РАСШИФРОВКА 🔗
WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.220 --> 00:00:02.690
One of the nation's top election forecasters shifting to major
2
00:00:02.730 --> 00:00:06.030
Senate races in the left. Larry Sabato's crystal ball moving
3
00:00:06.070 --> 00:00:09.630
Minnesota and Louisiana in the Democratic direction five days before
4
00:00:09.689 --> 00:00:12.470
Election Day. And Larry Sabato is out. So good to
5
00:00:12.509 --> 00:00:15.480
talk to you again. OK, so let's talk about Louisiana first.
6
00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:19.179
Outgoing Republican Senator Bill Cassidy. This is his seat. Lost
7
00:00:19.219 --> 00:00:22.519
his primary after Trump endorsed his challenger, Julia Letlow. Now,
8
00:00:22.539 --> 00:00:25.460
this has been a quiet race. Now you're moving it
9
00:00:25.539 --> 00:00:27.160
to the left. I mean, you're not that doesn't mean
10
00:00:27.420 --> 00:00:28.949
you're saying the Democrats going to win. I mean, let's
11
00:00:28.969 --> 00:00:31.870
just be clear here. Explain exactly what you're saying. But also,
12
00:00:32.490 --> 00:00:35.630
when you're moving a race like this at all, what
13
00:00:35.649 --> 00:00:37.070
are the implications of that?
14
00:00:39.500 --> 00:00:44.500
Well, the implication is very clear. The Republican candidates in
15
00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:49.479
the south of all places in Louisiana and Mississippi, and especially,
16
00:00:49.700 --> 00:00:53.460
who can believe this, South Carolina, are in trouble to
17
00:00:53.560 --> 00:00:56.299
one degree or another. Now, Julia Letlow is going to
18
00:00:56.369 --> 00:00:59.109
be elected to the U.S. Senate, but it's not going
19
00:00:59.149 --> 00:01:02.630
to be one of those blowout Republican elections that Louisianans
20
00:01:02.689 --> 00:01:05.430
are used to. It's going to be probably single digits.
21
00:01:06.109 --> 00:01:09.579
And again, that's the essence of the blue wave that
22
00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:13.060
spreads across the country. Even in the South, it's going
23
00:01:13.079 --> 00:01:16.879
to lower Republican winning margins. Now, it doesn't matter in
24
00:01:16.900 --> 00:01:20.159
terms of control of the Senate, but it suggests and
25
00:01:20.780 --> 00:01:23.079
South Carolina could really make a difference if they ended
26
00:01:23.140 --> 00:01:26.799
up electing the Democrat, Andy Andrews. I don't think she'll win,
27
00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:29.819
although if you had to pick an upset of those three,
28
00:01:29.959 --> 00:01:32.980
you would pick South Carolina. And it's just a tremendous
29
00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:34.980
shock to everybody who follows elections.
30
00:01:35.819 --> 00:01:36.200
Yeah, yeah.
31
00:01:36.219 --> 00:01:39.780
I mean, you're talking single digits, possibly in Louisiana. Definitely
32
00:01:39.799 --> 00:01:42.700
a shock there. You're also shifting in Minnesota, the Senate
33
00:01:42.739 --> 00:01:46.849
race between progressive Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan and And Michelle Tafoya,
34
00:01:46.870 --> 00:01:49.750
a very well-known former NFL reporter, you're shifting that one
35
00:01:49.790 --> 00:01:52.689
to the left. Tafoya's been tamping down questions about why
36
00:01:52.730 --> 00:01:56.709
her website doesn't say anywhere that she's a Republican. Listen
37
00:01:56.730 --> 00:01:57.670
to this exchange, Larry.
38
00:01:59.489 --> 00:02:01.819
Your website doesn't say you're a Republican anywhere on the website.
39
00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:05.159
Is that because, what, Republicans are a dirty word in Minnesota?
40
00:02:06.500 --> 00:02:08.979
Honestly, I don't think it was intentional. Really?
41
00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:15.699
No, I don't. No, I really don't. Yeah, she's running, obviously,
42
00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:20.080
you know, as a Republican, as a Republican brand that bad.
43
00:02:20.099 --> 00:02:21.800
I mean, I'm just thinking to Byron Donald's right when
44
00:02:21.819 --> 00:02:24.370
he kind of basically took almost all references to Trump
45
00:02:24.449 --> 00:02:25.030
off his site.
46
00:02:25.090 --> 00:02:25.289
Right.
47
00:02:25.310 --> 00:02:27.569
That wasn't as far as the Republican brand.
48
00:02:27.629 --> 00:02:27.810
Right.
49
00:02:27.830 --> 00:02:29.310
But but what do you see here?
50
00:02:31.509 --> 00:02:35.090
Well, Michelle Tafoya just forgot. I mean, you have to
51
00:02:35.289 --> 00:02:37.900
give her that. It's just who would think to mention
52
00:02:37.939 --> 00:02:41.139
your party here? As you're running for the U.S. Senate,
53
00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:44.400
I'm being sarcastic, obviously. She knows that Donald Trump is
54
00:02:44.460 --> 00:02:49.159
not only unpopular in Minnesota, he's unpopular in virtually every state.
55
00:02:49.219 --> 00:02:52.699
He is way below 50 percent in at least 47
56
00:02:52.699 --> 00:02:55.819
of the 50 states. So that tells you something. And
57
00:02:55.860 --> 00:02:59.030
the ones who are removing the pictures of Donald Trump, again,
58
00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:04.210
they're just circulating different slogans and photos. That's all it is.
59
00:03:04.750 --> 00:03:07.889
That's what they're trying to tell you. It's ridiculous. The
60
00:03:07.930 --> 00:03:11.889
truth is Donald Trump is costing Republicans from one coast
61
00:03:11.949 --> 00:03:16.069
to the other. He costs them different margins in different places.
62
00:03:16.219 --> 00:03:19.319
The deeper red the state or district is, the more
63
00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:23.740
that Republicans can survive. But it's significant. Michelle Tafoya is
64
00:03:23.780 --> 00:03:28.080
a good candidate. She's well-known because of her sportscasting career.
65
00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:32.099
In another year, she could have won in Minnesota because
66
00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:37.000
it's a— It's a marginal state in some elections, leans Democratic,
67
00:03:37.060 --> 00:03:37.909
but not this year.
68
00:03:39.169 --> 00:03:41.710
Now, you're close to shifting. I know the key Texas
69
00:03:41.729 -->
Load full transcript
00:03:46.310
Senate race between Tallarico and Paxton, not there yet, but
70
00:03:46.330 --> 00:03:48.650
you've been looking at it. What do you see there?
71
00:03:50.990 --> 00:03:54.370
Yes, at an advanced stage, Erin, you move slowly. You
72
00:03:54.550 --> 00:03:56.590
try and move as fast as you can. We're not
73
00:03:56.650 --> 00:03:59.620
quite there yet, but we will by Monday. You know,
74
00:03:59.719 --> 00:04:02.729
I've been skeptical all along. I think virtually everybody in
75
00:04:02.750 --> 00:04:06.189
the political community just can't believe it when a Democrat
76
00:04:06.229 --> 00:04:09.289
says it's the year we're finally going to win. After
77
00:04:09.289 --> 00:04:12.469
30 years, you get tired of it. He's closer than
78
00:04:12.490 --> 00:04:15.400
Beto O'Rourke was, who nearly won a Senate seat back
79
00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:18.500
in back in the last part of the previous decade.
80
00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:24.079
He's close. He's not fully there. It's still a marginal race.
81
00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:26.759
But if you forced me to pick today, I'd pick Tallarico.
82
00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:30.500
And I could never imagine myself saying that. Why? It's
83
00:04:30.579 --> 00:04:33.990
because a slice, not so much of MAGA, but of
84
00:04:34.050 --> 00:04:37.209
the Reagan Republicans who are still a third of the party,
85
00:04:37.709 --> 00:04:43.009
even in Texas, are saying that Paxton is just too corrupt.
86
00:04:43.329 --> 00:04:45.990
And that's what's costing him. And that is totally due
87
00:04:46.029 --> 00:04:50.040
to Donald Trump, who insisted that Republicans nominate him over
88
00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:51.639
incumbent Senator John Cornyn.
89
00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:52.920
Right, right.
90
00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:55.000
When you say we wouldn't be having this conversation if
91
00:04:55.079 --> 00:04:56.819
it were John Cornyn on that ticket. We've got a
92
00:04:56.839 --> 00:05:00.199
K-file exclusive on what is shaping up to be perhaps
93
00:05:00.259 --> 00:05:03.199
the hottest Senate race in the country, Paxton versus Tallarico
94
00:05:03.259 --> 00:05:05.740
in Texas. So listen to this.
95
00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:11.600
Hi, is this Julio? Hi, my name is Jennifer and
96
00:05:11.699 --> 00:05:14.399
I'm a virtual staffer with Lone Star Liberty calling in
97
00:05:14.459 --> 00:05:16.680
support of Republican Ken Paxton's.
98
00:05:18.689 --> 00:05:21.389
You know, at least she identified herself as a virtual staffer.
99
00:05:21.430 --> 00:05:24.569
That voice is not a real person. It's an AI,
100
00:05:25.569 --> 00:05:27.829
you know, I don't want to personify it. It's an
101
00:05:27.860 --> 00:05:30.639
AI calling voters in Texas on behalf of a super
102
00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:33.740
PAC backing Republican Ken Paxton. And the point of these
103
00:05:33.779 --> 00:05:36.779
calls is to slam the Democrat James Tallarico for allegedly
104
00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:40.360
taking money from AI data center special interests, which is
105
00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:43.579
kind of interesting using AI to slam AI, especially given
106
00:05:44.310 --> 00:05:46.649
the big donor to Paxton, Elon Musk's point of view
107
00:05:46.750 --> 00:05:49.509
on AI. KFAL has obtained recordings of these calls, which
108
00:05:49.870 --> 00:05:53.470
can actually lead to prolonged conversations with voters. That's different
109
00:05:53.490 --> 00:05:56.470
than the robocalls of the past. And here's the twist, right?
110
00:05:56.509 --> 00:05:59.370
The billionaire helping bankroll the super PAC is Elon Musk.
111
00:05:59.709 --> 00:06:04.040
He runs an AI company. He gave the group $ 10 million. Wow,
112
00:06:04.060 --> 00:06:07.300
but now he's criticizing Tallarico for, he says, supporting AI.
113
00:06:07.319 --> 00:06:10.279
Up front now, Andrew Kaczynski of KFAL, who along with
114
00:06:10.300 --> 00:06:13.959
his colleague, MSTAC broke this exclusive reporting. What else did
115
00:06:13.980 --> 00:06:14.660
you find?
116
00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:19.189
Erin, you are right. And the irony here is very thick.
117
00:06:19.290 --> 00:06:21.970
This is a super PAC bankrolled in part by $ 10
118
00:06:21.750 --> 00:06:25.769
million from Elon Musk, a billionaire with his own artificial
119
00:06:25.850 --> 00:06:30.189
intelligence company using AI to attack Tallarico for taking money
120
00:06:30.550 --> 00:06:34.240
from another tech billionaire who supports data centers. And those
121
00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:38.910
data centers are the very infrastructure that are powering The
122
00:06:38.930 --> 00:06:41.110
AI making these calls. Listen to a few more of
123
00:06:41.149 --> 00:06:42.230
these lines that we found.
124
00:06:44.410 --> 00:06:47.230
Okay, great. Now, in terms of who you plan to
125
00:06:47.269 --> 00:06:50.829
vote for, will you be supporting Ken Paxton? James Tallarico
126
00:06:50.889 --> 00:06:54.029
voted for taxes on Social Security, overtime and tips, and
127
00:06:54.069 --> 00:06:57.990
he's pushing even higher property taxes. He took $ 11 million
128
00:06:58.029 --> 00:07:01.629
from data center special interests and gave them 20-year tax breaks.
129
00:07:03.290 --> 00:07:07.089
Now, that $ 11 million claim seems to refer to money
130
00:07:07.129 --> 00:07:09.269
from tech billionaire Reid Hoffman, who is a supporter of
131
00:07:09.310 --> 00:07:11.209
data centers. But that money is actually going to a
132
00:07:11.269 --> 00:07:14.980
super PAC backing Tallarico. It's not money that was given
133
00:07:15.060 --> 00:07:17.980
to Tallarico directly in air. And we obtained these recordings
134
00:07:18.019 --> 00:07:20.839
through Nomo Robo. That's a robocall blocking service. And what
135
00:07:20.899 --> 00:07:24.620
is remarkable is that unlike traditional robocalls, you know, everybody
136
00:07:24.660 --> 00:07:28.800
gets them. These AI calls can actually have conversations with
137
00:07:28.860 --> 00:07:30.879
voters online. They can ask who they support. They can
138
00:07:30.920 --> 00:07:34.639
respond to their questions. But this technology we found is
139
00:07:34.689 --> 00:07:36.889
really not perfect. Listen to a lot of these calls.
140
00:07:37.290 --> 00:07:39.350
In some of them, the AI caller seems to get
141
00:07:39.389 --> 00:07:40.889
confused when interrupted.
142
00:07:40.990 --> 00:07:41.529
It stops.
143
00:07:41.910 --> 00:07:46.250
It starts over. It repeats the same question again and again, Aaron,
144
00:07:46.269 --> 00:07:47.410
on all these calls that we review.
145
00:07:47.430 --> 00:07:49.170
I like this. No more robo.
146
00:07:49.329 --> 00:07:49.990
No more robo.
147
00:07:50.290 --> 00:07:50.589
I get it.
148
00:07:50.610 --> 00:07:51.089
You get it?
149
00:07:51.189 --> 00:07:51.579
I get it.
150
00:07:52.050 --> 00:07:52.470
I get it.
151
00:07:52.470 --> 00:07:53.930
And it does work. It does block the calls.
152
00:07:54.110 --> 00:07:54.389
Okay.
153
00:07:54.569 --> 00:07:58.459
So they are mostly limited to landlines right now. you know,
154
00:07:58.740 --> 00:08:01.740
which obviously puts you in a specific pool of people.
155
00:08:02.060 --> 00:08:03.920
Is that about to change, though, this go more broad?
156
00:08:04.540 --> 00:08:05.180
Possibly.
157
00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:09.870
The FTC is considering a petition that could allow political
158
00:08:09.910 --> 00:08:14.670
groups to make large scale unsolicited AI robocalls to millions
159
00:08:14.709 --> 00:08:18.149
of cell phones without prior consent. And that could actually
160
00:08:18.209 --> 00:08:21.490
take this tech from something that is a relatively small
161
00:08:21.529 --> 00:08:25.180
number of calls, to something much bigger. Now, the pro-Paxton
162
00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:28.519
PAC defended its tactics, telling us that they were, quote,
163
00:08:28.899 --> 00:08:32.120
using every tool available. Telrico's campaign we reached out to
164
00:08:32.139 --> 00:08:36.320
fired back, saying that the only volunteers, that was their quote,
165
00:08:36.340 --> 00:08:38.500
the only volunteers that were even willing to make these
166
00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:42.159
calls for Paxton, what they said, were AI robots.
167
00:08:43.299 --> 00:08:44.250
Okay, I get that.
168
00:08:44.259 --> 00:08:47.110
They were basically saying Paxton has no friends and needs
169
00:08:47.149 --> 00:08:48.049
robots to make his calls.
170
00:08:48.070 --> 00:08:50.070
Right, and needs them. Needs his agents.
171
00:08:50.590 --> 00:08:50.659
Yes.
172
00:08:50.669 --> 00:08:51.070
All right.