← Deadline: White House
Deadline: White House
“Donald Trump lost it on national television... again”
00:40:28
June 8, 2026; 4pm: Alicia Menendez is in for Nicolle Wallace. Alicia and friends cover Donald Trump storming off an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press’ Kristen Welker where Trump was insisting on baseless election fraud claims in California and Welker pushed back, saying there was no evidence to support those claims.
Loading summary
Transcript124 lines
- [00:00]
Alicia Menendez
You're listening to this podcast, so you've got a curious mind. Here's a helpful Drivers who switch and save with Progressive save over $900 on average. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save on car insurance, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12 month savings of $946 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2024 and May 2025. Potential savings will vary when you need to send the perfect rose bouquet or only one brand can say they've been the floral authority for 50 years. 1-800-Flowers. Why should you trust 1-800-Flowers? They hand select every stem to ensure top quality and with nationwide delivery, smiles and satisfaction are 100% guaranteed. And right now, when you order a dozen multicolored roses, we'll double it at no extra cost. Don't miss out on this limited time offer. Order today at 1-800-flowers.com sxm. That's 1-800-flowers. Com sxm. Hi everyone. It is four o' clock here in Washington, D.C. i'm Alicia Menendez in for Nicole Wallace. Donald Trump lost it on national television this weekend and proved to anyone watching that he has absolutely no way to defend his big, ugly lie. You know, the one he returns to anytime he's faced with a question that he can't answer. Before storming off an interview with NBC's Meet the Press, a combative Donald Trump was unable to answer questions about the war in Iran, the war he started, or the dire economic conditions American farmers are facing due to his tariffs, or whether his deeply unpopular $1.8 billion slush fund is in fact dead. Instead, he retreated to familiar territory lies about the 2020 election and the integrity of America's election systems writ large. Pulling out the January 6 playbook to cast doubts on the results of Los Angeles mayoral primary, Trump is trying to spin California's standard lengthy ballot counting timeline to cast doubts on the integrity of the vote as a reality TV star he endorsed appears unlikely to make it to the runoff, giving us an alarming preview of what we can expect come November's midterms in the process.
- [02:15]
Amanda Carpenter
Watch.
- [02:16]
Donald Trump
They sent people to jail who did nothing wrong.
- [02:20]
Alicia Menendez
Just just to be very clear, there's no evidence of what you're saying. But Todd Blanche, listen to me.
- [02:27]
Donald Trump
Let's talk. There's tremendous evidence. There's nothing but evidence. The election was rigged. It was a dirty election and it's happening again right now in California. Presented evidence happening right now in California. Right now. It's look at, look at what's happening in California?
- [02:43]
Amanda Carpenter
That it's.
- [02:44]
Donald Trump
The Republicans are doing well in California. It's. No, they're not. They're. They're dropping fast because it's a rigged election. Let you. It's four days and they aren't even close.
- [02:55]
Alicia Menendez
That's how they.
- [02:56]
Donald Trump
You know why they're doing that? Because they're cheating on the election.
- [02:58]
Alicia Menendez
There's. What, do you have evidence to support?
- [03:01]
Donald Trump
All I have to do is look, all I have to do is.
- [03:03]
Alicia Menendez
That's not.
- [03:03]
Donald Trump
And I listen and I listen to people and let's see what happens.
- [03:07]
Alicia Menendez
But sir, that's not evidence.
- [03:08]
Donald Trump
You think it's appropriate.
- [03:09]
Alicia Menendez
That's how they count the votes.
- [03:10]
Donald Trump
Do you think it's appropriate that they have an election and five days later they're nowhere close to picking.
- [03:16]
Alicia Menendez
State local officials acknowledge they are low. They're urging.
- [03:20]
Donald Trump
No, they're crooked.
- [03:20]
Alicia Menendez
They're urging votes to be counted quick. That's how they.
- [03:23]
Donald Trump
Crooked. Just like you're crooked. Your press is crooked and Meet the President's crooked.
- [03:27]
Alicia Menendez
To be fair, I'm not crooked.
- [03:28]
Donald Trump
But let's really. Well, you play right into their hands.
- [03:31]
Alicia Menendez
Let's continue.
- [03:31]
Donald Trump
You're either crooked or you're stupid. You play right into their hands with this rep. You know that these elections are rigged. Your network knows that they're rigged. You know that I won an election in a landslide And I got 94% bad press. But Mr. President, you know why I got that? Because you have no credibility.
- [03:51]
Alicia Menendez
But you've never presented evidence that it was rigged. Let's keep talking about. I want to talk about Todd.
- [03:55]
Donald Trump
You have more evidence, there's more evidence than ever presented. Let's talk your elections in this country. We're like a third world country. Your elections are crooked and you're crooked and Meet the Press is crooked and so is ABC and CBS and cnn, your one sided crooked network. So let's call it quits cuz I've had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time, Mr. President.
- [04:21]
Alicia Menendez
That warning that Donald Trump is still set on undermining our democracy is where we begin today with voting rights attorney and founder of democracy docket Mark Elias. And with me at the table for the hour, writer and editor for Protect Democracy, Amanda Carpenter. I cannot imagine two better people to have this conversation with Mark Elias before we get to all the evidence that he cannot show us despite his ability to send some staffer to Kinko's to print out beautiful images of the bunker that he is currently building, Akin to the White House. Tell me what does it mean for democracy to have a President of the United States continue a year's nearly decades long lie that our fundamental right to vote is not in fact fair and free?
- [05:10]
Mark Elias
Yeah, I mean, it goes back even further than that. I mean, Donald Trump in 2012, the night that Barack Obama won reelection, he was posting lies about the elections. But you're right, since he became a candidate, since 2016 when he defeated Hillary Clinton, he has been lying about voting, he's been lying about elections, he's been lying about election results. I mean, he lied about the election results in, in California following the 2016 election and he has been lying about elections ever since. And the problem is that as much as you and I and Amanda can push back on this and as much as we can defeat him in court and we can explain the truth, it is wearing down our democracy, it is wearing down our institutions, it's wearing down our guardrails, it is wearing down the people like us who frankly get exhausted at pushing back on this. It is wearing down the election officials who are right now trying to count ballots in California and are being attacked. And so we have to steel ourselves for this. But we also have to understand that it does take a toll, it does take its price on democracy.
- [06:22]
Alicia Menendez
Your last democracy docket post was about hope. So I am not listening to you for a second when you tell me that you of all people are worn down. Mark Elia, isn't it interesting to you that he hasn't even come up with something to fill the void when he's asked for evidence? I mean, there's not even at this point, Mark, like a knee jerk reaction to point to something or anything. We're just supposed to be taking him at his word. And I understand that's because no such evidence exists. But I wonder at this point, Mark, who's buying it?
- [06:52]
Mark Elias
Yeah, you're exactly right, by the way. And you're right, I did write Today for Democracy talking about the importance of hope. And we all need to have hope, right? Like there's a, there's, we can both be, be sort of weary of it, but, but also say we're not going to give into it and say that we're not going to become hopeless about it and we're not going to let him win by, by losing faith in our ability to fight back. I think that Donald Trump's attack on California has two particular aspects to it. The first is that he cannot stand the fact that the people of California cannot stand him. I mean, they keep voting against him, they keep Succeeding as an economy. And, and he can't stand that. The second though is that if, if he wants to steal the 2026 election, if he wants to subvert the outcome, like Willie Sutton went to banks because that's where the money was, he's going to California cuz that's where the seats are. And so if he wants to steal eight seats, 10 seats or call a question, that's where he needs to go. But he doesn't have any evidence. And this is your point, by the way. One thing I'd add is that you'd think if you were gonna steal elections and you were the state of California, like you wouldn't take your time, right? You'd be able to do it right away because after all, you'd be stealing the outcome of the election. The fact that these election officials are day in, day out, you know, toiling in public with full transparency, trying to get it 100% right is, is actually the opposite of what you would expect if you were trying to do something untoward.
- [08:15]
Alicia Menendez
Amanda, I was struck by the fact that the first assistant U.S. attorney in California who came out with this statement alleging that there was potential fraud that they were going to investigate because he carrying Donald Trump's water says the reason I believe there's the possibility of fraud is because California doesn't require ID and because we have this vast system of mail in voting. So I went over to the Internet, which is available to almost all, and googled what is the cases of voter fraud when it comes to mail in voting? According to Brookings, it's 0.00004%. Right. Like we're not talking about a thing that is real. Why this particular interest in sowing doubt in mail in voting?
- [08:56]
Amanda Carpenter
Yeah, because mail in vot where they think they can exercise some control. I mean, look at what happened in this interview. Does Donald Trump actually care about the LA Mayor's race? Do they actually care about boosting reality?
- [09:07]
Alicia Menendez
Spencer Pratt have to stick together.
- [09:09]
Amanda Carpenter
Amanda was slinging crystals on the Internet five minutes ago. What they're interested is continuing this conspiracy about mail in ballots so that they can have people in place like Todd Blanche or Bill Pewt so that they can launch these fake investigations to disrupt the process and deny results that they don'. You are right. This is absolutely about spreading lies about the mail in voting process. Because you look what the US Postal Service, of all places, a couple weeks ago they proposed a rule so they would create a national mail in voter database so that Trump appointees could disqualify people from the voter rolls. They want to nationalize mail in voting so that they can take it over. That's what's happening behind the scenes here in front, we see Donald Trump melting down saying the same stuff he's been saying, as Mark pointed out, for the last decade. But behind the scenes, they are putting things in place to deceive people about mail in voting, to disrupt the process and deny the results with these loyalists that they put into place.
- [10:12]
Alicia Menendez
Let's talk about some of those loyalists. I want to play you both. These are the legal advisors who were surrounding Trump back in 2020 as opposed to the legal advisors who are surrounding him now. Take a look.
- [10:24]
Donald Trump
I made it clear I did not agree with the idea of saying the election was stolen and putting out this
- [10:30]
Mark Elias
stuff, which I told the President was bull.
- [10:33]
Donald Trump
And, you know, I didn't want to be a part of it.
- [10:37]
Mark Elias
And that's one of the reasons that
- [10:38]
Donald Trump
went into me deciding to leave. When I did, I observed, I think it was on December 1st that, you know, how can we, you can't live in a world where the incumbent administration stays in power based on its view, unsupported by specific evidence that the election, that there was fraud in the election.
- [10:58]
Mark Elias
On the integrity side, we're doing an absolutely terrible job and the American people
- [11:04]
Alicia Menendez
are right to question it. California's election law allows ballots by election day to be counted and permit same day registration. That means tabulation typically continues for weeks. And that doesn't sound like fraud. You can argue whether the law makes sense, but that doesn't sound like a fraudulent situation.
- [11:22]
Donald Trump
No, there's a great, there's a great
- [11:23]
Mark Elias
phrase, opportunity for fraud.
- [11:27]
Alicia Menendez
Mark Elias, talk to me about the, quote, opportunity for fraud and the way that idea is perpetuated when it's not just the President of the United States who is saying it, but all of the lackeys around him.
- [11:38]
Mark Elias
I guess there's a question. Why the hell is the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York opining on election law in California? I mean, doesn't he have enough to do in Manhattan? Maybe he should lock up some Wall street criminals. Instead he's sitting there, you know, talking about opportunities for fraud in California. And by the way, his job is to investigate crimes based on evidence and to bring charges where they exist. Not to be a roving political reporter about opportunities for fraud under election laws he knows literally nothing about. I mean, the fact that this is what the U.S. attorney's office in New York is talking about tells you everything you need to know. About the corruption of this Department of Justice. Because this guy knows that his bread is buttered by having something provocative to say when Dear Leader is watching tv, even though he's sitting in a studio in New York City and opining about California election law. It's a bunch of nonsense. There's no opportunity for fraud because people are validating ballots in public. There's no opportunity for fraud because the U.S. postal Service is too slow in delivering the mail. It is an insult to voters. It is an affront to democracy, and it is part and parcel of what is wrong with this administration that this guy who's supposed to be tracking down terrorism or Wall street criminals is instead doing Donald Trump's bidding by insinuating nonsense about California.
- [13:20]
Alicia Menendez
I understand that the question that Mark asked at the top of his answer, like, what is the head of SDNY doing talking about election in California? Was intended to be a rhetorical one, or at least one that Mark himself would answer. But it speaks to the fact that the permission structure has changed because the president has placed people around him who have allowed it to change.
- [13:37]
Amanda Carpenter
Yeah, I mean, I think it's worth reminding viewers that the White House has no role in election administration. The Constitution gives that to the states. So you can complain that California takes too long to count its votes, which, yeah, I think it does. But that's their right to administer the system how they want. They're following the law, they're following a process. They place a premium on accessibility that takes longer than other states. Okay, that's how they do it. But for the White House to get involved, and you think about DOJ and ODNI and all these other offices, they have no business business here. And I think the states would do well, especially California, like, get in front of this process. There are things that the states can do to defend their process, to say, this is how we do it. The White House can stay out of this. We know how to do this lawfully. And until you have any evidence which you have never produced, stay out of it.
- [14:32]
Alicia Menendez
Mark, I wanted to try to leave the media conversation for later, but I actually just can't help myself. Heather Cox Richardson, she wrote this over the weekend on her substack about the way this all ties into the. One of the things Trump spat at Welker was that, quote, a country can never be great with a dishonest press. With this statement directed at the legacy media, once again, Trump illustrated that he was accusing his opponents of what he himself is doing, a classic authoritarian technique to muddy the waters. So people Stop trying to figure out what is real and cease to believe anything. You yourself have often been a critic of establishment media and the limits of establishment media. In this moment, I still think even you see the value of a media that fact checks, that holds power to account. The fact that Donald Trump consistently, and in this interview in which he can present no facts and no evidence, chooses to go after the media, what does that tell you about where we are in the authoritarian slip slide?
- [15:34]
Mark Elias
Yeah, I mean, a free press is essential to democracy. I mean, my criticism of the legacy media is that they sometimes don't go hard enough at the White House and they don't hold power to account. It is not, as Donald Trump suggests, that somehow they hold the White House to too high a standard. I mean, what is really true is that you cannot have a democracy without a free press, and you cannot have a democracy without a free press that is skeptical of power and that reports without fear or favorite. And so, of course, Donald Trump doesn't want any of that. If you notice the first clip you played, he was like, elections are rigged. And the way we know this is because 94% of the coverage of me is negative. I mean, try and connect those two dots together and you kind of see what he's getting at, which is that his view is that because he won an election, the press should do whatever he wants. And my view is that because he won an election, the press should be even more skeptical of what he wants.
- [16:33]
Amanda Carpenter
Right.
- [16:34]
Alicia Menendez
Neither of you are going anywhere. When we come back, we have another reason to question what this administration is telling us. More from that interview. Donald Trump admitting he's still fighting for that slush fund for the insurrectionists. Congressman Jamie Raskin is going to join us next on that. Plus, after promising again and again, over and over, there would be no new wars, Trump then launched a war he cannot get out of more than 100 days later. And also ahead, why does Trump ruin everything? 27 years since the New York Knicks were in the NBA Finals, Trump has made tonight's game three all about him. All those stories and more when Deadline White House continues after this.
- [17:14]
Jamie Raskin
As a small business owner, sometimes it feels like no matter how much planning you do, there's always surprises, like an urgent, expensive repair.
- [17:23]
Alicia Menendez
But here's the surprise you will like
- [17:25]
Jamie Raskin
with progressive small business owners save 13%
- [17:28]
Mark Elias
on their commercial auto insurance when they pay in full.
- [17:30]
Alicia Menendez
So enjoy a surprise for once. Get a quote in as little as 8 minutes@progressivecommercial.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates discounts not available in all states or situations. You know what's worse than a long wait?
- [17:43]
Dominic Patton
Flipping through old magazines in a waiting room. Instead, I power up Cumpa Casino slots,
- [17:49]
Alicia Menendez
Blackjack, solitaire, roulette, Mingo and more. Boredom doesn't stand a chance.
- [17:55]
Dominic Patton
Take a few virtual apps with me. Let's Chumba play now@chumbacasino.com no purchase necessary.
- [18:02]
Alicia Menendez
VGW Group voidware prohibited by law. CTC's 21 plus sponsored by Chumba Casino
- [18:08]
Kristen Walker
A Better Help Ad Summer can feel like a sprint. Kids home, trips to plan, routines flipped upside down. It's easy to slip into survival mode just trying to get through it. Then suddenly it's over and you're wishing you enjoyed the days just a little bit more. Therapy can help you slow down and actually be present for the moments that matter. With better help, you can connect with a licensed therapist from anywhere on your schedule. Don't just survive this summer. Thrive. Visit betterhelp.com
- [18:39]
Alicia Menendez
Despite Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's claims that the administration was backing away from the proposed 1.8 billion dol dollar slush fund, Trump, in that highly contentious interview over the weekend, appeared to revive the idea, amplifying disproven conspiracy theories about the events of January 6th and whitewashing the violence that occurred at the Capitol in the process.
- [19:03]
Donald Trump
It was up to me. I'd pay them the kind of money that they deserve.
- [19:08]
Alicia Menendez
Do you think anyone who attacked police officers on January 6 should get taxpayer money?
- [19:14]
Donald Trump
I wouldn't be inclined to say so, but I have to see it. I can tell you this. 97% of those people, you look at them, the FBI or whoever it was, because you had a lot of crooked cops. You had dirty cops. Comey was a dirty cop. A guy like Bolton was a dirty cop.
- [19:29]
Alicia Menendez
There's no evidence.
- [19:30]
Donald Trump
Wait a minute, wait a minute. Oh, you think Comey was a straight
- [19:33]
Alicia Menendez
copy who pleaded guilty to assaulting police?
- [19:35]
Donald Trump
You know why they pled guilty? Because they told they were going to jail for 50, 15 years if they didn't. Should they pled guilty because they were frightened? They went down. They were ushered into a building. Many of them were arrested without even
- [19:49]
Alicia Menendez
going into the building with them, receiving taxpayer dollars.
- [19:53]
Donald Trump
The people were destroyed by dirty cops and by weaponization. Many of those people should be compensated. Now, with that being said, the as I understand it, the weaponization fund was going to set up a group of people, people that could be picked by anybody. Fair people, smart people. And they will go on an individual case basis. Okay? Now I don't know what's going to happen with the weaponization fund. I love the idea.
- [20:24]
Alicia Menendez
I want to bring in Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland. He is the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. Mark and Amanda are still with us. Congressman, let's just do a quick reset here. Your understanding of where the slush fund stands right now?
- [20:39]
Jamie Raskin
Well, Todd Blanche has said that it's dead. The president said he loves it. But it's not so much the fund itself. The critical thing is that the president wants to get money to his political foot soldiers, which essentially constitute a private militia for him to be deployed for political purposes. And obviously, that's totally outside of our constitutional order. It's not up to Todd Blanche or Donald Trump to allocate $1.8 million billion dollars, rather, to the members of the Oath Keepers and the proud boys and the insurrectionists. It's Congress that appropriates the dollars of the American people. It's only Congress that has the power to do that. And if these people think that they've got a case under the law, they should go to court. It's only the courts that decide actual cases and controversies. So their whole plan is outside of our constitutional order. It usurps the powers of Congress to appropriate many usurps the power of courts to decide particular cases. And they're just making up offenses. Weaponization, lawfare. These things don't exist as a matter of law in the United States, either in federal law or in the states. And so if they want to pass a new offense called weaponization, they should bring it to Congress. We can debate it, go through the House, go through the Senate, the president can sign and so on. But otherwise, you got to deal with the law as it is. And I don't think There's a single January 6th convicted criminal who's been able to get their their sentences struck down or their conviction reversed, or has been able to make a claim that they were the victims of political retaliation or some kind of fraudulent prosecution or retaliatory prosecution. It just doesn't exist. Despite all the political rhetoric of the president.
- [22:29]
Alicia Menendez
Kirsten, there were lots of strange moments in that interview. I thought it was strange that the president kept referring to these United States, the country that he is currently the president of, as your country. He kept saying that Kristen Walker, as though he's like never been to the United States, doesn't consider it something that he is a part of. I also thought it was interesting there, that clip you watched, how he kind of glitched out every time that Kristen Walker said, well, do you think taxpayer dollars should go to fund for this? Like either he had not concept sexualized it fully or he understood how politically toxic it was to say, yes, taxpayer dollars should go to all of these folks that you just outlined here. I mean, your sense of like his political understanding of this moment. Because I think it relates to what we're seeing on Capitol Hill where for one of the first times you have Republicans in your chamber who are actually saying, I'm not co signing this.
- [23:28]
Jamie Raskin
Yeah, well, I think that was an authoritarian slip when he kept referring to your country and your Constitution and so on. This is a president who never talks about our Constitution and Bill of Rights. It's a president who never talks about the framers and their handiwork. And he doesn't really talk about American history much because he believes that American history begins with him, which is the conceit of all of the authoritarians and the autocrats. But it's very clear that the rest of us in America have got to stand up for our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, against this total fraud on the court, as the judge in Florida is clearly indicating, which would become a fraud on the country if they're able to get away with it. The point is that the tax dollars, the hard earned tax dollars of the American people who are laboring under the inflation caused by Trump's tariff and Trump's war should not be going to pay for the President's private army. If these people think that they've got some kind of valid legal cause of action, go to court like everybody else in America and make your case. But we shouldn't set up a completely different system for them just to give
- [24:41]
Alicia Menendez
away everybody else's money was kind of interesting. Marco Lias for him to contemplate that a plea deal is often in fact someone who does not believe that they are guilty of a crime, feeling as though the pressure is so great that it would be better for them to take that deal, it does not only apply to those who were at the Capitol on January 6th. I have a different question for you, Mark, though, which is if this is as the congressman and you in the past have said about a future permission structure, how important is it that it is actually brought to fruition? Is the promise from the president is him going on national television and saying, I hope and I wish and I still think this is a great idea, enough to single signal to that would be militia that he is going to have their back should that day come?
- [25:29]
Mark Elias
Absolutely. Look, I mean that's what the pardons were About. Right. The pardons were not just about building the militia from the people who were pardoned, although that's certainly a big component of it. But it was a signal to others that you can do things that break the law and I will take care of you before I leave office. That's also not true. That's also true for people who serve in his administration. It's also true with what he did with Tina Peters. Right. I mean, it will be to the utter shame of Governor Polis, for reasons I will never understand, that he. That he agreed to release Tina Peters. But it clearly came at the direction, or at the. I should say at the pressure from the White House. And all of these things, the slush fund, all of this is Donald Trump signaling that he will never leave behind the people who stand by his efforts to thwart democracy and undermine free and fair elections. And so whether that is by having their back when they're lawyers and they are facing disbarment, we see that. Whether it is having their back with pardons, and we see this, whether it is compensating them financially. This is a very dangerous time in our democracy. I mean, make no mistake about it. It's a very, very dangerous time. And, you know, and he is trying to instigate it to make it more dangerous.
- [26:44]
Alicia Menendez
Congressman, you had Todd Blanche's nomination officially submitted. I wonder what that signals to you in this context of an administration that is pushing and continues to push and stoke election lies.
- [27:00]
Jamie Raskin
Well, Todd Blanche obviously passed the test that Donald Trump had set up for him. Would he go ahead and advance and promote this $1.776 billion political slush fund for Trump to distribute to his various lieutenants and foot soldiers? And would he arrange for Donald Trump and his family and all of their businesses to have a permanent pardon for all of the tax offenses, other criminal offenses, other civil offenses, other administrative law offenses that have been committed up until this point, which is what this fraudulent collusive settlement of this fraudulent collusive litigation is all about, dealing a wholly unprecedented mass pardon to Donald Trump and his family and their businesses for anything that they've done. Not just tax offenses, but insider trading, embezzlement, emoluments, clause violations, you name it, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. They get a free ride in a clean slate for everything. That's remarkable. And so that's the kind of lawyer that Donald Trump likes. It's hard to say that it's a surprise, given that Todd Blanche was his personal criminal defense attorney over these last several years, but he's clearly showing Donald Trump that nothing will change in his job description if he's made the attorney general of the United States. The ball is really in the court of the United States Senate at this point to determine whether they want to have an attorney general who's a lawyer for the people or an attorney general who's a lawyer for Donald Trump and his various predatory offenses against the republic.
- [28:41]
Alicia Menendez
We will see what the Senate chooses to do. Congressman Jamie Raskin, thank you so much for your time today. Mark Elias, as always, thank you for joining us. Amanda, you are sticking with me. When we come back, fired CBS News correspondent Scott Pelley alleging an editorial thumb on the scale to push a pro Trump take on the news. We're gonna look at that story next.
- [29:04]
Jay Uso
Yo, it's Jay USO from wwe and I'm Jimmy uso. Chumba Casino and WWE are hyped for the biggest event of the summer, SummerSlam. I know I can't wait. There's nothing better to do while we're waiting than playing Chumba Casino. Sign up today and you could win a VIP experience with Chumba Casino and with WWE for SummerSlam. So what are you waiting for? Play Chumbo Casino and enter for your chance to win.
- [29:27]
Alicia Menendez
Let's Chumble. Only available in permitted states. No purchase necessary. See Terms and conditions for details.
- [29:31]
Dominic Patton
BGW Group would be prohibited by law. 21/plus sponsored by Chumbo Casino.
- [29:34]
Kristen Walker
A Better Help AD Summer can feel like a sprint. Kids home, trips to plan, routines flipped upside down. It's easy to slip into survival mode just trying to get through it. Then suddenly it's over and you're wishing you enjoyed the days just a little bit more. Therapy can help you slow down and actually be present for the moments that matter. With better help, you can connect with a licensed therapist from anywhere on your schedule. Don't just survive this summer thrive. Visit betterhelp.com Sunday, June 14 from Washington,
- [30:07]
Donald Trump
D.C. a special live taping of Ms. Now's hit podcast the Blueprint with Jen Psaki. Join her as she talks with actor
- [30:16]
Alicia Menendez
and author Billy Eichner.
- [30:18]
Donald Trump
They'll explore the power of humor in
- [30:20]
Alicia Menendez
the face of adversity and Eichner's new audio memoir, Billy on Billy the Blueprint with Jen Psaki live with Billy Eichner.
- [30:29]
Donald Trump
Get your tickets today at 6th and I.org.
- [30:36]
I
There was a thumb on the scale for the president's version of events that I felt was a level of political influence that I had never seen in 37 years at CBS News. My hope? A return to sanity, a return to honor, a return to courage. We used to have all of those things in abundance, and now we don't. We can save this. It's possible to land this plane. But right now, CBS News, in my view, is on fire.
- [31:26]
Alicia Menendez
In his first interview since being fired last week, CBS veteran correspondent Scott Pelley accuses CBS News director Bari Weiss of editorial interference and tipping the scales for Donald Trump and of leading the destruction of 60 Minutes. In the New York Times interview, Pelley describes one instance, an email from Weiss regarding a story about the anti ice protests in Minneapolis requesting that Pelley's team make the protesters look more violent and to describe Renee Good as driving toward the officer before she was killed. Here's what Peli said.
- [32:01]
I
I sat down with a video editor and I went over the video of the Renee Good killing over and over and over again, stop motion, slow motion, et cetera, and realized that the event was not, as the president said and not the way Bari Weiss remembered it. And so it's late. Our deadline was noon. It's now almost 5 o'.
- [32:32]
Donald Trump
Clock.
- [32:34]
I
That's dangerous as hell. And so I decided that I wouldn't do those things.
- [32:41]
Alicia Menendez
A CBS News spokesperson says Bari Weiss's point, quote, had no political motivation and were proposed solely to make the piece as strong, fair and accurate as possible. Joining our conversation, executive editor@deadline.com, dominic Patton. Amanda is still with us. Amanda, you don't see a lot of profiles encouraged these days. So when you do, it's pretty remarkable, pretty incredible, especially the fact that he brought receipts that he was able to give us, those of us who don't necessarily have the same window into CBS News, a real sense of what we mean when he and Cecilia Vega talk about political bias, talk about censorship, Those examples, pretty damning.
- [33:20]
Amanda Carpenter
Yeah. I mean, it is really commendable what Scott Pauli is doing. I mean, when I see what he's doing, I wish there were so many people, you know, in senior leadership roles in government who had that same kind of courage because there were so many times we needed people in a position like Scott, someone with experience and clout and, you know, please forgive me for saying older in his career where he can walk away at a time and be totally fine. He's set for life. He's going to be okay. Although it's tremendously sad that he's had to go out this way. And for him to stick up to people and list people by name that were inappropriately fired, I just think that's wonderful. But, you know, I think something else he talked about in that interview, he kind of kept emphasizing how incompetent the people are that they were bringing him Barry Weiss, the new executive producer. And this is something that's deliberately done by authoritarian leaders. They don't pick people with expertise because the people with expertise and experience can stand on their own two feet. Bari Weiss has no TV experience. That's by design. She was brought in. You know, Scott Pelley can't say this, and he's being very careful with his words, but anybody that watches the situation can see that she was brought in to gut that place in hopes of making it a propaganda machine to appease Donald Trump so that Paramount and all these people can pursue bigger projects. We all see the big picture say that, but he can say they don't have experience, they don't know what they're doing. But I want everyone else to see that's on purpose. So they have to follow the cues of Trump because they don't know anything else.
- [34:57]
Alicia Menendez
Dominic, I can't tell you the number of times I have sat in an edit bay with a producer and we have watched footage, just like he said, over and over and over again. And every time that I have done that with an editor, with a producer, I have always felt that we are watching that video over and over again in the service of making sure we get it right and we serve our audience, never in the interests of trying to fulfill some external agenda. Just how dangerous is it for correspondents like Scott Pelley to feel that they cannot do their job, they cannot serve their audience, because that is no longer the primary objective?
- [35:33]
Dominic Patton
My former life as a TV producer and a TV host myself, I was exactly in the same place. And that's exactly what that experience is. Of course, you look for accuracy. Of course you also realize you want to have things that people are going to want to watch. I don't want to use the word entertainment value, but you want to have images that capture people's attention. Clearly, what was going on here was an alternative version of reality. And to Scott Pelly's credit, and I think Amanda put this very well, and I'll just reiterate it, the great thing about Scott Pelley is he's got nothing to lose. You know, he is set for life. I don't think he's going to worry about paying his visa bill over the next couple of years, so he can actually speak truth to power here, and he can say, look, there's a line and we're not going to cross it. Clearly in his descriptions, both in his statements earlier last week and then in the more elaborate and deeper version he gave the New York Times this weekend, he's talked about this thumb on the scale, this political appearance. Not the first person at CBS News to do that, by the way. Not the first time we've seen that. And I'm just going to put you to a certain Marco Rubio love in that was done on the evening news several months ago. But I think to that point, there has to be a point at which you have to recognize where truth is, because that is what these images are. They tell truth. They tell truth to power, but they also tell truth to people. If you gave images, for instance, of what was happening in Minneapolis last year, earlier this year, and you showed a more violent crowd or you showed people driving towards law enforcement as opposed to away from them, you create very different images which create different narratives, which is exactly what the Trump administration and their buddies want to now look very clearly. What's going on at Paramount, the parent company, the CBS and CBS News is a transactional motivation. They have a $118 billion deal to buy Warner Brothers Discovery, the owners of CNN, I might point out, and they want that deal approved. They want it approved quickly by the Trump administration as well as certain European Union regulators. And this is the part of their process. It is no secret that Donald Trump does not like 60 Minutes.
- [37:30]
Mark Elias
Why?
- [37:30]
Dominic Patton
Because he sued them last year and got him back in 2024 and $16 million to go away in what was essentially seen as a useless lawsuit. He refers to the Ellisons as good friends. This is whatever their motivations is, long term, we know what the short term is and we know what the consequences are. CBS News is being gutted from the inside out, and that will leave it regardless of who ends up running it in the coming months or years. Rebuilding is always not so easy after the earthquake hits.
- [37:59]
Alicia Menendez
I'm thinking, Amanda, about what you said about competence, because that is something that Pelley spent a lot of time talking about. But he also this that for the new leadership at CBS News asking to report on Donald Trump's views, quote, it was never enough. The fact that that is even in the equation is pretty wild. I don't know how you rebuild. I mean, I guess Scott Pelley's point is just like, stop, right? Put pin in where we are right now. But even then, and obviously there are like all these business interests that would be have to be factored in. There's a rebuilding that I'm not sure is possible.
- [38:40]
Amanda Carpenter
I mean, part of me wants to embrace the creative destruction process as a sort of free market person. And that Donald Trump, I will say, just if I'm looking for a silver lining, he is targeting legacy media outlets because quite frankly, he's an old man that only watches legacy media outlets. That's not to take away from 60 Minutes, great success, but the way that we get out of this is building new stuff. We can all see that the media is changing. When you look at the way that he's tried to use the government to crack down on things like ABC through the fcc, Brendan Carr threatening investigations about new distortion policies which ultimately led to that CBS settlement, that's all targeted at old media. What everybody is watching, what the new generations are watching. He has no clue how to get his arms around. That's where the growth is going to be. That's the opportunity and that's the future.
- [39:28]
Alicia Menendez
Quick break. When we come back, how Trump responds to the press when he doesn't have access to the upper ranks of the newsroom. We're going to show you that next. Why do you blame the Biden administration?
- [39:42]
Donald Trump
Because they let him in. Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person? This is one of the worst reporters. She's with ABC Fake News and she's a horror show. A question like that is a disgrace to our country. Who are you with?
- [40:00]
Alicia Menendez
I'm with ABC News, sir.
- [40:01]
Donald Trump
You're with who?
- [40:01]
Alicia Menendez
ABC News, sir.
- [40:02]
Donald Trump
Fake News, ABC Fake News. One of the worst. One of the worst in the business. But I'll answer your question, Mr. President.
- [40:08]
Alicia Menendez
Why wait for Congress to release the Epstein files?
- [40:10]
Kristen Walker
Why not just do it now?
- [40:12]
Donald Trump
It's not the question that I mind. It's your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter. You're a terrible person and a terrible.
- [40:20]
Alicia Menendez
What would you say to the survivors
- [40:22]
Amanda Carpenter
who feel like they haven't gotten touched
- [40:23]
Donald Trump
up with the worst reporter? No one to see. CNN has no ratings because of people like you. You know, she's a young woman. I don't think I've ever seen you smile.
- [40:32]
Alicia Menendez
So if you saw the way the president treated Kristen Walker this past weekend, it probably didn't come as a surprise given that we have seen time and time again this is what happens when Donald Trump gets questions he does not like from a free press and specifically from women and women of color who refuse to capitulate or tailor their coverage to his fate. We are back with Dominic and with Amanda. Dominic, we've seen this before. It is rude. It is unacceptable. It is also a part of the authoritarian playbook,
- [41:03]
Dominic Patton
very much so. And I Think very much so, too. What we're also seeing here is not just the misogyny, but also the mental capacity or lack thereof. To be honest, the misogyny is one thing. The mental capacity is. This is someone who's lit. Truly alienate. I have, I know people who are very maga women who say, if a man talked to me like that, I'd slap him upside the head. They're disgraceful on all levels. But honestly, this is who he is and this is what we've got. And this is embarrassingly so what we have to deal with. And the worst part, I think, is the members of the press who stand around Kaitlan Cohen's and others and who don't say anything. And I get it as a member of the press. We're all in this together. It's a scoop based world competition. But for God's sake, how, what's the number of how many of your colleagues does the President of the United States need to routinely insult before you say is enough is enough?
- [41:54]
Alicia Menendez
Well, I mean, and I think people are in a very difficult position where the insults are being hurled at them. They're being hurled at other people. And the entire operation is to undermine the very institution of affair and free press. It happens to land on individuals, but the impact is collective.
- [42:10]
Amanda Carpenter
Yeah. And it's very hard to respond without becoming part of the story and giving Trump exactly what he wants. But I think we need to take a moment and just look at how tough these women are. Look at Kristen Welker in that interview. Donald Trump, he's getting worked up, he's getting sweaty, the lights are on. He's getting flustered. And she just stands there and sits there and keeps repeating the question. Kaitlan Collins, I don't know how many times she's been insulted in the worst terms in that press room. That woman does not flinch. These women are amazing. The President of the United States is berating them using the biggest platform in the world, and they don't flinch for a second. I mean, I think that's just an incredible story. Like this man can't get to them. And just what, like, I just want to throw flowers at their feet.
- [42:58]
Alicia Menendez
The men are very emotional. I mean, I think, I think we have to be honest about all of that. All right, Amanda, thank you so much as always for sitting at the table with me. Dominic Patton, thank you for joining us today. Up next, the first real reversal happening in Washington today to Donald Trump's push to put his name on as many things as he can. I'm going to tell you what it is next. The Kennedy center today removed Donald Trump's name from its website. Now, more than a week after a federal judge ruled the center's board of trustees had illegally renamed the venue and ordered any mention of Trump's name be taken down, it's the most concrete reversal in Trump's plot to take over the performing arts center. We're still waiting for those letters to come down off the front of the building. In another loss for Donald Trump, a judge sided with one of the artists who canceled an appearance after the name change, throwing out the Kennedy Center's lawsuit against him. The center has until Friday. That's just four more days to scrape those letters off the front of the building and comply with the judge's orders. We're gonna bring you that the moment it happens. After the break, how Trump backtracked on one of his most repeated campaign promises. Gonna tell you about that when Deadline White House continues right after this.
- [44:18]
Jay Uso
Yo, it's Jay USO from wwe and I'm Jimmy uso. Chumba Kasina and WWE are hyped for the biggest event of the summer, SummerSlam. I know I can't wait. There's nothing better to do while we're waiting than playing Chumba Casino. Sign up today and you could win a VIP experience with Chumba Casino and with WWE for SummerSlam. So what are you waiting for? Play Chumbo Casino and enter for your chance to win.
- [44:42]
Alicia Menendez
Let's Chumble. Only available in permitted states. No purchase necessary. See Terms and conditions for details.
- [44:46]
Dominic Patton
BGW Group would be prohibited by law 21+ sponsored by Chumba Casino.