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Inside Politics

Bernie Blowback: Sanders' Picks Spark Democratic Civil War; U.S. Strikes Iran For 8th Night After Service Members Killed. Trump Spurs Fresh Hill Headaches for GOP Leaders; Dems' Seismic Shift on Israel Risks Deepening Party Divides; Trump Expected to Award World Cup Trophy. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired July 19, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:11]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Breaking news, the U.S. retaliates against Iran after Americans are killed. With no end in sight, is the war becoming untenable?

Plus, feeling the burn?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): This is an election between Abdul and the billionaire class.

RAJU: After Graham Platner's implosion, are Bernie Sanders picks, igniting a Democratic civil war. My new reporting ahead.

Was it a mistake in Maine? Was it a mistake in Maine?

And party foul --

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): That's my red line.

RAJU: -- as Israel prompts a seismic shift. Is there still room in the party for a pro-Israel Democrat?

INSIDE POLITICS, the best reporting from inside the corridors of power, starts now.

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU (on camera): Good morning. Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. I'm Manu Raju.

There are 107 days until the midterms, but the next several days are critical for Democrats in their quest back to power, as they are roiled in an internal fight over which candidates to send to the general election. That debate between party leaders and progressives now rages at this critical juncture.

At the heart of the fight, Senator Bernie Sanders with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, rallied yesterday with their choice in the Michigan Senate Democratic primary, Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive in a pitched battle against Congresswoman Haley Stevens, who is backed by the party establishment in the must win race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: In all due respect, the Congresswoman Stevens, everyone knows that this is not an election between her and Abdul El-Sayed. This is an election between Abdul and the billionaire class.

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): You deserve a politics that treats the disease and not just the symptoms of what brought us Donald Trump.

ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: If you're Chuck Schumer and want to keep doling out corporate money to elect people who are going to do your bidding, I am so damn dangerous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: My new reporting out this morning with my colleague Sarah Ferris and Ali Main (ph) details how sanders primary endorsements are sparking major blowback within the party, including a tense confrontation with the Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries.

Joining me now, a table of political insiders to break this all down, Seung Min Kim with "The Associated Press", CNN's Aaron Blake and "Bloomberg's" Nia-Malika Henderson.

Good morning to you all. Great to see you as always.

This Michigan race, of course, is so significant on so many different levels because it encapsulates the progressive versus more moderate divide, the leadership versus the Bernie wing of the party, and also the entire Senate majority could hinge on the outcome here, because there's really no path back to power for the Democrats without holding on to Michigan. And just to look at the divide, look who's backing Abdul El-Sayed.

The when the more progressive wing, as you can see right there and then the party leadership really falling behind Haley Stevens, Chuck Schumer giving his not so subtle endorsement as well.

Aaron, how do you see this playing out? August 4th is the primary. And it all could ride on Michigan.

AARON BLAKE, CNN SENIOR POLITCAL REPORTER: I mean, it's a big choice for the Democratic base. I think the reason that this situation has blown up is obviously because of what happened with Graham Platner. And people are like, why are you backing candidates like this who wind up giving us problems? But it's also happening because that happened in a competitive race and this is happening in a competitive race. These aren't these House primaries where it's kind of like, well, whoever emerges from the Democratic primary is going to advance. These are races that are probably must wins for the Democrats if they're going to win the Senate majority.

And when Bernie Sanders goes into those races and starts backing candidates that the party establishment, party leadership are worried they're going to compromise that goal in the general election, that's going to -- that's going to create problems. And now that they've seen him endorse a candidate who gave them very demonstrated problems in Maine, I think they've been emboldened to be a little bit more forthright about their concerns about where this is heading.

RAJU: Yeah. And Sanders has backed over 90 candidates. And according to his team, 42 of them have won their races, including ten out of 16 federal candidates. Here's a look at some of them on your screen.

There's some controversial ones that have caused some significant blowback within the Democratic ranks, including a critical Michigan House race there, congressman in the Michigan seventh congressional district, a battleground district. That one is William Lawrence there.

That's a big fight that's happening, will happen in that August 4th primary, Hakeem Jeffries had this phone call with Bernie Sanders and along with Gregory Meeks of New York, Democrat on it, Meeks said, told us he -- Sanders seemed not to care after they were raising concerns about meddling in primaries.

[08:05:07]

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, that is Bernie Sanders. I mean, a lot of this, as I was looking at some of the rallies there from Bernie Sanders, you're reminded of 2016, this real force that Bernie Sanders was in his race against Hillary Clinton. And that is kind of the energy a lot of these Democrats that we see running now sort of became Bernie Sanders Democrats during that race. And so you see this come to fruition here in Michigan.

One of I think the real worries is that Abdul El-Sayed is maybe not as a competitive candidate against the Republican who did really well last go round. He used to be a fellow contributor here at CNN, Mike Rogers, very telegenic. I think he lost by something like 9,000 votes or something like that.

And so there is there is real worry. But, you know, this is about attitude, right? It's about passion. It's about media training in some ways. I mean, if you think about somebody like Abdul El-Sayed, also a fellow CNN contributor, at some point years --

RAJU: Before he ran for governor and lost in the governor --

HENDERSON: Yeah. So there is a sort of energy and polish, I think, that some of these candidates are bringing that the more sort of centrist candidates aren't really bringing that, even though in this race, it isn't even a generational divide in the way that we've seen some other races. It's more sort of an ideological and stylistic divide. RAJU: And electability argument really at the heart of it. And just

look at how some of the blowback that he's getting in, the responses that we got when we asked so many members about Bernie Sanders role in all this, Josh Gottheimer, a pro-Israel Democrat from New Jersey, said the DSA, which Bernie is a part of, is trying to hijack the Democratic Party. And people don't want that. Hillary Scholten, who's in Michigan supporting Haley Stevens, said the Grand Platner situation should be a huge warning sign to a lot of voters about what that stamp of approval might mean.

And Ro Khanna, who is a back -- Bernie backer, said that Bernie is just as popular as, say, the pope and Obama and Bernie. He said those are three people who are perhaps the most popular when it comes to public figures.

And I asked Bernie Sanders about this. Are you making things harder for the Democrats to win back power in November?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But are you making it harder in some ways to keep to win the majority say what happened in Maine?

SANDERS: No.

RAJU: What happened?

SANDERS: In fact -- I think, in fact, the candidates we are supporting are candidates who are representing working people. And I think it's time, long time overdue for the Democratic Party to stop worrying about their wealthy campaign funders and start worrying about the needs of working people.

RAJU: Was it a mistake in Maine? Was it a mistake in Maine?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: I don't think people have really made the forceful case outside of his identity, to be honest with you, and I don't accept that. I don't accept --

RAJU: Being Muslim or?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: When she's referring there, of course, to Abdul El-Sayed about why she thinks that people have not made the case against him. But Bernie Sanders is totally unapologetic about his role in all of this.

SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: He definitely is. And having covered and watched his political activity for some time, he and his people will make the argument -- he kind of made it there, too, that when it comes to the electability argument, he would argue that they are backing candidates who are electable because they speak to this really anger among the working class, anger among voters about the fact that the system is not working for them. And, obviously, Bernie would bristle at any comparisons to Donald

Trump. But the fact is that they do both kind of speak to this really angry electorate that believes that the current system is not working for them. But of course, if you look at the general election and if you look at kind of the Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, that wing of the party, they would say, look at the candidates that have gotten us trouble, particularly Graham Platner in Maine. And these are races where we cannot afford to have any sort of problematic candidates.

I would also point out that Graham Platner is not Abdul El-Sayed. I mean, obviously, Graham Platner had a litany of personal problems. He is no longer a candidate. The main issue with El-Sayed right now is a lot of his policy positions. And that is obviously a, you know, a debate of a substantive debate that the Democratic Party can have.

But, you know, for Chuck Schumer and the broader Democratic Party, every seat matters so much in the race to regain senate control. And for Michigan, they say this is not a good bet for us. We're going to stick with Haley Stevens because she is the better bet in the primary or in the general election.

RAJU: You know, we're talking a lot about Graham Platner, his implosion. And there was some news out of Maine just yesterday when the Democrats now scrambling in this very convoluted process to find a new nominee to take on Susan Collins and one of the biggest Senate races in the country.

And it appears that former state Maine Senate president Troy Jackson is now on the cusp of winning the nomination. He had to win yesterday. There was state county level delegate selection.

[08:10:01]

He won 300 of 319 slots up for grabs. The convention to actually formally select the party is next week, July 27th. That is next week, right? Yes, that is next week. It's all a blur right now.

(CROSSTALK)

KIM: -- of time.

RAJU: Exactly. Time is a blur.

But it is going to be so hard to replicate -- this is "The New York Times" headline, without Platner, Maine Democrats scramble to keep grassroots energy alive. He's going to have to tap into this wing of the party that was energized, the Bernie Sanders wing of the party that was energized. He's a pretty relatively unknown candidate, untested and has come from a pretty small area in northern Maine, the population center of Maine and southern Maine. This is going to be hard to take on someone like Susan Collins.

BLAKE: Yeah, it's a really interesting candidate. And I think that if you're looking to keep the grassroots energized, Troy Jackson has some of the policy positions that Graham Platner did. He was a Graham Platner backer. Now, that can work both for and against you, because people are going

to say, oh, this is a guy who really stood by this guy through a lot of this stuff before everybody finally turned on him. But it's going to be tough because he's not necessarily as compelling of a candidate on the stump. He's not, you know, Graham Platner at least had some kind of charisma, whereas Troy Jackson is a little bit more understated. But it seems that the Maine Democratic Party is pretty united behind this approach, at least, at least these delegates that are being chosen right now. So this is the path that they've chosen moving forward.

RAJU: Yeah. One other piece of news from this weekend was the South Carolina race to replace the late Senator Lindsey Graham, who died suddenly a week ago. The president, of course, is the governor appointed graham's sister, Darline Graham, to fill out this late senator's term until January. The president came out on Friday and said that he would endorse her to run for a six-year term. Darline graham, who has never been in public office before, and she put out a note just yesterday signaling she's interested but not saying that she's in.

She said, "Now it's time for me to step up for South Carolina, just like he stepped up for me when our parents died, referring to her brother, in the most challenging of times, I've learned, God often calls for ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Yet I am not Lindsey. I have my own way of doing things. I did not seek this moment, but it's here."|

KIM: Right, right. And there are a lot of complications for Republicans who want to run in that Senate race. There are still questions about whether, if you're already on the ballot in South Carolina and want to run for the Senate, what happens to that seat? Now, legislative leaders in South Carolina are saying we're still working things out, but that's a lot of a lack of clarity.

So that's why someone like Darline Graham, in addition to just her carrying on Lindsey Graham's legacy, can be compelling for the broader Republican Party.

RAJU: Yeah. In August 11th is that primary to pick a replacement? Ralph Norman, the congressman, announced yesterday he's in several others, considering, as you saw there on your screen.

And a programming note, this Thursday, CNN and "The Bangor Daily News" are hosting another Maine Democratic Senate debate. You can watch it here live Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. M colleague Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are moderating alongside Michael Shepherd from "The Bangor Daily News".

Stay tuned. Next hour, too, when Maine Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed joins Jake Tapper on "STATE OF THE UNION". But first, coming up, the U.S. retaliated again overnight after two American service members were killed in Jordan. How President Trump is reacting. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [08:17:58]

RAJU: Is the U.S. back at full scale war with Iran?

Overnight, the U.S. retaliated against Iranian forces it said were behind an attack in Jordan that killed two U.S. service members and left one missing in action. The deaths were the first American military fatalities caused by Iranian fire since March, and it brought the number of U.S. service members killed in the conflict to 16.

It was the eighth straight night of U.S. strikes against Iran and raised the specter of a wider war. Overnight. Kuwait said it intercepted missile and drone attacks while in Bahrain. Sirens went off throughout the night. In the immediate hours following the killing of U.S. service members, President Trump did not issue a statement on truth social on the deaths, instead talking to "The New York Post" saying, quote, "It's a shame, but in this case, they died because they don't want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon and they don't want to see the Middle East blown up."

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a brief social media post, quote, "Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve."

My panel is back, including Seung Min Kim, who covers the White House for "The Associated Press".

So, Seung Min, what are you hearing about whether the president is ready and prepared to go back to full scale war? Do they see this as a full scale war at this point?

KIM: Well, they've certainly notified congress that they are resuming military activities. We got that letter to lawmakers last week that they are prepared to take any action because, in their words, that Iran violated the ceasefire. But I think it's important to remember, too, just how much mixed messaging that we've gotten from the president himself as it relates to this Iranian conflict, from, you know, just in the last several days, since the beginning of the -- or since the beginning of the war on February 28th.

I mean, just look to earlier this week where he said, on Monday, we're going to toll, you know, transit through the Strait of Hormuz. And then he backs off it, you know, about 24 hours later.

And even in you know, I was with the president in Turkey earlier this month for the NATO summit when this violence broke out. And he said kind of in one breath that the ceasefire, in his view, is over.

[08:20:03]

But in the next breath, "My negotiators can keep talking if they want to."

So I think the president is certainly prepared for any and all sort of military activity, especially as the conflict escalates, especially as these two U.S. service members were killed. But it's important to remember just how much confusing and often contradictory comments that we've gotten from the president.

RAJU: Yes. I mean, from the beginning to the end. He had this big speech on Thursday night where he talked about the elections, mentioned, talked for 25, almost 26 minutes. He could have spoken about Iran a little bit. He made a few brief references at the top of the speech about Iran, and that was about it.

And speaking of those confused messages he's been talking about for weeks, about how this conflict would be done within weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have right from the beginning, we projected four to five weeks.

It's not good. The war is going to be over in three days, my prediction.

I think it's close to over. Yeah. I mean, I view it as very close to over.

I don't think there are any sticking points. We're very close to having a very, very good, strong, powerful deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And just in case you were listening, you didn't see that on the top of your screen. March 2nd, April 1st, April 15th and June 8th. That's when he made those comments.

HENDERSON: Yeah, yeah. And listen, I'm sure we'll hear similar comments in the next days and weeks about this conflict excursion, whatever Donald Trump wants to call it being over. What's clear is that Americans are -- didn't like this war in the beginning, and they really don't like it now. They don't believe that he's going to get any better deal, by and large, than Obama got.

RAJU: You know, he keeps talking about how terrible a deal Obama got after something like that. And you'll continue after this. But just so there's a there's a poll that to that point that Americans do not really see this as being a better deal ultimately than the Obama deal, if the deal is in fact, reached.

HENDERSON: Yeah, in 70 percent not worth fighting, 70 percent disapproval rating in terms of his handling on this. And you see that overall in his disapproval rating, right? It's something like in the 30s or whatever.

And in the meantime, there was a bit of a break in terms of gas prices. And now those gas prices are starting to tick up.

You know, there was a headline, I think it was the new republic. The headline was something like, can we lose the same war twice? And it seems like that's what's happening, right? That a lot of the sort of power and cards are being held by Iran. You have a president and a party that's going into a midterm election. And in Iran, we have found now that they have this power drones, which

were sort of an unexpected dynamic. And then, of course, their seizure of control over the Strait of Hormuz. Americans, all of a sudden, very familiar with this in a way that they weren't before.

RAJU: Because they're feeling it at the pump just today, $3.99 the average price of gasoline a week ago, it was $3.88. And before the war it was $2.98. So people are getting hit.

And, Aaron, this probably explains why a large part, why the numbers are just terrible about whether Americans actually support Trump's approval on Iran, 29 percent approve of his handling of it.

BLAKE: Yeah. And Nia alluded to another finding, which was that 68 percent of Americans say that this war was not worth fighting in the first place. That is higher than it was ever at for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which both became quite unpopular over time. And I think what that reinforces is that the president and his administration never really made the case for this war, or at least never made a consistent, concerted case for this war. They never built support on the front end in a way that was going to let people kind of tolerate things that came along that they didn't like, like the high gas prices.

And now we have troop deaths. Again, these are the kinds of things that make a war that people were kind of like, I don't really like it, but you know, it's costing me a little bit of money. You know, maybe I don't like that.

This really drives it home for people and I think makes it a little bit more urgent. And I think it's going to be very interesting to see how the administration responds to that kind of new political element here.

RAJU: Was there any discussion in the white house about whether Trump and this Thursday speech should have spoken more about Iran beyond just a handful of lines?

KIM: I think it was very clear from the outset, since they began teasing the speech, that this was going to be about elections. I know Karoline Leavitt said over and over that everyone should tune in and like, no one really knows what the president is going to say until he says it, which is very true.

But I think this is the speech on Thursday was always going to be about his almost singular fixation, which is kind of remarkable if you think about it, because we have a war going on because the voters are dealing with these economic affordability issues.

But it remains for the president that that is his top priority, which is why he spent his energy, his resources, political capital, his time on Thursday night speaking about that instead.

RAJU: And we're going to talk more about that next, because Trump making a big prime time speech about elections.

[08:25:00]

But why are Republicans mostly silent about his chief demand?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJU: President Trump is making demands that Republicans simply cannot fulfill. After his prime time address this past week, putting new pressure on Republicans to fulfill his chief election year demand a bill to impose new voting restrictions, including proof of citizenship requirements. But the bill, known as the SAVE America Act, has no chance of passing the United States Senate.

Still, Trump's obsession over the issue has effectively derailed the GOP agenda and now exposing sharp divides, including between Speaker Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

My panel of political insiders is back.

Ok. So typically in an election year, you put together bills that you can divide the other party and get your vulnerable members to vote on so they can go back and tout these issues back home, which would mean economy --

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, BLOOMBERG POLITICAL AND POLICY ANALYST: Yes.

RAJU: -- affordability --

HENDERSON: But that's a hoax, right?

RAJU: Well. Well, yes.

So this is the House GOP. This is -- the House GOP is going to take a big step this week to try to fulfill Trump's election year demand.

This was included in this package -- $73 billion for funding for military and Iran war funding -- as we talked about in the last segment, a not very popular war. $12 billion in aid on agriculture. And then roughly $10 billion to fulfill this so-called Save America Act.

I'm not saying election, economy affordability as part of this equation. It's an interesting strategy --

HENDERSON: Yes. I mean it's all Donald Trump's strategy. I mean it's about funding his war, a war that that nobody really wants in America. And then this pet project of his around The Save Act, which, you know, in some ways, a lot of the discussion around election security is really about Donald Trump sort of handicapping the results, on casting doubt on the results even before they happen. We've seen him do this now for about a decade.

And listen, if you're Mike Johnson, you're going to try to piece something together that would pass the Senate. Folks in the Senate think this is a bad idea. It needs 60 votes, obviously.

And the idea that you're going to have this massive change to elections, 107 days before the election.

The other thing about this is the idea that non-citizens vote. It just doesn't happen, right? Even the Heritage Foundation did some report on this, and it's something like 99 instances in the last 20 years or something. Like this is not a problem.

But again, this is something that Donald Trump wants to cast doubt on.

RAJU: Yes.

HENDERSON: You know --

(CROSSTALKING)

RAJU: Look, he's put so much. He made this thing so difficult for Republicans on the Hill because, look, they have to pass this Iran funding bill because they need to continue this war if they want to continue this war. Democrats won't give them the support.

So they're trying to do it through this budget, party-line process that has very strict rules in it. And he wants the Save America Act to be included in it. But that won't pass muster under the very strict rules of the Senate. And Trump just will not accept no for an answer, even though it's very clear.

And John Thune said, quote, "it's a risky proposition. Is the juice worth the squeeze?" And he's referring to the House Republican plan.

SEUNG MIN KIM, ASSOCIATED PRESS WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I know. I mean, the kind of intraparty warfare might be a little too strong, but the kind of -- the kind of intraparty conflict that we're seeing over policy and election years is really remarkable, because Republicans do really want and have to be on the same page, messaging wise and policy wise if they really want to defend their -- defend their majorities.

And it's really striking to me how much, you know, Majority Leader John Thune really has to kind of focus his attention on the long game.

Whereas -- you know, whereas Speaker Mike Johnson kind of goes for that instant gratification, he really tries to appeal to Trump and what he wants.

And he kind of can do that because of the infrastructure in the House that he has. John Thune really can't. He knows that there's going to be really long-term damage if you -- in his view, if you get, first of all, get rid of the Senate filibuster or even doing even -- or doing other things that maybe the broader public doesn't know about, but we do, such as getting rid of the Senate parliamentarian.

He knows of the long-term consequences that this can have on the chamber. But the president is not someone who looks at long term consequences, kind of the -- kind of the impact beyond his time in office and just the struggle that Thune has had with the president for, you know, for the last however long.

RAJU: Yes. KIM: It's been a major problem for the Majority Leader.

RAJU: Absolutely. Because he's been trying to get things done in the Senate, the FISA. There's -- the surveillance powers have been expired because Trump's -- really tied to Trump's demands with the Save America Act.

And I asked the Speaker of the House last week about the president's chief demand. Vice President Vance came to the Capitol and said that this is the top election year priority for the administration.

And I asked Speaker Johnson if that is actually what voters want.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: The vice president just said that the number one legislative priority is the Save America Act. I'm wondering if you think the -- that's what the American public wants more than, say, affordability legislation.

[08:34:49]

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. I think -- what I heard the vice president say to you, to your question is we can walk and chew gum at the same time.

Clearly, the Save America Act is a number one priority. That's what he said. It's what I said. That's what we believe because that's what the American people believe. If you ask most Republicans around the country, they'll tell you that's the number one thing.

I'm traveling around the country nonstop. I'm in swing districts, blue states, red states. Everywhere I go the first question in every crowd, without exception, is about the Save America Act. That's what we're talking about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So Aaron, he says blue states, red states, everywhere I go. Number one priority, number one thing he's asked about.

You look at the Gallup poll about the most important issues facing Americans, the economy, of course, 36 percent. No surprise there. 2 percent elections, election reform and democracy.

AARON BLAKE, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, the first thing I'll say is that I don't doubt that the town halls that Mike Johnson goes to, this is the first thing that people bring up with him, because this is an issue that does motivate a very small but very passionate portion of the Republican Party base.

But if you look at polling and not just the Gallup poll, but other surveys that have looked at this, it is not something that the vast majority of Americans are looking for, even in the Republican Party. It's not a huge point of emphasis. And so what's happened in the Republican Party is they are kind of

falling victim to, number one, what the president is asking for them to do.

And, number two, a very concerted kind of social media campaign -- pressure campaign from the people who do very strongly believe in this.

And right now, it's derailing their entire agenda in an election year. And its making these leaders account for a goal which is just not accomplishable right now.

RAJU: Yes.

BLAKE: And that is creating very big problems right now because they've been (INAUDIBLE) this for a very long time, trying to kind of massage it and it's just not working.

RAJU: And there's not even a simple majority to get this latest version through, the Save America Act in the United States Senate.

Lisa Murkowski wrote an op ed yesterday, the Republican saying, "Why I'm voting against the Save America Act". And I asked the Congressman, Thomas Massie, about this as well. This is how he characterized it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Why is it a ruse? The Save Act?

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): It's a ruse because we WON all the damn elections, and they're complaining about election fraud. They're saying that the future of our country rests on this election integrity bill.

Well, we control the House. We control the Senate. We've got conservatives in the majority in the Supreme Court, and we control the White House. We won all the damn elections.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDERSON: Yes.

KIM: I mean, yes, this is -- this is such a problem for Republicans because again, the math in the Senate is that you need 60 or a majority that's willing to overturn Senate rules, and they just don't have that at this point. And the president doesn't understand that.

RAJU: Yes, and we'll see eventually if he does. And at what point they can actually move an agenda this week, a big week in the United States House.

All right. Imagine this nightmare scenario for Democrats. They win the Senate in November. But then one senator decides, well, it's time to leave their party and the chamber flips back to the GOP. Could it happen?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): I've said that publicly, like that's my red line.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:37:45]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FETTERMAN: If you are looking for a Joe Manchin Democrat, I am not your candidate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: That was then-candidate John Fetterman back in 2022. Now, just four years later, a full 180, Fetterman, now very much like Joe Manchin. Out of step with his left flank of the party and now threatening to do what Manchin did, leave the party.

The former West Virginia senator told "The Washington Examiner", quote, "John, trust me. Set yourself free. Become independent. It's liberating."

My panel of political experts is back.

And look, the reason why this has become an issue -- of course, he's fallen out of step on a variety of issues. Took a hard line on immigration. He broke his party's strategy during the government shutdown fights and Israel.

And that's what he told me is a red line for him to -- whether or not he stays in the Democratic Party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FETTERMAN: That's my red line. If the Democratic Party becomes official anti-Israel, then that's when I would force me out and look at the kinds of people that we've elected in the primaries, not just pro-Palestinian, just intensely, intensely anti-Israel.

But until they -- if they make it official and the platform of the party, then that's a much different situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Aaron, do you see this happening?

BLAKE: I mean, I don't know that he's laid out like a specific litmus test besides the platform part of this. But I think this is a problem for the Democratic Party.

And the problem is that their base is very much on a different page. It's very difficult for me to see how the party doesn't continue drifting in this direction based on the trajectory of where the base is right now.

Now, if you look at the leadership of the Democratic Party in Congress, they still have some very pro-Israel sentiments in that. But the base is on a very different page.

And so it creates a situation where the party is kind of torn between not trying to alienate this guy who's kind of, you know, throwing a wrench in the works and where the base is at right now.

RAJU: Yes. And speaking of where the party is shifting, just as this vote in the House this past week about whether to cut off aid to Israel. Just look at 2024, 37 Democrats at that time voted to cut off aid to Israel. That was very much relegated to the left flank of the party.

[08:44:45]

RAJU: Now, much more mainstream, more Democrats voted for cutting off aid than against cutting off aid. 103 Democrats voted this time around to cut off aid.

HENDERSON: Yes. And you talked about leadership, what does this mean for leadership, particularly in the House?

If you're Hakeem Jeffries, you think the gavel is within your reach come November, but you've got all these folks who are already in Congress and some of whom are coming into Congress, who ran on this idea of not only not supporting Hakeem Jeffries, but on this platform of not supporting Israel in the way that the U.S. does.

There has been this huge shift. And again, you see some of this also -- it's not only the Democratic side. You see some of this as well on the Republican side. More skepticism of Israel and their sort of role in this war in Iran. You hear JD Vance kind of more skepticism about Netanyahu.

And so this is a shift that I think is going to sweep in a lot of people into the Democratic Party, probably of the Republican Party, too, and then sweep out some others.

RAJU: Yes. No question about it.

And the question that was actually interesting here was that there was a poll that came out this past week about Fetterman himself in California, registered Pennsylvania voters. Should he stay in the Democratic Party.

And the Democratic number there is the fascinating one --

KIM: Right.

RAJU: -- 57 percent of Democrats say he should leave the Democratic Party. And I asked Fetterman about that number.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: It said that, you know, a significant amount of voters in your state suggest that you leave the Democrat.

FETTERMAN: I mean, it's strange that a guy that votes a 90 percent Democratic line, and I'm 80 percent approval of Republicans, how is that? Can you explain that?

I don't - I don't understand that too, but if I become more unpopular with Democrats, then I think it's really a strong correlation with being a very proud Israel supporter.

RAJU: But can you win a primary in your state next cycle?

FETTERMAN: I don't know -- I guess we'll see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KIM: I mean, if you look at the disapproval number, I mean, it makes it really hard to imagine. I don't see it necessarily getting better anytime soon. So it's hard to imagine him running again with the party support.

RAJU: That's in 2028.

KIM: That's in 2028. And it's really remarkable to me how he's made this such a red line because I'm not -- I'm not going to say he never talked about it when he was running for a seat in 2022, but this certainly wasn't part of his political identity and his messaging when he ran for the Senate.

Now, obviously, we should point out that he won in 2022, and the conflict began in '23, so that -- it wasn't as salient of an issue. But it is remarkable how he has, you know, he has been singularly -- he has become singularly known for this topic. When he ran on a very Bernie Sanders like platform, very, you know, addressing issues of economic inequality, kind of this broad, this issue that was really domestically focused.

So I will say, you know, just in case I am reading back to what happened in 2001 with the Jim Jeffords party switch, in case this whole situation comes to a head next year.

RAJU: That would be something.

BLAKE: I think the 57 percent of Pennsylvania Democrats who said they want John Fetterman to leave the party might want to have the Senate majority math explained to them, because if he does leave the party, they need to win three states that Trump won by double digits last time around.

RAJU: Yes.

BLAKE; Democrats were very mean to joe Manchin when he was a West Virginia Democrat in a state that they otherwise wouldn't win. They should probably be kind of nice to John Fetterman and make sure that they're not alienating him.

RAJU: Yes, we will see. A lot will develop there -- very good point, Aaron Blake.

All right. Coming up next, Messi versus Lamine Yamal. My son Sanjay picks Lamine Yamal, off course.

It will be a star-studded day in the Argentina versus Spain World Cup final. So guess who is making plans to be there?

[08:48:42]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJU: On a day when the world's eyes will be on the pitch, President Trump is making sure, well, at least some of the eyes will be on him.

Yes, the president will be in attendance in the Meadowlands in New Jersey for the star-studded match between Spain and Argentina in the World Cup finals.

As head of state of one of the host countries, Trump will be awarding the trophy to the champion, much like he did last year during the Club World Cup championship.

And in this year's World Cup, Trump has had a hard time staying on the sidelines. Not only was he granted the first ever FIFA Peace Prize by the organization, he also, of course, ignited a firestorm when he called his ally, the FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, to protest that controversial red card issued to U.S. striker Flo Balogun in the round of 32. The one match suspension later overturned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I was forced to call Gianni and just make a recommendation. I said, Gianni, I'd like to make a recommendation. let the guy in the game -- no, I didn't say that. I said, I'd like to wage a complaint.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: A move Balogun seemed, well, uneasy about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FOLARIN BOLOGUN, U.S. MEN'S SOCCER TEAM: When I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy. But the closer we got to the game, I tried to just focus as best as I could.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BALOGUN: But it was difficult, you know, a lot of outside noise and that's hard to avoid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But if other sporting events Trump has attended are any indication, his reception today may not be the friendliest, like in Madison Square Garden during the NBA finals. [08:54:48]

RAJU: The president's summer of sports will continue in just a month when IndyCars take over the National Mall here in D.C. for a first- ever race that will undoubtedly be quite the spectacle.

Just like his UFC match on the White House south lawn last month, on his 80th birthday. And Trump, who actually got a ride in his presidential beast at the Daytona 500 last year, boasted about the upcoming race at a pit stop demonstration at the White House this past week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If you think about it, as we count down to the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, this will be like no other race ever. I don't think anything will ever be -- will ever top what we're going to be having.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: All right, that's it for INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY.

Up next, "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JAKE TAPPER AND DANA BASH". Jake's guests include Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, as well as Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman.

Thanks again for sharing your Sunday morning with us. Enjoy World Cup Sunday. We'll see you next time.

[08:55:56]

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