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100 Days Away: Counting Down To The Midterms; Trump Appears Mired In Iran War 10 Days From Midterms; Democrats Make South Carolina The First Presidential Primary; Generational Fight Splits Democratic Senate Primary. Generational Fight Splits Democratic Senate Primary; Interview with Filmmaker Alex Holder; GOP Lawmakers Largely Silent as Trump Profits in Office. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired July 26, 2026 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:28]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): One hundred days out. Voting kicks off in a key battleground.
REP. HALEY STEVENS (D-MI): A little bit of stick-it-to-them because that's the Michigan way.
RAJU: While in Maine, Democrats rally around a new pick.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): He's a Bernie bro.
RAJU: Plus, I dive into a generational battle.
SEN. ED MARKEY (D-MA): It's not your age. It's the age of your ideas.
REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA): There comes a time to pass the torch.
RAJU: Will Democrats' messy primaries prevent a clean sweep this fall?
And save the date. Democrats shuffle the presidential primary calendar.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We should continue to elevate Black voters' role in the process.
RAJU: Who could it help and who could it hurt in 2028?
Plus, behind the scenes.
SEN. LINDEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Hey, baby. Lindsey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Lindsey.
RAJU: Never before seen footage of Lindsey Graham in the months before he died.
INSIDE POLITICS, the best reporting from inside the corridors of power, starts now.
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RAJU (on camera): Good morning. Thanks for joining us for INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. I'm Manu Raju.
In exactly 100 days, it will be time for voters to give the keys of Congress to the next majority party. Democrats are riding a wave of momentum ahead of the midterms, and are favored to take the House, with a narrow path in the Senate. But can they overcome the GOP's advantages with maps in both chambers, and will there be lingering fallout after vicious Democratic primaries, like in Michigan, where the heavy hitters hit the trail this weekend ahead of next week's high stakes Senate primary?
And in Maine, can they finally defeat battle tested Republican incumbent Susan Collins after Democrats scrambled to replace scandal tarred Graham Platner and named a progressive Troy Jackson just yesterday to be their nominee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TROY JACKSON (D), MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: For nearly 30 years, Collins has told Maine that she is concerned, but concern does not lower the cost of groceries or gas. Concern does not keep our maternity wards in rural hospitals like down in Lincoln County open. Concern does not restore all the rights that she's taken away. Maine does not need another six years of concern. We need someone with courage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Meantime, with 100 days until November 3rd, President Trump very much stuck on Iran as his top advisers privately raised concerns about the military escalation that he publicly threatened.
To break this all down, I'm joined by an excellent group of political insiders, Leigh Ann Caldwell from "Puck News", "Bloomberg's" Jeff Mason and CNN's Isaac Dovere.
Good morning to you all.
Jeff Mason, I want to first start about this news from overnight bout Trump holding back on deciding to escalate things with Iran amid concerns in the ranks from even J.D. Vance raising concerns about this. Trump's party has been pleading with them for months to end this, end this find a way to end this altogether so they can focus on the midterms. We're 100 days out.
Is the president completely boxed in at this moment with Iran? JEFF MASON, BLOOMBERG WHITE HOUSE & WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well,
he's certainly gone back and forth on Iran. And you've seen that from the very beginning, from the way that he presented the war to how in -- during parts of the war over the first few months, he said, it's not going to last long. When we ask him about how long it's going to last, he'll compare it to the Vietnam War favorably, in that it's not as long as that one.
I talked to him on Friday. I was in the Oval Office for an event and asked him about whether he had decided about this next big, massive strikes that were being reported about. And he said no, that talks had resumed, including with J.D. Vance and with Mr. Kushner and Stephen and Steve Witkoff. But who knows if that's actually the reason that he has decided to pull off or to back off.
These concerns are certainly no doubt going into his ears, but he's just rejected a lot of them. Yeah, in many ways, because to your initial question and my long answer, he is boxed in.
RAJU: Yeah.
MASON: And he wants to show that it was worth it. And yet he also doesn't want to have the economic impact and fallout.
RAJU: And the economic impact and fallout is which really which is defining this midterm campaign season right now. And we saw yesterday news coming out of Maine when Democrats finally settled on their new nominee to replace Graham Platner, Troy Jackson, the nominee.
[08:05:07]
And he was welcomed into this race by Republicans, including the leading senate GOP super PAC, putting out an ad saying this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AD NARRATOR: Jackson's conduct was so bad, his fellow Democrats raised alarm bells about his temperament. Jackson is like Graham Platner, but worse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: And our colleague Jeff Zeleny caught up with Troy Jackson and he asked him he actually showed him that ad and got his reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POLITICAL AD: It's not Graham Platner, it's Troy Jackson.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: So that's what's coming after you. How do you respond to that?
JACKSON: Well, I know they're scared. I mean, they're afraid that their rubber stamp and the U.S. senate is going to lose. And that's okay. But, I mean, I expect there'll be more than that. But it's totally false. I mean, I treat everybody with respect. I'm passionate about issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Isaac, how hard is it going to be for Troy Jackson, who's not particularly well known in this state, to beat Susan Collins harder?
EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Look, the specter of Graham Platner is there not just because of -- it's only now that the Democrats are getting their new nominee, but because this was such a mess and so many questions were dismissed that were there but left a lot of voters thinking, what's going on? Now, the question is for Maine voters, not the D.C. conversation, not the national conversation about this for Maine voters, how do they feel about Susan Collins?
And this has been presented to them over and over in the years. And as you point out, it's been hard to beat her despite Democrats thinking that they would have a good chance at it. This year was lined up to look different for a lot of reasons. It still may. This race now has not a lot of time to take shape, but it could still move for the Democrats. It could still move for Collins.
RAJU: And she has so much money. The headline in the times is that she holds an enormous cash and cash edge in Maine. They counted about $113 million in expenditures from the primary through the general election.
That's from the Republican ad campaign on $113 million in the state of Maine. But as Isaac points out how do voters feel about Susan Collins. A big question.
This is one of the polls that came out just last week from the University of New Hampshire. Her votes on key legislation. She's underwater on her votes, whether it's about Supreme Court justices, of course, she voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh will be central to this campaign.
Her votes for cabinet nominee. She often votes for cabinet nominees from both parties. But Maine is still a blue state. So no matter the Democratic problems, it is still going to be a rough road for her in the next 100 days as well.
LEIGH ANN CALDWELL, PUCK NEWS CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this might arguably be the most difficult political environment that Susan Collins has run in. She has proven herself over and over again. She was obviously on the ballot in 2020, which was another difficult time for Republicans and Senator Collins as well. But the environment perhaps is worse this time, and that's what she's going to really be running against. And that's her challenge.
But Republicans do point out that she polling when she ran in 2020, she was down in polling leading into that election, too. She ended up winning by -- by a significant amount. And, you know, it is going to be a race.
When it comes to the money, what's interesting is when Graham Platner was, you know, after all the scandal and he was still on the ballot, hadn't dropped out yet, national Democrats said that they are going to take money and move it elsewhere. There doesn't seem to be any indication that they're going to boycott Maine. Now that they're going to put they will put that money back in.
But the money challenge is going to be a big one for Troy Jackson and also has running an outsider campaign. He's been a state legislator for 26 years.
RAJU: Right.
CALDWELL: And so some of these attacks that they that some of the defenses that Graham Platner had, Troy Jackson doesn't have.
RAJU: And he's from the part of the state, which is not the populous part of the state from northern Maine. So to introduce himself for the rest of the state.
But as we take a step back and we look at the overall map for the Senate, this is how the cook political report rates Senate races at this moment. Georgia, New Hampshire, North Carolina leaning Democrat, North Carolina, of course, a Democratic pickup opportunity there. Still, they say toss up. And I would agree on all those Alaska, Maine, Michigan and Ohio and leaning Republican.
Those are tough pickups for Democrats. Those red states of Iowa and Texas, despite some of the issues that Republicans have in Texas.
But Michigan, of course, is in the center of all this. Democrats absolutely have to hold Michigan, and Trump is going there tomorrow amid this divisive Democratic primary.
MASON: He's going there for a reason. I mean, draw some attention away from or draw some attention to Republicans and, and sort of mess up or bring attention, I should say, to the -- to the mess and the Democratic Party.
[08:10:00]
It's fascinating. All of these races, all of these primaries in my home state of Colorado as well, are showing the divide in the Democratic Party at a time when what the Democratic Party really needs politically is some unity, and they just don't have it.
And the Michigan -- the Michigan primary is exhibit A.
RAJU: In the Michigan primary, a week from this coming Tuesday. Who's got the edge? We saw Gretchen -- Gretchen Whitmer come behind Haley Stevens, the establishment candidate, the congresswoman from the Detroit metro area, Abdul El-Sayed, has the backing of the Bernie Sanders wing of the party, who has the edge heading into?
DOVERE: Well, we'll see. Look, the race has clearly changed the dynamics of the last couple of weeks, starting with when Mallory McMorrow dropped out, making it a two-way race. Stevens seems to be trying to embrace this awkward Michigander persona that she has clearly been exhibiting through her accent and through some of that stick-it-to-them video and all that stuff.
El-Sayed clearly still fighting very strong on the issues that he's been talking about. This is an unclear thing when it -- Michigan, you know, I remember going around the last couple of weeks before the 24 election in Michigan and saying to people, is Michigan a purple state, or is it a blue state that just likes Donald Trump? Right?
And it does seem like it's the latter. What it does when Trump goes there, whether it calls attention to just how much is at stake with that seat there. And Mike Rogers, who came very close to winning in 2024 as the Republican candidate, then now running again.
What it comes down to, I think, though, is that a lot of Democrats are fighting. They are not even sure what they're fighting about at this point. But what's coming off to a lot of voters is that they're just fighting with each other.
RAJU: And, Leigh Ann, there's, of course, the race for the house, 100 days out. The question, of course, will there be a blue wave? We look at the generic ballot. That means the question that you ask voters, who do you prefer to control Congress? Democrats, according to the recent Fox News poll, had a seven point advantage that came out this past week. We'll see how many seats if they pick up this midterm.
And you compare that to past elections, including in 2018, that Democratic wave year, they had an eight point generic ballot advantage. They picked up 36 seats. You go back to the 2010 midterms when the tea party wave happened. Republicans had a nine point advantage in Fox News polls in. They picked up 49 seats.
So the trend is in the direction. Difference this time, though, is that there are so fewer competitive districts because of all the gerrymandering that advantages Republicans.
CALDWELL: Yeah. Getting back to the political environment, it's quite good for Democrats. That's what that polling shows.
But structurally, Democrats aren't in a position to have a wave after voting rights act repeal after redistricting. They are going in structurally down around ten seats. And plus the money disparity. Republicans have a huge advantage when it comes to money. And so that's going to be difficult for Republicans or for Democrats. And it could prevent a Democratic wave.
RAJU: Yeah, we'll see what happens. A lot to chew on, 100 days to go and Democrats and ahead of 2028 just made their biggest decision yet. And it could have huge implications for their party's next presidential nominee. We'll explain, next.
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[08:17:28]
RAJU: It's a decision that will reshape the race for 2028 and could end up picking the new president. The states that will have outsize influence over the next Democratic nominee. On Friday, an influential DNC panel voted to make South Carolina the
first primary state and move up Nevada, Michigan and Virginia. The full DNC will vote to ratify the new calendar next month.
Our political insiders are back.
Okay. First, look at this possible list of 2028 presidential contenders. Could barely fit them all in this one -- one slide there. There are a lot --
CALDWELL: You forgot a few.
DOVERE: It's an incomplete list.
RAJU: I think it's a pretty complete list. And we'll see how many of them ultimately decide to run here.
Isaac, which of those does this move about? South Carolina at the top and Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan, Virginia afterwards. Who does that help? Does it hurt?
DOVERE: There's a debate about what this does for the power of Black voters. South Carolina, a heavily Black electorate in the primary. And whether South Carolina being first means that that advantages them or not having them later in the cycle, as was the case as second or third state to be, would have given them sort of a clincher position.
What it does also, though, from the people that I've spoken to, it seems like it may make it a harder road for a progressive candidate, someone from the left, to break out if South Carolina remains in this first spot.
Remember in 2016, the Bernie Sanders phenomenon really started when he very close, came very close to winning in Iowa and then won in New Hampshire. That may change things. It also this kind of calendar with out smaller states there makes it harder, potentially for breakout candidates. The kind of candidate that Pete Buttigieg was in 2020 to go there. But we'll see.
Look, the truth is, by the time that we get to the primaries, when the voting actually starts, mostly the campaigns are either taking off for running out of steam.
RAJU: Uh-huh.
DOVERE: And so, the calendar shapes things somewhat. But the I think part of the lesson of 2020, when there was also a lot of attention to the calendar, is that the race is shaped by a lot of other things, too. A lot of this also is going to be very much easier to see in retrospect, in hindsight of what it did and what it didn't do.
RAJU: Yeah. And you look at the calendar, Michigan and Virginia really moving up here in the -- in the calendar and 52 percent back in 2020, Biden won Michigan over Bernie Sanders in that primary, 52 to 36. And he won Virginia, 52 to 23, 53-33.
[08:20:01]
But those are expensive states. So to Isaac's point candidate, who can either self-fund or raise a ton of money is going to be heavily advantaged with these big, expensive states so early in the nominating contest.
CALDWELL: Yeah. Well, personally, I'm just happy that they start at the end of January, not the beginning of January, completely selfishly.
RAJU: And in a warm state, South Carolina. Why is that right?
CALDWELL: Exactly.
But yeah, this calendar was set up, first of all, with South Carolina going first because of the role that it's played in Black voters, but also in the aftermath of the voting rights act repeal, to make sure that Black voters who are going to decrease in power in Congress because of that decision still have a lot of say in the presidential contest. But it is interesting. Iowa is such a, you know, a campaign friendly state where you have Nevada and Michigan and some of these much larger states where it's much more difficult to do the retail politics.
And so, you're absolutely right, both of you, that that money is going to play a very big role in some of these early states because of the different dynamics of, of how these states play out, rather as opposed to Iowa and New Hampshire, New Hampshire still early, where retail politics is cheaper and more possible.
RAJU: Meantime, there's been such a mess at the DNC. And Isaac, you've reported about this extensively. There was also this new report from "The New York Times" that came out just this morning about the phone throwing drama at the troubled Democratic Party, talking about Ken Martin, the chairman of the DNC. There's one passage said that Mr. Martin's fraying nerves are showing and a peak of frustration. Early July, he threw his phone at the desk of a junior aide while upbraiding the person. The phone tossing incident resulted in a formal complaint to the DNC human resources department.
But this is a committee that's been had tons of problems, I mean, not the least of which is cash not having the money that they have had in past cycles.
MASON: And at a time when you would think, looking at the political climate, that the DNC and Democrats writ large, Democrats writ large, would be raking it in. I mean, they're -- they've got their message written for them almost as a contrast to President Trump. And yet you go out and talk to voters, you talk to others. The narrative is rough on both sides. People are upset with the economy that President Trump is presiding over, but people don't see the Democrats as having a big alternative, and that's bad for them.
DOVERE: But that's the sub-theme to what's going on with the calendar here, because there is the possibility that a state could choose to not follow the DNC here and hold their primary when they want to. RAJU: Like New Hampshire once --
DOVERE: New Hampshire wants to do it. And people saying, hey, the DNC is broke. They can't do anything to help us anyway.
Nobody is scared in any way of Ken Martin as the chair, and so maybe they'll just go and violate it. It is not where the infrastructure of the party needs to be for going into 2026 and then 2028.
RAJU: Very quickly. Can Ken Martin survive as chairman?
DOVERE: He only gets -- he can only be kicked out if he or he can only leave. If he resigns, he cannot be kicked out. And so it's up to him.
RAJU: Yeah. We'll see how long he's able to hang on right now. Not looking so good.
All right. Coming up, can an 80-year-old Democratic senator hold off his younger challenger who's trying to make the race all about age? I talked to both candidates about the generational and ideological divides rocking their primary.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:27:49]
RAJU: This election cycle has seen a remarkable number of incumbents losing in primaries, at least eight in the House and Senate.
On the Democratic side, many were within their party's mainstream who lost to younger progressives. But in the blue state of Massachusetts, there's a different dynamic at play. Eighty-year-old Senator Ed Markey is the progressive, and he's being challenged by 47-year-old Congressman Seth Moulton, who has long been considered a moderate. But Moulton is now shifting to the left and making the case about age all to a party still reeling from the aftermath of Joe Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: This challenge you're facing from Seth Moulton, who says he basically says, you're too old to be a senator. What do you say to him?
SEN. ED MARKEY (D-MA): Well, this is the most energized I've ever been. I battle Trump every single day on every single issue. I have actually voted against more of Trump's nominees than any other member of the United States Senate.
It's not your age. It's the age of your ideas. And in this race, I'm the youngest guy in the race.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Markey using the same line he effectively deployed in his 2020 primary victory over 39-year-old Joe Kennedy, adding, this race is all about key progressive issues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Is Moulton too moderate, are you saying, for the state?
MARKEY: Well, again, he opposed Medicare for all. He opposed a millionaire's tax in Massachusetts. He supported the trillion dollar defense budget that that Trump is now using for the war on Iran and he already used in Venezuela and other countries. So there's a big difference between the two of us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: I also spoke with Congressman Moulton, who says Markey is mischaracterizing his record on those key issues, and said this about the senator's comments about his age. Do you believe him when he says that he's more energetic now than he ever has been?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOULTON: I've not heard many 80-year-olds say that. But, you know, that's -- that's ultimately a judgment that the people of Massachusetts can make. You know, I've always said, "Sir, thank you for your service. You've served in Washington for 50 years."
He came to Washington before Jimmy Carter, and we should honor him for that service. But there comes a time for all of us to pass the torch for the next generation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Moulton briefly ran for president in 2019. At the time, positioning himself as a moderate as he has in his time in the House.
Now, things seem to have changed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Ed Markey has the support of some of the more progressive members of the Senate Democratic Caucus. People like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Senator, of course.
So they say he's the most progressive candidate in this race. So why shouldn't voters in a very blue state pick the most progressive candidate in the race?
MOULTON: Well, I don't know that he's the most progressive. Senator Markey --
RAJU: You don't think he's the most progressive.
(CROSSTALKING)
MOULTON: I mean, look, Senator Markey has the establishment support. That's very clear. I mean, he got --
RAJU: Bernie Sanders is establishment?
MOULTON: He got these endorsements, you know, a long time ago. The reality is that everyone you've mentioned has been in Washington for a very long time. And if you honestly think things are going well, then vote for Senator Markey.
He'll support Senator Schumer. He'll support the status quo. This is an election about change.
RAJU: So you said that you don't know if he's the most progressive candidate in this race. Are you saying that you're more progressive than Ed Markey?
MOULTON: What I'm saying is that we're both progressive, ok? We both have progressive values. I have the most aggressive affordability agenda of probably any elected official right now.
So the idea that we should just send someone back who's been in Washington for 50 years, because somehow it's going to be different in the next six, I just don't think that's what most Massachusetts voters believe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: And Moulton issued a very clear warning about what he suggests could happen if voters send an octogenarian senator back to Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: When I talked to Ed Markey, he told me -- I asked him about his age, because that's obviously a big divide also in this. He said he's never felt more energetic. And he said that it's not the age of the person, it's the age of their ideas. And then he talked about his ideas.
Do you agree with that? Is age really not an issue in this campaign?
MOULTON: Well, first of all, he's been using that quote since before my youngest daughter was born -- before my oldest daughter was born. So that's a very old quote that he's using.
And the reality is that if we win the United States Senate, it'll probably be by one vote.
And we've seen what's happened with Mitch McConnell. We've seen what's happened with Joe Biden. We've seen what's happened with Dianne Feinstein. We just can't afford as a party to lose the majority and let another conservative MAGA court justice go to the Supreme Court, to allow another Republican nominee to get through, because we lose a vote due to a health crisis.
So I think it's a fair issue. And what I've just said is I'm going to disclose my health records. The senator should do that, too.
And if the senator is confident in his health, then just share your health records, just like I've asked him to share and disclose his family's wealth in the same way I have, so that we can be transparent for the American voters and the people of Massachusetts can make an honest judgment about whether the senator is as energetic at 80 as he was at 40.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: All right. Our political insiders and reporters are back.
Interesting argument there. Is it going to be effective trying to embrace the progressive mantle, Seth Moulton is, and also going after him over his age.
LEIGH ANN CALDWELL, PUCK NEWS CHIEF WASHINGOTN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This race is so fascinating because most of the races where there's contested primaries, there's a very clear delineation in outsider candidate who's much more progressive to the left than the one that they are running against, usually an incumbent.
And but this one is all scrambled up. You have Senator Markey, yes, who is an incumbent who, as you very clearly pointed out in your interviews, did so well that he is more progressive than Seth Moulton, who also has been in Washington for quite some time, too.
RAJU: But he wants to be the outsider.
CALDWELL: Right. So, I mean, I have no idea. I have not traveled up to Massachusetts to see what voters are thinking, but it's probably going to come down to if these voters are comfortable with sending Ed Markey back, until he is going to be 86 years old.
RAJU: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Age is clearly something that the younger generation is hitting on. And that's true in both parties. And it's, I think, to Leigh Ann's point, that the question is, is it something that's going to resonate with voters?
But it's clearly a weakness for the Democratic Party. And that's one that up and comers, at least slightly up and coming as Moulton is presenting himself, is using as a cudgel.
EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: But, I mean, I think that what you get at is that this primary is exposing the incoherence at this point of what's a progressive, what's a moderate, what's a establishment, what's an outsider?
Both of these guys could be qualified as all of those things. And really, you know, they talk about their agendas, their ideas.
[08:34:50]
DOVERE: What you hear from voters all over the country is that they want politicians to actually do something and not talk about things anymore, and not talk about what they've got good ideas or they've got a good agenda or whatever it is. What difference is it going to make in their lives? And that seems to
be part of the question that will animate these last couple of weeks of that primary.
RAJU: Yes, no question about it. And it's who's going to fight, right? And what does that mean to actually --
DOVERE: Fight to actually deliver something?
RAJU: Yes. Right. Exactly.
All right. That's the late primary. That one is in September and a lot of money already being spent in that race.
All right. Next, remarkable, never-before-seen video of the late Senator Lindsey Graham from a filmmaker who spent hundreds of hours behind closed doors with him. You'll see it here for the first time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Hey, Bibi. Lindsey.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Hey, Lindsey. How are you?
GRAHAM: I could -- I'm just so impressed. Glad to be your friend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:35:46]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RAJU: Documentary filmmaker Alex Holder spent three years going behind the scenes with Senator Lindsey Graham before his death, recording more than 400 hours of remarkable video showing the South Carolina senator meeting with world leaders and other top officials, including never before seen footage of him just days after the Iran war began.
Speaking with Israeli president, Benjamin Netanyahu, and shortly after, with President Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan -- all part of the senator's decades-long push to strike Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAHAM: How do you --
Hello?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, boss. Bibi is about to jump --
GRAHAM: God damn it. Hello?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, boss. Bibi is jumping on the line. May I connect you?
GRAHAM: Yes, please. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have it on speaker, Ryan?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. We're good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok. All right. Connecting you now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Hello?
GRAHAM: Hey, Bibi. Lindsey.
NETANYAHU: Hey, Lindsey. How are you?
GRAHAM: I could -- just so impressed. Glad to be your friend.
NETANYAHU: I'm glad you are my friend.
GRAHAM: I'm going to meet with the president this weekend. I'm going down to Doral. I'm going to try to get him to join with you all on Lebanon to maybe fly some with you. Would you like that?
NETANYAHU: Yes, I get that. I think I think you have a point, but I've been thinking about the other side of it for a second.
We're concentrating right now on Iran. If we tell Hezbollah that we're going all the way, we threaten them. But if we actually do it --
GRAHAM: Ok.
NETANYAHU: -- then they have no reason not to go all the way against us.
GRAHAM: Ok.
NETANYAHU: And right now, that's not our interest.
GRAHAM: Ok.
NETANYAHU: We could do it later.
GRAHAM: Well, I'll -- ok, well, that's actually good counsel. I'll put it out there as an idea. We can always go back to it.
Democrats and Republicans are ok with the treaty. Now, you'll never get the treaty until you get a pathway for the Palestinians. You just can't get there.
You can't get (INAUDIBLE) to recognize Israel. So what I'm going to tell Bibi, and I just told Leiter, I talked to Bibi this morning. He called me and thanking me for everything. He says he's game.
I said, listen, Bibi. Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are not going to deliver. If you win your election, it's going to be before our election. I think the time probably due. This is a lame duck.
We'll know pretty quickly whether Bibi is able to deliver. Well, to be honest with you, I think about three to four weeks. We
should have them in a spot where they start losing control of some cities.
And what we're trying to do is just get a few cities to fall. And the next month, get the Arabs more openly involved tomorrow or by the end of the week and just have almost irreversible momentum.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: All right. Filmmaker Alex Holder joins me now. Alex, thanks for coming on. Just remarkable footage that you and your team were able to get.
Talk to us about the process of getting it. It looks like you were a fly on the wall for all these critical conversations. And what did you take away from it?
ALEX HOLDER, FILMMAKER, AJH FILMS: Yes, it was pretty remarkable. I mean, we had this four-and-a-half-year period of just the most really unparalleled access to one of the most consequential politicians in the United States.
We were in the room with him for phone calls with prime ministers, with leaders, with even people like Elton John. And it was -- it was extraordinary to be there and to witness history unfolding.
And that clip that we just saw is actually three or four days after Israel and America started bombing Iran. And that is history being captured on film, which I think is pretty, pretty unique.
RAJU: It really, absolutely is. And here's another from that same day, March 4th, just days after the Iran war. And how the senator himself was reacting to the president's decision to strike Iran.
[08:44:48]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAHAM: I mean, like, how long have we been pushing this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, you've been pushing this for years. Right?
GRAHAM: Right.
It's here. I thought that Trump was (INAUDIBLE).
He's jacked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
GRAHAM: It's the best thing I've ever done.
He loves -- he loves blowing stuff up. He has done nothing -- he hasn't tweeted much at all. No drama. He's been a great wartime president. I said last night that Trump and Bibi are like Roosevelt and
Churchill. I mean, they're the right two guys to confront this evil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: I mean, he says there -- he says it's the best thing I've ever done. I mean, it really underscores how he, one, this has been -- that was Graham's quest for so long to go after Iran, and two, how he was working behind the scenes, whether it was talking to Jake Sullivan, getting Democrats on board for various things that he was working on, or working Trump to carry through on this mission.
HOLDER: Yes. I mean, I think the footage shows all the way through how consequential Lindsey Graham was with respect to the Iran war and also with respect to his relationships with Saudi Arabia and in Israel.
So I think, you know, he really was pushing for this -- for this war. And when the bombs started falling, I mean, you can see how happy he was.
RAJU: Yes. I mean, he compared Trump. He said last time that Trump and Bibi are like Roosevelt and Churchill.
HOLDER: Yes.
RAJU: it's pretty remarkable.
So what -- you saw him interact with others as well. Talk to us about the other footage that you were able to uncover, what you learned, what kind of really stood out to you from these 400 or some hours you have of --
(CROSSTALKING)
HOLDER: I can't give it all away.
RAJU: Please put it all on INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY.
HOLDER: I can give you a few interesting things. I mean, one was we got this great moment actually a year ago on his 70th birthday, where Sir Elton John calls him up and starts singing happy birthday on the phone to him, which is pretty extraordinary.
In terms of geopolitics, we were with him in Ukraine, interacting with President Zelenskyy, in London with Boris Johnson. I mean, you know, all over the world, Munich security conference.
Like I said, the access is really quite remarkable.
RAJU: And he wanted to do this.
HOLDER: He absolutely wanted to do this. And I'm pretty confident right now he is smiling. He's probably angry that I didn't release all this, you know, a week ago. So yes.
RAJU: Was there anything that surprised you about him? You interacted with him so much.
HOLDER: I think. I mean, he is a complicated, controversial, fascinating individual. I think, you know, he proved all those things to me.
So that probably wasn't -- I think the surprising aspect was the access. The fact that we were able to be in the room, not just sort of getting to the front door and the door closes.
We're actually going in the room and actually listening to some of these fascinating national security, you know, geopolitical conversations.
RAJU: And what was his relationship like with Trump? Because that's, of course, been analyzed and seen publicly so much for over the years.
HOLDER: That, you're going to have to stay tuned for.
RAJU: Ok, great.
I mean, look, publicly, he was obviously very aligned with them. He criticized him at times. Then he became one of his closest advisers as well.
I suppose, we'll get to learn more about that when this footage ultimately is released.
Alex Holder, thank you so much for coming on and sharing this great footage for the first time, seeing it here on INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY.
All right. Graham's memorial services, of course, are on Tuesday in Washington, and then Wednesday in South Carolina.
Coming up next for us, there's that old adage "the rich get richer", as seems to be the case with President Trump. And now a Republican senator is warning that Congress may need to look into Trump's profits.
So what is Speaker Johnson saying about this?
[08:48:21]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RAJU: President Trump is a rich man and he's gotten even richer while in office, pulling in more than $2 billion in the first year of his second term, including more than $1 billion from his family's crypto company and millions from licensing deals on Trump properties in countries with huge stakes in U.S. policy.
Now, a major controversy when his social media platform, Truth Social, announced it will sell quicker access to Trump's market-moving posts reportedly costing Wall Street firms up to $100,000 a month.
But on Capitol Hill, where Republicans had launched an impeachment inquiry when Joe Biden was president, accusing him and his son Hunter of enriching themselves through official actions, there have been crickets about Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Are you concerned about the possible conflict of interest here?
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: That's the first I've heard of that. I don't even know what -- Truth Social is offering this. It's like --
RAJU: To Wall Street firms, yes. Essentially, for the president's market-moving posts.
JOHNSON: I don't have any legal opinion on that. I don't know anything about it.
SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): I can't comment on it. I don't know anything about it.
RAJU: But Trump has made $2 billion since becoming president again.
REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): He's already a billionaire. And I don't know how his stuff has been invested.
RAJU: But it's not raising any red flags with you. That's my question.
MACE: If you come in with a billion and you -- and you double it in a couple years, that's probably math. It's probably a high yield savings account. I don't really know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: But Senator John Cornyn, now a lame duck after losing to Trump- backed primary foe this year, was a rare Republican raising concerns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): I think this is President Trump is unique in that he is obviously a very successful business person outside of his presidency and his political life.
[08:54:44]
CORNYN: And, you know, I think -- I think the -- it does raise some questions about conflicts of interest. But I know there's a process at the White House and certainly with oversight by Congress to try to make sure that those don't -- don't interfere with his official responsibilities.
RAJU: Are you confident that there is actually a process that the president is following here?
CORNYN: I'm confident that there's a process.
RAJU: But what about Congress? Should you guys look into this?
CORNYN: Yes, I suspect that we will do that. (END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: A poll found that 62 percent of Americans think Trump has used the presidency to enrich himself. But Trump says he's making more money because the stock market is going up.
That's it for INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY.
Up next, "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JAKE TAPPER AND DANA BASH". Dana's guests include White House border czar Tom Homan, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy.
Thanks again for sharing your Sunday morning with us. We'll see you next time.
[08:55:45]
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