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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Trump Cancels Strikes, Claiming for 39th Time That a Deal is Near; Trump: "We Ended the War with Iran Today"; Trump Nominates U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for Director of National Intel. White House Previews "Octagon" Stage For Sunday's UFC Fight; Model Scout Defends Sending Women To Jeffrey Epstein; Knicks Fans Celebrate Largest Comeback In NBA Finals History. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired June 11, 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: ... any ongoing criminal conduct on his part. Goldman Sachs has maintained that her relationship with Epstein was professional in nature.
Goldman and Rumler did not respond to CNN for comment tonight.
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Thanks for watching. AC360 starts now.
[20:00:37]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": And good evening from the Newsroom.
Topping our CNN Global War coverage tonight. Is it for real this time? Late today, just hours after promising new airstrikes and threatening to take a piece of Iranian territory, the President said a deal to end the conflict was at hand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran, and we're going to be subject to finalization of documents, which should get done over the next few days. We probably have a signing, maybe in Europe. And, it's a great thing. Stock markets up 1000 points. That means they like the deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: The President from the Oval Office late this afternoon. And if that sounds familiar, here's just a sampling of the 38 times he has also said words to that effect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: We have major points of agreement. They want to make a deal, and we are very willing to make a deal.
Well, I think we're going to end it. I can't tell you for sure.
But they want to make a deal so badly. You have no idea how badly they want to make a deal.
They want to make a deal so badly.
I can see a deal in Iran.
We were very close to a deal.
I think it's close to over. I mean, I view it as very close to over.
It's looking very good that we are going to make a deal with Iran, and it's going to be a good deal.
This process should go very quickly.
We're going to end that war very quickly. They want to make a deal so badly.
We think were close to a deal and that's okay.
We're in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Today makes 39 times that he has said something like that. The President also said that this, "great settlement," as he called it, could be signed in a matter of days as he noted in Europe.
He did not, however, say just what the two sides would actually be signing on to.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's a very strong Memorandum of Understanding that is a little conceptual, but it's something that's going to get done. And if it doesn't get done for any reason, which I can't imagine that not happening, they want to sign it as much as I do, or more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So, whatever, actually, the Memorandum of Understanding is or says, the President was asked whether Iran's Supreme Leader has approved of it. The President said yes, Iran's Foreign Ministry says nothing has been finalized.
A spokesman telling state run media that Tehran, "... has not reached a final decision regarding any agreement." In any case, whatever has or hasn't been agreed to, the President's announcement was a complete 180 from how he started the day. At 8:22 this morning, he posted a warning that the U.S. would be hitting Iran, in his words, very hard tonight. Also, that he planned to take Iran's main oil terminal on Kharg Island and, "... assume total control of their oil and gas markets."
Twenty minutes later, he went on Fox.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: So, you say, you're announcing you're going to hit them very hard tonight. What went into posting that?
TRUMP: Well, it's just one of those things, they have no defense. They can't do anything about it. If we dropped $250 million worth of bombs on them last night. You know, the whole thing is crazy. But -- and they're really in submission. They just don't know it yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That was just about a 8:45 this morning. By 1:28 this afternoon, he was posting that he was calling off the strikes because quoting now, "... discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest levels of Iranian leadership and approved."
Approved, he added, "... in both concept and great detail."
And just moments ago, phoning into a political event for Georgia voters, the President for what is now the 40th time, said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Our country is doing really well. I don't know if you heard, but we ended the war with Iran today, and they have agreed never to have nuclear weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So, he's saying the war has ended and they've agreed never to have a nuclear weapon, which may even be true, but for now remains to be seen
Starting off tonight with CNN chief White House correspondent and anchor of "The Source", Kaitlan Collins. How much does the President's optimism about a deal align with what you're hearing behind the scenes at The White House?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN'S CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT AND THE ANCHOR OF "THE SOURCE": It's hard to say, Anderson, because we have seen this show before many times over the last two months, since this ceasefire was first brokered and announced by the President over two months ago, where he's gone back and forth, said that a deal was incredibly close, that they had agreed to all the main points.
I mean, I remember flying back with him when he went to Graceland several weeks ago. We were on Air Force One and he was telling us on the tarmac of the airport that they had agreed to basically everything, the major points here, and that they were on the verge of getting an agreement.
And of course, here we are in June, still, no deal has been signed as of this moment. So, obviously, the skepticism is warranted, is understandable given how many times the President has said a deal is close when no deal has materialized. I will say I've talked to people inside the administration and other foreign officials who have said that they are optimistic that this, at least Memorandum of Understanding could be signed this weekend.
You heard the President saying there that it could involve the Vice- President going to Europe as soon as this weekend to potentially sign that. And obviously, that is not the end of this. That is just getting to at least that starting point here of moving forward. But obviously the background here does complicate it a lot.
[20:05:44]
I mean, there were strikes back and forth last night, strikes back and forth the night before. The President had teased those strikes today before calling them off just five hours later. And we've seen how he can veer from one position to the other within minutes. I mean, going from saying that they were going to seize Kharg Island soon, as he said this morning, something that would involve U.S. troops on the ground, based on what our experts have told us, and then to then saying, you know, Americans or that they don't really have, the Iranians don't have the stomach for it and then getting to this point.
And so, it all just remains to be seen in terms of where this actually goes from here. But at least right now, there is some optimism that they could at least be close to that MOU as of this weekend. Obviously, it's Thursday. We'll have to wait to see if it actually does materialize.
COOPER: All right, Kaitlan, thanks very much. We'll see you at the top of the hour on "The Source".
Joining me now is Brett McGurk, who served in senior National Security positions under the last four Presidents, including President Trump's first term, also former Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who led the team that negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.
Brett, you've been skeptical of the potential for a deal in the past. Do todays statements the 40th now by the President make you more optimistic? Do you do you believe this memorandum of understanding -- do you believe the war is over, as the President just said tonight?
BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: No, Anderson, it's great to be back. And I wish I could say I think things have fundamentally changed. I still -- look, when it comes to international affairs on an agreement between two countries, there's really two categories, it's binary. Theres a deal or there's not. And in the category of not is everything from we are miles apart or we are close or there are gaps or days away, and we're still in the category of not. And look, I have great respect for everybody doing this work, including the Qatari mediators who are in Tehran the past couple of days, including as bombs are falling. And there's a lot of hope that were about there. But I don't think this has been approved yet by the most senior leaders in Iran. And even if we do have an agreement, Anderson, there's another saying among diplomats, which Wendy knows that if you agree in principle, sometimes you say you agree in principle because you actually don't agree on anything in practice.
And even this MOU, it's basically a gateway to begin talks in the hard issues. It would maybe open the Strait of Hormuz. We've got to see the details. So, look, I think there's a lot of open questions here, Anderson. I remain pretty cautious before declaring the end of this.
COOPER: Ambassador Sherman, you know, it's interesting the President, in talking about this in the Oval Office today. You know, he certainly showed his cards when the first things he said is the stock market is up a thousand points.
If you are in the Iranian leadership, I mean, you don't need any more proof of this, but it's certainly proof that this is the biggest priority for the President. I mean, that, you know, this is one of the metrics that he is judging and deciding how to move forward based on.
WENDY SHERMAN, FORMER DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, because you're Anderson Cooper, it's okay if you stole my talking point, I absolutely believe that this is partly because it's Thursday evening. And as you said, he said the stock markets up a thousand points.
And let's be honest, the SpaceX IPO is tomorrow. The President's birthday, the UFC fight is on Sunday. The World Cup starts in the United States tomorrow.
And so, I don't think he wanted to be bombing Kharg Island as all of these things took place. When Americans are seeing inflation go way up, or seeing all of their prices going up and don't feel as they come into summer that they can take that family vacation that they had planned.
In addition, you know, we were starting to do things or someone was that attacked and bombed a place where Iranians get their water. That really can be a war crime because it is taking away something civilians need. So, much as I want this war to be over and as Brett absolutely rightly said, this is not an agreement. This is a Memorandum to say, let's begin to do the hard work.
And when you're doing the hard work, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. And it takes time, patience and a lot of expertise and the administration has not shown any of that so far.
COOPER: Yes, I mean, Brett, the President's statement, we ended the war today. We ended the war with Iran today. I don't know if Iran has ended the war, but he's saying the U.S., as far as he's concerned, the U.S. has ended the war. Is that the statement the President should be making in this moment?
[20:10:20]
MCGURK: No, Anderson, we have a -- it's called a credibility gap -- and it's one of the most dangerous territory the President can get in not, only with the American people, but when you're talking to partners, allies, and adversaries, you have a credibility gap. If you keep saying something that then turns out to be wrong.
And so, the 38th and 39th times a deal is around the corner and it's not, or saying the war is over, nobody in the Middle East believes this is over. Even if there is an MOU. This is just kind of shifting advantage one way or the other, and the kind of the overall contest is going to go on, particularly in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz and what's going to happen there now that Iran has demonstrated it has the capacity, the ability, and the readiness and willingness to actually use its force to basically close it.
We're in a new era here. And so, no, it's not over. I do not think you should make declarative statements like that. And I just -- you should not announce a deal until there's a deal. And until we hear, it's just ironic. We've heard from the President of the United States, there's a deal, and we're actually waiting to hear whether that's true, because we have to have that confirmed by the most senior leadership in Iran, and so far, there's not a deal.
COOPER: Yes. I mean, the idea that were waiting for the credibility of like, you know, let's get, let's hear this from the Iranians is kind of an extraordinary circumstance to be in.
Ambassador, I mean, can you just explain what, I mean, you sort of explained this a little bit, but what is a Memorandum of Understanding? I mean, it's how big is a Memorandum of Understanding? How many points usually are there on it? And is it a deal? I mean, that's -- it seems like a deal is what you negotiated, what was done after years and a lot of hard work.
SHERMAN: So, I think a memorandum of understanding, as the President said, is conceptual. it's usually a set of principles. And it's not much more, it's really an opening to the serious talks that need to take place. I'm hoping that if there is a Memorandum of Understanding and interestingly Senator Kennedy, who was on CNN earlier today, said he doesn't know what he thinks, because he hasn't seen it, he hasn't read it. None of us have.
So, it could just say, we will begin to have traffic coming through the Strait of Hormuz for the 60 days that we continue to have discussions and the U.S. will suspend its blockade during that time. Iran agrees that it does not expect to have purchase or develop a nuclear weapon, which it has said many, many, many times. It was the preamble to the 2015 agreement, but it's also a commitment Iran made when they signed up to the NPT, the Nonproliferation Treaty.
So, this could be very broad terms to create a 60-day window, which will not be nearly enough to negotiate the terms.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Netanyahu said he got a call from the President, and the President affirmed that he would make sure that Iran got rid of its stockpile, moved it out of the country, dealt with their missiles, dealt with their proxies. These are all really difficult things. There is no way the President can commit to all of that without getting into very detailed negotiations with the Iranians. Abbas Araghchi the Foreign Minister was my counterpart during the 2015 deal, and he's a tough guy, and there's a hell of a lot of work ahead.
COOPER: Wendy Sherman, Brett McGurk, thank you.
Coming up next, the President nominates a new permanent Director of National Intelligence after his choice for acting director drew bipartisan fire for his complete lack of experience in intelligence and military matters, except, critic says he did have experience as the President's political hatchet man.
With a new pick, New York U.S. attorney Jay Clayton brings to the job what he's been saying lately about election fraud that might have gotten the President's attention.
Later, a different attention getting getter. The numbers 86 47 etched into the grass on the National Mall. Details on that and this weekend's cage match just steps away on The White House South Lawn.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:18:52]
COOPER: A little more than a week after triggering a bipartisan uproar by choosing an acting Director of National Intelligence with no Intelligence qualifications for the job, the President today nominated a permanent successor to DNI Tulsi Gabbard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Jay Clayton is an incredible talent. The head of Sullivan & Cromwell, he was head of the SEC. He was now Southern District, I mean, nobody has better credentials.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: As the President said. Jay Clayton is currently the U.S. attorney for New York Southern District. He's a former corporate lawyer, financial regulator and though like acting DNI, Bill Pulte, he also has no formal intelligence or national security experience, Democrats and Republicans alike have been much warmer toward his nomination than they were toward Pulte, whose main distinction was for using his position as housing regulator to make mortgage fraud allegations against the President's perceived enemies.
Congressman Jim Himes, a ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said that Jay Clayton would make a, "terrific DNI." Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer signaled his support for speedy confirmation, if only to keep Pulte away from the job. "He cannot be in the DNI role," was what Schumer said about Pulte, " Our national security is too important," he said.
That sentiment, you'll recall, was shared by lawmakers across the political spectrum when Pulte was picked for the acting position.
[20:20:10]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Pulte's experience in the housing agencies was only to weaponize them and politicize them.
SEN. PETER WELCH (D-VT): You're putting in a person whose qualification is that he's blindly loyal to Trump.
SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): I don't know of any national security experience he has.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): I see no, no evidence of any qualifications for that job.
SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): Mr. Pulte has absolutely no Intelligence background. He has no National Security background. The law was written to prevent this kind of appointment. Our Intelligence work has always, always been bipartisan. Are we going to finally hit the gag reflex, I hope --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Anger over Pulte derailed house action on legislation to extend important National Security law, which expires tomorrow night. Nineteen Republicans voted against it. That revolt seems to have expedited the President's naming of Clayton, but it came too late to help the bill's passage. Members had already left for the weekend, though Clayton doesn't seem to be raising the same concerns as Bill Pulte did about the office of DNI being used to target the President's enemies or further his focus on election fraud.
It's worth noting that he has appeared on camera recently, sowing doubts about the California primaries.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN, HOST CNBC: Do you think that it helps, given where you sit in the world, to speculate about a fraud or potential fraud without any direct evidence of said fraud? Because typically, if you were to bring a case, you historically wouldn't want to speculate about the case.
JAY CLAYTON, NOMINEE, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: I am not speculating about fraud. I'm not saying there is fraud, okay. I am saying that the opportunity for fraud makes no sense to me. When we can run a much better system.
Let me also say this, Andrew, there are a lot of people who look at this and say there is no fraud, okay. I don't think that they're right either.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: Joining us now is former Biden Communications Director Kate Bedingfield, former George W. Bush Press Secretary Pete Seat and CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. Elie, how do you think Clayton's level of experience compares to Pulte's?
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the good news is Jay Clayton certainly has more national security experience than Bill Pulte. The bad news is Jay Clayton has almost no National Security experience. The entirety of Jay Clayton's experience is he spent a year and two months as the U.S. attorney for the SDNY, Southern District of New York, where I worked. I don't know him, but I worked years before this.
When you're the U.S. attorney for the SDNY, you will be overseeing terrorism cases, international narcotics trafficking cases. It would be generously 50 percent of your attention span. So, if you take a person who's spent about half their time, let's say for one year, that's a little bit, that's some credentials, but it's nowhere near.
By the way, the law specifically requires that the DNI have, "Extensive National Security expertise," I think it's a stretch to say he has that much, but he's got some background.
COOPER: Pete, what do you make of naming him? And also, is this a just, I mean, it's a nod to the critics of the President who said that Pulte was unacceptable.
PETE SEAT, FORMER GEORGE W. BUSH PRESS SECRETARY: Yes, the three most important things here are one, he's not Bill Pulte. Two, Mark Warner, has already come out with supportive comments. He's the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. And as you mentioned, Jim Himes, Democrat from Connecticut, the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, has already made supportive comments. That is night and day from Bill Pulte.
And just keep in mind, Bill Pulte was just a temporary appointment. And Democrats vilified him swiftly and quickly, some Republicans did as well.
COOPER: Although temporary, that acting, I mean it's like it's more than 100 days. I mean it's not 200 days.
SEAT: And it could be it could be a lengthy process. But what Democrats did through that, and some of these Republicans is they boxed themselves in by essentially saying, anybody but Bill Pulte. Well, now you have anybody but Bill Pulte and it's someone who so far has received bipartisan support.
He was confirmed as SEC Chairman back in 2017. But I would put one caveat on that, it was a 61 to 37 vote, which is about as close to unanimity as we get these days.
But most of the Democrats who voted for him are no longer in the United States Senate. The only ones that are based on my count are Angus King, who caucuses with the Democrats, an Independent and the aforementioned Mark Warner. So, there are going to still be some challenges on confirmation.
COOPER: Kate, what do you think of Clayton?
KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think it's absolutely true. He benefits from being not Bill Pulte. If you're the guy who follows the probably single most unqualified person to ever be put forward for a job of this significance. You are going to look better by comparison.
I mean, you know, I worry about his lack of National Security experience. I have sat in the situation room with the President and watched how the DNI organizes and presents sensitive intelligence to the President and somebody who has very little background in that is not somebody who is going to be ready on day one, right out of the gate.
And, you know, God forbid, there's a National Security issue right out of the gate for him, that's going to be a learning curve. And you generally don't want the Director of National Intelligence to be somebody who has a steep learning curve in the job.
But the other thing I think is really interesting about this moment is you have seen Congressional Republicans here actually use their leverage to push back on The White House. And, you know, how what how might things be different had they found this spine earlier?
[20:25:50]
It turns out when they find something that Donald Trump is doing unacceptable, they do find ways to use leverage in this case, the FISA extension.
COOPER: Kate, does it seem odd to you that that -- I'm sorry, go ahead, you froze. I think we lost you. What is Clinton's reputation, Elie?
HONIG: You know, I've talked to a lot of people who've worked under him over the last year at SDNY. I've heard more than one person call him a survivor. And I don't think that's exactly a compliment. But it's not the worst put down either.
He's had to walk a fine line. I think the clip you showed earlier where he's talking about, well, I'm not saying there was fraud in California, I'm saying there was an opportunity for fraud. I think that's a good encapsulation of the approach he's taking.
He's trying to at once keep The White House happy, but at the same time, he has not engaged and indulge in The White House's most extreme abuses. He has not allowed his office to go out and politically prosecute people.
So, there's a mixed view on Jay Clayton. I would say, look, not everyone has to be great or horrible. And I would say my impression is he lands somewhere in the middle so far, based on his performance as U.S. attorney.
COOPER: Do you think based on his answer on the elections there to Andrew Ross Sorkin, that Democrats are going to be worried about this?
SEAT: Well, Warner and Himes are going to have egg on their face if they decide to backtrack based on, those comments were already known. Those comments were made on CNBC a couple of days ago, so they were out in the public domain. This is not something that's uncovered after the fact. So, he's going to have to answer. Clayton's going to have to answer to those statements, both in a closed-door hearing, I think, on Wednesday and an open hearing as well.
But the other piece of this is, you know, we think that Congress can't move quickly. And it turns out they can move quickly when they want to stop someone from being the acting DNI. So, I think you're going to see a very swift, just as swift as the condemnation was against Bill Pulte, I think you'll see justice swift of a confirmation for Jay Clayton.
COOPER: Elie, I want to ask you about the Kennedy Center, the President's hand-picked board of trustees reportedly planning to appeal a court ruling which ordered his name to be taken down.
HONIG: They're going to lose. Let me spoil the ending on this one. Look, a lot of these issues we discuss in the law are fuzzy. What does this word mean? What does that word mean? There is a specific law passed by Congress in 1964 that created The Kennedy Center, and that law says this thing will be called The Kennedy Center, and you cannot change it unless Congress says.
So, they lost below, the challengers won below the administration lost below they can appeal. They can go right ahead, and they're going to lose.
COOPER: Elie Honig, thanks very much, Pete Seat, good to have you and Kate Bedingfield as well. We apologize for our technical problems.
Coming up next, what we know about the giant 86 47 on the National Mall and later, how some fashion industry insiders helped Jeffrey Epstein access young models. One did so even after Epstein became a convicted sex offender. CNN went to Paris to investigate. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:32:52]
COOPER: The White House today previewed the UFC's octagon on the South Lawn ahead of this Sunday's cage match. Also today, Secretary of State Marco Rubio compared the UFC to the Apollo program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: When President Kennedy announced that we were going to put a man on the moon and return him safely to the Earth, no one thought that was possible and we did it. We are a nation founded on doing what no one else dared to do and no one else aspired to do. And at some level, that's what this whole company, what UFC has been. We're excited about what this brand means, about America's ability to expand and reach out to different parts of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Earlier today, the numbers 86-47 appeared etched into the grass on the National Mall. You'll recall former FBI Director James Comey posted a photo of seashells writing out 86-47 last year, which led to his indictment in late April, including a charge of threatening the life of President Trump.
Joining us now is CNN Senior Political Commentator Adam Kinzinger and CNN Political Analyst and Historian Leah Wright Rigueur. Congressman, you said before that history will remember this match as an extreme low for America. You hear Rubio comparing it to the Apollo landing. What do you -- where's your head at on this one right now?
ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I mean, look, I'm not losing sleep on it because, I mean, this is the kind of thing the President obsesses about these little shows. He's an entertainer. He took his entertaining into the presidency and has yet to be a real President. He's still entertaining.
And that's what this is. I mean, it reminds me, sadly, of kind of like the end days of the Roman Empire with the Colosseum and the gladiators and everything. You know, he's paved over the Rose Garden. It looks like a TGI Friday's porch now. You have this thing. The East Wing was torn down.
The Oval Office looks like it came right out of Saddam Hussein's place. So I'm not losing sleep on it, but I just think it's a terrible look. It's trashy. And I think the next president is going to come in and basically clean all that up and make it look like the Oval Office in the White House.
COOPER: the -- this is a live picture, by the way, of what the White House looks like right now with, I guess, that's the octagon and the -- yes. Wow. That's something.
KINZINGER: I mean, it looks cool, Anderson. It looks cool. Just doesn't look like something that should be at the White House, in my opinion.
[20:35:07]
COOPER: Leah, what do you make of the -- I mean, is this -- look, presidents have embraced sports. This is not about embrace just somebody embracing sports. Well, this is beyond what, you know, having a team to the White House, linking yourself to a certain sport.
LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST & HISTORIAN: Radically different. And, you know, there has been this really long history where presidents have been attached to sport. In fact, in order to be part of the modern kind of presidency, you have to have some kind of expressed interest in sport. We've got Barack Obama and basketball. We've got the Bushes and baseball. We've got Teddy Roosevelt boxing, having boxing matches in the basement of the White House until he nearly loses his eye. But I think this is different in a lot of different ways, in part because there's always been this unspoken rule about what can happen in the White House, what kinds of things are legitimate, what kinds of things actually honor the sacred space of the people's house, the house of democracy.
And here you have Trump who comes along and says, well, actually, I see violence as intrinsic to strength and intrinsic to democracy. And, in fact, I want to stomp all over those rules and those guidelines and those regulations. And so what am I going to do? I'm going to host a blood sport match on the White House lawn and I'm going to charge for it.
And I'm going to put advertisements up all over the South Lawn and the East Lawn. So the entire world can see it. And so this is very different from what anyone before has, you know, anyone has done before him. But I think that's part of the point with Trump. He just doesn't care.
COOPER: Congressman, did -- were you surprised at all that members of the Trump family are putting out these commemorative coins, gold and silver? I'm not sure what contents of gold and silver actually are in them, but coins, some of them, you know, in the -- I think one, the highest prices, more than $10,000 for one of them, that they're selling these things?
KINZINGER: I am shocked, Anderson. I am so blown away. I mean, the same people that sold $150 four-year-old phone for $500 because it was painted gold. No, I mean, this is -- and this is the other thing that's so egregious here. This is the thing I can lose sleep over is just the stunning self-profiting and corruption.
I mean, you know, we were talking about how, you know, there were unwritten rules in the White House. You always tried to keep politics out of an obviously politics is intrinsic to what a president does, but you would keep explicitly political things out. Certainly, you would keep out of that, you know, self-dealing, self-profiting.
And, I mean, look, the President is three times richer than when he took office. Congratulations to him. It's just a very dangerous place for this country to be. And it may sound like I'm old school with all my proper what the White House should be. But that is the reason that we can celebrate a 250-year anniversary because we've had rules and decency and standards in place that have allowed us to pass each generation a stronger country than we inherited.
And right now we've got a clown show going on on the on the lawn of the White House. And it just -- it makes me sad because I wonder what kind of a country I'm going to leave my kid.
COOPER: It's also, Leah, the -- I mean, the bar is now -- I mean, I don't know where the line is anymore in terms of what is acceptable behavior from a public official in terms of profiting. RIGUEUR: I think it's very clear that the Trump --with the Trump administration, but also the Trump family has completely, you know, blown up that line, that they don't actually see any line between profiteering, between gaining, between perhaps even betting.
You know, one of the advertisers, one of the -- in one of the donors for the event, the Trump sons sit on the board of directors. So there's always kind of this -- kind of intermixing -- intermix of corruption and of profiteering. But part of what I think is different is that in the past, presidents have gone to great lengths, either to hide, right, their willings and dealings, or in the case of somebody like Jimmy Carter to say, you know what? I'm going to step back and I will put this aside because it's not fair and it's not right.
It's not legal or ethical. That's different with the Trumps. The Trumps are very much invested in business. So everything becomes a business. So this isn't just a UFC fight. We also have to remember that Donald Trump was one of the early investors in UFC.
And so there is absolutely a kind of a monetary aspect to the spectacle --
COOPER: Yes, he had UFC fights early on --
RIGUEUR: Right.
COOPER: -- when it was sort of struggling for legitimacy at one of his casinos in (INAUDIBLE).
RIGUEUR: Right. Well, Dana White says that he credits Trump with saving UFC and taking it from a taboo, controversial side sport into the mainstream. And I'm sure that that's part and parcel of what we see happening on the White House lawn in 2026.
[20:40:05]
COOPER: Leah Wright Rigueur, appreciate it. Congressman Kinzinger, thank you as well.
Breaking news in the Jeffrey Epstein saga. Late today, a group of Epstein survivors announced their opposition to Todd Blanche to permanently become the U.S. Attorney General. The 19 women cited Blanche's participation in secret White House meetings on how the -- how to contain the political fallout from the Epstein files that have just been reported by The New York Times earlier this week.
Epstein's enterprise allegedly spanned far beyond the U.S. and his now infamous island, including France. A CNN review of the Epstein file shows how some fashion industry insiders helped Epstein access young models. They deny being aware of his abuse.
Now, a scout in Paris who sent models to Epstein, even after Epstein registered as a sex offender, has agreed to speak. Katie Polglase reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KATIE POLGLASE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Paris. For years, young models were recruited here for Jeffrey Epstein. Digging through the Epstein files, CNN found Epstein received dozens of photos of young models sent by model scouts and agents. We identified at least six individuals not just sending him images of models, but discussing arrangements for him to meet them, even after his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution, including with a minor.
Now, one of these model scouts has agreed to meet with us here in Paris.
POLGLASE: OK, we're here.
POLGLASE (voice-over): Daniel Siad dealt with Epstein for more than a decade, arranging to send him models.
POLGLASE: You didn't think in that time that sending young women, young models to the U.S. to meet Epstein, after he had a conviction for child sex offences, that there may be any risk in that at all?
DANIEL SIAD, MODEL SCOUT: My work with him has been strictly professional. I never doubt that, because I never heard anything from anyone I introduced to him who came back to me that they had a bad situation with him.
POLGLASE (voice-over): The files show Epstein paid tens of thousands of dollars to Siad. In reviewing their correspondence, we found messages like, "Cute French girl in Marrakech." Siad wrote, "She said that she would be happy to meet you."
In another, he says a woman is very polite and has potential as a model or assistant. Siad then sends a photo. "Too old," Epstein replied.
POLGLASE: So Epstein wasn't a model agent. Why was he paying you?
SIAD: No, he was, because they opened an agency, MC Squared
POLGLASE: He was not the model agent leading that model agency.
SIAD: He was a finance C4, but was acting as a casting director for Victoria's Secret.
POLGLASE: You believe Epstein was a casting director?
SIAD: That's how he had been introduced and how he introduced myself also.
POLGLASE (voice-over): In fact, we found no evidence Epstein had an official recruiting role at either company, MC Squared or Victoria's Secret.
POLGLASE: You sent an email in 2018 that said you were looking for a good-looking young assistant. If you're looking for models --
SIAD: Yes.
POLGLASE: -- why are you then looking for an assistant for Jeffrey Epstein?
SIAD: He asked me for an assistant. Maybe it was not on the phone, but when I met him in --
POLGLASE: But was that your job?
SIAD: Sorry? No, but because I trust in him, I believe this guy is a professional person.
POLGLASE (voice-over): Siad himself is also facing accusations of abuse. Ebba Karlsson has accused him of rape when she was a model in France in 1990. Siad denies her allegation.
SIAD: To be honest with you, I don't remember at all this person. And plus, I have never abused any model in my life.
POLGLASE: She remembers you.
SIAD: Listen, I would be very happy to confront her in the court. I don't remember.
POLGLASE: Do you have any regret about meeting Jeffrey Epstein?
SIAD: Yes, yes. It's like a nightmare. I can't believe that this person had another -- I am --
POLGLASE: You keep saying that, but I keep repeating that this other side of him --
SIAD: Yes.
POLGLASE: -- was public knowledge.
SIAD: I am not a person who is like a press, looking the internet, this kind of really --
POLGLASE: But you were aware?
SIAD: Sorry?
POLGLASE: You were aware?
SIAD: Of what
POLGLASE: His conviction for child sex offences.
SIAD: No, you're repeating the same question more than 10 times again.
POLGLASE: You're telling me that you don't read the press, that you --
SIAD: No -- listen, I didn't know a lot about him until when he comes to Paris, and I told you again, he said he passed -- he do, to the government. So, for me, he's free. Man, he's clean. He was such a powerful person, and how can I not trust him?
POLGLASE (voice-over): After Epstein's 2008 conviction, Siad wasn't the only one who continued giving Epstein access to the modelling industry. Faith Kates, the co-founder of model agency Next Management, is another.
In 2010, two years after his conviction, Epstein asked Kates for a great girl to take to an event. Kates replied, "Let me think who is around, Xoxo."
[20:45:07]
Kates reportedly left Next Management last year, and her spokesperson told CNN she was grossly misled by Epstein. Then there is modelling scout Ramsey Elkholy. In 2009, he describes to Epstein a model as "a gift that I had been planning on giving you." And then there is Jean- Luc Brunel, who ran multiple model agencies and was accused in civil court in 2014 of bringing girls to the U.S. to farm them out to his friends, especially Epstein.
Brunel was himself charged in France with underage sex crimes, but died in prison in 2022 while awaiting trial. He denied all charges.
There is now an ongoing investigation in France into Epstein and his connections there. Siad is under investigation, according to the Paris prosecutor's office, but he says police have not spoken to him.
For victims of Epstein around the world, they await justice from the courts.
Katie Polglase, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, MC Squared and Ramsey Elkholy did not respond to CNN's request for comment. Elkholy told the Washington Post, quote, "Of the models that I've introduced to him, they've never come back to me and said they had any problems."
Still to come, how the Knicks won last night and how their fans celebrated their incredible comeback. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:50:39]
COOPER: Well, many New Yorkers today were walking with a lot more spring in their step. Thanks to their mark. Well, come from behind win last night by the New York Knicks against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. It was amazing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right at the top, one on one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brunson gets it. Fires up a three shot. No good. The chip, it's gone. It's gone. It's gone. With 1.2 remaining. Knicks take the lead. OG Anunoby.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Incredible. All over the city and bars and street corners jubilation as tens of thousands of fans were around Madison Squared Garden after the game celebrating. Harry Enten is joining me now to talk about the historic win. Were you there? Were you there in the crowd?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA REPORTER: You know, I have to admit that it was a little late for me, but I was watching in my apartment. By the way, you're looking awfully orange to me today. I don't know.
Yes. Look, I was in my apartment. Oh, gee, putting it back in after Brunson missed the three. I went crazy in the apartment.
COOPER: I got to say, I'm not a huge sports guy. Even I like, it was incredible.
ENTEN: It was incredible. And, you know, New Yorkers have been waiting, you know, so long. You know, when I was a kid back in 1994 --
COOPER: Wow.
ENTEN: -- when the Knicks were in the NBA Finals, my father got me these Charles Oakley autographed sneakers.
COOPER: Wow.
ENTEN: They're a little bit big. You might be able to try them on after the show. But, you know, the bottom line is this. What happened last night was historic. You know, you go back through the stat books, right? And you essentially say, OK, has a comeback coming back from being down at least 29 points ever happened in an NBA Finals?
COOPER: Right.
ENTEN: Zero, zero, zero. It has never happened in an NBA Finals.
COOPER: So that's what we're saying, that this is the greatest comeback --
ENTEN: Mike Breen --
COOPER: -- in the playoff.
ENTEN: What a call by Mike Breen. Absolutely sort of encapsulating the enthusiasm of the moment. I mean, that to me -- of course, Mike Breen is, you know, reported, announced in New York for a long period of time going national. It just was historic 0.3 percent of the time in any game.
I mean, look at that guard. This is what we're talking about, baby. Knicks number one. That's what we're talking about right here with my Knicks sweater on right here.
You're holding it together, Anderson?
COOPER: Yes, yes. No.
ENTEN: You got to love it. You got to love it.
COOPER: I'm just basking in your love (ph).
ENTEN: You're basking in my fandom right here.
COOPER: No -- yes, I -- this morning I watched it with my two little kids. They were like through the roof. They're like right now at home playing, you know, don't want to sleep. They want to play basketball.
ENTEN: You know, we're talking about record ratings. And, you know, it's so important for these kids to kind of grow up. And that's what I think it's all about, right? It's about the kids. It's about the regular fans. But, you know, there were also a ton of celebrities --
COOPER: Yes, I noticed. I noticed.
ENTEN: -- were at this game.
COOPER: I noticed.
ENTEN: It's absolutely crazy. I mean, what are we talking about? We're talking about Larry David. We're talking Jerry Seinfeld. We're talking Timothee Chalamet. We're talking Taylor Swift --
COOPER: Taylor Swift. You should have led with Taylor Swift.
ENTEN: You know what? Taylor Swift, I leave the best for last, Anderson Cooper. That's how it is always on the show. When I appear on the end of -- near the end of your program, you're always leaving the best for last.
COOPER: There's Adam Sandler.
ENTEN: Adam Sandler was there. I mean, just all of these fans from across the spectrum.
COOPER: How much were seats? I mean, the seats were crazy.
ENTEN: I mean, some of these seats, you were lucky to get in the garden for four figures, right? You were lucky. Some of these seats were running tens of thousands of dollars, if not hundreds --
COOPER: Wow.
ENTEN: -- of thousands of dollars, Anderson.
COOPER: Wow. It was awesome to watch.
ENTEN: It was awesome to watch. And by the way, I just --
COOPER: Yes.
ENTEN: -- want to note the last time the Knicks won an NBA final --
COOPER: Yes.
ENTEN: -- was back in 1973. Do we have a picture of Anderson from what he looked like back in 1973?
COOPER: Great.
ENTEN: That's how long ago --
COOPER: Yes.
ENTEN: -- it was. Richard Nixon was president.
COOPER: Wow. Like, what costume was I wearing?
ENTEN: You know what? That's your uniform right there. I think you were maybe doing a little jockeying or something like that --
COOPER: Yes.
ENTEN: -- riding the horses.
COOPER: Child modeling day.
ENTEN: Child modeling day. You still look amazing to me, Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Harry. Thanks very much.
ENTEN: Thank you.
COOPER: Up next, imagine getting a cancer diagnosis the same weekend losing your father and several months later your mom. That's what happened to actress, producer, writer Amanda Peet. Now cancer free, Amanda Peet is my guest on the new episode of my podcast, All There Is. You'll hear from her in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:58:50]
COOPER: Actress Amanda Peet is on a new episode of my podcast that just got released. She was diagnosed with breast cancer, lost her dad the same weekend, and then her mom four months later. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMANDA PEET, ACTRESS: Once a day I am shocked that she's not here. That's all. I just can't get my brain around it. She was so present when she was present and so alive. It's so crazy and bizarre.
There's no algorithm for grief. There's no right way to do it or wrong way to do it. There's no timetable. And I think that was really helpful for me to not be like, I should be doing it this way. I should be feeling this. I should be -- that was really huge for me. And also, I feel like my mom is talking through me, but I think talking about it helps. And humor. She used to -- when I thought she was a pain in the ass, which was a lot of the time, she would shuffle in her Parkinson's shuffle across the kitchen, like dropping crumbs from the cake she had stolen.
And then like fart in front of everybody, in front of my kids and stuff. And I just feel like -- and she'd just go, another county heard from.
COOPER: What?
PEET: Which --
COOPER: Another county heard from?
PEET: Another county heard from. It's like an old voting thing.
COOPER: I know what it means.
PEET: Oh you know what it means, OK.
COOPER: It's so funny. That's what she would refer to it. A fart would be like another county has been heard from.
PEET: Another county heard from.
COOPER: Like I'm John King at the Magic Wall.
PEET: Yes. I saw mine in Clifford Odets in "Awake and Sing." Humor. Lifesaver.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: You can watch the entire conversation at CNN.com/AllThereIs or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now. Have a good night.
