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New Yorkers Head To The Polls In Tight Mayoral Primary; Fragile Ceasefire Between Israel And Iran In Place; Soon: Trump Arrives At NATO Summit Amid Fragile Iran-Israel Ceasefire. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired June 24, 2025 - 12:30   ET

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

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[12:33:29]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: New York Democrats are headed to the polls to cast their votes for mayor in the crowded and contentious primary. It's the biggest city in the country and one of the most liberal. The two frontrunners could not be more different. Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is running as a tough-on-crime fix-it man trying to cement a comeback.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now Trump's coming for New York. You think a 33- year-old legislator who's passed three bills can stop him? Andrew Cuomo's managed a state and managed crises from COVID to Trump. We need someone experienced to stop him.

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BASH: Cuomo resigned in 2021 in the midst of several sexual harassment allegations, which he denies. His biggest competitor is a 33-year-old Democratic socialist.

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ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK MAYORAL CANDIDATE: The same people who put Donald Trump back in the White House are now trying to elect Andrew Cuomo. They're spending all this money for a very simple reason. Corporations don't want to pay just a little bit more in taxes to make a better city for all of us.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BASH: New Yorkers will vote using ranked-choice voting in this primary, so we'll only see the first-round results tonight.

My panel is back, and we are joined by CNN Chief Political Analyst and Former Senior Adviser to President Obama, David Axelrod. Hello, David.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: And native New Yorker.

BASH: And native New Yorker, right.

AXELROD: Yes.

BASH: That was literally bearing the lead. What's your sense of, not only -- I mean, I'm not going to make you predict what happens --

AXELROD: Yes.

BASH: -- but also what it means.

AXELROD: Well, look, this in some ways is laying bare the divisions in the Democratic Party.

[12:35:03]

You know, you look at the numbers, and Mamdani is winning among voters under 49, like overwhelmingly, like two to one, and Cuomo is leading among older voters. Mamdani is winning among college-educated voters. Cuomo among non-college voters. I mean, these splits are very profound.

And if Mamdani wins, I think that he will become -- there will be another race in November, first of all. They're all going to be on the ballot again, these guys, Mamdani and Cuomo will be on in November, also the mayor. So there'll be another round here.

But I think the whole country is going to be looking at this for clues as to which direction the Democratic Party is going to take. And I think Trump will probably have a few words on this as well.

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Yes, I think it's interesting because to me, especially with the support for Cuomo that came from a lot of establishment Democrats, we know that the New York mayor's race is a very nationalized race. And I think it showed that they're concerned about letting an unknown, someone who's a political novice, relatively speaking, win the mayor's race and perhaps create another bad mayor, so to speak, in their mind.

And so I think that's why a lot of the establishment said we're going to stick with the person we know, the person we feel can lead, even if some of the things he's done in the past proved to be problematic or his behavior was accused of problematic behavior, at least we feel like he can be a good leader and won't embarrass us, I think is their thinking of why they got behind Cuomo.

BASH: And Jeff, one of the biggest flashpoints in New York City especially has been Mamdani's view and position when it comes to the state -- but whether or not a Jewish state in Israel even has a right to exist.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you support Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state?

MAMDANI: I support Israel's right to exist as a state with equal rights. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The phrase globalized Intifada from the river to the sea, does that make you uncomfortable?

MAMDANI: I know people for whom those things mean very different things. And to me, ultimately, what I hear in so many is a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does the state of Israel have the right to exist?

MAMDANI: Yes, like all nations, I believe it has a right to exist and a responsibility also to uphold international law.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BASH: So that last question was a good question. The second, which we saw earlier in that clip, was as a Jewish state, which he was not asked.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Right. And look, I mean, we couldn't have really timed this, I mean, any more for the primary day to be on the same day as all the actions are happening in the Middle East and the potential ceasefire, you know, the still unresolved conflict in Gaza. So this is definitely hanging over the race. There's no doubt about it.

And I don't know the outcome of this. In many respects, it's a -- the next chapter, if you will, of the debate that really wasn't solved in the Democratic Party during the presidential race in 2024. It's one of the big things that animated many voters in places like Dearborn, Michigan, and others to vote for the president and not Vice President Harris.

So this is something that it's a moment of soul searching for the Democratic Party. There is no question about it. But adding rank choice voting onto it --

AXELROD: Yes.

ZELENY: -- also scrambles the eggs in a way that I can't recall a primary. Maybe you can more, but I mean, this is so extraordinary.

AXELROD: No, no, no, well there's nothing -- I don't think we'll know the outcome of this until July 1st, you know.

ZELENY: Yes.

AXELROD: So because they're going to go through rounds and rounds. But we should point out that as an animating as this issue of Gaza was for some of his young supporters, the thing that really turbocharged his campaign was an issue that actually has broader applicability, and that's affordability.

BASH: Yes.

AXELROD: And he has just ridden that hard. BASH: That's right.

AXELROD: You heard it in that clip. And the other thing is the feeling that Cuomo was the past, that Cuomo was damaged, and that voters were being asked to settle again, which is a complaint that a lot of younger Democratic voters have. This is yesterday. We want to turn the page of tomorrow.

BASH: Everybody stand by. Up next, CNN is live across the Middle East with the latest on that shaky truce between Israel and Iran. Stay with us.

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[12:44:17]

BASH: Welcome back to Inside Politics. We're following the latest on the precarious ceasefire between Israel and Iran. President Trump says it's back on track after both sides initially violated the terms.

I want to get straight to Erin Burnett, who, again, is in Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE. Erin?

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Dana. We're, of course, here by the Strait of Hormuz. Iran behind us. The state-run media there are now reporting that they have, you know, sort of a mass protest there in support of their Armed Forces and the supreme leader, perhaps something organized by the regime itself. Some real questions about what's coming out there.

But the Iranian president just not long ago speaking to the ruler here of the UAE, reiterating, you know, their legitimate right to pursue what they want but saying they weren't pursuing a nuclear weapon. But it is an important call that has just happened between the Iranian president and the leader here of the UAE.

[12:45:12]

Not, though, of course, we have not yet heard from the supreme leader, even though we understand that there, you know, have been pictures of his image given to those crowds in Tehran right now.

Let's go to CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward who's live in Tel Aviv. And, Clarissa, you know, you hear from -- you know, we're hearing obviously from sources in the Gulf that they believed the ceasefire would hold. They, of course, were desperate for it to hold because of the disruption here, the economic hit, that this war had very much come home for them. But of course, whether it holds or not rests in the capitals of Jerusalem and Tehran.

What is the current state of the ceasefire as you're hearing from your sources in the Israeli government?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, I think it's obviously got off to a slightly wobbly start, shall we say, to Iranian missiles intercepted over northern Israel at about 10:30 this morning. We heard some very strong words then from Israel's defense minister vowing to hit Iran back hard. That then was followed by a strike on a radar site to the north of Tehran.

That strike was considered relatively modest, given the kind of rhetoric that we were hearing beforehand. And it appears now, you know, 12 hours into this ceasefire that it is indeed holding those choice words that President Trump had for both sides, but particularly for Israel. And that exceptionally direct and firm conversation that he had with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have sunk in, shall we say.

And you're seeing some of the signs that we would expect both, you know, Iran and Israel sort of marketing this as a complete victory. Israel saying that it's carried out all the operations and targets that it wanted to, which is interesting because just last night we were hearing from the chief of staff of the IDF that there were a number of targets and goals that they still had in mind. Although I should say that the language around that has shifted a lot day to day.

But there is a sense now that this ceasefire is largely holding. Israel is planning to reopen schools tomorrow, which seems to be a clear indication that they are now anticipating a quieter period. But certainly it was touch and go earlier on in the day. And of course, it started in that hour before, you know, four times we were down in the shelter within the space of half an hour, blistering strikes also being carried out from the Israeli side on Iran. But for now, things mercifully quiet, Erin.

BURNETT: Yes. Mercifully quiet, as everyone hopes. And then, of course, we see where we are.

Clarissa Ward, thank you so much in Tel Aviv. Dana, back to you.

BASH: Thank you, Erin. And thank you to Clarissa as well.

So what's it like inside the West Wing when high stakes decisions are being made? Well, we have former senior adviser to President Obama, who is still with us, and of course, is David Axelrod. And we'll talk about that after a break.

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[12:52:33]

BASH: President Trump is expected to arrive in Amsterdam for the NATO summit soon. And clearly, the focus is on the situation unfolding with Iran. CNN Chief Political Analyst, Former Senior Adviser to President Obama, David Axelrod, is still with us.

We were talking during the break, it should go without saying the decision making process during the Obama administration --

AXELROD: Or any administration.

BASH: -- or any administration is probably quite different than what goes on in the situation room in the Trump administration. Having said that, you have an intimate understanding of how these monumental decisions can --

AXELROD: Yes.

BASH: -- go right and go south quickly.

AXELROD: Yes. Well, first of all, what generally happens in the situation room is you go through scenarios and you have intelligence to support those scenarios and you get the point of view of the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State and you evaluate it from all the different component parts to try and be as predictive as possible about what the second, third and fourth impacts are of a decision.

Not clear to me in this case, for example, that that discussion really took place because, look, Donald -- everybody's strength is their weakness. Donald Trump's strength is his improvisational quality, his, you know, impulsivity in a way. Nobody ever says, gee, I wish he'd speak his mind. That's never an issue with Donald Trump. But you don't necessarily want to be impulsive and improvisational when you're making these mortal decisions because you really do need to think two and three steps down the line.

BASH: And, you know, on that note, usually with every president that we've seen in modern times and even before that, there is a diplo- speak. There's sort of a, never mind the decision making, there is a language that goes along with it. I mean, we saw in the most crude example this morning on the North Lawn of the White House, him dropping the F-bomb. But even beyond that, you said his strength is his weakness. Could his approach and his capricious decision making be a benefit ultimately in a way that other presidents don't have?

AXELROD: Speaking firmly can have a positive impact. Capriciousness does not. I mean, we saw even in this, I mean, you know, the -- when the Israelis launched their first attacks on Iran, the Secretary of State went out there and said, we're not in this.

BASH: Right.

AXELROD: You know, and throughout these last 10 days, we're in, we're out, we're for regime change. We're not for regime change.

[12:55:10]

The world is watching and you should be cognizant that the words you speak can send armies marching and markets tumbling. We've seen all of that here. And so, yes, it can be advantageous to be blunt if you want to deliver that kind of message. You can do it, deliver it privately as well.

There are these communications devices you can use to actually talk to people. You don't have to do it over cable, you know?

BASH: Yes.

AXELROD: You don't have to do it on your phone. BASH: Social media.

AXELROD: I will tell you this, I would not want to be responsible for some of this in the White House because you must wake up three, four times a night and look at your phone to see what the president has posted on Truth Social to know what your next day is going to be like.

BASH: I mean, a lot of people were apparently surprised when he posted that there was a ceasefire and branded it the 12-day war.

AXELROD: Including the parties.

BASH: Yes.

AXELROD: But -- and, you know, for the military, it's very difficult because if you're sort of tipping your mitt about what you're going to do, it makes their job harder. That's probably one of the reasons why they had a decoy plan for this attack. So look, those are prodigious strengths of his and their prodigious challenges for everyone else.

BASH: David Axelrod, always good to see you.

AXELROD: Good to see you, Dana.

BASH: Thank you so much.

Thank you for joining inside politics. CNN News Central starts after the break.

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