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Inside Politics

Trump Launches Trump RX Website, Claims It Will Help Americans Buy Lower-Priced Prescription Drugs; KFF Poll: Health Care Costs Top Public's Economic Worries; Conservatives Debate Switching The Channel On Bad Bunny; NFL Looks To Score A Global Touchdown With Bad Bunny Performance; Top House Democrat Says Party Stands For A "Strong Floor, No Ceiling". Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired February 06, 2026 - 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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[12:33:53]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump says he's delivering on a campaign promise to lower prescription drug costs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a big deal. This is a very big deal. People are going to save a lot of money and be healthy. Starting tonight, dozens of the most commonly used prescription drugs will be available at dramatic discounts for all consumers throughout a new website. It's called TrumpRx.gov.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: According to the White House, 16 drug manufacturers signed agreements to participate in TrumpRx. The question is, will it lower costs for most Americans?

CNN's Tami Luhby has been digging into this. Tami, thank you so much for being here. First, explain how TrumpRx works.

TAMI LUHBY, CNN SENIOR WRITER: Well, people can go to the website, and they can either put in the medications that they're taking, or they can browse through the medications that are available. There are 43 medications on the site right now. The administration says more will be added.

And basically, once they do that, they can get a coupon that they can take to their pharmacy and pay the lower price, or they can get a -- click a link and be connected directly to the manufacturers' direct- to-consumer websites, where they can purchase the medicine.

[12:35:05]

BASH: So I want to show our viewers a few examples of the drugs on the TrumpRx website. And there you see them. And they show, according to the website, some pretty big savings. Is that the reality for consumers? I know it's early.

LUHBY: Well, remember, those prices that you're seeing listed as original, those are the list prices. And many people don't actually pay the list price. So it's really going to depend on your insurance plan. Every plan is different. So you need to really go and look at your insurance plan and see what your co-pays are.

In fact, the website, TrumpRx's website, even tells consumers that they should check their insurance and their co-pays first, because the prices could be lower. But basically, another thing to remember is, one thing that's important is that even if you're paying cash, those payments are not going to go towards your deductible at this point anyway.

So you're going to be paying hundreds of dollars or, you know, a certain amount of money through TrumpRx, through this cash pay for your medications. But then you're also going to be paying, you know, potentially thousands of dollars for your deductible.

BASH: Let's talk about GLP-1's obesity drugs. This is something the president talks about a lot. Obviously, there are a significant number of people in this country who take those drugs. Most are not covered by insurance. How will this TrumpRx affect people's wallets on that?

LUHBY: Right. Well, what most experts are telling me is that the GLP- 1, the obesity medicine specifically, not diabetes, but the obesity medicine specifically, could be different. And many patients seeking weight loss drugs could actually find good deals on this website and through the deals, the agreements that the Trump administration negotiated with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.

So the prices likely will be lower than what they had been paying, because most -- well, not most, but many insurers don't cover Wegovy and Zepbound for weight loss. So this cash pay option could be very affordable for more people, or it could be more affordable for people.

BASH: Yes.

LUHBY: It's still, you know, several hundred dollars.

BASH: Exactly. Tami, thank you so much for helping us make sense of this. Really appreciate it.

And this comes as a new poll from KFF shows health care tops the public's list of economic anxieties. People say they worry more about the cost of health insurance and prescription drugs than groceries or rent, utilities and gas.

My panel is back now. Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, look, what I find so fascinating about this, in particular, when you referenced that poll, is that in the broader spectrum of how the president looks like this, he is obsessed with wanting to put not only his imprint, but Republicans at large, some sort of imprint on health care. He hates that this is an issue that Democrats have owned and Republicans have failed out for so many years. He's still, even during in the recent months, has brought up the McCain down vote about, you know, trying to repeal and replace Obamacare. So that's part of this.

The other thing is, he is obsessed with this idea of trying to make drugs more affordable. It is going to be interesting to see if this actually is the case, if these drugs do end up, as Tami laid out, being more cost effective for a lot of consumers rather than their insurance.

I think, you know, the fact that he's calling it TrumpRx, that's something else I've heard. If they end up -- if Republicans end up doing some broader health care plan, he wants to have it be Trumpcare or something like that. But at the end of the day, this is something he wants Republicans to be talking about.

Interesting enough -- I know, Sabrina, you'll probably weigh in on this -- Republicans, at least when it comes to politics in the midterms, do not want health care to be one of the things that is a central focus. So just keeping that in mind as we look at all of this.

SABRINA RODRIGUEZ, POLITICS REPORTER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Yes, I mean, to Elena's point, I think it's what's interesting is, you know, they want to show that they care about affordability. This is a really tangible way to do that. But we know that Democrats have consistently dominated on this issue.

And for a lot of folks who last year lost the Obamacare subsidies and are actually feeling the impact of, you know, higher premiums, it is interesting -- it will be interesting to see how that plays out in the midterms. You know, I think we talked a lot about it late last year as that expiration was coming around. But I think the repercussions of that and how Democrats capitalize on that is something we're going to be talking about in the months to come.

BASH: Yes, I mean, Democrats won back the majority in the president's first term talking about health care, and they are determined to do the same now.

Everybody stand by. Coming up, the Super Bowl usually pits team against team. But are politics making this year's halftime show one against another? Yes, there is another halftime show. We're going to explain it after the break.

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[12:43:46]

BASH: The NFL's goal for Bad Bunny on Sunday? Unite people. With his Grammy's ICE out declaration still on people's minds, though, it is fair to wonder what will be his message. Which songs will he choose? Well, Spotify shows where Americans' hopes are. "DtMF" topped the most played songs in the country yesterday, and two more Bad Bunny songs make the top 10.

There is a faction who plans to turn the channel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I don't know who he is. I don't know why they're doing it. It's like crazy. And then they blame it on some promoter that they hired.

COREY LEWANDOWSKI, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's so shameful that they've decided to pick somebody who just seems to hate America so much.

TOMI LAHREN, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: As much as I would love to indulge in that halftime show and see Bad Bunny possibly in a dress trashing our federal law enforcement officers in this great country, I think I'm going to --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, but you go watch the game.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think the president would much prefer a Kid Rock performance over Bad Bunny. I must say that.

KID ROCK, SINGER AND MUSICIAN: There's a big portion of this country, like it or not, that's underserved entertainment wise. And, you know, we're just going to go play for our base, you know, people who love America, love football, love Jesus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Our smart reporters are back. And Sabrina, you wrote about this for the journal. The headline is, "Bad Bunny Isn't Toning It Down With MAGA and MAGA Is Fuming." You quote a conservative influencer, Emily Austin, "America gave him such a great opportunity to really amplify his career on another level. Now he took that platform that he's built here and has now completely turned into bashing this country."

[12:45:21]

Just to sort of table set here, he's Puerto Rican, so he is American. But go ahead.

RODRIGUEZ: Yes, so a very important thing to clarify, because I think in a lot of the backlash, that is not acknowledged. But I think it's been an interesting evolution in the backlash to Bad Bunny being the Super Bowl headliner. You know, we saw when he was first announced in September, this immediate, you know, MAGA influencers online bashing on him for a variety of reasons.

But, you know, it starts with the fact that he's been open and being, you know, against immigration enforcement in this country, against, you know, Trump's handling of it. You know, his album last year that came out, Debi Tirar Mas Fotos, he did this sold out 31-day residency in Puerto Rico. And he specifically opted out of touring on mainland U.S. and said later in an interview that the reason was in part because he was worried that it was going to be, you know, a source and a place for ICE raids to take place. Since then, you know, that fur died down. You'd have some influencers still complaining about it given the fact that he sings exclusively in Spanish. He has like some, you know, gender bending norms that he'll like talk about and just focus on openly about.

So I think there's been all this backlash around it that died down, but then with the Grammys and him saying ICE out, that has been reignited and we've seen a lot of attention on it this week.

BASH: Yes. And so the TPUSA is going to have its own halftime show, which they're going to put on conservative media outlets. Kid Rock, who you saw in that clip, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, Gabby Barrett are going to be performing there. And as they do, just back to Bad Bunny, he is a worldwide sensation.

ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

BASH: He is -- he's not just popular in the U.S. or in Latin countries and Spanish speaking countries. It goes all the way around the globe.

KANNO-YOUNGS: Yes. Yes, that's a phenom. I mean, that that residency in Puerto Rico. I mean, I know so many people who want to go to that. I kind of want to go to that, too. It is interesting. I mean, on one end, you have the NFL trying to make a concerted effort to have, like, a broad range of musicians and really show the full spectrum of music during the halftime show.

And then you see this response as well, which is immediate backlash from many people in MAGA and many of the president's allies to, again, an effort to diversify art as well. This isn't the first time we've seen the president's sort of the penchant for stoking division also impact the entertainment community. We've seen it in music. We've also seen in sports as well, with him often criticizing the actions of athletes that choose to speak out against him. I kind of put this again into category of just not much of a tolerance for dissent, right?

BASH: Listen to what Bad Bunny himself said at a pregame press conference this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you have guests on stage this Sunday?

BAD BUNNY, RAPPER AND SINGER: Well, you know, that's something that I'm going to tell you. I don't know why you asked that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had to, man.

BUNNY: I have a lot of guests. It's going to be my family, my friends, or all the Latino community around the world that support me and believe on me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BASH: David?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF & POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes. When you talk about the global phenom that he is, it's -- I kind of feel like the backlash hasn't really met its match.

KANNO-YOUNGS: Yes.

CHALIAN: You know, like --

KANNO-YOUNGS: Yes.

CHALIAN: -- he's going to have a really successful Super Bowl half show. I'm not one for predictions. I'm going to predict that, right? And yes, the president or some of his allies may seek to have a culture war wherever they possibly can, but I don't think it's actually going to be able to overcome. Look at those Spotify numbers you shared, like what the Bad Bunny phenomenon is.

RODRIGUEZ: But I actually think the president knows that because the reality is that he has not actually seized on this nearly as much as he could have or would have if he thought this was a winning argument for him. You know, we saw, yes, he's like talked about it a couple of times in interviews said the choice was absolutely ridiculous.

But for a president who we know is very active on social media, he could have been railing against Bad Bunny every day if he wanted to. He could have chosen to say he's going to go to the Turning Point alternative show that they're doing. And he is not doing that.

BASH: That's true.

CHALIAN: Or he could have gone to the Super Bowl and commented on the show for --

RODRIGUEZ: And tried to have fuss (ph) and he chose not to.

BASH: Final quick word.

TREENE: No, I totally agree with what everyone is saying. I mean, Bad Bunny is so much bigger than what the White House can make. And I don't think it's a fight they will win. It's not a fight I think they want to pick. I think you're absolutely right.

I mean, think about all of the criticisms we've seen the president launch at Taylor Swift and things like that. This isn't at that level. But it's also they think that their base loves this, so they're leaning in. I don't know. I don't know if it's really worth the fight here.

[12:50:06]

BASH: All right. While you wait for Sunday show, don't miss CNN's Bad Bunny and the halftime show Rhythms of Resistance. It airs at 10:00 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, or you can stream it on the CNN app. The GOP has Make America Great Again. Democrats are trying to figure out what their counter slogan is. Well, my next guest coined four words that Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries thinks represents the soul of the Democratic Party. Stay with us.

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BASH: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries thinks he might have found a four-word slogan to counter Make America Great Again. He told me in his new -- he told me his new pitch, rather, a few months ago when we were discussing the soul of the Democratic Party.

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[12:55:14]

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D), MINORITY LEADER: Here's my view of what the Democratic Party represents. We believe in a strong floor and no ceiling that in America, if you work hard and play by the rules, there should be no ceiling to your success for yourself, for your family, for your children.

At the same period of time, we believe in this country, wealthiest country in the history of the world, there should be a strong floor anchored in things like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid that Republicans are decimating, that Democrats brought to the people of this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Joining me now is a man who coined "Strong Floor, No Ceiling." It is, as you see there, the name of his book. Oliver Libby is a venture capitalist and Democratic donor. And it's here with me now. Thank you so much for being here.

First of all, how did this slogan, the title of your book, make its way to Hakeem Jeffries?

OLIVER LIBBY, AUTHOR, "STRONG FLOOR, NO CEILING": You know, it came to him through a number of people who heard that I was writing the book. I had shared a manuscript with a number of people I respect in the party. And actually, he offered to write a testimonial, which you can find right at the beginning of the book.

And when I first heard him say it on television was actually a surprise to me. I started writing the book, Dana, about eight years ago. And it was really just a place for me to put all the ideas that I wished would be America when we could relight the American dream, which is something I worry about all the time as one of our greatest national security threats. And so to hear Leader Jeffries take this up was an extraordinary moment.

BASH: So when people hear us saying strong floor, no ceiling, how do you explain it?

LIBBY: You know, it's simple. And actually, one of my favorite things about this is when people see the book and they know it's about America and politics, they get it at their core. A strong floor is a floor made up of planks that we all know and understand.

We want affordability. We want health care and education. We want housing and good paying jobs, safe and secure homes. Those are the things that are the building blocks of opportunity. But in America, you can't stop there.

And I think every American wants to believe that if they work hard and play by the rules and pay their taxes, that they can have the good life. They can be in the middle class and maybe even go far beyond that. That's actually the way we increase the economic pie.

And so, it weaves in today to some of the core themes, affordability. But, look, here's one important thing. I think if folks are not happy with the current leadership in the Trump administration, we have never had a seismic shift in American politics without a positive and hopeful message that says what we want for America, not what we don't want, whether it was the contract with America or 6406 or for the people.

There was always something hopeful, something people could vote for and not just against. And I think we need that today.

BASH: Yes. And so you're hoping that this book, which, again, isn't just the title, obviously, it lays out a prescription, a roadmap that you think on various issues dealing with affordability. We put this poll up in another segment earlier as it related to the president's new TrumpRx website.

But I want to show it to you as it relates to your argument. You see there the affordability concerns what people are the most worried about. Health care is ahead of everything else. And those are also pretty high. But the fact that health care is so high.

Your proposal for a strong floor on health care initiatives is a universal single payer health insurance plan. Longtime goal of progressives. But it is definitely something that President Obama, when he did Obamacare, was pressured to do and he shied away from it because he couldn't get support even among Democrats. And back then I was covering it, there were 60 Senate Democrats.

LIBBY: You know what I think? Look, you heard the president today talk about the fact that health care is broken. We know that health care is broken. Everybody knows that health care is broken. So, sure, a single payer, a public option is really important. But actually the whole chapter is filled with ideas.

There should be a tax credit for seeing your doctor every year. And that's something that we're using an incentive, an economic incentive to help reduce the overall cost of health care because a lot of people only --

BASH: Preventative medicine.

LIBBY: Exactly. Go to the hospital when you're really sick. But, you know, I'm really glad you raised polling. We've actually been in battleground states in Michigan and Georgia. And actually, your viewers are the first to hear this.

And we've asked folks, you know, we never did this during the writing of the book. But now that it's out there, we asked folks what they think about strong floor, no ceiling. And what's amazing to me is it's extremely popular, high 70s, 80s for moving voters.

It's something that voters find inspiring. But what's interesting to me is both legs of strong floor and no ceiling polled in the high 90s in both states. And we're publishing this polling so you can see it. What that means to me is people understand, you know, whatever solutions haven't worked in the past, we have big problems here.

People can't afford their lives. 27 percent of Americans believe that there's an American dream. There's no 9/11 or Pearl Harbor that can destroy America. That can. And so, if people believe, hopefully, that we can do a strong floor with no ceiling, then we have the hope to relight the American dream.

BASH: Thank you so much for being here, Oliver Libby. And again, "Strong Floor, No Ceiling" is something, if you're paying attention to politics, which people who watch Inside Politics probably are, have heard. Congratulations. And thanks for coming in and explaining it.

LIBBY: Thank you for having me.

BASH: Thank you for joining Inside Politics. Join me on State of the Union this Sunday. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries will be on the show along with Maryland Governor Wes Moore. Hope to see you at 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

CNN News Central starts right now.