Trump's Midterm Campaign Trail Push, Botched Pike Execution, Diddy Back in Solitary: AM Update 10/2

(upbeat music) - Good morning, everyone. I'm Emily Gisinski, host of After Party and the Making Kelly Wrap Up Show on Series XM, Channel 111. It's Friday, October 2, 2026, and this is your AM update. - This has gotten really ugly in the last month or so for Republicans. - New warning signs for Republicans five weeks from Election Day as President Trump insists he can personally pull GOP candidates across the finish line. Even while some in his own party reportedly want him nowhere near their races. - I covered all the executions last year and most of the ones this year, we haven't seen anything like it. It went really poorly. - Tennessee trying and failing to execute the only woman on the state's death row. Leaving Christopoeic alive after two doses of the lethal drug and triggering a halt to execution statewide, Sean Diddy-Kohms reportedly back in solitary confinement after new allegations about the booze, contraband phones, special meals, and paid help surrounding his life behind bars. And a whale slamming into a yacht in the middle of the South Pacific, leaving four sailors in an 18-hour fight to survive before their boat sinks beneath them. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update. - We are just over a month out, but the midterms are fast approaching and make no mistake if the house flips, it's a big deal for our economy. What if the house in the Senate flip? This uncertainty is one of the reasons to consider diversifying with gold from Birch Gold Group. In the three months leading up to the 2024 presidential election, the price of gold jumped over 12%. Why? It's a hedge against uncertainty. If you do not own gold, consider talking with Birch Gold. They will discuss your goals and explain how precious metals can fit into your savings. They can even help you convert an existing IRA or 401K into an IRA in gold for no additional money out of pocket. Text the letters MK to the number 989898 and get a free Info Kit and some solid info. The midterms are going to be here before you know it. Text MK to 989898. (upbeat music) - Five weeks from Election Day, President Trump preparing to hit the campaign trail nearly every day through the midterms. Even as new polling shows growing dissatisfaction with his presidency, including among Republicans. A new AP poll finding just 17% of Americans approve of the president's handling of the cost of living. Well, just 26% approve of his handling of the economy overall. The numbers particularly striking inside the president's own party. About six and 10 Republicans now disapproving of Mr. Trump's handling of the cost of living. Only half did in April. More than half of Republicans, 52% saying his handling of the issue has gone worse than they expected. Only 36% of Republicans saying President Trump keeps his promises. Well, another 48% says he tries to keep them, but has been unable. The president rejecting the promise that Americans should blame him for the affordability crunch. Telling Time Magazine this week, he inherited historically high inflation and has already brought down prices in several areas. Mr. Trump saying gas remains the major problem, insisting almost everything else is now coming down rapidly. Time, then asking the president whether he expects Democrats to take control of Congress in November. Mr. Trump saying no, and arguing the difference could be him. The president telling Time quote, "I think we'll do okay if I can't pay in and I intend to before adding quote, if I can't pay in for people, those people are going to win." That confidence coming as some Republicans are reportedly much less enthusiastic about having the president standing beside them. Politica reporting several Republicans in competitive races have privately urged the White House to keep Mr. Trump away from districts where his approval numbers are underwater. One GOP operative joking that if the president showed up in a battleground state, quote, "I suspect my candidates would come down with COVID." The concern apparently less about the Republican voters, Mr. Trump can turn out, and more about the independence and swing voters, those candidates still need. The White House pushing back strongly, calling President Trump the Republican Party's quote, "unequivical leader, best messenger, and unmatched motivator." President Trump yesterday, acknowledged in reporters there's at least one issue that could work against Republicans at the ballot box. "The White House said today that the Iran War made threaten the midterm court. She's got that last night that it could tank the midterm. Do you agree with her or disagree with that?" "It's possible, I don't think it should help, because Iran will not have a nuclear weapon." So when you say, "Is it okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon," I would say 100% of the people say no, including worldwide. So when you say it that way, it would help. If you don't say that, it could hurt." The AP poll finding 71% of Americans disapprove of the president's handling of Iran, while 69% say the war has not been worth fighting. Only 60% of Republicans support the president's handling of Iran. Mr. Trump, defending the war in his time interview, arguing the US has destroyed Iran's nuclear capability, Navy, Air Force, and radar. Asked about his earlier prediction that the war would be shorter, the president blaming the press for how Americans understood his remarks. The political environment deteriorated quickly enough that veteran election analyst and cook political reporter Charlie Cook telling Bloomberg earlier this week, the picture has changed dramatically just since this summer. "This has gotten really ugly in the last month or so for Republicans. I'm no meteorologist, but it seems like there are three weather fronts colliding. Simultaneously, you know, Iran, the Australia whole moves with energy prices, general affordability, tariffs, impact on farmers, and then just sort of miscellaneous. They're all hitting right as independent voters focus. They don't really start focusing till September. And it all seemed to come together. Things did not look that bad for Republicans three months ago." CNN chief data analyst Harry Anton pointing to one potential bright spot for Republicans. "Let's just say that the GOP outperforms their Midwest polls like they did in 2018 and 2024. Well, what do you get? You get a Red Michigan. You get a Red Ohio. You get a Red Iowa. And all of a sudden, even if Democrats carry states like Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, and Alaska, we guess what you get? You get a 50-50 Senate with JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. So if history holds in terms of the GOP outperforming their September polls, well, there's a very, very strong chance that Republicans hold on the United States Senate, even if Democrats win in places they don't historically win in like Texas." The president showing no sign he accepts the broader warning signs in the polling. Time putting it to him directly this week, telling Mr. Trump his poll numbers have never been lower. The president responding, quote, "they're fake numbers." Tennessee now halting executions after officials tried and failed to put convicted killer Christa Pike to death. Despite giving her two doses of the drug intended to kill her, the 50-year-old surviving with the associated press describes as Tennessee's second failed execution attempt this year, eventually transporting her from the prison to a hospital Wednesday night. Pike originally scheduled to die by lethal injection at 10 o'clock Wednesday morning. The six-circuit court of appeals, issuing a last-minute stay roughly an hour beforehand, allowing more time to consider Pike's attempt to reopen in earlier federal proceeding tied to her claims of childhood sexual abuse. Tennessee appealing directly to the US Supreme Court. The state arguing the delay was inflicting additional trauma on the family of Pike's victim and rewarding what the attorney general's office called, quote, "abuse of delay tactics." The Supreme Court lifting the stay later Wednesday, allowing Tennessee to move ahead with the execution. Witnesses brought into the execution area shortly before 6.45 Wednesday evening, the curtains opening at 7.27, revealing Pike strapped to the gurney. Pike delivering what she apparently believed would be her final words, saying she was at peace and intended to leave the world, quote, "in love." Then things began going wrong. Media witnesses saying Pike complained minutes later that her arm felt like it was about to burst. Pike continued to breathe at different points, reportedly talking, moving her head and loudly snoring. The curtains repeatedly closing and reopening during the process. By about 8.26, witnesses told the Associated Press that the officials had administered a second dose, a pentobarbital. Still, Pike did not die. Witnesses continuing to hear her snoring behind the closed curtain until officials caught the microphone shortly before 9 p.m. and ordered them out of the area. WPLN reporter Catherine Swini, among the journalists, who witnessed the attempted execution. - When they told us to leave at 8.53, Christopher Pike was still breathing, they did two separate rounds of pentobarbital, which I've never seen before. Basically, all I have to say is they went through two rounds and she was still breathing at the end. It was very ragged. She lifted her head up and was looking around at one point. She said that there was a spot that was burning and hurting and asked if that was normal. None of it was normal. I covered all the executions last year and most of the ones this year, we haven't seen anything like it. - Pike's attorney's filing emergency motions while the execution was still unfolding, asking state and federal courts to stop the process. The lawyers arguing Pike was being subjected to quote "unnecessary agony" in violation of the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Pike ultimately transported by ambulance to an offsite hospital. Her attorney Randy Spivey saying Thursday afternoon, Pike is in critical condition and remains. remains alive while receiving what he described as "life-saving medical care." Spivy saying her prognosis remains unclear, then calling the failed execution "cruel, torturous, and predictable." The mother of Pikes victim "furious" over how the night unfolded. Mae Martinez telling NBC News officials eventually asked the victim's family to leave, only later informing them the execution had failed, and Pikes was headed to the hospital. Martinez calling the entire process "a mess" then putting it more bluntly, quote, "they have to up." The Tennessee Department of Correction insisting officials followed every step of the state's approved execution protocol. The department saying "Pensoparbitol" has "consistently been effective, but acknowledging the protocol provided no additional procedure once the two doses had been administered." Pikes attorneys offering a very different account. They claimed the failure involved difficult vein access, blown veins, and the absence of emergency medical care inside the execution protocol. Those claims have not yet been independently established, and exactly what went wrong remains under investigation. Governor Bill Lee not ordering an outside review. I'm highly disappointed, along with Tennessean's, about what happened last night. Immediately took action to call for a thorough and comprehensive and third party review and investigation into the protocol. That investigation will be thorough and it's going to take time. Therefore, the last scheduled execution for this year will not take place. Tennessee has deserved a justice system that's fair, that's consistent, that is faithfully administered. My responsibility as an uphold the sentences that Tennessee juries have handed down, even when it's difficult. And that is exactly what we intend to do. The Associated Press reporting she remains under a death sentence, setting up another legal battle over whether Tennessee can ever attempt to execute her again. Coming up, Sean Diddy-Colms reportedly losing the cushy prison setup fellow inmates described, now sent back to solitary confinement as officials investigate how he was living behind bars, and four sailors stranded hundreds of miles from land after a sperm whale badly damages their yacht, forcing them into a life raft as the boat disappears to meet the waves. Everyone's talking about weight loss injections because the results can be so dramatic. They work by lowering blood sugar and reducing appetite. But what if you're looking to lose weight but are not interested in painful weekly injections, especially when you hear about some of those intense side effects? That's why doctors created a weight loss supplement called lean, and the results could be remarkable. Lean says the studied ingredients in their product have been shown to lower your blood sugar, burn fat by converting it into energy, and curb your appetite and cravings so you are not as hungry. But listen, lean is not for the casual diet or with only a few pounds to lose. The doctors at Brickhouse Nutrition created lean for frustrated dieters with 10 or more pounds to lose. You can get started with 20% off and free rush shipping, adding lean to your healthy diet and exercise plan. Visit TakeLean.com and enter MK for your discount. That's promo code MK at TakeLean.com. Sources telling TMZ that moving an inmate into the shoe is reportedly standard procedure while prison officials investigate allegations like these. NBC reporting earlier this week that Combs has allegedly been spending thousands of dollars a month to make his 50-month prison sentence considerably more comfortable. For men who spent time in his unit claiming Combs has access to contraband, cell phones, and premium liquor. While paying fellow inmates to cook special meals, clean his bathroom, make his bed, do his laundry, and even give him massages. One inmate claiming he prepared pizza, curry chicken, and empanadas for the music mogul. Well, NBC also reviewed footage appearing to show Combs using a contraband cell phone. Combs is representative pushing back on the allegations, saying the media is turning ordinary details of prison life into news, and maintaining Combs is serving his sentence within the rules. This is reportedly not his first day in solitary at Fort Dex. Combs was placed in the shoe over the summer after an alleged fight with another inmate. The 56-year-old serving 50 months after his 2025 conviction on two prostitution-related transportation charges. He's currently scheduled for release in January of 2028. Four sailors rescued from the remote South Pacific after spending nearly 18 hours fighting to survive. Their yacht badly damaged in a collision with a sperm whale before eventually sinking beneath them. CBS News reporting the four-person crew was sailing aboard the Tai Tam roughly 250 nautical miles north of Norfolk Island Saturday, when the boat was suddenly struck hard enough to knock one of the sailors away from the wheel. A Australian crew member jama Cooper telling AFP she heard a loud impact before the yacht lurched sideways. Cooper saying she initially could not tell what had happened, then spotting a sperm whale in the water and several more nearby. Her husband Jeremy Cooper telling AFP he had been sleeping below deck, waking to discover serious damage to the yacht and water already rushing inside. CBS reporting the collision damaged the steering system and left several breaks in the hall. The crew sending out an emergency distress signal roughly half an hour later, then spending hours trying to keep the yacht afloat. According to AFP, a French crew member attempting makeshift repairs using expansion foam and at one point going into the water to inspect the underside of the damaged boat. The New Zealand Defense Force saying rescue officials received the distress beacon around 1 p.m. Saturday, then dispatched a role in New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon to locate the crew and help coordinate a rescue. CBS reporting the sailors remained aboard for as long as they could, eventually abandoning the yacht late that night and moving into a life raft. The sinking boat initially remained tied to the raft. AFP reporting the crew finally cut the tether early Sunday morning, worried the yacht could pull them underwater as it went down. The Titanic sinking shortly afterward. The sailors then waiting in the life raft until 470 foot container ship reached them around 6 a.m. Sunday. Within about half an hour, all four sailors had climbed aboard, Cooper saying they were met with coffee and a chance to speak with the captain. All four sailors making it out safely, bringing in unbelievable Pacific voyage to an end without a single reported injury. That'll do it for your AM update. I'm Emily Trishinski host of AFT Party. Go and check out more at AFT PartyEmily.com. Catch the Making Kelly Show later to date, live on Series XM's The Making Kelly Channel 111 at Noonies on youtube.com/ Making Kelly and all podcast platforms.