Return to Transcripts main page

Table For Five

Graham Platner Criticizes Democratic Establishment after Ending His Maine Senate Campaign; Majority of Americans Say They're Losing Confidence in Capitalism and Democracy; Mitt Romney Says Politicians Should Not be In Office Once They Reach 80 Years Old; Congressional Republicans Call on WNBA to Protect Star Caitlin Clark from on Court Bullying. Aired 10-11a ET.

Aired July 11, 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)

[10:36:00]

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: Today, the main event -- Platner's unapologetic departure.

GRAHAM PLATNER, (D) FORMER MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: Large forces were working against you personally.

PHILLIP: The race against the clock to find a new candidate is on.

Plus, are capitalism and democracy in decline? A majority of Americans say they're losing confidence in both. And only a third say the American dream is within reach.

Also, how old is too old for office?

MITT ROMNEY, (R) FORMER U.S. SENATOR, UTAH: People who are 80 and above really should not be running the world or running the country.

PHILLIP: As questions persist about Mitch McConnell's lengthy hospital stay.

And, intentional foul?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That league and the WNBA was completely unprepared for this moment.

PHILLIP: House Republicans full court press. The WNBA commissioner over the league's treatment of Caitlin Clark.

Here in studio, Cari Champion, Joe Borelli, Geoff Duncan, and Alyssa Farah Griffin.

It's the weekend. Join the conversation at a "TABLE FOR FIVE".

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: Hi, everyone. I'm Abby Phillip.

A mess in Maine. After Graham Platner suspended his Senate campaign amid allegations of rape and violent behavior, and in a blistering 11- minute video, the oysterman and former marine torched the Democratic establishment. He denied the allegations against him and portrayed himself as the victim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM PLATNER, (D) MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: We live in a political system that is not built for normal people. It is a system that is built structurally to make sure that movements like ours cannot flourish, that if they begin to succeed, they can be crushed.

I know that some will think it's an admission of guilt, and it most certainly is not. We're not doing it because of the allegations. We're doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: Platner formally dropped out of the race on Friday afternoon, and Democrats have until July 27th to find a new nominee to try and unseat the longtime Republican senator Susan Collins in November. That's a race that could determine who controls the United States Senate.

Now, Platner's decision to leave the race the way that he did, I think, is part of where the story is now about what seems to be a lack of contrition or even acknowledgment of the accusations against him. But I also think it's a broader story now about Democratic Party and whether or not they've let the far left too much control over their own party in this moment.

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Geoff and I are both very familiar with what happens when you let a far flank of your party take over. You may not recognize it within a few years.

And listen, it was not the DNC that recruited Graham Platner. It was Bernie Sanders affiliated consultants who did minimal vetting of him. Did know of some of these allegations. They knew of the nazi tattoo. I don't believe they knew of some of the later ones. And still pushed him

forward. Listen, he got the votes in the primary of some of these Maine voters, but this is often what happens when you have people who come in with a big vision but maybe not the experience that they should have.

And what still frustrates me to this day is why was it not enough when Lindsay Fifield, who I've known for nearly 15 years, came forward and said he, what I would classify as domestic violence allegations against him, why was that not enough? Why was a nazi tattoo not enough? Why were homophobic slurs not enough? Why were antisemitic and racist slurs not enough?

When what we're seeing is where the far left gets their candidates in and then they decide they're going to double down at all costs at the expense of the party, because very similarly to the Joe Biden, Kamala Harris switch up, now they have this narrow window to try to get someone else in and convince voters that they can, she can -- he or she can beat Susan Collins. It's much harder to do that in this short timeframe.

PHILLIP: Yes. And I mean, this idea that this is all the fault of the establishment and they are coming after us, and this is what happens when you challenge the powers that be, they come after you, I don't know. I mean, the problem with that is that any candidate with this stuff in their background should expect a lot of scrutiny about it. And I think it's misleading to voters to suggest to them that this is a conspiracy against him because he's fighting the establishment.

[10:05:04]

CARI CHAMPION, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Do you think he should have had more of an apologetic tone?

PHILLIP: I just think he should acknowledge that any person inside or outside the establishment would be facing scrutiny because of things -- if these things were being said about anybody.

CHAMPION: Yes. No --

PHILLIP: We'd be sitting here talking about it.

CHAMPION: I agree with you. I think that a couple of weeks ago we talked about him, and I said, the argument that I made was the reason why I think he actually did OK and was still in the race was because the bar is in hell now. I don't necessarily know if we -- not us at this table, but we as Americans really understand what is right and what is wrong anymore. The same idea of I don't really want to check the background of the fireman who has putting out the fire in my house. Just put the fire out. And if you're a bad guy, tell me later. Like there's just been this approach where we just don't know.

And I think it has a lot to do with this current administration and this president, because we're watching so many things happen in real time and they're being thrown to us, and we're on our phone, and we're just scrolling on to the next funny video, to the next funny thing. And so it's really difficult, I think, for the person who is a casual voter, someone who really isn't paying attention -- you hear a scandal and you're like, what else is new?

Now, these things, I'm not excusing any of his behavior, but these things are real and true. You have this conversation with someone who says, yes, I vote, and they really aren't involved in politics in the way that they should be, then they're not appalled, because again, the bar is in hell. And I do agree with you, he needed to apologize for his behavior. He didn't need to make it, it was a them thing, and that's why you can't do it. And this is what this movement is about, they're trying to stop this movement.

But I will say this, and I said it before -- something is happening within the Democratic Party, and there is a bit of a takeover. And if they don't get ahold of it right now and or change old ways to address what other people are asking for, their constituents are asking for, we'll see more mayors like Zohran Mamdani. We'll see more wins that people will be upset about because the party of old is no longer. I don't even think they have an identity.

JOE BORELLI, FORMER REPUBLICAN LEADER, NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL: You know, to Cari's point, though, the Democratic Party lacked enthusiasm for quite some time. And then in walks Zohran Mamdani, in walks some of these democratic socialists. And for the first time, you're actually seeing a very motivated Democratic base. So we can't say that that that there wasn't this vacuum of leadership within the party. There was. There genuinely was a vacuum. There was a genuine lack of support amongst men.

And someone like Graham Platner was supposed to answer two of those deficiencies for the Democratic Party. Now, we have a phrase in politics called the October surprise. The problem was that this was the April open book. All of these things were things that were known, obviously the nazi tattoo, certainly allegations of incidents with women, certainly weird behavior with porta potties. These were all things that were quite known. At the same time, you had Chuck Schumer and Sheldon Whitehouse dismissing those very things.

PHILLIP: I will say, I mean, this is not actually at all a defense of Chuck Schumer, because I think it's more to your earlier point about the establishment not having clean hands here. I think Schumer is catching some strays because he endorsed Janet Mills, who was the establishment candidate. She was -- she is an older candidate. Ignoring this idea of generational change, ignoring this idea that voters want somebody who is really going to be a fighter and can take on the Republicans.

And this is kind of playing out, it's playing out in Maine, what you talked about New York. It's also playing out in Michigan where you have two candidates, one on the progressive side, Abdullah El-Sayed, and a more establishment candidate now going head to head. Here's what El-Sayed said about that race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED, (D) U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE, MICHIGAN: The establishment has taken to calling me dangerous. You heard that? Dangerous. I'm not dangerous If you're someone who needs government to work for you. But if you're Chuck Schumer, damn right I'm dangerous.

(CHEERING)

EL-SAYED: I am dangerous. If you want someone who wants to stand in the way of government working for people, yes, I'm dangerous, and I think we need that kind of dangerous in government right about now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: So now Democrats are looking at this race and they're saying, some of the same Platner consultants are involved in that race in Michigan. Neera Tanden suggests that maybe they should rethink El- Sayed's candidacy as a result. I mean, is there a risk here that the same people who brought them the Maine disaster might be bringing them other disasters down the road?

GEOFF DUNCAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. The head scratcher on so many of these are what takes so long to get these people out of the race and to just really call balls and strikes? Morality has just disappeared to like number 10 or 11th on the list of things that matter when you elect somebody. And at the end of the day, we all see this play out in our business lives and our personal lives. When somebody has no moral filter, then they ultimately will make bad decisions and ultimately make it even harder to win these elections.

[10:10:00]

You know, it's so hard to watch because both sides want to win so bad that they're willing to run through stop signs left and right. They're willing to take positions that don't make sense. And winning, to be an effective leader, you can't just win, but you got to win the right way with the right message. And it can't just be about winning the election or else you just start again.

And so we continue to see on both sides of the aisle, we see flawed candidates. I couldn't imagine stepping in front -- I've run for office a number of times. I can't imagine stepping in front of a microphone knowing that you had these things out there and putting your family through this, knowing that your kids are going to have to deal with this, knowing that your spouse is going to have to deal with this, know that your business partners are going --

PHILLIP: What does that say about you that you do that? I mean, I wonder, I mean, as somebody who has covered politics for a long time, I wonder all the time what is going on.

GRIFFIN: Theres a certain hubris to it. If you know that this could come out and you still go forward, you put your family through it, you put the party that you supposedly believe in through it, I mean, there's a certain arrogance to that, because everything comes out these days.

BORELLI: No one is perfect.

GRIFFIN: Yes.

BORELLI: No one is saying you have to be perfect, but when you have things --

GRIFFIN: But nazi tattoo and rape are --

BORELLI: You have to judge, is this going to be the front page of "The New York Post" or page ten? If it's page ten material, yes, maybe you can run for office. Maybe you can withstand those things. But if you're going to be called a nazi every day and pretend like you don't know what a Totenkopf tattoo is, it's not going to work.

PHILLIP: Is there a role for this viewpoint? This is Dan Pfeiffer who is trying to explain why he messed up by endorsing Graham Platner. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN PFEIFFER, FORMER OBAMA SENIOR ADVISER AND PODCAST CO-HOST: The thing that, you know, that I feel I'm mad at myself about is, you know, as we went through this process, when you and I had first had this conversation that we knew nothing about Platner. Then we saw the online posts. And, you know, the things he said were horrible. And I thought there was a real chance that that could be disqualifying both in the primary and the general to voters, right.

But I did believe naively, apparently, the story he told about being a person who was dealing with PTSD at a dark time in their life and drinking, and did a bunch of things. And then, and then changed their life, improved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: Hey, redemption stories are everywhere. But should -- should that be enough to say, OK, then let's put this person up to be a United States senator?

CHAMPION: You know, that's a great question because I think when you talk about morality, Goeff, and you talk about what we want to be, we want people to forgive us, right? If we even are talking about platforms and what people are running on and they say they're Christians, what's the hallmark of being a Christian? It's forgiveness.

And so if we really, truly believe that, right, as Americans or as people within a party, and we believe that you deserve a second chance, when do we decide, how are we the judge and the jury? How do we not know that Graham isn't apologetic, right? How do we not know he hasn't said -- well, he surely didn't seem that way, obviously, when he stepped down. But my point is, is do we really know?

And I understand that that point of view. Look, I believed him. He said he fell down twice. He got back up and he figured it out. I've seen it happen before. I think we're all suckers for a redemption story, especially if you're looking for what you said we're looking for, an answer to the party where we need a man, where we need to find -- these men are looking for answers to go within the Democratic Party, and they don't see it. They see a bunch of women. They see a bunch of being led by a bunch of old people who aren't trying to do something different, older people not trying to do something different. So I could see why someone would say, well, hopefully.

PHILLIP: We've got to leave it there.

Coming up for us, should more be done to protect the WNBA star Caitlin Clark? Some Republicans on the Hill are weighing in. They think that there should be, and they're taking matters into their own hands.

But first, are Americans losing faith in democracy? A new poll suggests maybe they are. We'll debate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:18:21]

PHILLIP: Americans are losing faith in two fundamental pillars of American society. A new "Wall Street Journal" poll finds that less than half of Americans say that capitalism is working well, and only 12 percent believe that American democracy is working very well or extremely well. Perhaps most alarmingly, more than two-thirds of Americans say the country is now in decline. But as the nation contends with a shifting national identity and as democratic socialists achieve a string of victories all across the country, Donald Trump has a new message on repeat. He's warning of a rise in communism in America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty. It is the greatest threat to our country, including World War One, World War Two, Pearl Harbor, or even 9/11. Communism is the exact opposite of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It's death, tyranny, and the pursuit of evil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: The problem for Trump and Republicans, Joe, seems to be that more and more Americans feel like, if this is the system we've got, it's capitalist, it's democratic, it ain't working for them.

BORELLI: Look, socialism is having a year. We could admit that, right? In the U.S., certainly there's been some victories. But it never fails to remind, as we said, to remind Americans that the combination of democracy and capitalism has lifted more humans out of poverty than any other political institution and system in the history of the world. That's a failure. The fact that more kids and young people don't understand that, they don't understand the history of everything from feudalism to totalitarianism to communism all these other systems that were tried and failed to produce the same economic and cost of living and lifestyle growth that democracy and capitalism have provided is a failure of public education systems.

[10:20:17]

BORELLI: It's a failure of the university system. Look, I teach here in the city of CUNY --

PHILLIP: But isn't it a failure of capitalism.

BORELLI: It's not a failure --

PHILLIP: Because when I say that, meaning that, like, the form of capitalism that we have is a form, right? It's one that we've been in for a while, but it gets eroded. It gets eroded when people can become more rich than most of the humans on the planet. It gets eroded when, yes, you work hard every day, but you don't -- you can't make ends meet. Only 48 percent of Americans say the American dream, or, I'm sorry, 35 percent say the American dream still holds true, 48 percent say it doesn't hold true anymore at all. People don't feel like they can climb the ladder anymore. That's a real sentiment that's out there.

DUNCAN: If you're that family that's trying to figure out how to make the last few days of the month last because you've already run out of money, you can't put gas in the car, you can't buy groceries, you can't pay for rent, then you've got to look pretty long and hard to see examples of, working examples of capitalism and democracy going on. I think so many people are watching the federal government as a whole have its hands into so many things and have its thumbs on the scale of so many things, whether it be the stock market, whether it be, you know, the --

PHILLIP: Picking winners and losers.

DUNCAN: Mergers and acquisitions, I mean, all of that. It just feels such a distance from their realities that they wake up to every day. And so it's just hard for them to see living, breathing examples of it coming to them. And certainly --

PHILLIP: You can fund a ballroom at the White House and get government contracts.

CHAMPION: Yes.

PHILLIP: You can, I mean, yes, really. I mean, when people look at this stuff and they say, is this a market system that's at play here or is it something different, something where if you just line the pockets of enough people in government, you can get what you want on the business side, and then you can be allowed to screw your customers and your employees and not pay them what they deserve? I'm just being real. It just, that that seems to be what the message is that's coming out of our system today.

GRIFFIN: We're -- I think were running into a lot of issues that are colliding at once in a very potentially cataclysmic way. So on the one side, you have inflation and you have the fact that the dollar goes a third of the way that it did 15 years ago, that the ability to pursue your American dream is so much harder. For my generation, the average home ownership isn't going to be until your 40s when our parents were able to buy homes. The average suburb in America, it's like $1 million for an entry level home. Like, just systematic failures of the system that are making it harder for the generations underneath us to feel like they can get ahead.

Pair that with the rise of big tech and then you have a government that at times looks more like a kleptocracy or an oligarchy than it does like truly a democratic system where the powerful and the politically connected can do what they want and they can get their way.

That's where the breakdown in faith comes. I mean, capitalism, to your point, in this country, has done more to lift people out of poverty, to make it where people want to invest --

CHAMPION: But it might be time for something new. It might be time -- GRIFFIN: -- Silicon Valley exists. I think the issue is Washington,

more than anything, that Washington has not been responsive to the needs of people, not necessarily the system in which we do business day to day.

CHAMPION: I agree with what she's saying in terms of what Washington is doing. I think we're all saying the same thing. I appreciate what you point out, and you think it's a lack of education, but I think you can't teach people or tell people something different when they're living their lives every single day in poverty. They can't -- and we can see visually, every time we turn on the television that this government is doing something that is illegal. We're watching in real time. She talked about government contracts, and you're giving them away. I don't see any, any sort of responsibility or any checks and balances. I can do whatever I want to do and no one's going to change it.

BORELLI: The check and balances on capitalism comes from the political system of democracy, where we can elect new people, we can elect people if we don't like them. We can vote against them. And the social democrats --

CHAMPION: Not when they're trying to take votes away.

BORELLI: But social democracy, we always look at the Scandinavian countries. Yes, you could be Norway with a population less than New York City with a $1 trillion, $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund. And yes, socialism works pretty damn well. You can look at other countries with massive populations with limited resources, West Africa, South America. A lot of countries that have social democratic systems don't have those same outcomes.

So again, it goes back to the fundamentality of capitalism and democracy as a combo, as a tag team. They're like the Bushwhackers from WWE. They're smacking down every other system by far.

PHILLIP: You know, and I think you're fundamentally right that if you really do a survey of the, of the forms of government around the world, and you look at what happens to the people in the lowest parts of those societies and the highest parts of those societies, none of them are beating the United States in terms of outcomes. However, it would be -- it seems like it would be a mistake to have wool over your eyes about the ways in which capitalism and democracy can be eroded right now.

[10:25:04]

There does need to be a sort of reinforcement of the true values behind --

BORELLI: The last thing I'll say on this is the United Kingdom, a rich country, is poorer than the poorest state in the United States of America per capita. That's a that's a stunning, stunning fact.

PHILLIP: And next for us, how old is too old to run for office? Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney has weighed in on that debate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:30:01]

PHILLIP: Mitt Romney, who is no stranger to presidential politics, has a direct message for any politicians of a certain age setting their sights on 2028.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you running for president in 2028? No, I'm just kidding.

MITT ROMNEY, (R) FORMER U.S. SENATOR, UTAH: I'm glad, I'm glad you've raised that. I wanted to announce that I am running one more time.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMNEY: The truth is, the truth is, you know, I remember talking to my dad about this, and, you know, in his 80s, he said, oh, I would love to do it again. And the reality is, sure, I would love to do it again. And this time I might get it right. You know, third times a charm. But no, I'm not.

I basically think people who are 80 and above really should not be running the world or running the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: The former senator, who is 79, also discussed what he sees as the next chapter of his life, which is helping to pass the baton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R) FORMER U.S. SENATOR, UTAH: Whether it's Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama or Mitt Romney or Al Gore, it's expected in our nation to get the heck off the stage and let new voices take over. And I just, I recognize that. And so my role now is a different role. It's calling on, if you will, the next generation of leadership as opposed to arguing with the current generation of leadership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: Romney's comments come as speculation grows over 84-year-old Mitch McConnell's lengthy hospitalization, which has been ongoing since mid-June. The former senator, a Senate majority leader, and his team have still not disclosed specific details about his condition, but new video exclusively obtained by CNN shows emergency responders loading McConnell into an ambulance last month after being called to his home for reports of an unconscious person.

I think Mitt Romney, in my humble opinion, hit the nail on the head.

CHAMPION: Yes.

PHILLIP: First of all, he looks good for 79.

GRIFFIN: Looks great.

CHAMPION: He's 79. He looks great.

PHILLIP: He looks great. I think Mitt Romney probably could run for president. Should he? No.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIP: Like, he probably should not because, to his point, you know, at a certain point, you cannot beat time. You cannot beat the human body. And our capacity diminishes as we get older, period. Nobody is exempt from that. So I don't understand why politicians feel like they are.

DUNCAN: Well, I think just the fact that he said that shows you what a great leader he is. I mean, he's a wisdom filled soul, whether you agree with his politics or not. He approached his positions in his public service through a point of wisdom.

Look, we ought to know better than this, right? A majority of fortune 500 companies start phasing out board of director members starting at the age 70 up to 75.

PHILLIP: That's right.

DUNCAN: This isn't rocket science. This is common sense. And so, folks, I mean, we get to vote for these folks. We fall for the bait. And it's not just them not running. If they're going to run at 80 years old and then expect to serve an eight-year term after that.

CHAMPION: Yes.

DUNCAN: I mean, that blame is on us. But we ought to know better as a country.

CHAMPION: Well, I do agree with you there needs to be some type of age limit terms. We've discussed this before. Even in that same interview, Mitt Romney talked about, when you do turn 80, you lose 20 percent of your brain capacity. So imagine what happens in office.

DUNCAN: I feel like I've already done that, and I'm 51.

CHAMPION: Well, your brain, you can't think about it, right? It's like, what's going on.

PHILLIP: At certain points in your life, you have to feel like --

CHAMPION: You're like, I don't know what's going on.

DUNCAN: I got the Mitt Romney, great, great wave coming.

CHAMPION: I would have given you 35 easy.

But, you know, I agree with him and it, and it was very wise of him to say that. And I just the other day at the opening of the Obama library, he said the same. He said people -- he was asked by Robin Roberts, how come you people are upset? They want to hear from you more about what's going on. He goes, this is a young person's game.

GRIFFIN: And Obama is still very young by politicians' standards.

CHAMPION: And he's young, and he said it's a young person's game. I don't know if -- I'm not in touch. I don't know what's going on. There are things I'm just off with. My train of thought is not going to be your train of thought. We do realize that at a certain age, we start saying things, and people who now have opinions look at us like we're crazy. Like were like, what are you even talking about? No one even thinks like that. And that's when, you know, guess what? Maybe I don't know everything.

PHILLIP: You know, so another example, I mean, there's what's going on with McConnell, but up in Massachusetts, Ed Markey is running for reelection. And he said at a debate this week, I need one more term to finish the agenda. He's 80 years old. OK, one more term to finish the agenda, and then I'll step down. But we need to complete the agenda. This is a six-year term.

BORELLI: Why didn't he get it done before?

PHILLIP: I'm just, is that a -- I mean, are voters convinced by that argument, at 80 years old, I need six more years until I am four years away from 90?

BORELLI: I think two things can be true, and maybe I have a different view than everyone. Two things can be true. Number one, there's a funny British show called "Waiting for God." It shouldn't be based on the Senate.

(LAUGHTER)

BORELLI: You know, the average, the average age in the Senate shouldn't be, you know, septuagenarians and octogenarians, right? That that we can all see. At the same time, you have to fundamentally put your faith in the people in who they elect. And age doesn't necessarily equate to capacity. I think we lost a lot of trust in older Americans, perhaps during the Biden presidency when, you know, after the fact, now we have all these books and these testimonials from people who worked in the White House that confirmed yes, we were kind of covering for this guy.

[10:35:12]

And I think that caused a lot of Americans to really reconsider.

The other thing that could be true is --

PHILLIP: I think questions were also, just to be fair, being raised about Donald Trump, too, even in the first term.

BORELLI: The other thing is true is that, you know, Mitch McConnell, I don't know what's wrong with him, right? Obviously, something is wrong with him. But it shouldn't be the burden of someone to bow out of politics because they've had some sort of health scare. If someone goes to the hospital, we had Tom Kean Jr., who was, you know, hospitalized for depression. I don't know if that's the right --

CHAMPION: Yes, like, I disagree with that.

GRIFFIN: I fully disagree there, though. So listen, people do age differently. I can't -- I'm not sure if I think it should be a specific cap or it should simply be we need to stop electing octogenarians. But I do think when the taxpayer funds your salary, you owe people answers, because that entire Kean was out, since Mitch McConnell has been out, there have been votes that matter that they have missed and they've not been able to take and be responsive to their constituents. I said the same thing with Dianne Feinstein. Like, we should not have senators and House members fairly regularly dying in office. Like, there should just be a time where it's time to move on, to pass the baton to a younger generation.

CHAMPION: Even though they don't want to.

PHILLIP: At least a couple of Democrats have died in office in the last year.

CHAMPION: And it's nearly -- it could fundamentally change the balance of power.

PHILLIP: I also, I mean, I wonder, look, the Constitution has a minimum age. Why can't we have a maximum age?

CHAMPION: Yes.

PHILLIP: I mean, if we can say you can't be, you know, you have to be 25 --

DUNCAN: Because the room is full of people in their 70s.

CHAMPION: Yes. So that's why they're like, let's not even enjoy it.

BORELLI: But the problem is voters are in their 80s. They don't want to --

PHILLIP: That's true. And that's the other thing. I mean, the voting base does skew older because they're reliable voters. They show up at the polls. And younger voters, actually, I feel like almost back out of the system, because they feel like it doesn't --

CHAMPION: And it's also simple, like, it's just a rite of passage, when people get to the age where they feel like their rights are being taken away, like grandmother age, they fight back.

DUNCAN: Maybe we should put age next to their name on the ballot, right?

GRIFFIN: Actually, that's a good way to do it.

PHILLIP: That will be interesting. DUNCAN: Problem solved.

PHILLIP: All right, coming up for us, hard fouls or attacks? House Republicans want the WNBA to take accountability for what they say is unfair treatment of superstar Caitlin Clark. Do they have a point? We'll debate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:42:02]

PHILLIP: Should the WNBA be doing more to protect Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark? That's the concern from House Republicans who are demanding accountability for hard fouls that they call attacks against Clark. In a letter to the WNBA commissioner, they write, "If discrimination or retaliation is occurring and creating a hostile work environment, we support any appropriate investigation by the Department of Justice, the Department of Labor, or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission." They add that they are concerned about reports that suggest that the attacks may be racially motivated.

It's fascinating that Congress has decided to get involved in the WNBA's internal drama on the court.

CHAMPION: I think this is fascinating, or another word.

PHILLIP: What do you think?

CHAMPION: I think it's really, really disrespectful in so many different ways, because this is from people who, one, haven't watched sports obviously, have never watched women's basketball. They're probably more so a fan of Caitlin Clark than the actual sport itself, or a fan of the Indiana Fever.

What has been happening to Caitlin has been happening since the inception of the WNBA. These women play tough. They play hard. It's sports. To suggest that it is intentional or that people are being racist towards her leaves out a long history of women who have supported this league and started this league who were black. It's very disrespectful to them, the women who are the foundation of the league. Seventy percent of the people in the league are LGBTQIA and black, and so they literally are sitting here thinking, well, why now, because we've been playing the game that we've been playing, are people demanding that we be investigated for doing what were supposed to do? Can you imagine going to work every single day trying to do your job but fear that you're going to be attacked and get death threats?

PHILLIP: -- with Caitlin Clark is that she's a superstar. She's great at what she does. However, the attention that she's getting from Republicans and from government seems to be exclusively because she is white.

CHAMPION: That's the only reason.

GRIFFIN: Let's not make her a culture. People love her, like me. PHILLIP: It's sports. I mean, you're an athlete.

DUNCAN: Former athlete.

PHILLIP: Former athlete. Probably fewer elbows being thrown on the baseball field. I don't know.

DUNCAN: I don't know. We used to throw pretty hard at people's ribs. That was the way -- that was the way we protected our teammates. And I really think that's part of the answer here. I mean, the WNBA is going to do so much better than Congress at trying to solve this problem. Her team and her teammates are going to do so much better. I mean, there's just -- that's the sport. That's how they play the game. And she's an amazing talent and she gets to put it on display a few times a week. And she's such a bright star to so many young girls that want to play sports. She's amazing. And -- but to watch Congress with all the other issues that they need to be focused on --

CHAMPION: Yes, like, why --

DUNCAN: -- like gas prices, war, affordability, health care.

CHAMPION: That part.

DUNCAN: Criminal justice reform.

CHAMPION: It's insulting. It really is insulting. And they do need to figure it out. He's right. The WNBA needs to figure it out, because it has gotten to the point, when she had the most recent incident where it was, if you watch it slow motion, it does look like it's more offensive than it is. But in real time, in real play, that's why the refs missed it, because it was -- the game moves very fast.

[10:45:01]

And so every time something happens to her, if it's on the front line of the -- it's on the front pages, or if it's GMA, or whomever is covering it, it's such a disservice to a sport that really, truly needs to grow. And if we can't handle this Caitlin Clark problem, I think it's going to implode and really hurt the momentum that they have.

PHILLIP: Christine Brennan had a similar take. I mean, she suggested the WNBA just on their own, they just didn't anticipate this and didn't address it. It's a workforce issue. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: I've covered the WNBA and women's basketball since the 90s. These are the women, again, majority black league, that never got the attention they deserve from the white male dominated mainstream sports media. And now the spotlight is on them because, of course, Caitlin Clark, who is a terrific player. This is a workplace situation that, as Harry Edwards says, is something that could have been anticipated, unfortunately never was. And now here we are, three years, three seasons into it, Jake, and some of these exact same issues are still there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Yes, 100 percent. And the WNBA has been having a banner few years, record ticket sales, money, viewership. Like people are really invested because to your point, it is rough play. They're playing like the boys, they're playing excellent basketball, and people are invested in it. It kind of pushes back on this notion that's been around for years, that women's sports will just never be as successful. If you invest the money in it, people will show up and they will watch.

But this absolutely has to be handled within the league. If we make Caitlin Clark some kind of culture war issue and make it a political partisan thing, it's just going to hurt the league and all the women involved.

PHILLIP: So Tim Miller had a funny tweet where he says, if you have a Caitlin Clark hot take, you have to be able to name five WNBA players.

CHAMPION: Yes.

PHILLIP: Have three other opinions about the league before you --

CHAMPION: Very good.

BORELLI: I don't watch men's basketball. I don't watch women's basketball. I only know Caitlin Clark because she's obviously the superstar of the league. And now I've learned the woman who was pointing with the meme. I know the meme who defended her.

(LAUGHTER)

BORELLI: But I did, because in prepping for this segment, I did look up what were people saying about her before this Alyssa Thomas incident, right. And people were saying before that that she was being bullied, that she was being targeted. So there must be some pattern.

I suspect it's probably some jealousy. She really has been one of the biggest superstars in the league. She's probably got more attention than some of the other women who have been playing so well and probably deserved that much attention. I think it's a little bit of jealousy.

PHILLIP: We've got to go, but, I mean, isn't bullying like, lets look at the NBA. Bullying on the court is a thing that has happened before.

CHAMPION: It is a rite of passage and it is a sign of respect. And for someone who doesn't know the game, for you to use certain words, you've got to be careful with that word. She's not getting beaten. She's not being bullied. No one pulling her hair, no one is telling her she can't come out and play with them. That is a sign of respect. If I go at you because you're supposed to be a superstar, you're supposed to take it. Ask LeBron, ask Michael Jordan, ask the greats. It's a sign of respect. No one is bullying her.

GRIFFIN: And if she gets asked, that's basically what she says.

PHILLIP: Yes, I'm sure that this is -- she's not thrilled about this. It doesn't help her much at all.

Next for us, the panel's unpopular opinions, what they're not afraid to say out loud.

But first, a quick programing note. A quiet English town is thrust into the global spotlight when a mysterious poisoning reveals a deadly international conspiracy. "The Salisbury Poisonings, A Spy Next Door," premieres Sunday at 8:00 p.m. on CNN and streaming the next day on the CNN app.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:53:04]

PHILLIP: We're back, and it's time for your unpopular opinions. Jeff, you're up.

DUNCAN: So this is unpopular in my own home. Binge watching TV shows takes the fun out of a good show. My wife would sit there, watch six or seven shows in a row. I'm up to watching two in a row, and she still gets mad when we get up. I just think it sucks the fun out of it. As a kid, Wednesday nights, "The A Team" would come on. I couldn't wait till the next week. Seasons are over in two weeks if my wife is in charge of the remote. But fortunately, I've been able to negotiate.

GRIFFIN: I don't hate that take.

My unpopular take is the World Cup is greater than the Olympics. I am so bought into it, and I preface this, everything I know about soccer I know from "Ted Lasso." But it is -- soccer is the most global sport. Every region of the world excels at it and is competitive in it. And it feels like it's a game where you can actually get captivated and invested. There's too much happening in the Olympics. Like, I'm not going to like go from like snowshoeing to, like, luging, to whatever, but you can really buy in, get invested in your teams, your players, your rankings.

PHILLIP: But what happens when your team is out at the beginning.

GRIFFIN: Then you start loving another team. I've had, like, four loyalties throughout this World Cup.

BORELLI: You're so right.

PHILLIP: All right, Cari?

CHAMPION: Do you watch the Women's World Cup, too?

GRIFFIN: No.

CHAMPION: All right, so this has made you excited about World Cup in general. OK, great. I did -- OK, so here's the thing. I will be honest with you. This is

horrible for me to say. I knew the Americans weren't going to do well, so I wasn't necessarily rooting for us to do well just because I knew they weren't. I was expecting she to be the girl. I was like, Brazil is that girl this year. Brazil is going to do it, you know? But I truly have decided I like to root for the players and not the teams. I'm in love with Erling Haaland. He looks like the first human, he eats really well, but weird. He does red light mask therapy like I do. He runs around with Hermes bags.

PHILLIP: Is this the guy with the Hermes bag? I love him, too.

CHAMPION: He is like he is -- and I love his relationships with the other players from the other countries. He's really good friends with Bellingham from England. He's really good friends with Mbappe from France. And I watch how they interact. And even though it's still competitors and he's considered one of the best to do it, I'm like, this person, I like you. I'm going, OK, Norway, tell me more. Let me get involved. I love it.

[10:55:02]

PHILLIP: I buy that. All right, Joe?

BORELLI: I think Erling Haaland is like my friend in my head.

CHAMPION: He's that guy. Yes.

BORELLI: My unpopular opinion -- I am here for the ai robot revolution. I hope they come and take us over. I don't want to do chores anymore. I don't want to take the trash out, do the dishes, mow the lawn, take the kids to practice. I'm even nice to Claude now because, like, I'm trying to, like, get him on my side, or her, I don't even know. But I want to get them on my side when they do take over, they know I'm part of the solution, not the problem.

PHILLIP: You will be the last to be eliminated in the robot revolution. Got it.

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, and you can stream "Confessions and Obsessions" anytime on your CNN app. There are new episodes available every Wednesday.

But in the meantime, CNN's coverage continues right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)