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CNN's The Arena with Kasie Hunt
Trump, NY Mayor-Elect Mamdani Meet For First Time; Trump: "I Think The Military Is Looking Into" Dem Lawmakers' Video. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired November 21, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:03]
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And, you know, it just turned out to be a statistic -- a statistical truth. But, no, I feel very comfortable. I would be -- I would feel very, very comfortable being in New York. And I think much more so after the meeting.
Yes, please?
REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. President, I have a question for you, but a very quick one to the mayor.
MAYOR-ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK: Please.
REPORTER: Why did you fly here? Aren't trains greener?
MAMDANI: I will use every form of transit, and I want to make sure that they're all affordable in New York City. And that's why making buses fast and free is a centerpiece of our campaign.
TRUMP: Well, but I know, but it'd be fluid. That's a lot quicker, too, you know? I mean, he's working very hard. For him to be, it's a long -- it's a very -- that's a very long drive. I'll stick up for you. You know, the plane takes you 30 minutes and driving takes you --
REPORTER: Mr. President, I wonder if you could clear up some confusion around Washington.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We're going to keep monitoring this press availability at the White House between President Trump and Zohran Mamdani.
Kasie Hunt picks it up right now.
REPORTER: I don't do it. I would like to ask Mr. Mamdani, you've accused the U.S. government of committing genocide in Gaza while President Trump was working on his. Why? Why that?
MAMDANI: I've spoken about the Israeli government committing genocide, and I've spoken about our government funding it. And I shared with the president in our meeting about the concern that many New Yorkers have of wanting their tax dollars to go towards the benefit of New Yorkers and their ability to afford basic dignity. And what we see right now is we're in the ninth consecutive year of more than 100,000 school children being homeless in our city.
And there's a desperate need not only for the following of human rights, but also the following through on the promises we've made New Yorkers. And I appreciated the meeting we had and the work that we can do.
REPORTER: That President Trump didn't do a peace and work hard to make the peace because he worked hard to do the peace in the Middle East. And everywhere. But do you agree with that?
MAMDANI: I appreciate all efforts towards peace. And I shared with President Trump that when I spoke to Trump voters on Hillside Avenue, including one of whom was a pharmacist, that spoke about how President Trump's father actually went to that pharmacy not too far from Jamaica estates, that people were tired of seeing our tax dollars fund endless wars. And I also believe that we have to follow through on the international human rights. And I know that still today, those are being violated, and that continues to be work that has to be done no matter whe're were speaking of.
REPORTER: Mr. President --
REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. President. Do you view the mayor-elect as the true leader of the Democratic Party? And do you think Leader Schumer and Leader Jeffries, you don't have to follow his lead?
TRUMP: Well, look, I hope they have great leaders. This is a man that right now I think is focused on New York City. I really think he has a chance to do a great job. We're going to help him. But I really think he has a chance to do a great job.
But I'll let you answer that. Do you consider yourself the leader of the Democrats? I think its more appropriate for him.
MAMDANI: I consider myself the next mayor of New York City, and I keep my horizons firmly on New York City. And I appreciate the meeting with the president, which focused, again on the five boroughs and whether New Yorkers could afford to live there.
TRUMP: By the way, being the mayor of New York City is a big deal. I always said, you know, one of the things I would love to be someday is the mayor of New York City. Being the mayor of New York, and especially now because I think you're really a turning point one way or the other. It could go great, or it can go in a different direction. And I think you really have a chance to make it great.
REPORTER: And, Mr. President, you say you love New York City. Mr. Mamdani, does New York City love President Trump?
MAMDANI: New York City loves a future that is affordable. And I can tell you that there were more New Yorkers who voted for President Trump in the most recent presidential election because of that focus on cost of living. And I'm looking forward to working together to deliver on that affordability agenda.
TRUMP: I got a lot of votes. One more, go ahead. One or two more. Go ahead.
I'll tell you, the press has eaten this thing up. You know, I've had a lot of meetings with the heads of major countries. Nobody cared. This meeting that you people have gone crazy. You know, outside, you have hundreds of people waiting. This is just a small little group.
For some reason, the press has found this to be a very interesting meeting. The biggest people in the world, they come over from countries nobody cares. But they did care about this meeting and it was a great meeting. Go ahead.
REPORTER: Mr. President. I was going to ask exactly that. Why do you think there's so much more, you know, so much excitement around this?
TRUMP: Because I think he's different. All right? I think he's different. And that can be a very positive way. But I think he's different than, you know, your typical guy runs, wins, becomes mayor maybe. And nothing exciting because he has a chance to really do something great for New York.
New York is at a very critical point, and he does need the help of the federal government to really succeed. And we're going to be helping them. But he's different than, you know, your average candidate. He came out of nowhere. I said, he has a great campaign manager standing over there. He came out of -- he came out of nowhere. What did you start off at? One or two.
And then I watched. I said, who is this guy? He was at one and he was at three. Then it was at five, then he was at nine. Then he went up to 17. I said, let's get a little bit interesting. Right?
And then all of a sudden, he wins the primary that nobody expected he was going to win. It's a great -- a great tribute. I mean, it's an amazing thing that he did.
[16:05:01]
MAMDANI: And I'll just -- I'll just add -- I'm sorry. I'll just add one thing to what the president said is one thing I also appreciated is in our meeting to appreciate a portrait of FDR and the incredible work that was done with the New Deal, and also in thinking about what it can look like when the federal government and New York City government work together to deliver on affordability. It can be transformative.
TRUMP: You know, we have a great portrait of FDR that I found in the vaults that was missing for years. I found it, and I put it up. He's a Democrat to the best of my knowledge. He's a Democrat. And when the mayor saw that portrait, he said, sir, do you mind if I have a picture taken by that point?
It's an amazing portrait. I hope the picture comes out good, but it's an amazing portrait in the cabinet room. So he's a big fan of the New Deal, I guess, and of FDR.
Yes, ma'am. REPORTER: Mr. President, you said that you both spoke about crime.
There are many police officers that come off the rolls at the end of this year in New York City. Are you going to allow those police to be replaced with police officers, actual cops? And are you going to require that that happens? Would there be some consequence?
TRUMP: Well, I hope it happens. But again, that's going to be ultimately the mayor's decision.
REPORTER: What does the mayor say?
MAMDANI: Is that I look forward to delivering public safety with the NYPD. And I've said over the course of our campaign that we have the number of police officers today. They are the ones --
REPORTER: What's that number?
MAMDANI: That's budgeted at about 35,000 headcount. And I think the key thing is that we have to make it easier for police to focus on police work, not ask them to respond to 200,000 mental health calls a year.
REPORTER: So, is that a reduction from what you're at right now? Are you committing to maintaining the same level.
MAMDANI: I've -- I've committed over the course of the campaign to maintain the 35,000. That's the headcount that we had through the campaign.
REPORTER: And not replace them with caseworkers, social worker.
MAMDANI: No, I've said that's the headcount that we want. What we need to do is make sure they can focus on serious crime.
TRUMP: And he just retained a great police commissioner, I believe, right?
MAMDANI: Yes, we did. Commissioner Tisch.
TRUMP: If the newspapers are correct.
MAMDANI: That one, they're correct about.
TRUMP: He retained I think somebody that is a good friend of some of the people in my family, of Ivanka, and they say she's really good, really competent, and he just retained her. So that's a good sign.
(CROSSTALK)
REPORTER: Sir, there's no topics that you see the two disagreeing on in the future. And do you think you'll have more meetings like this?
TRUMP: There will be topics that we disagree on. I think we'll probably come to a conclusion and ultimately, he'll convince me or I'll convince him, you know, it's for the good of New York. Ultimately, it's for the good of New York. I don't care about affiliations or parties or anything else. I want to see if this city could be unbelievable, if he could be a spectacular success, I'd be very happy.
REPORTER: Do you think you guys need more in the future, too? Do you think you'll meet again in the future in the administration?
TRUMP: I think we will. I think we will. I hope we do. I enjoyed the meeting. We had a great meeting. Please?
REPORTER: Mr. President, Republican Elise Stefanik has campaigned multiple times by calling Zohran Mamdani a jihadist. Do you think you're standing next to a jihadist right now in the Oval Office?
TRUMP: No, I don't, but she's out there campaigning and, you know, you say things sometimes in a campaign. She's a very capable person. But you really have to ask her about that. But no, I don't particularly -- I think I met with a -- I met with a man who's a very rational person. I met with a man who wants to see, really wants to see New York be great again. And I can say again, because New York was great.
You know, when I came down to Washington initially, the city was so hot, it was doing great. We were having some telltale signs of problems. We had a mayor that was not doing a great job, but still, it was moving along.
And it went bad. It really went, you know, pretty bad. And he can -- I think it's been a lower points, but it went pretty bad. I think he can bring it back. Now the question is, will he bring it back all the way? Will he bring it back greater than ever before, which is I guarantee that's his wish. I think he wants to make it greater than ever before.
And if he can well be out there cheering, I'll be cheering for him.
Okay? Thank you very much everybody. Thank you very much.
MAMDANI: I care very deeply about Jewish safety and I look forward to rooting out antisemitism across the five boroughs and protecting Jewish New Yorkers. And every New Yorker who calls the city home.
KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: All right. Hi, everyone. Welcome to THE ARENA. I'm Kasie Hunt.
We've been following breaking news out of the White House. That oval office meeting between President Trump and the mayor-elect of New York City, Zohran Mamdani. We have been watching it for the past number of minutes. It was a pretty wide-ranging conversation where the president seemed to offer praise to the mayor-elect of New York city, someone who he had previously called a communist and talked about in a certainly relatively derogatory way compared to what we saw today.
Mamdani there, continuing as he stood next to the president to talk about the message that he's been focused on of affordability for New Yorkers.
[16:10:04] And even when asked a number of times about different topics, kept bringing it back to that point in a very interesting display of the political skills that we saw land him in this position.
So, let's get off the sidelines and head into THE ARENA. My panel is going to be here to weigh in.
And we're also joined by CNN chief White House correspondent and anchor Kaitlan Collins.
Kaitlan, this was a much anticipated meeting, and it really was about two New Yorkers. I mean, at one point, the president of the United States looks at Mamdani and says, you know, you got a job that I really used to want.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I mean, this is why politics is fascinating, Kasie, because watching this meeting play out, that was so hyped up with the White House calling Zohran Mamdani a communist just yesterday, basically saying, wait and see what happens when the two leaders are in the same room. The way this just played out with the president playing basically host to Mamdani inside the Oval Office, I think that entire interaction that just happened before cameras can basically be summed up as in that moment when a reporter was asking Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect, if he views President Trump as a fascist.
And as Mamdani went to answer that question before he could even really start to answer, Kasie, the president intervened and laughed it off and said, that's okay. You can just say yes, because it's easier than having to explain. He said that Zohran Mamdani could say yes. He believes President Trump is a fascist.
He did not. And they continued to take these questions from reporters on a lot of issues where they do not agree, Kasie. I mean, yes, they kept going back to affordability, but they were asked about crime. They were asked about ICE. They were asked about the national guard. They were asked about antisemitism.
There was about -- so many of these issues that obviously have defined their relationship. And also, the mayoral race in New York City, period. And they really sidestepped a lot of the issues where they disagree and kept returning to where they do agree and where they believe they can work together. And the president said he believed it was a productive meeting. It was a great meeting.
He said he would feel comfortable living in Zohran Mamdani's New York City, at one point, and he was asked about comments that Elise Stefanik has made critical of Zohran Mamdani. The president said he disagreed with her on those.
It was just a fascinating meeting all around to see this incredibly warm relationship between the two of them.
HUNT: Yeah.
COLLINS: Obviously, politics is at play here for both of them. But the president, I mean, multiple times, Kasie, was grabbing Zohran Mamdani's hand and shaking it and laughing with him and pointing out his staffers who were inside the room. And so just when you think a meeting is going to be tense and fiery, I mean, sometimes you get President Trump recognizing political talent and welcoming him into the Oval Office.
HUNT: Game recognizes game, I guess.
Kaitlan, can I ask you I mean, this president clearly has one way when he is in person with someone who is willing to do the work to charm him. What kind of effort do you think came from the Mamdani side here to try to generate this as an outcome? Because again, it is extraordinarily different to see them together in person and the way the president reacts to that than it is on his social media, where, as you point out, he was calling him a communist just yesterday, essentially.
COLLINS: Yeah. And who knows if this will last. Obviously, if they disagree and the president tries to withhold federal funding, I mean, this is not by any means permanent. But, you know, when world leaders come to the White House, they often try to bring a gift or some kind of invitation or something to flatter the president and win him over. I was listening to Mamdani talk there. A few things he said stood out to me. He pointed out to the president that one in 10 voters who voted for Mamdani for mayor, he says, also voted for Trump for President. That was something the president clearly liked and highlighted. He talked about how they both ran on affordability and realized that as a key political issue for voters.
And obviously, how they will tackle that seems to be quite different. But that was something they bonded over. But then, I mean, Trump is a lifelong New Yorker, and he brought up, he said that he went to a pharmacy in Queens, I believe, and was saying that that is where Trump's father used to go to pick up his medicine. And that was the pharmacist that he used to use.
So, he was appealing to him on all kinds of level, not just political, but also the personal ones. And obviously, he had been, you know, preparing for this meeting. He had consulted with people who have met with the president before going into this, because they wanted it to be a successful outcome here. Given this was his first time in the Oval Office with Trump.
HUNT: Yeah, that takes some serious staff work. Clearly, they know what they're doing.
Kaitlan Collins, thank you very much for being here. And of course, we'll catch you tonight on "THE SOURCE" at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN.
All right. Our panel is here in THE ARENA. CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny; CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel; CNN global affairs commentator, the former deputy press secretary, Sabrina Singh; CNN political commentator, Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton; and the eminent CNN senior political and global affairs commentator, the former Chicago mayor, Rahm Emanuel. Thank you all for being here.
Rahm Emanuel, I want to start with you. Just because I'm really interested in your assessment of kind of the raw political talent and display that we just saw between these two men. I mean, what were your sort of takeaways?
[16:15:01]
What stuck out to you? How do you see and understand what just happened?
RAHM EMANUEL, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well, I looked at it and saw a lot of warmth, respect, and affection, actually between the two men, which means that the private meeting and what they talked about worked, and they were taking each other's measure. And there's a respect for capabilities, as you said, game respects game.
The other thing that I think is really important as a former mayor, you now have the presidents blessing with the cabinet from transportation to public housing to all the resources that are available to actually continue to access both the cabinet secretaries and the essential resources. If the mayor wants to see his agenda through, and they found places on the first meeting, they both had an interest in finding that common ground.
So, I kind of looked at it and said, what you saw there was probably they looked at each other, took a measure. They said what they said before about each other. That was then, this is now, and the road is ahead.
So, the past is the past, and the future is the opportunity for both of them. And they showed respect. And I think that's essential for this president the way he operates.
HUNT: Yeah, I mean, and its you know, its a rare this is this is not a president who does a lot necessarily of embracing, unifying, showing any semblance of connection with people who otherwise might disagree with him. It seems noteworthy on that front.
I want -- Jeff Zeleny, I want to -- sorry. Go ahead. Jump in. No. Go ahead.
EMANUEL: The other thing is, I mean, the president also wanted a good meeting because it's an easy way to take a lot of other pieces of the news off the table.
And it served his function that it served his function to say, see, I'm focused on affordability, too, given that you just had an election in which its very clear the public doesn't think he focuses on affordability.
HUNT: Yeah. No, it serves everybody's interests. Jeff Zeleny I want to dig in for a second to that point that Zohran Mamdani made about Trump voters and Trump-Mamdani voters, essentially, and how that flashes back to, you know, we were talking as we were watching about the 2016 campaign trail and the overlap between people who wanted to support Bernie Sanders, but then ended up voting for Donald Trump in the general election. What do you make of it?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That was extraordinary. And at the top of president Trump's mind there. I mean, he's the one who went there and said, you know, there is overlap between our voters. But then immediately reverted back to something he loves to talk about, his winning campaign of 2016. And he talked about the fact that there are these interesting concentric circles and overlap between Sanders supporters and Trump supporters.
We saw that in Michigan in 2016. We saw that in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. All states that he won, of course, four years later, he lost. But I thought that was so curious.
But to Rahm's point about President Trump, he knew exactly what he was doing today.
He's playing host. One of his favorite things to do is to play host. He loves the Oval Office. He was sitting down, clearly in charge. The mayor-elect was standing above him on the same place that staffers stand and made the point that, look, he was going to try -- and he was trying to step into Mamdani's glow a little bit here on affordability. That was very clear.
This isn't the time to fight it. Now, this does not mean that this is going to last. The funding fights are going to come. But President Trump is smart.
HUNT: This is a brief moment in time.
ZELENY: President Trump is smart because that's why he wants people to tune in to this relationship. He's quite frankly bored with Congress. He's bored with congressional leaders. And he said it himself. He wanted to be the mayor of New York City. So, he loved everything about this meeting and wants people to tune in for the next one, which may be even more substantive and interesting.
HUNT: I want to remind everyone of some of this. Jamie, I want you to weigh in, but just to kind of play back, one of the more glowing moments for the president where he told Mamdani that he's thinking -- he thinks he's going to be a great mayor. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think you're going to have hopefully, a really great mayor. The better he does, the happier I am. I will say there's no difference in party. There's no difference in anything. And we're going to be helping him to make everybody's dream come true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: There's no difference in party. Theres no difference in anything. Now we'll see when the midterm elections come around. And every Republican wants to tie their Democratic opponent in their congressional race to Zohran Mamdani and his socialist policies in New York City. But what do you make of it?
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: And to Jeff's point, you know, just wait a day or two. The capital letters will come back.
HUNT: Probably soon.
GANGEL: Yeah. And I say this as a born and bred New Yorker, I understand that New York is not the center of the universe, but New York being successful is good for the entire country and good for Donald Trump.
I have to say, we were watching this together and we -- I'll be cheering for him. It's, you know, Mamdani was also very smooth, though. Impressive. I have to say, when I first saw the visual of him standing next to him, as Jeff said, he sort of looked like a staffer. But as soon as he started speaking, he took control of the room. You could see how impressive he is.
HUNT: And I think, too, it's easy sometimes for us -- you know, when you see the Oval Office to take for granted just how weighty it can be to go into a setting like this, Jeff.
ZELENY: Thirty-four-year-old.
HUNT: I mean this for someone who's in his mid-30s to be welcomed into, you know, the absolute center of power in the Western world and to perform in a way that shows that you are not intimidated, right?
ZELENY: Without question. I mean, it was a very compelling scene to watch there actually. And again, he's 34 years old. We talked about on election night. He was 17 when Barack Obama was elected 17 years ago. So, he is about the age of the Trump, almost grandchildren -- I mean, a little bit older than that, younger than his children. So, it is just fascinating.
But look, I think the second meeting is going to be more important here in terms of what actually happens with funding in New York. But the president may have improved his own politics a little bit today, but may have complicated the effort for Republicans to, sort of brown him. I think they're still going to, but that is going to be fascinating to watch as well.
HUNT: Let's watch the moment. It's been touched on already, as we've kind of been dissecting what we saw happen, where Mamdani was asked about having called President Trump a fascist and the moment had to be. It's interesting to watch how the moment was handled in the room. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: He asked about your comment, calling the president fascist. And your answer was both President Trump and I have been clear about our positions and our views. Are you affirming that you think President Trump is a fascist?
MAMDANI: I've spoken about -- TRUMP: That's okay. You can just say yes. Okay, it's easier. It's
easier than explaining it. I don't mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Shermichael Singleton, I mean, the president, they're obviously kind of wanting to keep the meeting on friendly ground.
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I thought. It was smart. I mean, look, this is less about ideology and more about affordability. Rahm Emanuel touched on this two and a half weeks ago. We got our butts kicked across three states. Democrats have showcased significant strength on the issue of affordability.
And so, if the president can work with Mamdani, who I don't philosophically agree with on anything to address deregulation, to address affordability, grocery prices, they talked about transportation. I wouldn't say that it complicates things for Republicans, because if you look at the results from last November, that 21 percent of Black men, the 46 percent of Hispanics, these are nontraditional constituencies for Republicans voted for us on those issues. And so, if we can deliver in New York, I think there's a winning message to deliver across the country.
HUNT: Sabrina, what's your sense of -- I mean, there are -- there also have been a lot of Democratic base voters who don't love it when Democrats seem to cozy up to Donald Trump. But then there are independent voters who seem to be more interested in having the party find ways to work with him, at least on issues that they care about. How do you think he navigated this?
SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: You know, I think he did a pretty fantastic job navigating, especially being in the room. And you could see that respectful tone being struck between both men. I think also, there's a difference between being out on the campaign trail and having, you know, kind of cast the villain, whether its Donald Trump or, you know, on the Republican side. Mamdani but at the end of the day, governing takes a lot of work, and it takes work across the aisle.
You can't just do it by yourself. And so, I think it's very smart that he not only went to the oval office, met with Donald Trump, but he's going to be the mayor of one of the largest cities in the country. He's going to need the president's support, especially if the president does follow through on some of his threats to send, whether its national guard or more ICE agents into New York City.
You're going to need a relationship and you're going to be able to need to pick up the phone and have a conversation with the president. And I think what you saw here with that relationship is, is maybe he can do that. You know, a lot remains to be seen. Who knows when the all caps tweets or social posts come out next. But I think that was a good step forward.
HUNT: Interesting point. Rahm, as a as a former mayor, can you talk a little bit about the job
you think Mamdani is doing or not doing so far because the president talked about, you know, if the papers are correct, here's one of them that says that Mamdani has asked the current police commissioner in New York City to stay on. He, of course, had previously called to defund the police and was a big issue in the campaign. But that seems like kind of a remarkable step in the governing section of the ledger.
What do you think?
EMANUEL: Well, look, I mean, he made a that was a smart move from a host of things, one primarily for public safety and for being clear to the community because the commissioner is doing an excellent, excellent job. And there was a consensus both from the neighborhoods to downtown business leaders, they wanted him to keep her. And that also relieves pressure on him, because you have somebody that people trust, somethings going to happen in the future and you've got a trusted person who is, you know, to your Batman and your Robin is playing that role that is trusted by everybody on public safety.
[16:25:02]
And that is something you don't want to distract you.
The second thing I can make -- that's number one. Number two, this meeting is going to help on resources for the city that's important for his investment strategy on affordability of housing. The person I think that got hurt in this meeting was a Republican nominee for governor. That strategy is all built on making Mamdani socialism, Democratic socialism, the boogeyman for the campaign statewide and that the president says, I'd like to live under him. I think he'd be really good. So, you can't make Mamdani the boogeyman for a statewide race in a year from now, from New York governor.
But as a mayor, the endorsement on affordability and the endorsement on public safety is a strategy that's a one-two punch. That's excellent for the mayor to start off with and prove that he's able to win over a critic like the president. That shows something. That shows game, and people like a winner.
HUNT: People do like a winner. I'm glad you mentioned that moment, because we actually can play it back to where Donald Trump says, hey, I live in Mamdani, New York. He was asked directly, you know, would you feel comfortable? Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: You used to call New York city home. Would you feel comfortable living in New York City under a Mamdani administration?
TRUMP: Yeah, I would, I really would, especially after the meeting. Absolutely.
REPORTER: What makes you comfortable?
TRUMP: We agree on a lot more than I would have thought. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: We're going to see that bite again, Jeff?
ZELENY: Oh, for sure. And I think to Rahm's point I mean, Elise Stefanik once more has been loyal to the ends here and is a little bit befuddled. I mean, first, she was nominated to be the ambassador of the U.N. That was taken away from her. And a big argument today was complicated as well. She has to be having some thoughts right now.
HUNT: Rahm, you're laughing. Say more?
EMANUEL: Yeah, yeah, I -- well, I'm laughing because literally that is she has been loyal twice and twice have been basically had the carpet pulled from under her. The whole strategy of her campaign is going to be, we don't want for New York state what New York city just did. And the president said, well, I'd be a resident there. I'd be happy to live there.
So, the entire thematic and message of the campaign just went away. And that's why I said, she's the big loser in this meeting.
HUNT: Fair enough.
EMANUEL: And the president got again, I want to repeat the president got something out of this, not only playing host, but most importantly, trying to associate himself with a message about affordability when the voters think consumer sentiment is at the lowest level it's ever been. And that's an indictment of his presidency right now.
HUNT: Yeah.
GANGEL: To underscore what Rahm just said, it's not been a good week for Donald Trump.
Fox News had a poll out 76 percent view the economy negatively, up from 67 percent in July. Republican voters --
HUNT: That's three in four Republican voters?
GANGEL: Right.
HUNT: And so, he also had to cave on the Epstein files being released. Donald Trump. You know, he watches those polls. So, this was a smart political pivot today for him.
ZELENY: He also takes the focus off of Ukraine, I think, because that is also something that if Putin ends up winning on that score or coming out ahead, the -- President Trump is happy to be having the mayor elect of New York City in the oval.
SINGLETON: You know, Kasie, we've for the past couple of months, Republicans have really struggled with making a case to the American people about that affordability question. The president several months ago made a case for tariffs. There was a lot of disillusionment among the average voter.
Weve discussed it ad nauseam on our network, and I think this gives the president an opportunity to reorient the entire party again, despite whatever ideological differences that may exist and persist with Mamdani to showcase to swing voters to again that working class voting bloc that was traditionally Democrat now seems to be somewhat curious about Republicanism, or at least Trumpism, that Republicans recognize that we have not delivered on those issues that will absolutely matter when it comes to midterms next year.
HUNT: Yeah.
All right. We have to sneak in a quick break, but we are going to continue to cover all this unfolding breaking news. So don't go away. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:33:22]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I've met with a man who's a very rational person. I met with a man who wants to see -- really wants to see New York be great again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Very rational person. That was President Trump's assessment of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani after their meeting at the White House today. Speaking in the Oval Office after that, Mamdani was very clear about his focus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAMDANI: We spoke about rent, we spoke about groceries, we spoke about utilities. We spoke about the different ways in which people are being pushed out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. Joining us now in THE ARENA to discuss Democratic congressman from Maryland, Jamie Raskin. He's the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee.
Congressman, wonderful to see you. This meeting, of course, occurs against the backdrop of looming midterm elections, where Democrats hope to take back the house and Republicans had been working to make Zohran Mamdani a central villain as they were trying to argue to Americans that they should reject Democratic socialist policies.
What's your reaction to what we saw with this? Essentially, embrace from the president to the mayor elect and a back?
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): The House Republicans literally kept the entire House of Representatives in session today for one purpose and one purpose only which was to vote on their resolution denouncing and deploring the horrors of socialism. They even conscripted Thomas Jefferson and James Madison to the cause even though they died before the word socialism was even being used.
But in any event, while we were being forced to vote on that utterly ridiculous resolution essentially offending all of our allies in Sweden and Denmark and Norway and Finland and so on, the president was praising Mamdani as a great mayor and someone who is very rational and could be dealt with.
[16:35:15]
In the meantime, again, the Republicans in congress and Donald Trump were moving in completely opposite directions.
HUNT: What would you say is the value of this meeting for Mamdani, as someone who may be a future figure in the party or potential risk to it?
RASKIN: Well, look, I mean, America has had dozens and dozens, if not hundreds of socialist mayors and those are people who basically like Mamdani have focused on a very local agenda. He's talking about grocery prices. He's talking about the rent. He's talking about free bus transportation. And I think today is obviously a big win for him in the sense that he has been able to at least get through to the president, presumably other Republicans and presumably other Democrats who are still expressing skepticism that he has a very pragmatic agenda ahead of him, and he wants to get things done for his city.
I think Donald Trump, who's been sinking like a stone in the polls, recognizes that Mamdani and a lot of the progressives in the Democratic Party have an affordability agenda that's speaking to people. And Trump seems to want to fasten himself onto that. And he dramatically lowered his rhetorical temperature today. It was quite amazing, after calling -- repeatedly calling Mamdani a communist and trying to provoke him. Of course, its Donald Trump who has befriended the communists of the world, like Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin, who said the greatest catastrophe of the 20th century was the collapse of the Soviet Union. And Mamdani, he's the one who looks like a real workaday professional politician.
HUNT: What, in your view, might be the reason for why Donald Trump would embrace Mamdani so publicly this way at this particular moment in time?
RASKIN: Well, Mamdani has struck a major chord with young people. He has figured out the communications channels for reaching young people, but he's also figured out a way to have his message resonate with them about making life more affordable. We're living in a time of tremendous economic polarization and inequality, and it's very tough for young people to get within striking range of buying a house. A lot of them can't even afford rent. A lot of them are working two jobs. It's just a very tough time.
And Mamdani has been focused like a laser beam on their issues. And meantime, Donald Trump has been having Great Gatsby parties and bulldozing the White House. So, he seems extremely out of touch. Both generationally and politically and financially, from the experience of most people. And why wouldn't he be? He's a multibillionaire who has added, I think, $3.5 billion to his net worth since entering the crypto business when he came back to the White House.
HUNT: Yeah. Sir, were actually, I think, going to be waiting here to hear a little bit more from Mamdani publicly, potentially. So, we're going to be prepared to jump into that if we need to.
But I did want to ask you on you mentioned this question of sedition and the Democratic lawmakers who made that video that urged U.S. troops to not follow illegal orders from the president. Now, the president seemed to walk back the statements that he made yesterday about how they should be subject to execution or death as a punishment for their sedition when he did a radio interview this morning, he suggested. In that interview he said, times now are softer, but that the Pentagon should be looking into. Or he suggested, the pentagon is looking into whether or not there could or should be punishments for these lawmakers.
Now. You're a constitutional law scholar. Can you help us understand if there is anything to this? I mean, could they use the UCMJ? What might what the president was talking about mean in practice for your colleagues?
RASKIN: Nothing. Everything he said was complete nonsense. I mean, not only was their speech protected by the first amendment and by the speech and debate clause, all of it was completely true. All that they stated was that members of the military have an obligation to refuse unlawful orders. That's been established.
In fact, it's even been conceded by the president's defenders here.
So I think he's very quickly running away from those vague threats of assassination and death that he was making, something I know, my colleague should be taking seriously, given that he dismissed the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi when it was raised by a reporter right in the presence of Mohammed bin Salman and Donald Trump said things happen.
[16:40:20]
Well, that was an appalling statement that aligned him and U.S. foreign policy with an assassination of an American journalist who was writing for "The Washington Post". And then just two days later, he comes back and describes, you know, Democratic members of congress as seditionists and says that sedition is punishable by death. I mean, it's an utter outrage.
So, I'm glad he's been completely isolated and the whole country has turned against that. It's very important for everybody across the board, in the military and in the rest of civilian America to denounce these comments. And if he -- if he doesn't essentially retract them and get rid of them, this is a completely impeachable offense.
HUNT: Do you think that the president posting that the actions that they took could be punishable by death is something he could be impeached for?
RASKIN: Yeah, I would say it's an impeachable offense for the president to say that members of congress can be punishable by death simply for stating that everybody is subject to the Constitution, and that people have an obligation to disobey orders. We've got to restore the rule of law here, which isn't to say we\re going to proceed in impeachment. Obviously --
HUNT: You're anticipating my next question.
RASKIN: Yeah. No, that's not what I'm saying. But it's important to call these things out as they happen. Imagine if Barack Obama or Joe Biden had said something like that about Republican members -- I mean, you know, Democratic presidents, President Biden could have said that about Republican House or Senate members who were involved in January 6th, but he would never have said something like that. That would just have dramatically escalated the confrontation.
And the fact is, it's not punishable by death for people to state the truth and to specify what the law requires in the United States.
HUNT: Fair enough. Congressman Jamie Raskin, thank you very much for spending some time with us today. I really appreciate it.
RASKIN: You bet.
HUNT: All right. Coming up next here in THE ARENA. Threats, round the clock security and now a potential Pentagon investigation. We're going to dig more into what's next for those Democratic lawmakers that President Trump did accuse of sedition.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:46:58]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): It was instantaneous. I mean, hundreds, if not at this point, thousands of calls, emails, texts, obviously online postings. Capitol police came to us and said, you know, we're going to put you on 24/7 security.
REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): We've already been given additional security by the House.
SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): Now, I've got to worry about my personal safety and that of my wife Gabby Giffords, who was already nearly assassinated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: The six Democratic lawmakers who posted this now viral video in which they reminded U.S. service members to disobey unlawful orders, now saying they are taking extra security precautions after President Trump accused them of sedition, quote, "punishable by death," end quote. In a radio interview this morning, President Trump said he was not threatening death to the Democratic lawmakers, but suggested that the Pentagon may be looking into the lawmakers' video.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TRUMP: I don't know about the modern day things because, you know, modern day is a lot softer. But in the old days, if you said a thing like that, that was punishable by death, I'm not threatening them. But I think they're in serious trouble. I would say they're in serious trouble. I'm not threatening death, but I think they're in serious trouble.
In the old days, it was death. That was a traitorous statement. That was a horrible thing to do. I think -- I believe they broke the law very strongly. I think it's a very -- I think it's a very serious violation of the law, yeah.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. CNN national security analyst Carrie Cordero is now joining our panel.
And, Carrie, we were just talking with Jamie Raskin, who's, of course, a constitutional lawyer, about this. But what is your assessment of what the president was trying to claim right there? He's saying, well, I'm not threatening them with death. But what they did was traitorous and they could get into trouble for it. Is there any "there" there?
CARRIE CORDERO, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: No, I don't think so with respect to the allegations that he's making. But let me try to unpack a little bit the difference between the legal piece here and the policy piece here as it relates to national security.
So, on the law, what the members said in their video is correct as a matter of law, members of the military, members of the intelligence community, apparatus, are permitted to not follow an illegal order. At the same time, with respect to the postings that the president put out, alleging that the members of Congress who posted this video have in some way violated the law, that is incorrect. I don't see anything in their statement that violates the law, whether its sedition, seditious conspiracy, or anything else that he might be alleging. So those are the two pieces that are clear on the law.
As a policy matter from a national security perspective, the statements that the president then put out have created an environment that obviously we had in the lead in there that contribute to the politicization of the military and national security community and the overall polarization and threatening environment that lawmakers face.
[16:50:00]
All of that said, as a national security policy matter, I do question why these members put out this video because if it was intended on the merits to give guidance to members of the military, the national security community, it is actually much more of a nuanced issue as to how those members would actually those members of the military or the intelligence community would actually be able to not follow a particular order. There are examples of things that might be completely obvious -- targeting civilians, engaging in torture, falsifying records. But the members of Congress in their video didn't articulate in any clear way what type of guidance they were actually giving to the workforce that they appear to be directing their message at.
So, I think its a little more complicated and nuanced with respect to the message they were actually trying to convey.
HUNT: And certainly, of course, the message as it might be received very much dependent upon the person's position in the chain of command, job description in the national security community, et cetera.
So, Carrie mentioned that this creates and adds to potential climate of political violence in our country. And Congressman Jason Crow's office today released some of the calls that his office has been getting in the wake of what the president had to say. Let's listen to some of it.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: I hope whoever blows your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) brains out records it, because I would like to watch you, stupid (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You deserve to die. I hope you all get murdered.
CALLER: I pray you die today, but not before your family does. I pray they die a painful death. Hurry up and die you worthless (EXPLETIVE DELETED) traitor.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HUNT: So, Jamie Gangel, I mean, this is an example of action and reaction. The president of the United States says something takes an action and there is a reaction from people who support him. And this helps underscore the reason why people look around and say, hey, this climate of political violence, this is -- this is real.
GANGEL: It's absolutely real. And we can just say, Gabby Giffords, we can say Charlie Kkirk, we can say what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, both sides of the aisle. This is real.
That kind of rhetoric can incite people to do things, whether or not the president means it. As he said, he didn't mean it.
I just want to go back to something Carrie said about the video. First of all, it was very effective. It got under President Trump's skin, but that video by the members of Congress, yes. It did not go into detail. Maybe someone wants to write an op ed about different concerns, but it's not in isolation. There is no longer a secretary of defense, former General Mattis, who has guardrails, and I have spoken to so many military sources, a lot of high ranking military sources who are very concerned about exactly this issue, about Trump, Hegseth using the military in ways they're not comfortable with. And let's just remember that scene at Quantico not too long ago where
they had this loyalty test of sorts, and --
HUNT: They brought in all the generals.
GANGEL: All these leaders were brought in from, from, you know, all over the world, it was a bizarre scene in the military. So, the video does speak to a real concern.
HUNT: Yeah, we're seeing here. These are pictures of the president shaking hands with the secretary of defense. But were not showing that the audience is just a sea of generals, the president at the time remarking that the crowd was particularly silent because, of course, Jeff, the you know, protocol would dictate that there not be the usual applause and cheering that he might anticipate from an actively political crowd sort of underscores in some ways, the point that these members of Congress are making.
ZELENY: For sure. I mean, that was an extraordinary moment there. And it was rare for the president because he even said at the beginning, if I'm recalling correctly, you know, you don't have to be silent. You know, they kind of do. But he's crossed the line visiting several military bases. I mean, I'm thinking back to when he was when he was in Doha.
I mean, he was speaking at the ordered Al Udeid base there and some a young members of the military were applauding at some of the things he was saying. I don't blame them for that. He's the commander in chief. They're visiting, but he riles up the military in ways.
But to your point about the how the video got the presidents attention, no doubt about it. So, the politics of that, I think, were good for Democrats. They were clearly trying to show, hey, look, it was almost a recruiting video for new candidates next year.
[16:55:03]
This is our national security bench.
You know, if you are out there retiring from the military, perhaps you should run for office as a Democrat, sort of showing that.
But I do think to Carrie's point, it's a -- it's a nuanced conversation that gets lost in that.
HUNT: Last word.
SINGH: It's certainly a nuanced conversation. I think you can question the timing of the video. You can question the message. But at the end of the day, the president's words, I mean, he's the most powerful man in the world to incite violence against members who also served in the military before -- their lives are at risk. And that's incredibly dangerous.
HUNT: All right. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HUNT: All right. Thanks very much for joining us today. Thanks very much to you at home for being there as well.
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