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The Situation Room

Trump Demands Return of Washington Redskins; Trump Slashes All Federal Funding For PBS; MAGA Pushing For Release of Epstein Files. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired July 21, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

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[11:32:14]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Well, President Trump is now at the sixth- month mark of his second term and is now facing a rare challenge from his unusually -- or his usually, I should say, loyal base.

Some of his core supporters are leading the demand for the release of details of the sex trafficking case against Jeffrey Epstein. And now lawmakers are joining in with a rare bipartisan push for the Justice Department to unseal the so-called Epstein files.

Join us now is CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp, and here in THE SITUATION ROOM is Bryan Lanza, senior adviser on the Trump 2024 campaign.

All right, so let's get up with you, S.E.

How much holding power do you think that this Epstein story has and how much of a stain, if any, do you think the story will leave on Trump's second term?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I don't think it's actually got the kind of power that folks think it has to really disrupt MAGA and impact midterms or 2028, which is what this is all about, right, in terms of the impact of it.

The same people who are really mad about Epstein inside of MAGA right now, those MAGA influencers, were just a few weeks ago really mad about those Iran strikes. Remember, we didn't vote for this. I regret my vote. Well, they moved on to the next beef.

And I promise you, in 15 months, when the midterms happen, they're not going to be worrying about or talking about Epstein. And these MAGA folks really have nowhere else to go. So I'm not really worried about their loyalty.

The loyalty Trump should be worrying about is some of those first-time Trump voters in 2024. It's a contingency he won for the first time, Some of those moderates and independents who gave them their vote, who really just cared about three things, the economy, crime and immigration.

If he doesn't make good on those, those voters are going to be the ones that really upset the MAGA party. If he retains those, Epstein's going to kind of be a blip.

BROWN: All right, so Bryan, to you now. How would you grade the president's handling of Epstein case?

BRYAN LANZA, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Well, I would separate the president's handling from his administration a little bit. I think the administration, how they handled it, at least the initial rollout, is probably a D-plus.

I think the president trying to find offense and ultimately finding offense against "The Wall Street Journal" last week, I'd probably put that at a B.

BROWN: Yes, well, I mean, in many ways, that was a gift to him because he likes to make the mainstream media the enemy and then it galvanizes his base.

(CROSSTALK)

LANZA: Yes, we were able to rally. And it was -- the story was so extreme, it gave Trump space to rally the group and say, look, not only we have had mainstream media. Now we have other factions of conservative media who've never been fans who are coming out against this.

And, yes, it had a huge rallying effect.

BROWN: All right, I want to go to something else that galvanizes his base. And that would be the issue of immigration.

In the latest CNN polling, 55 percent of those polled say Trump has gone too far when it comes to deporting migrants living in the U.S. illegally. That is up 10 points since February. This is mostly along party lines, we should note.

[11:35:07]

And we just heard from my colleague Priscilla Alvarez about the influence of funding ICE and how that's going to supercharge deportations.

So, S.E., to bring you back in on that, how do you think that is impacting the president and his standing right now?

CUPP: You know, he came in with a lot of momentum. You remember he won the popular vote, the Electoral College. Dems had sort of imploded, and these two issues, the economy and immigration, were what got him a second term.

And, honestly, from where I sit, he has sort of bungled both. A majority of Americans want a solution to illegal immigration. They don't like sanctuary cities. They don't like amnesty. But this isn't the solution they wanted. So he's kind of fumbled that momentum in really even disappointing some of his own base on how far he's gone, and same the economy.

He promised 200 tariff deals by now. We have got four. He hasn't really done anything to lower food prices. They're actually up 3 percent from this time last year. So these top two issues that gave him all the momentum, where a lot of people were with him, he's really, I think, kind of squandered for these other sort of loud noises and flashes that have been more distracting.

BROWN: What do you think about that, Bryan?

LANZA: Yes, listen, I think on immigration, he's hit exactly where he's wanted to hit. Right now, you're seeing a little bit of distaste from the electorate of what took place in Los Angeles, I suspect those heavy raids.

But at the end of the day, the base is very happy with the progress he's making with respect to illegal immigration and illegal aliens. The fact that he's storing or they're jailing these illegal aliens and not just releasing them back in the streets, that is very popular with the base.

That's something that didn't happen in the first term to the tens of millions of folks who were able to enter this country through bypassing our normal process. And so I think, as long as he continues to hit that mark and make sure that he's picking up the criminals, picking up these folks, keeping them here before we send them back, I think that's going to be positive, as opposed to...

BROWN: Just to really quickly follow up on you, because several people that have been deported don't have a criminal record.

LANZA: Yes.

BROWN: So do you think that in some ways the administration is going too far?

LANZA: Listen, I think it's important to realize, if you're an illegal alien in the United States seeking a job, that is a felony.

That in itself is a crime. So when they're finding these people at Walmart, where they're finding these people at Home Depot, those guys are in the process of committing a crime. So that is actually a physical crime, where as opposed it's not a crime to enter or it's an infraction to enter the country legally.

But going back to the energy costs -- or not the energy costs -- the economy, I hear people say, from a year ago inflation is up, or it's not that down there a year ago, prices -- Donald Trump has been in office for six months, right?

And so if you look at where gas prices have been since when he took office to now, gas prices are markedly lower. This is the lowest gas prices have been this summer in years. If you look at the price of eggs, from when Trump took office to today, the price of eggs is actually down.

Sure, you can blame Trump for the last six months of Joe Biden, where the economy really went to hell, but the American people aren't blaming Trump for the last six months of Joe Biden. They're going to hold him accountable for the first six months.

And if you look at the first six months, inflation is actually down from when he took office to where it is today. So, when you look at the key factors that matter to the American people, he's hitting those benchmarks.

But when you have these conversations on media, whether it's S.E. or other folks, they're trying to say year in, year out. Donald Trump is not responsible for the last six years of Joe Biden. Joe Biden is responsible, and that's why he's not in office.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Let me just follow up, because you said it was a felony.

LANZA: A misdemeanor felony.

BROWN: Being present in the United States without authorization is a civil violation, not a criminal offense.

LANZA: Yes.

BROWN: I just want to -- or not a felony.

LANZA: But, no, but seeking a job in the United States and being employed, that itself is a crime. Being in the United States, breaking our immigration laws, that's an infraction. That's a civil infraction.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Right. That's what I want to be clear, just clear with our viewers on the fact around that.

LANZA: Yes, for the viewers, seeking a job is a crime if you're an illegal alien.

BROWN: OK. Just to follow up with you though, quickly, on the food prices, because S.E. talked a lot about that and how that was on top of people's minds when they voted.

LANZA: Yes.

BROWN: You are seeing some food prices go up, like beef prices, for example. Egg prices have gone down. Beef prices are harder to come down.

LANZA: Yes.

BROWN: I mean, as someone who wants to see Trump succeed, is on the Republican team, does that concern you? LANZA: Yes, listen, you're going to be concerned the entire four

years, because you don't know what's going to happen with the market. You don't know whether it's going to be beef prices today, chicken prices next year, or even pork.

So you're always concerned about these things. But what you want is, you want to show a president that is responsive to what's taking place. So, at the beginning of the year, you had inflation that was, I think at the end of Biden, it ended at 3.1. Today, it's at 2.5, so it's gone down. Egg prices have gone down, gas prices.

What you want is a president that's responsive to what the market is saying, but ultimately keep -- make things affordable. And over time, since he's been in office in the past six months, he has probably made things more affordable.

BROWN: All right, so we just lost S.E.'s signal.

Bryan Lanza, thank you so much for coming on. We appreciate it.

LANZA: Of course. Thank you.

BROWN: And we will be right back.

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[11:44:28]

BROWN: President Trump's $9 billion rescission package is slashing crucial federal funding that's kept public broadcasting stations on air for decades. And station leaders warn these cuts will be devastating for rural areas across the country.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Joining us now from PBS station KZYX in Fort Bragg, California, the interim general manager, Dina Polkinghorne, I should say.

Dina Polkinghorne, I said it right, right, Dina?

DINA POLKINGHORNE, INTERIM GENERAL MANAGER, KZYX: There you go. You got it.

BLITZER: OK, Polkinghorne. Thanks so much for joining us.

Have you started to feel the impact of these funding cuts where you are?

[11:45:03]

POLKINGHORNE: We have.

And so we are not a PBS affiliate. We're a radio station. So we're KZYX in Mendocino County, which is a very large geographical area with not very many people in it, which is similar to other rural areas around the country. In the rescission bill, there's some collateral damage, and that's in

the form of the loss of the Community Services Grant, which many rural stations receive. For KZYX, it's 25 percent of our annual operating revenue. So, to break even this year, we had to unfortunately lay off our news director.

So, in rural stations, we don't have a newsroom with a bunch of people. For us, it was one person, and now we no longer have locally produced news at KZYX.

BLITZER: I want you to listen to what the head of NPR told CNN last week. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHERINE MAHER, CEO, NPR: The reality is, is that the new budget year has already started for many stations, meaning that they are waiting on those federal funds. That means they are already in a deficit relative to their ability to be budgeted for this year. We also know that, for those -- the federal cycle starts on October 1, so we're talking really, truly just weeks away.

It's very possible that by the end of this year, we will see harm to the stations. It's possible that we will see stations go dark, and it's possible we will start to see holes in that national network that serves the country today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: How concerned, Dina, are you, that your station could be forced off the air by these cuts?

POLKINGHORNE: I'm concerned, Wolf.

I mean, we passed a break-even budget June 30 in preparation for these cuts. We were proactive. We anticipated the cuts. You know, if it didn't happen, that's a happy occasion, we can put the money back in. So, for us to break even, we had to lay off the staff person. We had to cut some other things. And we have some pretty ambitious fund- raising goals.

You know, it's a small rural county. I don't know how much we can turn to our community to make up this gap. So we're all a little bit nervous. We're anxious. And we are so far removed from Washington, D.C., and national politics. We're just trying to tell people which roads are closed during emergencies.

In the best of times, Frank will call us up and say, my German shepherd got out. Can your listeners help me find him? And in the worst of times, we're in wildfire country, we're telling people where they can charge their phones, where the Red Cross charging station is, where they can get help if their home is burned down.

So this is a real loss to our community to have our -- basically our news department shuttered.

BLITZER: It certainly is.

I know you say, Dina, that there are no TV stations in your area. Your station is the only countywide radio station that broadcasts in emergencies. So what happens if your station goes dark?

POLKINGHORNE: That's the $100,000 question, Wolf.

When -- we are part of an emergency warning system, it's a national system. It works at a statewide and local level. So when you hear -- you hear that test come on every once in a while, "This is a test of the emergency broadcast system," we are part of that.

So when these local emergencies happen and state emergencies, even national ones, this is the place people go to for information. So, yes, we're the only public station in the county that broadcasts countywide, and I believe the only -- out of all of them, even commercial stations, we're the only station that broadcasts countywide.

BLITZER: So, important indeed.

All right, Dina Polkinghorne, thank you so much for joining us.

POLKINGHORNE: My pleasure. Thank you.

BLITZER: And coming up: President Trump is now threatening the Washington Commanders, the football team, over the team's name. We will explain what's going on. That's just ahead.

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[11:53:27]

BROWN: What's in a name? Well, according to the president, quite a lot.

President Trump throwing a challenge flag on Washington football's name change from the Redskins to the Commanders.

BLITZER: And in a TRUTH Social post, the president declaring that he may stop a deal for a new stadium here in the Washington area for the franchise, saying this -- and I'm quoting him now -- "I may put a restriction on them that if they don't change the name back to the original Washington Redskins and get rid of the ridiculous moniker Washington Commanders, I won't make a deal for them to build a stadium in Washington. The team would be much more valuable and the deal would be more exciting for everyone."

Trump then concluded the post with -- by making this: "Make the Indians great again," a reference to the now Cleveland Guardians.

For more on what's going on, we're joined now by CNN's Tom Foreman.

Tell us more about this because it seems crazy.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a debate that nobody was really having right now. A couple of reasons.

Yes, a lot of people in Washington were upset with the name change originally because people liked it the way it was for whatever reason. But this was dropped in 2020. It's been a bit of time now. They also had a miraculously good year last year, and so people who previously didn't like it much started to like it more.

And the owner was asked about this and he said it's staying. Just listen to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Is it safe to say the Commanders name is around just to stay? Is that safe to say from your standpoint?

JOSH HARRIS, MANAGING PARTNER, WASHINGTON COMMANDERS: Yes. And we're actually -- I think it's now being embraced by our team, by our culture, by our coaching staff. And so we're going with that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:55:09]

FOREMAN: And he's right on the money there when he says it's been embraced.

Look, "The Washington Post" did a poll some time back where people were saying, ah, we don't know, we're not really fond of it. But after this big winning season, their latest poll shows that most people here are in favor of it. That's the old number. But then you move it up and you get to where they -- that was last -- when I say old number, this is only a year ago.

But then you move it up and you get to where people are much more in favor of it, saying, yes, we could be more on board with this as time goes on, the latest poll altogether showing that people are in favor of it.

So, the bottom line is, this is only a debate because Donald Trump is making it a debate right now. And as many of your political analysts will point out, that's because as long, as he's talking about something that gets people fired up, he doesn't have to talk about Epstein and the budget deal and tariffs and all sorts of things that people do not necessarily agree with him on.

BROWN: All right.

BLITZER: And he doesn't like the name the Cleveland Guardians.

FOREMAN: No.

BLITZER: They used to be the Cleveland Indians. He wants them to go back to the Indians as well. He's getting involved in names of football teams.

FOREMAN: Yes, and yet he wants -- and he wants Denali to go back to Mount McKinley, that sort of thing. So it's a lot.

BROWN: All right, Tom Foreman, thank you.

FOREMAN: You're welcome.

BLITZER: And baseball teams too, I should say.

FOREMAN: Baseball teams.

BROWN: Yes, I was just going to say.

FOREMAN: Yes.

BLITZER: And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media @WolfBlitzer and @PamelaBrownCNN.

We will see you back here tomorrow morning and every weekday morning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS" today with Manu Raju is next right after a short break.