← The Briefing with Jen Psaki
The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Trump turns his back on taxpayers while cashing in on presidential power
00:41:12
Jen Psaki looks at the myriad conflicts of interest and outright corruption by the Trump administration while taxpayers foot the bill for his self-serving deals and federal workers scramble to live without getting paid because of Trump's government shutdown.
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- [00:00]
Host/Interviewer
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- [01:00]
Host/Interviewer
The last time Donald Trump shut the government down, he decided to hold negotiations with Democratic leaders in front of the cameras for all the world to see. Do you remember this? He hosted Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi in the Oval Office, and it did not really go so well for him.
- [01:16]
Donald Trump
If we don't get what we want one way or the other, whether it's through you, through a military, through anything you want to call, I will shut down the government.
- [01:24]
Announcer/Promotional Voice
Okay?
- [01:24]
Donald Trump
I am proud to shut down the government. I will take the mantle. I. I will be the one to shut it down. I'm not going to blame you for it. The last time you shut it down, it didn't work. I will take the mantle of shutting down.
- [01:36]
Host/Interviewer
I will take the mantle of shutting it down. You heard him say a version of that several times there. Well, Trump may have learned something from that experience, because when he met again with Democratic leaders to negotiate a way to avert this current shutdown, he decided to do it in private, without television cameras rolling. And the main takeaway from the other attendees in that meeting was was that Trump did not seem to really understand what was going on. I mean, specifically, he did not understand that the whole debate was around Democrats wanting to extend subsidies to keep people's health care premiums from skyrocketing. As Democratic leader Chuck Schumer put it at the time, he didn't seem to know about the health care premiums going up. So much seems to be what it's all about. And for someone who claims to be some sort of political savant, that's pretty disconnected. I mean, look, today in the Washington Post, they released an analysis of who would be hit the hardest if Trump gets his way and those health care credits are allowed to expire. And take a look at this list, because it's pretty eye opening. Nearly a quarter of people under the age of 65 in Trump's adopted home state of Florida would see their health care premiums increase the highest of any state. The hardest hit states after Florida are Texas and Georgia, followed by Mississippi, Utah, South Carolina, and Alabama, which, of course, are all states that Donald Trump won in the last election. So, nearly two weeks into this government shutdown, does Trump still not realize that the voters he likes to refer to as his people are going to be hit the hardest by this? Who knows? When it comes to Donald Trump, it can be hard to tell if he really is as clueless as he appears or what exactly is going on. I mean, on the one hand, this is a guy who frequently tries to distance himself from controversy by claiming he doesn't know anything about it when all the evidence suggests that can't possibly be true. On the other hand, Trump is a fundamentally incurious person about policy and the functioning of government with a very well documented history of ignoring details and losing interest in anything that isn't directly about him. So maybe he really doesn't know how devastating his health care premium hikes would be. Or maybe he just doesn't care. And this is a question, unfortunately, we have to ask ourselves over and over again in the Trump era. I mean, take his disastrous tariff policy. A new report out from Goldman Sachs found that US consumers are already shouldering as much as 55% of the costs of Trump's tariffs. But Trump continues to insist that other countries are the ones paying the tariffs. So maybe he really doesn't know how much his tariffs are hurting American consumers. Or maybe he just doesn't care. Just last week, Trump threatened a new 100% tariff on all goods coming in from China. And China immediately vowed to retaliate. But then today, Trump seemed genuinely taken aback by China's response, posting on his social media account, quote, I believe that China purposefully not buying our soybeans and causing difficulty for our soybean farmers is an economically hostile act. Yeah, dude, you started a trade war with them. What'd you think was gonna happen? You just threatened even more tariffs. Are you just tuning into the impact of this whole thing? Maybe you are. Maybe Trump does not realize he's the source of China not buying our soybeans. Or maybe he doesn't really care. It's the same thing with his January 6th conspiracies. I mean, earlier this week, Trump falsely claimed that the Biden FBI secretly placed more than 200 FBI agents into the crowd on January 6th. Two quick notes on that. One, first, Donald Trump was president on January 6th, not Joe Biden. And two, Trump's own FBI director, Cash Patel, debunked that conspiracy theory less than three weeks earlier, noting that agents were there for crowd control and not part of the mob. Maybe Trump doesn't realize any of that. Or maybe, again, he just doesn't care. Same thing with Trump's military deployments in two major American cities. Trump has cited news footage of supposed chaos in Portland as justification for deploying troops into that city. But today, the news outlet Zetteo cites sources close to Trump who say the videos he's citing are from five years ago, which Fox News has included in their recent coverage. Maybe Trump doesn't realize he's citing outdated and selectively edited footage. Or maybe he just doesn't care. The point is, it is very hard to know at any given moment what Trump's level of understanding is about the pain he's inflicting on the American people, whether it's the shutdown or his nonsensical tariffs or the reality of the situation on the ground in cities he is sending troops to. But you can tell when Trump does care about something, you can tell when he really does understand something. Like, say, yesterday in Egypt when he seemed to know exactly what was going on.
- [06:35]
Announcer/Promotional Voice
A lot of cash.
- [06:40]
Host/Interviewer
This man, the man Trump gleefully pointed to and said had unlimited cash, is a member of the royal family in the uae. He is the vice president and deputy prime minister of the country. And he and his brothers control the rich nation's various sovereign wealth funds, making them some of the wealthiest people on earth. And back in May, the Emirati royal family used one of those sovereign wealth funds to give Trump, as he might put it, a lot of cash. An Emirati sovereign wealth fund controlled by one of this Guy's brothers deposited $2 billion into the Trump family's crypto startup. $2 billion. That is a lot of cash indeed. No wonder Trump was all smiles yesterday. I think we know now, here is where it gets even sketchier. And I know that doesn't even seem possible, but it does. Last month, the New York Times reported that just two weeks after the Emiratis put that money in Trump's pocket, the White House agreed to let the UAE access hundreds of thousands of the world's most advanced and scarce computer trips, despite national security concerns for doing so. Now, the White House denied that there was any sort of pay for play there and says that everyone involved in both of these deals, quote, acted appropriately. But who on earth would take their word for it at this point? And let's be real, those deals don't exist in a vacuum. None of them do. They're part of a pattern, a whole pattern. Just yesterday in Egypt, Trump was also caught on a hot mic talking to the president of Indonesia. And here is the gist of what we heard. The president of Indonesia asked Trump for a meeting with Trump's adult son, Eric, who runs the Trump family businesses and is therefore supposed to be firewalled off from Trump to avoid corruption. I mean, Eric Trump was promoting a Trump family golf course in Indonesia as recently as this month. So the potential conflicts of interest here are quite clear. But nonetheless, Trump responded by saying, quote, I'll have Eric call, he's such a good boy. I'll have Eric call that he's such a good boy is very strange. But that aside, and he isn't even the only son who is up to some sketchy business. It's a whole pattern in the family, too. Yesterday we also got some alarming news about one of Trump's other adult sons, Don Jr. Don Jr. Is a partner at a venture capital firm called 1789 Capital. And while the firm claims Don Jr. Himself was uninvolved in this event, the Wall street journal reports that 1789 Capital was trying to sell sponsorships to a conference that was marketed like it was an official government event. The event was called the Inaugural US Treasury AI Summit. And while a Treasury Department spokesperson says the agency had not approved any of the marketing materials, the event claimed that Trump's Treasury Secretary, Scott Besant, would unveil the Treasury's AI strategy at the event. And the event is also on the date that the Treasury Department is expected to unveil its actual new policies on AI. So a lot of things working together at once. And Bessen is actually scheduled to speak at the event alongside other people who do AI policy, like the White House's senior policy advisor for AI and the Treasury Department's Chief AI Officer. And while the attendance of all those government officials is giving this event its value to the people attending, the venture capital firm that Don Jr. Is a partner at is cashing in. They are selling all sorts of sponsorship packages to tech companies to sponsor the event, the most expensive level of which is called the Presidential sponsor. That's quite on the nose, which gets you 25 tickets to the event itself, two invites to the event's VIP dinner, eight tickets to the event's cocktail party, six spots in the event's VIP room, a large projection of your company's logo at the event, and. And a sponsored snack. That's right, you can now pay the President's son's venture capital firm to put out pigs in a blanket with your company's name next to it at an official US Government event, it seems. An event where the Treasury Secretary might make massive new policy announcements. That's possible, I guess, these days. Speaking of Secretary Bessen, today President Trump met with the Argentinian President Javier Milei to discuss the $20 billion US bailout of Argentina that Secretary Bessant is spearheading. And late last week the New York Times had some eye popping reporting of who exactly that $20 billion bailout would help because of course, there's a story here. You see, it turns out that investment firms have been placing big bets on Argentina's economy, buying up government debt cheaply in the hopes that the Argentinian economy recovers and they can repay that debt in full. And wouldn't you know it, two of Besson's friends and former mentors have put tons and tons of their own money into that bet. So $20 billion of your taxpayer dollars are said to be used to bail out Argentina and in the process also make Treasury Secretary Scott Besant's wealthy friends a ton of cash. Now that is completely outrageous to begin with, but today Trump made that $20 billion bailout all the more outrageous by adding condition.
- [11:47]
Donald Trump
I think the victory is very important. Your poll numbers, I hear, are pretty good, but I think they'll be better after this. And you know, our, our approvals are somewhat subject to who wins the election because if a socialist or in the case of New York City, a Communist wins, you feel a lot differently about making an investment. I think, Scott, you'd feel that if somebody that had no chance, in other words, if somebody wins and has no chance of ever having a great economy because of that philosophy, you would put a halt to what we're doing.
- [12:22]
Announcer/Promotional Voice
Yes, sir.
- [12:24]
Host/Interviewer
Yes, sir, that's right. Trump's $20 billion bill out of Argentina is now contingent on whether or not the people of Argentina vote for his political allies party in the upcoming election. So the Argentinian economy is teetering on the edge of collapse, which it is. And Trump is forcing the people of Argentina to choose between economic collapse or voting the way Trump wants them to in an election. That, by the way, is being held in just two weeks. The whole thing is so outrageous that an Argentinian reporter followed up with Trump about it later, asking Trump to clarify if he really meant that US Support for Argentina would depend on the results of the upcoming elections. And here is how Trump responded.
- [13:05]
Donald Trump
If he loses, we are not going to be generous with Argentina.
- [13:09]
Host/Interviewer
Couldn't be more clear there. That is what Trump is using $20 billion of taxpayers money for to prop up the economy of a foreign country and to influence a foreign election. Meanwhile, here at home, he has frozen OR canceled nearly $28 billion worth of government projects in just the past two weeks since the shutdown began. The New York Times just published a story breaking down how almost every one of those canceled or frozen projects just happens to be in a Democratic congressional district. I mean, look at this chart. Out of the nearly $28 billion of projects the administration has frozen or canceled, more than $27 billion worth have been projects in congressional districts represented by a Democrat. So Trump is literally taking $27 billion from Democratic led districts across the country, money that could improve the lives of Americans while simultaneously using $20 billion of American taxpayer money to influence an election. And it comes as the pain of this government shutdown is just beginning to sink in. Today was the last paycheck until the end of the shutdown for our nation's air traffic controllers. Last Friday was the final paycheck for our nation's TSA workers. And both TSA and air traffic controllers will still be required to work, but will no longer get paid until the government is funded again. Some 750,000 other government workers have been furloughed, meaning they will both not work and not be paid. Food banks across the country are bracing themselves for an influx of government workers unable to pay their bills. And remember, while hundreds of thousands of government workers are going without pay, the issue Trump and Republicans refuse to compromise with Democrats over is the extension of health care subsidies that would prevent 4 million people from losing their health care and 20 million more from having their costs go up. So what has become increasingly clear is that if you are an everyday American, Donald Trump either doesn't understand how badly he is hurting you or he doesn't care. But if you are a member of his family or a buddy from a foreign country, or anyone who can benefit him politically or financially, he will bend over backwards to help you. It's quite a contrast. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi is standing by and joins me to discuss all of this and more in just 90 seconds.
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Announcer/Promotional Voice
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- [15:32]
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- [17:11]
Host/Interviewer
As promised. Joining me now is House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. It is great to see you. We started off the show talking about the time Trump tried to bring cameras into the Oval Office and scold you and Leader Schumer about how shutdowns work, which didn't go so well. Let me start by asking you. You've spent your career fighting for people in this country, for people in your district. I just outlined there how Trump is basically busy lining his pockets and those of his billionaire friends, bailing out his buddy in Argentina, while millions of Americans are waiting to see if their health care costs are going to go up. And there are thousands of tens of thousands of furloughed workers. How does that split screen?
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Nancy Pelosi
Well, it doesn't sit well. When we won in 06, one of our sayings was drain the swamp. It's time to drain the swamp again. You know, he stole that saying from us when it really wasn't a swamp. But nonetheless, there we are. You wonder why the American people tolerate a grifter like this in the White House. A grifter family. You put money into their account. And then they say, you can buy chips, high powered chips from the United States. That's an emolument cause of the Constitution. But you know what? We don't agonize. We organize. And that's why we have to win this election. The best antidote to their poisonous policies and their poisonous action is to win, to win the election. And that's what we intend to do. What they are doing in terms of the use of money, going to imagine they're sending money to Argentina, which is in competition with our farmers for soy, into soybeans into China, and yet they're on the other end of it putting money in their pockets by investing in Argentina at the expense of America's farmers.
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Host/Interviewer
It's veryit's not even clear he understands that from what he said today.
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Nancy Pelosi
Well, I don't know what he understands, but what I do understand for us is that we must win and that we will win. As you are aware, we have a lot vested into the Affordable Care act, as does President Obama. And he was our leader, our inspiration, our just made it all happen and we intend to protect it. What's interesting, I think it's interesting that when we passed it, it wasn't so popular and we were like a little bit down, six points down in popularity when it became law. Now we're almost 30 points ahead, 29 points ahead, 30 something to 60 something in favor of the Affordable Care act for whatever they want to call it in their states. And we fully intend to save that for American people and in doing so, win the election to correct the corruption that goes on among the grifters in the White House.
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Host/Interviewer
Democrats are so unified on this and also the public polling is very clear about where the country is because as much as the Affordable Care act wasn't popular back in the day, I remember that well, it has grown in popularity and now the plan has always been to expand the coverage and expand access. I wanted to play something for you that Speaker Mike Johnson had to say today. Let's play that. We'll talk about it on the other side. Do you need to change your strategy.
- [20:38]
Donald Trump
To negotiate a deal with Democrats?
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Announcer/Promotional Voice
It's a great question.
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Nancy Pelosi
Manu asks, why don't I change my strategy? I don't have any strategy, Manu.
- [20:45]
Announcer/Promotional Voice
I'm doing the right thing, the clearly obvious thing, the traditional thing. That's exactly what Chuck Schumer voted for.
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Nancy Pelosi
March of this year and gave impassioned.
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Announcer/Promotional Voice
Speeches was the right and only thing. I don't have anything to negotiate.
- [20:59]
Host/Interviewer
It's very clear what there is to negotiate. You've been in that position before. What do you make of someone as speaker saying I don't have a strategy?
- [21:07]
Nancy Pelosi
Well, they do have a strategy, and that is to give tax breaks to the richest people in America at the expense of America's working families. This is sinful almost that they're taking about more than a half a trillion dollars out of Medicare. People want to talk about that. Raising the cost of the Affordable Care act, depriving millions of people from Medicaid children, seniors on long term health care. So what? So that they can tax breaks to billionaires and at the same time send billions of dollars to Argentina at the expense of our farmers. So they have a strategy and it's what it's always been. They only passed one bill. It's important to note that they only passed one bill when they had the majority before the first presidency. They give a tax break to the wealthiest people in America, adding $2 trillion to the national debt. They doubled down on it. Now they're giving a $4 trillion tax cut, adding $4 trillion to the national debt. I said President Trump is the worst president in American history for America's children. He's taking food out of their mouths. But the SNAP program, health care away from them, education, children with special needs, just reducing the number of people who work there from over 100 to barely 20 for children with special needs. And he's on top of it all, giving them $4 trillion in national debt to pay for to give a tax break to the wealthiest people in our country. This is nota budget is a statement of values. What is important to our country should be how we allocate our resources. This isn't what this is. This is tax breaks for the rich who don't want to pay taxes and who don't want any clean air, clean water regulations or anything for the children.
- [22:58]
Host/Interviewer
It's been to your point, it's been consistent with what their policies have been and how they have approached things to date. They've been trying to kill the Affordable Care act for how long now, I wonder? I mean, I've been saying a lot on this show. It's terrible policy, it's bad for the country, it's bad for people, it's bad for kids, it's bad for families. It's also terrible politics because it's so unpopular. What they are refusing to negotiate for you. I know you're not in the weeds of these negotiations, but what do you think moves Trump in this regard? Is it the Politics, Is it something else?
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Nancy Pelosi
Follow the money. You know, Deep Throat said that decades ago, before you were born. Follow the money. That's what he's about now. The thing is, is that what they don't understand is when we, the other. When we were in the Oval Office, you showed Chuck and the president. But I saw that happen right there. We were having.
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Host/Interviewer
You were right there. Yes.
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Nancy Pelosi
Major fight. Yeah, I walked out with my red coat. But when that happened, the reason government was opened up is because the people spoke out. The people spoke out and that had an impact on the senators, the Republican senators. And then. And that's what will happen now. Power to the people. They understand what this means to them now. You know, you wonder how do they tolerate this president and some of them, both women, that they'll do almost anything to have lower prices, community safety like that. And they think that's what he was bringing. Instead, he's not. He's increasing the cost of health care with his tariffs, increase the cost of many other things and of course, militarizings what he. But it isn't safe, but it is militarizing community, communities across our country. So, you know, let's be respectful of everyone and how they choose to vote, that's their decision. But the fact is everything is at stake in our country at this time. That's why we have to win the vote in California when we have Proposition 50. I don't know if we're going to be talking about that.
- [25:02]
Host/Interviewer
We're going to get there. We have to take a very, very quick break. You've been so generous to stay around. I think question to ask you about, but I really want to talk about the importance of that, all of your work behind the scenes. We'll do that when we come right back.
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Nancy Pelosi
Okay.
- [25:19]
Host/Interviewer
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- [25:49]
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- [26:40]
Host/Interviewer
North Carolina's Republican controlled legislature just became the latest to announce plans to heed Trump's call to rig the 2026 midterm elections for Republicans by redrawing congressional maps. And that makes California's answer to the Trump power grab all the more important. If a majority of California voters vote yes on a ballot measure called Prop 50 in three weeks, they will give their legislators the green light to try to balance the playing field on redistricting. The stakes are so high that a certain former president is speaking out.
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Announcer/Promotional Voice
California, the whole nation is counting on you. Democracy is on ballot November 4th. Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to rig the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years. With Prop 50, you can stop Republicans in their tracks. Prop 50 puts our elections back on a level playing field, preserves independent redistricting over the long term, and lets the people decide. Return your ballot today. Vote yes on 50.
- [27:43]
Host/Interviewer
Another Democratic heavyweight who's a little bit smaller than Barack Obama is also very engaged in this fight. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi has reportedly been deeply involved behind the scenes. No surprise. According to the New York Times, California Governor Gavin Newsom sought Pelosi's private counsel and support over the summer before plowing ahead with Prop 50. Pelosi was also a key sounding board for Eric Holder, the former attorney general, as he decided to abandon his commitment to nonpartisan mapmaking in this case. She was also seen as a linchpin to help fund this campaign. Even tonight, right before this show, and she's been here with me for the last several minutes, she hosted a grassroots call on Prop 50, seemingly working around the clock on this very important effort. Back with me now is Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. You have been very I just outlined some of the ways you've been involved. Clearly this is personal to you for people who are just paying attention. We've talked about it a bit on this show, but why is this so important?
- [28:37]
Nancy Pelosi
Well, it's important because this is the path to winning the House for the Democrats. In 2006, when we won, we won. That was the first time the Democrats had won since 1992. But we got ready the year before. We were ready one year in advance to win the following year. Same thing in 18. In 2017, we were ready to win in 18. We won 40 seats, 31 of them in Trump districts. This time we've been preparing. And then the Republicans did what they did in Texas. I'm not a big fan of redistricting mid decade or even beyond the commission, but we have made a pledge to that the next redistricting will be with the commission with this. And we fully intend to win. I want to win big. And so I'm so excited about the president's ad that came out this week. It's really a cause for great excitement because nobody has a bigger positive image in California than Barack Obama.
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Host/Interviewer
Your eyes light up when you talk about winning big. I think that excites a lot of people watching. Just to put a fine point on it here. I mean, Speaker, Democratic Leader Jeffries.
- [29:51]
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- [29:52]
Host/Interviewer
Would it be, would he be able to become speaker if this does not pass?
- [29:55]
Nancy Pelosi
Oh, he will be speaker.
- [29:56]
Host/Interviewer
Well, but if this doesn't pass, this has to. Does this have to pass in order for him to become speaker?
- [30:01]
Nancy Pelosi
Well, he will be speaker. We will win the election. This is a step in that direction. But we have many steps in that direction. This is arrogant. This is confident Hakeem Jeffries and he's leading the way on this for us. What we're doing with health care and the rest in this debate on the shutting down of the Republicans have done in government. The Republicans shut down government. Trump took great pride in it when he did it and you showed the film. I take pride in doing that. He was proud to do that. And every, every shutdown has been a Republican shutdown. So we fully intend to win. This is, I don't even entertain the idea that we would not win on November 4th. I want to win big.
- [30:51]
Host/Interviewer
There are three Democrats. Let me get. There are as many as nine Republican led states that have either gerrymandered their maps. This is important people to know. Nine Republican states are considering it in some capacity. Three Democratic states have taken some type of action. Obviously other states could follow California's lead. Redistricting is not something that you have supported. Mid 10 year plan here, but you also don't like to fight with one arm behind your back. You wouldn't have won so many times. Do you wish other states, do you want other blue states to really think about this at this point or think about a path to forward, even if it's following the same model as California with letting people vote to do it.
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Nancy Pelosi
Well, people have to do what their path is. It's really important to notei thank you for your acknowledging what I have done. But this was a big plan. That is to say, in order for us to move forward, the California Democrats had to less a plan that added five seats, which meant members had to give up some of their Democrats to do that. Zoe Lofgren, our chair of our caucus and Pete Aguilar is the chair of the Bigger call because they led the way on this though, has just been remarkable. So our delegation had to vote for this. The state legislature, House and Senate under the leadership of Speaker Rivas and pro tem leader of the Senate Maguire, they then supported what we sent them. And then of course, Gavin Newsom carries the ball down the field, is carrying the ball down the field and we're very proud of that. But everybody, since we're all into it, people have, you know, you have to own the ground to win an election. So everybody has a vested interest in California in doing this. So it' swhe had a plan if other states have a plan to do. But you know, we only need three seats to win to make Hakeem the speaker understand that. So it's not a big thing. Last election when we won, we won 40 seats as this had 31 in Trump district. When we won in 06, we hadn't won since 1992, but we decided we had to win and we made a decision to win. And when you make a decision to win, you make every decision in favor of winning. House Democrats, state legislature, Governor Newsom, and now our former President of the United States with his the country is depending on California. It's about winning the House, but it's also about our democracy and that but what people vote on, we save our democracy at the kitchen table. So it comes right back down to the cost of living, the cost of health care, the cost of every, everything that we do, whether it's for job creation and jobs and community safety and Affordable Care act as well as Medicaid, Medicare, all of that. Helping seniors with a long term health care. You save democracy at the kitchen table.
- [33:48]
Host/Interviewer
Big issue. People care about health care. I was a young spokesperson at the DCCC when you became speaker of the House. There's nothing that feels better than winning big. So I hope people as they're working hard out there, remember that. Speaker Emerita Pelosi, it's so great to see you. Thank you so much for joining me talking about so many important issues.
- [34:07]
Nancy Pelosi
My pleasure. Just one, baby. That's our motto.
- [34:10]
Narrator/Promo Voice
Okay?
- [34:10]
Host/Interviewer
Coming up, Kristi Noem and Pete Hegseth both try crazy things. And the response they each got was a resounding no, thank you. I'll explain when we come back. Since the start of this shutdown, the Trump administration has taken a wildly inappropriate and probably illegal approach to the blame game scheme, using both government websites and email to try to pin the shutdown on Democrats. Some federal workers have even received suggested templates of out of office emails saying they were furloughed because, quote, Democrat senators are blocking passage of a funding bill. And multiple government websites now have messages like this one pinned to them, claiming that the radical left in Congress shut down the government. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who never passes up the opportunity to get in front of a camera, often in cringy outfits, has even gone as far as to tape this video to be played at TSA checkpoints at airports across the country. Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government, and because of this, many of our operations are impacted and most of our TSA employees are working without pay. You know, this is usually the video that's like, stay safe. If you see something, say something, whatever it may be. Now, unfortunately for Noemi, that video is not going to be seen by the number of air travelers she had hoped. And that's because airports across the country are refusing to air it. Officials in Buffalo, Charlotte, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon, all have said that the video violates internal policies as well as state and local laws. As for having to hear the word no recently, no. May be able to commiserate, though, with her buddy over at the Defense Department, Pete Hegseth, because he is hearing the word no a lot lately. It all started last week when Hegseth announced that the Pentagon would drastically change its rules for journalists covering the department. Journalists were told that going forward, they must sign a pledge not to gather any information, including unclassified reports that haven't been authorized for release. That is not how reporting works. Just to state the obvious here, essentially only report on the stuff that Pete Hegseth says you can or lose your press credentials is the basic gist of it. The deadline to sign that pledge was today. Hegseth was asked about it earlier today, and here's what he said. Mr. President, the press could go anywhere, pretty much anywhere in the Pentagon, the most classified area in the world, or also that if they sign onto the credentialing, they're not going to try to get soldiers to break the law by giving them classified information. So it's common sense stuff, Mr. President. We're trying to make sure national security is responsible, respected and we're proud of the policy. Well, like many of the nation's airports told Noam Hegseth got a resounding no from newsrooms across the ideological spectrum, including from his former longtime employer, Fox News, who signed onto a statement with abc, cbs, NBC and cnn, as well as the Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, Reuters, the New York Times, the Washington Post and even Newsmax stating that Hegseth's new rules were, quote, without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections. When you've lost newsmex, that's, you know, you have a problem. Pete Hegseth, just a little warning there. Now, it goes to show, as intimidating and all powerful as the Trump administration would like you to believe they are, a strong and simple no is also a pretty good option. When we come back, Maine just became home to the most interesting Senate primary race in the country with Governor Janet Mills jumping into the race. One of her more formidable primary challenges who's been in the race is Graham Plattner and he joins us next. The Democratic primary race to unseat Maine's five term Republican Senator Susan Collins just got more crowded today. Maine's Democratic Governor Janet Mills officially threw her hat in the ring and she is a popular Democratic fixture in Maine politics having won two terms. Chuck Schumer lured her into the race, endorsed her and Senate Democrats campaign arm has already formed a pact to fundraise for her. But not all Democrats are falling in line because there's already a candidate in the race who's been gaining a lot of traction. Graham platner is a 41 year old oyster farmer and veteran of both the army and Marine Corps who launched his campaign back in August. He has drawn large crowds at 20 town halls all across Maine with his calls for breaking up big corporate monopolies and consequences for those who have led violent incursions into US Cities. And he has also taken a completely unfiltered approach to communicating, been very open about being a disabled veteran. What's your response if Republicans criticize you for that?
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Announcer/Promotional Voice
Off?
- [39:12]
Host/Interviewer
It's pretty refreshing. Joining us now is Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. senate in Maine. It's great to see you. When you joined us back in August, we asked about Governor Mills potentially running and you said you still run your race no matter, no matter who jumped in, which I would certainly expect you to say now it's real. So lay out for us why you're a better choice than Governor Mills to defeat Susan Collins.
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Announcer/Promotional Voice
Yeah, it's. I mean, we obviously, I'm gonna stay in this thing and I'm gonna keep doing exactly what we set out to do. I welcome the governor into the race. I am a big fan of primaries. I think it democratizes our political system. It's good to have people head choices and let the voters of Maine really show which way they want to go forward when it comes to their representation. I do think that right now people are extremely fed up with the system that we are living in. They're extremely fed up with a politics that feels alienating and frankly, inaccessible and unrepresentative of regular people. And as I've gone around the state over the past few weeks, meeting with literally thousands of Mainers in small towns everywhere, I hear the same thing over and over again, which is that people really want a different kind of politics. They want a politics that does not come out of the establishment, that does not represent the powers that be. There's a frustration amongst people that feel that you can't rely on the types of politicians that brought us to this point to get us out of it. You need to try something new. And I think that that's what's been motivating a lot of the people that have been and supporting us throughout this.
- [40:55]
Host/Interviewer
I mean, Democratic politicians are not exactly popular right now. So there is running against the establishment as something that has power in it. I mean, leaderstroomer recruited Governor Mills, endorsed her. The DSCC started a pact to raise money to defeat you. How do you handle that? Does that impact your strategy? How do you approach it?
- [41:17]
Announcer/Promotional Voice
Honestly, it doesn't change much for us. I mean, the kind of campaign that I'm trying to build, which is very much based around field organizing, getting people engaged. I mean, something I've noticed, people want to be in politics, they want to be involved. They want to feel like they're part of it. But we have a system that is frankly, utterly inaccessible. And most establishment campaigns, they're not really out there to give people a place to be. They just fundraise and then blow money on consultants and TV ads. We're not doing that. That's not what we're focused on. The kind of campaign that I want to run, the kind of movement I to build, frankly, it doesn't really matter who else gets in the race or doesn't. We're going to be undertaking that project no matter what.
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Host/Interviewer
Governor Mills is a popular as you know, two term governor. She would also be the oldest Senate freshman in history. I believe a lot of people sure at hand, this is a race about generational change. You're 41, she's 77. How much do you think age is a factor in this race? How much do you hear about it out there?
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Announcer/Promotional Voice
For me, it is a generational race, but it's about generational, I would say, politics. It's not about age, it's about our thinking. It's about the kind of politics we want to see, the kind of future that we want to build, the kind of policies we want to fight for. And I think what I'm representing, what I'm pushing is very much not the status quo. I think that that's what people are into. It's not about how old you are, it's about how old your ideas are. And we really need to look at our political future in a way that's going to be much bolder and much brighter than what we've been doing. And I really just think that as we shape that, that's what people are going to respond to and that's where the change needs to be. For me, it's not really an age thing at all. It's more about whether you're of the political establishment that has brought us here or if you're coming in to change it.
- [43:28]
Host/Interviewer
We only have about a minute left, but ultimately this is about beating Susan Collins, something Democrats have been trying to do for a long time. What does a platinum coalition look like to win the general election?
- [43:40]
Announcer/Promotional Voice
It's vast. And I will say, like the fact that we have been able, just to give you an example today, today was our biggest fundraising day, bigger than the first day of my campaign. And it wasn't because we did a lot of fundraising. It's because there are a lot of people that get all these mass texts that they hate. They're on all these lists that the DS is sharing around and people are frustrated by that and they want to get involved. That's not just Democrats. When people look at this kind of political system, it's independents, it's Republicans. As I've been going around the state, it's been amazing to me how many people who I might not agree with on everything, but they're just sick and tired of politics as usual. And they're also sick and tired of a political system and frankly a larger system that doesn't represent their interests. And when they hear what I have to say, we don't have to agree on everything. But we agree on the big stuff, and that's that we need to make big structural change and we're not going to get that going with the same kind of establishment folks.
- [44:46]
Host/Interviewer
Graham Platner, thank you for joining me. That does it for me today. You can catch the show Tuesday through Friday at 9pm Eastern on MSNBC. And don't forget to follow the show on Blue sky, Instagram and TikTok.
- [44:57]
Narrator/Promo Voice
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