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U.S. Job Growth in June Disappoints Economists; Interview with Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA): Democratic Socialist Momentum Ruffles Feathers of Moderate Democrats; FBI Assigns 260 Staff Members to Georgia 2020 Election Probe; All Eyes on Madison Square Garden for Swift-Kelce Wedding. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired July 02, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: ... actually been shrinking. Ours is an economy that's shifting away from making stuff and towards services.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Right. But there was actually a bit of a boost for construction, which is important. And that one I always find interesting, especially when we're seeing a loss in other areas.

WOLFERS: Yes. Right, this is where I really, so the month-to-month movement in the total is half noise, half signal. And then once we start to slice it up a little bit, it's a little bit less reliable, which is why I like to go back and look over a longer time period.

So let me tell you, I think a fact that speaks to what you're describing is really fascinating. Over the last year and a half, 90 percent of the jobs that have been created in the U.S. economy have gone to women. And that comes back to the thing I was describing earlier, which is most of the growth is occurring in the service sector.

So there is a tremendous propensity for people to focus on stuff. That's how we think about the economy. But the reality of our economy is that it's a service sector economy.

And increasingly, the old blue collar, white collar dichotomy is going away. And you might want to think about this being a pink collar economy a bit more too.

HILL: There's also, before I let you go, when we get the latest jobs numbers, we also generally get revisions. When you think about what the revisions could possibly look like for June, right? A few weeks from now.

I mean, where are you expecting to see some of those revisions?

WOLFERS: Yes. So the thing about revisions is basically right now, the statisticians publish their best estimate given the data that's available. I don't have more data than what they have.

What's going to happen is they're going to get more data. And so the truth is revisions can go up and revisions can go down. And anyone who reckons they can tell you which way it's going, they're not telling you the full truth.

But revisions are a big part of this month's story, which is what we've learned is the last couple of months aren't quite as good as we'd hoped. Those revisions came down and they said, hey, hold on. This isn't a surging economy.

We're just doing all right.

HILL: Yes, treading water, as you said earlier. Justin, always good to talk to you. Thank you.

WOLFERS: Great joy.

HILL: Still ahead here, progressive push on the rise of democratic socialist candidates may be forcing the political establishment to pivot.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: President Trump is preparing to give an address to mark America's 250th birthday tomorrow at Mount Rushmore. Before taking the stage though, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani will offer a speech for his city.

The Democratic Socialist has seen his political cachet rise following a string of victories for other candidates from his party in New York, and of course, Colorado over the last two weeks. Those winds are ruffling the feathers of some more centrist Democrats and more establishment Democrats as the party looks to take back the House and the Senate in November. So where do things stand for Democrats?

Joining us now, Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts. Sir, it's good to have you with us. What do you think in your mind?

What does separate or sets apart, I should say, a Democrat from a Democratic Socialist?

REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA): Well, that's really a question for the Democratic Socialists to answer in their own campaigns and platforms. I think when we zoom out and look at what's happening though, what we're really seeing is just profound voter rejection of the status quo. And a wave is clearly coming in 2026.

When that wave hits the beach, it's going to wash away some sandcastles, some seaweed. But the point is, is that it's going to look different in different districts, deep blue districts, obviously you're going to have a certain type of candidate. And then in a district like South Carolina's first, it's going to be someone like Nancy Lacore, a former admiral fired without cause by Pete Hegseth, who talks openly about voting Republican in the past and invites Republicans into the conversation. So this is what it's going to look like to get that magic number of 218 win back the House and turn Donald Trump into a lame duck.

HILL: So you said it's up to Democratic Socialists essentially to define themselves and what that means. But when you're painting this picture of the Democratic Party writ large, is there room in the party for all of those different voices?

AUCHINCLOSS: Yes, so this is the tired debate that actually Democrats have to avoid, is this tug of war on one axis, left versus right. When the actual leverage of American politics is defining a new center and dragging and dropping ideas into that center promiscuously. So for example, the left talks about wanting to tax wealth.

Yes, yes, we should be taxing wealth in this country. It is profoundly unfair that somebody who inherits $10 million pays less tax than someone who works for $100,000. That's not fair, OK?

The right talks about faith, family and the flag. Yes, Democrats should embrace faith, family and the flag. We can be both of those things as a party, a party that wants to tax inherited privilege and a party that believes that America is the greatest nation in the history of the world.

That is deeply in line with the ideals that we celebrate on July 4th.

HILL: So to your point then, especially when it comes to patriotism, taking back the flag, that that is part of being a Democrat, being an American as well. And you not wanting to essentially have this debate about what defines a Democrat. I'm just curious your thoughts because I was struck by some comments that we heard yesterday from Rahm Emanuel.

He joined my colleague Wolf Blitzer in the Situation Room yesterday. Take a listen to his take.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAHM EMANUEL, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: There are people in the Democratic Socialist Party who literally do not like America, think it is a bad country. They don't have any identity. And that is not the Democratic Party that I'm a part of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:40:00]

HILL: Saying that there are people who don't like America. You're chair of the majority Democrats. Patriotism is one of your core tenants, as I know.

Do comments like that from Rahm Emanuel help to your point moving forward?

AUCHINCLOSS: Well, I think he's certainly right that Democrats are the party that loves America and wants to align our governing agenda with the ideals that define the Declaration of Independence, freedom, equality, opportunity for all, and special privileges for none. And I think in a moment when we are seeing profound corruption and attacks on civil rights from this administration, that message resonates. Of course, I don't associate myself with comments from frankly anybody, left or right, who hates this country or doesn't think that America is an exceptional nation.

I love this country. I grew up with portraits of the Founding Fathers on my bedroom wall. I think this country is, as Thomas Paine said in Common Sense, the cause of America is in large measure the cause of all mankind.

HILL: I spoke with, last night, the Democratic nominee, now from Colorado's First District, Melat Kiros, who talked about why she thinks, not only she, but other candidates, we're seeing this surge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELAT KIROS, (D) COLORADO U.S. HOUSE CANDIDATE: I think what we're seeing right now is that candidates that are actually speaking to and fighting for the kind of policies that a super majority of voters in our party support are winning. Things like Medicare for all, universal childcare, an arms embargo in Israel. Each of these issues have a majority support of the voters of our party, but yet we don't see any meaningful progress for them in Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: She's talking about no meaningful progress in Congress. What is the plan, right, if Democrats are able to take back the majority for your party to work together to make some of those moves for your constituents?

AUCHINCLOSS: Yes, part one, win back the House. Can't do anything without winning back the House. Part two is we have to address the two profound problems facing this country right now.

Problem number one is the corruption and the attack on civil rights and the rule of law of this administration. We got to do vigorous oversight investigations and hold Trump and his henchmen accountable. Number two, this economy, it's too darn expensive.

You were just talking to CNN's economist about the jobs report, and he was noting how all the job creation in the last 18 months has been in the healthcare and social assistance sector. This really is showing how healthcare premiums are inflating faster than middle-class wages are. And we have to address that head on.

And there's this debate right now, well, which one should you do? Should you do economy or should you do Trump? Well, I mean, there's more than 18 committees in the House.

Each has multiple subcommittees. We can do both, and we have to do both.

HILL: Congressman Jake Auchincloss, appreciate your time this afternoon. Thank you.

AUCHINCLOSS: Take care.

HILL: Still ahead here, they're calling it a priority investigation. The FBI renewing its probe into the 2020 election in Georgia.

[15:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Breaking news into CNN. CNN has now learned the FBI is ramping up its investigation into the 2020 election in Georgia. According to a person familiar with that matter, the Bureau now calls it a quote, priority. A memo seen by CNN calls for bringing in an additional 260 agents, bringing them into this investigation.

CNN's Kristen Holmes joining me now with more on the breaking news. So the investigation continues? This is something, Kristen.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and it's not just a continues. I mean, they're putting a lot of resources and a lot of personnel. We've seen the memo and they are directing these field offices to send over personnel to what they're calling, as you said, a priority investigation.

Now we have heard that of these 260 intelligence agents that are going to be assigned to this case in particular, some of them are skilled in analyzing data. Some of them are going to be working from home, but it really seems like an all out effort here in this investigation that we really haven't heard about in quite some time. A reminder that back in January, Kurt Olson, who had been tasked by the White House to looking into the 2020 election in Georgia specifically, but he had made this referral to the Justice Department, which really ramped up the criminal probe there.

That's when we then saw the FBI going into Fulton County, taking all of those ballots, that election material out of that building there. And now it seems as though they are expanding upon that. Now, on top of what we are seeing here, this is really just another piece of a puzzle as we have seen the Department of Justice, we have seen the Trump administration try and continue to fuel these investigations into all elections, election integrity, but now we are seeing a renewed push, or at least a re-upped push on the Georgia investigation in particular.

One thing I do want to note, we are still trying to understand why now, why this moment they are ramping up their involvement in this investigation, and it's still unclear, but of course, we are asking our sources.

HILL: Yes, appreciated, Kristen. Certainly something I know you'll say on top of.

Also staying on top of this, a much different investigation. This went into what is actually happening at Madison Square Garden, because we know you want to know, are Taylor and Travis really getting married there tomorrow? Well, all signs point to yes. Moments ago, we learned that the groom's mother has now arrived in New York because she can't have a wedding without Mama Kelsce.

What else we know after this break?

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: This just into CNN, Donna Kelce has landed. She is in the Big Apple. Travis Kelcey's mom arriving in New York ahead of her son's expected wedding to Taylor Swift. TMZ capturing that video of her arriving earlier today.

Sources say the couple's rehearsal dinner is set for just a few hours from now at Madison Square Garden. That's also where they are expected to officially tie the knot tomorrow.

We're told about a thousand guests expected to be in attendance. In the meantime, a major transformation apparently underway at the garden. There has been a whole lot of activity, lot of trucks outside MSG all week long.

[15:55:00]

CNN's cameras capturing the activity. Tough to see what's inside those crates, but you know, people are trying. Tree branches, some lush foliage have been spotted peeking out.

With us now is Dominic Patton, Executive Editor of Deadline Hollywood. Dominic, great to have you with us. OK, any insight from your end in terms of what the makeover could look like inside Madison Square Garden?

A giant forest, perhaps a beach theme? What do you think?

DOMINIC PATTEN, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD: The thing that we're hearing most of all is it's not going to be this royal princess and prince set that some people have been talking about with a castle being loading in and stuff like that. We know there is a stage being put in. We know there are certain people there like Tim McGraw, Stevie Nicks.

So maybe some sort of performance. It would be unusual if there wasn't. But what we definitely know is, is there's a lot of foliage, as you put it, coming in.

A lot of trees. So I think that they're really going for a sort of set that really captures the nature. Remember, when the couple got -- when they got engaged, their photos were outside in a sort of beautiful, beautiful, overgrown, almost wild garden.

So maybe they're trying to recreate some of that.

HILL: They may be. You know, some of, we just noted, that Donna Kelce has now arrived in New York. We've seen some of their friends also around the city.

Who are you expecting has made the cut for this event?

PATTEN: Certainly we know that former Disney CEO, Bob Iger, and his wife, Willow Bay, both of whom, certainly Bob Iger, got shout out by Taylor Swift not too long ago. We know that Steven Spielberg and his spouse are going to be there. There's rumors of Tom Hanks.

Beyonce and Jay-Z. And we know that Dolly Parton was invited. Now, Dolly Parton's charities was one of the 20 charities that Taylor and Travis donated $26 million to recently.

So we're not entirely sure if the 80-year-old Jolie legend is actually attending, but we know she's been invited.

HILL: Which is a good thing. The security is paramount here. The privacy is paramount.

Just walk us through why MSG makes sense for them because of that.

PATTEN: Well, there's a couple of different reasons. Whether or not you're familiar with the arena as someone who lives in New York or not, there are no windows once you get inside MSG. So the privacy is absolute.

No glass ceiling, no nothing. Also, it's an iconic venue for obvious reasons. It is, as they say, the most famous venue in the world.

But I would say thirdly, because of its location. It is literally in the center of everything. It is something which it is relatively easy to get in and out of.

We've seen footage of trucks loading stuff and what have you. But remember, there's also entrances from nearby Penn Station as well. And we've seen the tent facade start to go up.

That's obviously going to correct it. So it offers a lot of opportunities as well. Though many of us know Madison Square Garden for the actual arena, there's a small theater in there.

There's also a number of VIP areas that can provide things for getting ready for the wedding or having a dinner, as we know there's going to be tonight. So there's lots of opportunities it offers. But more than anything, I think it's simply iconic and it's centrally located.

HILL: Yes, I mean, as you point out, there's also a number of subway lines that take you right there. So if you're worried about traffic, highly recommend turning to the MTA. As I'm sure a number of guests will do, probably not.

What are you most excited about coming out of this wedding? I mean, I'm curious about when we'll get some pictures. I'm hoping maybe we'll get a couple while also hoping that they're able to maintain their privacy for their big event.

What are you anticipating we'll see? PATTEN: One thing we know for sure is there are NDAs galore have been signed. No phones, no nothing allowed inside. There has been talk though of some filming taking place.

Now it doesn't seem like there's any sort of special or anything being created out of that, no sort of concert movie. But it does seem like this is going to be very, very well documented. I think tonight we're going to start getting some inkling of that with the dinner.

Tomorrow we're going to start seeing a bit more. Look, Taylor Swift and Travis too now, this royal couple of America, they're masters at marketing and self-promoting. Taylor Swift can promote anything. She can sell ice cubes to polar bears if she needed to.

So in that sense, I think you're going to see a very well-coordinated rollout of images, guests, celebrations. Just today with the announcement of the millions and millions of dollars of donations, that very much got the ball rolling and a more positive spin on this. You know, there was a Republican congresswoman who tried to come out against the couple for the security costs.

Ha, those costs are actually being covered. About $160,000 are already being covered by them. So they are trying to handle this in a way which has the most positive spin on what has been a very long and drawn out love story.

HILL: Look, oh, I love the love story reference there. This is also happening in a venue that has been the source and the place for much joy in New York City over the last several weeks. So it's nice to continue with the joy for those of us who spend a fair amount of time in the area.

Dominic, really good to have you with us. Thank you.

Thanks to all of you for joining me here on CNN NEWS CENTRAL this afternoon. Stay tuned to THE ARENA with Kasey Hunt starts right now.

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