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Inside Politics

House Judiciary GOP Chair Asks DOJ To Prosecute Jack Smith; Dems 2028 Calendar Debate: Start With Nevada Or South Carolina?; New Poll: AOC, Buttigieg Lead New Hampshire Primary Field; Ben Sasse Credits New Pill To Fight "Undruggable" Pancreatic Cancer. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired July 23, 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]

AMY WALTER, PUBLISHER & EDITOR IN CHIEF, THE COOK POLITICAL REPORT: -- focusing on the issues that matter most to voters. We know that the President's not going to do that. That is not in his interest to do that. And so, what Republicans are constantly facing is a bad political environment. They are trying their best to get ahead on the issue of affordability. The President would like to focus on what the President likes to talk about, which is himself and his retribution tour.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR: And his retribution tour, which --

WALTER: Yes.

RAJU: -- I mean if you look at the targets that Trump has focused on and his justice department has focused on since he won his second term, it is just remarkable because pretty much everyone on that list that you see there, whether they were indicted, whether their indictments were dismissed, or whether in one case John Bolton who had pleaded guilty, but others who are under investigation or just face calls to investigate, they're all his perceived enemies.

WALTER: Yes.

RAJU: And it's not like there's a possible, you know, a Republican ally who just may have done something corrupt and was being indicted. These are all either Democrats or people that rubbed Trump the wrong way at some point.

ALEX GANGITANO, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, POLITICO: That's right. And now that Todd Blanche is at the helm, presumably confirmed, we'll see if this changes things and how people are feeling about him. That's who the person he wanted in to deliver these retributions for him.

He didn't think that former Attorney General Pam Bondi went far enough with some of these, quote unquote, "political enemies" in his words. And it all comes back to his obsession with re-litigating the 2020 election. It was just last week when Republicans were preparing for what's he going to say in that big Thursday primetime speech.

People I were talking to were saying we're really worried that he's going to keep bringing this up and it's going to cause this ongoing amount of speeches of him talking about 2020 when we want to talk about gas prices, we want to talk about grocery prices, we want to talk about housing costs. Even the One Big Beautiful Bill, no tax on tips. These are the things that Republicans are ready to move on to but the President's not quite ready with yet.

RAJU: Let's go to Jack Smith himself because, you know, he was obviously very -- he didn't say a whole lot really during the investigation. He actually was not seen during this investigation to Trump. He had his press conference to announce these criminal charges that came forward. But then in the aftermath in recent weeks, he's been more public. He's done some interviews including with Jon Stewart on his podcast from earlier in July.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK SMITH, FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL: I've been doing this for three decades. I'm not a political operative who was brought in from outside because they couldn't get a line prosecutor to do it. People didn't resign because I demanded that they do things that run so counter to the traditions of the department. I mean just think about today, Jon, if you had a -- an allegation of corruption, can you imagine this administration bringing in someone like me who's got no political allegiance?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK SVITEK, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, you mentioned how low profile he's been. It's almost striking just to see --

WALTER (?): Yes.

SVITEK: -- and hear him right there in that video because I don't think I'd seen that before. So he's kept a low profile compared to some of other of Trump's kind of targets for retribution who kind of leaned into the fight and kind of have added fuel to the fire of the conflict, right?

I think, you know, James Comey, for example, someone who's been a little more vocal in pushing back on the targeting of him by Trump. But as we just saw right there, that's someone who has taken a different approach and been much more low-key.

RAJU: Yes, it was interesting to hear his voice, yes, and talking, pushing back. We'll see what he ultimately says if he is charged and how the Justice Department decides to pursue that referral from Jim Jordan.

All right, coming up next, fighting for first? Which state will kick off the Democrats' 2028 primary race?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:38:06]

RAJU: So who will be the Democrats presidential nominee in 2028? One big factor will be which state gets to vote first. And this week the DNC's powerful rules and bylaws committee is taking on the monumental task of deciding that question. States have spent months aggressively lobbying to be in the first batch of contests and sources tell CNN that Nevada and South Carolina are the most likely to kick things off.

One member of the committee says, quote, "At this point, it's probably 50-50." The committee is set to make a recommendation this week. The full DNC is set to vote next month.

My excellent panel of reporters is back. So if it is Nevada, this is the how the order of states which we expected would go. Go Nevada, South Carolina, Michigan, New Hampshire, Virginia. We'll see if they decide to go that route. South Carolina if that's the first state. Nevada will be second. New Mexico, Michigan, New Hampshire.

Amy, what are the implications of choosing Nevada versus South Carolina as the first state?

WALTER: Well, as we were just discussing during the break, the good news for reporters is that both are warmer in the winter than Iowa and New Hampshire.

RAJU: Yes.

WALTER: So we both --

RAJU: I can attest.

WALTER: -- and both are good food states. So we -- that's really the most important thing. I think sometimes we get a little wrapped around the axle. I understand about this sort of issue about who goes first and is it going to matter and I appreciate that yes, a lot of the debate is about which are the more important group of voters for Democrats to speak to.

Latino voters in Nevada, African-American voters who are going to make up the larger share of the vote in South Carolina. But I think fundamentally what matters the most is what people are talking about in 2028 and which candidate is meeting the moment at that time.

If you think back to 2008, for example, what -- the reason that Obama succeeded in many ways was, yes, he won the first state of Iowa but it wasn't that he won Iowa. It was the fact that a lot of folks thought this guy can't get elected President because no way are white voters in a state like Iowa going to vote for an African-American candidate.

[12:40:12]

When he was able to cross that threshold, that gave him the authority to say I'm actually a winnable candidate. South Carolina and Nevada, there are going to be different challenges in each of those states, but I do think that we, you know, sort of saying, well, it's more important to reach out to this one group of voters than the other is missing the broader question of who's the candidate that looks like they're going to be the most electable come 2028. RAJU: And this is what Christale Spain, who's the South Carolina Democratic Party chair told The New York Times just yesterday, said, "If Nevada gets elevated over South Carolina, it would be because of their Latino vote. So you would then be telling black voters that you matter less than brown voters. And I refuse to believe that our party wants to send any type of message like that." It's getting pretty nasty.

MARIO PARKER, U.S. ECONOMY & GOVERNMENT MANAGING EDITOR, BLOOMBERG: Absolutely. And then Al Sharpton yesterday had a shot across the bow as well in a letter that was circulated by the South Carolina Democratic Party and it had very harsh language in line with that about choosing a side.

To Amy's point, I mean, it looks like Democrats, one of the things is they try to retain -- regain power in 2028 have to deal with so many ideological and demographic issues heading into that election, right. You've got the progressive versus the centrist wing which does have a demographic component there as well as we just discussed with Michigan but then you also have this need for the party to win back Latino, Hispanic voters after Trump made some inroads and then also after Republicans tried to make some inroads with of the African American bloc as well and just what that demographic, what part of that -- what that demographics impact and future looks like within the Democratic Party --

RAJU: And -- go ahead.

SVITEK: I was going to say one thing I think it's been a little overlooked here with all the talk of the demographic makeup these states is a priority that the DNC chair also gave to this committee to consider is the efficiency of vote counting in these states which is also a consideration --

RAJU: Because Nevada votes by mail and it could be much slower.

SVITEK: Sure, but I think the bigger picture there is that they want a state that is not going to have a repeat of like the Iowa caucuses, right, in 2020. And so that's also one of the principles that I think this committee is considering of course in addition to the very important questions of diversity and demographics.

RAJU: Yes, and just to put a button on that, Nevada is a little over 11 percent black. According to the Census Bureau, South Carolina, 24.4 percent black, Nevada, 31 percent Hispanic, South Carolina, 8.5 percent Hispanic. Now this all comes of course amid discussion about, you know -- it's never too early I guess to talk about 2020 candidates and polls but there was one out yesterday from New Hampshire.

The Granite State poll from the University of New Hampshire about preferred candidates among those likely Democratic voters, you're seeing a bit of a shift from earlier this year when we saw Gavin Newsom ahead of, you know, a lot of these early very too early polls but this is Inside Politics of course.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez now tops this list. Pete Buttigieg right behind her and Newsom sort of in the middle of the pack here. Again, you know, these polls will change things. This is way too early, but it's also notable and interesting to see AOC's having this moment.

GANGITANO: She is. And I think as it's happening well the Democratic Party is trying to figure out their different factions of it. She's actually in Congress working as someone who relates with some of these socialists that are winning in other states or she can get along with them however you view her ideological standing.

But she's really walking the walk here in Congress as that type of Democrat. And I think once more people come into the pack if they win in November, we'll see if that elevates her, if that hurts her. It's also interesting Pete Buttigieg is not a current official and he's, you know, a private citizen going on podcasts, having a social media presence, and it seems to be working. I mean, those are pretty good numbers for him, post-transportation secretary for the Biden years.

So I think that's -- he's playing the game pretty well if you look from the outside of he's getting himself out there and he's talking to different demographics. He'll go on Fox News, he'll go on different podcasts.

RAJU: And the New Hampshire if it were under these calendars, if it does come to pass, New Hampshire would be much lower down than it is currently.

GANGITANO: Yes, right.

RAJU: Before you jump in though, Amy --

WALTER (?): Yes.

RAJU: -- I want you to listen to what AOC told me yesterday when I asked her about this poll.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D), NEW YORK: I feel very, you know, humbled by the support of everyday people. I think that, you know, polls go up, polls go down.

RAJU: But does that change how you think about your future?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: I think, you know, I think when I make decisions about my life, it's they aren't just rooted in polls, they're rooted in what people need, what is best for the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:45:16]

RAJU: She later told me that -- I said, will you make a decision after the midterm election? She said, well, I guess that'll be closer to the time I make a decision.

WALTER: Yes, so she's got a lot of time to do that. Look, DSA is having its moment, if we talk on politics about two things, Donald Trump and the rise of DSA. So in that sense, it doesn't surprise me that much to see the face of it, AOC leading in a poll in a state like New Hampshire.

RAJU: Yes, very good point.

All right, coming up next, Jake Tapper's emotional sit down with former Senator Ben Sasse. How his terminal cancer diagnosis shifted his perspective on life, faith, and politics and the new drug giving him more time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:50:21]

RAJU: When former Senator Ben Sasse was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, doctors gave him just months to live. That was seven months ago. He recently sat down with Jake Tapper for an emotional conversation about facing down a terminal diagnosis and how an experimental drug has given him the gift of more time with his wife and three kids.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN SASSE (R), FORMER U.S. SENATOR: So I take a super dose of poison by pills at bedtime and it messes you up so I take them literally five minutes before I get in bed. I start taking morphine about an hour and a half before bed, so I'm getting kind of dizzy woozy zonked high. And then right at bedtime, I take my few 100 milligrams of daraxonrasib.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, THE LEAD & STATE OF THE UNION (voice-over): It's a pill some are calling a cancer miracle. You see, pancreatic cancer is considered one of the deadliest. Many like Ben don't get diagnosed until it has already spread. People are often given just months to live. This drug is extending that to more than a year.

SASSE: Pancreatic cancer has been thought to be undruggable. The oncology community calls it a greasy ball. The molecule that is pancreatic cancer is like a golf ball with hard dimples but no crevices no way to get a drug in. All these molecules evidently have a chaperone molecule nearby.

And this rock star researcher who, you know, was one of the co- founders of revolutions medicine had the idea that maybe you find a way to take molecular glue and glue your chaperone molecule to the pancreatic cancer and you create a crevice and you lock the drug in there. And then they experimented with 500 molecules and they found one, this daraxonrasib drug. And all of a sudden, pancreatic cancer is a little bit responsive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: Jake joins us now live. An incredible interview, Jake.

TAPPER (on-camera): Thank you. RAJU: And what a testament to this to both the drug and to his spirit. How does that impact his outlook on life and in really dying in such a public way deciding to do this in such a public way?

TAPPER (on-camera): Well, he is at his heart an intellect and a teacher as you know. I mean he was a college professor before he ran for Senate and a college president before he ran for Senate. I think there is something about his wanting us all to engage in this conversation about the fact that we all are living under a death sentence.

He just has a better idea of when his is going to come that he finds, pardon me, meaningful to bring to the fore. And that's why he has done interviews. Although I think we're the first TV interview to be done in Nebraska and with his wife and his son, his young son, who's 15.

Beyond that, there is something in my view that is poetic about the fact that he is participating in this clinical trial for daraxonrasib, this pancreatic cancer treatment that is extending his life. It's not a cure but it is extending his life. He was -- he got a three to four month diagnosis in December and obviously we're in July.

But beyond that, what he is doing by participating in this clinical trial will help future cancer patients with pancreatic cancer. So there is meaning in all that he is doing here. And it was just a very sad and meaningful conversation to have with.

RAJU: How would you characterize his outlook on life at this stage in his life and after getting this sentence from the doctors?

TAPPER (on-camera): Well, I think that he is a man of deep faith who is very confident as to what happens next, that he is going to a better place, that he will see his loved ones again. It's a faith that I told him I envy. I wish I was that -- I wish I were that confident.

But he is -- he does see death as wicked and he does feel horrible for the fact that he is leaving behind his wife and his two daughters who are in their 20s and then his 15-year-old boy, Breck. And I think that that is probably -- although obviously all of it's awful. I think the fact that Breck is so young --

RAJU: Yes.

TAPPER (on-camera): -- is the toughest of all of us.

RAJU: I mean he occupied an interesting space within the GOP when he was a member here, right? You know, he initially was a very sharp critic of what the way things were happening in the Senate in 2016. He campaigned against anybody but Trump in that primary.

He did work with Trump a lot of times when he was president but then voted to convict him in that second impeachment trial. Did he give a sense or do you get a sense from him on how he views what things are right now with Trump and the GOP?

[12:55:02] TAPPER (on-camera): I think that he thinks of politics as less important than a lot of other things in life. He puts it as one cheer for politics instead of three. It's important but there are so many things that are more important. I don't think he regrets anything in terms of his votes for impeachment. He said that was not a tough vote.

I don't think he regrets anything in terms of standing up for what he thought was right. He was always very authentically himself, conservative, principled, religious, a family man. His regrets don't have to do with politics. His regrets have to do with the time he spent away from his family.

He has a big box. We went to -- in addition to going to the College World Series with him and his son, Breck, and talking -- sitting down and talking with him in downtown Omaha. We also went to his -- he has a cabin in Fremont by the river there. And we sat down there with him and his wife Melissa.

And he showed us this box of hotel keys that he kind of like accidentally started keeping when he -- before he was in academia and hit the box makes him sad because it's a symbol of all the times he was not with his family.

RAJU: Amazing. Can't wait to watch it. And you can also watch it the rest of Jake's emotional interview with Ben Sasse on The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper airing this Sunday 8:00 p.m. Eastern and the next day on the CNN app.

Thanks for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after a very quick break.

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