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Laura Coates Live

House Votes to Rein in Trump's War with Iran in Major Rebuke; Trump Says He Loves $1.8B Fund After Blanche Claimed It's Dead; CNN Tracks Results of High-Stakes California Races. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired June 03, 2026 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

(LAUGHTER)

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, no, no. Deny, deny, deny.

(LAUGHTER)

That's it. Deny.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Batya?

BATYA UNGAR-SARGON, AUTHOR: Yes. I have a new book out. It is called "The Jews and the Left." And it is about why Jews became Democrats in America and why the left turned on them. And Abby, I wrote a quick inscription to you. For Abby Phillip --

PHILLIP: For me?

UNGAR-SARGON: Yes. Thank you so much for all your kindness and providing a space where healthy civil debate can flourish. God bless --

PHILLIP: Oh my gosh! No kidding. Oh, thank you, Batya. So nice of you.

UNKNOWN: You want to confess something or --

PHILLIP: All right. Everyone --

UNKNOWN: Oh, really?

PHILLIP: I'm confessing that it is time for the next show. Everyone, thank you very much. Thanks for watching "NewsNight." "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, tonight the House tells Trump, end the war with Iran. Republicans breaking ranks to back Democrats in a formal vote. Will the Senate back it? I'll ask Senator Cory Booker that and much more tonight. Plus, Trump expresses his love for the nearly 1.8 billion-dollar fund that was supposed to be dead. Now, he's not so sure it's actually gone. Plus, election night part two. We're tracking new results in the race for California governor and L.A. mayor that could lead to some surprises. Tonight on "Laura Coates Live."

Well, my opening statement tonight, straws meet camel's backs. President Trump is making life impossible for Republicans. Now, they're trying to make it impossible for him. Four of them just crossed party lines to tell the president they're fed up with the war with Iran. They joined House Democrats in successfully voting to rein in Trump's war powers. Now, they're basically telling him, you got to get our approval if you want to keep this conflict going.

Now, this still has to get through the Senate, mind you. But it is, exhibit A, the Republican headache that Trump is creating for himself. And now, he's giving his party yet another reason to get mad, exhibit B.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Is the $1.8 billion DOJ fund dead or is it on hold?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It's a -- I have to ask the lawyers. I don't know. Weaponization fund, as far as I'm concerned, was a beautiful thing. It was something I was -- I didn't make it, but I was -- I heard that. I thought that was the greatest thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Yes, that anti-weaponization fund that appeared dead looks like maybe it still got a pulse. And that's not all he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: People that went there to -- with love. They went there with love. You know, when I made that speech early in the day, tremendous crowd. There was so much love and friendship. It was the most amazing thing. People were crying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Need I remind you that this is what January 6th actually looked like? Cries of a very different kind. Not of love and friendship, but of the pain of being crushed by rioters wielding a police shield. And that was just one example.

And no doubt Trump's back from the dead, maybe zombie, fund is going to have Republican heads spinning. A lot of them were furious when it was even announced in the first place. And they're going be furious now because they were being told by the administration that it was dead in the water. Not just on pause, finished. It was Monday that the DOJ backed off the fund, saying it would abide by the judge's ruling to block it.

And then it was yesterday when the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, sounded like a broken record when he kept saying this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TODD BLANCHE, UNITED STATES DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: We're not moving forward with the fund. We are not moving forward with the fund, period. We are not moving forward with the fund.

UNKNOWN: Not moving forward ever?

BLANCHE: Correct. We're not moving forward with the anti- weaponization fund.

REP. ROSA DELAURO (D), CONNECTICUT: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: That was Tuesday. We've learned tonight that Trump is expected to nominate Blanche for the job. I mean, not the biggest shock in the world. I know. But will that come back to haunt him in a Senate confirmation, for example?

Well, that gets us to exhibit C. This guy, Bill Pulte, Trump's new acting director of national intelligence, someone with zero known experience in national security, who is best known for trying to push prosecutions of the president's enemies. And the GOP response, that tells you plenty. And it's coming in a couple different forms. You've got the Republican senators who are leaving Congress.

[23:05:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: I see no -- no evidence of any qualifications for that job.

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R), NORTH CAROLINA: I think he's the worst form of sycophant and advisor to the president that is going to hurt the president's legacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: And then there's the ones who aren't leaving.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TODD YOUNG (R), INDIANA: Don't know much about his background. I'm waiting on the administration to explain to us the credentials.

UNKNOWN: I just don't have a lot of background on him.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And Pulte?

UNKNOWN: I have no observations on the matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: And that, that's the sound of Republicans turning no comment into a survival strategy. With me now, Democratic senator from New Jersey, Cory Booker, who, of course, is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and the Judiciary Committee as well. Senator, it's good to see you. You know where I want to start. I want to start with this vote in the House to end the war in Iran. You know four Republicans joined Democrats to get it passed. Can you get it passed in the Senate?

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D), NEW JERSEY: Yes. We actually did right before we left. About nine weeks ago, I organized with about four or five other Democrats to force votes every single week, and we started picking off more and more Republicans. As you see, some of them lose their primaries and be liberated from Donald Trump's sway. It's giving us some momentum.

And so, I think we can pass this one over here because we already did one of our own, and that would put something on his desk, which would be a further highlighting of the fact that the people's House and the United States Senate are against this war along with the majority of the American people.

COATES: You know, it still remains a bit of a contested legal issue of whether lawmakers could force the withdrawal of troops, even if you are able to do it. But I wonder if it's your opinion that Trump can just simply walk away without any deal whatsoever and that Iran would return the strait to normal. What's possible here?

BOOKER: Yes. Well, look, this is one of the most catastrophic mistakes I've seen a president make in my lifetime. He took us to an unconstitutional war that made the regime not leave but become more extreme, that still has them holding on to their highly-enriched uranium, that has cost tens of billions of U.S. dollars and, unfortunately, also resulted in the closing of the Strait of Hormuz and causing all of us to pay significantly higher gas, food, and other costs. So, American people are paying for this mistake.

And he has no real off ramp. He is in a stalemate. The most powerful nation on the planet is in a stalemate with Iran. And so, all his protestations that he somehow devastated that country and won this war, it has been a colossal failure by his own measure. And I believe that it's only going to get worse before we ultimately find an end to this. And, again, the American people are paying for it.

COATES: Let's talk about what may or may not be the end of something because it does not sound like the president wants the anti- weaponization fund to really go away even after the acting A.G., Todd Blanche, told lawmakers the fund is dead. The president said he loves the fund. Who are the American people supposed to believe on this?

BOOKER: Well, what I'd say is believe what you know is true, when Congress passes legislation to stop this smash and grab fund, this corrupt fund that not only gives $1.776 billion to people who beat police officers in January 6th and others, but also gives him the right to have violated U.S. tax law and get off scot-free with immunity. So, this is absolutely wrong, and we plan on holding Republicans to account for it because it's not just that Donald Trump is doing all these horrible, outrageous things, what is really bad is the Republicans who control the House and the Senate have been allowing him to do so. History will look back, not just on one of the most disastrous presidents of all time, but they will look back at his enablers as well. It is time to hold the Republicans in Congress accountable also.

COATES: And what would that look like? Having them vote for legislation that would put the nail in the coffin on this legislatively?

BOOKER: Exactly. Exactly. And we're going to try to force those amendments tomorrow, what's called a vote-a-rama. We're going to do everything we can to try to force them to take a vote so we can pass legislation to make what he's -- this corrupt thing he's doing absolutely impossible.

Now, that's not going to stop his crypto corruption, it's not going to stop his ballroom and vanity projects like the arc, it's not going to stop his sons from making literally hundreds of millions of dollars grifting off the government, we should be stopping those things, too, but at least this one point of corruption, we may be seeing enough Republicans having a backbone to say this is wrong in any context by any president in any party, and I'm hoping that will give us some momentum to stop his other massive corruption in which he's enriching himself as we are all getting poorer with the higher prices he has caused.

[23:10:00]

COATES: You know, there's a source that is telling CNN that the president is soon expected to officially nominate Todd Blanche to be the attorney general. And today, he actually expressed a lot of confidence in Blanche. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Todd is doing a very good job at DOJ.

MIRANDA DEVINE, COLUMNIST, NEW YORK POST: Will he be attorney general? Have you decided?

TRUMP: I think he will (ph).

DEVINE: You haven't got someone else in mind?

TRUMP: No.

DEVINE: Not Ron DeSantis?

TRUMP: No. I wanted to see how he's received. You know, we put him as acting, and he has done a very good job.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COATES: So, he described an audition, essentially, with the stakes this high. I mean, do you think that Blanche has the vote in the Senate to be confirmed as the permanent attorney general?

BOOKER: No. I mean, look, first of all, this is a man that has been involved in investigating the chairman of the Fed, investigating former people that the president has perceived as his enemies. And they're weaponizing that agency. They've even gone after United States senators.

So, this is a guy that's wholly unqualified. His only qualification, which seems to be all that President Trump wants from people, is that they are willing to do his bidding and they will act like his own personal attorneys, which he was, and not like somebody upholding the highest law enforcement office in the land.

COATES: Well, he is -- does have legal experience, obviously. He has been in law firms. He has been a prosecutor. He has been in this position as well. But it sounds like your point is not so much the qualification as much as the priority of loyalty he would place over what is legally necessary.

BOOKER: Exactly. I've asked my Republican colleagues, our friendships with. They know what's outrageous. That the Justice Department is being used right now to go after Donald Trump's perceived political enemies, really, from the chairman of the Fed to senators that are my colleagues. That we know that this is out of bounds.

And so, this is a serious office with serious responsibilities. This is not a serious person and does not have the kind of law enforcement experience that we should want from somebody in that job. With him and Kash Patel at the helm of our public safety, all of us should be worried.

COATES: You know, your description could almost apply to the next person I'm going to ask you about because --

BOOKER: I knew we would get there.

COATES: -- you know this has even Republicans scratching their heads, and that is Trump's pick of housing regulator, Bill Pulte, as the acting director of National Intelligence. Now, you know that job requires national security experience, which he does not appear to have. And Senator Tillis called him an incendiary attack dog. Of all the concerns that I'm sure you have, what are the immediate ones that you would have about him being in this role?

BOOKER: Look, I live in Newark, about 10 miles away from ground zero. That job was created out of the horrors of 9-11 and the understanding that if we had someone who was collecting and analyzing and comparing multiple streams of national intelligence, we might have been able to stop that.

So, forget all the politics. At the end of the day, we're all Americans, and we should want somebody in that job who is up to keeping us all safe from the nightmares, many of which we have been able to foil in the past that we just don't even know about.

And so, my heart is hurting right now that this president yet again shows us that in public safety and national security positions, from Hegseth to Blanche to Kash Patel, he's putting unqualified people in these places.

And this guy in such an important job should send a chill to all of us who worry about safety, especially at a time that we're in a war with Iran, who is the global number one sponsor of terrorism. This is a dangerous man that he's putting in a place, and Donald Trump is proving to be a dangerous president to the safety and the security of American people.

COATES: I wonder if your description will ensure that other Republicans or Republicans more broadly convince him to step down or pull back on that particular nomination.

Let's talk more about though what's happening in Alabama because, obviously, you know, voting rights so close to my professional heart, obviously, and the Supreme Court cleared the way for Alabama to use its preferred congressional map, which a federal court senator previously stopped them from using for discriminating against Black voters. Now, Governor Newsom put it this way, in all caps: "The court's legitimacy is earned and they are burning it to the ground." Do you agree?

BOOKER: Well, this court has no legitimacy. It's the most corrupt court we've ever seen. We know this because they receive from billionaires lavish gifts, from Clarence Thomas's R.V. to the vacations that they all take with right-wing conservative ideologues who have interest in the matters before this court. This is a highly corrupt court.

And what they're doing, they're saying that you can use race as a pretext for law enforcement stops. They said it's OK to racially profile. But here, we're going to allow states like Alabama to roll back voting protections that have really only been in place for one generation.

[23:15:04]

My parents grew up before the Voting Rights Act was passed.

COATES: Mine, too.

BOOKER: And now, we're going to go back to sort of this post- reconstruction period where southern legislatures back then were passing all kind of laws to make voting unfair in their states and specifically exclude African-Americans. They are going to try to eviscerate Black representation from many states where Blacks make up, as we see in Louisiana, up to a third of the population. This is just unfair. This is not a black or white issue. This is an American justice system, American ideals. Do we stand for democracy or we don't?

And so, there's no way I can stand here. I mean, the irony of being only the fourth Black person ever elected to the United States Senate, who's four generations from slavery and knows what it took to get us here as a country where we had a robust and fair democracy, to watch it eviscerated by this court and by an Alabama State legislature where literally the speaker of their House is saying next, we go after the 14th Amendment, which was put in place in the post-Civil War period to secure things like due process and equal protections under the law, no, not on my watch.

I'm going to be a part of this fight. Whether as a foot soldier or a senator, I'm going to do everything I can within my power to preserve fair voting, fair representation, equal justice under the law. And this, this injustice, this moral obscenity cannot stand.

COATES: Senator Cory Booker, thank you.

BOOKER: Thank you. Thank you very much.

COATES: Breaking news, next, fresh results out of the California tight primaries for governor and L.A. mayor. What it tells us about where the races are headed and what -- and whether we might be in for some big surprises. And later, MAHA beats MAGA as Trump's choice for governor in Iowa gets sent home. What it means for Democrats hoping to flip the state.

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[23:20:00]

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COATES: Twenty-four hours since polls closed in California. And two key races, well, they're still up in the air. Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra are out in front in the race for governor. About 56 percent of the vote is in. And in the battle for the Los Angeles mayor, well, the incumbent, Karen Bass, she has punched her ticket for November's ballot. But upstart candidate Spencer Pratt, he's not far behind. He is hoping to claim enough of the vote to secure his spot in the runoff.

I want to go to L.A. where CNN's Elex Michaelson has been tracking the results all day, really all night long, too. So, Elex, all right, run us through these two races. What do we know about where the vote count stands right now?

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: So, we're essentially in the same place where we were last night when we were talking, where we see Hilton and Becerra at the top and Tom Steyer desperate to get into one of the top two positions. Remember, top two advanced regardless of party.

Tom Steyer was hoping for a day today, where he would get a big, big return and make up a bunch of that gap. That did not happen today. That being said, we didn't get as many votes counted today as we thought we might. So, there's still a lot of votes out there where Tom Steyer has an opportunity to make up ground. He's not at like at 0 percent for possibility. I talked to one of the top experts in this space. I said, what's the percent chance that Tom Steyer gets into the top two? Maybe it's about 20 percent now, is what he said. So, that's not nothing, but he still got a way to go. And if you had to bet money on this, you would probably bet on Becerra and Hilton advancing at this point.

COATES: All right. Well, we'll see. What about the mayor's race going on? Because that, obviously, is top of mind. It has gotten so much attention. And Spencer Pratt, I mean, he's still in it.

MICHAELSON: He's still in it. And if you had to bet, you would bet that he's going to make the top two at this point.

Nithya Rahman also needs to make up ground. Today, she made up a little bit of ground. She made up 3,000 votes. She's still 37,000 votes behind him. The problem for her is, you know, we talk about Democratic ballots coming in late. Well, a lot of Democrats are also voting for Karen Bass, who has already punched one of her tickets. So, at this point, if you're watching the results, it's almost like every vote for Bass is a vote for Pratt because if they are not vote for Rahman, then that helps Spencer Pratt trying to keep things where they are. So, percentage wise, even though Rahman gained a little bit today, Spencer Pratt essentially stayed almost even to where he was, which is a good day for Spencer Pratt.

COATES: Elex, we'll see you at the very next hour. Cannot wait to hear your analysis then as well.

With me now, Democratic strategist Mike Nellis. He advised the Becerra team throughout the primary campaign. Also, Republican strategist Matt Whitlock. Glad to have both of you guys here.

OK, all right, here we go. So far, you've got establishment Democrats like Becerra, Karen Bass as well, who appear to have done well despite this huge wave really of anti-establishment sentiment that was pouring in and becoming viral. What does that signal to you?

MIKE NELLIS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, SUBSTACK SHOW HOST, FORMER ADVISER TO KAMALA HARRIS: Well, I think it's, one, there's a big astroturf campaign for both Hilton but also for Spencer Pratt. And all these A.I.-generated images, the entire MAGA media machine, the Trump White House, everybody has been trying to make this guy a thing. And really, it's just they're trying to make (INAUDIBLE).

(LAUGHTER)

At this point, he might make it through.

[23:25:00]

And I think it's probably 50-50 at this point. I might be a little bit more bullish on that. I just think it's -- but look at all the effort and energy they put into it, and like Karen Bass is going to win in the general election, most likely here.

COATES: But not without being hurt. I mean, because he is not far behind. I mean, really nipping at her heels. She is an incumbent mayor. And he is not just in the rearview mirror. I mean, where they say objects in the mirror are closer than they appear. He's right here.

MATT WHITLOCK, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: And the search has come in these last couple weeks. I think that's what's Pratt -- that is what Pratt is really focused on, is the fact that his search has come at the right time. Will it be enough in a general? It remains to be seen. Right now, what Pratt needs to do is show that he's got a serious ground game that can compete with what Bass already has, which is formidable.

The challenge for Bass is the fact that she's looking at these results and seeing 65 percent of Los Angeles voted against her. So, Pratt does have energy because he's got a simple message of we shouldn't have to live like this. And nobody can really explain what Bass's affirmative campaign for herself is. Is it, I promise not to go to Ghana this time if there's another set of wildfires? I promise, if you give me another chance, I'll deal with the homelessness and drug problems that have actually gotten worse under my leadership for the last four years. It's a tough argument to try and make to people.

NELLIS: Well, if I could just add.

COATES: Yes.

NELLIS: Keep in mind, like 65 percent may have voted against Bass, right? But most of them voted for Democrats. They're not going to suddenly vote for Spencer Pratt. He's sorts of like to me a mini Donald Trump. OK? He's got a couple of good --

COATES: He says Obama.

NELLIS: He says -- sure.

(LAUGHTER)

Well, he also said yesterday that he was going to win outright yesterday. So, like he's a little bit out.

WHITLOCK: Got to love the vibe.

NELLIS: Right. He's just like Trump. He's really good at identifying a problem, really good at creating attention for himself online, really bad at coming up with any solutions. This is not a campaign that's reaching out to anybody other than really online Republicans. He consolidated that base. It might be good enough to get him into the runoff. I do not think it's good enough to win a general.

COATES: Let's talk about the governor's race because the president, not so many words. He talked about providing federal aid and supporting California with Steve Hilton at the helm if he wins the governor's race in November. I mean, California voters are feeling the same thing that every other voter is feeling across the country in many respects. Is there an appeal to having a governor who can actually get the president support even at this juncture? Is that somehow appealing over what else is going on?

WHITLOCK: I do. But I think one reason that the president is saying that is Steve Hilton has made fighting waste, fraud and abuse a priority, whereas I think he and President Trump would both say, why would we put more federal dollars into the sort of waste, fraud, and abuse buzz of the Gavin Newsom leadership that Becerra is kind of promising to continue?

COATES: But Newsom popular.

WHITLOCK: Newsom is popular, but I think that, you know, his waste, fraud, and abuse isn't. His high-speed rail to nowhere isn't. The health care for illegal immigrants funded by taxpayers isn't. And Becerra, Elex did a great interview with Xavier Becerra in the last week of the campaign. I have to give him credit because he highlighted so many of these key issues like, would you continue providing taxpayer-funded health care to illegal immigrants, which isn't popular in California, but it is $10 billion a year?

NELLIS: Yes. But I want to push back just a little bit here because if we're going to talk about waste, fraud, and abuse, Donald Trump is the most corrupt president in American history. So, I'm not saying they can't get better at it in California, but the idea that Donald Trump is going to withhold funds here and he suddenly has some moral high ground on this is ridiculous, like these does is reinforce what the people of California.

And really, I think, at this point, 60, 70 percent of Americans hate about Donald Trump and this government, they're not out to do anything that's going to improve your life. It's about Donald Trump exacting his petty political revenge against people that he doesn't like in order to help himself in his movement. There's nothing going on in Washington that's about regular people.

COATES: I mean, Mamdani campaigned, and their now cordial amicable relationship should show you can be polar opposite policy-wise from Trump, and so maybe get along with him.

WHITLOCK: Well, I think President Trump had Karen Bass in for a photo op where he talked about giving federal aid just a few weeks ago, and I think some Republicans were actually frustrated by that.

So, I think the idea that he'd withhold based on who wins is a little bit overblown because he has talked about working with Gavin Newsom for wildfire aid, things like that, even though Gavin Newsom essentially pocketed a whole lot of wildfire aid from the concert that they, you know, did fundraising for, things like that.

But I do think that, you know, you want to have a good relationship with the president. That's a, you know, play that Steve Hilton will do. But it's still an uphill battle no matter what. It's California. I'm a Californian. I would love to see it get out of the malaise we've seen under Gavin Newsom's leadership for these last several years. Will it be Steve Hilton? I would love that, but I think it's still an uphill battle no matter what, to Mike's point. COATES: Got a lot of time until November, everyone. Thank you so much for being here, guys. Up next, the moment inside the Oval Office it has Democrats and even some Republicans questioning the president's priorities. Plus, George Santos under investigation again. This time for potential funny business on the prediction markets. His former constituent, Anthony Scaramucci, along with Kara Swisher will be live with me to talk about all of it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:30:00]

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COATES: So, you would think that amid negotiations to end a war and rising gas prices and inflation, the president would kick off an Oval Office press conference by addressing at least one of those issues first. Instead, it began with this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You're going to very proud of it. It will last for 50 to 100 years before you have to do anything with it. Very strong powerful substance that we use. And we picked a color called American flag blue. We had color choices. Before, it was just gray. It was a color of concrete and stone. So, it's going to be really special. I thought you'd like to see it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[23:35:00]

COATES: And the president has been focusing a lot on these sorts of projects recently, whether it's his ballroom, his proposed 250-foot arch in D.C., and yes, a UFC arena on the White House South Lawn. The White House has really been hyping up that event at the Flag Day and Trump's birthday. And that giant structure they built for the fight, you know what? Apparently, Trump really, really likes it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: In Paris, France, the Eiffel Tower, 1889 it was built. It was supposed to be taken down immediately after the World's Fair. And then, they said, you know, we sort of like it, let's leave it up a little bit longer. And then, they said, let's leave it up longer and longer and longer. Well, they never took it down. And, you know, we're building something in front of the White House that's quite attractive to a lot of people. It's going to have the big UFC fight on June 14th. And I'm looking at it, and maybe we'll never ever take it down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: I think he's kidding. Right? Let's talk about all these with, of course, former White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, along with CNN contributor and host of the "On" and "Pivot" podcasts, Kara Swisher. I don't know where to start with. I'll go with you, Anthony, because I have to understand why is he so fixated on these projects. And is there no one on his team who is like, let's put that down on the itinerary, sir?

ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, AUTHOR, FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER FOR SKYBRIDGE CAPITAL, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I would say maybe he wanted to be an interior decorator, you know?

(LAUGHTER)

I would say this. You know, Kara Swisher brought Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Scott Galloway and Ed Elson's live show last night. I just want you to imagine her as president foregoing the war, foregoing the affordability issue, and talking about interior and exterior decorating from the Oval Office during a press gaggle. What people would be doing to her? So, to me, it's just a double standard with him. But, you know, the stuff is obviously reprehensible.

COATES: What do you think, Kara? Because, obviously, a part of me thinks he is joking about keeping the claw on the lawn in perpetuity. But he is completely dismissive of criticism about what he chooses to talk about. It's almost like he defiantly say, I'll do what I want when I want and say how long I want to talk about it.

KARA SWISHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, OPINION CONTRIBUTING WRITER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES, PODCAST HOST: Well, is that something new? Is that something fresh and new? We know him. Not at all, right? I mean, let's be clear, he likes to erect things. He likes to erect things. And so, we should just let him erect things. It's just ridiculous, what's going on here.

But what's probably more ridiculous is that we just focus on it. This is just not really the point. He's trying to take focus away. It's sort of like, you know, a very -- an older man who likes to go on and on. We've all had that experience about -- whatever. Oh, would you like to come see my yard and what I built in the back and things like that?

And so, I just am like, OK, whatever. I think the press should ignore it and just move on. And, obviously, Congress is maybe not giving him the money he wants because he promised for it to be private, the money to be private. So, I don't really care.

COATES: Well, I'm going to talk about it.

SWISHER: I don't really care what American flag blue is. That's great. Good for you. We can repaint it if we need to.

COATES: I won't ask Anthony. I'm not suggesting you're an old man on the aspect of your lawn. But I'm going turn to you for a second, just so you know. But the president, he loves to tout his endorsement record. Last night, his choice for Iowa governor, Congressman Randy Feenstra, lost the primary to a businessman aligned with the Make America Healthy Again movement, Zach Lahn. What do you read into that? SCARAMUCCI: You know, listen, it was a very close race. I think you have to take the objective and fair to President Trump. His primary endorsement, he's probably six out of seven or something like that. And he's not -- he has knocked out a lot of what I would call generic Republicans. The Make America Healthy movement, if you really study that movement and study the social media movement, it's a little fiercer, believe it or not, more passionate than MAGA.

And, by the way, you know, I'll point out that moving Bobby Kennedy into his side of the ledger during the 2024 election actually helped him because these people are very fervent about that movement. But I think he's in very much so control of that party right now. We have to see what happens after the midterms. Those people in that party are very afraid, which is why I was so surprised that Thune came out against the weaponization fund, the anti-weaponization fund.

COATES: Let's go to Maine for a second, Kara, because I want to hear your take on this because the president was asked earlier about the scandal involving Graham Platner. That's the Democrat, as we know, who is running for Senate in Maine. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He's a major sleazebag. I mean, you look at him. Yeah. I can't imagine that he -- yet he's up in the polls against Susan Collins. But she's always down in the polls and, you know, she survives. But --

[23:40:00]

DEVINE: But they have James Talarico in Texas.

TRUMP: I think he's one of the worse. Actually, I think Talarico is worst. You want to know, the two of them, I think Talarico is probably worse. Oh, he's horrible. Talarico is horrible with the six genders --

DEVINE: Yes.

TRUMP: -- with the mask. A couple of months ago, he's wearing a mask. Vegan in Texas doesn't work. He's heavy vegan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Kara, why is Talarico the Democrat that Trump wants to talk about right now? And do you think voters care about the Platner scandal in the same way?

SWISHER: I don't think Maine voters do. He's still up. I mean, maybe he'll take a while or something like that. But I think it's up to Maine voters to vote for who they want. You know, there's an expression that Scott uses actually, which is you want to be effective or do you want to win or be right, be effective or be right.

And I think, look, there's a lot of issues around Platner. He's obviously troubled. There are issues in his marriage. But it reminded me a lot of when Hillary and Bill Clinton did that famous press conference, like, I'm going to stand by my man. His wife seems to stand by him. I'm not sure it's any of our business with their personal life (INAUDIBLE) anymore in politics. It's way back with Bill Clinton.

With Talarico, he's actually scared of Talarico. He's a real phenomenon, especially in Texas, someone which would be harder for a Democrat to do so while he's doing really well. So, used to call him a "soy boy" or vegan -- you know, they're trying every manner of thing. And, of course, the minute they do that, he obviously eats meat, he's a long-time Texan, and then he trots out a fantastic girlfriend. Like it's just -- the whole thing is just out of fear of this guy who's very powerful, politically speaking, I think. We will see.

COATES: Well, let's turn to -- I'm popping all over the nation right now. Anthony, I'm going now to former congressman who's back in the news. I'm talking about George Santos now being investigated, we understand, for alleged insider trading on Kalshi. And for context, millions were placed in bets on who would attend Trump's State of the Union with Santos being an option. Santos originally announced that he was going, but then didn't show up. He's calling the accusations preposterous. Why would he risk it all after getting a commutation from Trump?

SCARAMUCCI: Have you met the guy? I mean --

COATES: No.

(LAUGHTER)

SCANNELL: -- do you ever had an interaction with the guy? OK. So, he's a goal post mover. And I think the Trump save through the pardon probably emboldened him to think that he can get away with stuff.

If you don't mind, I just want go back to Platner for a second. I want to tie it back to Donald Trump because I think there's something interesting going on. When something nefarious happens, the people think the establishment dropped the bomb on the person. They thought that and for Trump with the weaponization of lawfare and all that other stuff. And they actually think that about Platner.

So, they -- it's weird. A scandal hits, and people think, oh, the establishment did that to the candidate. And it sorts of rallies people around the candidate. And it's -- it's a phenomenon that helped Donald Trump in 2024. And I think it's helping Platner here in Maine. I think people should understand how anti-incumbent the fervor is in the society and how anti-establishment it actually is. And I think it's going to play a big piece of this in the midterm elections coming up in November.

COATES: We're seeing a part of that in L.A. Anthony, Kara, so good to have both of you on. Thank you.

SWISHER: Thanks a lot.

SCANNELL: Great to be on. Thanks, guys.

COATES: CNN has a partnership with Kalshi and uses its data to cover major events, but CNN editorial employees are not allowed to trade on prediction sites.

Up next, Scott Pelley fired after accusing his new bosses of murdering "60 Minutes." The news magazine now in turmoil as people question, will others leave? Former award-winning "60 Minutes" producer Chris Whipple live with me, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: A major shakeup is happening at "60 Minutes." Scott Pelley was just fired from the show after a tensed clash with new management. Pelley has been a mainstay on CBS for 37 years. But he's now accusing the new network of trying to -- quote -- "curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration." And he called out a number of recent moves by the network, firing two other "60 Minutes" correspondents and executive producer and multiple senior staff members.

And Pelley also took aim at the new CBS News chief, Bari Weiss, for hiring a new executive producer with little experience running a major T.V. broadcast, apparently even saying he would -- quote -- "never be welcome here." And that didn't sit well with the new E.P., who wrote in a letter to Pelley that -- quote -- "he demonstrated that you have no interest in contributing to the future success of the show."

Joining me now, veteran journalist and former producer of "60 Minutes," Chris Whipple. He's also a contributing writer at Vanity Fair and author of the book "Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History." Chris, good to see you again. What do you think the mood is --

CHRIS WHIPPLE, JOURNALIST, CONTRIBUTING WRITER AT VANITY FAIR, FORMER PRODUCER OF "60 MINUTES": Good to be with you, Laura.

COATES: Good to see you. What's the mood right now, you think, within the staff over there after Pelley's firing?

WHIPPLE: Well, the mood is, as you can imagine, there's anguish, there's fear, and there's anger. I mean, this is the most serious crisis in the history of "60 Minutes."

[23:50:02]

It's really an existential crisis. I don't think Bari Weiss is set up to destroy "60 Minutes," but if she's not careful, that may be the result. I mean, it was a huge mistake to fire the executive producer and her deputy, Cecelia Vega, without cause.

And look, I mean, this analogy may sound like a reach, but I think that Bari Weiss and her corporate sponsor thought "60 Minutes" was Venezuela and it turns out to be Iraq. They thought they could have regime change and just move right on, but it turns out they are in a kind of quagmire, and they need an exit strategy, some kind of off- ramp, or "60 Minutes" will be in jeopardy, I think. COATES: Do you think that Pelley knew he was risking his job in questioning their decisions and defying him?

WHIPPLE: Oh, for sure. I mean, Scott Pelley is a very smart guy. He's a courageous, smart journalist who, you know, has, for decades, reported without fear or favor. I mean, his body of work is second only to the great Mike Wallace, in my view. So, I think he knew the consequences, but he felt that there were things that had to be said.

COATES: I want to read you some more of Pelley's letter, where he took aim at how the show is currently being run. Quote -- "For my part, new management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. I've been told to include assertions that are unverified. Recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews on the broadcast." Would things like this have met "60 Minutes" standards when you still work there?

WHIPPLE: No. It is a fiercely independent and proud collection of journalists, great journalists, but they're accustomed to being left alone. I mean, this is an independent system. You know, I'm reminded of what a CIA operative once told me about outsider directors coming in there greeted. It's kind of like Scottish tribes greeting the English king. You don't mess with "60 Minutes." And if what Pelley is saying is true, it's really beyond the pale.

COATES: We'll see if the audience follows along with that conversation, too. I want to turn to Jill Biden here. I want to pick your brain because Jill Biden has been taking a lot of heat for writing in her new memoir that she knew right away that Biden's 2024 debate performance is not good, going on as far as to say that she thought he was having a stroke. Now, critics say that that's not how she was talking about it at the time. What's your assessment of the criticism? Is it fair?

WHIPPLE: I think we need to cut Jill Biden a little bit of slack here. I mean, I thought he was having a stroke as I watched it. And, you know, there just is no compelling evidence that Joe Biden had an episode

like that before or after. And I take her word when she says that.

And that doesn't mean that she wasn't complicit in a terrible decision by Joe Biden to run for reelection. He was too old to serve another term. She should have known it. He should have known it. He shouldn't have done it. So, she's complicit in that, and that'll be in the first paragraph of Joe Biden's obituary.

But I take her at her word when she says she didn't see it before or after that moment in that debate because I've spoken to aides who were with him around the clock in his last year and nobody else saw it either.

COATES: I'm sure she'd prefer not to be complicit. Chris Whipple, thank you so much.

WHIPPLE: Yes. Thank you. COATES: Up next, a rare "Friends" reunion. Lisa Kudrow and Jennifer Aniston in the brand-new "Actors on Actors." We've got a sneak peek for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: Before we go tonight, television's hottest actors, they're on CNN! Variety's new season of "Actors on Actors" is available on the CNN app. New episodes drop daily at 9 a.m. Eastern. The first episode featuring "Friends" co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow is out now. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER ANISTON, ACTRESS: BecauseI'm thinking these are movie stars that are coming into our sitcom.

LISA KUDROW, ACTRESS: Yes.

ANISTON: And they would be so nervous. And I was really -- that was -- I was so surprised by that.

KUDROW: Me, too.

ANISTON: Because of the audience. They were afraid of the audience?

KUDROW: Well, because of what's the tone.

ANISTON: Right.

KUDROW: It's not theater. It's for T.V.

ANISTON: Yes.

KUDROW: It's not a movie. What the hell is this?

ANISTON: What is this?

KUDROW: And it's a good question.

ANISTON: It's great question.

KUDROW: And I remember, someone asked one time, and everyone was like, well, didn't know how to explain it. And I said, oh, just talk louder. Same intention, just louder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Can't wait to watch that. And, hey, a quick correction to what our guest, Matt Whitlock, said earlier tonight.

[23:59:58] Now, he alleged Governor Newsom pocketed wildfire aid from the fire aid concert. The governor had no role in the concert, and there's no evidence he pocketed any money from it.

Thank you for watching. "The Story Is with Elex Michaelson" is next.