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Laura Coates Live
Donald Trump's Name To Be Removed From The Kennedy Center Despite A Court Decision Upholding His Name's Removal By Midnight; U.S. And Iran Soon To Close A Deal; Elon Musk Becomes The First Trillionaire In The World; TMZ Makes Its Splash In Congress. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired June 12, 2026 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking right now, a midnight deadline for President Trump's name to be removed from the Kennedy Center. The work is about to begin. We'll take you there live.
Plus, Trump and Iran inching closer to an agreement, or so they say. Are red flags already emerging?
And welcome to the trillionaire era, courtesy of Elon Musk. But is he really worth that much? Should he or anyone be worth that much? All that tonight on Laura Coates Live.
You're looking at live pictures of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., where at any moment Donald Trump's name is expected to be chiseled off of the building. Trump tried to stop it with a last- minute appeal, but a judge denied it, ordering the name removed by midnight, roughly about 45 to 50 minutes from now.
I want to bring in CNN's Sunlen Serfati, who is outside the Kennedy Center for us. Sunlen, where do things stand right now? Is there a sign that the letters are about to come down?
SUNLEN SERFATI, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, it's quite a remarkable scene, I should say, here an hour before midnight in downtown D.C., where you have many hundreds of people watching a group of construction workers build this scaffolding behind me. That scaffolding has been taking place, being built over the last few hours.
And you can see that they're putting up bar by bar, passing it, going up higher and closer to the words there at the top. As you can see, the words that need to come down, "The Donald J. Trump And" those words will come down. That court has compelled the Kennedy Center to bring those words down by midnight this evening.
I can't overstate how extraordinary this scene is down here. You have off-camera here around me a couple hundred people who have come out to bear witness and to see the words come down. This center has been the focus of much debate and much political controversy over the last year, most notably the influence of President Trump and his name on the side. So quite a remarkable moment that the Kennedy Center, again, is compelled to bring those words down by midnight tonight. The workers here have been working hard, putting up the bars inch by inch. Every inch they get closer to that name, every inch they get closer to potentially taking down those letters.
We're hearing chants in the crowds. People who are in support of the name coming down, they are saying, tear it down. Boris?
SANCHEZ: Wow. Sunlen, we'll be checking in with you throughout the evening. Thank you so much for that update.
Joining us now is Edward Lengel. He was the chief historian for the White House from 2016 until 2018. Edward, thank you so much for sharing this night with us. As a historian, what do you think of this moment?
EDWARD LENGEL, FORMER WHITE HOUSE HISTORIAN: Well, this emotion is a preview to what's going to be happening when the Democrats come back into the White House, which they're going to do eventually. The buildup of emotion and the desire to tear down all these edifices that the President is trying to create at the White House and elsewhere is creating a tremendous reaction.
SANCHEZ: The White House obviously fought hard to try and keep his name on the building, and we've seen President Trump make efforts, you alluded to them, to sort of imprint his persona and his view on the nation's capital specifically with his proposed arch, some of the changes he's made to the reflecting pool, etc. Are you familiar with a President that is so interested in putting his fingerprints the way that Donald Trump is on the country?
LENGEL: Yes, you know, I've thought about this a lot over the past several months, ever since the news came out that he was going to demolish the East Wing and create this new ballroom and then all the other things that he's doing, kind of in coincidence with the 250th celebration. And at first, I thought he didn't understand the founding era. Then I thought he didn't care about the founders.
But now I'm seeing kind of as a historian, kind of more a deliberate desire to supplant the founders, to kind of shift the spotlight from them and the historical creation of this country to himself and to deliberately try to create something new.
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I think that's his intent.
SANCHEZ: For folks that oppose the President, as you pointed out, this is a symbolic moment. We could hear in the background of Sunlen Serfati's live shot that there is cheering and music. Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu actually said, quote, "The bullies in the Trump administration tried to illegally put his name on the Kennedy Center. The American people fought back and won."
What do you find to be the symbolism here with the administration fighting hard to keep this on, but eventually having to accede to the courts?
LENGEL: It's totally unnecessary. You know, looking at the White House itself, he could have chosen to take a statesman-like approach to this and say, look, we need some changes. We need to expand it.
I was there, I was at the White House yesterday with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown. And, you know, it looked like I'm a father of two small children. It looked like the toddlers had broken into my study and pulled some books out and thrown toys around.
He could have tried to take a more statesman-like approach and say, let's work together, try to, you know, improve this in a nonpartisan way. But instead, trying to bulldoze through opposition and force this and inflict maximum pain is self-defeating. You know, the Democrats are going to come back and they're already rubbing their hands and using this as a motivator to erase his legacy in every possible way.
SANCHEZ: So the Department of Justice in court arguments raised that bylaws would require that hundreds of millions of dollars that have been donated to the Kennedy Center be returned if President Trump's name comes off of the facade.
How unusual is it historically for an administration to argue that the public arts -- performing arts institution for the country essentially here in the nation's capital is so tightly wound with private money and donations this way?
LENGEL: Yes, this is very new. And it was also apparent when he was doing all of his talking about the ballroom being funded by private funds. That was a lot of talk, it was a lot of smokescreen.
We all knew in the end that it was going to be public funds that were going to be called upon to do this. Use of private funds is a way to circumvent Congress.
You know, it's a way to give him more power to bulldoze, to do things promptly and effectively without any kind of a delay. That's the whole reason that he's doing it this way.
SANCHEZ: Edward Lengel, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate your time.
LENGEL: My pleasure.
SANCHEZ: I want to bring in senior political correspondent for "Time" magazine, Eric Cortellessa, Republican strategist Leslie Shedd and lead global affairs security analyst for "The Washington Post," Josh Rogin.
Eric, let's start with you. What do you make of the scene outside the Kennedy Center right now? Folks, they're cheering, anticipating the President's name being taken off of it.
ERIC CORTELLESSA, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, it's extraordinary, and it really demonstrates just the level of anger and resistance that is brewing among many within the public about these attempts that you describe of Trump trying to put his imprint on the Capitol, on the White House, some of these things that he's been doing in which he's been trying to circumvent Congress.
And, you know, I think it's going to be very interesting to see how he proceeds and how those around him try to steer him away from probably wanting to continue this fight, to keep it going. Obviously, this is not the concern of many Americans, including those in his own coalition who are upset about the war in Iran, who are upset about the high cost of living, inflation at record levels. Obviously, this is not the kind of thing that you want to show yourself focused on going into a midterms when a lot is at stake.
SANCHEZ: To that point, Leslie, was there intense demand among the President's supporters for him to do things like put his name on the Kennedy Center?
LESLIE SHEDD, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think that the President looked at the Kennedy Center and thought the same thing that I think, which is it's this beautiful building, but it's not what it should be, right? You go in and it's run down on the inside. And most importantly, it's not getting the big plays that you can go see at the National Theater.
More often than not, I end up at the National Theater when I want to see Broadway shows. I think he wanted to make it a preeminent theater here in Washington, D.C. And unfortunately, he didn't really get a chance to do that. And I'm sure the Democrats are gleefully watching as they take his name down but I don't think that most Americans are tracking this or care.
SANCHEZ: Does updating or upgrading the Kennedy Center, Josh, require the President to put his name on it?
JOSH ROGIN, LEAD GLOBAL SECURITY ANALYST, WASHINGTON POST INTELLIGENCE: Right. Well, you're correct. The courts have stopped the President from defacing the Kennedy Center, but they haven't stopped him from destroying the Kennedy Center. And the larger fight is over the future of the Kennedy Center. And that fight is surrounding Trump's plan to close it down for two years and then gut it and then renovate it. However, he's fit, I'm sure, with a lot of gold stuff, right?
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And that fight is still ongoing. And what that means is that after July 4th, there is nothing planned at the Kennedy Center. If you look on the website and the calendar, there's nothing booked.
So he's essentially shut down the Kennedy Center anyway by just failing to manage it. And the guy who we put in charge of it, Rick Grinnell, is gone. His staff is gone.
The carefully curated art collection is being put into storage. So he's effectively killing the Kennedy Center, even though his name is not going to be on it, by just not booking anything and not putting anybody in charge of it. And that's a tragedy for the Kennedy Center and whatever you thought
about the Kennedy Center before, for the next period of time, it's going to be vacant. There's nothing going on. And that's Trump's decision.
He would rather kill it out of spite because he didn't get his way than to let it continue, even imperfectly, in the way it was operating. That's very sad for the people who care about the Kennedy Center and the programming that was going on there.
SANCHEZ: Taking a step back, I wonder what you've heard from folks around the President about his motivation for this kind of project and putting his name not only on the Kennedy Center, but again, redoing the reflecting pool, adding the arch, doing the ballroom, all of these projects that seem to suggest that he's thinking about a legacy and leaving his mark in a way that is more permanent than just, you know, a plaque outside the Rose Garden.
CORTELLESSA: Yes, no, absolutely. I mean, people around him understand this is just kind of inherent to who he is and his personality. President Trump, at his core, in a way, is sort of this aesthete.
Remember when he first graduated from college, one of his first jobs was to be a Broadway producer, had 112 show run. It wasn't a success. But, you know, he always has this kind of producer mentality.
And so what people around him sort of have kind of accepted is that, you know, President Trump is always going to just have an interest or a fixation in these kinds of projects in which he can put his name on things, so to speak, in which he can put his imprint on things. He wants to make changes, physical changes that will outlast him and be a kind of symbol of his legacy.
SANCHEZ: Leslie, I wonder if you think continuing this fight over the Kennedy Center is going to be something that the President might present to voters as him fighting for them. Is it an argument that he can make in the midterms in any way?
SHEDD: I don't think that that's something he's doing right now. I mean, I know there's been kind of a couple of back and forths, but from everyone I've spoken with inside the White House and that are working within, you know, on this issue, I think what they'll tell you is that, you know, the President's moved on. He recognizes that this isn't going to work out.
As much as I know he wants to do this, the law is clear. You can't change the name of the Kennedy Center without an act of Congress. And, you know, I think it's best, if it were me, I would tell him, let's move on from this and get back to affordability.
SANCHEZ: I just want to point out, Josh, that we hear cheering because it appears that they completed another section of the scaffolding there. We're going to stay with this image, and I want to get your thoughts on it, Leslie.
ROGIN: Yes, the Kennedy Center is becoming another one in a long list of Washington institutions that Trump promised to reform, failed to reform, and left in shambles.
The U.S. Institute of Peace, the Wilson Center, USAID, the State Department, the NSC. You go down the line, and what you find is Trump claiming that these institutions were somehow infiltrated with DEI or liberal values or whatever it is he wants to claim, and then destroying them and then failing to rebuild them because he doesn't bother to go through the basic steps that the law requires.
And then when he's confronted with those contradictions, he just throws up his hands and says, I'm going to take my ball and go home and walk away and throws a tantrum. And that's a devastating consequence for all of the people who care about those institutions, not to mention the people that work there, people who spent decades investing in it, the donors.
And the truth of the Kennedy Center is that since Trump came back to office, its economics were terrible, that actually all of the major acts that were making money for the Kennedy Center left. Their donations went down, their sponsorships went down. That's why he wanted to shut it down for two years and reinvent it, because it was a failure under Rick Renauld.
And now, rather than just admit that, he's going to just say, okay, we'll just let it die out of a sense of spite. And that's just terrible for the Kennedy Center and terrible for the artists who depended on it as a forum for expressing whatever it was they were trying to express creatively and the people who enjoyed it.
SANCHEZ: While we hear the hundreds gathered there outside the Kennedy Center cheer for this loss for the administration in court, he did win in court when it came to the UFC fight planned for Sunday moving forward. You can see it there on the right side of your screen, the sort of improvised octagon that's been set up on the South Lawn of the White House, coincidentally, perhaps not coincidentally, landing on the President's 80th birthday.
CORTELLESSA: Yes, well, no. So June 14th, also incidentally, the day he wanted to launch his first campaign for President in 2015, had to push it because it was on a Sunday that year. And so instead they did it on June 16th, Flag Day.
But, you know, look, this is President Trump. He's a showman. He wants to be the guy who's putting on the shows.
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It's very redolent of his time in Atlantic City when he would host fights with Mike Tyson and other greats. And this is part of what President Trump sees himself as, in a way. I mean, he's always had a kind of entertainer mentality.
I mean, I once spoke to him and he did liken his rally speeches, his sort of riffs as that of commensurate to a stand-up comedian. You know, he sees himself as someone who's putting on a show. And, you know, for him, this is kind of the ultimate show. SANCHEZ: Everyone, please stand by. We're going to keep you updated on the scene outside the Kennedy Center as Donald Trump's name is removed from the facade.
Also, serious questions emerging tonight about his potential agreement with Iran, as some Republicans worry the President may be making a big mistake.
Plus, Wall Street betting on Elon Musk, turning him into the world's first trillionaire. Will he be able to keep that title? We'll discuss in just moments.
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SANCHEZ: Breaking news to CNN. We are continuing to watch the facade of the Kennedy Center as you see workers building scaffolding, prepare to take down the name of President Trump after a judge ordered it be taken down, rejecting efforts by the administration to keep the name up there.
We've learned from our reporter on the ground, Sunlen Serfati, that there is a crowd of hundreds. You can probably hear them, they're playing music, they're chanting, they're whistling. We're going to stay on top of these images and bring you the latest from there as we get them.
Meantime, President Trump and Iran appear to be finally saying the same thing. An agreement has never been closer. A top Iranian official is even saying that a memorandum of understanding could be signed remotely over the next few days. This is a rapid diplomatic turn, considering that just about 48 hours ago, the U.S. was bombing Iran, with President Trump threatening more and more powerful strikes.
Of course, this is far from the first time the President has teased a potential deal. He's done so more than three dozen times before. But tonight, the on-again, off-again rhetoric might actually be giving way to something concrete.
This framework still has to be signed. And even then, it is just a framework, not a final deal. Sources say it would trigger phase two, which then would give 60 more days for technical talks and that means the hardest part may still be ahead. After all, the devil is in the details.
Here's what one Trump administration official told CNN about the possible agreement. First, it would reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. blockade on Iranian ports would be lifted.
It would lead to the dismantling of Iran's nuclear program. And this is key. The U.S. would get Iran's enriched uranium, much of it buried deep underground. Iran would also eventually see some kind of sanctions relief, but only
if it complies with the framework agreement. Again, this is the U.S. version that comes from a White House administration official. Right now, we don't know if the Supreme Leader has signed off on that and notably, what top Iranian officials are saying isn't completely aligned with what the Trump administration is saying.
For one, the country's foreign minister says the Strait would not go back to the way it was before the war. Iran would charge service fees for transit. He also said the nuclear issue would be left for that 60- day negotiation period after this memorandum is signed.
Our panel is back with us now. Josh, I want to start with you. What do you make of the discrepancies that we've heard for most of the day from the Iranian side, from the American side, and yet both sides acknowledging this is closer than they've ever gotten to a deal?
ROGIN: Right.
I think you framed it exactly correctly, Boris. We are closer. A senior administration official held a call with reporters today and said it was 80 to 85 percent agreed, that was as of today.
So that's 80 to 85 percent. It's probably higher than before. But that last 15 to 20 percent, that's the sticky part. Okay, that's the part about how much money the Iranians get and when do they get it and who do they get it from.
And does this include Lebanon, by the way? Does anyone want to talk about whether or not the Israelis have agreed to stop bombing Lebanon? Because unless that happens, that's not going to be a deal.
And, you know, opening the strait, what does that really mean? Does that mean open or open for a fee that people are going to have to pay the Iranians?
So those are and that's putting all of the nuclear stuff, kicking it all down the road. It's understood that's all going to be kicked down the road. That's okay, fine.
So those are three really contentious issues that don't seem to be solved as of right now. So until everything is agreed, nothing is agreed. And don't get me wrong.
I think that the path of diplomacy is the only way out of this conflict personally. But, you know, we're not there yet. And until everything's agreed, I just think it's a lot of spin.
Both sides are spinning in their own direction. And, you know, what, 39 times we've heard we're days away, 39 times. So I'll believe it when I see it, that's my position.
SANCHEZ: Leslie, I wonder, given President Trump's anger over Iranian state media reporting some details that he felt were way off, he essentially said that they had to get their stuff together. What do you think of what we're hearing now regarding the agreement? SHEDD: I think that these kinds of negotiations are incredibly
complex. There's going to be a lot of back and forth. And we need to give it time.
It's interesting because we're kind of seeing the sausage being made right now, right. And that's never very pretty. I think some of that is because there is this voracious appetite to get information.
I do think, you know, if it was the other way around and he was being absolutely silent and not talking about it at all, the Democrats would probably try to say, hey, look, he's not telling us anything. You know, we're not getting any information. But you got to sit back and wait.
I want to point out the fourth bullet that you guys had up there. To me, that's the most important part of this conversation. In foreign policy land, we call them enforcement mechanisms, right.
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What can you do to make sure that Iran is actually going to comply with this deal? So whatever ends up in the final deal, that is what I'm going to be looking at. Eric, what are you hearing from sources about how this agreement is coming together?
CORTELLESSA: Well, they're a long ways away, but there's still a long ways to go.
I mean, I think there are a lot of key sticking points. I mean, one thing that a lot of administration officials are very weary of is the fact that it once again has a 60 day framework to continue the negotiations. Not the first time this has happened.
Of course, the first round of strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities in June of 2025, which was called Operation Midnight Hammer, was launched after a 60 day period did not yield to the outcome that Trump wanted.
I think what Trump really wants immediately is economic relief. He wants the sort of blood, he wants to stop the bleeding because he's got political ramifications. He's got domestic political considerations. But of course, a lot of these enforcement mechanisms are very tough, they've agreed to hand over their enriched uranium.
Well, they have canisters of enriched uranium buried underground all across the country. So you need to go there and physically extract them and trust and be able to verify that the Iranians are sharing all of these physical locations where you can go and get it.
Of course, as we have known, multiple administrations over decades now, not exactly the most trustworthy regime. So it's a very formidable.
ROGIN: Also, they haven't agreed to hand over anything.
You know, it's obvious that they haven't agreed to hand over anything. And they haven't agreed to a lot of the things that Trump said they agreed to. So he's constantly making claims that they're constantly contradicting, which just shows you that there's no consensus.
And the idea of an agreement is if neither side, both sides don't agree that there is an agreement, then there's no agreement. So there's obviously a lot of spinning on both sides. But no, that nuclear dust, that's not that.
As of two days ago, the Trump administration was planning on sending in commandos to try to drag these canisters out of subterranean Iranian facilities in the middle of a firefight. And Trump realized that that's crazy because that's a crazy, risky thing to do. And he pulled it back.
It just shows you those nuclear issues, if they ever get solved, aren't even part of this MOU in the first place.
SHEDD: And I think, too, you know, Josh brought up a really good point earlier about Israel and Lebanon. What is going to happen here? You know, I think that Trump does have a lot of sway with Netanyahu.
I think that Israel knows they need us a lot more than we need them. And so that means that, you know, they will listen to him to a certain extent. But Israel is going to do what I expect any country to do, which is to act in their own best interest.
And I don't know if they're going to get on board with anything unless they feel very much like they can be protected. I think that's another big kind of outstanding factor here.
SANCHEZ: One of many open questions, yes.
Everyone, please stand by, because up next, you can call on the trillion dollar man Elon Musk hitting new heights with the SpaceX IPO turbocharging debate over taxing the rich. Kevin O'Leary is going to join us for that conversation.
Plus, we continue to watch Cruz preparing to remove Trump's name from the Kennedy Center. A midnight deadline is looming. We have a live update straight ahead.
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ELON MUSK, CEO, SPACEX: And let me tell you, if people had told me this was going to happen, I was like, man, you must be smoking some really good crack, because I think this company is going to fail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: He was already the world's richest man by a mile. He just became even richer. Tonight, Elon Musk making history as the world's first trillionaire. He earned that status after his company, SpaceX, went public today, the largest IPO in the history of Wall Street.
SpaceX now valued at over #2 trillion, meaning that Musk now runs two of the top 10 most valuable companies in the world. The other, of course, Tesla.
The news is sparking tons of backlash when it comes to growing wealth inequality. Let's discuss with my panel, along with "Shark Tank" judge and chairman of O'Leary Ventures, Mr. Wonderful himself, Kevin O'Leary joins us.
Sir, thanks so much for being with us. You were an early believer in SpaceX. It now has the largest IPO in Wall Street history, despite billions of dollars' worth of losses last year. Is the company really worth that much?
KEVIN O'LEARY, O'LEARY VENTURES CHAIRMAN AND "SHARK TANK" JUDGE: You're buying in the future of what Elon is going to make out of it. And remember, if you look at the prospectus, it's quite obvious the cash flow right now is coming from Starlink. But the future is bright and there's no question about it.
And if you think about the history of his executional skills, he pretty well delivers on every mandate. You just don't know when. And so there's a timing issue here.
But space has so much potential and there's so many things going on in this company. It's a giant option. And the market has decided not just domestically, globally.
This is an extraordinary outcome for an American entrepreneur who is basically bankrupt 20 years ago. It celebrates what's great about the American economy as it close in on the 250th anniversary of the greatest economy on Earth. Elon Musk is unique, but gives you an idea how great it can be when an entrepreneur is set free to pursue his dreams.
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I think we should celebrate this and of course, the valuation will be debated every day in the open market. But what happened here today was extraordinary, absolutely extraordinary. I applaud it.
SANCHEZ: A lot of critics are concerned that he has overindexed on SpaceX's A.I. ventures and that he's trying to catch up with OpenAI and Anthropic. How critical is that part of SpaceX's business to its success?
O'LEARY: It's all critical. But there's a lot of assumption in the market, including my own assumption. He'll turn around and buy Tesla and bring in the robotics element to it as well and there'll be one giant company sharing technologies and advancing a lot of different mandates, product services in the future.
You've heard him talk about data centers in space. I mean, that sounds like a long way off, but generally speaking, you just don't know when it's going to occur. But it's a good idea.
It would solve a lot of problems in terms of space because it's cooler there and has unlimited power from the sun, etc. So I really think that the market will decide on its own. Is it an extraordinary valuation? Yes. Did some sovereign wealth funds pass on it? Yes. Was it oversubscribed four times? Yes.
And so all of these questions, all of these are true at the same time and I really think that if you believe that there's a huge commercial opportunity in space, which I think most people do, this is probably one of the premier platforms to own for the next five years.
SANCHEZ: So as you might imagine, today's news is getting a lot of flack, especially from the left Democrats, Bernie Sanders -- from Bernie Sanders to Gavin Newsom slammed what happened today. They try to tap into the anger of those who are struggling with this economy, with gas more expensive than it was before the war, with inflation also relatively higher to where it was last year. I want you to hear what some of these lawmakers are saying.
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SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): We're living in a time when more and more people are just hanging on by their fingernails to survive in this economy. And Elon Musk has more money and more wealth than anyone in human history. We need a wealth tax. And it's about time that corporations paid their fair share. Today's marker should be a wake-up call that enough is enough.
REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): That's total bullshit. Nobody should be a trillionaire. Right now we've got way too much wealth concentrated with the tiniest group of people and what we need to do is tax the wealth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: What do you say to people who share those concerns of so much wealth being concentrated in the hands of so few?
O'LEARY: Well, they're both very good at doing 10 second sound bites, and then they take that and put it on their social media and try and drive $5 to $10 at a time. Elizabeth Warren's been doing this for a decade, she's fantastic at it.
But this is about American entrepreneurship. Let's remember the tens of thousands of jobs he's created, the billions in taxes he's paid, the advances in technology he's given back that makes everybody's life better. And we want to punish that. That's not the American way. That's not how it works.
What they're talking about is limiting the success of individuals, which I think is at the core of what drives the American economy. 52 percent of jobs created in America are from entrepreneurs creating companies between five and 500 employees. Let's punish them, too. What I just heard there, I'll translate it for you. Hi, I'm from the government and I'm here to help you. What do those two women know about running a company like this? Nothing.
And so they should applaud the success of this, do their jobs, which is great policy that creates more Elon Musk, not less of them. That's how this should work. They should get their noses to the grindstone and go to work and find the next deal on chop chop.
SANCHEZ: Let's get the rest of our panel into this conversation. Eric, I wonder what your thoughts are on this SpaceX IPO launch and the fact that Musk is now the world's first trillionaire.
CORTELLESSA: Well, I mean, it's obviously extraordinary. I think one of the reasons why it has stimulated even more controversy than it would have already is because of his relationship with President Trump.
And, you know, I think a lot of Democrats see it as an opportunity to draw attention to the issues that are really going to favor them in the upcoming midterms, particularly cost of living, particularly with wealth inequality, particularly with a concentration of wealth and opportunity that has been stacked against ordinary voters.
I think that, you know, there's an opportunity to say President Trump campaigned against the elites. President Trump campaigned by saying he was going to wage basically a war on the elites and look at who is benefiting in Trump 2.0. It's elites like Elon Musk who just went from being the richest person in the world to being even richer.
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SANCHEZ: Leslie, you were nodding along with Kevin O'Leary's take on celebrating entrepreneurs. I see Josh shaking his head. Why do you agree? Do you not think this is potentially a liability for Republicans come November?
SHEDD: First of all, I really love it when Elizabeth Warren, who is a millionaire herself, likes to judge other people who get wealthy. Look, you are talking about SpaceX is now on the Nasdaq. That means that people's retirement funds, their 401ks are invested in this.
Everyday people are making money. There was a really great story about I think he was the janitor at SpaceX is now a millionaire, right.
So people are able to make money off of this. And more importantly than that, and I'm sorry, I'm going to be a little, you know, wide eyed here, but they get to invest in the future. They get to invest in the future of civilization, right?
We are going to the stars. We are going to have people living on the moon, living on Mars, and they get to be a part of it. Who doesn't want to do that? And they get to make some money while they're doing it.
SANCHEZ: Josh, don't you want to do that? ROGIN: Yes, but I want that to be tempered with a system that limits
the power of oligarchs to control the things in society that should be controlled by the people and by the government. And what have we seen?
Everybody knows that we're living in a time in America where oligarchs and the Trump administration are cooperating to enrich themselves in ways that break all of the norms and some of the laws that have governed oversight and accountability and transparency that's meant to protect the rest of us. And that's a situation that can only get worse the more and more that the power accumulates in the hands of the few and not in the many.
SHEDD: I have to say, I'm sorry, but I just want to get back to the fact that we need to encourage more people to invest in America, to come up with new ideas, to create jobs. You know, you might dislike some of Elon Musk's politics, but you like Starlink.
That is helping to bring, you know, all kinds of like help to the Ukrainian people right now. So, I mean, I think I want more Elons.
SANCHEZ: Very much enjoyed the conversation, everyone. Thank you so much.
Let's actually go back to the Kennedy Center in Washington as crews are about to start chiseling Donald Trump's name off of the building. CNN Sunlen Serfati is there for us. Sunlen, we can hear the crowd behind you. What is it like there?
SERFATI: Yes, Boris, the chiseling has not yet started about 20 minutes before the deadline, but there is a lot of activity here.
I want to give you an update on this scaffolding, which, you know, from earlier in the hour, we are talking about slowly really being built foot by foot up high enough to be able to ultimately have the workers remove Donald Trump's name.
It appears that they're likely at the last step, the highest part of that scaffolding. It's unclear what step happens now. Of course, they are marching towards that midnight deadline to comply with the court order.
But the crowd here, I have to say there are multiple hundreds of people in the crowd here that every time they make an advance in building the scaffolding, getting closer to the name, it just erupts and people erupt in tears, shouting, take it down.
I should note that this is certainly a very powerful symbol here in Washington of the moment of political divide that this city in this country finds us in the fact that you have President Trump who is attempting to make his stamp on Washington.
This, many people believe, is one small step towards standing in the face of that. And I spoke with one woman who came out here. She's been out here for hours. I said, why are you out here? She said, because she finds it healing to see his name come down, Boris.
SANCHEZ: Sunlen, thank you so much for that. We're going to keep an eye on that as we near the midnight deadline.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Can I grab you, Ted, I mean, Senator, sorry for calling you by your first name. Is that all right?
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): All good.
UNKNOWN: But I get called a lot worse every day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The TMZ duo taking Capitol Hill by storm, making lawmakers sweat and laugh at the same time. They are in the studio with us next.
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[23:45:00]
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SANCHEZ: TMZ has built quite the reputation when it comes to Hollywood gossip, whether it's celebrity scoops or dropping a bombshell, never before seen video. They've since taken their signature style of reporting, though, right here to the nation's capital.
And they certainly know how to stir the pot, like with their viral exclusive that showed Lindsey Graham and Disney, the senator traveling there during a partial government shutdown or exchanges like these with other government officials.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACOB WASSERMAN, MANAGING EDITOR, TMZ-D.C.: So I don't know if you saw this, Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater, they've broken up, your reaction?
REP. ANNA PAULINA LUNA (R-FL): I saw this online and I hope she moves on to better prospects.
WASSERMAN: TMZ in the house, my mayor, Muslim, my bagel Jewish--
UNKNOWN: My Christian Dior.
WASSERMAN: I saw people doing it on Twitter, so I just wanted to do it.
Do you have like an adrenaline rush? Are you scared? Do you feel like you're on a power trip?
PETE HEGSETH, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: It's a very TMZ question. My only thought process is to ensure that our war fighters have everything they need to be successful.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: Joining me now are the gentlemen behind those viral clips, co-managing editors for TMZ-D.C., Jacob Wasserman and Charlie Cotton. It is a pleasure to be with you both. Thank you so much for joining us. Jacob, you guys have been at this for two months now. Do you feel like you've gotten the hang of what this town is like?
WASSERMAN: Absolutely. And what's been so amazing is honestly how kind everyone's been. I mean, I don't think Charlie and I really knew what we were getting ourselves into.
But so far on the Hill, I mean, from both sides of the aisle, we've seen tremendous enthusiasm and also people in the press corps, too, have been incredibly kind and showing us the ropes. So far, it's been great.
[23:50:00]
SANCHEZ: Charlie, I've heard one of the things that has surprised you guys is how little Congress actually works.
CHARLIE COTTON, MANAGING EDITOR, TMZ-D.C.: Yes, I mean, they do get a lot of time off. They get more time off than schoolchildren do.
SANCHEZ: It's true.
COTTON: But I mean, they are campaigning.
So I want to like give them their they are working back in their home districts. But yes, they're not here a hell of a lot, which makes it work hard for us. But we're in D.C. trying to get shots and they're back home but that's part of the battle.
SANCHEZ: You recently gave a shout out to our friend Manu Raju posting, quote, "feels like I got a courtside seat when Michael Jordan was in his prime." I've seen Manu in action. He is relentless, he will chase people into elevators. How would you compare your approach to chasing down lawmakers to someone like Manu?
COTTON: That's a good question, actually.
I mean, I think we're similar in a way, like we're trying to get the walk and talk. We're trying to get -- we're trying to elicit some sort of headline. But I think, you know, the TMZ brand is not the CNN brand.
We've got quite a different audience and we have a different perspective on news. So I think there are similarities. But also we come with the TMZ sort of entertainment and we've got a different audience that we're catering to.
SANCHEZ: To that point, Jacob, I wanted to play something that you recently asked Virginia Senator Tim Kaine in the elevator. Very important topic. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WASSEERMAN: So Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey, they're getting married and right now they're considering which states have the most favorable prenup laws.
SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): Oh, my God.
WASSERMAN: You know, because it's like there's a bunch of places that they could get married in. So do you think, though, that prenup laws should be federalized? Like what? No. Why not?
KAINE: Absolutely. I think you should only federalize something when it is like really important that there be a national policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: What do you think of the idea of bringing not only levity to covering politics, but also a fresh set of eyes? Because I imagine that you would ask things that more seasoned veteran reporters on the Hill may be too in the weeds to think about.
WASSERMAN: Yes, well, I think in that clip, for example, we like to use entertainment and celebrity as a catalyst for a much deeper discussion. So in that clip, you know, we're talking about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey getting a prenup, but then it gets into a conversation about what should be federalized and what shouldn't be. And I think Charlie and I like to do that a lot of the time for various topics.
SANCHEZ: And lawmakers are taking note. Charlie, "Courthouse News" spoke to some Hill staffers about you two, and they report, staffers are actively preparing their bosses for a potential future run in with TMZ, noting that employees of lawmakers are studying the faces of the outlet's three Capitol Hill producers to more easily pick them out in the halls of Congress. Should senators and representatives be nervous when you're coming their way?
COTTON: Not at all. We are just two regular blokes trying to ask regular questions like we're not here trying to like drill down on the policy and that sort of stuff.
We just think like, what would someone in Middle America want to know out of these people? And sometimes it's levity and sometimes it's trying to hold them accountable for something they should be held accountable for.
SANCHEZ: Like perhaps being at Disney World during a government shutdown.
COTTON: Well, what about the bubble one? You know--
SANCHEZ: I wonder if you could ever see yourself hanging out with any of these lawmaker folks outside of the halls of Capitol Hill or are there any that you've actually felt friendly with?
WASSERMAN: Well, there are a lot that we feel friendly with, but we're not here to be their friends. And while we are here to maybe have some of the fun conversations that you showed, we're here to get scoops and we're here to compete. So, of course, we keep it cordial. And at times, yes, we can laugh, but we take this seriously.
SANCHEZ: Anyone you could see yourself having a beer with, Charlie?
COTTON: Shamari figures, man. Dreamboat. Yes, to be honest, I think like the point in politics these days is who can you have a beer with average folks? That's basically a lot of the reason they vote for someone is because they could see themselves chilling with that person. So I love meeting these people and trying to bring out who they really are and introduce them to a new audience.
SANCHEZ: We very much enjoy the coverage. Charlie, Jacob, thank you so much. We'll be looking forward to more.
So we're just minutes away from crews taking down Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Center. Crowds are gathered outside to watch it happen. We'll have a live update in just a moment.
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[23:55:00]
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SANCHEZ: Back now live to The Kennedy Center, where we are roughly 90 seconds away from a court order deadline to remove Donald Trump's name. Crews have been there for several hours, slowly and methodically putting up scaffolding to go about that process. You see where it stands right now.
This entire structure has been put up and now the workers are standing by to chanting crowds. It's been quite the scene there. Hundreds gathering to watch and cheer that every time these workers get closer and closer to starting the process to actually remove the name Donald J. Trump, you hear them chanting, take it down.
We should note the White House fought this all the way to the end. Now the President had his team file an emergency motion for a stay with the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, an effort that ultimately was blocked, even though the Department of Justice argued that millions of dollars in donations that have been made to the center would have to be effectively given back if Trump's name was removed. The decision to put Trump's name in the first place sparked instant backlash.
Critics pointed out that the Kennedy Center is a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. When Congress established the center, it designated it the sole national monument to his memory within the city of Washington.
[00:00:02]
And as we hear these folks out there, it is important to point out that as of July of this year, there will be no further programming for the Kennedy Center. So it'll be an open question to see how the administration will handle it moving forward.
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, who helped lead the charge to remove the name, called the judge's ruling in this case overwhelming, adding, quote, "You can fight against injustices and win." That does it for me tonight, thank you all for watching. "The Story Is with Elex Michaelson" is next.
