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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
U.S. Launches New Strikes On Iran As Blockade Of Strait Resumes; Trump Threatens U.S. Strikes On Iranian Power Plants, Bridges If No Negotiations; Lack Of Body Cams Fuels Uncertainty About Recent ICE Shootings; Trump Speech To Focus On "Fair Elections" Amid Baseless Fraud Claims; Washington Post: Trump's Sons Invest Heavily In Defense Tech As Father's Administration Pour's Money In; Reflecting Pool Drained For Repairs After Renovation; "Miracle On Hudson" Capt. Sullenberger Reveals Alzheimer's Diagnosis. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired July 14, 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: Imprisoned in Russia right now. Well, Marc Fogel, it is a great pleasure to finally meet you. I will admit, as we covered it, we never knew if we would ever have that, have this incredible opportunity. So, that is a brightness for us and I thank you so much.
MARC FOGEL, AMERICAN DETAINED IN RUSSIA FOR YEARS: And obviously, the pleasure is mine because I am. Thank you so much.
BURNETT: And thank you all so much, incredible to actually see him back. Thank you for joining us, AC360 begins now.
[20:00:32]
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT AND HOST: A new fourth night of strikes in Iran and a new threat far more from the Commander in Chief.
John King here, in for Anderson. And we begin with the President's latest message for Tehran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We're going to hit them very hard tonight. We're going to hit them very hard tomorrow night. We're going to hit them very hard the night after. And then next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants, next week comes the bridges. We're going to knock out all their power plants. We're going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: That's the President tonight on Fox News. He said the air campaign would continue, "until I say it's enough" and he said this when asked to rule out invading Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: I don't want to say that either, but I would say no, if I thought it was appropriate, I'd say sometimes you need a ground campaign, but we have other people that will do the ground campaign for us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: As he spoke, a fourth day and night of air strikes underway. You see some of the pictures there as before. CENTCOM says U.S. forces are targeting Iran's capacity for threatening vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media reports Bandar Abbas, Kish Island and other areas in Southern Iran have been hit in this latest round, and Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps claims to have launched missiles and drones against American forces in Bahrain and Kuwait, where two U.S. officials tell us patriot anti-aircraft missiles are being used in spite of their growing scarcity in the U.S. inventory.
The American Naval Blockade also resumed late today, it's a lot to digest, new strikes, talks of them extending through next week that sometimes you need a ground campaign line and there was still more.
A lot of it, the opposite, just the opposite of what the President said just yesterday, which was just to refresh your memory, that when this is all over and the United States controls the Strait of Hormuz, that the United States "... will be reimbursed at the rate of 20 percent on all cargo ships for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the world."
Again, he said, will be reimbursed and a few hours after posting this, the President said just about the same thing on camera.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Yes, I want to be reimbursed because we're protecting a very rich portion of the world. We're spending money. And so, what we've done is we are going to be reimbursed for protection. We're protecting by the countries that we're helping.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Today, though, a big never mind countries will not pay a 20 percent fee for protection as yesterday, Trump said. Here's how, today, Trump explained it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I was called by different people, different countries, Kings and Emirs and all of the people that we all know and we all love and they've been frankly, they've been very strong partners. And they said we'd love to do it a different way. We'd love to invest in the United States with billions and billions of dollars, and continue our record setting because we there's never been a time like this for the United States, with the factories, with the plants, with everything else.
And we would like to invest tremendously in the United States as opposed to charging a fee. And I like that, actually, because I don't think anybody should be able to charge a fee for the for the Strait or for any other strait relationship in terms of other sections of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: So, there you have it. The tolls are off, at least for today. And if Trump history is any guide, be very, very, very, very, very wary of all those promises of billions and billions in new investments.
We start off tonight with our chief White House correspondent and the anchor of "The Source," Kaitlan Collins. Kaitlan, a lot from the President today, including ramping up his rhetoric against Iran. What does that tell you about any possible diplomatic avenue?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN'S CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT AND THE ANCHOR OF "THE SOURCE": It doesn't seem to be good right now. We have not gotten any indication that there is a real effort that's working to get the talks back on track. Now, the President in the past, John, over the last couple of months of this, as you know, has used language like what he was saying there to Fox News as a negotiating tactic to try to get Iran back to the table by saying that, yes, going after, excuse me, going after their power plants is under consideration and is something that he might do starting as soon as next week as he was threatening there.
Now, before, when the President has made these kinds of threats. The questions about possible war crimes has been brought up too many of his own senior aides who have been asked about that. And so, it just kind of reveals the negotiating tactic that the President uses, but also the fact that he also follows up on these threats, as we are now on night four of these renewed strikes after the White House told Congress that, yes, the war is formally back on.
And so, it remains to be seen if this is just another example of the President using that tough language as a negotiating tactic, or if he actually plans to follow through on it, given so far in the negotiations and the tactics have not been working.
[20:05:28]
KING: And a big about-face yesterday, the President posted and then said on camera, we are going to have tolls or a fee at the Strait of Hormuz today, a big reversal. What are your sources telling you about that about-face?
COLLINS: Well, it wasn't some well-defined, thought-out kind of announcement from the President when he said they were going to charge this 20 percent toll on cargo going through the strait, which initially a lot of people were asking, who exactly is going to pay that? And that's why when I asked him in the oval office yesterday, those questions and he floated the idea of gulf allies, these gulf nations paying this I mean, many of them were caught off guard by this. None of them had publicly committed to doing so or even really commented on it after the President said as much yesterday. And it really sparked basically a 24-hour scramble inside the White House over one, the President announcing that there were going to be tolls, something that the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and the Vice President, J.D. Vance, have spoken out before because the White House is concerned, was that it would give credence and credibility to Iran's previous suggestions that they're going to charge tolls for ships that come through the Strait of Hormuz.
The argument from the White House has been, so far, no one should be charging tolls or any kind of fees for anything going through any international waterways.
And so, it never seemed to be a real plan in the first place, because there was no real mechanism for how exactly that would work, which is why it was pretty unsurprising when the President called it off today and then cited, you know, these investments, which, as you noted, is something people should be skeptical of because we've seen those pledges before. They're not really well defined, and it's not clear. But the one thing that the Gulf Nations are happy about is that the President has backed off of that announcement from yesterday.
KING: For now. Kaitlan Collins, appreciate the great reporting there. And join Kaitlan, of course, at the top of the hour for "The Source".
And joining us now to discuss further, former Senior U.S. Diplomat Alan Eyre. He was a member of the team that negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Also, the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East, Dana Stroul. Alan, I want to start with you. The President said a lot today. One of the things he said, if you listen to that Fox interview, was not ruling out a ground campaign, saying, "sometimes you need a ground campaign" we have other people who would do that for us, do the ground campaign for us.
Number one, is that bluster to get around back to the negotiating table or with a different posture at the negotiating table, in your view? And I assume the other people, if this is real, would-be Israel.
ALAN EYRE, FORMER SENIOR U.S. DIPLOMAT: I don't know if it would be Israel, John or the Kurds. We all remember that originally part of his war plans that Israel pitched to him were Kurds acting up in Western Iran and moving East. So, I don't know.
But to answer your original question, yes, I assume it's bluster, or at least ideas that came to his mind while he was speaking. I think one thing we've all seen during the course of this Iran war is that our President lacks executive function sometimes when talking to the press. And so, he says things that perhaps upon reflection, he doesn't really mean.
KING: Well, yesterday it was the tolls, maybe tomorrow it will be the ground today and tomorrow to clean it up the ground part of it. We'll come back to that.
Dana, the President also threatening to escalate strikes again, as he's done in the past, mentioning power plants, mentioning bridges, and not the first time he has threatened these targets. Do you see a strategy here? Where is he trying to go and how do you think Iran will respond or do they get at some point, does Iran get immune to what the President says because he keeps saying it?
DANA STROUL, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE MIDDLE EAST: I think Iran is already immune to what the President says. He keeps saying things like this, and he really has no plan here. So, escalating to civilian infrastructure, first of all, opens up the aperture for Iran to respond in kind.
They're already attacking tankers again in the Gulf to expand again for them to civilian infrastructure across the Gulf, Jordan and Israel would be terrible for the region after how much it has suffered this year.
And secondly, it sets up the United States to possibly be complicit in the commission of war crimes and violations of the law of armed conflict. If the United States is targeting infrastructure that is for civilian use. So, no plan here, no agenda.
KING: Alan, as we mentioned at the top of the show, the President walking back, essentially just abandoning his demand that the 20 percent tolls on 20 percent of the value of the goods passing through.
I assume that never made any sense to you, but the question I'm trying to answer is, where are we? This is, we are talking about things laying out goals, laying out potential avenues out that, in my view, seem to have little to do with why the President started this in the first place.
EYRE: Exactly right, John. I mean, quite simply, the U.S. administration is flailing. It is trying failed policies. Again, incremental attacks on Iran and its coastal facilities will not get Iran to change its red lines -- closer to U.S. red lines. And again, we do not have sufficient military force to keep the Strait open if Iran uses threats and the rockets, drones, fast attack craft to threaten maritime traffic in the Strait because the maritime insurance industry, ship owners, cargo owners will not risk it.
So, I don't know what President Trump is doing. He might have a plan, or he might just be going back to his greatest hits, where he blows things up and says, we sunk the Navy, we destroyed the Air Force. Isn't that wonderful?
[20:10:46]
KING: The data that gets to the point, and it's a matter of war and peace. And so, there are times when you almost tempted to make a joke about this, but you can't. You can't because of the war and peace, the safety of our troops, the lives of the people of Iran, the geopolitical economic effect, and more and more and more. But to the to the point there, the President doesn't like the idea of a fee to translate -- a fee he proposed. The strait must stay open, otherwise others will do the same thing. Sometimes at the White House, they say Trump's unpredictability is his brilliance. He keeps people off guard. Is there anything in the inconsistent things he says almost on a daily basis, sometimes on an hourly basis, that you see as a strategy?
STROUL: Again, there is no strategy here. One could argue that when it comes to adversaries and enemies like Iran, unpredictability coming from Washington, D.C. could keep them on their toes. But we've seen this play over and over and over. And so now, when President Trump speaks, nobody believes him.
And furthermore, the challenge here is not just the signaling were doing to our adversaries like Tehran, it's to our partners in the Middle East who are under the receiving end of really serious missile and drone attacks every single day. And for them to try to calibrate what their security strategies are going to be, given this whiplash from Washington is only further going to erode and undermine the ability of the United States to work with what's left of our alliances and partnerships.
KING: Alan, some video released today by Iran's semiofficial Fars News Agency, careful about the credibility of that. But it purports to show multiple drone and missile launchers unclear their intended target. But we do know that Bahrain intercepted incoming Iranian fire today, according to an adviser to Bahrain's King. The other, the Gulf States are complaining Iran should not be attacking us. What is Iran's strategy here if these what you're seeing right there is actually true.
EYRE: Well, Iran's strategy is simple. It wants -- it's threatening escalation. Right now, it's attacking some of the more vulnerable Gulf Countries. You'll notice it's not attacking the UAE or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but it's attacking what it calls U.S. Military bases in Oman and Jordan and Guthrie, which it said it will do.
This again, Iran has been telegraphing its strategy. It said it's threatened gulf countries that if you side with the U.S., we will attack U.S. Military bases because we see you as complicit. But the key point is they still have sufficient escalatory space. They have not yet resumed attacks on GCC energy facilities, which they could well do if the U.S. starts doing these war crimes that Dana talked about power plants, bridges, desalination plants.
KING: A lot from the President today in words. But at the end of the day, more questions, I think, than answers. Alan Eyre, Dana Stroul, appreciate the time, both of you, thanks so much.
Up next for us, two key developments in the wake of those deadly ICE shootings during traffic stops one in Houston, one in Maine, one suspending those stops. The other news is on body cams, which officers in both of these killings were not wearing.
Also, the President has been talking about the prime-time speech he plans to make Thursday night on election security. The question is, what exactly will he be announcing?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:18:26]
KING: Two very big policy shifts from ICE today. Here's the first, under pressure from lawmakers and in the wake of two ICE related fatal shootings in just days, the Trump administration ordering the agency to suspend most traffic stops. The Border Czar, Tom Homan explained the decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM HOMAN, U.S. BORDER CZAR: It's not a policy change. It's a temporary pause. It's a short pause just to make sure we're doing the right thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: That pause, he says, it's not a change. That pause, he says, would last about two weeks. And another big development late today, a DHS spokesperson tells us the rollout of body cameras to agents is now, "a top priority".
Neither the agents involved in last week's killing in Houston nor the ones yesterday in Biddeford, Maine, were issued body cameras. This and all the rest of the footage of Johan Duran Guerrero's last moments alive comes from unofficial sources. Duran Guerrero was 26. He had a partner and a three-year-old daughter.
He was authorized to work in the United States with two jobs and a Social Security number. More now from CNN's Jason Carroll.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Maine lawmakers say there are still many unanswered questions about why ICE officers use deadly force when they stopped Johan Duran Guerrero at this intersection early Monday in Biddeford, Maine.
REP. CHELLIE PINGREE (D-ME): Homeland Security was saying that the officer filled for their life. That's what they always say that the individual weaponized their car. But then we heard 12 hours later in the day that they feared for public safety.
This man was shot four times through the windshield. So, there was an ICE officer shooting him directly in the face.
CARROLL (voice over): Democratic Maine Congressman Jared Golden posted on X, "Unfortunately, the ICE officers involved in this incident were not wearing body cameras, which could have helped to establish those necessary facts. DHS needs to make this a priority.
DHS released a statement blaming Democrats for government shutdowns that they say delayed the rollout of body cameras, adding body cameras have been deployed to more than half of the field offices, with the remaining half to receive them in the next 60 days. Body worn cameras were absent in both deadly ICE involved shootings in Maine and Texas, though $20 million in funding has been allocated for them, and the department has pledged to roll them out for the past five months. That is little comfort for those calling for accountability and transparency.
[20:20:48]
MONTY ELLISON, LIVES NEAR SCENE OF SHOOTING: People have to realize this is not normal and it cannot become normal at all.
PEGGO HODES, VISITED SCENE OF SHOOTING: This is murder with impunity, and this could be happening to any one of us, any one of us. He's 26- year-old with a child. He has a legitimate reason for being here. He had Social Security, it's horrific.
CARROLL (voice over): As protests continue, CNN is learning more about the man who was killed. His father told BLU Radio, a popular station in Colombia. His son was working as a cleaner and a delivery driver, hoping to build a future for his family.
OMAR DURAN, FATHER OF JOAN SEBASTIAN GUERRERO (through translator): He has his wife and his three-year-old girl. He is a very hard-working person, a very loving person and a person who loves his family very much. His daughter, his little three-year-old daughter, he worked for them.
CARROLL (voice over): A neighbor telling CNN, Duran Guerrero was a good husband and father.
CARLOS, FRIEND AND NEIGHBOR OF JOHAN SEBASTIAN DURAN GUERRERO SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE (through translator): He wasn't a bad guy and the speculation that he was a criminal and had an order of deportation, that's a total lie.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: And Jason Carroll joins me now. Jason, tell us what else you're learning about this victim.
CARROLL: Well, we're hearing a lot about Duran Guerrero coming from his father, who talked about his work ethic. He said that this is someone who had a work permit, that he had legal documents. He talked about, John, how he would get up early for work, to work one job, and then very late in the day, he would go and work as a delivery man.
And, you know, we heard from some folks on social media who say in the area they actually remember him being a delivery man because he was so friendly.
Also, we can tell you, John, that his mother talked about her son as well, saying the following, saying, you went to search for the American dream and that same country ended your life. She followed up with, "Fly high, my angel" -- John.
KING: Jason Carroll, appreciate the great reporting. Thank you very much.
And joining us now for more on this, the former Acting Director of ICE, John Sandweg and Chuck Wexler, he's the Executive Director of the Police Executive Research Forum and author of a 2013 report on U.S. Customs and Border Patrols use of Deadly Force, a report that made policy recommendations, including ones to relating shooting at vehicles.
Gentlemen, thank you both for being here. John, let me start with you. What do you make of ICE deciding to pause or suspend vehicle stops a tactic we've seen, a frequently used to apprehend immigrants, but also, sadly, frequently leading to tragedy.
JOHN SANDWEG, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, US IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: Yes, John, absolutely necessary, right. And I have to give credit to Secretary Mullin for implementing this change.
John, traffic stops are inherently are very difficult and I think Chuck can speak to this better than I can. But I think he would tell you that it's one of the most dangerous things that law enforcement do.
But it's not something that ICE has historically done. The vast majority of ICE is immigration arrests have actually been of taking people who are already in someone else's custody, transferring them from state and local jails into ICE custody, or taking them from Border Patrol stations.
Really, this is something we saw an uptick on during the Trump administration, in part because the border numbers have dropped, in part because the administration is trying to drive up these total numbers of immigration arrests. But the simple reality is the numbers don't lie. Right? Weve had 18 -- at least 18 shootings, all involving vehicular stops, five fatalities.
Theres a direct correlation there and it was critical that the Secretary put a pause on it and at least take a deeper look and see why is this happening and what can we do to prevent this from reoccurring? So, I do applaud them for this decision.
KING: But Chuck, we heard Tom Homan say it's a pause, not a policy change. Is it a pause just because of what's happened in the last several days, this obviously, we've been through this now for months and months and months? Should they be, should, they have been thinking about this before these tragedies, number one? And do you believe it should be a permanent change?
CHUCK WEXLER, AUTHOR OF U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION USE OF FORCE REVIEW: Well, first of all, I think it is a good idea that they pause. But if they simply pause and continue to do what they've been doing, that's not the answer. What they should do is they should look at their policy and we did make recommendations in 2013. It was about Border Patrol and a strict prohibition against deadly force using motor vehicles. So, I would say take a look at their policy.
Look, in 1972, the New York City Police Department had 950 shootings. Half of those were shooting at motor vehicles. Two teenagers died in 1972 and in 1972, Patrick V. Murphy, then the commissioner, said, you know what? We need a strict prohibition against shooting at motor vehicles. The next year, they cut in half and that policy has been the standard in many municipal police departments.
I think there's a different way to accomplish what ICE wants to do. I think they should step back. I think they should strengthen their policy. I think they should look at their training. Body worn cameras are important, but they won't prevent this. They may help document what happens, but so I think I applaud them for pausing. But don't go back and use the same policy and expect different results.
[20:25:59]
KING: John, do you see any other reason, rationale that this is happening more again, than this reported quota to get 2,000 arrests a day out of ICE? And should that be paused and reconsidered as well, any specific number?
SANDWEG: No, John, absolutely right. Quotas are a disaster in immigration enforcement. Every time the administration puts ICE under pressure, we start seeing things like this. There's a reason for it, John, right. It drives ICE, first of all, in terms of the quality of the immigration enforcement, just by nature of the way that works is that, generally speaking, criminals, when they're at large are much harder to find. It's much more tedious, slower work than our individuals, who are just run of the mill economic migrants or individuals who are asylum seekers, people, you know, frankly, people like Mr. Guerrero here.
And so, I think, look, every time we've seen this administration put these quotas on ICE, that's when we saw things like Minneapolis happen. That's when we saw them reverting to tactics that the agents themselves put the agents, frankly, in a dangerous position when they're in uncomfortable circumstances like these vehicular stops. So, I would hope, I would hope that the administration is truly committed to doing some of these policies, like worse first and going after the worst of the worst, and everything we're hearing about that will lift these quotas.
Instead, let the agents go, do what they do best, try to put in the time and effort to find those individuals who do pose a threat to public safety, get them off the streets and we can so we can work on the rest of our immigration troubles. You know, down the line.
KING: Chuck, it was after the fatal shootings that John just mentioned, Minneapolis back in January. Kristi Noem was the DHS secretary at the time, and she vowed this is on February 2nd, to, "rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras to DHS law enforcement across the country."
In April, the funding for those cameras was passed, but the distribution of those cameras, the DHS says, is still ongoing. Today, they announced a plan to have an officer in each arrest team wearing a camera as they work towards equipping every officer, every officer as the goal, ultimately, but one on each team at least will have one. Should it be taking this long?
WEXLER: Well, no, it shouldn't take this long. And in fact, I mean, American policing have implemented body worn cameras. Interesting thing about body worn cameras is when they were first introduced to American Police, they pushed back. Now you can't take body worn cameras away from municipal police because what they do is they show exactly what happened.
And I think if these officers really feared for their life, then if they had body worn cameras that might defend what they did. But without body worn cameras, it leaves a lot of questions. So, take a pause, look at your policy and start to implement body-worn cameras. And don't do any of these operations unless you have them.
KING: Yes. If you're if you're a good cop, a good law enforcement officer, the cameras your friend. It backs up what you're doing on the ground there. And to that point, to that point, John, as someone who used to run ICE, obviously, they could use the body cameras. It would help the good officers on the ground.
It would help them back up on the cases where there are sadly a threat to their lives. They have to do something. Are there other training changes, policy changes you think could be beneficial right now to protect both the officers and the public?
SANDWEG: Well, John, as Chuck said, look, if vehicular stops can be a of the ICE repertoire going forward, let's take a step back. Take a real hard look at the training that the officers are getting, identify why this has been happening to that extent, and then remediate it, right.
Generally speaking, I think for what ICE has historically done, John, I can't remember. I was thinking back on this day, I don't have any data in front of me, but I can't remember a single shooting, ICE shooting during my time. You know, certainly during my five years at DHS working on ICE issues. Not much less 18 and a-year-and-a-half, right.
Certainly, you know, training is going to be a key part of any fix here, as chuck indicates. Look at the policy. Can we limit these traffic stops only when is this absolutely essential? But more importantly, let's make sure that the officers themselves can do this safely. So, they're not in a position where they feel like they are, you know, a threat of imminent, serious bodily harm that requires them to use force.
These are tragedy, they're tragedy not only for the subjects, not only for their families, but also really for the officers themselves and the agency itself and it behoove the agency to fix this problem before we start using vehicular stops.
KING: John Sandweg, Chuck Wexler, gentlemen, appreciate it very much. Thank you so much.
And up next for us, the big announcement on elections that President Trump is promising for a prime-time speech Thursday night. What we know about the specifics and what our political panel makes of it all.
Also ahead, a live report from the reflecting pool. Once again dry and once again under repair. Is there any evidence of a 300-yard slash in its liner that the President claims vandals made?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:30:38]
KING: President Trump says he will address the nation Thursday night. He says one topic will be election security, an issue on which the President has a very long history of telling lies. Here's what the President told reporters earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's really, really big news. And our country has to shape up, but that's what we're going to be talking about. Thursday is, it doesn't get bigger because without free and fair elections, you don't have a country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:35:20]
KING: We are, it's a Tuesday night. We are 16 weeks now from the midterm elections. And at the moment, the President is not getting his way when it comes to election changes he wants. For months, he's called on Senate Republicans to pass what he calls the SAVE America Act that is stalled up on Capitol Hill.
That bill would clear the way for a strict new voter ID law and proof of citizenship requirements for voting. The President also wants most mail-in voting to end. And, of course, he has repeatedly, repeatedly and repeatedly shared unfounded claims that there was widespread voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to then candidate and President Joe Biden.
Now, the President's lies certainly contributed to the January 6 attack on the Capitol and even to today, he keeps making the false claim.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This year, they rigged an election. They rigged it like they've never rigged an election before.
The election was rigged and stolen.
The election was rigged. That election was rigged.
The radical left Democrats rigged the presidential election in 2020.
And, by the way, that election was totally rigged.
It was a rigged election, but we did it again and we did -- we got it right. Too big to rig.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Joining me now to discuss, Former Senior Adviser to President Obama, David Axelrod, our CNN Political Commentator S.E. Cupp and Former White House Spokesman for President George W. Bush, Pete Seat.
David Axelrod, I want to start with you. I don't want to revisit the rigged, rigged, rigged which happens to be not true, not true, not true. The question is why? Why? Is this to pressure the Senate to pass the SAVE Act? The votes aren't there. Or is this to lay some predicate for come November if the Democrats take the House and maybe even the Senate to say no, not legitimate?
DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I hope I'm wrong but I think the -- that is the explanation. I think -- you know, I do think the President does like revisiting 2020. That's part of his repertoire. I do think he wants to pressure the Senate. I don't think the Senate's going to cooperate.
I hope that what we see on Thursday night is not the beginning of laying the foundation for claiming some sort of emergency and trying to arrogate to himself authorities that he doesn't have. But I have a very strong feeling that the most important battles of the midterm elections may take place not in the precincts, but in the courts.
KING: I hope that's not the case. S.E., the Georgia senator, Democratic Jon Ossoff, who's up for reelection this year, launched a preemptive rebuttal of President Trump's speech. He argues that if the President is going to go out there and say, you know, the elections were rigged, it's the Republicans are going to get hurt. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JON OSSOFF (D), GEORGIA: He is reheating debunked conspiracy theories and launching bizarre new lies because he fears losing these midterm elections. Privately, most elected Republicans in this building think the President has lost it and is dooming them to dismal losses this fall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Georgia, especially, Republicans have actually stood up to President Trump. Do you think Senator Ossoff is right? He's a Democrat, but is this good for Republicans that the President's talking about this, or is he right? It's bad.
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, of course it's not. And very little of what the President has been doing is good for Republicans who are up in November. But I will say, I think while there's some psychology here, he is obviously obsessed with this idea that he lost an election in 2020. He lost it fair and square, but he wants to call it rigged. That's part of his psyche.
But I also think there's a -- there is a pragmatism to this. I actually don't think he wants the SAVE Act to be passed. I think it's more useful to him unpassed, because if he passes it, if he gets that legislation and Republicans lose big time in November, he can't say it was rigged when he got the legislation to keep it from being rigged.
So I actually think this is a performance. This is theater. What we're going to see on Thursday is going to be more theater and performance to condition the environment to expect rigged elections for when Republicans lose. But I actually think he's almost let go of the SAVE Act and he's using it more as a rhetorical flourish.
KING: Rhetorical flourish. So, Pete, if that's the case, does it serve any purpose, number one, to keep talking about this? Number two, during a primetime dress in the middle of a war in which there was a pretty good inflation report about last month out today, the Republicans could use a little good news. But that war is -- the war that the, you know, kinetic activity has resumed, and so you would expect prices to go back up again. I guess it's long way of asking the simple question, why?
PETE SEAT, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN FOR PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, a primetime address carries a lot of weight. And I think it's fair game to talk about election security and this midterm election cycle. How do we safeguard our elections? How do we fight cybersecurity threats and foreign influence threats?
[20:40:03]
I think that's all fair game for the President to talk about. If he relitigates the past, not so much, unless there's new evidence, which I don't believe that there will be any new evidence to present in this speech. But I think a lot of voters and Americans who watch this, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, if there's anything we can agree on, and it's nearly impossible for us to agree on something these days, but we want a president, an administration, a Congress, a government that focuses on the issues that matter to us in the moment and the challenges that we're going to face in the future.
They don't want us looking to the past. So the economy, gas prices, the conflict with Iran, that's what Americans are talking about today. And if the President doesn't lead with those issues and addressing those issues, a lot of people are going to feel like it was a bait and switch.
KING: David, you've been in the Oval Office with the President in good times and tough times in election years and non-election years. A primetime address to the nation is usually about something big. The President wants to talk about election security.
AXELROD: Yes.
KING: As we're having this conversation tonight, it's the fourth consecutive night of new attacks on Iran. So the ceasefire --
AXELROD: Yes.
KING: -- is gone, and we're back in that. The President changed his mind, reversed himself on a plan for tolls in Strait of Hormuz yesterday. I mean, just put the partisan hat aside for a second, think presidential adviser. We're in the middle of a war, a military conflict. I don't know the legal term for it, the technical term for it. The President wants to talk about election security. Make any sense?
AXELROD: Not to me. And, John, you've traveled all over the country. You've talked to voters. I would guess that not one of them has raised this as their primary concern about the -- in these midterm elections. The economy is the concern. The war is a concern, but it's a concern largely because it has raised people's costs and they know that.
And they see that as doing the opposite of what the President promised, which was to lower their costs. And he's not really created a great rationale or sense of strategy around that. So, no, I think to come -- one of the reasons he's in the political situation he's in is because people don't think he's focused on the thing that is most important to them and the thing that he promised he was going to make his priority, which was the economy.
So I think that if he goes on there with some, you know, conspiracy theory stuff about elections, I think that he is going to exacerbate his problem.
KING: David's talking about people out there not understanding what this is about. You have a lot of Republican friends including, you know, those who work for and are elected Republicans. I talked to them and they're a little disconnected here. I'm going to try to be polite. From -- the President could have had a big signing ceremony for this housing bill.
CUPP: Yes.
KING: He could have put 10 vulnerable Republicans behind him and said, you know, thank you. Thank you for doing something on a bipartisan basis that helps people --
CUPP: Yes.
KING: -- could have handed out some pens, could have made some campaign ads.
CUPP: Yes.
KING: That would have helped the Republicans. And he's doing this.
CUPP: Right. I covered the 2024 election every day inside of a swing state. And we went out and we talked to voters just like you do, to a person, to a swing state. Every voter talked about housing. It was a huge issue of the three legged stool issues that drove the 2024 election. Housing was right there.
And Republicans going home to their constituents don't have a lot of good news to talk about. They can't talk about a good economy. The war is still raging. There's no end in sight. This would have been such a gift to his Republican members. And he denied him that again to push this election grievance bill that they are not into that, again, I don't think he actually wants signed. I think he wants to leave it out there so that he can complain about it when when Republicans lose.
KING: S.E. Cupp, David Axelrod, Pete Seat, appreciate your time. Obviously, we'll continue the conversation as 16 weeks to Election Day from tonight.
Up next for us, a report on the kind of business. Billions of dollars worth President Trump's sons are doing with their dad's government. And later, what's being revealed about the damage and who or what might have done it now that the reflecting pool is drained?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:48:17]
KING: Turns out the President isn't the only Trump doing big business. Since his return to office, Don Jr. and Eric have also been busy this last year and a half. New reporting in The Washington Post explains how.
Here's the headline, "Trump's sons invest heavily in defense tech as father's administration pours money in." That report details a portfolio of defense technology startups the brothers have put together and the government business those firms have done. Most of it since their dad returned to office.
Quoting now, "The companies have collectively generated at least $3.2 billion in direct government business since the sons invested and an additional $3.1 billion in future contract options. Some have gained coveted spots on short lists of preapproved contractors that can bid exclusively on up to nearly $200 billion in future work."
The Post's Elizabeth Dwoskin shares the byline on this story and she joins us now. Elizabeth, it is fantastic reporting for somebody out there who says, oh, everybody does this or oh, you know, everybody's corrupt. Breakdown exactly how the President's sons have benefited from their investments in these defense tech companies that then get these big government contracts.
ELIZABETH DWOSKIN, SILICON VALLEY CORRESPONDENT, THE WASHINGTON POST: Sure. Well, right now like almost immediately after Trump is reelected, you see his sons diving deeply into defense tech. It's not an area that they had had prior experience in but you could see it was an area that the Trump administration was poised to shake up.
I've been tracking the rise of defense technology in Silicon Valley for the last couple of years and you knew that Trump and -- was going to change procurement practices at the Pentagon to really favor this new crop of next generation warfare companies drones, AI enabled companies in Silicon Valley.
[20:50:01] And what you've seen is that they've done just that. And that has enormously benefited many of these startups including many of the startups that the Trump sons have invested in.
KING: We've seen for months and months reporting President, his family profiting off the presidency billions of dollars in the crypto licensing deals over here. You're talking about now investments. You start a company and you get involved in defense tech stand up. Is there a difference between the two? Is it trading on your name, insider access, maybe insider information?
DWOSKIN: Well I don't have any evidence that the Trump -- that either Trump's son Eric or Don Jr. have intervened to help their companies. And I do think that some of these policies were already underway. Some of these changing procurement at the Pentagon like for instance the Trump -- Trump sons are very invested in the drone industry.
And at the end of the Biden administration bought the Congress created a law which said the military could no longer buy Chinese made drones. So that was already giving a head start to the drone industry. But what you do have is the same month that Trump is reelected.
You have Don Jr. announcing that he's going to become a partner at a venture capital firm called 1789 Capital. It's a very politically connected firm that touts patriotic capitalism, bringing manufacturing jobs back, shoring up the U.S. supply chain.
And what you do see is that since Don Jr. became a partner and since Trump won, that firm which was a pretty little-known firm, now has over $3 billion in assets. And they were able to use that money, that flood of cash. Don Jr. joined, and they got flooded with cash.
They don't disclose from whom. But now they use that money to get in on a lot of hot companies, including some really recent hot IPOs like SpaceX. I don't know how much Don Jr. personally made off of the SpaceX, IPO as a partner there or how much the firm made, but that was almost a $2 -- that's an almost $2 trillion company right now. So you know that they made a lot.
KING: That is a lot. Elizabeth Dwoskin, fantastic reporting by you and your colleagues in The Washington Post. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
New images tonight of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool showing it drained for repairs, that just over a month, of course, since President Trump's more than $14 million renovation was completed or said to be completed.
CNN could not readily see evidence of that large gash President Trump claims vandals cut into the pool, causing its liner to peel. President Trump posting this on social media last night, quote, "The slashes were 300 yards long, and the floor of the pool was cut and then pulled upward, with great force, by these thugs." And noting that 300 yards is much longer than the original 250 foot cut the President claimed weeks ago. In a separate post, the President said, "The algae blooms also caused by vandals." The administration has not provided any evidence for these claims.
CNN's Tom Foreman is at the reflecting pool right now and joins us. Tom, it's now drained, the pool. What more do we know about the cause of the damage and the President's claim of vandalism?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, virtually nothing about the cause of the damage. There's a lot of speculation about this being rushed out in this no bid contract. Did that lead to some kind of problem? Was there something else that went wrong in the process here? We don't have any proof of any of that.
But this claim of vandalism, you're right, John. And we've been out here looking at this pool this afternoon. There's no sign of anything like that. There's just nothing like that. Not only is that true, but also the President himself made such wildly conflicting statements about this new liner that it calls into question any complaint of damage now or vandalism now.
Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If you had a knife, you can't even cut it so strong, so powerful, it's like powerful rubber.
We have 100 and -- we have a, I think, 290, 300 foot slit right through it, probably a box cutter or a knife of some kind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: So literally in May, he said you could not damage it with a knife. And in June said it was obviously done with a knife. And again, John, there's just nothing here that proves that or even looks like that happened.
KING: Yes. And then he said 300 yards, which would be about half the distance of the pool. I assume if there was a gash 300 yards, you could see it.
Tom, the administration said the fencing around the pool there was set up to protect it around the July 4th fireworks. Is it clear to you why that fencing remains?
FOREMAN: Well, what is clear to me, John, as you know, when July 4th comes around, especially a huge celebration like this one, there was fencing all over this area in D.C., all up and down the mall. And an awful lot of that is not here anymore.
So why this remains? Well, it could be if they believe there are vandals, that it's to help protect it while they do the repairs. Or it could be like the Kennedy Center, where they've left the awning up over there to hide something that is, at least for the moment, embarrassing for this administration. [20:55:14]
As we were noting earlier today, John, what the reflecting pool right now is doing is reflecting badly on this presidency.
KING: Tom Foreman, beautiful shot behind you. I will tell you that, despite all the controversy, that is a beautiful shot over your shoulder.
Tom Foreman, thank you so much.
Up next, a grave new life challenge for the man who saved so many lives when his flying skills turned an aviation emergency into the "Miracle on the Hudson."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: He made a miracle. Now, retired Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger says he's been diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer's. Back in 2009, you remember, he famously landed his crippled Airbus on the Hudson River. That, after birds took out both engines.
Every single passenger and crew member survived. Captain Sullenberger says that courage can be contagious, like it was on that day. And as he joins the Alzheimer's community, Captain Sullenberger says they will, quote, "be courageous together." And we wish you the best, sir. Absolutely.
The news continues tonight. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now.
