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Inside Politics

Six Months To Go: Trump Faces Key Test As GOP Races To Redraw Maps; Supreme Court Ruling Sets Off Gerrymandering Scramble; Abortion Rights Back In Spotlight With Ruling Limit Access. Interview with Michigan Democratic State Senator Mallory McMorrow; Sharp Attacks Punctuate Chaotic Race to Lead Most Populous State; Will Taxpayers End up Paying $400M for Trump-Backed Ballroom. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired May 03, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:24]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Six months out.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We are going to win the midterms so that the grown ups can stay in charge here.

RAJU: Republicans rush to capitalize on a seismic ruling.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I love it.

RAJU: And new this weekend, could abortion rights shake up the election?

Plus, Senate shocks.

GRAHAM PLATNER (D), MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: We are now taking back our power.

RAJU: As a Democratic left rises, another change candidate faces new questions.

REP. HALEY STEVENS (D-MI): Look, I thought it was a little tacky.

RAJU: Michigan Democratic candidate Mallory McMorrow joins me live to respond.

And wrecking ball.

You stomach that $400 million.

Not everyone wants to play ball with President Trump's ballroom. Will taxpayers be on the hook?

INSIDE POLITICS, the best reporting from inside the corridors of power, starts now. (MUSIC)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU (on camera): Good morning. And welcome to INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. I'm Manu Raju.

Today is exactly six months until the midterm elections. And with so much at stake for President Trump and the future direction of the United States, what is the likelihood Democrats can win back one, if not both, chambers of Congress? We'll break all that down this hour.

But given that this past week, there was a huge -- such huge news impacting the races for the House and the Senate, with a major jolt upending a critical primary in one of the nation's marquee Senate races. And also the Supreme Court blowing up how congressional maps can be drawn, giving a huge boost to the GOP and upending the race for the House, also potentially changing that institution for decades to come.

So, how will voters respond? And will Trump dragged down his party or be fixated with political retribution at the ballot box, which he is seeking to exact on Republicans, beginning in Indiana this week?

We have an excellent group of reporters to break all this down, including NPR's Tamara Keith, CNN's Jeff Zeleny, and Deirdre Walsh from "NOTUS".

Good morning to you all. It's great to see you.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

RAJU: Jeff, you've been digesting the map of these district lines all week long because it is so significant, it could impact the race for the House. We've been through this gerrymandering war, unprecedented, really. We have not seen this happening in this mid-decade, state by state fight that's been going on at the beginning of this cycle since Trump began that fight this year, last year in Texas, you can see on your screen.

Republicans right now have an advantage in that ongoing gerrymandering role by about three seats. But then the Supreme Court steps in this past week limits the voting rights act changes how minority majority districts lines can be drawn.

And now, we're seeing several state legislatures trying to help Republicans. You see on your screen there. These are what we expect Alabama to try to add two Republican seats. Louisiana tried to add two Republican seats. Tennessee, one, that is this year's midterms, just for this year's midterms.

Jeff, is that going to be enough for Republicans to stay in power?

ZELENY: Unlikely. I mean, look, the reality is looking at the president's approval rating, looking at just the mood of the economy and other things, Republicans realize that they are up against some dramatic headwinds. But this is a historical -- a historic moment here in terms of A, the Voting Rights Act. I mean, I'm obviously, it's been a pillar of our country's politics for decades. And all of that has been slowly changing, starting with the Shelby county decision in 2013.

But this really effectively dismantled the rest of it. But you only had to look at just the exact moment when the Supreme Court was reading this opinion. The Florida House of Representatives was voting on this new map in Florida.

So it's effectively taking this tit for tat that we've seen all year long into overdrive or over time, I guess.

And look, the short term effects for the midterms this year are not going to be that much because many primaries have already happened. The filing deadlines have already happened. But next year it means that redistricting is going to be in overdrive as well.

And not just the Southern states, we saw Democrats are going to respond in kind. So we are going to see this new divide in American politics. But for this year at least, it is not likely enough to protect a Republican. And we say that --

RAJU: The one thing though, though --

ZELENY: Plus five in Texas, we don't know that Republicans are going to win all that.

RAJU: Yeah, that's up to five seats they're trying to get. But also, Democrats could lose this Virginia case. It's before the state Supreme Court there. They're trying to get four seats as a result of that ballot referendum that just passed a couple of weeks ago. They could -- potentially, if they lost that, that would be a disaster for them.

[08:05:00]

The question, though, is, look, there are so few House seats that are truly in play right now. So if you're battling seat by seat, state by state, a couple seats here and a couple seats there could potentially determine the majority.

DEIRDRE WALSH, NOTUS SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL EDITOR: I mean, it's a paper thin margin in the House of Representatives. And I think up until, you know, right around the time of the Virginia vote, there was among Republicans some redistricting regret, right? Because they saw that vote and they were worried about what you just talked about, this tit for tat, you know, that they started in Texas at the beginning of the year.

But I think once the Supreme Court decision came down this week on the Voting Rights Act, Republicans started to feel like, okay, maybe this will be in our favor. But also we were debating mid-decade redistricting up until the Supreme Court. Now we're looking at biennial redistricting.

Redistricting is just here to stay. And I think its just going to be, you know, a dog fight from here on out. We're going to see court cases just in these states. But now, as these special sessions start up in Tennessee.

RAJU: Which starts tomorrow, some of these are starting in Alabama is starting on tomorrow, Tuesday in Tennessee. So this is going to begin as you as you as you say, I want to ask you about what the Democrats will be pointing to here is that look, yes, the Republicans are coming in here. They're changing the lines in these states, and they can add a couple more seats.

But Trump's -- they can't get past Trump's poll numbers because new poll out from "The Washington Post" out this morning. This is Trump's approval rating among independents, 25 percent. That is rock bottom among the critical voting bloc in some of these key primary -- key swing districts and states. And then the overall generic ballot, the Democrats have an advantage here, when 49 to 44 percent, 5 percent advantage when the question is asked, who do you prefer to control Congress, Democrat versus Republican? That's up a couple points since earlier this year.

So they hope that Trump drags down Republicans enough that they could eke into the majority or maybe get a solid majority.

TAMARA KEITH, NPR SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. And the fact that there's so much fighting over district lines up right this close to, to people voting, Louisiana having to move back congressional primaries, that just gives you a sense of how intense this is.

But, right, the presidents approval rating is in the basement. He has broken through below where -- where we thought his floor was. And just drive by a gas station and you'll know why. It was very clear that President Trump started the war in Iran, went into this war, and a lot of voters, initially, his voters were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, say he's got a plan. These gas prices are going to come down quickly.

He's been saying the war is ending any minute now for more than a month. Meanwhile, every time people drive by a gas station and you drive by several a day, generally, the prices are up. It's over $4 a gallon. It's something like $4.35 for the national average right now for a gallon of regular, that is tough.

And whether those people are so mad they're going to vote for Democrats is one thing. Whether they're so mad they just stay home is something entirely different. And in these midterms, we already know that Democrats have the energy advantage.

RAJU: Yeah, in that poll confirms that as well. We've seen so many data points that suggest that, including the polls, that the Democrats advantage grows to nine points among those who are absolutely certain to vote. So Democrats would be happy to see that. But the impacts on the Supreme Court ruling could impact how many districts they can actually pick up this cycle, whether they have to defend some new districts, and also what will happen, as Jeff noted in the future, look at the current congressional map. When you look at the map of the south, there are 37 Democratic seats to 94 Republican seats.

Expect in 2028 when they come in here, and that could be just a sea of red there, Jeff.

ZELENY: It absolutely could. And that is why we are going to see really a generational and just a foundational change in the House of Representatives. And what we're not showing there, the north is going to and the west is going to respond in kind like Illinois, for example, could be all blue. New York could be all blue, California could be all blue.

So what it means overall is more division, more polarization. Gerrymandering is something that neither party likes, but both parties are willing to jump right into it because it has become just a race to the bottom. But I think that this -- the Supreme Court decision is something probably the biggest case of the year in terms of the overall ramifications for our politics.

So again, I think short term, long term and the long term effects, to your point, every two years now, it's going to be redrawing and redrawing.

RAJU: Very quickly.

WALSH: And it also puts a highlight on governor's races and state senate races, state house races, because, you know, these are the people that are going to be deciding these maps in Colorado and New York and Illinois.

[08:10:03]

And it'll be very important who's running the state.

RAJU: And those very states are the ones that Hakeem Jeffries is pointing to, to deal with in the 2028 cycle. He's not talking about 2026, 2028. The question will be, how does this ruling impact 2026? Of course, six months away today.

All right. Next, could abortion upend the midterms? A new ruling puts the issue front and center. We'll break that down, along with the race for the Senate.

Plus, I go one on one with Michigan's Senate candidate, Mallory McMorrow, and ask her why she deleted thousands of old tweets.

Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:01]

RAJU: Just four years ago, abortion was a defining issue of the midterm elections. In the wake of the Dobbs decision, Democrats in 2022 gained a seat in the Senate and exceeded expectations in the House, despite losing control of that chamber. Now is the issue poised to gain new steam in this year's midterms? Well, it might. Now, the fight over online access to abortion pill has reached the

Supreme Court. Yesterday, the makers of mifepristone filed an emergency appeal urging the justices to pause a major lower court ruling that temporarily blocked Americans from accessing the drug through the mail. So what is the political fallout for that?

My excellent panel of reporters are back.

So could this be a defining issue? Health care and abortion. Both of these you can see several headlines on your screen about how its getting a lot of attention, whether it's Obamacare subsidies expire, whether its peoples access to insurance, and now abortion rights.

Is this similar as 2022?

KEITH: Well, as you say, in 2022, it was a really big issue. And it had faded as an issue, as a top issue. I think it really depends on what happens with the court and other things.

But my general sense is that Democrats are very focused on affordability. The Affordable Care Act, Obamacare fits into that broader affordability message. Frankly, it's also a message that Republicans are talking about affordability just in different ways.

And so much is coalesced around the cost of living that I'm not sure for certainly for some voters, abortion is going to be a huge issue. I think it's going to be even bigger in 2028, when the Republican Party is going to probably tear itself apart, fighting about just how far they want to go on abortion.

RAJU: Yeah. It's interesting. How do you think Trump's going to respond to this? Because he's not -- he understands the politics of this as well.

WALSH: I don't think he wants to talk about it. I don't think most Republicans running in the midterms want to talk about it. I mean, I interviewed Mitch McConnell, then Senate majority leader, after the 2022 abortion decision was leaked. And he said, oh, it's going to be a political wash. We saw what happened after that midterm election.

You know, Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley has a bill that restricts access to mifepristone. There aren't many Republicans wanting to talk about that. It's not on the Republican senate agenda.

RAJU: Don't see them voting on that anytime soon.

WALSH: And I think that -- to Tam's point, I think they want to talk more about affordability and not get into divisive social issues. Look, states where this issue went on the ballot after the fall of Roe or Roe was overturned. The majority of those states upheld abortion rights. So the majority of Americans support some form of abortion rights.

And I think this is something that Republicans and the president is not going to want to talk about. RAJU: I want to turn to the race overall race for the senate right

now, because it is -- Democrats still have an uphill climb to win back the Senate. They have to win in red states. They have to pick up a net of four seats. It's tricky. There is a path, but it is very tricky.

And then we saw this big shakeup happen in Maine, where the Schumer backed candidate, Janet Mills, the governor of the state, abruptly dropped out of this race and saw this rise of Graham Platner, the progressive upstart, novice candidate who has raised an absolute ton of money, 12 million bucks he's raised so far, even more than Susan Collins, whose seat he's seeking to -- to occupy in November.

Jeff, is this good for Democrats or is this a huge risk for Democrats?

ZELENY: Look, overall, the fact that Democrats even can credibly talk about winning control of the senate is a big shift from where we were earlier this year. That was a fanciful notion. It is not anymore.

If you look at that map there, Jon Ossoff in Georgia, he was going to be the most endangered Democratic incumbent. Even some Republicans will say Ossoff is likely to win.

But all the marbles are on Maine. There is no doubt about it. Mathematically speaking, it does not work for Democrats to win control of the Senate, knowing what we know now without winning Maine. So it is a huge gamble, there is no doubt about it.

But for Senator Schumer, he, you know, tried to get Janet Mills into the race. She finally agreed, somewhat late, but Graham Platner came out of nowhere. So, he's an example of the enthusiasm on the left, but also a huge risk because, as you said, he's never run before. His background has never been tested with the kind of money that Susan Collins and Republicans are about to put in that race.

RAJU: Yeah, they're about to pummel him because he had all these --

ZELENY: It is going to be extraordinary. But if you look at the rest of the map, there are so many more opportunities now.

Ohio --

RAJU: Yeah.

ZELENY: -- Republicans are very pessimistic about Ohio because Sherrod Brown trying to run, again, very possible there. So it is going to be a fight for control of the senate. And we never would have credibly been able to say that up until now.

RAJU: Yeah, no question about it. And the question is too are the is the Democratic leadership just completely misreading where their party base is right now, including in the aftermath of what happened in Maine?

I asked that question to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RAJU: Did Schumer miscalculate here?

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO CORTEZ (D-NY): You know, I don't think it's -- I think this is -- what I think the real problem is, is this idea that any one person in Washington can be pulling strings to determine representation for any other state, right? That's not -- I don't think that that -- the question itself is really like -- it's really not about him. It's about the people of Maine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALSH: She's walking --

RAJU: There are a lot of layers there.

WALSH: She's walking a fine line there as a -- as a potential challenger to Chuck Schumer.

RAJU: Exactly. But she also said that Washington should not be pulling strings.

WALSH: I think there was a lot of questions about Schumer and the Senate Democrats political arm going into this cycle about their recruits and their managing of some of these embassy primaries. You know, in Michigan, which is a -- you know, a purple state, which has been a tough fight for Democrats, the establishment and Schumer have gotten behind Haley Stevens.

And, you know, she hasn't really had any kind of breakout moment and hasn't performed in the way that I think a lot of the establishment expected. And then you add that to the mills issue. I think that going into this, there was a real question about is Chuck Schumer really tapped into the enthusiasm and what kind of candidate the base really wants to see.

RAJU: Yeah, and no question about that.

Okay. So while this is all happening, Trump has his eyes set on political retribution starting this week in Indiana. Recall that we talked about the gerrymandering effort in the last segment. Well, last year, Trump tried to get Indiana to redraw its lines. He was rejected by Republicans in the state legislature.

And now he is part engaging in this effort to knock them out in their races. This will come in Tuesday in Indiana, but they're not alone. Other members of congress have endured Trump's wrath that Trump wants to knock out this month. Thomas Massie, of course, in Kentucky, Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial in Louisiana.

Tam, you were just in Indiana. What were you learning?

KEITH: I was and I spent some time with some of these incumbent candidates. And these are they're being called RINOs. They're essentially apostates to Trump. But these are not, you know, like resistance, Trump resistance figures. These are conservative Republicans who president Trump is trying to take out to prove a point.

And one of Trump's political advisors told me that they are headed to their, quote, "political slaughter". I'm not sure that's actually true. Based on the interactions I saw with these candidates and voters at an early voting location, out knocking on doors.

State Senator Jim Buck, who I spent some time with, told me that he was warned. He was warned. He said that people begged him, like people in Congress begged him to vote for this because they told him, they're going to destroy your reputation. They're going to spend so much money on you, you're not going to know what's happened to you.

RAJU: Yeah.

KEITH: And he says, well, they were right.

RAJU: Ha, ha, ha. Well, look, I mean, the ultimate question would be like, should Trump be spending his resources on that or on winning back -- keeping control of congress? The question for Republicans, depending on how it all turns out.

All right. Coming up, Michigan Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow's opponents are pouncing after CNN reported she had deleted thousands of tweets. Next, she'll join me live to respond.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:27:55]

RAJU: The three-way battle to be the Democratic senate nominee in Michigan took a new turn this week after CNN's KFILE uncovered that one of the candidates, State Senator Mallory McMorrow, deleted roughly 6,000 older tweets, taking jabs at the rural Midwest, complaining about leaving California, and saying she continued to vote there even after saying she moved to Michigan.

This week, I spoke with one of her Democratic opponents, Haley Stevens, and asked her about those deleted tweets

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HALEY STEVENS (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: I thought it was a little tacky, and I think that it dovetails from things that we saw Mallory McMorrow say last year, saying that Michigan relies too much on manufacturing and that manufacturing workers, union workers should look at beekeeping and artisanal winemaking. It strikes me as very out of touch with who -- what our state is all about, saying that Michiganders are morons or questioning if we should even have cars anymore. I think she said that we should live in a world without cars.

Why litigate that in a general election when we know were in a swing state, when we know that Mike Rogers, has been supported by Trump, has a $45 million super PAC behind him?

RAJU: How big of a liability would this be for her in a general election? STEVENS: Well, I find it very concerning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow joins me now live to respond.

Senator, thank you so much for being here.

So what do you say to Haley Stevens? She just called your tweets tacky and argues that it shows you're out of touch.

STATE SEN. MALLORY MCMORROW (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: Look, we just saw what happened in Maine. I think the bigger liability is somebody who's been so concerned that one day they might run for office, that everything about them is manufactured. And if that is what you're looking for, there are two other opponents in this race who fit that bill.

I am not somebody who wanted to be in office or wanted to be in Congress when I was in diapers, I started my career as a car designer, and then I worked in a very different career and wasn't thinking about it. I tweeted normal things like a normal person, and people are desperate for authenticity. So that is what we need in November.

RAJU: I want to dig a little bit deeper here, because the "KFILE" report showed that you wrote in your auto -- 2025 autobiography that you, quote, "relocated permanently" to Michigan in 2014. But there are social media posts of yours where you describe yourself as a California resident in 2016.

And the reason why this is an issue is because you posted, you voted in June 2016, Democratic primary in California. And I don't need to tell you, but of course, you're required to vote in a state you're a resident of.

So why would you be voting in California two years after moving to Michigan?

MCMORROW: So we decided to move to Michigan in 2014. I was still working in southern California. My then-boyfriend, now husband, was working in Michigan.

Like a lot of millennials, moving takes time. It was a two-year process to finally settle in Michigan. And I registered to vote in Michigan in August of 2016 and voted in the general election in November that year.

RAJU: But you wrote you relocated permanently in 2014, and you also posted an Instagram post that you had moved out of California, and that was before the June 16th primary in that state.

Should you have voted in the 2016 primary in California?

MCMORROW: We still had our place out in southern California. And as I mentioned, we had multiple jobs. Moving is ugly. I wish we could have just upped and moved in one fell

swoop, but that's not the case just like it is for a lot of people.

RAJU: Because you had criticized a Twitter user in 2020 for voting in Michigan after moving to California. You called it illegal then.

MCMORROW: Yes, absolutely. If you are doing that intentionally after moving permanently to a place that is illegal.

But in our case, it was a two-year process. And when I was finally a permanent resident in Michigan, that is where I registered and that is where I voted.

RAJU: Ok, so it sounds like you shouldn't have said you relocated permanently in your autobiography.

MCMORROW: We made the decision to permanently relocate, but it does take time. And yes, could have worded it a little bit differently.

RAJU: Ok, so there were tweets of words where you seem to take a jab at rural America. In 2016, a user posted, quote, "I'm from the rural Midwest. All this talk about coastal elites needing to understand more of America has it backwards."

You wrote in response to that user this thread. "I'm from rural New Jersey. This ranks 100 percent."

So do you stand by that sentiment that rural parts of America can learn from coastal elites?

MCMORROW: I think we all need to understand each other better. Trump has succeeded in weaponizing us against each other, convincing us that we are each other's enemies.

I've lived all over the country. I've met a lot of different people, and I stand by that.

Was it the most eloquent tweet I've ever tweeted? No, I've tweeted thousands of times. There is a level of authenticity and just grappling in the wake of the 2016 election, of how somebody like Donald Trump could have been elected.

And what I know is we are not each other's enemies, and we need to understand each other better.

RAJU: So you stand by that, because it sounds like you did have some disdain for some parts of America that voted for Trump.

MCMORROW: I don't. Was it the most eloquent thing I've ever written? Absolutely not. But I would argue most people are not particularly elegant on Twitter or Facebook.

RAJU: I understand that you deleted this tweets, but as you heard from Haley Stevens, these could be issues in your general election if you are the nominee. Like your post about cars, it does appear that you were joking when

you said, "Joke now but none of us own cars -- own horses. Cars are dead.

But even if that was a joke, Senator, you are from Michigan, the hub of the auto industry in this country. Couldn't that be a damaging attack ad this fall?

MCMORROW: So I would ask, did you put that screenshot back on screen? Is it possible to do that?

RAJU: Sure. It's up there.

MCMORROW: So if you look in this thread, Alex Roy, J. Remy -- the people in this conversation are well known automotive journalists. Before I decided to run for office, I started my career as a car designer. I worked as a toy designer. I was a writer for "Road and Track".

So this is me in conversation with a number of automotive journalists, bemoaning the way that tech CEOs were talking about eliminating cars with autonomous vehicles and ride share programs. That's what this is.

That was me thinking about a dark future where there are no cars. And at a moment where big tech is taking over everything.

[08:34:41]

MCMORROW; Again, I go to people are desperate for authenticity. That is who I am. I came out of the auto industry. I came out of covering the auto industry.

And that is not a liability. It is an authentic person who did not manufacture my entire life around potentially running for office.

And people are fed up with the BS out of Washington, out of Congress that feels overly manufactured. And it's time we do something different.

RAJU: But what? Why delete these 6000 tweets? Because you did it after "The New York Post" had reported on it last year, and after you were a candidate in this race.

I mean, there were things that you suggested there were -- you suggested even there are parallels between Nazi Germany and what was happening in America under Trump. Why delete these after you became a candidate? Did you think they were going to be too problematic for you in this election?

MCMORROW: I didn't. You know, this was a decision to delete everything prior to 2020. One of my opponents, Abdul El-Sayed, did the same, deleting some of his more controversial views on completely defunding the police.

It's cleaning up social media, which I think is something everybody should -- (CROSSTALKING)

MCMORROW: -- now and then.

RAJU: Just to follow up on that question, do you personally see parallels between Nazi Germany and what's happening under the Trump administration?

MCMORROW: Yes, I do. It is deeply concerning that we see an authoritarian slide and as we talked about earlier, dividing people against each other to convince people that if you're not doing well economically, it's somebody else's fault. It's an incredibly dangerous place for us to be in.

I don't think that a lot of people would argue that there are shades of authoritarianism here that we need to be deeply concerned about.

RAJU: I do want to ask you about the big shakeup in the overall race for the Senate majority this week, when the candidate backed by Chuck Schumer in Maine, Janet Mills, dropped out of the Democratic primary, paving the way for the progressive candidate Graham Platner to be the expected nominee there.

I'm wondering what this says about how the party's base views Chuck Schumer and the state of the Democratic leadership right now?

MCMORROW; Yes, I am the only candidate in our race who said that I would not support Chuck Schumer for leader. And I said it on day one of this campaign, because we are desperate for a new Democratic Party. A new leadership in the Democratic Party that recognizes not as a lifelong politician, but as an American and as Michiganders here what's actually at stake here and what's on the line.

It is the future of our country and people are responding to that. I get asked regularly on the campaign trail what I think about the Democratic Party.

Is the Democratic party getting this right. I have been asked multiple times at events, would you support Chuck Schumer? And I've said no. And it is stunning to me that neither of my opponents can give a definitive yes or no on that simple question.

RAJU: Yes. And I was just out there and I asked Haley Stevens about Chuck Schumer. She said it was an inside baseball discussion. She'll deal with it when she comes here.

Abdul Al Sayed told me that he wants to see Chris Van Hollen, the senator from Maryland, be the next Democratic leader.

So anyways, we'll leave it at -- leave it there. Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow, thank you so much for joining me this morning. Really appreciate your time.

MCMORROW: Thanks, Manu.

R4; All right. Next, Arnold Schwarzenegger -- well, yes, remember him? He was the last GOP governor from California. So could a mess among Democrats in that state give Republicans a chance to end their drought? We'll (INAUDIBLE) that next.

[08:38:09]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJU: This week, voters in California will be receiving their ballots in the race for the governor of the Golden State, which has shifted into a nasty, combustible phase after this past week's chaotic debate.

In California, Democrats and Republicans compete together in a free for all so-called jungle primary. That means the top two, regardless of party, will advance to the fall general election and the field has not settled after disgraced former congressman, Eric Swalwell's abrupt decision to drop out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE HILTON (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: We've had the same people in charge for 16 years now. They can't do anything except blame Trump.

XAVIER BECERRA (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: The first thing we have to do is stop Steve Hilton's daddy, who has endorsed him and said, that's what we got to do from becoming the next governor of the state of California. We need someone who's going to fight Donald Trump.

TOM STEYER (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: The truth is, no one else on this stage wants to talk about revenue because we're short of revenue.

KATIE PORTER (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: You paid the lowest tax rate on this stage, and yet you made the billions that you're using to fund your campaign off fossil fuels.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: CNN hosts the next debate, and that's coming up this Tuesday.

Our excellent panel is here to break this down, including fellow Californian -- not fellow Californian -- Californian Tamara Keith. I'm not from California, I'm from the Midwest.

But the poll -- there's a new poll out from California that really shows how wide-open this race is post-Swalwell. And Tom Steyer and Xavier Becerra seem to be rising in the polls a bit, but this is a wide-open race.

TAMARA KEITH, NPR SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And this is the first truly wide-open race for California governor in a very, very long time.

Gray Davis was elected in 1998. He had been the lieutenant governor.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, obviously, that was a recall == that was a wild thing. But then he was very easily reelected.

Then the former governor, Jerry Brown, ran and won easily.

[08:44:44]

KEITH: There just hasn't been a competitive primary on the Democratic side for as long as anyone can remember. And there was no big famous candidate who got into this race and cleared the field. There just hasn't been --

(CROSSTALKING)

RAJU: Arnold -- aka Arnold.

KEITH: Aka Arnold, aka even Gavin Newsom or Jerry Brown.

RAJU: Yes.

KEITH: There have been these political celebrities in California, and this year they stayed out.

And so you have this field where it's just not clear.

(CROSSTALKING)

RAJU: Yes.

KEITH: Including Kamala Harris.

RAJU: Yes, it is so significant.

(CROSSTALKING)

RAJU: And also, Jeff, can Democrats mess this up in this blue state? I mean, look, as I mentioned, top two in this primary get into the general election. And you saw from the polls there the Republicans are within striking distance about getting into the general election.

Kevin McCarthy told you guys in a story that you wrote, it's a perfect opportunity, he said, for Republicans here. How do you see it?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well look, I mean, mathematically speaking, it is absolutely possible for the two Republican candidates to be the top two.

Now, it's unlikely, politically-speaking. And it's also unlikely because President Trump weighed in. if he had not, and the vote would have been split, probably between the Republicans, it would have been more likely.

But look, the reality here --

(CROSSTALKING)

RAJU: He endorsed Steve Hilton -- Trump. ZELENY: Exactly. But the reality here is Democrats are splintering

their vote so many different ways. And there are 61 candidates on the ballot.

RAJU: Oh my God.

ZELENY: Only California has all these rules where it allows so many people to qualify. But Democrats are splintering their vote. And Republicans are -- obviously fewer Republicans in California. But 6.1 million voters in California voted for Donald Trump, which was up by about 2 million from 2016.

So there are a lot of Trump voters out there. So, yes, mathematically, it's possible for two Republicans to end up in the top two positions. Again, politically, probably not quite as much.

RAJU: And here's another number for you. $2.4 billion -- that is the net worth of Tom Steyer. Yes. That's according to Forbes. He's ranked 1,700 in the world. That's still 1,700 for being worth $2.4 billion.

Ok. Anyways, that's beside the point. This is the amount of money he spent in California on -- expenditures $106 million. Look at the other people who $5.5 million, the next closest on your screen there. Wow.

DEIRDRE WALSH, NOTUS SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL EDITOR: I think Steyer was really hoping to be the beneficiary of Eric Swalwell's exit from this race. You mentioned him earlier.

But the Democratic support has not moved in any significant bloc to any one candidate. You saw Becerra, as you mentioned, get a big bump up in the last debate. You could tell other Democrats were gunning for him.

So I think this upcoming debate on Tuesday will be really telling who gets their breakout moment. Who are they attacking? I think you'll learn a lot from the campaigns about who they're most worried about.

I think it was Hilton and Becerra in the last debate. Is that still going to be the trend, or is it still really just a jump ball?

RAJU: What does this mean for Newsom? I mean, he stayed out of this race. And Tom Steyer actually was asked about him and Newsom. He said -- he was asked, what grade would you give Governor Gavin Newsom for the last two terms? He said, I don't know. He said, I haven't followed it closely enough to give him a grade.

KEITH: Oh my gosh.

He's been too busy building his own brand on TV.

RAJU: Yes. And yes indeed. And we'll see. Gavin Newsom, he stayed out. We'll see if that turns out to be the right choice or not.

All right. Make sure to tune in to CNN's California governor's debate this Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Elex Michaelson are moderating. Next up for us, Trump pitched it as a funded by the private sector,

but now some Republicans say taxpayers should foot the massive bill for the president's ballroom. Will they succeed?

What members in both parties are telling me. That's ahead.

[08:48:31]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJU: President Trump wasted no time making a renewed push for his new ballroom after last week's shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, saying it is essential for security when the president holds major events.

But Trump had already bulldozed the East Wing of the White House to make way for the 90,000 square foot addition even as a federal judge has said Congress must authorize the ballroom.

And while the issue is tied up in court, Republicans are divided over how to pay for it. Democrats, though, have made clear they're in no mood to tango.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): This is simply about a guy who, you know, wants monuments and buildings named after him as a way to satisfy his giant ego.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Trump's ballroom is an absolute gilded boondoggle that provides no more security.

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): The idea that they are now trying to change the rationale for this in retrospect, doesn't quite add up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But three Republican senators -- Katie Britt, Eric Schmidt and Lindsey Graham -- said the correspondents dinner shooting did change things. While Trump originally said the project would be privately funded, they want taxpayer money to go toward the project, potentially to the tune of $400 million.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Is it worth the taxpayer money, in your view?

SEN. KATIE BRITT (R-AL): Well I think -- I think we need to make sure that we have oversight and do that responsibly. But yes, when you think about this, this won't be finished until President Trump's -- end of his term if then. This will be for future presidents.

[08:54:45]

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Well, now I think it's not -- it's not a private donation event, it's a national security event.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But not all Republicans agree.

SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): I'd rather have the money spent privately. We got $39 trillion worth of debt.

(CROSSTALKING)

RAJU: So could you stomach that $400 million?

SCOTT: Well, from the private sector, absolutely.

RAJU: No, no. $400 million of taxpayer money.

SCOTT: I want the private sector to pay for it.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): I think it would be helpful if the committee with jurisdictions had hearings or briefing on it, so that we can get more information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Polling shows that taxpayers are still not fans of the proposed ballroom. Over the past six months, the numbers have not budged. Just 28 percent of Americans support the project.

That's it for INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY.

Up next, "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JAKE TAPPER AND DANA BASH". Jake's guests include U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, former Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank and North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis.

Thanks again for sharing your Sunday morning with us. We'll see you next time.

[08:55:42]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)