← Deadline: White House
Deadline: White House
"Americans are feeling pain at the pump yet again"
00:43:30
July 24, 2026; 5pm: Jackie Alemany, in for Nicolle Wallace, on Donald Trump unveiling new tariffs today which could send gas prices even higher.
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- [00:00]
Commercial Narrator
Watch Disclosure Day at home now with exclusive bonus features. If you found out we weren't alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? Well, now the truth belongs to 7 billion people in an original event film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by David Koepp, starring Emily Blunt, Josh o', Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson and Colman Domingo. Find Disclosure Day on major digital platforms now with no subscription required. Also in theaters.
- [00:31]
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- [01:01]
Interviewer/Host
Discount
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Oliver Darcy
Gas prices are ticking back up again.
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Interviewer/Host
What do you make of that?
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Tyler Pager
How is that impacting your life?
- [01:10]
Theresa Norman
I'm just realizing this morning that it's going back up and I'm like, oh my gosh, here we go again. Just when we thought we had a little bit of relief, you know, every other day I'm here at the gas pumps just flipping out. More money.
- [01:25]
Jackie Alemany
Here we go again indeed. Hi again everyone. It's five o' clock in New York and I'm Jackie Alemany in for the irreplaceable Nicole Wallace. Thanks to recent escalations in the Iran war, Americans are feeling the pain at the pump yet again. Oil prices reached over $100 a barrel, and according to the AAA, gas is over $4 a gallon across much of the United States. And prices might not stop there. The Washington Post is reporting. Quote, prices could be poised to go significantly higher, energy analysts and executives warn, as oil markets are forced to recognize the dislocations the conflict has inflicted on global energy infrastructure and the slim prospects of a speedy recovery. The key buffers that got us through the first months of the supply shock have been worn away, said Ben Cahill, an energy scholar at the University of Texas at Austin. It'll be harder to avoid a price correction and a steep price reaction when new disruptions are happening each day. Additionally, Donald Trump unveiled new tariffs today, which could send prices even higher. From reporting in the New York Times, quote, the deputy the duties apply to some of the largest US Trade partners, including the members of the European Union, which the president has since threatened with an additional round of trade penalties. Tariffs are taxes that apply to imported goods. So Mr. Trump's actions threatened to again raise costs for some American companies and consumers. Already, everyday Americans are being forced to cut back. Here's a little more from Theresa Norman, a bus operator from North Carolina, who you heard from at the top of the hour. Are you having to make changes in your life?
- [03:04]
Oliver Darcy
Is that changing your budgeting?
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Theresa Norman
Yes.
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Jackie Alemany
Talk to me about that.
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Theresa Norman
Well, I mean, you know, I can only afford to go to work and come back home. I can't do a lot of extra running around. So I'm more strategic as how I'm moving around, you know, because I have to travel an hour to work. So I need my gas. So I can't be running around town here and there if I don't need to.
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Jackie Alemany
What are you doing less of?
- [03:29]
Charlie Sykes
I mean, are you eating out less?
- [03:30]
Oliver Darcy
Are you?
- [03:31]
Theresa Norman
I'm eating out less, definitely. And I'm not visiting family as much because, you know, these are country miles. So it's not right down the street.
- [03:43]
Jackie Alemany
And today, lawmakers leave Washington, D.C. for their August recess, meaning that Republicans are going to have a lot to answer to from their constituents back home who are unhappy with the state of the economy. A recent political survey revealed that even MAGA Trump voters are getting sick of costs increasing thanks to the war with Iran. And a new Fox News poll shows a pretty stunning nine point gap in who the public thinks will do a better job with the economy. Democrats at 54% with Republicans at 45%. Americans financial struggles thanks to Donald Trump's policies is where we begin this hour with business analysts and author of the Message of the Markets substack, Ron Insana. Also with us, Charlie Sykes. He's the author of to the Contrary newsletter and vice president and chair of International Economics for the Atlantic Council. And New York Times opinion guest essayist Josh Lipsky is here. Gentlemen, thank you for joining us. To close out this whirlwind week, Ron, I've got to start with, as my friend Natasha Sarin wrote in the New York Times, a very reasonable question about why in the months leading up to the November of midterms where affordability is the top issue, I mean, how many times have we talked about this? And the administration is now implementing policies that are going to make life even more unaffordable.
- [05:07]
Ron Insana
It's wildly inexplicable, Jackie. I mean, not just from a political perspective, but from an economic one as well. I mean, the president and I discussed this with Stephanie Rule earlier this morning, has a fixation with this period in American history between 1870 and 1913, where tariffs were the principal source of revenue for the U.S. government. And he thinks somehow that was the best economic period that the US Enjoyed, which is factually incorrect. In addition, by imposing or reimposing tariffs, some of which have already been disallowed by the Supreme Court, he is putting back into place inflationary forces that are going to push up prices both for businesses and consumers. And that's exacerbated by the war in Iran, as you rightly point out. And it also, as we move towards the Federal Reserve's meeting next week on interest rates, puts pressure on them to either leave rates where they are or or if this were to accelerate further raise rates down the road. So none of this is good for American consumers, especially those in middle incomes and lower incomes, where this forms a regressive tax on them. And as the guest was suggesting earlier at the top of the program, forcing them to make choices about what to do with their money. And that is a politically untenable place to be.
- [06:17]
Jackie Alemany
And I do that point that you brought up about Trump's fixation with certain periods of history and even certain grievances that he has experienced himself, there's also also an anecdote from the 1980s where Trump himself was the recipient of a tariff policy from Japan that is also people point to been one of the reasons why this is such a sticking point for him. But Charlie, when he has expended such ideological flexibility on other issues that are central to his platform, like the war in Iran, why hasn't that translated here?
- [06:57]
Charlie Sykes
Because this is a fetish for Donald Trump. Donald Trump has had a fetish for tariffs back going back to the 1980s. And it is an idea that is fixed in his head. But I would just throw in, since we're talking about history, I would like to throw in two words. SMOOT Hawley, One of the most extraordinary things about the new tariffs is that Donald Trump, as the workaround of the Supreme Court decision, is going back to authority that was included in the 1930s. Smoot Hawley, Tariff act, which which is notorious, notorious piece of legislation in the administration of Herbert Hoover, widely regarded by economists as creating real economic harm and extending and deepening the Great Depression. No president has ever invoked this particular power before. But what's really interesting, what I'm fascinated by is this, a couple of weeks ago, Donald Trump was saying that one of the reasons why he was so anxious to sign that memorandum of understanding with the Iranians was, was that if the war went on, it would create a global economic catastrophe. And then he specifically said that he did not want to be remembered like Herbert Hoover. Well, Herbert Hoover is largely remembered because of things like the Smoot Hawley Act. So you wanna talk about a little bit of historical resonance going on right now, but this is just another indication, I think, of where Donald Trump is allowing his ideological fetishes to make him tone deaf to the political and economic realities of the moment.
- [08:26]
Jackie Alemany
Yeah. And Josh, I want to bring you in here. I mean, despite the fact that Americans have now consistently and overwhelmingly polled that they disapprove of these tariffs, you argue essentially in your New York Times piece that whether or not the United States likes these tariffs, they have essentially become structurally permanent. And that is because, I mean, you can do a better job of explaining this than I can, but because the bond market now depends on the revenue and it is baked in. And so that whoever comes in after the President can't just undo this. And you also argue that this latest round of tariffs is different in terms of its sticking points. Can you talk a little bit more about that?
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Interviewer/Host
That's right. I think a lot of countries and companies around the world assumed after the Supreme Court struck down the IPA authorities for the President that they might be through the trade wars. And what we learned this week is that's not true. Donald Trump is committed to rebuilding the tariff wall. As the other guest said, he is using a variety of authorities to do it. Some of them are much more legally durable than the previous authorities. They require investigations that have been put out today. And it's not clear that the courts will overrule him on this. And even if the next president wanted to undo these tariffs, it's not going to be as easy as many people think. Remember, Joe Biden kept and even expanded all of Donald Trump's first term tariffs. And there's a reason why Donald Trump is so committed to these tariff. It is, of course, something he's believed in for 40 plus years, but it's also generating a lot of revenue, over $100 billion annually. And that is paying for a range of policy priorities in the administration, including the tax cuts in the one big beautiful bill. The next president will have their own legislative priorities and they will need revenue to fund it. And unwinding this will not be simple. If we step back and think about what's happening here, in the first year, Donald Trump launched a trade war. In the second year, Donald Trump launched a real war with Iran. What he's trying to do now is both at the same time. And that does have cost for the American people.
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Jackie Alemany
And I mean, I want to get back to this Washington Post reporting because I do feel like, as you noted, Josh, we have been through multiple iterations of tariff news cycles and also the economic pain of the Iran war, being told by economists, business leaders that the prices were going to skyrocket. But we didn't necessarily see that actually reflected in things like the gas prices. But now there is a feeling that we are going to see this steep price correction. What exactly does that look like, Josh?
- [11:08]
Interviewer/Host
That's right. It's certainly going to be felt at the pump and it's going to happen faster than the first time around with Iran. If this escalates in, the Strait of Hormuz stays shut. And one of the reasons when it comes to trade wars that we didn't see the kind of inflation a lot of economists predicted is because a range of countries didn't retaliate. And we may see something different this time around. You've seen the response from Canada already based on the tariffs that were threatened earlier this week. And so the reason that we didn't see all the price pressures that many expected was because we didn't actually get into a global trade war. The question is, if you layer on top retaliation to Trump's tariffs, with the Strait of Hormuz being closed now, we're really in uncharted territory and it's economically dangerous territory.
- [11:50]
Jackie Alemany
And Ron, I mean, you have talked a little bit about this, I believe, with Stephanie this morning. But this framing that we are now seeing, which is essentially the president and his family benefiting massively from the business deals that they're engaging in, huge conflicts of interest, investing in defense contractors who are profiting off of the war with Iran, affordability being at the top of the list for voters concerns and prices going up, that dichotomy, I mean, is this framing, how long is this framing going to stick for? We're talking about the November midterms, but this feels like something that is now baked into 2028. Is this the albatross that is going to hang from J.D. vance's neck?
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Ron Insana
It could, I mean, insofar as it could hang from any Republican's neck in the event that and it's already happening, quite frankly, is that middle income and lower income individuals and families feel this widening inequality gap between themselves. And whether you want to call them oligarchs or the elite, however you want to characterize this administration and its friends they are all making money hand over fist in some cases. Some of the methods by which they're doing so appear to be legally dubious. And so you're exacerbating this wealth inequality between those at the top and those in the middle and those at the bottom. And so that's not just a political issue. It's a true economic issue where folks are struggling to get by, even if they're middle income or even upper middle income. They're having to make these again, choices on what to buy, what not to buy, what to do, what not to do. And then you've got the president, you know, benefiting to the tune of $3 billion for some of his crypto trades. His kids are getting wealthier and his friends around him are cutting deals with different countries to pull in investment dollars or cut in mineral deals or what have you, defense deals. And so, yes, I mean, if the Democrats were smart, they'd be running commercials about this every single day and pointing fact that there are really two distinct classes of individuals in the United States, one benefiting, one not.
- [13:58]
Jackie Alemany
Yeah. And Charlie, I think what's also so interesting about this is it's not Trump who is going to inherit the backlash to this framing that we just described that he has created and this widening income inequality and this very clear illustration of it now from the highest levels of the US Government. It's going to be the Republican lawmakers who continue to run, those who serve in the House, the Senate people who, as we talked about in the last hour, have essentially given up some of their constitutionally mandated power in Congress. What do you think Republican voters are going to be facing? Republican lawmakers are going to be facing back home from their constituents this August?
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Charlie Sykes
Well, they bought the ticket. Now they're going to take the ride and they're going to have to answer for all of this because at one time or another, they had to cast votes endorsing all of this. But the larger point you're making is that it feels like we're in a moment in politics where all the stars are aligning. Donald Trump rose to power with this populist message. He was the voice of the little person. And yet what are we now seeing? We are seeing the gross self dealing and corruption. We're seeing this vast gaps in wealth. We're seeing the concentration of power in the elites and the oligarchs at a time when people are feeling real economic anxiety and looking at this and thinking, well, Donald Trump was supposed to drain the swamp. In fact, he has become and surrounded himself with other swamp creatures. So the dynamic and the anger and the disillusionment is out there. And I do think that it plays out past the midterm elections into 2028. It's going to be hard for the Republicans to go back and say we are the populist working class party when we've done this. And I agree with Ron. If Democrats were smart, they running ads on this every day. One of the things we did see is the, the, the autocrat from Hungary, Viktor Orban, who had rigged the system in every conceivable way. And yet when corruption became the number one issue, he was thrown out of office in a landslide. So there's real potency to the issue of corruption and it is taking place in real time in broad daylight in very dramatic fashion. And I do think it's going to shape our politics as you should you suggest.
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Jackie Alemany
And before we are out of time, I do want to share some new reporting from the New York Times that is just in from New York Times reporter Tony Romm. In little notice court documents, federal officials have acknowledged this month that they had terminated Biden era funding based solely on political criteria targeting projects in states that were represented by Democrats and had voted for Kamala Harris. The admission showed how President Trump has weaponized the provision of federal education, energy, health, housing and infrastructure aid in his second term. Far from rooting out the sort of misspending that Mr. Trump sees as rife in Washington, the White House has instead sought to leverage the budget as a tool to assist its allies or as a cudgel to hurt the Democrats foes. Ron, how, I mean, how should the Democrats be talking about the totality of all of these things in their messaging in, in a clear way that is easily synthesizable to voters?
- [17:19]
Ron Insana
Yeah, Jack, I think there's so many of us on this network who have said that the commercials are writing themselves for the Democrats. I mean, to take this material and weaponize it in a political sense would, would be to the, to their benefit. They're, they're not doing it as yet. But you have a number of issues. You have the wealth gap. You have an economy that is not working for all. It's not shared prosperity by any stretch of the imagination. You have allegations of corruption and now you have this, you know, political weaponization of federal funds going to states that only support the president. These are all things that could be used dramatically, vocally and broadly to make the Democrats case that they would do better. And as yet, we have not seen them coalesce around this. Instead, they're having an internal family fight over the Democratic socialists versus the moderates. And I think it's muting any message they could possibly get out that would benefit them, not just in the midterms,
- [18:10]
Jackie Alemany
but beyond Ron and Zana, Josh Lipsky, thank you both for starting us off this hour. Charlie is sticking with me. And when we return, Donald Trump won't stop talking about all of his vanity projects in Washington, D.C. the ones polls show Americans don't like and don't want to. So what's the administration doing now? Pushing ahead with a plan to stamp Trump's name on yet another iconic building. That story's next. Also ahead, after months of informal auditions, Trump seems to have picked a favorite to succeed him. But not everyone in the MAGA verse is happy about it. And later, fired 60 Minutes correspondent Cecilia Vega is breaking her silence on just how far her MAGA friendly bosses at CBS News meddled in the editorial decision making at the iconic news magazine show for shocking allegations later in the hour. Deadline White House continues after a quick break. So don't go anywhere.
- [19:10]
Charlie Sykes
I'm doing a magnificent, big, beautiful ballroom that the country has wanted. They've wanted a ballroom at the White House for more than 150 years.
- [19:21]
Ron Insana
But.
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Charlie Sykes
But there's never been a president that was good at ballrooms. We're building a beautiful ballroom. You can see it's not too small. Coach, we need it. For 150 years, they've wanted a ballroom. We're going to give them the greatest ballroom anywhere in the country. I'm very good at ballrooms. I'm very good at building things.
- [19:37]
Commercial Narrator
Watch Disclosure Day at home now with exclusive bonus features. If you found out we weren't alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? Well, now the truth belongs to 7 billion people in an original event film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by David Koepp starring Emily Blunt, Josh o', Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson and Colman Domingo find disclosure day on major digital platforms now with no subscription required. Also in theaters Monday.
- [20:08]
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- [20:11]
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- [20:39]
Jackie Alemany
today because there's a lot of news to cover. Money time for the business. All eyes on the new Fed chair. The economic fallout from the war is a temporary power. The president is now a major crypto industry operator. Is this White House for sale? Politics Is there an energy to respond to this aggressive gerrymandering? It has never been more important to be informed and engaged.
- [21:01]
Monday.com Advertiser
Money Power Politics With Stephanie rule, weekdays at 9am Eastern on Ms. Now
- [21:10]
Jackie Alemany
maybe he's hoping if he repeats it enough, it'll make it true. Well, Donald Trump keeps insisting that everyone is so excited about his ballroom and D.C. renovation projects. The polling tells a different story. New polling by the Washington Post finds that just 32% of Americans are enthusiastic or satisfied by Trump's D.C. renovation plans, including the reflecting pool, his triumphal arch, and of course, his ballroom. And 42% believe that the goal of these projects is to stoke Trump's own ego. Donald Trump, never one to let the humiliation of low public opinion stop him after gilding DC Is now setting his sights on on New York City. He is continuing his push to get Penn Station now named after him, with the New York Times reporting that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called renaming the station an administration priority in a letter to Congress. Joining our conversation is the host of Politics Nation and president of the National Action Network, Reverend Al Sharpton. And Charlie is still with us. Rev, can you comment on this new report development about Sean Duffy now going back after this had sort of, they had let this come to a standstill, saying that renaming Penn Station is a priority. I mean, what, what does that mean for New York City?
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Reverend Al Sharpton
Well, it means that if you have deal with the polling of most New Yorkers, they're anti Trump. And to force, if it becomes that his name on Penn Station, a major hub of travel, would be offensive to many New Yorkers and people that come through the Penn Station going elsewhere. But it shows you how grossly insecure this man is. I mean, you need all of these monuments named after you after you've won the presidency twice. When does he grow up and realize that he has achieved something? It really troubles me that we have a man in the White House so immature and so insecure that he feels he has to put his name on everything because he lacks some self esteem.
- [23:21]
Jackie Alemany
Yeah. And Charlie, you know, I think the conversation a lot of us have been having really over the years is that voters just haven't cared about corruption in a way where it has resonated on the campaign trail and through Democratic talking points. Whether that was sort of the fault of the Democratic messaging that they were hearing or just sort of a baked in cynicism amongst the American people. But the New York Times has election surveys that are now seeing that this is cracking through. And I've actually heard the same from my congressional sources who said that finally the vanity projects in particular are cracking through when it comes to the corruption conversation that lawmakers are having on the ground. But let me read you from the New York Times. In election year surveys, corruption does not generally crack the top issues American American voters care about. No American politician arguably has understood and exploited this ambient cynicism more successfully than Trump. There's a difference though between a dozen or so million in government payments to Trump owned resort properties, the most attention grabbing form that Trump's conflicts took in his first presidency, and the multi billion dollar spoils that have been made public in recent months and this summer amongst at least some prominent members of his party, there is a palpable nervousness that voters have noticed. I mean, the financial disclosures obviously paint a very shocking picture that I think is hard for any American to avoid. But I do think the vanity projects are part of that story. How, how do you connect the dots there for us?
- [25:02]
Charlie Sykes
No, very, very much so. Because in many ways they are the living embodiment of the self dealing of Donald Trump. You know, and I'm glad that Rev talked about his deep insecurity here. I guess I would use also the analogy I have two very large German shepherds who feel the need to mark their territory all the time and Donald Trump feels that way. But I think the fact that they are vanity projects, they don't benefit anyone else, they are so tangible to be able to see that sort of thing. But what struck me in your initial report was when you quoted Sean Duffy, who's a former, was a fellow cheesehead, I've known him for many years, that he would say that renaming Penn Station for Donald Trump was a priority of the Department of Transportation. Trust me, there are tens of millions of Americans who, if you ask, what should the priority of the federal government be? What should the priority be of the Department of Transportation? Pretty much nobody would say renaming Penn Station for Donald Trump would be on that particular list. But it's such a tell that they think this is so important that Donald Trump is obsessed with things like for example, you know, his ballroom, the reflecting pond, the arch, which benefits no one outside of really Donald Trump.
- [26:25]
Jackie Alemany
Yeah. And let's actually just to drive home how Unpopular this is with the American people. Take a closer look at this Washington Post polling. When asked, what is Trump's goal with these projects, 42% say it's vanity and ego. 26% say it's to make Washington more beautiful. 22% leave his mark on Washington, 8% enrich himself and family corruption. And 4% say it is a wasteful use of tax dollars. What's next, rev? I mean, there's very few landmarks left for him not to put his name on after the change of Palm Beach Airport. He's also said in the past there's been discussions about wanting Dulles Airport to be named. What do you think the next target is?
- [27:11]
Reverend Al Sharpton
Whatever he can see. And like a child to say, oh, I want that. Put my name there. But I think also you have to deal with, as you show the polling numbers, that it is in the context of people having to now pay higher gas prices.
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Jackie Alemany
Absolutely.
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Reverend Al Sharpton
Where affordability is beyond the reach of many Americans. So it's not just naming stuff after him. It's naming stuff like ballrooms and things that are for glamour. I mean, people that voted for him, MAGA voters did not think they were voting for the Great Gatsby. They thought they were voting for somebody that would be doing something about them, and they're the ones suffering. And in the middle of this, he's standing in the West Wing saying, oh, get that named after me. Get that named after me. Rather than standing up for his voters. Fine. He certainly relates to a different base than many of us do. But for his own base, he's looking over them and picking and choosing how he can deal with his own narcissism and insecurities.
- [28:22]
Jackie Alemany
Yeah. And Charlie, I mean, these changes that the president has decided to make, they also are hurting himself in some ways. I mean, one of the vanity projects that we have not talked about yet on the show today, but his decision to try to upgrade Air Force One, it's caused a major embarrassing issues that led him to ordering his FBI to subpoena New York Times reporters about the gift that the cut that the Qataris gifted to him of that plane because it didn't have the proper defense capabilities to keep him safe. The vanity knows no bounds, it seems.
- [29:06]
Charlie Sykes
No, and these are easy stories to understand, by the way. When, you know, you point at that airplane, you say this is the, you know, the Qatari bribe, the winged bribe. Donald Trump wanted a flying palace. It turned out to be a white elephant. And when people pointed out that it, that it just, you know, with all that money that it did not actually provide the, you know, provide the technology that the president needed. He was deeply embarrassed when the New York Times reported that that not only was corrupt, but that in his vanity, he had put the nation himself at risk by flying this, this unready airplane. But again, this is also not just the corruption and the vanity. It's also an indication of just how deeply incompetent this administration is. And that's also a theme that I think people are picking up on.
- [29:56]
Jackie Alemany
And no one's going to go anywhere, because when we return, we're actually going to have some news. And we're going to be joined by one of the reporters behind the breaking news about what prompted Donald Trump to switch back to the old Air Force One as he came home from the NATO summit in Turkey. That new reporting. After a short break, The New York Times is out with new reporting on an issue that has become a lightning rod for this administration to the point where it led the administration to take the extraordinary step of issuing subpoenas to reporters. That is the ongoing question around why Donald Trump did not take the plane gifted to him by the Qatari government when he left the NATO summit early this month. Multiple people briefed on the matter tell the Times that, quote, President Trump abruptly switched aircraft when leaving Turkey after what officials judged to be a credible threat that Iranian proxy forces were targeting him and Air Force One. After the US Government picked up on the threat, the Secret Service urged Mr. Trump to change planes. He later announced that he would be using the old plane to leave the country. The information about the nature of the threat, which has not been reported before, sheds light on why the White House moved swiftly to swap out the planes. It also underscores the concerns about the security of the donated jet, which Mr. Trump pressed to be ready as soon as possible for his use. The White House didn't respond to comment, did not comment, but a senior administration official did point to comments by Donald Trump about the Iranians seeking to kill him. I want to bring in one of the reporters who broke that story, New York Times White House correspondent Tyler Pager. Rev, Al and Charlie are still here. Tyler, thanks for joining us on such short notice. Talk to us a little bit about this reporting and what you are learning today.
- [31:46]
Tyler Pager
Yeah, Jackie, thanks for having me. And as you just read from this story, we have been trying to better understand the circumstances that led to this plane swap. We reported at the time that there were security concerns, and it came at the behest of the Secret Service. And over the course of Several days, we've come to learn a little bit more specificity about that exact security concern. It was, in fact, a threat deemed credible by US Officials from Iranian proxy forces in Turkey. Now, it's not, you know, the intelligence does not specify that the threat was targeting the new Qatari jet, but just rather the President and the aircraft that he was flying on. But it was enough that was concerning to the Secret Service and U.S. officials that it prompted this change from the new Air Force One, the one donated by Qatar, to the old plane, the one that's been in use since the 90s. And this comes as part of this larger conversation around the capabilities of the new Qatari plane. One of the big questions was how much security was added to the plane during the retrofitting process from when the U.S. obtained the plane from the Qataris and started the process of retrofitting it to make it Air Force One. Air Force One is obviously the code name for any aircraft that the President is flying in, but it connotes a series of security measures to ensure that the President can do his job from the skies. There were concerns much before this trip from lawmakers and former defense officials about this process. And we have been reporting on the continuation of these concerns. And obviously this all comes after the President and the White House announced that the plane, the new plane, the Qatari jet, will be going out of service for roughly a month to get additional enhancements and upgrades. Exactly what those are remain unclear. The White House has not detailed what those are, but it just further shows that there are ongoing questions and concerns about the security of the new aircraft.
- [33:55]
Jackie Alemany
Yeah. Well, a few follow ups for you, Tyler. I mean, I'm wondering if you've heard anything about whether that that time period that you were given, a month, is actually long enough to make all of the upgrades that are necess necessary to ensure that that plane is safe. Right. Because this is an issue that has plagued presidents before Trump, and they've decided not to undergo any sort of renovation because it was going to take a lot of money and a very long period of time. But even aside from that, I know it's been a wild and I imagine, very stressful week, two weeks for you and your colleagues. Why? What has this story grated on the President so much that he tried to use the power of his DOJ to force you and your colleagues to testify before a judge?
- [34:44]
Tyler Pager
Yeah, on the first one. This all comes against the backdrop that Boeing has been retrofitting planes for many years now to replace the old Air Force ones. The President was frustrated by the delays in that process. And that's why there was what's called this bridge plane, the Cuttery jet that was supposed to serve as the intern in terms of the exact timeline. Officials we've talked to do not believe that they could fully retrofit the plane to have all the systems that the normal Air Force One has in the many months it had before he took that first flight and in this one month time period that's been identified by the White House for additional enhancements and upgrades. But again, they have not fully identified what the plane is going to get during that one month period. On the second one, I would refer you to my colleague's reporting that has outlined the president's great frustration with stories about the plane. I think just to take a step back and look at his public comments, the president for years had complained about the old Air Force One and basically said it was embarrassing to land in foreign countries with the old plane, saying it was not, not commensurate with the role in the office of the American President. And the other thing that I would just point out is that the president has long been obsessed with getting a new plane. There's a model of the new Air Force one that the B.O. that Boeing has been working on painted in the way the president wants, that is in the Oval Office. It was even in Mar a Lago during the interim years between his first and second term. So this has long been a fixation of Donald Trump, the new Air Force One and getting a new plane that he felt fit for the President of the United States.
- [36:29]
Jackie Alemany
And Charlie, I want to bring you in. Tyler, in his piece with his colleagues, points to something that I noted and took interest in last week when it was reported, I believe it was the Wall Street Journal that first reported that Israel had actually shared intelligence with the United States about the Iranian efforts to kill Mr. Trump, but that after the fact, there were some American officials who viewed that intelligence and the timing that it was relayed to Trump with skepticism, thinking that it was an effort to provoke Trump to intensify attacks against Iran. I mean, what do you make about the status of the Israeli and the US Relationship right now? I mean, there have been threats to the president from the Iranians for years now. It was central point of our reporting at the end of the president's presidential campaign. It was something that everyone around him was on high alert on. Obviously, we are in a heightened, different, escalated situation here. But where does Israel fall into all of this?
- [37:36]
Charlie Sykes
Well, it's hard to say, except that Obviously, the relations are extremely strained, and we know that the prime minister has been very zealous in trying to exploit his access to Donald Trump and to encourage him to engage in, you know, belligerent activity. But I guess I would like to address one other thing. I hope that people understand that the fact that we're even discussing this story is an indication that not all media outlets are intimidated by Donald Trump's intimidation tactics. I mean, I think this is significant just in and of itself that the president of the United States has launched a full scale weaponized attack against media critics, whether they are broad broadcast media critics or newspapers. And I find it greatly encouraging that the New York Times, which has been facing these grand jury subpoenas, is not backing down and is aggressively pursuing this story that is so embarrassing to the president.
- [38:33]
Jackie Alemany
Perfectly said Charlie. I thought the same thing. Tyler Pedro, thank you so much for your intrepid reporting along with the work of your colleagues and Charlie Sykes, thank you for spending some time with us today. Reverend Sharpton. Sticking around when we return, the shocking allegations from fired 60 Minutes correspondent Cecilia Vega and what she says about MAGA friendly bosses at CBS tried to make her do. That's after a short break
- [38:59]
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- [39:08]
Charlie Sykes
Now.
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- [39:23]
Jackie Alemany
Every small d Democratic muscle that we have is flexing.
- [39:28]
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- [39:46]
Jackie Alemany
Fire 60 Minutes correspondent Cecilia Vega is speaking out about repeated interference by the new Bari Weiss administration at CBS News. New recordings obtained by Oliver Darcy Status Vega can be heard describing three instances of management attempting to interfere in her reporting concerning the fatal shootings of Alex Preddy and Renee Goode. Darcy writes this quote, vega was encouraged to include footage of protesters violently attacking people in the streets whom the demonstrators believed to be ICE officers in plain clothes. But Vega said her team couldn't find credible examples of such behavior at the time. She also says management also attempted to intervene in stories concerning the war with Iran and SNAP benefits in West Virginia. When asked if the input was successful, Vega said Quote, if you watch my pieces, you'd see those examples did not make them in. I want to bring in the journalist who broke that story in his newsletter. Oliver Darcy, the founder of Status, is here, and Rev. Al is still with me. Oliver, very, very interesting reporting that you published last night. I do want to ask you, though, a little bit about Vega. Not directly naming Weiss when she was speaking to that audience last night, simply referring to, quote, the new administration at CBS News. You write she said some things that started to change when new people started showing up in the screenings and giving their feedback on pieces strongly suggesting that she believed Weiss was driving the request. Vega described 60 Minutes as previously having been an island with a moat of protection around it. Someone who was an associate producer at 60 Minutes, I can confirm that it is on the. Literally, physically on the opposite side of the street. Very rarely did CBS News executives come over to the 60 Minutes buildings, let alone sit in our screenings. But what does your reporting indicate about whether these directives were coming directly from Barry Weiss?
- [41:45]
Oliver Darcy
I mean, it's hard to imagine they were coming from anyone but her. I mean, she. She has been in the screenings. She's been exercising an unprecedented amount of control over 60 minutes since she walked into the building last year, since she was installed by David Ellison. You know, staffers inside 60 Minutes tell me that they view her as the de facto executive producer of the show because she has her hands, her fingerprints on, literally, it seems like every single story, even feature pieces that are not related to politics, she's green lighting those and playing some sort of role. And I think we should, you know, really point out that it's not just Celia Vega making these explosive allegations. I mean, she's an acclaimed journalist, and her alone making these allegations would be huge news. But. But there is a long list of acclaimed journalists inside CBS News who have said that Bari Weiss, since she came in, there has been political interference with their stories, with their broadcast. And Two others at 60 Minutes, Scott Pelley, who obviously was fired earlier this year after speaking out and confronting the new executive producer, and also Sharon Alfonsi. They have both said that there have been instances where it seems like, like Barry Weiss or someone acting on her behalf has tried to insert political bias into stories and that they had rejected those attempts, but that they had been there.
- [43:07]
Jackie Alemany
And, you know, just to actually elaborate a little bit on those Peli revelations, he had said things along the lines of that he was instructed to inject falsehood and bias, that politicians had been invited to choose correspondence for interviews, and that Incompetence and unprofessionalism had wrecked havoc in one of my stories. The entire program came within 19 minutes of not getting on the air at all. Given all of this and the damage, quite frankly, that the Ellisons have done to CBS News at the behest of Bari Weiss, what should we be looking out for this weekend as we head into the White House Correspondence Center? It's actually this evening, it's Friday with with CBS News correspondents, the president of the White House Correspondents Association, Weijiajiang, alongside Donald Trump this evening.
- [44:03]
Oliver Darcy
Well, I mean, we'll see what Donald Trump says. I mean, I can't imagine he's going to walk into that room and not assail the journalists inside that room. His administration has waged an unprecedented war on the press, at least in modern American times. You know, you just had Tyler Patron and the subpoenas against the New York Times. I mean, this stuff is really chilling. It has a chilling effect on the free press. And Donald Trump's going to be at this dinner, and I think it raises a lot of questions. Why the president, who is trying to tear down the First Amendment, who is trying to silence his critics, not only in the press, but also on late nights, you know, going after people like Jimmy Kimmel, doing everything he can to censor anyone who speaks out critically of him, why he would be invited to an event that is ostensibly about celebrating the free press and the First Amendment.
- [44:57]
Jackie Alemany
Oliver Darcy and Reverend Al Sharpton, thank you both for joining us today. We really appreciate it. And rev, we're going to see you on Politics Nation tomorrow at 5 with House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. When we return, Donald Trump seems to have picked a successor, but the knives of the Magaverse are already out. That's ahead.
- [45:20]
Ron Insana
Let's go.
- [45:21]
Charlie Sykes
You ready? Who likes J.D.
- [45:23]
Reverend Al Sharpton
vance?
- [45:27]
Charlie Sykes
Who likes Marco Rubio?
- [45:31]
Monday.com Advertiser
All right,
- [45:35]
Jackie Alemany
that was President Trump conducting the Apprentice POTUS edition. Trump has been publicly and privately questioning those around him.
- [45:42]
Theresa Norman
Him?
- [45:42]
Jackie Alemany
Is it Vice President Vance or Secretary Rubio? Could it possibly be me? Constitution be damned. However, it appears that the president may finally be ready to say, you're hired. My colleague Jake Traylor and I have been talking to sources at the White House who tell us that the president is now favoring J.D. vance to be his successor in 2028. Our news comes as the Washington Post reports that his Vance has ascended in the Magasphere. He's also been facing an onslaught of online attacks that his allies believe are an attempt to poison the well before he even gets his came campaign going. The Post writes that his detractors, quote, claim that Vance is unfit to be vice president due to his efforts to negotiate a peace deal with Iran. They've asserted without evidence that Vance is making policy decisions not supported by President Donald Trump. Another break for us and then we'll be right back. A big thanks to you for spending part of this Friday afternoon with us. We're grateful. Catch me tomorrow morning at 7am Eastern for the weekend and then again Sunday at 7 with special guest Senator Cory Booker.
- [46:48]
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