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Inside Politics

Today: Trump Hosts UFC Fight Night At White House; Midterm Anxiety Spikes Among GOP Amid High Costs; New: Trump Endorses Mike Collins In Key Georgia Senate Race. One-on-One with Mamdani Ally Aiming for Progressive Upset Brad Lander; Obama Center to Open on Juneteenth; football Fight Turns Partisan as Team Ponders Move. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired June 14, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:23]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Fight night.

Trump celebrates his 80th with a White House spectacle. Will it pull him out of a summer slump?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know what I really love? I love the inflation.

RAJU: And intra-party warfare. Trump's overnight endorsement scrambles his party's chance to flip a key seat.

SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): They're both. Trump puppets and will beat either one of them in November.

RAJU: And can a Mamdani ally take down a well-known congressman? My live interview ahead.

Plus, across state lines.

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): It's the Chicago Bears, not the Indiana bears.

RAJU: A fight over a football stadium pits Republican against Democrats.

SEN. JIM BANKS (R-IN): This guy thinks he can be president and he can't even run his own state.

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.

In a presidency defined by breaking norms -- well, tonight may be the most unusual spectacle yet when a little cage match is held on the White House south lawn on President Trump's 80th birthday. The president hosting UFC fights in that huge 87-foot octagon just steps from the Oval Office.

Now, Trump is billing the event as a celebration of America's 250th anniversary. But is that how Americans really want to celebrate?

New polling out this week shows only 16 percent of American adults approve of Trump's UFC event. And when you look at party breakdown this poll, just 31 percent of Republicans approve, along with a rock bottom number of just 11 percent of independents. And that same poll found just 18 percent of Americans consider themselves fans of mixed martial arts.

So why do this now? Less than five months from the midterms, amid an unpopular war and the president's slumping approval on the economy.

Well, to help answer that question, I have an excellent panel of reporters this morning, Bloomberg's Nia-Malika Henderson, CNN's David Chalian, and "Semafor's" Shelby Talcott.

Good morning to you all. Nice to see you.

This -- so just what to expect. I've got so many questions. You probably all have two. What is going on at the White House? Even last night I was at something. People kept asking me about it and I was trying to explain it. So hopefully you guys can as well.

It begins at 8:00 p.m. tonight, Eastern. This is what to expect. Trump is going to be there. Of course, he'll be there with the UFC CEO, Dana White, one of his longtime friends and allies. There will be a military flyover, fireworks finale, 125,000 guests.

All right, David, you've been covering politics a long time.

(LAUGHTER)

Can you explain the president's motivation here?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Have I seen anything like this before?

Listen, the president's motivation, I think, is pretty simple, right? It it's his 80th birthday. This has been the UFC universe and Dana White and the operation has been part of his return to power. I mean, from when he was out of office, this was a very safe space. He can go with a lot of loyal fans and in this attention economy, it is a way for Donald Trump to understand how to grab attention, keep the spotlight like that is on something else, and bring it to him as well, so he can be part of that. For all of those reasons, I don't think it's all that complicated. I

do think it does fit a narrative as all the polling just showed, which is that the concern that a lot of Americans seem to have, that Donald Trump is not focused on the right priorities. And that has been showing up in polling for the better part of the last year now. And I think this just adds to that case.

RAJU: This is what our colleague Aaron Blake wrote in a piece that came out today. Trump's UFC 80th birthday bash looks to rescue his tarnished macho image. And, you know, you go dig a little deeper into some of the polling Harvard youth survey from not too long ago showed just 28 percent of men between the ages of 18 and 29 approve of Trump's job performance.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, listen, and it was young men of all races, particularly working class men, people who were sort of in this UFC world in the sort of manosphere podcast world. Those were the people who boosted him, sort of, the fans of those worlds are the people who turned out in states like Michigan, to flip it back to Donald Trump after Joe Biden won in 2020.

And so, yes, and listen, this also comes as there are all sorts of viral clips of the president falling asleep or seeming to fall asleep, resting his eyes, as my father would say euphemistically, when he would fall asleep, you know, at these events with questions about his age.

[08:05:08]

You can't offer, you know, kind of dismiss the juxtaposition of 80 year old -- this is his 80th birthday in this fight meant to kind of tether him to people who are a lot more vigorous than he happens to be at the moment.

RAJU: Shelby, you cover the White House. What is the White House saying about all this and the optics and the reason for doing it, and just also the cost?

I mean, the UFC is saying it's paying for a bulk of the cost, $60 million at least. I think it's expected to be much higher than that. But the federal government has to provide emergency equipment and services, first aid, medical services. There's a lot of law enforcement out there. So there's a significant taxpayer cost to this, too.

SHELBY TALCOTT, SEMAFOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And unsurprisingly, the White House is defending its decision to host this and all the other events that are going on this weekend and later in the summer. There's various reasons that I've heard from White House officials, administration officials, the America 250 celebration. They say it's a time to celebrate America. How could anybody hate that?

There is the sports diplomacy aspect of it. The argument that the State Department sort of allows the state department, they signed a memorandum of understanding with the UFC earlier this week. So there's the international aspect of it. But then there are people who, as you said, argue that it's just not

that deep. This is something that the president wants to do. They say that it's cool and they maintain that despite polling, this is something that the base is going to have fun with, and they're going to enjoy it. They're going to be able to see a different side of the White House than they have before. And that's essentially sort of their -- their argument there for having this event.

RAJU: And so much of this has to do with Trump's relationship with Dana White. You know, he's the CEO of UFC. He's been really heavily involved with Trump over the years.

He's given to Republican candidates, PACs and parties since these are just political donations since 2005, about $1.3 million on the GOP side. He gave a million bucks to the pro-Trump super PAC. That was back in 2019.

He has given some money to Democrats over the years, of course, not as much as to Republicans. He's spoken repeatedly at the Republican National Committee.

Is this a Trump --

HENDERSON: He's a very kind --

RAJU: Yeah. Look, he's obviously someone who likes to pay back his friends.

HENDERSON: Yeah. And listen, this is a huge, huge payback. And this is a guy who, as you said, has supported him in his fortunes and the popularity of the sport possibly goes up. Or it could be the opposite as well.

But it certainly I think brands UFC in sort of a MAGA way, in a way that maybe it hadn't been before. And I think it will be certainly lucrative for somebody who has been a sort of lucrative ally for Donald Trump as well.

RAJU: Yeah. I mean, this is what "The New York Times" had said about this comes all amid we're discussing about issue number one, the economy, blue collar voters, working class voters.

"The New York Times" put out an interesting analysis, looking at a variety of polling over a key constituency of Trump's that helped him win back power here in 2024, saying in this piece yesterday, "Blue collar white voters are for the first time seriously doubting Mr. Trump's handling of the economy. A review of polling by 'The New York Times' shows an extraordinary swing on that issue among white voters without college degrees between his first midterm election and now."

I mean, this is -- you know, this is a major warning sign ahead of the midterms.

CHALIAN: There is no doubt about it. And it gets to the heart of the matter, which is that for all of these cultural touch points that have been part of the bond at core, what the voters wanted from Donald Trump and this swath of support for him was about making their economic lives better and lowering prices. And they're not feeling that.

And so you talk about some of the groups that came his way in 2024 that we've seen peel away. Now, the economy is the thing as to why. That is the -- that is the fundamental thing. And so that analysis that the times did, yes, his overall approval rating is down among that group, but it is his approval on the economy that is driving that.

And it is so no how -- no matter how loyal the base is. And it's not like they're necessarily huge fans of Democrats like, but there is real like buyer's remorse going on when it comes to the economy.

RAJU: Yeah. It has to do with the economy, whether he's focused on about it, his comments about affordability, and also, of course, the Iran war in increasing costs, particularly when it comes to gas prices.

That's a question I put to a lot of Republicans on the Hill this past week. How are constituents feeling about how the economy is impacting them? What do they want him president, to do about it? And is he focused enough on this issue?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (R-WV): People are really feeling it. I mean, it's not just gas prices, food prices and other things. And I think there's a level of frustration.

RAJU: Are you concerned about the fallout for your party if they don't act on that?

[08:10:00]

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): Well, I'll just say that when I talk to folks at home, they say our prices are too high. We need some relief and Congress can deliver some relief. And if congress doesn't deliver the relief, you know, I mean, I think voters are not going to be pleased.

SEN. KEVIN CRAMER (R-ND): People often vote their pocketbook. If people don't feel secure financially, they're, you know, they oftentimes obviously respond by, you know, choosing somebody else.

RAJU: But do you think the president is paying enough attention to these issues like affordability and cost of living?

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): Well, he's got a dogma on tariffs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: How does the White House respond to the concern from their own party? Well, he's not focused on this.

TALCOTT: Yeah. The big thing that we've heard from them is that the people who are concerned about this are panicking, essentially, and that everybody, whether it's lawmakers, whether it's voters, they need to just relax and trust that Trump is going to bring the prices down. And everything's going to be short term.

That's falling short with a lot of people, understandably so. And so the Trump administration is in this weird position where they did promise voters to lower prices, and they're struggling with that. And I think that's why you're seeing them try so hard to get this deal with Iran, because they believe that it will be sort of the starter towards achieving that goal.

RAJU: That's what we're hearing also from Republicans. They want that deal so that they can campaign on it, head to the midterms. We'll see what happens.

All right. So, what was President Trump doing at 12:56 this morning just minutes into his birthday? Well, only shaking up one of the most important Senate races this November. New details right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:52]

RAJU: So just exactly what President Trump was up to overnight minutes into his 80th birthday? Well, at 12:56 a.m. announcing on Truth Social a major endorsement in the marquee Georgia Senate race ahead of Tuesday's GOP runoff, saying he's backing MAGA minded Congressman Mike Collins. The move pits Trump against Governor Brian Kemp, who is backing former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley in the race. Both are vying to take on Senator Jon Ossoff, the lone Democrat up for reelection in a state that Trump won in 2024.

But who will win the Trump versus Kemp proxy battle on Tuesday, with control of the Senate at stake?

My panel is back.

So, Shelby, why did Trump wait until two days before the runoff to get involved in this race? Is it all about retribution for Brian Kemp? Is it because he saw some polling look like Mike Collins was going to win this race to look like he is the kingmaker here?

TALCOTT: I think it depends on who you ask, but I certainly think the polling was involved in this. You've seen him sort of hold off on his endorsement until the last minute before, and oftentimes it's because they're waiting to see polling come in. They're waiting to see who is who is going to edge out each candidate so that the president can have a better chance of, of being able to say he won.

But I also do think an aspect of this is, you know, the president cares deeply about loyalty. Ever since 2016, but even more so now, I would say. And so there is an argument even in his -- in his very lengthy truth social post, he mentioned the 2020 election as one of the reasons, one of the criticisms in this.

And so, I do think a part of this, maybe not all of it, is about loyalty, as he feels like Collins is more loyal.

RAJU: Yeah. And before you jump in, David, just to just to make a finer point on that, what Trump said in his Truth Social post, looking at it all the way down to the bottom, it says, "I don't know Derek Dooley and neither does anyone else, but he seems like a nice person. Unfortunately, he has lived outside of Georgia for most of his life, didn't vote in 2020 and 2016 and said that I lost Georgia in 2020, when in fact, in actuality, the facts have now proven that I won by a lot."

Okay, well, of course the facts have not proven that Trump lost the 2020 election. Also, Dooley was born and raised in Athens, Georgia. He did coach at the Tennessee. But this is what -- this is what Trump seems to be referring to. "The Washington Examiner" got leaked audio of a closed door meeting in which Dooley was at. And he said, "If you guys remember, this was a time when where it was a tough time in Georgia politics. Back in 2020, 2022, the president lost Georgia," Dooley said. He said he got a little upset with Governor Kemp and said a little bit, why we're in this mess we're in right now.

Your reaction, David?

CHALIAN: Yeah. So even loyalty to a false claim that has no evidence to support it, that because he did not win Georgia in 2020. But yes --

RAJU: Instead of behind closed doors, it's not like he's out campaigning, stumping, saying Trump lost Georgia.

CHALIAN: Yeah. I do think, though, you'll recall what happened with Trump's endorsement in Iowa with Randy Feenstra. It came in late. At the end, he backed the Republican congressman who ended up losing that gubernatorial primary. And Trump had since said, I got bad numbers and bad data from my folks.

And I think here, you know, most Georgia Republicans that I've spoken with expect Collins to prevail in this primary. And I think Trump is trying to get into a piece of that as he wants to make sure his endorsement record continues. And it -- and it fits nicely that this piece of behind doors rhetoric fits into the Trump narrative as well.

You know, this -- this Trump kemp divide that has sort of been for years now really does exemplify sort of a lot of the divide inside the Republican Party that has existed. And now we're seeing it play out in the final hours of this critical runoff.

As you noted, Jon Ossoff is the only Democrat running for reelection in a state that Donald Trump won. And that should make Jon Ossoff one of the most vulnerable and like, most delicious targets for Republicans this cycle. And yet, Jon Ossoff, I think, has seen very much as the frontrunner in that race right now --

[08:20:02]

RAJU: Yeah.

CHALIAN: -- because of the way he has amassed his war chest and put together. And he was happy to have this runoff happen and have more time before the Republicans could focus on the general.

RAJU: And just at that point, look how much money Jon Ossoff has on cash on hand, $32.5 million. And that is compared to Derek Dooley, who had $1.7 million in his war chest. Mike Collins $1.2 million.

And Ossoff has spent a lot more in campaign advertising than his two GOP opponents.

HENDERSON: Yeah, listen, Ossoff is quite talented. And he's sort of under the radar in some ways, I think should he win, people are going to start talking about him as a presidential contender in 2028.

He's got this message that's all about corruption and really is in some ways is sort of an independent figure. You sort of don't associate him with the true sort of progressives of the Sanders wing. He's certainly not a centrist. So he really has, I think, carved out a unique path for himself in Georgia.

And I think that's one of the reasons, you know, he should be vulnerable. He doesn't appear to be. And I think now that he's going to possibly match up against this MAGA candidate who's boosted by Trump, I think that probably makes his message even stronger.

RAJU: One of the things that has come up in this primary and in this race about Mike Collins, he's facing a House ethics investigation. This has to do with his office being accused of paying more than $10,000 to an intern who was dating his chief of staff and allegedly performed no work. Now, Collins has denied any wrongdoing in this, but it's become an issue in his race and undoubtedly will become an issue in the general election.

I asked Mike Collins about that probe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: What do you say to Derek Dooley, who says that if you become the nominee, you'll be a liability for the GOP because of the ethics inquiry you're facing?

REP. MIKE COLLINS (R-GA), GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE: Say that he knows where the polls sit.

RAJU: What do you mean by that?

COLLINS: Well, he knows he's behind, and that's the only thing he can say.

RAJU: But is that going to be an issue? Are you concerned?

COLLINS: No, I'm not concerned about that bogus ethics complaint at all.

RAJU: Did you have any role with that aide at all?

COLLINS: They have any questions. I'll be glad to talk to them about it and answer them if they ever take it up. RAJU: They haven't reached out to you about it.

COLLINS: So any time we're going to keep on going on Ossoff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So what do you think about Mike Collins's chances if he becomes the nominee?

TALCOTT: I mean, I think Democrats are certainly going to try to focus on this -- this issue. As you said, he's very focused on corruption, the corruption argument. But I also think that when I've seen the past five years of the midterms of the presidential race, scandals and issues, they don't necessarily hit as much as they used to on both sides of the aisle.

And so while I do think that Democrats are going to make this an issue, I don't necessarily think that it's going to be the sole reason that he wins or loses.

RAJU: Yeah, scandals are viewed much more differently in this era of politics, no question about it.

All right. Coming up next, I go one on one with a Mamdani ally who's trying to unseat a well-known congressman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: I want to ask you about Brad Lander.

REP. DAN GOLDMAN (D-NY): OK.

RAJU: So why does it seem like he's catching fire in the polls?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:27:37]

RAJU: New York is not only the center of the NBA world this morning, as Knicks fans celebrate their first championship in 53 years, but it's also become ground zero in a Democratic Party battle playing out this primary season, where candidates backed by the party establishment are struggling to fend off their left wing.

In the Big Apple, the new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is flexing his political muscle, trying to put his brand of socialist politics on his party and elect House Democrats firmly in his mold, with three candidates battling more moderate opponents, including some incumbents ahead of the June 23rd primary.

One of them is in New York City's 10th congressional district, currently represented by Democrat Dan Goldman, who's in a tough battle to hang on to his seat despite spending roughly seven times more than his opponent, Brad Lander, the city's former comptroller who is backed by Mamdani.

And joining me now is that challenger, Brad Lander.

Thank you so much for joining me this morning. Appreciate you being here.

So what does it say, Mr. Lander, about the mood in the Democratic base that we're seeing these very progressive and even left wing candidates winning in a number of key primaries over candidates backed by party leaders?

BRAD LANDER (D), NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Yeah, I think it says voters are fed up with corporate Democrats who haven't fought hard enough for working people, price of housing going up like crazy child care, health care. People want to see Democrats who stand for something, who put their bodies on the line, who play politics as a team sport like our Knicks did last night, and not like a cage match like Donald Trump is putting on today.

RAJU: You had called yourself a back in 2016, a Brooklyn Democratic socialist. Do you still consider yourself a socialist now?

LANDER: Now, I'll note that that was my endorsement of Hillary Clinton. So I would do that one different if I could do it again, honestly. I am not a DSA member. I'm a longtime progressive, a Working Families Party member.

But yes, if by Democratic socialist do you mean do I want Medicare for all? Do I want to make sure that folks can organize unions? Do I want to make sure we're getting to universal child care and investing a lot more in housing everyone can afford? Yes.

RAJU: So you appeared in an ad recently with Zohran Mamdani and several of these progressive candidates that the mayor is endorsing. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK: In New York, we know anything's possible with a great team.

LANDER: I'm Brad Lander, and I'll block billionaires from buying our elections.

DARIALIZA AVILA CHEVALIER (D), NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: I'm Maria Elisa Avila Chevalier, and I'll defend New York by abolishing ICE.

CLAIRE VALDEZ (D), NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: I'm Claire Valdes, and I'll stand up against bad landlords and greedy corporations.

MAMDANI: Get out and vote. This is the team. This is our year.

(END VIDEO CLIP) RAJU: Now, one of these candidates is Darializa Avila Chevalier, who's running in New York's 13th congressional district. Our KFILE team here at CNN found that she deleted tweets that called for abolishing police and questioning Israel's right to exist.

And you also campaigned with Claire Valdez's opponent, who you appeared with in that video. But you campaigned with an opponent, as you can see here on this post on X from just a few days ago.

So are these candidates people you consider part of your team?

LANDER: Look, I'm proud to be on Mayor Mamdani's team. Right now, that's team New York City and, you know, we're on it. We got a good winning streak going.

Of course, we don't agree on every single issue. I ran against Zohran in the mayor's race last year, but we teamed up at the end because we did not want Andrew Cuomo to be mayor, because we believe in the vision of a city everyone can afford and where everyone is welcome.

And you can disagree on issues around Israel and Palestine, around how to confront very particular issues in our politics, but still believe you don't compromise on anyone's humanity. And you work together in order to protect your values.

RAJU: But does that mean you don't support those two candidates that you appear in a video with?

LANDER: I have not made any other endorsements in congressional races in New York City. I'm focused on winning mine. There are a lot of races here, and I have not endorsed in any of them.

But I am proud to be on Mayor Mamdani's team to fight for our city and for our values.

RAJU: All right. Let's talk a little bit more about your race and listen to what your opponent, Congressman Dan Goldman, told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DAN GOLDMAN (D-NY): If we take back the majority, which I believe we will, I am uniquely qualified and experienced and positioned with my seniority to be able to lead the oversight and accountability efforts against Donald Trump, which is something I have done before, and I have done it successfully.

And ultimately, that's what voters of New York 10 are most concerned about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So what do you say to Congressman Goldman's argument that he is the one who's gaining seniority and has been on the front lines battling President Trump, including in his first impeachment?

LANDER: Yes, I think it's a very inside the Beltway perspective. Look, you know, he helped, was one of the lawyers in the impeachment and we need accountability. So, you know, that matters.

But Tom Homan is threatening to send troops here. We need folks who do what they did in Minneapolis, put our bodies on the line to protect our city.

And when I talk to New Yorkers, what they want is someone who's going to fight harder to protect tenants from eviction, build affordable housing, help workers get good jobs, stand up to these A.I. oligarchs, and now billionaires. And not corporate Democrats who take money from Wall Street, crypto and AIPAC and just keep doing the same old, same old that got us Trump in the first place.

RAJU: So if Democrats take back the house, do you think that your party should impeach President Trump?

LANDER: Well, I'd like to start the ICE accountability hearings in Minneapolis and bring the murderers of Renee Good and Alex Pretti to justice. There's a lot of accountability, a lot of folks to focus on.

RAJU: What about --

LANDER: Trump is certainly one of them.

RAJU: What about impeachment?

LANDER: But I think it has to be broader.

RAJU: What about impeachment?

LANDER: Yes, I mean, I think we should impeach Trump, but I think we should also focus on corruption and wrongdoing in many other places as well. And we got to give people something to believe in and fight for.

And that's really what's happening in New York City right now. And Rep. Goldman missed the boat by failing to support Mayor Mamdani even in the general election, when he was the Democratic nominee.

We're fighting for something, not only against something, and we really got to do both.

RAJU: The issue of Israel has become a major point in this race. And leaders of Jewish organizations have been critical of Mayor Mamdani's handling of anti-Semitism in New York.

Just recently, the mayor refused to march in the city's Israel Day parade. Do you think that sent the right message to the Jewish community?

LANDER: I mean, Manu, Bezalel Smotrich marched in that parade, a war criminal who's called for the expulsion of Palestinians.

Mayor Mamdani has shown by growing the resources for the mayor's office to combat anti-Semitism, that he wants to keep this a city that's safe for Jewish New Yorkers like me.

We're actually doing a solidarity rally and canvas today where Muslim New Yorkers and Jewish New Yorkers fight together for the future of our city. You stand up to hate by making it a city where everyone is safe.

[08:34:51]

RAJU: And (INAUDIBLE) Mamdani had said well beforehand that he would not attend before the Israel far right leader said that he would attend that parade.

I do want to ask you about the leader of your party, Hakeem Jeffries. He endorsed your opponent, Dan Goldman.

Should you win, your first vote would be for Speaker of the House. Would you vote for fellow New Yorker, Hakeem Jeffries, to be speaker?

LANDER: Yes. I can't wait to vote to make Hakeem Jeffries the Speaker of the House. Of course, there are times when all Democrats have to come together. Then it's also important to hold leadership accountable, just like voters should hold all of us accountable.

RAJU: Ok. All right. Brad Lander, we're going to have to leave it there. Thank you so much for joining me. Really appreciate your time.

LANDER: Thank you.

RAJU: Coming up, a sneak peek at the President Obama's new presidential center opening Friday. The price tag behind it and Trump's furious reaction.

[08:35:41]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One, two, three. That's it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: All right. It's time to get your presidential library passports ready. The Obama Presidential Library opens this week after years in the making. The $850 million, ultramodern building is right off the campus of the University of Chicago. And it's not your traditional presidential library.

Instead, it's an almost 20-acre campus that has not just a museum, but also a fruit and vegetable garden and a basketball court and even a new branch of the Chicago Public Library.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Together, we put the voices of this community at the heart of our project. The result is more than a look into the past. It's a vision for the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: All right. Our panel is back.

David Chalian Northwestern alum. Someone who knows Obama --

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Northwestern's bid to host the library lost out, I think.

RAJU: That's interesting insight. What do you expect from this big opening this week?

CHALIAN: Well, you're going to see all the living presidents minus the current one there. So that will no doubt be part of the story because, you know, I was thinking back to previous presidential library openings, right, and sort of what consumed them, right.

When Clinton's library opened in 2004, the question was, how is Clinton going to handle the Lewinsky scandal and impeachment? How is that going to be presented in the library?

In 2013, when the Bush Library opened, the big question was, how is he going to handle the Iraq war? And keep that as documented history, even though it is a blemish on his record?

And so the question, I think, for the Obama library is, what -- how does he deal with the fact in the storytelling of this moment in time that all this hope and change that he ran on ended up being handed off to the presidency of Donald Trump and ten years of a Trump-dominated America?

And I think the tension in that, I'm curious to see how that gets explored. We know there's a wing in this library that's focused on democracy, and that that has been a big part of Barack Obama's push post-presidency.

But I do -- I know Trump is not mentioned in this library, but I do wonder in terms of the day itself, Trump's absence there and the fact that that was who Obama handed the baton off to is part of the fabric of the story.

RAJU: Yes. That's so interesting how they will deal with that or whether to mention anything like that at all.

Just about the cost, because it's just remarkable. This is just presidential library costs. You know, it's not adjusted for inflation, so not exactly apples to apples.

But just still, 850 million bucks, 250 million for the George W. Bush Library, 165 million for Bill Clinton. You know, there's Joe Bidens library. His foundation told the IRS this year that is expected to bring in just 11.3 million by the end of 2027.

We don't know exactly know what's going to happen to the Biden Library, but wow.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. I mean, and you imagine a lot of that went to that huge structure. I think people are calling it the Obamalisk.

I was in Chicago a couple of weeks ago around Memorial Day. I didn't get inside the library, but I drove past it. And I was with my cousins and they are very happy with this.

They're very happy that it's in the South Side. This, of course, is a -- is a black neighborhood. And folks who I know who've gone there very much, you know, it is kind of a walk down memory lane, right, to a president that brought a lot of hope and pride to a lot of Americans.

But I do -- I mean, to David's point, it is a real question of what is Obama's legacy, right? So many parts of his legacy, whether its Obamacare, whether it's, you know, just the sort of spirit and character that he brought to the office. A lot of that has been utterly erased.

And you have Donald Trump, who in some ways is a reaction, not even in some ways, is in every way a reaction to Barack Obama.

And what's also interesting is, you know, sort of quietly, a lot of people who I talked to who were very big on Obama, there is this sort of question of what if there was no Obama? Maybe there never would have been a Trump, right.

RAJU: Yes.

HENDERSON: And was it worth it to have Barack Obama, who in some ways to some people has -- is more of a symbolic president and a lot of the substance of his presidency has been erased by Donald Trump.

[08:44:45]

RAJU: Speaking of Trump's reaction, this -- he has been trashing the Obama library. Not surprisingly, perhaps, but just post after post on Truth Social going after.

You can just see a handful of them ridiculing it, using Barack Obama's middle name, Barack Hussein Obama library says in ten years.

And then there's the -- what is the plan for the Trump library? This is an A.I.-generated video from Eric Trump about how the Trump library may look like and how it will be different. And that's the skyline there of this supposed library.

Shelby, what's your reaction to this?

SHELBY TALCOTT, SEMAFOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I mean, I think the whole the -- all of these libraries are really interesting to me because of the shift over the years, right?

This Obama library is funded by the Obama Foundation, which is different than past ones, just like the president -- President Trump's is going to be privately-backed. And so that is separation.

So one of my questions for the Trump library is, what is that going to look like, right. What is Trump who is now going to try to be much more directly involved in the creation of this library, going to argue that his legacy is.

There's also -- he has talked about having a hotel as part of this library. It's going to be even more expensive than the Obama's library.

And so there's all of these questions and it feels like these libraries are just getting bigger and bigger and bigger and more privately-funded.

RAJU: Yes. And I'm sure Trump will want to make his library even bigger than Obama's library. There's no question about that.

All right. Coming up, a fight over a historic, and I would say the greatest football franchise, turns into a political slugfest and a likely presidential contender who is caught in the mix. My reporting on that ahead.

[08:46:28]

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RAJU: It's a story that has caused major Democratic infighting, sparked a massive battle across state lines, and now could loom over a potential 2020 presidential contender.

Yes, it's about the Chicago Bears, my beloved team who has been in the Windy City for more than 100 years. A founding NFL franchise that has played at iconic Soldier Field along Lake Michigan for more than half a century and now could leave the city and the state altogether and build a new stadium across the state line in nearby Hammond, Indiana.

Now, the prospect of the move is absolutely revolting to so many Bears fans -- myself, a lifelong diehard fan included among them. But the Bears are enticed by a generous handout from Republicans in Indiana who enacted a new law to give the team over $1 billion in incentives to move to their state.

The city of Chicago could not reach a deal that the Bears' owners wanted. Meantime, the Bears purchased a former racetrack in Arlington Heights, Illinois, a northwest suburb of 45 minutes away from Chicago, to build a new stadium there.

But that is close to collapse after a key bill stalled in the final hours of the legislative session in Springfield earlier this month.

Now, Illinois Democrats say the blame lies mainly on the Bears; wealthy owners.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): We put offer on offer, on offer, on offer, on the table, and every offer The Bears organization came back and tried to extract more and more and more at the expense of Illinois taxpayers. I think they were overly greedy, and it's really I can't imagine the

Bears.

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): It's the Chicago Bears, not the Indiana Bears. Look, taxpayers should not necessarily be on the hook for, you know, this billionaire families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, the Bears are owned by the Halas-McCaskey family or the descendants of the late, great Papa Bear George Halas, who founded the franchise in 1920.

The McCaskey family wants to own their own stadium to get far more revenue, rather than being tenants like they are in Soldier Field.

All of the Bears' owners demand more leniency over taxes from the state. And that's where Indiana Republicans come in, saying high tax blue cities and states are driving out businesses like Illinois may do to the Chicago Bears.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JIM BANKS (R-IN): It's also the tale of two states -- a blue state and a red state. A state like Illinois with high taxes and high violent crime in Chicago and a state like Indiana that cracks down on violent crime. We have low taxes in our state.

The Bears are going to pick up fans all over the Hoosier State. I'm going to be one of them. I'm a lifelong Colts fan, but this is --

RAJU: You're going to become a Bears fan like me.

BANKS: A Bears fan, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, Illinois Democrats have also pointed fingers at each other. Governor JB Pritzker has attacked Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for having, quote, "no plan", a criticism that the progressive mayor has dismissed.

But Pritzker eyes a potential run for president in 2028. I asked him about the prospects of the Bears leaving the state while he's in office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Governor, can you stomach being the governor who sees the Bears leave Illinois on your watch?

GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D-IL): Look, the Bears are a private business that's worth $9 billion owned by a billionaire family. They're trying to make decisions about their future.

We ought to keep them. They ought to stay in the state of Illinois. I think that their fans, including me, will be very upset if they try

to get up and move across the border and become, I don't know, the Hammond Hamms, I guess we'll call them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:54:45]

RAJU: But Republicans predict that the episode would haunt Pritzker in a White House run.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ERIN HOUCHIN (R-IN): I think this could be a stain on Pritzker for losing this.

BANKS; This guy thinks he can be president and he can't even run his own state. I mean, his legacy will be that on his watch, he lost the Chicago Bears to Indiana.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, no final decision has been made about the future stadium site, but many are holding out hope that the pride and joy of Illinois will stay in Illinois and bring a second Super Bowl title to Soldier Field to ease the pain of long-suffering fans like myself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): I want them in Chicago, my first choice. Arlington Heights, my second.

RAJU: And if they leave, would it be a stain on Pritzker's legacy?

DURBIN: Well, you're presuming something that I don't think is going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Yet, even if they do move to Indiana, they're still expected to be called the Chicago Bears.

That's it for INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY.

Up next, "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JAKE TAPPER AND DANA BASH". Jake's guests include Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and commentator Stephen A. Smith.

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

[08:55:52]

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