Return to Transcripts main page
The Source with Kaitlan Collins
Trump Signs Order To Change Lake Ontario To "Lake America"; Tomorrow: Day 2 Of Deliberations In Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial; Trump Headlines TX Fundraiser To Boost Paxton In Senate Race. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired August 27, 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)
MOIRA JOHNSTON (ph): --I don't know how she got everybody to love her. I think she did the hard work of loving everybody first. And then, everybody respected her opinion whether we shared it or not. We have to do the hard work of caring for each other first.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: All There Is Live gets underway shortly at 09:15 p.m. You can only see it streaming at CNN.com/AllThereIs. I hope you join me there in 15 minutes.
The news continues. "THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS" starts now.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN HOST, THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS: The Gulf of Mexico, the Kennedy Center, and now Lake Ontario? President Trump's latest rebrand that is facing blowback tonight.
I'm Kaitlan Collins. And this is THE SOURCE.
Throughout his second term in office, President Trump has tried to rewrite the global order in ways big and small, including by relabeling maps.
In the Oval Office today, that effort took the form of mockery and contempt for a nation which is not only America's second-largest trading partner, but also has, at times, sent its own sons and daughters to serve alongside U.S. forces.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I guess the purpose of this, more than anything else is we're going to be changing the name of Lake Ontario effective immediately to Lake America.
We can't let -- the whole Canadian thing has been going on for decades, and it has to come to a stop.
So, the lake change, Lake of America, was something I've been thinking about for a long time.
The Canadian officials have treated us very badly. They're nasty people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Well, the top Canadian official, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, argued that no sharpie on a piece of paper can change what the rest of the world calls a great lake, writing, quote, "Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario -- then, now and always." He also points out that the name Lake Ontario predated the Declaration of Independence.
You'll remember, on the day that he returned to office, President Trump issued a pretty similar order when he renamed the Gulf of Mexico. It's a move the Mexican government today still does not officially recognize.
And it's all kind of reminiscent of that unforgettable moment during the President's first term. When remember, rather than admitting he had made a mistake, he altered the projections for a storm on a hurricane map, falsely claiming that the storm was heading for Alabama, when forecasters had made clear it was not.
Now, although for decades, the President has put his name on everything, from hotels, to steaks, to sneakers. As President, he is finding it a little bit more difficult to brand his way out of a trade war that's actually expected to drive up prices even further, especially given Americans buy more than $380 billion worth of goods from Canada every year.
Now today, though the President seemed to clearly be enjoying signing this executive order.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: So, if you think about it, we have a gulf and we have a lake. Now, all we need is an ocean. So, maybe we'll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific. Maybe we'll change them both.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: In terms of bodies of waters and land that he is intent on renaming, the President has not yet signaled whether or not he intends to do the same thing with the Strait of Hormuz, for example, which he declared a U.S. territory just a couple of weeks ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, the Trump administration has renamed government agencies, buildings, military bases, warships, and mountain peaks.
Just last week, CNN reported that the Defense Department, which he renamed the War Department, is also considering renaming an aircraft carrier that's under construction. The plan now would be to name it after President Trump, instead of after the American hero, Doris Dorie Miller, a black sailor who helped defend Americans during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
And as if to prove that no building, landmark, or historic artifact is safe from the President's rebranding reach, his legal team was back in court, for a two-hour hearing today, on plans to put Donald J. Trump's name back on the John F. Kennedy Center.
Now, the issue is so front and center for the administration that it has actually demanded the attention of the Commerce Secretary, even amid this trade war standoff that's underway with the Canadians.
[21:05:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD LUTNICK, COMMERCE SECRETARY: The President asks me to help him out all the time on all sorts of things. And so, when he said, will you help me out on this, right? The answer was, I sat with him and said, What can we accomplish? I sat with the board to say, What can we accomplish? I tried to sit with all the people who were against it and try to sort it out so we can go positively to number one, we want the Kennedy Center to be the greatest performing arts center in the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, it was just this week that the President and his legal team had threatened to demolish the Kennedy Center, if the courts continued to block his renovation plans.
It creates a split-screen of the President's priorities, fixating on things like his construction projects, even as the war with Iran is very much still grinding on, and as Americans are finding it more difficult to pay for food, gas, and housing, as Republicans are trying to cling to their slim majority that they have in Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUTNICK: There are two things that he does for enjoyment: he plays golf on the weekend, and he builds. He loves to build. So this, like, why are we talking about this? This is what he enjoys. So, late at night, a 11 o'clock at night, he calls me and he wants to talk about things he's building because it's fun for him. And the only thing he does during the week that is not work because everybody works. Like, if you sat with him, would you have a nice chat with him? No, you'd ask him about Iran, then you'd ask him about this, then you'd ask him about that. Everybody does that. And the one thing he likes to do during the week is construction. So, I am helping him so he can enjoy constructing the Kennedy Center.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: My sources tonight are:
The former Mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu.
And Marc Short, who is the former chief of staff to the former Vice President Mike Pence.
Marc.
MARC SHORT, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO VP MIKE PENCE: Yes.
COLLINS: I mean, you served in the last Trump administration. What do you make of how much headspace this takes up for this Trump administration?
SHORT: I don't know how much headspace it takes up for the administration as much as it does for the media following it. I think some of this, honestly, Kaitlan, is just funny. But I think what's not is the actual policy behind it.
I think the reality is that today, there was data that came out that said in July, trade deficit increased 17 percent to $118 billion. And that's what the whole purpose of these tariffs were supposed to do was allegedly affix the trade deficit, which shouldn't have been a problem in the first place. And so, when Americans are facing concerns about affordability, or high energy prices, or high agriculture prices, and you're starting trade wars with a country that has been an ally, I think that's a much greater concern.
And the reality is that some of these antics, actually -- conservatives would have elected the first conservative prime minister in Canada since Stephen Harper, in Pierre Poilievre, except that some of this rallied the Canadians to elect more socialists to follow Trudeau.
And so, in some cases been like your own goal, you basically you could have had a conservative in Canada you'd be negotiating with. But all you did was to rally Canadians behind the socialists, who now are -- you're having a challenge with, and the policy you're pursuing of these massive tariffs are just creating more headaches for a lot of Americans.
And so, I don't get too worked up on the renaming. Again, I think some of that's funny. But I think the policy is what's more concerning for a lot of Republican voters who want to see the President focus on affordability rather than these distractions. COLLINS: Well, I mean, in terms of people who don't seem entertained by this. Susan Collins is a Republican senator. She's in a re-election fight that's a toss-up right now. And she said: Canada is not China. Canada is one of our closest allies and largest trading partners. Our economies are inextricably linked, especially in the border regions.
I mean, she's obviously, in Maine, dealing with this firsthand, and in terms, Mayor Landrieu, of how this plays out.
MITCH LANDRIEU, CO-CHAIR, AMERICAN BRIDGE 21ST CENTURY, (D) FORMER MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS, SENIOR ADVISER, HARRIS-WALZ CAMPAIGN: I don't know whether I should get in the way of Marc, who's represented rock- ribbed Republicans his whole life, or Susan Collins, who's done the same, who are both saying that the President is engaging in self- destructive behavior that's hurting all of the United States, especially working-class people, and that is very seriously.
The President obviously has very bad judgment. A couple of weeks ago, he was hugging Kim Jong Un and kicking South Korea in the ass. Now he's doing the same thing to Canada.
Susan Collins, as you mentioned, is trying to get reelected in Maine. And right now, the President's policies are hurting the blueberry farmers in Maine, the lobster fishermen in Maine, all of the people that live along that coast. He's raising costs for every American person.
And unlike Marc, I guess it's so funny that you could laugh, if you wouldn't have to cry about how silly the President is in losing his focus on the things that matter most.
[21:10:00]
And Howard Lutnick just said it better than anybody. Howard Lutnick concentrates on trying to make the President happy by talking about construction. You know what he's not talking about? Getting the wars ended. Bringing the cost down. Opening the Strait of Hormuz. Lowering the tariffs so that American people can get back to work. And it is just, it makes you want to cry. It is not funny.
We have a President that is delusional. He actually thinks -- I don't think he thinks it's a joke. He thinks that with the stroke of his pen, he can change the sun to the moon because he thinks that he is all-powerful. And when you have a person like that that has his finger next to the nuclear button, it should really give people pause about how far out of bounds we have gotten.
And I think the American people are paying a lot of attention. They don't want to govern in chaos. They don't want to govern in corruption. And they want their costs down. They want their leaders focused. And they're going to demand that the elected officials do that.
COLLINS: Yes, I mean, Marc, a lot of people are kind of making fun of this. I guess, I shouldn't say kind of. They are. The Governor of Wisconsin, Tony Evers, said: And I just renamed Lake Michigan Lake Wisconsin. See, I can sign napkins that say things, too.
And I mean, it's not just Democrats here in the U.S. This is what the Premier of Manitoba said about what the President did today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAB KINEW, PREMIER OF MANITOBA: You know, when like a rock band is really over the hill, and you see them like in a casino playing some song from like 50 years ago. I think that's the part of Donald Trump's presidency we're at now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: I mean, Marc, it is taking up a lot of time in terms of -- they called the press in today, simply to dedicate it to this event.
SHORT: Yes, look, I think that there are a lot of Republicans who are facing a midterm election in less than three months, and are anxious to address some of the issues that Americans view as top priorities, and not this. Again, I think the President's entertained by it, but I don't think it really helps a lot of the Republicans that are trying to win competitive races.
And look, I think voters face a really serious choice in November. I think that the Democrats, in many cases, have nominated socialist nominees who proudly embrace that banner and have embraced antisemitic rhetoric. And yet, we're not able to focus on that because we're talking about renaming lakes.
And again, I think that the trade war that's ongoing with Canada is really counterproductive, when they have been one of our greatest trading partners. And Americans are concerned about affordability, and the tariffs continue to raise prices.
And I know there's a lot of conversation, from the administration, that says they don't raise prices. But just last week, to lower the price of beef, what did they do? They lowered tariffs. And so, it's a clear acknowledgement that that's actually the economic formula to lowering prices.
COLLINS: Yes.
Marc Short. Mitch Landrieu. Always great to have both of you here. So thanks for joining us tonight to start the hour.
LANDRIEU: Thanks.
COLLINS: We also have a member of Prime Minister Carney's Canada-U.S. Advisory Council joining us tonight. The former Premier of Quebec, Jean Charest.
And it's great to have you here, sir.
JEAN CHAREST, FORMER DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA, FORMER PREMIER OF QUEBEC: Thank you. COLLINS: Because I mean, obviously, when you look at this, and we're just watching how this is affecting the relate -- I mean, clearly, what is driving what the President did today is this feud that he is now in with Mark Carney. I wonder where you see this relationship going, from a moment like that in the Oval Office today.
CHAREST: Well, let me just observe that the last time the President paid attention to a body of water, it was the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and if I remember correctly, it didn't finish well.
So, we are -- part of it is almost funny, but the other part is real issues for people in their day-to-day lives. And here in the United States, from what we see, you're involved in a war in Iran. You have a bond market issue that's very serious. So, last week, you crossed the threshold of $40 trillion worth of debt, and tariffs is more cost, more inflation. More inflation means higher interest rates. It means that people are paying out of their pocket for all of this. So, all of this, from our perspective, doesn't make sense.
It doesn't make sense, Kaitlan, that we have tariffs and counter- tariffs also. I want to point out that on the Canadian side, we're not doing this with any degree of enthusiasm. We're responding because we want to defend the sovereignty of our country, and we want to be able to work with Americans.
And one thing I want to point out: what is the relationship with Canada about? We're each other's biggest customers, but our economies are totally integrated. 70 percent of what we send to you is either raw materials or inputs that go into other products, and that's why tariffs don't work. They don't work on the U.S. side. They don't work on the Canadian side either. Though we're in this tit-for-tat logic.
[21:15:00]
And the sooner we can sit down and look at the broader picture of relationship, it's about defense, it's about critical minerals, energy, the Arctic, all these things, that for which we have a shared interest? The better off we will all be.
COLLINS: Well, I mean, and we've spoken to other Canadian officials who've talked about working with the Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer, and working with Howard Lutnick, and actually finding them helpful, until things broke down, a week ago in these talks.
In terms of though the President himself, who ultimately has to sign off on any agreement or any deal that they're not even close to reaching right now. This is what he said today about how he sees Canada and how it's treated the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Canada treats us very badly. I would say that of all countries -- as you know, we have President Xi coming in a couple of weeks. We have a lot of -- we deal with a lot of people. And people, oftentimes, they'll ask me, Who's the worst to deal with on trade? And I said, That's easy, Canada. They are the worst to trade. And they feel entitled, and just, we can't have that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: I mean, he's saying that Canada treats the United States worse than China.
CHAREST: I mean, really? I mean, really?
You know, one of the anniversaries that is coming up was a sad moment in 9/11 for both countries, where Canada stood by the United States. But there were 7,000 Americans who were stranded in a northern part, eastern part of Canada called Gander, and there's a play on Broadway that says -- the title is Come from Away. It's a very beautiful moment in the relationship between both our countries, where Canadians stood by those Americans who were stranded and supported them.
We fought together in wars, the Korean War. I was Premier when Canada was in Afghanistan under American command, and I called every single family of fallen soldiers, Canadian soldiers. There's more than a 100 of them who left their lives.
I mean, our relationship, Kaitlan, I mean, let's be serious. Our relationship -- and we like -- let me point something out that's important for your audience to know. We believe we're hap -- we're lucky to be born in this neighborhood of the world. We are lucky to live next to the American people. We have a lot of respect for American neighbors and friends. They are friends and allies. And we distinguish between political leaders on both sides and the people that are neighbors of ours in all parts of Canada.
And we want to work together. We want to do things together. And the sooner we'll be able to move on to the real issues about our economic relationship and the broader relationship, the better, and move away from this, you know, this silliness, frankly.
COLLINS: Do you think that can happen anytime soon?
CHAREST: Yes, I think I really believe it will. Both sides now are tariffing and counter-tariffing that's -- and we know, by the way, when we tariff ourselves, it hurts ourselves too. It hurts our economy. We know that. We're conscious of that. It's just that we feel we don't have any other option but to send this strong message.
But yes, I do believe, in the short-term, there's no -- nothing on the horizon that says there'll be a re-engagement. But I know Americans well enough, and you know, Canadians, that at one point we'll sit down, we'll reengage, and we're going to put this relationship on the footing it needs to be, to be able to deal effectively with the economy, and deal -- you know, the issues are outside. The competition, the real issues on competition is from outside. China is a good example.
COLLINS: Yes.
CHAREST: The issue with China on aluminum -- on aluminum, it's China. It's not Canada. And think of the tariffs on aluminum. We send you 2.7 million tons a year. The aluminum we send you, every piece of aluminum is made up of 40 percent of energy. You have an energy problem in the country right now for data centers, to build everything else, and you're tariffing aluminum, and you don't have enough aluminum? It just doesn't make sense.
So, right now, I guess the emotions are running high for the President and renaming, you know, renaming a lake if it makes him feel better. Not going to change anything. There's millions of lakes in Canada. He could do it for the rest of his life. But if it's like the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool? Well, it'll probably end the same way.
COLLINS: Jean Charest, thank you for joining us tonight.
CHAREST: Thank you, Kaitlan.
COLLINS: Up next for us here on THE SOURCE. Deliberations are underway in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy. What the jury is now weighing.
[21:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Tonight, 12 jurors are weighing whether Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts mother, should be convicted of the murder of her three young children.
The 36-year-old former nurse has pleaded not guilty, but admits that she killed her children. Her own attorneys don't deny that she did it, but instead they're arguing to the jury that Lindsay Clancy should not be held criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis, saying that she described hearing a voice in her head that told her to kill her children and then herself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN REDDINGTON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR LINDSAY CLANCY: How does this -- turn into this? How? Because of the damn medicine and the lousy medical care that she got.
This young lady is not guilty of the killing of her children because she was suffering from a disease and defect, as his honor instructed you, and they're not going to be able to prove otherwise. And it's their burden, not ours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[21:25:00]
COLLINS: Now, for weeks, jurors have been hearing from dozens of witnesses, detailing the disturbing killing, including from Clancy's ex-husband, Patrick, who testified that in January 2023, he left home to pick up the family dinner.
When he came back, he says that he found Lindsay under an open window in their backyard, with deep cuts on her wrist and her neck, while their children, ages five, three, and eight months old, were in the basement with exercise bands around their necks, a horrible scene that prosecutors argued was a rational and premeditated act.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER SPRAGUE, PLYMOUTH COUNTY ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: You know that she knew the difference between right and wrong during that time because she had those thoughts at the beginning of December of harming her kids, and she told Patrick and her mother about them.
She killed them, and she left them there on the floor with the bands around their necks. She didn't bring them up to their beds and put them with her favorite stuffed animal and cover them up gently and lovingly, leaving them peacefully there. No. She left them discarded on the basement floor, like broken toys because, she was done playing the game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Joining me tonight is:
CNN's Jean Casarez, who has been following this trial very closely from the beginning.
And Casey Jordan, who is a criminologist and attorney.
And Jean, obviously, the jury is now in charge of this, they have been deliberating for nearly three and a half hours today. They'll be back tomorrow. Do we have any sense of how they're approaching their decision?
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, jury deliberations are sacred, so we cannot know.
But here's what we know. Here are the facts that we do know. For everything that we can assess, there were no questions, this afternoon, on jury instructions or questions of law. Because when the jury has a question, they are to write it down. They give it to the bailiff, who gives it to the judge, who calls the attorneys in, and normally it's an open court, and the question is read. And sometimes, the jury's just given an answer. Sometimes, they're brought into the courtroom. There was none of that.
Another thing that we know is that between the defense closing argument and the prosecution closing argument, the judge asked the jury, Would you like a break? And they said, No, we don't. In other words, Let's get on with this. So, they're focused.
COLLINS: And they had -- so Jean, they had no questions today for the court?
CASAREZ: No.
COLLINS: Casey, when you look at this. I mean, obviously she admits that she -- that she killed her children. CASEY JORDAN, ATTORNEY & CRIMINOLOGIST, PODCAST HOST, "CRIMINAL APPEAL": Correct.
COLLINS: The question is whether or not she's going to be criminally responsible for their deaths. How does a jury approach something like this?
JORDAN: Well, Massachusetts has, if you want to claim an insanity defense, Massachusetts is the place to do it. They don't even use the word insane.
Bottom line is that the burden to prove that she is not criminally responsible is on the prosecution. There's almost a presumption, when she presents this defense, that she was under the throes of postpartum psychosis when she did that. That, it's the prosecution's job to prove otherwise, and I don't know that they've actually done that.
Their theory is that this is all part of the master plan that goes back for several months, where she was doctor-shopping and taking different medications and stopping taking the medications, all because she resented her children and didn't want to be a mother anymore or was trying to regain control. There's just no evidence of that.
If this were the kind of case where you had a motive, we've all been looking for it. You know, was the husband cheating or was there something else going on? It isn't there.
So, as it exists right now, this jury has five options: first degree murder, second degree murder, manslaughter, guilty which isn't going to happen because she's already admitted she did it, or not criminally responsible because she was laboring under such a disease of the mind, a defective reason as to not know and appreciate the wrongfulness of her acts, and I think there's a very good chance she could prevail exactly on that.
COLLINS: In terms of the jury itself, I believe there's nine women on it.
JORDAN: Yes.
COLLINS: How are you looking at who's deciding Lindsay Clancy's fate here?
JORDAN: Well, we take a lot of indications from the playbook from a long time ago, the Texas case, of course, of Andrea Yates.
Typically, you would not want to see young mother -- young mothers on this jury. You would want highly educated people and older people, people who might not have children, but young mothers and young men probably are more likely to convict. Young mothers because they can't imagine harming their own children, and young men because they can't understand postpartum psychosis. We know that the longer and more experienced people have been on this earth, the more likely they are to understand the defense's arguments.
[21:30:00] COLLINS: Jean, what has it been like at court? Because I mean, we've seen how this -- I mean, my entire feed, it seems like when you get on social media, especially in the last few days, has been about people weighing in on this and with their thoughts on the arguments that have been made.
I know there's been a lot of supporters of Lindsay Clancy outside the courthouse. What have you witnessed?
CASAREZ: Absolutely. They started standing in line at 2 o'clock this morning to be able to get a seat in the courtroom. It is mainly women. And I think the issues here of postpartum depression, going toward what the defense is saying, postpartum psychosis, is something that they care about. They want more research in that.
But I do want to say that the prosecution's expert witnesses are saying, in fact, that Lindsay Clancy had decided she was going to commit suicide, but what stopped her was the love of her children. She had told her husband previously that she did not think a mother should ever be separated from their child when they were young. And so, the theory of the expert witnesses was that she killed her children out of love. She knew she was going to commit suicide, and she didn't want her children to live without a mother, so she would take them with her.
COLLINS: Jean Casarez. And Casey Jordan. We'll see how long the jury continues to deliberate. It'll be back in their hands tomorrow. We'll be following all the updates here on CNN.
Up next here for us on THE SOURCE though. The President is hitting the campaign trail tonight. He's on the ground right now ahead of what is going to be a consequential Senate race. But he's in deep-red Texas. Yes, Texas. Why? My political panel is here right after this.
[21:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'll be going to Texas, and we're working very hard. We want to win that race. He's running against a man who should not -- never be -- we have a very good candidate, Ken Paxton, and he's running against Talafreako, they call him because, he is a little freaky, and that's not a man that represents the value of Texas. So, I'm going to help Ken Paxton, and I'm going to spend a lot of time in Texas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: That was President Trump today, giving his two cents on that hotly-contested Senate race in deep-red Texas. But this campaign is going to cost a lot more than that. That is why the President finds himself in Texas tonight. He's at a Houston fundraiser for the Republican National Committee and for his Senate pick, Ken Paxton.
There's a new poll that has Ken Paxton in a very close race with the Democrat here, James Talarico. The President's own approval rating in Texas is underwater, despite the fact that he won the state by 14 points two years ago.
It's not really the position that the Republicans want to be in ahead of this November's fight to keep control of Congress. And if they don't succeed, President Trump is already placing the blame on Republicans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: There's a theory that I get the vote. You know, this -- I see it all the time that when Trump's on the ballot, they win. When he's not on the ballot, the people don't go to vote.
They say that Trump does great when he's on the ballot, but when he's not on the ballot, his people don't come and they don't vote for senators, congressmen, and other Republicans, and that these people, they're running, they're great, but if Trump isn't actually on the ballot. So, what I really want you to do is pretend, please, that I'm on the ballot.
The question is, will they vote? Because a lot of them are very angry at Republicans, to be honest with you. They're angry at Republicans--
JAKE SHERMAN, FOUNDER, PUNCHBOWL NEWS: Why is that?
TRUMP: I don't know. I mean, they're angry at Republicans. But they're not angry at me.
SHERMAN: That's an interesting -- why though?
TRUMP: They're not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: My political sources are here tonight.
And Marc Short, as our resident Republican that is with us. I mean, do you think that that is how voters see it? I mean, Donald Trump is the most prominent Republican. Do you think voters separate the President from other Republicans down-ballot?
SHORT: Well, Kaitlan, I think the President's right that there is a certain voter that he's attracted in the Republican Party that others have been unsuccessful getting.
COLLINS: Yes, sure.
SHORT: And so, I think that when he is on the ballot, there's a bigger turnout.
But I also think that typically a midterm election is about the party in power, and I think that's especially true when that same party has the White House, the House, and the Senate. And so, I think that the midterms pretty much are going to be a referendum on Republicans. And I think voters typically like divided government. Whether or not that was in 2010 after Obama, there's historic election for Republicans, or whether it's in 2018 after Trump's first term, it was a big election for Democrats. So, it's a really challenging environment.
But no, I think the voters are going to look at this, and it's a referendum in large part on the President.
COLLINS: In terms of the President being there on the ground tonight, Karen. It's an acknowledgement that they do need to help raise money for Ken Paxton. And James Talarico, the Democrat, right now he has nearly 12 times the cash on hand that Ken Paxton does.
KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, SENIOR ADVISER, HILLARY CLINTON'S 2016 CAMPAIGN, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, DNC: Yes.
COLLINS: And Paxton himself has actually been quite vocal in his concerns about this. Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN PAXTON, (R) TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATE: Go to kenpaxton.com and help us because we need help.
I was at $0. He was at, you know, he just raised $30 million.
I do need help at kenpaxton.com to raise that money so we can compete with him on TV.
We're a little behind on the TV. He's gotten on TV.
He started in July. I'm catching up.
We need as much help as we can get from around the country to win this race.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: How do Democrats see that tonight?
FINNEY: Look, Texas is always, it's -- it's a tough -- I call it the white whale. It's a tough state for us. But people are very encouraged by the fact that it's not -- the polls are close, that is true.
[21:40:00]
And I am with Donald Trump. If people want to pretend like he's on the ballot, please do. Because guess what? That is mobilizing to the Democratic Party base. That is also mobilizing to Independents and moderate Republicans, who we have been seeing moving away from the President, and who we are seeing.
I mean, think about in Texas, you know, the announcement this week about beef. We've seen ranchers and farmers very frustrated by some of the moves this President has made. The war in Iran is impacting fertilizer costs. You've also got, you know, issues, other issues that farmers and ranchers are dealing with. And so, in addition to the sort of economic pain that people are already feeling. So, I'm not surprised that Republicans in Texas are probably not feeling like Ken Paxton is a good bet right now or a good place to put their dollars.
And I think the fact that the President is there and they're trying to also, you know, create an event -- he's there raising money tonight. But tomorrow, he's doing an event with the Artemis crew. And certainly, they deserve our praise. At the same time, we know what that is. That's meant to be a feel-good photo-op in Texas, which clearly Ken Paxton needs more of.
COLLINS: Marc, I think just in terms of how Republicans are viewing this overall. Trump is there tonight. Republicans are doing this midterm convention in Texas, and in Dallas next month, for two nights.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has been on the ground in Texas as well, and this is what he said about basically what this is looking like for November.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): We're going to talk about what we've done for the people, and then the President's going to look right into the camera and say, I am on the ballot. OK? Because even though his name isn't, right? His administration, his legacy, the American First agenda is. We got to get people to turn out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Is that what it will take, you think, Marc?
SHORT: Look, I think in Texas, the reality is that there was a very bruising primary, and it has the party still divided. I think that when Talarico's record is more and more exposed, a lot of those Republicans come home because Talarico is too far left to win in Texas.
But I think that nationally, to Karen's point, the educated vote is pretty much the same. It was the less college-educated voters that Trump won. They're the ones that are pulling away from Republicans right now, in large part because of this trade agenda, in large part because of the Middle America. They're hurt by higher prices. They're hurt by fertilizer prices. And they're being hurt by higher grocery prices. And so, that's the part that his agenda is actually eroding his own support, and that's going to hurt other Republicans on the ballot in November.
COLLINS: In terms of how Republicans are not only viewing the ballot right now, but how they're viewing it come 2028, Karen. Listen to what Ted Cruz said about -- what he's been saying is he's been on this book tour for his new book about a potential run in 2028, which is what the President himself was actually asked about in the Oval Office today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALI VITALI, MS NOW HOST: Is this a party that has coalesced already behind JD Vance?
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Oh no. There's going to be a full discussion about who we are and what we believe. Listen--
VITALI: Are you going to be part of that?
CRUZ: There'll be time to figure that out. I'll certainly be part of the discussion.
Listen, it's no secret that I want to be president. I ran for president.
DAN PATRICK, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF TEXAS: Are you going to run again?
CRUZ: I came close.
PATRICK: Are you going to run again?
CRUZ: Time will tell.
TRUMP: I would say that he's very talented. He's a very good friend of mine. I think he might do that, yes.
REPORTER: Mr. President--
REPORTER: Mr. President--
TRUMP: He's a very talent -- he's a talented guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Karen, what did you make of that answer?
FINNEY: Well, obviously Ted Cruz is running for president, and if you're JD Vance, you got to realize you have a race on your hands, a primary on your hands, most likely. I don't think that Trump will be politically strong enough to stop it. Let's set aside all of these crazy machinations about deciding he might try to stay as president. I think there will be -- looks like we will have a Republican primary. So, JD Vance was probably the person listening closest to that answer.
COLLINS: Marc Short, you think that people are going to -- Republicans are going to primary JD Vance?
SHORT: I don't know that the President's record shows he's very invested in supporting his Vice President's next steps. So, I would -- I would imagine this is going to be a pretty crowded field, and I don't think he's really going to put his finger behind any one of them.
COLLINS: Marc Short, you have a way with the understatement. Thank you so much, Karen Finney, as well, for joining us here tonight.
Up next. We're going to go to the ground in Nepal because the search for survivors after that catastrophic flood has swamped the border region with China. Hundreds have been killed. And more than a 1,000 people are still missing right now. I'm going to have a source join me on the biggest challenges that are facing those rescuers.
[21:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Tonight, rescuers are racing to find survivors stuck in the flood-swamped areas of Nepal and China, amid the growing fears tonight of another deadly flash flood and possible monsoon-fueled storms.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God. Oh my God. (FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Awful scenes like those have been playing out of that monstrous wall of water that was filled with debris, and how it wiped out entire communities and swamped the border region in a thick sludge, which has made the search all the more difficult.
Crews have been using excavators to try to dig through the mud. And at one point today, they even rescued an elderly woman by carrying her to safety using the excavator's claw.
More than 1,300 people are still, though, believed to be missing tonight. That includes 90 Americans, and in hard-hit Nepal, and the death toll has soared to at least 389 people.
Officials are warning tonight that a dam that was created during the landslide is now at high risk of bursting, potentially causing new flooding.
My source on all this tonight is David Fisher, who is the head of the International Federation of the Red Cross for Nepal.
And thank you, sir, for being here.
[21:50:00]
I mean, I know you're roughly about 40 miles from where the flooding is. What can you tell us about how the rescue efforts are doing right now?
DAVID FISHER, HEAD OF DELEGATION, IFRC NEPAL: Thank you, Kaitlan, for having me on the program.
So, we have had our teams from the Nepal Red Cross headquarters on site from just a few hours after the flood hit, connecting with the volunteers, the Nepal Red Cross, who live in all of these communities, and themselves described the horrific event and how it handled -- happened in their -- in their homes.
They have been handing out just basic relief items, food for those who have been displaced, safe water for them to drink, hygiene kits. Unfortunately, there has been a very high demand for body bags, as you mentioned, and so we have organized that from our stocks. But we are currently only scratching the surface of the emergency needs. And as you mentioned, we're extremely concerned about the possibility of a renewed flood, even as the authorities are working very, very hard to reopen roads that have been blocked for communities that have still not received significant assistance.
COLLINS: How serious are your volunteers hearing, from the authorities, about how they're viewing the chances of another flood happening?
FISHER: Well, we're all very concerned. The images are, of course, are giving us a pause, and many people, of course, are disoriented, not in their normal -- you know, normal routines, and both rescuers and those who are trying to repair often have to be sort of in the valley areas.
So, we are, through our volunteers, providing -- distributing the messages about warning. We will do our best to, of course, to keep our own people safe, and as many people who are affected as safe as possible. But it's critical that we reach both the existing emergency needs and that we get these warnings out as soon as possible.
COLLINS: What does this look like in terms of no power, no phone networks working, so rescuers using radios to communicate. I mean, I think people may not fully understand or grasp just how difficult. I mean, we've seen the videos and they're devastating. But in terms of actually trying to carry these rescues out, what are some of the biggest challenges tonight?
FISHER: That's absolutely true. We were speaking to the secretary of the district branch in Nuwakot, and he himself, even in the first day of his work, could not reach half of his family until the end of the day.
There are areas, even in Nuwakot, but also in Rasuwa, that are not accessible, and that's still our greatest concern: people who have received some very limited support that's been delivered by helicopter by the Nepal Armed Forces, but they will need quite a bit more.
So, we're doing our best with those that we can already reach, and we have goods and relief items that have been trucked up from our warehouse here in Kathmandu, ready to cross into Rasuwa as soon as we have access.
COLLINS: Can I just ask how you're feeling tonight, David? Just as all of this is playing out, personally.
FISHER: Look, Nepal has -- many people talk about resilience, and Nepal suffers disasters every year. This one is of an unusual magnitude. But it's one thing to be resilient, and another thing to have this kind of enormous shock. And it's going to take quite a long time for people to start feeling even again, especially with warnings of new floods coming, being able to feel safe and back on track in their life.
The Federation's role here is to support the humanitarian action of those on the frontline. We've just announced a global appeal. We're calling for solidarity. This is the moment for Nepal's friends, around the world, to provide help, not just for this emergency need, but also to help them get back on their feet. A lot of people have lost their businesses. They've lost their jobs. It's time for us to help now.
COLLINS: Yes. David Fisher, a lot of people want to help. Thank you for joining us tonight with that latest information. We appreciate it so much.
And if you are watching and you want more information on how to help these flood victims, as he just mentioned there, you can go to CNN.com/Impact, or you can just text the word FLOOD to 707070. We'll keep you updated on what's happening on the ground there.
Up next for us here tonight. It is Source Code. We give you a number at the center of a story in the news. Can you figure out what that story is? Our Source Code tonight is 1,051. We'll be right back with the answer.
[21:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Tonight's Source Code is 1,051. That's because that's how many stock transactions the President made and just disclosed making in the month of June, including the purchase and the sale of thousands of dollars of stock in energy companies that were directly affected by the war in Iran.
The President also bought and sold stocks, in U.S. defense contractors, all amid U.S. negotiations with Iran, and some of the sales came just a day after the President had purchased that stock.
[22:00:00]
This is just the latest in an unprecedented pace of trading activity that we've never seen before from a sitting president.
The White House tonight argued that President Trump's portfolios are managed by independent third-party financial institutions, and said, quote, "Neither President Trump nor any member of his family has any ability to direct, influence, or provide input regarding how the portfolio is invested or when investments are being bought or sold. There are no conflicts of interest," they said.
Thanks so much for joining us here tonight.
"CNN NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP" starts now.
