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Democrats Turn On Each Other Over Deal To End Shutdown; Jeffries Speaks On Senate Shutdown Deal; Now: Syria's President Meets With Trump At The White House; Trump Takes New Measures In Effort To Rewrite History Of Jan. 6. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired November 10, 2025 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

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DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Today on Inside Politics, from catatonic to claws out. We have new reporting on the breakthrough deal to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, which is sparking an epic meltdown within the Democratic Party, that's getting uglier by the minute.

Plus, an executive obsession. President Trump issues new pardons for Rudy Giuliani and other allies who tried to help him overturn the 2020 election. It's part of his unending mission to rewrite the history of January 6. And grow appeal. Governor Gavin Newsom is pushing his party to address the crisis facing American boys and young men. Does he have a solution?

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

We begin on Capitol Hill, where a shutdown breakthrough is sparking a Democratic Party breakdown. The Senate could vote as early as this afternoon to reopen the government after seven Democrats and an independent joined Republicans toward ending the record long stalemate.

Now the rest of the Democratic Party is united, united in its fury about this deal, especially the fact that there is no guarantee to extend the healthcare subsidies, which was the main reason for the shutdown in the first place. So, did the Democratic Party actually get anything after 41 days? Most leading Democrats say, no.

Moderate New Jersey Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill calls it malpractice. Progressive Congressman Ro Khanna says Schumer, who says he'll vote no on the deal should be replaced. Governor Gavin Newsom called it pathetic. James Talarico, who is running for Senate in Texas, called them folders. And Senator Mark Warner said, quote, we owe the American people more than a short-term fix.

These so-called folders hit back. They say it was time to admit a deal just wasn't going to happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. ANGUS KING (I-ME): If the battle plan isn't working, you change the battle plan. You try another tactic, especially if what's happening is danger to your troops.

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-NH): All those people who opposed this agreement, staying in a shutdown mode was not getting us anywhere, and they need to train their fire on the people who are responsible.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): Look, the Republicans passed a reconciliation bill that gutted people's healthcare a few months ago. Now we got a credible path to finding a fix for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Any moment, we're going to hear from the House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who will speak to reporters. We already know that he is condemning this deal. And as we wait for that, we are lucky enough to have some terrific reporters here, including the one and only Manu Raju, who slept how many hours?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: My usual four hours or so.

BASH: No, show off. OK. So, it has really been, I phrase it as the Democrats are united, because they are united in their disgust for this deal. And it's really remarkable, progressives, moderates, different reasons, but they're all saying, what did we do this for?

RAJU: And look, this is the pattern of shutdown after shutdown. We look at history that the minority party, the party that instigates the shutdown fight, makes demands that are extraneous. These are extraneous demands the Democrats have been making. Though any party that does that typically does not get what they want.

Look what Ted Cruz back in 2013, demanding that Obamacare be defunded. It was not defunded. Or Donald Trump wanted his border wall funded, and that led to the previously the longest government shutdown history, 2018, 2019. The border wall was not funded because that simply typically was not what happened here.

Initially, Democrats were in a box. They had very little leverage. They wanted to fight back against Trump. Chuck Schumer wanted to figure out a way to try to fight Trump, and he made a calculated decision. He was going to line up with House Democrats. The problem for Chuck Schumer is that in the United States Senate, they need Democratic votes to pass something. You don't have -- you can vote no in the House and be fine with it and not deal with any wrath here.

But ultimately, there was just too much pressure from the central part of the Democratic caucus who said enough was enough. They were not going to get what they wanted to healthcare. And how long could they keep this going for without getting any sort of resolution on healthcare as the consequences were piling up, which is all what led to this deal that was announced yesterday, and we expect the Senate could pass it as soon as tonight. We're hearing that that Johnson wants -- Speaker Johnson wants to bring the House back as early as Wednesday, so that could be the end of the show.

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BASH: Can I just -- I want to go to our friends here, but Wednesday. I get tomorrow, it's Tuesday, and it's a federal holiday. But like, so what?

RAJU: Yeah. Look, the House has been out since September 19--

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: I don't think -- what's the reason that they're waiting?

RAJU: These guys are all over the country. They're all over the world potentially. We don't even know where they are.

BASH: I know, but it's like 2025 -- the difference horse and puppy.

RAJU: I mean, it does underscore how wild it is. The House has been out of session since September 19.

BASH: OK. Let's lock -- talk a little bit more about what this deal is, because it's not like they got absolutely nothing. They got a few things. Reverses the shutdown, firings for federal workers, ensures back pay for furloughed workers, funds the government until late January, promises a Senate vote on the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which we'll talk about in a second, and funds SNAP the program that helps people who can't afford to eat, who have not been getting that benefit for 41 days. It funds that for the next year, Ayesha?

AYESHA RASCOE, NPR HOST, "WEEKEND EDITION SUNDAY" AND "UP FIRST": I mean, look, I think that you hit the nail on the head. Everybody is pissed at these two. Can I say pissed? I'm sorry. Is mad at these -- at these people, you know, at the seven and the independent who went and made decision. But the thing of it is, is that we were seeing real consequences.

So, there would have come a point when you say, do you want people without SNAP benefits? Do you want air traffic controllers overworked? And then what happens if there is some sort of accident or anything, Lord forbid. Like, at what point do you say? As you said, shutdowns are not a good way to get policy done, like they just aren't. And so, at this point, you know, it seems like these lawmakers decided enough was enough. People are suffering. Let's go ahead and do what we got to do.

BASH: Stand by. Let's go to the Hill, Hakeem Jeffries is speaking.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): --promise to lower the high cost of living in the United States of America. In fact, what Donald Trump and Republicans said is that costs were going to go down on day one, but costs haven't gone down. They're going up. Inflation is going up under Republican policies, housing costs are going up, childcare costs are going up, grocery costs are going up. Electricity prices are through the roof. And now, because of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable

Care Act tax credits, tens of millions of Americans are about to experience dramatically increased healthcare costs. In some cases, their health insurance premiums will increase by 1000 or $2,000 per year. That is unacceptable. It will be unaffordable for working class Americans, middle class Americans and everyday Americans to be able to go see a doctor when they need one.

And so, House Democrats and Senate Democrats have been fighting hard to address the Republican healthcare crisis and to lower the high cost of living for everyday Americans in the United States of America. Because the reality is America is too expensive and far too many people are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. They can't thrive. They can barely survive. And that's why Democrats have been waging this fight, and we'll continue to wage this fight.

No matter what comes over to us from the United States Senate to the House of Representatives at some point this week. Our position as House Democrats has been crystal clear. We will sit down with any Republicans, anytime, anyplace, anywhere, in order to find a bipartisan path forward, but we're not down with their my way or the highway approach to governance, that's failed the American people.

It's been a disaster for the American people, and the American people know it, which is why, last Tuesday, Republicans all across the country got wiped out. One of the most decisive off-year elections ever in modern American history.

And so, as House Democrats, we know we're on the right side of this fight, the right side of the American people. And we're not going to support. Partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the healthcare of the American people. And we are going to continue the fight to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.

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And if it doesn't happen, this week, next week, this month, next month, then it's the fault of Donald Trump, House and Senate Republicans who continue to make life more expensive for the American people. Questions?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some Democrats in your own caucus are suggesting effective as Senate Democratic leader and should be replaced you, of course, are critical of this deal. Do you view him as effective, and should he keep the job?

JEFFRIES: Yes, and yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you trust in this deal? There is language for President Trump and the Trump administration to reverse some of the firings that happened during the shutdown. Do you trust that the Trump administration and the president is going to sign off on that and reverse the people who have been fired?

JEFFRIES: We'll have to evaluate the legislative language, and we'll have a caucus meeting later on this afternoon, and we'll get a presentation from Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the appropriations committee. The overwhelming majority of Senate Democrats, led by leader Schumer, are opposing this bill in the Senate and they will articulate. There are a variety of different reasons that the bill is being opposed strongly by Democrats in the Senate, the overwhelming majority of them. And there will be a variety of different reasons that we articulate in the House.

Now, certainly we're going to continue to stand by our hardworking federal employees. By the way, Donald Trump and Republicans, this toxic administration, they fired more than 2000 federal and 100,000 federal employees prior to the shutdown that they started beginning. So of course, there's reason to be deeply skeptical of the administration and their motives as it relates to the hardworking federal civil servants and the Federal workforce, and we will continue to be deeply skeptical of their intentions.

They spent the whole year implementing the toxic parts, the most toxic parts of Project 2025. After lying to the American people last year, saying they didn't know anything about Project 2025. And part of that has been going after the federal workforce, so we'll see what the language looks like.

But it doesn't change the core problem here, which is, we need to decisively address the Republican healthcare crisis on behalf of working-class Americans, everyday Americans and middle-class Americans. Thanks. Third row?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (question inaudible)

JEFFRIES: Who?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are millions of fancy enrollees under the ACA. Is that being looked at -- making sure that people are on (inaudible)

JEFFRIES: That's like the most random way to start a question on a serious topic. Nobody who's serious in this country takes Dr. Oz seriously. No one. And I mean, it's shocking that the guy even was confirmed, but this is part of the reality of Republicans here in the House and over in the Senate. They're nothing more than a rubber stamp for Donald Trump's cruelty and extreme agenda. I have no idea what Dr. Oz is talking about, and neither do the American people.

BASH: All right, we're going to continue to monitor this press conference from Hakeem Jeffries, who had a very dramatic eye roll there when a reporter asked about Dr. Oz, who is a high-ranking government official. Thanks to confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

But big picture, what we just saw is the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives saying before the press what he's already been saying in print and on social media, which is that he does not like this deal that was done in the Senate, reminding people that most democratic senators don't like it. They voted no. And clearly, when it gets to the House, he is going to do the same thing. Manu, I also think that it is interesting. He was talking a lot about healthcare, which is, again, why the governor effectively -- why there are other reasons, but the biggest reason why the Democrats were withholding their votes to reopen the government in the first place.

[12:15:00]

One of the things that I wanted to ask you about, and since he mentioned it, I'll just do it right now, is whether or not, when they get to the House, even though Republicans are in charge, there will be a mechanism or a way to get that vote to extend premiums for healthcare subsidies.

RAJU: There is a way to do it. I'm not convinced that that's going to be the case where they should force a vote on the floor of the House. They would need 218 votes to circumvent the Republican leadership enforcement and the House floor. That is not -- they don't have those numbers yet. We'll see if they ultimately do.

It's interesting how he also -- you hear the midterm messaging there from Hakeem Jeffries, partisan Republican spending bill, healthcare costs. That is what they're going to run the midterm campaign on, even though they have lost this fight, even though this is not a partisan Republican spending bill. Is a bipartisan deal caught in the Senate, supported by eight Democrats.

That is the definition of bipartisanship, but he's making very clear how he plans to view this. And also interesting to a vote of confidence for Chuck Schumer, much different than we did in March. He said no comment, when he was asked if he had confidence--

BASH: Yeah, that's a good point. You know, I was talking to a Democratic lawmaker this morning who just put it really bluntly, who said the problem that we as Democrats have is that we want things to work, and we also have a base that fuels our elections that are so mad they want us to fight. So, it's the rub of that that they have continually rub up against, including right now.

Can we just talk about the president and what he posted this morning, which I'm just going to read it. OK, very good question. This is about air traffic controllers. I'm going to read it. All air traffic controllers must get back to work now. Anyone who doesn't will be substantially docked. For those air traffic controllers who were great patriots and didn't take any time off for the Democratic shutdown hoax. I will be recommending a bonus of $10,000 per person for distinguished service to our country.

For those that did nothing but complain and took time off, even though everyone knew they would be paid in full shortly into the future, I am not happy with you. You didn't step up to help the U.S.A. against fake democratic attack that was only meant to hurt our country.

And just keep that on the screen for one second as I go to you, Michelle. I think it's probably an educated guess that the people who didn't go to work weren't protesting. They didn't go to work because they had to find other ways to put food on the table for their children or to pay their rent or their mortgages. It's not because they just didn't feel like working. And if you look at something like this, it just is kind of snatching political defeat from the jaws of victory.

MICHELLE PRICE, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: Right. And that's something Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary, said throughout when he was having these news conferences at airports. He was very grateful for people who did show up, but he was understanding of these air traffic controllers who didn't show up because they were trying to find other ways to take care of their families.

I think the one part of that the president's message, it's a big if, if that $10,000 bonus ever materializes into legislation or if that gets paid out. But it is something that will resonate with the traveling public, because they see it as, you know, if they don't know why some of these workers didn't show up, and they think, you know, you should be rewarded for continuing to show up for this hard job. That could be something that could potentially be a message that resonates with the broader public, not people who are sympathetic to federal workers right now.

BASH: Yeah. I mean, Sean Duffy was the transportation secretary, was on State of the Union yesterday, explaining that especially some of the new people, they just don't make enough money to be able to miss a paycheck or two or three.

RASCOE: Well, I mean, that's the thing. I mean, I think even for people who may not be super sympathetic to federal workers, I think most people understand that if you work, you need to get paid, right? And that if you miss a paycheck and you have kids in daycare or something like that, they're not like, oh, well, you could just pay us another day. Oh, we don't care.

Like, yes, there was help for federal workers. But, like, it's still hard. And like, you know, giant or whoever -- wherever you get your groceries from, they want, they money then. And so, I think that's very understandable.

RAJU: Why did Trump offer this at the beginning of the shutdown?

RASCOE: Yes. It's a surprise.

RAJU: Yeah.

RASCOE: And it's also the way to make the federal -- the civil service into a partisan thing. You didn't stand up for us against the Democrats like, you know, I mean, I'm sure there are plenty of air traffic controllers who are conservative, right?

BASH: It is -- yes, and it is not a partisan thing to want to feed your family.

RASCOE: Yes.

BASH: Yeah. Up next. From the terror list to the Oval Office, we're going to bring you the latest on President Trump's meeting with a leader who, up until last year, had a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head. Stay with us.

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[12:20:00]

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BASH: We're looking at live pictures of the White House where President Trump is meeting with Syria's President Ahmed Al-Sharaa. You can see his arrival that happened moments ago. It was not in the front, where it tends to be. There was not a formal, big celebration, as we have seen time and time again, the pomp, and circumstance when world leaders come in, very different vibe there. Regardless, it's still a big moment for a former jihadist who once fought U.S. troops in Iraq.

[12:25:00]

My panel is back now. And I'm going to put a pause on that conversation until we find out what's happening because we believe that this conversation -- the meeting is happening as we speak. And go back to what happened earlier, which is the president issuing a slew of Pardons. Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Mark Meadows, Jenna Ellis, Boris Epshteyn, Kenneth Chesebro, John Eastman, Burt Jones.

People who watch this show probably have a good sense of the common thread through all of these individuals, and that is their involvement with the president in trying to push to overturn the 2020 election.

PRICE: Right. And what's interesting is, none of these people were facing any federal charges. There were some state investigations. They've all kind of stalled or they've been dismissed. So it's not effectively changing any active criminal investigations right now, for these individuals, that we know of.

But for the president, this has been, I think, an obsession is a fair word to use here, that this is something he brings up routinely, like he'll be meeting with President Putin, and he'll start talking about the January 6 investigation. It's something that he is still remains angry about. And we saw in his campaign last year, and as he came in, that he's been talking about retribution and this is part of that. This is erasing some of the -- just the specter around these individuals that were part of his attempts to overturn the election results.

RAJU: It's all part of the systemic effort to rewrite what happened in the aftermath of 2020. I mean, Trump calls it a day of love on January 6, 2021, it was not -- that's the day of love being in the Capitol that day. He was not--

BASH: You didn't feel loved?

RAJU: I did not feel loved in the Capitol that day. And I mean, say, you know, coming on the first day of his presidency in the second term, pardoning every single one of those January 6 riders, including the violent ones who attack police officers. And this is all part of that effort. These people that the White House is saying that they were treated unfairly by the Biden administration. They were accused of trying to overturn an election that Donald Trump lost.

RASCOE: Well, and this also gives a signal for, you know, future elections coming up that you know, if you do things that I want you to do, you can expect that you will be pardoned, right? Like that, you will get clemency, that you will be protected.

And I mean -- and that has been a signal sent over and over by Trump. If you are on his side, if you have said nice things about him, he will help you out when you have legal issues. And I don't see how you can send the message anymore, more clearly than you have with this.

BASH: That's a really interesting point. I want to read a quote from the document that the president signed. It was posted by Ed Martin, who is -- somebody who was supposed to be a U.S. attorney. Then the Senate said, please, we're not even going to give this guy a vote, and now he's at the Justice Department in charge of things like this.

It said this proclamation ends a grave national injustice perpetrated upon the American people following the 2020 presidential election and continues the process of national reconciliation. Interesting, it says, this pardon does not apply to the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

PRICE: That is very interesting, and it's something that we heard the president, it was kind of floated during the campaign. When he came back in, would he -- would he try to pardon himself? I think one of the issues with that is, if the president does that, it seems an acknowledgement that he did something wrong, that he committed a crime.

BASH: Are you ready for some football?

RAJU: Yes.

RASCOE: Yeah.

BASH: Good, because President Trump was so ready, he went into the Fox booth during the lions and commanders' game here in Washington yesterday. Let's watch a bit of what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This is a very big play. Don't you think? They have to get a touchdown. Let's put it differently. They just have to get a touchdown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There we go. Now you're doing my job. That's what I was going to say.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Just forget about the play, they have to get a touchdown.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BASH: We were joking that like I could do play by play.

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: They have to get a touchdown. I can do that. Look, George W. Bush joined ESPN Sunday Night Baseball in 2008. Barack Obama chatted in the Fox booth for a few minutes during the 2009 MLB All-Star Game. But this was lengthier and not a surprise, more political than we've seen.

RAJU: And we've seen Trump do this and so many sporting events, really injecting himself in the middle of it, the Club World Cup championship here in United States. He was there on the stage, actually giving medals to the winners of that international event. This is -- we have not did -- he didn't do this in the first time. This is much different, and it makes sense, put him inside, make him feel like an every-man and try to improve his image, as his polls have suffered.

RASCOE: But my thing is, does this really help? I mean, my thing is, if you can go anywhere, why don't you go to a grocery store and start yelling at, yo. I can't believe this cost this much. Like if you're going to--

(CROSSTALK)

RAJU: Go to McDonald's, the way he did that.

RASCOE: Yeah. If you're going to pull some stunts, why not pull some stunts with people who are to show that you are feel people's pain.

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: The flip side of that is, if you are a person who just doesn't want to deal with politics and you just want to relax and watch football, you got to deal with politics. There's the president.

PRICE: President also just wants to do things that are fun.

BASH: Yeah.

PRICE: Like, we've seen him use the trappings the presidency. How much fun did he have when he went to Windsor Castle and was feted by the King?

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