Return to Transcripts main page
CNN's The Arena with Kasie Hunt
Trump: "I Don't Know About The Second Strike" On Alleged Drug Boat; Final Hours Of Voting In Tennessee Special Election; Trump Dismisses Affordability Issue Despite Focus In Special Election; Trump Appears To Doze During Cabinet Meeting. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired December 02, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:04]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The Patriots destroyed the Giants 30 to 15. They have now 10 wins in a row.
Pete, your thoughts?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Do I correctly recall being at a party with you where you were like, I have to go, I have to do fantasy football draft?
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Hey!
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: So, let's go now to "THE ARENA WITH KASIE HUNT."
(MUSIC)
KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. Welcome to THE ARENA. It's wonderful to have you with us on this Tuesday.
Right now in Washington, new details on who knew. What about that first strike on an alleged drug boat and the follow up strike that sources say killed survivors.
The question today, the buck stops where?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As far as the attack is concerned, I didn't -- you know, I still haven't gotten, a lot of information because I rely on Pete. But to me it was an attack. It wasn't one strike, two strikes, three strikes.
Somebody asked me a question about the second strike. I didn't know about the second strike. I didn't know anything about people -- I wasn't involved in it. I knew they took out a boat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: I didn't know, he says. I wasn't involved. This afternoon, President Donald Trump once again distanced himself
from direct knowledge of that follow up strike, instead pointing to the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, who authorized the mission.
A source tells CNN that before the mission, Hegseth ordered that everyone on board the boat be killed. But did he know that there were survivors and that they were targeted by a second strike?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I watched it live. We knew exactly who was in that boat. We knew exactly what they were doing, and we knew exactly who they represented.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: So we were flashing back there to Hegseth the day after the strike occurred, saying he watched it live.
Now, the secretary says, well, he didn't watch all of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEGSETH: I watched that first strike live. As you can imagine, at the Department of War, we got a lot of things to do. So, I didn't stick around for the hour and two hours or whatever, where all the sensitive site exploitation digitally occurs. So, I moved on to my next meeting.
I did not personally see survivors, but I stand because the thing was on fire. Exploded and fire. Smoke. You can't see anything. You got digital. This is called the fog of war
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Okay, so Trump didn't know. Hegseth didn't know. Where does the buck stop?
It seems that President Trump and Secretary Hegseth delegated both authority and are delegating responsibility for that follow up strike that sources say killed survivors to Admiral Frank Bradley, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They had a strike. I hear the gentleman that was in charge of that is extraordinary, extraordinary person.
HEGSETH: And by the way, admiral Bradlee made the correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat. He sunk the boat, sunk the boat, and eliminated the threat. And it was the right call.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Are they delegating both authority and responsibility to try and avoid accountability?
Let's get off the sidelines and head into THE ARENA. My panel is here.
We're also joined by CNN White House reporter Alayna Treene, who's going to start us off.
Alayna, the administration has been talking repeatedly about Admiral Bradley. Why are they doing this? Are they trying to avoid accountability here? Do they feel like they have a big problem on their hands?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, they're definitely trying to distance themselves. And we actually saw Secretary Hegseth do that yesterday as well on social media. And the same breath that he is saying he fully supports, the commander and Admiral Bradley for this decision and for carrying out a series of these strikes. Not just that, a double tap strike on September 2nd, but others as well.
In the next breath, he then said it was his decision to make. And we saw that again today. And of course, we also heard the White House yesterday repeatedly point the finger at Admiral Bradley over him really being the one to carry out this decision. Despite these strikes overall and more broadly, being authorized by Secretary Hegseth.
Look, I think one of the key things that really is kind of going to be the next turn of the wheel here is how people on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue respond to this. Lawmakers, not just Democrats, but Republicans as well, saying that they are very much concerned. You have some Democrats saying, you know, potentially that second strike that ultimately killed any remaining survivors, those two survivors we know that survived that first strike on the vessel, that that second strike could potentially amount to a war crime. Even Republicans are saying if they don't go that far, they're arguing we need more answers and we need to look into this.
And it's going to be very important, particularly what we heard from Hegseth today, saying that he was not in the room after that first strike, that he had left the room.
[16:05:05]
I think that's one of the most notable things I took away from this discussion in the cabinet meeting today, Kasie, that he wasn't there. We'll see how that plays out later on when this faces even more intense congressional scrutiny. We know that Admiral Bradley, as well, is expected to go to the Hill at some point this week to chat directly with lawmakers.
And so, there's going to be a lot demanding real materials, tangible materials to look over all of this. Because again, this is really a heightened concern that many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have. And then I just want to get back to your point from what we heard from the president as well, that was the other big notable takeaway from this, him saying that he didn't know anything about it. And it wasn't just him, the president argued that knew nothing about it. But Hegseth as well.
To your point, I don't know if its accountability they're trying to avoid, but they're definitely trying to distance themselves. And we really are seeing Bradley be the one to have the finger pointed at him from this White House more broadly.
HUNT: All right. Alayna Treene, thanks very much for your reporting. Really appreciate it.
Our panel is here in THE ARENA. Former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, Marc Short is here; CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel; former communications director at the DNC, Mo Elleithee; and CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings.
We're also joined by retired Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt.
Thank you all very much for being here.
And, General, let me start with you and with what the defense secretary in particular had to say there. He's claiming he saw the first strike live. He left the room. And then, of course, both he and the president are referencing the admiral that they say ultimately has responsibility here. Do you view it that way? How should the American public be viewing it in terms of ultimately where the buck stops?
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT (RET.), FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR POLITICAL-MILITARY AFFAIRS: Well, first of all, in the military, we always say you can delegate authority, but you can't delegate responsibility. I have not heard either the president nor --
(CROSSTALK)
KIMMITT: I'm sorry?
HUNT: Go ahead. Sir, the president, you said?
KIMMITT: No, no. In the military, it's commonly known, you can delegate authority. You can't delegate responsibility. Look, the president of the United States is responsible for this mission. I don't think he's trying to duck and cover or bob and weave on this. That's just understood.
So, any argument about authority and responsibility, I think, is a dry argument.
HUNT: So, sir, in this case, do you think that if this second strike happened, it does constitute a war crime?
KIMMITT: No. The fact that there's a second strike means nothing. We in the military typically conduct second and third and fourth strikes on targets. If the first strike does not achieve the objectives of that target. The only thing a question here is, in fact, were there two survivors, noncombatants on that boat when they conducted that second strike?
American military does not kill noncombatants. It does not kill prisoners. It does not kill or torture prisoners. And I don't think its been firmly established at this point. And I'm glad on Thursday that there will be an inquiry and discussions at the Senate Intel Committee, because I think at that point, until there's an admission by somebody who actually saw what happened, I think we're just going to speculation right now.
HUNT: Yeah.
So, let's talk a little bit about the politics of this here at the table. I mean, Marc Short, you've been in rooms where decisions like this are made. How do you view the way the president has been handling and talking about this? He clearly seems to understand that if there were survivors and the second strike was ordered you know, as the general was just saying, that's not something the United States of America does.
MARC SHORT, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: Look, I think that -- I support the president's efforts to protect America from narco terrorists. I think there's a lot of critics in this town, and I think it's actually a responsible effort on his part to protect America's shores from drug smugglers.
As the general said, I don't see the president ducking responsibility for this. He's taken responsibility. At the same time, I think it is important to have the inquiry. I think we have the most remarkable men and women serving in uniform. They are not trying to shoot fish in a bottle.
And so, I think that that -- barrel and I think in this case it's important to know, did they know there were noncombatants that were -- that were alive and clinging to that vessel, or did they not know? And I think that that's important to get to the bottom, because in the world we stand as a stark contrast to the way Russia's prosecuting its war against Ukraine. And it's important that we continue to do that.
And so, I think it's important to get to the bottom of this. But at this point, I think, you know, I'm not one to sit here and throw stones at the president. I think the president is accepting responsibility for the attack. And I think its important we get to the bottom of the matter, too.
[16:10:01]
HUNT: Jamie Gangel, what -- I know you talked to sources in the national security community on the Hill, elsewhere. What are especially the Republicans you talked to their top concerns here because this has been an area where we have seen Republicans who are, in other cases, reluctant to criticize the president, have extraordinarily sharp questions for what happened here?
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: No question. Look, this is -- you know, I spoke to a number of former very senior military officials. These are very high-ranking people who've had to carry out orders, who've been in this chair, and they see this, frankly, as a nightmare for the military.
Let's put aside the president and Hegseth. What we're seeing is a question about a questionable mission. Is there fentanyl coming out of Venezuela? Is this the way the war on drugs should really be -- being fought?
And we saw the head of Southern Command, Admiral Holsey, in October resigned very early from his position -- from his position, because our reporting was that he was having concern about what was going on in these areas.
So I thought, actually, the most notable thing we heard today at that cabinet meeting was both Secretary of Defense Hegseth and President Trump saying, we have Admiral Bradley's back because a lot of military officers, leaders, troops are wondering, are they going to have our back if it is determined, worst case scenario, there were two guys hanging on to the debris, and normally we would not have done a double tap?
HUNT: So, the message there to the admiral, we've got you.
GANGEL: Right.
HUNT: There is, though, this political question about whether the president still has Pete Hegseth's back, whether Hegseth has the full confidence of the president?
The Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, was asked about this today. Let's watch what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you have full confidence in his handling of his job as secretary of defense?
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: Well, I think that the fundamental question is, is the country safer than it was under the Biden administration? I think the answer to that is unequivocally yes. And so, Secretary Hegseth is a part of that. He serves at the pleasure of the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Scott Jennings, you talk to people in the White House all the time. Is there a question there about whether Secretary Hegseth is serving the president well at this point?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, I don't think so. I mean, I think it's pretty simple. The president wants these boats sunk. Secretary Hegseth is carrying out the president's wishes.
The presidents obviously very proud that they've taken a more muscular stance against these narco terrorists in our hemisphere. The president even said today you know, we've got a 91 percent reduction in these drug boats coming ashore and delivering things. And Hegseth even said, you know, where's the other 9 percent, you know?
And so, they're, I think, excited that this seems to be working.
Number two, I agree with what they said and what's been said about Admiral Bradley. They clearly back up Admiral Bradley here. They told him to sink the boats. He sinks the boats. I mean, they didn't try to run away from that at all.
And I also agree that with General Kimmitt, we're engaging in a little bit of speculation here. Nobody really knows all the details about who knew what in the room and when.
And I agree with Mark. I think a congressional inquiry here is warranted. It's fine. I think the administration ought to answer questions about it. And I don't think there's anything in the world to run away from.
The American people want the drugs to stop. The president ran on it. He's acting on it, and they're clearly not going to stop, because I think he has he feels he has a political mandate to do it.
HUNT: Mo?
MO ELLEITHEE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, DNC: I'm not feeling a lot of confidence right now in this administration and its approach to dealing with this.
Yeah. If there's a narco terrorist, sure. We want them out of the picture. And I suspect well talk a little bit later about how that raises the question about why he just pardoned a major narco terrorist.
But in this case, the order was not just sink the boat according to the -- according to the reporting, it was kill everybody on the boat. Kill everybody on the boat.
Here you have a situation where reportedly two people who were no longer a threat because of the outstanding work of our -- of our military, no longer a threat clinging on for life. And rather than take them prisoners, if you believe they are combatants, if you believe that they are bad guys, rather than take them prisoner, we circle back and kill them.
The interesting thing to me is maybe I just heard something different than others. I actually, what I did -- I didn't hear the president and the secretary saying, we have the admiral's back. I heard them saying, if you Republicans on the Hill believe you need a pound of flesh, there's your guy.
[16:15:04]
This is the guy who you need to hold accountable. This is the guy -- we're going to pass the buck on to him rather than take responsibility ourselves. So we're going to say all the good things about him. But let's be very clear. We're giving you him as your fall guy.
JENNINGS: Well, they clearly said today we fully support Admiral Bradley in his mission and the actions that he took fully support. I watched it in real time. There was no separation between Trump and Hegseth.
ELLEITHEE: Scott, I know you -- you and I both been in this town for a long time to know there are plenty of historical cases where presidents say, oh, sure, I have your back. I -- they have my support when in reality what they're doing is setting up somebody to pass the to put up as the fall guy. And it just feels a little bit like that's the direction we're headed. If the admiral --
HUNT: They never would have had to say his name, they could have said the people in the military that we ordered to do this have our full confidence, right? I mean, they are drawing him into this.
SHORT: I think we're stretching here. I mean, I think he's pretty clear saying they're going to stand behind the admiral. I think they will.
HUNT: General Kimmitt, before we go here, I want to ask you about something else that the president and Secretary Hegseth were asked about or talked about, I should say, in the cabinet meeting. And that is this possibility of strikes on land. This was something that the president brought up.
I want to watch it. And I'd just like to hear your thoughts on it on the other side, take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEGSETH: We've only just begun striking narco boats and putting narco terrorists, at the bottom of the ocean.
TRUMP: And we're going to start doing those strikes on land, too. You know, the land is much easier. It's much easier. And we know the routes they take. We know everything about them. We know where they live. We know where the bad ones live. And we're going to start that very soon, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: General, what would the implications of that be?
KIMMITT: Well, first of all, let's be clear. It sounds like to me that the president is engaging in coercive diplomacy, that he is -- we have often seen where he says one thing and does another thing. So, let's hope that this is just an attempt for Maduro to understand that his time is up.
Now, if you're talking about and speculating about putting American men and women on the ground, I don't think we're going to see that. If they strike, it will probably be with drones. It will probably be, perhaps with aircraft.
It is easier to knock out fixed facilities on the ground in front of speedboats in the middle of the ocean. So, I think mechanically it is much different. I think militarily and political military, the fact is, I don't think we're going to see American troops on the ground.
HUNT: All right. Brigadier General Mark, really appreciate your time today, sir. Thank you very much for being here.
All right. The rest of my panel is going to stand by. Coming up next here in THE ARENA, a key U.S. lawmaker will join us
live. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal on the member of the Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees. He's one of a bipartisan group of voices on Capitol Hill demanding answers from the White House and the Pentagon about these boat strikes.
Plus, the tussle in Tennessee. The final hours of voting in a special election that will either make House Speaker Mike Johnson's job a lot harder or put a crack in some recent momentum for Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AFTYN BEHN (D), CANDIDATE FOR TENNESSEE'S 7TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: If you are upset about the chaos of Washington and the cost of living, that I'm your candidate and I don't care who you voted for, I don't care what political party you belong to. I welcome you with open arms, come to our side and vote for change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:22:53]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEGSETH: As President Trump always has our back, we always have the back of our commanders who are making decisions in difficult situations
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Top members of the Senate Intelligence Committee telling reporters this afternoon that the man the administration says, ordered that follow up strike on an alleged drug boat in September, Admiral Frank "Mitch" Bradley will be meeting with them this Thursday.
Joining me now in THE ARENA to discuss, Democratic Senator from Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal. He sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee. They've said they will conduct a bipartisan investigation into that second strike on the alleged drug boat.
Senator, thanks very much for being here.
Do you expect that the Senate Armed Services Committee will also have a chance to meet with Admiral Bradley here as this unfolds?
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): We're going to demand it, at least I will, because he is one of the very key figures here. And when the secretary of defense says we always have the backs of our commanders, and Admiral Bradley is the one who made the decisions, in effect, he's passing the buck.
I think that the secretary of defense ultimately is responsible. He issued an order. It's called an execute order. The administration refuses to disclose it, but he is ultimately the one who issued the directive to use total lethal force. And I want to know from Admiral Bradley what other oral directives that secretary Hegseth issued, because he should be held responsible. And in fact, in my view, he should resign or be fired.
HUNT: Senator, the secretary of defense had said that he watched this strike live. He said that on Fox News right after it happened. He said today in the cabinet meeting that he saw the first strike live and then apparently left.
Now, this would suggest that there is video of the entire altercation. Is your understanding that the video exists?
[16:25:01]
And if so, will members of Congress be able to see it?
BLUMENTHAL: Well, that's a key question, Kasie. Yes, the video exists, and yes, Congress must see it. So should the American public. When Admiral Bradley gives his version of what happened, the American public deserves to see it.
They also deserve to see the legal opinion that the president is relying on to say there's an armed conflict with narco terrorists. I've seen that legal memorandum from the OLC, the Office of Legal Counsel, and it's classified. So, I can't tell you what's in it.
But I can tell you with absolute certainty I was deeply dissatisfied and disappointed. I think most legal experts would strongly disagree with it. And so, this whole declaration of armed conflict with narco terrorists rests on very, very shaky ground, killing 80 people and blowing up 23 boats, all of it potentially illegal.
And by the way, Kasie, I'm a former prosecutor. I believe in stopping the flow of narcotics into this country, particularly fentanyl, which comes not from Venezuela but from Mexico, but cocaine as well. And the way to do it in law enforcement terms is to use the Coast Guard, halt the boats, interrogate the people on them to know where and who is responsible for them, and seize the cargo as evidence.
So, this whole campaign is fraught not only with legal hazard, but also with real evidence of ineffectiveness.
HUNT: Sir, there have been some instances where this administration has provided information or briefings to Republican members of Congress, but not to their Democratic counterparts. Do you have reason to believe or do you have any understanding of how they are handling it in this case? Is the administration withholding things from Democrats that they are providing to Republicans, or do you feel you have all been able to see the same material.?
BLUMENTHAL: Plainly, we can't know what we don't know about what has been disclosed to Republican leadership, but I can tell you very definitely, we have yet to see the key evidence.
In fact, I think we should take steps immediately to make sure that evidence is preserved by issuing subpoenas that would make it unlawful to erase evidence or destroy documents. And my fear is that it may be occurring right now. The destruction of documents is a typical tactic of people who have something to hide. And here, to answer your question very directly, the administration seems to be concealing not only that video, as well as the legal opinion, but also the very order that was the basis of Admiral Bradley's second strike.
And that second strike violates laws of war. Theres no question it's a war crime. Whether he's responsible for it or not, there's criminal culpability here. The laws of war prohibit killing people who are combatants, and these individuals may not have been combatants. But even if they were, they are in the same position as our troops were during World War II, when the Japanese and the Germans executed them. They were prisoners, they were disabled, they were wounded, and we took steps against those German and Japanese soldiers after the war because they violated the laws of war which protect our soldiers in combat situations as well as others.
HUNT: Senator, very briefly, the order that you mentioned, just to put a fine point on it. Have you seen this order? Has Congress seen this order in a classified setting? I understand you want the American people to see it, but have you been able to see it?
BLUMENTHAL: We have not been able to see it. It should be provided to us and to the American people. It remains classified. We have clearance to see classified and secret material, but the administration has not made it available.
HUNT: All right. Senator Richard Blumenthal, thanks very much for your time today, sir. Really appreciate it.
BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.
HUNT: All right. Coming up next here in THE ARENA, the latest on that special election where Republicans are working overtime to protect a House seat in a deep red part of a deep red state. Plus, new CNN reporting on the issue that House Republicans now want to focus on in the midterm elections, even as the president says it's not real
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Because they're like scam artists, you know, they're conned. I call them con men and women. They come out and they say affordability like, oh, I see prices. We're going to get prices down still further.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:34:14]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: There's this fake narrative that the Democrats talk about affordability. They just say the word. It doesn't mean anything to anybody. Just say it, affordability. I inherited the worst inflation in history. There was no
affordability. Nobody could afford anything. The word affordability is a con job by the Democrats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: I think the challenge here is actually the word affordability means something to everybody in a way that a lot of political issues simply do not. That was President Trump once again today, dismissing the affordability crisis, saying it's all made up by Democrats.
Today, though, there's new evidence the president's own party sees this issue as extraordinarily real news. CNN reporting today that at a meeting this morning, house Republicans decided to shift a lot of their focus for the 2026 midterms to emphasize affordability and ways to bring down costs.
[16:35:04]
And we might not need to see wait until next November to see if that's effective. Right now, we're in the final hours of a surprisingly close special election in Tennessee, the Republican candidate has been stressing, you guessed it, the economy, in his closing message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT VAN EPPS (R), TENNESSEE CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We've been talking about affordability pretty frequently, about housing and health care, about energy. You know, energy -- I'm a pro-nuclear person. We've been talking a lot about nuclear. Tennessee has led there for a very long time.
We need to lean in there more to drive down the cost of the pump to drive utility costs down. Health care, we need full transparency. Housing -- we need more affordable housing in close proximity to workers. The list goes on. And we have the right solutions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. My panel is back.
Scott Jennings, with all due respect, the president of the United States ran on lowering prices like that's what he ran on against Joe Biden. Obviously, there were other issues as well. And now that it's his economy, he wants to say, well, this doesn't matter at all. Is he not running into the same problem that Biden had? I mean, President Biden was trying to convince people that they could -- that they shouldn't believe their lying eyes, right? Or that they should believe their lying eyes. And now the president seems to be doing the same thing.
JENNINGS: Well, I don't think he believes it doesn't matter. I believe he thinks the con job is the idea that Democrats would run around screaming about affordability when they're the ones who took prices to the moon over four years and seem to have bear want to bear no responsibility for supporting the Biden-Harris agenda, which caused the affordability crisis in America to begin with.
HUNT: I mean, the tariffs aren't making it any better. Honestly, I shouldn't make this argument. Marc should over here, I'm going to hand you that ball.
(LAUGHTER)
JENNINGS: I think people expect you to.
Look, look, he's got an economic theory and they're executing it. And it includes making the tax cuts permanent. It includes energy deregulation, which has created low gas prices. And it includes, you know, all the things they put in the Big, Beautiful Bill. And they've got more to do.
But the idea that were going to cede the affordability conversation to Democrats who ran prices to the moon and now act like they had nothing to do with it, and that Donald Trump is fully responsible for that is a complete con job. He's right about that.
Now in an election cycle, he has to go out and make the case. He's the best salesman in the party, and he has to draw the line not just on what he's doing, but what they would do and what they did do. And I suspect that's what he'll do in '26.
HUNT: Marc, do you think what the president is doing from a policy perspective is making it easier to make the political argument, or is it not?
SHORT: Look, I think that the president did inherit a mess from the Biden administration. They spent way too much and they caused this inflation. But as you said, he was elected to fix it.
And if they dismiss it and don't actually fix it, there's going to be problems for them in the midterms. And I think the fact that he has lowered energy prices is significant, as he has by 25 percent in some way, just exacerbates how bad the trade agenda is, because if you actually lower energy prices by that much, and you still have inflation at 3 percent, it shows this trade agenda is a failure and it's not working.
And if they don't pivot from it, it's going to cause Republicans a big disaster in the midterms in '26. It was clear from November that that was the message that voters were sending in multiple states was affordability and cost of living. It is still the top issue, and it's going to be a challenge for them.
I don't think the Democrats will prevail in Tennessee. It's a Republican district, and I think the Democrat candidate made a mistake bringing AOC in, of all places into Tennessee. But it's still an issue that Republicans know it is, and it's going to be an issue in the midterms, and they better fix it.
GANGEL: I just want to say that that candidate is doing as well as she apparently is in the polls this close. I agree, I think the Republicans are going to win, but she is not the strongest candidate for that district.
HUNT: You mentioned AOC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Let's play a little bit of what she had to say at this tele-rally that she did for the Democratic candidate in this race, Aftyn Behn.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): The very fact that we are here today and this race is so tremendously tight, is a testament to how the American people are feeling in this moment, and I genuinely believe that we are at a time where people are increasingly recognizing that our fights are not left and right, but they are top and bottom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Mo, I have to say that is one of the things that has I have found interesting about this race, about what AOC and Bernie Sanders have been doing. I mean, some of this comes out of the fact that I covered Bernie Sanders in 2016 and talked to so many of those voters who said their second choice was Donald Trump, right. We have kind of the populist energy going on on both sides.
But what does it say to you that this race is even a question at all?
ELLEITHEE: It tells me that people are off, right? And for all the reasons we've been talking about that Donald Trump promised that he was going to lower prices. Instead, what we're seeing is inflation hasn't budged. Home electricity costs are up, housing costs are up. Go to the grocery store, ground beef, milk, coffee, bacon, orange juice. All those prices are up.
I don't need to read the statistics because we all feel them when we go into the grocery store. And then you see the president sitting there saying all is, all is well, it's the other guy's fault. And we are the strongest we've ever been. People don't feel that.
And the worst thing any politician can do, whether it's Joe Biden or whether it's Donald Trump right now, is tell people what you're feeling isn't real. The Republican candidate in this race has caught on to that. After we've just seen a number of Republicans lose across the country, in part by ignoring this issue and letting the Democrats own it.
He's talking about it, right. But when he's talking about it, it's an indictment to some extent, of the Trump agenda. He's talking about how prices are going up in all of these areas, and something needs to be done about it. This president is not.
HUNT: Let's watch a little bit of the House Speaker Mike Johnson, who actually went to Tennessee to campaign because of course, it's relevant for his job and place in life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Is this a warning sign for the GOP that you are barnstorming the state? The first day back from Thanksgiving recess, in a state that went 20 points for Trump, and you have to be here campaigning so hard.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: No, ma'am. I did this all last year. We leave it all on the field no matter where the race is. He just has to be the only race in the country right now. So, he got my full attention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Scott Jennings, he does have his full attention. How are you going to read like, if this race is close? That seems to be a massive warning sign for Republicans who want to hold the House.
JENNINGS: Well, first of all, the two surrogates you've shown on this show are AOC and Mike Johnson. I'll take Mike Johnson over AOC in any district at any time, in any race, anywhere in the country, all day, every day, number one. Number two --
SHORT: Especially Tennessee.
JENNINGS: Especially, especially suburban Nashville, other rural, poor --
GANGEL: Not in Manhattan.
(LAUGHTER)
GANGEL: Number two, look, special elections are weird. There's no secret that Democrats have more voters in their bucket right now that turn out in everything, and we have less reliable voters. And so, I don't think anybody's under any illusion about that. And so, I'm glad Mike Johnson is there campaigning. I'm glad the party is taking it seriously.
To lose would be a disaster. Democrats are going to want to play the margin spin game after the Republicans win here, but a win is a win. And if the Republicans hold on here, that will be a good thing for Speaker Johnson.
And you can also learn lessons from that. Who turned out, who didn't, what messages worked, what messages didn't, what surrogates were effective, what surrogates weren't. And so, take the win and take the lessons at the same time.
HUNT: Marc, if you watch some of the ads that are closing here in this race, they don't mention President Trump at all, not from neither of the candidates. What does that tell you?
SHORT: Again, I think we can read way too much into one individual race. This was a competitive primary on the Republican side. And so, Van Epps is coming into this having struggled to get through the primary and be victorious. So, it's -- the Democrats are more united, I think will win the seat. I don't think you can read too much after that you win. But Mike Johnson should be there, particularly with Marjorie Taylor
Greene resigning an open seat coming up in January. That margin is incredibly tight, so he should be everywhere.
HUNT: Is he going to lose the majority before 2026, before November 20th?
SHORT: Look, I don't think so, but I but I think they're going to make sure that, you know, that every single everything is not taken for granted here.
GANGEL: There are some Democrats on the Hill who are practicing their joking, but practicing, saying, Speaker Jeffries, because if someone gets sick, if someone else resigns.
But you know, to Marc's point and discuss point one race at a time, this is -- this is one district. But House Republicans are worried about affordability for the midterm elections. Absolutely.
HUNT: I have never understood this tendency from politicians. I have to say the drape measuring -- maybe I'm just superstitious, but if I were them, I just wouldn't go there.
All right. Coming up next here in THE ARENA, what happened at the White House cabinet meeting today that has the Internet and soon us talking.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:48:56]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You can do stories about Biden was in wonderful health. The guy didn't do a news conference for eight months. If I go one day, I had one day where I didn't do a news conference, there's something wrong with the president.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: You people are crazy.
Then I read in "The New York Times", is Trump sharp? Trump is sharp.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: President Trump today once again defending his health and stamina in the wake of a "New York Times" report that was published last week that detailed the president's allegedly reduced schedule and apparent signs of aging, reporting that the president has previously decried as wrong and purposefully negative. Those comments coming shortly before CNN's White House team today, noticed several instances where the president appeared to doze off during that lengthy cabinet meeting.
You can see him here slouched in his chair. His eyes are closed. He sort of abruptly shifts, straightens up.
The White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later told CNN this, quote, "President Trump was listening attentively and running the entire three-hour marathon cabinet meeting.
[15:50:02]
In all of these historic meetings, the president and his incredible team highlight the exhaustive list of accomplishments they've delivered on behalf of the American people to make America great again.
My panel is back.
Jamie Gangel, this obviously -- I mean, the health of any president is always something that can become the immediate forefront, obviously, with President Biden. He faced all the questions that he did, especially in the wake of that CNN debate. Obviously, we have the White House there saying the president was listening attentively, but, you know, it doesn't -- if you compare clips of him, you know, in when he first ran for this job today, he's older and this is a job that ages you faster than other jobs.
GANGEL: No question. Look, I'm going to channel one of our contributors, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, who has been a consultant to White House medical staff for years. If you are transparent, you don't have as many questions and problems. And I think one of the big issues here has been that there hasn't been transparency.
You see these reports, they're at times laughable. They certainly have omissions in them. And so, when something like this happens, we're all going to pay a lot of attention to it.
HUNT: Scott Jennings, why did the president decide to talk about this MRI that he had out of the blue? Because, you know, it wasn't -- he had -- he had gone. He'd had his exams. And then he was asked a question and he said, oh, I had an MRI, right?
And then, you know, some weeks go by and he says he's got an MRI but doesn't know what part of his body. What's going on with the president that that's something that he feels like he needs to say in public?
JENNINGS: I don't know. Look, I can only speak from personal experience. I saw the man a few days ago in the Oval Office for about an hour. He looked and sounded fine to me. We talked about a wide range of issues.
There were people coming and going. It was as bustling as it's ever been in there. When I've been in there and I didn't notice anything at all.
And so, I watched most of the cabinet meeting today, which took a very long time because it lasted three hours. And at the end of it, the president then did his customary gaggle with the press and answered all of their questions. I honestly think this is an attempt to create a narrative about this guy that just doesn't exist, because Democrats are so butthurt over having had to live through the humiliation of the White House under Biden, claiming he was fine when he clearly wasn't.
They want to transfer that to Donald Trump. It's just not the same name. It's not true. And, you know, I can only speak for my personal experience, seemed fine to me.
HUNT: Marc Short, you worked in close proximity to President Trump over many years. What say you?
SHORT: Look, I -- you know, I have a lot of challenges with the second administration policies relative to the first administration policies. But I don't question the president's stamina. I don't question it at all. I think that relative, of course, to his predecessor, there's a stark contrast.
And look, if I had to sit through a meeting that long, I'd probably fall asleep, too. So --
HUNT: I will say I slept through college classes that long. I mean, you know, maybe I shouldn't cop to that on national TV, but I was in my 20s, you know?
SHORT: I feel like this a little bit barking up the wrong tree here about the president's stamina.
HUNT: Mo?
ELLEITHEE: Yeah. I don't think you're going to see a lot of people running campaign ads that focus on whether or not he was dozed off. Like, I don't -- you know, I do think it's a little weird that -- I don't think I've ever had an MRI and not known what I was getting the MRI for.
But, you know, separate from that, I don't think people care whether or not the president looks like he's falling asleep. I think they worry about whether or not he's falling asleep on the job when it comes to bringing prices and cost of living down. That's what I think I hope all Democrats talk about over the course of the next year heading into the midterms, because I think that's a very real concern a lot of people have.
HUNT: Scott Jennings, how concerned do you think the White House is about -- I mean, obviously they gave a statement to us after there was a story written about this. Is this something that keeps them up at night or not?
JENNINGS: No, I don't think so. Look, he's, you know, the guy conducts business all day, every day, and he does most of it in public. I mean, that's the one thing about this presidency. You got people coming in and out of the oval office all the time, often in full view of the press. He doesn't -- they don't really hide him.
I mean, he's out there answering questions and doing things almost every day. So no, I don't -- in fact, I think the only thing if I were in their shoes id be worried about is how do I find more time to get him out on the road even more? Because ultimately, he's the party spokesperson. If we're going to have a debate about, you know, who's better for the economy, he's going to have to be the one that leads it and draw the bright line between the two parties.
And so, if I were in their shoes, I'd be looking to get him out on the road and explaining why our policies are better than theirs. And he did it successfully in '24, and they got a bank that he can do it again in '26.
GANGEL: I would just say he's very sensitive about it, there's no question. I mean, he attacked Katie Rogers of "The New York Times" for the article that she wrote and the cabinet meeting. One of the reasons it went on so long today was he did a whole treatise on his health. And so, he's clearly, you know --
[16:55:01]
JENNINGS: Have you ever met a 79-year-old man that wasn't? I'm just saying.
GANGEL: I'm just saying --
JENNINGS: He's constantly being pinged. He's constantly being attacked unfairly for having something -- there's nothing wrong with this man. He's clearly fine. And he's up all hours of the night communicating with the American people. And yet he still has to face these ridiculous attacks. You might be sensitive, too.
GANGEL: Scott, you may be right, but we certainly don't know it from his medical reports.
HUNT: All right. We unfortunately have to leave it there.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HUNT: All right. Thanks very much to my panel. Really appreciate you all being here.
And for you at home, don't forget, you can now stream THE ARENA live, catch up whenever you want in the CNN app. Just go ahead and scan the QR code below. There's also a QR code for the podcast.
And, of course, Jake Tapper now standing by for "THE LEAD".
Hi, Jake.
