Return to Transcripts main page
Laura Coates Live
"Don't Rush Me," Says Trump on Ending Iran War; Soldier Arrested Over Bets on U.S. Capture of Maduro; Trump Considers Ownership of Spirit Airlines; Marathon Runners Praised for Helping Collapsed Runner. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired April 23, 2026 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00]
JOE BORELLI: It's amazing how you twist yourself into a pretzel defending Eric Trump. (INAUDIBLE).
(LAUGHTER)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: All right. Go ahead, Jaime.
JAIME HARRISON: From Noah. Harrison is absolutely irrelevant and a perennial failure in everything he does with politics and punditry. Is he considered a tree? Noah, bless your heart.
PHILLIP: All right. Bless your heart. All right, I got one. Please try not to use the phrase "skin the cat" on your show. It was signed, hashtag cat and cat mom and cat lover. Sorry, I thought it was just an idiom. I didn't realize it would offend the cat people. All right, let me see -- oh, wait, I think we have to go. Sorry.
UNKNOWN: Oh.
PHILLIP: We got to go. All right, everybody, thank you very much. Thanks for watching "NewsNight." "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Tonight, that short-term excursion turns into don't rush me! What the president's new tone and lack of timeline mean for the war with Iran. Plus, U.S. soldier charged with betting on the Maduro capture and making bank on the prediction market. How the DOJ caught him. Also, tonight, more Republican freak out over the president's plan to bail out Spirit Airlines. The president says he has a plan for it after the government buys it. And later, the Boston Marathon runners behind this inspirational moment. They join me live tonight on "Laura Coates Live."
Good evening. I'm Victor Blackwell, in for Laura. The war that President Trump once said would take four to six weeks is now in week eight. And tonight, he's trying to give some reasons why. He says he took a break. He says he gave Iran a break. And now, he's telling everyone, what's the rush?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: How long are you willing to wait until you get a unified response?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, don't rush me. Don't rush me, Jeff. I don't want to rush myself, you know, because every story says, oh, Trump is under time pressure. I'm not. No, no. You know who's under time pressure? They are. I don't want to rush it. I want to take my time. We have plenty of time. And I want to get a great deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: OK. So, there's no clear timeline. We don't know when talks will happen again or if they will happen again. The president says that he's waiting on Iran's proposal, and he's suggesting that maybe that will take a while.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They have all their leadership, and they're fighting like cats and dogs for who's going to control. They're delaying it because they -- we don't know who to deal with. They are in -- you know, who the leader is in this country. We don't know who the leader is in Iran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Now, Iran is trying to answer that claim in public. Two of the highest-level Iranian officials are projecting unity. Now, by unity, I mean putting out the exact same message. Iran's president and the country's top negotiator say Iran has no radicals, no moderates, only Iranians and revolutionaries obedient to the supreme leader.
But if that message, the public message, is what you're hearing, that private reality may be much messier because reporting from "The New York Times" is raising serious questions about the condition of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has -- was hit in the initial wave of the airstrikes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FARNAZ FASSIHI, REPORTER, NEW YORK TIMES: He has suffered from severe leg injury. His leg has been operated on. There are suggestions that it may even be amputated and he's waiting for a prosthetic leg. His hand has been operated on and it's gaining functionality. More importantly, his face and lips have been severely burned to the point where it's difficult for him to speak and he will require plastic surgery.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: She says the supreme Leader is largely cut off from direct contact. He cannot receive ordinary visits. There are no electronics around him because they could be tracked. Now, she reports that officials have to rely on handwritten notes carried around by couriers to communicate with him. One Iranian politician told the Times the supreme leader is managing as if he's the director of a board, but he's heavily relying on the rest of the board members. And who are they? The generals. And that matters because this is not just a question about who's at the top of Iran's government. It's about who controls what happens next, especially over the war's most sensitive pressure point, the Strait of Hormuz. The president is making his position clear. He says that he has ordered the Navy to shoot and kill any Iranian boat, no matter how small, if it tries to put mines in the strait.
Let's start tonight with CNN national security analyst Alex Plitsas and Nazila Fathi, former New York Times correspondent based in Tehran who was forced to flee with her husband and children in 2009. Welcome to you both. And Alex, let me start with you. The president says that, you know, he's on -- he's not rushing here. How do the Iranians hear that?
ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, SENIOR NON-RESIDENT FELLOW AT ATLANTIC COUNCIL, FORMER OFFICIAL AT DEFENSE DEPARTMENT AND PENTAGON: So, the Iranians believe they're winning at this point.
[23:05:00]
It is basically the feedback that we've got. And so, they think that the time is on their side and that the president is concerned about the midterm elections. So, they're going to continue to wait him out. They believe that the political concerns will outweigh anything that they have in their back pocket, and they're going to let this play out. That's what I'm hearing both from the back channel as well as from Gulf -- Gulf countries.
BLACKWELL: Yes. And so, the Strait of Hormuz, the president now says shoot anything that tries to impede on this blockade, no matter how small. Is this the pressure point that forces them to negotiate?
NAZILA FATHI, AUTHOR, FORMER CORRESPONDENT AT NEW YORK TIMES: Well, Iranians have shown that they've been quite resilient. I think what's happening right now is quite dangerous because there were some shootings on commercial ships in the Persian Gulf as well today.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
FATHI: And maybe the blockade is hurting the Iranian economy, but it's also hurting the global economy, and I think that's what Iranians are counting on. I totally agree with Alex that Iranians have a totally different timeline than us here in the United States. Iranians do not think in terms of midterm elections, elections. There's really not a democracy in Iran. They don't care about those dates. They always think and plan in years.
BLACKWELL: Yes. And, you know, this is after the president set five deadlines, right? And so, now, the president says, don't rush me. Is that just posturing? I mean, there is an urgency in the administration. Is there not?
PLITSAS: So, what I'm hearing is it is posturing and it is reflected in the statement that he made today, which I'm told is not rhetoric. So, in speaking to Gulf mediators earlier today, they do believe that there is a genuine split inside of the Iranian government, particularly that the IRGC is pushing back against elements of the civilian government who may be willing to make a deal. And there are aspects of that -- that leadership who actually may be holding the strait at risk to give themselves leverage over the civilian government.
So, this is a pretty dramatic development that we've heard and in line with "The New York Times" reporting earlier today we just heard outlined. The condition of the supreme leader is unknown. We've heard it could be as severe as the injuries mentioned. We even heard that there's uncertainty as to whether or not he's actually still alive. So, the balance is somewhere between that, and the IRGC is taking advantage of that at the moment.
BLACKWELL: Nazila, I've read that, in some ways, you believe the president is misrepresenting or maybe exaggerating the rift inside the Iranian regime. What do you believe?
FATHI: I think there has always been rifts within --
BLACKWELL: Sure.
FATHI: -- the Iranian regime and within the IRGC. IRGC is a very fractured body. They have a lot of commanders. They have different allegiances. I think the group that is in power right now is a group of Revolutionary Guards commanders who were very close to the son of the supreme leader who was killed.
Even if the supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was in a good shape, he doesn't have his father's authority. It took his father about 37 years to build the kind of influence and authority that he had. I don't think he is dead. He is definitely alive because they wouldn't have been able to keep it as a secret for such a long time. But he may not be in a very good condition. Apparently, he's mentally alert. But even if he was in a good shape, I have heard from people who know him very well that he doesn't have the kind of charisma that his father had.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
FATHI: And he's going to let the commanders who are close to him to make those decisions. So, in terms of the messaging that comes from Iran, from the negotiators, from Ghalibaf, who is one of the negotiators, I think we are getting a unified message.
BLACKWELL: Yes. So, let's talk more about that because it's Ghalibaf, the head of the Iranian parliament, who has been out front on negotiations, right? He was in Islamabad discussing with the vice president. Are the leader parliament and the head of the IRGC aligned here or is that the point of friction as well?
PLITSAS: So, it's unknown. I mean, we're hearing from both the U.S. government as well as, again, allies in the region and some of the mediators that there is, in fact, a split between them. And the fact that they can't get a unified position is why there was no one present in Islamabad from Tehran, basically, for negotiations. In addition, the fact that the blockade is seen as a serious problem from their perspective. So, the problem is for the United States. If the U.S. were to lift the blockade, which is what the Iranians are looking for, it would look as if the U.S. is giving into that. So, GCC allies spoken to said, look, you know, perhaps, at some point, the U.S. and the Iran mutually decide to lift the blockade and maybe come back to the negotiating table. But at this point, there's internal disagreement. At least that's the belief at this point.
But again, the intelligence picture is not completely clear. We haven't heard from the supreme leader and likely for the reasons you were mentioning about, the physical condition that he's in. So, it presents a very precarious situation.
BLACKWELL: Let's talk about this order from the president to shoot and kill any of these small boats that come into the Strait of Hormuz to try to put these mines into the Strait of Hormuz. Did the administration underestimate the ability of Iran to mine and to weaponize the strait?
[23:10:05]
PLITSAS: So, I don't -- I don't know if it's necessarily underestimating their ability to do so. It was probably the willingness. So, all of the U.S. exercises up until this point were predicated upon a strike on the missile program as well as the nuclear program. It didn't begin with an existential crisis when 88 of the senior leaders were taken out in opening strike. That immediately had the Iranian government or the IRGC folks now in charge responding from what they saw as an existential threat. So, they moved right away to hold the strait at risk, which was not something the U.S. had originally considered. And so, as a result of that, we've now seen the crisis play out at this point. And so that wasn't part of the initial U.S. military objectives.
BLACKWELL: Yes. The announcement of the extension, three-week extension of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, is Netanyahu being dragged to this by the United States?
FATHI: I think so.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
FATHI: But I think it's a very good news for the region in general. And I think it is a good step toward probably negotiation between Iran and the United States because that was an obstacle the first time J.D. Vance met with Iranian negotiators.
BLACKWELL: Yes. Of course, we remember that the U.S. and Israel said that Lebanon was part -- not part of the ceasefire. Iran said that it was indeed. And now, it seems like so much is actually dependent upon that holding. Do you believe it can?
FATHI: I hope so.
BLACKWELL: Yes, because we heard from Israelis, just talked to my colleague, Jim Sciutto, says it' not a hundred percent. They hope that it will hold. But, of course, the ceasefire is between Israel and Lebanon, not Hezbollah.
PLITSAS: And that's actually what worries me more than anything else. So, if it is dependent upon the ceasefire in Lebanon, the ceasefire in Lebanon is predicated upon negotiations between Israel and the Lebanese government for the disarmament of Hezbollah, which has yet to occur in the last 40 years.
So, if that doesn't happen and then Israel decides they need to go back in on the ground because one percent of the Israeli population has been displaced in Northern Israel since the start of the conflict after October 7 -- they haven't been able to go back in because of the threat that has been posed by Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon, at least if you talk to the Israeli government.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
PLITSAS: But if they turn the attacks back on and those negotiations fail, then do the Iranians then go back to holding the Strait of Hormuz at risk? Is this going to be a perpetual problem using asymmetric threats like drones? We don't know, and that's going to be a long-term problem for the United States and the global community.
BLACKWELL: Multiple sources, Alex, tell CNN that the U.S. Military is considering strikes around the strait if this ceasefire fails. Plan also includes, let's put up on the screen, targeting individual Iranian military leaders and other obstructionists within the regime. The ayatollah was eliminated day one. Other high-ranking Iranian officials were eliminated early in this war. Who's left that would have -- would be a pressure point that would change the will or suppress the will of the Iranians?
PLITSAS: So, at this point, if we heard the president's statements today, I think they were a thinly-veiled threat to certain extent at the elements of the IRGC that are potentially holding back a deal. And, at this point, the IRGC commander, the new commander, is seen as a problem.
So, the Israelis had kind of approached the U.S. with this theory: If you can't change the game, change the players because whatever comes afterwards can't be any worse than what we had now, at least prior to the war. The U.S. intelligence community felt differently and thought that the IRGC would sort of take power, which is kind of what we're seeing now to a certain extent.
So, if that's the case, this could be potential targeted strikes at IRGC leaders who are holding up a deal. This could be more strikes around the Gulf, particularly for any of the offensive capabilities to go after shipping, which has remained a problem.
BLACKWELL: All right. Alex, Nazila, thank you both. Next, a special forces soldier under arrest, accused of betting on the capture of Nicolas Maduro and making hundreds of thousands of dollars. How did the DOJ catch him? And is this a sign of things to come? Congressman Eugene Vindman has been demanding answers on this. He'll join me, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:15:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: A U.S. special forces soldier involved in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was just charged and arrested allegedly for betting on that very mission. The prosecutors say Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke -- quote -- "had access to sensitive, non-public, classified information about that operation," and that he placed 13 bets on Polymarket worth roughly $32,000 on whether Maduro would be out by January. Apparently, the last bet came just hours before he was captured. Prosecutors say in total, Van Dyke profited approximately $409,000. He then allegedly moved those winnings into a foreign cryptocurrency account to conceal the origin.
The president was asked about these charges as well as other suspicious bets related to the Iran War. This was his response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Was he betting that they would get him or they wouldn't get him?
UNKNOWN (voice-over): It sounds like he was betting on his removal from office, that Maduro would be removed.
TRUMP: Oh, it's interesting.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): It sounds like he was involved in the operation.
TRUMP: That's like Pete Rose betting on his own team.
(LAUGHTER)
It sounds like Pete Rose. Pete Rose, they kept him out of the Hall of Fame because he bet on his own team. The whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino. And you look at what's going on all over the world, in Europe, and every place, they're doing these betting things. I was never much in favor of it. I don't like it conceptually. But it is what it is. No, I think that I'm not happy with any of this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Joining me now is Democratic congressman from Virginia, Eugene Vindman. He's a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a retired Army colonel. Congressman, I wanted to talk to you because you have been focused on these bets for weeks now.
[23:20:04]
We'll talk about the President's response later. Your reaction to the charges first. REP. EUGENE VINDMAN (D-VA): Well, it's an outrageous lapse in good order and discipline in -- in military efficiency. It's a betrayal of trust of others in uniform and the -- and the country. And it is unacceptable and it needs to be stamped out before American lives and military missions are put in jeopardy.
BLACKWELL: You sent a letter to Polymarket demanding that they preserve all the records on these kinds of suspicious bets. You want Congress to take some action. What do you want to happen next?
VINDMAN: Yes. Absolutely. I want Polymarket to preserve the records. I think there needs to be a full congressional investigation. I think these markets right now are insufficiently regulated. You can bet on things that are frankly unacceptable on -- on things related to U.S. national security.
And these are perverse incentives. I mean, this -- the fact that this soldier was able to bet on something that he should have been focused on the mission, he should have been focused on protecting his buddies, and he should have been focused on uh U.S. national security. What he was focused on, at least in part and distracted by, was this personal incentive of self-enrichment. And that is unacceptable, and it needs to be precluded.
And so, one of the things we're asking for, other than getting a hold of the documents in congressional investigation, is that the secretary of defense issue a clear regulation. I believe this conduct is already illegal. As a former prosecutor, I think I would have a sufficient basis to charge something like this under the UCMJ. But the secretary of defense needs to make it very clear by issuing an order or regulation that this conduct is unacceptable and prohibited.
BLACKWELL: Yes. It's remarkable that these bets happened at all, according to the Department of Justice, but that they happened just hours before the mission. And there have been several other suspicious trades related to the war in Iran. This is unknown trader, made nearly a million dollars from some pretty well-timed bets on the U.S. Israeli strikes. How widespread, do you think, this is?
VINDMAN: Well, look, I think there has been public reporting by -- about some particularly egregious incidents. There could be other incidents and other bets below a certain threshold that need to be fully investigated.
But I'll tell you, whether it's a couple hours or, you know, a full 24 hours, that's an eternity in military operations. That's plenty of time to either adjust troop dispositions or put air defense assets on guard. It could put very easily, it could be -- it could be putting American lives, the mission at risk. And, you know, adversaries, if they're monitoring this and they see unusual whale-like trades, can take precautionary measures.
BLACKWELL: Let me read something that your colleague in the House, Anna Paulina Luna, she just posted, give me your response to it, "I'm calling for this guy to be pardoned. Unless the DOJ plans on going after all the crooks in Congress currently insider trading, this is simply skewed justice." She goes on to say that she doesn't support his actions, just that there's a double standard. What do you think about that?
VINDMAN: Well, this whataboutism is ridiculous. And so, this soldier has undermined good order discipline. He has betrayed the trust of his -- his unit. And he needs to be held accountable. The military is a self-policing profession. Certain standards are expected. And if you fail to meet those standards, then you're held accountable. In this case, where the action is quite serious. I think that there ought to be at least a thorough investigation and consideration of a prosecution.
Pardoning is an outrageous statement. I mean, it frankly belittles the dangerous nature of these actions, just like the statement that you read from the president. I mean, that was also outrageous, likening this to Pete Rose. Pete Rose was banned for life from baseball. But this is not a game. This is life and death, and it's U.S. national security. It's not a game.
BLACKWELL: Congressman Eugene Vindman, thank you.
VINDMAN: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: Up next, President Trump is very serious about spending a half billion dollars to buy Spirit Airlines. And now, he thinks not only can he buy it, but he can make a profit. And the president's former economic advisor thinks it is a terrible idea.
[23:25:02]
He'll join me, next. Also, later, the Eric Trump interview that had Democrats making claims of corruption in plain sight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: To buy or not to buy? That is the question in front of President Trump. He's weighing a $500 million taxpayer-funded bailout for Spirit Airlines.
[23:30:00]
Of course, the low-cost carrier has filed for bankruptcy twice and the high cost of jet fuel could ground the airline for good, unless the president can come through with a deal, and it sounds like he wants to save Spirit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'd love to be able to save those jobs. I'd love to be able to save an airline. You know, I like having a lot of airlines. So, it's competitive. So, we are looking at Spirit. It's in bankruptcy. It's in bankruptcy court. And we're looking. If we can get it for the right price, I'd do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: All right, let's bring in now economist Stephen Moore, former economic adviser to Trump and columnist at "The Wall Street Journal." Stephen, good to have you on tonight. You don't like this. There are a lot of Trump supporters who also do not like this. Some are even calling it socialism. Why is this something that, at least from what we've heard from the president now, sounds like he wants to move forward with, anyway?
STEPHEN MOORE, ECONOMIST, COLUMNIST AT THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, FORMER TRUMP ECONOMIC ADVISER: Well, Victor, think it's absolutely true that he wants to save these jobs. We're talking about, you know, thousands of jobs that would -- that would be lost in the airline industry if this airline went -- went into bankruptcy.
Now, I want to make sure -- by the way, you are absolutely right, my friend, I'm not in favor of -- of the federal government taking ownership of this airline. I think it's always a bad idea. It's sort of privatization in reverse when the government buys assets.
But it's important for people to understand, Victor, why this -- we're in this situation right now. And it really dates back to the Biden years when Joe Biden was president and there was a very good deal on the table for Spirit, which was in financial trouble. They were going to merge with JetBlue and that would have -- they would have been the fifth largest air -- if they'd combined, they would have been the fifth largest airline to compete with Delta, American, United, and Southwest. Great idea, right? I mean, this makes a lot of sense. You'd have more competition in the airline industry. And idiotically, the Biden administration would not let that deal go through.
BLACKWELL: Sure, but it was a judge who actually rejected that deal. There was a judge who rejected that deal.
MOORE: No. It was -- no. It was rejected by the Biden antitrust division. And, by the way, the Department of Transportation secretary then was Pete Buttigieg, who wants to run for president. And so, that is one of the reasons why, you know, the Trump people are saying, look, we don't normally want to bail out a company, but given fact that the Spirit shareholders and the workers were so shafted by the Biden administration by not allowing this -- this merger, which would have saved thousands of jobs to go through. So, that's the other part of the story.
BLACKWELL: But the Biden administration sued to stop the merger between JetBlue and Spirit. But it was a Reagan-appointed judge who actually agreed with the department and said that it should not go through.
MOORE: But there wouldn't have been a -- the point is there wouldn't have been a case at all if the Biden administration had let it go through. And really, somebody should ask Pete Buttigieg, are you sorry you did this to the workers? Because now, you've got the airline that is basically either going to go out of business or have it to be bought by the federal government. There's no other alternative out there. Trump -- look, I'm not in favor of it. Trump says, I don't want all these workers to lose their jobs. BLACKWELL: You said that there's no alternative. But you're a free market Republican. The free market suggests, if you can't keep the company profitable, you file for bankruptcy twice, then it should go out of business.
MOORE: No. I agree with that except for the fact that the government is the one that put them in this position. And so, they do have a case for saying, look, you screwed us over, you should be able to help us now. And I think that's an important part of the story. Spirit would be operating today if it had not been for the blockage of that merger. And I wonder, you know, if people who blocked it, you know, are apologetic about doing that because it has really hurt the economy and these workers.
BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about the second half of what the president's plan is.
MOORE: Yes.
BLACKWELL: It sounds at least like he wants to spend this $500 million --
MOORE: Correct.
BLACKWELL: -- of taxpayer funds to buy Spirit airlines. But then he says that he can sell it for a profit. You buy that?
MOORE: You know, there was a very famous saying by Richard Branson. You may recall, he was the CEO of Virgin Airlines many, many years ago. He used to say that if you -- he had a famous saying where he said, if you want to turn a billion dollars into a million dollars, buy an airline. And so, it's not always the most profitable industry. And so, I think it's probably not a great idea for taxpayers to put up this money to purchase Spirit Airline. And, by the way, do we really want the government running an airline? It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
BLACKWELL: All right. Let's talk about the war. International Monetary Fund says the war is threatening the global economy. The president says he is in no rush. He told Jeff Mason, don't rush me on getting a deal to end this war. And that means that the Strait of Hormuz could stay exactly where it is, closed or clogged, at least. Do you think the economy can withstand drawn out weeks, months of the situation in the strait that we see now?
[23:35:03]
MOORE: Well, look, everybody is frustrated by the fact that this has taken so long, to get the strait open. I've been saying for many, many weeks, others have, economists have, too, that as soon as we get that strait open and the flow of commerce and the oil, not just oil, fertilizer and other needed goods are transported through there, we're going to have problems with the economy. No question about it. We've already seen the inflation rate go up. So, it's in everyone's interest. And, by the way, not just the U.S. interest, but the Europeans' interest. China is the number one importer of that oil from the Middle East. So, it's in everyone's interest to get this done. You're dealing with some rogue leaders that Trump is having a hard time getting this deal done. But it will get done. I feel pretty confident. This guy knows the art of the deal. It's going to get done.
BLACKWELL: OK. He said four to six weeks. We're in week eight. Let me ask you about more than just oil, the fertilizer. American Farm Bureau Federation --
MOORE: Yes.
BLACKWELL: -- is warning that 70 percent -- 70 percent of farmers say they cannot afford the fertilizer that they need to plant crops. We are in planting season. What should the White House be doing?
MOORE: What should they do?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
BLACKWELL: Yes. Well, again, you know, about 30 to 40 percent of the world's fertilizer is transported through the Strait of Hormuz. It's another reason we have to get this open. And you're quite right, Victor, that this is planting season for the farmers. They're having a hard time because they can't purchase the fertilizer at any price. Another reason we got to get the strait open. The other thing Trump should do, by the way, is there's a 15 percent Biden tariff on imported -- imported fertilizer. That should be repealed.
BLACKWELL: Stephen Moore, thank you for being with me. All right, let's stay on the economy because we saw something today that has not happened since the Obama administration. A new Fox News poll shows voters believe Democrats would do a better job on the economy over Republicans. First time the Democrats have polled better than Republicans on this issue since 2010. And, of course, the economy continues to be the top issue for all voters.
With me now, Adam Mockler, host of "The Adam Mockler Show" on MeidasTouch network, and Brad Todd, CNN political commentator and Republican strategist. Brad, let me get your reaction to that first. First time in 16 years that Republicans are coming in second on preference of handling the economy. What do you think?
BRAD TODD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, this poll is an outlier. Fox poll is always kind of tough for Republicans, which might be a surprise to some of CNN's viewers, but that's typically the way it is. Republicans do have to be in better shape when we get to the elections in the fall on the economy, if you're going to retain the House of Representatives. Now, luckily for us, we're running against House Democrats.
Harry Enten, CNN polling analyst, yesterday said Democrats are lower than the Dead Sea. Recent poll had Democrat congressional approval at only 13 percent. It's like the old saying about when you're hiking with a friend and a bear comes after you, you don't have to outrun the bear, you just have to outrun your friends. And so, Republicans just have to outrun the abysmally unpopular House Democrats. But they have to do better on the economy if we're going do that.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
ADAM MOCKLER, SHOW HOST, MEIDASTOUCH: I disagree that this poll was an outlier. You can look at any polling trending over the past year and Donald Trump is rapidly spiraling on the economy due to a number of things that he has done. He got into office and placed sweeping tariffs on almost every single country except for Russia and North Korea for some reason. That cost American families $1,000 last year.
On top of that, he cut ACA subsidies. He continued to cut Medicaid for the most vulnerable Americans while making sure that rich Americans don't pay much in taxes. Then on top of all that, the war that he just started in Iran is spiking the cost of gas and spiking the cost of diesel, which underlies the cost of all of these.
So, all of these combined, there is no way to look at the average American in the eye and tell them that the economy is working for them. Do you think the economy is working for the average American?
TODD: Adam, you skipped over something really important, maybe the most important economic part. Every Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives voted to give Americans higher taxes. Every single one of them voted to let their taxes go up. It was the Democrats --
MOCKLER: They voted against the big, beautiful bill.
TODD: Democrats -- right, exactly, which kept their taxes from going up. That's what it did.
MOCKLER: It made permanent the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which made the richest people --
TODD: No. It kept the tax rates where they were. They were going to go up.
MOCKLER: Yes, from Donald Trump's first term.
TODD: They were going to go up. Democrats wanted taxes to increase on American families. The deduction --
MOCKLER: That is not true.
TODD: -- the standard deduction, the child tax deduction, Democrats wanted all of those things --
MOCKLER: Wait. Do you think Democrats would have slashed ACA subsidies making healthcare higher? No. Democrats would have started a war in Iran? No. Do you think Democrats would have cut Medicaid? No. You're talking about Democrats screwing over the most vulnerable Americans. I don't see that. Trump has repeatedly thrown them under the bus.
TODD: How did Democrats vote on taxes? Did they vote to let them go up or keep them where they are?
MOCKLER: They voted against the big, beautiful bill because the big, beautiful bill made permanent the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that --
(CROSSTALK)
TODD: No. It made -- the taxes are lower for everyone under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
MOCKLER: OK.
TODD: They lower for everyone. If you pay income taxes, your taxes went down in 2017. Democrats voted to let those --
MOCKLER: So -- OK. So, the Republican Party has now put -- you're making this argument.
[23:39:59]
The Republican Party is now putting us in a position where the deficit each year is going up. The debt is skyrocketing so much that we have 39 trillion in debt, we're paying $1 trillion per year in the interest on our debt, and Donald Trump is responsible for 27 percent of that debt as a single man. What Democrat even comes close to that? Twenty- seven percent of that is due to Donald Trump.
TODD: Democrats in Congress haven't met anything. They'd cut spending on except for border security.
BLACKWELL: Brad, let me ask you about this because Adam brought up the tariffs. And we heard from former vice president, Mike Pence, about those tariffs. Let's listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think the economy has been impacted by the uncertainty around the president's broad-based tariffs from Liberation Day. I was heartened that the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the president's Liberation Day on tariffs.
ALI VITALI, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: He was quite critical of that.
PENCE: I know he's not happy about it. But the Constitution is quite clear that taxes originate in the Congress, not by the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Do you think you're going -- you say you run against unpopular Democrats. Are you also running against the legacy of those tariffs?
TODD: Well, if you look back when the Liberation Day terror, the day he's talking about, the Nasdaq is up 25 percent since then. I think every day Americans know that it was unfair that German cars coming into the United States were taxed at one quarter the rate of cars from the United States going to Germany. The president appropriately used leverage to try to lower trade barriers. And while I might not have liked every time he pulled one off or put one on, but in the end, the American people know that it is right and just for the United States to --
MOCKLER: Oh my.
TODD: -- negotiate a much more level playing field and to isolate China.
MOCKLER: We just had a debate about which party was raising taxes on the American people. And you basically just won the argument for me by saying that Donald Trump raised taxes on the American people. But then you claim that the American people actually understand and support it. No, the American people don't understand it when Donald Trump himself is claiming that other countries pay the tariff. How are Americans supposed to --
TODD: Other countries' company pay the tax. Tariffs are tax on foreign companies that come into the United States.
MOCKLER: And who is paying for it? The companies that import it, and that gets passed off to the consumer.
TODD: Sometimes, the exporters pay it. Sometimes, the importers pay it.
MOCKLER: No. There was $1,000 tax --
TODD: It's crazy to me that Democrats have now decided foreign corporations are the only entities --
MOCKLER: No.
TODD: They don't want to --
MOCKLER: I'm saying that you shouldn't tariff every single country indiscriminately except for Russia and China, and call it some smart strategy.
TODD: So, what do you mean? Higher taxes on companies are passed on to consumers. Is that what you're telling me?
MOCKLER: I'm saying that when companies have to pay for imports --
TODD: The higher taxes on companies hurt consumers. I'm glad Democrats finally have said that because they've always wanted higher taxes --
BLACKWELL: Well, let me ask you about the president's son. Eric Trump was on television touting a $24 million contract from the Pentagon for a robotics company where he's the chief strategy advisor of robotics company. He talked about the deal today. Let's watch some of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ERIC TRUMP, SON OF PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We are America first. We have to win this race. We had to win a lot of races, right? You know, I got involved with crypto in a very big way because we had to win that digital revolution. We have to win robotics in the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Eric Trump. Does Eric Trump know any more about robotics than Hunter Biden knew about energy in Ukraine? I mean, Republicans were so critical of his Burisma deal, that it deserved scrutiny. Where's the scrutiny here?
TODD: Well, he's not a robotics expert. He's an investor in this company. You know, this company, by the way, we should talk about what it does. They make robots that go into places where there's toxic waste, where there are dangerous situations, where the human body would be at risk. Humans are still in control of these robots. It's a tool. This is $24 million contract. It's basically a demonstration contract in $55 billion autonomous vehicle budget. The United States does, in fact -- this is -- helps save the lives of soldiers and potentially others --
BLACKWELL: Sure, the work they do might be very important. But Eric Trump as a -- sorry. Let me get the title right. Chief strategy advisor getting this deal with the Pentagon. Democrats call that corruption in plain sight, and you say what?
TODD: Well, the question is, did they deserve the contract based on their product and their price? If they deserve the contract based on their product and their price, then the Defense Department should buy their product at that price. That's the only question.
MOCKLER: Was there even a competitive bid or was it like Kristi Noem where there was just a no-bid contract that they gave to Don, Jr.? I mean, Donald Trump has profited $3 billion off of a coin with his name on it. Trump coin. You admit that, right? Three billion dollars, he has profited. OK. So, you can't admit that.
TODD: Are we talking about robotics or are you trying to change the subject?
MOCKLER: I'm talking about the --
TODD: We're talking about $24 million robotics deal. That's Victor's question.
MOCKLER: Yes. It perfectly ties into the insane amount of self- corruption. So, you don't want to talk about it. That's fine.
TODD: No. I want to know why we're talking -- we're about robotics.
MOCKLER: We're talking about self --
TODD: Does the Department of Defense need to buy robotics so that the soldiers are protected from toxic waste? That's the question. MOCKLER: Yes, yes. Of course, of course.
TODD: Do you agree with this deal, then?
MOCKLER: No, no. The deal is fine. The definition of corruption --
TODD: The deal is fine.
MOCKLER: The definition of corruption is using public office for your personal gain. If this deal were competitive and went out to competition, that's fine. Giving it to Don, Jr. because he's your son is not fine. There should be --
TODD: Not Don, Jr.
BLACKWELL: Eric Trump.
MOCKLER: Eric Trump. My bad, my bad. They're both the same.
[23:45:01]
BLACKWELL: Adam, Brad, thank you both. All right, up next, have you seen this? Let's end on something inspiring tonight, right? It's at the Boston Marathon. Two competitors sacrificed their personal best to help a runner in need, and they're with me live, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:50:00]
BLACKWELL: Well, do not count the good guys out just yet. In the final stretch of Monday's Boston Marathon, we're talking 26 miles in, one runner thought his race was all but over when his legs gave out and he could hardly stand. But just a few seconds later, two strangers from different corners of the world let him know that he was not alone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERING)
UNKNOWN: Let's go!
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: And after that, all three men crossed the finish line together. That runner, Ajay Haridasse, joins me now, along with one of the people who helped him cross the finish line, Aaron Beggs. Guys, good to have you. I understand this is your first time talking with one another since that moment. Ajay, take us back. You fell once, twice, three times, I believe a fourth time. And I read you were getting ready to crawl. What was going through your mind as you were struggling to get to that last point to across the line? AJAY HARIDASSE, BOSTON MARATHON RUNNER: Yes. I -- I just needed to get there. I had been waiting for that race for so long. And I was trying literally everything to try to muster up the energy to get there. Like you can see in the video, I'm slapping the ground, trying to like -- I'm mouthing the words, come on. And nothing was working. My legs were not letting me get up. So, that last time, I was about to roll over and, honestly, start crawling because I had no other choice. But Aaron kind of took it away, took it away from there.
BLACKWELL: Aaron, listen, this is mile 26 at 26.2. You must have been pretty exhausted. And we see there are other people who run by. What went through your mind as you saw Ajay trying to get up?
AARON BEGGS, BOSTON MARATHON RUNNER: Boston Marathon is a world major. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. It's a bucket list for everybody. I kept reminding myself the previous two miles when I was struggling coming along from Bacon Street, how hard it is and how much a lot to get to finish line, not everybody in this world will ever get a chance to run Boston Marathon. So, as I come around the corner, natural instinct, just took over and made me go over to Ajay.
BLACKWELL: And this is -- I mean, it's the Boston Marathon, most competitive, one of the most competitive races to get into. Just to qualify, they have strict standards. Two strangers, Ajay, came and sacrificed their personal best to help you finish. I know you've had a little time to think about it. How does that make you feel?
HARIDASSE: It is crazy. I mean, like the more -- the more I think about it, the -- like the more lucky I feel, the more grateful I feel. Also because -- I mean, I know Aaron told me recently that he's planning on running London next year. But I know Robson, he is planning to run Boston again. And we were approaching that requalifying standard. It would make me feel horrible if they stopped to help me, and they didn't re-qualify for next year and, like, delayed their plans. But, genuinely, it was like the craziest feeling, knowing that someone would just do that when they're approaching the same feeling that I'm feeling. And I don't know. I've never experienced that in my entire life.
BLACKWELL: Yes. And Aaron, the other man that Ajay just mentioned, Robson De Oliveira from Brazil, he also helped. You wrote on Instagram that he actually ended up in a worse state than Ajay was at the end of the race. How is he doing?
BEGGS: I've seen him a couple times on social media. He was saying about going back to Boston, as you heard from Ajay. And the three of us are just laughing about it when I was last talking to them. We just can't believe this has gone so far. But, as I said to Ajay, we crossed the finish line. I turned around for the wheelchair. The wheelchair ran by me. Robson was absolutely on his back and were -- is a hero for giving every ounce of energy to help Ajay get to the finish line. And for all three of us, our goal was cross it.
BLACKWELL: And Ajay, again, this is the first time you two have spoken since this moment.
[23:55:02]
Is there anything you want to say to Aaron?
HARIDASSE: Just thank you again. I wish I could have said it in person. I was being wheelchaired to the medical tent. I said thank you to four random other runners. But genuinely thank you. It means the world. I don't know you that well yet, I guess, but it just shows me how much -- what type of person you are.
BLACKWELL: And it shows to all of us, millions of views on this video. Ajay Haridasse, Aaron Beggs, and also to Robson De Oliveira, who wasn't with us tonight, but also part of this story, thank you all. And thanks for what you did, Aaron. It inspired a lot of people.
All right, a programming note now. Tomorrow night at 11 p.m. Eastern, comedian Matt Friend will join -- well, host rather, CNN political comedy special "America Laughs." It is part of a kickoff to the White House Correspondents Dinner. And CNN will, of course, have coverage of the dinner on Saturday night, starting at 8 p.m. Eastern. Both events are also available on the CNN app.
All right, that does it for me. "The Story Is with Elex Michaelson" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
