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Soon: Mamdani Arrives At White House For 1st Meeting With Trump; Trump Endures Week Of Setbacks And Dissension; More In GOP Seem Willing To Break With Trump As He Nears Year 2; Swalwell, Steyer Join Crowded California Gov's Race. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired November 21, 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]

CLAY CANE, HOST, "THE CLAY CANE SHOW" ON SIRIUSXM URBAN VIEW: And it appears republicans are going to try to remix this and try to churn it on the Democrats. But I think what I'm also hearing is that they don't know if this will break up the cult of MAGA, if you will, that it appears people might still stand beside him. Yeah.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR, THE SITUATION ROOM: Yeah. All right. Got you. I'm sorry. We are out of time. I'm glad you both got to say a bit. Clay Cane, Michael Medved, thank you so much.

MICHAEL MEDVED, HOST, "THE MICHAEL MEDVED SHOW": Thank you.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CO-ANCHOR, THE SITUATION ROOM: And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. Inside Politics with Dana Bash starts right now.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: Welcome to Inside Politics. I'm Dana Bash. Today, who's the king of queens? A collision between two New Yorkers, the city's mayor-elect and the nation's president. President Trump will host Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office this afternoon, two dramatically different people with dramatically different world views. Each sees the other as a problematic partner but pitch perfect foil.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D) NEW YORK MAYOR-ELECT: We can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves. After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: For thousand years, communism has not worked. It just -- communism or the concept of communism has not worked. I thought it was a very angry speech, certainly angry toward me, and I think he should be very nice to me. You know, I'm the one that sort of has to approve, a lot of things coming to him. So, he's off to a bad start.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: We are told this meeting will be off camera. We'll see if it stays that way. I'm joined here by a terrific group of reporters, including Gloria Pazmino. Gloria, you've been doing some great reporting on how the mayor-elect has prepared for this meeting.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Dana. You know, this is a big moment for Zohran Mamdani and also for President Trump. And I think knowing how Trump sort of responds and sees the world through a lens of winners and losers, you know, competing punching back. I think that he must be impressed by Zohran Mamdani and the way that he ran his campaign.

In fact, he said so in an interview earlier this morning on Fox -- on Fox News Radio, giving him credit for his run. But Mamdani, you know, this is the first time he's going to be sitting with the president. So, he asked for help. He talked to Governor Kathy Hochul, the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and the Congressman Hakeem Jeffries to just sort of give him some pointers about how to go into this meeting, which I think is important to be prepared.

We know just how sort of unpredictable these meetings can be. It may be close to press, but suddenly it may be open to press. And we do not know what's going to happen once the cameras are in there and they're rolling. And we've seen so many of these meetings sort of go off the rails before.

You know, is he going to give him sort of a dressing down, like he tried to do with the South African president, where he had all this presentation ready to him to talk about what was violence against white people in South Africa? Or is he going to, you know, have a more cordial, allow reporters to ask questions.

I think that's what we're all really anxious to see. And we know that Zohran Mamdani has said he really wants to focus on affordability. And that is interesting because of the way that the president has been talking about affordability in the past few weeks.

BASH: And Lisa, Gloria just mentioned what the president said on Fox this morning. Let's listen to that, and also some relatively conciliatory language from the mayor-elect as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (VOICEOVER): He did a successful run, and we all know that runs are not easy, but I think we'll get along fine. Look, we're looking for the same thing. We want to make New York strong. He was very nice in calling, as you know, and we're going to have a meeting. I guess, we'll meet at three o'clock today, and I think it's going to be quite civil. We'll find out.

MAMDANI: And I will work with anyone to make life more affordable for the more than eight and a half million people who call the city home. I have many disagreements with the president, and I believe that we should be relentless and pursue all avenues and all meetings that could make our city affordable for every single New Yorker.

LISA LERER, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Look, I think people are exposed -- are expecting maybe fireworks or unpredictability. But the thing about Mamdani is during the -- during his campaign, once he won the nomination, he met with all kinds of groups that really weren't supportive of his bid, business leaders, you know, rabbis and Jewish groups.

And what we heard in our reporting out of those meetings is a lot of those people, even if they didn't agree with him, found him quite charming and quite warm. And so, he's able--

BASH: That sounds familiar.

LERER: Yeah, right. He's able to go into rooms with people who he opposes, who oppose him and come out with them, sort of liking him. So, I wouldn't underestimate his skills in this regard. But as you pointed out, the president is highly unpredictable, and also there's this political overlay, which is that Republicans are very, very, very eager to make Mamdani the face of democratic opposition in the midterm elections.

[12:05:00]

They know they are headed for a challenging, set of mid-term races, and they're hoping they can paint everyone, all Democrats, as a DSA member. So, there's these political goals that, you know, the president has in mind as well for his party that could complicate the dynamics.

BASH: Yeah. And Evan, I -- we'll see what happens if this, as we talked about, whether this stays closed or open, we know--

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, AUTHOR, THE NOTUS MORNING NEWLETTER: They're going to open it. Come on, what are we talking about? This is a great show on television.

BASH: Right. People who don't look at the president's press schedule every day like, you know, like we do. Nine times out of 10, it starts out in the morning, it's closed press, and then the press ends up. Going in, I will say that that is a reason why I have talked to Democratic leaders, including one governor, privately about the fact that the White House has invited him and others to come for meetings.

And because of what happened, if you remember with Gretchen Whitmer. When she went for a meeting about really important things, she ended up kind of getting caught in a photo op, which didn't go well. Not to mention other examples that Gloria, you just mentioned that it's a mine field when you walk in here. But for Mamdani, it's a critical one for him to enter because this city where we're in, we're in New York City, relies so much on federal assistance.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: That's true. I mean, I think the criticalness goes both ways in this situation, right? Those other means you're talking about, they happen when Trump was very, very strong, right? Today, Mamdani is strong, and Trump is not as strong as he used to be, right? And they have to decide kind of, what kind of Trump you're going to get today, right? Because he keeps calling Mamdani a communist, which he is not a communist, right?

BASH: Democratic socialist.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: That's democratic socialist. And after the election, it was Trump's, I believe, only -- let's say director who said to POLITICO, all this stuff about communism when we're attacking Mamdani, it didn't work. This affordability stuff, this is the important stuff. And so, if Trump wants to go with the communism stuff, his own people have said this may not be the best idea we've ever had, and Mamdani can maybe come back with his affordability stuff and sort of look better today.

But obviously, there are plenty of areas here where Mamdani has a lot of pressure on him too, because his own supporters want him to be tough in the face of Trump, but also the people who want him to govern the city, want him to be a guy who can cut these deals and keep, you know, the National Guard out of the city.

Everybody's got a lot of -- a lot at stake today, but I do think that when you look at the at this meeting versus previous meetings, it's a different dynamic for a different moment for Trump, because he's, he's the one sort of looking to, like, hoping to grab some of that affordability energy that Mamdani has.

BASH: Yeah. That's such a good point. And let's actually talk about that. Since you mentioned affordability, which is the main reason why Mamdani is going to be in Gracie Mansion. The president's post earlier this week, talking about that affordability is a lie when used by the Dems. It's a complete calm job. And yet, that's not what a poll that came out this week shows that Americans feel.

I mean, just look at this. This is the president's net approval rating on the question of the cost of living. He is 39 points under water on the cost of living. I mean, the disapproval on the cost of living is 65 percent.

PAZMINO: This is what got Donald Trump elected a second time. He called it the economy. Zohran Mamdani called it affordability. He called it the cost of living in the most expensive city in the United States. And something that Mamdani has talked about over and over again is that when he launched his campaign here in New York City, he went to the two districts that swung towards Trump the hardest, right?

They went for Biden the last time, and they swung back towards Trump. And he went there and talked to people about why. And many of the viral videos that he had early in his campaign that really put him on the map were videos of him talking to those people. Why did you vote? Why did you vote for Trump? Why did you not vote?

And everyone talked about the cost of living. How expensive it is to pay the rent, to get on the bus to buy groceries, and he has talked about why that was the message he decided to focus on. So, this idea that the president is suggesting that, you know, Democrats came up with this kind of new message, it's just not, not quite there.

BASH: Real quick.

LERER: It is so interesting to watch the president sort of deny that there is affordability problem in the country because it's so reminiscent of what President Biden did, when he was running, and it was insistent that the, you know, the data is good. The data is good. When everyone goes to the grocery store and sees like, how much more at that time it was eggs or whatever, you know, meat now costs. So, it was such a -- it was such a clear political mistake made by the Biden administration, and to watch Trump replicate that mistake in some ways, is so -- it's really fascinating.

BASH: -- called the Baghdad Bob fair (Ph). Are you too young to know what that means?

[12:10:00]

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: No, I don't know. No, we have been tracking this at NOTUS since the beginning of this administration, that you come in and you take over and all of a sudden what you start saying is, we're doing it. Everything is great, right? And this has been a very difficult challenge for this administration.

I have talked to so many Biden officials in the NOTUS newsletter that are just like, hey, man, we see this. We had this problem too, this thing of like, what you're doing is working. What you're seeing is not true. The bubble effect is real.

Even for this president, which is really quite remarkable, because this president was so good at being a populist leader and talking to other groups that didn't usually get talked to, and channeling that energy -- actually, we talked with Mamdani. He was able to challenge to channel two. It really is remarkable to see how enclosed they seem to be from this economic message right now.

BASH: All right. We have a lot more to talk about. Don't go anywhere. Coming up. President Trump says he doesn't want to execute six Democrats in Congress. Yes, that is a sentence that I just said out loud. He had to clarify it. We'll tell you why. Plus, Ted Cruz, 2028. Is the Texas senator teasing another run for the White House or not?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: A major congressional battle lost on the Epstein files, the Comey indictment in shambles. The president is taking on water on the economy, and he's publicly breaking up with friends in Washington, increasingly unpopular with voters, and lashing out on social media and in front of and at reporters for a White House that's had more discipline vibes than the first time around. The picture that we're seeing emerge at least this week is of a president more reminiscent rather of Trump 1.0 than 2.0 that we've seen so far.

My panel is here now. And Lisa, I want to read a quote from our friend and colleague, Jonathan Lemaire, who I think you worked with, we've all known from around town, because he's channeling exactly the conversations that I've been having with our colleagues who cover the White House and beyond.

Here's what he said. Ten months into the president's second term, Trump 2.0 is for the first time starting to resemble the chaotic original. And that new sense of political weakness in the president has not just emboldened Democrats. It's also begun to give Republicans a permission structure for pushing back against Trump.

LERER: It is a fascinating moment. I cannot think of a time when the Republicans have been more divided on more issues, like from tariffs to like Nick Fuentes, they're fighting. It feels like various factions the Republican Party are fighting over everything.

There's, you know, some of them want the Obamacare subsidies to continue. Some of them want to roll back the tariffs, like the number of -- some of them don't like the America. They want to return to America First. And think Trump is spending too much time with foreign leaders solving foreign conflicts. It goes on and on and on.

And I think part of what happened was Trump's decision. You know, Trump's basically being forced into releasing the Epstein files was a big defeat and showed weakness for him. And also, the losses Republicans took in those elections earlier this month were a big defeat for him, and that has as lame you're right, says made the space for these fractures to emerge, and also created space for Republicans to imagine a future for their party that could be beyond Trump. And that's something we just haven't seen in a really long time

BASH: Because it's going to happen. It's also just the calendar.

LERER: Yeah.

BASH: I know we're, you know, not even a full year into--

LERER: Right.

BASH: --it's hard to--

(CROSSTALK)

LERER: You're going to say 2028.

BASH: There are three more -- no, no, no, that's actually not what I was saying. I was -- well, I guess it's related to 2028 that he is a lame duck. And at some point, and the point, I think, is now we're starting to see the kind of search for the post Trump Republican Party. And look, a lot of the issues that you talked about that's kind of healthy growing pains.

And when we talk about Democrats in "disarray all the time" and it's the same thing that happens in that party, trying to figure out where they stand, particularly Gloria, with a president who doesn't hold traditional Republican views on major issues like tariffs, for example.

PAZMINO: Yeah. I think some of the dynamics that we're seeing right now, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, you know, on your show, talking -- apologizing for her toxic language and the way that she has behaved in the past, about the -- talking about the toxicity of politics right now.

We're seeing these other members of Congress, you know, talking about how they don't want to wait for the speakers sort of direction to decide what goes on the floor. They're using the discharge petitions to get their legislation across. They're trying to figure out how to -- how and if there's a way to break from the leadership and the party because they feel like they're in there to represent their people in their district.

So, it is fascinating to watch them in this moment. You're right, Donald Trump, even as he likes to flirt with the idea that he'll be around forever, he won't be and they know that, and they know that they have to not only win races in the mid-terms, but that there's going to be another election in just a few years.

BASH: Yeah. And I want to take a beat on the president's personal behavior, and the way that this what we're describing, has manifested with the way that he has been talking. He has been dealing with on social media, but specifically the way that he has been dealing with reporters.

[12:20:00]

It is not new that the president likes to use reporters as foil, but it got to many other levels, higher levels, more intense levels this week. Let's just start with an example. I'm going to play first what he said to Mary Bruce, who is a fantastic reporter at ABC News, asked the perfect, perfect series of questions in that Oval Office meeting with the Saudi leader. And then followed by what the president said to another friend of the show, Catherine Lucey, about just calling -- an attack on her personally. Just watch?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, why wait for Congress to release the Epstein files? Why not just do it now?

TRUMP: You know, it's not the question that I mind. It's your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter. It's the way you ask these questions. You start off with a man who is highly respected, asking him a horrible insubordinate and just a terrible question.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there's nothing incriminating in the files sir, why not act?

TRUMP: Quite. Quiet, piggy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: OK, quiet piggy. But look at this photo. This is the image, and it's -- OK, fine, it's one thing for him to call her piggy, which is bad. That's just kind of baseline. But it's the imagery and the sort of the physical pointing very close to her face that almost makes you go, what is going on here? Let me let you in on that, and then I will tell you some reporting that I've gotten about, maybe answer to that question.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Well, I'll say what's going on here is this president is completely ruffled by any questions about Epstein, right? He cannot handle them. He goes off in this weird direction. I think what's more important to think about is that we are talking this moment where Trump is a little weaker than he has been before. But you know, the White House Correspondents' Association did not put out like a strong statement about this or either of these incidents.

You're still dealing with a situation where even Trump in his weak in state, right, which we're all talking about politically. He still has the power to sort of bring these formerly powerful institutions, kind of silence them and quiet them. And that's why he behaved it, because it has worked before.

BASH: Well, it's interesting.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: But I don't know if he didn't work on this particular issue. It clearly hasn't on the Epstein issue.

BASH: Yeah. What I was told by somebody who worked very closely in Trump world and understood the president -- understands the president, who said, that this tends to happen when Congress becomes a place that he can't control, and that is definitely what happened this week with Epstein, and he feels like nobody is going to do it for him. He needs to take it into his own hands.

And that was definitely what happened when a group of Democrats with national security credentials put up a sort of a PSA, if you will, saying to people in the military serving now, basically you don't have to listen to commanders if they're telling you to do something illegal.

The president then had a series of scathing responses on Truth Social including saying that they were engaging in seditious behavior, punishable by death, saying that he re-truth something, saying, hang them George Washington would. Then he had to -- as I mentioned at the beginning of this segment, make clear that he doesn't intend to pursue executing six Democrats who are serving in Congress.

LERER: Yeah. I mean, look, that's dangerous language. That's -- it's obviously a new level of political rhetoric, and it's like, it's extremely dangerous. I don't think it's all that surprising from the president. I mean, this is what we've seen throughout the entire second term, and some of the first term too. And I do wonder whether it is a reaction to him feeling his own weakness in some way, as you're pointing out.

BASH: Hold that thought. We're going to sneak in a quick break. And the question now is, how many is a crowd in California? The governor's race just added two more high profile names to the contest. We'll tell you who they are, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [12:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Tapping our political radar, California voters have a growing number of choices when it comes to the race to succeed, Gavin Newsom. This week saw two more candidates add their names to the list, Democrat Eric Swalwell, the longtime congressman and favorite foil for President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): And our state, this great state, needs a fighter and a protector, someone who will bring prices down, lift wages up. And we can say that we're the fourth largest economy in the world, and we are, and I love to brag about that. But what does that mean if you can't afford to live here? I came here tonight, Jimmy, to tell you and your audience that I'm running to be the next governor of California.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Also, this week, Tom Steyer, the billionaire democratic climate change activist, says he is joining the already crowded field as well. Plus, it's all about the margin. Republican Speaker Mike Johnson now has a little bit more of it as of 11:59 pm last night, Democrat from New Jersey. Mikie Sherrill, who is now the governor of elect of New Jersey, resigned her seat. The balance of power in the House now stands at 219 Republicans, 213 Democrats, and three vacancies.

And the House wants to make it harder to punish its own. There is a new bipartisan push to raise the threshold to censure members. The House took up two censure votes this past week. One aimed at retiring Democrat Joy Garcia for orchestrating his exit, so he could pick his