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Inside Politics

House Returns to Session to Vote on Reopening the Government; Top House Dems Vow to Fight Shutdown Bill Over Health Care Funding; Sources Say White House Plans Meeting Today on Epstein Files. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired November 12, 2025 - 12:30   ET

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

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[12:30:45]

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REP. MIKE JOHNSON, (R-LA) HOUSE SPEAKER: The House will be in order.

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DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR OF 'INSIDE POLITICS': With that gavel, at the top of the hour, the House is finally back in session after seven long weeks. Now, there's going to be an incredibly pivotal afternoon. CNN's Manu Raju is following all of it, a lot happening on Capitol Hill. First Manu, let's talk about the shutdown and the vote that we're going to see.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, we do expect the vote likely to succeed tonight. It will be close though, Dana, because there are some Republicans who are unlikely to support this plan. And then we have a very razor-thin majority that Mike Johnson has to contend with. Just two Republican defections is all he can -- he can deal with if this is a party-line vote. And we expect Thomas Massie, Kentucky has not said he's a no yet. He's likely going to be a no, but there will probably be some Democrats who crossed the aisle too to support this plan, which could give it just enough votes to pass and reopen the government.

And this is all causing so much anger within the Democratic ranks, in particular over this deal that was cut in the United States Senate to reopen the government, most of eight federal agencies through January 30th, but does not include an extension of those Affordable Care Act subsidies that are expiring at year's end. It has been the central part of the democratic fight that led to this shutdown.

I just caught up with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a leading progressive Democrat, and I asked her about how Democrats handled this in the Senate, including Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader also from New York, someone who voted against this plan, how she felt they dealt with it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, (D-NY): I think it's important that we understand that this is not just about Senator Schumer, but that this is about the Democratic Party. Senator Schumer, there's no one vote that ended this shutdown. We are talking about a coordinated effort of eight Senators with the knowledge of Leader Schumer, voting to break with the entire Democratic Party in exchange for nothing, and now people's healthcare costs --

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RAJU: And those eight Democratic Senators, of course, are the ones who gave the critical votes to pass that bill out of the United States Senate, showing you the anger among Democrats, progressives, and not just her, but just really up and down the line from members of the party leadership all the way down to the rank and file. Right now, House Democrats are meeting behind closed doors with Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Leader, trying to urge all of his members to get in line behind his push to defeat this bill.

But Dana, he is unlikely to succeed. This is only going to set up yet another cliff that Congress will have to deal with early next year, particularly if they don't resolve the healthcare issue, which most people expect will not be resolved by that time. Dana?

BASH: Yeah. And Manu, that was incredible hearing from AOC, the fact that she declined to blame Chuck Schumer when every Republican, for the past seven weeks, has been saying he's doing this because he's worried about a primary from AOC. That was very noteworthy. Thanks, Manu. Appreciate it.

And coming up, he may seem like a political bull in a congressional China shop, and if you read his new book, you'd probably agree. I'm talking about Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. He's my guest after the break.

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[12:38:42]

BASH: He's one of the most unlikely Senators in the chamber's history. Democrat John Fetterman of Pennsylvania does not tow the party line. He crosses it, usually in sneakers and his signature hoodie and shorts. Throughout the nearly seven-week shutdown, he has consistently voted with Republicans to reopen the government until seven Democrats joined him. Actually, six Democrats and one independent, to actually do that, to reopen the government. That vote happened earlier this week.

Senator Fetterman joins me now from his hometown of Braddock, Pennsylvania, where he was once Mayor. He's the author of a new book called "Unfettered," which is incredibly raw on a whole bunch of levels, including about the struggle that you have, Senator, with depression. I'm going to get to that in one moment, but I do want to start with the big news of the day. Your reaction to these newly released documents that show Jeffrey Epstein mentioned to Donald Trump multiple times in private emails, like this one from Epstein to Maxwell on April 2nd, 2011. And I'll read it to you.

I want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is Trump. Then there was a part that was redacted, spent hours at my house with him. He has never once been mentioned, police chief, et cetera, of 75 percent there.

[12:40:00]

What do you make of that?

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN, (D-PA) : Yes, yes. I -- well, I have followed it, of course. Absolutely. And now, yeah, it's absolutely troubling to see that. And I think we probably need more. And my understanding is that now that the House is back, now they have enough to activate that discharge petition. I think that's the technical term. And then I think everything should come out. I think enough people agree that it should just come out and just see where this goes and follow it where the evidence has at this point. Absolutely.

BASH: So if it does pass the House, it will come -- well, it will be a question of whether the Senate Majority Leader, John Thune will bring it for a vote in the Senate. I assume that means that you'll push him to do that?

FETTERMAN: Yes. Well, yes. I mean, I think, yeah, everybody agrees at this point. Let's just release everything. And then, we can find and see exactly what it is right now.

BASH: Senator, let's talk about your memoir. It's incredibly, as I said, it's incredibly raw. You talk in great detail about your struggle with the disease that is depression. And I'm going to talk about that in one second, but I do want to ask about the way that you approach the Senate, and you write about that in your book. You said, "I've drunk deeply of the venom of both the left and the right. As a connoisseur, I can confirm that the most poisonous, the bitterest is from the far left." That is pretty remarkable to hear you say that as an elected Democrat, why?

FETTERMAN: Yeah. You know, it is been -- it's just been my personal experience on this thing. and when I asked my digital team, I said, you're -- we're on all the platforms, really what's kind of the harshest, what's kind of the most personal? And the answer was immediate. He said, oh, blue sky. It's blue sky. And the difference is, I mean, the right would say really rough things and names, some names I won't repeat on TV, but on the left, it was like, they want me to die or that were cheering for your next stroke, or that's terrible that depression 00 why couldn't the depression have won and I hope your kids find you -- I mean, they even have like the graphic gift there. They have like a stroke in your head.

BASH: Oh my gosh.

FETTERMAN: And you are cheering there. Yeah. And they said that, I remember one, they claimed, oh, the doctor let us down, and why did they have to save his life? I mean, just really, like, I just can't imagine people are wishing -- I wish he dies or I want him to die, literally cheering for a stroke. And I don't know what the kind of a place where that comes from. I mean, that's much different than just calling me a name. And that's really been consistent in that community online and people --

BASH: Let's talk about --

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FETTERMAN: Oh yeah, I'm sorry. Go ahead.

BASH: I do want to talk about your story. And if you go back to, you mentioned your stroke. You did survive a near-death stroke during your '22 campaign. You ended up still flipping that seat. Obviously you're there. Instead of being happy about that, about surviving the stroke, about winning your election, you ended up in the deepest depths of emotional darkness. And here's what you wrote about that period.

"I went through the unimaginable pain that comes from a disease of the mind irrationally masquerading as rationality. The brittle bones, invisible scars of a wasted life, suicidal, paranoid, not eating, not sleeping, not speaking, not functioning, resigned, ashamed, despairing." And you even wrote that you drove to a bridge and thought about ending your life.

FETTERMAN: Yeah. That's true. I would go days not eating or drinking, and I was really lost. And that's the way I described it. It's where -- where it starts to feel there's like this rational and there's some kind of a logic to that, start to believe that it's better if you take themselves out. And when you, to the point where you start to -- you're sizing up a bridge. I mean, quite literally, you're sizing up a bridge and I've -- I even made the commitment like, well, my family won't find me in the house. I can't do that. So just find a way to do this somewhere else.

[12:45:00]

And there are two very high bridges close where I live, and I actually evaluated both in terms -- for that. That's the danger and that's the tragic truth of depression. And if takes a hold of you, you start to have these kinds of awful conversations. And that's why I really wanted to do this book, to just talk about it, saying I know millions of Americans suffer from depression, and now there's also a epidemic of suicide in our nation. And now, 18 veterans take their lives (inaudible) conversation because this message is, I'm begging you, please, please don't, don't, don't do this because this is the decision you can't come back from.

And I've had friends who have done that, and it breaks my heart because that left children behind and grandkids. And it's -- I can't imagine how to explain that. And my children saved my life. They saved my life because suicide can't be my legacy for my children. And that's -- they were the way I could just, that helped. I got better now. BASH: Yeah. And you write very eloquently about your children and

also your wife Gisele, your parents, your brother Gregg, about the way that they literally pulled you out of bed and made you get help. And then of course, this was after you were elected, then you became a Senator and you were open about checking into Walter Reed because that depression was still very much a part of you, a part of your life. And, campaigns obviously are vicious. You write about the impact of the one that you had. Dr. Oz in his ads talked about your mental health. Does that give you pause? I know we're not quite at your reelection time, but does it give you pause about launching another campaign and coming back to the Senate?

FETTERMAN: No. I mean that -- I don't have any impact on that. I'm in a much, much different kind of a place now. I mean, I was just -- I had to pioneer. No one's ever campaigned for the Senate, the biggest race in the cycle, after a near fatal stroke. And having to develop the kind of technology, like captioning, captioning now has just become a part of my life. And that's a tool no different than like wearing glasses. And now, once you realize the danger of depression, I would never allow myself to ever get in that kind of a head space to be worrying about those kinds of (inaudible). That's kind of like the perverse logic. It's like, at that point, I just really wanted to erase myself after that campaign, kind of after all that campaign and all of that, it's like, I think the best option is to I just erase myself.

BASH: Well, you didn't, and that's the whole reason why you were so candid about how it feels to be in the depths of the depression that you were in. Senator Fetterman, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for sharing that.

And for our viewers, if you or someone you know is suffering, please, please text or call 9-8-8 for the suicide and crisis lifeline.

We're going to sneak in a quick break. We have breaking news -- more Breaking News, I should say, on the Epstein files. What's happening inside the White House, that's next.

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[12:52:44]

BASH: Breaking News, CNN has learned there will be a meeting today inside the White House as age (ph) try to manage a potential House vote on the release of the Epstein files. This comes of course, just hours after Democrats on the oversight Committee released emails from Jeffrey Epstein himself mentioning Donald Trump by name multiple times. I want to get straight to CNN's Katelyn Polantz. Katelyn, what are you learning?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the House is releasing these files, but it's not everything that the federal government has. Dana, there's additional files still held by the Justice Department that some Republicans on Capitol Hill are in support of releasing. And so, that is causing a political response inside the White House right now, where there is a meeting planned or was a meeting planned today about the House effort to try and force a vote to get the Justice Department, the Trump Administration to release the rest of the FBI files, the Justice Department files, everything from years of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and others, things that have not seen the light of day yet. What one source tells me -- we have multiple sources confirming that this meeting is happening. But what one source tells me is that this meeting was planning to include some key figures from the Justice Department -- the FBI Director, Kash Patel; the Attorney General, Pam Bondi; the Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche; and then one of those Republicans in support of transparency, Republican Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado.

So what might happen at this meeting if Boebert could be swayed in a different direction on wanting transparency here, that is all something that is going to be at issue and that the White House is clearly concerned about, having discussions about it. On top of that, Dana, another thing to remember here is that the Justice Department has tried many different ways to distract from releasing the full Justice Department files. They tried to get the grand jury records out there. Blanche talked to Ghislaine Maxwell, a co-conspirator in Florida. When Ghislaine spoke to Todd Blanche, she told him that Trump himself never acted inappropriately and she never saw anything untoward in any way toward underage girls. Dana?

BASH: Yeah, but she also said he was never at the house and in the email, Epstein said he was at the house.

[12:55:00]

So this is going to be a very interesting meeting. The fact that Lauren Boebert is going to be there is especially fascinating. Thank you, Katelyn, for that.

Thank you for joining "Inside Politics." As you may have noticed, I am not in a regular studio. I'm in Salt Lake City because later today, I am going to be moderating a special conversation on political violence and much more with Republican Senator John Curtis of Utah, Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, and that will happen in Provil (ph), on the campus of Utah Valley University. That's is, of course, where Charlie Kirk was assassinated. You can watch the conversation live on CNN, the all- access streaming app. It's at 5 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Mountain Time.

For now, "CNN News Central" starts after a quick break.

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