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Inside Politics

Minnesota GOP Congressman Trolls Minnesota Dem Senate Candidate; WH: 125K Spectators Expected For UFC Fight Sunday; At Least $60 Million Spent For UFC Fight At White House; FBI Shares Video Of UFC Fighters Training Agents; World Cup Kicks Off Today With Mexico Vs. South Africa; World Cup Ref From Somali Denied Entry Into U.S.; Inside AOC's Strategy For A Potential 2028 Run. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired June 11, 2026 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: -- by something that Tom Emmer does. But it certainly raises the point that this is one of those primaries that is yet to be decided, I think, in August is the primary.

But I remember back in the day when home state members of either side kind of like stayed out of races. That is obviously --

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Oh my God.

ZELENY: -- no longer the case.

BASH: Not at all.

SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right, right. I mean, it is always, you know, pretty entertaining to watch this overt meddling by one party in another party's primary. Obviously, that example is there. I always think back to in 2012 with Claire McCaskill. She intentionally bolstered Todd -- the late Todd Akin, in the Minnesota Senate primary, and it got her to be a Democratic senator from Missouri.

BASH: Yes, I mean, there's meddling going on all across the country today. But there's meddling with money, and then there's this points for being clever, not only with trolling. Yes, exactly.

All right. Coming up, the White House gets a fight card. We have an early look at the $16 million spectacle that is going to draw more than 125,000 people or so we expect. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:35:41]

BASH: Take a look at the White House South Lawn this morning. That is the stage for the UFC fight at the White House, which will happen this Sunday on President Trump's 80th birthday. Let's just take a second to acknowledge how massive this event is. The administration says it costs at least $60 million, mostly paid for by the UFC and its allies. They're expecting at least 125,000 spectators, both at the White House and mostly on the National Mall. That means they are trucking in 494, more or less, porta-potties.

Dana White, the UFC's president and longtime friend of President Trump, is setting very high expectations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA WHITE, UFC PRESIDENT & CEO: This is a very unique experience for everybody, and, you know, we're expecting Super Bowl-type numbers for this fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: My panel is here. I mean, those are pretty high expectations for people and what they're going to watch. I mean, it could be.

ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Sure, sure. I mean --

BASH: It's a spectacle.

KANNO-YOUNGS: -- and, look, the President made a point of sort of tapping into this, you know, sort of the manosphere, right, going on the podcast. He's used sports as a backdrop for his presidency on multiple occasions. He was at the Knicks game earlier this week.

So you can imagine that there are many supporters that could be excited about this. I do think it's interesting that it does come at a time where we have seen a certain shift in sort of the cultural influence that the President has been commanding, right? I mean, if you go back to early last year, you had business leaders flocking to Mar-a-Lago, podcasters eager to have the President on, NFL players doing the Trump dance after touchdowns, right?

And we've seen a bit of a shift here with some of the musicians dropping out for some of the America 250 things. Some of those podcasters criticizing the administration as well. It does seem like we've seen a shift, that this event comes at a bit of a shift for the sort of cultural grip that the President had.

BASH: Yes, I mean, it's true. But if there -- if you talk about President Trump, Trumpism currently, and culture, there's nothing that says that more than the UFC. I don't know what this means, but my son says that there's a good card. I'm going to look over here.

(CROSSTALK)

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: (Inaudible) what is the card. I just want to say, there is a court fight going on about this.

BASH: Yes.

GANGEL: I don't think it's going to go anywhere. But we've never seen anything like this at the White House. And as part of the court arguments, I believe the Trump White House was saying, well, former President George W. Bush, 43, had T-ball at the White House. I don't think we have those pictures, but I would suggest Google those pictures --

BASH: Yes.

GANGEL: -- of T-ball. Very different.

ZELENY: Slightly different and not quite as much enrichment going on via T-ball. I mean, this is just scratching the surface here. I mean, this is the beginning, kind of the kickoff of the America --

BASH (?): Right.

ZELENY: -- 250 thing. And just driving around it and walking around at the mall, I mean, it's extraordinary what's happening. This is all by design. But I think the bigger question is, it's become more than a celebration of a patriotism, but it's coming as the inflation conversation we talked about earlier.

BASH: Yes.

ZELENY: It's impossible --

BASH: That's right.

ZELENY: -- to decouple these. And is it going to make the President look even more out of touch? We'll see. Not among his true supporters, but I was with him in Wisconsin last Friday, and he was talking about the beautiful fountains and all these things. There was dead silence from a room of Trump supporters.

BASH: Oh that's amazing (ph).

ZELENY: And I was struck by just how disinterested this room of supporters was. And they don't place a priority on all this beautification like he does.

BASH: Right. Well, especially when you're in Wisconsin and he was speaking to farmers and they're more worried about the cost of everything to do their jobs.

This afternoon, Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, will sign a memorandum of understanding with Dana White of the UFC in order to foster bridge building initiatives and diplomacy through the sport. And then the FBI posted this on its rapid response account yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: -- great partnership with UFC. We've seen about 300 agents come through here and learn these amazing tactics so they can safeguard American lives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three.

(END VIDEO CLIP) [12:40:11]

BASH: If you didn't catch that, UFC fighters are working with FBI agents to help train them.

KIM: Yes. I mean, if there is a Trump interest, you do see it kind of, you know, spread beyond other areas throughout his administration and promoting it, whether it's at the State Department or, you know, or at the FBI. We -- my colleagues in Congress spotted Dana White hanging out there this morning on Capitol Hill.

But, you know, this really does kick off this kind of summer of hosting for Donald Trump, who obviously loves being at the center of attention. He had talked, you know, back -- you know, when he had lost the 2020 election. He had said, and his allies have also told me, that he was kind of, you know, sad about not being the President, you know, when America turns 250 years old, when America hosts the World Cup.

So he sees it as kind of a poetic, you know, ending that he is the President when all of this is happening. And, obviously, as Donald Trump does, you know, there is a certain amount of Donald Trump in all of these celebrations.

KANNO-YOUNGS: I mean, absolutely. And I think you're right. This is going to be the first of events. There's also, I think, going to be a, like, a NASCAR element this summer, too.

KIM: August, I believes, yes.

KANNO-YOUNGS: You're likely going to see him continue to use the White House as a backdrop for these kind of events. You did mention that lawsuit, though, and I am interested to see where that goes. I don't think it'll block this event, but there have been questions of, you know, just how much money is being made off of this event, and also the ethics of using the White House as a setting for a business operation, right? That's what the UFC is.

BASH: All right. Everybody, speaking of sports, what happens when the world is watching and World Cup teams and fans run into Trump's immigration agenda? We're about to find out. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:46:18]

BASH: A live look at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, where the World Cup officially kicks off in just a few hours with Mexico versus South Africa. But before the players even hit the field, politics have infiltrated the cup with the Trump administration's war with Iran and its immigration crackdown.

CNN World Sport Anchor Don Riddell joins me now. Don, we have seen several players, refs, staff members questioned for extended periods of time or denied entry altogether into the U.S. What are you hearing from FIFA about this? DON RIDDELL, CNN ANCHOR, WORLD SPORT: Well, what FIFA have to say about this is rather interesting, and I cannot believe this is the look they wanted for their tournament. I kind of feel a bit like you, Dana, covering U.S. politics, because with the World Cup, there's one overarching narrative, but there's all these kind of micro dramas happening at the same time within that story, some of which are a really big deal.

But the story keeps moving forward, and some of them get forgotten. And I kind of get the sense that FIFA and the U.S. government would want us to forget some of these stories, because they're a terrible look.

So, I mean, I guess front and center, we have the situation with Iran, who, of course, the United States launched a war with at the end of February. They were one of the first countries to qualify for this tournament. Their involvement was in doubt as a result.

They were not able to base themselves in Arizona, as they would have hoped. Now they're camped out in Tijuana, just over the border. They're going to be playing two games in L.A. and one in Seattle.

And they've arrived wearing pins saying 168, which is the number of people they say were killed in that school bombing on the first day of the war. And some of their backroom staff have been unable to get into this tournament.

Then you have the situation of this Somali ref, one of the best referees in the world, who is going to be refereeing some of the games in this tournament. He was questioned in Miami for 11 hours and turned around and sent home. And so now he's not going to be able to play any part in this tournament. That surely wasn't in the plan.

Then you have the fans that can't get in. You have players like one of the Iraqi strikers who was questioned for seven hours before he was ultimately allowed in. But a team photographer from Iraq was sent home.

So none of this surely is what FIFA would have wanted. But the FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, is kind of saying that it's not he or his organization that has the problem. It's the rest of us. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIANNI INFANTINO, FIFA PRESIDENT: Of course, it is unfortunate as well what happened to Omar, the referee from Somalia. But again, we don't control everything. We try, we will discuss, we will speak, we will see. Maybe sometimes it's good as well to just, you know, chill, relax.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: Chill and relax. I mean, that is fascinating. When you look at the recent World Cups that FIFA has staged in countries like South Africa, Brazil, Russia, Qatar, those countries basically had to agree to let in whoever wanted to be a part of the tournament, be it playing staff, support staff, fans, whatever. And that clearly is now not the case this year.

And FIFA does have real power and leverage. They were going to be staging an under 20 tournament in Indonesia back in 2023. But the Indonesians wouldn't let the Israeli team in. So FIFA just said, well, fine, you're not having the tournament. We'll just stage it in Argentina.

Clearly, the relationship that Infantino has been trying to cultivate with President Trump over the years, I guess, was in part to avoid situations like this. Infantino was seen in the White House about half a dozen times last year. And remember, they invented a peace prize to give to Donald Trump last December, perhaps to hopefully avert some of these situations, but it hasn't worked.

[12:50:05]

The tournament hasn't kicked off. And a lot of the stories around this tournament have nothing to do with football. And to go back to your initial point, it's not a great look for the tournament.

BASH: I - you took the words out of my mouth. I was going to ask a rhetorical question, which is, how do you think that the FIFA president is feeling now about giving President Trump that brand new peace prize that he gave to him ahead of these games.

RIDDELL: Yes.

BASH: But, listen, we're also going to be able to -- we're going to keep reporting on this, but we're also going to be watching this incredible football --

RIDDELL: Yes.

BASH: -- as you call it --

RIDDELL: That's right,

BASH: -- here in North America. Thanks so much.

RIDDELL: All right, thank you.

Coming up, is AOC test driving a presidential campaign? Brand new reporting on the question following the popular Democrat everywhere she goes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't let it go.

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D), NEW YORK: Oh my God.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's looking at herself on television right now. How are you feeling? Can you put it into words?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Nope.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People looked at you like you were crazy.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: They did. They did. And maybe I was a little bit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, you're going up against the Queens machine, as they call it.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yes, yes. But you know what? We meet a machine with a movement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:55:55]

BASH: That was the beginning for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez the night she upset one of the most powerful Democratic members of Congress on Capitol Hill. But what comes next for the progressive firebrand? That is what Isaac Dovere looks at in his new exclusive reporting, "The road test: Inside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's strategy ahead of a potential 2028 campaign."

Go read it for yourself. It is very, very good. You can get it, of course, on CNN.com and on the CNN app. But guess what? Isaac is here. Before that, here's a hint from AOC herself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OCASIO-CORTEZ: They assume that my ambition is positional. They assume that my ambition is a title or a seat. And my ambition is way bigger than that. My ambition is to change this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Isaac, this is such a terrific piece. I'm just going to read one quote from your piece that I think really kind of set our discussion off. "We're seeing an opening, definitely among swingy independents, but also among Republicans. They don't agree with everything she says, but they believe she is honest and that she's going to work for people." That's one person close to her.

"That will put to the test in -- that will be put to the test in the coming months. Will Democratic candidates in tough races recognize she is a net positive for their campaign?" I mean, that's really the nut of it.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, the difference in time between those two clips you played is just eight years, right? Eight years ago, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, like right now eight years, was still tending bar in New York. And those eight years have been this meteoric rise for her.

She has this massive presence and everybody is rightly focused on whether she'll run for president or whether she'll run for a Senate seat in New York, the seat that's currently held by Chuck Schumer. And she's really struggling with what to do here. And what I get into in this article is some of how she's been repositioning herself, both in talking with colleagues about how to get things done and legislatively how to build bridges more. And then out on the road, whether it's through endorsements or actually campaigning for people, testing how big her appeal is.

And there's going to be a lot more of that going into the fall when it's not about primary campaigning. She's done a lot of that already and has a pretty strong win record all across the country, New Jersey, Montana, California, Philadelphia. But she's going to go into places that are beyond the usual Democratic base, beyond her strongest places, and see two things.

Number one, whether she is -- whether people want her to be there. And number two, whether she wants to actually go through with this herself.

BASH: So you mentioned -- I just want to put on the screen some of what you were talking about, and these are primary endorsements. And that matters because there is still this --

DOVERE: Right.

BASH: -- massive sort of struggle within the party in these primaries about progressive candidates, of which she has endorsed, starting, of course, with the current mayor of New York City. And then these are some of the other candidates you were talking about. But on the point that you discussed about going into areas where she isn't usually, she did that with Bernie Sanders, and they got very, very big crowds.

DOVERE: Yes.

BASH: So this is a test for her without the Sanders?

DOVERE: Yes, in a bunch of different ways. First of all, what happens when you show up on your own without Bernie Sanders there? How much do you differentiate and distinguish yourself from him? Not because she's saying, I don't like him anymore, but how much can she stand on her own as a political figure?

BASH: Exactly.

DOVERE: There's also an operational infrastructure part of this, which, like, presidential campaigns are a lot about that and logistics and that sort of stuff. She has never built an operation of her own before. She's always been folded into the Bernie Sanders operation.

Those events? Those are hard to put on. They'd be even harder to put on in a presidential campaign. Well, what we're going to see in the fall is how she and her staff start to think about how to do that and see if they can pull some of that off.

BASH: And I think just to sort of add to that, what people might not realize is that because she's not on that level, so much of what she does is based on her own instinct --

DOVERE: Yes.

BASH: -- her own intuition, and it's gotten her pretty far.

DOVERE: It has.

BASH: Yes.

DOVERE: And look, her team acknowledges that they're a little spoiled by how good she is at this on her own. But one of the people that I spoke to, who's been in contact with her orbit a lot, said to me, it's -- now it's a question of her and how she has all the talent.

Can she build the team to do what she needs to do here if she decides to do it? Because I do think importantly, that line to David Axelrod --

BASH: Yes.

DOVERE: -- is sincere. She has not decided what to do.

BASH: Great piece. Thanks for being here, Isaac.

Thank you for joining Inside Politics today. CNN News Central starts right now.