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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Trump Stumps For Republicans In Alabama Ahead Of Midterms; Critical Midterm Elections Are Just Over A Month Away; Europe Gives In To U.S. Pressure For Diesel Release; Social Media Accounts Suggest Co- Pilot's Radical Leanings; Housing Bill Defeat Angers Spanish Protesters; Karine Jean-Pierre Warns Trump Making Mistake On Economy; Aired 12-1a ET

Aired October 03, 2026 - 00:00   ET

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

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GRANDMASTER FLASH, BARBADIAN-AMERICAN DJ: Where things are not quite exact, but that's what makes it beautiful.

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: The book again, it's called Birth of a Culture. Grandmaster Flash, thank you so much.

FLASH: I had a good time, and I appreciate you bringing me in. Thank you so much.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles.

Coming up, "The Story Is" new developments in a scary in flight incident. What we're learning about the Fly Dubai pilot who allegedly stabbed his coworker.

"The Story Is" the midterms, President Trump campaigning in one of the reddest states in the country.

And "The Story Is" the economy. We're breaking down new job numbers, the top adviser of three different presidents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles, "The Story Is" with Elex Michaelson.

MICHAELSON: It is 9:00 PM here in Southern California, midnight in Washington. President Trump back at the White House right now after a quick trip to Alabama to stump for Republicans. The midterm elections just over a month away, people voting in some states already, and control of congress hanging in the balance.

The president's team believes high voter turnout might boost the GOP's odds of holding power and that the President can help with that. Despite the fact that his approval rating is at an all-time low. Some Republican candidates are openly breaking with him. His advisers have put together a calendar that has him on the campaign trail for much of October. This rally in Mobile, part of that strategy, and the president talked about the strategy Friday night.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They said, why are you going to Alabama? Why are you going to Oklahoma? Why are you going to Texas? But, especially in the last two in Texas, because we have to win that race. Ken Paxton has to win. But here, you're going to win your races. But in the case of Oklahoma and Alabama, I'm here to say, hello, I love you, and I'm coming really as a sign of respect. So I'm asking you to pretend that I'm on the ballot. Here's what happens. When I'm not on the ballot, we don't do well. When I'm on the ballot, we kill everybody.

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MICHAELSON: Joining me now on "The Story Is," for the first time, Tony Strickland, Republican California State Senator, and Christy Smith, former Democratic California State Assemblymember. Welcome to "The Story Is" both of you. Welcome for the first time. Got a lot of golden state in the house tonight. Why isn't he in a swing state? Why Alabama?

TONY STRICKLAND, REPUBLICAN CALIFORNIA STATE SENATOR: Well, it's not different than when Obama or Biden came to California. It wasn't that Californians needed him to visit. A lot of it --

MICHAELSON: But they usually campaign here. They usually fundraise here, not campaign.

STRICKLAND: But that's what happened today in Alabama.

MICHAELSON: Yeah.

STRICKLAND: In fact, they raised more money than ever before in Alabama for the Republican party. $1.1 million was -- whenever the POTUS goes to whatever state, it's a fundraiser and a rally. And so coach Tuberville is there and has been a loyal Trump supporter for a long period of time. He's running for Governor. And so my guess is he's paying back someone who's been very loyal to him, and that's probably why he's in Alabama tonight.

MICHAELSON: Is that a bad sign?

CHRISTY SMITH, FORMER DEMOCRATIC CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLYMEMBER: It's a bad sign. When consultants and the team around the President are sending him to places where he has large friendly audiences, it's not great. Because typically you'd be sending that President to swing states where he can make a difference in red to blue seats, in this case blue to red seats, and he just can't make that kind of difference. He doesn't have that political sway right now. I mean, he's definitely, after this midterm, a lame duck President, and I think they're trying to put him where he does the least harm.

MICHAELSON: I mean, another particularly bad sign for the Republicans is what's happening in North Carolina. News on CNN that a top GOP group there has paused spending in North Carolina in the latest senate warning sign. That is where Michael Whatley, the former Republican Chairman is running against Roy Cooper, who is the Governor of North Carolina going for that senate seat.

Last time you were here, we talked about this idea of these tough calls that are made right at the end where you either get the money or you don't get the money. You know what it feels like sometimes to not get the money.

SMITH: Yeah. No. Absolutely. And especially in a cycle like this, those last minute dollars can mean everything in the world. But like we talked about before, Roy Cooper is a classic retail politician. He's got great favorability in his own state. He's held his own in this race, and I think Republicans are moving resources where they think they can do more good.

MICHAELSON: I mean, how are those decisions made?

STRICKLAND: Oh, it's a chessboard. Again, you're looking at different areas and different areas where you think you can get across the finish line. We have about six, seven states that are pretty much within the margin of error, and Roy Cooper is a good candidate for the Democrats, Governor of a State. So when you're doing the chessboard, again, historically, the party out of power usually loses seats. And so, I firmly believe they're making a smart decision by moving away from North Carolina and going into the -- some of those other swing states. For example, we have Michele Tafoya in Minnesota who's within the margin of error, and no one's talking about that race.

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Michigan, we're in the margin of error in that race. And so I'd rather take those resources from North Carolina, steal a few seats from the Democrat column.

MICHAELSON: So you're basically admitting that North Carolina's lost?

STRICKLAND: Well, I don't think we're going to win North Carolina. I do believe that the Governor is a great candidate for the Democratic side. I'd rather take those resources and put him into Minnesota and Michigan, because I think we have a tremendous opportunity to pick up those two seats for Republicans. Those are actual pickups.

MICHAELSON: Another thing that the President was talking about on the stump tonight was voter ID. We know he wants congress to pass the SAVE Act, something that they did not do. And here's his take.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Why would anybody vote against voter ID? Because they want to cheat. Why would anybody vote against -- why would anybody vote against proof of citizenship? Because they want to cheat.

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MICHAELSON: So here in California, you actually authored something that's on the ballot. It's one of the biggest things on the ballot right now, and it's sort of a national discussion. And it's over the concept of voter ID. How does it work?

STRICKLAND: Well, first of all, our initiative is way different than the president's. Here in California, a mail in ballot is very unpopular, and we keep mail in ballot in Proposition 39. That's number one. Number two, we actually, in our initiative, says we're going to actually audit all 58 counties and make sure we purge the voter rolls every two years. And the most important thing to understand here is we need to make sure that all the votes are accounted, that are accurate, and we're the ones that are the outlier in California. We're only one of 14 states that doesn't use voter ID. In fact, almost every democracy around the world use identification in order to vote.

MICHAELSON: So what his initiative does, it says that if you're going to go vote in-person, you have to present a government ID. Or if you're going to return a mail in ballot, you have to put, four -- last four numbers of either your Social Security Number or your driver's license or some voter ID. Why do you think that's a bad thing?

SMITH: Because it's been proven that those kind of measures disproportionately impact especially women, women who have had name changes, whether through marriage, through divorce, people who've been adopted and had a name change, and people from underprivileged communities where maybe they're not driving, maybe they don't have a driver's license. Sure, everyone has a Social Security Number and we can quibble about whether that's effective or not, but California has also had one of the most expansive attempts at getting everyone who wants the opportunity to vote the ability to vote without any problems of note, right?

This whole idea of cheating and abuse of the system just isn't there. And this President himself, in multiple lawsuits and all of the claims of him and his prior attorneys, which have all been proven false, when there are incidents of cheating, they are miniscule, sometimes come down to a mistake, but they're certainly not worth disenfranchising the numbers of people who are disenfranchised by measures like this.

STRICKLAND: Oh, first of all, when you look at the numbers, the states that actually do it, North Carolina being the most recent one, they actually have increased voter participation, not decreased voter participation when you do voter ID laws. And, again, we're the outlier. We're the only one in 14 states that doesn't do this. In almost every country around the world that does democracy, you need a ID in order to do that.

And when we look at the signatures that we have right now, over a 100,000 signatures are thrown out every election cycle, because your signature changes over time. This brings about more faith in the election system, because our democracy doesn't work if people don't have faith in that election outcome.

MICHAELSON: To her point though about this idea of potentially disenfranchising people.

STRICKLAND: The numbers show absolutely different. In every other state, North Carolina being the most recent one, you actually have increased participation, not a decreased participation. And I'll also point out, you need an ID in every part of your life from getting on the plane, from getting prescription medication, from opening up a bank account. ID is part of our everyday lives in this country.

MICHAELSON: And you like one sentence to wrap it up.

SMITH: Yeah. I mean, you -- if you just look at the rollout of real ID in the State of California and how long it took and how many extensions were required in that process. if we're talking about rolling this out over a decade to make sure everyone can get a state paid sponsored ID, maybe. But in the meantime, people are going to be left out.

MICHAELSON: We'll see what happens with that on the November ballot. People already have their ballots in hand. They've been mailed out, so some people already voting on this measure Prop. 39. You guys are going to be back to talk in our next hour, including another big measure, the billionaire's tax, which is also getting attention around the world. Bernie Sanders in town this weekend for that. Tony Strickland, Christy Smith, thanks so much for joining us on "The Story Is."

To other news now, we head to Europe where they're giving, to U.S. pressure to release a massive amount of diesel from its emergency reserves. French President Emmanuel Macron making the announcement after a video conference with G7 leaders on Friday.

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EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (translated): We decided to release strategic stocks of diesel and crude oil under the coordination of the International Energy Agency.

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It will therefore meet in the coming hours or days to organize this and enable the release of up to a 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil. We agreed that there would be no export bans among G7 members, meaning that there would be coordination and cooperation and no export prohibitions on any product categories whatsoever. This is a very important point as there are rumors in the markets today that drove up prices.

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MICHAELSON: The White House has been pressing Europe to make the move, hoping to lower fuel prices ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. Experts say Europe didn't have much of a choice because the U.S. threatened to ban its fuel exports across the Atlantic. But the decision could backfire on Europeans if there are more supply problems on the world market. President Trump later said U.S. fuel prices will come down.

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MICHAELSON: There's a lot of diesel, and they're going to be making a major world contribution, and so are we. And we're not going to be doing the export ban. We're going to be doing what we're supposed to do, but I did ask them and they're going to -- we're going to have a lot of oil. Very shortly, as soon as Iran ends, which won't be long, not going to be long, you're going to have oil go down to the price it was before, maybe even lower than I got it at the beginning.

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MICHAELSON: We are getting more information about the copilot accused of causing Wednesday's violent incident on a Fly Dubai flight. He was the copilot accused of attacking and injuring the Captain in mid- flight. That is before passengers rushed into the cockpit and subdued him. But officials have released little information about him, and his motives are still under investigation.

CNN looked into social media accounts associated with his name, which has now been confirmed by multiple sources. As Jeremy Diamond reports, we found some disturbing posts.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: This is the first time that we are able to report, the name of the suspected attacker of that Fly Dubai flight. According to one of the sources we spoke to, his name is Hamam Al-Hammami. He was born in the United Arab Emirates to an Omani father and a Syrian mother. We found a LinkedIn page, that has since been taken down with that name, which one of those sources confirmed as being, the same copilot of that Fly Dubai flight.

This LinkedIn page shows him having worked for Oman Air for seven years until February of 2025 before joining Morocco's flagship airline. I also spoke to a source who confirmed that the copilot of this Fly Dubai flight had indeed worked for that very same Moroccan national airline. There is a video that was posted from the cockpit of an airplane at Dubai Airport that shows El Al planes, Israel's flagship carrier. That video ends with a photo of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Al-Qaeda leader who took over after Osama bin Laden's death.

Another man is also shown at the end of that video. That man was responsible for a 2009 suicide bombing in Afghanistan. Now that video was actually posted about 9 hours after Hammami allegedly tried to hijack that Fly Dubai flight. So it's not clear how that video got off, whether it was prescheduled, whether he had somebody else post it. We've also analyzed a deleted Twitter account that shows Hammami railing against mixed gender workplaces and expressing other misogynistic and some deeply religious views as well.

So you take all that information, you also take the fact that we have multiple sources saying that he was removed from flight training, at Oman Air last year over concerns about his extremist views. And then somehow he gets hired at Fly Dubai. Now we don't know whether Fly Dubai was aware of these radical views that he had, whether they had conducted a thorough background check. All of that is still unknown at this point and Fly Dubai for now is not commenting saying that there is an ongoing investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MICHAELSON: Jeremy Diamond with that news. We're joined now live from San Clemente by Ross Aimer, the CEO of Arrow Consulting Experts. He's also a retired United Air Airlines pilot. Welcome to "The Story Is."

ROSS AIMER, RETIRED UNITED AIRLINES CAPTAIN: Hello, Elex.

MICHAELSON: Talk to us about how this guy got hired. I mean, lot of people are hearing that and saying, how did this guy get a job?

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AIMER: Fly Dubai is a low cost carrier, and it's kind of with the explosion of commercial traffic in that area of the world. I suspect that they dropped the ball on the checks. In this country, we look -- we must look 10 years in the background of pilot and his training records, but I'm afraid they may have dropped the ball on this.

MICHAELSON: And, of course, you're talking about the American system, which may be different from that system. Talk to us about the -- his pilot, not the copilot, but the pilot, and the fact that he was able to get the door open, and was able to save the lives of those on the plane. As a pilot, talk about how remarkable this particular story is.

AIMER: I don't believe in miracles, but I'm -- in this particular case, I think I might change my mind. There was some incredible amount of luck involved in this. This captain was heroic and smart. He knew that if -- regardless of his injuries, if he couldn't open that door, that fortress door, he would have been killed, and the airplane and everybody else would have crashed just like it happened with a Germanwings accident several years ago.

MICHAELSON: What does it tell you? I think we've got some images of the broken rudder. How is that a clue in terms of what happened here?

AIMER: Well, that's another thing. I take back all the bad things I said about 737 MAX. In this particular case, I've stayed together with the incredible amount of drag and on the body of the aircraft. When you're going over a 100 knots over the -- what we call VNE, velocity never exceed over a 100 knots over that, I'm surprised that the wings didn't fall off. Just the rudder was broken. This was an incredible, again, incident that happened to this particular flight.

So many different things. For example, a lady being in the bathroom hearing their conversation or the scuffling in the cockpit and there's a deadhead crew on board. That's another amazing thing. We normally don't carry spare crews in the back of the airplane. And one of the things that I saw on the ADS-B data that the engines may have been off during that dive. I'm using my prop airplane here. This is not a 737. This is a 787. But when the airplane goes down, almost nose down, I believe that somebody turned off the engines. Now it could have been the copilot trying to make sure that this airplane crashes and turned off the engines.

However, one of the first thing we teach the pilots in unusual attitude training is pull back on the power and engines are off and this airplane possibly did what we call it phugoid oscillation and pulled itself slowly out of a die. And those engines being off helped the matter considerably.

MICHAELSON: It's a great visualization, and we're so grateful that's what happened. Ross, thank you so much for being with us. Really appreciate it.

AIMER: Our pleasure, Elex.

MICHAELSON: To the U.K. now where the man accused of murdering a former British lawmaker is now facing new terrorism charges. Authorities have charged Joshua Kerry with preparing terrorist acts between May 2024 and July 2026. Kerry is already facing charges in the murder of Anne Widdecombe. The reform U.K. spokesperson and former conservative member of parliament was found dead at her home in Southwest England in July. The new terrorism charges include an alleged plot against reform U.K. leader Nigel Farage seen here. Kerry is expected to make an appearance related to the terrorism charge at court in London next Wednesday.

Still ahead this hour, Cornell University facing growing backlash over its handling of a former student's gang rape allegations. We'll have the latest on that case from New York ahead.

Plus, she survived an execution attempt. Now a Tennessee death row inmate's medical and legal future remain very much uncertain. That story, next.

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MICHAELSON: Cornell University is pausing some of its fundraising efforts as it faces growing scrutiny over its handling of a former student's gang rape allegations. That former student says she was sexually assaulted by multiple men over the course of several hours at a fraternity party and alleges the university failed to adequately address the crime after it was reported.

New York's Attorney General Letitia James now taking over the criminal investigation as a special prosecutor after Governor Kathy Hochul said she had lost faith in the local DA's ability to fairly oversee that case. Cornell's own Title IX investigation found at least one of the men violated the school's policy against sexual exploitation and sexual assault, but the university did not involve local police.

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CNN's Jason Carroll once again in New York.

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KATHY HOCHUL, NEW YORK GOVERNOR: What we learned yesterday raised even more troubling questions about what was done and not done after this young woman came forward. JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New York's Governor visibly angry and focusing her on the Tompkins County district attorney and the Cornell police department.

HOCHUL: In what world would the police learn from a victim that she'd been literally gang raped while intoxicated by five men in a fraternity house and not elevate those allegations to the district attorney?

CARROLL (voice-over): Governor Hochul referred to crucial statements Jane Doe allegedly made to Cornell police in 2024. A New York Times report showed, according to a university internal investigation, Jane Doe allegedly told campus police, I can say with 100 percent confidence, I was raped. That allegation was not included in what university police handed over to the district attorney.

HOCHUL: Them sending a partial record over is a -- in my judgment, a failure.

CARROLL (voice-over): Announcing she had lost faith in the DA, the Governor also appointed Attorney General Letitia James to lead the investigation.

LETITIA JAMES, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: Every New Yorker deserves to know that when they report a crime, it will be investigated fully and fairly, that they will be seen and heard.

HOCHUL: According to the New York Times report, there were about 120 pages of Jane Doe's interviews with Cornell police and the school's Title IX office. But the Tompkins County District Attorney telling CNN earlier this week, he only received a six page statement, which did not include her explicit rape allegation. The DA says he supports the governor's decision, saying it has become clear that we were not provided the full picture by the university.

THOMAS GIUFFRA, JANE DOE'S ATTORNEY: I think there was a lot of protection of the university and its reputation. And I don't like the word cover up, but it feels like a cover up was going on.

CARROLL (voice-over): Some students here telling us they welcome the Attorney General taking over the investigation, many still critical of the university's response, saying there has not been enough transparency, accusing the university's President of not publicly addressing the issue enough.

EMELY GUTIERREZ, CORNELL UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I think administration needs to talk to our students, not just handle it and let our students have to do it.

CARROLL (voice-over): On Tuesday, Cornell put out a FAQ page and said campus police investigated the matter in 2024 and shared all investigatory information with the Tompkins County district attorney's office. But today, they changed it to say Cornell police shared much less than that. Only the victim's sworn statement and the Snapchat with the DA's office. We visited the university president's office today but were unable to meet him, and he did not respond to our multiple calls requesting for an interview. Now the investigation in the hands of the state.

HOCHUL: Every parent who sends their child off to college expects them to be safe. And if something terrible happens, the student deserves to know that the people they turn to will listen to them, protect them, and fight for them.

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MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Jason Carroll for that reporting. Attorneys for Tennessee death row inmate Christie -- Christa Pike says that she is unconscious and on a ventilator after Wednesday's failed execution by lethal injection. They say that she's being treated for the effects of pentobarbital after surviving two doses of the typically fatal drug and has significant injuries to both arms. Pike's legal team has filed an emergency motion to preserve evidence from the failed execution and is calling on Tennessee's Governor to commute her death sentence. The Governor has not responded to that request, but has ordered an independent review of the execution to determine what went wrong.

Still ahead this hour, the final jobs report before the midterm elections. The former Director of the National Economic Council who advised three presidents on set with me live next. Plus, protesters in Spain angry after a housing bill aimed at protecting vulnerable tenants fails in parliament. Our reporter is on the ground with the major impact on the Spanish government.

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MICHAELSON: Welcome back. I'm Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at today's top stories. The U.S. coast guard has intercepted a ship carrying fuel to Cuba while the Trump administration imposes a fuel blockade on that island. The Coast Guard says that the ship was stowing the fuel in its ballast tanks. They believe the ship used so called dark fleet tactics to avoid detection in the Caribbean Sea. Last June, the coast guard seized another vessel suspected of carrying fuel to Cuba.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration has closed its investigation into a cyclospora outbreak. Nearly 20,000 cases were reported from May 1st through August. Two people died from the parasite. It causes extreme stomach upset. The FDA says there is strong evidence linking the outbreak to iceberg lettuce grown in Mexico and distributed by Taylor Farms.

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U.S. economy hit a soft patch in September as the labor market added just 29,000 jobs. Unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2 percent. Latest federal jobs report, the last before the midterm election, showed wage growth slowed to its lowest level since May 2021, and hiring in recent months was weaker than previously reported.

Joining me now to talk about economy is Gene Sperling. He's the only person to serve as National Economic Director under two presidents, Clinton and Obama. He also served as a Senior Adviser to President Biden. So a thing or two about the economy. And so when you see the job numbers, what goes through your mind?

GENE SPERLING, FMR. WHITE HOUSE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN COORDINATOR: Well, I'll divide it in three categories. The jobs, the unemployment rate, and then the pay, the wages. The jobs was disappointing. No question. 29,000, as you mentioned, they revised down 60,000 for the president, he's only averaged 39,000 jobs per month on his watch compared to a 122,000 a month in 2024.

So this is below, obviously, what he would have liked and particularly, as you say in the last report before the midterm. So I thought the jobs was disappointing. Unemployment rate was not quite as bad. It did tick up. But because there's a slowdown in the people entering the labor force, you were still able to keep an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent, which is historically pretty good.

I think the biggest problem both in terms of the mood of the country and perhaps politically is the third category wages. This is the sixth month in a row where wages don't keep pace with inflation. That means if you're a typical worker and you've been making $25 an hour, that $25 an hour is not -- is buying you less than it used to. So that just makes the affordability crisis that much more intense.

And I think the problem for the President is people see that this has been a self-inflicted wound, that it is the tariffs and the reckless care of the energy situation in the war with Iran that is leading to this problem.

MICHAELSON: Because the wages are staying where they are and the prices are all going higher, people really feel it, which is why affordability is political issue number one. The White House, other countries trying to deal with that some, the G7 announcing today a 100 million barrels of oil are going to be released from Europeans. Diesel going to be released. Does that make an impact?

SPERLING: Not much. I mean, I -- diesel was about $3.84 the day before the war. Even after that announcement, it's still about $6.37. So if you're spending $2.60 or $2.50 more, you're still -- it's still a punch in the gut. And this might help a few cents, but not as much it's going to matter. And, often though, I would say having been to the White House, hey, you do whatever you can. But in this case, there are actually things this President could do.

If he could manage the end of this war, he's the first to say, he's been saying it for many months, that would bring down prices. So this might help a little, but probably just a little.

MICHAELSON: He said that again tonight, that if when the war ends right after the midterms, inflation is going to go way down, and the prices are going to go way down. His, economic adviser, who's in your old job, Kevin Hassett, was out today doing interviews trying to talk up the economy. Watch this.

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KEVIN HASSETT, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR: And so the surprising thing about the job numbers is that they sort of bounce up and down. But if you look at the data from this week, it's proving that Trumponomics is really working, and this is one reason why markets are celebrating so much. And so we're very, very happy.

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MICHAELSON: He called it Trumponomics. In the Biden administration, there was Bidenomics. And Karine Jean-Pierre, who served as the White House Press Secretary for Joe Biden, had a really interesting op ed in the New York Times today. We want to put some of that up on, your screen. And she said, that the truth is we had a stale message and outdated models for delivering it. It cost Mr. Biden and eventually Vice President Harris dearly. President Trump is now making a mistake even more damaging, essentially arguing that you can't tell people how to feel when it comes to the economy.

As somebody who's been there, who's been tasked with going out and doing those interviews and trying to do that, what was sort of the lessons you learned?

MICHAELSON: And -- was in many conversations with Karine, look, Bill Clinton used to tell me when I worked for him, whenever you say anything economically or you write anything for me economically, I want you to imagine what somebody in the 50 counties most economically hurting thinks.

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Does -- will it apply to them? And, the other thing that I always like to tell people is every family is the world's leading expert on how they are doing. So it is -- you can tell people that there are other things in the economy doing better. But if you don't relate to how they're feeling. Now, I think we could have done better on this. I understand President Biden, you wanted to let people know that our job growth and GDP growth was all better than any other advanced country.

But, imagine somebody who's in Iowa right now, and they're in the farming industry, and they're paying $2.60 more per diesel. They're getting killed. They got killed on fertilizer that has to go through the Strait of Hormuz and is now going to be up 15 percent. And they hear Kevin say, this is all great. Markets are celebrating. Well, markets were celebrating because the -- because, actually, they thought the economy was a bit weaker, so they were less likely to raise rates. And so I agree with Karine. We could have done it better, and they're, I think making even a worse mistake in how they communicate.

MICHAELSON: And that reality is why a state like Iowa, where President Trump won big in 2024, now looks like it could elect Democratic Governor and a Democratic Senator. At least those races are close. And based off of the polls from a couple years ago. Those should not be close. Gene Sperling, thanks so much for being here.

SPERLING: Thanks so much.

MICHAELSON: I really appreciate it. We want to take you to some live pictures right now from Madrid where it is now Saturday morning and thousands of protesters remain camped out after the Spanish parliament rejected a housing bill aimed at protecting certain vulnerable tenants from being evicted. That bill was an attempt to quell widespread anger over the recent eviction of an 87-year-old woman. Despite the bill failing, the demonstrators reiterated their commitment to continue their encampment as well as organizing protests around the country.

Spanish media report that the country's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez may call a snap parliamentary election in the wake of this bill's defeat.

Stay with us on CNN. We'll be right back. It will take you to the state of Georgia where John King is getting a sense of what people are saying.

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MICHAELSON: The state of Georgia is often in the Republican dominated Deep South, but it has become increasingly more purple than Republican red. The question, can the trend continue in this year's midterms? CNN's John King talks to voters in several parts of that state.

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JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Early to work at Rebel Tea House, Christine Nguyen first opened these doors four years ago. Six employees then, 18 now. A success story, but plenty of stress.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cost has risen 18 percent across the board for us. It has been a struggle for a lot of people to get out there and to sort of purchase goods, so we're grateful that we do have such a good local community that will show up for the small businesses.

KING (voice-over): This is Decatur in DeKalb County, the Atlanta suburbs. Decision time as Georgia picks a new governor and decides whether to send democrat John Ossoff back to the senate.

KING: And so the keiki at the bottom is the sugar?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. The keiki at the bottom is the sugar.

KING (voice-over): Likely (inaudible). She likes how he mixes it up on social media and sees Democrats in congress as more likely to help with a major business goal.

Right now, for us to afford health care, it's not like I can work any harder to get it. It's -- it has to be something that comes from a bigger policy change.

KING: Right.

KING (voice-over): Quinn tends to vote blue, but is less certain in the Governor's race. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is the Democrat. Health care executive Rick Jackson, the Republican. Data centers is a big issue.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Energy cost has already gone up. Being able to differentiate between whether or not it ties in with the data centers would be nice to know. But the biggest thing is how it affects the community and the people living in those areas.

KING (voice-over): Taxes and safety also on her list.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to wait to see what the debates will say.

KING: Georgia's recent history is deep red. A Republican Governor for 23 years now, Republican controlled the legislature for 22 years, and Georgia has voted Republican in eight of the last 10 presidential elections. In 2020 though, Joe Biden narrowly carried Georgia. And in early 2021, Ossoff and fellow Democrat Raphael Warnock won runoff elections for both Georgia's U.S. senate seats. So is Georgia still a red state, a purple state, or a state about to tip blue?

It's a big and legitimate question because of the rapid pace of demographic change here. Back in 2000, Georgia's population was 65 percent white. That's down to 48 percent now.

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Blacks were 29 percent of the Georgia population in 2000. That's up to 32 percent. Hispanics were 5 percent back in 2000, more than 12 percent now. And the Asian vote is also growing fast. Just 2 percent of the population back in 2000, now above 5 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So this is Marietta campus.

KING (voice-over): Carrie Folkes lives in Atlanta, sees the change every drive to his graduate school studies in Marietta. Suburban Cobb County was solid red 15 years ago, solid blue now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of the programs were found...

KING (voice-over): But Folkes still sees a lot of conservative bible belt outside of the suburbs, and he worries some younger students don't share his zeal for voting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gen Z is just apathetic toward all of it. They don't see any sort of feasibility in voting because it's all just going to be terrible anyway. Why are we a part of this? And to some extent, I had that as well as a younger person.

KING (voice-over): The governor's race is his test.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like, has there been enough talk, enough push for people to see, oh, we can have a black woman in office? So I think that's where the skepticism comes in.

KING: Georgia's never had a woman governor. It's never had a black governor. And it's never had a former Atlanta mayor become governor. You think she can knock all those three down in one election?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope that she can. It would be great if she did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're trying to stay in Cobb County because that's where my son's job is.

KING (voice-over): Powder Springs is near the western edge Cobb County, about 25 miles from Atlanta. Sante Vilano Willis would have voted for Donald Trump in 2024 had President Biden stayed in the race, but she went for Vice President Harris in the end.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was really trying to go with the lesser of two evils. Sorry to categorize her that way, but -- yeah.

KING (voice-over): Unhappy now with losses in crypto investments she blames on Trump, unhappy with the Iran war and with gas and grocery prices.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why is everything always somebody else's fault? When do you take responsibility for what you put in place?

KING (voice-over): A fan of senator Ossoff, but Vilano Willis lived in Atlanta when Bottoms was mayor and says she often didn't feel safe.

KING: She would break three barriers in one election if she won. That matter to you at all?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nope. Nope. I want the person who's most qualified who cares about all the people.

KING: Do you like Mr. Jackson or is it just you can't vote for her?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like some of the things he's done, but no. She -- I can't vote for her. I won't being a black woman, all that, I'm -- she don't get my vote for that.

KING (voice-over): The Port of Savannah is all the way east, Chatham County.

KING: All aboard.

KING (voice-over): Lifelong Republican Randy Powell lists immigration and taxes as his top issues, and he says it is unfair to blame just Trump and Republicans for high prices and high mortgage rates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I put the blame on both parties because they're not talking. No longer than 400 days.

KING (voice-over): A flashback from 2009. I met Powell here 17 years ago, a Savannah police officer who at the age of 50 was called back to military service and sent to Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The soldier always does what he stole.

KING (voice-over): That war was unpopular and brought big political change. The current war is unpopular too with a big election just ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel he did the right thing. President Trump loves America. He loves the people and, granted there's -- this is short term pain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. Yeah.

KING (voice-over): Powell loves retirement. He politely spars with neighbors who are Democrats and during a lap around the lake was quick to point out his Republican friends.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's another two of my Republican friends.

KING (voice-over): He hopes Republicans hold the house and says if Georgia and other blue senate seats flipped red, maybe Trump could get more done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we can get 60, we can start passing.

KING: Assaf's counterargument would be if the Democrats take the senate, maybe they can force Trump to talk.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know what? Trump's doing the best he can. President Trump's doing the best he can when it comes to the American people.

KING (voice-over): Powell is as upbeat as they come, but he knows his midterm hopes might be unrealistic. Savannah is 250 miles from Atlanta, but also a big part of Georgia's shift. George W. Bush was the last Republican to win Chatham County in a presidential race 26 years ago, back before Powell became a grandfather and was sent off to war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ties are changing. We're getting people from other states that are moving down here because one, they like the low taxes. They like the lifestyle and everything. But with that comes change in our voting percentages. John King, CNN, Savannah, Georgia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: John King in CNN's home state of Georgia. Have our top stories when we come back. Stay with us.

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MICHAELSON: Story is baseball. The Atlanta Braves heading to LA to take on the Dodgers in the MLB postseason. The team and fans giving the players a red carpet send off. Braves fan lining up the team's bus route to cheer them on. The team and fans hope to keep up the momentum after winning the National League wild card series against longtime rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.

Now the braves will take on the Dodgers with game one of the best of five division series here in LA on Saturday night. And no Dodgers fans don't do something like that for the early rounds. They only do that after they win World Series, which they've done the last two years in a row.

Thanks for watching, and you can tell who I'm rooting for. Thanks for watching the first hour of "The Story Is." The next hour starts right now.