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Growing Dissatisfaction on Trump's Campaign Issues; Press Conference on Border Patrol Officer Shooting; Trump Threatens Commanders' Stadium Deal. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 21, 2025 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[09:33:24]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, President Trump is marking six months in office saying that the United States is the hottest and most respected country in the world now that he is back in the White House. The six-month mark comes just as new CNN polling shows that there is growing dissatisfaction on a central -- the central issue he campaigned on, immigration. In the latest survey, 55 percent say that the president has gone too far when it comes to deporting immigrants living in the United States illegally. That's up ten points since February.

Joining me right now, CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers and Republican strategist Doug Heye.

Thanks for being here, guys.

Doug wins and losses in this first six months. How do you measure it? And what do you see here for President Trump?

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, first, I start with the fact that Donald Trump's polling numbers on his personal approval are pretty static. You know, people have made up their minds a long time ago on what they think on Donald Trump. Republicans tend to really love him. Democrats tend to really not. So, I start there.

Then I look at what he's done legislatively. And presidents usually get their first big ticket item through. So, the one big, beautiful bill was probably always going to pass, despite the short margins that they have in both the House and the Senate. It just means he's had to work a lot harder at it.

He's got wins that he can claim, especially wins that are important to his base. Good example. PBS and NPR, something conservatives were targeting for decades, and Trump can say, I'm the one who got it through. His challenge is, he's not really been able to talk about it all that much because things like the Epstein memos and documents keep coming up and won't go away.

BOLDUAN: And also the reaction to the American public so far, Bakari, to those big wins, if you will, for the president. [09:35:07]

The CNN polling is that Americans largely oppose the administration's scaling up of the deportation program. CBS showed something similar that most Americans think that they're deporting more people than they thought it -- than they thought the administration would. And then on the big, beautiful bill, six in ten in the CBS poll disapprove of that legislation, which is why one can honestly wonder why, then, is the CNN polling show that the Americans view of the Democratic Party is so dismal, this lowest mark for Democrats in the history of CNN polling?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I think that the election of Donald Trump has proven that Americans have very, very short memories. And what I mean by that is, Americans are finally realizing what Donald Trump truly meant, what he's about. And those legislative achievements, look at the one big, beautiful bill, which I hate grown men and women actually referring to it as such, but there were 11 million people kicked off Medicaid. That is a campaign promise broken.

He promised to end all the wars around the world. Well, the world is still on fire. Just last week, Israel fired missiles into Damascus. We're still seeing Ukraine and Russia rage on. We're still seeing and don't have a ceasefire yet with Israel and Iran. I mean, so those promises have been broken.

And then you have an administration that's clouded by the Epstein files. And then you go back to that same old sheet of music that he's going to deport Rosie O'Donnell, and that he's going to put Barack Obama in prison, although he is the president who got the Supreme Court to say that presidents are immune for their behavior while they're in the White House.

And so, it's just there are two things that the American public like, and this is why Democrats and Republicans both are sucking right now. That is, they want competency and consistency. Donald Trump has proven to be incompetent and lack consistency, and Democrats don't have a competent or consistent message. And so, right now, I think most Americans are like, to hell with both parties.

BOLDUAN: Yes, let's see -- and they've -- and they've got a lot of time to figure -- to figure it out. Just look at -- now you've got this move happening in Texas, this special session for the Texas Republicans, basically rewriting the maps in a very rare move, not doing it around the census.

And you have Beto O'Rourke now, Doug, saying that Democrats need to -- the way he's putting it is, fight fire with fire, saying, essentially, Democratic-led states need to do the same. They need to go hard. Even if it is partisan gerrymandering, they need to take part in it and just go at it to get power back no matter what.

The chair of the DCCC was on with me last hour and she actually -- she said -- she's making the case that this move by Texas will backfire because, as she puts it, it's putting in -- Republican incumbents at risk. They're going to create districts where Republicans are going to be vulnerable, will be competing in those districts everywhere. Do you see that, Doug?

HEYE: I think it's a possibility. But I'll tell you, I had to Google the name Beto O'Rourke. I hadn't heard it in a long time. And then I remembered he was the Texas politician whose base was in Brooklyn, not in Brownsville, which is why he's not in the Senate, hasn't been successful in his runs. And, you know, fight fire with fire. We hear talk of that politically all the time. And this issue of redistricting, it's sort of like the new court packing. And if you want to add four more Supreme Court justices, well, then I can add four more Supreme justice -- Supreme Court justices.

BOLDUAN: Yes, actually, you're right.

HEYE: And on we go. On we go. And it's like a nuclear arms race.

So, Texas can do this. Absolutely. Then we could see California do the same thing for the Democrats. But gerrymandering and redistricting is nothing new.

BOLDUAN: No.

HEYE: The first -- or, sorry, the second internship I ever did in Washington was on -- at the RNC where we filed a Supreme Court case against Democratic gerrymandering in North Carolina, where the district lines were drawn on which side of the street you were on to favor Democrats. This has been going on, not for 20 years, for well over 100 years. And gerrymandering is named after a Democrat.

BOLDUAN: You get to tell me what your second internship was now, Bakari.

No, but Suzan DelBene, I will say, I pushed her on this, and she suggested that she and the DCCC are not opposed to doing -- to going about this and doing it very publicly and openly and -- and put -- and kind of leaning into this, well, if you're going to do it, we're going to have to do it as well. She says, just talk -- just talk to the governors across the -- across the country. If Republicans go down this path, we'll do it. And she said, be careful what they ask for.

I mean, do you see this as the right move to respond to Republicans?

SELLERS: Yes, I mean, I think you have to. I don't believe in unilateral disarmament, but I think even Doug would agree with me that redistricting and gerrymandering is probably the least sexy but most important political issue of our lifetime. Usually, you have the Republican Party making this unholy alliance with the Congressional Black Caucus, and the CBC members will get many black votes from these competitive districts. And GOP members will be able to expand and grow.

[09:40:02]

And we've seen that throughout the pendency and history of time.

What I would say though is that the Republicans actually show the American public what can be done when they have power. And usually Democrats, look at Kathy Hochul and the New York Democrats who said, no, no, no, no, no, we're not going to do this. Instead of figuring out a way to compete or fight back, Democrats always look for a way to say no.

What Governor Abbott and everybody else are doing is saying, look, we're going to test the balance of power. And if Gavin Newsom wants to do it in response, so be it.

But, you know, I've always said, and I hope Doug would agree with me, that we need to have nonpartisan public boards that do this redistricting and transparency -- redistricting and gerrymandering because we don't need to allow public officials to do it because the one thing they want to do is save their own asses.

BOLDUAN: I think we can all agree that that's -- saving one's own ass seems to be quite popular in Washington all the time.

It's good to see you both. Thank you so much.

HEYE: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, President Donald Trump, wants the Washington Commanders now to change their name back to the Redskins, now threatening to try to block the team's new stadium deal if they don't do as he says.

And some of the -- some of the WNBA's best players making a powerful statement this weekend, wearing shirts with the message, "pay us what you owe us."

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[09:45:50]

JIMENEZ: All right, everyone, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is speaking right now after a Customs and Border Protection officer was shot in New York.

Let's listen in.

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: One of the perpetuators was wounded in this interaction and was incarcerated when he came in to get medical treatment.

One of the suspected attackers, the one that was injured, his name is Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez, a Dominican national that was entering into this country illegally back in 2023. He was then released back into this country by the Biden administration.

Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez is and has a rap sheet that is a mile long. He was arrested. He was charged with grand larceny and also assault. The state of Massachusetts has an active warrant out for him for armed robbery with a firearm. He also has many other charges against him, such as kidnaping and witness intimidation. There's absolutely zero reason that someone who is scum of the earth like this should be running loose on the streets of New York City. He was arrested four different times in New York City. And because of

the mayor's policies and sanctuary city policies was released back to do harm to people and to individuals living in this city. Make no mistake, this officer is in the hospital today fighting for his life because of the policies of the mayor of this city and the city council and the people that were in charge of keeping the public safe. They refused to do so. And now we have the situation on our hand where someone who has dedicated their lives to protecting the public is now fighting for his own.

I'm calling on every single mayor and sanctuary city and sanctuary governor to change their policies and to change their tactics right now. Their job is to take an oath to protect the public, to protect families that are out there every single day trying to provide for each other and to try to live the American dream. And they want to do so safely in their own communities. How many more lives will it take? How many more people have to be hurt and victimized before we have public safety be a number one priority in some of our largest cities?

When I look at what Mayor Adams has done to New York City, it breaks my heart to see the families that have suffered because of his policies.

We can look across this country at other mayors. We look at Mayor Wu in Boston and what has happened there under her watch. What's happened in L.A. with the riots --

JIMENEZ: Now, we're going to continue to monitor this press conference. But just for perspective, the 42-year-old officer was in stable condition and is expected to survive. There was no indication that he was targeted because of his employment, according to the New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, as this officer was not in uniform and had been sitting with a woman in a park when two men approached on a moped just before midnight. The passenger got off, approached the officer who realized he was being robbed, and drew his service weapon. That's when the exchange of gunfire came. But also as the DHS secretary has mentioned, the person of interest in this case is a 21-year-old undocumented immigrant with an extensive criminal past.

As I mentioned, we'll continue to monitor the DHS secretary's comments, but we're also following other stories, including the WNBA bombing but are the players appropriately cashing in on that boom. A battle over pay heads into crunch time. We'll explain.

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[09:53:35]

JIMENEZ: This morning, President Donald Trump is escalating his call for the Washington Commanders to change their name back to the Redskins. Trump says he actually might step in to block the team's stadium deal if they don't make the change, saying, quote, "I won't make a deal for them to build a stadium in Washington. The team would be much more valuable, and the deal would be much more exciting for everyone." It's unclear exactly what the president could do to follow through on this threat. The Commanders made the deal with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.

CNN contributor Cari Champion joins us now to discuss this and more.

So, Cari, over in the NFL, President Trump obviously making those threats there. Even though it is in the city's jurisdiction, unclear what he could do. But is there any appetite for a move like that on the sports side, where teams who have changed are now going to go back?

CARI CHAMPION, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, I think when this happened it was during a different period, to his point, you know, 2020, when they were talking about changing names. Many people called that the woke era.

I don't think that the Washington wants -- football team, now Commanders, wants to change their name. I think that they've found a new identity. And I know that you can talk to fans. Fans are a little mixed bag. In fact, if I were more honest about it, I'm sure some fans will tell you they miss the Redskins name.

JIMENEZ: Sure.

CHAMPION: While the logo itself wasn't offensive, but the name some say is. I don't see them changing it back. They talked about the Cleveland Guardians. There was the general manager of the Cleveland Guardians came out and said, you know what, we found our identity.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

[09:55:01]

CHAMPION: It took us a while. I mean, and I think there was a lot of time and effort put into these name changes. You remember the Redskins were the Washington Football Team before they settled with Commanders. They have a new great quarterback. They went to the -- they went to the regionals. It's -- and so they're feeling good about everything. And so, I have a hard time believing they're going to reverse it unless there's some pressure, more from the president, more than they thought they could withstand. But right now, they're good as the Commanders. And that's their new identity.

JIMENEZ: And we've heard from, as you mentioned, the Cleveland Guardians' owner saying, "I understand there are very different perspectives on where we go from here. It's a decision, and we've gotten the opportunity to build the brand as the Guardians." Obviously, they changed from the Indians over to the Guardians.

I want to shift topics.

CHAMPION: Sure.

JIMENEZ: Because the WNBA all-star game over the weekend. One of the standout moments actually wasn't for basketball. It was for the players, what they had on their shirts. "pay us what you owe us."

CHAMPION: Yes. JIMENEZ: But also, the crowd seemed to agree. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You fans are what makes it worth it. And I would love to thank Herb Simon.

CROWD (chanting): Pay them. Pay them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell me what's important for you and the players right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You guys said it. The crowd is saying it for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHAMPION: Yes.

JIMENEZ: So, "pay us what you owe us" is what the shirt said. Can you just -- can you just explain the dynamic right now with the WNBA's new media deal, and what exactly the players are asking for?

CHAMPION: This makes me giggle because it's been a long time coming. And I -- and when I saw the players wear these shirts, I was really happy for them.

Now, I want to just give a little context. It's a league that started in '97. So, it's a little under 30 years young because that is a young thing for a WNBA team or any type of league in a sense. And they have always been underpaid.

What they're looking at is the value that they're getting, the attention that they're getting, and it's hard to tell these players, hey, we don't have enough money. Rookie salaries -- and this is like obviously on average, but rookie salaries start at $66,000.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

CHAMPION: And so, they're looking at the WNBA expanding, eight more teams by 2030. It's a $250 million buy in to expand each team. So, imagine having $250 million for eight teams, but not enough to give these players a raise. And so, their attitude is quite simply this, a bad business model doesn't mean that we should have to suffer for it currently. If you haven't made any money since the '90s, since the inception of this league, it is not our fault.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

CHAMPION: You should have changed the model. Pay us what you owe us. They have a $200 million media rights deal coming up. And the players want to see some sort of revenue because a business model has been created in other places to show that they can pay these players.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And if you've got -- yes, if you've got billions coming in, you know, in a media deal or something --

CHAMPION: Billions.

JIMENEZ: The players are like, why aren't we seeing more of that?

BOLDUAN: This was why Brittney Griner had to go play in Russia. This --

CHAMPION: And by the way --

BOLDUAN: Like, this is --

CHAMPION: Why do they want to play all year round? Like, because that's what happens.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

CHAMPION: After they get done with their truncated season, they send them overseas to play again.

BOLDUAN: Yes. You see injuries and --

CHAMPION: Yes. All the things.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

JIMENEZ: It's all tied together.

CHAMPION: Good to see you, friend.

BOLDUAN: Hello, darling. I was just like, I'm going to sneak in right at the last second.

JIMENEZ: Cari Champion, good to see you.

BOLDUAN: She's always -- she's always here.

Good to see you, Cari.

CHAMPION: Good to see you.

BOLDUAN: Call me the creeper.

JIMENEZ: You said it.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so -- exactly.

Thanks so much for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "The SIT ROOM," up next.

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