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Trump Accuses Democrats of Seditious Behavior; Cabinet Changes?; Trump Delivers Ultimatum to Ukraine; Zohran Mamdani Set to Meet With Trump. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired November 21, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

REV. RUSSELL LEVENSON, ST. MARTIN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH: The chief ethic of our faith is to love other people, love our lord God, but also love everyone God sends our way. What better message to grab ahold of when we're just a few weeks away from Christmas and Hanukkah, Ramadan a few months after that?

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Yes.

LEVENSON: And people looking for a good gift to give away, I suggest they pick this up and read these stories.

BASH: Yes. Well, here it is, "Witness to Belief." And you talked to Denzel Washington, Nikki Haley, Condoleezza Rice, and a few other actors.

Thank you so much for being here. Appreciate it. Thanks for joining INSIDE POLITICS. "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: A meeting of the minds? The man who's described himself as the president's worst nightmare now heading straight to the Oval Office. New York City's Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani about to sit down face-to-face with President Donald Trump after the two have lobbed some pretty fierce insults at each other.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And, right now, an intense pressure campaign under way in Kyiv in what the Ukrainian president calls one of the most difficult moments in the nation's history, President Trump giving him less than a week to accept his 28-point plan to end the war, but Zelenskyy sees the proposal this way: Lose dignity or U.S. support.

And one lawsuit calls him a predator in uniform. Army investigators recovered photos and videos on his phone of his female patients. I have exclusive new reporting on the Army gynecologist accused of sexual misconduct by at least 65 women.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: Happening soon, an Oval Office meeting between two guys from Queens and two political polar opposites. For the first time, President Donald Trump is going to sit face-to-

face with New York City's mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani. And up until today, it's been pretty ugly between the two of them, President Trump describing Mamdani a lunatic communist, while the self-described Democratic socialist has vowed to fight Trump's policies every single step of the way.

"The New York Times" today asking, will they play nice? Earlier, President Trump suggested he would.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think we will get along fine. Look, we're looking for the same thing. We want to make New York strong. And there's such a different philosophy, but I will let you know. Well, I was hitting him a little hard too, in all fairness.

I was -- hard to be totally friendly toward the opponent. So we meet at 3:00 today. And I think it's going to be quite civil. We will find out.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: We will find out.

Despite the drama, there is a lot at stake here. Remember, the president threatened to pull federal funding from America's largest city.

Let's get some perspective from CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.

Harry, let's start with the popularity numbers between these two. Walk us through that.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA ANALYST: Yes, as a boy from the Bronx, I can't wait to do this segment. But let's sort of look at the popularity of the two of them nationally.

And I would say they have a lot in common. Why? Because they're both disliked nationally. What are we talking about? All right, the net favorable rating nationally among voters, you see Zohran Mamdani 11 points underwater, and Donald Trump pretty much looks like his twin at 13 points underwater. They're both double-digit underwater with independents as well, those in the electorate.

And they're both very well liked by their bases. So when you look at the numbers nationally, they do share a lot in common, two guys from Queens.

SANCHEZ: Tell us more about what else they share in common, these two, as you called them, twins.

ENTEN: Yes, the two twins from Queens, right? What else do they share in common? Well, what did they run on? What did they win on? In 2024, Donald Trump, the top issue that he won on in 2024, was the economy, right?

He won it by 63 points over Kamala Harris. How about Zohran Mamdani in 2025? Of course, it was the cost of living. He won on that issue by 37 points. So they both won on economic-related issues. So they both are coming at it perhaps from different angles. But they do share that true similarity in terms of the reason that they were elected was winning on economic issues, Boris.

Of course, one of them won in 2025. He hasn't taken office yet. The other one, Donald Trump, won in 2024. And I think it's so interesting to note that voters think that Donald Trump has lost his way on the economy, all right? So what are we talking about here?

Trump's net approval rating on inflation, cost of living, right? In January, it was plus three points. Look at where it is today, Boris Sanchez. It's all the way down 34 points below water. That is a shift of 37 points in the wrong direction. Perhaps Donald Trump can take some pointers from the mayor-elect of New York City.

[13:05:00]

SANCHEZ: Quite a swing there.

A big question that lingers, especially for Democrats, is whether the rise of Mamdani portends a more Democratic socialist future for Democrats. Does the data bear that out?

ENTEN: No, it doesn't. Donald Trump was able to reshape, remake the Republican Party in his own image. I think it's going to be a bit more difficult for Zohran Mamdani at least to bring Democratic voters all the way to the left.

What are we talking about? Why do I say that? Well, just look at New York City. 2025 New York City voters who identified as Democratic socialists, the folks who put Mamdani in office, among Democrats, it was just 36 percent. OK? So that means the vast majority did not in fact identify as Democratic socialists.

Among New York City voters overall, we're talking just a quarter, and, of course, New York City, Boris, is way to the left than where we are nationally, right? Kamala Harris easily won in New York City by about 40 points, and, of course, she lost nationally to Donald Trump.

But more than that, we have a key primary coming up in 2028 that will really determine the direction of the Democratic Party. And I turn to the prediction markets here because it really gives you an understanding. The chance of being the 2028 Democratic nominee, someone who has far more politically in common with Zohran Mamdani than the leader Gavin Newsom, who has a 36 percent chance, is, of course, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

But she is way, way back of Gavin Newsom at this point at just 10 percent. So, yes, Zohran Mamdani, a growing profile nationally, obviously is going to have a lot of power as the mayor of New York City, but Democrats really running left, perhaps nominating someone of the far left in 2028,that, I'm a bit skeptical of, my friend. SANCHEZ: Harry Enten, thanks so much for taking us through the

numbers -- Brianna.

ENTEN: Thank you, my friend.

KEILAR: President Trump is now giving Ukraine a deadline of next Thursday to accept a peace plan, which would have Ukraine making just stunning concessions to Russia, or lose support from the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This is one of the most difficult moments in our history. The pressure on Ukraine is now at its most intense. Ukraine may now face a very difficult choice, either the loss of dignity or the risk of losing a key partner or 28 difficult points or an extremely harsh winter.

The most difficult and further risks are a life without freedom, without dignity, without justice and believing someone who has already attacked us twice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The 28-point plan would force Ukraine to cede large swathes of territory, including land that isn't even currently held by Russia. It also calls for Ukraine to limit the size of its military and commit to not joining NATO.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy spoke on the phone with Vice President J.D. Vance today and is planning to speak with President Trump in the coming days, according to Zelenskyy's office.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand is with us now.

Natasha, it is really hard to see how Ukraine could accept this. Is this final? Is the White House open to changes?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're getting a lot of mixed messages on this, unsurprisingly.

The message that we are getting right now that seems to be what is happening is that this is essentially a starting point, but it's an aggressive starting point. Dan Driscoll, who is the secretary of the Army, he was sent over to Ukraine to present this plan to Zelenskyy.

But the way that it was framed to us by a defense official is that this was a starting point that was meant to be adjusted. So, in other words, they expected there to be give-and-take here.

And, obviously, there is going to be a lot of changes that are going to be made by Zelenskyy in conjunction with European allies, who we should note were not consulted about this peace plan ahead of this all being rolled out, before they can even think about signing it, because the Europeans are calling this essentially a complete capitulation to the Russians. And President Zelenskyy, as we heard, has said that it either amounts

to a loss of dignity if they do sign it or the loss of a key ally, which is the United States.

KEILAR: The starting point is basically a pro-Russian plan, to be clear here. So you mentioned European officials have their concerns. What are they saying?

BERTRAND: Well, as we have seen in the draft document, the plan calls for essentially the entire -- entirely ceding the Eastern Ukrainian front to the Russians, so the entirety of the Donbass region. The entirety of Crimea would be recognized as de facto Russian.

And areas that Ukraine currently controls even would be given to the Russians. So this is not something that the Europeans believe is anything other than rewarding the aggressor, rewarding the Russians, giving them exactly what they want at this point.

And what they're most concerned about at this point as well is that provision in there that says that Ukraine can never join NATO, because that has been pretty much a nonstarter over the last several rounds of negotiations here for the Europeans as well. It would essentially allow Russia to dictate European security architecture and the entirety of NATO.

So they view this as something that needs to be aggressively worked on. And it's really unclear at this point whether what they come back with, the counterproposal, is going to be accepted by the United States and by the Russians or if the U.S. simply says, look, these are unacceptable to us, you need to take it or leave it.

[13:10:15]

KEILAR: And what if Ukraine does not accept?

BERTRAND: Well, Zelenskyy alluded to that. He suggested in his remarks that the U.S. could be cutting off its support.

And that's something that we have seen before. That U.S. has played this kind of hardball tactic with the Ukrainians earlier on in the administration, saying that they are going to cut off intelligence sharing. They cut off weapons flow at one point because they wanted the Ukrainians to come to the table with the Russians.

The problem is throughout of this the Russians are the ones who have always been unwilling to seriously negotiate. And so the question now is why all of a sudden has the administration decided to take this Russian perspective so much to heart, to the point where it really informs the vast majority, if not the entirety of this document?

KEILAR: Natasha, thank you so much. It's really an important moment in what has been a yearslong saga here. Thank you.

Still to come: Administration officials are preparing for a potential Cabinet shakeup. Who sources say is on the chopping block. Plus: An Army doctor is being described in a lawsuit as a predator in uniform. We have exclusive new reporting about what could be the largest sexual misconduct scandal in U.S. military history.

And then later: claims that thousands of air traffic controllers are missing out on $10,000 bonuses, despite working throughout the government shutdown.

We'll have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[13:16:02]

SANCHEZ: Sources tell CNN a shakeup may soon be coming to President Trump's Cabinet.

We're learning the changes could happen when the president hits the first year mark of his second term. And at least two of the agencies that could see a change in top-level staffing include the Departments of Energy and Homeland Security.

Let's go to the White House now with CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes.

So, Kristen, take us through the reporting and who is potentially out.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so, Boris, I do just want to start with this. It is normal for any administration to experience some kind of Cabinet shakeup after a year in office.

And, in fact, I was told by White House officials for months that there wouldn't be any kind of change, big changes when it came to Cabinet positions until after President Trump had been in office a year. Now that year is coming up.

And there's a lot of speculation among White House officials, as well as outside advisers who are close to the White House, as to what the new Cabinet if there were to be replacements would look like. And I do want to say one thing. We're going to go through the agencies of Department of Energy and Homeland Security.

But Trump world is often a quick-changing place, and anyone who's up today might be down tomorrow, down today could be up tomorrow. But this is what we heard from a number of sources. When it comes to the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem is someone President Trump really loves. He think she's doing a great job.

However, there have been a number of complications with her basically chief of staff, Corey Lewandowski. He's been a fixture in Trump world since back in 2015. This is a quote that someone told us. He said: "Yes, he likes Noem, but it has been brought to his attention that Lewandowski is a problem and the agency is being mismanaged because of it."

So that led to a lot of speculation that she could possibly leave, particularly given her close relationship with Lewandowski. If he was to leave, then she might as well. The other one that we heard was the Department of Energy and Chris Wright, who is a Colorado man, former fracking executive.

He himself has had a really frayed relationship of late with the White House. There was a number of things that led to this. They were accusing him or certain officials were accusing him of slow-walking some of the initiatives President Trump had promised. They also blamed him for a lot of turnover in that department.

Now, I will say this, I'm going to put this up here because this was the statement that we got from the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. This is what she said: "The Cabinet is not changing, no matter how much CNN wishes it would because it thrives off drama."

I will again say it is normal for any administration to see turnover after that year mark. So, of course, then the question is, well, is there anyone waiting in the wings for a job? The administration, they say no. Right now, they're focused on their own Cabinet and moving forward with that Cabinet.

But we heard from a number of people that there are some people who are least jockeying for a job or interested in a job in the administration, one of them being Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. He is the former CEO of the Carlyle Group.

And I talked to one White House official who said that it's been made clear to White House officials that he would be interested in a job in this administration, although it's unclear he's had any actual conversations with the administration about a position.

SANCHEZ: Kristen Holmes live at the White House, thank you so much for that reporting.

So the president was just asked about his claim that certain Democratic lawmakers have committed sedition, which he says is punishable by death -- what he said in response.

Plus: Medicare premiums are going up. We will tell you how much more seniors can expect to pay in the new year.

Stay with us.

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[13:24:08]

KEILAR: For the first time, President Trump is directly responding to his post that accused a group of Democratic lawmakers of seditious behavior punishable by death after they urged service members to ignore unlawful orders.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BRIAN KILMEADE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: A lot of people were interpreting that as a threat and their security. TRUMP: Well, 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.

KILMEADE: I know Todd Blanche seems to be looking into it, your assistant deputy -- or your deputy attorney general.

TRUMP: Well, I think Pete Hegseth is looking into it too. I know they're looking into it militarily. I don't know for a fact, but I think the military is looking into it, the military courts.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

[13:25:00]

SANCHEZ: While the president says this wasn't a threat against these six lawmakers, many Democrats say otherwise.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is even calling on Capitol Police to provide extra security to the lawmakers involved.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is live for us on Capitol Hill.

Arlette, what are you hearing from folks on the Hill about this?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, Republican lawmakers have really been split in how they view President Trump's comments. There are some who agree with the president and think that these Democrats did commit sedition with their comments, while others said that the president's threats of potential death simply went too far.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he doesn't agree with that rhetoric from the president, and House Speaker Mike Johnson conceded that he wouldn't have used that kind of language, even though hours before he had defended what the president said.

But here is a sampling of what we heard from Republican lawmakers, who all expressed some frustration with the Democratic video to begin with, but some said the president was out of line. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN KILEY (R-CA): I mean, that rhetoric is not acceptable. That's not what I would -- I certainly would have used. I don't think there's any place for it.

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): You know, I think most people know it's hyperbole. He doesn't literally mean it. But in a country of 340 million people, you're going to have a few people that aren't stable, and they hear this stuff and they overreact. And that's what we saw with Charlie Kirk, in my view. And so I think we owe it as elected leaders to try to tamp down on the angry...

REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL), GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: They have engaged in sedition behavior. That message you just heard over there about not being intimidated, no, the intimidation came from them when they launched their stupid video that nobody asked for, that nobody was talking about to try to get clicks and likes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, Congressman Byron Donalds's there was speaking as a Congressman Jason Crow, a Democrat who was in that video, was speaking right behind him, saying that they will not be intimidated by these threats from the president.

But the president's comments did rattle Democratic lawmakers up here on Capitol Hill. Senator Chris Murphy very forcefully yesterday said that this could lead to political violence against Democratic members of Congress.

And we know that both Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have talked with U.S. Capitol Police about stepping up security for their members in the wake of the president's comments. But there are many up here on Capitol Hill who have been frustrated with what the president has said, especially in a climate where there is highly heightened political violence and highly charged rhetoric that's been permeating the country.

KEILAR: Yes.

Arlette Saenz live for us from Capitol Hill.

Coming up: It could become the largest sexual misconduct scandal in U.S. military history. Next, our brand-new reporting in the case of an Army doctor who's being described as a predator in uniform.

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