Americanswers…Will Christa Pike still face the death penalty after surviving two lethal injection doses?

Justin Webb (0:00)

Hello, it's Justin, and you're about to hear Americast. We are delighted to have you with us, and if you enjoy what you hear, please do consider subscribing to the podcast. That way, you'll never miss an episode. Now, on with today.

Sumi Somaskanda (0:12)

We are tapping into two of the biggest conversations going on right now in the United States as we answer your questions on the pod today.

How did Cornell, one of America's most prestigious Ivy League universities, end up at the center of a huge global scandal into how female students are treated and how the university handles allegations of rape?

And how did a convicted murderer survive two doses of lethal injection in Tennessee? What happens to her? And could it lead to changes in how the death penalty is administered? And we also ask whether Trump has the right strategy as he begins a new tour of US states ahead of this November's midterms. Is he going to the right places? And can Republicans gain new momentum in the polls? Welcome to Americancers.

SPEAKER_4 (0:59)

Americast from BBC News.

SPEAKER_5 (1:01)

Whatever you want to talk about, Abdul, keep my wife's name the hell out of your mouth because she's way out of your league.

SPEAKER_6 (1:07)

The tide is coming, and this time we intend to win it all.

SPEAKER_7 (1:14)

See, he doesn't want to do the job.

SPEAKER_5 (1:16)

No, no, no.

SPEAKER_7 (1:17)

He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar.

SPEAKER_8 (1:25)

When I'm not around, you're going to be broke. There's not going to be anybody to report on. Nobody gives a damn about anybody else.

Marianna Spring (1:37)

Hello, it is Marianna in the worldwide headquarters of Americast in London.

Sumi Somaskanda (1:42)

And it's Sumi sitting alongside Anthony in Washington.

Anthony Zurcher (1:45)

And it's Anthony here in Washington, DC.

Sumi Somaskanda (1:48)

Okay, Anthony, what better place to start than with the midterm elections? We have a question coming in from Colin on WhatsApp specifically for you. He says, Anthony, what will be the October surprise for the midterms or have there been so many revelations in the last two years that there cannot be an October surprise?

Anthony Zurcher (2:05)

I guess I should explain what an October surprise is. First for our listeners who may not be totally cued into American politics. The election isn't in November. So an October surprise is some sort of big story that pops up right before the election that changes everything. This goes back to when Ronald Reagan was running against Jimmy Carter right before election day in 1980

And it was the potential that the hostages in Iran would be released. That was in theory would be the big surprise. And Reagan's attempts and his campaign's attempts to keep Iran from releasing those hostages has been revealed subsequently. Anyway, to answer your question, I don't know. I think probably something with Iran, ironically enough, could be another October surprise if Donald Trump can find some way to find some sort of substantive resolution to the war. I can't really imagine what it would be at this point. And Iran may have an idea that they don't want to strike a deal before the midterms because it would help Trump politically. But if there's something that convinces people that the war is going to be wound down or wound up on the flip side, I think that could change some of the dynamics in this election. Although part of the thing is about October surprises these days, is early voting happens early.

Weeks before, there are ballots being cast right now in a lot of states. So it's a lot harder for something right before election day to change things so dramatically that they can have an impact on the election. And also because this is the midterms, there's no one candidate. It's not like a presidential race where something damaging about a candidate right before election could really derail things. Here you have a bunch of hundreds of candidates in 50 states all running, and it would have to be something really fundamental to change things. Sumi, I'm not the only one who's going to be on the spot.

Sumi Somaskanda (3:59)

I'm wondering if some sort of magical checks will show up in everyone's mailbox, if not $5,000 and maybe $500. No, I know that's very, very unlikely because how on earth would President Trump pay for it? We heard many Republican members of Congress evading questions about this before they left for their break. Look, I actually think that in some of the races, we could see some of that extra oppo research, so opposition research that is gathered by each campaign could still come out that might be damaging for one or the other candidate. You do have some really flawed candidates. Think of Ken Paxton, the attorney general in Texas who was impeached by his own party in Texas. Imagine that, and is struggling. And now we've already seen a few leaks from that campaign. So Politico had some audio of Ken Paxton that they released today in which Ken Paxton was talking about how his campaign is being run from Washington. He doesn't have enough power in Texas. Perhaps he's kind of laying the ground for if you were to lose.