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CNN This Morning
Former U.S. Army Major Harrison Mann is Interviewed about Talks Between Russia and Ukraine; "The Cook Political Report's" Carrie Dann is Interviewed about Trump and the Midterms. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired September 07, 2026 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:30:00]
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Electorally is not going to help.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: All right, straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, after nearly five years of war, the White House sending their special envoys who say they're seeing progress. Can this really be peace between Russia and Ukraine?
And later on CNN, Senator John Fetterman accuses some of his staffers of spreading lies about him. In the next hour, what newly released text messages show about his alleged reluctance to do his duty.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:35:08]
CORNISH: So, President Trump said he would solve Russia's war in Ukraine on day one. Of course, we're now 595 days later, and peace has been elusive. Over the weekend, Trump's top envoy, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, traveled to Kyiv, making them the highest ranking delegation to travel there this term. They also made a stop in Russia. They're pushing for a return to trilateral talks with the U.S. mediating. Previous attempts have failed. So, what will be different this time?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JARED KUSHNER, DONALD TRUMP'S SON-IN-LAW: When we did the trilateral, actually, Steve and I enjoyed it much more because we had everyone talking with each other. Instead of us having to argue the Russian position to the Ukrainians and the Ukrainians position to the Russians, everyone was speaking, you know, in Russian to each other and really discussing these issues in a very, actually, friendly manner, all in Russian. And I think that was productive. So, we're hoping to get back there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Joining the group, Harrison Mann, former U.S. Army major and former executive officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency. So, I was trying to think what has changed. And one, we know our head
of intelligence went to Moscow, right, even though we don't know the details of what happened. And then the second thing, Russia has developed some new technology, right, in terms of how it can attack Ukraine. So, a, are those two things true? And, b, do you think that had an effect on getting everyone to the table?
HARRISON MANN, FORMER U.S. ARMY MAJOR: Yes, I think the biggest thing that's changed is the reason that negotiations were suspended for six months. The last time Witkoff and Kushner were in Russia was in February.
CORNISH: Yes.
MANN: What's happened between then and now? Trump started this big war in Iran. And that's probably the biggest effect that has weakened the negotiating position of Ukraine and the pro-Ukraine alliance.
CORNISH: Why? Because I thought Ukraine had so much sort of knowledge around drone warfare now that they were in a position to kind of go to the United States and say, hey, we can help you figure out how to deal with Iran's drones.
MANN: They can help us maybe defend against Iranian drones, but there's been a constant evolving arms race as Russia and Ukrainian forces and inventors learn from each other on the battlefield that's been going on basically since day one. And any technological advance maybe gives one side an advantage for a couple months before somebody else learns how to deal with it.
Now, allegedly, Russia maybe has A.I.-guided drones, which allow it to overcome all the jamming networks that Ukraine's developed, for example. But now, I mean, first of all, I think it's worth recognizing that you don't send Kushner and Witkoff when you actually really want to get something done. We can look at their track record, Iran, Gaza. You can notice Vance and Rubio are nowhere near this right now, which gives you an idea of the lack of seriousness, in my view.
CORNISH: Well, let's at least give people a chance to hear for themselves. Here's an example of Witkoff talking about Putin on Saturday. This was in Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: So, first of all, President Putin, thank you. Thank you so much for having us.
We were sitting outside just now, me, Jared and Carol (ph), and then Yuri (ph) joined us, and we were all talking about when we retire, we'll have all these incredible stories and incredible memories. And yours will be right at the top of it all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: I should note, it's his eighth trip. But, you know, doesn't flattery get you everywhere when you're dealing with a dictator? MANN: No. And I'm not even sure it's flattery. I mean, I think Witkoff
is genuinely, you know, you know, it's the friends we made along the way. Whatever happens with ending this war, it's like these guys are not really there to lean hard on anybody. And again, I don't think they're really, you know, intellectually or experientially equipped to do this.
Like you said, eight times. I think -- we're not even sure what deal, if any, they've offered. They definitely have even less leverage than they did back in February due to the diminishing amount of support that the U.S. can provide Ukraine. We used up both offensive and defensive munitions that Ukraine wants in Iran.
CORNISH: Right. And in the meantime, the fight remains over, I think, control over a nuclear facility and the land swap.
MANN: Yes.
CORNISH: So, for people who don't know at home, the idea of, this war has been going on long enough that territory has been taken on both sides and Ukraine is trying to basically retain its borders. Can that happen under this scenario?
MANN: No, I think -- yes, there's the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which Russia captured from Ukraine. And then there's the eastern Donbas region, which Putin is demanding that Ukraine cede even more of in exchange for peace. I think those are quite bold and probably unreasonable demands.
But on the other hand, it's really not realistic that Ukraine is going to reclaim more territory on the battlefield. So, it's up to apparently Witkoff and Kushner to bridge this gap, which I don't really think that they are -- they're qualified to do.
CORNISH: Do you think they're qualified?
MELIK ABDUL, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes, I think they're qualified. And I think they're just as qualified as what we saw during the Biden administration. Because when you look at the facts, we're in -- we're in no better position now, unfortunately, than where we were at the Biden administration.
[06:40:03]
So, for all of the criticism about Witkoff --
CORNISH: But he did promise we would be.
ABDUL: But, but the thing is --
CARDONA: Yes.
CORNISH: Yes.
ABDUL: Is that we're talking about, as far as actual outcomes, the Biden administration did not produce a better outcome when it comes to Ukraine. I think there were certain assumptions about Ukraine when Donald Trump got in office that just simply weren't true. But as you mentioned about that Donbas area, Russia does control about 85 to 90 percent of the area. So, the question is --
CORNISH: Well, let me let you answer that, are they perform -- why don't you think they're performing better than past diplomacy?
MANN: I mean the big difference between Trump and Biden is that the Trump administration, I think, is fairly impartial between Ukraine and Russia. I don't think that's necessarily a good thing if you're really on the -- on the pro-Ukraine side. But I got to agree with Malik to a certain extent, is that the facts on the ground have not changed a lot. It's still basically a World War I deadlock. I think the difference is the Trump administration is not willing to lean much on Putin. They are much more willing to lean on Zelenskyy.
CARDONA: Yes.
SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST: Yes.
CORNISH: Yes.
ABDUL: Yes.
CORNISH: OK. So --
CARDONA: That's the point.
CORNISH: I want to turn to the other war.
The administration has been focused on the war with Iran. Now, at this point, 18 American service members have been killed, hundreds more injured. At home, prices from the cost of gas to an airline ticket, well, they're up. And Moody's Analytics estimates that it costs the average household an extra $1,200 since the start of the war. New polling from NBC News is showing that the war is increasingly unpopular. Just 31 percent of Americans approve. President Trump is brushing all that aside.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A lot of people don't call it a war. I call it a military conflict because it's small potatoes for us. It's not a big thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK, group chat is back. What? It's not a big thing? You don't --
ABDUL: Of course it's a big thing. And Donald Trump has done this before. Question whether or not there was an affordability issue. And the thing -- the thing about this, Donald Trump doesn't have to be on the ballot again. So, the things that Donald Trump is saying, it's not necessarily hurting him. Maybe, you know, polling wise is hurting him, but party wise -- CORNISH: Yes. But can I ask you a question? If you're the illusive Obama voter who turned Trump voter, OK?
ABDUL: Uh-huh.
CORNISH: And I'm thinking of the other independent voters who come off the couch, who came to Trump because he said he would fix the economy and he would not go to war.
CARDONA: Yes.
ABDUL: They don't want to hear this.
CARDONA: Yes.
ABDUL: Yes. And I'll add myself to that. This is not something that we want to hear because, for one, it's not realistic.
CARDONA: Right.
ABDUL: You cannot tell people how their pocketbook feels to them. And that's what Donald Trump and politicians differ.
CARDONA: Yes.
ABDUL: It's like, well, it's not too bad. You cannot tell other people how it actually feels for them.
CARDONA: Yes.
CORNISH: I do notice Democrats are not running an anti-war message the way you did in like 2006 or something. It's much more like, health care is up, and these other things are up, but I don't see as many ads that are like, this war has driven this thing up.
CARDONA: They are --
CORNISH: And I'm wondering if there is like a staying away --
CARDONA: No. No, they're not staying away from it. They are talking about it. Maybe not in a specific ad. Because really it is about affordability and the fact that families can't make ends meet. But what they are doing when they talk about the Iran War is that they are connecting the dots, right? They're not talking about the war in a vacuum. They are saying, look at the billions of dollars that the Trump administration is spending on this war. Meanwhile, in the big, beautiful bill, hundreds of thousands of Americans were stripped of health care because they couldn't afford it.
CORNISH: That's what I mean. That's different from, this war has caused your economic pain. That is, this war lives alongside economic pain.
CARDONA: No, no, no, they're -- they are connecting the two. They --
CORNISH: They are? CARDONA: Absolutely.
CORNISH: OK, well, here's Chris Wright trying to defend it.
CARDONA: Spending billions here and so, therefore, you can't make ends meet.
CORNISH: Here's the energy secretary talking over the weekend about gas prices.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS WRIGHT, ENERGY SECRETARY: Gasoline production is about to go up and demand is about to go down. So, if I had to guess, they're more likely to go -- to go down than go up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Translation.
MANN: Translation is, yes, don't worry about it, we've got it under control, despite all evidence to the contrary.
Yes, there has been success, some relative success in moderating the economic damage, economic fallout from this war. But we also saw another really frightening development yesterday, which is the Iranian military took its first shot at a U.S. Navy vessel.
CORNISH: I saw that. Although I don't think the U.S. has confirmed that out loud, or did they --
MANN: They did.
CORNISH: OK.
MANN: They said, in retaliation, CENTCOM attacked some Iranian oil tankers.
CORNISH: OK.
MANN: That shows that from the perspective of Tehran, this is not over. The blockade is not over. The economic warfare is not over. They still have more cards to play. Some of those, which could quite likely further disrupt energy markets. We don't know if they have the capability to hit a U.S. destroyer. I really hope we don't find out --
CORNISH: Yes, but we know they're trying.
MANN: But it looks like we might.
CORNISH: Yes.
MANN: Which is -- which is one way that they can -- when they see Trump say small potatoes, they can say, actually, no, you can't ignore this war.
[06:45:02]
We're going to make sure you can't ignore it at great human cost. They can still also escalate economically, right? I don't think they've attacked all of the tankers that they're capable of attacking. And then there's all the land-based oil infrastructure, refineries, pipelines, ports, which they're trying to hold off on attacking because they don't want to upset the gulf countries too much. But that's still cards they can play. So, I'm really worried about where further, you know, kind of closing their eyes and ears gets the Trump administration here.
CORNISH: OK. Harrison, thank you. I always appreciate your expertise. Thank you for being here.
And next on CNN, we're going to talk about the folks who are running who maybe want a little bit of distance from Trump ahead of the midterms. Of course, they still need his money and his voters for help. So, how do they find that balance?
Plus, this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): There is a division within the Democratic Party between those of us who are fighting for progressive ideas that take on the oligarchy
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Bernie Sanders helped build the modern progressive movement. Who will take the baton when his Senate term ends?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:50:30]
CORNISH: OK, I just want to remind you, Donald Trump is actually not on the ballot this midterm season. But from the ads to the cash, his presence is felt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is the toughest, most resilient person that I've ever met. And nothing was going to stop him from fighting so hard for the country he loves.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We gave you no tax on tips, no tax on overtime and no tax on Social Security. The largest tax cuts in American history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's fighting for you every day. Help him finish the job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: All right, so his MAGA PAC has $400 million plus some. It's waiting to be spent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to spend --
REPORTER: When does that money start to flow (ph) --
TRUMP: Whatever amount of money necessary to try and help us. And this is money from MAGA Inc. This is my money that I control.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, he's going to travel to 35 key districts to rally Republican voters. Will any of this help his party?
CNN's poll of polls shows his approval rating keeps dropping. It's now at 35 percent. And Republican Congressman Don Bacon put it this way to "The New York Times," quote, "I'm fearful that the president's numbers are a ball and chain that will be hard to overcome."
Joining the group chat, Carrie Dann, managing editor at "The Cook Political Report."
So, I'm hearing two arguments. One, the Trump folks saying him coming out there is what -- it is the excitement, right? Like, he is the center of the circus. And then I hear other people being like, I hope he doesn't come here. And I don't understand where those places are when it comes to a Senate race. House races, I understand. But like, statewide, isn't it helpful for him to go to like a Texas?
CARRIE DANN, MANAGING EDITOR, "THE COOK POLITICAL REPORT": Well, look, the White House's theory of the case here is that they need to juice every single MAGA voter and drive Republican turnout, despite the president not being on the ballot. And in a place like Texas, right, a place like Iowa, where the president won by double digits, more than double digits in 2024 --
ABDUL: Right.
CORNISH: And where the Democratic candidate is having surprising --
DANN: Right.
CORNISH: Effort.
DANN: Right. And in a place like that, maybe that theory works. But I think the problem for Republicans is that every Republican MAGA voter that you juice by having the president front and center, you might also be reminding a disaffected Republican who's unhappy about the war, for example, you know what, I can't get it together for this guy, or --
CORNISH: Yes. The war is the perfect issue. I want to show for you numbers on approval ratings of the war, because with MAGA Republicans, that number is higher, right?
DANN: Right.
CORNISH: Like, they approve of the war. So, if you're campaigning in a place where that, you know, population is the strongest, maybe there is a headwind there.
DANN: Right, but you also, with every single time you put the president front and center, you also might be activating a Democratic voter who otherwise might stay home.
CORNISH: Negative (INAUDIBLE). Yes, that's what heard.
DANN: Right? And the Democratic Party is very unpopular. Republicans want nothing more to talk about weak and woke Democrats who are going to take the country backwards, making the president, who is deeply underwater in some of these battleground districts front and center prevents them from being able to do that as much.
CORNISH: Right. Which is why he's dropping $10 million on Ken Paxton, who God knows has begged for the help publicly almost every week for the last couple of weeks.
FISCHER: Oh, yes, being completely outspent by James Talarico in Texas. I think the big trend is that, in the primary season, Republicans want to curry favor with the president, want to make themselves appeal to sort of the broader conservative base, right? I have the president's endorsement. Once you move into the general election, now the dynamic has shifted, and now you want to separate yourself from the president because you have a much wider swath of people that you need to go after. But that's not really a Trump thing. That actually happens all the time in midterms and across campaigns.
ABDUL: Right.
DANN: Yes.
CORNISH: But usually the candidate, the president doesn't then go out and say --
DANN: Right.
CORNISH: I'm going to campaign even harder and put my face everywhere.
FISCHER: Yes. That's right.
CORNISH: Somewhere like Biden was like, you do what you need to do if you need to get space for me.
DANN: Yes.
FISCHER: Yes.
DANN: Right.
FISCHER: This goes back to the polling thing. If you want to take credit for the successes, you also have to take credit for the failures. And I think that's where President Trump is really -- CORNISH: Challenging.
FISCHER: Yes. Yes.
CORNISH: The gravity of.
FISCHER: I think that he recognizes that with a bunch of the redistricting that's happened over the past few months, that the Republicans -- I mean, look, the Democrats are expected to gain a bunch of seats, but that Republicans will probably hold it. And I think he wants to take credit for that hold. And that's why you're seeing him come in.
CORNISH: OK. If the Democrats take hold of anything, will it be because they are Democrats, or will it be because people who don't consider themselves Democrats maybe consider themselves Bernie Sanders fans or progressives are turning out? Or I'm asking this because, guess what, happy birthday, Senator Sanders. He turns 85 tomorrow.
[06:55:01]
He has spent the last 45 years building this progressive movement. Candidates want his support. He's been endorsing like crazy ahead of the midterms. And then we started to think, well, who takes it to the next level?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): The right question is, I think is, how many great people -- I mean, people don't even know. How many people know who Greg Casar is, who's now the chair of the Progressive Caucus, from Texas. Pramila Jayapal from the state of Washington. Rashida Tlaib, et cetera. You know, not to mention Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, et cetera.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: I found it interesting because, covering politics all these years, Hillary Clinton did not launch a bunch of Hillary Clintons. And arguably, Barack Obama hasn't launched any Barack Obamas.
ABDUL: Yes.
CORNISH: Yet somehow Bernie Sanders has launched a bunch of little Bernie Sanders flowers. And are they pretty much having -- they're having this moment with these midterms. Is that possible?
CARDONA: I think they are having a moment. They have definitely focused on the energy that is on the left. They have organized. They have gone out there and brought people out. They have focused on this issue relentlessly of affordability. And is has really worked.
CORNISH: But is it a tacit admission that there is not enthusiasm for Democrats?
CARDONA: No. CORNISH: There's enthusiasm for a crop of people who often criticize Democrats.
CARDONA: No, I don't think that's true, because if you look across the board, the vast majority of Democrats who won their primaries are still center left. And what I do think is the case is that voters want fighters. Voters want people who are going to stand up to the corruption and the chaos and the craziness of Trump.
CORNISH: Yes. Let's ask our Obama to Trump voter. I didn't think you existed. But now people say there is a horseshoe politics and the kinds of people who follow what Bernie Sanders has been saying for 100 years, they're enthusiastic right now.
ABDUL: If --
CORNISH: So, does that make you want to switch over?
ABDUL: It's Labor Day, so why not throw another one out there? Most people don't realize is that in the primary of 2008, I actually voted for Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders --
CARDONA: There you go.
ABDUL: But to your point --
CORNISH: You are the unicorn.
CARDONA: Yes.
ABDUL: Bernie Sanders, for me, was much like Trump. Bernie Sanders was a disrupter. It didn't matter what he said, he was a disrupter, and I was willing to go with a disrupter. And, in many ways, that's how people feel about Donald Trump.
Now, where I am now, though, with Bernie Sanders is that he's full of -- he's full of hot air because he's talked about a lot over the years, but even since 2016, there is in -- there isn't anything that Bernie Sanders legislatively has done.
CORNISH: Yes.
ABDUL: So, yes, he may have a little smaller Bernie Sanders' around here, but --
CORNISH: Sanders vibes (ph).
All right, but you're new to the table, so I want to find out what's in your group chat, because Labor Day is when all of the political nerds --
DANN: Yes.
CORNISH: Sorry but not sorry, start to be like, oh my God, we're excited and count down.
So, what's in your group chat?
DANN: So, my normie friends don't ask me, like, is Sherrod Brown going to win his Senate race, right? They don't ask me about the impact of a Supreme Court ruling. But what they are talking about is data centers. My normie friends on both sides of the aisle --
CORNISH: This keeps coming up.
DANN: It keeps coming up. I was just out in West Virginia earlier in the weekend. There are signs next to the crystal and artisan cheese shop, no data centers. And next to the huge Trump and American flag sign. This is a bipartisan issue. And everybody I know is talking about it from an environmental impact standpoint. It's become this avatar of fear about A.I., is my kid going to be able to get a job? Am I going to lose my job?
CORNISH: Has it started to hurt any candidates who haven't spoken up?
DANN: I think that the Democratic Party has been a little bit ahead of things on this.
CORNISH: Yes.
DANN: You've seen the president continue to be so bullish on data centers.
CARDONA: Yes.
CORNISH: Yes. He says you will be backwards and poor if you don't sign on.
DANN: He said you'll be backwards and poor.
CORNISH: Yes.
DANN: One thing I did notice, though, is he -- one thing he also said is, well, if a Republican wants to disagree with me, that's fine. To your earlier point, he doesn't say that very often.
CORNISH: Little wiggle room. A little wiggle room.
FISCHER: Totally.
CORNISH: Sara, what's in your group chat?
FISCHER: There's been this big controversy with the NBA, Steve Ballmer and the Clippers basically getting found guilty by the NBA.
CORNISH: Yes.
FISCHER: They hired an outside law firm to investigate a report that came out many moons ago from an investigative journalist named Pablo Torre. And they found the Clippers guilty of essentially circumventing the salary cap. They're fining them a lot of money. And it shows accountability in professional sports in an era where there is so much frothiness in cash. CORNISH: So much money.
FISCHER: I mean we just talked about the Lakers getting sold for $12 billion.
CORNISH: Yes.
FISCHER: So, that's been a huge one in my sports group chats.
CORNISH: All right, last two minutes you guys.
ABDUL: Our favorite celebrity couple, Ciara and Russell --
CORNISH: Correct answer. Correct answer.
ABDUL: Apparently another baby is on the way. So, congratulations once again. When, you know, Ciara, when she talked about her goodies, she is very fertile. So --
CORNISH: Oh my God. Holy -- Maria, please.
CARDONA: So, Donald Trump wants to rename New Mexico "New America." And so this --
[07:00:00]
CORNISH: Are you making this up?
CARDONA: No.
CORNISH: OK.
CARDONA: No. I think we have a shot of it. Hopefully. There you go.
CORNISH: Oh, I see. A very official map.
ABDUL: Oh, my God.
CARDONA: Exactly. And so, in a -- in a state where you have half of the population being Latino and a state that is now in the early presidential primary, Latino voters are going to be key to the midterms, as well as the presidential. This is not going to help Republicans.
CORNISH: All right. Well, (INAUDIBLE) at all. Let us know if you decide to go along with this change.
In the meantime, thank you guys for being with us. I'm Audie Cornish. Headlines are now.
