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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Trump Heads To Capitol For Address To Congress; Interview With Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ); Interview With Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK); Trump At Capitol Ahead Of State Of The Union Address. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired February 24, 2026 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: One of the most important states, a big Senate race, a big Governor's race, obviously, it's flipped back and forth. So, were in the heart of politics in the United States tonight.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And it's great to see the two of you together, right. Obviously, you've got two very different worldviews with so many of your politics, but that you can sit there with dignity and respect and sit there as friends. You know, I think that's not a small thing. So, let's just go ahead and celebrate that hope. There's a lot more where that comes from.
VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He's still on the French fries, though.
BURNETT: Well, you can wrap him -- for that.
JENNINGS: We'll have a lot of fun tonight. We'll learn a lot too.
BURNETT: All right, thanks to you both. Of course, that's on CNN.com and our special coverage of The State of the Union address continues now.
[20:00:40]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": It's a huge night for President Trump, and the stakes could not be higher.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Can he convince the American people that his agenda is working? CNN's coverage of The State of the Union address starts right now.
COOPER: We are looking at live pictures of our Nation's Capital as President Trump prepares to address the nation, in his first State of the Union of his second term. Any moment now, the President is set to depart from the White House and make his way to the Capitol, where he'll lay out his priorities before Congress, the Supreme Court Justices and the country.
Already, lawmakers are arriving inside Statuary Hall. Welcome to a special edition of AC360. The President's speech begins in less than hour. This is one of his last, best opportunities for the President to address the nation ahead of the critical midterm elections, even as he is facing historically low approval numbers. The big question tonight, will the President be able to address Americans' continuing economic concerns while also selling his vision for a path to prosperity?
And Jake, there was big news this past week about the President on tariff policy.
TAPPER: There sure was, Anderson. Tonight's address comes just days after that major rebuke from the U.S. Supreme Court with a majority of justices deeming Trump's tariffs his signature policy of his second term illegal. It also comes amid an escalating standoff with Democrats over the administration's immigration crackdown, especially in Minnesota tonight. The U.S. and the world will be listening for any mention of Iran.
As tensions rise in the Middle East, the President told me and some other news anchors in a lunch today that Iran wants a deal more than he does, but they refuse to say what he called a sacred phrase that they will not build nuclear weapons. We're going to have more on that in a minute.
All eyes will not only be on the President, but on the Democratic response to the speech. Delivering the rebuttal for the party this year will be Virginia's newly elected Governor, Abigail Apanberger. Our correspondents are standing by and at the U.S. Capitol and at the White House. We're also in the battleground state of Michigan. Van Jones and Scott Jennings will talk to voters there. I want to first go to CNN's Kristen Holmes at the White House. She has some brand-new reporting on how President Trump is preparing for this speech -- Kristen.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, President Trump is somebody who is not known to prepare, taken a lot of considerable time when it comes to these big speeches or debates. But we do know that he spent an extensive amount of time going through the speech making tweaks. The speech itself was written by his long- term speechwriter, Ross Worthington, and he took so much time in preparation that he actually brought a lectern into the residence to prepare, giving the speech from a lectern like he will be tonight.
Now, one of the reasons that this speech might be so long is because we are told that there are going to be some, "surprise nuggets" in this speech. President Trump is expected to give awards at one point to roll out new policy.
Now, originally, I was told that this speech on paper was roughly two hours long. A lot of aides and advisers were worried that would not keep attention. They have shortened it, but they do expect it to be a rather long night -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right, Kristen, thanks so much. I want to go to CNN's Dana Bash now. She's in Statuary Hall inside the Capitol -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR AND POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jake, and I'm here with the one and only Manu Raju. Manu, we've seen secretaries go through members of the Cabinet, somebody holding a gold medal. You're about to go into the into the chamber very soon.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and to see what Democrats in particular, how they plan to respond because Democratic leaders, I'm told, Dana, have made their most direct appeals yet of any Trump speech to the rank and file. They absolutely do not want to see the kind of outbursts that we have seen in recent years. And they're saying if you can't restrain yourself, don't even show up. Boycott the chamber altogether. So, we expect to see a significant amount of Democrats not attend the speech. What they don't want to see is what we saw last year with Congressman Al Green, the Democrat from Texas, he got up, he yelled at the President. He was escorted out.
That divided their party, they want to keep the focus on President Trump at this time, where he's weak politically, not on themselves, but watch for other silent forms of protest. Democratic leaders, I'm told, Dana, will not take part in what bipartisan tradition the so- called escort committee bringing the President into the chamber they plan to avoid doing that. Just a sign of the kind of silent defiance that we expect to see from Democratic leaders. But will rank and file members, listen to them. That's the big question for the Democrats tonight.
BASH: It is and as I was coming into the Capitol, Jake and Anderson, I saw a lot of Democrats going out of the Capitol. The Democrats who are boycotting and doing other protests outside.
[20:05:10]
TAPPER: All right, Dana, thanks so much. I want to bring in my panel out, Kaitlan and Kasie. And Kaitlan, does the President fully understand, do you think that the American people don't share his opinion, at least a majority of them, don't share his opinion of how great the economy is doing?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN'S CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT AND THE ANCHOR OF "THE SOURCE": Yes, but maybe he doesn't agree with why. He thinks it's just because his accomplishments aren't being sold enough, and that his aides aren't doing a good enough job telling people what they've done so far.
What I've been told, Jake, is that maybe while the President is publicly dismissive of what the polls show, that his aides actually are pretty acutely aware of the numbers and something that he is typically pretty strong on with the economy. And so actually, ahead of this speech tonight, they've been holding meetings and trying to search for ways that he can unilaterally try to bring down costs for Americans and that he can tout tonight. Because they know this is going to be one of the biggest audiences that he has before the midterm elections, they want him to be able to talk about it whether or not he actually unveils anything that's new tonight remains to be seen.
But they are aware of what these numbers look like, and they are aware that they need to reclaim the narrative basically on this, whether or not it's why the President believes that's what the numbers are, the aides believe that they are real and they're taking them much more seriously when it comes to the polling than he is.
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, and certainly Republicans in the room, Jake, are acutely aware of the President's poll numbers because --
TAPPER: Well, because they're up for reelection.
HUNT: -- they, unlike him, are all up for reelection. And so, the big test, I think, for them is whether the President can walk that line, that in many ways, perhaps President Biden wasn't able to for him to be able to say, yes things were a mess but I do feel your pain and we are going to do more to fix it. I will say a lot of Republicans I've talked to are skeptical the President is capable of walking that line, but we'll see. I think for Democrats to kind of go back to what Manu was saying as well, there is a big test for them in a President who is a reality T.V. show producer, right? Who knows, right, that he's in some trouble, but is pretty good at creating moments that put his opponents potentially in a tough position.
And there are so many Democrats that are boycotting. We may see less of this, but one particular moment to watch for here is the reaction to the USA men's hockey team because this has been something that has come into the political conversation, and I've had a number of Democrats who work in and around Presidential campaigns on Capitol Hill, who are a little nervous that if Democrats don't react in a universally positive way to the team, it's going to end up being one of those moments that shows up on social media that we see over and over again.
TAPPER: Yes, we all remember when President Trump had the mother, I think, of Laken Riley, who was killed by an undocumented immigrant, and Democrats didn't applaud, or a lot of Democrats didn't applaud. And that was not a great moment for Democrats.
COLLINS: Yes, but the question is how long that moment sticks in voter's minds or anyone's minds after a night like tonight? I mean, obviously they try. They're bringing guests tonight. Certainly, people like Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, we know they're bringing people, family members of those who have been killed by undocumented immigrants. They are bringing these people to try to showcase what the President himself has focused on.
Those will be the guests. They will try to have those moments, but oftentimes it can be the unscripted moments that become where, that is the takeaway or that is what people remember. And the standout moment from the next day. So, we'll see what it is coming out of this. But also, what's remarkable, tonight I was watching the Presidents address to Congress last year is how different it is and how different his standing is addressing lawmakers who are up for reelection going into this, because last year he had a lot of momentum.
Elon Musk was in the chamber. They were talking about DOGE. We're not going to see that kind of message tonight. Instead, he's trying to sell a more skeptical public.
TAPPER: And when the President looks out in the audience, okay.
HUNT: Exactly what I was going to say.
TAPPER: The first row there. HUNT: Right in front.
TAPPER: Right in front, the Supreme Court justices and he is furious at six of them especially the two who voted against him on tariffs, whom he appointed to the bench. And I think one of the questions is, is he going to be able to contain his anger?
HUNT: Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, I think that is exactly the right question. And if there's an unscripted moment to keep your eye on, it's that. I remember I've been in State of the Unions past, and I have watched you can see, if you're sitting up in the balcony, they are right in front of the President, and they can actually almost talk to each other. They can see how their mouths are moving. You can understand the reaction that the justices are having and it is entirely possible, you know, most of them practice being stone faced but it doesn't always happen that way.
TAPPER: One thing to look for when the President goes down the aisle, he either turns left, and that's what the Supreme Court justices are and normally they say hello or right where his Cabinet is that's not the normal way to get up on the dais. But perhaps hell do it -- we'll be watching, we'll be watching. We're less than an hour away from the Presidents address. Any moment the President is expected to leave the White House and head to the Capitol.
Coming up, we're going to talk with a Democratic Senator who says he wants to be sitting right in front of President Trump tonight after the President tried to get him thrown in prison.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:13:56]
COOPER: And President Trump is set to leave the White House in just moments head to the U.S. Capitol to address the nation. White House officials say the President is very aware of the stakes of tonight's speech. I want to go now to CNN's Dana Bash, who is inside Statuary Hall with Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona -- Dana.
BASH: Thanks, Anderson and Senator, a lot of your fellow Democrats are boycotting but you are intentionally going to be in the Chamber tonight. Why?
SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): Well, it's a different decision for me. The President tried to indict me like three weeks ago. He wanted to send me to jail so I'm going to make a point that I'm still here. I'm doing my job despite the fact that he's trying to violate my constitutional rights and the constitutional rights of millions, two million retired service members that we're not going to stand for it. Grand jury said no to him, DoD is still, you know, trying to demote me for something I said. But I'm going to be there because, you know, it's my job. But I understand my other colleagues who don't want to be there. This President as you know, its unprecedented. the stuff he is doing.
American people are poorer and less safe because of him and when you consider what's happened in L.A. and Minnesota, we've got a couple dead Americans. We've got other people that their rights have clearly been violated.
[20:15:13]
BASH: And you were telling me beforehand, you're not just going to be there. You're actually going to look for a good seat in the front so that you can make eye contact.
KELLY: Yes, I want the President to know that he was unsuccessful. You know, he's got a lot of stuff to pay attention to. I'm sure he told the Department of Justice to prosecute, try to prosecute me and indict me. But I want to make sure he sees me sitting right there.
BASH: And you talked about the economy; you obviously have just been on the world stage. Do you want to hear something specifically about Iran as were sort of waiting to see what happens with those talks?
KELLY: I think he owes something to the American people. The Ford Battle Group especially. I mean, there's two carrier battle groups over there right now in anticipation of something that this President has decided to do. He seems to think that dropping weapons, you know you know, dropping bombs on things solves a lot of problems. This is not like what he tried to do with Midnight Hammer or Maduro. If you want to replace the IRGC ultimately, this will escalate. It's going to put Israel at risk. We could have, you know, a wider war in the region. And I'm really concerned about escalation.
So, I think he owes it to the American people to explain whatever rationale he has right now for whatever he's planning on doing and certainly you don't want to ever put service members at risk. And I don't know what his decision is, but I do think that if he decides to go in there with airstrikes, it's not going to get him the outcome that he wants.
BASH: Senator, thank you so much, appreciate it.
KELLY: Always great to be on.
BASH: All right, you too. Good luck in there. Anderson, I'm going to just -- vamp first, oh, I didn't even have to vamp for a second. You got here very quickly, Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma. Thank you so much for being here.
SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): You know, I'm only five foot nine, I don't typically stand beside people. I look somewhat tall with some.
BASH: And I'm not wearing high heels, you're welcome.
MULLIN: Oh, okay.
BASH: Senator, what do you want to hear from the President? I know, you're close with the President, you speak with him a lot I'll ask you this way. Have you explained to him how important it is for the American people to hear that he understands what they're going through economically right now?
MULLIN: You know, the President and I talk quite often. I have not asked him a question about the speech for the purpose of not wanting to leak any of it, but I believe what the speech is going to probably be about is, is about what we've accomplished the last 12 months. It's amazing when you start talking about the borders, you start talking about the direction of the economy. You start looking at, you know the, the border security, the trillions of dollars that is going to be invested in manufacturing. And the largest tax cut in American history.
So, I feel like the President is going to be talking about that. And then where the country is moving, what the next three years are going to look like building upon the success we've had -- he's had the last 12 months.
So, and I know he is laser focused on the economy. The economy means making it affordable for everybody that lives in the United States to build, achieve their dreams and provide the needs for the family.
BASH: So, you think he's laser focused on the economy? Every poll, including CNN's this week, does not show that the public sees what you're saying. So, what does he have to do tonight to change the perception of him on the economy?
MULLIN: I don't think he can do that through this, through one speech. I think that's going to be continuing to build up on the success. For instance, a lot of people don't realize that have a family of four. If you make underneath $73,000.00 a year, the new tax cuts that we put in place, you'll pay no federal income tax.
Most Americans are going to receive some of the largest tax returns they've ever received and that's just starting to begin. We're seeing bring home pay increase and so, we've got to continue trying to bring down the cost of goods down while we bring up the wages and increase the economy and the ability for people to find the jobs that provide accurate income for their families.
And so, I believe, just continue explaining where we came from, because where we came from was a high of inflation of 9.1, where were at today is 2.4. So, were moving in the right direction.
BASH: So, really quick, you're talking about a lot of numbers and data. What about how people feel. Does he need to express that?
MULLIN: I believe he'll probably talk about understanding where the American people are. But really the American people, the way they feel, they have the right to feel that way. We had four years from a disastrous economy with Joe Biden. And you don't fix this overnight. We're trying were working as hard as we can were moving in the right direction and the President understands that. That's why he's laser focused on getting this working and getting the economy working for the American people.
BASH: Senator, thank you so much appreciate it. Now you have to line up to go in there with your colleagues.
MULLIN: Right, you want -- by you here shortly.
BASH: Okay, thank you. Anderson, back to you.
COOPER: Dana, thanks very much. We are just moments away from President Trump heading to the U.S. Capitol for his State of the Union address coming up. We'll be going to the swing state of Michigan to learn what voters there will be listening for tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:24:23]
COOPER: Welcome back, you're looking at live pictures at the White House where any moment the President will start his short trip to the U.S. Capitol to address the nation. White House aides say they have been working for weeks to come up with new ways to lower costs for Americans, for the President to unveil tonight. We'll listen for that, let's go now to Saginaw, Michigan where CNN senior political contributor Van Jones and Scott Jennings doing a special CNN voter live cast.
Saginaw County was one of two counties in that crucial swing state to flip from Biden to Trump, and Michigan is home to several key midterm contests later this year. Tonight, Van and Scott are going to be joined by ten voters, four Democrats, four Republicans, two independents. To watch the speech, discuss their reactions. Vance and Scott, so what are you guys and the voters there looking for tonight?
[20:25:06]
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, listen, what I was looking for doesn't matter. We got reality checked as soon as we got to this county. I think the President is going to have a tough time tonight because people are hurting economically. The energy bills have gone through the roof. They're saying that this fight with Canada means no tourists are coming down here. The tariffs have not paid off. So, I think President Trump's got a tough road to hoe. He may be able to pull it off tonight, but I think the people in places like this, this is not Washington D.C. buddy. We're in reality check America. And I think he's got a long way to go to get his own base excited about this economy, which is not working out. That's what I'm hearing.
JENNINGS: Yes, for me, there's three issues, Anderson, and I'm having conversations here with voters as well. I think the President does have an affirmative case to make on why his policies are turning things around. Frankly, he's going to have to continue to talk to people about the mess that he inherited from the Biden administration it's one of the reasons we did have swing areas go back from Democrat to Republican in the last election.
I'm expecting a lot of talk about immigration and also public safety. I think the Presidents best issue is still immigration. He's closed the border. He inherited a mess. He can, I think, affirmatively claim that he has fixed it I think the public safety aspect of this is still working for him. Finally, we have amassed quite an armada in the Middle East, and we may be on the brink of launching not a small attack, but a large attack on Iran. I would expect the President tonight to tell the American people about why we have this much military firepower in the Middle East, and why this might be the right time to finally take out that regime.
Now, Van and I have been talking ahead of time. We've been pre-gaming it here in Saginaw but we're going to have some conversation. Anderson, on cnn.com just before the speech. We're going to watch the speech together, and then were going to get everybody's reaction. It's going to be a great night here in Michigan. This, as you mentioned, is a swing state. A lot of key political contests this year. And one of the reasons were out here
COOPER: All right, Scott, Van, we'll continue to check in with you. You can check them out on cnn.com. Scott was saying, my panel is here with me in Washington. John King, obviously, the economy front and center tonight.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And the President is in a huge ditch. You heard Senator Markwayne Mullin with Dana earlier. The White House would be smart to listen to him, to try to look ahead to where we're going because people don't feel good about where they are. And so, can the President sell them that you're going to get a tax refund. Things will be better in a few months. Please be patient. But to say please be patient, you have to acknowledge that people are still hurting and this President simply refuses to do it he keeps saying affordability is over affordability is a hoax from the Democrats.
You can blame Biden all you want. He's been President for more than a year now, and we'll talk a lot about our poll numbers tonight and everybody else's poll numbers tonight. They're all bad for the President. But in our poll, 61 percent of Americans, that means a fair amount of Republicans and a lot of Americans think his policies, Trump's policies, are taking the country in the wrong direction.
If he's going to improve his standing and if he does not improve his standing Republicans will lose the House. If the election were tomorrow, the Republicans would lose the house, period. And maybe the Senate. He has to convince people his policies are helping them. Right now, they think his policies are hurting them.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: They also don't think that he is paying attention to the things that are important to them. I think it's, the economy is obviously a big picture item. But when you look at the polling, he is underwater on virtually every single issue except for one, which is the border, which is basically a non-issue anymore for voters because Trump has essentially stopped border crossings from happening. But on everything else they just don't think that he is focused on things that matter to them.
And to me, that is more than just about what is the policy that he's going to lay out, and can he go bullet by bullet point? It's all of the things. It's all, the east room, the ballroom. It's putting his name on things. It's the distractions. It's the dropping bombs all over the world. I think people just see what's coming out of The White House, and they're asking themselves, where is the President's focus? And they don't think it's on them?
COOPER: I just got to quickly go to Kaitlan, who has new excerpts from the speech -- Kaitlan.
COLLINS: Yes, Anderson. my colleague, Kristen Holmes just sent some of the parts of the speech of the President is going to deliver tonight. We know it's going to be a lengthy one. So, this certainly is not all of it. But there is one interesting part as you're looking through it. He's talking about prescription drugs. He's talking about the economy. He's talking about the Western Hemisphere, obviously, a reference to Venezuela. So, we'll see how he how he talks about that tonight given the capture of Maduro.
But there is also another interesting part where he brings up Minnesota himself and part of the administrations justification for why they had that surge of federal agents in Minnesota in recent weeks and months. And part of that, Anderson, the President is expected to say, and we'll see how he delivers the line according to a White House official, that when it comes to the corruption that is plundering America, there has been no more stunning example than Minnesota, where members of the Somali community, the President will say, have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer. He'll go on to talk about that and the partial government shutdown that's underway with the Department of Homeland Security.
And, Anderson, it will be interesting to see how exactly he threads this, because obviously, his administration faced intense criticism after the killing of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal agents in Minnesota. It led to them changing who was in charge on the ground there sending in Tom Homan, then eventually leading to the drawdown in that surge in federal agents who were there.
But you're seeing the President still argue those claims about alleged fraud in Somali communities in Minnesota, something that I should note, has been prosecuted since the Biden Justice Department was in charge, that the administration has touted those indictments. That is something the President is expected to bring up tonight.
And I should note, we know some Minnesota Democrats, including Ilhan Omar, are expected to bring people who came face to face with federal agents in Minnesota to be in the audience tonight. So that moment will be one to watch.
COOPER: All right, Kaitlan, thanks very much.
[20:30:54]
The President, it's going to be leaving any moment. We'll obviously bring that to you live. Rahm, what are you expecting?
RAHM EMANUEL, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, one thing I'm going to be watching is if he's going to try to justify the past, he's going to lose people. If he spends time on the future, which is here's what we're going to do to fix your problem, which means he has to acknowledge that the American people are hurting, that's a different thing.
And I bet you he spends two to one on the past and that's going to be a dead bang loser for him. Second is, look, this election is a referendum. It's a referendum on Donald Trump and the Republican Congress when you have both branches or both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue. I don't think this speech can change that.
And I also think the other thing that's going to happen is he's underwater on the economy. He's underwater on his attention on the economy. They think he's focused on everything else. And he is going to be most passionate about the tariffs of which the American people are done with.
So his passion about something that the American people reject like a bad virus is going to actually set him back and it's going to lose the confidence of the Republicans. They need him to be the cheerleader. And if he doesn't persuade not only the public, but the Republicans in Congress, he's going to get double hurt. I think the expectation of this speech is a hockey stick way too high for anybody, even if his capacity and communication.
COOPER: As we await the President and the First Lady, Congressman Patrick McHenry, what are you expecting?
PATRICK MCHENRY (R), FORMER SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: Well, I expect him to, yes, frame the past because we're in a politics right now of comparison. That has always been the case. One year in, successful presidents have always looked back at alternatives and said that their predecessor was shabby. That's natural. And that is what we're going to hear tonight.
The question is, how long does that last and how quickly does he pivot to reframe the moment we're in? And we've --
COOPER: Are you worried he'll spend too much time in the past?
MCHENRY: Well, that is always the frustration with every president. They'd rather talk about how shabby their --
COOPER: There's Vice President Vance entering the hall, walking through Statuary Hall.
MCHENRY: But it's a question of how does the President now reframe the moment we're in?
COOPER: And there's President.
MCHENRY: On immigration?
COOPER: Sorry, there's President and First Lady.
Congressman --
MCHENRY: So as the President gets in the beast -- your former boss named, right? It's a question of how does he take that framing and in his Trump style, pivot to what matters to the American people. What matters to the American people are energy prices, what their take home pay is in comparison to how things cost, affordability.
How does he frame that? And how does he frame his tariff agenda, his deregulatory agenda, his tax agenda in a way that benefits the American people? He's got to start owning those policies that the Republican Congress, Republican majorities put in place in a law and that they need to remind the American people the benefit thereof between now and election day.
EMANUEL: Pat, you would agree no president thinks they get credit for what they've done. So that will start as his premise that I got to justify. You don't -- if you only knew what I have done for you, you would love me more.
MCHENRY: But --
EMANUEL: And that is going to use way too much time where they going to -- he's going to have to act like a slave.
KING: He has turned his two greatest assets, the economy and immigration, into liability.
EMANUEL: Yes.
KING: The whiplash of the tariffs when you go out of Saginaw, Michigan, key districts in Pennsylvania, places where there are manufacturing communities, places where the farmer on this side of the road might like the tariffs because they protect American beef, but on this side of the road they hate them because of what it does to soybeans.
EMANUEL (?): Soybeans.
KING: Yes. He's caused this whiplash out there and he promised he would fix the economy like that. No president can do that, but he promised it. And then it gets to Abby's point, which I think she makes a very important point. The disappointment that he hasn't delivered on the two things that won in the election is leading to a broader unease, right?
EMANUEL (?): And then --
KING: And if he talks about Somali fraud the way Kaitlan just talked about, you know, I've been around a long time, right, you solve fraud investigations with really good accountants and then really good prosecutors. You don't solve them with ICE agents harassing American citizens in the street.
PHILLIP: I think that's exactly the point.
EMANUEL: He's going to look like he's not -- his attention is not where the American people want it. One of the undercurrents of all this polling beyond the headline numbers is they do not think he's laser focused. He is all scattered across the ball from the ballroom that Abby mentioned, to naming the Kennedy center after himself, and they're not focused on them.
[20:35:04]
MCHENRY: But all of that stuff is a sideshow for us here in Washington. Let's just be honest.
PHILLIP: Well, it's a sideshow for the American people to --
MCHENRY: The media -- the action here is how the Americans feel about the economy.
KING: Yes.
MCHENRY: And how they feel about the economy --
EMANUEL: And direction of it.
MCHENRY: -- is the political power. This was the harm to the Republican, the Democratic majorities in 2010.
EMANUEL: 2010, yes.
MCHENRY: John Boehner had one message for that election, where are the jobs? Effective enough to get a majority in the U.S. House. If this White House falls victim to that same mindset that you just don't, you know, don't believe your lying eyes, right? Whatever he feels not real, right, which is the Biden line, that is a huge mistake and a political liability.
PHILLIP: One important thing on the economy is that I think that this, to your point, this White House is about to do the exact same thing that the last White House did, which is to say, look at all these numbers. Look at all these statistics, we're doing great.
And there are some things that are true about that. Inflation is down, but there are other things that are happening in the economy. Foreclosures were up by double digits in January.
EMANUEL (?): Utility rates.
PHILLIP: We had -- utility bills, people's -- we have several months of economic data that actually don't exist or were incomplete for the last year. So what that's masking is what people are experiencing in their day to day lives. There were virtually no jobs created in this economy for an entire year, except in one industry, which is basically health care.
There is a problem. And this White House would make a mistake --
MCHENRY (?): Yes.
COOPER: Let me just explain what's going on. JD Vance is entering the chamber. Speaker Mike Johnson has just called the House to order upon the arrival of the Senate. So you're seeing all these senators now coming in.
If you guys could just take us behind the scenes a little bit about like in the White House, what goes on, what has been going on today inside to prepare for this.
EMANUEL: Well, obviously, you got not only speech preparation and any changes, but one of the other things is to get a President's head in the right place before. This is a big moment. Obviously, only given there every year, it's a very big moment. We're going into an election.
It's very big with also all the anxiety and all the data out there. So getting his head, because in some prep, he'll go off onto some tangent on the sidetrack, getting psychologically in the priority of what has to happen. And that is a key moment.
And then the second thing is making sure that there is nothing that they will use to distract from, I think, setting the agenda. And the President of the United States -- I mean, President Clinton was rewriting the speeches on the car ride. He had to go about 10 miles slower than the speed limit because he kept writing right to the moment he was walking up on the podium. And President Obama was done two days beforehand, didn't touch it.
MCHENRY: But the speech like this is also we're talking about environmental factors of the room. Mike Johnson, sitting behind Biden, had to apologize for eye rolls. We're in the subtle business, not just of what the big message is, but the reaction in the room.
We see Democratic members of the House boycotting. I think that's a mistake. And I think it's a political liability for them.
EMANUEL: Free.
MCHENRY: They have to -- it was a mistake under Obama. It was a mistake under Biden when Republicans tried to change -- play that game. They did not benefit. The members did not benefit. And the larger party had to answer questions for dumb members doing dumb things, which is kind of traditional in Washington.
But tonight, it's going to be those subtle factors, what happens in the room, who has that moment of standing up and saying something big they think is bold. But the general public looks at and thinks that was really absurd.
EMANUEL: I think one thing I would say, Anderson, how much time is spent on the future versus the past? Good measure of where this is. Second, how passionate he is about a topic. If he goes overboard about tariffs, where the American people basically have a 30-mile, 50-mile an hour headwind, they don't want this. That's going to actually not make the speech --
COOPER: As we're watching the Vice President, where does he stand in the power structure right now, do you think?
KING: Well, he's a very influential Vice President. If you talk to people in the White House, one of the interesting things in a midterm election year, he doesn't really matter except for his ability to go out on the road and raise money and support candidates.
The problem is if the President is unpopular, therefore he is unpopular, right, because he's Trump's vice President. That's no criticism of JD Vance. I would say the same thing about Kamala Harris. I would say the same thing about Al Gore.
The Vice President is a reflection of the President. So if the President's numbers are down, then the Vice President -- now, JD Vance does have some popularity with the Trump base. One of the interesting things tonight, we're going to talk about this throughout tonight, you know, the President's numbers with Latinos are way down.
The President's numbers with independents are way down. One of the President's immediate problems is his numbers with Republicans are down. He has -- he had 90 percent a year ago was his approval rating among Republicans. That's down to 82 percent right now.
Midterm election is all about your base. If your people don't come out to play, if they're disillusioned for any reason, you lose. And Republicans are worried, whether it's the Iowa governor's race or Senate races, beyond just control of the House of Representatives, because of where that number is and because of where their own base is.
Just I'll close with this. We talked to a very smart Republican strategist who knows Iowa like the back of his hand recently, who said, look, Democrats are juiced. They're going to come out of the woodwork. They're going to vote. They don't like Trump. They're energized.
Every Republican you meet has something to complain about. It might be something different between him, him, him and you, but every Republican you meet is mad about something. And every Democrat is, when can I vote?
EMANUEL: And independents are breaking two to one for Democrats. We've gone 13 for 13 in all statewide elections.
COOPER: Let's go back to Jake Tapper. Jake?
[20:40:08]
TAPPER: Thanks so much. And it is interesting to watch Vice President Vance there because, of course, Kasie, he is the heir apparent.
HUNT: The frontrunner in waiting?
TAPPER: Yes. I mean, I think there are a lot of Republicans who would like to run for president in 2028 who won't even bother because JD Vance is so popular with the MAGA base.
HUNT: Well, and I think that that kind of underscores the question here about the President's popularity or lack thereof, because JD Vance being his Vice President, the assumption would be he's strong potentially because President Trump all but endorses him.
But if the President himself is weak, it's going to give a wider opening to somebody like a Marco Rubio, who clearly has, you know, stepped into this bigger role. He's been on the world stage as secretary of state, national security adviser. Clearly, while he's, you know, said one thing about his ambitions, his actions tell a different story.
And so for JD Vance, there's not a lot you can do if you're Vice President to change that dynamic fundamentally. But at the same time, it's very much on display here. And, of course, we're continuing to watch this more senators streaming (INAUDIBLE).
TAPPER: Yes. And while you were talking about JD Vance, there was an image of Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, who would love --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So speaking --
TAPPER: -- to run --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To step into that breach.
TAPPER: -- again. Let me -- just hold that thought for one second, Kaitlan. Let's go to Manu Raju, who's inside the chamber. Manu?
RAJU: Yes. Jake, I am noticing a very noticeable difference in years past on the Democratic side of the aisle. There are far fewer Democrats here than I have seen in past Trump speeches. And compared to the Republican side, there are far more Republicans.
This is coming, of course, as House Democratic leaders actually encourage their members to boycott this speech if they couldn't constrain themselves, if there was any chance that there could be outbursts. And a lot of them seem to have heeded that advice.
And one person I'm watching in particular is Congressman Al Green. He is seated right on the aisle in which Donald Trump will be walking down. Of course, he came last year, famously stood up, had an outburst, yelled at Trump about Medicaid, later was escorted from the House floor, censured by the House. Watch how he acts here, something Democratic leaders are hoping to avoid tonight, Jake.
TAPPER: All right, Manu, thanks so much.
And we were just looking at images of the beast, the presidential limo outside the Capitol. There is the Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota as we prepare for the President to make his way in. Mark Warner of Virginia, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Tom Cotton.
We're seeing some potential 2028 candidates themselves, Democrats and Republicans. Senator Tom Cotton was just there, Kaitlan.
COLLINS: Yes, a lot of Republicans, a lot on the line this year as well. And Jake, as you were talking earlier about, you know, JD Vance and that prospect of 2028, one person who was also in the chamber that JD Vance greeted as the Vice President walked in was General Dan Kaine, the Joint Chiefs chairman, who the President shot down reporting yesterday that he's -- has concerns about what a complex military operation in Iran could look like.
That is something that obviously the administration, we have made clear, the President is weighing his choices there. He has not made a final decision yet. But we've heard some people, including the President's former national security adviser, who say he does need to make the case to the American people if he's going to carry out some kind of extended operation.
So we'll see what that looks like there. Obviously, there's Utah Senator John Curtis and all of these other Republicans filing into the room, as Manu was noting the discrepancy in the number of Republicans who are there, the Democrats who are not.
TAPPER: Yes. One of the things that's interesting about that Iran conversation that you were just talking about, Kaitlan, when the President met with anchors earlier today for lunch, he said something along the lines of, I'm paraphrasing, but this was part of the discussion that we were allowed to share, was the idea that Tehran wants a deal, a nuclear deal, more than he does.
But they just cannot bring themselves to say what he called a sacred phrase, we will not manufacture nuclear weapons.
COLLINS: But they have said that. I mean, they've claimed that. I don't think anyone finds it believable because they also said they weren't developing a nuclear weapon before. But we have heard from officials there who have said that, maybe not in express terms, that Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, his main envoys, have found sufficient.
TAPPER: Well, it's also a question of like the -- I mean, I've been told there are like 15 to 20 layers of bureaucracy. It's not as though President Trump can call up and talk to the Supreme Leader of Iran, unlike the way he's able to do so with Putin or Xi or others.
COLLINS: Yes.
HUNT: And, Jake, I was in -- you know, I was at the Munich Security Conference talking to a number of members of Congress and also world leaders. And there's a couple of dynamics here. And I think you're seeing some of it come out into public view with the reporting we saw about the Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday and their concerns.
[20:45:00]
And we just saw Senator Lindsey Graham a couple minutes ago. He's been someone in the President's ear urging him to take the strongest possible military action. We're watching -- that's Jack Reid is the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee as well, right there.
But for Graham, I mean, he was aggressively --
TAPPER: By the way, can I just -- I'm sorry to interrupt, but two of the President's least favorite Republican senators are in the same shot right there. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who voted to impeach him after the assault on the Capitol in 2021. And Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who also voted to impeach him.
President Trump, it is said, can withstand a vote against his tariffs, can withstand a vote against his tax cuts. But impeachment was a -- UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was --
HUNT: Well, and capacities --
TAPPER: -- bridge too far.
HUNT: -- facing a significant primary challenge.
COLLINS: They did get his controversial HHS secretary confirmed with Cassidy and Murkowski did vote for The One Big Beautiful Bill. So they have helped him even though he may not like them.
HUNT: And he went after Cassidy anyway, I will say that. And Murkowski, of course, has -- have proven her own kind of political bona fides that, you know, it would be almost impossible to beat her in her home state of Alaska. But to circle back to, you know, the Iran conversation, and I do think this is something that is hanging over this speech tonight, right?
If there's this big question, if usually the speech or often the speech is used to announce a new policy proposal, there have been a few policy initiatives that the White House has put out there ahead of this, but nothing with the scope and scale that we sometimes see with an address like this.
Iran, however, and what is going on in the region is such a huge question mark. And there obviously were conversations about whether we would have seen action by the time we were all sitting down here tonight. There are questions about what, if anything, the President is going to say about his intentions in this address tonight.
They seem to telegraph that actually the timeline was a few weeks out. But when I was in Munich, I mean, there are definitely people in the President's ear who are urging him, and Lindsey Graham is one of them, to take the strongest possible action, to take aggressive military action in Iran, to try to send a message to Putin and to Xi. But there are clearly also others, and you heard Rubio telegraph this when he left Munich and went to other countries, Slovakia and Hungary, which sent its own message, by the way.
But he was talking about the deal that they could potentially craft. And there's our Manu Raju --
TAPPER: Our own Manu Raju.
HUNT: -- there on that special shot that you get for a few seconds on the balcony.
TAPPER: One of the things, Kaitlan, about what exactly President Trump wants out of an Iran deal, it has been telegraphed that they obviously want a commitment to end Iran's nuclear weapons program as opposed to the nuclear program. But there's also talk about whether or not they want regime change. Not just do they want it, of course they want it, but is that part of the deal? And I've heard conflicting messages on that. COLLINS: Yes, and it's not even clear exactly what they want. We've heard conflicting things from the administration. But watching this chamber tonight, and to Kasie's point she was just saying, one thing I'm thinking about is, remember one year ago when the President was addressing Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene was there. She's wearing a red hat that says Trump was right about everything.
She was one of the President's biggest supporters. And now they've had this major breakup, this huge falling out, not just over the Epstein files, of which survivors of his are in the room tonight, but also on issues like Iran, where she says the President isn't doing what MAGA wants them to do. He's not doing what the base wants.
He's not paying attention to affordability and domestic issues. He's paying far too much attention to issues abroad than he is at home. And just to see, to think of her there one year ago wearing that red hat, cheering for the President, and now obviously they've had this massive breakup, he's walking into a chamber where there is no Marjorie Taylor Greene, is something that just stands out, and how much can change in a year.
TAPPER: Let me bring in Kristen Holmes for one second, just because we were talking about 2028 possible presidential candidates, and we talked about Marco Rubio, we talked about JD Vance, we talked about Tom Cotton. And Kristen, there might be others in the Trump administration I would think we're at least thinking about.
HOLMES: Yes, Ted Cruz, Kristi Noem, these are all names that have been floating around. Obviously, Ted Cruz isn't in the administration, but he is close to the administration.
And when I see here JD Vance sitting there, he's talking to Mike Johnson, the question that I can't help but wonder is when does he actually get to launch a presidential campaign? I mean, all of these Republicans are on the sidelines right now. They have to get an OK from President Trump.
And whether or not President Trump is going to give them -- give that to them remains to be seen. I mean, one of the things you have to remember is that President Trump understands that the second that he gives the go-ahead to run a presidential campaign for 2028, he officially becomes a lame duck.
Yes, he is already a lame duck, but he has consolidated power. He believes that he is still wielding that power over these various members of his administration who do want to run for president. Once he gives that up, that really is the moment that we see a turn in the MAGA party and a turn from his tenure in the White House.
TAPPER: Interesting stuff, Kristen. Thank you so much.
We saw images there of Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat of Minnesota who is going to run for governor of Minnesota. Tim Walz, the incumbent governor who obviously -- Steny Hoyer, senior Democrat in the House who is not running for re-election.
[20:50:10]
And Tim Walz is not running for re-election, even though there are no term limits for the position in Minnesota, but all that Somali fraud allegations against him, against the massive Medicaid and other fraud in that state took a toll. And that was a big topic. I think that's one of the reasons why the administration surged immigration officials --
COLLINS: Yes.
TAPPER: -- immigration guards into Minneapolis, which obviously resulted in some really ugly scenes and the horrible deaths of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. And President Trump is planning on talking about Minnesota tonight, but not necessarily to talk about those horrible deaths that really shocked the country.
But he's going to say, quote, "When it comes to the corruption that is plundering America, there has been no more stunning example than Minnesota, where members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer."
I'm not sure that that figure is actually correct, but that's going to certainly be a controversial moment in the speech, Kaitlan.
COLLINS: But one irony is that because of the deaths of those two Americans at the hands of federal agents, because of the surge of federal agents there over these claims of fraud, which is a real thing and should be addressed of --
TAPPER: I don't know if it's $19 billion, but yes, absolutely.
COLLINS: Exactly.
TAPPER: Although, by the way, the guy -- the main guy prosecuting it --
COLLINS: But that's my point.
TAPPER: -- in Minnesota resigned.
COLLINS: But that's actually my point --
TAPPER: Yes.
COLLINS: -- is that because of the deaths of those two Americans and how prosecutors there were told to handle that, the prosecutors who were handling those fraud cases and had been leading on a lot of that left that office. And so to the administration's point that that is actually what they're trying to root out and what they want to get at, it actually didn't bear out that way, given the prosecutors who have been handling this actually left.
TAPPER: Anderson?
COOPER: Jake, thanks very much.
I want to check in with our Dana Bash, who is in Statuary Hall. Dana?
BASH: Yes, Anderson, I was in this hall as the senators were filing in. It was -- it definitely felt different this year because there are a lot fewer senators who are going because so many Democrats are boycotting, doing other things, having a protest outside.
I was kind of surprised to see Elizabeth Warren walking in. And she -- I asked her, why are you going to the speech? And she said, you know, I'm here for the people of Massachusetts. I know he, the President, is going to lie, but let him lie to my face.
And so, you know, that was certainly a noteworthy comment to hear from Elizabeth Warren, but it just kind of shows the different objectives and different strategies of the Democrats as they still try to figure out the best way to handle this President, which --
COOPER: And we're watching the diplomatic corps enter.
BASH: -- has not been easy.
COOPER: We're watching the diplomatic corps enter right now. Dana, thanks very much.
Back here with the team as we continue to watch inside Capitol Hill. The stakes for the President in the midterm, John. Let's talk about it.
KING: Let me go through some of the numbers that show you the stakes for him are higher, meaning his numbers are lower for Democrats, Republicans, Trump first term. Let's just go through some of the numbers.
First, just to look at the President over time. Trump has always operated in sort of a narrow band, right? When you look at his poll numbers, he's usually somewhere right around here. But look where he is right now. Low in his first term was 34 percent. He's right about there now, 36 percent.
You cannot keep the House under Republican control if the Republican President of the United States is at 36 percent come November. And so then the question is, so how did he get here? Look at these drops. He won nearly half of the Latino vote in 2024.
His approval rating among Latinos in February 2025 was 41 percent. It's 22 percent now. So the Texas redistricting plan throw the whole thing into question. If your Latino support is at 22 percent, is that a plus five or is it a plus two or plus three because of those numbers?
As I said earlier, he's gone from 90 percent approval among Republicans to 82 percent approval. Well, if you're trying to solve this problem, you might complicate this problem because he's also lost independence. So if he's doing things that appeal to Republicans to get his base back, then he's going to have a problem getting those independents back. And so let's look at this. Here's what gets really interesting if you look at the history. Look, Leo, look at these. These are different presidents who are under 50 when they delivered their State of the Union address, right?
And so, you know, George W. Bush had 43 percent, by the midterm election, he was at 35. Obama in the first Tea Party year, 2010 at 49. He went down to 46.
My point here is you look at all these presidents. To win the presidency, you got to be a good politician, whether you're George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, or Joe Biden. It is hard when you are the president in an election year to move these numbers because you're in a climate.
No president has been able to move the numbers in the way Donald Trump needs to move them between now and November. Can he do it? He's a unique politician. He has been a phenomenon in our times.
The last decade has been dominated by Donald Trump.
EMANUEL: But John -- John?
KING: But even Donald Trump couldn't do it in 2018. None of them could do it.
[20:55:03]
COOPER: By the way, the Supreme Court is -- members of the Supreme Court justices are coming in. Do you expect the president to be able to resist saying something directly to the Supreme Court justices on tariff policy?
EMANUEL: Let's just assume the fact that this speech is over an hour and they're staring right in front of him in the front row. One is I don't think he's going to walk by him. If he does, he's going to give him the cold shoulder. Second, he -- when he goes off script, and he always does, he is -- he just emotionally cannot manage himself not to say something to their face.
MCHENRY: Well, this is why we have to watch.
EMANUEL: Yes.
MCHENRY: And this makes it interesting. But the initial tease here is that the President's going to be talking about America 250, right? That could be an energizing pivot. And the assumption that we have here that he's going to just all be about the past and all the aggression of blaming every -- of everyone of his predecessors may not actually be true.
If he actually pivots and talks about the things that matter to the American people, reframe the tariff discussion around China and our strategic competition there, reframe national security around what is in America's --
EMANUEL: Yes.
MCHENRY: -- national interest, and reframe the immigration challenges of delivering on what he proposed to do a year ago, then you actually can see something happen in this speech.
EMANUEL: But --
MCHENRY: That's what I'm looking for.
EMANUEL: Even with Patrick -- the fair point, which is, can he actually beat the Donald Trump we're expecting to show up? And my view is he's going to be true to form. He's never actually ever surprised me on the upside.
And I just -- I will say this, no speech past the sugar high changes the dynamics for the President. This election will still be a referendum election, and the President knows --
COOPER: I want to just point out --
EMANUEL: -- the last two years --
COOPER: -- on the Supreme Court, there's four justices there. Of those he named, Amy Coney Barrett is there. Kavanaugh is there as well. Obviously, the chief justice is there, John Roberts and Kagan also is there.
EMANUEL: Yes. Just to this point, no speech has ever changed the President's permanent structure of their numbers. His best thing he can do is get the Republican voters back engaged and keep the Republican members of Congress that are starting to wander away back closer to him. I have doubts.
COOPER: Abby, on the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch is not there. The President's very mad at him. He's also expressed disappointment with Amy Coney Barrett.
PHILLIP: Amy Coney Barrett is -- has --
COOPER: Who is there.
PHILLIP: Yes, who is there and has voted against him on a number of bigger cases. And so, she's actually gotten the ire of a lot of MAGA folks. But, I mean, despite -- I admire your wish-casting, Representative McHenry, but I do not think that the President's going to not mention how angry he is about this tariff decision.
Because to Rahm's point earlier, tariffs are a linchpin for Trump of not only his economic agenda, but also what he wants his foreign policy agenda to be. And that's been kind of taken away from him tonight. And he -- this speech would have been a very different speech, I think, if his tariffs were in place.
COOPER: Looking to the Vice President's wife, Usha Vance.
PHILLIP: Usha Vance is sitting there in the audience as well. This would have been a different speech for him. And I think that he's very cognizant of that. In fact, a lot of the things that now he's left to rely on are things that I think are kind of thin. And this is one of the problems he has.
He's talking about things like, looking at this, stopping large corporations from buying up housing. He's --
COOPER: The President's kids Barron and Ivanka, obviously.
PHILLIP: He has said that this initiative is something that's going to bring housing prices down. He's done it by executive order, which he can't do. And now he's going to ask Congress to do it. Well, the American people have wondered, where is the leadership? Why not ask Congress to do some of these things over the last year and make them real, make them permanent?
And I think that's one of the big problems that not only he has --
COOPER: Melania Trump entered.
PHILLIP: -- but Republicans who are --
MCHENRY: Well, the House has actually passed a housing bill and the Senate has got a housing bill on the floor this week or next week. And so he is answering some of the questions. The question here for --
PHILLIP: Right, but does --
MCHENRY: -- us is whether or not that could have an effect between now and the midterm election. That is the operable question for my friends -- my Republican friends on Capitol Hill --
EMANUEL: And ours.
MCHENRY: -- and for the White House.
EMANUEL: The only -- two points to this thing on the tariffs. It changes his speech and in 30 days it changes his meeting regime. That's how the thing he's going to be emotional about something the American people do not want.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Speaker, the President's cabinet.
COOPER: Just heard the President's cabinet is now entering. Let's talk about the role of Marco Rubio, he certainly seems to have risen or -- I mean, how is he being perceived, do you think, by the President?
PHILLIP: I think the best analogy is that meme on the internet of Marco Rubio sitting in the Oval Office wearing the hat of every possible job that there could be in the government, that is his role right now, is that he is the fixer of everything that President Trump wants to get done, whether it is --
MCHENRY (?): But notice --
PHILLIP: -- wherever in the world that it is.
