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Musk Shares Thanksgiving Dinner With Trump And His Family; Trump Praises Musk: "A Star Is Born"; Trump Promised No Cuts to Social Security Or Medicare; Trump Pick For Health Secretary Advocates For Raw Milk; CA Health Officials. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired November 29, 2024 - 12:00   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 CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Today on "Inside Politics," guess who came to dinner? Donald Trump spent Thanksgiving night with his loved ones, Melania, Barron, and Elon Musk. We'll look at their relationship and preview Musk's trip to Washington next week to meet with Republican lawmakers.

Plus, the controversy over raw milk bird flu is found in another batch of it in California. Experts say unpasteurized milk is a factor for infectious diseases. Robert F. Kennedy junior wants more Americans drinking it and may soon be in a position to promote it.

And what went wrong? The top Democratic pollsters here with some tough truths for his party about why they lost to Donald Trump and a path back to power in 2026.

I'm Manu Raju in for Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines "Inside Politics."

Since election day, it seems like everywhere Donald Trump goes, Elon Musk is at his side. The world's richest person helping to shape Trump's cabinet is with Trump in policy meetings, travels with Trump across the country, and last night was with him for Thanksgiving dinner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU (voice over): Here they are at Mar-a-Lago. You see Musk on Trump's right, son Barron on his left singing and dancing to YMCA.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Musk's mother and Trump's other children were there as well. CNN Steve Contorno, well, he didn't get an invitation to Mar-a-Lago last night, but he was camped out nearby in West Palm Beach. So, Steve, these days, Musk seems to be everywhere, and Trump seems to be more than happy to keep him at his side.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: That's right, Manu. I didn't get a chance to see Trump and, Musk dance to the "Village People" together. But someone who was inside the room told CNN, quote, "Trump and Elon walked around the room, stopped at each table, and spoke to all the guests." Just another example of how these 2 have been essentially tethered to each other ever since the, campaign where Elon Musk spent a sizable chunk of his fortune helping to get Trump elected.

He has served as an unofficial adviser to Trump, sitting in on many of the meetings he has held, including a phone call with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. He has also been advising on cabinet picks. His official role in a future Trump administration will be heading this new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, if you will.

And him and Vivek Ramaswamy have laid out their extensive plans for cutting government spending, shrinking the federal workforce, and getting rid of government regulations. However, experts have told us that their task at hand is far more complicated than either the either of these two seem to have been suggesting in in their comments, in their social media posts, where they seem to believe that it's going to be fairly easy to trim the fat in the US budgeting and really gets, debt reduction on track.

Elon Musk will make a pilgrimage to Washington, DC and speak to Hill Republicans next week where we expect, he will they we will introduce and talk about how they can potentially get some of that work done. It will be the first time he is meeting with them, and just another example of how influential he has become in this Republican Party ever since Donald Trump was elected.

RAJU: Yeah. A lot of this will be easier said than done. Steve Contorno from West Palm Beach, Florida thanks for that.

And today, let's bring in my great panel of reporters to break this all down. The Bulwark's Andrew Egger, Tia Mitchell of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and CNN's Priscilla Alvarez. Nice to see you all. Happy Thanks -- post-Thanksgiving. Hope you guys have all decompressed from all the delicious food, I'm sure you had.

Tia, what is -- the fact that Donald Trump had Elon Musk by his side on Thanksgiving night, What do you make of that? And where does this relationship? He's really everywhere.

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION: He is.

RAJU: He is on the campaign trail. He's at meetings. He's meeting Republican lawmakers. And on a night, you typically reserved for your closest family and friends, he's right there.

MITCHELL: I mean, I think they built quite the relationship that's been kind of beneficial to them both. We know Elon Musk, his ground game has been credited with helping Trump win election. Now Elon Musk stands to benefit greatly by, you know, staying cozy with the future president, knowing he has a lot of business interests that requires government approval, government regulation, government -- direct government support. So right now, I think there -- it's a mutually beneficial relationship. I also think it behooves Elon Musk to kind of stay in Trump's good graces, try to kind of kiss up a little bit, and I think Trump's enjoying that a little bit, which is why Trump keeps Elon around for now.

RAJU: How long does this last? I mean?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is the question, because as we have seen that some people in Trump's orbit have come and gone. We saw that quite a bit in the first term of his administration.

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You know, the secret sauce really is in any relationship with Trump is to be on his good side, to be his cheerleader. And Elon Musk, and even in the videos and the photos with Trump, is really doing that, pumping him up.

Now, of course, how that will look when Trump is the President and tough decisions and calls have to be made, that's a whole separate issue, and we'll see how that plays out. But right now, they're sort of in a honeymoon period. I mean, he did just win in November. Elon was part of, the effort to make that happen. So, certainly, right now, they're enjoying that.

And I will say, Manu, to your point, you know, we talk a lot about the Trump loyalists and those who he's placed in the cabinet, but Elon was the one sitting next to him. So if you really want to know who his most trusted confidant is, it's there in the photos and the videos.

RAJU: And he he's -- also, Musk has, obviously, a lot to gain by this relationship as well, given those vast business interests. Really, even you know, he's the richest person in the world, his net worth just hit a record $348 billion $83 billion richer since election day alone.

But to the point of the Trump-Musk relationship, Trump often gets rid of people, pushes them aside when things are looking -- the bad headlines are bouncing back on him. And perhaps that will be one area of tension if things are -- if Elon Musk gets a bunch of bad headlines, Trump won't want anything to do with them.

ANDREW EGGER, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE BULWARK: Yeah. And one really interesting thing is that you could already see out on the campaign trail when they would talk about, you know, what their plans for the new government are. They're really not on the same page about a number of different things. Right?

Trump has Elon in this weird kind of, pseudo governmental position at the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, that he has stood up essentially for Elon to use. Elon, would go out on the trail and talk about how he had plans to cut $2 trillion in federal spending, just go in there and hack and slash, get rid of enormous portions of the federal bureaucracy. Some of that is simpatico with what Donald Trump wants to do.

But when Elon would talk about things like, you know, cutting entitlements and things like that, stuff that Donald Trump hasn't wanted to touch, in years. And so when you actually get in there, when Elon starts you know -- if he has his home platform, obviously, if he is talking a lot about things like touching Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid, stuff like that, that Donald Trump doesn't want anything to do with, I mean, we will see how long, that can really last.

RAJU: Let's dive into that a little bit more. Just about how he's going to deal with this so called Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, as is known. Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, invited him to come to Capitol Hill next week. We expect to see them. I'm sure there'll be a lot of, you know, cheering about all the things that they could do.

This is what Senator Joni Ernst, who would head this Doge caucus, they're calling it on the senate GOP side. This is what she said about what they want to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA): We have Vivek Ramaswamy, we have Elon Musk, and we are going to scrutinize, again, every dollar that is going through our federal government. And if the Democrats aren't willing to come along with us or if they're naysayers to the Department of Government Efficiency, it's probably because they're eating the pork out of the trough, and we really do need to start slimming back and cutting the fat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: I mean, this is all going to be easier said than done.

MITCHELL: It's always and it's always in the details where none of them, either side of the aisle, want to touch. Because, again, when you're talking about federal spending, they automatically -- well, usually, they take military and defense spending off the table. That's a big chunk.

Then you talk about the entitlements, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and even let's say, though, Medicare and Social Security, take that off. That's a big chunk. Then you talk about the next chunk is Medicaid and food stamps for the poor. Now Republicans are usually a little bit more open to cutting those programs, but that's when you get into a big part of Trump's base that helped elect him just a few weeks ago. Are they really going to go after these things?

And if you take that off the table, you're left with a really small piece of the pie. I mean, people -- I think people overestimate how much government spending is left over when you take entitlements in defense off the table.

RAJU: Yeah. And speaking of which, we actually have a breakdown of how the federal spending actually works out. And if you can see, there's a pie there on your table. As you can see, 22 percent of projected federal spending for the fiscal year 2025 comes from Social Security.

Another 13 percent from Medicare. That's 45 -- 35 percent of the budget right there. Another 9 percent from Medicaid and the more health programs for -- that would have to be touched if they want to spend -- cut from there that can lead to some blowback as well.

But 13 percent from defense discretionary spending. That's the yellow bar right there on your screen. That's defense spending, defense programs. So if you want to take all that off the table, because if Republicans are not going to touch the entitlements as Donald Trump promised, you want to take -- don't want to touch defense programs. That's only 13 percent left of the budget that they're talking about cutting.

To talk about what Donald -- what Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk are doing, they're talking about an incredibly small slice of the pie.

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EGGER: Yeah. And one thing that you have frequently seen, we saw it a lot when Donald Trump was president before, so maybe you'll see this kind of thing again here, is talking a big game about this sort of stuff, making some sort of splashy moves that make headlines, you know, cutting various -- you know, going after federal bureaucrats like they've talked about doing.

You know, things that when you actually add them all up don't amount to all that much, but still make a lot of headlines. There's controversy around it.

RAJU: There's controversy --

EGGER: We talk about cutting.

RAJU: Exactly. There's controversy of all these things you cut. You cut farms subsidies for farmers. People like Joni Ernst aren't going to be so happy about it. Or you cut your FDA programs or education programs, and then that begins -- directs the discussion back to Social Security and Medicare.

And this remember, just to remind viewers about what Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail about those major -- those hugely expensive government entitled programs and what he would do as president if there's efforts to cut them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL- ELECT: I'm the one that's going to make Social Security strong again.

Your Social Security and Medicare, they're destroying your Social Security and Medicare. They are going to do it, and I don't think they care. But I'm going to save it all.

I'm going to protect Medicare and Social Security.

I'm going to protect your Medicare, your Social Security. We're never ending it.

He's going to terminate your Social Security in his first week in office. No. No. No. I'm the one that's going to keep it going. No increases in age.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: I mean but, again, to get -- to deal with this, you have to either increase the age, so you either cut benefits, or you raise taxes, and they don't want to do either.

ALVAREZ: The devil's in the details, and that's what they're going to run up against. Not to mention that the two people working on it are not in government, which adds another layer of hurdles and perhaps controversy.

But remember with Social Security, I mean, you saw it there, when he was talking about it on the trail. Rick Scott put out a plan on Social Security. You'll remember this well. And it also got a lot of pushback. So it is clear that Republicans don't want to touch this, but certainly, this is going to be the sort of political navigating that Elon Musk in his world does not necessarily have to deal with. But one that obviously Trump has shown, he's willing to use, some political capital when it makes sense, others not so much.

MITCHELL: And when you talk about cutting the bureaucracy, I just want to make the point. That still has an effect on people. So you can say, we're just going to cut the workers, get rid of the fat. But when people at home are trying to call customer service and can't get an appointment, can't get anyone on the line, offices start closing down and they can't access these programs, then it's still a cut in just by another way.

And I think that's a big risk, because I think Republicans are going to try and go after like the IRS, perhaps VA.

RAJU: It's such a good point because they're promising, we're going to make government work better. But then you get rid of the people, government may not work better and then they'll be blow back against the current administration. Such a key point they don't think about when the campaign rhetoric comes out. So we'll see how they deal with that next year.

All right. Coming up, California health officials are issuing a major warning about raw milk, the very product Trump's picked to lead Health and Human Services says he drinks every day. That's next.

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RAJU: Donald Trump's pick for Health and Human Services is a big fan of raw milk. Here's RFK Jr. 2 years ago.

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ROBERT F. KENNEDY: As I was here last year, I only drink raw milk.

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RAJU: And just last month, Kennedy criticized what he called the FDA's aggressive suppression of the product. But today, there's a real world example of why milk is regulated. Health officials in California say a second batch of raw milk has tested positive for the bird flu virus.

CNN's Jacqueline Howard is following this story. So, Jacqueline, what are you learning?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Manu, what we're learning is that the two batches of raw milk that have tested positive for bird flu have been recalled. One of those batches was recalled earlier this week. The other batch was just recently recalled.

These are batches of milk that come from the company Raw Farm based in Fresno County, California. And this, recall does seem to be connected to the ongoing bird flu outbreak that we've seen sweep the nation impacting dairy cattle. And there have been no illnesses reported as, related to this recall. But we do know that when it comes to raw milk, there is this risk of foodborne illnesses of harmful bacteria or viruses like bird flu.

And since 1987, because the FDA has tracked and monitored foodborne illnesses related to raw milk, There have been only about 143 reported outbreaks of foodborne illnesses tied to raw milk since 1987 because of regulations.

But we're hearing from many public health experts that they're concerned about this number growing if we see any changes in regulation or if we see more increases in people consuming raw milk. So that seems to be what the public health conversation is at this time, Manu.

RAJU: Jacqueline, what kind of impact could RFK Jr. actually have on raw milk regulation at HHS?

HOWARD: Well, because we know that FDA really kind of spearheads regulations, because FDA is under the HHS umbrella, there are thoughts that he will have major influences potentially on this.

[12:20:00]

Now I should say that since 1987, the FDA has prohibited the interstate sale of raw milk. But we know within states, they can oversee -- state-by-state can oversee its own rules and regulations around this, and we know that there are 20 states that prohibit raw milk sales in some form in their state. 30 states allow it either as retail sales or as farm sales.

And the reason why some states prohibit while some allow is because we know that the pasteurization heating process is successful in killing harmful bacteria and viruses. The concern here is that raw milk can increase the risk of exposure to harmful bacteria and viruses. That's why we see different, rules, regulations, and public health concerns around the consumption, excuse me, of raw milk versus the consumption of pasteurized milk.

As far as the latest recall of raw milk, health officials say pasteurized milk is still safe to drink. Again, bird flu was only detected in whole raw milk as part of this recall.

RAJU: All right. Jacqueline Howard from Chicago. Thanks for that report. So just to remind people what would RFK Jr., the advocates for raw milk advocates really say about why they push for raw milk. This claim has beneficial bacteria, vitamins, minerals, and more beneficial bacteria than pasteurized milk. But a lot of these claims have been debunked by the FDA.

And, of course, raw milk if not pasteurized, it can carry disease causing pathogens such as salmonella and E. Coli. But broadening this out, this just shows you the impact that the RFK Jr. confirmation could have on the lives of Americans, perhaps more so than any other pick that Donald Trump has made.

ALVAREZ: Yeah. It's almost a carryover of our last conversation in the last block, which is that the real impact of this is how consumers, will be responding to this and what these regulations or lack thereof mean for them.

Of course, if you think about this, counties, communities take guidance from the federal government on numerous issues, and certainly any change on something like raw milk is going to have that trickledown effect and what that could even look like, across the country.

Now we were also talking during the break that it could come down to individual choices, that people can make. That's where we are right now with some of the states as you saw in the graphic that allow it and don't. But then what that looks like if RFK comes in and changes it with his, perspective and opinion or even how it is advocated for by the government could really make massive changes across the government and across the local governments who look to the federal.

RAJU: Tia, what are you hearing about the prospects of his confirmation, RFK Jr.? A lot of the focus has been on the other Trump picks. But this one is just as controversial in many ways. And will Republicans push him through?

MITCHELL: So I think it is controversial in many ways, and I think there are going to be questions asked. But I think the general sentiment on Capitol Hill in the Senate is that Senate Republicans want to allow Trump to build out the team he has selected. So I think, as much as they might talk a good game, I think the vast majority of Republicans in the Senate are willing to confirm whoever Trump appoints, quite frankly.

But the details of the hearings, what comes out in the hearings, some of his questions, whether he answers them more credibly than others, could have a big impact on whether he loses, you know, just three or four -- four really, at full strength is what would doom his confirmation. So we'll see how that plays out as well. RAJU: Does he stand by his debunked claims of vaccines causing autism? How does he deal with these questions as well? And there are also issues that some on the right have, like, his views supporting abortion rights and abortion regulation. HHS has a big role on that as well.

EGGER: Yeah. And one of the weird things about RFK, he's been in in the public eye, you know, running for President the last couple of years, but always as kind of a sideshow, never really in the spotlight. And meanwhile, he's been, you know, on his podcast. He's been making his speeches.

I mean, he has embraced a lot of really, really controversial, stances on all these things we've been talking about. I mean, he has he said that there is no such thing as a safe and effective vaccine. He's pushed back certainly on the kind of childhood vaccine schedules that that we that we use right now.

As well as just -- I mean, frequently on his own podcast, bringing on people like Chemtrail true believers and things like that, have these very credulous conversations with them. So you could very easily see things going pretty far off the rails in confirmation hearings, certainly turning up the heat on these Senators to confirm.

RAJU: This is going to be fascinating to watch. Just to broaden out, just who Trump has picked to fill out his public health team, including Robert F. Kenny Jr., but all the way down the line one of the big picks there, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health.

Of course, it's a massive research agency, $48 billion or so in its annual budget. One of the big things that'll be focused on in his confirmation proceedings will be how he talked about the issue of COVID.

He was someone who had, pushed for so called herd immunity back in October 2020, And this is what he said in December of 2020.

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DR. JAY BHATTACHARYA, TRUMP'S PICK FOR NIH DIRECTOR: Everyone who's listening has felt the harms of the lockdown. On net for the young, the lockdowns are much worse than COVID.

You don't bully people. You tell people, go talk with your doctor, talk over the risks, and then make your own decision. That's the right way to do public health.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, who's a public health expert, criticized Bhattacharya, said that his plan would have kill many more Americans. But, really, this is going to bring back the issue of COVID and lockdowns back into the fore. ALVAREZ: But it's also so telling because this is a pick where it's known where what his views were on COVID, and those are views and feelings that a lot of Americans still harbor. Like, the politics of COVID and the pandemic lockdowns and all the rest still very much are part of the dialogue. And so I think this this pick and the conversations that are going to come from it, are tell us that they're not totally gone even if the way we think about the pandemic today, is very different.

But it also, puts into view the Trump competing ideology sometimes on who he's selecting to fill out a sprawling department, but also to put forth on the issue of health where some of these issues aren't exactly along party lines. I mean, there are Democrats, but -- may side with Republicans on some and the other way around. So it's just been fascinating to see him put this team together and what it would mean.

RAJU: A lot of Democrats holding their fire right now on these public health picks. We'll see how they respond to RFK Jr. as well.

All right. Coming up, tough love. A top Democratic pollster is here with extensive analysis showing how his party lost every single swing state. That's next.

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