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Trump To Axios: "We Are Low-Keying It" In Talks With Iran; Trump & Allies Rush To Label El-Sayed In Michigan Senate Race; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Announces She's Freezing Her Eggs. Aired 6- 6:30a ET

Aired August 10, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

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AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: More weapons production, less talking. Is the U.S. even looking for an off-ramp to the war with Iran?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: And Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed looks like the GOP's latest boogeyman. Will red scare tactics help Republicans win the midterms?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): He says he's the most dangerous candidate you can find. He's right.

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CORNISH: And the $20 burrito starts a food fight on the right. Could a GOP civil war over cheap food cost them big come November?

And nearly 30 years after Tupac Shakur was gunned down, the only suspect heads to trial today. Could the defendant also be the prosecution's star witness?

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AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY: The investigators were no longer pursuing leads, at least actively, until Duane Davis wrote this memoir in 2019.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I rebuilt the military and also loaded it up with a lot of stuff. We have certain types of munitions that are very powerful that we have unlimited -- virtually unlimited supply. We have others where it's a little bit tighter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Concerns of an empty arsenal and a new strategy for talking with Iran.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish.

And here is where we begin -- maybe a change in tactics from the White House. Last week, the president was considering a return to major combat operations. Now, instead of military pressure, he says he's focusing on economic pressure. In a phone call to "Axios", President Trump said, quote, "We are low-keying it. We're only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact that they have no money."

His vice president, echoing that game plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This thing is not over. It's obviously not at the beginning. We're in the middle of the game and we're applying a whole host of tools diplomatic, economic, military tools to ensure that we get the best outcome for the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, does the U.S. have the weaponry it needs to arrive at that outcome? A recent analysis found that the inventory of crucial air defense missiles is dangerously low, with possibly 80 percent gone. The Trump administration denied this report. Behind the scenes, they are ramping up supply.

In a memo to defense industry leaders, the deputy defense secretary wrote, quote, "Drive significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production for critical capabilities." Went on to say, "Years-long development cycles are not acceptable."

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TRUMP: We have to have more. We have other things maybe come up, maybe come up and maybe don't come up. Hopefully nothing else does come up, but we're in very good shape. We have literally massive amounts of ammunition

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CORNISH: Joining me now, Kim Dozier, CNN global affairs analyst.

I want to come to ammunition in a minute because that involves more time in this war. But in the meantime, Iran and Oman appear to be close to a deal. And then Iran put out a list of demands for the U.S. specifically. And I know you said that some of those things are things we've seen before, lifting the U.S. naval blockade, withdrawing military forces, permanently ending the war compensation Iran wants. Iran wants money for damages, and they want their assets released.

And you were saying that this list of demands is what we've seen before. In fact, from the MOU, the memorandum of understanding, which at one point was thought to lead to a ceasefire.

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yeah. Most of the things that the Iranians put out over the weekend as demands for opening the Strait of Hormuz were already agreed to in the memorandum of understanding as things that would ultimately come out of a nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran. So basically, Iran is raising the cost of opening the strait by saying, hey, those things that we were promising down the line for denuclearization, you've got to deliver them sooner for the strait to reopen.

They're also saying that, yes, theyre close to this deal with Oman, which would give Iran control of a lot of the traffic coming into the strait, while Oman would handle the traffic going out. It would also give them the right to charge service fees, something similar to something they do in the Strait of Malacca.

But that means charging fees and making money off the strait and the U.S. will likely have to say yes to it, unless they want to go back to fighting.

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CORNISH: In terms of going back to fighting, can we talk about the idea of what we have to sustain a longer fight? The difference between what the president has talked about in his Truth Social post? The U.S. has a massive amount of munitions, especially of certain types, large amounts being manufactured and shipped as needed, building the largest number of plants and factories in our country's history.

Now, put aside the fact that it takes a really long time to build a factory. So that's not relevant to this month.

DOZIER: Yeah.

CORNISH: What's the certain types and munitions? What are we talking about that we have versus the thing were worried about?

DOZIER: It's a lot of the things like the patriot, which is a defense system. And then the precision munitions, like ATACMS that the U.S. military uses, the U.S. Army uses for precision strikes. They are dangerously low, but the U.S. does have other options that it could use. In the meantime, on the offensive side, to replace the missing munitions would take estimates are one to three years, depending on which munition you're talking about.

Got to look at this instead of like in the short term. In the short term --

CORNISH: Yeah.

DOZIER: -- the U.S. has what it needs to contain Iran. But China, Russia, they're looking at how quickly the U.S. has run out of some of its most sophisticated stockpiles, that it relies on for a future conflict over, say, Taiwan.

CORNISH: Yeah.

DOZIER: China knows that, you know, just you can outlast the U.S. within a few months. And then the U.S. will have no options.

CORNISH: Or is the flip side, a smaller power can outlast a massive one using asymmetric warfare. I mean, if you're China, you're looking at both Russia and the U.S. mired with rivals who are holding them off, keeping them at a stalemate at the worst. And do you think you can do any better?

DOZIER: Well, what it means is, you know, the Pentagon would have to change the way it orders weapons, pays for weapons. Congress would have to fund it. And this is at a time when Americans are looking at things like rising oil prices and the cost of living. I don't think they've signed up.

You know, since the U.S. isn't directly under threat right now --

CORNISH: Right.

DOZIER: -- I don't think most Americans would sign up for the bill that it would take to --

CORNISH: Like they might pay for a Defense Department, but a lot of secretary of war, right? Like a department that's oriented around proactive, offensive wars.

DOZIER: Exactly.

CORNISH: Kim, thank you so much for being here. Appreciate it.

Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, President Trump said he had a breakthrough when it comes to Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu not on board. So what are the risks for the Israeli leader at home?

Plus, a new update on former President Biden's battle with cancer. We're going to talk about what his son, Hunter, has revealed about his father's condition.

And a Massachusetts mother on trial accused of killing her three young children. How the Lindsay Clancy case is shining a light on postpartum psychosis.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Abdul El-Sayed, 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CORNISH: So have Republicans found their villain for the midterms?

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AD NARRATOR: Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, the most radical senate candidate in America.

ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm pretty (EXPLETIVE DELETED) dangerous.

AD NARRATOR: El-Sayed pledged support for the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, a designated foreign terrorist group

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So we wanted to show you that an attack ad featuring El- Sayed's full name. The president also posted this image on social media titled two very different Americas.

Now, CNN asked the Michigan senate hopeful about that on Sunday.

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": What was your response when you saw that?

EL-SAYED: Yeah, he's right. One in which your overlords are two people who don't like each other, but joint, in the interest of making billions of dollars off of you or two people who genuinely love each other, enjoyed some pancakes together, want to come together to build the kind of America where they can raise a family and know that that family is going to have the good things.

So, yes, you've got two different visions of America. Donald Trump's vision is the one you're living in right now. Can you afford your gas? Can you afford your groceries?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So joining me now in the group chat, Francesca Chambers, White House correspondent for "USA Today", Tiana Lowe Doescher, a political commentator for "The Washington Examiner", and Lulu Garcia- Navarro, CNN contributor and journalist and host of "The New York Times'" "Interview" podcast.

Okay, so we're here to talk about how to talk about Abdul Mohamed El- Sayed.

Can you talk about why the White House is going after him? Is it just the biggest, baddest target? They did this with Mamdani and then Trump ended up smiling and shaking hands with him in the Oval Office. So is this just campaign season?

FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, USA TODAY: I think it's twofold. I mean, look, this senate race is important pick up opportunity for Republicans. So, of course, you know, you're going to see the White House focusing on this particular senate race.

But the Trump and the White House, their midterm message has essentially been communism, socialism. That has been the message already.

So this fed already his win even though he -- you know, he says he's a capitalist. He's not a Democratic socialist. He's not a communist. That this fed already, though, into the messaging that the White House had already been leaning into.

[06:15:02]

So, easy to make him a poster child at this point for the --

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CORNISH: Yeah. Can I just ask quickly, are they like economy out? We're not talking about our economy. We're not talking about our jobs. Stop talking about that. Talk about them?

CHAMBERS: No, I mean, they see them as intertwined arguments.

CORNISH: Yeah.

CHAMBERS: Both the economy, right? Because then President Trump's argument is they're trying to give you a bunch of free stuff. That may sound really great, except for --

CORNISH: There's not a positive argument. There's a negative.

CHAMBERS: But down the line, you know, you're going to regret having voted for Democrats. I mean, you know, that's his economic argument.

CORNISH: I was interested in how he responded to the name back and forth, the sort of how he was characterized. It felt a cousin to, but very different from the way Barack Obama handled it during his running, right, where it was constantly Barack Hussein Obama. And he said something very different, right?

He didn't say, that's not -- you know what I mean? What are they saying? They're trying to trick you. He was just like, yeah, that's me. And those are --

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I mean, he is, you know, that that is who he is. And I think he's right to lean into it and not away from it.

This is campaign season. This is kind of -- the message that the administration is trying to put out here is that he is other, right? This, this idea of those juxtaposing visions of America that Trump was trying to put up is like, look, she's got a scary hijab. Look at his name. It is foreign.

And I think we are no longer necessarily in that era where that is the most important thing that people are focusing on. People understand that there are Muslims among us, that there are people with Arab names among us, you know, that there are people of Egyptian descent among us. And so, I think that has less resonance.

TIANA LOWE DOESCHER, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, WASHINGTON EXAMINER: I mean, its recall that El-Sayed is the one who during the primary said that if you can't pronounce his name, it's racist, right? So he's he started this. The NRSC is just jumping on it.

CORNISH: So you think they wouldn't have done it if he hadn't said that?

DOESCHER: I mean, I'm just saying he lobbed the first shot and look, correct that the White House is running on, the Dems are communists, the socialists, whatever. But also Third Worldism, which I think is inextricably linked with a lot of that messaging.

CORNISH: What does -- define that for us, so we understand.

DOESCHER: So Third Worldism, the idea that in order to in order to appease the voters of Dearborn, which is largely Yemeni and Lebanese diaspora, that a an American born citizen, Mohammed -- Abdul El-Sayed, could not criticize or, or laud the killing of the ayatollah, right?

This was leaked audio where he said, oh, we don't want to comment on it because, you know, the ayatollah has a lot of fans in Dearborn. That is Third Worldism I don't think that most Muslim Americans, you know, felt any sense of sadness over the death of the ayatollah.

(CROSSTALK)

DOESCHER: That is what Abdul El-Sayed --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Can you just explain to -- Third Worldism. Are you -- is the implication -- I'm really just that that phrase meaning that there are people from the developing world in America. Like I just don't understand.

DOESCHER: It's not at all about country of origin, right? Abdul El- Sayed is an American born, right? It's the idea that --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: He's an American full stop, as opposed to American born. But go on.

DOESCHER: No, but no, but I'm saying he's not even a naturalized citizen. He was born here, right? Went to our schools. What? This exceptional scholar.

And yet the idea that to appease a the most radical part of the electorate, you cannot say that it's a good thing that the ayatollah was killed. It's a good thing that --

CORNISH: They're not actually running on that, interestingly enough, right? What theyre running on is something else I want to play for you Republicans just earlier in the month, and theyre saying something very specific about this candidate and others. Here we go.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So let's call it what it is. It's communism.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Think about what's happened in those countries where they've had socialism and communism. The press is the first one to go.

REP. STEVE SCALISE (R-LA), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: And communism is on the ballot this November against freedom. Make no mistake about that.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We had been saying for months, you've heard me say a contrast between common sense and crazy in the midterm, and now it's common sense versus communism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: I just wanted to play that because it's not the culture war argument of Third Worldism versus structural versus whatever. Theyre just like, these are communist, full stop. And what I'm wondering is, in an era when there is antipathy, if not outright anger towards billionaires and moneyed classes, if that argument is just like harder to make that if you are against billionaires, you're a communist.

DOESCHER: But that's not really the argument, right? Medicare for all is no small feat. That would be nationalizing one fifth of the American economy, right? Twenty percent of our GDP is health care. And that's rising as we were an aging population. So Medicare for all, socializing, our health care system will involve taxing much more.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You said a really interesting thing, though. The costs rising and especially under this administration. I mean, opening the argument and saying I'm for Medicare for all, which he is, is actually really, I think, solid ground for Democrats at this particular point.

[06:20:02]

Why? Because you had the Big, Beautiful Bill and you've seen people kicked off of health care. Health care costs are rising. That is something that impacts every American.

And so, coming up with something -- I'm not endorsing the idea of it, but coming up with something that is solutions based is, is helpful.

CHAMBERS: One thing that I think was really interesting that we saw over the past weekend is even Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is said she was a member of her local DSA but not a member of the national DSA. You also heard both her and Bernie Sanders when it came to this Wisconsin race, say that they hadn't endorsed Francesca Hong because theyre playing in local or not -- sorry.

CORNISH: Yeah, they're not doing gubernatorial --

CHAMBERS: House and Senate. Right. They're not doing gubernatorial races. So you have seen a little bit of distance putting between some --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: What is the DSA is talking, the less people want -- I mean, like people from.

CHAMBERS: The -- between -- between, right, between, between some of the more national progressives, right, saying, oh, well, I'm not -- I'm not a member necessarily of the national DSA, right, but just my local DSA. I'm not supporting necessarily all of these DSA-aligned candidates, just the certain ones that have the progressive views that we share, right?

CORNISH: Stay with me. We're going to get out of the weeds for a bit. We're going to talk about what were hearing from voters so far in that campaign and others. Abdul El-Sayed, for example, got a call from former President Barack Obama. So, could an endorsement be next?

Plus, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez actually shared a more personal moment. She also left clues, maybe about her political ambitions.

And good morning to our viewers in New Orleans as we take a live look at the Crescent City connection.

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[06:26:00]

CORNISH: It's now 25 minutes past the hour. This is your Morning Roundup.

This morning, a boat captain is facing 13 counts of reckless endangerment after his boat capsized near the Statue of Liberty. A mother and her infant daughter were killed, 12 other passengers were rescued. The U.S. Coast Guard investigating what caused the accident.

And Hunter Biden gave an update on his dads prostate cancer. He says the disease has metastasized to President Biden's bones. The former president revealed his cancer diagnosis about four months after he left the White House.

And Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shared a glimpse into her personal life.

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REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): I have made the decision to start freezing my eggs. I think we need to show more depictions of women having full lives in every context and every choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: All right. The 36-year-old says she's aware of political risk could come with her sharing her decision to freeze her eggs. She says she's not going to let that stop her from speaking about it. She also acknowledged that she comes from a, quote, "privileged place" because the egg freezing process is long and expensive.

And, Lulu, you said you actually watched this all the way through. She didn't just say she was doing it. She like showed some of the process ahead of egg retrieval. GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah. I mean, this is the thing that is so

interesting about AOC as a political figure in our culture.

CORNISH: And a generational.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And a generational figure.

Let's think about when she first burst on the scene in her late 20s. I mean, she has really, sort of encapsulated this very confessional relationship that she has with voters. And so this is part and parcel. But what was interesting to me as just a political matter is the way there was a big preamble that she did before. She said that she was freezing her eggs, which is, you know, I have been thinking a lot about this. It was a very personal decision that I'm making.

And she was kind of winding up a thing which put in everyone's mind, is this going to be how she makes her announcement? You know, that she was seeking a different office or a higher office.

CORNISH: Well, it was about her future.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: It is about her future. And, you know, but this is the thing that she does. She's very good at framing the conversation, at making people talk about things that she wants people to talk about and, and makes it into a political matter.

CORNISH: She just says something. She's like, here's how you should think about the thing I'm --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I'm thinking about. So it's not just like I'm freezing my eggs as a personal decision because I'm 36 now and I might want to have children, but it's also like, I want you to see me as a full person, as a woman, a working woman in the world, as a political figure in the world. And this is the cost of what I do.

DOESCHER: But there's something a little bit regressive about that language, right? The idea that, oh, in order to be a full person, you have to delay motherhood. So AOC is almost 37. She's been with the same partner for over a decade. She can do whatever she wants, right? She can freeze her eggs, she can delay it.

But why can't we accept the idea that a woman in a position of power and Elise Stefanik, who has a newborn, Amy Coney Barrett, who has 11 children or some -- some very high -- you can be a mother and also be a very influential person in politics.

Again, her body, her choice. I'm not telling her what to do, but the idea that to be a full person, you have to choose one or the other. That seems very regressive.

CORNISH: I think she's also wondering if the voters will penalize her, which sometimes they do when it comes to women in office, we know we have a tough time of it, sometimes.

I want you guys to stay with me. It's been 30 years since Tupac Shakur was killed. Now someone is

finally going on trial for his murder. We're going to talk about why prosecutors say they can prove their case after all these years.

And then there's the Republican congressman telling people to eat ramen.

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