Angie Nixon, Rep. Mike Turner, more — Face the Nation Full Broadcast - Oct. 18, 2026

[0:01] I'm Margaret Brennan in Washington and this week on Face the Nation midterm elections campaigning [0:07] enters the home stretch and President Trump's latest move to ease pressure on Vladimir Putin [0:12] sparks fury among some Republicans. From east to west and far north to deep south aids down [0:19] to the sweet 16 for the 2026 candidates even for the politician whose name won't actually [0:25] appear on any ballot this year what an honor I love doing this stuff you know this is worth the [0:32] eight hours of the plane and don't forget I got eight hours going back too the president says his [0:38] quest for a red state romp is working so I think these rallies have changed everything I think a [0:44] lot of people that maybe were having trouble won't have so much trouble but I feel I owe it to the [0:49] Republican Party but will the rallies be enough to reverse those hurricane force headwinds the [0:55] president's party is facing we have brand new polling on that Texas race it's one of the tightest [1:02] toss-ups in the country Democrats face their own tough challenges like getting a fractured party [1:08] to go out and vote if not for them then against Trump's Republican candidate are you ready to put [1:16] an end to corruption that's driving up our prices and ruining our democracy it's who we'll also look [1:29] at the president's latest move to make it easier for Vladimir Putin to sell oil an executive order [1:35] freezing the just past Lindsey Graham law intended to cut off funding for Putin's war chest Ohio Republican [1:42] Congressman Mike Turner and North Dakota Senator Kevin Kramer will weigh in on that and we'll talk with [1:49] Florida Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon it's all just ahead on face the nation good morning and [2:10] welcome to face the nation with just two weeks and two days until November 3rd there is no better way [2:16] to begin the broadcast today than with our executive director of elections and surveys Anthony Salvato [2:23] with our brand new Texas poll Anthony good morning CBS estimates Democrats have the edge to take the house [2:31] they need four seats to take the Senate how can they do it well you set the scene through the fall [2:39] the Democrats have put a lot of Senate races in play in a lot of red Republican leaning states Texas is a [2:46] really good example of that so let me take you there what you've got here in the matchup between [2:50] Tallarico and Paxson our new poll shows this really as tight as can be Margaret at 51 49 but the story in [2:58] there is a common theme that we see running through a lot of these races one is can the Republican base [3:07] consolidate behind their candidates here in Texas you see at least because they're the party's nominee [3:12] is one reason that folks are backing Paxson but at the same time you also see a big uh a big thing here [3:20] where you've got these party breaks Tallarico doing better with independence and also better with people [3:26] who say that they're hurting financially because of prices that's a common theme and I'm going to take [3:31] you back to the map now and show you the rest of these places that we're really watching for one thing [3:37] Ohio that's another state that the president won fairly easily that we see as a toss-up I can take [3:44] you out to Alaska this is another toss-up again a Republican leaning state and there are a couple others [3:51] two to just remind folks Iowa it's leaning red right now in this race but certainly competitive [3:56] even Kansas is another spot that we're going to be watching closely on election night in that one and [4:02] again to remind folks this is a place the president won easily but is in play now so that's the Democrats [4:10] challenge that comes along with that expanded map one other point though because it's really important as [4:15] we go you've got to watch the for the Democrats to hold on to places that they already have so [4:22] Michigan this is a toss-up they'd have to hold up and then another one I'm going to show you Maine [4:27] because this one's interesting Susan Collins running for re-election in a state that Kamala Harris won [4:33] this race is neck and neck too and that's a toss-up probably also one the Democrats would have to have [4:39] so the last time you were here you told us Democratic voters were telling you they're more likely to show [4:44] up at the polls than Republicans were is that still the case it is and I'm going to show you a slide [4:50] that kind of tells the tale here this is from our house estimates and you see this gap between the [4:57] Democrats who say they're definitely going to vote and the Republicans who say they're definitely going [5:03] to vote this is driving a lot of the gaps you see in the polling and it's also driving the political [5:08] narrative the president hitting the campaign trail trying to boost that Republican turnout because [5:13] Republicans especially if they say inflation has hit them hard they're not going to vote for [5:17] Democrats but they might stay home and that's everything turnout Anthony Salvato thank you thanks [5:24] and we're joined now by Ohio Republican Congressman Mike Turner good morning and thanks for being here [5:30] in person a lot to get to with you but let's start on politics Ohio has been reliably Republican but [5:36] you've got a competitive gubernatorial race and Senate race in Minnesota in Iowa in Michigan and in Maine [5:44] Republicans have been positioning themselves as independent of the president on some issues take a [5:49] listen when Trump is right I'll work with him when he's wrong I'll stand up for Minnesota we need to [5:57] lower gas prices in this country we need to lower diesel prices but I don't think we need to be making a deal [6:01] with Russia to do it here in Michigan we know that Canada is not our enemy we need to end this tariff war [6:07] now I agree that the president did not have a good plan he should have anticipated the closure [6:16] of the strait of her moves I know you've been endorsed by President Trump you did appear at a rally [6:23] with him but do you feel it would help to create some distance like they did well as you know I don't run [6:31] with the president I don't run from the president it's one of the reasons why you have me on this [6:34] show because the fact that that I have my my own agenda and I think what's important as your poster [6:42] has indicated he's in he's talking of of trends what's most important as he ended his presentation [6:48] as Anthony said this is about who gets out to vote and everybody needs to get out and vote you know [6:53] Margaret my very first race I won by 244 votes out of 44,000 it's really really important as to who [7:01] gets out and vote so my message would be to everyone is to get out and vote and also when they go to the [7:07] polls they need to make sure that they vote in every race it's amazing the number of drop-offs that [7:12] people have as they go down the ballot people need to vote in every race and they need to get out and vote [7:17] but clearly those candidates felt they needed to say that Fox had a poll this week showing six in [7:22] ten respondents were extremely concerned about government corruption AP had one that said six [7:27] in ten adults believe Trump is illegally profiting from the presidency or at least doing something [7:32] unethical your local paper the Columbus Dispatch wrote it could not endorse the Republican Senate [7:38] candidate because of the abject failure this is a quote of Republicans in Congress to stop visible [7:43] corruption and abuse of power by the Trump administration it referred to Republicans as almost entirely [7:49] spineless how do you counter those perceptions do you feel you need to no of course of that Columbus [7:55] is not my local local paper and and the you're Dayton but yes I'm still talking about the Senate race and [8:02] talking about the perception that Congress has not pushed back on the president right well I think [8:06] I think Congress has pushed back and certainly I have pushed back and in my community I'm seen as [8:11] part of the integral economic development team the local economic development team of my community and [8:19] the the aspect of what people are doing or are not doing with respect to this administration [8:24] is I think an individual candidates issue and people vote for individual candidates they don't [8:30] vote for a team they don't vote for it for a slate and and I think that's why individual candidates are [8:36] talking about their individual records as as I do people look in my community they see me as a job [8:41] creator they see me as someone if Margaret if you came to my community and we took a drive along my [8:48] community and I showed you my accomplishments you'd see things at you know my local base where we've [8:54] doubled the jobs both inside and outside the fence the VA where we've created senior housing and like [9:01] my opponent wouldn't be able to get out of the driveway of her house those are the kind of things that [9:05] people look to for the individual candidates but the president is central here the president is [9:10] telling people vote like he is on the ballot well that's that's that's the president that's not the [9:15] individual candidate he thinks he's doing candidates like you some some good when he says things like [9:21] that and comes out and rallies in Ohio well he came to a rally in my community as the as he said in [9:26] the community when he was there campaigning for the top of the ticket when he came to my community [9:31] he actually came when he was speaking of my record that he was committing to sign legislation to [9:38] restore the delphi salary pensioners who had their pensions taken away into the Obama administration he [9:45] committed to sign that legislation to restore those pensions that I had been working on for over a decade [9:52] that makes over 5 000 people in my community restore their pensions I've been working on paychecks [9:57] and pensions and that's the type of thing that makes a difference in my well well let's talk about some [10:01] of those things which because that hasn't passed yet some of those things could get gunked up in [10:04] the lame duck because of what I'm about to ask you about it's currently that the president has [10:08] committed to science okay if it can get to his desk I want to ask you about Elon Musk's SpaceX [10:13] technology Starlink Ukraine uses it for communication they use it to control their drones [10:19] secretary Rubio said no one at the white house ordered it to be slowed down this week so that drones [10:23] couldn't use it but effectively that was the outcome um here is how secretary Rubio explained it last night [10:31] we had nothing to do with that i don't i don't the united states nobody ordered that starlink speed [10:35] to be slowed down it sort of happened um but my understanding is it's been restored is it sort of [10:43] happened sufficient explanation for you and others on the armed services committee absolutely not i mean [10:48] this is something where there needs to be an investigation there needs to be a congressional [10:51] investigation i mean this is one of those things where where we see uh that uh that policies occur [10:58] where sometimes there's there's breaks in in uh weapon systems that are supposed to be sent to [11:03] ukraine that doesn't happen where uh monies are are don't arrive where intelligence gets broken [11:11] where then later that we have find you know unnamed people in the pentagon perhaps uh break it uh there [11:18] needs to be an investigation we need to find out who these people are because lives are at risk and lives [11:22] are lost over these things and even today um you know the institute for the study of war reports today [11:29] and zelinski reports that you know perhaps it's spotty there are areas where that it's restored back [11:33] and there are areas where perhaps it is not people's lives are at risk and this this is within ukraine [11:38] this is areas where they're trying to defend themselves this is essential to the united states [11:43] support of ukraine in defending real aggressive attacks by russia within ukraine and this needs to be [11:49] restored but elon musk who owns this company and starlink is a commercial enterprise elon musk [11:56] publicly opposes president zelinski um he posted on social media he doesn't want starlink used for [12:01] offensive military action i know secretary rubio said it had been restored um but this is within [12:08] ukraine this is defending ukraine against aggression within ukraine exactly but it is just they're all [12:14] pointing at each other saying no dod is in charge no elon musk's in charge i don't know it [12:19] just sort of the decision has been made that that star shield will be utilized for the purposes of [12:24] ukraine defending itself against russian aggression start shield which is the u.s military in its [12:29] territory and it has by everybody's reports been broken um in in its ability to be able to be [12:37] accessed and there should be an investigation as to why and it should be completely restored [12:41] the president there were a series of actions not just the diesel waivers these actions in regard to [12:47] ukraine's ability to defend itself and then you saw him waive or at least pause for a period of time [12:54] the sanctions that you voted should be in place under the lindsey graham bill they were supposed to [13:01] punish buyers of russian oil he said don't implement them well there's this this will you encourage him [13:07] to reverse course okay there's two separate things here the the sanctions under the lindsey graham [13:12] bill um this weekend there was a deadline for the president today to either waive or to impose sanctions [13:21] upon uh there are three categories the um individuals in the russian government russia [13:27] itself and individuals doing business governments doing business with russia yes the president had [13:34] those three categories impose them or or waive them or waive them in part um i would encourage the [13:41] president to do so that bill being in place is and the president has signed it is important it's a [13:47] legacy of lindsey graham it's important that's in place the president now has that authority he has [13:51] waived it he has in that waiver that he signed a continuing opportunity to now and the secretary rubio [13:59] has confirmed to continue daily yes the opportunity to waive in part or not waive in part in other words to [14:07] to institute those sanctions i would encourage him to do so does that mean you would withhold your vote [14:12] for some of his agenda items in the lame duck as we've had other representatives don bacon brian [14:18] fitzpatrick mike mccall suggest they would do well i think it depends as we go through the this this [14:24] process of discussion as to what i don't i don't think there's any you know brinksmanship that needs [14:29] to have to occur on this i think there are discussions that occur on these these waivers some of those [14:34] waivers should not be absolute because for example you know the the biggest offender of this and zelinski [14:39] needs to come to the table uh loudly the eu is the fourth largest offender of purchasing um uh energy [14:49] from russia and the france is one of them a quarter of a billion dollars they purchased of energy from [14:58] russia just in august okay um we have to leave it there congressman thank you we'll be right back one [15:04] minute stay with us we turn now to florida state representative angie nixon she is the democratic [15:13] party's nominee for senate and she joins us from gainesville good morning to you good morning happy [15:20] to be here with you well it's good to talk to nation it's good to talk to you um you identify as a [15:28] progressive but i know this past june you joined the democratic socialists of america during your [15:34] primary bit um our cbs polling shows 42 percent of americans have a somewhat or very negative view [15:42] of socialism i'm wondering what elements of the democratic socialist platform drew you to it how do [15:49] you define your vision here for sure so first of all thank you for having me on the show today [15:57] and i think it's really important for me to lay the groundwork because a lot of people [16:02] this is my first introduction to them i am someone who is a lifelong floridian having worked in the [16:09] state of florida as a community organizer and a union organizer and our campaign is on fire we actually [16:15] had over 4 000 people show up yesterday at rallies and some in deep red counties and we are on fire we [16:24] we were able to out fundraise our opponent by over two million dollars in this past quarter [16:30] and i know in regards to my joining that organization it's not about letters but it is actually about [16:38] the fact that we are we are fighting to ensure that there's access to quality health care for everyone [16:46] and access to fully funded public schools in addition to ensuring people have a roof over their head [16:53] my opponent ashley moody actually voted to end health care for over 440 000 people here in the [17:01] state of florida which also jacked up premiums for private uh people private insurance and so [17:09] i just want to make sure that people don't go bankrupt simply because they're trying to live or go to the [17:14] doctor okay so on the specifics with your platform you call for medicare for all a national rent [17:21] stabilization standard raising the federal minimum wage abolishing ice and a five percent annual wealth [17:28] tax on billionaires if you win you would have two years here in congress with a republican president [17:36] in office what areas of agreement do you see if any how would you work across the aisle with republicans [17:47] you know i would work across the aisle with whoever wants to put hard working everyday people [17:53] at the forefront i mean right now what we're witnessing in dc and with my opponent ashley moody [17:59] is a culture of corruption ashley moody is someone who has enriched herself in the tune of two million [18:06] dollars because she's she is trading stocks and of which she actually has the opportunity she's sitting [18:12] on committees health health care committees where she has access to insider stock trading information [18:20] she also uh has been able to um she also has actually uh been able to uh she's just not listening [18:30] to what floridians want um she is rubber stamping everything that donald trump wants as well um you [18:37] know she's deporting she's okay with his deportation policies locking people up in cages and it's something [18:44] that i would work to stop when i become the next united states senator um you made reference to a number of [18:49] things there in regard to your opponent um there was a grand jury finding that the desantis [18:55] administration misappropriated taxpayer funds to a charity called hope florida but there were no [19:01] charges brought against the senator she has denied any wrongdoing but but moving along to issues in this [19:09] campaign um you have talked about some frustration that you're not getting more support from the [19:16] democratic party you told ms now in september they could do a lot more to help you you pointed out [19:23] florida has a very large black population and you said folks are a little gun shy because vice [19:29] president harris lost as a black woman and so people are very hesitant in terms of funding black women in [19:35] the south you did just campaign with bernie sanders senator chris murphy was just down there as well [19:41] do you think now you are getting support from the national party you know we are excited uh with all [19:50] of the folks that are coming down helping to uh ensure that we get this w in november and i'm excited [19:57] that folks like leader schumer as well as senator gillibrand have decided to host fundraisers and we're [20:03] getting support we always want even more support but again i'm also excited because this is a people [20:09] power campaign and we've had over 300 000 contributions and those average donations are around 31 [20:16] so that lets people know that your regular everyday working people are supportive of this campaign [20:22] look we are not the little engine that could we have been on the ground organizing doing the work [20:29] building diverse coalitions all across the state of florida previously with very little help and i have [20:35] led those efforts from doing things like expanding and increasing the minimum wage to 15 an hour here [20:41] in this state and that is what we are going to take part in and you know incorporate here on this [20:48] campaign those coalitions of people and that's how we're going to be able to win come november but [20:53] you think you are getting the help you need now we're we're getting help but we always can use more [20:59] as a matter of fact people can go to angienixon.com and donate to our campaign um i i just want to [21:05] uh move on to some other issues here um on your platform but you did when you were talking about [21:12] your opponent um i want to come back to language here because you have said you want to keep funding [21:17] the police you said that's wrong for your opponent to accuse you of trying to defund the police but [21:23] you absolutely you said she should be locked up and punished in jail given in the past that democrats [21:31] have expressed discomfort with some republicans using that kind of language do you worry that [21:36] that sounds like a desire to weaponize the justice system it's not language to weaponize the it's not [21:45] a desire to weaponize the justice system is a it's designed to actually hold corrupt politicians [21:50] accountable for what they're doing again um i want an investigation done i would like the department of [21:58] justice to investigate because nearly 10 million 10 million dollars was stolen from sick kids and [22:04] people are pointing the finger saying they don't know who did it and so we need to bring that in look [22:10] this is this is donald trump 2.0 here in the state of florida and we really need to work to push back [22:17] i'm wondering how many kids are going to die because 10 million dollars was taken from medicaid that [22:21] was supposed to make sure that those sick kids had the treatment that they needed here okay well um [22:29] as we mentioned senator mooney has denied wrongdoing but um thank you for your time it's good to meet [22:35] you angie nixon we will be watching your race in november we'll be right back with a lot more face the [22:41] nation stay with us and there is good news this morning from the vatican as pope leo the 14th led the [22:51] traditional sunday angelus prayer from the window of the vatican palace overlooking saint peter square [22:58] just five days after surgery to remove a cancerous nodule from his lung the 71-year-old pope smiled and [23:04] greeted the crowd thanking people for their prayers as well as the doctors and nurses who cared for him [23:09] during his hospital stay the crowd no surprise is very happy to see him welcome back to face the nation [23:23] we go now to north dakota republican senator kevin kramer who joins us from bismarck good morning to [23:29] you senator good morning good to be with you um i want to ask you about ukraine i know you just [23:36] recently traveled there a number of your departing some retiring senate republican colleagues have made [23:43] clear they were very upset with president trump's decision to waive the lindsey graham sanctions off of [23:49] russia and buyers of russian oil senator cornyn said lindsey would be appalled senator tillis said it is [23:56] beyond irresponsible unconscionable to capitulate to vladimir putin where do you stand well margaret on [24:06] this topic and a whole bunch of others i think capitulating to a bully generally means they're going [24:11] to make more demands going forward that's the problem with you know taking sort of a business negotiation [24:16] approach to the to uh negotiating with a thug which is what vladimir putin is so i i share those [24:25] colleagues positions on it however i also have to you know acknowledge that we are a few weeks or a [24:30] couple weeks from an election one of the important topics of the election is the cost of diesel fuel [24:35] it's a really an important issue here in north dakota uh as representative turner pointed out and i was [24:41] cheering him on um our allies throughout europe have been buying energy from vladimir putin and funding his [24:46] war machine for decades and they should stop right now um having said all of that i expect this will [24:52] be a short-term um a pause and and i certainly hope so because i one of the things that um president [24:58] zelensky asked of us when i was with him on last thursday i think it was thursday or friday um was that [25:05] that the president would fully enforce that lindsey graham sanctions bill and and i i still take that [25:11] position yeah um and some european union countries do continue to buy fuel products uh india and china [25:20] would be the largest purchasers who would be hit by these tariffs so do you think the president would [25:25] actually even post-election trigger the tariffs on china well i certainly hope that he does margaret [25:32] again speaking of thugs who will never uh you know never agree to terms or at least not continue to [25:39] agree to terms that would be negotiated um xi jinping is another one i think we have to start [25:45] approaching our geopolitical negotiations the way that we ought to and not the way that you do in a [25:49] boardroom um you know it's this is not a finality outcome to a to a dictator uh the outcome of a [25:57] negotiation with a dictator is more you know asking for more demands and uh and we have to start you [26:03] know playing nice with our friends and um treating our adversaries like they are adversaries you just [26:08] met with president zelinski as you know president trump publicly blasted him again this week and said [26:14] ukraine needs another new president um let me ask you something specific about how they defend [26:21] themselves and conduct this war star shield is a u.s military program which ukraine says that they [26:27] use to fire into russian-held territory last night secretary rubio said ukraine does not currently have [26:35] access to it but they have asked to use it to fire deep inside of russia when you were in ukraine as [26:43] i understand it you were presenting a proposal to president zelinski to allow for star shield access [26:49] expansion if ukraine stops striking russian energy assets what can you tell us about that proposal and [26:57] what is the status of it so that you're right that was a proposal we brought to president zelinski uh [27:04] senator wicker roger wicker the chairman of the armed services committee came up with that idea [27:09] president zelinski was enthusiastic about it he said i'd do that tomorrow i would absolutely stop [27:15] attacking russia's energy facilities if i could have access to targeting capabilities which is what [27:22] star shield would provide them to go deeper into russia and attack their attackers in other words [27:28] their launch facilities and you know kill the archer not not the arrows of course the third thing he [27:34] asked for was the capacity to get licensed to jointly produce to co-produce patriot missile interceptors [27:42] which would help him defend against these much faster now jet-powered drones and missiles coming into [27:49] to ukraine so his requests were three they were simple and i agree with all three of them um so i i i [27:56] would hope we can get to that point where um remembering that what what president zelinski's protecting [28:02] are civilians russia has chosen to go after civilian populations while president zelinski has simply gone [28:09] after you know the the launchers and more importantly these um you know the war machines funding source [28:14] which is energy right bringing us back to where we started here um ukraine has resumed just even [28:20] overnight hitting russian oil refineries they hit the saint petersburg oil terminal russia has been [28:27] targeting the energy infrastructure um inside of of ukraine secretary rubio said there are talks [28:34] ongoing have you talked to secretary rubio about your exchange with president zelinski who in the [28:40] administration is actually trying to bring this to a close so i have not talked to marco although [28:47] as i was watching your previous segment i just said to my staff i wish i would have called marco um [28:52] but obviously he and and others are involved with it including steve whitkoff and jared kushner [28:58] i think i but i worry margaret that there's a disconnect once again i go back to my earlier [29:03] illustration there's a disconnect between you know traditional mutually beneficial negotiations between [29:11] business people and the difference between somebody protecting humanity itself versus somebody who [29:16] wants to take humanity down and uh so i i worry about that so who exactly is negotiating these [29:22] things i i don't know who's calling shots but at the end of the day i think the president is you [29:26] know he's it's where the buck stops and i think he accepts that so is senator wicker presenting this deal [29:32] to the white house like what are you doing with what you negotiated oh yeah yes yeah for sure i mean [29:37] we had talked to people in the white house at the department of war and and to uh to the state [29:42] department even prior to meeting with president zelensky um so do you join your colleagues senator [29:50] tillis and senator shaheen in calling for an investigation of what has happened here in terms [29:57] of whether u.s government officials knew that starlink was going to be interrupted which impacts ukraine's [30:03] ability to use its drones and defend its people well i certainly support investigating you know what was [30:09] the source of that decision if in fact it was a decision at all it may very well have been some [30:13] sort of a technical glitch i don't know for sure or who or whose call it was so far nobody's taking [30:18] credit for making that call or or the blame for it so i do support it uh some sort of an investigation [30:23] certainly congress itself could and should investigate i think the letter that senator shaheen and [30:29] senator tillis are talking about would be an inspector general investigation perhaps um but sure we [30:36] want to get to the bottom of it in the meantime what's more important is that that power is put [30:40] back on full scale and that we actually enhance um ukraine's ability to hit these launch facilities [30:47] inside of russia deeper inside to like 300 kilometers i think is what uh president zelensky [30:53] was asking for yeah president zelensky said today that it has been restored but has been throttled back [30:58] and in terms of that star shield expansion as you say no deal yet um let me ask you about something [31:04] closer to home you said this summer that you hate that was the word you used president trump's decision [31:10] to import foreign beef tariff free because it's not america first wrongheaded and threatens the future [31:15] of u.s food production the white house did not reverse course despite those tough words from you [31:22] how negative has that been for your state and and is that going to infect affect i should say the the [31:28] enthusiasm for voters to show up in november are these ranchers just so ticked off they're not going [31:34] to vote well first of all margaret it won't have any effect in north dakota on the in the election cycle [31:41] we don't have a governor up the president's obviously not up we don't even have a senator [31:44] up um so and and we're going to have an overwhelming republican victory here having said [31:48] that it's very discouraging to our ranchers um again i think there's a misunderstanding of of [31:54] commodity cycles the commodity economic cycles uh ranchers rebuild their herds when when prices are [32:00] high their herds are obviously made much smaller when prices are low that's why that's why the [32:05] counter cyclical effect of of commodity prices are well known to us and why it's discouraging when we [32:12] when we reduce or eliminate um the barriers to to importing somebody else's beef which is not nearly as [32:19] safe or or is high quality um at the cost of that to the at the cost of uh our local ranchers um they [32:27] rely on these higher prices and by the way i don't i doubt that bringing in a bunch of argentine beef [32:32] is going to bring the price at the grocery store down any if you know it has not um but it but it will [32:39] hurt the the market price of the cattle themselves now ranchers are going up against lots of other [32:44] problems as well as including that concentration of meat packing in the united states where [32:49] about a third or more is literally owned by the chinese and the brazilians so uh they're going up [32:56] against a lot of things but but their input costs are also higher they don't come down because the [33:00] price of a cow goes down um but uh yeah so i i still strongly oppose it and i think it was wrong-headed [33:06] right well i wanted to get your insight on that because we're seeing that dynamic in other states as [33:10] well including kansas so uh senator thank you so much for your time today we're going to have to leave [33:15] it there we'll be right back joining us now our homegrown political panel executive director of [33:25] elections and surveys anthony salvato is back with us we're also joined by political correspondent [33:30] caitlin huey burns and senior white house and political correspondent ed o'keefe good to have you [33:36] all here and you're rarely here you're on the trail quite a lot these days um the both of you i want [33:42] to start with the two of you um more democrats are telling pollsters like anthony as he explained that [33:47] they intend to turn out to vote and smaller number of republicans intend to do so does that track with [33:54] what the both of you are seeing in the field caitlin yeah absolutely and what is really interesting [33:59] here when i talk to republican sources they say the thing that they're most worried about when they [34:02] look at this polling is a dynamic that they haven't really seen before which is that trump is underwater on [34:08] the economy and that has always been his calling card and a lot of this is self-imposed when it comes to [34:13] tariffs and when it comes to the iran war as the effect on diesel and gas prices so those are huge [34:20] undercurrents in this race obviously but the other underestimated factor i think running here is that [34:25] trump has to convince voters to turn out down ballot in a time where he has shown no deference to [34:33] congress in fact contempt for it at some point and this is a congress that has really seated so much [34:39] of its authority to the executive branch and trump has gone it alone gone at it alone on a lot of policy [34:45] fronts so i think that really adds to the challenge that he has here which is to convince his own [34:51] voters to show up for republicans for whom he has shown some contempt that's it's a good point show up to [34:58] vote for the body that i might not pay attention to myself yeah and i don't think there's any dispute that [35:02] democrats are eager to get out there for the most part if you are a partisan democrat who has [35:07] no love for the president and maybe no love for whatever republican is on the ballot but the [35:12] challenge they're going to face and and the the part of what where our travel has taken us is to [35:16] these traditional republican states part of the challenge for any of these democrats will be [35:21] finding enough independent voters to vote for that person and then peeling off enough republicans [35:25] i was struck in your poll did you say only five percent of republicans in texas are willing to vote for [35:30] talarico i would think he needs a number bigger than that in order to help him in such a large [35:36] state where democrats haven't done well and it's going to be the same dynamic in kansas in iowa [35:41] in in the uh well alaska to some extent and in any of these other states where suddenly the republican [35:47] incumbent is on the ropes anthony i want to follow up on texas um you laid out tighter than [35:52] expected just two-point lead right by talarico in texas at this point it's also tight for the governor's race [35:58] yeah so what does that say to you about the dynamic early voting i know gets underway tomorrow [36:04] right the the big picture here picking up off what you said in the ed is also that i asked people okay [36:10] no matter what your party affiliation what do you typically do when you go to the polls and talarico [36:15] is pulling nine percent of people who said that they usually are always vote republican but they're [36:20] going to make an exception perhaps this time so that's one part of the dynamic that's in play there [36:25] the other part of course is the down ballot effect or the the coattails perhaps if a republican [36:31] governor and is related to a senate race and that's going to be the case in a number of these states [36:36] number two but but again on the point of turnout you can look at a poll and say okay that's just one [36:42] percent that's just two percent but in a big state like texas that's hundreds of thousands of voters [36:47] anybody who does any kind of you know business or marketing knows that to get 200 000 people to change [36:54] what they normally do takes a lot of money and a lot of time do the democrats have that operation [37:00] to do it remains a giant question and that's the gamble the president continues to make by making [37:04] these stops is that if he shows up the last 10 years of electoral history shows his voters show up and [37:10] so if he can continue to visit as he's going to again in the coming days texas georgia uh he's headed [37:16] to michigan finally other parts of the country the churn they hope is that enough of those people who [37:22] were sitting on their hands before get up and go right and if anything keep the margins closer [37:27] and that's what he means when he says vote like i'm on the ballot yeah i also in this poll was struck [37:33] 59 of likely voters told anthony ken paxton does not have the right personal character to serve as [37:39] senator 45 said talarico does not does that match what both of you've heard on the ground i think so i [37:46] mean yeah absolutely i mean i was in texas last week and i mean this is why the president went there [37:50] three times in the span of nearly three weeks because he has to pull paxton over the finish [37:55] line he's wildly unpopular but when it comes to texas the thing that i've been saying is [37:59] everything has to go wrong for republicans and exactly right for democrats in order to win there so [38:05] it's not just enough that people don't like paxton and depressing the republican vote it's also that [38:10] you have to turn out those independents and convert voters to the democratic side in a deep red state [38:16] tallarico is going to have to build a coalition that no democrat has been able to do in over 30 [38:21] years it's a tall order i will say we were there first in march when the primaries were held and [38:26] tallarico was already on this focus on corruption which i think we've seen democrats everywhere else [38:32] especially in the last few weeks really begin to pick up on such that it's starting to show up in [38:36] polling for the president or for paxton for everyone but in but in that case specifically he was linking [38:41] paxton and trump together got emphasis on paxton ahead of the general and now you see democrats [38:47] across the country focused on corruption either against the president or the republican they're [38:50] running against or you know the governor in that state so he was in essence a leading indicator or [38:56] you know he saw something coming with the uniquely unpopular candidate that he has that other democrats [39:03] have not been able to pick up with all the examples we've seen across the country you say they [39:07] got to pull off a miracle in texas democrats need to pull off at least four miracles on election [39:11] night across the country in states where they've never done it before that's what makes this such [39:15] a high bar for them to reach on election night i want to ask you about michigan i know you were just [39:20] there i like your vote bracelet made by my daughter yeah very cute um you the president talks about this [39:29] race all the time specifically the democratic uh candidate there who would be if he wins the first muslim [39:36] senator to ever sit in congress this was one of president trump's latest remarks yeah but jihad is [39:43] running in michigan he's not like leaning left he was so far left there is no such thing as the word [39:51] this guy's a jihadist abdul al-sayed uh how is he handling that kind of rhetoric which is basically [39:58] accusing him of being a terrorist and is the republican candidate comfortable with this well he's repeating it [40:05] himself uh we saw him give a speech this week just ahead of the vice president on thursday in the [40:11] detroit area where he spent about 90 of his speech laying out accusations similar to what the president [40:18] is suggesting that he has ties to the muslim brotherhood that he's too extreme for michigan [40:22] that he hasn't denounced the irgc and and thinks that israel is a bigger threat than iran [40:28] al-sayed has in various ways addressed this by saying first of all no he has no associations with [40:33] the muslim brotherhood he was asked by a voter does he disavow them the answer was yes it was followed [40:38] by a long response targeting that person for raising it at all and suggesting that the only reason [40:43] republicans are doing this is because he's muslim or arab and is different he ties himself to the [40:49] legacies of john f kennedy and barack obama in being firsts but the difference was kennedy and obama i'd [40:55] argue went out and sort of proactively addressed the fact that they would be historic and different in [41:01] speeches and did it in a in a i guess a more positive way he'll say it continues to sort of [41:08] raise it or answer questions about it and then accuse people of of being why why would you raise [41:13] that well he's the one raising it to some extent by pointing out the history of it but then when [41:18] people ask these questions uh gets quite defensive and aggressive about it the thing is he's anticipating [41:24] that voters in michigan are more upset about the economy more upset about the war less concerned about [41:29] him it is quite the gamble uh and one that he continues to say he's going to win by seven [41:33] percent i don't think the polls show that but he's standing by a vow to win by seven percent we'll see [41:39] just quickly on michigan you interviewed mike rogers and you asked him about his wife handing out [41:44] ten dollar yeah cards to go buy gas yes is that legal well buying votes is not legal no and i asked rogers [41:53] what was your wife doing there and he said well she paid for these out of pocket and she was trying to [41:57] raise awareness of our campaign i i that was his answer when i asked right i mean you said this [42:03] was on social media people caught this but he also made the point that she was doing this in in black [42:08] areas of detroit he has made a concerted effort to reach out to black voters in that city believing [42:14] that there's softness for i'll say it and the polling suggests there is and certainly what we heard [42:17] this week suggests that he still has work to do there but rogers is trying to make inroads there [42:23] handing out gift cards meeting with pastors he told me at one point that he met a black [42:27] pastor who had in the 70 years that that church had existed no republican officeholder or politician [42:32] ever shown up that might work on the margins in close races we'll see um caitline you have spent some [42:39] time in kansas president trump's heading there we were just talking about beef prices with the north [42:44] dakota senator this is a problem for roger marshall i mean i was there a couple weeks ago not a place i [42:49] expected to be in the final stretch of this campaign no democrat has won the senate race in kansas since [42:53] 1932 that's nearly a century but there's a lot at play here that i think speaks to the broader themes [43:00] of this election first of all kind of going back to the point i made roger marshall is a candidate a [43:05] current incumbent that republicans kind of feel meh about they like the president but not necessarily [43:11] translating to him everything you've been seeing across the country the cost of diesel especially for [43:16] farmers in kansas is important but i spent an afternoon with a cattle farmer in kansas who likes [43:21] the president supported the president time and again still supports him but the decision that [43:26] the administration made to allow beef imports into the market that is something that is directly [43:31] affecting him and he told me for the first time he is considering voting for the democrat adam hamilton [43:37] here who i interviewed and he said you know if you talk to him he often references that he's a former [43:43] republican he's not campaigning on the national party brand which he can't do in a place like kansas but [43:49] he's making it competitive because of kind of that perfect storm of complications that republicans [43:54] have going for them and then the nuances in a lot of these races administration policies directly [44:01] affecting the constituencies that tend to vote for trump so that gets to the turnout question is that [44:07] enough to depress them and enough to convert a couple of them and that anthony is what you're going [44:12] to be focused on basically all night yeah well look there's this national context to caitlin's point [44:18] is neither party not only is viewed favorably but neither one is viewed by most as able to help [44:25] you financially and that's important because yes it speaks to localized races or state-specific races in [44:32] many cases the democrats would like this to be all nationalized because on the national level there is [44:37] that opposition to the administration policies but at the same time when you talk about who owns the [44:43] economy and you ask that it is the trump administration in the minds of most because of [44:48] some of those policies because of the war and because of gas prices okay uh very quickly caitlin any [44:54] word on who's behind these 36 lawmakers receiving threatening envelopes yeah as suspicious substances a lot of [45:01] them intercepted before they reached capitol hill offices but not only for u.s senators and lawmakers [45:06] but also for election officials which is really startling um it's been 25 years since the anthrax um [45:12] issue the after 9 11. um and what is really especially jarring is they they don't they haven't released who [45:19] or talked about who may be behind this federal law enforcement is investigating but the uptick that [45:24] we've seen in threats against lawmakers and their families has risen in the past year over 50 percent yes [45:30] it's something we are tracking very much in our public life these days thank you all for this panel get [45:36] ready it's going to be a fun two weeks we'll be back in a moment that's it for us today we'll see you next week