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Table For Five
Some Republicans in Congress Push Back against President Trump's Agenda and Projects Including His Pick for Director of National Intelligence and Funding for White House Ballroom; Maine Democratic Senate Candidate Graham Platner Draws Criticism for His Past Behavior in Wake of "New York Times" Article Featuring Interviews with Ex-Girlfriend; President Trump and Conservative Pundits Allege Fraud in California Primary Election Vote Counting; Artists Originally Slated to Perform at President Trump's 250 Year American Anniversary Celebration Drop Out; President Trump Draws Criticism for Proposing Multiple Building Projects around Washington D.C. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired June 06, 2026 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: Today, a win for the president's agenda, but the party fractures remain as he continues to push his pet projects.
SEN. BILL CASSIDY, (R-LA): Mr. President Trump, get engaged.
PHILLIP: Plus, in the Trump era, are Democrats moving away from purity tests for their candidates?
SCOTT GALLOWAY, NYU PROFESSOR OF MARKETING: Folks, if your house is on fire, you don't ask whether the firefighter has problematic DMs.
PHILLIP: Also --
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: You see that, what's happening in California. They're rigging the election.
PHILLIP: Is MAGA's baseless reaction to Californias vote delay a preview of the midterms?
And, it's his party, and he'll rally if he wants to. After musicians bail on Trump's 250th concert, the president declares his own independence by making himself the star.
Here in studio, Ashley Allison, Arthur Aidala, Cari Champion, and Rob Bluey.
It's the weekend. Join the conversation at a "TABLE FOR FIVE".
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Hi everyone. I'm Abby Phillip. For more than a decade now, it's been extremely rare, but the more unpopular Donald Trump becomes, along with his war, his economy, and his agenda, Republicans are starting to push back. This week, the president's party delivered some strong rebukes, first in the House, including several Republicans who voted to rein in his power against Iran as that war drags on. They pushed back against his pick to lead the nation's intelligence agencies, a retribution vessel with zero experience, and they are threatening to kill the $1.8 billion slush fund to compensate his allies. They also removed any funding for his ballroom from the bills. And they're even questioning his pick for attorney general, Todd Blanche. Here's one Republican senator, who Trump snubbed, by the way, showing his frustration on the floor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BILL CASSIDY, (R-LA): I'm speaking to President Trump. Mr. President, Mr. President Trump, get engaged. Mr. President, too many people have this debt, $10,000, on their credit card related to paying in part for things such as medical expenses, and they are going down. That is something that we, Mr. President, you the president and we as Congress must engage upon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: So the question is, with five months left until the midterms, are Republicans showing some spine? Are they worried about how all of this is going to collectively show up for the American people come November when the basic question is going to be, did you make my life better or did you make my life worse?
ROB BLUEY, PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "THE DAILY SIGNAL": Yes, Abby, I'd say is, are my personal finances getting better or are they getting worse? That is what we know from previous elections is usually the central question to the heart of what you were saying.
I agree with what Senator Cassidy said there about health care. In fact, I think that the best thing that congressional Republicans can do, while they still have the majority, is take that next step toward a third reconciliation bill. They will not need more than a simple majority in the U.S. Senate to tackle the rising health care premiums that Americans are facing, to go after the waste, fraud, and abuse that J.D. Vance is trying to stem out with his task force. Those are real, tangible things that they can do right now, and the president should get behind them and support it.
ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The only problem is that they passed a big, beautiful bill, as they like to call it, that actually rescinded tax cuts for folks on health care, and actually are part of the reasons why folks are not feeling like their life is getting better. I also don't know if they'll get that simple majority, because the people who Trump slighted, Cassidy, Tillis, and even on today, the Save Act, Murkowski and Collins, are voting against their own majority. And so they're not going to be able to do it in this next six months because Trump is so unpopular.
But the point of those four senators, but particularly Cassidy, I'm waiting to see if Cornyn pops out, because he's no longer going to be a sitting senator.
PHILLIP: He's already started to --
ALLISON: To show us --
PHILLIP: -- certain things.
ALLISON: Right. But those things, those are the people who are only doing it, only doing it because they no longer will be in office, and they no longer, Donald Trump has just castigated them to the side. And that is not a good way to --
[10:05:01]
PHILLIP: Well, I mean, you could look at it that way, or you can look at it as though, you know, now they don't have to worry about the electoral consequences.
Interesting you brought up Cornyn, because remember when he was going to name a street for Donald Trump -- a highway, actually, an interstate? He says now it's not a priority anymore, he tells the "Houston Chronicle." So yes, you've got someone like Cornyn, you've got Tillis. And here's actually, for example, on Tillis, here's what Trump says about him as Tillis really opposes this $1.8 billion fund that DOJ was planning on establishing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: Senator Tillis is a loser, stone cold. And he's an angry man because I basically, he was forced to leave the Senate because I wouldn't support him. And he quit. So now he's trying to make trouble by opposing anybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARI CHAMPION, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It actually raises a good point, which is like, it's really interesting to see how they are coming at Trump now, because there really are no election, election consequences for them. And God bless this man. He just makes it so simple. He's a loser, and so therefore he's dumb. And I think now that we -- and I don't know why I'm looking at you, but I think now that --
(LAUGHTER)
ARTHUR AIDALA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It is Saturday morning, and, you know, this is what we do.
(CROSS TALK)
CHAMPION: No, because I really, I want to hear you try to make sense of this. Like, I really want you to try to tell me what makes sense here. It's just everyone is so selfish. No one cares about the constituents. No one cares about the people who actually are being affected. You make great points. It's so easily done. Not with this administration, not with this man, and not with these people who call themselves elected officials representing a certain part of their state.
AIDALA: So, Abby, when you introduced the segment, you talked about, you know, are the Republicans finally getting a spine. Both sides are just sheep, in my opinion. Like, they just follow whatever the leader of their respective party says. That's what they do. And for self- preservation, until like those four senators like for them, their self-preservation goes off the table. So now they're voting their conscience. And that's sad. In other words, you were supposed to be an elected official to do the right thing, not to stay in office as long as you possibly can, not to please whoever it is. You're supposed to please, as you just said, your constituency. And if you're from Kansas, you have a very different constituency than if you're representing, you know, New York.
So, I mean, I'm happy they're doing the right thing. But the one thing, Abby, that's changed with technology, throughout my whole life, I was never polled, right. My home phone never rang to get polled. Now, all of a sudden on my cell phone, I'm not going to -- but at least once a month I am asked to take some kind of like, sometimes it's a local poll, a state poll, or a national poll. I think we're being naive not to think that polling has some effect on what people are saying and doing.
PHILLIP: You mean like the fact that they are being asked?
AIDALA: They're being asked, and then what the results are and saying, uh oh, uh oh, I better do this. Yes, they're looking at the polling for survival.
PHILLIP: But part of it is also just that Trump has been very transparent, to your point. Sometimes he just says the thing about his actual priorities. And, and whether it's, you know, the ballroom or the arches or the statues, or now he names the head of the director of national intelligence, right. And it's a guy who has no experience in that field. And it's not because he thinks that this guy is going to make America safer, but it's because he thinks he's going to investigate the election. Listen to what Trump said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: He's not going to be permanent because, you know, I don't think he'd want to be permanent. But he's a very smart guy, and he may find out some things about the rigged elections, et cetera, et cetera. I think he'd like to do it. I'd like to -- I think he wants to do it very much. Got a lot of energy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does he have the necessary, in your view, Mr. President, the necessary national security experience to take on that position?
TRUMP: Well, I do, and I think he does, actually, because he's smart, because a lot of national security -- look, I wasn't greatly experienced in national security, and I think I've done a really great job with it. Bill is a guy that will be able to figure it out very quickly. Again, it's short term, but he may be very effective for a short period of time. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, Mr. President?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: I don't know, Rob. It seems like Trump is playing with fire here. You're already kind of on thin ice with the American people on the economy, and then you sort of act cavalierly about national security, I don't see how that's a smart play in this moment.
BLUEY: Well, I think the president made the right decision this week to come out and say this would be a temporary solution for the Office of Director of National Intelligence, and he's interviewing other candidates. I think he read the fact that many members of Congress were concerned about the appointment of Pulte for the role.
When it comes to some of the other things that he wants him to do, I think he makes some commonsense arguments. For instance, having a permanent person in that role, it's more difficult to clean up some of the mess that Tulsi Gabbard was unable to maybe fully accomplish in her role. So he wants to reduce some of the staffing and overhead in the office of --
[10:10:05]
PHILLIP: I don't see how that's an argument. I mean, the role is a statutorily created role. If he wants to change the scope of it, he needs to go to Congress to do that. If he wants his Director of National Intelligence to reduce the size of the office, he can do that with a permanent director who goes to Congress and says, here's the reason we should do this. Why won't he just do things the right way?
BLUEY: Well, so previous, look, previous administrations, Chad Wolf finished his tenure at Department of Homeland Security as an acting secretary. Julie Su under President Biden finished --
PHILLIP: That's because Republicans refused to confirm her.
BLUEY: No, I know, but, I mean, we're in the mode where it's just so difficult --
PHILLIP: No because they wanted her to be acting forever. It's because Republicans refused to confirm her.
PHILLIP: We can't get anything through the U.S. Senate, including --
ALLISON: Republicans have the Senate. Like, they actually could. They're in control. This is their guy. He got all his other cabinet nominations.
And I just want to point out, I don't even know if we would have a new DNI if the unfortunate circumstances hadn't happened with Tulsi's husband and why she actually stepped down. I don't know if Trump had a problem with her because she was going down to Fulton County and raiding ballots. And so he's actually just looking for somebody to continue that work and not actually focus on the security of the country. PHILLIP: All right, we've got to leave it there.
Next for us, the Democrats are sidestepping questions about the party's controversial Senate candidate in Maine, raising some new questions -- does character only matter when they're wearing the other team's jersey? Plus, how California's slow ballot count in key races is already fueling accusations of a rigged election by the president.
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[10:16:25]
PHILLIP: Welcome back. Purity or party? In the Trump era, it seems the Democrats and perhaps their voters are starting to loosen their expectations of candidates. Case in point, Graham Platner, the Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, a beard, tattoos, military service, a populist message. But as Platner faces scandal after scandal about his past, and polls show that he has a good shot to beat a Republican, Democrats can't quite figure out what to do with him. Many still support him. Others are staying on the sidelines. Some, like John Fetterman, call him a creep, and others just mumble through their answers about whether they'll still support him. Scott Galloway says it's time to stop the purity tests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT GALLOWAY, NYU PROFESSOR OF MARKETING: Every election is a choice, not a marriage proposal. We're not hiring a priest. We're hiring a senator. Do you want to make sure that women's rights aren't continue to be rolled back? Do you want a more responsible economic policy? Do you want different approaches to labor that raise the wages of nurses and students? Do you want something regarding fiscal sanity? Do you want to stop, Have a check against the unfettered, unprecedented corruption? But were going to talk about -- tattoos and sexting? I mean, the obsession, the obsession with personal purity has become a luxury belief. And folks, if your house is on fire, you don't ask whether the firefighter has problematic DMs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AIDALA: No, because the fire department has already asked if he's got problematic DMs. In other words, no, I'm serious. There was a vetting process to qualify that person to be the firefighter.
PHILLIP: I just want to say, just in fairness to Scott Galloway there, he made those comments before "The New York Times" story this week alleging much more serious things, including not just that he was a toxic boyfriend, but that he was emotionally abusive to at least one woman and maybe, in some cases, physical with her.
CHAMPION: Yes. She called it physical aggression.
PHILLIP: So, but that kind of raises this question of like, how much is enough? Right? Are we just going to go down the rabbit hole?
CHAMPION: Well, no, the bar is in hell with this current administration. The bar is in hell. We have allowed this president to come in and this blatant corruption, and we see it, not "we" as in you, but the people have. His loyalists have, the people who are supposed to be a part of his cabinet have.
And so the bar is now in hell. And so for Democrats, to me, now -- and by the way, I am not excusing this man's behavior in any form or fashion, but what Scott is saying is like, listen, look where we are. No one's perfect. Fetterman said this, to your point, said this earlier today, when he was trying, and I'm paraphrasing, was like, all politicians have baggage. This just happens to be a candidate that has baggage.
AIDALA: Cari, Cari, Cari, he's an antisemitic tattoo on his chest. That should be automatic disqualification, period.
CHAMPION: I'm not excusing this man's behavior, but what I am telling you is you cannot say that with this president in office.
AIDALA: No, no, you can.
CHAMPION: You cannot say that. You cannot say that. You cannot --
AIDALA: You can. You can. A guy who is wearing a tattoo saying I hate people of this religion, that's it, you're done.
CHAMPION: OK, and I hate black people. I feel like this president is saying, I hate black people, and we're done.
AIDALA: But he doesn't have a tattoo that says it.
CHAMPION: He just has all the power of the government. He's rolling back -- he's rolling back civil rights.
PHILLIP: Wait, Cari --
CHAMPION: I'm not excusing this man --
PHILLIP: I know you keep saying you're not excusing him --
CHAMPION: But this is why people are OK with that.
PHILLIP: You keep saying you're not excusing him, but what's happening is that he is being excused. The issue, I think also that what this week demonstrates, because we kind of started with, oh, he was sending text messages, you know, into his, frankly, brand new marriage, by the way, to other women.
[10:01:00]
So that's not great.
ALLISON: Wholly inappropriate.
PHILLIP: Not great. Maybe, maybe not a great thing. But then there is always this drip, drip, drip. You know, earlier this week, he had a meeting with Democrats where they asked him, was there anything else? He said there wasn't any. Elizabeth Warren attended the meeting. She said there's a big difference between marital issues and allegations of sexual assault, that people said Platner agreed and denied any credible allegations of assault were forthcoming. It's not a secret. I've had a messy, complicated life, he told them. The worst of the rumors we've all heard are not true. Two days later, "The New York Times" comes out --
CHAMPION: With that article about everything.
PHILLIP: About everything. So it's like, one of the problems is that you excuse this and this. Oh, and then --
CHAMPION: But Abby, but are we excusing it?
PHILLIP: -- there's going to be more, and Democrats are --
CHAMPION: Are we excusing it? Or are we saying, look, if this is this, if this guy is in the lead -- are we excusing it? No, we're not. But if the people in Maine are saying, this is our guy, this is who we want, it's because of the situation we live in right now.
PHILLIP: Is there anything that Graham Platner could do that would make him unacceptable?
ALLISON: Yes.
PHILLIP: And that would that would be an automatic --
ALLISON: Yes. And I think --
PHILLIP: We need all hands on deck. Let's have a Joe Biden, let's push him off the ballot.
ALLISON: Yes, I think -- and maybe some things have already been exposed that are unacceptable. I think the thing is, people don't know how to answer that question anymore because there's always a follow up question. We just don't live in that world anymore. And I don't like that we don't. But is there anything Donald Trump can do to make him unacceptable?
CHAMPION: Yes. No.
ALLISON: Yes. But he's still the president.
CHAMPION: Yes.
ALLISON: So like, what am I supposed to do with that? If people really think that not having a check on Donald Trump would, like, winning the Senate, this Maine Senate seat has been something that Democrats have had their eye on for a very long time, and it is very vulnerable. It is more vulnerable than even the Texas Senate seat. And if they are looking at -- this is straight politics. I'm not saying it's moral. I'm not saying it is --
CHAMPION: That's it.
ALLISON: It is just literally a power play.
CHAMPION: That's it.
AIDALA: OK, so let me ask you this question. Out of everyone at this table, I believe you have been really in the halls of power, right? You were there. What does it say about the Democratic Party of Maine that this is the best that they got?
ALLISON: That's a fair question. I think that's a fair question for Democrats and Republicans.
AIDALA: I couldn't agree with you more.
CHAMPION: And Republicans.
ALLISON: And I think that that that is actually what I'm saying is that -- but it is hard to ask questions in isolation right now.
CHAMPION: You can't.
ALLISON: Because then when I turn the page the next day, I see something that has happened and I feel is so antagonizing to me and the rest of Americans, I'm like, something has got to give. Again --
CHAMPION: And that's it right there. The report --
ALLISON: You can't ask questions in isolation.
CHAMPION: I think the reports are very troubling to me, I really do.
BLUEY: They are.
CHAMPION: And I think there are a lot of people that are in power right now --
PHILLIP: I just want to say, Rob, you know, Lyndsey Fifield.
BLUEY: I do. Yes, yes. I worked with here.
PHILLIP: Who is the ex-girlfriend who is named in the story. So you have a different perspective. And I just want to note that she had a -- she had put out a social media post where she basically called Graham Platner a liar. She said that he is out there just lying after lie after lie. And I'm also seeing a lot of people personally attacking her just because she's worked in Republican politics.
BLUEY: Yes, I don't -- I think that's deeply unfair. First of all, Lyndsey didn't talk about this when we worked together. She didn't even share it with her friends. In fact, some of her friends have come out even in posts this week saying that they wish they had pressed her on this relationship back then.
I understand how traumatic it must have been for her to withhold speaking about this. But she felt, you know, a deep responsibility to share that now. And I think it's unfortunate that there are people attacking her simply because of, of her past. I think she said even that she's married to a Democrat. So I mean, her politics --
PHILLIP: She said that a lot of her family and her husband are liberals.
BLUEY: That's right. That's right.
But I think that, you know, the interesting thing about the whole situation, Abby, is that in some ways, Chuck Schumer tried to go around and make sure that this was not going to be the situation. He got behind, Janet Mills, the governor of Maine, early on, because I think he saw some of the problems that maybe Graham Platner would have presented to the Democrats.
ALLISON: That was a flawed approach, too. And I think that that is what Arthur is actually getting to, is that I don't have anything against Janet Mills. But Janet Mills, I think is 78 years old, is the governor. Can we turn the page and actually have a youthful generation that could represent the state of Maine? And I think that is the point. The leader of the Democratic Party goes and finds somebody that would be more establishment, and the alternative is Graham Platner. Is there anything in between?
PHILLIP: I don't think it's that hard to find people that don't have nazi tattoos. I'm sorry. Like that's not it's not actually that hard. And I think there are a lot of amazing, decent people in this country who don't have these problems. And yes, we need to make it easier for them to want to get into public service. But I don't know, I mean, I think it's -- I don't think that the moral of this story is that this is this is as good as --
AIDALA: I agree with you.
PHILLIP: It's not. So anyway, we'll see what happens in Maine.
[10:25:01]
Next for us, President Trump reaches back into his old bag of tricks and claims that Democrats are trying to steal the California primaries from Republicans. A factcheck next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIP: It is 2026, and so the fact that we don't know the vote totals in California five days after the primaries is objectively annoying, for the candidates, for the public, for us as journalists. However, the fact remains that we knew that this was going to happen going into it. We knew that California has delayed results because of their mail-in ballot system since votes postmarked on Election Day can still be counted.
[10:30:07]
And in a state with 23 million registered voters, that requires a lot of time and a lot of resources and a lot of people. But for Donald Trump, who has a long history of voting by mail, it's proof that the system is rigged. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: I hope the media looks at this election that's taking place in California, where they think it will take seven or eight days to count the votes. Can you believe this? I mean, they spend all that money on the on the machines, the big voting machines. They think it's going to be seven or eight days before we know who won the election. But the numbers are looking strange because without any vote counting, the numbers dropped very precipitously for two Republicans that are doing well, that had been doing well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAMPION: He would know.
PHILLIP: So, of course, I don't need to tell you there's no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing in that election. But now the Justice Department is getting involved, and the Los Angeles County's elections office has said a DOJ attorney is observing ballot processing, and they were doing that on Friday morning after Trump claimed earlier this week that the U.S. attorney's office in L.A. was investigating the count.
But it raises the question, is this just a preview of how Trump may try to undermine the midterms that are coming up in just a few months? I mean, I don't know if there is any election where votes are being counted, and it takes a little bit longer, that Trump would not call fraudulent just because he doesn't like that it takes time.
ALLISON: There is no election that when the polls close and he wins, that he doesn't call fraudulent. He likes to undermine election outcomes, whether they work in his favor or not. When he beat Hillary Clinton, he still said there were things wrong. So it's like, bro, what do you want?
So we know that there is no fraud happening in California. We also know that they should learn how to count their votes faster. But this is a pretext to what we can expect. Or maybe it is the sequel to what we have already experienced about how he will approach the midterm elections, integrity of it.
And I actually think it's interesting that he is doing it in California, because if you go back to after 2016, and actually after he lost with Joe Biden, he takes -- there was a strategy for Republicans to go into urban areas that typically have voter suppression, have longer lines, have issues at some polling places, and really target those. After that, after two years in the next midterms, they actually started going into rural areas, putting pressure on places to make everyone start to have questions about our election. And so there is no question about why he is actually doing this in California, to signal to Democrats who may be susceptible to this disinformation, but also to Republicans that, like, they don't get it right when it's their people and they don't get it right when our people. So nobody should trust these things.
CHAMPION: Nobody should trust anything. But he, but that has been his strategy, even with the fourth estate. Fake news, fake news.
ALLISON: Fake news.
CHAMPION: He's been able to create so much chaos that you can't really understand what's going on. So to your point, yes.
AIDALA: But Abby -- sorry, friend.
CHAMPION: I don't believe you.
AIDALA: I have no I have no issue with them having, you know, someone from the DOJ just being an observer. I mean, in New York, it's usually someone from the NYPD. When the polls close, there's at least one police officer there who is observing like what's going on and it's supposed to be there for, really what they're there for is deterrence, but they're supposed to be making sure no fraud is being committed.
ALLISON: But that's a state election or a municipal election. That's why NYPD.
AIDALA: No, no, no, no, it's the same. No, when you vote for president, it's still it's still NYPD voting --
PHILLIP: I think you're right. It's not -- look, the person was brought in and was like, this is where the public can watch where this goes, how, where this goes on. And in fact, you could have stayed home and you could have watched it online because you can observe the ballot counting through a video feed that they have. But I think that that it's the underlying intent behind it that's the problem. And what I find so amazing is that they know that there's no proof. Here are just some of the conservatives who have been talking about this over the last couple of days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: I can't prove it. But everybody watching thinks there's shenanigans when it takes this long, and Pratt and Hilton keep losing.
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: If mail in ballots are so cool and great and everyone uses them, why is it mostly Democrats?
GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS HOST: They said it's going to take weeks to count. You know what that means.
SEAN DAVIS, THE FEDERALIST CEO/CO-FOUNDER: Yes, shenanigans.
GUTFELD: Shenanigans.
SEN. ERIC SCHMITT, (R-MO): What California is doing here, again, in this crazy Democrat scheme to sort of rig the elections here in, you know, and I don't know what else you call it.
REP. RANDY FINE, (R-FL): They absolutely have the capability to cheat. They have designed a system that is designed to cheat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
AIDALA: Abby, I think ultimately --
[10:35:00]
PHILLIP: I can't prove it, but we know that there's fraud happening. Excuse me, you have to prove it.
BLUEY: It seems that Steve Hilton and Spencer Pratt have enough votes to maintain their position to go to the runoff. Now, maybe by some miraculous mail-in count, Democrats will be able to catch them. It doesn't seem likely, at least when I've looked at the numbers.
I will say this, and I've told you this before, me personally, I always go to the polling place to vote because I don't want to take the risk of putting a ballot in the mail that could be lost by the postal service, that might not get run through the machine. I understand that there's observers and all of that. I just think the safest and most secure way to vote is to show up at a polling place. And id' be supportive of making Election Day a national holiday so people don't have to work, don't have to go to school, can make the trip to their local polling place and vote. I just think it's the better option.
And I think that ultimately, you hit on this in your introduction. It's not only annoying, but I think it also plays into these concerns about the integrity. The longer it drags on, even though we know that there's a lot of people, that millions of votes that still are outstanding in California, it's just raising doubts that I don't think are necessary.
ALLISON: Those doubts didn't -- they didn't exist before.
PHILLIP: They don't just come out --
(CROSS TALK)
PHILLIP: They're being created by people who have --
ALLISON: You have to do that. I appreciate you, though, being solution oriented.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIP: That is true.
AIDALA: And that's the best you're going to get out of her. She appreciates you. That's it. That's as good as it gets.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIP: Next for us, his war is unpopular, his economy is unpopular, but can Trump's pet projects be enough to reenergize his presidency? We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:41:17]
PHILLIP: In today's episode of extreme makeover D.C. edition, Donald Trump sets his eye on a new project, a pedestrian bridge connecting the back side of the Lincoln Memorial to the Potomac River.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: It's called the promenade, the promenade. They want to call it the Trump Promenade, but I don't know if I want to do that. But it's going to be beautiful. It's a beautiful project, and it's going to take the Lincoln Memorial right down to the Potomac.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAMPION: He didn't want to do that.
PHILLIP: Again, a vast majority of Americans are furious about the economy, and they feel pessimistic about things getting better. But regardless, the president's big focus seems to be on his pet projects around the Capitol, a reflecting pool renovation, a marble walkway at the White House, a UFC cage on the White House south lawn, the $1 billion ballroom, and, of course, the 250 foot arch, which, by the way, a Trump backed panel voted to advance plans for that arch this week despite public opposition to the project and real concerns that its height could be hazardous to air travel.
Arthur, you were chuckling as he was talking about the Trump promenade. Oh, he really doesn't want it named after him. But --
AIDALA: It's also, it's beautiful. It's beautiful. It's going to be beautiful.
CHAMPION: But they're asking, people are asking.
AIDALA: Here's why we should not be surprised. And you know, you left out Penn Station that he wants to do.
PHILLIP: That's true.
AIDALA: Which is a huge, necessary project, I may add. He's a builder. I mean, that is what he is. I mean, yes, he was the actor on "The Apprentice," but his father and he, that's what they -- I mean, in Brooklyn, there's a whole section, the Trump village. That was his dad. That's where the wealth came from.
So I'm not shocked that his instinct is to build and build and build. And look, I'm a cheerleader, even in my own little office. Even when things are down, like, let's do something special. Let's bring people together. Making the Capitol, there's plenty of things you can criticize Donald Trump about, but making the capital more beautiful. And look, I don't know about the arch, but this pedestrian bridge. It sounds nice to walk over from the from -- it doesn't sound like -- there's a lot worse ideas than Donald Trump has had to invest money --
CHAMPION: Friend, friend, friend.
AIDALA: -- in our beautiful country.
CHAMPION: You don't think this sounds -- friend?
(LAUGHTER)
CHAMPION: Yes, yes. You've been working out, friend. OK, so but you got to be honest, this sounds ridiculous.
AIDALA: What sounds ridiculous, making Washington more beautiful?
CHAMPION: Oh, stop it. And why is he, it's almost like the -- OK, first of all, it's like the Kennedy Center. When he put his name up there, it literally was like putting your name on someone else's tombstone. It's disgusting. It literally is the same. But friend, he is trying to do that everywhere he goes when there are bigger issues at hand.
AIDALA: That's not shocking. As a New Yorker, that is not shocking.
CHAMPION: I know, but it doesn't, but that doesn't, but this question isn't asked in isolation either. He should not be doing that. And you know that. There are other issues --
AIDALA: Putting his name on it.
CHAMPION: He shouldn't be building anything right now. We should be taking care of the economy.
AIDALA: But you can say that any time. You can say that any time.
CHAMPION: That's just not a fair --
ALLISON: I've lived in D.C. now for, I guess, 13 years. One of my favorite things to do is walk on the mall and to hit the different monuments.
CHAMPION: Which I love.
ALLISON: To go. But what makes those stops along the way is the historical nature of them. I remember when the MLK statue was erected. He had been dead for almost 35 years, or 40 years at that point, and it became a moment of remembrance, not a moment of the present. So maybe in 40 years, Trump will get an arch if history remembers, maybe.
AIDALA: I was not talking about the arch. I was talking about some of the things that Abby spoke about.
BLUEY: To Arthur's point, I think we need --
AIDALA: Like the primary lead reflecting pool is a mess.
[10:45:00] CHAMPION: It needs to be done right now? While we're in the war of choice, it needs to be done right now?
AIDALA: Listen, when the Vietnam Memorial went up. I don't think the economy was booming. I mean, you could look at you could always find an excuse not to do it.
CHAMPION: You cannot compare the Vietnam Memorial to him wanting to put a new reflecting pool down. They're not even the same. You can't do that.
AIDALA: Why? Why?
CHAMPION: Because this is a vanity project.
AIDALA: Abby loves the reflecting pool. If there's no water in the pool.
CHAMPION: Abby's like, how did I get in it?
AIDALA: If there's no water in the pool, it's not a pool.
CHAMPION: Abby is like -- Abby is minding her business.
(CROSS TALK)
ALLISON: I'll just say, I'll just say, I do think you can, in this instance, perhaps disaggregate them. If he just was renovating the reflecting pool so that it was beautiful for the 250th anniversary of our country, perhaps. But that is not what is happening, friend.
CHAMPION: Friend, not happening.
AIDALA: Wait.
PHILLIP: OK, Rob was going to say something. Rob?
BLUEY: Oh, no. I think that local solutions --
CHAMPION: Come on, Rob!
BLUEY: I'll try, I'll try. My office is right near Union Station. They just opened the Columbus Circle Statue after years of being in disrepair. The fountains are working again, not just there, but in other places. I think local residents in Washington, D.C., genuinely like to see the city improving. It is. The reason I say that it should be done now is simply because you're going to have a massive influx of people over the coming months to celebrate the 250th anniversary. So what better time to do it.
PHILLIP: Perfect segue. Just a quick moment, literally Trump on this topic. Trump couldn't get performers to come to Washington for his freedom -- America 250 concert. So now he's going to make it a rally, basically a political rally featuring his favorite opera singer and Lee Greenwood. And that's it.
AIDALA: And Cari Champion.
PHILLIP: And that's it.
CHAMPION: I might.
PHILLIP: I think that actually says a lot about his inability to bring the country together.
AIDALA: No, let me tell you what it says a lot about me, because I'm in the same situation representing unpopular opinions. What it says is those performers are told by their managers, you go in bed with this guy, I'm not going to be able to get you a gig anywhere in Las Vegas and Los Angeles and New York City. So you're going to get canceled if you go hang out with the president.
Believe me, I was in this -- I've been in the same position, Abby, when I've been -- very unpopular, clients have come to me. And my partners are like, you're going to be all over the newspapers with this guy, we're going to lose all our clients. They wanted to pull out. I had the chutzpah to stay in. But I know what goes on behind the scenes. And it's like, if you make an alliance with Trump a lot, you're going to be canceled in a lot of places.
ALLISON: And that's an unfortunate place for our country to be in.
AIDALA: I couldn't agree more.
CHAMPION: But her point of why he can't bring people together.
ALLISON: But I think why we're in this --
CHAMPION: That's exactly what she said.
ALLISON: -- has to do more with his behavior than the artists.
PHILLIP: All right.
AIDALA: OK.
PHILLIP: We do have to leave it there. Speaking of unpopular opinions, the panel has got theirs. Up next, what they're not afraid to say out loud.
Also, before the UFC makes history on the White House lawn, Sara Sidner gets an inside look at the growing sport and it's political connections. Be sure to tune in to "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper". It airs on Sunday at 8:00 p.m. on CNN, or you can watch it the next day on the CNN app.
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[10:52:45]
PHILLIP: We are back, and it's time for your unpopular opinions. Arthur? AIDALA: So here in New York, New York is on fire about the New York Knicks and basketball. And they've played in Texas, and now they're coming back to New York. Here's my -- I'm totally rooting for them. They haven't won a championship since 73. They haven't been to the finals since 99. Everyone cares about who the celebrities are in the first two rows. Number one, I don't care. But number two, Abby, what it does is it drives those ticket prices up through the roof. And regular people, like a nosebleed seat is in the thousands of dollars.
PHILLIP: Yes, $4,000.
AIDALA: And it just eliminates the real New Yorkers, the people who make this city work from going to the game. So, I'm paying for everybody to go to Madison Square Garden. It's on me.
(LAUGHTER)
CHAMPION: Well, because you said you like to do things when things are down. You like to do nice things for people.
AIDALA: Yes.
CHAMPION: Thank you for buying my seat, Arthur.
OK, so mine is similarly to what you're talking about. So Wemby, Victor Wembanyama, is the sensation, the French sensation that plays for the San Antonio Spurs. And most recently, he had been criticized by K.G., Kevin Garnett, and some other players also on the Knicks that said he cries too much. Too much emotion. After he won from the -- after he won the Western Conference Finals. He's in tears. He's like boo-hooing, as if he won it all.
And I thought to myself, wouldn't the world be a better place if men in sport started to show more emotion? He's been criticized by other athletes because they feel like he isn't man enough. And sitting next to someone like Arthur, I would love to see more emotion, and it would make me like you more. So if you can right now --
AIDALA: Would you like me to cry?
CHAMPION: Yes, right now.
AIDALA: Like Andre Agassi at the French Open?
CHAMPION: Let Wemby cry. And yes, listen, I'm not rooting for anybody. I have no dog in this race. I know everyone here loves the Knicks, but I'm just saying, let Wemby cry. Let the man cry.
PHILLIP: All right, Ashley.
ALLISON: This is a hard pivot from --
(LAUGHTER)
ALLISON: I feel like we don't need to iron stuff anymore.
CHAMPION: I agree.
ALLISON: OK, so my -- this is a shout out to my mom. Happy birthday, mom. She is like iron, this iron that. I'm like, just let the wrinkles fall. Like, there's enough problems in the world. And you know what, you're oohing and aahing over there. You ain't never seen me wrinkled on this thing. And I have never --
PHILLIP: Have you seen the linen shirts.
ALLISON: I have never hit a --
AIDALA: You use a steamer, though? I go with the steamer.
[10:55:00]
ALLISON: It's so hot in D.C. you don't need a steam. You just walk out.
PHILLIP: Listen, if you've seen a linen shirt, you will change. It will change your mind.
All right. Rob.
BLUEY: So in the same week that Jill Biden came out with her book, Hunter Biden just stole the show on X, right?
ALLISON: On fire.
BLUEY: Oh, my goodness. So using self-deprecating humor, he's actually getting a lot of plaudits from conservatives, of all places, because, you know, he's engaging in a way on the platform that just seems to be authentic and genuine. Now, there are some who say it's a P.R. stunt on his part to soften his image, but still, something to watch. He's already amassed half-a-million followers.
ALLISON: Yes. On fire.
CHAMPION: Abby's face is hilarious.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIP: All right, everyone, thank you very much. Thanks for watching "TABLE FOR FIVE". You can catch me every weeknight at 10:00 p.m. eastern with our Newsnight Roundtable at any time on your favorite social media X, Instagram, and on TikTok. But in the meantime, CNN's coverage continues right now.
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