← The Briefing with Jen Psaki
The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Trump's Epstein turmoil triggers MAGA meltdown
00:40:40
Jen Psaki reports on how the Trump administration's insistence that there is no worthwhile information to be released from the files on notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein is not sitting well with supporters who believed the many stories spun by now-serving members of the administration. And that discontent is reportedly also seeping into the administration.
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- [00:00]
Jen Psaki
Today, Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino apparently did not show up to work. And at this point, we really have no idea if he will be back at work on Monday, as I was just saying to Chris, and if not, whether he's gone for good or whether anyone else from this Trump era soap opera will be exiting with him. Who knows? We'll see. And if there's anything we learn over the next hour, and you never know, we may, we will be sure to let you know, I promise. And we don't know exactly where Dan Bongino was. We do have a pretty good sense of why he went mia. And before we get into all the nitty gritty here, I know you've probably been following a lot of it, but let me just say this is a very messy, dysfunctional MAGA family drama. It involves hurt feelings and big personalities and I would say some important lessons about what can happen when you're in a party with a growing addiction to conspiracy theorists and making sure they love you. So I just want to go back to the beginning of the second Trump administration because it's important here. I mean, the MAGA faithful were eager to finally get their hands on all the secret Jeffrey Epstein files that they had led themselves to believe were purposely being hidden from them from all the evil people in the Biden administration, I suppose. Files that they were convinced would implicate members of the Deep State in child sex trafficking and in murdering Epstein to cover it all up. That was the theory, right? And one of the people Trump appointed to a major role in the FBI was this guy.
- [01:30]
Dan Bongino
Hear about this Jeffrey Epstein thing that apparently 170 plus people on his client list may be outed in the coming days.
- [01:37]
Jamie Raskin
I can't wait for that.
- [01:38]
Dan Bongino
I've already told you the Epstein story. Let's just say a friend who knows about something, if you've heard the story, was on the plane with Clinton, Clinton with the Epstein thing. And he said, I am out of here, daddy. Oh, I told that story quite a few times. So I know a lot about this story. There are a lot of people who know old Jeff, a lot of people. So it's kind of weird. Like this client list is about to come out. Everybody got quiet all of a sudden about the Senate sex tape scandal and nobody wants to say anything. Quickie poll. You believe some members of Congress in the Senate may have some connection to the Epstein client list? A simple Y for yes will do. No if you think, nah, no chance at somebody have something on them. Is that client list going to have Some names. Guess we'll see.
- [02:28]
Jen Psaki
So that little hype man for all the conspiracy theories has found himself to be the Deputy Director of the FBI. Now, just a couple weeks into Trump's new term, back in February, Attorney General Pam Bondi handed out binders, binders labeled the Epstein files, Phase one. You can see one right on the screen there, nicely labeled with a little cover sheet, all to MAGA influencers at the White House. And she also told Fox News that the Epstein client list was literally sitting on her desk. So conspiracy Leon had their hopes up. They were pumped. They were finally going to get access to this stuff. Then that leads us to this week when it all fell apart, when Bondi's office released a memo stating that Epstein had killed himself in his prison cell and that his long awaited, much rumored client list did not exist, effectively shutting the case down. That memo, to say the least, was not received well by magaworld and prompted a good portion of Trump supporters to basically lose their minds. I said, absolutely, like, where did this guy go?
- [03:34]
Dan Bongino
Where did that whole case go?
- [03:36]
Jen Psaki
Where did all the files go?
- [03:37]
Kash Patel
They just went nowhere. No one even believes that.
- [03:40]
Jen Psaki
Do you buy this story from the Justice Department?
- [03:43]
Jamie Raskin
I do not.
- [03:43]
Jen Psaki
It's almost like the Justice Department doesn't want us talking about Jeffrey Epstein anymore.
- [03:48]
Pam Bondi
So we're stupid. Yeah, we're, we're the idiots, guys. Just let you know, we're wasting time.
- [03:56]
Jen Psaki
That's a good point. That is, like, in all seriousness, that is, that is.
- [04:00]
Pam Bondi
I think what is enraging people right now is it's insulting our intelligence. Like, obviously the intelligence community is trying to cover it up. Obviously the Trump administration is trying to cover up. Something changed because they ran on this idea of exposing it all.
- [04:14]
Tom Homan
So now by coming in and being part of the COVID up, the Trump.
- [04:17]
Jen Psaki
Administration has.
- [04:21]
Jamie Raskin
Become part of it.
- [04:23]
Jen Psaki
I mean, it's just, you cannot see.
- [04:25]
Jamie Raskin
It any other way.
- [04:26]
Jen Psaki
I'm physically going to puke probably right now.
- [04:29]
Tom Homan
My mouth is watering right now because.
- [04:35]
Jen Psaki
Because I have integrity. I mean, that performance. My mouth is watering because I have integrity. Although I did love the act. Actual tinfoil hats. While they were talking about conspiracy theories in the clip right before that. That aside now, what is pretty clear from that is that Trump's MAGA base is looking for someone to blame. And that has led to some pretty juvenile, childish infighting by some of the most juvenile and childish members of the Trump administration, including a reportedly heated meeting on Wednesday between Attorney General Pam Bondi, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, FBI Director Kash Patel and and Bongino. Now, here's how the New York Times described it. Ms. Bondi and her allies believe that Mr. Bongino, who parlayed a he man image and promotion of conspiracies into a top law enforcement job, planted stories in the conservative news media blaming Ms. Bondi for the backlash after an announcement earlier this week that the Epstein case would be closed, according to officials close to the situation. Now, the New York Times goes on to say that an irate Ms. Bondi accused Mr. Bongino of leaking information to the news media and in the presence of the FBI Director, Kash Patel, the White House Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, and one of her deputies, Taylor Buttowich. Mr. Boncino denied it. They said, now, this is not the most important part of the story, but I will just pause here for a moment because a personal feud between the FBI director, the FBI Deputy director and the Attorney general that is so intense it warrants a peacemaking meeting hosted by the White House Chief of staff, which has a lot on her plate. Well, this may be a first, and I've worked in two administrations, but this may be a first. Now, according to a bunch of reporting, both Patel and Bongino have been frustrated with Bondi for a while. Now, in the Epstein case, Bongino felt that Bondi had over promised and under delivered, which to be fair, I guess she kind of did. I mean, she was definitely hyping the revelations up before saying nothing to see here. But behind the scenes, Patel and Bongino may have been more agreeable than they claim. Bondi's deputy at the Justice Department, Trump's former defense attorney, Todd Blanche, said in a social media post, I worked closely with Patel and Bongino on the joint FBI and DOJ memo regarding the Epstein files. All of us signed off on the contents of the memo and the conclusions stated in the memo. And also a source familiar with Bondi and Blanche's thinking told NBC News that all of them were on the same page on this all along, until the criticism started to come in. Now, honestly, who knows? It is impossible to know who is telling the truth with this group. Maybe they're telling some truth, maybe they're all lying. Who knows? But now Dan Bongino may be reaching his breaking point. We don't know if he's going to go back to work, which has honestly been a long time coming and may even have nothing to do with this exact memo or this particular family food, aside from the fact that he may not love MAGA anger of any Sort being directed at him given how he got his rise on a MAGA loving podcast. Because here he was just six weeks ago on Fox, really missing his life as a right wing firebrand.
- [07:35]
Dan Bongino
People ask me all the time, you know, do you like it? I say, no, I don't. But I didn't. The President asked me to do this, to like it, you know. You know what he likes going into an organization like that and having to change things and make big, bold changes. But, you know, I was at one of our facilities yesterday down in Winchester, and a woman who worked there, very nice, said, you know, I used to watch your show. I miss you. I said, you know, I miss me too. You know, part of you, part of part of you dies a little bit when you see all this stuff from behind the scenes. I stare at these four walls all day in D.C. you know, by myself, divorced from my wife. Not divorced, but I mean, separated, divorced. And it's hard. I mean, you know, we love each other and it's hard to be apart.
- [08:16]
Jen Psaki
There was a lot packed in there, which we don't have time to analyze. But the point is, this guy really misses his life as a podcaster. That's been pretty consistent. No wonder he might be looking to leave his new job. I mean, it's obviously easier to push conspiracy theories than the facts that you have to upset your fan base. Because if you push facts, maybe you'll upset your fan base. But in some sense, I do understand Bongino's frustrations. I mean, Bondi did over promise and under deliver. There are still lots of questions surrounding this case. I don't know the answers to them. MAGA may be the most dysfunctionally unraveling group here, but they aren't the only ones asking questions. Joining me now is someone who is asking questions, and he continues to. Congressman Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland and the ranking member on the House Judiciary committee. He and 15 other committee Democrats have demanded that Attorney General Pam Bondi release any mention of Donald Trump in the Justice Department's files on Jeffrey Epstein. So this has been a strange week. I don't know how else to define it. And you are a part of the story, which is also strange. So let me just start by asking you, is it weird to I guess, be on sort of the same side, at least in demanding information as people like Alex Jones and others who you probably agree with absolutely nothing on?
- [09:29]
Jamie Raskin
Well, we called for the release of the Epstein files in the Biden administration. We've been consistent all along in saying these should be opened up to the public. All of the charges against Epstein were dismissed after his death. Of course, his associate, Ms. Maxwell was convicted on five charges, as well as another French associate was prosecuted and then, I believe, took his own life. At this point, all the trials are over and everything should be released to the public in the public interest, especially after Donald Trump. J.D. vance, Dan Bongino, the FBI director, Kash Patel, and the Attorney General himself all stated that this was information of interest to the public and everybody should be able to get a hold of it. So, look, there's two possibilities here, Jen. One is that all of these people, including Elon Musk, actually know that Donald Trump is implicated, or other people high up in the government or the Republican Party are implicated and they're trying to cover it up at this point. Or else all of it was just propaganda from the beginning. But look what happens when you use propaganda. You know, WH Auden said propaganda was the use of magic by those who no longer believe in it, against those who still do. And so you've got millions of people in MAGA who are saying, wait a second, you are feeding us on a steady diet of release these tapes for all of these months and all of these years. Are you saying that there's really nothing there? I mean, that would incline us towards the first theory that there's. There's really a lot there. There are a lot of facts there that the public should know about, but if it's completely empty, release it in that case, and if there's stuff in there we need to know, then the public has a right to know, as the Republicans have been saying all along. So I guess I do find myself in the same camp as Dan Bongino and MAGA saying, let's release everything as Trump promised during the campaign. He didn't promise to throw 14 million people off of their Medicaid, but he did promise to release the Epstein tapes.
- [11:39]
Jen Psaki
Do you think. I'm sure you've thought about why they did this. Why do you think that Attorney General Pam Bondi is holding back? I mean, they have all promised to do it. So even if it's blank pieces of paper, to your point, why?
- [11:53]
Jamie Raskin
If it's blank pieces of paper, I'm certain they would release it right away. Of course, they would have to explain why they were engaged in a propaganda exercise and why they've been saying things, including Pam Bondi, like, you know, the client list is on my desk. And many of these people have gestured at the existence of a client list. So this is a vast Public perception now without regard to ideological minds. People believe that that client list is out there. And look, this guy was a real child sex offender and they ran a child sex ring. So, you know, we know that maga, you know, took that ball and ran all the way down the field with it, and they're alleging satanic child sex rings and so on. That has done HU damage to America's political and civic culture. Let's get the truth out there so we can all see. I mean, you know, I've not had a single Democrat tell me they're afraid of what's in there. Maybe there are Democrats who are, you know, confidentially afraid and talking to the Trump administration. I doubt it. Maybe there are some Republicans doing that. And we do know, look, why would Trump not want to release it at this point when he's been demanding an open, complete, comprehensive accounting and release either one? He's implicated and they don't want to doctor the tapes or at least doctor them any further because there is that mysterious one minute missing of the tape in the prison. But so either he's implicated or there are other high ranking Republicans he's covering up for, or there are people on there that he wants to use this as leverage against, which we know is also a big mo for Donald Trump. He would like to have the coercive leverage of possessing this arsenal of information around them. It'd be much better for everybody to come clean and let's vindicate the public interest here. I'm going to be asking Chairman Jordan to call for a hearing where we subpoena the Attorney General and Dan Bongino and Cash Patel to come in and tell us everything that we know. Because this thing is really spinning out of control at this point. And there's one way to put it to rest, which is to come clean as President Trump promised he would during the campaign.
- [14:05]
Jen Psaki
There are strange alignments here as we've just started the show talking about. Do you think Chairman Jordan is going to be open to doing that? You do need them because they are in control, of course, of the House and the committee. Do you think he will?
- [14:17]
Jamie Raskin
Well, I know that there are Republicans on the Judiciary Committee who are on the side of Cash Patel and Dan Bongino, who've been saying all along that this evidence, or, you know, the evidence that was collected around this in several different criminal investigations must be made fully public. I mean, this is an administration which calls itself the most transparent in history. Whatever you think about the merits of that claim, they should try to live up to it here when they were the ones who were putting this on the public agenda. And now doubt and skepticism are spreading across the country about what is on these tapes. And we want to see them unfiltered, undoctored, uncensored, just turn them over to us. And I think that's something that Chairman Jordan could agree to. And I certainly know there are Republicans in the House who feel that way.
- [15:09]
Jen Psaki
Let me just ask you one more question on this because you referenced tapes and there's this minute that's missing is the tape and the minute missing where you think Trump could be implicated or a list of Epstein's, where do you think he could be implicated or you just don't know?
- [15:24]
Jamie Raskin
We don't know. We're saying release the whole thing, which was what was promised. Of course, Elon Musk, in his fit of pique against Donald Trump when they had their quarrel, said the reason it's not being released is because Trump is in the files. And he seemed to speak with authority the same way Dan Bongino spoke with authority before this happened. And Cash Patel and even Pam Bondi herself, they all seem to know things were no different pieces of it. And it should be released to the public. It should not be be a political football. We should just release it the way that if there had been a trial, had Mr. Epstein not died, all of this would have been public information. And so every day that it goes on with them not releasing it looks more and more like a cover up.
- [16:11]
Jen Psaki
Congressman Jamie Raskin, thank you for reminding everybody that you've been pushing for this long ago. I should have said that too. And thank you for joining us tonight. I really appreciate it.
- [16:21]
Jamie Raskin
My pleasure, Jen.
- [16:23]
Jen Psaki
Okay, coming up, lots more to discuss. There's new polling that shows just how unpopular Donald Trump's signature issue is. We've never seen anything like this when it comes to the issue Trump has banked his entire political career on. Pretty much that's next. Don't go anywhere. Okay. Something we should all know about Donald Trump by now, something that has been true for his entire life, something he has shown to us over and over again is this. If Donald Trump is sitting on a bunch of capital, he's going to squander it. Whether it's due to greed or hubris or just plain incompetence. He just has this never ending tendency to overextend himself. And this applied long before he entered politics. I mean, the business world learned it when Trump squandered the money he inherited from his father. Big banks learned it in the 90s, when he was so close to defaulting, they had to bail him out just to save themselves. Atlantic City learned it when Trump managed to disprove that old saying about how the House always wins by bankrupting his casino empire. Perhaps that's a little on the nose, but money isn't the only kind of capital that Trump squanders in spectacular fashion. It's also political capital. And that's most apparent right now on Trump's signature issue, immigration. Remember, voters who said immigration was their most important issue broke for Trump last November by a whopping 80 point margin. That was not that long ago. 80 points. And in the days and months since that election, we've repeatedly heard that the immigration issue is what propelled Trump back into the White House.
- [18:09]
Jamie Raskin
Voters handed down a mandate. They want illegal immigration to end.
- [18:13]
Kash Patel
President Trump won because of the border.
- [18:15]
Jen Psaki
Trump won because of the border. He won because of the open border issue.
- [18:19]
Tom Homan
It was primarily because of illegal immigration.
- [18:22]
Jamie Raskin
President Trump won because of his immigration stance.
- [18:25]
Jen Psaki
This is insanity. This is why Trump won. Okay, so that's been the narrative. We've all heard that a thousand times. But now take a look at this. Less than six months into his presidency, a new Gallup poll today finds that Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of immigration. By a whopping 27 point margin. Just 35% of Americans approve of his immigration agenda. And it's not just Democrats or swing voters driving those numbers. It was less than a year ago that a majority of Republicans, 61% to be exact, said they agreed with Trump's incendiary claim that immigrants are, quote, poisoning the blood of our country. But now, today, in this poll, 64% of Republicans say that immigration is good for the country, according to today's Gallup poll. Likewise, just last year, only 45% of Republicans thought immigrants in the country illegally should be given a path to citizenship. And today, that number in this poll is 59%. And it's not just polls that show Trump is losing ground on this. I mean, some of Trump's biggest allies are abandoning him on his number one priority. According to the Washington Post, conservative podcaster Joe Rogan, who was key to Trump's victory, confronted Trump directly about his cruel deportation agenda. According to the Post, Rogan pushed Trump to back off deporting workers who have not committed crimes. And just three days after having dinner with Trump, Rogan went on his podcast and said this.
- [19:50]
Pam Bondi
There's two things that are insane. One is the targeting of migrant workers. Not cartel members, not gang members, not drug Dealers, just construction workers showing up in construction sites, raiding them gardeners. Yeah. Like really?
- [20:11]
Jen Psaki
So it only took six months for Trump to lose support from the American public. Even Joe Rogan on what was supposed to be his signature policy issue. He's blowing through his political capital like it was a loan from his father is one way of looking at it. And the reason he's lost ground so quickly on this issue isn't hard to figure out. I mean, Americans all across the country are seeing the shocking brutality of Trump's immigration crackdown play out in their own neighborhoods every day. It was another morning of work on Tuesday for employees at the Alba Wine and spirits warehouse in Edison, New Jersey, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stormed the facility.
- [20:50]
Jamie Raskin
A coach for youth baseball in Manhattan says a group of ICE agents approached members of his team while they were practicing in Riverside Park.
- [20:58]
Jen Psaki
This is video of what seems like an ICE arrest taken Saturday outside of Cache America Pond in White Center. A woman speaks in Spanish to people in face masks and vests.
- [21:11]
Kash Patel
HSI agents making an immigration arrest.
- [21:18]
Jen Psaki
The agents can be seen kneeling on.
- [21:20]
Kash Patel
The head of 48 year old Juan Manuel. When the daughter tried to intervene, the agents handcuffed her and threatened to take away her little brother and her two year old son if she didn't stand down.
- [21:34]
Jen Psaki
For months now, the Trump administration has been telling the public that they are only targeting the worst of the worst in their immigration roundups. And we know that isn't true. We talk about it a lot on this show how that is not true. Nationally, ICE has been increasingly targeting immigrants with no criminal record at all. In Los Angeles, the majority of the people ICE arrested weren't just non criminals, but non criminals picked up off the street. Back in May, Trump aide Stephen Miller instituted a new impossible to meet quota for ICE. He demanded that ICE arrest 3,000 people every single day. And NBC News reporting today, new reporting today that Stephen Miller has expressed outrage in recent calls with ICE leadership about how the agency has not been meeting that impossibly high quota. Many ICE leaders are worried they could lose their jobs because they aren't rounding up enough people. And while DHS continues to insist that their immigration roundups are targeted all across the country, we're seeing the same thing again and again and again. People being targeted at car washes and grocery stores and on street corners without any obvious reason for detaining them other than the color of their skin or the language that they speak. Today on Fox News, Trump immigration czar Tom Homan. He's quite a guy. Didn't deny this kind of profiling. Instead, he claimed it was perfectly legal.
- [22:47]
Pam Bondi
ICE officers and Border Patrol, they don't need probable calls to walk up somebody, briefly detain them and question them. They just need so totally the circumstances. Right. They just got through the observation, you know, get our typical articulable facts based on the location, the occupation, their physical appearance, their actions, just to be clear.
- [23:08]
Jen Psaki
Because I watch that a lot, and I know that Mr. Homan is kind of difficult to understand there for some reason. But let's just break that bite down into two key parts. First, there's this.
- [23:19]
Pam Bondi
ICE officers and border Patrol, they don't need probable calls.
- [23:23]
Jen Psaki
They don't. I mean, the Fourth Amendment certainly implies they do. But just to entertain Mr. Homan for a second here again, was what he believes is enough to justify armed, masked federal agents stopping someone on the street and demanding to see their papers based.
- [23:37]
Pam Bondi
On their location, the occupation, their physical appearance, their actions.
- [23:42]
Jen Psaki
That sounds a heck of a lot like racial profiling to me, doesn't it? And because unreasonable searches and seizures by law enforcement are unconstitutional. Tonight we are waiting on a ruling which we may be just getting. And as soon as we get it and look at it for a second, we're going to tell you all about it from a federal judge in California that may put an end to stops like those in Southern California. This would be a huge development. Two weeks ago, a coalition of groups like the aclu, the Coalition for Humane Immigrants Rights, and the National Day Labor Organizing Network sued the Trump administration in federal court, alleging that federal immigration agents were racially profiling, making arrests without warrants, and not identifying themselves during arrests. The lawsuit asked a federal judge for immediate relief. And yesterday, during a hearing on the matter, the judge in the case issued a tentative ruling, saying she plans to do just that. While the judge warned that her tentative ruling was not yet finalized, she suggested that she will order the Trump administration to halt unlawful stops and arrests in Southern California altogether. And that because of the urgency of the issue, she said that ruling would come tonight. And literally as we started this segment, this sometimes happens. We received that ruling, which is why I just said we're taking a look at it. Our producers are digging through it literally this minute. California Congressman Eric Swalwell and Jimmy Gomez are standing by to discuss. They join me in 90 seconds, so don't go anywhere. Okay? So, as I just mentioned, we just got a massively important ruling out from a judge in the Central District of California. I have not read this during the break. Our producers have been reading through it they're very smart. They. Read quickly. I'm about to talk to some very smart people who also can tell us what it means. But basically the backstory here is that last week a group of immigrant rights groups sued the Trump administration on the premise that the way Trump was carrying out his immigration agenda was illegal. And tonight, the federal judge in that case has agreed with them, issuing a temporary restraining order that blocks the Trump administration from doing a variety of things in Southern and Central California. Now, this is a quote from the ruling. The Stop Arrest Plaintiffs Ex Parte Application for TRO Temporary Restraining Order is granted. Specifically, the order bars the Trump administration from stopping people to arrest them on the basis of race or ethnicity, speaking Spanish presence at a particular location or the type of work one does. I guess somebody should get a copy of this to Tom Homan. I'm sure they are at this point in time. We'll see. But joining me now are Congressman Jimmy Gomez and Eric Swalwell, both Democrats from California, who are also fast readers, but probably have not consumed all of it yet. But let me start with you, Congressman Gomez, because you are right in the middle and we've talked many times about this, of the communities that are being so deeply impacted by these ICE rates. I know you're still processing the ruling, but it seems these temporary restraining orders have been effectively granted, which is a huge piece of news. Let me start by just asking how this ruling, to your knowledge, at this point, could change what's happening on the ground. How do you understand it?
- [26:43]
Pam Bondi
Well, one of the things I hope is that it does stop people ICE from targeting folks based on their color of their skin or what they're doing. I've said from the very beginning that that's what ICE and Donald Trump's White House has been engaged in. They are going after people at car washes, at day laborer sites, at restaurants. And here's the thing. I tell people. You never see anybody who is of European des pulled over. It's always somebody of Latino descent. And we know that there's 500,000 people who are undocumented of European descent in this country, but they're not targeted. It's only people that look like me or the people that live in my communities.
- [27:23]
Jen Psaki
We're continuing to learn about this. I think everybody watching probably hopes that's exactly what it does. And that's typically what a restraining order does do. But we're diving through it, too. Let me ask you, Congressman Swalwell, I know you're just digesting this, too, but it seems to oppose apply to the Central District of California. That was what the lawsuit was about. There are a range of lawsuits happening around the country, including the Attorney General of California. And 17 other states are part of one, too. But do you expect other states or parts of the country to follow suit with their own class action cases like this? Because in some ways, when courts rule that, they can be models for others. But what do you anticipate?
- [27:59]
Tom Homan
They have to. You have to keep this administration on its heels. That's the only way to stop them. And Jen, I know you are a longtime comms wizard. I don't know if you went to law school or not, but your legal reasoning in the wind up to this is exactly right. In the order the court says that they have to stop these detentive stops where they're not following the Fourth Amendment, they actually cite the Fourth Amendment. So that's what they're doing. And by the way, let's just take a step back as to who they're detaining. ICE has arrested a 6 year old with cancer and a 71 year old woman named Barbara Stone. What is the one thing they have in common? They're both American citizens. These guys need to pump the brakes, only go after violent criminals and stop terrorizing our neighborhoods.
- [28:53]
Jen Psaki
It does not seem that that is Stephen Miller or Tom Homan's intention. But there is one piece of. This is a piece of very good. The other piece of good news, and I just talked about this a little bit a few minutes earlier, is that Trump is basically underwater on every issue, but the numbers on immigration really stand out. And this is important because this is where the public is responding. Independents, including Republicans, it's not all Democrats. I think I gave my takes kind of on why I think that is because it feels human. Now people are seeing these stories in their streets, they're seeing their neighbors. It's impacting them in a real way. But Congressman Gomez, let me start with you. Why do you think those numbers have dropped so dramatically over the past couple of months?
- [29:35]
Pam Bondi
I think it's because Donald Trump made a promise to go after dangerous criminals and then he broke that promise. He made that promise not only to his basement, to people who I think are good Americans, that care about their communities, that care about their neighbors. But now you see that ICE is going after people that are at construction sites, that are working at, at restaurants, people that they know, people that are their neighbors. And what that means, people that supported them are getting deported. So I think that's why it's starting to Seep in. That's why you see Joe Rogan having this backlash against it as well as a lot of the MAGA base, because this is not what they say they voted for.
- [30:17]
Jen Psaki
No kidding. I think there's more where this came from. Let me ask you, I mentioned at the top of the show, it's a bit of a whirl of news. This always happens on a Friday, as you both know. And there was this story that came out just about an hour and two hours ago about FEMA not answering thousands of calls from flood survivors. And Congressman Smallwell, I just want to pose this to you because you're on the Homeland Security Committee. I'm sure you both have thoughts on this. This is. I mean, they didn't answer thousands of calls from survivors of the Texas floods. This piece also says that the agency laid off hundreds of call center workers on July 5th. They basically didn't renew the contracts, which meant they were so short they staff, they didn't answer calls. It took days for Secretary Newman to approve a renewal because of a new policy you've put in place. It feelsi mean. I know you've called for her to resign, dating back to her run in with Senator Padilla, but this feels, I mean, what can be done to hold her accountable?
- [31:14]
Tom Homan
Well, the Trump administration has failed the American people. Our basic duty, as my colleague Jimmy knows, is to protect people and help them in a crisis. And by breaking down fema, they're unable to do that. And the American people are starting to see that they're not up for the job, that they're just up for the likes and they're up for the owning the libs and the trolling, but they're not up for helping people. But I have hope that we have a midterm wave that's coming. And just one example, Jen. I spent the 4th of July in Southern Indiana with my wife's family. This is a county where Donald Trump won by 65%. And as I took my kids around the neighborhood that my in laws live in, I saw about a dozen signs that said, we stand with our immigrant neighbors. It was moving and it shows exactly what Jimmy just said. People were promised violent criminals would be deported. Not our friends and neighbors and the people who contribute to our economy, our culture, who go to church with us, who are a part of this American.
- [32:25]
Jen Psaki
Fabric, then that is exactly what's happening. It is not what they voted for. I want to thank you so much. Thank you for being with me on a Friday night with lots of news. I really appreciate it have a great weekend to both of you. Coming up next, the road to Democrats taking back control of the Senate might just run through Maine. We'll see. Democrats have been wanting this seat forever. One Democrat and former congressional staffer is running to challenge a likely reelection bid by the state's longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins. And he joins me right after a quick break. I want to turn back the clock to 1996, when Susan Collins introduced herself to Manors in her campaign for Senate. I have pledged that if I'm elected, I will only serve two terms, regardless of whether term limits law, a constitutional amendment passes or not. Fast forward nearly 30 years. Senator Collins has been elected to five terms as Senator and is planning on running for her sixth. As far as we know now, Maine has voted for Democrats in most other races in the last three decades, but Collins has managed to defy political gravity time and time again. It's made many Democrats in the state wary of taking on Collins. Enter a man by the name of Jordan Wood. He's the former chief of staff to Congresswoman Katie Porter of California. And he worked for the activist group and Citizens United and co founded the organization Democracy First. And now he's running for Senate.
- [33:59]
Kash Patel
I truly believe this is a make or break moment. We've got a wannabe dictator in the White House stomping on our rights, shredding alliances and handing Elon Musk a chains. And Susan Collins, she says she's worried that she's concerned Maine needs more than concern. We need fighters who work for us, not the billionaires and elites.
- [34:21]
Jen Psaki
Joining me now is Jordan Wood, Democratic candidate for U.S. senate in Maine. Jordan, I always admire people who put their hat in the arena. So here you are. Let me though ask you, I mean, Susan Collins is of course a Republican. She did vote for Brett Kavanaugh, often backs Trump's agenda, but she does occasionally buck the party line, like she voted against the big ugly bill. Feels like that makes her kind of harder to beat than your typical Senate Republican. But tell us about how you're planning to run against her.
- [34:50]
Kash Patel
Yeah, well, thanks for having me, Jen. You know, when I announced my campaign for the Senate, one of the first things I said is we're gonna have a town hall in every county across the state. And Susan Collins. I was in elementary school when she was first elected, but I was also in elementary school the last time she had a town hall. And I think that's an example of how she has really lost touch with the communities that need her the most right now. And I think a lot about the fact that Barack Obama won all but one county in the state of Maine when he ran in 2008. That, to me, says that if we try, we can go into these communities and earn back their trust and support by putting forward a hopeful vision of the future that is really, really going to address the cost of living and affordability, which is the top priority for Mainers.
- [35:37]
Jen Psaki
Let me ask you kind of a tactical question and people watching pay attention to this sort of tactical stuff. So, I mean, Susan Collins has fundraised for 30 years. She's fundraised more than you, has more cash on hand. You've sworn off money from corporate PACs and lobbyists, which is admirable. But it takes a lot of money to introduce yourself to voters and to remind them of why you're running against Susan Collins. How do you plan to do that if Collins and Republicans throw a ton of money into the race?
- [36:05]
Kash Patel
Yeah, well, like you said, we're running a campaign funded by regular people. And I'm very proud that since we launched this campaign in April, we had the largest fundraising quarter for any first time Senate candidate in the state's history, $1.6 million. And I'm even more proud of the fact that folks from over 300 towns across our state contributed to our campaign since launch. So for folks that want to get involved, electroarden.com would love their support. It's going to be a real challenge, but we're up for the fight and I believe we can win this.
- [36:39]
Jen Psaki
So many of Maine's top Democrats or people who've been around longer than you have, I should just say, aren't running for the seat. There's been this speculation that Governor Janet Mills could jump in. Punchbowl News mentioned you in an article about Mills in May, but wrote national Democrats don't to want view Wood as a serious candidate who can defeat Collins. I will tell you, Punchbowl News and every news outlet is not always right. So I'm not validating that. But it's just what you're kind of up against. What do you say to those Democratic voices who want a name that's been around longer, who can raise more money, who has more name recognition to run against her?
- [37:13]
Kash Patel
I mean, I would say as a, as a kid who grew up in Lewiston, Maine, my father's a pastor, my mom a teacher. My mom had to leave the workforce to provide childcare for my twin brother and I when I was born. She also had to go back to work when I was in elementary school. Because the church my dad was serving couldn't afford to provide the family with health care anymore. You know, I have had to work really hard to achieve the future that I want. And I believe that's what is at risk for the people across the main and across our country, that this idea, this American dream, that if you work hard, you tell the truth, no matter what background you come from, you can achieve the future that you want. I think that is absolutely at risk. And I'm willing to go fight for it. I'll go into every community across our state and earn that trust. And I think what Maine's looking for is a change. I mean, we are tired of politicians who have defended a status quo that is broken, defending a democracy that is in need of reform, a broken health care system that is not delivering for people. And I think that one reason I got in this race so early is so that I would have as much time as possible to meet voters and earn their support.
- [38:19]
Jen Psaki
Jordan Wood, thank you for being here tonight. Running for office is not an easy thing. So appreciate being here and talking about your candidacy. I appreciate it. Coming up, one small, sparsely populated county in Nebraska has a very big lesson to teach us about the value of supporting local journalism. I'm telling you about it after a quick break. Okay. I want to tell you about a special place in Nebraska called Hooker County. It was named after General Joseph Hooker, who helped lead the Union army during the Civil War. It is also one of the least populated counties in the country. And one of the many things that make Hooker county special and why I'm telling you about it tonight is because of this. The county is a local newspaper, the Hooker County Tribune, which is run by one single intrepid journalist named Jerry Peterson. And according to a new report from the nonprofit Rebuild Local News and the tech platform Muckrack, Peterson covers her community so deeply that in A county of 679 people, the Hooker County Tribune has 726 paying subscribers, more subscribers than people. And the reason why that is such a bright spot is because according to that insane report, there has been a nosedive in the number of working journalists in this country. For example, more than 1,000 counties, one out of three in the entire nation, do not even have the equivalent of one full time local journalist like Hooker county does. In addition, the report says that the better off parts of the country are also in lousy shape when it comes to access to local news coverage. More than 2,000 counties have less than the national average, which is about eight journalists on the job. And that's worrying because local journalism is many ways important to the lifeblood of our democracy and a measure of the civic health of all of our communities. Where there are news deserts, there's often a lack of information among citizens that ultimately threatens the long term vitality of communities in the country. But the good news is we can all play a small part in turning this around. Supporting and subscribing to your local newspapers is a way to stop this trend. So if you haven't already, look up your local outlet and subscribe. Support them if you can. You can really make a huge difference. We'll be right back. 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 for now. Goodbye from Washington, and we'll see you next week.