Inside Politics

Today, we're getting our first look at early voting with our newly launched CNN tracker. Nearly 800,000 ballots have already been cast around the country, and there are clear signs of Democratic enthusiasm and an advantage for the Democrats in several states with key races. Our coverage begins with CNN's Tom Foreman at a polling place in Fairfax County, Virginia.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With just 34 days until the midterms, a new Marist poll shows Democrat Abdul el-Sayed with a seven-point lead over Republican Mike Rogers in their race for the Senate. But for many in the Wolverine State, the choice is about someone who isn't on the ballot: Donald Trump.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jack Smith, who led multiple DOJ investigations into Donald Trump, testified today in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. We heard about classified documents, 2020 election lies, and the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Which begs the question: Why is the GOP relitigating old grievances when they could be addressing what's driving voters right now as we steamroll toward the midterm elections?    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The headline above is how one Trump adviser is describing the midterms to CNN. That blunt assessment comes as President Trump finally hits back at Florida Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, a vulnerable Republican who made a campaign ad criticizing his deportation policy. The president shared at least 14 posts from other Truth Social users criticizing her, including one calling her a backstabber and another that she wants amnesty.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is America gearing up for another political shift? Join us on Inside Politics as we unpack the GOP's internal struggles and Democratic strategies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As today's show begins, President Trump is escorting Xi Jinping on an archivist-guided tour of the National Archives, where the foundational documents of American democracy permanently reside.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As today's show begins, our CNN colleague Betsy Klein has had a heck of a time attempting to get access to the White House. This, despite a judge last night temporarily throwing out President Trump's press ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Trump wants the midterms to be all about him. But a new CNN poll shows why many Republicans on the ballot may want the opposite. In fact, it's hard to look at these numbers as anything other than a repudiation of the president. Today we dig into the specifics and discuss what they mean for the midterms.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Trump defended his war against Iran on the world stage today, casting himself as a peacemaker while threatening to "annihilate the Islamic republic." Yet a new CNN poll shows just one in four Americans approve of how he's handling the war.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've got new CNN reporting on why the president suddenly banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. Earlier today the three news outlets filed a lawsuit against the White House, claiming the ban is a direct violation of the First Amendment.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Political drama unfolds as President Trump picks fights with media outlets just 44 days before the midterms! Can Democrats flip key states or is it all just noise? Also, as President Trump hosts China's leader amidst media crackdowns, are we witnessing a distraction or a strategic move? Tune into Inside Politics for the latest unraveling of power dynamics and midterm strategies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're 46 days until the midterm elections, and it appears at least some vulnerable Republicans have decided cozying up to the White House may not be the best strategy. The latest is GOP Senate candidate Ashley Hinson, who is skipping a rally in Iowa that VP Vance is attending. Hinson's move comes days after two other Iowa Republicans in tight House races broke with the Trump administration.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is President Trump trying to take the 2026 midterms back to 1988? Stumping for Senate candidate Michael Whatley in North Carolina, Trump referred to Democrat Roy Cooper as a "pro-crime politician" who's "tried to bully you into silence while they turned your cities into blood-soaked killing fields, flooded your communities with migrant criminals, destroyed your schools with gangs and drugs, and filled your streets with lawlessness, filth and squalor. He mentioned crime at least 16 times during that speech.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Trump is now going all in on the midterms with his cash and his time. He hits the trail tonight in North Carolina to campaign with GOP Senate candidate Michael Whatley in his race against former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper. The visit underscores a crucial challenge for Whatley. He wants to tap into Trump's pull with the GOP base, but not alienate moderates and unaffiliated voters who could decide this incredibly important race. And Whatley is hardly alone in trying to thread the Trump endorsement needle.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

FBI Director Kash Patel fielded questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee today, and the hearing veered into some very unexpected directions, with topics swinging from election lies and violent immigration operations to ... bestiality? Meanwhile, as the Patel was testifying, President Trump was lashing out at the Supreme Court after justices blocked his push to restrict mail-in ballots just seven weeks before the midterms.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's show we bring you brand new CNN reporting ranking the top nine Senate seats most likely to flip. But we begin with a harrowing Saturday night on the trail for the Republican nominee for Wisconsin governor, Tom Tiffany, who was flying home from a campaign event when his small, single-engine plane suddenly lost power, plunging the congressman and his pilot into a pitch black lake.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With just 51 days until Election Day, Inside Politics Sunday explores the GOP's ad blitz to secure their majorities. Dive into the strategy and potential impact. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John King anchors our special coverage of the 25-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Supreme Court may have just saved a Democratic House seat. After days of electoral chaos, the justices firmly rejected GOP efforts in Missouri to bring back a Republican-friendly congressional map that the state courts had blocked. Meanwhile, President Trump channeled his inner Oprah at the GOP's midterm convention last night by offering voters $5,000 each, but only if the Republicans win the House and Senate.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brand new CNN polling from Michigan and Maine - two battleground states that could determine which party controls Congress - reveals that the Senate races in each are statistically tied. We consult the "magic wall" with all the numbers.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With just 56 days until the midterms, the economy, Iran war, and now a trade war with Canada are threatening the vulnerable Republicans. We are tracking the races, candidates and stories that could shift the balance of power. And we start today with New Hampshire, where there are competitive contests on both sides.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Labor Day traditionally marks the beginning of the general election campaign - the moment when non-political junkies start tuning in. This year, it's also the turning point for President Trump, who's ramping up his personal involvement in many races. But for many Republican candidates, that presents a challenge: Can they embrace the president to win his diehard base without turning off the majority of voters who are just plain tired of him?    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Get the inside scoop on Trumpapalooza and its impact on endangered Republicans. Don't miss today's deep dive into the midterms and what's at stake. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As today's show begins, we are following breaking news on the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, the mother accused of strangling her three young children to death in 2023. After seven days of deliberations, the jury says it still cannot reach a unanimous verdict, forcing the judge to declare a mistrial. But he put that decision on hold for one hour to give the defense time to make an emergency appeal for a stay.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He's going to be everything everywhere all at once. That's what President Trump is telling his party 61 days ahead of the midterm elections. But is it what Republicans on the ballot actually want? The president is historically unpopular with the country, is six months into a war most opposed, and Americans are still worried about rising prices and an unequal economy. On the flip side, no one fires up the GOP base like the president, and no one has as much money to spend right now.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are 48 hours away from the first state sending out the first ballots of the midterm election, and President Trump is still trying to radically reshape the mail-in ballot rules. But multiple election officials across the country tell CNN that there's no way to make his proposed mail ballot rules a reality, no matter what the courts ultimately rule about them.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Massachusetts calls itself the "old colony." But on today's primary election ballot, younger Democrats are hoping for a generational revolt. Senator Ed Markey, 80 years old with 50 years in Congress under his belt, is trying to fend off a primary challenge from 47-year-old Congressman Seth Moulton. Yes, Markey has been in Congress longer than Moulton has been alive. Two of the state's other 70-somethings are also facing much-younger challengers today.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's show begins as we await closing arguments in the murder trial of Tupac Shakur. The hip hop legend was killed in September of 1996 in a drive-by-shooting in Las Vegas. Questions swirled for decades over who killed the then-25-year-old star. Duane Davis, better known as Keffe D, is charged with first degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

65 days until the midterms and there's a shake-up in the Senate race! Tune into Inside Politics Sunday to hear Manu Raju's exclusive reporting on the battle for the Senate majority. Can Democrats turn red states blue? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's show begins as President Trump is preparing to award the Artemis II crew the Congressional Medal of Honor. The four astronauts went farther into space than any humans before them, circling the moon on a 10-day mission and bringing home never-before-seen-images from deep space, completing the first crewed journey to the moon in more than half a century.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Texas has long been the Democrat's white whale. And this year it's also the Republican's bulwark. President Trump will visit the Lone Star State today to help the keep a Senate seat red. And House Speaker Mike Johnson is visiting four districts central to the GOP holding onto the House.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we remember a legend who lived outside politics, someone who crossed the political divide in an almost divine way. Dolly Parton - singer, songwriter, actress, philanthropist, businesswoman and global icon - died at the age of 80 after a brief battle with cancer. Simply put, there will never be another like Dolly Parton. Her music spanned generations, global borders, race, religion, and socioeconomic status.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Canada just laid out its sweeping retaliatory tariffs - up to 50% on hundreds of American products. It's the latest move in what's quickly becoming a full-out trade war between the US and its northern neighbor. CNN's Kevin Liptak begins our coverage from the White House.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join Manu Raju and top political reporters as they analyze President Trump's grip on the GOP, the latest from Washington, and the shifting political tides. Tune into Inside Politics for the story beyond the headlines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There are just 75 days to go until the midterm elections. And as we turn from a bruising primary season toward the general election, the battle for control of the Senate could be changing. A brand new analysis from the Cook Political Report shows Democrats may have a new path to the Senate majority, and it runs through Texas.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Florida voters deliver a powerful reminder of one of politics most enduring lessons, notably espoused by the late House Speaker Tip O'Neill: "All politics is local." Last night, Florida voters in both parties showed why O'Neill's political mantra really still holds up. Big names and big money collided with something even more powerful: home turf credibility.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Voters in four states are hitting the ballot box today for key governor, House and Senate primaries in Wyoming, California, Alaska and Florida. The wildest races are - no surprise - in the Sunshine State, which has an open governor's race, a Senate seat up for grabs, and House races full of colorful candidates.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Trump is sending a new, stark message to the world about where his loyalties lie. He ordered the Pentagon to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea because of his "very good relationship with" North Korea's Kim Jong Un. This move undercuts a key American ally with tens of thousands of US troops stationed there.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Democrats are reshuffling the primary calendar for 2028. What could it mean for the party's future? Is it time for independent candidates to save the day? Tune in as we explore the potential impact on progressives and moderates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When a Russian-born American citizen named Ilya Beloozerov is gunned down by the FBI in 2024, the authorities refuse to say why they'd killed him. CNN's Isabelle Chapman embarks on a sprawling investigation that takes her from the Mississippi parking lot where he died to Washington, D.C. to unravel the mystery: Why did Ilya abruptly leave his family and his job and head for the border with laptops and cash? Why is there still no official explanation of his death? And maybe most importantly: Was Ilya a spy?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Luigi Mangione just pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges in connection to the 2024 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. To file that plea, Mangione had to describe, in his own words, what happened. "I shot Mr. Thompson and he died. I knew what i was doing was illegal." Our coverage begins with CNN's Kara Scannell outside the courtroom.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The midterms just got a fresh dose of inflation - not ideal for the party trying to keep control of Congress. The new numbers show signs that price pressures are easing, but only at the margins. Wholesale prices - what producers charge before those costs reach consumers - rose 4.7% over the past year. While a slowdown from June's 5.5%, that's still incredibly high. With just 82 days until the midterms, these new numbers raise crucial political questions.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices