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Inside Politics
Global Conflicts Dominate Trump Agenda Ahead Of Trip Abroad; Trump Agenda Faces Crucial Week As GOP Infighting Turns Ugly. Interview with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL); White House Defends Firings While Appointing Loyalists; Trump Involved in Talks over Suspending Habeas Corpus; Will Trump Push for Changes in College Athlete Compensation. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired May 11, 2025 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MANU RAJU, CNN HOST (voice-over): Open conflict. The U.S. and China hold high stakes trade talks.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think we're going to come back with a fair deal for both China and us.
RAJU: And Trump gears up for a trip to the Middle East as he looks to cut deals and broker ceasefires. Can he rein in the crisis he pledged to solve?
Plus, resistance --
MAYOR RAS BARAKA, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: I didn't break any laws. I don't have any regrets at all.
RAJU: -- as the Democratic Party struggles with a winning message.
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, just announced he's running for Senate, joins me live.
And food fight.
REP. ANDREW GARBARINO (R-NY): We're not going to fold. We're not going to fold.
RAJU: Republicans spar over Trump's so-called big, beautiful bill.
REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): We have to address Medicaid.
GARBARINO: That's going to piss off the American population, piss them off they're probably not going to vote for you.
RAJU: Plus, my new reporting about whether one of the longest serving Senate moderates will run for reelection.
INSIDE POLITICS, the best reporting from inside the corridors of power, starts now.
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RAJU (on camera): Good morning, and welcome to INSIDE POLITICS SUDNAY, and happy Mother's Day. I'm Manu Raju.
Up first, President Trump on the global stage and facing a world on fire. Trump leaving this week on his first big international trip, choosing to go to Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations first rather than America's more traditional allies. All as he confronts two wars still raging despite vowing to end them immediately. And as his administration intervened over the weekend to try to stave off a deepening conflict between two nuclear armed neighbors, India and Pakistan.
And in Switzerland, for a second day today, Trump's treasury secretary and top trade rep are holding high stakes talks with Chinese officials under pressure to deliver amid a trade war upending the global economy. After Trump floated cutting his 145 percent tariff on Chinese goods down to a still high 80 percent.
So, lets break this all down with my excellent panel this morning, "Axios's" Margaret Talev, David Weigel of "Semafor", Olivia Beavers of "The Wall Street Journal", and "Bloomberg's" Mario Parker.
Good morning to you all. Happy Mother's Day.
MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you.
RAJU: Mother at the table. Thank you for joining.
I want to start about what's happening in the news from over the weekend about this conflict that was happening between India and Pakistan and the decision by the administration to intervene here. Of course, what happened there was a terrorist attack that occurred in Kashmir last month. India attacked inside Pakistan. Then it led to a back and forth and real concerns about another war between those two nuclear armed nations.
Now, this is what J.D. Vance, the vice president, said when asked whether the United States would in fact intervene. This was just on Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: India has its gripes with Pakistan. Now, Pakistan has responded to India. What we can do is try to encourage these folks to de-escalate a little bit. But we're not going to get involved in the middle of a war. That's fundamentally none of our business.
(END VIDEO CLIP) RAJU: So, we're not going to get involved in the middle of a war that's fundamentally none of our business. Yet, J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio did intervene.
What are you learning about the way this played out behind the scenes?
MARIO PARKER, BLOOMBERG MANAGING EDITOR FOR GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY: Well, what we -- what we're saying is the fact that reality has met doctrine, right? The MAGA doctrine of America First, none of our business, hands off of foreign affairs. But the reality of two nuclear armed nations quickly escalating.
From what we understand from our reporting, is that the messages that the U.S. that Washington was sending to both countries just was going unheeded. Things were spiraling out of control. Pakistan sent about 300 to 400 drones to Indias airspace, just to test out whether or not their defenses, how their defenses would be.
Meanwhile, there was the explosion at the Nur Khan airbase in Pakistan, which was perilously close to where the strategic decisions are made for nuclear decisions for Pakistan as well, right?
So, what we understand is that at that point, the White House was figuring that this was again, spiraling out of control. J.D. Vance briefed the president on plans to call Narendra Modi. He had just if you recall, J.D. Vance had just returned from India just a few weeks ago. So, he had a warm relationship with the prime minister. He called him -- Rubio did his worked -- his diplomatic ties as well. And then we got to a ceasefire.
RAJU: It's tenuous right now.
PARKER: Important that it is tenuous right now, right? The water treaty that the two countries share is still suspended visas as well.
[08:05:03]
Some of the other diplomatic relations between the two are suspended as well. There are still accusations of --
RAJU: One sides violating.
PARKER: Violating.
RAJU: They both are accusing each other of doing.
PARKER: Exactly as well. So, it's still there -- still are embers burning.
RAJU: Yeah. No question about it. What does this tell us about Trump's approach to foreign policy and the world? You know, this has been, of course, an America first doctrine. But they got involved here. And Trump even suggested in a Truth Social post over the weekend that perhaps he could try to resolve this dispute between Kashmir, between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, which has been going on for a very long time and has led to wars between the two countries. What is this? There's this tension between the MAGA isolationist wing
and the more globalist wing of the Republican Party.
TALEV: And I did notice that as soon as there was this tentative ceasefire, you were hearing about it from the president himself out on socials, almost sort of like implicitly taking credit for having a hand in making it happen.
RAJU: He's the one who announced it before --
TALEV: Right, that's how I found out about it, for sure, right.
RAJU: Me too.
TALEV: So, but look, I think what Mario said is really important about where doctrine is meeting reality because when you have two nations with nuclear powers, it is the United States's business. It is everyone's business.
And no, the United States doesn't get involved in other countries disputes because there's nothing more important to do at home. It's because those disputes threaten to spill over and impact the rest of the world, including the United States, and including national security. So, I think that is what you're seeing here. You're seeing a president who his core message is about focusing on American interests, and that is really appealing to his base, like politically at home, domestically, that is a core message for the base.
But there is a world beyond immediate domestic politics. Also, like the actual world, like not the role that you're playing, but the job that you have to do. And so, I think that is where particularly because of the nuclear issues, you see the U.S. need to step in as they would under any president and at least try to broker some conversations.
OLIVIA BEAVERS, CONGRESS REPORTER, WALL STREET JOURNAL: I also think this was an easy win, right? He could jump in. He said we got a cease fire despite them saying that they were going to stay out of it, which comes as there are all these other international conflicts where he thought that he could have an easy win. He touted that he could have an easy win, and then it's just proved so much more complicated than that.
And my colleague, my colleagues at "The Wall Street Journal" reported that Trump is starting to have frustration and told donors recently that it's been way more hard getting Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table than he expected. Turns out there's a lot more complications when you're trying to bring two different countries to the table who have a deep history and perhaps hatred for each other.
RAJU: Yeah. I mean, speaking of which, remember what he said on the campaign trail about getting -- dealing with the Russia Ukraine war and say, 24 hours?
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TRUMP: If I'm president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours.
MODERATOR: How would you settle that war in one day?
TRUMP: Of course, I'll meet with Putin. I'll meet with Zelenskyy. They both have weaknesses and they both have strengths. And within 24 hours, that war will be settled.
I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine totally settled. I'll have it done in 24 hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: So, it's been more than 24 hours since the president became president again. Putin did say overnight that he's open to direct talks, unconditional talks with Ukraine. But Zelenskyy says there must be a ceasefire first. Over the weekend, the U.S. and European leaders threatened sanctions against Russia if they did not agree to the ceasefire.
How do you make -- what do you make of the way that Trump has been handling this situation so far?
DAVID WEIGEL, SEMAFOR NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: You heard in that clip and you heard it from -- from this report, from reporting Olivia was talking about. He's very relational and he's a nationalist. He has very good relationships with people like Modi, with Putin for quite frankly and they have their own interests.
Modi has his own interests, his own popularity based in India because he -- because of Hindu nationalism, because of the way he's run that country. It turns out when America pulls back a bit from the world and encourages nationalist impulses, nationalist leaders -- Modi, who is seen by some in India as a strongman, they don't always act on America's best interest. It's Russia's not acting in America's interest. Russia's acting in its own
Ukraine and Europe have less faith in the administration as a actually the United States as a broker than they did. They're looking more towards each country's individual interest. And I think you're starting to see the very beginnings of what that means. If the United States is not swooping in with -- with a deal, if it's dealing with these countries as they are with, with their with their own intent, with what's best for their -- their polities, they're going to get a different deal.
You saw in India, one story that came out of this was Chinese, Chinese Chengdu plane, a plane that China was manufacturing performed very well. A reminder that there is a vast power much closer to India, with much more history there that has its own influence growing in the region, because America is pulling out.
[08:10:02]
So, there are a lot of complications that are harder than getting a deal in one day because you're friends with the president or the prime minister. RAJU: Yeah. Let's talk about this. Trump is going on this first big
foreign trip this week. He's going -- these are the places he's planning to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates as well.
You know, what's been interesting, though is, you know, he's not going meeting with traditional American allies. That's one thing. But also, there's just been so many Trump business ventures in the Middle East. Just the headlines over the last couple of weeks with Trump's sons about a deal with Qatar, deal with Dubai. Theres another Qatari golf course, Trump's sons deals on three continents directly benefit the president.
"The New York Times" headline is you cover the White House. Is there an ethical line between the Trump organizations business dealings and what the president is doing on official business.
PARKER: And not to mention the report that you all had, that Jared Kushner is back advising the White House informally, Jared Kushner, of course, the president's son-in-law has investment deals that he locked in after he left the White House in the Middle East. He also, of course, was part of one of the architects of the Abraham Accords, ostensibly one of the reasons Trump is going to the Middle East besides the business deals.
But yes, I mean, we've come to see this over the last eight years or so. This blurring of the lines and the White House has essentially shrugged this off over this, both in first term Trump and this one as well.
RAJU: Yeah. And as, as you mentioned, Jared Kushner, private equity firm, received $2 billion in investments from the Saudis involved in some informal negotiations with advisement of the president in this trip to the Middle East. We'll see how it plays out. That's going to begin this week.
Next, President Trump's big, beautiful bill gets an ugly reception in the House GOP as moderates fret about the fallout. I caught up also with Senator Susan Collins about her looming 2026 decision.
Plus, the White House has considered suspending habeas corpus. What would that look like? And would the courts step in again to stop it?
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RAJU: The fate of President Trump's agenda rests in the hands of a bitterly divided House GOP. On one side, conservative hardliners demanding deep spending cuts of at least $1.5 trillion or as high as $5 trillion. On the other side, moderate Republicans, including from swing districts, worry that deep cuts could threaten benefits their constituents rely on, like Medicaid and food stamps. Plus, a nasty squabble as New York Republicans demand deeper tax breaks for their voters who pay high state and local taxes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. ANDREW GARBARINO (R-NY): I don't want to be mean, and. I think anytime, it looks like we're actually hurting people, that's going to piss off the American population, and if you piss them off, they're probably not going to vote for you.
REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): My colleagues who do not want to address that are burying their head in the sand and already trying to worry about elections next year when the best way to win elections is to actually deliver. We have to address Medicaid. My colleagues who are saying that they wont touch it are the same colleagues, by the way, who want their SALT caps increased.
RAJU: What do you say to Chip Roy?
GARBARINO : Boohoo on that. We're not going to fold. We're not going to fold.
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RAJU: All right. My panel is back.
Olivia, you walked those halls with me every single day. The speaker wants to pass this by Memorial Day. He can only lose three Republican votes on a party line vote. There's some two key committees that are going to take up critical portions of the bill this week.
What are you hearing from your sources about how hard that's going to be, and whether he can actually deliver on Trump's promise?
BEAVERS: I'm hearing that Republicans think they're on a collision course right now because Speaker Johnson and Republican leadership have been making promises to the centrists and moderates and the conservatives, and its looking very unlikely that they can get both. Now, Medicaid is a huge issue. Centrists are saying that's a red line. If they're going beyond a few guardrails, which is, you know, boosting the frequency of eligibility checks, work requirements for able bodied people and kicking illegal immigrants off.
That's what they say the red line is. And conservatives are saying they want to go deeper. So, what is Johnson going to do? Well, were going to see that text this week, Monday, I believe, and that's going to create a situation where right before they're about to try to get this passed, you're going to probably have some big kind of balloon of negotiations.
RAJU: Yeah. No question, because they're going to have to figure out where are those cuts coming from. Will those numbers add up? Will it go as high as those conservatives want? Some want to pay for all the tax cuts, which would cost roughly $5 trillion, and one budget group actually estimated that it could add $5 trillion to the deficit through 2034. Thats in the initial portion that was released on Friday. There are many more details that they have not released yet.
And the other issue is that Medicaid, this is five. These are five Republicans who won narrowly last cycle, who whose constituents rely pretty heavily on the issue of Medicaid. Just look at this 22.9 percent of Medicaid recipients for in one instance, are in one district in Arizona. He's one of the most vulnerable members of the House GOP.
TALEV: Yeah, the Republicans are like, right on the razors edge of being able to hang on to power in the midterms. And if you do this, it's going to make it that much harder to hold the majority line. So, I think we learned a couple of interesting things from Obamacare and from the pandemic, which is that like, actually people like having some baseline health and social services benefits, whether they're Republicans or Democrats or not, really that interested in politics.
And so, the problem is, when you take things away that people have, it's really problematic.
[08:20:03]
A lot of people like tax cuts, too. Thats really powerful messaging. How do you balance it, right?
And I think budgets don't matter. The only thing that matters anymore is the debt ceiling. Like we all know that. Okay. But having said that, one of the big questions is how do you declare a victory no matter what happens? Is it going to be through temporary, but nonpermanent relief and provisions so that the president can claim a win, but not devastating, some of these social services areas? That's maybe where it's heading.
RAJU: And there's also a belief among the Republican leadership that there's going to be too big to fail, because there's everything is in it. Trump's entire agenda rests on getting this passed, so you have to vote for it. Even if you don't support a lot of the provisions. But for those hardliners who made the deficit number, issue number one, if this explodes the deficit to the tune of $5 trillion, how do they turn around and vote for this?
WEIGEL: Well, a lot of those hardliners voted for this eight years ago. The first round tax cuts when it grew the deficit. This is -- we've given up revenue neutral tax reform known as no one has said that phrase apart from this panel in the last 12 years, so that that parts easy.
The political part I keep thinking about is what are the deliverables going to be that that the voters were talking about get? Because Trump in particular promised people a lot, and he keeps saying, big, beautiful bill. When I just talked to voters, they have been aware of things like no tax on tips. Does that make it in? They've heard of this $5,000 DOGE dividend check, which Elon likes, which Trump has said he likes, which Johnson said is probably not possible. Probably not going to happen.
They've said no tax Social Security. They have they have offered growth and a smaller government and no downside and more free money and so, some of that will not make it in. And as difficult as it has been for Democrats politic around this, as inarticulate as it can be, that part I'm wondering about, what is it that -- what's the populist stuff that doesn't make it in here? RAJU: Yeah.
WEIGEL: Yeah.
RAJU: Look, so I do want to turn to look, if this gets out of the House, which is still an if there's, then they'll have to pass the Senate. And that's where there are some members who are already concerned about some aspects of this plan.
One of the person to watch, of course, is Senator Susan Collins. She's a longtime moderate member of the Senate GOP. There's a question about how she will -- what she'll do in 2026. She's up for reelection again for a sixth term.
This is a story this morning with my colleague Sara Ferris. She's taking steps towards a 2026 run. Theres some big-name Democrats weighing whether to run against her. I asked her about her deliberations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Have you 100 percent decided if you're running for reelection?
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): It's certainly my inclination to run, and I'm preparing to do so. I very much enjoy serving the people of Maine. I've obviously not made a formal announcement because it's too early for that.
RAJU: How much harder would Trump and everything that he's doing going to make a race like yours?
COLLINS: I always run on my own record, and that's what I will do this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: You know, Collins has had a history with Trump back and forth, even voting to convict him in the second impeachment trial. How does Trump approach a race like this? Do you think he'll make it harder for her?
PARKER: I think, well, he's already made it harder for her. Just going back to the previous topic, I mean, it's just the way he's owned the economy, right? And the fact that voters are disappointed. And now Republicans likely face some type of backlash. And that's raised the stakes for this tax bill, right?
But going back to Collins, maybe it helps her that she has opposed Trump before in a state like Maine or -- and Trump, we've seen him extend olive branches because he's a little bit more concerned about the midterms than he was at this point during his first term, right? So, we've seen in Georgia, for example, he tried to recruit Kemp. We saw in New Hampshire, he tried to even extend an olive branch to Chris Sununu, of all people. Right. So, you have to think that he'll also want to keep Collins in the fold. RAJU: To think about he needs that seat, because he's probably the
only one who can keep that seat. But what will he do in other battles as well? Theres one that's building. It's growing in Texas. Thats where the incumbent Republican Senator John Cornyn, is now facing a MAGA inspired primary challenge from Ken Paxton, the attorney general of the state.
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SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): And I think my opponent has a record, which I think is an embarrassment. And most Texans will not embrace. I think ultimately this will be a contest of character, and I think he will fail that fail that test. I don't really know other than just being bored, what his agenda is, I cannot in good conscience surrender the seat that was once held by Sam Houston to somebody that's unfit for the office.
RAJU: Do you still think it's going to cost more than 100 million bucks for the primary?
CORNYN: It'll be expensive. It'll be divisive, and its completely unnecessary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:25:02]
RAJU: Now, Paxton responded. Told me that he called his attacks -- Cornyn's attacks pathetic, and he said that he's debunked Democratic talking points. And he said that its time for a change in the Senate seat.
There's some real concern among Republican leaders that this could take away scarce resources from states that they need to actually hold the majority.
BEAVERS: There's certainly a chance, and even Congressman Wesley Hunt is looking at jumping into this primary. But this is GOP politics in this year, right? Where, you know, Cornyn is trying to now cater towards President Trump.
Republican leadership are trying to ask Trump to get involved so that they're not spending this money unnecessarily, hoping that if Trump endorses Cornyn, it can clear the primary field. But the president has not endorsed. So that's raising a big question of what this race is going to look like.
RAJU: Very quickly. Who wins this primary?
WEIGEL: Right now? Paxton, I never -- I never bet on the conservative Texas base.
RAJU: Yeah.
WEIGEL: Never bet against them.
RAJU: That's why Republican leaders are very concerned.
All right. Coming up next, the Trump administration is threatening to arrest three Democratic members of congress after a chaotic scene outside of an ICE detention facility.
Next, I'll ask a Democrat running for a key Senate seat about the controversy.
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[08:30:46]
MANU RAJU, CNN HOST: An intense primary is now taking shape in the blue state of Illinois after Senator Dick Durbin, who was the number two Democrat in the senate, decided to hang it up at the age of 80.
The race to replace him could give us clues on the way Democratic voters want their party to take on Donald Trump.
And this week, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, whose district includes the northwest suburbs of Chicago, jumped into the crowded primary.
Congressman Krishnamoorthi joins me live now.
Congressman, good morning to you. Thank you for being here. Appreciate your time.
I want to talk to you about where Democrats go from here. There's been a lot of dissatisfaction among Democratic voters about your party at large.
Just look at this recent CNN poll finding just 27 percent of Americans approve of Democratic leaders in Congress.
So Congressman, why do you think your own voters hold Democrats in Congress in such low regard?
REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): Well, I think that we need to do everything we can to address the economic conditions and aspirations of Americans. Their American dream, if you will, whether they're working poor or middle class or growing a business.
And we should never be defending the status quo. We should be the ones always arguing for improving the government, making it more efficient and effective.
I also think based on kind of the energy of the crowds that have greeted me in the different places I've visited in Illinois. They want someone to stand up to Donald Trump to fight and to not back down as he unleashes economic chaos, which makes that American dream that I was referring to almost impossible to attain right now.
And having a track record myself of standing up to bullies in Congress they feel that I am uniquely positioned to stand up to Donald Trump as well. RAJU: So, Congressman, immigration, of course, has been one of Trump's
bedrock issues, arguably maybe helped him win the election last November.
But there was a pretty ugly incident on Friday where the Democratic mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, was arrested as he was protesting the opening of a federal immigration detention center in New Jersey.
And there was an altercation involving three Democratic members of Congress and ICE agents. And there's a suggestion, even by a homeland security spokeswoman, that the members themselves may face some charges.
So Congressman, I'm wondering if you think this type of incident is helpful for your party as you try to regain voters that you lost, particularly on an issue like immigration?
KRISHNAMOORTHI: I actually think that voters don't like what they're seeing in terms of ICE and DHS, you know, engaging in these incidents where they're threatening to arrest members of Congress for conducting oversight and then kind of making up charges that somehow, you know, these members were assaulting ICE agents when the video shows exactly the opposite.
I think that Donald Trump and, you know, his cronies right now are rocking people's sense of what the rule of law should be in a way that makes them feel very, very upset. When a four-year-old American citizen child with cancer is deported without due process, it shocks the conscience. And Americans don't like that. And they want something very, very different. And they want to get their country back.
RAJU: So these guys, as congressman you don't think those members of Congress, those Democrats, should have handled that situation any differently?
KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, if you see the video, they were coming in to conduct oversight and you have a bunch of ICE officers who are manhandling them. And I think they were doing what they had to do, especially when the Newark mayor was arrested for, you know, visiting this ICE facility.
Let's just be clear. The message here is they're trying to send to others is don't do any oversight of our administration and certainly don't criticize us.
[08:34:51]
RAJU: Yes. There seems to be a lot of questions about exactly what happened there. There's some -- the other side -- the Trump team says something different. They blame the members of Congress for being violent.
We'll see what the facts actually bear out as we look into this further. But there's been a lot of talk, Congressman, from Democrats accusing
Trump of violating the Constitution and even some suggestions that impeachment should be pursued if you take back congress.
So Congressman, you say you stand up to bullies. You stand up, stood up to Trump. I'm wondering if you think that impeachment should be on the table in a Democratic majority.
KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, I think that it should always be on the table, but I've voted twice to impeach the president. I helped to lead the initial proceedings in the first impeachment of Donald Trump.
But I think more than that, I think people want us to, even in the minority, do whatever we can to stand up to Donald Trump. And prevent irreversible damage to our institutions and to our programs.
Right now, Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid are on the chopping block as we speak. But, you know, as.
RAJU: But should --
(CROSSTALKING)
RAJU: -- should that be a --
KRISHNAMOORTHI: A child of food stamps and public housing?
RAJU: So Congressman, should that be pursued by Democrats impeachment if you guys win the majority?
KRISHNAMOORTHI: I think that it depends on his conduct, the president's conduct. I think that, having gone through that twice you know, we know what that process is like. I think right now we need to win at the elections in 2026 and have a check, an effective check on him in that way.
And in the meantime, we got to block these cuts to Medicaid, which are going to devastate the social safety net, and that tens of millions of Americans are deeply, deeply concerned about.
RAJU: Congressman, there's still a lot of debate about what went wrong in November and how to fix it. President Biden actually reemerged last week. He was on "The View" last week.
He actually said that he believed he could have won the election if he stayed in the race. Do you agree with the president that he could have won, or do you hold him at fault in any way for what happened to your party last November?
KRISHNAMOORTHI: I'm not sure if he could have won. I think that, at the end of the day the American people (AUDIO GAP) basically elected Donald Trump to basically fix their economic problems.
But what you've seen is the economy has shrunk. We're heading into a recession, and we're kind of in tariff chaos. You know, these tariffs are basically taxes on working families. And as I visited soybean farmers or businesses, what they complain
about is this is creating so much uncertainty for their businesses that they are also facing tremendous headwinds. And I think we need Republicans, Democrats and Independents to come together to end this chaos with Donald Trump.
RAJU: All right. Very quickly, Congressman, the pope -- there's a lot of excitement about the Chicago roots of Pope Leo. But you're a fellow Cubs fan like me, so are you disappointed that he's apparently a Sox fan according to his brother?
KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, look, I think that, anytime that we have the pope from Chicago, you know, that means also that perhaps there's a mandate from heaven that the Chicago Bears win the Super Bowl. So let's see what happens.
RAJU: Yes, I'll take that as well. Go Bears. And we'll see if he ultimately -- the prayer -- our prayers are -- do come true.
Congressman Krishnamoorthi, thank you for joining us. Really appreciate you sharing your views.
And coming up, as a Trump aide muses about suspending constitutional rights, President Trump has leaned on Fox News personalities to fill his administration with loyalists. And Judge Jeanine Pirro is the latest, which SNL poked fun at last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, we love Jeanine. She's a great legal mind, and she has the most important quality I look for in a lawyer. She's on TV.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:38:56]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RAJU: The librarian of Congress, the acting FEMA director, and members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission -- all out as the White House continues to install loyalists instead, nearly two dozen of them from Fox News, like longtime host Jeanine Pirro.
All this as Trump continues to test the rule of law. The latest, sources tell CNN the president has been personally involved in discussions about potentially suspending habeas corpus. Of course, that's the right to allow people to challenge their detention in court.
My panel is back. Just look at the number of Fox News personalities, roughly two dozen or so have gone to significant core parts of the administration right now. What do you make of this -- of Trump now Jeanine Pirro, this is a pretty powerful position. Interim D.C. -- U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. MARGARET TALEV, AXIOS SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR: She's number 23, to be
specific. You've asked so many questions inside that question. She appears to be a big test case now for the administration on whether you ever have to get anyone confirmed again or can just run a series of 120-day nominations, people who are now unaccountable to Congress don't have to show up to like, don't -- it doesn't like they're not -- they don't have the same rules of engagement as permanent, you know, people who've been confirmed to positions.
[08:44:52]
TALEV: So that is one interesting aspect of this.
And the other is the messaging. Obviously, these are people who are being chosen for the signals they send to the base, for their communication skills, for their virality potentially on social media, for their ability to own the libs or whatever it might be.
And in some cases don't have any traditional qualifications for a job. In other cases have some, but also have a lot of controversy attached to them.
And don't forget Jeanine Pirro was once seen as a potential attorney general in New York. And that bid was derailed because of a legal -- a case that ended up being investigated.
RAJU: Of course, she was picked as the interim pick here because the last pick, Ed Martin, was a bridge too far for some Senate Republicans.
DAVID WEIGEL, SEMAFOR NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: She's probably more confirmable than Martin. One basic reason is that she condemned January 6th, and he kind of did the opposite. He was -- he was an advocate for January 6th political prisoners, the term he used.
But no, what you were saying is correct. They are looking for people who are very PR-focused and can explain what the administration is doing and what they're doing in a very consumable way.
Look, you were talking about New Jersey in the last segment. Who is the U.S. attorney in New Jersey who's already been commenting on these cases? It's Alina Habba. So --
RAJU: Also an interim pick.
WEIGEL: Also interim.
RAJU: Yes. Not confirmed by the Senate.
WEIGEL: Whether confirmed or not, though, if you live in D.C., you weren't that happy with the last U.S. attorney under Joe Biden. If you don't like crime, there were not enough prosecutions. But you have a city that's not really that important because it can't vote for senators, et cetera.
But the decision here is not to take somebody who'd be -- put their head down and put lots of people in jail. It's a somebody in a very high-profile position who's going to take the Trump side of things.
And it's been effective for the base. I'm not sure if effective for other people --
(CROSSTALKING)
WEIGEL: And compared to just putting people in jail, if they commit crimes.
RAJU: That's the difference, right? It's -- this time it's loyalists in the administration. There are people who challenged him last time in the first term.
And then there's the question about suspending habeas corpus that Stephen Miller, who's the biggest Trump loyalist of them all, says that they're actually seriously considering.
What are you hearing about, whether that's actually on the table?
MARIO PARKER, BLOOMBERG MANAGING EDITOR FOR GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMY: No, we are hearing that that's actually on the table with Stephen Miller -- the president is actually deliberating this as well. Now, the theory of the case is the fact that they have to prove that there's some type of invasion of migrants. Right? This coordinated thing.
And we've seen that batted down in several court cases so far. So it's a steep hill to climb, chilling nonetheless.
RAJU: Yes.
How do you think republicans, they've gone along with everything pretty much Trump has done. How would they react if Trump -- if they come out with this, you know, pretty aggressive, questionably legal, probably illegal approach to suspending habeas corpus, which is a guaranteed right for people to challenge their detention? How would Republicans respond?
OLIVIA BEAVERS, WALL STREET JOURNAL CONGRESS REPORTER: I think you get the goldilocks experience where you have some who will just say, yes, let's go or whatever they can, because it's part of an escalation against illegal immigration or noncitizens.
There're going to be the Republicans who have concerns and they back channel it to the White House.
And then there's probably going to be a few who speak out against it. They're probably going to be more centrist Republicans or, you know, rank and file or have some constitutional background.
But you're probably going to be seeing leadership skirting around until the president really endorses or does not endorse.
TALEV: If this moves from talking point to something real, it actually probably would create the emergency that doesn't exist right now. It would be a massive assault on people's constitutional rights. It's happened four times in history, twice in the civil war. The first
time in the civil war, the chief justice of the court said, you can't do this without Congress. So the second time Abe Lincoln had to go to Congress to do it.\
Sam Alito himself, Justice Alito has indicated that probably you couldn't do this without Congress. So -- this is a --
RAJU: We'll see if Alito --
TALEV: -- huge, huge question.
RAJU: No question that would end up in the courts if Trump goes that route.
All right. Coming up, college athletes can earn millions in endorsement deals. Is President Trump about to change that. How the famed former football coach Nick Saban is involved. That's next.
[08:48:51]
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RAJU: The wild, wild west -- that's how some lawmakers and leaders of college athletics describe the state of NCAA sports. And now President Trump may be getting involved. Since the Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that college athletes can be paid for their name, image and likeness, otherwise known as NIL, top collegiate stars, both men and women, have earned millions in endorsements, often jumping from school to school, with the highest bidders often winning out and roiling college sports in the process.
The NCAA's power commissioners have pleaded with Congress for regulation as they told me here on INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY in 2023.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES PHILLIPS, ACC COMMISSIONER: No question -- Name, Image, Likeness has been a wonderful thing for student athletes, and it's a long time coming. We want to see that continue now and into the future, but we have to get it regulated across our entire country.
GREG SANKEY, SEC COMMISSIONER: The risk is we move further and further from the academic nature of college sports.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Now, Congress is currently weighing bipartisan legislation led by Senators Ted Cruz and Cory Booker that would start to regulate the collegiate landscape.
And now, a source tells CNN that Trump is seriously considering executive action that could increase scrutiny on college athletes' deals.
[08:54:49] RAJU: That news after Trump spoke earlier this month with former Alabama football coach Nick Saban and Senator Tommy Tuberville, the former Auburn football coach.
Here's what Senator Tuberville told my colleague Morgan Rimmer about Trump's thinking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL): He's got a commission that he's putting together. I've recommended some people to go on it. Of course, I've been working on it for four years. Nick Saban is going to be involved. I think the NIL is in dire need of restructuring.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: But the question remains, will the legislation that lawmakers are pushing actually get a vote in the House and the Senate?
That's it for INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. You can follow me on X @mkraju. Follow the show @INSIDEPOLITICS and follow me on Instagram @manu_raju.
If you ever miss an episode, just catch up where you can get -- wherever you get your podcasts and search for INSIDE POLITICS.
Up next, "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JAKE TAPPER AND DANA BASH".
Dana will interview Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, host a debate between Republican Chris Sununu and Democrat Rahm Emanuel, and speak with the three lawmakers involved in that protest at the Newark ICE facility.
Thanks again for sharing your Sunday morning with us, and Happy Mothers' Day to all the mothers watching, and to my mom, as well as my amazing wife, Archana.
See you next time.
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