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Trump's Border Czar Heads To Texas Border Tomorrow; Ex-Aide: McConnell Will Be "Liberated" Out Of Leadership; Thanksgiving Pardons For Peach & Blossom. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired November 25, 2024 - 12:30   ET

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

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MANU RAJU, CNN HOST: President-elect Trump has promised to crack down on illegal border crossings on day one of his new administration. Tomorrow, his border czar, Tom Homan will travel to Eagle Pass, Texas, to tour the border with Governor Greg Abbott and National Guard soldiers who are stationed there. Now, the centerpiece of Trump's plan is a massive deportation campaign. He's promised to deport all immigrants in the country illegally. My panel is back.

So, you know, when you ask about polls, depending on how you ask the question, it depends on how people respond, whether they think this is a good idea or not, and whether they recognize the impact that this could have to them, their economy, their community. But this is what the question was posed. Trump is planning to deport all immigrants in the U.S. illegally, according to this new poll that came out, 57 percent do approve of it, 43 percent do not approve of it. But, as always, especially with something like this, the devil's in the details, and Trump has not explained how they would do this.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. I mean, I'm not surprised by that polling number. I mean, in many respects, the election was a referendum on the idea of this, but we're about to get beyond the idea of it. We're about to get to the nuts and bolts of it.

And the reality is it will likely start with criminals who are here and other things. But once it goes beyond that, if it does, I mean, there could be massive disruptions across the sectors, from construction to agriculture to hospitality. So we'll see if those numbers stay as high there for supporting this once it actually starts impacting people's lives.

But look, this is a massive undertaking that the Trump administration is going to be embarking on. Yes, they know much more in the second -- I mean in the second iteration than the first in terms of how to do things like this, but it will be challenged legally but just the process of doing it, many, many, many questions about this.

RAJU: And what is the economic impact of this, if they do carry on? I mean, they keep saying, we're going to worry about the people who are here who have committed crimes, serious crimes. But Trump, that's not what he said on the campaign trail. He said everybody would be out. And if they do carry through with that, what is the impact to the economy?

[12:35:00]

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jeff mentioned a few of the sectors that will see a loss of workers almost immediately once this happens or -- or if this happens, depending on how much resistance and procedural hurdles Democrats can put up to this, depending on how they actually go about doing it.

But I think one of the elements of this that is not talked about as much is the financial element that's going to happen through regulation. We were just talking about Russ Vought at the Office of Management and Budget. One thing that conservatives have -- have proposed doing is, yes, the physical deportation of these people might be stymied when they try to go through with it, but there are ways through executive orders that they can make it impossible for these people to maintain bank accounts, to maintain mortgages, to maintain leases on housing.

And so you could pull the financial rug out from under many of these immigrants before you physically deport them from the country, essentially trying to send a very strong signal to anyone trying to come here and to also make it impossible for anyone who is here to stay. So that's something that's not really getting talked about, and that could have a very dramatic economic impact if all of a sudden you have these people who are no longer able to earn money to then spend that money back in the economy in one fell swoop, if that's something that they decide to do early on.

RAJU: And the question is, how is this will be carried out? Who will carry this out? According -- the question was posed in this poll asking about this question. Most people believe that immigration and border patrol agencies should do that, 82 percent, just 40 percent, say the U.S. military should be involved in this. And this is something that Trump himself endorsed, saying, posting a Truth Social post, saying true when posed the idea of using the military.

This is not going to be a particular popular idea. A lot of Democrats clearly don't support this. But some Republicans, including one who could chair a key committee overseeing the Homeland Security Department, says he wouldn't support it.

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SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R-WY): We have a national security crisis in this country right now because of our open border. And when he declares it a national emergency, he can appropriately use the military.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): I will not support and will not vote to use the military in our cities. I think it's a terrible image. I don't recommend to use the army, but I would use the FBI. I would use ICE. I would use Border Patrol.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Yes. And that's Rand Paul who chairs the Homeland Security, who will chair the Homeland Security Committee overseeing this issue. It's not as easy as he said it's done.

JOHN BRESNAHAN, CO-FOUNDER, PUNCHBOWL NEWS: Yes, I think executing this is going to be a huge, huge, huge challenge funding. How do you fund it? Like, will Congress approve this? And if Congress doesn't, if Democrats block funding for this, does he just divert money from other agencies to do this? There's a whole Posse Comitatus issue.

I mean, like, this is going to be a huge challenge. I do think what you don't see them ever talking about is, and I think this is fascinating, but you're talking about executive orders. They don't talk about criminalizing hiring undocumented migrants.

If they were to cut, that's been an issue for a long time, e-verify and all this stuff. They don't talk about cutting off the jobs there. They talk about punishing the migrants, but not the people employing them.

And I think that's, you know, if they were really serious about it, they would go there, and I think there would be some support for that. But I -- I think this is going, you know, if we start building detention centers outside of major American cities, I mean, we saw what happened with family separation stuff.

RAJU: But they seem to have learned a lesson from -- from that. Although Tom Homan has not -- has suggested that could happen.

JASMINE WRIGHT, POLITICAL REPORTER, NOTUS: I think that some people have learned a lesson from the detention centers. I think when you ask Trump advisers or people within the Republican Party how they would carry it out, everybody has a different answer. Nobody is quite clear, or certainly nobody that I've talked to is quite clear on how it would happen.

But the problem I think that they're going to run into is not just the procedural problems, not just maybe the members in Congress that would have an issue, but also the American voters. Because when you ask American voters, are you in favor of deportation, you get one answer.

But if you get more specific, are you in favor of violent deportation? Are you in favor of people being taken from their homes? You're getting different types of answers. And so there is a real question of what the capacity is for Americans to support it if you get more specific about how it is carried out.

RAJU: When people -- when people see it --

WRIGHT: Yes.

RAJU: -- they'll have a different view of this.

WRIGHT: When people see it versus how they're hearing it.

RAJU: Exactly. Absolutely.

WRIGHT: And the impact of what they're feeling.

RAJU: All right. A lot of questions ahead.

[12:39:16]

But coming up for us, stupid, ill-tempered, a sleazeball. Those are just some of the words Mitch McConnell has used to describe Donald Trump. So how will things be different in January? That's next.

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RAJU: Liberated and unthreatenable. That's how one Mitch McConnell confidant describes a longtime Senate GOP leader as he embarks on a new role. A senior senator unencumbered by a leadership title. So what will a liberated Mitch McConnell look like in Donald Trump's Washington?

Well, I'm joined now by Mike Tackett of the Associated Press. He's the author of an excellent new book on Mitch McConnell, "The Price of Power." Also at the table, CNN Congressional Correspondent Lauren Fox and John Bresnahan is back. So, Mike, you spent -- you obviously spent so much time with McConnell, going through all of his archives, hearing about him, and obviously a lot about Donald Trump as well.

Now that his -- how -- what do you anticipate in this new phase? He's no longer the leader, has to represent his conference, but he's still got two more years, and he's got powerful positions in the Senate.

MICHAEL TACKETT, AUTHOR, "THE PRICE OF POWER": I think what you're going to see is he's going to act surgically. He's not going to reflexively oppose everything. He's not going to try to get ahead of the parade on too many issues. But there will be moments where he'll say that goes too far, and he'll take a stand.

[12:45:04]

BRESNAHAN: Yes, I agree entirely. I think it's fascinating, one, he's taking the Defense Subcommittee on Appropriations, which is huge for -- for -- it's a hugely powerful panel inside the Appropriations Committee. His -- his ally Susan Collins is there, but he took that. I think that was a big deal.

He's going to take the Rules Committee, but I do think that you --

RAJU: Protects the prerogatives in the Senate.

BRESNAHAN: -- which protects the prerogatives. And I think you will see him move exactly like you say, it'll be areas where he's concerned about where Trump is going, recess appointments for instance, I think that will be something he will fight very hard to preserve the institution of the Senate and I think you'll see him stand up on that.

RAJU: And -- and in Ukraine too.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And Ukraine --

BRESNAHAN: Yes. Right. Yes, yes.

FOX: -- and I think that that's where the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee -

BRESNAHAN: Exactly.

FOX: -- really matters because this has been something that he spent the last year and at times was really not on the same side as many of his members, especially the younger members who are coming in, the newly elected members.

So I think Mitch McConnell is going to continue to focus on preserving Ukraine aid as much as he possibly can. And then I think the other area is just going to be individual nominees. If there is a moment in which he feels like a nominee really isn't qualified for the position, do you see Mitch McConnell vote against one of them?

RAJU: Yes.

FOX: I don't think it's going to be very many, but maybe one.

RAJU: And just a reminder about Mitch McConnell during the first Trump administration, he was essential in getting the tax cuts approved for Donald Trump, getting three Supreme Court nominees on the bench. Of course, he kept open that Senate seat that Barack Obama's Supreme Court seat. He kept that vacant for a year, helped shift the Supreme Court dramatically to the right, but a big falling out in the aftermath of January 6th.

Donald Trump, after he lost the election, Mitch McConnell said Joe Biden won. And then after January 6th, while he voted to acquit Donald Trump in that impeachment trial, Collins said he was morally and practically responsible for what happened on January 6th. So you have some comments of what Donald Trump, what McConnell said about Trump to a historian in late December 2020.

This is what Mike Tackett writes about McConnell's comments here. He said, McConnell said, he is not only well, he's stupid as well as being ill-tempered and can't even figure out where his own best interests lie. And that's certainly been on full display. Trump's behavior, he said, only underscores the good judgment of the American people. They've had -- just -- they've just had enough of the misrepresentations, the outright lies almost on a daily basis, and they fired him. And for a narcissist like him, that's been really hard to take. And so his behavior since the election has been even worse by far than it was before because he has no -- no filter now at all. Tell us what you really think, Mitch McConnell. Do you think that those feelings are still so raw or has it dissipated over time?

TACKETT: It's dissipated somewhat, but they're not completely gone. And another thing I think you'll see him do is if, let's say that Republicans lose a couple fights on legislation and then there are calls to get rid of the filibuster. I think that's a line in the sand for him. He'll stand up for the filibuster.

BRESNAHAN: I agree totally. And it -- it -- I mean, it's amazing to me. Trump still takes shots at McConnell. He took a quick shot at McConnell the other day. He's still -- there's still definitely there's -- they've made peace a detente rather than a peace I would call it. And -- but he still takes shots at McConnell. And I do think there is, McConnell's not going to fray it that Trump went after his wife in a very, first of all, racist way, racist way. And I think that's going to be something that'll be there. And I do think you're worried he will -- I don't think he'll be an open opposition, but if he's not running for reelection, he'll do what he wants.

RAJU: But just to show you how revealing it is that you've got those comments. I've been trying, we've all been trying to get him to weigh in, Mitch McConnell about Donald Trump for the past several years. And this is typically the kind of answers we get.

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SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Well, we all missed you last week. You're back.

RAJU: Yes. I missed you all too. Over the past week since the debate, Trump and Vance have been advancing this internet rumor of Haitian migrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. The governor has concerns about this. So does the mayor. Should they stop saying that?

MCCONNELL: Yes, I'm -- I'm not going to get into the presidential contest.

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RAJU: But when you heard what he said in the -- the Tackett book, we know what he really thinks.

FOX: Yes. Look, Mitch McConnell will know where to find us because we are always looming outside of the Senate floor. He typically doesn't do hallway interviews. That is a press conference that he typically does weekly. But I'm interested to see, does he start remarking on daily news from the White House, from Trump? I doubt it, but maybe he does weigh in a little more than he used to.

RAJU: And people will listen to him. He still has a significant sway in the Senate.

TACKETT: I think that's true.

RAJU: Yes, yes. All right. Well, this is such a good book. I encourage you all to read it. "Price of Power," Mike Tackett, thanks for coming in and sharing that.

[12:49:42]

And we have more coming up next, including one last White House tradition is off the table as the outgoing president issues two key pardons just in time for Thanksgiving.

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RAJU: Thanksgiving just would not be complete if we didn't keep you abreast of the morning's big event at the White House, President Biden's fourth and final turkey pardoning ceremony. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Based on your temperament and commitment to being productive members of society, I hereby pardon Peach and Blossom.

This event marks the official start of the holiday season here in Washington. It's also my last time to speak here as your President during this season and give thanks and gratitude. So let me say to you, it's been the honor of my life. I'm forever grateful.

May we use this moment to take time from our busy lives and focus on what matters most, our families. My dad used to have an expression, families are the beginning, the middle, and the end. Our friends and our neighbors, and the fact that we're blessed to live in America, the greatest country on earth, and that's not hyperbole.

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[12:55:18]

RAJU: All right, thanks for joining Inside Politics, CNN News Central starts after this quick break.

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