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Biden Taps Hollywood A-Listers to Raise At Least $28 Million; Trump Tries To Win Back Pivotal Michigan After 2020 Loss; Biden & Trump Take Different Approaches To CNN Debate Prep; Trump's New Approach Boosts His Favored GOP Candidates; Trump Repeatedly Slams Justice System While Campaigning; Washington Furiously Preps Ahead of World Cup. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired June 16, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:18]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
MANU RAJU, CNN HOST (voice-over): On the attack. Trump throws red meat to the base.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need to guard the vote. We need to stop the steal.
RAJU: And consolidate that support.
REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): It was a pep rally environment for President Trump.
RAJU: While Biden caught seniors and raises millions with Hollywood stars.
Plus, final countdown.
TRUMP: Everyone's going to watch.
RAJU: Just 11 days until CNN's debate.
JILL BIDEN, U.S. FIRST LADY: It's about the character of the person leading our country.
RAJU: The decisions and verdict hanging over it all.
And soccer tsunami.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like having 104 Super Bowls in 39 days.
CROWD: USA!
RAJU: Why Washington is nervous.
INSIDE POLITICS, the best reporting from inside the corridors of power, starts now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAJU (on camera): Good morning. Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY, on this Father's Day morning. I'm Manu Raju.
Donald Trump is trying to make inroads with a key part of Joe Biden's coalition, Black voters in Detroit, in the state that very well could determine the next president. And that's where Trump was yesterday as he attacked President Biden over the issue of crime in his appeal to Black voters.
But then he went before a far right group in Michigan and used the phrase Stop the Steal. A January 6th rallying cry in reference to his 2020 effort to overturn Biden's victory, something that is at the heart of two separate criminal cases he is now facing.
Meanwhile, Biden was at a star studded affair with Hollywood celebrities hobnobbing -- hobnobbing with George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand as he, along with Barack Obama, raised millions for a campaign that is struggling to break away from Trump, and is mired in a neck and neck race, with polls showing him trailing the presumptive GOP nominee in some key battleground states. A lot to get to, and we have a great team of reporters on the ground to get that has us covered.
Eva McKend on the ground in Detroit and Arlette Saenz in Los Angeles.
So let's start with you, Arlette. You were in the room for Biden's fundraiser last night. Take us inside the room. What happened?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Manu. Well, President Biden teamed up with his former boss, President Barack Obama, and Hollywood stars to really issue some stark warnings about what a second Trump presidency could hold.
The president expressed extreme concern about the prospect that Trump could potentially appoint two Supreme Court justices if the openings open up and he is reelected. The president in this fundraiser said last night, quote, the idea that if he's reelected, he's going to appoint two more flying flags upside down, that being a reference to the flag controversy outside Justice Alito's home.
He then went on to say the Supreme Court has never been as out of kilter as it is today. I mean, never.
Now, this was part of a 35-minute conversation between him, President Obama and "Late Night Show" host Jimmy Kimmel. Obama lamented the fact that there has been a normalization of behavior for that was once disqualifying for candidates. He specifically pointed to Trump's convictions in that criminal hush money trial in New York City. And Obama told voters to consider the values of the two men, saying that Biden upholds the values of this country. The first lady said that Trump is someone who only cares about himself and not the American people. Now, this event brought in $28 million for Democrats. The campaign
says that that's the biggest fundraiser to date for any Democratic president in history. They are hoping to carry some of that momentum as they're looking to maintain that cash advantage over Trump.
RAJU: All right. Arlette Saenz in Los Angeles, thanks for that.
And now on to Michigan, after Trump made two very different stops in Detroit this weekend, one at a Black church, the other with a conservative group of mostly young white activists.
Eva McKend was there and joins us from Detroit.
So, Eva, take us through the former president's day.
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Manu, the former president continued to echo conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, telling his supporters that he wants his margin of victory to be so large that it should be too big to rig. Of course, we know the 2020 election was not rigged, but you hear that refrain being echoed by his supporters too big to rig.
He's also adding something else to his routine. It's really consequential, and he's telling his supporters that they have to plan their vote, whether it's early or by mail, on or on Election Day, they have to make a plan.
[08:05:07]
That's really a departure from 2020, when he cast doubt on those mechanisms of voting early and voting by mail. And it really indicates that this time around, he's not trying to leave any votes on the table. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The radical left Democrats rigged the presidential election in 2020, and we're not going to allow them to rig the presidential election in 2024.
Listen, we don't need votes. We got more votes than anybody's ever had. We need to watch the vote. We need to guard the vote. We need to stop the steal.
We want a landslide that is too big to rig.
Make a plan to vote either by mail or early in person, or on Election Day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: Trump also spending his time in Detroit at historically Black church. He thinks that he can make inroads with Black voters this election -- Manu.
RAJU: All right. Eva McKend in Detroit, thanks for that. And let's break this all down here in the room with a great panel this
morning, CNN's Kristen Holmes, CNN's Stephen Collinson, Tyler Foggatt with "The New Yorker", and "Punchbowl's" Anna Palmer.
Good morning to you guys. Thanks for joining me this Father's Day morning.
So, Kristen, you covered the Trump campaign. You travel all around with Trump, you talked to his advisers. Would walk us through this decision to it makes sense for him to reach out to Black voters. No question about that because obviously Biden has been struggling to build the coalition, that he took him back to the White House in 2020, piggyback off.
That coalition that makes sense. But then talk to this really far right group, Turning Point USA.
What does that give him and why -- what is behind this campaign's thinking?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So Turning Point USA is actually going to be very critical to Donald Trump's campaign. They are a huge part of the ground game. They are planning on spending $108 million to essentially be the boots on the ground in three of the critical states Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin.
They are putting people into these communities that they believe are red districts that did not show up to vote in either 2022 or 2020. They have done data research to try and bring out low propensity voters, and they're essentially making people the mayor of these communities so that they show up in the polls. So actually, Donald Trump is getting $108 million for that appearance, and the one just a week ago because they don't have that same infrastructure on the ground.
Now I do want to say one thing about Black voters, because I think it's really critical. We keep talking about Donald Trump taking away Black voters. There is not going to be at least no indication there's going to be some kind of swell of black voters for Donald Trump. But what they do feel like they have that that they think that President Biden doesn't have right now is that Donald Trump's base is fully aligned with Donald Trump.
So they right now feel like they have the opportunity to go into what is a traditionally Democratic bloc, Black voters, Latino voters, and try and siphon away those voters because they don't feel like right now they're worried about getting his base back, whereas they feel like President Biden is worry -- is worried about courting his own base.
RAJU: But then when he goes and he talks to the base and he says things like the election was stolen, it was rigged. Those are the kind of things that, you know, some Republican voters who didn't vote for him last time, they may be open to voting for him this time or swing voters. They hear that and they say, well, that's why I didn't vote for. STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: That's right. And that is
exactly the kind of thing that some of these Nikki Haley voters, for example, the reason they didn't vote for him in the primary is because they were alienated by the extreme nature of Trump's coalition. To your point about Black voters, this is all about margins. If Trump is going to be a very close election in 4 or 5 states, that will decide it, if Trump can eat away a little bit at Biden's traditional Democratic margins among Black voters in places like Philadelphia, the Detroit, Milwaukee, Atlanta that can make a big difference.
So although no one, I think expects the turnout for Trump among minority voters to be where the polls say it is right now, Biden got 92. I think last time, if Trump can get 4 or 5 percent more, that makes a big difference. But I think there's a long history of Republican campaigns in presidential elections over the last 20 years, discounting the extent to which minority voters do in the end up showing up for Democratic.
RAJU: Before you, before you jump in just to look at the to your point, the exit polls from 2020 versus now, Fox News and Quinnipiac and CBS News, just recent polling about how Trump -- Biden versus Trump on Black voters down on Biden is, you know, look at 87 percent among voters, black voters in the 2020 exit polls, about 15 points in the Fox News, Quinnipiac and six points in the CBS News poll.
I mean, that is a if that -- if you're Joe Biden, you obviously need to do better. But how much concern is there in the Biden campaign about that?
TYLER FOGGATT, SENIOR EDITOR, THE NEW YORKER: Yeah. I mean, what's interesting is that while we've seen Trump make gains with nonwhite, non-college educated voters, we've also seen Biden make gains with white, college-educated voters.
[08:10:10]
And so part of what I've been following is just whether these, you know, the inroads they've been making with these different cohorts will end up canceling each other out. That's interesting point. I mean, and while he was there, Trump in Detroit last night talking to Black voters, he tried to cast Biden as the New York Times put it in their headline this morning as anti-Black, this is what.
And then when he went on to talk about crime in Black neighborhoods as something is a reason why they should not vote for Biden, this is how Trump pitched it to voters yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Crime is most rampant right here and in African American communities, Biden wrote the devastating 1994 crime bill, talking about super predators. That was Biden. You know, he walks around now talking about the Black vote. He's the king of the super predators and he wrote the 1994 crime bill that you talk about so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP) RAJU: Biden team responding to this, saying that Trump thinks that he has, quote, many Black friends, excuses an entire lifetime of what they say is denigrating and disrespecting Black Americans. They wanted to say Black voters know better.
Yeah, it's interesting. Trump's line against Biden trying to revive Biden's role in the 1995 -- 1994 crime law. I mean, and he's also -- is that effective?
ANNA PALMER, PUNCHBOWL NEWS CEO & CO-FOUNDER: And he's also tried to use the fact that he was a convicted , you know, now he's been convicted as something that he can, you know, try to woo Black voters.
To me, the big thing, though, is it's not that, you know, to the earlier point that all of a sudden, Trump's going to do so well with Black voters, but it means that Biden has to pay attention to them even more. And when you look at where he is, where he's going, Michigan, that is going to be ground zero for whether or not Donald Trump or Joe Biden is president.
And this just act -- this is just one of those areas where he's going to have to kind of have to defend himself. And the numbers you put up there are something that the Biden campaign has to take seriously.
RAJU: Yeah. And, Tyler, you were mentioning about the perhaps winning back voters in other areas, one of which could be seniors. That's one thing that the Biden campaign has been focusing on increasingly this past week. And how do senior voters look at him versus younger voters? That is been a distinction when you look at the choice for president among people of 65 and over, Biden up 51, 45, among those voters, but among younger voters, that is a he is not doing as well as he was in the last time. If you look at the -- on the screen there tighter margins, it's much tighter.
Is that the Biden -- Democrats don't think that's real. But what explains this shift of sorts, where some more seniors are up, are moving towards Biden and younger voters are not.
FOGGATT: I mean, frankly, I think it's that there are a lot of younger voters who think that Biden is too old for another term. And I would imagine that people who are closer to Biden in age might not feel as concerned about that. I don't know, maybe that's reductive, but, I would guess that there's something to that.
RAJU: Right. And that Gaza and all the rest, and that becomes an issue as well.
Biden's Hollywood fundraiser last night, he pulled in significant amount of money. Obviously, the fundraising has been an issue for Biden for some time, or that they've been winning for some time. And now, recently, Trump has overtaken in recent months, as you see, by Trump and his allies pulling in $141 million in May compared to. We don't know what the Biden team has raised yet, but they were they were ahead quite a bit up until recently.
And post-conviction, Trump has really started to juice his fundraising much different than as you see April. We'll see what the latest numbers are. You know, it's interesting, last night they went to this Hollywood fundraiser. They typically these things are a closed doors affair. You don't really hear much about it. Maybe some reports get out.
They were happy to bring in Joe Biden next to all these Hollywood celebrities and, you know, George Clooney and the like. You've covered fundraisers for so many years. What do you make of that?
PALMER: It's interesting. I mean, this comes off the heels when he had a big fundraiser with Stephen Colbert, also interesting that Barack Obama, the former president alongside him, I think this is an area where he can show some livelihood there. When you look at some of the quotes that came out of there, to your point, oftentimes these are very tight lipped affairs, but you saw that Biden was kind of off the cuff making jokes.
I think in a way, they're trying to showcase him not just as kind of the elderly president and that he can kind of spar that he's cool, right? Is there a cool factor with Hollywood? I think that Biden's hoping that that can rub off on him a little bit.
HOLMES: Certainly with enthusiasm. I think that there's something about Hollywood that brings a lot of enthusiasm. We saw that obviously with Barack Obama, there was an entire movement around how cool, as you said, Barack Obama was.
I do think, you know, we talk about young voters, older voters. We talked you mentioned Gaza, but I also think, like when we're talking about some of these groups that that Donald Trump is trying to siphon voters away from, a lot of that is because there's a lack of enthusiasm.
[08:15:05]
It's not just trying to get the voters. It's also trying to depress them from coming out for Biden. And a lot of that starts with this idea that there's no enthusiasm for President Joe Biden. So doing stuff like this is something where you bring eyes to him in a very fun way.
Whereas a lot of what people see is him being kind of pointed to as an older president and instead this gives him that kind of young edge of being in Hollywood.
RAJU: And that gives Republicans opportunity to paint him as out of touch. I'm sure we'll I'm sure we'll hear that as well.
All right. CNN's presidential debate is almost here. New details about how they're getting ready and what they've agreed to. And that's next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It should be a big evening. They say Super Bowl numbers. So everyone is going to watch. You'll have to be screaming at your television set all night. I suspect. (END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:20:12]
TRUMP: President Biden and former President Trump are now working to sharpen their strategies, their messages and their attack lines at a high stakes CNN debate just 11 days away. Biden this week is planning to head to Camp David to kick off intense prep sessions with top advisers. Trump's advisers, meanwhile, insist the former president is getting ready by giving interviews and speeches, although he also did hold a policy discussion with advisers this past week in Washington.
And new this weekend, both campaigns have agreed to more debate rules. A coin flip will determine their podium positions. Microphones will be muted, except when it's each man's turn to speak, and no props or pre- written notes will be allowed on stage.
The 90-minute debate will have two commercial breaks, and a reminder they will not be a studio audience.
My panel is now back. What's interesting is that we are hearing about the Biden campaign strategy. Obviously this is a huge moment for both campaigns. Biden wanted this debate to be held earlier.
This is what a campaign official told our colleagues here. It says the president has gotten increasingly punchier in recent remarks about Trump, and plans to carry that theme through the debate.
But how do you see this playing out for the Biden campaign? What does the president obviously need to do to change a race that has been really stable for months?
COLLINSON: Right. I think that's true in some of these recent fundraisers, you've seen the president trying out lines, to attack Trump, for example. He said something snapped in him after he lost the last election.
So he's going to try and make this case that that Trump isn't really, fit to go back to the Oval Office to be president again. This is a crucial debate because it's early, much earlier than most presidential debates we've seen, Biden has to counter this impression that is being fostered by Trump, that he's too old, he's too slow.
On the flip side, there's the question of this volcanic temperament that Trump showed in the first debate the last time around. So a lot of things are really boiling up there. There's a real palpable sense here. I think that the campaign from the trials of Trump and Hunter Biden is now flipping towards these two debates.
And, you know, Biden will go to his debate camp. Trump plays himself on TV every single day. He's not going to be any different, on the stand at that, fraud trial in December in New York, he was very punchy. And I think that is exactly the same kind of persona that you're going to see in the debate. RAJU: I mean, and as you talked to the Trump campaign, Kristen, Jason
Miller as a Trump adviser user, said, President Trump takes on numerous tough interviews every single week and delivers lengthy rally speeches while standing, demonstrating elite stamina. That's according to Jason Miller.
But the interviews he's done really are mostly friendly.
HOLMES: Dr. Phil, Hannity.
RAJU: Exactly.
And he skipped and he skipped all these debates in the primary. Is he ready for this moment?
HOLMES: Look, I think as you said, Donald Trump is a performer, so that is part of it. He also thinks that he is his best own adviser. So this kind of idea is that his team is trying to prep him without actually prepping him, or at least without saying the word preparation. Senior adviser actually told me we don't use the word preparation around Donald Trump.
But they clearly have some issues that they're concerned about. January 6th is one of them. Democracy is one of them. How he's been talking about that, talking about pardoning the people who are involved in that attack.
That was what that policy session was about. It was about how do you respond to those kind of questions with people like Marco Rubio with, Eric Schmitt trying to have an idea of how he should spin this. Spin is something that is done in a preparation setting. Clearly there, Donald Trump is trying to do some prep.
Now, I will say the issue of abortion, which was one I thought that they would spend a lot of time preparing for. They said they know what he's going to say on that. He's just going to say over and over again, it should be left to the states.
RAJU: Yeah.
HOLMES: So this is clearly, what they're really concerned about now is some of these other things he said.
RAJU: Yeah. Just to put that back up on your screen, the issues that were discussed at Trump, that Trump policy session January 6th, pardoning rioters, the border crisis, criminal prosecutions against Trump. So he's going to get the January 6th question for sure. So -- does he double down about what happened in January 6th, as he's more and more over the years, has started to embrace essentially what happened?
PALMER: Yeah, I mean, I think if you look at what he's been doing on the campaign trail at some of these speeches, stop the steal. I mean, he hasn't shied away from January 6th, and the fact that he's aggrieved that he believes still that he won. I think the big thing for me, though, is both of them are going to be
kind of rusty, right? They haven't had a debate since 2020. There's a lot to lose. This debate to me, does not play a lot of Trump's strong suits. There's not a live audience. There's not that that energy kind of loop that he really kind of gets charged off, the fact that the mikes are going to be muted.
How they kind of show up is going to be interesting. And for President Biden, does he have the energy?
[08:25:00]
This to me is as important as the State of the Union earlier. For people that are concerned about his age, he's elderly. Can he show up? Can he have the mental acuity there? I think this is the highest stakes debate that we'll have ever seen.
RAJU: Yeah, and that's the issue, right? The voters are going to be watching so closely how they perform rather, of course, what they say will be important with two aging politicians. That's obviously going to be critical.
FOGGATT: Yeah, I do think it is more about optics than about policy. And for that reason, I actually think that Trump has kind of made a strategic error by hammering, you know, just how basically Biden can't put two sentences together. I think it kind of will be like the State of the Union, where if Biden goes up there and is coherent and not just coherent, but, you know, pretty strong, he immediately wins.
Like, I kind of think that the bar is actually lower for Biden than it is for Trump at this point --
RAJU: Yeah.
FOGGATT: -- because of all the discourse.
HOLMES: I agree with that. And also, Donald Trump's team is concerned about that. They've been concerned about that for weeks. I mean, yeah, you talk to them. They're not talking about how Biden can't string sentences together in relation to the debate because they don't want to set the bar that low, because if all Biden has to do is walk over it, it's very likely he will.
And they saw his performance on State of the Union. Donald Trump continues to say that, oh, it was the worst State of the Union ever. Well, there's a reason that he continues to fixate on it, because Biden came out and he came out swinging, and he had that energy. And his team has continually briefed Trump that he could do that again. So you need to be ready for this. This isn't just him walking over the bar.
RAJU: And while you we discuss how people may view them, the Biden team is hoping for moments like what happened yesterday when Donald Trump was talking about his former White House physician, Ronny Jackson, and an event in Michigan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think he should take a cognitive test like I did. I took a cognitive test and I aced it. Doc Ronny, Doc Ronny Johnson, because everyone knows Ronny Johnson, Congressman from Texas. He was the White House doctor, and he said I was the healthiest president. He feels in history. So I liked him very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: So he called him Ronny Johnson. It's Jackson, not the, you know, biggest mistake in the world. But of course, he was talking about in the context of a cognitive test that he aced and Joe Biden should do. Then he calls him Ronny Johnson.
That goes to the point of setting the bar very low, that Biden may have to just step over that bar.
COLLINSON: Right. And if that happens during the debate, no doubt the president will try and point that out to everyone. Within ten minutes of the debate ending, it will be a campaign ad.
The Biden campaign has started to hit back against this perception that the president isn't fit mentally, to serve by highlighting all of these gaffes that Trump makes on the campaign trail. In that meeting with congressional leaders, the other day, he talked -- he said that Milwaukee was a horrible city, quickly people came out and basically said, well, he was talking about the crime rate, et cetera, et cetera. But --
RAJU: Trump has about 50 different explanations.
COLLINSON: Exactly. And everyone you know, it wasn't really a very smart thing to say when you're having your convention in Milwaukee and trying to win Wisconsin. So you know, that's the kind of thing Trump comes up with now and again.
RAJU: Well, we know it's going to be an event you will not want to miss. The presidential debate, it's on Thursday, June 27th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Jake Tapper, Dana Bash are moderating live from CNN -- live from Atlanta on CNN.
Up next, Trump's power play, how he's trying to make the House's hard right leader pay for his endorsement of Ron DeSantis. He's calling for Congressman Bob Good's defeat in next week's primary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Mr. Trump put out a video saying you stabbed him in the back. What's your response to that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:32:43] RAJU: In the aftermath of the capitol attack on January 6, Donald
Trump was viewed as a pariah among many in his party. And then after a lackluster performance in the 2022 midterms, many top Republicans pointed the finger back at Trump. But now his grip on the GOP is once again as tight as it ever has been.
This past week, Trump-backed candidates won in primaries across the board, continuing a larger trend this cycle. Not a single federal candidate with Trump's endorsement has lost their primary race.
Then in Washington, there was quote, "notice sent" I'm told when Trump met behind closed doors with House and Senate Republicans, including past critics like GOP leader Mitch McConnell.
But a key test of his power will come Tuesday in Virginia, where the hard right leader of the House Freedom Caucus, Bob Good, will try to fend off a primary challenge from state senator John McGuire. It is McGuire who holds that treasured Trump endorsement. Why? In no small part, because Good backed Ron DeSantis in the GOP primary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: John is running against Bob Good, who is actually bad for Virginia and who will stab you in the back like he did me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Good brushes that aside.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Donald Trump backing your opponent. And how much does that hurt your campaign?
REP. BOB GOOD (R-VA): We're going to win. The people are behind us in the 5th district, overwhelmingly, everybody needs to be coming together and winning on November 5.
The time to talk about previous endorsement, or supporting previous candidates is behind us. Again, were going to win on June 18.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: And before we get into the politics of that more broader look at Trumps endorsements, this cycle. It's been different than the last cycle because it's not just people who are MAGA-aligned members. It's people that actually have gone against some of the MAGA members. You just look at some of the people on your screen there.
Whether it's a Tim Sheehy in Montana -- all down the line people Trump pushed out a conservative candidate who is considering running against Sheehy and end Mike Rogers who was one time a critic in Michigan is endorsing him. He endorsed Larry Hogan this week.
It's different the way he's handling it this cycle.
[08:34:46]
PALMER: You really see the behind-the-scenes effort and that Republicans have put on Trump and the Trump campaign to endorse candidates that can win.
There's one thing that Senate Republicans want. It is the majority in the Senate and they feel like they didn't have it last time because Trump endorsed candidates that could not win statewide.
The fact that he endorsed Larry Hogan, who just days ago was criticizing him. And you know, upholding the law just showcases I think what a different tack he's taking this time.
RAJU: Yes. And obviously his -- the unity that he has been able to force upon his party has been on full display, particularly in this past week.
FOGGATT: Yes, absolutely. I mean, I've been going back to this idea that, you know, the endorsement strategy has been different. I think that it almost seems like Trump is like more forgiving than he used to be, like even Larry Hogan --
RAJU: Yes, Larry Hogan, it's like, you know, Larry Hogan is still criticizing Trump.
FOGGATT: Absolutely. Larry Hogan --
RAJU: He doubled down on that endorsement last night.
FOGGATT: Yes, it's -- yes, it's kind of crazy and then I always think about Nancy Mace in South Carolina too, who I believe initially was kind of saying that Trump, you know, in fact did not win the 2020 election.
And not only did she win a highly-contested primary where she needed to get not just a plurality, but a majority in a race with three candidates. But you know, she also was on like the shortlist for, you know, Trump's VP picks. So it's kind of crazy that its come all the way around.
RAJU: And you wrote about it this week Stephen about Trump got the perfect birthday present, complete capitulation by the GOP.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: That was a fascinating meeting highlighted by that handshake between Mitch McConnell and Trump -- the Senate minority leader has never disguised his disdain for Trump, but he's also always been about power and regaining power.
And that was what that handshake was all about. That meeting was almost a tableau of how Trump exerts power. He requires people to show loyalty in public almost to genuflect before him in his own party.
And there were many of those members who have their own concerns about Trump, who voiced them in the past in the House, but more importantly in the Senate who basically understand that he is their shot to get the Senate back after the next election. And they're prepared to do whatever it takes them to stand with him to
get a taste of that power.
RAJU: And let's dive a little bit into that Virginia race that's happening on Tuesday to knock off (INAUDIBLE) and the House Freedom Caucus leader Bob Good and look at the money that is spent. This is the most expensive House Republican primary in the country.
More money is coming against Bob Good, then for him in no small part, Good was one of the 8, of course, who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy, but also his endorsement of Ron DeSantis.
I put this question to a number of Republicans this past week about how they view those battle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): I don't like liars and I don't like backstabbers. And Bob Good -- Bob Good really stabbed president Trump in the back.
REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): Bob Good is going to be terrific for the Trump agenda because he's a conservative fighter. The president sees it differently.
REP. RALPH NORMAN (R-SC): If Bob gets defeated, it will be because of Donald Trump.
REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): should the president get reelected, then I think the president will learn quickly that some of these people may not be sitting in the trenches with them.
REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL); I think Bob Good has made a lot of -- a lot of enemies.
RAJU: Would the house be better off without HIM.
GIMENEZ: Honestly, yes, I think it would be because he's a divisive force. And so we don't need that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: I mean here's Trump, he's got to worry about the presidential race, he still remembers the fact that Ron -- Good backed Ron DeSantis, he tried to defeat him.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Also, just remember that Bob Good completely fell on his sword and then went to Donald Trump's trial and stood behind Donald Trump and still this is what he is doing.
Now, just overall on an endorsement strategy, I would say that a lot of this is Daines doing a really good job.
RAJU: Steve Daines Senate GOP chair --
HOLMES: right.
RAJU: Campaign chairman.
HOLMES: Making sure that Donald Trump was not stepping out of line. Also, Donald Trump learning something which was these are a different group of people than the House Republicans that go rah, rah, rah.
But with Bob Good, for Donald Trump ultimately it's going to come down to loyalty. He's not the only House member who backed DeSantis over Trump. He's also not the only house member that Donald Trump has turned his ire on because of it. He's not over it.
RAJU: Revenge politics.
All right. More of that. Coming up, Trump constantly blasted the judicial system, but just how much has it helped him in his bid for the Oval Office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I just went through a rigged trial in New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:39:19]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The court system now is under siege.
They've weaponized the Department of Justice like it's never happened in this country.
Our enemies want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom.
But they don't go after the Democrats. They only go after the Republicans. Think of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: There really is no day that goes by when Donald Trump does not attack the judicial system.
Yet, it's that same system that could give him a boost ahead of November. Take Judge Aileen Cannon, one of Trump's younger court appointees whose decision in his Mar-a-Lago classified documents, criminal case, have likely delayed until after the election.
And the Supreme Court, a third of which he appointed, has yet to rule on the question about whether he's immune from prosecution. Simply taking up that case has delayed two of his criminal trials.
The court even kept him on the Colorado ballot, enters candidacy was challenged in the state over January 6.
Plus a Georgia appeals court is reviewing the conduct of prosecutor, Fani Willis in Trump's election subversion criminal case in Fulton County. Meaning that also will be delayed until after November.
My panel is back.
[08:44:50]
RAJU: So this also comes as Hunter Biden, of course, was convicted on felony charges last week. Two Democrats are being -- members of congress, are also being prosecuted.
I put the question to Mitt Romney. I asked him about the contention from Republicans that Republicans are being treated differently than Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: What do you say to Republicans who say that there still -- shows a tier, two-tier justice system in the aftermath of the Hunter Biden conviction?
SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): Well, I think the Hunter Biden decision shows that there is a single tier of Justice system. That's my own view which is that the Justice Department brought action against Democrats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: But you put the question to Republicans on the Hill and the like, and Trump campaign, they still say it's a two-tiered system of justice yes.
FOGGATT: Yes. I mean, I think that one of the things going on here is that Trump probably resents how much money he has had to spend on these legal cases.
We were talking about fundraising earlier. And one thing that I always think about is that, you know, between Trump losing the election to Joe Biden and then Joe Biden's inauguration, I think he raised like $250 million. Which he then put in a PAC and he has essentially spent all that money. It's now like I think at $5 million because he's used all that money on legal fees.
And so I think that especially given that he was just found, you know, found guilty of 34 felony counts, and that he's used a lot of money that could go toward, you know, campaigning on legal fees, I can see why he is so fixated on this, even if there have been some delays in court cases.
RAJU: But there's no question about it. He has shaped the court in obviously the high court, the highest court in the land as well, perhaps even more so than Joe Biden. Look at just the number of appointees, judges who have been confirmed over his presidency. 245 for Trump versus 201 for Joe Biden. And that is a significant number and he's benefiting from -- in
Florida where the judge there Aileen Cannon has effectively delayed that case and also Supreme court kind of stepped in and helped him as well.
PALMER: Absolutely, I mean, if you look at the success that he had in his presidency, that was one of the key victories that he and Mitch McConnell worked together on despite not liking each other very much was to get these judges in place.
I also think what's really interesting to think about is you see this in the rally cry for Joe Biden last night at the fundraiser saying, you know, if he gets reelected, he's going to have another chance for two more judges on that Supreme Court.
And that is something that you're going to hear the Democrats kind of pounce on over and over again on the --
(CROSSTALKING)
RAJU: How does the Trump campaign view this retribution talk playing out? I mean, yes, it works well with his base but their focus groups suggests that perhaps swing voters don't like it as much. Yet he is doubling down when he's asked about that.
HOLMES: Yes. I mean, these are one of the things that Donald Trump can't help himself but double down on in an interview (ph). Kind of like not backing Bob Good.
It's just like these are innate in who he is as a person. And he fundamentally is still angry at the people he believes betrayed him and embarrassed him.
How it's actually going to play out remains to be seen. But if you look at the way that these groups like Project 2025 are restructuring, are planning on restructuring the government, it would give enormous amount of power to the executive branch, which then would mean it's possible for Donald Trump to wield that power for revenge if he wanted to.
He's not going to stop talking about it because it's something that he truly feels, whether or not it helps him or not. I think that you'll see him talking about it less in meetings like with Mitch McConnell and the senators where he has to be on his best behavior.
But those rallies, he'll continue to do it.
RAJU: And I assume the Biden campaign is going to a jump all over this.
COLLINSON: Certainly, just one point about the Supreme Court though. This is a president who thinks he's going to come back and wield absolute power. This is a big question the supreme court needs to answer.
RAJU: Yes we shall see. All right. Coming up the United States has never seen anything like
it. So why is Washington worried.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The eyes of the world will literally be on America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The World Cup will be here before you know it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:48:51]
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RAJU: The world has never seen a World Cup like this. And it's coming to the U.S. in 2026.
But while that may seem far away, there is now a furious effort underway between the federal government and the soccer organization, FIFA, to make sure the event was pulled off without a hitch.
And I'm told it is an enormous undertaking. With 48 teams now competing up from 32 two years ago, that means an already strained U.S. immigration system will be put to a major test. Not only will the players, coaches, and staff need visas, but so will the estimated 5 million international fans expected to attend these games who may be traveling among the 16 host cities in the U.S., Mexico, and in Canada.
Now with nearly 80 of the 104 matches expected to be played in the United States, lawmakers tell me this is requiring a massive amount of coordination between Washington, local governments and FIFA.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DARIN LAHOOD (R-IL): This will be the largest sporting event in the history of the world. We're going to have 104 matches. It's like having 104 Super Bowls in 39 days.
But there's going to have to be cooperation between Congress, Homeland Security, State Department and the White House. This has never been done before where you have three countries working in collaboration to do that.
FIFA's president Gianni Infantino recently visited the U.S. capital where he met with Speaker Mike Johnson, Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumers, as well as some cabinet secretaries.
[08:54:52]
RAJU: In addition to planning for extraordinary security measures, House members in the so-called Soccer Caucus told me the U.S. will likely need a special visa process, so fans can move between countries more easily, including people from countries where it's not normally easy to enter into the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAHOOD: The biggest issue will be working with Canada and Mexico and the United States on a visa system that is unique and different than anything we've done before.
REP. RICK LARSEN (D-WA): A lot of folks are coming to united states who maybe have never been to the United States before.
We need to be sure we're accommodating those folks so they can get there to watch the games.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: And remember, around 1.5 billion people worldwide watched the last World Cup final live on TV.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: if this does not get resolved, what is the risk at hand?
LAHOOD: Well, the risk is an embarrassment to the United States. We don't want that, right?
LARSEN: Everyone gets it. It's a big deal. America is going to be -- the eyes of the world will literally be on America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: All right. That's it for INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. You can follow me on X @mkraju, follow the show @INSIDEPOLITICS.
And if you ever miss an episode, you can catch up wherever you get your podcasts, just search for INSIDE POLITICS.
Up next "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
Jake's guests include Senators Tom Cotton and Chris Murphy.
Thanks again for sharing your Sunday morning with us. And Happy Fathers' Day to my dad and all the dads who are joining us.
Have a great day. See you next time.
[08:56:14]
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