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State of the Union
Interview With Reuters Staff Photographer Phil Noble; Interview With Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY); Interview With U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent; Interview With Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA). Aired 9-10a ET
Aired February 22, 2026 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[09:00:49]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN HOST (voice-over): Price check. The Supreme Court hands President Trump a huge blow, wiping away his signature tariffs.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're just being fools and lapdogs.
BASH: But the president is undeterred.
TRUMP: I have the right to do tariffs, and I've always had the right.
BASH: How will it impact your bottom line? I'll ask Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Plus: Golden State Warrior. He's leading Democrats' fight against Donald Trump.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): It's a wrecking ball presidency. He's a fraud.
BASH: Now, ahead of a potential 2028 run, he's got a new, quite personal memoir.
NEWSOM: I'm not just the caricature that FOX News paints me out to be.
BASH: California Governor Gavin Newsom joins me on his book and more.
And crossroads. President Trump grapples with major setbacks at home and brewing conflicts abroad. What will it mean for his presidency? Our political panel breaks it all down.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Hello. I'm Dana Bash in Washington, where the state of our union is wondering
who gets the $134 billion. President Trump is not pleased, to say the least, after suffering his biggest defeat yet at the Supreme Court. A 6-3 majority, including two conservative justices appointed by President Trump, ruled Friday that he violated the law by unilaterally implementing sweeping tariffs on foreign goods without congressional approval.
Even after his rebuke by the justices, whom he attacked as -- quote -- "fools and lapdogs disloyal to our Constitution," the president is forging ahead with new tariffs, announcing a 10 percent levy on all foreign goods, which he bumped up to 15 percent yesterday, with a vow for more to follow.
I want to get straight to the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent.
Thank you so much for being here this morning, sir.
I do want to start with the big question. Will you refund the roughly $134 billion in revenue taken by these emergency tariffs?
SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: Well, Dana, that's not the big question.
Let's just level-set here. What the Supreme Court did was a very narrow reading of the president's authority under the IEEPA tariffs. We have other tariff authorities which have been functioning, Section 232 tariffs, Section 301 tariffs.
And, Dana, when you say it's a big question, that's bad framing, because the Supreme Court didn't even address that. The Supreme Court remanded it down to a lower court, and we will follow what they say, but that could be weeks or months when we hear them.
So the Supreme Court did not address refunds.
BASH: Sure. They didn't address refunds. That is clearly going to be up to you, which is why it is...
BESSENT: No, no, no, Dana, it is not up to me.
BASH: Not you. Not you.
BESSENT: It is not up to the administration.
BASH: Yes.
BESSENT: It is up to the lower court. Let's just be clear on that.
BASH: OK.
Well, the Justice Department told a federal appeals court in this very case last year, if tariffs imposed on plaintiffs during these appeals are ultimately held unlawful, then the government will issue refunds to plaintiffs. BESSENT: Again, I'm not going to get out ahead of the court. We will
follow the court's direction, but, as I said, that could be weeks or months away. That decision was not rendered on Friday.
BASH: What do you think? You're the treasury secretary. What do you think should happen? In the past, you have said it is possible.
BESSENT: Again, I want to point to what we're doing.
The president, the administration remains undeterred in reshoring American factories and getting rid of these massive trade imbalances. That's the big story here, is that we are immediately going to go to Section 122 tariffs and that the revenue for the U.S. treasury for 2026, the projections, are unchanged.
BASH: OK, I'm going to ask about the new tariffs that the president talked about over the weekend.
But before we move off of this, I know, in the past, before the Supreme Court went with its ruling, you said any tariff refund would be corporate welfare and would likely not get passed on to the American consumers.
[09:05:01]
What about the countless small business owners in America, many of whom have spoken with CNN, who say they're bearing the cost and have been bearing the cost of tariffs?
BESSENT: Again, I'm not going to get out ahead of the court. We don't know what arrangements were made.
We don't know what foreign -- the foreign suppliers, whether they discounted the -- what's happened. So let's just focus on the news on Friday. And then I will come back after the lower court rules.
BASH: Yes. It's -- as the treasury secretary, it's hard to believe that you don't know -- have an opinion or know where these revenues, over $100 billion, are going to go or have an opinion on where they should go.
BESSENT: Again, I had an opinion. And the court did not agree with my opinion. So, Dana, I'm going to wait for the lower court opinion.
BASH: OK, so let's talk about what is happening right now, which is the president did sign an executive order Friday night calling for that 10 percent global tariff, and then he raised it to 15 percent on Saturday.
As you mentioned, he's invoking Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to justify these new tariffs. That's a section of the federal law that no president has ever invoked. What does the president think will happen in the court? Or why does he think it will stand up to legal scrutiny?
BESSENT: Again, this 122 authority is good for 150 days. During that time, we will do study on Section 232, which will be done by Commerce Department, Section 301, which will be done by USTR.
Those tariffs remain in effect and have withstood more than 4,000 challenges since the president's first term. So, during that time, it is very likely that those studies will result in higher 232s, higher 301s, and it will get us back to the same tariff level.
We have been in touch with our foreign trading partners, and all of them want to keep the trade deals that have been set. Dana, we have had great economic results over the past year, 4.1 percent second- quarter GDP, 4.3 percent, 4.4 percent, and the third quarter, and it would have been a very strong fourth quarter if the Democrats hadn't shut down the government to hurt the American people.
BASH: On that note about the new tariffs that he put in place, you're right that it is 150 days, and then Congress has to make it permanent or has to approve it, I should say.
How do you have the votes or how do you see those votes coming to fruition, especially with a Congress that doesn't entirely support the tariffs, at least not enough with this narrow majority?
BESSENT: Again, Dana, I think you missed what I just said, is that the 122 -- we will see what Congress does, but the 122 is likely a five-month bridge during which studies on Section 232 tariffs and Section 301s are done.
And I'm highly -- I think it's highly likely that those tariffs will rise up and that the 122s could disappear after five months. So this is more of a bridge than a permanent facility.
BASH: OK.
I just want to kind of take a step back on this and really look at what one of the justices who voted against the president's authority here -- Neil Gorsuch, who, of course, the president nominated, he wrote in a concurring opinion -- quote -- "Americans fought the revolution in no small part because they believed that only their elected representatives, not the king, not even Parliament, possessed authority to tax them. The framers gave Congress alone access to the pockets of the people."
So you're talking about different sections of the law, but what the Supreme Court said is that it is not the executive's function to do these tariffs. It needs to go through Congress, that that is what the Constitution says.
BESSENT: Again, Dana, that's not correct that the -- what the Supreme Court said is that the president cannot use the IEEPA, the emergency Economic Powers Act, to do this.
BASH: Right.
BESSENT: The president does have other authorities. And, as I said, the Section 232 tariffs and Section 301 tariffs have withstood more than 4,000 -- have was stood more than 4,000 lawsuits. So it was very narrow. And it's very interesting that the Supreme Court said that the
president can't raise one dollar of revenue with tariffs, but he can put on a full embargo. So they reaffirmed his ability to block all trade. He just cannot accept one dollar for the trade.
And I will tell you, like, the tariff revenues, they have come into the Treasury. But, more importantly, the ultimate goal of tariffs is rebalancing trade and bringing back the -- bringing our trade deficits into balance.
[09:10:09]
We have seen our -- the goods sector, the deficit with our trading partners drop by 17 percent. We have seen our bilateral deficit with China drop substantially. And we are seeing trillions of investments in factories coming back to the U.S. because of the tariffs.
BASH: I take your point that the Supreme Court ruling was narrow on what's called IEEPA, but these concurrent opinions were written, it looked like, to send a message about the balance of power and the limits on executive authority when it comes to tariffs and taxing.
Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it.
BESSENT: Good to see you.
BASH: Coming up: He's a thorn in Donald Trump's side and a 2028 front-runner, but what do we really know about Gavin Newsom? I sat down with him for a wide-ranging interview on his new memoir. That's next.
And later: the stunning fall of a former prince and an image for the history books. I'm going to speak with the man who took that photo.
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[09:15:33]
BASH: You may think Gavin Newsom as governor of California, straight out of central casting, and, more recently, the sharp-elbowed nemesis of Donald Trump.
Now, as his term comes to an end in California and he considers running for president in 2028, he wants Americans to get to know a different side of him, with a new book releasing this week, "Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery."
I sat down with Governor Newsom for his first TV interview about his memoir at the first stop in his book tour at the OZ Arts performance center in Nashville.
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BASH: In your new book, "Young Man in a Hurry," you're really explicit in trying to confront the perception that you are -- and I'm quoting here -- "a privileged prince," because your grandfather and your father, they had a lot of activity in politics and business in San Francisco.
They were especially close to the Getty family as are you. You describe in detail the split personality, that's what you call it, of your childhood because your parents divorced when you were young and you had that privileged existence with your dad and then you went back home with your mom...
NEWSOM: Yes.
BASH: ... who had to work three jobs to keep things afloat.
NEWSOM: Yes, at 19, when she was pregnant with me -- she had two kids, a father, which I discovered only through the process of researching his life and writing this book, had a breakdown, ran for county supervisor in San Francisco, lost, ran for state Senate, lost both races, was broke and said he had a breakdown that required him just to leave.
And he just took off to Lake Tahoe, Truckee area. And that was it. We saw him episodically when we were growing up. He was there every three or four weekends, maybe a week or so every summer and came back into our lives much later.
But it was my mom, hard work, grit, never complained, explained, came from no wealth, single bedroom. And she just made ends meet, made things work and gave me the grit and gave me a work ethic that's, frankly, allowed me to survive in politics this many years.
BASH: Yes. I mean, you talk about that grit. You talk about your mom giving you that grit and your dad teaching you other things like the love of the outdoors and poetry.
But it really is striking to me how distant you describe -- and you're really detailed and pretty raw about how distant you felt from both of your parents, especially your mom. You call her impenetrable to you.
NEWSOM: Yes, look, I mean, the title has meaning, "Young Man in a Hurry." I have been in a hurry. I have been always trying to chase something. I put a mask on and my face was growing into it.
I was becoming -- I wasn't becoming myself. It was the biggest fear my mom had of me getting into politics. She never wanted me to go into politics, which I never understood until I learned in the process of writing this that was the reason for their divorce.
She never explained that. They never talked about that when I grew up. I lost my mom almost 20 years ago to breast cancer, and I was hustling back then. I was a small business person. I had opened a number of small businesses, restaurants and hotel, smaller winery.
I was a county supervisor. I was thinking about running for mayor. She was getting sick and sicker and I was distant. And she called. She left a voice-mail. It's in the book. How about getting this voice- mail? Literally, hi, it's your mom. Next week, I will be taking my own life.
If you want to visit me, I would encourage you to do so before next Thursday. That was literally -- I still have the voice-mail. I kept it.
And it was a big wakeup call. And I realized how selfish and self- absorbed I was. And I started spending time with her, but it was too late. She already made the decision. The cancer metastasized. She was in so much pain.
And I had the privilege and the burden, the worst experience and, in hindsight, the most blessed experience I have ever had, and that was being there for her when she took her last breath, my sister and I there at her assisted suicide with a brave doctor. It was against the law.
And it was a brave doctor who was willing to help her and take her out of her misery. And I was there for that last moment.
BASH: And you were 34. She was 55. And you wrote that: "There was no peace that blanketed her. She gasped and took a last breath."
NEWSOM: Yes.
BASH: "I kept holding onto her hand tighter and tighter and sobbing."
NEWSOM: Yes, I was there. She had a -- anybody who has been in this position with someone who's suffering and struggling.
[09:20:06]
So we came there. And she took some pills. And she started to doze off a little bit. And she had an old binder of photographs. And she was talking. My sister and I were the two that were with her, both sides.
And then she started dozing off a little more. And my sister said: "I can't do this anymore." She didn't want to be there for the end. And she took off. And about 10 more minutes of that, it was just my mom and I.
And the doctor came in and administered the final dose. And those last breaths, I will never forget it. And I really -- I was angry that I was there. I was angry with her at the time. I was for years and years.
BASH: Why?
NEWSOM: Why would you do this? Why would you -- there was nothing -- it wasn't -- there wasn't calming about it. It was not a romantic end. She struggled. And she would -- she had struggled her whole life. And I'm realizing I can -- and now I realize it, how selfish and self- absorbed, as I suggested I was, that I never had a chance to thank her, never really had a chance to say I love you. Thank you for all your sacrifices.
But over the years and through the process, I'm telling you, what a gift to be able to write something. I started realizing, ah, that last breath, I have still -- that's extended through me today. That hand I'm holding is her hand.
And she's -- I'm an expression of her. She's still alive in me. And I have been able to come to grips with it in a deeper and different way. And it's also allowed me to recalibrate my life. And so much of this is about an honest assessment of self, just grinding, trying to be something, trying to make up for someone I felt I wasn't.
I'm not smart enough. I mean, we talk about my dyslexia, my learning disabilities, how I struggled, how insecure I was, sweaty hands, and always trying to be something, and how, in this process of understanding that and uncovering some of those -- where those anxieties come from, it's allowed me to let a lot of things go.
BASH: You're obviously trying to explore your own life and your family's history in this, but also put out to the world what you say is the full you...
NEWSOM: Yes.
BASH: ... and not perhaps what people see.
NEWSOM: Yes.
BASH: They see a slick politician...
NEWSOM: Yes.
BASH: ... who knows how to talk and has been climbing and a man in a hurry for a long time.
NEWSOM: Yes.
BASH: There's -- there's a connection that you have to so much history and also key players in San Francisco and national politics, which is -- which is interesting, because, again, the book, you're trying to fill out who you are.
NEWSOM: Yes. I'm both/and. I'm all of these things, but I'm not just the caricature that FOX News paints me out to be.
This book is not about victimhood. Quite the contrary, it's about agency. It's about resilience. It's about -- it's about the journey that we're on. It's a human story that I think a lot of people can connect to with divorced families, kids that are struggling, the good and bad of life, the serendipity of life, marriage, divorce, I mean, all of that. It's all there.
BASH: Well, on that, I was going to ask you about that, because you do talk in great detail about issues that not that long ago were taboo and things that are not really highlights of your personal life.
NEWSOM: Yes.
BASH: You talk about the affair that you had with one of your staffers, his wife. You talk about the failure of your first marriage to Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was later engaged, of course, to Donald Trump Jr.
NEWSOM: Yes.
BASH: You even talk about your hair...
NEWSOM: Yes, of course.
BASH: ... and about your lifelong struggle with hair gel.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
NEWSOM: I don't know about struggle.
BASH: But I guess what I'm getting at here is that you are also a politician thinking about your future.
NEWSOM: Yes.
BASH: Are you trying to redefine and fill out or maybe even get the narrative set in a different way than it is now?
NEWSOM: Well, I wish it was that intentional. I wish it was that Machiavellian of sorts. I wish I was that political about it.
Well, I keep referring to this mask, because I think all of us put out -- I think that it was Oscar Wilde talked about in life we all sort of -- our first thing in life is, we all have a pose. And the second thing, no one ever really figures out. I'm trying to figure out the second thing.
I sort of had that pose. And now I'm just trying, you know what? Just let it go. I am who I am, imperfect as I am. Have a swing at it. You don't like it, I get it. And so it's just -- it's a little -- and I think it's reflected.
And I think you have seen it in my politics, the way I have addressed Trump and the way -- how I'm navigating even going overseas and how I'm talking in the political realm, how we did Prop 50. I'm punching back. I'm just on the other side of it now. I'm just less risk- adverse.
I have always been -- I have always taken risks.
BASH: Yes.
NEWSOM: That's well-defined here. But there's a freedom now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[09:25:00]
BASH: When we come back, more from my exclusive interview with Governor Gavin Newsom, including the state of his relationship with another potential 2028 hopeful also from California, his friend Kamala Harris.
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BASH: Welcome back to STATE OF THE UNION.
More now of my interview with California Governor Gavin Newsom. We talked about his lifelong struggle with a learning disability, dyslexia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: People who really know your story know that you are pretty severely dyslexic, but you really go into what it was like as a kid, you said, feeling like you're dumb and like you can't get things done and understand things.
And you interviewed your Aunt Cindy, your mom's sister.
NEWSOM: Yes. Yes.
BASH: And she described you as a child with a disability, a scrambled brain who required a certain touch. Your parents' failure to even seek out the right professional help for you left you on an island all alone. "That's kind of abuse, abuse by omission."
[09:30:06]
NEWSOM: She was -- that's tough. I -- God bless. She loves me and I'm blessed, my aunt.
My mom did too, but she didn't know how. She didn't -- I mean, I talk often in the book, she didn't have the language for some -- she was a kid. She was a kid marrying -- my dad was in his mid-30s.
BASH: So you just struggled with...
NEWSOM: And she -- so she didn't know how to deal with it.
That's why she said it's OK to be average, because she was probably just trying to get to bed. And I was trying to figure out a book report and I wasn't reading. I was doing CliffsNotes. I was literally copying the back of CliffsNotes and putting it on a piece of paper. And I got -- I mean, it was just -- and she watched me struggle and scream.
And she says: "It's OK." She was basically just saying, just let it go. But at the time I just thought, no, she's just consigning me to this sort of -- being stuck on stupid.
BASH: But you also say that dyslexia is kind of a superpower as a politician.
NEWSOM: Come on, it's the greatest thing, in hindsight, that happened to me. I mean, it just allowed -- I mean, I have the freedom of not having to be stuck on the written text and the freedom of having to work harder, more reps behind the scenes. I'm doing -- if you think you're working hard, trust me, I'm two to three X in terms of the work.
BASH: But it's also your E.Q., being able to read...
NEWSOM: Yes, and you can read the room. You have an emotional intelligence. You can see that you're about problem-solving, you're about iteration, you're about trial and error, your willingness to make mistakes, your willingness to seek to understand before you're understood, because you have to.
You have to feel something. I do think it's a superpower, those that discover that side of it. If you never discover it, you will struggle with it the rest of your life. But some of the most dynamic and extraordinary leaders that I know all have one thing in common, dyslexia.
It's almost as if it's the sort of creative gene. So this notion of a gift, I feel that. That said, for my mom, it was the curse, because her poor kid sitting there was trying to drop out of school, faking being sick every day. I was going into community college, which luckily I got lucky with a baseball call from a few coaches and got into a four-year college.
But it's -- yes, it's turned out to be a blessing, and, in politics, a huge blessing.
BASH: Kamala Harris.
NEWSOM: Yes.
BASH: You write about the fact that you've been friends with her for a very long time. You came up together.
And you talk about your parallel careers.
NEWSOM: Yes.
BASH: She was prosecutor, California DA, and senator. You were San Francisco mayor, lieutenant governor and governor.
What happens if and when those parallel careers intersect and collide? (LAUGHTER)
NEWSOM: Well, I'm San Francisco now. She's L.A. So we're a little -- there's a little distance between the two of us.
BASH: I'm talking about running for president in 2028, the whole country.
NEWSOM: That's -- fate will determine that.
And I've never gotten in the way of her ambition ever. I haven't. And I don't imagine I would in the future. But I don't... BASH: Well, if you run against each other for president...
NEWSOM: Yes, just that's fate. I don't -- I don't know.
See, I -- you can -- only can control what you can control. I think this entire book is that fundamental lesson, and this notion of controlling what you control and taking responsibility for what you control is a big part of what I try to communicate in this book.
That's the third thing. It's like how this book will be received. It's the third thing. I can't control that. I can't control whatever decisions she makes.
BASH: The Supreme Court struck down most of President Trump's tariffs this week. He's already using different authorities to impose a 15 percent global tariff, vowing to forge ahead even without Congress. What do you do?
NEWSOM: Well, what does anyone do? You're going to move your factory from overseas and onshore it with a 150-day certainty on a 15 percent tax or tariff?
I mean, the whole thing is a farce. I talk about petulance. It was 10 percent two days ago, maybe 20 percent tomorrow. I mean, this is madness. He's flailing. He's a punch-drunk boxer. He's just trying to hit anything, a shadow. And he's a shadow of himself. He's lost a step or two.
Under the IEEPA, we were the first state to sue. I was out there in the Central Valley talking about how this is going to impact ranchers and small businesses and farmers, the ag community, in my state larger than any other state in the country.
And Justice Roberts, by the way, basically, our arguments were literally laid out in detail in his response. So it was always an illegal act. He needs to return that money. He needs to refund that money with interest. He could do that in a nanosecond. They could do that electronically.
BASH: How?
NEWSOM: They can do it electronically. They have the tariff codes. They have the ability. They do refunds all the time.
They have the ability to do that. The problem is, for families, it's been about $1,701 a year. That's a different requirement that I think he has to pay the American people back. I saw Bessent out there almost gleeful.
He was gleeful that, no, we won't be doing it. This is dumb and dumber, Trump and Bessent. They have wrecked this economy, 1.4 percent GDP growth in the last quarter, inflation back up to 3 percent, the worst jobs market we have seen since 2013, 2.2 percent GDP for the entire year. He inherited 2.8.
[09:35:02] It's a wrecking ball presidency. He's wrecking this economy. His entire economic paradigm is mass deportations, tax cuts for billionaires, and tariffs. And he's been exposed. He's a fraud. And, by the way, the tariff, this is a self-dealing operation.
This is about his personal portfolio. You know exactly what he did in Vietnam with the tariffs. He used them to get a deal on his golf course to fast-track his development. Connect the dot. This is unprecedented grift happening in real time.
That's reflected in what just happened with the tariff decision in the Supreme Court. It was a profound moment for this administration.
BASH: I do want to, while we're on the economy, ask about affordability, because, yes, people are struggling all across the country.
California has the highest cost of living in the nation. The state's prices are 11 percent higher than the national average. We were actually out to dinner here in Nashville last night. We met a couple from California. They moved out of California because they couldn't afford the rent or even to buy a home and also start a family.
NEWSOM: Yes, we have had hundreds of thousands of people move into California. The last two, three years, we have seen population growth. As you know, we moved from six to the fourth largest economy in the world. And we dominate now in every key industry, from A.I., quantum, robotics.
We dominate in ag. We dominate in forestry. We dominate in manufacturing.
BASH: But people are struggling to afford things, like your mom was.
NEWSOM: And that's why we did $11 insulin, first of its kind in the United States. It's why we have universal health care and the lowest uninsured rate in the country, 6.4 percent.
That's why we just subsidized over 300,000 childcare slots, more than any other state in the nation. That's why 65 percent of people graduate from the U.C. and CSU with zero debt. That's why we have the highest minimum wage for health care workers, $25, in the United States, for fast-food workers, $20 minimum wage.
So we're looking at it from both sides. That's why we have a parents agenda that expanded paid sick leave and extended to eight weeks of paid family leave, all to support families, to address cost of living and to address the affordability crisis that goes back literally 70 years in California, for one reason.
We're as dumb as we want to be on housing, and we haven't been able to get out of our way. It explains more things in more ways and more days of what's wrong with our state. And, finally, we moved forward with historic housing reforms that even our worst critics, including some on the left, like my friend Ezra Klein, acknowledged were the most progressive and perhaps most impactful reforms in a generation to finally address that issue.
BASH: Last question.
What are the metrics that will determine whether you run for president?
NEWSOM: There's five of them, Dutch, Brooklyn, Hunter. You get the drill.
BASH: Want me to help you name the rest of your kids?
NEWSOM: No, you don't.
(LAUGHTER)
NEWSOM: But the biggest one is Jennifer.
BASH: Exactly.
NEWSOM: So, it's going to -- look, this book was dedicated to them. I wish this was a book my parents wrote.
BASH: Do they want you to run?
NEWSOM: And it's going to be -- that's -- I don't know. It depends on the day.
My son wrote me. It was very powerful, texted me a few months ago when there was some headline that suggested that I had made some decision.
And he goes: "Dad, are you running for president?"
I said: "No, I -- we will do this decision as a family."
He goes: "You can't."
I said: "Why?
He goes: "I'm too young. You need to spend more time with us."
I mean, how do you deal with that one? I screenshotted it. If I still had my phone, I'd show you.
BASH: How do you deal with that one?
NEWSOM: Exactly. I'm asking you. Come on.
BASH: I'm not running for president. It's not...
NEWSOM: No, that's the point. And the point is the point. And so what matters is what matters. Like, what matters is what matters.
And that's hard.
BASH: And then, going back to the book, your mother didn't want you to even get this far in politics. NEWSOM: Yes.
And I think this is -- this is what -- that -- that text, I don't -- this why I talk about fate. But it will be done as a family and it'll be done as a unit and it will be done in a partnership with these magnificent creatures.
I'm just so blessed, the two boys, two girls. And they're -- people say their kids are perfect. Mine are not. They're perfectly imperfect because they're all composites of everything in the book, me, and they're all works in progress. But, God, are they beautiful and loving and they just have huge hearts.
And they have the one thing that matters. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry to the great Elon Musk. It's the most powerful force on planet Earth, empathy. And that's a superpower. And that is, because of the grace of God, I married a rock star wife who gave them that. But also I'm blessed because my parents had that as well.
BASH: Governor, thank you for your time.
NEWSOM: Thank you.
BASH: I really appreciate it. Thanks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Be sure to catch more of my interview with Governor Newsom tomorrow on "INSIDE POLITICS."
Before we go to break, we are monitoring a frightening situation at Mar-a-Lago. The Secret Service says they shot and killed a trespasser overnight, a man in his early 20s who appeared to be carrying a shotgun and a fuel can. The president and first lady were not at Mar- a-Lago at the time.
[09:40:03]
CNN will bring you updates as we learn more.
Ahead: By striking down President Trump's tariffs, did the Supreme Court just do Republicans on the ballot this year a favor? My panel weighs in next.
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TRUMP: The most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff. And it's my favorite word. The word tariff properly used is a beautiful word, one of the most beautiful words I have ever heard. It's music to my ears.
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BASH: Welcome back to STATE OF THE UNION. President Trump loves tariffs. He always has. Does his party feel the
same way?
[09:45:00]
My panel is here now to discuss.
Congressman Lawler, at first, we thought maybe this was going to be a gift politically to Republicans in Congress, so, OK, we're doing away with this. But now it's going to fall squarely on you because there's going to be some form of a vote on tariffs, maybe more than one.
REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): Well, I think a few things.
Number one, it shows that our system of checks and balances works. The Supreme Court weighed in on this issue, which what I have said for months was ultimately they were going to decide and they were going to make a determination.
Now, they made a determination on a very specific subset. But as Scott Bessent pointed out in your interview, the administration is moving forward on a number of other avenues in which they believe they need to use tariffs. The fact is, from my vantage point, as I have said from the very beginning, as a means by which to force trade renegotiations, I had no problem with it.
As a long-term mechanism by which to keep in place, I don't support. And so the question will be now, how does Congress, which, frankly, has abdicated its responsibility on tariffs for almost 100 years...
BASH: Well, what about you?
LAWLER: This didn't just start this year.
BASH: The president is threatening...
LAWLER: It has been going on for over 100 years where Congress has basically given the executive a lot of authority on tariffs.
BASH: Yes.
LAWLER: Now you have the Supreme Court weighing in and saying, no, Congress has a role.
And so we are going to be working through that process as we move forward. And I think it's going to be incumbent on the administration to sit down with Congress to determine the best path forward.
BASH: Just real quick, and I want to keep going around, the president is already withdrawing his support for one of your colleagues because he defied the president on tariffs. Does that make you think twice about voting against tariffs?
LAWLER: No, I'm not worried about that. I'm focused on the substance of the issue. And we will work through it.
BASH: Rebecca?
REBECCA KATZ, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I mean, Congressman, didn't you vote for tariffs?
I think this is the whole problem is, you're making life harder for people in your district, right? Like, costs are going up. And you say Congress should be a check. But you're not -- you haven't checked the president's power. You haven't let him like moderate at all. You're -- he's unchecked.
And the only Republicans whoever go at him are people who are either retiring or who have lifetime appointments. I think this is the problem with the Republican Party today. No one wants to go up against Trump. He's making life harder for everyday Americans. Costs are going up. And no one in his party will stand up to him.
LAWLER: Respectfully, I have pushed back on numerous things. Part of the reason that I was able to deliver SALT -- you talk about affordability. New York state is going to see an average of $4,000 tax cut because I fought back against my own party. I have pushed back against the president on the ACA.
KATZ: But you didn't stick up to him on tariffs. You were with him on Iran, going -- unchecked power.
(CROSSTALK)
LAWLER: Excuse me. On the -- I let you speak. Let me speak.
On the ACA, I'm the one who discharged the bills so that we actually got it past the House.
BASH: OK.
LAWLER: With respect to tariffs...
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LAWLER: Excuse me. My point...
BASH: This is a very interesting conversation.
Congressman, I do want to get -- sorry to interrupt you. I want to get...
(CROSSTALK)
VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Far be it from us to be on this panel. We're over here eating the popcorn. This is very interesting, very interesting.
(LAUGHTER)
JONES: But, listen, the reason why this is all hot and contentious is because Americans hate these tariffs. This is the least popular, dumbest thing that Trump has done. He's
throwing banana peel after banana peel in front of American families. If you look in your bank account right now, you got $1,701 missing because Donald Trump keeps doing silly stuff like this. The Supreme Court smacked his hand.
And rather than him taking his lesson and working with the American people on policies we care about, he's tripling down on stupid, giving us more tariffs. Thank you, Mr. Trump. It's going to make our midterms a wonderful thing.
MARGARET HOOVER, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: I mean, it probably will impact the midterms in a very positive way for Democrats because what we have seen just on Friday in terms of the economic impact of the tariffs is that inflation is up and economic growth was down.
And Americans don't like the tariffs. What is -- just to quibble a little bit, some Republicans have stood up to the president. I mean, this is why Representative Hurd got a major smackdown from President Trump and President Trump endorsed his primary opponent. This is in Colorado. I mean, he stood up and voted against tariffs.
And then there are consequences, because this president has solidified support around policies that have had nothing to do with Republican politics for the last 100 years, as you know, Congressman.
And what we know and what we saw from, oh, the RINO Mike Pence, the former vice president, who wrote an amicus brief against this rule -- I mean, in favor of the opposition -- position of Donald Trump...
BASH: Against the tariffs.
HOOVER: Against the tariffs -- was that we all know, as Republicans, tariffs are taxes, and the power to tax lies in the Congress.
And the reason Gorsuch's opinion, final decision in his opinion, was circled around the Internet like crazy, especially the conservative Internet, is because he was chiding Congress to stand up for the separation of powers, which they know is embedded in the Constitution and that this president has ignored.
[09:50:02]
KATZ: Right, but Congress -- the Republicans in Congress are cowards.
I mean, the thing is that...
HOOVER: Because they lose their seats.
(CROSSTALK)
LAWLER: Respectfully...
KATZ: I mean, this is what happens when you have the solidification of the power.
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HOOVER: We will wait and see. We will wait and see with you, Congressman.
BASH: Congressman Coward, would you -- no. I'm kidding. No, no, I'm kidding. I'm kidding.
She was saying you're a coward. I want to let you respectfully respond.
LAWLER: Yes, respectfully, OK.
With respect to tariffs, the bottom line was that resolution that was put in front of Congress was about ending a national emergency on fentanyl. The fact is we do have a national emergency on fentanyl.
(CROSSTALK)
LAWLER: And, by the way, fentanyl deaths are down because this administration has actually gone after the cartels, which your administration prior did not.
The fact is that with respect to tariffs, Congress has a role that was abdicated by Democrats and Republicans. By the way, Chuck Schumer used to advocate for tariffs left and right.
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KATZ: I'm not going to defend Chuck Schumer right now. I'm talking about you and your seat and the people in your district.
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LAWLER: Right.
And so now that the Supreme Court has ruled with respect to this specific provision of federal law, we are going to have to deal between Congress and the administration with respect to tariffs. And we will.
KATZ: You voted for tariffs. The people of your district...
LAWLER: No, I voted against ending the national emergency with respect to fentanyl. Be honest about what it was. Be honest about what it was. I know that's very difficult for you .
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KATZ: I'm just saying you're voting with Trump. And it's going to hurt people in your district.
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LAWLER: No, actually, what I did for my district was actually provide a real tax cut.
KATZ: You're making costs higher for them.
(CROSSTALK)
LAWLER: No, I have actually cut costs by putting more money back in people's pockets.
(CROSSTALK)
KATZ: I guess we will see in November. I guess we will see if they believe you in November.
LAWLER: I guess we will.
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: We have a new show on CNN. We have a new show on CNN. It's called the Bickersons after these messages.
(LAUGHTER)
JONES: Look, I appreciate the passion.
But, listen, I think that the president has an opportunity. You have the State of the Union coming up in a couple of days. This is a radically unpopular policy. His appointees, the two that told him to slow down, I think are national heroes.
Watch what happens, though. He will triple down on Tuesday on this policy and probably attack and personally insult those justices in a way that I think will further erode our norms here. Look, get off this train. There are ways to bring the American economy back.
As Gavin Newsom said, nobody's going to relocate a factory here because of all this volatility.
HOOVER: Real quick, I am waiting for Tuesday night. And I hope every single one of those justices shows up in the front row with their black robes and their stoic faces, because the president won't be able to hold his tongue.
And, actually, that will -- I just think the importance of the symbolism of the court standing and holding its ground is incredibly important in that moment.
BASH: Thanks, everyone, for a very lively discussion.
And when we come back: a stunning fall for former Prince Andrew captured in a single image. The man who snapped that photo will be here next.
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[09:56:36]
BASH: It's the shot seen around the world, Andrew Mountbatten- Windsor, former prince and younger brother of King Charles III, wide- eyed and shell-shocked in the back of a car after being arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein.
Here with me now is the Reuters photographer who took that incredible image, Phil Noble.
Thank you so much for being here. It's a real pleasure to talk to you.
It was an image and still is an image seen around the world. You see the former prince slouching down in the car, leaving the police station after his release. Walk us through how you took this incredible shot.
PHIL NOBLE, REUTERS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: Good morning, Dana, and thanks for having me.
And, yes, it was just -- it started off as a normal day. I mean, I'm based in Manchester, which is in the north of England, and probably a four-hour drive from Norfolk, where the former prince is currently living and where he was arrested.
The day started normally. The breaking news alerts come through. He'd been arrested. News crews start to scramble. Where is he? Where has he been arrested from? Where are they searching? So we deployed photographers and video crews to the houses that he was currently staying at and to his former home near Windsor Castle.
And then the decision was made, we just need to have feet on the ground, try and find him. Where is he? It's a needle in a haystack and it's a 4.5-hour drive for me. So I headed south along with my other colleagues from London, a bit closer.
And then it was just making calls, working contacts, trying to find out where he might be. And my colleagues from TV and pictures and text were just trying to establish which of the closest police stations that he may have gone to. And, by luck, I ended up at the one where he was.
BASH: Well, there's luck and then there's also skill and experience, obviously, because what -- you took six photos in total, five of which you say were pretty much unusable.
How close do you think you were to actually missing this moment?
NOBLE: Oh, if I have done 100 of these car shots of various politicians and sports people over the years, if you get two, three, four out of those 100, you have done incredibly well, that the hit rate is really, really low.
And even if you have had time to practice and you have got the settings on the camera right, and you have tested it out on other cars leaving the facility or leaving Downing Street or wherever, chances are that, when you take that one moment where you think it's right, it doesn't work.
And it's just lined up. This is complete -- yes, it's experience and great teamwork by my colleagues, getting me in the right place. But then there's a huge slice of luck that, when you look at the back of the camera, you go, oh, wow, that's him.
BASH: And just what's it like knowing that this photo is now such a moment in history and has had such an outsized impact around the world? We're showing the photo on multiple newspapers in the front covers all across the world.
NOBLE: It's been quite the bizarre weekend. I mean, when -- I'm fortunate. I have been staff at Reuters for 20 years. And we're the world's largest news agency with a huge reach.
So I'm used to having colleagues from around the world sending me clippings of various sporting pictures, royal pictures on various front pages.
[10:00:07]
But to get the same picture used everywhere, I mean, I've never had it before in my career. And it's -- yes, it's beyond overwhelming, to be honest, that the best wishes of my colleagues and the clippings dropping. And it's -- yes, it's not something I'm used to.
BASH: Well, it's really quite a photo.
Thank you so much for coming and telling the story of what happened behind the scenes to capture it. Congratulations, and thanks again.
NOBLE: Thank you, Dana.
BASH: Thank you for spending your Sunday morning with us.
The news continues next.
