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State of the Union
Interview With Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH); Interview With Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Aired 9-10a ET
Aired November 10, 2024 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:36]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN HOST (voice-over): Political comeback. Donald Trump sweeps the swing states and heads back to the White House as he vows to keep his promises.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R) AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: We're going to fix everything about our country. I am your retribution.
BASH: Will he follow through on that in the Oval Office? House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan is here.
Plus: blame game. Democrats point fingers about what and who are responsible for their crushing defeat.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We accept the choice the country made.
BASH: The American people spoke. Are Democrats listening? Senator Bernie Sanders joins me with his thoughts.
And you're hired. Trump calls on a formidable chief of staff and sends signals about what he's looking for: loyalty. Who will have the president's ear in a second term? Our panel of experts is here to discuss.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Hello. I'm Dana Bash in Washington, where the state of our union is watching a clean sweep.
This weekend, president-elect Donald Trump is working on staffing and priorities for his second term on the heels of his big victory, all seven swing states after CNN projected Arizona for Trump last night. Yesterday, the president-elect ruled out hiring two former officials who had gone on to criticize him, his former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, sending a message about how much he will prioritize absolute loyalty this term.
As we get a glimpse of how Vice President Kamala Harris is recovering from her loss, playing with her grandnieces over the weekend, on Wednesday, her opponent will meet with President Biden in the Oval Office.
While the Democratic Party grapples with their repudiation at the ballot box, independent Senator Bernie Sanders issued a particularly blistering statement this week, accusing Democrats of abandoning the working class.
And Senator Bernie Sanders is here with me now.
Hello, Senator. Congratulations on your reelection. Nice to have you here.
I want to start with the scathing response that you gave after the Democrats lost, Kamala Harris lost pretty big. You said the Democrats abandoned the working class. The chairman of the DNC called it straight-up B.S. and said: "Joe Biden is the most pro worker president of my lifetime."
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she disagreed with you. She added -- quote -- "Bernie Sanders has not won."
Do you stand by what you said?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Oh, absolutely.
Look, Joe Biden is a friend of mine. I have been proud to work with him on an agenda which has been very strongly in favor of the working class. Biden promised to be the most progressive president since FDR. In many ways, on domestic issues, I think he kept his word.
But here is the reality. The working class of this country is angry, and they have a reason to be angry. We are living in an economy today, Dana, where the people on top are doing phenomenally well, while 60 percent of our people are living paycheck to paycheck, 25 percent of elderly people are trying to get by on $15,000 a year or less.
We have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country on Earth, and parents all over this country worry that their kids may have a lower standard of living than they do. That is the economic reality.
And what Donald Trump did is provided an explanation. He went around. He said, I know you're angry, and the reason is that zillions of illegal immigrants are coming over, and they're eating your cats and dogs and everything else. That's the reason.
Well, obviously, that is not the reason. The reason is, in my view, that we have an unprecedented level of corporate greed today, more income and wealth inequality, and people on top want it all. And we need an agenda that says to the working class, we're going to take on these powerful special interest and create an economy and a government that works for you.
And, by the way, that can't happen unless you get big money out of politics. We got to get rid of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, so billionaires do not continue to buy elections. BASH: And I know that you heard President Biden and Vice President
Harris tout over and over the record of supporting workers, helping the middle class, some of the things that you were instrumental in helping pass, like lowering the cost of insulin.
[09:05:12]
You saw the president walking a picket line. They forgave student loan debt, as much as they could.
SANDERS: Right.
BASH: You said yourself in July that he had a strong record, which you just repeated here.
So it sounds like it's not maybe as much about policies, and more about messaging and communication?
SANDERS: It's not messaging, Dana.
It's a fundamental understanding of saying, look,the Biden administration has done a lot of good things, period. We should all be proud of that, but it has to be put in the broad context of the reality of the American economy today.
And that is, when you have three people on top owning more wealth than the bottom half of American society, when you have millions and millions of people working for starvation wages, you got to speak to that reality.
So you could say, look, we're proud of what we have accomplished, but we have so, so, so much more to do to create the kind of government and nations that work for all of us and not just the few. That's my critique. It's not that the Biden administration did not do a lot of good things, but it has to be put into an overall context where, in the last 50 years, 50 years, if you could believe it, real week -- inflation accounted for weekly wages are lower today than they were 50 years, a massive transfer of wealth from the bottom 90 percent to the top 1 percent.
That's not Joe Biden's fault. It's not Trump's fault. That's what's gone on for 50 years. Recognize it. Deal with it. Tell the working class that you understand what is going on in their lives. You got to fight for them.
BASH: The top aide -- former aide to John Fetterman and Harry Reid, Adam Jentleson, told "The Washington Post" that Democrats are preoccupied with the narrow interest of college-educated elite activists more than everyday working people.
Do you agree with that?
SANDERS: Well, it's kind of what I'm saying here. It is that the vast -- 60 percent of our people are living paycheck to paycheck.
How do we not talk and fight for raising the minimum wage to a living wage? Dana, in -- on Tuesday, in the election, in the state of Missouri, a conservative state, they became one of the many states that voted, I think, 58 percent to raise the minimum wage.
Now, how is it that in Congress, in the Senate, we haven't even brought a damn minimum wage bill onto the floor? We are the only major country on Earth not to guarantee health care to all people as a human right. The Affordable Care Act is a stopgap measure. It is not addressing the real health care crisis in America.
Why aren't we saying, yes, health care is a human right, we're going to take on the insurance companies and the drug companies, we're going to pass the PRO Act to make it easier for workers to join unions, we're going to expand Social Security by lifting it up, we're going to demand that the billionaires start paying their fair share of taxes?
Dana, all of these issues that I'm talking about, these are not Bernie Sanders' ideas. These are, without exception, popular ideas that Democrats, Republicans, and independents support. Now the people who don't support it is the billionaire class, and they got a lot of power.
BASH: Yes.
SANDERS: But we have got to be prepared to take them on.
BASH: But what the voters supported is a man who would never do any of what you just said, I mean, not even close.
SANDERS: Right.
But what that man named Donald Trump did do is, he said, I feel your pain. I know that you're hurting, and I have an explanation.
Well, his explanation was bogus. You see, we got millions of people coming across the borders illegally. We have to strengthen the borders. That goes without saying, but that is not the cause of the problem.
The cause of the problem right now is that we have a small number of people on top who have enormous economic and political power. How, for example, how, for example, can the Democrats not say, look, we got to get rid of the Citizens United? In this campaign, in the Republican Party, Democratic Party, billionaires exerted their power.
Most Americans know that's wrong. So, I'm sorry. Go ahead.
BASH: No, no, I was just going to say, so, we have talked about the economic issues, which, of course, that's number one.
Then there's the social and cultural divide that seems to be happening between a lot of people in America who used to support the Democrats and what is now the Democratic Party or what's perceived to be the Democratic Party.
White voters largely propelled Trump to victory in the race, but there was a major shift. The exit polls showed that Latino voters, especially Latino men, shifted more towards Donald Trump. Biden won them by 23 points in 2020. This year, Trump won them by 12.
I want you to listen to what a Latino voter told my colleague Ed Lavandera this week.
[09:10:04]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe in teaching our kids about God, our Christian values, family values. And the Democratic Party is embracing all the woke, left-leaning ideas that it doesn't go with our values.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Do you think it's the Democrats pushing Latinos to Trump, or is it Trump bringing in Latinos?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think more Democrats are pushing Latinos to Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: What do you think of that?
SANDERS: Well, what I think is that Trump has done a good job in claiming that Democrats do nothing more than the woke agenda.
In my view, what Democrats have got to focus on and tell that gentleman, do you want a minimum wage, let's say a living wage? Do you think health care is a human right? Do you think we should build the affordable housing that we need? Do you think we should take care of our seniors by expanding Social Security?
So I think the emphasis has got to be, of course, and wiping out all forms of bigotry, and the Democrats should be proud of standing up for women's rights and abortion rights and gay rights and civil rights. But the emphasis has got to be is to make it clear that we are prepared to stand with the vast majority of the people, many of whom are falling further and further behind, while the people on top do phenomenally well.
That's a message that, in my view, will resonate with the Latino community and the entire working-class community.
BASH: Let me give one example perhaps of this kind of dynamic that we're hearing about.
Joe Rogan, very popular podcaster, he endorsed Donald Trump in the final days of the election. Four years ago, you went on his podcast. You got a lot of blowback for doing that and for touting that he endorsed you.
So, is this the kind of example of Democrats perhaps shunning or vilifying people who don't totally agree with them?
SANDERS: Yes, I think that's fair enough. Look, you can have an argument with Rogan, agree with him, disagree
with him, but what's the problem going on those shows? It's hard for me to understand that. So I think we have got to get -- and, clearly, you have an alternative media out there, a lot of podcasts that have millions and millions of viewers.
Get on the show. Disagree with you here. I agree with you there. I don't see a problem in doing that. And you're right. I got vilified by some of the Democratic establishment because I went on Rogan's show. Now a lot of other people are doing just that.
BASH: Before I let you go, you were a steadfast supporter of Joe Biden. You were saying that he should not drop out. There's a lot of Monday-morning quarterbacking going on, and a lot of it is that, in fact, he should've dropped out earlier or perhaps never run for a second term.
SANDERS: I don't want to get involved in that.
We got to look forward and not in the back. Kamala did her very best. She came in. She won the debate with Trump. She worked her -- as hard as she possibly could. Let's look to the future and not go backwards.
BASH: Senator Bernie Sanders, thank you so much. Congrats again on winning a fourth term in the United States Senate.
SANDERS: Thank you very much, Dana.
BASH: Donald Trump has vowed retribution against his enemies. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan on what that could look like next.
And then I will talk with two Democrats who worked for Kamala Harris about where their party should go from here.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:17:59]
BASH: Welcome back to STATE OF THE UNION.
Two top House Republicans are putting special counsel Jack Smith on notice, calling on him to preserve records from his investigations into Donald Trump, as the president-elect looks to reshape the Department of Justice and retaliate against his political and legal opponents.
Here with me now is one of the authors of that letter to Jack Smith, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan.
Thank you for being here.
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): Thank you.
BASH: Congratulations on winning reelection for your ah term. JORDAN: Yes.
BASH: Let's talk about Jack Smith. He is in talks with the Justice Department about winding down his criminal prosecutions against Donald Trump.
JORDAN: Yes.
BASH: In your letter, you warned him that his office -- quote -- "is not immune from transparency or above accountability for its actions."
What did you mean by that?
JORDAN: Well, there's a long history in the Congress with our oversight responsibility, our constitutional duty to do oversight of looking at the special counsel.
I mean, when Chairman Nadler chaired the Judiciary Committee, he wanted he wanted this information from Robert Mueller. He got the information. Mueller came and testified. Of course, we have had Mr. Durham, Mr. Hur. We're looking at Mr. Weiss.
BASH: So you could open a formal investigation into this?
JORDAN: No, all we said is, we want you to preserve the documents. We want to see what's going on.
And we know from testimony that one of his lawyers, Jay Bratt, threatened a lawyer -- what appeared to be a threat. We have the communications, and we have some testimony where Jay Bratt said to someone who was representing one of the defendants in these cases that, oh, I thought you were interested in being a federal judge. People may not look kindly on that if you're -- if you're helping someone who's part of the Trump administration, Mr. Walt Nauta.
So, there's facts there, and we want all the information, preserve the records, let us have it. This is consistent with how Congress has always operated.
BASH: Sure.
But it's also sometimes a precursor to an investigation. Are you ruling it out?
JORDAN: Well, what I'm saying is, I mean, if you think about -- people talk about retribution.
The retribution has been from the other side. I have been trying to stop retribution for the last four years.
BASH: I'm going to get to that in one second. I just want to...
(CROSSTALK)
JORDAN: ... for the last 10 years.
You can go clear back to when the Obama administration...
(CROSSTALK)
[09:20:00]
JORDAN: ... the IRS.
BASH: OK. I'm going to get to that in one second, I promise.
But I just want to...
JORDAN: We're for stopping that, but we do want the facts.
BASH: OK.
JORDAN: And that's why we sent the letter.
Mr. Loudermilk and myself sent the letter saying, hey, Mr. Smith. Preserve this information. We want the same thing from David Weiss, for goodness sake, because we know what he tried to do. He tried to get the sweetheart deal in the Hunter Biden investigation, and we had some brave whistle-blowers come forward.
We want the information. We think the American people are entitled to these.
BASH: Will Jack Smith be called to testify?
JORDAN: We will have to see. Well, I mean, I assume there's going to be some report, but all we're saying is preserve everything so we, the Congress, who have a constitutional duty to do oversight, can see everything that's going on.
BASH: Would you like him to testify?
JORDAN: And we have the facts regarding Jay Bratt, one of your lawyers, which they have not been willing to give us information on that, that we've asked for.
BASH: Do you think it would be beneficial for him to testify or could that...
(CROSSTALK)
JORDAN: It may be. It may be. That's been -- that's been the norm, but we're not taking anything off the table. We're not saying for sure, but we want the information.
BASH: OK. OK.
So let's go back to what you just brought up, which is the question about retribution. You also lead the Weaponization of the Federal Government Subcommittee. Trump has repeatedly threatened to prosecute Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Barack Obama, Liz Cheney, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, General Mark Milley, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, New York A.G. Letitia James, and that's just some of the people he has talked about. Do you support him using the Justice Department to go after the people
who disagree with him?
JORDAN: He didn't do it his first term. What I support is stopping...
BASH: Right, but this is a second term.
JORDAN: What I support is stopping this lawfare, stopping this political targeting, political cases. We all know the Fani Willis case, the Alvin Bragg case, and the Jack Smith cases were all driven by politics. The American people understood it. That's why that they had this overwhelming win, one of the reasons of this overwhelming win for President Trump.
So I'm against the retribution. I'm against the Justice Department saying if you're a mom and dad showing up at a school board meeting, we're going to investigate you. I'm against the FBI putting together a memorandum at the Richmond field office which said if you're a pro- life Catholic, you're an extremist. We want we want all that to stop.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: I just want to put a button this. So what you are saying is that all of the times that President Trump said so many things about people that he promised that he would go after them and prosecute them, you are going to encourage him not to do that?
JORDAN: Well, all I know is what he -- he didn't do that.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: I know, but we're talking about...
JORDAN: He talked about "Lock her up" when he was talking about his opponent in 2016, Secretary Clinton, talked about "Lock her up." He didn't do that. He didn't go -- but the Democrats went after Trump. And everyone understands what they did is wrong.
BASH: I'm talking about Donald Trump's second term, going forward. Since then, he has said many, many times...
(CROSSTALK)
JORDAN: I don't think any of that's going to happen because we're the party who's against political prosecution. We're the party who's against going after your opponents using lawfare.
In fact, I think this is one of the issues that the American people said...
BASH: So it was just campaign rhetoric? It wasn't real?
JORDAN: Well, I think he's pointing out what's going on, the retribution -- actually, Liz Cheney in January 6 went after President Trump, said things that weren't accurate, I think, in their report. The other individuals he's talked about have been part of this
retribution going after President Trump. Never forget, it started clear back before he was in office. They spied on his campaign in 2016.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: I know, but I am not talking about...
JORDAN: So, for eight years, they have been going after President Trump.
BASH: He won. He won.
JORDAN: He sure did. He won big.
BASH: He won. He won big.
JORDAN: Thirty states.
BASH: So my question and what people want to know is what he is going to do.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: Just, for example, two days ago, he called for investigations into anyone spreading rumors...
(CROSSTALK)
JORDAN: Dana, I think he's going to do this.
I think he's going to secure the border. I think he's going to get rid of this crazy inflation that's hurting middle-class and working-class families, hurting our economy. I think he's going to get back to commonsense energy policy. I think he's going to focus on protecting the First Amendment.
I mean, think about this. Did you ever think you would see Donald Trump, Elon Musk, RFK Jr., and Tulsi Gabbard on the same team? They're on the same team because people -- because of the attack on free speech, the attack on the First Amendment. He's going to focus on those things that the American people elected him to do.
BASH: OK. I mean, there are a lot of -- I want to move on to immigration. There are a lot of things that you just said that I think aren't totally fact-based.
They say that they're for free speech, but there are a lot of things that we know are not happening. I want to ask about immigration.
(CROSSTALK)
JORDAN: It's no accident that those four people came together.
BASH: Well, maybe. JORDAN: All because of the attacks on the First Amendment, on free
speech.
(CROSSTALK)
JORDAN: Our community spent a bunch of time -- we understand that there was censorship. We pointed that out.
BASH: Let's turn to immigration. Top Trump adviser Stephen Miller says that mass deportations of undocumented immigrants will begin as soon as Donald Trump takes office.
I want to play this out for the American people so that they understand what exactly is going to happen. First of all, he takes office. Who's targeted first?
JORDAN: Oh, he's already said that. People who have -- migrants here who have committed crimes, criminals.
BASH: How are you going to find them?
JORDAN: The ones who committed crimes, you go after them. We have had...
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: But, like, who, actually?
(CROSSTALK)
JORDAN: ... whose daughter was killed. We have Rachel Morin's family, who came in and talked. You...
BASH: How are they going to be found? Is it going to be the military? Is it going to be local law enforcement?
(CROSSTALK)
JORDAN: I will tell you, here's another place we can start -- 1.3 million migrants have already had their asylum case adjudicated, been in front of a judge, and the judge says, you do not qualify under the law. We're the party of the rule of law. Those 1.3 million, they're not -- they don't qualify under the law.
(CROSSTALK)
[09:25:01]
BASH: My question is how you get them.
JORDAN: Their case has been had. They're supposed to be removed.
They have a removal order. You start there. You start with the criminals. You start with the people who've already been...
(CROSSTALK) BASH: I just -- I want to understand. So people say, like, let's say one of these people is living in their apartment complex. Is the military going to come in? Is it the local law enforcement? How is it actually physically going to work?
JORDAN: The Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security will work with local law enforcement and will focus on the people who -- 1.3 million who have already been in front of a judge and said, no,you're not entitled to stay here. You have to be removed.
There's an order there, a court of law. They have had their due process. They have had their the whole process play out.
BASH: So, let's move on beyond that population, beyond criminals, people who are in the country who are not legal citizens, those who have not committed crimes.
JORDAN: We're starting with the criminal element, the 1.3.
BASH: I know, but after that.
JORDAN: Well, we will start there and then go from that point.
But again, this was clear in the election. This was one of the top issues. President Trump had the greatest political comeback in history, won 30 states, won all seven swing states, won the popular vote, won an Electoral College landslide. This was one of the big issues.
He told America people he was going to do it.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: I'm not disagreeing with that. I'm asking how it's going to work.
JORDAN: This is how I believe it'll start.
And, remember, that they told him in his first term, oh, he couldn't do certain things. He got them done. I'm convinced he will get it done, but I also am convinced he's going to start with the criminal element and the 1.3 million who have already been in front of a judge, and the judge says, you have to removed.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: Ultimately, will it be 15 to 20 million, as he promised on the campaign trail?
JORDAN: Well, we will see.
BASH: But you're not committing to it?
JORDAN: What I know is, if you send that message do it, if you send that message, I think that is so good for securing our border, which the country wants, just the opposite of what the Biden administration did.
Biden and Harris administration came in on day one and said, no more building the wall, no more remain-in-Mexico. And when you get here, you will not be detained. You will be released. And 10 million came in. So the country rightly said, oh, let's put a stop to that. And the place to begin is with the criminal element and the 1.3 million who've already been adjudicated.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: OK. So the last question I want to ask about this are the dreamers.
There are an estimated 3.6 million people who are brought into this country illegally with -- by their parents. They were too young to know the difference. Many of them know no other home but the United States. Do you believe that ultimately they too should be removed?
JORDAN: Again, President Trump's going to start where I said.
If you're talking about kids, you're talking about young people, the real question is the 200-and-some-thousand that the Biden/Harris administration allowed in and don't know where these kids are. That's the real question.
(CROSSTALK)
JORDAN: The American people spoke clearly on this.
BASH: Congressman, Congressman, that's a separate issue.
I'm asking about the dreamers, because there are a lot of people who know no other home but the United States.
JORDAN: Yes.
BASH: Will they ultimately, should they ultimately be taken across the border?
JORDAN: The country wants the law enforced. We will start with where we started, and then that question will be addressed later on, I believe.
But, right now, we need to start with the criminal element and the 1.3 million.
BASH: OK. OK.
Let's talk about the election, because in the run-up to the election, even on election night itself, Donald Trump baselessly accused Democrats of cheating. As soon as the results started to come in and showed them going his way, he stopped. Silence. Nothing about that.
I haven't seen you or your colleagues claiming any election irregularities, no rampant voting fraud this time. It seems to me that Republicans claim voting fraud and election integrity when you lose and not when you win.
JORDAN: No. I mean, again, as I said before, this election I think was the greatest political comeback we have ever seen. He did something that even Teddy Roosevelt couldn't do, for goodness' sake.
And the country...
BASH: But you think it was a free and fair election?
(CROSSTALK)
JORDAN: No, no, this election -- you just interviewed the Latino, I think, restaurant owner or a restaurant worker, and he said he was tired of all the woke stuff.
This election was real simple. You had back-to-back administrations. We got something we very seldom get in American history, in American politics, back-to-back administrations running for the top job, and people could do a direct comparison.
And they said, we like what we had under President Trump versus -- we liked the safe streets versus the record crime. We liked the $2 gas versus the $4 gas. We liked the security border versus the open border.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: Right. Those are policies...
JORDAN: That's what this election was about.
BASH: That's totally fair. But last time around, it wasn't so much about the policy differences or the personality differences.
There were false claims about election fraud when Donald Trump lost. This time, Donald Trump won, and you think the election was free and fair. You see there's a little bit of a...
(CROSSTALK)
JORDAN: No, I think the Democrats got to ask, why did we go from getting 81 million to getting 70 million? What happened to those 10 million people?
[09:30:05]
Maybe they needed -- maybe it's not smart to run an election where you have no vision, no record to run on, where you're just going to call the other side names and you're going to use lawfare.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: Do you believe the 2024 election was free and fair?
JORDAN: I do. I do.
BASH: And why was it different from 2020, when he lost? Is that the only difference?
JORDAN: No, there were concerns about 2020 with all the mail-in voting that happened.
What, Pennsylvania had, like, two-point-something million mail-in ballots come in without any signature verification, which was required under Pennsylvania statute. So there were all kinds of concerns with how the 2020 election was carried out.
BASH: OK, but there was absolutely no widespread fraud.
(CROSSTALK)
JORDAN: But the biggest question Democrats need to be asking, what happened to the 10 million voters that Joe Biden got that didn't come out for Kamala Harris?
A bunch of -- President Trump's numbers were right up where they were in 2020, but the Democrats were much lower. I think it's because they had no vision, no record to run on, and they just wanted to call everyone names.
Turns out, when you tell people, oh, you're a fascist, racist, deplorable garbage, they don't like that. And then when you use lawfare to go after their candidate, they don't like that either. That's why they came out -- so, on top of the economy, on top of the price of gas, on top of the inflation, that's why they voted for President Trump.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: We're out of time. I just want to say for the record that there was no evidence of widespread fraud in 2020. It went through many, many different court cases.
And I do think -- and I do think the name-calling...
(CROSSTALK)
JORDAN: But, Dana, there was lots of concern with how the election law was changed.
(CROSSTALK)
JORDAN: And that's what I was concerned about.
BASH: The name-calling was very strong on the Republican side of the aisle from the former president, and you know that.
So, thank you for being here.
JORDAN: Good to be with you.
BASH: Appreciate you going through all of this.
JORDAN: You bet. BASH: Donald Trump sees a mandate for his agenda while Democrats look
for a new direction.
My political panel is here next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:36:10]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's the enemy from within, all the scum that we have to deal with. I will end inflation. I will stop the massive invasion of criminals.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: We're going to put the tariffs on your products coming in from China.
On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program of criminals in American history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Welcome back.
My panel is here with me now.
Hello, everybody.
Brad, congratulations. Welcome to officially to the CNN family.
I will start with you. What did you think of Jim Jordan effectively pushing aside the idea of going after Donald Trump's political enemies with the Justice Department?
BRAD TODD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think what's going to happen is that Trump's going to end up with a majority in the House of Representatives. He's going to end up with 53 Republican senators, and he's going to end up with a mandate, especially on things like immigration.
And I would expect to see the administration focus on those policy ideas first. I think Donald Trump's proud that he's built a coalition of the work working people, and I think you will see him focus on that more than you will see him some do some of those things he's talking about with personnel.
BASH: Is that right?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think he will pick an attorney general pretty soon, and that person's got a lot of things going on in the country that the American people are demanding action on. And I agree with Brad. I mean, he won for a few reasons. The economy
and immigration are the top two. And so that's really where the administration's focus ought to be. I mean, just even on immigration, I was listening to Congressman Jordan. I think he's right about what we could do right now.
You have got 1.3 million people in the country that have already received deportation orders. You have another population that's known to be violent. That's a good place to start. And everybody's sort of throwing a fit about this. It's not unusual for administrations to deport people.
Barack Obama did it. Joe Biden did it. And so we are going to have to take some people out of this country who have already had due process or have already proven they should not be here.
How do you read the results as a Democrat?
ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: We lost. Unlike 2020, we can say we lose and it -- that it wasn't cheating. It wasn't a stolen election. This is what happens in when you run for office. You try and get voters to vote for you, and they don't. And when they don't, you ask why.
I am not going to have a hot take right now on why Democrats lost. I actually think it's dangerous and disingenuous to speculate 48 hours, when all the data is not -- we have some exit polling, but we know data doesn't drop for a couple of weeks about what the demographics actually show.
Also, once Donald Trump gets in the office, it's sometimes easier to win an election than it actually is to govern. So he may actually win the House of Representatives. He clearly has already won the Senate. Now he has to govern. Now he has to make good on all his promises.
And guess what? In two years, hopefully, we will have a House of -- we will have another election, where the American people will decide if they actually like how he's making good on some of his promises.
JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: And, Dana, I look at it like this. Donald Trump did something that we haven't seen in, I don't know, 100-and-something years, right? President who got out of office came back, not since Grover Cleveland.
Electorally, we have to give him his credit. And I think Democrats have underestimated him for too long and spent a lot of time sort of try trying to explain Donald Trump away as some sort of aberration. Electorally, he's a powerhouse. He has said now that -- he said his first day he wants to be a dictator.
He's got to decide, is he going to be a benevolent dictator, right, or does he want to be one that is destructive? And I think the American people did not elect him to go in and start doing retribution against other people.
They elected him to take care of the issues they're concerned. And I think for Democrats, we have got to take a pause and sit back. This is not necessarily left versus right politics. It's 3-D politics. It's outsiders versus insiders.
And for too long, the Democrats have been seen as the ones who are defending the status quo, defending institutions that people don't have as much confidence in. Donald Trump, while he is a member of the elite class, has been very successful positioning himself as an outsider in that formula.
[09:40:08]
Democrats have got to get on the side of the outsiders, and fast.
BASH: Let's look at what the Trump Cabinet could or could not look like.
We saw over this weekend he announced that he will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to join the Trump administration. He said: "I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously and would like to thank them for the service to our country."
So this is about loyalty.
TODD: Well, I think it's about he's knows he has a big number. He knows he has 53 Republican senators. I think you will see some new faces in his Cabinet.
But one thing I think is actually more important is there are more younger people in the Republican Party who have been making plans in their life to go in this administration. You know, one thing that happened in 2016 is a lot of people didn't expect him to win, even Republicans.
So in order to go take a government job, you have to make plans. You have to not buy a house this year, not buy a car this year. I think there will be a lot of younger people who are going to take meaningful positions in this administration that have been planning on doing so for this last year. I think you will see a lot more confirmations.
JENNINGS: Yes, I'm not troubled by this at all. He can get anybody he wants right now.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: I don't think it's troubling. I just wonder what it tells you.
JENNINGS: It tells me that he has a mandate to build the kind of government that he wants to build. They served him before and that's fine. It doesn't mean they're bad people.
He's going to have no shortage of really talented people for every job, who pop up here. He's got four years, and now two years with a full Republican government. The excitement in the Republican Party to serve right now because of the possibility of achieving massive agenda items is really high. So he's going to have a deep talent pool. And with the appointment,
the quick appointment of a chief of staff, Susie Wiles, it tells me he's in a decisive mood. The government's going to be built out quickly, which will give him the best chance to get going on the agenda quickly.
(CROSSTALK)
ALLISON: I totally agree. I think Republicans have lost for the last four years, and so they had a good week. And it probably feels unfamiliar because you didn't win the midterms, you didn't win in 2023, you didn't win in 2020.
So I do think there will be this -- I remember, when Barack Obama won, there was this flood of young people. That's what you actually want in your country. You want people to be public servants. What you don't want to have happen is, when they do something that you disagree, then you get retribution.
TODD: Question is, will the Democrats block his appointments? You know, last year, they blocked the ambassador to Fiji for two years. That's how bad it was.
Chuck Schumer needs to not put up procedural roadblocks and let Donald Trump appoint his government.
ALLISON: Kind of like a Supreme Court justice?
(CROSSTALK)
SIMMONS: The Democrats have to be careful here, right, because just resisting everything all the time muddles the message for the American people.
It's time to be strategic. And when we engage, we have got to dominate. We have got to dominate the space absolutely to let people know what it is we stand for. But the work that we have to do with the Democrats is on our side in building the connections between the voters and the politicians.
BASH: We're going to sneak in a quick break. Stick around. A lot more to talk about.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:47:41]
BASH: We're now 71 days from Trump taking the oath of office.
What is the most important thing that everybody is looking for? That is my question.
I will start with you.
SIMMONS: Joe Biden's been a phenomenal president. He's lived up to so many of the promises he's made. There's one promise left that he could fulfill, being a transitional
figure. He could resign the presidency in the next 30 days, make Kamala Harris the president of the United States.
JENNINGS: Whoa.
BASH: Wow.
JENNINGS: It would absolve him from being able to -- from having to oversee the January 6 transition, right, of her own defeat.
And it would make sure that -- it would dominate the news at a point where Democrats have to learn drama and transparency and doing things that the public want to see is a time -- this is the moment for us to change the entire perspective of how Democrats operate.
BASH: OK, this has now jumped from an Internet meme to a Sunday morning show. Congratulations.
JENNINGS: Jamal's out here right writing an extra season of "House of Cards."
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: I thought you were going to say -- what about the Supreme Court? That's also out there.
SIMMONS: Well, the Supreme Court might happen. I don't know if it will, but I think this is something that's in Joe Biden's control.
And if he did it, it would -- again, it would fulfill his promise, his last promise. It would give Kamala Harris the chance to be the 47th president of the United States of America. It would disrupt all of Donald Trump's paraphernalia, right? He would have to rebrand everything.
(LAUGHTER)
SIMMONS: But she would -- and it would make it easier for the next woman who runs for president to not have to worry about all the historical weight of being the first, because...
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: Top that, Brad.
TODD: I have something that's a lot more realistic.
(LAUGHTER)
TODD: There are seven Americans right now in dungeons in Gaza. If Hamas does not have them walking and talking on American soil before Donald Trump is president, they will have hell to pay. And I'm looking for that to happen in the next 71 days.
BASH: Amen. ALLISON: We haven't actually heard a lot from Donald Trump.
I know he's, like, getting his administration put together, but it would actually be nice if he goes to the White House to -- if he is the president for all, if he is the president for Americans, talk to the people who did not vote for him and earn our trust to say -- other night, he said, like, Democrats should let us work.
Talk to us then. Engage us. Don't just continue to feed your base and continue to throw red meat. Be the leader that both of you think he can be.
JENNINGS: You're already showing some good faith with that beautiful red suit this morning.
(LAUGHTER)
JENNINGS: Here's what I want, couple things. Number one...
BASH: Wait. Do you want to say something?
JENNINGS: Go ahead.
ALLISON: Do you think I want to say something?
(LAUGHTER)
SIMMONS: I think if Ashley wanted to say something, she would say it.
(LAUGHTER)
[09:50:02]
ALLISON: My mother is watching.
JENNINGS: She wants to say something.
ALLISON: My mother is watching, so I will be on my best manners.
BASH: Actually, you just did.
Go ahead.
JENNINGS: I met mama this week, and she's beautiful and a lovely person. So that was fun.
Here, a couple of things. Number one, if I was over in Tehran and I had just hacked and tried to assassinate Donald Trump and now he's fixing to take over the United States military again, I'd probably be a little worried.
On the domestic front, there's a political science term for what Republicans did this week. It's called the country butt whooping, and they have a mandate to govern. And one thing I want to see them do is get a handle on the bureaucracy. They're meeting at the Pentagon right now about possibly thwarting
Donald Trump. You have got a rogue FEMA employee out here. We're not going to give aid to people with Donald Trump signs. The bureaucracy works for the people. The people elect the leaders, and I want to see Donald Trump follow through on this idea of taming the federal bureaucracy.
TODD: Schedule F.
BASH: OK.
(CROSSTALK)
SIMMONS: Al Gore loved reinventing government. God bless you guys. I hope it works out.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: Yes, good luck.
Thank you all. Appreciate you being here.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:55:40]
BASH: Dr. Sanjay Gupta travels across the globe to see how the new weight loss medications are transforming Lives.
"DR. SANJAY GUPTA REPORTS: IS OZEMPIC RIGHT FOR YOU?" that premieres next Sunday at 8:00 p.m. right here on CNN.
Thank you so much for spending your Sunday morning with us.
Fareed Zakaria picks it up next.
