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CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip
Trump Headlines Midterm Convention Amid Record Low Approval; Trump Touts Economy as Grocery Prices Soar; Talarico Says, GOP Worried About Six Genders Instead of $6 Gas. Sen. Fetterman Surprisingly Appears in a Pre-Recorded Video at the RNC Midterm Convention; Wall Street Journal reports that the Iran War may last until the End of Donald Trump's Presidency. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired September 09, 2026 - 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 VIDEOTAPE)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Tonight, he's deeply unpopular, ditto for his economy. So, why is Donald Trump the centerpiece of the GOP's midterm pitch?
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: And I'm asking you to let us finish the job we began with the greatest two years in the history of the presidency.
PHILLIP: Plus, the Republicans attempt to define the Democrats.
SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): He believes God is non-binary. We know who God is. We're talking about Jesus.
PHILLIP: And Democrats hit back.
JAMES TALARICO (D), TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATE: I think the reason that politicians in that convention center across the street want to talk about six sexes is because they don't want to talk about $6 diesel.
PHILLIP: Also, the war that's supposedly been won, which is apparently not a war, gets a new timeline, a very convenient one.
TRUMP: I think the war is going to end immediately after the election. Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward.
PHILLIP: And another A.I. employee quits over safety concerns, warning it could kill us all within the decade. So, what is D.C. doing about it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are incredible amounts of danger coming here.
Live at the table, Neera Tanden, Joe Borelli, Toure, Jason Rantz, and Ana Navarro.
Americans with different perspectives aren't talking to each other, but here, they do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIP (on camera): Good evening. I'm Abby Phillip in New York.
With less than eight weeks to go until the midterms, President Trump is more unpopular than ever. His approval rating is at a record low, and even some Republicans are starting to sour on his job performance.
Now, despite that, Trump is throwing a two-day GOP midterm convention extravaganza. It kicked off tonight with Trump putting himself front and center. The president still delivering his keynote address right now, but he's sticking to the theme of the night, which is praising himself and painting the Democrats as the boogeyman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The choice in this election is very, very simple. Democrats are asking you to vote for their failed far-left agenda, it's never worked, that destroyed your finances and delivered you four years of disaster, bedlam, and death under sleepy Joe Biden. And I'm asking you to let us finish the job we began.
Pretend that I'm on the ballot. I'm on the ballot. I'm on it. Just one more time. Because if we lose, you're going to lose your border, you're going to lose your tax cuts, you're going to lose your safety and security. You're going to lose your wealth. Our country is going through hell. You will be going through hell just like you did just two years ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Now before we open it up to the table here, we invite you at home to join the debate. Go to cnn.com/abby, weigh in there. We'll get to some of your comments as we go throughout the show tonight.
The president is doing some combination of a speech that's supposed to rally his base demonize Democrats. It sounds a lot like a campaign speech at many points in it. But the question is, is pitching the golden age of America right now to Americans going to work?
ANA NAVARRO, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first I almost have to stifle laughter at him still calling Joe Biden Sleepy Joe, when practically every day we see video of Donald Trump asleep somewhere, in basketball games, at the Oval Office. Anywhere he is, he's falling asleep and drooling.
But, okay, let's now get back to your question. Look, I think part of the problem that Trump is having is that he's just so -- seems to be -- one of his secret weapons before was that despite the fact that he was this New York billionaire living in a gilded apartment here, he had the pulse of the Republican base and the pulse of America. He could feel the anger of the frustrated Americans. He seems to have completely missed the boat.
Americans are feeling malaise. Americans are feeling economic pain, and he keeps focusing on himself, his renovation, his vanity projects, his parades, his UFC fights, his statues, his gold gilding, while Americans have no access to healthcare, are paying through the nose at the pump, can't afford groceries.
[22:05:20]
So, yes, it seems just completely like a dystopian society where he's living in a parallel universe, not in touch with the American people.
JASON RANTZ, SEATTLE RED RADIO HOST: Well, I mean, this idea that no one can afford healthcare is obviously hyperbole. There are issues that the president is dealing with, and Republicans are going to have to deal with. The polling suggests that. But there's also a story to be told that he's trying to tell, and not just him, but the other speakers specifically around the economy. We just had a monster job month that most people are not talking about because it's good for the president. We have record low prices on drugs because of this president. No one wants to talk about that because it actually helps the president.
Don't shake your head on that one. Clearly, drug prices are going down. That's absolutely true.
(CROSSTALKS)
RANTZ: You also have the Trump accounts, which is a really good idea, that is in fact popular and will help a lot of people. But, again, it doesn't get talked about that much because it helps Donald Trump.
This idea that everything is bad for Republicans is not true. And if it were true, we would see in the polling not just five-point lead amongst a generic Democrat. The numbers would be much higher.
NEERA TANDEN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: In some polls, it's 8 points, and 10 points and 11 points. In some polls, it's as large as it's ever been in 20 years.
RANTZ: The generic polling on the Republican side versus the Democrats is at like -- I think, what is it like five-point --
TANDEN: No.
RANTZ: Yes, it is. The generic poll for Democrats is like five points.
PHILLIP: Let's just let Neera respond.
TANDEN: I think, fundamentally, what I feel is odd about this conversation is it actually reminds me of some deja vu. I remember being in the Biden administration trying to tell people things were good when they didn't feel it. And here, you have the same problem. In fact, what's worse is people actually feel worse today. Polls today say people feel the economy is worse than they did under Joe Biden, and they actually think that it was better in the last year of the Biden economy than it is today. And you have the president of the United States saying constantly, don't actually trust how you feel about how your gas prices I delivered through the Iran war or higher food prices I delivered through the tariffs. Feel how I am telling you to feel. And I think that is just a colossal mistake.
And I feel, you know, I'm glad Republicans in swing districts have shown up for this. Obviously, not a majority, because many of them have kept their rationality, but some of them showed up in this, and I hope they're asked, do you think the president is right that this is a golden era for your swing district? And I hope they answer yes because the voters feel no.
PHILLIP: It's not just the Neeras of the world who feel like things are not going well. What's interesting is that the polls suggest that even Republicans, Republicans and MAGA Republicans, are increasingly pessimistic. Republicans who say that they strongly approve of Trump's performance has gone from 52 percent earlier this year to 41 percent. Among MAGA Republicans, it's gone down from 71 percent to 62 percent. So, you're seeing even Trump's base, they also don't necessarily believe that things are -- the trajectory is going in the right direction fewer of them are willing to say that Trump is doing a great job.
And, actually, what Neera is saying about the last year of the Biden administration, right before Trump came into office, versus where we are today, it is objectively true on many fronts, on job creation, on inflation, on GDP growth, that it actually was better in that last part of the Biden administration than it is now.
JOE BORELLI, FORMER REPUBLICAN LEADER, NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL: Well, I disagree. Look, Neera called it deja vu. The president went out and gave that speech earlier. We ran the clip. It's, you heard him talking about how bad the Biden economy was. It's deja vu because the Democratic Party lost the last election because of their performance on the economy. You remember that. You were there.
TANDEN: And you're kind of a -- yes, I was there. And, actually, the way the economy at this point is better.
BORELLI: But I want to hear one more thing Trump said, because you posted an NBC poll, and that's fine. A YouGov poll had the number amongst Republicans as supporting Trump as much higher, and that plays into what he has been saying, and I think a lot of his critics will even admit, that he is a vote getter for the Republican Party.
There is a lot of cohesion around Donald Trump within his party, and placing his name on the ballot in theory, or in pretend, is what's going to drive votes.
And the last thing I'll say --
PHILLIP: So then why are all these Republicans staying away?
BORELLI: Let me say -- well, let's get to that in a second. Let's put up a split screen right now. You have Donald Trump, you have J.D. Vance, you have a dozen cabinet members all making speeches. Let's do a split screen with the Democratic Party. Who's even the national leader of the Democratic Party that if they wanted to have a midterm election tonight, who would be the headliner? I don't have an answer for that. Democrats don't have an answer to that. And more to that, what is the national unifying message of the Democratic Party? What are they speaking about?
(CROSSTALKS)
TOURE, HOST, TOURE SHOW NEWS: I would love to know, as we're doing an RNC convention, what is the policy message of the Republican Party? This sort of convention thing should have a strategy. Here's the message, here's the people we're putting forward.
[22:10:02]
This is Trumpapalooza. This is Trumpfest out to just make him look good without an actual idea.
You talk about the golden age. He's talking about post-World War II, where we felt good about ourselves because we had won a war, and that created prosperity. Right now, we have a losing, needless war in the Middle East that is creating a lack of prosperity. So, we're going exactly opposite of the MAGA world that he promised us.
NAVARRO: And, you know, when you say deja vu, what it reminds me of is actually the way the Biden administration treated the immigration crisis, where they kept denying that it was a crisis, trying to tell people that it wasn't a crisis, that they were working on it, and that's not how people felt. And so no matter how much they said it, that's not how people felt, and it showed in the polls, it showed in the election results.
That's, to me, where the parallel is between where Trump and Republicans are trying to tell people, what you're feeling is not what you're feeling, you've got it all wrong.
PHILLIP: There also is a lot of in some ways the greatest hits. Let me just play quickly Scott Bessent. He's the treasury secretary. Rarely do I see treasury secretaries doing things like this, but here's what he said on the stage today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: In 15 short months, we've gone from autopen to overdrive from a president who couldn't stay awake to a president who refuses to sleep. Under Joe Biden, Democrats brought this country to the brink of ruin. They opened our borders and shuttered our factories. They imposed one set of rules on American workers while allowing our competitors to play by another.
What a difference a new president can make.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: So, there's that. And, you know, we heard from the president a lot of the same things that our fact checker, Daniel Dale, has been busy all day fact checking. And this viewer says -- this viewer, Sha, says, anyone, and I mean anyone, who still buys Trump's greatest hits needs to be -- needs to reevaluate themselves.
I think what the question that comes out of all of this is, is this the greatest hits? And should there be some new material rather than going back to Biden, going back to all of the old stuff that doesn't seem to resonate with voters?
BORELLI: Well, there is. They were talking about the Working Family Tax Cut, something like 8 million Americans filed no tax on tips, 35 million Americans filed the no tax on overtime, 40-something million filed the enhanced senior tax credit. So, there are a lot of things Republicans are talking about. They're talking about TrumpRx expanding, the first time in 60 years we've had a significant decrease in the price of prescription drugs. These are statistics that you can't argue with.
And so it's not surprising people are trying to downplay them or ignore them. But to say that the Republican Party has no message is just inaccurate. I think if we -- I would love for us to -- we should play the entire, you know, convention.
TOURE: What is it?
BORELLI: Well, it's lower taxes, which they've accomplished this year. They made it --
RANTZ: Which Democrats voted against.
BORELLI: -- secure the border because the immigration issue is still some on the minds, and we still win in the polling on immigration, right? It's obviously not having a new --
NAVARRO: You win on the -- Republicans win on the border. He has lost tremendous support and is underwater on the immigration enforcement because Americans are seeing the cruelty that is happening in the streets of America.
BORELLI: And the final point I'll make is on the economy, where you would think, if they listen to you, that Republicans were significantly underwater on which party people prefer on the economy, it's actually pretty split. So, it's not a doom and gloom --
TANDEN: It's a big move towards Democrats, and, in fact, for the first time ever against Trump.
BORELLI: It's not a doom and gloom moment for Republicans. We have a lot of optimism going into the election. If you look at the Cook Report, there are a lot of safe Republican seats.
TOURE: Optimism.
TANDEN: He has lost --
RANTZ: Absolutely, there's optimism, and here's a big reason. TOURE: No one would put a president with 35 percent approval, right, lowest of his term, at the center of this launch into the midterms.
RANTZ: Unless the opposition party is polling lower than you.
(CROSSTALKS)
TANDEN: Hold on. Hold on.
PHILLIP: Jason, Joe brought up just a minute ago that Democrats don't have a standard-bearer, but we also have to look at who the standard- bearer of the Republican Party is, to Toure's point, which is a president who is historically unpopular.
So, it's not in a -- to your point, it's not a vacuum. It's not just, you know -- it's Trump who is unpopular against a bunch of other candidates who are viewed very differently depending on where they're running in the country.
RANTZ: Well, against a party that is equally unpopular. They're actually more unpopular than Donald Trump, which is why they're talking about the Democrats as a whole.
Now, Kamala Harris is obviously someone who's --
PHILLIP: You're talking about like Democrats in Congress being unpopular.
RANTZ: Yes, the party. I mean, the --
(CROSSTALKS)
PHILLIP: But what we have seen is --
RANTZ: Okay. So, you can't just dismiss a poll that shows the Democrats are doing poorly --
PHILLIP: I'm just asking, when you say --
BORELLI: You made a very effective point.
PHILLIP: -- Trump versus Democrats, I'm asking what are you talking about?
[22:15:01]
You're talking about Democrats in Congress, okay.
RANTZ: Yes. But the party that is saying, put us in power.
PHILLIP: There are a lot of measures of how voters feel about the two parties. And by some of those measures, including the generic ballot, when you ask questions like, who do you want to control Congress, Democrats have an edge over Republicans on that.
TANDEN: And you can see that -- can I just say -- RANTZ: But, Abby, the, the difference is when the argument coming from the Democrats is, put me in charge, I'm going to do a great job, and their numbers are lower than the person who's currently in power, that is at least a problem.
TANDEN: There's candidates -- right now, we have Senate candidates who are running ahead or even in places like Ohio, Iowa, Alaska, and Texas, North Carolina --
PHILLIP: Well, I'm just going to pause you just to --
TANDEN: -- which just tells you -- which just shows you much the ground has shifted and that those candidates are running on how to lower costs and how to end the Iran war, and how to ensure that middle class families are not facing these squeezes.
(CROSSTALKS)
NAVARRO: And all of those states is going to be T.V. ads with Trump saying I'm on the ballot.
PHILLIP: There are two new CNN polls that show no clear leader in two key races in Michigan and in Maine. These are actually two of the places where there's been a little upheaval in some of these races. And s yet and still, I know you're looking at those numbers, don't pay too close attention to those numbers, it's within the margin of error, there is no clear leader in either of these two races, which means it's effectively a toss-up. Which means that even when, you know, Republicans say Abdul El-Sayed is a flawed candidate, he is right now very much in the game in Michigan.
Troy Jackson literally just got in the race in Maine.
BORELLI: But you're defending a state where Democrats should be winning.
(CROSSTALKS)
BORELLI: And now you have them defending in Michigan.
TANDEN: But look at Maine.
BORELLI: But the point you made earlier was really important.
PHILLIP: I mean, Michigan is a battleground state.
BORELLI: I just want to revisit something.
PHILLIP: Wouldn't you agree?
TOURE: Yes, Michigan is purple.
BORELLI: You said that you couldn't identify who the standard-bearer of the Democratic Party was. It's because the standard-bearer of the Democratic Party is Donald Trump and running against him. That is all the Democrats had. That's why they opened the door for the far-left to come in with socialism. The Mamdanis of the world filled that void.
And now you're at the national stage and all you have is, we hate Trump and the far-left socialism, and it's not going to work.
NAVARRO: The party that is outside of the White House never has one national standard-bearer. The Republican Party did not have a national standard-bearer when Donald Trump was not in the White House. It was the same thing.
RANTZ: No, it was still Donald Trump.
NAVARRO: That's why there's primaries.
PHILLIP: So, we're going to have -- we'll have a little bit more to about talk about on this midyear concept down in Texas.
Next for us, a surprise appearance in Texas by Democrat John Fetterman, plus, how Democrats are responding to Republican attacks tonight.
Also, Trump is changing the war timeline yet again, saying that the war is going to be longer and gas prices are going to be higher for longer. We'll discuss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:20:00]
PHILLIP: At tonight's GOP midterm convention, speakers have sought to paint Democrats as, quote, radical, dangerous, and, quote, frankly weird. Taking on Texas Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico, Senator Tim Scott extended that critique, condemning Talarico's past comments and leaning in to the culture wars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT: James Talarico claims there are six genders. He believes God is non-binary. He thinks God needs special woke pronouns. But, Texas, we know who God is. We're talking about Jesus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Earlier today, Talarico walked back some of his previous comments at an event just miles away from the convention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In 2021, you said, God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is non-binary. Do you still stand by that?
TALARICO: I was being provocative with that statement. I get that. What I was trying to say is that you can't use human categories to define God, and that's not controversial theologically. In fact, the late Charlie Kirk, the late Pope Benedict all said the same thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: And Talarico had more to say about that statement and others he's made.
RANTZ: And walk back.
PHILLIP: Yes, and walk back. But it is interesting. I mean, the walk back is important because this is a race that now Republicans are the ones saying they could lose, and he understands that. So, he's not hesitating to walk them back.
RANTZ: Well, why is he walking it back? Because that's his vulnerability, because he has held and still holds pretty extreme views that he's now pretending he doesn't hold. He can try to walk back that statement all he wants, but when it came to actually voting on two particular issues around trans medical care for children and trans athletes, he voted against where the vast majority of this country is.
TANDEN: No.
RANTZ: Yes.
TANDEN: On the trans -- he talked about this today.
RANTZ: Yes, he's walking some of that back because it's unpopular.
TANDEN: No. Even on the vote, the trans vote, just I want to be clear about what the facts of the trans surgery vote, he was saying -- he was -- he actually did have an amendment that would have banned trans surgeries for minors. So, I just want to be clear that was his record before.
RANTZ: He voted against a bill.
TANDEN: People may not -- may like it or may not --
RANTZ: He's now also saying on sport --
TANDEN: No. He had an amendment on this. I just want to be clear what his policy. It's consistent with his position before.
RANTZ: He is walking back his statements. That's how we're framing this, because that's exactly what he's doing, because he's too extreme for Texas.
[22:25:01]
And the second that the dollars start flowing, and all they have to do is quote him, play videos, that's bad for him.
TANDEN: He's actually stating his views.
TOURE: It may be too radical for Texas.
RANTZ: Well, he's right. TOURE: We're really arguing about that God is one gender, like a human being, that God has genital, of course, God, if God exists, is masculine and feminine at once and is beyond our ability to even understand who that being is.
So, obviously, he is completely correct. We are completely bizarre saying, oh, my God, God must be a man.
(CROSSTALKS)
BORELLI: We're only talking about this because a man who was elected to the Texas state legislature made this part of his platform and his comments while he was a member of the --
TANDEN: That's not why you're talking about it. You're talking about it because you want to attack trans people and you want to have a culture war. And that's why you're talking about it.
BORELLI: And, by the way, he was probably a darn good legislator from the most Republican --
(CROSSTALKS)
NAVARRO: Joe, you're wrong about why we're talking about this. The only reason we are talking -- no. The only reason we're talking about this is because Donald Trump inserted himself in the Republican primary in Texas and beat John Cornyn. If John Cornyn were the Republican candidate now, we wouldn't even be talking about Texas, and Republicans wouldn't be spending a dime in Texas.
BORELLI: If Jasmine Crockett was the nominee, we wouldn't be talking about God's genitals. We wouldn't be talking about trans surgery.
(CROSSTALKS)
BORELLI: But we're talking about this because the people of the Democratic Party of Texas elected a radical state legislator from Austin to run. Now they're stuck with it.
PHILLIP: The president actually had something to say about this discussion that we're having today, and he seems to think that this is one of the most potent issues, if not the most potent issue, that they have going into this November. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And I'm petrified that they'll change, and they'll say, you know what? Men should not be playing in women's sport. And that will really hurt us. That's one of our great sound bites of all time. They say it's an 80/20 issue. I say it's a 99 to 1, and I have no idea who the one is. I have no idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RANTZ: It's Talarico.
PHILLIP: So, what does happen?
TANDEN: No. Actually, Talarico did talk about this today and --
PHILLIP: I mean, what does happen if Democrats --
BORELLI: Today?
PHILLIP: What does happen if it's no longer front and center for voters, which, honestly, when you look at what voters say is important to them, it is nowhere near the top of their list in this election?
TANDEN: Look, I think what is the best line of the day is, honestly, people want to talk about six genders because they don't want to talk about $6 diesel gas. And that is fundamentally what all this is about. People are attacking Talarico, they're attacking in other states against Democrats. It's not about Talarico in particular. The trans attack is -- this is the third election we're going, Republicans are using the trans attack against Democrats. But the difference now is that Republicans themselves, groups of Republicans, are angry at how much the cost of living has risen. And that is why this is such an --
BORELLI: Why don't Democrats just say, women belong in women's sports, men belong in men's sports?
TANDEN: And that's what -- and, by the way, that is what Talarico said.
BORELLI: Why can't Democrats just say that as a party?
TANDEN: And lots of Democrats --
(CROSSTALKS)
TANDE: Lots of Democrats have said it. In fact, lots of organizations of our office have said it.
TOURE: I think the reason they don't say that is because the sports issue is obviously a dodge to attack trans people. And you don't want to actually talk about they should be able to live --
PRANTZ: It is not.
TOURE: You don't care about women's sports at all. So, don't, please. So, please don't make it like that. Please don't even pretend to that. You don't want to have trans people to be a normalized part of the world. That is the core of the problem. So, we're talking about this tiny issue that actually has nothing to do with trans people living in America.
PHILLIP: Okay, guys, one at a -- stop for one second. One second.
RANTZ: The 80 percent of people who are on --
PHILLIP: Last word here.
RANTZ: -- this issue and are saying specifically this is about protecting women's sport, you're arguing that they're all bigots because they hold that view.
TOURE: There is no issue to protect women from. There are like --
RANTZ: So -- no. You just said that if you hold one of these views that you're anti-trans --
TOURE: There are almost no trans people in sports. You are attacking a problem that does not exist.
RANTZ: Of course, that's what you're so passionate about.
TANDEN: There are lots of Democrats who agree with James Talarico that women --
RANTZ: Are they bigots, too?
TANDEN: I'm not saying they're bigots at all. They agree with James Talarico that --
RANTZ: They agree with 80 percent of the country
TANDEN: -- that there should be women in women's sports.
PHILLIP: Okay, Jason, I'm just going to finish this point. We got to go here. We're going to -- when we come back, we're going to talk about a Democrat showing up at this convention in an unconventional way. That's John Fetterman.
We'll be right back.
[22:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): Fellas, yes, I'm Senator John Fetterman, Pennsylvania.
Yes, I'm a Democrat. Why am I here talking to you today? Because, well, I'm a common-sense Democrat.
I'm always going to stand with America. I'm always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life.
Right back over my shoulder, that's the iconic U.S. Steel Mill. And that's exactly the kind of thing that we'll work together and we'll work with President Trump to fight and defend the steel way of life right here in the Steel Valley.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: That John Fetterman, he sure knows how to get a rise out of his own party. That was at the convention tonight in Texas. He didn't physically go there, but this video introduced Senator John McCormick, his colleague. [22:35:04]
He did say in his statement, I'll just read the important part, "I'm a lifelong Democrat who votes overwhelmingly with my party, and should the Senate flip, in November, I will still be the 51st vote that I ran on." Do you believe it, Toure?
TOURE, SUBSTACK AUTHOR, "CULTURE FRIES BY TOURE", AND HOST, "TOURE SHOW NEWS": No, I mean, no.
He has been sort of a traitor to the Democratic Party for a very long time. So, I mean, like, this totally makes sense. I mean, I'm not even sure, why does he not just become a Republican?
ANA NAVARRO, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, AND PODCAST HOST, "BLEEP WITH ANA NAVARRO": I don't know what you're saying, because you just might get it. And if it's a 50-50 Senate, you don't want that.
TOURE: No, of course I don't want that.
PHILLIP: I mean, I feel like Democrats love John Fetterman.
NEERA TANDEN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS, AND FORMER DOMESTIC POLICY ADVISER UNDER BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: Yes, we don't want that to happen.
PHILLIP: But wait, you will want him.
TOURE: But wait, of course you want that, but I just don't understand. He has not really been part of the Democratic Party.
JASON RANTZ, SEATTLE RED RADIO HOST, AND AUTHOR, "WHAT'S KILLING AMERICA: INSIDE THE RADICAL LEFT'S TRAGIC DESTRUCTION OF OUR CITIES": He voted for him 80 percent of the time.
TANDEN: Yes, I mean, I hear you. I hear your point, which is --
Look, I think it is abhorrent that he is doing this thing at the RNC, that the senator who, you know, he made his name, actually, as a Democrat fighting against Trump's effort to overthrow the 2020 election by, he was out there every day defending Pennsylvania voters when Trump was trying to, in 2020, say that he actually won Pennsylvania.
And so I think it is, you know, I find extremely problematic to go to a convention where Trump is lying once again about the 2020 election and talking about the SAVE Act. But I do appreciate that he voted with Democrats against the SAVE Act.
NAVARRO: Let's remember what Ronald Reagan used to say, which is -- Ronald Reagan used to say about Republican unity, my 80 percent friend is not my 100 percent enemy. And he used to say the 11th commandment.
TANDEN: And I hear you on that.
NAVARRO: -- does not speak bad of other Republicans. JOE BORELLI, FORMER REPUBLICAN LEADER, NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL, AND
MANAGING DIRECTOR, CHARTWELL SECURITY GROUP: I find it strange that Toure is the word traitor of the Democratic Party. You have an element within the Democratic Party, the DSA, whose stated mission is to take over the party for their own devices, for their own empowerment, for their own far-left agenda.
And the guy who's raising the flag over that and hitting the warning bell on that is not the traitor of the Democratic Party. He's, if anything, perhaps the guy who's going to save the Democratic Party and bring it back towards the middle.
TANDEN: I will take on DSA. I have taken on DSA. That is a different thing than saying that Fetterman, who today is basically kind of campaigning with Republicans at this time.
I mean, it is weird to me that as Trump is incredibly unpopular that he's decided to jump onto the Titanic instead of jump off of it. But I think a lot of Democrats have questions about that.
Now, you're right. It's a big tent, right? So you can have disagreements.
But it is totally okay for Democrats to criticize John Fetterman for betraying some of the more common goals that he's articulated himself in the past.
RANTZ: I think it's a mistake if they go after him too hard. Because I do think this plays for the average person who's saying, look, we don't want the constant back and forth and nastiness. We do have some basic expectations that you're willing to work with someone on the other side when there's basic agreement.
TOURE: That's not at all what Republicans go to Washington to do. A hundred percent not.
TANDEN: Is it Trump? You're saying voters like that.
No, I'm talking about you. I'm actually talking about you.
You say that's what people like. And I agree with you. That's what people like.
But that's not what Trump does or other Republicans do.
RANTZ: You're not criticizing Trump. You're criticizing John Fetterman.
TANDEN: I'm not criticizing him.
BORELLI: It's some epic trolling.
NAVARRO: The John Fetterman issue is largely driven, as he himself has explained, by the Israel issue.
Socialism is a more recent addition to his pretext for his behavior. By the way, I feel as somebody who is repulsed by the deal that Donald Trump has made with the remnants of the Maduro regime, which are socialists, that have oppressed the Venezuelan people, millions of them, tortured them, jailed them, and killed them for over 25 years.
I think that it is the height of hypocrisy for Donald Trump to stand up there talking about communists and socialists when he is in bed with Delcy Rodriguez, who is, until January 3rd, was the Vice President of Maduro, and he's not even allowing the war in Maduro.
RANTZ: -- DSA members who were winning elections using a term that they're a Democrat. They're using the infrastructure of a party --
PHILLIP: Let me just break in here in this conversation with a little bit of some of what Trump has been saying as we've been on the air. He just promised $5,000 to each adult if Republicans win this midterm election. He doesn't say how, obviously.
There are 270 million Americans in these United States, a million adults in the United States.
TANDEN: This is like the Trump steaks.
[22:40:07]
We're just offering people gifts at this point.
PHILLIP: And Trump has a long history of doing this type of thing. Going out and giving out checks, making sure his name is on them.
TANDEN: He obviously feels like he's losing this election. Why would you just throw this out two months before the election?
He's been in power for a year and a half. He could have done this. He had Republican Congress, he could have done it. Obviously, he's losing.
BORELLI: The average tax cut for a family through the Working Family Tax Cut Act, which every single Democrat voted against, was about $3,500 per family. We're already two-thirds of the way there.
TANDEN: I would love to back-check this. $3,500 from this tax cut that was virtually erased by the tariffs and the Iran war that everyone has had to pay.
BORELLI: A lot of inflation on Joe Biden.
TANDEN: No, basically we've had Trump's policies, the tariffs and the Iran war, have erased all those gains. The real problem for Republicans, why they don't actually talk about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and all these accomplishments is because people never really felt it.
Today, consumer confidence is the lowest it's been in 70 years. Lower than in the Biden administration. Lower than the Great Recession.
Lower than stagflation in the 1970s. People are deeply angry about the economy. That is really why I think the President is heading into these midterms saying whatever he can.
BORELLI: Which bill under Joe Biden did Democrats pass that actually resulted in affordability?
TANDEN: The Child Tax Credit.
BORELLI: That was extended in the Working Family Tax Act that Democrats voted against?
TANDEN: The Child Tax Credit was passed during the Biden administration. Every Republican voted against it. That's a perfect, you just asked a question and I just answered it.
BORELLI: 40 million people filed for the extended Child Tax Credit under this new law.
TANDEN: And they're still angry. They didn't feel it, obviously.
PHILLIP: One of the interesting things, and I asked this question when the Big Beautiful Bill passed, do you get credit for basically saying to people, we're going to keep your life effectively the same?
And I think politically speaking the answer was always going to be no. Republicans, I'm not saying it was a bad thing to do. It was probably the right thing to do.
Basically said to Americans, we're going to keep your life the same tax-wise. But you're not getting credit for it.
And I think that is what Trump is facing. That's why he's trying to conjure up a promise of a check to Americans that he frankly cannot fulfill. We just hit $40 trillion in debt in the United States.
So no, he's not going to be able to do this. What's the idea?
RANTZ: The idea initially was to take it from the money that we're bringing in from the tariffs.
PHILLIP: Oh, the money that he has to refund to Americans and to companies because they are illegal?
NAVARRO: This is all true. Everything we're seeing is a rehash of the old playbook.
PHILLIP: But you took from them illegally.
NAVARRO: There were a lot of people. I remember in 2024 a lot of people saying that they were going to vote for Trump because they remembered the Trump checks.
So he is going back to the well. He's going back and rehashing the same playbook of the culture wars of promising checks. A lot of them.
I remember the interviews on the man on the street and people saying the Trump checks, the checks that Trump sent us.
TOURE: I heard that a lot from working class black people in particular. The Trump checks made a huge difference.
PHILLIP: Someone just asked about no tax on tips. No tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security. These are all policies that have a lot of strings attached.
They don't apply as widely as Trump makes them.
BORELLI: 29 million Americans filed for no tax on overtime.
PHILLIP: Don't ask me if they're popular or not because I'm also looking at the question of how do Americans feel about the economy?
You are arguing that all of these policies are enough to make people feel good about the economy. Every data point that we have says that that is not true.
RANTZ: You invented that argument. I didn't actually say that.
PHILLIP: And I would argue, again, when Trump touts these policies, he makes them sound as if they apply to everyone who works overtime. They apply to everyone who gets tips.
They apply to everyone who gets Social Security. It does not. All of them have expiration dates.
RANTZ: Everything has an expiration date.
PHILLIP: I'm just saying all of that is all good and well, but what's the point? Has it changed the way people feel about the economy?
RANTZ: I think people who are impacted by those particular policies did feel those particular policies.
PHILLIP: Why isn't it showing up in the numbers?
[22:45:00]
RANTZ: Because there are larger issues at play. No one is arguing at this table that the economy people are feeling good about.
PHILLIP: We are in total agreement. No, we're in total agreement.
RANTZ: It's not popular when the Democrats have to say, I voted against. That's what I'm pointing at.
PHILLIP: You should take our agreement for what it is.
RANTZ: Did we just build the bridge?
PHILLIP: We actually agree that Americans may have benefited from those policies, but they have bigger fish to fry with Trump and the economy, and that's what's hurting Republicans. That's all.
RANTZ: If arguing for Democrats were better, if the total number for Democrats was better, I would completely agree with you. But I do think that there are some of the other issues that John Fetterman is pointing out that is dragging the Democratic Party down right now, which is why they're not up by a considerable number.
BORELLI: Where is the Democratic midterm convention?
TANDEN: Lower health care -- no, hold on.
Lower utility costs. Lower health care costs. Lower food costs.
A good example of what a lot of Democrats are campaigning against.
BORELLI: Do I have grocery stores?
TANDEN: No, let me just finish. A simple thing a lot of Democrats are talking about on food is, let's just eliminate all Trump's tariffs on food. That would make food cheaper.
Are you against that? Should we do that? Can we do that?
BORELLI: I hope we get better trade deals and don't have to have tariffs.
TANDEN: I think that's called obfuscation, to an answer. Yes or no?
I'm not for government grocery stores. I'm not getting rid of the tariffs.
NAVARRO: We used to have a free trade agreement, a North American free trade agreement.
PHILLIP: Next for us, we've got some breaking news on the Iran war. Trump's advisers are raising the prospect with the President that the Iran war will last for the remainder of his term. We'll discuss that news next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIP: Breaking news tonight, the "Wall Street Journal" is reporting that Donald Trump's advisers are warning him that the Iran war may last through the rest of his term, despite all the shifting timelines and the claims that he's made that it's already over.
This is reporting that basically says that the Vice President, J.D. Vance, also Marco Rubio, have both warned him that they could be looking at January 2029 before Iran capitulates or anything close to it.
RANTZ: I don't know the details of this particular report or the advice that he's getting. Is it possible?
Yes, we've been dealing with Iran for a very long time. It all predated Donald Trump.
Is that ideal? Is that what the President wants? No, of course not. They're probably also giving some advice that says it's actually going
to come to an end soon, which doesn't get reported in the "Wall Street Journal."
The idea that there's a long timeline and also possibly a short one, yes. Both are probably true.
PHILLIP: I guess the reporting is that they're not giving him that advice. They're warning him that it could be long.
BORELLI: It could be. It might not be.
TOURE: But if we're being real, there is no end to this. We will never reclaim control of the Strait of Hormuz. That will never go backwards.
We will never again be able to negotiate with Iran as we were doing right before we launched an illegal attack on them. An unnecessary attack on them. We were negotiating with them for them to end their nuclear program.
We will never be able to do that again. We will never be able to have a diplomatic relationship with Iran. I don't even know how this is going to end.
PHILLIP: At some point, there will have to be some kind of diplomatic solution to this. Because we know, because we've now tried the military option and it has not worked, that is not going to work. So, the President, he has said that, let me just play what he said today about the cost of gas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: You've been saying for weeks that oil and gas prices are going to come down. Oil is now back above $100 a barrel. How do you explain this to Americans who are wondering when prices are going to come down?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, I think it's very easy to explain to America. All you have to do is say, will you let Iran have a nuclear weapon? And the answer is no.
Wait, but right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward. They're going to be tumbling down and we'll get them down, I think, for gasoline we'll get them below $2 a gallon.
REPORTER: But not until after the midterm.
TRUMP: I think it's going to take a little bit longer than the midterm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: All right.
So, just to be clear, there's no real reason that he is saying that, other than maybe he believes it, fine. But the last month and a half, the U.S. military has expended so much energy getting oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz. They've done it, right?
Gas is still $4.22. That is near highs for this war.
BORELLI: I think we have to just correct the record on something that was said. Just today, the IAEA voted to send Iran to the U.N. Security Council for sanctions, additional sanctions, because the IAEA admitted that they have not been able to inspect Iran's nuclear program since June of 2025, you know, almost eight months before this happened.
But today, it's just reiterating the point of why we need to at least see this through to the end and not allow Iran to be a nuclear weapon.
TANDEN: Just as a reminder, there was a JCPOA before this. There was an agreement so that they were not. And IAEA inspectors were actually there before.
BORELLI: Right now, Iran has a 23 million liter per day gap with how much fuel they consume versus how much fuel they get. They are on a much shorter rope than the U.S.
TANDEN: Then why is J.D. Vance saying he could be doing a half year?
BORELLI: There's always this false idea where it had to be done by the midterms.
[22:55:05]
I think that was one of President Trump's mistakes, was framing it, and the media framed it this way too, that it was going to be done by the midterm. I think that's always a false premise.
PHILLIP: Well, he just repeated it today, and he was the person who put the timeline in place in the first place.
NAVARRO: Yes, which was a couple of weeks, remember?
PHILLIP: All right. Next for us, we're going to react to your feedback from cnn.com/abby.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIP: And now some viewer feedback from cnn.com/abby.
The first one says, $5,000? If they win, huh? I'm still waiting on Trump's $2,000 DOGE check. Stop the gaslighting and lies, please.
Where is that DOGE check?
BORELLI: Where's the tariff check? Democrats sued to stop it. They never had to give it back to the companies.
NAVARRO: Well, not only did they have to give it back to the companies.
PHILLIP: Again, you can't take money from Americans and crash them and expect them to pat you on the back. [23:00:04]
BORELLI: What part of what I said wasn't true. Democratic attorneys general sued the Trump administration and forced them to give money back to corporations who didn't already absorb it.
TANDEN: Were you happy that the money was going basically to foreigners or something?
PHILLIP: Let me just read this last one. Trump has always thought money talks, which is why he's throwing out those numbers right before an election.
All right, everyone. Thank you very much for watching "NewsNight." "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.
