← The Briefing with Jen Psaki
The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Trump's spin machine fails to hide the ugly truth about war with Iran
00:41:25
Senator Mark Kelly talks with Jen Psaki about Donald Trump's deeply unpopular war against Iran and the effort the Trump administration is putting into covering up and spinning the truth even though the war and its effects are apparent to any American paying attention.
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- [00:00]
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- [00:58]
Jen Psaki
Okay everyone, first of all, Rachel has the night off. But do not panic because I promise, I promise, I promise she will be back here next Monday night. Full throttle for all of you. But as for tonight, I wanted to start with what is potentially the White House's dumbest attempt to change the narrative yet. And boy, there is a lot of competition for this. But this may be their dumbest because this was what the crowd sounded like as Trump took to the field after yesterday's World cup final. The press pull note from the event says the ambient crowd noise before Trump walked out was about 78 decibels. The crowd's boos, which you can hear very loudly here, then brought the noise level to 84 decibels. That is a heck of a lot of booing. I don't think that was their intention when they sent him to this game. Now, before the game, Trump said that he thought Argentina would win. Always the good luck term in sports, that Donald Trump saying it would be hard to bet against their star player, Lionel Messi, who is obviously quite good. Now, he also may have wanted Argentina to win because of how buddy, buddy he is with its president, who he bailed out, of course. But it sure looked like one of Argentina's star players may have snubbed Trump when Trump tried to shake his hand. So there's that. And then after Spain won, Trump tried to join their championship photo op as if he had anything to do with their victory. And here you can see the president of FIFA literally trying to politely direct Trump off the stage and out of the Spanish team's picture. That's his buddy, the president of FIFA as well. So just that tells you a lot. Now, the Guardian captioned the moment right after Trump was led by away by writing that the FIFA president, quote, carefully explained to Donald Trump that he was not a part of the Spanish national team. First of all, bravo to the Guardian caption writers. Good on that one. But clearly President Trump was not meant to be a part of that photo. I mean, here is the version of that photo op that Spain posted online today. Notice what is missing, or should I say who is missing? Because Trump is nowhere to be seen in that photo. And here's the version posted by FIFA. If you look in the very far right hand corner, you can kind of see Trump's elbow, but they clearly cropped out the rest of them because he's not exactly popular in the world right now. But if you look at the White House's version of that very same photo op, it doesn't look like Trump is being awkwardly asked to leave. It looks like he is front and center. He's leading the team in their version of the photo. Now, obviously, Trump trying to pretend the World cup champions wanted him in their photo, which they clearly did not. It's not the most pressing issue. But it isn't just petty stuff like this that the White House is spinning the facts on. It's also very, very big stuff, as Chris and I were just talking about. I mean, remember how a few weeks ago, the New York Times reported that the new $400 million jet cutter gifted to Trump didn't have the same level of defensive capabilities as the old Air Force One? Remember that? Despite literally switching back to the old Air Force One plane before leaving the NATO summit earlier this month, despite the Secret Service telling reporters on that flight to keep their blinds down for safety, Trump denied to reporters that there were any safety concerns, despite all of that, about the Qatari plane. So you're saying there wasn't a security concern?
- [04:29]
Carl's Jr. Spokesperson
No, no.
- [04:30]
Terry Moran
Why wouldn't.
- [04:32]
Donald Trump
No,
- [04:35]
Jen Psaki
that was Trump being really, really cagey about the Qatari plane less than two weeks ago, and here he was when asked about it just yesterday.
- [04:48]
Senator Mark Kelly
Does not have anti.
- [04:51]
Donald Trump
Well, it has. It has a lot. And, you know, it has a lot of capability. But as I understand it, in about a month or so, they're going to send it to have it be maxed out. So they're going to be sending it and they'll have it. It'll take about a month.
- [05:08]
Jen Psaki
That's right. After insisting there were no security concerns, Trump now says the plane is going to be taken out of service so it can be maxed out, as he called it, or upgraded, effectively admitting that the New York Times reporting about the plane's lack of defensive capabilities was probably correct. And what makes that reversal all the more astounding is the fact that the administration has spent the past few weeks not just denying the New York Times reporting about the new plane, but trying to get the journalists behind it to out their sources. I mean, a week and a half ago, federal agents showed up at the homes of the Times reporters who broke that story and served them with subpoenas. And today we learn that the Trump administration has since sought the phone records of one of the reporters mothers and two of the reporters spouses. And believe it or not, it gets even sketchier because two of the subpoenas sought records dating back to the beginning of the of the year, way before any reporting about the Qatari jet safety features would have started. Which means they're trying to get their sources, they're trying to dig more into who they're talking to in the government. The Justice Department told the Times that all of their subpoenas were issued in full compliance with the federal law and internal department policy. But there is no way that the New York Times is going to burn their sources here, and the Justice Department almost certainly knows that. So what is this really about? The reality here is that the issue was never anything. The New York Times reported Trump wanted to play with his new toy as soon as possible. So it seems like he may have rushed its retrofitting and skipped some of its defensive capabilities in the process. And that became a heck of a lot more dangerous because the war with Iran, which he started, flared up again. Trump doesn't want to admit that, obviously. He'd much rather just blame the Times for reporting the facts here and there isn't even really about the plane either. It's not really about the plane either, as much as that is a part of the story. Because right now, Trump's war with Iran is the least popular war America has fought since the invention of polling. I mean, that poll from the economist in YouGov has Trump 30 points underwater when it comes to approval for his war. And as the Economist put it today, it took the war in Vietnam six years to become as unpopular as Trump's war with Iran has become in six months. We're in day 142 of this war. Well past the 60 days the President is allowed to wage a war without the consent of Congress. And last month, both the House and the Senate voted to reject the president's war. Congress can't pass anything these days, Lord knows, but this war is just that, unpopular. And now the war is widening because Iran, Alan Houthis in Yemen are attempting a naval blockade of yet another of the world's most crucial oil thoroughfares. The narrow waterway that connects Saudi Arabia to, to the Red Sea, which you can see on your screen right there, which accounts for the distribution, I should note, of 7% of the world's oil supply. And just to put that in perspective, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has reduced the global oil supply by about 10%, according to NBC News. So now the Strait of Hormuz and this other vital passageway may both be closed. And while that means higher prices for Americans and people all around the world, Trump has refused to acknowledge the real cost of this war. Last week, the nominee for Pentagon comptroller literally refused to tell the Senate how much the war was costing Americans. But anonymous intelligence officials have told the press that the cost is likely to exceed $100 billion. The Defense Department has similarly refused to say how many costly, hard to replace munitions have been used. While sources have told the press that the war has left our supplies drained. The same thing goes for the extent of the damage Iran has done to US Military assets. Trump said this war was about regime change. He has failed at that. Trump said this war was about Iran's missile capabilities. Then he reversed course. Trump said the war was about knocking out Iran's nuclear capabilities, but he already said he obliterated those back last year. In reality, US Intelligence says we haven't even set Iran's nuclear ambitions back a day. Trump has said months ago that he destroyed all of Iran's military capabilities. And yet he Here we are again targeting Iranian military targets 142 days into this war. The White House's narrative around this war is all so misleading that even Trump's most loyal pundits seem to be losing the thread here. I mean, even they seem to not understand or be able to explain how this all could possibly add up. You know, CENTCOM says that there will be outsized action in retaliation. But I don't understand how it's possible that Iran has, has the capabilities to fight this way and continue to try to lash out at Gulf countries and US Military bases because the US has obliterated Iran's military. And the President continues to reiterate that it's almost, almost, not quite like she gets it. It's almost like she is starting to realize that the White House is lying about this war, that these things all can't be true at the same time. And as offensive as it is for the President to be lying about this war to the American public, it is even more offensive to the families of the Americans actually fighting it. Today the New York Times reported that the Pentagon has been withholding information about U.S. troop casualties. I should note that a spokesperson for the Pentagon denied the Times reporting, calling it outright lies from partisan hacks.
- [10:33]
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Okay.
- [10:34]
Jen Psaki
But it wasn't until after the Times reporting that the Pentagon announced that the number of troops injured in Iranian attacks in recent weeks was actually approaching 100. And this comes as the Pentagon identified two of the three active duty soldiers killed in action since Friday. 25 year old First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan of Hawaii and 19 year old Isabella Gonzalez of Texas. Right now there are more than 50,000 US troops deployed in the Middle east and Trump is still lying about this war. Joining me now is Senator Mark Kelly, who serves on both the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees and of course, served himself. Thank you for being here. Great to be here. I want to first get your reaction to something that Donald Trump said yesterday when he was asked about the US Service members. And Chris Hayes was just saying, this is very true. It felt a bit like a shock, I think, to many people in this country that two service members died on Friday. We learned more have been injured, given they keep hearing every day that this war is over. But let me play that for you.
- [11:33]
Donald Trump
Well, we feel very badly, but you know, those great people, those great patriots are out there fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Iran has been very, very badly damaged. They've lost everything almost militarily.
- [11:51]
Jen Psaki
Let me, I know we were having some sound issues there, so let me just read part of this for you. Well, we feel very badly, but you know, those great people, those great patriots were out there fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Iran has been very, very badly damaged. They've lost everything almost militarily. We've talked before about the loss and what it means to families. The total number of troops killed now stands at 6:17, two of them on Friday. What is your reaction to how the White House and how the president has handled this?
- [12:19]
Senator Mark Kelly
Well, every service member who volunteers to join the US Military deploy overseas, they understand the risk. The risk is from doing something that's in furtherance of our safety and our national security. And people get that. I flew 39 combat missions in the first Gulf War. We've got millions of veterans that have fought overseas over the years, over the decades. And you know, that's part of the deal. What you don't expect is to have a president that takes us into a conflict without an explainable strategic goal, without a plan, without a timeline, without an exit strategy. Strategy. And what I see now is I see an administration flailing. He's back to talking about nuclear weapons. The Iranians weren't accelerating the development of a nuclear weapon. They're pretty much at the same place where they were when I came to the Senate five and a half years ago. So how do you explain to those family members why did their sons and daughters, in this case, parents, in a lot of cases children, why did they lose their lives? What was this for? How did this make us safer? And the result is, I mean, not only is this not making us safer, people are losing their lives. It's also having this huge impact on the American people. Just today I was meeting with my Ag Advisory committee. So it's a bunch of farmers and ranchers give me advice. They tell me because of diesel and fertilizer, because of this war, their costs are up 45%. My question is, can you make money? Well, not. Not right now. They can't. So you're to see farms and ranches start going out of business because of a president who fundamentally doesn't know what he's doing and can't think strategically.
- [14:14]
Jen Psaki
I know, and we wanted to talk about this today for so many reasons, including that I think a lot of people are just looking for information. It's not coming in a reliable way from the White House or from the Pentagon. You're on the Armed Services Committee. Do you feel like you have a sense, a good sense of the status of this war and what's actually happening or any of the strategy here?
- [14:33]
Senator Mark Kelly
Sometimes, I mean, we've got to pull it out of them, right? We've got to request briefs. Usually it often takes too long. Sometimes you feel like you're not getting all the information. You're getting pieces. Whether it's from the Defense Department, I feel a little bit better on the Intelligence Committee. I'm also a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee on that side. But it's a challenge. I mean, we have a Secretary of Defense that's not focused on the right things. This week it was about testosterone. It's often about pull ups.
- [15:02]
Jen Psaki
What did you make of that? The testosterone focus.
- [15:05]
Senator Mark Kelly
The US Military does not need more testosterone. It needs better leadership. And that starts with the Secretary of Defense. It Also starts with the commander in chief. I mean, ultimately, he is responsible. He's the one that hired Pete Hegseth, who is the most unqualified individual we've ever had in this position by far. They're firing the wrong people. Pete Hegseth is firing people because they're women and they're black. President should fire Pete Hegseth. He's making awful decisions. It's putting service members at risks that I would not have expected when I served that a Secretary of Defense would make these sort of decisions, nor a president. I mean, I served under George H.W. bush, went to war in Iraq because Iraq invaded Kuwait. We had a goal. Push him out to support our ally. That's not this. This is a president. I mean, who knows why he got us into this? Was it. Was it the Epstein files? I'm not sure. I'm not sure we'll ever know.
- [16:09]
Jen Psaki
They have not had a briefing, a high level briefing, since early May, which is very uncommon. I mean, I never served in the military, but having served in government a long time is very uncommon. Typically the mil. There's a lot of briefings that happen, especially, especially in a time of military conflict there. Also in advance of these two U.S. service members being killed on Friday, there were also at least three other undisclosed Iranian strikes, also in Jordan, that injured dozens of others and damaged several helicopters. I'm raising this because you keep hearing from them that they can't disclose information about operational aspects, about injuries because of national security reasons. I'm gonna call BS on that. But I want you. I want to get your thoughts and sort of what that justification and what it's withholding from the public.
- [16:56]
Senator Mark Kelly
They don't want there to be any accountability. They don't want to be criticized. I mean, have we ever had a president with thinner skin than Donald Trump? He doesn't like criticism. I mean, I said something that back in November that was basically followed law. I said, I should be hanged. People criticize this administration, he sends the Department of Justice after them. We've seen that happen over and over again. You criticize the Department of Defense, you get a response sometimes from the Secretary of Defense. That's not what the founding fathers envisioned with the separation of powers between the branches. And that would be the legislative branch holds the executive branch accountable. Supreme Court, you know, was part of this. And we kind of work together. And you should be okay with criticism. I mean, I've been in leadership roles throughout my career. I used to tell my space shuttle crew members, question my decisions. Phil, please do that because at times, maybe I'm making the wrong decision. You don't see that from this administration. And because of that, because of this lack of accountability and their desire to never be criticized and a president that just wants. Yes. People around him. This is what happens. You wind up in a conflict on the other side of the world with now we're approaching 20 dead Americans, 100 injured, tens of billions of dollars spent and costs skyrocketing for the American people when we have folks across our country that can't afford rent and healthcare and even food. That's the consequence of a president making such a bad decision as he did back in February.
- [18:42]
Jen Psaki
You also mentioned you're on the Intelligence Committee. There was a hearing for Jay Clayton last week. There is tomorrow. There's reportedly closed room meeting expected for his nomination as well. Is that. Do you know if that's. I know you can't tell us what's going to happen, but is that officially happening?
- [18:58]
Senator Mark Kelly
My understanding is we'll have a vote on his nomination within the Intelligence Committee.
- [19:02]
Jen Psaki
Do you. I know you've said you've had concerns.
- [19:04]
Senator Mark Kelly
I'm sure I do.
- [19:05]
Jen Psaki
Watching that hearing last week, I think most of us had concerns. Have you decided whether you're gonna support him or not?
- [19:10]
Senator Mark Kelly
Yeah, I can't support him. When Sue Collins wrote the law that created the position, she said extensive national security experience. He doesn't have any national security experience. Very little, maybe a little bit more than Bill Pulte. I think he's better than Bill Pulte. He is not qualified for the job. For that reason, I'll be voting against him. I also didn't appreciate the answers he gave. You know, I asked him questions about the 2020 election. Not exactly like, who won, but why was Joe Biden certified as the winner of the 2020 election? It took him a while to get to. I guess maybe he got more electoral votes. Well, who gets more electoral votes, the winner or the loser? It was very hard to get them there. They're very concerned about what this president thinks of their answers. And if you can't be honest in a room that doesn't have the president in it, how are you going to disagree with him when you're sitting across the desk from him in the Oval Office or the Situation Room? How are you going to stand up to somebody where it is important to our safety and our national security that you speak to him in a way that he can understand that maybe he's wrong. Maybe he is wrong here, and if you can't do that when he's not in the room. How are you gonna do it when he is in the room? That's the problem I have.
- [20:38]
Jen Psaki
It's a central question people should be asking watching those hearings. Senator Mark Kelly, thank you for being here.
- [20:42]
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Thank you.
- [20:43]
Jen Psaki
Okay, coming up, the Trump DOJ is now relying on a tactic that even the Mafia has said should be off limits. Veteran journalist Terry Moran joins us next to talk about the new line the administration has crossed in its war with the press. Stay with us.
- [21:00]
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- [21:03]
Jen Psaki
Oh, no.
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- [21:31]
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- [22:00]
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- [22:26]
Jen Psaki
Since Donald Trump landed himself back in the Oval Office, he's tried to cut off funding for public broadcasters like NPR and pbs. He sued a major newspaper for billions of dollars cuz he didn't like what they said about him. His administration has pulled press access to the Pentagon and banned reporters whose reporting they didn't like. They've threatened to strip major TV networks of their broadcast licenses if they show anything on TV that Donald Trump doesn't like. And now the president has added a new intimidation tactic to his repertoire. Subpoenaing not just journalists to try and get them to reveal their sources, but going after their families too. The New York Times is new reporting today that the Trump administration sought the Phone records belonging to the relatives of New York Times reporters in an effort to reveal the confidential sources who provided the paper with accurate information about the President's fancy new jet. And if this all feels to you like something straight out of a mob movie, you're definitely not alone. Because here's what the Freedom of the Press foundation has to say about it. Quote, even the mafia says families are off limits. It's gross that the administration, in its never ending effort to harass and intimidate reporters who reveal its incompetence, is going after the communications of journalists relatives. The administration is looking for any excuse to snoop on reporters and their relatives because this has nothing to do with national security and everything to do with chilling journalism. Joining me now is Terry Moran. He's a former ABC News correspondent, is now the author of Real Patriotism and host of the Real patriotism podcast on YouTube. Terry, thank you for being here.
- [23:56]
Terry Moran
Happy to be here.
- [23:57]
Jen Psaki
Okay, let me just start with this reporting, cuz sometimes we just don't call out how freaking crazy some things are. And going after the family members with subpoenas feels to me like it leaps past so many lines. But what is your reaction to that?
- [24:12]
Terry Moran
Well, they are being super aggressive as you point out. And they're not only going after family members, they're going back in time. This is an incident that happened over the last several weeks. Okay. They're going back years in the mothers phone records of the reporters at issue here. And that is definitely part of what you're talking about. The big hammer of Trumpism coming down, trying to intimidate the press, intimidate leakers and all the rest of it. That said, this is, I'll disagree a little bit. This is a national security issue and it's partly because Trump made it one. He has his fancy new jet, which is the subject of this, the 747 from the Qataris, the new Air Force, One that is not outfitted with anti missile capabilities. He was told that he got on it anyway and flew to Turkey. And there were people in the intelligence agencies who said this is so dangerous, I have to tell the New York Times about it. That's accountability journalism. That's exactly what we want. The President is taking risks that he was warned about with the plane and with the presidency itself. And so somebody went to the New York Times. Now that is a national security issue.
- [25:16]
Jen Psaki
It definitely is. And what I was referencing is, and you've experienced this too, and I've had many calls with editors is when an administration makes the case, you can't report this because it is putting an operation at risk. It's putting a, you know, they're trying to rescue an American citizen overseas at risk or things like that. And they seem to be making the case not just with the plane, but also with coverage of the Iran war and basic details that it's all a national security issue, so they can't share. And I was just talking to Senator Mark Kelly about this. Details about injuries, details about lives lost, operational details. And that to me has never been the bar. Because the American people need to know the basic details here.
- [25:57]
Terry Moran
Exactly. They're running the show. At the end of the day, they're the power and they need the most information they can possibly get. The administration isn't even telling us the need. Number of wounded in this conflict. And you see these explosions slamming into American bases. You know, 17 have been killed, but we don't even know how many are wounded. That's enough of a problem. But what Trump is really trying to do here is if you give him an inch in any way, he's going to take a mile. What this demonstrates is there needs to be a federal shield law. Over the course of administrations, including yours, and you did the Obama administration, they did subpoena James Rosen and the apostle, but that was up to the judgment of the president and his team. How far they would go. They didn't go anywhere near this far. But depending on the goodwill of presidents to the press is not going to work. And that's why there should be a federal shield law that puts some kind of law, some kind of boundaries around it. Because for all the claim of constitutional rights, there is no constitutional right to receive a leak of classified information. And that leaves reporters vulnerable.
- [27:01]
Jen Psaki
Let me ask you about the length of time it has been since a high level Pentagon briefing. It's been since early May, according to the New York Times. And we looked this up as well. That is a very long time during a military, high level military conflict. I mean, when I was at the State Department, I briefed every single day. The Pentagon briefed many times a week. And there were people way above us who briefed. How uncommon is that? What does that mean in terms of the difficulty of getting accurate information on a regular basis to the public?
- [27:32]
Terry Moran
Well, the Pentagon has already tried to stifle the press coverage of it. But what that length of time tells me, they don't have enough good news. All they want to do is brag and boast and sing good news and even pretend there's good news when there's not how many times has Trump said that we won the war or that Iran's capability to wage war has been completely obliterated when it looks like Iran increasingly has the strategic high hand. And what you see at the Pentagon is they want to keep the American people in the dark. The problem with that is that when you are trying to tell people something that defies facts that they can see and grasp and understand, your credibility goes down, your political support goes down and you hurt yourself. But they're so this president is so vain and thin skinned and they're so inclined against telling the full truth to the American people that they are going to fall into that trap. This war is going badly. They aren't telling us about it.
- [28:25]
Jen Psaki
We don't have that much time left. I wish we had more. But I want to ask you, Secretary Hegseth is going to testify before the Appropriations Committee soon. I think that it was going to be tomorrow. They rescheduled it. You've covered national security for a long time. You know the questions to ask. What's a question you hope somebody pushes him on?
- [28:40]
Terry Moran
Well, there are a lot, let me think, I would say about the war. What have you been telling the president about the strategic situation you have missed? You have underestimated the Iranian military capacity again and again. Iran has been waiting for this war for decades. They have been prepared. They're executing on a plan. What are you doing? What is the actual strategy? Not bomb them here, bomb them there. What is the strategy for retaking control or opening the Strait of Hormuz? And now the Red Sea is closed. And so I would press him on the big picture and you won't get anything. You'll hear bluster and the kind of comic impressions that he does of a tough guy, you know, in a movie.
- [29:24]
Jen Psaki
But still worth pressing. Always. Terry Moran, thank you for being here.
- [29:28]
Terry Moran
You Beth.
- [29:28]
Jen Psaki
Okay. Fatal shootings by federal immigration officers conducting traffic stops are leading to questions like why haven't officers been wearing the body cameras that American taxpayers have already paid for? More on that, along with reaction from Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar is coming up.
- [29:50]
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Jen Psaki
Oh, no.
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- [30:20]
Jen Psaki
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Angie Hicks
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- [30:27]
Jen Psaki
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- [31:26]
Jen Psaki
In March of 2025, almost a year before the shootings of Alex Preddy and Renee Goode in Minnesota, an immigration agent shot and killed 23 year old US citizen Ruben Ray Martinez in Texas, the first known shooting of an American citizen by immigration agents during Trump's second term. And Martinez was driving his car through a traffic stop that police had set up after a car crash earlier that day. After police initially waved Martinez through, officers yelled at him to stop his car a second time. And that's when a federal officer from Homeland Security who was on the scene fired three shots through his open driver side window. Federal officials claim that Martinez ran his car into an agent, but the 23 year old's family disputes that account, citing Texas police police body camera footage that took nearly a year to come to light. Now, 16 months after her son's killing, Ruben Ray Martinez's mother is still searching for answers. In a new op ed for the New York Times this weekend, she writes, this spring I watched Mark Wayne Mullins confirmation hearing to become the Homeland Security Secretary. It was the most likely the first confirmation hearing I ever watched. I've never been a political person. I was let down over three months into Mr. Mullen's tenure. There's zero indication that Rubin's death reverberated seriously within the Department of Homeland Security. Like most other Americans, I believe immigration law should be enforced, but we should not be asked to choose between enforcing the law and transparency. When federal agents kill someone, the public deserves reliable facts Families deserve honest answers, and the government should not have to be pressured into them. The families of victims of fatal shootings by immigration agents are still demanding information about how and why their loved ones were killed. But the Trump administration seems to be doing everything in its power to not just ignore those calls, but to hide the truth altogether. Yesterday, multiple news outlets reported that the FBI has told its agents that they will no longer be investigating confrontations involving ICE officers, essentially ending the long standing practice of investigating these kinds of incidents. And people familiar with the matter told the New York Times that FBI managers across the country received written notice of the change. On Thursday, the Departments of justice and Homeland Security released a joint statement claiming that all of those reports are false and that the FBI will continue to investigate in accordance with agency policy. But this comes as we are watching top officials in this administration go out of their way to avoid reviewing any of the publicly available evidence in these shootings. For example, here was Donald Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, this weekend trying to explain away the recent ICE shootings in Houston and in Maine.
- [34:06]
Tom Homan
They would be alive today if they simply complied with a vehicle stop by federal law enforcement officer. Just comply.
- [34:13]
Angie Hicks
Well, the family of the man in
- [34:15]
Jen Psaki
Houston said he thought he was being robbed because it was an unmarked vehicle,
- [34:20]
Angie Hicks
not that it was law enforcement at all.
- [34:23]
Tom Homan
They had emergency lights. They activate emergency lights, blue and light. You know, you know, in, in my vehicle, I drive where I'm with my security details.
- [34:31]
Angie Hicks
You've seen that on video?
- [34:32]
Tom Homan
Because we haven't seen one on video,
- [34:35]
Angie Hicks
ma', am, that there were lights. Because in the videos that we've seen, there aren't. And because there weren't body cameras, it
- [34:41]
Jen Psaki
is hard to substantiate some of what you were saying.
- [34:46]
Tom Homan
Okay, what I have not seen the videos.
- [34:51]
Jen Psaki
That was a top Trump immigration official, Tom Homan, of course, insisting that officers had used their emergency lights in the fatal Houston traffic stop. And when confronted with video evidence from the scene that contradicts him, admitting that he hasn't actually watched any of the videos. This morning, Tom Homan spoke to reporters and once again tried to justify the actions of ICE officers in these situations.
- [35:15]
Tom Homan
I want the American people to see what that ICE officer sees when he takes action. And I think it's going to help ICE with the false media that's out there about him. But then why does the administration roll back what the Biden administration is trying to do to get body cameras and all? That's the question above me, is it?
- [35:33]
Jen Psaki
I mean, Tom Homan says he wants people to see what these officers see. But when asked why the administration he works for has actively opposed outfitting these officers with potty cameras, which there is definitely money for, he says that question's above me. Fair enough. Today, a group of senators put that question to the man above that you just saw, Tom Homan. And yesterday, in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen, 39 Senate Democrats demanded answers about recent ICE shootings and also demanded that all officers be swiftly outfitted with body worn cameras. And one of the senators is Amy Klobuchar, who is running to be the governor in a state where citizens are still demanding answers about deadly shootings by immigration agents. And she joins me. With just over 100 days to go until November's midterm Election Day. Democrats just got a piece of positive news. That's always a good thing. According to the latest poll from the Washington Post, Ipsos, when registered voters were asked if the election for the U.S. house of Representatives were being held today, would you vote for the Democratic candidate or the Republican candidate in your district? In your congressional district, they went 48 to 45 for Democrats. Now, that three point margin may seem small, but according to that same poll, among voters who were absolutely certain to vote, the advantage more than doubles, shifting to 8 percentage points, so 53% to 45% with Democrats having the advantage. This is, of course, just a snapshot in time. And it is, of course, not just congressional races Democrats are focused on during these midterms. They also need to make gains in gubernatorial races. Governors are crucial wielders of the levers of state power. And one way Democrats at the state level can check the Trump administration as it attempts to manipulate things like redistricting or the administration of elections. Or I could go on, but I really want to talk to my next guest. Joining me now is Senator Amy Klobuchar. She's the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party's endorsed candidate for governor and a senator everybody knows. Well, great to see you.
- [37:31]
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Thank you, Jen. It's great to be on.
- [37:32]
Jen Psaki
So let me start by asking you this. I mean, it looks like Democrats have a clear enthusiasm gap over Republicans. Republicans in many places. In many places, they also have a fundraising gap. That's all good news. But you're actually running for office. Whenever I have candidates on, they always say there's still time to go. There are still things that need to happen. And while there are those gaps and advantages, most of these races are very, very close. So level set for us. What do people out there watching need to be clear eyed about as we look to the next hundred plus days.
- [38:04]
Senator Amy Klobuchar
First of all, there's a whole lot of people that might have voted for Donald Trump, especially in these states. When you look at Iowa, the governor and Senate race, when you look at Alaska, people who voted for Donald Trump who are just very disappointed right now, promises broken, they thought that he'd bring costs down. Costs are up, chaos is up, corruption is up. He seems more interested in the vanity projects and they've taken note. His arches, his reflecting pool, his big beautiful ballroom over what's happening to them with their health care premiums, not even doing the tax credit extension to help people afford their premiums. And now millions of people have had to drop their health care. Or what's happening with him limiting the energy that's going on the grid, which is bringing prices up. Or all of the things, this is what people talk about when you're in the parades, like I was in Stillwater, Minnesota on Sunday, that's what's on their mind. And they are really concerned about what's happening to them and their families. And that's why it's important to point out what he's done with his tariffs and its mess. But it's also to point out what we can do, like the Road to Housing bill we just passed in Congress and what that can mean if we bring it out on the state level to bring down housing costs and bring down health care premiums. So there's a lot on their mind, but what they don't like is the mess that he's creating in their lives.
- [39:29]
Jen Psaki
So Donald Trump, we don't know who you're running against yet, but he did endorse Mike Lindell, who people I know, you know who he is. He's the MyPillow guy. He's also an election denier. They were together over the weekend. There is so much to say about him as a candidate, but including the fact that he is apparently not registered to vote in Minnesota, as I understand it. But where do you begin?
- [39:50]
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Well, first you begin with he may be Donald Trump's choice for governor, but I hope to be Minnesota's choice. And this is someone like the other two who are running in the Republican primary in Minnesota, who are all rubber stamps of Donald Trump. They have not said one thing, including Mike Lindell criticizing his tariffs. They have not said one thing criticizing what ICE did in Minnesota. They have embraced the big beautiful bill, or as I call it, the big ugly bill that includes these devastating Medicaid cuts to rural hospitals. And then you add, the bonus for Mike Lindell is that he stood with Donald Trump, as you know, and has questioned and denied the results of the 2020 elections over and over again. And I don't think it's a coincidence that Donald Trump endorsed Mike Lindell on the very same week that he came out with his speech questioning again relitigating the results of the 20, when all the people in Minnesota want to hear about is, what are you going to do to stop these tariffs? What are you going to do to help me with the price of gasoline or the price of, if you're a farmer, fertilizer? What are you going to do about the health care premium? So it's just those two are clearly best buddies, and that's what you see with that endorsement.
- [41:14]
Jen Psaki
It's the one qualification, it seems, as long as you're an election denier. Let me ask you, I just spent the block before you came on, which you may have heard some of you really talking about where we are and providing some updates. There was a very powerful op ed by the mother of a young man who was killed over a year ago. We saw Tom Homan answer some questions or decline to answer them is how I'm going to explain it. Where he was asked about body camera footage, he said it's above his pay scale. He claimed there were emergency lights on the vehicle in Texas. When there's no video of that, I just, I remember many conversations we had in the early months of this year where I think a lot of people watching were brought to tears by what you had to say about what Minnesota experienced. What goes through your head when you hear Tom Homan now this many months later answering questions that way?
- [42:04]
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Right. And when he's saying that mistakes hadn't been made, I mean, you say that. Tell that to the parents of Alex Preddy, you know, VA nurse whose last actions were to try to help someone that had been shoved down. Or say that to the family of Renee Goode, whose last words was, I don't hate you. Remember, I don't hate you, dude. Hey. And then she gets shot. Say that to the Hmong community when one of their elders was pulled out of his home in his underwear and his crocs in 10 below zero weather and then thrown into a car and they figure out they've got the wrong guy. We saw that happen time and time again where people's civil rights were violated. The most notorious were clearly and the most tragic were the deaths. But there were incident after incident, thousands of incidents of just people walking down the street, maybe two white guys and their friend who's a Latino, Latino gets stopped. He's saying, I'm a citizen. I'm a citizen. And at some point all of this truth is going to come out. But for now, we've got this ICE that is more bigger than the FBI, bigger than the Marines. They put billions of dollars into this. And we have kept saying the Democratic Party, no. And if you are going to have ICE out there, they should have body cameras. They should be properly trained. They should make sure that we've got warrants if they go into people's home. That's what we've asked for. And every single time, including, they put money into it. But they clearly didn't make it mandatory when it came to the body cameras.
- [43:40]
Jen Psaki
Still, so many things to focus on and ask about on that topic. Senator Amy Klobuchar, candidate for governor. Thank you for being here.
- [43:46]
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Thank you. It's great to be on.
- [43:47]
Jen Psaki
Okay, we've got something exciting to tell you about next. And then the Last Word has a guest you will not want to miss, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the House. So many things to ask him about right now for sure. Stay with us. Okay, before we go, two very quick things. One, do not worry. Rachel will be back here in her usual seat next Monday, I promise. And two, I want to tell you about this really cool thing that Rachel and I are doing together in September. We're headed to the Lone Star State for Ms. Now's together in Texas Fan Fest where I, along with Rachel and so many of our amazing colleagues, you can see them all on the screen, will be hosting live events, conducting interviews with newsmakers and getting the chance to meet many of you, we hope. It's September 26th in Arlington just outside of Dallas. You can make a whole weekend of it. You can buy your tickets now by scanning the QR code at the bottom of your screen. Just point your phone down. And another thing, tickets start at just over $30, which is already a steal. But they also come with a free year of access to Ms. Now's new exclusive content membership. Lots more coming on that soon, too. I think that's what they call a Texas sized deal. Am I getting that right? I'm really looking forward to it. It's always fun. I hope to see you there. 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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Jen Psaki
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