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Table For Five
Trump & Hegseth Dismiss Concerns From Navy Families About Ship; Chaney's Doctor Sounds Alarm On Trump's Health: Not Well; First Lady Melania Trump Hasn't Had A Public Event In A Month; Trump Asks Supreme Court To Let Him Build The Ballroom; WNBA Coach Fires Back At Culture War Trolls: "Go To Hell"; WNBA Defends Itself Against Trolls Intensifying Culture Wars. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired August 15, 2026 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARA SWISHER, CNN HOST (voice-over): Today, secrets, runways, and a catering truck. How Donald Trump became the designated survivor and exposed a war's truth.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't worry about anything, to be honest.
SWISHER (voice-over): Plus.
JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: The president doesn't look well. He really hasn't looked well for much of the last year.
SWISHER (voice-over): Dick Cheney's cardiologist sounds the alarm on Trump's health and says Americans deserve answers. Also.
TRUMP: It's that face. It's that brain. It's those lips. The way they move.
SWISHER (voice-over): Who will replace Karoline Leavitt for Trump's final ride? And the WNBA hits back against the trolls as the culture wars intensify.
STEPHANIE WHITE, HEAD COACH, INDIANA FEVER: I will always stand by them. Everybody else can go to hell.
SWISHER (voice-over): Here in the studio. Joanna Coles, Nick Thompson, Ayesha Rascoe and Terry Moran. It's the weekend. Join the conversation at a TABLE FOR FIVE.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SWISHER (on camera): Hi everyone. I'm Kara Swisher, in for Abby. From a cloak and dagger ruse to a Navy ship crisis, the Trump administration this week is getting caught in its own web of deception. By now, you've heard about the Iranian threat against Air Force One that forced Donald Trump to secretly switch planes using a catering cart. Yes, a catering cart.
But the incident raises questions about the war and how dangerous Iranians still are, and also why the administration seem to be OK using a cabinet -- using cabinet members and the media as a decoy. The president, once he finally admitted the truth, made himself the hero. I know that's a shocker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why was it too dangerous for you to fly on Air Force One but not too dangerous for the press?
TRUMP: I don't know. I think -- I think actually, the plane that I flew on was at greater risk. I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that we -- that they would be more likely to go for it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were you worried about a shoulder-fired missile?
TRUMP: I don't worry about anything, to be honest. Whatever it is. You know my attitude. Whatever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SWISHER: Separately, Democrats are demanding answers about the USS Lincoln after families of sailors go public about the ship's deteriorating living conditions and mental health concerns. The Lincoln and its 5000 sailors left last November and haven't made a port of call in more than 250 days. That's a modern-day record. But Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth say nothing to see here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Completely misrepresented. Listen, we make sure that every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The family members of U.S. Service members are concerned about the conditions on board the USS Lincoln.
TRUMP: Well, no, that ship is moving. No, they're not. The ship --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Has the deployment gone on too long? Are you worried about the mental health?
TRUMP: No. No, no. Not nearly long enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SWISHER: Ayesha, you've traveled on Air Force One dozens of times, and I assume you have, Terry, also. You should start. Talk a little bit about how it looks for from your perspective.
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST, NPR: Well, I mean -- so Air Force One, for a lot of people who don't know -- who have not done that, it's not just the media who's on -- who's on there. I mean, there was this perception that he left the media on the plane and who cares about them, which doesn't seem very Christian-like, I should say. But it's much more than the media. Its staff. Its cabinet members.
SWISHER: Military?
RASCOE: Its military who are assigned to the -- to the White House detail. And so, the press make up a very small portion of the people who are on the plane. So, that's why it was shocking for me to hear that it was like used as a decoy, because it's like, these are people who have signed up, you know, to -- some of them have signed up to support the president, or they're just like working for the military. They're doing their job. And their life is at risk in a way that they did not know that the risk was so high.
SWISHER: Right. And before, when Bill Clinton did it, they informed the press. Correct? And the last time this happened, when there was an effort to --
TERRY MORAN, VETERAN JOURNALIST: Yes, I understand. It was before my time even. But I do understand that's what happened. I do trust the Secret Service, though. They have -- their main job is to protect the president of the United States and make sure that he's safe. But I don't think they were going to let a plane go completely unprotected --
SWISHER: No, they didn't.
In the air. And so, I think it's a lot about a little. But what it does show is, once again, kind of the me, me, me, Donald Trump saying, well, I was actually the one in danger. And he obviously doesn't care about anybody he left behind, to whatever degree the risk was. But at the end of the day, those are decisions that are made with great care and great professionalism.
[07:05:03]
SWISHER: I get it. But isn't it about transparency? I mean, there was no reporter in the catering cart. I don't know if they would have fit.
But there was nobody there. And usually, someone is with the president at all times. It's transparency of telling people what was going on --
MORAN: Yes.
SWISHER: -- even if they were off the record. I mean, you know, the issues around transparency.
NICHOLAS THOMPSON, CEO, THE ATLANTIC: Totally. I mean, Tom Nichols had a good piece. He said what Trump should have done is he should have invited a media member -- two media members -- to come with them --
SWISHER: Right. A pool.
THOMPSON: And then disclosed it instead of, like, not having it disclosed on his own terms. Having it look like he recklessly endangered other people. He did it very badly in every way. JOANNA COLES, CHIEF CREATIVE& CONTENT OFFICER, THE DAILY BEAST: I do think, though, there was a -- there was a sort of confusion about the intelligence here, right, that the threat came from Israeli intelligence. American intelligence said, actually, it's probably not as serious as you think. I think Donald Trump probably saw, oh, this is an interesting twist in the plot.
He took Natalie Harp with him, the human printer, his assistant, who is forever with him and constantly leaving tantalizing little notes for him all over the personal space of the White House.
MORAN: They're one in the catering truck? That would be interesting forensic evidence.
COLES: Very possible. We -- at The Daily Beast, we've been calling it food truck one, as opposed to Air Force One. And he took Pete Hegseth with him. But interestingly, the Secretary of State and the head of national intelligence, his national intelligence advisor, Marco Rubio, stayed on Air Force One.
SWISHER: Right.
COLES: So, I suspect they went into the potential drama.
SWISHER: Let's go -- speaking of Marco Rubio, let's go to that. There's a clip where he says nothing about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN REPORTER: Mr. Secretary, did you put Americans at risk by having them fly in Air Force One when it was under threat? How persistent is that threat to the president?
MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Thank you, guys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SWISHER: And there you go. See? So --
RASCOE: You know, I mean, I think -- I think it's interesting that Marco Rubio was on the plane because presumably if there was a threat -- I mean, Air Force One is always protected. But, you know, he was -- he was there to go down.
MORAN: Did he know?
RASCOE: They -- but he knew.
MORAN: Did he know?
RASCOE: I think there's reporting that he knew. And he made that decision to stay. I mean, I think that, you know, part of the issue, though -- the bigger issue to this is if the president is that worried about the capabilities of the Iranians, right?
Because they are supposed to be, according to him, for the past, you know, six months on the verge of collapse. They're done. They can't do anything. And yet you are, as president, so afraid for your safety that you have to get into a food cart and go into a decoy plane. That sounds like not --
SWISHER: That's it.
RASCOE: That doesn't sound like someone that's been defeated.
SWISHER: Right. Right.
MORAN: That's a victory for Iran.
RASCOE: Right, it is.
MORAN: And it gives the lie to the whole --
SWISHER: That they're strong.
MORAN: -- that we've won. They're -- we destroyed them and all that.
SWISHER: So, speaking of transparency, let's move on to the Lincoln. My dad was in the military, was deployed on ships like this. And they're hard. THEY'RE hard no matter what.
So, talk -- let's start with you, Nick. The idea of what's happening here -- all these families are reporting this. And, of course, with social media, it gets everywhere.
THOMPSON: Yes,
SWISHER: And then Pete Hegseth in a very jaunty hat goes on and basically calls them liars.
THOMPSON: That's a huge mistake. You don't go against these families. You also should have learned the lessons. Like we learned the lessons in Vietnam. I don't know when your father was deployed.
But this is a known issue. If you go for an engagement that's really long and much longer than planned, you have to make sure the logistics work. This is a serious planning issue. We'll find out more about it. But this is something the U.S. government needs to fix.
SWISHER: What do you -- do you feel as if it's too much like Trump sort of downplayed it completely? So, what? Big deal. That's their job.
MORAN: Well, once again, he's talking about the families. Nick is absolutely right. He's calling the families liars. He's calling Hegseth liars.
He thinks they're attacking the press. But the press is merely quoting the desperate concerns of wives and mothers and fathers. And everybody saying, what is going on with our kids.
And I do think one of the things it shows is this country has spent $9 trillion on defense over the last ten years. We're running out of interceptor missiles. We're running out of THAAD capacity. We can't keep the toilets running and the food on the aircraft carrier.
SWISHER: Right. Right. Right.
MORAN: You know, we don't have enough ammunition. It shows how drastically bloated and inefficient.
SWISHER: Joanna, you dined out a lot on the lobster tails of Pete Hegseth, if you remember. That was a previous story. But this is -- this idea of not enough food, not enough anything.
COLES: Well, clearly, it's terrible. But I think what the central aspect of this is morale is incredibly low on the USS Lincoln. And one of the reasons is that this is a president who was voted in on the promise of no more wars.
Six months into a war that he said would last four or five weeks. He is trapped between a rock and a hard place. He can't get out. And nobody knows why he's there.
What on earth are we doing there? And the -- I can guarantee you the sailors on that ship have no idea what they are doing.
SWISHER: Right. They're -- what they're --
MORAN: What is the mission?
SWISHER: What is the mission? So, Ayesha, when you think about this sort of suck-it-up attitude, this is something he does a lot, right, when you're covering him.
RASCOE: Yes. Well, and I mean --
SWISHER: Someone who has not been in the military and, in fact, got out of it.
RASCOE: Yes. And who has, you know, reportedly called, you know, veterans --
SWISHER: Suckers.
[07:10:04]
RASCOE: -- suckers. And he has denied that. But that's the -- that's what the reporting says. I mean, he also even said, you know, when asked, had they been deployed too long? They haven't been long -- deployed --
SWISHER: Long enough.
RASCOE: -- nearly long enough. I mean, I think that Trump is a president who says a lot of things that other presidents could not get away with. But I don't know how this plays for him when he is supposed to be the biggest supporter of the military.
He is supposed to be the one that is standing up for them against the left and this and that. But when the rubber meets the road, and they are asking for support, he's saying, you know, look, you've been out there -- you haven't even been out there long enough.
SWISHER: Right.
RASCOE: Like this is -- this is what you signed up for.
SWISHER: So, how does this play each of you -- before we go to the next segment. What -- how do you think it plays for people? Or is it just one of these stories that just comes along in this stream of noise in the Trump administration?
THOMPSON: I think the military fixes it. I mean, I think Trump doesn't know how to run the military. I think Trump doesn't properly respect the military. I think Pete Hegseth spends probably too much time doing pull-ups.
But I think the people who run the military are generally excellent. And I think they'll solve this problem. And they'll take this. And they'll figure out what's going on on the ship and logistics.
And they'll get a new ship there. And they'll get it in place. And the story will go away. It's my guess how it plays.
COLES: I think this plays horribly. I mean, every single person of the 5000 personnel that are on that ship, they all have family. All the family is missing them. They're longing to see them again.
Every time they hear from them, these people are depressed. They have no idea when they're coming off the ship. This plays horribly in a massive community that many of whom should be Trump's base.
SWISHER: You know, underappreciated.
THOMPSON: Yes.
COLES: And this plays very badly for him in the midterms.
MORAN: He's lost his touch. He -- his touch and his connection with his own base.
RASCOE: Yes.
MORAN: This is a shocking misalignment between their values and what he's saying. And it confirms a lot of other things. And you can see the poll numbers going down.
RASCOE: I mean -- and I think that the -- you know, this is -- this could be just another story in the sense that there are so many stories. But what it does is it plays into the idea that this war has been horrific for Americans. I mean, this is just one negative story after another.
And so, then you're paying more at the pump. Your prices are up. And then you're hearing about these military -- service members. Some of them are, you know, losing their lives outside of the ships.
SWISHER: Right. RASCOE: And then on the ships, they're going through all of this pain and suffering.
SWISHER: Right. And, in fact, today he said, you know, suck up the price of oil -- of gas because, you know, we're going to get the bad guys. But in any case.
Next. Is Donald Trump sick or just old? Dick Cheney's -- or both. Dick Cheney's doctor says the president's not well and that we all deserve answers immediately.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:17:28]
SWISHER: Welcome back. Dick Cheney's cardiologist is sounding the alarm on Donald Trump's health and says Americans deserve answers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REINER: Well, the president doesn't look well. And he really hasn't looked well for much of -- much of the last year. He has these really obvious bruises on both hands that just will not go away.
He's had really very severe swelling in his legs. And maybe most disturbingly to me, for the last several months, he has fallen asleep in the Oval Office and in other very public venues over and over and over again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SWISHER: To be fair, we're going to talk about this a minute. But the response from the White House was, President Trump is the sharpest, most accessible, and energetic president in American history. Jonathan Reiner is an asshat, engaging in armchair diagnosis for political purposes. He is a disgrace to the medical profession. This is Davis Ingle, the White House spokesperson. Keeping it classy, Davis. Terry.
MORAN: Yes. It is hard to spin your way or argue out of the way. I argue out of the facts that we're all seeing. He is unwell. He's conked out completely in q -- in meetings, just like down, up, down.
We all know what people falling asleep look like. And we all know what older people look like. This is a Trump problem, and it's a presidency problem.
There really is insufficient transparency into the health of presidents. There are some security reasons around that. But we ought to know what is going on.
SWISHER: All the time for everyone. A lot of our public officials.
MORAN: That's right. For sure, yes.
SWISHER: So, Joanna, you spent a lot of time talking about cankles and sleeping. It's -- which I think you should actually. It's quite a serious topic. Where between the Woodrow Wilson completely comatose and Joe Biden slightly doddering does this fit?
COLES: Well, it's a slightly more alarmingly, actually, because Donald Trump, you know, is such an unusual character. And also this is very much an administration of one. He makes the decisions.
He's bypassed Congress completely. He does basically -- I mean, he's frequently said to people, it's my decision. It's my way or the highway.
Very clearly, he doesn't have anybody around him who can really support him or help him. He seems increasingly isolated. Apart from Natalie Harp, who we've discussed earlier, who sticks by him. But, you know, the White House staff clearly do everything they can to hide this.
SWISHER: Right.
COLES: So --
SWISHER: You're there. I mean, one of the things that Dr. Reiner said is members of the military, Secret Service agents, commercial pilots, school bus drivers, and air traffic controllers all must periodically demonstrate they are well enough to perform their work. They also have age limits on many of those things.
[07:20:07]
What's it like there? Because he's vibrant, too, which -- listen, my mom's in a senior facility. There's a lot of vibrant people that then fall asleep a second later. So, talk a little bit about the mood there.
RASCOE: Well, I should be clear that I'm not at the White House daily now. But -- I mean, even from my time there, I mean, I can see just looking at Trump now, it's very different from the first administration. Like it's a -- it's a totally different thing.
And what I -- and I will say that I feel like for having covered the White House -- I covered three administrations. I feel like this is a place where the press really does need to do better at informing people. Because the fact is, we don't know anything about president's health.
Nothing that, like, yes, they come out, they do this big thing. Oh, we talked to the physicians. The physicians can only tell us what they are allowed to tell us by the person that employs them and decides their future. Right?
SWISHER: And surprisingly, Donald Trump's doctor says he's a spectacular --
RASCOE: Spectacular -- yes. But -- I mean, even for -- and, you know, going back to the first administration, when he had COVID, we saw very clearly that his doctors were not truthful about how sick he was. And they said at the time, well, we were just trying to keep our patient happy. But they were misleading the American people. So, we know that that has happened in the past. And so right now, we really do not know what is going on with Trump's health.
COLES: I think, to Terry's point, too, this is a man who's been on all our screens for the last 40 years. He's a man that's ridden through the media. So, we know what he looked like when he was peak Trump.
And with all credit to your mom, who may be in a senior facility and they may be vibrant and then falling asleep, she's not running the country.
SWISHER: Correct. No. And you should be happy for that. Talk about this idea because the public sees it right now. Two polls that we can look at Trump -- is Trump in good enough health to serve effectively as president. Among U.S. adults, 55 percent disagree, 44 percent agree.
And then another one. Trump's mental sharpness has gotten blank over the past year. Better, six percent. Worse, 51 percent. Stays the same, 40 percent.
THOMPSON: So, I think the best historical analogy, and there are so many things that are going to be startling about the story. So, in 1955, Dwight Eisenhower has a heart attack. And he has a press secretary, James Hagerty, who's a respected person, who's been a New York Times reporter, who stays with him for eight years and has the heart attack.
Hagerty says to Eisenhower, what should I tell the American people? And Eisenhower just sort of snaps up and says, tell them everything, right? And they call in a doctor. I think it was -- I think it was from Boston, from mass general doctor comes in, does a long press conference.
They talk at 1:00 in the morning -- the press. They talk again at 8:00 in the morning. They answer every question. They talk about the president's bowel movements, which became a big moment in New York Times' history. But just a very different moment.
SWISHER: We could leave that out here.
THOMPSON: So, the point is radical transparency. And like it is a national security issue. The president's health is. And what I wish we had is a situation where you could trust that what's coming from the White House is true. Right?
SWISHER: Should it -- should it be for everybody? It should be the president, the vice president, senators, key senators --
MORAN: Yes. It's an especially acute problem right now --
SWISHER: Supreme Court justices.
MORAN: -- because we are being governed by people who are too old.
SWISHER: Yes.
MORAN: And that is a -- is a big issue for the country. Two presidents in a row. It's part of American decline that can barely get around, right? That everything's fallen asleep. They're kind of doddering around.
That is not good for our own spirits, for our sense of vitality, and the can-do optimism that we have to have to solve problems. And it's bad for us in the world.
SWISHER: So -- go ahead.
RASCOE: Well, I think the problem, though, is how do you change it? Because the people in charge, like the Senate is not going to say, OK, they're not going to regulate themselves and say -- because, I mean, that's why you're not going to have age limits, right? Because they get in there and they're like, wait a minute, I'm approaching 65.
THOMPSON: Wait, I have -- I have a good idea.
RASCOE: I will leave.
THOMPSON: Let's send Pete Hegseth to the Senate. So, instead of, like, pull-up tests for the military --
RASCOE: Did they get testosterone?
THOMPSON: Testosterone, pull-ups.
MORAN: I don't want to see that.
THOMPSON: Like, everyone in the Senate, you do a plank.
MORAN: I did not want to see that.
THOMPSON: Secretary Hegseth is the man.
SWISHER: No, I don't want to see that. Speaking of --
COLES: But can we just have a moment? I do think there should be age limits, actually, because there are all sorts of younger people trying to get through who are stymied because there are no vacancies. And there are age limits in every other job.
SWISHER: Right. (INAUDIBLE)
COLES: Where is Senator Mitch McConnell?
SWISHER: Very --
COLES: Where is Mitch McConnell, though?
(CROSSTALK)
THOMPSON: I mean, there's elections. You should have fair elections. And you -- SWISHER: All right. Thank you.
THOMPSON: The people should vote if they love an older person.
COLES: So, you would fly with an 82-year-old pilot.
THOMPSON: I think for a presidency, you would weigh -- you should weigh the costs of somebody being old versus the advantage of someone being young. Crystallized intelligence, you know, all different kinds of intelligence. And you should have the right to vote for somebody.
My grandfather served in the United States government until the age of 81. His most effective period was during the Reykjavik negotiations. He was 79. Like, there are people who can do it at a late age.
SWISHER: So, speaking of people who need to show up. Melania Trump -- let's talk about Melania Trump. She hasn't noticed -- noted that Trump himself hasn't been seen. But she hasn't had a public event in a month. Joanna, talk about this because let me -- the -- what's happening here?
[07:25:10]
COLES: Well, we did an audit of Melania's public appearances. And in the last month -- well, we haven't seen her since July 4. So, the question is, what is the first lady doing?
The United States has a first lady. And she is almost never at the president's side. We're pretty confident they don't live there. She doesn't appear to live at the White House.
So, she either lives in Florida or in New York, which is kind of odd. But she just doesn't show up. She's shown up a third less than Jill Biden or Michelle Obama or Laura Bush. She is the least visible first lady of the entire -- this entire century. So, what is she doing?
SWISHER: So, begs the question do we care? Does it matter?
RASCOE: Well -- I mean, I don't know that it matters that much for people that love Trump. They love Melania Trump. I will say that part of the reason why she may not be around is because Trump is taking a lot of the stuff that a first lady would do.
He's redesigning the White House. He's decorating. Like this is -- I mean, he's taking on -- he wants to do everything. He's taking on the first lady role, too.
SWISHER: Next. The president asked the Supreme Court, which is -- which is now in charge of home renovation, apparently, to let him build his ballroom. And despite the court's order, his board is putting his name back on the Kennedy Center.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:31:03] KARA SWISHER, CNN HOST: Donald Trump just can't quit his vanity projects. First, his handpicked board voted to add his name again to the Kennedy Center, despite courts ordering him to take it off. This time, with an inscription saying he remodeled it, probably with your least favorite font.
And after that, after a court ruled, he must stop the ballroom construction until he gets approval from Congress. He is asking the Supreme Court to take up the case.
Let's listen really quickly to Maggie Haberman talking about this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I do believe that he thinks that he is a -- you know, capital G great man of history, and that's what he is focused on. And I think he believes that he has suffered greatly. I mean, he is not even making any pretense otherwise, and that he -- this is some kind of a reparations, period, for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SWISHER: So, Nic, let's start with you with the White House ballroom and the Supreme Court. I mean, this seems like a waste of time for the Supreme Court to be working on.
NICHOLAS THOMPSON, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, THE ATLANTIC: Waste of time for the Supreme Court. Waste of time for the president. Like, if you are a president, you should focus on being a great president and hope that people name things after you, then, and build great monuments to you then. It is not something you should be focused on while in office.
SWISHER: So, why?
THOMPSON: I think, Maggie Haberman is correct. I think, he is obsessed over his putting his name everywhere and leaving his mark everywhere.
I think, the Kennedy Center is the one that, in some ways, like stings the most. Right? Kennedy Center is named after John F. Kennedy after he is assassinated because he brought so many great artists into the White House and made the White House a center of art and culture, and because that was a big issue in the Cold War.
SWISHER: Right.
THOMPSON: Like, we are the country that produces great art. They don't over there in the Soviet Union.
SWISHER: Right.
THOMPSON: And so, it's a real monument to a moment.
SWISHER: But he may be able to do this. Jeff Toobin yesterday on Anderson Cooper said he may get around it because of sort of being cute with the law, but nonetheless. TERRY MORAN, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST, SUBSTACK NEWSLETTER: Right. The law says that it is named after John F. Kennedy, and only the Congress can change it. So, they are not naming the building, they are adding some letters saying it was restored by President Donald J. Trump. It's probably lawful.
But that's really the problem. It's a waste of his time. It's a waste of the public's time. But it is breaking the law when it comes to the -- to the White House. Right?
The Constitution says the Congress has authority over U.S. property. That's U.S. property. He does not get just to tear stuff down and build it over.
SWISHER: Which he did.
MORAN: Which he did, and he is now being stopped. And they are saying, oh, now he is -- he is in danger because he is exposed because those walls are gone.
Well, you can't start tearing down things, and then say I'm in danger, so, I get to continue.
(CROSSTALK)
SWISHER: It's also --
MORAN: It is really -- it's a more important issue than it seems.
SWISHER: A hundred -- well, the money too. It's a $900 million on White House construction. It's being moved from various National Park Service things.
(CROSSTALK)
MORAN: It's our money.
SWISHER: It's our money.
Talk about this. I mean, I think they did need a ballroom. I'm going to take a controversial stance. There wasn't anyone. There were these tents and everything else. And the East Wing --
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST, NPR: It is just were really nice, though.
SWISHER: OK.
RASCOE: I mean, I was in the tents a lot. But I could see -- but I mean, I think, the thing is, you have to go through a process, right?
SWISHER: Right.
RASCOE: I think that what Trump has shown is like, not -- like, in knocking down the white -- part of the White House, he showed in a way just how weak our democracy can be, because you can do -- like, who is really there to stop the president if he wants to do something. SWISHER: Right.
RASCOE: And --
(CROSSTALK)
JOANNA COLES, CHIEF CREATIVE AND CONTENT OFFICER, THE DAILY BEAST: But real estate developers. I don't mean to interrupt you, but this is what New York real estate developers do. They take buildings down because once the building is down, you cannot build it again.
(CROSSTALK)
SWISHER: You cannot do anything.
RASCOE: He did that.
COLES: And then they throw them up as fast as they can, because it's very difficult to take a building down.
So, actually, I think Trump has done this all his life. This is what New York real estate developers do. And the other thing that Trump has done all his life is slap his name on things: Trump Champagne, the Trump Vineyard, Trump Steaks, Trump Water, Trump University, Trump buildings.
This -- and it's worked for him, right? He is the most famous man in the world. We all know his name. His name is everywhere, and he is Trump maxing in D.C. to make sure that he --
(CROSSTALK)
SWISHER: Trump maxing. Thank to make you feel that new Phrase. Let me --
COLES: That he leaves his imprint on the city.
SWISHER: Let me -- right now, the number of words dedicated to each topic where he -- where people -- this analysis. Iranian war: 55,901.
[07:35:01]
Construction projects, 44,901, the times he's mentioned it. Immigration is 20,000.
And a lot of Americans feel that Trump is -- percentage of adults that say, Trump is not in touch with ordinary Americans: 73 percent said no, and 27 percent said yes.
So, talk a little bit -- he talks about this a lot. Is that a problem, Ayesha?
RASCOE: Yes, I mean, I don't think the average American is concerned about ballrooms, you know, gold, you know, plating at the White House, Trump's name on everything. Even if you love Trump, I will say this is also something he didn't run on. Like, this wasn't something that people were voting for Trump. They knew he was going to like. He was --
(CROSSTALK)
COLES: Yes, but his name, everywhere.
RASCOE: Yes, he was not saying, I'm going to put my name everywhere. I'm going to be focused on all of these projects. That's not something he ran on, right? And so --
(CROSSTALK)
SWISHER: And they are unpopular.
RASCOE: Yes.
SWISHER: And all the polls are showing lack --
(CROSSTALK)
RASCOE: People care about prices. They care about how much it takes to feed their kids, to buy school supplies, and he is out here putting, you know, gold on everything.
SWISHER: Right. So, over and under the Supreme Court, what will it rule?
THOMPSON: On the -- on the --
(CROSSTALK)
SWISHER: Ballroom.
THOMPSON: I think -- I think they are going to rule with -- rule with, with Trump on this one.
SWISHER: With Trump, because?
THOMPSON: I think they are going to decide that it's -- they are going to decide that it's legal based on his precedent. They are not going to find authority against it.
COLES: I think they are going to punt it.
RASCOE: I don't know. I'm going to say -- I'm going to say, I don't know, to be honest
MORAN: That is so smart.
SWISHER: Yes.
COLES: Could be honest.
SWISHER: Yes.
MORAN: Now, I think there are laws against it, national historic preservation laws, and the Constitution gives explicit authority over U.S. property to Congress.
(CROSSTALK)
SWISHER: Yes. Yes.
MORAN: And I think, if they are true conservatives, they will stand by that.
SWISHER: All right. We will see.
Next, the WNBA is defending itself against culture war trolls, including former NBA stars saying they will try out for the league.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:41:34]
SWISHER: The WNBA is defending itself in the culture wars and the trolls making the league a punching bag.
From the racial debates involving Caitlin Clark to the league's murky policies on transgender athletes, Clark's coach has had enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANIE WHITE, COACH, INDIANA FEVER: The hate, the fearmongering, the divisiveness, the stuff that's trying to hijack our league will not win. It won't win. We are united. We are connected. We will not be divided. Every day, these women put their -- on the line. Every day.
When they go low, we go high. Love will win, grace will win, humility will win, and kindness will win.
I stand by them. I will always stand by them. Everybody else can go to hell.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SWISHER: Well, I endorse that.
Nic, you and I have both been to games like this, and there was a very famous line by Laura Ingraham where she said that sports athletes should shut up and dribble. And I'm feeling like just let them dribble, then. What -- why in the world are these people inserting themselves this way?
THOMPSON: Well, I think, this -- the transwomen in sports has become totally out of the number of people affected a huge issue in American politics, and people are jumping in and they are seeing an opportunity here.
What is tough for me to see is that Enes Kanter, who is a friend of mine, is a hugely important voice on human rights, and has actually been great on political issues.
I'm like, calling out what's going on in Erdogan's Turkey and paying a huge price for it.
SWISHER: Correct.
THOMPSON: And I worry that his voice on issues where he has a lot to say and a lot of people are affected and nobody talks is going to be crowded out, because he is now weighed in on an issue where there is not a lot of people affected and everybody talks.
So, that's what I feel about it.
SWISHER: Anybody?
RASCOE: I mean, I think that this is such a potent issue, and it's also a way that people can get eyeballs and just get people very worked up.
Like, if you want to make some money and get some attention, you start talking about trans athletes.
THOMPSON: Yes.
RASCOE: And they -- we see that -- obviously, it works for politicians, but it works for people who need attention. And the sad thing is that it seems like the people who are doing this don't have any interest in the WNBA.
Like, they were not supporting it, they were not going to the games.
(CROSSTALK)
SWISHER: Right.
RASCOE: They don't love women's basketball.
SWISHER: Right.
RASCOE: Some of them are against Title IX to begin with.
(CROSSTALK)
SWISHER: Well, that's what -- that's what it's really about.
RASCOE: Right. Yes.
SWISHER: Let me play Jesse Watters admits he doesn't care about the WNBA, despite talking about it for nearly a month. I know that's a surprise for Jesse Watters, but let's hear that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSE WATTERS, HOST, FOX NEWS CHANNEL: This is week three of "The Five" covering the WNBA.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
WATTERS: And I have to say I am done. I hate the WNBA. I mean, I don't mind women's basketball. My girls play basketball, but I don't want to cover women's basketball. I don't want to be a WNBA analyst. We get paid to have an opinion about everything, and this is something I don't care about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SWISHER: So, it's played out for him. That's really what he is saying. Terry?
MORAN: Yes, I'm glad you said a good word for Enes Kanter, because I -- and you know him, and so, you can affirm that. Because I have contempt for people who do stuff like that. What a stunt!
You know, I'm going to join the WNBA. I'm going to test your policy that way. Let them play. It's a beautiful sport, whether men or women are men and women. I don't even care.
[07:45:01]
Basketball is an American sport. It's a beautiful sport, and it is --
(CROSSTALK)
SWISHER: And it -- this is -- WNBA has been increasing in popularity. The money is getting better.
(CROSSTALK)
MORAN: Yes!
SWISHER: Everything is going into right direction.
(CROSSTALK)
MORAN: Caitlin Clark got some controversy, and, you know, the players are in the middle of it, and the fans are in there.
My daughter went to Caitlin Clark game, and there was just so much rancor in the stands. You got to like stop being trolls!
SWISHER: Right, absolutely. Joanna?
COLES: Well, this is where I feel a cultural difference. Because I grew up in a country where there is no basketball, and literally for sport, British people put an egg in a spoon and run up and down a field. So, I am the least equipped person to speak here, except that I am rooting for the WNBA, because I feel like the women are fabulous players, and I want them to have a league that's every bit as important as the men's.
SWISHER: Right, right. Well, they just -- it's just another thing to poke at. And I think at some point, it's over because the fans really love the WNBA.
If you've ever been to one, I urge you all to go. It's a really wonderful thing, and it's finally catching on, and -- (CROSSTALK)
THOMPSON: I mean, it's possible this will help, right? It will just bring more attention to a great league and great players, and great athletes.
SWISHER: Not in the way you want it to.
THOMPSON: In the long run. I mean, I don't know whether this specific controversy will help, but the larger way that the WNBA has been put into American politics, depending on how they handle it, depending on how the players handle it, it could end up being a very positive (INAUDIBLE).
SWISHER: I don't know. I think they don't like women kicking ass, and they just want to make something bad about it.
THOMPSON: Well, except more people do like it, as evidenced by the numbers watching it.
(CROSSTALK)
SWISHER: That's correct. And so, it has nothing new.
THOMPSON: Right. And look at the lines at the Barclays Center, right? When there is a Liberty Game, like, it's crazy out there.
(CROSSTALK)
SWISHER: That's right. But it's joyful when you are inside.
THOMPSON: Yes.
SWISHER: And it just uglifies it in ways.
COLES: Are we allowed to say that we are done with Jesse Waters?
MORAN: Thank you.
COLES: Go ahead.
THOMSON: I think, the two of you should put eggs in a spoon, race across the field, and whoever wins --
SWISHER: A lot of -- a lot of smash eggs.
COLES: I mean, whoever wins, I would win.
SWISHER: Anyway, next, the panel's unpopular opinions: what they are not afraid to say out loud.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:51:34]
SWISHER: We are back, and it's time for your unpopular opinions. Terry, you are up first.
MORAN: No kids' sports on Sundays. At least Sunday mornings. I mean --
(CROSSTALK)
SWISHER: Why?
MORAN: I'm caught up in this industrial strength, kids' sports.
(CROSSTALK)
SWISHER: Yes.
MORAN: That just swallow up too much time from family.
SWISHER: Oh, but it is a family thing.
THOMPSON: No organized kids sports, like, you can set them out to play pickup soccer, but --
(CROSSTALK)
MORAN: Oh, yes. Yes, yes. No, I'm talking about tournaments three hours away, because apparently there's no team in between those distances that the kid can play.
SWISHER: All right. So, no kid sports.
MORAN: No kid sports.
SWISHER: OK. All right.
RASCOE: So, mine is for all those flyers out there, who don't have pre-check, and you have to go through and you have to figure out whether to take your laptop out of your, you know, your luggage or keep it in. I want uniform rules all around, and I want the TSA agents, when you ask them, do I have to take this out or not? They can't scowl at you and scold you like you don't know anything.
SWISHER: OK.
RASCOE: That's my thing.
SWISHER: All right, OK. All right.
COLES: I guess, my unpopular opinion is I think I'm going to miss Karoline Leavitt. Karoline with a K.
SWISHER: Oh, no. Right.
COLES: I agree with Trump. She does have machine gun lips, and she sort of fires out poisonous little bullets. And we don't know who's going to replace her. It's just possible it could be someone even worse.
SWISHER: Like who? The rumor is Scott Jennings. COLES: Well, Scott Jennings, I'm told, I'm reliably informed, is supposed to be ahead of the pack. But I also can't believe that Trump is going to want him because he has got a beard, and I think he likes clean-shaven people.
Though it's true his son, Don Jr. has a beard, and so, does J.D. Vance.
So, I'm assuming it will be Anna Kelly, who is Karoline's number two.
(CROSSTALK)
THOMPSON: His complicated views (INAUDIBLE) those guys.
MORAN: I'm going to say, this like, I don't know.
COLES: Good point.
SWISHER: Yes.
COLES: I think it will be Anna Kelly, Karoline's number two, but I don't know.
(CROSSTALK)
SWISHER: Is it anyone you would take if you could pick anyone?
COLES: Melania. I would pick Melania. I would have the first lady, because she is fabulous to look at.
SWISHER: Yes. All right.
COLES: She is fabulous to look at.
SWISHER: OK.
COLES: I would pick Melania.
Hello, husband is unifier. He is unifier. What is she saying? What is she saying?
SWISHER: God.
THOMPSON: I have to -- I have to co-sign that. My unpopular opinion is that people should not run with headphones in. I think, it prevents the meditation, which is one of the main reasons to run, and it actually --
(CROSSTALK)
SWISHER: Oh. You have written a book on running --
THOMPSON: Prevents you from learning about how your body is moving through space, and it actually slows down the benefits that you will get from work out.
SWISHER: So, nothing.
THOMPSON: You should -- you should be paying attention to your body when you run, and then you will get the most out.
SWISHER: Oh my God! No. I can't run without --
(CROSSTALK)
THOMPSON: This is why it's an unpopular opinion. Everybody hates this.
RASCOE: (INAUDIBLE) thought.
(CROSSTALK)
SWISHER: Yes, yes. I see that. Yes.
RASCOE: That's why I'm so scary.
SWISHER: Yes.
COLES: Only thing makes the time pass is (INAUDIBLE).
SWISHER: That's exactly.
THOMPSON: That's why you have to take your headphones out and run and like just sense the air around you. Works really well.
SWISHER: Wow. Thanks, sensei.
THOMPSON: Yes.
SWISHER: Anyway --
THOMPSON: Even with your egg and a spoon.
SWISHER: OK. OK.
COLES: I promise you, egg and spoon.
SWISHER: I want to do one.
The "How dare you, sir?" threats to move out of California in a series of fist-shaking op-eds from Paramount is a little more than a pro- wrestling like feint, and obviously, it didn't work at all. But the window of settlement in the fight with the A.G.s -- I think, it's 12 or 13 A.G.s-is within the next 30 days, and it is the likeliest outcome to the deal, and it will not include the sale of anything because it blows up the economics of an already debt-heavy deal.
A settlement should include contractually specific promises on production, jobs, and content, and also because the Democrats are poised to regain subpoena power in the. Midterms and -- Midterms and loaded for bear.
[07:55:03] That CNN will remain independent from CBS and allowed to continue efforts to remake its business to survive in the digital age. It's probably the best outcome here, and we'll see if they get reasonable. Everybody.
MORAN: That would be a change.
SWISHER: That would be a change.
But this is this fist shaking. How dare you, sir?
MORAN: You don't think they are going to leave?
SWISHER: Leave the deal. They may. It may be, but it doesn't save money. So, I don't know why you would. It's just -- it's a lot of threats, and threats don't count. We have got to negotiate. Negotiations are always better, and the entertainment industry is already in trouble in ways that can be fixed. And so, let's get to fixing rather than this ridiculousness. So, that's where we are.
All right. Everyone, thank you so much for being here, and thank you for watching TABLE FOR FIVE.
CNN's coverage continues right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
