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El-Sayed Wins Michigan; FAA Reviewing Incident Involving Trump's Marine One & Passenger Jet. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired August 06, 2026 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:00:11]
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Today in the group chat, President Trump says Abdul El-Sayed's win in Michigan is good news for Republicans. Is he right?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Democrats worrying is not going to solve the problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: And a passenger plane got a little too close to President Trump's Marine One while he was on board. How close is too close?
And another tech giant admits that its A.I. model went rogue. How many times does this have to happen before something is done about it?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Blanche again said the quiet part out loud. In fact, he shouted it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Attorney general nominee Todd Blanche promises to restrict abortion access, but how would he do that?
And the White House slams Tucker Carlson's "America first" moment as a whiny turncoat. But could Carlson actually run for president?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCKER CARLSON, FORMER FOX NEWS HOST: So probably going to go third party or multiple parties. Is that the best system? I don't know. It's better than the one we have
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EL-SAYED: We don't need worry. We need work. So, if you're worried right now, get to work. That's the work that we need to do. And I can tell you on our campaign, we're going to be out there
knocking doors, having those conversations that are what our democracy is about. But worrying and Democrats worrying is not going to solve the problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Hey, Abdul El-Sayed ready to put in the work, with just 13 weeks left in the run-up to election day. Can he get his own party to unify around him?
Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish, and here is where we begin: that win for the Democrats' far-left-wing.
Abdul El-Sayed taking a victory lap Wednesday. Some key Democrats are still unconvinced. And senators and Dems admit that El-Sayed may have a tough road ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. GARY PETERS (D-MI): We have to win Michigan. It's absolutely essential for us to -- to keep that state blue, my state blue, and so that we can take the majority here in the U.S. Senate.
So, he's going to work hard, and we're going to now unite the party behind him.
I think he just needs to start reaching out to folks, which I'm sure he will, and that has to start immediately.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: As for Republicans, President Trump thinks this is good news for his candidate, Mike Rogers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Abdul El-Sayed, a lovely gentleman. He's a man of hate. And now he's going around saying, no, I love everybody. I love -- He doesn't love everybody. Put him in office. You're going to find out what he loves.
He doesn't love Israel. He doesn't love Jewish people. He hates them. He hates them with a passion that burns in his heart. And there's not a freaking thing he can do about it.
He won. And so, I think I'm happy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: All right. Joining me now in the group chat, some new faces: Stephen Neukam, congressional reporter for "NOTUS"; Doug Heye, Republican strategist and former RNC communications director; and Josh Orton, president for Demand Justice.
So, I want to start with my Demand Justice friend. Are people feeling like this is their moment? Did this feel like a turning point for this network of folks that has been outside of the Democratic Party and finding themselves winning in primaries?
JOSH ORTON, PRESIDENT, DEMAND JUSTICE: I mean, I think this is one of the biggest upsets in modern American political history.
He was outspent, you know, almost 10 to 1. There was $60 million of outside money.
He came -- Abdul came with a really strong argument against, you know, this power dynamic that's sort of crushing working people. You know, data centers being built in people's backyards. You know, the rising prices.
And I feel like he had a theory of that power and how he was going to fight it. And I think that is resonating.
And I think, frankly, people are making a mistake if they see this in too-partisan terms. He's talking about how people are being hurt by the current economy, by the tariffs that Trump has initiated.
And I think that is actually resonating with -- with Michigan. And this notion that somehow he's going to be a much harder sell in the general election, I don't think is necessarily true. He's an excellent political athlete. He lights up a room. He's optimistic and --
CORNISH: I like the term "political athlete." Right? Retail politics is real, I get that.
I want to be clear. Haley Stevens did perform well. Like, if you actually look at the state, it's not like he ran away with it. What was it, like, 15,000 votes? Oh, we got a little map. OK. The dark blue is El-Sayed.
[06:05:03]
So, I understand population centers, but just to be clear, those are a lot of rural areas, some black-leaning districts where he is going to have some work to do.
And here is how the first attack ad is going to look. I want you guys to take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, the most radical Senate candidate in America.
EL-SAYED: I'm pretty damn dangerous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: El-Sayed pledged support for the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, a designated foreign terrorist group. When his ally claimed America deserved 9/11 --
HASAN PIKER, TWITCH STREAMER: America deserved 9/11, dude.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- El-Sayed refused to disavow him.
EL-SAYED: I'm not here to disavow people's views.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: It's interesting, that part about disavowing people's views because of the far-left podcaster, Hasan Piker, has been campaigning, you know, shoulder-to-shoulder with this guy.
And so, it's a little bit different than saying, oh, there's some people who have supported you in the distance. This is somebody who he is attached to, for better or worse, at this point.
STEPHEN NEUKAM, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, "NOTUS": Yes, absolutely. I also think that, look, there's going to be a lot that needs to be done to repair the party in Michigan after this primary. I mean, it was pretty nasty.
I mean, if you go back six years ago, seven years ago, Abdul lost to -- I'm sorry to now-Governor Whitmer by a landslide in that state. And this is a comeback story, seven years later, that has splintered the Democratic Party. Gary Peters, who you saw on the television just now, who used to be the -- the Democrat who ran campaigns for Senate Democrats, came out and endorsed Haley Stevens after saying he would not endorse in that race. The establishment put all their weight behind trying to crush Abdul in Michigan.
And, you know, the election shows that it didn't work. And there's going to have to be a lot of -- of repairing of feelings that -- that happens on the back end here.
CORNISH: Here's what Hasan Piker thinks of this idea of the repairing, and the mending, and all the language that you're supposed to use after a primary to bring everybody together. It sounded like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PIKER: Everyone being like, Abdul has a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) ton of work to do mending bridges. Here's a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) technique (ph) for you. OK?
You are all unbelievably Islamophobic pieces of (EXPLETIVE DELETED). OK? You literally called the dude a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) terrorist for months on end and, like, called him a sexist, misogynist terrorist, bad candidate, doesn't -- fake doctor when he has, like, two (EXPLETIVE DELETED) degrees.
And now you're going to sit there and be like, well, you know, you've really got to come to me now. Like, what are you talking about? Do you want to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) win or not? Lock the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) in? OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Doug, what have Republicans learned from bear-hugging the independent podcast universe? DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Look, I think --
CORNISH: It has implications towards the end of the show when we talk about Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly.
HEYE: Thanks for that.
CORNISH: I just wanted to let you know, so it's no spoiler.
HEYE: Look, I think those people that you embrace and you campaign with can help define your campaign. They can do it in good ways. They can do it in bad ways.
CORNISH: Yes.
HEYE: When you come out of a victory -- you know, I watched the interview with -- with El-Sayed last night with Kaitlan Collins. He said and did all the right things.
The problem is his own people aren't helping him. That is as unhelpful as possible.
But I will say in sort of Piker's defense.
CORNISH: Yes, please.
HEYE: You know, so often when we talk about race and religion, we hear the term, especially about Republicans, "dog whistles" and "code words."
"AIPAC" has been a code word. It has been a dog whistle. And that word is "Jewish." It has attack the Jews, and so many candidates and campaigns have run with code words attacking Jews.
When -- when -- now I'm blanking on his name. Graham Platner from Maine. When he stepped out of his race, what did he do? He blamed AIPAC.
CORNISH: Right.
HEYE: Meaning he blamed the Jews. So --
CORNISH: And Thomas Massie --
HEYE: Piker is being --
CORNISH: -- protecting (ph) of his losses.
HEYE: Exactly.
CORNISH: Yes.
HEYE: And Piker is being blatantly obvious here and blatantly honest. And that is going to be a big part of this campaign, especially as there are repairs that have to be done.
I think we tend to oversell how divisive primaries are.
CORNISH: Yes.
HEYE: Parties always come together. I remember Rachel Maddow telling me she would buy me a beer -- she said this on television -- if Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell had a unity event after their primary.
I texted her producer as soon as that segment was over and said, that event will be on Saturday afternoon. And I look forward. And by the way, Rachel made good on her promise.
But this kind of rhetoric coming from your supporters, who he was just with two days earlier, really not helpful.
CORNISH: Well, we have many weeks to go. So, obviously, we're going to talk about this a lot.
But coming up on CNN, in a matter of just hours, Anthony Fauci could be held in contempt, talking about Congress. And is this setting a dangerous precedent?
Plus, a new report showing Trump's immigration crackdown impacts military families and active-duty troops.
And then there's this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully, there's somebody that the committee can find that -- that would be honest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Chuck Edwards drops out of the race. So, who will Republicans find to replace him?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:1416]
CORNISH: All right. It is now 13 minutes past the hour. Here are five things making the news this morning.
Iran reporting progress in talks with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz, saying that the two sides are close to finalizing a proposed framework.
Now, Iran's foreign minister is saying that they have now agreed on a proposed safe shipping route, and a senior gulf official is saying that there's a 50-50 chance Iran and Oman will reach a deal by Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: We're kind of in the middle of the game, and I think people are trying to -- to prejudge exactly how this is going to go. I can tell you with confidence it's going to go in a place that is good for the United States of America, but we're going to use all the tools that we have -- military, economic, diplomatic -- to make sure we bring this thing to the right resolution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: The thing is, Iran insists that the talks are with Oman. These are bilateral talks. They deny negotiations with the U.S.
And the Trump administration has detained more than 50 parents and spouses of active-duty U.S. troops while pursuing their mass deportation agenda. That's according to an Associated Press investigation.
And at least six of them have been deported, and eight others remain in federal immigration custody.
And Republican leaders in Western North Carolina are going to meet next week to choose a replacement for Congressman Chuck Edwards. This is for the November ballot.
Edwards abandoned his reelection bid this week after an ethics panel found that he repeatedly made unwanted advances towards two female staffers. Here's one North Carolina voter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can probably count on my right hand how many honest people they are in Washington right now, and I've got one finger missing. Hopefully, there's somebody that the committee can find that that would be honest. That's my big thing. Honesty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: In the meantime, Edwards plans to serve out the remainder of his term.
And another day, another A.I. model has now apparently gone rogue. Meta this time announced this week that a model escaped onto the Internet and hacked into another company's system.
This was during cyber security testing. The disclosure comes just days after similar incidents involving models from OpenAI and also Anthropic.
And yes, we have all been there: exhausted at work, especially with these hours. But one Memphis anchor actually fell asleep on the job. And this happened during a live broadcast. Here you go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHEILA O'CONNOR, CORRESPONDENT, FOX-13 NEWS: Just running 465 miles in a matter of days to make all of this happen
ERNIE FREEMAN, ANCHOR, FOX-13 NEWS: OK. Sleeping beauty over here. It kind of makes you want to take a nap.
DOMINIQUE DILLON, ANCHOR, FOX-13 NEWS: What are you talking about? I wasn't napping. There's something in my eye, obviously.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: There but the grace of God go I.
And after the break on CNN THIS MORNING, it's a close call for the president. This is an incident involving Marine One. So, was there a communication breakdown? And did that put him in a dangerous situation?
Plus, that case, that young man, Nolan Wells. That story is gaining more attention, because there are new charges tied to that investigation. But they're coming from outside the state.
And good morning to our viewers in Chicago.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:21:46]
CORNISH: The FAA and the NTSB are now reviewing an incident involving Trump's Marine One helicopter and a passenger jet that got too close.
On Tuesday as Marine One took off from the White House with Trump on board, a plane took off from nearby Reagan airport and typically, air traffic is paused when the helicopter is in the air.
But radio traffic shows that the president's crew and the control tower had trouble communicating before takeoff.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tower, just want to make sure you copy Marine One. Three minutes, 11 tower. Do you copy? Marine One three minutes to the left.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last comment, broken. Unreadable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: In a statement, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration says, quote, "Based on our preliminary safety review, there was a momentary loss of separation after which the aircraft continued to move away from one another. The president was never in danger.
So, joining me now to discuss Harvey Scolnick, retired air traffic controller. So, Harvey, the good news is you and I are not talking about a collision, which is usually when I call you, right?
We're talking about a near -- a near miss, as they say. What do you hear in this situation? Is it a miscommunication? Is it just something dropping out? Like what's the scuttlebutt?
HARVEY SCOLNICK, RETIRED AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: I think -- I think, ultimately, the investigation will be about the miscommunication.
If I give you a little bit of background, Washington National, the airspace around the airport is called Class B or Class Bravo, which requires every aircraft that operates within that area to get a clearance and then -- and be in contact with air traffic control.
So, the protocol here is -- and by the way, the separation in that airspace, between a -- an airplane on a VFR flight plan and an airplane on an IFR flight plan, which you have here because I believe the -- the Marine One was VFR -- is one and a half miles longitudinal or horizontal and 500 feet vertical. And pretty much had that here.
And you can see in the video, certainly, it didn't seem very close, and it wasn't. So, there was never any danger of a collision here. But that's the protocol as far as the separation is concerned.
And obviously, when I listen to the audio, as we -- as all of us just heard a moment ago, there seemed to be some confusion. And that's a -- that -- that's a no-no, because the -- the foundation of air traffic control is situational awareness.
And when there is confusion between the pilot and the controller or the controller and the pilot, and they're both not on the same page, that is often -- creates, maybe, an operational error or less than standard separation.
CORNISH: I think ever since that crash over the Potomac, we've all been sort of more cautious and -- and watching more carefully.
Because there was an attempt to do some legislation, you know, around, in that case, the military. It didn't go anywhere.
So, is this in your notes? You were saying this is a slightly bigger deal than people may realize, but put it in that context of these other concerns around Washington airspace.
[06:25:00]
SCOLNICK: Right. So, since the -- since the -- the mid-air of about a year and a half ago, when controllers used visual separation by the pilot or pilots with the helicopter and an aircraft in and around the airport, they no longer can do that. They have to use other forms of separation, either radar. And there's also non-radar separation. They have to use that.
So, this is -- the protocol here is that when the -- the Marine One calls for an indication that he's going to take off, the tower controller stops any departures. So, the -- the Marine helicopter will be the only thing in the air at that point.
So, the difference in communication here when the -- when the -- it seems, when listening to it, when the aircraft actually gets airborne, the controller had already cleared a departure for takeoff. So, that protocol got violated somehow.
That's where the investigation has to occur because the -- he advised the Marine pilot, Marine One pilot, when he found out that he was lifting, that there's a departure that's rotating right now.
And the pilot said he had him in sight. Uh, in the audio that I listened to.
So, there was never a problem. But certainly, situational awareness is a protocol; as I say, is the foundation of air traffic control.
CORNISH: And that's Harvey Scolnick. Harvey, as always, thanks for explaining it to us.
SCOLNICK: Thanks for having me.
CORNISH: And straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, Anthony Fauci expected to be held in contempt. Is that going to help get to the bottom of COVID, or is this more of a show?
Plus, the socialist surge moves on to the next state. Dems now have Wisconsin in their sights, but can the, quote, "cancel Thanksgiving" candidate deliver?
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[06:30:00]
