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Inside Politics

Trump Pressures Senate GOP To Pass His Agenda Bill By July 4; GOP Senators Lay Out Red Lines For Trump's Agenda Bill; Trump Leans On GOP Senators To Fall In Line On Mega-Mega Bill; Sources: Trump Privately Complains About Justices He Nominated; Sources: Far-Right Activist Laura Loomer Meets With Vance At WH; Democrats Head To Polls This Month In NYC, NJ. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired June 03, 2025 - 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 pumping up the pressure. President Trump is working the phones and his beloved Truth Social trying to persuade skeptical Senate Republicans to fall in line behind his mega bill to cut taxes and slash spending, but he's giving them a deadline that sounds almost impossible to meet.

Plus, those robes don't come with a return policy. Sources tell CNN that the president is complaining that the Supreme Court justices he nominated aren't fully supporting his agenda. We have new reporting on why much of the fury has zeroed in on Amy Coney Barrett.

And how can Democrats persuade voters to trust them again with power? Jon Lovett of Pod Save America and Sarah Longwell of the Bulwark will be here. They have a few ideas, and they're never shy about sharing them.

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

We start today on Capitol Hill, where the Trump administration is cranking the political vice on the Senate GOP. They're running on borrowed time with just four weeks to go until the president's self- imposed deadline to pass his massive agenda bill. Senate Majority Leader John Thune is bullish that he can deliver the votes, but a growing number of Republican senators have serious, though varied objections.

CNN's Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill running after these senators. What are you hearing so far this morning, Manu?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. There are a lot of concerns, a lot of changes that Republican senators want to make and really they're in contradiction of one another. Some of them want deeper cuts when it comes to federal spending, like entitlement programs, like Medicaid.

They believe simply that the House plan does not go far enough, would add way too much to the federal deficit, and they're pushing for those cuts. But that's causing some concern from among more moderate members, who are pushing back and are already worried about cuts, both to the social safety net program as well as green energy tax breaks that would be phased out in a somewhat rapid fashion under the House proposal.

There's a big fight over that that is coming. And then there's this -- this the belief that they among the Republican leadership in the Senate that they want to get this out of this chamber by the end of this month and onto the president's desk by July 4, which means key decisions will need to be made quickly. And catching up with senators, and today this -- they're making it very clear. They want some changes to this bill, but they're not certain ultimately how this will play out.

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SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): Reduced spending as much as we possibly can, and that is trying to be able to get 51 votes here that we can get common agreement on, and to be able to move and know that that's this year --

RAJU: If this could add trillions to the deficit. Is that concerned?

LANKFORD: Welcome to the math of Washington, D.C.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): I'm still going through the issues that I see as problematic. I'm looking at the changes in education programs like Pell Grants. I told you many times that I'm looking at the impact on rural hospitals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And that last comment comes from Senator Susan Collins of Maine, one of the more moderate senators who is someone to watch in the votes here. So far, Donald Trump, though, on the phone, has spoken to some of the more conservative senators, like Senator Rand Paul, who has voiced his opposition to this bill because it also includes an increase of the national debt limit.

He's also spoke to Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Johnson has been deeply concerned about the impact that the federal deficit, that this could add trillions to the deficit. And also, someone like Senator Rick Scott, who has also expressed concerns as well. The question ultimately, Dana, is whether the Trump pressure campaign ultimately will get these Republican senators on board, because the entire agenda essentially rests on this legislative proposal?

BASH: Yeah, it sure does. Manu, thank you so much. Appreciate that amazing reporting. As always, I'm joined here at the table with another group of terrific reporters, CNN's Jeff Zeleny and Lauren Fox, Tia Mitchell of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and CNN's Isaac Dovere.

Lauren, we saw your head in that. You were the one talking to Susan Collins there. What's kind of the big picture that we should be looking for in the coming weeks as Republicans try to hash this out among themselves?

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LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. With lawmakers returning this week, I think this is about having a moment to digest what their expectations are for changes they want in the House bill and then the next couple. Weeks are about level setting with members, about what's actually possible in terms of these changes.

I just talked to Speaker Johnson yesterday. He said he's having conversations with senators, reminding them about the delicate balance that it took to get this out of the House, trying to impart wisdom upon them that they can't make substantial changes to certain pieces of this bill, because it's just not going to pass.

And one of the big key items that got them across the finish line with conservatives in the House was speeding up the rollback to some of those tax credits, energy -- clean energy tax credits that were so pivotal to Biden's agenda. And yet there are senators who are saying those are getting rolled back too quickly. I mean, if you start playing with that, you could lose Chip Roy in the House. You could lose other conservatives in the House. This is such a delicate balance.

BASH: Right. For so many of those Republican senators, that's jobs in their states.

FOX: Exactly.

BASH: I just been -- you talk about the delicate balance. I just want to try to set the scene, so you see where these Republican senators are right now. So, Medicaid cuts. This is a big, big concern for Susan Collins, Shelley Moore Capito, Josh Hawley, Jim Justice, Jerry Moran, senators. I mean, a lot of these senators have people who rely on Medicaid in their states, but these are the ones voicing the most concerns.

Then there's the whole question about spending and what this bill would do to the already very problematic deficit, Ron Johnson, Rand Paul, Rick Scott, and then Thom Tillis is one example of those clean energy rollbacks that you were talking about. So, when Lauren is talking about that delicate balance, these are -- again, just some of the big picture concerns that Republicans have.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: For sure. And it's just some of them, but those are the ones that the White House is also focusing on. Look, this is going to be a fascinating balance, as it always is. I think the senators are certainly mindful of speaker Johnson's challenges, but also not that concerned, at least in the short term because they're the upper chambers.

I can't ever recall a senator in all the years we've got Congress are, that worried about a House speaker's role, but they are worried about what the president says. So, when the president gets on the phone to Josh Hawley and many other senators he called yesterday, they'll listen to him, obviously. But look, this is the moment where there are some real live policy debates, and we see so few of those, but on the Medicaid cut, specifically the rural hospitals, it is a huge deal. And I find it so fascinating that Senator Josh Hawley really has emerged from Missouri as a leading voice of this.

He's not the only one that has these issues. All of his counterparts from rural states also have similar issues, but he's talking about it, and he's talking about how, you know, it affects some of their very voters. So that's why this is so interesting. At the end of the day, will he hold fast? Will they cave? Will the rear compromise? We shall see. But that's why there are six interwoven layered debates that are so interesting.

BASH: Yeah. And the way that President Trump is trying to pressure his fellow Republicans is fascinating. Let's just look at what he's doing with regard to Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. This is what the president put about a fellow Republican on his own social media platform.

Rand Paul has very little understanding of the BBB, especially -- by the way, I think that's bill -- that's not build back better, going back to Biden, that's the big-beautiful bill, especially the tremendous growth that is coming. He loves voting no on everything. He thinks it's good politics, but it's not the BBB, is a big winner. And then he continued to kind of go after Rand Paul, and Rand Paul responded. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: President (inaudible), have you spoken to him about this?

SEN. RAND PAUL (RKY): I spoke to him this week. Had a lengthy discussion with him.

RAJU: How did that go?

PAUL: He did most of the talking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Yeah.

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION: Yeah. I think where these Republicans want to help President Trump pass his agenda, they want to get something done. We can start there at their baseline, but these senators, which represent whole states, know that there are a lot of impacts, the layers that Jeff mentioned to this legislation.

And it's not just -- I mean, one of the things that I think is getting overlooked is the snap cuts food stamps. And it's not just new work requirements that could cause people to lose their benefits. It's huge cost shifting onto the states. So, states would have to find, in some states hundreds of millions, some states over a billion dollars in new funding to keep benefits current. And there are so many kind of levels to that, you're going to have to sell that back in your state. That we shifted costs, and we cut snap, but we also gave a tax cut to people that mostly benefits people who make more than you because we know low-income people already don't pay much in income taxes. So, it's that layered kind of debate, that nuanced discussion that the senators are aware of and trying to figure out, where can they land.

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BASH: Right. And that's really the key. I wouldn't say for sure that this is going to pass, but I think it's pretty likely that something is going to pass. And what we're seeing right now is the jockeying among the Republican senators who are most concerned for what it will look like, not whether it will be something legislation that will go through the Senate.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah. This is the congressional process, right? Lauren, it's better than any of us. We know, we have problems with the bill. Problems with the bill. And then you change the bill along the way, and then all of a sudden, they vote for the bill. And in the era of Donald Trump with the Republican Party, as it is now that's more likely than ever.

But it is these two sort of separate tracks that are going on the actual policy implications. How long people are going to have to be driving to rural hospitals? What kind of benefits they lose from snap or Medicaid and the political conversation. But I do think part of what's going on also with Josh Hawley and Rand Paul, not that they are not principal people, but Josh Hawley was just reelected last year. Rand Paul is not up until 2028.

This is part of what happens with a six-year Senate term. They are looking at their next elections long from now, and at a point when barring some massive change to the constitution, Donald Trump will not be president.

FOX: Can I just weigh in on Ron Johnson really quickly, because he talked to the president yesterday, and I do think this speaks to the impact the president is having on individual members. He has been very concerned about the debt and deficit. But after the conversation with the president yesterday, I said, are there assurances the president could give you on future bills, maybe it's not included in this bill, that could get you to yes. And he said, he was very open minded about the prospects moving forward.

DOVERE: And that's always worked out --

FOX: I do think that that speaks to the fact that they're wrapping their head around perhaps this isn't going to get changed in a big way.

MITCHELL: I was going to say back to Isaac's point. It's not just about them looking at their next election, yet, I mean, it is about that. But it's also about some of the impacts of the legislation won't be felt immediately, but it will be felt in 2027, in 2028 when these folks are back on the ballot. So again, they're not just mapping out where they'll be. They're mapping out what the impacts of this legislation will be.

And again, it won't be on Donald Trump. We're not expecting him to be on the ballot again, but just about every member of Congress does expect to be on the ballot in some way shape or form in the next couple of years or on forward.

BASH: And then there's the question of the things that the president is trying to do where Congress -- they don't think Congress matters. We didn't get to that because we ran on time, because this is so interesting, and also, I'm sure the control room is breathing a sigh of relief that I didn't utter the words impoundment act. But we're going to do it.

Don't you worry because it's really important. But coming up, no vaccines. We have new reporting on why the president may be having some nominators remorse when it comes to his own Supreme Court picks from the first term. Stay with us.

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BASH: Seems that President Trump is not happy with the Supreme Court justices he nominated. Multiple sources tell CNN that the president has been privately complaining about justices Gorsuch, Barrett and Kavanaugh.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is live at the White House with her reporting. Kristen, this is so interesting, particularly what you have learned about his focus really zeroing in on Amy Coney Barrett.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right, Dana. So, we have heard from multiple sources that Donald Trump has complained about all three of the people that he appointed to the Supreme Court bench. But much of that ire has been focused on Amy Coney Barrett, his most recent hire. And it's not just one ruling, a series of rulings.

And a lot of this has been fueled by Trump's allies on the far right who have argued to him that she is "weak" that she is not presenting herself in these rulings the way that she presented herself in interviews to get the job back in 2020. And some of these allies have even speculated that part of the reason that she is ruling the way that she is, is because of menacing threats against her and her family.

Just in March, her sister was targeted with a bomb threat, and that has caused President Trump to speculate if things would be easier for Coney Barrett -- for Amy Coney Barrett, if he she had more security.

Now the White House, we reached out to them for a statement. They essentially didn't disagree with the reporting. This is what they said. They said, President Trump will always stand with the Supreme Court, unlike the Democratic Party, which, if given the opportunity, would pack the court, ultimately undermining its integrity. The president may disagree with the court and some of its rulings, but he will always respect its foundational role.

So clearly, they're saying he might not be happy, but he is going to abide by and respect the court. Big question there that we've all been wondering since so many of his agenda items are going to the Supreme Court.

BASH: You just took the words out of my mouth. I mean, one of the reasons with this matter so much right now, at this moment, with this president, is the very deliberate strategy to try to push the line, cross the line and hope that the Supreme Court, which includes justices he appointed, stand by him. So, we'll see how that goes.

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Before I let you go, Kristen, I do want to ask about some of the reporting that we just got in that Laura Loomer, who is a far-right activist among the conspiracies that she has been peddling, is that 9/11 was an outside job. She -- inside job, that 9/11 was an inside job. Forgive me. She's at the White House, or at least she's been there again recently, leading with the vice president.

HOLMES: Yeah. Just earlier today, she sat down and had a private meeting with Vice President J.D. Vance, and we are told she's not scheduled to meet with President Trump. But there is a reason why, of course, this is so fascinating. Last time she was here at the White House, Donald Trump fired much of the National Security Council staff because of Loomer's complaints about them.

She had essentially shown up with a dossier of information that she said that these were not people who were loyal to the president. She has been on somewhat of a tangent online, criticizing multiple agencies within the government, saying that they did not pick people who were loyal to the president.

But one interesting fact on all of this is since then, Laura Loomer has found herself kind of on the outs with some of Donald Trump's closest allies because of the fact that she criticized the present of the plane from Qatar to the government to the Trump administration, saying that they shouldn't be accepting that as a gift. It actually caused her to publicly apologize, but we're still waiting to see more information on what exactly she was discussing when she sat down with Vance.

BASH: Wow. Well, we look forward to the reporting that you get on that really important development there. Thank you so much for all of that reporting, Kristen, as always. Up next. We have new reporting on the Broadway level political theater that could lead to a Cuomo comeback in the Big Apple. Stay with us.

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BASH: Democrats in New York and New Jersey are facing big choices this month in the garden state. They'll pick a nominee for governor, choosing between a handful of House members, mayors and other state power players. The winner could face a competitive election in November after President Trump did better than any Republican presidential candidate in New Jersey since George H.W. Bush and in New York City, Democrats are choosing a mayoral candidate. And Andrew Cuomo is on the cusp of a monumental comeback after resigning less than four years ago as governor.

My smart reporters are back here, and Isaac, you have a terrific piece. You went up to New York, and you did a story on all of the plots and subplots that are going on with this. And I can put up on the screen. I think we actually even have a QR code because we're fancy like that.

And the story is Andrew Cuomo campaigns for New York's redemption and his own a, quote here. He has been leaning on a sense of inevitability to press the more potential supporters to get on board and leave others with the impression that he will remember those who don't. There is a lot packed into that one sentence. Isaac?

DOVERE: Yeah. Andrew Cuomo is someone I started out as a New York political reporter. I spent a lot of time covering him. He -- there's a lot of psycho drama (Ph). He keeps track of who supports him. He keeps track of who doesn't. Someone said to me that his idea of doing the job is getting on the phone and calling people and telling them what to do and then calling them the next day and asking them why they didn't do it yet.

This is a guy who is a dominant figure in New York politics for so long, and yet, it was August of 2021 when he resigned in disgrace. It was not that long ago. It was actually the morning -- the afternoon, the morning, that he did it. It was my first interview for coming to work at CNN. I haven't been here all that long.

He has come back from resigning in disgrace to being in the first -- it seems like first position in the polls, in every poll that's come out so far. Even though he did not live in New York City again until he started to get this campaign going. He lives in his daughter's apartment. And here he is running -- saying that the city is out of control. You need to have somebody like him in there to manage it. And all the people going against him, as I get into the story, have just been completely scrambled that.

BASH: Can you just talk quickly about the way that he is campaigning or not campaigning because it is very telling?

DOVERE: It's a very quiet campaign. He doesn't show up in public that much. He doesn't do many events. He doesn't do many interviews. They are very open about this that this is -- because he has high name recognition already. There is not a better-known name in Democratic politics in New York than Cuomo, because of his father and because of him. Tomorrow night in New York is the first of the mandated debates for people who have taken public matching funds in New York City, and he will be on stage. He hasn't done really any events like that. He showed up at a couple of forums. There is a lot of concern in among people who are supporting Cuomo that he could have a bad moment. It will be hard. They're going to be a lot of people on stage. But the last time he had a competitive debate was in 2006 when he was running for attorney general.

BASH: That was before you guys were born. You mentioned the resignation, which is really crazy. It wasn't even four years ago. Andrew Cuomo talked to the New York Times about this very thing. Here's what he said. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't have resigned. At that time, I thought that I would be a distraction to government functionality and that they would all be involved in impeachment proceedings, blah, blah, bla.