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CNN's The Arena with Kasie Hunt
Moderate Dem Overcomes Dem Socialist In Wisconsin Gov Primary; President Trump Tries To Tamp Down Widespread Criticism Over His Latest Executive Order On Health Policy; AOC Says She's Freezing Her Eggs As She Mulls Political Future; Stunning Images From This Week's Total Solar Eclipse. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired August 15, 2026 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: He also discussed composing her new work, writing, "There were melodies, verses, and ideas written down and tucked away for some unknown future when I would have the time and attention to finish them." "Apparently," she says, "that future is now."
And that's all we have time for now. Don't forget, you can find all of our shows online as podcasts at CNN.com/audio and on all other major platforms. I'm Christiane Amanpour in London, thank you for watching and I'll see you again next week.
[12:00:44]
PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi everyone, welcome to The Arena Saturday. Kasie Hunt is off. I'm Pamela Brown.
And the clock is ticking toward Election Day and the Democrats seem to have found new energy after a string of key primaries this week. Wisconsin Democrats surprised everyone pretty much by choosing David Crowley, a moderate backed by the party establishment as their candidate for governor. While in Minnesota, the state's progressive lieutenant governor Peggy Flanagan easily won her party's Senate primary.
And now, both moderate Democrats and the insurgent left are stressing unity and optimism going into November.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CROWLEY (D), WISCONSIN GOV. CANDIDATE: We'll welcome Democrats, Republicans, Independents and every Wisconsinite who believes in democracy.
ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: This is the time for us to come together now to take on the moral rot at the core of the Trump administration.
FRANCESCA HONG (D), FORMER WISCONSIN GOV. CANDIDATE: We're going to continue to fight for each other. We are going to collectively reject despair and we are going to unite.
LT. GOV. PEGGY FLANAGAN (D), MINNESOTA SENATE CANDIDATE: When we work together, when we organize together, when we fight together, we are unstoppable.
REP. HALEY STEVENS (D), FORMER MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: This is cool stuff. It's a good time to be a Democrat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: That was my interview there with Haley Stevens. My panelists here in The Arena, CNN Legal Analysts, Former Federal Prosecutor Elliot Williams, CNN Chief Political Correspondent and Anchor of Inside Politics, Dana Bash, CNN Global Affairs Commentator, Former Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh and Former Chief of Staff to Vice President Mike Pence, Marc Short. All right, a lot to dive into here, but let's just start with the big picture, Dana. Tell us what your big takeaways were from this week's races.
DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That not only is this country very divided, almost evenly divided, the Democratic Party is too. And yes, Francesca Hong lost, but didn't lose by much, maybe 3,000 votes.
BROWN: Yes.
BASH: And it just shows that, you know, we have been talking a lot about where the energy is in the Democratic Party. And it very much is, they're certainly the loudest on the left, the hard left. But if you look at the election results in Wisconsin and go back a week to the election results in Michigan, sort of the flip side happened where Haley Stevens was expected to lose big and she lost, but not as overwhelmingly as people thought.
So this struggle, both party versus party, but inside both parties, especially the Democratic Party, which is really having sort of an identity, you know, crisis, but a challenge trying to figure out which way it's going to go heading into 2028 is even more staunch.
BROWN: So then that brings me to the next question. Is Haley Stevens right? Is it good to be a Democrat right now?
SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: You know, I would rather be a Democrat than be a Republican. And obviously I am a Democrat. So, yes, I think this is a good time to be a Democrat. I do think that we have the wind in our sails right now. I do think that we have momentum.
I think to Dana's point, like there are divisions within the party, but I think what you saw this past week and even previously with them after coming off of the Michigan primary is a sense of unity. Democrats are uniting together. You're seeing Haley Stevens that's -- she's probably going to go out there and campaign for El-Sayed.
You're seeing Francesca Hong in her concession speech saying, I'm going to support David Crowley. So you're seeing Democrats come together. And I think there is a common goal at the end of November of taking back control of at least one chamber and Democrats are motivated to do that. ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: But, you know, those kinds of divisions you really saw in the Wisconsin primary, forget the result, but just look at what got the party there. You had one candidate drop out then come back 10 days later. The governor endorsed someone, but didn't endorse the guy who was his lieutenant governor.
There was the center versus left. And in order to win, that party has to unite just in terms of fundraising and events and so on.
BASH: Yes.
WILLIAMS: And so there is still work to do merely by having a Democrat just win the election (INAUDIBLE).
BASH: Yes. And I'll just add one more thing, which is, of course, the candidates -- and maybe I shouldn't say of course, because it didn't happen in Texas, for example. Jasmine Crockett is certainly not jumping up and down to support James Talarico.
BROWN: Right.
BASH: But in these cases, the candidates are coming together. It is a big question whether the voters are going to follow along.
WILLIAMS: Right.
BROWN: Yes.
SINGH: I totally agree. And the other, I think, takeaway from this week was the polling.
[12:05:03]
I mean, it showed that -- like, you know, we -- I think we're looking at the polls and thought Francesca Hong was going to run away with this race. We thought Al-Sayed was going to run away with the race and the polling was a lot closer than we thought.
BROWN: Mac has thoughts on that.
MARC SHORT, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: Well, look, I think the midterms don't favor the President's party. That's clear. It's been average the last 50 years, about 21 seats you lose. When one party's in power, it's actually 39 seats. And so the wind is in the sails of the Democrats.
But the question is, by nominating far-left socialist candidates, how much is it going to curtail what could be a bigger night for Democrats? I think that's the opportunity the Republicans have right now.
BROWN: I want you to respond, Marc, to this from Tomi Lahren, this conservative commentator, in which she posted about the increasing popularity of socialism. She said, "Let's be frank about it. Some Americans are turning to socialism because Republicans have failed us so dismally that even the most destructive economic model imaginable feels palatable to people who are struggling to make ends meet and buy groceries.
And I'm not talking about Gen Z brats who want to be influencers and wear aloe yoga. I'm talking about middle-class working families who don't indulge on luxuries and just try to make it with a little leftover each month."
What do you think about that?
SHORT: Well, look, I think that today you see stock markets at all- time high, Pamela. I think that the tax relief benefited a lot of American families. But I think the number one challenge that President Trump hadn't elected was to curtail inflation and try to solve affordability, and that hasn't happened. And so there's a lot of that sentiment out there.
I've shared this with you, though. My thoughts are that it's a lot harder to criticize them as being socialists when it's Republican administrations that are basically buying up private sector companies. It's Republicans that are advocating for price controls. It's Republicans that have basically adopted the Bernie Sanders-Elizabeth Warren trade policy.
And so I think it's harder to make a stark contrast and to say, hey, they're socialists when a lot of the economic policies right now are not exactly free-market economics.
WILLIAMS: To go -- even go further than that, it's not just Tomi Lahren, it's Mike Pence this week -- looking at you, I thought Mike Pence, JD Vance --
BASH: JD Vance.
WILLIAMS: -- another vice president, sorry. No, but JD Vance today is -- earlier this week had made a comment to the effect why people are turning to socialism. We can't just --
BROWN: If we have that soundbite, right.
WILLIAMS: Yes, we should -- yes.
BROWN: Yes, let's play the sound.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JD VANCE (R), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My warning to my fellow Republicans will would be, if we don't get this right, don't blame young people for being sympathetic to socialism. We've got to blame ourselves. You don't stop socialism by throwing slogans at people about the free market. As much as I love the free market, you stop socialism by making people's lives better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: So you think, get out right there.
WILLIAMS: Yes. No, and so you can use the words socialism and communism as scare tactics. It works. You know, many people remember the Cold War and don't like those terms.
SHORT: But there are Democratic Socialists of America --
WILLIAMS: OK.
SHORT: -- that have been actually getting nominations.
WILLIAMS: I am what -- I am with you on this, Marc. No, but the point is what he's saying is that when there is economic anxiety in the country and young people or older people are turning to socialism or democratic socialism or whatever else, perhaps the approach is not to demonize it, but just think, wait a second, what are they finding appealing there and how can we as Republicans match it --
SHORT: Or perhaps actually try free markets as opposed to doing socialism light and then condemning socialism.
WILLIAMS: I'm just -- look, it's the Vice President of the United States.
SHORT: I know, I know.
WILLIAMS: It's not my words, it's his.
SINGH: I agree with what he's saying, though. I think there is this sentiment, to your point of, you know, Corporate America, I think, is doing very well. The stock market is doing very well. But the average person in a state like Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, driving by the gas pump, going to the grocery store does not feel like this economy is working for them.
And so they're tapping into the sentiments of socialism. And I think where we get into this dangerous cycle of like throwing these labels around socialism, communism, it is to scare people, but it is a sentiment that people feel about the economy not working for them.
WILLIAMS: Yes. And look, the stock market is doing well.
SINGH: Yes.
WILLIAMS: If you've got a 401(k) --
SINGH: If you can -- right.
WILLIAMS: -- you're blowing up right now and are doing wonderfully.
SINGH: Yes.
WILLIAMS: But it's the kids who don't that are feeling the trap inside.
SHORT: Naturally, whenever you have high inflation, assets continue to get higher value. And people living on fixed income are the ones that are hurt the most.
WILLIAMS: Yes. SHORT: What I still struggle with is for those who are advocating Democrat Socialists of America, is where has the socialism worked? Has it worked in Cuba? Did it work in Venezuela? Did it work in Nicaragua? It's always failed. And so it's a losing brand.
BASH: But I think what Marc is saying maybe isn't talked about enough, which is that what this administration, what this President, a Republican President, has been doing and advocating for is government investment in private companies, which would be anathema to most Republican presidents in recent history.
SINGH: That's markets --
SHORT: Yes, I mean --
BASH: Yes.
SHORT: -- it's not -- it's now up to 31 companies that the government has taken ownership in, but it's also advocating price controls. It's also, again, an enormous protectionist trade policy. It's not one that actually has a laissez-faire approach to the economy in any way. It's one that is very interventionist in trying to pick one of the --
[12:10:03]
BASH: And yet not interventionist on things like regulation and making sure that corruption is not run amok and things like that. So I think it largely has depended on what benefits the President and what he thinks is best for him and for his friends and for his allies, aside from things that are just dogma for him since the day he came out of the womb, I think, like tariffs and other issues.
BROWN: (INAUDIBLE).
BASH: I mean, I think that for the most part, that's what drives him.
BROWN: Yes, I think that's a really interesting point. We're going to leave it there for now because we have more to discuss.
Coming up in The Arena, President Trump tries to tamp down widespread criticism over his latest executive order on health policy. It's our quote of the week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have really no choice and nothing bad can happen from what we're doing. Nothing bad can happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[12:15:40] TRUMP: Effective immediately, my administration is recognizing gold standard childhood vaccine recommendations for only 11 core vaccinations against the most serious and dangerous diseases, along with the MMR, which hopefully will be split up. You have the MMR. We want it in three separate vaccinations, given at separate times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Well, earlier this week, the President signed a wide-ranging executive order to reshape the childhood vaccination schedule. New recommendations include reducing the number of shots for children and separating the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into three different jabs. There is little scientific evidence to back up Trump's changes here, but he insisted it was necessary, which brings us to our quote of the week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: At one year, you should have five separate visits for vaccines rather than getting them all in the same day. And I saw this early on, and I've seen proof of it, where they have a vaccination that looks like the size of a bottle of soda poured into a little child's body. We have really no choice, and nothing bad can happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: My panel is back. I wish I had the prop with me of a bottle of soda.
BASH: I mean --
BROWN: We just --
BASH: We should borrow -- call Erin Burnett and borrow hers.
BROWN: Yes, we should.
BASH: I mean, you have three young children. I have one. You have two. I mean, we've all been to the doctor. First of all, it is very unpleasant. Your child does not want to get a shot, OK? And so the idea that there's a bottle of Coke, I've never seen that. If that exists, maybe they're hiding it behind the desk.
Second of all, the reason why MMR exists, that they put all three shots together, is so that children can get it all done at once, because getting a shot is terrible, and because there is no evidence that it hurts the kid. I mean, there really isn't, and I know we're going to hear, and I have heard already, that, you know, that there are alternative studies.
But even RFK, who is not a huge vaccine proponent, when I interviewed him last week, he looked into the camera and said, get the measles shot. Now, right now, the only thing available is MMR, meaning measles, mumps, rubella. But this is something, talking about dogma.
It is interesting because the political thought process was that the President brought in RFK because he wanted to make sure that the MAHA Moms went his way politically. But it turns out that on this issue, and Marc, I'm wondering if you heard this from him back in Trump One, on the issue of vaccines and autism, this is something that the President has become convinced of. And --
BROWN: He's reached a conclusion in search of facts.
BASH: Yes. And he's -- so he's pushing RFK, who is certainly like, sure, I'll definitely continue to do studies on this, despite all of the studies that have been done. And he has the support of the President, which is different from the Trump political people who want them to stop talking about this, because they think as much as some MAHA Moms and others want this to be pushed, others just want them to focus on things like food safety and pesticides and other parts of that movement.
BROWN: We can all agree on it. It's important to have safe food.
BASH: Oh, yes.
BROWN: You know, and regulate in a way that makes sure our food safe. What do you think about that?
SHORT: Well, I think in the aftermath of COVID, there are a lot of families who are very worried about vaccines and felt like a lot of vaccine mandates were unnecessary. And I'm certainly in that camp. But I -- to Dana's point, you know, with with our children, we'd heard rumors about if you do them all at once, it could lead to higher rates of autism. We talked to our doctors and they assured us that's not the case.
You're right, Dana. This has always been an assumption. The President has had a curiosity whether or not there is a link there. But to your last point, I think Republicans want to be talking about the tax bill. They want to be talking about socialist candidates the Democrats are nominating.
This is not the narrative they want all the talk shows to be talking about. And so it is really certainly off message. And I'm not sure that a lot of parents and kids want to go to get four or five shots supposed to one.
[12:20:08]
BROWN: Well, that's what was interesting to me to just the contradiction there. But you heard Stephen Miller, who last check is not a doctor, talk about this and say that, you know, kids have to get 70 to 90 shots. I've asked him where he got those numbers. I have not heard back.
But then it's like the President wants to spread out, you know, create even more shots. I mean, a lot of it just frankly, didn't make sense and wasn't based on the science, the evidence we have. And there have been millions of dollars and more than a million children that have been studied on this issue. WILLIAMS: It doesn't have to make sense. And picking up on Marc's point, I think so many people felt so aggrieved during the COVID era, with respect to vaccines that now you can simply say the word vaccine and a lot of people's heads explode. And so now we are in our challenging the MMR era of our country because of what happened during COVID.
And that's not, you know, I think I might be in a different place than Marc as the vaccine mandates or some of them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
WILLIAMS: But regardless, so many people felt so burned by that, that I think all vaccines are on the table now for being a tool of the government and oppression.
SHORT: Well, I think especially because the vaccine is required of children, because frankly, COVID was never the same risk to children.
WILLIAMS: Right.
SHORT: And that was that I think is a problem for a lot of parents.
BROWN: Yes.
SINGH: Well, I remember going into the Biden administration. And, you know, we made a very public case for the vaccines. And we had President Biden, Vice President Harris take the vaccines on camera to show their safety. And I think the COVID vaccine, you know, did save lives.
But to Elliot's point, to Marc's point as well, you know, you hear the word vaccine and you hear mandates and people automatically have this reaction of like, well, I don't want to be mandated to do anything. But I think this week was incredibly disturbing to roll back a proven scientific vaccine like MMR, which has kept people safe for decades.
And we almost eradicated measles. And now we have measles cases popping up all across the country. And people are actually dying from that. And so I think that's deeply disturbing.
BASH: Marc, you actually probably know more about this than all of us because you were on the COVID team with which Vice President Pence led when COVID broke out. And so the whole idea that yes, there is a question about mandate, which is different from safety. But still now the mandate debate has morphed into particularly with Fauci's diaries, questions about safety. I mean, you were part of Operation Warp Speed.
SHORT: I think that's exactly right. I mean, Sabrina's point actually was Vice President Pence was the first one to take the vaccine publicly.
BASH: Yes.
SHORT: And I think the vaccine was an enormous accomplishment. But we were always opposed to mandates. The Biden administration actually mandated them, and particularly opposed to mandating for children because it was never the same risk. For people who are older or had comorbidities, it was.
But for children, it never was. And it never should have been mandated on kids. And that's why I think a lot of parents are angry. But you're right, it's bled over into other diseases.
WILLIAMS: And I still think it's not just the vaccines. I think people have such a sour --
BASH: Yes.
WILLIAMS: -- feeling about the entire COVID era --
SHORT: Absolutely.
WILLIAMS: -- and the school closures and all of the above that now --
BASH: And masks.
WILLIAMS: And masks and masking --
BROWN: Democrats should reckon with that more. I mean, you just said, you know what, in hindsight, we probably shouldn't have gone so far on something.
SINGH: I do. I think, especially, I think you will see that with some of the 2028 candidates that emerged, particularly in the Democratic Party. I mean, I think there's -- it's twofold. It's one, giving a little grace to the fact that we did not know. COVID was happening in real time. We didn't know how it was going to spread.
People were taking the advice, whether it's Dr. Fauci or other doctors around the country of -- to social distance and mask. But I think the closing of schools was detrimental. And it did set back kids. And I think governors, mayors are going to have to wrestle with that, you know, maybe in 2028 or now and beyond.
But I also think, yes, they should acknowledge. Like, we didn't do everything right. But if we have another pandemic, you know what we know now is we know what not to do, and we know what to do. And we know best practices. And I do hope there is some forgiveness in our political system. I don't know if that's possible.
WILLIAMS: I just --
SINGH: Yes.
WILLIAMS: No, I just --
BROWN: I don't know this is (INAUDIBLE).
WILLIAMS: No, right.
BROWN: I'm super optimistic on this Saturday.
WILLIAMS: No, it's actually a comedy show. It's a fantasy show.
BROWN (?): Yes.
WILLIAMS: It's unicorns --
BROWN: It's magic --
SINGH: But like, even the Trump administration, too. I mean, Operation Warp Speed was an incredible effort that was started under your efforts and your administration. And there were mistakes made along the way, and there were mistakes made in the Biden administration. All we can do now is learn from those mistakes and do better for next time.
BROWN: It's actually how do you rebuild --
WILLIAMS: Yes, I think --
BROWN: -- public trust?
WILLIAMS: I think people are --
BROWN: It takes a lot of time.
WILLIAMS: -- so angry --
BROWN: Yes.
WILLIAMS: -- over all of that and lumping it all together, including the masking and everything else, that another pandemic now, it's only going to be worse.
BROWN: It's going to take a lot of time.
SINGH: On that positive note --
WILLIAMS: No.
BROWN: Let's look ahead here on The Arena.
[12:25:00]
One member of Congress going public about a personal health journey and what she's saying about whether that decision collides with her potential political future. We'll be back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- all these medicine here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sure you saw the poll in New Hampshire that had you as the leading candidate, leading choice for Democrats. First, are you going to run for president?
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D), NEW YORK: I mean, I'm focused on winning the midterms. (END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OCASIO-CORTEZ: I have made the decision to start freezing my eggs. So I'm aware that just by me choosing to not keep this private, there may be a consequence. But you know what, I'm OK with that. This is a choice that I am making to feel more in control of my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[12:30:15]
BROWN: Well, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doing something a bit unusual for a politician. She's sharing her personal journey about freezing her eggs with the public. All week she has been posting stories and reels about her process from the hormone injections to the ultrasounds, answering questions from the side effects she's experienced to the costs she had to pay.
My panel is back to discuss this, and Sabrina, she's not the first Congresswoman to do this. You also had Sara Jacobs share her public journey as well, but of course AOC for obvious reasons is receiving a different level of scrutiny about all of this, and I wonder what has stood out to you about this conversation this week.
SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: I'm really happy she's doing it, and I'm really happy that she's brought this conversation to light. I think it's a decision and process that many women wrestle with about freezing their eggs, and I think it's, you know, great that she's doing it on camera to show all the effort that goes into some of these shots, and I mean, it's like you are mixing different vials, you have to have a schedule, there's a certain amount of hours in the day where you can take these shots.
It's a lot of work and time on your body, and I think the fact that she's bringing it to light is great. I also think the fact that she's also talking about the costs. This is a very expensive --
BROWN: It wasn't covered by insurance.
SINGH: It's not.
BROWN: And which is a shock. And I'm just surprised that a member of Congress --
SINGH: Yes.
BROWN: Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. I don't know.
DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know how hard it was to get time for women who gave birth in office for maternity leave and not being able to vote? But go ahead.
SINGH: No, no, no.
BROWN: We need to have a larger conversation.
SINGH: I think there should be a larger conversation about health insurance generally, but it's so costly to do IVF or to freeze your eggs. And then on top of that, some states have different mandates when it comes to IVF coverage that they give women.
And so there's no federal policy, so it varies by state. And then on top of that, you have the insurance costs, and sometimes insurance won't cover these medications or the process. So I'm glad she's talking about it. We should be talking about it more.
BROWN: All right. And on that note, you did talk with AOC about building a family one day. This was back in 2021. I want to play a little bit of that and then discuss on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OCASIO-CORTEZ: I really want to not just, you know, have a family and check it off as a box, but with how demanding work can be.
BASH: You want to be present.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yes. How can you be a really present parent? The actual logistics of working in Congress is really tough. I've even thought to myself, is it even possible? Is it even possible? And I've thought to myself, do I have to, like, choose?
BROWN: What do you make of her decision this week?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Well, listen, I think the word that she used when she did her first video, control, is really key. And what I mean by that is she and other women have an ability now with the science of freezing eggs, which is relatively new, to have more control over whether and when they have a child.
That women who entered public service, entered the workforce in any way a generation ago or more, didn't have. And I've talked to a lot of women who have so many regrets because they didn't have this ability to control. Elaine Chao, I interviewed her for a piece, maybe it was 10 years ago at this point.
And she was in tears talking about her regrets not having children of her own. And it's only because she said, I was working so hard. It wasn't talked about societally and culturally. And I was -- I woke up one day and before I realized that it was kind of biologically too late. Our bodies are our bodies.
BROWN: Yes.
BASH: And the costs are obviously a very important part of the discussion. But I think it's the control and the fact that women do have the ability to better decide when they have a child by taking those eggs, freezing them, and then deciding later whether it's yes or no. And it is different from, not to get too in the weeds on this, IVF, which is, I went through IVF for years and it is not fun.
BROWN: Yes.
BASH: But that was a process which is, you are having a child right away. It's an embryo and it's not egg freezing because that didn't exist. That's how new it is.
BROWN: Yes, I think that's an important point and also just how injecting yourself with hormones makes you feel, right?
BASH: Not great.
BROWN: Yes, even after, I was just, after the egg retrieval, I'm told it can be really rough. And I'm wondering what you think, Marc, about her comments she made that there's -- there could be potential political risk that could come with sharing her journey. What do you see as the potential political risk if there is any?
[12:35:07]
MARC SHORT, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: I don't know. I assume that she's actually fairly calculated to be as public as she is because I think there's probably a bond with a lot of female voters that have struggled with these decisions. And so I'm not sure there's a political risk. If anything, I think she views it as a political upside.
BROWN: Let's listen to what Laura Ingraham on "Fox" said about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I think she's about the most talented Democrat on the scene. There's no, no, I don't think anyone comes close to AOC as just like political talent. And you saw that with how she switches from kind of a serious at the hearings questioning, you know, some of the witnesses when she's, you know, she's doing boss lady thing on the hill.
And then she switches to Instagram live and doing the fertility reveal with freezing her eggs to try to reach out to the 30 something women who, you know, think this is their path to a family and so forth. So that was also obviously oversharing for political overture purposes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Look, I think everyone who has worked for or with politicians knows that they are conscious that the public sees their actions and will respond to them. And she's a very skilled politician who knows, you know, I think I agree with both of you that of course there's political upside to it.
Every single person listening to this program or watching it right now knows someone who has struggled with fertility in some way. And this is an extension of that. It's one of those menopause is another one to be quite frank, that a vast majority of the population experiences, but it is not --
BROWN: There's a lot.
WILLIAMS: There's a lot of the whole other show and I'm staying out of it, but the point is --
BROWN: Right.
WILLIAMS: But the point is not a topic for polite company often in the United States and it's just, yet half of the population confronts it. So what's that about? I think she's bringing, this is even to Marc's point, this is bringing something that is relevant to many, many voters, many, many people in a very humanizing way.
BASH: Can I also just add one quick thing about the political risk and maybe I'm reading too much into this. The risk is that people say, oh, so she is going to run. She wants to freeze her eggs, put them, you know, put that insurance policy, which is not entirely always possible, but at least to try so that she can spend the next however many years running for president if she's successful, you know, maybe being president. I mean, so I think that's, maybe I'm wrong, but I think that's the risk that she was referring to politically.
WILLIAMS: Yes. I want to be careful about making this all about politics. Yes, it's a politician. And so, and of course, we're mindful of that because she is elevating a critically important issue to the public. A risk though, I would add to that is because of how expensive this is, she is outing herself as someone who has the resources to do so. Now she's acknowledged that and she says, look --
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: Yes. And she acknowledged that. But you know, particularly for a Democrat to be talking about something that costs a lot of money.
BROWN: I don't think there's no risk. There's nothing a politician can do at this point.
WILLIAMS: Right.
SINGH: But there's also, I mean, she's doing it, but, and she, you said that she saved up money, but there's no guarantee to Dana's point that, you know, one retrieval works. You -- some people have to go through multiple and that means more money. So I don't know how many times she's going to do this, but I think it's still important that she's raising the issue.
BROWN: And as we're talking about, you know, building a family when you're in public life, it's a natural turn to the fact that Karoline Leavitt, President Trump's really key messenger in the White House, will be leaving her role as the White House press secretary to spend more time with her family. She just had her second child recently.
I was at the White House not too long ago and she had her bassinet in her office and I thought that has got to be very hard to be balancing a newborn and a young child and do this job. And I don't know. I think it raises questions of the age old question, Dana, can you have it all?
BASH: Well, I mean, I have one. You have three babies. It is hard, but there's -- and we all have demanding jobs. People out there have more than one job that they have to do in order to make ends meet. But this is one of the, frankly, one of the benefits having these discussions of having more women in public life in the workforce.
I mean, Marc, I'm sure you've worked with a lot of women in recent years who are trying to have it all. And I think that the grace that people get now, both men and women, men who want to spend more time with their families is good and important.
BROWN: Which by the way, someone made a joke. I forgot who it was. Just like in Washington. So often people leave a job, you know, they say, I want to spend more time with my family and everyone kind of brushes it off. I think in this case, it seems pretty legit, you know, and you can't blame her for wanting that. And she'll still be a top outside advisor. But it's a loss for President Trump. I mean, she has been one of his key messengers. Who could replace her?
[12:40:07]
SHORT: I don't know. It seems like she's done a pretty remarkable job under tough circumstances.
BROWN: All right. Ahead in The Arena on that note, how the nation's capital is still feeling the impact of a decision President Trump made one year ago this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm announcing a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor. And I'm deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order and public safety in Washington D.C.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[12:45:16]
TRUMP: I'm announcing a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor. And I'm deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order, and public safety in Washington, D.C.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: One year ago this week, President Trump deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C., insisting that he was saving the nation's capital from, "crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor." Last month, we learned that these troops might stick around until the end of the President's second term, that is, unless he decides to terminate their deployment, according to the Pentagon.
While National Guard members can't make arrests, the administration has repeatedly claimed that their support on the ground has helped reduce crime in D.C., though others disagree with that assessment.
My panel is back to further discuss all of this. So, Marc, Trump has repeatedly claimed that Trump -- that crime in D.C. is down. But these National Guard troops may stick around until 2029, which could cost taxpayers, what, $1.4 billion, I believe? So that's according to the Defense Department. Will Americans think this deployment is worth their hard-earned taxpayer dollars?
SHORT: Well, look, I think on the one hand, I think Americans do believe this is the nation's capital, and there's a difference. When the President first unveiled this policy, there was talk of having National Guard deployed into cities all across America.
And it did happen in Memphis because Governor Bill Lee invited them in, and that was an important distinction, that if a governor asked for it, it's very different than forcing it from the federal government on to the states. D.C. is unique. It's the nation's capital, and I think there is a federal role, and I think that the National Guard has served extraordinarily well in this city.
Whether or not Americans, I'm not so sure Americans would be concerned about that price tag. We're at $40 trillion in debt and growing, and there's a lot of other things that are driving up that debt, more so than the cost of the National Guard.
SINGH: Can I just say that this is not a good use of the National Guard's time. This is going to be over $1 billion that are spent on the National Guard essentially walking around in DuPont Circle and Georgetown, and it has not shown to have reduced violent crime in D.C.
I think the better way to get at this would have been investing in police departments, which I know this administration cares about, but deploying the National Guard to Washington, D.C., there are far better uses for the National Guard all across our country, including we have this war in Iran looming over our head. This, I think, was a waste of taxpayer dollars, and unfortunately, I don't think the President cares.
BROWN: And the president, what we know he does care about is public perception.
SINGH: Perception.
BROWN: He ran on this sort of tough-on-crime messaging in 2024. How do you think keeping the National Guard plays into that, Dana?
BASH: I mean, look, I don't know that people, unless and until we talk about it or he talks about it, people outside Washington don't know, and I don't think they care. I mean, they care about the National Guard troops, but about the notion of them being here is what I mean. Why is he doing it? Because he -- and I'm curious what you think about this. He is convinced that D.C. is a cesspool and there are pockets.
BROWN: You can lie in the womb thinking that.
BASH: No, maybe. You might have, actually.
BROWN: Yes.
BASH: Where that is true. And so having a National Guard presence, these young people walking around, I always see them a lot walking around DuPont, Georgetown, and others, and I feel like I want to go up to them and, like, give them a coffee or, like, just because I feel bad. I don't --
BROWN: And that's not what they signed up for.
BASH: They're doing their jobs. So, you know, they're taking their order and they're carrying it out. But I feel bad because when I see them, I'm not entirely sure what their job is.
WILLIAMS: Yes, you know, crime is down in D.C. since President Trump brought the National Guard in a year ago. You know where else crime is down? Virtually every major city in the United States because crime rates are going down.
And so it's hard to trace or track, as the President wants to do, some nexus between the National Guard and things being safer in Washington, D.C. That's just not the case. And moreover, because they can't arrest people and can't engage in most law enforcement functions, they're doing the kinds of things that you're talking about here. It's a political symbol. It's people know, people who crown the country, think cities are rough, and it's a good talking point for the President. That's it.
[12:49:47]
BROWN: All right. Coming up, something totally different, a rare spectacle in the sky.
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BROWN: Well, this week, a total solar eclipse created a spectacle in the sky for millions of people. Greenland, Iceland, Northern Russia, Spain, and a small portion of Portugal saw skies go totally dark for about two minutes. This phenomenon happens when the Moon moves between the Sun and Earth, casting a shadow on our planet that completely blocks the Sun's light. At one of the prime viewing locations in Iceland time lapse video shows the skies becoming pitch black, then light again, as the eclipse did its magic.
[12:55:01]
We here in the United States will have to wait a while for a total eclipse of our own. One will be visible over North Dakota and Montana in 2044. Until then, we leave you with this reflection from CNN's Clarissa Ward, after viewing the eclipse from Spain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a surreal and beautiful and fleeting, and it is precisely because it is so fleeting that it is so beautiful, which I think for everyone is just a really important reminder of what's important in life and what makes life so beautiful, because it is so fleeting.
And, you know, I'm sure to some people at home, it's like, what is she talking about? But I'm telling you, when you're here in community, in the presence of the greatness of our universe like that, it's impossible not to be moved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Thanks to my panel. Thank you all for watching. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. The news continues next on CNN.
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