← The Briefing with Jen Psaki
The Briefing with Jen Psaki
King Charles schools Trump on democracy in speech to Congress about checks and balances
00:41:21
Jen Psaki shares part of King Charles' speech to Congress in which he explains the importance of checks and balances in a functioning democracy to the very people who have abdicated their responsibility to be a check on Donald Trump.
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- [00:00]
Freedom From Religion Foundation Announcer
America is an idea. For 250 years, that idea has helped expand our rights and our freedoms. But progress isn't guaranteed. Today, those founding principles are being challenged by efforts to mix religion and government. The Freedom From Religion foundation is working to protect the Constitution and keep power where it belongs, with we the people. Visit FFRF US MSNOW or text MSNOW to 511511. Text MSNOW to 511511 and keep state and church separate. Text fees may apply.
- [00:32]
Senator Mark Kelly
Mud, sand, snow, the track. Different surfaces, same truth. Every ground is our proving ground. Ready, set forward.
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MSNOW Host
I just want to start by showing you what this scene looked like at the White House today. And what I'm about to show you, I swear, is not AI. It's not from a cold open of Saturday Night Live. This is real video that our White House team here at MSNOW shot today. Now, what you're looking at is the official welcome ceremony for the royal visit of King Charles. And it's kind of hard to miss the enormous crane looming over the ceremony as construction of Trump's ballroom proceeds. Believe it or not, that construction was actively ongoing during the event itself, as a wannabe king stood with an actual king right by his side. Sometimes the imagery is just. It's a little too on the nose. But as awkward as all of that was this morning, the really awkward moment came a few hours later when the literal king of England, typically a non political, kind of boring speech maker, used his speech to Congress in part to remind them that of how democracy and executive power are supposed to work. And here he was talking about the shared legal and historical roots between America and Great Britain. The U.S. supreme Court Historical Society has
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Senator Mark Kelly
calculated that Magna Carta is cited in
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MSNOW Host
at least 160 Supreme Court cases since
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Senator Mark Kelly
1789, not least as the foundation of the principle that executive power is subject
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MSNOW Host
to checks and balances. Sick burn there, King Charles. I mean, to be clear, that was the king of England, obviously, you know, the head of the same monarchy this country was founded to reject. Who just told the American Congress how important it is to put checks on the power of an executive, as in, hey, guys in the audience, come on in. Listen closely. I'm looking at you, little Mike Johnson. Your literal job is to behave like a separate branch of government, to hold the executive branch to account. And remember that the reason the king is here today is because of Trump's obsession with royalty. He's obsessed. Trump loves to think of himself as a king, and he's not shy about it. And he loves all the things that come around the monarchy and the White House even posted this image of Trump and King Charles with the caption two kings, and threw in a little gold crown emoji for good measure. Cool message of the day, guys. Cool. And all of this comes on a day when the President is on one of his absolute tyrannical benders, demanding support for his gaudy ballroom, trying once again to get late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel taken off the air and trying to, for the second time, to put the former FBI Director James Comey in jail. As I was just talking about with Chris, it is like we're stuck in a Groundhog Day time loop watching Trump try and fail over and over again to show off his power and punish his enemies. Now, what should be even more maddening about all of this is that all of this is happening in the wake of a Saturday night when an attacker tried storming an event that Trump, his cabinet, and thousands of other people were attending in Washington. And there are a lot of ways for a president to react to a traumatic moment like that. I mean, any other president would have responded to that moment with calls for national unity, for calm, perhaps even for reform. I mean, remember that event took place at the same location, same hotel, where John Hinckley Jr. Tried to assassinate President Reagan. A moment that eventually, many years later, led to bipartisan gun control and the establishment of the national background check system. But for Donald Trump, the attack on the White House Correspondent center has just become, well, an opportunity to just replay his greatest hits and prioritize things that so few people outside of his inner circle and his minions in Congress care about. Seriously, I mean, how many people are in the arrest James Comey club? Is there a big T shirt club out there? How many people out there are staying up at night stewing over a joke Jimmy Kimmel made last week? And how many Americans are clamoring for the freaking ballroom he can't stop talking about? Better yet, how many arrests? Comey, fire Kimmel, build the ballroom. Voters are there as a coalition in this country, but of course, that's not the point. The point is those are the things Trump himself personally wants. And so in the immediate aftermath of the attack on Saturday night, MAGA influencers everywhere immediately started posting to social media that this has all somehow justified Trump's fixation with building a new ballroom. And then Republican members of Congress dutifully, dutifully followed suit, echoing those arguments.
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Senator Mark Kelly
This is why we need the ballroom. It really is.
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MSNOW Host
So it's critical that we get this project done as quickly as possible.
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Senator Mark Kelly
I think we gotta build that ballroom as soon as possible. There is no better example of why this ballroom is necessary. The ballroom makes, makes total sense. A ballroom is imperative for a lot of reasons. Now everybody knows how badly needed it is. The ballroom will be a solution for this. We need the ballroom.
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MSNOW Host
I mean, it's not surprising, but it's so, so sad. I mean, aside from the destruction of a historic part of the White House we've already watched happen, and all the money, whether it's taxpayer money, which obviously is completely galling, and there's a new call for that, or all of the gaudy design choices Trump wants to put in place for his legacy, which is what I think this is largely about. The argument makes no sense to begin with. I mean, is every president just going to stay locked up in the White House, only speaking and attending events that happen there, only with crowds that the White House vets controls and invites? Not how it's ever, ever worked. And even for the defenders of the existence of the White House Correspondents Dinner, that would mean the White House and not the media organizations who throw this dinner, decide who attends. Good luck to anyone but Newsmax and maybe Fox News on their very well best behaved days. And does that mean the White House controls every single person who would ever be deemed worthy of attending an event with the President? And maybe they would probably see that as a benefit in this particular White House. But think about it another way. Does that mean Trump won't attend any more outdoor rallies he loves so much or political conventions where he can d to his heart's content to YMCA or whatever other crazy song is on his playlist, all for security reasons? He's not going to do any of that. All that seems highly unlikely. But that didn't stop the President from immediately using this attack as an excuse to promote his favorite pet project? Over the last three days, Trump has repeatedly used the attack to push for his ballroom and lashed out at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which is suing him to stop the ballroom's construction. And late last night, Trump's lawyers filed a new motion in that lawsuit, citing the attack as justification for why the ballroom is necessary for national security reasons. And you can sort of tell when you read this that Trump was involved in drafting that new motion, because the whole thing reads like a completely unhinged, angry truth social post, random capitalizations and all of it. Here's part of what it says. Quote, the National Trust for Historic Preservation is a beautiful name, but even their name is fake. They are very Bad for our country. They were asked by the United States military not to bring this suit because of the top secret nature of the important facility being built. But this did not deter them because they suffer from Trump Derangement syndrome, commonly referred to as tds. I mean, is it suddenly this all sounds very much not like a serious legal argument. State the obvious. Sure, there's a lot of case law on made up diseases and names that Trump thinks are beautiful, but fake. Not sure it's effective. Trump's attempt to use this attack to justify his ballroom is clearly absurd. But again, it's just one of several pet projects Trump is laser focused on right now. As I mentioned, Trump is also now using the attack in his never ending effort to get comedian Jimmy Kimmel taken off the air. And today Trump's FCC director ordered a new review of the licenses for ABC Disney over this joke Kimmel made the two days prior to the White House Correspondent Dinner where he pretended he was hosting the event.
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Congressman Maxwell Frost
And of course our first lady Melania is here.
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Senator Mark Kelly
Look at so beautiful Mrs. Trump. You have a glow like an expectant widow.
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MSNOW Host
Now again, Kimmel made that joke on Thursday in part because they weren't going to have a comedian at the dinner two days before anyone knew that a gunman would show up at the White House Correspondence Center. And it's clear that the joke is about Trump's age. There is a 24 year age gap difference between Trump and Melania. It's not a call for violence against the President because Donald Trump is always ready and willing to underscore the absurdity of his own actions. He literally made a similar joke himself just today at his event with King Charles while talking about the length of his parents marriage.
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Senator Mark Kelly
They were married for 63 years and excuse me, if you don't mind, that's a record we won't be able to match, darling. I'm sorry. Just not going to work out that way. We'll do well, but we're not going to do that well.
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MSNOW Host
63 years. It's basically just a different joke about his age. And Jimmy Kimmel told a version of it before we knew there would be an attack on the White House Correspondents Dinner. No reasonable person would think Kimmel was somehow calling for political violence. Just like no reasonable person would think Caroline Levitt was talking about actual gunshots when she said this right before the Correspondence center took place. I will tell you, this speech tonight will be classic Donald J. Trump. It'll be funny, it'll be entertaining. There will be some shots fired tonight in the room. So everyone should tune in. I mean, by their standards, maybe the FCC chairman should investigate. I'm obviously kidding. But that's really the logic they're using to go after Jimmy Kimmel. And if you think that's a stretch of sweet, because the Trump administration has put a lot of imagination into using this moment to go after another one of Trump's perceived enemies. Today, the Trump administration once again decided to indict former FBI Director James Comey. And you may remember that Trump's first attempt to indict Comey for lying to Congress fell apart thanks to thin evidence and the incompetence of Trump's handpicked prosecutor. So you would think that Trump's Justice Department would make sure they had something really, really strong to charge Comey with the second time around, right? Well, behold, this is the crime that the Trump administration claims Comey committed. This social media post of seashells that spell out 86, 47, 86 is of course restaurant jargon for cancel and order. And Donald Trump is the 47th president. So naturally, the Trump administration had determined that this social media post represents a direct threat. Threat to end Donald Trump's life. Seriously. That is their argument. Now, James Comey has said explicitly that he did not intend this as a threat against the President's life. And let's be honest, no right minded person would interpret this as a threat against the President's life. During the Biden administration, conservative influencers were posting 8,646. He was of course, the 46th president. To express their discontent with the president. And nobody prosecuted them. Conservative T shirt vendors even sold impeach Biden T shirts that said 8646 on them. You can still buy them on Amazon today. But the Trump administration Justice Department says that this Instagram post from James Comey is a legitimate threat against Trump's life. And they say they are ready to take that argument into a US Courtroom. How will you prove intent?
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Freedom From Religion Foundation Announcer
When, as the director had acknowledged, Mr.
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MSNOW Host
Comey said he did not associate 86
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Freedom From Religion Foundation Announcer
with doing harm and he took it down promptly, said it was political speech,
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MSNOW Host
not an intent to harm the President.
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Senator Mark Kelly
How do you prove intent in any case? You prove intent with witnesses, with documents, with the defendant himself, to the extent it's appropriate. And that's how we'll improve intent in this case.
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MSNOW Host
Witnesses and documents. What witnesses and documents? There are no witnesses and documents mentioned in the DOJ's two page indictment. All of this, we're talking about seashells on a beach. All of this is Just so ridiculous. We know what this is really about because Donald Trump has already tried to get James Comey indicted for something completely different. I mean, how stupid do they think the American people are? Does anyone really believe James Comey was threatening Donald Trump's life with an Instagram post of some seashells? Does anyone really believe that Jimmy Kimmel was threatening Trump's life in a comedy sketch on live TV two days before the White House Correspondents Dinner? Does anyone really believe that Trump has spent the last few months fixating on drapes and finishes for his big ballroom renovation because he was so concerned about national security? This is all just a blatant attempt to use a real attack as pretext for the stuff Trump already wanted to do. I mean, this is the second time he's gone after both Kimmel and Comey. The question now is, how should we respond to a president using real threats of violence to indulge his own obsessions? As I watched all of this unfold over the past few days, there was one person I really wanted to talk to about all of it. Senator Mark Kelly knows what it means to be targeted by Donald Trump this way. He stood his ground when Trump accused him of sedition and won. Senator Kelly also knows what it's actually like when a public official threatens you with death in a social media post, because Donald Trump did just that to Mark Kelly and five other members of Congress accusing them of sedition punishable by death. So I just had to know what Senator Mark Kelly thinks about all of this, and lucky for us, he joins me now. It's great to see you, Senator Kelly. Thank you for being here. I just outlined there are a lot of ways that presidents of both parties, frankly, could respond to events like those that happened on Saturday night. And the ones Trump has decided to undertake, well, it feels a fool's errand to me. Including the indictment again of James Comey. What have you made of all of this?
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Senator Mark Kelly
Well, I mean, people he doesn't like, he wants to throw them in jail, you know, and he often threatens people if they say something that he doesn't agree with to try to shut him up. And we've seen that with Jimmy Kimmel. I mean, he's trying to throw Comey in jail. Tried the same thing with Letitia James, with John Bolton, with me. I mean, I got it from both sides, both angles, right? I got the. You know, he's trying to shut me up, trying to intimidate me, get me to silence me. I made it very clear that's not going to happen. He picked the wrong guy in that case. But he also tried to indict me and send me to jail. They lost. And he lost to Comey the first time, too. Is he going to come back to me later and do this? Right now? I'm suing Pete Hegseth because he's trying to reduce me in rank and take away some of my pension. Hey, these are unprecedented times we're in here. I mean, we've never had a government that goes after perceived enemies like this and violate people's constitutional rights. And we're in a challenging time in the sense that political violence is rising. We need serious people. We need people to stand up and do their patriotic duty to call out stuff like this, like what happened on Saturday night. I think I heard you were there. And, you know, I've experienced the political violence in my family. We've got to tone down the rhetoric, and at the same time, we've got to stand up to this president and not be intimidated. You know, I make a point every day when I go to work that I'm not backing down from this guy. I'm gonna do my job that I was elected to do.
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MSNOW Host
I know, and I've heard you say, I saw the post you posted today, which was incredibly eloquent and thoughtful and covered so much. It's so infuriating, I think, probably to a lot of people watching when. When an act of political violence happens or attempted political violence, and all of a sudden the Democrats are blamed all for their rhetoric. When what I hear over and over again is Democrats saying, please tone it down, please tone down the rhetoric. That's not what we stand for. And we have seen, frankly, from the other side, from Trump and others, elevated rhetoric. Now, you don't want to get a he said, she said place, but it's really infuriating. How do you want people to handle that?
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Senator Mark Kelly
Well, I think we all have got to be more careful. And we got to realize, I mean, all of us, we've got to realize that what we say, that there are people that listen and they can carry out attempts on people's lives. I mean, it can happen to the president. Happened to Melissa Hortman, state legislator in Minnesota, who my wife Gabby knew. It happened to my wife Gabby, 15 years ago. She was nearly assassinated, shot in the head because she was a member of Congress. She was meeting with her constituents, changed her life and my life forever. We see this Charlie Kirk as another example. So this violence is not directed just at one party. And I don't think Just one party is responsible. I do think we all have to try better. Now, I've never called for the hanging of a political opponent of mine, or anybody for that matter, but this president called for my execution. And it's unprecedented in our country's history to have the leader of the country, the person who is supposed to preserve our democracy and set an example for everyone, especially young people, speak in the way he does. And it can be dangerous. I mean, I've had threats on my life that have escalated dramatically, but also against my wife, who's already experienced this. I mean, the death threats against her because of what Donald Trump said about me skyrocketed after November. So I hope this president learns from his mistakes. I do think we know who he is. I don't expect that much out of him, but I do expect more from others. You know, on both sides. We've got to do better.
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MSNOW Host
Let me ask you about something I just played. I mean, typically the King of England is a non political, sometimes boring ish speaker. Not their fault. It's kind of what their job is. But today, King Charles basically, when he was speaking to Congress, basically called out the importance of accountability and being a check for the legislative branch on the executive branch of government. What did you think about that? What do you think he was talking about? I have my own views.
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Senator Mark Kelly
Oh, I knew exactly what he was talking about. And I was kind of surprised. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle, as we started clapping, they started clapping too.
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MSNOW Host
Well, what about that?
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Senator Mark Kelly
I'm not so sure they got the punchline there. Maybe not what I think he was talking about, this president, that it's our responsibility as the legislative branch, as an independent branch of government, independent from the executive, that it's our job to hold the president accountable when he makes mistakes. And in my view, this president's made a lot of mistakes. And because Democrats are in the minority, it's hard for us to hold him accountable. But I was, you know, I'm not sure they realized they were doing it, but they were. They were cheering as well.
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MSNOW Host
Not really in on the fact that he's really literally speaking to them and they're in power and leading Congress and not holding him back.
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Senator Mark Kelly
That's how I took it.
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MSNOW Host
That's how I heard it, too. Let me ask you about this ballroom because I think there are so many issues that are important to people out there. That's not one of them building this ballroom. But President Trump is making this argument. It's a security argument. He needs it. There are A lot of things he could be talking about right now. What do you make of his focus on that, on Kimmel as what he's using this moment for?
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Senator Mark Kelly
I mean, why is instead of the ballroom, why isn't he calling out the need for some stronger gun laws? Or maybe we should figure out how to regulate social media companies so they're not making a profit off of dividing us as a nation. That's where some of this dangerous action comes from. We have all these companies that they make money if they can divide us into two camps. And it heightens the rhetoric, and we get people that lash out because of these things. And then, by the way, what's next? He builds this ballroom. He stays inside the compound. I mean, is he gonna put up a moat or a wall next around the White House? I mean, our president is not a monarch. They should be out there with the people. And sure, I get it. You know, we've got heightened violence in this country, and three times somebody tried to kill this president. I don't think the answer is for him to stay in the building. You know, the answer is to work with us in the United States Congress to get some real solutions to these problems and be focused on the right thing. And by the way, 400 million dol of taxpayer money. How about we spend that money on healthcare that he cut? Let's give some people, some of them, you know, back the opportunity to have some decent health care coverage or give snap benefits to kids. I mean, in my state, you know, thousands, tens of thousands of children have been kicked off of their free lunches. And this president's gonna spend $400 million of taxpayer money so he could feel a little bit safer and be in a fancy room. I mean, that's. He's got his priorities all wrong.
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MSNOW Host
And what happens to all the slush money people have committed. That's a conversation for another day. Okay, you know how this goes. We gotta take a little quick break, but before we go there, I just wanted to read you an excerpt from some new reporting in the Atlantic. You may have seen this. It's been a busy day. Here's what it says. Quote, in closed door meetings, JD Vance has repeatedly questioned the Defense Department's depiction of the war in Iran and whether the Pentagon has understated what appears to be the drastic depletion of US Missile stockpiles. Vance is trying to avoid making this personal or to create divisions in Trump's war cabinet. Some of Vance's confidants, however, believe that Pete Hegseth's portrayal has been so positive as to be misleading. A lot to unpack there. We're gonna do it all when we come back.
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Freedom From Religion Foundation Announcer
America is an idea. For 250 years, that idea has helped expand our rights and our freedoms, but progress isn't guaranteed. Today, those founding principles are being challenged by efforts to mix religion and government. The Freedom From Religion foundation is working to protect the Constitution and keep power where it belongs with we the people. Visit FFRF US MSNOW or text MSNOW to 511-511-Text MSNOW to 511-51-511 and keep state and church separate. Text fees may apply.
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MSNOW Host
She loves it freezing.
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Congressman Maxwell Frost
She loves it, huh?
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MSNOW Host
The pod by eight Sleep ends the
- [24:04]
Congressman Maxwell Frost
argument for good with independent temperature zones
- [24:06]
MSNOW Host
that keep both of you sleeping deeper.
- [24:09]
Congressman Maxwell Frost
Try it@8sleep.com
- [24:14]
MSNOW Host
At DSW, we ask the important questions, like what shoes are you going to wear? Whether you're prepping for wedding season, festival season, or just planning the ultimate vacay, the right shoes can make or break an rsvp. So own the moment. You've got big plans and we've got just the shoes at the perfect price, of course. Get ready to get ready with designer Shoe warehouse. Head to your DSW store or dsw.com today and let us surprise you. We are back with Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona. Okay, before the break, I read a part of an excerpt from an Atlantic piece that just came out. It cites two administration officials, I just note, and it says again, in closed door meetings, JD Vance has repeatedly questioned the Defense Department's depiction of the war in Iran, including about potential depletion of the US Missile stock and the accuracy of the information the Pentagon has provided. I mean, he has some obvious political reasons, you could say, to try to make himself look good. Here. He's not saying it publicly, but what does a report like that tell you? I mean, what do you make of that?
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Senator Mark Kelly
Well, I'm on the Armed services and the Intelligence Committee, so I see a lot of this. I see the numbers we were talking about at the just earlier last last week. We're talking about it when the secretary of defense has talked about striking 13,000 targets and he runs around on a stage and you know, we're lethal, most lethal military ever. We're going to kill people talks about these records.
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Congressman Maxwell Frost
Right.
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Senator Mark Kelly
We 10,000 targets, 13,000 targets. Well, to do that, it takes a lot of munitions, not for a bigger strategic plan. He went into this, the president, without a strategic goal, without a plan or a timeline. And it's just been about dropping as Much ordinance as possible on targets we've used a lot, and it's concerning. So I think the vice president's onto something. He sees, obviously sees the same numbers I see and doesn't like what he's looking at. And I think what you'll get from the secretary of Defense is a different story. We'll probably see that tomorrow. He's gonna testify in front of the House and in front of the Senate on Thursday.
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MSNOW Host
Have you thought about what you hope he's grilled the most on tomorrow and you'll have a chance to do it on Thursday?
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Senator Mark Kelly
You know, he's been in front of the committee a number of times, both in a closed session and the open session. We typically don't get great answers from him, even in the closed session. Usually members, even of this administration can be a little bit more transparent. He isn't. He sticks with these over the top talking points. And it's almost like he. My sense is he feels like this and what he says is going to get back to the president somehow. And he's performing constantly performing for his boss.
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MSNOW Host
I suspect that's his sole audience, not all of you in the room.
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Senator Mark Kelly
Well, I tell you, that's what happens when you put somebody who's just fundamentally unqualified for a job in such a big position. It becomes like a show. Sometimes I feel, as I've watched him closely, I feel like Pete Hegseth is impersonating Colin Jost. Impersonating Pete Hegseth.
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MSNOW Host
Hard to tell.
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Senator Mark Kelly
That's why I think we are hard
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MSNOW Host
to tell who's who. Colin Jost might appreciate that there's some reporting today. I feel like we've talked about this a little bit before, through the course of the weeks of this war, that multiple Senate Republicans who spoke on the condition of anonymity say they're uneasy with Hegseth's performance and may want him to move on. Now, there's a difference between that and saying it publicly, of course. Is that something that you all talk in the hallways? Have you heard an increase in that concern? Or is that. What do you think about that reporting?
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Senator Mark Kelly
Oh, it certainly has gone up. I mean, if you go back to when he was confirmed. Right. They voted for him.
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MSNOW Host
Yeah.
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Senator Mark Kelly
They expected him to do a decent job. Then we had Signalgate. After that, him sharing classified information under an unclassed system, I thought he should have been fired. And there are multiple times here, multiple bad decisions that I've seen from this secretary where I thought the president should fire him over a period of time. Now you can see our Republican colleagues start to say, they'll say in private, right, maybe this isn't the right guy. Maybe I wouldn't have voted for him if I knew what I know now. If I knew then. I wish that some of them would just stand up and say that publicly because they do know that it is not in the best interest of our country and it doesn't make us safer to keep him in that job.
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MSNOW Host
And they have a chance to do that over the next few days. I'm not gonna hold my breath, but we will certainly see what kind of questions they have. Senator Mark Kelly, thank you as always for being here.
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Senator Mark Kelly
Great to be here.
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MSNOW Host
Okay. Coming up, do you happen to remember when Donald Trump sued CBS News for harmlessly editing an interview with Kamala Harris? I remember it seemed insane at the time, but it seems especially insane today. And I'm going to explain why when we come back.
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Freedom From Religion Foundation Announcer
America is an idea. For 250 years, that idea has helped expand our rights and our freedoms. But progress isn't guaranteed. Today. Those founding principles are being challenged by efforts to mix religion and government. The Freedom From Religion foundation is working to protect the Constitution and keep power where it belongs, with we the people. Visit FFRF US MSNOW or text MSNOW to 511511. Text MSNOW to 511511 and keep state and church separate. Text fees may apply.
- [29:58]
MSNOW Host
I need a kiddo. School's almost out. And at Abercrombie Kids, new warm weather staples are in. It's a one stop shop for everything on their checklist like tees, shorts and swim. So planning what they'll wear is a breeze. For outfits that keep up with them and easier mornings for you, stop by Abercrombie Kids. Shop in the app online and in stores. Close your eyes. Focus. Listen to work getting done with Monday.com relax as AI does the manual work while your teams are aligned on a single source of truth. Feel the sensation of an AI work platform so flexible and intuitive it feels like it was built just for you. Notice, you're limitless. Now open your eyes, go to Monday.com, start for free, and finally breathe. Do you remember when in the run up to the 2024 election, Trump sued 60 Minutes on the premise that the show had committed partisan and unlawful acts of election interference? That was their argument by editing an interview with Kamala Harris, by not airing the whole thing, the Trump team even sued CBS and ended up with a $10 million settlement payment. Well, this weekend 60 Minutes did the exact same thing but this time with an interview with President Trump.
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Senator Mark Kelly
I bring lawsuits against the fake news. I brought lawsuits against your network, and you paid me $38 million because you did something that was so horrible.
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MSNOW Host
Now, that clip, a clip of Trump talking about his lawsuit against 60 Minutes because they edited an interview didn't air during 60 Minutes broadcast Sunday. It was edited out, as were a number of other pieces. No, O' Donnell interviewed Trump for 40 minutes, and then producers edited that interview down to just 13 minutes. Now, if that doesn't sound all that scandalous to you, it's because it's not at all. That is how lots and lots of TV interviews work. I mean, when I was working for President Obama, he would sometimes do hours of interviews with 60 Minutes for a long piece on that show. The only scandal is that Trump pretended that Kamala Harris interview was a scandal so he could use that pretend scandal so he could threaten 60 Minutes and its parent company, CBS. At one point, he even called for the network to lose its broadcast license, all as a way to try to bully the network into covering him more positively and his perceived enemies more negatively. And now we're seeing that bullying dynamic at play once again because today, Trump's FCC ordered a review of all broadcast station licenses owned by ABC. And while the FCC says that review is about ABC's diversity and inclusion policies, it also comes just a day after President Trump called for late night show host Jimmy Kimmel to be fired from his show on ABC over yet another pretend scandal manufactured by Trump as an excuse to try to get rid of someone who criticizes him. Now, as alarming as it is to be seeing Trump try to silence his perceived enemies with help from his little friend Brendan Carr at the fcc, again and again, it's important to remember that we have been here before, and we also know that pushback works. Remember when Trump tried to get Jimmy Kimmel fired last year? It didn't work. After ABC suspended Kimmel, people across the country started boycotting ABC and its parent company, Disney, and they reversed course. They brought Kimmel back. And I want you to hold onto that lesson just for a second. Because with more troubling examples of Trump leaning on the media, it's going to come in handy. I mean, for example, yesterday we got some major news about the Paramount Warner Brothers merger. That is the merger that, among other things, would put CNN under the control of the billionaire Trump allies David and Larry Ellison, one of whom, according to reporting from the Guardian, discussed firing CNN hosts. Trump doesn't like with Trump while trying to get Trump's approval for the deal. Now, it turns out it's not just the Ellisons that are involved in that deal. Yesterday, in a Filing to the FCC, Paramount said that it expects that 49.5% of the new merged company will be owned by foreigners. The new company would be owned 15% by a Saudi investment fund, 12% by an Emirati investment fund, and nearly 10% by a Qatari investment fund. And while those would be non voting shares, it would be the most an American broadcast TV company has ever been owned by foreign investors. Now, as alarming as that is, it also appears to be a potentially fruitful opportunity for pushback. Last year, the FCC, under Brendan Carr approved a merger between two companies that would allow them to own a whopping 265 local stations, reaching 80% of the country. Now, the only problem was an FCC rule that bars any one company from owning that many stations. And the FCC has never even allowed any one company to own half that many stations. But the FCC approved that merger anyway, right after some of the stations pulled Jimmy Kimmel's show from the airwaves. But that's not the end of the story, because last month, eight state attorneys general sued, alleging that, among other things, the merger would violate the FCC's rules. And now, guess what? That merger's on hold. It has been temporarily frozen by a federal judge for as long as it takes for that lawsuit to play out. So pushback can work. And it turns out that in the case of Paramount's merger with Warner Brothers, they are also asking for an exception, a different one to an FCC rule. And the rule in question that the FCC only allows for foreign investors to own 25% of any American broadcast TV company unless they determine it serves the public interest. And remember, Paramount told the FCC in a filing that if the merger with Warner Brothers goes through, the resulting company will be owned 49.5% by foreign investors, nearly twice as much as the FCC is supposed to allow. Even if Trump and his FCC approve that exception, which, let's be honest, I mean, they probably will, let's all prepare for that. That feels like a weak spot here. A weak spot very much worth pushing on. Okay, when we come back, Donald Trump's plan to steal congressional seats for Republicans moves to Florida. But there's a non zero chance it could all backfire. I'll explain all of that, and I'll talk to Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost after the break. Before I get into this next story, there is some larger context I think you should definitely know about, because last Week, Axios reported that Donald Trump has been telling people that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Remember that guy? He's back. That Ron DeSantis has been begging for a top job in the administration. And that's according to two sources who say they spoke to Trump at his Miami golf club about it. Now, DeSantis has reportedly expressed interest in being the new permanent attorney general or Secretary of defense or even a spot on the U.S. supreme Court. I'm just gonna try to get that one out. So everyone Ron is available, his resume is ready. He'd even take a spot on the Supreme Court. Now, with that in mind, consider how Ron DeSantis is trying to jam through his new Florida congressional map. And what is the latest in the mid year redistricting fight that Trump kicked off last summer? Unlike Virginia and unlike California, only Florida state lawmakers, not Florida citizens, will decide if DeSantis map passes. A map, by the way, that DeSantis only released yesterday and that was shown to Fox News before it was sent to Florida. Lawmakers might wonder how that happened. Ron DeSantis. There you go. Now, today, protesters in Florida demonstrated against DeSantis MAP as the legislature began its special session. Despite this obviously being a part of a political redistricting fight, DeSantis has avoided citing politics for his redistricting plan. Florida State and Florida State Republicans have just been, you know, going along with that line. As one Republican state representative said today, we haven't reviewed the political performance of any of the districts. Okay. There's just one problem with that statement. The architect of DeSantis Map specifically said he used partisan criteria to draw it. So there's that. Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida. It's great to see you. Let me just start by asking you about the meat of this. I mean, the Florida state constitution has an amendment that says that redistricting can't be done to favor a political party. So what's your reaction to DeSantis urging lawmakers to ignore that amendment? And his team's kind of bogus baloney.
- [38:41]
Congressman Maxwell Frost
Whatever reasoning for it, I mean, it's disgusting. And there's just so many potholes in this whole thing for him. Number one, he's complaining about the current map, saying the current map isn't right. But he wrote the current map and it wasn't passing the law 10 years ago or six years ago. Just four years ago, he put this map forward and it was passed by the legislature. That's the first thing. The second thing is in the state of Florida, for People who don't know. In the early 2000s, we had a ballot initiative to say we don't want maps drawn that favor a political party or a politician. And it was overwhelmingly adopted in the state of Florida by Democrats and Republicans all around the entire state. That is in our Constitution. And now you have the person who essentially wrote the map. Like you said, the architect of the map is saying he used partisan information to draw the map. But if that doesn't convince you, wait, there's more. Fox News got the map before the legislators got the map. And not only that, but usually when you see a congressional map, it is put forth in terms of cities and counties, municipalities, etc. This map Ron DeSantis gave the Fox News had red districts and blue districts. So this is going to be litigated in federal court and in state court because it is unconstitutional. And also our hope is that some Republicans will join us tomorrow or join the state legislators tomorrow in voting this down because it's unconstitutional. And in fact, three voted no on it today in the Rules Committee, which was very unexpected. So we'll see what happens over the coming days. But a very illegal map.
- [40:12]
MSNOW Host
It is so interesting that three voted against it. I mean, there are some Republicans, and you just outlined that so clearly. I just learned from what you just said. But there are some Republicans that have expressed concern that this new Florida map could backfire and actually allow Democrats to pick up seats. I don't know that that was the reasoning of those three you mentioned. But do you think as much as you are vehemently against this, this should not be happening? But do you think that's. That's possible?
- [40:37]
Congressman Maxwell Frost
Yeah, of course it should not be happening. It's illegal. If it does happen, there is about seven to eight districts, because of the way they wrote it, that in 2020 would be R +8 or lower. Now, let's look at the special elections we just had in the state of Florida. We were overperforming by 15 to 20 points in the special elections across the whole state and districts that are pretty red. So you have to think, you know, there, there, you know, could be a chance that not only do all of our incumbents come back, but that we could even gain more seats than we have now, depending on how things look in the midterm and as gas prices continue to rise, as people continue to see the President spending all of our taxpayer money in a reckless war in Iran, as prices go up, as people are underwater, as the President keeps trying to cover up the Epstein files, all of this adds up to voters going to the ballot box to say, enough is enough. And that happens here in the state of Florida. You have a bunch of light red districts that could turn blue come this November. So we'll see what happens. But this map shouldn't be put into place in the first place, and our hope is we'll be able to get rid of it over the next few weeks.
- [41:41]
MSNOW Host
I mentioned at the top of this segment that DeSantis redistricting coincides with reporting that he is looking for a job inside the Trump administration that Trump has been talking about. I also think the fact that he leaked this to Fox News is all related to this. But what do you make of these things? Those two things really happening at the same time?
- [41:58]
Congressman Maxwell Frost
Oh, 110%. Because all the Republicans in Florida wanted him to play it safe. They were saying, okay, one seat, right? Maybe get two seats if you can. Don't go for three, four or five, because it could backfire on us. But he doesn't care why. Well, scenario A, he writes the maps, they gain the seats, he's the hero. And hopefully Trump gets him a job because come November, he's termed out and he'll be irrelevant and he needs a gig while he waits to run for president and where he'll fail at that. Again, scenario two, he writes the maps and it backfires. Well, he can just blame the incumbents, the weak incumbents that couldn't win the red seats he put forth. Scenario three is the courts knock it down and he can just say activist court judges that need to be impeached. So in his mind, it doesn't really matter how it actually ends up. He doesn't really care about building power for his party or anything like that. It's about him doing a solid for Donald Trump and showing Donald Trump that he'll do what he wants to no matter what, because that is what you need to do to qualify to be in his. And so that's what the whole thing is about. He'll be irrelevant in November. He doesn't wanna be irrelevant in November. He wants to be in the Cabinet.
- [43:08]
MSNOW Host
Oh, he's happy to serve in the Supreme Court, reportedly. So I guess there's that very quickly, before you go. I mean, Trump and Republican allies have been using Saturday's attack as a way to push for this ballroom to go after his enemies. Thought of you a lot. I just wanted to know what you made of that.
- [43:26]
Congressman Maxwell Frost
He had a Republican colleague who tweeted that now everyone in the ballroom understands what it's like to feel like make America great again Republican. And I responded saying, no, I think everyone knows what it feels like to be a child in a classroom in this country. I mean, gun violence is something that we need to act upon. And my thing is whenever these horrible, whether it's an assassination attempt or active political violence happens, everyone just wants to talk about rhetoric. And of course we got to make sure that, you know, people aren't, you know, espousing violence. But there's tough rhetoric across the entire world in politics. What people don't want to talk about is how we end the means to political violence, how we make sure people don't have the means to kill one another in this country using guns. And then you have to talk about the guns. And that's the conversation that they don't want to have. But that's the conversation we do need to have. It's not about building a ballroom. It's about ensuring that people don't feel the need to use gun to solve their, solve their problems and that people don't have easy access to weapons of war. That's how we're actually going to end political violence in this country and also end violence of all kinds.
- [44:32]
MSNOW Host
Congressman Maxwell Frost perfectly said in a country where we have more guns per capita than I think any other country in the world. Thank you for being here for everything you do. We'll be right back. That does it for me tonight. You can catch the show Tuesday through Friday at 9pm Eastern on Ms. Now. And don't forget to follow the show on Blue sky, Instagram and TikTok.
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