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Laura Coates Live

Trump Lost Track of Time in War with Iran; Louisiana Suspends House Primaries After Supreme Court Ruling; Trump Pulls Surgeon General Pick After Nomination Stalls. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired April 30, 2026 - 23:00   ET

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

FMR. REP. PETER MEIJER (R-MI): -- a healing moment for the nation.

[23:00:01]

If I fail, I will have been fired by Donald Trump and his son. And I think that's a nice Wikipedia (inaudible).

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Scott.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think things like this, you should find people that don't really have anything else to do. So, Marco Rubio doesn't have really enough jobs and I think we ought to give him one more. He's performed admirably on everything else. So, I'm for Marco.

PHILLIP: All right, Adam.

ADAM MOCKLER, COMMENTATOR, MEIDASTOUCH NETWORK: Jeff Bezoz, because he seems to be handing these deals out. He seems to be the one that's cutting them to Melania after he visited the White House, you know. So, it seems like only natural.

PHILLIP: I think he would win this one. Something just tells me. All right, everyone. Thank you very much. Thanks for watching "NewsNight." "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Tonight, deadline day for Trump's war in Iran as the Pentagon tries to call time out to prevent a make or break action by Congress. Plus, the stunning move out of Louisiana, where the governor has now suspended elections to allow for a new Republican-drawn midterm map. And the president pulls the nomination of a MAHA favorite as he rages against the Republicans who got in her way. All tonight on "Laura Coates Live."

Well, my opening statement tonight, President Trump has lost track of time in the war with Iran. How long will it last? How long will gas prices stay sky high? How long before Congress weighs in on a conflict it never authorized? Well, good question because tomorrow, that deadline is up.

And don't take my word for it. It's written in the law. The War Powers Resolution says from the moment the president reports the fighting to Congress, the clock starts ticking. After 60 days, Congress has to declare war, authorize the force or extend the deadline. Otherwise, the president is supposed to stop using the military.

But Trump seems to think the law is getting in the way of him making a deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Im negotiating a deal with Iran. And every week, every three days, they put in a thing that the war should stop. And people ask me, how the hell do you negotiate like that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Trump's defense secretary, he's taking a different tap. He claims the ceasefire actually stops that clock.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I would defer to the White House and White House counsel on that. However, we are in a ceasefire right now, which our understanding means the 60-day clock pauses or stops in a ceasefire. So, they're not in. It's our understanding, just so you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: From where? Because I can tell you, the War Powers Resolution, that makes no mention of a ceasefire. And Pete Hegseth's explanation, it might make some Republicans very unhappy. But Trump is sounding like he wants to stick it out despite no formal authorization, despite no relief in sight for Americans at the pump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): The average price of a gallon of gas is now $4.30 in this country.

TRUMP: And you know what? And we're not going to have a nuclear weapon in the hands of Iran. The gas will go down. As soon as the war is over, it will drop like a rock.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: As soon as the war is over. OK. But what is that exactly? The four to six weeks the administration originally projected? Because right now, the short term, I think the word to use was excursion, that's entering week nine. Gas prices hit a four-year high today, a four year high today. And some places are flirting with prices kneeling $5 a gallon. Now, a key inflation marker used by the Federal Reserve is now at 3.5 percent. That is the highest rate in nearly three years, shaky signs during a shaky situation.

But if you had any doubt about what Trump is using as his key metric, he made quite the big reveal today that, frankly, makes it all abundantly clear. Now, you may not have caught it if you weren't listening closely enough, but it was a window into why, why he decided to attack Iran when he did.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You know, when we hit 50,000 on the Dow and 7,000 on the S &P, I said to myself, we've got to do something about Iran. They want to have a nuclear weapon. You can't let them have a nuclear weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Now, look, we all know the president treats the stock market as a scorecard for his job performance. But even suggesting that Wall Street gave him some room to take that kind of risk, I mean, that's another thing entirely, isn't it? And like I just laid out, it's just one indicator. If all the other economic signs keep going south, so will the markets.

And there's another player in this game with some pretty significant leverage, Iran.

[23:05:03]

The country's lead negotiator is signaling that Iran won't cage the U.S. blockade. He says, if you build two walls across America from coast to coast, it still isn't enough to cover all of Iran's borders, and he ended his message with a smiley emoji. And that's the problem with starting a war on your own clock. The other side has one, too.

Let's start with New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. He has a new piece in the Times titled, "Two Cocky Authoritarians Blocking Hormuz. What Could Go Wrong?" Nick, I just laid out what sounds like a stalemate. What could go wrong?

NICHOLAS KRISTOF, COLUMNIST, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, I mean, things are going wrong as it is, obviously, Laura, in that we're spending a billion dollars a day on, you know, a war that is making it more likely, not less likely, that Iran will develop a nuclear weapon that is creating incredible economic damage all over.

What could go even more wrong would be escalation, that, you know, President Trump sees that the present path is not working and decides to start bombing again, or Iran decides it is under too much economic pressure so it decides to maybe hit more refineries, to hit perhaps the Fujairah outlet for the UAE that is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, or to ask its friends, the Houthis, to close traffic to Red Sea as well.

You know, it's just so frustrating because there is a deal to be had perhaps, but the problem for President Trump is that it's a worse deal than he could have gotten in January before the war. And so, he doesn't want to accept that for obvious reasons. And, meanwhile, Iran is hurting but, you know, it thinks that time is on its side. And so, meanwhile, we have the whole world economy being held hostage by these -- by these two sides.

COATES: And Secretary Hegseth is giving the impression that he believes Americans actually back the war with Iran. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEGSETH: I believe we do have the support of the American people. And we have briefed regularly what this mission looks like. This is defined mission set that we have had great success in pursuing against a determined --

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): So, you don't care --

HEGSETH: -- enemy who seeks --

GILLIBRAND: You don't care --

HEGSETH: -- nuclear weapons. And I'm proud --

GILLIBRAND: So, Mr. Hegseth --

HEGSETH: -- of the opportunity to --

GILLIBRAND: -- you don't care that the American people are not supporting this war.

HEGSETH: -- remind the American people because they believe in it as well, that they can't have it.

GILLIBRAND: You don't care whether the American people support this war.

HEGSETH: When the American people and they're -- the American people are quite smart. They understand and see through spin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: The most recent poll shows that 61 percent of Americans actually disapprove of the war. I mean, is the administration totally misreading the public's views, ignoring the polling or are they purposely spinning it?

KRISTOF: Laura, you know, I've spent much of my career covering authoritarians around the world. And what always happens with authoritarians is that they surround themselves with sycophants, with yes men, who tell them, oh, you're doing great, the people love what you're doing.

And -- I mean, so, I think that's what Hegseth is telling Trump, that boy, this is going great and, you know, we're hitting so many targets, not mentioning that some of those are decoy missile launchers, for example, rather than real missile launchers.

And, meanwhile, I'm sure the people around the IRGC and Mojtaba Khamenei are saying, oh, boy, you know, time is on our side, we're doing just fine, the Iranian people support you against this aggression.

And problem is that authoritarian personalities tend to make really bad decisions because they are surrounded by yes men.

You know, Trump said back on March 7th that we had won this war. That was back on March 7th. And, meanwhile, Iran has a similar history of overreach, of just going too far. And it's just, you know, so depressing because they're just holding the entire world economy hostage.

COATES: Speaking of Iran's elusive supreme leader, apparently issued a rare statement today, so has not been seen, of course, but he insists that Iran has no intention to give up the Strait of Hormuz, that it's going to retain its nuclear capabilities. Do you think the United States is underestimating how hardened he and leadership might be?

KRISTOF: I think President Trump is clearly underestimating what they can get. You know, there is a nuclear deal that is possible, but it's not going to involve Iran just handing over all of its highly enriched uranium and putting it out of the country. It's not going to involve it completely giving up enrichment capacity. It's going to be something like a pause in enrichment, a low level after that, and slowly diluting the highly enriched uranium over a period of years to see whether the U.S. is filling its side of the bargain.

You know, President Trump has lost leverage over the last three months. And so, he's not going to get as good a deal as he could have got before it, and he's simply going to have to face that.

[23:10:00]

COATES: He was reportedly briefed, the president I'm talking about, on military operations today. Do you see a case to be made for using limited strikes to try and force Iran's hand, given what you've described?

KRISTOF: No. Look, the military toolbox is a useful toolbox. The diplomatic toolbox, I think, is what is needed at this point. We've hit 15,000 targets in Iran. I'm not sure what hitting another 1,000 is going to do. And the problem is that, you know, if we hit more, then Iran is going to hit other targets around the Gulf. It's going to take out more oil capacity, more refinery capacity. And that's not going -- that is not going to help us. It's not going to help anybody. It's going to simply harden the position of the Iranians.

So, what we need now is negotiation. We need to use that diplomatic toolbox and accept that, frankly, we're going to -- some deal is better than just letting this drag out month after month after month.

COATES: Nick Kristof, thank you so much. I want to keep the conversation going with former spokesperson for Senator Ted Cruz's presidential campaign, Rick Tyler. Also here, former communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris, Ashley Etienne. Glad to have both of you.

I have to go back to this 60-day deadline because you had Secretary Hegseth suggest that the ceasefire paused the clock. That's not what the law says. So, what can Congress do? Anything? RICK TYLER, FORMER SPOKESPERSON FOR SENATOR TED CRUZ'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, DIRECTOR OF ADVANCED SCHOOL OF POLITICS AT LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE: They can, but I don't think they will.

COATES: Why?

TYLER: As long as we're in a ceasefire, they love to talk about the War Powers Act, they don't like to use it in practicality, and they will use it when it becomes politically untenable not to use it. But in the meantime, they're not going to use it.

COATES: Why do you think they're not there yet in the untenability of it?

TYLER: Because they've wanted to give away the War Powers Act many times. They say they want it, but they don't want to take a vote to either support or not support the war. They don't want to be on record doing it because most of them are cowards, and that's just the way it is. And so -- but you're right, Hegseth -- there is no pause. That's a novel reading of the law. You have to ask the Congress to fund the war going forward.

And this war is expensive. I keep hearing this number 25 billion, but I think CBS News reported in the last hour it's probably 50 billion. And that doesn't account for all the damage that has been done.

And the question is, what did we get for it? Did we get regional stability? Did we get our allies all together around the world as a united force? Did we get a non-nuclear Iran without ambitions of nuclear weapons? We didn't get any of those things. And we got four- dollar gas because of the Strait of Hormuz, which is somehow being blockaded by the -- by the Iranian Navy, which we eliminated. That's a remarkable feat, in my opinion.

And so, we may have won some military battle, but the Iranians were in both political war because this war is, as you say, 61 percent negative and they're winning the economic battle.

COATES: Let's talk about the political war here, Ashley, because the secretary is suggesting that Democrats are the problem, that they are standing in the way of peace. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): America never succeeds in war unless the American people are behind it. And if what you're seeing as success now is winning, I would hate to see what losing looks like.

HEGSETH: We are two months into a historic military success in Iran. And you want to call it a defeat. And it's defeatist Democrats like you that cloud the mind of the American people and would otherwise fully support preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Is there a chance that Hegseth's message gets through for Democratic voters?

ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS, FORMER SENIOR ADVISOR TO SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI: To who?

COATES: Democrats. About the idea they're being defeatist, that they're --

ETIENNE: Oh --

COATES: -- to root against America, is his suggestion.

ETIENNE: No. I mean, this is absolutely laughable. I mean, the notion that Democrats wouldn't support a president. But the reason why there's no support, not just from the Democratic Party but from the general public, is that it's an unjustified war. The president has not laid out any particular strategies, not laid out any particular end game.

And it's very clear that the public and those members, also Republican members now -- Susan Collins has switched her vote and voted for the War Powers Act because she said the president has not demonstrated that he has any goals, he has not demonstrated that he has any strategy, any defined strategy to achieve those goals. It's to what you said, what are we getting out of this deal? And it's not just Democrats who are asking this question, it's Republicans who are asking it.

And it is overwhelming number of the American public that's concerned about this. I mean, if I'm the Republican Party, what I'm concerned most about is the independent voters. Sixty percent of them right now are saying that they don't support this war, that the United States has gone too far. And those are going to be the folks who are going to make the difference in the midterm election.

COATES: Why do you think -- I mean, there has been a wave of bad economic news, to say the least, to the president.

[23:15:01]

Seventy percent of Americans disapproving his handling of the economy. It used to be a winner for him. Up from 61 percent, though, just last month. You have inflation that hit its highest rate in nearly three years. Gas prices surging to a four-year high. And you have him kind of shrugging it off, saying they're going to drop like a rock in some way. I mean, when the war is over, which is an indefinite period of time, will voters buy that?

TYLER: I think It's two things. I think the Trump administration shot itself in the foot with tariffs because tariffs were seen to be arbitrary and they were going -- they were put on, they were taken off, they were put on. And you can't run global supply chain lines when nobody knows what the deal is going to be tomorrow. And then when you take on Iran and you aren't able to control the flow of oil, everything runs on energy, not just your car, but trains and trucks and ships and jet fuel.

COATES: And what each of those are carrying also impacts --

TYLER: Yes. Everything that arrives at your grocery store has gotten there by fossil fuel. That fossil fuel, a large amount of it comes from this region of the world. And Trump, I think, thought that he could get in there and do it very quickly and get out. And the fact is he couldn't.

COATES: So, Ashley, how did Democrats capitalize on this? They're using words like concerned, worried, anxious, frustrated. "The New York Times" talking about a number of Trump voters and what they're describing as their feelings based on this. I mean, does this sound good for Democrats?

ETIENNE: I mean, I think the Democratic Party has to get more aggressive on this issue. And we are seeing it right now. I think Seth Moulton is the first member to introduce a resolution on war crimes, you know, the bombing that happened with, you know, I think it was hundreds of kids killed in a school. I mean, they've got to become more aggressive about expanding the narrative around why this war is so detrimental, not just to your pockets, but to our relationships around the world, to our standing in the world. I mean, a whole host of other issues right now.

The War Powers Act, I don't disagree with pushing that particular bill, but it's more of a process argument. Expand it out, talk about, again, the bombings and the war, potential war crimes. Talk about, you know, the president's language and how that's reprehensible. I mean, there are so many different -- how about Pete Hegseth potentially doing insider trading? I mean, there are so many areas of corruption around this particular war that I think the Democratic Party needs to capitalize more on.

COATES: Stand by. I want to hear more about each of these things. Next, the dominoes are beginning to fall after the Supreme Court's ruling on voting rights. President Trump calls up Tennessee to ask for a new map as Louisiana's governor goes a step further and flat out suspends its upcoming primaries. How far is this going to go? The Louisiana congressman whose district was just struck down by the court will be my guest tonight. And later, a MAHA favorite dropped by the president after members of his own party spitted his way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: Forget long term. Elections are being impacted right now. In Louisiana, Republican Governor Jeff Landry, he has suspended primaries for Congress just as they were set to begin, calling his state maps unconstitutional after historic Supreme Court decision to gut the Voting Rights Act, Section 2 specifically. The conservative majority ruled Louisiana acted unlawfully by creating a second majority Black district. Now, the state plans to draw a new map that could give Republicans one more seat.

And House Speaker Mike Johnson, he wants to go even further. He's urging more states to redistrict now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE JOHNSON, SPEAKER OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: I think all states who have unconstitutional maps should look at that very carefully. I think they should do it before the midterm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Louisiana Democratic Congressman Cleo Fields represents a district at the center of this very case, the one right before the Supreme Court that really has changed the fate of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and he joins me right now. Congressman, thank you for being here. I'm very curious about your take because in your district, CNN affiliate WAFB is reporting that more than a hundred thousand absentee ballots have been mailed out, more than 4,000 had been returned. Early voting, it starts the day after tomorrow. Is this effort to reach like even legal?

REP. CLEO FIELDS (D-LA): I would think not, and there are challenges and there will be challenges tomorrow against the governor's executive order, against the secretary of state. Listen, the judgment is not final. You know, the Supreme Court rule 44.1 provides that the help parties have 25 days to request a rehearing. So, technically, the judgment is not even final.

And to call -- to call off the election when people have already voted, you know, you're right, over 100,000 people have received absentee ballots, over 4,000 people in one parish alone has voted, you know. So, the election has already started. You know, people say, well, the election starts on Saturday. No, it does not. It started weeks ago.

And this is going to disenfranchise if the courts don't intervene, you know, several people's right to vote. The Supreme Court did not say that Louisiana should move forward with this election. It simply said that the sixth district of Louisiana was a racial gerrymander.

COATES: But the ultimate consequence has now invited this governor to try to change this and redraw maps in spite of the people who already cast their ballots.

[23:25:04]

You can imagine if they try to vote in a future election once they said it might be accused of double voting, which we know has been a big to do even though it has not been. But Black residents, they make up about a third of the population in Louisiana, about a fifth of the population in the south overall. Tell me what your constituents are saying to you about the decision from this Supreme Court and how it might gut the voting rights that have affected Black representation.

FIELDS: I mean, if they're really upset about it -- I mean, at the end of the day, you know, it's because of states like Louisiana that has a history of discriminating against Blacks. But it's not just the history is present. You know, people in Louisiana and in Mississippi and Alabama, there are folks who, you know, even after the Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment and brought about the gay people the right to vote, there was still states like Louisiana that would deny people access to the ballot by box. That's why we came up with the Voting Rights Act.

And even today, people doing -- there's not a single African-American ever elected to Congress from Louisiana, from a majority white district, period. You know, people, unfortunately, vote on racial lines. I mean -- and the courts in the past have recognized that.

You said on your show yesterday, we used to have the two of subsection five. That was the two that we always use. You had to get it pretty clear. Anything you did as relates to vote had to be pre-quit by the Justice Department.

COATES: Yes, under Section 5.

FIELDS: That was a valuable -- yes, valuable, too. They gutted that. And now, Subsection 2. The only thing that minority voters have left is Subsection 2, and they gutted that yesterday.

But for Louisiana to move forward and just say, look, we're going to stop the election, that's exactly what they're attempting to do. They're attempting to stop the election, not hold the election, because the elections are already in place, and we're to be fighting in court to overturn that.

COATES: Well, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, she wants governors in blue states to turn the tables on the Republican Party. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): We all have to play by the same set of rules. And the Republican caucus has made it very clear that they want and are setting rules of partisan gerrymandering. If they're going to redraw and gerrymander every one of their states, then, unfortunately, we have to provide balance to that until we get to the day where we can all finally agree to put this behind us and pass nonpartisan gerrymandering federally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Is this the right strategy, a kind of fighting fire with fire?

FIELDS: Well, you know -- look, perhaps, you know -- I don't know. I mean -- but listen, you know, when a president of the United States of America calls the governor of Texas and say, I need five more Republican seats, you know, what you expect? Democrats did not do anything, you know. You know, I think, to some degree, she is right. I mean, you -- but we have to stop this. This is going nowhere. We -- this is a rush to the bottom. You know, people, you know, need to, you know, be careful about, you know, just taking away people's voices. I mean, here in Louisiana, we have people who have voted in an election. You know, legally cast their early vote ballot. And the governor and the secretary of state and the attorney general of Louisiana saying that doesn't count. You know, that's absolutely ridiculous. That's asinine. And the courts need to come in and stop it. And that's what the challenge we have today. And, hopefully, the courts will see it our way. We will, you know, let the elections go on.

COATES: Some of those ballots went overseas for military as well. Congressman Cleo Fields, thank you.

Up next, a rare glimpse of Republican opposition. Trump was forced to back down and pull his nominee for the surgeon general as he lashes out at his members of his own party. Plus, a controversial oyster farmer and Marine Corps veteran who just became Democrats' best chance to pick up a Senate seat. But can he win over his own party first? That debate is next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM PLATNER, MAINE SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Nobody in the places of power remains interested.

JON STEWART, COMEDIAN, WRITER, PODCAST HOST: But they're lost, dude, like they're --

PLATNER: Dude, it's so bad.

STEWART: They're lost.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: Usually, President Trump gets what he wants from Republicans on Capitol Hill. But this week, Republicans seem to be standing up to him. The latest move came today when Trump withdrew his surgeon general nominee Casey Means, an RFK, Jr. acolyte who raised doubts about the effectiveness of some vaccines. Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy helped stop her nomination. And today, Trump blasted Cassidy on Truth Social and called him disloyal.

[23:35:00]

Well, Cassidy fired back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): I am loyal to the United States of America. I'm going to do my darnedest to work with the president whenever we're working for the best of the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: But the angst in the GOP caucus, it goes far beyond nominations. Many want Trump to go to Congress to keep fighting the war in Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): The 60 days is a trigger. After 60 days, in my view, the president has to obtain congressional approval or Congress can block it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: And some are still concerned about Trump's pressure campaign on the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, even though it's over for now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Chair Powell has a long and distinguished history. And as long as there's an open question about this, I don't know if I will, maybe I would stick around, but that's a choice that he has to make.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: So, are these really cracks in MAGA world or just some kind of an illusion? Rick Tyler, Ashley Etienne, they are back with me now. Rick, I mean, why now? Is it because some of these are retiring, some are staying for reelection? Well, why now?

TYLER: I don't think it's a revolt. I think it's a rationing of loyalty.

(LAUGHTER)

COATES: Wow, what a communications nuance statement. OK.

TYLER: Because the great divorce is coming. And, you know, the Republicans know. They're not stupid. They know that Trump has not delivered them any, any electoral victories at all. His influence stops in a red district in a primary. When he's on the ballot, his team will turn up for him. He won seven out of seven swing states. No one is going to take that away from him. But Mike Johnson does not have. He has the thinnest of majorities.

So, people show up for Trump, they vote for him, and then they apparently walk out because it hasn't translated. And this, as Karl Rove pointed out, is going to be what he's trying to do. Karl is saying it very politely, get a message because they don't have one. And if this is a referendum vote, if this is -- if this is 86-47 election, then the Democrats will do extraordinarily well.

And, by the way, when you are redrawing districts and you're taking, you know, more Republicans -- more Republicans and spreading them out, you're by definition making your other districts weak. In a wave election, when Trump's approval rating is at 38 percent and his economy approval rating is at 33 percent and gas is at $4, those extra points that those members wanted to have, you're shooting yourself in the foot.

COATES: I want to hear from you, Ashley, on this point. But to mention the Karl Rove op-ed that he wrote for "The Wall Street Journal," obviously, he's a long-time GOP operative, he said, Republicans can start by warning that if Democrats retake the House, they'll try passing an impeachment resolution against President Trump on day one. That's his message for Republicans in terms of getting a message of things.

Talk to me about whether that message might be an effective counter to Democrats and what they'd be able to do to try to bring more people into the fold knowing that there are even Republicans who are bucking Trump's system.

ETIENNE: I mean, I don't disagree with Karl Rove. I think he makes an excellent point on impeachment. I saw this firsthand when I worked for Speaker Pelosi, when there was a lot of pressure to impeach Trump the first time. He's absolutely right about the effects of pushing too hard on that particular issue. And I would caution them because what you're doing is setting an unrealistic expectation of removal and impeachment will not equal removal.

But here's what I find interesting about what Karl Rove is saying. He's saying the Republicans need, to your point, they need a message, they need to go on the offense. But go on offense about what? I mean, the economy is stalled out. Gas prices are up, electricity prices are up, grocery prices are up, gas is up, to your point, inflation is up. I mean, there is no proactive affirmative message you can advance here.

But what he does have buried in his op-ed are the tactics and the strategy that Republicans always typically use when their backs are against the wall, which is these scare tactics. He talks about the fact that the Republican Party needs to identify a boogeyman. He even names Mamdani. He even goes so far as to say, to your point, that they should lean in on impeachment. Those are all scare tactics that Republicans typically use. So, that's always their offensive.

And that's what I think Karl is really aiming for Republicans to push on, which is you've got to scare the living daylights out of these -- out of the voters. It's either immigration, immigrants, scary immigrants, Black crime is out of control or it's this issue of impeachment or the scary Mamdani socialists, like there's got -- that's their offensive message, not what the president is doing because there's nothing good happening there.

[23:39:59]

COATES: I want to talk about Maine and what has happened there because this is a major shakeup in the Senate race. You've got the Democratic governor, Janet Mills, who -- I should mention, Senator Chuck Schumer actually pushed her to run in the actual race even though polls showed that she trailed the man who is now likely to be the nominee. Newcomer Graham Planter, he will run against Susan Collins as -- excuse me, Platner, excuse me, he will run against Senator Susan Collins. Was this a strategic blender for Schumer to back him -- back her, excuse me?

ETIENNE: Back her, yes. I mean, I think it's consistent with the way that Democratic leadership has been operating lately. I think that they're, you know, going with more establishment-type candidates and are missing where the ground actually is. There's a huge growing disconnect between Democratic leadership and where voters actually are on the ground. You've seen it on the issue of Israel. We see it on the issue of affordability, where they trailed after Mamdani. I mean, this is -- they're missing the mark. And I think that's what's illustrated here in his support for her.

I mean, the reason why she's not, you know, had to drop out is incumbents have been losing all over the world. She's, you know, former governor. Her age is a factor. I think people want to move on to something new in this particular environment, and she doesn't represent anything new.

COATES: Is he a viable foe, an opponent for Collins?

TYLER: I think people underestimate Susan Collins. They do -- they do every election. She's tough. They didn't like her in Maine. Maine has an independent streak, and she demonstrates that. She doesn't lockstep with the Republicans. he puts herself in the power position because she's always the broker. I mean, when there's a problem, the senators meet in her office. And she has that reputation. And he's -- what -- you know, what are you going to get with him? We don't know who he is.

COATES: Well, I'll tell you, I --

TYLER: He's a former Marine. He has a controversial background.

ETIENNE: One other thing about --

COATES: Hold on. Wait. Hold on a second.

ETIENNE: OK, sure.

COATES: I want you to finish that point, but I do want you to address something that I think reaches what both your points are making, and that is he is getting more outreach to people in this party, but he's not getting a universal support among Democrats. Listen to what he told Jon Stewart, then I want to hear from both of you again.

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PLATNER: There has been more reach out from what I would say more kind of like establishment folks. However, however, and this is the important part, not from like the -- not from like the DSCC, not from the DNC, like nobody in the places of power remains interested. I'm not asking for you to like be my friend. I'm just -- but you should be curious because I'm polling 40 points ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COATES: Ashley, your point you want to make.

ETIENNE: I wanted to make a point about Susan Collins, how smart and strategic she is. And this is going to be -- I think her strategic advantage is she's creating distance right now in real time between her and the president. On the issue of the War Powers Act, she flipped her vote, on the issue of the economy. She's creating that distance that I think not only makes her sort of the center of gravity for Republicans on the Hill that are trying to read the tea leaves, but also is going to give her an electoral advantage over the Democrat.

COATES: But can she seize on the fact that there is not universal support?

ETIENNE: Oh, absolutely. I mean, I think what -- if I'm her and I'm advising her, it's -- it's this question. He's an unknown entity. You know, he -- So, that's the question. You don't know what you're getting with this guy.

TYLER: He can't keep talking like he's talking now. That will win the Democratic nomination. But he doesn't have a nomination probably now. He has to win that middle vote that Susan Collins has now. He's going to take it away. He's not going to do it, talking like the ultraprogressive that he sounds like.

COATES: Rick and Ashley, thank you both. Intriguing. Up next, why is Amazon considering a reboot of "The Apprentice" with a Trump name attached to it? And does the president even want it? Plus, the new salvo in Kimmelgate as the FCC chair makes a claim that may be hard for many to believe.

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COATES: I used to watch that show so much. It was the show that made you're fired a catchphrase and helped put Donald Trump in the Oval Office. More than a decade later, people are now asking, is "The Apprentice" about to make a comeback? Well, "The Wall Street Journal" reports that Amazon, which owns the rights to the franchise, is discussing a potential reboot. But it wouldn't be Donald Trump firing wannabe employees this time around. Well, it would be Donald Trump, but Donald Trump, Jr.?

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UNKNOWN (voice-over): What is your take on these reports that your show, "The Apprentice," is going to come back, could come back on Amazon with host Donald Trump, Jr.?

TRUMP: Well, I've been hearing it. Look, we had a great success, 14 seasons. And "The Apprentice" was a tremendous success. So, I've been hearing that, you know, a little bit. So, we'll see what happens. He's a good guy. Probably good. He's got a little charisma going. You need a little charisma for that. So, we'll see what happens. Yes, they told me about it. We'll see.

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COATES: He's a good guy. Probably good? OK. Well, joining me now, founding partner of Puck and host of the podcast, "The Town," Matt Belloni. You may also recognize him from this Apple -- hit Apple T.V. series, "The Studio" with Seth Rogen.

Matt, good to see you. I mean, look, first of all, I should say, as intriguing as this may be for people, Amazon is denying that this reboot has seen any real progress. They tell CNN -- quote -- "We have had preliminary internal discussions about what's next for 'The Apprentice' as a property. The show is not in active development and any reporting on details of the show or names of potential hosts would be purely speculative."

[23:50:04]

What are you hearing from your sources?

MATT BELLONI, FOUNDING PARTNER OF PUCK, PODCST HOST: Honestly, I think that's right. This is not an active development. This is something that has been discussed. And, in fact, the executive that was in charge of the division that would have done this show has since left the company since it was being discussed. So, it's not something that you're going to see any time soon.

But these things have a way of being self-fulfilling prophecies because the president has now seen this and because they have a relationship with Amazon through Jeff Bezos and through the Melania documentary. Maybe this is the kind of thing that does become the subject of a phone call or some kind of intimation. Yes, we'd like you to do this. And maybe it does happen.

COATES: I mean, I'm not encouraging sibling rivalry here, but in 2024, Trump said that he thought Ivanka should be the show's successor. I wonder if Don, Jr. has the star power to carry a reboot.

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BELLONI: I mean, has anyone asked Ivanka if she's interested in this? I mean --

COATES: Detail, detail.

BELLONI: -- she is making a lot of money and her husband and her making a lot of money. All the Trumps are making a lot of money off of his presidency. So, I don't know. It would have to be someone who wants to do this and who Amazon thinks can carry a show. It's actually not that easy to just slot someone in. They tried it with Arnold Schwarzenegger and with Martha Stewart, and it wasn't quite the same. There was something about Donald Trump in that role that appealed to people.

COATES: An important point. I mean, Amazon, you mentioned just attribute the Melania documentary. And they paid what? A whopping $40 million from marketing and beyond. I mean, "The Wall Street Journal" says --

BELLONI: It was more than that.

COATES: More than that. Before marketing for --

BELLONI: Well, they paid $40 million just to do the documentary, then they committed to $35 million in promotion of the documentary. Both fees were outrageous and way beyond what you would typically pay for a documentary.

COATES: And yet, it didn't do poorly in the theaters. But I will say, "The Wall Street Journal" says that that was, by the way, three times the next highest offer, according to that. And that was the first lady actually -- the cut was more than 70 percent. I mean, is this a new apprentice discussion at all, an attempt to curry favor with Trump?

BELLONI: You know what? It's all on the table at this point. These media companies are in such a tough spot because you have a clearly transactional president. They all have matters before the government. And each one, not with exceptions, but most of them have bent the knee, as they say, in some way to this government. We're seeing it happen right now with the proposed acquisition of Warner Brothers Discovery, which owns CNN. And you had David Ellison, who owns the acquiring company. He was throwing a party for the president last week. And he was there at the state dinner for King Charles.

So, it's all a bunch of kind of backscratching that's going on right now. So, it would not surprise me if Amazon did do something that Trump would like.

COATES: Well, let's talk about Jimmy Kimmel because he's not getting his back scratched by this president. He once again called on ABC to fire him this morning, saying, it better be soon. And just hours ago, he issued what sounded like a warning to ABC. Listen.

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TRUMP (voice-over): I haven't heard him apologize, but he's a lowlife whether he apologized or not. He's a lowlife. He always has been. He shouldn't be on television. I don't know how a guy can be on television where the network gets free airwaves from the United States government and spend 100 percent of his time knocking Republicans and conservatives and Trump. I don't understand how he can be on air. I think ABC is putting themselves in great jeopardy actually.

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COATES: Now, the FCC chair, Brendan Carr, is denying the early review of ABC's broadcast licenses as anything to do with Jimmy Kimmel. Is that a hard sell when Trump is making it publicly known what he thinks about issues like this?

BELLONI: Yes. I mean, no certain words. Trump is offering evidence that can be used in any kind of legal proceeding to show that this review of the station licenses is not about DEI. It's about speech that offends the president, which is a pretty clear First Amendment argument that Disney will likely make. And even conservative commentators are saying that legally speaking, there is no there there in this case. Disney is on pretty solid ground.

But that doesn't mean that the government can't make it an annoying hassle for them and make them spend a lot of money on lawyers to defend this and have it leak in the media, you know, once every couple day that they're fighting. And that's not something that Disney wants to be in that position on.

[23:55:00]

They had this problem five years ago with the Florida stuff, with the don't say gay law, where they fought Governor DeSantis in Florida and it really blew up into a big public relations problem. So, that's really the only concern here. Legally, this is not going anywhere.

COATES: Matt Belloni, thank you.

BELLONI: Thank you.

COATES: Before we go tonight, we've got a sneak peek of the newest CNN FlashDoc and one of the most powerful people in the fashion industry. Yes, Anna Wintour.

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RACHEL TASHJIAN, CNN SENIOR STYLE: She has an incredibly iconic and recognizable uniform. There's something powerful about that bob. It's authoritative. It's sexy.

WILLIAM NORWICH, FORMER IDITOR, VOGUE: What we're seeing is high glamour and efficiency. That pair allows her to wake up at the crack of dawn, go to work, and then go to some dinner.

MICHAEL GRYNBAUM, JOURNALIST, AUTHOR: Her dark sunglasses, a lot of people see them as a method of intimidation. The reason she wears such dark glasses is medical.

RAISSA BRETANA, FASHION HISTORIAN, AUTHOR: Some people say it allows her to see but not be seen. We see her.

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COATES: "Behind the Bob: Vogue's Anna Wintour" airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on CNN or watch on the CNN app. Hey, thank you all for watching. Erica Hill picks up "The Story Is" next.

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