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Inside Politics

Texas Ag Ken Paxton Challenges John Cornyn for Senate Seat; Trump Facing Pressure to Take Sides in Texas Senate Race; Trump Administration Freezes $1 Billion in Cornell Funding and $790 Million for Northwestern University; National Weather Service No Longer Translating Products for Non-English Speakers; Multiple IRS Officials Refused to Sign Data-sharing Deal Sources Say. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired April 09, 2025 - 12:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:31:35]

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR OF 'INSIDE POLITICS': -- campaign, and we assure Texans, they will have a real choice when this is over. Now notably, CNN has reported that Senate Republican leaders are asking President Trump to endorse Senator Cornyn. My panel is back now. Nia?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, he is going right in there --

(LAUGH)

HENDERSON: -- with the alleged extramarital affair. This is going to be a spirited race as Cornyn said. I think the best Cornyn can hope for, obviously, if Trump endorsed him, that would be great. He, of course, failed to endorse Trump early on in the Republican primary. I think he said something like Trump's time has passed and doubted he can win a general election. If Trump stays out of it, that might be a good thing for Cornyn, short of Trump actually endorsing him.

But listen, Paxton has been a MAGA star. I think he can -- he can frame Cornyn as sort of -- of the bygone era, kind of a Republican in name only. You feel like that is where he is going to go. He is sort of the establishment and he is more from the MAGA wing, I think will be Paxton's essential race against Cornyn.

BASH: Jeff, I want you to listen -- I want our viewers to listen to some of what Ken Paxton said when he announced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Cornyn doesn't share our values. It's time for a change. Ken Paxton is the conservative fighter they couldn't cancel.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: An attorney general who has really led the way, somebody who has been brave and strong, Ken Paxton. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ken Paxton is America's most conservative attorney general. He sued Joe Biden over 100 times to stop his lawless agenda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, one thing he has in common with John Cornyn is they both used a lot of Donald Trump in their launch ads.

(LAUGH)

ZELENY: I mean, John Cornyn did as well. It was hard to tell it was even a John Cornyn ad as opposed to, or a launch video. But look, the bottom line, to Nia's point is going to come down on which side the president goes. And I think that's unclear. I mean, I think if the Senate is able to put the tax agenda forward and things, the president could stay out of it, I could see that, and then that could (inaudible) or sort of make things unneutral. But boy, it is going to be an absolute, spicy race.

And to a conversation we're having earlier, what do Democrats do? Is this going to be the time and, oh, can Democrats win in Texas? Is this the time the Democrats win Texas?

BASH: I mean it depends who wins, right?

ZELENY: It does depend, but --

BASH: The Republican primary.

ZELENY: I'm currently skeptical of that talk regardless.

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: Because you brought that up, let's just explain to our viewers a little bit more of what you're talking about. Texas for Democrats has been like the white whale, in recent -- in recent elections. Ted Cruz, I mean, they went hard with Beto O'Rourke as their candidate, the Democrats did in 2018. Ted Cruz still won. John Cornyn won his last race over MJ Hegar. And then, Colin Allred ran very hard against Ted Cruz and didn't really come very close. David?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF & POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I guess if you're a Democrat, you look at that dread line --

(LAUGH)

(CROSSTALK)

CHALIAN: And you think, Hey, let's keep this as the white whale but obviously, it will be a tough mountain to climb. '26 could be a very good year for Democrats and that could potentially make that margin even narrower. Listen, agreeing with my colleagues here vociferously that Trump is the factor here, right? If Trump picks a candidate in this race, that candidate is likely to win the primary, I would imagine (inaudible). Now, I, I don't know if staying out or if he does his, like I endorse both of them thing, I don't know how neutral that will end up being for voters.

I think John Cornyn might have a real tough fight on his hands here inside the Republican primary electorate. He may have the money advantage, he may have the like big party advantage, but it is going to be a very, very tough fight if Donald Trump does stay out of it.

BASH: And let's just, as we continue this conversation, put up a post he put up March 20th, which is the least subtle thing I've seen recently.

(LAUGH)

CHALIAN: Right.

BASH: It just says recommended.

HENDERSON: Yeah, yeah. Please, please, please Donald Trump, endorse me. I mean, that's --

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: Part of the deal.

CHALIAN: (Inaudible) deal.

BASH: We can't see it. Thank you.

(LAUGH)

(CROSSTALK)

HENDERSON: Yeah, I mean, that is what he's saying. I think the difficulty for Cornyn will be that Ken Paxton is going to essentially run as Donald Trump, right? They tried to take me down, the deep state, the establishment of the Republican Party, and it hasn't worked. And here I am, and I can be your next Senator. That is going to be, I think, how Paxton runs. Yeah.

CHALIAN: Impeached, indicted.

HENDERSON: Yeah. Exactly

(LAUGH)

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: You are coming after me because for you, I am your --

HENDERSON: Exactly. I'm your redemption.

BASH: Thank you.

HENDERSON: Yeah. I'm your revenge.

ZELENY: Retribution.

HENDERSON: Yeah. Retribution, that's right.

(CROSSTALK)

ZELENY: Yeah, we'll see. I mean, I think but --

BASH: All of them.

HENDERSON: Yeah.

ZELENY: But it's going to be the biggest test for John Cornyn that he's ever had. There's no doubt about it. And at this moment, you can just sort of, we can think we've all covered the Senate for a long time. Think of these sort of towering figures who one by one --

BASH: Yeah.

ZELENY: -- slip away, but some also hold on. So we shall see. It's going to be a heck of a race in Texas. See you in Austin, Lubbock, Houston, Dallas, let's go.

BASH: All the places. I love talking politics with you guys.

HENDERSON: This is fun.

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: The best. Coming up, his young male followers helped deliver Donald Trump the presidency.

[12:35:00]

How are Barstool fans feeling about the president's new tariffs? Dave Portnoy is my guest, after the break.

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BASH: Just in case you're not well acquainted with my next guest, Dave Portnoy is the Founder and Owner of Barstool Sports, a wildly successful media company with a particular appeal to young men, a demographic that helped Donald Trump win back the White House.

[12:40:00]

Barstool Sports has nearly 50 million followers on TikTok, publishes some of the most popular podcasts in the country. Now, Portnoy's followers get a steady stream of sports content, financial advice, pizza reviews, and unfiltered and some say offensive conversations. In recent days, he has gone viral for comments about tariffs imposed by President Trump, whom Portnoy supports.

Dave Portnoy joins me now. Thank you so much for being here. You have been openly questioning the president's tariff strategy. I want our viewers to see and hear what you said on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVE PORTNOY, FOUNDER, BARSTOOL SPORTS: I went super viral when I said I lost $7 million, I'd kill to be back to losing $7 million. I haven't even looked. If I had to guess, I'm down in these last three days, probably close to 20, I don't know, like 10, 15 percent of my net worth poof. But I'm still here. That's the game. That's -- that's what I'm in. Like, do I like it? No. Am I crying? Am I like, oh, whoa, it is me, I wish I voted for Kamala. No. Do I wish this didn't go down like this? Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, you obviously voted for President Trump. You also said that you think he's a smart guy. You are willing to give him a couple of days or even a couple of weeks. Where are you now?

PORTNOY: So, it's uncomfortable. Anytime the stock market is like this and you're invested in it, it's certainly uncomfortable. But, I stand with it. He ran on tariffs. He said he was a tariff fan and I don't pretend to be an economist. I don't think I realized that we'd have this market crash. I don't think most people did. But I think he believes in what he's doing in trying to basically strong arm China and get better deals for the U.S. I'm willing to still give him time.

I think the big date is the midterms, which is a long time out. But, I do think that in this country, the number one issue, no matter what is going on, is the economy. And if the stock market doesn't show some signs of rebound or rebounding by then, I think people will speak with their vote.

So, but I -- I'm still -- he was pretty straightforward that I'm tariffs guy (ph). I don't like China, I'm going to do all this stuff. He's doing what he ran on. So --

BASH: Yeah.

PORTNOY: -- to turn around just because we've had three or four bad days of stock market, super uncomfortable. My bigger thing at this point is, let's not pretend it's not a major issue. Like it is, and you can't separate, I don't think, I saw the Treasury Secretary Bessent today, like separating Main Street and Wall Street.

BASH: Yes, he did.

PORTNOY: They're pretty connected. Yeah, they're pretty connected in my book. So I don't know if he's just talking about the super fat cats, but if the stock market is tanking, we are going to have an economic meltdown over the long term. So, I'm still going to give him time. He said -- I think Trump said, it was a sick patient. He needed to take medicine. I'm taking my medicine and I don't like my medicine, but I'm willing to take it. I voted for him. And in a way, it's disingenuous now to be like, Hey, what are you doing with these tariffs? Because he did make it pretty clear he was a tariff guy.

BASH: He did, no question about it. There's being a tariff guy and then doing it the way he is doing it, proceeding the way he is proceeding. You comfortable with that too? Not just the policy, but the process through which he is imposing this policy.

PORTNOY: I certainly wish he would give maybe a victory here or there right now. Like he has the power really to turn the stock market and get it ripping. And when there's been a fake rumor or a misquote, like he's going to postpone the tariffs or whatever, if he were to come out and say, Hey, we did this great agreement with Japan or Vietnam, the stock market will rip. I firmly believe that.

Instead he is -- instead what he say, everyone is kissing his ass last night. But that's Trump. Like that is how he speaks and it does resonate in a way to people like -- I'd almost rather feel like I'm getting straight talking and I can't change. It's like that's always who he has been. Do I wish maybe he was treating our friends a little nicer, our allies and things like that? Yeah. Because I'm in the stock market, but at the same time, this is who I voted for and time is going to bear it out. He's playing an extremely high-risk game of poker and if it turns out great, it'll be a great move and one of the great things that he's done. If not, I think the voters will speak at midterms.

BASH: There is a long time, Dave, between now and the midterms, particularly when you think about how quickly things have changed just even in the past couple of weeks with the economy, You're OK? You can just stomach this until -- if it continues where it is, until the midterms?

[12:45:00]

PORTNOY: If we drop 5 percent every day from here to the midterms, no, I can't stomach that. Nobody's going to stomach that. If this flattens out and we don't have gigantic drops and it doesn't keep dropping to that effect, yes, I can handle that for a long time. If it -- every day, we're going through crazy -- I mean, I thought today would be worse than it was because today was the deadline and the market is unpredictable.

So if we've bottomed out or gotten close to bottom out, yeah, I can live with that. I can live with that proposition. And again, do I love everything? Like did I love that he was on the golf course when the stock market was taking? No. But if he could sit around and say, you know what? Like, he's almost in a box where if he -- he can't show weakness in these negotiations. So, you can't just run now that the market is bad because then all of this would've been for nothing. So I'm hoping his art of the deal comes to fruition.

But no, if you're asking me, can I wait a year and a half for the stock market tanking 5 percent every day or 4 percent or 3 percent? No, I don't think anybody can.

BASH: You have talked about the midterms a lot and about the fact that Democrats could or maybe should win big if we are where we are then, which is a very big if, could you see yourself supporting Democrats?

PORTNOY: Yeah, absolutely. I -- one thing about me, which drives me crazy, I vote for Trump. I support him. I was never like some crazy MAGA guy. Like, I look at each candidate and I choose who I like. I think the left and a lot of even what they did with -- I want to say hiding Biden's mental state, not having a primary, really drove me to the right. So, I am not somebody who would just strictly vote based on Republican or Democrat. I vote on the people running, how I think they speak to me, the issues that are important to me. But, yes, I will vote how I feel is the best interest of what I believe in.

BASH: You have said and do continue to say things that many people find offensive, but other people come to you for those controversial things that you talk about, especially young men. And we talk a lot about young men as it sort of relates to politics on the show, on "Inside Politics." Knowing your audience the way you do, do you think that they will stick with Donald Trump the way you are for now?

PORTNOY: Yes. I don't think people are bailing ship now. It's way too early. Now, again, I think a lot of people who follow me are interested in the stock market. I think when you hear Wall Street, Main Street, there's a major shift that has happened, I would say, I don't know, in four or five years, but the average person can invest in the stock market now. Like it was a lot harder 20 years ago when you needed a broker, you can just go to Robinhood. log on. People are buying crypto, they're buying stocks. So it's far more intertangled and I think a lot of people care about it, but I don't think people jumping ship right now.

And one thing that I really can't think or can't be underestimated, I even say it now, like I have -- I get more hate and have always gotten more hate and more extreme hate from the left than I've gotten from the right. And this is before people knew what side I was on. I find the left personally far more intolerant than I do the right. Obviously, that may because I -- the right perceives me as leaning towards their side. But yeah, I just -- we're really -- when you say are people going to switch, people in my shoes, I really feel like believe we don't have a spot in the Democratic Party right now.

If I went through my mentions, people are calling me really like, and I don't post it, but like nasty things like sexist, I'm racist, I'm this, I'm that. I again would invite anybody to go really dig into what I've said and what I've done in the past and there's just nothing to add up to that. But the hate I get is extreme.

BASH: Yeah. Well, you can -- hopefully. you'll come back and we can talk about, you were discussing the Democratic Party. Right after the election, I played a soundbite of you talking about the fact that Democrats have a moral superiority complex for David Axelrod and he's a pretty important Democrat in the party. And he said he agreed with you. So we can talk about that.

Just one last question. Yes or no, has Donald Trump reached out to you since you've been talking about the tariffs?

[12:50:00]

PORTNOY: No. Nope.

BASH: OK. PORTNOY: I don't even know -- I don't think he has my number, but no.

(LAUGH)

BASH: He has ways.

(LAUGH)

BASH: Dave Portnoy, thank you so much.

PORTNOY: Yeah. I wouldn't change. Yeah, I wouldn't change how I felt. But thank you. Appreciate it.

BASH: Thanks for coming on. We'll be right back.

PORTNOY: See you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Tapping our political radar, the Trump administration is freezing $1 billion in funding to Cornell University and $790 million to Northwestern University. A White House official says it's in connection to "several ongoing credible and concerning Title VI investigations." The universities haven't received any official notification from the government. Plus, a big change from the National Weather Service. It will no longer provide translations of its products, putting non-English speakers at serious risk of missing critical warnings about extreme weather.

[12:55:00]

Now, the agency's spokesperson says the translation contract lapsed and wouldn't provide any other details. And more turmoil and upheaval at the IRS just days before the tax deadline. Sources tell CNN, several senior-level officials at the IRS have resigned after the IRS reached a deal with Homeland Security to share sensitive data used to find undocumented immigrants in order to deport them.

That's it for "Inside Politics" today. Thank you so much for watching. "CNN News Central" starts after a quick break.

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