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Inside Politics

President Trump To Tout Economy In Crucial PA Swing District; Australia Enacts First Law Banning Social Media For Kids Today; Inside Barbie's Billion-Dollar Business Empire. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired December 09, 2025 - 12:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:33:58]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Today, President Trump is taking his first trip outside the nation's capital to tout his economic agenda since July. And if you're a political junkie like we are, the location will not surprise you. It's Pennsylvania. Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, to be exact. It is in a battleground district that went red by less than 2 percentage points.

The crucial midterms are not even a year away. And though the President says everything is fine, it seems the White House recognizes the need to sell voters on the Trump economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: President Trump is going to give a positive, economic-focused speech where he talks about all that he and his team has done to provide bigger paychecks and lower prices for the American people. There's a lot more work to do, and he'll talk more about that tonight. But this is going to be President Trump's bread-and-butter issue, focused on the economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Joining me now is Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis. Thank you so much for joining me. It looks beautiful where you are there in Harrisburg.

[12:35:03]

So the White House, as you just heard, they say what the President is going to talk about is outline his economic agenda, and specifically what he likes to call his three-pronged strategy on affordability. Tax cuts, especially tax cuts for seniors, slashing regulations, reducing energy costs. I have to say it sounds a lot like what you and Governor Shapiro have talked about in Pennsylvania.

LT. GOVERNOR AUSTIN DAVIS (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Well, look, one thing's clear. Governor Shapiro and I have gotten things done for the good people here in Pennsylvania, from cutting taxes seven times to expanding the child care tax credit for working families and passing the working families tax credit to put more money back in folks' pockets. But the reality is President Trump has not been a partner in lowering the cost for working-class families.

He's got his work cut out for him today in northeastern Pennsylvania. He's going to have to convince people that what they're seeing in terms of prices at grocery stores and what they're feeling in their pockets isn't real. The reality is his policies on economics have been a disaster for Pennsylvania's working families, and I think Pennsylvanians are smart enough to see through this visit today.

BASH: And what the President says is that how people are feeling now is kind of an after effect of the way that Democrats governed when Joe Biden was in office. Listen to a little bit of what he told Politico on this topic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What do you have to understand? The word affordability. I inherited a mess. I inherited a total mess. Prices were at an all-time high when I came in. Prices are coming down substantially.

Look at energy. You and I discussed before the interview, energy. Energy has come down incredibly. When energy comes down, everything, because it's so much bigger than any other subject. But energy has come down incredibly.

Prices are all coming down. It's been 10 months. It's amazing what we've done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Lieutenant Governor, what do you say to his argument that what he is dealing with is just kind of a hangover from Democratic policies?

DAVIS: Well, you know, first, I think we have to look at President Trump's record as it relates to the economy. One of the first actions that he took when he took office was the largest tax break in our country's history for millionaires and billionaires.

His tariff policy has slapped 1.6 million working Pennsylvanians with a tax hike here in the Commonwealth. And he is set to double the health care costs for more than 500,000 Pennsylvanians with the expiration of the Affordable Care Act.

The reality is, Pennsylvanians know they are not in a better place economically than they were before Donald Trump took office. And the reality is, both Democrats and Republicans have agreed that the Trump economic policies have been failing Pennsylvanians and been failing Americans.

The reality is, he has -- him and his allies in Congress, like Rob Bresnahan, who represents Northeastern PA, have been more focused on wooing their billionaire and millionaire donors. And nothing is more evident than the ballroom that seemingly takes up President Trump's attention almost every day. He's more concerned about how he's going to entertain his wealthy friends than how he's going to lower costs for Americans and Pennsylvanians. And I think people in Northeastern Pennsylvania know that the President isn't on their side.

BASH: Let me sort of talk a little raw politics with you here. One of the questions going into next year's midterm elections is going to be, how do you pull over to you voters who really, really like Donald Trump as a person, but still aren't comfortable with their way of life, but may not be that comfortable with Democrats either? What's your argument?

DAVIS: Yes, look, I think the model that Governor Shapiro has laid out here in Pennsylvania has proven how to win, from delivering real results by lowering taxes, by creating a strong economic -- economy despite --

BASH: How is that going to translate to Congress? Forgive me for interrupting. How is that going to translate to Congress? It's really different when you're the chief executive.

DAVIS: Yes, look, I think members of Congress who are candidates for Congress are going to have to focus on how we bring down costs for everyday Pennsylvanians. And I think we have demonstrated how to do that in Pennsylvania, how we bring people together.

So I think Governor Shapiro's leadership can serve as an example for the folks who are running here in Pennsylvania and across the country on how to bring people together, how to deliver real results, and how to push policies that help improve the lives of everyday Americans and create ladders of opportunities for them to succeed.

[12:40:02]

Lieutenant Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Austin Davis, thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it.

DAVIS: Thanks for having me.

BASH: And up next, a worldwide first. Australia bans children from using social media until they are 16 years old. What about the United States? Stay tuned.

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BASH: No matter how you vote, if you are a parent, you probably worry a lot about how much time your children are spending online and how social media affects your children's mental health. Australia is trying to address that crisis with the first of its kind law going into effect today. The law bans all children under the age of 16 from using social media, and it encompasses all of the major platforms you can think of.

[12:45:06] Now, there are some lawmakers back here in the U.S. who would like to see similar legislation. Congress hasn't passed any major online regulations since the birth of the Internet, not even after this moment between Senator Josh Hawley and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R), MISSOURI: You're on national television. Would you like now to apologize to the victims who have been harmed by your product? Show them the pictures. Would you like to apologize for what you've done to these good people?

MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, META: I'm sorry (INAUDIBLE), it's terrible. No one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered and this is why we invested so much and are going to continue doing industry-leading efforts to make sure that no one has to go through the types of things that your families have had to suffer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: My panel is back now. I mean, that was less than two years ago. It might as well have been 10 lifetimes ago, Susan. But one of the questions -- first of all, just put up again the ban that Australia is doing today, and one of the questions is whether or not there will ever be an appetite for something. Well, there is an appetite.

The question was whether the lawmakers will listen to that appetite. There you see the social media platforms that are affected in Australia. I do want to put up a poll from this time last year when the Australia ban was passed. So now it's going to affect this is when it was passed.

This is on American citizens, how they feel about that. Sixty percent of Republicans, 54 percent of Democrats, 61 percent of Independents support that.

SUSAN GLASSER, STAFF WRITER, THE NEW YORKER: Yes. I mean, well, first of all, it seems like a lifetime ago to watch Mark Zuckerberg there because in the subsequent year and change, he and so many other tech leaders have made an incredible investment in the Trump administration and --

BASH: I would never say they're sorry in that.

GLASSER: Absolutely. Because one of the things they've pushed for is the idea of no regulation at all on new platforms, on A.I., for example. You have news on that right now this week. And I think from their perspective, you know, they -- they're against anything that Congress might do. I think it's a sign of our national gridlock.

Then, you know, ask a parent. You know, I can tell you as a parent, people are terrifying --

BASH: Yes.

GLASSER: -- and so worried about their children. And this, of course, is what drove the legislation in Australia. I'm sure you will see politicians in the U.S. pick up the call for this.

I was really struck, Dana. I looked at a statistic from Pew Research Center this year, the percentage of Americans with kids under the age of two who are saying that they are allowing their children to watch videos --

BASH: Oh my god.

GLASSER: -- on YouTube, it is up to almost two-thirds of American parents --

BASH: Wow.

GLASSER: -- with kids under two, over 60 percent. That's up from just 45 percent in 2020. So, you know, Americans aren't able to regulate it themselves, it seems. And the tech companies don't have the incentive here in Australia. It won't be the families or the kids who are punished --

BASH: Yes.

GLASSER: -- it will be the tech platforms.

BASH: And we haven't seen -- I mean, this is going to be -- it already is a big political issue, is definitely going to be a big issue on the campaign trail among candidates who run for president in 2028. I've only seen one potential candidate, probable candidate, talk about it, and that's Rahm Emanuel.

Here's what he said in Politico. "We've got to make a choice when it comes to our adolescents. Who's going to be a kind of moral guiding light? I put my thumb on the scale for adults over algorithms."

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, I think he's latching on to something here, an issue that is very popular, has bipartisan appeal. Ted Cruz, hardly, you know, a common viewpoint with Rahm Emanuel, also has a bill pending that would do this for people age 13.

But I think that Rahm Emanuel is on to something, and it's kind of a theme of what he's talking a lot about schools, a lot about education, some common sense things. But to your point in the intro, not a single piece of major legislation has been passed in Washington since the internet really came into our lives over the last several decades.

Why is that? The lobbying industry --

BASH: Yes.

ZELENY: -- here in Washington by all those companies that you point out, that is one of the biggest lobbying businesses now. Like, never mind big tobacco, that basically has replaced that --

BASH: Yes.

ZELENY: -- in terms of, so that's one of the reasons that members of Congress have done nothing on this.

BASH: And because they are not young, and they don't tend to get it. We saw that in a lot of the hearings that we saw.

Now, I'm not saying I do but, you know, I'm not making the laws in this country.

All right, coming up, if you're buying a Barbie this holiday season, you will want to stick around. I'm going to talk to the author of a fascinating new book on the secrets behind the iconic doll's rise.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It's too hard. It's too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:54:47]

BASH: I could watch that over and over again. It is, of course, the pivotal moment in the movie "Barbie," where the perfect world of Barbieland is shattered to reveal the impossible reality of being a woman, a standard so high even Barbie can't meet it.

[12:55:01]

Now that blockbuster movie refreshed a brand that is over 65 years old. And this year, as holiday shopping is in full swing, millions of kids will have Barbie on their wish list. A new book tells a slightly different story, where behind Barbie's glittery outfits and pristine dream house, there was a secretive, some would say ruthless company that copied and stole its way to the top. Ouch.

It's the story in the new book, "Barbieland." Journalist Tarpley Hitt is the author and she joins me now. Thank you so much for being here.

Let's start with how you describe Mattel. You write, quote, "The toy world, like the Pentagon, is highly secretive, obsessed with the threat of espionage and the potential theft of secrets." Now, you open the book with you getting kicked off the Mattel premises, and it really sets the tone for what kind of story you're trying to tell.

TARPLEY HITT, AUTHOR, "BARBIELAND: THE UNAUTHORIZED HISTORY": Absolutely. I mean, Mattel is a pretty ruthless company from the beginning. Ruth Handler, the co-founder of Mattel, her nickname was actually ruthless. I mean, she was this kind of chain smoking, occasionally quite crass, you know, cutthroat executive who was one of only a handful of women at the time in that position. And so, you can imagine she was, you know, elbowing her way.

BASH: Now, Barbie has always been somewhat controversial, at least in recent years, because of her impossible beauty standard. Her feet were designed so that she can't stand up without stilettos. And you write about how Mattel marketed the doll to parents who were not totally on board.

And what one mom said in a focus group was, quote, "Actually, I'd call them daddy dolls. They could be a cute decoration for a man's bar." Well, it turns out that's because Barbie was copied off of a doll for adult men?

HITT: Yes. So Barbie -- the official story is that Ruth comes up with Barbie herself, but that is not at all true. She copied it directly from this German doll, which was essentially like a Betty Boop character in post-war Germany, the mascot for a sort of New York Post Daily Mail style tabloid called Bild-Zeitung, run by Axel Springer, who's sort of a Rupert Murdoch type.

BASH: Now, Barbie, of course, has been in the zeitgeist for the past few years because of the wildly successful Barbie movie. We just played a clip of it. Greta Gerwig, the director and writer, she wanted to turn, and I think she successfully in this movie, turned Barbie into a feminist icon.

So I have to say, when I think of Barbie now, I think of Margot Robbie. I think of America Ferrera and that classic rant about being a woman.

HITT: I mean, I think it's hard to make the case that Barbie is a feminist icon. I think the movie was a really entertaining film, but, you know, it's just hard to get around the fact that Mattel rejected that label for 70 years and no one more vehemently than Ruth Handler herself, who single-handedly served on a Nixon committee about women in the workplace, and literally crossed out the part where the Nixon committee was going to recommend companies adopt maternity leave.

So --

BASH: Wow.

HITT: -- when she had the opportunity to sort of, you know, do something feminist, you know, help women in the workplace, she said no. And she really campaigned hard against, you know, addressing women's liberation in any way, internally. So, I definitely think there's many ways to see whatever you want in Barbie, but I'm not sure that Mattel has framed her as a feminist work.

BASH: Well, it's interesting -- well, but they were involved in the movie. I mean, obviously they gave them the right and they partnered with them. So maybe some rebranding is part of that.

And as you're talking about Ruth Handler, who started the Barbie, what a different description you just gave than the one that we got from Rhea Perlman, who played the real life -- excuse me, played the character of Ruth Handler.

I do want to ask, finally, about your book. When people read it, what do you want them to take away about this doll that is such a huge part of so many people's childhoods?

HITT: Well, first, I hope they're entertained just because there are so many really remarkable and insane chapters in Barbie's history and some very hilarious personalities involved. But more than that, I want people to understand that dolls are always these sort of mirrors for society. They're literally these little replicas of ourselves.

And the Barbie history of the past 70 years is very much the same as the economic history of the United States. So a lot of the trends that we see now that have led us to this situation where we have a lot of highly concentrated corporate power, Barbie was at the forefront of that, dating back to the 40s. I mean, Mattel, really. Barbie comes out in 1959.

But from offshore labor to, you know, Mattel was a very big champion of NAFTA, to deregulation at the federal level, all of these trends that we -- that are now, you know, common place, Mattel championed.

BASH: Tarpley Hitt, your book is called "Barbieland." And thank you so much for being here. Appreciate it.

HITT: Thank you so much.

BASH: Thanks for joining Inside Politics today. CNN News Central starts right now.