Political leaders campaign as midterm election races tighten

President Trump is back on the campaign trail today, heading to Florida, and that follows a rally last night in Iowa. As Doug Lazier reports from Washington, it's part of a big final push from both parties ahead of the midterms with less than two weeks to go. Good morning, Doug. Good morning. The president hoping to ward off a potential blue wave on election night with a number of these races getting very tight. Thank you very much. I love this place. President Trump in Iowa last night hitting on familiar issues and also defending a controversial ad in the Ohio gubernatorial race. It shows the estranged mother of Democratic candidate Amy Acton calling her daughter a liar. There have been bipartisan calls for Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to take it down. So I told him, leave it up and look upstairs and say thank you God very much, I appreciate it. For the president, it was an early morning return to the White House before he heads back out to Florida today. And he's not the only one making the rounds. It's time to turn that anger into action. Former Vice President Kamala Harris was campaigning in Mississippi. Former President Obama will be in Michigan this weekend. Back in Iowa, meantime, even among Trump supporters lined up to see him, elevated gas prices still resonate. I remember when Trump was in office the last time. I used to work at a Costco, and we had gas as low as $1.39 a gallon. The president has accused Iran of trying to intentionally drive gas prices higher ahead of the midterms, even as more oil is getting through the Strait of Hormuz. I think the administration did want to see Iran sort of move to the back burner. It's about as good as it could be right now in terms of it staying off the front page while they're trying to make the case to voters here in the next two weeks. Now, this comes amid reports that the administration may be contemplating new military action. against Iran after the midterms. Desiree. Well, I mean, Doug, there's just so much going on as it relates to, obviously, now we're seeing, you know, the president's on the campaign trail. We've seen ads from former President Barack Obama, Kamala Harris as well in Mississippi. Can you talk about what is going on in Mississippi right now? And the president didn't mention he's willing to go there, but this was a state that he won by more than 20 points. So what's happening there in Mississippi? Yeah, these are solid red states. you know, they're being very strategic about deploying resources right now. You know, the president is going to some, you know, generally safe Republican states, but he's also going to a state like Michigan, for instance, where that Senate race has really been heating up. Unusual to see Kamala Harris going to Mississippi, but, you know, it's kind of a scrambled election year. Yeah. All right. That's the big push before the midterms here quickly approaching on the third. Doug, we appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you.