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Trump Says, Democrats Have a Hoax, the New Word is Affordability; One Student Dead, One Injured in Shooting at Kentucky State University; CNN Projects Democrats Flip GOP-Held Seats in Miami and Georgia. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired December 10, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The headline in The Washington Post this morning, at the first stop on his affordability tour, Trump mocks affordability. The president's new struggle delivering the message his White House wants.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Brand new video this morning, the moment police officers confronted Luigi Mangione inside that McDonald's. What he told them seconds before he was arrested.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And officers forced to break a windshield to save an FBI agent who they found teetering some 30 feet in the air on an overpass. The entire ordeal caught on camera.

I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, the question that will confound metaphysicists for generations, is it an affordability tour if you don't like talking about affordability? Overnight, President Trump held a campaign-style rally in Pennsylvania that was billed as the first stop on his tour to talk about affordability concerns among Americans. But he could not seem to do it without calling the entire notion a hoax.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: They have a new word, you know, they always have a hoax. The new word is affordability. So, they look at the camera and they say, this election is all about affordability.

Democrats talking about affordability is like Bonnie and Clyde preaching about public safety. They use the word affordability. And that's their only word. They say, affordability, and everyone says, oh, that must mean Trump has high prices. No, our prices are coming down tremendously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Prices, by and large, are not coming down. That would be deflation, which has its own dangers. Inflation is not coming down either. It's at 3 percent year-over-year, the same level as January.

What is down is the president's approval rating on the economy, just 36 percent in recent polling. And remember, this is one of the major issues that helped get him elected.

Let's get right to CNN's Kevin Liptak live at the White House this morning. This is supposed to be the first of many stops here. Is the White House happy with how it's going so far?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Listen, this was really meant to road test the president's economic message. He did touch on those economic matters periodically in his speech, mostly to insist that Americans were doing better than they ever had been before, to blame his predecessor for virtually every amount of economic anxiety in the country.

But it was pretty clear about two minutes into the speech when the president took credit for reviving the phrase, Merry Christmas, that this speech was going to be about a lot more than just the economy. He went on all kinds of tangents, attacking transgender Americans, talking about windmills and electric vehicles, saying that the U.S. border was now as tight as North Korea, and really launching a remarkably virulent attack on the Minnesota representative, Ilhan Omar, talking about her head shawl, calling it a little turban, saying that he wanted to throw her out of the country.

He also revived that derogatory term that he used during his first term in office to describe third world countries. You know, he denied using it at the time, but the president last night just came out and said shithole countries, saying that the U.S. shouldn't take migrants from those places, and he wants more from places like Norway and Sweden.

And so it was a speech that meandered in all kinds of different directions. Even when the president was talking about the economy, some of his messaging was a little off-putting when he talked about how parents didn't need to buy so many dolls and pencils for their children, that they can do with fewer toys this Christmas.

And so it did offer a preview of sorts for how the president plans to talk about this over the coming months. His advisers say that this is just the kickoff to an intensive round of domestic travel off for mostly foregoing rallies over the last year. His chief of staff, Susie Wiles, who the president for some reason referred to as Susie Trump in his speech, he says that he'll be out doing rallies over the next year.

I think the great fear among his advisers is that he could be repeating the same problem that President Biden did, and in trying to convince Americans that the economy is doing better than it actually is.

[07:05:02]

And they worry that now, nearly a year into his term, that his argument that all of these problems are to blame for Biden is just getting thinner and thinner. John?

BERMAN: We'll see if he hones that message going forward. Kevin Liptak at the White House this morning, Kevin, great to see you as always. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Let's take another dip at this. So, even as Americans continue to feel the squeeze of inflation, as John and Kevin were talking about, the president continues to claim that he has made good on his promise to bring down prices. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: After just ten months, our border is secure, our spirit is restored, inflation is stopped, wages are up, prices are down.

We inherited the highest prices ever and we're bringing them down. We inherited the worst inflation in the history of our country. Think of that. And we're bringing him down rapidly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CNN's Daniel Dale has a fact check on this and more on this one. What did you find, Daniel?

DANIEL DALE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: I found that there's a whole lot of wrongness in just those few sentences. So, first of all, as John said, inflation is not stopped, as the president claimed. The latest inflation rate we have for September is 3.0 percent.

Now, the president said that he inherited the worst inflation ever. The inflation rate the month he took office was also 3.0 percent. Now, it is true that inflation did hit a 40 year high of 9.1 percent in June, 2022, but President Trump habitually does not mention that the rate then declined sharply to the rate again, 3.0 percent that he inherited.

Now, he said prices are down clearly overall on the whole. Prices are not down when you have 3 percent inflation. It is true there are some particular items which have fallen. He often mentioned eggs, but on the whole, again, we have 3 percent increase. We have a 2.7 percent increase in grocery prices.

He often talks about, and I'll note, some sort of creative tenses he used during this speech. He often said prices are coming down. We are bringing prices down. So, those kinds of claims are harder to fact check, I think, by design. But there, at the end of the speech, in his grand finale, he said, prices are down. They simply are not so far.

BOLDUAN: Working to bring down prices, that is a good thing. That would be a clear and honest statement if he would continue along that vein. But as you have noted, he is not.

There is a -- he went off prompter, as Kevin Liptak was talking about, and went to many of the topics, as can be expected with President Trump in this speech. What stood out to you? DALE: It was the usual laundry list of frequently debunked claims the President refuses to stop using. So, for example, he claimed that he secured $18 trillion in investment in the United States in this year alone. That number is not even close to true. It's nearly double the number of the White House website uses. Even that White House website number is wildly inflated.

He claimed again that he has ended eight wars, even though the list he recited includes two situations that were never wars at all during the Trump presidency, between Egypt and Ethiopia. That's a diplomatic dispute, and between Serbia and Kosovo, it's not clear what he's even talking about there. And also includes one conflict between Thailand and Cambodia that he acknowledged has flared up again this week. So, it clearly has not permanently ended.

And he also repeated one of his most frequent claims, claiming that the prison populations, the entire prison populations of both the Congo and Venezuela have been emptied into the United States, simply no evidence for that, whatsoever.

BOLDUAN: Daniel Dale up early with a fact-check for us, thank you so much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Breaking overnight, Australia becomes the first country in the world to ban social media for children under the age of 16.

Just in time for winter, surging natural gas prices, what that could mean for your family's budget.

And some incredible video here, a dash cam catches a plane crash landing on top of a car on a Florida highway. We'll bring you all those stories and more ahead,

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

SIDNER: This morning all classes and final exam are canceled at Kentucky State University after a shooting outside a campus dorm left a student dead and another critically injured. Right now, a 48-year- old suspect is in custody facing murder charges.

CNN's Ryan Young is following this investigation. Very, very horrible moments there in Kentucky. What are you learning about the suspected shooter?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They are, Sara. What stands out to us is that suspect's age 48 and what motive he may have had, what he's told police so far, you know, investigators have been trying to talk to him all night, but sadly, one student is dead, another is in critical.

The shooting happening around 3:10 yesterday. What we're told is the shooting happened during final exams. What we've learned none of the campus police officers actually fired their weapons when they took the suspect into custody. Police said the shooting unfolded outside Whitney Young Residence Hall and that's a dorm on campus.

Now, take a listen to some of the students who obviously are scared, shaken by the shooting that happened on campus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESTER BROWN, STUDENT, KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY: This is the type of stuff we try to get away from and to come to college and have to it be right at our doorstep, it's just like crazy and we pay too much money for this kind of stuff to be taking place at this school.

ANTHONY JONES, STUDENT, KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY: Yes, I feel the same way. Basically like thought we was safe here. I'm ready to get up out of here now. I heard that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yes, Sara. As you know, at this point, we will go through some of the social media videos that are online. We'll also be trying to talk to campus police as well as the police department in that area to figure out what the suspect may say about why he ended up on campus and why he did this shooting.

I think it also stands out the fact that once officers arrived, it seemed like he surrendered. So, what was that motive right there.

[07:15:00]

They do not believe the students were targeted. But if you're one of the families who's involved in this shooting and that student who's in critical and apparently is in stable condition, but the other student is dead, you have to wonder why the suspect ended on campus and targeted those students. Sara?

SIDNER: Yes, there are a lot of questions. But as you said, the families of those two students, one of whom lost a child, there is nothing you can say to help them through it.

Thank you so much, Ryan Young, for your reporting on this. John?

BERMAN: All right. Key testimony today in the trial of the man who admits disposing of his wife's body but not killing her. On the stand, the last person other than her husband, known to have seen her alive.

And then grandpa on the grid iron, why the Colts are bringing a 44- year-old quarterback out of retirement.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: A grandfather quarterback, the Indianapolis Colts are reportedly signing 44-year-old, yes, he's so old, Phillip Rivers out of retirement to join the practice squad.

CNN's Andy Scholes joins me now. Old in sports is starting to hit a little harder when I have to talk about it.

[07:20:01]

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, you know, Tom Brady kind of skewed all of our thoughts on who's old in sports these days. But, I mean, Kate, 44-year-old is really old to be a quarterback in the NFL, but, you know, desperate times call call for desperate measures. And if Philip Rivers actually ends up playing for the Colts in Seattle, I mean, he instantly becomes the oldest player in the NFL. He beats Aaron Rodgers by two years.

But the Colts are just in a bad place right now. They lost starter Daniel Jones for this season back with Bradley Leonard dealing with a knee injury. If he can't go, that's when the Colts would turn to Rivers. The 44-year-old hasn't played since 2020 when he led the Colts to an 11-five record. Since retiring, Rivers has been coaching high school football and he is now a grandpa. And fun fact, Rivers has ten kids. His youngest son, Andrew, was born just back in 2023.

All right, meanwhile in New York last night, BYU with an incredible comeback in the Jimmy V Classic. So, the Cougars were down 21 and a halftime to Clemson, but stormed back thanks to their star, A.J. Dybantsa. Dybantsa, who's projected to be a top three pick in the NBA draft, single handedly outscored the Tigers 22-21 in the second half. And then the game was tied at 64 with one second left, BYU with the ball, they get it to Robert Wright, makes a running three at the buzzer to win it for the Cougars. All the team goes to mob him there to celebrate the thrilling win.

Now, we also had a buzzer beater in the NHL last night. The Ducks were down one to the Penguins in the closing seconds. Beckett Sennecke, though, a filthy move, gets the shorthand to go with one second on the clock, just an incredible effort from the 19-year-old to tie it. Anaheim did go on to win that game in a shootout.

All right, finally, Notre Dame remains peeved that they are not in the college football playoff. Athletic Director Pete Bevacqua, he says the school is just not happy with how the ACC talked about them while the committee was debating between them and Miami. He says there's been permanent damage to the relationship between the ACC in Notre Dame. Well, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark, he chimed in saying he doesn't think the vodka has handled all of this very well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRETT YORMARK, COMMISSIONER, BIG 12 CONFERENCE: I don't like how Notre Dame's reacted to it.

I think Pete's his behavior has been egregious. It's been egregious going after Jim Phillips when they save Notre Dame during COVID.

I think he is totally out of bounds in his approach. And if he was in the room, I'd tell him the same thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes. So, Notre Dame fans certainly don't like hearing it. But, I mean, Kate, the committee, they basically had no choice here. Miami beat Notre Dame in this season. There was no way around putting Notre Dame in over them. But I love the drama of college football, right. It always gives us something to talk about.

BOLDUAN: I mean, he says we get in the same room, we'd say the same thing. Maybe those two gentlemen should get into the same room and have an actual discussion about it.

SCHOLES: Oh, I'm sure they will at some point.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. It's coming. And guess what? We hope the cameras are there.

SIDNER: I was going to --

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much. It's hard. I mean --

SIDNER: Thems fighting words.

BOLDUAN: I'm Indiana girl. Notre Dame is such a great school and will continue to be, no matter what happens with this.

SIDNER: You're being ever the diplomat.

BOLDUAN: With these shenanigans.

SIDNER: Ever the diplomat. And even though I am not a Miami fan by any stretch of day one. So, sometimes it happens in sports.

BOLDUAN: Well, I mean, what about the participation trophy?

SIDNER: Okay, we're done here. We're done here.

All right, ahead, newly released video shows the moment police approached Luigi Mangione inside a McDonald's. What the man accused of killing a healthcare CEO told officers at the time.

And heart pounding video showing the moment deputies smashed through a car window to save an FBI agent who was teetering on the edge of an overpass.

Those stories are more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BERMAN: All right. This morning, Democrats feeling a fresh burst of momentum ahead of the midterms, winning a pair of elections in what is considered Republican territory. CNN projects that a Democrat has won the Miami mayor's race for the first time in nearly 30 years. Eileen Higgins will also be the first woman mayor in Miami's history. And in Georgia Democrat Eric Gisler has flipped a state house seat in a district that President Trump won last year by about 12 points.

With us now, Lee Carter, a former Republican strategist and pollster, and Democratic Strategist Matt Bennett.

So, the Florida Mayor's race, people may not realize but Republicans have held that for 30 years. Kamala Harris won Miami writ large by one point. The Democrat last night won by 19 points. So, that's a, you know, 18-point swing there, a 12-point swing in this Georgia House district here, Matt. What do we continue to see?

MATT BENNETT, EXECUTIVE V.P. OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND CO-FOUNDER, THIRD WAY: Yes. This is just another in a pattern that we're seeing in 2025 of blowout wins for Democrats, some of them in really tough places like the two last night. We won big in Virginia, which was flipping that governor's race. We won big in New Jersey, much bigger than anybody thought, massively outperforming the Harris' performance there.

And so what we're seeing all over the place, including in some small races, like in some statewide races in Georgia and some local races elsewhere, is Democratic overperformance in a huge way. And I think that is deeply related to all the things you've been talking about this morning, which is affordability. People are really angry about how difficult it is to get by and the fact that the president seems to be doing nothing about it. And I think almost all of these races are basically referenda on Trump.

BERMAN: So, Lee, why does this keep happening and what can Republicans do to fix it?

LEE CARTER, STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS EXPERT: I think you're absolutely right. The issue of affordability is one that we can't understate.

[07:30:00]

And when you look at the Miami race, I'd like to say that it's an outlier. We'd like to say all these races are outliers, but it's not the case. People are really upset that things are.