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CNN This Morning

Sen. Jon Ossoff Goes Low and Goes Viral; Prince Harry and Meghan Return to Britain; Duffy's "Road Trip" Show. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired August 20, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:34:43]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff appears to now be living rent free in the minds of many conservatives. All it took was one quip about a close aide to the president. He's even got Fox News talking about him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESS WATTERS, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: This is the first time we have covered Ossoff on this show in six years. I'm not even doing this tonight at eight.

[06:35:01]

This guy read a little crack that his staff put in the prompter. So what.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: In a CNN analysis, Brian -- I can't find my words this morning. Let's try this again. Brian Stelter, in an analysis at CNN, writes about Ossoff's campaign earning praise for "doing a great job of peppering his speeches with new lines and attacks on Trump that are designed to get clipped and go viral."

So, is it also providing a blueprint to Democrats for the midterms and beyond?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): It's been amazing to watch this White House melt down over this all week.

And whether it's Natalie Harp printing out Donald Trump's daily dose of delusion and flattery, or Peter Navarro steering taxpayer funded loans to Trump family investments, or Pete Hegseth deluding the president daily into deepening this quagmire in the Middle East, no one cares about their feelings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: The group chat is back.

I also want to start with you on this. I mean, you've written about Jon Ossoff. He's not -- it's not that this is something new for him to go after Donald Trump, we should point out. And corruption is what he likes to make his campaign about. This is a little bit of a shift that seems to have worked for him this week.

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. It worked in terms of certainly getting him booked on lots of TV.

HILL: Yes.

THOMPSON: And also getting him in the conversation.

I also found it notable that you saw in that clip, he was also on MSNBC the night before, where he really sort of walked back his, you know, obviously his insinuations about them having an improper relationship, Natalie and the president.

HILL: Yes.

THOMPSON: And you've seen him -- so, it's unclear if the fire was too hot and he's backing away from it, or he did what he wanted to do by getting it out there, getting everyone to talk about it.

But you are going to see -- I mean a lot of Democrats are completely cheering him on. I think it's completely fair game. And, you know, politics is -- we're in a nasty era of politics. And voters are not punishing people for it. And so they're going to keep doing it.

HILL: They're -- there has been such an interesting discussion, both on TV and off TV, I will say. Even just personal discussions I've had about how to even approach this story in some ways, right? Because the pearl clutching among conservatives for a comment that some people saw certainly as insinuation, others did not, is rich given what we have heard from the president and many others over the last several years.

ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL: Yes, I have two parts of this that I feel really strong about. One, he's doing exactly what President Trump does. How many times has President Trump thrown huge grenades into conversations that I always say, especially when something big happens, he has people, reporters go chase this story. And so, he's doing other stuff over here. I mean that's like the diversion. And the bigger -- and statements, even the better in regards to him.

What I do feel sorry about being a young White House staffer is, for her, and knowing how you get attributed to sleeping with your boss just because you're a young woman, in regards to -- and not getting fair opportunities because of that. So, there is a part of me that feels sorry for her a little bit as well because she's part of the conversation.

MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: So, I don't disagree with you, but Jon Ossoff, Democrats and the media would not know about this if people from inside the house were not leaking. So, people are talking -- her own colleagues are leaking this. It was in "Game Change." This has not been the first time. There's been many stories written about her. So, we wouldn't even know who she was.

There are these people around every president. They were there with Joe Biden. They were there with Barack Obama. Nobody knew who they were because nobody from inside the building or people around the president were leaking about them. So, it's -- it is very unfair to be in this situation. But clearly, her own team and her own colleagues think this is an issue or they would not be talking about it and it wouldn't have been in "Game Change."

DAVIS: Well, but also --

HAYS: Or "Review Change," (ph) sorry.

DAVIS: And I'm not saying it's a Democrat thing, I'm just saying in general I think that young women in --

HAYS: Absolutely. Absolutely, I'm just --

DAVIS: I think it's unfair because you automatically get that assumption that you're doing something.

HAYS: Totally. I'm just saying that we wouldn't even know about this for Jon Ossoff to even speak about it if people inside that building or around in Trump's orbit didn't think she was a problem.

THOMPSON: You know, former aides to Donald Trump used to say that controversy is actually not a distraction, it's a way to drive a message. And he's been a master of that. But what you're seeing with Jon Ossoff here is doing the exact same thing, that the controversy actually elevates the issue.

HILL: Is he --

DAVIS: Totally. Yes.

HILL: And Jon Ossoff, in terms of, like, let's go back to Jon Ossoff for a minute, if we could. In terms of the messaging, how effective -- I mean, you know, you noted, maybe the fire got a little too hot for him this week, right? So, he started to pull back. But yet, is there a blueprint in there that's different from the way that Gavin Newsom was trying to do this, right? Gavin Newsom was much more, I'm going to take the Trump playbook. I'm going to go super low. I'm going to go nasty. I'm going to mock you and do it in your style. This is different, but also hitting.

THOMPSON: Well, any Democrat would tell you that Jon Ossoff is running one of the best campaigns this cycle. You know, Georgia, Donald Trump won Georgia just a year and a half ago, and now most Republicans don't expect them to even invest that much money in it. He is pulling way ahead. This sort of very -- now, running for president is very different than running for Senate.

[06:40:01] You know, a lot of this controlled clip economy is, you know, it's unclear if Jon Ossoff is as comfortable just in, you know, sort of the crazy nature of presidential politics. But has been very effective in terms of driving national conversation about himself and also winning in the state.

HILL: Yes. I'm glad you brought that up. I mean he has said -- he was asked recently, right, about 2028. Oh, I'm not even thinking about 2028, right? The eye roll, right?

DAVIS: Everyone said that.

HILL: The selective eye roll whenever anybody has that answer. But I do think it brings up an interesting point about him sort of being out there. A lot of this is very carefully crafted, right? The message is crafted. Who he speaks to on TV is very carefully crafted, right? We've seen him a lot on MS. We don't see him a lot of any -- of other places. Is that a liability?

HAYS: For not right -- not for right now it's not a liability. He is -- he is reaching his donors. He is very, very much up in the polls. So, he is being -- he is playing it safe. Anything outside of the normal box for him I think is a -- is a distraction and it is a liability. That's what the liability is because he could say something or it could be misconstrued or he could get asked different questions. So, I think he is reaching his voters. He's reaching his donors. And I think he is putting himself in a position to run for '28 -- in '28 or if he wants to be a VP candidate or, you know, run again in another election cycle. I just -- I -- if I were him, I would stay right where -- if I was (INAUDIBLE), I'd stay right where I am.

DAVIS: And I also think people are tired of Newsom. I mean he's been criticizing the president for so long that it's like, OK, great, he's going to criticize the president. This is someone -- even though Ossoff has criticized him this is a whole different -- this is more effective.

HILL: To your point about when Donald Trump would do things, it was the distraction, right? I'm going to throw this out to you, talk about x, because I don't want you talking about y. Has this been successful in some ways for Ossoff in getting the White House to talk about x, right, and not talk about y. Ossoff actually wants to talk about corruption, right? That is his campaign. He wants to go after the administration for that. He wants to go after Republicans. By forcing the White House to address this, does it give him the opportunity to say, see, they're not talking about the things you care about?

DAVIS: Maybe. Yes. But also, I think for the White House, they're not out there talking about what's happening in Iran, and they're not talking about groceries, which is, I guess, effective, but it's also good in a way too, they're not defending that. They're defending this poor 24-year-old woman or whatever.

HAYS: Absolutely. I mean his opponent isn't talking about the economy because the White House is driving the national message for Republicans, and they're defending -- they're having to defend this staffer. So, it is working effectively for him.

HILL: Yes. We'll be -- we'll see. More to come. Again, watch this space.

Next here on CNN THIS MORNING, the family reunion that very few people, if any, saw coming. The duke and duchess of Sussex packing their bags, moving back to England.

Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: It is going to be "The Great American Road Trip."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Sean Duffy's "Great American Road Trip" finally drops after hitting a few speed bumps.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:47:22]

HILL: The royal return. The duke and duchess of Sussex pivoting. CNN has learned Harry and Meghan plan to move back to the United Kingdom later this month. In fact, they've already got their kids enrolled in school to start in September. King Charles, we're told, was made aware of the move just over the weekend. You may recall the couple left the U.K., they first moved to Canada, then California in 2020 after a very public falling out. And this has a number of royal watchers wondering if it was all worth it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm telling you, these celebrities, they get you riled up. The big Oprah interview. And then all of a sudden, oh, yes, we're moving back. No big deal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After being given so many opportunities on a silver platter after silver platter, and them just blowing them off, they are going back to the U.K.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, because, like, all of that for this?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: CNN's Nada Bashir is outside Buckingham Palace for us this morning.

There has been so much made about how difficult it was for Harry and Meghan, and specifically Meghan, in the U.K. with press attention, with the tabloids, the security issues, the cost of security. That all comes to mind, which makes this decision in many ways even more surprising. Do we have any more details on the why? NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it absolutely has come as a

surprise to many here in the United Kingdom waking up to the news that the duke and duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, are set to return to the United Kingdom, along with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet later this month. It is unclear what sparked that decision at this stage. It is, of course, coming just before school starts in September.

And, of course, as you mentioned, Erica, there has been so much controversy surrounding the couple's decision to leave the United Kingdom. The crucial distinction that we will be seeing here is that it is understood that the couple and their family will be returning to the United Kingdom to live in a private residence outside of London. So, not living in a royal residence per se, and also will not be returning as working members of the royal family. So, maintaining that degree of privacy that they sought upon leaving the United Kingdom, as you mentioned initially to Canada and then to the United States.

And they are, it is understood, looking for that more private lifestyle here as opposed to the very public lifestyle they led as working members of the royal family.

And, of course, this has come as quite a bit of a surprise. It is understood that King Charles was only made aware of this decision on Sunday. So, this wasn't necessarily a matter discussed during their visit to the United Kingdom in July, where, of course, we did see that reconciliation between Prince Harry and his father, King Charles.

[06:50:10]

But take a listen to one comment from a royal commentator about what may have sparked that shift.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRISHA GODDARD, ROYAL COMMENTATOR: When they were at Highgrove, face to face, close up, I firmly believe that Harry saw changes in his father, and that helped kind of move the dial.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: Now, of course, the fallout between Prince Harry and Meghan, the duchess of Sussex, and, of course, with the royal family and King Charles in particular, had been extremely public. And we have seen the duke of Sussex, of course, making several appearances to the United Kingdom for various court cases, particularly around the security surrounding his family upon travel to the United Kingdom.

But this has drawn mixed opinions here in the U.K. amongst the British public. We've seen it across the headlines here in the United Kingdom this morning, but many are wondering what may have sparked this decision and whether we will see any sort of difference in the lifestyle they lead here. Of course, in the United States, there are -- we've seen many business ventures and charitable endeavors carried out by the couple. Whether that is set to continue here in the U.K., that remains to be seen. And, of course, how they just -- how they are received by the British public and, of course, the treatment they receive by the British press.

HILL: Yes, will certainly be interesting to see. Set to be back, I guess, later this month. The kids start school in September. We'll be watching.

Nada, really appreciate it. Thank you.

The group chat is back.

We were talking earlier this morning, I don't know about you guys, but I think every single group chat I have on my phone, except maybe the one with my husband and my two boys who are, you know, teenagers, maybe not that into it. Every single chat is blowing up about Harry and Meghan. My work chats and my personal chats. I just -- we all have so many questions. Like, where does this go?

THOMPSON: Well, and you thought your family was complicated, but it's just in like -- in all the speculation -- like, and everyone's speculating. Like, are they, are they out of money?

HILL: Yes.

THOMPSON: Are they going back just because they don't have, you know, it's like -- it's like campaigns, you know, they don't end, they just run out of money and now they're going home. Or is it because King Charles is fighting cancer and he is sick and that gets more serious than let on. You know, everyone has their own pet theory.

HILL: Yes.

THOMPSON: And it's just going to -- you know, and it will be fascinating given that the tabloids are a part of what drove them out. I mean Harry was suing the tabloids.

DAVIS: Right.

THOMPSON: It will be fascinating to see, you know, how the tabloids react to them, because there's no way they can stay like private, totally private citizens.

HILL: No, it's so hard. I mean there's certainly no love lost there.

DAVIS: How mad are you right now if you're Prince William? I mean, like, you're like, oh my God, the drama is coming back. At least when he was over here, they were over here, like, there was a little bit less drama. Now he's come -- he's going back.

And by the way, this visit this summer was not that great from what it looked like in regards to, she didn't come and she stayed in Spain. Remember all of that?

HILL: Well, she was in Portugal. She did come.

DAVIS: Portugal.

HILL: Right. But she wasn't supposed to be there initially. I think the -- I would say the good thing about that visit, based on

what we've seen in past visits, is we don't know a lot about it, right?

DAVIS: Fair.

HILL: That maybe it did finally stay a little bit more private this time. So, maybe that was the start of a reconciliation.

HAYS: Yes. I just think, look, living in America is hard, obviously, for them. And I think that they're probably out of money and they probably need to go back and figure it out. Or they wanted their kids to go to school in the U.K. That also could be a very simple thing. I don't know if their kids were enrolled in school in Montecito (ph). Maybe that wasn't the education they wanted. And --

HILL: Possible.

DAVIS: Yes, that's fair.

HILL: There are a lot of questions about --

THOMPSON: Montecito, famously a very hard place to live.

HAYS: There are -- yes. Yes. Very. Yes.

HILL: Yes, it's tough.

HAYS: Oprah.

DAVIS: Really hard.

HAYS: Your neighbors are just really, really hard to get along with and there are --

DAVIS: Yes. But none of their endeavors really have been successful.

HAYS: That's right.

DAVIS: So --

HILL: I'm not sure that jam is really going to sell well in Britain. Don't know. Don't know.

THOMPSON: Maybe they relabel it marmalade.

HILL: Could be.

THOMPSON: You know?

HILL: Could be. You heard it. You heard it here first.

(CROSS TALK)

THOMPSON: I'm on it. I'm on it. I am -- I am here all week.

HILL: That feels like a perfect place to put a button in this one.

DAVIS: Yes.

HILL: All right, well, now, another topic for us.

After being delayed for more than a month, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's "Great American Road Trip" reality show has dropped. Doesn't, though, appear that a lot of people are waiting for it. I mean it's August. Sure. As of this morning, each of the six episodes averaging about 700 views. The department points out no tax dollars were spent on these seven-month production. Companies regulated, though, by Duffy's own department certainly helped to fund it. And that has been a source of much questioning. The website for "American Road Trip" lists those companies, Boeing, Shell, you see them there, Toyota, United Airlines, Royal Caribbean.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D-WA): It is literally your job to make sure each of those companies are playing by the rule.

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Can I answer the question.

MURRAY: So, Toyota is sponsoring a show starring you and it is your department, Mr. Secretary, who decides --

DUFFY: Do you hate America? Don't you want to celebrate America?

MURRAY: Mr. Secretary --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: I'll let you kick this one off, actually.

DAVIS: No, I don't really have anything to say.

HILL: The -- I mean --

DAVIS: No, no, no, I mean, like, I don't know -- I mean, I don't understand why. [06:55:01]

I'm not a big reality TV star anyway. Or, not star, but watcher. But I just don't understand it. And I think that -- listen, if some -- I just -- if something happens that's under his watch right now, like some, God forbid, some sort of plane crash or something like that, he's in big trouble. The only thing is, is it doesn't seem like his boss, the president, cares that he's doing it.

HAYS: No, but it just highlights the corruption that's allowed to go on in the administration. It's not just the president that's acting corrupt. These people clearly is an issue.

The clip that we're showing right now, where they're talking about their daughter being corrupted at Harvard also is just, I mean, flabbergasting most parents. HILL: Actually, can we -- I think that's a really interesting clip.

Let's play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, SEAN DUFFY'S DAUGHTER: But, if I do get in, I feel like --

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Young girls like you. And I think corrupt their minds. You don't have to believe what I believe. You don't have to have the political viewpoints that I have. But I do think it's important that you make those choices for yourself and you have a fair representation of what they are. And I don't think the Harvards of the world give you that kind of well-rounded picture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So, we actually -- that's not the full clip, which I think is important because you need the full context there. He's talking with his daughter about a decision to go to Harvard. And he is saying to her, look, we've raised you in a certain way and we are worried -- I'm paraphrasing, but he's saying, we're worried that by you going to Harvard, it's basically going to corrupt all the good work that we did. And she says, look, I was raised in a very conservative family. I went to a very conservative high school. Wouldn't me going to a university that you see as more liberal actually be a more well- rounded education for me, which is a fascinating discussion point, I think, about not being stuck in your bubble.

THOMPSON: Yes. Well, and a lot of conservatives do feel this way about the ivy league, and they -- and if you go to a -- I mean, if you go to an ivy league school, you know, it is more -- it is more liberal. But it is interesting, you know, I think a lot of parents, a lot conservative parents do have these conversations with their kids. And I think there is like that -- you know, a fear of sort of, you know, the liberal elite institutions among some conservatives in this country.

HILL: Yes. It's also, and I think maybe you were starting to get to this, it's an interesting conversation, too, about, right, I hear in the one -- on the one hand, we did such a good job raising you, but now we're worried you're going to get corrupted. But if you've done such a good job raising your kid, right, then exposing them to other ideas, right, perhaps --

HAYS: And the -- the one thing that kind of bothered me is they're sort of hiding behind their religion. Like, we raised you so Catholic. I grew up Catholic. I went to a public university. I don't think I was corrupted. And I grew up in California, the liberal bastion of the country, and I just don't think that that changed my religious values or what my mother instilled in me. I just find it a little offensive and a little self-righteous that this is even -- the show is even happening. But then that that conversation was happening. But I do appreciate that their daughter sort of pushed back. And you could just see the disappointment on her face that like, wait, I got -- I did all this work to get into Harvard and that's like not good -- it felt not good enough. And I think a lot of teenagers can relate to that too.

THOMPSON: But also -- I mean I'll say that scene is very emblematic of sort of the deeper problem with the show is like he talked -- he defended it as this is celebrating America. And I don't really know how that conversation fit in.

HAYS: No, it --

THOMPSON: It seemed a lot more like a reality TV show.

HILL: Right, like, that doesn't have a lot to do with your road trip.

DAVIS: It celebrates the reality TV show. Yes.

HAYS: It's highlighting them. They are trying to elevate themselves. Their son-in-law is running for Congress. This is about the Duffy family elevating themselves, let's be clear, on the backs of companies in America who want better regulations for themselves at the Department of Transportation.

HILL: Could there --

DAVIS: How many people are watching it, do we know?

HILL: Well, there were, at last check, about 700 people had watched each of the six episodes. There could have been though, right, this could have been a great idea. A road trip to celebrate --

HAYS: That's right.

HILL: Yes, there are all questions about gas prices. Nobody knew there was going to be a war, right? So, put that aside for a minute. But to celebrate -- there are a lot of great things to celebrate across the country. I mean the national parks in this country are phenomenal.

DAVIS: Totally.

HILL: But national parks are not a discussion about college.

DAVIS: And I don't know if the -- if it would be with your family. I mean you could have done it different ways where you're going to meet certain, you know, you're going to do a trip to a certain national park that celebrates all the people in the National Park Service.

HILL: Yes.

DAVIS: You know, you could have done it that way. I do think highlighting America is great, but I just, I don't know, it's -- the whole thing is --

HAYS: It's gross. It's corrupt. It's gross.

HILL: OK. How -- what's in what's in your group chats, everybody? I already told you what's in mine. So, Meghan, you go first.

HAYS: Well, we are normally on with other people on the show and they both happen to be in Alaska. So, we were just pausing to remember our partners and hope they come back next week with us.

DAVIS: Yes. And they were going to show pictures of Chuck and with his cowboy hat. But, yes, it's not that exciting, but were missing them.

HAYS: Yes, we do.

HILL: Oh, I'm sure they appreciate that.

DAVIS: Yes, but Meghan and I are friends too.

HAYS: Yes.

HILL: We appreciate that.

THOMPSON: Yes, I have a crew of, like, scary movie friends. And there's this sort of bizarre slasher film that's inspired on the kids show Barney coming out.

HILL: Wait, Barney the purple dinosaur?

THOMPSON: Yes, exactly. And it's sort of this, like, twist of, you know, you can see it right there, there's this sort of twist on '90s nostalgia and sort of a darker way about it.

HILL: OK.

DAVIS: Wait --

HILL: Wait, I have question. I have many questions.

DAVIS: Is Barney -- is Barney now orange?

HAYS: Like, this -- no, it's the horror film. It's the least surprising group chat for Alex I feel like.

THOMPSON: Yes. For sure.

HAYS: I feel like this is good.

HILL: Oh.

HAYS: Good insight into what's happening.

HILL: I do like the '90s thing coming back because it cracks me up.

THOMPSON: Yes, I mean, you've seen it -- like, you know, you see it with all these movies and a lot of them are just elevating. This is -- this is a way of like making it twisted and sort of weird.

HILL: OK.

THOMPSON: But you also see it with food items like McDonald's did the fried apple pie came back.

[07:00:03]

You just see all these different things that are -- that are coming back and it like -- I think it's playing to our childhood.

DAVIS: Oh, yes. You (INAUDIBLE) McDonald's because you lived there?

HAYS: Yes. Yes. And I also liked the fried apple pie. I'm not going to lie.

DAVIS: You lived there for like -- yes. Yes, yes, yes.

HILL: I'm not going to lie, it's mine too.

DAVIS: Cheeseburger, french fries.

HILL: My high school, a little bit of college '90s.

HAYS: Yes. Yes.

HILL: It's nostalgic, that's for sure. Oh, the time with no cell phones.

HAYS: Makes you feel better.

HILL: That was a fun time, you guys, remember that?

HAYS: Oh, yes.

HILL: Those days are over.

Thank you all for joining us this morning. I'm Erica Hill. Stay tuned. The headlines are next.