On this "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" broadcast, moderated by Margaret Brennan:
- Anthony Salvanto, CBS News executive director of elections and surveys
- Rep. Mike Turner, Republican of Ohio
- Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon, Democratic candidate for Senate
- Sen. Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota
- Anthony Salvanto, CBS News executive director of elections and surveys, Caitlin Huey Burns, CBS News political correspondent and Ed O'Keefe, CBS News senior White House and political correspondent
Click here to browse full transcripts from 2026 of "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."
MARGARET BRENNAN: I'm Margaret Brennan in Washington.
And this week on Face the Nation: Midterm elections campaigning enters the homestretch, and President Trump's latest move to ease pressure on Vladimir Putin sparks fury among some Republicans.
From East to West and far North to Deep South, it's down to the sweet 16 for the 2026 candidates, even for the politician whose name won't actually appear on any ballot this year.
(Begin VT)
DONALD TRUMP (President of the United States): What an honor. I love doing this stuff, you know? This is worth the eight hours in a plane.
(LAUGHTER)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And don't forget, I got eight hours going back too.
(End VT)
MARGARET BRENNAN: The president says his quest for a red state romp is working.
(Begin VT)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: So I think these rallies have changed everything. I think a lot of people that maybe were having trouble won't have so much trouble. But I feel I owe it to the Republican Party.
(End VT)
MARGARET BRENNAN: But will the rallies be enough to reverse those hurricane-force headwinds the president's party is facing? We have brand- new polling on that Texas race. It's one of the tightest toss-ups in the country.
Democrats face their own tough challenges, like getting a fractured party to go out and vote, if not for them, then against Trump's Republican candidate.
(Begin VT)
STATE REP. ANGIE NIXON (D-Florida) (Senatorial Candidate): Are you ready to put an end to corruption that's driving up our prices and ruining our democracy?
(CHEERING)
STATE REP. ANGIE NIXON: Well, I'm ready too.
(End VT)
MARGARET BRENNAN: We will also look at the president's latest move to make it easier for Vladimir Putin to sell oil, an executive order freezing the just-passed Lindsey Graham law intended to cut off funding for Putin's war chest.
Ohio Republican Congressman Mike Turner and North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer will weigh in on that. And we will talk with Florida Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon.
It's all just ahead on Face the Nation.
Good morning, and welcome to Face the Nation.
With just two weeks and two days until November 3, there is no better way to begin the broadcast today than with our executive director of elections and surveys, Anthony Salvanto, with our brand-new Texas poll.
Anthony, good morning.
CBS estimates Democrats have the edge to take the House. They need four seats to take the Senate. How can they do it?
ANTHONY SALVANTO: Well, you set the scene.
Through the fall, the Democrats have put a lot of Senate races in play in a lot of red Republican-leaning states. Texas is a really good example of that. So, let me take you there. What you have got here in the matchup between Talarico and Paxton, our new poll shows this really as tight as can be, Margaret, at 51-49.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Wow.
ANTHONY SALVANTO: But the story in there is a common theme that we see running through a lot of these races. One is, can the Republican base consolidate behind their candidates?
Here in Texas, you see, at least because they're the party's nominee is one reason that folks are backing Paxton. But at the same time, you also see a big thing here, where you have got these party breaks, Talarico doing better with independents and also better with people who say that they're hurting financially because of prices.
That's a common theme. And I'm going to take you back to the map now and show you the rest of these places that we're really watching, for one thing, Ohio. That's another state that the president won fairly easily. That, we see as a toss-up. I can take you out to Alaska. This is another toss-up, again, a Republican-leaning state.
And there are a couple of others too. To just remind folks, Iowa, it's leaning red right now in this race, but certainly competitive. Even Kansas is another spot that we're going to be watching closely on election night in that one. And, again, to remind folks, this is a place the president won easily, but is in play now.
So that's the Democrats' challenge that comes along with that expanded map. One other point, though, because it's really important as we go. You have got to watch for the Democrats to hold on to places that they already have.
So, Michigan, this is a toss-up. They'd have to hold up. And then another one, I'm going to show you, Maine, because this one's interesting, Susan Collins running for reelection in a state that Kamala Harris won. This race is neck-and-neck too, and that's a toss-up, probably also one the Democrats would have to have.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, the last time you were here, you told us Democratic voters were telling you they're more likely to show up at the polls than Republicans were. Is that still the case?
ANTHONY SALVANTO: It is. And I'm going to show you a slide that kind of tells the tale here.
This is from our House estimates. And you see this gap between the Democrats who say they're definitely going to vote and the Republicans who say they're definitely going to vote. This is driving a lot of the gaps you see in the polling, and it's also driving the political narrative, the president hitting the campaign trail, trying to boost that Republican turnout.
Because Republicans, especially if they say inflation has hit them hard, they're not going to vote for Democrats, but they might stay home.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And that's everything, turnout.
Anthony Salvanto, thank you.
ANTHONY SALVANTO: Thanks.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And we're joined now by Ohio Republican Congressman Mike Turner.
Good morning, and thanks for being here in person.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER (R-Ohio): Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
MARGARET BRENNAN: A lot to get to with you, but let's start on politics.
Ohio has been reliably Republican, but you've got a competitive gubernatorial race and Senate race. In Minnesota, in Iowa, in Michigan, and in Maine, Republicans have been positioning themselves as independent of the president on some issues. Take a listen.
(Begin VT)
MICHELE TAFOYA (R-Minnesota Senatorial Candidate): When Trump is right, I will work with him. When he's wrong, I will stand up for Minnesota.
REPRESENTATIVE ASHLEY HINSON (R-Iowa) (Senatorial Candidate): We need to lower gas prices in this country. We need to lower diesel prices, but I don't think we need to be making a deal with Russia to do it.
MIKE ROGERS (R-Michigan Senatorial Candidate): Here in Michigan, we know that Canada is not our enemy. We need to end this tariff war now.
SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine): I agree that the president did not have a good plan. He should have anticipated the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
(End VT)
MARGARET BRENNAN: I know you've been endorsed by President Trump. You did appear at a rally with him, but do you feel it would help to create some distance, like they did?
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Well, as you know, I don't run with the president. I don't run from the president. It's one of the reasons why you have me on this show, because of the fact that – that I have my – my own agenda.
And I think what's important, as your pollster has – has indicated, he's in – he's talking of – of trends. What's most important, as he ended his presentation, as Anthony said, this is about who gets out to vote, and everybody needs to get out and vote.
You know, Margaret, my very first race, I won by 244 votes out of 44,000. It's really, really important as to who gets out and votes. So, my message would be to everyone is to get out and vote. And also, when they go to the polls, they need to make certain that they vote in every race.
It's amazing the number of drop-offs…
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: … that people have. As they go down the ballot, people need to vote in every race, and they need to get out and vote.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But, clearly, those candidates felt they needed to say that.
FOX had a poll this week showing six in 10 respondents were extremely concerned about government corruption. AP had one that said six in 10 adults believe Trump is illegally profiting from the presidency or at least doing something unethical.
Your local paper, "The Columbus Dispatch," wrote it could not endorse the Republican Senate candidate because of the "abject failure" – this is a quote – "of Republicans in Congress to stop visible corruption and abuse of power by the Trump administration." They referred to Republicans as almost entirely spineless.
How do you counter those perceptions? Do you feel you need to?
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: No, first off, that – Columbus is not my local – local paper. And – and the…
MARGARET BRENNAN: You're Dayton.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Right, yes. I'm – I'm – I'm Dayton…
MARGARET BRENNAN: But it is still talking about the Senate race and talking about the perception that Congress has not pushed back on the president.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Right.
Well, I think – I think Congress has pushed back, and, certainly, I have pushed back. And in – in my community, I'm seen as part of the integral economic development team, the local economic development team of my community.
And the – the aspect of what people are doing or are not doing with respect to this administration is, I think, an individual candidate's issue. And people vote for individual candidates. They don't vote for a team. They don't vote for – for a slate.
And – and I think that's why individual candidates are talking about their individual records, as – as I do. People look in my community. They see me as a job creator. They see me as someone, if – Margaret, if you came into my community and we took a drive along my community, and I showed you my accomplishments, you'd see things at, you know, my local base, where we've doubled the jobs both inside and outside the fence, the VA, where we've created senior housing.
And, like, my opponent wouldn't be able to get out of the driveway of her house. Those are the kind of things that people look to for the individual candidates.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But the president is central here. The president is telling people, vote like he is on the ballot.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Well, that's – that's – that's the president. That's not the individual candidates.
MARGARET BRENNAN: He thinks he's doing candidates like you some – some good when he says things like that and comes out and rallies in Ohio.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Well, he came to a rally in my community, as the – as he said in the community when he was there, campaigning for the top of the ticket. When he came to my community, he actually came, when he was speaking of my record, that he was committing to sign legislation to restore the Delphi salaried pension who had their pensions taken away under the Obama administration.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes. That hasn't happened yet.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: He committed to sign that legislation to restore those pensions that I had been working on for over a decade.
That makes over 5,000 people in my community restore their pensions.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: I have been working on paychecks and pensions, and that's the type of thing that makes a difference in my community.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well – well, let's talk about some of those things, which – because that hasn't passed yet, some of those things could get gunked up in the lame-duck because of what I'm about to ask you about. And that is…
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: It's…
(CROSSTALK)
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: … that the president has committed to sign.
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK, if it can get to his desk.
I want to ask you about Elon Musk's SpaceX technology. Starlink, Ukraine uses it for communication. They use it to control their drones. Secretary Rubio said no one at the White House ordered it to be slowed down this week so that drones couldn't use it. But, effectively, that was the outcome.
Here is how Secretary Rubio explained it last night.
(Begin VT)
MARCO RUBIO (U.S. Secretary of State): We had nothing to do with that. I don't – I don't – the United States, nobody ordered that Starlink speed to be slowed down. It sort of happened. But I – my understanding is, it's been restored.
(End VT)
MARGARET BRENNAN: Is "It sort of happened" sufficient explanation for you and others on the Armed Services Committee?
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Absolutely not.
I mean, this is something where there needs to be an investigation. There needs to be a congressional investigation. I mean, this is one of those things where – where we see that – that policies occur where sometimes there's – there's breaks in – in weapon systems that are supposed to be sent to Ukraine that doesn't happen, where monies are – are – don't arrive, where intelligence gets broken, where then later that we have – find, you know, unnamed people in the Pentagon perhaps break it.
There needs to be an investigation. We need to find out who these people are, because lives are at risk and lives are lost over these things. And, even today, you know, the Institute for the Study of War reports today…
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: … and Zelenskyy reports that, you know, perhaps it's spotty. There are areas where – that it's restored.
MARGARET BRENNAN: It's been straddled back.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: And there are areas where perhaps it is not. People's lives are at risk. And these – this is within Ukraine. This is areas where they're trying to defend themselves.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: This is essential to the United States' support of Ukraine in defending real aggressive attacks by Russia within Ukraine. And this needs to be restored.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But Elon Musk, who owns this company – and Starlink is a commercial enterprise. Elon Musk publicly opposes President Zelenskyy.
He posted on social media he doesn't want Starlink used for offensive military action. I know Secretary Rubio said it had been restored, but…
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: But this is within Ukraine. This is defending Ukraine against aggression within Ukraine.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Exactly, but it is just – they're all pointing at each other, saying, no, DOD is in charge. No, Elon Musk's in charge. I don't know. It just sort of happened.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: But the policy decision has been made that – that Starshield will be utilized for the purposes of Ukraine defending itself against Russian aggression.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Starshield…
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Starshield.
MARGARET BRENNAN: … which is the U.S. military contract.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Within its territory.
And it has, by everybody's reports, been broken in – in its ability to be able to be accessed. And there should be an investigation as to why, and it should be completely restored.
MARGARET BRENNAN: the president, there were a series of actions, not just the diesel waivers, these actions in regard to Ukraine's ability to defend itself.
And then you saw him waive or at least pause for a period of time the sanctions that you voted should be in place under the Lindsey Graham bill. They were supposed to punish buyers of Russian oil. He said, don't implement them.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Well, there's – there's two – two…
MARGARET BRENNAN: Will you encourage him to reverse course?
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: OK, there's two separate things here.
The – the sanctions under the Lindsey Graham bill, this weekend, there was a deadline for the president…
MARGARET BRENNAN: Today.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: … to either waive or to impose sanctions upon, there are three categories, the individuals in the Russian government, Russia itself, and individuals doing business, governments doing business with Russia.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: The president had those three categories, impose them, or waive them, or waive them in part.
I would encourage the president to do so. That bill being in place is – and the president has signed it – is important. It's a legacy of Lindsey Graham. It's important that's in place. The president now has that authority. He has waived it.
He has, in that waiver that he signed, a continuing opportunity to now – and the – Secretary Rubio has confirmed – to continue daily…
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: … the opportunity to waive in part or not waive in part, in other words, to – to institute those sanctions. I would encourage him to do so.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Does that mean you would withhold your vote for some of his agenda items in the lame-duck, as we've had other representatives, Don Bacon, Brian Fitzpatrick, Mike McCaul, suggest they would do?
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Well, I think it depends as we go through the – this – this process of discussion as to what this – I don't – I don't think there's any, you know, brinksmanship that needs to have to occur on this.
I think there are discussions need to occur on these – these waivers. Some of those waivers should not be absolute, because, for example, you know, the – the biggest offender of this – and Zelenskyy needs to come to the table loudly. The E.U. is the fourth largest offender of purchasing…
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: … energy from Russia. And France is one of them, a quarter-of-a-billion dollars they purchased of energy from…
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. Yes.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: … Russia just in August.
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK.
We have to leave it there. Congressman, thank you.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Thank you.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We'll be right back, one minute. Stay with us.
(ANNOUNCEMENTS)
MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to Florida State Representative Angie Nixon. She is the Democratic Party's nominee for Senate, and she joins us from Gainesville.
Good morning to you.
STATE REP. ANGIE NIXON (D-Florida) (Senatorial Candidate): Good morning. Happy to be here with you…
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, it's good to talk you.
STATE REP. ANGIE NIXON: … in Gator Nation.
(LAUGHTER)
MARGARET BRENNAN: It's good to talk to you.
You identify as a progressive, but I know this past June you joined the Democratic Socialists of America during your primary bid. Our CBS polling shows 42 percent of Americans have a somewhat or very negative view of socialism.
I'm wondering, what elements of the Democratic Socialist platform drew you to it? How do you define your vision here?
STATE REP. ANGIE NIXON: For sure. So, first of all, thank you for having me on the show today, and I think it's really important for me to lay the groundwork, because a lot of people, this is my first introduction to them.
I am someone who is a lifelong Floridian, having worked in the state of Florida as a community organizer and a union organizer, and our campaign is on fire. We actually had over 4,000 people show up yesterday at rallies, and some in deep red counties, and we are on fire.
We were able to out-fund-raise our opponent by over $2 million in this past quarter. And I know, in regards to my joining that organization…
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
STATE REP. ANGIE NIXON: … it's not about letters, but it is actually about the fact that we are fighting to ensure that there's access to quality health care for everyone, and access to fully funded public schools, in addition to ensuring people have a roof over their head.
My opponent, Ashley Moody, actually voted to end health care for over 440,000 people here in the state of Florida, which also jacked up premiums for private – people's private insurance. And so I just want to make sure that people don't go bankrupt simply because they're trying to live or go to the doctor.
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK.
So, on the specifics with your platform, you call for Medicare for all, a national rent stabilization standard, raising the federal minimum wage, abolishing ICE, and a 5 percent annual wealth tax on billionaires.
If you win, you would have two years here in Congress with a Republican president in office. What areas of agreement do you see, if any? How would you work across the aisle with Republicans?
STATE REP. ANGIE NIXON: You know, I would work across the aisle with whoever wants to put hardworking everyday people at the forefront.
I mean, right now, what we're witnessing in D.C. and with my opponent, Ashley Moody, is a culture of corruption. Ashley Moody is someone who has enriched herself in the tune of $2 million because she's – she is trading stocks, and of which she actually has the opportunity.
She's sitting on committees, health – health care committees, where she has access to insider stock trading information. She also has been able to – she also has actually been able to – she's just not listening to what Floridians want. She is rubber-stamping everything that Donald Trump wants as well.
You know, she's deporting – she's OK with his deportation policies, locking people up in cages. And it's something that I would work to stop when I become the next United States senator.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You made reference to a number of things there in regard to your opponent. There was a grand jury finding that the DeSantis administration misappropriated taxpayer funds to a charity called Hope Florida, but there were no charges brought against the senator. She has denied any wrongdoing.
But moving along to issues in this campaign, you have talked about some frustration that you're not getting more support from the Democratic Party. You told MS NOW in September they could do a lot more to help you. You pointed out Florida has a very large black population.
And you said: "Folks are a little gun-shy because Vice President Harris lost as a black woman, and so people are very hesitant in terms of funding black women in the South."
You did just campaign with Bernie Sanders. Senator Chris Murphy was just down there as well. Do you think now you are getting support from the national party?
STATE REP. ANGIE NIXON: You know, we are excited, with all of the folks that are coming down, helping to ensure that we get this W in November, and I'm excited that folks like Leader Schumer, as well as Senator Gillibrand, have decided to host fund-raisers.
And we're getting support. We always want even more support. But, again, I'm also excited because this is a people-powered campaign. And we've had over 300,000 contributions, and those average donations are around $31. So that lets people know that your regular, everyday working people are supportive of this campaign.
Look, we are not the little engine that could. We have been on the ground organizing, doing the work, building diverse coalitions all across the state of Florida, previously with very little help, and I have led those efforts, from doing things like expanding and increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour here in this state.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
STATE REP. ANGIE NIXON: And that is what we are going to take part in and incorporate here on this campaign, those coalitions of people, and that's how we're going to be able to win come November.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But you think you are getting the help you need now?
STATE REP. ANGIE NIXON: We're getting help.
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK.
STATE REP. ANGIE NIXON: But we always can use more. As a matter of fact, people can go to AngieNixon.com to donate to our campaign.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I just want to move on to some other issues here on your platform.
But you did – when you were talking about your opponent, I want to come back to language here because you have said you want to keep funding the police. You said that's wrong for your opponent to accuse you of trying to defund the police.
STATE REP. ANGIE NIXON: Yes, absolutely.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But you've – you have said she should be locked up and punished in jail. Given in the past that Democrats have expressed discomfort with some Republicans using that kind of language, do you worry that that sounds like a desire to weaponize the justice system?
STATE REP. ANGIE NIXON: It's not language to weaponize the – it's not a desire to weaponize the justice system. It's designed to actually hold corrupt politicians accountable for what they're doing.
Again, I want an investigation done. I would like the Department of Justice to investigate, because nearly 10 million – $10 million was stolen from sick kids, and people are pointing the finger saying they don't know who did it, and so we need to bring that in.
Look, this is Donald Trump 2.0 here in the state of Florida, and we really need to work to push back. I'm wondering how many kids are going to die because $10 million was taken from Medicaid that was supposed to make sure that those sick kids had the treatment that they needed here.
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK. Well, as we mentioned, Senator Moody has denied wrongdoing.
But thank you for your time. It's good to meet you, Angie Nixon. We will be watching your race in November.
STATE REP. ANGIE NIXON: Thanks.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We'll be right back with a lot more Face the Nation. Stay with us.
(ANNOUNCEMENTS)
MARGARET BRENNAN: And there is good news this morning from the Vatican, as Pope Leo XIV led the traditional Sunday Angelus prayer from the window of the Vatican Palace overlooking St. Peter's Square just five days after surgery to remove a cancerous nodule from his lung.
The 71-year-old pope smiled and greeted the crowd, thanking people for their prayers, as well as the doctors and nurses who cared for him during his hospital stay – the crowd, no surprise, very happy to see him.
(Begin VT)
(POPE LEO XIV SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(End VT)
(ANNOUNCEMENTS)
MARGARET BRENNAN: We will be right back with a lot more Face the Nation.
Stay with us.
(ANNOUNCEMENTS)
MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to "FACE THE NATION."
We go now to North Dakota Republican Senator Kevin Cramer, who joins us from Bismarck.
Good morning to you, Senator.
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER (R-ND): Good morning. Good to be with you.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about Ukraine. I know you just recently traveled there.
A number of your departing, some retiring, Senate Republican colleagues have made clear they were very upset with President Trump's decision to waive the Lindsey Graham sanctions off of Russia and buyers of Russian oil. Senator Cornyn said, "Lindsay would be appalled." Senator Tillis said, it is "beyond irresponsible," "unconscionable" to capitulate to Vladimir Putin. Where do you stand?
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: Well, Margaret, on this topic and a whole bunch of others, I think capitulating to a bully generally means you're going to make more demands going forward. That's the problem with, you know, taking sort of a business negotiation approach to the – to negotiating with a thug, which is what Vladimir Putin is.
So, I share those colleagues' positions on it. However, I also have to, you know, acknowledge that we are a few weeks or a couple of weeks from an election. One of the important topics of the election is the cost of diesel fuel. It's really an important issue here in North Dakota.
As Representative Turner pointed out, and I was cheering him on, our allies throughout Europe have been buying energy from Vladimir Putin and funding his war machine for decades. And they should stop right now.
Having said all of that, I expect this will be a short-term pause. And I certainly hope so. Because I – one of the things that President Zelenskyy asked of us when I was with him on – last Thursday, I think it was, Thursday or Friday, was that the president would fully enforce the Lindsey Graham sanctions bill. And I still take that position.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes. Yes.
And some European Union countries do continue to buy fuel products. India and China would be the largest purchasers who would be hit by these tariffs.
So, do you think the president would actually even post-election trigger the tariffs on China?
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: Well, I certainly hope that he does, Margaret. Again, speaking of thugs who will never, you know, never agree to terms, or at least not continue to agree to terms that would be negotiated –
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: And Xi Jinping is another one. I think we have to start approaching our geopolitical negotiations the way that we ought to, and not the way that you do in a boardroom.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: You know, it – this is not a finality outcome to a dictator. The outcome of a negotiation with a dictator is more – you know, asking for more demands. And we have to start, you know, playing nice with our friends and treating our adversaries like they are adversaries.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You just met with President Zelenskyy. As you know, President Trump publicly blasted him again this week and said Ukraine needs another new president. Let me ask you something specific about how they defend themselves and conduct this war.
Starshield is a U.S. military program which Ukraine says that they use to fire into Russian-held territory. Last night, Secretary Rubio said Ukraine does not currently have access to it, but they have asked to use it to fire deep inside of Russia. When you were in Ukraine, as I understand it, you were presenting a proposal to President Zelenskyy to allow for Starshield access expansion if Ukraine stops striking Russian energy assets. What can you tell us about that proposal and what is the status of it?
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: So, that – you're right, that was a proposal we brought to President Zelenskyy. Senator Wicker, Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, came up with that idea. President Zelenskyy was enthusiastic about it. He said, I can do that tomorrow. I would absolutely stop attacking Russia's energy facilities if I could have access to targeting capabilities, which is what Starshield would provide them, to go deep into Russia and attack their attackers. In other words, their launch facilities. And, you know, kill the archer, not the arrows.
Of course, the third thing he asked for was the capacity to get license to jointly produce, co-produce Patriot missile interceptors, which would help him defend against these much-faster now jet-powered drones and missiles coming into Ukraine.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: So, his requests were three, they were simple, and I agree with all three of them. So, I would hope we can get to that point where remembering that what President Zelenskyy's protecting are civilians. Russia has chosen to go after civilian populations –
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: While President Zelenskyy has simply gone after, you know, the launchers and, more importantly, these – you know, the war machine's funding source, which is energy.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right, bringing us back to where we started here.
Ukraine has resumed, just even overnight, hitting Russian oil refineries. They hit the St. Petersburg oil terminal. Russia has been targeting the energy infrastructure inside of Ukraine.
Secretary Rubio said there are talks ongoing. Have you talked to Secretary Rubio about your exchange with President Zelenskyy? Who, in the administration, is actually trying to bring this to a close?
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: So, I have not talked to Marco, although as I was watching your previous segment, I just said to my staff, I wish I would have called Marco.
But, obviously, he and others are involved with it –
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: Including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. I think – I – but I worry, Margaret, that there's a disconnect. Once again, I go back to my earlier illustration. There's a disconnect between, you know, traditional, mutually beneficial negotiations between business people and the difference between somebody protecting humanity itself versus somebody who wants to take humanity down.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: And so I worry about that.
So, who exactly is negotiating these things? I don't know who's calling the shots. But at the end of the day, I think the president is, you know, he's – it's where the buck stops, and I think he accepts that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, is Senator Wicker presenting this deal to the White House? Like, what are you doing with what you negotiated?
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: Yes. Yes. Oh, yes. Yes. Yes, for sure. I mean we had talked to people in the White House, at the Department of War, and to the State Department, even prior to meeting with President Zelenskyy.
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK. So, do you join your colleague, Senator Tillis and Senator Shaheen in calling for an investigation of what has happened here in terms of whether U.S. government officials knew that Starlink was going to be interrupted, which impacts Ukraine's ability to use its drones and defend its people?
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: Well, I certainly support investigating, you know, what was the source of that decision, if, in fact, it was a decision at all. It may very well have been some sort of a technical glitch. I don't know for sure or whose call it was. So far, nobody's taking credit for making that call or the blame for it. So, I do support some sort of an investigation.
Certainly Congress itself could and should investigate. I think the letter that Senator Shaheen and Senator Tillis are talking about would be an inspector general investigation perhaps.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: But, sure, we want to get to the bottom of it. In the meantime, what's more important is that that power is put back on full scale and that we actually enhance Ukraine's ability to hit these launch facilities inside of Russia, deeper inside to like 300 kilometers I think is what President Zelenskyy was asking for.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes. President Zelenskyy said today that it has been restored, but has been throttled back. And in terms of that Starshield expansion, as you say, no deal yet.
Let me ask you about something closer to home. You said this summer that you "hate" – that was the word you used, "President Trump's decision to import foreign beef tariff free because it's not America first, wrong- headed, and threatens the future of U.S. food production."
The White House did not reverse course, despite those tough words from you. How negative has that been for your state and is that going to infect – affect, I should say, the enthusiasm for voters to show up in November? Are these ranchers just so ticked off they're not going to vote?
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: Well, first of all, Margaret, it won't have any affect in North Dakota on the – in the election cycle. We don't have a governor up. The president's, obviously, not up. We don't even have a senator up. So – and we're going to have an overwhelming Republican victory here.
Having said that, it's very discouraging to our ranchers. Again, I think there's a misunderstanding of commodity cycles, the commodity economic cycles. Ranchers rebuild their herds when prices are high. Their herds are, obviously, made much smaller when prices are low. That's why – that's why the countercyclical effect of commodity prices are well known to us, and why it's discouraging when we – when we reduce or eliminate the barriers to importing somebody else's beef, which is not nearly as safe or as high quality, at the cost of – at – to – at the cost of our local ranchers. They rely on these higher prices.
And by the way, I don't – I doubt that bringing in a bunch of Argentine beef is going to bring the price at the grocery store down any, you know.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes, it hasn't.
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: It has not. But it – but it will hurt the market price of the cattle themselves.
Now, ranchers are going up against lots of other problems as well –
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: Including a concentration of meat packing in the United States, where about a third or more is literally owned by the Chinese and the Brazilians.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: So, they're going up against a lot of things.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: But their input costs are also higher. They don't come down because the price of a cow goes down.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER: But, yes, so I still strongly oppose it and I think it was wrongheaded.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
Well, I wanted to get your insight on that because we're seeing that dynamic in other states as well, including Kansas.
So, Senator, thank you so much for your time today. We're going to have to leave it there.
We'll be right back.
(ANNOUNCEMENTS)
MARGARET BRENNAN: Joining us now our homegrown political panel. Executive director of election and surveys, Anthony Salvanto is back with us. We're also joined by political correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns and senior White House and political correspondent, Ed O'Keefe.
Good to have you all here.
And you're rarely here. You're on the trail quite a lot these days, the both of you. I want to start with the two of you.
More Democrats are telling pollsters, like Anthony, as he explained, that they intend to turn out to vote. And smaller number of Republicans intend to do so. Does that track with what the both of you are seeing in the field, Caitlin?
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: Yes. Absolutely. And what is really interesting here when I talk to Republican sources, they say the thing that they're most worried about when they look at this polling is a dynamic that they haven't really seen before, which is that Trump is underwater on the economy. And that has always been his calling card. And a lot of this is self-imposed, when it comes to tariffs, and when it comes to the Iran War, as the effect on diesel and gas prices. So, those are huge undercurrents in this race, obviously.
But the other underestimated factor, I think, running here is that Trump has to convince voters to turn out down ballot in a time where he has shown no deference to Congress.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: In fact, contempt for it as some points. And this is a Congress that has really ceded so much of its authority to the executive branch. And Trump has gone it alone – gone at it alone on a lot of policy fronts.
So, I think that really adds to the challenge that he has here, which is to convince his own voters to show up for Republicans for whom he has shown some contempt.
MARGARET BRENNAN: That's a – it's a good point, show up to vote for the body that I might not pay attention to myself.
ANTHONY SALVANTO: Yes.
ED O'KEEFE: Yes, and I don't think there's any dispute that Democrats are eager to get out there, for the most part, if you are a partisan Democrat who has no love for the president and maybe no love for whatever Republican is on the ballot.
But the challenge they're going to face, and the – part of what – where our travel has taken us is to these traditional Republican states. Part of the challenge for these Democrats will be finding enough independent voters to vote for that person –
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
ED O'KEEFE: And then peeling off enough Republicans.
I was struck in your poll, did you say only five percent of Republicans in Texas are willing to vote for Talerico, I would think he needs a number bigger than that in order to help him in such a large state where Democrats haven't done well.
And it's going to be the same dynamic in Kansas, in Iowa, in the – well, Alaska to some extent, and then any of these other states where suddenly the Republican incumbent is on the ropes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Anthony, I want to follow up on Texas. You laid out, tighter than expected, just a two-point lead, right, by Talerico in Texas at this point. It's also tight for the governor's race.
ANTHONY SALVANTO: Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, what does that say to you about the dynamic? Early voting, I know, gets underway tomorrow.
ANTHONY SALVANTO: Right. The big picture here, picking up off what you said, and Ed, is also that I asked people, OK, no matter what your party affiliation, what do you typically do when you go to the polls? And Talerico was polling nine percent of people who say that they usually or always vote Republican but they're going to make an exception perhaps this time. So, that's one part of the dynamic that's in play there.
The other part, of course, is the down ballot effect, or the coat tails, perhaps, if a Republican governor and is related to a Senate race. And that's going to be the case in a number of these states, number two. But again, on the point of turnout, you can look at a poll and say, OK, that's just one percent, that's just two percent. But in a big state like Texas, that's hundreds of thousands of voters.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
ANTHONY SALVANTO: Anybody who does any kind of, you know, business or marketing knows that to get 200,000 people to change what they normally do takes a lot of money and a lot of time. Do the Democrats have that operation to do it remains a giant question.
ED O'KEEFE: And that's the gamble the president continues to make by making these stops is that if he shows up, the last ten years of electoral history shows his voters show up. And so if he can continue to visit, as he's going to again in the coming days, Texas, Georgia, he's headed to Michigan finally, other parts of the country, the churn, they hope, is that enough of those people who were sitting on their hands before get up and go.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
ED O'KEEFE: And, if anything, keep the margins closer.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And that's what he means when he says, vote like I'm on the ballot.
ED O'KEEFE: Yes. Yes. It's –
MARGARET BRENNAN: I also, in this poll, was struck, 59 percent of likely voters told Anthony Ken Paxton does not have the right personal character to serve as senator. 45 percent said Talerico does not. Does that match what both of you have heard on the ground?
ED O'KEEFE: I think so. I mean – you go ahead.
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: Yes. Absolutely. I mean I was in Texas last week, and, I mean, this is why the president went there three times in the span of nearly three weeks, because he has to pull Paxton over the finish line. He's wildly unpopular.
But when it comes to Texas, the thing that I've been saying is, everything has to go wrong for Republicans and exactly right for Democrats in order to win there. So, it's not just enough that people don't like Paxton and depressing the Republican vote, it's also that you have to turn out those independents and convert voters to the Democratic side in a deep red state. Talerico is going to have to build a coalition that no Democrat has been able to do in over 30 years. It's a tall order.
ED O'KEEFE: I will say, we were there first in March when the primaries were held and Talerico was already on this, focus on corruption, which I think we've seen Democrats everything else, especially in the last few weeks, really begin to pick up on, such that it's starting to show up in polling –
MARGARET BRENNAN: For the president or for Paxton, who has faced allegations?
ED O'KEEFE: For everyone. But in the – but in that case specific, he was linking Paxton and Trump together.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Got it.
ED O'KEEFE: Emphasis on Paxton ahead of the general. And now you see Democrats across the country focused on corruption, either against the president or the Republican they're running against or, you know, the governor in that state. So, he was, in essence, a leading indictor, or, you know, he saw something coming with the uniquely unpopular candidate that he has that other Democrats have not been able to pick on, with all the examples we've seen across the country.
You say they've got to pull off a miracle in Texas. Democrats need to pull off at least four miracles on election night across the country in states where they've never done it before. That's what makes this such a high bar for them to reach on election night.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about Michigan.
ED O'KEEFE: Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I know you were just there. I like your vote bracelet, by the way.
ED O'KEEFE: This was made by my daughter. Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Very cute.
ED O'KEEFE: Get out and vote.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You – the president talks about this race all the time.
ED O'KEEFE: Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Specifically the Democratic candidate there who would be, if he wins, the first Muslim senator to ever sit in Congress. This was one of President Trump's latest remarks.
(BEGIN VC)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You have a jihadist running in Michigan. He's not like leaning left. He was so far left, there is no such thing as the word. This guy's a jihadist.
(END VC)
MARGARET BRENNAN: Abdul El-Sayed, how is he handling that kind of rhetoric, which is basically accusing him of being a terrorist, and is the Republican candidate comfortable with this?
ED O'KEEFE: Well, he's repeating it himself. We saw him give a speech this week just ahead of the vice president on Thursday in the Detroit area where he spent about 90 percent of his speech laying out accusations similar to what the president is suggesting, that he has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, that he's too extreme for Michigan, that he hasn't denounced the IRGC and thinks that Israel's a bigger threat than Iran.
El-Sayed has, in various ways, addressed this by saying, first of all, no, he has no associations with the Muslim Brotherhood. He was asked by a voter, does he disavow them? The answer was "yes." It was followed by a long respond targeting that person for raising it at all and suggesting that the only reason Republicans are doing this is because he's Muslim or Arab and is different. He ties himself to the legacies of John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama in being firsts. But the difference was, Kennedy and Obama, I'd argue, went out and sort of proactively addressed the fact that they would be historic and different in speeches.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
ED O'KEEFE: And did it in a – in a – I guess a more positive way. El- Sayed continues to sort of raise it, or answer questions about it and then accuse people of being – why would you raise that?
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
ED O'KEEFE: Well, he's the one raising it to some extent by pointing out the history of it. But then when people ask these questions, it gets quite defensive and aggressive about it.
The thing is, he's anticipating that voters in Michigan are more upset about the economy, more upset about the war, less concerned about him. It is quite the gamble. And one that he continues to say he's going to win by seven percent. I don't think the polls show that. But he's standing by about to win by seven percent. We'll see.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Just quickly on Michigan. You interviewed Mike Rogers and you asked him about his wife handing out $10 cards to go buy gas.
ED O'KEEFE: Yes. Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Is that legal?
ED O'KEEFE: Well, buying votes is not legal, no. And I asked Rogers, what was your wife doing there? And he said, well, she paid for these out-of- pocket and she was trying to raise awareness about our campaign.
MARGARET BRENNAN: How does that make a difference?
ED O'KEEFE: I – that was his answer when I asked, right?
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK.
ED O'KEEFE: I mean you saw – this was on social media. People caught this. But he also made the point that she was doing this in black areas of Detroit. He has made a concerted effort to reach out to black voters in that city, believing that there is softness for El-Sayed, and the polling suggests there is. And certainly what we heard this week suggests that he still has work to do there. But Rogers is trying to make inroads there. Handing out gift cards, meeting with pastors. He told me at one point that he met a black pastor who, in his 70 years that that church had existed, no Republican office holder or politician had ever shown up.
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK.
ED O'KEEFE: That might work on the margins in close races. We'll see.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Caitlin, you have spent some time in Kansas. President Trump's heading there.
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We were just talking about beef prices with the North Dakota senator.
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: This is a problem for Roger Marshall in Kansas.
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: I mean I was there a couple weeks ago, not a place I expected to be in the final stretch of this campaign. No Democrat has won the Senate race in Kansas since 1932. That's nearly a century.
But there's a lot at place here that I think speaks to the broader themes of this election. First of all, kind of going back to the point I made, Roger Marshall is a candidate – a current incumbent that Republicans kind of feel meh about. They like the president, but not necessarily translating to him. Everything you've been seeing across the country, the cost of diesel, especially for farmers in Kansas, is important.
But I spent an afternoon with a cattle farmer in Kansas who likes the president, supported the president, time and again, still supports him, but the decision that the administration made to allow beef imports into the market, that is something that is directly affecting him. And he told me, for the first time he is considering voting for the Democrat Adam Hamilton here, who I interviewed, and he said, you know, if you talk to him, he often references that he's a former Republican, he's not campaigning on the national party brand, which he can't do in a place like Kansas.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: But he's making it competitive because of kind of that perfect storm of complications that Republicans have going for them. And then the nuances in a lot of these races. Administration policies directly affecting the constituencies that tend to vote for Trump. So, that gets to the turnout question.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: Is that enough to depress them and enough to convert a couple of them?
MARGARET BRENNAN: And that, Anthony, is what you're going to be focused on basically all night on November 3rd.
ANTHONY SALVANTO: Yes. Well, look, this national context, to Caitlin's point, is neither party not only is viewed favorably, but neither one is viewed by most as able to help you financially.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
ANTHONY SALVANTO: And that's important because, yes, is speaks to localized races or state-specific races, in many cases that Democrats would like this to be all nationalized because, on the national level, there is that opposition to the administration's policies.
But, at the same time, when you talk about who owns the economy and you ask that, it is the Trump administration in the minds of most, because of those policies, because of the war, and because of gas prices.
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK.
Very quickly, Caitlin, any word on who's behind these 36 lawmakers receiving threatening envelopes?
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: Yes, suspicious substances, a lot of them intercepted before they reached Capitol Hill offices. But not only for U.S. senators and lawmakers, but also for election officials, which is really startling. It's been 25 years since the anthrax issue after 9/11. And what is really especially jarring is, they don't – they haven't released who – or talked about who may be behind this. Federal law enforcement is investigating. But the uptick that we've seen and threats against lawmakers and their families has risen in the past year over 50 percent.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes. Yes, it's something we are tracking very much in our public life these days.
Thank you all for this panel.
ED O'KEEFE: Good to see you.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Get ready, it's going to be a fun two weeks.
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: Buckle up.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We'll be back in a moment.
(ANNOUNCEMENTS)
MARGARET BRENNAN: That's it for us today. We'll see you next week.
(ANNOUNCEMENTS)
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