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- [00:00]
Jim Acosta
Foreign welcome to the Jim Acosta Show. It's another day that ends in y in American patriotism here in the United states. Very happy July 4th, everybody out there. Happy Independence Day. Going into this holiday weekend, we've got a very special guest this hour. It's Governor Westmore of Maryland. Governor, great to see you. Thanks for coming on.
- [00:24]
Governor Wes Moore
It's my pleasure. It's really good to be with you.
- [00:26]
Donald Trump
Thank you.
- [00:27]
Jim Acosta
Hey, thank you. And, you know, I started that way because, you know, a lot of folks are a little glum about this July 4th. They don't like what Trump's done with the 4th of July, and they're seeing all the headlines about how he's profiting off the presidency, and they're a little bummed about everything. And I saw you're going to be giving a Fourth of July speech in Annapolis, Maryland, and you're trying to give a different message, sort of bring it back to, you know, where this should be all about. Tell us about that.
- [00:55]
Governor Wes Moore
Yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm bummed about it as well, what he's doing, because, you know, this is, we are watching the greatest grift that we have seen in our, in our nation's, in our nation's long history taking place in the White House right now. And this is, this is not good. But the thing is, is that, that he's trying to make the 250th about him. It's not. It's about us. It's about the greatest experiment in world history that is the United States of America. And something that has been complicated, challenging, deeply uneven, and at the same time, something where we had a nation that was built on an ideal and an idea that we could actually be better. And so the work of patriotism, which is the reason we're all here right now, is because they were patriots who were willing to fight on our behalf for generations. And, and the message that I'm going to have tomorrow is that we are a nation of patriots. And the work of patriotism means that we're a nation of strength because we're a nation of sacrifice. And that's the message that I want people to hear tomorrow.
- [02:00]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, the message that you're going to deliver is about sacrifice, which I think is so important because, you know, people, it's that, that old concern about losing people to the couch, losing people to complacency. And I get the sense that that's what people need. They sort of need almost a kick in the pants a little bit. Say, you know, this thing Is not over yet. Got to get up and get back in the game, get involved in, in preserving what is so special about this country.
- [02:27]
Governor Wes Moore
That's exactly. And that, that we're here because there were people who were willing to make those sacrifices. You know, I, I think about it where tomorrow I will be giving the address from the Annapolis, from our State House. Right. It's the oldest operating state house in the country. And I will be giving that address as the first African American governor in the history of the state of Maryland. And I'll be delivering it from a place that was partially built by the hands of enslaved people. And I think to myself that in that moment, I think about the work that had to happen, that what other people, those who came before us, were willing to sacrifice on our behalf, the ones who put on the, who wore the uniform of this country, the ones who were our school teachers, the ones who are our first responders, the ones who throughout all this time knew that they were fighting for the hope of us. And then to think that we at this moment would say that we're just going to give up and concede after what they had to endure and after what they had to see. And so I think this is actually the moment to say that our great days aren't behind us, but that we had great people who, we are now standing on their shoulders who are asking us to see higher. And our responsibility is to actually make sure that we're, that we understand the assignment.
- [03:46]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, the other thing that's happening on July 4th is, I mean, everybody's going to be celebrating America's independence. I know, you know, one of the, I mean, big concerns here in the Washington, D.C. area is going to be this extreme heat. I saw a little graphic in the Washington Post. I believe it says that essentially Washington, D.C. was one of the hottest places on planet Earth, or it will be on Friday. On Friday, which is today, that's 1% of the planet will be hotter than Washington, D.C. and they're basically deserts. I mean, you know, there's also the climate change conversation is part of this, but it's also just going to be very unsafe. What's been your message to Marylanders, people in the DMV about that?
- [04:27]
Governor Wes Moore
Well, it's the reason that I'm telling people that, that I'm excited to give this speech indoors, people to view it indoors. We're going to be live streaming it. So I want people to be able to watch the speech from somewhere comfortable and safe. Listen, it's, you know, what I know is not safe. Is, is being outside for long periods of time. This is, this is a very dangerous heat. And so I think that not only should people plan their days accordingly when it comes to not being outside, making sure that you're hydrating, make sure you're doing those things, but also I would urge for all lawmakers and everybody who's in charge of these festivities, while I know it might be frustrating because you had a hope that you were going to have, you know, millions of people outdoors, that is not a safe thing to do. And so I, people are willing to adjust their, adjust their plans and adjust accordingly.
- [05:19]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And I think people are starting to heed those warnings. Although, you know, who knows? When you look down at the National Mall, at the Great American State Fair, Donald Trump's version of the birthday on this 250th anniversary of our country, the crowds are thin, they're almost non existent. I know the heat is a factor, but why do you think people are staying away, Governor? I mean, what's been your sense of how Trump has handled all of this down there?
- [05:44]
Governor Wes Moore
Well, I think that there's a difference between America 250 and freedom 250. People are anxious to be able to spend time celebrating America 250 because that is a celebration of patriotism. People are not celebrating Freedom 250 because that is a celebration of nationalism. Right. That, that, that, that nationalism is small. Patriotism is big. Nationalism is asking us to celebrate a person or to celebrate a group. And it's telling us, in order for us to feel big, it means that other people must be small. Right. Patriotism is saying that we are going to create a table that's big enough for all of us because that is what helped the American experiment thrive in the first place. And so I think that, you know, seeing, seeing the crowd sizes is, you're right. It is about more than just the heat. It's about, it's really more about the difference between patriotism and nationalism. It's a difference between America 250 and freedom 250. It's a difference between Trump's vision for this country and what this day should be. That it's not about him, that, that it's about us. And that's the thing. I think people are anxious and ready to celebrate.
- [07:01]
Jim Acosta
No, there's no question about it. But I mean, he's, he's certainly been making it about himself ever since getting back into the White House. I'm sure you saw all the news about the financial disclosure form this week that he put out. So over 900 pages, he's made over a billion dollars in crypto, which he claims he didn't really know anything about. He says, you know, it's his financial advisors who take care of all of this stuff. And, you know, Reuters had a good story about this. We can show that headline where, you know, under, you know, Trump's crypto investments, he makes all the money, but his own people don't. A lot of people invested in these crypto coins and so on, thinking they were going to make out like Donald Trump, and he ended up making all the money. He made something like, you know, a couple billion dollars. If you look at the losses for his investors, it's somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple billion dollars. What is, what's been your thought on watching this and seeing this on and this news unfold this week?
- [07:54]
Governor Wes Moore
On that front, I've seen that it's seemingly the only people that have done well in the past year are Donald Trump and his friends and his family, you know, because at the same time that he's making billions of dollars, I know in Maryland, we've had over 31,000 people being fired and losing their jobs who are federal workers. At the same time that he has now made billions of dollars, We've had over 180,000 people now in risk of losing their health care. We've had children who are losing their food security. But Donald Trump's doing great. And that seems to be the only key predictive indicator that he seems to care about. I think that this becomes a moment for the country to take an honest assessment of does this president actually care about you and care about your life and your future? And so I think there needs to be some very real adjustments, and frankly, not just in the presidency. I think it's even for members of Congress as well, about the way, about the restrictions that people need to have, about their resources, and how they're able to just make a ridiculous amount of money while sitting in public office.
- [09:01]
Jim Acosta
And that helps stock trading and that kind of thing.
- [09:03]
Governor Wes Moore
Exactly. Like, I mean, like, this is absurd and it's a grift and it's disgusting, and I think people are exhausted by it. And so I do think there need to be adjustments like what we did in Maryland to be able to prevent that from happening. That I think that there's lessons that need to be learned around the country.
- [09:18]
Donald Trump
Yeah.
- [09:18]
Jim Acosta
And I'm curious, you know, because Trump came up with this. You know, they tried to come up with this $1.8 billion weaponization fund, which, you know, even Republicans got pissed off about. But a part of that was this deal where he got shielded from future audits and prosecution, not only for himself, but for his family going forward. And I'm just do you not to throw you into the 2028 questions and all that stuff, but should the next president come along and say we're not going to abide by this, you know, if laws are broken, you know they're going to be investigations. How. What would be a good approach, do you think, for the next president to take when it comes to looking back at how, you know, this grift sort of went unchecked for four years?
- [09:59]
Governor Wes Moore
Well, I don't. First of all, I don't think it needs to wait till 2028. I think this needs to start now. I think self policing and people understanding that this is not that this grifting has got to stop, has got to start right now. And I think that, you know, if you're looking at states, I mean, perfect example, you know, one of the first executive orders that I signed when I became the governor was an anti corruption executive order where I put all of my in one of the things that we did was I put all of my assets in a blind trust. And also I signed legislation saying anyone who ever is the governor again of Maryland, they must put their assets in a blind trust because never should anyone question whether or not the decisions that you are making are benefiting you. Right. That we also we became the first state in the country that bans predictive market stock trading, you know, predictive market trading for, for state employees because there's no way the state employees can be working with insider information and then using public service as a get rich quick scheme. So do I think that this needs to be a very real not debate, this needs to be an action item immediately for 2028? Absolutely. But I also think this. Are you doing it now? Are you starting that process now? Are you showing us what right is supposed to look like? Because I think that's what people are paying attention to. Where, you know, I think 2028. The thing about 2028 is I want to see who's taking 2026 seriously and who's showing us that there's a difference between debate and deciding and folks need to be deciders right now.
- [11:22]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, no, people have had it up to here with this stuff. And I think this penetrate. I think this goes across party lines.
- [11:27]
Jack Cottrella
Agreed.
- [11:27]
Jim Acosta
People don't want to see folks just profiting off of being in office and I, you know, I tend to think that, you know, Trump seems to think he can talk his way out of this stuff. I, I think even his own, it's sort of like the Epstein files and some of these, it penetrates and people are, they look at this and they say, wait a minute, what? And so I think he's going to be dealing with this for some time now. And you know, but I want to talk about, you mentioned things that you've been doing, doing in Maryland. I thought this was really important as I was doing my homework on you, Governor. You put out an op ed, an editorial in Stat News, medical trade publication, very important news publication in health. And you talk about how to improve young men's mental health. This is such an important issue. We don't talk about this enough. I know there are folks out there like Scott Galloway and so when we talk about young men and their mental health and so on, we just don't do it enough. Why did you decide to write that?
- [12:18]
Governor Wes Moore
Well, you know, honestly, it was a way of highlighting what we've been doing now for the past three years. And, and it's, it's crucial because if you care about the long term growth and health of your society, you need to make sure that your young men are okay. And right now in our society, our young men are not. And I know this not just because of the data that's showing the level of suicide rates and the fact that, you know, that, that job growth and job attainment has not moved since the 1960s, but I know in my own life where, you know, I was, I was raised by an immigrant single mom. I had handcuffs on my wrist by the time I was 11 years old. You know, I watched my father die in front of me when I was three that I was sent away. I joined the military when I was 17 years old. I graduated from a two year college. I know that my journey wasn't the, you know, and it makes me in many ways the most improbable governor in this country. But I also know this is that with my mom, my mom was an angel, but there were just certain things about being a man that she could not teach me, that I needed men to help me to do that. It's the same way I feel about my daughter where I have an amazing 15 year old daughter. There's certain nuance about being a woman that I can't teach her. And so we've got to make sure that we are actually creating better pathways for our young men and boys in our society. I'm proud that Maryland has had some of the most aggressive, not just policies, but pushes towards doing this, that we've added more men into the classroom. We've cut our teacher vacancy rate in the state of Maryland by around 60%. Many of those are men and men of color who are getting inside of the classroom. That we've been able to focus on things like mentors and provide better supports and better understanding of the mental health challenges that our young men are facing. Because if you really want to help out everybody to include your young women and girls in society, make sure your young men and boys are okay. And that's something that we've been having a very real and unapologetic push for in the state of Maryland.
- [14:19]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, no question about it. And it reminds me of Barack Obama's, I think it was called My Brother's Keeper program that he had when he was in office. And it's so sorely needed in this country. We have so many young men who are kind of hooked on their phones and on apps and tick tock and every. They're sort of lost in this, this virtual world and they're not touching grass. They're not out there in their communities. They're, you know, not getting a part time job. I remember, you know, I grew up at the dmv. I worked at a video store. You know, in high school my mom, you know, she made me go work. I was raised by a single mom. She made me go work in her restaurant, you know, until two in the morning washing dishes one summer. I was like, shit, this is what real work is all about. That's what guys need. They need that.
- [15:02]
Governor Wes Moore
That's right. We feel and we need to have that, that sense of they know that we can be a provider, that we can be a protector, that there is a usefulness for us in society. And if we feel like there's no usefulness, then we will find ways for us to, and find ways for us to be able to put our attention and our focus in ways that in many cases are not just counterproductive but also are going to be dangerous. And so I want to make sure that we have the ability to be able to influence our young men and boys, that we've been ability to be able to show them that the world is bigger than what is just directly in front of them. Because I do believe in the old adage that, you know, our young men and boys, that they are, they are going to, they're going to learn. The question is, what are they learning and who's teaching them and that answer to those questions are really going to help to determine what, what type of contribution to society are they then going to be prepared to make.
- [15:58]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. No question about it. I don't have you forever. So we have to talk a little bit of football here. I know you're a big Ravens fan. I'm a big Redskins slash Commanders fan, grew up in the DC area and I'm just looking to the fall and both of these teams are looking good if the, if Jaden Daniels can stay healthy for the Commanders. But I just, you know, the Ravens, you know, they, they seem to get just to the point of the, the promised land and they just don't quite get there. What, what are your thoughts on this upcoming season?
- [16:27]
Governor Wes Moore
Listen, so I, I, I, I actually think the, the, the Ravens have the real, have a real opportunity to have a, a bounce back year here and I know I say that as like the eternal Ravens optimist.
- [16:39]
Jack Cottrella
Yeah.
- [16:39]
Governor Wes Moore
I think, I think getting rid of Harbaugh was actually the right move.
- [16:43]
Jack Cottrella
Yeah.
- [16:44]
Governor Wes Moore
And I, and I do, and listen, I have all respect for Harbaugh and frankly every coach in the NFL just about would dream of having a career like John Harbaugh for sure.
- [16:56]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [16:56]
Governor Wes Moore
But he was never going to get us over that hump. And we've got a good call it two to four years of a window with Lamar Jackson being, that's right, elite. And so we've got to win in that two to four years. I love the pickup of Jesse Mentor because what Mentor provides is he's not an offensive guy, but I, I think he's hired some good offensive people. He is a defensive mastermind and that's the thing. More importantly, I think the Ravens have lost over these years is that smash mouth intimidating defense. We've got schools, but we've lost intimidation factor. Minter will bring that back. And I think if you combine a really strong fundamental defensive core over an organization with an offense that still looks like a video game, I mean you got Zay Flowers, you got Lamar Jackson, you got, got Derrick Henry Isaiah likely, I mean like you've got, you've got and Mark Andrews. You have such a remarkable core at its base that I think we're going to be in good shape. You know, you guys, the Commander is going to be a little bit different. Keeping Jaden Daniels healthy is still a big, is still a big if. So we'll see how it goes.
- [18:01]
Jim Acosta
I will have to see. You know and I, I still think that there's a chance you could have a Battle of the beltways in the Super Bowl. But it's all about protecting Jaden Daniels. They got so close his rookie year. I mean, it's an incredible rookie year. I want to protect him in bubble WR at all times. I saw him at the World cup and I was like, who is protecting Jaden Daniels? He must be protected. Well, Governor, good luck with your speech. Really appreciate it. Happy 4th of July. All the best to your family. And thanks for coming on.
- [18:26]
Jack Cottrella
You too.
- [18:26]
Governor Wes Moore
God bless. Happy 4th.
- [18:28]
Jim Acosta
You too. Thanks, Governor. Thanks so much. Good to talk to you. It's Governor Westmore I didn't do. I sort of slid in a reference to 2028 because I thought, you know, I know he's, he's probably thinking about it, but I think he's got to be in that conversation and look at the work that he's doing in Maryland right now. He's, he's definite, got people talking about it. But listen, you know, one person I always like to check in with to talk about the political scene is my good buddy Jack Cottrella. He's. He's on the line with us. Jack, it's great to see you. I'm coming on your Sunday show on Midas Touch this weekend.
- [19:03]
Jack Cottrella
It's gonna be big.
- [19:04]
Jim Acosta
And as we often do in the content creation world, the independent media world, when somebody asks you, you then ask them because it's just, it's just easy to do. Like we're texting me, oh, wait, I'm coming on with you. Can you come on with. So that's. I did that to you. I hope that's okay.
- [19:16]
Jack Cottrella
I mean, it is fantastic. And one of my favorite parts of coming on your show is I think you were one of the only people who has ever always pronounced my last name correctly. It's because you've been in the business for so long. But I just, I come on and I don't have to worry about like the first bullets. I try name up a little bit. You nailed it perfectly.
- [19:34]
Jim Acosta
I try. You know what? And I have a name. You would think Acosta people wouldn't screw that up, but it gets screwed up all the time. And you know, I have some sympathy there. But. But Jack, I was just talking with Wes Moore and I have to say, I know you spoke with Governor Newsom for your show this weekend. I have to say Wesmore is a very talented politician and very interesting to listen to. And I think he's going to be a name that's going to be part of this conversation for 2028.
- [20:00]
Jack Cottrella
The first time that Governor Moore and I ever met, we were playing football. It was about a year ago. We were playing football out in Maryland for an interview that I wanted to shoot with him, and I've got now a great friend on his team. And we were just kind of first getting in contact because I was interested in speaking with Governor Moore. This was about as the same time as Donald Trump said that he might be sent into the National Guard into Baltimore. And I was like, I just, I wanna, I wanna talk to this guy because he kind of made a comment about, like, you can walk around Baltimore with me and I'll get you a golf cart in case you can't stand. I was like, okay, I like what's going on here. And. And I called them and we were kind of plotting out, figuring out what an interview would look like. And I was like, hey, I don't want to sound too, you know, too full of myself here, but, like, I'd really like to do this as just us playing football. Like, I'm not going to say I wouldn't sit down or wouldn't do it on Zoom, but, like, I really just like to do that. And they were completely on board. They're like, yeah, absolutely. He would love that. And then a week later, we were throwing the football around and run routes, and I don't know if you know this, but he has the, the highest yards after the catch, not just in the history of Johns Hopkins, but in the history of, of Division 3 football. So. Wow, he's quite the route runner. So I wasn't able to bring him down because he's about 60 more pounds of muscle than me.
- [21:13]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, I get the sense that he's jacked. I think I've only met him once in person. I get the sense that he's pretty and he's a huge football fan. So I love that. I love talking about football with him, but I, you know, he's, he's one to watch. I definitely think that that's the case. And I know. And, Jack, you and I were talking about this great American State Fair down in the mall, and we were just showing this to Governor Moore a few moments ago. It's, you know, you. I, I, I, I want to be patriotic and I love my country and I want to celebrate July for. I think this is from like a day or two ago when there were some people down, but there. Our friend Aaron Rupar put up another one this morning. It's just like, nobody is there. That was bad.
- [21:51]
Donald Trump
That.
- [21:52]
Jim Acosta
And it's July 3rd, it, it's, it's
- [21:55]
Jack Cottrella
just the, it's just the insistence on don't believe your lying eyes that, that just always, that just always backfires on them. Like, it, it is a very, a very Trumpian thing. And it's, it's kind of similar to all of their cover ups. Like, you think they would have learned the Streisand effect at this point. It's like you're putting goop on Donald Trump's hands. We're going to pay attention to it more. You say that, you know, he's 6 foot 6 to 15 and lean. It's like we're probably going to start asking questions about his height and weight. And you put Fox there to say that everything's going fine. Our friend Jessica Tarlov was down there and she's like, yeah, it's empty. She escaped.
- [22:33]
Jim Acosta
Thank goodness for her.
- [22:34]
Jack Cottrella
The look of the Fox producers. And she's like, it's pretty, it's pretty empty down here and way too hot. Yeah, I went for, I just went for a walk last night because I was like, I gotta get out of my house. I've been, I've been cooped up for too long. And I waited till like midnight to go out for a little walk slash run. And it was, it was disgusting, Adam. Like, this is, this is horrible for anyone who's going to be there. And it's part of this larger thing we're seeing this week with Trump's financial disclosure and the fair is that he just hates his supporters. There was a, there was a.
- [23:05]
Governor Wes Moore
So true.
- [23:05]
Jack Cottrella
And I think you might have saw this clip who, who was talking about how she had to get like, baptized.
- [23:10]
Jim Acosta
We played yesterday. Unreal. And she's like, I crawled. She saw, she was, she said she was seeing stars. And so she jumped in the baptism pool in this revival tent that they have down on the National Mall.
- [23:21]
Jack Cottrella
And it's like, you know, and then she was still wearing the MAGA hat and like he, he sent you to die in the heat so that the Fox, like the wide shot would look better, which is incre, like small shot. I was saying yesterday on my show, by the time we finish this thing up, the wide shot is going to be like, on one person that they've planted to wave and smile. It's going to be really tight. So it's just their insistence that everything is fine. And, you know, I think that is, that is so much of the problem with the Trump administration's messaging right now. You know, that was the Biden issue in 2020. Four with an economy that was coming around. Yes, there was the insistence that everything is fine, look at our traditional metrics, gdp. But of course, like things weren't fine. We just came out of an era, not that it was Joe Biden's fault, of huge inflation in the post Covid era. And things weren't great and people were suffering. It's why affordability was the issue that Donald Trump lied his way to the 2024 election victory on. And it's funny that this administration came to power criticizing a former administration, saying everything's fine and is now doing so even more, not just on this, but on everything. And I really think that that is their biggest problem because he is a literal, out of touch, not living in this reality, dementia patient. And so, yeah, it's really just not going to land with anyone. I love this chart. This chart is so great.
- [24:45]
Jim Acosta
These charts are insane. And God bless Steve Ratner for putting this stuff out there. But the way he has enriched himself literally on, on the backs of his own supporters is, is, it's unbelievable. I mean, it is believable when you think about Donald Trump. Yeah. But you know, Jack, the other thing too is, is that, you know, he, he is trying to bullshit his way out of, I think what has become this crypto scandal for him.
- [25:08]
Donald Trump
Yeah.
- [25:08]
Jim Acosta
And it's crypto gate, you know, I think we need to have investigations into how he enriched himself. Oh yeah. Whether or not he pumped and dumped his, his supporters and screwed them out of all this money like, like a two bit televangelist. But he went on CNBC to try to explain himself and he said, he even admits at one point that his kids have had access to inside information. We should play this clip because it is, it's one of those moments where, you know, he's usually so full of that he, you can't get him to break character. But he sort of admits it here that the kids have had inside information.
- [25:41]
Donald Trump
Because every time my kids do, if they invest in a stock or if they go and do a bill, anything they do, because the presidency is so powerful, so big, everything, if they buy a cupcake company, well, the energy to make the cupcakes is cupcakes. Sort of like, how's my energy policy? So that we have a conflict. Almost anything they do, if they want to buy a truck, if they want to buy, you know, they buy an energy efficient truck, they have inside information. So it's pretty tough in that sense. I tell my kids, stay away from as much as you can stay away from. But they also have a life, you know.
- [26:24]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. I mean, Jack Trump, I'm old enough to remember when Trump would go after the quote, unquote, Biden crime family.
- [26:30]
Jack Cottrella
Yes.
- [26:31]
Jim Acosta
And there he is admitting his kids have inside information. And that's not his kids, his adult sons.
- [26:37]
Jack Cottrella
Thank you. I cannot believe we, especially on the heels of it was a week ago that there was a false report to Child Protective Services about Pete Buttigieg and his actual, like, almost infant children. And now the media is still calling these adults who are committing their own financial crimes daily kids. They're not his kids. I also love the defense that has been offered up by this White House around stocks, traded, business deals, all of it. Because they're like, well, it's not. J.D. vance is my favorite. He's like, well, it's not Trump who's doing it. He's not like, on his Schwab account. I'm like, you understand that's worse, right? If there's a coordinated, large scale effort of multiple people with inside information who are manipulating the markets via the presidency because Donald Trump is a puppet for a bunch of different business interests. Like, you understand, that's worse. It would be one thing if he was just on his phone like, okay, going to buy some Palantir. Wait five minutes, go buy Palantir. Like, yes, that would be bad. That would be prosecutable. This would be impeachable, all of it. But the fact that there is a whole apparatus around it and that they admit that and that they think it's better is. Is wild to me. That they're like, well, no, it's. It is. It is actually fine because we're allowing lots of people to engage in the corruption. It's like, no, no, no, that makes it worse. If you're telling me that you have literally organized the crime syndicate in the White House, that is a bigger problem than if it was just, you know, Donald Trump and his brokerage account having fun.
- [28:11]
Jim Acosta
That's right. No, and I. And this was an NBC News tweet that came out and the story that came out, I think in the last 24 hours, investment accounts owned by Trump engaged in more than 300 previously undisclosed stock purchases on April 8, 2025, one day before his surprise announcement that he would pause a number of his tariffs. His financial disclosure report says. And so, Jack, there's also reporting that there were these suspicious, sketchy stock trades that were going on around the time he was making decisions on things like his tariff policy. And you know, to me there, there it sounds like There's a scandal here. Where there's smoke, there's fire. And last summer, I remember, you know, they tried to pull the wool over our eyes with the Epstein memo and said, oh, there's nothing to see here with the Epstein memo. We're just going to move on with our lives. I think that this financial disclosure form is the beginning of a scandal for Donald Trump that could consume the rest of this midterm election cycle. We need an investigation into all of
- [29:11]
Jack Cottrella
this, especially because if it's a Trump financial disclosure, like, I put that in quotes, because how much are they disclosing?
- [29:20]
Donald Trump
Right.
- [29:21]
Jack Cottrella
Like, I don't. I don't think that they're. I don't think that they're disclosing much. I made a video about the $10.4 million that Melania made.
- [29:28]
Jim Acosta
Yes.
- [29:29]
Jack Cottrella
Amazon movie, too. That I don't. I don't think, you know, made a pro. It didn't make a profit. I think that's more than, like, Michael B. Jordan Got Paid for Sinners an Oscar for that. So that. That's crazy. But I thought what was so damning, and you're right, there needs to be an investigation. And that's why what I thought was so damning about the. The interview with Kernan was that midway through and I talked about this clip on my show, Trump looks at his staff and he goes, no, no, no, it's fine. Let's keep going. Let's go a little longer. We can continue this interview. Don't. Stop it. I just want to say this because he's my friend. This guy is my friend. He's helping me out. He's doing me a favor with this interview. The setups were all softballs. He was so tepid and timid. It was. It was just, you know, Mr. Trump, you know, people kind of maybe think that it's not good what you're doing. I'm not saying that, but maybe.
- [30:21]
Governor Wes Moore
And it's.
- [30:22]
Jack Cottrella
Yeah, these people are brought in. It was like the Barry Weiss pick who you want to interview.
- [30:27]
Jim Acosta
It's really what it is. Yeah. And he loves Joe Kernan. It's so true. And you watch Joe Kernan on cnbc, it is like watching Fox Business. I mean, I don't know how Andrew Ross Sorkin keeps it together, because sometimes he hasn't. I know, I know. And the other thing, too, is, you know, about the Suns. You know, as. For as much as Trump is, you know, trying to get away with, you know, crimes probably being committed here with all the crypto stuff, he continues to say these batshit crazy things that I think also get undercovered and that, I mean, they really do reveal somebody who is in cognitive decline, somebody who's just like, not making sense anymore. There was this really bizarre moment when he went to the Teddy Roosevelt Museum out in out west this week, and he's talking about his sons and he mentions a threesome. I don't know if I'm sure you saw.
- [31:22]
Jack Cottrella
I did see this. I saw. I saw threesome gate.
- [31:24]
Jim Acosta
Can we play this?
- [31:26]
Donald Trump
Because I just received incredible acknowledgment. Except for Arthur and Douglas MacArthur. Arthur was his son. Douglas MacArthur, great general. They're the only father and son pair to receive our nation's highest military award for courage above and beyond the call of duty. Now, as I see my two beautiful sons sitting there, I think I'm going to give one to myself, one to them, and we'll have a threesome. Okay. Yeah, I'll pick out one of the two. I'll give them the Congressional Medal of Honor for something for their genius at hunting. And I'll get one for taking on Russia, Russia, Russia or something. And we'll have a third pair now. I'm only kidding.
- [32:19]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, I mean, the. The other. The cre. There's a creepy threesome aspect of this that, you know, obviously you could parse psychologically, but also there's just an incoherence. There's a line of incoherence there and babbling that I think should be astonishing to people. But now it just. People are just accustomed to it now.
- [32:38]
Jack Cottrella
My first thing on this was I love that Trump hates his kids so much and is so detached from their lives that he's like, well, quite frankly, the thing that they're genius at is shooting animals that are probably just standing still because they're not like hunting in the wild. Like, they're going out on all the. All the photos of them, like shooting, you know, rhino or elephants or like giraffes or something horrible. Whatever Don Jr. Does, it's like, this doesn't take a lot of technical skill to go out on a safari, you know, like with your. With your nice, well paid for, you know, multimillion dollar safari and like, and find animals that you can just point at from up close because probably they sedate them like that. If that's the one skill that your kids have, it's like, hey, no wonder Trump doesn't like them. I think that the Trump talking about sex stuff is kind of interesting in this context, as it always is. I. Because he is surely impotent Right. Like, he's not. It's not working anymore. All the Natalie Harp. All the Natalie Harp reporting has. Has just gotten me thinking. There's no way that there's still anything happening. Like, he talks about it a lot less. He's. He's mostly talking about men when he's bringing up sex at this point. Like, it's a lot.
- [33:49]
Jim Acosta
There's a lot of male ogling that seems.
- [33:54]
Jack Cottrella
A lot of male leg ogling.
- [33:55]
Jim Acosta
He loves legs. A lot of sweaty, big, sweaty dudes at UFC matches that he seems to be enamored with these days. But, I mean, when you. I don't even like to think about the words Trump and threesome in the same sentence. I mean, just one some is nauseating.
- [34:14]
Jack Cottrella
I don't want to know what the ones.
- [34:15]
Jim Acosta
I don't even want to know about the ones. Definitely not a twosome. And please, dear God, don't mention a threesome. We're mentioning all three of them there. But. No, you're absolutely right. And, you know, I just. There's something that I. But there's also. There's sort of like a screw loose to a point now where he's just saying stuff out loud. There's nobody around to tell him. Yeah, he's just letting it rip.
- [34:38]
Donald Trump
Yeah.
- [34:38]
Jim Acosta
My kids have inside information. The thought of a threesome just crossed my mind. So I'm gonna say this out loud at the Teddy Roosevelt Museum.
- [34:46]
Jack Cottrella
He doesn't. He doesn't care because there's no reason to. You know, this is the thing that I have been. I have been positing about the. About the. The quote, unquote, Save America act over the past couple of weeks is that he surely does not think this will pass. I don't even think he necessarily cares. Trump has no interest in winning the midterms or having political success because he's got to steal the midterms. Right. And they're just figuring out how they can do that. And so he is completely checked out of the idea. Not that Donald Trump ever had much of a filter, but he went from a low filter guy to a no filter guy. There's no inhibitions in Trump. Like, this is clearly the signs of cognitive decline. But he doesn't care about the political reality because he's not after a better political reality. They got to steal the thing. And if they were cruising to a victory, he wouldn't be able to. Right. They have to test it out. And I think that's the reason that he's talking about the Save America Act. So much is because he wants to be able to, in the hours and days and weeks after the election, say, if only I had had this thing. They stood in the way. This is the big problem. This is why we gotta carry out next Y and Z, you know, taking in ballots, looking at whatever, you know, court filings, all of it. And so I think he has just largely given up on saying anything coherent because. Because he just doesn't care. So there's not. There's nothing stopping him, which is, again, as we both talked about, the tremendous national security worry. He just blurts out, they don't keep him in meetings. I'm sure he's not a part of any real negotiation. He just can't trust the guy.
- [36:27]
Governor Wes Moore
And that's.
- [36:28]
Jack Cottrella
And you can't have that as president. I know you can't have Trump, but, like, you can't have that. It's, it's.
- [36:34]
Jim Acosta
I, I totally agree with you. No, and I think we're heading into a period of crisis for our democracy with this midterm cycle that's coming up. I think you're absolutely right about that. I think the way he's talking about the Save America act with this, like, air of desperation, he's so desperate to get some sort of legislation passed that will rig and fix the election for him and the Republicans, that he talks about it all the time, he's holding up legislation, he rants about it whenever he gets the chance. And it makes me think about how desperate they're going to get between now and November. I really think that there's a possibility. I mean, they still have Maduro behind bars, that they're going to trot out Maduro. And Maduro is going to say, yes, actually, Venezuela was involved with some sort of kooky ballot thing. And he's going to say that in exchange for, you know, a lighter sentence. I mean, I just would not be surprised the kind of bullshit that they're going to try to pull between now and November. I'm worried about it.
- [37:29]
Jack Cottrella
It's why they're keeping Pulte. And I had. I had Senator Mark Warner, who's on the Intelligence Committee, on my Sunday show about two weeks ago, and I asked him about Pulte, like, what is it that you're worried about? And he was just kind of. Well, you know, there's larger problems. This guy is obviously, you know, not a legitimate. Not a legitimate person. He's not a serious person. There'd be worries that, you know, other countries wouldn't share intelligence with us, but I really wanted to drill down. I was like, well, what are you specifically worried about? Because there is a specific worry with regards to our elections. And he just said, you know, what I think might happen is that day of, or day before, you know, Pulte will say that there's some threat or there's some tampering, or there's some intelligence that we can't share, or, you know, maybe there's going to be a bomb threat, I don't know. But he'll make an announcement like that. He'll use his position of authority to do so. It'll keep people from the polls. It'll give Trump the pretext to say, well, we can't even deal with this, we got to throw it all out. I don't know something to that extent. But that's why, that's why they're so worried, because he is speaking from authority and there is, to a degree, some trust in government when warning about threats. So Warner's now assembled a team of current informer intelligence higher ups to be able to respond and just say, no, what he's saying is not true. But that is just the terrifying threat as well, that there's just so many layers of what they want to do. Ice at the polls, lies about threats, you know, ballots trying to throw them out, taking voter rolls, trying to just keep people from voting in whatever way possible. That's what's so scary, is that there are so many levels.
- [39:04]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, no, there's no question about it. And I mean, that to me is the million dollar question heading into the fall. And I think you're so right to bring up these concerns with somebody like a Mark Warner, because he's been on this case. I mean, they, they, he was there when they were investigating whether the Russians and concluded that the Russians were meddling in the 2016 election on Donald Trump's behalf, something that Marco Rubio signed on to when he was on the Intelligence Committee, too. And so they know that this kind of stuff goes on and, you know, Trump wants to be able to trot out this excuse as to why. And I really, I fully think that, you know, they are, they are preparing for this, you know, 24 car pileup during the midterms where they can say, look, we can't really trust what took place in this district or that state, and so we can't seat a new Congress. I mean, and then they delay seating a Congress and it gets tied up in the courts. I think that that's a scenario that we should, that election officials should be Prepared for that state officials should be prepared for, you know, that they are gonna, he's gonna try to manufacture a constitutional crisis to avoid the accountability that's. That's coming.
- [40:14]
Jack Cottrella
But it's enough for Trump to just cause a scene, right? Yeah. If we can just show a little doubt, Ryan.
- [40:21]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [40:21]
Jack Cottrella
And especially when he's still going to be there for two more years, unfortunately. Or maybe not. See what happens. The health's not great, but it's the, we're here for two more years. Let's see what we can do and let's see how that can set us up for two years from now. That's right. You don't build an underground bunker if you're thinking of leaving. It's just not what happens.
- [40:42]
Jim Acosta
Yes. And for folks who think, oh, J.D. vance, you know, might tack back to a more establishment posture if he gets in there as president, I don't buy that at all. He trots out this bullshit about election, you know, integrity and whatnot, and it's a total, it's a scam. But, Jack, I'm glad I'm gonna be on the show with you this Sunday. Make sure everybody tunes in. When's it gonna be on? It's on the Midas Touch channel, boys, on noon.
- [41:09]
Jack Cottrella
Starts at noon on Sundays.
- [41:11]
Jim Acosta
Very cool. Awesome. Well, Jack, congrats to you on that and happy to come on anytime. Thanks for coming on today and thank
- [41:17]
Jack Cottrella
you for your work out there in the field dealing with the 107 degree weather and the cultist, but at least you got some melted ice cream.
- [41:24]
Jim Acosta
So it was, you got to do it. You know, we, we all have to make our sacrifices, but. All right, my man, good to see you. Thanks, Jack. Appreciate it. Thanks. And I do want to go back to, you know, this, this idea that we all need to play it safe on this July 4th. You know, it's going to be hot as hell out there. I mean, which, maybe we should show this graphic one more time that DC May be one of the hottest places on earth on this July 3rd, heading into July 4th, places hotter than D.C. on Friday, that's the Sahara Desert. And much of the Middle east that is, you know, basically comprised of desert, Saudi Arabia and so on. I mean, these are the hottest places on the planet that are, that are hotter than Washington, D.C. right now. And, you know, as the old John McCain expression goes, you know, it's, it's hard to do the Lord's work in the city of the Devil. And maybe that's what we're going to be seeing unfold over the next 48 hours is that this is literally going to be transformed into that kind of place. But it is, it is going to be so damn hot down on the National Mall that I'm, I am very concerned about people actually going to go down there and try to take in the fireworks. Some 85,000 rounds of fireworks are going to be fired off. Apparently. It's, it's just really insane. And it's going to be way more than what we typically see during a Fourth of July celebration. Apparently they put out air quality alerts that people, the pollution might be so bad that there's, there's some health officials recommending that folks wear masks. The Washington Post was reporting on this down on the National Mall. But, you know, long story short, what folks need to do is just play cool, play it safe, maybe make yourself a cocktail. Heading into this July 4th, and we noticed that there are some folks who are making their own reflecting pool cocktails. They're putting the recipes on Instagram. Look at, there's one right there. We can't really play the audio here because there might be some music involved, but this guy is making a reflecting pool cocktail. Look at this. And I've seen several of these online where people, he's cutting up the blue paint to put in the reflecting pool cocktail. But at least you know what, people are able to laugh. People are able to laugh, have a good time with some of this stuff and not get too crazy in the head or crazy in the heat, as it were. But, you know, maybe I'll make one of these. This looks pretty damn delicious, I have to say. Drinks by Wild. I think if you find him on Instagram, give him a follow guy looks like he knows what he's doing, but that looks pretty damn tasty. I'm have to make one of those for myself this weekend. But I do want to say just before I go as we head into this fourth of July weekend. And I was talking about this with, and I promise I won't go on too long here. I talked about this with Norm Eisen on his Coffee with the Contrarians program on Thursday. And always enjoy talking with my friend, democracy warrior Norm Eisen. You know, but we were talking about what Americans can do heading into this 250th birthday for our country. And I know that there are some folks who are down in the dumps and a little glum about the fact that Donald Trump, of all people, is the president. United States. We're celebrating this important milestone for our country. We need to make sure that it's not a bookend, that 250 years is not a bookend, but a milestone for America. And, you know, what I was saying to Norm, and I'll repeat it here, is that there are some folks who are going to get out there and organize and they're going to fight like hell and, you know, tell the truth about what's going on in this country. That's what I try to do each and every day. As Harry Truman used to say, you know, I don't give them hell. I tell the truth, and they think it's hell. You know, we all do our part. We all are playing our role in trying to preserve and protect this wonderful democratic experiment here in America. But, you know, at the very least, if I may issue this call heading into July 4th weekend, just make this commitment, make this pledge, if you can, just think about this, kick it around over the weekend and maybe hold onto this thought as we celebrate this important milestone for our country, that at the very least, that you can do as an American in this moment, if you are depressed, if you are concerned, if you are worried, if you are wracked with grief and despondent about where we are as a country right now, all I ask, all I really want you to do in this moment is to try to outlast, Outlast what we are dealing with, what we are living with, what we're grappling with as a country right now. I know that it sucks in many ways. You have a president of the United States who is laughing all the way to the bank, taking this country for a ride, taking his supporters for a ride, turning the White House into a whorehouse. There's no question about it. He's.
- [46:17]
Donald Trump
He's.
- [46:18]
Jim Acosta
He is milking every cow in sight. There's. There's just no doubt about that. But one thing that you can do, and it does involve a little bit of effort on everybody's part, is just outlast this moment, to just hang in there, to just hold on to the possibility that we're going to get through this. And, you know, and listen, I know we should be doing much more than this. There are some really amazing people out there, people that, like, indivisible. I've been, you know, I've been so inspired by the no Kings rallies. You know, we've covered three or four of them so far on this show. And. And I've been so inspired by the people who show up at those things, because to me, that's the American spirit. That's what we need to recapture in this country, and we are recapturing it.
- [47:07]
Governor Wes Moore
We are.
- [47:07]
Jim Acosta
That is, we. That that spirit is, is moving us to action in this country, and I am so grateful for that. But even if you can't make it out to a march and you can't make it out to a speech and you can't organize and mobilize and get your friends out to vote, you should be doing all of those things. By the way, you should be doing all of those things this fall. Grab five of your friends and say, I know you don't normally vote, but you are of legal age. Are you registered to vote? Well, God damn it, let's go down there and get you registered to vote. All of those things, yes, we should all be doing right now. But even if you can't do that, even if you can't do those things, you need to at least take this into consideration that you do, at the very least, have the ability to outlast this moment. And that's all I'm going to challenge you to do on this Fourth of July weekend, is spend a few moments thinking about whether you need a mental reset, whether we all need a reset in the way we think about things and look at things in this country that we can outlast this. At the very least, we could just get through the next two years of our lives and get to the other side of this. And I think we could do it. And that's all I'm going to do. I'm not issuing a major challenge. I'm not issuing a call to action any more serious than that. I may do that later on, and I probably will. But at this very bleak moment, and I understand it's bleak and it doesn't feel good, all I ask at this point, and my challenge to all of you is just ask yourselves, can I outlast this moment? And I think we all can. Happy July 4th, everybody. I want to thank my team for all the great work that they do each and every day. We're going to be debuting a new newsletter, Morning News Update, probably sometime in the middle of the next week or into the next week after that. But over the next couple of weeks, we're going to be debuting all of this stuff, some new features of this show and, and this independent media venture that we're on right now, the great Tommy Christopher from formerly for Mediaite, he's coming over to help us get this going. It's going to be an exciting time for what we do here. So we're excited about that. And we also thank all the independent subscribers who are out there who, people who help us each and every day by liking and sharing and subscribing. We just passed 300,000 subscribers on YouTube. We haven't, you know, hitched our wagon to any other folks out there that, you know, that get people's YouTube numbers up. We've been doing this on our own, sort of organically and it's, it's starting to pay off, which is great. Our substack community has been absolutely terrific. We're so grateful for them. People who listen on Apple, all the other places, if you watch it on X occasionally we put the show on X to tease people and get them to come over here and watch us on our, on our main platforms and just want to thank everybody because that is, it's also an act of patriotism. Supporting independent. We're supposed to be declaring our independence, are we not, right now? And a great way to do that is to support independent media. Declare your independence from the corporate media types who haven't been exactly having a bright shining moment in all of this independent media. Subscribe as yes, as the Chiron says, you know you want to, you know you want to just hit the subscribe button. Makes a huge difference to all of us and helps to support the work that we do each and every day. But in the meantime, Happy July 4th, everybody. Happy Independence Day. Happy birthday, America. 250 years. Let's, let's do another 250. I think we can get there. It's going to take a lot of work, but we're going to have to outlast this moment at the very, very least. But in the meantime, still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. I'll see you next time.