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Trump Speaks After Key Supreme Court Rulings; Trump Must Pay E. Jean Carroll $5 Million, Supreme Court Denied His Appeal; Supreme Court Allows Lisa Cook to Remain at Fed in Loss for Trump; California State Senator Harassed at Trans March Over Gaza. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired June 29, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... unless you're in the military, disabled, you're ill, or you're away, or even on a vacation. We're being very open about it. It's pretty easy. And we'll have honest elections. But the ruling, which a lot of people were waiting for, that was a ruling that was -- I think it was very detrimental to honest elections. But it is what it is. Basically, they're keeping it a little bit the way it is now. They may have a little bit of a restriction on based on the wording.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You worry about firing a parliamentarian.

TRUMP: And then you have the very important one, the Slaughter case, which we'll talk about if you ask that question. But the parliamentarian -- what were you asking about?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, have you talked with Thune about --

TRUMP: I have. No, I can't imagine why you'd keep a woman that was put there by Harry Reid and Barack Hussein Obama. I cannot understand it.

The leader has the right to fire the person at will and put somebody else there that could be -- because we get so many negative rulings from her, the parliamentarian, she's been there for years and she was put there by Harry Reid and Barack Hussein Obama. Harry Reid was a bad guy and he was the leader and he put her.

And the speaker has the right to immediately fire her and put somebody else there and it's not even believable that she's still there. She's obviously a good politician or something.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, on this latter case, the Supreme Court just affirmed your right to fire the heads of independent agencies. Should we expect more firings as a result of this ruling?

TRUMP: I don't think so. It gives me the right, and not me, it gives a president the right to do what the president should have, the right to do. And it's very interesting. It's a big ruling. It's been going on for almost 100 years.

They've been working on this. And it comes down at my term is a very great honor. but it bestows additional powers, or maybe the same power on the president.

The president has the right to do this, and that has to do with a lot of agencies all throughout the system. So it's considered the biggest of the group. And I can understand that this has been going on for almost 100 years. They've been waiting for this decision.

Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Mr. President. You were posting about how important it is to get the Save America Act passed. Who do you see as the biggest hurdle to getting this across the finish line?

TRUMP: Well, it's held up in the Senate. And, frankly, if you terminated the filibuster, you just need 50 votes, and we have 53. And then you have J.D. So, the Democrats are going to terminate the filibuster.

But if you did reconciliation, you could do it with 50 votes. I mean, the best would be to terminate the filibuster, but for some reason -- but you have the same basic people. But even Rand Paul is in favor of the Save America Act, if you can believe it.

Think of it. Rand Paul is strongly in favor. He's fighting for it.

So that's good news. But you would have Lisa Murkowski, always against things like this. Nobody knows why. I think I know why. But you have Lisa Murkowski. You have Susan Collins. You have Tillis is against, and he's not in office because of me, so he holds me, you know, because I wouldn't endorse him. I think you have Senator Cassidy against it, too.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he supports it this time.

TRUMP: And I think you have Mitch McConnell against it, too. Mitch McConnell. He's very disloyal to John Thune. You know, John Thune was a very good person for him. I mean, he was a very loyal person, and Mitch McConnell's against him almost all the time because he's angry. I guess. Probably at me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President.

TRUMP: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What about Democrats, Mr. President? Are there any you could think you could change their minds?

TRUMP: Democrats should do it too. I mean, you probably get one Democrat who's, you know, common sense Democrat. You know who that is. And everybody should vote for this.

This is the Save America Act. Voter ID with photo, ideally, but voter ID, proof of citizenship, and no mail-in ballots, which is to my way of thinking, may be the most important of all, because it's so corrupt. But you have exceptions if you're away. Exceptions for the military. They're deployed. Exceptions -- Illness, disability. You have exceptions. Strong exceptions.

But the cheating on the ballots, the mail-in ballots. Jimmy Carter said it a long time ago. He said, you can't have mail-in ballots. He headed up a committee with Scoop Jackson and others, all respected.

And he actually -- I think it was Jimmy Carter's finest moment, not doing president. But he headed up a committee and he said, he came out with a strong conclusion that if you do mail-in ballots, there's going to be cheating. France gave it up. We're the only country in the world that does this type of mail-in ballot.

There's no other country in the world. You know why? They tried it and it was totally dishonest. And it's really dishonest.

So we shouldn't do mail-in ballots.

[15:35:00]

So it's not too much to ask for voter ID, proof of citizenship, and no mail-in ballots. And you'll have honest elections.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are your plans for the housing bill, Mr. President.

TRUMP: I don't know. I think it's so unimportant by compared to the Save America Act. I think the Save America Act is exactly what it says. It's saving America from crooked elections.

And the housing bill is a bill that can get approved. They worked on it long and hard. It's very bipartisan. That means the Democrats like it.

I think it's maybe even -- it's probably maybe more that way they're getting things that I wouldn't necessarily agree to. Nobody knows more than housing in the history of the presidency. Nobody did well like me in housing.

I made a lot of money. I made a lot of money with housing. But when I look at that bill, it's a bill.

But when I look at the Save America Act, it's about saving America. And I'd like to have the Save America Act added. And that's probably not going to happen, because we have four Republican senators, maybe five that just won't vote for it.

It's crazy. Somebody that Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, nobody's done more for Alaska than me. She's a Trump deranged. What can I tell you?

But those four or five people that I mentioned should vote. How do you vote against Save America? How do you vote against it? How do you vote against voter identification or Proof of citizenship?

The only people that would vote against that are people that are going to cheat in an election. The Democrats need it because their policy is so bad. They want open borders.

They want high taxes. They want terrible medical, anything medical. I'm the one that did favorite nations.

I'm reducing drug prices by 200, 300, 400 percent. Nobody even talks about it. The news doesn't talk about it. The Democrats are opposed to it.

If they get into office, they'll put it back. Your drug prices are going to go up by 200, 300, 400, 500 percent. You know that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But will you sign that housing bill?

TRUMP: I have not. It hasn't been sent to me yet. It's coming, I understand. And then I'll make it.

Then I'll make it. Here's what I would like to sign. Much more than a bill, that big deal. It's a yawn.

Some people say it's wonderful. To me, compared to the Save America Act, Just about everything is a big yawn.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Mr. President, Birthright citizenship is next. What are your thoughts? Birthright citizenship. What are your thoughts? And will you accept it if it rules against you?

TRUMP: Well, I guess I have to accept it's the Supreme Court, so I'll accept. I think it's very bad for our nation. We're the only nation that does it.

No other nation does that birthright citizenship. No, not even close. Some did it, they ended it.

It's tremendously destructive. It's extremely costly. I don't know.

It's up to them. But in terms of for the good of the country, it'd be great if they did the -- they didn't allow it. It would be great.

But I can tell you, the Slaughter case was the big case today. That was really a big case because it gave strength to presidents and strength to the presidency, a very important case. It's been going on for almost 100 years, think of that, and this was the ruling that that really topped everything by a lot today. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, Zohran Mamdani said in an interview this week that he was open to being the poster child for socialist candidates. Are you worried about more socialist candidates across the United States?

TRUMP: Well, I think it's a big threat to our nation, actually. Because it's not socialism, it's really communism. They use the word social democrat because it sounds so nice, but it's really communism you're talking about.

I think it's the biggest threat to our nation there is, maybe since our founding. That includes World War I, World War II, September 11th. It includes the Pearl Harbor attack.

I think this is the biggest threat to our nation. People will smile when I say that, but the smart people are going to say, you know, he's probably right. It's basically introducing communism into the United States of America.

There's never been anything so dangerous. Thank you very much, everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, guys. Thank you, guys. Thank you, guys. Thank you all. Thank you so much. Thank you, guys. Thank you, guys.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: President Trump, they're taking some questions in the Oval Office, talking about some of the rulings today that we got from the Supreme Court. He said multiple times he thought that Slaughter ruling was the most important, which essentially gives him the power now to fire the heads of these independent agencies. But as you and I, Jim, were talking about as we were listening, also some falsehoods from the president, who spent a lot of his time pushing for the SAVE Act, his act, which would include proof of citizenship to vote.

[15:40:00]

He claimed that no countries allow for mail-in voting. That is wrong. There are dozens of other countries.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: He also claimed that elections that have mail- in voting are totally dishonest. In fact, the data has shown consistently that very small instances of fraud involving mail-in ballots. He also claimed regarding the birthright citizenship decision, which is expected for the Supreme Court, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps in the coming days. He says, as he said many times, no other nation does it.

In fact, as a CNN fact check, which you could read online, shows some three dozen nations have some form of birthright citizenship.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. So certainly not the last we've heard about that one. As you noted, we'll be getting that decision. Final day for Supreme Court decisions is tomorrow. So we expect that and a little bit more.

Stay with us. Much more ahead here on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:00]

HILL: President Trump vows to keep fighting his case against E. Jean Carroll, even though the Supreme Court just denied his appeal. The denial means he's now going to have to pay $5 million in damages to the magazine columnist. This, of course, is after a New York civil court found the president liable for sexually abusing and defaming her.

CNN's Kara Scannell has been following all of this from the very beginning. So a win for E Jean Carroll after the Supreme Court said we're not going to look at this.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is a big win for E. Jean Carroll. It does mean that she will get the $5 million that the jury had awarded her. But as you say, Trump has vowed to fight this. And people close to Trump say that this is one of the many litigations that he personally detests. And so he will look for a way to fight this.

There are limited options here. He could file a petition for them taking a second look at this, but the bar for that is very high. It does mean, though, it's possible that it will delay the payout further.

But this was the appeal, having to deal with the sexual abuse and defamation case, where the jury had awarded Carroll $5 million. Trump had already set aside $5.5 million in a court-controlled account to cover that. So that is a piece there.

This case had to do with whether certain evidence should not have been allowed before the jury, including the infamous Access Hollywood tape and the testimony of two other women. But E. Jean Carroll and Trump's fight continues. There is the other case, the big $83 million verdict, where the jury awarded Carroll in damages.

That related solely to defamation. And Trump's team has vowed to bring that to the Supreme Court. In that case, they are expected to file their cert petition in the coming days. That case won't be heard by the justices until the fall.

It does involve weightier legal issues involving presidential immunity. So the question will be here, does the Supreme Court take that one up? Certainly she will not get any money from that jury award until much later if ultimately, he loses.

But this does just continue the continued fight between the two of them now for several years. And of course, E. Jean Carroll is now part of a criminal investigation by Trump's Justice Department -- Erica.

HILL: All right, Kara, really appreciate it. Thank you -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, the Supreme Court blocking President Trump's attempt to immediately fire a member of the Federal Reserve Board. The justices said that Lisa Cook can keep her job, at least for now.

CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich has been closely following this case for us. Vanessa, I understand both Lisa Cook and President Trump are responding to this decision. Tell us what they had to say.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, so Lisa Cook can remain on the board of the Federal Reserve in her role, at least for now, as you say, in this 5-4 opinion. Essentially, the Supreme Court said that she was not given enough notice for her termination for her firing by President Trump, and she was not able to respond to the firing, and that this should be worked out in the lower courts. Here's what President Trump said on Truth Social shortly after this

opinion came out. He said "The Cook lawsuit having to do with her suitability in sitting on the board of the Federal Reserve was sent back by the Supreme Court on strictly procedural basis. We will take appropriate action immediately to make sure that someone who has committed wrongdoing will not be making vital decisions concerning the welfare of the United States of America."

President Trump fired Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud, claiming that she took out two prime primary mortgages, but one was for her primary residence and one was actually for her vacation home. That is something that Lisa Cook has denied. She also released a statement, and here's what she's saying.

She said quote, "This was never about mortgage documents signed years before I became a Federal Reserve governor. It was an attempt to remove me on a manufactured pretext because I refused to bow to political pressure and continued to set interest rates based only on what would best serve the American people."

Now, Jim, it's been No secret that President Trump has been unhappy with the Federal Reserve for a while now because the Federal Reserve last year held interest rates steady for nine consecutive months because they were worried about inflation and they were worried about President Trump's trade war. But it's worth noting that if Lisa Cook, Jim, was removed or is removed in the future as this works its way through the lower courts, this does give an opening for President Trump to appoint someone new, someone that perhaps may be more inclined to follow his wishes.

But, of course, Jim, the key thing here is the independence of the Federal Reserve. It's been independent from any entity or government body since 1913, and that is the biggest concern for economists and Fed watchers alike -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes, and the irony is, even with appointments he's made, right, the Federal Reserve might be raising interest rates because of inflation. Vanessa Yurkevich, thanks so much.

Well, ahead, a prominent gay and Jewish lawmaker who champions trans rights says that he was forced to leave San Francisco's Trans March after he was confronted by protesters about the war in Gaza. State Senator Scott Wiener, he will join us live right after a quick break.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: A Democratic California state senator says he was verbally harassed and physically touched during a trans rights march in San Francisco last week by protesters who accused him of supporting genocide in Gaza. Scott Wiener is Jewish, openly gay, and a front- runner to replace former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the general election. He says he was forced to leave the march for his own safety.

Video circulating on social media captured the confrontation. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have anything to say about Gaza? How? How could you do this to San Francisco? Can someone like you do this to San Francisco? Scott, say something. Redeem yourself. Do something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:55:00]

HILL: State Senator Wiener has defended Israel's right to exist but also criticized its actions in Gaza and said it should not receive U.S. military aid. He joins me now. It's good to have you with us. Can you walk us through -- we saw some of the video there. Walk us through what happened in that moment and why you decided to leave.

SCOTT WIENER, (D) CALIFORNIA STATE SENATOR: Yes, it was really bad and unsafe situation. I went to Dolores Park for the Trans March, as I've done for the last 22 years, back to 2004 when it first started. I was looking forward to seeing folks I work with and friends in the trans community and supporting them.

And this group of really over the top extremists started running towards me and shouting. Swarmed all around me and actually physically touched me, were completely lying about my views and record on Gaza. I've called it a genocide, and I believe that it is, and I don't support U.S. funding for the Israeli military.

But they just lie. And they also kept talking about my, quote-unquote, Israeli handlers, which is not only a lie, but completely anti- Semitic. So it got so intense that I just left because it wasn't safe for me to stay, and I was going to be meeting up with my staff, and I didn't want it to be unsafe for them either, so it was best to leave, which was very, very sad.

HILL: You were actually, as I understand it, also on your way to a Pride Shabbat service. Do you think you were targeted at all because of your Jewish faith?

WIENER: Yes, I was on the way to a Pride Shabbat, a trans-led Pride Shabbat service in Dolores Park. And yes, listen, I have no problem with anyone talking to me about my views or asking me questions or challenging me. If people disagree, that's democracy. But when you start physically harassing and intimidating someone, putting hands on them, trying to drive them out of an event that goes way beyond First Amendment and what's healthy for democracy.

It's very destructive for democracy. And yes, there were elected officials in that march who have not taken the positions that I've taken, and they were left alone. It was only me who was targeted. So was it anti-Semitic? Absolutely. And it's really tragic.

HILL: I know we're a little tight on time, but you mentioned other elected officials. I'm curious, in the wake of this, have you heard from any Democratic leadership? Have you heard, for example, from Nancy Pelosi or from your challenger, Connie Chen? WIENER: I have not heard from Nancy Pelosi or from Connie Chen, but I have heard from hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of San Francisco residents, including numerous members of the trans community, lots of community leaders, just people who are horrified by what these individuals did to me and frankly, giving a black eye to the trans march because most of the people at the trans march are not like that. They are welcoming, wonderful people. And this gave a black eye to the trans march. And that is also just horrible.

HILL: We heard from that person who was yelling at you about your views. You've talked about your views specifically, as you just noted here. You have said you believe what's happening in Gaza is a genocide. You have called to cut back on military aid. Have you felt pressure from potential constituents to shift your positions on Israel-related issues during the campaign?

WIENER: I have been a harsh critic of the Israeli government for years, way before October 7th. And I very quickly after October 7th, I saw the direction that the Israeli response was going in terms of the complete destruction of Gaza. And I began opposing it in October of 2023, and I supported a ceasefire in November of 2023.

So I've been opposed to Israel's escalations in Gaza for a long time. And I think my views align with my constituents in San Francisco, but also with many Jews, because 40 percent of Jews and 52 percent of Jewish Democrats believe it's a genocide.

And so the Jewish community has very diverse thinking in this area, and I'm proud to represent that point of view, that we want Israel to exist, and we want to also make sure that Palestinians are not being killed.

[16:00:00]

HILL: We only have about 10 seconds, but do you think there is actually an appetite, though, to have that conversation about differing views, both within the party and, frankly, on a broader level?

WIENER: I think it's getting harder and harder. And as you saw, there are people who want to shut down the conversation. And if you're -- and that's so unhealthy for democracy and for the Democratic Party.

HILL: State Senator Scott Wiener, we appreciate you joining us this afternoon. Thank you.

WIENER: Thank you.

HILL: "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

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