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Laura Coates Live
Primary Results Coming in for California Governor and Los Angeles Mayor; Interview with Steve Hilton; L.A. Mayor Karen Bass Addresses Supporters; Billionaire Tom Steyer Speaks to Supporters; Primary Results Coming in for California Governor, L.A. Mayor, Iowa Governor. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired June 03, 2026 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, welcome back to a second hour of this special edition of LAURA COATES LIVE, election night in America. I'm joined, of course, by my friend Elex Michaelson, and we're closely following the results coming in from six primary states tonight with the focus right now on California.
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, the first big race here in California is for governor. Gavin Newsom is term limited. And tonight is about who makes the top two for November. It's a crowded field, currently a very tight race. Republican Steve Hilton and Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer are currently out front. Only 47 percent of the vote is in. And the top two advance, regardless of party.
COATES: You know, the other critical race is for the Los Angeles mayor. You got the incumbent mayor, Karen Bass, just over 36 percent of the vote. Reality star Spencer Pratt has about 30 percent. Councilwoman Nithya Raman is also in the hunt. The race will go to a November runoff if no one passes the 50 percent mark.
Look, we're covering all of tonight's races with our reporters and our analysts. CNN's John King is tracking it all for us at the magic wall.
All right, John, where does the governor's race in California stand right now?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At the moment, it's a jungle primary. So again, if you're watching in a state that has Democrat and Republican primaries, this might be unfamiliar, but everybody runs in the same primary in California. The top two make it to the runoff. At the moment Steve Hilton, former FOX News host, Republican candidate, has the president of the United States backing in this race, he's on top with 27 percent, if you round that up.
A little bit behind him, 31,000 votes, that's a big chunk, a state like California is not as big as it would be in many other states, but 31,000 votes ahead is Steve Hilton over Xavier Becerra, former congressman, former California state attorney general, former secretary of Health and Human Services in the Biden administration. Tom Steyer, the billionaire, progressive, spent a lot of his own money in this race, running at the moment a distant third at 20 percent, if you round that up.
Again, there's a host of candidates behind them in this race, so we'll leave that there. What I just did to that, but we'll come back out and do this. I obviously touched the map in a way I didn't want to. Oh, that's it, I selected Steyer. Those are the few counties where he is leading there. We come back out, we come back over. So at the moment it's a Hilton-Becerra race, but only 46 percent of the vote in. So we just have to wait and be careful and get more of these votes in.
What would that mean? If it stayed like this, you would have a Democrat -- a Republican versus a Democrat on the ballot. That's traditional in most states. There are some Democrats in California, Laura, as we talked last hour, who would prefer two Democrats. That way, you'd guarantee a Democratic governor. Guess what? You'll get some Democrats who'd tell you this is fine by us because they think they can win in a state that's blue and they don't want a Democratic fight between now and November because they think that could affect other races down ballot and cost a lot of money.
California is expensive in any kind of a campaign. But it is fascinating to watch because in the national dynamic right now, it is anti-Trump, affordability crisis. Punish the party in power tends to happen in a midterm year. Well, in Washington, that's the Republican Party that has the House and has the Senate and has the White House. In California, if you're in the punish the party in power mood, that could be the Democrats.
So it's just interesting to watch as this plays out. Again, Steve Hilton in the lead at the moment. We're almost halfway in the vote count. California has been moving along at a pretty good pace tonight, but it is historically slow. So there is a chance we won't have final numbers for days. It always takes days and days and days in California to get final numbers. The question is, you know, in several hours, will we know enough to be certain who the top two are, and that's the math we're still trying to do.
COATES: All right. You can follow you along on all access tonight as well. So, John, do stand by. Elex?
MICHAELSON: Well, let's bring in one of the candidates for California governor tonight. He's a businessman, former FOX News host, Republican Steve Hilton, joining us from his watch party in Huntington Beach.
Good to talk with you. I know we spoke on the first day of your campaign in Huntington Beach. And now we're speaking on the last day of this primary. You're seeing the early numbers with the rest of us. How do you read them?
STEVE HILTON, REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: Well, Elex, it's great to be with you. My first reaction, to be with you tonight, not quite at the watch party yet. I'm just getting ready to go downstairs. I'm up in my hotel room watching along with everyone else. It's obviously encouraging. I'm very much aware of those chilling words by your colleague Dana Bash earlier in the show, the red mirage. So we're not taking anything for granted at all, but it's encouraging. [00:05:04]
What we're really watching is the gap between me and the third place candidate, Tom Steyer. As long as that gap stays roughly where it is, then Californians will have a choice for change in the general election. And that's what really matters here. 56 percent of Californians, according to a poll just the other day, think the state is going in the wrong direction and needs change. Obviously that means change politically, and that means you have to have a real choice in the general election.
If it were two Democrats, then that majority of Californians who want change would be denied the chance to vote for change. So as long as we can make it into the top two, Californians will be able to change the trajectory of our state away from policies that have given us the highest poverty rate, the highest unemployment rate in the country, the highest cost of living. All the problems that we know about. But we can turn them around with commonsense, practical ideas, such as the ones I'm running on to make our state, in my word, Cali-fordable.
MICHAELSON: In terms of that red mirage, some of your supporters have expressed questions about the integrity of voting in this state, as has the president of the United States who has endorsed you, who has said that if Jesus was counting, he would have won California.
Do you have any reason to doubt the election outcomes? Have you seen any fraud or anything like that? And what do you say to your supporters if over the next few days, Steyer's number starts to go up as some of the late ballots that are more Democratic leaning come in?
HILTON: Well, we haven't seen anything to give us that kind of concern. Obviously, we'll be keeping an eye on it. But that is how the system works. The main point I'd like to make about that, Elex, is how ridiculous it is that we have a system where it could take days or even weeks to get election results. There are places with just the same kind of early voting like Florida and so on, that get results almost immediately on election night.
There's no reason why we can't do that in California. Nate Silver today described California's election system as resembling that of a failed state. And I would go along with that. I'd also say that this whole top two system is completely ridiculous and needs to be reviewed. Obviously, we're doing well within it at the moment, and that's great. But I think that the idea that there could have been a possibility that you either get two Republicans or two Democrats in the final for the governor of the largest state in America is completely ridiculous.
So I think there needs to be changes to our election system. But the biggest changes we need to make are much more direct for people. The kind of changes I've been campaigning on, your first hundred grand, tax free, your electric bills cut in half by changing our energy policies, $3 gas, a home that you can afford to buy. That's the change Californians are looking for. And I'm very encouraged that it looks as if we'll be able to take that message into the general election and give Californians a real choice in November. And as the -- you'll see in a moment when I go down to my party with
my supporters downstairs, change is coming in California, and that looks like it really is going to happen by the results we're seeing so far.
MICHAELSON: And part of the reason it takes so long to count ballots in California is that California has made the choice to allow people to put their ballots in the mail up until today. So if they're postmarked up until today, they have up to seven days to be received. And then there's the signature verification process, which takes a while, which is why it takes longer. Other states don't have that.
HILTON: But that's right. It's --
MICHAELSON: Let's -- yes. And it sounds like you think that maybe that's time for that to go. Let's talk just sort of in terms of where we go from here. If it -- if you do make the top two, which it looks like right now that you will, would you rather go up against Xavier Becerra or Tom Steyer?
HILTON: I don't mind who it is because the real point is we can't have another Democrat. I know people look at California and they say, how can a Republican possibly win in a state like this? My response is, how can a Democrat win? We've had 16 years of one party rule by the Democrats. They've controlled every statewide elected office, all the big counties in the cities, both chambers of the legislature, with the two-thirds majority, the state Supreme Court, six-one.
They've had 16 years to show that their ideas can deliver positive outcomes for Californians. I think we've waited enough to see that. The answer is no, they don't deliver positive results, and it's time for something new in California. By the way, it's just time for some balance. Remember, our whole system in America is built on that idea of checks and balances. It's not healthy to have one party controlling everything for so long. So I think an argument --
(CROSSTALK)
MICHAELSON: You know, the challenge for you, though, going forward is going to be this Trump endorsement, which Democrats will bring up over and over again. And just today, the president put out another post showing support for you. The vice president of the United States put out another post supporting you, which clearly is intended to help get the Republican base behind you. But you're going to need a lot more than that to win in November.
[00:10:05]
Did you ask for this endorsement? Did you know that this was coming today, this post from the White House? And what do you say to Democrats and independents that fear like you're not going to stand up to Donald Trump as president -- as governor?
HILTON: No, I didn't ask for either endorsement. I'm totally honored to have it. As a proud American who loves this country, a new American citizen, since 2021, it's an incredible honor to be endorsed by the president and the vice president of the United States in the first time I've ever run for office.
I think the real point about those endorsements and about the connection between the lives of Californians, that's the important point, because actually, I think it will mean that we can deliver positive results for the people of California if you've got a governor who wants to work with the president and his team to make positive change happen, for example, opening up oil and gas production in California, how are we going to get gas prices down to close to what you see in the rest of the country.
We need to manage our forests better so that we can reduce wildfire risk. The president and his team want to do that. The governor currently is fighting that. Stopping the fraud and waste of public money in our health care system, so we can focus resources on where they need to go. Again, having a partnership there to make positive change happen I think is going to be very helpful to deliver practical results for everyone in California.
MICHAELSON: Steve Hilton, thank you for being with us. We've also extended a similar invite to Xavier Becerra and to Tom Steyer. We hope they'll join us later in the broadcast. Enjoy tonight. I know you've worked really hard and have some fun with your supporters. Thank you, Steve.
HILTON: Thank you, Elex. Great to see you. See you soon.
MICHAELSON: Laura, to you.
COATES: Really fascinating. With me now, political insiders standing by to read the tea leaves tonight. I got senior politics reporter for Axios, Marc Caputo, CNN contributor Lulu Garcia-Navarro, CNN senior political commentator David Urban and CNN political commentator Kate Bedingfield.
OK, let's talk about this because he is essentially saying, look, this would guarantee if all stays the same, that there is a sort of choice for change in California.
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: But he's threading such an interesting needle. It was so interesting when he was asked about President Trump's endorsement in a blue state. And this is what I have been talking about, not being able to run away from the president. The president is unpopular. Gasoline prices are high because of the war in Iran. Affordability is an issue because of some of the federal policies.
Of course, California has its own issues and has for a long time. But overarching this is the fact that many people in California and across this country do not like President Trump. He has, you know, approval ratings in the 30s. And what you heard Hilton do there is kind of say, well, thank you so much, and look, the good news is I can work with him and we cannot be at cross purposes and I can get help from the federal government in a way that potentially you couldn't either.
But at the same time, it's not like he can now because he's going to be running in the general potentially embrace Donald Trump because that will be toxic.
KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. And look, I can tell you the DGA spent money tying Hilton to Trump. And if Hilton emerges into the general, that will continue to happen. And there will be an enormous amount of money behind tying him to Trump, it will make it very hard, to Lulu's point, it will make it very hard for him to argue that he is somehow representing a change and a new way of doing things.
I think it's also worth remembering that Gavin Newsom is popular in California. And so there is, you know, yes, there's their frustration about the cost of living, of course, about the direction of the country, yes, although a lot of California voters, California Democrats, and even California independents, blame Donald Trump for that, not Gavin Newsom. So for him -- for Hilton to thread this needle I think is going to be very challenging.
There are going to be a lot of headwinds and a lot of money spent making sure that he can't do that in a clean way.
COATES: He's got to bring independents and moderates as well. And does he have a viable path to victory, even if he is and remains the top person going off to that general?
MARC CAPUTO, SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS: Is there a non-zero chance? Sure. But that's like 1 percent. It's just hard for me to see a Republican, especially in this environment, winning in a state like California. I just don't know how that happens. You do have to give him credit, Steve Hilton, he's making the most out of this that he could. He's running a respectful campaign. He sounds very good. So he's got a -- he's parlayed a future television show out of a bid for governor.
DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, he's beating --
CAPUTO: Can't say he's lost but --
URBAN: He's beating Xavier Becerra this very moment.
CAPUTO: Yes. And Becerra, and I'm not asking --
BEDINGFIELD: Less than half a vote.
URBAN: But listen, here's what I think. I think it speaks to the quality again of the Democratic candidates for governor in the state of California right now. They are all -- this is the B-team, JV, you go from a rock star.
CAPUTO: Gavin Newsom.
URBAN: Future presidential candidate, Gavin Newsom, charismatic, great looking guy, right, to folks that people couldn't pick out of a lineup.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean, let's rewind how we got here.
URBAN: And there's no excitement. There's no excitement. Well, yes.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Let's rewind it.
URBAN: Please. Please do.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: No, no, but, I mean, it's what's so interesting about how California got here and how we all are looking at this is because --
URBAN: There was a coronation.
[00:15:02]
GARCIA-NAVARRO: There was a coronation. Eric Swalwell was going to be the guy and then he was brought down by an enormous scandal, allegations --
URBAN: By himself.
BEDINGFIELD: By his own behavior, yes.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: You know, by his own allegations of sexual misconduct. And so what we see now is a lot of damaged candidates, you know, at a certain point --
(CROSSTALK)
COATES: Hold on one second. Lulu, I want to interrupt you because Karen Bass is speaking. Let's hear from her.
URBAN: Maybe it's a concession speech.
CAPUTO: Oh, I doubt it.
MAYOR KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES: Wieler, the head of the County Federation of Labor because we are a union town and we are a town that understands that union jobs are the way we deal with affordability. And David Green over there from SEIU 721. And let me just say, we also have leaders of the business community here because it takes the business community, the labor community, grassroots organizations.
We can have the city that we know we all deserve. Los Angeles is where I was born and raised. Los Angeles is the city that I love. Los Angeles is the creative capital of the world where we dream and we make our dreams come true, where our industry was leaving. But we're bringing it back. We're bringing it back because we understand the good jobs and the business opportunities that come from the creative industry.
We're going to build a city where parents and kids do not have to navigate tents because in the nation's second largest city, there should never be anybody that is sleeping on our streets. We are a city that can deal with this, and we have been doing it, and we are going to continue. We are a city where things have been not affordable over these last few years, but we're going to continue building the housing that we know we are needed in this city. 42,000 units are already underway, and in the next four years, we're going to finish those 42,000 units because we know that that's the key to affordability.
And we are a city that is unified. You just think this Saturday marks one year from the dark day in our city, when we all had to face the raids by ICE, and they thought, they thought that they were going to divide our city. But nobody divides Angelenos, right? Because we stand up for each other. Because I don't care where you're from when you got here or why you're here, you are an Angeleno and we are going to fight for you. And we are going to protect --
COATES: We're hearing from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass -- excuse me. She is currently leading right now in the election.
I want to go to CNN's Kyung Lah, who's outside of Spencer Pratt's headquarters.
Kyung, what are we hearing so far? Are we going to hear from Spencer Pratt soon?
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: No idea. You know, things haven't changed. We're still on the sidewalk. There's still a giant black curtain because it's a private party. It's a private election watch party. It is not accessible to the press. And we haven't heard from him or even seen him. But what I can tell you is that when those first election results were posted, when those -- that first drop came from L.A. city, there was a huge cheer that came from the other side of the curtain, couldn't see anything, but there was definitely a cheer.
And so what we're seeing now here still is the press just waiting here wondering. There is no real campaign point person who's talking to the press. There are some stragglers, people who couldn't get into the party. Just hanging out with us here as well to see if he comes out to say anything. But certainly, at least we can tell you just from the sound of that first cheer, that they are encouraged by that first round of look.
COATES: What's so interesting about this, Kyung, is the fact that this is a campaign to date that really, really needed and relied on and wanted the media's presence and access to be able to get their messaging out and to capitalize on it. So it's pretty shocking to think that the exclusion of the press, knowing full well that the viral nature of the campaign was what propelled it in the first place.
LAH: That they may not include local press, legacy media, national newspapers or reporters to be a part of that new media. They are seeking a different lane. It is a nontraditional campaign, and it will be very interesting to see, does that work in the city of Los Angeles?
[00:20:05]
Because that will tell us quite a bit about how campaigning, at least on the local level, will move forward.
COATES: Absolutely. Kyung Lah, thank you so much. Elex?
MICHAELSON: Let's bring in our next political panel. CNN's senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein is here, conservative commentator Elisha Krauss, and founding partner at Puck News and host of Snapchat's "Good Luck America," Peter Hamby.
What a group we have here tonight.
Let's talk, Ron, about the mayor's race, which is getting national attention. The numbers that you're seeing so far from Spencer Pratt, do you think that it's enough to get him into the top two?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you know, if the overall dynamic is that Democrats seem to be holding their ballots later than Republicans because they were unsure who to vote for in the governor's race, that's going to affect the final outcome in the mayor's race as well.
Look, you're the incumbent, 65 percent of voters are basically picking someone else. Maybe it will go down to around 60. That is not a tremendous vote of confidence for Bass. But in a general election, one on one against either of these opponents, most likely Pratt, you know, what we're looking at, he is still a Trump supporter in a, you know, an overwhelmingly blue city. Raman --
MICHAELSON: He doesn't talk about Trump.
BROWNSTEIN: Right.
MICHAELSON: He doesn't say necessarily his support -- he says he's a supporter of no candidate.
BROWNSTEIN: He will be -- he will --
MICHAELSON: He's a supporter of Jesus Christ as his political role model.
BROWNSTEIN: He will be reminded. Voters will be reminded if it is him. And of course, Raman, you know, I mean, there is an audience for that, as we've seen in multiple municipalities around the country. But at a time when --
MICHAELSON: The Democratic socialists.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. But at a time when so many urban voters are kind of expressing a recoil against disorder, you know, kind of a left insurgency in L.A. doesn't seem like it's going to go the distance either. So you've got Bass kind of like Becerra as a mainstream older Democrat who doesn't generate a tremendous amount of enthusiasm but is facing opponents who have ceilings of their own.
MICHAELSON: Elisha, you support Spencer Pratt. You like him.
ELISHA KRAUSS, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. Absolutely.
MICHAELSON: What do you make of this movement? And also, what do you make of the decision tonight to exclude the cameras, exclude the press on a night when the world is looking at this event and looking at him, and it's the start potentially of a new campaign for the general election if he makes the top two.
ELISHA KRAUSS, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: I can't speak to it because I wasn't a part of the decision making for that. I don't know that I would have advised that. I would have said, give the press a scrum. You know, let them be off to the side, focus on the voters and the supporters first, but also the faux tears. I think the average LA. mom like myself is going to be like, kind of who cares?
He's been really good about going into Nithya Raman's district where, you know, she is OK apparently with homeless people sleeping everywhere, whether they're 50 feet from a school or 500 feet from a school in Sherman Oaks, all over the valley, all over south L.A. that he has gone to do barbecues and engage with voters and have Q&A. I think he's had really great performances in the debates and the interviews that he's done, that the average person now can go to Instagram and TikTok and get to know who Spencer Pratt is.
They don't -- no offense. They don't need to be watching FOX News, CNN or MS NOW in order to be able to see that.
MICHAELSON: Peter, when you were with us on THE STORY IS, you brought up the fact that clearly this is an internet phenomenon. Clearly there are a lot of people who love him, who don't live in Los Angeles. The question is, do voters in Los Angeles love what's coming out? When you look at these numbers so far, what do you see in terms of actual votes from actual Los Angelenos?
PETER HAMBY, HOST, SNAPCHAT'S "GOOD LUCK AMERICA": There are 14 percent registered Republican, like that's the percentage in Los Angeles, right? And I think polling has borne out that it's not just an internet phenomenon actually. If he -- it's not just Republicans. And yes, you run in the city without party affiliation next to your name and Spencer Pratt says he's running for Democrats and Jesus is his role model.
But, you know, from my reporting, which is anecdotal, what I'm waiting to see, whether this has proved out is, is there support among no party preference voters in the city? Is there support among Democrats and (INAUDIBLE)? By the way, also, I'm interested to see, you know, these predominantly Jewish neighborhoods in the city that swung Pico- Robertson, that swung for people watching like 25 points to Donald Trump in 2024 over concerns about antisemitism coming from the left?
Spencer Pratt has been very loud about fighting antisemitism and trying to run up the score. I've talked to many Jewish voters and donors, including Haim Saban, who gave money to Spencer Pratt. I mean, so I do think that his messaging around public safety, which to Ron's point, is something that Democrats kind of got away from over the years, has resonated.
My question, though, is, what is his support in nonwhite precincts in this town, and is this just white homeowners on the West Side who are worried about homeless people and pushing their strollers around poop and syringes as Spencer Pratt likes to say? So again, they're still counting the votes.
KRAUSS: Yes. I think that this, though, affects the, I don't know, the immigrant store owners on Olvera Street.
[00:25:04]
HAMBY: Yes. Yes, of course it does. Of course it does.
KRAUSS: This affects, you know, the --
HAMBY: But that's what I want to see, I mean, because I think he does --
(CROSSTALK)
HAMBY: He has spent an effort to campaign in these nonwhite neighborhoods, south L.A., wherever, I just want to see what the results are.
BROWNSTEIN: The question won't be whether they are affected by it. The question is whether they see him as a reasonable response to it. I mean, that's going to be the challenge.
MICHAELSON: Or are they so fed up that they're willing to take --
(CROSSTALK)
KRAUSS: They've been voting for the same. They've been voting for people that look like them, that have done -- that have completely abandoned them and done nothing to help them.
MICHAELSON: I mean, it was interesting being at a polling place today in North Hollywood, spending hours talking to voters myself, how there were a lot of people that were motivated by Spencer either way. And he really drove people.
But now we're going to go back to the governor's race. Tom Steyer is speaking, and let's listen in to what he has to say in San Francisco.
TOM STEYER, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: -- and so is our nation. California is the richest state in the richest country in the history of the world. It's unacceptable that right now so many Californians struggle to make ends meet. We're about to see the world's first trillionaires, probably in California. We're already witnessing an explosion of wealth concentrated in the hands of the very, very few.
The gap between the rich and the poor grows wider by the minute. Prices are higher than ever. Faith in government's ability to do anything is lower than ever. Californians are being priced out of their homes every single day. While it happens, we see billionaires do whatever they have to, to get whatever they can out of the system, and they do everything they can to hoard their wealth and avoid paying taxes. And we see corporations continue to rig the system for themselves, raising your prices to juice their profits.
Screw that.
(CHEERS) STEYER: California deserves better, working people deserve better. Democracy matters. Justice matters. The truth matters. Anyone who says otherwise is invested in a system rigged against you. Here's the truth, for every bill that's too high, there's a special interest profiting off keeping it there. They want you to believe that's inevitable. That's just how the market works. But that's bullshit. We don't have to accept this. This campaign has been about proving that.
My vision for California is based on a simple idea. The well-being of the most vulnerable shouldn't depend on corporations and billionaires choosing to do the right thing. We should have a system based on fairness, not on asking for fairness. We're the most privileged pay- their-fair share, not by charity, but by law.
A system that reminds them of what I've been saying since the very beginning of this campaign. You didn't do it all yourselves. The soon- to-be tech trillionaires built their wealth here because California enabled them to. Because ordinary Californians worked hard and sacrificed day after day, year after year, to create the system where those billionaires could realize the dreams they came to this state to pursue.
The California I believe in is a California where recognizing that hard work and honoring that sacrifice is fundamental to assigning credit and to designing our society. This race, more than any other in recent memory, laid bare the basic operating principle of American politics. A very uncomfortable truth. Money talks. In this race we saw what corporate money tends to ask for. Higher rents, lower wages, permission to pollute, to price gouge, and to treat workers as disposable.
And in this race, we saw the way that money, money from some of the wealthiest people in corporations in the history of the world, mobilized when I said I tax it fairly. We saw a direct causal relationship between my plans for change and the 55 million bucks of corporate money that flooded in to stop me. Single-payer health care, here come the insurance companies. Clean energy. here comes Chevron.
Taxing A.I., what about Meta? Lowering electric bills? Hello PG&E. To quote FDR, never before in all our history have these forces --
COATES: We've been listening to billionaire Tom Steyer, has begun his race for California governor.
I want to go right to John King because he's been following all this at the magic wall.
Has there been movement? I mean, we're seeing him talk right now. He's obviously not conceding. He's still in the running. Talk to me.
KING: There has not been much movement. We're up to 48 percent of the vote estimated counted. I think it was 47 last time we talked. So we don't have that much more. The results are pretty much the same. Steve Hilton on top, 36,668 vote lead over Xavier Becerra. He's the top Democrat right now at 26 percent. Tom Steyer, who you were just listening to, is at 20 percent if you round that up. He is not conceding. And there's a lot of votes to be counted.
So, there's no guarantee that he will not make the top two. It's the top two who make it.
[00:30:14]
But an observation, Laura, as you listen to him there, is he's complaining about the money spent against him, as he says, to keep him down here. We'll see if he ends up down there.
If he does, and this ends up being a Hilton-Becerra, one of the things you look for out of primaries is how deep are the wounds, how much healing has to be done. And there clearly would have to be some Steyer-Becerra.
A lot of the money came in from other sources, as well, but some of it came in to support Becerra, so we'd have to see the healing piece of the Democratic Party.
So, where are we looking for votes still? Let's go through this quickly.
L.A. says it's up to 50 percent. So, you know, it's -- and it's Becerra, Hilton, Steyer.
You come through the big red swath here. These are your rural Republican areas. You know they're going to come in this way. The interesting thing is you go through this. There was a split in the Republican vote. Chad Bianco does not have a chance to make the top three, at least not by any math I can see right there. But in a lot of these Republican counties, you do see places where he generally ran second to Steve Hilton. And so, Mr. Hilton could have had a bigger overall total, if you will, had there not been another Republican in the race.
But there are also a ton of Democrats in the race, as well.
So, as we approach the halfway point, 27 percent to 26 percent to 20 percent, if you round everybody up. Again, the top two make it.
A lot of outstanding votes still in the Democratic area. So, I could give you scenarios where both of these gentlemen go up a little bit, you know, but we're going to have to wait and count those votes as we get through it.
Steyer sounded like a candidate who, he's not ready to concede. He sounded like someone who doesn't think he's going to make it into the top two. But again, Laura, we'll count them.
COATES: Go to -- go to Iowa for me, John, because I want to go through the big races that are happening there.
So, in Iowa, let me come up first to the Senate race on the Republican side. Let me come up to the Senate race first, which is secondary almost. But Ashley Hinson expected to win and won big in the Republican Senate primary. This was a competitive race, but it was not competitive in the end.
Josh Turek with a lot of Washington money, establishment money coming in to help him, will be the Democratic candidate.
Interesting. We talk about primary bruises. Zach Wahls quickly endorsed Mr. Turek tonight and said he would help him in November try to beat Miss Hinson.
Now it's come down to the governor's race. Let me get this to slide up a little bit as we go through the night.
Unopposed in the Iowa governor's race was Rob Sand. He's the state auditor. He has won statewide. That's why Democrats are reasonably optimistic about Iowa.
This was the biggest surprise of the night, if you look at this. Recent weeks, what have we been talking about? The power of Donald Trump in Republican primaries. Donald Trump picked Randy Feenstra in this race.
And Randy Feenstra, a congressman from up here in Northwest Iowa, lost tonight. So, a defeat for President Trump and a defeat for Randy Feenstra after a string of victories for the president. Farmer, businessman Zach Lahn will be the Republican candidate for governor.
Again, this is a race that the Democrats believe they have a chance to win. And they think because they have a competitive candidate for governor, that that helps them down ballot in that Senate race.
And Democrats, they're very confident they can flip one Republican House seat in Iowa. They're reasonably confident they can make a second at least competitive.
So, it's been a long time, Laura, since we were looking at Iowa as a battleground state. In the 2026 midterms, there's no guarantee the Democrats will win anything. But they are competitive. Haven't been that way in a while.
COATES: Very fluid still. John King, thank you so much.
My panel is back with me now. Let's talk about this governor's race in California. The numbers, as they stand right now, 26.7 percent to Hilton, 25.8 percent to Becerra, 19.6 percent to Steyer. Again, the top two candidates are who moves on.
Is this the race that Democrats would want to have: Becerra against Hilton? And who might best?
DAVID URBAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm personally of the mindset that having a Democrat running against Hilton is better than having two Democrats duking it out. Now, there are arguments you can make both ways.
Obviously, there's an argument with no Republican at the top of the ticket in California that that would have a negative impact on down ballot races for Republicans. So, there are arguments both ways. I think, generally speaking, to
have a factional interparty argument play out on the Democratic side in what should be, or could be, a general election race between a Democrat and a Republican. I just -- I -- you know, my personal view is that that's a better place for, for the Democratic Party to be.
And for that money to be spent, on you know, defining an argument against Trump Republicans. Hilton, you know, being one of them.
MARC CAPUTO, SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS: It's also a better place for Becerra to be, because Becerra is not known as a hard worker or as a deep thinker. And that was according to a lot of people in the Biden administration.
The last thing he would probably want is having another Democrat and sort of be forced by his own party to participate in debates more and to pay more attention to his opponent.
He now gets to campaign, assuming these results are predictive of what's going to happen against a Republican whom he essentially can ignore and allow the gravity to take hold of having so many Democrats in a Democratic state running against a FOX Republican.
[00:35:13]
COATES: Are you surprised that Katie Porter is out of this as is right now? Is that -- is that -- are you surprised by this?
CAPUTO: Well, to the degree that these elections are personality contests, no.
COATES: Yes.
CAPUTO: Because she didn't show up. She didn't really show that she had the temperament for it. In fact, one of the clips in the montage opening the show you had, she had to respond on stage, like, I have a good temperament. Like if you've got to say it, you know.
BEDINGFIELD: Yes. And one of the -- I mean, but one of the -- one of the moments that she took a lot of flak for was on camera. It's pretty hard to spin a really rough interaction with a staffer that everybody can see with their own eyes.
So, I'm not surprised, frankly.
DAVID URBAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I just -- the Trump-endorsed candidate losing to a farmer, businessman, Iowan is a very good thing for Republicans in the state of Iowa.
Because Democrats will not be able to campaign, saying, this is the Trump handpicked candidate. He's the -- he's the rubber stamp of Donald Trump. Randy Feenstra is the Mini Me for Donald Trump.
You're going to have a businessman who's running who obviously is quite popular, who could say, listen, I'm my own candidate --
BEDINGFIELD: Although --
URBAN: It is going to make it far more difficult.
BEDINGFIELD: Although he runs also --
URBAN: But he made it far more difficult for Democrats to -- to put a giant anvil on --
COATES: You're skeptical.
BEDINGFIELD: I'm not so sure. Just because he runs -- he runs to the right of Randy Feenstra. So, I don't think it's going to be a tough sell for Democrats.
URBAN: No, no, because -- But your thesis -- but your thesis is, the Democrats' thesis: Donald Trump is so wildly unpopular, he's going to drag everybody down. Being conservative is not a crime in the state of Iowa.
BEDINGFIELD: Sure.
URBAN: It is a -- it is a net plus.
BEDINGFIELD: Sure. But can you really imagine him running a campaign distancing himself from Donald Trump? I don't think that's a reality.
URBAN: You can -- you can distance yourself in a very -- You can thread the needle in a very strategic way. Look at Ashley Hinson. She's done a pretty good job of it so far. And I think you're going to see that.
I think Republicans going to hold onto Iowa. I think it's elusive, illusory. I think it's the -- you know, Lucy and the football for -- for Democrats in the state of Iowa.
COATES: Well, what about the threading the needle that we're seeing, obviously, with someone like Hilton who has that connection to Trump? You've made this point about the sort of dancing on the -- the -- the head of a pin in that moment.
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I mean, I don't think he's going to be the next governor of California again. I just think if they all had better candidates, it would be a much more interesting race.
COATES: Why don't they?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Well --
URBAN: When you say "they," do you mean the Democrats?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: And the Republicans. No.
URBAN: Just say -- just say, Lulu, agree with me. I agree with David Urban. These Democrats -- GARCIA-NAVARRO: No, but I said. I said it. No, absolutely. I don't think that. I don't think the Democratic slate is -- is anything to write home about. But like, we were just --
COATES: But you won't get that exact quote.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes. But you have, like --
URBAN: You can quote me. You can quote --
GARCIA-NAVARRO: But wait a second, wait a second.
I'm also talking about the Republicans, because FYI, what do you have for governor, former FOX host. In California, what do we have there? There's like some kind of carnival going outside of a taco stand, you know, for the -- for the L.A. mayor. They're not letting in --
URBAN: For the guy who's, like, beating the current mayor almost?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Which is -- which is -- I'm not --
BEDINGFIELD: Excuse me. That is Spencer Pratt from "The Hills."
GARCIA-NAVARRO: But wait a second. But that's an example of people's dissatisfaction. It is a -- it is a hundred percent, I think, an indictment of Mayor Bass's tenure, by far.
But -- but I think that this is a quality candidate that -- that Republicans should be celebrating. I've got to tell you, I don't know that that's necessarily true.
URBAN: By the way, I just want to give Mr. Caputo an opportunity to give his line about -- about Karen Bass's -- her speech there, because I don't want to steal it. It's so good.
CAPUTO: I've almost forgotten. But I know I noticed that, while she was talking about all the problems in Los Angeles, that the mayor should actually talk to the mayor of Los Angeles.
URBAN: But she happens to be the mayor.
CAPUTO: Yes, well, she's talking about the problems of like, oh, there are these tents. Aren't they terrible? And all of these various bad things in the city.
Well, why didn't you do anything about it?
What, really, I find remarkable about her percentage is she shouted out the unions in her speech. That means she had the support of their infrastructure. She's only at 36 percent.
And also in her speech, she didn't mention the fires at all, which is really --
COATES: That we saw so far. We didn't cover the full speech that she may very well have mentioned, but she did go back to the ICE. CAPUTO: It certainly burned her candidacy.
COATES: Everyone stand by. There's still more to talk about.
Up next, we are waiting potential remarks from Spencer Pratt in the L.A. mayor's race from behind the curtain outside the restaurant as votes continue to be counted, showing him with the potential to advance in November. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:43:49]
COATES: Right now, Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Javier [SIC] -- excuse me, Xavier Becerra are leading the pack in the primary for governor. Remember, the top two continue on to November.
Now we heard from Tom Steyer just moments ago. So, might we hear from Becerra soon?
Let's talk with Arlette Saenz who is live at Becerra's headquarters. Arlette, what are you hearing?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Laura, Xavier Becerra's campaign, like so many campaigns, are simply in this waiting period right now as these results continue to pour in over the course of the evening.
But Becerra's campaign certainly has seen some encouraging signs in these early numbers, as Becerra is leading the pack currently against Republican Steve Hilton in this race.
Now, one area of California that Becerra's campaign will be watching very closely is right here in Los Angeles. His campaign event is being held in downtown Los Angeles, which is actually an area that he represented back when he was in Congress. And this is an area that the campaign is really hoping to try to turn out voters in, in high numbers in this election.
There are a host of people here who have known Becerra for quite some time. I spoke earlier with Dolores Huerta, the famed American labor activist, who told me that she believes Becerra, who would be the first Latino governor if elected, is the right candidate for this moment.
[00:45:14]
So, right now, here at this campaign event, supporters are patiently waiting. They're watching as these results pour in, cheering whenever they see that three-way matchup go up on the screen between Hilton, Becerra and also progressive Tom Steyer.
But it could be a while longer until they get firm results as to whether Becerra will make it into the general election matchup.
COATES: Everything is still fluid. Arlette, thank you so much -- Elex. ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about right now the race for
L.A. mayor. We are following the results in that race.
Karen Bass, the incumbent mayor, is ahead. Spencer Pratt is in second place, and in third place is city council member Nithya Raman.
With us, somebody who knows a thing or two about winning the mayor of Los Angeles. He won that election twice. Eric Garcetti joins us. He also served as ambassador to India under President Biden.
You endorsed Karen Bass. You also endorsed Xavier Becerra. And both of your candidates seem to be doing especially well tonight.
ERIC GARCETTI, FORMER L.A. MAYOR: Yes.
MICHAELSON: You know what it's like on an election night to sit there and watch these results come in. What's going through a candidate's mind? What's it like on election night?
GARCETTI: Well, it's great to see, Elex. And I've got to say, it's much calmer in studio than all those memories I have at parties.
You know, it's yourself on the line. It's everything you -- your story. It's your platform. It's your coalition. And so, you feel very kind of naked there. It's like you're either going to fall off the cliff or you're going to get the trust of your people and moving forward. It's exciting. It's nerve-wracking.
I think candidates never eat. They barely drink enough water.
But it's also that moment when you realize we still have a democracy that works and that surprises us, and that the power is not in the hands of the candidates or necessarily even the big money. It's really in the hands of the voters.
MICHAELSON: So, when you ran for reelection, you won big with, like, 81 percent of the vote.
GARCETTI: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Karen Bass is running for reelection. She's only at 36 percent. She's not going to get over 50 percent, which she could end this race.
If you combine the results of Spencer Pratt and Raman and others, you know, that's over 50 percent that don't -- aren't voting for her.
What do you make of that? And -- and this feeling that the city isn't working, which some people, frankly, blame you for, too, when it comes to homelessness and some of these issues.
GARCETTI: I think people recognize now that -- how divided our politics are. And, you know, when you see those numbers coming forward, I think it'll be a clear election, if these numbers hold in the fall. But I understand people's anger. I always say anger is real and
legitimate. But the complexity in a one-click culture where we can get anything delivered to our house or, you know, anything on Amazon will arrive the next day or stream right away. Problems like homelessness; problems like housing; problems, like, you know, what we need to do to deal with changing climate. Those things do take time and patience.
And if you look at the governor's race, there's actually a reward for kind of what's consistent and calm and steady in what Mr. Becerra is doing.
Xavier has been an amazing person, I think, who's been who he is from beginning to end. And I think here in Los Angeles, we will have moments in the next two years. We're already seeing them this year.
A subway expanding. You're seeing a people mover that will open at the airport. Finally, public transit in L.A.
Two great new museums. The Olympics and Paralympics. We've got to get those fundamentals right.
I think since the pandemic, it's been tough for all cities to come back. But people do believe in this town, and we need that optimism, not just what we're against, but the things that we're collectively going to be for.
And my advice, no matter what two people get into the runoff --
MICHAELSON: Yes.
GARCETTI: -- would be reach out to the folks who didn't make it. I did that. They became a part of my administration.
MICHAELSON: Literally worked for you.
GARCETTI: They literally worked with me alongside even my runoff opponent, who's a dear friend, before and after and during. You know? That -- that's really important to heal your city afterwards.
MICHAELSON: So, we're looking at live pictures from Spencer Pratt's event at Don Antonio's, where there's a black curtain. The press is being kept out. The -- one of the honorary mayors of Hollywood who's often on the streets talking to tourists, apparently, has made his way there.
What do you make of Spencer Pratt and all the support for him and what that says about this moment and this moment for leaders of Democrat- run cities?
GARCETTI: Look, I think that you can make this partisan, but I had a slightly stronger vote with Republicans that I got with Democrats. And I never, when I picked up the phone, asked people for their party affiliation.
I don't think this is about partisanship. I think people want results. They want -- here in California, we've had a lot of well-intentioned laws for a long time that slow down things like building housing, recovering from a fire, being able to get public transportation, or get high-speed rail done.
Those things that are each stone, a well-intentioned, you know, block, wear a backpack full of them, and you realize how slow things are moving.
And I hope both of the Los Angeles, under Mayor Bass. And if Xavier Becerra gets there, we are able to accelerate solving those problems, which first and foremost, is just housing. Homelessness starts with housing.
[00:50:04]
MICHAELSON: Yes.
GARCETTI: There's nothing America can do to dig yourself out if you don't build that housing and mental health care, which is the other piece of it.
MICHAELSON: And lastly, when we look at a live picture of Xavier Becerra, you're headed to his party after this.
GARCETTI: Yes, I am.
MICHAELSON: We haven't heard from him yet tonight.
One thing that hasn't really been talked about that much is the fact that he would be the first Latino governor in modern history of California.
GARCETTI: Yes.
MICHAELSON: As somebody with Latino roots yourself, what does that mean to you and mean to a state which has an extraordinarily high percentage of Latinos?
GARCETTI: You know, at a time when the Latino community is under such attack and in a state where 40 percent of the population of Latinos.
I was so moved on Sunday in his closing argument, when he talked about his parents coming here with $12 in their pocket from Mexico, because that was my grandfather. That was my grandmother's parents who came here, as well, and really invested in this state.
We had one guy who was lieutenant governor for less than a year, who inherited being governor in 1875. But since then, we've never had a Latino lead the state.
So, I think what you're seeing is the kind of the passions of Washington are being calmed by California, where you're seeing the divisions of Washington, I think, can be united with this election.
And I certainly hope that, no matter what our pain is, that we figure out a way not to find the enemy in Los Angeles or in California with each other and in America. But we find the way that we can join hands and actually come back together.
MICHAELSON: You think Governor Newsom has been a calming presence?
GARCETTI: You know, I think he's been an exciting one/ I think he's done some -- I loved governing with him. But it's -- you know, right now, you need some people who are firefighters and attackers, but you also need some healers.
MICHAELSON: Well, it's been interesting. We were looking back at pictures of you from your night back in 2013. We've all come a long way since then.
GARCETTI: You still look just as young.
MICHAELSON: Yes, yes, we appreciate it. Eric Garcetti, former mayor of Los Angeles --
GARCETTI: Thank you.
MICHAELSON: -- former ambassador, great to see you.
GARCETTI: Good to see you.
MICHAELSON: We continue to wait for Spencer Pratt to potentially speak to the media, along with speeches from Steve Hilton and Xavier Becerra in the governor's race.
More election night coverage after a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:56:26]
COATES: All right, we're awaiting comments from Spencer Pratt. He's currently hovering around 30 percent of the vote in the L.A. mayoral race. Karen Bass, the incumbent, 36 percent.
Back with my panel for some final thoughts on this election night. What are you thinking?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: California Democrats, this is a bad night for you. You have had weak candidates.
And on the other side of the ledger with the Republicans, these are also candidates that, generously speaking, should not be performing as well as they are, and yet, they are performing well. And this is a warning shot for you.
URBAN: Look, I think -- I think Karen Bass, it's an embarrassing performance for an incumbent mayor. If -- if the -- if -- if Mr. Pratt does not win this tonight, if he -- if he doesn't make it to the -- to the final runoff, she should still be embarrassed.
Message sent by Los Angeles voters. The Democrats suck, and they need to do something to fix their city.
CAPUTO: Karen Bass won tonight and lost the argument. And Spencer Pratt has won that. He's not likely to win in the general, though.
COATES: What do you think?
BEDINGFIELD: I'm going to zip over to Iowa, where the news for Democrats, I think, was better tonight than what we're seeing out of California, which is that this argument about what Trump has done to the economy is salient.
I think Democrats nominated the Senate candidate who can potentially win in a state that, you know, is going to be an uphill fight. But -- but where I think it's possible.
So, if you're looking at -- if you're looking toward November, I think there were a lot of really good signs for Democrats in Iowa.
COATES: Final predictions on when we actually will have the final numbers out of California. What are you thinking?
CAPUTO: I have no idea. That's the last thing I'd want to do, is predict with California.
COATES: Says the Floridian. Yes.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes. No. All right. If I had to predict when California -- So, if we're doing, like, what are we betting now? Are we, like -- are we all going --
CAPUTO: Kalshi. Let's go to Kalshi.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: -- like we should we do a Kalshi. I mean, I think, you know, it'll be in, like, a week, right? You've got --
URBAN: Seven days. Seven days to get ballots in and then, you know, verify signatures. So, you know, ten days, two weeks from now.
BEDINGFIELD: One dollar.
COATES: One dollar.
BEDINGFIELD: "Price is Right" rules.
COATES: "Price is Right." OK. Finally, finally. And this is on behalf of Kyung Lah, who's been outside of the headquarters of Spencer Pratt.
Do we think that Spencer Pratt is actually going to speak or let the press in, at least for tacos?
CAPUTO: No.
BEDINGFIELD: Oh, I do, I do.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Oh, I do. But we -- we just heard that there's, like, an entire 1980s pantheon back there --
BEDINGFIELD: Yes.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: -- of --
COATES: What will he say?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: -- of sort of stars. Jennie Garth and other people from back in the day. All his -- all his crew from -- from his "Hills" days.
What is he going to say?
CAPUTO: He's going to declare victory.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes.
CAPUTO: He's going to say he won. Yes.
BEDINGFIELD: He's going to say this was a wake-up call to the establishment.
URBAN: Whether he loses or wins, he won.
CAPUTO: He won the argument.
URBAN: He won. Spencer Pratt won.
COATES: All right. Wow. That's the final word on this show today.
URBAN: He wins. He wins.
COATES: I'm looking at the numbers, and I thought the final word for all this tonight. OK, how about we're going to go just now to, of course, Elex Michaelson. He's going to pick up the coverage for us.
And we're going to continue to talk about what's going on, because there's been so much that's unfolded today on this very important day.
Although we might not know the numbers coming out immediately out of California, we still have some insight as to what is going to come next.
And of course, the No. 1 question I still have, given from Iowa to California, is what the role of the president of the United States will be in all of this. Is he still a kingmaker to you?
URBAN: Oh, there's no doubt Donald Trump is still the king of the Republican Party nationwide, despite Randy Feenstra's loss. Donald Trump is like the colossus. He's like the colossus at roads.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: The question is -- the question is, is he going to be an anchor? The question is, he might -- he might -- he might be able to bestow the crown. But is that crown going to weigh these people down?
URBAN: Well, and that -- it depends on where you are, right? It depends on what district you're in. It depends what state you're in. Right? So, that's -- if you're in a "R" plus 30 seat, you're great. You want Donald Trump in. If you're in a purple state, you don't want Donald Trump in. So, you
know, it all depends.
