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Trump Plane Swap in Turkey; Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) is Interviewed about the Wisconsin Primary; Tafoya Wins in Minnesota; Trump Becoming like Carter. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired August 12, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:34:01]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: So, President Trump confirms the report of a secret plane swap in Turkey last month because of a threat from Iran. But he left his secretary of state and treasury secretary behind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was really as per the military. And I just have to do what they say. They go for safety and I have to do what they say.

REPORTER: Why was it too dangerous for you to fly on Air Force One, but not too dangerous for the press.

TRUMP: Well, I don't know. I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk. I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane, I think, that we -- that they would be more likely to go for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: The plane that no one knew he was on. Because here's the thing, this ruse, at this point, people can identify on video. The Secret Service hid the president inside a catering truck.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D-IL): It was a bait and switch. He put people in harm's way to save himself. That's who Donald Trump is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, group chat is back.

We have two takes here. One person, J.B. Pritzker, who has been a good sort of foil for Trump, willing to speak publicly on the national stage, saying, you know, you leave behind the treasury secretary and the secretary of state and more than 100 people, frankly, like staffers, as well as press, and maybe that's saying something about you, and Trump saying, look, I got to do what the security requires. [06:35:20]

What do you make of how Pritzker framed this?

JOSH ORTON, PRESIDENT, DEMAND JUSTICE: I mean, I think it doesn't -- the problem here, I think, for Trump is that it doesn't pass the ridiculous test, right? They're -- obviously presidents -- the president's safety is of utmost priority, right? And it's important that the Secret Service keep them safe.

That being said, if they propose a plan to the president that seems ridiculous, a president can only say, I'm not doing that figure, figure else -- figure something else out. And I think what we saw here is sort of Trump being the most elemental Trump he could be, which is that he doesn't really care about anyone else. I think he figured that he -- the optics would never be exposed and this would remain a secret. But I think the image of him sort of crouching on a catering truck, you know, at the expense of the safety of everyone else is not a good one. And I think Pritzker has a point.

CORNISH: People were trying to ask questions of Marco Rubio about this, the secretary of state, and many other jobs. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Mr. Secretary, did you put Americans at risk by having them fly in Air Force One when it was under threat? How persistent is that threat to the president?

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Thank you, guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: He has a lot of jobs.

CARINE HAJJAR, STEAMBOAT INSTITUTE FELLOW AND "WASHINGTON POST" EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBER: He sure does.

CORNISH: I wish he was on the catering truck as well, just theoretically. But talk about this take.

HAJJAR: Look, I think -- I agree that this called for more introspection, but it's also consistent with the level of introspection we've seen from this president. Do I -- does it seem plausible that he was told to do this by security and he just did it?

ORTON: Certainly.

HAJJAR: Absolutely. That makes a lot of sense to me.

I think that the big mistake here was that the media and others were not briefed before opting into this. Apparently, the switch --

CORNISH: They were told to bring down the shades.

HAJJAR: Right. CORNISH: Just, no reason. Just --

HAJJAR: Yes. And it seems like there were no other details. Look, these types of switcheroos have happened before. I saw, you know, President Clinton in 2000 also, there was a similar sort of switcheroo. But I believe in that instance the media and those on the plane were briefed. So, that seems to be the difference here.

CORNISH: So, do you think the issue is that they kept obfuscating every step of the way? So, why are you switching planes? Obfuscation. Once you get back. Hey, what happened to the other plane? Well, actually, there was a decoy. Well, actually, see that truck in the picture? It's something else. Well, actually, actually, actually. And at a certain point, you're just -- you're drawing in more questions with the lack of explanation.

NICHOLAS WU, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, "SEMAFOR": Yeah. I mean what this whole storyline really speaks to is the overall trust deficit in a lot of ways that we've seen between, you know --

CORNISH: Did you say trust deficit?

WU: Yes, between, you know, the media and the administration on the war and the way it's been conducted. Like, you know, the, in many ways, this appears to have been, you know, in line with, you know, the relative level of disclosure the administration has given about the war. And this is something that fits a lot of folks priors on that.

HAJJAR: It just adds to the ridiculousness that this administration -- I mean, if the president thinks his life is constantly at risk, and we know that there have been Iranian threats on the president's life --

CORNISH: And multiple actual assassination attempts.

HAJJAR: Yes.

CORNISH: I mean, that's my thing. I kind of feel like if some -- if I've had multiple assassination attempts and someone says, get in this truck, I get in the truck. I'm not necessarily like, should you ground the other plane? Let's have a logistics meeting about this. Like, I actually am not sure I totally agree with the sort of panic about this.

HAJJAR: Yes.

ORTON: Well, but also remember at the -- we don't really know at the base of this how much the fact that he took a plane from the Qataris that was not fully prepared to carry the president factors into this, right?

CORNISH: Yes. This plane is a pain. They (INAUDIBLE) with nothing.

ORTON: He started a war -- he started a war of choice in the country next door to the one he was departing from.

CORNISH: Yes. ORTON: And he couldn't take the plane that he corruptly took from the Qataris because they rushed it. He couldn't be patient enough for the next plane. And so, at the end of this, we don't really know what was behind it, but they have not explained whether or not this corrupt deal plays a part in any way.

CORNISH: OK. Next on CNN THIS MORNING, we're going to get you up to date on the election. The centrist Dems are claiming the win in Wisconsin. And I'm going to talk to a congresswoman who endorsed the winning candidate. Was this the wake-up call that the party needed?

Plus, the Minnesota candidate trying to take her career from the NFL sidelines to a front row seat in the U.S. Senate

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:44:02]

CORNISH: Breaking news overnight. David Crowley projected to win the Democratic nomination for governor in Wisconsin. Now, he managed to hold off Democratic socialist lawmaker Francesca Hong, but it was by just a few thousand votes. It's a fitting end to a primary, which has seen several turns. Three candidates dropped out, including Crowley, before he then re-entered the race and ultimately won. Democratic voters say the process itself should be a warning to the party

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the Democrats got to figure it out. And I'm very progressive. I vote a lot on the Democratic side. They got a lot of work to do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope this is a wake-up call for the Dem -- the party, the Democratic Party, that they need to go back and look at what actually everyday people, normal people are actually expecting and wanting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now, Congresswoman Gwen Moore, a Democrat from Wisconsin who endorsed.

Congresswoman, thank you for being here, and congratulations.

[06:45:01]

I know you also won your primary last night against a progressive candidate.

When you hear those voters say things like, hey, this is a wake-up call, was that your lesson? Do you feel like this was a wake-up call for you?

REP. GWEN MOORE (D-WI): Well, good morning.

And, first of all, I'm a progressive as well. And David Crowley is a progressive as well. I think that we are terrified of how Republicans define us. And Francesca Hong decided to call herself a Democratic socialist and that that Republicans sort of want to use that jargon as a -- as a cudgel to prevent Democratic voters from supporting in the general election that candidate.

I just want to say that Francesca Hong ran an absolutely splendid campaign. And she did focus on things that are on people's minds, which is why she received so many votes. Affordability, the (INAUDIBLE) of health care --

CORNISH: But can I stop you there? I want to be clear. Did you endorse Crowley?

MOORE: I most certainly did endorse David Crowley. I thought, as the governor did, that he's the best candidate.

CORNISH: So, does -- so, you're saying good things about Francesca. What is it that led you to say, not just that Francesca Hong was pretty good, but to call back somebody, right, who had dropped out of the race. You endorsed someone who had to come back and run against her.

MOORE: Well, you know, it was a very awkward primary. But in the long run, I agree with the governor that David Crowley was the person with the most managerial experience plus legislative experience.

And Francesca absolutely ran a good campaign. I think there were volunteers from not only this state but all over the region that came and did boots on the ground. And I think the governor decided to intervene because we do want the strongest candidate to stand up before -- with Tom Tiffany.

CORNISH: I want to maybe say the quiet part out loud here. Do you think some of these candidates are underestimating the power of black voters in these primaries?

MOORE: Well, I don't want to say that people are underestimating the power of black voters, but I do want to remind everybody that they stayed up all night long waiting on the part of the state where black people live, Milwaukee, counts to come in. I think that nobody takes black votes for granted. Only to their peril that they do. And I think that David Crowley is going to give us yet another opportunity to Demonstrate to the people of Wisconsin that race should not be a disqualifier for running statewide office.

The governor, in the past several days, has ripped -- has gone from one part of the state to the next, introducing David Crowley to Wisconsinites. And I think that -- because David Crowley was at like five or six percent at the point at which he got back into the race.

CORNISH: Yes.

MOORE: And I do think that our governor is -- his approval rating is into the 60 percentile. And so, I do think that that was very, very helpful that the governor decided to intervene because we did have great candidates, not only Francesca Hong, but there were -- there were two lieutenant governors who ran. There was a state senator who ran. And a gentleman who actually was in the Evers' administration and with the department of administration.

So, we had a really good field. I think there were too many people in the Democratic primary. It was very difficult for them to differentiate themselves.

CORNISH: Yes.

MOORE: But I do think that the governor's endorsement helped to create that separation.

CORNISH: OK. Congresswoman Gwen Moore, thank you so much for your time.

MOORE: And thank you.

CORNISH: I'm going to turn to one other candidate, Michele Tafoya, trying to take her career from the NFL sidelines to a front row seat in the U.S. Senate.

So, this former sports reporter captured 52 percent of the vote last night, easily defeating former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze in Minnesota's Republican primary. Now, she's going to face Democratic Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan in November. Now, in a victory tweet last night, Tafoya vowed to fight fraud and bring common sense back to Washington. And Flanagan is already attacking her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GOV. PEGGY FLANAGAN (D), MINNESOTA SENATE CANDIDATE: Michele Tafoya was all in with Trump when ICE was terrorizing our neighbors. She even said ICE treated children really, really well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:50:08]

CORNISH: Group chat is back.

In this state, immigration is the flashpoint, OK? They had to endure the operation that ICE did there where two people lost their lives. Two U.S. citizens in particular.

How do you see how Tafoya is trying to have the conversation around it? Or is this something she's up against?

WU: This is something that we're seeing from Republican candidates across the country, and that's trying to focus on more local issues in the states and trying to avoid these headwinds that are -- will dog Republicans everywhere, from prices, to ICE. And in Minnesota in particular, we saw how salient the ICE issue is.

You know, Peggy Flanagan, perhaps won this primary because she hit Angie Craig for her votes on immigration earlier in the -- at the beginning of the administration. CORNISH: Yes.

WU: And so, like, this is something that, you know, it could be a competitive race, but by all counts it's a blue leaning state.

CORNISH: Oh, really? OK. Well, here is Tafoya's campaign ad on a football field, of course, just to give you a sense of how she is selling herself to voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELE TAFOYA (R), MINNESOTA SENATE CANDIDATE: For years I covered the biggest football games in America. I walked the sidelines when the pressure was mounting and the stakes were the highest. That job taught me about more than football. It taught me about how leadership really works.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: I see snow. I see a football field. We're good, right? Like, help me understand what makes her a strong candidate.

HAJJAR: I mean, look, she does have serious name brand. People know her face. People know her name. And that makes this, in a way, more competitive for Republicans than Minnesota is used to in Senate races. I don't think there's been a Republican senator since the early 2000 for the state.

Now, I think, absolutely immigration is going to galvanize voters on the left. That's not only happening in Minnesota. It's happening in Maine. It's happening in other places where you've had really combative ICE operations.

CORNISH: But even on the right, right, it's forced people to take a stand --

HAJJAR: Absolutely. Yes.

CORNISH: Because they're seeing it in their streets physically.

HAJJAR: Absolutely. But she is also running as the anti-fraud candidate. And that is a big issue in Minnesota. It might not play as much in more liberal parts of the state that will look more to immigration, but it very well might play in the more rural parts of the state. So, it will be interesting to see those issues head-to- head.

CORNISH: OK, I want to turn to something else, Josh, that I know you're going to like. Turns out war and economic pain might not be good for your presidential legacy. Is President Trump becoming like the one president he swore he'd never be?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: Donald Trump is about to become what he never, ever wanted to be, Jimmy Carter. JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: Yes.

CHRISTIE: He is being held hostage by Iran. They are holding the Strait of Hormuz hostage. As a result, they're holding the world economy hostage. And it's focused at Donald Trump. And I know from talking to him over the last 24 years, the one person he would never want to be is Jimmy Carter.

KARL: Jimmy Carter. I've talked to him about Jimmy Carter, too, yes.

CHRISTIE: Right. And so, and here we are. And it was all voluntary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ORTON: That's the point, right? Jimmy Carter had the situation foisted upon him when he was president that didn't go well, that hung around his neck. Donald Trump, in a midterm election year, went to a war of choice that generations of presidents before him rejected, with a country that had essentially an unwinnable outcome and that could basically pull a lever whenever they wanted to inflict economic pain on the American middle class.

CORNISH: But international events are not -- don't care about the midterms. Do you know what I mean? Like, this decision, which was joint with Israel, is a decision that he made as president. Is it looking, though, the way Chris Christie said, that Trump is hostage to the situation? That's the part of the analogy that kind of surprised me to hear Christie say that.

HAJJAR: He's sort of choosing to be -- I mean he's not -- he wasn't willing to do what it would take to achieve his original objectives. And so now he's in a situation where the president has this fixation with a deal, but you can't really make a good faith deal with a fanatical regime like the Iranian regime. And so, the choice that the president should make is pretty clear here. It's containment. He should walk away from full-scale conflict and also full-scale negotiation. But he has a really effective blockade in place. It's inflicting great pain and pressure on the Iranians. And ultimately, pain and pressure is the only thing that this regime responds to because, ultimately, that's what had worked in Trump one for the president, too. So, I don't really understand the mentality.

CORNISH: What you're saying is something Trump is saying. And I want to play this for you. This was him on Tuesday talking about, hey, this is the position I'm in, in Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm the last person that trusts Iran. They've lied to me constantly. We have total control over the Hormuz Strait right now. They don't have control. We have total control. We own it. And at some point maybe they'll do something and then they get blown away. But we -- right now we're in a very good position.

(END VIDEO CLIP) [06:55:03]

CORNISH: Is that the consensus?

ORTON: I think -- do you remember the movie "Groundhog Day"?

CORNISH: OK.

ORTON: This is the "Groundhog Day" war. We bombed Iran to eliminate their nuclear weapons, only to have to come back months later to bomb Iran to eliminate their nuclear weapons. We took out the radical al Khamenei, only to have him replaced by the more radical al Khamenei. We tried to open and fought to open the Strait of Hormuz, only to now be fighting to open the Strait of Hormuz. This is -- the idea that the Republican administration is saying to voters in this midterm that prices will go down as soon as this war is over is like people telling Bill Murray that this will end as soon as you go to sleep. It's not going to happen before November.

CORNISH: Let me get back to the Jimmy Carter of it all, because ironically we were talking about America 250. That was also during a time when we were celebrating America's birthday. We were also worried about inflation. We were also worried about gas prices. And Trump, you know, he likes talking about that period of history.

Here he is talking about Carter on a couple different occasions in June.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I remember Jimmy Carter had some bad problems in Iran with the hostages. I don't want to ever put our people in that kind of danger.

REPORTER: At this point, do you need a deal with Iran to go get it --

TRUMP: No.

REPORTER: Or have you thought about just --

TRUMP: I was.

REPORTER: A covert, daring, send in the SEALs, send in the Rangers.

TRUMP: But I didn't want to be Jimmy Carter, you know? I didn't feel like being Jimmy Carter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: You're amused.

HAJJAR: Well, the president keeps choosing the fail in this situation. Again, maximum pressure can work on the Iranians if you choose for that to be your objective. He started this war with objectives that he was -- he -- I mean, you have to know from the beginning how far you're willing to go. CORNISH: Yes.

HAJJAR: He was not willing to go to the level that it would take to precipitate regime change in the short run, to fully destroy the regime. So, now you're left with the situation where the president wants to frame it as a deal, a win. He fluctuates on the language. But, ultimately, he's fixated on a deal. You can't do that with this regime. So, reorient. Talk about pressure.

CORNISH: Well, right now he isn't able to say that he has the Strait of Hormuz is clear. I know he said it there. But if that was true, ships would be going through.

HAJJAR: Correct.

CORNISH: And it's not clear he's going to get a nuclear deal. Why does Jimmy Carter live rent free in his head?

WU: That's a good question. And it seems, you know, the overall sentiment right now could -- you know, you could draw some parallels to, you know, Jimmy Carter and the -- and the idea of the malaise and -- during his presidency, the sense that, you know, right, yes, the president, dogged by inflation --

CORNISH: Yes.

WU: And high gas prices and, you know, yet another crisis in Iran. And this is something that, you know, Trump is perhaps someone who is obsessed with the 70s and 80s in a lot of ways, you know, has chosen to fixate on it.

CORNISH: OK. And Chris Christie drawing a line under it. That's what's in his group chat. I want to ask, what is in yours.

Nicholas, what are you thinking about midweek?

WU: Everything about "The Odyssey" has been in my group chat.

CORNISH: Hey.

WU: You know, the score was great. Was the horse a war crime? There are many questions.

CORNISH: Was the trojan horse war crime is a take. OK.

HAJJAR: I saw my first bald eagle this weekend.

CORNISH: You did?

HAJJAR: I was in Minnesota, and it felt very appropriate for the 250th. And I was informed by Minnesota natives that this wasn't actually -- that this was a pretty common occurrence. But I shed a single tear when I saw the eagle.

CORNISH: You did?

HAJJAR: Yes.

CORNISH: You were over it. You know, this reminds me, I was just looking in the paper this morning. There's this bird, this bald eagle named Jackie, that died, I guess, in California.

HAJJAR: So sad.

CORNISH: Soar free, Jackie, soar free.

HAJJAR: Soar free.

CORNISH: OK, Josh.

ORTON: I have a sort of, you heard it here first moment. The president just elevated his staff secretary, Will Scharf, to become White House counsel.

CORNISH: OK.

ORTON: I'm predicting that the next time there's a Supreme Court vacancy, and we track this at Demand Justice, that he's going to nominate Will Scharf to be the next Supreme Court justice because he doesn't want someone who's well credentialed. He doesn't want someone smart. He wants someone that is loyal to him. And Will Scharf is loyal to him.

CORNISH: But what are his -- I hear your view. What are his actual credentials? Like, legally, is he somebody who's like, oh, a former judge at so and so? Like, he is --

ORTON: I'm sorry, is that a question you think the president is asking?

CORNISH: I -- you. I --

ORTON: He ran -- he ran for Missouri A.G. and lost in the primary.

CORNISH: OK. All right. There we are.

OK, you guys, we have a lot of election results for you today. We are talking about races in Minnesota. We're talking about races in Wisconsin. And the one you are probably wondering about is that race between the Democratic socialist Francesca Hong and Michael Crowley, a person who started in the race, came up short, and then was recruited to come back in. And it's looking now, we have called this race for David Crowley. And you can see how narrow that win is.

So, fundamentally, the conversation about progressives versus moderates and this conversation in the Democratic Party, it's still on because it's not clear out of last night that there's been some sort of definitive decision in terms of the embrace of Democratic socialism.

We are also very much following the race in South Carolina.

[07:00:01] It's headed to a runoff. That's the Senate Republican special primary to fill the seat that Lindsey Graham left behind. His sister, Darline, earned the nomination -- earned the endorsement of President Trump. And right now, she is ahead in that race. We're going to have the details for you later today as we find out what's next in South Carolina.

I'm Audie Cornish, and the headlines are next. Thanks for being with us.