Return to Transcripts main page

CNN's The Arena with Kasie Hunt

Sources: GOP Senator Joni Ernst Won't Run For Re-Election In 2026; RFK Jr. Picks New CDC Leader; Emergency Hearing In Fed Firing. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired August 29, 2025 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[16:00:07]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: College football season officially underway. And this weekend, one of the sport's most legendary figures will sign off.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Not so fast, my friend, Lee Corso has been a campus fixture for decades, using mascot headgear to make his big game picks on ESPN's college gameday. A legend, of course, not just for the headgear, but for his personality. Shout out to Lee Corso.

Thanks so much for joining us.

THE ARENA WITH KASIE HUNT starts right now.

(MUSIC)

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Joni Ernst calls it quits. The Iowa senator expected to join the list of Republicans who are done with Trump's Washington.

Let's head into THE ARENA.

Sources say Joni Ernst will soon announce she's not running for reelection next year. I'll speak with a Democrat who wants to try to turn that seat blue.

Plus, the CDC gets a new acting director. This as CVS announces it will stop offering COVID vaccines in more than a dozen states.

And then an emergency hearing today in the attempted firing of a Fed governor. What a judge is now saying today about Lisa Cook's lawsuit against the president.

(MUSIC)

HUNT: Hi, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. Welcome to THE ARENA. It's wonderful to have you with us on this Friday, this holiday Friday, I should say.

Today, another Republican decides it's time to say goodbye to Donald Trump's Washington. After a decade in office, sources tell CNN that Iowa Senator Joni Ernst will not seek reelection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA): I'm Joni Ernst. I grew up castrating hogs on an Iowa farm. So, when I get to Washington, I'll know how to cut pork.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: That was the ad that put Ernst on the national stage and established her as a -- by Iowa standards, anyway -- provocative, conservative. That folksy but fiery persona invited all the comparisons to former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who campaigned for her. Ernst, of course, went on to become one of the most powerful and prominent Republican women in the Senate.

But that does not mean that she was Trumpy enough for MAGA. Ernst voted to acquit Trump after January 6th, but in the run up to the 2024 election, she made it clear that she basically wanted to endorse someone else.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERNST: So, friends, join me in welcoming, this inspiring leader, Nikki Haley.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Haley, of course, lost Ernst. She got on the Trump train. But then came Pete Hegseth with allegations of sexual assault that he denied and his skepticism of women in combat. Ernst, who is a combat vet and a sexual assault survivor, waffled on her vote for his nomination for weeks in public and MAGA was, shall we say, not pleased. They talked about a primary challenge. Donald Trump, Jr. suggested, she was basically a Democrat.

And what happened in the end? You can guess she voted yes. And after that, she seemed to be all in. When asked about Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill and the Medicaid cuts included in it at a town hall earlier this year. Well, watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERNST: So, we people are not --

AUDIENCE MEMBER: People will die.

ERNST: Well, we all are going to die, so for heaven's sakes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: I guess only two things are certain here in Washington, death and Republicans falling in line behind Donald Trump. We're getting out of dodge.

Our panel is here, along with CNN's Arlette Saenz, who is in our Washington bureau.

Arlette, I'll start with you. What more do we know about the senator's decision today?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's really struggled with this decision for months, but sources told us that she started to tell friends this week that she would not seek a third term in the senate. It's expected that she will formally make that announcement next week, and that will really kick off a wide-open race to succeed her in the senate.

On the Republican side, Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, who represents a northeastern district in Iowa, she is making plans to enter the race, according to one GOP official. And there's a very crowded contest on the Democratic side with four candidates already running, including State Representative Josh Turek, who is a Paralympian, a wheelchair basketball player.

Now, Iowa was a state that President Barack Obama did win back in 2008 and 2012. But Republicans have steadily made gains there, including President Donald Trump, who won the state by 13 points back in 2024. But Iowa Democrats are pointing to success in special elections, including that Democratic win in a conservative state senate district just this week, as the potential for them to potentially turn the tide in Iowa.

Now, Democrats are facing a very uphill battle in trying to win back control of the Senate.

[16:05:04]

They need to pick up four seats, and they are already defending seats in states like Michigan and Georgia. But Iowa is a state where they might want to try to make a play. They're also looking strongly at trying to flip places like North Carolina, Ohio, Maine, and even potentially Texas. But this announcement from Ernst will certainly, for Democrats, give them another boost as they are trying to flip one of those GOP seats. And they think Iowa could be a target.

HUNT: Not least forcing Republicans to spend more money than they would like to there.

Arlette Saenz for us on this Friday -- Arlette, thank you very much.

Our panel is now here in THE ARENA. Senior political correspondent for "The Wall Street Journal", Molly Ball, CNN political commentator Jonah Goldberg, former communications director for the DNC, Mo Elleithee, and CNN political commentator. Republican strategist Brad Todd.

We're also joined by Brianne Pfannenstiel. She is the chief politics reporter at "The Des Moines Register".

Welcome to all of you.

Brianne, I want to get to you on what's going to play out in Iowa here in just a second, but I actually want to start here at the table.

Brad Todd, Joni Ernst has had a very distinguished career in Washington. I actually was out in Iowa. I covered her race. I was at that event she held with Sarah Palin in 2014. She was almost part of the initial wave that kind of warned us that figures like Donald Trump were coming, that people were looking for something different than what they were getting from their politicians.

But she clearly, I think if you interacted with her privately, it was pretty clear she was very skeptical of President Trump. And now she's bailing out.

BRAD TODD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, she's a political star. She came -- she started out in her race. She'd been a state senator. She started out her race, maybe the fourth or fifth pick in the Republican primary. She wrote a rocket sled to the top.

She's very well liked in Washington by other Senate Republicans. She is, however, at one of two ages in which people retire. She's 55, which is my age. And that's when you start thinking, what am I going to do with the rest of my life? I have another chapter in phase left. The other time they retire is when they're 85 and they can't see or think anymore, right?

So that's -- that's those are the two times when you worry about senators leaving.

HUNT: Right.

TODD: So, you know, at 55, there's still plenty of time to do something else big. So you have to decide, am I really going to commit to six more years of this? Because at 62, I might not have that choice.

HUNT: Jonah Goldberg, why do you think she's leaving?

JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Because it's pretty miserable to be a fairly reasonable conservative senator these days. And, you know, the special election win this woman, Drey, that the Democrats picked up in a pretty Republican district. I don't think that made the decision for her, but it probably made it a little easier to do.

And also, I'm just glad to hear that that Brad is rethinking his options to do with the rest of his life. He's got a little --

(LAUGHTER)

TODD: I'm with CNN, for god's sake.

HUNT: I was going to say, you're about to get some phone calls from Republicans in Iowa. So you might have to decide what to do about that.

Brianne, let me let me bring you into this conversation because -- I mean, there are two things going on here, right? There's the Washington story about what it's like to be, as Jonah says, a Republican, a conservative who's not MAGA enough for MAGA here in Washington. And then there's the political story. What you're facing back home, what it means to undertake a reelection campaign in a high- profile race. And this has become that, especially after those comments that we showed that she made at the town hall -- I mean, that spurred additional opposition to her from Democrats.

You're there. Youve got your finger on the pulse of Iowa. There is definitely this, you know, back story with Iowans, a history in many cases of voting for Democrats. It's not the kind of state that has been red forever and will never -- could never change.

What are you feeling out there? Do you think this seat is actually going to be in play without Joni Ernst on the ticket?

BRIANNE PFANNENSTIEL, CHIEF POLITICS REPORTER, DES MOINES REGISTER: Well, I think Joni Ernst was going to face a really difficult reelection cycle. You know, as you mentioned, she was facing pushback on both the right and the left. You know, she had those comments about Medicaid at the -- at the forum that really inspired a lot of Democrats to -- to get moving, to get serious about this race. And on the right, you know, she was still facing some distrust from kind of the farthest right wings over the Pete Hegseth situation, even things dating back to like her, her 2022 vote for the respect for marriage act is something that conservatives in this state still are skeptical about her for.

So, she was going to face a difficult reelection cycle either way. But with her out of the race, this is wide open. Again, as you mentioned, Iowa is a red state, but not so long ago it was purple. With the seat open, it really changes the dynamics of the race. But I do think Republicans expect Ashley Hinson to get into this race and to be a very strong contender in her place. And so, I don't know that it's going to be an easier path for Democrats if she does indeed end up running for this seat.

HUNT: Brianne, how would you describe the reaction that voters in Iowa, potential swing voters in Iowa have been having to this Trump administration? There's obviously a lot of conversation here about his approval ratings, how the midterms might be good for Democrats in various ways. Are you picking up on that there? And if so, what are the things that are breaking through with those voters?

PFANNENSTIEL: You know, Iowa's an interesting place right now, I think, where Democrats see the most hope is in the governor's race. We had another big retirement this year with Governor Kim Reynolds, a Republican, deciding to step aside. And that was a big surprise to the state.

And that's created a real opening for Democrat Rob Sand. He's the state auditor running for governor, and he's somebody who's really kind of pushing back almost on the Democratic brand. He's running almost as an independent and really talking to people about pocketbook issues, the kinds of things that we were really talking about post- election in, in 2024 and really trying to connect with people on some of those things separate from what's happening in Washington. I think in Iowa, you know, like, I assume a lot of places people are really kind of divided into their two camps.

And so, the people who like Donald Trump are really in his corner, and we've really yet to see them substantially break away from him. We'll see how the trade wars and the tariffs play out. Obviously, that's a big issue for farmers in this state. So I'm interested to see whether that plays out. And any kind of skepticism over some of his, you know, bigger tactics sending in the National Guard to Washington, D.C., those kinds of things, if it makes them perhaps want to take a step back with or with him not on the ballot, whether that inspires fewer of those people to come out and vote in 2026.

HUNT: Yeah, for sure. And I mean, Molly Ball to this point, this is your area of expertise. You're a longtime campaign reporter.

What do you see going on here with Joni Ernst that you think is worth paying attention to?

MOLLY BALL, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, WALL STREET JOURNAL: I think this race is going to be a fascinating test for the Democratic Party. Iowa is a state that, as you mentioned, Donald Trump turned red, and it has only gotten redder while he has been on the political scene. It is now redder than Texas.

And so this, you know, there's a clear opportunity here with it being an open seat for the Democrats to try to nominate a different kind of candidate, kind of a sort of mirror image of the profile that Joni Ernst cut as you were talking about a fresh faced outsider, someone who's different from the national brand, someone who can appeal to those voters who may be a little bit souring on what's happening in Washington, even if they've supported Trump in the past.

So, you know, is that going to are they going to choose a sort of Bernie-style candidate? Are they going to choose someone who's represented a sort of pinkish seat in the legislature, or are they going to choose someone from outside politics who can make the case as a change agent? I think this is probably an easier seat for Republicans without Joni Ernst in it. In some ways, just because she had the potential to divide the base. But -- and what we've seen is that that you need that MAGA base to win an election statewide as a Republican, particularly federally.

But I think it's going to be a real test for the Democrats. What kind of candidate they nominate.

HUNT: Mo, that's a natural segue to you. I mean, what do you see here? I mean, I mean, look, I remember some of the final days of the 2012 campaign doing airport stops with Mitt Romney in Iowa, right? Like they thought they could put it on the map. But Obama won it by six.

And, you know, we had this graphic up. You can see how Trump turned it. Right? Do you think this is something that Democrats should be investing resources in?

MO ELLEITHEE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, DNC: Yeah. I do. I mean, Iowa is a state that's not completely out of reach. It's the trajectory hasn't been good for Democrats, but it's not completely out of reach.

And I think Molly's absolutely right. It's a huge test for Democrats. If you look at who the last three Iowa caucus winners were for Democrats, it was Barack Obama, it was Bernie Sanders, it was Pete Buttigieg.

Iowa Democrats tend to like that fresh face that that that something different than the establishment type of voice. If they can find someone who does offer something different and whomever the Republican nominee is has to be out there defending some of the things that I think Joni Ernst was, was uncomfortable defending towards the end. Then I think this is a place that Democrats could win. And at the very least, a place that Democrats can force Republicans to defend and spend money. That's not going into other vulnerable.

TODD: I think most right that Iowa Democrats would be open to that. However, they tended to congressional races to nominate pretty conventional liberals. And Iowa, as Molly points out, you know, it's more Republican than Texas. It's basically equivalent to Oregon.

So, you have to say, when we say, could Democrats win in Iowa, it's like saying, could Republicans win in Oregon? It's really hard.

HUNT: Really hard for sure.

Jonah, before we go, the one piece of this I do want to touch on more broadly than just Iowa, Thom Tillis is also leaving, right? Joni Ernst is not the only person who has faced the wrath from the MAGA base. What does that say about where we are?

[16:15:00]

GOLDBERG: Well, first of all, I just want to say I think its fantastic that Mo considers Bernie Sanders a fresh face. But --

ELLEITHEE: He's definitely a fresh voice. That's fair. Fair?

GOLDBERG: Yeah. Look, I mean, I think there are -- I'm talking about there are fewer of them, but there's still an enormous number of what I've been calling closet normies in the Republican Party. They can't stick their head up and say, I don't like this stuff. You look at what, John, what Senator Cassidy is going through right now with all the CDC stuff and whatnot.

And I think that there is -- there are a bunch of people, I mean, starting with jeff flake and corker and all these guys who just, like, it is not the juice is not worth the squeeze. And sticking around here. And given how Trump has basically cut out the legislative branch anyway, they're not getting -- doing anything particularly meaningful anyway.

HUNT: Yeah.

All right. Brianne Pfannenstiel of "The Des Moines Register", thank you so much for coming on. Hope to have you through THE ARENA many times to come as we head closer and closer to -- I guess I shouldn't be talking about the presidential cycle yet. We still have midterms, but we'll get there. Thank you so much. All right. Coming up next here, details on today's emergency court

hearing over whether the president can fire a member of the Federal Reserve.

But, first, the continuing fallout at the CDC. What we know about the new acting director and why the nations largest pharmacy chain says it won't provide a popular -- relatively popular vaccine shot, even if someone is eligible for it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:20:48]

HUNT: All right. Welcome back.

We have been continuing to follow the fallout over the ouster of the CDC director, Susan Monarez, which sparked four high level resignations as that agency grapples with new public health policies announced by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Today, Monarez's deputy, the doctor, Jim O'Neill, is in place as the agency's acting director. And while the future of CDC leadership across the agency remains up in the air, there is also news today from the nation's largest pharmacy chain, CVS, saying today they will not be offering COVID-19 vaccinations in 16 states, even if someone is eligible and meets all the criteria.

The company is citing the, quote, current regulatory environment for that decision.

Joining our discussion here is Dr. Ali Khan. He is the former director of the CDC's office of public health preparedness and response. He's now the dean of the University of Nebraska's college of public health. The rest of our panel is here as well.

And, Dr. Khan, I do want to start with you, because this, of course, this firing, the wave of resignations that followed and of course, the environment -- the politically charged environment that we have been living in since the pandemic, all of these things are undermining trust in public health among different communities.

What do you think the impact is here on that? Because, I mean, unlike a lot of government decisions, right? These CDC decisions, they are materially affecting every American, their health, what they can, what kind of shot they can or can't get at their local pharmacy. What do you make of it all?

DR. ALI KHAN, DEAN, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER'S COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Absolutely, Kasie. These decisions are about saving lives, preventing infections. These are our public health defenders. And if we can't trust the CDC with a foundation of science and evidence to make those decisions, then where do we get the information to protect ourselves and make sure we have a healthy community.

HUNT: Yeah. Fair enough. Jonah Goldberg, big picture here. This is not a situation where it is

kind of MAGA versus the world, right? It's I guess maybe it is MAHA versus the world, but this is a person that Donald Trump put in place at the CDC and has now fired. What do you see as the implications of this, especially considering -- I mean, there really was so much conservative trust that was lost during the pandemic, right, in the CDC, this seems likely to create something, perhaps on the left side of the political spectrum in terms of these decisions, but the result seems to be bad for everybody?

GOLDBERG: Yeah. No, I don't think there's anything good to come of this, in part because at the end of the day, Robert F. Kennedy is an unqualified crackpot and shouldn't be running HHS. And but the problem is he's also the head of a wing of the Trump coalition that is distinct, that is, that was additive, that one of the only times you ever saw Trump's numbers really go up was when Kennedy jumped on board.

Trump feels like he owes him. And then when you look at this, one of the things I always struggle with is how do you look at these various stories that you get the Federal Reserve, you know, all these other CDC, BLS, do you look at them each in isolation, on their own merits, or do you say, you know, there's kind of a trend here and basically what the larger trend is that Trump wants to bend all of these independent institutions, one way or the other, to his agenda and his will. And this is downstream of that.

BALL: And the consequence of that is the erosion of any kind of trust that remains in any kind of government information, statistics agency, what have you. I mean, I don't want to reduce this to partisan politics because, as you say, it is so important to so many people's lives. But I would point out that vaccine policy is one of the few issues where Democrats are still popular.

When we did our "Wall Street Journal" poll last month that found that the Democratic Partys approval rating was at an all-time low, the only issues where people trusted Democrats more than Republicans to in Congress to handle them were health care and vaccines. By a ten-point margin, people trust Democrats over vaccines.

[16:25:03]

Even though Trump is not popular on issues like immigration and inflation, they still see Republicans as better on those issues.

So, you know, this is -- I think -- you're right that because Trump wanted to add to his coalition with this MAHA wing, he has allowed into the tent a lot of people, with frankly dangerous views. And the question is, does that mean that he and we and you know what he said the other day in the cabinet meeting about vaccines and autism indicates that he has some sympathy for these views as well. So, the question is, on a political level, you know, are the American people noticing this and getting cold feet?

HUNT: Yeah, I will say I interviewed Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. And asked him if he what his beliefs were about whether vaccines were safe and effective, and he insisted he had never said that vaccines were not safe and effective. And then you could just play the clip and he said, actually, vaccines are not safe and effective.

ELLEITHEE: Yeah. And look, I mean, there's a lot of the debates that are happening in Washington right now. People see on tv whether or not it impacts them in their daily lives is another question. This is one that impacts them in their daily lives. And we've seen it.

We have seen when he changed the guidance on measles, measles cases went up when, you know, if people start getting sick because of this. And I'll take it one step further. This is not something they said that they wanted to give people more freedom when it comes to this stuff. When you've got major, pharmacy chains actually preventing you from going to get a vaccine, they're taking away a freedom of yours. This is where were at now.

And if people start getting sick, they're going to have to answer for it. Senator Cassidy is going to have to answer for it because he promised that he would provide oversight over this. This is -- this is dangerous for them.

HUNT: Yeah. And we can put actually, Cassidy's statement up. He said the president and secretary, right, we need radical transparency. We need to protect the health of our children. The two go together. I'm committed to the president's vision, which is why the health committee will conduct oversight.

ELLEITHEE: When?

TODD: Well, I --

ELLEITHEE: When?

TODD: I've not agreed with Robert F. Kennedy on a lot of things, both before and after he joined the Republican coalition. Jonah is right, though, he was additive. You know, he was polling at about 3 percent. Trump got about two of that 3 percent. It might have been decisive.

We should note that he was a key part of him winning the election. But I think we also have to say the CDC did not get broken under Donald Trump. It was broken during the pandemic. We needed the CDC to be more forthright about vaccines during the pandemic.

They ran an ad campaign saying they were going to stop transmission. They didn't. They knew they didn't. So the CDC and public health in general in this country has got a trust issue with the American public that predates this.

And there's the transition to get it back is going to be rough. It's going to be bumpy.

BALL: Donald Trump was president when the pandemic started.

TODD: Yeah. But the problem with the vaccine --

BALL: It's his CDC. TODD: With the vaccine -- the vaccine communication that was wrong

happened in the second term. Thats I mean, he should get credit for bringing the lifesaving vaccine to market.

ELLEITHEE: Do you think this is what's going to --

TODD: No, no, I don't think -- no, no, I don't, but I think we should not act like the CDC was great. Like three weeks ago. We had it. Has public health has been in crisis in this country for about four years.

HUNT: I want to give the last word here to Dr. Khan, who I understand would like to get in.

Doctor, what say you?

KHAN: Yeah, I would definitely like to interject here. So without a doubt, let's agree that public health is not partisan and really public health people. Why did they get into this field? They get into this field to prevent disease and protect health in all of our communities. And that's what's being eroded currently in this current conversation.

And fortunately, when I say nonpartisan, if you look at vaccination rates for children, it's about. 90 percent definitely less than it needs to be. But I think generally in our communities, people realize that vaccines save lives, and the data is pretty clear. 1994 to 2023, for those 20 years, 1.1 million. Lives were saved, $500 million, because of vaccines.

I don't think that's in question. The science is not in question. We need to make sure that we do something about the disinformation that has eroded the trust in public health and led to actually -- actual violence against public health professionals.

HUNT: Yeah, we have seen some really devastating consequences in recent weeks. Of course.

Dr. Ali Khan, thank you very much for joining us. A very important message for everybody about trusting those, as you say, professionals who are in the field that you're in for all the right reasons. Thank you very much for being here.

KHAN: Thank you.

HUNT: All right. Coming up next here, inside today's emergency hearing, where a judge heard arguments over whether the president can fire a member of the Federal Reserve. But first, the latest election shakeup, how the exit of Joni Ernst from the 2026 Senate map impacts which party is going to have the upper hand in the midterms? We're going to talk to a Democrat who is running to try to represent Iowa in the U.S. Senate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:34:16]

HUNT: All right. Welcome back.

We're going to turn back to the major political story that we've been discussing this hour. Republican senator Joni Ernst, decision not to run for reelection in Iowa in 2026.

Now, joining us now is Iowa State Representative Josh Turek. He is a Democrat. He is currently running for Joni Ernst Senate seat.

Sir, thank you so much for joining us in THE ARENA today. I really appreciate it. And of course, you put together a video showcasing your biography. Youve also criticized Joni Ernst heavily in ads featuring that clip that we played where she said, well, we're all going to die. What does it mean for you? How are you looking at her decision to get out of this race?

JOSH TUREK (D), IOWA SENATE CANDIDATE: Well, I don't think it's much of a surprise.

[16:35:01]

She didn't have the courage to stand up for the 1 in 5 Iowans that are on Medicaid. And so, it's not a surprise that now she's a -- she doesn't have the courage to defend the vote, and the record and, and face the voters.

HUNT: Do you think it's going to make it harder for a Democrat to win back this seat? Her decision?

TUREK: No, I don't think so, because ultimately, it doesn't matter who they put up there. Iowans are fed up with the faux populism and the policies of Donald Trump and certainly of Joni Ernst. And everywhere I'm going, people are caring about the kitchen table issues, and they're caring about lowering costs. They're caring about affordable housing and certainly affordable health care. We've got 110,000 Iowans that are going to lose their health care due to the big, beautiful bill in cuts to Medicaid.

And when you're talking about SNAP and you're talking about food assistance, 90 percent of the families in Iowa, when you talk about food assistance are families with individual with disabilities, elderly, the disabled and veterans. And that's what Iowans care about.

HUNT: A lot of what went into that bill. And some of these cuts that you're talking about, they're actually not going to go through until after the midterm elections or in some cases, the presidential election. Do you think Iowans are really going to feel this in a way that's going to cause them to vote against Republicans that quickly?

TUREK: Yeah, because unfortunately, here in Iowa, our Medicaid system is already fundamentally broken and underfunded. A few things. Most people aren't aware of. We've got 22,000 disabled Iowans that are on HCBS waivers. The longest waivers, seven years for basic health care. We've closed over 31 nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities over the last five years due to the lack of reimbursement. We've got a massive direct care worker shortage. The average direct care worker in the rural areas right now in Iowa is

only making $13 an hour. Half of them are on Medicaid themselves, and you can't find a single dental provider across the entire state that will take Medicaid.

And so, when you've got 40 percent of individuals on Medicaid that are poor kids or individuals with disabilities, it's a system that's already broken. And now we're going to add additional cuts that, again, 1 in 5 Iowans are on Medicaid and 2 in 5 in rural communities.

HUNT: Remarkable statistics.

So, one of the features, of course, of our politics is that it's become more and more national as time has gone on. And president Trump has divided communities across the country. The House speaker, Mike Johnson, has said that if Democrats take back congress, the first thing they'll do on day one is try to impeach President Trump.

Do you think that's true? And do you think that's a good idea?

TUREK: Honestly, I have no idea. I would just be speculating on that issue.

Truthfully, right now, what I'm focused on are Iowa and Iowans and these kitchen table issues that were feeling all across the state. And that's the lack of affordable housing, the lack of affordable healthcare, lack of affordable pharmaceuticals. We've got a massive water crisis here in this state, and we're the only state with a growing cancer rate, second -- second highest cancer rates. It's something that affects every single Iowan.

These are the issues that I'm caring about is I'm a common sense prairie populist? And Iowa is a common sense state. And now that we've got an open gubernatorial race and an open Senate race, I really fundamentally believe that Iowa, we are going to be the -- we are going to be the center of the political universe here in '26. And we've got an amazing opportunity, not only change Iowa, but to be able to change this country.

HUNT: It is often the center of the political universe. I've spent a lot of time there for that, for that very reason. One, of course, other significant effort here in terms of control of Congress overall is redistricting. And that has become a situation that is not just confined to the states, where, of course, in Texas, Republicans are trying to do it. The California Governor Newsom has responded in kind, said they'll redistrict.

Do you think that that's the right thing for Democrats to be doing in the face of what Republicans are doing?

TUREK: I understand the situation for California, but in truth, I'm against the gerrymandering in all areas. It's -- I'm -- we're seeing a reduction of our -- of our democracy and it's just -- it's wrong. I mean, one person, one vote and so, I don't want to say, thankfully, here in Iowa, we -- we don't see that. HUNT: Fair enough. State Representative Josh Turek, thank you very

much for being here. I do hope you'll come back as this campaign season.

TUREK: Thank you. Go to voteforiowa.com.

HUNT: Fair enough. Thank you very much. Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. We'll see you soon, I hope.

TUREK: Thank you.

HUNT: All right. Coming up next, will she stay or will she go? What we know about Lisa Cook's future on the Federal Reserve.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:44:08]

HUNT: All right. Welcome back. Earlier today, an emergency court hearing over President Trump's attempt to fire the Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook ended without a ruling. The judge spent more than two hours hearing arguments over Cook's request to keep her job.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz joins us now.

Katelyn, can you walk us through what we saw today's hearing?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the hearing lasted more than two hours, and there was not a resolution immediately, Kasie. The judge is looking, at least initially, on where is there the most harm here. Does it harm Lisa Cook more if she's fired and cannot continue to go to work? Does that harm the American economy? Does it harm the Federal Reserve? Those are really big questions that this judge is initially going to be grappling with. Or is there a bigger harm to the U.S. government and the powers around the presidency if Donald Trump wants to get rid of. Her for cause in this situation and cannot if she keeps going to work?

[16:45:01]

We did not get a result on that. The judge is asking for a little bit more from both sides in written arguments, and so we're probably unlikely to get just an answer to the question of can Lisa continue serving right now? While more of this court case plays out as a federal reserve governor? That probably won't come until at least Tuesday.

HUNT: All right, fair enough. And, Katelyn, we've also learned, apparently, that a Trump administration official has sent a new criminal referral to the Justice Department about Lisa Cook. What's the deal with that?

POLANTZ: That one's about her claiming a second home in Massachusetts, when actually it was allegedly an investment property. So, this is the second allegation of mortgage fraud that is now hanging over her. And that actually is going to be part of this case as well, because Donald Trump is saying these allegations of mortgage fraud, criminal referrals, going to the Justice Department -- well, that's enough for her to be fired by the president for cause. Cook's team, though, is arguing to the judge, that is not enough, because we think all of this is something that the Trump administration is trying to say publicly, because they actually want to get rid of her because of political reasons that they're unhappy with the Fed, not reducing interest rates.

So that is going to be the bigger legal question. Ultimately, the courts will have to figure out who defines for cause. And are these allegations of mortgage fraud unproven at this time? And no criminal charge at this time either against Lisa Cook? Is that enough, just with the president says this is the cause that I choose.

HUNT: All right. Katelyn Polantz, thank you very much for the updates. Enjoy your weekend.

We're joined now on the panel by CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. He's got a new book, "When You Come at the King: Inside DOJ's Pursuit of the President from Nixon to Trump". You can preorder it now.

Elie, congrats on the book.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Thanks for the plug.

HUNT: Thank you for being here.

Can you weigh in on what Kaitlan was just laying out there for us?

HONIG: So, two things appear to be true at the same time. One, it seems quite clear that Donald Trump and Bill Pulte, who is the head of this housing finance agency, have targeted Lisa Cook. They want to remove her from the Fed because they don't like what the Fed is doing on interest rates.

That seems quite clear from the public statements of Donald Trump and Bill Pulte. It also is true that there are some suspicious activity here that's really problematic by Lisa Cook. Let me just sort of try to bottom line it. Theres three properties, okay. Within a two week stretch, she purchases, she gets a mortgage on a place in Michigan and says that's her principal residence. Two weeks later, she gets a mortgage on a place in Atlanta in Georgia and says that's her primary residence. And now there's a third place in Cambridge that she said was her secondary residence, but she's actually renting it out.

Now, why would someone do all this? Because you get better interest rates. Because you get better tax benefits, that can be worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Thus far, and I find this really notable, in the briefs that have been submitted by Lisa Cook lawyers. She was the plaintiff here. She filed the opening brief, no explanation of what she did. What -- how this happened.

There's some reference to maybe it's a clerical error. Today in court, Abbe Lowell, very good lawyer, again, no explanation of how this happened and the claim that this might be clerical error or just a mistake, that's not going to fly because Lisa Cook is one of the most established, accomplished financial and economic experts in this country. And this is not just like any old person. Look, when you do a mortgage, there's all sorts of paperwork flying in terms, and maybe you can get confused or lost. I don't know if you're going to buy that from Lisa Cook.

But the bottom line question is, Katelyn just said, is who has to show what here? I think that the allegations on their face could be enough for a judge to say, look, I'm going to defer to the president on cause.

HUNT: Jonah, can I ask you about -- I mean, the reason that we know all of this about Lisa Cook is because there's official -- an official inside the Trump administration who's digging around in mortgage documents, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Do you think that's a proper way to be using the government, the government tools to then turn around and do this because you want a political outcome on interest rates?

GOLDBERG: No. Look, I mean, if, if, if the exact same fact pattern held, but instead it was an IRS commissioner, we would all recognize it as like, oh, he's trying to create a political program against someone he wants to remove. And they went digging for dirt and all that -- doesn't mean it's unconstitutional necessarily. And I'll lose my decoder ring as an originalist if I don't point out that I think the Federal Reserve is in fact unconstitutional.

TODD: But you're a real one.

HUNT: You have your decoder ring for life.

TODD: There we go.

HUNT: Okay. No one is going to take it from you.

GOLDBERG: But, I mean, it is -- it is so obviously pretextual, right? What Trump is doing is he's trying to just use get me dirt on this woman and go after her to get rid of her, to build this larger case against the Fed. And as a prudential matter, I think political mucking around with the fed is idiotic.

HONIG: Can I just add to that? Based on my time as a prosecutor, if you said you got to find something on Jonah Goldberg, I would say give me his taxes and give me his mortgage documents.

[16:50:02]

That is the most common area if you're digging around for something. And I agree, it does have shades and echoes of some IRS scandals from the past.

HUNT: Yeah. What do you think, Brad? Especially on the point, Jonah, is making about politics -- politics and the Federal Reserve.

TODD: Well, it's all -- we've always had politics, the Federal Reserve, because it's a political entity we have called government, and nothing is immune from politics and government. HUNT: Well, they try very hard to make the fed as immune as possible

from it, more than other institutions.

TODD: Which is part of the constitutional problem Jonah gets to.

HUNT: Oh. Now we've got two originalists. Okay.

GOLDBERG: Yeah. I would be for an amendment creating the Federal Reserve.

TODD: Right, right. But let's be clear, every president who wants an interest rate cut works the ref and asks the Fed, for when Joe Biden did it in March of 2024, he did it in a little different way than Donald Trump. But he was, in fact, lobbying the Fed to cut rates. And we also know that Jay Powell is doing this because he's trying to manipulate Donald Trump's trade policy. He doesn't like the way he's pursuing lower barriers, so he's holding the rate cut hostage.

The problem is you don't just hold Trump hostage. You hold homeowners hostage. Every American who needs a mortgage can't get the -- they rightly deserve in this market because of it. Jay Powell says its about inflation, but in fact, he's cut rates twice before under Joe Biden with lower inflation rates than we have today.

So yes, it's political. Of course, it is. And Donald Trump wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't press the Fed to cut rates.

HUNT: Mo, what do you think?

ELLEITHEE: I mean, it's an interesting take on Powell, right? I think Powell is saying because of these tariffs, we're on inflation watch. Inflation -- the prices are going to start going up in part because of these tariffs. Why? Because of -- you know, economics.

HUNT: Oh, I got a bill from FedEx yesterday or the day before because I bought like a hook that goes on my wall from a Swedish company. They sent me an $80 bill, some amount of which is tariffs. So that's -- that's new for me. I don't know about the rest of the country.

ELLEITHEE: And so that's why he's saying lets pump the brakes on interest rate cuts because somethings coming our way. It's already starting to hit some people. That's why.

Now, Donald Trump doesn't like that. Fair. He's made that clear.

HUNT: Now he might get what he wants from me because I might now order from American companies instead of -- I didn't think anything of ordering --

GOLDBERG: No more Swedish books for you.

TODD: Boom, there you go.

ELLEITHEE: Every president has a right to say publicly that they don't like the policy, just as Democratic presidents have done. Republican presidents have done. But what they haven't done is go in and try to reshape it in their image by removing people from the Fed, which creates a lot of consternation, a lot of insecurity among corporate leaders who look at this and say, this instability is not good for us.

Coupled with the instability of the tariffs, it's not good for the economy.

HONIG: This question came up legally today. The lawyer for Lisa Cook kept saying this is all pretext, this is all political. And the judge did not seem to be too interested in that argument. The judge said, look, it's not really my business if this is pretextual or not. My business is the good cause question.

HUNT: Fair enough. All right, Elie, thank you, I appreciate it.

All right. Coming up, 20 years later, we're going to take a look back at the storm that forever changed Louisiana and America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:57:44]

HUNT: All right. Twenty years ago today, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana. And the devastation that followed is forever seared into America's collective memory. The category three storm slammed into the Gulf Coast, packing 127 mile per hour winds. Entire communities were leveled. Lives were lost. Homes were destroyed.

In New Orleans, the levees failed, unleashing floodwaters that swallowed 80 percent of the city. Residents waded through the chest- deep waters, searching for any kind of refuge. Others clung to rooftops, hoping to escape the rising flood in the August heat. More than 1,300 people died as a result of the storm. More than a million were displaced.

And today, the city of New Orleans is coming together to remember those who lost their lives on that fateful day, two decades ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORMAN ROBINSON, FORMER WDSU ANCHOR: We remember all of those who endured this tragedy along with us. We remember them with our compassion. We remember them with our empathy. We remember them with our sorrow and our remorse.

MAYOR LATOYA CANTRELL (D), NEW ORLEANS: New Orleans is still here. New Orleans still stands. And New Orleans is truly positioned not only as we have evolved, but were empowered for the next 20 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. Really remarkable time. And I want to thank my panel for being here today.

And don't forget, if you missed any of todays show, you can always catch up by listening to the podcast. Just go ahead, scan the QR code that you see on your screen below. You can follow along wherever you get your podcasts.

You can also follow the show on X and on Instagram @TheArenaCNN.

Jake Tapper is standing by now for "THE LEAD".

And, Jake, I mean, I remember covering that horrible day and of course we are thinking of the city of New Orleans exactly 20 years to the day since that happened.