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Trump Blames Biden for Problems During Primetime Speech; Government: Army Pilots & Air Traffic Controller Led to Midair Collision. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired December 18, 2025 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:00:16]
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Are you feeling the pinch? President Trump says it's not his fault. He's blaming Biden. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We're bringing our economy back from the brink of ruin.
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CORNISH: The president touts his first-year successes and says a boom is on the way.
And admitting fault. In a new court filing, the government says it's to blame for a mid-air collision that killed 67 people.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We still don't know where the person is or who he is.
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CORNISH: Still at large. Why investigators are no closer to finding the suspect in the Brown University shooting.
And bye-bye, Bongino. A shakeup at the FBI as the second in charge steps down. So why so soon?
The chief of staff gets candid, but the president is standing by her. I'm going to be talking to the journalist who had a front-row seat to the White House infighting.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're stabbing the rest of the party in the back.
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CORNISH: Republican revolt. House GOP centrists go nuclear, choosing the people over their party.
Six a.m. here on the East Coast, a live look at Capitol Hill. Good morning, everybody. It is Thursday, December 18. I want to thank you for waking up with me. I'm Audie Cornish, and here is where we begin: that primetime address from President Trump last night.
This is because the president wanted to tout a record-breaking start to his second term. And nearly a year into this term, he's still talking about Biden.
During the 20-minute speech, he mentioned the former president by name more than half a dozen times, blaming him for the current economy.
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TRUMP: One year ago, our country was dead. We were absolutely dead. Our country was ready to fail, totally failed. Now, we're the hottest country anywhere in the world.
After years of record-setting falling incomes, our policies are boosting take-home pay at a historic pace. Under Biden, real wages plummeted by $3,000.
I inherited a mess, and I'm fixing it.
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CORNISH: But the president may need to do more to change the minds of Americans when it comes to the economy. Recent polling finds about 62 percent of registered voters believe Trump is more responsible for current economic conditions. Only 32 percent believe Biden is currently responsible.
Joining me now in the group chat, Evan McMorris-Santoro, reporter at "NOTUS"; Mike Dubke, former Trump White House communications director; and Meghan Hays, former director of message planning at the Biden White House.
I'm going to come to our messengers in a moment, because this is your wheelhouse. But first, Evan, set the stage for us. Because we went into the evening thinking, who knows what this speech could be about, right? Could it be about Venezuela or immigration?
Was it the victory lap that the trappings of it implied?
EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, REPORTER, "NOTUS": It was really kind of an attempt at a reset, really. Right? This is Trump being, hey, everything we talked about last year and the election when you liked me, let's talk about that again. Let's do that again.
That's really what he was trying to do. I mean, I think there was some attempt here to try and, you know, take some credit for things. But what struck me the most was how kind of defensive it really was.
This was a thing of like, remember how much you hated things in 2024? Remember that? Look at me now. I'm here. And you know, the thing that went through my head the entire time is
that old political adage, you know, when you're explaining, you're losing.
CORNISH: OK.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO: And in this case, you're explaining, and you're yelling. It was kind of a tough -- it was -- it was a tough one for the president.
CORNISH: Let's get to our explainers. First, the obligatory fact checks. Right? If he's saying that prescription drugs costs have been cut by 400 or 500, say, even 600 percent, you can say that because that's mathematically impossible.
There was a couple of things. There's no tax on Social Security, he was saying. Of course, millions of people will still pay taxes on their Social Security.
And even though he's saying inflation has stopped, we're still at 3 percent, which I know the Fed is discussing.
So, what is the point, as a message, to how do you think he delivered a message? Did it feel positive?
MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: It felt more like a marathon shoved into a sprint, from my point of view. It was a mini State of the Union, about a month or a month and a half before he's going to deliver his real State of the Union.
I thought this was going to be an economic speech. I thought that this was going to be kind of a restart on the economic messaging. That's what I was hoping for.
CORNISH: I think that they thought it was, too. Why are you saying it like that?
DUBKE: Well, because it -- it really was a replay of all of the campaign issues from 2024. And while I think there are a lot, especially on the border, a lot of victories that President Trump can -- can claim --
CORNISH: Yes.
DUBKE: -- the American people are looking forward, not backwards. And I -- and -- and if I had to be critical of the speech, I think that would be my main criticism: that it was looking backwards towards these victories rather than forwards towards what the tariffs are going to mean for, say, lower-income individuals. Maybe it will lower your taxes.
He should have spoken, in my opinion more on no taxes on tips and overtime. The -- the -- what came forward in the -- I guess were calling it the Working Families Tax Act. There is a lot of good that was in that bill that will come to fruition in 2026. And that's where I would have really pressed to talk about. CORNISH: Yes. But I think the Biden folks know that saying "in the future, things will get better" doesn't work.
DUBKE: Oh, no. That's not what the Biden people said. They said, you don't realize --
CORNISH: OK. Tell them -- you say much --
DUBKE: -- you don't realize how good you have it now. That was the --
CORNISH: So, how is that different, what he said and saying it in the context of this? Consumer sentiment down 28 percent from a year ago. National economic conditions, people are saying not so good/poor; 72 percent.
MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING AT BIDEN WHITE HOUSE: I mean, first of all, that speech did not rise to the level of a primetime address from the White House, and I'm surprised the networks took it.
So, we can level set there, that that is not something that needed to be addressed in primetime. It was one of his rambling, screaming remarks that said nothing.
We're still -- unemployment is the highest it's been since 2022. Inflation is exactly where it was when he took office. And continuing to blame the past, to your point, is not working. People still are not feeling any relief. And there's no solutions.
And then to top it off, Congress is leaving today without doing anything about the health care subsidies.
So, he's saying one thing. Congress is not doing anything to be helpful to him, to even drive a message if they wanted to. And the American people are the ones still suffering, while getting yelled at by the president.
CORNISH: Here's one solution. It's about the military. The president basically offering money to soldiers. Here's how he described it.
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TRUMP: Military service members will receive a special we call "warrior dividend" before Christmas. A warrior dividend in honor of our nation's founding in 1776. We are sending every soldier $1,776. Think of that. And the checks are already on the way.
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CORNISH: All year, the president's administration has talked about various checks. We're going to send everyone tariff checks. We're going to send you a check out of this, a check out of that.
But in the end, here's where we're landing, specifically for military service members. Can you talk about this aspect of the speech, meaning solutions, whatever you think is under that? MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Well, I think this is what's most fascinating about
this moment is that you have a president who came in as this wild, different, new kind of president, or this Trump 2.0, to be so different.
And he's ending the year kind of doing what other presidents all have to do, which is like, all right, OK, guys, I did I've done a lot of stuff. I'm doing the best I can. Look at Congress. They can't do anything either. Right. So, it's not so bad. And then they come up with some sort of little thing like this.
This is obviously a great thing. I mean, people who serve the country, it's great that they get this check. They should get this check. People -- they should get paid more, probably. Everybody who does this kind of work should get paid more.
But this is not the kind of basic populism that Trump ran on. And folks were really expecting it a lot more from him. They did expect cash in their pockets, checks their income was going to rise. That's what Trump ran on.
And he's found, like other presidents before him, that's much easier to say than it is to do.
CORNISH: Yes. FOX News poll showing what should the president pay more attention to? They've got four things here. The first is high prices. And I just want to show you what's down at the bottom. Immigration. Just 7 percent.
DUBKE: I do think that income is going to go up. Again, I'm going back to the bill that got passed this past summer. And he -- and again, focus on those things because I agree with you. We need to if prices are going up, but your incomes going up, that should give you a better sense of how your family is doing at the kitchen table.
CORNISH: Not if your -- if your income doesn't keep up with the prices.
DUBKE: Well, that's -- That's the thing.
CORNISH: And there's a whole category of people where they're not meeting it.
DUBKE: And there is. But I think the president can make the argument that you're going to see an increase in your income in 2026. And that's, again, where I would have leaned.
HAYS: Exactly. And you can't dispute that, because you can't prove it wrong.
All he does is go out there and tell mistruths, or lies, basically. And some people can fact check them. So, we're spending all of our time going, working backwards on everything we can fact check, rather than things that are setting the narrative forward. And more positive.
[06:10:07] MCMORRIS-SANTORO: It's about trust, right? I mean, I think that in
2024, when Trump said these kind of things, the American people were really into it. I mean, he won every swing state, as he says, right? New voters came in: I believe this guy.
This guy you watched last night, is that a guy you think Americans believe? The polls say they don't. So, like that -- that's the challenge.
CORNISH: OK. Stay with me. We're going to talk a lot more about this.
Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, an Army helicopter and a passenger plane crashed mid-year -- mid-air a year ago. And now in a new court filing, the U.S. Government says that the government is at fault.
Plus, Rob and Michele Reiner's children speak out after their brother is charged with murder.
And Republicans not falling in line on health care. Is the House speaker losing control?
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not here to be a potted plant or a vote just for leadership. I'm here to represent my constituents and get something done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is, to me, a betrayal to the rest of us Republicans.
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[06:15:41]
CORNISH: It is almost 15 minutes past the hour. This is your morning roundup.
Nick Reiner appears in court for the first time. He's accused of killing his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner. He's charged with two counts of first-degree murder and will be held without bail until his arraignment next month.
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ALAN JACKSON, NICK REINER'S ATTORNEY: We ask that during this process, you allow the system to move forward in the way that it was designed to move forward: not with a rush to judgment, not with jumping to conclusions, but with restraint and with dignity, and with the respect that this system and this process deserves, and that the family deserves.
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CORNISH: We're actually learning new details about the scene. According to the Los Angeles County medical examiner, the Reiner were found in their master bedroom with multiple sharp force injuries.
A source tells CNN it was Rob Reiner's daughter who found her parents' bodies on Sunday. She released a statement with her brother Jake, saying in part, "The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience. They weren't just our parents; they were our best friends."
And Republicans help pass a healthcare bill without extending ACA subsidies. Now, some within the caucus are upset that this bill doesn't go far enough to help Americans pay healthcare premiums.
And so, in a stunning blow four moderate Republicans signed on to a Democratic discharge petition. That allowed them to force a vote to extend subsidies for three years.
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MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY: Here we go again.
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CORNISH: New trailer for a documentary on first lady Melania Trump just dropped. It chronicles the 20 days around her return to the White House.
It's expected to provide a glimpse into the famously private wife of the president. The documentary is also part of her multimillion-dollar deal with Amazon MGM.
"Melania" comes out January 30.
And after the break on CNN THIS MORNING, a combative speech, plenty of blame. Is the president losing the messaging war?
Plus, the U.S. carries out yet another boat strike, this time in the Pacific.
And good morning to Chicago. It is a rainy morning in the windy city.
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[06:22:21]
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are here to see this process through, however long it takes to ensure that our family members have a lasting legacy that makes the world safer for everyone who flies.
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CORNISH: A stunning admission about that mid-air collision over the Potomac in D.C. back in January.
The FAA and the Army say the crash between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Eagle flight was the result of failures by the chopper pilots and an air traffic controller at Reagan National Airport.
Now that admission actually comes in a civil lawsuit filed by the family of one of the crash victims.
Remember, that disaster killed 67 people. And it happened after the Army helicopter crew told controllers in the tower that they would maintain, quote, "visual separation from the flight," which was attempting to land at National Airport.
So, in new court filings, the federal government unequivocally admits the pilots flying the Army chopper failed to maintain proper and safe visual separation from American Eagle Flight 5342.
Now, joining me now to discuss, Harvey Scolnick. He's a retired FAA air traffic controller.
Harvey, thanks so much for being with us.
HARVEY SCOLNICK, RETIRED FAA AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Thanks for having me, Audie. Good morning.
CORNISH: So, in layman's terms, help us understand what the government is admitting happened here. They said that they're taking responsibility. What are they saying went wrong?
SCOLNICK: Well, you know, they've got -- I think they're pretty much throwing in the towel with regard to saying that they were at fault regarding the military Army helicopter and FAA controller. And I think they might have admitted to a staffing issue, as well.
And so, the -- the helicopter pilot, after being cleared to maintain visual separation, did not. The controller, they're saying something about failing to continue its separation responsibility, which the controller handbook 7110.65 talks about separation. That's the No. 1 -- controller's No. 1 responsibility.
And it continues even after it has cleared the helicopter for visual separation. Because the controller has a responsibility to notice when the two aircraft are coming so close on radar that it's becoming -- that a collision may be imminent and should be advising the pilot.
It -- the controller did not do that, although there is a mitigating factor, as well, in that paragraph, in the 7110.65, which says if the controller was doing -- had other priorities, other separation priorities, that would make -- it would possibly mean that the controller didn't see that the aircraft were coming too close together.
CORNISH: Yes.
SCOLNICK: I heard the transcript, or rather, the -- the -- you know, the -- the tape of it. It didn't sound like control was very busy, but who knows what was going on with the controller, other than what was going on, on the tape.
CORNISH: Harvey, let me ask you this other question, which is how unusual is this for the government to admit this level of error? Are you surprised at how this has played out for these families?
SCOLNICK: Well, I've never seen this before, but obviously, it's going to make it easier on these families.
I'm not an attorney. I don't know how these things work, but I think we still have to wait for the NTSB findings. And my -- my thinking is that the NTSB findings will find that the procedure itself was a bad one, although it's been used for many, many years at Washington National and used a -- thousands of times.
I kind of think that this controller, who was doing the job that that he or she was trained to do, if the controller's found at fault, I -- I think the controller might be -- it might be a little overhanded, I think, at this point, as far as the controller's responsibilities.
CORNISH: OK. That's Harvey Scolnick. Harvey, thanks so much.
SCOLNICK: Thank you.
CORNISH: Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING. No arrests, no identity of the suspect. Now, police are turning to the community for help finding the Brown shooting person of interest.
Plus, Jack Smith. Why are we still talking about him? Well, he's back before Congress.
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