Sources: Trump Becoming Angrier After GOP’s Midterm Defeat

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0:42Remember when Friday nights meant a shake-up and Trump won? Well, nothing like a Friday night jolt to cap a dramatic week in politics. President Trump is shaking up his inner circle and changing his chief of staff after the country decided to change power. Good evening, everyone. I'm Laura Coates, and we've got a lot to get to tonight. My panel is here to break down the change at the White House just three days after a historic Republican wipeout that is still ongoing as votes continue to be counted. DNC Chair Ken Martin is going to join me to talk about how Democrats plan to keep their momentum going all the way into 2028 without skipping 27.

1:20And we want you at home to be part of our coverage. Send us your questions and comments at CNN.com slash EngagePolitics. We'll answer them live on air this hour. So Susie Wiles is out. Stephen Miller still in. And I do mean in now as chief of staff. And here is the big takeaway. It puts to bed any notion that Trump was going to play nice after his party's midterm shellacking. I have to tell you that Miller is one of the most hard charging and vocal defenders of the president and his agenda. He's best known as the architect of Trump's immigration crackdown. But his power inside the administration goes far beyond that.

2:00He has been there since day one, day one of Trump's first term. Now, here's what does make sense. You'd expect a White House shakeup after the beating Republicans took this week, right? And yeah, the president seemed cool about it at first, if you believed it, promising that he'd work with Democrats and saying the country has had enough. But he's mad about it now. Bigly mad. A source tells us he's grown increasingly furious as he's watched the coverage of the losses. And one of the people he's blaming? The person moving aside to make room for Miller. Susie Wiles. Here's what makes less sense. You would think a defeat like Tuesday's would spark some reflection, maybe even self-reflection.

2:45Something like, you know, maybe I need someone who can steer me toward what voters say they want. But Miller has spent months insisting the president's agenda was working. And not just on immigration, on the economy, on tariffs, on the war in Iran. I mean, he has been singing Trump's praises on virtually all the policies voters just rebuked. We are going to have years and ultimately decades of gas prices at record historic lows while Democrats are trying to abolish fossil fuels. He's brought down the price of household goods. He's brought down the price of groceries. He has fought like a warrior to bring costs down.

3:24There's never in history been a more total asymmetric one-sided annihilation of the enemy than you are witnessing that is unfolding right now in Iran. It's been one of the most extraordinary military achievements alongside one of the most extraordinary economic achievements. Support for deporting illegal aliens is overwhelmingly popular. To all ICE officers, you have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties. The black people in Chicago are thrilled that we're getting the illegal aliens out of the communities. So you're actually going to see prices go down because our products are being built and manufactured here in the United States.

4:00While manufacturing ramps up, American consumers may pay more. Do you agree? Not on cars they won't. The American people understand the hell that we inherited and the extraordinary paradise that President Trump is building. And the American people will reward that come November. I am sure of it. Well, Miller got rewarded, just not from voters. And with wiles out, aides are now saying it's knives out at the White House. You know, here's the next question. Is the chief of staff change the first of many other changes? Well, the president seems to be signaling, uh-huh. In a previous lifetime, you were rather famous for saying you're fired quite often.

4:46After a big midterm defeat like this, do you expect to fire anyone from your team? Yeah, a little bit. A little bit? I love my cabinet. I think they're good. But I'll be doing maybe a few changes. I don't want to mention who. Joining me now, executive editor of Washington Examiner magazine, Jim Mantle, former White House national security official and advisor to Vice President Mike Pence, Olivia Troy, creator of Blow the Stack on Substack and host of Forward, Charles Blow, and former communications director for Republican Senator Tom Coburn, John Hart. Good to have all of you guys here. You've actually worked with Stephen Miller before.

5:24You know how he operates. So why do you think the president specifically picked him now? I definitely think that they know that oversight is coming and there is potential for investigations. And I think choosing Stephen Miller, I think that is his toughest bulldog, to be honest. And I think he is completely loyal. He knows everything about what the administration has done, all of the policies. And I think he's also, to be very frank, someone that's actually feared. I mean, I think the cabinet and people around him, having lived that experience firsthand the first time around with them, Stephen Miller is someone that, you know, he's got these relationships across the cabinet.

6:03He knows how to pull the levers on these people. And I think it's someone that's going to keep people in check. So it'll be interesting to see how the White House navigates and how the Democrats are going to navigate getting around Stephen Miller. What does this tell you about the next two years that is lame duck territory? Does he now give him wings? Well, I think so. Well, first of all, can I just back up and say that explanation makes much more sense to me than Susan Weil was responsible for the losses? Because I have yet to hear anyone explain to me how that makes any sense whatsoever. That she should be blamed.

6:35That she's blamed for the losses. Well, she's a woman. That's what I mean. Like, I don't get that at all. So, but anyway, back to your question, I do think that the lesson was not learned or he's in defiance of the lesson. Maybe he did get the lesson, but he's like, I won't accept that. That will not be my reality. That will not be my last two years in this office. And we will fight like hell. That is kind of consistent with Donald Trump's ethos. He believes in just fight it out. Regardless of whether you're right or wrong, you fight it out. And I think that what he's planning to do is to fight it out.

7:09And that is what Stephen Miller represents. And Miller represents, you talk about the fear. In many ways, he is noted as being obstinate, refusing to be conciliatory for any reason. You're not fighting with somebody who intends to give you an inch, but he will take a mile. That's the word in Washington. So you think about the predicament that many Republicans might find themselves in who might be nervous about what Tuesday meant. And now they're like, well, hold on, we're going to still beat down these doors. What do you think? Well, I think Stephen, you know, he's a very effective operative. I've worked in the Senate.

7:42We had some overlap during the Coburn years, late 2000s, early 2010s. But I think this decision is a bit like treating a hangover with a double scotch. So I think what Stephen is going to do is actually strengthen the hand of other Republicans who want to go back to first principles. You know, senators like John Curtis, actually organizations like Advancing American Freedom, Mike Pence's organization, they're openly talking about, let's go back to first principles, issues like limited government, taxes. But how does, explain to me a little bit how him being there might give that. Because it is a doubling down on a strategy that clearly didn't work.

8:17That the outrage about ISIS overreach and cruelty was not the issue in the campaign. But 58 percent of Americans thought they went too far. And so for the president to do this, it signals to the rest of the party that he's not going to change course, which actually makes it easier for other. It's not so much the question of will the president change course, but will the rest of the party, will the members of Congress who see this decision feel emboldened to be more independent and follow their conscience and go back to the principles that they know will work. And one of the outcomes of the race is we saw that conservative policy did better than MAGA candidates all over the country, where we had blowout defeats.

8:59We have, you know, Mississippi of all states may go Democrat, but you had conservative policies that still won in states like North Carolina, California and other places. What I found really interesting is even though he's been sort of Trump's day one, he still had to pitch himself for this job, apparently. Maggie Haberman reported that his pitch was that President Trump needs to wind down the Iran war. I mean, that was a huge political liability among other liabilities for the American public. We know affordability and the Iran war were inextricably linked. Can Stephen Miller actually be the person to try to steer that in the direction of ending?

9:37Potentially. I mean, he has the president's trust. And if it's his view and he's not a hardliner on that, then that it could have that effect. I mean, I think the big things to remember, though, is this president is never going to face the voters again. He and his administration are going to face congressional investigators. You know, there there is just there hasn't been that much adversity in this White House yet. And they've kind of laughed in the face of political danger. There has been a lot of attrition. There's been a lot of turnover, not maybe as much as people thought. Compared to Trump Part 1, there's not been as much.

10:10But even when they've moved people out of jobs, they've moved them into other jobs, lesser jobs, but other jobs. So they've generally, with a few exceptions, kept people in the fold, even when they've pushed them out of their jobs. So the Mueller investigation was happening in the first Trump administration before Democrats even took over Congress. So these people, unless they were original Trump officials, they're not as used to subpoenas. They're not as used to this level of scrutiny. They're not used to being able to feel like they're on a losing as opposed to winning side. And they need somebody who's not looking toward the exits, who's a Trump loyalist, and who might be able to get through to Trump on some of the things that went wrong in the midterm election.

10:54Well, you know, Congressman Robert Garcia, we've heard about this. He is likely to become the new House Oversight Chair, as you all know. He is warning Miller to lawyer up. The attorney general, Todd Blanche, who is not impacted, of course, by the congressional turnover, he is not having any of it. Listen. You have Garcia saying minutes after Stephen Miller was promoted to be the chief of staff to the president of the United States of America, telling him to lawyer up. Well, I'll tell you what. Stephen Miller has a lawyer. It's me. It's me in the entire Department of Justice. Again, he's not a, Todd, you're not a personal attorney.

11:32I just want to keep reiterating that point over and over again. But there is a concern that some have about the priorities of Congress, about accountability versus accounting. Do you see a potential that, as that tagline said, a Democratic revenge machine will be highlighted by Republicans, by people like Todd Blanch, in a way that undermines the messaging that Democrats want to send? Well, I am of the mind that you can do two things at once. I think you can actually legislate and hold people accountable at the same time. And you can hold hearings at the same time that you're crafting legislation.

12:11I believe that part of what they're going to need to do is to haul people before committees who are a part of the administration. I also know that there are thousands of Epstein victims out there, and we still don't know what happened and what they have to say, and no one has been willing to talk to them publicly. And I believe that this House would want to have them come and say whatever they need to say. If they want a forum, this is what they've told people, they wanted an open forum with Blanche, and he had a behind-the-scenes thing, and they came out of that feeling really kind of talked down to in that.

12:44And you saw Maxwell first. Yes. Privately. Privately. So I think they want a forum as well. So I believe that you can do both of those things. Now, I'm not saying that there is not a reality of a legislative calendar. If you get into something like an impeachment, that does eat up time and legislative calendar days. But if you but the actual kind of regular order of oversight, that's what they do. They ought to be able to do both because that seems to be what the voters have articulated to them. And we will see. But I am curious about who you think might be next. I mean, you have Susie Wiles. You mentioned the idea that she is a woman, obviously, and that the line of people who have left this administration under less than favorable circumstances, there is a theme that is there.

13:32But do you have a sense of who else do you think is on Trump's chopping block? You know, I don't know. I think that remains to be seen. I know there's been a lot of talk about Pete Hexas, but I'll tell you this. I know that Pete Hexas ideology very much aligns with Stephen Miller's. I mean, you know, you're talking about, you know, he was mentioning, talking about getting back to regular conservative politics. I don't see that in Stephen Miller at all. He is the architect of the most extreme policies that we've seen. The voters just said, no, we don't want this. Conservative Latinos said, what the heck is going on?

14:05We're not going to stand for this. So I think that this is actually buying time for Pete Hegseth, to be honest. I think that he just bought himself some time with the chief of staff now being who it's going to be. So he has a picture next week. possibly possibly yeah but to see him get fired or resign i i don't really see that coming into play right now maybe i'm wrong but i think those two are two peas in a pod so i think that's what i'm watching it'll be interesting to see if some of these other people that seem to have political aspirations for 2028 if i were them and i were watching steven miller now at the helm i would be taking a step back and saying there's going to be more of this doubling down of extremism because that is who Stephen Miller is, do I want to continue down that path and have that be my legacy?

14:49Very fascinating. Olivia, thank you so much. Everyone else, please stand by, because up next, Democrat Scott Cologne's lead is growing by the day as Democrats begin to dream about Mississippi now becoming a battleground state. DNC Chair Ken Martin joins me on the mission ahead to make it happen. Plus, Harry Anton at the magic wall with a stunning look at why Republicans are so freaked down about 2028.

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15:40I mean, the scope of the blue wave has been staggering. Right now, Democrats are on track to control a majority of state governments across the country. Put another way, 75 percent of Americans are going to live in a state with a Democratic governor. And 53 percent will live in Democratic trifectas. So what could this mean for 2028? CNN's Harry Ente is at the magic wall for us tonight. Hey there, Laura. You know, after Tuesday's results, I'm here to tell you why the Republican panic is so real. Why phrases like extinction level results, well, very much apply based upon Tuesday. Why do I say that?

16:19Well, let's take a look at the electoral map looking ahead to 2028. And we're going to apply the results from Tuesday from the results from the House of U.S. Representatives. Now, of course, Donald Trump won in 2024 with 312 electoral votes. But what happens if we apply the results of Tuesday? Well, we'll start in Pennsylvania. That turns blue. How about Michigan? That turns blue. How about Wisconsin? That turns blue. And now Democrats are already at 270 electoral votes. But we ain't done yet. No, no, no, no, no. Ohio, which hasn't gone blue on the Democratic, on the presidential level since 2012, that turns blue, 287 electoral votes.

16:56But again, we just got to keep going. Iowa turns blue, 293 electoral votes. Okay, you might say we're done with the Midwest. No, we're not. But Indiana, which has only gone Democratic on the presidential level once since 1964, back in 2008, now we're north of 300 electoral votes for the Democrats. Let's go to the southeast. North Carolina, it turns blue. Now we're up to 320 electoral votes. My goodness gracious. How about Georgia? It turns blue. 300 and now 36 electoral votes for the Democrats. Let's go out west. We'll go to Arizona. Arizona turns blue. 347 for the Democrats. How about Nevada?

17:35Nevada turns blue. 353 electoral votes for the Democrats. And then the pow takes the cake. Texas turns blue. And that gets you to 393 electoral votes for the Democrats. Woof. That is a blowout we haven't seen since the 1980s. And I will note that 393 may go a little bit higher as we get more results in from Missouri and Utah. Bottom line is this extinction level result. Absolutely right. Ahead of 2028. Laura, back to you. Joining me now is DNC Chair Ken Martin. Ken, good to see you. I mean, what does your party need to do in order to keep this momentum going into 2028? Well, we can't take our foot off the gas.

18:21We just have to keep organizing. That's what we did when I came in as DNC Chair. We got to work organizing around the country, actually, you know, investing in year-round organizing in state after state after state. putting the investment out every month so we could build the infrastructure so we could win everywhere. And you know what? I think I mentioned this on your show before. Our motto at the DNC was when you organize everywhere, you can win anywhere. And that's what we did. And so look, there's no rest for the weary here. As I said to the team after the election, the day after the election is the first day of the next.

18:55And we're already right at it because in 2027, Laura, there are critical races on the ballot in Louisiana, in Kentucky, and in Mississippi where they had governor's races. There are huge mayoral races and municipal races throughout the country as well next year. And so while some are looking to 28, we can't afford to look just to 28. We actually have to prepare for 27 and we have to start organizing now, which we're doing. I'm grateful for the wins. And by God, from Harry's lips to God's ears, he's right on the 28 map. But I'll tell you, we've got a lot of work to do between now and then. Well, let's talk about Mississippi because Scott Colombe is in a razor-thin race that many people didn't see coming.

19:35He says National Democrats ignored the state's potential for too long. Listen. We should have always looked at Mississippi as competitive. You look at the demographics, 38 percent of the population is African-American. They vote overwhelmingly Democrat. You got a lot of white, rural Democrats. And this was always a competitive election. Our junior senator has betrayed the voters. She voted to take away health care. She supported tariffs that hurt farmers. She supported the war in Iran that hurt farmers, hurt everyday Mississippians. And so, you know, we need to be a party that understands that what happens in Mississippi matters.

20:09One, is he right about being ignored and having the foot not even just on the pedal, but off, it seems? And if Cologne pulls this off, what would that mean for how the Democratic Party approaches the South going forward? Well, I was proud to be one of the first national Democratic leaders on the ground with Scott Colom. I believed in Mississippi from the very beginning. In fact, we invested significant resources down there last year in their Mississippi legislative races, where they flipped three seats and, of course, broke the Republican supermajority. And as I said, I spent a lot of time with Scott on the ground campaigning with him in Mississippi.

20:46We invested heavily in the Mississippi Democratic Party and the infrastructure on the ground there. And I'm so proud of Scott and his campaign. I can't speak for other national committees and what investment they put into Mississippi or what they didn't. But I know that we were there from the very beginning helping Scott in this campaign. And we look forward to seeing him being the next U.S. senator from Mississippi and us continuing to build down there so we can win the governor's race there next November. You know, Democrats campaigned on a promise to lower costs, to root out corruption. Now, Now, the big question is how they'll actually do it.

21:20You had Governor J.B. Pritzker saying that he might have an idea. Well, there's an easy way to start. Let's raise the minimum wage in the United States. I mean, it's$7.25 is the federal minimum wage. You can't survive on$14 ,000 a year with a single full-time job. Is that the best place to start? Well, I think it's a great place to start. And I think most members of our Congress, both in the House and Senate, would agree with that as well. I mean, we have to, of course, lower costs, figure out a way to do that, but also raise wages, which haven't been raised throughout this country in over 25 years.

21:57You know, the American people sent a large and clear message to both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party on Tuesday that they want people to focus on them, on the fact that they can barely get by. They can't afford their groceries. They can't afford their rent or mortgage. They're worried about health care costs and, of course, rising costs across the board. And one way for us to address that, of course, is to actually help them afford their life. And the best way to do that is to raise wages, which haven't been done in a long time. I agree with Governor Pritzker, but I would say that most of our members in these newfound majorities also agree.

22:32And I expect them to take immediate action once they get an off. For Tuesday Sweep, you faced fierce criticism of the DNC's fundraising struggles and your strategy. Do you feel vindicated by these results? And what is your message to the critics who wanted you to step aside? Well, look, what I would say is we raised a record amount of money, but I took a bet. The bet that I made was that we would push that money out every single month into the state parties, into all 50 state parties receive significant resources every month so they could actually build the infrastructure on the ground to help meet this moment, right?

23:15No one could have predicted, by the way, a year and a half ago how big this wave would be. We were massively outspent. And that is the real story, Laura, is not how much money the DNC or our other committees raised and spent, but really how much money did the Republicans spend and still lose? They spent billions of dollars and they lost everything. They didn't win anything this election cycle. And that's the real story of 2026. Ken Martin, thank you. Thank you, Laura. Still ahead, the new kids on the Hill. generational change comes from Washington as Chuck Schumer now faces questions about how to handle the new class.

23:58Chuck Schumer deserves a lot of credit for putting together this. Chuck Schumer deserves, Chuck Schumer fought tooth and nail against half of these people. And even if he didn't, he does not understand the urgency of the moment and what the future demands.

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24:44You know, Democrats have been calling for generational change for years, And they may have finally gotten it this week with so many young and fresh voices elected across the country from James Tallarico in Texas to Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, Annie Andrews in South Carolina, just to name a few. But several of these Democrats say someone other than Chuck Schumer ought to lead the charge in the Senate. Why would you not support Schumer now? Well, to me, it's about action, right? It's not about who or who not. It's about action. If we have another option, I'm going to look at that and say, who is best placed to get us action, to get money out of politics, put money in pockets, pass Medicare for all.

25:23You said we're not going to vote for Chuck Schumer for majority leader. You still have that vote. I still very much believe that it's time for generational change on both sides of the aisle. My panel is back with me. I'm with Democratic strategist and former congressional candidate Deja Fox. I want to begin with you. I mean, it's not just the Senate, excuse me, that has been called on. and we're hearing from Axios that even their anti-Jeffries calls as well. So both sides of the aisle or both chambers of Congress, you're the youngest person on this panel. And I mean, not me, I'm much younger than you, but everyone else on the panel.

25:58But as the youngest person and having run on the issues of generational change as well, should Democrats reject Schumer and Jeffries? Yeah, I mean, from my perspective, I'm 26, I'm Gen Z. Donald Trump has been running for president since I was 15 years old. I mean, this kind of chaos has absolutely shaped what is our new normal. And any idea that we are returning back to normal is laughable for my generation. And so when I look at this election, I think we won it in spite of people like Chuck Schumer. And that this was not just a red versus blue election. It was a top versus bottom election, one where people rejected Donald Trump's corruption as he got richer and we couldn't even afford to move out of our parents' houses.

26:41But that wave is not going to spare establishment Democrats who continue to sell out the voters that make up this party to cater to donors. And we saw that when Chuck Schumer put his thumb on the scale for somebody like Haley Stevens, someone who ultimately sold out our party to special interests and risked a Democratic majority. And all the while they tell us that these DSA candidates are taking over our party when really special interests have already done that. And so as a generational change, I think we are seeing a reaction to these establishment candidates and pushing back to say we need bold leadership.

27:18We had a big win and we want a vision just as big. You've cautioned against or in some respects that be careful what you wish for a phenomenon. Tell me how you see it, given really, Deja is very compelling as to why, why not. But tell me when I was your age, I helped lead the coup against Newt Gingrich when I worked for Tom Coburn. And I will say in hindsight, be careful what you wish for, because what we did is we got rid of Newt. And this was after the 1998 election. So Newt said, oh, if we just focus on Monica Lewinsky, he's going to solve our problems for us. Well, there was no agenda. There was no forward thinking, no return to our physical conservative roots, constitutional conservatism.

27:57It was all scandal kind of politics. And conservatives were livid that he did that. So we got rid of Newt. But then we had Bob Livingston. That was a fiasco. and then Denny Hastert wasn't much of an upgrade. So I would say, I think, you know, the challenge, I think, for Democrats is that they just won this majority, but it's a very fragile majority. I would argue that the repudiation was really more against Trump than it was for a very clear progressive agenda. Fragile even with the numbers? I mean, fragility doesn't seem to be. Well, look at history. There's there been back in 2010, there was 60.

28:32We were part of the architects of the shellacking against Obama because he didn't address affordability. Sixty three House seats for Republicans. So so the kind of the trend in politics is one party gets power. They overreach. And then there's a punishment. So what I mean, my friendly advice to Democrats is focus on the things that got you into power. Don't don't try to get rid of the Electoral College. I want to just push back and say that I think the real risk for Democrats is that we have won an audition for 2028. And people are looking to make their lives easier and affordability agenda. They're looking for accountability against these corrupt people who seem to have one set of rules for them and for everybody else, something else.

29:12And I think the real risk is not going far enough, not delivering on the trust that voters have put in their hands. I mean, young people swung towards Democrats, including young men. And I think those young people are looking to see results. And if they don't, if they don't see them getting out there, getting after it, fighting and really thinking big, we're going to be in trouble in 2020. Well, I think I agree with what you're saying. But I understand that Congress is its own institution with its own inertia. Totally. And what you would love is for Chuck Schumer to have a Nancy Pelosi moment to say, I know I've run my course.

29:51I've done a good job. I'm stepping out of the way. He's not going to do it. And as long as he wants it as badly as I know he wants it, he's going to get it. There may be a fight, but he's going to get it because the institution will allow him to hold on to it because of his seniority and all the things. And I do think that that does set up for a lot of voters a disappointment. It is inherent in that because they're going to kind of do kind of middle of the road policy that they think can get something passed rather than the more aggressive, more kind of more radical agenda that a lot of young people want it.

30:30And they bucked a lot of trends out there across the country to get these more radical candidates. Here's what he says in defense of why he thinks he should hold power. What I do as the leader is I'm the orchestra leader. And I pick the theme, chaos, chaos, and corruption. But I am not the best bassoonist. I highlight that person. I am not the great virtuoso singer. So I highlight that person. And the way you make this run and work is bring, show the talents and showcase the talents of the people. and just everyone's sort of singing on the broad same tune. And I would say that it has worked. I'm not the issue.

31:12It's staying together on what the American people care about. You weren't swayed by the bassoonist aspect of this. What's that little stick the conductor waves around? I can see Chuck Schumer. If you had to explain the analogy, you're having a problem. We've definitely got a boomer problem in this party to some degree, right? Like this analogy is not landing well. I've seen this, you know, showing up on Twitter and it is falling so incredibly flat. I mean, this is a man who clearly cannot play to a TikTok audience where the majority of young people and, I mean, the majority of Americans were getting their news in real time on Instagram this election cycle.

31:51And I just look at this leadership and I think, what a failed communication strategy. I mean, just you watch the video. I watch the video. What is he talking about? So real quick, do you think I mean, given, frankly, Congress is a bit of an archaic institution. Do you need someone who can navigate that as well as Bridget Gap? Well, let me be clear. He has lost the trust of these incoming members. And so we see the composition of Congress changing in real time. And I think you need to be able to work with the people who've just been elected and who really set a mandate for this party. The people have spoken.

32:26I wonder who will listen. Let's see. Everyone stand by. We have a lot more to talk about in this very issue. There's more. And up next is Defense Secretary Pete Heggs at the back to face impeachment in the House. Or will new chief of staff Stephen Miller find a way to save him? Marine Corps veteran and Congressman Jake Achencloss joins us to weigh in next.

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33:11We saw Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in the hall. He was meeting with you just before now. His name has come up a few times as someone people have called for his resignation. Do you have confidence in him? I do. President Trump still standing by Pete Hegseth in a 60 Minutes interview, a new one. A vote to impeach the defense secretary could actually come as soon as next week. And tonight it appears Hegseth may really be on thin ice. Listen to what chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Republican James Comer, said today. I can tell you with a high level of confidence that there's a lot of questions about Hegseth.

33:51We have no idea what the strategy is moving forward in Iran. No one's happy about Iran. And I think the Republican voters are more upset about what's going on in Iran than the Democrat voters. You know, my next guest has called for Hegseth to be impeached. He's a Marine Corps veteran currently serving in the Marine Corps Reserve. Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts, Jake Auchincloss, joins me now. Congressman, do you think the results from the midterms are going to motivate more of your Republican colleagues to support impeaching Pete Hegseth? I mean, have any Republicans personally told you they're on board?

34:31Hi, Laura. Yes, I do. Republicans are ready to eat their own if they're served up on a platter by Democrats. Well, is there a likelihood that they would do so on their own accord or are they waiting to be reactive?

34:51The Republicans are always reactive. reactive. They're always the last to understand that Donald Trump has made life more expensive, has made America less safe and respected. And after the midterms will be no different. What will be different is that Democrats have earned a mandate from the American public to end this war as a first step in making life less expensive, to hold this administration accountable for its corruption and to govern with good sense. Your colleague Thomas Massey says his impeachment resolution against Hegseth will be much gentler than what Democrats would bring when they control Congress.

35:35Is he right? Yeah, it's not about meanness and it's not about vengeance. It's about the rule of law. And while that, of course, is an imperative across all cabinet departments, the reason it matters so much within the Department of Defense is that an erosion of civil military relations threatens the constitutional fabric of this country. One of the formative moments in this nation's history was George Washington handing over his sword to the Continental Congress as an indication that the military was subordinate to civilian affairs and that it would be an apolitical institution. And what Hegseth has done is he's inserted politics into the military.

36:22He's purged senior commanders and field grade commanders. And he has misled Congress and the American public about troop readiness, about munitions status and about our force posture throughout the world. So there needs to be oversight and investigations, not just for accountability for Pete Egseth, who has richly earned it, but also to reestablish the civil military relations that the American public rightfully expects. We'll see with the commander in chief who is saying that he still has confidence in the person you describe, what impact that will ultimately have. Congressman, I do want to get your reaction to the news that Stephen Miller is going to be the next White House chief of staff.

37:03What does that tell you about the prospect of getting anything done with this White House?

37:11I mean, I think any Democrat or member of Congress who was expecting warm rapport with this White House hasn't been paying attention for the last decade. This is brass knuckles. It's always going to be brass knuckles. That doesn't mean that we're not willing to work in a common sense way when we can do so with Republican colleagues, whether that is immigration reform, whether that is a Social Security program that ensures solvency past 2032, whether that's health care fixes to lower premium costs. We're here to govern with good sense, but we are not going to expect this White House to be anything other than corrupt, incompetent and cruel.

37:54This the president just this very week said that he would issue preemptive pardons to try to protect officials in his administration if necessary. Would that undermine Congress's ability to conduct oversight and hold those officials accountable if he in fact does decide to do that? Or will you have a different calendar of sorts to account for both accountability and, of course, affordability that the American people have talked about as well? Certainly another abuse of the pardon power and provides one thin veneer of protection. But I will note that those individuals are not protected necessarily from state level prosecution and accountability and also from civil litigation, depending on the nature of their actions.

38:39I would also note that many of the outside entities that bent the knee to Donald Trump, media firms and others, have no such potential immunity. And so there's plenty of accountability to go around. However, Democrats are going to do this in an orderly way. We're going to do this in a way that buttresses support and respect for the rule of law. And we're going to do this in a way that always circles back to what the American public has told us is their top priority, which is that housing, health care, utilities and groceries are too expensive and Democrats are going to be laser focused on how we lower those prices.

39:21Congressman Jake Achencloss, thank you. Good evening. Up next, the panel is back to answer your questions. Send them to me, cnn.com slash engage politics.

39:39It's that time of night where all of you get to join the conversation with the panel. And if you haven't done so yet, send me your questions, CNN.com slash EngagePolitics. All right, here's a question. Does anyone really believe that Stephen Miller will be Trump's chief of staff for very long? John? Yeah, I think he probably would be for very long because he's loyal. And who else is going to do that job? I think it's a job that he'll have until as long as Trump is in office. Well, that's two years. Okay, how about this one? Who's next after Susie Wiles? Jim, what do you think? I think it's going to be determined by who next goes out and does all the TV shows that Stephen Miller is doing, which I'm assuming he will do less of if they do the job in a somewhat traditional way, but maybe they don't.

40:25There's no press secretary right now. But also, I think how people handle congressional hearings, because there are going to be all these oversight hearings. Trump is going to be watching them. They're going to be looking for anybody who looks a little bit wobbly. I don't think they're going to be looking for people who are responsible for issues that they did poorly on in the midterm elections. They're going to be looking for people who don't look loyal and maybe have other ambitions. They're going to be looking for women, if there's any left to find. All right. Well, who in the party could convince Schumer to step back and coach the new class?

40:56Obama? Pelosi? Charles? Pelosi. I mean, it's the same scenario. And I think that if she were inclined, that she could probably have a conversation. Maybe he won't take it, though. I genuinely believe that he wants to be the speaker. I don't think that anyone can convince him that he doesn't need to do it and that he believes he deserves it. New York Democratic primary voters. Yeah, that's true. That's true. Expand this. Also, I mean, Jeffries was not part of that question, but the same conversation is happening theoretically. Right. And it's the same issue. Right. So Jeffries is going to be more moderate, more middle of the road.

41:41He's not part of the new energy of the new class. But I could be wrong about this, but no one can convince me that you're going to be able to tell this guy who would be the first black speaker that, oh, we're going to skip over you and get somebody else. I don't think that's going to happen. I believe that there's going to be a healthy discussion and maybe somebody runs again and gets some votes. But he wins the vote in the end, I believe. Let's see. Next question. How aware is the Democratic Party on over-interpreting their mandate? How do we reconcile the progressives and the moderates to get things done that matter?

42:18Deja, why don't you take that? Yeah, I mean, I think what we saw in this election was a rejection of Donald Trump because in some ways he hadn't kept his promises. And that's the same problem that we stand to face now is that if we don't deliver on accountability and affordability, right, The subpoenas need to roll out and we need to put things on the table that are going to make people's lives easier. Gas cheaper, groceries cheaper, rent more affordable, housing more attainable. But if we don't at least get that out on the table, and I don't think that these are radical agenda items, right? Like having health care shouldn't feel radical in the richest country in the world.

42:59And so I think voters have made it very clear where they're at in these primaries and in this general election. And now it's on the Democratic Party to live up to that. All right. Hey, someone actually wrote this. Thanks, Chuck Schumer, for the shout out to bassoonists. I can't make this up. That was actually a thing. I had to look up what the bassoon looked like. I'm just saying it was actually there. OK, so we know it is. And that was his thing. And you know what, everyone? Thank you so much, especially to the bassoonists out there. Remember, you can stream my show live on the CNN app. We're now streaming in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.

43:33Scan the QR code on your screen or go to cnn.com slash allaccess to learn more. And thanks for watching. Because here comes The Story is with Alex Michelson, who is a world famous bassoonist.

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44:28Her name is Amy O'Dell. She is a fashion writer, blogger. But the thing is, she's a journalist who's written about the sacred cows of fashion. And yes, I mean, Gwyneth Paltrow and Anna Wintour. She has done biographies of both. And she is also the sort of rare fashion writer who at this point kind of outside the system. And so the question that we're going to try to tackle is... Fashion terrible now. Well, no, I mean, I would phrase it as how do you develop a personal style in the age of AI, buy slop you know on social media like creators have to try a whole bunch of different things and see what catches and then they make it over and over and over again the same thing happens with clothing so they're sort of seeding the market seeding the internet with all of these different ideas and then they can see what sells and then they can just make them really fast follow engagement party wherever you get your podcasts