← Deadline: White House
Deadline: White House
"The stalemate phase”
00:40:32
Following reports that Iran was pulling itself from peace negotiations, Trump told CNBC, “I couldn’t care less.”
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- [00:00]
Commercial Announcer
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- [00:30]
Political Analyst
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- [00:54]
Commercial Announcer
Somebody said today, they said, oh well, president wants to do it really quickly. After that he'll get bored. I don't get bored. There's nothing boring about this.
- [01:06]
News Anchor Nicole
I don't get bored. I just text all night for kicks. Hi again everybody. It's five o' clock in New York for every Trump soundbite. If you just give it a minute, like a week max, sometimes it's as few, as short as a few hours or a few weeks. Always by a few months. There will come a point where he will contradict himself completely and say or do the opposite. He made that comment in March regarding the war with Iran, a war which has now dragged on for months. And yesterday, following reports that Iran was pulling itself away from out of peace negotiations, Donald Trump said this to cnbc. I couldn't care less. He went on to say he thought the protracted discussions, quote, started to get very boring, end quote. So much for there's nothing boring about this, which was also a Trump quote today. Donald Trump said the reports of stall negotiations are fake. But no matter what, he has reached what David Sanger of the New York Times describes, quote, the stalemate phase of his presidency. There is, of course, the ongoing war with Iran, not to mention the Ukraine war, which he said back in 2023 he would, quote, end in 24 hours. That war is now in its fifth year. David Sanger writes this quote, perhaps all of this is the inevitable result of a president with huge ambitions running into the brick walls of global realities. Perhaps it is the result of overreach, as Trump, infused with the success of his first two military adventures into Iran and Venezuela, assumes that there is no task too big for the US Military. Some experts suggest that it arises from a fundamental misunderstanding of American power. As one of Trump's close aides said recently, destroying nuclear sites from the air is what America does best. And controlling political events in nations like Iran, Russia and Ukraine is what the United States does worst. And a further display of the flailing by the Trump administration, Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio was up on Capitol Hill today, appearing before Congress for the first time publicly since the war with Iran began. A war which he did not acknowledge at all in his opening statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Here is Senator Chris Van Hollen calling Rubio and the Trump administration out.
- [03:31]
Political Commentator
Netanyahu said he's been waiting 40 years to do this. Turns out he finally found a president who was both stupid and reckless enough to join him. The war has killed 14American service members, wounded hundreds more, and killed thousands of civilians. It's driving up the price of gas, food, and much more. Trump obviously doesn't care. He called high gas prices peanuts and said, I don't think about Americans financial situation. That's from the President of the United States. And all for what the president told us 91 days ago that we had, quote, won the war in Iran last year. He told the country, Iran's key enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Was that false? Let's face it, Mr. Secretary, the Trump foreign policy has become a dumpster fire.
- [04:29]
News Anchor Nicole
A dumpster fire is where we begin the hour with senior national security reporter David Rhode and former Ambassador to Russia and international affairs analyst Michael McFaul. Ambassador McFaul, let me come to you first on what stands out to you in terms of the story that Americans are getting from their government about a war. It was a war in which 13American service members, men and women, lost their lives. What do you make of what the American people and those families are hearing about it?
- [05:07]
Political Analyst
Well, they're hearing from the president one thing, but they're hearing from everybody else, another thing. And they don't have to hear it from anybody when they go to get gas for their car about the cost of this war. You know, Nicole, I had a book come out last fall, so I've been on the road, I think 50 talks I've now given all over the country about American foreign policy. And everywhere I go, you hear anxiety. It's what are we doing? Why did we start this war? Why haven't we achieved our outcomes? Why are we not doing more for Ukraine, the stalemate there? Why are we blowing up our relations with Our allies all over the world. Why did we start trade wars with everybody? That has led to tremendous uncertainty. So when you put it all together, I think, as you were just talking about, overreach is the right term, but I want to add personalized, unilateral overreach, because what you have under President Trump is somebody that's doing things in very personalistic terms. He doesn't talk about American national interests. He doesn't talk about our security and our prosperity, and he never talks about our values. It's always Trump, President Trump this and that, and his personal relationships with other leaders. And that, as a strategy, is not working for the rest of us.
- [06:30]
News Anchor Nicole
I want to read you, David, what Axios reported on this line of all foreign policy being wrapped around Donald Trump's personalizing every decision and every interaction on behalf of the country. This is from Axios. Quote, you're effing crazy. Trump fumes at Netanyahu and call on Lebanon is the headline. President Trump lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's escalation in Lebanon. In an expletive laden call Monday, two U.S. officials and a third source briefed on the call told Axios. Summarizing Trump's remarks to Netanyahu, the US Official said, quote, you're effing crazy. You'd be in prison if it weren't for me. I'm saving your A word. Everyone hates you. Everybody hates Israel because of this. End quote. There's so much there that it is undeniably news. It's struck a chord inside the Magaverse. It's incredibly important to know what our country's leader says to another country, especially as the reporting bears out, that other leader was instrumental in convincing Donald Trump to take this country to war in Iran. What do you make of the state of the war
- [07:42]
Foreign Policy Expert David Rhode
in terms of that specific story? I mean, my sense is that someone in the White House wanted that to get out, and that may have been even the president himself, that he wanted to be seen, I think, as standing up to Netanyahu. Who knows if the exact wording is right, But I think it's an effort by Trump to try to appear strong, where if you look all over the world, the various countries and challenges you've mentioned, Trump looks very weak. He's sort of failing on every front. So it's an extraordinary leak. Israeli officials have denied it, but I think I just was meeting actually with an intelligence official here in Washington, a former official. They felt like Trump sort of created an opening and said to Netanyahu maybe you can do some more in Lebanon. And Netanyahu overdid it and went too far. And it just again shows that Trump blinked when Iran said, you must stop this fighting in Lebanon. The Israelis have gone too far. Donald Trump realized this was all escalating out of control and contacted Bibi. And whether he used those exact words or not, he said, stop this. And then he spoke to Hezbollah reportedly to try to ease tensions there. So again, it's Trump putting out fires. It's not the world listening and fearing him and doing what he says. It's just him sort of reacting over and over again.
- [09:02]
News Anchor Nicole
Let me show you to your point, David Rowe. This is how it's playing inside his political coalition. This is a MAGA friendly former military podcast host named Sean Ryan talking to, I don't even know what we call her, Megyn Kelly. We're going to pull that up. But to your point about the political, dire political straits he's in, it's undeniable that the political pressure isn't just a pressure cooker, it's a vice. Democrats are completely on offense. Let me show you. Here it is. Here's that clip from Sean Ryan and Megyn Kelly.
- [09:39]
Commercial Announcer
I just don't see any. Positivity coming out of this administration. It seems very self serving. I have a list of printed I could go through, but what was the last one? He made it so he had Tom Blanche do the dirty work so that him or anybody in his family could ever be audited by the IRS. What the is that the drone company? The $400 million jet from Qatar?
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Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
Yep.
- [10:09]
Commercial Announcer
The, what is it, the Executives Club. You know about that?
- [10:12]
News Anchor Nicole
Yeah, yeah, that they started in D.C.
- [10:15]
Commercial Announcer
you don't hear about any of this.
- [10:18]
Political Analyst
Yeah.
- [10:18]
Commercial Announcer
Look like he's serving the people. No.
- [10:24]
News Anchor Nicole
You don't get sort of higher up in the influence in the MAGA media echo chamber than those two. Two of the most listened to podcasts. And again, that's on the MAGA side of the country. No support, no ambition, no contact, no sort of touch with his base is how he's being assessed by those two influential figures, David.
- [10:48]
Foreign Policy Expert David Rhode
And what struck me is how much the corruption is resonating. Everything that Sean Ryan listed was something about Trump enriching his family. And I think the danger there, and I've talked to other folks in the MAGA world recently, there is a deep sense that he has betrayed his base. You know, he was the last best hope of sort of, you know, working class white Americans who felt the rest of the country had left them behind, and globalization had left them behind. And there's just real anger at him. And then I think in more mainstream Republicans, it's the president constantly, you know, bringing up these things like this, the retribution fund. And then, you know, moments ago, Todd Blanche confirmed that the President is abandoning that fund. And this is, again, weakness. The president is giving up on this fund. He was told by Republicans in Congress it was untenable, and he's backing down. So on so many fronts, he just looks increasingly weak.
- [11:44]
News Anchor Nicole
Let me show you, Ambassador, what Senator Jeanne Shaheen said on all this. When I talk to my constituents, they ask for economic relief at home, not regime change in Havana or Caracas or Tehran. Instead, you sent Congress a war powers notification saying we are not in active hostilities with Iran while the US Was conducting strikes against Iran and Iran was bombing US Embassies and bases throughout the Middle East. That was not consultation. It was an attempt to avoid answering to this committee and this Congress about this war at a moment when everything feels so fractured along partisan lines that it's broken. I mean, that is actually not a particularly partisan thing she's asserting. That's what Republicans are hearing from their constituents as well.
- [12:41]
Political Analyst
Absolutely. And it goes back to the theme you guys were just talking about, about this over personalization of American foreign policy. The President didn't ask the American people whether they wanted to go to war. He didn't ask the US Congress. He didn't build a set of arguments for whether we should or not. You know, lots of criticism of the war in Iraq, but President Bush and your administration, they did that work. And so when the president went to war In Iraq, 75% of the American people were with him. Trump doesn't care about the American people. He doesn't care what they think. He just wants to do this in this very over personalized way, and he's not achieving any results. It would be one thing if he got lucky like he did in Venezuela. By the way, things in Venezuela aren't that great either. That's a longer story. A lot of corruption there, no democracy there, but nobody's paying attention to that. Back to Iran. He just did it on a whim. He thought it'd be easy. Now he's trapped and none of the American people are not with him. Democrats and Republicans are alike. Is a very unpopular war because he has not achieved objectives that advance the interests of the American people.
- [13:50]
News Anchor Nicole
David, let me show you one more line of questioning. This is from Democratic Senator Cory Booker. When I talk to my constituents, they ask for we're having some glitches. So Booker says, rubio, for months you've been telling us we're winning this war. Rubio says, well, the war is over now. It's over. Booker says, the war is not over. And yet the American people see how we're losing at the pomp and with their cost, and yet this thing still hasn't been resolved. Every day he tweets out that we've obliterated them, we've annihilated them, they're going to surrender, and yet we still find ourselves spending billions a week. What is their state? What is their position under oath? I mean, Donald Trump seems to want it both ways. He doesn't care about people's finances because Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. But Rubio testified under oath before Congress, a body he was once in, before the Senate, and said, quote, the war is over. What is their answer to that?
- [14:48]
Foreign Policy Expert David Rhode
I think there isn't. I think they're just simply trying to perform in the way they hope will impress the president. And it's amazing. Look, the president is driving all this. I've spent more time in the White House recently, and it's, you know, he's tweeting these things overnight, and I don't think many people know about it beforehand. And it's not a coherent strategy. And it's not true that, you know, if you watch Rubio today, he was more honest about it. He said, he admitted, well, Iran's got a lot of drones. Like, that's much more realistic than what President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have been saying. Just last Wednesday, Iran fired a ballistic missile at a US Base in Kuwait. The US Was able to shoot it down, but the debris from that missile hit the ground and wounded four soldiers and three contractors. So Iran is not obliterated. They're able to hit these US Military bases. Americans are still being wounded. So the president can say things as many times as he wants, but this war continues. You know, you see that at the pump, but you just see it in Iran's continued ability to pressure American forces and attack countries around it.
- [15:53]
News Anchor Nicole
David, the New York Times today reported that US Military is now leading ships through the Strait of Hormuz. What is your understanding of how long that will go on, how dangerous it is, and whether that is something for which congressional authorization is required?
- [16:09]
Foreign Policy Expert David Rhode
It is dangerous. They brought through about 70 ships, was the number. This is a less public effort than this previous Project Freedom, which was a larger thing. But it's a pattern of American lives being put at risk. Without the White House describing the dangers they're facing. It's very dangerous for American ships. These ships have been repeatedly threatened by Iranian drones, by mines. And that's where these skirmishes have happened. And the problem is that it's just everything about this war is the administration trying to essentially wage war on the cheap. I've been saying that since it started just airstrikes and now it's not enough ships, 130 ships a day got through the strait. Getting 70 out over a few weeks isn't going to change the global energy crisis. So it's just, again, this is a president who prides himself on saying how aggressive and tough he is. But all these have been sort of small steps since the ceasefire began. And the U.S. you know, clearly isn't going to deploy ground troops in Iran. It's just, it's Trump backing off over
- [17:13]
News Anchor Nicole
and over again, over and over and over and over again. David rhode, Ambassador Michael McFaul, thank you for starting us off on these headlines today. When we come back, much more on Donald Trump's flailing on the world stage, the pain he's causing the country and the damage it is doing to our standing in the world. Senator Tammy Duckworth will be our guest. Plus, more 60 Minute veterans are joining the very public rebukes and revolt at CBS News as the premier news magazine show on broadcast television is gutted before our eyes by the network's MAGA adjacent leaders. There's new reporting on that story and questions about the status of longtime correspondent Scott Pelley, who led the confrontation with the show's new boss yesterday. And it is primary day in six states, including California, where there are critical races underway for that state's governor and mayor of the state's largest city. What's on voters minds as they head to the polls today? We'll tell you coming up. Goodland Whitehouse continues after a quick break. Don't go anywhere.
- [18:15]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
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- [18:25]
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- [18:31]
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Senator Tammy Duckworth
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- [18:38]
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- [19:33]
Senator Tammy Duckworth
frankly, this administration insists on using military force as a first resort instead of a last resort. No matter the deadly cost of self defeating impacts, your budget request here would sadly perpetuate that trend.
- [19:44]
Political Commentator
I can give you list after list
- [19:45]
Senator Tammy Duckworth
of places that we have had an impact in either de escalating crisis before it started or ending active wars.
- [19:51]
Political Commentator
And I'm very proud of the work
- [19:52]
Senator Tammy Duckworth
that we've done in that regard, some
- [19:54]
Foreign Policy Expert David Rhode
of which haven't even been publicly discussed
- [19:56]
Political Commentator
in some cases because they weren't high profile.
- [20:01]
News Anchor Nicole
That was Secretary of State Marco Rubio under questioning from Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois. Senator Duckworth joins us now. She's a member of both the Senate Armed Services and Senate Foreign Relations Committees. What secret accomplished is he talking about there?
- [20:16]
Senator Tammy Duckworth
Well, I have no idea because he's keeping it secret from everyone. And when they do want to speak to members of Congress, they do, especially with Venezuela or their justification for going into Iran. Do this in a classified setting so that I can't talk to you and the American people about it. You know, time and again this administration insists on hiding things from the American people.
- [20:39]
News Anchor Nicole
A majority of Americans do not approve of the war with Iran. A majority of Republicans do not approve of the war with Iran. Donald Trump's approval rating is hovering around 32 to 34%, largely because of the economy and the war with Iran. What did you hear today? What are they operating in a bubble, in a vacuum? What was your sense of what information Marco Rubio was sharing with you and how tied to his answers is Donald Trump's conduct and the things he posts?
- [21:10]
Senator Tammy Duckworth
Well, what I saw was Marco Rubio doing his best expert job at distracting the American people from the situation at hand. Because bottom line, the budget that Marco Rubio submitted for the entire State Department's budget is actually less than has been spent in the last 14 weeks by the Department of Defense on Trump's war in Iran. You know, when you keep using military force as a first resort instead of a last resort, no matter the deadly cost of self defeating impacts, it affects American people, it affects our people abroad, it affects our servicemen and women, it affects gas prices here at home. And now Secretary Rubio wants to make even more budget cuts to our State department. A whopping 33%. This only undermines our standing in the world, but it also means that we're going to engage in more conflict. And he spent most of his time trying to convince us that there were like secret negotiations going on, that things were better off than they were before. He in fact even tried to claim that the Strait of Hormuz is better off now than it was before. Well, it wasn't mined and blockaded before the way it is now.
- [22:15]
News Anchor Nicole
Let me share with you some of the New York Times reporting. Pete Hegg says strikes Female and Black Navy officers from promotion list quote. In a move that disproportionately targets women and minority officers, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently blocked the promotions of nine Navy officers who have been selected by a board of senior Navy admirals. The net result of Hegseth's intervention is a slate of 22 nominees to be one star admirals that bears little resemblance to the broader force these officers will help lead. No female officers were included on the new one star list, which was released publicly in late May. Despite the fact that women make up 21% of the active duty Navy, the list appears to include only two non white officers. Even though sailors who identify as racial minorities make up 38% of the active duty Navy. What damage is done to the Navy and the military through Hegses interventions?
- [23:11]
Senator Tammy Duckworth
Well, we're going back to a time when you had white male officers who commanded diverse units and that's not good for our nation's military. And in fact, the other statistic is that we now no longer have any four star generals who are female. It's ironic that Peake Hetseth, who only commanded, you know, maybe he had a platoon, he was a platoon leader at one point and he only reached the rank of major during his service, is once again ignoring general's recommendations and denying Mary based promotions. I have a feeling that he was probably beaten for a promotion by a woman at some point and now he's bitter about it. I mean, this is a Guy, listen, this is an infantry officer. He made it to the rank of major without ever having a combat A company command. He never got his paratrooper wings. He never got his Air Assault badge, and he never got his Ranger tap. This guy failed. He failed. And now he's turned. Now that he has power, he's going after, you know, women and minorities in the military, when for all of his bluster about bringing meritocracy back to our military, he is the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our nation's history. And he keeps doing the opposite of meritocracy. He's out there for a witch hunt. And it's really an insult to our troops who earned those recommendations, all of whom, by the way, are more qualified to receive their promotions than hecseth ever received or is even qualified to serve in his position.
- [24:32]
News Anchor Nicole
We've. I won't use the word numb, but we are used to seeing the silliness that he brings into the most serious job, one of the most serious jobs in the government. What is it like to represent our country around the world? What do people think of us when they see these hegseth statements and conduct and videos and the way he's politicizing the military?
- [25:00]
Senator Tammy Duckworth
You know, on the one hand, he's performative at best, right? He wants to go out there and show video of himself doing push ups and working out with, you know, weights that look heavier than they are. And it's like, that's not what we need the Secretary of Defense for, right? We need a guy who knows how to plan missions, knows what the end state is, know how to conduct the mission, and knows how to give an operational order, none of which he seems to be able to do because they managed to launch a war of choice in Iran without an off ramp or an actual stated end state. At the same time, he's doing real damage to America's reputation around the world. I was just at the Indo Pacific Defense dialogues, the Shangri La dialogues, and ally after ally and friend after friend from different countries came up to me, and they are fascinating, flabbergasted at what America is doing. And we're becoming an unreliable partner. A country that now is waging more illegal wars. We're embracing adversaries like Chinese President Xi and we're shirking our responsibilities to partners like Taiwan. And he even insists he even insulted the New Zealanders, right? Our main friend who helps us deal with our friends in the Pacific island countries. This is what he's doing, is real damage to America's reputation around the world and to our national security around the
- [26:16]
News Anchor Nicole
world, Senator Tammy Duckworth. It's both enlightening and depressing to hear your expertise and insights, but incredibly important. Thank you for making some time to talk to us today. We're grateful.
- [26:29]
Senator Tammy Duckworth
My pleasure. Thank you.
- [26:30]
News Anchor Nicole
When we come back, turmoil inside the iconic news show 60 Minutes. One day after longtime correspondence on it, Scott Pelley led a revolt against CBS management face to face and the show's new leader. More big names are coming to his very public defense. We'll bring you that reporting after a short break. Don't go anywhere.
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- [27:23]
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Senator Tammy Duckworth
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- [28:26]
News Anchor Nicole
Longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley's evisceration of his MAGA friendly bosses at CBS News is the media story that continues to reverberate around politics and media today. It's led to growing questions among CBS News and 60 Minute staffers about Scott Pelley's future at the network as well as what path forward 60 minutes will take. It was on top. Where's it going now? It has for decades been the gold standard in broadcast journalism, a critical and commercial success. The rarest of things, a unicorn, if you will. But importantly, how did we get to this moment? Well, it started with CBS caving to Donald Trump after he sued the network over a 60 Minutes interview he didn't like with Kamala Harris. Paramount, the parent company of CBS, wound up paying Trump $16 million to settle. But before that settlement, CBS News pushed out Bill Owens, the longtime executive producer of 60 Minutes. Last night, that person, Bill Owens, accepted an award at the New York Press Club. Owens reacted to what had happened earlier in the day at 60 minutes by saying this, quote, scott Pelley can smell a fraud a mile away. He stood up the way I did a year ago, and I couldn't be prouder of him. And I know all the people at 60 Minutes, all the people at 60 Minutes couldn't be prouder of him. CBS News and 60 Minutes are institutions, not places where partisans and ideologues should be employed. End quote. Wow. Back with me at the table, Oliver Darcy. He has been the reporter on this story about the revolt within 60 minutes. For his newsletter, status, Bill Owens. Take me inside why this matters and tell people who he is.
- [30:15]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
Yeah, I mean, he is a veteran CBS News journalist. I believe he worked for CBS News for three decades plus. This is someone who is considered to be a very serious journalist, not someone who usually goes out and makes these remarks. He certainly doesn't talk about, well, say anything.
- [30:28]
News Anchor Nicole
Doesn't say much of anything. Doesn't inject himself into these cycles.
- [30:33]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
Exactly. And so for him to go out there and to say that Barry Weiss is murdering 60 minutes or killing 60 minutes, and then to go and talk about CBS News and how an ideologue is now running this network and how it's not a place for partisans to be running, you know, they shouldn't be running this network is remarkable. And then to support Scott, obviously, he's close with Scott, so he obviously did support Scott. But again, this adds to the growing backlash that CBS News is facing. It's not outside critics who are saying that Barry Weiss is incompetent and shouldn't be in charge of the network. It's people who work there their entire lives. Right. It's Scott Pelley, it's Bill Owens, it's Cecilia Vega, although she was a little newer, higher. But these are people largely that worked for CBS News. They were on this Anderson Cooper. Anderson Cooper. These are not names that typically like to interject themselves into the public discussion. And when they do, they certainly think very carefully about what they say.
- [31:32]
News Anchor Nicole
So what happens next, I think that's
- [31:34]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
the open question is what happens with Scott Pelley.
- [31:36]
Foreign Policy Expert David Rhode
Right.
- [31:37]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
And it's hard to imagine that he's going to be at the network long term. I mean, I just have a hard time imagining after hearing his remarks yesterday, it seems that.
- [31:47]
News Anchor Nicole
And you listen to it, Right.
- [31:49]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
And I mean, it's hard to imagine that he's going to be working with Barry Weiss and Nick Bilton in the foreseeable future. And so the question is, what happens in 60 minutes? You already lost Anderson Cooper as a correspondent. You fired Sharon Alfonsi, you fired Cecilia Vega. Theoretically, Scott's not going to be there. She wrote down four major correspondents. And there are open questions about Bill Whitaker and Leslie Stahl, whether they're going to stay. And so it's like this show is crumbling before our eyes. It's hard to imagine. I was talking to people earlier inside the show and they're not sure necessarily whether they can make the error in the fall because they don't even know which correspondents are going to be doing packages. So Donald Trump is getting what he wants, which is he wanted to muzzle this program. He wanted to suffocate it, and he's getting it. And again, there's a lot of dots to connect. And your audience, I'm sure, has connected them well.
- [32:43]
News Anchor Nicole
And what's interesting is we do what we do for the viewers. And you could make a business argument that the other programs could do better by their viewers. Right. You could have more viewers for the CBS Evening News. I think it's come in third for years. I don't know as much about the morning show, but I think it also comes in third. You cannot make a business argument about 60 minutes. It's the top of the top. It sits atop everything else that has ever come along and tried to do what it does, which is compelling journalism on television. What is to your point? There's nothing left. I mean, what do all of those people go and do? Do they go form something on their own outside of cbs?
- [33:29]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
I'm not sure this is a problem we're seeing across the journalism community. The Washington Post was, you know, Jeff Bezos let that paper flail and a lot of journalists left to go to other outlets. But I think your point, too, about 60 minutes is so important. It's not even that they were averaging over 9 million viewers every single Sunday, which is the highest rated television news program.
- [33:50]
News Anchor Nicole
Right?
- [33:50]
Foreign Policy Expert David Rhode
Right.
- [33:51]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
But also on digital. They were doing very well on digital. In fact, less than two weeks ago they put out a press release bragging about how well they did on digital this season. I think that over 2.5 billion video views across their social platforms, they said they were up over 180% year over year. And this is sort of the rationale that Barry Weiss and her deputies are using for overhauling this network. Like, yes, we understand Linear was strong, but we want to be strong in digital where that, where the future is. Well, you just fired the people that led you to the biggest digital season you've ever had on record. I mean, 60 minutes is the rare exception actually in television news where they're doing really well on digital. People go to YouTube to watch these 60 minute pieces. They watch them on TikTok. So there's no business justification for overhauling this program. As the old saying goes, don't fix it if it's not broken.
- [34:42]
News Anchor Nicole
And this wasn't even just not broken. I mean, this was thriving. This was the best of the best.
- [34:47]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
This is like you have a Lamborghini in your garage and it's a very fast car and everyone envies that car and wishes it was in their garage. And then saying, I'm going to disassemble the whole thing and take apart the engine. And you know, you wouldn't do that. It makes no sense.
- [34:59]
News Anchor Nicole
But the Lamborghini thing is, it's like a Lamborghini that's also comfortable. Like this was a thing that was watchable and successful. I want to ask you what happens to Barry Wise and if David Ellison is just so politically obsessed that he doesn't care about all this failure?
- [35:11]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
As far as I can tell, David Ellison's backing her 100%. He must have known.
- [35:15]
News Anchor Nicole
Out of what? Out of just.
- [35:16]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
I mean, he must have known. He surely has people around him who would tell him that if Barry Weiss does this to 60 Minutes, there's going to be significant backlash. And he allowed her to do this. Make no mistake, she reports to David Ellison directly. And so there is no world in which any of this is happening without David Ellison's explicit approval. And you know, he's the one that brought her in. He paid 150 some million dollars to hire Bari Weiss and to acquire her anti woke outlet, the Free Press. He paid a lot of money to have her in charge of CBS News. It's not like a regular hire where she's getting paid a few million dollars a year salary. He paid 150 million ish dollars to bring her on board. So he's sticking with her for now. I don't know how this is sustainable long term, but if you don't care about the actual news division and you want to just get a business deal done, which is what he wants, maybe it doesn't matter.
- [36:08]
News Anchor Nicole
What's amazing though, is that he obviously doesn't care about excellence or elegance or competence or brilliance, because that's what 60 Minutes was. It was excellent, it was elegant, it was brilliant, and it was wildly commercially successful.
- [36:19]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
And he's going to go down in history with this huge stainless ste on his legacy that he is the one who allowed 60 Minutes to be shattered at the time we really need it most when authoritarianism is almost, you know, it's on the rise in this country,
- [36:32]
News Anchor Nicole
but forget about, I mean, he's put himself on the anti democracy side over and over again. But he also just looks like a schmo. Like, he just looks like a guy that does dumb things for, you know, he just looks like a guy that crashes cars for fun or drops Lego, you know, child that drops Legos off the kitchen counter to watch them break. Doesn't look particularly enlightened.
- [36:50]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
He doesn't look very savvy. It's not like there's some grand strategy that seems like, like it's not even like they hired someone to lead 60 minutes who is like super savvy.
- [36:58]
News Anchor Nicole
Almost like a Roger 3D chess.
- [37:00]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
Like, this is a Roger Ailes they brought in. He was like, you can very much disagree with the politics and what he's done to the public discussion at Fox News, but Roger Ailes is a pretty smart guy, right? And a guy who knew how to run a network.
- [37:11]
News Anchor Nicole
This is not that.
- [37:12]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
This is not that. This is a lot of self inflicted mistakes over and over and over again. And you're just watching it play out. It's like everyone's watching this fire from the west side of Manhattan.
- [37:21]
News Anchor Nicole
Brutal. Your reporting on it has been incredible. Thank you.
- [37:24]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
Thank you, Nicole.
- [37:25]
News Anchor Nicole
I was waiting for the phone to blow up while you're sitting here, but
- [37:27]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
we'll just, it's the responsible time.
- [37:29]
News Anchor Nicole
Just keep watching. When we come back, voters are heading to the polls in six states today tonight, including one red state with an open Senate seat that Democrats are hoping to pick off. Also some high profile contests in California. Well, our friend Jacob Sobroff is talking to voters there. He'll join us to tell us what they're saying after a quick break. It's election Day in six states, including critical primary contests in California and Iowa. Races that could set the tone for the 2026 midterm elections in November. In Iowa, voters will choose between the Democratic nominee for a Senate for Senate in a race which will be consequential for the Democratic Party's hopes to retake the Senate in November. And in California, there are multiple contests which could have national implications, including that state's race for governor and the Los Angeles mayor's race, where incumbent Mayor Karen Bass is looking to stave off a challenge from reality TV star Spencer Pratt. Joining us now from a polling place in downtown la, senior national and political reporter Jacob Soboroff. He's also the host of the brand new Ms. Now show, connect with Jacob Soboroff, which premieres June 13th. Hello, my friend. What are you hearing from voters?
- [38:46]
Field Reporter Jacob Soboroff
Hey, Nicole. I've accosted these three very nice people outside of a polling place here in downtown Los Angeles because I want to hear from the people first and foremost on this very consequential day for people not just here in California, but all across the country. It was almost exactly one year ago that those ICE raids started on these very streets of downtown Los Angeles. And the fingerprint of the Trump administration, some might say the sole of the shoe, has been felt very mightily by people in this exact part of Los Angeles. So before they head back to go study clinical psychology, I wanted to talk to these three folks. I'm going to take you inside. First of all, tell me your name.
- [39:17]
News Anchor Nicole
Kaylee.
- [39:18]
Field Reporter Jacob Soboroff
Kaylee.
- [39:19]
Commercial Voice
Joanna. Joanna Masako.
- [39:21]
Field Reporter Jacob Soboroff
Okay, you guys, I really, really appreciate you hanging out and talking with me. We both have a mayoral race here in Los Angeles. You're the only one that lives in the city of Los Angeles. The two of you live in the state, but outside of the jurisdiction of the city. You told me before we started you went with Nithya Rank Rahman. What are the issues that matter most to you? That's the progressive candidate who's running the challenge. Nicole Karen Bass for Mayor. Spencer Pratt, of course, the reality star is the other challenger. Why Nithya Raman?
- [39:45]
Commercial Voice
You know, to keep things short, simple and sweet. I am really just looking for someone who represents the people, right? And in order to do so, I want equality for all, better cost of living, affordability, access to care, especially within our practices.
- [40:00]
Senator Tammy Duckworth
We.
- [40:01]
Commercial Voice
We want to make sure that mental health disparities are being looked at, being covered. And so it's just really important for, you know, especially a woman to represent us and really just, you know, cover all the issue or as many issues as possible within just la.
- [40:18]
Field Reporter Jacob Soboroff
I'm so glad to hear that from you and for you to Share that with us, you guys, because you don't live in the city, get to vote for governor, but not for mayor. Both of you said you voted for Javier Becerra, the former Secretary of Health and Human Services. What issues are top of mind for you?
- [40:30]
Commercial Voice
Yeah, I'm just thinking more like immigration, definitely. The ICE raids, I just saw a big impact on not only my community, but just overall the community of la. Just like seeing where he stands with that really swayed my vote towards him.
- [40:43]
Field Reporter Jacob Soboroff
Thank you so much.
- [40:44]
Media Reporter Oliver Darcy
And top issue for you, immigration as
- [40:46]
Commercial Voice
well, and access to mental health care.
- [40:48]
Field Reporter Jacob Soboroff
You guys are so great. I'm gonna let you get back to school. I want to show Nicole quickly inside the polling place, but thank you very much. It's nice to meet. Nice to meet you guys very much. Okay, see you later. Nicole, come with me. I'll show you quickly inside the polling place. Here we have early voting in California, and everybody can vote at any polling place if they decided not to vote, actually early before Election Day started. I want to make sure to be quiet here as not to disturb the voters. This is the beginning of the line here where people are voting and people have queued up to use these electronic voting machines here in Los Angeles County. The thing I want everybody to know about tonight and I want to make sure everyone tunes in for our special coverage, starting with Rachel at 10 o' clock on the east coast tonight, is that California, notoriously slow counts their votes. So it could be that if the race is close for governor, if the race is close for mayor of Los Angeles, it could be a very late night here on Ms. Now, all of these people are voting for not just mayor, not just for governor, but perhaps those new congressional districts with the redrawn maps because of Proposition 50 here in California. I was on the air with you on that election night just several months ago, Governor Newsom led a campaign in order to equalize with all of those state legislatures, Republican across the country that are trying to restrict the right to vote for people in states all across America. California is really a battleground for that,
- [42:01]
News Anchor Nicole
Nicole, as you know, and you are staying up late. You have a little bit of an unfair advantage being three hours behind. We'll stay up late watching you, Jacob. So we'll thank you so much for bringing us your reporting today. We'll watch you all night long and I cannot wait. You have to come back and we'll talk about your new show starting later this month. A reminder, as Jacob said, Rachel Maddow will lead our primary night coverage tonight with Ali Velshi at the Big Board for us. Our special coverage begins at 10pm Eastern. Quick break for us. We'll be right back. My guest on this week's episode of the Best People podcast is the legendary broadcaster Bob Costas. Listen to what he told me about what he learned about what happens to people in this industry when they enter the political discourse.
- [42:53]
Commercial Announcer
Of course, the great irony is the stick to sports crowd really means stick to sports when you're saying something I don't want to hear. Part of the problem now for any of us, and that includes what I've just done right here, probably against my better judgment, is that nothing stays in its context, in both content and tone. Nothing stays there anymore. There are vultures who will jump upon whatever is said. They will extract from it whatever helps them to push their own narrative, regardless of whether it misrepresents what you've actually said and what you actually believe. Because if they can make a strawman out of you, they can make their own argument more effectively.
- [43:39]
News Anchor Nicole
Now, despite what he said there about vultures, he does not hold back to listen to the entire conversation. You can also go to YouTube by scanning the QR code on your screen or download the conversation. Wherever you get your podcast, be sure to let me know what you think on Instagram or Blue Sky. One more break. We'll be right back. Thank you so much for letting us into your homes tonight. We are grateful.
- [44:08]
Angie Hicks
Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co founder of Angie. When you use Angie for your home projects, you know all your jobs will be done well. Roof repair done well. Kitchen sink install done well. Deck upgrades done well. Electrical upgrades, done well. Angie's been connecting homeowners with skilled pros for nearly 30 years, so we know the difference between done and done well. Angie the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find a pro for your project at Angie. Combination.