Father of Georgia Shooter Arrested
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for every life-saving treatment, for every next step, for every care in the world. Cleveland Clinic. It's Friday, September 6th, right now on CNN This Morning. The GBI has arrested Colin Gray, age 54, in connection to the shooting. The father of the Georgia high school shooting suspect now under arrest facing multiple charges. And... Now is the time to do the work. Sleep when you're dead.

The clock ticking to Election Day, just 60 days to go. The Harris campaign releasing a massive fundraising haul and a surprise announcement from Hunter Biden as he decides to plead guilty in his tax evasion trial. Plus, gotta love it on a Friday, Taylor Swift shows up to support boyfriend Travis Kelsey at the NFL's season opener, of course, amid swirling rumors of a looming breakup.

6 a.m. on the East Coast, a live look at New York City on this Friday morning. Morning, everyone. We made it. I'm Casey Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

We do begin once more in Winder, Georgia, where the father of the 14-year-old suspected of killing four people at his high school is now under arrest. Colin Gray is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of second-degree murder. Police say he bought his son, Colt, the weapon that was used in the school shooting, an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle for Christmas last year.

A gun for Christmas given just months after the teen was investigated by police in connection with a threat to commit a school shooting that was posted on an online forum. As part of that investigation, police spoke with Colin Gray about his son's access to firearms.

Do you have weapons in the house? I do. Are they accessible to him? They are. I mean, there's nothing loaded, but they are down. We actually do a lot of shooting. We do a lot of deer hunting. He shot his first deer this year. Did he? Okay. You know, so, like, I'm pretty much in shock, to be honest with you. Well. I'm a little pissed off, to be even really honest with you. If that is what was said.

At the time, investigators were unable to definitively connect Colt Gray to the threatening post. But now, a little over one year later, the younger Gray is once again speaking with police, and it's a very different conversation. I saw Colt in custody with handcuffs on. He is cooperating with us as far as I know. Still talking? He's still talking. He described, you know, I did it. But the thing that we're trying to figure out is a 14-year-old, why? Why would you do this?

All right, our panel is here. We have Charles Ramsey, CNN senior law enforcement analyst, former chief of police for Washington, D.C. Elliott Williams, CNN legal analyst, former federal prosecutor. Jeff Zeleny, CNN chief national affairs correspondent. We also have Megan Hayes, former director of message planning for the Biden White House. And Brad Todd, Republican strategist and partner at the public strategy firm.

on message. Chief Ramsey, let me start with you about what we saw here from police charging Colin Gray. This is obviously something we also saw in the Michigan shooting with the parents of Ethan Crumbly. Is this, in your view, something that's warranted considering the facts of the case? And is this something we're going to see more of?

Well, I don't know how much more we'll see of it. And hopefully we don't because we don't have these kinds of incidents take place. But in this particular case, I do believe it's warranted. I mean, when you look at at the totality of circumstances, this isn't just him buying an assault weapon for his son.

Months earlier, he received a knock on his door from the Jackson County Sheriff informing him that there had been a tip that his son was threatening to commit a school shooting. Of course, they denied it. Police didn't have sufficient probable cause to take it any further.

But he was on alert and it would just seem to me if that happened to me, the last thing I would do would be to go out and buy an assault weapon for my son just months late and I would pay very close attention

to him, even though he's denying it. I mean, there is some there's a great deal of responsibility on the part of parents here. I mean, we're quick to take a look to see whether or not law enforcement did something wrong or anybody else. Government cannot raise someone else's child. You have some responsibility there, too. And the fact that not only did you buy the assault weapon, you were negligent in that you didn't properly secure it.

And so you have all these facts that are coming up regarding this particular case. I think it's more than appropriate that the father was charged in this particular case.

Chief, you mentioned failing to properly secure the weapon. I guess I have some fundamental questions about, and maybe this varies state to state, but is it legal to buy? I mean, the 14-year-old can't drive a car. They can't buy cigarettes. They can't drink. Are they allowed to have unfettered access in the home? I mean, is that, because if he's buying this gun for his kid, it would suggest that it doesn't, he's not going to be securing it from his child. What are the rules around that?

Well, I mean, first of all, Georgia has very weak gun laws. It's my understanding that in Georgia you have to be at least 18 years old to purchase a weapon like that. So the father buying the gun is something would have had to have happened if he was the one who was going to purchase it. The boy wasn't old enough to do it. But it's just common sense, in my opinion, that you've got young people in your home. And even though in Georgia it's not illegal to properly secure it, especially after you've been given a warning.

I mean, at some point in time, we just have to be logical about what should have taken place under these particular circumstances.

Why would you have an assault rifle or any other weapon that was accessible to an individual after you learned that there were threats being made, even though you may not believe that those threats were true? You're around this kid every day. It's hard to believe that you had no indication at all that there was something that the kid had some issues that needed to be addressed. I may be wrong on that, but personally.

I'm glad to see that the father was charged because I think it sends the right message. Parents do have some responsibility for their children, and they need to take it seriously. And if there are guns in the house, make sure you take steps to keep the guns out of the hands of the kids, even to prevent an accidental shooting between siblings or anyone else.

You know, I've been a policeman a long time, and I know a lot's been made of this fact that this kid is 14 years old. When you deal with crime on the streets of the cities, 14-year-old is not all that unusual for him to be involved in very violent crimes. Here in Philly, we've got a crew that was responsible for numerous carjackings. One of those children was believed to be as young as 10 years old.

I mean, this is the kind of stuff that happens every single day. The only time we talk about it in the media is when it's something high profile, like a school shooting. We have got to get serious about dealing with the issue of parental responsibility. Really important perspective. Let me bring my panel into this. Elliot Williams, from your legal perspective here, I mean, obviously the

This is like every parent's worst nightmare. Absolutely. I mean, I think I have almost burst into tears looking at my Instagram feed because all of the people in my life are posting that text message thread between one of a student at this high school and her mother. And the mother says, I'm leaving work right away. Like, where are you? And yet there are other parents that are not taking responsibility for their own children like Mr. Gray in this case. I think the bigger gut punch is the daughter sending the text message

I'm sorry I wasn't a better daughter to you and I love you, thinking that that was the end. It's heart-wrenching. Now, in terms of the liability for the parent and what matters here, one word, it comes down to one word and that's negligence. It's was there a duty of care that the parent had that they failed at, right? And I wouldn't even focus that much on whether it's right to buy a gun for a kid or not because you can buy a kid a gun and put it in a case and lock it up and have the kid

If I bought you a car under the age of 16 or 18, it could be your car, but you can't drive it lawfully, right? As long as it's, you know, this will be yours on the day that you hit the age of majority or whatever else. Now,

It seems that we're going to hear in the record that there was some evidence, in addition to what the chief talked about there, of getting warnings about the child's behavior and all the problems that he had, that they failed to lock it up, that they failed to keep it out of his hands. And that's where the parent gets in trouble. Just like in Michigan, that crumbly case that we talked about, the parents failed. They knew of the firearm. They knew of the kid's mental health, but still allowed him to get it. Didn't adequately do their job. He can go to jail for that.

Yeah. Brad Todd, can I ask for your perspective on this? J.D. Vance, the vice presidential Republican vice presidential nominee, was asked about what he was going to do about school shootings to try to reduce the number of school shootings on the trail yesterday. I just want to play his answer and we'll talk about it.

Clearly, strict gun laws is not the thing that is going to solve this problem. What is going to solve this problem, and I really do believe this, is look, I don't like this, I don't like to admit this, I don't like that this is a fact of life. But if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realize that our schools are soft targets. And we have got to bolster security at our schools.

So he called these school shootings a fact of life. Now that may unfortunately be true, but as someone who is running to be in charge of the country, is that the right thing, the right way to be kind of approaching it? And also I think it is worth noting, he says you've got to bolster security at our schools. In this case, there were armed guards at the school. And it saved lives. It saved lives. The teachers had a button on their wrist. But it didn't save four lives. I mean, there were still four lives lost. There's no question the security system did save lives. You know,

This child was failed long before his parent, his dad, his father gave him access to a gun. He was failed because they weren't getting him mental help. His aunt's in the paper already saying the child had asked for help with mental health and his parents wouldn't give it to him. The family's in turmoil. We have a parenting crisis here. This is a great example of it. And I think that's what JD's talking about. He's talking about we have a mental health crisis. We have a parenting crisis.

All right, Charles Ramsey, before I let you go, is there anything else here, you know, when you look at the facts of this case, if we are talking about trying to prevent these horrible tragedies going forward and make them not a fact of life, the political debate obviously is typically the same day in and day out. You have the law enforcement perspective here. I mean, what should we be doing?

Well, first of all, I don't think laws necessarily will totally change things, although I am in favor of reasonable laws to protect people from gun violence. There's no question about that.

But some of it has to be common sense, too. I mean, if you've got kids in your home, if you have an adult in your home who is showing signs that they're mentally unstable or have other types of issues, secure the weapon. Secure the weapon. As far as schools go, we can't look for Congress to do much of anything when it comes to passing any kind of meaningful legislation.

but at least fund all schools to a point where they can get the kind of security in their schools to help keep themselves safe. I mean, they had security in that school. Had it not been for the school resource officers, had it not been for the fact that they were able to lock the doors remotely,

we would have had a higher body count than we're talking about right now. So this stuff does matter. And I think there are ways in which we can better secure and protect our kids beyond just passing laws, although that's necessary to just facing the reality of a dysfunctional Congress that will not do what they need to do. All right, Charles Ramsey, very grateful to have your perspective on the program this morning, sir. Thanks very much for being here.

All right, up ahead next here on CNN This Morning, the final sprint is on to Election Day. The Harris campaign announces they more than double her opponent's fundraising number in the month of August. Plus, the Russian-backed effort to tilt the scales in the race for the White House and the political influencers caught in the middle of it. Plus, Hunter Biden avoiding federal trial, pleading guilty in the tax evasion case against him. This plea prevents that kind of show trial. Hunter put his family first today.

And it was a brave and loving thing for him to do.

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From all over the world, people turn to Cleveland Clinic for our expertise and our compassionate care. As leaders in heart, neurology, and cancer, the future of specialty care is happening right now at Cleveland Clinic. For every life-saving treatment, for every next step, for every care in the world, Cleveland Clinic.

All right, a shocking twist in Hunter Biden's latest legal drama. President Biden's son pleading guilty in his federal tax case to all nine charges. The surprise plea coming just as jury selection was set to get underway. His lawyer telling reporters he made the decision to, quote, protect those he loves from an unnecessary hurt and cruel humiliation. This would have been Hunter's second public trial this year. Hunter put his family first today, and it was a brave and loving thing for him to do.

The sentencing is now scheduled for December 16th. Hunter could face up to 17 years in prison and a more than $1 million fine if he's not pardoned. That's a possibility that Joe Biden had ruled out during Hunter Biden's federal gun trial earlier this year. Let me ask you, will you accept the jury's outcome, their verdict, no matter what it is? Yes. And have you ruled out a pardon for your son? Yes. You have? Yes.

Now yesterday, the White House press secretary reiterated that message, telling reporters the answer is still no. But Jeff Zeleny, there is one critical difference between the Joe Biden there that said he would not pardon his son Hunter and Joe Biden today, which is that he is no longer running for reelection. Without question. I mean, so we'll see how this goes. Everything has changed in President Biden's world since then. He was seeking reelection in that interview with David Muir in a very tough reelection fight. Now he's not.

So look, this is going to be-- it's one prerogative a president has. I guess some would say, why not use it? We'll see. I mean, this has to play out. But really a stunning turn of events. It just kind of-- I was sort of awestruck by it. Suddenly, Hunter Biden realizes, I don't want to put my family through this. Suddenly-- I mean, after that trial in Wilmington, which was so seedy in some respects, sad in every other respect,

you know they knew it was coming to this so we'll see it will have to wait and see what the president says we know that uh... i was struck yesterday that no one was with hunter biden from the biden family aside from his wife in court so was this sort of coming in plan because jill biden the first lady was at

every day with the exception of one, I believe, in Wilmington. So clearly a decision was made before that he was going to make this decision. But look, he's facing prison time. I'd be stunned if he ever serves it. - I mean, Meghan Hayes, what light can you shed on all these dynamics as someone who has known many members of the Biden family? - I think that the Wilmington trial was stunning for the family. I think it was more humiliating and more like very sad for the family with Naomi testifying and Holly and all the different family members having to testify of all these

things that Hunter had done or been accused of. So I think that they don't want to go through that again. And I think that they have had enough. And I think that the president's not running for reelection. And I think they are just ready to go back into the private life as much as they possibly can. There were some family friends that were there that are close to the Biden family that worked in the White House when we were in the vice president's office. So he was not completely alone in what they would seem. So he did have a lot of support there. But I do think that this is to avoid more like public humiliation for the Biden family as they sort of go off into the retirement.

Brad, as the Republican at the table, I mean, if you're Joe Biden, is there a reason not to pardon his kid at this point? I don't think there's a person in the country that believes he won't pardon his kid. You know, but if Hunter, let's go back a minute. Hunter says he doesn't want to put his family through it. He should have thought of that before he sold access to his father to some of the seediest corporations and entities in the world. He's put his family through plenty on purpose for a long time. Okay. Well, I guess...

I guess we will find out the sentencing again December 16th. Coming up here on CNN This Morning, we are 60 days away from Election Day. The Harris campaign raking in campaign cash. We'll see how that stacks up against former President Donald Trump's total. Plus, a mountain lion spotted roaming the streets of a California town. That is just one of the five things you have to see this morning.

All right, 26 minutes past the hour. Five things you have to see this morning. A bizarre accident involving a tractor trailer and a sign creating some serious, serious traffic problems in Virginia. This is just insane. Police say the bed of the trailer was raised while the truck was moving and then it hit this sign. Oh my gosh. Causing hours-long delays, obviously, while crews cleared the scene. The truck driver is facing reckless driving charges.

Wow. All right, this may look like footage from a video game, but it is actually a real scene in Florida. Police night vision cameras caught crowds at an illegal street takeover showing fireworks and cars doing donuts at the intersection. Hey look, it's like Fast and the Furious except real life. 10 people were arrested.

A terrifying scene in the streets of downtown Salinas, California. You can see a mountain lion just out for a stroll. Wildlife experts are working to capture the animal and return it to its natural habitat. And this is a helicopter

In the middle of a South Los Angeles freeway, the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing, shutting down the southbound lanes for a couple of hours last night. No injuries were reported and no word on why the pilot was forced to land. Because the traffic in California isn't bad enough already. And lightning flashes across the sky in southern China, where a powerful typhoon made landfall this morning. The storm is the strongest to hit that area in the last 10 years.

All right now to weather on our side of the globe. Roughly 55 million people still under a heat alert as temperatures are forecast to hit the triple digits in part of the Southwest US today. Plus flood threats in effect along the southern US, including for New Orleans. Let's get to our meteorologist, the weatherman Derek Van Dam. Derek, good morning to you. What do you got?

Good morning, Casey. I want to show our viewers why we've been dealing with so much heavy rain across the Gulf Coast states, particularly Texas and Louisiana lately, because National Hurricane Center has identified this area here in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico as potential tropical development. So we were focusing on this yesterday. There was some spin, some rotation.

in the upper and lower levels of the atmosphere, so we were curious whether or not something was going to develop. This is the time of the year, the peak season, where things can spin up so quickly, but one thing's for sure, this has led to just heavy rainfall for many locations, about six million Americans. There are flash flood warnings in place just south and west of New Orleans. This is very low country across

extreme southern Louisiana, but you can see the heavy rain just inundating the area, some of that spin in the radar. So we have the potential here for more flash flooding extending across the Florida Panhandle as well. Lots of rain, kind of elongated frontal system that's going to eventually spread more precipitation through the course of the weekend from Atlanta southward through the Florida Peninsula, but again the heaviest rainfall right near the coast. The other big story, the heat out west, and this is just oppressive in Phoenix.

We reached a high of 116. That is the highest September record, or at least tying that. Incredible to see. Los Angeles, we think you'll top 100, which is the first time in two years. And the heat continues across the northwest, where a lot of people don't have air conditioning. Portland, Oregon, that's a great example. You reached 102 yesterday. Yikes. Yikes. All right, Derek Van Dam for us this morning. Derek, always grateful to have you. Thank you so much. All right.

Still ahead here on CNN This Morning, season two of the Swift Kelsey show kicking off in Kansas City. There was also a football game. Taylor Swift.

Once again, spotted at the Chiefs game supporting her man. But there was some controversy recently involving a possible breakup. We're going to get to the bottom of that. Plus, Donald Trump's visit to Arlington National Cemetery is still under scrutiny as new details about that scuffle between campaign officials and a worker at the cemetery come to light. I was there. I didn't see any altercation. This is the new hoax.

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I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life podcast. I'm taking care of my kids and I'm running myself into the ground and selflessness terrifies me. That's Dr. Becky Kennedy. Time Magazine dubbed her the millennial parenting whisperer. Our conversation got pretty personal. But the reason that I'm sharing this is because I hope this will help some of you out there the way that it helped me. Listen to Chasing Life, streaming now, wherever you get your podcasts.

All right, just 60 days to go now until Election Day. The Harris-Walls campaign releasing new fundraising numbers a short time ago. $361 million in August, nearly triple what the Trump campaign raised. Harris now has more than $400 million in cash on hand.

And while Election Day may be 60 days away, voting is about to begin. North Carolina is scheduled to start sending out mail-in ballots today. And with the big debate just four days away, both the Harris and the Trump campaigns are focusing on the top issue for voters, the cost of living.

I'm very proud of the work that we have done that has brought inflation down to less than 3%. The work that we have done to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for seniors. For four straight years I fought for American workers like I would fight for my own family. I took care of our economy like I would take care of my own company.

All right, panel is back. Jeff Zeleny, this is a significant fundraising haul for the Harris team. Can you help us put it in context and understand where she stands, especially in comparison to the Trump campaign? Look, that cash on hand money is real. It's $404 million for the Harris and Democrats compared to about $295 for Trump and Republicans.

It is significant. There's no question that fundraising has been one of the metrics here, one of the signs of enthusiasm and excitement for the Harris campaign since she jumped into this. There's just no doubt about it.

Money is not going to win this campaign. It could lose it if you don't have it, obviously. So this is going to allow them to keep fundraising and open offices and have a very large grassroots campaign. But at the end of the day here, money is not their biggest challenge, convincing voters and undecided to a

come her way is. But look, I mean, what they've been doing, I was talking to a fundraising official last evening as we were looking into these numbers. And what is extraordinary now, it's the grassroots money that's coming in. That was something that was really not coming in during the Biden administration.

era I guess of this campaign as much the big money it's generally always there but what they believe is is so important here is the grassroots money that a third of all these donors 1.3 million donors were making their first contribution since she became a nominee that means that they can give money again and again but again money is not likely to win this election Brad Todd I mean

How concerned should the Trump campaign be about this? I mean, it's obviously different than when they were running against Biden. Well, you know, I've been in politics long enough to remember when Democrats used to complain all the money was on the Republican side. And Democrats now will outrace Republicans in every race, every Senate race, every House race, and the presidential race. Democrats will have more money because wealthier people in America now skew to the left.

You know, there's a need for it. I mean, this weekend, Pittsburgh Steelers kick off their season in what is arguably the most important market in the most important state of Pennsylvania. One television ad will go for $80,000 just in Pittsburgh in that game. So they're both going to need it. But Jeff, I think they both will have plenty. Yeah. So the...

Part of what we saw yesterday, and we played a little bit of it there, was Donald Trump making this speech at the New York Economic Club. And one of the issues that has come into focus here is child care costs. And Trump was asked specifically what legislation he would support to lower the cost of child care. I want to show you what he said.

I have to stay with child care. I want to stay with child care. But those numbers are small relative to the kind of economic numbers that I'm talking about, including growth, but growth also headed up by what the plan is that I just told you about. We're going to be taking in trillions of dollars. And as much as child care is talked about as being expensive, it's relatively speaking not very expensive compared to the kind of numbers we'll be taking in.

Elliott Williams, the Harris campaign posted this with no comment. This clip. But why? Well, I think a couple of things. Sometimes it's better to just take the L and say, I don't know. And you can probably just get out of a clip like that. Number two, if Kamala Harris had given the same answer, that would have blown up right wing media in terms of, you know, vice president engages in more word salad. And we know how that would have gone. That was an incoherent answer from someone who, frankly, at this point ought to have his talking points down.

Even separately above that, I mean, the actual issue of child care is an issue to Republicans and Democratic voters alike. That's not a partisan issue. It is a thing. So he didn't answer that. Working class people who are, you know, same with groceries and gas and child care. It's all part of how people are affording to live. And if people want to continue to knock on

Kamala Harris for bringing down the cost of groceries and inflation, then we also need to address child care because that also is a huge cost for families. And if you don't want to address that, then that's another problem of why then are you attacking reproductive freedom? So it's all these things are tied together. Brad, Todd, could you make sense? What do you have to say there? You know, I think what he's talking about is the fact that child care actually is could be provided at a fairly cheap rate. I'm going to give him a policy idea to flesh it out right here on.

A lot of daycares and childcare facilities in this country are based in churches. They're also in communities with a lot of low-income people. I think Donald Trump should flesh that out today and say, we're going to give states the ability to provide a voucher, but it has to be able to go to religious institutions as well. Watch how fast Democrats run from that if he does it. Yeah, because you're putting values on someone that you don't have to have your kids walk

by people of a religious thing. There's a separation of church and state. That's putting values on people. But you could go to a secular child care facility as well. But that's, I just don't think you should be putting, imposing values on somebody for their child care. Just like J.D. Vance said that the grandparents should watch and the aunts and uncles. It'd be your option. Again, this is coming from a place of privilege that a lot of people in this country do not have. It'd be your option. But if Democrats and Republicans want to come together, you're going to have to see some compromise like that where religious institutions are involved. And we have a separation of church and state. But he still didn't answer the question. Correct. I'm trying to help him.

- I was gonna say, I'm unclear what this has to do with the tariffs. - Just say, I don't know, dude. Just say you don't know and get out of there. - The whole economic speech is, you know, was,

was something. What else would you highlight in that speech, Jeff? I mean, the tariff thing, like, that is one thing that, I mean, there actually is a policy debate that's going on right now out in the country. He's talking about the economy a day after the vice president was, but his proposals, you know, also have to be looked at a little more carefully, and they're inflationary in many respects, but the tariff aspect of that is something that will probably come up at the debate on Tuesday, I would assume. It did not seem to be that...

thorough of an economic speech, I guess to be charitable. Fair enough. All right. Coming up next here in just four days, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump will meet in Philadelphia for the debate everyone has been waiting for. Do follow CNN for complete coverage, exclusive analysis before and after the debate. The ABC News presidential debate simulcast is Tuesday, 9 Eastern, right here on CNN.

Straight ahead here on CNN This Morning, that viral document circulating online that hinted at a high-profile breakup.

It's been called fake, but are Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey contractually obligated to split on September 28th? We will explain that controversy next. Plus, we're going to talk to Michael Smirconish, because it's Friday, about how the road to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue runs straight through our shared home state of Pennsylvania. That's next.

All right, 47 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup. Boeing's troubled Starliner spacecraft is finally headed home. The capsule is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station later today before a touchdown in New Mexico. Its crew, however, will remain aboard the ISS until February. Their original mission, which began in June, was just supposed to last a little bit over a week. So much for that.

All right, sources tell CNN that several top officials in New York City Mayor Eric Adams' administration had their phones seized by federal investigators yesterday. Investigators also served a subpoena to one of Adams' special advisors. Sources confirm that this is not connected to the Bureau's investigation into Adams' campaign fundraising.

And tonight's the night the Philadelphia Eagles face the Green Bay Packers in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It is the NFL's first regular season game in South America and its first Friday night game in more than five decades.

All right. As we've been noting this morning, we're just two months out from the election. The first ballot's set to be mailed out this afternoon. And this race is so incredibly close. CNN's latest polling shows an incredibly tight race across six battleground states. And it is closer. There's no...

It is so close in Pennsylvania. It is the closest of these contests. The Keystone State, of course, the biggest prize for both campaigns. Trump and Harris both at 47% in our battleground poll. Pennsylvania, also one of the keys to the Senate. Incumbent Democrat Bob Casey is polling, according to this, tied with Republican challenger Dave McCormick. Here was Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, who was campaigning in Erie, PA yesterday, taking a page from the state's popular Democratic governor.

It's very clear that our opponents in this race see the world differently. Now, I'm going to quote, which I think is a brilliant quote, by your great governor, Josh Shapiro. He often says, and I hear him say this, whenever Donald Trump's talking about America, he's talking America. He does not believe in the promise of America, and he continues to put this country down.

Now is CNN political commentator Michael Smirconish. He is the host of CNN's Smirconish. Michael, wonderful to see you. Thank you so much for being here. Let's talk about Pennsylvania. I mean, honestly, we could probably do every political segment from here until Election Day on Pennsylvania, because at the end of the day, it might be the entire ballgame. What are you hearing? What are you seeing? What do you think it's going to come down to here?

So to your point about the close. Good to see you, by the way. Thank you, Casey, for having me back to your point about just how close the race is. Real clear politics as of this moment in time says forty seven point two to forty seven point two in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It can't get much more close than that.

Tim Walls, Governor Walls, why is he in Erie? Because Erie, as you well know, is one of those bellwethers. If you win Erie, Pennsylvania, you're going to win the Commonwealth. And if you win the Commonwealth, chances are you're going to win the presidency. Can I put on your radar the concern that I have about where this is all going? Because the pre-canvassing process doesn't begin until 7 a.m. on Election Day. They can't touch

those mail-in ballots until that morning at 7 a.m. This is one of the reasons why in 2020, you'll remember Wolf Blitzer called the race the Saturday after the election. And I'm really concerned that if it's in the end as close as people envision and

if it comes down to Pennsylvania, that we could have a process where there's a window of ballot counting where a lot of disinformation, misinformation is spread, not only by domestic forces, political parties, one perhaps more than the other, but look at what the Russians and the Iranians are up to. There's like this perfect storm that's brewing. And if I'm hoping for one thing as we are nine weeks out, it's that there be a decisive outcome one way or the other so that we're not having to pick up

the pieces and figure out who's telling the truth. Yeah, Michael, I mean, what do you think the likelihood is of that at this point? I mean, candidly, when Biden was at the top of the ticket, this race was increasingly becoming not a close one. It seemed clear that Trump was on track to win. That's not the case now. And we've heard Trump start to use

Some of the language that, honestly, it has echoes to what we heard him saying back in 2020 as that week basically was unfolding between Election Day and that call on Saturday. And yeah, I barely slept that week, as I'm sure you didn't too, as we were all covering it. There are definitely some signposts that show that we may be facing a period where, again, there are, it's not just elections,

people on the outside, but potentially one of the major candidates themselves.

Totally. And I think it becomes incumbent upon all of us in the media, those of us with platforms, to educate the public about the fact that if there's not a decisive outcome that night, it doesn't mean that there's been shenanigans involved. We remember the red mirage and the blue wave, right? Because so many more Democrats were voting by absentee ballot in that 2020 cycle, and many of us tried to educate people, don't go looking at the initial returns as they come in that Tuesday night and think,

that's the victor because this thing is going to have to play itself out. I don't think there'll be as much mail-in voting in this cycle as that cycle because that was the pandemic. I might be wrong because more Republicans are now receptive to voting by mail. But this is a really important issue. And I think that for the next several weeks, the media need to be talking about it so that people understand and are prepared to watch these events play out.

Michael, since you are so focused on Pennsylvania and we could all be watching it on election night, you mentioned a red mirage. Are we going to see a red mirage, a blue mirage initially out of Pennsylvania?

I think that we could see a red mirage because more will probably be Democrats who are waiting and voting by mail, Republicans who are doing so, old school, showing up on election day. So the initial burst, you know, there's going to come that moment nine weeks, I guess, from this past Tuesday when we're watching CNN and there will be the big board and John King's going to be standing in front of that map.

Just wait. Hang in until the events play out. And by the way, one other thing, and it's Pennsylvania-focused, what does this all mean if it's really 47.2 to 47.2? It means that Tuesday night is damn important. And by the way, where's that debate taking place? In Pennsylvania.

Obviously. And where is Kamala Harris parked? Pittsburgh while she prepares. Michael Smirconish, so grateful to have you. See you next Friday, I hope. And don't miss Smirconish. All right. And oh, we've got a new book for you. Smircomics. It's available for pre-order now. I love it. I'll have to send me one. And for our viewers, of course, Smirconish is tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN. Don't miss it.

All right, let's turn out of this, which is, let's be real, the thing everybody's actually talking about. It combines two of my favorite subjects, Taylor Swift, football, and of course, that world, those two worlds colliding once again last night. Runs away to find space, fires on the run to Kelsey, to the 30-yard line.

A perfect play for Patrick Mahomes to set the Chiefs record for most passing yards. Oh, look, there she is. And there was a fearless Travis Kelsey and his Kansas City Chiefs. They clinched this win by literally a toe last night. It was a thrilling season opener against the Baltimore Ravens. Kelsey's girlfriend.

Taylor Swift, the one and only, was there to celebrate with him despite rumors that have been swirling online. There is this viral picture of a document that it seems to outline a PR plan.

for how to handle a breakup between these two that was allegedly planned for September 28th. Kelsey's PR team, however, shaken off those allegations. They call the document false and fabricated. Joining us now is Brian West, who is USA Today's Taylor Swift reporter. He basically has the dream job. And Brian, I'm so happy to have you on the show. I've been wanting to meet you since we all learned that this was going to be a job that you were going to take.

Can you help us understand what is going on here? Because there also have been reports of like a proposal. So is it, are they breaking up or are they getting married? Like which one?

Good morning, Casey. Thank you for having me on. They went public about a year ago, if you remember, broke the internet that time during the Chicago Bears and Kansas City Chiefs game. She showed up next to Donna Kelsey. And that is when we saw Taylor returning to the NFL. A lot of Swifties last night were joking that this is season two of Taylor Swift goes to Arrowhead. That's premiering on television. I can tell you, though, the breakup contract, as you said, has completely been shut down. This all originated on Reddit. There was a

photo that was posted there of an alleged contract. That post has since been deleted. Travis Kelsey's PR team has come out. They've definitively said that this is fake, this is fraudulent, and never originated in our office. And I think you can see, even just looking now at watching the games, watching her hug his parents, watching her point to him and him point to her, it really is this rom-com, I think,

Most people that are watching this would tell you a proposal is much more imminent than a breakup. Yeah. Well, I think there are going to be a lot of people that are very happy that that would be that is your reporting on what is going on here. Brian, one of the other parts of this is there is this kind of persistent swirling about whether the relationship in

is one that is totally for the PR benefit of both of them, because one of the members of Kelsey's PR team has apparently acknowledged doing that in other instances, media manufacturing of a romance to try to accomplish some other goal. Do you see any truth to that here? Or as you have been kind of reporting on this, like, how do you understand that piece of it?

When it comes to the relationship, anything that's been a rumor has been just that. It's been speculative, it's been conjecture that this might be a PR stunt. I've seen over the past year that they have showed up, they've supported each other. I was on the road internationally, watched him in Paris, watched him in Australia, just seeing him dance along to all of her music.

again point to her. She points to him. She's never done this in the past where she dedicates songs and mashups. You can tell they're for him. On the 87th show, she just said, hey, it's my 87th show, which is his number. And all the wristbands lit up in bright red. The crowd went wild. There's never been anything to suggest that this is

not real. It's just been wonderful to watch them, especially when it comes to football. And I know you had said September 28th was the alleged date. I anticipate she's going to be at the September 29th game against the Los Angeles Rams or Chargers. So we're going to have to see. You heard it here first. Brian West, I clearly am in the wrong line of work covering politics. I don't

You win the game of life. Thank you so much for being here. I hope that you'll come back. We would love to have you back. Guys, I have to say I'm obsessed with all of this, which is why we're talking about it at all. Because it's really like the biggest...

I mean, first of all, the boots. Do we have a picture of the boots, guys? She wore these boots to this game last night. I'm glad that Brian thinks that they're attracted for marriage. But if it seems that they're breaking up, I guess they might have had a cruel summer. They might have. Who else? Who else has one? Oh, come on. You said we were talking about Taylor Swift. Look what you made me do. I said...

She's originally from Pennsylvania. They're 60 days out to election. I mean, if the vote goes through Pennsylvania, then we might have an endorsement soon. One of the highlights of my summer was seeing Taylor Swift. The summer I finally saw what it was all about in Lisbon. It was a very cool experience. My question for her as a political reporter, what is she going to do in the next 60 days, politically speaking? Could she win the election for Harris if she endorsed Harris? Brad Todd? I think her fan base is already pretty much for Harris, I think.

I think she's already got that vote locked up. Do you think she could activate people who otherwise wouldn't vote is actually, I think, the question. Well, I don't know. Low income, I mean, low propensity voters are the target from here on out. But, you know, Taylor's been pretty political already. I think her fans already get the cues. They read everything she does. All right. Well, it's 7 a.m., so unfortunately we have to cut our Taylor Swift conversation short. Thanks to our panel. Thanks to you for joining us. I'm Casey Hunt. Don't go anywhere. CNN News Central starts right now.

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