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The Source with Kaitlan Collins
Trump Fuels False Election Claims As California Counts Ballots; Trump: U.S. Will "Declare Total Victory" Over Iran In Two Weeks; Trump Becomes First Sitting President Ever To Attend NBA Finals. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired June 08, 2026 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Also caught on video, the collapse of this building, where a restaurant was located. At least 35 people have been killed, more than 200 others injured throughout the quake zone.
According to the Associated Press, the quake also triggered tsunami warnings. That threat, thankfully, is over. Authorities are warning residents to be alert for aftershocks.
That's it for us. The news continues. I'll see you tomorrow. "THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS" starts now.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN HOST, THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS: Tonight. President Trump says it's rigged. Speaker Johnson says it's diabolical. And Democrats say they're delusional. As the count is continuing nearly a week later in California.
I'm Kaitlan Collins. And this is THE SOURCE.
Tonight, nearly a week after Election Day in California, they're still counting votes in key primary races for the U.S. House of Representatives, for California Governor, and for the Mayor of Los Angeles, where tonight reality star Spencer Pratt has now fallen to third, and CNN can now project he will not advance to the runoff to face the current Mayor Karen Bass. Instead, our projection tells us that the progressive challenger in this race, Nithya Raman, will advance after trailing Spencer Pratt for several days.
We'll go live to Los Angeles in a moment for the latest on where this race stands as we come on the air tonight.
But to be clear, as we're looking at these numbers, there's zero evidence that there's anything fraudulent about the election results coming in from California. That hasn't stopped the President from crying, fraud, stolen, or rigged, claims that he's made about elections he doesn't like for years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'm afraid the election is going to be rigged. I have to be honest.
They even want to try to rig the election at the polling booth.
The only way we're going to lose this election is if the election is rigged.
This year, they rigged an election, they rigged it like they've never rigged an election before.
The election was rigged and stolen.
They virtually admitted now that the election was rigged.
COLLINS: They have not admitted that, Mr. President.
TRUMP: If you sent the votes back to many of those states, they would not come back in the affirmative. And remember what I said, and you just said it pretty much. You admitted what I said was right.
COLLINS: I did not.
TRUMP: They said he didn't have the right to do it, and he did have the right to do it, and that's why they changed the law taking that right away.
COLLINS: I should note that your campaign paid for a recount that happened in Wisconsin, and it actually had more votes for President Biden by the end of it.
TRUMP: The radical-left Democrats rigged the presidential election in 2020.
By the way, that election was totally rigged.
I don't know, you know, you have a rigged vote out there, that's the problem. The votes are rigged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Here's what is happening in California. It's the most populous state in the nation. A large share of the votes there are cast by mail, and California accepts ballots that arrive after Election Day, as long as they're postmarked by Election Day. That means, as we have seen now in previous California elections, the counting can go on for days. It may be incredibly slow. It might be annoying to the voters and to the candidates. It is all by the book, though.
And when asked to back up the President's claims, this is how he responded over the weekend on "Meet the Press."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They sent people to jail who did nothing wrong.
KRISTEN WELKER, MODERATOR, "MEET THE PRESS," NBC NEWS: All right, just -- just to be very clear. There's no evidence of what you're saying. But let me ask you about Todd Blanche. TRUMP: There's a lot of evidence.
WELKER: Let me ask you about Todd Blanche.
TRUMP: Listen -- listen to me -- listen to me.
WELKER: Let's talk about Todd Blanche.
TRUMP: There's tremendous evidence. There's nothing but evidence.
WELKER: Well, it's not been presented in a court of a law.
TRUMP: The election was rigged. It was a dirty election.
WELKER: Mr. President--
TRUMP: And it's happening again right now in California.
WELKER: --you've never presented evidence--
TRUMP: It's happening right now in California.
WELKER: --that the 2020 election was rigged.
TRUMP: You know that these elections are rigged. Your network knows that they're rigged. Do you know that I won an election in a landslide and I got 94 percent bad press.
WELKER: But Mr. President--
TRUMP: You know why I got that?
WELKER: --you've never presented evidence.
TRUMP: Because you have no credibility.
WELKER: But you've never presented evidence that it was rigged. Let's keep talking about -- I want to talk about Todd Blanche.
TRUMP: You have more evidence, there's more evidence than ever presented.
WELKER: Let's talk about--
TRUMP: Your elections in this country--
WELKER: You went to court--
TRUMP: We're like a third world country.
WELKER: But sir--
TRUMP: Your elections are crooked and you're crooked, and "Meet the Press" is crooked.
WELKER: But Mr. President-- TRUMP: And so is ABC and CBS and CNN.
WELKER: But Mr. President--
TRUMP: You're a one-sided crooked network.
Sorry. Let's call it quits because I've had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.
WELKER: Mr. President, let's -- I traveled all the way to Wisconsin for this interview.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now today, the President argued it was quote, "Not possible for Spencer Pratt to have lost the L.A. runoffs after the big lead he had." He called it a 3rd World Nation, and said that the elections are rigged.
[21:05:00]
On Capitol Hill, House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked about the President's claims. He didn't go quite as far as the President, but instead said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The President keeps saying that there's election fraud in the California mayor's race. What evidence is there to prove that?
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): You tell me, Manu. They are counting votes, weeks after the election. We have entire nations with huge populations, like India, that can count their votes in 24 to 48 hours.
RAJU: So, you're saying it's rigged, like the President?
JOHNSON: I'm not saying it's rigged, I'm saying it stinks to high heaven, and everybody knows that.
I think California is playing around with this.
RAJU: But what evidence is there to prove that the election was rigged?
JOHNSON: Look, I don't -- some of these efforts are so diabolical and so far upstream it is impossible to prove. But I think everybody knows, instinctively, something is wrong here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: House Speaker, calling it diabolical.
Tonight, we also heard from the Vice President, after it was projected that Spencer Pratt was expected to fall short of making it into the runoffs, and JD Vance went on national television to call the elections in California, quote, Shady.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JD VANCE (R), U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: How is it that you had -- you know, Karen Bass was in first place, Spencer Pratt was in second place, and then this other woman was in third place. You would expect these mail- in ballots to kind of meet that same basic pattern, where, you know, number one would get the most votes, number two would get the second- most votes, and so on.
But somehow we find ourselves in a situation where number one, they're still receiving ballots, not just counting ballots, Jesse, they're still receiving ballots. And number two, the way that they're coming in just so happens to work out such that the Republican is getting kicked out of the final two, so it's a Democrat versus Democrat runoff. That seems pretty shady to me, especially when you add on top of the fact that in California, you are prohibited from asking for somebody's identification before they vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: A lot to talk about tonight.
We're going to start with my first source, who is CNN's Elex Michaelson, who is live for us in Los Angeles.
And Elex, obviously, you know California politics as well as anyone. What do you make of what's playing out, especially in Los Angeles tonight, as we can now project, here at CNN, that Nithya Raman is going to advance over Spencer Pratt, to face Karen Bass in this race.
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a reminder that two Democrats are advancing in an overwhelmingly Democratic city, a city where Republican registration is like 13 percent.
And so, we often see, in these elections, that Democratic turnout is late, and it's largely vote by mail. It's largely in the last few days that turnout in many elections in the past has been exceptionally progressive, and that is what we're seeing tonight.
I just heard from Nithya Raman, who sent me -- her team sent me a statement, just a few moments ago. Just want to share this for the first time. She said, I'm incredibly honored that voters have given us the opportunity to advance the general election for mayor of Los Angeles. She goes on to say, If you're as frustrated by the broken status quo as I am, I hope you'll join our movement to build a city that works for everyone.
So, it's going to be very, very interesting, Kaitlan. Karen Bass wanted to face off against Spencer Pratt. Her team saw that as a much easier race as a Democrat versus Republican in one of the most Democratic cities. Polls going into this showed that Bass versus Raman would be very, very close. And so, now, we could have a too-close-to- call race on our hand for mayor of Los Angeles.
COLLINS: Yes, and two things can be happening. Obviously, it's taking a long time to count the votes, and we're still waiting to see exactly what the projections are going to be for -- in the governor's race, for example. That can be frustrating to people, but it doesn't mean it's fraudulent.
When do we expect to know what's going to -- who it is going to be facing whom in the governor's race?
MICHAELSON: Probably in the next day or so. The county registrar said the overwhelming majority of votes will be counted in the next couple days. And we're really close to making a projection. It certainly looks like it's going to be Steve Hilton in terms of that.
But yes, you bring up a good point. Should we maybe consider changing some of the rules in California? Is ballot harvesting a good thing? Is it a good thing that you can vote as long as your ballot is postmarked on Election Day and be received afterwards? Is that a good thing? Should voter ID be considered? Is it good to mail a ballot to every single person in the state, regardless of whether they ask for them? Those are all legitimate questions about policy. But that's the law, right now.
And so it's one thing to say, We need to change the law going forward. It's another thing to allege that somebody is breaking the law, without providing any evidence of that. That's what's happening right now from President Trump, without any evidence. And so, I think those are two very different conversations, as you point out, Kaitlan.
COLLINS: Yes. Elex Michaelson, that's a great point. Thanks for being here with us on THE SOURCE.
Of course, Elex will be back at Midnight Eastern for his show, "THE STORY IS," right here on CNN. Don't miss it.
[21:10:00]
And my political sources are also here with me tonight, including:
Former Obama administration official, Van Jones.
Former special assistant to President George W. Bush, Scott Jennings.
And our Chief Data Analyst, Harry Enten.
It's great to have all of you here.
Van, just when you look at this. You worked on a lot of elections in California.
VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes.
COLLINS: Do you--
JONES: Sure.
COLLINS: Does this seem too slow to you? I mean. JONES: Look, we're slow as Christmas, and I hate it. What I would say is, anybody knows California politics, the conservatives vote earlier, day of, and we tend to vote late in the mail. So, there's always that blue shift toward the end.
Here's how you know it wasn't rigged. Spencer Pratt didn't win because, if it were rigged, the Democrats would love, love, for Karen Bass to go up against Spencer Pratt because she would beat him to death. It would be -- it would be a romp, it would be destruction.
Now, Karen Bass has a problem. She's got a young progressive running to her left, coming on like Mamdani did here in New York. If Democrats were going to rig an election, we would definitely not put this young hotshot progressive up against our Mayor. The proof that it's not rigged is that Spencer Pratt is out.
COLLINS: Scott Jennings, what do you make of that argument? It's a pretty blue city.
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER SPECIAL ASST. TO PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH, HOST, "THE SCOTT JENNINGS RADIO SHOW" ON SRN: (inaudible) vote percentage. He definitely out-kicked his coverage, if you just look at the registration. That's number one.
Number two, I think Van's argument makes a lot of sense.
Number three, I think Elex laying out how you vote and how votes are counted in California is a real indictment of the system. The system is crazy. I mean, if you wanted to design a system to make people question the results every year, to make people wonder if there was any funny business going on? You would design it precisely as they have designed it in California. But as he pointed out, it's legal today.
I don't think that ballot harvesting ought to be legal. I think vote- by-mail is inherently less secure than voting in person. Counting all these ballots for weeks and weeks, it's -- I mean, it does lead to a lot of questions.
But do I think it's fraudulent on its face that a Republican didn't get more than 25 percent of the vote in a mayor's race in L.A.? No, that's not inherently fraudulent. I'm not surprised at all. I mean, California routinely picks the literal worst people in the world to run the state and the cities. They have done that in this case. That does not seem to be a shocking outcome to me.
COLLINS: But Scott, I mean, the President is suggesting fraud, or he's saying that there's fraud. The House Speaker was also suggesting it, calling it shady -- or as the Vice President was calling it shady. Mike Johnson is calling it diabolical. I mean, when you look at that, I don't remember them saying that in 2022, when there were some close races that actually ended up benefiting Republicans in the House.
Should they not be making those claims in your view?
JENNINGS: Well, look, I think there's a difference between a system that can lead people to have questions about how it's unfolding and a system that's producing the result that you would expect, which is that Democrats get here about three quarters of the vote, in a city where it's about 80-20 or even more than that. So no -- it doesn't necessarily have to be fraudulent for it to stink.
I agree with Mike Johnson, it kind of stinks that it takes so long to count the ballots. I think ballot harvesting stinks, and I think vote- by-mail and mailing out millions of ballots to people who have never asked for one. I mean, I think that all does absolutely stink. Is that the same as fraud? No.
But I do think it's a legitimate conversation about whether -- election laws in California. I mean, if you want to have more confidence in elections, you would scrap this entire pile of garbage law and start over with something else.
COLLINS: Well, Harry--
JONES: I see it differently. But go ahead.
COLLINS: Harry, can you tell us what the numbers actually are and what we are looking at, in places like L.A.?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes, I mean, look, here are a few things.
First off, I think we could all agree, we would rather the system be that the votes were counted faster in California is miles ahead in terms of -- or miles behind in terms of how slow the vote count is, and that's something we could talk about after this election.
But the bottom line is this. This is the worst conspiracy theory, the dumbest conspiracy theory I've ever heard, and it's, simply put because, the Democratic establishment, as has been stated before, wanted to face Spencer Pratt. Karen Bass wanted to face Spencer Pratt for the simple reason that she would easily beat him. You could look at the runoff polls, right? Nithya Raman actually is ahead of Karen Bass.
JONES: Yes.
ENTEN: Spencer Pratt was nearly 20 points behind Karen Bass.
And if you look at the net favorable ratings, what do you see? Karen Bass is greatly unpopular. Spencer Pratt might be the one person in the entire Los Angeles who is running for mayor who is less popular than she was. He was a -- would have been a God-given gift to her if she, in fact, faced him in the runoff.
And more than that, Donald Trump is what, 55 points underwater in terms of his net approval rating in Los Angeles? What a surprise, news at 11, that a Republican is struggling in a city in which just 15 percent of the registered voters in that city are Republican. This isn't a conspiracy, it's simple math.
[21:15:00] COLLINS: Well, Van, actually Jennifer Siebel Newsom was here earlier. She has a new documentary that's coming out. That whole interview is going to air here later on, on THE SOURCE.
But given the news in California, I asked her what she made of the President's claims about California, and claiming that this vote is fraudulent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The President is claiming that the primaries there are rigged, and saying that the votes, the mail-in votes that are being counted, are a fraud, as he described them. He actually walked out of an interview, over the weekend, when he was challenged on those claims. There's no basis that there's anything wrong with the elections in California.
But I wonder, as a Californian, how you see that.
JENNIFER SIEBEL NEWSOM, FIRST PARTNER OF CALIFORNIA: I mean, do we believe anything out of his mouth anymore? I think he needs to be fact-checked constantly.
California takes seriously voting and the process, and it takes time. It is frustrating to many. That's understandable. The Governor has passed legislation to expedite the process. But again, so much of what we do in California is local-controlled, and we can only do so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Yes, look, first of all, I love her. I've known her for 20 years. She's awesome.
And look, California is a different state. We really have layered on top of layer of trying to get more people in, more people opportunity, more people voting. And now, I do think we need to focus on inclusion now to focus on expediency because, it's piled up now. Like I said, we're slow as Christmas now, for trying to get this -- but it's not a bad idea to get more people a chance to vote. It's not a bad idea to bring more people in, give more people opportunity to vote. And sometimes, you can overdo a good thing.
COLLINS: Van Jones. Harry Enten. You'll both be back.
Scott Jennings, thanks for joining us here tonight.
Also, up next for us here on THE SOURCE. What the President told South Carolina voters tonight about how long he thinks it's going to take to get total victory against Iran.
Also, later tonight, my source tonight got a key endorsement in the final stretch of Michigan's Democratic Senate primary. Some Democrats, though, are worried about that race. We'll tell you why.
And right now, President Trump is in Madison Square Garden for Game 3 of the NBA Finals. New video of what happened inside the arena and how the crowd reacted to President Trump. That's next.
[21:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: President Trump suggested to voters in South Carolina today, that the United States will declare total victory over Iran. Those were the President's words, of total victory over the next two weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're negotiating now, and they want to make a very good deal. They're willing to give us everything. They're willing to give us no nuclear weapon.
I think we are winning that battle, but you're really going to win it over the next two weeks when we declare total victory, it will be a total victory.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: If that sounds familiar, it's because it's not the first time the President has made promises about how quickly he expects to see significant progress in this war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think with two or three weeks, yes, we'll leave.
Right from the beginning, we projected four to five weeks.
REPORTER: Are you talking about days?
TRUMP: I think so.
REPORTER: OK.
TRUMP: We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: This comes as the President had not one but two phone calls, in a matter of a couple of hours, with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Sources say that before that second call, Israel was actually preparing for a significant attack on Tehran. But the intervention by the President appeared to have worked. As Prime Minister Netanyahu later announced, afterward, Israel has halted its attacks on Iran for now.
Joining me now is the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Michael Leiter.
And Ambassador, it's great to have you here.
Why, in your view, was the President successful in getting the Prime Minister to call off these strikes?
MICHAEL LEITER, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Well, that's an assumption.
First of all, it's very good to be with you, Kaitlan.
We hit Iran back very hard. Iran fired ballistic missiles into our country. No self-respecting country in the world would allow a malign country to fire ballistic missiles into its territory. They did. They could have killed hundreds. They could have caused mayhem and destruction. And it was very clear that we're going to respond. We did respond. We hit them back hard, and we'll do so again if they choose to fire ballistic missiles into our country.
COLLINS: Well, obviously, as you heard the Prime Minister, I mean, he did say earlier that Iran -- that Israel is stopping its attacks on Iran for now, but said he reserved the right to restart them.
You heard the President say there, he expects that they'll declare total victory in two weeks. Does Israel believe the United States and Iran are two weeks away from ending this war?
LEITER: Well, we certainly hope so. The important thing is that the war ends in such a way, where Iran can no longer threaten the region and threaten the world. This is a malevolent government that's been in power for 47 years and has destabilized the region and has caused mayhem upon all the countries in the area.
If we can end this war, where Iran no longer has a nuclear weapons program, no longer has a ballistic missile program that can hold the world hostage, and no longer supports its proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah, and if that can be achieved through negotiation and a deal, then the war will be won, whether it's in two weeks or two hours.
But we're hoping that that's the outcome, no longer to have this malevolent government coming out of Tehran, these madmen of Tehran who shoot ballistic missiles into their neighbors. This has to stop.
[21:25:00]
COLLINS: Well, I mean, in terms of what a deal is going to look like. The President told the Financial Times that Netanyahu won't have any choice but to accept any deal that he strikes with Iran.
He says, quote, I call the shots. He doesn't.
Is the President right?
LEITER: Well, obviously the President of the United States calls the shots. But there's a wonderful relationship between the President and the Prime Minister, goes back some 40 years. I'm privy to those conversations that the Prime Minister has with the President, and they are cordial and they're friendly.
And look, we entered this war against Iran together, and I think we're going to end it together on the same page. We have pretty much aligned interests. And here and there, there are some differences of opinion that need to be ironed out, and they're done so in a very respectful and friendly way.
We were hit with ballistic missiles. We had to respond. The President understood that. And the Prime Minister understood that the President has a much broader agenda in the context of his negotiations, and we don't want to get in the way of that. So, both needs of both countries were tended to by a discussion between the two leaders, and I think that's the best way that a relationship and that a sense of camaraderie and leadership can be worked out.
COLLINS: I mean, the quotes coming out of those phone calls don't always seem very friendly, as you put it.
LEITER: Well, Kaitlan, you know, drama sells, I understand that, particularly in the media. But they have had hundreds of hours of conversations over the past year and a half. And to cherry-pick one expression.
And after all, Kaitlan, lovers do have spats. So, they could have a little bit of a testy exchange, but that doesn't mean that the level of friendship, and -- look at the level of collaboration between our two countries. There's no other country in the world that flew shoulder-to-shoulder and wing-to-wing with the United States of America, but Israel.
We've never asked for your boots on the ground. We fight our wars. And when the United States said, We need your help in fighting Iran, we were there. We didn't close our airspace to you, like France or Spain. On the contrary, your planes are parked in Ben Gurion Airport right now.
COLLINS: Yes.
LEITER: So, we are very close -- a very close ally. We're a junior ally, but we're a model ally.
COLLINS: And I understand that you're a diplomat.
But I mean, it's not just one or two quotes. I mean, the President himself told Barak Ravid that he warned Netanyahu, quote, You better be careful or you'll be on your own very soon if you don't follow the orders and halt the strikes, is what he was referencing to. Obviously, they reported earlier that he asked him what the eff he was doing, last week, saying that, everyone hates you, everyone hates Israel because of this.
I mean, are you saying that the President didn't say those things to the Prime Minister?
LEITER: I wouldn't get too carried away with reports of one journalist or another who may have a particular agenda.
The fact of the matter is, again, they've met seven times in Washington, once in Jerusalem. They speak every other day, sometimes twice a day, and you don't have reports like that every day. So, if there's a particular conversation that catches the attention of a particular reporter with an agenda, so be it. I wouldn't get carried away by it.
COLLINS: Barak Ravid is an excellent reporter, as you know.
Ambassador, thank you for joining us tonight. We appreciate your time, as always.
LEITER: Thank you, Kaitlan. Good evening.
COLLINS: Up next here for us. Everyone in New York wants to be part of what is happening right now. The NBA Finals have returned to Manhattan for the first time in 27 years. And President Trump is inside the building. We'll show you how fans reacted, right after this.
[21:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: There's something you don't see every day, a live look of President Trump among the thousands of fans that are packed inside a sold-out Madison Square Garden tonight.
And if you're wondering whether or not the President got a warm reception from New York City, listen for yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(VIDEO - PRESIDENT TRUMP BOOED HEARTILY BY MSG CROWD AT NBA FINALS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The President was pretty loudly booed during the national anthem as it played while he was standing inside Madison Square Garden, inside the world's most famous arena.
You could see as he was here driving in, waving to the Knicks fans that were standing outside MSG.
This is what the nearly 20,000 ticket holders endured for him to become the first sitting president to ever attend an NBA Finals game. The perimeter of the world's famous or -- most famous arena was lined with fortified fences and barriers. The NYPD and Secret Service took control of an entire chunk of Midtown Manhattan, prohibiting any unauthorized walking or driving inside this perimeter for safety. Ticket holders were told to arrive at least two hours early for the game tonight without bags to go through TSA-style security, as you often do for any event for the President, where he is.
[21:35:00]
It's a far cry from the swirling sea of orange and blue that drowned 7th Avenue during the Knicks championship run.
And of course, I should note, as this is still ongoing tonight, my political sources are back here with me, including Van Jones, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Harry Enten.
Van, it's pretty loud boo during the national anthem.
JONES: Yes.
COLLINS: Not exactly surprising in New York City--
JONES: Yes.
COLLINS: --as we talked about blue cities a moment ago.
JONES: Nobody wanted him here, and the reason why is not what people don't -- think, Oh, it's a blue city, and people don't like Trump. That's very true. But it's because it's been so fun.
All right, listen, the scariest thing I've ever seen is New Yorkers smiling. You just -- I'm sorry, what the hell is happening in this city? People walk around, they're smiling, they're happy and you know, and all around Madison Square Garden has been this ongoing kind of party atmosphere.
And here comes President Buzzkill. Everybody's got to leave, they put up the fences and everything, and it just, it sucks. And people -- and people were planning to be out -- because you can't pay the $10,000 to go inside, but you can be on the outside and have a ball. No because President Buzzkill is more interested--
COLLINS: What about people who say--
JONES: --you can watch this at home.
COLLINS: --Obama went to the -- to the game in Toronto?
JONES: Nobody's ever gone to a finals game. No sitting president's ever gone to a finals game, number one. And number two, people like Obama, so it's different.
COLLINS: Alyssa.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I just, from a political standpoint, I would have advised him against this. Because, the Knicks are on this incredible winning streak. Like, the city is energized, you feel it, like I'm not a New Yorker, but I'm excited.
If he loses tonight, everyone is going to blame him. They're going to say that he jinxed it--
JONES: The curse.
FARAH GRIFFIN: --he cursed it, his presence was a distraction.
COLLINS: Yes, that's the NBA Commissioner who's sitting there.
FARAH GRIFFIN: Yes.
COLLINS: I should note, it's also crazy--
(CROSSTALK)
FARAH GRIFFIN: --off.
COLLINS: But because the White House press pool's in there, we're just getting a live feed of the President and who he's talking to in the box. He was sitting next to James Dolan, the owner earlier. That's Adam Silver, there on the far right, as you're looking at this.
Harry.
ENTEN: I would just say, as a born and bred New Yorker, I was in my childhood a big New York Mets fan. Of course, playing Queens, this is where Donald Trump is from. And there is this infamous photo, I would argue, during my lifetime, the best chance the Mets ever had to win a World Series was in 2006. They ran through that regular season. They had a very big Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS. Carlos Beltran was at the plate, the bottom of ninth inning.
And what happens? Carlos Beltran takes a cold strike three, Mets lose. And what is the photo? Who's in the background in that photo? No other than Donald John Trump, looking down--
FARAH GRIFFIN: No.
JONES: Yes.
ENTEN: --in maybe the exact same suit he is wearing tonight.
FARAH GRIFFIN: No.
ENTEN: If they don't win, I tell you, the New York Knickerbocker fans going to hold it against him forever.
FARAH GRIFFIN: Yes.
JONES: Well said, sir.
It's true. Everything has been great.
FARAH GRIFFIN: It's--
JONES: It's been the -- it's been the fun-est part of New York I've ever seen. And people are happy. And then it's like, it's -- you can't -- everybody to come for two hours early. People get -- they want to pee, they couldn't pee. I mean, it was a disaster having him here. And we--
COLLINS: I mean, players--
JONES: --and we better not lose.
COLLINS: I saw a picture of Wemby getting screened earlier by security as he's walking in.
JONES: Yes.
COLLINS: I don't even know who had to do that.
JONES: Yes.
COLLINS: He's like, what 7'5"?
JONES: Yes.
FARAH GRIFFIN: Might need two people.
COLLINS: Yes, watching that, someone--
JONES: Somebody got a ladder--
COLLINS: --someone needs a ladder to do that. But it was pretty remarkable to even see, like, the level of security the players--
JONES: Oh, yes.
COLLINS: --themselves had to fix.
JONES: Look because--
FARAH GRIFFIN: Yes.
JONES: --because you know, it is the President, and so Secret Service has to approve 60,000 people. This is not just--
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: And we've seen why you need to take it seriously.
JONES: Yes, very, very seriously. Despite--
FARAH GRIFFIN: Yes.
COLLINS: Obviously, we know what's happened--
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: Usually, you go to game, you got some like grandma wanting you, whatever.
FARAH GRIFFIN: Yes.
JONES: No, this was a full-on operation, so people had to come like hours earlier.
FARAH GRIFFIN: Well, the part that bummed me out, though, is a number of like bars and restaurants are in this perimeter, and they're thinking, This is going to be a cash cow for us. It's, you know, the Knicks in the finals, everyone's going to show up, they're going to -- we're going to be able to pay our rent for months.
None of them have any business tonight if they're in this perimeter because you -- there's no foot traffic through, people can't go to those bars and restaurants. So, there's also like the hit to the local economy that comes with--
JONES: Yes.
COLLINS: Yes, that's a good point. I mean.
And there's a ton of people in the building, I should note, sitting with the President, couple Cabinet secretaries. You can't always see them here in the -- in the shot.
Obviously, something good just happened for the Knicks.
Steve Witkoff is there. Jared Kushner is there. Secretary Doug Burgum. Secretary Sean Duffy.
Also, Mayor Mamdani is also in the building, but he is not seated at a box. He's actually in Standing Room Only here?
ENTEN: Yes, I think he paid a $1,000 to get into the place.
FARAH GRIFFIN: Yes.
ENTEN: And I would just say, great politics by Mamdani. I believe he opened up Bryant Park for a watch party.
FARAH GRIFFIN: Yes.
ENTEN: So, the watch party that was right next to MSG, which you know a schlub like me could go, but no longer can go because of all the barriers. Hey, you know what? Go watch it in Bryant Park, you know. Might be -- if it ends up that the Knickerbockers lose, and hopefully they win, bad politics for Trump, but regardless, great politics for Mamdani, who continues to be a politician, a rare politician, in New York, who's, you know, actually liked.
COLLINS: I mean, it's pretty funny that he's in the Standing Room Only, though, Van. I mean, you know, a lot of times if you were a mayor, you'd say--
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: --courtside seat.
JONES: But he -- look, he knows -- he knows his shtick, he knows his crowd, he knows what he's supposed to do. I think it's great that he's here.
[21:40:00]
I want to point out though, the -- all the celebrities who are here. I mean, New York City is a temple of celebrities, and I think they are all at this event. And some seats are apparently for a $150,000. Like, this is the biggest thing happening in New York. The Mayor's there, he's up in the nosebleeds, kind of making his point. Donald Trump's there with half the Cabinet. I guess it's important for him to be here tonight. But I heard there was a--
(CROSSTALK)
FARAH GRIFFIN: --happening in--
JONES: --I heard there was a war someplace. I heard there's a few things happening in the world. But hey listen--
COLLINS: True, that is in Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff's portfolio.
JONES: And listen, I mean, look, I hope that they enjoy it. All I know is that for people who don't have a $150,000 to get in, we can't have fun outside tonight because of the perimeters, and it's just buzzkill.
COLLINS: Well, this is what Stephen Smith -- Stephen A. Smith had to say about the President attending tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN A. SMITH, HOST, "FIRST TAKE" ON ESPN: This president has no business showing up in New York City. I am dead serious. It is selfish. It is narcissistic. It is -- it is ridiculous that he -- that he is coming to this game. I would say the same thing if it were Obama, George W., Clinton. I don't give a damn, we went back to Reagan. This is not a football stadium in some space in Texas, where you got a whole bunch of outlays, and all of this. This is the Garden, and this is Midtown Manhattan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: I mean.
JONES: Hey, listen. Amen, brother.
FARAH GRIFFIN: Yes, spoken like a man who has to commute through New York like the rest of us.
JONES: It was terrible today.
ENTEN: I would just say basketball, although you know it was founded upward in Springfield, Massachusetts. It really became a thing in this country, in New York, in the 40s with college basketball. This is the mecca of basketball.
JONES: Of--
ENTEN: It is the mecca of basketball. It's the first time the Knicks have been in the Finals since 1999. It's their best shot to win by far since 1994. Look, bottom line is this. Hopefully, this is just a nice little sidenote for me and my Knickerbocker fans, and we're going to party like it's 1973--
FARAH GRIFFIN: Yes.
ENTEN: --the last time the Knicks actually won a Finals.
JONES: Well said, sir.
ENTEN: There we go.
JONES: Drop the mic.
ENTEN: There we go.
COLLINS: Don't drop the mic. They're cruel like that.
All right. Van Jones. Alyssa Farah Griffin. Harry Enten. As always.
JONES: Go Knicks.
COLLINS: Go Knicks.
JONES: Go Knicks.
COLLINS: Here at THE SOURCE for us. There are three Michigan Democrats who are locked in a very tight Senate race that could swing the balance of power in Washington this November. One powerful union just endorsed the one that I'm going to speak with right after this.
[21:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Democrats are hoping to reclaim the majority in the Senate, this November, meaning they know that they need to pick up not only seats in places like Maine and Texas, but also to hold on to the seats that they already have.
That includes Michigan, a state that has a retiring senator, an open seat, and a messy Democratic primary that is playing out right now. It's a state where President Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the last election, and where a former local health official, Abdul El-Sayed, is challenging two more centrist Democrats for that nomination.
According to a new report, in The Washington Post, quote, "His strength in primary polls has triggered backlash and anxiety among some Democrats, who view El-Sayed as a general election liability."
On that note, Abdul El-Sayed joins me now.
And it's great to have you here, sir. So, thank you for joining us tonight.
Because, as you know, Democrats are facing some challenges in places like Maine. They're holding their primary tomorrow. Why do you think you make Democrats nervous, as The Washington Post is reporting tonight?
ABDUL EL-SAYED, (D) MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: I think the bigger worry is not that I lose, it's that I'll win. I don't take corporate money, I never have, and I never will. And I'm going to be the biggest opponent of a system of politics that has sold off working people to the highest bidder, be they corporations or billionaires or special interests that buy and sell politicians to rig the system against us.
And I think what's worrying to a lot of Democrats is that I'm going to upset the applecart. Look, I love my party, but I want my party to be better. And I've been up and down my state, a 101 different cities, 400 public events. And the voters, who make our party what it is, are sick and tired of leadership that seems to want to ask for corporate money on one side and then deliver corporate results, even while they're telling us that they want to fight for working people.
If we're serious about winning, I think the only folks that we should be paying attention to are voters, and that's how I'm running this campaign, and I think that's why we're having such success.
COLLINS: Well, I mean, the chief criticism -- not the chief criticism. One of the criticisms from the other Democrats that you're running against has been that you make big promises, but they've argued that they're not realistic.
And Debbie Stabenow, who obviously represented Michigan in the Senate for 24 years, she's endorsed one of your opponents. And she said, of you and your candidacy, It's not just thinking with our hearts but with our heads. We have to be strategic and purposeful right now.
What do you think she means by that?
EL-SAYED: Well, I don't mean to speak for her, and I'm grateful to her for her service.
I've been thinking with my head for quite a long time now, I did two doctorates. I'll also tell you, though, that this is not that complicated. We're never going to get the things that we don't fight for. And for too long, we've had politicians who are hedging their bets. They ask corporations for their money here, special interests for their money here, and then voters for their votes here, only to realize that you can only please one master.
And I think what she's talking about is this notion that Michigan is this quote-unquote, Purple state. And I've never seen a purple person, and if you -- they are purple, you probably should give them a Heimlich maneuver.
[21:50:00]
This is more about actually fighting for the things that people need and deserve. Across my travels in my state, I've met people who voted for Trump, I've met people who voted for Vice President Harris, and the thing they all agree with is that life has gotten too expensive.
They worry that politicians don't actually pay attention to them anymore, whichever party they belong to, and they're afraid they can't see a doctor. So, I think we need to get serious about actually fighting for solutions to those problems, come what may, and I think that's what's going to give us a win.
And the last thing I'll say is this: Michigan went for Bernie Sanders in 2016, and then Donald Trump, and then Joe Biden, and then Donald Trump again. Michiganders don't want perfectly inoffensive, they just keep going to the buffet and finding nothing that they actually want, and I'm trying to give that to them.
COLLINS: You just got an endorsement from the powerful United Auto Workers Union. Obviously, we've covered them a ton here on the show. It could provide a big place in a -- a big boost in a place like Michigan, as you know.
One thing that they have said about the President's policies, they think his tariffs are a victory for autoworkers. Is that how you see it?
EL-SAYED: Look, I'm a doctor, so permit me a medical analogy. I think NAFTA and USMCA have been a bit like cancer on the American economy. And if you've got cancer, maybe you need some chemotherapy. Now, the problem with chemotherapy is it's actually poison, so you can only give a certain amount, and got to be very targeted about it.
I think there's an opportunity for tariffs, not -- not Donald Trump's tariffs, which have been ham-fisted and chaotic and self-serving. But a system of tariffs that are reciprocal -- excuse me, focused, targeted, and very clearly communicated to our trading partners about the kinds of industries we want to continue to support and build out.
I'm grateful to have earned the support of the UAW. My dad came to America to build cars.
But the challenge that we've had right now is that for too long, we've watched as the Big Three and other corporations are more focused on a quarterly bottom line than they are in making sure that they're delivering for workers and have a long, healthy product line. So, I think we need to start changing incentives there too.
We need to take on corporate stock buybacks. We need to take on the quarterly bottom line and make sure that CEOs' pay are locked up for 10 years when it comes to their stock options, so that they're more focused on how valuable they're going to be in 10 years rather than how valuable they're going to be in one quarter.
COLLINS: OK. So, obviously we'll see what the UAW says about that. They say they support those aggressive tariff actions.
I want to ask you as well because, my colleagues at KFILE, here at CNN, found that you had deleted thousands of old posts on X -- on Twitter, sometime before launching your Senate campaign. Some of those posts included messages that said -- that championed the Defund the Police movement, described the police as, quote, Standing armies.
Why did you take those posts down?
EL-SAYED: Let me just speak to a vision for public safety that I think all of us can agree with. I think all of us want to be safe. We want to know that we can get home safely. We don't want to worry about being the victim of somebody's violence, whether it's from a neighbor or the state itself. And we got to get serious about the kind of policing we need. And for too long, we have not invested in the kind of recruitment and retention and retirement that has people from local communities wanting to join in and be a part of keeping public safety.
But also, for too long, our answer to every problem has been someone with a gun, and that's just not always the right answer. I think we can invest in things like community violence intervention, I think we can invest in things like behavioral response, and that has earned broad agreement, whether you're talking about folks in law enforcement, or you're talking about folks who have been long thinking about how to reform our system.
So, right now, I think we got to get past the past, and start thinking about the kind of future where we're actually answering the challenges that people have in their communities with the right kind of resources. And I learned that, as leading Wayne County's Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services--
COLLINS: Yes.
EL-SAYED: --I had to rebuild the Juvenile Detention Facility, working alongside law enforcement.
COLLINS: So, would you say you feel differently than you did before?
EL-SAYED: Well, look, at that time, I was a professor. I was teaching at the edge of criminal justice and public health. At this point, I'm running for U.S. Senate. And in my experiences as a public official, I understand deeply that we have to all come together to think past.
But I'll tell you this. We need investments in the right things. And that means recruitment and retention for law enforcement. But it also means behavioral response, public health, investments in a clean future that really does buy us the kind of safety that we really need and deserve.
COLLINS: Abdul El-Sayed, thank you for coming on. I hope you'll join us here again on THE SOURCE. Appreciate your time tonight.
EL-SAYED: Kaitlan, always a pleasure. Thank you so much.
COLLINS: Up next. The fate of the acting Attorney General is now in the hands of the Senate, to become the Attorney General, now that the President has officially sent Todd Blanche's nomination to Congress. What it could mean? Right after this.
[21:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Tonight, President Trump has formally tapped the acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, to take on the job as the nation's chief law enforcement officer on a permanent basis.
He was previously the President's personal attorney, before the President won the presidency. He was confirmed as Deputy Attorney General by the Senate, last year, and took over leadership at the Justice Department after Pam Bondi was fired in April, carrying out numerous of the President's priorities, including the indictment of his perceived political enemies, like the former FBI Director James Comey. And he also spearheaded that nearly $1.8 billion Anti- Weaponization Fund, that of course now has been squelched because of the major GOP backlash.
[22:00:00]
That fund and his handling of the Epstein files investigation could potentially complicate his confirmation vote. That's because, as Republican Senator Bill Cassidy put it to CNN, I have to be convinced that Todd is not the president's personal attorney who happens to be attorney general -- but that Todd is attorney general who used to be the president's personal attorney.
We'll see how that vote goes.
Thanks for joining us here tonight.
"CNN NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP" starts now.
