Return to Transcripts main page
The Source with Kaitlan Collins
Israel-Hezbollah Tensions Threaten To Derail U.S.-Iran Talks; Trump Unveils Air Force One Jet Gifted By Qatar; Trump's Acting Intel Chief Begins Job Early, Eyes Mass Firings. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired June 19, 2026 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[21:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKAELA SHIFFRIN, AMERICAN ALPINE SKIER: --I just really appreciate that I could hold his hand, and I could still feel him when there was warmth to his body and say goodbye.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: You were able to hold him?
SHIFFRIN: Yes, so I had -- I heard his heart stop.
You talk about feeling your dad with you, and that's something that I don't feel, and I was just wondering, like, if there's a trick to be able to.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: You can hear more of my conversation with Mikaela, wherever you get your podcasts, or watch it at CNN.com/AllThereIs.
That's it for us. "THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS" starts now.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN HOST, THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS: Tonight. President Trump is dispatching his top envoys to try to get those Iran peace talks back on track. As fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is threatening to derail phase two.
I'm Kaitlan Collins. And this is THE SOURCE.
There's breaking news tonight in the United States peace talks with Iran. As Vice President Vance has been pumping the brakes on his own planned travel to Switzerland, as we learned last night. Now our sources say that reinforcements are on their way, as the White House is working to get things back on track.
CNN has now learned that Steve Witkoff is now on his way to Switzerland, where Jared Kushner is also expected to join him for, what they are trying to schedule as, technical talks, though it's still unclear exactly when those talks with the Iranians will get underway. Things went off the rails, after Iran balked at Israeli strikes that were targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon that killed dozens of people. The strikes were Israel's response to an attack by Hezbollah that killed four Israeli soldiers. And right now, as we come on the air, another ceasefire is in place at this hour.
With that 60-day clock ticking, though, from the President's memorandum of understanding that he signed with Iran, he seems well- aware of the pressure and the economic cost of failure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 60 days, they have to make a deal. Otherwise, we will do things that won't make them happy, but I don't think it's going to get to that. I think it's going to be very good.
Remember, if we do that, then all of a sudden you're not going to have the oil flowing out of the Strait too quickly because, people that own billion-dollar ships don't love missiles flying over them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, for talks to move forward. President Trump assured Iran that scenes like this wouldn't happen anymore.
But sources are telling CNN tonight that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is under pressure at home to keep the fighting going in Lebanon, especially after his ultra-right-wing National Security Minister declared, and I'm quoting him, that all of Lebanon should burn.
Now, President Trump, in an interview with Marc Caputo of "Axios," made clear what he thinks of those, including his own allies at home, who want to see the fighting resume to, in their view, finish the job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Stock market's up thousands of points. Everybody's richer. Now, would you rather have that, or be like some stupid people? I'll be honest with you, I lost respect for some people because--
MARC CAPUTO, AXIOS: Who'd you lose respect for?
TRUMP: I don't -- I don't want to mention the names.
CAPUTO: Oh you can.
TRUMP: But you know, hardliners. Oh, you got to take them out yet.
CAPUTO: Well, what do you--
TRUMP: Let me tell you. And plus, I'm not looking to kill people.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Now, while all of this is playing out. The President today also looked to shift the conversation to something that he would much rather talk about, the unveiling of his new Air Force One, as he acknowledged that he is also the one who asked the Qataris about getting a new plane.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And I asked the Emir if we could use the brand-new 747 that he got with -- had -- when we first heard about 800 hours, 800 hours for an airplane is essentially, I think, Troy, you could say that's a brand-new plane. And I said, We'd like to use it for a little while because the planes are pretty old, our planes are old.
You see, a normal president wouldn't do this. A normal president wants to stay away from aircraft. We don't want to order any aircraft so that everybody thinks -- but our country has to be represented properly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, it was just over a year ago that even Republicans have been raising concerns about the ethical, legal, and national security questions that that plane represents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I'm not a fan of Qatar. I think they have a really disturbing pattern of funding theocratic lunatics who want to murder us, funding Hamas and Hezbollah, and that's a real problem. I also think that the plane poses significant espionage and surveillance problems.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, regarding those concerns, and when asked about them, the Trump administration put the Air Force in charge of vetting and retrofitting this plane, including security sweeps for spyware, installing secure communications for the President to be able to use when he's traveling.
[21:05:00]
And today, Senator Cruz's concerns have much more to do with funding Middle East terrorism and being focused on a different target, which is now, that Iran agreement that the President himself is fighting to save.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: I think if the Ayatollah gets $300 billion, that money will be used to fund terrorism and to murder Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: My lead source tonight is the Republican Congressman Mike Turner of Ohio, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee.
And thank you for being here.
REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): Thanks for having me.
COLLINS: With all the fighting going back and forth, with Israel and Hezbollah and Lebanon, are you worried that it could derail this?
TURNER: Well, first off, Kaitlan, no one trusts Iran. And the fact that Hezbollah has attacked Israel. You know, everyone, and truly it's United States' policy that Israel has the right to defend itself.
But in this because, we don't trust Iran, there's a grave concern, and they're the greatest sponsor of terrorism, and certainly Hezbollah's supporter, the concern is, is to what extent is this mischief from Iran derailing itself, its own settlement agreement, its own peace agreement.
But the concern here also has to be for Lebanon. Israel, in attacking Hezbollah, is attacking into Lebanon, they're not attacking Lebanon. And this agreement does call for a ceasefire in Lebanon.
And the words that you just read were, of course, despicable, concerning Lebanon itself. Lebanon is as much a victim of Hezbollah as the Israelis are, and this is an area that has to be resolved also. Hezbollah deserves to be held accountable, but Lebanon deserves to have sovereignty also.
COLLINS: I mean, if Israel doesn't withdraw their forces from Lebanon, which Netanyahu has said he doesn't plan to do, and you see the fighting continue. Is there a line where you would draw that in terms of supporting Israel, sending them shipments? Because, the President seems pretty fed up with Netanyahu right now.
TURNER: Well, I think, your point of your question is, does the United States have leverage, and we certainly do, and are there -- and as we look to, you know, Israel has a right to defend itself. Yes, it does. But also, in this, the interest in ensuring that this peace agreement, that this opportunity to resolve some of the disputes in this region must be given a chance is real, and I know this administration is going to rise to that challenge.
COLLINS: You just mentioned Iran being a state sponsor of terrorism. This is something obviously that the United States has designated them as. You've talked about this at length before. Are you comfortable with them getting access to money from oil sales, or unfrozen assets, to continue sponsoring terrorism?
TURNER: Well, that's, you know -- there's a lot that has to happen, and there's a nexus here that even the Vice President has said, you know, is not a dotted line.
This is a far cry from when the Obama administration put pallets of cash that is untraceable and shipped it to the Ayatollah, under the JCPOA, and going through a process whereby there's a negotiation and then a deal, where they're once again no longer having their assets frozen, and no longer having sanctions, and enter back into the legitimized financial transactions of the world that are traceable and are followed.
That is a far cry, where, as the Vice President was laying out, where they can -- where the transactions can be traceable, and certainly can be controlled and understood. It can affect their ability--
COLLINS: But the oil sales--
TURNER: --to support tariffs.
COLLINS: I mean, they can sell oil right now.
TURNER: Right. That they do--
COLLINS: And they can sell it to much more attractive currencies than they've been able to, where China was buying it at a discount, basically.
TURNER: With their economy being significantly diminished and impacted.
COLLINS: Yes, but if they're selling oil, they're going to make more money, and that's going to boost their economy, is it not?
TURNER: Which is a goal because the -- and that's obviously why in this agreement it identifies that there would be this opportunity for a $300 billion economic development fund because, of course, it would pull Iran back into the Western community, back into the community that their -- that our allies and their neighbors are in, and also give the people of Iran an opportunity for Iran to make a transition.
Because there has to be a transition here. It can't just be that forever Iran is left with sanctions and is frozen. If there is an opportunity, as the Vice President has laid out, for Iran to make a change, we have to take that opportunity.
COLLINS: But right now, I mean, it's the same leadership that's in charge. It's the son of the previous Ayatollah, it's the IRGC still in charge.
TURNER: Right. But again, they had--
COLLINS: Does that seem like that's changing to you?
[21:10:00]
TURNER: They made a declaration in the beginning of this conflict that they would never state that they would walk away from their nuclear ambitions. They just did. So, they are already beginning to make steps--
COLLINS: Yes, but they've kind of said that before.
TURNER: No. They -- they--
COLLINS: And by kind, I mean, they did say it in the JCPOA.
TURNER: They said it with -- with their having underground nuclear enrichment facilities that we really didn't have the ability to understand exactly what was going on, that are now gone, that this administration, in Midnight Hammer, took out.
And that agreement had a termination provision in it, so they know they would be released from it, while they continued to have their underground nuclear enrichment, which have been eliminated in this military conflict, which is why this military conflict was important. This is not the same situation. In Midnight Hammer, they just lost their underground nuclear enrichment. Under the Obama--
COLLINS: Then why was that war necessary do you think?
TURNER: Under the -- under the Obama administration, they were permitted to continue all of their clandestine facilities that they had had to continue to operate them.
COLLINS: Yes, I mean, but then some people would say, Why did the -- why did this war happen for these five months because if the -- if the facilities were destroyed and they weren't a threat of having a nuclear weapon?
TURNER: Because what they had -- they had said they would not get rid of their nuclear ambitions, that they were going to continue to enrich, they were going to rebuild all of their facilities, they were going to continue their quest and their nuclear ambitions, and they were going to continue to be a threat to everyone in the region, as we -- and we saw that they were, and then they closed the Strait of Hormuz.
This agreement does two things: it ends the military conflict over their nuclear ambition, and two, it resolves the issue of the Straits. Now, there's going to be continued negotiations on the nuclear material that remains. What's going to happen with respect to this--
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: Yes, I'm just saying--
TURNER: --program and then--
COLLINS: But the Straits weren't an issue before the war started. I mean, you're saying that was solved, but that wasn't a -- that was a problem that was created by the war, where Iran used that leverage and still could use it again. But can I ask you on the--
TURNER: No, no, no, no, you're doing -- you have to -- you can't dismiss, you can't just say, Oh, it was created by the war.
It was created by the fact that Iran was continuing to march itself into becoming a nuclear power in the area. So, you can't--
COLLINS: But the Strait was open before the war started is my point. TURNER: No, no, you can't say, Oh, the Strait's open, so we're just going to allow them to have that open Straits, and we're going to allow them to march toward nuclear weapons.
There are trade-offs here. If you're going to say what we're going to, as every other administration has, we're not going to allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, that we're going to take that action, the strong action that this administration did.
By the way, those nuclear -- those military plans have been on the table of every president since Bush.
COLLINS: Yes, but on the--
TURNER: --and he's the first one who did it. And then to say--
COLLINS: On the reconstruction fund--
TURNER: No, hold on. To say that you're going to do that, and then the Straits got closed. You can't divorce them. If he takes that step, and they close the Straits. This was the action that was important.
COLLINS: No, I'm just simply saying it was open before the war, and then it was closed during the war.
But can I ask you about the reconstruction fund?
TURNER: What was before the war is they were marching to a nuclear weapon, and they're not now.
COLLINS: The reconstruction fund, sir. You mentioned that. And that's part of this, a $300 billion.
Erick Erickson asked today why they would need a reconstruction fund if only their military targets had been hit during this war. What would that be necessary for?
And Senator John Cornyn said that it would be used to rebuild their ballistic missile and military industrial base, their uranium enrichment program, and their support for their terrorist proxies.
Do you think he's wrong that that's what they'd use--
TURNER: Well I--
COLLINS: --a reconstruction fund for?
TURNER: He certainly wasn't involved in the negotiations, and he's certainly not going to be involved in the negotiations ongoing, and I certainly take the statements of those who've been involved in the negotiations to be very, very important.
And what they have said is that this is -- these are going to be financial arrangements for the purposes of looking at economic development that would work to bring Iran into, as their neighbors have, as the Middle East transformation, as we have seen, as the Abraham Accords has taken hold, and economic development in the region has taken hold, to make a difference for the population of Iran, and hopefully make them, in that transition, they can take them out of being a terrorist state. Now that's the hope.
We hope also that this military action and this agreement, and then this -- these steps will ensure that we're not going to be dealing with a nuclear Iran that will have threatened both our allies, Europe, our allies in the region, and the United States.
COLLINS: Do you think Iran should be able to have ballistic missiles?
TURNER: Well, I -- you know, this agreement, the President has said that there are two things this is not going to address. It's not going to address both missiles, and it doesn't address their nefarious actions in the area. It really doesn't address their terrorist proxies. Those are two things that former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, had identified in the first Trump administration. Those were certainly things that were very important to me and others--
COLLINS: Right. You talked about--
TURNER: --that we had looked for--
COLLINS: --on this a lot.
TURNER: --that we had looked for in this agreement that are not there. The--
COLLINS: Should they be?
[21:15:00]
TURNER: Certainly, I think that our actions in looking in the development of Iran desperately needs to be, and well, what does that mean? Because what we saw in this last conflict is Iran exhibited capabilities to reach Europe and to reach London, and we certainly don't want--
COLLINS: But the President said the other day that they should--
TURNER: --want that capability to have.
COLLINS: --be able to have ballistic missiles.
TURNER: I don't--
COLLINS: He said, if Saudi Arabia has them, they should have them.
TURNER: I--
COLLINS: Do you agree with that?
TURNER: I think he was talking about being able to deter their neighbors and their -- the people that, in the region, that are also -- that they may be in conflict with. I don't believe he was talking about being a threat to the world. COLLINS: But do you agree that they should have ballistic missiles? Period.
TURNER: It would not be my preference. We'll have to see exactly what the -- this -- what comes out of this agreement. But I -- there is no way that I believe that Iran should continue to be a threat to our allies, to Israel, to the United States, and certainly to Europe.
COLLINS: Yes. I mean, they were bombing half of the allies in the region when the war started. So, we've seen how they'll use them.
TURNER: There's no question that they remain a threat when they have the capability.
COLLINS: Yes.
Congressman Mike Turner, thank you for joining us tonight.
TURNER: Thanks for having me, Kaitlan.
COLLINS: It's great to have you here on set.
TURNER: Appreciate it. Thank you.
COLLINS: Appreciate that.
Also, here with me now is CNN National Security Analyst, and the former Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Beth Sanner.
And Beth, obviously seeing this fighting play out between Israel and Hezbollah that's been going on. I mean, the administration seems to be arguing that it's making it harder to get a deal done in the next 60 days.
BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Yes, I think that the real problem here, Kaitlan, is that both Iran and Israel actually have some reasons to want to continue the war in Lebanon.
You know, Iran -- I think we shouldn't forget this point. The Prime Minister of Lebanon confirmed reports that we've had since last year, that the IRGC sent officers in, to run Hezbollah, that they are in command of Hezbollah. So, this is, you know, Iran today negotiating with the United States via Qatar, to stop this fighting that was started by Hezbollah, this is kind of like, the arsonists and the firefighters at the same time, right?
And so, I think that we know from the fact that Israel has political reasons to want to do this, as well as, Netanyahu, but also because the North keeps getting bombed, right? So, there's a lot going on here.
But Iran actually comes out of today, I think, with greater legitimacy, being emboldened, making Israel look like the weaker partner, and dividing the United States and Israel. These are all goals for Iran. COLLINS: Well, I want you to listen to what the President had to say on the Israel side of this, about the Prime Minister of Israel, specifically.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If it weren't for Donald Trump -- and Bibi Netanyahu worked well with me, but he will tell you, we're the ones with the guns, we're the ones with the whole deal, we're the ones with the B-2 bombers, et cetera. If it weren't for Donald Trump, Israel would have been eviscerated.
CAPUTO: Your relationship with Netanyahu is--
TRUMP: It's good, but we have to keep him a little bit sane.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: I mean, how do you think the Prime Minister hears that?
SANNER: Well, it hasn't just been that, right? I mean, he said some pretty disparaging things about Netanyahu, over the last couple weeks. He's the very junior partner, I mean, very, very junior. He'll do whatever I tell him to do. I'm the one who decides.
This is a person who runs a country, who's been the prime minister for almost two decades. And he is running for re-election. And right now, he's underwater in the polls.
And guess who else is underwater in the polls in Israel? Donald Trump. He used to be riding high, with like almost like 60-plus percent popularity. And in the past three weeks, it's literally flipped the other way, and he's almost 70 percent negative views in Israel because of this deal. And this gives Netanyahu a lot more room for maneuver because, he can take Donald Trump on a little bit more, and he may need to. This election is about winning, but it's also about for Netanyahu staying out of jail.
COLLINS: Yes, and it's coming up obviously soon.
SANNER: Yes.
COLLINS: In terms of what's happening right now with Switzerland. I mean, the Vice President was scheduled to go yesterday. He scrapped that trip. They said he stands ready to go. Now we know Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are on their way. I mean, what are you watching in terms of if that's going anywhere or with the status of those talks?
SANNER: I actually think this is very good news. The Iranians used Lebanon as an excuse, right? It is number one. It's the first number in the MOU.
[21:20:00]
The United States didn't want Lebanon to be in this MOU. They wanted total decoupling because, they knew, this administration knew, that this was going to be a problem. But they couldn't avoid it, they obviously couldn't get a deal without it. So, Iran uses it as an excuse, and they'll light the fire again if they -- if they want to extend things some more.
But look, the United States wants to start talking about nuclear issues. There's nothing in this MOU that says they have to begin that today. There's a lot more that is owed Iran, and that Iran has to open up the Strait before that begins.
COLLINS: Yes. Beth Sanner, always great to have your expertise. Thank you.
Thank you to the Congressman as well.
Up next here for us on THE SOURCE. What the President says he told Netanyahu as Israel was -- their strikes were threatening his agreement with Iran.
Plus, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has new criticism of Democrats. Why he says his party must change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D-NYC, NY): For far too long, our party has seen its job as managing decline instead of delivering material change for working people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:25:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPUTO: Are you going to be able to control Israel from attacking Lebanon?
TRUMP: Yes, I will be. I mean, they want--
CAPUTO: How?
TRUMP: They have a lot of respect for me, and they do as I say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: That was the interview with "Axios." It was taped yesterday.
But today, it came as the President's deal with Iran had been put in jeopardy, after Israeli strikes had killed at least 47 people in southern Lebanon, after the Iran-backed militant group had killed four Israeli soldiers. It's one of the deadliest days we've seen in Lebanon since this conflict started. And the two sides have now agreed to renew the ceasefire that was in place, and it remains to see if it stays in place. As President Trump told NBC News that he was the one who urged Israel to agree to today's ceasefire, saying this, of Benjamin Netanyahu: quote, "You just gotta calm down sometimes and use your head."
My source tonight is Rahm Emanuel, CNN's Senior Political and Global Affairs Commentator, and also the former Ambassador to Japan under President Biden.
I mean, the President says that he's basically telling them what to do here. Do you think that's true?
RAHM EMANUEL, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL & GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR, FORMER AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN UNDER PRES. BIDEN, FORMER CHICAGO MAYOR, FORMER OBAMA WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, there's clearly the -- yes, the short answer is yes, and it's a massive problem for the Prime Minister, and he got himself in a world of hurt, and he's really diminished Israel's security.
And this is not a person -- the President is not a person I would tie Israel's security. He basically, if you look at the first paragraph of the agreement -- Israel's problem is on the northern border. Hezbollah started the fighting. And the United States, in complicit with Iran, now has leverage over Israel. Israel is--
COLLINS: Yes because, in that first agreement it says, And its allies.
EMANUEL: Yes, it's -- well it's--
COLLINS: Referencing Israel.
EMANUEL: Listen -- and the President's -- the problem is he's not treating -- neither one are treating each other as allies, in the sense of Israel, and the United States.
Now you know this. You and I've talked about it. July 8th, I'm going to go to Tel Aviv and give a major speech at Tel Aviv University, on the state of U.S.-Israel relationship, and the road -- road to--
COLLINS: What are you -- what are you going to say about all of this?
EMANUEL: Well, you'll -- stay tuned is the first part. But what I'm going to stay -- what I'm going to talk about is that this relationship is at a crossroads and it can't sustain itself in this basis.
Now, Yitzhak Rabin, the former Prime Minister of Israel, the late Yitzhak Rabin, famously said that Israel has to make peace as if there's no terror and fight terror as if there's no peace.
The problem for Prime Minister Netanyahu is over his 17-year career of the longest serving Prime Minister, he has done only one thing, which is constant war with no political track. And here you have the Lebanese government, for the first time, wants to work something out with Israel, the way Jordan did, the way Egypt did, and he totally stonewalled them. And they want to get rid of Hezbollah, and he doesn't ever take risks for peace. The problem is that the only risk he's taken is risks on the military side. And Israel, they've killed the head of Iran, they've killed the head of Hezbollah, they killed the head of Hamas, and they're both strategically weakened and politically and internationally isolated.
COLLINS: Yes.
EMANUEL: The Prime Minister has put Israel in a horrible position. And the problem is Trump is taking it out on him because, Trump now knows he got himself in a bad position, and he's going to blame somebody. As you well know, having covered him, all the President does is blame somebody else.
COLLINS: Speaking of presidents. You worked for President Obama, and there was a massive gathering of pretty much everyone who worked for President Obama in Chicago yesterday.
EMANUEL: Your ability to spot the obvious is a gift. Yes.
COLLINS: Thank you. That's why I have this show.
But watching all of these Democratic luminaries gathered in Chicago yesterday for this, and honoring him as the Presidential center and library was being opened. And you saw President Biden was there. Hillary Clinton was there.
EMANUEL: President Bush.
COLLINS: President Bush was there. Everyone--
EMANUEL: President Clinton.
COLLINS: --everyone was there, and so -- and President Clinton there, obviously, as well.
But looking at that. And then today, there was this rally of progressives, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was there, and he spoke about what his criticism of Democrats are -- is right now, and he said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAMDANI: The Democratic Party must change.
For far too long, our party has seen its job as managing decline instead of delivering material change for working people.
That old way of thinking will lose on Tuesday.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
MAMDANI: And frankly, it will lose in South Carolina and New Hampshire.
(CHEERING)
MAMDANI: It will fall short of 270 electoral votes.
(CHEERING)
MAMDANI: Because the party of the past will not be what leads us into the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Is he right?
[21:30:00]
EMANUEL: Well, look, you know this, I've been quite critical of the Democrats because, I think they've gotten themselves into what I think are cultural wars. They brought the cultural wars to schools. Rather than deal with academic excellence, they dealt with bathroom access.
Now, what I find interesting is -- you know this, I've spent my life turning red districts to blue. What the socialist wing has decided to do is turn blue districts to Cobalt blue. And that doesn't make Hakeem Jeffries the Speaker, the way in 2006 we made Nancy Pelosi the Speaker.
Second, if you go look at strategically. If you look at the IRA and you look at the ACA, it was two Democratic senators in both pieces of legislation who came from red states. The way you create a majority, either in the legislative body or win the presidency, is moving red areas to blue, not blue areas to cobalt blue or to midnight blue, and that's all that happens.
Take a look in Omaha. We've lost three times with the most progressive candidate. We finally got a person like Denise Powell, and we're in a position to finally flip a seat. That's how you build a majority.
And if you also look presidentially, seven states, 500,000 voters across those states, Kaitlan, have decided the last three presidents. None of those states, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada, the industrial Wisconsin, Michigan, or Pennsylvania, they're not electing socialists.
They're flipping -- the way you're going to win governors in those areas, senators in the area -- recruiting strong candidates, as we did over the years, who can make -- take it -- make a case like in La Crosse, Wisconsin, a woman there, Rebecca, who is running as a -- you know, she grew up on a farm. She has a credibility -- Denise Powell in Omaha, Nebraska.
COLLINS: So, do you think he's off in his assessment?
EMANUEL: I think -- I think he's right -- the criticism about a party, I have been tough on the party because I think it has missed where middle-America is. I think they're having a growth agenda, not just a redistribution agenda, not just corrupt corporatism. A growth agenda that creates jobs and creates middle-class lives, that's the right thing.
But I will tell you this: you look at this, the challenge in the primaries, they're taking on Democrats and really aren't going to change the vote. How do you get -- the question -- I have one question: winning a New York City Democratic district in a primary doesn't make Hakeem Jeffries the Speaker.
As I used to say to Nancy Pelosi when we were doing this together in the trenches, the gavel comes in one size. So, the question is, how do you get to 216? Not how do you take a district and get to 214.
COLLINS: I also have to ask you about something--
EMANUEL: Yes.
COLLINS: --you posted on Twitter.
EMANUEL: OK.
COLLINS: Can we show the tweet? It was obviously, as we're looking at the--
EMANUEL: It's looking -- good. Don't you think?
COLLINS: The new plane.
You said, Doesn't everybody celebrate the 250 year anniversary of America's independence by showcasing the president's $400 million gift plane from Qatar and building a $600 million ballroom funded by taxpayer dollars while Americans are paying about four bucks for gasoline? What a way to tell us all it's Trump's world and we're just living in it and paying the price. Happy Birthday America.
I don't think you meant that at the end.
EMANUEL: You're -- yes -- again you're showing a unique ability to just cut through the chase right there.
No, this is -- look at this. Was coming up to America, and to the celebration of this great country, you know, two generations ago, my grandfather came here as a 14-year-old.
COLLINS: But Trump's argument is this is a way to represent America--
EMANUEL: No. This was--
COLLINS: --in a nice way on the world stage.
EMANUEL: --this was a payoff. That plane is a payoff. The ballroom are nothing but people getting contracts out of the government who are taking -- basically protect your money.
This is the most corrupt administration ever. You have literally, people, literally making money, as the President of the United States, his family has made $4 billion while he's in office. Same with Lutnick's kids, Witkoff's kids, they're all literally trading and making not public service, but private gain.
And there's not a day that goes by that there's not something -- both the guy that got the Reflecting Pool was a friend who has a house on Mar-a-Lago, next to the President, got a no-bid contract. Literally, this type of corruption would make a Chicago alderman blush.
COLLINS: Well he might be in trouble because the Pool is not doing so hot--
EMANUEL: Well that's just--
(CROSSTALK)
EMANUEL: Well, that's -- how about this? The American taxpayers aren't doing so hot either. The question isn't that. The question is, there's not a day that goes by to -- take the President's two sons. They invest in a company, and they win a defense contract for $760 million.
Kaitlan, when you're at the White House, you cover this every day. This is the most blatantly corrupt administration. And as I said, this is a Qatari plane, he gets it, and you're paying four bucks in gas.
COLLINS: Ambassador Rahm Emanuel.
EMANUEL: Kaitlan.
COLLINS: Always a man of his words. Thank you so much for joining us here.
Up next on THE SOURCE. Speaking of the Pool. It's not the only thing that got a new paint job. The plane did as well. We'll show you what the new Air Force One looks like because, reporters got a look inside of it today.
[21:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: As I mentioned, President Trump now has his new Air Force One, as today he showed off the luxury $400 million jet that was gifted by the Government of Qatar, which the Pentagon has just now finished retrofitting for the President to be able to use.
And it is actually the President's personally because, the White House says this plane won't be used by following presidents. Instead, it will go to Trump's presidential library when he leaves office.
[21:40:00]
For his version, gone is the iconic baby blue paint job. It's been replaced with American Flag red, white, and blue, as the President puts it. We're told that it will start taking flights soon, which will be welcome news to the President, who has long been frustrated that it's taken longer than expected to deliver the next generation of Air Force One planes.
Two of my top political sources are here tonight, including:
The former Mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu.
And the former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush, Scott Jennings.
Mitch Landrieu, what are your thoughts on the new plane?
MITCH LANDRIEU, FORMER NEW ORLEANS MAYOR, SENIOR ADVISER, HARRIS-WALZ CAMPAIGN, CO-CHAIR, AMERICAN BRIDGE 21ST CENTURY: I remember, in 2016, when Trump first got elected, he promised two planes and then jacked up Boeing to reduce the cost, and those planes still haven't been delivered. The second thing is this, as I saw Mayor Emanuel -- Rahm, a little bit before, I mean, this was a -- this was just a grift.
So, I'm glad we got the plane. I'm glad it's up and operating. It came from a foreign government, probably violates the Emoluments Clause. Trump said he's going to take it after it's over and use it for himself. So, I mean, I don't -- I don't know what to think. It looked pretty to me. I've ridden on Air Force One before, and it's a good ride. But it's just so strange, the whole thing.
COLLINS: Mitch, is there any justification in your mind, given the old Air Force One has been in service since I think 1990? I mean, that's the President's argument about why they need a new one.
LANDRIEU: Well, first of all, we definitely need a new plane. But again, he started trying to get a new plane in 2016, and he spent four years not making it happen.
And so now, we've got to the point where we -- you know, we could have delivered the planes. I don't know why he wasn't able to deliver a plane. But then to accept another plane from a -- from a foreign government that's trying to curry favor with the United States, and then take the plane when you leave and put it in your library, and I bet -- I bet a lot of money that he's going to use it, it just -- it's just a weird set of circumstances.
But the plane is beautiful. I hope he enjoys it. And I hope that it's gotten retrofitted now with a billion dollars of taxpayer money. So, let's just kind of get past this and get on with it. We'll figure out what the future looks like.
COLLINS: Scott. I mean, optics-wise, when you look at the numbers. I mean, this is coming, as 61 percent of Americans say they have to cut back on groceries, 44 percent say they're cutting back on how much they drive because of how much gas is, putting off medical treatments because of the cost, that's according to a CNN poll. Do you think it's bad timing here?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH, HOST, "THE SCOTT JENNINGS RADIO SHOW" ON SRN: Well, look, the plane is overdue that he has been waiting for. There's supposed to be two planes coming from Boeing.
And as you pointed out, the plane he had been using is pretty old, and it was time. And this plane has been retrofitted. The U.S. Air Force has confirmed, or I guess is about to confirm, that it's worthy of carrying around the President of the United States. I agree with Mitch, it's beautiful.
And look, we want the president to be flying in a beautiful plane that is befitting the president of the greatest country on earth, and that's what we're going to have for, I guess, about two years, and then it's going to go sit at a library, and then Boeing will deliver the new planes. And the old planes, which I've flown on many times, that are also great, they're going to go to museums.
And so, look, the Presidential aircraft is an important symbol for the country and for the Office of the Presidency. I think what he's done with it here is great. And if the Air Force says it's worthy of the President, I think it's great.
COLLINS: Yes, I mean, reporters got a tour inside of it earlier.
LANDRIEU: But Kaitlan--
COLLINS: Go ahead, Mitch.
LANDRIEU: You just mentioned it earlier. It's not -- the issue is not the plane. That's always a diversion.
When the President ran for office, he said, I'm going to do two things: I'm going to end the war in Ukraine on day one, which he has not done. I'm going to stay out of foreign wars, we're going to stay out of all that stuff, and I'm going to reduce your costs.
And he has spent his time in chaotic moments, losing his focus, basically starting the war in Iran. Costs have gone up, people are really frustrated. And he spent times on bombs and ballrooms and planes and UFC fights. And the polls all show -- Scott reads them as well as I do, and Scott's a smart guy -- that the American public is like, Get focused on my pocketbook because I'm hurting out here.
And I don't think this is a good look. I don't know that you can avoid the timing, but he does seem to be -- have lost focus, in a big way, on what American people want.
COLLINS: Yes, I mean, Scott, he does bring this up a lot, in terms of moments in the Oval Office, where he's signing executive orders, or he's talking about what's going on in D.C., whether it's the plane, as it was today, the ballroom, as they make the argument for it to be needed.
I mean, the Reflecting Pool seems to be a metaphor in terms of the fact that they talked about how much they were going to fix it, they spent $14 million in taxpayer dollars on it, and now the paint's peeling off. I mean, Scott, when you look at that, I mean, how do you -- how do you justify it?
JENNINGS: Well, number one, I think it's great that the President has taken an interest in beautifying Washington, D.C. and updating the White House. Look, everybody, Democrat and Republicans, who have worked in the White House know we needed a new event space for Washington, D.C. And it won't be for Donald Trump. It'll be, by the time he's going out of office, it'll be for every future president. And not only does it need to be befitting the President of the United States and our nation's capital, it needs to be secure. So, he's not wrong about that.
[21:45:00]
He took an interest in beautifying the capital, and trying to beautify the Reflecting Pool. Obama spent $34 million on the Reflecting Pool in the Lincoln Memorial as well. And by the way, I think that's also great. The capital should be beautiful. It should be welcoming. It doesn't have to be a crap hole. We can have fountains that work, we can have a safe city--
COLLINS: Yes, about the Pool--
JENNINGS: --and we can have a presence that takes interest in all of it. And guess what? I hate to break the news to you, but algae has been on the green earth for 1.6 billion years. It's largely undefeated in summertime, in the middle of a swamp, and it--
COLLINS: But Scott, that's fair, but what about the Pool itself? I mean, it's clearly not working, whatever has been done to it.
JENNINGS: Well, it is a stagnant body of water in the middle of a swamp, in the middle of summer, and it's going to have some algae in it. They put in some nanobubblers, which I just learned about this week, and they're working on it.
COLLINS: Same.
JENNINGS: Am I surprised that algae is undefeated? No, I am not surprised that algae is undefeated. But when it's working, it's going to look awesome. And guess what? It should look awesome.
COLLINS: Mitch Landrieu, you're laughing.
LANDRIEU: It's hysterical. I mean, look, when I became Mayor of New Orleans, and the city had been decimated by Katrina, the first thing I did -- I did not do was knock down City Hall and build a new building. You had to get people back in their homes and give them what they needed the most. This is -- with focus.
I'm glad that they want to fix up things. But I'm just telling you, the American people are saying loudly and clearly, to anybody that wants to listen to them, Please focus on my pocketbook because I'm dying out here, while you're focused on ballrooms, and UFC fights, and dropping bombs, and doing all this other stuff, and then trying to fix a pool that you can't even fix. So now I'm pissed.
That's what they're saying, and it doesn't seem like the President's hearing it very much, and he actually (inaudible) didn't really care much about it a couple of weeks ago, and I know he's changing his tune now because gas prices are still going up, and they got real problems right now.
COLLINS: Mitch Landrieu. Scott Jennings.
JENNINGS: Can I -- may I debate the point--
COLLINS: We got to leave it there. We're out of time.
(CROSSTALK)
JENNINGS: Do you mind if I just--
COLLINS: Well, we got to leave it there. We're out of time. Scott, don't worry, you're always back -- welcome back here to debate.
We'll have both of you back. Thank you for being here tonight.
Up next. We got to talk about something that happened with Justice Department today, after a judge demanded it put in writing that that Anti-Weaponization Fund is actually fully legally dead.
[21:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Tonight, we're learning new details about a potentially major shake-up in -- President Trump's acting Intelligence chief that he might be planning. As sources tell CNN that Bill Pulte is looking to cut hundreds of jobs at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. He was supposed to start his new role today. But he actually showed up a day early and reportedly requested a list of every employee, so he could determine whether or not to fire them.
Sources add that Pulte asked about his security clearance level, whether it was top secret, and also if he had access to a government plane.
We're also learning that during a briefing last week, Bill Pulte raised concerns, serious concerns, when he asked if he could bring the President's daily briefing to his home.
My sources tonight are:
The former Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Beth Sanner.
And defense attorney, and former federal prosecutor, Shan Wu.
Beth, you were the Deputy Director of National Intelligence. Were you allowed to take the President's daily brief home with you?
SANNER: Well, it's a little complicated. But he doesn't have a SCIF in his home. Like, many senior officials, they might have a means of doing that.
He clearly is asking questions that show that he just doesn't understand the import of what he is reading, and that creates dangers, right? I mean, loose lips sink ships. What if he's just bragging to a friend, or just talking, right?
Or maybe, you decide some really interesting thing can be weaponized. This is a person who's weaponized information in the past, and cherry- picking, finding that one crazy report that says Elvis killed JFK. I mean, there's an intel report that says almost anything, right?
And I think that carrying on with this mission, that Tulsi had, of aiming at elections, also poses real dangers.
So, the firings are significant. But there's all sorts of problems with Pulte, and that's why across the political spectrum, people are worried about this appointment.
COLLINS: Well, what does it tell you about how he's approaching this job? And I mean, he's only been there on a temporary basis, we think, but that could be hundreds of days. I mean, what do you think he could do while he's in that position?
SANNER: Yes, well, I mean, so firing people, I mean, I don't know what system he's going to use. But given that he has absolutely no understanding of anything, is he going to do Duck, Duck, Goose, every fifth person he's going to fire? Like, what is that all about?
And when you look at what the ODNI does, you know, you have the -- he's aiming specifically at the National Counterterrorism Center. Well, last time I checked, terrorism alerts are way up in our country. And he wants to fire 300 people there. What if they actually do something important? I'm kind of guessing that at least some of those people would. So, it's just like when you fire FEMA people, or Ebola people, or Iran linguists a week before the war. Bad things are going to happen.
COLLINS: Shan, this also comes as we're learning about the Justice Department and how they responded, kind of snubbing, basically snubbing a judge's demand that they provide a court declaration, saying that that $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, that it's dead.
And obviously, this is something that the acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, had been asked about when he was testifying before Congress.
But what does it tell you that they won't put it in writing?
[21:55:00]
SHAN WU, DEFENSE ATTORNEY & FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I think the real thing that strikes me about that, Kaitlan, is the judge feeling they needed to order them to do that. It's kind of like saying, bring a home note from your folks, saying that you really were sick that day. It really shows how much respect and deference has been lost by this Justice Department.
They probably have some strategic reason for wanting to not comply with that right now. Obviously, if they can posture it, so they have to litigate the judge's order, under some bogus theory that violates separation of powers, for example, buys them some more time to maybe find some ways to actually start to implement that slush fund.
But it's really, I mean, going back to other times within DOJ, it's really unthinkable that the judge tells you to submit this declaration, and you don't, you want to make some argument about it.
COLLINS: I mean, do you think that it means that they would revise it or revive it?
WU: I think they will try to revive it, and it gives them some time and room to try and fool around with that and see what they can do with it. That really is the only reason, other than maybe thumbing their nose at the judge.
COLLINS: Shan Wu. Beth Sanner. Great to have both of you here tonight.
Also tonight, don't go anywhere. Because a new hour of THE SOURCE is coming up right after this.
[22:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
