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Trump Renews Effort to Block States From Regulating AI; Trump Attacks Democrats Who Urged Military to Refuse Illegal Orders; Trump, NYC Mayor-Elect Mamdani to Meet for First Time at White House; Trump Officials Prepare for Potential Cabinet Shake-Up. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired November 21, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: And what's interesting here is the language in this draft executive order really closely mirrors the argument we've heard from some people in Silicon Valley, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, that having to navigate a patchwork of state regulations could hinder their innovation, could affect American competitiveness on the global stage. And it's interesting just how closely the language in this order mirrors that argument. Trump has also proposed the idea of putting limits on state AI regulations in the National Defense Authorization Act.

And this is receiving really broad pushback from both federal and state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, safety nonprofits, educational institutions, labor groups, all of whom are worried about putting, you know, the need to put limits, especially safety limits on this technology as it continues to advance. And just to give people a sense of some of the state laws that could be affected by this, you know, we've got laws that prevent algorithmic discrimination in hiring, laws that put limits around misleading deepfakes, laws that require companies that make AI chatbots that are having companionship relationships with people to remind users that they're talking to an AI to prevent some of these mental health issues that we've seen emerge from this technology. So really widespread concerns about what this could mean for the users of this technology.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, I thought it was interesting to see him weigh in on this. Here's what he said on X. He said, "The rise of AI is the most significant economic and cultural shift occurring at the moment, denying the people the ability to channel these technologies in a productive way via self-government constitutes federal government overreach and lets technology companies run wild."

Many people are criticizing this as a benefit to Trump's big tech billionaires who were actually in the many of whom were in the White House just this week.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: There is so much concern about problems that AI could bring, even though it can also bring some incredible advancements. We'll be watching this. I know you will -- but will be. Thank you so much.

DUFFY: Thank you.

SIDNER: I appreciate it.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are standing by to see how President Trump will defend calling on six Democrats to be executed and if senior elected Republicans push him to back off.

Two men from Queens walk into the Oval Office. The high stakes meeting between virulent political rivals, the president and the man elected mayor of New York City. We've got new reporting on the preparations.

And are exorcisms on the rise in the United States? There is an answer to that question that might surprise you and you will hear it directly from an exorcist.

I'm John Berman with Sara Sidner and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SIDNER: Outrage this morning after President Trump accused a group of Democratic lawmakers of sedition and suggested they be executed. It comes after those lawmakers posted a video reminding the military that they can and should disobey illegal orders issued by the president. Yesterday, the president responded online, calling it seditious behavior punishable by death.

In another Truth post, he called the lawmakers traitors and suggested they be locked up. Democrats now accusing the president of trying to incite violence and endanger their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Every Democratic member of the Senate and the House, their life is in jeopardy right now, especially those that were specifically targeted by this social media post. If you are a person of influence in this country, maybe it's time to pick a f***ing side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House for us. Alayna, what are you hearing this morning after this huge amount of fallout?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and it's, you know, it's not uncommon, I should argue, for the president to make inflammatory comments. We heard this during his first term, of course, as well, except the it's far rarer to have such an uproar in response to it. And it comes as the president has now called on the six lawmakers, all of whom had served in the military or in the U.S. intelligence community, to be arrested and then posted that their behavior was seditious and punishable by death. And that is what is really causing so much focus, of course, on those remarkable comments from the president.

He had also been posting and reposting repeatedly yesterday, Sara, including amplifying one post that essentially said, hang them, George Washington would. Now, what I've been hearing in my conversations with people in the Trump administration and some Republicans on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, as well, is a lot of them were angry about this video from Democrats essentially telling members of the military to disobey potential illegal orders from the Trump administration.

[08:05:00]

They argued they didn't give any examples and that this was essentially urging troops to disobey the commander in chief. But what happened is once the president started weighing in with these comments, all of this changed and put the Republicans on the defensive and distracting from what they've been trying to talk about all week, which is different issues.

But all to say, I do want you to hear, because we're hearing now from Republicans as well, who are essentially saying the president went too far with these posts. Listen to House Speaker Mike Johnson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: The words that the president chose are not the ones that I would use, OK? Obviously, I don't think that this is -- these are crimes punishable by death or any of that, OK? But what, the point that we need to emphasize here is that members of Congress and the Senate and the House should not be telling troops to disobey orders.

It is dangerous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: A few things, I think, for context there that are important for us to remember is that service members are supposed to disobey illegal orders. Essentially, they could be prosecuted legally if they carry out an order that is illegal. I remind you of the Nuremberg trials.

And a lot of this comes, as we know, that there's been many people in the U.S., also in the U.K., who've been questioning some of the president's, you know, strikes on Venezuelan -- on boats off the Venezuelan coast, some of the troops being deployed throughout the country, all to say this is going to be a huge issue, particularly at a time when both sides are calling to lower the rhetoric because of so much political violence that we have seen in recent months.

And so expect a lot of questions and more pressure on this White House to clarify today.

SIDNER: Yes. Also, as the courts are looking into whether or not some of Trump's decisions were illegal orders, we will have to wait and see what happens after all of this. Alayna Treene, thank you so much for keeping your focus this morning after that huge truck behind you got real close. Really appreciate it. Have a happy Friday -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, Alayna Treene needs to buckle up because of that truck. But also, we all need to buckle up, everybody, because in just hours, President Trump is going to be hosting at the White House, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. The president has, as we've seen, posted about it, calling Mamdani a communist. He is a democratic socialist.

It is no secret how these two men feel about each other, fiercely attacking each other for months, though Mamdani has repeatedly said he wants to meet with the president to talk about affordability for New Yorkers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOHRAN MAMDANI, (D) NEW YORK MAYOR-ELECT: New Yorkers who voted for Trump ended up voting for our campaign. And they did so because they're looking for leaders to actually deliver on the cost of living crisis. That's why everything comes back to making the case for an affordability agenda.

I will meet with anyone, I will speak to everyone, so long as it can stand to benefit an economic agenda for New Yorkers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: This morning, CNN has learned that to prepare for this face- to-face with President Trump, Mamdani has essentially been phoning a friend or friends, consulting key Democrats, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, and also Senator Chuck Schumer on how to best handle Donald Trump.

With me right now is a man who knows New York politics better than most, political anchor for Spectrum News, Errol Louis. It's great to see you, Errol.

What are you going to be watching for with this meeting, and what are you hearing about it?

ERROL LOUIS, POLITICAL ANCHOR, SPECTRUM NEWS: Good morning, Kate. I think what we're going to all be watching for is the question of, will there be troops on the streets of New York? That really is the subtext of all of this.

To the extent that Mamdani is going to become mayor on January 1st, he doesn't want that to coincide with an influx of National Guard troops or ICE agents doing aggressive raids the way we've seen in Chicago and in Los Angeles. So that's something key that I assume is going to be on the agenda either directly or indirectly.

BOLDUAN: Also, this is one of those meetings that if when cameras go in, the body language is going to be something that everyone is watching for.

LOUIS: Oh, for sure. For sure. We don't know.

I mean, it says closed press, but that can change, as you know. Or they can be -- there can be what they call a spray, where there's cameras there to take pictures, and then maybe there can be some interchange with the press. We're not clear on what exactly is going to happen.

However, what everyone wants to know is, how aggressive will this White House be? It's not as if we haven't seen this before. Donald Trump has used these kind of occasions to really try and create a spectacle.

And I guess we'll all be wondering if that's what he chooses to do today.

BOLDUAN: You're looking at video of one of those spectacles when the president of Ukraine was in the Oval Office. But when was that, back in February? Wow, a million years ago, but also feels like just yesterday.

What do both men -- Mamdani has stated he'll talk to anybody when it comes to making it more affordable for New Yorkers. But what do both men really, do you think, want to get out of this meeting?

[08:10:00]

LOUIS: Well, look, I think they both want to satisfy their political objectives. Donald Trump's objectives are sort of complicated at this point, because we know that distraction from the Epstein files is on the agenda. We know that continuing his mass deportation campaign is on the agenda.

We know that the midterms are on his agenda. So it's unclear which of those objectives he might be pursuing in this particular meeting.

For Mamdani, it's a chance to sort of, I guess, see if he can pull off what he talked about on the campaign trail. What he talked about, Kate, on the campaign trail was saying, when you go in to deal with Donald Trump as the mayor, as the incoming mayor, he says you have to do it as a group, with your colleagues in government, with the senators, with the governor. And I think that's why he made that round robin of calls to try and fashion some kind of joint strategy so that they're all kind of speaking with one voice.

One thing that would really be fatal is if Donald Trump was able to turn members of the Democratic leadership of the state against each other. So I think he's going to probably go in and try and further the strategy that the governor and the senators and Hakeem Jeffries have already begun.

BOLDUAN: It's fascinating. Great -- it's so great to have your perspective on it. And we will all be watching that when this happens this afternoon, if and when cameras get to go in. Great to see you, Errol, thank you -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Ahead, we will tell you about a potential cabinet shakeup brewing in the Trump administration, which agencies might see changes.

And get a load of this. It looks apocalyptic almost, but it's a massive dust storm sweeping over the state of Texas. We will discuss what's happening there. And this video has a lot of folks talking and worried. Miss Jamaica

falling right off the runway during the Miss Universe competition, the latest on her recovery.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: New this morning, according to multiple sources to CNN, the Trump administration is preparing for a possible shakeup in his cabinet. The turnover plan would be implemented once President Trump's second term reaches the one-year mark.

Joining me now, CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has the story. What are you learning about which federal agencies might be impacted and could see some changes?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, there are two federal agencies that, again, could see changes, but so far it's worth noting that President Trump's cabinet has been relatively stable, which is a departure from his first term in office when there was frequent turnover. And officials tell CNN that that has been by design as, again, they tried to assemble this cabinet with people who were loyal to avoid any imagery of those frequent turnovers of the first term of President Trump's time in office.

Now, sources tell me and Kristen Holmes that the White House is preparing for this potential turnover after the one-year mark, and that's important here. They do not expect there to be changes by any time before next year, and the sources similarly stress that there haven't been any final decisions, but the two agencies that could see some change and have been part of these discussions is the Department of Homeland Security. We're showing their images of Secretary Kristi Noem and the Department of Energy, which is run by Chris Wright.

Now, let's talk about the Department of Homeland Security first. Of course, that has been the federal agency charged with the president's mass deportation campaign, and what we're told is that the president is happy with Kristi Noem. He has been praising her in public and private settings, but her de facto chief of staff, Corey Lewandowski, has had been dogged by frustrations and tensions.

He is a longtime confidant of Noem, but he's also a fixture of Trump's orbit, and he has amassed enormous power at the Department of Homeland Security. Sources often tell me that it is both him and the secretary who are leading the charge here, and we learned that in September, sources tell Kristen Holmes, that the president convened a meeting with Lewandowski and Noem about what is viewed as the mismanagement of the Department of Homeland Security, and it grew contentious, and that was surprising because the president has often been close with Lewandowski.

I'm also told by the Department of Homeland Security that his time at the department is about -- or remaining at least -- is 40 days because he had been coming in and doing this job on a temporary status. Now, separately, we have the Department of Energy, where there have

been private complaints among White House officials that the secretary there has been slow-walking some of the president's promises from the campaign. So these are two areas where there could be change next year, given what the White House is seeing unfolding in those departments.

Now, in a statement, the White House spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, said quote, "The cabinet is not changing, no matter how much CNN wishes that it would, because it thrives off drama."

So the White House essentially is saying that there isn't change on the horizon. But change in the cabinet is not unusual. Turnover does happen during administrations. We saw that, for example, during the Biden administration as well, where there were two departures. But everything that we are hearing from our sources is that if there is change, it would happen after the one-year mark.

And as of right now, the conversations, again, are surrounding the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Energy.

SIDNER: Priscilla Alvarez, thank you for your reporting. Thank you for being here this morning. Have a great rest of your weekend -- John.

BERMAN: All right. This morning, hundreds of air traffic controllers being rewarded for working through the shutdown. Just how much will be hitting their bank accounts?

And how the Grinch is making his way to McDonald's this holiday season, hopefully not to make Big Macs two sizes too small.

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, this morning, one of the finalists to be CNN's Hero of the Year. You can cast your vote right now, by the way. Today's hero is providing therapy dogs to comfort and ease the stress of firefighters, police officers and first responders across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEIDI CARMAN, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FIRST RESPONDER THERAPY DOGS: To fight the fires in California is like a war zone. It's grueling work, it's smoky, it's hot. It's dangerous.

They go for a minimum of two weeks, 24 hours on, 24 hours off. That stress to have it lightened with a therapy dog visit is priceless.

We got Kerith in 2018 and we were training her to become a working guide dog. She was just too friendly to every single person. So I started doing therapy dog work with her. During the 2020 fire season, going around to fire base camps, she was so good at just making the firefighters feel better.

I started posting pictures on her Instagram. Then I was getting messages, can you come to my husband's police department? I'm like, yes, sure.

Now we have hundreds of therapy dog teams across the entire country. We go to fire base camps, fire stations, police departments, 911 dispatch centers.

[08:55:00]

All first responders would benefit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The average adult male lives around 18 years longer than the average adult police officer. And that is often because of chronic stress. And oftentimes as a defense mechanism, we close up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is she just for first responders?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's so soft. When we are around emotional support animals, you just see that all sort of melt away.

CARMAN: Cortisol levels go down. The endorphin levels go up. I can feel that goodness just coming up the leash.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just to have a dog come by, she can't talk, can't ask questions. It can kind of break the ice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I missed you too.

The first time I met Kerith, I had undiagnosed PTSD. She just picked up on it right away. She just went nose to nose with me. And we just had a moment. And it broke me down.

This was my wake up call that I needed to go to therapy. A man's best friend for a reason.

CARMAN: We have helped so many people. I'm grateful to Kerith for showing me the way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: And you can go to cni.com slash heroes right now to learn more and to vote -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, John. So, why one Catholic priest says he is performing more exorcisms today than at any time in the past 20 years.

And John King continues his all over the map series. What voters in Pennsylvania say they are still waiting for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We changed presidents at the beginning of the year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We did.

KING: And the guy who moved into the White House said that he was going to fix it.

Several times he said it would be easy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.

KING: Has he fixed it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely not. I'm definitely waiting for him to fix it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)