Return to Transcripts main page
CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip
Trump Officials Defend Strikes, But No Details on Results; GOP and Democrats at Odds Over Iran Nuke Capacity After Strikes; White House Considers Helping Iran Access $30 Billion to Restart Talks. Andrew Cuomo Stays on Ballot as Independent, Mayor Adams Runs for Re- election; Zohran Mamdani has Wall Street Alarmed; Senate Parliamentarian Rejects Medicaid Changes in Trump's Bill. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired June 26, 2025 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Tonight, report what we want or face the wrath.
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: How about we celebrate that? How about we talk about how special America is?
PHILLIP: The administration's fast plunge into propaganda.
Plus, as the clock ticks, Donald Trump's agenda is in jeopardy as his big bill gets even bigger.
Also, he's been called socialist, a communist, an extremist, and now a silver spooner.
MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NEW YORK CITY, NY): A choice between dirty fingernails and manicured nails.
PHILLIP: More politicians smell blood after a political stunner.
Live at the table, Ashley Allison, Abel Maldonado, Xochitl Hinojosa, Angie Wong and Mike Leon.
Americans with different perspectives aren't talking to each other, but here, they do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP (on camera): Good evening. I'm Abby Phillip in New York.
When the state tells you what you should report, say and do, that's a slippery slope to the autocratic governing that Donald Trump claims to be against. But that's what's happening in this surreal episode of outrage over an early intelligence report from his administration, his intelligence community, about his military operation against Iran, a report that CNN and other media outlets are simply reporting the existence of not casting aspersions that the military operation was a failure. But it's a report that at least based on a very early assessment contradicted the claims of total obliteration of the nuclear program, which was one of the reasons given to strike Iran in the first place.
Now, it's nothing new that Trump and his allies will go to great lengths to protect him from scrutiny, but they're now using the military as a shield and the media as a punching bag. They want everyone singing from the same songbook. And if you are not compliant, you're in their crosshairs, case in point.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEGSETH: President Trump directed the most complex and secretive military operation in history.
You, the press corps, because you cheer against Trump so hard, it's like in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump because you want him not to be successful is so bad.
How many stories have been written about how hard it is to, I don't know, fly a plane for 36 hours?
How about we celebrate that? How about we talk about how special America is, that only we have these capabilities?
How about we take a beat, recognize first the success of our warriors, hold them up, tell their stories, celebrate that, wave an American flag, be proud of what we accomplished because Americans are responding to him as commander-in-chief? The press corps doesn't want to write about it, or bring us to the topic of the moment, the highly successful strikes in Iran.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I just hope you can give them the respect they deserve because they came home to fake news, and like, oh gee, there was hardly any damage. The things are decimated.
Oh, yes, here we go. Wait until you hear this question.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, sir.
TRUMP: You should really say how great our soldiers and our warriors are.
You know what? You should be praising those people instead of trying to find some. By getting me, by trying to go and get me, you're hurting those people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIP: Iraq War Veteran and the founder of Independent Veterans of America Paul Rieckhoff is joining us in our fifth seat. Paul, what's your reaction to that? I have to say, I don't recall a defense secretary ever conducting a press conference like that. What do you think? PAUL RIECKHOFF, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: Yes, that's America's Secretary of Defense. To use a military term, it's conduct unbecoming. He looks rattled. He obviously looks thin skinned. He's extremely aggressive and volatile and he's attacking the press. We need him to attack our enemies. I wish he attacked Vladimir Putin as aggressively as he attacked CNN and others.
And I think what he's doing is continue to conflate the war with the warriors. It's something we worked hard as a nation across partisan lines to separate after Vietnam, to separate the politics from the people. And they have melded the two together. And you're right, they are using the military as a shield because the press is asking hard questions of our president, doesn't mean anything about the troops. It's entirely separate, and they're using it consistently as a very dangerous shield, which continues to politicize our military, which is their playbook now, which is very, very dangerous.
[22:05:01]
I don't know if it was obliterated or not, but I do know what is being obliterated, the Constitution, because Congress has again abdicated their responsibility to rein in a president when he is engaging in combat. We haven't had an act war since World War II, and I think the Republicans and Democrats at this table should be able to agree that Congress should have a voice here and the president should make his case to Congress and to the people before he commits the troops.
There's an old adage. First, commit the country, then commit the troops. When you do it backwards, this is the kind of stuff that starts to happen.
PHILLIP: That point about Vietnam I think is so important. Because the idea that troops are, you know, tied inexorably to the politics of a decision to go to war is not what I think a lot of Americans want. Troops carry out orders. And it doesn't matter what the politics are behind it but it also is completely separate from questioning the political decision-making. Why is that so hard to understand?
ANGIE WONG, MIAMI GOP COMMITTEEWOMAN: Well, President Trump just threw the biggest military parade on his birthday, on, you know, June 14th, right?
PHILLIP: Exactly.
WONG: And he wants to celebrate the troops.
PHILLIP: Exactly.
WONG: And, look, I think he --
PHILLIP: I'm not sure that's the defense.
WONG: Well, I think Hegseth is right. I think that the media is hunting for a scandal. We should be celebrating the troops. They did an incredible, historical military run, I mean, 37 hours without touching ground from Missouri to Iran and back. I mean, this is -- it was a big feat.
Now, I understand they have to go out and do damage control today because there was a leak and it came out that maybe in the very initial reports that it wasn't the perfect mission. And, again, this is very early on. We know the roads are closed going to those sites. We know the U.N. was denied by Iran to inspect those sites. So, until we actually have a conclusive report, it's just all opinions.
ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Exactly. So, maybe our president shouldn't say what he doesn't know because it's his opinion. He hasn't been there. Those roads are closed for him too. So, maybe hold, keep your powder dry and celebrate our troops, which I believe everyone at this table and most likely everyone watching does what the people, whether they were flying those bombers or not, anybody who has committed their life to serve and to protect our country deserves to be commended and they follow orders.
But the reason why we are questioning is because our president is saying things that he is not sure are true in an act of performative behavior, which is what he did. Am I surprised that that's what the press conference was with Pete Hegseth? Heck no. Like this is -- I have accepted, this is the way this government is going to run, I can still question it.
And the thing that you said that really struck me is that he's seen thick skinned or thin skinned. It's like, nobody likes me. Nobody came to my party, like I'm going to pout. No, be strong, be like, this is what we do, standby, get the facts and then report out. But if you're not going to do that, people are going to question you.
LT. GOV. ABEL MALDONADO (R-CA): But, Ashley, if the question is that they don't know, you said you don't know if it was obliterated. Nobody knows.
XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, the president doesn't know and he's the one who said it.
MALDONADO: I would venture to say that the president knows a lot more than we know. I would venture to say that it's very, very clear. But here, you have a group of folks who had an amazing strike. They went in through a knockout punch. They're out, their nuclear system's out. And all of a sudden they come back and the discussion is a fake or a leaked report that they're saying that, in essence, came out early. And early reports don't sell the whole story of what really went on.
PHILLIP: I mean, look, first of all, it's not a fake report. It is an early report, but also the nature --
MALDONADO: Early report. I'm sorry, it's an early report.
PHILLIP: Yes. The very nature of intelligence is that there's a reason you have a bunch of different agencies going out and collecting information about what happens because you want them to all come up with their different conclusions so you can get the best sense of what all the information is out there. On Capitol Hill today, Republicans and Democratic senators got their briefing and I just wanted you to listen very closely to what they all said coming out of this briefing. You're going to hear some different things but listen very closely to what they're saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): I believe that this mission was a tremendous success and that we have effectively destroyed Iran's nuclear program.
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): I think obliterated is much too strong a word.
Certainly, there was serious and perhaps severe damage done.
But as to how much damage was done, we really need a final assessment.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I don't want people to think that the site wasn't severely damaged or obliterated. It was. But having said that, I don't want people to think the problem is over because it's not.
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): I just do not think the president was telling the truth when he said this program was obliterated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALDONADO: It's politics.
PHILLIP: Well, in particular, Lindsey Graham's comments that he doesn't want people to think that the problem is over, I think, is very key. It seems very clear for me there that there is nuance in what the intelligence says right now.
[22:10:01]
But what Donald Trump wants to hear is, hooray, hooray, hooray, everything was great on the policy and political. This is putting aside what the troops did. They did exactly what they were asked to do. On the policy and the political side, the American people deserve to know whether or not our political objectives were met.
HINOJOSA: Absolutely. I mean, you said it perfectly, which they're politicizing our military. Donald Trump gets a briefing, which tells him exactly how it went and what they believe the damage is. And you're right, he does know more than us, and he should be telling Congress, and based on the intelligence briefing, it doesn't sound like Congress believes that it was obliterated.
With that said, he should have come out and said that damage had been done, end of story and moved on. I think the problem with Donald Trump is he knew that his own party and the American people were against these strikes, and he understood the political consequences of these strikes, and therefore decided to go out and politicize a strike instead of be honest with the American people.
And the American people have every right to know.
MALDONADO: Are you saying the strike was politicized? It was political strike?
HINOJOSA: Absolutely. He -- no, I'm not saying it was a political strike. I'm saying he politicized it afterwards by not telling the American people the truth.
And when he picked Pete Hegseth, we've all discussed around this table that the man is not up for the job. He's not up for that job. But the reality is that he is a spokesperson and loyal to Donald Trump. And that's why he was --
PHILLIP: Speaking of Pete Hegseth, I just want to play this other part of the press conference. He had been on social media talking about the boys who carried out this mission. He was asked about that at the press conference. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Why not acknowledge the female pilots that also participated in this mission? The early messages that you sent out only congratulated the boys.
HEGSETH: So, when I say something like our boys and bombers -- see, this is the kind of thing the press does, right?
When you spin it as, because I say our boys and bombers as a common phrase, I'll keep saying things like that, whether they're men or women, very proud of that female pilot, just like I'm very proud of those male pilots. And I don't care if it's a male or a female in that cockpit and the American people don't care. But it's the obsession with race and gender in this department that's changed priorities. We don't do that anymore. We don't play your little games.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Just to be clear, when he was campaigning for this job, he was the one who repeatedly said he didn't want women in combat roles. He's repeatedly picked out women and said why he didn't think that they should play certain roles in the military, but also boys is not like a sort of gender neutral term, last I checked. So, why not just acknowledge that there are people who are serving in these roles who are not all boys?
RIECKHOFF: These are the same people that have been running this stuff for the last six months and they have been sloppy and imprecise and exaggerating and radical in their language all across the board for the last six months, right, on everything from the L.A. riots to this. And truth is always the first casualty of war. It's especially true with these guys because they have a pattern of using language imprecisely. And the stakes keep going up but they're still the same people.
And that's the issue here, is that they haven't built trust with Congress. They haven't built trust with the media. They haven't built trust with each other. So, there's a pattern here where we don't trust them and they're not being careful so that we can go above and beyond to give them the benefit of the doubt. Instead they're going overboard, which is what Trump continues to do, instead of being conservative with his language and saying, let's wait and see, he's tweeting about it, right? You don't normally tweet about battle damage assessments after an engagement. And there hasn't been a conversation with America before this, which is very, very critical. So, once the round is out of the chamber, it's hard to come back and try to explain yourself to everyone.
And that's a really critical step here that the Senate failed on. They're not asking him to explain it, both parties and they are continuing -- they're failing. I would like to see them argue about their power and why they're abdicating their responsibility as much as they're arguing about whether or not it was obliterated.
PHILLIP: To be continued. We have much more ahead.
Coming up next, breaking details about how the Trump administration is trying to get Iran back to the negotiating table, and it's a move that resembles the Obama playbook.
Plus, breaking news in the race that rocked the political world after a Democratic socialist wins in New York. Andrew Cuomo says he's staying in the race and Eric Adams is going hard after Zohran Mamdani.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADAMS: There's no dignity in someone giving you everything for free.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:15:00]
PHILLIP: Exclusive new developments tonight about how the Trump administration is trying to get Iran back to the negotiating table, and one detail stands out. The administration has discussed possibly helping Iran access as much as $30 billion to build a civilian nuclear program for producing energy. That would also include easing sanctions and freeing up billions in restricted Iranian funds.
Now, sources say that the money wouldn't come from the U.S but from Arab partners. That part is noteworthy considering that we heard President Trump for years criticize the Obama nuclear deal for similar incentives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Iran's hostility substantially increased after the foolish Iran nuclear deal was signed in 2013 and they were given $150 billion, not to mention $1.8 billion in cash.
Then Iran went on a terrorist spree funded by the money from the deal and created hell. [22:20:04]
The missiles fired last night at us, and our allies were paid for with the funds made available by the last administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: We're told that this is just one proposal that was floated, both preliminary and evolving, but just the idea that this conversation was happening -- first of all, conversations happen in the government all the time. I want to be clear about that. Not all of them are serious. Not all of them are the ones that they're going to go with. But considering that the idea of freeing up Iranian cash or whatever, cash from anywhere in order to de-incentivize nuclear development for a weapon and incentivize Iran and other areas was the boogeyman for a very long time. It's amazing that this was even talked about.
HINOJOSA: Well, and it was -- I mean, Trump has criticized Obama and we wouldn't be in this situation if he didn't pull out of the Iran deal, but it is -- yes, you're right, it is crazy to me. And you heard Trump right there, who basically -- you know, this was offered to Iran before and now Trump is here criticizing them.
I think that the reality is Trump also said today that he wasn't sure that we needed a deal. You heard Iran also say that they weren't going to come to the table with a deal. So, what comes next is the unknown. We don't know what is going to happen. And I think that that is the scary part of all of this is that we don't know, we don't have certainty on what exactly -- you know, what exactly is happening in Iran and we don't have certainty on what's going to happen next.
MALDONADO: There's no secret that Iran is banged up right now. They are hurt. So, I think a negotiation, it's in the benefit of obviously Iran and the us we don't want to go back there again. President Trump's been very clear from the get-go. He's an anti-war president. He doesn't want war.
So, if you can go back and say, it's Obama's idea, I don't care what you say about that. We are here today. And if he can come up with an agreement where they can have nuclear for their public but not create a weapon, let's move forward and create peace.
HINOJOSA: Iran wants weapons, to be very, very clear. They're not going to take it without that weapon.
MALDONADO: Trump said just nuclear weapon, that's not an option here.
PHILLIP: Just to be clear, Abel, if the contours of a deal resemble the Obama era deal, you'd be fine with it?
MALDONADO: Of course.
PHILLIP: Well, I'm just saying, my only point is that this is like biblical Republican orthodoxy that the JCPOA was terrible for the country. MALDONADO: Imagine a country where their partners with Israel --
RIECKHOFF: Take a step back. To use a military term, whiskey, tango, foxtrot. So, what they want to do is give $30 billion to an enemy of America, a group that funds terrorism around -- we used to not negotiate with terrorists. Now, we're going to give them $30 billion? Hold on, let me finish. Let me finish. They are actively rocketing American bases. They are funding Iranian proxies around the globe that want to kill Americans, that actually did kill Americans that I serve with in Iraq, okay? They are actively targeting civilians inside Israel, and we're going to give them $30 billion? Like this is not a group that we can trust, not with America, not with Trump, whoever.
It's ridiculous, okay? What's next? We're going to have $30 billion to Putin. This is upside down world. The idea that we can give them things while they continue to attack us is absurd to me.
PHILLIP: Another idea floated last week is that the Gulf States and the U.S. allies in the Gulf of would pay to replace the Fordow nuclear facility that was hit with the bombs this weekend with non-enrichment programs. That's according to a person familiar.
I don't know. I don't even know what to say. I mean, we bombed them and then we would help them rebuild.
WONG: No. What Trump is saying here is, look, Iran, you have a great future if you want it. Here's what I'm going to present to you, various options.
PHILLIP: And he said that, make Iran great again.
WONG: Right.
RIECKHOFF: This machine that says, death to America?
WONG: And look right now, China's President Xi Putin, supposedly Iran's best allies, are not coming to their rescue in the time of need. Like there's no one left. So, now the table's open for negotiations because one's coming.
So, Trump's saying, hey, I'll help you out. You know, we could build some like resorts and stuff, right?
RIECKHOFF: So, you're okay with giving $30 billion to people who --
WONG: I don't think the U.S., I don't think Americans --
(CROSSTALKS)
PHILLIP: This whole thing -- but there's -- I think the point is, and maybe you're all right in a way, but at the end of the day, this seems to all point to one simple truth, which is that the only real way out of this is diplomacy.
HINOJOSA: Yes.
PHILLIP: There has to some kind of deal made at the end of the day.
ALLISON: I think this is what is wrong with our politics right now. I'm so glad you said that, if it had the contours of Obama's deal, you would be okay with it, because at this point, it's basically like if Trump says it, people are like, no, if Obama says it, people are like -- some people are like, no. If Biden said it, some people are like, no, rather than actually trying to get to a solution.
I don't actually know what the right solution is because it's very complicated.
[22:25:02]
But I just wonder if we were to reverse back to Trump 1.0 when the JCPOA actually was and the ronda was actually established and they were slowing down their enrichment of uranium, if we would've -- and we did not then pull out of the deal, if we would've been in this situation.
Now, I have a question that I wonder if we go back to a similar contour and the next president says the same thing that Donald Trump said, and it's a Democrat, it feels like right now, there are no real honest brokers on this issue, and that is why Americans don't have trust in our government, in our institutions. There are other reasons, but it's if it's the R or D solution, I can't get behind it versus just, I want Americans to be safe and I don't want nuclear war to happen.
PHILLIP: It's such an important point about the whiplash that the world is experiencing as a result of all of this.
We have to leave the conversation there. Paul Rieckhoff, thank you very much for joining us. Everyone else stay with us.
As progressives say, Democrats better wake up after a socialist win in New York, Zohran Mamdani is confronted on whether he approves of capitalism. We'll debate his answer next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:30:00]
PHILLIP: Breaking news tonight. In the race that stunned American politics, sources tell us that former Governor Andrew Cuomo will not drop out of the race for New York mayor before a deadline raising questions about whether he will also run-in the general election as an independent. Cuomo did concede to Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, whose victory on Tuesday was a political earthquake. He is now poised to face incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who officially kicked off his reelection campaign as an independent.
And tonight, Mamdani gave more insight into his views that have so many people on the left and the right upset tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Do you like capitalism?
ZOHRAN MAMDAMI, NEW YORK MAYORAL CANDIDATE: No. I have many critiques of capitalism. And I think ultimately the definition for me of why I call myself a democratic socialist is the words of Dr. King decades ago. He said, call it democracy or call it democratic socialism. There must be a better distribution of wealth for all of God's children in this country. And that's what I'm focused on is dignity and taking on income inequality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Mike Leon joins us in our fifth seat. Mike, that answer is giving some people some heartburn tonight.
MIKE LEON, DIRECTOR OF STRATEGY, FREE & EQUAL ELECTIONS FOUNDATION: We have to turn to the resident New Yorker. Right? Obviously. So but -- I don't live in New York anymore. And let's get into why, because this is part of why he has won in so many different districts, like in Bedford Stuyvesant, 43 points, in Crown Heights, plus 25 points. Because people like me that are paycheck to paycheck, not waiting for that check, we're paycheck to paycheck.
We are struggling in New York City. I was born Long Island Jewish Hospital. I'm a Bronx kid from 236 in Byron Avenue. This is my home, but living in a two-bedroom, two bathroom on 50th and 10th in Hell's Kitchen was $3,400 during the pandemic when New York City was trying to get everybody back. Go to Zillow right now and look at her apartment. That's $5,500 a month.
PHILLIP: Yeah. That's right.
UNKNOWN: That's right.
LEON: Now, in the districts, Cuomo's smart to stay in the race as an independent because of a lot of the policies that he's talking about when you start to drill into them, a lot of them don't make too much sense in terms of how you execute them, but he's still speaking to the larger of the affordability crisis. He's from New York. He has lived the challenges that everyday New Yorkers like me go through. He's throwing the ideas out there, and it's resonating with people that are, let's be honest, look like us and are, you know, in lower incomes and they're like, we need some type of change in city hall.
PHILLIP: There's something -- there's some truth to what he's saying. Okay. This is sort of like, you know, when Democrats in the prime -- in the election against Trump kept talking in terms that Americans were like, what does this even mean? Like, people don't care what you call it. They want to know what you're doing for them, and he is speaking to that, whether you like the word socialism or not.
ABEL MALDONADO, FORMER CALIFORNA LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: Well, Abby, I watched him today and I actually watched Mayor Adams as well. And, to watch Mayor Adams, I can see where the campaign's going. He made it very clear. It's about safety. It's about blue collar versus a young man with dreams. And that's what he --
PHILLIP: And then we'll play it when you're done. I'll let you finish.
MALDONADO: He laid -- he laid that out. But let me tell you something. Watching Mamdani today, don't underestimate this guy. And I think having Cuomo get in the race helps Mamdani to be very sincere with you. Because at the end of the day, Mamdani, he's authentic. He's a believer.
LEON: Yeah.
MALDONADO: They asked him on capitalism. He was straight up.
PHILLIP: That's right.
LEON: Right.
MALDONADO: So be careful with that. That's why I always said Bernie Sanders would have been stronger in an election because he's a believer.
LEON: But the only issue --
MALDONADO: And authenticity goes a long way in American politics today.
LEON: The only issue, and I was talking to somebody just before this that works in investment banking, and he was like, Wall Street's probably not going to vote for this guy. Like, let's be honest. Because when you start to drill into certain things, like the grocery store plan. Right? Like how, how is that going to impact capitalism and small groceries?
Like if I own a bodega and the amount of rent that I'm paying to have that bodega, and I do price markups based on what I'm buying and what I sell in the store, That's capitalism. Like, yes. Yes. It's wrong to do that and mark it up 20x.
ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But you might not have to if -- if you're -- just as those apartments were going up. I used to live in New York. I used to live in Bed-Stuy. I used to teach at boys and girls High School.
[22:34:57]
I can't come back to the city right now because it is too expensive. I want to live in the city, but it is -- I am priced out of it.
LEON: No, you don't.
ALLISON: Yes, I do. I love New York. I want to live in the city. I really do. But it is so expensive. When I was here and living as a teacher, I went into debt because you can't -- I was playing by the rules. I was living the American dream and I went into debt. And so he is giving people, and I will say, I am not a socialist. I believe that everyone should have a pathway to wealth.
But we have to agree with what he was saying is that the distribution of wealth in this country is drastic. And you know what? People on Wall Street might not vote for him, but you know the most people on Wall Street don't make the money that the CEOs of these firms make.
XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, and it wasn't the socialist voting for him --
ALLISON: That's right.
HINOJOSA: -- on the primary. It was a lot larger than that people that are feeling your pain and people -- his message resonates, which I think sends a message to the Democratic party that cost is still the number one issue. And whether you're running as a socialist or whatever, that is the issue.
PHILLIP: Let me give you a taste of what's been going on with New York's wealthy folks. Here's Ryan Serhant who's a luxury real estate broker. You might remember him from "Million Dollar Listing." He says, "My number one job will be moving people from New York to Florida again. Based on the results, clients are going to hold off on making any kind of investments in New York City."
You have others like billionaire hedge fund manager and MAGA folk, Bill Ackman, saying socialism has no place in the economic capital. The ability of New York City to offer services to the poor and needy, let alone the average New Yorkers entirely dependent on New York City being a business friendly environment and a place where wealthy residents are willing to spend 183 days and assume the associated tax burden.
There is truth to what he's saying about the tax base of the city, but I'm wondering the complaints from the people who are making millions and millions and millions of dollars. How does that fall on the ears of people making $50,000 and $60,000 or $7,000?
LEON: It's capitalism.
(CROSSTALK)
ANGIE WONG, MIAMI GOP COMMITTEEWOMAN: Look. Everyone's welcome to Miami and Florida. We welcome all New York expats who wants to be there. I'll be your relocation specialist. We've had so many people --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: You can take all the business.
WONG: Yeah, we had so many people -- so many New Yorkers like myself move to Florida during the COVID years. We're going to have a second wave, and we've got plenty of land and real estate down there. You're going to see an exodus if Zohran gets in, and we're already being promised that not just because of high cost of living but because of the Jewish base here.
They're scared and I'm hearing from, you know, various people here in New York and they -- they're just -- they're concerned about their safety, living here with a Muslim mayor, and that's the problem. ALLISON: That's highly problematic.
PHILLIP: Hold on. Hold on.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Hold on. We talk -- hold on. We talked about this yesterday, and since you brought it up, might as well bring it up again. The idea that because he is Muslim, he is a threat to Jewish New Yorkers, is that really interesting?
WONG: No. It's because of his anti-Israel rhetoric that he's been putting out there.
PHILLIP: But what does that have to do with him being Muslim? I think this is where things -- you can go after his policies, but what does that have to do with his faith?
WONG: It's not about his faith. It's because he is perpetuating this anti-Israeli rhetoric, and New Yorkers are hearing it, and they're scared. That's what I'm hearing back from friends --
(CROSSTALK)
LEON: He's aimed at Abby. He's aimed at Abby. He's aimed at a lot of Bibi (ph). But he did the interview with Mehdi Hasan and he aimed at Abibi. Not necessarily--
(CROSSTALK)
MALDONADO: Abby, he's Muslim. Who cares? That's not the point here. His policies are the problem. I think his biggest deficiency is defund the police. If he sticks to that, I think Mayor Adams has a great shot of winning this thing. But if Cuomo gets in the race, I think Zohran's the next mayor of New York.
ALLISON: I think you're right. I think that also -- well, I don't even know how to spend my time on Cuomo, but I think that he -- I don't think he has defunded the police. He has this perspective on public safety that a lot of people have, is that for some issues that happen on the street with mental health crisis, if you actually go and look at his policies, he's saying what a lot of Republicans and Democrats has said that that the police are not the answer for all the problems in our city. And actually, a lot of police officers agree with that.
I think it comes down to this. I understand that Jewish Americans in this country are feeling very fearful. They have a right to because anti-Semitism is on the rise, and crimes towards Jewish people have been on the rise. Just like during COVID, crimes towards Asian Americans were on the rise because of rhetoric. So we have to be really careful about why people -- people should not be afraid of him becoming mayor because he is Muslim. People should be afraid because anti-Semitism lives in this country and he does have policies.
I don't live in New York, so I didn't vote for him, but he does have policies that he would put some of his budget towards directly making sure that there's an anti-hate component --
WONG: Yeah.
ALLISON: -- in public safety that is specifically targeted towards Jewish Americans, which is what you want a mayor (inaudible).
[22:40:04]
PHILLIP: Xochitl, real quick. Democrats are trying to figure out if they should listen to what Zohran has done and watch what he's done and do something with it. I mean, do you think that there is something that they should take away from this really? So many of them are just like, get the socialist guy away from us.
HINOJOSA: So I actually agree with you. I think that there are people in the Democratic Party who thought Cuomo was going to pull this one out and truly never believed that he would. And I think people are a little bit worried about socialism and within the Democratic Party. With that said, I do think that this emphasizes everything that we know about costs, and we knew this before.
We knew that why voters did not vote for Democrats in the last election, why Donald Trump won because they believed that Donald Trump would bring down costs. They believed that their lives would be better and that we didn't -- Democrats did not put forward that message, and that's why we did not win. And so in order for Democrats to win in the midterm elections, they have to take a page out of his book, not on all policies --
ALLISON: Yeah.
HINOJOSA: --, but at least speak to the voter and tell them how they're going to lower costs or (inaudible).
PHILLIP: Alright. We got to leave it there.
LEON: Leave to them to see a movement and try to stop it.
PHILLIP: Alright. Coming up next as the clock ticks on Donald Trump's agenda, he made a comment tonight that may come back to haunt him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:45:00]
PHILLIP: Just eight days away from Donald Trump's July 4th deadline. Tonight, his agenda bill is facing another major setback, a $250 billion hole in the math. The Senate parliamentarian ruled that a key -- that key cuts to Medicaid in that Republican bill violates Senate budget rules. But in spite of everything that happened today, including calls from his own party to fire that parliamentarian, Trump's falsely claimed that cutting Medicaid isn't in their plans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We're cutting $1.7 trillion in this bill and you're not going to feel any of it. And your Medicaid is left alone, it's left the same. Your Medicare and your Social Security are strengthened, we're not cutting. The Democrats are going to destroy all three of them because it's not sustainable. You'll -- they'll end up cutting your Medicare and Medicaid in half.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: The CBO, the Congressional Budget Office, says that Trump's bill would increase the deficit by $3.4 trillion over the next decade. In it, is the largest cut to Medicaid in history, and some of those cuts are what has gotten them in the crosshairs of the parliamentarian. There's all kinds of bird rule stuff. There's terminology, bird dropping --
(CROSSTALK)
You don't need to know anything about that except that it restricts what tricks they can do to make those cuts to make the math work. At the end of the day, there are cuts in here.
ALLISON: Yes.
PHILLIP: Right? And they need those cuts in order to make this bill make any kind of sense from a budgetary perspective.
ALLISON: Yes. And those cuts are going to hurt poor people that are Republican and then are Democrat -- Democratic and the working class voters that so many folks said we lost as Democrats, they are going to hurt those individuals. And I actually -- it's not just the parliamentarians that are pushing back on it. There are some Republicans who have great concern because they know they have districts in their state that need Medicaid.
They also -- we started this show talking about supporting our troops. There are also cuts in this bill that hurt veterans. Like, this is -- the way this administration is selling this bill as though it is a bill for the people, this bill is for the wealthiest of the wealthiest. And I don't know what everybody's bottom line is here, but I have a feeling that we don't even benefit from this bill.
MALDONADO: Well, I can tell you this, the $1.7 trillion in cuts is over ten years, so it's a $170 billion a year. Those cuts are coming from Medicaid, but there are some cuts that are for folks -- for work requirements, waste, fraud, and abuse, and it comes up real quick. But this bill is -- you're right, Ashley. There's -- it's a big bill and it's going to be decided by the people in America in 2026.
And I say that with all heart because, this is Donald J. Trump's signature bill of everything he campaigned on, and it's either going to continue in 2026 or it's not.
PHILLIP: Okay. So bottom line is this -- as it stands now, this bill, good politics or bad politics in your view?
MALDONADO: I think it's good politics. It continues the tax cuts from 2017. It creates enormous economic development for America. It increases, I mean, the wealth of America, and taxes are staying lower.
PHILLIP: I mean --
MALDONADO: I think it's a great bill, Abby.
PHILLIP: Okay.
MALDONADO: But you know what? I just I'll repeat what I said --
PHILLIP: -- which is --
MALDONADO: -- 2026, the American people is going to decide (inaudible).
HINOJOA: And what I'll tell you about 2026 is there is a Quinnipiac Poll that just came out that shows that 55 percent of Americans --
MALDONADO: I've seen it.
HINOJOSA: -- do not agree with this bill. And --
MALDONADO: I've seen it, Xochitl.
HINOJOSA: -- we are just -- we're just at the beginning of this. Like, we've -- Democrats have just started running ads in vulnerable districts when it comes to this bill.
[22:49:56]
We haven't even started targeting, you know, every single hardliner, every single -- every single person in a Republican district who could potentially lose their seat. We have not even started those ad campaigns and started messaging to the American people about this bill. And the fact that the American --
MALDONADO: And the Republican Party started that on Democrats. It is going to happen.
HINOJOSA: The fact that the American people already disapprove of it, one thing that I'll tell you is the last time -- when the ACA, when there was a vote on to repeal the ACA, everyone walked the plank. A lot of Republicans walked the plank for that vote. It did not end up passing. What happened? Democrats won the House. I think we're heading in that direction.
PHILLIP: It's not -- it's not really ever a good sign when they start attacking the referees, you know.
MALDONADO: In this case, it's a parliamentarian.
PHILLIP: Yeah. We're, like, literally a week away from this. They want to fire the parliamentarian. The Senate parliamentarian's not elected, not accountable to the American people. Her job is not to push a woke agenda. I mean, it does speak volumes about what they're -- you know, they're on a tight rope here trying to make everybody happy, but the rules are the rules. MALDONADO: But, Abby, you're going to have -- they're going to -- they've got a lot of good writers in the House that are going to fix this real quick.
PHILLIP: Of course. I mean --
MALDONADO: And it's going to be on the (inaudible).
PHILLIP: -- they're going to have to figure it out. I just think it is interesting that rather than just figuring it out, they're just like, we got to fire this lady.
LEON: But this is par for the course of everything else, right? Like, if it's not -- if it's rigged or whatnot, we've got to attack the process, the whole system. Do you guys want me to do a quick debrief on the Senate parliamentarian in the history of 1935?
MALDONADO: No.
(CROSSTALK)
LEON: But, you know, I did want to go back to something Abel said there because we keep hearing waste, fraud, and abuse in this bill. Can you explain to, and this is not a trap question, Abel? I'm a journalist. I'm going to ask it and frame it the right way. Can you explain to me what is so wasteful, fraudulent, and abusive that is in this bill that is being put forward by the president, that is going to when it's signed by the president and eventually ends -- comes into legislation, what is it going to impact for American people?
MALDONADO: Well, Medicaid is for people that are for women, for children, women that are pregnant, older senior citizens and so forth. It's not for people that don't want to work or stay home, so there is abuse there. It's not for people that are here in America undocumented.
LEON: Just real quick. You don't have a document, a quantifiable number of how many people --
MALDONADO: I don't have the quantity.
LEON: No, but that's what I'm saying. We need to -- when we hear these talking points of waste, fraud, and abuse, this is how we push back on it. And it's -- again, it's not to trap you. You know, I like you. I met you 12 minutes ago. But it's really about, like, we have to push back on waste, fraud, and abuse. The talking point cannot be repeated. I have to stop you there because you have to point to me what it is you're going to do, because these members of Congress --
MALDONADO: You don't believe there's waste, fraud, and abuse?
LEON: I agree that there's waste, fraud, and abuse in government in general. Right. That is not what I agree with respect to this bill. Now, I haven't done the deep dive. I've had members of Congress on to talk about it, but I've yet to ask somebody who has laid out for me, like we talked about with Mamdani, lay out for me what is so wasteful, fraudulent, and abusive in this bill that this bill will ultimately be solved.
PHILLIP: Alright. We have to leave it there. Coming up next, a panel is going to give us their nightcaps, including their wedding fantasies. But first, a special programming note. Join us tomorrow night for "Newsnight Summer Fridays" as we take the show on a field trip. We'll be broadcasting our roundtable debate from the Food Network Kitchen. We will have some food, some drinks, lively conversation. You don't want to miss it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:55:00]
PHILLIP: It is the $50 million event that's got everyone talking. The wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez in Venice. So for our nightcaps tonight, if money wasn't an object, what feature would you include at your wedding? You each have 30 seconds to tell us, Ashley.
ALLISON: Okay. So if I were ever to get married, I would -- it wouldn't be the wedding or the after party. It would be -- I would bring my guests on the honeymoon too. The party would go on and on and on and like, we would buy out a resort, go on a -- I know that environmentalists are going to hate me. Go on a private jet and like just have a ball for a week and then -- and then they would go away and then we would have like our -- but it would be a week-long party.
PHILLIP: Okay. Alright. Holler at your girls.
ALLISON: I will. I'll let you know.
PHILLIP: Alright. Alright, Abel.
MALDONADO: Well, Abby, I don't know if President Trump would like this, but my wish wedding would be literally out of this world. It would be, picture a ceremony on Elon Musk's Starship. SpaceX Starship orbiting the world and the Earth and then saying my I do's with the cosmos and having my guest floating with those custom tuxes and custom gowns while that champagne just dances while I'm saying I do.
PHILLIP: This is stressful.
MALDONADO: It would be beautiful, wouldn't it?
(CROSSTALK)
MALDONADO: Livestreaming everything on X with the song background of, "Started From the Bottom," now we're here, by Drake. Come on. Come on.
PHILLIP: Alright. That is very elaborate. And it's quite nice. Yeah. Angie?
WONG: But why Elon Musk? This is Jeff Bezos' wedding, right? So, I would want --
MALDONADO: That's what I mean. That's why President Trump would like (inaudible). So, I would want --Go ahead, Angie.
WONG: Right. So, I would want Jeff Bezos to fly all my friends up into, you know, the moon and have Katy Perry, you know, perform for us with the dandelion. You know, I think that would be worth it a couple of million, if not. He's got the -- he's got the pocket.
PHILLIP: He's got the dough. Xochitl?
HINOJOSA: I don't want to go to space. I just want his plane all -- to go all around the world and take my guests everywhere around the world on a, like, few weeks' vacation.
PHILLIP: Yeah. Okay. I'm sensing a theme here.
LEON: My wife's would be, you know, go to Italy, like, a chef catering all of it.
[22:59:59]
Mine, John Legend, come on down. Come talk to me, baby. We're going to do a duet together. It's going to be my wedding. We're just ordinary people. That's what we're going to do. We're just going to sing right now. Girl, I'm in love with you --
