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8 Candidates Running For House Seat In NY Democratic Primary; Tucker Carlson Says He Cannot Support The Republican Party; Starmer's Resignation Reshapes Labour's Future. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired June 23, 2026 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[04:31:47]
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. Three states they are going to the polls in primary elections today, and some of the most closely watched races will be right here in New York. And that includes the 12th congressional district, which lies entirely in Manhattan. Eight Democrats are vying for the nomination. And since a Republican hasn't really held that seat since the 1960s, whoever wins today is likely going to win come November. Here's CNN's Gloria Pazmino with a preview of this race.
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GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN ANCHOR (voiceover): A political insider.
MICAH LASHER, NEW YORK DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Micah Lasher, right, for Congress here in the neighborhood.
PAZMINO (voiceover): A technocrat facing Silicon Valley opposition.
ALEX BORES, NEW YORK DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: When we fight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We win.
PAZMINO (voiceover): A former Republican turned Trump critic.
GEORGE CONWAY, NEW YORK DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We are facing an existential crisis in the form of Donald Trump.
PAZMINO (voiceover): And a Kennedy scion running on his reach.
JACK SCHLOSSBERG, NEW YORK DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: I will be able to change the political system just by arriving in D.C.
PAZMINO (voiceover): 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jack isn't good at singing. PAZMINO (voiceover): Jack Schlossberg, son of Carolyn 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 (voiceover): 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 (voiceover): 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 (D-NY): I'm excited to see how this turns out, and I'm excited to be one of the many voters casting my vote.
PAZMINO (voiceover): 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 (voiceover): 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 (voiceover): 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 (voiceover): 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.
[04:35:10]
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.
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PAZMINO: Lasher has also secured the endorsement of outgoing Congressman Jerry Nadler, who is retiring after 17 terms in office. Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson says that he is turning his back on the Republican Party. The conservative commentator told podcast that he will not go back to the GOP ahead of the November midterm. And after years of being one of Donald Trump's loudest champions, Carlson recently walked back his support for President Trump.
He apologized for, quote, "misleading people." And despite these U turns, he says that he doesn't know who he'll support next.
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TUCKER CARLSON, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: I would not support the Republican Party. There's no chance I would support the Republican Party. Not going to support the Democratic Party. I don't know what I'm going to do.
But at this point, you know, how could you support, how could I or any American voter support a political party that's not loyal to the United States, that puts the interests of a foreign country above those of its own citizens? Like, that's, you know, it's not possible to vote for people like that.
So, no, I'm out. And if I'm out, then I think a lot of other people are out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: Well, Britain's Labour Party now entering a new era after Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that he will step down. That happened just 24 hours ago. Newly sworn in MP Andy Burnham, widely expected to succeed him as the party leader. Starmer's resignation, it follows months of declining popularity and also mounting pressure from lawmakers as well as members of his own government. Here's CNN's Max Foster with more.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): 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, BRITISH 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 (voiceover): 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 palace. For many in his own party, it confirmed what they already feared. Starmer's judgment couldn't be trusted.
The warning signs came again in May 2025 when the hard right UK Reform Party swept the local elections, ending decades of Labour 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 (voiceover): 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. As for the man leaving an emotional ending.
STARMER: And when I leave the biggest job in the country, I shall spend more time on the most important job, being the best husband I can to my fantastic wife Vic, who has been a rock by my side through good times and bad. And being the best dad I can to my beautiful children who are my pride and my joy. Thank you very much.
FOSTER (voiceover): A rare crack of character for a famously controlled politician. Nominations for the leadership contests open July the 9th. Britain may have its seventh prime minister in a decade by the summer. Max Foster, CNN, Downing Street, London.
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SANDOVAL: And more of your headlines in a moment.
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SANDOVAL: All right. Now to the latest on the screwworm outbreak here in the United States. According to the U.S. department of Agriculture, this flesh-eating fly was found in a goat in Texas. This marks now the 16th case in the century over the past, I should say the 16th case in the country over the past month. Here's CNN's Ed Lavandera with more.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN Senior National CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): When David Henderson makes the call, his cowherd listens. LAVANDERA: So this is how you come and inspect him?
DAVID HENDERSON, TEXAS CATTLE RANCHER: Yes, more than anything, I'm just visually inspecting them.
LAVANDERA (voiceover): He's looking for any signs that his cows have been infected by the dreaded New World screwworm fly.
LAVANDERA: So when you're out here, what are you looking for right now?
HENDERSON: Anywhere I see blood, cuts, wounds, anything like that.
LAVANDERA: This might be the most intimidating interview location I've ever had in my entire life.
HENDERSON: I don't need any cows. My daughters can't walk in the field around.
LAVANDERA (voiceover): For almost 30 years, Henderson has raised cattle in this secluded spot in the East Texas woods. It's a tough business, but he's never faced a threat like the screwworm. The New World screwworm was eradicated from the U.S. in the 1960s and 70s and pushed southward. But over the last few years, the fly has been making its way back north from Central America into Mexico. And recently disc at least a dozen cases have now popped up across the state and New Mexico and ranchers fear it will spread wider.
LAVANDERA: What the screwworm fly does is it looks for open wounds on cattle and other warm-blooded animals. Then it deposits eggs. And when those eggs hatch, the larvae burrow their way into the tissue of the animal. And that's when the real problems begin.
LAVANDERA (voiceover): The screwworm can cause serious infections or damage to vital organs and that can kill the animal. It's treatable, but it can also cause overwhelming costs in quarantines and animal care for ranchers.
HENDERSON: It's a strong concern of mine, a very strong concern. I mean, this is my livelihood.
LAVANDERA: Do you think this could threaten to put some cattle ranchers out of business?
HENDERSON: Yes, I do. If it gets bad enough and it starts affecting a lot of animals, you have death of animals. If you start losing and losing large quantities, it's definitely going to affect the beef industry in a major way.
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LAVANDERA: Prices at the grocery store are going to go up.
HENDERSON: They don't have a choice.
LAVANDERA: It's nerve wracking, though. HENDERSON: It is, yes, it is.
DR. JARED RANLY, VETERINARIAN: This cow belongs to a client.
LAVANDERA (voiceover): Jared Randle is a veterinarian in Central Texas.
RANLY: We removed that eye lesion and we were just monitoring it for a couple days.
LAVANDERA (voiceover): This is the kind of equipment you need to closely inspect a 1300-pound cow. Since the return of the screwworm, his phone has been ringing off the hook.
RANLY: The last week has been sort of a storm. You know, when the first case hit in Texas, everybody sort of panicked.
LAVANDERA: People extremely worried.
RANLY: People are seeing pictures of flies on animals, on dead animals. They found they were texting in those pictures. Right now, we're not taking any chances. So, any larvae we find, we want to send those off to be evaluated to determine if it's a screwworm larvae or a different larvae.
LAVANDERA (voiceover): To fight the spread, the U.S. department of Agriculture and Texas officials are releasing millions of sterile flies around infected zones to control fly reproduction. The ranchers we spoke to feel the sterile flies aren't being produced fast enough. And the cattle industry is bracing for a long fight.
RANLY: It's something that -- that I may spend the rest of my life fighting.
LAVANDERA (voiceover): Jared Ranly first learned about the screwworm fly in veterinarian school textbooks. Now the past has come back to haunt the ranch.
RANLY: I never thought in my life that we would be violent screw worms again, to be honest with you.
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LAVANDERA: There has been a great deal of criticism directed at the Trump administration for the way it's handling its response to the new world screwworm. A group of senators say that staffing cuts and funding cuts have hampered the U.S. Department of Agriculture's response to all of this. Agency denies those claims, says there's plenty of funding, and goes on to blame Mexico for not doing more to prevent it from reaching the United States. Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas, Texas.
SANDOVAL: The music world is remembering a legend. Clive Davis, who brought us the likes of Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel and so many others a look at his life and his career when we return.
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SANDOVAL: Welcome back. U.S. President Donald Trump says that vandals have damaged a reflecting pool at the national mall in Washington, D.C. and that they should face up to 10 years in prison. The president has not provided any evidence of said vandalism, but security cameras have now been installed around the pool.
Five arrests have been made for alleged vandalism and citations have been issued to five other people, according to authorities. But prosecutors haven't filed any formal charges with the reflecting pool is clouded with green algae and peeling paints, despite a $14 million renovation there, and President Trump on Monday said that the vandalism included a 350-foot slit.
However, it was in early May that he talked about the heavy liner getting installed, even bragged about it and said this.
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: This will last for at least 50 years and you'll never have a leak. It's very strong. You couldn't if you had a knife, I don't want to give anybody ideas. If you had a knife, you can't even cut it. So strong, so powerful, powerful rubber.
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SANDOVAL: Not powerful enough. A former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has died. He served five terms under four presidents, starting with Ronald Reagan. Greenspan presided over one of the strongest economic expansions in U.S. history, but he was later blamed for bank failures and also the collapse of the housing market in the late 2000s.
Greenspan married veteran NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell, his second wife, in 1997. She announced his passing on Monday. Alan Greenspan was 100 years old.
The music industry is paying tribute to Clive Davis, the groundbreaking producer and executive discovered some of the biggest stars of the 1990s through the 90s -- of the 1960s, I should say all the way up to the 90s.
Well, he passed away on Monday at the age of 94. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister taking a look back at this legend.
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CLIVE DAVIS, AMERICAN EXECUTIVE AND RECORD PRODUCER: I like music, but I was just a fan. I mean, this was totally by accident that I got into this field.
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, the Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen, Santana, and the list goes on. Clive Davis, known as the man with the golden ears, either discovered them or helped catapult them into music superstardom.
DAVIS: My parents died when I was a late teenager. I had no money to rise above the station. I studied law to become a lawyer. The fates were good.
Luck was in my way. And the firm that I went to work for represented Columbia Records. I became their general counsel for five years, and then overnight, I was made head of the company.
WAGMEISTER (voiceover): His knack for finding talent was almost immediately evident.
DAVIS: A sense to revolution was in the works. I realized instinctively that this was a time that I had to trust and go with my instinct, because the stereo revolution was over and music was changing, and I had to -- it was going to be up to me, in effect, to move this company forward. And I think within the next two years, from the signing of Janis Joplin and Donovan and Blood, Sweat and Tears and Santana and then Chicago, and when they all hit one after another, and I was there making that judgment and I saw them all come through, it obviously gave me confidence to keep going.
With me, it's just a natural gift, if you will, that I never knew I had. There's no metrics, there's no study. It's just both a combination of common sense, trusting your ear and your instinct. How special is this?
WAGMEISTER (voiceover): Janis Joplin was one of his first discoveries there.
DAVIS: I had a connection with Joplin, whether it was trust, whether it was integrity, we had an instant connection.
WAGMEISTER (voiceover): And not only did Davis find all the right artists, he also found them the right songs.
[04:55:02]
DAVIS: Regarding Whitney. I was there when her career began. I discovered her when she was 19. And we embarked on this odyssey, breaking every record in the record book.
WAGMEISTER (voiceover): Davis was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1932. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he won four Grammy Awards, a Grammy Trustee Award, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame in 2000.
DAVIS: And if you're a survivor and in show business, whether you're an artist, as an executive, you've got to be a survivor and you've got to rise above cold periods. You've got to come back.
WAGMEISTER (voiceover): Davis married twice and had four children. In 2013, he released a memoir called the Soundtrack of My Life. In it, he revealed that he was bisexual.
DAVIS: This wasn't that I was bisexual when I was married. This is something that only occurred after my second marriage failed. So for the first time, having failed in marriage twice, not related at all to sex, I open myself up to the possibility of having a relationship with a person rather than a gender.
WAGMEISTER (voiceover): And though his golden ears were legend, he said recognizing opportunity was the real secret to his success.
DAVIS: I was really in the right place at the right time. It was luck. I'm not being modest. It was luck that I got that opportunity. I think life is seizing those opportunities.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL: A true icon of showbiz. And thank you so much for joining me the last hour of news. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. Our coverage continues with CNN Headline Express in a moment.
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