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Trump: "Very Hard to Bring Down Cost of Groceries"; Trump Invites President Xi to Inauguration Day; Tradition and Pageantry at the Army-Navy Game. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired December 13, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

GREGG MCCRARY, FORMER FBI PROFILER AND DIRECTOR AT BEHAVIORAL CRIMINOLOGY INTERNATIONAL: -- individual.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: And, Jeff, this must be a fascinating case for you to observe as well. I mean, Mangione's friends say he suffered debilitating back pain from spinal surgery on social media. He posted an x-ray photo of giant screws inserted into his back. Do we think that his pain, his severe chronic pain could have been a factor in this, might that have affected his mental health in some way?

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, TOURO COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE: Yes. And of course, I have to give the caveat. I have not examined him.

ACOSTA: Of course. Yes.

GARDERE: But it does seem that this is a person, according to his friends, who started devolving as far as his personality disappeared for some period of time. And yes, you're right, Jim, looking at the possibility that that debilitating back pain may have exacerbated some sort of perhaps depression, some sort of anxiety, some sort of a personality issue. And Gregg is absolutely right. Having these sorts of ideological influences and then you add in this psychological distress really is a formula for disaster.

ACOSTA: But I guess, Gregg, I guess I don't understand how -- sure. Yes, you could have back pain. That could lead to some mental health issues that need to be dealt with and so on. But how do you go from that to just completely snapping and acting out in this way?

MCCRARY: Yes. Well, one thing I would say it's not snapping so much as it is this long devolutionary process that takes place over time. There's a whole thought process. And they develop this kind of paranoid ideations that the world is a very threatening place and that they're victimized.

Think of it as sort of, they have surplus powerlessness. They feel that they are just powerless against the things that are happening to them, those around them and in their life, and they want to strike out against their perceived enemies, or at least a symbolic enemy or oppressor of some sort. So, I think that's -- again, these things are multi determined. There are a number of factors that go into creating this, but that's typically the pattern that that we see.

ACOSTA: And, Jeff, I mean, I know you've observed this. We're seeing the temperature rise in conversations surrounding health care and health insurance. We've covered it on this program. People have had enough with this industry. There's no question about it. A Florida woman is facing charges after allegedly threatening her insurance company with the phrase delay, deny, depose, words that were written on some of the bullet casings found at the scene of Thompson's killing. She told police she used those words because it's what's in the news right now.

That is the concern, I guess, right now, Jeff, as you can see, copycats. We saw these wanted posters in New York. Apparently, there was a traffic sign out in Seattle that somebody had hacked into and posted a message sounding supportive of Mangione. This is serious stuff.

GARDERE: Yes, it really is. I think we really should delineate here. It's one thing -- and I agree with many people, it's one thing to say, look, these insurance companies, these health insurance companies, the medical systems have broken down. In many ways, we feel disaffected, confused, angry, and those are very appropriate emotions to have because this is a real issue.

But it's something else to then say whomever this killer is we are going to support that killer. We're going to be his fans. And that really does show the state of where we are as a society that we have all these grievances and anger, and we project those onto other people, and that's not healthy for us. We need to have this empathy for people who have been killed, such as Brian Thompson. And at the same time, can look for legislation to make things better for us dealing with these health insurance companies.

ACOSTA: Absolutely right. All right. Well, Gregg McCrary -- yes.

MCCRARY: If I could just --

ACOSTA: Quick last thought. Sure. Yes.

MCCRARY: The issue of the contagion factor, the copycat thing. The thing we can be most -- the most important thing now is to be vigilant. And for everybody to be alert. Anybody around you who seems to be embracing this ideology and thinking that violence is good and so forth because we know that in the wake of these nationally publicized events like this, the next week or two, there's a higher probability somebody else is going to act out. So, let's work to prevent this from happening again. Just stay vigilant.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. Well said. All right. Gregg and Jeff, thank you so much. Gentlemen, really appreciate the time. Very important topic. Thank you.

In the meantime, President-Elect Donald Trump rode a wave of economic dissatisfaction into the White House once again, but now he appears to be backing away from a key campaign promise on lowering prices, saying it may be, quote, "very hard." That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:35:00]

ACOSTA: On the campaign trail, then-Candidate Donald Trump made this promise to voters over and over again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: We're going to get the energy down, we're going to get the food prices down. But prices will come down, you just watch. They'll come down and they'll come down fast. Not only with insurance, with everything.

So, vote Trump and your incomes will soar, your net worth will skyrocket. Your energy costs and grocery prices will come tumbling down. We will end inflation and make America affordable again. It's not affordable.

Prices will come down. And come down dramatically and come down fast.

[10:40:00]

Bacon is through the roof. They're all through the roof. The milk, everything is bad, and we're going to straighten it out. We're going to bring prices way down and we'll get it to get it done fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, a few weeks before he is set to return to the white house, Trump seems to be backtracking telling Time Magazine in a wide- ranging interview, it will be quote, "very hard to bring down the cost of groceries."

Joining us now to discuss the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics Larry Sabato and CNN Global Economic Analyst Rana Foroohar. She's also a columnist and associate editor at the Financial Times. Rana, let me start with you. The latest inflation reading shows that consumer prices jumped nearly 3 percent in November. You're hearing Trump a backing off of all of those claims that we saw during the campaign. What do you make of his latest comment here that this is going to be, quote, "very hard."

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST AND GLOBAL BUSINESS COLUMNIST AND ASSOCIATE EDITOR, FINANCIAL TIMES: Well, look, Jim, I never bought the campaign slogans. I mean, inflation is complicated. It's global. It's generally not something that presidents can do a lot about, particularly in the short-term. This is a broad economic phenomenon. It's been happening for years. It's about supply chains. It's about the pandemic. It's about some of the fiscal spending that's been going on, which, by the way, Trump actually sticks to his own budget projections, debt and deficit would go up, which would be another reason potentially for inflationary pressure. So, I think he's right this time around and what he's saying post-election, it is going to be hard.

ACOSTA: Yes, but you know, Larry, the conversation during the campaign is that one of the reason -- and after the election was the reason why Trump won and was doing so well during the campaign is because of the price of eggs being too high, the price of groceries and so on. And you heard those promises time and again that he was going to lower these prices. And as Rana was saying, easier said than done.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA AND EDITOR, "RETURN TO NORMALCY: THE 2020 ELECTION THAT (ALMOST) BROKE AMERICA": Well, it wasn't just that he was going to lower prices, it was going to be so easy to do it. And he was going to raise wages. And he was going to cut taxes. And your energy prices will be cut in half within 12 months. And we could go on and on.

Look, Trump has been able to sell now for 12 years, really, except for the defeat in 2020. The magic wand theory of the presidency. Presidents enter the Oval Office and they have a special magic wand available only to certain presidents. And they wave the magic wand and it's nirvana. I've been looking forward to January 20th because virtually all problems are going to be solved on day one. Maybe some of them will bleed into day two. But I'm telling you, it's just going to be incredible.

ACOSTA: Yes.

SABATO: If you've listened to Trump and millions and millions and millions of people bought it, particularly from him.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, and, Rana, you have to wonder when buyer's remorse might set in. But I mean, some of the policy he's talking about carrying out when he gets back into office, tariffs, mass deportations, those could have the opposite effect on inflation that he was selling to voters.

FOROOHAR: Oh, 100 percent. And I really feel for some of those families, working people in the swing states that have felt inflation at the kitchen table, you know, heating their homes, filling their -- the gas tanks of their cars, they're in for a rude surprise, because absolutely, if you raise tariffs particularly on expensive goods, that's an immediate inflationary hit for consumers.

Also, immigration. I mean, that's actually a huge area. In some ways, I'm more worried about the potential roundup and deportation of immigrants than I am about tariffs. Because immigration -- frankly, both of the legal and illegal kind, actually kept wage pressures low in the U.S. relative to many other countries. That's why we had a much better recovery following the pandemic than any other rich country did. And so, if you're going to cap that down, you're definitely going to be looking at higher labor and wage costs.

ACOSTA: And, Larry, I mean, speaking of tariffs, I mean, China is obviously one of the targets of Trump's tariff threats. And I do want to talk to you about this because it's extraordinary. Apparently, Trump wanted to invite China's leader Xi Jinping to the inauguration next month. We are hearing that Xi has reportedly declined the invitation. But let's listen to some of what Trump has said about China over the years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We can't continue to allow China to rape our country, and that's what they're doing. China's pattern of misconduct is well known. For decades, they've ripped off the United States like no one has ever done before. We must hold accountable the nation which unleashed this plague onto the world, China.

President Xi of China, they asked me, he's a friend of mine, I thought he -- you know, we were actually very close, but frankly, COVID or as I call it the China virus was a step too far.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:45:00]

ACOSTA: And yet, Larry, how extraordinary is it that you might potentially have a communist dictator invited to a presidential inauguration? It sounds like he's not coming, but you know, what do you make of that? Trump inviting Xi Jinping, after all of those things he said about China over the years?

SABATO: Well, that's Trump. There's now an open space, by the way. There are loads of dictators around the world. So, there are plenty of other people that can fill that seat, assuming Xi doesn't come. And I think he's RSVP'd no already. So, there are plenty of them.

And remember, in the first inauguration, there were loads of spaces, open spaces, empty places in the bleachers. So, I think they could get all of them there, if they wanted to.

ACOSTA: Was Kim Jong Un unavailable, I guess, is, you know, my question?

SABATO: Yes.

ACOSTA: But I mean, Larry, it does speak to something that we've seen with Trump over the years. He has this fascination with authoritarian leaders. And I suppose this is a sneak preview of coming attractions in terms of what we might see in a second Trump term.

SABATO: Yes, he likes dealing with people who don't have to worry about their Congress or their other executives. They just declare what will be a la Putin and it is, it is. So, that's what he would love. He's promised to be a dictator on day one. That's going to be an interesting 24-hour period. And we'll see whether any of it actually happens.

ACOSTA: All right. Larry and Rana, thank you both very much. Appreciate the conversation. Great insights as always. All right. When we come back, we're talking about one of college football's biggest rivalries. Coy Wire is in the nation's capital. How do we get him up to D.C, I don't know, but we're glad to have him here to preview this showdown like no other. Hey, Coy. Down on the mall. Looks good down there.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hey, come on out, Jim. The festivities have begun for one of the greatest rivalries in the world. They have the Patriot Games going on. Navy-Army competing in push ups, pull-ups, racing, rowing. All kinds of stuff. We'll show you that. And we'll hear from some of the players and coaches in this year's Army-Navy game.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

ACOSTA: It is a rivalry that has lasted more than 125 years with history and pride on the line. The Army and Navy football teams will face off tomorrow afternoon at Landover Maryland, right outside of Washington, D.C. But this long-standing tradition is more than just a battle on the gridiron.

Joining us now is CNN Sports Anchor Coy Wire. And, Coy, what can we expect from the game tomorrow? I mean, these teams are having a really good season. I mean, in the past, sometimes you maybe one is having a good season, not the other, but both are good this year. What do you think? It's going to be a great game.

WIRE: Yes, this is one of the closest, you know, record wise. It's been in quite some time with these two teams, but no matter the records, it's always a close smash mouth game, Jim. The 125th iteration of this Army-Navy game. And this is -- we're talking about some of the best, brightest, most disciplined and committed young folks. They're fighting for bragging rights for a lifetime on the field.

And of all the long history, dating back to 1890, it's so heated on the field. Just seven wins separate the two teams, Navy with the slight lead. We asked the players and coaches what this rivalry means to them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN RAMOS, NAVY SR. LINEBACKER: We think about this game from the start of the season. There's no doubt. It's always in the back of your mind.

BRIAN NEWBERRY, NAVY HEAD COACH: To me, there's no better rivalry in the country. You know, it's not a rivalry. It's separated by a river or a state line or, you know, like conference foes. Oh, it's a rivalry that's rooted in a deep knot of respect.

JEFF MONKEN, ARMY HEAD COACH: There's a pride in this game that is unlike any competition I've ever been a part of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: All right. we want to go through some fun facts about this Army-Navy game rivalry. Did you know that the Army-Navy game is credited with the first football helmet ever worn in a game? 1893 Navy midshipman and eventual Admiral Joseph Mason Reeves had it made by his local shoemaker, Jim. And in 1944, the Army-Navy game helped to fund World War II. Then-President Franklin Roosevelt turned the game into a Fundraiser having attendees by war bonds, they raised $58.6 million. Army won that game. Eventually went on to win the national title. And another invention in 1963., Jim Army-Navy game featured the first use of instant replay.

Now, so many great traditions in this rivalry. One of them is the Patriot games. And that's why you see so many people out here by the reflecting pool. They just competed in pull-ups, the pull-ups between the midshipmen and the cadets. They add up all these points from tug of war, a mile long race, rowing across the river. Jim, it's incredible.

The winners are going to finish tomorrow on the field, receive an award on the field mid game. And it looks like we have some people who are going to be on the field as well. Looks like we have some cheerleaders here, Jim.

ACOSTA: Wow. All right.

WIRE: I have one quick question for you. When I say go Army, you say --

CROWD: The Navy.

WIRE: There it is. They still have the pull-up bars, Jim. So, come on down. You and I will get a little competition. I'll probably get three of them in with these layers of 50 pounds of clothes I have on in the cold.

ACOSTA: Man, I could tell you --

WIRE: But it's going to be a good game tomorrow at 3:00 p.m.

ACOSTA: We were showing video a few moments ago. This one guy trying to get that one pull-up up, and I'm telling you, that's exactly what I would look like, Coy.

WIRE: Yes, no doubt. Me too, brother.

ACOSTA: All right. Well, say hi to the cheerleaders for us. I know some folks in Annapolis who might disagree with those guys. All right. Coy, great stuff as always. Thanks so much. All right. We appreciate it. All right. We'll be right back. More when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:55:00]

ACOSTA: All right. Have a great weekend, everybody. I want to thank everybody for joining me this morning. I want to bring in my good friend, Pamela Brown. Pam, have a great show today. Have a great weekend.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you. I hope you have --

ACOSTA: Happy Friday the 13th. Happy.

BROWN: Happy -- uh-oh. That's dooms -- sounds very doomsday to me, Jim Acosta. Hopefully, we all have a great Friday the 13th.

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

BROWN: Have a wonderful holiday weekend, Jim.

ACOSTA: You too. Good to see you.

BROWN: And good morning, everyone. You are live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Pamela Brown in Washington.

And we begin this hour with a CNN exclusive. For the first time, the former commandant of the Coast Guard, who covered up a damning report about sexual assaults at the Coast Guard Academy, is talking publicly about why he did it. I want to --

[11:00:00]