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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Appeals Court Affirms Ruling; White House Signals Optimism About Potential Agreement With Iran; UFC Fighters To Face Off At Lincoln Memorial Ahead Of White House Fight; Crews Standing By To Remove Trump's Name From Kennedy Center; SpaceX: Soars In $2T Market Debut, Making Musk World's First Trillionaire; U.S. Oil Market About To Hit A Tipping Point; Author & Humorist Davis Sedaris On His New Book. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired June 12, 2026 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): But the reality in Tirana is protests are growing in size and scope, with protesters saying they won't back down until Rama is gone. A movement that began with preserving flamingos now taking flight into something much broader.
Isa Soares, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And thanks so much to all of you for joining us on this Friday. "AC360," with Anderson begins now.
[20:00:31]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN, CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT AND HOST: Tonight, hitting undo in very large type. Jim Sciutto, here for Anderson tonight. Take a look at this moment, crews in Washington, D.C. are now under orders and a tight deadline to take the name of Donald J. Trump off the living memorial to John F. Kennedy. A last- ditch appeal just failed. And now workers at The Kennedy Center for the performing arts have until midnight tonight to restore the name that Congress gave it.
That said, a storm is now blowing through the Capitol at the moment, potentially affecting the timeline. And for that reason, CNN Sunlen Serfaty joins us now by telephone from the scene. Sunlen, you've been watching this build up over the last several hours. I know a storm's been going through there are preparations still underway?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim, we are right now outside The Kennedy Center and there are storms overhead, which is why, as you said, I join you over the phone. But preparations are underway.
We have some video from earlier in the day of scaffolding going up right under that source of contention, President Donald Trump's name on the side of the building that got added after he took over as chairman of the board of The Kennedy Center and went ahead and renamed The Kennedy Center to The Donald Trump-Kennedy Center. That, of course, has been a source of a lot of extensive legal
maneuverings and the source of a really late in the day, back and forth in court here in D.C.
At the end of the day. Right now, here's where we are at 8:01 P.M. Eastern time, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected this last- minute effort by the Trump administration to try to freeze the judge's ruling, and the judge's ruling from earlier was that the Kennedy Center had to take down the President Trump signage, his name off the side of the building by midnight tonight.
So, here's where we are. That means that by midnight as of now, The Kennedy Center is compelled by the court's ruling today to ultimately take down those words from the side of this building. They have also been instructed to remove all signage. Anything on e-mails, anything bearing President Trump's name.
Certainly, a dramatic moment and an important moment for President Trump. He has made The Kennedy Center really a personal endeavor for months. It has been the subject of a fierce back and forth since he took office in the second term.
This is an important moment for him, an important moment for The Kennedy Center. Of course, it's been besieged in so much politics. So, we will see here and will be watching outside The Kennedy Center until potentially likely those that name comes down by midnight tonight.
SCIUTTO: And of course, an important moment for the Kennedy family as well, who very much opposed that name change. Sunlen Serfaty there at The Kennedy Center. We're going to check back with her shortly.
Right now, though, after months of war, weeks of a shaky truce and 40 odd unfulfilled Presidential claims that a deal to end the conflict is near both the White House and Tehran now appear optimistic about what comes next. And though we do not know the specifics, far from it. Both sides are now indicating they are close to reaching some kind of Memorandum Of Understanding ahead of further negotiations to then settle the conflict, hopefully for good.
Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, today said an agreement had, "never been closer." And as you can see there, President Trump reposted that message on his own Truth Social feed. He also indicated that a signing ceremony could happen as soon as this weekend. Later today, Araghchi suggested it could even be done remotely. The question, of course, is what exactly would they be signing?
According to an administration official, the Memo would outline a series of commitments, including the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, lifting the American blockade of Iranian ports, dismantling and this is key -- Iran's nuclear program, and if Iran complies, then and only then would any financial benefits flow for a country with billions of dollars in frozen assets. Again, that is according to an administration official.
For its part, Iran has offered differing accounts of what it has actually agreed to. And again, this is not a peace agreement we are talking about, more like, both sides agreeing to further talks and is certainly not yet a done deal.
Joining me now, CNN National Security analyst and former deputy director of National Intelligence Beth Sanner and retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Karen Gibson. Good to have you both on tonight.
Beth, I want to begin with you because you have quite correctly described this as really just the first step in a series of steps.
[20:05:29]
BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Exactly, you know, I kind of liken it to a four-act play, right? Weve been in this act, one of war, and now we're talking about this MOU, which as you just said, Jim, is it's kind of a broad framework for the next phase, the act three. But it is just a framework.
And so, then act three would be this much harder, detailed oriented nuclear deal. And good news is that Foreign Minister Araghchi said that they would be talking about sanctions relief in the second phase, but also that all the nuclear issues have been pushed to that.
And then the fourth part would be like, even after you have this, you've got to get to the implementation, the inspection regime, the execution of this, all very difficult. And at any point you can start firing again. Although as we move through these steps, a return to full scale war becomes less and less likely. So, this is all good news, but we're not quite there.
SCIUTTO: General, I covered the negotiations for the JCPOA, and I took a lot of trips to Vienna and Geneva for a lot of meetings over many months to get to the fine print of that deal.
If or when an agreement is signed, they're going to have to deal with a very thorny and complicated issue of Iran's nuclear program and dealing with that highly enriched uranium that the many hundreds of pounds that Iran has right now. How difficult do you believe that stage of the negotiations will be?
LT. GEN. KAREN GIBSON, (RET.) U.S. ARMY: I think it's going to be very difficult. I do really appreciate Beth's analogy of a four-act play. I would offer another one, which is a marathon. And if you've ever run one, especially your first, you know, those final miles are very slow, long and painful.
And so, I think even if we're when, where it may seem like we are really close, there are so many details, as Beth has outlined, you know, sequencing and reciprocity and enforcement mechanisms. And then what steps will we be prepared to take if we believe that Iran is not abiding by these agreements?
Is it going to include things like funding for proxies? How will we monitor that? And I think it will be very interesting to see how our gulf allies and Israel respond to what is or may not be included in this agreement.
SCIUTTO: Yes, and to be fair, some of those things you mentioned, they're funding for proxies. You know, if this money does begin flowing, that had been the principal criticism of the JCPOA by Trump and his allies that you were sending all this money that way and that appears to be part of part of this plan for an agreement.
Beth, Iran's Foreign Minister, said today that the agreement or the memorandum under consideration includes a resolution for a conflict, for the conflict on all fronts, and that includes Lebanon. As you know, there is another party to the conflict in Lebanon, and that is Israel. And when I speak to Israeli officials, they're not satisfied with the outcome of this war. Do you see Israel as pushing back if the U.S. agrees with Iran that the war in Lebanon is over too?
SANNER: Yes, I mean, for Israel, this is, you know, almost a nightmare type scenario, depending on what this agreement, you know, which we don't even know where this will go as Karen was saying. But, you know, this idea that, we're going to have this agreement, we went to this war and all of a sudden, the United States isn't exactly behind us anymore.
A friend of mine calls this. Israel has realized that they're the Rudy Giuliani of countries. I mean, you know, they've been behind us and all of a sudden, they're like, cut out and no one's got their back. But at the same time, Netanyahu has every intention of continuing this war against Hezbollah, even though his military and anyone that really looks at this understands there's no military solution to Lebanon. But he is in an election campaign right now. And Mr. Security, which is the moniker he runs under, it's not looking so good.
SCIUTTO: Yes, well, listen, when you talk to Israeli soldiers and commanders in Northern Israel, they speak of a military solution to it, whether, you know, whether reality bears that out. General, the key forms of leverage that the U.S. has claimed throughout this war, one, of course, is, is military power, military strikes, but also financial. Once the U.S. does allow presuming a deal goes forward and the money starts flowing, what leverage will remain? I mean, I imagine the President can say, well go back to war if, Iran doesn't abide by the agreement or we'll just stop the money flowing.
[20:10:18]
GIBSON: Well, absolutely, I think those financial incentives are entirely reversible. Sanctions could be reimposed. Funds could be frozen again or, you know, in an extreme case, there could be a threat of additional punishing airstrikes. None of it is really irreversible.
SCIUTTO: Beth, you know, this MOU kind of model here of a sort of outline of an agreement before you get to an agreement reminds me of the trade negotiations, right? Since liberation day, et cetera, that oftentimes you would have these kind of one pager, right, that say, okay, this is a trade deal. Whereas you and I know that trade deals are, you know, they're like encyclopedias of detail. What do you put the chances of this actually moving beyond a one pager, as it were, to, to a lasting, detailed agreement that gets to act four of this four-act play.
SANNER: I mean, honestly, right now we are seeing already some differences in this last mile. Araghchi tonight said, look, you know, this, this mou will open the strait, but the strait is never going to go back to the way it was before. Iran is going to control it and eventually we're going to have fees. And then they added Lebanon, right. And all nuclear issues are going to hold until the third act.
And so, you know, I don't know whether we're going to get there. I do hope we do. As Karen said, we need to hold their feet to the fire in terms of this kind of performance-based sanctions relief. But, you know, there is a, there is a benefit of having momentum here and moving on past this war state that were in, but it is not going to be easy.
SCIUTTO: For sure and we should note that Iran maintains leverage as well. It certainly has proven that it has ability to still fire ballistic missiles, to still mine the Strait, to send drones into the Strait as well. Beth Sanner, General Gibson, great to have you both on.
Coming up next, a far different note, the fighters in this weekend's UFC cage match face off tonight at the Lincoln Memorial. We're going to check in with our Donie O'Sullivan who is there for us, and talk about what tens of thousands of spectators will be experiencing at the White House main event this weekend.
Later, more about what's about to happen. Just steps away as crews are getting ready as we speak to take the name Trump off the Kennedy Center.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:17:02]
SCIUTTO: Looking there live now at the Lincoln Memorial, which, of course, has seen so much history over its existence. Tonight, it's the launch pad for more where Martin Luther King, Jr. once called the country's better angels, a group of men are facing off in preparation for beating each other senseless on the south lawn of The White House this Sunday. We're talking, of course, about UFC fighters and a photo opportunity tonight ahead of the President's birthday and Flag Day cage match spectacle, which is just two days away on the South Lawn of The White House.
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan, he is at the Lincoln Memorial. He joins us now. Donie, I know you've been talking to members of the crowd there. What's going on and what are they telling you?
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jim. Yes, very surreal scene here at the Lincoln Memorial. There was some pretty bad thunderstorms and rain, which seemed to have almost passed here. But what's happening here tonight is the UFC is holding its press conference, and people who are maybe not familiar with UFC, this is a big part of the show.
So, as you mentioned, just on those steps there where MLK delivered his "I have a Dream" speech at around 9:00 P.M. tonight, it has been pushed back to 9:00 P.M. Because of the weather. What we'll see is the fighters who are due to brawl on Sunday night, along with Dana White, who runs the UFC.
They'll take seats, they'll take their seats there at the stage with Lincoln overlooking them, and they sort of normally they sort of talk smack about each other. They sort of get into it. Sometimes things get a little bit confrontational, and I should just point out, though, as we talk about weather and you see the signs are still up here, these weather warnings.
That's been a major concern all along about Sunday night, about Sunday night's event. Normally, one, normally UFC events happen on a Saturday night and also normally UFC events happen indoors inside arenas.
People like Joe Rogan, who is a podcaster but also UFC commentator, has been speaking for months about how really the conditions here in Washington, D.C. in June aren't ideal for fighting and what we might see. Of course, there is now concerns that on Sunday night, the whole thing will get called off.
But as you mentioned, Jim, the reason it is on Sunday night is because it's Trump's birthday.
SCIUTTO: Yes, are you sensing real excitement there from the folks you're speaking to?
O'SULLIVAN: Yes, very much so. People have, you know, very pretty apolitical crowd, I would say people just want to talk about the fight. A lot of locals here, but also a lot of people who have come from all over the world spoke to one gentleman earlier who came from Mexico, others who have traveled from Texas and elsewhere. So, people are very, very excited. If you are a UFC fan, I mean, it's a very exciting time and also, and of course, I mean, to have this opportunity to have your favorite sport at the White House.
So, those folks very approving of the fact that there is a cage fight at The White House. And it sounds like there's some activity going on here. So, it looks like this press conference might be getting started shortly after all.
[20:20:09]
SCIUTTO: There you go. And well see if the weather cooperates later in the weekend. Donie O'Sullivan, thanks so much.
Joining us now is Presidential historian Doug Brinkley, democratic strategist Maria Cardona, and republican strategist Shermichael Singleton. Good to have you all. On this Friday night, there's a lot to talk about. Doug, you know, you've covered presidents for years. Did you ever think you would see a UFC press conference at the Lincoln Memorial One and then a cage match on the south lawn of the white house?
DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN HISTORY COMMENTATOR: Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine such a thing. You know, I grew up, I remember watching Evel Knievel go over the Snake River in Idaho, and it was sort of the birth of extreme sports and here we are. Now, that's kind of event is coming to The White House. It seemed and to the, you know, to the National Mall, it seems to me a bit of a desecration of Abraham Lincoln, just like The John F. Kennedy performing arts center with Trump putting his name on it.
But lo and behold, let's hope that that that if the event goes on, there's not lightning and people have fun. But, you know, I think for Donald Trump, it's about his birthday. He's turning 80 and he wants history to remember that moment with something grand. And this is what he chose because it appeals to his traditional MAGA base.
SCIUTTO: Shermichael, listen, presidents through generations, right? They have wrapped themselves in sports. it's natural. Americans love sports, and I get it. And UFC has a huge following in this country and around the world. Is there something different, though, about this one, a cage match the nature of the sport itself, but also the fact that the President, he's invested in the company, right? So, I mean, it certainly serves his interest to give it this enormous platform.
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, look, I mean, an ethicist can provide some commentary on that. I'll just talk about the politics here from the vantage point, I would argue, looking at many recent elections, including the recent Presidential election, many young men view the Democratic Party as viewing them as being a demographic that needs to be managed as opposed to a constituency that should be persuaded. And I heard Doug mentioned that this is something that is relevant to the President's ardent base of supporters.
Well, I got to tell you something, Jim, that's not just the case. There are many young men who are Democrats who did not vote for President Trump, who aren't traditionally Republicans who do enjoy the UFC, many of them happen to be my friends. And so, I look at this not through a historical lens, not through an ethical lens, but one via how the Republican Party has continued to chip away culturally at the male support that many Democrats once upon a time had President Obama, Bill Clinton, and many others. Those guys are now, I would say, strong or at least curious about the Republican Party. And that's something that clearly concerns democrats because they acknowledged as much in their recent autopsy.
SCIUTTO: Yes, Maria, I mean, what is your answer to that question? Because, I mean, you yourself have been critical of some of the approaches taken in the previous election cycle and set aside just for a moment, doing it by the Lincoln Memorial, but appealing to this this demographic, this voting demographic, energized certainly in the last cycle.
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure, but that's not what this is, Jim. If that's what this was, then you wouldn't have in the Reuters Poll that was taken about Americans thinking what they what they thought about this, you wouldn't have just 16 percent of Americans thinking that this was an appropriate thing for President Trump to be doing at The White House.
Look, UFC is hugely popular. I am not saying don't do it. Democrats aren't saying don't do it. Just don't do it in the People's House. Don't do it in a place that is hallowed, sacred ground for not just politics, but for what America stands for. That's what makes this so vulgar and tawdry.
And I think that, you know, frankly, Democrats are mad about this, but were going to focus on what the bigger message is here and what the bigger message is here, Jim, it's not good for Republicans because this cements that. Donald Trump doesn't give a flying "F" about the economic situations of American families.
Young men, Latino men, Black men, women, everyone across the board. They are hurting and Donald Trump is fixated on spending $60 million. And I know that that is privately raised, but there's like $12 million that is being spent for security. He is focused on an arc for himself. Tonight, we're seeing that his name is coming off of The Kennedy Center, thank goodness.
SCIUTTO: We're going to get to that.
CARDONA: He's focused on a war where he's spending billions every day. And by the way, he loves inflation. So, we're going to focus on those messages. Let him have that, let him have his fun. But we're focused on this going into the midterm elections.
[20:25:10]
SCIUTTO: That line from earlier this week is certainly going to be in some Democratic political ads as fall approaches. Doug, I do want to go to the Kennedy Center because this is happening before our eyes as well. Tell us your reaction to courts upholding this midnight deadline to remove President Trumps name from that building you see there, which, as I always like to remind audiences, was named by an act of congress in 1964. The John F. Kennedy Center. What's your reaction to seeing the courts make him take his name down?
I think once again, our courts are holding up our democracy and our constitutional law and just basic civic ethics. You know, since 1971, The Kennedy Center hasn't had problems of any major kind. It's recently got massive funding from David Rubenstein and others to kind of make up or spruce it up. But I think President Trump went after it like he is the East Wing of the White House, or like he is anywhere in Washington.
He's wanting to tattoo his name, his brand everywhere. And the courts are right to say, this is overreach. Get it off and get it off now. And so, the Friday held up. And it's, I think, good news. it's that was John F. Kennedy's monument in Washington, D.C. and Donald Trump had no right to soil it by putting his name up on it.
SCIUTTO: Shermichael, what did President Trump gain by this, this effort to rename to really remake the place in his image, a place that was named after a beloved, assassinated President.
SINGLETON: Well, what we've gained is giving Democrats talking points like the one we just heard from Doug, who happens to be a historian. I'm not saying his analysis is a talking point, but Democrats have taken that argument, and they've used it in many of the special elections across the country. This one for me, Jim, to just be honest, isn't a big priority. I wouldn't have advised this. I think there are a lot more important things that the President should be focused on. The UFC culturally, politically, I think that's a net gain for Republicans.
But something like this, I think the average voter looks at it as a distraction and less of a focus on the critical issues that are impacting their day to day, which ultimately is what this midterm cycle will be about. Kitchen table issues, cost of living, affordability, infrastructure, et cetera. So, I think respect the court's rulings on this and lets just move on. That would be my advice to the President here.
SCIUTTO: Maria, just quickly before we go, the President still controls the board of The Kennedy Center. We should know, and this is not the only thing being built in his honor in D.C. Arc de Trump, you know, the list goes on and on. I mean, can this bell be unrung?
CARDONA: I don't think it can. And again, I think that it helps Democrats in terms of messaging for November. Look, this demonstrates the massive insecurity that Donald Trump suffers from each and every single day, having to name everything, having to put his image on everything. I mean, clearly, he's trying to prove something, but what he has proved to the American people is that he does not care about them, that he is all about making billions from the White House on their backs. And that is going to be a message that is going to be helpful for Democrats as we take over the House and we take over the Senate in November.
SCIUTTO: Well, we'll see. A fair amount of gold leaf going up in Washington, too, I see it. Maria Cardona, Doug Brinkley, Shermichael Singleton, thank you so much. Have a good weekend.
CARDINA: Thanks, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Coming up next, we're going to check back in at the Kennedy Center, where again, the current Presidents name must come down by midnight. The crews there waiting for the weather to clear. Also, a closer look at the IPO that just made Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:33:02]
SCIUTTO: Welcome back. As we've been reporting, workers are standing by as you can see there at the Kennedy Center to remove Donald Trump's name from its exterior as a midnight deadline approaches. You can see people there just to the right of your screen where that truck is parked.
A federal judge ordered that it must happen. The name must go down by midnight. DOJ lawyers representing the Kennedy Center filed an 11th hour appeal to that decision today. But just before our air, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that filing.
Our Sunlen Serfaty has more on exactly how we got here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's really nothing like it in the country.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For more than a year, the Kennedy Center has been stretched in a political tug- of-war.
TRUMP: We ended the woke political programming and we're restoring the Kennedy Center as the premier venue for performing arts anywhere in the country.
SERFATY (voice-over): As the remaking of the typically nonpartisan arts institution became a personal conquest for President Trump, attempting to reshape the national landmark to his personal liking.
TRUMP: Some of the shows were terrible. They're a disgrace that they were even put on.
SERFATY (voice-over): Last year, the President took the extraordinary step of gutting the Board of Trustees, replacing them instead with his allies. He ousted the chairman and installed himself in that role.
TRUMP: In a few short months since I became chairman of the board, the Kennedy Center, we have completely reversed the decline of this cherished national institution.
SERFATY (voice-over): The board then voted to rename the building to the Trump-Kennedy Center and the President's name was added.
TRUMP: They voted on it and there's a lot of board members and they voted unanimously, so I was very honored.
SERFATY (voice-over): The Kennedy Center got its name months after JFK's assassination and was designated by Congress as the sole living memorial to the fallen president. Adding Trump's name to it sparked a high profile lawsuit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He did not get approval from the Congress to do that, and (INAUDIBLE) it's stated in the statute that he had to bring it before Congress.
[20:35:07]
SERFATY (voice-over): Artists and productions like Hamilton, the Washington National Opera and Bela Fleck began dropping out of scheduled engagements. Audiences hit the exits too, many pulling out in rejection of the President's takeover.
BELA FLECK, MUSICIAN: It was about this whole political back and forth and the circus and I just couldn't get into it.
SERFATY (voice-over): The center started hemorrhaging money amid lagging ticket sales. And in March, in another extraordinary step, Trump announced the center would close its doors in July for two years, he said, for renovations. TRUMP: We're rebuilding it. It's in very, very bad condition. It's been somewhat of a disaster, to be honest with you. It's been let go to hell.
SERFATY (voice-over): A decision that was seen by many within the institution as a way to save face. Last month, a federal judge blocked the center from closing its doors and said the board violated the law when it added the President's name.
Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it. The judge said Trump signaling. Then he is stepping back, saying he is handing over responsibility of the center to Congress and that he had no interest in continuing unless he was free to do what he wanted.
Earlier this month, staff was ordered to remove President Trump's name from the building by today.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: So Sunlen, I know the weather has disturbed things a little bit there, but are the work crews back at it?
SERFATY (on-camera): Yes, Jim. Actually, workers just started moving again, which indicates as the storm has moved away that they're likely going up and potentially now formally taking down this name. I want you to focus behind me.
As you can see, these workers here are getting back up there. They're starting to put the scaffolding more in place where they will ultimately climb and take down those -- that named, the Donald Trump and. Now, as this was happening, the crowd, which has really swelled in size over the last few hours here, immediately started chanting as they started their work again, "Take it down!" "Take it down."
There certainly is a sense of jubilation for the people who are gathered here at the Kennedy Center. As we've been talking about for much of the day today, of course, this has become a symbol of President Trump's takeover and President Trump's remaking of Washington. They have until 11:59 tonight to take down those names.
And just in the last few minutes, as you can see behind me, the workers have restarted it towards that goal.
SCIUTTO: Yes. I can't think of another construction project that attracted that much attention.
Sunlen Serfaty, thanks so much.
Coming up next, how Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire after the biggest IPO in history, and what that amount of wealth actually looks like.
Plus, how the war in Iran is dwindling the U.S. oil supply down to critically low levels and what that means for you and me at the pump.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:42:15]
SCIUTTO: Elon Musk is now officially the world's first trillionaire. After his company, SpaceX, went public today, it was Wall Street's biggest IPO ever. Musk, who owns nearly half of the company's stock, was already the world's richest man.
But just to put into context exactly how much $1 trillion is, listen to this. If you laid out $1 trillion bills, they would stretch 97 million miles or to the moon and back more than 200 times. And for even more comparison, $1 trillion is more than the economies of all but 20 countries or the wealth estimates of the next four richest people in the world combined or the cost of every professional sports team on the planet combined.
What amazes me because sports teams are valued at a heck of a lot as you know. Joining me now CNN Contributor and the Rip Current tech journalist and founder, Jacob Ward. Jacob, good to have you Friday.
JACOB WARD, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hey, how are you, Jim?
SCIUTTO: So first, this, of course, doesn't make Musk -- doesn't mean he has 1 million -- or sorry $1 trillion in liquid cash, but the market is valuing this company enormously. Does the business justify that valuation?
WARD: I mean, by the traditional measures of this and who are you and I just a couple of normal working stiffs in the new world of trillionaires to judge this stuff, right? But the traditional MBA analysis of this stuff would tell you, no, this is a terrible company in that Elon Musk started SpaceX as this rocket business, which was a financially deranged idea at the time, but managed to turn it into a profitable business.
He actually turned a profit in 2024. Then, in -- presumably because he wants to be on top in this new AI race, he stapled xAI, his competitor to open AI and Anthropic and the rest, to this successful SpaceX company. That means that now all of these rocket customers and anybody who's spending the money on a Starlink Internet connection is now funding his race to be on top in a -- so by the traditional methods, Jim, we would definitely say this is a money loser losing billions of dollars a year.
SCIUTTO: OK. So it's now a public company, but you use an interesting description for it. You call it a sovereign company. Can you explain exactly --
WARD: Yes.
SCIUTTO: -- what that means and exactly how much of the voting shares must controls?
WARD: Well, this is the thing, right? So as you mentioned, and I think you're absolutely right to do so, right? This is now a bigger -- his personal worth is now greater than the -- all but 20 countries on Earth. The company itself is now not only becoming part of public infrastructure, right? It's how NASA gets things into low Earth orbit.
[20:45:08]
It's how battlefield troops in Ukraine communicated with one another is becoming a load bearing part of the geopolitical structure. And at the same time, Musk has 82 percent of the voting control. He has about 42 percent of the shares, but his shares are special.
He's created a dual class share structure in which his shares give him voting control. And that means that no matter how much money you were to put into buying some shares in this thing, you'd have no voice whatsoever, ever in this. There is no governance when it comes to this thing.
And so this dates back to, you know, the first IPO ever in 1602, the Dutch East India Company, it was the same structure, dual class shares, 17 guys ran it, and nobody had any view about it. In this case, we're in that world again, Jim, and absolutely, I think that makes this a sovereign company.
SCIUTTO: Yes. And as I remember from history, that one didn't turn out so well.
Jacob Ward, thanks so much.
Well, back now to the continuing fallout from the Iran war, gas is currently at $4.11 a gallon here in the U.S. And while the U.S. has become the largest oil producer in the world, America has become the supplier of last resort for many who get their oil normally from the Middle East. That has led the oil supply here to get dangerously low, almost to the point of sending gas prices soaring even more.
Here's Ed Lavandera to explain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A drive around Cushing, Oklahoma with Farrel Kleckner is like stepping into a time machine.
FARREL KLECKNER, CUSHING NATIVE: That rock building there is probably the oldest building in Cushing.
LAVANDERA: So over time, you've kind of become the Cushing unofficial historian or the official historian? Where are we at?
KLECKNER: The unofficial historian.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Cotton was king here until 1912 when some wildcatters struck oil.
KLECKNER: Cushing's really took a boom in the 20s.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): In the oil business, Cushing is now one of the most important places in the world you've probably never heard of. It's a dot on the map between Oklahoma City and Tulsa, where a vast network of underground pipelines feed into one of the world's largest privately owned storage hubs for crude oil.
KLECKNER: We'll go for two miles out here. Nothing but tanks.
LAVANDERA: But this is what Cushing is known for today.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): As far as the eye can see, dozens of massive storage tanks dot the landscape. Oil industry analysts closely monitor how much crude oil is in these tanks. And right now, alarm bells are ringing.
Usually the Cushing tanks can hold about 75 million barrels of oil. The levels now have dropped to below 22 million.
LAVANDERA: Because of the Iran war and the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, that's one of the reasons why storage levels here in Cushing have dropped to such critical levels as the U.S. is supplying more oil to other parts of the world. And analysts say that if these tanks are not replenished fast enough, that could mean in the weeks ahead, we're paying more for gas at the pump.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): When these tanks reach the 20 million mark, it's like scraping the bottom of the barrel. The crude oil becomes an unusable sludge. From above, you can see how low the ceilings of these tanks have dipped. They're designed to float up and down with the oil levels inside.
LAVANDERA: So for 114 years, there has been a pump jack here.
STEVE CROWDER, PRESIDENT, LITTLE RIVER ENERGY COMPANY: Continuous production.
LAVANDERA: Yes.
CROWDER: Yes.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The Cushing oil age was born on this spot.
LAVANDERA: And now it's making five barrels a day?
CROWDER: Five barrels a day.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Site of the first well drilled here. Steve Crowder runs it now along with almost 100 others.
LAVANDERA: Given how low the capacity levels are at Cushing --
CROWDER: Right.
LAVANDERA: -- does that create concern about what's coming down the pike?
CROWDER: Well, it should create a lot of concern with a lot of people.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): In the last 20 years, any time oil inventories at Cushing have reached levels this low, it's triggered historically high oil prices. Energy executives at companies like Exxon and Chevron are warning that the United States is less than a month away from seeing gas prices shoot up as long as the Iran war drags on.
LAVANDERA: Does that mean the worst is yet to come, in your view?
CROWDER: Yes, I'm an optimist or I wouldn't be in this business. But I'm afraid that it could be some difficult times coming. If the conflict is resolved, the straight is open, shipping resumes. We'll dodge a bullet and we'll avoid it some real problems. And --
LAVANDERA: But if this continues?
CROWDER: If it drags on, it could be really tough. Real tough.
LAVANDERA: What happens here really matters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It does.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Along an old downtown street in Cushing, we met with Lee Denney, a former state representative who was born here and has seen the booms and busts in Cushing oil. She predicts oil producers will replenish inventory soon and that will prevent a painful gas prices.
[20:50:09]
LEE DENNEY, FORMER OKLAHOMA STATE REPRESENTATIVE AND CUSHING LINE: They're going to keep producing as fast as they can because that's when they make money.
LAVANDERA: Right.
DENNEY: And so I'm optimistic that they'll fill up.
LAVANDERA: But it's $5 a gallon gasoline or more than that on the horizon?
DENNEY: Boy, I hope not. I hope not because that's not comfortable for the consumer.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Ed Lavandera CNN, Cushing, Oklahoma.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Amazing story.
Coming up next, Anderson sits down with author and humorist David Sedaris.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: This is a live look now at the Kennedy Center in Washington where crews as you can see there, they're adding to the scaffolding outside. Once that part of the job is done, they're going to climb up and under court orders, begin removing President Trump's name from that building.
[20:55:03] Well, finally, with all that's going on in the world, we thought it was best to end tonight's program on a laugh. Author and humorist David Sedaris recently sat down with Anderson to talk about his new book, "The Land and Its People."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: First of all, it's great to see you. Thank you so much for doing this. Congratulations. I cannot believe this is your 16th book.
DAVID SEDARIS, AUTHOR, "THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE": I don't know how that happened.
COOPER: There are a couple random notes that I made. You don't look at bank statements, which I don't either. And I feel like I'm glad that I'm not the only one who's afraid to open up these envelopes.
SEDARIS: I'm terrified.
COOPER: Yes.
SEDARIS: I don't know how -- I don't know what's in them. I don't open anything that doesn't look like that.
COOPER: You don't look at online statements either, which is another thing I --
SEDARIS: No, and I don't know how to bank online.
COOPER: Right. Yes.
SEDARIS: I don't know -- I'm completely worthless in that regard. But I'm lucky because Hugh, the man I'm married to, he knows how to do all of that.
COOPER: Right. By the way, is your -- do you have a boyfriend and a husband?
SEDARIS: Oh, no, no, no. But I can't say husband.
COOPER: I know. Why don't you use the term husband?
SEDARIS: I just don't like it. But -- so I can say the person --
COOPER: You've been married in secret, essentially. A lot of people didn't know you were married. You married like 10 years ago.
SEDARIS: Yes, yes, yes. But I can say the person I'm married to. But see, even that's the man I'm married to.
COOPER: You just --
SEDARIS: I don't like it when people are nebulous, like my partner.
COOPER: Right. SEDARIS: It's like -- to me, that's like the word queer. Like, what do you mean?
COOPER: You don't use the word queer, you use the word gay.
SEDARIS: Yes.
COOPER: OK.
SEDARIS: Yes. But if -- so the person I'm married to still sounds nebulous. So I would be -- I would say the man I'm married to.
COOPER: What was your --
SEDARIS: I don't like husband.
COOPER: What was the wedding like? Was there -- did you --
SEDARIS: It was a -- we did it at the courthouse.
COOPER: OK.
SEDARIS: It was a shotgun wedding arranged by my banker to save money. That's the only reason we did it.
COOPER: Just for tax purposes.
SEDARIS: Yes. And then we didn't talk. We didn't tell anybody about it.
COOPER: You just went and did it. And then like what?
SEDARIS: Yes.
COOPER: Had a dentist appointment?
SEDARIS: We were at the -- I was at the beach with my family. And we said, oh, we're going out with Cindy. And then we came back and no one said, where were you?
COOPER: Cindy's your banker.
SEDARIS: Yes. And then we didn't tell anybody. Like, they were right under our noses. I was never tempted to tell anybody. But then people said, started referring to Hugh as my husband. And I thought, well, I might as well.
COOPER: Roseanne called you once middle of the night.
SEDARIS: Yes.
COOPER: You didn't know her.
SEDARIS: So I didn't know her, It was -- I was living in Paris and it was about, oh, I don't know, it was midnight. And then phone rang. And Hugh said, "It's for you." He said, "I think it's Roseanne." And it was Roseanne.
And she was just calling. She was in a hotel room in London. And she was bored. And she called and she -- you know, she was so so candid.
COOPER: How long did she get to speak?
SEDARIS: Like an hour and a half.
COOPER: Wow.
SEDARIS: She answered every question I had for her. I mean, that's saying, I mean, to be -- she was a massive star then, you know?
COOPER: Yes, yes.
SEDARIS: And to be that open with somebody. And she just didn't ask. She didn't want anything from me.
COOPER: That's nice.
SEDARIS: She just wanted to talk. Yes, it was really nice.
COOPER: My dad once -- my mom was trying to get through to him back -- this was back in the 70s, when there weren't multiple lines, and the line was busy for like three hours. And finally, she got through. And she's like, who are you talking to? So it was the wrong number.
And my dad had been talking to a wrong number for like, three hours, because he was being Southern just chatter. But you're not a photo taker, either. Because you went on safari, you're probably the only person went on safari didn't take any photos.
SEDARIS: No, I don't need to take photos. I'm writing my diary every day. So I don't know, that's how I prefer to remember things. But you know, like, sometimes you're at the airport or whatever and people come and say, can we get a picture? And I don't know what it's supposed to mean, you know?
Like, in a selfie, nobody looks good in a selfie. So sometimes, I say, I'll draw you a picture. You know, I'll draw you a picture of the two of us together.
COOPER: That would be amazing.
SEDARIS: Yes.
COOPER: And you actually did that?
SEDARIS: Yes.
COOPER: But you actually sometimes in an airport will stay up and draw a picture?
SEDARIS: Yes. Yes. But I mean, I draw like a child.
COOPER: OK -- SEDARIS: So it doesn't look a --
COOPER: -- can you at least draw a picture of us?
SEDARIS: Sure.
COOPER: Now, can I see in this book, maybe?
SEDARIS: Of course.
COOPER: OK.
SEDARIS: I've been drawing people's portraits and books. That's what I've been trying to do on this tour, is draw people's portraits. Now, this is going to be hard for you to tell who's who, except I have my glasses off, you know? And so it -- you're the one with glasses on.
COOPER: It's a little James Thurber-esque.
SEDARIS: You look like -- what's her name?
COOPER: I look a little bit like --
SEDARIS: Ginsburg, like Justice Ginsburg.
COOPER: I was going to say Beavis or Butt-Head. I'm not sure which one.
SEDARIS: I have to be.
COOPER: Here we go. There it is.
SEDARIS: I have to be the first person to say that you look like her.
COOPER: I get that all the time.
SEDARIS: Whenever people say, you know, you look like --
COOPER: Yes.
SEDARIS: Because you're not supposed to say that unless it's positive.
COOPER: Well, I love that you -- you've written this several times that you put your hands over your ears. I made a note about this. You did this, first of all, in the book, when your husband is going for hip surgery, and the nurse is asking about bowel movements.
SEDARIS: Yes.
COOPER: And you sit there going like, lah, lah, lah, you don't want to hear it. And you claim that there are no bowel movements in the bathrooms in your home.
SEDARIS: In my house, no one's ever had it. We've never had a thing like that.
COOPER: Because the idea of it is so disturbing to you.
SEDARIS: In the bathroom, you wash your hands, and you brush your teeth. And that's all that happens in there.
COOPER: David Sedaris, I love talking to you. Thank you.
SEDARIS: Oh, gosh, thank you so much for having me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: It's a great way to head into the weekend.
The news continues. "The Source" with Kaitlan Collins starts now.
