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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
U.S. Unleashes New Round of Strikes on Iran; Trump Orders New Strikes in Iran After Calling Ceasefire Over; Platner Announces He is Suspending His Senate Campaign; Platner Suspends Maine Senate Bid, Denies Rape Allegation; Trump Denies a Security Concern Was to Blame for Using Old Air Force One; Reflecting Pool Being Drained Again; Court Again Knocks Down Trump's Demand for His Name to Go Back on the Kennedy Center. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired July 08, 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: Yes, and of course, all the protests coming, amidst the questions, right, as to why it is their company that would get the green light to this to begin with.
Riley, thank you very much. I appreciate your time. And I do want to mention the development company told "The New York Times", in part, "This project remains in the planning and design phase, with our team continuing to refine scope, approach and vision through a deliberate process that prioritizes environmental stewardship and showcases the county's natural beauty."
That is their statement and thanks so much for joining us. AC360 starts now.
[20:00:36]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Good evening, topping our CNN Global War coverage tonight, a very real demonstration unfolding as we speak of what the President meant earlier today when he said the ceasefire with Iran is over.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
COOPER: That's footage from one of many American airstrikes on Iranian targets tonight along the Persian Gulf for the second night in a row.
They began not long after, the President headed home from the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, today. Iranian State Media reporting explosions in coastal cities on the gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and into the Gulf of Oman to the East.
Midway through his flight home, the President spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We just hit them very hard and I say we had a 20 to one. Every time they hit us, were going to hit them 20. And we did it last night, we did a little something today, but it was really retribution for last night. They hit actually three boats, not two. And when they hit, we hit back much harder.
REPORTER: Are we returning to full-scale military conflict, sir?
TRUMP: "I don't know. I don't know, we'd win it very quickly.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, he also said that he'd been in touch with the Iranian leadership.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TRUMP: They called a little while ago, they want to make a deal so badly. I just don't know if they're worthy of making a deal. I don't know that they're going to honor the deal. That's the problem.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, the President, as you know, has been saying for months now that Iran badly wants to make a deal. That's nothing new. He's also, as you heard, been threatening to escalate the fighting beyond tit-for-tat strikes.
Earlier tonight on social media, the President warned Iran against future attacks on shipping, quoting him now, "If it happens again, it will get much worse." And before leaving Turkey, he talked about how much worse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Look, we're not attacking at the highest level, the highest level of the bridges their -- which we can knock down. I would say in one day we knocked down every single bridge in Iran. There's not a thing they can do about it. Their electric plants where they make their electricity in there. We will, if we have to, we'll take them out. I don't want to do that. But if we have to, we'll take them out.
They have desalinization plants. We'll take them out if we have to. I hate to do that. That's probably the one I would like not to do this. Maybe we will take over Kharg Island. We may take over Kharg Island. There's not a thing they can do about it. But I said, don't hit the pipes. Just hit everything else and they hit it. They may hit it again tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, there's no indications yet that Kharg Island, Iran's main oil export facility, is being hit tonight. The attacks, according to a source familiar with the operation, are on drones and other systems that have been targeting ships in the Strait.
Also, and this is significant on ballistic missiles that can threaten American warships. Significant because just three weeks ago, the President was saying it was only fair that Iran should have missiles. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I mean, they have to have some because other people have some. They've got to have some. Somebody said you shouldn't give them one. And I have guys -- I like some of these guys. But I don't think they're smart.
Sir, you shouldn't let them have any missile. I said, well, what am I going to do? Are we going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but they can't have them?
I'm saying that if other countries have them, it's a little bit unfair for them not to have some.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: The President, three weeks ago to the day saying that Iran is entitled to the very weapons that American service members are now trying to blow up. He said a lot of things back then, trying to sell the Memorandum of Understanding his team had just worked out with Tehran. Here he is on June 16th, praising Iran's leadership.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And we're dealing with people that I think are very rational people, and they were nice to deal with. They were strong people, smart people. I think actually they're smarter than the first and second group, but they're not radicalized and they're -- you know, looking to help their country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: He's saying they're not radicalized. A few weeks earlier, he even said he'd be "honored" to meet Iran's new Supreme Leader. Today, a different story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They're scum. You know, what scum is? They're scum. They're sick people. They're led by sick people. And their vicious, violent people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:05:06 ]
COOPER: Quite a shift, then again, just yesterday, he was threatening our NATO allies with pulling all American forces out of Europe and reviewing his claim on Greenland. Today, he described the closing session as one big group hug.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I just want to say there was tremendous love in that room. They like the job I'm doing. They said, we love sir, we love you. These are grown people saying that, isn't that nice? (END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: We begin with CNN's Pamela Brown, who joins us live from the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea.
Pamela, what's been the reaction aboard the Abraham Lincoln to these strikes?
PAMELA BROWN, CNN CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, I've been speaking to crew members tonight, and they do say that there's a heightened posture here on board in the wake of the second night of strikes. We know that part of these strikes came from the Navy, not necessarily the USS Abraham Lincoln, where I am now, but it certainly raised the stakes.
And crew members here are saying they're left wondering whether this is just a two-night deal or if this is the opening into something bigger. Either way, they tell me that they're unfazed. They're ready to go if need be.
And we are seeing parts where I am, Anderson, you can see behind me some of the aircraft right, here is a Growler, which does communication jamming. Over here you have the F-18s. These have really been the workhorses along with the F-35s in this conflict. And I'm told that tomorrow they're going to start flight operations here again on the USS Abraham Lincoln.
Now, the plan right now, I'm told, is for defensive operations to protect the ship, to do surveillance over the Strait of Hormuz, but that it could quickly change to more offensive operations. That means targeting anything in Iran, if that is what is ordered down.
Basically, there's a wait and see mode right now. I'm told there could be more strikes by a U.S. official who has knowledge of the military planning right now, and they're just trying to see how to proceed from here. It's very touch and go and a very dynamic situation -- Anderson.
COOPER: You talked to the captain of the aircraft carrier, you're aboard. What did he tell you about the mission?
BROWN: So, I asked him about if he feels like they have accomplished what they set out to do. And he said the initial mission here for the USS Abraham Lincoln was to take down Iran. And he says they largely accomplished that one when it comes to sinking those big ships.
But he did acknowledge that Iran still has capabilities such as the more unconventional small speedboats and the drones. We've seen Iran use these cheaper drones that the U.S. hasn't had to use at more expensive million-dollar armaments to take down.
And so, he did acknowledge that to me. And I asked him what he thought Trump meant when he said, we could finish the job because as you know, Anderson, Trump has claimed victory multiple times during this war, saying, reach the objectives. And yet he is saying there's still a job to be finished. And even with all of these strikes, there are more targets. This is what the captain here of the USS Abraham Lincoln told me about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. DANIEL KEELER, USS ABRAHAM: There is clearly still targets that are out there that we could go after and it's just a matter of, if he orders us to do it or not, how far that goes, that's a discussion for political leaders.
But as a commanding officer of an aircraft carrier, I'll wait for my orders and execute the ones that I'm given.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: So, they remain on standby, Anderson.
Today, we've seen them preparing, putting armaments on the fighter jets -- awhile, but of course, putting those armaments back on the jets in preparation for any scenario takes on new meaning, given the President's rhetoric and the fact that things are escalating here between the U.S. and Iran.
We're here in the USS Abraham, not far from the Iranian coastline here, Anderson. And well have a front row seat overnight tomorrow as well to see how this plays out.
COOPER: All right, Pamela Brown, thank you so much, appreciate it.
I want to bring in our panel for analysis. CNN global affairs analyst Karim Sadjadpour. Also, Alan Eyre, former senior U.S. Diplomat and member of the team that negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, and CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.
COOPER: Colonel Leighton, just from the on the strikes, what are your impressions of these latest ones?
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Anderson, I think what we're seeing here is a continuation of what we saw yesterday. There does seem to be more of a variety of targets, but they seem to be the same type of targets, at least so far. So, we're looking at naval installations that are being hit potentially. Of course, the SAM the Surface to Air Missile deployment areas as well as, you know, some of the infrastructure that's military related.
And what we also see is as you go down the coastline, you see everything, you know, from Bushehr all the way down to Chabahar. Those areas are now at risk and that is basically a movement, I think, on the part of the U.S. to go after almost anything that can strike or do anything of damage in the Strait of Hormuz area.
[20:10:21]
COOPER: Alan, as your President Trump said that that Iran has reached out asking to make a deal after the most recent strikes. Do you think that is true? And if the U.S. strategy is to strike Iran with greater and greater intensity until it capitulates, how successful, I mean, to what end do you see that?
ALAN EYRE, FORMER SENIOR U.S. DIPLOMAT: No, I don't think that's true. I think he made that up. I doubt the Iranian leaders reached out. There might have been some communication, but it wasn't the Iranians crying uncle.
What started this was Iran's determination to maintain administrative control, effective operational control of the Strait of Hormuz. That's a new red line for them. The U.S. contested that, they were sending ships hugging the Omani coast. That's the basic dynamic here. And unfortunately, the military strikes we are doing seem somewhat of a strategic flail because they're not going to convince the IRGC leadership to cry uncle, nor are they going to sufficiently degrade Iran's ability to threaten and impede marine traffic through the Strait.
So, to be honest, Anderson, I don't know what we're doing, but I don't think it's going to end well.
COOPER: Karim, what lessons do you think the Iranians have learned from previous rounds of this conflict? And how do you see what's happening now?
KARIM SADJADPOUR, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Unfortunately, Anderson, I think the lesson that Iran learned from this war is that you gain concessions from the United States, not through diplomatic accommodation, but by lashing out, by attacking your neighbors, by closing the Strait of Hormuz. And I think the new normal for the foreseeable future is Iran will be to the Middle East what Putin's Russia has been to Europe.
It will seek security, its own security in the insecurity of its neighbors and conduct itself like a gangster regime.
COOPER: Karim, when you hear the President say that this group of leaders of Iran now are less radicalized, do you, is that -- is there -- is that how you see it?
SADJADPOUR: There is no evidence we can point to publicly that shows that this is a regime which has changed its ideology. If anything, Anderson, the takeaway the regime has learned both from this war and also the popular uprising, which they survived last January, is that revolutionary ideology is the glue that keeps them together.
It's the glue that maintains the cohesion of the security forces. And it is true, Anderson, I've spoken to U.S. negotiators who say behind closed doors, the Iranians say something different. Vice President Vance said that as well and perhaps that is the message that President Trump is receiving, but certainly publicly, we haven't seen any signs whatsoever that this is a different regime, prepared to chart a different course and its relationship with the United States.
COOPER: Alan, to you, what is the takeaway from your experience negotiating and working on the deal with Iran?
EYRE: Well, again, I still contend we haven't tried diplomacy in a serious or sustained manner. In the beginning, we tried, we were waiting for Iran to capitulate. Then once the war started, we still thought that our superior military dominance would translate into strategic success. That didn't happen.
I think unfortunately, at this point, it's too late for diplomacy. Even the best diplomats, I don't think it could eke a win out of this, but it is a shame because at some point before the bombs started falling, there was a real chance. If we had been more persistent, consistent, stop, you know, all these social truth media postings and inconsistent red lines, but we lost that opportunity, so, now were stuck where we are, which is this M.C. Escher doom loop of military attacks, de-escalation, more military attacks.
COOPER: And Karim, just in terms of U.S. options, what are they really moving forward? I mean, if you're not having full scale conflict against Iran to try to destroy the regime, how much can be accomplished?
SADJADPOUR: As Alan alluded to, Anderson, there are no silver bullets here. There are no quick fixes. President Trump first thought a quick fix, thinking American bombs can change Iran's politics. That didn't work then. It was an attempt with American incentives, American bribes to try to change Iranian politics. That hasn't worked.
What we know over the last 47 years is that this regime has only agreed to meaningful compromise on perhaps two or three occasions and that is when it feels existential pressure, coupled with kind of a face saving diplomatic exit.
[20:15:16]
And at the moment, I don't think they feel existential pressure, nor is there a face saving diplomatic exit. That's usually a process of many months of diplomacy.
COOPER: Wow. Well, Karim Sadjadpour, thank you. Alan Eyre, Colonel Leighton as well. Thank you so much.
There is breaking news right now. It has been 48 hours since a woman accused Maine Democratic Senate candidate, Graham Platner, of raping her, which we should say he denies categorically.
Ever since, state and national Democrats have been trying to get him to end his campaign, they are still waiting. Now the President has weighed in --
We are just -- he has now announced -- we have just gotten word, and he has now announced that he is, in fact, suspending his campaign. Graham Platner has announced he will be suspending -- suspending his campaign. He has released a video. Let's watch.
BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAHAM PLATNER (D), FORMER MAINE SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Hey everyone, it's Graham Platner here. I think, as many of you know, over the past couple days I have faced
some very serious allegations, and I just want to make it clear, this is all false.
The things that have been claimed did not happen. It's not real.
It has placed an immense amount of weight on me as I think about what needs to happen now? Amy and I are regular people. We were not looking for this experience. We were not looking to get into politics. We had no desire to run for office.
I just want you to think about, like, what you would do as a regular person in a position where a much larger world, large forces were working against you personally to accuse you of the worst thing that a person could do, and it was not remotely true.
I learned about this through press inquiries, with no time to truly respond, no time for investigations before a corporate media system and the political establishment got to act as judge, jury, and executioner.
Accusations are supposed to be the beginning of things, not the end. I think it's really important to understand why this is happening in the timeline. Why this is happening right now, much like October when the first attack started, much like the news that was created the week before the primary, there is a reason that this is happening now.
I only have until July 13th until I am officially the nominee. This was the last week to try to get me off of the ballot, and that's why this is occurring.
It's not the false allegations, though, that have brought us to where we are. It's the fact that they are being used by the political establishment to put structural pressure on us. We live in a political system that is not built for normal people. It is a system that is built structurally to make sure that movements like ours cannot flourish, that if they begin to succeed, they can be crushed.
What we have accomplished here, you made possible, the people of Maine, the volunteers, the voters, the grassroots donors, and I have all the faith in the world that we could win if we could continue to harness that, but the brutal political reality is that they are going to take everything away from us.
Those in power who have the ability to do so, are using these allegations as an excuse to take away all of the things that we need to run a campaign.
[20:20:06]
We are going to lose our ability to fund raise, we are going to lose our ability to access voter data, we are going to lose all of the things that any campaign needs on the basic level simply to function.
Larger organizations, the national level party, the bigger donor networks, they have all committed to spending no money in this race if I'm in it, they would rather see Susan Collins win than have me be the next senator from Maine.
What comes next needs to come from the people, it needs to come from the people of Maine, needs to come from the voters who on June 9th, at a strength of over 150,000, the largest number in the history of Maine primaries, said no to this kind of politics, voted for a politics that would actually represent them, voted against the political system, against the donor class, against the entrenched forces and I'm not asking for how this process is going to work, I'm not trying to dictate to anyone who it should be or how we get there, but I will say this: It needs to be open, transparent, and democratic.
It needs to be reflecting the will and the values of the people that built this movement, the people that showed up on June 9th.
People in D.C. need to stay in D.C. Decisions should not be made in back rooms by people in places of political power. Party apparatchiks are not the ones to make these decisions. These decisions need to be made in the open by the people of this state, the people who got us here.
This is exactly the kind of political system that everyone voted against on June 9th, and for that reason, we need to be assured that it is going to be open and democratic as we move forward.
Amy and I struggled about getting into this last summer, right around this time of year, we sat down and we looked at each other, and we said, if we believe in the kind of politics we think that we do, we have to do this.
Over the past couple days, really, yesterday and today we have had to have that exact same conversation. We believe that for the movement to continue, it can't be me, and for that reason, we are suspending campaign operations.
This is incredibly difficult, because I know that some will think it's an admission of guilt, and it most certainly is not. We're not doing it because of the allegations, we're doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power, and I also feel an immense amount of responsibility to everyone who has worked so hard to get us to where we are.
We went toe to toe with one of the most entrenched political systems in the history of the world, and we won. We beat them on June 9th in overwhelming numbers. We did it the right way. We built a campaign, we engaged in electoral politics, we motivated people, we banded together.
We did it the way that we were told we are supposed to make change, and we won, and now they are not going to let us have it, not if it's me and so we're suspending campaign operations.
I want to make clear, though, I intend to file my paperwork to withdraw. The process needs to assure that what comes next is reflective of the Mainers, who on June 9th turned out and showed that they are desperate for a different kind of politics.
[20:25:12]
It needs to be driven not from back rooms, but by the will of the people, and the decisions that come next must come from that. All we were asking for was health care, was to end the genocide, to use our taxpayer dollars at home to uplift our communities, instead of waging war overseas.
We were asking for a fair system. We were asking for an end to the corruption, the end to the money in politics. We were asking for real democracy, and we did it the right way, and we won, but now the ball is in the court of the Democratic establishment.
My name might be on the ballot right now, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine, and on November 3rd, it needs to belong to the people of Maine, and the next Democratic senator for Maine needs to belong to the people of Maine. They need to reflect the will and the values of the people of this state.
I love this state. I love Maine, and I love Mainers in ways that I can't really describe. I am immensely proud of what we have built, and I have the utmost faith that we will continue to build and we will continue to move towards a better future.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank all of you and keep fighting, we're going to win some day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That's Graham Platner suspending his campaign in a video statement that ran about 11 minutes.
I want to bring in Arlette Saenz, who is in Portland, Maine, along with our panel, journalist and "Lift Our Voices" co-founder, Gretchen Carlson; also executive committee chair of the New York State Democratic Committee, Christine Quinn and Republican strategist, Brad Todd.
Arlette Saenz, let me just start out with you.
What happens now that Graham Platner, he says he is going to file the paperwork. What are the next steps?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, Democratic candidate, Graham Platner announced that he is ending -- dropping his bid for the U.S. Senate here, something that many Democrats had anticipated in the wake of those latest allegations, which until in this video, he also continued to say were false.
Now, there are some structural, logistical things that need to play out over the course of the next two weeks. Platner technically needs to file and drop out of this race by Monday at 5:00 P.M. That is five days away.
At that point, that can then kick start the process once he files his paperwork for Democrats to begin selecting a new replacement nominee. Now, tonight, the Maine Democratic Party announced that they have
actually approved a plan to hold a nominating convention to pick who Graham's replacement would be in this race.
There are still a lot of details that need to be announced as regards to when exactly they would hold that convention, how they would pick the people who would be voting in that convention. But many of these details are still being ironed out within the Maine Democratic Party.
I will note that Platner, in this video, also took a very strong aim against the Democratic establishment. This is something that he really talked about throughout his campaign, positioning himself as this anti-establishment candidate, something that had resonated with a lot of voters here in Maine.
He said that ultimately, that this is a decision who will replace him, that should be left to the voters of Maine. But we saw that many of the things that a candidate is able to tap into when it comes to fundraising, when it comes to money being spent on the airwaves, that had increasingly been pulled away from Platner as these allegations had unraveled, really placing him in this political island of his own.
He lost the support of party leaders in Maine, lost support of many of his endorsers, including Senator Bernie Sanders, and now he has decided to go ahead and end his campaign. Question is who will replace him on the Democratic ticket.
COOPER: Gretchen Carlson, Platner, still denies the allegations. How do you think his statement is going to be received?
What do you what are your thoughts right now?
[20:30:00]
GRETCHEN CARLSON, CO-FOUNDER, LIFT YOUR VOICES: That was a disgusting display of hubris that every woman and man in America should be incredibly upset about. Regular people do not abuse women. It's always somebody else to blame. It's typical cry of assaulters.
His own wife turned in text messages that he was having with other women. He posted on Reddit many years ago that he believed that women should be responsible for when bad things happen to them sexually.
Not to mention the Nazi tattoos and a myriad of other things. He is conflating tonight his candidacy of being popular with being an every kind of person, with accusations of rape. Those are two totally different things. And a real man would stand up and take accountability for what has happened here.
This movement has had immense progress over the last ten years and these women are believed. And I don't know what this display was in this video, but I wouldn't want the endorsement of Graham Platner, whoever the Democrat is, running in this race.
COOPER: Christine, what's your reaction to this statement? CHRISTINE QUINN, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR, NY STATE DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE: I couldn't agree with Gretchen more. I mean, it's so arrogant. It is such an attempt to deflect responsibility to, you know, blame outside forces. It almost leaves you speechless. He clearly had an opportunity to take responsibility, to stand up and really be, as Gretchen said, a responsible adult about the situation, this horrible situation which he has created.
And just like perpetrators do, he blamed it on someone else, on these outside forces. When his own most earnest supporters, Bernie Sanders and Liz Warren, have stepped away from him, of course everyone has stepped away from him. He has been accused of rape, of sexual assault, of a litany of horrible things.
And it just was really nauseating to see him go on and on and on as if this moment is about him when it is in fact about the women that he has abused.
COOPER: Brad, where do you think this race goes from here?
BRAD TODD, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I think, by the way, the race should have gone to this spot a long time ago. I mean, all those things that Gretchen just outlined are exactly true about Graham Platner and they were true before this weekend.
If you look back at The New York Times on June the 4th, he said that if someone broke in his house, he would rape them to show them he was dominant. So we heard he was physically abusive by a corroborated story from a longtime girlfriend. But Democrats in Washington and in Maine just ignored it.
The Sheldon Whitehouse, the Senator from Rhode Island, said, oh, those accusations came from a Republican operator. So he didn't think they were anything to worry about. Graham Platner has been bad all the way from the start. And the only difference was this week -- is on this weekend, there were polling numbers came out that showed he might be losing to Susan Collins.
His cardinal sin to get dumped by the Democratic Party is looking like he might lose. And I think that where this race goes from here, I mean, Maine Democrats are going to pick someone else awful. They're going to pick -- they like Graham Platner because he's bad. They'll pick someone else because he's bad.
Also, that they can defeat Susan Collins, who voted for the Affordable Care Act, voted against its repeal, voted for Ketanji Brown Jackson, voted for Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, and for a bunch of Obama policies. I mean, it's really just come down to raw power. Democrats will tolerate anything for raw power in Maine.
COOPER: Christine, what do you think of what Brad said there?
QUINN: You know, first of all, I think on a day where a federal judge ordered President Trump to pay over $5 million to E. Jean Carroll for sexual assault, I just find it rich. These Republicans and Republican leaders who are now so concerned about sexual assault and rape, when they have stood by President Trump time and time again when he has been accused of horrible sexual misdeeds.
Maybe this is a moment where everyone will start to come together and hold everyone accountable and say no one is above the law, even if they are president of the United States. But I sincerely doubt that we will see that. I think we will continue to see hypocrisy on the part of the Republicans.
COOPER: Gretchen, there have been some Republicans who have said, well, this is going to be an undemocratic process now.
[20:35:00]
They point to the process that brought forth Kamala Harris after President Biden decided to not run. To those who say that, you know, this will be an undemocratic process because voters will not be deciding who the candidate is, what do you say?
CARLSON: I say that I think people are really tired of hearing both parties bickering about what the process is going to be. I mean, I think the bigger thing here is that we should be talking about the success of the movement of the American culture believing women now.
I mean, when I came forward 10 years ago, that wasn't necessarily the case. Thanks to the work of so many survivors who've also had the courage to come forward and the laws that we've been able to pass, these women are being believed. And I have -- you know, you have to have faith in the system that the Maine Democratic Party, they're going to put up who they think that they should put up.
But I think the bigger story here tonight is that we would not be in this place if it was not for the fact that people started believing survivors. And that is where we are today. And all credit to women who have had the courage to come forward and say what happened to them at great expense to backlash and everything else that's going to come with it.
This is a result of the courage of all of those women. And it should be a lesson to young people today that this will not be tolerated, that this is the path forward, that we are going to fix this in this culture, in both parties.
TODD: You know, Gretchen, though, he -- Jenny Racicot (inaudible) --
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Brad, President Trump just tonight said about the Platner allegations, a lot of people say big falsehoods. Is that appropriate?
TODD: Well, no, I believe Lyndsey Fifield and Jenny Racicot. I think that the president is often very quick to jump to people who have been accused of things in their personal lives. I want to know why Democrats didn't believe Lyndsey Fifield a month ago.
Kirsten Gillibrand, who Chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, basically was a catalyst for the MeToo movement, which was a positive thing in our country. She ran off Al Franken out of the U.S. Senate for less than Graham Platner's been accused of. But when it came down to time to maybe put a Senate seat in Maine at risk, she didn't believe Lyndsey Fifield.
And I think a lot of Democratic Senators owe a big apology today to Lyndsey Fifield for the courage she had to come out in June. And I'd like to know why that -- why? Why was Graham Platner someone you were so scared of that you weren't willing to throw him overboard before the primary against Janet Mills?
QUINN: You know, I don't disagree that Lyndsey is owed apologies from Democrats and others, I don't disagree with that. But do you believe E. Jean Carroll? You're so quick to point a finger in this situation, but do you agree with her? Do you agree with what the federal judge said today --?
TODD: I believe in our court system
(CROSSTALK)
QUINN: -- about President Trump?
TODD: I believe in our court system.
(CROSSTALK)
QUINN: That's not an answer.
(CROSSTALK)
TODD: I believe in our court system. We're having a show tonight about Graham Platner. We're having a show about Graham Platner --
QUINN: No.
TODD: -- and how Maine's raw (ph) excuse of power.
QUINN: It's all relevant.
TODD: You're trying to change the subject because this is a really bad day for Democrats who did not believe Lyndsey Fifield's legitimate allegations of abuse last month. And every Democrat who thought maybe Graham Platner could still win (inaudible).
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Brad, you're asking the question -- Brad, you are asking the question -- Brad, you are asking question, why didn't people believe the woman who was apparently Republican who made allegations? I mean, Christine's asking, do you believe E. Jean Carroll?
TODD: Well, E. Jean Carroll had a day in civil court. It's not a criminal charge, but I believe our court system, and I believe our court system works. I'm not -- I didn't -- there was no criminal trial on the E. Jean Carroll case. I don't know if there will be a criminal trial here or not. But I think that there is a situation here where Democrats have told us, Donald Trump's character is terrible. Ken Paxton's character is terrible. And certainly, there are challenges in plenty of cases across the board in both parties on character.
But Graham Platner not only threatened individuals, he threatened up in civic life. Anderson, a year ago, he said don't let a Republican have dinner in peace if they don't agree with you on Medicare for all. He said we have to exercise secondary power and shut down things in our society. That's real power.
Graham Platner has been dangerous from the very jump, and Democrats encouraged him every step of the way.
QUINN: You know, look, there is no debate --
CARLSON: Anderson, let me just say that I agree -- I agree with both Brad and with Christine on this, because when you treat women like this with sexual misconduct, it's about power. It shouldn't be about politics. Lyndsey should have been believed from the beginning.
QUINN: Yes.
CARLSON: But the main seat was incredibly important to Democrats. We all can understand that. We don't agree with it, potentially, but we can all understand that.
[20:40:00]
But politics should never be above power. And in this situation, again, I agree with Brad on that, and I agree with Christine on E. Jean Carroll. We all have to own this in our country, whether we are a Democrat, a Republican, or an Independent.
We have to come together and say that we are going to get rid of people that conduct this kind of behavior, and we're going to believe the women that have the courage to come forward at great costs. That's how we heal this nation.
QUINN: And Gretchen is 100 percent right, and Lyndsey does deserve apologies. There's no question about that. We should all come together as it relates to all of the women who have come out against leaders like Platner and about Trump. And that's really what -- if this moment can build on the great things Gretchen and other survivors have done, then we will have, out of these tragedies, taken a step forward.
COOPER: In terms of the politics moving forward on this, because now he is now going to be -- I mean, he says he's going to be filing papers. We'll see how quickly that is done. Christine, what concerns do you have, if any, about the process moving forward in Maine specifically?
QUINN: You know, I think the Maine State Party, they've been very outspoken today. They are trying to pull together in a very quick time frame a very transparent, inclusive process. We're pulling together the convention and really having candidates kind of stand up to the best degree possible in the state to be viewed and to be, you know, affirmed one way or another by this convention.
They're clearly -- obviously, with the deadline of the 27th, there's not enough time to hold any kind of an election or something like that. Any kind of a process like this, even the ones with the best intentions, has the potential to be criticized and maybe not be as transparent or inclusive as it could be.
So I worry about that, but I really do think the Maine Party is trying to do the right thing. And you're already seeing quite a few people step forward and say they're going to put themselves through the process.
TODD: What challenge they have in Maine is that --
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Christine Quinn, Gretchen Carlson -- sorry, go ahead, Brad.
TODD: Well, what challenge they have is they need to nominate someone moderate. Susan Collins is the most moderate member of the Senate in either party, and conventions tend to nominate ideologues. And I think Graham Platner is going to put his thumb on the scale and try to push his delegates to pick someone who's pretty far to the left. Maine Democrats would be a lot better off if they picked someone in the middle.
COOPER: Brad Todd, Gretchen Carlson, Christine Quinn, Arlette Saenz, thank you.
Ahead tonight, growing questions about the new Air Force One, which the president flew to Turkey on, but did not leave there on. Namely, is it really fit for the job of flying a president and keeping a president safe? And new people facing charges as crews drain the Reflecting Pool for another round of repairs. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:47:25]
COOPER: You're looking at a split screen of President Trump arriving and departing the NATO Summit. On the left side of the screen, he's deplaning from his new Qatari-gifted Air Force One, which was upgraded using hundreds of millions of dollars of American taxpayer money.
On the right, he's departing on the previous Air Force One, the old one, a heavily modified Boeing 747-200 that has highly specialized capabilities, including mid-air refueling.
He announced the switch this morning in a social media post that read in part, "To honor our brave men and women of the military, we are sending the brand new and truly spectacular Air Force One to Mildenhall Air Force Base in the United Kingdom to give them a chance to tour the aircraft. Everybody is so excited and we thought that they should be the first. For old times' sake, we'll be taking the former Air Force One from Turkey to Mildenhall."
He was asked about the switch by reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like you to address speculation that you're leaving Ankara not in the new Air Force One because of security concerns involving Iran. You've spoken today twice about them possibly assassinating you and possibly being successful. Did that concern have something to do with it?
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, I speak about it a lot because the life of a president is very dangerous. I'm number one on the kill list for Iran. They're lovely people, I'm number one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why aren't you flying on the new Air Force One home (ph)?
TRUMP: It's flying to Europe to one of the big bases, two or three of the big bases where we can show it to the people and we'll be going home by normal methods.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, late tonight, the president posted this photo to social media saying, quote, "We just landed and met up with our new Air Force One which was sent earlier to RAF Mildenhall so we could show the wonderful service members as per the entire base's request."
Joining me for more on this is former Secret Service Agent and CNN Law Enforcement Analyst, Jonathan Wackrow. Does this make any sense to you at all that the president would not fly on the brand new plane which he is very pleased with and has been hotly anticipating because he wanted to send it to an Air Force base in the U.K. because the entire base really wanted to see it and tour it?
JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Anderson, good evening. My read on this is that the switch was likely driven by an operational confidence in the new aircraft against the backdrop of these increased hostilities between the U.S. and Iran.
[20:50:00]
So for decision makers, the question became which aircraft gives the president the most secure, the most reliable, and resilient platform while they're overseas. And there is a significant distinction between these two Air Force One aircraft. The legacy aircraft, which is the traditional baby blue color, that was purpose built from the ground up as a presidential mission aircraft. It has advanced capabilities.
It was built from the ground up having the secure communications. You referenced the in-flight refueling capability. But it also has advanced medical suite, basically an operating room. It has hardened electronics and really the ability to support the president during any type of crisis, especially overseas.
So when you talk about where he is right now in the world, this aircraft becomes part of the national security infrastructure. So the decision to switch back to the original VC-25A aircraft with all of these capabilities was really out of operational necessity based upon this threat environment, not because of any other optic.
COOPER: Which makes absolute sense. The president, however, denied that security concerns were to blame for the switch. He also says that he didn't know that reporters were told to pull down their window shades on the flight out of Turkey.
Is this something that -- do you think this will mean that the plane will not be used internationally again or for -- I mean, is it specifically Turkey and specifically during this conflict with Iran?
WACKROW: I think that mission planners from the White House military office will take a closer look at the threat environment that these aircraft are going into and really making a protective decision. And when you think about that, from a protective standpoint, the safest aircraft isn't necessarily the newest one or the most luxurious. It's the one that best fits the mission at hand based upon the threat environment and has the capabilities to address any type of incident.
Now, we don't know exactly what happened here, but to make such a significant shift in aircraft and platform seemingly last minute meant that there was some sort of intelligence that was feeding into this decision that necessitated bringing the -- utilizing the previous aircraft as now the primary just for this movement from Turkey to the United Kingdom.
COOPER: Jonathan Wackrow, really appreciate your time tonight. Thank you very much.
Up next, more Breaking News. New charges in the Reflecting Pool investigation as crews drain the water again.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:56:27]
COOPER: We have more Breaking News tonight. Three more people have been charged with damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Crews have also begun to drain it again. You likely remember the refurbishing of the pool has been a big makeover project for the president who praised the new bottom for being American flag blue. But eventually, the water appeared more green because of algae blooms.
For more on all of it, I'm joined now by Sunlen Serfaty. So what exactly is going on at the Reflecting Pool now?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, it may not look like it, but the pool is starting to be drained. And that's according to the Interior Secretary, Doug Burgum, who said on Sunday is the day that it started to be drained after that fireworks show here on Saturday evening in Washington, D.C. But as you can see behind me, there is still plenty of water in the pool.
And it's unclear if there's more draining to happen or if this is the extent of the draining that will be done. Previously, the administration had said that this pool could potentially be partially be drained and still make the renovation and repairs, this next round of renovation and repairs that this pool needed because of all the problems and because of, in their words, the vandalism that happened at this pool.
And we heard from the Interior Secretary in a podcast earlier this weekend. He said as far as the scope of what happens next, he said drain the water, clean up the firework stuff, repair the vandalism that was done, fill it back up again but did not give specifics as far as a timeline or anything for this project going forward.
Meantime, we just learned this evening, Anderson, that three people have been additionally criminally charged here in D.C. because of damage at the Reflecting Pool that happened in mid-June -- June 20th. According to the court documents that we just viewed this evening, three people are facing misdemeanor charges of destroying property and causing damage worth less than $1,000.
And notably, in one of those court documents, it says a woman had a piece of liner in her purse that the police found. Also, another man was charged because he was taking a bit of that paint chip and putting it on his person and walking away. And those people, Anderson, they have been ordered to stay away from this Reflecting Pool until their next round in court later in August.
COOPER: And there's an update on the Kennedy Center tonight. What do you know about that? And, yeah, is the tarp still up on the Kennedy Center?
SERFATY: The TARP is still indeed up, Anderson, over at the Kennedy Center, where it has been up since the Kennedy Center was ordered to take down President Trump's name on June 12th.
Now, this movement by the court today is certainly a setback for Trump. It is a setback for him as Chairman of the Kennedy Center Board. A federal appeals court today for the second time said it would not reverse that court decision to order President Trump to take down his name.
Now, the Trump administration, they had argued that without President Trump's name on the side of the Kennedy Center that it really set back their efforts at fundraising. But the court essentially today, this three-panel judge, did not buy it. They said that the administration failed to provide any evidence that the center's fundraising efforts would be harmed if Trump's name was not included.
Now, this, of course, follows a very tumultuous time for the Kennedy Center. They are likely heading into a big board meeting next week where they have certainly been the subject of a lot of news headlines and a lot of controversy. And the center's president really laid out to board members in advance of this next week their options here that they will be discussing what the path is going forward.
[21:00:00]
But as of now, Anderson, that tarp does still remain on the Kennedy Center.
COOPER: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, appreciate the update. That's it for us. The news continues. "The Source with Kaitlan Collins" starts now. I'll see you tomorrow.
