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CNN's The Arena with Kasie Hunt
Soon: Senate Votes On Funding Bills, Midnight Shutdown Looms; Trump Defends Using U.S. Troops To Police Cities; Hegseth Imposes "Male Standard" On Military Combat Roles. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired September 30, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We should also note that as part of this deal, Pfizer will not have tariffs imposed on its medicines for three years as long as they say they continue investing in U.S. manufacturing.
[16:00:10]
So, you're actually seeing quite a positive response to this from the Pfizer side of things. Taking some of that pressure off. But still a lot of questions about what this is going to mean for American patients and which other companies we might see deals with next guys.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Yeah, the administration is promising that more is on the way.
Meg Tirrell, thank you so much for that report.
Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon.
THE ARENA WITH KASIE HUNT starts right now.
KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. Welcome to THE ARENA.
It's wonderful to have you with us on this Tuesday. The clock still ticking, just eight hours until the government shuts down. In just over an hour, the Senate expected to vote on the House-passed short term funding bill, as well as a Democratic proposal. But it seems that at this hour, basically, no one in this town expects them to cut a deal in time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll probably have a shutdown, because one of the things they want to do is they want to give incredible Medicare. Cadillac, the Cadillac Medicare to illegal immigrants.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: That the Republican attack line. Not quite true. Democrats pushing Republicans to extend health insurance subsidies and reverse significant cuts to Medicaid. Undocumented immigrants not eligible for either of those programs. Now, health care is the issue that Democrats see as Republicans
biggest weakness. Polling shows it may be the only weakness. The question is who are the American people going to believe? Who are they going to blame as they start to feel the impacts of a shutdown?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: The federal government, by law that we passed, does not fund health insurance for undocumented immigrants in Medicaid, period, nor the ACA, nor Medicare. Undocumented immigrants do not get federal health insurance premiums, period. Period. They're lying.
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), HOUSE MINOIRTY LEADER: They'd rather shut the government down than protect the health care of the American people. That's unfathomable. That's unacceptable. That's unconscionable. And that's un-American.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right, let's get off the sidelines, headed to THE ARENA. My panel is here.
And we're going to get started with CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju, the man with the microphone in the halls.
Manu, it seems like this is basically dead set at this point, know that Schumer is on track to not give in, basically.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, no question about it. In fact, we will get the final -- finale here in about an hour and a half when the Senate will vote on the Republican plan to keep the government open for seven weeks. That plan passed the United States House.
The House is gone. They're not even in session right now. So that's the only plan that could potentially become law and avert a government shutdown by midnight tonight, Democrats plan to block that plan because it does not include any sort of reversal of the Medicaid cuts that were enacted as part of Donald Trump's one big, beautiful bill act, and it does not extend expiring Obamacare subsidies. They also want to prevent Donald Trump from cutting federal spending without the consent of Congress.
All of those are nonstarters for Democrats who have their own proposal that they plan to put up for a vote tonight, Republicans plan to block that. Then they plan to go home, and then it will be the first government shutdown that this country has experienced, experienced in six years.
And the question is, how painful will this be? How many federal workers will be laid off? How many government services will not be available? And also, on the politics who will incur the political blame?
Now, what happens after the government is shut down? That's a question that I put to the Senate Majority Leader John Thune who says that they don't -- they shouldn't negotiate right now what the Democrats want. They want to keep the government open. Republicans say, negotiate those issues on health care later.
Well, I asked him, well, what happens if the government is shut down at that point? Will you negotiate with Democrats?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Are you ruling out any negotiations with Democrats if there is a shutdown?
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD), SENATE MAJORITY: The negotiation happens when the government is open. So let's keep the government open and then we will have the negotiation.
I've said it. I've said it yesterday at the meeting in the White House. I've said it to my Democrat colleagues, we're happy to sit down and talk about these other issues that they're interested in, but it should not have anything to do with whether or not for a seven-week period we keep the federal government open.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: And that's the big point here, because if there is a shutdown, you can expect Democrats to say, lets sit down, lets negotiate. Let's try to reopen the government on our terms. And you heard Senate Majority Leader Thune there saying no negotiations, just reopen the government.
So, expect that to play out for some time. So how long will that play out? Republicans believe that they can continue to put the bill to keep the government open on the floor, day after day?
They plan to do that. They believe that pressure will build on Democratic senators to eventually come their way and vote to reopen the government.
[16:05:00]
That is a huge calculation. Unclear if that calculation and that gamble will play out.
But already, one Democratic senator, Senator John Fetterman, plans to vote to advance the Republican proposal. There are a handful of others who are not saying how they will come down, but will require eight Democrats to break a filibuster, which we don't expect to happen tonight. Unclear, Kasie, when that would ultimately happen.
HUNT: All right. Guess we're about to find out.
Manu Raju, thanks very much for that.
Our panel is here. "New York Times" journalist and podcast host, Lulu Garcia-Navarro; national political reporter for "Axios", Alex Thompson; the former Democratic congressman from South Carolina, Joe Cunningham, and senior adviser to the Trump 2024 campaign, Bryan Lanza.
And we're joined on the left side of your screen by our arena text chain. Additional analysis from top reporters about in this case today, they're going to be talking about what a government shutdown might mean for you. While we talk a little bit about some of the politics here.
And look, big picture, Alex Thompson, Chuck Schumer has been under incredible pressure from the Democratic base to basically be seen doing something, right? To stop Donald Trump. It seems like what he didn't do in March, when he could have pressed ahead and the government might have shut down then, he's ready to do now.
What's changed and what are the politics of this for Democrats?
ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Chuck Schumer say that the big thing that has changed was the passage of the Big, Beautiful Bill, so-called, that, you know, made a lot of these cuts to health care and also what Trump has done in the meantime.
Now, other Democrats will tell you the other things have changed is the politics have changed for Chuck Schumer, that there was this sort of period in Trump 2.0 at the very beginning of do we try to work with Trump or do we really go out and all and opposition and it's been very clear that the base of the Democratic Party, including the base that Chuck Schumer will need for his own reelection if he wants to in 2028, when he might have a primary challenger, wants to fight. It doesn't even matter that if they don't have power, they want to fight this president. And that's part of the reason why things have changed.
HUNT: So, of course, Lulu, I absolutely take that point. I mean, right, voters and that's what voters tell us, right? You read the polling. They want people to fight above all.
In this case, though, let's watch what the president had to say about what they may do. Republicans in power may do while the government is shut down, because the office of management and budget is not powerless here. And Republicans know that. Let's watch the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them, and irreversible by them, like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like. So, they're taking a risk by having a shutdown because of the shutdown, we can do things medically and other ways, including benefits. We can cut large numbers of people out. We don't want to do that, but we don't want fraud, waste and abuse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Are Democrats cutting off their nose to spite their face by allowing Republicans a chance to do all that?
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I mean, listen to what the president just said there. We're going to cut lots of things that people benefit from, like benefits that will actually affect the American people, because we can if this happens.
You know, I think what happened in the last shutdown negotiation, I mean, I spoke to Chuck Schumer at the time, and he was wanting to be sort of the responsible party, right? The one that said we are going to actually stand up here and do the thing that's politically painful to do. The thing that they believe is morally correct, right?
They want to protect federal workers. They want to make sure that people have the services that they need. Democrats don't care about that anymore. What I'm hearing from Democrats is this isn't our problem. We want to protect health care for Americans.
Now, what this administration does with the federal government is on this administration and not on us.
HUNT: Congressman, you come from the moderate wing of the Democratic Party such that it exists anymore.
JOE CUNNINGHAM (D), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: Where is that exactly?
HUNT: Is this a good idea?
CUNNINGHAM: I mean, they're talking about subsidies. They should probably be talking about the discounts. You know, we use these words, like those and it loses folks.
Open enrollment is going to start here in the next couple of months, and people are going to start to get letters saying their premiums are going up. That's the kind of language that Americans are going to understand, that this is going to impact their pocketbook. If these subsidies, these benefits, or, you know, discounts, expire.
And so, I think, you know, I would be reframing as by the passing of this Trump is essentially raising the cost of your premiums. I mean, essentially, that's what will happen at the end of the day. And --
HUNT: So why aren't they saying it that way?
CUNNINGHAM: I'm not -- I'm not in caucus strategizing with them.
BRYAN LANZA, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I'll tell you why. Because it's Joe Biden's budget. This is a C.R. This was negotiated last year. This was Chuck Schumer's budget. This was the Democratic budget with Joe -- with Joe Biden, you know?
So when Chuck Schumer says Democrats have been excluded from this process, they actually negotiated this last year. And in March --
[16:10:01]
HUNT: I get that Republican talking point. But I am curious, like what -- like, why do you think it is that I mean, the Democratic messaging has not been terribly clear. Why do you think that is?
LANZA: Well, because when you're -- when you're fighting policy at these shutdown moments, you never win.
Republicans always lose this debate. We always had either the Tea Party or the Freedom Caucus would pick the most extreme position and say, you have to honor that. This is where we have to be. This is where the base is. You get everybody riled up, and then leaderships like, oh God, what do we do?
And for a while, Boehner used to stop that. And then Boehner left and now became, you know, we caught the car and this is the chaos that's been caused.
HUNT: He was like, actually, I'm going to drop the mic and leave.
LANZA: Yeah.
HUNT: This is such a pain.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: -- because I am actually curious about this strategy, because what I hear from Democrats on the Hill is that they don't trust Republicans anymore to negotiate anything. If they pass a resolution that there has been no willingness shown to actually sit down and try and hammer some of this stuff out as they used to. And so part of what they're saying is what's in it for us anyway? This is the only leverage that we have because this Republican GOP has shown itself to be completely unable and unwilling to really try and find a middle ground.
LANZA: I mean, listen, that's the risk they have to take, right? Like Republicans are in charge. Democrats have to try to find a way to move policy. But we have a pattern of history that that opposing party who's trying to push policy changes during a budget negotiations always loses.
And to inject this at the last minute, this is, like I said, Joe Biden's budget. You know, Schumer's budget. These are the priorities that they set we had to swallow. We went forward with the continuing resolution.
You know, this is not a difficult thing for Republicans to sell.
THOMPSON: One thing that's distinct from this budget negotiation versus others is the Republicans have shown themselves much more willing to use what's called the rescission process to basically take back spending that had been approved before and then basically take it back. So, Democrats are like, we're going to vote for the budget, and then Republicans use the rescission process to take out all the Biden stuff before. And so, that's part of the reason why Democrats do not trust the Republicans in this Congress.
HUNT: Well, and also, lets like the elephant in the room is a little bit that like everything you just said, absolutely true, so incredibly hard to communicate, right, and understand, right?
And instead, the conversation is around illegal immigrants. Like, here's what Hakeem Jeffries was asked earlier on CNBC today. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOST: You do want to provide health care to illegal immigrants that are here right now.
JEFFRIES: That's a Republican talking point. And it's shameful that you would continue --
HOST: Is it true?
JEFFRIES: Of course not. I just said repeatedly that it is not. And we made that clear in the Oval Office to President Trump and to Republican leaders. Weve made that clear repeatedly. It's a Republican talking point.
In fact, I'm being gentle. It's a lie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: I mean, Congressman, have Democrats already lost the messaging war on this without even having started?
CUNNINGHAM: I mean, that's the notion that most Americans think is that Democrats want to provide health care. I mean, it should be very clear this is about the hardworking Americans who are, you know, engulfed in that that range when they raised it during COVID. And so, Democrats need to be speaking to ordinary Americans and, and be affirmative, like, Hakeem was like this-- we do not want to provide free health care to illegal -- those illegal in the United States, period. Full stop.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: That's not true. That's actually not true.
LANZA: They do want to provide it.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Well, it's not -- whether they do or they don't, but they're providing -- some states provide it on the state level. And Democrats have championed that. But the federal level is a different issue. But it does get --
CUNNINGHAM: We're talking about -- we're talking about federal officials, though. We're talking about federal budget.
I think it should be -- I think Democrats need to put their foot down and saying, we're not -- we don't want our tax dollars going to the health care for those who are here illegally.
LANZA: I think Democrats want that. I mean, I think if Democrats have to take a pledge in their own primary, hey, you know, am I supportive of illegals getting, you know, the health care benefits or I'm opposed to it? I think that's a tough debate in the Democratic primary.
CUNNINGHAM: I think you're going to see a serious shift. I think, 2024 --
GARCIA-NAVARRO: But this is exactly the problem, right? We're talking about immigration. We're not talking about health care. HUNT: Exactly.
All right. Coming up next here, Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton will be here live. Whether he knows if anything will be done to avoid a government shutdown. It feels like we've answered this question already, that that's where we're going, but we are going to ask him how he thinks Chuck Schumer is handling it this time after he questioned his leadership during the last funding fight.
But first, the dramatic military makeover announced today. The defense secretary's new directives involving appearance and gender, as the president defends his push for troops to police American streets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's the enemy from within, and we have to handle it before it gets out of control. It won't get out of control.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[16:19:10]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I look out at this group, and I see great Americans, leaders who have given decades to our great republic. But if the words I'm speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: That was the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaking to hundreds of top military leaders at Quantico this morning. He announced what he described as several reforms to the armed forces, some aimed at scrapping inclusion and diversity efforts. Our panel is going to dig into those comments a little bit later.
But in President Trump's 71-minute speech to this group, he spoke there as well. He covered a wide array of topics. He suggested using American cities as, quote, training grounds for the military.
CNN national security correspondent Natasha Bertrand joins us now.
[16:20:02]
Natasha, what did he say exactly?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Trump told these generals and admirals directly that many of them are going to be involved in the U.S. military crackdown on cities across the country that he wants to see, and that he has been implementing over the last several months.
He said that America is under invasion from within. He said it's no different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in some ways because they don't wear uniforms. He said, quote, "At least when they're wearing a uniform, you can take them out."
He also said that Washington, D.C., where he deployed National Guard troops last month. He said it was the most unsafe, most dangerous city in the U.S. and to a large extent beyond. You go to Afghanistan. They didn't have anything like that.
Of course, many of those generals and admirals in that room served in Afghanistan and lost several colleagues.
Now, here's a little bit more of what president Trump told this unprecedented gathering of senior military officials earlier today on this topic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, they're very unsafe places. And we're going to straighten them out one by one. And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room.
That's a war, too. It's a war from within. I told Pete we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military national guard. But military, because we're going into Chicago very soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERTRAND: So again, we saw this in L.A., we saw this in D.C. We're about to see it in Portland, where Secretary Hegseth ordered 200 Oregon national guardsmen to be federalized as part of the mission there. Memphis and Chicago maybe next, Kasie.
HUNT: Remarkable.
All right, Natasha Bertrand, thank you very much for that reporting. Really appreciate it.
Our panel is still here. And joining us is the former NATO supreme allied commander, General Wesley Clark. It's the -- it's the best title in -- on the global stage in my opinion.
General, thank you very much for joining us today.
I want to get your reaction to what the president said in terms of the idea that American cities could be at training grounds, but also to the way Pete Hegseth seems to be focused on changing the military. Do either of these things make America safer?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK, FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Well, honestly, Hegseth gave a very polished performance. He talked a lot about lethality. He talked about wanting to win. And, you know, there's no generals and admirals out there who don't want to win.
So, if you're looking back at Afghanistan or something like this and you're saying, well, why didn't we win? It's not the generals. You got to look at the suits, the politicos, the policy people.
That's the problem. And that's his problem, not the problem of the military.
Now, as far as what the president said about going into cities, you know, occasionally special forces will secretly go into a small American city. They'll practice something in there and use the real city for some kind of training exercise. That's not what president Trump is talking about. He's talking about trying to crack down on American citizens.
HUNT: I had no idea if the military did that actually.
CLARK: Yeah, occasionally. Yeah. But, you know, President Trump's talking about actually employing the military against American citizens. It's that this is not correct. Its not proper. It's not necessary.
The truth is there is an enemy within. There are Russian hit teams and Iranian hit teams in hiding in the United States. The people in the intelligence agencies are partially aware of this. Actions sometimes are taken, usually not taken. These people are waiting to be mobilized. But as for the demonstrators, people --
(CROSSTALK)
HUNT: All right. General, let me press pause unfortunately. We have to go to the president of the United States.
Let's listen in.
REPORTER: -- necessary to link more federal jobs cut to a shutdown.
TRUMP: Well, the Democrats want to shut it down. So, when you shut it down, you have to do layoffs. So, we'd be laying off a lot of people that are going to be very affected. And the Democrats, they're going to be Democrats. As you know, we this country, no country can afford to pay for illegal immigration, health care for everybody that comes into the country. And that's what they're insisting.
And obviously, I have an obligation to not accept that that would affect everybody. You know, when I see what we're doing with A.I. and all the plants that are opening up in the country, $17 trillion is coming in. If you compare that to Biden, Biden had a -- in four years, less than a trillion, we have 17 trillion more than that. I think it's going to be much more than that, David, by the end of this year.
I think it's going to be far over that. It's a record. It's already a record in eight months. It's a record by a lot. And so, we're doing well as a country. So, the last thing we want to do is shut it down.
But a lot of good can come down from shutdowns if we can get rid of a lot of things that we didn't want, and they'd be Democrat things, but they want open borders. They want men playing in women's sports. They want transgender for everybody.
They never stop. They don't learn. We won an election in a landslide. They just don't learn.
So, we have no choice. I have to do that for the -- for the country.
Yes?
REPORTER: You mentioned a deal with Harvard, Mr. President. What is that deal? Maybe paying the administration?
TRUMP: Well, we're in the process of getting very close. And Linda's finishing up the final details, and they'd be paying about $500 million, and they'll be operating trade schools. They're going to be teaching people how to do A.I. and lots of other things. Engines, lots of things.
You know, we need people in trade schools. I remember when I went to school, I had some people that weren't particularly good students, but they could take a motor or an engine apart blindfolded and put it back blindfolded. But they weren't too good at other things. And they ended up. Many of them ended up doing better than the people that were.
So, trade schools are very important, and we've lost trade schools. We used to have a lot of trade schools in this country. We don't have them anymore. We have tremendous plants opening and we want to have people at top level for those plants, whether it's A.I. or whether it's automotive plants.
You know, we have many, automobile companies opening plants in the United States. They're all coming back for two reasons, tariffs. And I think they like November 5th, you know, they like the person that was chosen.
And they're moving in from Canada. They're moving in from Mexico. They're coming in from all over the world. China is coming. They're all coming.
And that way, they avoid paying tariffs. So, you know, they're coming for that reason.
So, by opening up trade school because we're going to need employees. We're going to need people with skill. And I think I can say, Linda, you feel the same way by opening up trades. This would be a giant trade school series of trade schools. It would be run by Harvard.
Now, this is something that we're close to finalizing. We haven't done it yet, but they put up $500 million interest and everything else would go to that account. Meaning go to the trade school and, you know, it's a big investment in trade school done by very smart people, and then their sins are forgiven.
So, we have a good chance of getting that close. Yeah. Please.
REPORTER: President Trump, thank you. I've been looking at this chart that you showed us earlier. So, (INAUDIBLE) earlier, U.S. prices for brand drugs are 122 percent higher than European countries. You know, I'm young, maybe I'm inexperienced, but I think a lot of Americans are wondering, how did we even get here? Being one of the biggest buyers.
TRUMP: You got here by incompetent people sitting behind this desk, you had a lot of incompetent people. I did it, as you know, I did. I started it in my first term. We rebuilt the military. We got the largest tax cuts in history.
We did all these things, and we had the best economy in the history of our country. During my first term. And by the way, this is blowing it away based on what we're seeing.
But we got it by having people allow that to happen. As you know, I started the process. But then when COVID came, we focused on COVID, not on this. And I said, if I ever go back, if I ever go back and do it again, I'm going to make this a primary thing because other countries are paying a fraction of what we pay for the same exact drug, same exact pharmaceutical, everything.
And I said, no, it's not right. And the drug companies actually came along, you know, don't forget, they make 30, 40, 50 million a year. These people, they're very smart. And they had a lot of people convinced that, you know, that's the way it has to be. They talked about research and development. We had to pay.
I said, well, why isn't Germany paying? Why aren't other countries paying? And they always had a good answer. But it got to a point where I didn't like the answer anymore. And I said, we have to do this. And we did.
And the team that we have with Oz and Bobby and Chris and all of the people that we had working on it, and I must tell you, Marty's been a big -- wherever you may be, Marty, but Marty's been a big, a big factor.
We have a great team. There's never been a medical team like this. And I said, let's go do it. And then I just. I did as I said I would bug them every single day, every week because I said, we have to have -- I mean, why should we be paying 10 times what another country is paying?
And that was just an excuse, you know, research and development. We do research and development. So now, we're going to be paying whatever the lowest price is. We're going to be paying that price. It's a great thing.
But there won't be anything that can have the impact on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, anything we need pharmaceuticals, medicines. The numbers are going to come way down.
Even Obamacare, which is terrible. It's not been good. As you know, it's a weak form of health care, but it'll be better because the medicine is going to come in at a very low price.
Yes, please?
REPORTER: Yes, Mr. President.
It seems like every time you assemble your team and your cabinet members. Behind here in regards to health issues, it just keeps getting powerful. Now look at these young kids there --
TRUMP: Yeah.
REPORTER: -- and the weight that is on the world right now that you can lift up by what you're doing. I've often said, Trump could cure cancer and people would still criticize him.
TRUMP: That's true. It is true.
(LAUGHTER)
[16:30:01]
REPORTER: What is your message to America that this potentially could bring us all together, get us on the same page and have unity, and I'd like to see if some of the kids or the parents have what it means to you to see President Trump get involved?
TRUMP: Well, we've made tremendous strides in cancer research far more than anyone has done. And we have the greatest minds, the greatest people working on it. And childhood, you know, they call it childhood cancer. It's a very specific thing. And we really made a lot of, a lot of progress.
I think something that's going to allow us to make a lot of progress is the money were saving on pharmaceuticals. We'll be -- we'll be saving 500, 600, 1,000 percent. Nobody's ever heard of that.
I told the story. You were here before that. When I was in the previous administration, my first term, I was so proud of myself because I'm the first president in 28 years that cut drug prices from beginning to end. So, they went down. I think it was one eighth of a percent or one quarter of 1 percent. And I was so proud of that. I thought that was great.
Now I'm cutting them 500 percent. And I will say this, politically speaking, the people understand. Otherwise, I wouldn't have won in a landslide, you know. I get 97 percent bad press and I won a landslide, which tells you the press has no credibility.
But I will say that, what we've done has been a great tribute to the people that are standing behind me in different forms. Linda, in education different. But what she's doing in education, she's sending education back to the states. That's a big move.
The states like, you know, you go back to Indiana, Iowa, you know, I would say 40 states would be great. 45 will be -- you know, the 5 percent of them will be pretty good. But and then you're going to have a Gavin Newsom and some other people that aren't going to do a good job.
But, you know, we'll help them out. I want to help them out. And we're going to have safe cities again. We're going to have very safe -- we're going to be going to Chicago pretty soon because a friend of mine, a guy, a great guy, the head of the Union Pacific, he said, sir, you have to save Chicago. It's going bad. It's going bad fast, and it's a great city.
He's right. It's a great city. I know it very well and we have to save Chicago.
So, we're going to Memphis, Tennessee right now. We've had a home run in D.C. you can walk out, Brian, you got mugged here a long time ago. And a mugger must have felt some pain because you're a tough cookie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, he had a gun, and I wish I would have had --
TRUMP: I know, well, then --
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: Yeah, he had a gun. All you can do is say thank you very much. Yeah.
No, but it's everybody here. I mean, I -- you were here in the room when I said to the reporters who got mugged in the last year and like, half of the people raised their hand.
Now, if you said who got mugged over the last 60 days, nobody, nobody. No killing, no nothing. And the restaurants are booming. The town is booming.
It's clean. You know, the National Guard actually went out and started cleaning all the crap out of the parks. The tents are knocked down.
We had one that you said, it was a blue tent, and you said it was a communist tent, right? See, we're going to have a communist mayor of New York. So, you know, let's see how that works out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got a lot of feedback on that. Everyone's very appreciative.
TRUMP: Yeah. Can you tell me about a blue tent? And I said, it's not -- I can't be there because we knocked him down. But this was a very highly sophisticated group of people that had permits and all the other things. Well, the permit expired. We knocked it down. It took, what, 24 hours less? Maybe. So I appreciate you telling me that.
No, we have -- we have a great thing going. The country is doing incredible. We are a hot country. The hottest. We're the hottest country in the world right now.
REPORTER: The parents of the kids have anything they'd like to say?
TRUMP: Yeah, that's a great question. Would you like to say something?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would.
TRUMP: That's a good comment right there. That's the best comment you've made in a long time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, sir.
TRUMP: Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, good evening. I'm Josh Armstrong. My name is Josh Armstrong. I'm from West Virginia and I'm the father
of this amazingly brave and resilient little 6-year-old Laura (ph).
Laurel was diagnosed with leukemia when she was two years old, just before her third birthday, and we went on to watch as she spent months in the hospital fighting for her life as she received blood transfusions and platelet transfusions. As she fought off one potentially fatal infection after another.
We watched as her body swelled and became painful from steroids, and then as it became frail and weak from chemotherapy, and we watched and we wondered why there aren't better treatments available, and we wondered what might happen if she doesn't get the drugs she needed. And we wondered, why isn't anybody doing more?
And on behalf of myself and all the parents that have watched and wondered, we'd like to say that what you're doing today gives parents like me and children like Laurel the one thing that we most desperately need, and that's hope. And Laura -- and Laura, I'm happy to say Laura is in remission today.
TRUMP: She looks so beautiful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. She is beautiful.
TRUMP: Feeling good? Laurel.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
[16:35:00]
That's for you. That's for you.
TRUMP: She looks so great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because of this bill, doctors are going to be able to get better treatments faster to patients like Laura. And because of you making children like her real children, not cases or statistics, but children like Laura and all of these children are here today. We have that hope, and we are so proud that you're standing with children with cancer. You're making it a national priority.
TRUMP: Very nice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. President.
TRUMP: We're with you all the way.
How about you back there, dad?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, I'd like my daughter to speak.
TRUMP: Oh, I like that much better.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like my daughter to speak.
TRUMP: That's pretty good. I'd like you to speak.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Carolyn Hendricks. When I was four years old, I was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a pediatric bone cancer. Eleven years later, I'm now 16 years old, and I'm doing great. What you're doing today, Mr. President, means that kids like me will get better options and so much more hope for the future. This will help doctors use technology to find cures faster, match patients to trials more quickly, and give our families more control over our health.
For kids, every day counts. This order shows that our lives matter enough to be first in line for innovation. On behalf of children and young adults with cancer, those still fighting and those in remission like me, and families who wish that they had more time together. Thank you for making us a national priority.
Mr. President, because of actions like this, kids like me have the chance to grow up to chase our dreams and to live full lives. And that is the greatest gift anyone could ever give.
TRUMP: Well, that was so good.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I'll tell you one thing. Your father could not have done that you did a good. You did us a big service, father.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
TRUMP: That's great. Where did you learn how to speak like that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've done lots of speeches for childhood cancer over the last few years. And I'm also in a theater program.
TRUMP: So that's great. Well, good. That's a great job.
Would anybody like to say something? Would anybody? Would you like to say something, honey?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: Yes. I'm Alona Myers (ph), and I'm nine years old. And I was -- I had a blood cancer called leukemia when I was only two years old. I had -- I had to get treated at seven different hospitals across this country. And I had to have two transplants from one -- from my dad and one from my mom. And I had to spend many days and the nights in the hospital getting pokies and yucky medicine.
And me and my parents were very worried, and I had to go through those seven different hospitals to find the best treatment that can make me better. And thank you, Mr. President, for making everything happen today. So kids like me and Laura, we can still be living today and speaking.
(APPLAUSE) TRUMP: To do it better than any of us have done. We're doing lousy. We're not doing so well today. They're doing so good.
That was fantastic. Thank you. And you're feeling good now?
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Yes.
TRUMP: Are you all better? You're pretty -- pretty close, right?
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Yeah.
TRUMP: Yeah. I hear you're going to do good.
Anybody like to say something? Yes, sir. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been -- I've been -- I've had a brain tumor since I was four months. Now I'm off brain -- I'm off all medicines. I'm a cancer survivor. I've had a brain tumor since I was four months, and I'm doing great. I'm 15 now, and I'm going to --
TRUMP: Are you going to be a football player, offensive lineman?
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: You look fantastic.
How about somebody else? I love hearing this. I love hearing you talk because you talk better than any of us, right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Mr. President.
TRUMP: I want to thank you all for being here. Amazing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We wouldn't miss this.
TRUMP: Well, thank you. But, you know, were going to were doing a lot for you and were going to -- you're all going to be better very soon. I don't think you're going to need any of the help that we're giving. It's going to be for the future.
But I want to thank you for being with us, and I'm going to bring them back to a room. We have a room where we have lots of hats and things in the back, and we're going to, would you like to go back and well pick some nice presents?
Yes, we'll get rid of the wonderful -- the wonderful people of the media. Do you like the media? You're nice. Right? They have good days, right?
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: They do, actually they do. Thank you very much. That's beautiful. That's really good.
And thank you. We're not going to top that. HUNT: All right. We have been listening to the president of the United
States. He, of course, was speaking there with some children who have been suffering from cancer, some are talking about their success stories with that, which was nice to see.
Before that, he talked a little bit about a deal in the works with Harvard University. It sounds like, based on what he had to say to the education secretary who was there, that the final touches are still being put on it, and our reporter, we're reporting it out as well here, but the basics are that Harvard would plan to operate trade schools to teach A.I.
[16:40:04]
He also made some brief comments about the pending, the looming, I should say, government shutdown, saying a lot of good can come from shutdowns. Of course, it seems like everyone here in Washington expecting that to unfold in just about seven hours. You can see that countdown on your screen.
We're going to continue to monitor what the president is saying. If he starts talking to reporters, we'll bring you any news out of that.
But for right now, we'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HUNT: All right. Live look here at the United States Capitol. Of course, just the Senate in session there. And we do expect votes on bills to fund the government and try to avoid a shutdown.
[16:45:01]
We expect that to fail and basically all but ensure a shutdown beginning at midnight.
Joining us now, Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts, Seth Moulton. He is a member of the Armed Services Committee and of course, a marine veteran who served multiple tours of duty in Iraq.
Congressman, thanks very much for being here. I want to start with the shutdown of politics here because in fact, I just -- I want to play for our viewers what you had to say about Chuck Schumer in the midterm elections. This was back in March when Schumer faced a similar choice about whether to push for a shutdown.
Let's watch what you said then, and we'll talk about this one now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA): I think a lot of people are questioning whether we have the right leader in Senator Schumer to lead us forward and make sure we have a victory in the midterms in 2026. So that's an open question that people are asking legitimately.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNT: Your plant seems to still be doing well. I think it's the same backdrop this time as the last time we spoke. But --
MOULTON: Thank you, Kasie. I'm flattered.
HUNT: Would you -- would you assess Chuck Schumer's doing of this job any differently now? Is he doing the right thing, heading for a shutdown?
MOULTON: I mean, he heard the message from myself and many others who said that you got to fight harder, and he is fighting harder. He is using what little leverage that we have. Some might say, why aren't we asking for even more? What we're asking for is actually something that Republicans should want because it's good for red states, too. It's just lowering health care premiums, keeping them affordable for Americans. No matter what your political stripe is.
So I think that he's doing better. But, like, you know, people are still asking these questions.
HUNT: What's the way out? If the government shuts down, do you not give Republicans a massive opening to make cuts to places in the government that Democrats have historically wanted to protect?
MOULTON: It's an important question, but the reality is that the Republicans are going to do this anyway. I mean, so many of their DOGE cuts have already been declared illegal. Trump doesn't abide by any agreements. He just, you know, he can pass a funding agreement, and he just rescinds whatever he doesn't like.
So, the idea that he's just going to do this because there's a shutdown, I just think doesn't really pan out. The bottom line is that Trump controls the entire government. Republicans control the House, the Senate and the White House. So, if they can't keep government open, then they're going to get rightfully blamed for a shutdown.
HUNT: I guess we will see about that.
Since while I have you, I want to talk a little bit, considering your military background about what we saw play out at Quantico today. We had a very lengthy speech from the president of the United States in front of gathered generals. The defense secretary also spoke as well.
What stood out to you about this event? And what does it say about where we are?
MOULTON: This has never happened before in American history. The only time you see all the generals, all the admirals gathered in one place to get, like, a political talking point lesson from the commander in chief of the secretary of defense is in Russia or China. You know, that's where you see this stuff. Its unbelievably un-American. It betrays the oath that these officers take to the Constitution, not to Donald Trump.
And it's really dangerous for our national security. I mean, first of all, it's simply dangerous to have all these people in one place at the same time and tell the world two weeks in advance that it was going to happen. But the precedent that it's setting, that that the president is talking about turning our troops against American citizens, using American cities as training grounds. I mean, we're used to crazy stuff from Donald Trump, but this is about as unconstitutional as it gets.
HUNT: Congressman, do you think he'll do it? Have active duty soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines train in American cities?
MOULTON: I'm always cautious to try to predict the mind of Donald Trump. I mean, we don't know what this this man is going to do moment to moment. But the general lesson I've learned is that when you think Donald Trump is going to do something bad, he'll probably do something worse. And I think that could play out here.
I mean, we've already seen him deploy troops to American cities in ways that have been declared illegal, declared unconstitutional. And he doesn't seem deterred one bit.
HUNT: I guess we'll find out.
And, sir, before we wrap up our conversation, I want to -- I want to end with some brass tacks, because there's reporting that you are planning a primary challenge to Senator Ed Markey in Massachusetts. Would you like to confirm or deny those reports here today?
MOULTON: Kasie, is love -- as much as I would love to give you that news, I have not made a decision. It's something I'm looking at and something that I'm talking to a lot of voters and constituents across Massachusetts about. You know, there's obviously a desire for change in the Democratic Party. And you hear that from voters across Massachusetts, across the country.
But I love the job that I have, and it's a big decision to give it up.
[16:50:00]
So, it's something -- it's a decision I'm making very carefully.
HUNT: Do you think your party is too deferential to its elders?
MOULTON: I think that it's a tough look when we've lost three members of the House, three Democratic members of the House in the past year to death. You know, in one case, we would have defeated the Big, Beautiful Bill if one of our members had just stayed alive one day longer. And obviously, we just went through the debacle with President Biden. So, I think people are rightfully asking this question.
HUNT: So, do you think Senator Markey is too old to serve?
MOULTON: Well, ultimately, that's a question for American voters, because, you know, Massachusetts voters, I should say, because -- because, you know, he's decided to run for reelection. He'll be 86 at the end of his next term if he's reelected.
HUNT: And if a Kennedy couldn't do it in Massachusetts, Joe Kennedy tried to primary Ed Markey, what makes you think you might be able to.
MOULTON: Look, that's a -- that's -- that's a tough question, but it's a different time. You know, it's a different time in American politics. It's a time when a lot of Democrats are dissatisfied with the party establishment, when we're all asking questions about what do we need to do differently, to win? How do we -- how do we take things forward for the American people? How do we have a forward-looking agenda that's not just the same old thing that's gotten us into this terrible place where Donald Trump has terrible approval ratings, but our approval ratings are even worse.
So, I think continuing to do the same old thing, continuing the fall, the establishment is not what people want right now. And it's, I think, time, you know, for people to ask the question of, is it time for a new generation of leaders to stand up and carry us forward?
HUNT: All right. Fair enough. Congressman Seth Moulton, call us back. You probably make your news in "The Boston Globe" and WBUR, but we're available if you would like to come back. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
MOULTON: I appreciate it.
HUNT: All right. We're going to talk a little bit more about what the defense secretary said today about women serving in the military.
Let's watch a little bit of what the defense secretary said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I don't want my son serving alongside troops who are out of shape or in combat, unit with females who can't meet the same combat arms physical standards as men. Today, at my direction, each service will ensure that every requirement for every combat MOS for every designated combat arms position returns to the highest male standard only.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: So, Hegseth made those comments in front of hundreds of senior military leaders, where he announced plans to overhaul the military's physical fitness standards and to end the military's diversity efforts. All of that, according to Hegseth, supposed to help restore the warrior ethos to the recently rebranded Department of War. The secretary, who has long railed against the allegedly lower standards for women in combat roles, went on to emphasize the need for gender neutral standards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEGSETH: I want to be very clear about this. This is not about preventing women from serving. Physical standards must be high and gender neutral. If women can make it excellent, if not, it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it. That is not the intent, but it could be the result. So be it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Okay. Joining our panel now is Allison Jaslow. She's an Iraq war vet. The former CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
Our text chain is also back here in THE ARENA. They will be talking about this alongside us.
Allison, what he was saying there, can you give us a reality check? You served in combat. You know, so many women who are putting their lives on the line every day for this country. They have to face sexism. You know, they're climbing hills that the men aren't necessarily having to climb.
But can you just be, like, very clear about what the standards are for them? Because they are very high.
ALLISON JASLOW, FORMER CEO, IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN VETERANS OF AMERICA (IAVA): Sure, Kasie. You know, first of all, I like to point out since last November that I actually saw combat before Secretary Hegseth did. Also, your viewers might be familiar with Senator Tammy Duckworth, and she actually lost her legs in Iraq before he even stepped foot on the battlefield.
So, women have been fighting alongside men in combat on an asymmetrical battlefield that found -- where combat found you whether you liked it or not, for a long period of time. In fact, integrating women into combat roles was a product of that reality that we were very much in combat, and we shouldn't be prevented from being in combat MOS's and the military very thoughtfully did that integration.
So, it's very discouraging to see basically, a contemporary of mine make comments like he did today. And I hope, you know, men in the -- or excuse me, women in the military, but also the men who also have a lot of respect for the women serving alongside of them, deserve better leadership.
HUNT: Yeah.
[16:55:00]
Allison, what impact do you think this is going to have on -- I mean, we also have faced challenges with recruiting. And with half of the brainpower available in the country being female, is there a risk here to discouraging some of our potentially best people from serving?
JASLOW: Well, you make a very good point, Kasie. You know, we've decided as a nation to fight our wars with all volunteers. And so, we need every able-bodied American who wants to serve and is willing to serve, to step up and serve.
And you need a culture that supports that, that welcomes them in and also doesn't push them out, which is what you saw happening. You know, in both speeches today by, you know, our political leaders.
And I'll tell you, you know, from personal experience, Kasie, when you suffer leadership disappointment and you're serving in the military, it's not the good officers that get out in moments like this. You know, when I made the decision to get out, which is a difficult decision because I wanted to serve for a career. It was the people who I most respected and admired and served alongside who were getting out along with me when we were hemorrhaging comedy grade officers back in, you know, around the 2007, 2008 time frame.
And so it's times like this when we're going to lose our best and brightest, who won't want to have to deal with this any longer. And that should concern us all.
HUNT: Yeah. I want to bring the rest of the panel in to this conversation here.
And I want to play a little bit more about what Hegseth -- of what Hegseth said yesterday. And a lot of this is focused around -- he used the phrase dudes in dresses. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEGSETH: Remove the social justice, politically correct and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department to rip out the politics. No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses, no more climate change worship, no more division, distraction or gender delusions. No more debris. As I've said before and will say again, we are done with that shit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Lulu, I mean, you can tell the man used to work on television, in how he talks about this.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: And ted talk.
HUNT: Can also tell that this is something -- I mean, we knew this before he was confirmed to this position, that this is something he is incredibly focused on. But is it -- is it the -- is it the thing that we need our secretary of defense or secretary of war he's renamed himself, to be the most focused on?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: You know, it's funny, I spend a lot of time, boots on the ground myself in Iraq. I spent a lot of time with people serving their country, both men and women. And what I saw there is people who were wanting to do the best for their country, and they weren't focused on whether they -- what bits they had underneath their uniform.
And so, what I would say about this is that it is very retrograde. We see other lethal armies in the world, like the Israeli military. I spent a lot of time in Israel actually moving towards, a lot more gender neutrality. Women in really strong combat roles and elite forces, as opposed to what this is, which I think is taking us a step back.
THOMPSON: Secretary Hegseth said that this is about getting politics out of the Pentagon. But make no mistake, a lot of what today was about was about politics. And Donald Trump has made it very clear from the very beginning that, you know, he admires sort of the machismo, you know, big shows of force. That's why we had the big military parade in June. This is of a piece of the same thing.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah. Bryan Lanza, do people inside the Trump administration still think that Pete Hegseth is right for the job? Because there definitely was a lot of talk early on that they were trying to find a way to kind of move him towards the exits.
LANZA: That's a tough question. Listen, I would say, you know, there are moments that they're proud of Pete and there are moments that they're frustrated of the secretary, moments where he's speaking about, you know, war ethos and recruitment. They certainly like, this is what we wanted. Somebody who excited, you know, men and women, hopefully to join the military. And this volunteer force and then --
GARCIA-NAVARRO: How does this excite women? How does this excite women?
LANZA: Well, this doesn't excite. But early on when he was talking about there was hope that that enthusiasm would build up. And you've seen it in the numbers, you've seen recruitment go up, which was his primary goal. And then there are moments where, you know you, you that are less than stellar, that you know that we look for the next news cycle.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: But this is clearly this clearly has the stamp of approval of the White House, as you rightly note. I mean, this was --
HUNT: Based on the --
GARCIA-NAVARRO: -- telegraphed --
HUNT: Speech from the president today.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: And this was telegraphed for weeks, right? So --
HUNT: It absolutely does.
All right. Allison Jaslow, I want to say thank you very much for bringing your unique perspective to the panel. Really important voice, I think, to hear from today.
Thanks to all of you for joining us today as well. Really appreciate it.
All of you at home can always catch up with our podcast. Follow us online @TheArenaCNN on X and Instagram.
But don't go anywhere. "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts right now.
