Jim Acosta (0:11)

So that's connecting. Hey, everybody. Welcome. I just want to give everybody a few moments to roll in. We have people rolling in as we speak, so let's give people a few moments to get ready. I just gave my dog Duke a couple of treats. He's waiting outside. So if you hear a couple of squeaks from him, it's because he wants to come in and play with his toys. But that's not the point of why I'm joining you live right now. The point of joining you live right now is to do the news, basically. So welcome to the show. This is evolving. I want to give everybody a sense as to what is going on out in the world, what's happening in the news, what's happening in politics here in D.C. to give you a sense of what the big stories of the day are, and there might be a little bit of analysis at the end, I might give you a couple of observations at the end. And in the meantime, of course, as you're tuning in right now, all of you can chat and offer your comments as we're doing this, we're doing this together, which is the great part of this. And I do want to point out I am working on bringing you some additional guests, additional content as this thing develops. So, you know, stick, stick with me. This is a process and enjoying just getting started with you. And so I think the point of what I wanted to do here in the next couple of minutes, just give you a sense as to what the news is. This was a huge news day. There's a ton going on. So you'll forgive the reading glasses if I put these on for a few moments and tell you about what's happening. The Trump tariffs, obviously, the big story of the day. One of the big stories of the day. We did hear earlier on this morning that Trump has delayed tariffs on Mexico, on products coming in from Mexico. But as you've been seeing in the news throughout the day, the threat of tariffs on products coming in from China and Canada, those are still very much in play. Trump was reportedly on the phone with the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau just a short while ago. We are waiting to see what exactly was said during that phone call. Usually, the White House puts out a readout of what takes place on that phone call. And as I've experienced covering the White House, the White House will put out its readout, the prime minister's office will put out his readout. And so it'll be interesting to see exactly what that dialogue was like. But the New York Times, we should note says, you know, Canada is already talking about retaliatory tariffs. Canada has released a list of hundreds of American products from liquor to dishwashers that would face 25% tariffs starting on Tuesday. That's what Trump wants these tariffs on Canada and China to go into effect. We should note the stock market was obviously affected, impacted by Trump's threat of tariffs. The stocks on the Dow fell earlier this this morning, but they have since recovered since Trump announced that he is going to put a pause on those tariffs on Mexican products. Obviously, the reaction was coming in fast and furious. The Wall Street Journal had called Trump's plans, quote, the dumbest trade war in history. That is a quote from the Wall Street Journal. The Journal going on and saying that Trump's justification for this economic assault on America's neighbors, quote, makes no sense. That from the Wall Street Journal. CNBC's Jim Cramer said earlier today on that network that Trump's tariffs have made China a, quote, very big winner. And so some of the reactions there on Wall street to all of that. I'll have a couple of thoughts, a couple of comments on Trump's terror threats after I get through some of the other top stories of the day. The other headline that I put out there that I'm thinking about, you know, describing it as is what the Musk in terms of what is taking place here in Washington. New York Times reporting that the secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has told reporters that he has taken over as acting administrator of the U.S. agency for International Development. Obviously, all of this stemming from Elon Musk announcing that usaid, which is a very important agency of the federal government responsible for distributing foreign aid to countries across the world. Musk says now that that agency has been shut down as a result of what they want to do as part of the Department of Government Efficiency. Marco Rubio telling reporters earlier this afternoon that he has taken over essentially, usaid. Something very interesting that we saw over at USAID earlier today in Washington. Employees of that agency were trying to get inside the building. They were not allowed to do so in some cases. And that Democratic lawmakers Don Buyer, Chris Van Holle and Jamie Raskin, they said earlier today that they asked to enter USAID headquarters, according to the New York Times, but were denied under the order from Elon Musk to keep the offices closed. So, of course, raising the question, who elected Elon Musk? He doesn't hold a cabinet position. He hasn't been confirmed in any kind of cabinet position. But yet already, so far, he appears to wield tremendous authority over this federal government. Over at the. And it's not just USAID over at the Office of Personnel Management. Reuters reporting this afternoon that aides to Elon Musk charged with running the U.S. government Human resources Agency have locked career civil servants. This is according to Reuters, out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees. According, that's according to two agency officials that spoke with Reuters on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. Of course, this comes as Musk is throwing his weight around over at the Treasury Department. The Hill reporting that Senator Elizabeth Ward has sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant earlier today demanding answers as to what, if any, access Elon Musk was given to the federal payment system. The Hill says that Elizabeth Warren, Senator Warren wants to know what safeguards have been implemented to protect Americans private data and prevent abuses. That being reported by the Hill, of course, over the weekend it was reported that Elon Musk and some of his aides with Dogecoin wanted to have access to the federal payment system. That is, that comes out of the Treasury Department. Of course, that is a very sensitive payment system. And you know, again, raising the question, as I put it earlier, what the Musk, who put Elon Musk in charge of all of this? Donald Trump. And so, you know, my question for the White House briefing the next time they have one, my question for the White House press secretary is under what authority does Elon Musk have? What authority was he given to have this kind of influence, to wield this kind of control over various branches of the federal government? My suspicion is, is that the White House press secretary will say, well, President Trump has given Elon Musk that authority. Okay, well then that makes the president responsible for what Elon Musk does with these various agencies. And I do want to touch on that in just a moment. But one other headline that I want to tell you about, a heartbreak at the Potomac. The Washington Post reporting earlier this morning, crews used a crane to lift the first pieces of wreckage from the American Airlines regional jet that crashed into the Potomac river as rescue workers sought to recover the last of the 67 bodies from the crash site near Ronald Reagan National Airport. The Post going on to report that According to investigators, 11 more bodies were recovered over the weekend, bringing to 55 the total number of victims found so far. 60 passengers and four crew members were on board American Eagle Flight 5342. Three soldiers on that Blackhawk helicopter that collided with the jet, they also died. The National Transportation Safety Board still investigating the cause of that crash, of course, that heartbreaking tragedy that happened last week. Investigators with the federal government still trying to get to the bottom of what took place in that crash. And this also highlights another question that we're going to get into on this program, not just today, but in the days to come. And that is with Donald Trump, with Elon Musk saying they essentially want to go after the federal government with a meet Act. You have to remember there are aspects of our federal government, there are important functions of our federal government where there are key people working in very important jobs. Take, for example, the National Transportation Safety Board. You know, we throw out these agency names, these officials and so on, but they, they serve a very important purpose. And the National Transportation Safety Board is obviously one of the most important functions of the federal government. And imagine being a federal worker right now in Washington, D.C. when over at USAID, the offices have been closed. You've been locked out of your office. Federal lawmakers can't get into the building. Over at opm, the Office of Personnel Management. You have people directed by Elon Musk to go in there to get access to the federal database over at the Office of Personnel Management. And over at the Treasury Department, as I said earlier, they're also feeling the effects of Elon Musk. Now, the story that caught my eye over the weekend that I did want to tell you about, and I hope you'll chat about this as well. I hope you'll talk about this with your friends and neighbors about this as well. This being reported by CBS2 in Chicago. My old station in Chicago got to give a shout out to my old station in Chicago reporting that the governor of Illinois, J.B. pritzker, is calling on his administration to block people pardoned by Donald Trump for their involvement in the January 6th attack on the US Capitol from being considered for state government jobs. In a letter addressed to the director of the Department of Central Management Services, Pritzker says those who participated in in those attacks at the Capitol violated the state's personnel code. Pritzker saying in that letter, and this is a quote from him, I hereby direct CMS to apply the state personnel code and consider any participation in the January 6 insurrection as infamous and disgraceful conduct that is antithetical to the mission of the state. That is from the governor, J.B. pritzker of Illinois. Why do I bring that up? And let me just take a sip for a moment and talking about 10 minutes straight here. Got my Duke bug right here. Gonna take a quick sip. Why Do I bring this up? I bring this up because one of the questions that people have been asking since the election, during the period of transition between the Biden presidency and the second Trump presidency, you know what, what are the Democrats doing? Are they going to get off the mat? Are they going to start fighting? Are they going to start saying, you know, we're going to start drawing some lines here to keep the president from thinking he can just do whatever he wants. For example, he comes into office and pardons the January 6th rioters and insurrectionists right off the bat when he could have come into office and obviously done something very different, extended an olive branch to Americans and said, I condemn what took place on January 6th. I admit that Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Obviously, Donald Trump didn't do those things. Instead, he pardoned all of those people. So what are Democrats to do? Democrats obviously could say, you know what? He won the election. We really don't know what to do at this point. We don't know how to respond to what he's up to. Or you can start doing things to draw lines, to say this far, Mr. President, and no farther. And I think what you could argue that Governor Pritzker did in Illinois is say, hang on a second, you can go ahead and pardon all of these people who did these horrendous crimes on January 6, but when it comes to the state of Illinois, the governor there, J.B. pritzker, saying, no, sir, you can pardon these people, but they are not going to work in this government in the state of Illinois. And I think Democrats are probably right now looking at JB Pritzker as somebody who has, who has found a way to show people in the party that, yes, you can take a stand, you can draw up red lines and say, this far and no farther, Donald Trump. And so those are some of the headlines that I'm looking at this afternoon. Obviously, there's a lot more in the news right now. But, you know, getting back to those Trump tariffs, you know, one of the things that is very interesting about all of this, and, you know, I'm just going to pause for a moment and say, here's some analysis, here's some observation here. When I covered the first Trump administration, one of the very interesting things to watch when it comes to Donald Trump, his body language, how he responds to things, is what happens at the stock market, what happens on Wall street, what happens with the Dow. If Donald Trump has any suspicion whatsoever that one of his policies, one of his directives, one of the things he's going to do is going to have any kind of effect, negative effect, big time negative effect on Wall Street. He is going to think twice about doing that. And so I think it's no mistake that earlier this morning when you saw the Dow futures were coming in, they were showing that there were going to be big losses down on Wall Street. And then the stock market opened up and the Dow was down almost 700 points. One has to think, because I covered him the first time around and he behaves in this manner. He and his advisors were looking at what was taking place on Wall street and saying, hold on a second, maybe we're going a little too fast with these tariffs. And then lo and behold, we find out he's hitting the pause button on those tariffs on Mexico. Now, yes, he did talk to President Sheinbaum of Mexico. They appear to be working out some kind of agreement. That's why Trump is hitting the pause button on those tariffs. But I think it is important to note when you're watching Donald Trump watch what's happening at the stock market, we saw this when it took place on his watch when it came to how he managed Covid, he would vacillate, he would move back and forth. He would, he would move around in ways that made it fairly obvious, I think, to those who covered the administration that when things were happening on Wall street in a negative way, they got his attention and sometimes affected the policy. And that is why I think you're seeing right now stock market clawing back some of those losses, the losses on Wall street not as bad as they looked earlier this morning. The other thing to keep in mind, and this has to do with what's happening in the federal government, as I put it under the headline, what the musk? You know, my observation in covering Donald Trump the first time around is that, you know, he's not exactly sure what's happening at all of these federal agencies, at all of these departments of the federal government. He does a lot of delegating and he expects the people to carry out these orders to essentially, you know, take the blame, take the fall if something happens on their watch. As we saw during the first Trump administration, there were several administration officials who were fired by tweet. Donald Trump is the king when it comes to passing the buck. At times. He's not Harry Truman, where the buck stops here. In many ways, the sign on his desk says the buck is passed here. And so don't be surprised if you see Trump starting to say, wait a minute, hold on a second. Some of the things that are happening at these agencies I'm not so sure about. Maybe we don't let Elon Musk do all of these things. Of course, we're going to have to wait and see how all this plays out. The one final thing I'll say about all of this, one final thing I'll say about all this, and I think it's important to keep this in mind, is remember what we were covering during the 2024 campaign, Project 2025. We covered it time and again throughout the 2024 campaign. And what did Donald Trump say out on the campaign trail with respect to Project 2025? He said, oh, I have no idea what that is. I have nothing to do with Project 2025. And yet time and again we were pointing out that, yes, he knew exactly what Project 2025 was. There were people who worked in the first Trump administration who drafted Project 2025 for the Heritage Foundation. And now what we're seeing being implemented by Elon Musk, by Doge, the so called shock and awe campaign that you're seeing right now is you are seeing essentially Project 2025 in action. If you go and look at Project 2025, it states very clearly that one of the goals is to wreak havoc in the federal workforce, to clear out the federal workforce of people that they see as deep state operatives, people who are not beholden to Donald Trump, and replace many of those federal employees with political loyalists. Of course, if you do that, you're going to end up, and I've already heard this anecdotally from, from folks here in Washington who work at various agencies. You're going to, you're going to end up with a brain drain. You're going to end up with a lot of people say, for example, at the FBI where they're already hearing about a campaign of retribution at the FBI, inside the Justice Department, you're already hearing about a campaign of retribution at the Justice Department. You're starting to see what's taking place at usaid, over at opm, inside the Treasury Department. What you hear from people inside the federal government here in Washington is that you may end up seeing lots of good, well intentioned, solid, professional people who work for the federal government leaving the government because they just don't want to deal with this anymore. They don't want to be a part of this chaotic circus that Trump has unleashed here in Washington. And they certainly don't want to work for somebody like Elon Musk, who, as we were saying earlier, has no what is his job, who voted for him. He hasn't been confirmed by the Cabinet or by the Senate to be a part of the Cabinet, and yet he's been given all of this latitude. And so I think some key questions have been asked as to what is going to take place moving forward with what Elon Musk is doing inside the Trump administration. And I think a lot of those questions have to be aimed at squarely at President Trump. I think the question has to be asked of President Trump, are you willing to take responsibility for what Elon Musk does in these respective agencies? If somehow there's a data leak because people at DOGE were given access to this very sensitive information, will you take responsibility for that, Mr. President? Those are the questions that I think need to be asked. And so I've been going here for about 19, 20 minutes now, and Duke did not manage to interrupt one time. Perhaps you heard a couple of whimpers there in the background. But this is the first step. This is the first show. There are gonna be lots of things coming down the pike. We're gonna try to incorporate some guests as we get going here. Of course, I'm seeing your chat comments, entries as we speak, and really loving this. Right now. It's one person who just put up on screen, deport Musk. Now, I don't know if we're there just yet. I'm not sure that's who Donald Trump has in mind when it comes to mass deportations. I don't think he's talking about Elon Musk. But listen, I'm glad you tuned in. I'm glad you watched. I'm glad you. I've been off for a few days, so perhaps I'm a little rusty. But we're going to do this together, and I'm going to take your input, your insights, your thoughts, incorporate it into what we do here and wait. Maybe we will. I get a Duke. You want to make a cameo here at the end? Here, come here. Come here, buddy. Come here, come here. You want to say hi? No, you just want the bone. He wants this. This is what he wants right here. There he is. There he is. Oh, there he is. Okay, so you got a quick Duke cameo. I can't believe he behaved this entire time. But in the meantime, I hope that wasn't too casual for you. I'm wearing the. The, you know, the sweater here with the shirt. Kind of a. Kind of a Mr. Rogers look, I'll admit on the first time out, just don't call me Mr. Acosta, because really, nobody calls me that. But in the meantime, Jim Acosta still reporting from Washington. I'll see you next time. And perhaps some surprises in store later on this evening. Stay tuned for that. And, of course, I'll try to be back with you tomorrow. Take care, everybody. Bye.