray that this hurricane does not hit us directly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Over at the Hope Zoo, in Kingston, Jamaica, a Non-profit Wildlife Rescue Center, staffers scrambled, over the weekend, to get the zoo's 1,500 animals into shelters to ride out the storm. They wrote on Instagram that it's going to be a long few days, but just have to hope for the best right now.
We'll continue to follow the very latest on Hurricane Melissa, here at CNN.
Thank you so much for joining us.
"CNN NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP" starts now.
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ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST, CNN NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP: Tonight. The shutdown is about to get desperately real. 40 million Americans who rely on food stamps will soon be without them.
