Loading summary
Transcript328 lines
- [00:00]
Molly John Fast
FOREIGN.
- [00:06]
Jim Acosta
Welcome to the Jim Acosta show. And it's another day that ends in Y and Donald Trump's assault on American democracy. He is sounding more and more like a dictator every day. Now he's saying he can do whatever he wants. Yes, he actually said that. Meanwhile, school is just starting for kids around the country, as we know. So it's no surprise that it has happened already. Once again, a mass shooting at a school in America, this time at, at a Catholic school in Minnesota. My guest this hour, Rick Wilson, joins me from Lincoln Square. I'm also going to have Molly John Fast join us in just a moment. But Rick, you know, I do want to talk about Trump's, you know, assault on democracy. I mean there's, there's plenty for us to chew on in that regard. But I, I think we need to start with this mass shooting in Minnesota. Two children were killed at Annunciation Church. It is just next to the affiliated Catholic school that works hand in hand with that church. 17 people injured, 14 of them children. Two are in critical condition. The suspected shooter is identified as 23 year old Robin Westman. He died of a self inflicted gunshot wound. But these things keep happening. And Rick, right at the beginning of.
- [01:13]
Rick Wilson
The school year, you know, this, is this, from what we know so far, we don't really have a super clear picture of who this guy is yet. But, but again, he's one of these broken lost boys who, who should never, you know, we should never, we should never ignore. There's something that is in this culture, this Internet culture, this 4chan culture, this incel culture, whatever it is, that is leading these young guys with, with access to firearms into this cultural moment because they, a lot of them refer to the other shootings. They, they talk about getting a high score, which is the most dark thing I could think of. But it is, there's something here that's bigger and darker about our culture than just the gun. I mean, the gun problem is the gun problem, but there is a darker problems about what in our culture is making these Lost Boys happen.
- [02:09]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And I mean, we can't overlook that the country is awash in firearms, assault rifles. These kids are getting access to these guns that they shouldn't get access to. And in this case it was a 23 year old. I mean that, that's almost a kid. He's a young man. But as you said, he appears to be somebody who is quite troubled. And it is this toxic mix of availability to high powered firearms. And as you said, this broken culture, these kids who just you know, they get lost in social media, parents aren't around, they're not doing enough, and they get sucked in.
- [02:46]
Rick Wilson
Yeah. And, and look, I glanced at some of his manifesto, which, you know, has all the classic hallmarks. You know, the guy has. He's, he's economically, you know, disappointed, to put it mildly. He doesn't have a, A broader sense of purpose in the culture. You know, he found meaning online, which is not where you find meaning as a man in life at the end of this. And, and, and it really is. It really is something. I just, I ponder this a lot because, you know, we see over and over again, this is a guy who very much replicated the Christchurch, New Zealand shooter, who wrote all over his weapons and who talked about, you know, what he was going to do to these people. And, and I don't know, you know, and that the Christian shooter attacked mosque. This guy attacked a Catholic church. I don't know. Again, we don't know enough about this guy yet.
- [03:43]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [03:44]
Rick Wilson
To make a lot of truly profound assessments of him. But, but that, that character of being lost and adrift and society feeling like society has no place for him makes people susceptible to this really sick darkness. Online there was a group called the Terrorgram Collective. It's actually still out there that encourages these young men that, that, that tries to, you know, say you'll be a martyr if you do this. The Terragram people are explicitly about race. So I don't know if this guy is in that, that pool or not, but.
- [04:18]
Jim Acosta
But yeah, there's some early reporting that maybe he made a reference to the Tennessee school shooting. Private school shooting. Yeah. And, you know, you just don't know what the connections are at this early stage. But there's no question about it. I mean, it looks like this is just yet another troubled young man who got access to firearms and was able to just shoot up a bunch of kids. And it, it is. It's an American plague. I'm, I'm going to talk about at the end of the show because I, you know, I really just want to get my, My thoughts out there. But we have to talk about. In addition to the breaking news out of Minnesota, we have to talk about the breaking news that happens every day here in Washington. And that is. Right, Rick, let's get into this. Donald Trump, once again, sounding like a dictator, acting like a dictator. And I was going to bring this up a little later with Molly, but when Molly joins us, I'll bring this up with her. But, you know, if he's such a Dictator. One would think he could send out a dictate that says release the Epstein files, but that's just, you know, oddly.
- [05:15]
Rick Wilson
Enough, that's the one area where he feels like he doesn' to have the, the magical set of powers he asserts in every other part of his presidency. But, but, I mean, look, you live in Washington. I lived in Washington for a long time. And, and it is a city that is not going to be made safer by National Guard guys picking up trash.
- [05:36]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [05:37]
Rick Wilson
Just not. And it's not going to be made safer by guys, you know, with their Humvees out in front of the Union Station or Firebase, Willard Hotel or whatever it is.
- [05:47]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [05:48]
Rick Wilson
He has chosen to do this as part of this authoritarian cosplay that he, he really believes in. He wants to go into other cities to start framing up the 2026 election as an, as a referendum on crime and safety.
- [06:01]
Jim Acosta
Yes.
- [06:02]
Rick Wilson
And, and I think we've got to be very cognizant that, that he will keep pushing and keep pushing until push he is pushed back upon. And, and while that, while that has to remain peaceful, because what he really wants is for somebody to throw a rock or shoot somebody in the National Guard, we also have to, I think, do a lot of what DC folks have done. They have been vigilant in their neighborhoods. They have followed these guys around and taken pictures of them and told the ICE people, no, get the. Out of Friendship Heights. You're not, you're not welcome here. Those things, I think, are really important because people need to see that there is a resistance, a protest at the street level. It's not going to come from Hakeem Jeffries or, or, or, or Ken Martin or anybody else. It's going to come from people who reject an American city, the capital of this great country, being treated like an armed camp for Donald Trump's vanity.
- [07:02]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. I mean, you know, the, the image of National Guard soldiers picking up trash in Lafayette park outside the white. That doesn't piss people off. I don't know what does.
- [07:13]
Rick Wilson
Right.
- [07:13]
Jim Acosta
When it comes to what he's doing here in D.C. i, as you said, I'm here in D.C. i've been walking around. I mean, I can go on a walk with my dog and bump into these guys on the street.
- [07:21]
Rick Wilson
Sure.
- [07:21]
Jim Acosta
And it is absolutely pointless for them to be here. The MPD is on top of it when it comes to dealing with crime in D.C. are they perfect? No. But the statistics show that crime was heading downward before Trump started all of this. But getting back to what you were saying about crime and the issue of crime. Rick Trump gave away the game in this marathon Cabinet meeting yesterday, which I want to talk more about. He said at one point, I think it's going to be a big, big subject for the midterms, and I think the Republicans are going to do very well. They called it a trap. This Democratic consultant, he's going to put them in a trap again. That's what Trump said at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. And so he's doing this for, I mean, he just gave it away that he's doing this for political reasons.
- [08:06]
Rick Wilson
Sure. Look, the, the, the lesson that a lot of presidents have learned over time, including Bill Clinton, who was in a lot of political trouble in 1994. And, and you know, Dick Morris was his consultant at the time and went to him and said, hey, we're going to start in early 95 advertising about crime, because that's going to make a lot of these, these conservative Democrats stick with you, boss. And they did. People thought it was crazy to start that early, but it, it had a meaningful effect and it worked. You know, crime has been a sort of through line in American politics for generations, and it's frequently coded with race.
- [08:46]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [08:47]
Rick Wilson
So what Trump's going to do is to say these cities, these black cities is what he's really saying are crime infested hell holes. And I, and the Republicans will protect you from the crime infested hell holes. He's going to say, nothing can be done unless I put the National Guard into these cities because they love criminals. They want the criminals. He's going to try to link that up with immigration and say the people that oppose immigration are the same people that hate, that love criminals because the immigration enforcement, because they want to let killers and rapists and human traffickers stay in your cities and kill your children. It's, it's not, it's, it's crude to, it's dumb. But it won't, it's not to say that it won't be effective.
- [09:31]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, no, you're absolutely right. And, and, and this has been a political football for years, and Democrats handled it okay, I guess, during the Clinton years. Was it not, was that when they got three strikes and you're out?
- [09:42]
Rick Wilson
And that's correct.
- [09:43]
Jim Acosta
The assault weapons ban. And I mean, there was legislation passed and I think Joe Biden came under some heavy criticism years later because of his support for some of those pieces of legislation. But it did make a dent in crime in this country. So Democrats know what to do, or.
- [09:58]
Rick Wilson
At least they should I mean, crime goes down for, for, for. I mean, as somebody who, who was in New York during the big drop off of crime in the late 90s, early 2000s, when crime went through the floor.
- [10:12]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [10:12]
Rick Wilson
The number one driver was that the economy was on fire.
- [10:17]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [10:17]
Rick Wilson
The economy was doing great.
- [10:19]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [10:19]
Rick Wilson
And, and if you really want to, really want to reduce crime, give people jobs, get jobs moving in your city, get jobs moving in your state, that is how you reduce crime almost instantaneously. Because people. What? Yes, there's some fraction of our society that's drawn to crime. Fine, whatever. But it's a tiny fraction. And if you give people economic hope and economic opportunity, they will take it.
- [10:44]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. Well, it would be a crime if I did not bring in Molly John fast. She is standing by. She's waiting in the wings. There she is. Molly, how are you? Good to see you. There she is.
- [10:54]
Molly John Fast
I was just listening to socialist Rick Wilson talk about giving people jobs. I feel like I am fully responsible for radicalizing you.
- [11:05]
Jim Acosta
Yes. And we, and thank you for your public service, Molly.
- [11:09]
Molly John Fast
That's right, baby.
- [11:11]
Rick Wilson
It's not that necessarily that the government has to give them jobs, but, but economic growth and economic opportunity fixes a lot more crime than, than guys in orange. In orange safety vests.
- [11:23]
Jim Acosta
Isn't Trump a stake in intel anyway?
- [11:25]
Molly John Fast
Do you want to seize the means of production?
- [11:28]
Rick Wilson
Not yet, Molly, but I may get there.
- [11:32]
Jim Acosta
Let me seize the means of this show if I can, for a second. I'll try, you know my socialist ways, comrades. But no, Molly and Rick, great to have both of you on here. Let's just dive right into Trump's dictator talk. Not that we really want to get into his head, but let's get into his head if we can play some of what he said. This crazy cabinet meeting went on for three hours. It was like watching a whole season of the Apprentice in one sitting.
- [11:57]
Rick Wilson
It's longer than the Godfather.
- [11:59]
Jim Acosta
Longer than the Godfather. And maybe the analogy is not as fun, but let's play a little bit of what Trump said. He was talking about how I can do whatever I want. I'm the president. I can do whatever I want on television says, oh, Trump is a dictator.
- [12:14]
Molly John Fast
He's a dictator.
- [12:15]
Jim Acosta
And a lot of people have been.
- [12:16]
Rick Wilson
So.
- [12:17]
Jim Acosta
So the line is that I'm a dictator, but I stop crying. So a lot of people say, you know, if that's the case, I'd rather have a dictator, but I'm not a dictator. I just had to stop crime. Molly, your thoughts. You Know, should we be tearing our hair out over this? What should we do?
- [12:35]
Molly John Fast
He's, I think he's seen this polling, this weird poll that said that I don't know exactly what the numbers on it are. Rick, you know, this poll where I actually thought, I wondered with this poll if the way they had asked the question was misleading. Right, right. So to. I think I'm, I'm punting to Rick on this poll because I think that might be what's going on.
- [13:01]
Rick Wilson
So there are some polling that when, when you ask people like, do you want to do whatever it takes to combat gang violence and street violence, all that stuff.
- [13:09]
Molly John Fast
Right.
- [13:10]
Rick Wilson
That has allowed them to conflate deploying the National Guard with, you know, in the, in that sort of whatever it takes window. And there is again, you know, an unsubtle racial coding in the way that they ask some of these questions. And when you look at it, overall, Trump is underwater on crime. He is. He is underwater on crime.
- [13:33]
Molly John Fast
Down 12 points, right?
- [13:34]
Rick Wilson
Yeah, down 12 points in the aggregate on crime. But that's one of his better issues right now. Yeah, he's underwater almost 30 points on the, on inflation and prices. He's underwater 25 or so on it. On the economy overall, he's looking for an issue. Immigration's become a radioactive disaster for him. He's looking for something.
- [13:58]
Jim Acosta
It's a disaster. Yeah, yeah.
- [13:59]
Rick Wilson
He's looking for something where he can turn the dialogue and play to what is, you know, what is the, what is the classic Trump. Self, image, strength, stamina, power. And so he's going to play this on, on the crime front as hard as he can because he doesn't have a lot of other cards right now. And his physical weakness, his sickness is also where, if he can show his people are out there in the streets getting bad guys, you know, he thinks there's a sort of associative property of strength if he does that.
- [14:35]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, go ahead.
- [14:36]
Molly John Fast
Nothing says strength like having the National Guard pick up trash.
- [14:42]
Rick Wilson
Correct. We were talking about that before you came on. It's. Yeah, it's like guys in orange, in orange reflector vests picking up trash. And as, as Jim put it out in Lafayette park. Guys.
- [14:53]
Molly John Fast
Yeah.
- [14:54]
Rick Wilson
If I was going to pick a place in the country per capita with more security than Lafayette park, it would be difficult to imagine, except for like maybe NORAD or something. It is, it is the park across the street from the White House, just to the north of the White House. It is surrounded by police, SWAT teams, everything, all the time. These guys Are there as a symbolic, you know, bright, friendly, big picture for Trump to put out there?
- [15:25]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. Can I do the narrator voice? The trash is inside the White House. I'm just saying, look, if you want to.
- [15:31]
Rick Wilson
If you want to really go into the neighborhood with a lot of crime, it's the 20036 in the white House.
- [15:38]
Molly John Fast
Right. But it is. I mean, Trump has the. He has created a structure in the White House of people who do not ask him questions. And you were a White House reporter before you were an anchor. And I wonder if you can talk about how the Washington. What? The Washington. The. The. The press corps has just. The bed here, I think, is the term.
- [16:08]
Jim Acosta
They have shit the bed. Yeah. Then the mattress was replaced and they. They it again. I mean. Yeah, they, you know, the plastic covering is on it. They. They're setting Olympic records for not asking good questions. I'm sorry to report. And honestly, you know, one of the questions you would ask during this long Cabinet meeting is, you know, Mr. President, why. Why are the National Guard troops picking up the trash in Lafayette park and just see what happens? And they're just not asking him those kinds of questions. They're asking like, well, why aren't you sending them into red places? And that sort of. And that's okay. That's fine. But they. They really need to sharpen their arrows because, you know, if the press is not going to do it, his Cabinet sure as hell is not. I don't know if you saw. Is it the labor secretary? I think she kind of went for the gold and sort of sucking up to Trump and was talking about how.
- [16:57]
Rick Wilson
New banner, sir, they put the Mussolini.
- [17:00]
Jim Acosta
Banners on the Department of Labor. Let's listen to this.
- [17:03]
Molly John Fast
I want to talk about Democrat.
- [17:04]
Jim Acosta
This is crazy, right?
- [17:06]
Molly John Fast
You all haven't stopped by the Department of Labor. Mr. President, I invite you to see your big, beautiful face on a banner in front of the Department of Labor because you are really the transformational president of the American worker, along with the American flag and President Roosevelt, because we're bringing business and labor together. And I was so honored to unveil that yesterday. And everybody is taking note of that.
- [17:30]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, that's the labor secretary, Lori Chavez Durmer. Dreamer.
- [17:34]
Molly John Fast
Yeah, dreamer. I think she's a Democrat. A lot of Democrats voted for her.
- [17:40]
Jim Acosta
You might say she's a dreamer, but she's not the only one. But anyway, she wasn't.
- [17:44]
Molly John Fast
She was meant to be a, like a Labor. A candidate that was actually not insane. Like.
- [17:51]
Jim Acosta
Yes.
- [17:52]
Molly John Fast
Sort of a stark contrast to everyone else. In that cabinet. But it turns out that Trumpism. So basically the, we are like minutes away from each one of these secretaries building little statues to him. Right.
- [18:07]
Jim Acosta
That's basically it.
- [18:08]
Rick Wilson
Listen, I'm, I'm not going to be surprised if Scott Bessant says, Mr. President, I have tattooed your face on my chest. I mean, it's, it's not going to shock me.
- [18:20]
Jim Acosta
And this went on for three hours.
- [18:21]
Rick Wilson
Three hours. And, and the, the, the, the, the, the sort of merry go round around that table. You know, I had a person who was close to the White House told me they were trying to cheer Trump up because he's really upset about a lot of these stories about his health and they're trying to all like, play the game. And a few of them are trying to play the game of, of I want to be the next one. That's why you have Vance and Marco shanking each other behind the scenes and, and trying to outdo one another on praise for him. But I think there is weirdly, like a moment where they'll never say it publicly, but a lot of them are starting to shift into the what, what happens when he's gone mode. That, that picture of Vance, Hexith and Miller striding through Union Station.
- [19:12]
Jim Acosta
Yes.
- [19:12]
Molly John Fast
Smirking.
- [19:13]
Rick Wilson
I think.
- [19:13]
Molly John Fast
Yeah.
- [19:14]
Rick Wilson
Three months ago, that would have been Trump, right? Yeah, I don't think he, I just don't think he could do it.
- [19:19]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [19:20]
Molly John Fast
Is Trump going out on the road? I don't see much of that.
- [19:24]
Rick Wilson
Nope, not a lot.
- [19:26]
Jim Acosta
Well, he went to Anchorage like he was.
- [19:27]
Rick Wilson
Yeah, not like he was. And he, he's only played golf one time in the last month, guys.
- [19:33]
Molly John Fast
Yeah.
- [19:34]
Jim Acosta
And are we allowed to talk about the bruising and the makeup on the bruising or is that irresponsible? I've been out of the corporate news.
- [19:39]
Rick Wilson
I'm not a.
- [19:40]
Jim Acosta
Look, I'm not anybody.
- [19:42]
Rick Wilson
I'm not a doctor. But I've talked to a bunch of them now and all of them are like one guy said to me, he goes, if I were his cardiac specialist and this guy is a cardiac specialist, he goes, I would be looking for an LVAD or a transplant.
- [19:55]
Molly John Fast
Yeah, no, you don't do a transplant that at that stage you can't get it.
- [20:00]
Jim Acosta
Of course, at least a better makeup.
- [20:02]
Rick Wilson
Artist because billionaires, billionaires, billionaires are not like you and me, Molly.
- [20:06]
Molly John Fast
Yeah, yeah, but it, you're not. You're gonna put it. You're Gonna put a 79 year old under general anesthesia for a heart transplant. I mean, Even if it.
- [20:14]
Rick Wilson
I think they should try it as soon as possible.
- [20:16]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. Or, or a brain transplant or whatever it might. Yeah.
- [20:22]
Rick Wilson
Look, he's, he's not. But, but we're, we're seeing like the earliest maneuvers in the Hunger Games that are going to come.
- [20:30]
Jim Acosta
Yes.
- [20:31]
Molly John Fast
Yeah.
- [20:34]
Jim Acosta
Seems to be so thirsty for it. And there I think the prevailing wisdom inside MAGA world, which I guess there isn't any wisdom, so I really shouldn't use that phrase, is that he's just not. How's he going to do it?
- [20:46]
Rick Wilson
You know, the thing about this that.
- [20:48]
Jim Acosta
Really sticks is the one that makes him look like a goofy like inflated guy from.
- [20:53]
Rick Wilson
Yeah, the weird, the weird AI vances are more, more, more JD's image than JD. You know, as Stuart Stevens points out, he goes. The guy who's known this week as J.D. vance because he's changed his name four times. It's true. You know, he's, there's something about him that, that still, if Trump drops dead tomorrow, advance becomes president, the family will immediately try to shank him because they want to keep the grift.
- [21:19]
Jim Acosta
Yes.
- [21:20]
Rick Wilson
They want the grift to run forever.
- [21:23]
Jim Acosta
Right.
- [21:24]
Rick Wilson
And the rest of them will try to take him out too. Well, you weren't loyal to the president back in 2017, you know.
- [21:31]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [21:31]
Molly John Fast
Right. And more importantly, if J.D. vance is so concerned with being the heir apparent, maybe he should take less than eight vacations.
- [21:41]
Jim Acosta
Well, that's true.
- [21:42]
Rick Wilson
I'm about to take a one vacation for the first time in three years, so. Yeah. And I'm not even the Vice President, nor should I be considered for that job under any circumstances. I would be dangerous.
- [21:53]
Molly John Fast
I do think I just want to be as, as the area feminist. I know we're not supposed to do that, but you know, Harris got so much for everything, everything. And J.D. vance gets shit for nothing.
- [22:08]
Jim Acosta
That's abs. If, if Kamala Harris had taken as many vacations.
- [22:13]
Rick Wilson
Oh my God, Harris had. If Kamala Harris had had the, had the Park Service block off a river so that. And raise the water level so she could go canoeing, Fox news would have 24 hour a day coverage of it and Jim Comer would be having torchlit hearings all night long on the south lawn of the White House about. It'd be, it would be insane.
- [22:35]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [22:35]
Molly John Fast
I'm old enough to remember when she tried to buy copper pots.
- [22:39]
Jim Acosta
Oh, yeah.
- [22:40]
Rick Wilson
Oh yes, the copper pots. That was a, that was an elitist scandal. As opposed to JD Vance's eight thousand dollar a day manor house he rented in the Cotswolds.
- [22:49]
Molly John Fast
In the Cotswolds. That's a, that's a totally different thing. But, but it is, I mean, you.
- [22:54]
Jim Acosta
Do see, but there is, I mean, they, they are kind of facing a little bit of a conundrum. They're, they're in a bit of a jam over there because Marco Rubio, I mean, Marco Rubio seems to be trying to do everything possible to say, I'm with you guys, I'm one of you. They're just never going to accept him.
- [23:09]
Rick Wilson
They're never going to go back to Marco. He, he, he, he, the guy. And this will be something the family right now, they've determined they're going to make a lot of friends in the short term so they can touch all the parts of government.
- [23:23]
Molly John Fast
Yeah, right.
- [23:24]
Rick Wilson
But the minute that, that, that anyone is a threat to the continued Trump grifto grift parade, they will go after them. They would rather have Eric or Don Jr. Run for president than any of these other guys. And, and I, I don't think it's out of the question that, that, that Don Jr. Who is very good with the MAGA base.
- [23:46]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [23:46]
Rick Wilson
In a crowded field, could win the nomination.
- [23:48]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, yeah.
- [23:49]
Rick Wilson
Especially if Trump, on his way out, the door goes, I'm dying. I pass all this on to you, Don Jr. Yeah.
- [23:58]
Molly John Fast
But he won't do that because he, you know, that's the thing that you don't, I think you don't totally get about this is this is not a, There's. He doesn't think of Don Jr. As an extension of himself.
- [24:10]
Rick Wilson
No.
- [24:10]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, of course not. He's more horrible to his family than really just about anybody else.
- [24:14]
Rick Wilson
I mean, but guys, the. Everything Trump touches dies rule. He betrays everybody. Remember, at this point in the first administration, he and Mike Pence were like this.
- [24:23]
Jim Acosta
Yes.
- [24:24]
Molly John Fast
Yeah, that's right. Mike Pence. Who could, who could forget Mike Pence?
- [24:28]
Jim Acosta
Oh, goodness. Yes, I could. And, and to that point, I mean, I do think there is the matter of what Trump is doing before eventually he leaves the scene, if he even does that before the end of his four years in this particular term. And that, I mean, what's going to happen to the midterm elections? And, and guys, we need to talk about, apparently some lady named Heather Honey. Have you seen this?
- [24:51]
Rick Wilson
I know who Heather Honey is. I've actually written about Heather Honey before.
- [24:55]
Jim Acosta
Of all things, he's a honey of a pick to oversee our election.
- [24:58]
Rick Wilson
Exactly. She is a flat out election denier. She runs a couple of organizations that are totally they make Dinesh D' Souza's 2000 mules look like a Ken Burns documentary. In terms of solidity. They, they, they. She is completely batshit cuckoo.
- [25:19]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [25:19]
Rick Wilson
And so you've got the. She's. She's now got an office in the DHS on election integrity.
- [25:25]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. So she's gonna oversee our infrastructure. Voting machines.
- [25:29]
Molly John Fast
Yeah. So is she going to steal elections or is she. I mean, this is the. The big question I think, that we find ourselves confronting is, are these people so crazy that they can't get anything done? Or are they so, you know, are they. They're so craven that they, in fact, are able to set up some kind of mechanism to fuck up elections?
- [25:52]
Jim Acosta
That's where we are right now, honestly. I mean, that's. We just don't know the answer to that question. That's the Scooby Doo mystery. And my concern is, is that we've written them off for so long as being incompetent and fools. I mean, they are stocking the pond with election deniers and people who just so happen to be there on January6. The guy for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the guy over at the Justice Department, how is it that these kooks are showing up? You know, it's a research footage and then getting tapped for these positions.
- [26:20]
Rick Wilson
It's a feature, not a bug.
- [26:23]
Molly John Fast
We know why they're getting the jobs. The question is, are they competent enough to do the evil that we know they want to or not?
- [26:32]
Rick Wilson
Look, if they're not competent enough, they are competent enough to follow Russ Vaught's orders.
- [26:37]
Molly John Fast
Right.
- [26:38]
Rick Wilson
When they come down from the White House or Susie's orders when they come down from the White House. These are not. None of these people have to be rocket scientists to cause terrible damage. And I, I think. I think there will be a degree to which they are incompetent. But part of this is just to say, well, the DHS says these elections were invalid. We have to read.
- [26:58]
Molly John Fast
Right.
- [26:59]
Rick Wilson
And. And that's that. That's the concern layer of the onion. Right.
- [27:03]
Jim Acosta
Right. They can make such a mess of this right before November of 2026, or.
- [27:08]
Rick Wilson
Right after or right after, or that.
- [27:10]
Jim Acosta
This just becomes a hot mess, a show, and nobody knows what to do, and they have to go to the courts. And so. And, and, and what happens then? We just are on the dark side of the moon. We don't. We don't know what happens then.
- [27:22]
Rick Wilson
Look, I don't know.
- [27:24]
Jim Acosta
And Trump is saying, let's not do mail invalidating anymore. Let's Draw redraw our congressional maps. I mean, this is what scares me, you know, and I, and, and listen, I know we're all sort of shut, you know, to the point now we're not shocked anymore. But this, this stuff taken in the aggregate, I mean, it worries the out of me and it should worry the out of everybody.
- [27:45]
Rick Wilson
I think it should worry us because, yeah, we, we have seen Trump as an industrial scale wrecking ball of American institutions.
- [27:53]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [27:54]
Rick Wilson
And it, and, and elections are an institution that traditionally in this country have been run at the state and local level. Trump wants to federalize that. They have been run.
- [28:05]
Molly John Fast
They're not, he's not going to be able to do that. I mean that I think.
- [28:07]
Rick Wilson
Well, and I'll tell you why, I'll tell you why he's not going to be able to do that. Because in most of these Republican states, they've got a pretty good system of mail in balloting to their Republican constituents where, where those Republicans know to vote early. And, and, and if they give it up anyway. Yeah, right, right. If they give that up because of Trump's imaginary fraud thing, you're gonna have states like Florida and South Carolina and Tennessee that have parties with good mail in ballot operations going, oh, we're in trouble.
- [28:42]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, that's true.
- [28:43]
Rick Wilson
But, but, but the idea you invalidate elections at the federal level, having DHS make a proclamation about it, I think it speaks to the broader cancer that is DHS and the, and the dangers that it poses, especially since it's in the hands of Kristi Gnome and Corey Lee Windowski.
- [29:02]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And, and Molly, when you see what took place with John Bolton last Friday and then over the weekend, he's, he's, you know, threatening Chris Christie. I mean, do you take all these things together or do you just see and say we're on, we're on the march to something here, folks, or is it just, are we just sipping from the Trump fire hose? Once again, just day in and day out, where are you on this?
- [29:27]
Molly John Fast
My man is an authoritarian. I don't think anyone is. You know, there's not. He would even say it is an authoritarian. I mean, that's the, that is the best case scenario here. The question is like, is he in? Are they incompetent enough? So, yeah. That we keep our democratic system going. And I think that's true with all of this. I mean, the idea that there was ever a moment where Donald Trump would be like, no, this is too much. No.
- [29:56]
Rick Wilson
Right.
- [29:56]
Molly John Fast
It's enough.
- [29:57]
Rick Wilson
Oh, no, not that, that's Too far.
- [29:59]
Molly John Fast
Yeah. I'm just going.
- [30:01]
Rick Wilson
That's. Stephen Miller's out of control.
- [30:03]
Molly John Fast
Right. And I think that there was a. There was a feeling that there was going to be a certain level of gentility that was always going to be inhabited by this. The. The right. And that no longer exists.
- [30:17]
Rick Wilson
No.
- [30:17]
Jim Acosta
And Molly, this. Go ahead.
- [30:19]
Molly John Fast
He's not going to pardon those January six rioters.
- [30:22]
Jim Acosta
Remember that we always.
- [30:23]
Rick Wilson
Project 2025 has nothing to do with me.
- [30:26]
Jim Acosta
I know. I used to. I used to say this during the first term, that. That people delude themselves into thinking that the majesty of the presidency will rest upon his shoulders and he'll be transformed into another Ronald Reagan. That's all out the window. But, Molly, there's one. One of the reasons why I've been dying to talk to you and have you on. Is you wrote about the TV show the Gilded Age.
- [30:45]
Molly John Fast
Yes.
- [30:45]
Jim Acosta
And I started watching it because of your column.
- [30:49]
Molly John Fast
Yeah.
- [30:49]
Jim Acosta
And you have. The only thing you took a stab at, whether or not we're heading into a Gilded Age or this Trumpism thing is leading us into a Gilded Age. And they're all feeding at the trough and enriching themselves in all sorts of corrupt ways. And there are echoes of it when you watch the show.
- [31:06]
Molly John Fast
Yeah. Lack of labor. Lack of labor laws. Right. Decreasing regulation. That's Trump's favorite thing. For every one regulation, we undo.5, where he gets all of this. It's so stupid. Undoing regulation. We're seeing some banking regulation being undone with the stable coins. And crypto is, like, the largest investor in American elections. We don't even need Russia to get involved in our elections. We got crypto, baby. And, you know, they have this. They have these slush funds to run against. If you're not a crypto candidate, they will fund your opponent. And I mean, they are.
- [31:51]
Jim Acosta
Oh, really? So you can just get screwed by these guys if you're not pro crypto.
- [31:55]
Molly John Fast
Crypto is like the biggest.
- [31:57]
Rick Wilson
It's like the Super PAC Full employment act in D.C. right now. A lot of people are like, yes, I'm going to work for the new. The new crypto pack. And you're like, which one?
- [32:08]
Molly John Fast
So I think there are two. I think we don't have, like, big tobacco and big oil. Right. Big oil. We're seeing in Texas. Right. The last gasps of big oil money acting out against each other with the Paxton corn and race. Yeah. But they don't really. The big money. I feel like the really big money is crypto, AI. You know, and by the way, they're just worried about a government that has never regulated them ever. Right.
- [32:37]
Rick Wilson
Their paranoia about regulation is like, have you been on fucking Facebook ever?
- [32:42]
Molly John Fast
Yeah, yeah.
- [32:43]
Rick Wilson
Or have you seen Twitter?
- [32:45]
Molly John Fast
Have you talked to Chuck Schumer because his daughter works for Meta?
- [32:49]
Rick Wilson
Yep.
- [32:49]
Molly John Fast
Okay. Like, they're not getting regulated like this is. But I'm telling you, you guys buy some plants, you know that the more likely chances that we're going off the grid than Congress is ever regulating any.
- [33:03]
Rick Wilson
Of this sell at this assignment.
- [33:05]
Molly John Fast
Yes, you do. I know Rick Wilson has this like, terrible fantasy of living off the grid and. Because. Yeah, because he can.
- [33:14]
Jim Acosta
Rick, teach me how.
- [33:17]
Molly John Fast
I don't want to know. I'm. Yeah.
- [33:20]
Jim Acosta
Molly would never be off the grid. That would.
- [33:22]
Rick Wilson
Oh, no, Molly cannot. Molly cannot leave the grid. It's just a scientific fact.
- [33:26]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [33:27]
Rick Wilson
She is the grid.
- [33:28]
Molly John Fast
I am the grid.
- [33:29]
Jim Acosta
She is the grid. That's okay. That's okay. But anyway, I have to give you credit because I started watching the show and I'm thinking to myself, wow, this is some crazy ass rich Americans that just ruled people. You know, back in those days, one.
- [33:47]
Molly John Fast
Of the things that people forget about philanthropy was that philanthropy was because people were really fucking mad at their rich people. And the Giving Pledge, you know, the, the people, the sort of older generation understood that I think about, you know, the sort of. The billionaires of that, you know, this in their 80s, 70s, that crew, they got it. They understood that having tremendous amounts of wealth makes the normal people hate you. Elon, interesting fellow that he is, decided to take a different tact and steal from the taxpayers as opposed to giving to the poors. And, and, and we're seeing the result of that. I don't think it's. Elon's still like the most unpopular American by about 100 points or something.
- [34:40]
Rick Wilson
No, he, he is, he is profoundly unpopular. But you know, just as to flip back to the Hunger Games we were talking about earlier, he's pulled back from starting a third party now because he wants. He and Peter Thiel are going to back J.D. vance.
- [34:52]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [34:53]
Molly John Fast
Yeah.
- [34:53]
Rick Wilson
So that's true. You know, luckily, luckily, our struggling billionaire class will finally have a president that will listen to them.
- [35:00]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, that's right. And, and, and Molly and Rick, the other thing that we should get into because Molly wasn't with us, Rick, when we got started on this is, you know, if Trump is such a dictator, I mean, he could just, you know, there's, there's could be an edict right now. Release the Epstein files. Sure. It is kind of amazing.
- [35:17]
Rick Wilson
I don't know, it's the one area where he doesn't seem to understand that he has any power. Yeah, the one area. Let's let the judges decide on this one. Yeah, okay.
- [35:27]
Molly John Fast
Yeah, let's. Let's let them decide on grand jury testimony, which is like 10 pages and has a far, far higher barrier to being released.
- [35:38]
Jim Acosta
And, Rick, have you ever seen Trump in a jam like this? And one of the poker tells that Trump is in such a jam on this is that Maxwell transcript recording BS that came out. Oh, did we?
- [35:52]
Molly John Fast
My favorite. We lost, Rick, But I'll go.
- [35:55]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, no, you go on this. Because.
- [36:00]
Molly John Fast
Todd Blanche, the number two in the Justice Department, being deferential to convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, as one does. Yeah. Have you ever seen anything, Rick, like the deferential treatment that Ghislaine Maxwell got from Todd?
- [36:21]
Rick Wilson
Todd Blanche, when you read that transcript, it reads.
- [36:26]
Molly John Fast
You can listen to it.
- [36:27]
Rick Wilson
Oh, I know, but I read it because, you know, you.
- [36:30]
Jim Acosta
It's the written word.
- [36:31]
Molly John Fast
It is, yes.
- [36:33]
Rick Wilson
You can see the setup there from about 50 miles away. This is the most obvious good man. You know. Is he a good man? Oh, yes. I never saw him in a massage.
- [36:44]
Jim Acosta
Situation.
- [36:46]
Rick Wilson
But, you know, but. But you. When you hear it, you're like, this is such a setup. It is so clumsy and dumb and over the top. Unbelievable that only the MAGA base who've been desperate for something could put it in their veins and go, oh, this is fun. This is. This is good.
- [37:05]
Jim Acosta
But I mean, you know when she says, oh, he's a gentleman, and. And I've never seen him behave, whatever she was saying, it was so ridiculous even. Don't say that.
- [37:15]
Rick Wilson
His accomplishments are so tremendous.
- [37:18]
Molly John Fast
Yes, I'm very in awe of his accomplishments. But my question is the birthday book page.
- [37:24]
Jim Acosta
Yes. I don't remember. She says.
- [37:27]
Rick Wilson
Right.
- [37:27]
Molly John Fast
Yeah, she didn't. She doesn't. How does she not remember? And also.
- [37:31]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [37:32]
Molly John Fast
Who leaked the birthday book page?
- [37:34]
Rick Wilson
The family.
- [37:34]
Molly John Fast
Wall Street Journal.
- [37:35]
Jim Acosta
It would be great.
- [37:36]
Rick Wilson
Family. I'm.
- [37:38]
Molly John Fast
I mean, so it's Epstein's family and then. Or is it Ghislaine's family?
- [37:44]
Rick Wilson
I think it's Epstein's family.
- [37:46]
Jim Acosta
That's.
- [37:46]
Rick Wilson
That's why.
- [37:47]
Molly John Fast
Because Epstein can get a part. No, he's dead.
- [37:50]
Rick Wilson
So he's dead.
- [37:52]
Molly John Fast
So who stands to benefit from leaking that?
- [37:54]
Rick Wilson
I don't have an answer for you on that, but I don't think she had access to it. I mean, I don't think she's got. Got a copy of it in prison.
- [38:02]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. You know, that Wall Street Journal thing. It's that. It's the birthday book where it talks about wonderful secrets.
- [38:09]
Rick Wilson
Yes, wonderful secrets.
- [38:11]
Jim Acosta
Secret Garden or whatever. You know, lion, the Witch in the Wardrobe.
- [38:15]
Molly John Fast
He's like, I don't ever draw except.
- [38:17]
Rick Wilson
In these 10,000, dozens of, dozens of drawings he's been known to do.
- [38:22]
Molly John Fast
You know, if you're gonna deny something and there are countless people drawings like maybe go with some other.
- [38:30]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, that's not my handwriting.
- [38:31]
Rick Wilson
Right. Or, or he could say. Or he could say with a straight face. I respect women so much. I would never draw a nude woman in a book. Yeah, I draw cityscapes. That's my.
- [38:42]
Molly John Fast
Ooh, yeah.
- [38:44]
Jim Acosta
Another hoax. Another hoax, Another hoax.
- [38:47]
Rick Wilson
Liberal hoax. George Soros drew that naked lady. I've never even seen one.
- [38:52]
Jim Acosta
That's right. It was the Clintons. Hillary did it.
- [38:54]
Molly John Fast
Yeah.
- [38:56]
Jim Acosta
But. And we don't give a shit if all the files come out and there are some big time Democrats and that. We don't give a shit.
- [39:01]
Rick Wilson
Who cares? Just do it.
- [39:03]
Molly John Fast
Going to hurt Bill Clinton's presidential run, right?
- [39:06]
Rick Wilson
Yeah, exactly. Is it, Is it going to, Is it going to. Is it going to cause Bill Clinton to lose something, Lose state?
- [39:12]
Molly John Fast
I hate New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to have problems. Is even alive.
- [39:18]
Rick Wilson
I don't know.
- [39:19]
Jim Acosta
He passed away.
- [39:20]
Molly John Fast
Yeah. So it. Oh, he's gone.
- [39:22]
Jim Acosta
Did we lose Rick again? Oh, my gosh. Something's going down in Tallahassee.
- [39:27]
Rick Wilson
Touch anything? I was like, don't touch it.
- [39:30]
Jim Acosta
All right. Before we lose all connections, it must be. It's Stephen Miller pulling the plug. Back in.
- [39:35]
Molly John Fast
Yeah.
- [39:37]
Jim Acosta
Before we go, I have to, I want to do like a John McLaughlin. Predictions, predictions.
- [39:41]
Molly John Fast
Yes.
- [39:42]
Jim Acosta
Do we ever see the Epstein files? Rick Wilson?
- [39:47]
Rick Wilson
No. Yeah, no, he, he successfully covers them up. We see them after he's dead. Yeah, we see them after he's dead.
- [39:55]
Jim Acosta
At the Trump Presidential Library. No, no.
- [39:57]
Molly John Fast
Yeah, that never.
- [39:59]
Rick Wilson
We will, by the way. We will never see whatever. We will never see what Pam Bondi and Cash Patel's thousand FBI agents redacted.
- [40:07]
Molly John Fast
Yeah, I think we see it, but a lot of it's redacted.
- [40:11]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, I think so too. I think. Well, and they're getting it over to the Oversight Committee and Robert Garcia said 3% of what's been turned over so far is new material.
- [40:21]
Molly John Fast
And meanwhile, Comer is not. I mean, it's not like Comer's like, let's get this going.
- [40:25]
Rick Wilson
I mean, Comer is, Comer is super excited about covering for Trump, you know, covering this. And by that I mean he looks like he Wants to fucking die.
- [40:36]
Molly John Fast
Yes, it is nice to see these Republicans just having a terrible time. That is the one thing that does give me a little bit of joy.
- [40:45]
Jim Acosta
And they may bring in this Alex Acosta. Guys, I like to say, no relation who cut the sweetheart deal with Epstein. And that's going to be interesting. He's been hiding somewhere. I don't know where he's been.
- [40:57]
Rick Wilson
Well, I mean, he was Trump's Labor Secretary out of nowhere in the first term. And. And I at the time, another coincidence, who were like, weird, it's Alex Acosta, who is this guy? And I didn't even. And, And I knew a lot of the people that he was naming to the cabinet then. And I was like, I don't know, Alice across, you know, and it turns out, just by weird coincidence, that, that he, he.
- [41:20]
Molly John Fast
What are the odds?
- [41:21]
Rick Wilson
Jeffrey Epstein involved in that sweetheart deal creator. I. Strange how that worked.
- [41:25]
Jim Acosta
Isn't that interesting?
- [41:26]
Rick Wilson
I can't imagine Jeffrey saying to him, you got to help me out. And. And Trump will get you in a Cabinet position.
- [41:32]
Molly John Fast
I mean, I don't think. I think that's pushing it because he got that deal in 2008.
- [41:38]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And apparently he was. Apparently it was Marco Rubio who urged Trump to pick Alex. I. I don't know.
- [41:47]
Molly John Fast
It's all bad.
- [41:48]
Rick Wilson
It's all bad. None of it. None of it. Yeah. None of it sparkles.
- [41:51]
Molly John Fast
It doesn't have to be a smoking gun to look bad.
- [41:55]
Jim Acosta
That's exactly right.
- [41:56]
Rick Wilson
Yeah.
- [41:57]
Jim Acosta
It just has to be a gun. No, but. And as I remember from that day when he picked Alex Costa's labor secretary, he said to me, he's a Jim. We found out you're not related. We made sure you're not related. So he did. There was that as well. Just.
- [42:09]
Molly John Fast
That's good.
- [42:09]
Jim Acosta
A little flashback Thursday or Friday or whatever. Different Dacostas, different Acastas. No relation.
- [42:15]
Molly John Fast
Yeah, we've. We've hit the moment in the podcast where the men start pretending to be.
- [42:21]
Jim Acosta
We've hit that.
- [42:22]
Rick Wilson
And if you think after a decade, I'd have a better Trump imitation, but I just don't.
- [42:26]
Molly John Fast
It's all right. I'm used to pretending to find this amusing.
- [42:30]
Jim Acosta
The south park guys, they just. You give them a different voice.
- [42:33]
Rick Wilson
Right. They don't even care.
- [42:35]
Jim Acosta
They don't give a try. And thank God.
- [42:37]
Molly John Fast
Right?
- [42:38]
Rick Wilson
God bless them.
- [42:40]
Molly John Fast
God bless both of you.
- [42:41]
Rick Wilson
Well, thank you, Joe.
- [42:42]
Molly John Fast
Great. Thank you so much. Going on vacation. You know who's not going on vacation?
- [42:47]
Jim Acosta
Me.
- [42:48]
Molly John Fast
I'll be. Oh, in Case you're wondering, I've planned to spend this weekend in New York City doing the weekend show.
- [42:56]
Jim Acosta
Oh, really?
- [42:56]
Molly John Fast
Cool. Eamon. Amen. Mohaji is my buddy. Yes. Because I like to work at all times.
- [43:04]
Rick Wilson
Get on it.
- [43:05]
Molly John Fast
Well, that's right.
- [43:07]
Jim Acosta
You're welcome on this show anytime. Both of you. Thank you so much.
- [43:10]
Molly John Fast
We're very funny together.
- [43:12]
Rick Wilson
We are.
- [43:13]
Jim Acosta
It's a lot of fun.
- [43:14]
Molly John Fast
I don't know if you can follow each other.
- [43:16]
Rick Wilson
We are. But it's, but it's all from love.
- [43:19]
Molly John Fast
This is right. Yeah. The viewers can't follow it. Sorry, sorry, all of you people watching.
- [43:24]
Jim Acosta
This, but it was a lot of talking. And then I mentioned the Gilded Age. And then a lot of talking. But that was.
- [43:29]
Molly John Fast
That's right. It's what you get. You know.
- [43:33]
Jim Acosta
As always, thanks a lot. Really great to see you.
- [43:35]
Rick Wilson
Thanks, Jim. We'll talk to you soon.
- [43:37]
Jim Acosta
Bye, guys. All right, now you can X out. Okay. Always, always enjoy having Molly Rick on. They're a lot of fun. I, I do want, I cannot, I cannot let this show end without mentioning again, you know, what we're going through in this country. It's a uniquely American plague. A uniquely American plague. Gun violence in this country happening again. There is no other country on earth that has mass shooting violence at this level. And we have cowards in Congress who are just not going to do anything about it. Mainly, mainly on the Republican side. 99% on the Republican side. That's not playing politics on this issue. These are facts. We are at the beginning of the school year for kids across this country. And it's happened again. It's happened again, this time in Minnesota and again, two children killed at the Annunciation Church right next door to the Catholic school it's affiliated with. The kids were at mass for the first time in this school year. The mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Fry, decried the horrific violence in south Minneapolis so far this year. I wanted to bring this up. Up until this point. There have been seven school shootings just this year. According to the Washington Post. In addition to this tragedy, there have been seven school related shootings. Those incidents span the country occurring in New York, Tennessee, North Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, Michigan and Washington state in recent years. Firearm deaths were responsible for. For the most deaths in children in this country. What are we doing? What are we doing? And as Rick Wilson and I were talking about, you know, there's a toxic mix going on in the United States where you have easy access to firearms, easy access to weapons of war, military style weapons, assault weapons and troubled kids. Troubled teenagers, troubled young adults who get sucked into this culture online that essentially encourages them to act out with acts of mass shooting violence to try to replicate other mass shootings. You have mass shooters who have essentially, in their manifestos, and it may be the case in this one, are either citing previous mass shooters or are paying tribute to other mass shooters. This is a cycle of violence in this country that has to stop. In my old job, I, I couldn't go on like this, but I'm going to go on like this here. For those of us who have kids, for those of us who have grandkids, you have to ask yourselves the question, what are we doing in this country? Why is this a uniquely American problem? And by and large, the answer comes back to the easy availability of firearms, the easy availability of assault weapons, of weapons of war. No other country in the industrialized, developed world has this problem. We are alone at the top, living in a kind of shame that nobody else can relate to anywhere else in the world. Because we allow this to happen again and again in state after state, city after city, school after school, red states, blue states, rural areas, urban areas, it doesn't matter. It's happening all over the country. You have children who have grown up in this world, reach the high school age and college age, living with the reality that they have to do lockdown drills. When I was growing up, we didn't have to do lockdown drills. We did fire alarm drills. We hid under our desks to prepare for a nuclear holocaust. I do remember that happening when I was in elementary school. Now kids for the, for the older parents and grandparents out there who don't realize this, now the kids are doing lockdown drills because of these mass shootings that keep happening over and over again. We have to ask the question, why is this happening here? We don't pass meaningful gun control legislation in this country, or as they try to call it, gun safety legislation to try to make it more palatable to people in the far right. We need gun control in America. Not taking people's guns away, not canceling the second Amendment, nothing like that. We can't even get background checks passed in this country. Something that 85 to 90% of Americans all support. They support an airtight background check system. Why can't we have that in this country? The way that the background check system now you go to a gun store, you fill out the application, they do a background check on you. If the background check doesn't come in time, in many cases the customer gets a gun anyway. It is a Porous, vulnerable, Swiss cheese like system that allows these kinds of guns to get into the hands of the mentally unstable. And it happens again and again, and thank God only, and I hate to say this, that only two children were killed in this mass shooting. As of when I'm doing this podcast right now, the number could go up. Of the 17 people who were injured in Minnesota, 14 of them were children. Two were in critical condition as a result of this. And the shooter was a 23 year old who appeared to have mental health issues. It's happening again and again. How many of these mass shootings have occurred where it's a young kid or a young adult with serious mental health problems but can get a hold of a gun? What other country on earth allows this to happen repeatedly, over and over again? Okay, yes, in this Scandinavian country or that European country or this Asian country. On occasion, sure, from time to time it happens, but not with this frequency. 7 so far this year up until this point. And school's just getting started. We have to assume, because school is just getting started that there are going to be more of them. Why are we letting this happen to our kids? Why are we letting this happen to our grandkids? Why are we doing this to them? Why? Because of the nra. Because of the National Rifle Association, a corrupt organization that's been exposed time and again as just a place where the people at the top of that organization are just feeding from the trough of the donations that come into their organization, the money that comes into their organization, that's all they do. They profess to care about the rights of gun owners, but does anybody buy that? And we have lawmakers up on Capitol Hill, on the Republican side of the aisle. All they do is just run in fear of groups like the NRA to the. To the great detriment, the profound detriment of our kids who are getting blown away over and over again. When are we going to start caring enough to stop this from happening in our elementary schools, our churches, our high schools, our college campuses, our office buildings, shopping centers, movie theaters, public parks, bars, nightclubs, anywhere you go, grocery stores, anywhere you go, a fast food restaurant, anywhere you go In America, there could be a mass shooting at any moment because we keep letting it happen. Because the guns, in the view of people like the folks over at the nra, the guns to them are more important than the kids. To the politicians who all they do is do the dirty work or the nra, all that matters to them is the guns. The guns matter more to them than the kids. When is it going to stop? When are we going to protect our kids? When will it end? I'd like to thank Molly and Rick for joining me on this day. And please think deeply about this, folks. It has to stop. Still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Have a good evening. Good night.