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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Authorities Hold News Conference On San Diego Shooting; $1.8 Billion For Trump's Allies May Put Taxpayer's On The Hook; Trump Exacts Revenge On Sen. Cassidy, Turns Eye To Rep. Massie; NY Times: Trump Approval Rating Sinks To Second Term Low; Trump Will "Hold Off" Planned Attack On Iran Tuesday; CNN In Tehran Witnesses A Call On The Street & On TV; Historians Criticize Trump's Reflecting Pool Makeover As Group Sues; Mark Fuhrman, Former LA Police Detective Convicted Of Lying During O.J. Simpson Murder Trial, Has Died. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired May 18, 2026 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF SCOTT WAHL, SAN DIEGO POLICE: We're still investigating, but yes, we do believe that's all associated with the larger picture of today's events. It's not -- they're not -- they're not separate.
REPORTER: I just want to know -- what they do? How do you plan to protect these types of -- what is pretty sure senior officers --
WAHL: Yes, so first of all, this is why we need the community, this is a partnership, public safety is a shared responsibility. It is important that people share information when they see, hear, or know something that pertains to threats of violence. That is what allows us to filter through who is going to cause harm and who is not. So that information is priority one.
REPORTER: Do you know when you go and reopen the mosque?
WAHL: I'll let him speak to that.
REPORTER: Just a clarification. The mother that you're speaking with about mother of the younger juvenile or the older one.
WAHL: The younger. All right, listen, folks. We'll sit here all night and go question and answer. We will provide more information when more information is available. And we have more of the information confirmed that we're now starting to speculate on. I want to make sure that you have the details thus far so that you understand exactly what we we're responding to, what we were dealing with.
And I'll close by saying this, our hearts go out to the families. Obviously, the greater Muslim community. We're one city and we're one community. As police chief, I am grateful that we have police officers and sheriffs' deputies from throughout this county that dropped what they were doing and didn't do just what they were trained to do. They did what we hired them to do, to step into harm's way, to be willing to run towards gunfire, to protect people they don't even know.
And so, with that, thank you for your patience. And we will be back out in the days ahead with more information. Thank you.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Good evening from the Newsroom. We have just been watching authorities in San Diego briefing reporters on the shooting at the city's largest mosque. Now, it could have been easily worse. The center also has a school on its ground. There were kids playing outside at the time.
When police arrived, they found a security guard and two men dead. A short time later, the discovered two more who they believe to be the shooters, both also dead. Their gunshot wounds apparently self- inflicted.
Again, officials have just spoken to reporters. CNN's Kyung Lah is at the scene and she joins us now. So, we heard authorities say, Kyung, that they received a call from the mother of one of the shooters this morning. What more have you learned about exactly what happened?
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: That she had discovered some hate speech, some generalized hate speech, not targeting any particular institution. But it was alarming enough that she found it to be suicidal and threatening enough that she reached out to law enforcement.
What you're hearing behind me is this press conference is still going on with other members of the community, but I'm going to keep explaining what authorities say they have been able to put together is that, that younger person, that younger suspect, a 17-year-old then connected with someone, either a friend who was 18 or 19, and they came to this mosque.
The mosque is just, this is a press conference right over here, the mosque is just over my right shoulder, and that is where law enforcement found three different adult men who had been shot. The two suspects were making their way through this middle-class community.
They came across a landscaper engaged with the landscaper who he was unarmed. They appear to have hit him in some capacity, but he's doing okay. And then authorities did catch up with them. And the two suspects, 17 and 18-ish. The police chief said had died by self- inflicted gunshot wounds.
So, that's the very latest that we've been able to piece together. One other thing, Anderson, that they are treating this as a hate crime, in large part because of some writings found on one of the weapons. They say at this point, this is what they know. They're going to continue to investigate this and try to share more as they learn, because this just happened, just mere hours ago -- Anderson.
COOPER: And Kyung, I know you were able to speak with a friend of the security guard who was killed. What did he have to say?
LAH: It's really important to remember that this isn't just a mosque. This is a community center. And this is also where children, young children, a third grade and younger were going to school and there was a security guard standing out front. And that security guard is a friend of a man who you're going to hear from and I want you to listen to what he says.
[20:05:07]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAM, FRIEND OF SECURITY GUARD THAT DIED IN THE SHOOTING: I truly know my heart from knowing that man, that he was sacrificing his life and took that bullet, knowing that I'd rather take it than the kids, and that is what makes me emotional.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: And the important thing that he wanted to add, that young, that man, his name is, Sam. He is a father of two, three. two who go to school connected with the mosque said that he gets to put his kids to bed tonight. He gets to tuck them in. But the security guard, who also has children, that he can't do that. And so, that's something he doesn't want to be left unsaid, that a man took a bullet to protect so many children here in this community -- Anderson.
COOPER: Kyung Lah, I appreciate it. Thank you.
Joining us now, two of our law enforcement analysts, John Miller and Jonathan Wackrow. John Miller, you've been speaking with law enforcement sources. What have they told you about the two gunmen? What may have motivated them?
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, these are kids 17, 18-years-old. One of them, as were learning now, left what is in effect a suicide note. But we are told by law enforcement sources that it also had references to racial pride. It seems that based on the targeting and the fact that there was hate speech written on one of the weapons recovered where the two young men took their own lives after escaping the scene of the shooting, that this fits into a pattern that we know fairly well.
Writing hate speech on the weapon, leaving the notes, the target selection of a mosque, shooting at a landscaper, at random, during the getaway. Very similar to the New Zealand attack from 2019 by Brenton Tarrant, who in that case killed 51 people and shot 40 more where he wrote hate speech all over the weapons.
In the Buffalo case in 2022, Payton Gendron, he wrote hate speech all over the weapons, even mentioning Brenton Tarrant. I wouldn't be surprised if you saw one or both of those names turn up in the writings in this case, this is developing into a hate crime that is probably going to be linked to an alt right culture of White nationalism, White Supremacy, and what they call the Great Replacement Theory, where people act out violently, murderously on the idea that immigrants from other countries, that people who weren't born here, that people who don't look like White Europeans are overtaking Whites, and their opportunities and this is something that ironically, wasn't even mentioned in the White House counterterrorism strategy that was released last week, right wing violent extremism.
COOPER: Jonathan Wackrow is here. How unusual is it to have two people apparently working together in this? I was trying to think John mentioned the New Zealand attack. Obviously, there was the Columbine a long time ago that was school related. There was the attack in New York, the bomb throwing involving two people.
JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: It's very anomalous, right? I think that there are a lot of factors that are present in this matter that are anomalous. It's the fact that there were two attackers. Typically, we see oftentimes referred to as lone gunman or a lone actor, but they're oftentimes influenced by other people.
Here we have two people who were engaged in the attack, but their ages 17 and 19 years old. It's not normal for them to wake up and decide to go out and kill somebody, right? So, something preceded this, and this is right with the commissioner was getting to is that there was some sort of radicalization that they went through, that they felt it was right for them to go and launch this attack against this Islamic center, this symbol of that community in San Diego that, again, needs to be looked at with a microscope to really understand.
Did that radicalization come online? We're they radicalizing each other through, you know, this, this, you know, Christian nationalism, this White nationalism movement that, you know, john was just talking about, or are these other factors. So, what we do know as a denominator, hate is the motivator here. It was the motivation for their attack. But we need to get better and smarter at how this radicalization happens so quickly and happen really in silence.
This didn't, uh, you know, basically follow the pattern of, of violence that we've seen this, this pathway to violence where its grievance ideation, planning, this whole attack cycle goes through before they launch. These are people that literally got up, took some guns from home, dressed in camouflage, and went out and launched this attack.
They were motivated by somebody or a group. We have to find out and stop what where that's coming from.
[20:10:08]
COOPER: And John Miller, is anything known about sort of what kind of training they had, or if they kind of ran through scenarios, if they went out to, to practice shooting? And also, is it known the timeline between when the mom apparently found this note and alerted authorities and when the shooting actually took place?
MILLER: Well, Chief Scott Wahl from San Diego P.D. gave us a little bit of a timeline, which is, you know, they got that call from the mom, in the late morning hours and immediately they did a threat assessment., this is exactly what you are supposed to do with this. It's a missing person, but it's also a missing person who's talking about suicide and maybe other things who has left with weapons.
From there, he took the mom's car. They took that license plate. It's a white vehicle. They put it into the LPR system, License Plate Readers. They started to get hits at different locations and have units be on the lookout for it. Interestingly, I think the chief told us that they got a license plate reader hit near the mosque, which they sent out to units right about the same time they got the phone call of shots fired. So, they were leaning very forward on trying to figure out, how do we get to this kid not knowing that there was more than one kid, apparently or what exactly their plan was.
COOPER: It's also Jonathan, you know, we've now become used to having security guards at houses of worship. It clearly seems in this case, this security officer, you know, may have prevented much worse.
WACKROW: I'll put a finer point. He was a hero, he prevented the loss of life, especially of those children. Here's why, these were motivated attackers. They had a plan in place. They had no exit plan. They were going in to kill and to harm. As they were going in, this security guard basically put himself between the threat and those children.
We have eyewitnesses that say that he literally did that and what he did is he caused a tactical shift. He caused the attacker to turn and address him as opposed to engage in killing of these children that were outside. In that instance, he stopped the chain of attack by putting himself in harm's way. That was only for seconds. But those were critical seconds because we heard from an eyewitness as he was being shot, teachers and others were bringing these children and rushing them inside.
From a tactical standpoint, we call that getting off the X. Those kids got out of the field of danger because this security guard did his job, stood up and addressed, identified and addressed the threat.
COOPER: Jonathan Wackrow, amazing, thank you, and John Miller as well.
Coming up next, a shocking settlement to the President's $10 billion lawsuit against the government that he runs, the nearly $1.8 billion of your taxpayer money that the deal contains. And the January 6th insurrectionists who may be getting part of that money. We're keeping them honest, next,
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:17:21]
COOPER: Tonight, keeping them honest, with a shocking settlement to a $10 billion lawsuit filed by President Trump and his two eldest sons against the IRS. Now, that lawsuit was filed back in January over the leaking of his tax returns "The New York Times" and "ProPublica" back in 2019.
Now, it was unprecedented that a sitting President would demand $10 billion of U.S. taxpayer money from a government agency that he controls, a government agency defended in court by the Department of Justice, which has, under this administration, shown itself repeatedly to be an arm of retribution by the administration against perceived enemies.
Now, when this lawsuit was filed, the President said that taxpayers wouldn't be upset footing the $10 billion because the money he claimed would go to charity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think what we'll do is do something for charity. We can make it a substantial amount. Nobody would care because it's going to go to numerous very good charities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Numerous very good charities, we learned today that the suit has been settled and it will cost taxpayers $1.8 billion to settle it. And you may wonder, who are the deserving charities this money will now go to? Who are the deserving people? Well, take a look.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
COOPER: It's not police officers who were attacked on the capitol like that police officer there who was being crushed in a door. It's the people who were attacking them. We're not talking about the 140 police officers who were injured on that day. It will apparently be available to those who were charged, convicted or pleaded guilty and received long sentences for attacking law enforcement.
The $1.8 billion will be put into a newly created fund to compensate those who've suffered what the Justice Department today called, and I quote, "weaponization and lawfare."
Now, the Justice Department made this deal with the President's attorneys. And in case you need reminding, who is the acting attorney general running the Department of Justice? It is this guy, Todd Blanche, who was once Donald Trump's personal criminal defense attorney and who now wants to be his full-time attorney general, according to reports.
Here's more from the Department of Justice press statement. "The fund will have the power to issue formal apologies and monetary relief owed to claimants. Submission of a claim is voluntary. There are no partisan requirements to file a claim. Any money left when the fund ceases, operations will revert to the federal government."
So, this is a nearly $1.8 billion pot of money that ceases to exist as soon as Mr. Trump is out of The White House. The statement goes on to say that the fund will receive, and the actual amount is $1.776 billion. Get it? $1,776 billion and will come from the judgment fund, which is a perpetual appropriation allowing DOJ to settle and pay cases.
As the statement suggests, the judgment fund is a kind of indefinite congressional appropriation, a bottomless pot of money established by lawmakers more than 50 years ago to allow executive branch agencies to pay certain kinds of judgments against the government without line-by- line legislative approval.
Its taxpayer money, without congressional oversight. But now this new entity, which confusingly is also called the fund, will have almost $1.8 billion of it. As for who controls who gets the money, the Justice Department says, and I quote, "The fund will consist of five members appointed by the attorney general. One member will be chosen in consultation with congressional leadership."
In other words, appointed by the President's former criminal defense attorney acting on behalf of a President who has said this about the January 6th insurrectionists.
[20:20:59]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You have the hostages, the J6 hostages, I call them. Nobody's been treated ever in history so badly as those people.
They ought to release the J6 hostages. They've suffered enough. They ought to release them. I call them hostages. Some people call them prisoners. I call them hostages.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Nobody has ever suffered like those people. That was a paraphrase of what the President said, which is just an extraordinary statement. Nobody in American history has suffered like that.
By January of 2025, he was in office again, and his first act was to issue pardons and commutations to all of them. Every single one. Some of whom, of course, as we've been documenting, are now repeat offenders such as the man highlighted in this video.
He's Edward Kelly, one of the first to breach the Capitol. He was found guilty of assaulting a police officer, went on to conspire to kill the FBI agents who had investigated his case, and he's now serving a life sentence for that crime. The question is, will he be given money from this fund?
There's also Andrew Paul Johnson; another charmer charged with storming the Capitol. He was arrested just six months later for multiple child sexual abuse charges in Florida. Authorities say he actually tried to buy the silence of one of his child victims by claiming that he stood to receive $10 million as restitution for being a January sixer. He was found guilty and sentenced to life. But you know what? He actually might have been right. He actually might get that money if he applies for it. What's to stop him?
Could President Trump receive money from the fund? That's another question. The Justice Department statement says, "per the settlement, plaintiffs will receive a formal apology," meaning the President and his sons and his corporation, "but no monetary payment or damages of any kind."
But that's unclear whether that sentence refers to the now dropped lawsuit or the compensation fund. And listen to what the President said when asked about it late today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REPORTER: Do you believe that people who committed violence against Capitol Hill police officers on January 6th should be eligible for compensation from this DOJ fund? And are you or your family members going to be seeking compensation from that fund?
TRUMP: Yes, it'll all be dependent on a committee. A committee is being set up. A very talented people, very highly respected people. I think it's a committee of five. And again, I didn't do this deal. It was told to me yesterday. They said they're doing something. I do believe there has to be compensation for people that were destroyed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: It has nothing to do with the deal, all dependent on a committee, he says. A very talented people have yet to be appointed. Appointed by the acting attorney general who worked for the President before the election, is now the acting attorney general wants to be the full-time attorney general.
Today, nearly 100 House Democrats signed on to a legal brief urging a judge to block all this. Not a single Republican joined them. Of course, not even the ones who had this to say about the people who soon could be cashing in, and the President who says it's okay by him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Trump and I, we've had a hell of a journey. I hate it then this way. Oh my God, I hate it.
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): We do not encourage what happened today, ever.
SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): Chaos, anarchy, the violence today was wrong and un-American.
REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): There is no excuse for it. A woman died and people need to go to jail. And the President should never have spun up certain Americans to believe something that simply cannot be.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the President and other powerful people.
KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The President bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Joining me now, former federal prosecutor, bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin, also former D.C. police officer Michael Fanone, who was violently attacked and badly injured while defending the Capitol on January 6th.
Jeff Toobin, is there any precedent for this? I mean, is this --
JEFFREY TOOBIN, AMERICAN LAWYER AND AUTHOR: Zero, nothing like this. COOPER: And, I mean, what is the difference between this and a slush fund?
TOOBIN: This is a slush fund. There is no difference and in fact, I mean, as bad as you described it, it's actually worse because there is no definition in the paperwork of what weaponization and lawfare is. So, these five people will have virtually unlimited discretion to give this money away to anyone they want. Plus, the public is not going to know where this money went.
[20:25:24]
COOPER: There's not a track record of it?
TOOBIN: There is no public disclosure. I just read this in the underlying documents, which said the five people will report confidentially to the attorney general who got the money, but the public is not going to know. So, you know, it is a perfect definition of a slush fund because it is secret money going to favored people outside of public view.
COOPER: Michael Fanone, you wrote on Substack, "they named it 1776 because the cruelty is the point." They want you to hear, patriot. They want you to forget insurrection. They want to take the year this country was founded and turn it into brand branding for a payout. What did you, when you first heard this? Can you believe this is happening?
MICHAEL FANONE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Absolutely, I can believe it. And I'm quite frankly, no American should be surprised by the fact that their taxpayer dollars are now going to pay criminals for committing crimes. And let's be very clear about what this is, Anderson, this is Donald Trump paying violent criminals for committing violent crimes on his behalf on January 6th, 2021.
It's as simple as that. It's a buyout. It's paying them off for having committed crimes. It's part of his normalization of political violence, which, quite frankly, no one has done more to normalize political violence in this country than Donald Trump himself.
But I also find it ironic. Maybe that's the word for it, that this comes on the heels of National Police Week, National Peace Officer's Memorial Day, which is May 15th, in which police officers gather in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the lives of fallen officers. And this is when Donald Trump and his Department of Justice decide to announce this payoff for cop beaters.
You know, there nobody should be surprised.
COOPER: Jeff, can anyone challenge this? I mean, is there --
TOOBIN: I don't think so. I mean, I think, you know, the legal concept is standing, you know, who can bring a lawsuit, who has the right to bring a lawsuit, but under, under current Supreme Court precedent, you have to show you were injured in some way. They call it an injury. In fact, in order to sue. In any case, I don't think anyone has standing. Taxpayers don't have standing. COOPER: All these, all these fake electors could apply for this thing.
TOOBIN: The fake electors --
COOPER: All the shady attorneys who represented the President over the last year --
TOOBIN: All the people, who Robert Mueller prosecuted, people who were convicted by juries, Robert Manafort, Roger Stone, people who pleaded guilty. I mean, and think about the numbers here. You got 1,600 roughly, you know, Capitol Hill rioters, January 6th rioters, you have maybe a hundred others. You have $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion. These people are in line for a lot of money. I mean, they could get a lot of money here.
And, you know, it's not enough for the President that he pardoned these criminals, but now he's going to give them money, too. It's really astounding.
COOPER: Michael, I mean, it's insane to me that this, you know, this person who assaulted people at the Capitol who then, you know, is, accused of attempting sexual assault of a child and promising, you know, ten that he was going to be getting $10 million, may be proved right. I mean, it's --I mean, I don't even have a question. It's just, I'm really, I don't know why I'm stunned by it, but I am.
FANONE: I mean, same people who are grounded in reality might be stunned and shocked by this. So, I'm not surprised that you're stunned and shocked by it, Anderson. But you have to recognize the fact that there is a large swath of this country that still believes that January 6th was some type of an inside job.
They believe that these individuals that Trump is now looking to buy off or pay out, were the heroes of the day, they are the patriots.
You know, but to Jeffrey's point, if, you know, January 20th and the pardoning of all these insurrectionists was the nail in the coffin of accountability for January 6th, at least from my perspective, this is adding insult to injury. It's rubbing salt in the wound to all of the officers that fought to defend the Capitol, that fought to protect the lives of members of Congress, many members of Congress who are celebrating this payout. as if it is somehow, you know, some type of a legitimate patriotic act to make these individuals whole.
And so, I, you know, it's -- man, what a wild world were living in.
COOPER: Yes, that's for damn sure.
[20:30:33]
TOOBIN: That's --
COOPER: Michael Fanone --
TOOBIN: Took the words right out of my mouth.
COOPER: Yes. Michael Fanone, it's an honor to have you on. Appreciate it. Jeff Toobin as well, thank you.
Coming up next, just two days after ending a sitting Republican senator's career for opposing him, the President takes fresh political aim at Republican Congressman Thomas Massie.
And later, former L.A. Police Detective Mark Fuhrman has died. His actions and testimony in the O.J. Simpson trial, you may remember, helped Simpson get acquitted. Jeff Toobin discovered the trial. He's going to come back for some of that. We'll be right back.
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[20:35:10]
COOPER: President Trump isn't letting up on his political retribution against Republicans. His latest victims, Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy lost his primary over the weekend. Cassidy, you may remember, voted to convict the President after he was impeached for January 6th.
Now the President is backing primary challenger Ed Gallrein to Kentucky Republican Congressman Thomas Massie. Massie, you may know, coauthored the law requiring the release of the Epstein files.
Joining us now, CNN Political Commentators, David Urban and Paul Begala. David, Congressman Massie expressing confidence he will win his primary. Do you think he still has a chance?
DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, you know, Anderson, he's a tough guy, tough fighter. What I would say that Massie's probably saying is that he knows his constituents. Congressional districts are much smaller. Paul knows this and you're running statewide. You're always going to make somebody mad.
And so Cassidy managed to alienate lots of different parts of his constituency. Massie's faced a tough primary before. And, you know, Trump was -- he's been opposed by many people before, but the people in his district like him. I think he feels pretty confident.
They're spending lots of money against the guy. That kind of cuts both ways in a primary like this where people know you. If -- you know, I'm sure Massie's home telling them, look, the people in D.C., all these special interest groups, they want to throw me out because I'm fighting for you. You're my constituents. That's pretty -- that's a message that resonates, especially in a primary.
COOPER: Paul, what does a purity test like this from the President? What does it mean do you think for the GOP in the short term, and come November?
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, long, painful 168 days until the election. I mean, they're -- I'm sorry to laugh, but I think it's terrific. They're between Trump and a hard place. OK, I defer to Urban about the Massie race. I'm sure he's right. Honestly, he knows a lot more about this than me.
But in the main Trump's batting average in primaries is extraordinarily high, like nine out of 10 people he's targeted have lost. And so here's the deal for these Republican politicians. If you have Trump's support, it kind of makes you almost unbeatable in the primary, but it makes you almost unelectable in the general election, because Trump is at 36 and gas is at 450.
And if Trump is going to keep going down and gas prices keep going up, they're going to get wiped out. I mean, I looked in the latest polling, Trump's favorable among Independents is just 26, 74 disapprove -- Independents, not Democrats like me.
So when you get three-fourths of Independents that can't stand the guy, by the way, I think that's actually higher than like people who don't want the rat virus. I mean, I've never seen a guy get to 74 negative among Independents. So they're in terrible shape.
COOPER: David, do you share Paul's --
URBAN: No --
COOPER: -- well, I won't say glee, but it's glee from Paul. Do you have concerns about Paul's glee?
URBAN: Yes, listen, of course I'm concerned, right? This is a tough battle. Any -- and Paul knows this, every President, right, who's, you know, in the midterms there -- party in power always loses seats, except with two exceptions in modern history. It's pushing a big rock up a hill in a normal day. This is a really tough time when the economy is where it is, right.
You have this, this big conflict in the Middle East. Gas prices are high, like Paul says, inflation is relatively stable. The stock market's doing well, but, you know, people, real people at home feel, are feeling the pinch. And so come the fall, if things don't change over the summer, it's going to be a tough race.
You know, the redistricting hasn't gone as well as the Democrats had hoped. It's kind of gone the opposite way. So I think Republicans stand to pick up some seats there, but listen, it's going to be a very close race at the end of the day. I think that, you know, Republicans still are holding out hopes that we retain control of the House, but it's tough. It's tough during normal year when you have headwinds like you have now, it's even tougher.
COOPER: Paul, is there a risk for Democrats here becoming a party just basically defined by opposition to President Trump?
BEGALA: No, not in the midterms. It's an enormous risk in 2028, right? When we get to the presidential election, Democrats are going to have to say what they're for, not just what they're against. But right now in a midterm, there's just two choices. Do we hit the gas or hit the brakes?
And Urban is right. I lived through the Clinton wipeout where Gingrich won like 45 seats against the Democrats in '94. I remember President Obama lost like 62. The last time Trump had a midterm, he lost 41. So you're right, there's structural things that Urban talked about that's going to make this.
But worse than that, none of those presidents were at 36. I checked, Clinton's lowest in eight years. He had one poll one time at 37. Obama had one poll one time at 37. Trump is hovering around there for months and months. It's just -- it's a terrible problem that the Republicans have. He's going to drag them all down.
URBAN: Yes. The generic -- the only bright side for Republicans is that congressional Democrats are having a worse rating. So that's the only thing we got going is we're -- we don't suck as bad as the other guys.
[20:40:02]
BEGALA: Well, you may think we suck, but we're beating you by 11 points in the latest poll, man. I mean --
COOPER: David Urban, Paul Begala --
BEGALA: -- if that sucks, I'll take it.
COOPER: Guys, thanks.
Up next, with the President again threatening them backing away from new strikes on Iran. We'll take you inside Tehran, where authorities are holding rallies, urging civilians to take up arms and TV presenters as well, it looks like. Also the legal fight over the President's reflective pool renovations as the price tag rises.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: The President says he'll hold off on new strikes on Iran, writing on social media this afternoon, quote, "Serious negotiations are now taking place." And adding, quote, "We will not be doing the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow."
He wrote the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE asked him to hold off. It's a notable change from yesterday when the President wrote, quote, "For Iran, the clock is ticking and they better get moving fast or they won't be anything left of them."
[20:45:03]
The Strait of Hormuz, of course, remains closed. As for negotiations, Iranian officials say they responded to U.S. concerns about their proposals, but American officials did not view the latest offer as making large enough compromises.
Inside Iran, CNN has witnessed citizen taking up arms. Here's more from Matthew Chance reporting from Tehran. A reminder, of course, CNN operates Iran only with government permission, but maintains full editorial control over what it reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language) MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across Iran, the tension and the rhetoric is getting stronger. Thousands have been gathering every night for state-sponsored rallies, mobilizing supporters against the United States.
CHANCE: How concerned are you that the war may start again soon?
TIANA, RALLY ATTENDEE: Concern --
CHANCE: Worried?
TIANA: No, I'm not worried. Why should I be worried? Because I'm so ready to sacrifice my life for my country and for my people. So, no, I'm not worried at all, at all.
CHANCE (voice-over): This man's sign reads, nuclear technology missiles are as important as borders. Key sticking points installed peace talks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need nuclear. Nuclear not for the bomb -- peaceful, peaceful --
CHANCE (voice-over): Still amid escalating threats from the White House, ordinary Iranians are now being urged to prepare for war.
CHANCE: Well, these rallies or gatherings have been taking place every single night for the past, you know, several weeks, and so they're not new. What is new is the introduction of weapons, and these kiosks have been set up in each of these sort of squares, where members of the military, there, you can see them with masks on, they're showing people, in this case a woman, basic skills of how to use what I think is an AK 47 or a Kalashnikov, and things like that.
Look over here, they're showing children how to use them as well, it's all part of a sort of state-sponsored call to arms in case the war begins again.
CHANCE (voice-over): It's all guns on state television too, and several Iranian channels broadcasting their hosts brandishing assault rifles. "They gave me a weapon, so I could learn how to use it, like you, "this anchor tells her viewers.
After his on-air training, this presenter fires off a round into the studio ceiling. But not all Iranians are gunning for a fight. Just around the corner from the rally hints at the diversity of views about their country's plight.
CHANCE: Well, it's a very different atmosphere in this part of town. People are sitting with their partners, having coffees. Strolling around the bookstores or just hanging out with their friends. And if you talk to people, you get very different views as well.
You know, people didn't want to talk on camera, but off camera. One woman said to me, she just wanted peace and freedom. Another one said she wanted to live in a normal country where there was a potential future for her children. CHANCE (voice-over): But Iran's future to many Iranians looks increasingly clear, especially amid regular threats from President Trump.
CHANCE: Waiting for the war.
FATIMA, RALLY ATTENDEE: We're waiting. We are here because we know this war isn't over. We know he's not -- he's not going to negotiate anything. He's just going to be like, either you do what I tell you or I'm going to kill you again.
CHANCE (voice-over): And it may be that bleak sense of inevitability drowning out any voices of compromise.
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COOPER: And Matthew Chance joins me now from Tehran. We mentioned, Matthew, President Trump saying serious negotiations are now taking place. Therefore, he's holding off a planned attack on Iran tomorrow. Is it clear how the Iranian government views his comments?
CHANCE (on-camera): Well, I mean, it's not clear yet because they haven't issued any statement yet. Those Trump comments came in overnight, so they haven't had a chance to react. But I can tell you, you just saw from that report that Iranian officials and Iranian civilians alike have this growing conviction that there is going to be another attack by the United States on Iran sooner or later.
And so I think it's very unlikely that these latest Trump comments, the latest postponement is going to really convince anybody here that that's changed. But we'll see, Anderson.
[20:50:01]
COOPER: All right, Matthew Chance, thanks very much from Tehran.
Here at home, questions continue surrounding some of the President's latest construction projects that includes the renovation of the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. A nonprofit group is suing the Interior Department and is seeking to stop changes to the pool as the price tag keeps climbing higher.
More now with the controversy from CNN's Sunlen Serfaty.
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SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Washington's iconic reflecting pool, critics argue, is becoming a 2,800-foot blue boondoggle.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The color was never good. And now we actually picked the color. It's called American flag blue. And so you can't do better than that.
SERFATY (voice-over): As President Trump charges forward with the pool's dramatic makeover, hoping to complete it by July 4th in the America 250 celebration.
TRUMP: We're putting a beautiful surface on. It's called the coloring. It's like a swimming pool, but industrial strength, much stronger.
SERFATY (voice-over): But it is also a race against the clock to stop it.
CHARLES BIRNBAUM, THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE FOUNDATION: It's called a reflecting pool. It's not called a swimming pool.
SERFATY (voice-over): Opposition is intensifying. A high-profile lawsuit threatens to stop the project mid-paint job.
BIRNBAUM: It's not a pool that's meant to be pretty, necessarily. It is a solemn commemorative space that is a virtuous act of civic design.
SERFATY (voice-over): The President has ordered a series of cosmetic and functional fixes to the pool, painting the pool from the dull gray to bright American flag blue, fixing a leak which administration officials say wastes 16 million gallons of water a year, and improving the water quality by installing a filtration system, clearing out the duck droppings and algae that has dogged the pool for years.
TRUMP: The water is disgusting looking.
SERFATY (voice-over): In 2012, the Obama administration spent $34 million restoring the pool, but Trump administration officials claim those efforts did not resolve the issues.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like, it smells like wet dog down here, you know? When my dog came home from the stream, he always smelled like this, and it's gross.
SERFATY (voice-over): The costs of this restoration have ballooned significantly in a very short time, going from $1.8 million now to seven times that, $13.1 million. Administration officials acknowledge the rush to get it done in time for the nation's 250th birthday celebration has driven the cost up.
TRUMP: So you're going to have a beautiful pool, and you'll have it for July 4th, long before.
SERFATY (voice-over): Adding to this, growing scrutiny over a no-bid contract awarded for the work. And Trump himself has done little to clarify how a company based in Virginia was given the work. At first touting the contractor as one that worked on swimming pools for him in the past, and was unbelievable at it.
TRUMP: He looked at it, he called me up, he said, so we can do something on it.
SERFATY (voice-over): Later, the President said he had asked three companies to look at the project.
TRUMP: It's all they can do is a swimming pool. And I said, give me a good price.
SERFATY (voice-over): Then last week, the story changed again, with Trump saying the contractor is someone, "I did not know and have never used before."
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COOPER: So Sunlen, what additional legal action is expected?
SERFATY (on-camera): Yes, potentially, Anderson, a big week here in Washington, D.C. over the future of this project. A U.S. district judge who was appointed by President Trump will oversee this case and has set a hearing on Thursday of this week in federal court.
So potentially, we could be in a position where later this week, we see this project here, that as you see behind me underway, potentially frozen in place if the hearing goes that way. Now, many historians that I talked to about the reflecting pool, they were particularly focused and very animated over the fact of the bright blue color.
Not necessarily the aesthetic choice, but more that they felt it was very far from the design concept originally envisioned. The fact that they said it was supposed to be gray in color, that it was supposed to be this cohesive element to bring together the Washington monument here, reflecting pool in gray, all the way over to the Lincoln Memorial.
And historians and preservationists told me that they really felt like this was President Trump attempting to paint, they said, over history. A historian told me, Anderson, that this is not intended to be a reflecting pool that people dive and swim in, and that's the fear they believe this is turning into. Anderson?
COOPER: Sunlen Serfaty, thanks very much.
Coming up, Mark Fuhrman, the former LAPD detective known for his controversial role in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, has died. Our Jeffrey Toobin was inside the courtroom for all the shocking moments. What he remembers from the trial of the century ahead.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So that anyone who comes to this court and quotes you as using that word in dealing with African-Americans would be a liar, would they not, Detective Fuhrman?
MARK FUHRMAN, LAPD DETECTIVE: Yes, they would.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of them, correct?
FUHRMAN: All of them.
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[20:57:03]
COOPER: That was LAPD Detective Mark Fuhrman as he went from being a star prosecution witness in the O.J. Simpson trial to a liability. Under cross-examination, Fuhrman testified that he had never made any racial slurs, anti-black slurs in the past decade. According to a recording, he was lying.
Simpson would be acquitted. Fuhrman convicted of perjury. Today, we learned that Mark Fuhrman has died. He was 74.
Back with me now, Former Federal Prosecutor Jeff Toobin. He's the author of "The Run of His Life: The People Versus O.J. Simpson," which is a fascinating read. Here's video of Jeff in court right after the not guilty verdict was read. He's the young man sitting behind the Goldman family there.
You covered this. You were, I mean, just wall to wall. Fuhrman really blew the case for the prosecution, didn't he?
TOOBIN: Well, he not only blew the case, but he's really the reason the O.J. Simpson case was more than just a soap opera. Because after I wrote this article in The New Yorker that show -- that disclosed that he had sought to get a pension from the LAPD because he was such a racist and the LAP --
COOPER: He actually said he was a racist --
TOOBIN: Absolutely.
COOPER: -- and he went to the LAPD trying to get disability.
TOOBIN: And they said no. And the court said no, and so he went back out on the street. And because of his history, that brought the history of the LAPD into the trial. You know, it was not that long since the Rodney King case.
The LAPD had this terrible history with African-Americans. And that allowed the defense to make the at least somewhat plausible case that Mark Furman was the villain. He was the person who discovered the bloody glove at O.J.'s house.
COOPER: Crucial piece of evidence.
TOOBIN: Crucial piece of evidence. I don't think Mark Fuhrman planted that glove. I think O.J. Simpson was guilty. But Fuhrman's history brought the LAPD's history into the case. And that was the key to the acquittal.
COOPER: I just want to play an exchange between O.J. Simpson's defense attorney, F. Lee Bailey, and Fuhrman.
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I want you to assume that perhaps at some time, since 1985 or 1986, you addressed a member of the African-American race as a (INAUDIBLE). Is it possible that you have forgotten that act on your part? FUHRMAN: No, it's not possible.
F. LEE BAILEY, O.J. SIMPSON'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Are you therefore saying that you have not used that word in the past 10 years, Detective Fuhrman?
FUHRMAN: Yes, that's what I'm saying.
BAILEY: And you say on your oath that you have not addressed any black person as a (INAUDIBLE) or spoken about black people as (INAUDIBLE) in the past 10 years, Detective Fuhrman?
FUHRMAN: That's what I'm saying, sir.
BAILEY: So that anyone who comes to this court and quotes you as using that word in dealing with African-Americans would be a liar, would they not, Detective Fuhrman?
FUHRMAN: Yes, they would.
BAILEY: All of them, correct?
FUHRMAN: All of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Why would he testify that, knowing he -- I mean, why did he do that?
TOOBIN: Beats me. I mean, I think he was embarrassed. If you recall --
COOPER: But so obviously you're setting him up. And so, I mean, if he's gone to them and said he's a racist --
TOOBIN: Well, and he knew he was on tape saying it. I mean, he had worked with this aspiring screenwriter.
COOPER: Of course, it's L.A., of course.
TOOBIN: It was, of course, in L.A. -- you know, so much of this case was L.A. And she was trying to figure out how cops talk and what cops were like.
COOPER: He's on tape.
TOOBIN: He's on tape. And he pleaded guilty to a crime. He's the only person in the O.J. Simpson case who was convicted of a crime.
COOPER: Jeff Toobin, thank you.
That's it for us. The news continues. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now.
