Return to Transcripts main page

Inside Politics

Trump Receives Inaugural FIFA Peace Prize; 333 Days Until The Midterms; Cong. GOP Pushes Trump To Pivot To Economy, Domestic Affairs; Supreme Court Greenlights Texas Gerrymander That Could Net GOP 5 New House Seats; How The Catholic Church Sees Illegal Immigration; DHS Says "Dozens" Arrested In New Orleans Deportation Operation. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired December 05, 2025 - 12:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:31:36]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: You are looking at live pictures inside the Kennedy Center. And it looks like President Trump is -- he's obviously coming in and he's expected to give remarks. This is the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw. Billions of people around the world are going to tune in to see what happens, not necessarily with President Trump's speech, but with the actual draw. Let's listen in.

GIANNI INFANTINO, PRESIDENT, FIFA: -- there is also a beautiful medal for you that you can wear everywhere you want to go.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to wear it right now.

INFANTINO: OK. Let me hold -- fantastic. Excellent.

(APPLAUSE)

INFANTINO: And you will receive also, of course, a certificate which reads out, and I would read it out with your permission, what are the reasons for you receiving this FIFA Peace Prize, Football Unites the World. "So the FIFA Peace Prize is presented annually on behalf of the billions of football loving people from around the world to a distinguished individual who exemplifies an unwavering commitment to advancing peace and unity throughout the world through their notable leadership and action.

And therefore, FIFA, the Federation Internationale de Football Association, awards the 2025 FIFA Peace Prize, Football Unites the World, to Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America, in recognition of his exceptional and extraordinary actions to promote peace and unity around the world. Friday, December 5th, 2025."

This is the certificate. It's yours.

(APPLAUSE)

INFANTINO: Before giving you the floor, Mr. President, if I may say two words. Like everyone here in the room, we see images of war all over the world. And like everyone --

BASH: OK, we're going to continue to monitor this ceremony at the Kennedy Center. And let me just explain what just happened. What just happened was that the President of FIFA gave the President of the United States the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize.

Now, it was only created a few weeks ago after President Trump didn't win the Nobel Peace Prize. And here's the way FIFA explains what this prize is. This is in their official explanation. "In an increasingly unsettled and divided world, it's fundamental to recognize the outstanding contribution of those who work hard to end conflicts and bring people together in the spirit of peace."

Amy?

AMY WALTER, PUBLISHER & EDITOR IN CHIEF, THE COOK POLITICAL REPORT WITH AMY WALTER: Well, there is no better way to the President's heart than giving him something that is gold --

BASH: And flattering.

AMY: -- and giving him literally something that sparkles, and then the flattery that goes along with it. Also, if you are the head of FIFA, this -- the World Cup is everything to you. And bringing the World Cup, yes, it will be Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, but a lot of these matches are in the United States.

[12:35:02]

The President had threatened at one point to say he was going to be able to move matches based on how he felt about certain blue cities or areas where those were being held. That would be a tremendous upheaval for the folks who put the World Cup on, so obviously wanting to prevent something like that.

The other issue that's going to be fascinating about the World Cup from just a political standpoint, remember, billions of people watch this, millions of people are going to want to come to the United States, many of them who are coming in from outside of the United States.

Being able to come into the United States easily, whether you're from a country that the President decides he likes or doesn't like, is going to be critically important. So there is a reason to ensure that the President is on the side of the FIFA chairman.

BASH: David?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, and I don't even know if that was really ever in doubt because, you know, President Trump has looked at the 250th anniversary of America's creation coming up this summer, the FIFA World Cup, the Olympics coming to the United States in Los Angeles in 2028.

These were like -- these are his shiny objects that he is constantly talking about. Everybody that comes into the Oval Office, he bring -- this is what he is so proud of and wants to attach himself to these bigger things. And so while clearly everything you said, of course, like I agree, like, he's doing everything to make sure the President stays in the fold, but it seems to me he has a very willing partner.

I mean, Donald Trump understands the power of -- and the appeal of soccer worldwide and domestically in the United States, and he wants very much to be attached to this huge event.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT+: Well, and also, you're talking about the visas and people having a hard time getting in. It seems to not be an issue because they're already working through it. They've been conversations for months now on expediting visas with DHS.

So that is what Gianni's, you know, the head of FIFA's goal here is to make sure that everyone can come to the event and the event is coming on. And he has, again, you said a willing partner and pulling all the levers of the government. Doesn't matter, you know, if it's related to immigration, if it's also related to the World Cup, we could find a way around that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BASH: We're going to sneak in a quick break.

Coming up, President Trump, he's hitting the road. Next week, he's going to hold one of the only rallies that has been on his schedule since he was elected over a year ago. The big question is, will he be on the economic message that his advisers really want him to focus on? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:42:06]

BASH: 333 days away. I am, of course, talking about the midterm election, and it's just around the corner. Well, a lot can change and a lot will change over the next 11 months. Democrats and Republicans are both pretty sure it will be an election about the economy and affordability.

Next week, President Trump will do his first political rally in months to talk about his economic policies and his plan to fight inflation. One problem, he keeps calling the word affordability a fake issue and a Democratic hoax.

My panel is back now. Nia?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, listen, this is something that Republicans have wanted him to do since the results of those elections in November. Focus on affordability. He, of course, waves it away as a Democratic con job, even though he himself campaigned. His slogan was make America affordable again.

So we'll see. Will he stay on message? I doubt it because he just doesn't -- he's not able to stay on message. You know, the fundamental problem is that even his own voters think he's spending too much time doing other things --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

HENDERSON: -- like hanging out with the President of FIFA and getting fake prizes. And so this will be one moment for him next week. We'll see if it continues. But again, I think it's against this backdrop of people being really dissatisfied with the way he's spending his time.

BASH: And Amy, you wrote for, of course, the Cook Political Report, four ways the GOP can turn around 2026 shellacking in the making. He can focus on cost of living instead of waving his hands around all this. You can explain that.

"Republicans pass some sort of ACA fix. Vulnerable Republicans distance themselves from Trump. Democrats nominate flawed candidates in these key contexts."

WALTER: Right. Most of this, the chances for Republicans to sort of recalibrate centers completely around Donald Trump. Yes, Democrats could give them some help by nominating flawed candidates and key races. But it really is, does Donald Trump focus? That's very hard.

He is not really known for focusing on things that aren't -- he doesn't find particularly interesting or ones in which he is the center of the attention. For example, he could spend his time and the money he has in this Super PAC on promoting all the benefits of the big legislative bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill. That is not happening. Whether it will, that is going to determine how well Republicans are able to message on it.

BASH: What are you hearing?

HOLMES: Yes, they're going to -- they are going to put money behind that. They're going to put money behind the affordability messaging. And to be clear, when he talks about being Democratic hoax, it's because he's angry because he did run on it and he thinks it's his issue and that he won on it.

So now they don't get to say it --

BASH: Yes.

HOLMES: -- because he is already saying it. So why do they get to win on it now?

BASH: Yes.

HOLMES: So that's what he means when he says a Democrat hoax.

BASH: How many rallies has he held this year?

HOLMES: I have no idea.

BASH: Zero.

HOLMES: I can't -- BASH: That wasn't a trick question.

HOLMES: This -- no, he's done.

BASH: It's rhetorical. No, he's done a few, a few.

HOLMES: A few things.

BASH: A few.

HOLMES: He did them earlier on. He hasn't done anything in months.

BASH: But the point is that he's not out there talking about this.

HOLMES: No, he's not. And he's mad that Republicans aren't out there talking about it.

BASH: Right.

[12:45:02]

HOLMES: Because again, that's what you're likely to hear. You're not going to hear what he's doing to make the economy better. You're going to hear about how mad he is that Democrats are saying that they made the economy better and not him.

BASH: David, I do want to -- OK.

CHALIAN: Go ahead. No.

BASH: Redistricting.

CHALIAN: Yes.

BASH: Because this was a big, big deal.

CHALIAN: Yes.

BASH: The Supreme Court, the highest court in the land said last night that the Trump map can go forward after an appeals court said no in the state of Texas, which means they will be able to use in time for the midterms, this newly drawn map to set the whole thing off.

CHALIAN: Yes. So obviously, the case itself, a big deal, the Supreme Court making this ruling and overturning the lower court that had sort of put that map on hold. But in reality, I think everybody in politics had this -- these Texas changes baked into the calculation.

Because remember, this Texas map, the Republican-friendly one, the Trump one, was the one that was in existence when those November elections that Nia was talking about was happening, and every Republican was still freaking out about the warning signs that were coming their way about 2026.

So I don't think that is -- what has changed since the summer when this kicked off is that Donald Trump's political standing is a lot worse than it was when this kicked off with Texas. And Democrats passed the measure in California, and we saw what happened in Utah.

So what is happening even -- yes, Republican advantage in Texas, no doubt. They get the win in the Supreme Court. But I don't think this all of a sudden reverts back to some huge Republican advantage where the midterm political environment no longer applies because they've redrawn everything.

So that's not the case. The case is they, the Republicans, know they have a very tough fight on their hands. Something like this is an arsenal, in their arsenal, and they're using it to try and mitigate that. But by no means does this eradicate the very tough political environment --

BASH: Yes.

CHALIAN: -- Republicans wanted (ph).

WALTER: Yes, I think that's exactly right. And going back to the affordability piece, the biggest challenge, of course, is that when you come in trying to handle affordability, but then tariffs are your top answer for that issue, which voters, not only do they want to see things more affordable, they believe that tariffs make things cost more. That's a big problem.

BASH: All right. Thank you so much, one and all. Don't go away.

Coming up, how does a pastor have a little faith as an immigration crackdown targets his community? Father Luis Duarte of Louisiana is my guest next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:51:43]

BASH: In New Orleans this week, the Department of Homeland Security says it's made dozens of arrests in its latest immigration enforcement blitz. Today in our Have A Little Faith segment, I want to talk about how the Catholic Church is reacting to these operations.

Father Luis Duarte runs a New Orleans area parish that's 80 percent Hispanic and joins me now. Thank you so much for being here, Father. First, are you aware of any members of your church being swept up in this operation?

REV. LUIS DUARTE, PASTOR, ST. JEROME CATHOLIC CHURCH: Hello, Dana. Thank you for the invitation.

Yes, actually, we have a -- somebody yesterday who was arrested by -- in front of his house, and he's one of my parishioners. I talked to his family probably about 30 minutes ago, and they are trying to look for lawyers and see what they can do for him.

BASH: Is --

DUARTE: Yes.

BASH: Does he have a criminal background aside -- well, first of all, is he --

DUARTE: No.

BASH: -- in the U.S. illegally?

DUARTE: Yes, he is. Yes. That is the only crime he -- if we can call that a crime, it is a civil, yes, immigration issue, but yes, he didn't have documents. That was the thing.

BASH: And no criminal record beyond coming to the United States --

DUARTE: Yes, yes.

BASH: -- illegally.

DUARTE: Yes.

BASH: What is the feeling inside your parish among your congregants? As I said, so many of them, most of them are of Latin American descent.

DUARTE: They are afraid. Even citizens. I have shared with many people, and they have been here for 30, 40 years paying taxes and doing everything, but they are afraid because they look like Hispanics, and that is the thing right now.

It is like -- it doesn't matter if you are innocent, but if you look like Hispanic, that is the fear they have right now, that they look like one of them. So, even the citizens, they are afraid. And people say, oh, but why they are afraid? But -- because of the things that they are going on in the country, the process that they are implementing right now to get Hispanics on the streets.

It is like, you don't see that they have any process. It is -- if you look like Hispanic and you don't show something to identify yourself, then you are caught. Yes.

BASH: Father, last month, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a statement to oppose what they called the indiscriminate mass deportation of people. Can you square the teachings of the Catholic faith with the immigration policies coming out of this administration?

DUARTE: OK. We understand, and as a Catholic Church, we understand every -- that every country has the responsibility to protect their borders. We all agree with that, and there is -- every country does that. Every country.

I'm originally from Colombia, and in Colombia, we do that. So -- but the thing is that the way you implement like a process like what is going on right now.

[12:55:97]

So the teaching is, for us as Catholics, we believe in the dignity of every human being. So it doesn't matter where you're from. You have a dignity. You are a human, and your human dignity must be respected everywhere.

And that is what the bishop of the Catholic Church talked about in this document in Baltimore on November 15th. And they said, you have the right -- the United States has the right to implement any immigration policies. But what we are denouncing right now, it is the way that this process is being implemented.

So that is why the bishops and I joined my voice to them. They said, to our immigrant brothers and sisters, we stand with you in your suffering, since we -- when one member suffers, all suffer. So we are suffering with them because of everything going on in the country.

And we understand that probably there are some people that they are -- some Hispanics that they are --

BASH: Yes.

DUARTE: -- not doing the right thing. But the thing that they announced that everybody is a criminal, that's not true.

BASH: Father Luis Duarte of Kenner, Louisiana, thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it.

DUARTE: May God bless you all.

BASH: Thank you. You too.

Thank you for joining Inside Politics today. I'll see you Sunday for State of the Union. My guests include Republican Senator John Curtis, Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth.

CNN News Central starts after a quick break.