Return to Transcripts main page

Inside Politics

Trump And Hegseth Say Ceasefire Is Holding; Hegseth Says "Ceasefire Is Not Over" As Tensions Arise; Trump Downplays Rising Gas Costs As Average Price Hits $4.48; Tonight: Candidates For California Gov. Face Off As Voting Begins; Steyer Takes Aim At Becerra In New Attack Ads; Fulton County Tries To Block DOJ Subpoena Of Election Workers' Info. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired May 05, 2026 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: The president insists the ceasefire with Iran still holds, however fragile it may be.

I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at Inside Politics.

Moments ago, President Trump was talking to reporters in the Oval Office, insisting that the ceasefire with Iran still holds, but they also add to growing confusion over the ceasefire. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this morning that the ceasefire is not over.

He did that even as he stood next to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Dan Caine, who revealed Iran attacked U.S. forces more than 10 times since the ceasefire began. This comes as the United Arab Emirates says its air defenses are, quote, currently dealing with a missile threat from Iran. Here's how one regional source summed it up to CNN, quote, it is very bad and messy right now.

I'm joined by a terrific group of reporters, and actually, before we talk here, let's listen to a little bit of what the president said just now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do they need to do to violate the ceasefire?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, you'll find out, because I'll let you know. They know what to do, and they know what to do. And they know what not to do more importantly, actually and you know, they fired them in little boats with pea shooters, you know, the pea shooters, little boat with little, you know, why because they don't have any boats anymore.

Their navy is comprised of, they call them little boats, and they're fast. They're so fast that they had eight of them, and they're all gone. And they're fast, but they're not fast like a missile. A missile is slightly faster. They're all gone. So, they're looking around for little boats to try and compete with our great navy. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now my panel is here. Mario?

MARIO PARKER, NATIONAL POLITICS TEAM LEADER, BLOOMBERG: Well, I think there's one thing that was remarkable to me this morning, and it wasn't necessarily what President Trump said, it was what General Caine said. Where he said this morning that the threshold of restarting the war is a political decision above my pay grade. Truer words have never been spoken.

You saw President Trump just have so much restraint. There you see Pete Hegseth having restraint, saying the ceasefire and the threshold hasn't been broken as well. But when you look at that political decision, you look at the fact that upwards of 62 percent of Americans disprove of the job that the president has been doing amid this war.

You look at gasoline prices somewhere around creeping toward $4.50 a gallon. You look at crude oil above $100 a gallon. And even as the president says that affordability is a democratic hoax. Americans are feeling that pain, and you're seeing some of that translated, obviously, at the gasoline pump, but you're saying that start to make its way through the rest of the economy as well, and that ultimately lands in a political decision as we're six months out from the midterm.

BASH: Yeah, exactly. And you're looking at some of the crude prices that you were talking about, Mario. And just to kind of cut through it all, David, the president, I mean, nobody wants war, OK, but you were talking about the politics. The president is desperate for the ceasefire not to be over because of all of the things that have gone sideways, not only in the region, but also domestically here, economically

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR & WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Yeah. I mean, it was just last Friday, today is Tuesday, that he officially told Congress this war is over, right, for the counting of the 60-day clock. Everything, as you said, politically, points to in all the stats you gave, Mario, but the other one is that a clear majority of Americans don't want to see additional military action in Iran.

In addition to their disapproval of what has happened to date, Trump is keenly aware of all of this. That is why he is so focused on trying to find an off ramp here. Now, what is the problem for him, the bind that he's in, is that that off ramp is not apparent as to where it is right now.

And so that's why you heard him in the Oval Office saying, it's time for the white surrender flag from Iran. They have to -- he's like pleading with Iran to get this to be officially over in some way, because this is not wearing well with the American people who, by the way, do support a non-nuclear Iran, like support the overriding goal, but are not interested in the time, the money, the pain at the pump that it's costing them.

[12:05:00] BASH: And part of the strategy, the pressure point that the president is putting on, and you kind of see it even just in the last 24 hours, the president saying everything from, you know, we're going to blow them off the map. I'm paraphrasing here, to him saying, oh no, everything is going to be fine. He's trying to find the way in rhetorically to do exactly what you said when it comes to Iran. Another way is the idea that the U.S. and Israel are preparing to escalate. And getting that message out there.

Our colleague in Jerusalem, Tal Shalev, is reporting, Israel is coordinating with the U.S. to escalate Strait of Hormuz tension, or in -- because of the escalating Strait of Hormuz tension. The coordination includes preparation for a potential new round of strikes on Iran, the source said, which would focus on energy infrastructure and the targeted killing of senior Iranian officials.

EMILY DAVIES, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: I think what's interesting here, and what I've been watching recently, is you see a very politically sensitive president also struggling with his legacy. And I think there is a piece of him, from what people close to him have told me, that really, truly believes that this war is about the way that he will be perceived, and he doesn't want to give it up. But at the same time, the immediate political consequences are massive, and people around him, including him, are, you know, worried about that in a real way.

BASH: Yeah. And we're waiting, because I do want to place a little bit more of the president this just happened. So, we're going to queue it up and when it's ready, I'm talking about some of the gas prices. We have it now. Let's listen to what he said about gas prices.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If it went down 25 percent, I was satisfied. I said, because we cannot let these people have a nuclear weapon, they'll use it. We can't. I also thought oil would go up to 200, 250 maybe 300, and I know it will be short term. But I thought it would go -- I look today, it's like at 102 and that's a very small price to pay for getting rid of a nuclear weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: I mean, this is classic Donald Trump. It's -- he's trying to frame the discussion and frame the debate in a way to try to make what people are seeing and feeling not feel so bad because he is claiming that his expectation is that what -- it would have been a whole lot worse. I'm not sure -- so sure that's going to work when people really are struggling.

PARKER: No, absolutely. To that point, I mean, the fact is, over the last week or so, the president has gone from expecting oil prices to have gone up to $200 to now it's $300, so he's kind of moved the needle in some ways in that regard. And there's a few things that can be true. When I speak to Republicans. One of the things they say is that they understand. Now, some of the frustrations that the Biden White House had right, where there was so much mixed economic data, some of it was positive, but the mood of the electorate was so, so dower right?

President Trump, when he came back to office, he promised to fix a lot of that. Now, if you think of this as like a sore right, this this inflation that was at the highest level in about four years. And then you take this unilateral action in Iran, drive up prices. You've essentially reopened some of that soar right now. And so, what you're saying is the president, some of the market, the stock market has been strong. Jobs have been relatively strong as well. But nevertheless, Americans have had this pain for a number of years in the post COVID economy, and then this continues to inflame that at this point with $4 a gallon gasoline at this point.

BASH: All right. We're going to sneak in a break. When we come back, Tom Steyer is unleashing his millions in attack ads targeting Xavier Becerra. This is all ahead of what you're looking at there. There is a CNN California governor's debate tonight. We'll go live to the debate site to give you a preview of the stakes. And a major political test of President Trump's hold on the GOP is happening as we speak in Indiana. Will the Republicans who defied his redistricting demands survive? Trump backed primary challenges.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Tonight, seven contenders to be the next governor of California will be together on stage for a CNN Prime Time debate. It could not come at a more critical time in this race. Ballots have just begun to hit mailboxes, and there is absolutely no clear leader. It is extremely unpredictable with Republican Steve Hilton and Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer slightly leading the pack according to the latest polls. Now in California, all candidates compete in one primary and the top two, regardless of party, advance to the general election.

CNN's Kyung Lah is in Monterey Park already at the debate site, a lot of candidates there who need a moment tonight. Kyung?

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They absolutely do, because if you talk to any voter here in California, it is very confusing. It is really hard to pick somebody who is currently your favorite, regardless of which party you are. And so, what this particular debate is going to do is it's going to let everybody actually see who rises to the top, who stands out.

[12:15:00]

And so, I just want to give you a quick peek, Dana. This is the debate stage. You can see that all the podiums are behind me. There are a total of seven candidates who have made the debate stage. And then you can see the gentleman over there. They are preparing this, the floor. You can see they're working on the robotic cameras, making sure everything is looking good for this evening. The positioning of the various candidates on the podium stage. It is going to be by polling, by the latest poll. Steve Hilton, the Republican is currently in the poll position. There's another Republican, Chad Bianco next to him, and Tom Steyer. This positioning sort of tells the story, as does what Californians are currently getting this.

I just got this in the mail. This is my official ballot. I live here in Los Angeles. And I want you to take a look at what the problem is for voters. There are all these candidates. I'm going to flip the page. That's how many candidates they have to look through to decide who should be the top two. The top two vote getters do advance, as you were talking about, Dana, into the general November ballot. It doesn't matter, regardless of party.

So, there is a small, unlikely, but small chance that Democrats could be shut out of this because the current polling shows that they are really sort of splitting that vote. And so, what everyone is going to be looking at tonight, at least, what reporters are going to be looking for, is who has a breakout moment, who is able to connect with voters, and who is really going to pop and rise to that finish line, Dana.

BASH: Kyung, thank you so much. Always good to see you. And my panel is here, including our political director. David, what is your sort of -- set the table for us in a way that David Chalian will do?

CHALIAN: Well, I mean, I think Kyung did a good job. I do think what is so unique for people when they tune in tonight. It is not the norm that you're going to tune into a primary debate and see people for both Republicans and Democrats on the same stage. It just creates a totally different kind of dynamic. And so, there's like a mini- Democratic primary going on, as Kyung was saying of splitting the vote. I am very -- I have a line up here. Do you want me to show you?

BASH: Yeah, let's see it.

CHALIAN: All right. So, like I am first watching, first and foremost, Xavier Becerra, as Kyung noted, the former HHS secretary during the Biden years, the former attorney general in California. He's got the resume that, like most politicians would want, in terms of a lot of political jobs that he's held and familiar to California voters. He has been on the rise in this race.

And so, I am now curious to see somebody like Tom Steyer, who has spent over $100 million. How much is he trying to keep Becerra from rising above him in this race? How much does Katie Porter see Becerra's new position in this field as a threat? So, I'm looking to see the democratic on democratic action about trying to keep Becerra down. That's one dynamic I'm looking at tonight.

And then the other is this mini-Republican primary here between Hilton and Bianco. Steve Hilton has Donald Trump's endorsement. The Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is a MAGA faithful. And so, watching them sort of take on the Republican side of this, while keeping in mind that if they were to make it to a general, they're running in an overwhelmingly democratic state and need to appeal to more than just Republicans.

BASH: Yeah. No, it's absolutely fascinating. And let me know, maybe it is obvious. But the reason why you have Democrats and Republicans in the same primary is in order to try to find a way to fix the system which tends to be broken. We'll see if this is a way to do that. I don't know, just an idea pushed by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Let's look at some of the messaging ahead of this debate. And what viewers and voters are seeing on their airwaves. First, I'm going to play a Tom Steyer ad, followed by a Becerra ad.

(PLAYING VIDEO)

BASH: And Emily, just a little bit of context here. The aide that the Steyer ad is talking about to Becerra was a former aide accused of and actually pleading guilty to siphoning money from the Becerra campaign, which the candidate himself said he didn't know anything about.

DAVIES: One of the things I'm watching here and also in Democratic primaries across the country, is sort of this purity test. Like, is it about which Democrat has the cleanest record, or is it about which Democrat can withstand criticism and things from their past that voters might not like. Obviously, there's a range there, like Swalwell, and what he's been accused of is a different story than, than some of these other accusations and realities for candidates. But generally, I'm interested in which candidates have resilience politically, and not which candidates have nothing in their past that could potentially upset a voter.

[12:20:00]

BASH: Yeah. And one of the things that we haven't mentioned is that Eric Swalwell was a lead contender who obviously is no longer in the race. And that kind of shook up a already unsettled lineup for governor. I do want to look at the spending, and it really is, I mean, it's Tom Steyer, and then there's everybody else. Tom Steyer has the most money. I mean, he's a -- he's a billionaire. $147 million he spent so far. And then everybody else really does pale in comparison, Mario?

PARKER: Yeah. I mean, this is the one of the most populous states in the -- in the country. Steyer has been prolific in his front and -- excuse me, and how much he's been willing to spend and in any of the elections that he's been in as well. But to Emily's point, which I thought was a really good one, and it touches off of something that David said as well, is that we're going to get a shade, the different shades of Democrats right now, right?

For the last -- since 2024 we've seen the Democratic Party continue to have this fight between the progressive wing and the centrist wing. We see some of the ads playing out casting Becerra more of a centrist, a Biden type of Democrat, Steyer, anti-climate change, et cetera, more of a populist. Then you have Katie Porter, et cetera, down that ballot, and whether or not, Democrats should have coalesced earlier to prevent even the prospect of a Republican versus Republican general election there. But I think what will be interesting again, as we try to figure out right now, as Democrats have these tailwinds or headwinds, tailwinds toward the midterms off of the back of distaste for Trump. What is the message that they're going to rally around? What brand of Democrat after we saw Mamdani in New York, and the other candidates in the past elections as well. Like, what do we see? Do we see a Spanberger? Do we see Mamdani? What do we see here?

BASH: Well, right. Or is it personality? And just real quick before we move off this topic. I got to run this Katie Porter ad. Katie Porter was doing quite well months and months and months ago. Then there's some clips that went viral of her yelling at her staff, including somebody who got in her shot. Look at her new ad.

(PLAYING VIDEO)

CHALIAN: I like that she added the please here that really exist in the original video. Yeah. But leaning into what she knows is like the most identifiable piece of video of her now in this campaign, and trying to reframe it is sort of classic campaign strategy, 101, and she's doing it here now that ballots have actually landed in people's hands.

BASH: Yeah. I'm sure that she actually can laugh at herself. All right, up next. We have new reporting on the Justice Department's latest push to revive debunked lies about the 2020 election.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: We have new reporting on the Trump administration's relentless push to rehash debunked election lies. Court documents reveal the Justice Department is demanding the names of every single person who staffed the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia. CNN's Gabe Cohen is following this story. Gabe, first of all, just explain what this DOJ effort is and what the documents show?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, this subpoena that the Department of Justice got actually came in on April 20. The only reason we're finding about it now is because Fulton County has filed this motion trying to block it, trying to prevent the Trump administration from getting all of this information on potentially thousands of election workers in Fulton County who helped administer the 2020 election.

The administration right now seeking this long list of information. They want the names of all those election workers, their phone numbers, their email addresses, their roles and duties during the election. And what the county has said in court documents is that really the administration is not making it clear what they want it for, and they believe that the purpose is to, as they put it in court docs, target, harass and punish the president's perceived political opponents. They write, it is grossly overbroad and untethered to any reasonable need, and it cannot even yield any evidence that could result in a criminal prosecution. They say, because, among other things, the statutes of limitations have actually expired for any crimes that could have happened in the 2020 election. They're basically saying that this investigation wouldn't even be able to execute any prosecutions because their time limit has run out.

Again, the DOJ is not making it exactly clear why they want this, why they would want information for thousands of these election workers. They've only said it could be part of this broader investigation that could lead to a criminal trial. Perhaps they want to interview them, see what information they can pull out of those election workers.

But remember so much of Trump's efforts, which are really broad when it comes to both relitigating past elections, 2020 in particular, and also reforming elections moving forward and potentially selling doubts for the 2026 midterms, so much of that has been focused in Fulton County. We know they raided that warehouse just a couple of months ago. They confiscated all of those ballots from 2020, and we've heard officials from the Trump administration, like Kash Patel say that more investigations and more prosecutions are coming.

BASH: Can you imagine being an election worker and just thinking, oh, this is a cool job. It's part of a civic duty that I really, you know, hold dear, and the federal government of the United States of America

[12:30:00]