Only 15 days until the Midterm Election: What to know

Thanks for joining us as we kick off another busy week of all things people, power, and politics. This, my friends, is The Pulse. I'm Rupert Raj. We are roughly two weeks out for the midterms, so if you think you're seeing a lot of political ads now, just wait. But that's why we're here, to cut through the noise and make sure you know what's real and what's not. And since there's only two weeks to go and there's a lot to talk about, we're bringing in our all-star panel to dive into the midterms. Detroit City Councilmember Mary Waters and Jay Murray with the Michigan Insider with what the candidates in all major races have to do, need to do, will do as November 3rd quickly approaches. Now we're diving into the race of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's home with attorney Neil Rockin. It's prompted a lot of legal questions, especially given the fact we're so close to the big vote. Neil's diving into that in about 20 minutes. And we begin with the midterms tonight, just 15 days and 30 minutes until polls close. That 30 minutes is a real thing. And some of you are already casting your ballots. So we're wondering how you plan to vote this year absentee early in person or on election day just scan the QR code that's going to pop up right there on your screen and you can tell us what you think so far it seems as though the majority of people well not the majority of the people half are absentee the other half early in person or on election day well there are you know really a few key dates that you need to know about as well starting tomorrow if you aren't registered you have to do it in person with your local clerk that's really important and we should point out If you do plan on voting absentee, the Secretary of State's office recommends you drop it off at your clerk's office or a secure drop box in your community since we're within that 14-day of Election Day period. Communities have to offer that early voting. It begins on Saturday and runs through November 1st. And there is a, or I should say there are a couple of big visits happening this week as well. Former President Obama is headlining a campaign rally for Democrats in Detroit on Saturday. And the next day, President Trump will rally for Republicans in St. Clair County. But as the last push for votes does continue, the question is, are there any truly undecided voters? My colleague, Dave Spencer, took that question to public affairs expert Chris Moyer with Russ Scott Rosman. Here's what he had to say. I think the answer is a little bit. There are some voters right now that are leaning towards Jocelyn Benson. She has a more demonstrable lead over Congressman John James in the gubernatorial race. But the polling indicates that we're looking at a much tighter race in the U.S. Senate race. So there are some Democratic votes or independent votes that have not come over to Abdul El-Sayed that both campaigns are fighting over right now. And with that said, we always say the only poll that matters is the one that you take between now and Election Day. no matter how you vote or who you vote for, it's important that everybody does because it is the fundamental part of our democracy. One of the key issues for voters this year is the Iran war, and there is a new warning tonight for Americans in the Middle East saying they should use, quote, heightened vigilance. This comes just hours after the Iran-sponsored Houthis struck a military camp in South Yemen, killing dozens of soldiers. There are also fears tonight if the Houthis escalate their fight. It could bring more countries into the fighting. And while Iran blames the US for tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, its foreign minister hinted a possible return to the negotiating table. There is no military solution to the problems in the region. They must be addressed through diplomacy and political solutions. And we've been keeping a close eye on gas prices since the war started. It's driven them sky high. You know that. Here are the latest averages according to gasbuddy.com. And we're going to get to that in just a second here. perhaps we'll advance to that 425 national 444 in michigan there just told me in my ear and it popped up right in time look in the u.s 425 aaron jordan with the assist in my ear michigan 444 metro detroit that's the important one that's where so many of you live 452 a gallon it's high to another war blamed for driving up energy prices especially diesel the russia ukraine war president trump put new sanctions against russia on hold telling congress it's in the national interests. And it comes after he said the U.S. agreed to buy Russian diesel to try and bring down energy prices, despite the fact it possibly hurts Ukraine and its war with Russia. Both moves have gotten pushback from lawmakers on both sides. President Trump was asked about this criticism and had this to say. Well, I think when they find out what the deal is, I've had four of them call up because they only put out word last night. I'm in the midst of negotiating a deal. When you're negotiating a deal, you don't do that to the people you're negotiating. And the deal, trade deal. Also, I'm negotiating with them on Iran because they've been very well behaved on Iran. Also, I'm negotiating with them on hostages and I'm also negotiating on diesel. So when you, that's my business. Negotiating, you don't do that. The sanctions were designed to starve Russian President Vladimir Putin of the resources he needs to continue that war with Ukraine. Russia started the war when it invaded four years ago. That's just scratching the surface, so let's pick up the pace and run through some of the other big stories we're on top of right now. The Justice Department charges more than two dozen foreign nationals in California. Part of a sweep there targeting people they say have illegally registered or voted in U.S. elections. Now, the Trump administration's wider effort to root out non-citizen voting comes despite data showing the problem is extremely rare, tough to prove and hasn't been shown to change the outcome of elections the feds also accused california of not maintaining their voter rolls properly california's attorney general says there is no widespread voter fraud there the supreme court rejecting a push to revive a plea deal for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed he's the accused mastermind of the 9-11 attacks the agreement would have spared him the death penalty in exchange for a guilty plea and life without parole military prosecutors and the Pentagon senior Guantanamo Bay official approved that deal. But in 2024, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was appointed by and served under President Biden, threw that deal out, saying a decision on the death penalty in an attack like 9-11 should only be made by the Defense Secretary. And President Trump signs an executive order boosting research into women's health. The order creates a women's health division at the National Institutes of Health and a separate White House Women's Health Task Force. The move was pushed by First Lady Melania Trump. Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. will lead the White House Task Force alongside White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Wiles recently finished treatment for breast cancer. We're turning back to the midterms after the break. Just 15 days to go until Election Day. And our panel weighs in on the final sprint. What do they need to do and say? That's coming up next. You're watching The Pulse on Fox 2. Back now on the Pulse looking at all things people power and politics here to dive into the midterms Detroit City Council member Mary Waters and Jay Murray with the Michigan Enjoyer with a conservative perspective great to have you both here with us tonight hope you're well it's a lot a lot going on we got 15 days to go until the election and uh things are ramping up we mentioned president trump coming to town and former president obama coming to town and it's interesting because while these are obviously the heaviest of heavy hitters uh they both present a dynamic that's interesting for both Republicans and Democrats. We'll begin with the Republicans. We'll begin with President Trump. What does President Trump do to help Mike Rogers in this race, Mary? I don't think he does anything to help Mike Rogers in this race. He could very well hurt Mike Rogers. In fact, there's so many people so angry with President Trump right now due to the things that are happening in Ukraine and Gaza and everywhere else. They are angry with him in an Iran the war that never should have been people are voting out of anger he is costing costing the Republicans they're racist yes he is I find this fascinating because I had the chance to sit down with Mike Rogers just last week at the Chaldean American Chamber luncheon and he made a very explicit point to show that he had separated from President Trump when it comes to the Iran war saying it needs to end and the trade war with Canada saying these are our friends and our enemies. Jay, by President Trump showing up, does that help or hurt Mike Rogers? Well, I think Ms. Waters is mostly correct, but I think the game has changed as we go into the weekend and down the home stretch. I think they want to target their specific voters in Macomb County and then in Downriver, Metro Detroit. And now it's turned into a game where they just need to get their voters, who they've already targeted, get them motivated to the polls. I'm going to ask an obvious question to both of you, but it begs to be asked, aren't the people who already love President Trump, the MAGA loyalists, already going to vote for Mike Rogers? There's not one person I would imagine who says, I'm a rah-rah President Trump MAGA fan who's thinking about voting for Abdul. I don't think anyone exists like that. What is the purpose of a visit like this, truly? I don't, I've seen data just in the last week that might indicate otherwise. I spoke with some consultants last week, Thursday, that they showed me some data that indicated there's anywhere between 5% to 10% of Trump voters. possibly voting for Abdul. I think that's the threat that the White House is trying to end run around. Mary Waters, more on President Trump? Yeah, well, I think some of those same voters are pretty upset with President Trump. Because why? High gas prices, food is higher. People are really upset about that. And so this is a referendum on Donald Trump. It doesn't even have that much to do with Mike Rogers right now. This is about President Trump and so for those people that generally stay home um he's trying to motivate them to get out and some of these people are diehard Trump supporters but he's trying to motivate them to go to the polls to mail in their ballots and they're just not budging they're just saying i'm checking out what's what's happening what about former president obama he comes to town uh this weekend as well a day before president trump uh what does he do for uh for for black voters for jewish voters for everyday voters what does he do nothing i mean actually absolutely nothing he doesn't move the meter i don't think so and and the reason is that people have different reasons that they're motivated people have different reasons why they well some of them are saying listen i'm going to leave certain parts of my ballot blank i'm not going to vote for certain people uh president obama cannot change that and i'm going to tell you i heard some people having some conversations they said to me they said they don't care what president obama says what he does they're not going to change their mind because he does not live here what about when hayley stevens used obama's quotes from years before in her ads and it seemed like that gave hayley stevens a bit of a bump did it not jay it did but i'm afraid to admit i agree with Miss Waters here a little bit I don't think uh Obama's visit to Detroit moves the needle very much. In fact, in 2024, Obama stumped hard for Kamala and did virtually nothing for her. In fact, in Pittsburgh, actually angered voters, and it's been argued that he actually suppressed some voters, specifically black males. That could happen again today, or I'm sorry, it could happen again this weekend if he takes the same tack. But if you're talking about, we know one thing. I know some people out there, I have a friend here at work who always says it's gonna be a landslide on one way or the other. And I often say, I don't think it's gonna be a landslide. There's no landslide. There was no landslide in the primary. There was no landslide between Slotkin and Rogers. There was no landslide between Syed and Stevens. That's right. It's not going to be a landslide this time around either. You know, and let me tell you, it all started during the Democratic Party's convention when they booed Haley. They should have just left Haley alone. Run your race. Leave that alone. Because now you just might pay the price. Well, I just wonder how many people who still have loyalty towards President Obama may actually say, okay, I'm gonna listen to him. And if it moves the needle by even 2000 votes, doesn't that mean something in this election? I think Obama is still popular with some Jewish voters in Oakland County. He's an intellectual president, former president, and that's a demographic that was very supportive of him. Jewish voters are a major concern in this election, specifically with some of the Jews for Mike Rogers campaigns that are going on. Well, President Obama did not make, do any favors for himself in the last week when he made some comments that were not exactly what Jewish voters wanted to hear when it comes to Israel. That's true. So that's gonna be interesting. And if you wanna move the needle with black folks, rather than President Obama, you bring in Michelle Obama. She's much more dynamic in terms of- She is. She's more popular. Yes. By the way, I want to ask you this. What do you think Kamala Harris did for Tulsa three weeks ago? I feel like she came and went and didn't do anything. I agree. I don't think she did absolutely anything. I don't even think people knew she was here. Yeah, actually. Well, I think most people did not know. People may have been aware. I mean, she sat next to him shoulder to shoulder. It was on national news. You know, it was the strangest thing. I heard some people say that they're still upset about the non-voting where people says, well, you know, I'm gonna sit this one out. So they said if Kamala Harris walked down the street holding Abdul El-Sayed's hand, it would not matter. They were not going to vote for him. Let's do a quick thing. We've got about 40 seconds left. They said that. Do the numbers for us here. What are you thinking? Does Abdul El-Sayed and Rogers, how tight of a race is it going to be? How many percentage points? Point. Point. I think it's about a point difference. I think it's going to be tight. And I think Abdul's polling right now shows him being pretty comfortable, but I think this is gonna come down to the wire. Are you concerned at all that President Trump, if it ends up becoming something that's super tight, ends up pulling out the voter integrity issue and starts pointing fingers at precincts and places? Yeah, and then that will extend to 2028 if he tries that. It's gonna sully the ground moving forward, and I think it would be a mistake. Councilwoman, first of all, do you think this administration will try to do that if if it's too tight, and if it's in the favor of El-Sayed? Oh, absolutely. President Trump has already indicated somewhat that he was going to do something. Not sure what that is going to be, but he certainly said that. We said 40 seconds for the Senate race. I want to spend the next minute talking about the governor's race. Oh, yeah, the governor's race, that race. Want to talk to you about that. I mean, is this a shoe-in for any one candidate here? I think Jocelyn Benson's clearly in the lead, but I think John James' debate performance was fantastic. I think she did quite awful in the debate, quite frankly. But is it enough for John James to win? I have my doubts. Councilwoman, what's the issue that makes people move one way or the other on this gubernatorial election? Well, people want to hear, what are you going to do for me? What are you going to do for my community? They are not hearing that. And that's the kind of thing that can move the needle one side or to the other side. What about data centers? Oh, my goodness, yes. Oh, data centers. Yes, as long as it's messaged correctly and people understand what's at stake with data centers, not all communities are attuned to data centers. But for those that are, they are very strong about it, they are angry about it, and their vote will reflect that. Jay, what about data centers? Jocelyn Benson, John James, both have had some pretty interesting things to say about them. I think it hurts her more than him, but they're both going to get dinged up, and I also think that after November 4th, we're not going to hear about data centers again. What's frustrating to so many people is the fact that we have our future on the line. We're not just talking about pie in the sky future, we're talking about our kids. The education in the state is failing, and I feel like we need to hear more about that. We have 45th. 45th in the country. Yes. And we weren't 45th in the country 10 years ago, 15 years ago. That might be the issue that if anything's gonna hurt Jocelyn Benson significantly, it'll be that because she's coming from the Democratic Party. Yeah, she's going to be riding on it, and she's campaigning on it and talking about it a lot. Gretchen Whitmer, should she stay in the background, or does it help her to come out for Benson? No, she should just stay in the background. Just hide. Just leave the state. There you have it. Jay Murray, Councilman Mary Waters. Great to see you both. Gov, if you're watching, sorry. It's their words, right? We're turning to the reign of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's home after the break. What's really going on here? Is it all political, or is there some real legal basis to this? Attorney Neil Raikin weighs in, you're watching The Pulse on Fox Two, it is people, power and politics Welcome back to Detroit's only nightly political talk show The Pulse, here to dive into the raid of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's home attorney Neil Raikin to kind of unpack some of this because you watch cable news, Neil, uh, you get if you watch one cable news outlet you get one side you watch the other you get the other and on this show you really just want to unpack it objectively with you about what these charges are what they look like and so thanks for being with us here tonight sure So you have this happen in the midst of a political election. The timing is not just interesting, it also is telling, but it also, there are some legal issues around the timing, how close you get to an election when you go after someone's home. What is it that she's being looked at for? Okay, so when you watch the cable news networks, it's like a Rorschach test, you know, those inkblots. If you watch Fox News, you see one thing. If you watch one of the other stations, you get something else. It's pretty fascinating. So there are certain rules about when the Department of Justice, and they're internal rules, the Department of Justice has essentially sort of a hands-off period, a 60-day hands-off period prior to an election. And the general rule, which has been followed by almost every single attorney general, as far back as we can remember, is 60 days prior to an election, we don't do anything, we don't make no political prosecutions, no prosecutions, no raids, no investigations, no announcements of potential new charges against political figures. And the idea is that the Department of Justice has historically been sort of immune. They've been Switzerland. They have essentially stayed out of politics. And when you announce or investigate or announce an indictment within 60 days, you are in a way sort of taking your finger and you're kind of putting it on the scale. Because you're now making a pronouncement that one person of one party or the other is potentially guilty of a crime and that can affect votes. It can suppress votes or it can actually drive people to the polls and you don't want to do that. And so take the timing out for a moment, even though that's hard for people to do, but for a moment and talk specifically about this investigation. What does it have to do with? All right, so what we know is that the investigation is minimally about her citizenship here in the United States. There are allegations that it involves much more. Remember, federal investigations are very different from state investigations. Federal investigations are oftentimes secret, and they don't really tell us everything. I think sometimes we wish that they would just sort of announce each the entirety of what they're looking at. We know that at a at a minimum, they're looking at whether or not her father or her in any way sort of committed fraud when she entered the country and became a citizen. Was she 17? If so, that's what her father claims. Her father could claim that she was, when she entered, could claim her and claim that she should be naturalized. Or was she 18? If she's 18, she had to do it on her own. And then they're arguing, at least the Trump administration is in a way arguing that if that's the case, then her entire citizenship is null and void. And that as President Trump said that she should be deported. Okay, so now and then now you bring the 60 day rule back into the fray and you say people are pushing back at the Trump administration saying, why are you bringing this up now ahead of, of course, a very consequential midterm in which if it's not her, it's her colleagues, friends, other people who are affected by the bias that could come out. But when is it, has there ever been a time and is it at any point appropriate for someone to find something that's completely objectionable against the law and to be able to say, I get that it's within the 60 days, but what we're seeing here is awful and abhorrent. We need to stop it. Well, I mean, I would say yes, if there's a terror attack, if there's some sort of wholesale, an event that requires exigency, that requires the Department of Justice to act in that moment. For example, there was much debate as you recall with Jim Comey and Hillary Clinton about his decision to announce that the investigation actually should be reopened and closed. And there are all kinds of questions about whether or not that was appropriate. The real question here is, of course, there are some cases where the Department of Justice has to do something within the 60 day period. If there's a threat or potential loss of life, they of course should. But in a case where they could wait potentially 60 days, whether you like Ilhan Omar or not, could they wait? Could they wait 61 days? Sure. And do it the day after the election? Of course they could. So then the question that needs to be asked obviously is, what can be done to push back against the DOJ's investigation, if anything? Okay, so not much can be done to prevent the DOJ from conducting their investigation. Not much can be done about the DOJ actually bringing or announcing this investigation or undertaking it within the 60-day period, cuz that's just policy. Sure. Policies come and go, as you know. What her lawyers are doing, though, is really interesting. Remember, she's a member of Congress, whether you like her or don't, she has certain rights and privileges as a member of Congress. Members of Congress have immunity, which is called the Debate and Privilege Clause, which allows their ruminations associated with their legislating to be private. And what her lawyers are saying, which is really interesting, is that what the government should have done, what the magistrate and judge told them to do, which was to let her know, to tell her what was being taken, so she could lodge objections before the government got a hold of her information, phones, etc. Yeah, obviously this is something that so many people are watching carefully. And I think we did it better than cable news here tonight. Much better. Having done it with your expertise, and we appreciate that. Nobody stewarded this conversation better than you. Well, I appreciate that, and you answer the questions very well. It does help unpack it for people to understand the issue at hand. Neil Rockin, attorney, great to see you. Thanks for joining us on The Pulse. That is The Pulse for tonight. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Ruth Barrage. As always, it was good to be with you.