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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
First Polls Close In Texas Race Testing Trump's Grip On The GOP; Texas GOP Senate Runoff: Cornyn Fights For Political Life Afte Trump Backs Paxton; Trump Launches Social Media Spree On Iran; Iran Accuses U.S. Of Violating Ceasefire, Attacking Commercial Shipping; Trump Meets With Cabinet At WH Tomorrow Amid Iran Peace Talks; Sen. Murphy Discusses New Book On The Abandonment Of The Common Good; CNN Projects Menefee Defeats Green In TX Dem House Race; Texas GOP Senate Runoff Testing Trump's Endorsement Power. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired May 26, 2026 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: But then they were quickly stranded because heavy rain triggered flash flooding so they got stuck in this cave system.
Three people involved in the search effort also took place in the dramatic and ultimately successful rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach, who were trapped for nearly three weeks in a flooded cave in nearby Thailand.
One of them telling CNN that the stranded people are believed to be on a ledge above the water. Rescuers are hopeful that they will find them alive.
Thanks so much for joining us, our coverage of election night in America continues now with AC360.
[20:00:41]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": It is election night in America and the focus is on Texas, where the outcome of a single Republican primary runoff tonight could reshape the Senate this fall and perhaps recast the political landscape for the rest of the Trump presidency. That is how significant the race between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the incumbent U.S. Senator John Cornyn, it could turn out to be could turn reliably red Texas into a tipping point state in November.
Most polls there just closed. Official results are just starting to come in. John Cornyn has held the seat for more than two decades. National Republicans believe he'd be a stronger opponent in November to the Democratic nominee, James Talarico than Attorney General Paxton, who has a long history of alleged political, personal and financial misconduct, all of which he denies, some of which other Republican lawmakers have been calling attention to.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): I think that the gentleman who endorsed could reasonably be indicted, and you know, for a felony, and so that's obviously going to have implications in terms of how the Democrats attack them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, Maine Republican Susan Collins described Paxton as, "an ethically challenged individual." She and Senator Bill Cassidy, who just heard from, spoke out a day after the President endorsed him on social media, posting that, "John Cornyn is a good man and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough."
That move was the latest straw for some Senate Republicans last week, and was part of what scuttled key legislation the President wanted passed by now. Still, it has not deterred him from urging voters as recently as earlier today to vote Paxton.
He's already driven Senator Cassidy out of office, backing a primary challenger to him, and done the same to Republican Congressman Thomas Massie and a string of Republican state lawmakers over the last several weeks.
So, tonight will be the latest test of his primary clout. It will also cap a race that has broken a record for ads spending close to $130 million, also, notable the negative campaigning from both sides.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN PAXTON (R), TEXAS SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: He's been in office since I was in college and I'm 63, so 42 years in office. I've been asking every voter, whether it's one voter or thousands: What has John accomplished that's good for the state of Texas or the country?
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): I think it's time for accountability. He's gotten away with so much for so long and not been held accountable for it. But I think he is an embarrassment. His misbehavior and he is completely unrepentant.
I mean, it's one thing for a person to make a mistake and then say, you know, I'm sorry, I'll do better next time, but that's not Ken Paxton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: As always on nights like these, CNN's John King is at the magic wall. He starts us off. So, John, what are the numbers there -- show?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, very, very, very, very early numbers coming in. You see a handful of counties reporting votes. Ken Paxton leading in all of them. Too soon to say he's flipping some because of a Trump endorsement. But you'd rather be ahead than behind in the early vote, it is 61 percent to 39 percent. So out of the box, Ken Paxton takes a lead early, again, 254 counties in Texas. And we have results and preliminary results in just a handful of them. So, we have a lot of votes to count. But if you're Paxton, you're just looking in places that maybe John Cornyn won in the primary. Have you flipped them when you get here? I'll get to some of that in a second. Well, let's actually do it.
Let's look and count some votes. This is Jefferson County here. It says 60 percent estimated reporting. We'll see how that goes. A lot more votes were cast in the primary. But you see 67 to 33.
Let's just go back. We are here in a runoff because nobody got 50 percent plus one in the primary. So how did Paxton and Cornyn go in Jefferson County just a few weeks back? Well, Cornyn carried this county with 49 percent. So here again, Anderson, we're not final here, but this is what we're looking for all night long.
Here's a county that Senator Cornyn won led a few weeks back. And what's happening right now, the attorney general is leading at the moment. So, is that a -- do we see that in county after county after county? Then it would be fair to read that as a cue. Republicans are listening to their President. So, more counties coming in, none of them populous counties yet. But you just flip over and everywhere. We're looking at the early results. That's Paxton, red is the deeper red. Cornyn is a brighter, lighter red. So, Paxton leading everywhere right now, Anderson, what do we need to know, is this is going to hold up?
So, the population centers that's Harris County Houston, Dallas and Tarrant up here. Tarrant actually has some votes in. I'll get there in a second. Number two and number three, Bear County, San Antonio, Travis County, Austin, those are the top five counties by population. If Cornyn is going to have any prayer tonight, he's going to have to win populated areas, suburbs around the cities, establishment Republicans who might say, we like our Senator for 20-plus years. Sorry, Mr. President, we're going to vote for him.
[20:05:14]
The kind of Republicans, Anderson, who might vote Trump in November but don't necessarily like his character, don't necessarily like that he's messing with their establishment candidate. Will we see that? We don't know.
The one place I do want to look for, I toss back to you is right here. This is a population center. Tarrant County is Fort Worth. It's the second or third, forgive me, most populous of the 354. And you see Paxton there with an early lead of 59 percent to 41 percent, not insignificant.
Just want to check back. This is, again, a county that Cornyn, I was talking earlier, the suburban establishment Republicans, business Republicans, do they stick with Cornyn or do enough of them listen to the President? Well, 45 to 38. A few weeks ago, Paxton on top 59 to 41 at the moment a ways to go. But some early indications, Anderson, that the President's endorsement now that it's a one-on-one race is helping the attorney general, who at the moment is leading. And you know this, I heard you cover it in the lead in. Democrats want Paxton on top. Are they right that he's a weaker November candidate?
We'll figure that out between now and then if that's what happens. But this is right now, you have an incumbent Republican Senator in the early results, in a little bit of trouble. And Democrats would be quite encouraged by this. And again, we'll be in Texas all through November.
COOPER: Yes, sure, John King, thanks very much. We'll check in with you throughout this hour.
Joining me now is CNN's senior political commentator, former special adviser to President Obama, Van Jones; CNN political commentator, former Trump White House communications director, in the first term, Alyssa Farah Griffin; journalist and founder of "Lift Our Voices" Gretchen Carlson; and CNN political commentator and Republican strategist, Brad Todd.
Alyssa it looks like Trump's endorsement does, in fact, matter.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, think of how seismic this is that the one man has the ability to take out somebody who's potentially -- we will see where the results go tonight -- but he's been in the Senate for over a decade, is well liked in the state, somebody who's beloved within the Republican Party, but his one endorsement goes so far.
COOPER: And in an earlier runoff, he was winning.
GRIFFIN: Correct, and this is this just goes to show the staying power that Donald Trump has with his base. But I would remind you guys, Donald Trump's endorsements in primaries often do not bode well in general elections. Now, this is still Texas. It's still hard for a Democrat.
COOPER: Tell that to Rory Moore.
GRIFFIN: It's still hard for a Democrat to beat a Republican. But Herschel Walker, Blake Masters, Doug Mastriano, Kari Lake, the list goes on. So, a lot of Republicans today are saying, why did he have to get involved here? Cornyn was better positioned to beat James Talarico.
COOPER: Also, I mean, Van, if you look at Cornyn's voting record as he touted, I mean, it was overwhelmingly for Trump.
VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Ninety-nine-and-a-half won't do, got to be 100, no wait, 300 percent support is what Trump wants. I just want to applaud --
COOPER: Yes, so literally 99.2 percent.
JONES: Yes, like, but I have to say, I want to applaud our President's judgment. I appreciate him weighing in. I think he's -- I think Paxton is a great choice for Republicans in Texas. I hope they come out in droves for him. Support your President --
COOPER: Do you think, anything against Talarico in a match off, he's the worst.
JONES: Hey, listen, Talarico is special. That boy got some magic with him, and he is incredibly strong. But Texas is a bright red state. He needs somebody that he can contrast with. Cornyn is incredibly popular. He's incredibly accomplished. He's a household name there.
Talarico needs somebody that he can contrast with. I appreciate Donald Trump's gift to Talarico tonight.
GRETCHEN CARLSON, JOURNALIST AND FOUNDER OF "LIFT OUR VOICES": I would agree with that and I would add in for Talarico that he's a minister. I have said for the last six months that the Democratic Party would do well to bring religion back to the party.
JONES: Amen!
CARLSON: The Republicans have pretty much hijacked religion, at least Christianity. And I think it's very important for Talarico to talk about that, as well as bring back the Democratic Party to the basic issues of the economy, et cetera.
I also will just add in one little red herring. Texas is an open primary and so, that means that if you didn't vote previously, you don't have to sign up for a party to go vote today. So, Independents or Democrats or whomever who did not vote in the Talarico-Jasmine Crockett race could in fact, go vote today and I would just put out there that maybe some Independents would vote for Paxton on purpose, because they feel that -- if they like Talarico -- because they feel that that Talarico has a better chance against Paxton than Cornyn.
COOPER: Brad, what do you think of the President weighing in?
BRAD TODD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think it's probably $100 million mistake. I think if John Cornyn pulls it off tonight, which I think the odds are against him, we would not be talking about the Texas Senate race the rest of this year.
There are six other target Senate races, Democrats would have to win all six to take control of the chamber. This gives them a theoretical chance at seven. Although I will note, Texas being taken by a Democrat is the hype stock of our time.
[20:10:05]
CARLSON Yes.
JONES: Afraid so.
TODD: And so I suspect, Democrats --
COOPER: Flip the coin!
TODD: democrats may waste a lot more money here than Republicans will before it is over with.
JONES: Well, I mean, it is true that always get our hopes up in Texas and you usually come home brokenhearted. But this is going to be a wave election, I think. I think people are fed up. I think people are frustrated. And I think you're going to see a lot of people come out and talk --
With Talarico, you don't have to vote only against somebody who has been, you know, indicted and impeached and all kind of terrible stuff with Paxton. You can vote for somebody who is trying to turn the page on a whole epoch of just nastiness in our politics. We don't have to be mean. We don't have to be nasty. You can believe in something. He is a clean cut guy.
He believes in something. He can inspire people. So I think -- I am glad we are going to be in Texas. And I think you're going to see the best of the Democrats versus the worst of the Republicans, and there is a shot there.
GRIFFIN: Well, and it also is the fact that the Republicans are now going to have to spend money in Texas that you shouldn't have to be spending in Texas.
COOPER: I mean, they've already spent --
GRIFFIN: $130 million, but with Cornyn, that becomes a much easier race to win. He is also himself a monster fundraiser and big contributor to Senate Republicans. But now, you may be having to bail out this candidate who has tremendous vulnerabilities, have litigating his ethics issues throughout his personal failings and that is just not where you want to be when you're trying to defend North Carolina, Maine and other places.
CARLSON: And I think an interesting thing to watch, if, in fact, Paxton wins tonight, is whether or not somebody with that many failures and flaws ala Donald Trump in his personal life, Trump gets away with that.
Trump is Teflon, but does Paxton get away with that against Talarico? I mean, I think that's the biggest question that we are all asking each other is, is it only Trump who can have all these flaws and continue to get away with things, or is it other candidates?
TODD: I think Talarico is a very flawed candidate. I think if Democrats had nominated a devout Catholic, border county, Hispanic sheriff, I would be really concerned. But, you know, Talarico is to the far-left. There is almost no issue where he is not on the far-left most pole of the Democratic Party.
You know, he claimed he would go vegan to stop climate change. Well, in Texas, there are more cows than there are vegans in America. It is going to be a very unpopular road to hoe for him the rest of this year.
And Democrats, in order to take a state where Republicans routinely get 53 or 54 or 55 percent, they need to nominate somebody that is kind of close to a Republican.
COOPER: And that was President Trump's attack on him, that he was vegan. And his response was, he has been eating barbecue since before Paxton's first indictment, I believe, or something. JONES: And the other great thing he said was, if this is where we are, you're beating up on me for veganism, that shows you that he is in a pretty good position and all he has got to do is eat a couple cheeseburgers on camera.
TODD: Well, but the book is thick, Van. He also said the flag is a real complicated symbol, it is not in Texas, I have to tell you. I mean, Democrats have picked the wrong guy. Republicans may have picked the wrong guy, too, but it is still Texas.
JONES: I wouldn't bet against that kid.
GRIFFIN: I do feel like we are glossing over how the President pronounces vegan. -- vegan. I've never heard that before in my life, but that's something new.
COOPER: We are going to take a break.
We will check in next at Cornyn and Paxton headquarters as the returns come in. And later, Iran's new threat of retaliation for American strikes over the holiday. The question now, with the ceasefire under strain and talks to end the war at an impasse, what will tomorrow bring? Two veteran diplomats with deep experience in the region and in negotiations with Iran join us ahead tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:17:56]
COOPER: It is the primary race of the night, if not the year. Incumbent Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn, now trailing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a runoff that could determine who controls the Senate in November. About 20 percent of the vote counted, though, so it is still early.
I want to go both to both election headquarters. CNN's Arlette Saenz, who is covering the Paxton campaign first -- Arlette.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is feeling confident heading into tonight and a big reason why is because of President Donald Trump's decision to endorse him at the last minute in this contest.
I was speaking with the GOP source aligned with Paxton a bit earlier today, and they said that Trump's endorsement of Paxton, who was already popular with the MAGA base, was a very big help to them in this runoff.
Now, Paxton has faced a lot of criticism due to some of his personal and political scandals here in the state of Texas, scandals that he has survived throughout his political life. But there have been many GOP senators who have expressed frustration with the President's decision to endorse Paxton over Cornyn, who they believe would be a better bet at holding this Senate seat red come November.
Now, I asked a Paxton supporter here at this event this evening about some of Senator Cornyn's arguments that Paxton's scandals could be a liability for Republicans come November. She is seen here wearing this MAGA -- this Make Texas Great Again jacket and she told me of these criticisms of Paxton scandals, "I am not marrying him. He isn't my pastor. He isn't my spiritual advisor, but he is a very good attorney general." And that is a sentiment that we hear from a lot of Paxton supporters heading into this runoff.
The big question is, is whether that is something that general election voters might be willing to overlook if he becomes the GOP nominee and faces off against Democratic nominee, James Talarico in November.
COOPER: All right, Arlette Saenz, thanks very much.
We want to go now to Senator Cornyn's campaign headquarters, where Manu Raju is standing by.
What's the mood there?
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A lot of concern, Anderson, nervousness that this could be the end of a career that has spanned decades here in Texas that led to Cornyn holding a Senate seat since 2002, ascending to the top ranks of the Senate Republican leadership, but could see it come to an abrupt halt all in large part because of the President's late decision to get behind Ken Paxton in this critical race that could determine the next Senate Majority.
[20:20:19]
I talked to Senator Cornyn earlier today, and he bluntly warned Republicans against nominating Paxton, continuing to attack him up until the final days of the campaign. I asked him, why not back off these attacks, given that Paxton himself has called on the party to unite, called on the party to have a positive message and to focus on James Talarico instead. But Cornyn defended his decision to go -- continue to go negative, saying that voters deserve to hold Paxton accountable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): It has just emboldened him to the point of recklessness and now to the point of self-destructiveness, especially with regard to his own family. I just think you cannot trust Ken Paxton.
RAJU: Trump has had similar allegations against him. Do you have the same concerns about Trump?
CORNYN: I think it is a totally different, a different scenario. And I am running against Ken Paxton and so that's why we are making the case, because I think voters have a right to know.
RAJU: The attacks that you've waged against him, is he going to be damaged in November if he is the nominee?
CORNYN: Well, I have every confidence that the Democrats would be able to find that same information and use it. And so -- but I think it is important to the electorate to be informed, well informed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: But those same arguments are the ones that both Cornyn and Senate Republican leaders had made to President Trump for months. They essentially pleaded with him, begged him, in some cases, to get behind Cornyn, who they believed would be a sure bet come November.
But the President, of course, went his own way, and Cornyn says as a result, other states in November could see their resources squandered if they have to spend money to help prop up Paxton's campaign after -- given all the criticism, the baggage that he has headed into November.
But ultimately the President made his choice here and this is one big reason a lot of Cornyn supporters are bracing for a loss tonight because of the President's decision and because of the way this Republican Party has shifted towards the MAGA-aligned base of the party.
COOPER: And Manu Raju, thanks. We will check in with you throughout the night.
Back now with our panel. I mean, is this -- does this boil down to personality? Does he -- does the President just not like the guy? Because 99.2 percent voting record with the President would seem to be pretty good.
GRIFFIN: So this one is interesting. I wouldn't argue this is about John Cornyn being disloyal. First for his voting record and his criticisms of Donald Trump after January 6th were fairly benign, considering where most of the Republican Party was.
I would argue Lindsey Graham was more critical of Donald Trump after January 6th. The difference is he is juxtaposed to Ken Paxton, who is a diehard loyalist and always has been. So, Donald Trump has always going to pick someone who has stayed in the trenches with him at his lowest moment.
COOPER: Paxton, I think vote came to the trial in New York City.
GRIFFIN: He came to the trial. He was also someone who pushed the election lies. So this is somebody who has been deeply, deeply in the Trump world. So Cornyn, in many ways is kind of just an innocent bystander in all of this. And so is, by the way, the Senate Majority potentially, and any legislative agenda that Donald Trump wanted to get through the Senate.
COOPER: It is fascinating, though, that somebody who is like, you know, your ride or die, he is going to pick him. I mean, it is its part of this -- you know, he has two more years left after the midterms. And he just wants people who are going to do whatever he wants.
CARLSON: Yes, I mean, that who he has as far as his Cabinet Secretaries. That's who he has as far as the people close to him. It is very different from his first term as President. I would argue that the voting record of any Republican is meaningless. Like to say that Cornyn is 99 percent, you could say it was 62 percent, and it really doesn't matter when Donald Trump is making the decisions. You cross him one time and you are out.
I mean, I would venture to say that somebody like Senator John Fetterman, who is a Democrat, who has been siding more and more with Republicans, if he said something nice about Trump tomorrow, Trump would maybe endorse him. I mean, it is just because of this immense loyalty and don't say anything negative about me and that's the way I am going to run business.
COOPER: Brad, what do you think is the message to other Republicans, I mean, who are watching this? It certainly would put some fear into people.
TODD: Well, I think the President has plenty of supporters in all the rest of the primaries, including John Cornyn tonight. And I don't think -- I think your first theory is correct. I don't think this is about John Cornyn. I think this is about the President is very frustrated with the fact that 30 to 40 Republican senators won't give up the filibuster and John Cornyn just happened to be the hostage closest to shoot, and so I think that this is a manifestation of that frustration more than it is any trait about John Cornyn.
I mean, he is not a bomb thrower and certainly some of the President's strongest supporters don't like that about him. He is an incumbent who had some softness in the primary electorate way before Donald Trump engaged on this.
[20:25:06]
But I think if the President really had a gripe with John Cornyn, he would have endorsed Ken Paxton in the first race in March.
GRIFFIN: That's right.
JONES: Well, I mean, from my point of view, you know, we pick on Trump a lot and there are two ways for him to be a fool tonight and one way for him to be a genius. If Paxton were to have lost, Trump would look like a fool. It looks like he is not going to lose. It looks like Paxton is going to win.
The other way for Trump to be a fool is for Talarico to beat him, and we don't know. But if it turns out that Trump has picked this very flawed, very compromised, very divisive figure who goes on to beat Cornyn and beat Talarico, then Trump looks like a political genius, especially if this seat winds up being the determinant of which of these parties actually controls the Senate.
So Trump has taken a big gamble tonight from my point of view, is a reckless gamble. He is going to wind up flushing $200 million down the drain in Texas to pull this off. But listen, if we are sitting here in November and Talarico goes down and that becomes the seat, then he will have held on to the Senate on his own terms and that is the kind of stuff that Donald Trump sometimes gets away with. CARLSON: You're making it sound like its strategy. Yes, I mean, I am just being honest here. I mean, it might be, but my view is that this is totally based on Trump gut and that this is not necessarily a long- term strategy, but you laid it out very, very well.
TODD: But he also has the money in the bank to back it up. You know, the President's political committees have maybe $300 million in the bank. He is a great fundraiser. He could replenish that over and over.
COOPER: He has got a $1.8 billion fund.
TODD: One of Ken Paxton's biggest weaknesses is that he is a bad fundraiser. He has other weaknesses too but that's one of his biggest weaknesses.
JONES: And by the way, Talarico is a phenomenal fundraiser, $24 million on hand right now is going to go --
TODD: Because, the sex appeal for a Democrat donor to think they might could flip Texas is good. Everybody who owns NPR tells you that they will give him three grand.
COOPER: Let's check in with John King and the Magic Wall -- John.
KING: Anderson, it is nice to see you again. Look, the map is filling in. Were only at 36 percent of the vote. But your eyes don't lie if you look at that map, the darker red is Ken Paxton, the attorney general of the state, and the MAGA candidate, of course, who has the President endorsement in this runoff.
And most of the state at the moment, 254 counties in the state of Texas, most of them filling in for Paxton right now. I am going to tap at Cornyn first, because I made this point at the top of the show. For Cornyn to have any prayer here, to overcome the power of a Trump endorsement in a state where Trump is very popular, like Texas, Cornyn would have to win and win big in the big urban areas and the suburbs around them. They might be blue in November, but there are a lot of Republicans in Dallas and the suburbs around Dallas.
John Cornyn is winning Dallas County, but 51 percent to 49 percent, nowhere near big enough if he is going to pull off this upset and defeat the President, then you move just west of Dallas County. That's Tarrant County, that's Fort Worth, Texas. Fort Worth, Harris, where Houston is, is the most populous county and then it is Dallas and Tarrant, number two and number three. And in Tarrant County, Fort Worth and the suburbs, then you start to get a little more rural as you move west, 59 percent to 40 percent, only 57 percent of the vote in, so we have more votes to count. But again, the math doesn't lie there, Anderson as you come through it.
And I just want to show you something else, we talked a little bit about earlier, just going to draw a line around here, the northern part of Texas, northwest part of Texas here, you see all of these counties that have votes. Gray means we have no votes yet for those of you at home, but all of these counties where we do have votes are Paxton red tonight in the runoff post-Trump endorsement. Now, let's take a quick glimpse of where they were just a couple weeks ago in the primary pre-Trump endorsement.
COOPER: Wow!
KING: Right. And you see the lighter red, that's John Cornyn. Again, they are not all filled in yet, but that was then, this is now. And so we have to get to the finish line. We have to count more votes. But your eyes tell you something when you look at those counties and that is that a lot of Republicans in places where Trump routinely gets 75, 82, 85 sometimes 92 percent in November, where Trump is strongest out here in rural America, it appears, at least to my eyes, looking at this, that the Trump endorsement has flipped some votes or maybe some Cornyn people just stayed home.
And so then, I just want to come back out and look again, up to 41 percent now, Anderson, 63 to 38, if you round up those numbers and you're starting to see more of the smaller counties fill in, and you keep looking on the map, you're like, okay, where is that place? You know how cautious I am? Where is that place? Where can I show you somewhere where I can say, aha, look, Cornyn has a path here. It is hard to find.
I told you Harris County is the most populous by far in the state of Texas, right here of the 254 counties, 57 percent of the vote in, estimated, 65 percent for Ken Paxton.
If Ken Paxton is winning Harris County by even a decent number, never mind almost 30 points, if he is winning Harris County by a decent number, that would be game over.
COOPER: John, thanks. We will check in with you a little bit later on. We are going to continue to follow election results.
We also have the latest on the Iran War, with Tehran now threatening retaliation for American strikes overnight and Israel deepening its strikes into Lebanon.
We will be right back.
[20:30:20]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:35:01]
COOPER: Starting at 552 this morning, the President went on a social media posting spree on Iran. "Trust Trump," one post reads. "Dealmaker-in-chief" reads another. Yet another accuses former President Obama of treason for the deal he helped broker with Iran in 2015, a deal which may end up being better than the one President Trump will end up making with Iran, which we shall see.
This followed U.S. strikes yesterday near the Strait of Hormuz on missile sites and boats attempting to lay mines. That's according to Central Command. In a statement late today, Iran's foreign minister -- ministry accused the U.S. of repeatedly violating the ceasefire, saying, quote, "Iran will not leave any act of aggression unanswered."
Talks between the two sides appear stalled. A White House official tells CNN the President is expected to convene a Cabinet meeting tomorrow. Unclear if Iran will be discussed. As for the Strait, Tehran claims that 25 vessels went through today and last night, including oil tankers, after receiving permission and security coordination from the Iranian Navy.
In the war's other theater, Israel is ramping up its air campaign against targets in Lebanon, and the President is reportedly now calling on more countries in the region to join the Abraham Accords and normalize relations with Israel.
Joining us, two veteran diplomats, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman. She led the team that negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Also, Ryan Crocker, former ambassador to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, and Lebanon.
Ambassador Sherman, if the war ends with a gradual reopening of the Strait, potential sanctions relief in return for Iran removing or degrading its highly enriched uranium, what kind of position will the regime be in?
WENDY SHERMAN, FORMER DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, Anderson, the President clearly decided on a war of choice. I would say ill choice, because as you know, the Strait of Hormuz was open before this war began. It is now a key leverage point for Iran, as is -- and Ambassador Crocker knows this so much better than I do -- we now have Gulf partners and allies wondering if they're going to be the targets.
And even though they wanted to see Iran gone, they now realize they are drawn into this war, and they'd like it to be over. The President has used a time-honored way to deal with domestic critics as well as try to get somewhere here by speaking about others joining the Abraham Accords when you can't find your way through a difficult situation, and this is a really bad one.
You try to open up the aperture to try to change the dynamics. All of that said, I think what we're seeing now is all of the parties -- the United States, Iran, Israel -- taking their last, best shots, and none of us really know what's going on behind the scenes, whether the Qataris were actually able to try to move this forward.
But the final point I want to make, Anderson, is that if the President can get the Strait of Hormuz opened and the blockade over, there is a long way to go to take care of the highly enriched uranium and the lower enriched uranium and to ensure that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, let alone their missiles, their terror, their support of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis. So the President has a lot of work to do, and as my book is titled, this is not for the faint of heart.
COOPER: Ambassador Crocker, I mean, when you read the list of countries you have been ambassador to, the list of just mishigas and just insane situations that you had to deal with and face in terms of U.S. foreign policy and relations with other countries, where does this compare, and what -- how do you see the current situation the U.S. is in?
RYAN CROCKER, FMR. U.S. AMBASSADOR TO AFGHANISTAN, IRAQ, PAKISTAN, SYRIA, KUWAIT & LEBANON: Well, Ambassador Sherman, I think, framed it pretty well. This is a hugely complicated mess to use a technical diplomatic term. We've got the ceasefire shaky, but I don't think it's broken down completely. The fact that Central Command announced the actions against Iranian targets, not the White House, suggested it was tactical in nature, and I'm sure the Iranians perceive it in the same way.
But if we do get the tradeoff of free transit through the Strait of Hormuz against the lifting of the blockade, that takes us back to the status quo and to February 28th. That's all it does. And that is, frankly, the most we can hope to get right now. Everything else, as Ambassador Sherman has laid out, is incredibly complex.
The two sides are very, very far apart. And again, Ambassador Sherman sat through this, I think, what was it, Wendy, two years of face-to- face negotiations to get the JCPOA. So if we do get the tradeoff of the opening of the Strait against the end of the blockade, that would be a tactical success.
[20:40:04]
The Gulf would be -- would breathe a sigh of relief. I think the rest of the international community would, but it would settle nothing.
COOPER: But also --
CROCKER: And Anderson, you got to remember --
COOPER: -- you said it's status quo, that would be status quo but -- or the position we were in before. But the one thing that's different then is Iran has shown that they can just close down the Strait, that they have a level of control over the Strait that hadn't been exercised before, right?
CROCKER: That's right. And that is, in a perverse sort of way, what makes this partial deal a possibility. They know they can close it down again if they want, which means they can open it up when they want. So, again, it is not a good situation to be in diplomatically for the United States, not good at all. But you've got to be realistic. That's the most we can hope for in the short term.
COOPER: Ambassador Sherman, I mean, the President has touted, you know, this is being done telephonically. You know, there's not these lengthy, you know, two years of face-to-face negotiations. Can a comprehensive deal on nuclear issues be done that way?
SHERMAN: I think it's pretty impossible. It's hard enough to do it face-to-face. And as you know, all of this has been done by a very small group of people. And from the United States, it's been Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who may be great business dealmakers, but doing this is quite a different undertaking.
The Iranians and Abbas Saracchi, who was my counterpart when we were doing these negotiations, is very tough, knows every part of this deal. No one's even begun to talk about the verification and monitoring that would be needed for anything that's decided here.
Even this first step to open up the Strait and to remove the blockade is going to take getting rid of those mines, verifying that it's happening, monitoring the situation, because as Ryan, as Ambassador Crocker pointed out, Iran now knows it has this leverage point that it can play at any point that it wishes. So this is tough going.
And what the administration needs to do, if they can get the strait opened, and then it'll take at least two or three months to get the gas and oil supply and the helium and the fertilizer and everything else moving again and insurers feeling like there's enough security for those ships to move, that's why the verification and monitoring --
COOPER: Yes.
SHERMAN: -- matters so much. But what we have to do here is then the President has to go to work with experts. I'm not a nuclear physicist. This could not have been done not only without President Obama and Secretary Clinton and then Secretary Kerry, but Secretary Moniz of our Energy Department, who was a nuclear physicist and could deal in the exquisite detail that is necessary here.
COOPER: Yes. Wendy Sherman, Ambassador Ryan Crocker, thank you so much. I appreciate it.
For more, I spoke earlier with Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut. He serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. He's the author of a new book, "Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Senator, I want to get to the book in a moment. I do just want to start with Iran. Do you see anything in where we are now that gives you any hope?
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Well, I'm hopeful that this war is going to end as soon as possible. It's just been a disaster for our economy. Every day the war continues. We're getting weaker. Iran is getting stronger.
The deal looks like a bad deal, but it's the best we're going to get. Essentially what they seem to be talking about is that we're going to pay Iran money through sanctions relief in order --
COOPER: Which is something the old Trump administration attacked the Obama administration for.
MURPHY: Yes, correct. And in that case, Obama was getting something new, which was new nuclear commitments from Iran. In this case, we're going to pay them money to just go backwards to get the strait reopened, which it was before the war began. But at this point, I'm just supportive of anything that ends this war because every day the war continues, it's more humiliation for the United States. COOPER: The idea that this is a better regime that we now face, do you put any credence in that?
MURPHY: Well, it just isn't. I mean, the fact is that we killed an Ayatollah who was 70, 80 years old, doddering, barely in charge. And we now have a more radical regime that, frankly, feels empowered now. They have taken America's best shot.
They have survived. Their nuclear program is intact. Their drone program is intact. They still have 70 percent of their missiles. So, again, Iran feels stronger today than they were before the war, which is why we have to end it right now, frankly, at any cost.
COOPER: You've written this book, "Crisis of the Common Good." And you're writing about a lot of, I mean, big picture things that I think a lot of people haven't kind of put pieces together on. You write about six cults, as you term them. The cult of profit, cult of everywhere, cult of technology, cult of consumption, cult of credentialism and cult of corruption.
The cult of profit really interests me. You talk about youth sports and how everything is all about profit now, things that used to kind of be part of the social contract and how everything is all about profit now, things that used to kind of be part of the social contract or a public good, it's now all for profit.
[20:45:11]
MURPHY: Yes, for as much focus as we have on Trump, appropriately, I think most Americans know that there's something really rotten at the core of our economy and our culture, in which we care less about our neighbors, in which everything has been turned into a commodity.
And the book does open with my experience with youth sports. My son is a hockey player. The first line of the book is that he's not going to the NHL. But he plays a 60-game season because his hockey league is owned by a for-profit, private equity-backed company.
And what is happening today is that everything that's good about our lives, that used to be just good, is now being bought up and sold back to us. So, for instance, it's illegal in my son's hockey league for the parents to livestream the game so that your grandparents can watch.
COOPER: It's illegal.
MURPHY: It's illegal. You'll be docked points in the standings because this for-profit company has installed its own streaming service that they will charge you $25 to $50 for if you want to watch your kids' games. That just feels fundamentally wrong to people that our kids' sports have become just a font of profit for very, very rich guys. And this book says, listen, there should be some things like education and youth sports and maybe even some aspects of medicine that should just be run for the common good, not for profit.
COOPER: We're obviously looking at the race in Texas tonight. Do you think Democrats have a chance to change their messaging?
MURPHY: Well, I mean, listen to how James Talarico, who's not a radical, talks about our economy. He says the greatest threat to America today is the billionaire class that is literally corrupting our economy. I argue in this book that, you know, you do need to tell a story about who's getting screwed in America, regular working-class folks, and who's doing the screwing, which is the billionaires and the big, powerful corporations.
Trump tells a different story that you're being screwed by, you know, immigrants and Muslims and gay kids. That's a fake story. But we do have to explain who has too much power and who has too little. I think in Texas, Talarico's doing a pretty good job of that.
COOPER: Senator Murphy, the book is "Crisis of the Common Good." Congratulations. Thank you.
MURPHY: Thanks, man. Appreciate it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: New results to bring you from Texas, including a CNN projection in one key state. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:51:43]
COOPER: Primary runoff night in America in a race to call on the Democratic side. CNN can now project that Texas Congressman Christian Menefee will defeat another sitting congressman, Al Green. The redistricting had forced the two lawmakers to contend for a single seat covering the Houston area, the new 18th congressional district.
I want to get latest results from John King at the Magic Wall. John?
KING: And, Anderson, as you note, incumbent against incumbent down here in the Houston area. Mr. Menefee just came to Congress. He won a special election as a Democrat, but he's a Democratic incumbent.
Al Green has been in Congress for quite some time. For people who aren't from Texas, they might remember every now and then during President Trump's State of the Union address, there's a tall Democratic congressman who gets up and sometimes voices his displeasure at the President. I'll leave it that way. That would often be Al Green.
Some of his colleagues love that. Some Democrats around the country love that. Some think it violates the decorum of the event, but that's how his name has become known to a lot of people nationally. And it will be former Congressman Al Green after this.
This is a pretty whopping race here, 69 if you round that up to 31. Again, incumbent on incumbent because of the point you made. Remember, Texas Republicans redrew the House district in the state trying to pick up as many as five Republican seats in November. Unclear they will get those five. I could give you two of those races. This is not one of them, but I could give you two of those districts that I think, at least at this moment, look pretty competitive. But because of the redrawn lines, you have dynamics here.
There's another one in Dallas where you have a former congressman running for his old seat against the incumbent congressman here. But here, the veteran Al Green losing to the newcomer Christian Menefee. Some will say, Anderson, that's -- there's a lot of energy for new blood, new faces, younger faces in the Democratic Party.
There are other factors here as well. A lot of crypto money went into this race. But we're talking about the Senate race, Republican on Republican. There are some Democrat on Democrat races in Texas tonight as well.
COOPER: And what about the Paxton race?
KING: So let's go back to that, pull out to the map here, and come back to the runoff here. This one has been pretty consistent, Anderson.
We're only at 45 percent of the vote, but that's close to half, 63 to 37. That margin has been consistent throughout the night. And again, 254 counties in the state. You see that deeper red, that is Ken Paxton, the attorney general, the MAGA candidate, the Trump-endorsed candidate.
Only one, two, three, four, five now, right? Maybe there were 6 earlier. One, two, three, four, five counties that are being led by the incumbent Republican senator of more than 20 years, John Cornyn. That tells you just about all you need to know as we continue to count votes.
Again, I said this at the top, so just always keep checking on population centers. Can I show you anything that says, aha, look, John Cornyn, you know, Dallas has been stuck at 50 percent reporting for quite some time, and it's way too close. He's leading there, but way too close to do anything.
Houston, the most populous county. Harris County, where Houston is, the most populous county in the state by far. And Paxton, a runaway win there.
In Tarrant County, just west of Dallas, a runaway there. Bexar County, Spurs country, as we will say on this night. Bexar County and San Antonio down there. Paxton running away with it there. So, Anderson, we haven't projected this race yet.
We want more votes trying to get up to 50 percent. You want some of these gray areas. We have nothing to fill in, but just look at all that Paxton red. Understand, again, this is where Trump runs strongest in the state, in these small rural counties. This is where Cornyn did quite well in the primary.
You see all that Cornyn red in the primary just a couple weeks ago? And now what do you got? A lot of Paxton red. A little proof right there when Trump says he's my guy. You see all that Cornyn red in the primary just a couple weeks ago? And now what do you got? A lot of Paxton red.
[20:55:06]
A little proof right there when Trump says he's my guy. A lot of Republican voters listen.
COOPER: Yes. John King, thanks very much.
Back now with our panel. Alyssa, how do you think Republican senators are watching this?
GRIFFIN: I think incredibly disappointed. Like I've said, John Cornyn is beloved by the Senate Republican Caucus. This is somebody who's had a career of over 20 years. He's somebody who's a reliable vote with leadership. He's within Senate leadership.
But I think Donald Trump may very well get his way. I'm still -- I'm with you that it's hard to flip Texas blue. So he may get an ultra- loyalist in Ken Paxton. Before the next five months until the midterms, this is one more voice that is going to be willing to break with him.
John Cornyn is not going to become a flamethrower, but like a Bill Cassidy, like a Thom Tillis, he is going to be much more likely to criticize things the President is doing and make his life more difficult. And there's still a legislative agenda that Republicans want to get through. And this is a vote that probably was a yes that very likely could now be a no on many policies.
CARLSON: That is so important because you have Thom Tillis who's retiring as well, another Republican who's been very vocal against the President. Cassidy, now you have Cornyn. I mean, you could argue that last week the Senate shut down because Cornyn and Cassidy stood up and said, we're not going to just be with Trump 100 percent.
The whole slush fund issue, the ballroom, I mean, instead of taking a vote last week, they just said bye bye for the holiday weekend. So you've got all these months now where you're actually going to be talking about agenda. Trump can talk about a huge win tonight, but this is one night. You still have to govern before you even get to the midterms. And then what happens then?
COOPER: Brad, for all the talk, you know, among Democrats and maybe some Republicans about the President's weakening support among, you know, his base, among Republicans, you look at the numbers tonight versus what they were in the primary. I mean, he certainly in Texas has --
TODD: The President retains a huge base of support, and it's really very solid. And the reason is because Democrats are focused only on undermining the President. If Democrats offered a centrist vision that some Republicans could get behind, things might be different. One thing I'm noting tonight, though, is turnout. Right now there's 750,000 votes cast. It's about half in according to the Associated Press. That would put us on pace to be at about 1.5 million. The primary in March was 2.3 million.
Now, Texas primaries always fall off to the runoff. But, you know, I would rather go into a midterm with a much higher enthusiasm level and a higher primary turnout level.
COOPER: Do you think there is an enthusiasm drop that's unusual?
TODD: I think there's an enthusiasm gap right now. Now, a nonenthusiastic vote and an enthusiastic vote count the same, right? So you just have to mechanically get them out to the polls and give them something to look forward to. And Democrats, I suspect, are going to provide that for a lot of Republicans.
Right now, the coverage and news is all on the Republicans fighting with Republicans. By the fall, I think, that will change and we'll be fighting with Democrats again. But it is something we have to be mindful of as Republican strategists.
JONES: This is a --
COOPER: Yes, go ahead.
JONES: I mean, I -- this is a bad night for America. You have a good man running against a bad man, and the bad man won. And just as a parent, that's tough. I mean, how do you have the kind of record that Paxton has, the things that he's done, the things he's done to his family.
And then not apologize, not taking accountability, not showing any kind of growth? I don't think I want to hear a lot of lecturing from Republicans about family values and all these different things and wagging their fingers in the face of people. You cannot --
COOPER: Do they do that anymore?
JONES: Listen, they do. They -- I watched the -- there's a furry predator that has a channel, a station, Fox something. And you may have heard of it.
CARLSON: Maybe.
JONES: And they are constantly wagging their finger in the face of different groups and telling people that they need to pull their pants up and act right. And they --
COOPER: It was like Hannity used to talk about the dignity of the office all the time under Obama.
JONES: Yes.
COOPER: Like, you don't hear that phrase being thrown around. JONES: So I just think this is a bad night for the country. It's a bad night for the Republican Party. It's a bad night for parents everywhere. Listen, at some point character shouldn't matter.
Nobody's perfect, but you do want to show some kind of growth. And there's zero growth. In fact, there's negative growth with this candidate, and he has the backing of the President of the United States and a bunch of voters, and it's terrible.
TODD: It's very hard for a Republican to lose Texas. Ken Paxton is going to show us exactly how hard it is. --
JONES: No, he's going to test your thesis. He's going to test your theory, so.
TODD: He doesn't have to be perfect, and he doesn't even have to be good. He just has to be better than James Talarico.
JONES: No, he ain't that.
TODD: James Talarico is an extremist who is way left of Texas and way left of America, for that matter. And I think that's going to be the discussion. Now, Paxton's got to be a better candidate. He has to be a better candidate.
COOPER: Do you think Talarico strikes fear in the hearts of Americans when they see him?
CARLSON: He just has to eat a few bites of barbecue.
JONES: Hey, listen, would you rather your son turn out like Talarico or Paxton? That's the question.
GRIFFIN: Well, that's that ad right there, by the way.
CARLSON: And we need four more hours to be discussing that because everything changed when Trump was elected twice with regard to Republicans voting on character. They vote because they like his policies. Somehow a character's gone out the window.
JONES: Well, Well, and I'm not quite sure the policies are working out too well for him either. It looks like this situation in Iran's not going very well.
I just -- I am looking forward to spending a lot more time in Texas, and you guys spending a lot of money down there because you can keep waving off Talarico, but he's coming for you.
TODD: There's way too much money going to be spent there, for sure.
COOPER: Well, thanks, everybody.
Our coverage continues. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now. See you tomorrow.
