Capitol Report Full Broadcast (July 8)

Good evening. Tonight on Capitol Report, new strikes on Iran. Retaliation for attacks on ships in Hormuz. What President Trump says about the strikes and the negotiations. We can play games, but I'm not sure I want to make a deal. Let's just finish the job. President Trump now letting Ukraine manufacture Patriot missiles. The president's strategy before his next talk with Vladimir Putin, plus his takeaways from NATO. Maine Democrats are preparing to replace Senate candidate Graham Plattner. What stands in the way and what could divide the party? We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Plattner's team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate. This is Capitol Report, live from our global headquarters in our nation's capital. Here's Steve Lance. I'm Fiona Gee, in for Steve Lance tonight. The U.S. launching new strikes against Iran tonight as President Trump is on his way back from Turkey after what he calls a successful NATO summit. The president saying allies are stepping up defense spending while boosting demand for American-made military equipment. Joining us now live from the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, is NPD's White House correspondent Iris Tao. Good evening, Iris. Always great to have you on. What can you tell us about this latest round of strikes? Good evening to you as well, Fiona. So President Trump now on his way back from Turkey to Washington after the two-day NATO summit is actually again speaking with reporters on Air Force One. He's gaggled about five times by now in the past 24 hours. Now President Trump saying that Iran called a little while ago and wants to make a deal, but he's not trusting them to honor a deal. Just tonight, the U.S. launching a fresh wave of strikes against Iran and what the Central Command says is to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. It comes as Iranian state media saying that explosions were heard in major cities and President Trump now reposting videos on True Social showing some of those apparent explosions. President Trump on his way back also posted saying, quote, this is in retribution for yesterday's bombing of ships by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. If it happens again, it will get much worse. Today at the NATO summit here in Turkey, President Trump again warning Iran that they will get hit 10 times harder if they hit. Meanwhile, adding that they believe that he believes the conflict with Iran will be over soon as he wants to finish the job. I think it's going to go very quickly. They hit a couple of ships, and so we hit them much harder. We may even, somebody asked before, do you think you'll hit them tonight? I said, we might. Yeah, we might. Anything that happens is going to be over very quickly. And we'll only make it safer, including for oil. The latest round of strikes comes just hours after President Trump suggested here at the NATO summit that he believes the ceasefire with Iran is over. Now, Trump says that he's gotten to know Iran's new leaders better, and he thinks that they're liars, cheaters, and the U.S. might be just wasting time by negotiating with them. Here's what President Trump said earlier today. They're scum. They're sick people. They're led by sick people. And they're vicious, violent people. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they'd use it. As far as I'm concerned, it's over. I'll speak to our negotiators. They want to negotiate. They're good people. Steve Woodcuff, Jared Kushner. But they have to come back to me. As far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them. They're liars. Notably, the president did say that he would allow talks with Iran to continue. But he's also downplaying the likelihood of them going anywhere, saying that he's not sure if he even wants to make a deal with them anymore. Meanwhile, on NATO, President Trump came here with a more upset mood than he left with. So now, at the end of the NATO summit, he says there's a lot of love and unity in the room with NATO leaders, where they really reaffirmed their vow to step up defense spending, also reaffirming that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon. Now, President Trump came into this meeting complaining about the lack of willingness by NATO members to really spend on their own defenses, as well as for some of their criticism towards U.S. strikes on Iran. But overall, it wrapped up with a much better mood of the president, seemingly from his remarks. Now, of course, there also was a full display of Trump's warm relationship with the host of this NATO summit, which is Turkish President Erdogan, with the president announcing that the U.S. will now be lifting sanctions placed on Turkey initially for its purchases of Russian air defense systems back in 2020. But also, he's also considering letting Turkey now buy F-35 fighter jets. President Trump now flying back to Washington on the new Air Force One after taking the old Air Force One from here to the UK. Back to you. And Iris, as the president was addressing nations on the world stage, you actually asked him a very important question on communism today. Tell us more about that. Sure. So as the president was speaking, of course, on this world stage, and he has been really amplifying this message of anti-communism to Americans at home, and he asked him what his message would be to not only people around the world, some living under communism, but also those in democracies like Europe and here in America, where people might not have realized the real threats of communism. He gives us a dire warning. Watch. Issuing a wake-up call to Americans at home about the dangers of communism. And now you're speaking on the world stage. What's your message to people both living under communist and socialist regimes, but also people living under democracies like in Europe and America who might not have realized how close communism has come to home? Yeah, that's a great question, actually. But look, I want to get the word out because what's forming is communism in the country. And communism's easy to sell. I would be the greatest communist in history. I'd be right up there with Lenin. I think this country with this thing that's going around is in more danger than it was during World War One, World War Two. If you talk about September 11th, if you talk about Pearl Harbor, that was big danger. I think this is I think the concept of us going communist, because one thing that happens when you go communist, you never come back. Never comes back. You die in squalor. You die. You die a horrible death. You die in squalor and it gets very evil and very nasty. And President Trump's warnings come amid, of course, a wave of self-proclaimed democratic socialist candidates defeating Democrats backed by the Democrat establishment in primary elections in places like New York and Colorado. President Trump is expected to continue to amplify this message leading up to the important midterms that he called very crucial in the direction of where this country is going. So we do expect him to, of course, continue talking about that after he gets back home from here in Turkey. Back to you. All right, Iris Tao, thank you so much for the update. And U.S. Central Command has confirmed that they're conducting those additional strikes over earlier Iranian attacks on commercial ships. President Trump saying that this is in retribution for yesterday's bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse. Joining me now live is E.J. Kimball. He is a national security consultant and director of policy and strategic operations of the U.S. Israel Education Association. Great having you on. Thank you for being here. Let's talk about this. The president said at NATO, at the press conference, that he thinks this time things will go quickly when it comes to Iran. What's the strategy here? Is it actually keeping Iran in line? Well, thanks for having me on tonight. Look, you know, the Iranian regime, they lie, they cheat. The president understands that and he has rightfully called it out. Regarding the actions that we're taking now and may continue taking into the future, the Iranian military has been decimated. Yes, they still have capabilities. We've seen drone attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. There's been attacks against Kuwait, Bahrain. But we haven't seen them launch further at the moment. Not to say that they don't still have those capabilities, but we are able to hit anywhere, anytime that we want to. And we have been continuously degrading their capabilities in the Strait of Hormuz. What I expect is a concerted effort over the next few days, perhaps, to really go after the shoreline and the islands in the Strait of Hormuz, to remove that capability of the Iranian regime to target ships. Because the most important leverage that the Iranians have, and really the only leverage they have, is transit through the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. has already shown that it can overcome that, but we have not been able to remove that threat permanently. And I think that's what we're looking at in the days ahead if this continues. And President Trump actually added just then, telling reporters on Air Force One that these strikes, these U.S. strikes on Iran, were a 20 to 1 response to those Iranian attacks on commercial ships. What do you make of that? Well, I think it's very important because the Iranians have been negotiating the same way they negotiated with President Biden and the way they negotiated with President Obama. And they thought that negotiating with President Trump would be the same thing. And when they negotiate, they make deals, they give the appearance of some concessions, but then they start testing. And that's what we've seen here. And President Trump, to his credit, did not say that he would respond proportionally, but that he would punish them. And that's what we're seeing here. The Iranians need to understand, number one, that this president is not going to sit around playing games. But number two, if they want to push and prod and see what they can try to get out from the administration, they're going to learn the hard way, as they're learning right now, that President Trump means business and that this regime's days are numbered. And either they can make a deal and survive, or they can do what it seems like they're on the path to and see their destruction. So, E.J., you say there Iran is really trying to push and prod, towing the line, seeing what the limits really are here. President Trump also said on Air Force One just then to reporters that the Iranians called a little while ago and they want to make a deal. What do you expect out of the conversation this time between Iran and the U.S.? Well, this is President Trump's M.O. He doesn't want to engage in war. He didn't want to go to war to begin with. He was trying to negotiate. If we go back to last year, there was 60 days of negotiations. The Iranians played games, led to the 12-day war, the Israeli strikes and the U.S. strikes. And then was trying to negotiate again, which led to what we're dealing with now. And he's continuing to negotiate with them. Look, he said that the M.O.U. is dead, that it's done with. But to me, until the Israelis start striking Iran again, there is still an off-ramp for this regime. So, yes, they're reaching out. But President Trump isn't going to just return to the status quo. The Iranians now have to give more. And they have to show that they are actually changing their stripes, which I don't anticipate them doing. But President Trump isn't going to sit around and continue playing these games where Iran is projecting strength when in reality they have very, very little strength and are actually quite weak. Well, here's what President Trump had to say about current Iranian leadership. Watch. They're not doing a service to the people. And I think more than anything else is I got to know them. And I'm not sure I want to make a deal with them. We can play games, but I'm not sure I want to make a deal. Let's just finish the job. And the president did also say that at least the current leadership is a bit more rational than previous leadership in Iran has been. E.J., I think for many Americans, the question, top of mind, is when there will be a definitive end to this conflict. What do you see as the president's next step here? Well, the president was hoping that he could remove those top layers of leadership and then find someone who is more pragmatic and follow the model that we're doing in Venezuela with Delsi Rodriguez, who seems at the moment to be essentially a pragmatist who's listening to the United States and trying to help her country. In Iran, we have a different situation because this is a jihadist revolutionary regime They are apocalyptic in nature. And so destruction and chaos is something that they actually embrace. Even though we've gone down a few levels of leadership, this is entrenched. This is how they have been raised. And this goes very deep within their leadership. Now, there may be some pragmatists within the government, and I think we see some of that if they can be trusted. The problem is they don't have control over the country. So even if there are people who recognize reality, they want to survive, they want to actually perhaps build a country that can help its people and be part of the world community. You have the IRGC who have one goal in mind, and that is world domination. They're very clear about it. And they will not stand by and watch this regime fall without a fight. And that's where the president is at. And I am optimistic and hopeful that he will move forward, finish the job, and remove this regime so not just the world, but also the Iranian people can actually have a better future. And I have a feeling we're going to see a lot more coming out on this topic in the next few days. E.J., I want to talk about a few other things we also heard from that NATO summit. I found it really interesting when the president announced that the U.S. would be giving Ukraine permission to build those Patriot missiles, which would protect against Russian attacks. What do you think this could signal? What does this shift signal when it comes to America's stance on Russia? Well, President Trump thought that he could get a deal early on when he came back into office. He tried. He met with Putin. And President Trump has realized that Putin is not interested in making a deal. And the Ukrainians, to their credit, are fighting, and they're fighting hard. And that's something that President Trump respects. It's why he respects Israel, because Israel fights hard. And so when you look at Ukraine today, one of the things that the United States was trying to make a deal with them early on, and I'm sure we all remember that incident in the Oval Office with President Zelensky, the president is trying to have the U.S. more involved. And if it means having U.S. personnel on the ground in Ukraine, that is a deterrent for Russia. It shows U.S. investment. Allowing them to build these Patriot missiles there in Ukraine is a sign from the United States of our support. Look, we don't need to send our military in there. But giving them these capabilities to help counter Russian attacks is a huge step forward. And I think in response to the NATO summit, this is also because the NATO countries are increasing their spending and taking their own defense seriously, which is something President Trump has been calling on for years. All right, E.J. Kimball, great having you on tonight. Thank you for joining us. And at the NATO summit, President Trump is not holding back. He is furious with Spain over Iran and defense spending and is now threatening to cut off trade and visits with the country. Former U.S. Ambassador and Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore joins Tiffany Meyer to discuss what this means for NATO unity, Trump's renewed push on Greenland, and the latest signals on Ukraine. That's tonight on Tiffany Meyer, tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern. At the NATO summit today, President Trump said there was tremendous love in the working session room. He said allies are making great progress toward their military spending. And joining me now to discuss these latest developments is Nebraska Congressman Don Bacon. Representative Don Bacon, thank you so much for joining us today. Let's jump right into it here, right? We're seeing that NATO allies have committed to increasing their defense spending. President Trump's still calling on them to quickly reach that 5% threshold there. Are we seeing enough follow-through from them, do you think? I think we're seeing good results. Is it 100%? No. There's a few countries like Spain and other countries that are not meeting their 5% target, or even 2% in some cases. But there are many countries in Eastern Europe that are spending more per share of their GDP than we are. Poland, the Baltic countries, I think Romania. I'd have to double-check that. But long story short, the pressure that the president gave during his first term is having results. But also, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has really spurred on most of Europe to spend at much higher levels for their defense. Now, I think it's also important, though, that the United States lead by example. Right now, we're spending 3.2% of our GDP on defense. And we, too, should be over 4% and trying to reach 5%. So we've got a lot to talk. As we push other countries to reach these goals, we should be doing the same. President Trump is also lamenting the fact that NATO wasn't prepared to back up the U.S. during the military operation in Iran. Considering everything here and everything you just mentioned there, Congressman, should America be reconsidering its commitment to them? No. NATO is a very important alliance, and it's a defensive alliance. So I think he misunderstands the purpose of NATO. NATO is a defensive alliance if one of our countries are attacked. It's always been focused largely on Russia. Now, we were attacked on 9-11, and NATO did Article 5, and they actually came to our defense and helped us in Afghanistan. And so the one time that Article 5 has been declared was on behalf of America. And so NATO has looked up to its promises as a defensive alliance. Now, if you want to do something and conduct operations against Iran, you're probably not going to get the full NATO support officially, but you'll get a lot of the individual countries to help us. And that's what we're looking at here. Individual countries will help us in these operations that are part of NATO. But there's some other issues with us. We attacked Iran, which I supported. Iran's killed 1,000 Americans. We cannot afford to let them have a nuclear weapon. But we made very little effort to persuade NATO early on and the individual countries to help us. So if you attack another country and you don't forewarn or prepare our allies, it's hard for them to immediately come to our side without – I mean, you've got to be persuasive. You've got to come there and work with them. But we conducted these operations and demanded an immediate support from them, and I think that that was probably a little hard to expect rationally. How do you see Iran pushing the line and corroding the terms of America's engagement with them? Well, the president had to face reality. Iran does not want peace. Iran has been attacking tankers almost every day in the Persian Gulf, and they're frequently attacking Bahrain, UAE, also Kuwait, and they're violating the ceasefire, and they're doing it every day. So I think the president's been beyond patient. In fact, I think his patience and his willingness to want to have a deal with Iran, I think Iran saw that as being weak, and they thought they could run over the president on this. So the president had to take this action today and probably in the upcoming days. Iran's got to realize that they want to have peace and that they want to have peace more than we do. And if we look across the globe, Congressman, we've got China also testing nuclear-capable missiles. We heard from Representative John Mueller of the CCP Select Committee saying that the Chinese, or rather Taiwanese, I apologize, the Taiwanese Strait matters now more than ever. Why is that so critical right now? Well, so I think we have a moral responsibility. We have a country with roughly 23 million people I think Taiwan has. They want democracy, they want liberty, they want their own bill of rights like we have, and they don't want to be under Chinese communist dictatorship. And I think America stands by people who want freedom. And Taiwan's a success story. If you see their democracy is working, their free markets are working, they're much more wealthier per person than they are in communist China. They have created vast amounts of wealth, and it's a success story that all freedom-loving people can be proud of. And so what we want to do is ensure that Taiwan gets to dictate its future and not under threat or bullying from communist China. And that means we've got to ensure that the right weapons are in Taiwan, that the communist China knows that we have a commitment to Taiwan. And more than anything, the number one goal for America should be to deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. You do that by standing with the Taiwanese and ensure that Taiwan has the right weapons at their disposal. Well, along that same line, Congressman, we've got the State Department saying, quote, at a time when the United States is working harder than ever to prevent nuclear proliferation, China is doing the opposite. How important is it to keep our eyes on China as the biggest threat to America? Well, China is definitely the longest term, the long-term threat. They are, interestingly enough, though, they're going backwards compared to the United States economically. We're surpassing them right now. There was a period of time where we thought, oh, given 10 more years, they're going to have an economy bigger than our country. That hasn't borne out in the last three or four years. And their population is quickly decreasing because of the one-child policy that China had for decades. Those decisions have caught up with them, and they're going to go under a billion people in the decades to come, and they're going to have an aging population. So I see a country that's struggling. They're not the 10-foot giant that I think many people see China as today. They're not. They've got their own big struggles. But that all said, they are the long-term threat. But really it's Russia that is the short-term threat because they're acting out violently. They're not just, you know, flexing their muscles or invading a neighbor. They're threatening other countries on the periphery. Putin has made clear he wants to restore the borders that the Soviet Union used to have. So I sort of see Russia as the near-term threat, China the long-term threat. But they're friends, and they're helping each other out. And they don't really like each other, but they dislike us a lot more. And so they're working together to undermine America and the free world. Representative Don Bacon, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you. And you're looking at a live shot of the White House, the Trump administration taking action to improve voter confidence with a warning to state election officials. More on that after the break. The best sheets in history for as low as $29.98. So go to MyPillow.com or call the number on your screen. Use your promo code to take advantage of our second annual mega sale. But that's not all. Order right now and we'll ship your order absolutely free. I'm Jonathan Lawson. If you're 50 to 85, please listen closely. The lock I want to talk to you about isn't the one on your door. It's a rate lock for your life insurance that guarantees that once you're insured, your rate can never go up at any time for any reason. Many policies you see don't have one. But you can get a lifetime rate lock from Colonial Penn. This plan was designed for people on a fixed income with coverage options that start at $9.95 a month. That's less than 35 cents a day. Your rate is locked in for life. Coverage can never be canceled and your acceptance is guaranteed. You cannot be turned down because of your health. See for yourself. Call for an information kit and gift. Both are free with no obligation. Call 1-800-624-6556 for your free information and your free gift. That's 1-800-624-6556. 1-800-624-6556. Call now. Shen Yun Creations. The streaming platform from Shen Yun. Featuring world class dance. Past programs. And all original music. Master classes. Behind the scenes. Comedy and more. Explore. ShenYunCreations.com If comfort's what you're after, you're going to love this. You have the freedom to say that math is home on an incredible selection of genuine Lazy Boy recliners. All specially priced at just $4.99. We made extra special buys and we're passing the savings on to you. With all the quality and comfort that Lazy Boy is famous for. There's eight to choose from. Pick your favorite. Just $4.99. Shop and compare. That's an incredible deal. In stock with fast free delivery. Relax in your new Lazy Boy tonight. And enjoy the freedom to save at your furniture superstore. Math is home. Welcome back. I'm Fiona Ji. Cracking down on non-citizen voting. The Department of Justice is warning state election officials that they can be charged for knowingly allowing non-citizens to receive ballots. Joining us now to discuss is former federal prosecutor Jim Trustee. Jim, great having you on tonight. Let's start with Assistant AG Harmeet Dhillon. Discussing the urgency of this issue. Take a look. They have made it sort of all mail balloting regardless of request. They don't verify voter ID. They don't verify citizenship. And they don't purge the voter rolls of ineligible voters. When you add all of those things together, you get a recipe for cheating. And you get a recipe for a decrease in voter confidence. Okay, so the DOJ asked for voluntary compliance in ensuring only citizens are voting. So what legal means does the federal government have here to get states to clean up those voter rolls? Yeah, I mean, that's what obviously she's exploring. And it's really a breath of fresh air to have the head of civil rights taking an aggressive posture about election cheating. You know, I was with the department for a total of 17 years. I think four or five different attorneys general. And you never saw a change in the philosophy of the civil rights division of DOJ. It was a whole bunch of longtime former public defenders who happily kept their kind of liberal politics no matter who was in charge of the White House or the Department of Justice. So Dhillon's an agent for change. She's putting election officials on notice. And that's really interesting because in the world of white collar crime, when you talk about something like knowingly allowing illegal votes. You know, notice is a big part of that. You have to show it's a willful crime. And so the first step is telling people this is your obligation. You have to do your job. She's done that. So she's kind of set up two things. One is just the public acknowledgement and hopefully some deterrence where people will realize that if they try to cheat, they're going to get caught. But also if there is a prosecution under some sort of civil rights statute for deprivation of voting rights, that she's actually kind of helped the elements of that case by putting these folks on notice. So I think it's overdue. I think the fact of getting civil rights attorneys out from behind their desks and out into the community to make sure that our voting process is kosher, I think that's all pretty good stuff. Well, in a related story, we've got a judge telling the DHS to restore a federal immigration verification system. We've got Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, all saying they need the system to check their voter rolls. Jim, first walk us through the recent history here of this system and the legal battles surrounding it. Yeah, this is a wild case, Fiona. It's ultimately it's a standoff between two different federal judges. But it starts with DHS. DHS maintains a platform for verification of citizenship. It's called SAVE, S-A-V-E. It stands for Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements. And so states will get on this platform to verify whether a person is illegal or legal for professional licenses, for the voter rolls that we've been talking about, even for kind of routine government benefits. And the problem had been historically that they had very little ability. It wasn't very user-friendly. There wasn't very good ability to query it for particular individuals. So in 2024, some conservative states went to court in northern Florida and said, can you force DHS to have a more user-friendly system when we're trying to make these compliance decisions and we're trying to purge our voter rolls? They won basically by getting a settlement where DHS said, we'll certainly update things, let you query it by Social Security number, by driver's license. DHS has their head on a swivel. They say, OK, well, we'll go back to the old system. And now we're back in court in Florida where the Florida judge says, no way. We're here first. We reached this settlement. We know what we're doing. And the D.C. judge is wrong. So the question is going to be in the next couple of weeks, do the parties that are fighting against an enhanced system of verification go up to an appellate court in D.C. or find themselves showing cause for contempt? In other words, being potentially held in contempt in north Florida. But this battle is far from over. And right now, two judges are pointing at each other saying, I win. So how is the current state or how will the current state of this ruling play into the ability for states to clean their voter rolls of noncitizens? Yeah, for the moment, the Florida judge seems to be, you know, predominating. So it seems like for the moment you can reach out to DHS and say, I need to check on this guy, Jim Trusty, for his bar license. And you'll be able to do it with the enhanced system. But this is going to change day to day until either one or two circuit courts of appeal get involved in the mess. So I'd expect that over the next week or two. All right. And we've also got Vice President J.D. Vance speaking on voter I.D. today. Take a look at that. We're the only advanced democracy anywhere in the entire world that doesn't require you to show a voter I.D. to vote. It's simple. Just give us election integrity laws, give us voter I.D., and then we will have the confidence to say the American people, there's no cheating. So what do you make of that? That sound bite there. How does that play into this push to clean up voter rolls and require I.D. when going to to our elections? Yeah, I think it's a great message. It's an overdue message. I know that the president and the vice president have been ringing the bell for the SAVE Act and talking about cheating in elections. Look, if you're against voter I.D., then you're basically saying you have an interest in seeing cheating or at least some lax enforcement when it comes to the voting process. I find that kind of an amazing concept that you could be against it. And what you have from politicians on the left is they say, well, requiring I.D. is disproportionately racist or discriminatory against minorities, which is an absurdly patronizing and racist comment. Like in modern day society, there are not a bunch of black men walking around saying I don't have an identification. It's absurd. Everyone has to have identification to function in this society that we have. I think that a lot of minority members should be offended and probably are offended by the notion that they're somehow incapable of having an identification for purposes of voting. So you look at the overall poll numbers, you look at what the president and vice president are saying. It's such a common sense, overdue notion to ensure election integrity, at least have folks like us have a little more comfort that there's not much cheating going on or at least not anything that could ever affect an election directly. And voter I.D. is a logical first step for that. All right, Jim, trustee. Great having you on tonight. Thank you. The U.S. embassy has issued what appears to be its 10th travel warning to China in the past 30 days. What it's warning about this time. Find out more tonight on China in focus with Tiffany Meyer at 930 p.m. Eastern time. You're now looking at a live shot of the U.S. Capitol as Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner mulls dropping out of the race. Who will replace him as the party's nominee? A panel discussion after the break. Being a cowboy, I don't know anything different from when I was 34 years old. I did tough things. I thought everybody knew tough things. And if you didn't, I didn't have time for it. I had a very successful career at a very young age and life was fast. I was preparing physically. I wasn't doing anything mentally on the inside. And then I got hurt. I wanted to be better as a person and I really dug into mental health. I start my day with 20 minute workouts. I live life eight seconds at a time. Horses are so therapeutic. They know what you're feeling. When you're nervous, they're nervous. You won't say it back. I take a lot of responsibility in taking care of my kids, my family, being there for them. You're going to have tough days. Everybody does. Find a place to stop and just breathe. Love your mind. You see certain things get reincarnated in your children. My daughter is very much inspired by my wife's artistic pursuits. So my daughter started making necklaces. She makes what we call affirmation fashion. I tell her every day that you're black is beautiful. You're black is beautiful. You're black is beautiful. And if there's anything better than being beautiful, it's being smart. If there's anything better than being smart, it's being kind. And reaffirming that every day is our method of making sure her chin never drops. My dad wasn't around. And I remember riding a bike and falling off and cutting myself. And me never just wanting to get back on it. People ask, how your children learn how to ride a bike? And you did. I didn't teach them. I just created an environment where they taught themselves. And all I had to do was be there. Welcome back. I'm Fiona G. Tensions have risen within the Democratic Party. The party's executive director in Maine accuses Graham Plattner's campaign of attempting to influence who may replace him in the Senate primary. Joining me now to discuss this is Democratic strategist Aditi Bustles and Republican strategist Marlee Hornick. Thank you both so much for being here today. Let's start with this clip here. Here's the Maine Democratic Party executive director discussing that process of replacing Graham Plattner's candidacy and what that's looking like so far. Watch. Unfortunately, Graham Plattner's team has repeatedly reached out to us in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like. We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Plattner's team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate. All right, Aditi, your initial reaction to this and how you see this developing? Well, not surprising because regardless of his horrendous past that's coming to light and the fact that he was not vetted well enough to ever get this far, he was elected in a Democratic process to be the Democratic nominee. And he was run by consultants that kind of bypassed the vetting process. So that being said, it doesn't surprise me that the team behind him wants to put their thumb on the scale and see who they decide to choose first. I think what's going to happen is they're going to have a quick Democratic process, like a mini primary of some kind, given that there are three or four contenders for the seat. And it will happen pretty quickly to allow the Democratic Party of Maine to get some kind of choice, you know, because time is limited and whoever this person is is really going to have to jump in and get the ball rolling, given that November is right around the corner. So not surprising. The infighting is typically common in the Democratic Party, especially now with the Democratic Socialists really staking their claim. And then, of course, your more traditional moderate establishment Democrats that are trying to hold on to as much power that they know. And how do you think this could play out for Senator Susan Collins' team? Well, I think that this could have been the best thing that happened to her in terms of this happening after the primary. That being said, I do believe that there are some very strong candidates that could be replacing Plattner that don't have such a horrendous past or controversy that is coming up. And I think that regardless, Maine voters voted for Graham Plattner. They're looking for someone who is bold, who's willing to go up against a longtime incumbent and take back the seat for Democrats. So I think that they would have a fair chance, given that things are in play in terms of having a strong team and having the ability to fundraise and really boots on the ground in terms of getting people out to vote because they would be the new candidate. Marley, I also want to get your initial take on this entire situation. And also, we're seeing these moderate Democrats critical of the party's progressive candidates. So do you think a dispute like this was inevitable? You know, I see so many issues with this entire story unfolding. And I don't disagree with what your other guest just said about the likely process. But I just want to raise these concerns. I think we should all be thinking about this because, first of all, Graham Plattner was allowed to run for Senate. And I don't even want to talk about these allegations. Let's go back to the fact that he posits himself as an oyster farmer when in reality he turns out to be on a 100 percent disability pension from the VA for PTSD. So how come someone who is incapable of holding a job due to an extraordinary trauma and stress from wartime service is at the same time capable of serving in the U.S. Senate? This was a red flag that has really not been covered very much. But I think it's stunning. And it speaks really deeply to the kind of, I guess, partisan politics and power grabs that are at the core of some of Americans' frustrations with congressmen and women, generally speaking, regardless of party, which is how come that conflict is acceptable? How come that person equally can't work and can be a senator? It's a very important job. And then the other thing we're seeing is that, basically, this guy is getting canceled based on allegations that have not yet been substantiated. I'm not saying they couldn't be true. I'm not saying they're not true. What I'm saying is this could be. We saw this happen with Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill. We saw this happen with Justice Kavanaugh. This isn't always the righteous path, which is to just instantly believe a woman because she's willing to go on national television and say salacious things. The man deserves due process. So the fact that he's already being pressured to resign, the fact that there's only a week for him to make this decision when he actually won by a very wide margin after already being known to have a Nazi tattoo and be incompetent to work a job, I mean, it's just like, where are we headed? This is the United States Senate. This must be a joke to other countries watching this process unfold. Audity, Marley making some interesting points there. I'll give you a moment to respond. I mean, I think I appreciate that Marley recognizes that this partisanship and the very low bar that is existing right now for many of our public representatives, whether it's the representative that disappeared for three months and came out and said he had a severe depression or what we're seeing with Senator Mitch McConnell and not knowing what his health status is. We have gotten to the point where the bar is so low for what is expected of our public officials that it's not surprising that in the case of Graham Plattner, it is playing out this way. That being said, I do agree that he did win. He did win through a democratic process as the candidate. Whether or not he's competent is not in question here. It's the fact that he has the voter base behind him. And that has to matter in terms of understanding the direction that Maine is going to go come November. And, you know, if he decides that he wants to drop out, then, you know, that's his prerogative. But I don't think that there's anything at this point that the general public doesn't know that hasn't already accepted. And you see that with Trump as well. Right. There's a lot of questionable things he's done in his past. But his base is very strong and they very much are all about his agenda, even if they don't agree with it because they have bought into him as a politician. So that's just where we are. And, you know, I wouldn't be surprised if he decided not to drop out because he still has that wide margin that he won by. And people have very short term memories in this country. Right. With the misinformation and the amount of information that we're constantly receiving. Today's scandal is tomorrow's old news. So who knows in terms of what it's going to look like come November? Well, Marley, where do you think Maine is headed in terms of what's happening right now? Well, it looks like there is, like Audity said, there's a bunch of candidates who are lining up and they want to see some kind of process that they consider to be fair, which I agree with Audity is likely to be a really rushed sort of a primary if Plattner drops out. And obviously, this young lady who is running the Maine Democrat Party believes that Plattner must drop out. And it feels like this me too righteousness that is a little bit grating at this point. And not to say that there isn't sexual assault and not to say that terrible things don't happen between men and women. It's just we don't know that this is true. So I just want to go back to something Audity was referring to, which I agree to it to a certain extent that, you know, once the voters decide that they don't care what the candidate's background is, then so be it. But I just want to point out this issue with him being on 100 percent disability from the VA for PTSD. He cannot hold a job. This means the taxpayers have been paying him to live based on his military service and his claim of severe PTSD. So it's not just whether or not we support him, whether or not we like him anyway. It's a fraud on the people if the guy could have been working. And that's really dishonorable. So that's really the beef that I have with this. And I think people should be upset about that. I think it really is wrong. I mean, we saw George Santos kicked out of out of the house for lying about his past and those, you know, whether or not they were material. This issue is actually about taxpayers funding him. And if he was lying, that's really not someone who should be in charge of our purse. All right. Marley Hornick, Audity Bustles, great conversation. Unfortunately, we are out of time for tonight. Thank you so much for joining us. You're looking there at a live shot of the White House. NATO is investing billions to counter growing threats from China and Russia. The alliance is warning and the new weapons program is being unveiled next. Summer should be full of moments like these. But when school doors close, millions of kids lose more than access to the meals they counted on. They lose energy and confidence. Usually in the summertime, it's a challenge. They're home all day, so you need more food in the house, more snacks in the house, more than normally when they're in school. I sometimes I just wonder, like, man, are we going to make it through this week? Families across America and right where you live are facing a summer hunger crisis, stretching every dollar in meal. But costs keep climbing. Call or go online now to helpfeedingamerica.org and give $19 a month, just 63 cents a day, to put healthy meals within reach for local families. Having access to a good meal during the summer gives me more energy. Feeding America is the only nationwide network with over 250 local food banks, food pantries, and meal programs delivering food where kids already gather. But we can't be there without neighbors like you. It's like a weight off my shoulders. Without them, my kids wouldn't be fat. Your gift today will provide more than food. You'll help fuel growth and potential because summer should help kids move forward, not hold them back. Your body gets tired, and you need the proper stuff to help you get through that. Please call or go online now. Give $19 a month, and your first gift can double in impact. We'll send you this free canvas bag as a reminder of the food and hope you're delivering. Them having good meals that are nutritious to help them to concentrate gives me hope for them to have a good life. It feels really good knowing that my kids have the food that they need. It really puts me at ease, and it helps out. Give now to help local families put food on the table and nourish a stronger future. Call or go online to helpfeedingamerica.org, and your first gift can double in impact. Tired of struggling with that heavy leaf blower? Introducing the Bullseye Power Blower. It delivers a massive blowing force, and yet it's so compact and lightweight. Just lock and load the rechargeable battery for long-lasting runtime. The secret is the compact turbocharged motor with Jetverse technology that blasts out 21,000 RPMs of airflow. Watch this. The sheer force propels this woman across the pool. Look. Use Bullseye to blow up a huge jump house. Now that's power. Even blows snow right off your vehicle in no time. Turbo clean your porch in a flash or tidy up your dirty garage floor in seconds. Get it today for just $99.99. But wait. Act now and get a $20 discount, so it's only $79.99. Plus, you'll get the adjustable extension tube. Yours free, and it all comes with free shipping. Order now. Call 1-800-209-2313 or go to bullseyeblower.com. That's 1-800-209-2313 or order online at bullseyeblower.com. Order now. Welcome back. I'm Fiona Gee. Today's theme at the Great American State Fair is family life and community support. While strong families are often considered the foundation of a strong nation, what do everyday folks think are the biggest challenges facing American families today? NTV's Sam Wong was on the fairgrounds to hear from the people. What are some of the biggest challenges facing American families today? The teaching of, you know, you can be any gender that you want to be. If you feel like a girl and if you're a man, even though you don't have the chromosomes of a woman, that you can, you know, be the other sex. And that's just simply not true. A lot of it has to do with the indoctrination, I think, in the public school system, you know, with the children. They're trying to separate children from their families and keep secrets. If we don't have a nuclear family, you know, to support each other. Everybody supports one another. And to learn from, like you said, with all the wisdom that is passed down from generation to generation. If we lose that here, you know, we'd lose a lot. The government is way too big, way too controlling. Let the American family be. Let the farmers operate. Let the families grow and prosper without over-regulation, over-taxation, etc. In terms of education, we should be teaching, writing, reading, arithmetic, math. True history, not trying to change history. And I would say values, the right values, I think, earn dividends over time. Honesty, independence, dedication, fortitude. The world is against me. No, you just got to work harder. Do you think strong families are a good foundation for a strong country? Absolutely. The foundation of the nuclear family is the foundation of all civilization. Family is everything. It's where you learn, you know, your first things. And that's where you're going to get your first values. Without families, without, you know, that foundation, you know, our society starts to crumble. The likelihood of criminal activity increases greatly if you don't have two parents in the home who are there to discipline their own kids. We've got three girls who are all married and seven grandkids. That's what it's all about. Christmas, they all come to the house. It is a whirlwind, but it's awesome. Family is critically important. And that's how, you know, we raise future generations with a good family unit. Without the family unit being cohesive and then growing from there to a township and then from there to a state and then from there to a country, the family is the foundation. And the 4th of July crowds may now be gone, but the cleanup was just getting started. Less than 48 hours after fireworks lit up the sky, volunteers from a D.C. area church spent Monday morning picking up what thousands of visitors left behind at Jones Point Park. Working alongside the National Park Service, volunteers from New Heaven New Earth Church collected nearly 180 pounds of trash in just two hours. That included everything from food containers and firework debris to abandoned fishing gear. Organizers say litter along the Potomac doesn't just spoil the view. It can wash into the river, threatening fish, birds, turtles and other wildlife. And that's all we have for you tonight on The Capitol Report. Stay connected to the stories that matter. Visit us at NTD.com slash live or download our NTD app. From the nation's capital, I'm Fiona Ji. Have a nice evening and we'll see you back here tomorrow.