The Megyn Kelly Show - Maine Senate Race Tightens, OpenAI Engineer Arrested, Diddy's Alleged Prison Fight: AM Update 10/15

Episode Date: October 15, 2026

Republican Senator Susan Collins is gaining ground in her closely contested reelection race against Democrat Troy Jackson, despite President Trump's low approval rating in Maine and improving Democratic prospects nationwide. A Saudi engineer at OpenAI faces federal criminal charges after allegedly hiding recording devices inside executive conference rooms at the company's San Francisco headquarters. Sean "Diddy" Combs suffered a head injury in an alleged prison fight with notorious Jamaican drug lord Christopher "Dudus" Coke amid tensions over the music mogul's alleged preferential treatment behind bars. Pope Leo XIV is recovering in the hospital after successfully undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his right lung.  Subscribe now to Emily's "After Party":Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/after-party-with-emily-jashinsky/id1821493726Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0szVa30NjGYsyIzzBoBCtJYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AfterPartyEmily?sub_confirmation=1  ARMRA: go to https://tryarmra.com/MEGYN to get 30% off your first subscription order Herald Group: Learn more at https://GuardYourCard.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Emily Jershinsky, host of After Party and the Megan Kelly wrap-up show on Series 6M Channel 111. It's Thursday, October 15th, 2026, and this is your AM update. Susan Collins, well, guess what? She has a tendency to outperform her polls. Republican Senator Susan Collins holding her own in Maine, despite President Trump's unpopular standing in the state and Democrats gaining ground in other Senate races nationwide. An executive conference room, this conference room was only used by leadership and people related to the leadership about Open AI. An Open AI engineer arrested after allegedly planting a secret recording device inside a company conference room.

Sean Diddy Combs reportedly injured in a prison fight with a notorious Jamaican drug lord, and Pope Leo recovering from successful surgery to remove a cancer's tumor from his lung. All that more coming up in just a moment on your AM update. Feeling sluggish, bloated, not quite like yourself, life constantly bombards us with silent threats. Processed foods, artificial light, non-stop stress. all of which can disrupt gut health, drain energy, and weaken immune health. When that happens, it's not that your body is broken. It's that it might be missing the right inputs.

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your first subscription order. That's A.mra.com slash Megan. Check it out. Republican Senator Susan Collins remaining remarkably competitive in Maine, even as Democrats gain ground in traditionally Republican states across the country. Senator Collins is the only Republican senator up for re-election this year in a state won by Kamala Harris in 2024, making her seat one of the Democrats' most important targets in their effort to retake control of the Senate. Yet a New Suffolk University poll finding Senator Collins in a statistical tie with Democrat former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson. The survey showing Jackson leading Senator Collins 49 to 47 percent, well within the poll's 4.4 point margin of error.

The real clear polling average showing an even tighter contest, Jackson ahead by just 1.3 points. Perhaps most striking, President Trump's approval rating in Maine standing at just 37 percent, compared to 57 percent who disapprove, while 64 percent of voters believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. Senator Collins holding a narrow advantage among independent voters, according to USA Today, and winning support from 14 percent of voters who disapprove of the president. Senator Collins also attracting support from 5% of voters who backed Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, while Jackson is winning virtually no crossover support among voters who backed President Trump. CNN chief data analyst Harry Enton on Sunday, highlighting the unusual dynamics of the main Senate race.

Troy Jackson, the Democrats' chances, they're actually declining. As the Democrat lead nationwide is getting larger, Troy Jackson's chances are actually going down. They're going down, they're going down into the Atlantic Ocean. You look back a few weeks ago, look at this. He had a 68% chance, according to the cash prediction market. Look where it is now. It's just a 57% chance. Susan Collins' chances, they're going up.

They're going up. She's now up to a 43% chance. That's basically very much within the margin of error. And more than that, Susan Collins, well, guess what? She has a tendency to outperform her polls. Look at through history. Polls underestimate Collins have made. In 2008, the final polls they underestimated her by 8.

How about 2014? by eight. Jackson attempting to make the race a referendum on Senator Collins' record in Washington, particularly her support for President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, who subsequently voted to overturn Roe v. Wade. During a debate last week, Jackson confronting Collins over her refusal to express regret for that confirmation vote. You know, eight years ago today, Maine women, I know many of them came to your office and begged you not to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, but you did it anyways. And then he overturned Roe, and you still say, that you don't regret that vote.

So I guess what I'm curious about is what will it take for you to admit that you were wrong, you know, especially whenever Kavanaugh went out and did what he did. I mean, and you don't regret that today. So what will it take for you to admit that you're ever wrong? Senator Collins defending her record by pointing to her votes to confirm three Supreme Court justices nominated by Democrat presidents, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Katanji Brown Jackson. The Republican also emphasizing her independence from President Trump, noting she is repeatedly broken from her party on major issues, including his tariff policies and the war in Iran.

Senator Collins telling moderators during an earlier debate that the president would not be traveling to Maine to campaign on her behalf, describing herself as far from one of his favorite senators. The five-term senator also making her experience in seniority in Washington a central argument for re-election, while questioning Jackson's legislative record during more than two decades in main state politics. Here, a moment from last week's debate. Troy, you've served in Augusta for more than 20 years. You said that Governor Mills vetoed 40 of your bills and that Governor LePage vetoed 60 of them. But your trouble in getting bills passed goes far beyond that. In your more than 20 years in the legislature, more than one-third,

of your bills were unanimously rejected in committee. You couldn't even find one Democrat on the committee to support a third of your bills. If you can't find one person in your own party to vote for your bills when you were the Senate president in Maine, how do you think you're going to get things done in a closely divided Senate as the most junior senator. A Saudi National working as an engineer for open AI now facing federal criminal charges, accused of secretly planting a sophisticated recording device inside an executive conference room at the AI company's San Francisco headquarters. According to the DOJ, 35-year-old Abduraman Al-Fazan was arrested by the FBI Friday,

appearing in federal court Tuesday on charges of illegally interstate. or attempting to intercept private conversations. Alphozon joining OpenAI in July of last year, allegedly targeting a conference room reserve for company leadership, where employees regularly discussed highly confidential research, technology, and business plans. The company discovering the hidden recording device during a routine security sweep late last month, prompting an FBI investigation that ultimately led to Alphozan's arrest. CNN reporting on how investigators uncovered the alleged surveillance operation.

This device was hidden in the back of a TV screen in the USB port of an executive conference room. This conference room was only used by leadership and people related to the leadership at OpenAI. This device monitored audio, it had advanced encryption, and a mechanism for transferring data designed to evade monitoring. Open AI says there was evidence he planned to install more of these devices throughout Open AI offices in San Francisco. As you noted, this was found during a regular security sweep that OpenAI conducted. they reached out to the FBI and worked with them to install actually a camera to be able to spot Alphozan going back into the conference room and looking behind the TV screen. OpenAI is saying that at this point they have no indications that he was able to inappropriately access or exfiltrate

sensitive things like model weight, source code, or customer data. Federal prosecutors revealing additional evidence they say connects Alfozan to the alleged scheme, including his use of an AI productivity tool to research. OpenAI's buildings, executive meeting locations, and conference room schedules. According to the criminal complaint, investigators also identifying a chatbot account associated with Alphozan's wife, which was used to ask detailed questions about building, concealing, and remotely accessing audio recording devices. The account also making inquiries about encrypting recordings and improving live audio monitoring, including questions

specifically related to the device later discovered inside OpenAI's offices. Investigators uncovering another potentially significant piece of evidence on October 5th, when Alphozon allegedly left a bag unattended inside another company conference room. OpenAI security personnel, searching the bag, discovering his wallet, identification, and a second recording device similar to the one found behind the television. In a statement, OpenAI confirming Alphozan has been fired, while maintaining there is currently no indication that he improperly accessed or stole the company's sensitive AI technology, source code, or customer information. Alphosan's attorney, William Pernick, urging the public not to jump to conclusions telling CBS News, his client is presumed innocent

and warning against politicizing the case based on his nationality. A Foson remains in federal custody ahead of a detention hearing scheduled for Monday, facing up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. Coming up, a notorious Jamaican drug lord reportedly attacking Sean Diddy Combs behind bars, sending the music mogul to the hospital. And Pope Leo recovering from undergoing surgery for lung cancer, already up and celebrating mass. Our sponsor, the Electronic Payments Coalition,

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amid growing tensions over allegations the disgraced music mogul has been receiving special treatment behind bars. According to TMZ, multiple sources inside the Fort Dix federal prison in New Jersey, Seikomes got into a physical altercation Friday with fellow inmate Christopher Dutus Koch, a former Jamaican gang leader serving a 23-year prison sentence. Koch once leading the violent international drug trafficking organization known as the shower posse, before being sentenced in 2012 on federal racketeering and conspiracy charges, according to the DOJ. TMZ reporting the confrontation stemmed from anger among inmates

over a recent NBC news investigation exposing Combs's privileged lifestyle behind bars, prompting prison officials to conduct at least two raids and confiscate contraband cell phones. Koch, among those, losing access to the prohibited items, blaming Combs for the crackdown. Sources telling TMZ, Combs suffered a significant head injury during the fight, prompting prison officials to transport him to an outside medical facility for emergency. treatment early Saturday morning. Both men reportedly receiving two weeks in solitary confinement following the altercation, although Combs was already being held in the prison's special housing unit when the fight occurred during his daily break. The latest account contradicting a report published

Tuesday by page six, which cited a source claiming Combs injured himself by striking his head on an upper bunk bed, the 56-year-old conscious and speaking following the incident and later returning to prison. A spokesperson for Combs telling People magazine that his health remains their immediate concern although his representatives have not independently confirmed the circumstances surrounding the injury. Combs currently serving a 50-month federal prison sentence after being convicted last year on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. His projected release date recently pushed back by 41 days from January 21st to March 2nd of 2028, following reports of his alleged preferential treatment and disciplinary violations.

Pope Leo the 14th recovering from a successful surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his right lung, as the Vatican provides encouraging new details about the 71-year-old pontiff's condition. According to the Vatican's medical report, doctors at Rome's Gemelli Hospital removing the entire lower lobe of the Pope's right lung Tuesday and a procedure lasting approximately 90 minutes. The Vatican confirming the operation was completed without complications, although testing during the surgery revealed the tumor was a form of lung cancer known as pulmonary adenocarsinoma. The diagnosis coming just two days after Pope Leo publicly revealed during his Sunday, Anhali's blessing that doctors had discovered a small nodule in his lung during a routine

examination. The Pope explaining the abnormal growth had been detected very early and appeared confined to a specific area of the lung. The Chicago-born pontiff announcing his plans to have it surgically removed while asking Catholics around the world to pray for his recovery. CNN medical analyst Jonathan Reiner explaining more about this particular type of cancer. We've been told that the Pope was found to have adenocarsinoma of the lung, which is the most common form of lung cancer. Most of the lung cancers that are diagnosed are adenocarsinomas that's found sort of equally in smokers as well as non-smokers. Lung cancer caught very early can be completely cured. Even more extensive lung cancer now can be very effectively treated with a variety of modalities

such as radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and now increasingly immunotherapy. So lung cancer today does not have nearly the kind of dire prognosis that it had, you know, even as recently as 10 years ago. So if this indeed was an early cancer and the lobe was removed and lymph nodes turn out to be negative and advanced scanning such as PETCT imaging, don't suggest any evidence of distant spread, then, you know, the Pope may very well be cured, by this. Following the procedure, Vatican officials reporting Pope Leo regained consciousness normally and returned to the hospital room to begin recovering. According to the Associated Press, the Pope already walking around his room, eating normally undergoing respiratory therapy,

and even celebrating mass from the hospital. The Vatican expecting the 71-year-old to remain hospitalized for approximately one week, canceling all public appearances through October 20th. The Pope's diagnosis raising questions about his upcoming trip to South America, where he's scheduled to visit Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru beginning November 6th. Secretary of State Mark Urubio, among those offering prayers for the Pope, posting on X that he and his wife, Jeanette, are praying for the Holy Father's health and asking God to give him strength and guide the medical professionals, overseeing his recovery. That'll do it for your AM update.

I'm Emily Jashinsky, host of AfterParty. Go and check out more at AfterPartyemily.com. Catch the Megan Kelly Show later today, live on SiriusXMs, the Megan Kelly Channel 11 at noon east on YouTube.com slash Megan Kelly. and all podcast platforms.