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Inside Politics

Mamdani, Cuomo Trade Personal Barbs On Experience, Integrity; Celebrities Who Condemned Israel For War Criticized After Ceasefire; Senate Republicans Post AI-Generated Video Of Schumer. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired October 17, 2025 - 12:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:34:29]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Gloves off in Gotham with less than three weeks until Election Day. The New York City mayoral debate got feisty and personal.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

ANDREW CUOMO (I), NEW YORK MAYORAL CANDIDATE: He literally has never had a job. On his resume it says he interned for his mother. This is not a job for a first-timer. Any day you could have a hurricane, you could have, God forbid, a 911, a health pandemic. If you don't know what you're doing, people could die.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Mr. Cuomo. We have to move forward (ph). Mr. Mamdani --

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK MAYORAL CANDIDATE: Yes. And if we have a health pandemic, then why would New Yorkers turn back to the governor who sent seniors to their death in nursing homes? That's the kind of experience that's on offer here today.

What I don't have an experience, I make up for in integrity. And what you don't have an integrity, you could never make up for in experience.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

[12:35:13]

BASH: My panel is back, including Isaac Dovere, New Yorker --

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes.

BASH: -- as you were saying in the break.

DOVERE: True.

BASH: New Yorker, not soybean farmer (ph). Which we like everybody here.

DOVERE: We can (ph).

BASH: So, Mr. City Slicker, what did you think of the debate? What's the big takeaway from the sources you're talking about?

DOVERE: I think the big takeaway is that Cuomo could not answer for a lot of parts of his record and what he has done. And Mamdani really couldn't answer for a lot of what he's proposing to do and how he would do it. And that is the choice now that goes in front of New Yorkers. But, of course, it's not just a binary choice as much as Andrew Cuomo would like that to be the case.

Curtis Sliwa was there constantly injecting himself into the conversation. Saying after the debate he thinks Andrew Cuomo should be the one to drop out, not him. It makes it really hard to see whether -- that there's a path for Cuomo to get ahead unless he gets a lot of the Sliwa votes.

But it also makes it hard for Mamdani to see a path to getting a real majority of the vote. He will -- he could win with a plurality. It's not ranked choice voting like it was in the primary there. But there's a lot riding on that for Mamdani who most insiders think is in a good position to win.

He has a big agenda. He's going to need a lot of support. And if he doesn't clear 50 percent, which might be what we're heading for, that is an issue for him after the election.

BASH: So that agenda is what helped catapult him to where he is right now, given his age and his level of experience, Nia, in addition to the fact that he does very well on social media. But what Isaac was talking about with regard to a lot of the free stuff he is promising, that was also a big topic last night.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

MAMDANI: Look, I've said very clearly. Making buses fast and free costs about $700 million a year. Making universal child care a reality costs about $5 billion or $6 billion a year. If you raise the state's top corporate tax rate to match that of New Jersey, you'd be raising --

CUOMO: OK.

MAMDANI: -- $5 billion in and of itself.

CUOMO: The assemblyman's whole plan is based on a myth. He's going to raise taxes. Albany is going to raise taxes statewide on corporations, but the money is only going to go to New York City. That could never happen. It's not just that the governor wouldn't support it. It's impossible.

He said he's going to raise the tax the same as New Jersey corporate tax. No, it would be double the tax. You would see New Yorkers on 995 fleeing to Florida.

(END VIDEOCLIP) BASH: Nia?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Listen, I think voters at this point are signaling that they want something new. They want some bold vision, even if that vision could be hard to implement. And, you know, you heard Governor Cuomo or former Governor Cuomo saying, you know, it's a myth, you know, this is sort of the stuff that campaigns are often made of, right? You know, hopes and wishes and people's notion that maybe something different can happen going forward.

You know, I mean, the contrast here between Governor Cuomo, who is a household name in national politics, certainly in New York politics, his father was governor, he was governor, it's, you know, but there he is just sounding, you know, like he's somebody from the past and kind of looking stiff and wouldn't. And I'm sure he can't believe he's in this place, right?

BASH: Yes.

HENDERSON: That he is being beaten, at least in the polls so far, by a 33-year-old assemblyman.

BASH: And that's the argument he's making.

HENDERSON: Yes.

BASH: I do have experience, and it's a huge city, and this guy doesn't.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It is the argument, and it's falling flat so far. We see sort of broad signs of this elsewhere. It's a generational argument, there's no doubt about it, even though Cuomo is not certainly of the age of the president or the former president. But it's a generational argument.

But it's also, this race is going to define, in some respects, the direction of the Democratic Party. It will be overstated, there's no doubt about it. This is Manhattan, this is New York City, and the other boroughs as well.

But this is something that is just a, the call for change is one of the strongest calls you can have in an election. And that's the case he's making. So why not try it? Because other things haven't worked. The affordability crisis is really the anthem of this campaign.

BASH: Yes. The city of New York has the biggest Jewish population outside of the state of Israel. And Mamdani's position on a lot of different things and some statements that he has made, including globalize the Intifada, or at least not separating himself from that, have been a big part of the campaign. And that came up last night.

Let me just play some sound, and then you can talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP) MAMDANI: I, like many New Yorkers, am hopeful that this ceasefire will hold. I'm hopeful that it is durable. I'm hopeful that it is just. And for it to be just, we also have to ensure that it addresses the conditions that preceded this. Conditions like occupation, like the siege, and apartheid.

[12:40:00]

CUOMO: The assemblyman just said in his response, well, it depends on occupation. That is cold. Meaning that Israel does not have a right to exist as a Jewish state, which he has never acknowledged. That is from the river to the sea. That's why he won't denounce globalize the Intifada, which means kill all Jews.

MAMDANI: I want to be very clear. The occupation is a reference to international law and the violation of it.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BASH: Now he did, and you can speak to this, try to sort of clean up the globalize the Intifada thing last night. But also, on this program yesterday, we had a prominent Palestinian saying that he was upset that Mamdani went on Fox this week and didn't denounce Hamas and say that Hamas should lay down their weapons. Last night, he tried to clean that up too, saying, of course I believe they should lay down their arms.

DOVERE: Yes, like this has been a really difficult thing for Mamdani to handle. It is pretty clear where his own beliefs have been on this issue overall. But he spent some time distancing -- saying that he was going to maybe distance himself from the phrase globalize the Intifada. Then he has.

He was on Fox on Wednesday and was asked about whether Hamas should lay down its weapons. And he avoided answering the question and saying he doesn't have opinions on that. And then last night on the debate stage, he did have an opinion on it, which was, yes, they should lay down their weapons.

It's, of course, because of the size of the Jewish population and because of how much this has been an issue in the race, that this was part of the debate at all. And I think importantly, somewhat to my surprise, it was about a 15-minute segment of the debate. In the first hour, they didn't get to questions about affordability and housing and education until the second hour.

BASH: Why was that surprising to you?

DOVERE: Well, just because those are the -- those are major issues --

BASH: Yes.

DOVERE: -- in governing a city. But this has been a really big --

BASH: (INAUDIBLE). DOVERE: Yes, look, this has been a big issue in the race the whole time. And I think, look, when I was covering the primary, Mamdani used to complain that the only reason Israel was an issue is because Andrew Cuomo was making it an issue and that it had nothing to do with what he was talking about as mayor.

Since the primary, the politics of this has shifted in a lot of ways. And Mamdani obviously won the primary. And now he's been leaning into it in more of a way.

BASH: Before we go to break, you mentioned Curtis Sliwa.

DOVERE: Yes.

BASH: Let's just play one moment from Curtis Sliwa last night.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you need to get somewhere fast and you can't take the train, do you hail a taxi? Do you use rideshare? Mr. Sliwa, what do you do?

CURTIS SLIWA (R), NEW YORK MAYORAL CANDIDATE: I try to avoid yellow cabs. As you know, I was shot in the back of a yellow cab in 1992 by the Gottis and Gambinos. But I'd find my way around. If I have to, I Uber if I can't get there by mass transit.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BASH: Fact check, true.

DOVERE: It is true. It's not been fully proven that it was the Gottis, but he was definitely shot. And he said to me a couple of weeks ago, I was talking to him and he said -- about dropping out of the race, he said, look, I've been shot before. The only thing that would get me out of the race is a bullet to the back of the head.

BASH: Oh God forbid. Oh my God.

DOVERE: And so --

BASH: God forbid.

DOVERE: -- that was his. That's his phrasing.

BASH: God forbid, yes.

DOVERE: Yes.

BASH: All right. We're going to take a quick break.

Up next, crickets from the ceasefire crowd in Tinseltown. We have new reporting on Hollywood celebrities who spent two years condemning Israel for civilian deaths in Gaza, but are now accused of being silent about Hamas carrying out public executions against the Palestinian people. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:47:44]

BASH: The war in Gaza divided Americans. That's especially on display in Hollywood, where some celebrities have used their voices not just to call for a ceasefire, but a boycott of Israeli films. Now, Warner Brothers Discovery, CNN's parent company, is now the second major studio to openly reject that because it violates anti-discrimination policies.

And as CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister reports, many prominent celebrities who were vocal about a ceasefire are accused of being silent now that there is actually a ceasefire with Israel since Hamas released Israeli hostages.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

HANNAH EINBINDER, ACTRESS: (INAUDIBLE) ICE and free Palestine.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From Hacks star Hannah Einbinder on the Emmy stage.

JAVIER BARDEM, ACTOR: What we are witnessing is a genocide.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): To Javier Bardem on the red carpet. Many celebrities have used their platforms to oppose the war in Gaza.

DEBRA MESSING, ACTRESS AND ACTIVIST: You can be pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel at the same time.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Deborah Messing is among those in Hollywood who've been vocal in support of Israel, and is now calling out other celebrities in the wake of the ceasefire deal.

"After two years of screaming 'ceasefire now!', she wrote on Instagram, "it is clear that was never the issue." Messing reposted a statement calling it, quote, "obvious that it's only about terrorizing Jews." On the day of the ceasefire agreement, Aaron Foster, creator of Netflix's "Nobody Wants This," called out what she perceived as Hollywood silence, reposting, quote, "I'm not sure why everyone is being so utterly quiet today, but there's a deal in place that will finally bring peace to Palestinians."

Roughly 500 artists, including Mark Ruffalo and Cynthia Nixon, signed the Artists4Ceasefire petition, which called for an end to Israel's war in Gaza, which was launched after the October 7th massacre by Hamas.

HEN MAZZIG, SENIOR FELLOW, TEL AVIV INSTITUTE: Celebrities shouldn't turn real wars into branding exercises.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Hen Mazzig of the Tel Aviv Institute has counseled pro-Israel celebrities. He says they feel the ceasefire has only deepened the Hollywood divide.

MAZZIG: Now, when the war is ending, they're looking for their friends, they're looking left and right, and no one is there with them. No one is willing to say this very basic. You know, we're not looking for anyone to go down with an Israeli flag. They just want solidarity.

[12:50:05]

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Artists4Ceasefire released this statement after the ceasefire deal, calling it a heartening moment of relief, while calling out Israel's bombing and intentional starvation of Palestinian civilians and demanding the enforcement of international law against all responsible parties. It did acknowledge the loss of Israeli life on October 7th and concluded with the call for lasting peace for Palestinians and Israelis.

For his part, Ruffalo has focused on Palestinians since the ceasefire, reposting here a call for new homes and clean water, while continuing to criticize Israel. He has not acknowledged the release of the Israeli hostages this week on social media.

MAZZIG: If those celebrities gave even 1 percent of their activism to calling out Hamas, as they do call out Israel on a daily basis, I believe that the ceasefire would have happened much earlier on.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Before the ceasefire, nearly 4,000 Hollywood artists signed a pledge to boycott any Israeli film institution that is implicated in genocide of the Palestinian people.

BARDEM: I cannot work with somebody that does justify or support the genocide. I can't.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Paramount rejected the boycott, saying, "Silencing individual creative artists based on their nationality does not advance the cause of peace." Warner Brothers, which shares a parent company with CNN, called the boycott a violation of its policy. "While we respect the rights of individuals and groups to express their views, we will continue to align our business practices with our policies and the law."

TATIANA SIEGEL, VARIETY, EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF FILM AND MEDIA: I think that everyone is looking at the film festivals moving forward. Are they going to continue with this soft cancellation of Israeli filmmakers, which has been going on for two years?

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BASH: And Elizabeth joins us now. Elizabeth, have any celebrities who were calling for peace in Gaza commented yet on the horrific video of Hamas executing Palestinians in Gaza?

WAGMEISTER (on-camera): You know, Dana, I have reached out to a variety of the most vocal celebrities on this issue. Most did not get back to me. Now, Mark Ruffalo's representative said he was unable to participate in this piece because he's overseas in production. But Javier Bardem, he did get back to me. And it was very important to him to give us this statement, Dana. He said, telling CNN that he is completely against the execution of anyone, including Palestinians by Hamas, calling the executions, quote, "an atrocious act of violence." He says, quote, "Everyone deserves a fair trial where the accusations are shown and proven and only then be rightfully accountable by a fair law that obviously does not include execution."

Now, Dana, he also addressed that Israeli film boycott, that pledge that he signed along with nearly 4,000 other artists in Hollywood. Here's what he had to say, quote, "I want this to be very clear. We do not discriminate against any person based on their nationality, race, religion or gender. We, of course, believe discrimination of any kind is wrong. We support holding companies and institutions all over the world accountable, not individuals, for their complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian people."

Now, as for Artists4Ceasefire, that organization I reached out, they did not respond directly to my question about whether they would be addressing the Hamas executions. They also declined an interview to speak about the group's next steps now that there is a ceasefire in place, instead referring us to their post on social media.

BASH: Elizabeth, thank you so much for that report.

And up next, a brand new video from Senate Republicans uses artificial intelligence as a political weapon. You're going to see for yourself after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:58:28]

BASH: Artificial intelligence crashing into politics. Today, the National Republican Senatorial Committee posted a video on social media that takes an off-camera quote from Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and turns it into this AI-generated fake sound bite about the shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), MINORITY LEADER: Every day gets better for us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chuck Schumer thinks playing with Americans' livelihoods is just a game. When asked about the government shutdown, Schumer said --

SCHUMER: Every day gets better for us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really, Chuck? How's that?

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BASH: Now, just to reiterate, Senator Schumer did say the words in an off-camera interview with Punchbowl News. The Senate GOP campaign committee used AI to turn those words into video and make it look nefarious, as you just saw. It does say in small letters in the bottom right of the screen that it is AI-generated.

My panel is back now. Jeff?

ZELENY: It's a new frontier. I mean, the unusual part about this, they actually are his words. I mean, we're going to see this probably used in a way where they're actually not his words. But it's certainly no context exists with AI.

HENDERSON: Yes, and it looks quite creepy, and it makes him look malevolent and sneering. And, yes, it's disturbing. And, you know, here we are talking about it, and we can say it's AI, it's AI. But you disseminate that on the interwebs, and not everybody is going to know that it's actually, you know, an AI-generated clip.

DOVERE: Yes, it's like frontiers of dishonesty also, because it is his words, but he didn't say it, so it's defensible, but it's not defensible. I mean, what's the difference between this and having a voice actor do a Chuck Schumer impression? Maybe not much, except that that video is fake.

BASH: Yes.

DOVERE: And the video is fake, and that has been pushed forward by the Senate Republican Committee now.

BASH: Yes, like you said, this is not the first time we're going to see that, but it is a -- what did you say? A new frontier?

ZELENY: A whole new world.

BASH: It's a whole new world. New frontier. All of it is true.

ZELENY: All of it.

BASH: Thank you so much.

Thank you for joining Inside Politics today. Please join me on State of the Union this Sunday. Republican Senator Katie Britt is among my guests. I hope to see you. It's Sunday, 9:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

CNN News Central starts right now.