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Inside Politics
Democrats' Identity Crisis On Full Display In Wild NYC Election; Trump Posts Explosive Threat About Going Into Chicago; Epstein Fight Turns Personal As Trump Plots Republicans' Ouster. Epstein Fight Turns Personal as Trump Plots Republican's Ouster; Interview with Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott; Trump and Congress Change How College Athletes Get Paid. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired September 07, 2025 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:35]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
MANU RAJU, CNN HOST (voice-over): Feeling blue. President Trump tries to shake up a Big Apple brawl.
ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE: We will choose our mayor.
RAJU: But with Democrats divided on how to widen the tent --
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): Are we a party that rallies behind our nominee or not?
RAJU: Can they agree on a strategy?
And crackdown. A weakening economy gives the GOP jitters. While Trump leans into immigration and crime.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not walking in Baltimore right now. Baltimore is a hellhole.
RAJU: As Democrats brace themselves.
GOV. WES MOORE (D), MARYLAND: We do not need an occupation.
RAJU: Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott joins me live.
Plus, maverick. Republican who's taking on Trump as Jeffrey Epstein's victims up the pressure.
TRUMP: This is a Democrat hoax.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is no hoax. The abuse was real.
RAJU: My new reporting on where the messy MAGA world fight goes from here, and why the future of college sports could hinge on Washington.
INSIDE POLITICS, the best reporting from inside the corridors of power, starts now.
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAJU (on camera): Good morning and welcome to INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. I'm Manu Raju.
Nearly a year after losing to Donald Trump, Democrats are looking for the solution to their identity crisis. How do they appeal to working class voters they lost last year, and what is their most effective strategy against Trump?
Well, that divide is on full display in the Big Apple, in the intense fight for New York mayor, where Trump and his team are trying to stop the Democrats' nominee, Zoran Mamdani, from winning in less than two months. Yet, it's Democratic leaders who are uncertain how to handle a Democratic socialist who could lead the nation's biggest city, even as he has tapped into a base hungry for change -- like last night in Brooklyn.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAMDANI: That fight, not just against oligarchy but for democracy, is a fight that has energized tens of thousands of Americans across this country, when Donald Trump ushered through his so-called Big, Beautiful Bill. He did so ushering through the greatest wealth transfer in American politics.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): So, what are these people, these oligarchs afraid of? They're afraid of Mr. Mamdani becoming an example to what could happen all over this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: All right. We have an excellent panel to break this all down with this morning, "Politico's" Rachael Bade, "Semafor's" David Weigel, and Tia Mitchell from "The Atlanta Journal Constitution."
Good morning to you all. Nice to see you. Happy Sunday.
David, you are -- have been following this race incredibly closely, reporting on all of it. You know, very clearly the energy, as it often is, is on the left wing of the party. This is where it is. Yet the party's leadership. They don't know how to deal with it. There are dozens of Democrats, party leaders, who are yet to endorse him as they try to search for their way forward.
Take us inside the Democratic divide. And why are they still struggling to get behind someone who is drawing massive crowds?
DAVID WEIGEL, SEMAFOR NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: So many reasons. And they're trying to separate parts of Mamdani campaign -- Mamdani compile and see if the rest of the party can adopt some of his ideas, and not all of them. So, the -- why can't Schumer and Jeffries just come out and endorse him? There are reasons about his position on Israel, which is closer to the Democratic base than it is to Chuck Schumer.
There are concerns about Hakeem Jeffries endorsing against the Black mayor, who is still running for reelection. On his -- on his policies, though. And you heard a little bit of that from the clip. I when I spent time with Democrats who do not want the party to look like Mamdani, they say we need to be ready to have a pro-housing, pro- building agenda and also be responsive to Trump, because if we are not effectively responsive to Trump, the left falls into the gap.
So, they're not worried that there's going to be a Andrew Cuomo style candidates who screw things up for them around the country. And Abigail Spanberger still the nominee in Virginia, but they are seeing this affordability message if they do not have a credible response to it, the left is going to come in and win these primaries.
RACHAEL BADE, POLITICO CAPITOL BUREAU CHIEF AND SENIOR WASHINGTON COLUMNIST: Yeah, everybody is pulling their hair out.
WEIGEL: Yeah.
BADE: Why -- why aren't they endorsing? Why aren't they endorsing?
It's not rocket science here. I mean, this is a guy who, yes, is very popular in New York, but he's a self-described socialist running in a very blue city. This is not a guy who can win back Central America. So, Democrats are obviously wary of that.
And the minute GOP or Democratic leaders endorse him is the minute they sort of throw their moderate and centrist Democratic candidates and, you know, incumbents under the bus, they become the front line in terms of the base from the pressure. Do you endorse, do you endorse? And so right now, by holding the line, they're sort of protecting them in a way.
RAJU: Yeah. And it's just a just to get a to view to how you can see how Democrats are struggling with this. The Democratic leaders, Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, of course, they both are in New York. They both this would be Mamdani. If he wins, he'd be their mayor. And they are the leaders of their party, and they still can't get themselves around to saying, yeah, I support him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Over the recess, you met with Mamdani. Why? What's taking you so long to support him? What do you need to hear from him to get behind the nominee from your party?
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Stay tuned.
REPORTER: Why haven't you met with Mamdani yet? Are you planning on doing that?
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Plan to meet with him soon.
REPORTER: Why haven't you endorsed him?
SCHUMER: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: That last question for me was, why haven't you endorsed him to Chuck Schumer? He didn't respond to that.
(LAUGHTER)
RAJU: But this is why there's clear tension over this.
This is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is, of course, very much in Mamdani's camp on the left flank of the Democratic Party. She made very clear her displeasure with Democratic leaders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: How hurtful is it that Democratic leaders Jeffries and Schumer are not endorsing Mamdani right now?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: I mean, for me, this is not about feelings or hurt feelings. It's about the fact that we have a Democratic nominee. Are we a party that rallies behind our nominee or not? If an individual doesn't want to support the party's nominee now, it complicates their ability to ask voters to support any nominee later.
For the good of the party, we must put our differences aside and support our party's nominee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TIA MITCHELL, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: I think Rachael makes a good point about Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries in particular, taking a position not necessarily for their own good, but for the good of the members that are behind them who can kind of hide behind them in line and say, hey, our leaders haven't spoken, so I don't have to speak yet either. So they're taking like a pragmatic political approach to this issue. But I think what AOC is bringing up is the more populist positioning. Regular people at home don't quite get the politics in the maneuvering behind what Democratic leadership does, not just on this issue, but many others.
We're going to have a similar kind of philosophical differences, conversation around government funding in the shutdown in just a couple of weeks. And so, I think the risk here is they're taking this, again, political, pragmatic approach to saying, hey, we don't want to get too far out of here because we're concerned about the long term ramifications, but the people at home don't quite get it and start to kind of get frustrated with the leaders of their party.
RAJU: Go ahead.
BADE: Oh, no, I was just going to say, you know, I've actually been rather surprised that we don't see more centrist Democrats, moderate Democrats coming out and criticizing him and saying he stands for this and I stand for that. I don't -- I don't agree with him here. This is where, you know, I actually stand. I feel like they could actually bolster their brands. And once upon a
time, just, what, four or five years ago, you actually did have a lot of centrist Democrats who weren't afraid to do that, say, you know, defund the police. We're not for this. This is killing our party. And we shouldn't be talking about it.
You don't hear that from a lot of these centrist Democrats. They're just saying nothing right now.
WEIGEL: Well, I was going to say, but at the same time, you mentioned defund the police. Mamdani has moved away from some of the issues the left was leading on associated with in 2020. And the Sanders' point in that, in that clip is that what the left wants is for him to be a successful left wing mayor. They don't have that in Chicago. They don't have -- they have a little bit of that in Boston. They want to be able to tell the story.
They want to keep Democrats in this tent and have a more progressive party. But you're right, it's really only Tom Suozzi that people in the New York media market, where every story is about Mamdani, every headline, you know, every ad is going to be your face next to his face.
BADE: Yeah.
WEIGEL: They're doing it. Other Democrats, Abigail Spanberger -- Republicans attacked Spanberger in Virginia compared to Mamdani for about a week in the summer. And it didn't take and they moved on. So, some of them are getting a little more confident.
RAJU: And, you know, I had actually asked AOC about that. I said, well, you know, what about them tying Mamdani to Democrats? He said, well, look, they've been doing that for me.
WEIGEL: Right.
RAJU: And it hasn't -- in her view, it hasn't really worked. So just embrace him and move on.
But what about what David was talking about earlier, about the larger message about affordability? Because that is clearly what's driving his campaign, driving the support on the left flank. Do we hear from Democrats like J.B. Pritzker, Gavin Newsom, Wes Moore, they're battling -- you know, clearly looking at 2028, are they tapping into that message or are they focusing too much on the democracy argument that may not resonate as much with some voters?
[08:10:05]
MITCHELL: I think it's a little bit of both. I think if you listen to Wes Moore when he was running for governor, when you listen to a lot of these elected officials, they acknowledge that affordability and, you know, to a larger extent, the economy is a big issue for their voters and they're trying to address it. But they also, you know, are putting out fires created by the Trump administration as well. So, now, they have to talk about democracy. They have to talk about
the National Guard showing up on their doorstep, because that's the conversation that they're being forced into, as opposed to some of the bigger issues that they know they'd rather be talking about. I do think they're trying to do both. But again, I think part of the thinking of the Trump administration, part of their approach is distracting Democratic leaders, the governors and the mayors in these big cities by creating these other storms that then they need to focus on.
RAJU: Why is Trump so interested in this race? I mean, because there's news from past -- this past week that the White House, White House aides are seemingly trying to meddle in this, try to get Eric Adams out of the race. Adams says he's staying in the race.
Talk of a possible ambassadorship. Trump said he didn't want to offer him an ambassadorship, but there's clearly some -- some internal deliberations within the White House. Why are they so -- I mean, politically perhaps, it's beneficial to have Mamdani be the mayor.
BADE: My first reaction to that was exactly -- upon reading this was like, what are they doing? Why are they doing this? Like, if they wanted a political edge, let Mamdani be governor, use it to sort of harangue the Democratic Party in the midterms.
But the reporting indicates from "The New York Times" and others that Trump himself has sort of this internal struggle he's hearing from friends and allies in New York, people he knows and loves, and he loves the city, and he worries about the city and what will happen under a Mayor Mamdani, and these folks are saying, you know, if he's elected, our companies are going to just go belly up and you got to do something to stop it.
RAJU: Yeah, and we'll see what Trump ultimately decides to do. But as of now, it's still a crowded race for mayor. We'll see. A big, big one ahead.
All right. Coming up as the economy flashes warning signs, why is Trump posting an "apocalypse now" meme? And I'll be joined later by the -- live, by the mayor of a city that's in Trump's sights for federal crackdown.
Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:16:41]
RAJU: On the heels of troubling economic numbers, President Trump is quickly trying to turn the page. He shared this on Truth Social this weekend, offering a blunt warning to the city of Chicago and saying, quote, "I love the smell of deportations in the morning". A reference, of course, to the Oscar winning classic "Apocalypse Now".
As his administration faces some international blowback after an immigration raid on a plant in Georgia, new this morning, the hundreds of South Koreans arrested there will return home to their country.
My panel is back with me now.
Let's talk a little bit about this Truth Social post from yesterday. Trump obviously likes to be very provocative, trolling, et cetera, with his social media post. But he's warning here Chicago is about to find out why it's called the Department of War, referring, of course, to his effort to try to change the name of the Defense Department to the war department.
But he's declaring war against the City of Chicago.
MITCHELL: And declaring war against an American city. And I don't --
RAJU: A great city, third largest city. My city.
MITCHELL: Your city.
RAJU: That's right.
MITCHELL: And also, I think, you know, there are plenty of people who may watch a certain type of media who are convinced that cities like Chicago are war zones where undocumented immigrant gangs are running the cities. But anyone who's been to the city of Chicago and actually walked around knows that that's not quite the case.
And so, I think, again, there's growing concern about how Trump is administering these raids and how he is vilifying these cities. I think a bigger concern, though, is the whole notion of war. Someone who was elected on ending wars and creating peace is now saying not just declaring war on foreign nations, but on one of the cities of our country. And I just don't know if that's the type of messaging that is really going to resonate with a lot of voters.
RAJU: Before you jump in, J.B. Pritzker responded to that, saying, the president of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal. Donald Trump is not a strong man. He's a scared man. They said he said they would not be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.
BADE: Yeah. I mean, you do have to question the messaging there, right? I mean, we've talked about this, including on this panel a few days ago. In terms of crime, Republicans typically do better than Democrats when it comes to who voters actually trust. This is an issue that Trump seems to poll well on. It's one of his top issues.
RAJU: He wants -- Trump wants this fight.
BADE: But -- yes, of course. But there's a way to frame that in terms of saying, look, I want to go into these cities because I want to protect people. I want to make it better. I'm doing this for you.
Tweeting -- what is it? Chicago's about to find out why they call it the Department of War. Obviously, people are not going to get the impression that he's coming there to help. He's coming there for a fight. So, yeah. RAJU: You know, this all comes, of course, amid this really terrible
jobs report from Friday and real concerns about the economy right now. The headline from "The Washington Post", the U.S. could tumble into recession before seeing Trump's promised golden age in the heels of just 22,000 jobs added in August, and just 107,000 jobs over the last four months combined. That is one of -- some of the worst numbers in decades.
So -- but the White House seems to be shrugging this off.
[08:20:03]
How concerned should they be?
WEIGEL: Well, they want the fed to lower rates. The Fed normally would not be reacting to this economic policy, which the president can change by changing the tariffs back to what they were before. But this is not a normal presidency in terms of how it deals with the Fed.
And so how worried -- how worried are they? Their rhetoric is never worried. The president talks about gas being under $2 when it's not under $2. It's very -- it's a very good at boosting --
RAJU: And it's a blame -- it's a blame on somebody else.
And it's never Trump's even though he singlehandedly, he's been -- you know, presidents sometimes get too much blame or too much credit for the economy oftentimes do. Yes, it's different here because Trump has had such a heavy hand on the economy with his tariff policy.
WEIGEL: It has been this -- this optimism I'm talking about. It's hard for other Republicans to translate because you're the only elections that are happening. We talked about New York. There's California, there's New Jersey and Virginia elections.
It has started to trickle down there that prices are up, home prices are up. Grocery prices are up. Job openings, especially in Virginia with federal employees are down. And you've seen Republicans start to struggle. They're not Trump, but other Republicans struggle with the idea that this is a golden age.
This is the best economy you've ever lived under. Don't worry about it. Ignore it. Ignore the BLS. We'll fix that later. Republicans are on the ballot, are starting to have -- see a little bit of damage to this, but you've got other Republicans who are not on the ballot for a year who are saying maybe the Fed will fix it.
RAJU: And just look at the numbers, 52 percent was his first term average on the economy approval rating among all U.S. adults. Look at how much it's dropped 37 percent now. That's got to be alarming for the GOP.
BADE: Oh, absolutely. And, you know, very promising for Democrats. The question for Democrats is can they keep the focus here? I mean, right now, we're just talking about this this Trump tweet about crime and across America, a crime in Chicago. He clearly is trying to change the message to something else that benefits him.
Can they sort of not take the bait on crime, on transgender issues, specifically in Virginia? That's a big one that the Republican there is sort of trying to focus on instead of economic issues. Focus solely on that promise.
Like you said, this promise that there was going to be a golden age, that prices were going to come down and say to voters, we know you don't feel it. You have to elect someone new.
Democrats -- it's their best message. It's their winning message. Can they focus there?
RAJU: Yeah, no question about it.
All right. So, meantime, there's Trump today. He's going to the U.S. Open Men's Final. That's later today. This is the latest in a number of sporting events he likes to go to. He's a sports fan. He also likes to insert himself into the middle of it. Oftentimes, as he did with the FIFA Club World Cup Final in New Jersey earlier this year. He was actually out there handing out medals and the like.
This time, though, broadcasters are being asked by the -- by the U.S. Open to avoid crowd reactions when it comes to Trump, they don't actually want to -- it's unclear exactly why who's asking them to do that, but they're saying that they regularly ask their broadcasters to refrain from showing off court disruptions.
MITCHELL: Yeah, well, there could be --
RAJU: This is happening in New York.
MITCHELL : Right. Yeah, because he's going to New York again. He's going to a city where he's not particularly popular. I think also he's going to a place at -- Trump has been doing a lot of leisurely activities on the weekend, even, as you know, the National Guard is in D.C. he's threatening to go to other cities. There are a lot of other fires going on that he's not necessarily talking about.
And by the way, he had a terrible jobs report. But yet he's going to, you know, have some fun at the U.S. Open. And I think there are a lot of voters, including some voters, that want to support him, saying you're not focusing on what you said would be the main thing, and they will take an opportunity, particularly in a place like New York, to let him know, even if they're way across the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
So, there could be a lot of people with thoughts and feelings, and maybe the U.S. Open doesn't want that to distract from the tennis.
RAJU: Yeah, I mean, that will be a good one to watch later today.
All right. Coming up, how Trump is planning to knock off a GOP congressman who has been a perennial thorn in his side over the Epstein saga. I have new reporting, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [08:28:36]
RAJU: President Trump demands unflinching loyalty from Republicans. Otherwise, it is viewed as an act of betrayal. And now, the Republican who has become perhaps the most disloyal is about to endure MAGA wrath.
That's Congressman Thomas Massie, who has led the charge to release the Jeffrey Epstein files in defiance of the president. New this morning, brand new reporting with my colleague Sarah Ferris about how Trump has met with the prospective Massie primary foe as a Trump aligned group plans to spend millions to defeat him.
And Speaker Johnson and GOP leaders don't plan to stand in Trump's way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Mr. Speaker, do you think that Thomas Massie deserves to be reelected?
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Thomas Massie has made that decision himself.
You know, he is -- he is actively working against his team almost daily now. And seems to enjoy that role. So he is, you know, deciding his own fate. My way is to reach out an olive branch to everybody and try to be a peacemaker and some people make that very difficult for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: My panel is back. I mean, typically a leader defends the person in their conference because they're a member of your conference.
BADE: Yeah.
RAJU: This situation is different, and Johnson is very clear where he stands.
BADE: Yeah, absolutely. GOP leaders are just going to let him hang himself here. He's such a pain in the side for them that they wouldn't mind if he's gone. And it would be a red district regardless.
But look, this whole thing is it's a case study in whether a Trump antagonist in Congress can survive. I mean, we've covered the Hill for a long time during the Trump era. The answer to that question has always been no. I mean, think Liz Cheney, Jeff Flake, Bob Good.
RAJU: Bob Good, yes.
BADE: History just sort of strewn with the bodies of, you know, political folks who criticize Trump and then lost, you know, their seats.
The difference here is that Massie has such a strong brand in his district as this sort of libertarian, independent thinker. And Trump has gone after him before, saying he should lose a seat in 2020. He won that primary by 60 points.
But the difference now is that you have people like Chris LaCivita who are jumping down his throat, helping organize and raise money, and --
(CROSSTALKING)
RAJU: Former top Trump campaign aide.
BADE: Yes. And that guy doesn't like to lose. So it's going to be a dog fight.
RAJU: Yes. And this is just a taste of what people are seeing in the district. Look at how much money that's already been spent by this Trump-aligned super PAC. $1.6 million by MAGA Kentucky. Massie spending just $418,000 and that is just to defend himself in a sense.
Just -- what viewers are seeing back home. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened to Thomas Massie? When did he decide to start voting with the radical Democrats?
REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): I'm sure you've seen the attack ads by now.
I'm not folding. I'm fighting. And I'm just getting started.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: The message you're trying to send here is that if you stray, like the way Massie did, you're going to see that in your district. That's the message from the Trump team.
DAVID WEIGEL, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, SEMAFOR: Yes.
RAJU: To anyone who wants to break from him.
WEIGEL: Absolutely. And Massie is unique in another way on foreign policy on votes around Israel. He has attracted for years the enmity of pro-Israel groups.
There was money on the air in Kentucky last cycle. Before this happened, a lot of people want to beat him. His message has been, no, I'm with the base. The leadership might change based on what Trump wants, but I'm with you.
On the Epstein thing, he is with the base on that. On foreign aid, increasingly with the base. Can he get through that? Because the rest of the ad that the MAGA PAC ad you were showing says that because he voted against Trump, he voted for sex surgeries for minors, and it makes him look like a liberal.
The bet is that the rest of the Republican base can go along with the party in Congress and say, being a true conservative means supporting the leader, not diverging on your own issues.
TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Yes. And that's the key point here is Massie is with the base on these issues that leadership is mad at him about. They're the ones who split with the base on Epstein.
RAJU: Yes. On the debt and deficit, he voted against the --
MITCHELL: Yes.
RAJU: -- One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Because of it, because of --
WEIGEL: Of the deficit.
RAJU: -- the base -- the base.
MITCHELL: We've been saying for years we were going to cut the deficit. That's what MAGA has been saying for years.
And so, I mean -- and there are people like Marjorie Taylor Greene who are with Massie and not necessarily being attacked by Trump. And we can talk about those dynamics being a little bit different.
But what they're saying is, hey, we are not afraid. Matter of fact, the threats that came from the White House saying it would be a hostile act to support the discharge petition. They did not like that messaging at all.
And it -- to them, I think they think they're on more solid ground. Massie says, hey, come at me. He's kind of saying, come at me. I can stand it. I can -- I can withstand it.
So it will be interesting to see, because this is a split in the Republican Party. We've talked about the split with the Democrats. This is a clear split in the Republican Party.
RAJU: Just more on that split. I talked to Massie about this. He shrugged off the attacks from the president and the Speaker as well. And but also some folks on the right are not with him in this fight, either.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MASSIE: The Speaker's position depends on him rubber stamping, not just rubber stamping, but reinforcing anything Donald Trump wants even if Donald Trump is wrong. So the Speaker is in a tough spot.
REP. ANNA PAULINA LUNA (R-FL): I think that the way that this has kind of flushed out between his personal relationship with the president is unfortunate to see unfold.
The moment that you get personal and the moment that you start doing things for reasons other than what you're telling the public, I think that that kind of crosses the Rubicon. There's no turning back from that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: That last comment coming from a conservative congresswoman who supports the effort to release the Epstein files. But is not with Massie to try to force a vote and put this on the floor of the House. And also wouldn't say if she supports his reelection because of his feud with Trump.
BADE: Yes, I mean, he's the black sheep right now. So it's not just people -- it's not just Republicans in Washington. The "Wall Street Journal" had a good story about how Republicans, you know, back home in Kentucky, were also distancing themselves from Massie, even though he has that strong local brand.
[08:34:47]
BADE: I mean, obviously, they want endorsements from Trump themselves. And the way to do that is to kind of separate yourself from, you know, the person who is sort of the ugly stepchild at the moment.
But I just want to go back to one thing we were talking about, which was like the Democratic -- or the Republican attack ads on him trying to suggest he's a Democrat. It's not just the policies that he's aligned with the base on. I mean, it really is this sort of local, you know, knowledge people have of him.
They know he's a farmer. That he raises chickens. That he has solar panels that, you know, power his home. They like that. They like that he, you know, grows peaches.
So look, that's going to be hard to sort of color and shade for the Trump folks.
RAJU: Yes. No question about it. And meantime, they're still short of the votes they need to force a vote on the floor, even with some of those MAGA supporters aligned with Trump want the release of these files, but are not signing on with Massie.
MITCHELL: Right. I think, you know, the --
RAJU: Two votes still. Two signatures short.
MITCHELL: Two signatures short. And if they don't come home and change minds while they're in the district this weekend, I don't think they're going to get those other two.
RAJU: Yes. All right. We'll see what happens.
All right. Coming up next, President Trump has threatened to send troops into Baltimore. So how will Democratic officials there respond to that? I'll discuss that and more with Baltimore's mayor. That's next.
[08:35:58]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not walking. I'm not walking in Baltimore right now. Baltimore is a hellhole.
I have an obligation to protect this country, and that includes Baltimore. Baltimore is a very unsafe place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: President Trump has made it clear Baltimore could be next, as he plans to send troops to cities across the country. But Maryland is responding, announcing plans to deploy more state law enforcement to fight crime in Baltimore and telling Trump, "no thanks".
Joining me now is Baltimore's Democratic Mayor, Brandon Scott. Mayor Scott, thank you so much for joining me this morning. Really appreciate your time.
MAYOR BRANDON SCOTT (D), BALTIMORE, MARYLAND: Thanks for having me.
RAJU: Absolutely.
Would Maryland be sending additional state law enforcement into Baltimore if it weren't for President Trump's threats to send troops to your city?
SCOTT: Absolutely. Since our governor was sworn in a few years ago, he's been a deep partner with the city of Baltimore in our efforts to drown down violence. And we have violence, as you are now talking this morning, at its lowest point in 50 years or on record.
He is restarting a partnership between the Maryland state police and other state police departments, with the city police department that was ended by his Republican predecessor.
RAJU: But why did it take so long to deploy these additional law enforcement into your city?
SCOTT: Well, listen, we work with them in many different ways. This is just a specific type of deployment, right? We work with our state partners, there are Maryland state police officers that are patrolling Interstate 83 in our city.
We work with our transit authority cops that are on our highways. But now with the with us having this great progress, but also with the governor, MSP being able to work through some of the other issues. They're just now deploying to help us further drive down the violence. But we work with our state partners every single day.
RAJU: So you're saying it's a total coincidence that Trump's threats to send troops into the city came at the same time as these additional troops are being -- additional law enforcement from your state are being deployed. It's a total -- it's a coincidence.
SCOT; This is about strategic deployment, right? This is what this is. For us, it's a strategic initiative that we have been working and asking for.
And now that they have the people that they can actually do that. And now that we know we can further the partnership because, again, state police are working in the city, other state police officers, MTA police are working in the city each and every day. This is an expansion of that effort and a focus of that effort.
RAJU: So, Mayor, you did mention the trends that are you said going down in a positive direction in your city. The crime trends, you said, but you know -- but you have made clear that you don't want the National Guard sent to Baltimore.
But according to FBI data for 2024, Baltimore still had the third highest rate of violent crime in the United States for cities with populations over 250,000 people. So why not take the extra help from the federal government?
SCOTT: Well, the truth is this, right. We understand those numbers, but we also understand that last year was the -- was another consecutive year of historic reductions in gun violence in the city of Baltimore. And that we know the National Guard doesn't work.
You're talking about you and I right now, talking Baltimore has the fewest amount of homicides through this date on record. Why now? Why not during the president's first term when gun violence was through the roof?
We have an approach through our community violence prevention plan, through our comprehensive plan to reduce gun violence the right way in Baltimore, and we're not going to shake from that.
We know what works here in Baltimore. We don't need that kind of help.
RAJU: But, you know, we've seen federal troops here in D.C. for several weeks now. And this is what Mayor Muriel Bowser, of course, a Democrat, has said about the federal resources that have come in to help bring down crime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER (D), WASHINGTON D.C.: We know that when carjackings go down, when the use of gun goes down, when homicide or robbery go down, neighborhoods feel safer and are safer. So this surge has been important to us for that reason.
We think that there's more accountability in the system or at least perceived accountability in the system that is driving down illegal behavior.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:44:52]
RAJU: So, Mayor Scott, if it helped in D.C., why wouldn't those federal resources help in Baltimore? SCOTT: Well, I think that you have to understand that D.C. is
different than every other city, but also for us, robberies are already down 30 percent. Carjackings are already down.
(CROSSTALKING)
RAJU: But wouldn't you want them down -- wouldn't you want them down even further? I know that you're saying they're going down, but wouldn't you want them down even further? So if additional troops, et cetera from federal government could help, wouldn't you just take that extra help?
SCOTT: We understand that we've laid out very clearly what the federal government can do to help us. They can restore the cuts to the programs that have helped us reduce this gun violence already in this city.
They could come out and ban ghost guns and Glock switches. They can help us in the ways that we know work each and every day.
But what also is happening in D.C., restaurants and businesses are struggling because no one is coming there.
We don't need an occupation. We need a federal government that is working the right way to reduce gun violence. And that's the way that we've been doing it here in Baltimore.
RAJU: Will you encourage what you did with the -- like the mayor of Chicago, who had signed an order telling police not to cooperate with federal law enforcement? Will you do the same thing in Baltimore?
SCOTT: We will look at every single option that we have on our table, legal and otherwise when and if this happens in the city of Baltimore.
But the one thing we know about this administration is that there is uncertainty. And we have to make sure that we are prepared for anything that happens.
But right now, we're focused on continuing to drive down violence, and we will not be shaken from that focus by anyone, including the president.
RAJU: Mayor Scott, I just want to ask you very quickly about the politics of this, because polls have shown that most Americans, including Democrats, think crime is a major problem in large cities.
The same poll also found that a majority of Americans actually approve of how Trump is handling crime, even more than other issues like the economy and immigration.
So I wonder if you -- if Democrats continue to fight this -- fight Trump on this, are they -- are they at risk or is their party at risk of looking weak on the issue of crime?
SCOTT: No. We have to be smart. And what the national Democrats need to do is allow and push the folks in the front who are the experts on that. Meaning local mayors, local officials who have been driving down violence to not allow the president or anyone else to try to tag along and bandwagon onto the success that we've had.
We know the right way to do this and the right way isn't always the popular way. We know that there are so many things tied into what people think about cities, including some of the racist tropes that we hear coming out of D.C.
I'm not concerned about that. I'm concerned about the residents of Baltimore and their safety, and making sure that this 50-year-low that we have goes even further.
RAJU: All right. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, thank you so much for joining me this Sunday morning. Really appreciate your time.
SCOTT: Thank you.
RAJU: Absolutely.
Coming up, the chaos of college sports and what do Republicans and Trump want to do to fix it? I have new reporting next.
[08:47:51]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RAJU: Week two of the college football season is now behind us but many fans may still have no idea who is actually playing on their favorite teams. And that's because of the chaotic situation in collegiate athletics where athletes jump from school to school looking for the best deals to profit off of their name, image and likeness also known as NIL.
But after a 2021 supreme court decision opened the door for college athletes to be paid, different states and universities have their own ways of handling NIL deals, creating an uneven playing field.
Now enter Congress. The NCAA and power conferences like the Big Ten and SEC are blitzing Capitol Hill and pushing for sweeping legislation that passed two key House committees along party lines in July.
Now, the House Majority Leader, Republican Steve Scalise, told me that he wants to bring it to the floor for a vote soon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. STEVE SCALISE (R-LA): Well, right now it's the wild, wild west. And everybody knows that. You've got this unlimited transfer portal so nobody knows from one year to the next who's going to be playing for what school.
You've seen horror stories of student athletes that were promised a lot of things, got nothing, and then don't even have an education to walk away with. Let the student athletes go make as much money as they can.
RAJU: Will it help? Say you're a big LSU fan. LSU over the likes of, say, a smaller school in the Pacific Northwest?
SCALISE: Well, LSU won national titles before this bill. So again, if people think this bill is going to make their team better, that's not the intention of the bill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: The bill would put these new guardrails in place by codifying NIL standards, preventing athletes from being school employees and shielding the NCAA from some lawsuits by giving it limited antitrust protections and allowing the NCAA to regulate transfers as they set the rules of the road.
But it's still uncertain just how far they can advance the bill down the field, given the opposition from player unions and some Democrats who contend the bill would make the major conferences even more powerful and give the NCAA too much authority over athletes.
[08:54:45]
RAJU: Now Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell says she plans to release a bill of her own.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARIA CANTWELL (D-WA): This is about whether you're going to give an antitrust exemption where the biggest schools will continue to grow and get the revenue and we'll only have competition at the very highest level.
So I think what we want to see is we want to see that athletes have their rights, we want to clean up the agent game. The agents basically are running away with a lot of money, and they should be regulated.
RAJU: Do you think it hurts smaller schools?
CANTWELL: Absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: President Trump has signaled an interest in the issue. And while the White House would not say if he backed the House bill, Scalise told me Trump was letting Congress work its will and he was confident Trump would eventually sign it into law.
That's it for INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. You can follow me on X @mkraju and follow the show @INSIDEPOLITICS. Follow me on Instagram and on TikTok.
If you ever miss an episode, you can catch up wherever you get your podcasts. Just search for INSIDE POLITICS.
Up next, "STATE THE UNION WITH JAKE TAPPER AND DANA BASH". Jake's guests include border czar Tom Homan, Florida surgeon general Joseph Ladapo, and Dr. Paul Offit.
Thanks again for sharing your Sunday morning with us. We'll see you next time.
[08:55:57]
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