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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Trump Vows To Do What He Needs To Do If Iran Fails To Comply With Deal; Crowded Field Of New York Democrats Look To Succeed Rep. Jerry Nadler; History At The World Cup; Source: Firings Begin At Office Of Director Of National Intelligence; Keir Starmer Becomes Sixth British Leader To Resign In Seven Years; Trump's Explosive Appeal Over E. Jean Carroll Sexual Abuse Verdict Stalls At U.S. Supreme Court. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired June 22, 2026 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:00]
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KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: That's language in this opinion. Some of what specifically happened here was that the attorney general, Pam Bondi, sent a letter to Tim Walz saying that she needed Minnesota to repeal sanctuary city policies and also stand behind that ICE officials there. Those subpoenas had come just days before. So, that all came together here. Abby?
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Katelyn Polantz, thank you very much for all that reporting. And thank you very much to my panel for this hour. Thank you for joining us today. "The Lead" anchored by Anderson Cooper starts right now.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Secretary of State Marco Rubio just minutes away from an overseas trip to talk about Iran. "The Lead" starts right now.
After direct talks with Iran, Vice President J.D. Vance is headed home. Secretary Rubio will now head to the region. What he hopes to accomplish after conflicting reports about what the vice president got done. Plus, peeling paint, algae blooms. And now, President Trump claims there are pictures of the so-called vandals who created the mess of the newly renovated, quickly deteriorating reflecting pool. And World Cup history. See the remarkable moment for fans when Lionel Messi broke the all-time tournament scoring record and solidified his standing as one of the greatest ever to play the game.
And welcome to "The Lead." I'm Anderson Cooper, in for Jake Tapper. We start with breaking news in our "World Lead." Just moments ago, President Donald Trump struck an optimistic tone on the ongoing negotiations to formally end the war with Iran while leaving room for consequences should things go south.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If Iran doesn't live up to their agreement or if they're not behaving, I will -- I will do what I have to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: This follows Vice President J.D. Vance today touting a -- quote -- "very, very good weekend of negotiations in Switzerland." And at any moment now, Secretary of State Rubio is set to head to the Middle East. The State Department says Rubio will travel to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain, countries repeatedly attacked by Iran during the war and even the ceasefire. So far, Rubio has remained, as you know, largely silent on these negotiations in the administration's memo of understanding with Iran.
The U.S. claims that Iran has just agreed to allow nuclear monitors into the country, which Vice President Vance calls a major milestone. President Trump, posting on Truth Social -- quote -- "Everybody is fully aware that Iran will agree to have major weapons inspections in order to ensure nuclear honesty long into the future."
But an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson is pushing back on that claim, essentially saying nothing in regards to nuclear inspections will change. Vance also said some progress has been made to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We laid a very good foundation for a successful final deal. The final deal is the House. We set the foundation. We haven't built the House, but we've laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Over the weekend, some worried that President Trump was ready to burn down the metaphorical House. In a phone call with Fox yesterday, Trump said the U.S. might take over, those were his phrase, the Strait of Hormuz if a deal can't be reached and says he told Iranian officials -- quote -- "You close it and you won't have a country." Vance today denied that Trump's comments upended negotiations.
Let's discuss with Democratic Congressman Adam Smith of Washington State. He's the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee. So, congressman, recently, you said that the U.S.-Iran memo of understanding shows the Iran war was a colossal mistake, in your words. Are you at all encouraged by anything you've heard coming out of these latest negotiations so far and have you been briefed on this memorandum of understanding?
REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA), RANKING MEMBER OF HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I'm encouraged by the fact that they're trying to find an end to the war. I do think that's the smart choice. Doubling, tripling down on the mistake that the war was would be even more catastrophic.
And basically, I mean, Trump assumed that a four-to-five-week bombing campaign would fundamentally break the Iranian regime and would force them to capitulate on all of our demands. Instead, Iran put the region at risk, attacked, gosh, you know, six, seven, eight different countries around them, shut down the Strait of Hormuz, and now we're negotiating to get the Strait of Hormuz back open which, of course, it was open before the war began.
But criticism of getting into the war aside, the decision to try and stop it and negotiate a settlement on the terms in the situation we are in, I think it's the right call. Now, we'll see how that negotiation plays out. But continuing this war, you know, sort of doubling down on that colossal mistake would have been even worse.
COOPER: Just moments ago, President Trump talked about another part of the negotiations with Iran in terms of the unfreezing of some Iranian assets. I want to play that.
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TRUMP: One of the things that we are doing also, and it came up last night, is money that's being unfrozen is going to be used to buy food, and the food is going to be bought exclusively through the United States from our farmers.
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And corn, soybeans, all of the things they need are going to be bought from our farmers. So, our farmers are very happy. I've had a lot of calls. They were very happy about this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: What do you make of that?
SMITH: Well, first of all, I'd be really surprised if that part of it was true, that it's going to be bought exclusively from our farmers. I cannot imagine that they would set up the situation where that would be the case. Iran buys a variety of different products, when they can, from a variety of different places. So, I'm pretty sure Trump is making that part up.
And then the other thing is this is exactly what he criticized Obama for doing, was freeing up Iranian assets in exchange for them stopping their nuclear program and those, you know, sorry, yes, freeing up Iranian assets so they could then buy humanitarian assistance. That's exactly what the JCPOA did.
So, Trump's Obama derangement syndrome, that made him tear up the JCPOA. Now, we're just right back where we were before. But we fought an incredibly costly war in the meantime. So, now, I mean, we'll see. I mean, maybe they wind up having to buy all of it from American farmers, but I'm fairly confident President Trump is making that up at this point.
COOPER: Also, I want to play for our viewers something that Vice President Vance said this afternoon when asked about Iran allowing nuclear inspectors into the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: You can't trust anybody's words. You have to trust what they actually do. Letting in the inspectors is a big deal. But again, we're going to see what they actually let the inspectors do once they're in the country. That's going to continually be a part of our negotiation.
So, my point is not that I trust or distrust anybody. My point is that I trust actions. And what the president has asked us to do is verify what they're doing, focus less on what they're saying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: I mean, obviously, the thing about that is, one, the JCPOA hadn't allowed and did have actual inspectors on the ground, and Iran has already pushed back on the U.S. claim that they will now allow nuclear inspectors back into the country. What do you think is happening here?
SMITH: Well, I mean, that's what we need. That's what has to happen. You have to have neutral inspectors to make sure that Iran is obeying whatever it is that they agree to. Another strength of the JCPOA is it had exactly that. And those inspectors were allowed in, and Iran was 100 percent complying with the agreement at the time that Donald Trump tore it up.
So, I'm glad that J.D. Vance is, like, vaguely aware of the fact that inspectors are important here, but he should be more specifically aware of it. He should make sure that it is part of any agreement. Now, do we have the leverage at this point to make sure that Iran agrees to that? I have my doubts, but it certainly would be a critical part of containing Iran's nuclear program.
COOPER: The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is heading to the Middle East to meet with our regional allies. Unlike the vice president, he has been remarkably silent on the memorandum of understanding, these ongoing negotiations. How do you read that?
SMITH: Well, I mean, President Trump has a weird way of dispatching his diplomats. I mean, first of all, he relies on Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two real estate guys from the New York, New Jersey area instead of the dozens of incredibly experienced diplomats. So, we have experienced diplomats, experienced in the Middle East, experienced with Iran, experienced with nuclear programs. And then, you know, he has decided that this is going to be J.D. Vance's thing and not Marco Rubio's.
And it's all part of sort of the sidelining of the State Department, I guess, from the top down. And we have an incredibly talented State Department. I've traveled all over the world, met with members of our State Department. Their background, their knowledge of the regions that they are working in is incredibly important. And President Trump has consistently sidelined them right up to the top, including Marco Rubio in favor of J.D. Vance, who really doesn't have any international experience.
COOPER: And certainly, with whatever negotiations are to come over the nuclear program, expertise is going to be essential to that and to the verification process. Congressman Adam Smith, thanks for your time.
SMITH: Thanks, Anderson.
COOPER: Well, now that some ships are finally moving through the Strait of Hormuz, let's bring in a CNN business senior reporter, David Goldman, to discuss how this is impacting oil. Obviously, any traffic coming out of the Persian Gulf is good news. Oil prices has plummeted as a result. Do you think the low prices are getting ahead?
DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Well, I think a lot of people see that and they think, well, problem solved, right? I mean, we have this MOU and low prices. That's all good news.
There are a few reasons why I think that we might not be quite there yet. The first number that I want to talk to you about is 1.15 billion. If you take a look, this is the number of barrels that we lost during the course of the war. Normally, that supply is coming right through the Strait of Hormuz.
The thing is, Iran basically put a blockade there, and they put a bunch of mines here. And so, we can't get oil in or out. It is only now starting to kind of trickle through around the coast. And it's not quite where we need it to be. We're at about 26 million barrels, you know, or 26 ships, rather, that are bringing around three million barrels a day. We need to get that to around 20 million.
[17:09:59]
So, it's going to take about 230 days to get back all of that supply. And that doesn't start now. The clock starts ticking when the Strait of Hormuz is fully reopened. So, we're looking at quite some time.
COOPER: Where does that leave the U.S. if the work, you know, resumes or there's a hurricane or something?
GOLDMAN: Well, right. I mean, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is how we usually draw down oil when there is an emergency. And when, you know, there's a good amount of oil in there, we're at the top, at 750 million barrels. Today, we're at 340 million barrels. And the operational floor for that is 150. The problem with that is the Trump administration already committed to getting this number down to 245. So, hurricane or if this war continues, we're in a lot of trouble.
COOPER: We're talking about emergency oil. What about the oil we're using today?
GOLDMAN: Well, right. I mean, so we don't use emergency oil on a day- to-day basis. This is just commercial oil that's available. This is in Cushing, Oklahoma. This is the pipeline cross lines of the country. Twenty million is the number of barrels in their reserves right now. That's around here.
Imagine a spigot on a coffee urn. And when you push it, nothing comes out. That's my nightmare. That's what's going on right now in Cushing. And if they get below that, then you can't force oil throughout the rest of the country. There are two things, two ways to solve that. You drive prices higher or you stop exporting oil. Neither one seems like it's happening right now.
COOPER: You should switch to green tea, I think.
GOLDMAN: Oh, that's a nice idea.
COOPER: David Goldman, thanks very much. Here at home, what sources tell CNN about financial pressure from the Trump administration on U.S. states and how they run state elections. We'll have the exclusive reporting on that. Plus, first, a big primary coming up tomorrow here in New York. How name influence and big money playing a role in the candidates vying to become the face of Manhattan in Congress. We'll be right back.
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COOPER: In our "Politics Lead," tomorrow's feature -- tomorrow features a slew of high-profile primaries in New York, including a heavily crowded race to replace retiring Democratic congressman, Jerry Nadler. Eight candidates are looking to represent much of Manhattan, including New York's 12th congressional district.
CNN's Gloria Pazmino breaks down the notable list of names, which include a candidate.
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GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A political insider.
MICAH LASHER, NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Micah Lasher for Congress in the neighborhood.
PAZMINO (voice-over): A technocrat facing Silicon Valley opposition.
ALEX BORES, NEW YORK STATE REPRESENTATIVE, NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: When we fight --
CROWD: We win!
PAZMINO (voice-over): A former Republican turned Trump critic.
GEORGE CONWAY, NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE, ATTORNEY: We are facing an existential crisis in the form of Donald Trump.
PAZMINO (voice-over): And a Kennedy scion running on his social media reach.
JACK SCHLOSSBERG, NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: I will be able to change the political system just by arriving in D.C.
PAZMINO (voice-over): Just some of the candidates in the crowded Democratic primary for New York's 12th congressional district, the race to become the new face of Manhattan, the solid blue district, home to some of the most highly-educated and politically-engaged voters in the nation. And the contest has attracted big names.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Jack isn't good at singing.
PAZMINO (voice-over): Jack Schlossberg, son of Caroline Kennedy and grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, has positioned himself to the left of his rivals, seeking to build a young following online.
SCHLOSSBERG: The central question in this election is who is going to be able to galvanize the support of young people, the people our party has lost over the last two decades, and build a more effective fighting force to take on Donald Trump and MAGA.
PAZMINO (voice-over): Candidates agree on several issues, like abolishing ICE and opposing the war with Iran. George Conway, a former Republican once married to Donald Trump's 2016 campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, is centering his candidacy on opposition to the president.
CONWAY: We cannot fix these problems until he's gone. The cart is before the horse if we do anything other than focus on impeaching Donald Trump.
PAZMINO (voice-over): The 12th district is home to many of the city's landmarks, several Fortune 500 companies, and Gracie Mansion, the mayoral residence of Zohran Mamdani.
MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: I'm excited to see how this turns out. I'm excited to be one of the many voters casting my vote.
PAZMINO (voice-over): While Mamdani is backing three primary candidates in New York, including two who are challenging Democratic incumbents, he is publicly staying out of this race.
MAMDANI: I'm going to be keeping my vote in this race between myself, the ballot, and that incredible pen that the Board of Elections gives to every voter.
PAZMINO (voice-over): Two candidates with established political roots in the district are hoping that gives them an edge going into Tuesday. Assemblyman Micah Lasher is a former senior aide to Governor Kathy Hochul and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
LASHER: I think voters want to make sure that the next congressman is both going to push the party to be more effective in fighting against Trump and Mike Johnson and their fellow fascists.
PAZMINO (voice-over): Fellow assemblyman Alex Bores, a former computer engineer whose efforts to regulate artificial intelligence, have triggered millions in spending by Silicon Valley.
BORES: I think this district deserves more than establishment or entitlement. It deserves effectiveness.
PAZMINO (voice-over): Outside money and influence have been a major factor in the race. Lasher getting at least $5 million in a boost from Bloomberg, his former boss.
SCHLOSSBERG: The last time that a New York billionaire tried to steal a third term, Micah Lasher was right there to help him do it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAZMINO (on camera): Lasher has also secured the endorsement of outgoing congressman, Jerry Nadler, who is retiring after 17 terms in office. Anderson?
COOPER: Gloria Pazmino, thanks so much. Up next, we are headed to a FIFA fan zone after a historic day at the World Cup and the big moment when Lionel Messi broke the all-time scoring record.
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COOPER: In our "Sports Lead," Lionel Messi is now the leading goal scorer in men's World Cup history. Messi, who turned 39 on Wednesday, netted his 17th World Cup goal in the 38th minute of Argentina's match against Austria, surpassing the record held by Germany's Miroslav Klose. He then added to his record with another goal in stoppage time to close out Argentina's two-nil win.
CNN's Carolina Peguero is outside Dallas Stadium where fans are celebrating Messi's historic achievement. Carolina?
CAROLINA PEGUERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Another historic day, historic win, especially for Lionel Messi and the Argentina team.
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They have won again against Austria this time in this match here at Dallas Stadium. And people, fans, children, adults continue to enjoy this victory. They are ready for the next match. But in the meantime, they are going to continue to celebrate. They are excited. Messi has officially made record. He has now 18 goals in the history of World Cups. And it's just a thrilling and exciting day for fans and everybody all across the world who love football.
And I have some fans actually that have been watching from day one. Tell me how this experience has been for you and what it means that Messi came here to Dallas.
CHRIS RANGEL, ARGENTINA WORLD CUP FAN: It's incredible. I mean, I feel like we've been lacking a lot of emotional people to be here. I mean, if you look around here, everybody is so excited. They're jumping. They're incredible to be here. So, yes, I mean, the people that have been brought out here from all these different countries, but especially Argentina who shown out, it just feels amazing. It feels surreal.
ELEAZAR PALACIOS, ARGENTINA WORLD CUP FAN: It's crazy because I've been supporting Argentina since 2014. And, you know, when they win the World Cup, it's like, oh, we're in America. You know, it's like not really there. Now you just see everyone here. Everyone is going crazy. Mind you, we're still in the knockout stages. We're ready for the next round. Bring us anyone you want. Argentina is going to win the whole thing. Let's go, Argentina! Let's go!
PEGUERO: So, there you have it. Fans are excited for that next match. That will be Saturday here again at the Dallas Stadium. We've heard that Shakira was also in the stadium cheering on Messi and the team. For now, that's all we have. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Carolina Peguero, thanks so much. In the U.K. today, major resignation. Keir Starmer stepping down as prime minister, setting the stage for the country's sixth leader in just seven years. How the Epstein scandal contributed to this latest resignation.
Plus, some breaking news just in. A source confirming firings have started at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. This is the office now led by Bill Pulte, the housing chief who has no actual intelligence background. Brand-new reporting coming up.
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COOPER: Breaking news in our Politics Lead, a source tells CNN that firings at the office of the Director of National Intelligence have started today. Sources had previously told CNN that Bill Pulte, that man there, Trump's pick to serve as acting director, was looking at cutting hundreds of jobs. I'm going to go right to CNN's Kristen Holmes who's at the White House. So what do we know about the cuts and the number of people affected?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, that is still what we're trying to figure out right now. I did not get any details from a source that gave me this information on how many people were being cut or where they were being cut from. The only thing that they would tell me was that those firings had begun. Giving me the quote, directly the deep state firings have begun.
Now I reached out to the White House, White House official pointing me to President Trump's previous comments about Bill Pulte, specifically saying that he has named Bill Pulte as acting director of the Director of National Intelligence and said I have asked him to execute the immediate and needing -- needed downsizing of the office reverting staff to their home agencies.
Now we had reported last week that Pulte was planning on firing hundreds of people from the office of the Director of National Intelligence. In fact, he showed up for work a day earlier than his actual start date and asked for a list of all of the employees, their names, what they did, because he wanted to start those massive layoffs. I do want to note, Anderson, we actually saw the acting director here at the White House earlier today. He was kind of standing off to the side during President Trump's executive order signing. Unclear if that was related to these firings, his presence in the White House. It is pretty stunning, one of the things we heard about Pulte from everybody who knew him was that he had a direct line to President Trump, that he was always at the White House, that he was always calling President Trump.
And this is another indication of that. If you look back over the last several months, it was very rare that we would see the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard in the White House with President Trump. And there he was today for an E.O. that is not directly tied to what Pulte is doing. So it just goes to show you the relationship he has with President Trump. And again, these firings have begun. We are working to get more details on the kind of numbers that we're looking at here.
COOPER: All right, Kristen Holmes, thanks very much. Appreciate it.
In our World Lead, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigned today. He is now the sixth prime minister to step down in the last decade after Brexit. His resignation comes after a series of policy missteps, including his appointment of Peter Mandelson to the role of U.K. Ambassador to Washington. Mandelson was linked to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. CNN's Max Foster reflects on Starmer's reign and previews his likely successor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): Two years ago, Keir Starmer walked through those black doors with one of the biggest mandates in modern British history. And yet Monday morning, he announced he was walking back out again after losing the support of his parliamentary party.
KEIR STARMER, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party. I have spoken to His Majesty, the King, this morning to inform him of my decision.
FOSTER (voice-over): Perhaps his best known mistake was appointing veteran Labour politician Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington despite failing security vetting. While Starmer said he wasn't aware of that, the scandal only compounded when the Epstein files revealed Mandelson had called the convicted pedophile his best pal. For many in his own party, it confirmed what they already feared. Starmer's judgment couldn't be trusted.
[17:35:08]
The warning signs came again in May 2025, when the hard right U.K. Reform Party swept the local elections, ending decades of labor dominance. The same month, more than 100 of his own lawmakers were calling for him to go. Then Donald Trump piled on. Keir Starmer will resign. The U.S. President posted on Sunday before Starmer had even said a word. He failed badly on two very important subjects, immigration and energy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We now come to Andy Burnham.
FOSTER (voice-over): The man almost certain to replace him, Andy Burnham, the former Mayor of Greater Manchester, whose by election win last Friday dealt the final blow. He now had a seat in Parliament and an eye on something much bigger. Where Starmer was a London lawyer turned party leader, Burnham's a political chameleon who built his name running Greater Manchester, speaking directly to the industrial communities that abandoned Labour for reform. Whether that's enough to win them back is the question his party now has to answer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Who is Andy Burnham? Very well known here, Anderson, in the U.K., not internationally. He has very little international experience. He is effectively being crowned with this position. He has no opposition and we don't know anything about his international or his national policy. We do know that he wants to bring unity.
And I'll just quote you something that he said very recently when he was campaigning. He said, the path we're on, if we're not careful, is a path towards the politics of the United States of America, a polarized, poisonous politics where people in communities don't work together anymore. That's all we know about his international policy so far and we'll wait to see what he comes up with, Anderson.
COOPER: Max Foster, thanks so much.
Joining us now is James Lyons. He was a senior adviser to Prime Minister Starmer. James, what did you think of President Trump's premature announcement about Starmer's resignation?
JAMES LYONS, FMR. DIR. OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS UNDER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER STARMER: I think there were quite a few wry smiles on this side of the Atlantic. Obviously that's not something you would expect to see from a foreign leader, but we all know that President Trump plays by his own rules.
COOPER: You seem to expect Starmer's resignation, saying he was in, "political quicksand" over the weekend. How much did his appointment of Jeffrey Epstein link politician Peter Mandelson to the role of U.K. Ambassador to Washington contribute to his downfall? What else played a part?
LYONS: Well, it certainly didn't help, but look, politics is a results based industry and fundamentally, lots of Keir Starmer's Labour MPs looked to him and thought if they stuck with him, they were going to lose their seats. This was brought home to them in the most recent set of election, nationwide elections in May. And that really is what did for him.
COOPER: What do you think is behind was behind that lack of popularity?
LYONS: I think there were a number of missteps going back all the way to Keir Starmer's time in opposition. The Labour Party came to power without an actual program for government. Under Keir Starmer, they had some sprawling 10-year missions that they wanted to achieve, but they hadn't actually set out exactly what they were going to do in this Parliament.
That's one of the things I was hired in to do when we produced a program for government which was called the Plan for Change. But it meant that there wasn't that kind of forward momentum when he went through that famous black door. And in some ways the project seemed to have ended at that point. The other thing that didn't help was a deeply unpopular announcement very early on about taking away welfare payments to pensioners to help with their winter fuel bills.
It was seen very much as the kind of original sin of this government. But actually what sort of plunged the prime minister into political purgatory, if you like, was a mishandled attempt to curb welfare payments last summer.
COOPER: The former Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham seems poised to succeed Starmer. I just want to play something, he said speaking after winning his P.M. spot -- after winning his M.P. spot last week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDY BURNHAM, U.K. MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: But it is a chance now from this result tonight to build a new politics based on unity and hope, turning away from the path that takes us to a divided, dark politics of the kind we see in the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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COOPER: How do you think Burnham's approach to Trump is going to be different than Starmer's?
LYONS: Well, he's starting from a different place, but, you know, I think all British prime ministers understand the importance of having a constructive and workmanlike relationship. We know that many jobs and thousands, many thousands of jobs in our country depend on good relations with the U.S. So I would expect Andy to take a pragmatic approach.
COOPER: James Lyons, appreciate your time. Thank you.
LYONS: Thank you.
COOPER: Well, 15 times now, a U.S. Supreme Court agenda has included an appeal from President Trump asking justices to review the $5 million verdict in the E. Jean Carroll sexual abuse case. Fifteen times now that case has been rescheduled. Why is that? What CNN is learning, next.
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COOPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, the U.S. Supreme Court is nearly done with its current term and there are still several major cases yet to be decided. The list includes one specific politically sensitive appeal that has been schedule on the court's agenda 15 times. It's President Trump's effort to overturn the E. Jean Carroll sexual abuse and defamation verdict.
CNN's Kara Scannell is here to discuss and Elie Honig, CNN senior legal analyst and former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, joins us remotely. So Kara, President Trump initially filed this last November. It's now June. Why the delays?
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So this case was fully briefed by the end of January. And it has been on their private, the agenda for their private conferences beginning in February, but they have rescheduled it 15 times. This whole process is opaque. But what's fascinating is that this is not -- we're not waiting for the decision on the merits. This is just whether they will even agree to hear the appeal, but it keeps getting postponed.
Also, this is not a weighty constitutional issue. This appeal relates to some of the evidentiary rulings that the judge made in the trial by allowing the excess Hollywood tape to be shown to the jury, including two other women, allowing them to testify about Trump allegedly groping them. So it's really kind of unexplained there. It's opaque. Supreme Court watchers that me and my colleague John Fritze spoke to say that, you know, it could be an instance where one of the justices wants to dissent. And so they're allowing that justice time to write an opinion.
But it could be because this is a case that there is another case that is heading to appeal likely to go to the Supreme Court that involves another component of this with just the defamation judgment. That One was the $83 million judgment. So it could be that the justices are thinking they will make this decision together. But it is a little unusual because that case does deal with questions of presidential immunity. This one is a pretty straightforward evidentiary.
COOPER: And Elie, does the fact that Trump's appeal keeps being rescheduled does suggest justices maybe aren't discussing it at all?
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. You know, it is unusual to see a case rescheduled like this 15 times although, believe it or not, it's actually not unprecedented. Now, we're, we rarely know why the Supreme Court does something unless they choose to tell us, and they very rarely choose to tell us. But I think the two most logical explanations, as Kara just said, the first could be that the court has already decided we're not taking this.
But it could be the rare instance where one or more justices says, OK, I disagree, I'm going to write a dissent. And that takes some time. The other possibility, as Kara said, there's a second appeal in the other E. Jean Carroll case and perhaps the Supreme Court is, is waiting on that. And so we are going to get the rest of the cases from the Supreme Court in the next two weeks. But they also do sometimes hold things over to the next term. It wouldn't shock me if that happens here.
COOPER: Kara, how does the delays benefit anybody?
SCANNELL: Well, as long as there is no final decision here, whether Trump has exhausted the appeals or not, it means that he does not have to pay E. Jean Carroll the judgments in this case. Now, he has already set aside more than $100 million because the interest has accrued during this process.
But until there's a final decision here, whether the supreme says no, they're not taking it up, then that would cause the release of funds to E. Jean Carroll, but then this continues to be litigated, then it means she won't see that money until all appeals are exhausted.
COOPER: And Elie, what exactly is President Trump arguing in the appeal against Carroll, and does it have merit?
HONIG: You know, he had a reasonable argument in the lower courts. Donald Trump's argument is that the trial judge here should not have allowed the jury to hear testimony from two other women other than E. Jean Carroll, who said Donald Trump sexually assaulted them on other instances. Also Donald Trump argues the judge should not have allowed the jury to hear that infamous Access Hollywood tape where Donald Trump says just grab him by the you know what.
Donald Trump argued that evidence was not probative of the case against him and was prejudicial, was inflammatory against him. The problem is he lost that argument in the district court. And I think it was a toss-up. Some judges might have let that evidence in, others might not have.
He lost it in the Court of Appeals. And to me, this doesn't stand out as a case that the U.S. Supreme Court would typically take because it's an evidentiary question and there's no broader constitutional question here. So I think he had a decent argument below. I don't think he's got a great argument for why the U.S. Supreme Court can take it.
COOPER: And Elie, the Supreme Court's in its final week or so of its term. There are still 17 remaining cases in which opinions have not been released. Eight of the major cases were. What's going on with that?
HONIG: It's going to be a mad dash in the next two weeks. The next batch of opinions will come down tomorrow morning, Tuesday morning at 10:00 a.m. and you are right, there are some big ones still waiting to come down. The biggest one that I think we're all watching for is birthright citizenship. There also is an important case about mail-in ballots and whether they can be counted if they arrive after Election Day.
[17:50:10]
There's a big case about state laws that prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women's and girls sports. There are cases about the President's executive power to remove the heads of federal agencies, the FTC and also the Fed. There are second amendment cases. So yes, this is an awful lot of very big cases that are still on the board with just two weeks ago. So it's going to be a very busy and very important two weeks.
COOPER: Is it possible they would add more opinion days into July?
HONIG: Yes, they try to avoid going into July. They did creep into July. I think it was two years ago when they issued the immunity ruling. I think that came down on July 1st. But as a general rule, they really try to get it done in June. But as always, they're the court and they'll do things the way they want to do it.
COOPER: All right, Elie Honig, Kara Scannell, thank you.
What sources tell us about U.S. states under financial pressure by the federal government over how they conduct their elections? A CNN exclusive is next.
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[17:55:28]
COOPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from creating a centralized database with the Social Security numbers and citizenship status of Americans. In a 75-page ruling today, a U.S. district judge said the administration violated federal privacy protections when it overhauled a citizenship database to aggressively purge voter rolls. The ruling is a major setback for the administration's effort to identify foreigners on state voter rolls, which election officials say could disenfranchise eligible voters. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Turning to our Politics Lead, CNN's -- new exclusive CNN reporting shows how President Trump is ramping up his campaign to root out what he alleges is election fraud. Sources telling CNN that the Trump administration is planning to use millions of dollars in federal Homeland Security funds as a way to force states to make changes over how elections are run. I want to bring in CNN's Gabe Cohen with the exclusive. So what new rules must states adopt in order to secure this federal funding?
GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so Anderson, there are several of these election security mandates that are being put on these Homeland Security grants. First off, states must begin transitioning from electronic voting systems that use QR codes and barcodes to hand marked paper ballots, something that this administration and Trump allies have been talking about for a while. States would also have to conduct manual election audits. But specifically using methods that are established by this administration, they'd also have to use a government approved system to verify the citizenship of all poll workers across their state.
And what could be even the most controversial detail here, states would be forced to run their entire voter rolls through the SAVE system at DHS, that system you were just talking about that the judge ruled on this afternoon. It's a citizenship verification tool that looks for non-citizens or ineligible voters. And right now the Department of Justice is literally suing 30 states to force them to hand over their voter lists to be run through that DHS system. And what's significant here with these rules, Anderson, is that if states do not comply, they would lose 20 percent of that Homeland Security grant funding, which could be millions of dollars.
I mean, these are grants that are expected to distribute about $1 billion in this fiscal year. And officials across the country have told me it's critical money that goes to protect against a range of threats, terror attacks, cyber incidents and other major disasters. A DHS spokesperson told me in a statement, "Any recipient of federal funding should expect accountability for how taxpayer dollars are spent." Which gives you a sense of how they see this issue, that if states want federal dollars, they need to be ready to comply with and implement the administration's policy objectives.
I will note, though, that this administration has tried to withhold funding, federal funding for other policy priorities like immigration issues, sanctuary policies, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Many of those efforts have been blocked in court. No doubt if these mandates are finalized and they go out to states, as we're expecting in the next couple of weeks, some will certainly challenge them.
COOPER: How much would it cost states to comply with these rules?
COHEN: Well, we don't know exactly, but it looks like just based off preliminary numbers and what we know about election administration across the country, it would likely be in the billions that it would cost states to implement some of these changes. I will say that these new guidelines say that states are able to request additional funding. We don't know exactly what those funding streams look like, but I think that's part of the point here.
It's going to cost a lot of money, but the question is how effective of a leverage tool could this be if states also stand to lose quite a bit of funding, potentially millions of dollars, if they don't implement it. But without a doubt, Anderson, the cost of actually implementing all of this is far beyond what states would actually lose here.
COOPER: And quickly, how likely is it that this would be blocked?
COHEN: Well, I'm not a lawyer, but I will say, as I mentioned, a lot of these efforts from the administration to put conditions on their federal funding have been blocked by courts. Their track record, the administration has been pretty poor on some of these efforts. This was a conversation, these guidelines that came out of weeks of talks within the Department of Homeland Security, according to sources I've spoken with. But no doubt, again, states are going to challenge it.
And court after court has said that really it's up to the states to handle election administration. And they've balked at some of the actions of the President and the executive branch here.
COOPER: All right, Gabe Cohen, thanks so much.
[17:59:58] And welcome to The Lead. I'm Anderson Cooper in for Jake Tapper. This hour, the White House dispatching Secretary of State Marco Rubio to the Middle East as Vice President J.D. Vance returns to the U.S. after negotiations with Iran.
