Return to Transcripts main page
CNN's The Arena with Kasie Hunt
Judge Declares Mistrial In Lindsay Clancy Murder Case; Court Asked To Block Trump's Arch Amid Construction Announcement; Cost Of Diesel Hits All-Time High Ahead Of Labor Day. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired September 04, 2026 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: It has brought an intense focus on the well- being of women in -- after giving birth. And obviously, we can't forget the impact that it had on these young lives, the children of Lindsay Clancy, who unfortunately were killed.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Cora, Dawson and Callan and they are the true victims here. That is something that was driven home there in the comments that we were hearing after the trial.
We'll be right back with more news after this.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt.
Welcome to THE ARENA.
Right now, new questions about what comes next for Lindsay Clancy after a dramatic end to her triple murder trial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE WILLIAM F. SULLIVAN, PLYMOUTH SUPERIOR COURT: Members of the jury, at this point, I'm going to declare that the jury is deadlocked, and I'm going to declare a mistrial.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: That mistrial declaration coming shortly after the Massachusetts Supreme Court denied a last-minute emergency appeal, as Clancy defense attorney's tried to get one juror removed for alleged bias.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN REDDINGTON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They know that they were robbed by one man for whatever his agenda was who stole seven weeks of the life of these other jurors. I got a funny feeling that they would have gone on for another week if they had to. So I hope that guy can sleep well at night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: This afternoon, the district attorney said that no decision has been made yet about whether they will retry the case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM CRUZ, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Our priority has always been to fight for Cora, for Dawson, and for Callan. The noise in this case may be louder than it is for other prosecutions in our county, but we have treated it the same as any other case. Children were murdered and it's our job to seek justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. Let's bring in CNN correspondent Jean Casarez. She is outside court in Massachusetts.
We are also joined by CNN anchor and chief legal analyst Laura Coates, retired California superior court judge, LaDoris Cordell, and board certified OB/GYN, Dr. Kameelah Phillips.
Jean, let me start with you, with your latest reporting. It's been a whirlwind day. Walk us through it.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the morning started with the jury deliberating, but then there was that note several hours later, and it began with heavy heart. We, the jurors, cannot find a unanimous decision in regard to this case. And we know we never will. That was what prompted the judge to say, I'm going to have to declare a mistrial.
And that is when the defense jumped up and said, not so fast, because we are working on something, we are going to go to the Massachusetts Supreme Court and ask them if they will issue a stay, stopping this case, preventing you from issuing a mistrial.
And in their motion to the judicial Supreme Court, the defense argued that the -- that the Judge Sullivan did not. Number one, inquire of this one juror to note if he really couldn't follow the law. And number two, replace him, replace him, and put another juror in.
Well, in the end, the judicial Supreme Court, the highest court in Massachusetts, did have a hearing. They did it within minutes of the filing of the defense, but they ruled against the defense.
And at that point, it was Judge Sullivan's time to issue an official mistrial in front of the jury as they came in. And those jurors, let me tell you, they were looking at their feet. They were clenching their hands when the judge said, you should be so proud of yourself. One female juror was just nodding her head like, nope, not proud. Not proud at all.
HUNT: Remarkable.
All right. Laura, Clancy's defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, he went out and claimed victory outside the court. He said, quote, "I won". Is that how you see it? I mean, who do you think a mistrial benefits the prosecution or the defense? LAURA COATES, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: He did not win. It was a
mistrial. We have no idea what truly happened in that deliberation room. And I think its going getting ahead of ones own skis when you declare that.
But for the fact that he is still obviously aware that there could very well be a retrial, and he's trying to appeal to the potential jury pool that's out there to make it easier, he believes, as a defendant, to try to tell them that they could not meet their case before and the burden of proof.
But no, I don't see a mistrial as a win for the defendant. I don't see it as a win for the prosecution either. What I see it as is an insurmountable hurdle that was likely created by the bevy of choices for this jury. They had five. They originally had two options not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, which in Massachusetts is not guilty by reason of insanity or the idea of guilt.
[16:05:00]
They then had five things to choose from, Kasie, from first degree murder all the way through not guilty. And so deliberations became exponentially harder. And you add to that the emotional wear of a difficult case involving the killing of three young children, ages five, three and eight.
But I think one thing that this defense was trying to do was trying to plant a seed of reasonable doubt in the court of public opinion, knowing that there is a potential for a retrial. But the prosecution, Kasie, also knows that it's a gamble to try to retry a case because you really don't know what impact the high profile nature of this case may have had on that pool, or what the polarizing court of public opinion might do to influence even a potential trial again.
HUNT: Yeah. And to that point, Judge Cordell, the prosecutors did say that they're not going to decide today whether there is going to be a retrial. What does that say to you about their thinking?
LADORIS CORDELL, RETIRED CALIFORNIA SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE: One thing that the prosecution should do, and I strongly recommend it, is to have a conversation with each one of the jurors. Jurors don't have to talk to anybody, but if they would talk, they should talk to these jurors to find out, what was it about this case that led them? And my understanding is 11 of the 12 were going to vote to acquit, with regard to the murder charge. If that is true, that is information the prosecution has to have in order to make a decision about whether or not to proceed with the case.
If I were the judge and Judge Sullivan, by the way, I think did a fabulous job in presiding over this case, but when they come back September 29th, I would, as the judge say to them, lets talk about where the jurors were, how they evaluated the evidence to try to figure out where to go next.
HUNT: And, Laura, the defense attorney, also says that he has a good argument for double jeopardy that that should be attached here, that would prevent Lindsay Clancy from being tried again on these charges. Do you think there's any merit to that?
COATES: No, he tried initially to ask for the jury to be pulled because he was trying to eliminate certain things. He wasn't sure if I think they were all going to be undecided on every single possibility they had before them. He wanted to eliminate certain aspects of them. And if the jury could conclude with respect to higher charges, then they could essentially be attached that double jeopardy and not be tried if there was a mistrial on the lower counts.
But the prosecution wants to have first degree murder, they remain feeling justified. They say, according to the elected D.A., that they were right in terms of intentionally, rationally, and also swiftly trying to premeditate this particular murder of these three children.
Now, that press conference that the D.A. had, if you wondered what the public sentiment was and the divide that was there, if it really exists, his press conference showed you he was peppered with questions of people who even questioned whether he was being insensitive to bring this case against Lindsay Clancy, and he correctly redirected the sensitivity to the killing of three young children.
But this is a difficult decision making process, as the judge articulated, because of the gamble of retrying a case. Remember, Karen Read a very different factual scenario. She was retried. She was ultimately acquitted.
And so the prosecution has to decide, do I want to gamble with a new trial, or do I want to offer a plea that might give her a future of freedom?
HUNT: Yeah.
And, Jean Casarez, I mean, we've talked a little bit about the potential jury pool for a retrial. I mean, in what world is there a pool of jurors now who hasn't heard something about this case? And I mean, it's been so polarizing as well. I mean, many people that have heard about it have opinions about it.
CASAREZ: Not only that, everyone that I talked to around town, they not only know about the trial, they are citing the evidence to me. They know the particulars, the details. They know everything. And when you're talking about a jury pool, it would come from Plymouth County, unless a venue change would be asked for and would be agreed to by the judge.
But Massachusetts is only so big, and I think every county in this commonwealth is going to have vast opinions on the prosecution, and they're going to know the evidence. So I think its going to be difficult. And the defense attorney today, Reddington, he was talking to that jury pool out there talking about this is an acquittal. It's an absolute acquittal for her today and talking about things that actually were not the reality. But if someone believes them, then that helps him second time around.
HUNT: Yeah.
Dr. Phillips, let me bring you into this conversation because we did see medical professionals testify to different things for either side. How do you think about just the vastly different medical interpretations that we saw in this case?
DR. KAMEELAH PHILLIPS, BOARD CERTIFIED OB/GYN: Well, you know, when I look at this case, especially because I take care of pregnant women, throughout the day, I see that we really don't have an understanding of the need for postpartum depression care, postpartum care in this country, and that we don't understand what working mothers, new mothers are really going through when it comes to bringing home a new baby.
[16:10:17]
The United States has so much work that needs to be done in caring for new mothers, providing support, transportation, nutrition, finances, and we continually want to separate mental health from all the other forms of health care in this country. And this case really teaches us that they are so intertwined, that it's impossible. Postpartum depression happens between 10 to 15 percent of new mothers, postpartum psychosis, which is what were talking about here, is much more rare, but it affects almost every mother.
And so, from offering psychotherapy, medication or both, we really have a long way to go to really make sure that new mothers are properly cared for in this new environment.
HUNT: Yeah. Laura, I mean, you're an attorney. You're a former prosecutor, you're also a mom. I mean, how do you balance the criminal trial? The criminal defendant, obviously, three children who are dead against what Lindsay Clancy was facing with her mental health and her attempts to get treatment.
COATES: You have to try to get the jurors to compartmentalize, and you have to have them thinking about not just the general conversation that the doctor rightly points out about health care in our system. But talking about two things being true, that, yes, you can have a conversation about the needs of new mothers not being met, but every single mother who experiences postpartum diagnoses does not then kill her children.
And you have to make it very specific for this jury or a future jury to suggest that these are two different types of conversations. It's very difficult to do so because people are being pulled at their heartstrings, and there is a empathy and a sensitivity that is at play, not only for the children, but for somebody who is in that courtroom day in and day out, paralyzed from the waist down, having tried to take her own life after having killed her three children. And there seems to be a bond that can also form with somebody that you see day in and day out and feel some level of sympathy for.
But as a prosecutor, you have to be very, very clear that this is not an entire system on trial. It's one person. And that person is Lindsay Clancy. HUNT: Of course, although, Dr. Phillips, if we are going to talk about the system, I mean, one of the things that we learned today from Clancy civil lawyers is that they're going to try to hold the system accountable. The system that prescribed her medication, many medications, and obviously the failure that resulted.
What culpability do you think the people that were treating Lindsay Clancy in her time of distress bear?
PHILLIPS: Yeah. This is something I grapple with. We are in a current system where women get 15-minute visits and come in feeling very vulnerable. And if we don't ask the right questions or have the right safety net, its very difficult to really understand who is at risk for postpartum depression and can recover on her own or with some assistance, versus someone who can escalate into postpartum psychosis. And then we have what we see here.
If we're going to put the system on trial, I welcome that because I think that we really need to dismantle this idea that seeing women once after having a baby six weeks is enough to support her with the trials and tribulations that come with bringing a new baby. I do also support analyzing the system because we all need more training. We need more resources. We need to know how to identify mental health and what is available to our patients.
You know, we have our typical treatment, psychotherapy medications. We only have two postpartum depression medications. And many people are not even aware of those. So I do welcome some analysis of the system.
But I would say I think we all failed this family and this and the system failed the family and the children. So while we analyze what medicine can do, I really also think we need to talk about what insurance can do in terms of providing care, how employers can work to give mothers a year off paid so that they aren't dealing with depression, with the need to go back to work.
I think we should talk about laws that work to support women who are having mental health issues. There's a lot we can do, and I welcome those discussions.
HUNT: All right. Thank you all for joining us today. Really appreciate it.
And of course, do be sure to watch "LAURA COATES LIVE". It's tonight at 11:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
All right. Coming up next here in THE ARENA, we're going to get into some of the other news of the day, including a new lawsuit seeking to stop one of the president's construction projects here in the nation's capital.
[16:15:03]
Plus, President Trump saying today he's planning to inject a big influx of cash into the midterm elections.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think I have, like, close to $1 billion. And the super PAC, and I'm allocating probably $400 million or $500 million. So I'll be spending -- we'll be spending --
REPORTER: Midterm election.
TRUMP: Yeah, we're going to spend a lot of money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID HEARN, FORMER OLYMPIAN: I just want to thank everyone who's out here supporting me and everyone across the country. I want to thank my lawyers for making sure that this case is represented well.
[16:20:03]
And I just want to say it's not about me. This is about defending democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: So, there are currently two legal cases before the courts involving President Trump's renovation projects. The first, former Olympian David Hearn went to court to argue that the charges that he vandalized the reflecting pool should be dismissed with prejudice, which would bar the government from reviving his case. The second involves the presidents proposed arch after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced construction on a great triumphal arch, his words, will begin within the next two weeks.
Military veterans who are challenging President Trump's plans to build the arch in front of Arlington National Cemetery have asked a federal court for a temporary restraining order.
My panel is here in THE ARENA. CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel, staff writer at "The Atlantic," Toluse Olorunnipa; former Georgia state senator and grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, Jason Carter; and former Republican congressman from Michigan, Peter Meijer.
Welcome to all of you. Thank you so much for being here.
And, congressman, I want to start with you because you're a veteran and this suit, and I want to put this picture up. we've talked about this before on this show because this arch -- the Arc to Trump, as it's been dubbed, this is the memorial bridge. It leads out of Washington. Behind you in this view, is the Lincoln Memorial. In front of you is Arlington National Cemetery.
And what veterans are basically saying is they're looking at that and they're saying, this interferes with the way that we are remembering people who gave everything for us. What's your view of that?
PETER MEIJER, FORMER REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN FROM MICHIGAN: I mean, I know that traffic circle, it's a -- it's a traffic circle. You just kind of go around it. I mean, its not necessarily like the gateway opening on to Arlington National Cemetery. I was not consulted as a military veteran on whether or not I took umbrage with the creation of the triumphal arch.
Now, granted, you can't spell triumph without Trump.
HUNT: Are you really going to say -- oh, okay, happy Friday to all.
(CROSSTALK)
MEIJER: I did my wordle today.
(LAUGHTER)
MEIJER: So, I think it's a reach to try to make this on, you know, number one, yes. If Donald Trump, if his visage is ensconced in stone for all time on top of it, yes, it's a partisan thing. Otherwise, there have been plenty of arches, triumphal arches going back, harkening back to Napoleon, you know, laying the inspiration for the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
So having an arch celebrating military accomplishments or whichever triumphs this ultimately is about --
HUNT: Do you really think it's about anything other than Trump?
MEIJER: There could be many things. Trump at the same time, you know, wanting -- you know, I think Donald Trump cares deeply about -- about memorial, about place, about statuary. And this is something that I think, you know, has been in consideration in the capitol for a century and a half. And there is a blank space to be filled.
HUNT: Well, so let's watch the president talking about this, because the president -- the president has been fairly straightforward about the arch and who it's for. Let's watch
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Who is it for?
TRUMP: Me. It's going to be beautiful.
HOWARD LUTNICK, COMMERCE SECRETARY: This is what he enjoys so late at night, 11:00 at night. He calls me and he wants to talk about things he's building because it's fun for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: And part of it may be because, Jason Carter, that he thinks that no one's going to build him monuments in the future. This is what he told "New York Magazine". This is Ben Terris writing, quote, "When I put that idea to Trump, he does not dispute it. That's true, Trump says. Nobody will do it once I'm gone. When I leave here, nobody will."
JASON CARTER, FORMER GEORGIA STATE SENATOR: Well, I mean, look, on some level, it's a -- it's about Trump and it's -- this wild discussion. The other problem is, you know, it's just indicative of him doing this on his own. Right? We're going to start this early before its been properly appropriated. It's not just a stick in the eye to some group of veterans who weren't consulted. Neither was Congress. Neither are the people who are supposed to do this.
Like we're supposed to have checks and balances in this government, right? Whether there's an arch or not, whether they tear down the East Wing of the White House. Those are buildings. And, you know, to me, at least in ancient Rome, as I've said, you know, you're supposed to win the war before you build your triumphal arch.
And here, we've got this war that never ends. And he's trying to build something early. But at the end of the day, the bigger problem is the wrecking ball that's going to the checks and balances that we're supposed to have in terms of who makes these decisions and him taking them off for himself.
HUNT: Well, I mean, Jamie Gangel, we've seen this already with some of these, right? Like as these lawsuits have been winding their way through the courts, and the East Wing is already gone of the White House, and they're building in the hole -- in the ground as it goes on. I mean, and this is what the lawsuit says, quote, "The court should enter a temporary restraining order blocking the efforts to blaze ahead with an unlawful course of conduct in the hope that they can render the arch a fait accompli before this court has the chance to reach a final determination as to whether it's authorized by law."
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: A few things, Congressman, I disagree. I do think it is the gateway into Arlington Cemetery, when you stand there and look at it.
[16:25:00]
And also keep in mind, I believe this, if you do the measurements, it's twice the size of the Lincoln Memorial.
MEIJER: If it's the 250 --
GANGEL: It's twice the size of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. So, this is -- this is going to be big. I also don't think we can look at it in a vacuum. To your point, this is Trump, you know, bulldozing ahead because he wants to get something done. And I've spoken to Democrats and asked them, look, once this is done, do you see if there's a Democratic congress, a Democratic president, will you pull it down? And they really don't think so, because that would be seen to be destroying something.
But Trump is obsessed with this, to the point of the quote of no one will do it if I don't do it. And look at the list. I mean, the Oval Office has been gilded.
HUNT: Gilded. GANGEL: Right?
HUNT: The East Wing was taken down. The Rose Garden is now a patio. The colonnade is now something else. The reflecting pool, the ballroom, it just goes on and on.
HUNT: Yeah. I mean, Toluse, I think when you think about the symbolism that is our nations capital, and if you're familiar with the way its laid out, especially on the National Mall, I mean, this is a view that you will take in from many different directions depending on where you are in the city and the people that are honored kind of in that row.
And it really is a row. It's Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and then the United States Congress. And we have, of course, added memorials to others along the way. World War Two, the Vietnam, you know, the wall -- the Vietnam Memorial. But now you're going to see in that line almost at the start of it, essentially a monument to Trump. At least that's what he's essentially saying.
What does that tell you about this president?
TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITCAL ANALYST: That's his priority. He wants to be known as an important president. He wants to be -- he wants to go down in history as one of the presidents that left his mark, not only on the world, not only on the country, but on Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. And the way he knows to do that is by putting his name on things, by building things, by creating monuments, putting his name on the Kennedy Center, trying to figure out ways to immortalize himself with actual buildings that showcase his role as a builder, his role as someone who will not be forgotten.
And he said it in this "New York Magazine" article in which he basically said, when I'm gone, no one else is going to do this. No one else is going to remember me in this way. And he wants to immortalize himself by creating these buildings.
And I did think it was important that, you know, these lawsuits that are being filed against this are the plaintiffs are Vietnam veterans, people who actually sacrificed for this country, who are saying that if this arch is built and created at this huge size, it's going to interfere with their ability to go to the Arlington National Cemetery and remember what it means to sacrifice for this country. And so, they are having an effort to have standing where maybe some of the other cases haven't.
And they're a little bit more sympathetic characters because they're Vietnam veterans. They're people who sacrificed for this country. They're elderly. And so maybe the courts will listen to them in the way that they did not listen to the plaintiffs in the case against the ballroom, who said that that ballroom would obstruct their ability to take in Washington the way they want to. And I think --
HUNT: My grandfather is buried on the hillside in Arlington, and you're not going to be able to see the rest of the city from that hillside without seeing this arch, for better or for worse. I mean, Congressman, you did at one point think the president
committed high crimes and misdemeanors and didn't deserve to stay president.
MEIJER: January 6th is slightly different than --
HUNT: I'm just saying, sitting here now, do you think he deserves a monument like this to himself?
MEIJER: I mean, if this was a -- I guess -- it's you can look at it as Trump's monument in that he's building it. But is it a monument to Trump --
HUNT: Well, he said it was for himself. I guess I'm just taking him at his word --
MEIJER: You're pointing to a model, who's that for? I'm saying I think the 3D printed version. He loves his mockups. He loves his architectural renderings.
Granted. Who doesn't? It's nice to look at a map and to hover over and look at the terrain. I mean, I think a lot of it comes down to what the ultimate design will be. I don't love the gold on monuments unless they were meant to be those horses on the bridge, those are meant to be gold, gilded, gold plated.
But if this is more of a subdued kind of classical style that is reflecting the sacrifices made by Americans of every stripe over every generation and every conflict that we've fought in. I think that's an appropriate and fitting place for it to be.
HUNT: All right. Coming up next here, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell will join us live in THE ARENA to talk about the new economic numbers and the so-called silent workhorse of the world economy that just reached an all-time high.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:34:09]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN HASSETT, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISER: It's really one of the biggest blowouts. skyrocketing job numbers that we've seen in a long time. And I think that if you put it, you in perspective, what it means now after this report that President Trump's economy, his policies have created now over a million jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: The White House today very pleased with a strong jobs report this morning, the U.S. added more than double the number of jobs that economists were initially expecting in August, those better-than- expected numbers, though also coming as diesel prices hit a record high, now surpassing the prior record from June 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Diesel, the so-called MVP of fuel, powers critical parts of the economy -- trucks, construction vehicles, tractors.
Joining me now is Democratic congresswoman from Michigan, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell.
Always wonderful to see you, Congressman. Thank you -- Congresswoman, thank you so much for being here.
[16:35:03]
I want to start there with those high prices, because, of course, Michigan does have a significant agricultural economy. And I know you really have your ear to the ground in your home state. What are you hearing from some of these rural Michigan farmers, many of whom were very strong supporters of President Trump, considering what they're facing now?
REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): So, Kasie, happy Labor Day weekend. You know, look, I'm always happy if job numbers are strong. But what you have to look at that there are signs of weakness underneath those numbers. And I could talk about a number of things.
But you know, one of the problems is right now the wages for people are not keeping up with inflation for farmers. I just did a farm tour last week in the district, and the cost of everything is sky high. People are barely making any profit. Younger generations that have tried to farm for (ph) -- their families into the business, talk about it, want to stay in it, aren't sure that they can afford it for the next generation.
So, the cost of living is a real issue right now for people. And it's the cost of everything for farmers. It's not only, as you say, the fuel for things, but the cost of fertilizer, the cost of seeds, the cost of even getting someone to help them. Everything's up and farmers are hurting.
HUNT: And, Congressman, who are they blaming for that right now?
DINGELL: Well, I don't -- I do believe that the cost of gasoline, which and the cost of diesel, people are holding this administration accountable. But I've said this before, they're just mad at everybody. Not on the -- I think you can take gasoline prices out and the diesel costs. that's very directly impacted by the war in Iran that nobody wants. And how are we going to end it? And we always say that we're going to.
Democrats do understand that people are hurting. You know, I don't think it hurts when I mean, helps when the president just sort of flips off. You know, people are finding things expensive. Oh, it's not that bad. They'll get over it.
It is bad. It is very bad. But Democrats have to be more than anti something. We have to show people how we are going to deliver for them. And people are just frustrated at everybody right now because quite frankly, they're hurting.
HUNT: So speaking of Democrats and what Democrats have to do, obviously there is a marquee Senate contest in your home state with Abdul el-Sayed, the Democratic choice for Senate against Mike Rogers. I'm curious what your assessment is of the job that side is doing so far on bringing the party together, because, of course, the party convention featured unity buttons. There's been a lot of conversations about this.
Do you think that Abdul el-Sayed is successfully bringing these disparate factions of the party together, or does he still have work to do?
DINGELL: Look, there's work that all of us still have to do. Republicans are working very hard to divide us and to distract us. And there are things that people have said that we, people like me, don't agree with.
But I know what November is about. And November is about all the people that lost health care in the last year and can't afford to go to the doctor, and we need to return at the barest minimum -- we got a broken health care system. Those affordable care tax credits that people had. We have to reverse the Medicaid cuts. People don't understand how kids and seniors are really hurting from already from the SNAP cuts, that which is supplementary nutrition program, in case someone doesn't know what they are and it's going to get worse.
So, those are the issues that are at stake. Every one of us, as a Democratic leader in the state of Michigan, have got to work to bring people together and to remind people what is at stake in November.
HUNT: Do you think that Black voters in Detroit are going to be willing to show up for El-Sayed as of now?
DINGELL: I think he's got to work Detroit. Not -- but I think I mean, look, I've delivered that message to him. Others have. He had -- he's either gone, I can't remember. I know he's got a meeting coming up and a town hall with a number of the Black ministers in that community. He'll be at Labor Day in Detroit on Monday.
There's -- we all got work to do. This election is not one. But I -- and every leader, I'm not going to point finger and say, you got to do this. You got to do that.
We all have to define what is at stake in November and remind people what has happened the last two years and the things that they're hurting on and are worried about. We're not going to be able to fix if we don't have somebody that's going to fight for that and not be a rubber stamp for what's happening at the White House.
[16:40:09]
HUNT: Speaking of leadership, before I let you go, Hakeem Jeffries saw a couple members of your caucus vote with Republicans a couple of days ago to move legislation forward. He said he didn't get a heads-up from leadership.
What do you think that says about Jeffries' readiness to be speaker of the House? DINGELL: Well, I know a lot of people want to say, oh, he's not ready, but -- look, people were mad. We didn't -- they didn't know that this was coming. But Hakeem Jeffries knows how to unify our caucus. We are going to have to come together.
There are a lot of raw emotions this week. The Republicans are making us -- I want to say that to everybody that's listening. When you hear a title of a bill, do me a favor and look at what's inside that bill.
There are a lot of bad things that Republicans are trying to get passed, and they give a title to the bill and then make it sound like Democrats are voting for this or for that. Hakeem Jeffries has a very large, disparate caucus, which is going to get larger, and --
(CROSSTALK)
HUNT: I'm just going to say, it's not going to get any easier.
DINGELL: It's -- but he knows how to bring people together. He knows how to talk to everybody, how to have people make sure that they know that their voice is going to be heard. Look, we're a caucus with a lot of different opinions, and people want to know that they're being heard. And Hakeem knows that he's got to do that.
HUNT: All right. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, always a pleasure to have you. Thank you very much for being here.
DINGELL: Thank you. Happy Labor Day.
HUNT: You, too. All right. Ahead here in THE ARENA, the first ballot of the 2026 midterm elections will soon be coming to mailboxes in one very important state, as the Supreme Court weighs a request from the president around his attempts to restrict mail in ballots.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROY COOPER (D), NORTH CAROLINA SENATE CANDIDATE: If we're going to get the post office picking and choosing which of these ballots go through and which don't, that's crazy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:46:32]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think I have, like close to $1 billion and the super PAC, and I'm allocating probably $400 million or $500 million. So I'll be spending -- we'll be spending --
REPORTER: In the midterm election.
TRUMP: Yeah, we're going to spend a lot of money because we don't want to lose our country. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: President Trump announcing there he will spend nearly half $1 billion on the midterms as voting gets underway. North Carolina today sent out the first mail in ballots of this midterm, and a number of states across the country will also be sending their ballots out this month.
I want to bring in CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak.
So, Kevin, can you walk us through the latest on how the president is planning to get involved in this upcoming election, especially with spending?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, at least in his own telling, he's preparing to open up the wallet soon. I think trying to assuage some of the concerns that you do hear from Republicans, that he hasn't done that yet. They are concerned that this massive amount of money isn't being spent soon enough on some of these really competitive races.
You know, the cash advantage that Republicans have, at least in theory, is one of the few bright spots for the party in this election cycle. And the president's political advisers have been telling Republicans that that money will be coming fairly soon. You know, the president said there that he has about $1 billion to spend. The last FEC filing showed that the MAGA Inc. account had about $400 million in it. But it's entirely possible that it's expanded since then.
But the only spending that we have seen from it is $827,000 for Darline Graham in South Carolina. So, there is some concerns that that money isn't coming out quick enough. We did see a nonprofit that's associated with MAGA, Inc. put out an ad this week that it was prepared to spend money on. But the ad focused entirely on President Trump and a lot of Republicans who see the president as the most unpopular figure in their party at the moment, as sort of problematic for how the president plans to spend that money going forward.
Now, we heard from the president earlier this week that he intends to get out on the campaign trail in October. He says hell be out for 30 days straight. He even says hell go up to Alaska to campaign for Dan Sullivan, the vulnerable Republican up there. Whether the president is actually welcome in districts that he can hit in 30 days straight, we just don't know. A lot of Republicans worry that that could place him in a position of bringing their own candidates down.
But the Republican or the president's allies argue that in order to get his base out, he has to be on the ballot and he has to be in these races campaigning pretty actively.
HUNT: All right. Kevin Liptak, thank you very much for that.
Our panel is back.
Toluse, for the president, right, absolutely the case that there are some areas of the country where it's about getting the Trump base out, right and having him show up would help. But do you see his campaigning efforts and his insistence that it be about him as actually about the Republicans who are on the ballot or more about his own ego?
OLORUNNIPA: There's definitely a lot of ego involved, and its not clear that this is actually going to help. He did campaign quite a lot in 2018. I was covering him and traveling with him in the run up to the 2018 midterms. He did try to make the election all about him, all about immigration, about the caravans that were coming in. He tried to personalize it at that time, and his polling was poor that time, and they lost a lot of seats at that time.
And so, it's not clear that this strategy has a lot of power behind it.
[16:50:02]
Yes. When the president is on the ballot, his voters do come out. But when he's not on the ballot, they don't. And it's -- they haven't found a strategy to combat that. And the idea of going out 30 days and barnstorming the country and potentially going places that are that -- where he will not be welcome and where he will only juice up Democratic energy against him, I'm not sure that's going to work.
HUNT: Yeah. I mean, Jason Carter, would he help or hurt the Republicans in Georgia?
CARTER: I mean, I think everybody thinks that -- I know -- thinks he would hurt the Republicans in Georgia. Right? I think that Trump is, as we just heard, you know, the least popular person in his political party. There may be a couple people in Georgia that are less popular, including Mike Collins.
But I think that there -- that it is a difficult thing. I ran in Georgia in a time when the president was unpopular. He was from my party and he didn't come. And that was great. And we coordinated all of that, right?
Like on some level, you know, these candidates need to be themselves. And on the Democratic side, the Democrats just need to hang these people with the record that Trump has. I mean, people like Trump when he's out of office and raging against the system, when he tries to run the system, the records have been very, very poor. And so, I think that when you're trying to defend this record, it's real hard to do. And I think it's hard for the Republicans to do that.
HUNT: I mean, Congressman, you came face to face with this yourself and the president's ego has occasionally. I mean, in your case, in some ways, the presidents. He was more willing to have a Democrat hold that seat than back you up.
MEIJER: Yeah, it's a very -- it's a different calculus when, you know, you're facing down the prospect of a Democratic House, which is the likelihood just given historic trends and the slim majority that the Republicans have. So, I will say not impossible the Republicans keep it -- unlikely, but not impossible, you know, and the prospect, which is, I think, less likely of Democratic Senate, but still certainly a possibility.
I will say, so, James Blair, who's running a lot of his political operations right now, um, he is an incredibly sharp political operative.
HUNT: Sharp mind, yeah.
MEIJER: The president has an excellent political team and a lot of money to throw at this midterm. And so, it may be places where -- and then these guys are very aware, here's where the president can go. That will be massively beneficial. here's maybe where we don't spend time, but that's also where the hundreds of millions of dollars they have to spend. That is always helpful.
CARTER: Does he listen to these guys?
MEIJER: A hundred percent.
(LAUGHTER)
MEIJER: The president --
GANGEL: When he agrees with them.
MEIJER: Well, when you share a desire for an outcome, and if that outcome is to maintain control of the Senate, and if that outcome is to try to flip the House.
Now, is that going to apply to every person? Is it going to change his mind on whether or not he likes John Cornyn? Probably not. But when it comes to the macro picture and what, you know, the political team is able to do and how they can best leverage the tools that the president gives them. Absolutely.
HUNT: Would you distinguish between -- I mean, the political team can allocate the money, can decide, help, decide what the president's time is spent, kind of lay out a plan, but then the president gets in front of cameras in the Oval Office and talks.
MEIJER: I think we're long past the point of being surprised that the presidents riffing in the Oval Office. I mean, that is -- that is very much a feature.
HUNT: Okay. We're getting some bipartisan agreement down here.
CARTER: It's almost irrelevant, right? It's -- there's so much -- there's so much static that the that the signal gets lost. And I think that that probably is helping Trump at this point in this type of environment.
HUNT: Yeah. Jamie?
GANGEL: I just think if were talking about getting out the vote in tight races, Republicans are facing the following. A, is he really going to spend all that money he has? And will he pick and choose? Will there be favorites? Will it be well spent? They are facing -- Republicans are facing an unpopular president, an
unpopular war, and a very tough economy that they're suffering with. And thus far at least, he has not shown that he really seems, to be putting his mouth and his money out there early enough to help some of these Republicans.
OLORUNNIPA: And sometimes when he puts his mouth out there, its not to say I feel your pain. I realize prices are high. Its to say I don't care about what Americans are dealing with their financial situation, or to say that, you know, my ballroom is important. This is all about me. Or to have his cabinet officials say he's doing this for fun. He's doing all of this building in Washington for fun, because that's what he wants to be spending his time doing.
So, his message discipline has never really been very, very strong. And that's part of the reason some of these candidates do not want him coming, because they don't know what he's going to say when he shows up.
HUNT: And, Jamie, some of these candidates aren't going to go to his convention, which is set for next week.
GANGEL: Many of them, many, many of them. Look, and it's interesting, people who -- members who normally say, oh, I haven't heard about that or I didn't know about that.
HUNT: Haven't seen the --
GANGEL: They are saying, well, I have to be here or my sons game or whatever. No, this is -- it's going to be interesting.
HUNT: Suddenly, very attentive on the sidelines, those peewee soccer.
Last word.
MEIJER: Yeah. Midterm conventions are an oddity. Democrats had 78 and 82 and they dropped it. I think this is to build momentum but also to attend, you got to pay money. It's more of a fundraising event that can then be deployed for vulnerable members.
[16:55:03]
HUNT: All right. With that, we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HUNT: All right. Thanks to my panel. I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. I hope all of you at home have a wonderful Labor Day weekend as well.
If you want to spend some of it with us, you can watch more of THE ARENA tomorrow. THE ARENA SATURDAY airs at noon and again at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. It will be right here on CNN. I'd love to have you join us.
You also, of course, can always stream THE ARENA live. You can catch up whenever you want. We are in the CNN app. It's on that QR code below, and you can catch up by listening to our podcast.
You can follow the show on X and Instagram. We're @TheArenaCNN.
But don't go anywhere. "THE LEAD", anchored by Phil Mattingly, starts right now.
