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Inside Politics

New CNN Poll: Majority Approves Of Trump Handling Of Transition; New CNN Poll: 38 Percent Say Things Going Well In The Country; Trump Picks Kimberly Guilfoyle To Be Ambassador To Greece; Today: Hegseth Back On Capitol Hill To Shore Up GOP Support; Biden Poised To Beat Trump's Record On Judicial Confirmations; Trump Vows To Get A Deal On Dreamers With Democrats. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired December 11, 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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DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Today on Inside Politics, numbers are in. We've got a brand-new CNN poll this hour, showing most Americans approve of how Donald Trump is handling his transition to the White House, and are optimistic about his presidency.

Plus, it's a match. Officials now have forensic evidence tying Luigi Mangione to the exact spot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down in Manhattan. As investigators track down new clues about a potential motive.

And rows of Lamborghinis and Ferraris. CNN gets an inside look at the now former Syrian president's opulent palace just days after it was taken over by rebel forces.

I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at Inside Politics.

First up, 36 days. That's how long Donald Trump has been president- elect. He's been really busy selecting a cabinet, talking to world leaders, following up on campaign promises, usually on social media. And now our first CNN poll since election day shows most people are happy with what they're seeing from the incoming commander in chief.

CNN's David Chalian is at the magic wall to break down the numbers. David?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF AND POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Dana, you are right. There is no doubt that the president is going to enter office with a little bit of a honeymoon. Take a look here. Donald Trump has a 55 percent approval rating. That's not normally a support level we see for him as it relates to his handling of the transition right now, 45 percent disapprove.

Compare this to eight years ago, when Donald Trump first won the presidency in November 16. At this point, he was at 46 percent approval of his handling of the transition, that went even lower in January 17, before he took office to 40 percent. Today, he stands at 55 percent. How does that compare, though to other presidents. Well, he's still at the bottom of the pack here.

So, he's doing better when compared to himself, but that 55 percent is lower than Bill Clinton, who had a 62 percent approval of the transition, George W. Bush at 65, Joe Biden four years ago at 66 percent, Barack Obama at 79 percent approval of his transition.

We also asked, what are your expectations for how Trump will be as president? A majority of Americans, 54 percent say they expect him to do a good job as president. And we asked specifically, do you have confidence in all of these areas about how Trump will perform and his ability to handle it?

And once again, as we saw throughout the campaign, the economy is issue number one of his strengths. 65 percent, two thirds of Americans in this poll say they have some or a lot of confidence in Trump's ability to manage and handle the economy as president.

And you see Russia, Ukraine follow their then immigration and his leadership skills, his -- what he intends to use his power for, whether that will be responsibly not a bit lower. But again, all of this is majority support. So that is where things stand right now.

BASH: And, you know, obviously a big hallmark, not in a good way of the election for Joe Biden was that people feel not great about the way the country is going. How has that changed, if at all, now that Donald Trump is president-elect?

CHALIAN: So, we've talked a lot in the aftermath of the election, sort of, why did the outcome exist the way it did. And a large part of that analysis has been because the country told us repeatedly throughout the last two years, they thought it was dramatically on the wrong track.

And so, we ask again, how are things going in the country today? It's still more negative than positive, but it's now down to 61 percent who say that things are going badly, 38 percent who say things are going well. This is actually, as you can see here, a bit rosier of a sentiment of how people are feeling about how things are going in the country than had existed.

In fact, that 38 percent who say things are going well, that is the best number in CNN polling in three years. We haven't seen it that high since December of 2021. And then, we did this, Dana, but I just want to show you here. We also asked folks, does Donald Trump's appointments, should they be about experience and qualifications? Or should it be about being loyal to his positions and just doing what he is looking for?

Look at this, three to one, 75 percent say, best experience and qualifications is what he should be doing when putting people into positions. 25 percent say just people who will support his positions, which may explain this finding in our poll.

[12:05:00]

About Musk and Ramaswamy and about them leading the government -- the department of government efficiency, you see an even split here. This is the politics of America here. 50 percent say they disapprove of Musk and Ramaswamy in that role 49 percent say they approve, Dana.

BASH: Really, really interesting, all of it. Thank you so much for bringing it to us, David. And here at the table are some additional imagine reporters, Nia-Malika Henderson of Bloomberg and CNN, Semafor's David Weigel, and CNN's very own Phil Mattingly. Hi everybody. Wednesday -- happy Wednesday, all there.

Nia, first to you, your sort of assessment of what these numbers to tell us post-election.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, BLOOMBERG POLITICAL & POLICY COLUMNIST AND CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah. Listen, Donald Trump has something of a honeymoon of the funny line from David's presentation there was that he's essentially doing well for Donald Trump, right? He's still lagging the other presidents, but I'm sure he's looking at these numbers.

And also, probably we're relaying some of these rosier numbers to folks in the Senate who might be getting a little weak in the knees about some of these cabinet officials, right? It looks like Americans are behind him. We'll see how long this lasts. So, we've covered enough presidencies between Russ to know that there is a honeymoon, and then there is the reality of governing.

But it is also just fascinating that Americans are still fairly sour on the state of the country. It's better than it was, but only 38 percent or so think that the country is, you know, going in the right direction. That is a challenge for Donald Trump. We'll see if he's able to improve those numbers.

BASH: And let's go back to the last point that David was making about the question about whether or not it is more important to choose people with qualifications or who are completely loyal to Donald Trump and break it down by party. Republicans answer that question, 78 percent, Democrats 77 percent, Independents 71 percent.

Now, I have to say that when I first looked at it, I was looking at the numbers you don't see there, which is, you know, almost -- well, 22 percent of Republicans say, no, loyalty is more important than being qualified. But I was convinced that that big number 78 percent saying -- Trump's fellow Republicans saying, you really need to find people who know what they're doing. That's more important than being loyal to you. Is a big number? And I get that too.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Look, in an ideal world, you can find both in a country of 300 million. And I say that somewhat in just, but also because I actually think in large part, not necessarily the kind of shiny object nominees we've seen in some of the cabinet level positions.

If you go a layer underneath, some of those nominees, you are finding people who are both very loyal to the president-elect and who also have a lot of bureaucratic experience, a lot of know-how, and a very serious intent for what they're going to do when they take those positions, assuming they're Senate confirmed. And that in and of itself is extraordinarily different than what we saw in 2016. We constantly talk about what's different from then to now. This, when you're talking about Russ Vought OMB Director.

When you're talking about kind of up and down the line of deputy positions, of people in government agencies that we all know about, but normal people don't because they have real lives and don't care about budget policy necessarily. God bless you. They are serious people who know what they're doing, and they are deeply, deeply loyal to both the president and the president's agenda that he's laid out to this Point.

BASH: And Dave, the point that the other David made about comparing Donald Trump to himself since we're in a, you know, relatively -- definitely a unique situation in modern times where you have the second term coming after somebody else was in the presidency for four years.

So, let's look at the question of the approval of Trump's handling of the transition, rather back in 2016 versus now. Republicans, I mean, it's almost full support, Independence is up by six percentage points, and Democrats up by seven. Now, it's not a high number but it's higher than it was eight years ago.

DAVID WEIGEL, POLITICS REPORTER, SEMAFOR: Well, The Democratic messaging reaction is very important here because they're not acting like they need to be in a position of mass resistance at any level. Their leadership is not saying that, Joe Biden is not treating him like Pinochet (Ph) overthrowing end day, he's inviting to the White House.

The candidates for DNC chair are not saying that, they're saying their problems in the party. Talking to Democratic governors this weekend, at their conference, I was struck, they were not saying, we're going to do mass resistance in this way. We're not going to talk to him. They were talking about how they reached out to congratulate him

In the case of Phil Murphy in New Jersey, how he invited Trump through a ribbon cutting, which is one of those projects that Democrats are worried about. Trump will take credit for. And Murphy's answer was, well, he's the president, of course, I'm going to bring him in here.

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So, the tone I'm getting from Democrats is that they need to wait for events. Once the people are implemented, they not -- might not know who these cabinet nominees are or who Russ Vought is. Once there is a budget, once something affects them, they're looking more down the line to the first set of tax cuts, like the turning point in 2020 -- sorry, in 2017 being the effort to repeal the FCA. And that's not how they were at this point. Eight years ago, they were already marching, and they were already ready for this.

BASH: Yeah, That's such a good point. Let's look a little bit at some of the nominees that we've seen from Donald Trump. Starting with what was announced, I believe late yesterday, which is Kimberly Guilfoyle, an attorney, former Fox News host, former fiance to his son.

First and foremost, let's just listen to some of the things that she has done on the campaign trail, some of the things that she has said to the point of being very loyal.

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KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, THE KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE SHOW ON RUMBLE: And none of those people, those fake Republicans, rhinos, I'll throw the RNC in there with that. All these people have to go. They're not going to be part of our team. They suck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is It sealed? Do we have a date?

GUILFOYLE: Not that I'm sharing on the air.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fair enough. Hey, I'm glad. I didn't realize, there's a ring. Fantastic. That's great news.

GUILFOYLE: We've been engaged babe for two years. Ladies and gentlemen, leaders and fighters for freedom and liberty and the American dream. The best is yet to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: That's definitely like my top five developments of the 2020 election. That last one there. The middle comment was about her personal life, and now I guess they consciously uncoupled. I'm sure Gwyn -- I'm sure Gwyneth think Chris Martin are not going to like that that analogy.

But look, she is being nominated to go to the other side of the world to be an ambassador. I want to talk about other nominees, but let's just --

HENDERSON: Yeah. What can you say about, Kimberly Guilfoyle. You know, I mean, the president has obviously doled out ambassadorships to folks who are -- it's not in the family way, right? She's not in the family way, you know, friends of his --

BASH: Family adjacent.

HENDERSON: Family adjacent, this is someone who is that, you know, I guess that a coupling has uncoupled, and we'll see. But yeah, I mean, we're going to see this. I mean, for instance, Lara Trump might actually be a senator at some point. So, it is good to be a family adjacent. It is good to be a donor to Donald Trump, Donald Trump's campaign, and we have seen that he has filled a lot of these roles with billionaires and people who are loyal to him and close to his family.

BASH: Yeah. And what it is?

MATTINGLY: One thing I'd say is, it's not a rarity for a president to or president-elect to nominate big donors, big finance. She ran the finance operation in 2020. She was a very involved in the fundraising this time around, obviously very clearly an important surrogate.

My biggest question is honestly, what are the people of -- what are the government officials in Greece thinking right now? You're thinking like, oh, Kimberly Guilfoyle, she's engaged to president-elect son. And you're like, oh, no, maybe she's not. And then there's a lot of stuff going on there that I don't really know anything about.

BASH: But I agree with you on that that when it comes to naming ambassadors who have been loyal, who have donated money. That's maybe the most conventional thing that we've seen Donald Trump do. Biden did it, Obama -- I mean, that's what you do in a bipartisan way.

WEIGEL: It is, and when you see hearings to confirm these people, I think Democrats are going to pick their battles, who is going to have the most influence? Who do they actually need to worry about if they have a policymaking role? That's not a question that's going to come up with.

MATTINGLY: In which country are these ambassadors going?

WEIGEL: Yeah, yeah.

MATTINGLY: Right, like that matters enormously.

BASH: All right. Don't go anywhere. Up next, President Trump confirmed a record number of new judges in his first term in office, but President Biden is on the cusp of beating it. We'll talk to the senator who's helping him do it, after a quick break.

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BASH: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is on Capitol Hill again today, making his case to Republican senators who will determine if he gets the job. My next guest is not one of those senators meeting with him, but he is certainly watching it closely, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin. You see him there, the Democratic Whip and Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Thank you so much for being here, Senator.

So, just yesterday, John Cornyn of Texas said, Hegseth, quote -- he sat with him. I know of no one who said that they will vote against him. Now, I know you for a long time. I know that you know how to count votes. It is the other side of the aisle, which you don't tend to whip. But what do you think about that statement?

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): Well, I don't know John Cornyn's source of information, but I respect him. You know, he's been around here for a while, and he's usually right when he says these things. But you know, the bottom line is this, we need to have an FBI investigation of all these critical nominees. For 70 years, that's been the gold standard here on Capitol Hill. We have a constitutional responsibility to advise and consent and to do that professionally and completely, we need an FBI report on Mr. Hegseth and all the other nominees. BASH: Well, with regard to Hegseth, my understanding is that is happening. Do you have a different understanding?

DURBIN: I don't. But the early statement made by the president-elect, so staff was equivocal. In some respects, I hope that they follow the standards and rules that have been used by Republican and Democratic presidents combined.

BASH: OK. And just to follow up your colleague from Connecticut, Senator Blumenthal told CNN that five to 10 Republican senators told him, they don't like Hegseth for defense secretary. They're just not saying it yet. But could you see -- I mean, you've been in the Senate a long time. I mean, can you see that actually happening that enough Republican senators would either oppose him or get to a vote and vote no and sink the nomination.

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DURBIN: Well, it only takes three or four. And Dick Blumenthal understands the Senate. I respect his view on it. But the bottom line is, when it comes to the final vote, whenever that may be, I'm sure the president-elect will be weighing in and trying to influence his Republican colleagues.

BASH: Let's talk about you, you have praised your colleagues, Senator Marco Rubio in the past. He of course has been nominated for Secretary of State. Beyond that, assuming you vote for him, how many of Trump's nominees do you see yourself voting for?

DURBIN: I can't say at this point, Dana, because, you know, without taking a look at the background of the FBI investigation, which is routine. You really don't know much except what's in the press. Some of that is good and some of it isn't. And fairness to each nominee, I'm not going to prejudge, except when it comes to Marco Rubio. Marco's been a buddy of mine for a long time. We worked on a lot of things together. I think he'll be an excellent secretary of state.

BASH: OK. Let's talk about a story that has been pretty under reported and that is President Biden and you as judiciary chairman of the Senate committee. You have confirmed 233 judges. It's mostly on the district or trial level. 45 judges to the appeals courts, and of course a one Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. That's just one vote -- one judge shy of former President Trump in total appointments. Can you just talk about the importance and the impact of that?

DURBIN: That's one fourth of the federal judiciary will have been appointed under President Biden. We set out to do that to fill as many vacancies as we could with competent people. And I'm happy to report that 85 percent plus have voted in favor of these nominees on a bipartisan basis. That's something you have to work hard to achieve in this divided Senate.

And secondly, we brought real diversity to the bench. The women and men who will be serving us in that capacity will really represent a cross section of America. And I think that's good for the administration of justice. We still have, I think, by my calculation, three more judges to go, and then we'll reach 235, which I think we can do next week.

BASH: And, as I mentioned, the majority of the federal judges that you have gotten through are on the trial level. Trump got nine more judges on the appeals court, 54 total, three of justices of course on the Supreme Court. And now of course, he has four more years to fill vacancies and retirements and so forth.

So, is it fair to say that he still has and will have a bigger influence on the federal judiciary, which we have seen just in the past few years, how crucial that is to how Americans live their daily lives?

DURBIN: Well, of course, I don't have this option, but if I were given a seat on the Supreme Court and you asked me, well, how many district court judges would you give for that, we could enter an interesting bargain. But the bottom line is this, judges are important at every single level. Many cases don't go up to an appellate level or even to the Supreme Court.

So, it's important that every single judge be qualified. And I'm happy to say, every single nominee from the Biden administration was found qualified or well qualified. So, they're good qualified people bringing diversity to our courts.

BASH: I want to turn to the issue of immigration. You've long worked to help Dreamers. Donald Trump said on Sunday, he would work with Democrats to allow Dreamers to stay in the United States. You went down this road with Trump during the first term, unsuccessfully -- ultimately. Do you think you can realistically get a deal done with Trump on Dreamers and what could that look like?

DURBIN: Based on what he said last Sunday, I do believe that. I was sitting on the couch kind of listening half -- listening and half reading the paper. And then he got into the Dreamers, and I set up straight and he said, he was ready to talk. He wanted to see if we could find an agreement between Republicans and Democrats.

And I'll just tell you anytime, any place, Mr. President call me, and I'll be there. There are hundreds of thousands of lives at stake of good people who came to this country as kids and deserve a chance to earn their way to citizenship.

BASH: Have you been in touch with his transition team since he made that statement?

DURBIN: No, they're busy. They'll be in touch with me. I'm sure in the next few days because they want to discuss their nominees. I'll bring up that topic then.

BASH: And again, I sort of mentioned this, you actually got pretty close on this issue back, I believe it was 2018. Are there lessons learned from that going forward?

[12:25:00] DURBIN: Oh, I learned some of them, but I'm not going to repeat them all at this moment. I will tell you that, you have to work directly with President-elect Trump to get an agreement. And you've got to be sensitive to his priorities as well as your own. But I think what he said last Sunday is there's room for conversation. I want to be there.

BASH: All right. Senate Judiciary Chair, Democratic Whip, Dick Durbin, thank you so much for being here, sir.

DURBIN: Thanks, Dana.

BASH: And coming up, new evidence tying Luigi Mangione to the execution style slang of a top insurance executive. I'm going to talk to a former FBI agent who worked on the Unabomber case about what we know of the 26-year-old Ivy League graduate, accused of the murder.