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Ex-CIA Director John Brennan Sues Trump Administration, Demanding Investigative Records into Him be Preserved; Democratic Socialist Ousts 15-Term Incumbent in Colorado House Primary; U.S. and Iran Officials Hold Indirect Talks in Doha; New York D.A. Drops Weinstein Rape Charge. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired July 01, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... against him because Trump doesn't like him from the time he served as CIA director, including during the Russia investigation of Trump. That's where the perjury accusations arose, what they were related to, and that is a set of accusations that Brennan fully denies. He says he has done nothing wrong.

But his legal team, they're trying to get ahead of the game in case there is an indictment that were to come out of a grand jury. They write, "The evidence of vindictiveness in this matter is overwhelming. President Trump has been condemning and calling for Director Brennan's prosecution for years, and certain officials in the Department of Justice are engaging in demonstrably irregular prosecutorial activity in order to gin up a case that will satisfy the president's direction."

So they're saying here that if Brennan were to be charged, they would want to try and challenge the case by claiming it was unlawful, the way prosecutors went about it, vindictive. The way they would need to prove that is by getting evidence out of the Justice Department, including records and communications, at a high level among political leadership, perhaps even out of the White House or the president himself. So they're going to a judge now, before any charges may come, and Boris, saying that they need a judge to put an order on the Justice Department and the Trump White House, even the president himself, to not destroy records so that if it gets to this point in court later on, they can demand them and get access to them and potentially challenge a case in a way that preserves John Brennan's rights.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much for that reporting. We know you'll stay on top of that story for us.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: A shocker in the centennial state with reverberations around the country. Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros is now projected to unseat 15-term Democratic Congresswoman Diana DeGette in Colorado's 1st District. That victory marks another win for the progressive movement.

Many of these candidates, of course, seeking to reshape the Democratic Party ahead of the midterms.

SANCHEZ: Here with us now to discuss chief political advisor for Senator Bernie Sanders, Faiz Shakir. He's now the executive director for More Perfect Union and former campaign manager for Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign and CNN political commentator and former DNC communications director, Xochitl Hinojosa. Thank you both for being with us.

Faiz, starting with you at her election party last night, Kiros told supporters we're taking our party and our country back. Simultaneously, you have elder Democrats like James Carville saying that Democratic Socialists shouldn't be in the Democratic Party. How are you seeing this conflict play out within the Democrats?

FAIZ SHAKIR, CHIEF POLITICAL ADVISER TO SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Healthy tensions. When you go back to 2024 when Kamala Harris lost the presidential election and all of us were arguing, the Democratic Party needed to get more people out. One of the lessons of that was too many people stayed home.

And when you look at some of these candidates, you take Zohran Mamdani, you look at Melot yesterday you see young people coming out and enthusiastic about the Democratic candidate once again. And people should be taking heart from it. The 18 to 34 year old age bracket turned out at the same rate as the older age bracket.

That's unheard of. Melot did that. And so before people started treating people like pariahs, which I support, you know, these are human beings.

Talk to them. Learn from them. Be curious about them.

To my fellow Democrats. Try to see what is it that inspired so many young people to turn out.

HILL: In terms of learning here, the fact that this was the third progressive candidate, right, to unseat an incumbent, what are we learning specifically about what is driving that support and the shift? And is it the same in each of these races?

XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, it's not the same in each of these races. But I do think that there is this anti incumbent sentiment that is happening. And I think it is a mix.

I think that, yes, there are progressives that are challenging more moderates. But I also think that many members of Congress are sort of stuck in their seats and have been there and are comfortable. And they haven't been doing the campaigning, the fundraising, the talking to voters the way that they should be.

So if anything, this sends a warning message to incumbents everywhere. In terms of the actual map itself and what Democrats need to do to win in November, the reality is that the seats that we're talking about, whether it's in New York and some of the ones in Colorado, when it comes to getting to 218, which Jeffries is very focused on, these seats won't necessarily make a difference when it comes to that. But what I will say is that whenever you are looking at the 56 or so seats that Donald Trump won, those are the seats that Jeffries is looking at.

So I do think that Democrats need to take a hard look to see whether or not they are talking to voters on a regular basis. If you are not, it is likely that you could get challenged from the left or potentially lose your seat.

HILL: Can I ask a quick follow on that? Is it more that they're not talking to voters and not at their fundraising enough because they're comfortable? Or is it that voters are frustrated that they don't feel they're doing the job that they were elected to do?

HINOJOSA: It is both. And I think there is a general frustration that is happening. But the difference that you're seeing with the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, and the Republican Party, Donald Trump is anointing certain candidates, and those candidates are winning.

And they're not necessarily the best candidates to win in a general election. What's happening with Democrats, it's actual enthusiasm.

[14:35:00]

It's not bad for Democrats to be in a competitive primary. The entire reason -- one of the reasons why Democrats lost in 2024 is because we didn't have a Democratic primary that was competitive and that put Harris on the ticket.

And so I do think Democrats have learned a lot of lessons. One being enthusiasm is good. At the end of the day, let's embrace it.

In terms of the map itself, I think that we need to focus on those districts that Donald Trump won.

SANCHEZ: Some of the frustrations, specifically in the demographic that you were talking about, Faiz, 18 to 34 year olds, is at least surprising to me behind the issue of U.S. policy toward Israel. And especially with these progressive candidates, you're seeing at town halls for Democrats then be approached by activists in ways that in previous elections we hadn't seen. Does it surprise you how big of an animating factor that has become?

SHAKIR: No, no surprises at all. And we should understand the issue as being bigger than just Middle East policy. I mean, there are people rightfully angry about what Netanyahu has done in Gaza, the Iran war that shouldn't have been started in the first place.

Those are serious issues. However, it's also true that the Middle East issue is a symbolic of a bigger thing going on. There's an anger towards who controls our politics and our economy.

And there's a sense of the money involved in buying elections. When you look at AIPAC, for instance, they are spending $100 million in this election cycle to buy off candidates and to persuade them around this issue. I mean, one thing if you want to openly have that debate, talk about your policy and say, hey, here's a candidate.

They aren't doing it that way. They're just trying to pick candidates and do opposition research against them and smear them, not on the issues of Israel, actually. And so what you're seeing is a lot of anger about money and politics.

When you look at the populist left and those progressive candidates that are doing well, there is a desire both to fight corporate money in those campaigns. None of them are taking corporate money. So when you don't have money, what do you have?

People. And now you've got grassroots organizing that is marking so many of these candidates that is metastasizing the interests we're talking about.

SANCHEZ: Some of the anger from activists and certainly some of the attacks on AIPAC, for example, have bled into episodes of anti- Semitism that we've seen. How do Democrats navigate that?

HINOJOSA: I think there is -- Democrats need to be careful. First of all, it is OK to have frustrations, rightfully so, when it comes to Netanyahu and what is happening in Israel. At the same time, anything that is any sort of anti-Semitism in any way in our party should be completely condemned.

And I think what you're seeing right now, as Faiz said, is that this is happening on both sides of the aisle. This isn't just in the Democratic Party, but this is in the Republican Party. And I think Democrats need to be careful to make sure that, yes, you can talk about your frustrations, you can talk about the war, you can talk about all these other things.

It cannot cross the line of anti-Semitism.

SHAKIR: It doesn't help the cause of fighting anti-Semitism when we blaspheme and call pariahs people who believe that the Middle East policy is wrong. Many people, I think, watching and here, would not do what Netanyahu did in Gaza. And to criticize them, to hold them accountable for that, say, hey, you shouldn't have any more money, does not make you an anti-Semite.

And I would urge all of us in Democratic Party and Republican Party, we can have the debate, but don't start calling people anti-Semitic who aren't anti-Semitic. We know they aren't. And if you see anti- Semitism, the people who really feel anger incorrectly towards the Jewish people, we together, all of us, know that that kind of sentiment is absolutely wrong and we will speak out at the top of our voices to condemn it.

HILL: Who is -- and if you could both answer -- who is actually the leader of the Democratic Party right now?

HINOJOSA: So, I get this question a lot when I was at the DNC, when we did not have the leader of the Democratic Party. I will say that the leader of the Democratic Party is not going to be front and center until we have a nominee for president, and that is the reality. I will say that, yes, you have Hakeem Jeffries and you have Chuck Schumer.

Those are technically the leaders of the Democratic Party, and those are the people that guide the policy and the strategy when it comes to the elections. But in terms of one voice to lead the entire party, that will be whoever our Democratic nominee is.

SHAKIR: And, you will not be surprised that I feel this way, which is the most popular elected official in America right now is Bernie Sanders. And his effect right now, within both the Democratic Party and writ large, is having an effect. When we look at why is Melot winning, there is a movement associated.

Why does Zohran Mamdani win? AOC, doing tremendously well. There are a series of candidates, not just Democratic Socialists, by the way.

There are populist left labor candidates in red to blue districts. Think of Brian Poindexter in Ohio, Bob Brooks in Pennsylvania, Becca Cook in Wisconsin, Sam Forstag in Montana. These are candidates, Bernie Sanders endorsed, are going to be -- and are the Democratic nominees trying to beat a Republican in a red to blue district.

Don't forget about those.

SANCHEZ: With all respect to Senator Sanders, he is of a generation that a lot of these younger Democrats see as part of the problem. Do you think that?

SHAKIR: Oh, I haven't heard that one.

[14:40:00]

No, no, no. I think a lot of younger people right now see the virtues and values of Bernie Sanders and are associating with them. When you talked about the Middle East policy.

SHAKIR: Generationally, for sure, there is a generational issue. But in my view, this is not an issue just merely of age. It is merely what do you stand for?

What are the values that guide you? And it actually is kind of a marker that why is Senator Sanders so popular despite being older and people knowing he's unlikely to run for president again? Because of a values orientation in which he is aligned with the vast majority of America's population right now.

SANCHEZ: Faiz and Xochitl, great conversation.

HINOJOSA: Thank you.

SHAKIR: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

Still plenty more news to come this afternoon. U.S. and Iranian officials are holding indirect talks in Qatar today. But in the midst of those negotiations, there's a new warning from Tehran. We've got the details in just moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:45:00]

SANCHEZ: There are about six weeks left for the U.S. and Iran to strike a final agreement to end the war. But according to their current Memorandum of Understanding, today there are indirect low- level talks happening -- that's according to a diplomatic source.

Vice President Vance said they are, quote, going well in this early stage. But as negotiations are underway, Iran is once again calling for the U.S. to restrain Israel after Israel's defense minister reportedly said that Iran's supreme leader was, quote, marked for death. Iran's foreign minister then posted that President Trump, quote, "Has committed the U.S. to muzzling its pets in Tel Aviv." The U.S. and Iran are working today through mediators from Qatar and Pakistan. The emir of Qatar's office says the emir met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Doha to talk about the progress of negotiations.

Let's discuss with Ian Bremmer. He's the president and founder of the Eurasia Group and GZERO Media. Ian, great to see you, as always. Given the news that has emerged in the last 48 hours or so, how do you see these talks going?

IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, EURASIA GROUP AND GZERO MEDIA: I think that the most important thing is that the strait continues to be more and more open. Insurers are more willing to provide insurance to allow these ships through. The markets are responding accordingly.

And the ceasefire is more or less holding up. Those are the two things that were most important for Trump to accomplish once he realized he couldn't actually achieve any of his initial war goals. And the Iranians have reason to maintain that as well.

Now, in order to get any further than that, the Americans are going to have to get comfortable with a way for the Iranians to make money after the 60 days are over. And the Iranians are going to have to get comfortable with the fact that the United States doesn't have control over Israel. They called them pets in Tel Aviv.

They should at least get the geography right of the political capital. It's actually Jerusalem. But that's OK.

Anyway, we're far from that. And therefore we are very far from movement and progress on a nuclear deal, which I think we would all agree would be a significant piece of progress to take away from what's otherwise been a failed war. But we're very far from that.

SANCHEZ: So you mentioned Iran getting some financial incentive from the United States and the U.S. getting comfortable with that. Tehran has said that half the $24 billion in frozen assets should already be accessible. The U.S., of course, has said that there will be no release happening until Iran meets its commitments. It sounds like you're saying that for there to be progress, the White House has to be comfortable with allowing Tehran to use these funds.

BREMMER: Well, the White House does or countries in the Gulf and others do. It's not clear to me that we should only be focused on Iran relations with Washington here. I'm sure you've seen that the Saudis in their visit to Beijing recently are talking about a GCC Iran summit that the Saudis want to coordinate.

They certainly want to ensure that they have peace and stability with Iran going forward, that they're not going to be vulnerable to Iranian attacks and the Strait is open for them. And so if I were Tehran, I would also be thinking about, well, the Qataris have a lot of our assets. I should be negotiating with them, not necessarily with the Americans.

The Saudis have deep pockets. They want to make sure that we're happy. I should be negotiating with Riyadh, not just with the Americans.

So I do think that a lot of the a lot of the progress going forward is going to be more diffuse and we're going to have to follow these bilateral, a series of bilateral discussions, which may not be completely aligned with what President Trump wants.

SANCHEZ: To the point of things not being aligned with what President Trump wants, Oman recently delivered a proposal on the future of the Strait of Hormuz, outlining a plan for shipping companies to pay service fees. Of course, the White House has repeatedly said that Tehran can't toll an international waterway. Do you think that kind of control over the Strait is unavoidable now?

BREMMER: I think that some kind of ongoing fee insurance, maintenance, protection is almost certain to occur. It's not going to be a toll. But yes, I do.

[14:50:00]

And I think that Oman has been in a unique position to engage with the Iranians to move the ball. They're seen by the Iranians as kind of neutral. That's one of the reasons why they were virtually not attacked over the four months of the war.

And of course, geographically, they're also quite important and where they sit, that the strikes that you've seen, the couple of strikes from the Iranians on ships going through have been those not using the northern Tehran side of the Strait but instead being escorted by the Americans using the Omani side. And in the middle of the Strait, of course, still needs to be demined. There's no question in my mind, given that the Iranians are getting oil out, they're making money, they still have lots of ballistic missiles and drones.

They will use that following the 60 days to ensure that they can continue to extract money from those that are vulnerable to the Iranians shutting them down.

SANCHEZ: Ian Bremmer, always great to get your perspective. Thanks for joining us.

BREMMER: Thanks, Boris, be good.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Still ahead, a CNN exclusive why the Manhattan D.A. says he chose not to retry disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

[14:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Hollywood legend Danny Glover sharing a major update about his health, revealing that he's battling Alzheimer's disease. In a new sit down interview with NBC News' Today Show, the 79 year old "Lethal Weapon" star says he's been living with the aggressive brain disorder for several years now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You dealing with this Alzheimer's thing?

DANNY GLOVER, ACTOR: Well, I could live with it in a sense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you fear losing your memories? Is that hard?

GLOVER: I am sure as it is, things are going to be different and changing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The actor says he's been leading on his family for support as his condition progresses. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, impacting everything from memories to movement and speech. According to the National Institutes of Health, the disorder affects Black men at twice the rate as white non-Hispanic men.

Systemic barriers to health care and higher rates of cardiovascular disease may also play a role -- Erica.

HILL: A disgraced former media mogul, Harvey Weinstein, is recovering now in a hospital prison ward after experiencing heart issues and trouble breathing. The 74-year-old's hospitalization is just the latest in a string of serious health complications as he awaits sentencing on a sex crime conviction in New York.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister joins me now from New York. And I know you have some more new details here.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Erica. So this morning, I sat down with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to discuss the most recent development in Weinstein's long winding legal saga. We all remember that he was convicted in 2020.

That conviction was overturned and then they retried the case two times while two different juries were not able to reach a unanimous decision. And just last week, Bragg's office announced that they would be dropping that rape charge. That means that there will not be another trial.

I spoke to Bragg this morning and I asked him to look at this big picture. And even though this charge was dropped, what are his feelings about this case? Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER: We're talking a lot about Jessica Mann and this charge being dropped. But when you look at the Weinstein case holistically, what do you feel about it? Do you feel that it was a positive thing?

Was this a win?

ALVIN BRAGG, MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: It is, I think, impossible to define a win on the back of all that trauma and all that harm. So no, not a win. I think one thing I can say unequivocally is that there are no winners here.

But I think there are lessons learned. I think there's accountability. I think there's support.

And I think, as you mentioned earlier, one positive development is that the courage of survivors who have the power to come forward, given who he was at that time, I think that laid groundwork for other survivors to come forward. And that is, I would say, positive. But there's no winners here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER (on camera): Now, he told me that the reason that they dropped that charge is because Jessica Mann, who was the woman who testified against Weinstein, she said that she was not willing to testify again. She said that she has endured this for eight years of her life. She said that it's done more harm than good.

So a lot of trauma there, a lot of complicated feelings. But when you look at the Harvey Weinstein trial, Erica, remember, this started at the height of the MeToo movement. And things have changed, not just in the legal system, but culturally and really in workplaces and in houses around the world.

So this trial really had lasting impact for so many around the world.

HILL: Yes, it certainly did. Elizabeth, appreciate it. Thank you.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SANCHEZ: First flight, President Trump visiting North Dakota on the inaugural trip for the new Air Force One, a gift from Qatar that's been ...

END