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Trump Says Negotiations With Iran To Begin Tomorrow; Trump Squabbles With Senate GOP Leader Before Midterms; Interview With Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE); Three Wildfires Torch 5,000-Plus Acres In Spokane County, Washington; Cyber Attacks Reported On Water Systems In At Least Seven States; Michigan Democrats To Choose Senate Candidate In Critical Race; An Airport Search, A Wiped Phone And A Fourth Amendment Test. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired August 02, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:26]

BRIAN ABEL, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Brian Abel in Atlanta.

Oil prices just open for trading tonight, and they are sliding about 4 percent. There is relief after President Trump said he canceled planned attacks on Iran and that negotiations will begin tomorrow to reopen the critical oil shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, now what we're doing is we're talking to them in the form of a negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon, and we'll see if it's -- I'd love to do that. Save a lot of lives. Save a lot of unnecessary power, to be honest with you. Take many, many years to ever build it back. If it could -- I don't think it would be even buildable back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Iran has yet to make any official comments on Trump's announcement.

CNN's Julia Benbrook is joining us now.

Julia, we just heard from the president there aboard Air Force One. What all is the president saying about his decision to hold off on these attacks?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump, he spent most of his weekend here in New Jersey at one of his nearby properties, and on his way back to Washington, that's where he made those remarks about these strikes. Leading up to this, officials had told CNN that the president was considering that he was planning for new strikes against Iran, and that those plans consider -- included, excuse me, an option of targeting Iran's energy sites.

Now, Trump, he took to social media over the weekend saying that he was canceling those planned strikes, but that that decision was contingent on Tehran rapidly making a deal. I want to pull up that post for you now. In it, Trump said that the United States remains, quote, "locked and loaded." But then he went on to say, "Despite this, we have been asked by Iran and other Middle Eastern countries to hold off any attack and that the parameters of a deal has been agreed to."

This move came after Trump spoke with Saudi Arabia's crown prince and people familiar with that conversation said that there was a push for de-escalation. There were concerns about these new potential strikes. Trump said that allies played a key role here in calling off what he referred to as a massive attack. So he says that these talks are going to start up again tomorrow. He was asked specifically how long Iran has to come to an agreement if there's any sort of a deadline here. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You see, you see how it is. We're ready to go anytime we want. Would I rather make a deal? I'm not looking to kill people because people die. A lot of people die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: Trump has said that any sort of a deal with Iran would need to include the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as an end to Iran's nuclear program. He has said that pieces, parameters of a deal are in place, but we've heard familiar language like that throughout this now more than five-month-long conflict. So still a lot of questions here -- Brian.

ABEL: Still a lot of questions indeed. Julia Benbrook for us in New Jersey. Julia, thank you.

The Senate is rushing to get last-minute business done before it goes on its August recess in a week. But President Trump has other ideas. He wants his SAVE America Act passed before then.

And as Manu Raju explains, that's put him on a collision course with the Republican leader of the Senate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Republican senators are growing anxious about the tension between President Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune. There has been a gulf between the two men that has grown only wider over a wide range of issues, ranging from Donald Trump's demand to blow up the Senate filibuster to pass his agenda along party lines. Thune simply does not want to go that route and says the votes aren't there to do that. Republicans say they'll need the filibuster someday when they're in the Senate minority.

And then Trump wants to pass other parts of his agenda that simply don't have the votes to be approved in the United States Senate. Like the SAVE America Act. That's a voting restrictions bill that Trump has been demanding for months. Thune says the votes are not there. In fact, there have been votes in the Senate to demonstrate that the votes are not there. But Trump will not take no for an answer.

But there have been other issues as well. Trump deciding earlier this year to get behind John Cornyn's primary challenger in that all- important Texas Senate race.

[19:05:00]

Thune had pleaded with Trump for months to back Cornyn, concerned that the person who won that race, Ken Paxton, who is now the nominee, that he may lose that seat that could cost them the majority in November. Trump didn't listen.

And then there are other issues as well. Trump continuing to push his so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund that Thune and other Republicans want him to pull the plug on because it's causing so many problems over getting other parts of Trump's agenda through. And what's causing a lot of frustration is Trump's refusal to offer a vote of confidence for Thune himself when he was asked about this at the White House last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And do you think Senate Majority Leader John Thune, after the comments you heard regarding SAVE America and some other stuff, do you think he's still the man for the job?

TRUMP: Well, we're going to find out and I'll let you know.

RAJU: What do you say to the president who's not giving you a vote of confidence? What do you say to the president? What do you say to the president?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When's the last time you talked to the president?

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): Let him through. He doesn't vote in our election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now the tension could hit a boiling point this week when the Senate is scheduled to go on a recess by the end of the week. But Trump has been demanding to blow that up, wants Thune to scrap the August recess and pass what's known as the budget resolution. That would pave the way for tens of billions of dollars for the Iran war and for new voting restrictions across the country. But Republican senators tell me they are divided over this prospect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Would it be a mistake to not move the budget resolution before the August recess for John Thune?

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): Yes. Yes, it would be a big mistake. No, that would be an enormous mistake.

RAJU: Why? What would voters think about you guys if you didn't do that?

JOHNSON: Well, you know, our supporters wouldn't take kindly to it.

RAJU: Is it realistic to do a budget resolution before August recess?

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): I don't believe so. I don't believe that it is realistically possible to do it. I question the political wisdom as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: All this putting pressure on Thune about how to proceed in a difficult election environment.

Manu Raju, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: Manu, thank you.

Joining me now, Nebraska Republican Congressman Mike Flood.

Congressman Flood, thank you for joining us. I want to start with what you just heard there from Manu. Are you concerned that this party infighting will hurt you and other Republicans at the polls this November?

REP. MIKE FLOOD (R-NE): Well, we've already delivered a lot for the American people. The biggest tax cut in American history. And as the housing subcommittee chairman, I can tell you what we did on housing that is now a public law with Republicans and Democrats is going to help us build more homes in America faster, cheaper, and on time with delivery for the American people. And so we've got a lot to run on. The Senate has its process.

I fly in the same plane with the majority leader as he leaves the heartland and heads to Washington. And I can tell you he's a great leader, a good man, and a wonderful leader for the U.S. Senate.

ABEL: You know, I know that there are some voters that will say, yes, but what have you done for me lately? Not the entire track record. Right? But there are a number of senators who say the Senate should cancel recess until it passes Trump's SAVE America Act legislation. If the Senate is stuck in session, how might that affect members' ability to get out on the campaign trail during this critical election season?

FLOOD: Well, more important than the campaign trail, members of Congress, both in the House and the Senate, have been planning events with constituents in their districts or their home states most of the year. So August is a really important time for us to connect with the people that we represent. And so far, be it for me to tell the Senate how to do their business. I know there's probably a lot of senators that have a lot on their plate that they want to get to.

We did in the House passed that reconciliation budget matter. It does have SAVE Act in it. I would hope they could vote on it, but I know their process is complicated and I know their process is much different than ours, where one member can really hold things up. So I wouldn't pretend to know the math or the frustrations they have to deal with. Listen, if they came back and did this in September, that'd be good for me as well. Just get it done.

ABEL: But what I think I hear you saying is that it would have an impact on the calendars of lawmakers, of members like yourselves that have had to, you know, schedule things out well in advance.

FLOOD: Well, for instance, this week I have the CFTC commissioner coming to Lincoln, Nebraska, and we're going to talk about prediction markets, which are a very big issue right now in America, American markets. We have things like that that are scheduled. I think some people think that it's just all campaigning. It's bigger than campaigning. It's actually connecting with the major institutions of your state or your district to help guide the policy of the United States, whether they stay in or not.

Listen, there's still time to get this passed. I'm really excited that Leader Thune and Senator Fisher and others have been able to come up with an E-15 year round plan that could pass in a farm bill. If you would have asked me if that was possible two months ago, I wouldn't have been very bullish on it.

[19:10:00]

But listen, the Senate has been doing a lot of heavy lifting. Whether they get it done now or in September, that's their business.

ABEL: Now, Congressman, I do want to talk a little bit more about the leader of your party making this push for the SAVE America Act, and the reason why I want to talk about it is because we have polling out this week, CNN polling that was released showing that more than 70 percent of Americans say President Trump has not paid enough attention to the country's most important problems.

What does that say about Republican priorities going into the midterms when you see that kind of polling?

FLOOD: When you said 70 percent, I thought you were going to talk about the poll where 90 percent of Republicans and 70 percent of Democrats don't think it's too much to ask for an I.D. at the voting booth. That was the poll I thought you were going to say.

The house, the Senate and the White House worked really hard on the housing legislation. I know the president made a statement with the SAVE Act. I am talking to folks now. What we did on housing affordability in a bipartisan manner in this kind of Congress is absolutely addressing the affordability issue that I think a lot of Americans are going to vote on in November.

When you can come up with policy that is the biggest change in our housing approach in 36 years, and do it in this type of an environment, not just Democrats, not just Republicans, but everybody in Congress can celebrate that. ABEL: Congressman, looking to the future here, let's take President

Trump out of the equation for just a moment because I want to know if there's a clear picture for Republicans of what the party's priorities are going to be, are looking like without President Trump since he is not going to be running the next presidential election cycle.

FLOOD: Well, we have a really good bench. I mean, think about who we have that the top of everybody's mind when it comes to president. You've got the vice president, J.D. Vance, who has demonstrated leadership throughout all of the different issues that he's been in. Marco Rubio, secretary of state, has handedly earned the confidence of a great majority of members in the U.S. Congress.

We have governors across this nation that are leading with distinction, and we have senators and members of the House that have done things like delivered the biggest tax cut in American history, getting rid of taxes on tips, over time, increasing the standard deduction, raising the child tax credit, increasing the low income housing tax credits, getting rid of the death tax, which is now permanent, making it easier to pass on the family farm.

We have a lot of wins. We have so many wins it's hard to message them all in an environment where Democrats have very successfully used media to turn a lot of these issues against us when we can run on things that people actually know resonate. I mean, housing affordability. Nothing is a bigger expense to an American family than the check they write for their mortgage or their rent.

ABEL: Well, and Congressman --

FLOOD: That is the biggest line item for average Americans.

ABEL: You are talking about the cost of living, and I'm curious what your message is to voters who argue the cost of living is still too high. But Republicans have had control of the White House and both chambers of Congress. What is your message to them? Because I hear you talking about a lot of big wins, but people might not necessarily be feeling that right now. Is that what you're hearing from constituents?

FLOOD: Well, I'll be the first to say prices are too high. And we started, when we took over from President Biden, where inflation had skyrocketed and we got it under control, gas prices came down. And guess what? Gas are probably going to come down this week as well, given what's going on with the situation in Iran. But no president, no country gets to pick the cards they are dealt.

We have a terrorist state known as Iran that has been killing Americans, Israelis, people in the Middle East for decades. They made us do this to protect the interests and the national security of the United States of America.

ABEL: But, Congressman, you also --

FLOOD: And we have a president willing to act.

ABEL: You also have a president that is acting without congressional approval at this point.

FLOOD: That has --

(CROSSTALK)

ABEL: So is it not a conflict of choice here when they -- when he has not gone to the Hill for approval on this?

FLOOD: Well, the conflict that we have today is very different than the conflict we had in March. We have successfully several times brought this government of martyrs to the table to try and find a lasting peace so that we can transit the Strait of Hormuz, so that we don't have to live with the prospect of Iran getting a dirty bomb or a nuclear bomb that they could use on our soil.

I appreciate the fact the president is not kicking the can. We're not sending over a plane with billions of dollars that they can use to fund Hamas, Hezbollah.

[19:15:02]

I mean, just that alone. Think about this. The Houthis, the Hezbollah, the Hamas, these people were all funded by the government of Iran. I mean, we have to deal with it. You can't look the other way and say it's going to get better. My barber, who's literally 85, he's cut my hair and he says, listen, we can't cut and run. And I thought, he gets it. He's been living this nightmare with Iran since 1979. And he's the first to say, we can't do anything that remotely looks like Joe Biden did in Afghanistan. Let's finish the job.

ABEL: Congressman, I really appreciate you coming on, taking the time. Pleasure talking with you. Thank you, sir.

FLOOD: Have a good weekend.

ABEL: You, too.

Still ahead for us, we are tracking multiple wildfires burning across Washington state in what's being described as the most destructive fires in state history. Plus, growing concern over cyber-attacks targeting water systems in at least seven states. What we are learning, and who officials believe may be behind these attacks.

Also, contentions -- contentious races, rather, that's pitting progressives against centrist Democrats. A look at what we could expect from Tuesday's big primary day in Michigan.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:20:39]

ABEL: We are following breaking news in Washington, the state of Washington, where the worst fires in the country, are torching the state. In Spokane, the county there, three major wildfires are devastating the area and forcing thousands to evacuate. The flames, fueled by extreme heat, have burned more than 5,000 acres and destroyed hundreds of buildings. President Trump has been in touch with the state's governor, Bob Ferguson, about the damage. Washington officials say many people have already lost everything they own as crews race to control the flames.

Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown confirmed extensive resources are on the way to help fight the fires. We spoke to her in the last hour and she broke down what the area needs most.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR LISA BROWN, SPOKANE, WASHINGTON: We need support with securing private property. Fortunately, the National Guard is available to help with that, but we are going to need help with housing, housing assistance and debris removal. Those are going to be two top priorities until people can get back to check on their property.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Julia Vargas Jones is on the ground for us in Spokane.

And Julia, we see some of the devastation behind you. Tell us what you've been able to see.

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Those hundreds of structures damaged or destroyed. The number is around 600. At this point, Brian, still preliminary, but I want to show you just one of these homes. This was a single family home. As we've been here talking to folks, an older gentleman walked over and said, asked to borrow one of our crew's phones actually to call his grandson.

He said this was my grandson's house. He lived here with his wife, who is pregnant, and their three children. Thankfully. Brian, he said, they're all in safety. They've been -- they were able to evacuate on time and be elsewhere, but the unimaginable loss of this one family and you just multiply that by every single family that's going through something like that. How long for that community to heal, to come back to a place where they can have a happy family in a home.

Their truck was spared, covered, as you see in fire retardant that was sprayed all over this neighborhood of northwest Spokane. And just across the street, you know, houses that are perfectly fine or seem at least from where we're seeing. Of course, we don't know the extent of smoke damage or what the backside of this house may look like, but it seems from what we're seeing, this very residential neighborhood is across the river from where the fire began.

And all of this is a land that is parked, there's trails. This is a Northern Indian Trail around this part. The fire then skipping that river and coming over to this area. As you mentioned, we did hear from authorities in the past couple of hours that given some kinds of updates of the help that these people are going to get. The governor saying that he had spoken with President Trump, who was aware of this, and saying that he was hoping to secure aid from FEMA, at least in the short term, to help those affected by the disaster. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BOB FERGUSON (D-WA): There are just so many Washingtonians who have literally lost everything in a very, very short period of time. Just in a matter of hours, their lives changed in deeply dramatic and fundamental ways. And so it's difficult to find words when folks have experienced a loss like that. But we want all those individuals to know that we are all here for the long haul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Now, both Washington and Oregon, Brian, are being hit by one of the worst wildfire seasons in about 30 years. 2.1 million acres have already burned as of July 30th -- Brian.

ABEL: Such a difficult situation for everybody there.

Julia Vargas Jones, thank you.

Coming up, officials searching for clues after multiple states are hit with a cyber-attack targeting their water systems.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:29:01]

ABEL: We are back with growing concern over cyber-attacks on water systems in at least seven states. Minnesota and Wisconsin are among those states that have reported attacks. Minnesota authorities say hackers have targeted about 30 water systems in the state alone.

While U.S. and state officials are treating Iran as one of the suspects, President Trump blamed Minnesota Governor Tim Walz without citing any evidence.

For more on all of this, we are joined by Anne Neuberger, former deputy national security advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology.

Thank you for joining us, Anne. First, from your experience, how serious are these cyber-attacks on these municipal water systems?

ANNE NEUBERGER, FORMER DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER FOR CYBER AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: First, that's exactly the question. Water safety and delivery remain intact. This wasn't a sophisticated attack. Essentially, the adversaries searched the internet for available, accessible systems, access them, and then try to change the passwords to lock out those who administer them.

[19:30:03]

Those administrators were able to reconnect manually. So, there's been no impact to water delivery or the safety of water.

ABEL: Okay, so that's some good news there. If they were more sophisticated attacks, would that be a cause for concern given the target? NEUBERGER: So, water systems are important systems. There are about 500 systems that serve 50 percent of Americans and obviously having clean water is important. Over the last number of years, these systems, which were necessarily built for being connected to the internet, have been connected to the internet, and many have poor security.

And as a result, you know, they have been accessible. It is important that these systems are secure. The good news is there are some pretty simple steps that water administrators can take to ensure that their systems are secure and prevent the kinds of attacks that we're seeing, because it is important that the systems that Americans can trust their water systems, and that systems like these shouldn't be accessible and available to attackers.

ABEL: Yes, I guess that leads to my next question of, once again, if it was a more sophisticated attack, how easy would it have been for hackers that know what they're doing to achieve the goals of impacting the pressure and potentially contaminating the water systems?

NEUBERGER: So, the, you know, the operational parts, I visited a water system a while back in San Jose, and there's essentially two parts to a water system. There's the operational technology part that, as you said, controls the pressure parts, controls the addition of chemicals and there's those systems that often are completely distinct from the internet. And then you have the systems that are connected to the internet, often to allow workers who may be working from home to adjustment to check on things if they can't, or they may not want to go into a system.

So, if you have real security built between that first part of the system and the second part of the system, or in industry terms, the operational part of the system and the traditional I.T. part of the system, it's hard for even a sophisticated attacker to get in because you can really control that link and ensure that only authorized connections are allowed.

And a lot of the security technology available today can give you strong confidence that even a sophisticated attack couldn't get in.

ABEL: All right, Anne Neuberger, thank you so much for letting us your expertise.

NEUBERGER: My pleasure, thank you.

ABEL: Still to come, voters in Michigan are preparing to vote in one of the most important contests for Democrats, hoping to take back control of Congress. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:37:00]

ABEL: On Tuesday, Democratic voters in Michigan will go to the polls in what could be a pivotal primary election that may ultimately help determine control of the U.S. Senate in November. The candidates are Abdul el-Sayed, who's backed by progressive stars like Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

El-Sayed is running against Congresswoman Haley Stevens, who's backed by Democratic leaders. Recent polls have shown El-Sayed taking a lead in the race. The winner will face former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers in November.

Joining us now, CNN political commentator David Urban, a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign adviser. We're also joined by Chuck Rocha, a Democratic strategist and former senior adviser to Bernie Sander's Presidential campaigns.

Thank you both for joining U.S. Chuck, let's begin with you. How crucial, in your estimation, is Tuesdays Michigan Primary, in your view, and why?

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST AND FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO BERNIE SANDER'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS: Well, I think it's important, but I also think that the overall state in November is probably even more important. Hence why, stay with me, David, the primary is important because there is no path for Democrats to have any chance at having the majority if we have to defend Michigan in the general.

We all think that Michigan is a state that should be blue. Rogers ran two years ago. it's important for the Republican who were not talking about here. He ran two years ago when Donald Trump was on the ballot and got beat. So, whoever wins the primary, I think it's going to be in decent shape to beat Rogers because he's already been beat just two years ago, and Donald Trump was on the ticket then.

ABEL: Oh, Chuck, don't worry, we're going to talk about that other candidate because I'm going to ask David it right now --

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Brian, he's overly optimistic. I love Chuck, I love Chuck, but he's overly optimistic. Listen, Brian, the person that beat Mike Rogers is Elissa Slotkin, who is a House member, was a member of the "Mod Squad" at the time to separate and identified herself as somebody different than the squad, than AOC and the rest of the kind of Progressives in the Democratic Party. So --

ABEL: David, I might have to correct you on that. I don't believe Elissa Slotkin was part of the squad. I know Rashida Tlaib was.

URBAN: No, no, no, I said she was a part of the "Mod Squad" M-O-D.

ABEL: Okay.

URBAN; So, part of the "Mod Squad" to differentiate herself from the squad right from AOC. So, she ran as a very centrist and she barely beat Mike Rogers. She beat him by 83.6 percent to 83.3 percent, 0.3 percent of the vote, 18,000 votes out of about 5.3 million cast.

Now, contrast that with Abdul El-Sayed, very smart guy. I've sat with him on CNN on the set U of M grad, Rhodes Scholar, Columbia Medical School, a very bright guy. But what differentiates him from Elissa Slotkin is his incredibly progressive politics. He campaigned with Hasan Piker, a terrible human being who said America deserved 9/11. Imagine that on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, I'm not quite sure that's going to play so well in in kind of, you know, in Michigan, in the heartland.

[19:35:10]

He is embraced by the DSA. Chuck knows the DSA is death for the Democratic Party. They're going to want to run as far apart as they can because the DSA wants to do things like get rid of our system of government. Basically, they want to abandon the 250 years of, you know, co-equal branches of government and just do lots of other crazy things.

So, while Elissa Slotkin ran as a kind of blue dog Democrat, which chuck knows and used to populate this, this town and across America, Dr. Sayed is running as a really progressive, and that's the huge difference here in Michigan.

ABEL: Well, and there's also representative Haley Stevens in this race too. David, Chuck, I do want to let you respond to that because you worked on Senator Bernie Sander's Presidential campaigns. When do you see these progressive candidates picking up steam in the Democratic primary elections? But establishment figures are resisting that arm of the party? What message do you think that sends to voters?

ROCHA: I think there's a lot of energy in the Democratic Party from every side of our party. And what David laid out is a lot of the different sides of it all in one place. One thing that we're really going to be able to tell on Tuesday night, and some things went underreported here is the autoworkers and the Auto Workers Union.

As the former head of the Steelworkers Union, when I lived in Pittsburgh, the auto workers still mean something in Michigan. I still think they mean something in a lot of places. But Michigan, there's lots of retired autoworkers, and they're behind El-Sayed. And as you said, the establishments behind Haley Stevens.

Now I'm saying how the unions endorsed the membership is free to vote, who they want to vote for. And David loves to remind me that a lot of those folks actually voted for Donald Trump. And this is my point is El-Sayed is running to forget these forever wars, and let's not take our money and send it overseas. Let's drain the swamp and complain about $60 million spending against him in the super PACs. And I haven't endorsed anybody here. But I'm really watching where the UAW lines up because they have a big part to play in this primary.

ABEL: But do they have a big enough part to overcome the progressive side of this equation? Because, Chuck, you know, harkening back to what David was saying with Representative Elissa Slotkin, who won districts on the same ticket that President Trump won the last election with as a moderate. So do you think that a more progressive candidate that's in the Bernie Sanders' wing could actually go up against Mike Rogers in the general, when you saw how slim the margin of victory for Elissa Slotkin was the last time Rogers lost?

ROCHA: Again, I am half full here because it's an off-year election. If it was a Presidential year and if Donald Trump was on the ballot bringing lots of new people again, this Democrat gives him credit who he brings to the ballot box. I think it's a whole different equation.

But in an off-year election, you only have about 70 percent of the Presidential turnout that shows up. And in a year where the President just won election, I think history is on our side. And you see a lot of energy, more so for the Democrats. If this is some other year, I'm having a different conversation.

URBAN: Well, Brian, we have to see who comes out on Tuesday night, that's the big -- that's the $64,000.00 question, right, as you point to.

You know, Chuck, you know, I think you're going to be much more comfortable with one -- I know you're not endorsing, but I know you'd be much more comfortable with one candidate and her name begins with an "H" than another candidate. If you have to go against Mike Rogers in the fall, just, my thinking from one guy to another, Chuck.

ABEL: Well, let's ask chuck because obviously Abdul El-Sayed is more or less a disciple of Bernie Sanders, who you know very well, Chuck, so would you be more comfortable with a Bernie Sanders protege or Haley Stevens.

ROCHA: I think Tuesday will tell I don't get to vote in Tuesday and you don't get to Chuck Rocha endorsement unless you pay me to come and work for you. And I ain't working for either one of these two folks. Now, I'm working for a young man down in Texas if you all want to talk about Talarico. But on Tuesday, I'll be with whoever wins the primary.

ABEL: All right. David, last word to you, sir.

URBAN; Listen, listen, I'm going to be tuning in. I think that, Haley Stevens, it's going to be, this is this is a bigger race than just about Haley Stevens versus, you know, Abdul El-Sayed, I think it's really a race for the soul of the Democratic Party, because if you -- if Hasan Piker is on one side, right, that's the side that you don't want to win.

And, you know, if El-Sayed would have come out and disavowed him and said, he's a terrible person, the things he stands for are terrible, disavowed some of the DSA parts of the of his platform. I think he'd be a much stronger candidate come the fall. But he's wrapping himself in that. And you can't, you know, you're spending a lot of money to put that out now. You're not going to be able to un-ring that bell come next, come this November.

So, November 2nd is going to be a tough time for him. If he does win.

ABEL: David, before we get to November, we get to Tuesday and we'll see how it all plays out. David Urban, Chuck Rocha, thank you for the spirited conversation.

URBAN; Thanks, Brian.

ROCHA: Thank you, Brian. ABEL: On Tuesday, don't miss, key primary races across America, including the consequential races for Governor and Congress in Michigan. Get election results all night Tuesday on CNN and the CNN App.

An activist is stopped at the Atlanta airport and reportedly erases his phone, instead of handing over his data to Border Patrol. Now he's facing charges, details ahead.

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ABEL: Now to a story that could put the Fourth Amendment to the test. That's the amendment that protects Americans from unreasonable search and seizure. This happened last year at Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson Airport. Sam Tunick, an activist and U.S. citizen says Border Patrol officers started searching his devices, luggage and diary without a warrant when he was returning to the U.S. from vacation.

When officers asked for his phone's passcode, he did something unexpected let's just say. CNN's Holmes Lybrand is joining us now. Holmes, walk us through this case because parts of it has some James Bond elements to it.

HOLMES LYBRAND, CNN REPORTER: Yes, it's a very interesting case. So, this is back, as you said, in January of 2025. Sam Tunic is pulled over when he's returning from the U.S. from a vacation in the Dominican Republic. He is landing at the Atlantic International Airport, the Atlanta International Airport. He gets pulled over, pulled out by CBP officers who start going through his luggage, going through his personal journal and demanding to search his phone.

Now, Tunick says that he was asking for an attorney at the time, that he even had a business card for the attorney, for his personal attorney. But those requests and him refusing to hand over things they were denied by those officers.

Now, those officers, when they're taking his phone and asking for the passcode, they told Tunick, according to Tunick and his attorneys, that they believed he had child sexual abuse material on his device, and that's why they wanted to search it.

It's that time that prosecutors say Tunick gave those officers a code, but that code, it actually wiped his phone and locked it down so that law enforcement could not get inside and there was no data inside to even retrieve.

Now, it wasn't until about a year after this incident that Tunick was eventually charged. He was charged with one count of destroying property to try to prevent a seizure. Again, this is a very interesting case for a lot of different reasons, but this question of your rights and Fourth Amendment rights at the border, when you're entering in, where are those limits and what limits really exist at that point?

Because when you're crossing in, the Border Patrol, they told me that they can search your devices, that they believe that they have the authority. Even if you're a U.S. citizen, if you're entering the U.S., they believe they have the authority to search through those devices.

Now, Tunick's attorneys also say that in a hearing last week, because they're fighting this case, CBP officers said they actually didn't have a reason to believe that Tunick had that child sexual abuse material on his phone. And Tunick's attorneys, they believe that they were actually trying to search his phone because of Tunick's left-wing activism.

So again, there's a lot to this case and a lot of potential implications down the road.

ABEL: And the timeline of it all, when he decided to give that code, that dress pass code, if he would have done it right before he was asked to, it might have been a whole different story during an active search. So many different elements to this.

Holmes Lybrand really appreciate you helping us break it down, thank you.

We'll be right back.

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ABEL: Next, senior correspondent Donie O'Sullivan is traveling the country to examine the growing power of Democratic Progressives in the battle for the future of the party. And Donie joins us now with a preview of his reporting, "The Whole Story: The Left Insurgency".

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brian, yes, we've been traveling the country for the past six months following the fight within the Democratic Party, about just how left the party should go to win in the midterms and to win in 2028.

One person who has become a central figure in this debate is the streamer and far-left activist Hasan Piker. You might have recalled over the past few months, as he has been joining candidates on the campaign trail, including El-Sayed in Michigan. It has caused controversy because of controversial statements that Piker has made in the past.

He is a very big critic of Israel and during the 2024 election, even though he is a Democratic Party supporter, he did not endorse Kamala Harris because of her policies and her approach to Israel.

The big question for the party is going to be after this primary process, both this year and more importantly, in 2028, will factions within the party be able to come together behind the nominee? And that's what I asked Piker in our interview, have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN: Will you endorse the 2028 candidate if they are pro-Israel in a way that you don't like? If you ultimately are about defeating fascism in this country, as you describe it, surely shouldn't you get on board with whoever the candidate is?

HASAN PIKER, TWITCH STREAMER, INFLUENCER, AND LEFT-WING POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Luckily, I don't think I'm going to have to make that calculation at all because there is zero-percent chance that whoever the elected Democrat is that wins the primary will be pro-Israel in any way, shape or form, you'll see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN: And so, as you heard there, Brian, there's a lot of confidence on the part of Democratic Socialists and the far-left flank of the party right now. Of course, they've had a very successful summer in primaries, like here in New York City. But of course, a big test comes on Tuesday in Michigan.

ABEL: And be sure to tune in a new hour of "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper airs next on CNN and tomorrow on the CNN App.

And before we go, we want to say a special thank you to our Director, Steve Feinberg, who is hanging up his headset and retiring after 44 years at CNN. Surprise and congratulations, Sir. Everybody here will certainly miss you.

Thank you for joining me tonight. I'm Brian Abel. Remember, you are in the U.S. you can now stream CNN whenever you want in the CNN App, visit CNN.com/watch for more and we will see you again next weekend.

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