Return to Transcripts main page

Inside Politics

Trump: "This Was Really A Historical Day...Wasn't It Amazing?"; Trump Returns To Mounting Domestic Pressures After Historic Trip; Day 14: No Signs Of Progress In Ending Standoff; Trump Complains Of "Super Bad Picture" Used On Time Cover; Mamdani: We're Leading A National Movement Beyond New York; North Carolina Republicans To Re-Draw Congressional Map. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired October 14, 2025 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:10]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Today on Inside Politics, savoring success. President Trump is back in the U.S., reveling in his massive diplomatic win overseas, even as multiple domestic controversies threaten to cut his victory lap short.

Plus, Capitol deadlock. 14 days later, are Democrats willing to negotiate at all to end the government shutdown. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will be here live. And I'll speak to a former hostage about the mix of joy and heartache. The 20 people released by Hamas are likely experiencing as they adjust to the freedom in Israel, forever marked by the horrors of October 7.

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

At 2:35 this morning, President Trump touched down in Washington after a long and historic day. The realization of a ceasefire deal, bringing every living Israeli hostage home to their families, and we hope ending the war in Gaza. An Air Force One headed home. You could just see and hear and feel the way he was soaking it in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: So, this was really a historic day, to put it mildly. Wasn't it amazing? Even that last meeting, when you see the heads of those countries, those are serious countries, right? But it was -- I thought it was fantastic. I thought -- and seeing the -- I mean, the so-called hostages, but those kids come back home, and the way their parents just went, just went crazy. It's been very good. I think it's a very -- it's a very important day because nobody thought this was possible. So, it's very good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: As you see here, a lot happened in the short time, the president was overseas. Here's just a glimpse of what he has returned to. His lumber tariffs begin threatening to hike home costs, federal prosecutors meeting to finalize a potential indictment of John Bolton, talk of invoking the Insurrection Act in American cities, and of course, that government shutdown showing no signs of an end.

I'm joined to talk about all of this and more with a terrific group of reporters. Hello, everybody. Just like, where do we even start? Let's start there. Jeff Zeleny with the understandable victory lap, as I called it at the beginning of the show. Given what has happened in the Middle East, never mind the caution that we certainly have of what's to come in the Middle East. But there's so much happening on the domestic front, much of which is because of his policy proposals and his policy agenda, like tariffs and also his determination for retribution on the judicial front.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It is extraordinary. And there's no doubt that President Trump has a bit of momentum behind at least his psyche, and just the idea that this is a an achievement, there is no doubt. Yes, there are questions galore, which the president didn't really raise that many of them yesterday.

He did not really talk about how difficult the road ahead is, how -- in fact, he underplayed. He said rebuilding Gaza is the easy part. I think that's probably not the case. Gaza first has to unarm. But all that aside, that will play out. The president is now back in Washington with just a huge array of challenges on his agenda.

And the question is, he's not been engaged really in the shutdown at all. As we enter nearly what is going to be the third week going into it, he certainly has responded to the troops not getting paid. He found money to do that. He's likely to debt for other federal law enforcement workers. But in terms of the challenges really mounting up here, they are many.

But my question is, is he going to try and use this sort of energy behind him into solving some other challenges or is it back to kind of the old Trump and it's -- I think we probably know the answer.

[12:05:00]

BASH: So, I want to get into that. And Carl, I'm going to come to you on that in a second. But before we do, I just want to play a moment, a couple of moments, I should say, when the president was abroad yesterday. And it's so clear that when he's on the world stage with these leaders, he's thinking so much about what they can do and how it reflects, or you know, what he -- what it means about what he can and cannot do in the United States. Just some example of -- else at a handshake with El-Sisi, the head of Egypt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Powerful and very powerful. No crime. There is no crime. And they have very little crime. Because they don't play games. That's why. They don't play games. And you are a great leader. You have very little crime. They're very strong in crime.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you talked about some of the governors?

TRUMP: You wouldn't believe how strong. But they are very strong. But they don't have the kind of crime. They don't have the violent. They may have other kinds of crime, but they're violent crime. You can actually walk down a park and not get mugged or hit over the head with a baseball bat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Whether or not, that's true. They also don't have the U.S. Constitution.

JASMINE WRIGHT, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, NOTUS: Sure, and the prevalence of guns in the U.S., right? I think it's fascinating because the president was asked on his way back. Do you want to basically enact some of these policies or bring some of what you saw in Egypt as it relates to crime back to the U.S., particularly when you're talking about the Democratic governors that have, for the most part, been against him sending in the National Guard into their states.

I mean, he said no, but I just want them to get their act together. And so obviously, even though Donald Trump is having this amount -- this really massive political achievement legacy, creating achievement for him in the Middle East, his mind is still at some points back in D.C. and back in the U.S., the country that he is serving right now.

And so, I think that obviously we're going to have to talk about the shutdown. But a focus of this White House is maybe even more so than the economy these days, has been this effort to make American cities great again and reduce what he says is the crime. Obviously, the National Guard, if those Democratic governors do not want them, they cannot address crime, but certainly they can act as a deterrence, as kind of what the White House is hoping.

BASH: Yeah. But he should learn from his own win that affordability in the economy is number one. OK, Carl, what is going on with the shutdown?

CARL HULSE, CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: I'm not sure that his success over there is transferable to here, although there's going to be an attempt to build on that momentum. And it is -- it's this dichotomy of, you know, success overseas struggle here. But I think one thing we are seeing today is the White House is digging in for a long--

BASH: Well, let me just play -- put one thing on the screen, and this probably is going to help make your point. This was social media posts from the OMB. OMB is making every preparation to batten down the hatches and ride out the Democrats intransigence. Pay the troops, pay law enforcement, continue the RIFs and wait. So that's all about permanent.

HULSE: So, these are some of the tipping points that you would normally have to settle a shutdown. Oh, the troops aren't going to get paid, or federal law enforcement isn't getting paid. The women, infant and children program is going to run out of money. But -- so, the White House seems to me, and I think to a lot of people, saying, all right, this doesn't seem like it's going to resolve quickly. Let's get ready. So, I think -- and the Democrats are comfortable. You're going to talk to Hakeem. The Democrats seem pretty comfortable where they are on this issue. So right now, I think that we seem to be in for the long haul, and the groups that would normally, kind of sort this out don't really exist as much anymore.

BASH: Like the bipartisan thing.

HULSE: Right. I mean, there's some -- there's obviously talks going on, kind of, but they're very informal. There's no structure. You know, and you said, Trump hasn't really been engaged. I'm not sure that the Republican congressional leaders want him engaged, right? Because their worries are going to make a deal because he does know that this healthcare premium increase is problematic for Republicans.

The study by Kaiser, really good group, has shown that, you know, Republican House districts have the most Obamacare enrollees. So, you know that that is coming November 1. People start to -- they're getting letters now, actually, that might start to bite a little bit more, but I'm not seeing a quick settlement at all.

BASH: OK. Before we go to break, we have to show this time cover, because the cover of Time is Donald Trump's happy place. I mean, the fact that he got this with that caption, his triumph. He's not so happy about the picture, and he posted about it. He said, they disappeared my hair, then had some floating on top of my head. Really weird. I never liked taking pictures from underneath angles. Mr. President, nobody does. We're with you on that. Super bad picture.

[12:10:00]

He's not wrong. It's not the best picture in the world, despite the fact that this is what he dreams of, and he actually creates Time Magazine covers for his golf courses. This is a real one.

ZELENY: Yeah. This real one is certainly to be not hung in Mar-a-Lago or Bedminster, where some of those fake ones are. But look again, showing that to the point earlier, if the president is going to suddenly change by this big success, of course, he's not. At 79 years old, Donald Trump is who we see is who he is. And he is as concerned about vanity as he is this really remarkable achievement, at least in phase one of this ceasefire.

BASH: All right, everybody standby. Coming up next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): We're barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Is he right? The Democratic Leader of the House, Hakeem Jeffries, will be here live after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [12:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Day 14, we're officially entering the third week of the government shutdown, and we're just days away from federal workers missing their first paychecks. Today, the White House warned that layoffs will continue, and on Capitol Hill, there are few signs of anything except a stalemate.

Minority Leader, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, is here now. Thank you so much for being here, Sir. I want to start by sort of trying to reset. We are two weeks into this shutdown. Your proposal to fund the government included permanently extending Obamacare subsidies, restoring cuts to Medicare and the Republicans, big, beautiful bill, which is now law. Is that still what you want all of that in order to get Democrats vote to reopen the government?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Well, our position from the very beginning is that we want to sit down, have a bipartisan discussion. Now we want to reopen the government, enact the spending agreement that actually makes life better for the American people and addresses the Republican healthcare crisis that is devastating people all across the country, working class Americans, middle class Americans, as well as everyday Americans.

From our policy perspective, I think what we've made clear is that, you've got to cancel the cuts, lower the cost, save healthcare. That involves addressing the Medicaid crisis that Republicans have created, a Medicare crisis, hospitals, nursing homes, community-based health clinics, closing all across the country. And, of course, extending the Affordable Care Act tax credit, so that tens of millions of Americans don't experience dramatically increase healthcare cost.

BASH: So, all of that is in -- all of that is in the bill that you tried to pass, and it didn't pass, that's in your proposal. But you started that answer by saying, we want to sit down and talk about it. That suggests that what you just said is negotiable, is it?

JEFFRIES: I think we're always ready and willing and able to have a good faith discussion with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to entertain any ideas that they may put forth with respect to both reopening the government and, of course, decisively addressing the Republican healthcare crisis.

The problem that we confront, Dana, is that Republicans have gone radio silent since the shutdown began. No conversations, no meetings, no discussions. Donald Trump has held them back from even having a meaningful engagement to try to find top--

BASH: You're right down the hall from Mike Johnson's office. I know exactly where you are. You could probably take a few steps and go knock on the door and talk to him. Have you tried that?

JEFFRIES: Speaker Johnson hasn't been given permission to have a conversation with me or leader Schumer, and he said as much earlier today.

BASH: So, you don't think he would talk to you at all?

JEFFRIES: We can have a conversation. But the problem is that until they get the green light to actually have a meaningful discussion, to try to find common ground and a bipartisan path forward and a willingness to address the damage that Republicans have done to the health, the safety and the economic wellbeing of the American people. Then, of course, any informal discussion is going to be not fruitful.

BASH: So, you mentioned that there's nothing on the table. That is true from the leadership. But you know better than I, that a lot of times solutions to these problems don't come from the leadership. They come from bipartisan coalitions in the rank and file. And there is a proposal, a bipartisan proposal in the House to extend the Obamacare subsidies for one year and reopen the government. Would you consider that if the speaker would put that on the floor?

JEFFRIES: The speaker has made clear he doesn't support extending the affordable care. In fact, what they wanted to--

BASH: But what about you, do you support that, call his bluff?

JEFFRIES: What I do -- what I support is a meaningful extension of the Affordable Care Act. I'm happy to entertain any reasonable proposal that is put forward. There has not been one. And the reason is, we know Republicans have now for more than 70 different times over the last 15 years, tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

And so, they're not interested in meaningfully addressing this healthcare crisis. They're not interested in extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits, even though, earlier this year, as part of their one big, ugly bill, they enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history.

And at the same time, permanent tax breaks for their billionaire donors, that's unbelievable. And now they're not even willing to consider even a modest extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits for working class Americans. That's their priorities.

[12:20:00]

BASH: But that's -- it depends on who they are. There are enough Republicans on a piece of legislation, if all the Democrats supported it, that would extend those Obamacare subsidies for one year.

JEFFRIES: I think opposition has been--

BASH: Just on the policy would you support that?

JEFFRIES: I think I've been very clear, which is that that is not a proposal that I'm prepared to support at this particular point in time.

BASH: How come? JEFFRIES: Well, it's very simple, because working class Americans, everyday Americans, and middle-class Americans deserve the same level of certainty and assurance as to their healthcare costs in an environment that the cost of living is already out of control. Electricity prices through the roof, housing costs through the roof, grocery costs through the roof.

Now, tens of millions of Americans about to experience dramatically increased premiums, co pays in deductibles. We should provide these everyday Americans with the same type of certainty--

BASH: But what about reopening the government? Yeah. And that makes sense. I understand that. What about supporting that along with reopening the government? Because the Republicans don't feel that they are feeling any political pain now. I mean, you saw the White House, the OMB director put out something about that they're battening down the hatches because they're paying troops, law enforcement, and they're making permanent cuts to the federal workforce while the shutdown is happening.

JEFFRIES: Republicans have been engaging in mass firings and attacking hard working federal employees since the very beginning of Donald Trump's presidency. And so, to the extent that this is continuing, it's more of the same. Cruelty for them is the point. We've been very clear as Democrats, again, we'll find a bipartisan path forward. We want to reopen the government. We want to make sure that our hard- working federal employees and civil servants get paid.

But we also have to address the Republican healthcare crisis. And the American people clearly know who shut the government down. Republicans control the House, the Senate and the presidency. They are blaming them, because it's their responsibility and they've adopted a my way or the highway approach from the very beginning of this presidency, and that, unfortunately, has continued through this shutdown.

BASH: I want to play something that the New York City democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani said to a very full room, while he was campaigning in New York last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOHRAN MAMDANI, (D) NEW YORK MAYOR CANDIDATE: There is something special in this room tonight. It's power. It's the power of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers United, ready to usher in a new day. It is the power of a movement that won the battle over the soul of the Democratic Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Mr. Leader, does Mamdani and that movement represent the soul of your party?

JEFFRIES: Well, the Democratic Party, of course, is extremely diverse, and it's represented by people like--

BASH: But there is only one soul. JEFFRIES: It's represented by people like Mikie Sherrill, who obviously is enroute to becoming the next governor of New Jersey. Abigail Spanberger, who's about to become the next governor of Virginia. I haven't spoken to Zohran since the shutdown started. I do look forward to having a conversation with him before early voting starts in New York later on this month.

BASH: He's a Democratic socialist. Is that the soul of the Democratic Party, or is it the Democratic candidates you just referenced?

JEFFRIES: Here's my view of what the Democratic Party represents. We believe in a strong floor and no ceiling. That in America, if you work hard and play by the rules, there should be no ceiling to your success, for yourself, for your family, for your children.

At the same period of time, we believe in this country, wealthiest country in the history of the world, there should be a strong floor, anchored in things like social security, Medicare and Medicaid that Republicans are decimating, that Democrats brought to the people of this country.

BASH: Mr. Leader, thank you so much for being here today. Appreciate it.

JEFFRIES: Thank you.

BASH: And coming up, a new front in the redistricting wars. North Carolina is now entering the fray. What happens there could determine who wins control of Congress. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: North Carolina is joining the redistricting wars. It's a 50-50 state when it comes to national elections, but the legislature is dominated by Republicans who have basically free rein to draw its districts, however they want, and what they want is to flip at least one seat in the U.S. Congress from blue to red. Tom Foreman is at the Magic Wall to break down where things stand there and across the country. Tom?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. This electoral arms race, which was clearly undoubtedly started by President Trump in terms of his latest iteration, has now indeed turned toward North Carolina. 14 districts here, they used to reflect just what you said about a 50-50 state. It was seven in seven in terms of their seats.

Republicans redistricted, and now it is 10 Republican districts to four, and it appears they're targeting the first district where Don Davis run one last time around the Democrat. Wondering if they can cut this tiny lead here away and pick up yet another seat, very much not representing the demographics of their state, the political demographics, but certainly representing something they would like. And they are far from alone.

There are a dozen states out there right now that are actively involved in this battle over redistricting. Remember, Texas started down here. They wanted to redraw their lines to say, we're going to do this and favor the Republicans there. California responded by saying, they're in the process of it now.

We'll do the same thing, and we'll have a better advantage for five seats here. But then it just kept spreading. If you look at this map, a lot's going on. Some we don't include New York, Illinois

[12:30:00]