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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Trump-Backed Donalds Faces GOP Rivals For FL Gov Nomination; Polls Close In Key Races Across Florida; Moderates And Progressives Face Off In Florida Primaries; U.S. Official: Trump Told Top Envoys To Halt Conversations With Iran; Iranians Officials Deny Direct Talks With The U.S.; Bullet Fragment Removed From Shakur's Body During Autopsy Show In Court; Former Head Of Security At Death Row Records Testified In Tupac Murder Trial; Meta Faces Trial Over Child Safety, Social Media Addiction; Carlos The Jackal Brand Of Terrorist-For-Hire Resurging. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired August 18, 2026 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANNA GOMEZ, FCC COMMISSIONER: This administration has been using processes to try to wear down companies because it's expensive to have to fight enforcement proceedings. it's expensive to have to go to court to defend your rights.

But again, Disney is doing the right thing here by defending its rights. And not only is Disney going to help because the law is on its side, but it's also helping all the other broadcasters and all the other entities that have been targeted by this administration.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: All right, well, we shall see and thank you very much Commissioner Gomez, I appreciate your time and all of yours as well. AC360 starts now.

[20:00:42]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": And good evening, it is election night once again in America. Key Primaries in special elections in four states tonight, Alaska, California, Wyoming, and Florida. The one state where polls are now closed and the votes are counted fast. I want to start with the Republican race for governor. CNN can now project that Congressman Byron Donalds will win the nomination. The President endorsed him. The outgoing governor, Ron Desantis, neither supporting Donalds nor endorsing anyone.

CNN can also project that former Republican Congressman David Jolly will win the Democratic nomination for governor. Congressman Jolly broke with his party over his differences with the President. In the special election race for Senate, CNN projects that Angie Nixon will defeat former Trump National Security staffer and impeachment witness Alex Vindman.

CNN also projects that Ashley Moody, the Republican who is appointed to the seat to replace Secretary of State Marco Rubio will easily win the GOP nomination. CNN also projects that 11-term Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz will get the nomination in a new district after hers was redrawn to favor Republicans and Democratic Congressman Jared Moskowitz is also projected to win District 25.

Elsewhere in the state, Republican Congressman Cory Mills is on the ballot despite also being under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for alleged sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations. Ten Republicans are vying for the nod in Florida's 19th Congressional District. They include a former New York congressman who pleaded guilty in 2019 to insider trading charges and a former underwear model and January six convict. The President has pardoned both men.

In California, two Democrats are facing off to fill the seat held by former Congressman Eric Swalwell, who, as you may know, resigned over sexual misconduct allegations. Finally, in Alaska's nonpartisan U.S. Senate Primary, one of Republican Senator Dan Sullivan's challengers is a man named Dan Sullivan. He's the one on the right of your screen. Democrat Mary Peltola is considered the frontrunner, in part because the President's low popularity with voters.

New Reuters-Ipsos polling shows him with just a 33 percent job approval rating. A lot to talk about.

CNN's Harry Enten is at the Magic Wall tonight. Steve Contorno is in Orlando on the governor's primary. Randi Kaye is covering Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz, and Dana Bash is in Washington. I want to start with Harry and more numbers in Florida. Harry, what does it look like?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes. You know, I'm going to start on the race that actually surprised me the most. And that is that Democratic Primary for the Florida special Senate election. Because I honestly thought that Alex Vindman, who of course was involved in all the impeachment stuff during Trump's first term, he was the clear favorite going into this. But in fact, Angie Nixon, who is in fact a member of the DSA, has defeated him and is up rather handily.

Look at that, you got a 10-point margin here, a lot more light blue on the screen for Nixon than you have for Vindman. So, Vindman's bid did not work out, adios amigos. Vindman not making it to the general election, though Ashley Moody is the clear favorite to win that seat come the fall. And as you mentioned, won that primary tonight on the Republican side.

Beyond that, you know, let's talk about history in the great State of Florida. All right, we're talking about the Florida Republican gubernatorial primary. We call Byron Donalds the winner in that race, defeating Jay Collins, the Lieutenant Governor James Fishback, who is very popular on social media, but not actually with concern to the voters coming in with just 10 percent of the vote. Byron Donalds crushing it up there with 49 percent to Collins' 24.7 percent, basically doubling Collins' vote.

You can see it on our screen right now. The dark red, which is representing Byron Donalds, who of course had that Donald Trump endorsement. Donald Trump, of course, votes in the state of Florida voted by mail in this election, which of course, is a whole other topic. But his endorsement still goes very, very far in the great state of Florida. Donalds easily winning there.

He will face off in the fall against David Jolly, who you mentioned, David Jolly, of course, a former Republican member of Congress. If you thought that Donalds margin was wide, Jolly's margin even wider, defeating Foster. Look at that 62 percent of the vote to fosters, just a little bit less than 15 percent of the vote. That is a race in which Donalds is the favorite come the fall.

Florida, of course, moving heavily to the right over the past few cycles. Now, in terms of the House races that you were mentioning about, let's go to the Democratic House races, this is a little bit difficult for me to get to this correct race, but let's see if I'm able to do it on the first go. Let's see.

Yes. There we go, okay. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, look at this. This was a race in which Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida, had all this redistricting, right? All this redistricting, they were trying to take out Democrats. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was not sure which district she would actually run in. She ran in a heavily African-American district, had a lot of African-American opponents. But Dale Holness, the closest one, a former mayor down there, you can see Debbie Wasserman Schultz, pretty close to a majority.

There was all this thought, hey, she might not even get anywhere close to a majority. She wins because of a divided field, but she actually won rather easily. And then finally, if we can zoom in, let's see if we can get down there.

There we go, Jared Moskowitz in the 25th District. He is up right now as we projected him to be the winner. Look at that, Oliver Larkin. This was another DSA candidate but Moskowitz easily surviving that battle. But the real battle for Jared Moskowitz will come the fall. This is a Trump district, we'll see if Moskowitz has more moderate leanings, Anderson. Allow him to win but at this point, Moskowitz made it past round one. We'll see what ultimately happens in round two, my friend, back to you.

[20:05:59]

COOPER: All right, Harry Enten, thanks very much. CNN's Steve Contorno is at Byron Donalds' headquarters in Orlando? Must be a very happy there right now -- Steve.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they're just starting to see on their phones and on the screens behind me that Donalds is the projected winner in this primary. And look, Donalds came into this race as the heavy frontrunner. He had Donald Trump's endorsement going all the way back to February of 2025, before he even entered this race. Trump said he wanted to see Byron Donalds succeed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. But guess who didn't want to see Byron Donalds in this nomination? Governor DeSantis himself.

In fact, he has made very clear that he does not like Donalds, and he does not think he would be a fitting candidate to replace him. But obviously, the Republican voters have said otherwise. Now, I will point out that Donalds so far does not appear he has eclipsed 50 percent and obviously, there are still votes being counted. Kind of interesting in Donald Trump's home state, in a race where he has endorsed 18 months ago, the candidate he supported does not eclipse 50 percent of the vote. Obviously, we have to keep watching to see if that remains the margin there, but he will go up against Democrat, David Jolly.

Democrats, obviously, are very hopeful that Republican voters here are ready to turn the page from Republicans who have dominated this state for so many years. This is once a swing state, but Republicans have made it solidly red, and they have a huge advantage going into the fall. There are 1.6 million more registered Republicans in this state than Democrats. That's a large amount of structural disadvantage that Jolly has to make up by winning over a lot of Independents -- Anderson.

COOPER: Yes, Steve Contorno, appreciate it.

Randi Kaye is at Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz's headquarters. CNN projects she will win a 12th term in Congress now in her newly redrawn as we mentioned, historically Black District. So, what does her primary win mean for the for the people in that district, Randi?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, they can expect to see a lot of change here, for sure. That is because this district, Congressional District 20 here in Florida has had a Black lawmaker in the seat for more than 30 years and Debbie Wasserman Schultz's district was basically dismantled, District 25 for her was the state was, the districts were redrawn in the redistricting. So, she decided to run here in District 20 as the only White candidate in this primary.

So, she did just win the primary, and she won against four Black candidates. She was late to the party here. Her win was announced before she even got here. But she did speak just a few moments ago. And here's a little bit of what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SHULTZ (D-FL): This is such a difficult and fraught time in our country. There is so much at stake in this moment, and I want people to know that representation matters. It matters, and I will fight to make sure that representation counts again. We will make sure that we ban gerrymandering.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Now, when I spoke to voters here, what they said they liked about her is that she knows her way around Washington. Her supporters said that her win is a blessing, that she knows how to get it done. But now, during her speech, Anderson, she also talked about the fact that turnout was a bit low in Broward County. She'd like to see a change to that. She promised to make an investment in this community. She took a lot of criticism from her opponents that she wasn't a part of this community, didn't represent this community and wasn't one of them.

So, she promised that. She said she will work hard. She also said, Anderson, that the GOP tried to rig the map. In other words, tried to make it so these districts would favor Republicans once they were redrawn, she said, they showed them tonight otherwise.

So, she also said that she's a Broward County girl, and she's proud to represent Broward County --Anderson.

[20:10:07]

COOPER: All right, Randi Kaye, thanks very much.

CNN can now project the winner of the 19th district. It will be Jim Schwartzel. We're joined now by CNN chief political correspondent and anchor of "Inside Politics," Dana Bash.

So, how significant do you think is State Representative Angie Nixon's victory over the retired Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, who obviously came to national prominence somewhat during the first Trump impeachment?

DANA BASH, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR OF "INSIDE POLITICS": It is significant for a couple of reasons, Anderson. First and foremost, it's because of where they stand on the political spectrum within the Democratic Party. Angie Nixon is somebody who is part of the progressive left. And in a state like Florida, for somebody on the progressive left to win the Democratic nomination is a big win for them.

We've seen that for the most part, except for Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan. We've seen those wins for the most part in very big Democratic districts or even cities and so forth. And so, this is a big win. He was much more well-funded, but she obviously had the energy in the Democratic Party in the state of Florida behind her.

COOPER: In terms of the redistricting, how significant has that been for Democrats?

BASH: Significant, I mean, you just heard Randi talking about Debbie Wasserman Schultz having to or deciding to run in a completely different district because hers was eliminated. And the fact that she won, I actually do think is noteworthy taking sort of the race questions out of it, which are big, and you heard Randi talking about the criticism that Debbie Wasserman Schultz got for running in a historically Black area in Broward County.

She's the ultimate incumbent, Anderson. She has been in public life, I think, for 34 years, representing Florida in some way, either in the State House or in Washington. And she ran on that. She ran on somebody who can get things done in Washington, who has the experience, who has the understanding of how things work in Washington. And that is almost anathema in this climate right now, when everybody on both sides of the aisle are saying, throw the bums out. It didn't work like that for her. She ran on it and it was successful.

COOPER: We also have another projection representative, Cory Mills will lose in Florida's Seventh Congressional District as the two term legislator and an Army combat veteran has faced scrutiny over allegations of sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations, which the house ethics committee is investigating. Ryan Elijah, there is projected as the winner.

BASH: Yes, I mean, that's also noteworthy given the fact that we have an incumbent who, as you mentioned, is facing a lot of scrutiny, allegations of misconduct, who is getting thrown out by his own party in favor of another candidate, the notwithstanding Debbie Wasserman Schultz, which is why I brought it up, because it's so unique this year.

The anti-incumbent fervor is very strong. There have been, I think, close to ten Democrats who have been kicked out by their own party voters. And now this is up to three or four on the GOP side.

COOPER: Jared Moskowitz, I know you had your eye on that race. He successfully fended off the challenge from the left on the party. Are there any lessons you think there for Democrats?

BASH: You know, I guess it's a mixed bag because as we started talking about at the beginning of our conversation, you had statewide Angie Nixon on the far-left winning over Alexander Vindman for the Democratic nomination for the Senate. But in the case of Jared Moskowitz, this race, this Democratic Primary against Oliver Larkin, who is a member of the DSA, was really largely about Israel.

And Moskowitz is unabashedly pro-Israel, does not think that money should be U.S. -- money should be withheld from Israel and Oliver Larkin had a lot of, has a lot of very progressive views. But it was this issue not supporting any more aid to Israel, saying that there not even should be defensive weapons given to Israel.

That loss and it lost handily. It is a very Jewish district. It's a new district, the 25th District, it's about 25 percent Jewish. But again, this is just the primary. It's a big statement, this primary, but he's now going to have to run against the Republican because of redistricting.

Remember, Democrats lost about four seats altogether, four or five seats if you look at the math. And this is one of those that Jared Moskowitz is going to have to fight really hard to keep in the Democratic lane.

[20:15:07]

COOPER: Yes, Dana Bash, appreciate it. Dana is going to be back at 9:00 to anchor "The Source".

Coming up next, what our panel of political professionals make for the results so far in the races across the country, still to be decided tonight.

Also, Senator John Ossoff's latest verbal attack on the President and the questions it raises about whether he's running for something beyond just reelection to his seat.

And later, the new details we are now learning about the day actress, Hayden Panettiere died.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:19:41]

COOPER: It's election night in America. Races in four states, including Florida, where CNN has already made a string of key projections, including the Congressman Byron Donalds will win the GOP gubernatorial nomination there.

Joining us now is former senior adviser to President Obama, David Axelrod, former Republican Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and CNN contributor and political historian Leah Wright Rigueur.

David, are any of these results in Florida surprising to you?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I do think the Senate race is a little surprising on the Democratic side. Though, maybe if we thought hard about it, it isn't that surprising, given the tenor of the times. And Angie Nixon is a state legislator in Florida. She is a native of Florida. She's very much embedded in the progressive movement in Florida. And she ran on universal healthcare. She ran on, you know, taxing billionaires and so on.

You know, I saw, I heard Dana say she's a candidate of the far left. But some of those positions, you know, are not that far left anymore. And there are issues that mobilize a lot of people, so.

[20:20:50]

But Alex Vindman was a guy who came with a lot of notoriety and did something courageous for which you would think he would be rewarded by voters, but he was seen as sort of a mainstream guy, and she was much more connected to voters.

In two other races, as was mentioned, the House races, Democratic Socialists fell flat, where Jared Moskowitz won, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz. So, and I'm sure the Republicans are relieved that Cory Mills lost. President endorsed him, he was scandal ridden. They were worried about him as a candidate in November. So, that is one burden that they have, that voters have dispatched. And I'm sure there are a lot of grateful Republican strategists for that.

COOPER: Governor Pawlenty, I'm wondering what stood out to you?

TIM PAWLENTY (R) FORMER MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: Well, if you zoom out a little bit, Anderson, I think the at the macro level, you're seeing the continuation of this internal battle within the Democratic Party between the DSA or progressive left and more traditional Democrats. And the results so far, both in Florida tonight and across the country more recently have been kind of a mixed bag. So, it's not clear exactly how this internal battle is going to play out in this election cycle. But clearly, the DSA and the progressive left is on the rise in many examples.

On the Republican side. Byron Donalds, of course, won handily, I don't think that's a big surprise, but I do think the fact that, you know, he is in a state where he can lead the ticket, you know, raise the money. Florida's got a big fundraising base that's going to help a lot of the people down ballot and some of the more competitive districts. Even if the governor's race isn't particularly competitive in the fall.

COOPER: Leah, what's your reaction to a longtime Florida Democratic Congresswoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz is projected win?

LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I don't think it's surprising in the slightest. I think, you know, Wasserman Schultz, Black voters talked a lot in that District in Broward County, talked a lot about experience.

One, turnout was not that high, in part because there is a -- there's a wider sentiment of malaise. And I think anger at political institutions. And so, this feeling like politicians haven't been doing their job.

Two, the politicians that opposed her, the Black politicians from the districts couldn't decide who was actually going to run against her. So, they ended up dividing the vote that would have overcome her had they been able to come to some kind of unity or allyship around this.

And then, three, the Black voters who did come out said the same thing repeatedly over and over again, which is they wanted somebody who would be able to go to Congress and who had the experience in order to, in order to get the job done.

I do think one thing that that, Debbie Wasserman Schultz should be aware of, though, is that because there is this new redistricting, I think these constituents are going to be looking a lot closer at her behavior. So, this is not an easy win per se, but instead a win, a cautious victory for her.

COOPER: David, I mean, Democrats came close to winning the governor's race in Florida in 2018. The last time midterms were held with Trump in office. Do you think that's ever going to happen again, given how red the state has become?

AXELROD: Governor Pawlenty was, raising the victory flag. And I think it's highly likely that Donalds or I should say it's likely that Donalds will win because there is a like a million-and-a-half voter registration advantage for Republicans, in Florida. It was 200,000 in the Democratic direction just eight years ago. So that has changed dramatically.

I will say this; Donald Trump won the state by 13 points. He's now underwater by more than a few in Florida. That's going to affect this race. Midterm elections, even for governor, are going to be affected by the President. And he is not an asset. He is an asset in a Republican Primary. He's not an asset in the general election. Now, he'll be able to help Donalds if he wants to disgorge some of that $500-million he has in his MAGA Inc. Fund and Donalds already has raised an enormous amount of money. And he'll have a money advantage.

But I suspect this race is going to be closer than people might suspect, because Donalds is a controversial figure. He's a talented politician, but he carries some baggage and the biggest baggage he may carry in this race could be Donald Trump.

[20:25:18]

COOPER: Governor Pawlenty, were you surprised that Governor DeSantis didn't endorse Donalds?

PAWLENTY: Well, there's been reporting that governor DeSantis has some concerns about Byron Donalds. I don't know what those are. Apparently, Governor DeSantis had a discussion with the President about those concerns, but I haven't seen reporting about the details of that. So, I'm not sure what's behind that.

I guess I was a little surprised, given the nature of politics in Florida and the likelihood that Congressman Donalds was going to be the nominee. So, there is some drama or at least a story behind that that I don't yet know, or we don't yet know.

COOPER: Leah, do you agree with David about the, I mean, or what do you think about the chances of Democrats actually ever becoming governor again in Florida.

RIGUEUR: So, I think this is a race that is actually about Donalds and the Republican Party. And I think, you know, I agree with David that I think it's not as easy as it looks like, like it's not an easy coast. I do think that Donalds is favored in this race, but I think that there are a couple of things that are going to be problematic for Donalds as he comes up against Jolly.

The first one being Donald Trump, but the second one being that DeSantis still has declined to endorse Donalds. We all know that they have a history going back and forth in a in a particularly nasty light. DeSantis has quieted that down a little bit, but has still expressed on multiple occasions his concerns with the idea of Donalds being governor of the State of Florida.

And then the third thing is, I think, is something that would be very easy to overlook, which is that Fishback, who should have been eradicated, shouldn't have even gotten on the scoreboard in terms of the primary ends up. It looks like he's going to end up with about 10 percent of the vote. About 10 percent of Republicans who came out to vote voted for an open and avowed White nationalist, who very openly had critiques and racist critiques and very explicit statements about Byron Donalds. That is a problem and it's a problem the Republican Party doesn't want to discuss. They don't want to face it, but it's something that's within the voter base of the party.

How are they going to deal with that? Because it will come up again and it will come up in this race for governor of Florida.

COOPER: Leah, appreciate it, Tim Pawlenty, David as well.

AXELROD: I just want to say --

COOPER: Go ahead, go ahead.

AXELROD: No, just you look at some of the areas of the state where these movements are based. And he didn't do very well in this primary. So, I think race is going to be an element of this that he's going to have to overcome.

COOPER: Coming up, thank you all, appreciate it.

Breaking news on the war in Iran and what President Trump is telling his envoys about negotiations. We have new reporting on that.

And later, the court battle that could impact what your kids see on Facebook, 29 states suing Meta, we'll tell you about the eye-popping damages the tech giant could be forced to pay if it loses.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:32:27]

COOPER: We have breaking news on the war with Iran. According to a U.S. official, the President has told his envoys to halt their conversations with Iran, a reversal from what the administration was saying just 24 hours ago when presidential emissary and son-in-law Jared Kushner described conversation as, quote, "positive and active."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARED KUSHNER, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR PEACE: I will say that the conversations between the U.S. government and different areas of the Iranian government at all areas is probably more robust than it's maybe ever been. And so there's been a lot of good dialogues, which I think is very, very helpful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Kushner was not the only one saying there was an ongoing dialogue with Iran. President Trump himself said the same thing yesterday. In a phone call with Fox News, the same interview in which he threatened to bomb Oman, a U.S. ally, the President confirmed the existence of a back channel for talks with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Today, however, the President said the exact opposite. He posted online, quote, "There are no talks or conversations going on or scheduled with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The naval blockade remains in full force, in effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated. Thank you for your attention to this matter."

Now, control of the strait is contested and by any normal definition is not open. According to ship tracking company Marine Traffic, seven ships transited the Strait of Hormuz over the past 24 hours, which is a far cry from the more than 100 vessels that passed through daily before the war. That did not stop the President, however, from posting this online, a map labeling the Strait of Hormuz as a new U.S. territory, doubling down on his recent claims that he would annex the waterway.

Joining us now is Former Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, the chief U.S. negotiator for the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which President Trump withdrew from in 2018. Ambassador Sherman, given this latest move by the President, I mean, do you see any coherent strategy from this administration on Iran right now?

WENDY SHERMAN, FORMER DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE: I don't see a strategy at all, Anderson. I see another tactical maneuver out of great frustration on the President's part. He can't get his way. He can't get Iran to capitulate.

The war has increased energy prices for Americans, hurt farmers who rely on fertilizer, hurt our hospitals who rely on helium for their MRI machines. And of course, it's stunted the world economy because of the cost of fuel.

[20:35:00]

So this is a war of choice by the President that has led nowhere except to reduce our credibility around the world and to put himself in a cul-de-sac, in a stalemate, where he just tries one tactic after another without a strategy. And I always want to remind viewers and Americans that the President said he started this because he wanted to have the back of the protesters in Iran who had been summarily killed by the regime.

Instead, the regime was decapitated. A new regime came in place, much more hardline, much tougher on its citizens. The President started a war of choice that raised the prices for American families, hurt our credibility abroad. And now he's just trying one more tactic.

Don't know what the point is here, what the strategy. It was about the protesters. Then it was about ensuring Iran never had a nuclear weapon. Then it's about making sure that the Strait of Hormuz gets opened to help lift the entire world economy and the American economy. Not sure this tactics -- I am sure this tactic, is not going to get us there.

COOPER: How do you think the Iran -- I mean, given your, you know, years of dealing with Iran, how do you think the Iranians are looking at this, the Iranian leadership is looking at this administration?

SHERMAN: Iran, Anderson, is a culture of resistance. That was the really underpinning ideology of the revolution back in 1979. And this is a regime that clearly doesn't care about its citizens, it has shot them to death. And the elite in Iran will be OK.

They have a multi-layered system. If further decapitation takes place, they're ready for it. They've planned for this. And I think they will outlast President Trump. They know he has easily moves on to the next target.

We've seen him talk about how he's now going to try to reengage with North Korea, try to get Americans' attention onto some new adventure of his. And he thinks he can wait out Iran. Iran is a culture of resistance. They will live with a great deal of pain. They lived through the Iran-Iraq war for eight years.

COOPER: He's also been lashing out at U.S. allies recently, not only Oman, as we mentioned, but South Korea as well for, you know, not, I guess, in his mind, helping with the Iranian conflict. What do you think is behind that?

SHERMAN: I think it is frustration. We've seen every time the President is frustrated, he goes on the offense, he gets angry, he picks a target. In this case, it's South Korea, because he says South Korea wasn't there to help with Iran. But I think it's also because Xi Jinping is coming to Washington on September 24th for a meeting with the President of the United States, and the President is going to China in November for APEC.

And I think the President has his eyes on that prize now, trying to move Americans' attention to that. I don't think he's going to get any further with Kim Jong-un than he did the last time round. But I think he thinks that this will help him now.

China is very sharp, very smart, and their foreign minister is heading to Seoul, because they see an opening here. If this is a strategy of President Trump's to say that Asia belongs to China, we will take care of Latin America. And Putin owns Ukraine and Europe.

That's a sad state of affairs. It's not good for Americans. It's not good for the world. And it's very bad politically for the President of the United States.

COOPER: Yes. So interesting that China sees an opening with South Korea right now.

Ambassador Wendy Sherman, thank you for your time. I appreciate it.

Coming up, breaking news in the death of Hayden Panettiere. Authorities have revealed who summoned paramedics to the South Carolina apartment complex where the 36-year-old actress was found unresponsive.

Also, day two in the Tupac Shakur murder trial. Laura Coates joins me to talk about who took the stand and the evidence that prompted some of Shakur's family to leave the courtroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:43:34]

COOPER: We are learning new details tonight in Hayden Panettiere's death. According to a newly released police report, her boyfriend and his brother were the ones who called 911 to report that the actress was unresponsive on Sunday. The police report also revealed Panettiere's boyfriend Brian Hickerson showed the officer a bag of her medications. The cause of death has not yet been released.

Today was day two of the trial of Duane "Keffe" Davis, who is accused of orchestrating the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996. Now, prosecutors showed jurors photographs from Tupac Shakur's 1996 autopsy. Some members of his family left the courtroom before the images were shown.

Dr. Lisa Gavin, a forensic pathologist and medical examiner for Clark County, Nevada, was one of the witnesses early in the day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. LISA GAVIN, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST AND MEDICAL EXAMINER, CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA: He died of gunshot wounds of chest and abdomen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And do you have an opinion as to the manner of death?

GAVIN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what is that?

GAVIN: Homicide.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When a medical examiner uses the term homicide, what does that mean?

GAVIN: The simplest form is death at the hands of another.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Joining us now CNN Anchor, Former Federal Prosecutor Laura Coates, who's covering the trial in its entirety for CNN All Access. So what else we learned from the medical examiner today?

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR, LAURA COATES LIVE: Oh, it was painful to hear the impact of those bullets and those shots on his body. We learned that some went through his thigh and into his abdomen, severing part of his intestine, having to remove part of it.

[20:45:02]

Also one penetrating under his underarm and through his chest and lodging near the lung, causing a lung to be removed just to remove two liters of blood and trying to close that off to prevent more bleeding. I mean, it was very difficult to really fully grasp the extent of the injuries. He'd also been on life support, causing bloating to his body.

And we learned in testimony that there was one witness whose job it was to secure that hospital area so people weren't coming in trying to take photographs. The mother of Tupac Shakur, who has now since passed away, also trying to gatekeep and protect her son in that very vulnerable state.

COOPER: They also played this video in court of the fight inside the MGM Grand Casino that, according to the prosecution, actually led to Tupac Shakur's killing.

COATES: This is why this is so important. You might be thinking to yourself, why on earth are they showing this fight if Tupac Shakur was actually shot? Well, this is all the prosecution's case about retaliation between two rival groups, rival gangs.

And this is somebody who was beat up. His name is Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson. He is the nephew of Keffe D, the defendant, who was beaten up at the MGM Grand after a Mike Tyson fight in retaliation for having taken a gold chain off a member of the mob, Piru, associated with the Bloods gangs that Suge Knight was affiliated with back in Los Angeles Compton area.

This is all about the tit for tat. The attaching of the chain led to one injury. Then you had the beating of Orlando Anderson. And then you had the vengeance that was sought by Keffe D in shooting Tupac Shakur and, of course, Suge Knight on that Las Vegas trip.

It's important to show that there was anger on the behalf of Keffe D as to why he wanted to order the shot of Tupac Shakur, even though he did not pull the trigger.

COOPER: And the last two witnesses were former Death Row associates, which was the label that Tupac Shakur was signed with. What was the reaction to what they said in court?

COATES: It was so unbelievable. The second to last witness, Mr. McDonald, was somebody who was a part of Death Row, had left prison, was hired by Suge Knight. He worked in the nightclub that Tupac Shakur was set to perform at later on that evening after that Mike Tyson fight.

And he was not cooperative. He did not want to be there. He said, treat me like a hostile witness. He was very, very keen on making sure everyone knew that he was not wanting to be there on his own. But he also gave testimony about the street code, the idea of how he believed that Tupac Shakur had inherited a beef between Death Row and Bad Boy Records, the one affiliated with Sean Diddy Combs.

And also that he -- although he said he did not like Keffe D and they were in these sort of rival groups, rival gangs, he did not want to see him go to jail and spoke directly to Keffe D about that.

COOPER: Laura Coates, appreciate it. Thanks very much.

Meta is back in court for yet another legal fight over youth safety and addiction. Opening statements began today in Oakland, California in a case brought by 29 state attorneys general who alleged the Facebook parent company intentionally designed its news feeds and algorithms to be addictive. Now, if Meta loses the case could be on the hook for as much as $1.4 trillion in damages.

CNN Contributor and Host of the Rip Current podcast, Jacob Ward, was in the courthouse today. He joins me now. So some observers have likened this trial to Big Tech's big tobacco moment. How do you see it? JACOB WARD, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Anderson, I think that's a pretty good description, if only thinking about the legal stakes here. This is the same sort of what they call mass torch lawsuit that we've seen in the case of cigarette companies and that's idea that harm was done to people behaviorally and then beyond that, that these states are alleging against Meta here.

It's also, I would point out, something about -- you know, it tells us something about the defense going on here. Today we saw basically three acts, the opening statements from the states and from Meta's attorneys along with a star witness from the states.

And, you know, Meta's attorneys are also, you know, it harkens back to that cigarette idea because they are trying to cast doubt on the science of the whole thing, that somehow social media has not been proven to be harmful to kids. And thus that doubt means you can't lay the blame at the feet of Meta. That's all the sort of backdrop that we saw in the lead up here today, Anderson.

COOPER: We mentioned the judge could also order changes to how Meta's platforms actually operated if the judge wanted to. What would that entail?

WARD: I mean, this is the big thing that's so different, right? Whenever I speak to people about this, they say, oh, well, Meta, you know, can afford anything. It doesn't matter what kind of monetary damages come their way. First of all, that's not necessarily true.

And second of all, yes, what's different here is these are states saying to a federal judge, we want you to reach inside the company and change things, change their age verification policies. You know, if it's anything like what New Mexico is looking at, it could be, you know, kids aren't allowed to use it at all past a certain hour of the night, that sort of thing.

This is truly a different category of remedy, of punishment we could see leveled against Meta. It goes far beyond money and gets into the guts of what makes that company go.

[20:50:08]

COOPER: Is Mark Zuckerberg expected to testify?

WARD: Oh, yes. Mark Zuckerberg, Adam Mosseri, and they'll be called to account for contradictory statements. So, I mean, what the state has been -- the states are saying here is that in private, Zuckerberg, Mosseri and others had seen internal research that showed enormously harmful effects at big, scary percentages, but publicly were saying that they did not believe the social media was addictive, did not believe their product was causing harm to teenage mental health. And so it's that contrast, undoubtedly, that they will be called to account for here, Anderson.

COOPER: Jacob Ward, I really appreciate it. Jacob, thanks so much.

Coming up, an update on one of the most infamous terrorists in the world, Carlos the Jackal. In the 70s and 80s, he was behind high profile assassinations and bombings and kidnappings. Finally, caught after an international manhunt. Is his brand of terror coming back?

Pulitzer Prize winning author Joby Warrick interviewed Carlos for a fascinating new book. We'll talk to him in a moment.

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[20:55:14]

COOPER: Well, Carlos the Jackal was one of the most feared terrorists in the world in the 70s and 80s. He was born Ilich Ramirez Sanchez. He first gained global attention with a brazen attack on a meeting of oil producing nations in Vienna in 1975.

He became one of the world's most wanted fugitives. He's famous for his expensive taste as he was infamous for violence. He was finally caught in 1994 in Sudan by French and U.S. intelligence and he claims to have killed 83 people. But he was convicted of 16 murders and is serving multiple life sentences in a French prison.

Joby Warrick, the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, had the rare opportunity to interview the Jackal face to face in prison. He's just written a fascinating new book titled, "The Jackal: The Rise and Fall of Carlos, the World's First Super Terrorist." And he joins me now.

So Joby, congratulations on the book. What was it like sitting across from Carlos? And did anything surprise you about him?

JOBY WARRICK, NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER, WASHINGTON POST: Well, for one thing, it's not that easy to do. The French government has had him prisoner for decades now. And they don't let him talk very often. So I had to work for months to get him to sit down with me.

And then you walk into this little prison outside Paris and in walks Carlos the Jackal, this infamous character from the 70s and 80s, who's now just this, you know, kind of small, diminished man in the 70s with a fading memory, but still the sort of the ego of a narcissistic terrorist, which he once was. And he really had a lot to say about the modern terrorism environment and what he thinks about it.

COOPER: Well, you write about how the Jackal's brand of terrorist for hire is making a comeback in a way used by regimes like Iran or Russia. Can you just talk about that?

WARRICK: Yes. So Carlos's M.O. as it developed was basically be a mercenary terrorist to do bad things for bad people who didn't want fingerprints, didn't want to take the blame for it. So we did crimes for Muammar Gaddafi from Libya or for the Iraqis or the Syrians.

And that same model really is coming back. We're seeing less of the sort of jihadist terrorism, the al-Qaeda brand, and more of this, you know, purely geopolitical, purely anti-state kinds of terrorism. The Russians have become very good at it. The Iranians as well.

They pick a target. It might be a dissident. It might be a symbolic, you know, institution or target in a Western country. And they hire hitmen. They hire sort of modern day Carlos's to carry out the act. And it's good for them because often they can do it without having to take responsibility or face the blowback for it.

COOPER: And we've seen that even in the United States, regimes like Iran and others.

WARRICK: Yes, exactly. There's a famous case just here in New York where an Iranian dissident, a woman, was, you know, angering the Iranian government with her outspokenness. So the Iranians managed to hire a guy from Brooklyn, somebody that was met in prison. He was a convicted murderer.

One of his cellmates made the connection. And he was given money to try to kill this Iranian woman. He didn't succeed, fortunately. He was caught. But that's exactly the kind of sort of the template that Carlos pioneered back in his day. And you see the Russians and the Iranians both doing this quite a lot now.

COOPER: I mean, you've written incredible books about ISIS. I mean, I'm a huge fan of your work. Coming up on this big anniversary on 9/11, I'm wondering what is the state of al-Qaeda and ISIS?

WARRICK: Well, you see both of those movements as being much diminished now. But the one thing ISIS brought to us that we're still stuck with is this ability to inspire people to do things for them. And you don't have to have a caliphate. You don't have to have a central organization.

You don't even have to become a member of ISIS to do something for them, to carry out a terrorist attack and then give them credit. And that still happens. And I think that's always going to be with us. And now we're going to have these other, you know, types of terrorism that perhaps are layered on top of that.

COOPER: Did Carlos -- I mean, did the Jackal show any remorse? I assume not.

WARRICK: Well, the only thing that I could get him to say he was truly sorry about was that he regretted not killing more people. And he was very specific about it. There are people that came after him, people who betrayed him. And he just says, gee, I should have been faster with my gun and taking care of this guy or that guy.

Other than that, I mean, this is part of the sort of the narcissistic brain, feels no empathy, you know, sees no, you know, problem with the people that he killed who were completely innocent bystanders. And just, you know, because he's Carlos, and this really comes across in the book, it was always about him.

He loved being the colorful outlaw, you know, the guy that everybody was chasing. And he lived to the hilt until he was finally caught 30 years ago.

COOPER: Wow. It's so fascinating. I mean, it's incredible that it took so long to finally get that meeting. Congratulations on the book. It's a fascinating, fascinating read.

Joby Warrick, thank you.

That's it for us. The news continues. The Source starts now.