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Inside Politics
Trump Doubles Down On Reiner Criticism, Calls Him "Deranged"; Vance Gives Economy An "A Plus, Plus, Plus"; Poll: Most Americans Trust Dems Over GOP On Rising Prices; New Video Captures Heroic Actions Of First Bondi Beach Victims. Aired 12:30-1p ET
Aired December 16, 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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[12:32:23]
DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: We could learn more this afternoon about when prosecutors will file charges in the heinous murder of Hollywood icon Rob Reiner and his wife, photographer Michele Singer Reiner. But lawmakers from President Trump's own party continue to push back on how he is talking about the tragedy. He's not relenting though.
Here's what he said when asked about it, about what he initially put on social media, which he was condemned for.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I wasn't a fan of his at all. He was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned. It was the Russia hoax. He was one of the people behind it. I think he hurt himself in career wise.
He became like a deranged person, Trump derangement syndrome. So I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all in any way, shape or form. I thought he was very bad for our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: My reporters are back here. Brian Stelter, yes, there have been more cracks in MAGA. But what the President said initially yesterday, which you just heard him double down on again yesterday afternoon --
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Can I object to the phrase double down? Double down implies strength. Double down implies like, you know, he's a tough guy, he's working, he's going hard. No, he's digging a deeper hole.
BASH: OK, whatever.
STELTER: Right? He's digging a deeper hole.
BASH: He didn't relent them (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freaking a president now.
STELTER: It's weakness.
BASH: Whatever --
STELTER: Well, I just -- I always notice it. It's not just you, Dana. I do it all the time. Trump doubles down today. It's like, no, he screwed up and then he screwed up more and now he's made it worse for himself.
BASH: Yes.
STELTER: That's what I would say.
BASH: Yes. I mean, there's no question it was absolutely reprehensible what he said, which is the point I'm trying to make --
STELTER: Yes.
BASH: -- which is that there was more pushback on him --
STELTER: Yes, a lot more.
BASH: -- from people than in his own party because I don't know, they're human beings somewhere in there. And that would like -- no, OK, this is beyond the pale.
STELTER: Yes.
BASH: I'll just give you one example. Stephanie Bice, who's not somebody -- who's a Republican from Oklahoma. She does not something -- somebody who speaks out a lot. She said, "A father and mother were murdered at the hands of their troubled son. We should be lifting up the family in prayer, not making this about politics."
STELTER: Yes.
BASH: Just talk about his reaction and sort of the way that it is being perceived --
STELTER: Right.
BASH: -- and taken.
STELTER: We know usually how Trump is going to react to these things. He's going to make it all about himself. I was low to even talk a lot about this yesterday because I thought it's going to take away from the tributes to this incredible Hollywood legend. But we have to talk about it --
BASH: Yes.
STELTER: -- because, as Adam Serwer said in 2018, the cruelty is the point.
[12:35:02] Well, for as long as the cruelty is going to be the point in this country, the cruelty is going to be the news and exhaustion's no excuse for breezing past it. I think this attack is broken through like almost no other attack Trump has made because normal people don't think of Reiner as a liberal who is against Trump.
He was. And I knew Rob Reiner. I knew about his politics. He was very, very aggressive against Trump, raising money, campaigning against Trump for a decade. And that's how President Trump views Reiner, right? But most normal people just view him as a Hollywood actor and director.
So I think that is why this is broken through. It's because most people don't view Reiner through a political lens at all. And when they read that through social posts and they hear the soundbite --
BASH: Yes.
STELTER: -- they're thinking, what planet is Trump on? It makes no sense of that.
BASH: We know that for many of these situations, it's very personal for President Trump.
STELTER: Yes.
BASH: And his Rob Reiner's wife apparently took the photo. She was a renowned photographer, took the photo for his original "Art of the Deal" cover, the book. And so they clearly knew each other. And then Reiner was not only somebody who was very anti-Trump, but he actually funded some investigations --
STELTER: Yes.
BASH: -- into figuring out Russia's involvement in the 2016 election.
STELTER: Right.
BASH: So, and that is one of the President's triggering points.
STELTER: Right, right.
BASH: And so I'm just trying to explain it.
STELTER: Yes.
BASH: Certainly not, you know, excuse it, but trying to explain why is the President going --
STELTER: Yes. Why? And even in recent months, Reiner talked about the democracy being imperiled a year left for American democracy, he said at one point. Here's a counterweight to that. The reaction, right, the MAGA media pushback to Trump in the last 24 hours.
BASH: Yes. STELTER: The pushback from conservative influencers, all the right wing voices coming out and praising Reiner and also pointing out the Charlie Kirk hypocrisy, right. When Charlie Kirk was slaughtered, we heard from many conservatives who said, you know, this attitude can never happen again. Axios said they'll never celebrate or mock the untimely death of a political opponent.
But then Trump, quote, "abandoned that moral high ground." That's the other reason why this is resonating, right? It's the comparison to the Charlie Kirk death and how Trump, you know, is very -- just very different reactions to those two deaths.
BASH: Abby?
STELTER: Those two crimes.
ABBY LIVINGSTON, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, PUCK: So one, I think it was really smart you pulled the Stephanie Bice quote. And I actually had a source flag that one specifically over the others because she is not a combative member.
BASH: Exactly.
LIVINGSTON: And so she is very much an institutionalist. She is a person who gets along with everyone in the Republican Party. And like building on Brian's point, I had a Republican source say about the Charlie King tie -- I mean, Charlie Kirk tie. Why -- and I asked, why are conservatives pushing back on this? And he said they've lost the argument after trying to get people fired after Charlie Kirk's assassination.
LISA LERER, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: But not to bring it back to politics, but we are in Inside Politics, so it's a little inescapable. I think it does say something about Trump standing in his party. Like Trump has said sort of really sort of reprehensible things after tragic events many, many times in the past, as Brian pointed out.
And you haven't -- you didn't hear from these Republicans and these conservatives. And now you are, which some of that true is related to Charlie Kirk. But some of it is showing how the MAGA movement is feeling a little more emboldened on a number of fronts to speak out, right, on, you know, questions around foreign policy, on questions around how committed Trump is to dealing with cost of living.
STELTER: (INAUDIBLE) about Jeffrey Epstein.
LERER: Right. And certainly on questions about Jeffrey Epstein. What we are seeing is a pattern where things are happening and the Trump is taking a position and bits, you know, sort of singular voices crop up across his movement, saying, actually, we don't agree with this. And so there is a trend line here.
BASH: Yes.
LERER: And that trend line is something very new for our politics. BASH: All right. You saw Vice President Vance answering a question about the Vanity Fair piece with Susie Wiles. The reason he was out and about is because he's trying to sell an economy that Americans right now aren't buying. We'll explain after a break.
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[12:43:27]
BASH: And they're living there in Allentown. See what I did there, Abby? The Vice President traveled to the Kingston state this morning to deliver his economic message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JD VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you look at every single affordability crisis that we talk about in the United States of America today, it's because we inherited a nightmare of an economy from Joe Biden.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What grade would you give the economy today?
VANCE: A plus, plus, plus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Vance's job is to sell the economy. And of course, and it became a bit harder this morning because the latest job numbers were released and unemployment hit a four-year high in November. 7.8 million Americans are without a job.
My panel is back now. Abby, it's not as if he had any choice but to answer with the grade that his boss, the President, gave. But it is noteworthy that he is trying to sort of soften the message or redirect the message back to where they feel like it is the most effective, which is not, we have the greatest economy in the history of the world, but, you know, of course, blame it on the guy before and try to be patient.
LIVINGSTON: So, you know, I had a Democratic operative text me the first time the President said the A plus quote and said it would be malpractice for the Republican -- I mean, Democratic Party not to put that in every single ad a year from now. And now you've got the Vice President doing that.
And I'm an ex-TV producer. I used to work here at CNN. You've now got one soundbite that is -- you get one more and then you have a montage. And so, this is an interesting thing to, as Brian would revile me saying double down on.
[12:45:09]
LERER: I mean, this is a, as you're pointing out, this is a deeply damaging issue for Republicans. And poll after poll after poll, Americans are saying that they are concerned about cost of living for --
BASH: Well, let me just --
LERER: -- basics.
BASH: Let me just interrupt you just to show the poll, and then --
LERER: Yes.
BASH: -- I want you to continue your thought, Lisa.
LERER: OK.
BASH: This is which economic matters is the most important, which issue is the most important, inflation of cost of living, 44 percent, healthcare costs, 13 percent, taxes and take home pay, percent, and it goes on. This is from the latest NBC survey. And then the question is maybe the most important for the political question, who do you trust to handle rising prices? The Democratic Party, 53 percent, Republican Party, 47 percent.
And this just staying on that number for a second. I mean, we cannot emphasize enough because it was the reverse and a wider gap a year ago.
LERER: Yes.
BASH: It's why Donald Trump is president again.
LERER: Exactly. This is not actually a new issue. Americans have been concerned about cost of living for several years at this point. It was very damaging for the Biden administration. It was why -- it was a major reason why Harris did not win that election, is that Americans felt she wasn't focused enough on these issues because we're talking about cost of living for really basic fundamental things -- housing, childcare, healthcare, utilities, not, you know, extraneous vacation or whatever.
These are like things that are core to how you live your life. And Americans have been saying for years that they feel that they can no longer afford these things, that it's harder and harder for them to make ends meet. It's why Trump is president, as you point out. And he has -- and there's a sense we're seeing in all these surveys that people do not feel that he has made good on those promises to tackle this issue on day one.
And it's really damaging for Republicans. They need to figure out how to get a message that will convince Americans that they are, you know, dealing with this.
BASH: And going back to that Susie Wiles profile, one of the things that she said -- I'll just read the quote, "Wiles told me," this is the author, "she thought Trump should pivot more often from world affairs to kitchen table issues. More talks about the domestic economy and less about Saudi Arabia is probably called for," said Wiles. 'They like peace in the world, but that's not why he was elected.'" I think that's one issue. It's the topic that he chooses to spend his time on. But when he is talking about the economy, it's the, you know --
STELTER: It's A plus, plus, plus.
BASH: Well, it's A plus, plus, plus. And I would even -- you know, I'm not going to say let them eat cake, but, you know, a version of, you know, not fully understanding the way that people are feeling on a day to day, hour to hour basis --
STELTER: Right.
BASH: -- with their own home budget.
STELTER: Yes. And I recognize that as someone -- we're on television, almost by definition, we're privileged. We're wearing fancy clothes. But, I mean, I was in Allentown the other day, I was at Wegmans. I was buying strawberries for my kids. I noticed the prices in a way that I didn't notice them five years ago.
It's partly thanks to the news coverage, right? First in the Biden era, now in the Trump era, people are paying more attention to this. Trump is right when he talks about affordability being in the news, all of a sudden. It's not all of a sudden, but when he hears that phrase over and over again.
I have sympathy though for the administration on this, because this is one of those rare times when slow and steady does not win the race.
BASH: Right.
STELTER: Right? We live in the age of instant same day delivery. People want to see change, even when it's not practical, and there's never going to be swift change on this front. So people are not going to be satisfied by what they see from Vance and Trump.
LERER: But it's not just affordability, right, it's also the tariffs. That what Democratic strategists and some Republican strategists told me is that after liberation day, of course, was when Trump announced a suite of tariffs in April, which Susie Wiles said in that profile, she sort of disagreed with how that was executed, right?
BASH: Yes.
LERER: They began seeing in focus groups and surveys that people directly connected those tariffs to higher prices. Now, I don't think voters actually know, oh, I have to buy winter boots and they're X much more --
BASH: Yes.
LERER: -- because of tariffs, but they make that connection. And that is very damaging for this White House. If that is that means that they are directly blaming Trump's policies on tariffs for the fact that they are now paying more for goods, regardless of whether those tariffs have been -- are rolled back, because some of them, of course, have been since then.
BASH: All right. We're going to -- let's take a quick break. When we come back, some new video from Australia you're going to want to see.
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[12:53:36]
BASH: Brand new video sheds light on additional heroes confronting a shooter during the antisemitic terror attack at Bondi Beach in Australia on Sunday. Dashcam video shows 69-year-old Boris Gurman in the lavender shirt there, alongside his wife, Sofia, running towards the suspect, who was holding a gun and disarming him.
The couple were sadly the first victims of the rampage, according to 9News. That video also captured a critical piece of evidence.
CNN's Lynda Kinkade joins me now. So, Lynda, what are you learning about a possible ISIS influence?
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Dana, good to be with you. Authorities are now investigating a possible link with extremists. They found dashcam footage that showed an ISIS flag taped to the window of the suspect's car. Inside that car, there were also unexploded devices and another two homemade ISIS flags.
We know the suspect, Sajid Akram, is 50. He was shot dead at the scene. His son, Naveed Akram, is 24. He was critically wounded in a police shootout. Now, we know that back in 2019, he was under an assessment by ASIO, which is the Australian Defense Domestic Terrorism Organization, for links with two radicalized individuals who were in jail at the time.
[12:55:03]
Now, at the time, he was 18, and authorities investigated and then dropped that assessment, dropped that investigation after about six months. Well, now they believe that he became radicalized after that. And authorities are looking at recent travel that the two, the father and son, took to the Philippines just a month ago, back in November.
Now, they say they believe that these two travelled to the south of the Philippines, which is known as a hotbed for ISIS extremism. And there, the ABC Australia, our affiliate, says that speaking with a counter-terrorism investigator, they undertook some military training, military-style training with ISIS militants.
Now, we understand that Sajid traveled to Australia on an Indian passport. His son, Naveed, who's currently in hospital with gunshot wounds, traveled on an Australian passport. Now, once he's medically fit, he is expected to face charges. He is currently in a critical condition. Now, neither suspect was ever on a terrorism watch list, as we understand it.
Now, 15 people, of course, have been killed. We have seen tributes right across the country. The youngest, of course, just 10, a young girl called Madeline (ph), who was known for her beautiful smile and joy that she brought to her family. The eldest, of course, 87 years old, a Holocaust survivor.
And as you were just mentioning, Dana, we heard about those courageous acts by another couple, Boris and Sofia Grumman, who tried to confront the gunman and stop this carnage. Dana?
BASH: It's just too much. Thank you so much for that reporting. Appreciate it.
And thank you for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after a quick break.
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