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CNN's The Arena with Kasie Hunt

New U.S. Strikes Today In Iran, Further Deteriorating Ceasefire; Dems Jockey To Replace Platner In Key Senate Race; Stevens, El-Sayed In Final Weeks Of Michigan Democratic Senate Primary; Sources: Security Concerns Led To Trump Not Using Qatari Jet. Aired 4- 5p ET

Aired July 09, 2026 - 16:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: -- in engineering, military experience.

[16:00:01]

I don't have that. OK, but maybe you do.

This is a program that could start next summer at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. It was looking good for a second.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: It was. I mean, it's not too late. You could probably -- I'm going to have a bachelor's degree --

KEILAR: I don't think I can make up for that resume there.

THE ARENA WITH KASIE HUNT starts right now.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

Breaking news, reports of new fighting across the Middle East. Iranian state media say there are explosions in locations along Iran's coasts. An American official telling CNN that the U.S. military is not currently conducting airstrikes. And Israeli officials say they're not familiar with anything from their side, raising questions about just who is behind these explosions.

But this comes following a round of earlier U.S. attacks that CENTCOM said was retaliation for Iranian attacks on commercial shipping vessels. In response, Iran launched missiles of their own, claiming to target U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar, all of this showing that the ceasefire is effectively dead and that a permanent end to the war may be further away than ever.

I'm Kasie Hunt. Welcome to THE ARENA.

Let's get off the sidelines. My panel will be here.

But first, let's start with CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen, because he is on the ground for us live in Tehran. Fred, what's the latest there? FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kasie.

We're also following up on those reports of possible explosions. in various places along the Iranian coast. Of course, we have to note it's 11:30 p.m. local time here in Iran. And this is, at least in the past couple of days, the time roundabout when genetic action would have started during the night. Again, as you noted, the U.S. says right now it's not conducting any operations. Israelis also say they're not aware of any operations being conducted.

The areas that are in question, one of them is close to the border with Pakistan, actually the eastern part of the Iranian coast, and the other one is close to a town called Bushehr, where, of course, the Iranians have a nuclear reactor. And the Iranians actually said that there were strikes conducted there during the daylight hours today that actually hit the perimeter of that nuclear reactor. That also, so far, has not been confirmed by the United States.

Nevertheless, absolutely correct to point out that it has been a kinetic 48 hours. And today, really, that also bleeding into the daylight hours, with those strikes being conducted during the daytime by the U.S. and the Iranians then also confirming that they shot some 10 large ballistic missiles towards a U.S. base, they say, in Jordan.

The Jordanians confirming that, saying that air raid sirens went off and that they shot those ballistic missiles down. So certainly, right now, the vibe that we've sort of been feeling here on the ground is more one of escalation than of de-escalation, the Iranians in general say that there will be a firm response should the U.S. strike again.

And all of this, of course, Kasie, coming as we are sort of in the final stages of that massive and very prolonged funeral ceremony for Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the latest stages of that going on right now in the eastern Iranian city of Mashhad, which is, of course, the holiest Shiite site, the Imam Reza shrine in all of Iran.

So that's definitely an important event for them. At the same time, those events overshadowed by that genetic activity between the U.S. and Iranian military, Kasie.

HUNT: Yeah, you use the word vibe. It's colloquial, but really amounts to what you can pick up when you're actually on the ground doing the reporting.

Fred Pleitgen, thank you, sir, very much for that.

I want to bring in CNN senior White House correspondent Betsy Klein and CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger are both with us.

We're also joined by my panel here in THE ARENA, CNN contributor, host of "The New York Times'", "The Interview", Lulu Garcia Navarro; CNN political commentator Jonah Goldberg; Democratic strategist and former senior advisor to the Biden and Harris presidential campaigns, Adrienne Elrod; and former Republican congressman from Michigan, Peter Meijer.

Welcome to all of you. Thank you very much for being here.

Betsy, let me start with you just kind of on the reporting out of the White House in terms of what they're thinking, what they're saying, because, of course, the president has talked repeatedly about a deal. And then, of course, I'm going to get David Sanger to weigh in with his analysis.

But first, I mean, what are you hearing from the White House?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right, Kasie. Well, there are so many questions for the White House on what exactly is the status of this ceasefire and what is their endgame? What is that path forward?

Now, President Trump said a phrase he's repeated very often in the last few months is that Iran wants to make a deal so badly, but the president going on to say that he doesn't know if they're worthy of making a deal.

So that means it is very unclear what the marching orders are going to be for Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Vice President Vance, who have all taken a leading role here.

Now, the 60-day negotiation period following this ceasefire was one of the most clear off-ramps that President Trump had. So what's the alternative? A protracted conflict? The president weighing a path forward now. ceasefire was one of the most clear off-ramps that President Trump had. So what's the alternative? A protracted conflict? The president weighing a path forward now.

But one thing we do know is the reason that he decided to resume those strikes, according to sources, is that he was so angered by the Strait of Hormuz not being fully reopened by those strikes on ships in that strait while he was at the NATO summit.

He's also very frustrated with the pace of those nuclear negotiations, so that's all something to watch going forward.

HUNT: Yeah.

So, David Sanger, what are you hearing from your vast network of sources as you try to ferret out exactly how significant this, again, rise in kinetic action is for the big picture?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, my network of sources is not vast, but it is very confused, because they don't really understand the strategy here. And while the president and the vice president have said that because of these attacks in the strait that they would hit Iran and hit them very hard, the fundamental problem that they're facing with this is they hit them hard for 38 days from February 28th forward before they got to a ceasefire. And frankly, it didn't work.

Yes, as the president points out, it sank the Iranian navy. It destroyed what was left of their air force. It did some damage to their missile capability. They didn't really go after the nuclear sites, because they had already been hit the previous year.

But nothing among the political decisions seemed to change. And so now, to go back to this, having already struck a deal, signed it at Versailles, of all places, right? And then declared that Iran could go out and sell its oil on the open markets to give it a taste of what it's like to fill their bank accounts again, the strategy of just going back and bombing them is a little bit mysterious, because it's not clear what it's supposed to accomplish.

HUNT: Indeed. And we went back and took a look, of course, at what President Trump himself has said over the period of days that David was describing. I want to play for you what that has sounded like over the course of the last several months. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They want to make a deal.

They want to make a deal so badly.

They want to make a deal so badly.

I do see a deal in Iran.

It's looking very good that we're going to make a deal.

This process should go very quickly.

We're going to end that war very quickly.

We're in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal.

And they want to make the deal a lot more than I do.

We have our deal done with Iran, and it should be successful.

We're making an amazing deal with Iran.

They want to make a deal with us very badly.

They're dying to make a deal.

They're giving us a lot.

They want to make a deal so badly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Jonah Goldberg, on that note, I mean, what kind of deal has the U.S. gotten out of this?

JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: There's no deal. And even the MOU wasn't-- it was a deal, talk about coming up with a deal that was going to last 60 days, that was never going to be extended.

Look, I think -- I'm glad that this is happening in the sense -- not that I'm happy for war or anything like that. But this was always a fiction that it wasn't going to end up like this, because the Iranians were determined to control the Strait of Hormuz.

The reason why this kicked off -- it's the Iranians' fault, not the Americans' fault -- is that there was a separate corridor close to the Omani coast that the Iranians didn't want to establish the precedent, that you could go through any route other than ones the Iranians dictated.

And their plan was after 60 days -- because the MOU kind of says they could -- after 60 days, they were going to say, OK, now there's an Iranian toll booth. Pay us every time you want to use the Strait of Hormuz. That's unsustainable. That would have been a massive strategic failure for the United States, so better to reveal the fiction.

But there is no strategy here. There is no plan. This may work out well for the United States in the long run. It may not. I don't think it will, but whatever.

But you cannot say, oh, well, this is all part of Donald Trump's plan, because there never was one.

HUNT: Congressman Peter Meijer, I want to play what Joe Rogan had to say about this earlier this week, just because it underscores some of the splintering among people who had supported the president over this as we come back around to it yet again. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE ROGAN, HOST, "THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE": He might have (EXPLETIVE DELETED) it up by going to Iran. I mean, this war is not something anybody that's conservative wanted. Most people don't want it, except supporters of Israel. They're the only people that seem to be thinking it's a good idea in this country.

Most people are horrified by the idea, because Trump was elected -- one of the pillars that he stood for, apparently, was that he doesn't want any more wars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So, Congressman, would you dispute anything that Joe Rogan said there?

[16:10:03]

PETER MEIJER (R), FORMER MICHIGAN CONGRESSMAN: I -- the most charitable interpretation you can give of President Trump's comments of kind of no new wars is the idea of the wars being, let's not have a repeat of what we had in Iraq -- let's not have a repeat of how Afghanistan ended.

Venezuela was clearly not that. Iran -- for, yes, disruption to global energy markets. Gas prices went up about $1.25 at their peak. Now, they're about 20 --

HUNT: They went up like 5 cents in the last day or so.

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Let's not do the old wars. Let's do the new ones in a new and wonderful, terrible way.

I mean, that's like -- I mean, I understand that this is the best defense you can give at this point. But the fact of the matter is that we are, as everyone who understands the Middle East, have predicted that this was never going to end up in any other way, as my colleague here, Jonah, has said, other than this way, which is that it was unsustainable. The MOU was really nothing more than just a piece of paper. And now, we are at escalating tensions.

And, you know, the thing that I'm always stunned at is the capacity of the stock market and the oil markets to just sort of like have amnesia and then have the same kind of thing play out over and over again.

But this is very dangerous. At the end of the day, we can make a joke about it, but this is extremely dangerous. This is a very volatile part of the world. And each bomb that's dropped, that means people die.

HUNT: David Sanger, if I could bring you back in here, the congressman -- or excuse me, Joe Rogan, not the congressman, was talking about supporters of Israel backing this war. And I know our Betsy Klein had to go spend some time with our friends at CNN International. But she also is reporting that President Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu spoke today.

Can you speak a little bit to where things stand right now with the Israelis in terms of all of this? Because that also is -- I mean, there's some significant political ramifications here at home for Israel and for supporters of Israel. But how is it playing out right now in the international space?

SANGER: Well, I think historians of the Israeli-U.S. relationship are going to be digging way into these past few months, because it started in January and February with those two men, President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, really side by side. And Prime Minister Netanyahu helped convince the president, along with David Barnea, then the head of the Mossad, that if they joined together in this attack, then the Iranian government would just collapse.

And it would be a matter of days or weeks, but they wouldn't be able to handle it, that Iran was incredibly weak. And the president went along with it. Then discovered the Strait of Hormuz got closed, then didn't have a plan for that. The split with the prime minister widened as the president tried to find an off-ramp to this.

The prime minister is perfectly happy to keep the conflict going until they can strike the Iranian missile sites, many of which are unhit or have been rebuilt since they've been hit, and can get at other Iranian infrastructure. So there's a real division right now between the American objectives, which is get the strait open and get out of this thing, and the Israeli objective, which is they don't really care about the strait, but they do care about disarming Iran.

HUNT: All right, David Sanger, thank you, sir. Very much appreciate your time. The rest of our panel will be here throughout the hour.

Coming up next --

SANGER: Great to see you.

HUNT: And of course, inside the -- inside the race that could decide control of the Senate, Michigan Democratic Congresswoman and Senate candidate Haley Stevens is here, her primary election now just weeks away.

Plus, what we know about the other Senate scramble in Maine, Democrats making moves by -- to figure out who will be the next Senate candidate after Graham Platner ends his campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHOOPI GOLDBERG, CO-HOST, THE VIEW: We've known a lot about a lot of folks, and we've held our noses on both sides.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm done holding the nose.

GOLDBERG: Well, I think it's about time that people start saying, Listen, this is no longer acceptable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yep.

GOLDBERG: You're -- you're -- it's not okay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:18:49]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM PLATNER (D), FORMER MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: Just want to make it clearer, this is all false. The things that have been claimed did not happen. It's not real. It has placed an immense amount of weight on me as I think about what needs to happen now. We believe that for the movement to continue -- it can't be made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Graham Platner now has until 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday to formally submit the paperwork to remove himself from the Maine Senate race after announcing his plans to do so in a lengthy video post last night. His decision comes after a woman told CNN and "Politico" that Platner raped her nearly five years ago, an allegation that, as you saw there, he strongly denies.

Platner's exit now leaves Maine's Democratic Party just two weeks to find a replacement in one of the country's most critical Senate races. Already a number of candidates have thrown their hats in the ring. The party's state committee plans to vote to hold a nominating convention in which about 600 delegates would decide the nominee.

[16:20:06]

So who will they be? How will they decide? We don't know exactly.

Platner, who blamed the Democratic establishment for undermining him and his movement, also shared this message about next steps.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PLATNER: Those in power who have the ability to do so are using these allegations as an excuse to take away all of the things that we need to run a campaign. I'm not trying to dictate to anyone who it should be or how we get there, but I will say this. It needs to be open, transparent, and democratic. It needs to be reflecting the will and the values of the people that built this movement, the people that showed up on June 9th.

People in D.C. need to stay in D.C. Decisions should not be made in backrooms by people in places of political power. Party apparatchiks are not the ones to make these decisions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right, there's a lot there. The president of the Maine Senate, Democrat Mattie Daughtry, joins our panel now.

Mattie, let me start with you. I mean, I think my first question is, are you going to be one of these coming up on maybe even a dozen people that are going to throw their hats into the race to replace Graham Platner.

MATTIE DAUGHTRY (D), MAINE SENATE SENATOR: I think I'm going to keep my options open. We have a lot of amazing people who have entered the race already, but I really want to take this time to keep centering the conversation about the survivors who have come forward and how we need to believe women. We can't continue to have powerful men cut out the lived experiences that we've heard through these credible allegations.

HUNT: Ms. Daughtry, when you listen to Graham Platner in that video there, do you think he has a point or not?

DAUGHTRY: I have to say this type of behavior is not acceptable in politics or in any other place of work or life. You know, I've spent my life in both, you know, hospitality and service behind a bar and also in politics, and I have always stood with survivors.

And in these moments, it's how someone reacts, how someone addresses, you know, these very, very credible and serious allegations. And, you know, I was looking for a moment of growth of humility and, you know, not questioning women and not blaming, you know, his actions on, you know, an invisible boogeyman. You know, these are credible allegations and we need to stand with these survivors. HUNT: Lulu Garcia Navarro, what was your reaction to the video that Platner put out? Because, I mean, as you could see there, it was more defiance than anything else.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah, there's been so many conspiracy theories and reactions to that particular video and his tone of basically sounding like a victim in all of this. I mean, that is basically the message that he's given, that there was some kind of cabal that has tried to undermine him as opposed to taking responsibility for his own actions.

And the fact that at every step along the way, he didn't disclose to either his supporters or to those around him, the severity of what might come out. And I think more than anything else, he owes an apology to the people of Maine, as opposed to blaming this kind of nebulous group in Washington that wanted to undermine him.

Adrienne, you're part one of -- one of your party's long standing voices are CNN's own David Axelrod, wrote this on X, "Lost in the recriminations about Platner is the most essential question that applies well beyond Maine," I think is what he meant. "How did a deeply flawed but gifted candidate build such a devoted following? It was a vote of no confidence in policies and politics many Mainers feel are failing them. So Democrats, you may not have liked his prescriptions, but you better have some real meaningful answers to these concerns.

How did it get to this point where Democrats are in this position? And what's the way -- what are the lessons to take from it?

ADRIENNE ELROD, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think one of the main lessons that both the Democratic and Republican Party can both take is you go to bet your candidates. And yes, he created a movement. People were excited. He's got a populist message. He brought in some younger voters and some working-class voters who have not, frankly, been a part of the Democratic Party political diaspora in a long time, so he really excited people put himself on the map nationally for those very reasons.

But you don't sexually harass or assault women. And if you do, for some reason, you don't run for office because it's going to come out.

[16:25:03]

People are going to find out about it. Look, I think in the video he put out, I agree with everything Lulu said. I do think he did raise a couple of issues about the importance of transparency.

I was on the 2024 presidential campaign. We obviously switched candidates. President Biden dropped out. Vice President Harris became the nominee.

And I don't think we realized the repercussions afterwards of voters not actually voting for her on the ballot. There was no time. You couldn't redo the elections.

I think the Maine Democratic Party is going to have to do an extra diligent job in making sure that this process is transparent, because 135,000 people voted for Graham Platner in the primary, and those people will not have the chance to vote for whomever the nominee is.

HUNT: Right. Well, to that point, I mean, Mattie Daughtry, you're a leader in the Maine Democratic Party. What do you think is the right way forward to give the voters of Maine buy-in to whoever Democrats decide is going to be on the ballot for them in November?

DAUGHTRY: I have to give a lot of credit to Chair Dingman and the main Democratic Party and State Committee. They have met and they have created a process that is built by Mainers for Mainers, not from folks out of state, not from folks in D.C.

And they are taking the time to build something that only takes 10 months and two weeks. They are, you know, making sure that all 16 counties are able to be built into the process and creating a mini convention with 500 to 600 different delegates and also finding ways for the candidates to have to show that they have gotten the trust and enthusiasm from not only those delegates, but from the state.

And I do agree with Mr. Platner and with many of the voices we've seen, this is unprecedented. But our system has to be built on how do we get the most voices, the fair, open, transparent process. The Maine Democratic Party in the state committee are doing that. We're building it ourselves here in Maine.

HUNT: Jonah Goldberg, you know, it occurs to me as you listen to Graham Platner talk about this, to Mattie Daughtry talk about this, that the person who benefits from being seen as wholly of Maine is Susan Collins.

GOLDBERG: Yeah. I'm not sure this is great news for Susan Collins, because I think she had a pretty good chance of beating Platner. And I think one of the major variables here is that his poll numbers were starting to go south, and people were losing confidence in him. And the idea that, oh, there's going to be another shoe to drop, and another shoe to drop, people were like, maybe we should cut bait while we still can.

I really want to say one thing. We don't know what the truth is about these accusations. I find them plausible. I find that I think Platner was an obvious creep and dishonest for a very long time. But he may be telling the truth here about whether or not he is guilty of actual rape. He may be.

But the thing is, he probably knows the answer to that question. And if the answer is he's even a little guilty, right? If it's even a little sort of he said/she said kind of thing. But you know something happened, and it's not categorically false. What he says in this video is Trump-like.

He's attacking the entire American system. He's attacking democracy. He's saying it's all rigged by powerful, unseen forces and conspirators who are undermining democracy. And I'm a victim, and it's outrageous. And if he knows that's not true, that is further proof of what a creepy, narcissistic jackass a lot of people already think he is.

HUNT: All right, I think we'll wrap it up on that note.

State Senator Mattie Daughtry, thank you very much for your time today. Really enjoyed having you. I hope you'll stay in touch and potentially come back here and join us in THE ARENA.

The rest of the panel's going to stand by.

Coming up next, Michigan Senate candidate Haley Stevens is here live as we enter the final weeks of a contentious Democratic primary, one of the biggest midterm races of the year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): And I'm going to say that this race right now is -- you just said it -- is absolutely neck and neck. I don't think either of them are winning right now. I mean, I think it's totally competitive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:33:30]

HUNT: All right, welcome back.

While it's been all eyes on Maine for Democrats right now, it's also been a huge week in another state that could be equally as important for the party's chances of retaking the Senate this fall.

Michigan, on Tuesday, Democratic Senate candidates Haley Stevens from the moderate wing of the party and Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive, sparred in their first one-on-one debate of the race, splintering over issues like Israel and campaign funding. That, after State Senator Mallory McMorrow's exit from the race over the weekend, created an opening for one of these two candidates to try and seize a decisive lead ahead of the August 4th primary.

According, though, to Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, who is certainly known for her keen ability to read the political wins in her home state, this race is still anyone's to win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DINGELL: This race right now is, you just said it, is absolutely neck and neck. I don't think either of them are winning right now. I mean, I think it's totally competitive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: And joining me now is one of the candidates for Senate, Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens.

Congresswoman, thank you very much for spending some time with us in THE ARENA today.

I want to start by asking you how this race got to where it is. You have benefited from support from the National Party, from resources from the National Party, and yet, Abdul El-Sayed has been running a fierce campaign, and you have not run away with it.

[16:35:00]

Why is that?

REP. HALEY STEVENS (D-MI): Well, look, Michigan represents the best of American democracy. This is an exciting and important moment for our state. As someone who worked in the Obama administration, not during the Great Recession. It was a time of major uncertainty.

I worked on that auto rescue to save those 200,000 Michigan jobs, and it is a different time now, but it's a time of uncertainty because of Donald Trump's chaos and abuse of power. The Gordie Hill Bridge is not open, 1,000 workers from Cleveland-Cliffs are out of a job. We see rising costs everywhere we turn and Michiganders deserve their best fighter in the United States Senate, and I believe that is me.

I put up my hand to run for United States Senate, not because I knew it would be easy, but because I wanted to have the courage and the leadership for my state when it matters most. I will not stand when Michiganders are getting the short end of the stick and that they very much are from Donald Trump.

HUNT: Do you think that voters view the establishment as unwilling to fight and is support from the perceived establishment now a negative for primary voters?

STEVENS: Well, I think that Michiganders and voters in general have every right to be frustrated. They have every right to feel left behind because Donald Trump is using the Oval Office as a stock trading floor that people go into these offices and get rich.

There's trading stock. I don't trade stock. I think we should ban it. I have written some of the most comprehensive legislation to stop this level of corruption and to stand up for people in this moment.

And I view my role right now very fiercely as a protector and defender of Michigan. We are a very unique economy, and people a lot of times forget that. You know, we make things, we grow things. We have one of the most robust manufacturing economies in the world.

When President Trump says that he's going to start a trade war with Canada and Mike Rogers, who's the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate here in Michigan, says he wants to rubber stamp that, it's unconscionable. Our small business revenues are down 40 percent. My parents owned a small business and these people are getting screwed over and I'm not going to go along with it.

So yes, I put up my hand to run for United States Senate in this moment to earn the trust, to earn the vote, and to make sure that Mike Rogers doesn't get anywhere close to this role to continue the corruption and the abuses of power.

HUNT: Your opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, has criticized you for a trip that you took to Portugal that was paid for by an outside group. Your mom accompanied you on the trip. Do you think that outside groups should be allowed to pay for trips for members of Congress?

STEVENS: Well, look, I went on that trip to engage with colleagues on both sides of the aisle about manufacturing and supply chains and innovation. That is what Michigan is all about. I have visited hundreds of small to midsize manufacturers in my state of Michigan to hear what they need, to hear how they're selling into other markets, how trade will work better for them, how to level the playing field appropriately, not Donald Trump's erratic tariffs that you know have created all sorts of disruption and contributed not only sure, but in the future.

HUNT: In the future, should third party groups be allowed to pay for these trips?

STEVENS: Look, I'm never going to apologize or back down from a chance to advocate for Michigan manufacturing.

HUNT: All right, let's talk a little bit about your opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, who has criticized you on Israel in particular, and, of course, with the war in Iran back at the top of our show, back at the top of the headlines today.

I want to play something that he has used to create a website attacking you. If you go to the website, it just plays this on a loop. I want to show it to our viewers. We'll talk about it on the other side. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVENS: In the United States Congress, I will continue to fight for the people of Israel. I will continue to fight for Israel's existence. Israel comes to me in my dreams. I see Israel's future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: How would you characterize the remarks you were making then, and what impact does this have now?

STEVENS: Sure. Look, I was standing with the Jewish community and a group of hostages who were in pain, people who had just gotten released from the Hamas tunnels.

[16:40:01]

It was a very emotional moment and I have been certainly very dedicated to standing by all Michiganders who have experienced pain as a result of a war that was started multiple years ago and frankly a war that Benjamin Netanyahu has mismanaged and he has failed to bring peace he has made Jews less safe here in America and around the world and Mr. Netanyahu was just on CNN the other day criticizing me. I'm not afraid of Bibi. I am not afraid of Putin. I've had to stand up

to him when he stole my constituent, Paul Whelan, and did wrongly detained him for five and a half years. I was writing resolutions condemning the Russian Federation before the war in Ukraine broke out.

These leaders, these bullies who abuse power, who are corrupt, they will not get a pass from me. I am a courageous and bold leader, and you bet your pants I will be in the United States Senate.

HUNT: Congresswoman, I had Mr. El Sayed on this program a few days ago, and I asked him several times if Israel has a right to exist. He would not say that straight out.

What is your answer to the question? Does Israel have a right to exist?

STEVENS: Well, absolutely. And this is a stark policy difference between my opponent, Abdul, and myself. My goal and the work that I stand by is long-term peace and a two-state solution where people in Palestine and Gaza can live peacefully side by side with the people of Israel.

It is deeply concerning that Abdul equivocates when talking about Israel's right to exist. That does not bring us closer to peace. That does not help this tenuous situation. I stand by a two-state solution and my long work to bring us to that goal.

HUNT: Congresswoman, finally, before I let you go, Mr. Al-Sayed did an interview with "Semafor" recently, and he was talking about AIPAC, which, of course, has become part of this debate. And he says that he hoped that AIPAC could, quote, "teach her," you, :how to string together two coherent sentences."

Could you address that remark? What's your response?

STEVENS: Well, look, I think that's the junk that people are just so darn tired of in our politics, these undermining, undercutting statements. You know, I know a lot of other gals in the workplace certainly relate to that.

And let me be really clear, I certainly thought for myself when I stood up for the hundreds of thousands of auto jobs when those were on the line when I was working in the Obama administration, I could think for myself when I was helping to pass and lead the CHIPS and Science Act through the House of Representatives getting manufacturing jobs back. And I've certainly been thinking for myself as I've been leading the charge to hold RFK accountable to remove him from office to stand up for science and public health.

And I'm not going to stop as Michigan's next United States senator. When it matters, when it counts, when we see billionaires getting tax cuts, while Michiganders pay more for health care, utility bills, and groceries, I've got people breaking down in stores to me right now about what's going on in their lives.

We've worked too hard for this. We know how to make it through tough times, and I am eager to be one of leaders that the people of my great state deserve in this moment.

HUNT: Fair enough. Now, I know I said I was about to let you go, but I did want to circle back and ask you one follow-up question to what we were talking about before.

You addressed Israel's right to exist. You said that you support a two-state solution. Does that mean -- do you think Palestine has a right to exist?

STEVENS: Absolutely. And I believe in the right of the people of Palestine to self-determine as a peaceful state alongside a peaceful state of Israel.

We have to maintain that dream and that vision. That is where I have worked as a member of Congress. That is where I've pushed for aid and resources. This is why I'm in something called the Abraham Accords Caucus to support peace and -- within the region, rebuilding of Gaza that needs to happen immediately, that needs to continue to happen.

Some of the rebuilding that will have to go on in Lebanon as Hezbollah gets diminished and removed and -- look, you know, we've got to see a path forward for democracy and free trade and freedom.

[16:45:01]

I believe in freedom. Thank you.

HUNT: All right, Congresswoman Haley Stevens, thanks very much for your time. I really appreciate it.

STEVENS: Thank you.

HUNT: All right. Ahead here in THE ARENA, new CNN reporting on why security stepped in to stop President Trump from using the new Qatari version of Air Force One.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Were you aware of any credible threat by Iran against Air Force One?

TRUMP: I have a threat all the time. I'm number one on their list before you. But if I go, you go, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Do you know why they had us close our window blinds? That was not usual.

TRUMP: Well, yeah, because you're, you know, probably on a dangerous night because of the sleazebags that we have to deal with.

[16:50:08]

REPORTER: Do you think that Iran was possibly thinking --

TRUMP: Well, I mean, if they asked you to close your windows, probably they'd feel that way.

REPORTER: Were you aware of any credible threat by Iran against Air Force One?

TRUMP: I have a threat all the time. I'm number one on their list before you. But if I go, you go, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: President Trump speaking aboard the new Air Force One, the one that was given to him by the Qatari government. But that is not the plane that flew him out of the Middle East. The president and his team instead flew aboard the old Air Force One.

Four U.S. officials tell CNN that decision was made in part due to security concerns regarding the renewed fighting with Iran.

CNN security correspondent Josh Campbell joins the panel.

Josh, our sources are telling us that the Qatari jet was, quote, rushed into service as Air Force One. This seems alarming on every level. Why would they put it in the air if they thought it was compromised? And what do you know about the actual status of the plane?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a big question. And as you mentioned, I've been hearing from law enforcement, from military people who say that, yeah, that was rushed out the door in order to get it into service. And I think that a comparison here is apt.

Now, during his first administration, President Trump had ordered two new jets to serve as Air Force One. They're still not in service. There's taken years. There have been cost overruns, but it's also required time to install sophisticated equipment, countermeasures to protect the president, classified communication.

There are complex designs by the military that the manufacturer has to adhere to and there's time to actually train the pilots and to get them up to speed.

Now, the Air Force had previously told the Associated Press in a statement that they did have to only modify certain upgrades to get it into service, but they maintained that there was no risk at all to security or safety.

But you know, Kasie, the thing that's most puzzling here is the reason that the president initially gave for why the swapping of the plane. He didn't say it was because security, he didn't decline to comment, which I think most people would understand when it comes to protecting the president. But what Trump said is that he actually sent that Qatari jet onto a military base ahead of him in the U.K. because, quote, "the entire base wanted to see it".

What's interesting is I've been talking to a lot of people and the military friends and former colleagues I haven't found a single person who believes that that's credible, that was the reason why he swapped actual planes. And one thing that's interesting, and Congressman Meijer, who I know is serving in the Army, may agree with me here.

Another reason why that's not credible is because almost no one in the military likes these dignitary type visits. When people parachute onto your base, it requires a lot of work. You've got to spit shine the place.

There's this term called painting rocks. Oh, the dignitaries are coming. We've got to paint the rocks and get rid of -- get ready for them. Unless you're in a war zone where morale is boosted, a lot of people don't actually like that.

But final point on note is that, this may seem trivial, but the big question, why are we talking about this, is because information is key in a war. For national leaders, there are two key constituencies. You have your own population. You have your own military. They have to trust that what you say is true.

For the enemy itself, they're also a constituency. They have to trust that what you say is actually what you mean. So, that's why all this is so important. Final point I want to note, Kasie, is just journalistically, I cannot 100 percent disprove the president's rationale for sending the plane on.

But I can say, as someone who worked in national security, this would be the first time in history, if true, that a base had pleaded with the president, interrupt your visit, send us your plane. We want to marvel at it. Yeah.

HUNT: So, Congressman, your name was invoked. And, you know, if my memory serves, you worked quite a bit on some of these issues that relate to Iran. I mean, if you were the president, would you get on a Qatari jet while you were at war with Iran and fly it around in their region? Or would you not?

MEIJER: I think it's important to step back and say the old Air Force Ones had sort of the full, full, full package, right? Think of an up- armored SUV that can withstand getting hit by a roadside bomb. It has more advanced countermeasures.

And I think what we now understand is the newer BC-25 bridge that, you know, came from Qatar, that's more akin to -- it's got bulletproof glass. Like, it is satisfactory for 95 percent of the scenarios.

HUNT: It seems like not enough.

MEIJER: No, but if you are -- if you're in a region where maybe you're not just worried about an RPG or a shoulder-fired missile, maybe it's an over-the-horizon threat, and this doesn't have the radar to be able to do that. Again, we don't know the full specs. Those are classified for

extraordinarily obvious and good reasons. But it is -- it's not like this thing has no security and this thing has all the security.

HUNT: So you're not saying compromised. You're saying it's under- equipped?

MEIJER: And if there was a moment of renewed fighting where it's like, hey, we don't know that maybe the former understanding, like, we are taking above and beyond precautions, because Donald Trump -- I mean, the Secret Service should be normally, in normal circumstances, incredibly risk-averse.

[16:55:00]

But Donald Trump, they should be risk-averse to the -- raised to the level of risk-averse, raised to the level of risk-averse. I mean, they've already let assassins get close to him, including one who shot him in the ear two years ago.

HUNT: All right. Josh Campbell, thank you, sir. Always appreciate having you.

CAMPBELL: Of course.

HUNT: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNT: All right. Thanks my panel. Really appreciate all of you being here thanks to you at home for watching as well really appreciate you spending some time with us.

But, of course, don't go anywhere because the one and only Jake Tapper is standing by for "THE LEAD".

Hi, Jake.