Trump Defends Iran War at UN 

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1:00Distributor President Trump defends the war in Iran on the world stage as a new CNN poll shows just one in four Americans approve of how he's handling it. I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines and inside politics.

1:24President Trump just finished his first address to the United Nations since the war in Iran began seven months ago. Speaking to the General Assembly of World Leaders at the United Nations, he cast himself as a peacemaker and Iran as a bully and issued another threat to drive them into hell if a deal isn't reached. I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before? maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?

2:15And this morning, a newly released CNN poll shows approval for President Trump's handling of the war in Iran fell to 33 percent. This is a war he promised would last for just a few weeks. Instead, it is upending the world. I want to get right to CNN's chief White House correspondent, Caitlin Collins, who is live at the United Nations. Even though CNN has been banned from the White House, from the presidential pool, we were credentialed by the U.N. to cover President Trump's speech. Caitlin, this whole message that he had on Iran is quite telling, particularly given the fact that most people in that room, did not agree.

3:00Yeah, it's also just remarkable that he's delivering that speech, acknowledging the war after, of course, when it started back in February, the president and a lot of his senior aides predicted it would only last about four to six weeks before coming to an end. And of course, now we are about seven months into that war and the president is facing those tough numbers here at home and also addressing these world leaders. A lot of them, Dana, who, as you know, are directly impacted by this war. They're the ones in the region who are facing the attempted drone and missile attacks from Iran that have been happening sometimes intermittently and sometimes regularly over the last several months.

3:35And so as the president is sitting down with those Gulf leaders today, they have real questions about what is going to come next in this war, especially as we're seeing the fighting expand here with the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels that are firing on Saudi Arabia. And the Saudi Arabian crown prince is trying to get the president in the United States to join in those joint strikes, something that the president was considering doing over the weekend, but so far has declined to do. And I think one of the standout moments as I was listening to the president's speech was talking about what he believes is the choice that he's facing with Iran right now, which is to annihilate Iran, as he put it, or to make a deal with them.

4:12And of course, that comes as he's here at the United Nations, where the Iranian president is also here while that war is ongoing with the United States, which in and of itself It's just a remarkable dynamic that the president of the United States and the Iranian president, the Iranian leader, are both in the same area, even though officials in the U.S. have not said whether or not those two plan to sit down. But, Dana, you mentioned those poll numbers and how Americans are feeling about the war, something that I attempted to ask the president about as he entered the General Assembly this morning.

4:43He did not answer that question or address the substance of what's in that poll, but he did address the fact that there is a political aspect to all of this because he said during his speech that he does believe the war will come to an end after the midterm elections, essentially saying that he understands it is affecting his party's chances given the price of diesel and what it's done to inflation here as this has played out. So, of course, whether or not that actually bears out, if it does come to an end after the midterms still remains to be seen or before then. But it was certainly a key part of the president's speech as he also touched on other aspects, including artificial intelligence, as he's still got a slew of meetings with world leaders here today at the United Nations.

5:24Though, to your point about being credentialed here to cover his speech, the TV camera from a major network will not be in the room for the U.S. side during those one-on-ones with these world leaders because of the president's ban. Just unbelievable. And we're going to play that, the remarks that he made about the midterms in a second. I just also want to say we're glad that you and the rest of our amazing White House team are there doing your jobs, as I know that you keep doing. As always. As always. Caitlin, good to see you. Thank you so much for that reporting. I'm joined by a terrific group of reporters on our panel today.

6:02And let's get right to what the president specifically said at the United Nations about how the midterm elections relates to the Iran war. They'll make a deal right after the election because it doesn't make sense for them not to. They're waiting to see how I do in the midterm election. What they don't realize is that I'm not running. I did that already and won in a landslide. We won in a giant landslide And I'll be here for two and a half years. The Republican Party is running and I'll be helping them. But I am not running. I gave absolutely no credence and will not give credence to the election when it comes to Iran.

6:50It doesn't even enter my mind. Asma Khalid, that was just a remarkable statement by the president, not only because of where he said it at the United Nations, but obviously what he said, laying out there in a way that I don't think we've heard before, that he thinks that Iran is keeping this going through the midterm elections, understanding that the Strait of Hormuz and what is happening there and the conflict which continues is hurting not only people around the globe, but also for his political purposes at home, people in the key states that are going to the polls in six weeks. Yeah. And we've heard the president refer a couple of times here to the midterms and the Iranians' desire to wrap things up after the midterms.

7:45I've heard that. And every time he says it, it does really confound me because ultimately the president had also promised the American public that this would be a quick operation. His timeline keeps stretching out. And what I have on my mind, Dana, is ultimately whether or not the Iranians have a timeline, the American public does have a timeline. We have consistently seen polling that suggests they are frustrated, a majority, not all, by this war, and they are frustrated by the high cost of gas. And And you see that in polling. You see that in gas averages. And so I think the conundrum for the president is maybe he's articulating what the Iranian timeline is.

8:22But the president does have to work with the American public's timeline. And right now, I think that there has been added pressure on him to wrap up this war, primarily at the outset from Democrats. But as you suggest, some of the polling that we saw just now from CNN suggests that that is also dwindling support we're seeing from Republicans as well. Yeah. And let's look at that exact figure here, Mark Caputo. This new poll that came out this morning, in March, the president's approval of handling of Iran, all adults, 33 percent. Republicans, 73 percent. Now, everybody is just 26 percent, but it's really the Republican number that's one to watch.

9:02Down 16 percentage points since March. Members of his own party, Mark. well yeah it's because the price of gas has gone up and there's no great mystery here americans don't really pay a lot of attention to iran they never really have one of the complications of launching the war was trump didn't sort of prepare the intellectual the informational battle space of saying to the american public here's why we need to do this and here's why we're going in in fact he started to kind of do that today when he He mentioned that Iran had this conventional and unconventional ballistic missile missile shield they were building and that they could then hide behind that and then build their nuclear capabilities.

9:46That's a message that I think if he had an opportunity to go over again and prepare the information space, that would have been drilled in a little more. But even so, there's only so much appetite Americans have for foreign wars when they start hurting their pocketbooks. And there's a daily scoreboard, I've said four, where every day people drive by the gas station, even if they have a Tesla, and they can see the cost of gasoline. And they know, even if they have a Tesla or an electric vehicle, that while I might not be paying that, other people are. And that's filtering through the economy. It's causing inflation to spike and it's problematic.

10:18Yeah. And of course, that's just part of it. The other part is the way that the ramifications of the high cost of gas diesel is affecting people in their jobs. Let's just take Iowa, for example. This is a place that Donald Trump, as we've said before on the show, and I'll repeat again because it's so important, has done so well in for the last 10 years. It was a purple state that he pretty much turned red. Ashley Hinson, who is the Republican candidate for Senate trying to keep this seat red, released a statement saying the following. Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn't have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran.

11:04We need to use every option at our disposal to provide some relief from high prices. She went on to say these actions to lower costs are needed ASAP and the war needs to be brought to a successful and immediate end. So this last part, successful and immediate end. Now, let's go up a little further north to Mike Rogers and listen to his language, which my colleague John Berman pointed out this morning is very similar. He said the war in Iran needs to end to bring costs down. But Michigan families can't afford to wait. Here's what we can do, place a temporary embargo on diesel exports. American energy should provide relief to American families first.

11:47So, Aisha, you see these Republican candidates who recognize that this is a huge drag on their candidacy, trying to find ways to, in some cases, kind of gingerly separate themselves from the president, but also Mike Rogers coming up with at least some idea that he can hang his hat on. Well, they have to do something right. They've been dealt politically a bad hand. Whatever you think of the Iran war, this is a very difficult thing for them to to have to deal with. And I think that it's interesting. You've had Trump, you know, constantly saying, oh, I'll annihilate Iran. And those words are very serious.

12:31But at the end of the day, it seems like I think people, even in his own party, are like, OK, listen, if you're going to end this war, end it. Or are you selling wolf tickets, as they say, where I'm from? Basically, are you just talking? If this is going to end, why not just end it? But the fact of the matter is, is that Iran has a say in this too, and it doesn't seem like the U.S. actually can just end it. Right, because the Strait of Hormuz is still, despite what they're saying, not fully open. We're going to take a break, but as we go to break, I just want to show one other data point from CNN's new poll, which is quite telling, and it's approval of Trump's handling of foreign affairs.

13:15In March of 2025, beginning of the term, it was 42 percent. Before the war, 39 percent. Look at it now, 29 percent. That is what the president is facing as he's at the United Nations today. Don't go anywhere. Coming up, Kamala Harris is back on the campaign trail trying to help Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan. He tells CNN why he wants her there. Next.

13:43And plus, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says in politics, you often only get one shot. Is 2028 hers? The new interview that is fueling fresh White House buzz.

14:00Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. On my podcast, All There Is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities. My guest is Lil Jon. He's a rapper, DJ, and producer known for hits like Get Low and Turn Down for What. In February 2026, his 27-year-old son Nathan went missing near Nathan's home in Georgia. Three days later, his body was found in a pond nearby. Little John has a memoir that just came out called I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me. It takes time to heal. And I kept myself busy that I didn't let myself mourn. I needed to laugh again. I needed to be silly and interact with people and feel other people's energy and make people happy too.

14:45We have to share so other people can see that they can get through it too. Talking grief, building community. That's what the podcast is all about. This is all there is. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life podcast. You may have noticed gambling doesn't require a casino anymore. You can just open up your phone. It's designed to keep us coming back or maybe never even leaving in the first place. We're going to talk to Dr. Timothy Fong, co-director of UCLA's Gambling Studies program. You're going to learn what your brain is really chasing when you place a bet, and also importantly, how to keep the game from playing you.

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15:49In some big Senate races, Democrats are telling Kamala Harris, stay away. Others want her help, like in Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed will campaign with the former vice president this afternoon at a maternal health event in Detroit. This morning, El-Sayed told our Arlette Saenz why he wants her there. We've got to bring as many folks in as we possibly can to take on the challenges that we face. And even where there had been disagreements in the past, the things that unite us as Democrats are so much bigger. I think her presence here speaking to communities that were really empowered by her voice throughout her political career, I think will help us to continue to bring our coalition together and build the broadest possible coalition to defeat Mike Rogers.

16:38Ayesha, what is your take on this visit and what it means and what it says about what El-Sayed really needs? I think El-Sayed needs to shore up his support with the black community. And I think that's part of the reason why you have someone like Kamala Harris out in the forefront. I believe that he needs like that. You know, that is such a big part of the base and he needs to get people fired up. And I think that you're seeing that now. But I also think that in having Harris come out, you're kind of seeing that there's this identity crisis happening with the Democratic Party. And who are they?

17:26Yes, they're saying they're united. But you have Harris, who was painted as this very liberal Democrat. But also, I mean, but in many ways was more of a moderate. And then you have El Saeed, who is, you know, very progressive and they're out there campaigning together. But who is the face of the Democratic Party? And I think that's the question. that. Yeah, that is a question. But I think that you're right, that in this situation, it's about making sure that the base at least takes a look at Al-Sayed, the base that he did not get in the primary against Haley Stevens, because he lost four of the Michigan counties that have the largest African-American populations.

18:10And Asma, I just want to put up on the screen for our viewers just how critical the black vote is really everywhere for Democrats, but especially in Michigan. In 2020, Joe Biden won with 92 percent of the vote in Michigan. In 2024, Kamala Harris got 87 percent. It's a huge percentage, but it diminished. And we know that she did not win in 2024 there. And then as it relates to El-Sayed, this is a poll from CNN last month that looks at likely black Michigan voters. The favorable is 66 percent, unfavorable, only 2 percent, no opinion, 32 percent. So a third of these voters didn't yet have an opinion of El-Sayed, and that is what Kamala Harris is trying to change.

19:07Yeah, I mean, a 32 percent, I'll say, Dana, is higher than I would have expected. And I would argue that if you are Abdul El-Sayed, that's a better position to be in than those who have an unfavorable opinion, because at least there's room for growth with that. And that's what they are anticipating Kamala Harris could help do. Look, I mean, I agree with Aisha that I think in many ways, midterms are often seen as a referendum on the president and power. And no doubt this midterm election is that. But I think what is unique to me about this midterm race that feels really different than 2018 is that it is also a midterm race in which we are seeing tensions in the Democratic Party to figure out who they are and what type of party they want to be as we inch closer to 2028.

19:48Look, I'll also say that I think that some would make the case that this is mutually beneficial for Kamala Harris and Abdullah al-Sayed. She, as she thinks about maybe what she's going to do in the future, needs to boost her progressive bona fides, her progressive credentials. And I would argue that some of the primaries this cycle have shown us that the war in Gaza was a frustration for some Democratic voters. And she did face, you know, opposition in terms of the uncommitted vote. And that is something I reported on in Michigan that cycle. At the same time, Abdullah al-Sayed, as we heard, really does need to boost support amongst African-American voters.

20:24And maternal health is an area where where they agree upon. But I will agree with everyone here and say that I do think that the African-American vote is key. I mean, we looked at those last two election cycles. I can go back to 2016 and reporting on Hillary Clinton's loss in the state. You really need black voters as a Democrat to do well in the state. And that is a demographic that Mike Rogers has been trying to reach out to. He said desperate times call for desperate measures. Conman Abdul is so desperate he's bringing Kamala Harris to Michigan to save his campaign after leading the uncommitted movement, which you mentioned, Asma, against her in 2024.

21:01Mark, though, I do want to change tack here and talk a little bit about what's going on way further south in Texas, because the fact that former President George W. Bush, a Texan, and John Cornyn, a senator whom Ken Paxton, the now Republican nominee for Senate, beat, they are having some fundraisers and they are raising money. This is I'm going to put it up for The New York Times without raising money for Paxton. They're intentionally leaving him out of their of their efforts. Now, with Cornyn, OK, kind of makes sense. It was a very bitter race and he really still wants to be senator. The Bush of it all is fascinating.

21:51Well, yeah, let's remember that George W. Bush's nephew, Governor Jeb Bush, former Governor Jeb Bush, my former governor here in Florida, George P. Bush ran against Ken Paxton and lost in a rather bitter primary for attorney general. For those of us who have covered the Bushes for a while, this doesn't come as that much of a shock. And the reality is, is that there is still an old line of Bush community of conservatives in Texas, a little more business oriented. Absolutely. And just don't like the scandal and the tawdryness that surrounds Ken Paxton. And the fact is that Ken Paxton is probably not going to have that much of a money problem.

22:34The president of the United States did accurately say he has as much as four or five hundred billion he could spend. He could spend a lot of that in Texas. But what we're seeing throughout the nation is that while Republicans are banking on this big cash advantage to swamp Democrats, it's running up against the financial realities people are experiencing at the pump which we referenced in the last segment and paxton has an additional problem which again is this sort of scandal plague nature and also he's not that great of a campaigner i mean even president trump when he talks about paxton just delights and talking about what a slobby looks like how he dresses badly he looks kind of odd so that's also not great and when you're the bushes and you're looking at this like do you really want to help out and i think they've answered that question no All right, guys, stand by.

23:22Coming up, could the Ohio voters who kicked Sherrod Brown out of the Senate just two years ago vote him right back in? We'll get some inside scoop from someone who's covered Ohio politics for decades. Stay with us.

23:44now to a red seat Democrats are hoping they can turn blue and potentially flip the U.S. Senate along with it in 2024 President Trump won Ohio by 11 percentage points while Sherrod Brown lost his Senate seat by about four two years later Brown is trying to make a comeback Republicans are putting serious money behind incumbent Senator John Husted, outspending Democrats on ads in the race by tens of millions of dollars. And a crypto-backed super PAC just announced it's putting at least$30 million into defeating Brown. I want to bring in someone who has the inside scoop on the Buckeye State and all the politics there.

24:25Karen Kassler is the Ohio Public Radio Statehouse Bureau chief. Karen, it's so good to see you. When I started covering politics, which wasn't, I guess it was long ago, but not that long ago. We spent so much time covering national politics in Ohio because it was, so goes Ohio, so goes the nation. It was a bellwether. It hasn't been for years, certainly since President Trump has been in office. The Cook Political Report does call Sherrod Brown's Senate comeback bid a toss-up. How are you sort of seeing it from the ground there. Is it a referendum on President Trump and Washington, or are there Ohio-specific issues that will decide it, or both?

25:12I think it's both, but there are a lot of Ohio-specific issues. I mean, in a way, it's really the economy, data centers, gas prices. Those are the big things that have really kind of changed the course of this race, I think. You have two people who are running. You have John Husted, who is the U.S. senator appointed to replace J.D. Vance. So he's never run for Senate before. And then you have Sherrod Brown, who's trying to become the seventh senator to get to lose his seat and then get back into the Senate. So this is a really interesting race here. And, you know, it's been a Republican state for a long time.

25:46As you mentioned, Trump won in 2016, 2020. He won by 11 points in 2024. So just a couple of weeks ago, I would say that that seemed to be the way it would go. but things could happen differently now. So let's talk about Sherrod Brown for a minute, because he, for a long time, was defying that rightward trend because he has such a unique sort of character, and he's very well known in the state for being a populist, among other things. The fact that he lost two years ago when Trump was at the top of the ballot, Is he doing anything differently that you can detect in his campaign now? Or is it just the atmosphere is different and he's riding that wave?

26:30I think the atmosphere has turned around on him because this is the kind of environment that he has run well in. I mean, he was elected in 2006, defeating Mike DeWine. And that was a year where Democrats really did well because of the same kind of things you're seeing now. And that was the last year Ohio elected a Democratic governor, for instance. So I'm seeing a lot of 2006 elements coming through here. And Sherrod Brown has in the past done well, even when Trump was in office. But when he was directly on the ballot, that was that was an issue. Let's talk about a solidly Republican House district in Ohio that's now considered a toss up.

27:06And that is the seat of Max Miller, who is facing domestic abuse allegations, which he denies. The race has really gotten ugly. What do you hear from Republican voters in particular in that race and whether they're abandoning him or sticking with him? I think there's some real concerns about that, not only from Republican officials, but also with Republican voters. I mean, that was a race that was a plus five Republican district. And now it's considered a toss up by Sabato's crystal ball and the Cook Political Report. And it's because of all these allegations. It's gotten really ugly, too, because Ohio's other U.S.

27:42Senator, Bernie Marino, is Max Miller's former father-in-law. And he has called for Miller to resign and to get out of this race because he says he's a danger and he has no business in office. So this has really gotten very ugly. Miller has kind of backed off a little bit on some of his campaigning. You don't see him out in public as much. But Brian Poindexter, his Democratic opponent, has really been out there trying to get that seat because it's up for anybody right now. Let's talk quickly about the governor's race. Republican Vivek Ramaswamy has a really big financial advantage. As you mentioned, Ohio hasn't elected a Democrat for governor in two decades.

28:22Again, Cook calls this race against the Democrat Amy Acton a toss-up. I know you've interviewed both of these candidates. What makes it so competitive? Well, just in the last 24 hours, it's gotten very interesting because about this time yesterday, the Democratic candidate, Amy Acton, proposed an emergency gas tax holiday. Ohio has a 38.5 % gas tax. And then about six hours later, Vivek Ramaswamy came out with a similar proposal, but he had legislative leaders behind him. Now you've got Akron or Acton kind of claiming that she was the leader on this. And with gas prices such a big deal, it's really made this race very, very interesting.

29:01And those polls are, I think, surprising some people because, again, this state has been red for a long, long time. And now it looks like with the current environment that it potentially could change. So interesting. What a pleasure to have you here. And, yes, I'm sure it's hard for an Ohio person to say Acton, not Akron. And when Acton goes to Akron, I'm sure it's even harder. Karen Kassler, thank you. No kidding. Thanks. Thanks. Up next, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is talking about her next move and making a 2028 presidential run sound a bit less hypothetical. Stay with us.

29:42The 2026 election is in six weeks, and that means the 2028 election starts in six weeks and one day. We could see two dozen Democrats or so jump in. And one of the biggest questions is whether Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be one of them. In a brand new interview with The New York Times, the 36-year-old AOC sheds some light on her thinking, saying, quote, There's an argument that some make that this is a very unique political window and oftentimes in politics. You do only get one shot, she said, and you don't. And just in life in general, life doesn't wait for you to be ready for things. Sometimes life just makes things ready for you.

30:24My panel is back. Mark Poudreau, I'm going to start with you. First of all, that is so true. And there are a lot of people in the history of politics who have thought, oh, I'll just wait because I'm not quite ready. And then time passes them by and it's no longer their time. It is noteworthy that she's saying that out loud. it is but everyone else has been saying it out loud for quite some time so why not she's the ripe old age of 36 you have to be 35 to be president if she happens to get elected and she's sworn in she'll be 38 at the time so she'll really be long in the tooth the person who probably loves this news the most and would say run alexandria run would be chuck schumer the senator from new york who probably doesn't want her to run against him for senate in his own party.

31:15I mean, he's double her age, right? He's 75. So one thing I think there should be a note of caution is whether or not she runs and whether or not she wins or loses, she is 36. And that's just a lot of time and a lot of life left in politics. So yeah, maybe she feels it's her time and she's got to run now and it'll never be again. But chances are that's not true. And even if she does run and she loses, there can always be a comeback. Look at the current occupant of the White House, for an example of that. Yeah, well, that is a good point. You know, and I want to move on to another quote, but I'm just thinking about that sentiment, Asma, because in so much reporting that I've done about women in politics and running for office, a big recurring theme has been historically that women don't want to do it until they know they're ready.

32:06And this is different. She's I mean, I'm not saying she's going to do it, but her. But what she's weighing isn't that it's. Well, maybe this is my time, which, you know, maybe this is just another example of women changing in the political realm. Speaking of, I do want to read this other quote. This is talking to our friend Shane Goldmacher over at The Times. If you're asking me about the things that I weigh, of course, that's part of what I weigh, she said, of running for president as a woman. This country has never elected a female president. Why are we pretending that this is not a factor, she said with a laugh.

32:43That doesn't make it impossible. But to act as though it's not a factor in anything ever is really a form of denialism, Asma. I mean, that's what I thought was so striking about this interview. It wasn't so much, is she going to run? Is she not going to run? Because, look, I think we are very far out from the 2020 election cycle at this point, there's a lot of questioning about which Democrat will actually run for office. But it was the fact that she was publicly weighing these conversations. Exactly. I will say as a woman, I rarely hear in public space. I rarely hear them said out loud from politicians.

33:19And if we look at the two women who have run for the highest office, both Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, I think both of them handled how to approach their gender identity in really different ways that perhaps younger women might be. I think what is striking about what you see from AOC is that she seems to be saying the obvious, which is that like, of course, this is a factor. I mean, Dad, if I could share one thing, there's a board book I have for my little kids. They are both boys, my kids. They look through this book at maybe age four or five. It's a book about presidents. And at the end, they have a photo, a little picture of every president, probably by age four and a half.

33:57My sons out loud were like, oh, can a girl never be president? Because they just observed the obvious. And so I just thought it was refreshing to hear her say something that obviously even a little kid has noticed. Ayesha? Well, I mean, that's, you know, I've seen Asma's kids. They're very cute. And so it's, you know, a shame that they haven't, that they had to ask that question. Can a woman be president. And I think America is still asking that question. The thing about, you know, AOC is that she has something that I think matters a lot in today's day and age, which she she understands social media.

34:39She understands like the current way people operate. Right. Like she is a personality as well as a politician. And that matters a lot. And so I think when you're seeing her say, well, maybe now is my time. It's because things have changed so much. When you have Trump in the White House, you know, you don't have to come from this traditional background or take this traditional path. And I think that's what you're seeing in AOC. Thank you all. It also shows me a bit of a trial balloon, right? Like she's putting out the trial balloon herself. Yeah, that's a good point. Thank you all for being here.

35:15Really appreciate it. Up next, the elections that changed the world. I have a new book out today with David Fisher, and I took a little field trip to Washington landmarks that tell the story of some of those historic races.

35:35Every two years around this time, our leaders tell us that this is the most important election of our time. Throughout history, every once in a while, elections just are monumental not only for that period, but also for generations to come. My new book with David Fisher, The Elections That Changed the World, explores 15 pivotal moments that shaped how we live. I took a little field trip around D.C. to describe five of those elections. One of the great things about being here in Washington, D.C., is that we have statues and monuments that memorialize the elections that changed the world. So let's go check some out.

36:14We all know Thomas Jefferson as a founding father, as one of the main authors for the Declaration of Independence, but he also was a candidate in two of the most arguably important elections in the United States of America. They were the first contested elections. The two candidates were Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. In 1796, John Adams won. In 1800, Thomas Jefferson won, sort of. There was a quirk in this brand new constitution that these men had written. And Thomas Jefferson in the Electoral College tied with his own running mate Aaron Burr. So the Constitution said the House of Representatives had to decide who was going to be president of the United States.

36:55It was the first constitutional crisis. It took a while but Thomas Jefferson finally won.

37:04I mean how's this for consequential? Abraham Lincoln is elected president and And it's the final match that ignites the Civil War. He didn't do that well. He only got 39 % of the vote, and that's because no Southern states supported him. One month later, South Carolina seceded from the Union, and the Civil War effectively began. Two years in, he signed the Emancipation Proclamation and finally freed the slaves in the United States of America. And when he gave the Gettysburg Address, he made it really clear that nothing short of democracy was at stake.

37:40The not one, not two, not three, but four elections of FDR were incredibly consequential. He was elected first during the Great Depression, 1932, because of the Great Depression. Huge Democratic majorities were swept in along with them, and he started to enact what he promised, legislation that added up to the New Deal. Then he was elected to a second term in 1936, and he kept going. Roosevelt decided to run again in 1940, and he won in a landslide. It was an unprecedented third term. And it meant that in 1941, when Pearl Harbor happened, he was in the White House, and he started to use his decade of experience, the relationship that he had with Winston Churchill and with Joseph Stalin, to form the Allied leadership to fight Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

38:32It's 1944. The war is still raging. Roosevelt, of course, runs for a fourth term, and he wins. And one of the other major consequences from FDR's unprecedented time in the White House is the 22nd Amendment, which passed afterwards. It says that a president cannot serve for more than two terms.

38:55Consequential elections, they don't have to be for a president or really any government office. It can just be in a small group, in a church basement, raising their hands and voting. That was what happened in December of 1955 when Martin Luther King Jr. was elected during the bus boycott to lead the newly created Montgomery Improvement Association. He was only 26 years old, brand new to Montgomery. He was the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. And one of the civil rights leaders, Joanne Robinson, had heard him preach and told everybody he can move people with his words. And we know what happened next.

39:33He became a civil rights leader that really did help change the world.

39:41On May 10, 1994, about a billion people watched as this man, Nelson Mandela, was inaugurated as South Africa's first black president. after decades of pushing back against racial segregation, discrimination by the small white minority who were running the government, until his actions, you see it right here, as a freedom fighter and a political prisoner of 30 years, led to him being a statesman. He only served one term as president, but his fortitude not only helped the people of South Africa, but inspired activists across the globe.

40:26The book is The Elections That Changed the World, 15 Pivotal Moments That Shaped How We Live, and it is out today. Thank you for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after a quick break.

40:43I'm Adi Kurnish. I'm Ari Shapiro, and it's Engagement Party. And we get to talk about what we're obsessed with, what we're engaged with, what we need to process with a friend. Her name is Amy O'Dell. She is a fashion writer blogger. But the thing is, she's a journalist who's written about the sacred cows of fashion. And yes, I mean, Gwyneth Paltrow and Anna Wintour. She has done biographies of both. And she is also the sort of rare fashion writer who at this point kind of outside the system. And so the question that we're going to try to tackle is... Fashion terrible now. Well, no, I mean, I would phrase it as how do you develop a personal style in the age of AI slop?

41:22You know, on social media, like creators have to try a whole bunch of different things and see what catches and then they make it over and over and over again. The same thing happens with clothing. So they're sort of seeding the market, seeding the Internet with all of these different ideas. And then they can see what sells and then they can just make them really fast. Follow Engagement Party. Wherever you get your podcasts.