Rep. Mike Turner, FL State Rep. Angie Nixon, Sen. Kevin Cramer

Margaret Brennan (0:01)

I'm Margaret Brennan in Washington, and this week on Face the Nation, midterm elections campaigning enters the home stretch, and President Trump's latest move to ease pressure on Vladimir Putin sparks fury among some Republicans. From east to west and far north to deep south, it's down to the sweet 16 for the 2026 candidates, even for the politician whose name won't actually appear on any ballot this year.

Angie Nixon (0:27)

What an honor.

Kevin Cramer (0:28)

I love doing this stuff, you know.

Anthony Salvanto (0:30)

This is worth the eight hours of the plane.

Margaret Brennan (0:34)

And don't forget, I got eight hours going back, too. The president says his quest for a red state romp is working.

Mike Turner (0:41)

So I think these rallies have changed everything.

Ed O'Keefe (0:43)

I think a lot of people that maybe were having trouble won't have so much trouble. But I feel I owe it to the Republican Party.

Margaret Brennan (0:50)

But will the rallies be enough to reverse those hurricane force headwinds the president's party is facing?

We have brand new polling on that Texas race. It's one of the tightest toss-ups in the country. Democrats face their own tough challenges, like getting a fractured party to go out and vote, if not for them, then against Trump's Republican candidate.

Angie Nixon (1:13)

Are you ready to put an end to corruption that's driving up our prices and ruining our democracy? Well, I'm ready too.

Margaret Brennan (1:27)

We'll also look at the president's latest move to make it easier for Vladimir Putin to sell oil, an executive order freezing the just-pass Lindsey Graham law intended to cut off funding for Putin's war chest. Ohio Republican Congressman Mike Turner and North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer will weigh in on that. And we'll talk with Florida Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon. It's all just ahead on Face the Nation.

Good morning and welcome to Face the Nation. With just two weeks and two days until November 3rd, there is no better way to begin the broadcast today than with our Executive Director of Elections and Surveys, Anthony Salvanto, with our brand new Texas poll. Anthony, good morning. CBS estimates Democrats have the edge to take the House. They need four seats to take the Senate.

How can they do it?

Anthony Salvanto (2:36)

Well, you set the scene through the fall. The Democrats have put a lot of Senate races in play in a lot of red Republican-leaning states. Texas is a really good example of that, so let me take you there. What you've got here in the matchup between Tal Reiko and Paxson, our new poll shows this really as tight as can be, Margaret, at 51-49. But the story in there is a common theme that we see running through a lot of these races. One is, can the Republican base consolidate behind their candidates here in Texas? You see, at least because they're the party's nominee is one reason that folks are backing Paxson, but at the same time, you also see a big thing here, where you've got these party breaks, Tal Reiko doing better with independence and also better with people who say that they're hurting financially because of prices. That's a common theme. I'm going to take you back to the map now and show you the rest of these places that we're really watching. For one thing, Ohio, that's another state that the president won fairly easily. That we see as a toss up. I can take you out to Alaska. This is another toss up. Again, a Republican leaning state. And there are a couple of others too to just remind folks. Iowa, it's leaning red right now in this race, but certainly competitive. Even Kansas is another spot that we're going to be watching closely on election night in that one. And again, to remind folks, this is a place the president won easily, but is in play now. So that's the Democrats' challenge that comes along with that expanded map. One other point, though, because it's really important as we go, you've got to watch for the Democrats to hold on to places that they already have. So Michigan, this is a toss up. They'd have to hold up. And then another one I'm going to show you, Maine, because this one's interesting. Susan Collins, running for re-election in a state that Kamala Harris won, this race is neck and neck too, and that's a toss up, probably also one the Democrats would have to have.

Margaret Brennan (4:38)

So the last time you were here, you told us Democratic voters were telling you they're more likely to show up at the polls than Republicans were. Is that still the case?