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Inside Politics

Democrats Grapple With Generational Fight In Massachusetts; 80- Year-Old Markey Faces Challenges From 40-Year-Old Moulton; KFile: Talarico Called Capitalism "Oppressive System" In 2020; Army Secretary Steps Down Amid Tensions With Hegseth; Vance Speaks At Gathering Of Influential GOP Jewish Group. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired September 01, 2026 - 12:00   ET

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

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DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: A state that knows a thing or two about revolutions is wrestling with a generational one.

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

Is age just a number? Well, Massachusetts calls itself the old colony, but on today's primary election ballot, younger Democrats are hoping for a generational revolt. Senator Ed Markey, 80 years old with 50 years in Congress under his belt is trying to fend off a primary challenge from 47-year-old Congressman Seth Moulton.

You can do the math. Markey's been in Congress longer than Moulton has been alive, but Markey's won this fight before and the ideological division between the two may prove even more decisive when all the votes are counted. It's not just Markey. Two of the state's 70- something congressmen, Richard Neal and Stephen Lynch, are also facing 39-year-old challengers today.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is in Massachusetts. Arlette, how's the voting looking?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dana, voting's been underway for a few hours here in this contest in Massachusetts. And what makes this so interesting is that this Democratic Senate primary really mirrors a lot of the debates playing out within the Democratic Party. But the two candidates don't fall neatly into the camps that people would typically think of.

There is Congressman Seth Moulton, a 47-year-old Marine Corps veteran who is waging this generational change campaign against the incumbent Senator Ed Markey, who is 80 years old, but it is Markey as the one who has pitched himself as the more progressive candidate in this race. He has the backing of young progressives like Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez and Ayanna Pressley, and he's campaigned with Senator Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

And we spoke to several voters this morning outside a polling location here in Somerville, who said that they voted for Markey, that they did have some concerns about age in general, but that ultimately, they wanted his progressive policies in the Senate. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON DEL RE, MASSACHUSETTS DEMOCRATIC VOTER: I appreciate Seth Moulton's appeal to being younger and more with it, but his actual platform just isn't as progressive as he wants to make it appear. And I think Ed Markey actually has represented Massachusetts pretty well for the first time in the Senate.

SAENZ: What do you think of Moulton's arguments that it's time for generational change?

MICHAEL GRUNKO, MASSACHUSETTS DEMOCRATIC VOTER: He's right, but he's just not the one.

SAENZ: Why is that?

GRUNKO: His stand on things like transgender issues and his just general need to run for president as a congressman just didn't show me the stuff that I want to see in a senator.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now that voter brought up transgender rights, and that is an issue that has played prominently in this race. But pretty soon, we will have an answer about whether voters will decide to side with progressive campaigning, or if they will have major concerns about age in the U.S. Senate, Dana?

BASH: Arlette, thank you so much. Those voters were very instructive to hear from. Appreciate it. I'm joined by a terrific panel here, including Massachusetts' favorite son, the one and only John Berman. Before you weigh in, I want our viewers to listen to a little bit of what we've been hearing from Ed Markey and Seth Moulton on the trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ED MARKEY (D-MA): We have to make a choice between a record of results or rebranded ambition in this race, a choice between conviction and convenience, a choice between the politics of transformation or the politics of triangulation.

REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA): So, there is a real contrast here between someone clinging to power at 80 years old and someone who wants to deliver next generation leadership because I just don't think the status quo is good enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: John Berman.

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWS CENTRAL: I think if you had told Seth Moulton when he jumped into the Senate race, basically a year ago, that there'd be this hunger for generational change that there is now within the Democratic Party, he would have been thrilled. He would have been like, hey, this is the best bet I ever made. The problem is, the other bet he sort of made is you can outflank anyone in Massachusetts in the middle, which he just doesn't seem to -- hasn't seemed to be able to do that well.

The middle is a tough place to be in a state that's pretty liberal and feels pretty connected to Ed Markey, who, you know, for better or worse, doesn't present like an 80-year-old on the trail, he seems pretty youthful.

BASH: Yeah. And you know, particularly what you just said in a Democratic primary. There certainly are conservatives in Massachusetts but not voting in a Democratic primary. And so, he's 80, and he has been down this road before, Ed Markey, like six years ago. And he vanquished somebody with a very famous name, in general, but specifically in Massachusetts, that was Congressman -- former Congressman Joseph Kennedy. I mean, it wasn't even close and he was making the same argument.

CHRISTINA RUFFINI, CO-HOST, BLOOMBERG THIS WEEKEND: I mean, you've got two things here, right? You've got -- you've seen this trend where Democratic voters are looking for more liberal, more progressive politics, but they also want somebody that they know. They want a known quantity. And in this case, I was reading a Massachusetts strategist who actually is supporting.

Moulton said the other mistake he's made is it's hard to unseat an incumbent, especially one with a lot of experience. And he hasn't really prosecuted Markey. He hasn't really gone after him in a way that you have to, to get someone like that out of power. And that may have been an issue here as well.

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: Yeah. Seth Moulton's message basically began and ended with, I'm younger, but he didn't go on further to convince voters, I'm more progressive. I'm more in line with the youth voters that you're going to need to turn out. And the parallels to Joe Kennedy are very, very similar. The ages, the name ID, Seth Moulton's run for president before, but he ran as a moderate. That does not get you far in a Democratic primary in Massachusetts.

So, Ed Markey is also a political heavyweight. He locked down the endorsements he needed early. So, he got Elizabeth Warren, he got AOC, he got Bernie Sanders. And if your -- those are names that matter to you in a Democratic primary. I think that -- he's led nearly every poll. I think he's going to cleanly win tonight. And it shows that yes, age matters, but I think the viewpoint and where you are within the party affiliation matters more.

BASH: And that's exactly the point that Congressman Ro Khanna, also a progressive who endorsed Ed Markey, made when I talked to him over the weekend. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: You said the old guard needs to go. Ed Markey is 80 years old. Why isn't he that old guard?

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): The old guard of ideas, the old guard that does not support healthcare as a human right with Medicare for all, the old guard that got us into these endless wars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So that's the point that you were all making, and it's obviously resonating with even the progressives who are saying, you know, it's time for change. It's not just Ed Markey. There are two House races that are sort of up for grabs within the Democratic primary today. We already showed you Ed Markey and that huge age difference. Ed Markey went into Congress in 1976. Seth Moulton was born in 1978.

But Richard Neal, known as Richie Neal, he went to Congress in 1989, just two years after his opponent, who's a high school teacher, was born. That's in Massachusetts one, and Massachusetts eight. Stephen Lynch got into Congress in 2001. I don't know. You can do the math, Berman. You know, I was just barely a teenager, barely a teenager, Patrick Roath, when he went into Congress.

BERMAN: And it may be that that's the control group district to Washington, Massachusetts, to see if age really matters here. Lynch versus Roath here, because that's more of the pure sort of the progressive trying to outflank the older, more establishment candidate here. And just to show you how quirky Massachusetts is, though, in this race where age may not be the factor, we think it is. There is a different congressional race.

Dan Koh, who was running to replace Seth Moulton. Seth Moulton is going to have to leave Congress now because he ran for Senate here. Dan Koh actually ran on the endorsement of Joe Biden and had Biden in his advertisements and was putting out videos there. You're not seeing that in a lot of places around the country here, so it may not be that age matters as much.

GRIFFIN: Can I point out something Berman said off air because your best content's often off and off air. But one of the reasons that both Moulton and Joe Kennedy decided to primary a sitting senator is that's actually an easier way for them to potentially get a Senate seat. When it opens up to an open primary, you're going to get the most progressive person within the congressional delegation. So, because I was scratching my head, why would Seth Moulton even put himself through this? But this was his best shot at ever getting in the U.S. Senate.

BASH: Yeah, no, that's an important point. I'm going to turn to a different race and that is Texas. And our colleagues at the KFile uncovered some comments from James Talarico, the Democratic Senate candidate from back in 2020. Let's watch it.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES TALARICO, (D) TEXAS STATE HOUSE: I'm so thankful that young activists have really drawn the link between climate change and white supremacy and capitalism in our country. And I think only ending the ways that all three of those oppressive systems work together are we going to be able to begin the process of dismantling them.

We all know that Texas has been a leader in oil and gas, but in many ways that's like being the leader in cassette tapes in the 1980s, that industry is not going to last. And if we want to ensure we have an economy that's going to work for our children and our children's children, we got to be ahead of the curve, and Texas has to lead instead of follow on this, on this issue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Christina?

RUFFINI: I mean, it's very ironic because that's the exact kind of language that has propelled some of these other progressives into these insurgent victories in some of the states. That is not going to work in Texas. I spent four years there for school. He's now trying to thread the line between getting those progressives to vote for him and not antagonizing those independent slash conservative leading voters by somehow being a pro-environment, pro-oil, pro-capitalism, pro- progressive Democrat, he's going to tie himself into knots if he's not careful.

BASH: I want to read a response from the Talarico campaign. J.T. Ennis, who is a spokesperson for the campaign, told CNN that Talarico has already acknowledged some of his past comments, missed the mark. James is a proud capitalist and agrees with the majority of Texans that racism, natural disasters, and a billionaire-controlled economy are all problems we need to address.

GRIFFIN: Well, to quote AOC, woke one was crazy, and I think that's where James Talarico needs to go with this distance, distance, distance. There are so many Democrats that went on the record in 2020 with statements that are just so far out of the mainstream, but you got to believe that's going to come to a Ken Paxton ad near you very soon.

BASH: Well, if he has the money to put it on the air.

GRIFFIN: The personal wealth he has.

BASH: That's true.

BERMAN: We haven't seen that video, but we certainly have seen that line of attack on Talarico for months and months and months, and that's been the obvious way for Republicans to go after him. But the big question, as you were just alluding to right there, is, have they been able to do it in a way that sticks without putting it up on the air, and has Talarico inoculated himself in these last few months.

RUFFINI: But it is kind of amazing. I mean, given how snake bit, and I'm using that, you know, it's Texas snake bit. Paxton is as a candidate that he's still struggling that race is still just right down the middle. BASH: All right. We're going to have to take a break, but don't go anywhere because coming up, he's the defense secretary. He runs the world's most powerful military at war with Iran, and he's body shaming a Canadian cadet instructor. And later, millions of Americans will vote this year by mail. How confident should you be that your vote will be counted? I'll talk to the secretary of state in a key swing state. Stay with us.

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BASH: Now to upheaval at the Pentagon, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is resigning, the latest top-level official to quit or be fired. But perhaps unsurprising, given the fact that Driscoll and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth certainly have a history of disagreement. A source tells CNN that in his resignation, Driscoll quote, brought up concerns with the administration surrounding army transformation and readiness, and Hegseth blocking those efforts specifically by firing the generals who were responsible. Driscoll's resignation follows multiple ousters by Hegseth since he took over at the Pentagon. Among them, Driscoll's closer chief of staff, General Randy George.

Alyssa, you were spokesperson at the Pentagon during Trump one. What is your sort of take on what's happening there right now?

GRIFFIN: It's a remarkable moment, and the feeling inside the building from what I've heard is, is really devastated at Driscoll leaving. So, listen, Driscoll is a conservative. He's ideologically aligned with Donald Trump. He ran for Congress as a Republican, but he's somebody who got to know the rank and file. He got to know the organization and the top brass within the Pentagon, and he has good relationships on Capitol Hill. And he has raised these concerns about readiness and about the lack of senior leadership within the army specifically.

And this is a huge cause of concern, obviously. Well, we're literally actively at war with Iran right now. He was seen as a serious, steady force who could be a liaison to the White House and Capitol Hill. And with him gone, there's a lot of unease with just Hegseth and his deputies in charge.

BASH: Right. I mean, it's obviously the personnel and what Driscoll was saying, according to our reporting on the way out. More on our reporting, John Berman. This is from our colleagues Kristen Holmes, Kevin Liptak, and Haley Britzky. One of the most prominent examples of infighting throughout Hegseth's tenure has been with Driscoll, often due to the close relationship Driscoll and Vance have. CNN has reported that Hegseth has viewed Driscoll's relationship with the White House as an effort to go around him. That's really key.

BERMAN: Absolutely. And I think some of the other reporting here is interesting too, which is they were trying to get him to delay this kind of announcement till after the midterms. It just shows to me that there are people within the administration or the political operation who see Pete Hegseth as a political liability right now. I mean, he is by far. Harriet has looked into this, you know, the least popular member of the cabinet right now. In a way, he's not even running the public face of the war, the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is.

So, they've tried to draw him back because maybe they know right now, he's a little bit of political kryptonite. And every time Pete Hegseth is in the news, like he is today, isn't a great day for them heading into the midterms. It keeps the Iran war there. It keeps high gas prices there in people's mind. I'm just not sure they want this story out there today.

[12:20:00]

BASH: Let's listen to what retired General Randy Manner said to Erin Burnett last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. RANDY MANNER (RET.) U.S. ARMY: There are only five four-star generals in the army right now against 10 vacant -- 10 open slots. This is very, very dangerous. We have a very, very hollow and quite frankly a B minus team, leading at the top of the military. These are very capable officers, but not at the level that they are acting in. And so, we are literally in a much, much more dangerous situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Christina, that's quite a statement.

RUFFINI: It really is. Look, the New York Times a week ago came out with this article talking about how people are concerned there is a generational knowledge loss at the top of the Pentagon. I am an Army brat. I grew up in this world. When you talk to the guys who are of this generation, these are people who came of age in a Pentagon that was not political, that was strictly about the military that would not have -- you would not have seen them at a rally. My father was apoplectic when he sees troops behind people at political rallies because that's not the military that he grew up in.

So, it's all these guys who are really about business or about operations that are the ones that are reaching their breaking point and leaving. And it's the ones who, you know, can deal with the more morally flexible aspects of some of this that are managing to stay where they are. And that's not great if you're looking for the guy who's best at the thing, not the guy who's best at managing up. And I think that's going to be a problem.

You already have the Chief of Staff, Randy George, who was close to Driscoll, is gone. And the commander of U.S. Forces Europe Africa, Chris Donahue, who was, by all accounts, very, very good, is gone as well. Yes, that's a lot of guys and women.

BASH: Yeah. And women, yeah, exactly. Let's turn to I think one of the things you were alluding to, John, which is a post by Pete Hegseth. This was last night, and it's already gotten 5.6 million views. And this is of a Canadian cadet and an instructor, and all he did was put the picture up with the Canadian flag parentheses. This is real.

BERMAN: OK. So again, if you're doing like sort of the political Venn diagrams here, what does this get out there in the news? It gets the tariff war with Canada, the trade war with Canada, which is super unpopular. It put Pete Hegseth front and center in a culture war, which again may work in a Republican primary, may work in the first few months of administration, but when you're now into September, welcome to September, everybody. In a midterm year, you know, you're trying to appeal to the middle here.

So, look, I mean, Pete Hegseth has spent a lot of time trying to talk about standards, fitness standards in the military here. This certainly in line with that. Again, just politically, I'm not sure what he gets at.

GRIFFIN: Well and keep in mind too, if I can, you know, I don't think Hegseth is going to last till the end of this administration. I don't think anyone thinks that at this point. Dan Driscoll is actually somebody who could be tapped in the future to be secretary of defense, who has the respect within the building and within the White House.

So, I think the timing of this is there is a recognition that the war in Iran is so deeply unpopular, and that there is going to be a head that needs to roll figuratively in the top of senior leadership. So, by leaving now, he creates some distance for himself if an opening were to open up.

BASH: All right. And before we go to break, I want to read a new response from the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and it looks like he is responding to a lot of things, including obviously what John was talking about the tariffs. When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade, stop trying to be tough and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions, but look, it's not constructive.

All right, up next. Some Jewish Republicans have long been concerned about Vice President J.D. Vance's relationship with anti-Israel commentators like Tucker Carlson, for example. We're going to take you behind closed doors to hear what the vice president told a group of Jewish GOP activists last night.

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BASH: Vice President Vance, probable 2028 candidate for president, is courting Jewish Republicans who are skeptical of his stance on Israel. Vance addressed an influential Jewish GOP group last night in Las Vegas. Reporters were not allowed in, but CNN's Patrick Svitek obtained audio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT (voiceover): Let me just address some of the obvious elephants in the room. There is a growing suspicion among I would call it under 40s of the U.S.-Israel relationship. I think my view is what we have to do is articulate why this is in the best interest of the United States of America.

I recognize a lot of people in this room are going to disagree with things that Tucker Carlson or Megyn Kelly or Joe Rogan have said, but I think just to hone in on Fuentes and Rogan, I think these are two very, very different categories of people, both with their -- within their reach, but also within the ideas that are in their actual head. I'm not biased. I like Joe Rogan and -- but I think it's a mistake to sort of say we're going to write Joe Rogan off because he said something that we don't like. I think the best approach is to actually go in there and talk to him and make the argument as best as you can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Alyssa?

GRIFFIN: I've attended the RAC with Donald Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence, and I can tell you those remarks are not going to have been well received with that audience. J.D. Vance has taken a distinctly different approach to the relationship with Israel of pretty much every Republican in my lifetime in higher office.

And I read his book. He has a section where he kind of attributes it to Charlie Kirk changing his views on Israel but suggests that the relationship is too close between the U.S. and Israel. That is not where the Republican Party is. He's not wrong that young people writ large in this country may be going a different direction, but that is a core base within the Republican Party that he has absolutely alienated, and it was a missed opportunity

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